The13Fates

My favourite destiny step so far, I had to bend to near breaking point to fit into the session. The player in question is a Doctor seeking a new life in Malifaux after being hounded for his work from a cult who believed Pneumatic replacement limbs were against humanity (very Deus Ex Mankind Divided).

The Destiny Step: Once your vendetta is nigh upon the mountains

Trouble was, the session was taking place in the docks and along the main river in Malifaux City, so no mountains in sight. I had to get creative with the individual word's meanings, and thus ended with:

"Once your prolonged quarrel with the cult is almost upon the mountains."

Still no mountains to be seen, until I had a bout of common sense, what if Mountain was a surname, thus 'Mountains' was just short-term for 'the two Mountain brothers'.

So the session starts and the Doctor is witness to an accident where a man's arm is caught between two boats on a narrow river, amputating it clear off, yet the man and his brother didn't want the doctors help because they had recently spoken to the very same cult that my player's character was running from, leaving it up to him how to go forward.

It was a fun challenge and made for a really memorable scene.

At the Top of the Second column of Pg120 where it says starting gear, after saying 1 CC weapon and armor, it then says that the combined cost cannot exceed 20scrip, although most other pursuits allow a 25scrip limit on starting gear so check the most recent errata.

Glad we could help.

1 hour ago, Figgyfigs said:

It doesn't mention cost, I don't think, but I don't have the rulebook so I can't check. I think it just said "a Close Combat weapon and any amor". And I thought you just get 10 Scrip to buy gear...?

*With Core book in front of me this time*

You are correct, pg79 "Start the game with 10 Guild Scrip"

As for starting gear, pg98 (paraphrasing) 'Starting bonus is only gained during Char-creation'

Pg120 "A Guard begins the game with one close combat weapon and any armor" which can't cost more than 20Scrip combined.

As a Fatemaster I would rule this for choosing the Guard Pursuit:

You HAVE to choose a SINGLE Close Combat weapon from the lists available starting from pg226 and ANY Armor (including nothing at all) and so long as the TOTAL cost is equal to or less than 20Scrip. 

This can then allow you to use the 10Scrip at character creation for other items, weapons, other armor or (if FM allows) Mods for the chosen CC Weapon. So for Guard you would have more options available to you after obtaining a weapon, freeing you up to buy other things.

I've given NPCs a +1 (& rare +2s) in order to give them a shot at damage and defense, and although I haven't tested it, I can foresee Combat becoming much longer if I'm fiddling with my own FM fate deck and fate points/control hand.

High stats aren't necessarily the primary problem, I've had to learn when NPCs are out of the picture long before a 22+ Severe Critical for example.

What I'm asking for in this thread is ways to challenge my players further than "big dude with little dudes in a dense warehouse"; ways to have my NPCs combo off each other or certain NPC paired combos like in the wargame (this guy poisons, this other guy has more options because of the poison effect etc...)

IIRC the "You start with X equipment for Y cost" is on top of your starting scrip of 25.

So pursuits like Guard, Scrapper and Gunslinger etc have essentially "free" guns and armor (so long as combined cost is lower than 25)

*Edit* Yes, anybody can buy guns and armor but certain pursuits are simply able to buy more of it. Magical pursuits for example start with a magical toolkit costing 50scrip for free AND get their normal 25scrip for everything else. 

Added, Ludoquist Cafe in Croydon, UK; good to be the 2nd player in Central London lols

13 hours ago, ezramantis said:

How about environmental Hazards?

Re-reading Into the Steam (turns out source books are more than Lore and Bestiaries, who would have guessed?)

I came across 'Personified Swarms' with examples given for Fire, Rats and an Angry Mob, this combined with Environmental/Activated Hazards has flipped my perception of combat on its head.

I'm thinking of a Smugglers Tunnel which has been poorly maintained and swimming with Rats and another creature, Swarms + Collapsing Building sounds like it might be a challenge, any more advice for spicing it up?

55 minutes ago, NobbyTheKing said:

but we have one guy who is essentially just "the concept of punching given form".

Same. Although he's known as "The Lord of Lightning" in our group, Max Speed, Martial Arts and Deceive with a completed Criminal Pursuit with a dip into Torakage...

Following the advice from the Core book, I've been running through my current homebrew campaign with each session dedicated to a Fated's destiny step and giving each player 1 EXP at the end of each.

12+ sessions with 4 players and 3 completed Destiny Steps each, the players are starting their new pursuits after reaching the top of their first ones, pouring EXP into skills and triggers and upping their aspects (with the completed destiny steps). This has made combat... trivial. Speaking with my players, they still want combat but with auto-triggers, bonus attacks, Trick actions stacking with Impose actions, fully modded weapons etc it's clearly not a challenge anymore and as a Fatemaster, a drag chute to session time for what is a foregone conclusion.

