Hey all, and welcome to the discussion thread for the upcoming campaign. Hopefully we can start pretty soon, ideally by the end of the week, but for now this is just a place to say hey and get our characters together. If anybody wants any info, tips, feedback, or anything, post away with questions and comments. Otherwise this is just here to set things up for the full campaign.
Dotting in. Hello everybody!
Good luck with your game. Wish I could play myself, but I'm just full up at the moment. I'll probably be lurking though. So who knows, maybe I can come in later.
What ho, gentlemen!
Ello sirs.
Hey all! As I said earlier, feel free to post characters or concepts. I know I've mentioned the concept of the two British boxer gents to my friends here, but anything more people want to say is very welcome.
wicked_raygun--Sorry that you're busy now, but of course you'd be welcome to join whenever you feel you can! Just let me know.
Here's my basic character build.
Attributes: Agility D8, Smarts D8, Spirit D6, Strength D4, Vigor D6
Skills: Fighting D6, Guts D6, Hexslinging D6, Knowledge (Occult) D6, Notice D6, Persuasion D6, Shooting D8
Charisma: +2
Pace: 6
Parry: 5
Toughness: 6 (1)
Grit: 2
Hindrances: Curious, Loyal, Vengeful (Minor)
Edges: Arcane Background (Hexslinger), Attractive
Powers: Aim, Shootist, Smite
Power Points: 10
Gear: Colt Peacemaker (12/24/48, RoF 1, 2d6+1, AP 1), Bowie Knife (1d4+1d4+1, AP 1), .45 rounds (50), Speed Load Cylinder (5), Leather Armor (Armor 1), Bonnet, Boots, Chaps, Dress, Duster, Fine Cigarettes, Pants, Pocket Watch, Shirt, Shoes, Skirt, Stetson, $20
Looks fine to me--I'm assuming the combat knife is a Bowie knife, and the leather armor is fine. That's something to note for everyone actually--I allow folks to buy leather armor as from the Savage Worlds core book for that price. Just treat it as reinforced chaps and duster and all that. Do keep in mind that pretty much all the guns in the game do have AP 1, though.
Also, as a note on this campaign, I'm going to be using the Gritty Damage setting rule, at least to start. If it becomes problematic I may change that, but it's a neat touch that should make gunfights a little more dangerous and interesting.
I kind of had an idea to make a mad scientist who's a little too into nitro glycerin, with gadgeteer and MacGyver, eventually chemist. I'm thinking a guy who just likes blowing crap up. Probably carries vials of nitro, sticks of dynamite, etc.
I may have a horrible demise if a giant or something hits me with a club when I'm wearing two bandoliers filled with nitro.
Ugh. This concept is gonna take some MAD stats. Agility for throwing and quick draw, vigor because everyone needs vigor, smarts...pretty much the whole shebang.
Well, you could tank Strength and Spirit. Not saying you should tank Strength and Spirit, but you could.
Another side note I forgot to mention: if people have it, the Horror Companion has a few Edges/Hindrances that could be appropriate. I won't be using much else from there, though.
Really any source for Savage Worlds that's by Pinnacle could be fine, just run it by me first so I can check it out. (No Geared Up Edge from the Sci-Fi Companion, for example.)
And backstory is done.
Claire was born a little more than a year later, in a small town near the Texas/Mexico border. Her parents hardly let her birth slow them down, adding the energetic baby girl to their traveling family. As such, Claire had a bit of an unusual childhood. She was walking the instant her legs were strong enough and running days later. She never could sit still, always exploring and running round the the towns they passed through while looking for profitable places to buy and sell to the settlers moving west behind them. She didn’t have traditional schooling of any kind, though plenty of places didn’t even have them. Instead, her father made sure to teach her what he could. She picked up reading and writing quick enough once she was old enough, and numbers came easy to her. Her parents were enormously proud of their bright girl, though more than a few people found the bright, wild girl to be distinctly ‘unladylike’ and ‘uncouth’. Claire hardly cared, since they didn’t stick around most towns long. Her only constant companions became books and stories, either told by the locals in bars and saloons or purchases by her parents by mail. Adventure serials became her favorite way to pass the time as she imagined the wild adventures that she could go on one day.
