Returning player with 1e models.

[solkan]

31 minutes ago, Gloom said:

Oh there's an RPG?    That's dangerous (for me).  LOL

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/5162/Wyrd-Miniatures/subcategory/23027_23029/Through-the-Breach

The two almanacs are going to be revised to a second edition "within a few months", so you may be able save yourself for a bit.  

[Gloom]

4 minutes ago, solkan said:

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/5162/Wyrd-Miniatures/subcategory/23027_23029/Through-the-Breach

The two almanacs are going to be revised to a second edition "within a few months", so you may be able save yourself for a bit.  

Have you played it?  Is it fun?  I've always been a fantasy (AD&D & Pathfinder) player, but this setting seems like it would be really fun!

[solkan]

31 minutes ago, Gloom said:

Have you played it?  Is it fun?  I've always been a fantasy (AD&D & Pathfinder) player, but this setting seems like it would be really fun!

I've only played it a few times.  There are some significant difference between how the game works and AD&D/Pathfinder, beyond the fact that it uses a deck, control hands, and cheating fate similar to how Malifaux does.  And character progression uses something that's a lot more temporary than 'classes".  And character creation includes using some cards to write out a cryptic prediction of the character's fate.  So it's fun, but less loot focused.

There are some adventures in the Chronicles, and some one-shot adventures that come with pregen characters (so they can be used as demos or at conventions), I'm not sure if there's a quickstart overview of the mechanics anywhere.

[Greebo]

I'm on my mobile so posting a link or researching is a bit hard but if you have a look for the "A stitch in time" event here in the forums or on the main page you could be lucky to get in late. It is a campaign with 4 (or 5, I can't remember) one shot adventures with pregenerated characters that uses shortened quickstart rules of the upcoming edition. For me as a newcomer to this RPG it is a great and fun start and has infected me quite a lot. I just got all the PDFs for the other books and some penny dreadfuls and my group will go on playing. 

[Gloom]

21 hours ago, Greebo said:

I'm on my mobile so posting a link or researching is a bit hard but if you have a look for the "A stitch in time" event here in the forums or on the main page you could be lucky to get in late. It is a campaign with 4 (or 5, I can't remember) one shot adventures with pregenerated characters that uses shortened quickstart rules of the upcoming edition. For me as a newcomer to this RPG it is a great and fun start and has infected me quite a lot. I just got all the PDFs for the other books and some penny dreadfuls and my group will go on playing. 

"Penny Dreadfuls" ~ are those the people that play the RPG?  I've seen a couple piece of literature (or brochures?) with that title, but I wasn't sure what they were.  I'll go look for that forum you suggest, thanks.

I also meant to ask, what is Puppet Wars?

[iamfanboy]

Penny Dreadfuls are the oneshot adventures they've put out.

The Through the Breach RPG is interesting for multiple reasons. One, all cards are flipped from a communal deck with static target numbers for NPCs - so if someone attacks you, you flip your own defense for example. Each player also has an abbreviated 'cheat deck' of cards that they can cheat out of and draw from under certain circumstances. It's a very skill-focused game, rather than stat focused or level focused, however. I'm not sure how much I like the core version, but I'll reserve judgment to see how the 2e works - though I may try to sign up for the Stitch In Time, as I didn't know that it was still available.

Puppet Wars Unstitched (the latest version) is a board game with little voodoo doll versions of various famous Malifaux personalities. Supposedly they were all made by Zoraida and they do things to each other for her amusement - which is the game itself.

 

 

As far as picking models just because of looks rather than because they're 'winners' or 'losers'... Malifaux is very friendly to this, because the power gap between various masters isn't as high as other games. Yes, my poor friend who only has the Ortegas really HATES the Henchman Hardcore format because Francisco Ortega, his only Henchman, isn't very durable; but that's one Scheme/Strat combination and there are plenty of others which would favor his band.

