Claire spits in the bug's face and pistol whips across the jaw, knocking it back to the ground. She twirls her gun and fires into it's center of mass, blasting it apart with one solid hit. "And stay down, ya' tick."
Watching one of the corpses give Eddy a devestating wound, Samuel quickly pulls the set of fancier playing cards from his coat, flipping open the lid and sending a single card whizzing towards the creature's torso. Crackling with arcane energy, the card slams with unnatural force into the corpse's midsection, the crackling green aura surrounding it exploding with light. "Where's the beast that escaped the train? Something this small couldn't rip a man in half..."
Combat Rolls:
Spellcasting:1d8 ⇒ 3 Wild:1d6 ⇒ 5 Total of 5.
Damage:3d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 6) = 14 Damage; Ace:1d6 ⇒ 3 Total of 17.
Bennies 2/3 | Wounds 0/3 | Parry 5 | Toughness 5 | Charisma 0 (2 if respect military) | Grit 1 | Pace 6 | Xp 5
Cornelius reloads and shoots the closest threat with shotgun of shelling +1; it's super effective! Where once the target had a chest, abdomen, and neck, there is now a huge gaping hole, and a lot of blood and grime on the ground behind it.
How it went down numberwise:
same song different verse:1d6 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 - 2 = 3 Wild thing:1d6 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 - 2 = 6 Have at thee!:1d6 ⇒ 3 = Total 9 = Raise
This is what a shotgun to the gut feels like:4d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 6, 3) = 17 Feels like Pain:2d6 ⇒ (6, 2) = 8 Dear God I hope I hit a wild card:1d6 ⇒ 5 = Total 30
"Actual shotguns, Miss Claire, are also rather useful for leaving shotgun sized holes in bodies...or in this case, leaving body parts in the hole, as I do believe there is more hole than body in that."
Claire succeeds in knocking the creature from its assault and takes aim. One trigger pull later, and a very dead bug lies still on the ground. Samuel throws another card, which bowls over one of the corpses on Eddy with a resounding crack. Cornelius dispatches the other with a roar of his shotgun, blasting apart everything above the waist. Askuwheteau succeeds in tearing a wide rip in the corpse before him with his spear, but the creature spills out onto the ground, hissing and waving its claws.
By my count we have 1 creature on Biff and 1 on Askuwheteau as Eddy comes in to finish off the round. Then you're all up again before the creatures, so basically everyone can post an action, and Eddy has two (he probably wants to Soak, too).
Initiative Draws:
Askuwheteau: 8 of Diamonds
Biff: 5 of Clubs
Claire: Jack of Spades
Cornelius: 7 of Clubs
Eddy: 9 of Diamonds
Samuel: Jack of Clubs
Creatures: 2 of Clubs
"I enjoy a little flash to my gunslinging," Claire says casually to Cornealius. "Besides, if someone's not expecting a hole the size of their fist in their stomach, then they're more likely to let their guard down." She spins toward the critter next to Biff and lets loose with another glowing bullet. She grins as the rounds slams into the creature's carapace.
Claire's bullet slams into the critter's carapace, knocking it to the side. It starts to hiss, but Biff brings about a mighty kick that lifts both parties clear from the ground. Although the Brit comes back down after about half a foot, the creature sails into the air--in several pieces. The last creature wheels to face each member of the posse as pieces of its companion's body rain back down.
Scout; bennies 3/3; wounds 0; Toughness 5; XP 5; CHA -2 (outside of natives)
Askuwheteau glares at the annoying, disgusting, little thing in front of him and decides that now is the perfect time to use one of the white-man phrases he's heard sense leaving the confederation. Twirling his spear once than grabbing it in two hands Askuwheteau brings the piercing weapon down on the insect with a low growl of, "F*ck. You!"
Soak:1d6 ⇒ 11d6 ⇒ 6 Ace:1d6 ⇒ 5 Soaking with a raise. So, no lame and no wound, am I right?
Eddy concentrates, putting aside the pain from his thigh wound, then launches his arm in a mighty karate chop, one to cut a rock in half.
Wild Fighting:1d10 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 51d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7 Damage:1d4 + 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (2) + (3) + 4 = 9
"A mighty fine kick, Biff! But don't compare these things with Irish dwarfs.... poor undead abominations may take offense! Hahahahaha!"
