Harlekin

39 minutes ago, Mycellanious said:

The double Chiyaki activation is VERY strong, probably broken

Because of the 6" movement for the whole crew?

I came to seriously entering Malifaux with M3E. Mainly as I was looking for nice fantasy-ish models to collect/paint as a side project for my Infinity stuff. I just needed a change in styles after about 10 years of almost Infinity only painting. 

After getting stuff from the secondary market I was looking for those Masters nobody in my regular gaming group own which lead to Brewy, Reva and finally - Titania. Now, Titania was on my list from the very beginning when I started to take a closer look at M3E and from there on it was all Neverborn-are-coolest-ever! Now, I own almost all NVB Crews (including Collodi) with the translucent Dreamer and 'Dora rather high on my assembling/modding list, and I am looking forward to get Nekima, soon. 

Tbh, when it comes to Malifaux and especially the NVB, I might most likely go full pokemon. 

Atm, I am keeping myself busy mainly with Rezzers as Neverborn are very popular with my regular gaming buddies and I'm not so fond of mirror-ish matches and Rezzers was the faction I started with. But I should be able to finish my Rezzers collection this year and will focus on NVB after that. 

As I side note: Does anybody really think the double Toshiro activation is such a huge thing? I have close to no experience with YanLo as he is the only Rezzer Master I don't own (yet). But If I ever see my opponent spending a 10+ of /Stone, his ressources on killing his 10 wounds model, a Master Action and sacrificing a model, another 10+ of /Stone, all the while needing 2 Corpse tokens, I guess, I wouldn't consider it this huge a problem even though he "gained" 2 damaged Ashigaru, soe focus and drew 2 cards, but spent his turn on doing little less. 
I guess it could be the tipping point during a decisive moment of the game but then every single move using the mentioned ressources properly should be able to help decide a game. 
@Maniacal_cackleIs this really considered an imba winning strategy? Or do I fail to see the point? 

That's just not necessary. If my opponent has to spend some of his movement trick actions on getting a model free of the Rattler, that's just fine.
For me, the Razorspine Rattlers are just fine just because they are multi-purpose: They are rather fast, are sturdy enough to be more than a nuisance, have the chance to cost ressource with Constriction and Wicked. 
I only wish for them to have Adaptive Evolution. 

The thing about Rattlers in a Chimera Crew is that the opponent can't ignore them and he has to dedicate a serious amount of ressources to getting them down, usually a model with higher cost than the Rattler itself plus some cards. And if the Rattler goes down chances are pretty high that the 8+ Stone model is someplace he doesn't want it to be and already took a relevant amount of damage.

I guess the Rattler are so unpopular because of the competition. 7 Stones is more than another Initiate or Crockett and only 1 below another Sabertooth. They kinda tend to fill a role usually meant for cheaper models to take: announce Scheme running and/or diversion. And Marcus' cheap models (Molemen, Hoarcats, Corrupted Hounds) are just, well, close to never seen on the table at all. So, falling back on a 7 Stones model to fullfill those duties usually taken by 3-5 points models seems to be more change of habits the typical Malifaux player is willing to do. 

Maybe move to an external pic host? 
I'm really looking forward to see more of your work!

IIRC most Henchmen/Enforcer summons come with circumstances which have to be met (like killing a model with a trigger) and the models summoned usually arrive with Slow while the summons with Upgrades don't require this setup. 

Compare McM's summons with Kirai summons for example. Kirai just does it like this while McM needs this exact situation.

I don't see any lack of consistency but quite obvious game design decision based on balancing. 

9 hours ago, Maogrim said:

I do respect your expertise, but I feel like the logical conclusion to your arguments would be to not even try our hands at respectful representation whatsoever, and that's not really getting us anywhere either. 

