The Faculty: Troupe Spotlight

Have you ever tried combining all the very best hero-esque characters that support their Commonwealth sub-factions (e.g. Hoff, Mama Gimble, Baron Von Fancyhat) into one super-powered troupe?

Well, it doesn't perform as well as it sounds, with very little other Fauns, Gnomes, or Humans to support, the masters of their respective troupes will often fail to perform. So why am I suggesting that you do exactly that with our latest Gnome release?

‘The Faculty’ Ability

The initial concept with The Faculty's box was pretty straightforward. Three hero-esque characters that could each support their own archetype, new or existing, for a little more variety in some of the less common troupes. However, one night, possibly in some teacake-induced coma/madness, I wanted to see if I could squeeze a fourth archetype into this box of three characters. Hence, 'The Faculty' as an ability was born, and as implied above, it solves the support-issue by simply giving all the members of The Faculty each other’s respective keywords.

What ‘The Faculty’ Means

If you've read the previous character spotlight articles on these three academics, everything within those is now relevant to the other members of the faculty, so long as they're all taken in the same troupe at the start of the game. Now Boffinsworth can suffer damage instead of Polly, Polly can let Flinders see his opponent’s hand in Melee, and Flinders could let Boffinsworth redraw an Arcane hand.

But is that it? Absolutely not, there's a whole heap of additional synergies built into these studious gnomes both within and outside the box, and the possibilities with them are huge.

‘Wily Old Weasel’ and ‘Overclock’

If we were to first turn to Old Polly, what strange options does she offer her faculty friends? Well, 'Prognostication' lets them see enemy Melee hands, but given they won't want to be in Melee too much, its only use is defensive.

“Being a rogue is fun, Mister Memphis.”

Where it does start to get interesting though is the options afforded by 'Wily Old Weasel'. Now that Flinders and Boffinsworth are Rogues, they can take advantage of this cheaper Arcane action. Flinders utilises it quite simply: fire his gun for (1) energy instead of (2). This allows him to fire then 'Overclock', which can allow him to do surprisingly massive damage during his activation.

Wait, how does 'Overclock' let Flinders do more damage? Isn't it (2) cost abilities on machines only? Well look at this: Old Polly seems to be a machine now AND has a (2) energy ability which deals damage. So if Flinders and Boffinsworth are around, Old Polly can stay near enemies, allow Flinders to shoot for cheap with the 'Wily Old Weasel', then get an attack herself via Flinders.

‘Wily Old Weasel’ and ‘Explorers Handbook’

'Wily Old Weasel' isn't just for Flinders, though. Boffinsworth himself has an unfortunately costed ability, which costs 1 energy too much to cast off his base energy. Now if only he somehow got the rogue keyword so that Old Polly could use 'Wily Old...’ oh wait! (3) energy a bit too much? How about Boffinsworth uses 'Wily Old Weasel' and his own ‘Explorers Handbook’ to heal a wounded friendly animal for... (0) energy?

Rogue Synergies

“Yeah, alright, I’ll help. I won’t even pick your pocket.”

So Old Polly can make the other faculty members use their abilities for cheaper, how about more effectively? Well, there's nothing on her card for that, but there is another option. Now that every member of The Faculty has gained the Rogue keyword, they gain access to any other Rogue synergies. Such as Muridae’s ‘Honour Amongst Thieves’. As all members of The Faculty have an Arcane ability, +1 Arcane is incredibly useful for all of them, which they now unlock via Mridae with their new Roguish nature.

Boffinsworth as an Animal

Unlike the other members of The Faculty, Boffinsworth does not have the keyword of the type of character he supports, so being alongside the other members of The Faculty is the only way he will become an Animal himself. Why is this important? It provides some immediate synergies straight off the bat.

His signature, for example, works based on nearby friendly Animals. Well, now he’s a nearby friendly Animal, so one more damage reduction courtesy of Flinders and Old Polly. He can also use the 'Explorers Handbook' on himself, allowing him a slightly more efficient self-heal. These are both quite corner case examples, though, so what about some of the synergies he'll be actively using?

Boffinsworth as Healer and Protector

For the most part, Boffinsworth will still operate exactly as you'd expect; he is the trusty healer of the group after all. The main difference is that some of the Animal synergies now unlock slightly more efficient healing for fellow members of The Faculty with their fancy new Animal keyword. So (1) energy heals on Flinders and Polly are up for grabs when they're wounded.

This is more useful on Old Polly, as she will usually be near the front in the thick of combat, take wounds and damage which Boffinsworth will be able to heal lickety-split. If he's feeling brave enough, he can also venture up the board a little, staying close to Old Polly and using 'Conservation' to give her a little extra toughness, potentially saving her life now and again. Or better yet, 'Symbiosis'. Whether by targeting a wounded Old Polly or getting a 'Wily Old Weasel' discount, Boffinsworth can chuck protection on her to prevent the damage in the first place.

‘Symbiosis’ Has a Flaw

'Symbiosis' has one pretty large flaw. If you activate Boffinsworth and use all his energy for that early on, you have no energy left to use 'Healing', leaving you potentially without a healer for an entire turn. Additionally, if someone else has used Old Polly's 'Wily Old Weasel' already, Boffinsworth will have to rely on targeting someone already wounded, which, depending on how your opponent plays, might mean you can never rely on slightly wounded models. This would be amazing if you could use 'Symbiosis' and also still use 'Healing' as well as slightly wounding friends to reliably trigger 'Explorer's Handbook'. A character who could do these things would be a great right-hand man (/gnome/machine) for Boffinsworth, surely…?

Flinders’ ‘Overclock’

“Careful, dad!”

With that in mind, it's time to talk about Flinders Memphis and 'Overclock'. For (1) of Flinders Energy and a Wd on the target, Flinders can force friendly Machines to take a (2) Energy action. Due to how Flinders ordinarily hands out the Machine keyword, this will often be used for reloading, but in The Faculty, it offers some entirely new options.

As hinted at above, Boffinsworth's 'Healing' is a (2) energy ability, and so is ripe for use with 'Overclock'. This means Boffinsworth can activate early, use 'Symbyosis' or 'Healing' and still have an option for using 'Healing' again later in the turn! The Wd from 'Overclock', whilst normally a negative, can also prove to be a positive in Faculty lists. Stick a single Wd on Polly with 'Overclock' to use 'Petrifying Gaze', now she can be targeted by Boffinsworth's 'Symbyosis' for 1 Energy less since she is now a wounded Animal.

Similarly, this is also the case for 'Have You Tried Turning it Off and On Again?'. Reap the benefits of the Arcane hand reset, then use the negative of the Wd as a positive by getting Boffinsworth to heal or protect the wounded character even more easily now.

Flinders and Machines

With Arcane 4, Old Polly and Boffinsworth are usually pretty reliable, but it’s always handy for Flinders to turn them into Machines and make them just that little bit more reliable. For Old Polly, the combination of this Arcane hand rest and 'Overclock' can be extremely deadly. Because of 'Cockatrice Companion', she is best suited to dealing with enemies that have 0 energy remaining. Thanks to 'Overclock', Flinders can make Old Polly 'Petrifying Gaze' someone before she's even activated. Then, when she does activate, she can stroll into melee and do a bunch of melee damage, or just 'Petrifying Gaze' again, gaining the bonus damage thanks to Flinders helping her drain energy earlier in the turn.

I don't think I've covered even half the options available to this geriatric gang. With so many keywords and interlocking abilities, I kept discovering more and more each time I played them. So for the rest, you'll just have to go out yourself and experiment like any good professor would!