Overactive RPG Vision

I don't know if this happens with anybody else but hear me out: When I walk out of a cinema after enjoying a film I really enjoyed watching, I get this sense of still being in the film. Say for example: Limitless, the film about a guy who pops a tic-tac and suddenly his brain starts working at it's maximum potential. I enjoyed the film and I walked out with the clarity of my memory being fairly okay following wild daydreams of the day I could learn the Violin in under a week and a fleeting moment of perceptive clarity of my surroundings. The film stayed briefly with me and started getting inside my head for 30 or so minutes afterwards. 
The same can be said for games. When I was playing a lot of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, I would walk around a shopping center and start plotting out climbing paths in my mind, I would go to London and start scanning the city sky line for routes I could climb.

Now I'm very much aware that I can't handle a solitary chin-up, let alone hang by my finger tips 200 meters in the air with my next move being that "wtf are you doing mate?" of leaping upward and catching a ledge the size of a finger nail without the hint of falling. I know this but with playing a game like Prince of Persia or the latest Nathan Drake epic, I see the world in a different way altered by these experiences.

Tabletop Roleplaying games have effected me in much the same way only instead of the world, I'm seeing many decisions in film making being told in an RPG sense. Guardians of the Galaxy is my primary example of this. 
Peter Quill is first introduced (after the backstory introduction) stealing a mysterious orb, using a knowledge check followed by a successful thief check he obtains it but alas! He is caught by guards, Quill then crit-fails a convince check ("Starlord, man") and through a series of quick thinking and lucky rolls escapes the guards and avoiding huge damage to his ship.

I see the whole movie like this, a series of player interactions, skill checks and obvious nat 20s and crit-fails. Arguments at the table, players following others because.. well they have to right?

 and the GM allowing certain players to do silly stuff that would get them killed. You saw what happened to Drax when he tried to solo Ronan, he got his clock cleaned but because the GM didn't want the player to create another character, made sure that Drax didn't die. When Groot sacrificed himself, the GM decided that the player made such a great unique character with game breaking flaws that he was given an out.

This undeniably is easier to do in team movies with multiple characters. X-men, Guardians, Avengers, easy to RPG-ify. What about my second favorite film of all time: Versus? For the all of you that don't have a clue what this movie is or about: Criminals are in a forest shooting zombies then ends with a climatic battle between brothers that fight every 500 years because the same group is reincarnated to meet, for reasons. If you don't mind Japanese B-Movies, it's a fantastic film and the reason I have stills of the film tattoo'd on my arms. 
The intro involves two orange clad criminals running through the woods, sprinting at high speeds, falling and rolling but continuing on until they reach a road. The two argue for a while until a small convoy of two cars and a bike appears. Without going into the whole plot, a 2-player RPG could easily be built around this premise and with the writing the way it is, you could easily see the movie being ripped from an RPG session.

Almost all films or series I happen to watch nowadays have this RPG film wrapped over them due to my near-constant day dreaming of new story lines and events. Being that the whole point of role-playing is story driven decisions with random elements thrown in to create tension, this isn't exactly a difficult endeavor. It's a lot harder to equate say Yahtzee or Texas Hold 'Em Poker to real life or film situations for instance but in my mind it makes for story inspiration and a (sometimes) imaginary look behind the scenes of how certain elements in films play out.

A montage is pretty much the GM going "Whilst you wait for the BBEG to arrive, this happens" surely?
Schwarzenegger never running out of ammo and taking down a whole army is little more than a high level character and a tired GM right?
Sean Bean always dying is a player with a horrid losing streak maybe?
Jason Statham is a min/maxer who never role plays but rather "Roll"plays is clear as day.

Maintain that childlike imagination and have fun out there

The Cards Against Humanity Effect

I once went to a gaming cafe for an MMO meet-up and after the thrill of getting 40-odd strangers together with nothing more than a guild in common with each other we all sort of settled down into our cliques and waited the day out. One group called out that familiar "Who wants to play Cards Against Humanity!?" to which quarter of the room joined in with what was a fuster-cluck of a game where half of the 10 players couldn't hear what was going on and completely dis-regarded the end game in favor of getting those shining moments.