What I want to ask is how do I make combat interesting for both me and high-leveled them? Are there any NPC combos that aren't so easily solved with rush tactics? I will point out that I want to avoid "Sniper nest atop a minefield" type situations, they aren't fun for anyone.

4 hours ago, J4bberw0ck said:

For the immortal artist, have you considered throwing a Living Portrait in somewhere?

I'm looking forward to using Living Portrait, I just need to find a way to slot it in.

The Artist is themed around Time, the Fated first meeting him when an antique shop asks them to retrieve an item said to be hidden in his tomb in the Badlands, they were surprised to find out that he was trapped inside in a twisted time loop caused by a sculpture of his own creation and was happy to be rid of it.

I was thinking the BBEG traps the artist as a Living Portrait and the Fated have to figure out how to free him?...

Outside of Stitch in Time are there any other Time manipulation type Penny Dreadfuls I could work into the story?

In my current homebrew campaign, the Fated are on the trail of an artist who is functionally immortal (finding out that if he were to ever die, he would wake up in the same place and find his own corpse, in a sort of altered Groundhog's day).

So I had a great time mixing in the one shot "A Night at the Star" using such a character. Which had my girlfriend so enamored by the Star Theater she switched pursuits from Graverobber to Performer midway and even started the Showgirl Advanced pursuit, making for an excellent character arc.

Later on, when I needed the BBEG to host a party, what better than to use the "Honor Among Thieves" PD. The main antagonist who just so happened to have a collection of the very same artists paintings and sculptures from centuries past.

My favourite so far though? Hands down "Northern Aggression" the buildup of tension, the deep plot hooks that invite the Fated to keep going, keep exploring, make connections in the world... made me proud to be a Fatemaster.

From the top of my head, I *believe* there is no way to declare two triggers (unless there is a high level pursuit/advanced pursuit that allows it that I'm unaware of)

So far as having multiple suits in a final duel total, you either have the Talent (after completing two destiny steps) which adds a suit of choice to a chosen skill, allowing you to use the natural flip on top of the tagged on suit;

Or the two core Magic based pursuits (dabbler and graverobber) allow you to have a Tome added to Sorcery or a Crow added to Necromancy, thus freeing up the range of triggers after a small number of sessions.

Magic users are limited by design early level but become very powerful later on, in the first few sessions, even getting a spell cast is a nightmare, but later on with careful use of EXP you'll be auto-casting spells and have plenty left over for Immutos which are game-changers.

I started Malifaux in 2nd Edition close to when the 2nd wave of models was being revealed really got stuck headfirst into the lore, to the point where I would write short stories from the POV of an individual model.

Sadly, when TTB 1stEd was released, the 3rd party reviews for it were not great (One reviewer saying along the lines of "The GM never misses and the NPCs succeed every check" which is of course a misnomer to put it mildly).

Time passes, I've left the Wargaming scene and started expanding the short stories to full on RPG sessions. I get to that point where I'm looking for "That" RPG, the one which has everything I'm looking for and just so happen to stumble upon TTB 2ndEd at a Gaming Convention. I say to myself "Why not? It's set in Malifaux, it uses a ruleset I enjoy, let's give it a go"

A completed Northern Aggression Penny Dreadful and a now 14+ session of a homebrew still ongoing, and I'm hooked!

A run action (2x Walk + ranks in Athletics) can range from 8 yards to 17 yards.

A Rifle can easily shoot 30 yards+.

Some abilities have up to and beyond a 6 yard radius aura.

A min/maxed Scrapper at early steps can easily Charge 10 yards and have a 3 yard melee range.

To keep all this information and it's variables consistent, I need a grid.

A fun interaction in my current game involves the Performer and Criminal pursuits.

(Ideal circumstances ofc)

Start of combat, Performer makes a Music check, this counts as 'performing in any manner' therefore a "Distracting Performance" which provides nearby allies (+) to Deceive, Pickpocket and Stealth (bonus points if you hit the Music Trigger (rams) 'Marching Tune' that allows allies to become Fast)

A Criminal who is step 9 on the pursuit chain and has chosen "Dirty Trick" and "Shock & Awe" then performs a Trick action with a (+) (as it uses Deceive); which can trigger "Dirty Trick" providing a free attack if in range. With Shock & Awe the benefits of a successful Trick are also given to nearby allies.

End result: All nearby Fated are Fast and have (+) to Attacks, (+) to Damage, and (+) to Defense flips against a chosen enemy. High levels are a blast in this game!