As she grew older, it became clear that Claire was going to be as beautiful as she was quick witted and she developed a fiery disposition. Whoa to any of the boys in the frontier towns that thought the pretty traveling girl would be easily susceptible to their charms. Her father seemed to get quieter and more somber as their travels continued and Claire began to notice that her father’s individual trips were getting longer and his deals were becoming more private and even secretive. Any attempts to draw out what was going on were met with blunt stonewalling. This was a surprise to her usual treatment, as she was a bit of a daddy’s girl, and Claire became surly and quicker tempered as a result. Then one day when she was sixteen, her father never came home.
Claire never learned who pulled the trigger, but she did learn that there was a gunman. Her father was tracked down while surveying a plot of land by an unknown figure that put a bullet in his heart. Claire’s mother was hardly better off. When she returned home, bearing the horrible news, she found her mother on the floor in much the same state. Now she knew that it wasn’t just robbery, it was personal. So she could make it personal too. Before the killer could hunt her down too, she gathered all of her father’s things, packed up what cash she could, and split town as fast as the family horse could let her. She didn’t stop riding until she hit the next town over, well away from someone that might be on her trail. She sold the horse and found a place to stay while she sorted things out. Unfortunately for her, she had no real leads to go on and the money from the sale of the family horse and wagon could only last so long. Eventually, Claire continued her traveling, hopping carriages and trains and hoofing it as far as she could. When money began to run short, she started taking odd jobs to pay for inn rooms and basic necessities. She worked bars, labored along with men, and generally made herself useful when she could.
For the next three years, she kept moving, shifting from one town to the next. As she adjusted to life without her family, she found herself picking up a new series of penny tales to pass the time, written by one Doctor John Henry Holliday. His stories were full of supposedly true tales of his adventures across the Wild West, filling her head with her old dreams of wild adventure and exploration. A quest for vengeance wasn’t quite the same as one of Doc’s tales, but it was certainly worthy of her time. Through 1979, she managed to get her hands on every one of his books, enjoying the humorous tone and the wild adventure. But her sharp mind started to pick up on something. His pages had strange little messages mixed in, hiding odd details and watermarks made of strange symbols. At first she thought Doc Holliday had gone a bit mad over the years, leaving secret codes and mythical symbols in his serials. Then she found her father’s journal. And she learned that everything she knew was a lie.
In a secret compartment in the bottom of her father’s steamer trunk, Claire found a journal, kept over her entire childhood and even before. It began with her father rescuing his old friend in New York, but it revealed some shocking details. The accident was no accident, but rather an attempted murder. A strange man who looked exactly like his boss attempted to murder his twin in what looked like an industrial accident. Seamus knocked his boss aside and ran the man down, only to find the stranger changing his appearance into a facsimile of his own face. The two fought and her father beat the man unconscious with a wrench. Injured and exhausted, he collapsed, only to wake up in the custody of a secret branch of the Union government. These secret agents, only addressed as the Agency in his diary, told Seamus what the world was really like. And a shapeshifting twin was only the beginning. Undead monsters, black magic users, and more roamed the west, stirring up trouble and harming innocent folks. And now Seamus was in on a secret that the Agency wanted kept nice and quiet to prevent a panic. So they offered Seamus a job.
Seamus became a field operative for the Agency. The same intelligence and social skills that made his cover as a land dealer so believable made him an excellent secret agent. His deals were more often than not covers for him tracking down threats to the peace and taking them down fast and hard. They moved south when the Union shifted Seamus to more undercover work, placing him inside Confederate territory to continue his missions and to pass information on the southern states back north. Unfortunately, someone caught up with him. Claire didn’t know who killed her father, but now she knew exactly why he was killed. Combining the cryptic and often encoded records in her father’s journal with the strange symbols in Holliday’s books, she began to piece together exactly how magic worked. If she was going to find her father’s killer, she needed every advantage she could get. Taking her father’s back-up revolver and a bowie knife, she carved her first rune mark into the weapon and felt the power surge through her body. Now she had a weapon that could fight back against the man that killed her father.
