Starting Malifaux on a BLACK BETTY Get To Know A Wyrdo

28
budget - THE NEVERBORN Sometimes you Get a behind the scenes look at Wyrd's
Choose your Master and can love someone game design team. Starting with their Vol.
build a competitive crew to death. newest designer, Kyle!

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 CONTENTS

Cli
ck to
na v igate! WYRD
CHRONICLES 28
FOREWORD..................................................................................1
STARTING MALIFAUX ON A BUDGET - THE NEVERBORN................ 3
:
Nootneany pargneto GET TO KNOW A WYRDO.............................................................13
Click r to retu
be x!
num his inde
t
THE OTHER SIDE… OF PLAYTESTING.........................................17
BLACK BETTY...........................................................................21
STARTING A STATION............................................................... 32
DENIAL OF SANZU.................................................................... 40
Cabin In The Woods ....................................................... 52

content guide

stories terrain game sessions mechanics fun & tactics painting battle-reports gallery

Credits Creative Director

Nathan Caroland

Layout
Graphic Artist
Jorge Gomez
John Cason
Contributing Authors
Mike Wallace
Aaron Darland
Marko Paunovic
John Cason Art Adrian Scott
Lindsey Rode Alyssa Menold Paul Lippincott
Hardy Fowler Lindsey Rode
Editor Jorge Gomez
Lindsey Rode Iwo Widulinski
Various Drop Gators Melvin de Voor

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 FOREWORD
THE START OF A NEW YEAR is always an exciting time for me. There's so much to look forward
to: new games, new Malifaux models, and a whole new Con season! It's the perfect time to look
ahead with ambition and challenge yourself to try new things. Since this is my first year with Wyrd,
I have discovered that they also believe in this philosophy (just in a more extreme and possibly
insane way).

I mean holy crap do we have stuff planned for 2017! Let's start with the announcement of a whole
new edition of Through the Breach. Mason has done an amazing job of tuning up all the rules while
making them completely compatible with every one of our supplement books. On the other side
of the office, Aaron's been hard at work on Wave 5 of Malifaux, and the team's been practically
bouncing with ideas for new models. Speaking of The Other Side, the Kickstarter has ended but
you can late pledge and grab all those Stretch Goal goodies! Finally there's a certain board game
that yours truly has been working on, and the time that I can stop teasing you about it grows near.

"How are we getting all this done" you ask? Well we've managed to kidnap, I mean hire, a new
teammate! Kyle is our newest game designer and in true Wyrd tradition we have already blown up
his car (we find it helps prevent escapes).

And don't forget about the Worldwide Campaign 2017 for Through The Breach! The design team
has decided to join in the fun this year and will be playing and posting our mis-adventures alongside
everyone else.

So hold on tight everyone because we are hitting the ground running this year, and the world of
Malifaux will never be the same.

Lindsey

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 STARTING MALIFAUX
THE NEVERBORN
ON A BUDGET
Adrian Scott

WELCOME TO PART TWO of this Getting Started

series, the Neverborn Edition!

Diving into Malifaux can be a daunting task for a new

player. Even after picking which of the seven Factions
and 46 Masters you want to start with, you’re faced
with deciding how to expand that initial crew box.
Which models work best with your new Master isn’t
always clear – you don’t always want to stick with just
their in-theme models and the initial crew boxes don’t
always make for “complete” lists. On top of that,
some oft-recommended models can be expensive
to buy or come with other models you don’t want.
Fortunately, there are very few models that might be
considered “auto-includes” for a given Master, and
it shouldn’t cost a fortune to build a crew that plays With the Ten Thunders addressed in the previous
well on the table. issue, we’re now moving from ninjas to the horrific
nightmares and demons of the first Faction I ever
My aim is to help players identify the models that played – the Neverborn! As usual, this is all based
will work best with their chosen Master and build on my personal experience and, like any opinion,
an effective starting crew for Malifaux. This includes not everyone will agree. If you’d like an alternative
an overview of each Master and their crew box, with perspective, there are more than a few threads on
three initial purchases that best complement their the Wyrd forums discussing specific Masters, as well
playstyle. To keep costs low, I’m avoiding the more as Khyodee’s own excellent Building on a Budget
expensive sets (ie. anything over US$25). However, series. In any case, I’m confident this guide will give
for those looking to expand further, I’ve included you a good idea on what models are worth buying for
potential future purchases regardless of their cost. a new Master without having to spend a fortune!

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 Lilith
The Mother of Monsters might look like a high-damage
melee monster, but her playstyle has some surprising
depth. Lilith is best described as a guerrilla fighter.
She mostly hides in the shadows, blocking enemy
sight lines with Illusionary Forests or slowing them
with her Wicked Vines. Then, when the time is right,
she can use Tangled Shadows or her Wicked Mistress
upgrade to pull in and isolate enemy models before her
crew tears them to pieces! When taken together, this
gives her tremendous flexibility on the table, being able
to either manipulate the enemy from afar or tear them
apart in bloody melee.
Lilith’s crew box comes with her Cherub totem, three
Terror Tots, and her henchman Barbaros. The Cherub
is great for disrupting your opponent’s models while
helping your own crew achieve schemes involving the
Interact action, while the Terror Tots are fast objective
runners with decent damage potential for their cost.
Barbaros is the tank of the crew, with a talent for
pushing enemy models around with his attacks. Push
effects are amazing tools in-game, especially when Lilith
(with the Living Blade upgrade) and her Terror Tots can
gain free attacks against pushed enemy models! The
crew box is very well rounded with some great mobility,
killing power, and resilience right off the bat. Most of
the other things you’ll want for Lilith involve improving
her guerrilla-style of fighting, whilst reducing the crew’s
reliance on Lilith herself for outright damage.
When you’re fighting from the shadows, it helps to
have some trees to hide behind. This is where your
first purchase comes in – a box of Waldgeists! With
their high Armor and Perfect Camouflage to blunt
enemy shooting and charges, these tree monsters are
incredibly tough for their cost. They also offer plenty
of disruption with Germinate placing severe terrain,
and their very long reaching Tangling Roots melee
attack with triggers to Slow or immobilize the enemy.
Altogether, the Waldgeists are your tar-pits. They’ll sit
up front and hold off your opponent’s crew, leaving Lilith
free to kill exactly who she wants at her own pace.
With the tar-pits organized, it’s time to look at what
most players refer to as the Twins – Lelu and Lilitu. This
demonic pair come in a single box and offer multiple
options to your average Neverborn aficionado. Lelu is
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a very capable melee fighter while Lilitu brings control,
using Lure to pull in models and then lock them down
with her huge 4” ranged Barbed Whip attack. Thanks
to Same Oppressive Force, the twins share any
conditions or healing with each other, with Lelu’s Lie
in Wait action giving Pounce (an attack on any model
who’s pushed into range), which works especially well
with Lilith's and Barbaros’s push effects!
Finally, we have what might be the most popular model
in the Faction - the Doppelganger. It’s not hard to see
why the Doppelganger is so valued. Ill Omens lets you
cheat your initiative flip to go first each turn, and Don’t
Mind Me lets her take Interact actions even while
engaged (which is invaluable for certain strategies and
schemes). For her attacks, she’s able to use Mimic to
copy the actions of other friendly or enemy non-Masters
nearby. From shooting enemy models with their own
guns to copying high damage attacks to getting extra
uses out of powerful “once per activation” actions, the
potential combos are almost limitless. Altogether, the
Doppelganger makes for a wonderfully flexible model
for your crew.
Beyond these purchases, Lilith plays well with any
models that, like her crew box, have the Black Blood
ability (which damages nearby models without Black
Blood whenever they’re damaged themselves). Good
examples are Nekima, Corrupted Hounds and the
Black Blood Shaman. There’s also the chance to
try out a Nephilim Grow list, which uses
the Rapid Growth upgrade and/or the
Black Blood Shaman to grow
your Terror Tots into Young
Nephilim and even the
mighty Mature Nephilim!
It’s not always easy to
pull off but when you
do, it’s a lot of fun
to see in action!
 Pandora
Pandora is the Master of Despair with a playstyle
focused heavily on the game’s Willpower (Wp) stat.
With it, she makes models punch themselves (Self
Loathing and Self Harm), fends off attacks against
her (Expose Fears, with Fading Memory to push
away after she wins), and controls your opponent’s
activation order (Incite). Everything Pandora does
involves her opponents making (and failing) Wp
tests, and when they do they take 1 damage from her
Misery aura. These small amounts of damage really
add up over time. Throw in her Sorrow minions (who
also have Misery), and each failed Wp duel starts
dealing even more damage until your opponent’s crew
has either annihilated themselves from Pandora’s
attacks or just run for the hills to keep out of her
reach. Either way, she’s sure to cause a lot of despair
for both your opponents and their crews!
Pandora’s crew box comes packed with her in-theme
Woes - her Poltergeist Totem, three Sorrows, Baby
Kade, and her Henchman Candy. The Poltergiest and
Sorrows play into her Wp-based playstyle, respectively
making it harder for them to pass those Wp duels or
punishing them hard when they do fail. Candy focuses
on controlling and punishing your opponent’s activation
order, and in a twist of irony, the adorable Baby Kade
is the crew’s Carving Knife-wielding killing machine!
Overall, the crew can dish out some incredible control
or damage against any poor fool who wanders close
enough. However, their weaknesses are a reliance on
Wp-based attacks and a tendency to stick together,
which limits the crew’s ability to threaten more than
their own corner of the board.
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Beyond her initial crew box, Pandora’s first choice is
arguably the most iconic model in Malifaux – Teddy.
This adorable, blood-soaked monster can deal a
massive amount of melee damage with his Hug
attack. Terrifying (to avoid getting hit) and Smell
Fear (to hit things that fail Wp duels) both play well
into Pandora’s playstyle. With Regenerate, he can
take a few hits and, thanks to Baby Kade’s “Where’s
Teddy?” action and his own Gobble You Up spell,
Teddy is surprisingly quick. But most importantly,
Teddy is the ideal “Plan B” model for Pandora’s
crew. Pandora sometimes runs into trouble if your
opponent throws down a model that is resistant to
your Wp-based shenanigans. For those situations,
you need a Plan B – a model that is not reliant on
your crew’s primary playstyle. With his fearsome, Df-
based Hug attack, Teddy is very well suited to that!
From cuddly toys to the downright mind-breaking, it’s
time for the Insidious Madness! These tentacled…
things… are cheap minions with actions and abilities
that cause more Wp duels or make Wp duels harder
to win. While Wp is great for Pandora, what she gains
most from these models is speed. An Insidious
Madness is fast enough to sweep up the flank and
achieve the mobility-based schemes Pandora would
otherwise have trouble fulfilling. Then, once they’ve
done their job and scored you some VPs, they can
scoot back to Pandora to help mess with your
opponent’s crew.
Keeping with Pandora’s love of children, we now
have the impetuous young Iggy. Like the Insidious
Madness, Iggy can make it harder for the nearby
models to win Wp duels (Throw a Fit) or add to the
crew’s incredible activation (Incite). But one thing
Pandora especially values is an ability they both
share - Martyr. This allows Iggy (and Pandora) to
redirect damage dealt to friendly Woes (eg, Pandora,
Sorrows). Sorrows can often be high priority targets,
so being able to keep them alive is invaluable.
If you’re still itching for more madness, further
additions are the Doppelganger, Mr Tannen, Lilitu.
Barbaros (for his Wp-based Challenge aura), and
Terror Tots (for flanking duties) are all great choices,
making Lilith’s crew box an attractive purchase. There
are also two phenomenal mercenaries available - the
Oiran (with her +1 Wp aura) and Bishop (another
great “Plan B” model).
 Zoraida
Pandora may have been my first Master, but Zoraida
was my first love! As a manipulator extraordinaire,
Zoraida controls the field, primarily with her Obey,
to force other models to take an action. She also
can Bewitch to draw cards whenever the target does
something (often giving her an incredible hand for
her crew to cheat with). She does very little damage
by herself, but, in true swamp-hag fashion, she can
summon her Voodoo Doll and then link it to other
models via the Doll’s Hem action. Then, when the
doll takes damage or gains a condition, so will the
target! Overall, Zoraida is a Master who works behind
the scenes. She’ll rarely draw blood herself, but is
happy to force others to do her bidding, neutralize
key models with her Voodoo Doll and give her crew
the cards in hand to do their job.
Zoraida’s crew box is stacked with slippery
Swampfiends. There’s her “Henchmud” Bad Juju,
three Silurids, and her Voodoo Doll (the only non-
Swampfiend). Bad Juju provides the muscle, being a
fearsome killing machine who, with the Eternal Fiend
upgrade, can return from death whenever a friendly
Swampfiend dies. Silurids are super-evasive minions
and are some of the best flankers in the game. Overall,
Zoraida’s crew box is incredibly mobile and hard to
pin down. Even with Bad Juju’s muscle and Zoraida’s
manipulation, this crew can have a hard time holding
ground and will need some extra killing power.
whenever you need to hold ground. As it turns out,
they’re also Swampfiends, once again giving you a
way to resurrect Bad Juju after his death.
Finally, it’s time to bring in the big (and stinky) gun
– McTavish. As a Gremlin Mercenary, he can be
hired by Zoraida and packs a serious punch with
both his close ranged Alligator and long ranged
Hunting Musket. This takes some pressure off Bad
Juju when it comes to killing. Plus, he offers some
amazing synergies with the many Swampfiends in
your crew. The Swamp is My Home makes nearby
Swampfiends harder to hit at range. With his My
Loyal Scouts trigger, McTavish improves his Hunting
Musket when there are Swampfiends nearby. But
most importantly…who wouldn’t want a hillbilly riding
a giant alligator in their crew?!
Despite my above recommendations, it’s not actually
necessary to focus on Swampfiends when playing
Zoraida. Only Bad Juju and McTavish benefit from a
Swampfiend-heavy crew, so without them, Zoraida’s
potential hire options massively expand. Her non-
specific, support-focused playstyle will work with
any model you take. However, I will recommend the
Nurse (a Resurrectionist hired with Zoraida’s Enthrall
ability) or Iggy. Both are amazing, but their ability to
stack some horribly debilitating conditions onto your
Voodoo Doll (and thus the Voodoo Doll’s Hem target)
can get truly ridiculous.

