Through the Breach

Through the Breach is Wyrd Games' roleplaying game set in Malifaux, the world of its miniatures game: a magical city on the far side of a dimensional rift, in an alternate early 1900s of steam power, clockwork constructs, Soulstones, necromancers and gunslingers. It uses a Fate Deck of cards instead of dice, and each player builds a personal Twist Deck to "Cheat Fate." It suits groups who want dark, character-driven steampunk horror with a cryptic destiny for every character and a big, detailed setting to dig into.

It is not for tables that want a light, quick game or a hopeful tone. The Second Edition Core Rules run to 420 pages, character creation takes a session, and the setting is grim, violent and full of factions from the miniatures line.

What the game is

In Malifaux's history, a Breach to another world opened in 1787, collapsed, and was forced open again by the Guild of Mercantilers in 1897. The prize is Soulstones, magical gems that power spells, constructs and industry back on Earth. Malifaux City is a crowded boomtown under Guild law, surrounded by the Bayou, the Badlands' frontier mining towns, quarantine zones of the walking dead, and ancient ruins. Arcanists and the Miners and Steamfitters Union fight the Guild; Resurrectionists raise the dead; the native Neverborn want humanity gone; the Ten Thunders run crime.

The players are Fated: people who have glimpsed fragments of their own futures and can change them. Wyrd's own pitch on its Through the Breach page is "Occult horror. Black comedy. Industrial grit. Loaded pistols."

Publication history and editions

Wyrd funded Through the Breach on Kickstarter from November 2012 to January 2013, raising about $244,000 from more than 1,500 backers. The first edition (2014) was split into a Fated Almanac for players and a Fatemaster's Almanac. The Second Edition Core Rules (2017) combined them into one 420-page book that is backwards compatible with first-edition supplements and adventures. Wyrd released a free Core Rules update in 2025 that smooths play and adds content, and it keeps character sheets and free "Augments" on its resources hub.

What you need to play

You need the Core Rules and a Fate Deck: Wyrd's own deck or a standard 54-card deck with two Jokers, with suits mapped to Malifaux's Rams, Crows, Masks and Tomes. Each player also needs 13 cards to build a personal Twist Deck. When checked on October 31, 2026, the Core Rules PDF listed at $25 on DriveThruRPG (on sale at $17.25); the hardcover has sold for about $60. A free preview covers the introduction and setting history.

Expansions and adventures

Wyrd's current expansions include Into the Steam (the Arcanists, the Union and inventions), From Shadows (the Ten Thunders) and Onward! (exploration). Earlier books such as Into the Bayou and Under Quarantine still work with Second Edition. Penny Dreadful adventures provide ready-to-run campaigns and collected one-shots, including the In Defense of Innocence frontier-town campaign, Fire in the Sky on Earth and the Vile Volume horror collection, and shorter digital one-shots are sold on DriveThruRPG for convention and one-night play.

Core rules and play structure

Every test is a duel. You flip the top card of the Fate Deck, add the relevant Aspect and Skill, and compare the total with a target number set by the Fatemaster, from Easy up to near-impossible. Characters have eight Aspects (Might, Grace, Speed and Resilience for the body, Charm, Cunning, Intellect and Tenacity for the mind) and dozens of Skills.

The twist is your Control Hand. Players draw cards from their personal Twist Deck and can play one to replace a flipped card, Cheating Fate when it matters. You cannot cheat when the Black Joker is flipped, and suits matter: many actions and abilities need a particular suit to unlock their special effects. The Red Joker is the best card in the deck. Combat uses the same duels with actions, damage and critical effects; the book also covers magic through Grimoires and Soulstones, pneumatic limbs and gear, and a bestiary.

Characters and advancement

Character creation is done with the Crossroads Tarot: you deal cards that set your character's Station, past, talents and Aspects, and the Fatemaster privately writes a cryptic Destiny for you. You choose one of fourteen basic Pursuits as your current calling. Pursuits can change between sessions as the campaign moves on, so a gunslinger can find faith or a doctor can turn to something worse. Your Twist Deck is built from your Tarot: thirteen cards across four suits, weighted toward your defining suit.