You know the moments right? The moments that you will share later on in geeky discussions as part of a round table of funny memories. The moments you share out whenever you talk about your favorite games with like-minded people. Cards Against Humanity is built around this factor, its the whole game. A certain black card comes down and suddenly you're back to the day you first slapped down the greatest white card ever and the whole table gasped in "I shouldn't laugh but I am" horror and for those glorious 15 seconds, you were the worst human being in the room.

Now, I hate Cards Against Humanity but I can respect it's effect. I hate it because it is a game without end and it's very much a game that's waiting for the card combos that get highlighted whenever other groups play it. "Winning the game" doesn't matter as much as "What's the most horrible &/or funniest random white card I have". I've played MTG multiplayer games that went on for 6 hours where no one was winning or progressing to end-game, I've played Apocalypse 40K games that lasted FOREVER and quite frankly, I've done my time. Playing a game that doesn't end simply stops being fun for me and it dilutes the simple joy of tabletop gaming.

What I can respect though is the Cards Against Humanity effect, where a game becomes more than just a decent way to spend time. RPGs are ruthless in this regard, as are most tabletop games where special moments are collected in one's mind and are brought forward by geeky discussions and continue to multiply with each proceeding game.
A Munchkin game where my friend ended up with 3 arms that were holding a total of three one-handed weapons and another 2 handed weapon (Due to the "Cheating" card) and absolutely wreaking everything in his path with no way to screw him over.
Take Malifaux, where the Red Joker absolutely saved or ruined a game, those times where a Black joker has occurred only to turn into the Red Joker because the attack still got through or how a certain upgrade made one model an absolute beast against a certain opposing model. 
My recent games of AMP where my friend's character "Dr Chaos" in a chase scene I lovingly crafted as a finale to a session was ended by him dumping all resources into an attack then crit'ed that MOFO rendering the THREE trucks Two-Dimensional by sheer power of Force Blast. A fine way to end a day of critical fails and subsequent dice shaming.
My Gf's character "Dr Hu" (Yes, jokes were made) in the session before that rained down hot death in a basement brawl. She managed to roll really high steamrolling my difficulty modifiers thus enabling her to stab a needle directly into a clones brain via eardrum. Next turn managing to tear said needle from this guys ear, ripping through another clone's jugular and ending the needle stabbed into a third clone's face.

(Pro-tip, if my Gf ever has free reign to do anything without consequence, don't piss her off.)

It's these stories that stay in our mind and proliferate in our discussions of gaming memories with friends and strangers alike. These creations of nothing more than our own imaginations getting a jump-start from rule sets and game designers; something you don't get in such magnitude from video games or movies. It's a great thing that stimulates the mind when you get together again with friends old and new. This is what, in my mind, makes C.A.H such a resounding force of getting complete strangers to get together, that simple joy of sitting down and creating "happy" memories.

That and generally allowing everyone to be an awful person without consequence or blame. "What would Grandma find disturbing, yet oddly charming?"  "Big Black Dick" What? It's Cards against Humanity!

Don't let the demons get out and have fun out there.

Where I explain why I'm such a Hipster

A friend asked me a question the other day: 
"Why are you so against playing Pathfinder?" 
He asked assuming that I'm a hipster who avoids popular media (Kind of true). My answer was thus:

"I'm not against Pathfinder (or D&D etc etc) if there's a game running and I can make it I'm in. The thing is, is that I Know that Pathfinder is good. I want to experience other systems and find out if they are as good, or if I'm being hopeful, better."

This is true for most of the media preferences I consume (As in RPGs, Anime, Fantasy novels and some games, depending on price naturally), I will find myself walking into a shop and literally judging a book by it's cover. 

...and by that I mean reading over the synopsis.