More than a year passed as she worked her way through the southwest slowly, picking up every tip and trick she could on both gun fighting and hexslinging. However, she’s started to feel that she’s reaching as far as she can go without more help. So she picked up once again and headed toward Tombstone, the last known residence of Holliday himself. Surely he’d be willing to help an aspiring Hexslinger with a grudge to settle…
Guts is a skill in DLR, right? Just bringing this up for newbies like Sundakan - Guts is basically your will save, instead of simple spirit rolls, to emphasize how scary the weird west is supposed to be.
Also if that player's guide you were speaking of is free, does anyone have a link to it?
If the two brawler brothers can find the Flood players' guide, it has a LOT of new martial arts stuff.
Apparently I don't roll for dementia when I first make a mad scientist - only each time I take the New Power edge. Unless you think I should roll just for having Weird Science. If that's the case, here...
Hm. That seems an easy enough one to pull off. Probably even a nice plot hook for the GM.
Let me know if I need to add that or not.
Guts is a skill in DLR, right? Just bringing this up for newbies like Sundakan - Guts is basically your will save, instead of simple spirit rolls, to emphasize how scary the weird west is supposed to be.
Indeed, Guts is its own skill in the Deadlands setting. The creepy-crawlies and strange horrors of the Weird West are entirely beyond what average folks are ready to deal with, so it takes special skills and experience to do well in the face of the walkin' dead or a hangin' judge. The upshot is that normal things that might prompt Fear checks, like general violence and danger, aren't all that bad in the grand scheme of things, so you don't need to roll for them.
This actually brings me to a small but important element of your characters: Grit. Grit is a calculated stat kind of like Charisma is, but there aren't as many ways to affect it. Every character starts with a Grit of 1; there's a Hindrance that drops it to 0, and an Edge that increases it. It'll go up with time and experience.
Also if that player's guide you were speaking of is free, does anyone have a link to it?
Yep. Here it is on Pinnacle's website. Free and easy download. Also, The Player's Guide for the Flood.
Let me know if I need to add that or not.
Well, you don't have to add dementia until you take the New Power Edge, correct. So you don't need to think you have Enemies, unless you want to.
Claire--I'll check the backstory and let you know what I think!
Found some kickass character art that I'm totally using for Claire.
Strength d10 (3) Agility d8 (2) Spirit d8 (2) Smarts d4 (0) Vigor d8 (2)
Hindrances:
Loyal (Minor)
Edges:
Martial Arts
I wanted to ask something before I picked Hindrances: Can I please take The Cup Overflows without having Chi Master? I just have this image of accidentally kicking up dust storms or knocking down buildings with a stray punch like Pecos Bill or something and it's great.
Hmm. I'm fine with that, honestly, it should be good fun. Less supernatural auras, more collateral damage and being really visibly good at fighting. Sounds good to me.
I do have to ask, though--how are you getting that many points to your Attributes to start? We are using normal build rules, so you should have 5, potentially 2 more from Hindrances (since it takes 2 points worth of Hindrances to raise an Attribute).
Also as a note on Martial Arts: I rule that it does both what it says in the original Savage Worlds book as well as the Deadlands version. Not sure why they decided to make you lose damage for that benefit; getting swarmed by melee enemies isn't quite as common in Deadlands as it is in other settings.
Ah, crap. I goofed on that.
Man, getting the attributes for this guy is gonna be hard. Guess I'll drop Str to d8 and Spirit to d6 for now.
So I'm pissed. Spent my whole lunch updating this guy (used Vulture's sheet as a template) and Paizo did that new post garbage when I hit submit and ate all the changes.
