Malifaux Expansions

[ThePandaDirector]

This was inspired by the metal vs. plastic/resin debate. Tying into the whole idea of Wyrd's future plans and expansion - purely as conceptual wishlisting =]

I could see Wyrd expanding into at least two avenues - beyond small skirmish and board game. One would be an expansion on Malifaux, bringing it to the limit of its game size. Wyrd know clearly that people don't want it to go the route of Warmachine (i.e. 40K sized games). However, people will continue to buy Wyrd's models and as they buy more, perhaps single faction, perhaps multiples, they will have a collection that is in itself too big for Malifaux. Sure they have options, variety, some would say an advantage in certain scenarios, but it lends itself to expansion.

A game the size of perhaps small level LotR skirmish games, would be a great expansion to larger, but still personal, games of Malifaux. You can imagine about two dozen (plastic/resin) Guild Guards, 10 (resin) Death Marshals with 3 (resin/metal) Peacekeepers, some Austringers, an executioner and other individuals, led by Lady Justice and Judge, as she tries to bring a stop to Nicodem and Kirai who are trying to grab a powerful soulstone. But to get to them she has to fight through a horde of (plastic/resin) zombies, (resin) Onryo and numberless other (resin/metal) abominations. Or even the Ortegas, including additional members, numbering only about 8/9, surrounded by a "horde" of (plastic/resin) Nephilim as they try to get a train to work and drag their Nephilim prisoner to "safety". I mean is that not still Malifaux (?), with key characters still powerful (made somewhat more so*), but with an expanded population and ultimately expanded possibilities of awesome scenarios.

The other however would be completely different. Sure people will continue to buy Wyrd's great minis, but they also want to know more about the world of Malifaux, which is designed as vague to represent a ground level perspective. So why not let players fill in some gaps? =] A roleplay adventure game where players create their own Malifaux Adventurer. They would be similar to Masters (well more like Henchmen), but would be slightly less powerful with a skill tree attached to each of their specialisations. Wouldn't it be great to explore the sewers in search of hidden treasure, fighting rat swarms, crazed humans and even discarded Resurrectionist abominations. A multi-part plastic/resin/metal kit would mean players could create their own personal character and join their friends in filling in the Malifaux map with every adventure Ok, I get that that could be done without models, but it'd be 10x cooler with them and players could even have the option to bring their faction-orientated adventurer into games of Malifaux.

Yes this is all clearly wishlisting - I am a Daydream after all - and I don't really want a debate of whether it could happen (I already know that it very likely won't).

But what do people think? Would you like to be able to represent the larger engagements in Malifaux? Would telling the tale of how your very own Master rose to power be too wyrd to handle? Let me know what you think!

*Perhaps with some kind of set of Command actions allowing for expanded Companion rules and more complex chains of animation allowing for precisie individual actions and complex co-ordinated offensives.

[Huoshini]

Being an ex-GW fanboy, I really hope for something akin to a world wide campaign! for those of you who remember, the Eye of Terror, which was one of the funnest and most involved world wide gaming campaigns, ever. I really hope wyrd does something like this for Book 4 (since I assume Book 3 is already in the works).

I can already see a world map of malifaux, being able to select where we want to fight. Struggling for power between factions and creating a great story behind it. It dosen't have to be a campaign that would affect model rules, it could be a way to introduce new mechanics (like avataring a master) and to write some fluff generated by the results of the players!

[Cornelious1424]

I'm not a fan of bumping up the scale of the game. I understand the concept of just having too many options that you may never use, but I don't think having 15+ mods a side is really the answer. You can technically do it now by playing a really big brawl. The smaller, skirmish level/size is something that draws me to the current game.

The idea of a Malifaux RPG is something I would be interested in seeing. I was going through a thread a while back and someone tossed around the idea of playing as guild guard, or death marshals on patrol, or something like that. That's be cool.

A world wide campaign would be awesome! Given the nature of the fluff it would be really easy, too. All the characters have their own goals beyond the goals of their faction, which would make things really interesting.

[ThePandaDirector]

Increasing the game size would only be optional and as I see it Brawls need some extra streamlined rules to make them less effort (expand the comapanion rules. Done.) It seems more than fluffy to have the Ortegas being outnumbered 3 to 1. I just hate having to use the same scultps twice, with some being impossible to convert.

A campaign would be awesome, but my point is that no one knows much about Malifaux, the map itself is mostly blank - making a campaign map somewhat difficult. This is because Wyrd want players to know as much about it as the characters do. Sure Wyrd could expand it, and they will, but it would also be nice to allow players to explore it themselves.

