Small-Batch Brewed Keywords

[Jesy Blue]

Now to add to Asylum, Half-Blood, & Horseman, Jockey enters the field as a Masterless keyword.  This begins to give credence to the idea that we in fact will not be getting a mounted damphir psychologist Master in our future... there will be no master for these keywords going forwards.

However, with the exception of Horseman which is in multiple factions, three of these are/were Starter Box keywords, which may continue with some of the other factions going forward. Now the Explorer's Society is not doing this with their starter box, and Outcasts are using the Syndicate keyword (because I feel Syndicate is gonna spread into EVERY FACTION.... but that's a different conversation).

This leaves still the completly unknown no rumors even leaked about the 5 other faction starter boxes and potentially what Masterless keywords they could bring about.  Honestly, I doubt they would release another such keyword in Guild & Neverborn again, so in reality that only leaves 3 factions: Ten Thunders, Ressers, & Arcanists. What small batch aesthetic could you bring to these factions?

For Thunders, I'll reiterate my fan casting of Thai elephant riders, because there is so little Southeast Asian representation in the game so far.... it's all northeastern & western. And adding elephants & Muay Thai boxing into the mix would make it different enough from Monk and add a unique model type to the game with the "Mahout" keyword (Thai word for elephant keeper).  Alternatively, you could go with the other culturally popular Asian concept that had not been touched on much in the lore: Mongolia! What does their horse culture look like now in the aftermath of the Black Powder Wars & a little touch of magic-tech? You could even have the minions be a group of prisoners on 50mm bases as the Kharash expendable front line troops in the ironically named "The Hoard" keyword of 4 models.

On the Resser front, what about that lady from The Dead Man's Ball story, Gwenifer Howell?  It could be her, her puppy as an Enforcer, and those annoying children in her neighborhood that we suspect are very dead by now. They could be non-combat sneaky scheming pieces, and she can bonus action summon only Mindless Zombies with a severe card because she's still not that good. She could be the Henchman of the "Amateur" keyword.

With Arcanists, they need that everyman. Not everyone in the resistance is a hardboiled criminal. Some are just doing what they can in the system to help without risking their lives; clerks, secretaries, accountants, etc... the paper pushers. "The Office" keyword would be just passively mess with the opponent's deck, like put the top card of the deck in the discard pile, and a resistance trigger that makes the attacker discard a card of their choice, or maybe a ranged distraction attack, all with Disgused, but none of them can actual deal any damage.

 

What say you? What's your Masterless Keyword Concepts?

[Cedar]

5 minutes ago, Jesy Blue said:

On the Resser front, what about that lady from The Dead Man's Ball story, Gwenifer Howell?  It could be her, her puppy as an Enforcer, and those annoying children in her neighborhood that we suspect are very dead by now. They could be non-combat sneaky scheming pieces, and she can bonus action summon only Mindless Zombies with a severe card because she's still not that good. She could be the Henchman of the "Amateur" keyword.

YESSS!!! I was hoping that in 3rd edition she becomes a Redchapel henchman for Seamus. I would be amazed if she was introduced in the future.

[Thatguy]

6 hours ago, Cedar said:

YESSS!!! I was hoping that in 3rd edition she becomes a Redchapel henchman for Seamus.

I hope not. It implies she got "Bad Things Happen"ed. 

Given that Nico helped her out, maybe she'll pick up the Mortuary key word.

[clockworkspide]

I'm still holding out hope they'll dust off Damian Ravencroft, someday.

[Adran]

3 hours ago, clockworkspide said:

I'm still holding out hope they'll dust off Damian Ravencroft, someday.

It only took about 8 years for them to get English Ivan into the game. There is still hope. 

 

[Jordon]

I'd love to see a return to Raethford in Arcanists. Yeah, yeah I know he's dead, but death is more of a minor inconvenience in Malifaux. It wouldn't take much to convince me of his return. 

For those who might be unaware. He used to have both December and M&SU keywords, which made him a really interesting character and one who could tie together some of the more loosely based allegiances. 

[Da Git]

On 5/12/2021 at 3:02 PM, clockworkspide said:

I'm still holding out hope they'll dust off Damian Ravencroft, someday.

Yes and no. While he is truly awesome, I already have my own converted Witch Hunters crew based around him. Although if he became an Outcasts master...

[fire5tone]

3 hours ago, Da Git said:

Yes and no. While he is truly awesome, I already have my own converted Witch Hunters crew based around him. Although if he became an Outcasts master...

I see him as more of a explorer/arcanist though now that you say that, outcast Damian could be funky