A place for discussion on the Deadlands world.  A great mix of Western Horror with a splash of steampunk and magic.  Fun for all!

I have a DL:R question.  does it have the same flavor as DLClassic?  I think the original rules added a lot flavor, with the huckster player drawing the cards for spells, each AB having it's own spell list, each having a different mechanic and a different in character method of magic, etc.  Now all the ABs share a lot of the same powers, all have power points, etc.

is there still flavor?

YEs.  Hucksters still use cards to cast their spells, there is still a chance of breakdown for Mad Scientists, Shamen must still fight the spirits for their powers... it is still the same flavor as before, even if some of the spells are more similar to each other now.

I think they did a very good job at translating the feel of the original to the Savage Worlds system.

do shamens still do dance, painting, etc as rituals, or is that all just rolled up into trappings?

do voodoo guys still make the gris-gris bags?

Shamen must often perform a sacrifice of some sort to entreat the aid of spirits.  This can be anything from a period of fasting or a pledge, to a ceremonial dance, or even a ritual scarring or maiming.  Generally the more time required for a ceremony or ritual, or the more permanent the effect, the more it impresses the spirits.

And yes, the voodoun still have to make gris-gris bags, but they are called medicine bags now.

There is also a section on martial artists as well, so they are available for play at the beginning.  (I think they intrioduced Chi and such in the Great Maze set originally)

Here's an example of a spell, and how they differentiate between the classes.

---

Bolt
Rank: Novice
Power Points: 1-6
Range: 12/24/48
Duration: Instant
Bolt hurls a beam of energy, a projectile, or other missile at a target. The arcane skill roll is used as the attack roll, and the base damage is 2d6.

Additional Bolts: The character may cast up to 3 bolts by spending a like amount of Power Points. This must be decided before the power is cast. The bolts may be spread among targets as the character chooses. Firing the additional bolts does not incur any attack penalties.

Additional Damage: The character may also increase the damage to 3d6 by doubling the Power Point cost per bolt. This may be combined with the additional bolts, so fi ring 3 bolts of 3d6 damage costs 6 Power Points.

Trappings:

Blessed: Not available.

Huckster: The huckster hurls a playing card from his sleeve with devastating force. Called soul blast.

Mad Scientist: A ray gun, lightning cannon.

Martial Artist: Pebbles or other small projectiles are hurled. Called stones fly from the hand.

Shaman: Not available.

---

Hope thqat helps some.

Here is a transcript of the rules regarding Tribal Medicine.
To use a power, the shaman must perform some sort of ritual. At the very least this involves chanting and a Tribal Medicine roll. If the shaman cannot speak, he cannot use any powers.
The shaman can choose to chant and dance to gain a +1 on his Tribal Medicine roll. Again, he must be able to speak and move freely for a full minute to gain this bonus.
If he has time, the shaman can chant, dance and perform some physical trial (scarring, maiming or some ritual endurance test), to gain a +2 on his Tribal Medicine roll. This takes at least 20 minutes, but could be more than a day, depending on specific ritual. The Marshal may grant a larger bonus for particularly elaborate ceremonies.

So whilst nothing more then chanting is required, more grants a better chance of casting the spell.

In regards to things like gris-gris bags, there is an Edge called Fetish Creator, which lets them create one fetish once per session.

One thing I've been wondering, is what style of adventure have others played in, Marshaled themselves, or been interested in?

Are they deep horror games, where the unknown lurks in the shadows, with a Lovecraftian feel to it?

Is it more spagetti western, with all the classic cliches thrown in, and the horror/arcane plays a smaller part?

Have there been themes, such as an all Agency posse, with a Men in Black feel to it, where they investigate the horrors whilst protecting the innocent? Or what about a Smith & Robards team, testing new equipment, recruiting new scientists, etc? What about employees of one of the Great Rail barons, expanding their business and stopping competitors?

Or maybe just regional, where everyone is a bitter Rebel, haters of the northern Unionists and supporting their brothers in arms? Or even independents in Deseret or the Maze, not feeling like they belong to the North or South, just themselves?

personally, what I'd like to do/play in, is a game which starts with mostly western stuff, with a twist.  Like, a range war between cattle barons, one has a Mad Scientist and an armored steam wagon, the other hires a huckster, maybe a mercenary shamen.

undead bandits robbing stages,

stuff like that.

Well, I'm starting up my first play by post Deadlands Reloaded game (first campaign of either of those) right here. At present I have a Blessed and an Investigator-kinda guy as characters, looking for more. I'd like at least one more person in the group, but since I'm keeping it low magic, no more arcane characters unless we get at least 4 people in the posse.

Its in the Western group, named "Deadlands Reloaded - Sticks, Stones, and Rail Wars". Send a PM to me here or on the Pinnacle boards if you're interested.

See you on the trails, cowpoke.

Glad to see you joined up to the board Seeker :)

I'll be applying to your game in a short moment!

Welcome to the group!

My RTJ is away too ;)

I applied too!

What you both thinking of playing as?

I'm waiting to see if VotWW is allowed, and if so playing as either an Agent or Texas Ranger.
Failing that, I'm thinking maybe a Tombstone Epitaph reporter - Whilst I can't afford a special camera, normal ones are cheap.