[Gloom]

On 4/2/2017 at 0:10 AM, iamfanboy said:

As far as picking models just because of looks rather than because they're 'winners' or 'losers'... Malifaux is very friendly to this, because the power gap between various masters isn't as high as other games. 

I find this very encouraging ~ Thank you iamfanboy - you've been extremely helpful!  So much so, that I bought the 2 Player box set, have assembled the two crews, and have played through the first two scenarios (against myself LOL).  It was quite a process for me to learn  to work with (true) plastics as all my years of experience in building/assembling has been with white metal and resin.

Anyway, based on the information you provided, and that I already have Nicodem's (old) box set, I am going to pick up:  Hanged, Drowned, and Penangalan once it's available again.

I've also arranged a trade on Bartertown for the Titania box, and I still want to get Sandeep's crew someday.  Then there's the Gremlins... see what I mean?  Faction A.D.D.  

[Strype McClaine]

On 3/31/2017 at 11:03 PM, Gloom said:

Have you played it?  Is it fun?  I've always been a fantasy (AD&D & Pathfinder) player, but this setting seems like it would be really fun!

I'll just stick my head in here really quick.
Through the breach is a great great game and plays like a freaking dream.
Character creation is a breeze, and once people get past the learning curve combat just hums. With the mod'ed malifaux rules it plays like a players-roll-all-the-dice variant of 3.5/pathfinder, but everyone gets a control hand which gives SOME agency over every flip, even damage. 
The Skill challenge system is one of my flat out favorites of any game I've ever played and I've actuary ape'd it into most of the other games I DM (includeing 5e). Basically it sets incremental thresholds for sucesses, failures, and total sucess/failures. By law of averages it makes sure that a stray black joker(or nat 1) doesn't ruin the event, rather it just adds some spice.

The downside is it REALLY IS NOT built for a long term campaign, and characters will get to the point where you will need to retire them, and the game has systems in place for that event (The destiny mechanic).

Its one of my favorite games to DM, if not my favorite... (Fragged Empire and Urban Jungle are REALLY CLOSE TIED......Same with Cypher Core /Numeneria...but that's just when you want to game but don't need to mess with mechanics).

As your friendly neighborhood M&SU Union man arcanist/....
Good luck picking and sticking with a faction. There is something for everyone in every faction, nearly every playstyle core is represented as well (with factional flavor).

IF you got faction ADD, look to some of the psudo-all-commer's masters for a tournament list, and then just build and play the rest for fun with friends.
Or just do what most of us do.
Succumb to the desire of our needs outside of our main faction, slipping ever closer to owning way way too many crews...
Internal thoughts --- (BUT HOFFMAN IS UNION....i gotta's have the hoff....but then Tara is so bad ass.... Whats a arcanist loyalist to do? Oh wait. Buy more....right)

[Gloom]

4 hours ago, Strype McClaine said:

I'll just stick my head in here really quick.
Through the breach is a great great game and plays like a freaking dream.
Character creation is a breeze, and once people get past the learning curve combat just hums. With the mod'ed malifaux rules it plays like a players-roll-all-the-dice variant of 3.5/pathfinder, but everyone gets a control hand which gives SOME agency over every flip, even damage. 
The Skill challenge system is one of my flat out favorites of any game I've ever played and I've actuary ape'd it into most of the other games I DM (includeing 5e). Basically it sets incremental thresholds for sucesses, failures, and total sucess/failures. By law of averages it makes sure that a stray black joker(or nat 1) doesn't ruin the event, rather it just adds some spice.

The downside is it REALLY IS NOT built for a long term campaign, and characters will get to the point where you will need to retire them, and the game has systems in place for that event (The destiny mechanic).

Its one of my favorite games to DM, if not my favorite... (Fragged Empire and Urban Jungle are REALLY CLOSE TIED......Same with Cypher Core /Numeneria...but that's just when you want to game but don't need to mess with mechanics).

As your friendly neighborhood M&SU Union man arcanist/....
Good luck picking and sticking with a faction. There is something for everyone in every faction, nearly every playstyle core is represented as well (with factional flavor).