Anyways - questions:
A recommended knowledge? I need two knowledges, including chemistry (which fits my idea anyway), to get the alchemy edge eventually.
What town are we starting in?
Anybody recommend a power I take? I SUPPOSE I can take healing, since I'm gonna be throwing Nitro everywhere, but if another suggestion comes to mind, lemme know.
Fun fact - came up with this name by looking up the most popular names of the late 1800s and scrolling down until I saw one that wasn't common today.
A lot of names haven't changed...
Oof, I hate when that happens. It's rough.
I see that you did take my suggestion on dumping Strength and Spirit. Hoping that doesn't come back to haunt you, eh?
Knowledge of the Occult is always potentially useful, although whether or not your character knows about that is up to you. Geography can also help with knowing about the lay of the land.
The base module starts in Tombstone, although I may run an adventure or two that takes place on your way there. Do consider your characters' potential connections to Tombstone, the Earp family, and/or the Cowboy gang, though. It'll help bring you into the campaign a little more.
BTW, your player's guide link is broken.
Huh. Weird. Does this one work?
Yeah...but I don't wanna give my info out for a one-time download. Anything worth worrying about for a nitro tossin' mad scientist in that book?
How much would a bandolier be, and how many vials can I hold in one?
Also since you pushed so much about the encumbrance rules in Niles' game, what do you feel about them here?
A handful of things. Every source book has a few tricks and Edges that are general use. But you should be able to get everything you need from the core book if you're mainly going for 'blow up sh*t'.
Yeah, I was expecting like a Google Drive download, I don't really want to make an account for a website I'll probably never visit again.
Hmm... I'll copy/paste the relevant info into a doc, kind of like Niles did for his game, and share it out.
As far as encumbrance in Deadlands goes, I generally don't worry about it too much. You guys are usually at least close to town, or if you aren't, you're out on the prairie, typically with some sort of something where you can store most of your gear (like a horse, or a train). If you're ever in a situation where you don't have anything like that, then you've got bigger problems.
Plus with the general lack of armor in the setting, you're typically carrying less weight to begin with. If it comes up and is important I'll take a look and probably increase the weight limit like in your game, but I don't see it being an issue.
Skills: Fighting d8 (3), Guts d8 (4),Persuasion d6 (2), Climbing d8 (3), Swimming d8 (3)
Hindrances:
The Cup Overflows (Major)
Loyal (Minor)
Quirk (Minor) (Speaks in a LOUD, BOOMING, JOLLY VOICE.)
Edges:
Martial Arts
Biff is a man's man, and a gentleman.
His likes include:
-Squat thrusts
-Sarsaparilla
-A bout of righteous fisticuffs
-A jolly good, rousing fun time!
His dislikes include:
-Shirts
-Bullies
Biff looks and sounds jolly good to me! Hope that lack of Notice doesn't come around to haunt you, although it somehow seems fitting given the overall perception of this character I'm getting.
Also finished reading over Claire's backstory--everything looks good. My GM wheels are already turning in my mind, wondering how far I can draw out different aspects and bring them back to bite you... that is to say, poring over the many hooks and details you added to the character!
Also, here's the link to the Edges and Hindrance presented in the Player's Guide. If anyone decides they want to play a Harrowed or Hexslinger and wants more information, just let me know and I'll get you more.
To answer a question I missed earlier: For a bandolier, I'd say I'd price it the same as a gun belt, $2, and it can hold... say, a dozen? That sounds about right to me. If you think it should be more I could see it going up to twenty, though. And you could easily wear two of them if you want to chance blowing up even more, hehe.
Also, any updates or word from folks? I'd love to get this started ASAP, although I know working with a new setting and all can take some time. You definitely don't need a backstory as long and fleshed-out as Claire's, although of course I'd love it if you did; really just a simple reason you're headed for Tombstone and any connections you may have with Doc Holliday, the Earps, or the Cowboy gang are all I need.