Some sort of 'slinger... possibly a lawman. Depends on what he's looking for.

I still have my doctor, the only Deadlands character I've ever managed to create.  *grin*

You still have Dr Becky Fleming then Bri :)

Yes, poor Rebecca, constantly being made homeless.  :-(

Thanks for all the support guys!

One thing, I'm looking to run this with weekly sessions. Its my first play by post game of any kind ever, so making it entirely free form is something I'm not ready for right now. At the moment, we'll be playing monday nights, 7-12 EST. Anyone whom this works for, write up a character, and shoot it to me another PM. Veteran of the Weird West is allowed for those of you who are interested.

Since this is my first pbp game, and I prefer smaller groups anyways, I'm gonna max the player count at 4, on a first come first serve basis.

Oh, and I'm looking to have the first session on January 22, so please try and get me those write ups ASAP. Can't wait to hear from you and to hit the trails.

Marshal

Ack, I can't promise to play at a particular time and day, and I think you'll find most people who play online can't, even if they think they will be able to.  I believe you are already looking at applicants from more than one time zone, for instance.  Please consider my application withdrawn, darn it, unless you change your mind.  And I'd suggest you put that requirement up ASAP, both in a thread and in the game info.

That's the thing with PbP games Seeker, no set times.  It's a little difficult to get use to, but once you do it makes things a little more relaxed.

Glad to see you still have the Doc, Brianna.  Sorry I couldn't keep the Reloaded game I was running... well... running, but I think that was lack of preparation on my part.  I rushed into it, and didn't seem to have the time to get everything right.

I kinda embarrassed myself on that one. *blush*

Bel - I think we both realised the amount of work in running Deadlands under the new Reloaded system.
Thats why I'm trying to work out as many ideas as I can for running a game and ensuring I think of everything that might crop up - Names, locations, scenes, random twists, etc.

Hopefully I will be able to give it another hot when I have converted HoE over ;)

Well, the probem I ran into was converting an established Deadlands adventure into a Reloaded one.  I didn't expect it to be quite that .... irritating at times.  Could have been that I didn't grasp the enormity of the task, it could have been that I didn't recognize a few weak points I had with the system.

But I understand about preparation, and if I start another game, I plan on being more than a little prepared next time.  I won't rush out and open a game just because I can.

I'm in the same shape for your game seeker. I can usually post multiple times a day (during the week) but only between 8AM and 4PM EST, and not in one solid chunk. So I'll have to withdraw my RTJ too.

Well, I am a bit let down by most people, here and on the PEGINC boards saying they won't be able to play if it has a set time, so I'm starting to think of how to handle things if I did run it free-form.

Normal roleplaying situations work out fine, obviously. The only issues I see are - dealing with Fate Chips, Experience, and combat.

I guess I can "refresh" everyone's Fate Chips and award XP every week or so (real time), based on what was accomplished. That might even kill two birds with one stone, as it also encourages players to make continual postings over the course of the week. Ok, guess that won't be as much of a problem as I thought. ^^;;

My main issue with combat is that I'm not totally comfortable with the idea of a single gunfight taking about a week to finish. I'm mainly worried about remembering what I had planned for it, expecially if this fight is closely tied to the main story.

I've always been a bad GM when it comes to writing things down, and keeping notes of my plans, so maybe this will be good for me on the whole, and help me improve my overall GM organization skills.

Ok, I've convinced myself, I'll try it freeform, see how it flies. Anyone who was interested, and only put off by the whole scheduled session thing, please PM me with a character writeup. Include stats, and a short backstory, and of course, your character's worst nightmare.

See ya on the trails.

I wouldn't think of open time as Freeform Seeker - You still have the full rules, dice rolls and so forth.
In regards to XP and Fate Chips, I would pick certain stages of the story. So when we complete our first big fight, that would be the end of a normal session and so XP handed out, and so forth.

If you are worried about having combat drawn out, then you can always have time limits on posts, like minimum every X days during combat. In a Streetfighter game I'm playing in, if we don't post after 48 hours of a new turn, we default to pure defence.

So, expect to see a new PM from me with details of my Texas Ranger ;) [Not call Walker, hehe]

I'm tied up right now but I'll get a submission later today.

I'll have to think about what I want to be specifically. I had been thinking a Ranger too (the local sherrif kind not the secret service) but that doesn't work with 1 riot 1 ranger ;). Maybe a hired gun for one of the rail companies.

*grin*  No, I wouldn't call it Freeform - that means something quite different to me.

Seeker... the best way to handle things like fate chips and xp and such stuff if to think in an episodic way.  PLaying in PbP games will take much longer than a table game, but you will cover the same ground.  When an episoide ends, just like when a table session ends, that is when you would do things like refresh fate ships and pass out XP.  That way, you don't overdo it, which can happen in PbP posts on occasion.

And even though you are not playing within a set timeframe, you are still using a set of rules that will help guide the game.  When most people in PbP games see freeform, they think 'no set rules'.  They can pretty much do whatever they want in a cooperative roleplay (where you have to get consent to do something to someone else).

