Your mission, if you choose to accept it...

[thetang22]

Here was my first concept sketch I did yesterday afternoon at the end of work:

http://wyrd-games.net/photopost/uploads/1302/train_warband_concept_sketch_1.jpg

I realized that the characters don't really have much flavor to them - they don't really look like they fit into the Wyrd world. That's why I had what I think is a revelation this morning, but I'll go more into that in a little bit.

The general idea was to have 5 characters: The engineer, the fireman, the conductor, the ticket collector, and then Miss Clara Lindypose (a fancy belle with a lot of money that runs a side operation with the train crew).

The side operation:

Miss Clara Lindypose is a wealthy woman that wanted to see Malifaux and the raw side of life. She had enough money that she could buy a luxury ticket back and forth to experience Malifaux. She soon became a regular on the train and found that she had a profound influence over the crew because of her beauty.

Many people want to get to Malifaux for a variety of reasons (curiosity, opportunity, greed, etc...). Miss Clara Lindypose realized this and saw an opportunity of her own. She knew the train was ran by the Guild, and that the crew were officially bound by that, but what if she could use her profound influence to corrupt their system and bring in her own secret side operation: Providing people not approved by the Guild with passage through the Breach. Her scheme - it is a one way ticket, but they don't know that. If they want to come back, it would cost them a much larger sum than the trip into Malifaux.

The Crew is definitely Guild on the surface, but they've got their own little side operation that is very much against Guild rules. Miss Clara Lindypose would also claim to being a member of the Guild for reputation's sake, but she is rather just an opportunist at heart, and indifferent about the Guild.

So anyway, the so-called revelation. I mentioned that stylistically, the characters are a little boring and don't look like they have that Wyrd factor. So I started to think about what style makes something Wyrd? I thought about it and in general, the models take fairly tame ideas from real life or fantasy/fairy tales and put some sort of bizarre twist on them.

As I was walking into work this morning, it hit me - Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (er...4, in this case). Miss Clara Lindypose is like a corrupt twisted version of Snow White, and the crew could be her dwarves. They would all still have the same costumes that they would otherwise have if they weren't the dwarves (some in rough clothes, others in the fancy outfits, like the conductor) but it would be a nice bizarre twist on them to have a "not so good intentioned" side operation. The original Snow White and her dwarves were very good people at heart, but Miss Clara Lindypose is Snow White's evil twin

[thetang22]

oh yeah, I forgot to mention gameplay.....

I haven't got much of a chance to think about it yet, but I figure the fundamentals of this group are a couple of things: Transportation, speed, etc...

I figure they would have abilities that would manipulate these things - being able to alter and manipulate the location of the figures on the board, being able to speed up or slow down the pace for the different minis. Miss Clara Lindypose could have some sort of charm spell to reflect her innate ability to do such.

I don't see this group as being a power house group, but rather a group that would take a lot of finesse to play effectively. However, if you could play them with finesse, you could really screw over your opponent by messing up their strategies through timing and placement.

[jwatto1]

they are great concept sketches, i love the big spaner under his arm, a common insignia running through their trinkery and cloething could tie them together with their diviant intentions, mabey something representing the guild with a twist, some icon hiden in their insignia ? snow white had an apple but it could be representing the apple of discord that eris(plz corect my spelling on that if wrong)possesed.

[Jabberwocky]

Holy cats, Tang--those are great!

[thetang22]

Here is a new concept of the dwarf fireman. From the beginning I thought it would be funny if this character was puny compared to the engineer, and that he was struggling with every single scoop. After looking at the 7 dwarves, Dopey seemed too perfect not to base it off of him. I figured a grizzled, strained-looking Dopey would fit the bill just fine.

http://wyrd-games.net/photopost/uploads/1302/engine_fireman.jpg

hmm, which character to concept sketch next...

edit - I just thought of another angle to take with a warband that has to do with the train: A Train gang - like the old west ones that would ransack trains and sneak passage on them in the empty box cars. This one could be dedicated to trying to ambush the train for soulstones. Now that I think about that, I guess that's already been touched at in one of the stories of the e-zine vol. 2

Edited August 22, 2008 by thetang22

[demonherald]

That's great full of fun.. I like him....