IF you got faction ADD, look to some of the psudo-all-commer's masters for a tournament list, and then just build and play the rest for fun with friends.
Or just do what most of us do.
Succumb to the desire of our needs outside of our main faction, slipping ever closer to owning way way too many crews...
Internal thoughts --- (BUT HOFFMAN IS UNION....i gotta's have the hoff....but then Tara is so bad ass.... Whats a arcanist loyalist to do? Oh wait. Buy more....right)

This is a great description, thank you.  Is there a way to make the Malifaux RPG more long-term?  I've been running a Pathfinder game for the last 18 months with the same group of peoples, and they've gone from level 1 to 7, and are almost 8.  I imagine will taper off around level 15 or so and look into retiring the group.  Not sure how 'short term' Malifaux's RPG is, but I imagine it's not like 15 levels - as such?

[iamfanboy]

When each person makes a character, they do it by flipping a short Tarot - and where the cards land also form a Destiny for the character, split up into five parts. Each time a character fulfills a part of their Destiny they get radically stronger - and by the time they've gotten, I think, 3 parts of their Destiny done they're the equivalent of 9th-level characters, real movers and shakers. The Fatemaster Guide (if I remember right) recommends having a Destiny part fulfilled for at least one character every session, or at most every other session. So spread over 5 people with 5 destinies that's 25 adventures until everyone's Destiny is fulfilled by the book, or 50 if you REALLY want to stretch it.

But here's my take on it: I've only had maybe two or three campaigns my entire life last longer than thirty sessions. TTB's system is advantageous in that it gives the GM a way to weave a coherent, long-term plot in the game mechanic itself, and a campaign that lasts 25-30 sessions but ends with the players feeling as though a REAL story has been told is way better than one that goes on for two years and only stops when the players get kinda bored and just... wander away.

Alternately, you could look at Savage Worlds. Their Deadlands setting has a lot in common with Malifaux, and it does fairly well at scaling up even at the highest levels.

[Gloom]

2 hours ago, iamfanboy said:

When each person makes a character, they do it by flipping a short Tarot - and where the cards land also form a Destiny for the character, split up into five parts. Each time a character fulfills a part of their Destiny they get radically stronger - and by the time they've gotten, I think, 3 parts of their Destiny done they're the equivalent of 9th-level characters, real movers and shakers. The Fatemaster Guide (if I remember right) recommends having a Destiny part fulfilled for at least one character every session, or at most every other session. So spread over 5 people with 5 destinies that's 25 adventures until everyone's Destiny is fulfilled by the book, or 50 if you REALLY want to stretch it.

But here's my take on it: I've only had maybe two or three campaigns my entire life last longer than thirty sessions. TTB's system is advantageous in that it gives the GM a way to weave a coherent, long-term plot in the game mechanic itself, and a campaign that lasts 25-30 sessions but ends with the players feeling as though a REAL story has been told is way better than one that goes on for two years and only stops when the players get kinda bored and just... wander away.

Alternately, you could look at Savage Worlds. Their Deadlands setting has a lot in common with Malifaux, and it does fairly well at scaling up even at the highest levels.

Really good points, thank you!  25 sessions @ (roughly) once per month is easily two years, and that's about where we're at now - give or take.  Sometimes we miss a month just because some of us have wives (wife aggro!  ), and all of the group but one has a child or children, so that takes time as well.  If it's not crazy to get 20 sessions out of a game then this is something worth considering.  I did play Savage Worlds once, a decade or so ago, and liked the system.  Thanks for the input.

[Strype McClaine]

I'm really bad at posting in a timely manner, and this is probably incoherent. (Freaking Spring and Pollen everywhere)

If your playing once a month, its pretty close to a double session in time? likely? So you'd probably resolve two player's destiny steps in that adventure. The Destiny mechanic re-enforces the idea that you focus on one-to-two players in an adventure, giving them the spotlight before shifting to someone else for their time in the sun. Sure a "Good DM would do that anyways" but when the mechanics follow with what a good DM wants to do, things just work happily.

