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1 © Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

ChroniclesIssue #4

Designer’s Diary

Painting Tutorial

Strategy Tips

Multiplayer Rules

New Background

The Never Was Files

Contents

February 2013


Volume 4Contents

Chronicles Resurrected - 3

The White Fist - 5 By: Graeme Stevenson

Designing a Master - 19 By: Dan Weber

Professor Pink Pontificates - 22 By: Adrian Scott

Painting Yan Lo - 26 By: Mark Rodgers

The Never Was Files - 31 By: Dan Weber

Multiplayer Malifaux - 34 By: Dan Weber

In Support of the LGS - 40 By: Justin Gibbs

Editors:Justin Gibbs

David Hanold

Layout:Justin Gibbs

Graphic Design:Redd Cohen

Writers:Justin Gibbs

Mark RodgersAdrian Scott

Graeme StevensonDan Weber

Contributing Artists:Melvin de Voor

Stephane EnjoralasHardy Fowler

Christophe MadaruPablo Quiligotti

Contributors


Welcome to the fourth installment of the Wyrd Chronicles!

It’s been a little while, I know. It has been a crazy few years for Wyrd, and for me. Wyrd has grown so much in the past few years; I can’t fit it all in this page. We have plastics, more books, worldwide campaigns, a party game, a bigger warehouse, a brand new office full of designers, and a role playing game on the way!

I got to watch it all, first as a customer, then a volunteer, and finally as an employee. Unfortunately, in all of the commotion, the Chronicles fell to the sideline. So, when I was hired, I decided I wanted to help bring one of my favorite Wyrd products back from the dead. I labored long into the night studying foul and forbidden texts (learned InDesign), gathered about me strange powers from the corners of Malifaux (bugged Eric for art), and spilled the entrails of a goat to read their portents (this actually happened; my wife still blames me for the stains in the carpet).

When I first pitched the idea of bringing the Chronicles back, I had my arguments all lined up. I was going to explain their value to the company and the fans and fight to get them started. But before I could even get all of my arguments out, the overwhelming response I got from Eric, Nathan, and everyone else was, “Great! We love the Chronicles, the fans love the Chronicles. Do you need a budget? How can we help?”

I have to say, it’s fantastic working for a company which is so responsive to ideas, and cares enough about its customers to bring this to all of you. I had Eric and Nathan throwing art at me before I knew it. Dan Weber jumped on board and started writing some behind the scenes articles on how we design Malifaux, as well as some new rules content. And I had some incredibly talented fans (Adrian Scott and Mark Rodgers) dedicating their time to get you some amazing strategy and painting articles.

It turns out; playing the role of Resurrectionist and bringing the dead back to life was a great experience. In fact, I plan on sticking to a hard release schedule of one new issue every two months, so look for the next installment in April. Until then, I hope you have as much fun reading this thing as we did making it!

-Justin Gibbs

Chronicles ResurrectedA Note from the editor

© Copyright Wyrd Miniatures, LLC

Now In Stores!


By: Graeme Stevenson

The shack growled over his head. Adulio sat hunched like a man anticipating a blow and every so often glanced at the interlaced boards above him. They moved almost imperceptibly, making the faintest of grinding sounds and giving glimpses of the night stars beyond. The movement was rhythmic, like the rickety building was breathing. It was also watching him: that much he could not deny no matter how his rational mind scoffed at the idea.

He sat on an upturned iron cauldron atop a stack of yellowed, curl-edged papers. That was the most orderly point in the explosive chaos that surrounded him. The walls were hung with bunches of dried grass, vegetables and weeds, slabs of meat from a variety of sources (not all of them immediately identifiable) and some with skin and hair still attached, twisted pieces of birch and willow threaded with tiny brilliant flowers, lizard bones, snake skins, jumbled talismans made from bird skeletons, hand-carved wooden flutes and hundreds of colored glass shards glued together with a doughty epoxy that reflected the shack’s firelight in a thousand slices of crimson, violet, emerald, ochre and sapphire.

The source of this light came from a smoky, crackling wood fire set in a pit in the center of the shack, above which sat the largest copper vessel Adulio had ever seen. It could be argued that this thing was a cauldron, but a more dented, stained, misshapen cauldron one would have to try very hard to find. Over the cauldron and fire was a spit made from two y-shaped yew shafts and a fire-blackened stake impaling a cluster of small and unappetizing lizards. The heat and smoke from the blaze had curled the tiny reptiles into fists and he couldn’t make up his mind whether this was dinner for the shack’s sole patron, or yet another unknowable facet of the preparation he had been witnessing.

Directly across from him and busy over the cauldron with a selection of curios on a piece of greasy vellum was Zoraida the Hag. She was mumbling to herself in a preoccupied way, as those who live in comparative isolation tend to do. Into the empty yet scalding hot cauldron she had already scraped a handful of stalks from an unknown bog plant that gave off a piercing

stench the moment they touched the cauldron’s hot belly. An assortment of other inscrutables were then flicked in with the tip of a curved knife, including the head of a mouse, a number of chopped and partially crushed seeds and something that might have been either sheep wool or wadded spider thread. She then proceeded to squeeze the fluid from a plant bulb that still had clods of earth hanging from its roots. The dripping fluid hissed violently and evaporated almost instantly, giving off a cloud of sweet and pungent steam.

‘Good,’ she had grinned as she leaned forward and took in the scents from the cauldron. ‘Good. Good. Good.’ She threw the crushed bulb aside which vanished into the drifts of clutter and detritus that covered the shack’s floor space. ‘Now the pledge, boy. The pledge.’

Adulio had been fingering the leather bracelet ceaselessly while the Hag worked. It had been a gift from Lupita some weeks before when she had tried to sell them at her stall. Although few people had shown interest, they were pretty things made from thin strips of animal skin pleated into simple wrist bands. Adulio’s had been her favorite, she had told him as she fixed it around his wrist, and that it would bring him luck. It hadn’t strictly been a gift as such, but his heart had ached when he saw how few she had sold and he had spent his last coin without another thought.

It felt a sin to take it off now – he had worn it religiously from the day she had tied it in place – but the Hag cackled when he voiced his concerns and reassured him he would have it back. Reluctantly, he slipped the bracelet off.

Zoraida gripped his bare forearm with one clawed hand and took the bracelet with the other, throwing it into the cauldron. Before Adulio could protest, she drew the curved knife across the palm of his hand with a single sure stroke. The pitted steel was much sharper than it looked and he barely felt the sting, but within seconds a red wound yawned open and blood poured freely into the cauldron, hissing angrily as it dripped and spattered on the hot metal.

Adulio cried out in alarm, but the Hag gripped his wrist with ferocious strength, her sunken eyes tight shut

The WHite Fist


while she muttered. He could not make out the words, but the language sounded old and foul and somehow forbidden. Shadows began to leap and shudder across the walls as the fire guttered, spat and then turned a terrible leprous yellow color. The shack around them groaned desperately and a sudden wind knifed through the slats, but still the Hag held Adulio’s wrist and still she chanted.

Smoke was boiling from the cauldron as his blood burned and Adulio questioned his sanity for the hundredth time in coming to this place. Love and desperation had driven him, as had the unlikely recommendation of his friend, Pablo. Allegedly wise in the ways of the world and a self-confessed exponent of the mysterious powers, Pablo had filled his head with stories of Zoraida and her charms and potions. Her potency was the stuff of legend; how she commanded the dark arts from her place deep within the swamplands and that, if one could find her, all manner of boons could be requested.

What Pablo had failed to tell him was Zoraida was a vicious, cantankerous old monster who could not be found unless she wanted to be and was more inclined to watch ill-fated lotharios being sucked beneath the black waters for her own amusement than offer any semblance of assistance. That being said, there had been a curious gleam in the Hag’s eye when Adulio staggered within sight of her battered, lamp-lit shack. He had been searching for hours, was smeared from head to foot in swamp filth, and had barely managed to avoid being poisoned or gored by any number of vile bog denizens. Perhaps it was his determination to find her that had won him his audience; she was not inclined to say, but she had listened to his tale of desperate and yearning love for the beautiful Lupita and she had finally nodded when he had asked for her help.

And now she was bleeding him dry into her smoking cauldron while jaundiced flames roared at their feet.

He could feel his blood pulsing through his wrist and out the wound in his hand: the sensation made him nauseous. Zoraida seemed unconcerned; her gnarled fingers locked around his arm, the knife still held high, her head lowered as barely discernible words spilled from her mouth.

His head was beginning to swim; whether from the blood loss or the heat or a combination of both he wasn’t sure. There seemed to be no air in the shack despite the howling wind outside – every breath he took was fumes and hot copper.

And then the death-grip on his wrist was released and the flames were orange once more and Zoraida was winding a piece of white silk around his hand. He watched dumbly as crimson roses blossomed through the layers of bandage.

‘Good,’ she said as she yanked the dressing tight. ‘You are strong. The bond will be strong.’

Adulio wiped at his perspiring forehead with his free hand. ‘Then it is done?’

‘It is,’ Zoraida said. ‘I have given you what you asked.’

Despite his dizziness, Adulio felt a burgeoning elation. Lupita.

The Hag reached into the billowing brown clouds of the cauldron and withdrew Lupita’s bracelet. The blood

and heat had shriveled the leather and turned it black, and it smelled strongly of copper and swamp as she re-tied it around his wrist. It was still painfully hot, but he bore the pain gladly if it meant Lupita would be his.

‘There,’ she said when the band was fixed securely. ‘Good. Good.’

Adulio closed his hand into a fist around the silk bandage, squeezing it experimentally. The dressing was tight and secure, but the silk covering his palm was already bright red and sodden. Zoraida grinned at his expression.


‘The price was too high, eh?’ she cackled. ‘You look troubled, boy. Is she not worth it?’

‘Worth it and more,’ he said immediately, filled with rash bluster. ‘Were the price my whole hand, I would pay it.’

The swamp witch displayed her horrible teeth and her eyes glinted. ‘You offer your hand for her love? What a beauty she must be. The eyes! Oh, the hair!’ She flicked at her ratty grey locks with sharp fingers in a coquettish gesture.

Adulio only had eyes for the band around his wrist. ‘I will go to her tomorrow,’ he said half to himself. ‘I will tell her how I feel. And she will understand?’

Zoraida gripped his injured hand with both of hers and held it up to his face. ‘This is the bond,’ she said. ‘She is bound to you, and you to her. A price you have paid. A boon you shall have. Death awaits the man who would seek to take her from you. So speaks Zoraida.’

Adulio felt his heart swell with exhilaration.

‘I will go to her tomorrow,’ he said again, excited thoughts beginning to jumble in his head. ‘She will love me and we will be together.’

Adulio was so enraptured with his vision of the day to come that he quite missed the look of devious cunning on the face of the Hag. Had he stopped to listen more closely to her words, he may have questioned the fact that she had mentioned nothing of reciprocal affection from Lupita. Were he a more level-headed young man, he may have thought more carefully about what he had asked for and perhaps found a more subtle way to unearth Lupita’s feelings for him, but his overriding fear had been that she would fall for another and he had pleaded that Zoraida ensure she would be for him and him alone. Time would prove this a tragic oversight on his part, compounded by the instinctive malice of the swamp witch, but at that moment Adulio truly believed that his prayers had been answered. The events of the following morning, however, would prove just how wrong he was.

Thirty yards from the main doors to the Guild offices stood Curmudgeon Square. Ask any of Malifaux’s teeming residents where this title had come from and you would be rewarded with little more than a shrug or a blank look. Ask where this Square was to be found and that shrug or blank look would always be accompanied by a pointing finger. Curmudgeon Square was one of those places with the dubious honor of being well-known among the denizens of the city without necessarily having qualified for its notoriety.

The fact that it governed the crossroads of two main thoroughfares of the city, as well as its proximity to the huge and brooding Guild offices and the wide-spread knowledge of its location made Curmudgeon Square a popular favorite among meeting locations. The Square itself was better than two hundred yards across and paved in dark (and almost perpetually wet) granite. This expanse was studded with a multitude of statues and obelisks, many of which were so weather-worn or time-eaten than all features and detail had long since been erased. On three sides loomed monolithic buildings of academia and bureaucracy, remarkable only for their size and grey uniformity. The fourth and south-facing side of the Square was open to the crossroads –two busy thoroughfares that slashed and back-slashed diagonally through the city and sat like the crossed bones beneath the Square’s granite skull.

Despite this dour description, the Square was constantly populated by stall vendors, hawkers, jugglers and artisans of every stripe and color, transforming the soulless expanse into a bustling hive of entrepreneurial commerce. Cries of merchants and salesmen, soothsayers and mystics mingled with haggling customers and the laughter of children that darted through the crowds like tiny fish through rough water: all these sounds were buoyed up on air currents scented with roasted meat and nuts, alcohol, exotic spices and the constant sweet breeze of honeysuckle and jasmine that drifted from the flower vendors across the southern-most edge of the Square.

Being the only area that escaped the perpetual shadows of the towers beyond, the southern edge of Curmudgeon Square was where the flower vendors plied their trade. At first light each morning, wagons and hand-barrows would rattle into position and a vivid explosion of Nature’s finest would proceed to engulf the area. There were pots of mauve and turquoise Bell-tops


and clusters of tiny-petalled Jack Limes. Also, vibrant and flame-red Bog Beacons and elegant White Widows were popular; the latter’s characteristic ivory stems and flamboyant hanging petals were visible clear across the square. Persimmons, Violets, Red Betties, Yolandas, Peach Whites, Rouge Whites; even the melodramatic and grandiose Archdrake could be found, whose seeds when ground to an almond paste were quite deadly but hidden behind tremendous starburst flowers a full sixteen inches across.

Lupita sold flowers. To look at her, one would guess that had always been her purpose in life. Naturally sallow-skinned, she had the high wide cheekbones of an Asiatic with large perfectly shaped onyx eyes and hair dark as liquorice. She kept it tied back, but a few strands invariably escaped and hung over her eyes, lending an endearing imperfection to an otherwise perfect face. Her fingers were long and nimble, and responsible for the smattering of little trinkets and talismans she sold in conjunction with her flowers. She was a beauty to behold and all who did agreed her place was among the delicate beauties of her wares.

Sadly, such beauty brings attention and often unwelcome at that. There were any number of ill-suited beaus that had made their attentions known to her, most of whom flitted from girl to girl much like the insects that frequented her stall, sampling whichever nectar was on offer. Mostly harmless, she would laugh dutifully at their flattery, they would buy a flower to present to her, she would pocket the coin and put the flower back on display the moment they had moved on. It was only a tiny dishonesty and besides, there seemed little value in presenting a flower seller with one of her own stock as a token of esteem.

There were more dangerous visitors to her stall than insects, however. Being so close to the Guild offices meant that a constant traffic of bureaucrats and Guild officials passed through the Square, any number of them corpulent, vain and powerful. This was a difficult combination to resist at the best of times and one or two were more persistent than most. The worst by far was Ermine Follop.

Short and stooped and balding, and undoubtedly all the more venomous for it, Follop had taken a particular shine to Lupita and would make a point of visiting her stall each morning. He never bought anything despite having

more than enough coin – no, he sought something that, while on display, was not for sale. He would take every opportunity to paw at her, holding her hand, offering to brush hair from her eyes, enquiring after her like a kindly uncle, but all the time his rapacious eyes would crawl over her and his pink tongue would move ceaselessly over his teeth and lips. He was a wretched and repellant man, but occupied a position of great influence within the Guild and had a reputation for exploiting it.

And then there was Adulio. Handsome, stumbling, mumbling Adulio. Like a boy trapped in a man’s body, he had a strong jaw and broad shoulders, but had not the nerve to meet her eye and blushed dramatically every time he came to her stall. He was endearingly loyal, having been the first to buy a wristband from her when she tentatively began to make trinkets to supplement her flower sales, but he was still half a child in her eyes. Perhaps in a few years when he had found his confidence…she smiled at the thought and dismissed it. She could never imagine Adulio being anything other than exactly how he was.

‘The most beautiful flower in the whole Square,’ said a voice at her shoulder. ‘And how is my beautiful flower this morning?’

Follop stood inches from her, his eyes flicking across the hollow of her throat. Were a cold leech to have crawled into her ear, she couldn’t have been more repelled.

‘Good morning to you, sir.’ She acknowledged his arrival with a pained smile. The creepy little man insisted on taking her hand and kissing it with his sticky lips. His fingernails were long and yellow and she couldn’t avoid staring at his bald pate while he bowed; it looked like an egg fringed in ratty animal pelt.

‘You are growing more delicious with every passing day,’ commented Follop, his eyes crinkling above what he would probably have described as a smile. ‘Blossoming into a woman before my very eyes. It does my soul good to see you each morning.’

Lupita doubted that he had one, but answered, ‘Kind words, sir. Would you care to make a purchase this morning?’

‘Pale imitations,’ he said dismissively, gesturing towards her stock. ‘No stem nor petal can compare to the beauty that stands here before me.’


‘You have a way with words, sir, but words alone cannot fuel my hearth or fill my stomach. Is there nothing here that might brighten your office? Some Silver Smock, perhaps? Or a Lily-On-The-Water?’

Follop stepped closer in what was undoubtedly a confidential gesture but only served to bring her into the radius of his body odor. ‘I understand your concerns, sweetling. Times are hard for all concerned, least of all a street vendor. My heart grows heavy at the thought of your beauty standing here day after day in vain, ultimately wilting like your displays.’

‘I make a living, sir. From those that wish to buy.’

His tongue squirmed across his lips like a shaved weasel. ‘Being an employee of the Guild, I am considered an influential man in some circles and not without finances. I could ensure that you were well looked after – I could see to it that you could put all this behind you and live a life of comparative luxury. Those delicate hands need never feel the sting of another thorn.’

‘A generous offer, sir, but I am content with my lot.’

Follop chuckled, ignorant to Lupita’s growing discomfort. ‘My dear, there is no need to be so humble. Beauty deserves to be treated with favor and delicacy, and you are uncommonly beautiful.’

‘Again sir, you flatter me, but I have a business to tend.’ She glanced about in the hope of snaring another customer with which to excuse herself but the stand was frustratingly empty. Follop made a show of plucking a brilliant purple Moonshade and twirling it in his hand.

‘Might I suggest that this is an opportunity you should not brush aside so lightly?’ he said, examining the trumpet-shaped flower. ‘Have you no desire to wear the finest silks, nor dine in the most opulent restaurants of the city? I would see to it that you were the jewel in the crown of Malifaux society.’

‘I am a flower girl, sir. I could never be a part of such grandeur.’

‘If you are content with less, then so much the better. Whatever you could wish, I can provide,’ he said.

Lupita had inched back as much as she dared, struggling to find a way to extricate herself from this conversation without offending the foul little man.

‘I fear the price for such luxury would be too high,’ she said then quickly added, ‘Besides – I am my own woman and have the freedom to do as I will. Why would I give that up?’

Follop raised the Moonshade to his lips and brushed them lightly. ‘Come, my dear. You resist so strongly, but we both know that my offer is more than generous. Surely I am not that unappealing?’

Lupita heard a muffled zipp and then Follop’s expression contorted with surprise and pain. He twitched back like a man stung – which was exactly what he was – and clapped a hand to his face. The Moonshade was thrown from him convulsively and Lupita watched a yellowjacket hornet spiral lazily from the depths of the flower and take to the morning air.

The little man howled in pain, clutching at his rapidly swelling nose and it was then that Lupita did a foolish thing. She giggled.

Follop’s face flushed crimson with humiliation and rage. ‘Amused, are we?’ he snarled, still gripping his injured nose. ‘You’ll rue the day you rejected me, you willful little bitch! Before this day is out, I’ll knock you off that haughty pedestal – just you wait.’

Flustered and boiling with anger, he spun on his heel and barged away across the square, knocking over several clay pots and spilling their contents. Lupita watched him go with growing trepidation.

It was an hour or so later when Adulio pushed his way along the busy thoroughfare to Curmudgeon Square. He had spent some considerable time washing off the slime and muck of the marshlands and choosing an outfit in which to meet Lupita. His hair was slicked back with pomade and he had a fresh daisy in the button hole of his best suit. Upon removing the silk bandage he discovered to his surprise that there was no evidence of Zoraida’s cut to his palm – the skin was smooth


and unbroken. Trusting this as further evidence of her power, he fingered the band on his wrist one last time and set off to meet his true love.

He knew something was wrong the moment he reached the square. Lupita’s flower stall had been knocked over onto its back and her wares were scattered everywhere. A crowd of concerned-looking vendors stood around it, talking animatedly and stealing frequent glances across the square towards the Guild offices.

‘What happened?’ he asked as soon as he got within arm’s length of the gathering.

One hoary old woman he recognized as another of the flower sellers turned and gave him a wide-eyed stare. ‘She’s gone. Taken.’

‘Taken?’ Adulio didn’t understand. ‘Taken where? By who?’

‘Guild thugs,’ the woman said, hawking a green wad of protest onto the slabs. ‘A handful of ‘em. Come out of their rat’s nest up north of the square. Said they was arrestin’ her for assault on a Guild officer. Kicked her stall over and dragged her away, they did.’

‘What?’ Adulio looked down at the wreckage of Lupita’s stall. The flowers underfoot had been crushed and here and there were woven bracelets among the dead plants. The band around his wrist burned.

‘That little weasel,’ the old woman said, pointing a crooked finger. ‘He’s to blame for this. Plain enough knowledge he had designs on her, only the girl’s got more sense. Appears he didn’t get the answer he wanted. Poor girl…to come to this…’

Adulio set his teeth, his fists clenched. ‘Weasel? What weasel?’

‘Him what’s been sniffing around her like a dog,’ the old woman snarled. ‘Works up at the Guild – some fancy lord or mind-your-business or other. Follop, his name is. Ermine Follop.’

He was still in excruciating pain. Touching the tender bulb of his nose with his fingertips, he could feel it had swollen dramatically and had turned a purplish red hue in the hand mirror he continually examined the damage with. The hornet’s sting had somehow managed to get him inside the nostril and the stinging had left his eyes bloodshot with tears.

Cursing his luck, he tried to turn his attention back to the work on his desk, but his mind kept returning to the flower girl. How dare she laugh at him, after all the generosity he had shown her? Well, she wouldn’t be laughing now, not down in the detainment cells. A few nights in one of those dank brutal holes would knock some of the vim out of her – he was certain she would be much more hospitable to his advances after that. He had already speculated on a few of the ways she could demonstrate her gratitude when he deigned to release her.

His speculations were interrupted by an urgent rap on his door.

‘What?’ he snapped.

The door opened and his personal aide stepped tentatively into the room. Caravelle always had an apologetic look about him; an abject quality that irritated Follop to no end. He looked particularly aggrieved today.

‘I’m sorry to trouble you, Mr Follop, only there’s a young gentleman out here and he’s most insistent that he speaks with you at once.’

‘Send him away,’ the Guild officer grumbled. ‘I’m busy.’

Before Caravelle could say another word, a figure pushed past him and into the office. This newcomer Follop did not recognize – he wore a cheap suit and too much pomade, but he looked hale and sturdy and there was a stubborn set to his jaw that the Guild officer didn’t like the look of.

‘I’m sorry to bust in on you, sir, but I must speak to you,’ the boy said. He straightened his jacket in a self-conscious way, but there was a fierce determination in his gaze that suggested he was here with definite purpose. ‘This can’t wait.’


‘Can’t it, indeed,’ Follop commented dryly. He gave Caravelle a glower that said I’ll deal with you later and told him, ‘This young man has one minute, after which time I want him removed.’

Caravelle nodded and hurried out of the office.

Follop turned his gaze on the nervous boy. ‘Well?’

‘I’m here about Lupita,’ he blurted at once.

‘Ah – the flower girl.’ Follop leaned back in his chair and began to re-examine his injured nose in the vanity mirror. ‘And you’re her brother, I suppose?’

‘No, I’m…’ the boy looked suddenly awkward. ‘I’m…well, Lupita is with me. We’re together.’

‘Is that so?’ Follop prodded his nose delicately. ‘She’s never mentioned you. I must say, you don’t seem the type she would associate with.’ He looked at the boy over the rim of his mirror. ‘At all.’

The boy colored at this, but he held his ground. Definitely determined, Follop noted, but out of his depth.

‘So,’ the Guild officer continued. ‘You’re here to plead for her release, are you?’

The boy didn’t answer at once. He was looking closely at Follop’s face. ‘Did she do that to you?’

Now it was Follop’s turn to color. ‘She assaulted an officer of the Guild, if you must know.’

‘She attacked you? Lupita?’ The boy sounded incredulous. ‘I don’t believe it.’

Follop’s hackles began to rise. ‘I couldn’t care less what you believe. She’ll be tried before the local magistrate and given a fitting sentence like all the other criminals who think they can cross the Guild.’

The boy was silent again for a moment, his face frowning with concentration. ‘You’re lying,’ he said at last.

‘I beg your pardon,’ Follop spluttered. The arrogance of this boy was astounding.

‘You’re lying,’ the boy said again, his conviction growing.

‘She never touched you. The people in the square say you were making inappropriate advances towards her and she rejected you. You stormed off and that’s why-‘

Follop lurched to his full height, which was unimpressive. ‘How dare you!’ he barked. ‘What gives you the right to come here, into the inner sanctum of the Guild and start bandying about tin-pot theories you heard in the gutter?’

‘You are a liar!’ the boy shouted back, jabbing a finger at the smaller man. ‘What have you done with her?’

‘I’ve had quite enough of this nonsense – guards!’

‘Where is she?’ the boy demanded.

‘Guards!’ Follop cried again. There was a rumble of heavy feet and his door burst open for the second time that day to admit two men in Guild uniform. They took a moment to survey the situation. ‘Arrest this fool and take him down to the detainment cells – he just threatened an officer of the Guild!’

The boy made no attempt to defend himself from the advancing men, keeping his gaze and his pointing finger fixed on Follop. ‘Where is she?’ he persevered. If anything, his features had become more determined.

‘Get him out of here,’ Follop commanded, his voice still steady although his heart had begun fluttering nervously.

The Guards took hold of the boy’s cheap suit and hauled, but evidently he was stronger than he looked and leaned over the desk like a man walking into a strong wind. ‘Lupita is mine, Follop!’ he shouted. ‘Give her back to me!’


‘Get him out of here!’ Follop cried, more shrilly this time. ‘He’s gone mad!’

‘Let her go, you lying weasel!’ The boy struggled against the two guards; his suit jacket tore and his daisy - fresh-plucked that morning - spiraled to the floor. ‘Let her go!’

One of the guards managed to get an arm around the boy’s neck from behind and was trying to haul him backwards, away from the Guild officer. What troubled Follop the most was that the boy did not fight back – instead he strained against the two men, trying to get through them, reaching now with one open hand to get at his true opponent.

‘Guards! Guards!’ There was real fear in Follop’s voice now. ‘Come quickly – he means to murder me!’

‘Let her go!’ The boy was still bellowing. ‘Lupita is mine!’

There was more running in the corridor outside and another three men came barreling into the office. They quickly grasped the situation and went to subdue the shouting boy. The thwarted lover, however, would not be denied and suddenly lunged forward with ferocious strength. His suit jacket and shirt ripped apart in a dozen hands and he momentarily burst free. He reached clear across the desk and grabbed Follop by the throat.

The Guild officer made a gargling sound and his eyes bulged as the boy throttled him one-handed. Though he struggled, he could get no purchase on the brawny arm and the fingers around his throat felt like an iron collar. Kill him! he tried to shout, but all that came out of his mouth was ‘uukkkk…’

The guards redoubled their efforts, gripping the attacker’s arm and even trying to pry his fingers from around Follop’s throat, but to no avail. The boy was as muscular as a young bull and possessed an unnatural strength – it felt like Follop’s windpipe was being crushed.

One of the Guild guards drew his clockwork pistol and struck the boy heavily on the back of the head. The sound was awful, but his assailant’s gaze did not falter and, if anything, his grip grew tighter.

‘Boy’s mad,’ grunted another. ‘Hit ‘im again!’

The guard struck the boy again with the heavy cast-iron pistol, and then a third time. Blood trickled down the back of his neck, but he would not relinquish his grip.

‘Lupita is mine,’ he hissed at the Guild officer.

Follop’s eyes felt the size of hen’s eggs and he stared distractedly at the boy’s arm while the life was being throttled out of him. There was a woven black band around the wrist that seemed strangely familiar, but Ermine couldn’t quite place where he’d seen it before. It was becoming a triviality, really. Had he known it at the time, his oxygen-starved brain was on the verge of blacking out.

It was right at that moment that Guild Captain Groom stormed into the office; a swaggering mass of brass buttons, waxed moustache and outraged demeanor.

‘What is the meaning of this farce?’ he roared before catching sight of the scrum of struggling guardsmen and the puce-faced Follop whose toes had all but lifted from the ground. Ever the pragmatic man, Groom drew his saber with a practiced motion, bellowed ‘Stand aside, that man!’ at the guard trying to peel back the boy’s fingers, and sliced the attacker’s hand off at the wrist with a single stroke.

Follop flew backwards into his chair, landing with a thud as the boy went the other way, propelled by a half-dozen struggling guardsmen. Blood splattered the length of his desk.

‘Get that lunatic out of here,’ the Captain urged, rooting in his pocket to find a kerchief to wipe his blade. He turned his attention to Follop and stopped in mid-stride. ‘God’s teeth!’

Follop had sunk deep into his leather chair, but his face had lost none of its rude coloring and his mouth was now agape with a swollen tongue projecting like a length of raw steak. The mad boy’s hand, sporting its thin leather band around a stub of wrist, was still latched around the Guild officer’s neck and was constricting visibly.

The Captain threw down his saber and launched himself at the severed appendage – taking it in both hands and hauling with all his might. The hand refused to relinquish its grip and now even the faintest squeak of air could not be drawn through Follop’s crushed throat.


Finally, with a titanic effort and a polished boot on Follop’s chest, the Captain wrenched the severed hand free and threw it across the room with a cry of disgust. Follop immediately sucked in a huge gale of air and began violent wracking coughs.

The guards had dragged the still-struggling boy to the door, leaving a trail of bright blood on the floorboards. ‘Lupita is mine!’ the boy howled one last time before being dragged out of sight into the corridor. His protests could still be heard as he was hauled away.

Follop had no strength left in his limbs and slouched in his chair like a landed fish while his chest heaved in breath after breath of precious air. There were red furrow marks on his throat where the hand’s nails had gouged him in the final seconds before Captain Groom was able to pry it loose.

On the floor in the far corner of the room, now bled white as milk, the twitching hand curled into a tight and defiant fist.

When he had recovered sufficient poise and dignity, Follop thanked the Guild Captain in a hoarse whisper and decided that taking the rest of the day off might not be a bad idea. He gingerly stepped over the sweeping trail of blood on his floor that several cleaners were already on their knees scrubbing at with stiff-bristled brushes and soapy water. As he left the office, he heard the dull clank of the severed hand being dropped in a bucket and he shuddered.

Not trusting his rubbery legs to see him home, he hailed a cab and sat in brooding silence with the curtains closed, listening to the sounds of the street and iron-shod wheels on cobbles while his fingers probed at the painful welts around his neck.

Follop’s home was one of the upper floors of a prestigious apartment block less than a mile from the Guild offices. The entrance vestibule was guarded by twin stone griffins rearing on their hind limbs and clawing at some invisible foe. They were as storm-ravaged as the rest of the building’s exterior – one griffin’s beak was partly snapped off – and the porous stone had long since turned black with accumulated lichen and soot.

Beyond the lacquered maple doors and concierge was an elaborate entrance vestibule paved with diagonal black-and-white tiles, a massive residents’ correspondence rack with a pigeon hole for each of the three hundred abodes, and the elevator.

This fabulous device had been one of the very first installed in the city and was quickly renowned as a mechanical wonder. Through cunning use of huge steam-driven pistons and a series of drive-chains, the brass box (which held a full six patrons quite comfortably) could be elevated to any of the building’s twelve floors with the simple twist of a mother-of-pearl lever. Follop was especially grateful for its ingenuity that afternoon in that he did not have to trust his shivering legs on the eleven flights of stairs that led to his apartment.

Finally home, he slammed the heavy outer door and locked it, threw his hat and coat onto the stand and stumbled into his study. He poured himself a generous measure of brandy with trembling fingers and bolted it down in three swallows. The alcohol caused his raw throat to flare up, but it steadied his nerves some. He had been badly shaken by the events of that morning and was feeling particularly vulnerable. Still, at least he was home safe and that savage was behind bars where he belonged.

Picking the softest lightest neckerchief he possessed, he wrapped it gently around his purpling throat and went to the larder. He wasn’t hungry, but his pocket watch told him it was midday and the same lunch-break for thirty years was a difficult impetus to ignore. He cut himself several slices of cured ham and loaded a plate with bread and cheese and a square of butter. The food was tasteless and dry and after two bites he gave up, returning instead to the liquor cabinet and more brandy.

Suitably fortified, Follop went through to his study and settled behind his desk, spreading the day’s broadsheet across its felt surface. There was a curious reassurance to be had from sitting behind a desk in any situation, in general the bigger the better. Comforted by this subtle reinforcement of his importance, he settled down to read.

Follop awoke shrieking, the crumpled newspaper partially adhered to his face with saliva. He tore it away,


panting in terror. The boy was gone: his study was quite empty and late afternoon shadows stretched across the far wall. He must have dozed off; not surprising really considering those two large measures of brandy and no food in his stomach. He could still feel the ghost of a strong hand around his throat and swallowing was painful. On the way to the kitchen for a glass of water, he stopped at the hall mirror and pulled aside the neckerchief.

The flesh around his throat was livid and hot to the touch. He could clearly see a negative image of a grasping hand outlined in mottled purple and yellow. That animal. Follop would see to it he never saw the light of day again.

He gulped down a glass of water from a cool clay jug. It helped considerably and he began to feel himself again. The discarded meat and bread were still lying on their plate - his stomach gurgled with sudden interest. In light of the day’s events, however, he decided to treat himself to something a little more sophisticated.

The cab ride to Le Signataire was quick and Follop’s mood was buoyed further by the doorman’s recognition, welcoming him into the exclusive restaurant with a tip of his hat. Although there was a sizeable queue for seating, Follop was quickly ushered by the maître d’hôtel to a table secluded from the majority of diners by palm fronds and careful lighting. Looking up from his wine list, Follop took pleasure in seeing those same faces of the queue frowning at him.

He ordered duck and a Spanish Gran Reserva and settled back to wait, smiling insolently at the people who were still waiting to be seated. Being a Guild officer certainly had its privileges. When the fowl arrived, it was crisp and steaming and juicy and he eagerly forked a big piece into his mouth. It tasted better than it smelled and he silently congratulated himself on his choice of restaurant – an excellent and savory distraction from the day’s unpleasantness. He had quite recovered himself.

The food stuck halfway down his throat. Follop paused in the act of forking another piece of breast into his mouth. The meat was certainly succulent enough and he could never remember having trouble swallowing before. He could still breathe, but the meat formed an uncomfortable lump somewhere behind his Adam’s apple and seemed unwilling to go any further.

Supposing some wine would help, he put down his laden fork and took a swallow of red. To his alarm, his gullet immediately filled with liquid.

Trying not to gag, Follop tried gulping several times to force the blockage down. Other than making odd croaking sounds at the back of his throat, the duck and wine refused to move. With panic rising in his chest and absurdly conscious of the diners around him, he tugged at the neckerchief that suddenly felt too constrictive and began working his neck from side to side. The wine had been a mistake and was stinging the back of his throat, making his eyes water. Tears began to well up in the corners of his eyes.

Reaching for his water glass, he took a big mouthful, determined to gulp it down and ram the wedge of duck into his stomach. Instead, the mix of wine and water backed up in his throat and with a huge barking cough, he sprayed the liquid all over his dinner and the white table linen.

Heads twisted his way as Follop began retching uncontrollably, gripping the sides of his table and half-rising from his seat like a man who couldn’t quite make up his mind whether he was arriving or leaving. The maître d’hôtel was already hurrying towards him through the maze of tables, his face a picture of professional anxiety as Follop’s face turned puce for the second time that day.

With a huge donkey-like bray, Follop ejected the wad of masticated duck that flew (posthumously) a full thirty feet and stuck to the restaurant wall with an audible thud. He collapsed back in his seat, coughing harshly and fumbling for a napkin to mop at the wine-laced spit coating his chin. There was an immediate hubbub of conversation as a flock of concerned waiters surrounded his table.

‘I’m fine, I’m fine,’ Follop wheezed as soon as he was able, fighting off the swarm of towels and napkins that daubed at his face and stained suit. ‘Leave me be, I say!’Monsieur Follop, I am so sorry!’ the maître d’hôtel babbled. ‘The cook shall be sacked for this – I shall see to it immediately!’ Follop shook his head, suddenly weary and growing lightheaded from the hyperventilation. ‘Just get me a cab,’ he croaked.


As they helped him to the door, he glowered at the still-waited faces of the queue; they beamed at him with the air of people whose wait had been worth the while after all.

All the way home in the cab, Follop wheezed. His breathing had become labored shortly after retching up the duck plug and had not eased with his pulse. Slightly anxious, he twisted and fidgeted in his seat, pulling constantly at his neckerchief until he wrenched it off in annoyance and threw it on the cab floor.

He carelessly thrust a handful of scrip into the cabbie’s hand and hurried into his building. Cool water – that’s what he needed. His already abused throat must have become inflamed from the wine and what it needed now was something cold and soothing. He cursed that meddling boy back through ten generations as he barged past the elevator operator, slammed his front door and gulped water straight from the jug, spilling it down his already half-ruined evening suit.

Rasping, he took the jug through to his study and sat heavily, pulling off his starched collar and opening the top button of his shirt. His throat felt incredibly raw both inside and out. More swallows of water eased the discomfort to some extent, but within seconds the burning returned and with it an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. He could hear his own breath whistling, which was a distressing sound.

That damnable boy. Curse him to the lowest depths of Hell – he’d done something to Follop’s throat; wounded him in some way. He made a mental note to visit the Guild physician first thing in the morning. Exhausted and in pain, Follop shirked off his evening suit, crawled into a nightshirt and then into bed, holding the clay jug to his chest like a wizened child and his bedtime toy.

Sleep - that was what he needed. Sleep to unwind from the stress of this miserable day. Tomorrow would be better. He felt certain of it.

Follop’s night was filled with terrors.

He jerked awake innumerable times (the first time sloshing the remnants of the cold water over himself and the bedclothes), thrashing at his attacker and trying to pry

that white hand from his throat. He could feel the fingers around his neck, squeezing remorselessly. Each time he returned to sleep, the boy’s face came at him out of the dark and those steel fingers closed on him again, squeezing the breath out of him, crushing the life out of him.

‘Lupita is mine,’ he hissed, his teeth red as blood and his eyes empty holes. Sometimes the hand was green and puffed with decomposition, other times it was just bones, but each time it would grip him like before and throttle him until his eyes bulged and his tongue squeezed out from between his lips like a fat red slug.

‘Please,’ he tried to plead, ‘please, no! Forgive me!’ but he could never speak in his dreams. The phantom of the white fist would not allow it.

By the first gray threads of dawn, Follop had crawled out of bed and lay on the floor, wrapped in sheets and too afraid to venture sleep again. Instead he watched the slow blossoming of the new day while his chest worked for air and the phantom fingers around his throat gradually and inexorably tightened their grip. Every few seconds he would raise a hand to swat at the hand, only to find his fingers passing through thin air and his neck unmolested. Yet he could feel it.

The concierge’s cheerful grin faltered when Follop emerged from the elevator that morning. Unshaven and gray-faced with his suit collar splayed wide, the Guild officer walked with the slow infirmity of the aged, using a hand to steady himself as he took the steps down to the street one at a time. He couldn’t manage more than a dozen paces before running out of breath, and stood making a high keening sound while he dragged in one lungful after another.

Unable to face the suffocating crowds of Curmudgeon Square, he whispered for the cabbie to take him around to one of the underground entrances to the Guild offices and there he waited until a guard appeared that he could requisition to help him into the building.

The Guild physician frowned as he worked towards a diagnosis, peering critically into Follop’s throat and feeling around his jawline (which made the little man wince and shy away repeatedly). He took the Guild officer’s temperature and listened to his pulse and to his heart before frowning more deeply.


‘Well,’ he said eventually. ‘It may be an inflammation of the digestive glands under the tongue. I’m going to prescribe you a poultice that should take the color out of those bruises-‘

Follop gripped the man’s white coat and yanked him forward with what little strength he still possessed. ‘I don’t care about bruises,’ he rattled. ‘I need to breathe.’

The physician recoiled, his wire-rimmed glasses askew.‘Of course, of course!’ He fumbled at his physic station for some time, rattling glasses and vials until he finally produced a small stoppered bottle. The smoked glass held perhaps an ounce of liquid and had a cork stopper. ‘If you put five drops of this in a glass of water, three times a-‘

Follop snatched the bottle from the physician’s hand, wrenched out the cork and upended it, grimacing as he gulped down the foul-tasting liquid. The empty bottle was discarded and Follop leaned back against the wall, rasping for air. A minute passed while the physician waited awkwardly, but Ermine felt no easing of the constriction around his throat. If anything, it was growing tighter.

‘How soon?’ he hissed.

‘The…the effects should be immediate,’ the physician stammered.

Follop snarled and shouldered past the practitioner, weaving unsteadily out into the corridor. His chest was working like a bellows now and frothy saliva was beginning to accumulate at the corners of his mouth – he could barely swallow and every effort brought intense pain.

What was happening to him? Was he going to die? Was there no respite from this awful affliction? His face crumpled with grief as he staggered along the dark corridors, leaning first on one wall and then the other as he reeled. The white hand – the white hand had him in its clutches. He could see it with his waking eyes, forming a crushing fist on the floor of his office. It had him and it would not let go.

Lupita is MINE, a voice snarled in his head.

He stopped, clinging to a cabinet for support, his head buzzing with lack of air.

The girl. Was that the answer? Was that the key to his salvation? That boy – that monster – had wanted the girl – he had refused to let go until he got the girl. He had refused to let go until he got the girl.

Staggering again, but with new purpose, Follop turned about and headed for the detention cells. It was a desperate and forlorn hope, but if releasing them both to be reunited would save him from this terrible curse, he would do it and gladly. He would apologize to them both, would make them understand how lonely and unloved he was, how wrong he had been to abuse his power – but he could make amends. It was not too late.

A frail hope formed in his chest even as he stumbled and toppled down the winding steps to the lowest levels, every breath a struggle now. He clung to the rusted iron railing, half-sliding down the stairs in his exhaustion. They would forgive him – surely they would! Surely they could see they had been the actions of a jealous old fool; he had meant no real harm. He could give them their freedom, even money if they desired it. They would be together and Follop would be released!

He crashed into the detention cells like a marionette – one hand latched around his throat, the other scratching along the rough stone wall seeking anchorage to prevent him toppling full length on the straw floor. His face contorted horribly with every intake of breath, which came as a slow high rattle, like a breeze blowing through something dried-up and dead.

The jailer gawped at this apparition, not even recognizing Follop until he had gripped the man by the shoulder and hissed at him through gritted teeth.‘The girl…’ came his faint voice.‘Lawks and truths,’ the jailer whispered. ‘Is…is that you, Mr Follop, sir?’

‘Girl…’ he hissed again, his eyes protruding dangerously. ‘Where…’

‘Girl, sir?’ The jailer chewed his thumb in thought until his face brightened. ‘Oh, the girl. That pretty


bit of fluff you sent down here yesterday? Well, she’s gone, isn’t she, sir? Off to the magistrate just like you said.’

Follop made a sound somewhere between whine and sob. No matter, he told himself, no matter. She would be days at the court jail before her trial – more than enough time for the wheels of bureaucracy to intervene.

‘Boy…boy…’ he gurgled, making a gripping motion with his free hand – the other was being used to keep himself upright against the burly jailer.

‘Don’t you worry, Mr Follop,’ the jailer said, giving the Guild officer a wide grin. ‘He won’t be troubling you no more.’

Follop’s face creased with confusion. What was this fool talking about? Where was the boy?

‘Where…’ came the barely audible wheeze.

‘He’s gone, sir,’ the jailer said amiably. ‘Dead.’

Follop could only stare into the idiot’s puffy unshaven face.

‘Died about an hour after they dragged him down here, sir,’ the jailor continued, oblivious to Follop’s collapsing expression. ‘Noisy bugger. They threw him in that cell right there and left him. Not for the likes of him to have his wounds seen to – not after what he done. Laying his hand on a gentleman such as yourself, sir. Got what he deserved, in my opinion.’The jailer’s voice began to echo and distort. Follop’s knees buckled and he slumped back against the wall and then slid down it until he sat facing the row of bare, grotty cells. There was a large brown stain in the straw of the cell directly across from him.

It was over, he realized with a strangled sob. There was now no way to reunite Lupita with her love. The boy had cursed him. He had cursed Follop with his final moments and there was no way to undo what had been done.

There was nothing left to save him from the vengeance of the white fist.


By: Dan Weber

Fans of the game often ask us what process goes into developing and designing our models. With the February release of his Masters of the Path boxed set, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the design process using Yan Lo as an example.

Character-Driven Skirmish

First and foremost when we begin planning for a new book release we start off with where the storyline is leading us. Malifaux runs on a character-driven skirmish system with a deep setting populated with rich and colorful characters, so each model is created with a primary consideration of where that model fits into the setting. During this stage of the design process I don’t see these concepts as wargame models, but instead as characters being introduced into the ever growing story that is Malifaux.

Rough concepts of the character’s abilities are usually considered as we develop its background and motivations, but the details of those abilities come later. For now, the design team is creating characters, not models. While I’m sketching out a character concept I ask myself questions along the lines of “what type of character the model will be in the setting – major, supporting, an extra”, “is that type of character believable in relation to the storyline”, “how similar to an already existing character is the concept”, and so forth.

In the case of Storm of Shadows we had already determined the book would introduce the Ten Thunders as a Faction, having hinted at their arrival as playable models since Misaki’s appearance in book one. The Dual Faction mechanics were being discussed as a way to tangibly demonstrate the Faction’s infiltration into all walks of Malifaux, while allowing us to generate a stock of pre-existing models the Faction could access, rather than forcing players to wait for the Ten Thunders model count to “catch up.” It also allowed us to bring in a new Master for each Faction and tell a unique story for each.

Enter Yan Lo.

“So, Like…He’s This Old Guy…” Looking at who the Resurrectionist Master would be for Storm of Shadows I wanted something that supported the traditional Resurrectionist theme of Undead and recursion, but was different enough to not feel like just a variant of prior Masters. We already had Masters who could summon models, Masters who could beef up their Undead Crews, and a Master who controlled Spirits. The new Master would have to play to the Resurrectionist Faction strengths, but in such a way that was a unique addition to the Faction.

With that loose set of guidelines as a starting point, we discussed different aspects of the Resurrectionist arts and where we could take that experience. Eventually a rough concept began to take shape. A cursed character who gained strength as his minions crumbled around him. Wait, a necromancer who wanted his minions to die? It turned the concept of a necromancer whose power was in the undead hordes he summoned up on its head. Lovely.

So what sort of character would the as-yet-unnamed Yan Lo be? He longed to be either flesh and blood or move on to the afterlife, loathing the centuries he had lived in between the two. That made breaking the curse his primary motivator. But what made him a Resurrectionist? Unfortunately, the exact reason he was cursed in the first place had faded in his mind over the years and no one had been kind enough to provide him with an instruction booklet on how to break the curse. Although magic continued to exist in the Three Kingdoms while it declined elsewhere, it still couldn’t help him solve his predicament. He had turned to necromancy, convinced that somewhere in the dark art lay the keys to unlocking his prison of undeath. He would move heaven and earth to find it, and with his clan accessing Malifaux – a world awash with magical energies, and the place where necromancy was first discovered – he leapt at the opportunity to lend his talents to their machinations.

Designing A MasteRYan Lo


Fleshing Out a Ghost

Now that we had a functioning concept of the Yan Lo character in general, we moved on to how to turn him into a model for the game players would want to use.

Initially, Yan Lo’s model began an Encounter in a ghostlike form that buffed the Crew’s other models and as they were killed he would siphon off soul energy from their deaths. The soul energy would make him stronger in a physical way, eventually allowing him to take solid form as a younger version of himself. This young Yan Lo was more of a melee powerhouse than necromancer and lost much of his power over the Undead. The earliest concept required two models for the Master. A wizened, crooked old man (in fact, the description of how the old man should look at this early stage of development stuck and became the Yan Lo you see today), and a much more vibrant, youthful model (think Liu Kang on steroids) that would replace the old man model when he had built up enough power.

Determining the absorption mechanic was next on the agenda. We knew we wanted him to grow in power and eventually trigger a transformation into flesh. However, several early concepts were scrapped because the bookkeeping involved, albeit fun, was more involved than we wanted.

For instance, one concept had players stacking Counters (I can hear your eyes rolling at the thought of more Counters) alongside the stat card until reaching a predetermined target number.

Setting up this mechanic would require defining how many Counters he received from each type of Undead killed (would it be based on Soulstone Cost, model size, base size, should Spirits count, etc.?). It would also lock players into fielding certain types of Crews just to be sure they could gather the number of Counters needed to make the transformation worthwhile during an Encounter. Finally, it felt like we were creating a low-powered Avatar rather than a true Master. So the Counter “clock” idea was discarded.

We also decided we did not need another model that had to be exchanged with another miniature on the table at the time. We already had Avatars requiring model-swapping, and knew

McCabe would be both a mounted and dismounted model. Forcing Yan Lo into two models just didn’t fit in the more we thought about it, which meant the “transformation” into flesh and blood would be a fluffy experience, instead of a tangible experience with the model itself.


Something from Column A, Something from Column B

Instead of using the “soul points” as a timer, the concept we latched onto was a more modular Master. Where McCabe was being developed as a “gear Master” who could choose specific upgrades before the game began, Yan Lo’s metamorphosis from intangible to tangible seemed to function well by using the points as in-game upgrades he could buy to adapt his abilities to the force being fought. Fluff-wise he shifted from being intangible to tangible, drifting between the two depending on what upgrades he chose.

Two very different concepts on how this should be applied took shape. One involved the upgrades being included in his statline and checked off when they were bought with soul points, now called Chi points. Alex Cairns envisioned another which compiled all of these upgrades into themed “Paths” and further defined Yan’s background as a man who has become lost on the “Paths of life” and death. If you’ve read Yan

Lo, you know which of these clicked and the design team and playtesters moved forward with.

Along with the Chi Paths, we decided to add the concept of Relics to his suite of models. It was another way for players to upgrade Yan Lo while, at the same time, giving him the ability to summon models. He would not summon models in the same way Nicodem or McMourning do, but could field Izamu, allow Izamu to die, benefit from his Relic ability, and then later resummon Izamu if the situation called for it. Although his ability to absorb Chi from model deaths was a nod to the early concept of him gaining power as his minions died, the Relic mechanic captured it in a colorful method that allows us to create new options for him as new models with the Relic ability are designed in the future. Character-wise it expanded not only Yan Lo’s story, but that of the entire Katanaka Clan, as well as gave readers a bit of insight into the Three Kingdoms’ turbulent history.

Thrown to the Wolves

Throughout the process, we tested Yan Lo’s different concepts in-house, tweaking and adjusting before giving him to our playtesters. Once the stats were in their eager hands, they helped ensure that rules language read as clear to a wider audience as it did to us, ensuring the model is fun to play. Even while I worked on fleshing out Yan Lo’s backstory and fluff the testers were kicking tires and offering up suggestions. Sometimes those suggestions would require a tweak to his fluff as we incorporated them into his game stats. Eventually the design and testing process reached a place where I was happy with the model, locking it as ready for the public to enjoy.

Whew. I’m tired just thinking about the process!

Well, there you have it: a bit of insight into the design process that goes into creating a Malifaux model. From initial character concept to play style and rules, through roadblocks and epiphanies, and finally through testing and into your hands, how Yan Lo came to be. I hope you enjoy reading about him and the Ten Thunders in Storm of Shadows, and leading his Crew to victory on the tabletop!


By: Adrian Scott

Welcome to the first (and hopefully not last) volume in Professor Pink Pontificates!

So who am I, this person who somehow convinced Justin to include his ramblings in the Wyrd Chronicles? Well I would be Adrian, also known as Rathnard on the Wyrd forums, or Professor Pink to those who dare. I’ve been a wargamer for 16 years, am a multiple Malifaux Tournament winner, Wyrd Henchman, beta tester, co-host on the Aethervox Podcast, Moderator for the PullMyFinger Wiki and mad-keen Malifaux player. I also have a PhD in Genetics and may possibly only be known on the Wyrd forums for my obsession with posting my replies in pink, hence the “Professor Pink” reference! I also like to think I know a bit about playing Malifaux, and enjoy passing my advice on to others, which would probably explain why I agreed to write this piece for the Wyrd Chronicles!

Now with such an extravagant title, I’m sure you’re expecting amazing things from this article, huh? Well it’s a big ask, but I’m hoping not to disappoint. I’ve gathered here what I hope to be a detailed, yet concise, overview of how you, the reader, can become better at playing Malifaux. Naturally this is still just my opinion, and as with all things, there may be aspects you disagree with. That’s fine of course, although I certainly hope you can take at least something away from what I’m about to bombard you with.

So how do you become the new Chuck Norris of Malifaux gaming? Let’s get started with my first tip then!

Know The Rules of the Game

This seems pretty obvious, but we have to start somewhere, right? A basic understanding of the rules is essential for playing the game, but if you want to be great, it helps to have a good understanding of all the intricacies as well. The Ultimate Malifaux Player knows the rules of his game!

Having a good read of the rules manual and any available FAQs or erratas is the logical way to go about this. However, just sitting and reading PDFs and rule books can be rather mind-numbing for some people. Simply playing lots of games will also help identify what rules you need to brush up on. You could also peruse the Malifaux Rules Forum. A quick glance at the first few pages will give you a good idea of the rules that commonly trip up other players, allowing you to learn from the mistakes of others! I would especially recommend doing a search on the Rules Forum for specific rules or models you want to brush up on. It will save you a lot of time!

Listen to the Advice of Other Players, But Don’t Rely Upon It

Even after playing Malifaux for three years, I still find observing the more experienced players of a crew to be very helpful before starting that crew for myself. If nothing else, it gives me a decent idea of what models to start with, as well as the common tricks or combos that work well with that crew. This is an excellent way of getting a handle on how to use your new crew well without making too many mistakes or fumbling around with poor crew choices. The Ultimate Malifaux Player considers the wisdom of others!

However, an important thing to remember is that there is never a single “right” way to use a given crew. There will always be people (myself included) who will swear by a certain tactic or crew build, but remember that this only means that these are approaches that have worked for them. There may be other tactics or models that resonate better with your own preferred style of play. Thus you will only do yourself a disservice if you didn’t ignore at least some of the advice of others and try out something that you think might work.

The added bonus of this is that when you learn to play a crew or include models contrary to that crew’s tactics, you will often be able to catch your opponent’s off-guard in your games against them. Players have a harder time dealing with models or tactics they’re unfamiliar with, so this is the sort of edge in games that can make you a much more dangerous player.

Professor Pink PontificatesMastering Malifaux

http://malifaux.com/Rules.php

http://www.wyrd-games.net/forumdisplay.php?59-Malifaux-Rules-Discussion


Know Your Crew

This might seem like another obvious tip, but there is more to knowing your Malifaux crew (or crews) than you might first think. It almost goes without saying that you need to develop a good understanding of the role and limits of each model in your crew. Are they a resilient melee beater? How much damage can they take or deal each turn? Are there other models they can “combo” with to improve their potency in-game? The Ultimate Malifaux Player knows exactly what his or her crew can and cannot do!

A sound understanding of your model’s capabilities is essential to using your crew effectively, and a great start is to check out your relevant model entries in the Malifaux Wiki – PullMyFinger. However, what players often tend to overlook, are all those *other* talents and spells possessed by each of those models. You know the ones – they’re the non-essential fluff that people never seem to talk about. Examples would be Abduction on the Stitched Together, Ruthless on the Convict Gunslinger, and Distract on the Guild Austringer. These are the sort of abilities that are not required for a model to function, but almost all of them are still useful under certain situations. A Ruthless Gunslinger could do horrible things to Pitiful models like Kirai. Distract could stack your opponent’s deck for a truly nasty activation by Santiago’s next activation. And yes – even something as corner-case as Abduction, could be used to save your Dreamer from certain death when your opponent has somehow drawn the kid away from his protective Nightmare bubble. It’s true that these sorts of situations might only happen once every few games, but when they do happen, being able to take advantage of them will give you a significant edge against your opponent. More importantly, most of these uncommon abilities are so rarely used that they’re likely to take your opponent by complete surprise, which is only a good thing.

Know Your Opponent’s Crew

For the most part, what I’ve said about knowing the intricacies of how your own crew works also applies to knowing your opponent’s crew. Unfortunately, this is perhaps the hardest and most daunting element for newer players to get into grips with. There are now close to 300 model entries in the game, each of which has its own unique rules. These include a variety of tricks, combos and synergies with a multitude of other models. In all honesty, a really great Malifaux player has a very good idea of how all of those models work – what they can and cannot do in-game, as well as their strengths, and more importantly, their weaknesses and how best to neutralize them. There is never a surprise in store for the Ultimate Malifaux Player!

Becoming familiar with the entire Malifaux range is a daunting task for any new player, but it needn’t be that difficult. For the most part, each model can be categorized into a certain play style (eg. sniper, hit & run melee, slow but resilient melee, etc). After that there are a few tricks to keep an eye on for each model, especially if it’s going to be relevant to your crew. For

instance, Terrifying, anti-construct or anti-undead abilities could be dreadful depending on your own crew makeup. Having at least a

basic idea of how each model in your opponent’s crew will function gives you an excellent start to

understanding how best to deal with them.

As an example, it helps a lot to know that Coppelius is a melee model with Terrifying, who will most often use an automatic melee

trigger to paralyze your models. He will severely hurt anyone who kills

him, but other than a single healing ability, he is not overly resilient for a model of his cost. There is much more to Coppelius than just this

above summary, but it at least gives you a basic idea of how he’ll perform on the

table and thus, allow you to come up with a plan for dealing with him.

While not ideal, it helps a great deal to ask your opponent to give you a rundown of each model in their crew,

http://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/


or failing that, have a good look at your opponent’s cards. With practice, you’ll be able to quickly identify the basics of the model, as well as any talents or spells that could cause your crew issues. Identifying the more intricate combos within your opponent’s crew can be more difficult, but you’ll get better at this with time. As you play more games against a particular crew, you will eventually become very familiar with the many ways in which that crew can destroy you!

The Importance of Strategies and Schemes

Forgetting your strategies and schemes can be deadly. It’s the most common mistake you see in Malifaux games, even amongst the best players. In the heat of the game, it can become very easy to get caught up hunting down your opponent’s models or even just keeping your own crew alive. However, unlike most other tabletop wargames, winning is determined not by who killed the most models, but whether you achieved the strategies and schemes for that game. In fact, I have played two games where my crew was completely wiped out, but I still won because I had scored more victory points than my opponent. The Ultimate Malifaux Player always keeps his eye on the prize!

During games I always keep a record of what both mine and my opponent’s objectives are, either by noting them down on some paper or by using printed out cards, freely available from Ratty’s Malifaux site. Having the cards at hand is especially useful, as it becomes much easier to double check the achievement conditions and all the rules text. This is important since, if you are not careful, it can be easy to misinterpret or mix up the achievement conditions for certain strategies and schemes. For example, unlike Kill Protégé, Grudge requires you to kill that model in melee with a non-Master. And while both Steal Relic and Deliver a Message require interacting with your opponent’s Master, only Steal Relic requires you to make a successful opposed Wp duel. Mixing these sorts of schemes up or missing key details in how they are achieved is a very easy way to lose you the game!

Challenge Yourself

The games where I’ve learned the most are not those games where I’ve convincingly beaten my opponent. Contrary to common opinion, they’re not necessarily the games where I’ve lost either. My most informative games have instead been those times where, win or lose, I’ve felt as though I’m playing at a distinct disadvantage against my opponent. It’s times like these where my mind goes into overdrive. With the perceived odds against me, I suddenly find myself carefully weighing odds, coming up with multiple contingencies and identifying whatever combo, trick or weakness I can use to squeeze out every victory point possible and pull out a win. Win or lose, it is during these challenging games where I feel like I improve the most as a Malifaux player. And it’s a significant part of why I’m always trying new and interesting crews or combos in my games. The Ultimate Malifaux Player seeks not the win or the loss, but the challenge!

Fortunately, a game like Malifaux lends itself very well to challenging yourself in-game without deliberately playing badly, or seeking out the best players in your local gaming community. For one, not all schemes are created equal. Schemes like Exterminate and Eye for an Eye are usually much more difficult to achieve than Bodyguard or Holdout; therefore favoring the more difficult schemes in your games is an easy way to make games a little more difficult for yourself.

Crew selection is another good way to make your games more challenging. Unlike large-scale tabletop wargames where you might spend hundreds of dollars buying new units or regiments to fit into your list, Malifaux normally requires the addition of just a few models to completely change how your crew will function. It’s often a simple matter of swapping out your more optimal models, like Lilitu and Lelu, for less “appreciated” minions, like Candy and Kade.

You can even go as far as buying a completely new crew! This is actually a very good way of challenging yourself. A new crew not only encourages you to learn the dynamics of a new set of models, but will invariably have a very different playstyle to your old crews. This helps you to better understand the

http://malifaux.nezumi.me.uk/

http://malifaux.nezumi.me.uk/


strengths and weaknesses in other crew types, as well as train yourself to think a little less rigidly.

For instance, I’m most accustomed to using crews like Marcus or Zoraida, which work very well with a hit and run style of play. But early last year I began playing with Lucius, who’s crew works best in close support of each other. With Lucius I had to keep my crew close together as I achieved my objectives, rather than spread across the board to harass my opponent. In a sense, such a drastic change in playstyle forced me to relearn how I played Malifaux. But I feel the challenges I faced by playing with such a different style of crew made me a better Malifaux player overall, and I’m much better able to understand the strengths and limitations to the sort of playstyle that a Lucius crew encourages.

Conclusion

In writing this article, my aim was to give players, both new and old, some helpful advice for improving their skills in playing Malifaux. However, this just scratches the surface of what you can learn about Strategies and Tactics for Malifaux. I hope to go further down the rabbit hole in future issues of Wyrd Chronicles. In the meantime, be sure to check out the massive amount of other tactical advice available. The previously mentioned Wyrd Forums and PullMyFinger wiki are always a source of good information, as are the many Malifaux Podcasts and blogs currently available.

Until next time,

Adrian


Painting Yan LoBy: Mark Rodgers

In this article I’ll be covering how I painted the new Yan Lo model. He has a fantastic creepy old man style, and the model is very detailed in places, while also having large smooth areas. This is ideal for painting, as you can go wild with techniques and freehand on them. Mine has a custom beard after I sneezed while taking the original off the sprue, but that’s the only change I made during cleaning and prepping. Most of the paints used were Vallejo Game Color paints, but a few other brands will be listed here and there.

Color Scheme

Earthy browns and greens are ideal for Yan Lo’s main colors, as he is basically the earth element of the Ten Thunders masters. The contrast to those colors (as a pair) is purple, which is perfect, as I wanted to use a blue-purple for the necromancy’s glow. This meant I had to use green-browns, rather than pure greens, to keep the color balance right. I also decided to use blue elsewhere in combination with silvers and grays to keep the contrast going.

Step by Step

Good preparation is important, as a mold line can really spoil an otherwise fine paint-job. Boring though it may be, don’t rush it to get to the painting! As always when I paint, I worked from the inside outward, beginning with the skin, then the robes, then the little details such as metals. The base was then painted, and as a finishing touch, I added the OSL onto Yan Lo and the skeleton. OSL, or object source lighting, involves painting the light coming from an object on the surrounding surfaces, to emphasize that the object is giving off light rather than reflecting it. In this case, the objects were the ground under the skeleton and Yan Lo’s palm. Effects like this take patience and care, but can completely alter the mood and style of a model.

Step 1: Skin

Asian skin needs a more complex mixture as a base coat than Caucasian skin, but is otherwise the same. Yan Lo is an old man, and aged skin is normally less saturated, but this is often only seen with wrinkles for Asian skin, so I left it as is.

My basic mixture was 6:4:1:1 bronze fleshtone:leather brown:bonewhite:GW camo green, with a little white and black mixed in to reduce the color intensity. I went over this with a soft shade made of 5:2:1 mid-tone:tan:midnight blue around the edges of the flesh and in any shadows, such as the eyes and neck. This was deepened using a 1:1:1 mixture of the first shade, charred brown and midnight blue. Shading with small amounts of blue counters the warm orange tones of normal skin, giving a more natural shadow. I then used a thinned mid-tone to restore the original color. Normally I highlight skin with bonewhite, but for a more elderly look, I prefer to highlight with off-white, so the first highlight was 4:1 mid-tone to off-white. A second highlight of the first mix with a little more off-white was used to accentuate the knuckles and paint wrinkling onto the head. Having the face highlighted a little more intensely helps to draw focus to it, so I finished the face with pure off-white.

As an extra detail, I painted some liver spots on his forehead and hand. Both the liver spots and lip were painted using a 3:1:1 mix of mid-tone:tan:charred brown, with a very small charred brown center on


the spots. I only painted the lower lip; painting the upper lip as well would have ended up with Yan Lo wearing lipstick (unless there is some fluff I missed, this probably would not fit with his theme). His eyes were painted using VMC deck tan and since they were quite small, I didn’t bother with irises, only little black pupils. The final touch was to paint the nails with bronze fleshtone and charred brown in a 2:1 mix, highlighting up to pure bonewhite.

Step 2: Inner Robe

Since Yan Lo’s model is mostly robes, I decided to paint his inner robe as rough silk for extra interest. I started with a base coat of earth, which was then shaded by adding in a mixture of midnight blue and black. I painted this over quite a broad area to make the next steps work better. The mid-tone was repainted, not as a smooth thin layer, but as tiny horizontal strokes. This technique doesn’t show much effect initially, but bear with it, as it will with additional layers.

The first highlight was done the same way using a 4:1:1 mix of mid-tone, GW camo green and off-white. Adding camo green gives the color change a bit more interest than just using white. The second highlight was similar to the first one, with a little more camo green and off-white added. Each layer builds up the robe highlights as a series of

overlapping layers of lines covering smaller and smaller areas. A final highlight of the previous mix, with an equal volume of off-white, finished the effect. The weave of the silk on the sleeves would be around the arm, not horizontal, which meant painting it in loops in order for the effect to work. A final, very diluted, wash of a black and midnight blue mix, aimed into the recesses, reinforced the shadows.

Step 3: Outer Robe

The outer robe began as charred brown, which was shaded using a 4:2:1:1 mix of charred brown, black, midnight blue and GW liche purple. The mid-tone was only repainted over a small area, and a minimal highlight of mid-tone with a bit of off-white was painted. As a final step, I used a very diluted wash of black with a little purple in it to smooth the colors together and enrich the shadows, allowing me to keep the robe quite dark. Normally I wouldn’t paint without much more contrasting highlights, but the freehand would be bright and the contrast would be stronger this way.

The freehand began with a rough sketch in black that would serve as an outline for the dragon. I then filled the basic shape in with 2:1 charred brown:bronze fleshtone. The details were put on with bronze fleshtone, bonewhite and then off-white, defining the pattern more each time. To blend this together, the last step was to carefully glaze black containing a touch of purple into the folds of the robe over the freehand.


Step 4: Belt and Under-Robe

These were base-coated with a 4:1:1 mix of white:black:midnight blue, then shaded twice by adding black and a tiny amount of charred brown each time. Once the mid-tone was painted back in, I added a little white to give a couple of gentle highlights. As a final touch, I added a simplified dark grey ten thunders logo and the symbols for Katanaka to the belt end and used a very thin black-brown wash over the whole belt. The paler cold color was designed to break up the otherwise very dark and drab clothing.

At this point I didn’t need to get to the inner robes anymore, so I attached Yan Lo’s arm and fixed the gaps with putty and paint.

Step 5: Hair

Yan Lo’s hair was painted with a black/off-white mix containing a tiny bit of midnight blue. It was then shaded with black and highlighted by adding off-white to the original color, up to pure off-white. Hair often benefits from a wash to blend the colors together, so a blue/black wash and quick retouch of the highlights completed the look.

Step 6: Staff

There are two main ways to paint metals on models. True Metallics (TM) are where metallic paint is used in much the same way that normal paint is used for other areas, with dark metals for shadows and pale bright ones for highlights. Non Metallic Metals (NMM) involve painting the shadows and highlights onto the surface using only non metallic paints (for steel, this is commonly black, blue-grey and white). NMM involves knowing where the light would reflect from the metal and where the shadows would fall, painting smooth, but extreme highlights and shadows in those places to represent the highly reflective surface. It is a difficult technique to master and typically only looks perfect from one viewing angle, but the understanding of light that it requires is useful to have. I paint metals in NMM style, but rather than using white to highlight, I use metallic paints in the same way as the white would be used. In effect, the technique is TM-NMM. This gives the metals very high contrast between the dark, non-reflective shadows and the bright, metallic highlights, without losing the metallic look at different viewing angles.

In this case the staff began with a base-coat of 2:2:1 white:black:midnight blue, and was shaded down to pure black. A little chainmail silver was added to the base-coat for the mid-tone repainting and then the highlights were painted working up to pure chainmail silver, trying to follow where the light would catch the staff. The six rings were then painted to represent copper, stone, ruby, bone, jade and wood for extra interest on the staff. Yan Lo’s bracelets were also painted as wood, bone and stone, as too much ruby and jade would look odd (in part the because of the color combination, but also in part because we can’t have a grumpy resser with too much bling).


Step 7: Base

Since the base was going to need Yan Lo positioning carefully, I built it with him in place, then took him off it for painting. This guarantees the model will fit on the base at the end, but makes painting both easier. The base was just green stuff sculpted around the skeleton, with sand on top and strips of plasticard for grave markers.

The underground glow began with white, then GW ice blue was mixed in, then this was blended towards GW liche purple. The color was left brightest at the bottom of the glow, and darker as it got to ground level. This was cleaned up with charred brown on the surface, which was then dry-brushed with earth, khaki and bonewhite in slightly uneven layers to give the soil variation.

The wooden grave markers were painted with leather brown first, then grain was painted on using a mix of leather and dark fleshtone, followed by pure dark fleshtone. The text was carefully painted on with dilute black and red. Finally, patchy glazes of green and blue-grey were used followed by a smattered wash of brown/black to age the wood.

Step 8: Skeleton

The skeleton began as a base-coat of 2:1 charred brown/bronze fleshtone which I shaded with pure charred brown followed by a brown/black mix. I then glazed in bronze fleshtone, bleached bone and off-white to highlight the bones, painting the bone joints on the skull for extra interest. The armor was painted similarly to Yan Lo’s staff, but I started with a darker gray and used a blue-black for the shade to make the iron darker than the staff. The highlights were kept small, but again, built up to pure chainmail silver. Rusted patches were painted on using roughly stippled charred brown, dark fleshtone and orange fire, before a black/brown wash was applied unevenly to tarnish it further. The cloth and straps started as GW liche purple, shaded down with black to a 1:1 mix. Then I repainted the original purple and highlighted using progressively more bonewhite until it was a 1:1 ratio. I also cleaned up the base edges with black, as the messy part was done.

Step 9: Grass

To finish the base, I added tufts of grass in places. The I added long grass for variation, trimmed it and added a mix of static grasses. Finally, I used some autumn ivy for extra tangled foliage. With the base and Yan Lo both finished, I attached them to make the final step easier.


Step 8: Open Source Lighting

For the glow effects I used the same purple/blue/white colors as I did on the base, but thinned heavily. When painting glazes like this, your paint should look more like tinted water than paint. In a sphere around the source of the light, and on anything that faced the light (so the bottoms but not the tops of the bones), I painted four very thin layers of purple, letting them dry fully between each coat. I then added eight layers of blue in a smaller sphere leaving some purple at the far edge of the glow. Then four layers of white in a smaller area again focused on the nearest surfaces to the glow. The area covered by the underground glow was larger than the one on the hand to make it look stronger.

To make the process easier, I use a mixture of additives to slow down the paint drying and thin the color density, without making the paint watery. If you only use water to dilute your glaze, you need to paint more layers with less paint on your brush so it barely coats the surface as you paint; otherwise it will pool and run into recesses. Additives such as drying retarder, flow aid, and matte medium make the paint easier to control. However they aren’t necessary, or even useful, if you don’t know how to make them work for you. It takes time to learn how to get the result you want from them. It actually took me almost six months to recover my skill when I started using just two of them! But, if you take the time to learn, they can be useful tools. One more thing to watch out for is that these additives can often turn paint very glossy, as you can see in the final OSL stages. However, this can be fixed after painting.

The final step was to clean any dust off the model before painting it with matte varnish in order to dull any shine and protect it a little. I choose to paint it on rather than use a spray because that makes it thick enough to survive some handling. However, the matte coat dulls the shine, so I then went back over the metals, eyes and other shiny areas with gloss varnish.

So there he is finished, and a lot of fun it was too. If anyone has any questions, feel free to find me on the forum (Mako) and ask away! Also, click here for larger tutorial images.

http://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/Painting+Yan+Lo+By+Mark+Rodgers


Boris the Dancing BearThe Never Was Files

By: Dan Weber

For every Malifaux model that appears in a book there are several that never make it past our in-house playtesting for one reason or another. Some have concepts that never solidify the way we would like them to once the design is tested on the table. Others work, but we find we lack room in the page count and are forced to set them aside for a future release. Or we find that the model fills a role already occupied by another model, and so on.

But there are also character designs which you never see. Character concepts we might have started down one path with, but transformed into a completely different idea by the end of design and testing. One such model is the Slate Ridge Mauler. Ever wonder why the Mauler lacks a bite attack? Well, the Mauler was once called Boris…Boris, the Dancing Bear.

Boris was originally conceived as an additional Beast for Marcus in Twisting Fates. His character concept began straightforward enough as another animal transformed by its trip through the Breach. Boris was not intended as a main character, but as an ‘extra’ that fit into the background and did its job on the table. The model concept remained fairly consistent throughout design and testing: large melee-centric bear that both slowed down and ripped through an opponent. The bear’s lack of a bite attack was a facet of the character concept: as a circus bear, Boris wore a muzzle.

But somewhere along the way, bland Boris, the Dancing Bear changed. A mutated dancing bear wearing a fez, vest, and muzzle seemed a little bland. I thought about the bear’s situation and how silly he must feel. Then a cruel inspiration struck me. What if the Breach ignited a human’s self-awareness in the bear? How would it react to its years of captivity while wearing a ridiculous costume night after night dancing for strangers as clownish entertainment? The result is the original Boris bio written for Twisting Fates, which was very different from the final bio we went with. Once it

was decided a clinically-depressed circus bear with a death wish was a little too over the top for even Malifaux we transformed Boris into a species of bear native to Malifaux: the Slate Ridge Mauler. And the rest is history.

(I just think it’s because Nathan hated the fez…)

Boris, the Dancing Bear

Blithely unaware of his situation, Boris the Dancing Bear was one of the star performers of Yuri Andrekov’s Traveling Circus Earthside. For years, Boris traveled the countryside entertaining small villages and towns, used to the feel of the matching embroidered fez, vest, and muzzle he wore during performances. A bit long in the tooth, he had lived as a performing bear for so long that even the scent of freedom no longer tickled his nostrils.

When the circus fell on hard times the animals were sold off one by one to other traveling shows and zoos. It fell upon Andrekov’s kind-hearted niece, Natalya, to rescue Boris from the butcher’s block. Words like “Breach” and “the Star” meant nothing to him as Natalya helped her beloved bear settle into the cage mounted inside a boxcar and sent him through the Breach to his new owners.

Boris’ trip through the Breach had a horribly adverse effect on the normally docile bear. It expanded his awareness to his predicament. Crushing depression struck Boris. He now understood what it meant to spend so many years in captivity, serving as entertainment for crowds of laughing humans. The bear wanted nothing more than to end the mockery he now called his life in an explosion of rage, and drown the laughter in lakes of blood...


Original Book Entry

Colette knew the bear was trouble the moment she first saw him. She could see a deep sadness in Boris’ eyes – a sadness which thinly masked the rage she could see was ready to boil over. She felt those eyes following her every movement as she inspected him in his cage. But, never once did Boris rise up and lunge at her or throw his bulk against the bars. This one, she thought, is a schemer.

The Star’s stage crew was ordered to never be alone in the cage with Boris, even though the bear followed their commands without hesitation or resistance. Colette observed the show rehearsals, watching the bear for the slightest sign of the rage she had observed that first day.

The bear never gave her the satisfaction. Boris knew he was being watched closely and bided his time, waiting for the day where he would make his last performance one the humans would never forget…

Optional Rule: Playing Boris in a Friendly Game of Malifaux

Players who would like to use Boris in an Encounter as he was originally intended may do so by adding the Showgirl Characteristic to the Slate Ridge Mauler’s statistics in their friendly games. This rule is not an errata to the Slate Ridge Mauler, nor should it be considered legal in tournaments or other official Malifaux events. However, you will need to sculpt a fez onto the Mauler.


Malifaux Multiplayer


Optional Rules For Multiplayer EncountersMultiplayer Malifaux

By: Dan Weber

Cole had a perfect view of the killing ground from his vantage point in the upper story of a ruined building. Nothing would be entering or exiting the crumbling plaza Von Schill had chosen for the ambush without Cole’s eyes catching sight of it and putting a round or two through whatever passed for its skull. He could even mark the stealthy movements of his fellow Friekorpsmen below as they moved into their assigned positions. The Guild escort would be passing through the plaza any minute now, and everyone wanted to be ready when the fireworks began.

Shadowy movement in a side alley drew his attention. Cole raised his rifle up to take a better look at whatever it was through his scope. It could be a wandering scavenger, a wolf or whatever passed for one in Malifaux…or something more serious, like a band of Neverborn. Either way, its untimely appearance could spell disaster for Von Schill’s careful plans. Dammit, thought Cole, a shambler. He could make out the zombie’s torn and stained clothing and rotting flesh. He waited for the zombie to fully move into the weak moonlight so he could point it out to his superior but it halted instead, waiting just out of full view of anyone in the plaza. Further movement suggested there were a dozen or more zombies there with it. But they were content to hold where they were, as if waiting for something themselves. Oh lord, Cole thought…

The clatter of hooves and low murmur of voices entered the plaza, signaling the Guild’s arrival. Guardsmen both mounted and on foot moved steadily through the plaza, talking amongst themselves, but keeping a wary eye on the shadows in the plaza’s deepest recesses. A few held weapons at the ready, but not aimed at anything in particular. Wary, but ineffective.

The first shot came not from Cole’s party, but from the darkened side passage. The shot illuminated a figure wearing a ridiculously tall top hat shouting at his Undead minions. The shot felled the lead

Guardsman and his horse an instant before the zombies poured into the plaza. Cole was sure he heard the Resurrectionist demand they bring him back the saddlebags he wanted, more than likely the same saddlebags the Friekorps were enlisted to retrieve as well.