This definitely should not be your personal conclusion. The conclusion should be that everybody trying to address any such topic should always ask him*herself to go on improving knowledge, empathy and personal responsibility without ever stopping. 
This should absolutely not keep you from taking the first step but motivate you to take many more. Creating a society where each and every person feels comfortable with is a task that will never be finished. 

Piece, Love, Happiness. And lots of Gaming!

1) Everyone and noone is equally qualified (or not qualified) to voice one's opinion on such a complex matter. 

2) There most likely isn't any appropriate representation for such a complex topic*

*which is the main problem when it comes to such topics. Appropriate representation would have to address the matter of everyday sexism as much as ~500+ years of disrimination as much as this disrimination taking even violent forms (within political/religious regimes) as much as underrepresentation as much as stereotyping as much as... It's a task inherently determined to fail. Not even contemporary science (gender studies, historical science, sociology, philosophy, biology, medicine -  among others) has come close to address the topic in an appropriate matter (which isn't achievable, anyways - see science)

So, sorry @Maogrim, my intend was not to insult or embarass you but to show that we have to fail any such endeavor as to represent anything/anyone suffering from systematic (analytically speaking) discrimination. Even more so within our context of enjoying gaming with puppets whose designs are based on popcultural references. 

And this explicitely includes me as a professional who is regularly envolved in research on said topic. 

4 hours ago, Maogrim said:

In reference to LGBTQ+ characters, I would have really liked Mei Feng to be homo- or bisexual. She's tough, carries a certain unisex vibe of femininity (if that makes sense), and is all in it for her people.

As a sociologist I have to say that you are just reporducing cis-gender steroetypes with your take on typical homo- or bisexual characteristics

When it comes to pop culture (recreational games like Malifaux are part of it) you can only fail when you try to "do everything right" as it is a very complex topic and you can't count on everybody involved on being on the same level of knowledge and/or reflection. Comparing to all other TTGs I know Wyrd really has done an awesome job in offering a divers cast for telling her tales of Malifaux.

24 minutes ago, thewrathchilde said:

Who is summoning 20-30 stones turns one and two?

 

That just doesn’t seem remotely realistic in any normal game I have seen or played that a player is summoning 40-60 stones worth of models in the first two turns....

 

 

For numbers only, I can rather easily do it with my Rotten Meatball McM Crew: 

Turn1: Asura spends 2-3 cards and 2 stones for 4 Mindless Zombies (8 Stones), Sebastian converts the Gravediggers Corpse token to a Canine Remains (3 Stones), And if I really want (to get the lolz) McM converts Gravediggers' Corpse Tokens (Gravediggers) into a Flesh Construct (7 Stones) => 18 Stones summonend
Turn 2: 2 Gravediggers drop another 2 Corpses. 1 Corpse + 2 remaining Mindless Zombie become another Flesh Construct (+3 Stones). Sebastian converts another Corpse into Canine Remain (3 Stones). Asura summons 4 Mindless Zombies (8 Stones) => 14 Stones summonend

=> 32 Stones summonend in T1+T2 

If I add Toshiro I might even be able to add another +2 net Stones per turn. 

Not that it does me much good. But I can do it 😁

7 minutes ago, Maniacal_cackle said:

limiting the scope of summoning a bit.

I'd make it "limiting the scope of certain summonings". 

Never heard any complaints about Forgotten Marshal or Sebastians summons (among others). We seem to talk about a very special case here. And afaik Kirai herself isn't this big a problem without being second Master. 

10 minutes ago, thewrathchilde said:

I don't want any more models or crews setting on the shelf along side Yasunori

To be fair, nobody keeps you from bringing Yasunori. As you said, there are tons of models and options and they all want to see the table even when they might not always be the general UBER model.

As a primary Rezzers player I really was hit hard by the Archie nerf but I absolutely welcome it as he was just boring because he was in almost every pre-nerf Rezzer list I've seen. He is still very good within keyword but only rarely seen OOK. What I get from the other factions the situation is quite similar there. 