Despite these deficiencies, my first recommendation

for Zoraida is a model that’s neither damaging nor
resilient – Will o’ The Wisps. The Wisps are a huge
help for Zoraida, since they can use Ever Changing
Form to summon Zoraida’s Voodoo Doll for her. They
also offer scheme marker placement with Feed on
the Lost and can seriously disrupt an enemy model’s
movement with The Wisps Call. All of this is fantastic,
but the reason I recommend these first is that they’re
by far the cheapest Swampfiends available. This
makes them perfect for throwing into the enemy to
bring Bad Juju back after his death, allowing you to
be much more aggressive with him and improving
your crew’s killing power.

Next up, you’ll want a box of Waldgesists. Like I’ve

already said, the tree-monsters add great resilience
to your crew, making them your go to minions

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 Jacob Lynch
Whether taken in Ten Thunders or Neverborn, the
dual-faction Jacob Lynch remains the drug peddling,
casino-owning, and card cheating Master with a
monster. As a compulsive gambler, Lynch has some
great card tricks available. There’s Mulligan to
improve his hand and Ace in the Hole to reuse spent
Aces. There are also a variety of actions and abilities
to convert those Aces into some serious damage!
Lynch, the Hungering Darkness, and most of his
other in-theme models also take advantage of the
Brilliance condition, spreading it around and using
the crew’s innate synergies to crush your opponent
with overwhelming damage. Together, this makes for
a Master who offers a brutal combination of crew
support and outright killing power!
Jacob Lynch’s crew box comes with his terrifying
Totem/Henchman – the Hungering Darkness – and
three Illuminated. Both the Hungering Darkness and
Illuminated are tough and VERY hard hitting, focusing
almost exclusively on the Brilliance side of Lynch’s
playstyle to maximize damage. This
gives you an elite crew who’ll crush
anyone who gets close, but they’re
unfortunately lacking in cheap
utility models and mobility.
The crew will struggle when it
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comes to non-kill focused objectives like controlling
distant parts of the board or placing scheme markers.
When Lynch needs a fast scheme runner for his crew,
he takes Terror Tots. These bloody babies are nice
cheap minions and have distinction of being one of
the few Neverborn who can take advantage of Jacob
Lynch’s Ace in the Hole ability. By recycling the Ace
of Masks, a Terror Tot can use his Sprint action to
consistently move 20” per turn, virtually guaranteeing
your Tots will get to where you want them.
With the speedy death-babies sorted, it’s time
to acquire some “Fatal Attraction” in the form of
Beckoners. As one of Lynch’s in-theme Darkened
models, the Beckoners exchange killing power for
manipulation. Their Lure spell allows you to pull
enemy models off objectives and into your crew's
killing zone, making it much easier to take down
models without exposing yourself. Their Despicable
Promises attack gives you an easy way to apply
Brilliance to the opponent. With the Beckoners
various abilities and actions, such Brilliance
induced models might be unable to remove their
Brilliance (The Party Never Ends), be prevented
from Interacting (A Pleasant Distraction), or
simply find it much harder to strike back (Don’t
Bite the Hand). While they lack the resilience or
killing power of an Illuminated, the Beckoner’s
control and manipulation tricks are invaluable to
your Lynch crew.
The Neverborn might not have zombies, but they do
have Depleted – Lynch’s designated meat shields. One
thing you’ll learn whilst playing Malifaux is that simply
tying up your opponent’s models can be as good as
killing them. Depleted are great at this. They’re cheap,
frustratingly resilient minions who spread Brilliance
around when they’re eventually killed. That last part is
great for Lynch because it allows his crew to avenge
their deaths far more easily!
When expanding Jacob Lynch further, you can’t
go wrong with his in-theme, “Darkened” models,
specifically Mr. Graves, Mr. Tannen, and the
Stitched Together. Also worth considering are the
Changelings (effectively mini-doppelgangers) and
the Mysterious Emissary.
 Collodi
Control is a common theme running
throughout the Neverborn. For instance, Lilith
can control movement, Pandora controls
enemy activations, and Zoraida controls
your fate (via your card hand). But if
you want to control your opponent’s
crew, look no further than Collodi,
the Puppet Master himself!
Collodi hires puppets from
any Faction and can summon
yet more puppets during the
game. His greatest trick, though, is
manipulating an enemy caught in his
strings. Depending on triggers, Collodi’s Pull the
Strings attack allows him to slow down and take control
of enemy models. His My Will, Puppet Master, and
Strum the Threads upgrades gives extra actions to his
Puppets (or Minions). Then, depending on his chosen
upgrades, he’ll either boost the puppets around him
(Fated) or use those same puppets to power himself
up (Bag of Props). Collodi and his puppet-sphere can
create an imposing no-go zone for your opponent in
which victims will become unwilling allies or be torn
apart by a wall of wooden claws!
Collodi’s crew box comes with a literal horde of tiny
Puppets: four Marionettes, three Wicked Dolls,
and the “Hench-doll” Vasilisa. The Marionettes are
Collodi’s cheap and tough protectors, while Wicked
Dolls are “melee-supporters”, adding poison to the
attacks of friendly models and ensuring that poison
damage ticks more often. Finally, Vasilisa is a very
quick flanking-type Henchdoll with the potential to
lock down an enemy model and give extra movement
or actions to other puppets. Overall, the crew box
gives you a lot of cheap puppets who, with Collodi’s
synergies and control tricks, make for an effective
force when clustered together on the table. What
they’re missing, however, is genuine killing power and
a way to dominate areas of the table that Collodi’s
puppet-sphere can’t reach.
The first model on Collodi’s shopping list should be
the Brutal Effigy. Each of the seven Factions have
an “Effigy” model that can buff their Leader with
their own unique condition, and they are an essential
part to Collodi’s playstyle. Depending on the upgrade
you choose for Collodi, he can either summon new
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Effigies wholesale (Bag of Props) or can spread
any conditions the Effigies might have to all nearby
puppets (Fated). Eventually you’ll want access to
most of them but, for the time being, you’ll want the
Brutal Effigy. His own condition, Fear not the Sword,
lets the Leader heal when they damage and draw
a card when they kill. That easy heal can keep the
Marionettes and/or Collodi going for far longer than
they should. It makes the Brutal Effigy a high priority
target for your opponent, which is a very good reason
to make him your first purchase!
While your Puppets thus far have been of the dirt-
cheap variety, the next purchase is something
chunkier in the form of Stitched Together. These
horrid bags of Governor-knows-what are heavy
hitters with a high risk, high reward style. Their two
attacks will either deal damage (Gamble your Life)
or draw cards (A Game of Chance). But, should its
attacks fail, the Stitched itself will suffer the negative
effects! You can rely on these Minions to make a
big impact before they die with Hard to Kill and
Eternal Nightmare. These abilities not only make
them harder to kill but also give them the chance
to Reactivate. By using Collodi or Vasilisa to move
them up and grant yet more actions, these Puppets
are a consistent threat that your opponents will learn
to loathe.
Collodi’s tendency to cluster his crew up makes
him dangerous for anyone who gets close, but it
limits your ability to reach out and touch someone
in less accessible parts of the board. This is where
the dreaded Coryphee come in. Unnaturally fast,
notoriously difficult to hit, and with a solid melee
attack, Coryphee are a great choice for when you
need a fast (albeit brittle) minion who’s deadly
enough to threaten areas out of Collodi’s reach.
Collodi’s synergies work best with a crew full of
puppets and to a lesser extent, non-puppet minions.
After the above suggestions, you can’t go wrong by
filling out your collection with yet more Effigies (I’d
recommend the Arcane, Lucky, and Shadow Effigies
first), the Bunraku, and a Mannequin. The Performers
(who come boxed with the Mannequins), Illuminated,
Widow Weaver, and Lazarus are all good non-puppet
picks. Lazarus is a particular standout because he
can effectively use Assimilate to give Collodi (or any
construct) a free action!
 The Dreamer
The Dreamer is a magically inclined adolescent
who terrorizes the poor inhabitants of Malifaux with
Nightmares created from his own twisted mind.
His playstyle tends to split between summoning
said Nightmares, healing and supporting those
Nightmares with his various talents, and bringing
out his best friend, the appropriately named LORD
CHOMPY BITS. Which playstyle you choose for the
Dreamer will be reflected in what upgrades he is
given. Restless Dreams enables you to bring out
a better LORD CHOMPY BITS with more regularity,
but the costlier Dreams of Pain will let you summon
a much wider (and more dangerous) array of
Nightmare models. Both playstyles have merit but
when starting out, you’ll probably be using Restless
Dreams until you have enough Nightmares to try his
summoning side.
Dreamer’s crew box comes with 3 of his Daydream
totems, 3 Alps, Coppelius, and (of course) his
friend LORD CHOMPY BITS. The Daydreams and
Alps are Dreamer’s super-cheap summons, there
to support your crew and hinder your opponent with
Wp-related debuffs. Coppelius is a fast Nightmare
Enforcer who can hunt down enemy flankers to pluck
out their eyeballs (yes, really!). LORD
CHOMPY BITS is the no holds barred
killing machine whom Dreamer can
regularly bring out. While the box
gives you a lot of what Dreamer
needs to play, almost all of what
you get tends to be summoned
in-game, rather than hired into
your crew. At best, you might
have The Dreamer, Coppelius,
and 1-2 Daydreams in your
starting pool. So you’ll need
some solid additions before
you can field a legitimate
crew at any game size.
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Whatever you do with Dreamer, you’re going to want
a box of Stitched Together. I already espoused
their virtues with Collodi, and they’re no less useful
with Dreamer. With the Dreams of Pain upgrade
they’re a great model to summon. The Daydreams
can push them into position and the Dreamer is
quite capable of healing them up. That last part is
especially great since it lets you take a Stitched
back above it’s Hard to Kill threshold. This makes
them tougher to finish off and granting yet another
chance to get Reactivate next turn!
Next up, we have the Twins again – Lelu and
Lilitu. Expanding on what I’ve said above, the
Twins are also Nightmares. They can therefore
be summoned by Dreamer and synergize well with
his various tricks. Of particular value is Dreamer’s
innate healing via Pleasant Dreams and his Empty
Night action. With Same Oppressive Force, you
can effectively heal two models for the price of
one, making it easy for Dreamer to bring them back
from the brink of death.
Finally, there’s the Insidious Madness. Much like
Pandora, the Dreamer appreciates the Insidious
Madness for its high movement and ability to
skirt around the flanks for certain schemes. The
fact that it’s a Nightmare means Dreamer can
summon one with Restless Dreams and support
it with his Nightmare-specific synergies. Dreamer’s
crew doesn’t utilize Wp-based attacks as heavily
as Pandora, but they’re common enough for the
Insidious Madness to help out once it’s done
running schemes!
At this point, you should not only have a capable
crew with plenty of options to throw on the table,
but also have plenty of models Dreamer can
summon with his Restless Dreams upgrade. To
further expand Dreamer, the Bandersnatch can be
a good choice since it is your last summonable
nightmare. Widow Weaver and Teddy are also
powerful inclusions. A lot of Dreamer’s support
tricks can work with non-Nightmare minions, so
Illuminated, Waldgeists, or the Autumn Knights
(see Titania, below) all have potential.
 Lucius
As the Governor’s personal secretary, Lucius is a
dual faction Master that treads a fine line between
his Guild and Neverborn halves. He’s a Leader in
the most traditional sense, possessing a suite of
actions and abilities to improve the effectiveness
of his own crew. Commanding Presence and Issue
Command both hand out extra actions to his crew,
while Elite Training improves their fighting prowess in
melee. Guild Intelligence helps place those valuable
scheme markers. Highest Authority can make
Lucius harder to hit, and between Devils Deal and
his trigger on the Surprisingly Loyal upgrade, he’s
effectively able to pass off successful hits to nearby
friendly models. This means Lucius has the potential
to become an incredibly resilient tank. In particular,
the trigger on his Sword Cane can make it almost
impossible for the target to hit Lucius or most of his
crew (specifically Minions and Mimics), enabling him
to lock down key enemy models at will!
Unfortunately for budding Neverborn players, the
Lucius crew box is filled with those dirty Guild models!
This includes his totem (the Scribe), two Lawyers,
his Henchman Captain Dashel, and two Guild Guard.
While Lucius can take them as a Neverborn Master
with his Surprisingly Loyal upgrade, only the Scribe
and Lawyers (both with support/disruption roles) are
worth taking without the full resources of the Guild.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t start Lucius as a
Neverborn Master. Rather, you’ll just have to invest a
little more time and resources into building his crew!
Lucius first needs some hapless minions to lead,
especially since his signature Issue Command
spell only works with Minions. There are
some solid choices for Neverborn and, when
you’re starting out, one of the best
choices are Stitched Together. They’ll
easily fill your damage quota with
their high risk, high damage Gamble
your Life attack, and A Game of
Chance will let you draw
some valuable extra
cards. Lucius can also
heal them up with
a Trigger from his
Issue Command
spell, and he helps
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move these otherwise slow garbage bags up the table
and into prime gambling range.
With your minions sorted, it’s time for something a
little meatier…like the meaty fists of Mr. Graves!
As a Mimic he’s got some in-built synergies with
Lucius’s actions and abilities, plus he’s tough as
nails and deals some solid damage in melee. With
Lucius nearby he’ll get a positive flip to all his
attacks (from Elite Training). That even includes his
“Show ya the Door” action, which pushes models
around (possibly with a free melee attack on his
“And Stay Out!” trigger). This makes him great for
disrupting enemy models and granting yet more
mobility to your own crew!
Despite being Ten Thunders models, the Terracotta
Warrior’s Mimic characteristic allows them to be
hired by Lucius and, frankly, they’re amazing! The key
is the Warrior’s Thousands Strong ability, which lets
them discard a card to negate damage that wasn’t
directed at them by an attack. This allows Lucius
to use his Devils Deal ability to effectively discard
cards to recover spent Soulstones, making for a
marvellously efficient combo. If that wasn’t enough,
Mold of the Other further protects your crew by
granting a one-use condition that lets you redirect
damage from a friendly Minion or Enforcer to the
Terracotta Warrior (which again, he can ignore with
a discard). His Ancient Treasures lets you swap your
crews upgrades around on a whim. These models
can also be surprisingly damaging in melee, with the
Until I Shatter Trigger on his Clay Fists. There are a
lot of things to love about the Terracotta Warrior, all
of which make him a near-mandatory inclusion for
Lucius.
Lucius’s playstyle works best with Mimics,
Minions, and Guardsmen. As you grow your crew,
focusing on these models is a solid approach.
Some Mimics of note are the Doppelganger,
Mr. Graves, and the Changelings. The Guild
Austringer, Riflemen, and Pathfinder are the
Guardsmen of choice thanks to their great shooting.
It’s also worth considering the brutal combination of
Iluminated and Beckoners. Then there’s Titania’s
minions – the Autumn Knights. Thanks to their
resilience and tendency to dump scheme markers
everywhere, they work well with some of Lucius’s
upgrades.
 Titania
As Queen of the long dead (and now undead) Fae,
Titania has the kind of glorious arrogance that you
only get from royalty! She also happens to be the
newest Master for the Neverborn and brings a whole
array of new tricks to the Faction. Titania’s playstyle
consists of dumping scheme markers to power her
resilience, killing, and movement effects. This works
to assist your crew and disrupt your opponent. Titania
can also force plenty of Wp-based duels, using her
Wp-based Wicked Silence attack, the A New Harvest
Action, and her Thirsty Roots which forces a Wp
duel for anyone starting next to her scheme markers.
Her damage output might be a little under the curve
compared to other Masters, but her resilience and
scheme marker synergies are refreshing for a faction
that’s been traditionally been light on both.
hand out. Once again, this is where the Twins come
in – Lelu and Lilitu. In addition to the potential killing
power and Lure, they’re especially valuable for Lelu’s
Lie in Wait action to grant Pounce. When paired with
a model like Tooth, they should find themselves with
plenty of free attacks as Tooth pushes in and throws
about your opponent’s models!
While all these combos with the Sorrows and Twins
are great, there’s nothing wrong with having something
on hand that can just beat your opponent’s models
into a pulp, trickiness be damned! There are some
great options in Neverborn for a nice big beater but
for Titania, I’m going to recommend Teddy. With
Titania pushing him into Flurry range and Teddy’s
Smell Fear converting a failed Wp test into a free
Hug attack, this cuddle-machine can dish out some
obscene damage when given half the chance.

