Iris Luckinbill - Master & Crew concept.

[TeaCrusader]

So I got excited about M3E and have come back to the hobby. I also ended up making the following and thought people might find it interesting.

 

IRIS LUCKINBILL

GAMEPLAY

Iris is a fragile master who creates and uses Vines markers to shape the battlefield and attack her enemies in the form of shockwave markers. Fortunately for her, her thematic crew is very good at protecting her, keeping her out of the fray and dashing in to help their young master when she is assailed. Her thematic crew is small and made up of the plant constructs she summons, which she can use as Vines markers for her attacks. This is augmented by her primary Henchman Vel, who brings the Wilder tribe with him, who excel at ganging up on targets to hunt them and looking after one another. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LORE

 

When the burning man appeared above London Iris’ world was destroyed. As fire rained from the sky Iris’ garden burned. As the rifts tore open across the city Iris’ powers awakened. As the vines wrapped around masonry and fought of the assailing monsters Iris’ convictions crumbled. As the buildings fell down upon her Iris’ new family revealed themselves. As they pulled her from the chaos and through a rift Iris’ Fate was revealed to her.

 

Led by her saviours through the wilderness of Malifaux Iris was introduced to the Huldrefolk. This girl, clutching a potted plant, grass springing up where she stood, was to be as much their saviour as they were hers. They told her as much.

 

Iris was introduced to Vel, the young Neverborn who had led the party to save her. Like her, he didn’t fit in, but this tribe knew he was important like her. Vel told her about the tribe, how they had been banished to this barren land in ages passed as punishment for some crime against the queen. How some generations ago the Soothsayer had come to them and told them what to do.

 

He told her about how Fae used to steal babies and leave their own in their place. He said the soothsayer had read the threads of fate, had ordered the Huldrefolk when and who. He told her how the Soothsayer had divined that now was the time for the descendants to meet once again, that now they had a role to play in the story of Malifaux.

 

So Iris’ learnt. She learnt how to live with the Huldrefolk, how to hunt with them, how to lead them. She learnt to trust in them, and her powers, and especially in Vel, who always kept her safe. She learnt that the Soothsayer would guide her.

 

In time they were called, the Soothsayer gave the mission, a task in Malifaux city. The time for their Fates to manifest had come…

 

…and somewhere in the Bayou a pair of cards were drawn and placed on the table. Two aces, placed before a Queen of Masks. Less cards up her sleeve, but at least these ones were on the table.

 

 

CARDS

 

         

             

           

         

 

Worth stating that I've only playtested them a couple of times and only against like 2 different crews, do not expect them to be balanced, I certainly don't. To clarify the concept is intended to be linked to Scandinavian mythology, with the Huldrefolk primarily based on the vaguely benign trolls they have in that lore. Though obviously a little bit more twisted and Malifaux-y.

 

I hope people at least find this interesting, and I hope this is the right place to have posted this.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Sol_Sorrowsong]

Much respect for the effort you put in. These are fun to read over.  Of course balancing is going to be a long and lengthy process with lots of quirks to work out, but if you're having fun with it in your circle all the power to you.

The two things that stick out to me are of course the similarities to Titania in theme, and the brutality of having Zoraida join up with the Soothsayer. 😝

I get the markers are different than undergrowth, and Iris' vines are more specific than the Queen's forest, but the feeling is so close that I almost wonder if Iris' lore would be more suited to adapt to a different faction like arcanist (or outcast, they like roses).  She's come into powers she is learning to control from earthside and she can summon vines and cobblestones into gamin and a golem. It seems like the arcanists would take her underwing more likely than a pack of neverborn (even if exiled by the Queen). In fact, I'd feel like Vel and the trolls would be afraid of another plant wielding woman. 

It is yours to do as you wish of course so you do not need to kill your darlings, it just seems a better fit and removes the pesky problem of other neverborn hires (though waldgiest seem like they'd have to be added to key word too).

 

Thanks again for the interesting content!

[TeaCrusader]

2 hours ago, Sol_Sorrowsong said:

Much respect for the effort you put in. These are fun to read over.  Of course balancing is going to be a long and lengthy process with lots of quirks to work out, but if you're having fun with it in your circle all the power to you.

The two things that stick out to me are of course the similarities to Titania in theme, and the brutality of having Zoraida join up with the Soothsayer. 😝

I get the markers are different than undergrowth, and Iris' vines are more specific than the Queen's forest, but the feeling is so close that I almost wonder if Iris' lore would be more suited to adapt to a different faction like arcanist (or outcast, they like roses).  She's come into powers she is learning to control from earthside and she can summon vines and cobblestones into gamin and a golem. It seems like the arcanists would take her underwing more likely than a pack of neverborn (even if exiled by the Queen). In fact, I'd feel like Vel and the trolls would be afraid of another plant wielding woman. 

It is yours to do as you wish of course so you do not need to kill your darlings, it just seems a better fit and removes the pesky problem of other neverborn hires (though waldgiest seem like they'd have to be added to key word too).

 

Thanks again for the interesting content!

Glad you liked it!

Yeah not planning on fully balancing the crew. I do not have the experience of the game, access to different crews, or frankly, the patience to undertake a task. They seem playably balanced at least, but I'm sure there's situations where they are either disgusting or useless. (Though yes I should probably make the Soothsayer unpickable in the same crew as a Zoraida, since it's supposed to be an effigy for her to control anyway, it's literally her.)

It's interesting to see it taken that way, I do agree she'd fit into the Arcanists fairly well, and I would like that (since I'm an Arcanist player) though i'd say that while she thematically resembles Titania (which is wholly intentional) mechanically I think she plays kinda close to Rasputina... maybe with a dash of Wong in there?

It's actually intentional that they have similar thematic feels, Iris is kinda like the kinda, more naive version of titania's powers. Iris and the Huldrefolk are decendants of the fae, they used to have the powers of the wilds. The general idea was that this whole thing is Zoraida's fate-infomed gambit to give herself a pawn to rival/combat Titania. The Huldrefolk aren't scared of plants, they were exiled away from them because they, like the other fae, had powers over them. That power has diminished over the ages, but they still revere plants and the forest (think of a human wanting water in a desert kinda thing).

I based the crew originally off the mythological Changelings (more on the baby swapping bit, which in some myths doesn't end up with the swapped babies dying or being murderous) so the idea of Vel and Iris as swapped was the core of the idea. Though I then realised that the timeline wouldn't allow for this unless they were like.. the Dreamer's age and I didn't much fancy that, so I kinda changed it so the swap happened generations ago. 

I appreciate this wasn't well communicated in the fluff i wrote up. 

 

Thanks for the comments though and glad you liked reading them! I don't disagree that the Arcanists would be a good fit for Iris and it's always great to see how people have interpreted what you've come up with.