Also, even though I love the characters in Malifaux, the one thing I loved about Warhammer (especially back in the Summer campaign days) was creating my own leader and expanding his story as my army developed. Now with Wyrd it would be less about "developing armies" and much more about "developing characters" which ultimately strengthens their base.

[Malcontent]

I love the idea of a story-diven campaign but I would definitely NOT want to see the size of the game increased – it is one of the main reasons I switched to Malifaux in the first place …the character driven aspect and it's a SKIRMISH sized game.

If I wanted to play something bigger I'd play an alternative game!

[ThePandaDirector]

I love the idea of a story-diven campaign but I would definitely NOT want to see the size of the game increased – it is one of the main reasons I switched to Malifaux in the first place …the character driven aspect and it's a SKIRMISH sized game.

If I wanted to play something bigger I'd play an alternative game!

But... but..

It'd still be a skirmish game, with the original 35ss type game still being one of the norms, in tounrament or otherwise. Brawls already fulfils large "non-skirmish" games, just that there is nothing to stabalise it.

But making 35ss vs. 70ss possible could open up even more character driven scenario based malihem*

*malihem - a strong concentration of unleashed wyrd in the world of Malifaux.

[rgtriplec]

Confrontation did something like you are talking about with Ragnarok(bigger) and Dogs of War (?)(smaller). Variety is generally good and having two or three separate ways to utilize figures makes them that much more attractive to avid gamers.

[dgraz]

I love the idea of a story-diven campaign but I would definitely NOT want to see the size of the game increased – it is one of the main reasons I switched to Malifaux in the first place …the character driven aspect and it's a SKIRMISH sized game.

If I wanted to play something bigger I'd play an alternative game!

Huge, huge, huge agreement here. I switched to Hordes because I was tired of the stupidly huge games GW was forcing down my throat. When the last version of Hordes came out and Privateer forced more infantry down my throat....well, I haven't played anything but Mali since.

[ThePandaDirector]

Huge, huge, huge agreement here. I switched to Hordes because I was tired of the stupidly huge games GW was forcing down my throat. When the last version of Hordes came out and Privateer forced more infantry down my throat....well, I haven't played anything but Mali since.

But Wyrd already know this... they know that people don't want to have to spend 300s on 100s of minis - everyone knows this...

I don't want to see Wyrd go to big games like Warmachine, Warhammer, etc. I don't want to have to pay 100s for minis that will only be on the table for one turn. What I do want is alternative sculpts for minions which simply won't happen for many, many years, unless they offered an expansion where players could fight Brawls that are actually fun and easy. Then they could easily provide boxes of 5/10 metal/resin Guild Guard made so that they could be converted easier.

Better (not bigger) Brawls does not equal discarding the character driven skirmish elements that people love about Malifaux. Similarly "expansion" does not necessarily mean "bigger" just fuller.

I want Malifaux to become deeper, not bigger.

[hakoMike]

Food for thought... what about games set in Malifaux that don't use the skirmish personalities (necessarily.) Sort of a "specialist" type game, a one-off, stand along type thing? Like, oh I dunno... a guild vs arcanist smuggling in the sewers game.... guild agents trying to stop soulstone smugglers.

Any thoughts?

[Cornelious1424]

I want Malifaux to become deeper, not bigger.

...that's what she said.

Idk about the whole having a box of 10 guys with a few different alternate sculpts. That seems like a GW, PP kind of thing, and if that were to happen with Wyrd, I'd start fearing for this game. It's a skirmish level game, and even in the fluff it's only a handful of guys fighting along side the given master/character. Unless it is a unique model, Wyrd does a good job by giving 2-4 alternate models anyway. I would not want to see a boxed unit with 3 sprues of crap I don't need for $50. That's when I find a new game.`

[Huoshini]

@hako: Thats what puppet wars is about! A diffrent setting contaiend in the malifaux universe

[ThePandaDirector]

Maybe 10 guys is too much, but then don't you play Gremlins? I personally hate Privateer Press' sculpt and packaging policy - 10 guys with like 5/6 alternative sculpts and then make it possible for you to field 50 of them. It's wrong and off putting in so many ways - hence why I (will eventually) play a 35pts Kraye 'jack army.