Titania’s crew box is…beautiful. Seriously…have
you seen it?! In addition to Titania, you get Gorar
(her Totem), Aeslin (her Henchwoman), and her three
minions: Claw, Tooth, and Thorn, collectively known
as the Autumn Knights. The Gorar’s main purpose is
to one-time resurrect a minion who dies. Aeslin offers
more Titania-type attacks, involving scheme marker
push effects, (0) actions to neutralize either spell-
casters (As Leaves on Wind), or enemy movement
effects (Bound and Rooted). Claw, Tooth, and Thorn
are very similar. They’re resilient minions with yet
more Wp duels for nearby enemy models (Curse of
Autumn). However, they differ in their attacks and
the (0) actions they use to draw in enemy models.
Altogether, Titania’s crew forces plenty of Wp duels,
place scheme markers, resist attacks, push models
around, and generally disrupt your opponent’s crew
all game. What they lacking, however, is damage
output.
With the core crew sorted out, you’ve got plenty of
options for expansion. The Rougarou is another
melee beater with Titania-friendly synergies, while
Nekima, Lazarus, and Tuco are all prime choices
for taking advantage of Titania’s Queens Champion
upgrade (which permanently buffs the first model
in your crew to kill someone). Terror Tots and the
Insidious Madness have potential for flanking
duties, while Changelings can function as a mini-
doppelganger with an ability similar to Pounce.
Until next time,
Adrian

When it comes to dealing damage, the Sorrows are

your first step toward weaponizing Titania’s inherent
strengths. As I said with Pandora, Sorrows have the
Misery ability to deal 1 damage to enemy models
within 6” who fail any Wp duels. With Titania and
her crew’s talent for pumping out those Wp duels,
having some Sorrows around can really punish your
opponent.

Next, you want to take advantage of all those push

effects that Titania and her Autumn Knights can

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 GET TO KNOW A WYRDO
DEEP IN THE HEART of Wyrd's game labs lurk the
company's game designers, the full force of their
sinister concentration bent to the task of creating
new game life from blank documents. They help
create the stories, models, and rules for Wyrd's
many games, but who are these mad scientists?
Kyle Rowan is the newest addition to the Wyrd design
team. He comes from a strong video game design
background and brings a refreshing new viewpoint to
the group. Here at Wyrd we have a strong tradition
of "learning to swim in the deep end" so he's
already jumped in on his own projects. I managed
to convince him to take a few moments and answer
some questions (I unplugged his monitor), so we
could get to know this new Wyrdo.
Q: I like to start out interviews with something
ridiculous. If you could be a cartoon character
who would you be?
Dug, the talking dog from Up. He made me laugh
every time he was on the screen.
Q: Now that we have that important information,
who are you and what do you do at Wyrd?
Hello! I’m Kyle and I’m a Junior Game Designer
here at Wyrd. Before Wyrd brought me on to design
tabletop games, I was a video game designer.
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Lindsey Rode
Q: When did you decide to become a game designer?
While I didn’t know it then, what ultimately inspired
me to create games was my first playthrough of Final
Fantasy 3(6). The characters and their involvement
in such an imaginative, unique world made me want
to go out and make my own. And so when I was 12, I
did. I learned some of the basics of web design and
wrote up some rules that were loosely inspired by
Dungeons and Dragons, inadvertently making a play-
by-post RPG in the process. Within a few years, the
game warped into something less rules-based and
leaned more heavily on world building. A few years
later, when I was trying to figure out what to do with
my life, I looked back on those years and realized
that maybe I was onto something and decided to
give game design a shot as a career. I’ve been at it
ever since.
 Q: Do you have any advice for anyone who is
interested in designing games?
The best thing to do is to start making games
without worrying whether or not they’re any good.
The first dozen or so won’t be, but what you learn
along the way is more important than whether they’re
fun. Once you get into a rhythm of what works for
you as a designer, that’s when you push yourself
to make something enjoyable. And, especially as
you’re starting out, finish your games. A great idea
that’s barely built is less valuable than a bad, but
complete, game.
Q: What are your favorite types of games?
I’m still a newcomer in the tabletop space, but my
favorite games are generally ones with memorable
stories. Games are unlike any other entertainment
medium in that they allow the player to mold their
own experience rather than having it unfold for
them. I particularly like games that only give you
fragments to a story, so that it’s a puzzle in itself to
try and understand your surroundings and its lore.
A good example of this is the Dark Souls series.
My all-time favorite video game is Shadow of the
Colossus, and while some may not view its story as
the forefront, it has an incredibly impactful story is
there as long as you’re willing to dig for it.
Q: How much do you love Cinnamon, the Immolated
Rhino, from our new game The Other Side? Your
options are 1) a lot 2) more than anything 3) I love
Cinnamon with the passion of a thousand Burning Men.
Who? Sorry, Cinnamon isn’t ringing a bell. Sounds
like fanfiction to me.
(At this point in the interview, a rubber band gun
fight broke out which was ended promptly by
Aaron.)
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Q: What’s the best part about working for Wyrd?
I’ve always thrived in collaborative atmospheres,
and the design team here at Wyrd makes it easy to
bounce ideas off one another. Despite only being a
part of the team for a short time, I immediately felt
comfortable sharing my thoughts on mechanics and
story elements. Maybe someday one of my many
bad ideas will make it into a game.
Q: Can you spill the beans on any
upcoming projects that you are working on?
I work right next to Aaron, so no beans will be spilled
this day.
Q: What faction do you play in Malifaux?
What Allegiance will you be choosing for
the Other Side?
I’ve never been interested in what’s the most
competitive when figuring out what to play in a
game. When I played Magic the Gathering, I was
always the guy who built mill decks or decks that
did quirky stuff with graveyards instead of focusing
on something that burned or controlled a player into
submission. Sure, I rarely won, but I always had a
blast playing the game. Gremlins and pigs amuse
me – there’s just something about the catapulting
a pig across the battlefield that feels right. As for
The Other Side, I’ve got my eyes on the Gibbering
Hordes. That isn’t to say that pigs and shark-people
aren’t competitive, but they’re strange enough to
immediately interest me as a player.
 Q: Describe yourself using three classic SNES titles.
• Super Mario RPG – Take the most beloved
franchise of characters from a classic platformer
and throw a “what if” curveball by introducing
turn-based mechanics – sounds a bit like my
design process. Plus, there’s a cloud that thinks
he’s a frog.
• Chrono Trigger – Time travel. Frog knights. Robots.
As a kid, every new scene, like the End of Time,
blew my mind. I still get the battle music stuck in
my head on a daily basis.
• Shining Force – I always loved games with a wide
cast of characters to choose from when building
a team. Shining Force was also my introduction to
tactical RPGs, which is my favorite genre to play.
Q: If you were to make a character for Through The
Breach what would they be?
I think creating a Soulstone-filled construct who is
just starting realize what sentience is, and what
that means to its own existence, could be a fun
character to make. While the idea sounds relatively
heavy-handed, I’d approach the character like a
big baby; its mechanized terror of a body bumbling
through the basics of everyday life, like brushing its
non-existent teeth or putting on pants for the first
time.
Q: What in 2017 are you the most excited for?
My journey at Wyrd is just beginning. I can’t wait to
see what lies ahead in contributing my design ideas
for both existing and upcoming unannounced titles.

Q: Think up the Strangest Malifaux Model

you can right now on the Spot!

My very first model idea for Malifaux was an exploding,

amalgamated ball made of dozens of undead
hamsters, brought to life by McMourning himself as
an early experiment to test his own capabilities. The
fact that the hamster ball involuntarily explodes
could be seen as the experiment
being a success or failure,
depending on your stance of
undead critters. I think we
could both get a lot weirder
than that, though.

Q: Do you think Aaron should

let me design Yak Calvary for
Ten Thunders?

Why stop at just the Ten

Thunders? Shouldn’t all factions
have their own yak armies?

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 THE OTHER SIDE… OF PLAYTESTING
PLAYTESTING IS ONE of my favorite things about
designing games. It’s a chance to take an idea and
throw it to the community and see what bounces
back. People will naturally latch on to the things they
like, so almost all feedback coming back is about
things that are a problem. Trying to fix these problems
is the crux of playtesting.
Since we are starting up The Other Side playtesting
for Kickstarter, I thought you might enjoy hearing a
little bit about the playtesting process from Wyrd’s
side of the equation. There is a specific approach
we take to playtesting… though sometimes it might
devolve into bouts of incoherent gibberish.
There are really two main phases to playtesting,
as far as I see it. For ease, I’ll call them Alpha and
Beta (as this lines up with what people actually do
in testing).
Alpha Testing
In the Alpha phase, I’m really focused on making
sure the game is fun. This means identifying the
core principles you want to hit in the game. For
The Other Side, I was focused on speed of play,
mobility, and a changing battlefield.
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AARON DARLAND
Every piece of feedback I received from testers
was then filtered through my three key elements of
gameplay, looking for ways to promote the things
that I wanted or trim the things I did not.
Speed of play elements meant that a lot of things
that have traditionally bogged down games I’ve
played in the past had to be whittled down to bare
elements. Tracking effects via tokens, damage,
etc. all needed to be condensed into the form that
provided depth of gameplay with the least amount
of hassle.
Mobility meant that the units had to be able to
cover the battlefield, allowing players to adapt to
conditions as necessary. There’s nothing worse
than feeling a poor deployment choice has ended
the game. While I feel it should give an advantage to
your opponent, it should not be a crushing mistake.
This means that each unit has a fairly high Speed
and access to Orders that can swiftly carry them
across the battlefield.
The changing battlefield really drove a focus on
objectives and bringing in random elements. The
Stratagem cards, for example, were far and away
the gameplay element that took the longest to gain
acceptance by the playtesters. After many iterations,
however, they are now well loved by gamers as a way
to keep the battlefield fresh. It takes away some of
the known element to the game.
 Through over a year of alpha testing, we managed
to get the game honed down to a core of rules that
was hitting my focus points while also feeling fun
to testers.
I don’t mean to imply that was easy, though. Some
testers are not interested in the focus points for
the game, and we had one or two drop out because
the game wasn’t for them. Others stuck with it,
hoping to change things in various ways. And, of
course, many really loved the game, but really
thought that “X” needed to change.
Parsing through each week’s feedback over the
course of a year is an interesting process. You get
to know a lot about testers and their preferences
from their posts, and I lot of game design comes
from interpreting their feedback through as holistic
and unbiased a lens as I’m capable of.
There would be times where I’d make a change
someone requested months after they did so
(often to their surprise), as continued feedback on
a point really drove home how important it was.
And, of course, sometimes these things would be
changed back if they didn’t work at all.
I really see Alpha Testing as a bit of a trial and
error process. A miniatures game like The Other
Side is large enough that it is hard to really wrap
your head around even small changes without
seeing how they play out on the table.
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I tried out many things in Alpha that just did not work,
but it was all pushing toward the game we have today.
Beta Testing
After Alpha comes Beta, which is where we are today.
We really didn’t enter beta testing until the last
couple of months, around the time we launched the
Kickstarter. We kept it open for as long as possible,
looking for any minor ways we might be able to
improve the game.
Now that we’re here, let’s take a look at what Beta
entails. For the most part, Beta Testing is a directed
focus on competitive play. Yes, I’m still interested
in the core focus from Alpha, but at this point I’m
hoping the game rules stand on their own. Beta,
then, is really focused on game replayability, which
means a focus on objectives and competitive play.
The more balanced the rules are, the more likely
players will be to come back and play the game
again. Even casual players want to feel like there’s
a level playing field, as this lets a player get more
immersed in the game and the experience. There’s
nothing fun about someone taking advantage of a
rules loophole to pull out a victory.
Rules clarity is often a bit tricky, but it’s also
something that can largely be agreed upon. Players
find confusing language, and then it just takes time
to try to find an easy way to explain the rule clearly.
It is an important element of Beta Testing, and one
that receives a lot of attention… but it’s also one
that more clearly has an answer.
The real struggle in Beta Testing is in unit
balance. Units are such a wide collection
of statistics and special abilities that
it’s not easy to quantify them. Balance
becomes almost a feeling more than a
statistical reality.
 This doesn’t mean that I don’t think balance is Taking all of this I hope to, week after week, continue
possible, but rather that there’s really no good way to hammer on the game and get it closer to a final
to determine who is correct. So how do I look for design. It’s an inch by inch process, and one that I
balance in the game? can only do with the help of a dedicated community
of testers.
It is a mix of my personal experience playing the
game, an amalgamation of all the feedback received, -Aaron
and a commitment to iterative design. In taking all
of these elements, we begin to narrow in on a unit’s
balance. Of course, some of my decisions will always
be questioned, so I try to error on the weak side
instead of the strong – but when walking a line as
fine as wargame balance I sometimes miss
this mark, too.