Personally I don't think that there is such a thing as Freform gaming, because even freeform games have some rules (such as no godmodding, no killing without permission, etc).  Basicly they are extreme rules light games. ^_^

Repost of questions for one of my games, in case someone from here can help before someone in the game does.  Character referred to is a doctor.

Reposted to help others as well.


And, since I missed this in the other posting.

Any time you advance something with a die attached to it, you increase the die one step:  d4 to d6, d6 to d8, d8 to d10, d10 to d12.  Advancing an attribute can happen once per level, and unless there is a reason for not doing it at the time, advancing an attribute is a good 'first' advance for a level, as you can increase multiple skills that way.

Also note that the only way to go above d12 is with legendary edges, so once you hit the d12 mark for an attribute, you can go no higher for a while.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:33, Thu 22 Mar 2007.

OK, I understand the one die type up per bump, and the limitation possible if the related attribute isn't higher than the skill.  So, theoretically she could use her first three advances to bump the same two skills one die type each advance, or any total of six bumps to varied skills, and the fourth advance (the one that ups her rank) to raise an attribute.  Smarts seem the obvious attribute to up, but are there others I should consider?  Spirit or vigour, perhaps?  Advice would be gratefully accepted (whether followed or not *grin*)

And what about the skills?  Six bumps possible for the three advances - possibilities are, given that whatever the attribute bump is, it would come after the skill bumps:
Guts - 2 bumps (no good if the doctor is busy puking or running when you need her)
Healing - 1 bump
Medicine - 1 bump
But that leaves two, unless she buys another d4 skill.  However, I don't see any on the list that seem good for her; she already has at least d4 in the most likely ones for her.  So two of:
Shooting (*sigh*  but the dice would still hate me)
Indian Sign language
Notice
Survival
The first could only have one bump, but the others could have the two left - seems better to spread them out though.

Or would I be better to take another Edge instead of the last two bumps?  If so, any suggestions?

note that wth 4 advances, three are novice, and one is seasoned.  So you could go, for example
5 - bump spirt
10 - two sklls
15 - two skills
(now seasoned)
20 bump vigor

or, if you really want to raise a lot of skills, the 20 can also be two skills.

Guts - good to have, note that you do have Grit :2 (for being seasoned) which is plus to (but a lot of times there are minuses.

Notice and stealth are also pretty good.

(what is Medicine?  A knowledge skill?)

Personally, I'd go for 1 attribute, one edge, and 2 skills, and pick something else for the 4th.  the Healing edge is good; healing checks are at a penatly equal to the patients wound level; that's up to -3

Indian sign would be cool, I don't think anyone else has it.

FWIW, I did this:
5 - Strength d6
10 - Conviction
15 - Shoot d6, Faith d8

Seasoned
20 - Professional Edge: Scout

1 attribute, 1 set of skills, 2 edges.  One edge for my AB, and one for my role as "scout guy"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:04, Thu 22 Mar 2007.

I could bump both Spirit and Vigour with these four advances??  Or more likely one of those and Smarts?  I thought I could only bump an attribute with the fourth one, the one that takes her to Seasoned?

AB?

I did look at the Healing edge, but might I not be better to bump her skill die as long as I can?  And I'm not sure of the value of other Edges, as compared to bumping a couple of skills.

Yes, Medicine is a Knowledge, and an obvious one for her to keep 'topped up'.  Hmm, maybe what I should do is just post the relevant part of the character sheet here?  *grin*

you can do one advance as novice, one of the first 3, and one at seaseond.  The other thing to do with the last advance is to take a "seasoned" edge, if there is one you want.  Or of course skills.

AB = arcane background.

The healing edge is +2 to all heal checks, and gives up to 5 companions a +2 to their natural heal checks.  Heck, just a +2 to your skill is about as good as two bumps in the die size.  Larger dice = less often openended, but when you do get openended, it's better.
the other thing that's nice, a bonus to skill also effects the wild die.  All bonuses and penalaites apply to the trait die and the wild die, so if you have wild and trait d6/d10, or d6+2/d6+2, the second might be better.

It also means that unless you roll snake eyes, you get a 4.

I think bumping attributes is my best bet, at least for now, since that also tends to give more scope to bump skills, right?

So:
1) Bump Spirit from d8 to d10 (or Vigour from d6 to d8??, if that's better?)

2) Take the Healer Edge

3) Bump Guts and Medicine one die each

4) Bump Smarts

How does that sound?

bumping spirit would help with recovering from being shaken, and I think resisting some spells.  and help with guts and I think social type skills

vigor would help aganst disease and points, and combat damage.

not knowing what stats you have now, I'd say it looks pretty good.

I've found it kind of useful to map out what I'm gong to buy, it changes soetimes, but that way I raise the rght stat for later skills, or get the prereqs for Edges, etc.

*grin*  Well, I did say what her Spirit and Vigour currently are, and her Smarts are at d10, going to d12.  Hmm, I'd looked at skills I probably want to bump in the future, but maybe I'd better have a look at the Edges, in case there's one at a higher rank that would suit her.