Eddy resists the attack mightily, pushing through most of the pain and ignoring the danger presented by such a powerful strike to his thigh. You got a Success and Raise, so that soaks 2 Wounds. Unfortunately, you still take 1 Wound, with the Lame Hindrance attached. It's only temporary, though, so it will go away as soon as you heal that Wound. In response, he moves to the last creature and drops his hand in a mighty chop as Askuwheteau stabs with his spear. A cloud of sand explodes up and hides them from the others, but when all is settled the creature is impaled and broken in twain from the mighty Eddy's assault.
Still comes to the clearing once more, as the strange bugs and corpses lie strewn about. Samuel's comment is correct, though: these bugs are too small to have made the tracks you followed here. The only remaining clue is the cave in the cliff...
"I make big holes in people," Claire says, popping her revolver open and reloading. "But I'm not the person to go to if you want to patch holes up."
She looks over at the impossible to exist cave and shivers again. "I have a feeling that those were just the babies. And mama's gonna be waiting to tear us apart inside there." She points toward the cave. She absently spins her cylinder to her enhanced bullets, one finger tracing the rune on the side. "We're in for a bad time if we're not careful goin' in after it."
Eddy hears the soldier and the irish worry about his well being and starts laughing loudly. Like, really really loudly. Turned laugh to eleven. "Tis but a flesh wound!" he says before walking slowly to the cave "Now onwards to glory! Let's kill us an ugly and insectoid dragon!"
Samuel goes to retrieve the playing card now speared through the corpse's chest, wiping it off before placing it back in the deck. "Neither am I, I'm afraid. My mother once taught me some first aid when I was younger, but I'm afraid whatever I once remembered is long since gone." Samuel stares at the entrance to the cave, and takes a step towards it ahead of the others. "Claire's right, the mother must be inside. We need to be careful in there, or we'll be in real trouble. These creatures were bad enough, I can't imagine one being all grown up..."
Scout; bennies 3/3; wounds 0; Toughness 5; XP 5; CHA -2 (outside of natives)
Askuwheteau groans slightly as he straightens up, turning to the rest of the party. "I'm afraid that I don't yet have the skills to heal myself or Eddy of our injuries. I will make do for now, though the ride back will be... unpleasant."
"Then let's flush it out, then. Like... a boar hunt, right? A giant, insectoid boar hunt. Right." Samuel brings his rifle up again, moving towards the cave. "We shouldn't fight it out in the open... we'll need to draw it out." Samuel looks about for a moment, before gingerly picking up the corpse of one of the spider-like creatures. He holds it away from himself, before chucking it underhand as far into the cave as he can muster, hoping the death of its offspring will have the creature leave its lair.
"If that doesn't work... who wants to lure it out?"
As two of the posse face the trouble of injuries on the frontier, and Eddy and Biff engage in what can only be called a dramatic display of manliness (the likes of which were never before seen, and may well never be seen again), Cornelius takes it upon himself to enter the cave. The entrance is small, but after about ten feet it opens up into a room some fifteen feet across. The lighting has dropped dramatically in here, more than might be expected, and it's quite dark. There's no sign of the creature, though.
Notice +1:
There is a crack in the ceiling of the room.
Raise on Above:
...and as you look at it, you see some sand or dust fall loose.
Two Raises:
...and a perfect glint of just a little light off your gun does reveal what looks an awful lot like one of the insectoid critters you just fought hiding up there.
Looking around Askuwheteau doesn't see anything in the cave until he notices the crack in the ceiling. Turning to Cornealius, he whispers, "I don't see the creature but that crack in the ceiling is worrying me, I don't believe we should go in any further."
Scout; bennies 3/3; wounds 0; Toughness 5; XP 5; CHA -2 (outside of natives)
"I don't think that I can make that throw. Though maybe if we just throw the creature in the middle of the room then fire up at the hole to get its attention?"
Eddy finishes posing and walks close to those inside the cavern, whistling with surprise "Pheeeeeew! This indeed is a dark cavern. How unfortunate to us."
Bennies 2/3 | Wounds 0/3 | Parry 5 | Toughness 5 | Charisma 0 (2 if respect military) | Grit 1 | Pace 6 | Xp 5
"Hmm...this'd be a right fine time to have had some dynamite and just collapsed this whole hunk a rock on the thing. Oh well...hindsight. We should fetch the others. We obviously ain't pulling it out. We will need lights, and to stay close to one another. Ed...Run and fetch the rest, and tell em what's going on. This ain't gonna be pleasant."
He chucks the dead critter into the center of the cave.
"I love to run, good for cardio, but if you look down for a moment you will see that I can still punch... but moving seems out of my capabilities. My most sincere apologies. Plus if we leave it alive that eldritch spawn will surely come back to bite us... well... on our backs."