As shallow as it is (and it is) if you want to get me to buy your product you need to hit 3 criteria:
1./ A reasonable price
2./ Some well-done artwork
3./ An excellently worded synopsis without going all 'buy this buzz-words'

Some of my favorite books and anime I've found by this process, where they hit those 3 points and I've picked them up. If I had looked up reviews of "Speed Grapher" or Scott Lynch's "The Lies of Locke Lamora" beforehand, I might have not gave them a second glance. This is because I enjoy the risk of trying something out without the hands of preview chapters, PDFs or Netflix tainting my view of it. If I've put down £20-£30 on something, I'm at the very least going to complete the experience rather than the Netflix problem of having no reason to continue if the first 10 minutes didn't capture me. 
For example: Paranoia Agent, an anime I had no knowledge of before buying has THE SLOWEST START to an anime I've ever witnessed, the opening is weird and if not for putting down £30-ish quid I would have left it early on.  I continued to watch though, through the box set and suddenly the anime opened up and the preceding story made a lot more sense and foreshadowed following events and I was struck with the euphoric moment of "I'm so glad I kept watching!". 
Had I stuck to watching the well-known and popular titles, I would watch them saying that yeah, they're okay; I wouldn't have that fist bump moment because the hype surrounding it has peaked to the point of hating it or loving it because of it's over-exposure before even viewing it.

Undertale I've never played nor wish to at this point. I KNOW it's an amazing game and the internet has done a fine job of making sure everybody knows about the last boss or the opening scene or the scenes in-between ("Don't you dare kill Goat Mum"). With so much attention, it's now impossible to go into Undertale blind unless you simply do not have internet access.

This of course extends to tabletop miniatures as well, with the caveat that people in my area need to be playing the game for me to invest a lot of time into into it. With 40k I could have gone Space Marines and won more games but again, I knew they were good, I wanted to see if the other factions were any good as well. Try being a modern 40k player without consulting MEQ stats (Marine equivalent) for every single model choice you make and understand that I didn't foresee it being fun to play the faction that everyone assumes the opposing player is playing. In my whole time playing 40k I only faced Eldar and Orcs once, every other time it was Marines, it's boring. 
With Malifaux it's less apparent now because unless one is strictly keeping to one faction, players are likely to gather any crew they enjoy the mechanics of so a power fence isn't brought up to face that one faction that everybody plays. Luckily Malifaux doesn't have 'The one Awesome faction'; one could argue Guild, but then someone will pipe up and say Neverborn then behind that person, another player will say Outcast, then in the back an old veteran tells everyone in the room the tales of that time he faced Gremlins etc etc
But I still went in relatively blind and chose the Ice Mage because I have a fondness for Ice Magics.

D&D, Pathfinder and the RPGs everybody "knows" is at a point where anybody interested in playing a tabletop RPG knows it's good and likely wants to play it first because "I don't want to waste my time on something bad" but here's the thing: With the right GM who

knows the rules and manages them seamlessly into a story, it doesn't matter if you're throwing D6s, D20s, D100s or playing Jenga. What it well and truly boils down to with many RPGs is what you character creation options are and the mood of game you're playing. For me, I'm looking for a good time, not to narrow my options down to the global opinion that X, Y & Z RPGs are the only ones worth playing.

To go back to my friend's original question, I don't shy away from the cool kid's games and media because I hate them or have a disliking towards them necessarily. I have a un-healthy amount of love for Bleach, Fight Club is my most favorite and most watched film of all time and I really enjoy the current Marvel Cinematic universe. My point was to my friend was that I don't want to simply find the mass majority thing that the world has agreed on is the best ever awesomesauce and add to the pile, I want to find the stuff that people haven't necessarily found or maybe have skimmed over due to the other brands hype. Hell, I'm not even doing that really, what I like doing is taking a risk on the unknown and finding out for myself if it's worth my time and something I enjoy. Again, some of my favorite books and anime were found by me skimming a synopsis and dropping some pocket money on them, I wouldn't be playing AMP right now if not for randomly picking it up next to Feng Shui 2. It's the simple joy of Discovery.

Make sure life is exciting and have fun out there.

Ending the Tale Early

I had high hopes for the Shifting Loyalties campaign. Even with the bad fan-fiction, it was a joy to work out my writing muscles and I do love a Slow Grow.
Things don't always go how one plans however, adding more rules to an otherwise well thought out system, at the start, sounded good. It got the creative juices flowing in terms of narrative driven game play and the potential for plain ridiculous upgrades and extras all sounded like a party in Malifaux.

Its just that it stopped being fun.