As I side note, there is one summoning list I really like to play: 
McMourning, Sebastian, Asura (plus random stuff, i.e. Gravedigger).
Turn1: Asura spends 2-3 cards and 2 stones for 4 Mindless Zombies (8 Stones), Sebastian converts the Gravediggers Corpse token to a Canine Remains (3 Stones), And if I really want (to get the lolz) McM converts 2 Zombies and the freshly generated Corpse Token (Gravedigger) into a Flesh Construct (7 Stones).

Summoning for 18 Stones in turn 1 (can usually easily repeat it in turn 3, maybe 2) and I never ever heard any single complain about it  (Mainly because my opponents tend to win versus this list and usually are quite happy to see a totally different McMourning).

The problem is not so much the summoning of 10+Stones but the abuse of non-Leader Kirai in this special case, imho. 
 

Super Mario Kart Bayou Bash - the Boardgame 🥳

Who gets my money? I want it, now. Pretty please 😺

Easy one: if I have a group who enjoys tactical (combat) rpg I just don't do TTB. There are other systems who have a focus there. For me, TTB is more about narrative play and heroic decisions. 

When I do design combat 'encounters' within narrative/heroic systems I focus on the decisions: no matter how mighty the PCs are they can't do everything at once and they have to be forced to make decisions: do you do this or do you that or even that? There will be consequenses for not doing this or that or that each. Decide! 

I prefer spending my preparations times on stuff like this over spending hours of creating the stats and special rules for the next "challenging" encounter.  

3 hours ago, Plaag said:

i think summon is bad at all

most of crews have limited resourses, but summoners makes resourses from air

I think card draw is bad. Most crews have limited ressources, but card draw crews create ressources from thin air.

I think healing is bad. Most crews have limited ressources, but healing crews create ressources from thin air.

I think extra movement is bad. Most crews have limited ressources, but extra movement crews create ressources from thin air.

I think giving out upgrades is bad. Most crews have limited ressources, but crews handing out upgrades create ressources from thin air.

I think extra actions are bad. Most crews have limited ressources, but extra action crews create ressources from thin air.

etc. etc.
 

I do see the point of the topic (and the non-Leader Kirai is really... a bit much) but the question should be different. If we start talking about "imba", there are other things in Malifaux. What about Masters (or crews?) who can easily kill 10+ Stones in models per activation? What about Masters (or crews?) who can easily invalidate the actions of 10+ Stones in models per activation? What about...? 

I guess the thing is mainly a psychological issue. Especially as summoner crews typically escalate quickly, when you don't put enough pressure on them. Ressource drain for summoning is a huge thing which typically isn't recognized by the other table side as you don't directly "feel" those precious 10+(+suit/Stone) hit in your face. 

Tl;dr: Summoning crews can be a bad thing to face but don't challenge me most. 

9 minutes ago, Maogrim said:

Oh, I was more looking to find answers regarding psychological and emotional impact. I for one am more interested in the aesthetic, the setting and the characters than the actual mechanics. 

Well, besides individual perspectives and experiences comparison to other (similar) systems usually is my way to go when I want to grasp the bigger picture. 

11 minutes ago, Maogrim said:

I hope Jakob is not the next on the chopping block, from a lore perspective. Nekima wants his head, and Youko pointed the new Oyabun's attention towards the goings-on in the Honeypot...

I consider this rather unlikely considering Hungering Darkness being one of the big players. Plus, we should most likely have another 5+ years before the next edition change

12 minutes ago, Maogrim said:

PS: I'm German too, but I have no idea how Malifaux is doing hierzulande, to be honest. I'm in the process of establishing a mini gaming group of 4 people, but the pandemic makes it hard to keep people interested.

I try to keep some loose contacts within the German community and I'd say the German community is klein aber fein and surprisingly stable for one of the niche systems. 

