Fatemaster Friday - Let Us Go Then, You and I...

[Kimberly]

Heya Breachers!

I have wonderful news for my fellow Through the Breach fans; you will be getting regular updates and discussion about Wyrd’s one of a kind role-playing game from yours truly! The weekly discussion will be called Fatemaster Fridays and will focus on a variety of subjects regarding TTB. For this inaugural installment, let me tell you a bit about why this opportunity is incredibly special to me in particular.  

So, my first Through the Breach game was actually the Stitch in Time Global Event. I’d read up on the game, but it wasn't until my buddy Alex ( @Strype McClaine) asked me to play in the Global Event that I got my first hands-on experience. The Fated I chose to play was that unwilling student of Dr. Von Schtook, Ashley Morgan. In short order that pneumatic arm of hers earned her nickname "Smashley" by the rest of the group.

It was also in this campaign that we got a first time player, an 18 year old fella who had never played a role-playing game in his life. This guy came up, asked what we were doing, wanted to watch, and then played (all in the same session!) as we had a pre-gen he could jump in with. He played a Guignol - you know, the puppet that likes to stab?

After the campaign was finished, I took up the Fatemaster mantle and ran a group of the best guys I know through some insane adventures. My TTB experience has been more impactful to me than any other RPG I've played.  

When I started with Wyrd, my love for Through the Breach was kind of obvious. I couldn't wait to playtest new additions to the game. I scarfed up every bit of lore I could get my hands on, and I regularly gushed about the game with my very patient co-workers.

I am happy to announce that due to my love of Through the Breach, I’ve been invited to start a weekly discussion of all things TTB! These posts will allow us to explore Through the Breach a little more, and how to make your TTB game as wonderfully Wyrd as possible for your players!

I'll be talking about some of our One Shots, highlighting pursuits, discussing some of the unique situations TTB players or Fatemasters can find themselves in, and other fun topics.

I'll also be ending each article with a "mail call," in which I will ask for stories or opinions on a topic and pick one member to shout out in the next article.

To start things off right, what was the moment you fell in love with Through the Breach? 

[Stormlight]

I was into "Through the Breach" before it came into being, through the art of Malifaux.

I'm a role-player, not a war-gamer. I prefer cooperative to competitive. But I saw the art of Malifaux first edition and I was hooked. I bought some books, picked up some minis, but never actually played the skirmish game. Except for a few demos at cons. I devoured the Lore. My first idea was to adapt an existing rule-system to the Malifaux world (and characters) to create an RPG... which I never got around to.

At least until Through the Breach came along. It took me awhile to get it to the table (so many games, so little time), but I have a solid 5 players at my TtB regular table, and I might be starting another one.

Thanks for asking and I look forward to your discussions, Kimberly!

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by Stormlight
type-o

[Strype McClaine]

Since I was called out, I feel the need to answer that.

When I stumbled into TTB I was super disillusioned with Pathfinder, and not finding 5e to honestly have enough teeth, so when I found that it was....kinda...sorta somewhere between that in complexity, it felt right. Advancement by Skill Ranks, Characters being more wide than tall, a spellcasting system that just suits me personally.....
And then there was the moment I saw how ongoing skill challenges worked, and I was hooked. I've taken a lot of the ideas to other games I've played and run.

Before running the Global Campaign I'd tried a few on-off adventures with my normal group. I tired to demo it every free rpg day at my comic book store where I end up loafing around...
so I knew the game felt right to me.

[Jiang Tsunai]

2.5 years ago, I started playing table top RPGs after a 15 year break and remembered how frustrating it can be to roll dices  
Also, most games people play in my city are either set in a fantasy world or in a Sci Fi world.
Then one day, a friend of mine needed beta testers for a one shot for Through the Breach.
Being a huge fan of steam punk, I couldn't say no
Fell in love with the setting and the game mechanic (I really don't like dices)
Ever since I am a huge fan of Malifaux and TTB

[J4bberw0ck]

I got started with RPGs playing Call of Cthulhu many years ago, and was instantly hooked. As soon as I discovered Malifaux, I started thinking about how to bring it to an RPG, then found out it already had one!

The moment I fell in love with the system, though, was when my wife and I sat down to create her first character: a doctor who refused to accept that death meant her job was over. It worked so dang well, and the character was so much fun, that it's still the one we use to describe how great a TtB character can be to new players. Like they say, "a necromancer is just a really late healer."

[The13Fates]

I started Malifaux in 2nd Edition close to when the 2nd wave of models was being revealed really got stuck headfirst into the lore, to the point where I would write short stories from the POV of an individual model.

Sadly, when TTB 1stEd was released, the 3rd party reviews for it were not great (One reviewer saying along the lines of "The GM never misses and the NPCs succeed every check" which is of course a misnomer to put it mildly).

Time passes, I've left the Wargaming scene and started expanding the short stories to full on RPG sessions. I get to that point where I'm looking for "That" RPG, the one which has everything I'm looking for and just so happen to stumble upon TTB 2ndEd at a Gaming Convention. I say to myself "Why not? It's set in Malifaux, it uses a ruleset I enjoy, let's give it a go"

A completed Northern Aggression Penny Dreadful and a now 14+ session of a homebrew still ongoing, and I'm hooked!