But 2 Guild Guard with 1 alternative in a crew box, 3 Belles with others.. possibly offering proxies, is just as bad in the opposite sense. I might care about my 4 Belles.. kind of.. but I'd care about them all the same if I could field 10 subtly different ones (box of 5, easily making 2 distinct minis out of each sculp). As for price, isn't resin (certain formulas at least) supposed to be cheaper? But nevermind that, unlike GW, Wyrd wouldn't be shoving these extra minis down peoples throats and then making rules that makes them easier to die.

Basically I took these two piecies of info 1) Brawls are long and tiresome 2) people would obviously love alternative sculpts, and voila! A Wyrd expansion would accomplish both - streamlined stability and sculpt variety. People who only want to play 35ss can do so as normal, but with every model being unique. If players want to have the odd Brawl at 70ss with 2 Masters they can do so and it wouldn't take all day. You can't tell me that you'd play Gremlins at 70ss and think that it doesn't need some streamlining. I don't play Brawls not because they're big but because they're not easy to play, they take up too much time. If I can have a 35ss Gremlin crew with every model being unique and the ability to convert doubles to expand that crew to 70ss, a game size that wasn't impossible with my crew, then I'd be happy.

But as I said, I'm a Daydream (a Daydream Panda Filmmaker really). If Wyrd released alternative sculpts, I'd be happy, if they streamlined Brawls in Book 4, I'd be happy. No need to reinvent the wheel to expand an innovation.

[pixelgeek]

Food for thought... what about games set in Malifaux that don't use the skirmish personalities (necessarily.) Sort of a "specialist" type game, a one-off, stand along type thing? Like, oh I dunno... a guild vs arcanist smuggling in the sewers game.... guild agents trying to stop soulstone smugglers.

Any thoughts?

I was actually thinking of something like a Necromunda or Mordheim campaign game that had a few generic Masters for each faction and let people play games against their opponents to get goods, booty and money to expand their crews.

Maybe steal a page from Strange Aeons and make it so each player didn't play their crew against their opponents crew but created a list of opponents for each game so that players were always fighting against a force that was the same point level as them.

[Chucklemonkey]

I like a lot of the ideas mentioned so far. I think a campaign using some generic charaters that gain experience a la Necromunda would be fantastic.

I am slightly torn on the larger type games. I wouldn't want units as such, but the idea of larger models such as stagecoaches or large steampunk arcanist machines would tempt me hugely.

[osoi]

For me one of teh main draws of Malifaux is the skirmish size games, yes I have ar too many minins to use at one time but thats my problem. I would really be interested in a RPG or other kind of 'use your own character' type of game in this setting. But keep the model count down.

[Hansel]

A game the size of perhaps small level LotR skirmish games, would be a great expansion to larger, but still personal, games of Malifaux. You can imagine about two dozen (plastic/resin) Guild Guards, 10 (resin) Death Marshals with 3 (resin/metal) Peacekeepers, some Austringers, an executioner and other individuals, led by Lady Justice and Judge, as she tries to bring a stop to Nicodem and Kirai who are trying to grab a powerful soulstone. But to get to them she has to fight through a horde of (plastic/resin) zombies, (resin) Onryo and numberless other (resin/metal) abominations. Or even the Ortegas, including additional members, numbering only about 8/9, surrounded by a "horde" of (plastic/resin) Nephilim as they try to get a train to work and drag their Nephilim prisoner to "safety". I mean is that not still Malifaux (?), with key characters still powerful (made somewhat more so*), but with an expanded population and ultimately expanded possibilities of awesome scenarios.

That game would take waaaay too long to play. Malifaux works at the scale it does because each model is super-complex. When you bump up the model count that high, it'd become overly complex and kinda exhausting (I think).

However, if Wyrd someday released some rules that covered the above scenario, and changed how models work in said scenario such that it was faster (like PP did with their Unbound rules), that could be cool. I'd just be sad if I went to the FLGS and that level was all that people played.

When you keep the core game small, you keep it beginner friendly.

[Hansel]

Food for thought... what about games set in Malifaux that don't use the skirmish personalities (necessarily.) Sort of a "specialist" type game, a one-off, stand along type thing? Like, oh I dunno... a guild vs arcanist smuggling in the sewers game.... guild agents trying to stop soulstone smugglers.

Any thoughts?

This. Except it's a board game.

I think a good Malifaux board game could go a long way: all of us would buy it, and a lot of non-minis gamers would, too, if it were any good.

Heck, Wyrd could even license it out to FFG or something.

I'd kind of like to see an RPG, as well, but it would have to be done carefully (to please me, anyway ;P). It couldn't be "kill stuff, get experience, level up". (look at Indie RPGs, Wyrd).