[Deadman]

The one idea I came up with is a native american themed group. You could have a shaman and minions that are spirit forms (wolf, eagle, bear ect...) Maybe a beasty that looks like a totem? I'm just throwing out the idea I haven't really done any background/fluff for it. It's here for ya if you fellas want to steal it.:bandit:

[demonherald]

I like that idea too I put it on a wish list a while back.. seems with all the cowboys running round we need a few indians....

[Huffdogg]

As the new inhabitants of Malifaux range further from the Breach in search of more soulstones, they encounter a strange new phenomenon in the wilds outside their newly restored city. Scouting expeditions have straggled back into the city, often missing several of their original complement, with wild stories about packs of wild nomads, led by children, with twisted mutants as their shocktroops and gruesome monstrosities as their bodyguards.

The truth behind these stories lies in the untrained use of the magical energies of the world. Although the settlement on Malifaux was decimated by the Neverborn a century ago, a slim few humans who were either away from the city during the slaughter or were cunning enough to escape managed not only to evade the nightmare creatures, but also to eke out a meager life for themselves in the wilds of this strange world. Over time, without the trappings of civilization to preserve their knowledge, the formal structure of their use of magic began to dwindle. Interestingly, however, the practice of magic among them did not diminish. Like most facets of their new lives as nomads and refugees, they began to rely less on science and education and more on instinct and improvisation. What they found was that the magical energies of this strange world were strong enough that they could be tapped by sheer force of will, without the use of ritual spell structures and symbols of power. The price, however, they could not have anticipated.

Over time, the wanton use of this magic without the control of forces granted by the formulae of the Arcanists will wrack and ruin the mind and body of a human. The people of these nomad bands, over years, found themselves prone to develop strange mutations. They never thought to link these changes to the use of magic; the people always assumed some disease or contaminant was responsible for the changes that ravaged them. Their children, however, remained unaffected. While adults sprouted third limbs, extra eyes, or even wyrder physical changes, their young ones showed no signs of similar mutations.

It takes years of this careless magic use to take its toll on a person, but eventually it does claim all such practicioners. Slowly, the society of the nomads was altered to cope with their new situation. The children, those still unaffected by the degradation of this "strange disease," became the rulers of the nomad clans, as their elders were too twisted in mind and body to be allowed the mantle of leadership. The resulting culture is one as whimsical and capricious as only a world run by children can be. The adults, often reduced to little more than beasts by the toll that magic has taken on them, are tasked entirely with the satisfaction of their childrens' random desires. The only magic left to them is the raw stuff of primal and rudimentary instinct; they are capable of fierce bursts of raw offensive energy and reflexive defense measures, but little else. Indeed, they seem to often forget that they are even capable of magic, as hunting parties will swarm a prospective meal like wolves, using physical means to surround and capture their prey. Only when they are lost in the thrill of a fight, when their instincts take over, do their remaining magical abilities lash out.

The children, however, can often call upon wild and fantastical magics, as their power is limited only by the amount of energy that can be channeled through their small bodies and the bounds of their imaginations. Usually these manifestations reflect the simple and straightforward mentality of the young ones; fantastical creatures called from thin air as companions and defenders, or elemental fury brought forth to smite those who displease them.

Those who displease them seem to include the new residents of Malifaux, and particularly those who would venture into the wilds in search of new soulstone deposits. The Minutemen, as they have been nicknamed, view all of the wilds of the world as their territory, since they remain a nomadic culture, and will fall upon unwary explorers with all the fury of a selfish child if they are found "tresspassing."

[demonherald]

nice .......

[Keltheos]

Huff's good like that.

[Huffdogg]

The idea I had for the Minutemen falls into a couple of layers. Firstly, the idea of the name Minutemen was a play on the word "minute" in both its forms, referring to the "little" kids being in charge AND the idea that time was not on their side. I had a sort of "night of the living dead meets children of the corn" thing in my head for how they'd look at first, but then it made the adults seem more like something that's already in the game. Now I'm thinking more like just very feral people who might have lived too close to a nuclear test site . Unsure if I'd try to put too much emphasis on actual game effects of the physical mutations, but it would be neat if they had a chance to semi-randomly add some magic damage to any attack or throw up some magic defense against attacks targeting them, as a way of portraying their sort of instinctual reflexive use of what magic they have left. Then you could have any variety of potential "spectral" or "conjured" beasties that the kids could call upon, and maybe some cool geomancy type spells they could use. I had also considered that maybe some of the adults get freakishly mutated to the point that they serve as big hulking bodyguard types, or maybe something like the crazy Ogre that fights with the immortals in 300. Anyhow, just ideas.

