RE: [DL] Law Dogs revised and other stuff

["Jeff Yates" <jyates@primaryfunction.com>]

Hexslingers are Hucksters, but they prefer to shoot things rather than
gamble.  They perform the contest with the same (type) of manitou in the
Hunting Grounds.  They do the exact same thing, but don't tend to use
Hoyle's book very much -- too much work figgerin' out tha coded messages!
More often it's a master/apprentice learnin' method.

Hucksters use the card game as a way of envisioning the struggle that goes
on in the Hunting Grounds.  But that isn't the only way of doin' it -- even
Hoyle said there are other ways, this is just the way it usually goes
because of the encoding of info into a book of games.  Hexslingers by their
personalities would probably envision the struggle as a pistol duel.  For
that matter, any Huckster/Hexslinger could envision the struggle anyway they
like (care for a bit o' trick shootin'? Closest to the jackolope's left eye
wins...).  However, the card drawing is a useful and playtested game
mechanic.  So Hexslingers use it too.

As far as a focus goes, I don't remember if the published rules mention
bonuses or penalties for having or not having a focus (I'm in the midst of
rereading everything in preparation of restarting my game).  If it were me,
I'd impose a penalty for not having your focus handy if I were granting you
a bonus for when you did have it around.  I believe that plain-jane
Hucksters don't have to have a deck of cards handy, but they do wind up with
a hand of cards in their mits when they cast a hex, so you very often find
the Huckster with a real deck in hand as a cover.  Hexslingers, since they
probably don't have a poker game goin' on in the Hunting Grounds, don't get
glowin' cards poppin' in that they have to explain.  But _something_ happens
that makes 'em obviously diff'rent -- glowin' six-guns or something.  So
having a gun as a focus makes sense.  Explainin' why they glow and spark and
hum is another thing...

Long winded, but I hope it helps...

Jeff Y.
Marshal for the Dynamite Gang



> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-deadlands@gamerz.net [mailto:owner-deadlands@gamerz.net]On
> Behalf Of James Knevitt
> Sent: Sunday, October 14, 2001 9:58 AM
> To: deadlands@gamerz.net
> Subject: Re: [DL] Law Dogs revised and other stuff
>
>
>
> --- EverWyrd <Everwyrd@everwyrd.com> wrote:
> > Do they still wrangle with a manitou or
> > are they performing some
> > other test of wills. Since poker hands are still
> > used; are they playing
> > poker with something in the hunting grounds or is it
> > just a convenient game
> > mechanic?
>
> In my campaign, there's a PC hexslinger named Jacque.
> Now Jacque has his two heirloom Tranter pistols as his
> focuses. In his test of wills with a manitou, he
> envisions it as a gunfight. If he wins the ethereal
> gunfight, the manitou does what he says.
>
> I did away with the whole idea of cards as a focus for
> a huckster's/hexslinger's power. Now, in my game, all
> huckster/hexslinger-type characters must have a focus
> (it can be almost anything).
>
> The focus determines the shape and form of the mental
> duel with the manitou. Also, the huckster/hexslinger
> gets +2 to all hex-related rolls while he in in
> contact with his focus (as a sidebar, Jacque the
> hexslinger has a habit of using Hunch a lot. Imagine
> if he wants to get his +2 focus bonus... heh heh heh).
>
>
> Any help there?
>
> James
>
> =====
> Knowledge is Power. Power Corrupts. Study Hard. Be Evil.
>
> "Lend me your dark & nasty stuff, O my buddy Bert !"
> - Paul Jacoby
>
> "Should you choose to test my resolve in this matter, you will be
> facing a finality beyond your comprehension, and you will not be
> counting days, or months, or years, but millenia in a place with
> no doors." - Joe Black, "Meet Joe Black"
>
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