Post by Fadril Adren on Jul 29, 2015 17:28:49 GMT -5
LORE:
At half the size of a human being, Gremlins do not appear to be very threatening. On their own, they aren't that dangerous. Often found living in the Bayou, they are the residents of Malifaux who have been most welcoming to the influx of humans. Instead of seeing them as invaders, they see them as sources of learning, often copying them. This mimicry started with clothing. and they would offer advice and directions to the first travelers in exchange for pants or a shirt. This had the side effect of allowing the Gremlins to see which of their number were cunning just by whether or not they had managed to dress themselves, and they began to form into organized groups, allowing them to focus their strength.
When they were wild and untamed, the Gremlins and the pigs in the Bayou shared a hunter/hunter relationship: the pig would eat the gremlin and sometimes the gremlin brought home the bacon for its family. This balance kept either race from eating through all of the Bayou. Both races are known for their voracious appetites, and neither would stop eating until they were killed or there was nothing left to eat. When some of the Gremlin leaders saw the humans raising animals in captivity, they began to domesticate the wild pigs, giving them an advantage in the constant pig/gremlin war. Some of these pigs have become domesticated enough that the Gremlins can now ride them into battle like horses. It isn't foolproof, though, and it's not uncommon for these pigs to become distracted and go on a rampage among their own allies in the middle of a battle.
Male Gremlins outnumber female Gremlins by nearly ten to one, but there is little concern about the viability of the Gremlin race. When a female gives birth, the litters can be as large as twenty screaming Gremlin babies. Gremlins are not known for their intelligence or caring natures, and out of these twenty, perhaps a half dozen will make it out of infancy. Out of those, less than half will survive until they are old enough to breed on their own. The dangers of the Bayou are varied, and many of its denizens appreciate the bite-sized nature of the Gremlins.
In addition to mimicking the farming practices of humans, Gremlins have also started to mimic their use of weapons. By stealing whatever guns and ammunition they can from raids on Guild storehouses, they have amassed a small arsenal of weaponry and have learned the basics of shooting. Whether due to poor aim, poor weapon maintenance, or the strength of the recoil on their small bodies, they're not especially great at actually hitting things, and it's not an uncommon sight to see one Gremlin accidentally shoot another in the midst of combat.
The three most powerful groups of Gremlins are lead by Somer Teeth Jones, Ophelia LaCroix, and Mah Tucket. Somer's group of Gremlins is powerful because they are located close enough to the edge of the Bayou that they can raid nearly any Guild operation or caravan that they find, giving them a clear advantage in supplies. Ophelia had a harder time. Female Gremlins normally do not have the opportunity to vie for power because they are too busy chasing around their dozens of little ones, trying to help the strongest survive to adulthood, but she has managed to escape that fate. By the time she was ready to move against the other Gremlin leaders in the area, the Ortega family had settled into Latigo Ranch and began treating the Gremlins as little more than mobile target practice. By forcing her family members into the roles she saw each of the Ortegas filling, Ophelia found herself with a fairly skilled army that was undeniably loyal to her. With their training, they didn't need to raid often because their raids were largely successful.
Ophelia's example has been followed by Mah Tucket, who has passed out of her child-bearing years and is now the leader of the infamous Bayou Bushwhackers. Unlike Somer and Ophelia, Mah Tucket's Gremlins rely more upon ambush and trickery to catch their opponents off guard. This trickery is backed up by Mah's formidable combat prowess, and years of bossing around younger, stronger Gremlins has shaped her into a tough old lady with more experience than any other two Gremlins combined.
While it can be amusing to see Gremlins fighting, especially if they are fighting each other, the Guild is starting to learn not to underestimate the diminutive creatures. Even if they kill a few of their own, the Gremlins in the back ranks have no qualms about shooting through their brethren to complete a mission if their leader is still alive to bark orders at them.