I've got to say... I was disappointed when they said that Slaughter Gulch isn't going to run on a version of the Savage Rules. I would have expected them to use it as a gateway game but it seems that's only very loosely the case.

Thoughts on a rules "situation"...

The Reputation edge is kind of cool. I would love to take it. But it seems weird to me.

In order for a "good guy" to be scary, you first have to be attractive and/or personable. Because the Attractive and Charismatic edges are really the only two ways to have a positive Charisma score.

That doesn't seems right to me. Wouldn't it make more sense to base it on rank or grit or some other measure? I mean, we aren't just talking about being scary because you can say "boo", we are talking specifically about a PCs reputation.

And a PC without a Charisma mod (most of 'em, I'd wager) can't benefit from the edge at all. Even if Legendary? Odd.

Heck, even your "rep" to the manitous, which determines whether they are willing to possess your dead body, is based on grit (described as them recognizing your baddassitude).

Thoughts?

for that matter, a fair number of hindrances give minor cha penalties, and you can get those from a failed guts check.

so if you buy charismatic for +2 cha, then rep, then blow a couple of guts checs, you could end up wth a cha of 0.

I don't know the mechanics of that edge, but Attractive and Charismatic are quite different in my mind.  The charismatic person may not be attractive at all; it's more that s/he commands attention.  Whether that 'attention' is of the 'oh, I want to do whatever you say because I like you' or 'oh, I'll do whatever you say because I'm afraid not to/fascinated though horrified by you' or some variation of these is quite another matter.

Hello All,

I'm a newcomer to rpol, but a long time Savage and (mostly) lurker at the PEG boards. I'm lurking to start up a Deadlands Reloaded campaign here. Something travel oriented, and fairly episodic with an overarching story that makes its presence felt here and there. Think Supernatural in the Weird West. I'v already got some interest from someone here after advertising in the Proposals forum, and once I get at least one other person interested, I'll get the game posted.

I posted in your Player's Wanted thread, I'll go ahead and post here as well

I'm interested as well.

Just don't take a massive shotgun blast in this game

Hey, I would've been fine if I'd won the initiative!
And if the rpol-dice-roller wouldn't have screwed me over!
:D

But yes, a shotgun blast and no bennies left, that's an ugly combination.

Ok first an explanation. This is Marshal Wordsmith. Had some problems with the account, things are straightened out. My apologies for the confusion. This does not, in any way, affect my plans to run the proposed Deadlands game.

link to another game

There's the link to the game. Anyone interested, please submit a character idea in your request to join. At the very least general concept, though stats to go with it would be awesome as well. If you do look into the crunch, build a character starting with 10 XP. Remember, the campaign will have you traveling all about the Weird West, so make sure that works with your concept.

Also, I'm not a fan of arcane heavy groups, so I'm thinking one guy with an AB, one with Veteran of the Weird West at most. Though if you have a good concept, I'm willing to bend my own limits.

See you all on the trails . . .

Got a couple responses so far, and no one has chosen to make an arcane or Veteran character yet, so please send requests if you're interested.

I have submitted my VotWW lawyer for your consideration.  Lawbreakers of the west, beware!

let's not end up with no arcane chars, that wold be a bit to weird.  Or maybe not weird enough?
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:21, Mon 16 Mar 2009.

Haven't played a Huckster in a while... I'd need to take another look at the rules, but I'd be happy to. ;-)

RtJ sent!

Any edge that lets you have more cards when you "deal with the devil" is an edge well spent

With only 1 AB, Huskster is certainly appropriate.

Alhtough someone will need to have some Healing skill.

I've got a doctor character so the healing angle should be covered.

(Moving from General Chat to here)

OK, I could run a DL game with a few caveats:

1 - I only have the player's guide, so no harrowed, no VotWW, and probably not that many monsters unless I make them up.  EIDT: found an older free conversion to DL, it included some monsters, and I can probably refactor some core SW ones as well.

2 - I just started a game but i'm not sure if it's going to go; I had 4 players, one dropped, one vanished, and I don't think 2 is enough.  but if they want to play with just them, I don't think I'll have the bandwidth for DL as well, unless you guys are OK with a slower paced game.

If you guys want to do this, we can talk about campaign type/focus.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:26, Mon 20 Apr 2009.

As Marshal Shade's DLR - On the Trail of Horror seems to be dead or dying... I'm up for something. I don't want to commit to running another game as I'm already doing 2 on here and a table top game at home.

I thought about starting up a Hellfrost game, since I got the player's guide today... but I don't have the necessary time right now. Maybe in a month or two.

So, is anyone interested in me runing a game, with the caveats noted above?

I guess not

In reply to OggyBenDoggy (msg #58):

A lot of students have exams right now, you might have better luck at another time.

Hey all,

anyone got a slot in either a DLR or a NE game that I can join?

looks like the flood is out, and there is a player's guide for it.

And the Player's Guide is a free download!
http://www.peginc.com/Download...lands/TheFloodPG.pdf

Awesome.

Looking for players in my DLR game

link to another game

And it's a great game! :-)

In reply to Strickland5 (msg #64):

I'll bite.

