Fatemaster Friday - Filing off the Serial Numbers

[Kimberly]

Fortuitous Friday Breachers!

This week is another topic picked from right here on the TTB forum. Back in January @Faux_St_Hooligan made a post about changing the flavor of the Medium Pursuit. Here’s what they said:

Quote

 was just looking for some advice on the Medium pursuit in Under Quarantine.  I really like the Pursuit, and the idea of a character able to summon vengeful spirits.  But the character I am envisioning doesn't really fit the Three Kingdoms aesthetic of Seishen, Onryo, and Goryo.  The concept I am playing with is an Artist who is slowly driven mad by his newfound connection to the spirit world, and channels that into his art.  

@MattM popped into that thread to help, but this topic is one that shows something I love dearly about Through the Breach. This system allows, and even encourages cosmetic customization for many aspects of the game. I’m going to visit interesting ways to change up the cosmetics in a campaign to suit your needs!

As Matt mentioned in that thread, changing the flavor of a Pursuit is something that can be done by changing the names of some parts and the underlying themes. Through the Breach expansions often include how pursuits would fit in other factions, such as how Boozers from Into the Bayou can be found stumbling the streets and slumped over in bars all across human settlements of Malifaux. Perhaps someone in your group wants to have a “drunken master” Fated– a few levels of the Boozer Pursuit would fit in nicely!

For Advanced Pursuits, the same can be done, but a little more cosmetic tweaking may be needed. Say one of your Fated makes a deal with an unknown but powerful entity. As Fatemaster you could offer a modified version of Guild Lawyer, making the pact the Pursuit Requirement and renaming the Talents and description to be appropriate for their new benefactor!

By far, items are the easiest things to change for players and Fatemasters. The character creation section of the 2e Corebook illustrated this by the example player changing a Rail Hammer into a Mining Pick. Changing the physical description and name allows for deeper story and influence in the ‘Fauxverse of TTB. If your players want something that doesn’t exist, work with them to find something close in stats and help them change the description to fit their story.

Finally, while the bestiary includes many creatures, sometimes you may want something that sets itself apart from the “normal” of Malifaux. You can change the Characteristics, Rank, and rename Abilities to fit your vision. If you want something that is similar in behavior to a Guild Hunter but instead of a construct of metal it’s made from sharp ice and bitter cold, you can alter the names of the attacks and Talents to reflect the difference. Instead of Pneumatic Tracker, it becomes Heat Sense. Steel Claws may become Icy Slash, and Chain Harpoon could be renamed Chilling Blast. 

Now that I’ve discussed how easy customizing in TTB is, what are some customizations you or your players have done to tailor TTB to their liking?

[Douglas Scoundrels]

After a rousing speech given to the people of Innocence to put their backs into preparations for the coming battle, my Invested hit the Red Joker and basically recreated the entirety of Be A Man from Mulan. Seeing how inspiring he could be with word (and song) I decided to pursue a...pursuit befitting of a classic Bard from fantasy RPGs. While there's nothing in the books depicting inspiring minstrels (the Into The Bayou advanced pursuit was more about being obnoxious) there still was a relatively easy answer: Collaborator. So with a voxcaster installed into his chest (why waste time playing an instrument when you can use the wonders of technology!) my newly minted Busker completed the rest of the module supporting the town and the rest of the party with his borrowed music.