The bulk of beta testing, then,

focuses on the amalgamation
of feedback from playtesters.
Every playtester has their own
bias (as do I as a designer), and
beginning to notice the bias of
testers is an important step.

This doesn’t mean that their feedback is discounted,

but rather it means it’s interpreted in a different way.
The more biased a response, the more likely it is to
be taken in terms of the gameplay experience more
than the actual numbers.

For example, if there was a player who has a strong

preference for a character, I might focus more
on what their complaints are than the numbers
associated with them. If they were to say “this ability
is useless”, I’d want to understand how they were
playing that character and what their problem with
the ability is. Even if the character is balanced with
the ability like it is, there may be some way to adjust
it to make it better – even if it temporarily disrupts
balance in the process.

Then, the less bias feedback helps to really dial

in on numbers and values. This is why I prefer
feedback in the form of game summaries:
these let me try to see the game through
the eyes of the player, potentially identifying
where the problem areas specifically
occurred. Theory is all well and good, but the
nuts and bolts of the game can really make
errant rules stand out strongly.

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 BLACK BETTY
“STICK THE LANDING!”
Betty’s words turned into a squeal as she barely
missed landing on her head. Her attempt at a flip
failed spectacularly: her right leg skidded across the
stage, and she hadn’t been quick or high enough to
bring her left foot underneath her. She found herself
flat on her back, staring at the curtain waving above
her and quietly wishing it would fall and bury her
before Ms. Du Bois returned and saw her as a club-
footed washout.
Rubbing her head, Betty sat up and squeezed her
eyes shut. Too slow, too heavy. The other girls would
laugh at her, being so clumsy. Miss—what was it?
Cassandra? Betty hadn’t gotten her last name—
would do that little “tsk” thing she did with her
teeth. She would tell her that she might be better
off selling whiskey at the Ringside. Then she’d pat
Betty on the back, gentle-like, but it would be as
much to sweep her out the door as to spare her
feelings.
Betty cringed. Ringside was a place where men went
to cheer on violence. It made them coarse with their
orders and crude with their hands. The Star wasn’t
the greatest, but at least the men were aware of
the arrangement. You look at performers; you don’t
touch them.
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MIKE WALLACE
A tap-tap on the stage floor caused her to open her
eyes. One of Colette Du Bois’ mannequins—dressed
in the same rehearsal skins as Betty—approached
and quickly performed a flawless flip, landing on
its padded mechanical feet and dropping into an
audience-appealing bow. Its featureless cloth face
tilted to the side, almost like a puppy trying to win
its master’s adoration.
She hated the thing. When Colette had first
apprenticed her, she’d waved one of the mannequins
over and told her to keep an eye on Betty. Betty
didn’t know what sort of magic compelled the thing
to do what it did, but it hadn’t left her side in three
days. At first, it was unnerving, the way it followed
her and sat nearby while she slept, seeming to stare
at her even though it didn’t have a face. Now it was
just a nuisance. It mocked her with the agility it was
created to wield.
“Shove off,” Betty uttered, her cockney accent
slipping.
The mannequin hesitated before standing up
straight and returning to its spot off stage. Betty
watched it go, glaring at it over her shoulder. The
motion made her wince in pain, and she sighed as
she started doing stretches.
 The Star Theater was empty. Aside from herself and
a handful of Colette’s mannequins, the boss had
taken everyone with her. When Betty tried to inquire
about everyone's absence, Cassandra hushed her
with a glare and told her it was “for senior theater
staff only.”
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A private party, Betty thought. Maybe the new
Governor-General had hired them for a private
performance.
It didn’t matter. Betty wasn’t there, and she wasn’t
wanted. If she couldn’t land a simple flip, she
wouldn’t ever be joining them.
She gave her arms a shake to loosen them up.
“Okay,” she said. “Okay, okay, here goes!”
Betty took a step, swung her leg and—
Knock-knock!
The noise—like the hammering of a pistol—
reverberated through the theater. Betty stumbled,
and she felt her ankle give out as her leg twisted
under her. She let out a shout of pain as she landed
on her hands and knees.
A string of curses oozed through her clenched teeth
as she rolled to her side. Her ankle ached, but it
didn’t seem broken.
“Why am I so clumsy?” she croaked. Tears
threatened to well up in her eyes. She’d tried so
hard to get away from the gaudy pubs and filthy
saloons, practicing in her dingy room every night so
she could impress Ms. Du Bois and earn a place at
the Star. Now she couldn’t do a flip without hurting
herself. No one would hire her. She’d have to leave
Malifaux City and work the mines like a convict,
work her arms until they were as thick as a man’s.
She’d have knuckles like rocks—
Someone knocked on the theater doors again.
The knock wasn’t quiet or respectful, either. The
deep pounding resonating through the theater felt
demanding and desperate.
She wanted to shout at the visitor to go away.
Whoever it was, they had all but kicked the legs out
from her dream. Who would even be calling? It was
past midnight! There had been no shows today.
She remembered what Cassandra told her before
leaving.
 “If Ms. Kaeris or one of her agents should arrive,
let them in and keep her comfortable until I return”.
Betty could still hear the giggles of the other
showgirls as Cassandra had given her instructions.
Knock-knock-knock!
Betty turned to her mannequin. “Go answer that.”
The mannequin’s shoulders stiffened, and it quickly
hopped off the stage and jogged up the aisle to the
heavy double doors. It opened the door and stepped
aside.
A man bulldozed through, tall and built thick like a
rail worker. He was bald and his clothes were soil-
stained. Heavy, calloused hands flexed at his sides.
Betty could practically see the red flags coming off of
this man. Ignoring the mannequin, his bulging eyes
were fixated on her as he stormed down the aisle
towards the stage. Despite the pain in her ankle,
Betty wasn’t going to be caught off guard by this
man; she rose to her feet.
“We’re closed!” Betty said. “No shows today!”
“I have to see her!” the man said. He stopped at the
edge of the stage but his hands tightly gripped the
wooden molding. “Is she here? Please, I can’t get her
off my mind!”
“What are you on about? Are you talking about Ms.
Du Bois?”
“Yes!” The man smacked his palms on the stage.
“I-I’m a fan. Her biggest fan. I c-came to the city
to see her last month, and I couldn’t stop thinking
about her. Her beauty, her grace… I-I had to go back
to Edgepoint, but I sent her letters! Every week! She
has to know, she had to know I was coming to see
her again!”
By now, the stench of gutrot started to waft over the
stage. Betty kept her face neutral. “I didn’t know; I’m
new here.”
“Colette!” the man shouted. He started pulling
himself onto the stage. “I’m here! I have to see you!”
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Betty took a step back, shuffling on her bad ankle.
“She’s not here!”
“Colette!”
“She isn’t here!” Betty shouted, forcing his eyes to
meet hers. A dangerous, drunk kind of rage boiled in
those eyes. “She had an errand to run, something
important that she wouldn’t tell a new girl like me
about.”
“Errand? Important?” He worked the words over his
tongue like he didn’t understand the language they
were using. “You mean… like for me?”
Betty clenched her teeth. She’d have to play this
carefully. Booze and lust weren’t always great
partners, and this guy’s big coat could hide all sorts
of weapons. Betty tried not to think about what
might happen if he didn’t get what he wanted.
“But she told me, if someone came by, I should let
him in and keep him comfortable until he returns.”
Betty said, ignoring the man’s inquiries.
The man’s face lit up in a dreamy-eyed smile. “Oh,
oh!” He rolled his hands like he was squeezing an
imaginary towel... or a neck. “So, she got my letters
then! I’m so glad! I’m sorry for startling you, my
dear. My name’s Rory, at’cher service!”
Betty nodded. “Alright, Rory. Come along. You’ll have
to forgive me while I go get dressed proper like.”
“O’course, o’course!” Rory said.
She guided him backstage, pausing to glance back
at the mannequin. She waved it over silently, and it
started following them.
While the mannequin caught up, Betty guided Rory
to the dressing rooms. “Now you wait out here, it
 ain’t gentlemanly to be eyeing the girls backstage.”
“No worries from me,” Rory said. “I’ve only got eyes
for one, and you ain’t her.” He winked.
Betty’s brow pinched at the probably unintended
insult, but she reminded herself that this guy
wasn’t wearing his head straight. She slipped
into the dressing room and hurriedly replaced her
dance skin with a serving dress and slippers, the
kind the girls sometimes wore when they hosted
private dinner parties.
Betty dolled up her hair, wiped away the sweat,
and grabbed a small glass vial filled with sleeping
powder - a precautionary gift from Du Bois herself -
that she kept behind her mirror. Going through the
motions helped her nerves a bit, as if to remind
herself she was just a waitress and he was just
a customer. Nothing more threatening than that.
She frowned as her mind wandered from what
was taking the mannequin so long to catch up to
whether the sleeping powder would even work,
considering she’d never needed to use it before.
“Alright,” she said, stepping out. Rory was waiting
where he’d left her, shifting his feet and still
wringing his hands.
“Right,” Rory said. “Do you know when Colette will
be back?”
Betty led the way towards the theater’s bar. “I
don’t, but you’re probably in luck. She’s been out
for about an hour. She should be back soon.”
“Fashionably late,” Rory said. His laugh was
crooked in her ear. “That’s my girl.”
Betty smiled to hide her nervousness and glanced
behind them. The mannequin was following, its
footsteps completely silent. When they reached
the bar, she gave it a gesture to halt and it stood
guard by the door, head tilted as if listening.
The Star Theater Bar was a quiet, out-of-the-way
place. It wasn’t intended for customers outside
the occasional backstage guest, but instead was
where the girls could relax in their off-time.
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“You have yourself a seat,” Betty gestured to
a chair. “And I’ll pour you some of Ms. Du Bois’
favorite; on the house, of course.”
“Much obliged,” Rory said. He sounded downright
civilized now that he was getting his way.
Betty went to the bar and scanned the labels.
Considering her guest, she figured Colette wouldn’t
be too put off if Betty used something pricey, and
pungent, to hide the taste of sleeping powder.
She poured two fingers worth of clear brown Scotch
with a single red “X” painted over the label, and while
Rory distracted himself with eyeing every crevice of
the bar that Colette might miraculously pop out of,
Betty slipped the powder into his drink, watching it
sizzle and fade into the liquor. With one hand, she
poured herself half a shot while hiding the vial of
powder under the bar top with the other.
“To Colette,” Rory said, toasting with the glass. “A
finer woman there never was!”
Betty lifted her shot and they tipped glasses. She felt
it kiss her lips, but kept them closed. Rory tossed his
back with an approving smile.
“Finer than the stuff they serve at Beckett’s,” he
said. “My Colette’s got fine taste.”
Betty poured him another glass, making sure to catch
any white specks of powder left on the glass as she
poured. “Beckett, hm?”
“A right bastard,” Rory said. “Watered his drinks.
At least we think it was water.” He grimaced and
emptied his glass.
“So you come a long way back to the city?” Betty
asked, pouring him a third drink.
 “Long, long way,” he said. “You ever been to Fortune “That a fact?” Betty asked. “I thought you said you
Falls?” were from Edge Point?”

Betty paused. Rory’s story wasn’t adding up. He blinked at her. “No,” he said. He drank down his
“Fortune Falls? No, can’t say I have.” Scotch slowly. “No, you heard wrong.”

“Pretty enough loggin’ town,” Rory said. “I run a “I did bump my head on the stage,” Betty smiled.
lumber mill there.” She refilled his glass.

A pretty logging town? Her mind reeled. Fortune “Yeah,” Rory said with a grin. “Fortune Falls. I run
Falls was a fortress, constantly under siege by Rory Burke’s Timber Yard.”
the Neverborn. It was the furthest thing she could
imagine from “pretty.” “A businessman?” Betty said. “That is impressive.”