Week 1 went off without a hitch, I got two games in for a win and a loss and both of us walked away with upgrades and currency in our pockets. Week 2 was a disaster and left my crew penniless and chock-a-block full of injuries. Week 3 I missed out on because work and that's fine, it happens but then the idea of going into Week 4 with a crew that I wasn't happy with and using my teeth to climb Mt Everest in working my way back up just didn't appeal to me. Even assuming no injuries, an all-comers minion list is gimicky at best and was a struggle to make work. Despite the synergy that was everywhere: Komainu getting suits from Toshiro who gave Fast to Shadow Effigy who gave Remember the Mission to Dawn Serpent who charged into Pathfinder's Clockwork Trap victims, lots going on on paper but never as effective as it should have been. This may be me trying to play Ten Thunders like Arcanists but I can't seem to make the Thunders "work" for me when I work plays to their strengths. Let me try and get to a point.

My Toshiro led list was consistently working with Max hand size 3 in all games I've played in and out of this campaign. I needed a 6 Tomes+ for Pathfinder to set his trap, an 8 (preferably of crows) for Toshiro's 'Beam of Fast' and a 10 card for Shadow Effigie's Mission Remembering. For me, that's a lot of effects to save cards for just to make my models do more than stand and score. Sure Mei Feng likes 7s for her Rail Walking, Kaeris likes her Tomes but that that's one card for one model, so it doesn't hit me as hard; with or without the Reservior option, My personal favorite Arc Henchmen: Snowstorm can push and maneuver 'Hearts without saving cards, Firestarter doesn't need to ditch cards to get an additional Ap and Joss doesn't need to spend cards to add to the scrap pile. This isn't to poo-poo on Thunders, there's obviously something I like about them if I'm so drawn to them but as a primarily Arcanist player, I'm in another world when it comes to saving cards and summoning.

As far as strictly the campaign, whilst I love a Slow Grow, the campaign is set up where your 26ss list (after henchman cost) is your primary core for the greater part of the beginning. Whilst I don't feel like I made a junk list with Toshiro, Dawn Serpent and friends, it was a list that the scheme and strategy could easily ruin. Some model choices only come up with certain S&S and some I would never take. Shadow Effigy is a model used for throwing up markers here there and everywhere, what does the Effigy do when it isn't a marker based scheme pool? He counts as a scoring model and that's about it. Pathfinder is great at disruption but sometimes I want to hire the traps rather than save cards to ensure summoning them, it's a big investment when the only Tome in hand is a 13 and I have to use it to summon ONE 2ss model that doesn't activate.
In a Slow Grow, the only restriction was the reduced soul stone cost, one might struggle to make a 26ss list for Reconnoiter but it's possible. One certainly wouldn't make the same 26ss list for Reckoning or when Make them Suffer is in the pool though. Limited options, yes but one could tailor them to the schemes and strategys. In the campaign setting, not so much until later on. If I'm waiting until later for the game to be fun, I might as well play a 50ss game of Malifaux rather than trudge through a grind to get there.

The first question I asked: would this be an altered yarn if I took Arcanists instead? Snowstorm leading Frozen Hearts, Joss leading Constructs, Firestarter leading a flock of Fire Garmin? All good options, all great on paper but it doesn't change the static list build of the early weeks. In a game where it's a necessity to play the scheme's strengths rather than individual models, having a set list with no way to swap in and out models leads to games of un-needed stress, doubly so with the injury system making bad tables worse. It isn't something I want to do just to see a Dawn Serpent with Flurry.

So ends Shiro's mission for freedom, a sad non-starter but still a hero in his own way. Have fun out there.

A Tale of Souls and Swords - Week 2

Shiro was musing his past again, perhaps his present wasn't something he was happy with, how philosophical. Taking ground in his past life was his preferred method to gaining information and setting up a base of influence in an unknown area. Other methods were sometimes faster, other methods got you killed much faster but setting up a base of operations first before cracking heads together yielded much better results than rushing in(and being able to retreat units to a protected stronghold when jobs went south gave the men a much needed morale boost).

After the Gremlins were forced out, it was time for Shiro to extend his influence further out and that required scouting out the surrounding landscape. Summoning forth Ashigaru retainers and his faithful Komainu, a newly acquired ability he obtained from his resurrection, he sent them to scope out more of Lambs Breath Nord. They would either return with information, or never return, presumed destroyed, both results gave Shiro a clearer vision of his surroundings. He allowed his current entourage time to get adjusted with the local fauna; that was when Jack appeared.