TACTICA:
The Gremlins are a faction that revolves around swarm tactics and damaging themselves for various game benefits. Many of their models are at least somewhat uncontrollable, especially their Pigs, making them a bit of a nightmare for anyone who enjoys carefully articulated battle plans. On the other hand, their abilities tend to be quite fun and chaotic, and if you're okay with a bit of friendly fire (or sometimes a lot of friendly fire), the Gremlins make for a strong faction. Many of their models have Reckless, allowing them to take damage when they activate to gain an extra AP, and there's plenty of healing within the faction to minimize the damage that they're invariably end up dealing to themselves and their allies.
The Gremlins tend to mostly be comprised of Living models, and are generally split between Gremlins and Pigs. The two work reasonably well together, but most Masters focus more on one race than the other. Pigs tend to be hardier and faster than Gremlins, but require constant supervision, lest they randomly charge the nearest model in the hopes of an easy meal.
MASTERS:
SO'MER TEETH JONES -
For a Gremlin, Som'er Teeth Jones has lived a fairly long time. This comes from making other Gremlins do all the dangerous things for him. Som'er realized early on in his life that there were two things that would make people follow you: a loud voice and a big hat. The voice he had, the hat he needed to acquire. After taking it off some merchant who wandered too close to the Bayou, it was an easy task to get many of the Bayou Gremlins to follow him, especially since once a few of them started working together they got things done a lot faster and word spread that there were certain benefits to working with Som'er.
Anyone would have had a difficult time keeping all the Gremlins on the same page, but Som'er had made an important discovery: moonshine. This sweet potion has kept the spirits of his gremlin followers high enough that they will follow him into battle after battle against the Guild outposts near the Bayou. They have even been focused enough to learn how to train some of the wild pigs that share their domain, riding them into combat like horses and also using them for food when they are too lazy to go out hunting.
It was during one of these raids that Som'er earned his nickname. He was injured during the combat, taking a blow to the face that knocked some of his teeth out. Instead of falling to the ground and crying, he spat and said, “Som'er here and som'er there.” Sometime after this battle, wanted posters with his picture on them began to appear in and around the Bayou. Som'er takes great pride in showing them off, proud to have been able to avoid the Guild patrols for so long
TACTICA:
Somer is a versatile master of the Gremlins faction. He is capable of supporting his crew with a variety of different upgrades, but can also put out some impressive damage with his Boomer gun and summon new models into a fight. His summoning is limited to Piglets, which only show up after he kills another model with his Pig Prodder and uses its Come & Get It Trigger, but the Family Tree upgrade also allows Somer to summon Bayou Gremlins from other Bayou Gremlins. While Piglets and Bayou Gremlins tend to be a bit uncontrollable for most masters, Somer’s ability to manipulate (or just turn off) their Triggers makes them much easier for him to manage.
When combined with Somer’s Survival of the Fittest ability, which allows him to draw two cards whenever another Gremlin is killed near him, it’s not difficult to see why many Somer lists tend to favor quantity over quality. To level the playing field, Somer has the Bigger Hat Than You Action, which forces both him and his opponent to discard their entire hand. At first glance, this might seem crippling to Somer’s often weaker crew, but the Bayou Two Card ability allows Somer (and Bayou Gremlins) to cheat Fate with the top card of their Fate Deck. This isn’t exactly reliable, as Somer never quite knows just what the top card of his Fate Deck might be, but it does help to mitigate low flips without forcing Somer to play cards from his hand.
Somer’s upgrades tend towards providing additional support for his crew. The Pig Feed upgrade, for instance, calms down any pigs near him and keeps them from randomly charging off at the first thing they see, while Encouragement allows Somer to throw rocks at nearby Gremlins when they declare an action, granting them bonuses in exchange for a point of damage. This dual focus on both Gremlins and Pigs makes Somer a bridge between the sometimes disparate halves of the Gremlin faction, and a good master to lead just about any crew the Gremlins can field.
OPHELIA -
Even among the Gremlins, there is a chance that someone will appear who is a genius within her species. Where most of her family and friends are more concerned with the moonshine and the trinkets found in human settlements, Ophelia has grander schemes. She was in line to become the next Gremlin over-boss, the first girl Gremlin to hold the position in as long as Gremlins could remember, though, to be fair, most Gremlins don't know any history.