Rory drank. Betty refilled. “This really is fine

Scotch,” he said. “Good of Colette to pick the good
stuff for me.”

“She knows her clients,” Betty said. Shouldn’t he

be drooling on the floor by now?

Rory slammed down his glass, sloshing Scotch.

“Client? I ain’t no client! I ain’t here for a show!
I came here to… to settle down! I mean to spend
my life with Colette! I mean to make her my wife!”

Betty held up a hand to calm him. “Alright, Mr.

Burke, my apologies. I’m still new here; don’t know
Ms. Du Bois’s future plans.”

He glared at her, eyes fairly pulsing with rage. “You.

Like them wastrels back home. Every one o’ you.”
He gulped down what was left in his glass—which
wasn’t much—and set it down hard, tapping to
fingers over it for a refill.

Betty did so, pouring slowly while Rory’s glazed

eyes seemed to burn holes in the empty bar. “You
know… you know she never once lettered me back?
Not once. I sent her letters every week. Every day!
And she never once answered! I flattered her, I
promised her everything I had! And not one! Not
one reply!”

He snatched up his drink and downed it, then

clutched the glass in both hands like he was
choking it. “I don’t deserve treatment like that! I
deserve better! I deserve respect! And hells take
me, she’s gonna give it!”

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 Betty took a slow breath and willed herself to the
shadows. She was afraid to say anything. The
powder hadn’t made Rory the least bit cross-eyed.
“Every woman,” he growled. “Lookin’ down on me,
ignorin’ me. I work fer a livin’. What do they do?
Flutter their eyelashes and flash their hips. Then
they want nothing to do with me. Well, I won’t be
treat’d like that no more!”
Betty licked her lips, trying to think fast. “Maybe,
just relax for a bit? No need to get all worked—“
He hurled the empty glass across the bar, smashing
it against a far wall. Fists shaking, he gripped the bar
and turned his glare on her. “And you. You... you…
mock me.” He pushed himself to his feet, looming
over her. “Where’s Colette? I’m done waitin’!”
“I-I don’t know!” Betty said. “She didn’t tell me
where she was—“
He grabbed his barstool and threw it against the
wall. “WHERE IS SHE?!”
Betty scrambled for a weapon, her fingers running
over the smooth glass of the now mostly-empty
scotch bottle. Gripping the bottle by the neck, she
smashed it into his face. Glass and scotch spilled
over him, rewarding her with a crunch of bone and
Rory’s startled scream.
Rearing from the burning pain, Rory stumbled back.
Pain ran up Betty’s leg from her ankle, but she
grimaced through it, pushing open the doors and
rushing past the mannequin.
“Get rid of him!” she snapped, her voice cracking
with fear.
The mannequin tilted its head. For a moment, Betty
wasn’t sure if the construct would be able to obey;
all she’d ever seen it do was dance and bring her
items.
The mannequin lifted one arm and a six-inch spike,
shaped like an oversized sewing needle, slid out and
clicked into place right below the wrist. It stalked
into the room with a predatory gait while Rory wiped
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blood, scotch, and glass shards from his face.
“You wicked little witch!” He bellowed, whirling. He
paused as his eyes tried to focus on the mannequin.
The mannequin took the opportunity to stab him
just above the knee.
Rory let out another howl. He shoved the construct
with both hands, but the mannequin turned the
momentum of the shove into a graceful backflip,
raised its weapon and stabbed again, sinking the
weapon into the meat of his shoulder.
“Aim for his face!” Betty shouted, alarmed by her
own instruction. She’d only been hoping to knock
Rory out and get rid of him, maybe lock him out of
the theater until Ms. Du Bois arrived, but Rory was
clearly dangerous, and she probably hadn’t helped
things along by getting him drunk on expensive
scotch.
The mannequin spun once more, then aimed the
needle for one of Rory’s glassy eyes. It lashed out,
but even with the dose of sleeping powder and a
few fingers of scotch, Rory was somehow faster. He
brought his hand up just in time to catch the attack.
The needle sank through his palm and came out the
other side, but it missed his face.
“Damn you!” Rory snarled, seeming to not notice
his skewered hand. “I’ll rip your head off and feed
you to the crows!”
With his good hand, Rory grabbed hold of the iron
spring that was the mannequin’s neck and lifted the
construct up into the air, then down hard over the
bar top. Its spine bent over the table edge and Betty
heard a twang of metal and splintering of wood as
mannequin’s legs went limp under it.
Betty didn’t wait to see what Rory did next; she ran
as fast as her twisted ankle could carry her, limping
back down the hall and past the dressing rooms
into the prop storage behind the theater. Racks
of costumes, various set pieces, and other stage
implements were throughout the wide-open space.
With the lights off, Betty only had the glow from the
hallway to illuminate her path.

Limping heavily, she felt her way through the dark,
nearly tripping over several unused set pieces before
her hands found the edge of a big prop coffin Ms.
Du Bois used for one of her shows. At least, Betty
hoped it was a prop.
Doesn’t matter if they bury you in it, she thought.
She clambered in and brought the lid down, just as
Rory’s stomping feet announced his arrival. There
was a tiny crack in the warped wood of the lid,
and from it, Betty saw Roy standing in the dimly lit
doorway.
“Where’d you run to?” he shouted into the room.
He knocked down a rack of heavy fur coats and
stomped over them like he was wiping his feet. “You
get out here now, you little waste! You come get
what’s coming to you!”
Like that’ll ever happen, Betty thought. Maybe if she
kept herself quiet, this nightmare would just end.
Hey, it could happen.
Rory dug into his coat, muttering under his breath.
“Just like Beckett,” he said. “Just like Beckett.
Women’re all the same. All the same.”
Light glowed from the wound of his palm, and Betty
saw that he was holding a bottle of Ms. Du Bois’
triple-X labeled spirits, the kind she bought from
some supplier in the Bayou. He stuffed a kerchief
into the hole and lit it with a match.
Rory’s face was insane, almost bestial, in the
glowing fire. “You get out here right this moment or
I’ll burn this damn theater to the ground!”
Betty felt fear grip her guts in a fist and twist.
“Come out, come out, little girl!” Rory sang, eye
bulging. “Sweet Colette, can’t you see, we’re a sure
bet, we’re meant to be…”
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Neither of them moved for several moments. Rory’s
eyes scanned the room, briefly falling over the coffin
Betty hid in, but then moved on to a row of wooden
sun and moon cutouts.
“Fine, have it your way, Colette,” Rory said, his mind
warped to seeing Betty as Du Bois. “But this is on
you!”
He leaned back for a throw.
Time slowed for Betty, and she felt herself already
moving before she registered what was happening.
She didn’t owe Colette anything. She didn’t think
keeping the Star from burning down was worth
losing her life over. She knew she wasn’t happy
getting involved in whatever one-sided love affair
Colette Du Bois had inadvertently dumped on her.
But she wasn’t gonna cower because some crooked
doorknob like Rory Burke wanted it. Not anymore.
She dreamed of being a showgirl since she learned
to stand on her toes, dreamed of the Star since
she’d first laid eyes on it. Malifaux was an awful
place full of awful people, but the theater was a true
star, a bright light in this whole miserable world. If it
was snuffed out, what was left for her and the girls
who called this place home? What was out there,
besides serving drinks the rest of your life at the
Ringside or some forgotten saloon, with empty eyes
and an empty heart?
She shoved the coffin lid open with both hands
just as Rory let the bottle fly. It arched overhead,
flipping end-over-end. Betty tucked her legs under
her, planted them, and leapt.
It was a poor jump. Her ankle refused to lock, the
coffin was uneven, and she didn’t get a running
start. She watched her outstretched hand swipe
at the bottle and smack the side of it, deflecting it
off this trajectory and sending it spinning. Burning
spirits splashed, catching her clothes.
The bottle was still flying, though. She bent and sent
herself into a flip, right leg stretched out behind
her. She felt the bottle smack against her foot and
ricocheted straight up into the air. Hope gave her
wings as she rolled and came down on both feet,
knees bent to cushion her ankle.
 Then she looked up and caught the flaming bottle in
her hands, right side up.
She stared at the bottle for several rapid heartbeats,
fingers trembling over the glass. She’d done it! She
glanced at Rory, who stood dumbfounded before her,
and with a grin, she made a show of licking her fingers
and dashing a patch of flame on her hip, making an
audible hiss as she did.
“How the hell did you do that?” He gaped.
She sneered. “Come and get what’s comin’ to you!”
She ran.
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Rory shouted something after her but she ignored
it. With her dress smoldering, she wove her way
through the mess of props. Rory was all rage, but
Betty felt the adrenaline lending her speed. She
ducked and darted around the massive man, and
she felt a sense of elation as his mitts did nothing
more than snatch away tattered remains of her
burned clothing.
She wasn’t just dodging, she realized, she was
dancing; spins, cartwheels, flips, all without spilling
a drop from the lit bottle . Fear pounded in her ears
but a beaming smile was glued to her face. She felt
like a dove soaring through rings of fire, she felt like
a deer making a mockery of a fat wolf, she felt—
--Rory’s calloused hands grabbed hold of her hair.
He threw her backwards through the stage curtain,
and she slid across the stage. The still smoldering
bottle rolled out of her hand and came to rest a few
feet away.
Rory tore the curtains aside and slowly stalked over
to her. He squatted down and clasped his hands
around her neck.
What little breath she had was instantly pinched
shut. Tears welled up in her eyes and her limbs
clawed uselessly at Rory’s heavy coat.
Can’tmovecan’tescapecan’tbreathe-!
Rory’s eyes were big white eggshells of crazy. “You’re
gonna pay, Collete!” He giggled, drool dribbling down
his lips. “You and every girl here! Every! Last! One!”
Spots swam in Betty’s vision. Her limbs felt like
lead weights and fell uselessly at her sides. Rory’s
image darkened and faded.
 I can flip, she thought. Ms. Du Bois would be proud.
A needle sank into Rory’s bicep. He let out a scream
and lurched away, freeing Betty from his grip. She
sucked in a desperate gulp of air.
The mannequin—Betty’s mannequin—gripped Rory’s
arm tight with its own, dragging its broken body
behind it. It fell on top of Rory, stabbing wildly into
his arm, his chest, and stomach. He screamed and
managed to kick the thing onto its back.
“Rottin’ construct!” He snarled, booting it in the
head. He grabbed onto its cloth face and ripped at
the material, trying to pull its head apart.
“Hey!” Betty called.
She crawled her way to the edge of the stage, and
had the smoldering bottle in her hands.
“Drinks on the house!”
She hurled the bottle and it smashed against his
face. Flames ignited across his coat and enveloped
his head. His screams of rage and pain turned into
a shriek of utter terror.
The flames spilled about as he thrashed, catching
on the mannequin’s clothing. It stared up at Rory,
then at Betty, and put its head down on the stage.
Betty felt her body trembling. Limping heavily, she
grabbed hold of the construct and dragged it from
the flames, and it gazed up at her, the torn hole on
its face almost like a curious, staring eye. Betty
patted it down, brushing away flames, and then
went around the stage, stamping out the smaller
fires. She didn’t watch Rory, whose screams slowly
died away. She fetched a fire bucket, then tore one
of the sandbags used to weigh the stage curtains
and used it to put out Rory’s remains.
Betty was proud of herself. She had gagged only
once as the smell washed over her. Then she
collapsed down beside the mannequin, the weight
of her evening crashing down on her shoulders.
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Colette stood just off-stage, watching the audience.
The seats were filled, every eye was on the stage.
Like them, Colette felt the anticipation of what was
to come.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special
performance to start your evening!”
Angelica, Mistress of Ceremonies at the Star
Theater, removed her top hat with a flourish and
gestured to the stage curtains.
“For your entertainment, the fiery talents of our
fearsome spitfire of blazing beauty, Black Betty!”
The crowd cheered, then gasped with awe as flames
belched forth through the curtains, burning a hole
big enough for Betty to flip through, her brightly lit
red skirts swirling behind her. She landed nimbly, a
pair of burning batons in each hand, and bowed to
roaring applause. Behind her came her mannequin
in a matching dress, and they juggled the flaming
batons as they performed various leaps and
cartwheels, moving so fast that the batons looked
like wheels of light in the air.
“She’s stealing my bit,” Cassandra said from
behind Colette.
“She’s earned it,” Colette replied without looking
back.
“After nearly burning the Theater down? After
killing someone on our stage? After ruining all my
scotch?”
Colette’s smile beamed. “I owe her, Cassie. Like I
owe you.”
 Cassandra sighed. On stage, Betty appeared to
misstep, stumbling after a flip. The batons hit her
and suddenly she was engulfed in flame. Fearful
cries broke out from the audience.

“If you say so,” said Cassandra.

Betty leapt from the fires that seemingly consumed

her. She landed gracefully in the mannequin’s
arms, her dress burned away to an appealing black
leotard smoldering with heat. Betty made a show
of licking her finger and touching her hip, creating a
distinct hiss that reached the ears of the audience
and sent them into hysterical cheers. Betty and her
mannequin held hands and bowed to the crowd.

Colette smiled. “They say so.”

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 NOW
AVAILA
BLE!

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 STARTING A STATION
CREATING MODULAR RAILROAD TERRAIN

MARKO PAUNOVIC

THIS MONTH I'LL BE FURTHER EXPANDING my old

west table with some railroad modular terrain. As
my table now has a church, a watertower, and an
undertaker, I figured it was about time to provide
the folk of my town with some work and travel
opportunities.

Idea and Planning

By now, you should already know my mantra about
how crucial planning is in any big project. Since this
is a more or less typical structure for the Old West,
I started with a Google search and instantly found
pictures of several types of wooden structures that
looked right. A bit down the list and after a couple of
Lego versions, I managed to spot a perfect picture for
the type of terrain I was after.

