Best Way to Give a Demo

[Phototoxin]

OK so I'm not a newbie to Malifaux but I've not given a demo of it to anyone before.  I'm wondering what sort of scenario/stones limit/practical advice more experienced Henchmen might have ?

[Kalkris]

As a Henchman, here's what I do when demoing:

 

I start by explaining what this game is (I will always describe it as "an objective-based, miniature skirmish game"), and then go over the mechanics and anatomy of a card. I start with the name, the faction, and the cost of a Minion (I explain at cost that the game uses a resource called "Soulstones" and that any stones not used in hiring go toward in-game application). Then I go on to characteristics, starting with the station, rarity and vitality characteristic types and their application in hiring and gameplay. Then I explain thematic characteristics briefly.

 

From there, I show the statline and describe what each thing is thematically. At Wd I explain the significance of the "bullet holes" below. At Wk and Cg, which I explain together, I mention AP (action points before the shorthand is mentioned) and how much each costs, before saying what those general actions do. Ht is where i talk about LoS from a individual model/terrain standpoint.

 

After stats, I go into abilities. I usually describe them as static effects. I try to avoid models with fate modifiers or df/wp triggers, but go for things that cause simple duels as that segues nicely into model-specific actions on the other side of the card.

 

With actions, that's when I break out a single (original) Fate Deck (I have 2 which is optimal for demo reasons for now), explain that each player uses one, and then I draw 12 cards (2 hands), making sure I've stacked jokers onto the bottom of the deck (more on that in a bit). I then go through an opposed duel between the minion model and another different minion, using just stat cards for now. i go into severity of flip, mentioning 6-10 is a straight flip (and flip 1 card for damage, making sure they know that they can cheat straight flips), mentioning 11+ as a positive (then flipping a second card and mentioning the cheat of a positive flip), 1-5 is a negative (keeping the flips there but mentioning the importance of the negative flip especially the no-cheat factor, and the other modifiers that can exist in abilities, etc.), and how a tie goes to the attacker but would result in a double negative flip (flipping one more card). At that point I explain that those differences correlate to the amount of damage dealt, referring to the damage track of the action. Then, I bring out the jokers and explain their full significance (likening them to critical hits and critical misses in tabletop RPGs where relevantly necessary).

 

Then, I flip the card back over if there's a simple duel so I can explain the way those work.

 

At this point, the players have hopefully gotten a grasp of how the game plays. Thusly, I give both players a choice between six or seven 35ss master-led crews. (I know that people often say masters are often too complicated for new players, but they are a huge selling point for this game.) I also give a general run-down of the factions, their aesthetics, and their playstyle to a looser degree.

 

My crews at this point for demos are: Mei Feng, Yan Lo, Jakob Lynch, Pandora, Seamus, Lucius (I used to have Perdita for demos, until last demo - when Perdita proved herself far too strong for players to handle themselves against.)

 

I set the players up with a standard deployment, Turf War strategy, and Frame For Murder as a mandatory scheme (and sometimes add each player's choice of either Plant Evidence or Plant Explosives as well). While Frame For Murder is a scheme to keep hidden usually, this knowledge that both players have it forces players to think strategically about their killing (which then contradicts Turf War a bit, in a complimentary way for demos). The other schemes are at my behest and judgment, but spice the game up a bit more.

 

Turn 1 I will go through the actions of setup and the play-by-play of the turn, making sure the players make their own decisions but influencing them a little bit (like making sure they deploy close to the turf war area, or asking if they are sure they want to make a certain play). At the Activation phase of Turn 2, if I think they are ready, I back off a bit until that phase ends (to remind them to shuffle their discard piles into their decks and start Turn 3). IF they get to the end of Turn 5 in time (sometimes they do not, as once or twice it took 4 hours to get to the end of Turn 2 from the beginning point here), I have the initiative player flip a card as a hypothetical and explain extra turns, but end it there.

 

At the end, I ask for notes, what kind of experience they had, if they enjoyed the game, if they enjoyed *themselves* (the most important!), and if they would play again. If the response is mostly positive, I've succeeded in demoing.

 

~~~~~

 

I hope you enjoyed this demonstration of my demonstrations haha

 

Some advice for formulating small crews for 35ss:

 

1) vary your factions if you can. If you are using someone else's models, this may not apply as much, but with your own, ideally using a (single-faction) Guild Wave 1 master against a (non-Outcast) Wave 1 Resurrectionist/Arcanist/Neverborn master that is not in that master's comfort zone is pretty good. By that I mean DON'T use Lady Justice if your new player is playing Resurrectionists, Sonnia against Arcanists, or Perdita against Neverborn (and then only if you need to play Perdita). Beyond that, honestly? The 3 standard-issue Guild masters are a good option if you have them. If not, other good masters to do a general demo with are Seamus, Lynch, Lilith, Von Schill, Viktoria of Ashes, Misaki, and Marcus, IMHO. I could be wrong about a few of those though.

 

2) Mention Soulstone use but bring it in slowly. Make sure the crews have between 4 and 7 stones for in-game use when pre-constructing crews. Start with card filter T1, remention it and bring in initiative T2 (but always dis-advise initiative if the flips are more than a 7 as the high card), then bring up duel-based soulstone use (and remember to re-mention the characteristics that allow this) a bit later when relevant.

 

3) Make sure they have a good time. When bringing people into a game you want to promote, their joy is a bit more prioritized here (but still enjoy yourself too!). Just make sure they understand the game and do their best. Teach them, but remember that you're playing a game. Also, there's no way to put this into better terms: Go easier on them than you would another more invested player.

 

~Lil Kalki

 

P.S. -- Welcome to Malifaux!

[Patzer]

There is a great article about different ways of introducing the game in Chronicles 13.

[Phototoxin]

Amazing - thanks guys.  

 

While I've played a bit of the 'faux, I'm not as confident with it as I would be with other games due to my lack of experience so this really helps. 

 

I will also check out Chronicles #13.

 

I would thank you but I'm out of thanks for the moment... so have an evil cookie monster: