RE: [DL] DL: Los Diablos (SHANE, Marshals only)

["Clint Black" <cblack@ohtinc.com>]

>It is a good argument, however, the harrowed would return a hero. The
>player character would be in control fighting the Reckoning. The los
>diablos is a powerful tool for the Reckoners because it kills heroes who
>have tried putting the kebash on their plans.

True, but to me the harrowed *are* one of those plans.  Bwah-ha-ha-ha!!!
;-)

>Again, in theory, this is brilliant. The harrowed character is a virtual
>marionette for the Reckoners to control. However, when the hero had
>dominion over the manitou, he's still fighting evil, not a thing the
>Reckoners want to see.

<shrug>  Different gaming styles I guess.  I don't see it as fighting evil
so much as fighting fear, and I can't think of anything more frightening
than you becoming the bad guy.  To use a movie for an example, look at
Resident Evil.  To me, the zombies and critters themselves weren't nearly as
scary as the prospect that one of the infected team members could become a
zombie at any time.

I suppose my thought is that a harrowed has to fight *hard* to cause less
fear than he removes.  Of course, I use them... carefully.  I don't do
anything for a while, giving the player enough rope to hang himself...
sometimes literally.  Imagine the harrowed on watch at night on the lone
prairie.  The manitou takes over, cuts the throats of the horses, hides all
of his weapons, then sets up a noose and hangs himself.  The other posse
members awaken to find their harrowed buddy twitching at the end of a rope,
and their campsite surrounded by prairie ticks drawn by the scent of the
blood.

One of my favorites is after they've stopped whatever fearmonger they've
been facing (and preferably told the townsfolk all is safe).  Then the
manitou takes over and mimics the fearmonger's style.  Bam!  Back up goes
the fear level.  And the best part is letting the posse know that their
harrowed buddy is responsible.  Then what do they do?

"Your trouble's gone, Mr. Mayor."

"Then what's responsible for the body we just found?"

"Umm... well..."

Another thing about harrowed is that they can get other heroes out of the
Reckoner's hair.  One easy way is to think of all the secrets that posse
members tend to have amongst themselves.  A manitou only needs a few minutes
to run up to the next member of the Rangers or Agency he meets and mention
the guy with the glowing cards or the Northern/Southern accent.

Anyway, to my point of view a harrowed is a long term investment for the
Reckoners.  He might be a bit of a problem now, but the long odds say
they'll help out and maybe even lose complete dominion to the manitou.  So
that's where I'm coming from here.


>Amen to that, Clint, and thanks for your input. The player is a nice guy
>but a real rules-hungry munchkin sometimes. He was just angry because he
>lost his character. Tough. That's the unfortunate side effect of
>roleplaying - player characters get killed. I think the reason for his
>challenging me was that he lost his character in Hell on Earth when
>another GM pitted him against Stone, and he didn't want to lose his
>Deadlands character as well.

Understandable, but you're right, it happens.  Too bad he pulled the joker;
you might have avoided this whole situation.  Hopefully, his new character
will salve the wounds.  :)


Clint Black

"You smell that? Do you smell that? ...Ghost Rock, son. Nothing else in the
world smells like that. I love the smell of ghost rock in the morning. You
know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over
I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' Yank body. The
smell, you know that sulphurous smell, the whole hill. Smelled like...
victory. Someday this war's gonna end..."