I decided that I would copy the design of the coaling

platform, but add a simple building for the railworkers'
foreman. The terrain would be a wooden platform built
on wooden beams with a square cross-section. The
building would also be a simple design, consisting of
just a window and door.
I then turned my attention to finding suitable railroad
tracks (and hopefully a train with a steam locomotive).
The closest gauge of model trains that fits with the
32mm scale of Malifaux models is O scale. O scale
(or O gauge) is a scale commonly used for toy trains
and model railroading. O gauge was the most common
model railroad scale in the United States and remained
so until the early 1960s. It hit its peak of popularity
when model railroads were still considered toys. When
the emphasis placed on cost, durability, and the ability
to be easily handled and operated by pre-adult hands
was no longer a factor, the popularity diminished. In
Europe, its popularity declined before World War II due
to the introduction of smaller scales whose detail and
realism surpassed that of the O gauge. It still remains

32
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 a popular choice for those hobbyists who enjoy • sanding paper (1 sheet)
running trains more than they enjoy other aspects • thin card
of modeling, but in recent years, developments have • masking tape
addressed the concerns of scale model railroaders, • toothpicks
making O scale popular once again. However, that • some pins
popularity comes at a cost. I couldn't find a suitable • one toy train set
O scale locomotive under $250 USD, and the fact
that I'm located in Croatia didn't help one bit. So I
began searching the local toy stores for some toy The tools needed are:
train sets. As luck would have it, I found a suitable
set in the first toy store I entered. It cost about $30 • scalpel blade
USD, with railroad tracks, locomotive, coal cart, and • marker pen
four wagons. Perfect! • scissors
• modeling saw
• pin vise (or an electric mini-drill)
• brushes – various sizes – for painting/washing
and for drybrushing
• pliers and pincers
• icepick
• electric jigsaw*
• electric disc sander*
• electric table mounted circular saw

* As in former issues of Wyrd Chronicles, I will be

using my Proxxon Disc Sander and ProxxonJigsaw
on the MDF to make the base. However, the base
can be done with styrofoam, too. In that case, if
you don't have the jigsaw and disc sander, just
follow the steps described in the April issue of
Materials and Tools Wyrd Chronicles.

After the rough sketch, I made a definite list of

materials and tools needed for this project. Those Building the Base
are as follows:
The first order of business was to cut the irregular ends
• one 2x2mm linden slat of the railroad tracks. I could have used a modeler's
• one 5x5mm linden slat saw or a scalpel blade, but I opted for the quicker way.
• roughly a full plank of 2mm balsa wood Using my electric table-mounted circular saw, I cut the
(they come in 10 x 100cm planks) track into a dozen or so pieces in under 5 minutes.
• roughly half a plank of 5mm balsa wood
(they also come in 10 x 100cm planks)
• a piece of 2cm thick HD styrofoam (they
come in 60x120cm boards)
• about 7x20cm piece of 4mm thick MDF board
• super glue
• PVA glue
• DAS air drying clay
• gravel (about four sizes)
• static grass / tufts
• pine trees

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 Using a marker pen, I drew the outline of the railorad
tracks on top side of the 2cm thick HD styrofoam.
Then, using a marker pen of a different color, I drew a
second set of lines about 2cm to the outside of each
line. This would mark the spot where I would cut the
styrofoam and would be the outside limit of my terrain
modules. After drawing, I cut the styrofoam carefully
with my scalpel blade. Remember to always use a really
sharp blade when cutting styrofoam and bear in mind
that the foam dulls the blades rather quickly so regular
change of the blades is unfortunately necessary. Also,
use several shallower cuts rather than one deeper one.
When the modules were cut, I chamfered the edges
(again, using my scalpel blade) to create the slope of
the embankment of the railroad tracks. In the end, I
sanded down the cuts with some sanding paper.

It was then time to make the base for the coaling

platform. Using a marker pen, I drew a rough outline
of the base on the MDF board. Once I was satisfied
with the layout, I proceeded to cut it with my jigsaw. I
stored the remaining pieces of MDF for later use. They
would come really handy as bases for smaller scatter
terrain. When the cutting was done, I chamfered the
circular edge using my disc sander. This will ensure
the nice transition between the table and the base of
the terrain. As mentioned before, if you do not own a
disc sander, you can always make the base from HD
styrofoam. Alternatively, you can sand the MDF using
sanding paper.

When I was finally happy with the basic shape of the

modules, I covered the embankment with pure PVA
glue (as I needed the rails to be glued properly) and
I carefully placed the rails, positioning them so they
snuggly fit the embankment. To make the joints stick
immediately, I put several blobs of super glue on
each end of the rails. This techinque works because
I had covered the top surface of the HD styrofoam
embankment with masking tape. If there was no
masking tape there, the super glue would dissolve
the styrofoam beneath. When the rails were fixed in
place, I sprinkled the medium sized gravel over it,
making sure the texture covered every surface equally.

Then it was time to add the texture to the rest of

the base. Because of the smallness of the base, I
did the whole piece in one segment. If the base was
larger, I'd have done it in several segments (each
level/segment at a time). As always, I covered the

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 surface with diluted PVA glue and started adding the
gravel. I started with the biggest granulate and end
with the smallest. I used four different sizes, from
small pebbles to chinchilla sand. The larger pebbles
and gravel I placed strategically around the base to
form some clutter and especially around the places
where the wooden pillars would go. The two smallest
granulates were freely dispersed throughout the
terrain, making sure I get even coverage throughout
and no area was left without texture. Around the places
leading up to the ladder leading onto the platform, I
used only smallest grain sand (for chinchillas).
play with the placement of the planks, allowing me
to make small cracks and holes between the planks.
I made the platform using linden slats and balsa
wood. The 2x8mm linden slats were used as
longitudinal beams, and the 5x5mm linden slats were
made into transversal beams and struts. In the end,
the 2mm thick balsa wood was used as planking for
the platform as well as the fence on the platform that
would hold the coal in. I also added some DAS clay to
build up the volume of the coal heap. Once the clay
was dry, I glued some rocky texture to it while using
PVA glue. This formed a nice heaping pile of coal in
the corner of the platform.

Using a wooden slat (2x8mm), I made the two sides

of a ladder approximately 4 cm long. Then, using my
Proxxon Drill, I drilled three holes about 1cm apart in
each of the planks. Alternatively, I could have used
a pin vise. I used a 2mm drill bit and made sure
the holes on each side aligned perfectly with their
respective counterpart on the other plank. I then used
three tooth-picks and stuck them in the holes making
my ladder. Once I was satisfied with the alignment,

Making the Module with the

Coaling Platform

I decided to go for the easiest and the fastest method

of building the structure. Unlike the old west church
where I first made the wooden frame and then glued
each plank separately, I opted to make the walls from
a single piece of 2mm balsa wood instead. Balsa
this thick is not sturdy enough to withstand gaming
abuse without any damage/breakage. Therefore, I
decided to make individual planks from a 2mm thick
balsa wood and glue them on top of the one-piece
walls. As with MDF and styrofoam bases, I first drew
the outlines of each wall on the balsa plank using
my marker pen. Then I carefully cut each piece. I
used my modeler's saw for cuts against the grain
(perpendicular to it) and used the scalpel blade for
cuts going with the grain. When every wall segment
was cut, I super glued them together and, using PVA
glue, I glued the individual planks in their respective
places. Using PVA glue gave me the opportunity to

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 I cut the parts of the tooth-picks sticking out of my
ladder with my scalpel blade. Then I sanded all the
sides down.
To make the roof structure, I again used 2mm thick
balsa wood. Once the roof structure was made, I used
sanding paper cut to size to for the roof panals. I just
love the texture that sand paper gives, and it looks just
like the shingles of an old building. Once everything
was finished, I took all the modules to my garage for a
quick spray of black undercoat. Remember to always
spray in a well-ventilated area! When the undercoat
was dry, I first dry-fitted the modules together to check
the fit, then applied a coat of black color with a brush
to the places the spray didn't reach.
excess effects and add direction to the effects (rust
usually runs down a slope).
With the bases painted, I could now turn my attention
to the building. The building has three different
surfaces and, consequently, textures: the roof, the
wooden walls, and the platform. I proceeded to paint
the wooden walls by drybrushing first, using a 50:50
mixture of Black (55) and Gray (54). Next layer was
pure Gray (54) and the finishing highlight was Ash
Brown (70). I was not quite satisfied with the result,
so I added another highlight of pure White (41).

Painting
When the undercoat was dry, it was time to paint
the terrain. I started painting the railroad bases
first. Wanting all my terrain to fit one theme (and
consequently one tabletop), it was only natural that
I use the same colors and color-scheme as on the
earlier terrain. Therefore, once again, I used Pebeo
Deco color range. I used Brown (29) for the basecoat
and continued drybrushing with Ocre (51). Lighter
shades were done with a 50:50 mixture of Ocre (51)
and White (41). The final highlight was done with
Antique White (69). The wooden beams were painted
Black (55) and then drybrushed Brown (29) with a
final highlight of Ash Brown (70). The metal rails were
painted Mithril Silver (old Citadel color) and washed
with some black wash. When it was dry, I applied
some Model Mates' Rust Effect. I simply covered the
surfaces generously and after about ten minutes of
drying time, I used a slightly damp Q-tip to remove

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 The roof was painted first with a mixture of Black (55) is cool, it will become lodged into the trunk without
and Gray (54) and then a mixture of Gray (54) and any need to glue it. The pins in the trees that were
Antique White (69) finishing with almost a pure coat intended to be glued to the styrofoam base were left
of Antique White (69). The platform was drybrushed longer than the pins in the trees meant to be glued
Brown (29) and then the final highlight was done on the MDF base. I then used a pin vise to make the
using Ash Brown (70). hole in the MDF base to accommodate the pins. I
glued the trees using both PVA and super glue.
Painting the train came next. Even though I did think
about slightly converting the train (maybe adding a With the trees in place, I could now add the static
ram's head), I soon dropped the idea. I may come grass. I made a mixture using several green, brown,
back to that idea at some point in the future. I then yellow, and black shades of static grass. When I was
considered undercoating/priming the locomotive satisfied with the end product, I glued it in random
and all the wagons and doing a proper paintjob. But
at this point, I must confess I was running out of
time for the article, so I decided to leave most of the
paintjob as it was and just add some effects to make
it more lifelike. The only thing I did paint were the
ugly gray wheels on the locomotive. I decided to go
with a standard red color often seen used on steam
locomotives. I first painted the basecoat with a 50:50
mixture of Brown (55) and Red (xy). The highlight
was done with pure Red (xy). When the wheels were
done, I painted a layer of wash over all the wagons
(black and/or sepia) and then I simply used lighter
versions of the original colors the manufacturer used
on the train and just drybrushed them on . Then I
turned my focus on the effects. As usual, I was using
my Model Mates' collection. Rust Effects, Verdigris,
Moss Green, Mould Effect, Soot Black. After each
effect was applied, I let it dry for about 10 minutes,
then using a moist Q-tip, I removed the excess paint
effect. As I was satisfied with each effect, I sealed
the paint using clear matt cote in a spray.

Vegetation
After the painting, it was time to add the vegetation to
the base. First up, I decided to plant some pine trees
on the terrain peice with the building. I used Ziterdes
ones that come in a big pack of 20. They come on
long shafts with several sizes and heights. In order to
glue them in place, I first had to cut their round bases
as they got in the way. I also added metal pins to the
pine trees. The easiest method of pinning metal pins
to the plastic trunks of the trees is to heat the metal
pin using a candle and just stick it into the trunk. The
heat will melt the plastic locally and, as the pin goes
into the trunk, the heat dissipates and once the pin

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 patches throughout the base. I made sure to put
static grass over any and all of the remaining holes
where the wooden structure met the base in order to
hide the unintentional mistake. Once the static grass
was in place, I applied several shades of different
tufts. Again, as in the former articles, I used tufts
made by a company called Gamer's Grass.

Finally, I added a couple of miniatures to test whether

the dimensions I used work. Normally I use my two
muppets (old metal Sue and Convict gunslinger), but
this time, for the photoshoot, I decided to use some
minis that thematically fit the terrain (from the Rail
crew) accompanied by some Rotten Belles for some St
Valentine's feeling. :) Go love each other and stay safe!