[Steamtastic Vagabond]

I bought TTB first edition on my 15th Birthday while browsing my local gaming store. I was heavy in steampunk stuff (still am) and the cover alone got me highly interested.

[Douglas Scoundrels]

Hooboy. Well I'll honestly say that I would never have found Through the Breach without Malifaux. I picked up the skirmish game about five years ago after I quit Heroclix and wasn't terribly interested in 40k. My wife overheard a few people playing the game, and got me interested in it as something to play together. I ended up falling in love with the system and the setting, enjoying the lore behind the game and it's characters as much as the game itself. I was already an avid RPG player, so when I found out there was a system for Malifaux, I bought all of the books I could. My god was this game for me! Not only did it give me even more juicy lore, but the system was tailored to focus on creating interesting characters and situations to put them in. My favorite part of being a GM was always getting my characters into situations where they would just talk and talk and roleplay something mundane for a good chunk of the time. Sure the battles and progression were fun, but the most memorable stuff were the silly arguments and discussions that made these characters feel REAL. Through the Breach provided more tools for me to develop this than any system I've played, and I've been a rabid fan since.

[Davie]

So I came to TTB via Malifaux.

My group started playing Malifaux 2nd Edition as soon as Warhammer had died.

We were initially drawn into the world of Malifaux because it was so so different from anything else we had played before so it was a forgone conclusion for us, being not only a tabletop but also a P&P-Group, to try out TTB.

I picked up the books and was immediatly drawn to the Idea of letting fate Play a role in creating the characters and also influencing the future adventures I was going to write. The Idea of my Group looking for Moments in which their destiny might be fulfilled makes writing so much more fun to me.

And more than once I have been surprised, when destinies were resolved without my planning.

I also like the "forced" Feedback and reflection on the games that have just been played. It is great to reflect on how an Adventure was perceived and what the Group wants from future adventures.

 

 

[NobbyTheKing]

I backed the initial TTB kickstarter because I love the Malifaux setting and rules, so the idea of playing a roleplaying game set in it was essentially a no-brainer 😄

My group have done all the Global Events, and although we've lost some members over the years (through life-y stuff), we're still playing the homebrew campaign we started ages ago during 1st ed. We restarted the TTB campaign after about a year's haitus and we flipped up a new (Gremlin) fated and we're pretty stoked to be playing again. I love the system because it's pretty flexible, and i have the setting and lore locked down enough in my head to make the geography easy to handle and I can mess around with stuff.

My favourite TTB moment we've had so far was when one of our fated (our wastrel with high skill levels in puglism and martial arts) took part in a 10 Thunders fight club, and absolutely battered each opponent he fought, whilst our thief slunk around the crowd robbing everyone blind. The illusionist we had sunk a load of money in bets and they ended up having what can only be described as a preposterous amount of money. Having essentially grifted their way into a small fortune, they ended up triggering a turf war in a contract town between the 10T and the Guild that they narrowly escaped being in the middle of. It was a perfect combination of setting, and system working together, where you could see the strengths of the various pursuits we had operating like clockwork.

Now, if only that pesky Neverborn book could come out *HINT* *HINT* I've loved all the releases that have been put out so far, and when I'm short on prep time, integrating a one-shot into my campaigns has taken pressure off 😄

[Ebb]

I've been a fan of Malifaux since the tabletop game came out, but I first became obsessed with TTB when Under Quarantine released. Any rpg lets you go on an adventure, only this one lets you flee society in disgrace, find a quiet corner of the Quarantine Zone, set up your evil lair, build an army of flesh constructs, and finally wage war on all those fools who dared call me crazy! I'll show them crazy! I'll show them ALL!    MUHAHAHAHAHAH....

[Amateur Contender]

I mean, who doesn't love a system that actively encourages to fail? You're a dabbler that just embarrassed himself by failing to cast a fireball and instead singed the sleeve of your shirt? Draw a card! How awesome is it that you can only take certain talents if you have a negative in an aspect? 

[NobbyTheKing]

Had a marvellous session yesterday. Our new Gremlin player decided it'd be fun to trick the humans he's tagging along with (he's done one session so far) to fulfilling some of his goals.

1) obtaining a hat - attempting to rob a shop so that a bowler hat can be obtained, it wasn't even a big hat.

2) settling a bar tabe - this escalated horrifically, what started as a little bit of a shakedown ended up with everyone in the bar getting knocked out and a gigantic bomb going off. 

I'm quite happy with group integration, as the human fated think he's a trustworthy sort and presumably this'll help them achieve their goals. 

[DarkSpade]

I think for me it was the magic system.  I've always hated the idea of spell slots.  I never want to use any of my good spells for fear that I may need them more in the next fight.   TtB doesn't have that restriction and on top of that you get some amount of customization that allows you to create your own spells.

[Vorzakk 2.0]

I've always been more into RPGs than wargames, but the fascinating setting and characters of Malifaux got me instantly hooked.  When I heard they were making an RPG out of it, I knew there was little doubt I'd like it. 

But I'd say the moment I really fell in love with it was when I realized that flexible but straightforward action economy from the wargame had largely been preserved.