Okomi here and all statted up. Backstory should be up by the end of the day.
So... since I only know half the people here in-person, anyone feel like sharing a bit about what they're thinking for their characters? Like RP style and backstory? Just curious.
so first off my friends decided that Okomi sounds to much like a Japanese name so I changed it. Have fun pronouncing my new name
Secondly here's my backstory.
Unlike many in this world, the story of Askuwheteau’s conception was not one of love but of violence. 24 years ago, when Luyu was still a young woman she was attacked and raped while out by the river near the southern border of the Coyote Confederation. It was clear that the mans intentions were to kill Luyu after he was done, luckily a group of native warriors that were patrolling the border came across them and the man ran, leaving only a few belongings with the name John Wesly Harden printed on them. A few weeks after the attack Luyu discovered that she was with child. At the time Luyu had already begun her training to be the tribes shaman and believed that all life was sacred and so refused to listen when many of her people said that she should let the child die.
During his childhood and young adult years Askuwheteau spent most of his time learning the ways of the shaman from his mother or alone out in the forest. Askuwheteau loved hunting, not necessarily killing, but following an animal for miles over countless different terrains, always knowing that, if he felt like it, he could shoot or trap the animal at any time he wished. Over time this love of tracking led Askuwheteau to be one of the best scouts in his area.
As he got older and the time for him to take over the role of shaman from his mother got closer Askuwheteau finally got tired of the whispering and untrusting gazes from others in his village so he decided that in order to earn the respect of his people he would find his “father” and kill him.
Askuwheteau has only been outside of the Coyote Confederation for a couple of months now and on his travels he has heard that a number of “outlaws” have taken to raiding in the area around the town of Tombstone. Surely even the White-men must consider someone who attacks women to be a criminal, maybe he could find some clue as to the whereabouts of his “father” there?
I backtracked and cut bits out a couple times so let me know if something just doesn't make sense
Not sure what backstory fits for Biff.
Someone tell Marcus to get over here and coordinate with me.
Howdy, chaps! Isn't this a jolly day for some tea and flexs?
I'll read through Biff's backstory and add accordingly as soon as I get back home (One hour, two at most).
May I say that I'm exceedingly excited about this wonderful land? This american fellas seem like a sympathetic lot.
So we're English immigrants. Sons of wealthy merchant families perhaps? Come to seek our own fortunes in the land of gold, oil, railroads, and ghost rock?
Best friends since childhood?
How about son of soldiers that died in the war? I mean, why are we so good at fisticuffing? Sure we had to defend ourselves when we were young. And a young boy won't last long unless he have friends, so we paired against the bullies. Biff sure is Arthur's bestfriend since he can remember, nonetheless he saved his life plenty of time in Britain.
But here in the glorious USA a pair of muscled ragamuffins can make some gold if they are brave, and the government pays us for kicking ass! What's not to love?
We could be bountyhunters and prospectors.
That could be our reason to have crossed the Great Ocean.
All of this also work for sons of merchants or what have you.
Well, sons of wealthy families or minor nobles would be expected to volunteer for the army for at least a tour (especially were we both 3rd sons, whose options were basically "Clergy" or "Military" for much of Britain's history as I recall, and the 1800's basically just added "Lawyer" as a third option IIRC), so that works mighty fine.
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Okey, I got Eddy ready! (Arthur didn't fit him so well)
I hope Biff doesn't mind that I took "The Cup Overflows". Since he told us about this merry game of yours and I checked The Flood Player's Guide I loved that Hindrance.
If he wants a little more difference between Eddy and Biff hindrances I'll get Grim Servant O'Death. That name is too much to pass.