Cole fired an instant later, dropping a zombie, and then another as the Friekorpsmen rushed to join the melee that had ensued. He could almost hear Von Schill cursing their luck, but making it clear the saddlebags were their top priority. Grinning, Cole reloaded and took aim – Guild or Undead, he had plenty of targets to choose from.

This Wyrd Chronicles article provides players the rules necessary to play Encounters between three or more Crews.

Setting Up a Multiplayer Encounter

Players should follow the Encounter Setup rules in the Rules Manual, but with the following changes.

Step 4: Choose Deployment Type:

Instead of using the Deployment Chart found in the Rules Manual players should select the Deployment Diagram (found on the following page) that matches the number of players in the Encounter. Players may find that when playing in larger Encounter sizes the deployment areas are inadequate for the number of models being used. In that case, increase the table size and adjust your Deployment Zones to accommodate your needs. For example, players may find that playing a 40 Soulstone Encounter requires a 4’ X 4’ table.


Multiplayer Deployment Diagrams

Four Player Deployment Each player has a triangular Deployment Zone, formed by measuring ten inches from one corner of the board.

Six Player Deployment Four players have triangular Deployment Zones,

formed by measuring eight inches from a corner of the board. Two players have a circular Deployment Zone, with a five inch radius. To determine the center of the circle, measure eight inches up from a board edge, and

then eighteen inches in.

Three Player Deployment Two players measure six inches from one long board

edge to determine their Deployment Zones. The third player’s Deployment Zone is a circular section of the board with an eight inch radius, measured from the

center of the game board.

Five Player Deployment Four players have a triangular Deployment Zone, formed by measuring ten inches from one corner of the board. The remaining player has a circular

Deployment Zone with an eight inch radius, measured from the center of the game board.


Step 5: Determine Strategies:

Instead of using the Encounter Charts found in the Rules Manual one player should flip on the following Multiplayer Encounter Chart to determine the shared Strategy everyone will be using.

Even Number of Players Odd Number of PlayersJokers Player’s Choice * Monkeywrench/

Stand Fast1-3 Multiplayer

Contain PowerJokers Player’s Choice

4-7 Multiplayer Master of the Hills

1-4 Multiplayer Contain Power

8-10 Multiplayer Beatdown

5-8 Multiplayer Beatdown

11-13 Multiplayer Claim Jump

9-13 Multiplayer Claim Jump

*In the case of an odd number of players, the player choosing the central Deployment Zone may choose the Stand Fast Strategy (or, if playing a three player Encounter, the Monkeywrench Strategy) instead of following the Strategy flipped for the other players.

Multiplayer BeatdownVictoryAt the end of each Turn after the first, the Crew that killed or sacrificed the most enemy models during the Turn scores 1 VP up to a maximum of 4 VP.

Multiplayer Claim JumpSetupIn the same order used to choose Deployment Zones each player places a 30mm Claim Marker completely within an opposing player’s Deployment Zone. No more than one Marker may be placed in each Deployment Zone. The Marker must be placed in such a way that any model could reach it during the Encounter (for example, not on the top of a rock spire only reachable by flying models).

Special Insignificant models do not count toward the Victory condition.

VictoryIf a player has more models completely within 3” of the Claim Marker it placed in the enemy Deployment

Zone than the opponent does at the end of the Encounter, that player scores 2 VP. If the opposing player does not have any models completely within 3” of the Claim Marker at the end of the Encounter, +2 VP.

Multiplayer Contain PowerSpecialAfter Crews have been deployed each player must nominate an opposing player using the same order used to choose Deployment Zones. No player may be nominated more than once.

VictoryA player scores 2 VP if his or her nominated opponent’s leaders are not in the game at the end of the Encounter. The player scores +2 VP if his or her leaders killed or sacrificed all of the nominated opponent’s leaders.

Multiplayer Master of the HillSetupPlace a hill/pyramid/ziggurat/or other applicable terrain piece in the center of the table. The top of the terrain piece must have room for at least two 50mm bases to fit while in base contact. The terrain piece should not be set up in such a way that no model is prevented from moving to its top. For example, a tall pillar of rock with a flat plateau only Flying models can reach should not be used as the “hill” in this Strategy.

VictoryAt the end of each Turn after the first, each player counts the number of models he or she has with bases completely on the terrain piece. The player with the most models scores 1 VP. A model alone at the top of the terrain piece counts as two models for determining how many models are on the terrain piece. (For Example: you have three models on the hill at the end of turn two, and one model on top of the hill. Your model on top of the hill is the only one there, so it counts as two models. In total, you count as having five models on the hill.) Alternatively, you may use a 50mm marker instead of a hill. In this case, any models within 8” of the marker count as being on the hill, and any models in base contact with the marker count as being on top of the hill.


Monkeywrench (3 players only)Hire CrewsIn a three player game, the player in the center Deployment Zone may choose this Strategy instead of following the Strategy flipped for the other players. This player receives an additional 5 Soulstones for hiring Minions for each full 15 Soulstones in the Encounter size. For example, in a 25 Soulstone Encounter this player would receive +5 Soulstones for hiring. In a 35 Soulstone Encounter he or she would receive +10 Soulstones.

VictoryThis player scores 2 VP for each Strategy his or her opponents fail to achieve.

Stand FastHire CrewsA player in a central Deployment Zone may choose this Strategy instead of following the one flipped for the other players, so long as there is an odd number of players. This player receives an additional 5 Soulstones for hiring Minions for each full 10 Soulstones in the Encounter size. For example, in a 25 Soulstone Encounter this player would receive +10 Soulstones for hiring. In a 35 Soulstone Encounter he or she would receive +15 Soulstones

SetupPlace a 30mm Marker at the center of the table.

SpecialThis player may not gain VP from the Strategy flipped by the other players. This player’s models do count toward preventing other Crews from achieving their Strategy goals, however. For example, if this player’s Crew killed the most models during a Turn in a Beatdown no player would score the Strategy’s 1 VP for the Turn.

VictoryAt the end of each Turn after the first count the number of models each Crew has completely within 12” of the table center Marker. This player scores 1 VP, up to 4 VP if his or her Crew has the most models.

Step 7: Choose Schemes:

Because of the chaotic nature of multiplayer games a few changes to the Schemes are necessary to keep an Encounter balanced for all players as indicated below. Schemes that may be selected more than once may target a different Crew each time. If a change indicates a player must choose a specific opponent for the Scheme the player notes the opponent at the same time as any other information he or she must note. The noted opponent must be announced along with any other secretly noted details if the Scheme is Announced.

If you do not see a Scheme listed here, it remains unchanged for Multiplayer Encounters.

General SchemesAssassination: You do not receive the VP if other opponents removed the model from play. This Scheme cannot be selected if Multiplayer Contain Power is the Strategy.Breakthrough: This Scheme cannot be selected if the Stand Fast Strategy is being used. Extermination: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Eye for an Eye: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Frame for Murder: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Grudge: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Hold Out: This Scheme must be announced. This Scheme cannot be selected if the Stand Fast Strategy is being used.Kill Protégé: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Stake a Claim: The terrain piece must be inside or within 6” of the opponent’s Deployment Zone.Steal Relic: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.

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Faction Specific SchemesArmy of the Dead: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Gather Soulstones: This Scheme must be announced. You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Kidnap: You do not receive the VP if other opponents removed the models from play. This Scheme cannot be selected if Multiplayer Contain Power is the Strategy.Power Ritual: In an Encounter with an odd number of players the table center can count as one corner of the table. The Interact Action may be performed within 8” of the table center.Raid!: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Round Up: You must choose a specific opponent for this Scheme.Sabotage: The terrain piece must be completely within an opponent’s Deployment Zone.

Master Specific SchemesFirst Blood: Replace the Victory condition with: “If the first two models in Crews removed from the Encounter by opposing Crews were killed or sacrificed by your Crew, you score 2 VP.”Lay These Souls to Rest: The number of enemy Leaders Lady Justice must put to rest is equal to half the number of players in the Encounter, round up. For example, in a three player Encounter she would have to lay both of the other Leaders to rest. Likewise in a four player Encounter, she would have to lay to rest two of the other three leaders.

Step 8: Deploy Crews:

All players now reshuffle their Decks and flip a Card, reflipping any ties. In order from lowest value to highest value, each player deploys his or her entire Crew in the Deployment Zone selected during Step 4.

Playing a Multiplayer Encounter

In general, the rules for Malifaux have been written to accommodate a multiplayer Encounter. For example, the Flip for Initiative Step of the Turn already handles more than two players. However, when a Talent or Spell requires a player target/select the opposing player/Crew, it is one opposing player/Crew, not every opposing player/Crew.

A note on multiple Crews and simultaneous effects: If multiple Crews’ models are affected by a simultaneous effect such as a blast or Pulse any reactions to the simultaneous effect such as resolving Triggers or the Slow to Die response are resolved starting with the acting player’s models and then in activation order with each player resolving all of his or her models’ reactions before moving on. The only exceptions to this are responses which occur “immediately,” such as Lord Chompy Bits’ One Master Ability. Those responses resolve first, then any remaining responses are resolved in activation order.

Well, what are you waiting for? Grab a few friends and get a multiplayer Encounter going right now!


Note: If your store’s register does not print product codes, you may take a picture of the item next to the receipt. All other information MUST be shown.

Note: If the register at your LGS does not record product codes, you may take a picture of the item and send it with the receipt. The receipt MUST have all other information.


By: Justin Gibbs

I have been hanging out in game stores my whole life. They have provided me a place to play the games I love, meet new people, and generally get out of the house. But, more than any of that, they have exposed me to a whole new world. The games which were introduced to me in the back rooms of game stores have helped to shape my critical thinking skills. The people I met there are some of the best friends I have. In fact, I probably would not have the career I do now if it wasn’t for the local game store I hung out in as a kid.

Game stores are not just important to me, personally, but to Wyrd as a company. They should be important to any game manufacturer, but particularly to one which manufactures miniature games. Miniature games require terrain and a large amount of space to play, which many customers look to their local game stores for. These games also tend to have a high barrier to entry through cost, painting, assembly, and learning curve. The local game store provides a place for demos and painting tutorials to be held, as well as being a central location for hobby supplies. These things can be critical to whether or not a new player has a place to play our games, so the local store is an incredibly important thing to Wyrd.

Regardless of whether you work in the game industry, so long as you play games, a game store always will have something to offer you; whether it’s a steady flow of consistent opponents, a ready selection of modeling and painting supplies, or just advice from the person behind the register about what the best game for you would be. These establishments provide a critical service to your community and to the gaming industry as a whole. Even if you don’t frequent them yourself, they help keep the game manufacturers you love in business, and odds are good that some of your opponents might not be a part of the hobby without them.

Given all of this, it always saddens me when I hear about a game store having to close its doors. Times are not particularly easy for anyone at the moment,

and the local game store is facing fierce competition from potentially cheaper suppliers. But for every game store we lose, we also lose countless people who will never be exposed to gaming as a hobby.

That’s why I want to encourage you to support your local store; whether you make the extra effort to stop by and play a game, buy a new crew, or just grab a soda. Every little bit helps. However, more than anything, I want to make the point that this is not a moral argument; it is an argument about value. I do not spend my money at my local store because I want to be charitable; I spend it there because the store is providing value which is worth paying for.

In Support of the LGS


See you next

time!!

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