headcase bob wrote:I agree. I think they left it open on purpose for each faction to be as noble or villainous as you want. Desperation brings out the best and the worst in people. Especially here on the edge
When I was writing/editing the fluff for the rulebook and for Maelstrom's Edge in general, giving players that flexibility in how they play was one of my main motivations. When I collect, paint and play with an army in a wargame, one of the biggest draws for me is being able to shape the narrative of my force, to make the models in my collection feel like a unique group of characters, special to me. I love coming to a tournament and seeing a bunch of armies of a faction that have all been interpreted in a different way, with custom leaders and iconography. It also makes blue-on-blue battles between the same faction much more interesting!
So whilst we have tried to craft compelling core characters, factions and events in our 'canon' stories, we hope that people will be inspired to make their own interpretations of the factions that call to them. The multipart plastic models are obviously really great to help that - I've already starting converting characters out of the
Medge test sprues I've got.
In the novels we chose a group of Karists and a main character that are debating what their faith means because that conflict of motivations makes for (hopefully!) a more interesting character arc and a better introduction to the faction, but there are plenty of other possible interpretations to the Karist faith that I hope I get to see on the tabletop - I'd love to see BobtheInquisitor’s fanatical Ultra Orthodox Karists face off against Zafah's more humanitarian group - the possibilities for different conversions and paint jobs would be awesome!