In reply to Strickland5 (msg #64):

I haven't set up any characters for DL:R just classic.

What characters do you have? I have an idea for one; actually ah old classic one converted.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:26, Fri 28 Aug 2009.

At present my party line up is a doctor, a huxster, and an old soldier.

I resent that sort of ageism! :D

I got a teamster to convert.

No you resemble it.


kturock: new ideas would be better, just picked up a shooter.

In reply to Strickland5 (msg #71):

Yeah and remember your character starts at seasoned rank.

Sadly, this game went away.

I've not given up on it yet... even though it grinded to almost a halt recently.

Which game are you talking about Oggy?

Since we're on the subject. Any Deadlands game going on?

Mine is link to another game

this one

link to another game

I'm wanting to play a DL:R game.  Anyone willing to run one?

 Strickland5's game is coming to a close. I'd like to use my current character (James Harlow Seasoned) or make a new one from scratch and get into another Deadlands Reloaded game. Anyone got room for a gunslick saddlebum?

In reply to shady joker (msg #80):

I have room in my game, though I'm running a Novice game.

link to another game

Another new deadlands game has started. I'm just a player but our Marshall is looking for two more players before getting things started.

link to another game

Deadlands: The Big Boom is the name of the game if the link doesn't work.

And two years later my DLR game is finally over.

Congratz!!
(Unusual to have a game survive that long.)
=

Out of the original 5 players I had only 1 who stayed from start to finish. I recruited new players who helped me keep the game alive.

And I wouldn't have minded for the game to continue ;-)

In reply to derfinsterling (msg #86):

Probably could have gone longer but the main mission was more or less done and with it getting longer and longer between posts, I figured the game was wrapping up well enough to call it 'finished'.

Anyone willing at all to run a Deadlands Reloaded game?  I run Deadlands all the time for my group, but I never get a chance to play.

I'm restating my Sixguns & Spellslingers game and looking for 2-3 new players. Game is here: link to another game

yeah I'd totally be up for some DL! Been a while.

Sweet! Click the link and send me an RTJ!

Hey I was wondering if some of my fellow Reloaded lovers could comment on something.  I'm having a rather calm discussion with a good player about the Gatling pistol.

Basically, he argues it's a terrible weapon because:

A) it punishes you for using it, because the more often you fire it, the more misfires you get and nothing can ever change this
B) the only way to stop a misfire is to expend a bennie, consuming a valuable resource the game intends for you to use elsewhere such as for soak rolls
C) you basically have two options: shoot twice, or lay down suppressive fire
  1)  Shooting twice sucks because you often don't need to shoot twice, or there's no utility in it (for instance the first shot kills the guy and there's nobody else standing next to him you wish to shoot).  If you can regularly hit with a raise, you can often cause a wound with a single shot, so there's no point against non Wild Cards.
  2) Laying down suppressive fire sucks after it's done once because suppression followed by suppression does nothing, as the first one Shakens the victims, and the second does nada.  Player argues this is stupid because it's a lethal weapon not a supernatural power, and with all that ammunition flying around in the same template (consider if you will two Gatling pistols being fired at the same template simultaneously), somebody should get hit by an actual bullet even if it's by accident.
D) The pistol is so expensive most players won't have one.  It should do something cooler than what it does.

I have pointed out to him that:

A) Reloaded isn't really about kewl weapons, there's just not a lot of difference sometimes
B) Weapons are all of situational utility.  The right situation makes any of the weapons in the book suck or rock.
C) It's pretty nasty as is for what it allows.  Using his example of paired Gatling pistols, one could make a whole bunch of bad guys Shaken, and then you could fire two shots from the other one at anybody you wanted to.  That's pretty amazing flexibility and kind of nasty to boot.
D) He can carry additional weapons if the Gatling Pistol is too limited.

I was wondering if you all could help.  Is this weapon really not worth it, or is it awesome for a reason I'm not realizing, how has it impacted your games, etc.?

A, B - don't have the book handy, can't comment
C1 - if you shoot with a non-gatling gun and roll lousy damage, you are stuck.  With the gatling, sure, sometimes the 2nd attack is redundant, but often it is not, and it will finish off the guy.
C2 - So don't suppress, then suppress again.  for one think you don't have enough ammo unless you reloud, IIRC the gatling has a ROF of 2, so suppresion uses up 10 rounds, ROFx5 (or did they cahnge that in SWEX?)  supress, then shoot all the shaken guys next round
if you roll a 1 on your sprit roll vs suppresive fire, you take damage.  Granted, it's not very likely, it can happen.  also, if they are extra's, the 1 means they were shaken by fialing the spriit roll, so it's esier to take them out.  Also, supressive fire isn't "kill everything" fire, it's supposed to supress the enemyu, to stop them from shooting you.  making them Shaken does that
D - unless you loot one or are an Agent

That's an especially excellent point on the Spirit roll, one I hadn't considered.  I'll bring that up.

I think the problem is also perhaps that the player is assuming a really expensive weapon should have all the capabilities of the less expensive ones included.  I can see why you would think that but it's not necessarily true, especially given then nature of the "2x4" steampunk technology in place.