"I... want YOU... TO hit me... AS HARD... AS you CAN!..." it screamed, twitching it's head and flexing it's monstrous claws towards Shiro. Shiro was in awe rather than angry, how such a beast got past.... a puppet, a bored dragon and a sleepy sniper.... oh; Shiro seriously needed more footmen. Summoning was arduous.
Shiro responded to this challenge by near knocking this creature's head clean off, it seemed to have the effect it was looking for. Shiro named him "Jack", short for "Jacked-up S.O.B" and left the fool where he lay, smiling in near-unconsciousness.
Later when Jack had re-awoken, it made Shiro a deal: keep finding it pain, and Jack would fight by Shiro's side.

Well, with so much pain in Shiro's future yet to come, it was a safe bet.

Pain indeed. This weeks match was brutal and left me wondering if I can still compete. Absolutely devastating.

The game in question was:
Standard Deployment Reckoning
Protect Territory
Breakthrough
Make them Suffer
Frame for Murder

This weeks campaign bonus: Players get 2 script, up to a maximum of 6 for every scheme marker that's on the opponent's half of the table that isn't being used for scoring Vp.

My opponent brought with him:
Sebastian w/ Those Are Not Ours!
Rotten Belle
Rafkin
Nurse
Night Terror
2x Guild Autopsy
Malifaux Child

Things went off to a good start turn one, the both of us moving into position, Shadow Effigy and Toshiro making the whole crew drop scheme markers in place for bonus script and Protect Territory. Sadly after that it all went to the bleedin' choir invisible.
It turns out, charging Illuminated into 4 models that can poison and then boost the damage of said poison turn end is a terrible idea. Rafkin and Sebastian being to blame. Toshiro joined the fray but ended up the same way, the Dawn Serpent got badly injured, badly poisoned and then got chased by Sebastian killing it turn 3 whilst turns 4 and 5 had Komainu and Effigy bite the dust too. My whole crew sans Dawn Serpent flipping injuries. It was a complete and total thrashing and one I can't blame anybody else but my lack of poison manipulation experience (I'm normally immune to it or wiping it with Chiaki/Johan/Arcane Effigy) and once again thinking a model is immortal when it is merely difficult to kill.

My first game with Illuminated was less trial by fire and more trial by 200ft drop without a parachute. Armor +1, 2 forms of healing and a decent amount of wounds made me believe the junkie was this god among men and infallible to the attacks of said peons in his wake.
Sadly whilst being very consistent with damage and having bonkers threat range, he is no Viktoria. 7ss vs 22ss is a bad match-up no matter who's at the helm. History repeats.

Sigh
No matter, with my whole crew in bandages, it means my next game will be one of careful moves, knowing my opponent's models inside and out and scoring full Vp where it counts. With Week 5 closing in fast, I need to complete this bounty, and have enough script to buy Mr Yan Lo and his Soul Porter mate.

It only hurts when I laugh, regardless, have fun out there. 

A Tale of Souls and Swords - Week 1

In a previous life, Shiro was audience to a friendly rivalry between two members of his clan, the lean Stringbean and the rotund Eggplant. They requested a non-lethal battle in order to show Shiro who was greater in combat, Shiro allowed it.

The fight lasted 3 seconds.

The moment Stringbean charged, Shiro knew the battle was over. Eggplant weaved under the first katana swing, parried the counter swing with his own, throwing Stringbean off balance, before kicking his leg and slashing accurately between the armored joints of his skinnier opponent's protective gear, ending the fight quickly and efficiently in a wobbly blur of expert motion. Stringbean's sword resounded on the ground shortly followed by the thud of his own body. Eggplant resumed his previous slouch, bowed, apologized for his rudeness and returned to the cheering celebrations of his peers. 
Shiro was in awe rather than angry. Such unknown skill in his own ranks. Stringbean was allowed to live but forced the indignation of training under the tutelage of "Master Eggplant" when he recovered thereafter.