Edward "Eddy" Milford McAllister Stockton
Strength d8 (2) Agility d8 (2) Spirit d6 (1) Smarts d4 (0) Vigor d6 (1)
Skills: Fighting d8 (3), Guts d8 (4), Gambling d4(1), Lockpicking d8(3), Shooting d8 (3), Streetwise d4 (1)
Hindrances:
The Cup Overflows (Major)
Heavy Sleeper(Minor)
Hard of Hearing(Minor)
Edges:
Martial Artist
Two-Fisted
Equipment:
Guns, Guns & Guns
Colt Peacemaker Revolver[2d6+1, 12/24/48, AP1] (15$)
·50x .45 bullets (3$)
Colt Revolving Shotgun[1-3d6, 12/24/48] (45$)
·40x shotgun shells (4$)
Classy Outfit
Sleevless Leather Duster[+1 toughness] (50$)
Classy Bowler hat (Priceless... 3.5$)
Nice Boots (8$)
Gold Watch, Pocket (10$)
Gun Belt with Quick-Draw Holster (13$)
Other Stuff
Backpack (2$)
Bedroll (4$)
1 lb of Bacon (15¢)
5xCigars (25¢)
Lockpicks (50$)
Playing Cards(Normal) (25¢)
Playing Cards(Marked) (25¢)
Total Spent: 158.95$.
Eddy have had a rough childhood, weren't for Biff he would have ended in prison, dead or -God protects us...- married!
His likes(+)/dislikes(-) include:
+One-Two Fisticuffs combos
+Tea. Specially chinese and british tea, not that dog pee that americans drink
+Back-to-Back action with Biff
+Redheads. God bless them!
+Long coats with no shirt and no sleeves. Radical.
+Hats. Specially funny ones
+Bacon.
-Bullies
-Police Officers
-Drugs
-Bandits
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Oh Lordy, two fisticuffers with The Cup Overflows? I'm guessing you folks aren't going to be keeping much of a low profile. Of course, Grim Servant o' Death usually isn't all that much better. Either one works fine for this adventure, of course.
Eddy looks fine in any case, and the extra cash may even be something you want to keep on hand. Have to put that Gambling skill to use at some point, after all--and you never know when you might need to do a little unplanned shopping.
Also, don't know if you all know this already, but as per Deadlands's usual rules, if everyone could let me know what their character's worst nightmare is, that'd be great.
Looks like 4 (or 5?--Leaf-step, is your character updated to the point I should look over everything? I ask because the profile looks partially updated but not all the way.) members of the party are pretty set to go at this point, stats-wise, so once I get a couple more things around and folks are ready, we can start the game--hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. I am waiting on another friend to post in but he can jump in a little after we've started if need be. I don't know about you folks, but I'm pretty darn excited to get this going. I think it'll be a fun time!
Double-check characters, let me know if you're good to go, and get me backstories as soon as you can (if you haven't already)! Be ready to join our posse on a train bound for Tombstone...
Should I send you that via PM, or post it here?
The problem I have with Grim Servant o' Death is that it apparently make you a psycho killer, since it's pretty clear that you're attacking people ON PURPOSE whenever you have a chance and making it look like an accident a lot of the time (since you'll apparently bee-line a good 30 yards just to whack a teammate sometimes the way it's written).
It would probably be better fluffed as just terrible circumstances that just happen to use your attack/damage numbers. Rather than "I miss a punch, so I run across the field and 'accidentally' punch my ally" it's "I miss a punch and a gorram tree fell on him!"
Also, I get an insane JoJo vibe from our characters, so maybe we should have learned martial arts from an Italian man...
Reginald Barclay "Biff" Mezzengoz is the fourth son of the Mezzengoz family, the finest purveyor of fine wines and spirits in all the empire!
His family are well known for their sophistication, fine breeding, and shrewd business sense.
Unfortunately, Biff only got two thirds of that equation.
Numbers bored Biff, even from a young age, and he spent much of his time on the street with his friend Eddy roughhousing with him and the other boys when he should have been studying.
The army seemed a natural progression from there. Busting heads AND getting paid for it? A dream come true, especially when Eddy joined up with him.
But after their tour was up, the two decided to seek their fortune in the upstart American states.
Biff may not have much in the brains department, but it doesn't take much to strike it rich in the land of opportunity. Does it?