Perhaps I should also point out that if the Gatling pistol were just a better overall pistol, everyone would use one all the time.

Just starting a new Reloaded game, new to the forum and Savage Worlds is my new worst addiction.  Thanks for all the help from reading past posts and new ones.  The game is for solo adventure or group play or a little of both.  Lots of exploration and discovery, character development as well or just want to make sandcastles in a flying sandbox have a look... link to another game

If I can find the time to get it started, would anyone be interested in playing The Flood?

In reply to Willis (msg # 96):

One of my games just folded up, so I need another game to get into. The Flood might be fun.

I'd be interested in The Flood.

I've set up a Reloaded game that will begin with The Flood and hopefully continue on into higher tiers after that.  Feel free to come by and apply.

link to another game

I've got the itch again. I'm running a Deadlands game, but I really want to run one of the plot point campaigns, either The Flood or The Last Sons. Are any of you folks interested in one of these two? Let me know!

I could do last sons.  I'm running The Flood right now.

For those of you interested, here is the Game Link for my Last Sons campaign: link to another game

That cattle drive campaign looks interesting.  I've often thought Deadlands could use more classic western scenarios.

It does, but I'm going to have to wait until I have some actual money to pick it up. Though I quite enjoyed The Last Sons (which has a cattle drive as one of the Side Treks).

I'm looking for some more players for my Last Sons game: link to another game

If interested, drop me a line!

I have an opening in my Deadlands: The Last Sons game! I'm specifically looking for Agency characters. If you're interested, here's the link: link to another game

Is anybody willing to run a Deadlands game, or have a Deadlands game looking for players? I've played Savage Worlds before, but so far haven't had a chance to play Deadlands. Wild West is my favorite setting in general, so as soon as I picked up the book I was hooked.

I run two Deadlands games, actually. One is nearing the end, so it's not looking for players, but the other is just coming off a hiatus and I've been kicking around asking for some fresh blood.

The game is called Sixguns & Spellslingers: The Last Sons. Link: link to another game

The characters are all seasoned-level characters.

I, too, have played Deadlands and loved it.  I ran a one-on-one story once, focused entirely on the horror aspect and desolation.  Funny what shadows can do to a person when some of them might be out to kill you. ;)

Hey! Thought this might be a good place to get some input:

I'm running my group through good intentions soon(ish) and I wanted to incorporate some materiel from Classic's River O Blood supplement, specifically Solomon Thayer and Black River and Bayou Vermillion. So my  question to you all is:

If you were playing a Mississippi River "Trail Guide" campaign, what aspects/plot hooks would you expect to find? What would you like to accomplish? What kind of story would attract you?

Something to dowith Solomon Thayer's downfall would be cool. Make him and Baron Lacroix the villains of the mini plot point campaign, perhaps working together on something. Maybe give the PCs a chance to take down one of both of them (and maybe even Mina Devlin).

I had the thought that perhaps Solomon has decided to finally strike out at his old master, in order to clear the way for a new disease that he intends to spread along Bayou Vermillion lines, and up the river. Meanwhile, Simone is cooking up a hell of a hoodoo to finally take down Marie Laveau.

I'm always so bad at evil plots, it usually boils down to "kill my rival".

He already killed Lavaeu, he just doesn't realize that the current Marie Lavaeu is actually his rival's daughter. If this is going to be a Bloody Ol' Muddy-based game, him actually figuring out why his death curses aren't working could be a plot point. And, more importantly, something the PCs could interact with and potentially stop.

Like, they have to maintain the illusion that she's Marie Laveau I? That is pretty cool.

And of course, there's the posisbility of setting it during Carnival.

ONe thing I've always liked doing, and yet think is kindof difficult to pull off, is having the posse working for the "bad guy" for a while. It's a little hard to pull that sort of thing off when you have players with any setting knowledge, and of course, even the players who avoid flipping through the back of the books will balk at joining with one of the Rail Barons, I find. Most have cottoned on to the fact that the Barons are bad dudes

Indeed. It's interesting and cool and a great way of showing just how information isn't as wide-spread in the Wild West as we are used to.

There is that, though I'm quite sure it's been done before.

IME most players willing to work for Union Blue, Dixie Rails, or Wasatch (and sometimes Denver-Pacific). BV, Black River, and Iron Dragon don't generally get picked unless you're building them as a major force in the campaign, or the PCs want a "I used to be a bad dude" sort of background. Not only are they the ones with the most evil reputations, but they also have a bunch of racial, religious, and gender baggage (everyone assumes all Iron Dragon workers are Asian, all Black River employees are female, all BV workers are houngans...that sort of thing). It's rather unfortunate that the three railroads owned by people who aren't white males also have the most evil reputations and are run by some of the worst people in the setting outside of the Servitors. And while Hellstromme actually is a Servitor, he's also the most subtle of the lot and has a ton of love from the metaplot.

Spoilers!!  :P



But that also explains the subtlety of the Reckoners (misdirection everywhere!), not to mention setting the groundwork for the original sequels/plot progression through "Hell On Earth" and "Lost Colony".  But I always saw Hellstromme as evil, never benevolent - which is why the Reloaded plot points confuse me.  You just have to accept lack of communication and widespread misinformation as a norm.

