First Thoughts - Through The Breach

I finally ran my first game of Through The Breach tonight and I wanted to share my thoughts on it.

First up I had a strange realisation as I was getting to run the game; this is probably the first completely new RPG I've tried in years.  Every other "new" RPG I've played in at least the last 10 years has more or less been a variation or derivative of D20 Dungeons & Dragons, it was really odd to suddenly find myself doing something completely fresh and new.

For those of you not familiar with the game Through The Breach is the RPG set in the world of Malifaux.  Malifaux has a great backdrop and really well developed art and background so it was super-easy for my players to understand and visualise the world around them.

The big adjustment for gamers who have experience with traditional RPGs is that in Through The Breach none of the Fatemaster's (that's the person running the game) actions outcomes are random.  Basically everything an NPC does has a set value assigned to it and the players actively oppose all the actions of Fatemaster controlled characters.  I found this to be an outstanding mechanic because it meant that every player was actively involved in every action as opposed to sometimes sitting back while the Fatemaster pushed the action.

The one downside is that as new players I didn't feel the game was immediately and automatically intuitive.  There were a couple of occasions where I wasn't 100% sure we were using skills and making flips correctly but I'll figure that out before our next game.  I felt like a few summary charts or cards could have made things a bit simpler but maybe that's what the Fatemaster's Kit is for (I haven't picked that up yet).

I won't go into the details of our adventure as it is part of the ongoing Nythera worldwide event and other groups will still be playing through this adventure for a few more days and I'd hate to spoil anything.

Overall I really enjoyed the game and will definitely play it again.

-Jay