The Black Chip
The Black Chip
Just as fate smiles on those that persevere against the odds and accomplish their goals, fate also frowns upon those that cause trouble and fail their desires. When the posse does something 'evil' or royally screws up an adventure and ends up leaving things worse than when they started, they earn a “Black Chip”. Some examples of screwing things up include raising a fear level, a major public disgrace for the posse, letting tough opponents get away, getting involved in the wrong side of a dispute and gaining major notoriety for their magical or bizarre talents which would draw the attention of the Tombstone Epitaph or government agency.
When a posse member draws a Black Chip from the fate pot, fate frowns upon the group and bad things are soon to come. The posse member who drew the Black Chip does not get to draw a replacement chip. During the session, something bad will happen to the posse and that something will most likely notice the player who drew the Black Chip first if possible. For example, if the posse earned the Black Chip because they angered, attacked and fled from the notorious bandit “Six-gun Sanchez”, then maybe he came looking for the posse for revenge. And Mr. Sanchez most likely walks into the local saloon just as the unfortunate individual who drew the Black Chip was coming down the stairs...alone. Sanchez will most likely take out his pent-up aggression on right then and there, or follow the individual back to the posse before he begins causing trouble (depending how deserving he is and what kind of mood the Marshal is in). Say the posse earned the Black Chip because their huckster gained a reputation as a practitioner of the black arts, then maybe a team of Pinkertons or a posse of bounty killers will be aiming to take him dead or alive. Only the players may draw Black Chips. The possibilities are endless, but any way you look at it, the Black Chip is an omen that something wicked this way comes...