Will do up gear later.
I've got the his of Cornelius done, though I need a hook for him. I'm having trouble making this a character and not just a selection of numbers and abilities. :-(
I think I need to do something different. As much as I like the idea of a glass cannon psychopath, I feel in making a goblin in human's skin.
Gimme an idea guys!
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Okey Biff, Mark the chinoitalian Baron Zeppeli as our master. We are masters of Hammond!
I'll write the backstory whenevet I can.
By the way, Mr. Master, would it be a problem if I take later the Arcane Background(Chi)? I dodn't have room for it now but I may get flashbacks of our training or some thug beat me and unlocked my third chakra or some bullshit.
The problem I have with Grim Servant o' Death is that it apparently make you a psycho killer, since it's pretty clear that you're attacking people ON PURPOSE whenever you have a chance and making it look like an accident a lot of the time (since you'll apparently bee-line a good 30 yards just to whack a teammate sometimes the way it's written).
It would probably be better fluffed as just terrible circumstances that just happen to use your attack/damage numbers. Rather than "I miss a punch, so I run across the field and 'accidentally' punch my ally" it's "I miss a punch and a gorram tree fell on him!"
Honestly, that's how I always spin Grim Servant o' Death when it comes up in games I've been in, as a Marshal or as a Player. Here's an example of what I mean. I treat is as more happenstance and very, very bad luck than intentionally attacking friends. Unarmed gets a little wonkier, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. I like your suggestion quite a bit, actually, and it feels right for the character.
New ideas for Scruffy? Well so far we've got a pair of boxers, a hexslinger, and a shaman. We don't have a Blessed, Huckster, or Voodoo practitioner yet as far as magic goes. We also don't have a straight gunslinger or rifleman. Of course, pretty much anything will do; Deadlands doesn't require a lot of "party balance." Having a healer is helpful but not necessary, and so long as you have at least one person decent with a gun you should be okay.
Also, I'm fine with taking Arcane Backgrounds or certain other Background Edges later on, as long as it makes sense. Unlocking the ability to harness his chi is fine by me.
You think it's bad luck padre. Hehehe....
I did have an idea for a union soldier scout type. Just a dude with a rifle, a tin of dip, a bottle of whiskey, and a hankerin' to do right by the U.S. of A, greatest motherlovin country in the world, no matter what those dirty rebels have to say about it!
Figured he could be an officer, maybe charismatic leader type if that's an option.
On a more serious note:
I know Jon's building an outright huckster, so we have that. My back-up character is also a voodooist, so if something goes bad, I can bring that in too. He's a former Bayou Vermilion foreman who was high enough rank to learn the basics of voodoo magic. For Scruffy, I know we have at least 2 people that are pretty socially inclined at the moment. Claire's got good Charisma, but I don't really have any intention of putting a lot more into that. Jon's huckster is playing a rich as f*ck land owner though, so he's got Noble and will be taking good Persuasion type skills. We could use a good pure gunslinger or a Blessed pretty badly though.
On the concept of chi mastery, each chakra has a certain concept tied to it that requires certain things to open. It could be said that one of the chakra's was blocked until some event that opens Eddy's chakra and lets him punch people with magic fists.
Claire's good to go as is, though I'll need to pick out her greatest fear. It's honestly probably something to do with her quest for revenge. Either she'd be afraid of her father's murderer (she's been running from him for the better part of a decade after all) or maybe just afraid of failing her family when she's spent all that time trying to avenge them.
A former Union soldier could definitely work. A current conscript less so, but maybe he's gone into the law business to keep doing what he knows best: shooting the bad guys and furthering his country? A charismatic type is definitely doable as well, there are different Edges that can boost that and you can just take the skills, too. I've been thinking about dropping the requirement for Charismatic to Spirit d6, too, so that's an option if you don't want to tank something else to get there. And of course there's always Command, and I believe a Professional Edge in the base Deadlands book.