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The Gangs of Malifaux


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UPDATED AS OF APRIL 4 2017

-Added Notes for the "Spiderlings"

Ok, this is a very early version of a piece of Homebrew content I've been working on. I intend to add so much more, but I'm looking for temporary feedback on the subject. I do hope readers enjoy and perhaps even find a place for this in their Through The Breach games

 

 

Please Enjoy

 

 

Warfare on the Streets

 

 

Even with the grip of the all-seeing ram, crime and gang related instances are still out of control in Malifaux city. While in the downtown regions of city are well protected by the Guild; the slums, the industrial district, and even to some extent the quarantine zones are rampant with crime. While the Guild is concerned about the gang wars is the slums, they simply have bigger problems, the Resurrectionists of the Quarantine Zone, the Neverborn of the Knot Woods, the Gremlins of The Bayou, and the Arcanists of the Northern Hills. Combined these factions pose a huge threat to the Guild’s stability in Malifaux. For these reasons, the Guild more or less ignores this issue. Sure, the Guild will stop a crime in progress in they catch it happening, but otherwise, they focus on the larger problems at hand. While the gangs don’t pose a large threat to the Guild, they do pose a threat to the citizens of Malifaux in one way or another. From protectorates, to thieving, to turf wars on the streets shared by the common folk of Malifaux city, the Gangs pose a real danger to the people of the Malifaux.

The Gauntlets

 

The Gauntlets earn their name from their favored accessory, a full arm length gauntlet. While people (mostly other gangs) ridicule their choices of equipment, but one can deny that is works. As unusual as it may seem, the gauntlets frequently eschew firearms in favor of swords, polearms and axes. While they still use firearms, they prefer close range weapons in favor of guns. No one really knows why they do this, but it is terrifying to other people, especially the ones receiving the pointy end of a Gauntlet’s blade. This tradition began with the leader of the Gauntlets; Tina Callahan. Tina was never really good with a gun of any kind, but she was an incredible sight to see when she had a sword and a shield. Tina used her natural talents with swords and shields to gain a reputation as someone to be wary of. Though things became interesting when Tina discovered a relic of old Malifaux: The Soulstone Forge.

 

            The Soulstone Forge

 

The Soulstone Forge is a relic of old Malifaux discovered is a run-down building by Tina Callahan. Over time, Tina gathered enough Guild Scrip to repair the forge returning it to it’s once former glory. The forge it self it a wondrous item capable of so much, but without an instruction manual, the capabilities of the forge is quite limited. What the forge does is bind the power of Soulstone to metal objects such as swords and axes. Tina has done some experimenting with this and discovered a method to magically magnetize objects when the user needs it to be. Tina calls these magical gauntlets “The Gauntlets of Magnificence” a sort of play on words. After creating the first Gauntlet of Magnificence, Tina managed to acquire a rather large following.

 

           

 

            Tina’s Following

 

Tina’s following is what now consists of the Gauntlets. Tina’s initial followers were people seeking to learn to the source of Tina’s martial strength. Overtime, these people evolved into the Gauntlet Knights. They wield a sword and a shield like Tina does, however; they only use a lesser version of the Gauntlets of Magnificence that Tina just calls a “Magnetized Gauntlet”. Other Gauntlets are the Gauntlet Templars and the Gauntlet Lumberjacks. The Gauntlet Templars are much like the Gauntlet Knights, with the exception that they wield short halberds and place of swords and shields. The Gauntlet Lumberjacks are given Gauntlets of Magnificence to use with throwing axes. People have learned to fear very the presence of Gauntlet Lumberjacks.

 

            The Gauntlets’ Purpose

 

Tina’s Gauntlets seek to protect the neighborhood they reside in, and to protect the Soulstone Forge from other gangs. The Gauntlets themselves occupy an area of several blocks, and they care not so much to take land, but to protect the land they already have.

 

           

 

The Blue Lanterns

 

The Blue Lanterns are not a formalized organization (at least as far as gangs go). The Blue Lanterns do even think of themselves as members of the Blue Lanterns. This is because the gang itself consists of miserable people looking out for one another. The Blue Lanterns are everywhere, but no one notices, not even themselves. They are within the Guild, the Arcanists, the slums mostly, but they are found everywhere. The Blue Lanterns are miserable people, the people who were bankrupted, the people who were widowed. What sets these people apart is the light of hope they were exposed to, and through their sorrows, they find the strength to help others who are in the position as them.