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girt leaf (Order #15712033)
breachsidebroadcast.com
 DENIAL OF SANZU
A ONE-SHOT ADVENTURE FOR THROUGH THE BREACH
THE FATED ARE HIRED to find out who attacked a
tavern, but they soon learn of a greater threat to the
city. This adventure makes a good first introduction
to the addictive substance known as Brilliance.
The rules for the Brilliance Condition are found in
Under Quarantine (pg. 153). They have been reprinted
at the end of this adventure for ease of use.
Tarot Tie-Ins
CRSC 13C: “And you stumble upon the line of life
and death.”
ALBC 1R: “Your soul will scream for penitence”
LLRC 2R: “You will be weighed and found wanting”
Prologue
The Fated have been invited to dine at the house of
Shinpai Furui, an elderly businessman who resides
in the Little Kingdom. The Fated have most likely not
met Furui before, but he is clearly wealthy.
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PAUL LIPPINCOTT
The meal was fabulous. Despite not knowing
the elderly Shinpai Furui, the businessman has
spared no expense in serving you the finest
Three Kingdoms delicacies. You’ve dined for
hours by the light of tall beeswax candles, and
though Shinpai Furui is clearly unwell, he is still
extremely charming.
The servants clear away the last plates and
replace the candles that have burned low as
Shinpai begins to tell a story. “The people of
my homeland tend to subscribe to one of two
religions: Shintao or Buddhism. My family have
always been Buddhists, and we believe that upon
our deaths, we will meet the demon hag Datsue-
ba by the Sanzu River and be judged on the virtue
of our lives. Since coming to Malifaux, I have seen
things that convinced me of the validity of my
ancestor’s beliefs. Judgement does indeed await
us when we die.”
He coughs into a silk handkerchief. “As you
can tell, my time is not that far off, and so I am
concerned. Have I led a virtuous life? How will
Datsue-ba judge me?” He leans in close. “If you
are willing, I would have you journey to the spirit
world to learn of my judgement in advance.”
 The Fated should choose their Pursuits for the
session. Even if they try not to get involved, they
will end up being drawn into the unfolding conflict
in Scene 1.
Scene 1: Lighting the Way
If the Fated are interested in the offer, Shinpai is
willing to pay them 20 scrip each once they return
from the spirit world. A TN 12 Barter Challenge can
talk him up to 30 scrip per person.
Fortunately, the Fated will not have to die to make
the journey into the spirit world. Shinpai has gone
to great effort to commission the creation of one
spirit candle per Fated and Living subordinate
character. It takes a short, five minute ritual to
link each Fated to a spirit candle. Once linked,
lighting the candle will send the linked character’s
spirit into the spirit world, leaving their physical
bodies unconscious in the mortal realm. Spiritual
representations of the linked character’s clothing
and equipment appear on the characters once they
manifest in the spirit world.
If the Fated are suspicious of Shinpai’s motives,
they can attempt a TN 13 Scrutiny Challenge. On
a success, they realize that, while he seems to
be telling the truth about how the spirit candles
work, his motives seem a bit simplistic for the
monumental task he has put before them. If the
Fated call him on this, Shinpai smiles faintly and
acknowledges that he has not given them the full
truth. He blames a life of secrecy and misdirection
and tells them the truth: the vestments he wishes
for them to take into the spirit world belong to his
nephew, Junzo, a studious young man who has
lived a moral life. Shinpai is using Junzo’s robes to
determine the location of the bridge which spans
the Sanzu River, as knowing its location will allow
him to more easily cross into the afterlife while
avoiding the consequences for his wicked life.
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Once the Fated have finished negotiating with
Shinpai, read the following text:
Between coughing fits, Shinpai Furui outlines the
task he is asking of you.
“Legend says that Datsue-ba waits at the Sanzu
River in the spirit world, where she judges the
Reikon, the souls of the recently dead. She has
her consort, Keneo, weigh the Reikons’ clothes
on the limb of a tree that stretches out over the
river’s water. These clothes carry the sins of the
wearer, and the amount by which the branch bends
determines the afterlife to which the Reikon is sent.
Of course, the heavier your sins, the more difficult
the crossing.
ShinpaI rings a small bell near his chair, prompting
a servant to enter with some neatly folded
garments. They are high quality, though they are
visibly showing some wear.
“My favorite business robes,” Shinpai explains. “I
will send you into the spirit world to weigh these on
the Judgement Tree. Once you learn the destination
of my soul, travel to where my spirit will be sent
to cross the river, observe what is there, and then
return to me.”
If Shinpai has not yet explained how the spirit
candles work, he does so now as the servants bring
the tall, stark white candles out into the dining room
and place one in front of each Fated character. The
servants also bring out a small gong and place it in
front of Shinpai. He explains that the gong exists in
both the mortal realm and the spirit world (it was
stolen from the grave of a spirit medium), and that
when they have finished their task, they need only to
return to his home and ring the gong, at which point
the servants will snuff out their spirit candles and
return them to the mortal realm.
 When the Fated are ready to pass into the spirit
world, the servants hand Shinpai’s folded clothing
to whichever Fated wishes to carry it. Read the
following text:
Shinpai walks you through a short ritual to attune
yourselves to the spirit candles. Once finished, a
servant moves from one candle to the next, lighting
each one. As the wick begins to burn, the flame
turns an eerie green color.
The room around you begins to glimmer, and you
have a hard time focusing on any details except
your companions. As Shinpai fades from sight, you
hear his voice following you into the spirit world:
“Remember, do not cross the Sanzu River, lest you
find yourselves unable to return. Follow the Reikon
to Datsue-ba.”
Gloom descends on the room, and Shinpai becomes
little more than a vague, indistinct shadow amidst
the darkness. The only light comes from the spirit
candle which anchors you in this new realm.
The Fated have successfully crossed over into the
spirit world. The spirit gong is present in the spirit
world, but it is immobile; the Fated will have to return
to Shinpai’s home when their mission is finished.
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Scene 2: The Path of Spirits
The spirit world exists alongside the mortal realm
and thus closely resembles its counterpart, though
there are a few notable differences between them.
For instance, when the Fated transition to the spirit
world, they are still in Shinpai’s dining room, and the
walls of his home and other buildings still block their
progress, as their spirits are accustomed to them
doing so in the mortal realm. Similarly, they must walk
along the ground as they do in life.
When the Fated exit Shinpai’s home, they will notice a
few other differences between the two realms. Read
the following text:
Malifaux City rises around you, at once both
familiar and alien. You recognize the street outside
Shinpai’s home, as well as other landmarks you
saw on the way, but everything is cast beneath a
persistent gloom. The buildings shimmer and sway
as if seen through a haze of heat, and above you,
the sky is jet black. The dark clouds swirl in a circle
overhead, forming a disturbing funnel shape that
reaches up into the dark heavens above.
Here and there, people walk slowly along the
streets, as if in a daze. Almost all seem to be
Easterners clad in the clothing of the Three
Kingdoms, but here and there you see the
occasional Westerner or person without clothes.
They are all vaguely translucent, and each glows
with a faint light as they walk southwest towards
the river. There are also things that flit and dart at
the edges of your vision, moving too fast for you to
properly see.
If the Fated follow the Reikon southwest, they will
come across the Sanzu River, which has replaced the
city’s Fortune River (and indeed, every river) in the
spirit world. If the Fated decide to travel in another
direction, keep track of their travel time. Any of the
bridges which would normally reach across the
Fortune River end halfway across the Sanzu River, as
if cleanly sliced in half. Similarly, anyone attempting
to fly across the river finds themselves slowly sinking
into its watery depths as the thrashing spirit serpents
wait for their meal.
 Predatory Gaki
A few minutes after the Fated have been in the spirit
world, read the following text:
A lone Reikon walks down the street ahead of you.
Suddenly, a blur rushes past him. You have a vague
impression of tattered robes and teeth as it speeds
by, and the spirit stops, staring at where his left arm
and shoulder have been torn away. The wound does
not bleed, however. Instead, thin streamers of silky
crimson smoke drift up from the wound.
The blur returns, ripping into the Reikon’s chest. A
second blur joins the first, and then a third. Within
moments, they dart back into the darkness. Of the
spirit, nothing remains except a thin, scarlet mist.
The blurs are Gaki, spiritual predators that feed on
weak spirits and anything else they can catch.
From this point onwards, whenever the Fated travel
between locations, they must pass a TN 10 Stealth
Challenge to avoid being sensed and attacked. In any
character fails this Challenge (or chooses not to be
stealthy), the Fated are attacked by one Gaki, plus one
Gaki for each character the hungry spirits detected.
Stats for the Gaki can be found on page 50.
Death in the Spirit World
Characters who are wounded in the spirit world
suffer similar wounds in the mortal realm.
Similarly, any characters who perish in the spirit
world cannot return to their mortal bodies, and
thus slip into a long coma that eventually ends
in death.
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Conversing With the Dead
The Reikon are barely aware of their surroundings
and move towards the Sanzu River by instinct. They
stay on the streets through lingering habit and
generally ignore the Fated unless the Fated attempt
to converse with them.
If the characters speaking with a Reikon are not Living,
they will find the spirits confused and unable to shed
much light on their situation. If any Living characters
attempt to talk to a Reikon, however, the spirit fixates
on them, grabs their clothing, and begs to be given
more life. Other nearby Reikon notice the commotion
and descend on the Fated as well, grabbing at their
clothes and begging for the Fated to help them return
to life.
The Fated can attempt to escape from these mobs
with a TN 10 Athletics Challenge. On a success, that
character pushes the Reikon away and escapes the
crowd. On a failure, the character is bogged down by
the grasping hands, and the commotion attracts a
Gaki for each such trapped character. The Gaki focus
on devouring the Reikon at first, but once the Reikon
are gone (or if the Fated attack them), the Gaki turn
their attention toward the Fated. Stats for
the Gaki can be found on page 50.
 Scene 3: The Judgment Tree
When the Fated arrive at the Sanzu River, read the
following text:
The Reikon at the riverside form a line in front
of a haggard, gaunt old woman. In the glow of
her lantern, her robes appear to be threadbare,
and a filthy linen strip covers her eyes. She
babbles like she’s senile, but the knife in her
hand is rock-steady, and something about her
sends a chill down your spine.
As you watch, a spirit shuffles up to the crone.
With several deft cuts, she slices the spirit’s
robes cleanly off. A hunchbacked old man
scoops them up and hobbles to a tree at the
river’s edge, laying them out across a branch
that stretches out across the water. He watches
as the branch bends down beneath the weight
of the clothing, then he pulls them down, tosses
them into the river, and lopes back to the old
crone to whisper in her ear. The hag points her
knife across the river, and without hesitation, the
Reikon enters the water and begins swimming
toward the far side.
A new Reikon shuffles up to the crone, and the
process begins anew.
The old woman is Datsue-ba, the judge of the dead,
and the old man is Keneo, her assistant and consort.
As the Reikon are judged, the Fated can attempt a TN
10 Bureaucracy Challenge. On a success, they learn
exactly how far the branch needs to bend for a Reikon
to be sent upriver (a little), downriver (a fair amount),
or right here (a lot). Even if the Fated fail, they realize
that while Datsue-ba speaks exclusively in Japanese,
they have no problem understanding her.
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The Fated should be given a few minutes to discuss
their plan. Whenever it feels appropriate, read the
following text:
Suddenly, the hag at the front of the line cackles
loudly. The Reikon in front of her appears to be a
child, likely no more than seven or eight years old.
“No passage for you!” she taunts the girl, jabbing
her knife towards the shore. “If you want across,
you’ll have to build your ladder into the heavens!”
Despite speaking in Japanese, you have no
problem understanding the hag's words.
The child slumps its shoulders and shuffles off
toward a group of other children, all of whom are
carefully stacking rocks into piles. As if just now
noticing the size of one of these piles, the hag
stomps over to it, pushes the children away, and
kicks the pile over, sending the rocks tumbling
back down into the water. Cackling softly, the
crone slowly shuffles back to her position at the
start of the line as the children start gathering up
the spilled rocks to start over again.
Tricking Datsue-ba
One way or another, the Fated will have to trick Datsue-
ba in order to weigh Shinpai’s clothing. There are a few
ways they might try this.
The Fated could attempt to negotiate with Datsue-ba
or Keneo. Datsue-ba is more or less inscrutable and
becomes enraged if any Living character approaches
her. She attacks that character with her knife,
attempting to skin them, and unless the Fated have
already persuaded Keneo to help them, he joins in the
attack. Datsue-ba’s stats can be found on page 51.
Keneo uses the same stats as an Onryo (pg. 52). If
the Fated kill either Datsue-ba or Keneo, they emerge
from the Sanzu River a half hour later, fully healed and
more than likely quite upset over their “death.”
If a non-Living character approaches her while
wearing Shinpai’s clothing, then Datsue-ba cuts
away the clothes without concern and Keneo places
them on the branch. If the character is wearing
their own clothes in addition to Shinpai’s clothing,
however, then both sets of clothing are cut away and
hung on the tree branch, which results in it being
fully weighed down.
 Keneo is much more approachable. He’s loyal to
Datsue-ba, but he’s not quite as cruel or heartless as
his consort. The Fated can attempt a TN 10 Bewitch
or Convince Challenge to persuade him into helping
them, or they can try to terrify him into helping with
a TN 12 Intimidate Challenge. On a success, Keneo
will either distract Datsue-ba long enough for the
Fated to hang the clothes on the tree branch. If the
Fated attempt to hang clothing on the tree without
first getting his approval, Keneo shouts out and
warns Datstu-ba, who attacks the Fated as described
above. See The Weighing on the next column.
The Fated could also attempt to distract Datsue-ba
by helping the children build up their stone piles.
A successful TN 8 Athletics Challenge builds up a
pile tall enough to draw the hag away from the line,
though if the character building the stone piles is
Living, they will have to succeed at a TN 12 Evade
or Stealth Challenge to avoid drawing Datsue-ba’s
attention (which, in turn, leads to her attacking the
character as described above). If they get the clothes
onto the tree, see The Weighing on the next column.
Alternatively, the Fated could try a more deceitful
approach. There are more than a few naked Reikon
waiting in line, and if the Fated are clever, they
might think to simply give Shinpai’s clothing to one
of those spirits. In this case, all they have to do
is wait for the spirit to approach Datsue-ba. The
hag pauses when she notices the clothes, but then
cuts them away to be weighed as usual. See The
Weighing on the next column.
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The Weighing
Should the Fated succeed in getting Shinpai’s clothing
onto the Judgement Tree, reach the following text:
With a quiet rustle, Shinpai’s robes are flipped up
and over the branch. The garment definitely has
some heft to it, but as you step back, you see the
branch sag only slightly. Considering how far you’ve
seen the tree limb move for much less, it can only
mean that these clothes carry very few sins.
If the Fated are weighing the clothes themselves, a
friendly Keneo (or the earlier Bureaucracy Challenge)
will tell the Fated that the owner of the clothes should
travel upstream. If Datsue-ba is weighing the clothes
herself, she points upstream with her knife.
It takes one hour to travel upstream or downstream
from the Judgement Tree. Each time the Fated move
between one of these destinations, they have to
check to see if they’re attacked by Gaki, as described
on page 50.
Paths Untaken
If the Fated examine the two untaken paths, the
point of crossing nearest Datsue-ba is a series of
seething rapids. The Reikon that enter the water
here are attacked by massive, dragon-like eels. Most
of the spirits are torn apart, only to reform on the
shore to try again. Judging from the screams, this is
apparently quite a painful process.
The second path, further downstream, is a far more
shallow crossing. The spirits here wade through
the calmer waters and hop across stones, but the
dragon-like eels still prowl the waters and prey upon
the crossing spirits. More reach the other side than
they do in the rapids, but that does little to lessen
the apparent pain of those who are caught.
 Scene 4: The Soul Bridge
If the Fated travel upriver, they will eventually arrive at
the Soul Bridge. Read the following text:
Ahead, a crude stone bridge extends over the
water. The spirits directed here walk across the
bridge, only to disappear into the darkness at the
river’s far side.
A monk with a lantern stands before the bridge.
He bows to the Reikon as they pass, only leaving
in order to drive back the hunting spirits when
they draw too close to the bridge.
The monk is Ojizo, a self-appointed defender of the
Reikon. He is a Reikon like the others, but he has
forsaken the afterlife in order to defend his fellow
spirits, and in doing so, he has regained much of
his former mind and prowess. If any of the Fated
are injured, he tends to their wounds without being
asked (effectively healing 3 damage). He will not
allow them to cross the bridge, however, insisting
that only the Reikon who have been judged worthy
may use it to cross the river. If the Fated ask what
is on the other side, he admits that he does not
know. The only way to find out would be to cross the
bridge to find out, and even if he were to allow that,
they would not be able to return to tell anyone what
they saw.
If the Fated choose to speak to Ojizo, he is curious
about what Living people are doing in the spirit
world. They can attempt to lie to him with a TN 14
Deceive Challenge, but on a failure, the monk only
becomes more inquisitive. If the Fated tell them
about Shinpai, Ojizo notes that it seems odd that
someone so close to death would be so concerned
with his judgement, given that he likely has little
time left to change things.
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Scene 5: The Judgement of Datsue-be
Once the Fated are finished at the bridge, they can
head back to Shinpai’s house and return to the
realm of the living. They do not check for wandering
Gaki on their way back, however, and a TN 10 Notice
Challenge reveals that there doesn’t seem to be any
sign of the predators or the Reikon. In their place,
there is only a sense of foreboding: even if she was
not previously aware of their presence, Datsue-ba
has by now sensed the Fated and is coming for them.
Even the dullest spirits know enough to stay out of
their way.
When the Fated return to Shinpai’s house, they find
the gong and the burning spirit candles waiting for
them. When they ring it, read the following text:
After a moment, the candles extinguish, one
at a time. As each flame vanishes, the gloom
filling the room dissipates and the room shifts
further into focus. Shinpai Furui comes back
into view as the spirit world fades away, leaving
you once again in your chairs. Shinpai smiles
enthusiastically, an odd gleam in his eye.
“So,” he says, leaning forward. “Tell me what
you found.”
Any items that the Fated used or lost in the spirit
world are still present in the mortal realm – Shinpai’s
clothing is still present in one piece, for instance – for
they were just spiritual projections of their material
counterparts. Similarly, anything they attempted to
bring back with them from the spirit world simply did
not make the transition.
Shinpai waits eagerly for the Fated to tell their tale.
If they want more from him, he impatiently agrees
to whatever reasonable demands they make; he was
ready for such extortion, and he has a considerable
fortune at his beck and call. He is wealthy and
anxious, but there are limits to his desperation.
 Midway through the Fated’s story, read the following
text, interrupting them if necessary:
An old woman’s creaking voice fills the room.
Although is speaks Japanese, you find that you
can understand every word she says.
“Shinpai Furui, why put these poor souls through
such trouble to learn the way to the afterlife?
You certainly won’t follow the path shown from
weighing your nephew’s clothes.”
Shinpai starts at the voice, his eyes growing wide
as he reaches out and begins furiously ringing
the bell to call a servant.
“Come,” the voice chuckles. “I will guide you
myself.”
One after another, a series of masked specters
in tattered kimono rises from the center of the
table. Their fingers are curled into wicked claws,
and you can see pure, absolute hatred burning in
the tortured eyes behind their white masks.
One Onryo emerges from the table per Fated, plus
one additional Onryo for each subordinate character
that accompanied the Fated into the underworld.
Each Onryo appears one yard from its selected
target. Shinpai Furui is not attacked by an Onryo, nor
will any Onryo attack him; he belongs to Datsue-ba.
Stats for the Onryo can be found on page 53.
The dining room is sizeable, roughly 8 yards by 15
yards with a long table taking up the middle space.
Although the home has traditional Three Kingdoms
architecture, the interior walls are quite solid. The
next room is a hallway that is 3 yards wide and 10
yards long, which leads directly to the front door
(in addition to branching out into a number of side
rooms). There are two windows that the Fated can
dive through to either side of the door, but if they
do so, they have to succeed on a TN 10 Acrobatics
Challenge to avoid suffering 1/2/3 damage from the
broken glass.
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Datsue-ba appears at the beginning of the second
round, three yards away from Shinpai. He begs the
Fated to defend him, offering any price for their
service. For her part, Datsue-ba moves to Shinpai on
her action and spends her second AP that turn – as
well as the next two turns – skinning Shinpai with
her knife. Once he’s fully skinned, she puts him out
of his mortal misery. She then attacks the Fated for
helping him (and does not care if the Fated profess
their innocence).
If the Fated attack Datsue-ba before she starts
skinning Shinpai or during the process, she turns her
attention away from Shinpai and toward her attacker.
She doesn’t stop unless she is defeated, and if the
Fated flee from Shinpai’s home, she either returns to
him (if he is still present) or fades back into the spirit
world (if the Fated flee with him).
Epilogue
Should the Fated defeat Datsue-ba before she kills
Shinpai, he is grateful and pays them whatever he
promised, plus another 10%... but only if they finish
telling him about the afterlife. If they do so, he thanks
them profusely and then retires to his room, where he
drinks a vial of poison. A few minutes later he is dead;
Shinpai intends to sneak into the afterlife and across
the Soul Bridge before Datsue-ba can return to her river.
If the Fated speak with the servants before they leave,
they will check in on Shinpai, realize he is dead, and
attempt to honor his last promise as best they can.
If Datsue-ba succeeds in skinning and killing Shinpai,
he still goes to the afterlife, but his fate is much,
much darker.
Regardless of when Shinpai dies, the Fated will most
likely have to deal with the Ten Thunders, who are
very curious about the circumstances surrounding
Shinpai Furui’s death. They contact the Fated the next
day, posing as members of the Guild, and ask them
questions about what the old merchant was trying
to do and why they were the last people to see him
alive. They will have already questioned the servants,
so if the Fated tell the truth, it will corroborate what
they already know. Any inconsistencies, however, will
be seen by the Ten Thunders as an attempt to hide
some larger mystery.
 If the Fated asked for an excessive amount of money,
the Ten Thunders may very well consider the Fated
to have stolen from them. In this case, they will
approach the Fated and inform them of the awkward
situation – Shinpai gave them money that was not
his to give – and will give them a chance to make the
situation right. If the Fated refuse to turn over the
money, then the Ten Thunders will seek to recover
Shinpai’s fortune by force.