Seeing the Gremlins as little more than pests, the Ortega family began to exterminate them. Ophelia responded by doing more than just throwing waves of her own kin at them. She studied them and learned from her own tactical mistakes.
It was during one of these missions that she realized who the leader was in her enemy's group and saw that there was one thing she was lacking. It was an independent but identical realization to Som'er's; that it was the person with the big hat who gave the orders. The following raid was the most successful one yet, their entire goal being the theft of Perdita Ortega's wide-brimmed hat. Finally uniformed properly, Ophelia knew that it was only a matter of time until she could stop the invaders.
The Gremlins beneath her are some of the calmest and bravest in all of gremlinkind, trained to respond to her orders (though they sometimes get distracted). Whatever means she uses to gain and keep control over her family, it's been working, and if she were more centrally located she might be giving Som'er a run for most wanted gremlin in the Bayou.
TACTICA:
Ophelia LaCroix is the ranged combat master of the Gremlins. While the shortest of all the Gremlin masters at a measly Height 1, Ophelia makes up for her short stature with lots and lots of guns. Her Rough Riders are a dependable attack that come with a built in attack bonus, but once she starts hitting her Thinkin’ Luck Trigger, her damage skyrockets to truly impressive levels. Not many models can withstand a dedicated assault from Ophelia, and her “Shoot High, Boys” ability allows her and those around her to ignore Height 1 models when shooting into melee, ensuring that their bullets go into the enemy and not into her shorter allies.
While some Gremlins might be content with a pair of great pistols, Ophelia has gone the extra mile and stockpiled an entire arsenal of brutal weapons. Each of these is represented with a different upgrade, and all are designed to be useful in specific circumstances. My Threatenin’ Gun, for instance, does high damage and forces Ophelia’s victim to make a Horror Duel, while her Hooch Igniter only does the bare minimum of damage, but also spreads out a high number of blasts, ignores cover, and lights everything it touches on fire. The Jug Rocket doesn’t ignore cover, but does ignore Line of Sight, making it a strange but useful weapon for those pesky models hiding on the other sides of buildings or Dense forests. The downside to these weapons is that they’re discarded after Ophelia fires them, but her Reload action allows her to reattach these upgrades at the cost of an action point.
While Ophelia is mostly focused on just shooting her enemies dead, she does have a few other tricks up her sleeves. Her With my Eyes Closed action allows her to show off for her crew, granting her a bonus at the cost of allowing her opponent to choose the target of her wrath. Alternatively, she can use her Gremlin charms to draw her fellow Gremlins closer to her with the Ooo, A Girl! Action, and most of her gun upgrades also give her some sort of support action in addition to their unique attack. As one of the more deadly Gremlin masters, Ophelia is a good choice for anyone that just wants to shoot everything dead.
MAH TUCKET -
As the infamous leader of the Bayou Bushwhackers, Mah Tucket is not a Gremlin to be trifled with. She is wanted for untold Guild infractions involving Grand Theft, Assault & Battery, Assault & Battery followed by Grand Theft, Assault & Battery followed by Grand Theft then returning for additional Assault & Battery, and Assault & Battery Just For The Heck Of It.
She wields an enormous wooden spoon, notched by the heads of innumerate fools who thought they could handle one stout old Gremlin in a giant hat. Mah Tucket takes great pleasure in serving up a dose of reality to the unwary with her huge wyrdwood utensil. In her leather-lined apron, she bulls and hollers her way through the Bayou, swatting anyone dumb enough not to move out of her way.
Stout, durable and cantankerous, she is more than capable of standing toe-to-toe with the best of the big folks, and expects the same from her followers. Failure is simply not tolerated and she has a habit of barging to the front to show them how it’s done. And then yell at them about how it's done. And then show them again, just to make sure it really sinks in.
Formed in her image is The Little Lass, her diminutive and terrifying protégé complete with her own spoon, giant hat and fearsome aspect.
Never has cookware struck fear into the hearts of men as it does when wielded by Mah Tucket.