 

            Damian Ellis

 

Damian Ellis is the founder of the Blue Lanterns. The organization has its name because it was created by an enchanted blue lantern. After losing his job, wife, and savings, Damian fell into a deep depression. Before deciding to end it all, a blue lantern showed itself to Damian. The blue light the lantern was emitting gave Damian hope for the future and hope for humanity. Damian took the lantern as a reminder of that day and used the blue light to give others hope.

 

            The Lantern of Returning Hope

 

The blue lantern is a Neverborn relic uncommonly known as “The Lantern of Returning Hope”. While Pandora is the death of hope, the Lantern is the resurrection of hope. People who are affected by the lantern’s light also begin to feel a need to help those who are in a similar situation as them. Then they themselves spread the affects of the lantern.

 

In Plain Sight

 

The members of the blue lanterns are quite easy to find in Malifaux city. If any of them are in trouble, there are usually 2 other lanterns nearby who can help out. While they rarely get involved in matters that don’t involve them, if a lantern actually needs help, others will often step out of the shadows to shed their light on the situation.

 

            The Blue Lanterns’ Purpose

 

Because they are not a formalized gang or crew, the Blue Lanterns don’t take land, and they don’t have any to be taken. They simply seek to defend each other from the other people in Malifaux who seek to take more than they can give.

 

 

The Bloodied Shamrock

 

The Bloodied Shamrock is a primarily Irish gang with control of a decent portion of the Malifaux slums. The Shamrock consists of it’s leader; Cormac O’Malley, his clovers, and everyone else. Cormac was a reckless man Earthside, and still remains reckless in Malifaux. Whiskey frequently fuels his recklessness, and his friends’ recklessness. The people who live in Bloodied Shamrock territory frequently have to deal with sleepless nights, and violent clovers. This however is nothing compared to what people involved with the Jackalopes have to deal with. Life in the Blooded Shamrock mostly consists of drinking and fighting. Because of this, some of the clovers is more hardened than even some of the best Guild guards.

 

            The Blood Feud

 

While Cormac often spends most of his time drinking and picking random fights. There is a special place in Cormac’s hateful heart for the Jackalopes. The Jackalope leader, an English man named Jackal Springs, is responsible for the death of Mick Walsh. Mick Walsh was the best friend of Cormac O’Malley, and because of his death, The Bloodied Shamrock and The Jackalopes have blood so bad, it might as well be black. The day after Mick’s death, Cormac swore vengeance on the Jackalopes, and Jackal in particular. This blood feud has lasted for quite some time, and many people have died in the fighting, some of it with each other. The blood feud between the Bloodied Shamrock and Jackalopes has lasted about 14 months now.

 

            The Clovers

 

All members of The Bloodied Shamrock are called Clovers, even Cormac himself. They all identify as Clovers because they treat one another like family. Clovers always carry a shillelagh and several throwing knives wherever they go. The shillelagh they carry always has a bleeding clover engraved into it. People on the receiving end of this often get a massive head ache, before any other bodily trauma. The Clovers are mainly made up of Irish men, however, anyone who can swear loyalty, hold their liquor, and fight decently well can earn a place among the Bloodied Shamrock Clovers.

 

            The Purpose of The Bloodied Shamrock

 

The Bloodied Shamrock exists to fight against the Jackalopes. The Clovers fight with throwing knives and their trusty shillelagh. When they aren’t fighting the Jackalopes for land or blood, they often can found drinking whiskey and a few other beverages.

 

The Jackalopes

 

The Jackalopes are a gang that mainly consists of English hooligans. The Jackalopes can typically be found causing trouble wherever they go. They don’t really respect anyone except their rival “The Bloodied Shamrock”, an Irish gang. The Jackalopes consist of their leader; Jackal Springs, his jackalopes and his horned hares. Jackal’s however doesn’t want to be part of the gang he is involved in, but the beast inside him does. Before the Jackalopes, Jackal was not much more than a common thief, but after a heist on a chemical lab. Jackal came into possession of some powerful Arcanist concoctions. Most of the chemicals where magically made and as such had magical qualities to them. One of the bottles was labeled “Strength Elixir”. Thinking that he could become stronger, Jackal downed the elixir. And he hasn’t been the same since.