Then again, the wealthy, politically and economically influential always have had a way of covering their darker deeds and painting themselves up to having the 'solutions' to all society's malignancies.

But then again, to be a Rail Baron, you pretty much needed to be greedy, power hungry, and an have an 'ends justifies the means' mentality.  I could easily see Wichita Witches and Iron Dragon foremen who were using their talents without being aware of the 'big picture' and their darker influences.   I think it'd be great to have a BV lineman/minor boss hiring troubleshooters to look into rumors of grave robbing or killings involving the 'night crew', with no knowledge at all that the 'night crew' are actually undead provided by his superiors.....

Afterall 'Witches' in HoE are Heroes, and they follow Mina's line, so members of the 'outer circle' who have a change of heart/conscience could be there too right?

I think the biggest drawbacks come from some of the social conventions associated with the 19th Century, even though relaxed severely in DL, they're still widespread/accepted as 'norm', so 'second class citizens' who rise above their 'perceived' station would be subject to mistrust and rumor.  It just so happens that these rumors/stereotypes happen to be true in the case of the Rail Barons...
This message was last edited by the player at 16:31, Sat 29 Oct 2016.

IC: Deadlands: Reloaded

link to another game

Thinking about starting running a one sheet and maybe moving to a paid story plot point campaign after.

What say you?

I would rather suspect you will drown in interest but I might be wrong.  Still you have my interest regardless.

In reply to rabideldar (msg # 117):

That link went to a page with several game proposals?  Was that a broken link?

Oh!  There's the right thread....  *pokes around*

Sorry about that. I simply copied it from the browser window. Apparently it just grabbed the whole threat rather than that specific one.

In reply to rabideldar (msg # 120):

:)   I'm still figuring out how links and things work in RPOL - especially the ones that are 'within another post in this game' and what not, so completely understandable!  I just didn't see the "IC: Deadlands: Reloaded" when I followed the link initially and that's why I asked.  Looks like  I was just failing to see it....

Here ya go fella's a link to the game:
link to another game

Anyone have any opinions on Good Intentions?  Personally, I really enjoyed the way the final encounter is structured. I've been reading pretty much everything I can find on Hellstromme recently, and I'm interested in how his thoughts and motives have changed throughout both the in-universe story, and in the meta.

My opinions are mixed. Last Sons was stuffed to bursting with things to do and places to explore, and both Stone and A Hard Place and Good Intentions seem lacking on area information in comparison. With all the plot threads dangling in Classic, a few more of Savage Tales set in SLC would have nice. I'm a bit annoyed that Good Intentions lifted the Augmentation stuff from Smith & Robards largely without doing anything else new with it...I already own that book, thank you much.

As for the Plot Points themselves, I like that they resolved the Detroit situation, and the last plot point feels suitably epic, though I don't think the campaign gives enough attention to the girl -- the posse never interact with her, so I don't think there's enough for them to care about there.

Now, it gets a lot better in some of the supplemental material they made for the Kickstarter. The Land Beyond The Busted Doorframe is just an awesome idea, Sawed 'Em In Gomorra is a nice intro to the folks who do augments, and the Perilous Parcel series is fun. The Twilight Protocol seems a bit too much like a D&D adventure and not enough like a Deadlands one, but it's still solid.

I hear that, and I totally sympathize. I felt like both the girl and the manitou got too little exploration, much in the same way I felt the Elders did in Flood, and the hidden ravenites did in last sons.

I've enjoyed the additional material, although I've mostly skimmed the stuff after Sawed. Detroit is good.

I agree that using their already compact space (163 pages, right?) for stuff that's in Smith and Robards was a little frustrating, and could have been used for the updated Voodoo rules at least, and maybe a handful of more Savage tales (I wanted a Biren fakeout, dammit).  I understood Clint's response, though, that the scrapper rules are important to a SLC game.

Honestly, I've felt that if Cutter's plot points have a unifying problem, it's that they read better for a Marshal (or a player that's read through the classic marshal sections) than they play for completely new players. How do I appreciate Hellstromme's story as a player, and the importance of the final scene with no interaction with him? What if my group never played Flood? I feel that it's too impersonal. What is the point of utilizing false ravens and last sons and betrayals if the players never get any insight into the Sioux Nations? Why kill Papa Rattlesnake?

All these things are cool moments if you read classic HOE or played a lot of classic Deadlands, but they lack some punch, I feel, for new players.

Also,

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I don't like that Nevada survived, along with Sally. Did Stone just not get the 13 souls? Or was that what White Sands was for?

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It would be interesting to see what Last Sons would have looked like if it was kept to the 160pg mark like Stone and Intentions. Cutter's stated he thinks Last Sons was the result of no one editing him.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:47, Sun 15 Jan 2017.

In reply to StalkThis (msg # 125):

I would have loved to see some info on the Mississippi, and hope it's slated for something in the future.

In the versions I'm running of Last Sons, I'm focusing more on the Ravenites and their plots (and with Custer and HIS plots) than sticking to the sequence.

