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Best Penny Dreadfuls?


Slaphammer

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I've just discovered Through The Breach and I see there are a ton of Penny Dreadfuls and Penny Dreadful One Shots -- a lot more than are actually listed in the official store on this site, and a surprisingly large selection overall.  Where to begin with these?  I have it in my head that Nythera would be a good choice for fleshing out the setting, as I think it might be one of the only releases to go into more detail about the Badlands?  I might be wrong.

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I would say they are all good starting places as each of the full PDs expands the world a bit. The one shots have a little scenery expansion and are where you find some pre-gen characters.

 

Night in Rottenburg expands on the southern slums of Malifaux City.

The Northern Aggression and Northern Sedition Penny Dreadfuls link together.

Fire in the sky takes the adventure back to earthside. 

Bayou games obviously takes place in the bayou. 

So it really depends on what you are looking for in your pregen adventures. 

 

 

If you are looking for more world info, the supplemental rulebook are great world info expansion sources. 

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I’ve seen info online which makes it sound like the setting is largely made up of Malifaux City, but I can see that lots of other towns and settlements are described in various PDs so it seems the setting is bigger than some give it credit for.

I haven’t been sure what to make of Bayou Games.  It seems very tongue-in-cheek and maybe a type of humor that some groups wouldn’t appreciate, but I could be entirely wrong.  Is there a solid adventure in there or is it a lot different than other PDs?

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I have run Northern Aggression and rate it highly, there's a lot to do, tons to discover and caters to both combat primaries and social pursuits alike.

As for one-shots, I've run Heart of Darkness and Honor Among Thieves.

HoD reads well but I found it really really depends on table expectations to be set beforehand. If you have players who want to be big damn heroes who like epic combats, they aren't going to find it here. Players who enjoy role-playing underdogs who are challenged by a threat they can't just run up and attack are going to have a much better time of it.

HaT features a heist which has players case out the location (a mansion party), talk to guests to find a way in and get them to help on the inside. Player agency is very high here, it could be a session of next to no combat, or could result in utter chaos depending on how the players go through it. Very enjoyable on both sides of the screen and I can't recommend it enough.

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Gremlins are a living parody of humanity. So it is very tongue in cheek. 

 

The city of Malifaux is sold to humanity as one of the safer areas breach-side. So most folks don't go too far out of the walls without a good reason. Exploration is dangerous outside the walls. Plus there is a lot to explore in the city and a lot of intrigue/mysteries to explore. Also the campaign is not long (5ish sessions per player) unless you tweak the system. So the city can easily take up an entire campaign. 

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1 hour ago, Slaphammer said:

I’ve seen info online which makes it sound like the setting is largely made up of Malifaux City, but I can see that lots of other towns and settlements are described in various PDs so it seems the setting is bigger than some give it credit for.

Tbh I was in the same position until recently, and it only dawned on me last week what contract towns are! Like I'd heard them referenced a load but didn't know what to call them or anything. There's only actually about 4 named towns as far as I know, most other places are numbered contract towns (unsure how many there are total but think I've seen as high as #37) or districts.

It's pretty expansive and these spill out into the Badlands and Northern Hills so feel free to throw a town in where you need it to pop up.

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7 hours ago, The13Fates said:

I would add "Above the Law" and "Northern Sedition". The former for much needed info on how the guild work; the latter for the continuation of the Northern saga.

I mean... All of them. But you have a good selection. I do support owning all the supplement books as they have new rules/pursuits and a bunch of information on the world. I am preparing my group for Night in Rottenburg which is a fun one that ties into Under Quarantine well. 

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