Claire moves forward, keeping near the entrance to the cave and covering Cornealius and the Brits from behind. Her pistol stays firmly trained on the rest of the party, just in case something nasty jumps at them from the darkness. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all."
Bennies 2/3 | Wounds 0/3 | Parry 5 | Toughness 5 | Charisma 0 (2 if respect military) | Grit 1 | Pace 6 | Xp 5
"The thought just occurred to me...what if we smoked it out? We can ride back to the train, take some lumbar from the wreckage, fill this cave up, and make it hotter than the devil's sunroom in here. If the fire don't get it, the smoke will drive it out, an' were waitin' guns, spears, an' boxing gloves in hand to mud stomp the overgrown centipede."
"That's a pretty good plan," Claire says. "Fighting it in close quarters could go... poorly. But if we smoke the little dosser out, then we can catch it in a crossfire from a distance and tear it apart. The only dodgy part is that it might move if we leave it alone too long. Or it might come after us for stomping on its little monsters."
Scout; bennies 3/3; wounds 0; Toughness 5; XP 5; CHA -2 (outside of natives)
Askuwheteau moves just behind the brits to act as a second barrier to anything that pops out, then responds to Cornealius. "An excellent idea but i don't think that we have the time to spare on moving back and forth. We should try the direct approach first."
Sorry about this guys, but its totally in character and it's Ash fault for saying the magic words...
"Did somebody say DIRECT APPROACH?" yells the towring brit "Onward, Biff! TO GLORY!" as he advances and empties his shotgun widespread: to the front, to the sides, to the roof. Everywhere trying to catch a glimpse so Biff can focus his light on the annoying bug.
Well originally the creature was going to drop when the lantern came in, getting a surprise at you guys; but now Eddy's surprising it since he's coming in gun blazing. Technically you can't fan a revolving shotgun, but it doesn't matter, we'll just say you fire the first round at the crack your allies have pointed out. Go ahead and roll Shooting, Eddy, with a -4 penalty for Heavy Cover, as it's wedged up there pretty good, unless you want to walk right under it to shoot, in which case it goes down to medium cover.
Daaaamn! I swear by tea that I did post this morning... I hate you Paizo, my most hated enemy!
Shotty Shot!:1d8 - 4 ⇒ (2) - 4 = -21d6 - 4 ⇒ (2) - 4 = -2
The british mountain dashes shooting around and yells "Knock, knock! Brit Brigade! Surrender your disgusting arms and we may only punch you once!" Weeeell, not getting a clear shot, I think
You may want to Benny that since you just shot one of your teammates. Just saying. And you do get the close-range bonus to the roll, although it didn't matter this time.
Eddy enters the cave at as quick a pace as he can manage given his leg. He quickly brings the shotgun up to blast at the crack in the ceiling and fires. The roar of the gun is almost deafening in this enclosed space, and the creature drops from the ceiling and falls to the ground. While knocked loose, it recovers quickly and lets out another hiss-clack.
The creature quickly rushes Eddy, targeting the biggest perceived threat. It leaps on him and begins tearing with teeth and claws, and pain shoots through his body as it digs into his flesh. The worst seems to be when it buries its face in his stomach, instinctively attacking where its brood had damaged the man before. Eddy's muscles are even more damaged and he feels his strength fading as he drops. (That's 3 more Wounds, which drops you to Incapacitated. I'd suggest using your last Benny to Soak; I'll wait to roll any Injuries until that's resolved.)
The posse readies to react as one of their own is assaulted viciously by the monster they've sought, but a chill flows through them as it pounces and attacks so terribly. One more Guts check, folks; this one is at a -2 including your Grit bonus.
Rolls and Draws for This Post:
Notice:1d8 ⇒ 2 Soak:1d10 ⇒ 4 Initiative Draws
Asku: 9 of Clubs
Biff: 7 of Hearts
Claire: 10 of Hearts
Cornelius: 6 of Spades
Eddy: 3 of Diamonds
Samuel: 3 of Hearts
Husker: King of Clubs
Attack:1d10 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8 Damage:1d10 + 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + (6) + 2 = 14Ace:1d6 ⇒ 4Total 18, 3 Raises. I'm sorry, Eddy.