I am mainly an Infinity player outside of Malifaux and I am even one of the long time Warcors there, and I defenitely second the weird pricing for a so-called starter set. 
A one-on-one comparison to the Infinity starter boxes shows: 

- Infinity: 2-player starter boxes included a paper mat, enough card board terrain for said mat, dice, tokens, measuring tools, introductionary rules booklet, 14 high detailed metal miniatures (7 for each faction/player, including 2 limited models) for 110€. 
Compared to regular prices, that results in a player paying for two typical faction starters (2x 6 miniatures) and getting everything else on top. So, it was a real steal. 
Those boxes were a huge success, by the way. 

- Malifaux: see above

So, yes, it's no price I would see fit for a beginner's set and it's not really attractive for fans. 
But let's be honest, most of us will most likely buy it anyways, as the miniatures will be great and the game certainly is. 

About Malifaux in general: it might be expensive on a per miniature perspective but compared to anything GW or PP it's still rather cheap. 
I really hope that Wyrd doesn't (have to) go over the top. As soon as things are getting too expensive the whole thing can easily crumble to nothing (see PP). 

I (really) came to Malifaux with M3E. I only owned 1 and a half crews, before and didn't plan to invest more. Mainly because the whole game was a real pain to get into; I got my M2E rahter late with a Pedita crew and while I one a few games, I most of the time didn't really understand what was going on on the other side of the table as my buddies were into Malifaux for a long time, had huge collections and knew all their stuff by heart. As a beginner, I didn't enjoy late M2E, there where just too many things to keep an eye on. 

When M3E finally arrived, I planned to invest a little as I liked the idea of the game, the setting, and especially how the encounters and scoring was decided. I was lucky enough to be able to buy a few crews of those rage-quitters who come with every edition change. After a few more games, I was hooked and totally on fire (and I still hope that I don't have ever to sum up the - most likely - literally thousands of Euros I spent on Malifaux). 

Compared to other games where I reluctantly invested during edition changes the secondary for Malifaux was rather small. It only took me about a few months to have seen most of the offers around (and buy quite some of it). So, I guess that most players weren't bothered too much about the disappearing of a few masters and still are enjoying Malifaux. 
I'd say, that's at least for some part because of how the game deals with encounter set-up and crew choice: most 'competitive' players still can easily build competitve lists, and most 'casual' playing groups don't care a lot about DMH or not, anyways. I guess I don't know any single player who wouldn't be okay with the opponent picking his favorite DMH crew during a casual game.

Of course, this is mainly a local perspective from German perspective and might be hugely different to the experiences others had with edition changes but at least for Germany (or Europe) I am pretty sure that not this many people gave up on M3E. But compared to other games, offers on secondary market didn't increase as much as I was hoping for and this market soon came back to normal. Compared to edition changes in WarmaHordes and even Guild Ball, it was very short-termed and almost non-existent. 
It's a good enough indicator for me, not sure if it helps you finding any relevant clues for your question.

I'd really like to see this crew finished. Looking forward to see the whole lot in a group shot.

Awesome work. I really like the magic you did with the skin. The brown shadows are just great. 

15 hours ago, Adran said:

I don't know how popular shifting loyalty was, to know if they will do a new campaign system, but I don't think it would be too hard for players to adapt that system to M3.

It's not really a lot of work. Some tweaking and a few adaptions to M3E and you're ready to go. 
I still would love to see a M3E campaign system ❤️

How about imgbb.com?

9 hours ago, Adran said:

Honestly, I think putting an ability like leap on an upgrade makes it harder to balance.

Definitely.
But it might be rather easy for having it on an Evolution Upgrade as the required Mask doesn't have to be on the Stat. Thus it will become an option which comes with a price and not an auto-take each and every activation. Remember how much Archie suddenly lost popularity after he got his nerf.

I'd still prefer the Cerberus to keep his leap as it just really fits its theme imho. 

30 minutes ago, extremor said:

I just love Marcus the way he is!!!

Same!