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
I don't actually mind Nevada and Sally surviving Stone...I actually disliked the hard deaths of so many Classic characters and like the retcon in a later version that just listed them as "possible" souls.

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https://www.peginc.com/savage-...remieres-at-origins/

The phrase "New edition of Deadlands" causes me to quirk a brow, but since the Pinnacle forums are down, no one can bombard Clint with questions.

I would imagine it's just story progression - maybe a re-release consolidating the rules that came out with the 4-point story-arc books.  Hopefully it's not a lot off from that (unless it's poor word-choice and it's a Lost Colony plug instead.. or a bridge from DL:R to DL Noir timeframe wise).

They've been hinting that they've been planning a new edition of the Deadlands: Reloaded stuff, in order to consolidate material from the Plot Points and update the setting now that the Big Four Servitors have had major stories told. They probably also want to bring the Arcane Backgrounds in line with current design philosophies.

So that's looking like a "Reloaded Revised" situation? Like a new set of core books with all the goodies and the proper rules for Harrowed/Blessed/Voodoo etc?

I can live with that.

I'm hoping it's just a consolidation.  I'd hate to buy the setting material yet again.  If it's a single release update, that might not be so bad, otherwise it's a lot of money to fork over again.....  :(

As a person who has gone through not one, but two D&D edition changes, I know what you mean. As I understand it, they are planning on splitting up the work like Rifts, into Player's Guide, Marshal's Guide, and a creature book.

*chuckles*

You kids today.  Back in my day we had to change editions uphill in the snow both ways...

Also a consolidated revised Deadlands would be okay by me.  Don't know if I'd buy it right away but I probably would at some point.

I'm a fan of the Player's Guide/Marshal's Guide split, as the Reloaded book is huge together. PLus from a practical standpoint I can hand the Player's guide to my posse and just let it hang out on their side of the table. A separate book for Monsters means the Marshal's Guide would consist of fluff, random encounter tables, Tables of Doom, and maybe some of the weather hazards and Servitor Domain rules from the plot points, then?

I guess my issue with DL:R is that with the Plot Point campaigns, they pretty much eliminated the on-going games DL Classic led to.  I have the complete series of both and would rather see a "here's the guide to transition to DL Noir / HoE:RL if you fail to stop the Reckoners" as opposed to "we re-positioned the game presentation so you're going to stop the over-arching story, so we re-wrote nastier villains to guarantee it happens."

Granted, 'Good Intentions' might serve as that bridge (or Devils Tower / Last Sons) as I haven't read them in their entirities.

I understand there's some consolidation/clean-up rules-wise and like the 3-book concept, but hopefully the revised SWDX would get printed first with all the 'official' rules changes and updates before they do a new edition of Reloaded.  Otherwise we'll see eratta and re-releases to update for Core changes later on.

(Plus I'd rather see the Flash Gordon stuff come out first.  But they're probably selling out of stock on DL:R so need new enticements.)

I wonder if the Conan Rise of Monsters miniatures game is a prelude to licensing for an official SW Conan release.  I wouldn't think so, since licensees are having such luck with Beasts & Barbarians.

I mean, this is not the best argument, but nothing in the Plot Points stops the 'ongoing' games structure from working. I ran Flood and it took a year of playing once a week. I'm about to finish Last Sons, and it took about 9 months, but if I wanted to or if my players were of a more exploratory mindset, I could have made it last another 6, easily. And not by padding; There's enough material to fill all that space as you travel from place to place. I've been handwaving travel and random encounters, and we've got something else in the pipeline, so I've been pushing them towards the final confrontation, but the last act of the campaign could easily last months worth of once-a-weeks.

It comes pretty close to those 'ongoings'.

Oh I agree that you could play for years with what is currently out and stage out the Plot Points (or ignore them completely), but thee are a lot of folk who just play straight through - and I think those are the instances PEG is designing for.

Got my hands on the Explorer. Read through the new adventure.

A bit wary if the next stage of deadlands is headed the way I think it might, but the adventure itself is good. A good mix of structure and freedom. Looks like it might have been something that got cut from the Stone and a Hard Place plot point, actually, and slots very neatly into it.

If anyone else who's read it wants to chat about the spoilers, I'm game.

I'm guessing "The Cackler" storyline is also influential in the revision, although haven't read my digital copy of Insider yet.

Hey, anyone know if Geronimo ever got a stat block in Classic or Reloaded?

Not that I'm finding (but Adobe's free edition no longer allows searching of multiple pdfs at once... :P  ).  Geronimo is mentioned in greatest detail (or so it appears) in the Marshall's Handbook for Classic, but no stat block.

Thanks for the help! I guess I'll just make him from scratch, then.

I do know he's referred to as a "Warrior-Priest" in a couple of references, so you may want to use that as a guide.  Another point of emphasis in all the writings/references is how evasive he is & difficult/impossible to find.  Sounds like he attacks out of nowhere and always manages to escape without leaving clear trails.  Even the Flying Buffalos from Fort 51 & Baron LaCroix's operatives haven't been able to corner him ...

Yeah. He's got a permanent Wilderness Walk effect, and as I'm building him, I'm using some of the stats of Matanza from Spirit Warriors.