TACTICA:
In a faction of masters focused on support and shooting things, Mah Tucket stands out as the Gremlin Master that just wants to get into melee and beat people to death with a giant wooden spoon. The spoon shouldn’t be ignored, as it does impressive damage, and Mah has a number of Triggers to increase the damage and to push and her victim around. Pushing people around is one of Mah’s specialties: “Get Off My Land!” lets her push far up the board before the game even begins, while Let Mah Handle This and Horrible Hollerin’ both let her boss around other models during the game.
One of the more unique aspects of Mah Tucket is her Chores ability, which grants her entire crew a bonus based upon the suit of her initiative flip. This might allow her crew to ignore Severe terrain, given them a boost to their melee skills, or just let Mah draw a card whenever one of them is killed. Chores is random and thus can’t really be relied upon, but all the benefits are good for her crew, so it’s best to just embrace the randomness and roll with whatever comes up.
Mah’s Do It Right ability allows her to sacrifice a friendly Gremlin that missed a melee attack to give the rest of her crew a bonus to their melee attacks, which can be brutal when combined with Mah’s already high melee score. She does have some support for ranged attacks, but it comes on her Bounty upgrade, which grants other Gremlins a trigger that lets them draw a card after killing their target. Mah’s other upgrades increase her defensive or melee capabilities, and Know The Terrain stands out as a particularly amazing upgrade that allows Mah to charge while engaged and to ignore intervening terrain and models during a charge. Any battle plan that involves getting up close and personal with the enemy will benefit from Mah Tucket’s leadership, especially if her crew needs to be there before the enemy shows up.
ULIX -
Generally regarded to be slipperier than a greased rattlesnake, Ulix is far from the common or garden Bayou Gremlin. He is master of hogs and all things hoggish, and spends much of his time tending his piggy charges deep within the swamp, quite content with his lot.
Ulix understands pigs better than any gremlin alive, and gremlins from across the Bayou seek out his help on any pig-related issues (of which Gremlins have plenty).
One could be forgiven for overlooking this rough-looking Bayou denizen with a game leg, laden down with bow, traps, hog-rope and an assortment of other tools of his trade, but where Ulix really excels is in his uncommon cunning. He possesses a mind sharper than Lady Justice’s greatsword and just as quick, and regularly runs rings around unwelcome intruders and other unsavory individuals through deception, misdirection and plain old barefaced lies.
This skullduggery is further complimented by the conception that Gremlins are, by and large, fairly stupid creatures. Ulix would not seek to refute this claim nor has he been above exploiting it – his quick wit and savvy have served him extremely well in trading with surrounding villages, especially with Cluck Slump the poultry farmer whom Ulix has, on at least two occasions, sold him his own legs.
Ulix’s constant companion is his faithful hog hound, Penelope. They make a formidable pair and are more than capable of holding their own against the worst Malifaux has to offer.
TACTICA:
Ulix is the Gremlin master who has chosen to focus the entirety of his attention upon supporting the faction’s wide selection of pigs. His Pork Whisper’n ability keeps the pigs around him under control, , and his Hitch A Ride ability allows him to ride his pigs around the battlefield, allowing Ulix to save his AP for things other than walking. Because of his focus on these plump swine, Ulix always wants to have at least a handful of pigs in any crew he leads (and often, the more pigs he brings, the stronger his crew becomes).
Once Ulix is surrounded by a herd of hogs, his Wall of Pork trigger makes him very difficult to hit with any sort of attack. His Slop ‘em Up attack doesn’t deal much damage, but it does provide a bonus for any pigs attacking his target later in the turn. Alternatively, he can just use his Prod action to make a nearby pig attack on his turn, or just use his Feeding Frenzy trigger to let a nearby pig attack his target immediately after Ulix has slopped them up. Should his pets become damaged, Ulix can provide them with some great healing in the form of his Proper Care action, though this does damage Ulix a bit, and thus should be used sparingly.
Not surprisingly, Ulix’s upgrades all revolve around the proper care and feeding of pigs. His Pig Sling allows him to throw the smaller pigs at his enemies, while his Huntin’ Bow provides a more traditional ranged weapon…that he can also use to shoot his own pigs in the rear, causing them to stampede forward towards his enemies. A special mention should be made of the Husbandry upgrade, which allows Ulix to summon small Piglets from the larger pigs, or to transform three friendly scheme markers into a mighty War Pig! As can be expected, Ulix is a good master for anyone who enjoys pigs and pig-related violence.