You also "level" at least once per session, and the system is very encouraging for multi classing, it just requires you to declare what class your leveling per session.  So theirs Job advancement, XP spends, and Destiny spends, giving players tons of little nobs to twist on how their characters play out. So if I was doing a monthly game, I'd do a two act game, and do an intermission between acts, let players switch class during intermission so they could more cleanly be job A & job b  , give healthy xp, and resolve two player destiny steps per session. For each player that'd be at least 5 Sessions per 2 players. 5 Player party, Aprox 15 sessions with wiggle room?
Then again, there's nothing to say that the players don't keep going on adventures, try to rival the masters or maybe even tyrants....but the game is designed to cleanly close about that time.
(No one ever REALLY said that the epic level hand book is a GOOD idea in D&D...but its fun every now and then...)

In all seriousness check out some of the Penny Dreadfulls (The published modals, they are super fun) or the adventures in the wyrd Chronicles for some examples on how they document and structure it. Its taken just over a session to finish each act of the current global campaign and that's just out of how things tend to play out. 

Best way to dodge wife aggro (I say as an unmarried man, who has gamed many many time with married friends) find games that you can bring the spouses into....

Also, Savage worlds IS INFACT DOPE.
I would also half recomend a SUPER unknown game by the Name of StarChildren: The velvet revolution. It ALSO uses a deck of cards mechanic simmilar to malifaux/through the breach, but is about alien rockstars from space (think, ziggy stardust.)

That being said.
Play through the breach.
Its a fucking great game.

[Gloom]

On 4/13/2017 at 4:56 PM, Strype McClaine said:

I'm really bad at posting in a timely manner, and this is probably incoherent. (Freaking Spring and Pollen everywhere)

If your playing once a month, its pretty close to a double session in time? likely? So you'd probably resolve two player's destiny steps in that adventure. The Destiny mechanic re-enforces the idea that you focus on one-to-two players in an adventure, giving them the spotlight before shifting to someone else for their time in the sun. Sure a "Good DM would do that anyways" but when the mechanics follow with what a good DM wants to do, things just work happily.

You also "level" at least once per session, and the system is very encouraging for multi classing, it just requires you to declare what class your leveling per session.  So theirs Job advancement, XP spends, and Destiny spends, giving players tons of little nobs to twist on how their characters play out. So if I was doing a monthly game, I'd do a two act game, and do an intermission between acts, let players switch class during intermission so they could more cleanly be job A & job b  , give healthy xp, and resolve two player destiny steps per session. For each player that'd be at least 5 Sessions per 2 players. 5 Player party, Aprox 15 sessions with wiggle room?
Then again, there's nothing to say that the players don't keep going on adventures, try to rival the masters or maybe even tyrants....but the game is designed to cleanly close about that time.
(No one ever REALLY said that the epic level hand book is a GOOD idea in D&D...but its fun every now and then...)

In all seriousness check out some of the Penny Dreadfulls (The published modals, they are super fun) or the adventures in the wyrd Chronicles for some examples on how they document and structure it. Its taken just over a session to finish each act of the current global campaign and that's just out of how things tend to play out. 

Best way to dodge wife aggro (I say as an unmarried man, who has gamed many many time with married friends) find games that you can bring the spouses into....

Also, Savage worlds IS INFACT DOPE.
I would also half recomend a SUPER unknown game by the Name of StarChildren: The velvet revolution. It ALSO uses a deck of cards mechanic simmilar to malifaux/through the breach, but is about alien rockstars from space (think, ziggy stardust.)

That being said.
Play through the breach.
Its a fucking great game.

I payed a visit to a few local game stores.  One of them near me is starting a Malifaux slow-grow league in the End of May, so I'm going to join that.  They're also starting a Through the Breach game, so I'm going to join that as well.

Thanks for all of the input and detail.  I appreciate it!