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Malifaux: the RPG?


Wurmwood

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I realize Wyrd has A LOT on their plate already with Malifaux and Puppet Wars, but considering the rich and vibrant world they've created, it seems like an RPG would be a no-brainer at some point.

I just hope we aren't limited to which factions we can play (like so many other games that only let you play as the perceived "good guy").

Any thoughts?

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I think, given the wheelings and dealings of Malifaux, a Guard and an Arcanist might end up strange bedfellows. Outcast-centric plots might be the best way to go if players cannot agree on a faction.

I don't think it would be so.

After all, Ramos is an upstanding Citizen in the Guild eyes, they only view him as the head on the union, not as some Arcanist scum. (unless you've read Twisting Fates, but not all of them think that)

and Sonnia isn't exactly one of the guild favorites anyway.

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I don't think it would be so.

After all, Ramos is an upstanding Citizen in the Guild eyes, they only view him as the head on the union, not as some Arcanist scum. (unless you've read Twisting Fates, but not all of them think that)

and Sonnia isn't exactly one of the guild favorites anyway.

The Guild seems quite aware of Ramos' activities, going in so far as to create an entire office to deal with him (after Sonnia got retconned out as his nemesis). They just know going after the head of the Union is a difficult prospect. They have to be subtle.

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I've run Malifaux in D&D.

All you need to do to run a game as an RPG is fluff!

But ideally the mechanics echo the fluff in some way (eg. "Bad Things Happen" ==> Black Joker), and the card mechanic is such a signature element of Malifaux players will want to see it feature in some form or another.
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But ideally the mechanics echo the fluff in some way (eg. "Bad Things Happen" ==> Black Joker), and the card mechanic is such a signature element of Malifaux players will want to see it feature in some form or another.

You can replicate it pretty easily with a d20.

You roll a 1, and then reroll. If the reroll is less than 16, Black Joker!

The math is virtually identical.

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I will take your word for it (numbers are not my forte) :) But would you not rather have cards instead of dice for a Malifaux RPG?

You could easily replicate it by using the D20 system, tweaking target numbers to represent the chance of 1-13(14) instead of 1-20, and giving people a control hand for each "scene".

Or just play Deadlands.

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For an RPG? Fffff$$$$$$$$ no. At least not replacing dice entirely. It's almost a logistical nightmare already in Malifaux, I love the card mechanic.
I am not seeing it - can you elaborate? It has been a while since I played any RPGs.

That said, miniatures games are very dice-heavy, and they survived the substitution of dice with cards. So are RPGs more dice-heavy than minis games these days or is there something else I am missing here?

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I am not seeing it - can you elaborate? It has been a while since I played any RPGs.

That said, miniatures games are very dice-heavy, and they survived the substitution of dice with cards. So are RPGs more dice-heavy than minis games these days or is there something else I am missing here?

Think about being a Dungeon Master (Or in Malifaux, a Rules Tyrant). You have a horde of Zombies about to attack the players. Each player had their own fate deck. Your deck is spread over 5 monsters. Each turn depletes the deck at five times the rate of each player. This means that most encounters are going to allow you to cycle through your entire deck. With an almost guaranteed access to 14, 13, 13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12, 12, 11, 11, 11, 11 each encounter, you stand a much better chance of wiping out your players than they do of winning.

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Think about being a Dungeon Master (Or in Malifaux, a Rules Tyrant). You have a horde of Zombies about to attack the players. Each player had their own fate deck. Your deck is spread over 5 monsters. Each turn depletes the deck at five times the rate of each player. This means that most encounters are going to allow you to cycle through your entire deck. With an almost guaranteed access to 14, 13, 13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12, 12, 11, 11, 11, 11 each encounter, you stand a much better chance of wiping out your players than they do of winning.

Well you could write rules for the Rules Tyrant that work differently then for players. Maybe he flips cards for entire hoards of monsters.

Or maybe go with a radical approach and have the Rules Tyrant not have any cards at all. Keep the random element entirely on the players end of the table.

Its doable to use cards(not saying its easy though)

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Well you could write rules for the Rules Tyrant that work differently then for players. Maybe he flips cards for entire hoards of monsters.

Or maybe go with a radical approach and have the Rules Tyrant not have any cards at all. Keep the random element entirely on the players end of the table.

Its doable to use cards(not saying its easy though)

I've devoted a lot of time to trying to solve the problem in a satisfactory manner. I'm unconvinced that it's impossible, but the solution seems really complicated. More so than it seems worth to keep the card mechanic. A hybrid system involving dice and cards would be the way I'd go. Not the original Deadlands version, as that was pretty broken.

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Not the original Deadlands version, as that was pretty broken.

Blasphemy! Actually as someone who ran a lot of Deadlands and Hell on Earth I can tell you that the system is great for players but a huge pain for the Marshal. Mass combat was basically impossible. :)

That being said here is an idea for a hybrid system. We use dice for checks like normal, but everyone gets a hand of 6 cards at the beginning of each session(even the Rules Tyrant). They can use those cards to "cheat fate" and alter there dice rolls, or possible use them to activate special abilities they may have.

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Blasphemy! Actually as someone who ran a lot of Deadlands and Hell on Earth I can tell you that the system is great for players but a huge pain for the Marshal. Mass combat was basically impossible. :)

That being said here is an idea for a hybrid system. We use dice for checks like normal, but everyone gets a hand of 6 cards at the beginning of each session(even the Rules Tyrant). They can use those cards to "cheat fate" and alter there dice rolls, or possible use them to activate special abilities they may have.

I had thought about a 2d8 system. Each dice, instead of being 1-8, was numbered 0-7. A 0-14 scale. Malifaux! The only problem is that the chances of getting a Black Joker (0-0) or a Red Joker (7-7) do not match the likelihood of doing so under the card deck.

Oh, and a 1d4 for Suit.

EDIT: FFFFFFFFF... I've been doing the math wrong this whole time. The chance of pulling a Black Joker and Rolling 0-0 are within .03%.

Edited by Jonas Albrecht
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