[DL] Re: deadlands-digest.20000725-3

["Andrew Cunningham" <techie@techie.f9.co.uk>]

Jacques said,

> One of the only RPGs I've encountered that manages to balance setting
w/mechanics. Before all of you who are unhappy with the combat
dice-heaviness jump all over me about that, I'll say up front that it
doesn't bother me. Using cards, poker chips and dice together so fits in
well with the setting, and like any system you use, it gets easier the more
you use it. The mechanics behind Hucksters was clever enough to make me stop
breathing for a moment when I read about it the first time and mutter (in a
Wile. E. Coyote voice) "Genius. Pure genius."

    For some reason a lot of people seem to object to the card-based
initiative system, apparently missing the point that it's fundamentally dice
based with the cards as placemarkers. One of the most vociferous enemies of
the DL ini system here in Edinburgh thinks that the 7th Sea system is
fantastic. The 7th Sea system, for those of you who don't know, is
fundamentally the same- you roll a number of dice and act on that number.
The difference is there's no convenient way of remembering when you act, so
you either leave half a dozen dize as rolled on the table, or write it down,
or remember it. My point is that some people just randomly dislike the card
system. me, I think it's great. Being able to hold the cards, etc, is always
nice.
    And as for the hexing system, it makes being a blessed seem very dull
indeed ;) Hex draws rule, particularily with Old Hat... Steve, you'll like
this one. In Monday night's game my huckster finally masters Sould Blast.
He's got hexslinging:5, and a Spirit of D12- yeah, i know- and we're playing
that it started at level one and works up with every use. Christian also has
a Relic hat- no doubt it has a proper name, but we call it Maxwell
Blighthouse (RIP)'s F*&^ing Lunatic Hat as it can never be removed a la Dead
man's Boots, and gives a number of extra cards equal to the fear level on a
succesful hex. Unfortunately, the user backlashes on either joker, and
there's a plus on the backlash roll.
    So anyway, the very first time he soul blasts comes when the posse get
ambushed by a possessed wildcat, which has the spirit of a twisted and
vengeful shaman in it. First use- BANG! A straight, in the head. 8D8 damage,
and that's one dead wildcat. The disembodied spirit floats out, and gets
zapped- bang! A full house with some inconsequential backlash- that's 8D10
when it hurts, and one less screwed up shaman spirit out there.
    The next day, we're on a train and get ambushed by bandits in a
steamwagon. "No problem, I will subvert the evil ones into doing the work of
good" says I, and soul blast the driver. oops, black joker, Full House. Name
the value, says Gary the GM, so I call it to make a full house, rather than
2 pair. Gary rolls backlash, oops... Looks like I just zapped my posse mate
Jim in the back for 8D10 damage.
    I just love being a huckster.

Rich said,

Compare the Deadlands groups you know
> to your average Vampire groups.  You'll find far better roleplaying at a
> Deadlands game, since the rules can be used to rein in the more
> outlandixh players.

    Ah, but... In DL you're roleplaying a human character in a more or less
understandable, real world setting. In Wampire you're being a dark lord of
the night in a strange and eerir underbelly of the real world. Much harder
to RP. The same would go for a hard sci-fi game- the players will always
have less understanding of how their character would act, and the background
in which they're operating, than they do in the essentially spaghetti
western world we use as a sandbox. When some cowpoke knocks over the poker
table, you know instantly what to do, but when XYRHDPIJ the Fnarrian Bounty
Hunter offers you outside it's just not hte same.

AndrewC