Signature mechanics

• Cheating Fate. Cards in hand let players decide which moments they must win, at the cost of losing those cards for later.
• The Twist Deck. Each character's personal deck, weighted by suit, reflects who they are and what they are good at.
• Destinies. The Fatemaster's cryptic destiny lines give every character a long-term mystery and give the Fatemaster built-in plot hooks.
• Flexible Pursuits. Characters change callings over time and advance through the Pursuit they followed that session.
• Spotlight sessions. The book suggests focusing each session on a different Fated, letting goals and destinies collide in turn.

What play feels like

A Through the Breach job often starts small, such as a missing person, a delivery or a dockside favor, then snowballs into a Guild investigation, a Resurrectionist's lab or a deal with something wearing a familiar face. Sessions mix investigation, social maneuvering, gunfights and magic, with black comedy from Gremlins and the Bayou. The Control Hand makes every key flip a small decision, and the Destinies give the table an ongoing feeling that fate is closing in.

Running the game

The Fatemaster role is demanding. The setting is big and dense with factions from the miniatures game, NPC and monster stats use their own format, and you need to weave each character's secret Destiny into the story. Penny Dreadful adventures reduce prep considerably. New Fatemasters should start with a one-shot or the sample adventure before planning a campaign.

Campaign fit

The game is built for campaigns: Destinies pay off over many sessions, Pursuits change as characters grow, and the expansions and Penny Dreadful campaigns supply long arcs. The digital one-shots and Wyrd's one-shot collections also make it workable for convention and single-session play once someone has learned the rules.

Reception

The first-edition Kickstarter was one of the larger RPG campaigns of its time. Reviews of the Second Edition, such as Nerds on Earth (2017), praised the card-based, dice-free system, the session-based Pursuits and the well-developed Malifaux lore, and noted that ordinary playing cards work in place of Wyrd's decks. When checked on October 31, 2026, the Core Rules PDF averaged 4.9 stars on DriveThruRPG from 13 ratings and 5 written reviews. The game has a loyal but small community, and Wyrd still publishes for it. No awards were found.

Where it is strongest

• Card-based resolution with real choices through Cheating Fate and personal Twist Decks
• Tarot character creation and secret Destinies that create strong personal stories
• A rich, dark steampunk setting of Soulstones, constructs, factions and frontier towns
• Flexible Pursuits that let characters change as the campaign does
• Active support, a 2025 rules update and ready-made Penny Dreadful adventures

Where it can frustrate groups

• A 420-page book with many subsystems, tables and Skills to learn
• Slow character creation that is best done as a group session
• The Fatemaster carries a heavy load in setting knowledge and Destiny-weaving
• The setting assumes familiarity with Malifaux factions, which can overwhelm newcomers
• Grim tone and frequent body horror do not suit every table

Content and safety notes

Expect occult and body horror, necromancy and the walking dead, violence and gunfights, mutilation, monstrous creatures, oppressive authority and cults, along with dark humor. Use safety tools and agree on limits before play, especially for Resurrectionist or Neverborn plots.

Best starting path

Read the free preview, then get the Through the Breach Core Rules and download the 2025 update and character sheets from Wyrd's site. Build characters together with the Crossroads Tarot, and start with the sample adventure or a digital Penny Dreadful one-shot before committing to a campaign such as In Defense of Innocence. Add Into the Steam if your group wants inventors and Union politics.

Research notes

Last checked October 31, 2026. Sources:

• DriveThruRPG: Through the Breach RPG, Core Rules (420 pages, backwards compatibility, prices, ratings)
• Wyrd Games: Through the Breach (current line, expansions, Penny Dreadfuls, 2025 update)
• Official free preview PDF (setting history, Fated and Fatemaster, contents)
• Kickstarter: Through the Breach, a Malifaux RPG (funding)
• Nerds on Earth: A review of Through the Breach (December 2017)
• Wikipedia: Malifaux (setting and miniatures game background)