Hello again! We’ve already gone over Malifaux’s Fourth Edition generally and the gameplay changes, but I know you nerds all love to gush over the lore and story. So, slaves as I am to your basest desires, let’s talk about that stuff.
A Little Background
Before we dive into this, let’s go over what has gone before. This will feature some significant spoilers for the Malifaux 3e storyline, but come on – this stuff is a year old at this point.
In Shifting Loyalties, the third book of Malifaux’s Second Edition, the Governor-General of the Guild made his play for power. He tried to ascend as a Tyrant, but his ritual – sabotaged by Lucas McCabe, at the behest of the Ten Thunders – went wrong. At the same time, the bound Tyrant Cherufe, sensing the coming apotheosis, tried to “hitch a ride” on the Governor-General’s ascension to escape his prison. Both of them failed, and they were combined in the form of the Burning Man: a horrific, immolated specter that tore between dimensions, leaving madness and mutation in its wake.
As the Burning Man shifted between Malifaux and Earth, provoking chaos on one side of the Breach and all-out war on the other, forces mundane and magical reeled in confusion. Some Masters found themselves touched by the Burning Man’s infectious madness, while others sought a way to stop him. The Guild sent a new Governor-General to maintain control, but he was fighting a losing battle, especially as Malifaux’s other factions were growing restive; Misaki Katanaka had overthrown her father as Oyabun of the Ten Thunders (and was dealing with an impending invasion by the Kimon, an army of oni from Beyond), Kaeris and Toni Ironsides were engaged in a near-civil war for control of the Arcanists, and Gretchen Janus of the Explorer’s Society was sending out her minions on inscrutable missions of her own.
As the Burning Man returned to Malifaux for the first time in a long time, ancient denizens of the wild like Kastore and the Aua returned reluctantly from their exile. Some of these were drawn by the Burning Man’s passing, but others had their own agendas. Kastore was awakened by his niece, Nekima, the Nephilim Queen. Nekima deposed her sister Lilith with the help of the ancient Fae queen Titania, but Malifaux’s wilds aren’t big enough for two Queens; Titania and Nekima are on the verge of a civil war for control of the Neverborn.
Meanwhile, it turned out Gretchen Janus had been more productive than anyone realized. She found a machine built by the Tyrant Obliteration (before he was bound in his prison of nothingness), and planned to use it to scatter the Burning Man’s essence. To do so required the expertise of the Aua as well as the Explorer’s Society’s own genius Maxine Agassiz, as well as the magical might of Damian Ravencroft and Tara and their Tyrant patrons, Witness and Obliteration. And Leveticus, ever a pawn of Fate, found himself drawn to the site as well.
The machine worked, despite the Burning Man’s attempt to stop it. He was not destroyed – such a thing can’t be done – but he was subdued and scattered, no longer able to tear the fabric of reality. And Malifaux reels in the aftermath of his passing.
Lines in the Sand
A theme in fourth edition is “where will you stand?” Malifaux, a game with lots of dual-faction models and cross-faction keyword hires, has always enabled fence-sitters and the pathologically indecisive, but not any longer. Every master has chosen, or been forced, to pick a side. New dangers are rising, and to face them the factions must be united. So who’s planted their flag where?
Jack Daw
Jackie Jackie Jack Daw, he of the creepy children’s nursery rhymes, has become a bit more scrutable ever since his “team-up” with Kirai. He helped her conduct the ritual to rescue Francis (you know, her dead boyfriend from her tragic backstory) from the afterlife. But at the last moment, he took over the ritual, and used the soul funnel Kirai had opened up to rescue his own spirit and put it back in his body. Sucks for Francis, but Jack’s motives are starting to come into focus. He is a true Resurrectionist now, spirit and flesh, and is no longer an Outcast.
Yan Lo
The Paths between worlds are not in the best shape. The Burning Man’s passage fractured them and set them aflame, and nobody seems to care but Yan Lo. Certainly not Misaki – she is too focused on her political machinations, not to mention the rising Kimon threat. So Yan Lo has cut ties with his ungrateful descendants and abandoned the Ten Thunders, instead focusing on the Resurrectionists whose metaphysical concerns he finds simpatico with his own.
Lucius Mattheson
Manipulating people is what Lucius does. It’s what he’s all about. Unfortunately, the Neverborn are growing less manipulable, as the uneasy alliance between Nekima and Titania is tilting into all-out war. Lucius does not want to be forced to take a side in that particular brawl, so he’s bowed out of their struggles and is going full-time at his day job: being the best dang Governor-General’s secretary he can be. Besides, humans are too much fun to play with. So he’s all about the Guild and has hung up his purple hat (at least for now).
Charles Hoffman
Hoffman owed a great debt to Viktor Ramos for saving his brother’s life, or so he thought. But Ramos is in prison, and it turns out Ryle wasn’t alive anyways. So Hoffman stuck around long enough to see Ramos’s safehouses secured, and then formally quit his informal work for the Arcanists. The Guild hired him, brought him to Malifaux, and gave him a job and a purpose, so he’s sticking with them, even if he is still sympathetic to the boys in blue.