In any case, Shinpai’s servants will spread the story

about the Fated journeying into the spirit world to
trick Datsue-ba. The details are fairly inaccurate, but
they are impressive enough that for the next month,
the Fated will have a + to any Social Challenges
involving residents of the Little Kingdom.

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 Gaki
Minion (5), Spirit

Might Grace Speed Resilience

1 -1 2 0
Charm Intellect Cunning Tenacity
-4 -1 1 2
Defense Walk Height Initiative
4 (9) 5 2 3 (8)
Willpower Charge Wounds
4 (9) 6 4

Skills: Intimidate 1, Notice 1, Pugilism 3C, Track 2.

Incorporeal: This character ignores, and is ignored by,

other characters and terrain during any movement.
Reduce all damage this character suffers from Ranged
and Close Combat attack actions by half.
Dismember: When one of this character's attacks causes a
Severe Critical Effect, it may discard a card to immediately
change the Critical Effect to Amputated. This does not
change the location of the Critical Effect.
Eat Your Fill: After killing a Living creature with a Close
Combat attack, this character may immediately end its
turn to heal all damage it has suffered by gorging itself on
the creature's flesh.

(1) Gorge (Pugilism)

AV: 4C (9C) ======= Rg: y1 ======== Resist: Df
Target suffers 2/3/4 damage.
CM Bloody Frenzy: After damaging, another friendly Gaki
engaged with the same target may immediately make a
(1) Gorge attack against the target.
(1) Devour (Pugilism)
AV: 4C (9C) ======= Rg: y1 ======== Resist: Df
This attack may only target a Paralyzed or otherwise
helpless Living character. If successful, the target suffers
a Severe Critical Effect.

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 Datsue-Ba
Henchman (9), Undead, Spirit

Might Grace Speed Resilience

2 0 1 2
Charm Intellect Cunning Tenacity
-4 1 3 3
Defense Walk Height Initiative
6 (15) 5 2 3 (12)
Willpower Charge Wounds
5 (14) 8 6

Skills: Doctor 2, Evade 4, Intimidate 2, Melee 4C,

Necromancy 3C, Notice 2, Scrutiny 2, Toughness 1.

Incorporeal: This character ignores, and is ignored by,

other characters and terrain during any movement.
Reduce all damage this character suffers from Ranged
and Close Combat attack actions by half.
Terrifying (All) (12): Enemy characters must pass a TN
12 Horror Duel when they end their turn within this
character's engagement range or target this character with a
harmful action.
Rush +3: This character's Charge Aspect has been
increased by +3.

(1) Judgement (Melee)

AV: 6C (15C) ======= Rg: y1 ======== Resist: Df
Target suffers 2/3/4 damage that ignores Armor.
Ct Skinned Alive: After damaging, the target suffers the
following Critical Effect: "Skinned: A portion of this
character's flesh has been removed. This character
gains the Bleeding Out Condition. While this
character has the Bleeding Out Condition, she is also
considered to have the Dazed and Slow Conditions."
(1) Weigh Sins (Necromancy/Tenacity)
AV: 6C (15C) == TN: 15C === Rg: 8 yards == Resist: Df
Target suffers 1/2/6 damage that ignores Armor.
C Marked: After succeeding, the target gains the following
Condition until the start of this character's next turn:
"Adversary: Spirits gain + to attacks targeting this
character."
C Condemned: After killing a Living target, their spirit is
transformed into either a Gaki or Onryo under this
character's control.
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 Onryo The Haunted Condition
Minion (6), Spirit
As a character's Haunted Condition increases,
progressively creepier things happen around her
Might Grace Speed Resilience until the spirits haunting her finally possess her
1 -1 2 1 body and force her to kill her loved ones and
then herself. The Haunted Condition is described
Charm Intellect Cunning Tenacity in detail on page 155 of Under Quarantine.
-4 -1 1 3
If you're not using Under Quarantine in your
Defense Walk Height Initiative game, instead have the Haunt ability of Onryo
4 (10) 5 2 4 (10) give everyone around them the Slow Condition.

Willpower Charge Wounds

5 (11) 6 5

Skills: Intimidate 2, Necromancy 2C, Notice 2, Pugilism 3C.

Haunt: When this character is killed, the character that

killed it gains the following Condition: "Haunted +1:
Every evening at sunset, increase the value of this
Condition by +1."
Incorporeal: This character ignores, and is ignored by,
other characters and terrain during any movement.
Reduce all damage this character suffers from Ranged
and Close Combat attack actions by half.
Vengeance: When this character suffers damage from an
enemy character's attack, the enemy suffers 1 damage
after resolving the current Action (even if the Action
killed this character).

(1) Clawed Hands (Pugilism)

AV: 4C (10C) ======= Rg: y2 ======== Resist: Df
Target suffers 2/3/5 damage that ignores Armor.
CR Cut to Ribbons: When damaging, gain + to the
damage flip.
(1) Vengeful Shriek (Necromancy/Tenacity)
AV: 5C (11C) ======= Rg: z12 ======== Resist: Df
Target suffers 1/2/3b damage.
C Infect: After succeeding, the target gains the Poison +1
Condition a number of times equal to the number of C
in the final duel total.

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 Cabin In The Deployment
The Survivor player deploys their Crew anywhere whitin

Woods
the "Cabin" area.

The Killer player deploys their Crew anywhere at least

8" away from the "Cabin".

What started out as a peaceful vacation

in a remote cabin has turned into a living
nightmare. Now a group of friends have been
stranded in the woods, and there's a killer
lurking outside. Their only hope is to escape
through the woods and slip through the killer's
grasp. Things are about to get... Groovy
Description
One player will take on the role of the remaining
Survivors trying to escape, while the other player will
act as the Killers waiting outside.
Set Up
Mark out the "Cabin" by creating a 6" by 6" square in
the middle of the table.
Special Rules
While in the "Cabin" Survivor Models gain a + on Duels.
Anytime a Killer's Model enters Engagement with a
Survivor, the Survivor player may attempt to "Scramble
Away". The survivor model must make a TN 12 Wp
duel. If they pass the model may make a 2" Push in
any direction. If they fail the Killer player may make a
2" Push in any direction with any of their models.
Victory
Anytime a Survivor's model reaches the edge of the
board, it's removed from the game and the Survivor
player receives 1 VP.
When a Killer player kills an enemy model, they receive
1 VP.

After determining teams, the Survivor player may hire a

crew of 25ss led by a Henchman and may have no two
characters of the same name. The Survivor only plays
with the Frame for Murder and Distract Schemes.

The Killer player may hire a crew of 50ss, also led by

a Henchmen, and may have no two characters of the
same name. The Killer only plays with the Assassinate
and Make the Suffer Schemes.

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 Pistole
Colo
r Yo
ur O
wn
ros
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girt leaf (Order #15712033)