In the present, Shiro required a base of operations. Standing in his wake were the inhabitants of the bayou screeching and hollering as usual, no doubt calling to attention every guild guard in earshot. An excellent strategy; if the green ones meant to do it.
One could mistake the mindless chattering and clumsy demeanor to denote little combat experience in the gremlins but Shiro wasn't about to let this section of town slip from his hands and he made absolutely certain not to underestimate his foes. He ordered the Pathfinder to scout ahead and summoned his pet to side.

This fight won't be over in 3 seconds.


My first game on campaign road was a Squatters Rights game vs Gremlins then a second game of Reckoning right after, another faction I've been wanting to play more against.
This weeks weekly mission: After turn 2, players randomly place 4 Guild Guards down, at the end of any turn after the 2nd if there are no Guild Guards on the table, a Peacekeeper is placed in the center. Guild Guard give out 1 script, the Peacekeeper is worth 5 script but lets face it, other than an average damage spread from Lightning Bug's attack, neither of us were capable of taking down a 11Wd Armor +2 monstrosity without taking casualties in such a small game. So the pair of us avoided killing the last guard.
Toshiro was facing:
Trixiebelle
Lenny w/ I'll love it and pet it...
Slop Hauler
Burt Jebson
Lightning Bug

For an all-comers list, I liked my opponent's choices, Trixie for mobility and a ton of slap attack actions next to Lenny, almost everyone benefiting from Lenny's Rams aura as well as a small amount of summoning, the ever present Slop Hauler to heal everyone's Reckless and the offensive choices of Bug and Kurt Russell.

My List:
Toshiro w/ Command the Graves
Dawn Serpent
Shadow Effigy
Pathfinder
Komainu

My choices were more role-for-role, Komainu for his ability to tar-pit and pass out Slow, Pathfinder for Clockwork Trap disruption and sniper-esque attacks from range, Shadow Effigy for the ability to make scheme runners out of everyone and Dawn Serpent for being the greatest minion in the game (In my opinion). Toshiro ties everyone together passing out attack buffs, Fast and the very rare Focused, then summoning off of Dawn Serpent's targets. A neat little package that I desperately need to add some offensive power to in the near future.

For Squatter's Rights we were evenly matched, Lenny couldn't get any Piglet summons off but neither was Toshiro close enough to any markers. Pathfinder on the other hand was able to summon 2 Clockwork Traps but that didn't stop my opponent from laying down squat markers elsewhere. I won the game 9-7 ensuring Shiro was able to set up base in this part of Lambs Breath Nord.

For Reckoning, it was another story. We both played fairly cagey with the pair of us choosing Frame for Murder and Distract. It was a very close game but once Toshiro finished off Kurt Russell and Lenny Pig Missile'd Pathfinder (Both Frame for Murder participants) We both had the hard choice of Distract or Murder. With such a small game, it was either one or the other yet my opponent won out last turn when a summoned Komainu was unable to finish off his Slop Hauler thus getting distracted alongside an activated Toshiro and Dawn Serpent. Very well played. He won this game 7-6 but not without Lightning Bug taking an injury roll, the Gremlins proving just how distracting they can be whilst Shiro's crew were trying to evict them from his new grounds.

For my efforts, Toshiro now has Ml7 on his Katana strikes and Dawn Serpent is now immune to Slow and Paralyze, No doubt from hitting so many Gremlins around and having to duck and weave out of the way of thrown Piglets. With 5 Script taken from the dead Guild Guard's pockets, my crew is looking healthy with no injuries. Next week is going to be a slobberknocker!

The Campaign system is a great way to introduce another way to do a Slow Grow in my mind. Models increase in strength every game as well as saving Script for crew additions makes for games where sometimes you want to go for more script for later games rather than earning just one more Vp.