WONG -
Undoubtedly one of the most eccentric residents on the Bayou, Wong’s ornate blue robes and pointy hat are a sight rarely forgotten. With drooping moustaches held in place by the miracle of spirit gum, Wong is a religious subscriber to the school of theatrics and will indulge in all manner of indecipherable behavior to reinforce his aura of Eastern mysticism.
However, one would be foolish to assume that Wong is mere smoke and mirrors. The Iron Fan of Tsu Li is a formidable weapon in its own right, and the ornate valise he carries with him houses a trinity of spectral entities as powerful as they are malevolent. This Three Demon Bag is the real source of Wong’s power and, considering Wong’s animosity for the Ten Thunders clan, it is perhaps a blessing for them that he has not yet learned the extent of its potency.
With theatrical firework displays, devastating lightning jumps and occasionally turning bystanders into piglets, there’s rarely a dull moment around Wong – a spectacle that has become all the more magnificent now under the influence of his Lovely Assistant.
Wong's shows are an occasion for all in the Bayou, whether they have gathered to be entertained or are simply forced to flee the raging inferno.
He surrounds himself with acolytes as idiosyncratic as he is, such as his explosive Lightning Bugs, which makes being in the Gremlin’s company about as volatile as a chain-smoker in a fireworks factory.
TACTICA:
Wong is the only Gremlin spellcaster, and his propensity for attacks that damage a wide area make him an ideal master or when you expect to be facing a swarm of weaker enemies. His Lightning Jump puts out decent damage, but between its blasts and its secondary pulse damage, Wong tends to damage multiple enemies with each attack. The Fzzzzap! and Lightning Storm Triggers only serve to increase Lightning Jump’s damage potential, and his Explosive Solutions upgrade adds equally useful Triggers for the remaining two suits. Boom is another useful action, both because it damages enemies around Wong, and because he can burn up scheme markers (friendly or enemy) to increase the size of the explosion.
Not all of Wong’s magic is offensive, however, as his Glowy ability allows him to choose a single model in his crew, making its attacks ignore Armor, Hard to Kill, and Incorporeal. This can be further enhanced with Wong’s Ooo, Glowy upgrade, which further augments the chosen model by granting it increased damage and regeneration. Even an otherwise mediocre model can be made amazing with a bit of Wong’s glowy magic. Wong can debilitate as well as buff with his Three Demon Bag upgrade, which grants him the amusing chance of transforming enemy models into piglets.
Wong’s What Goes Up… action makes him an amazing scheme runner. Because the scheme marker is removed from the board and then placed back down at the end of the turn, Wong can drop a scheme marker, kick it up into space, and then drop a second scheme marker before the first one falls back down, essentially letting him to drop multiple scheme markers in the same small area (or even right on top of each other). Plus, the scheme marker causes a small explosion when it lands, potentially damaging any annoying enemies (or unlucky friends) that happen to be standing nearby. If the situation calls for collateral damage on a massive scale, then Wong’s the right Gremlin for the job.
THE BREWMASTER -
Gremlin palettes are not very refined. They will eat just about anything they can get their grubby paws on, but they still know good 'shine from bad. Where once it was Som'er Teeth who had the best stills in the area, a new face has appeared with new varieties for them to try. Known only as the Brewmaster, this Gremlin came from over the mountains with a small crew of loyal, alcohol-dependent Gremlins calling themselves the 'Tri-Chi.'
True to his name, the Brewmaster has several different varieties of moonshine, as well as some more refined variations that even humans might recognize as distant cousins to rum, gin, and beer. For the Gremlins, these new concoctions are tantalizing and alluring, distracting them from their current tasks whenever his distinctive silhouette appears on the horizon. It is nearly impossible for any other Gremlin leader to oppose him, since their minions are as likely to fight for him as against him, but that is of little matter since he does not appear to be interested in taking over the Bayou.