Zoraida
Zoraida was only ever Neverborn by inclination – she was born human, after all, even if she’d rather not have anything to do with them. She has no interest whatsoever in the brewing Nephilim-on-Fae violence, and sees it as none of her business, especially as Titania is not particularly inclined to see Zoraida as a legitimate ally. The swamp folk, though, there’s something simple and welcoming about them. So Zoraida has retired to the Bayou to spin her schemes and examine Fate’s strings, content to let the Neverborn figure things out by themselves.
Zipp
Zipp wants one thing: adventure! And Wyrd wants one thing: to make me, personally, sad! And so their goals aligned, and Zipp has decided to leave the Bayou. It’s a fun place, where only really cool players hang out, but it’s no place to park an airship. Having teamed up with Parker Barrows for a while, Zipp has seen just enough of the world to make him want to see more. So he’s off on his own, exploring and swashbuckling and not even writing a card home. He’s all Outcast now, and we definitely don’t miss him in the Bayou. Not at all.
Cornelius Basse
Here’s an odd one. Basse joined up with the Guild, but not because he particularly liked them – he just needed powerful protection from his Earthside enemies. And he was on the pay of the Explorer’s Society, but not because he particularly liked them – he just needed to get out from under the thumb of the Guild. Neither of these masters is particularly sympathetic, though, and things eventually had to come to a head. When the Guild ordered him to fire on striking workers, he had had enough and quit on the spot. Toni Ironsides saved him from Guild retribution, so now he’s working for the Arcanists, having left both of his old factions behind.
Kastore
Kastore was technically a Resurrectionist, since he was a reanimated dead thing, sort of, but he was never really interested in their pitch. Besides, his niece Nekima is really in it now, having all but declared war on the Queen of the Fae. She’s going to need all the help she can get. So Kastore is fully dedicated to the Neverborn now. Not sure if the Ressers even notice that he’s gone.
Marcus
Marcus started off blue, but he’s always had a touch of the wild to him. The closer he grew to Malifaux’s wildlife, the more sympathy he felt for the land’s original inhabitants. The old Neverborn tolerated him, but in Titania, he found a kindred spirit. Both of them have a deep connection to the land, and both of them call on ancient powers. Marcus, now calling himself Witherpeak, has forsworn the Arcanists and become purely Neverborn as he continues his evolution.
Mei Feng
Mei Feng, like Basse, served two masters but was never really loyal to either. Her loyalty is to her beloved Zhongguo, which languishes under the heel of a tyrant. Mei Feng is the breaker of chains and the champion of the people, and she always sought to turn her Foundry to that cause. She has had her disagreements with Misaki – the two have come to blows, in fact – but the Oyabun recognizes how valuable Mei Feng is and has allowed her to use the Foundry to supply the revolution at home. Mei Feng no longer works for the Arcanists, focusing all of her efforts on her homeland, but she still serves Misaki and the Thunders in recognition for their help.
Tiri
Gretchen Janus helped Tiri put an end to a dire threat, and the Aua haven’t forgotten that. The Aua took a huge risk in coming to Janus’s aid, and now they are both dependent on her and in a position of leverage. Their technology is useful to the Society, after all. They have decided to come into the fold, trading away their Outcast status for a more formal position with the Society – but the alliance is uneasy, as the Aua are not yet ready to show themselves to the humans at large.
Lucas McCabe
Another perennial faction-hopper, Lucas left the Guild at the end of second edition (to be fair, he was somewhat persona non grata after he helped cause the greatest catastrophe in modern Malifaux history). He stayed in the pay of the Ten Thunders, but that relationship had rapidly diminishing returns. The Explorer’s Society pays even better than the Thunders did, but more importantly, their goals align with McCabe’s: plumbing the depths of Malifaux and carrying off its coolest old doodads and gizmos. So he’s still doing what he’s always done, but at least, he’s doing it wearing just one hat.
And Some Newcomers!
As a result of all of this consolidation, every faction has dropped from 9 active keywords to 8, with a few down at 7. The Arcanists and Ten Thunders are likely to get new keywords in their own time, but for now, we have two new arrivals: the Neverborn Banished and the Outcast Ampersand keywords. So who are these two?
Ampersand
Out in the Badlands, there’s a town where no one lives. Oh, there are inhabitants, all right, but they’re… odd. Constructs of all sorts wind up in Ampersand: some fleeing abusive masters, some are running one step ahead of the law, and others are just following their curiosity. The art of making thinking, Soulstone-powered Constructs was one of the greatest innovations of Malifaux, and Ampersand is “living” proof of the versatility of that art. The crew leader here is the Clockwork Queen, and I have to say I am loving the vibe here – the little potbot with the knife and fork is an instant standout.
Banished
The humans aren’t trying to free all of Malifaux’s trapped Tyrants, but things keep working out that way. The Tyrant Meridion is imprisoned within Malifaux’s ley line network, and her mortal servants – the remains of Malifaux’s ancient Sirens – followed her into underwater exile. The energies released by Obliteration’s machine unpicked the lock on their aquatic prison, and a few of them have managed to escape. The big jellyfish-looking guy there is the Silken King, and he and his courtiers have emerged to fight for their people. Is there a connection between these folks and the Gibbering Hordes of The Other Side? I guess we’ll see, won’t we?
Wrapping Up
That’s all for today, and that’s covered the majority of the changes. From here, I think I’ll start discussing crews faction-by-faction – what’s changed, what’s the same, and what to look out for. See you on the other side of the Breach!
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