[thought trauma]

an intial draw to the game was the fact that it is a skirmish level miniature game playable in an hour, few models, easily portable

[Drake]

I'd be happy for 2 things..

1. For a decent Campaign system. not necessarily map based, although that would be awesome, but just a system to use. E.g. win a game, next game you start with a bag of soulstones in your deployment zone. An Experience system incorporated into this would be cool too. I love Necromunda for the addictive nature of developing your gang. Could something similar be done for a crew in Malifaux?

2. A more structured and fun way of playing multi player games. i.e. 3 or 4 player games where every man/woman is out for themselves, not a tag team Brawl. Quite often their is a 3rd person wanting to play a game without an opponent, and although you can play 3 way game, the mechanics of the schemes/strategies are not aligned for that type of set-up. So yeah a simple way to manage ideally 3 way, but by default 4 way too.

[osoi]

I'd be happy for 2 things..

1. For a decent Campaign system. not necessarily map based, although that would be awesome, but just a system to use. E.g. win a game, next game you start with a bag of soulstones in your deployment zone. An Experience system incorporated into this would be cool too. I love Necromunda for the addictive nature of developing your gang. Could something similar be done for a crew in Malifaux?

2. A more structured and fun way of playing multi player games. i.e. 3 or 4 player games where every man/woman is out for themselves, not a tag team Brawl. Quite often their is a 3rd person wanting to play a game without an opponent, and although you can play 3 way game, the mechanics of the schemes/strategies are not aligned for that type of set-up. So yeah a simple way to manage ideally 3 way, but by default 4 way too.

Both good ideas.

As for multiplayer games the few that I have had we have basically played either shred claim jump or shared treasure hunt and they have been fun games that you still need to think about

[Drake]

Both good ideas.

As for multiplayer games the few that I have had we have basically played either shred claim jump or shared treasure hunt and they have been fun games that you still need to think about

Yeah, some strategies work ok and those 2 are good examples. Same could be said for Reconnoiter, but others dont work too well, like Slaughter, as you have 2/3 opponents to compare with, and what happens with the middle scoring player? Line in the Sand too, with attacker and defender..and 3rd player?...

Some way of having greater variety of playable games, or atleast a way of clearly identifying those games that are appropriate for multiplayer games would really help.

[Malcontent]

It was months/years playing Necromunda that hooked me into Malifaux, so the idea of covering multiplayer games in more depth would be most welcome.

We are already planning a story/character driven campaign with our games here – revolving the story around a single Master and the crews and individuals he/she comes up again during their quest – so anything developed along those lines would be great. I also want to translate a map-based campaign I did for 40k some years ago.

As for alternative sculpts, I'm not too concerned. There are very few models that require multiples and, as Ratty has demonstrated with his fantastic Kirai crew, alternatives can be achieved with a few cuts and a bit of greenstuff (or unique sculpts if that's your thing).

Alt sculpts of the masters is something that could be interesting in the future as limited/special editions.

[edonil]

I'd love to see something with more generic characters. Don't get me wrong, I love the characters this game is based around, and I love the fact that it is based around characters. But, I do miss the idea of making my own characters. That said, anyone want to work on creating some generic henchmen templates and start adapting the Mordheim/ Necromunda experience systems? I think I'd be able to find a few people locally to play test it...

[Drake]

example generic stat line:

W4/C6, Ht 2, Wp 4, Ca 4, Df 4, Wd 5,

Cb depending on weapon but average starting weapon should prob be Cb4 for melee (range 1") and ranged (range 8").

No Triggers or bonus actions or spells. Just basic model.

You could then earn soulstones during a campaign that you can spend on recruiting more minions, or buying them better weapons. Maybe something along the line of: At end of game flip a card. gain 0ss for a weak, 1ss for a moderate and 2ss for a severe. Either Joker for 3ss. If you last the game you get a single negative flip, draw a nuetral flip, won a single positive flip.

You could gain experience towards gaining new abilities and triggers and spells, say by completing in game strategies/schemes and killing enemy models.

You could suffer stat decreases/negative actions like slow based on in game deaths. Again based on flip. so if your model is killed in the game, flip a card end of game. Black Joker permanently dead (Use Soulstone user can reflip) weak suffer ability negative like Slow, moderate suffer stat decrease, severe suffer no impedement. Red Joker gain something like terrifying.

Some initial thoughts anyway....any comments, suggestions or further ideas?