Many have tried to sneak into the ranks of the Tri-Chi, but the Brewmaster has strict rules for initiation which most of the Bayou Gremlins cannot understand, and these interlopers are soon routed. In addition to being Tri-Chi, the gremlins that follow the Brewmaster are masters of Drunken Gremlin Kung Fu, a swaggering style of fighting that appears to be little more than boozy missteps across the floor, but in reality tends to send an opponent reeling in broken bones and bloody noses.
TACTICA:
The Brewmaster is unique among the Gremlin and Ten Thunders factions, for while many of their masters focus upon putting out high amounts of damage or supporting their crew, the Brewmaster prefers to lock down the opponent’s crew by getting them incredibly drunk. This strategy revolves around the Drinking Contest action, which forces enemies around the Brewmaster to take a Willpower duel whenever they declare an action; if they fail, they instead take a drink, healing and poisoning them instead of whatever they had originally intended to do.
Most of the Brewmaster’s attacks are resisted by Willpower, and his high casting value makes him quite good at convincing his enemies to do whatever the Brewmaster wishes (which usually involves drinking something and becoming poisoned). His Intoxication ability lowers the Willpower of nearby enemies by the value of their Poison Condition, further stacking things in the Brewmaster’s favor. As can be expected, the Brewmaster’s crews tend to have at least a minor focus on poison, though they use the Condition more as a debuff mechanic than as a means of damaging his enemies.
In addition to Poison, the Brewmaster can also hand out the incredibly deliberating Swill Condition, which forces a negative fate modifier on every duel and flip the target makes for the rest of the turn. His upgrades provide additional debuff actions, such as the Hold their Hair Back upgrade, which allows the Brewmaster to purge an enemy’s Poison condition, paralyzing it in the process. The Brewmaster may not be very good at killing things, but he excels at turning an enemy crew into a bunch of drunken, stumbling idiots.
ZORAIDA -
Desperation drives men and women from the relative safety of the City into the Bayou, in search of the elusive swamp hag, Zoraida. Those individuals who do not fall prey to gremlins or the other creatures eventually reach her demesne. The impossibly old woman they encounter inside the rickety shack knows their names and why they have come. Her bargain is always a game of cards for whatever information they seek. They win, she answers their questions. They lose and she collects the unique ante she has demanded. Most never see the City’s lights again.
This is the Zoraida most residents of Malifaux know, the hag with second sight. The true Zoraida who hides behind this persona is a different entity. Centuries old, Zoraida is not truly a Neverborn, but is instead a human who traversed the in-between and reached Malifaux long before the first opening of the Great Breach. Over time she became one of the Neverborn. She knows more about the weaving's of fate and where to pluck at its threads than any other creature in Malifaux.
Zoraida interweaves her own designs into fate’s plan, masterfully blending her intentions with that of the cosmic will. She manipulates people and events slowly, maneuvering hundreds of disparate elements together to achieve her desired results. To Zoraida it is an art form, she is spinning an ever moving dance of beauty into reality... even if only she can appreciate it.
TACTICA:
Zoraida can be played in both the Neverborn and Gremlin Factions. She primarily focuses on manipulating other models with the Obey Action and applying adverse Conditions to enemy models. Zoraida has a broad playstyle which allows her to work well with almost any model and, on top of that, she can hire any model with a Willpower of four or less, regardless of Faction. This gives her one of the largest selections of models to hire game.
During the game, Zoraida’s main Action is generally going to be Obey. Obey allows her to force another model to take an Action. While Obey can be used on enemies, it is primarily used on friendly models, so it is a good idea to bring along a heavy hitter who will be a good target for Obey. Zoraida can also summon a Voodoo Doll and link it to an enemy model. Once this is done, any Conditions the Voodoo Doll suffers are also suffered by the enemy model, so Zoraida is happy to sit back put the fire to its feet!
Zoraida’s Upgrades add all sorts of options such as incredible mobility with Animal Shape, card manipulation with Crystal Ball, and all sorts of fun new Conditions to apply to the Voodoo Doll with Hex Bag. Due to her large hiring pool and open playstyle, Zoraida is a magnificent generalist, able to adapt to any opponent, table, or strategy that you can throw at her.