Mangod

Ignoring Dead Man's Hand (Ramos, Arachnid and Electrical Creation), Joss and Howard are both in C. Hoffman's Crew now, with the Metal Golem having gone with Sandeep and/or Mei Feng, and the Steam Arachnids having become Arcanist all-rounders.

Angler keyword? New Master, or just a Henchman?

Just saw the full-body art for Dougie here... Douglas, don't go stapling random peoples bodyparts to yourself. It's not ok.

Well, we do have some issues with who to corrupt. Because of reasons, Wyrd has decided to not make any Dual-faction Masters corrupted. That takes Yan Lo, Mei, and McCabe out of the equation. Of the five remaining Masters, Lynch and Misaki are the only ones who've had any contact with the Burning Man in the past (in a roundabout way; I don't think either actually knew what was going on during A Man Burns). And of the two, I think Lynch would have more protection from the Hungering Darkness. But by that logic, I would also expect Sonnia to be corrupted instead of Nellie, so who knows what the decision process was...

Right, I forgot her. Sorry Max. But anyway, that still leaves Ressers, Neverborn, Bayou and Thunders with no obvious target for corruption.

That's something of an issue with all the factions, though - I don't think anyone besides Sonnia Criid (former host to one half of the Burning Man), Kaeris (Elijah and the Firebranded being cultists) and possibly Jack Daw (Outcast Vignettes from Breachside Broadcast) has had any contact with the Burning Man at all.

I'd suggest Elvis, but the instrument doesn't fit...

The biggest surprise for me, from a story perspective, is that it's Parker who's gone over and not Jack Daw. I blame having listened to the vignettes on Breachside Broadcast...

Ok, if there isn't AT LEAST 3 references to riding eternal or shiny chrome in Malifaux Burns, we riot.

Speaking of, has there been any word on any changes in the material for the new TOS Starter? I'm really hoping they're made of something sterner than the Cult of the Burning Man boxes I picked up...

I could see Parker - Nellie too, some kind of informant who tells them who to rob/who's gotten robbed.

So, do we think the recently revealed Burning Man-attendees are going to be paired with each other? Might be easier to get the "corrupted by a gentrified existential cataclysm"-theme across easier if you don't have to justify why Misaki/Last Blossom are sharing a model with Mah Tucket.

Today I learned: Kurgan isn't just the villain in Highlander, it's also a russian burial mound. Malifaux has educated me today.

Speaking of, was anyone expecting Molly - Nekima? C'mon, I need to collect from a bookie on this. We actually had a similar discussion back in february, where WM/H was brought up as well. To wit Cygnar, one of the 7 non-mercenary factions in Warmachine, has 20 different Warcasters (the Warmachine equivalent of a Master) available. That's one faction, and Khador, Protectorate of Menoth and Cryx all have just as many each. Add Retribution of Scyrah, Convergence of Cyriss, Crucible Guard, Mercenaries, and all the factions from Warmachine's sistergame Hordes, and you're probably looking at close to- or even over 200 Warcasters. And Mercenaries Warcasters can be taken in main factions on top of that. By comparison, even if we've doubled the number of Masters, we're still looking at half of that, and Keywords are still a thing as well. While Molly, Chaotic Conductor plays differently from regular Molly, Forgotten are still gonna play like Forgotten, right? Crooligans aren't going to transform into Mature Nephilim just because of Molly getting a sidegrade, right?

No joke, I checked the PP WarmaHordes webstore, and Cygnar alone has 20 different Warcasters; I can't even begin to imagine the headache that trying to balance all of them must be. Probably the reason Ten Thunders lost half their Dual Faction Masters, to be honest; balancing McCabe, Yan Lo, Mei Feng, Lynch, Misaki and the Brewmaster both in Thunders, and in Guild/Ressers/Arcanists/etc, must have been really annoying.