Claire scowls as the thing's body manages to absorb the shotgun blast from the utterly mad Brit. Sick and tired of these insect beasts, she ignores the creature's hiss entirely and whirls her chamber again, beginning to feel the fatigue of using so much magic in one day. Her entire gun crackles with energy and small bolts of power surge down the barrel as she takes aim. "Eat this you overgrown beetle!" Her revolver roars like a .50 cal as a glowing bullet tears into the creature's hide.
No problem, amigo. When Eddy enlisted to punch bandits and ended fighting eldritch monsters from beyond space he knew what he was up to. Well, he didn't but he didn't care either.
Soaking:1d6 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 41d6 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3 Three wounds then, eh? This gun b gud "The not so little detritus has fangs! Well, I've punched yer kind before and I WILL DO IT AGAIN!"
Samuel recoils in horror as the beast plummets from the ceiling and tears deep into Eddy's flesh, but manages to compose himself long enough draw three of the razor edged playing cards and send three flying towards the beast. One of the three glances off the creature's hide, but the other two slam full-force into it, the green light dissipating in a large explosion of arcane power. "Don't worry! I've got you!" he shouts as he moves to draw more cards from his deck if the beast isn't put down.
Cornelius somehow manages to, just barely, steel himself against the threat, and lowers his gun, shotgun blasting the hell out of the creature with it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Male Something similar to human, but one can never be sure without a DNA test Slacker - 3, Gamer - 2, Nerd - 2, Geek - 2; Eldrich Napper - 7
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.)
Claire grew up on the move. Her father, Seamus, started his life as an Irish immigrant on the streets of New York, but he made his big break when his employer, a warehouse manager, was nearly killed in an accident. Her father saved his life, diving in the way of a set of falling barrels and knocking him aside. Her father survived and while he was recovering from his injuries, his boss came to visit the hospital. In thanks for his life, the man recommended her father for a position with a friend of his, a real estate broker. Claire’s father quickly found that he had a talent for the work, both because of his sharp mind and his gregarious personality, and rose from being an assistant and a copyist to working on land deals himself as a broker. With his new position came wealth and he proposed to his fiancée, one Abigail Fitzgerald, shortly before being asked to move out west to act as the broker’s representative. Abigail and Seamus married in St. Louise on their way out to the southwest territories.
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…
Male Something similar to human, but one can never be sure without a DNA test Slacker - 3, Gamer - 2, Nerd - 2, Geek - 2; Eldrich Napper - 7
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.
Male Something similar to human, but one can never be sure without a DNA test Slacker - 3, Gamer - 2, Nerd - 2, Geek - 2; Eldrich Napper - 7
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...
What Dementia Do I Have?:1d20 ⇒ 7
Evil Deeds.:
Evil Deeds: An insidious manitou convinces the hero that someone or something is evil, or trying to steal his ideas, and must be stopped. Each time the character gets this result, his madness is more pronounced. At first he may only talk badly about his “enemies.” Later on he might attempt to ruin or even kill them.
Hm. That seems an easy enough one to pull off. Probably even a nice plot hook for the GM.
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.
Redbeard the Scruffy wrote:
Also if that player's guide you were speaking of is free, does anyone have a link to it?
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.
Bennies 2/3 | Wounds 0/3 | Parry 5 | Toughness 5 | Charisma 0 (2 if respect military) | Grit 1 | Pace 6 | Xp 5
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.
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.
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'.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Scout; bennies 3/3; wounds 0; Toughness 5; XP 5; CHA -2 (outside of natives)
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.
Backstory:
Askuwheteau Leafstep was born the unwanted, but not unloved, son of Luyu Watersong, now respected Shaman of what is left of the Cherokee People.
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
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?
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.
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.
The Cup Overflows (Major) That chinese opium dealer back in Chelsea sure taught as a lot... he
Heavy Sleeper(Minor) Sleep is for the weak? Nah, being tired is for the fools
Hard of Hearing(Minor) Too many punches to the head
Edges:
Martial Artist Good. Old. Fisticuffs
Two-Fisted Now with twice as fist
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$)
Playing Cards(Normal) (25¢)
Playing Cards(Marked) (25¢)
Total Spent: 158.95$. Will spend the rest according to party needs
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
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!
tl;dr: 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...
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...
Backstory:
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?
Bennies 2/3 | Wounds 0/3 | Parry 5 | Toughness 5 | Charisma 0 (2 if respect military) | Grit 1 | Pace 6 | Xp 5
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. :-(
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.
Male Something similar to human, but one can never be sure without a DNA test Slacker - 3, Gamer - 2, Nerd - 2, Geek - 2; Eldrich Napper - 7
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.
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.