[Huffdogg]

Huff's good like that.

I have my moments.

(hey kel!)

[Jabberwocky]

Great thoughts, there Huff--as I was reading it, Lord of the Flies came to mind.

[Nightgoblin]

What do you think about an airplane-crew. One female pilot, a male one and three crew members.

Background is quite open, because they don' know how the reached Malifaux. They flew their airplane, got in an 'magic' hole went through time, space or dimensions (or all of it) and broke down in Malifaux.

Their mission is to find a way back home...

[thetang22]

What do you think about an airplane-crew. One female pilot, a male one and three crew members.

Background is quite open, because they don' know how the reached Malifaux. They flew their airplane, got in an 'magic' hole went through time, space or dimensions (or all of it) and broke down in Malifaux.

Their mission is to find a way back home...

Sounds like a combination of Lost and Star Trek.

[Huffdogg]

not to punch holes in your idea, but isn't it not very hard to get back Earthside now?

[Hinton]

not to punch holes in your idea, but isn't it not very hard to get back Earthside now?

The Breach between Earthside and Malifaux is controlled by the Guild. While it is possible to travel between the two places, it is...difficult...if you're not Guild (and even then you have to be kind of special).

[Huffdogg]

Ahhh that was my misunderstanding then. As you were.

[ThunderhawkerMinis]

Given that the breach is by far the most valuable thing in Malifaux, it would stand to reason that the guild would have those whose sole purpose is the security of the breach as well as the railhead. Thus, my concept for you:

Rail Knights - Armored Close Combat specialists. They not only secure the breach and rails, but investigate and eliminate threats to them. Their armor is an ingenious steam driven supplement to already formidable skills. Further, that armor is a part of them, and as such is all but irremovable (think steam powered cyborgs... steamborgs if you will). While trained in the use of ranged weapons, they far prefer to be up close and personal where their armor and skills best suit them. While they are not fast by any standards as far as ground coverage they make up for it by being able to take it as well as they can dish it out... probably better.

That is the rough concept. I have some sketches that I will get up before long. And fear not, despite the steam power, they look nothing at all like war machine-esque characters.

[thetang22]

Given that the breach is by far the most valuable thing in Malifaux, it would stand to reason that the guild would have those whose sole purpose is the security of the breach as well as the railhead. Thus, my concept for you:

Rail Knights - Armored Close Combat specialists. They not only secure the breach and rails, but investigate and eliminate threats to them. Their armor is an ingenious steam driven supplement to already formidable skills. Further, that armor is a part of them, and as such is all but irremovable (think steam powered cyborgs... steamborgs if you will). While trained in the use of ranged weapons, they far prefer to be up close and personal where their armor and skills best suit them. While they are not fast by any standards as far as ground coverage they make up for it by being able to take it as well as they can dish it out... probably better.

That is the rough concept. I have some sketches that I will get up before long. And fear not, despite the steam power, they look nothing at all like war machine-esque characters.

I like it.

I could actually see a confrontation happening between Miss Clara Lindypose and her dwarves with your steam knights when they find out what they are doing...the makings of a little inner-guild drama!

[invictus]

Ok, the idea of a plane crew is good, but maybe the some kind of baloon, or zepellin?... a magical zepellin crew,

Also, somebody mentioned Indians...

And maybe some people who can bend time/space continuum with the help of magic...

[Huffdogg]

RE: Indians. It's interesting to rattle my brain cells against each other and fiddle with the idea of what an indigenous race with the cultural characteristics of Native Americans would end up like in a world like Malifaux...

[ThunderhawkerMinis]

Well being "creatures" of nature, you could very easily take that a few steps further into the humanoid/animal realm. Bison, Horses, Deer, Wolves, etc.

[Huffdogg]

Ya I was thinking a very earth-magic type of native culture, maybe something more like Australian aboriginal to fit the old west/post-apoc sort of feel that parts of Malifaux has. Dreamtime-style magic usage that lets them do some sort of teleporting, synergy with the earth that allows them to move really quickly on foot, etc maybe?