On the theory side of things; as with all Slow Grows, a small (or large) amount of summoning is a boon; especially when in this mode of play, models can take on severe injuries that can take them out of your arsenal completely (until re-bought). Having models that "don't exist" for the purposes of game play gives more of a reward to the risk of going up against a more killy crew.
Another thing that crossed my mind was list building itself. Assume for instance, I didn't hire Komainu and gave myself 5 Script on top of 5 Soulstones in my first game, knowing that the start of week two I can hire whoever I wanted with the 5 stone discount. It gives one more options but I felt it redundant when the first thing I would hire would be the Komainu for free anyway. 
I have my next model to think about. With 5 Script, I can afford any 10ss Ten Thunders model. I need more aggression that's for sure, The Daimyo can dish out hurt, the Pathfinder can take away a lot of wounds but no one is really completely focused on the act of murder. Tosh for one is moving into position to get his minions buffed and trying to summon or give out Fast and Pathfinder is just trying to stay alive.
With my latest purchase of Dark Debts, Illuminated appear to the best choice for a minion focused list. Other models for consideration include Kang, for his buffs to go alongside Toshiro's. Yin, the Penangalan for a more defensive model to guard Warring Turfs, Protecting Territories and generally getting in the way and Katanaka Sniper for some needed range in games where rushing into models is a bad idea.
Illuminated is likely to win this week though and it gives me spare Script leftover in order to save up for future purchases (Skills and Upgrades come to mind). Going to be fun trying to figure out how a violent junkie high on tyrant heroin is going to work with Shiro in a way that makes sense.

Enjoy my average fan-fiction and have fun out there.

A Tale of Souls and Swords, Eternally Retold

Apparently alone with nothing but a pocket of scrap and a Pathfinder (who obviously wasn't bothered being lead and accompanied by an un-dead feudal samurai) Shiro still felt the eyes of the Ten Thunders watching his every step. The Dragon and the strangely compliant Puppet riding on it's back flying high above him enforced his paranoia and were both no doubt keeping his betters updated on his whereabouts and goings on... Somehow.

No peace.

Paranoia notwithstanding, with so many successful missions, even with his accidental possession of the once head of the Katanaka Clan, Shiro (Toshiro always felt to formal) could respect the Ten Thunder's way of leadership. Shiro had first hand knowledge, he lead the same way, once.
Failure was met with harsh and all-too-often fatal retribution yet victory came with vast benefits.
Such as continuing to move and think un-aided was a good one he joked.

It took some adjustment and quick thinking but Shiro was 5% sure he was getting away with the act. If the Ten Thunders knew, they obviously found him more useful alive than dead.
Shiro looked upon his prosthetic torso and his Katana skillfully artificed to look more akin to a Bokuto and grimly smiled. Come rain, snow, magical hurricanes or what was now plain abusive heat, Shiro was going to find what it was he sought, not for the Ten Thunders but for for himself. It's not often Fate hands one a second life after all...


Welcome to Lambs Breath Nord! My first Shifting Loyalties campaign and something I'm very excited to play! It's always been a want of mine to create a narrative within the games I play but I always struggled with the implementation of doing so. Yeah I could spin a tale of the mighty Rasputina rushing towards the enemy ruins to demand a refund on the blender they sold to her but then when I get near-table wiped, it sort of ruins the story I was planning on telling.

The Silent One fell to her knees, the receipt for the blender fell from her hands and danced out of reach in the harsh wind.
"Unfortunately, we need a receipt to refund this item, please get in touch with our customer service hotline" said Leviticus.
All was lost.

Within the Shifting Loyalties rule set though, this isn't a problem and creates games where you have a past, a goal and great way to connect together all the random match-ups one gets when playing Malifaux. It also allows me to stretch out my average fan fiction muscles when I have little to go on when it comes to Malifaux fluff.

I decided on playing Ten Thunders with Toshiro, the Daimyo leading the first wave of games. His buff to minions and summoning plus giving me pseudo 3Ap in his (0) actions gave me more options than if I were to run Kang (too slow) or Ototo (just as slow). Alongside him I hired Dawn Serpent (because as a minion able to be buffed by Tosh, the Dragon is ridiculous); A Shadow Effigy for easy scheme running, a Komainu and a Pathfinder for more summoning and disruption. All minions, all the time. Giving myself no script (the campaign currency used to hire and to buy upgrades) first week might be bad but for such a solid Vp focused line-up, I was happy to earn it from scratch. Plenty of opportunity out there.

Follow me as Shiro sets foot into the idyllic town of Lambs Breath Nord in order to find the Black Soulstone to free himself from his Ten Thunder masters and be a free, un-dead man. I can already tell its going to be a lot of fun.

Create legend on the stage of history and have fun out there.

Gaining Grounds 2016

Having just been released to the general public I thought I would include my thoughts on the new scheme pool Gaining grounds 2016 has offered us.