 

            Jackal Doesn’t Hyde

 

The Arcanist strength elixir was correctly labeled, the potion did indeed give Jackal significant amounts of strength. There was however, an unexpected side effect that would permanently change Jackal’s mind. The potion brings out the absolute worst in people. This turned a thief who was stealing to survive life in Malifaux, into a ruthless gang leader with very little of his humanity left intact.

 

            The Blood Feud

 

The Bloodied Shamrock gang and the Jackalopes are locked in a state of rather violent conflict. This came about when Jackal decided to execute someone trespassing on Jackalope territory, and that person was Mick Walsh, the best friend of Cormac O’Malley; the leader of The Bloodied Shamrock. The execution was a rather brutal sight to see, I won’t describe it, but it involved a barbed spear and several other barbed spears. After news of the execution reached Cormac O’Malley, he swore vengeance upon Jackal and his entire gang. Since then, the two gangs have been locked in an unending and rather bloody conflict.

 

            The Horned Hares

 

Horned Hare is the title given to Jackal’s enforcers. The hares can be recognized by the barbed spaulders that they wear. The Spaulders representing the antlers typically found on Twisted Malifaux jackalopes. The preferred weapons of Horned Hares are knives and their trusty firearms. The Horned Hares consist mainly of British hooligans, but anyone who can prove their capability to brutality can find their way into Jackal’s Horned Hares. Everyone else in the gang is considered a Jackalope and it doesn’t take much to become a Jackalope.

 

            The Jackalopes’ Purpose

 

The Jackalopes exist mainly to spread the brutal philosophies possessed by their leader. They spend a lot of their time causing trouble in the Malifaux slums and fighting against the Bloodied Shamrock and it’s leader Cormac O’Malley.

The Spiderlings

The Spiderlings are a gang of people looking to stick anything they can within their vast web. In exchange for guild scrip, the Spiderlings defend local businesses with everything they have. With their firearms and oddly spider-like behaviors, the Spiderlings are prepared to defend their territory and protectorates with all that they’ve got. The gang leader; Rose Wilds, has an off-putting fascination with spiders. She says that she can see them dancing when they’re sung to. The only real reason that people follow Rose is because of her magical power. Amazingly enough she has managed to evade the Witch Hunters for quite some time now. She privately calls her grimoire “The Spider’s Dance”.

            The Spider’s Dance

Rose’s Grimoire is very accurately named. The Spider’s Dance is a grimoire that is communicated by the spiders of Malifaux. While Rose watches them dance, she can feel a mystical energy in the area. The spiders’ dancing relay steps for casting a full grimoire’s worth of magia and immuto. However, because only she cares enough to watch the spider’s dance, only she presently has access to the grimoire. If any else cares enough however…

Rose’s Spiders

The lowest rank of The Spiderlings is called Rose’s Spider. These people carry a pin depicting a Rose behind a spider. The pin is recognizable to most people who have dealings with Rose’s Spiderlings, most often from paying a monthly fee to the Spiderlings. The typical equipment of a Spider is a sidearm of some sort and some form of blade.

            Rose’s Araneae Leaders

Rose’s second in command; the Araneae Leader are forces to be reckoned with. These ones are identified with the same pin as the Spiders, but the Araneae Leaders’ pins have a golden finish to them. They typically have the same equipment the Spiders as well, with the exception that the Araneae Leaders carry powerful poisons with as well.

            The Protectorates

The Spiderlings protectorates are their defining feature. The fee is always 10 Guild Scrip every month from any businesses in the area. In exchange for the cash, the Spiderlings will fight fang and venom to protect the businesses from any rival gangs. The costs of the protectorates are high enough that the Spiderlings profit, and businesses can handle the prices.

 

Future Plans: Add the following gangs; The Smugglers Union, The Warthogs, and The Midnight Crew

Edited by Steamtastic Vagabond
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  • 10 months later...
4 hours ago, Helixfire said:

I see you too are a Green Lantern fan.

 

I like the shamrock, jackals, and spiders. I may take inspiration or with your permission lift some elements directly for my own game.

Not really a green lantern fan (must have been an accident) and go ahead, I’ve also got more details about The Bloodied Shamrock and Jackalopes on a google document as this is one of my first projects (which I regret making ever so slightly), I can send it to you if you’re interested.

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