Gaining Grounds I have not had much experience playing, due to most players having the base rule book and the exceptionally helpful Schemes and Strategy deck Wyrd released not having including them, it was easier and simpler to play base strategies than keep a webpage open for the GG strats.
That being said, Gaining Grounds did indeed take the default strats and make them better. Extraction is better Turf War, Interference is better Reconnoiter, Headhunter and Collect the Bounty are better versions of Reckoning and Guard the Stash is basically what your doing in Squatters Rights but with more tactical application. I hope to play more of them in the future but alas the above reasons still exist.

What caught my eye the most though was the new scheme pool and by the holey britches of Zoraida, the base schemes needed re-tailoring and from what I've seen, GG16's look pretty damn good.
First things first, taking away the 5 common schemes and replacing them with Bizarro Protect Territtory (Convict Labor), Improved Distract (Exhust their forces), Non-Master Make Them Suffer (Hunting Party), Tactical Breakthrough (Leave your Mark) and my absolute favorite because it actually forces both players to build a list around it, Upgrade Utopia (Show of Force). None of these are auto-includes in my eyes which greatly interests me as whenever Breakthrough-Protect Terri were on the table, EVERYONE chooses and reveals them. All five are fun and have their own place as strong and weak for different factions and masters. It's not easy for Rasputina to place a marker down on the enemy half of the table every turn, but for Misaki or Collette, its so so easy. Cutting LITS completely means it's no longer there for the few masters who can actually do it or (by my own fault and admission) a trap scheme when you can't do 3 of the 4 others. Replacing it with Convict Labor means Recon/Interference bubble of no-score has a purpose and can make for some really exciting choices.

The other new feature is that all schemes now are un-revealed until you score from them which is fantastic. Voiding bonus points and actually making you work for Entourage or Breakthrough is magnificent and makes for a greater range of guessing and subterfuge that Malifaux was sold on but never really had because why gimp yourself on points doing a "hidden" breakthrough when it was obvious you were doing so and revealing it is and always has been the correct choice? Making it so "Johnny 3ap" turn 5 can't lay a scheme marker-move-lay a scheme marker anymore means having actual risk when trying for it. Yes some model choices will still score it amazingly easy as they always have but at least keeping them to 2 markers rather than 1 is doable.
Having the schemes hidden and some of them remarkably similar also continues the bluffing game. What the heck is the opponent trying having so many minions near your master? Are they there for Take Prisoner? Frame for Murder? Neutralize the Leader? Set Up? Mark for Death maybe? It has to be Public Demonstration then surely? or is is all a ruse so that MUCH EASIER OUTFLANK (Inspection) can be scored? Or, oh it might be Occupy their Turf?
Having so many schemes look sinister-ly like themselves might sound convoluted but to me, it looks to be magic. Something as pointless as placing a scheme marker down can now be seen as a threat in the right scheme pool.

So much hype. But is there a downside?

The negatives to an un-revealed scheme pool are small, the excitement of actually being able to bluff a scheme in order to ensure another is something I've been looking forward to but at the same time, it's easy to look at all the interact schemes and marker schemes always being together but sod's law will occasionally have the pool being very distinct and thus the element of surprise is lost. "Neutralize the Leader" in particular basically gives the middle finger to Leviticus who will simply give the opponent 3Vp if played in that scenario, making fixed master events plain silly if you are a Levi or Dreamer player and "Set Up" being the scheme of choice almost every time for Arcanist players. Also, whilst I see it as a good thing; with greater focus on the schemes affecting crew builds sometimes being too much for a single master, players with a range of masters they play well with are going to have a better scope of winning than new players who only have one or two, which has a slim chance of dividing the player base somewhat...

Time will tell, but overall I feel these new schemes will bring about a LOT more focus on building your crew for the schemes. So many games nowadays have players safely running an all-comers list that swap out Scheme-y Runner-y for Punch your Face-y because the main four are just too easy to do for every faction. The scheme pool now has a much greater hand in making smart crew choices and leaving some masters on the shelve for some games. This might mean players with more masters have the upper hand but that will have to be seen. As the game was always intended to be this way, it should come as no surprise that more masters means more avenues of victory.

Keep your models and masters fresh and have fun out there.