Re: [HoE] Junkman Cometh/Huckster ?

[AJSolis@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/24/99 11:46:13 AM Central Daylight Time, 
crow_steve@hotmail.com writes:

> 
>  Actually, and after careful study of H&H (particularly pages 30-31), 
>  "casting a Hex" seems to represent _three_ things:
>  
>  1) The Huckster opening a connection to the Hunting Grounds
>  
>  2) The Huckster seeking out a Manitou of sufficient power (i.e., if you're 
>  casting Gamblers' Luck, you don't want low power Manitous)
>  
>  3) The actual game of skill/chance that lets the Manitou drain off some or 
> all of the Manitou's power
      Yes, true, but in my original theory I thought there were only steps 
number one and two.  I thought that Hucksters just made do with whatever 
Manitou happened to be hanging around at the time, but the mechanics (and the 
explanation for the mechanics suggested otherwise).  Ah well, there went that 
theory.  <chuckle> 

> Honestly, Adam's conclusion is the one that I keep coming back to as well, 
> and that I tried to (however inadequately) argue for.
  Ah, glad that I was making sense to at least one person, my communication 
skills are sadly not always up to par.

> To clarify though, I'm primarily talking about Veterans of the Weird West 
> Hucksters, though.  200-year old experienced folks.  Personally, I tend to 
> think that "modern-day" Hucksters (i.e., non-Veterans) always have been 
> unviable.  I didn't allow them before the TJC rules:  I suppose I would 
>  allow them since those rules came out, but (not surprisingly) the folks 
I've 
> >  talked to have no interest in doing so.
> 
   Well, I would imagine that Veterans would be willing to share their 
knowledge to others, and I figure as long as there are those who can read and 
a copy of Hoyle's that someone might figure it out for themselves, so new 
hucksters aren't a problem to my way of thinking.  What with the apocalypse 
and all, I am sure there are less hucksters in HoE then there are in 
Deadlands, but considering that effective immortality is one of their spells, 
and that some hucksters are effectively immortal thanks to their Manitou 
soulmate (as it were), I figure there is little danger of the art becoming 
extinct.
   And as for playing a Huckster in HoE with the official rules, probably 
not, but then again I am rather enamored of the Doomsayers among the HoE Abs. 
 shrugs

 > Are Manitous craftier and more cunning?  Well, maybe.  On the other hand, 
a 
> 200-year old Huckster who is still around, a Veteran of the Weird West, has 
> (conservatively) dealt with 73 _thousand_ Manitous.  I'm being charitable 
> here, and assuming one Hex cast a day (Gambler's Luck, if nothing else).  
> Doesn't that count for anything as far as making our hypothetical Veteran 
> equally crafty and cunning?
   Well, it should.

>  
> Does this make sense to anyone?  If part of hex-casting has always been 
>  finding the most powerful Manitous you can, and there are lots more 
powerful 
> 
> Manitous out there post-2081 to find, how can hex-casting not benefit in 
> some manner?
>  
    Yes, your reasoning sounds good to me, although I do have a problem with 
the increased minimum hand thing, just because it doesn't seem to actually 
mesh with the mechanics and theories of Huckstering.  You can get a good hand 
out of a puny Manitou, and a poor hand out of a powerful Manitou (although 
the reverse is the most likely odds wise), so I see no relation between 
Manitou strength and minimum hand.  Minimum hand would seem to only indicate 
how difficult the spell is for the huckster to cast once he has the energy 
from the Manitou, and the hand the huckster draws represents how good and or 
lucky the Huckster is with that self same energy.
    But game rules making sense is a pet peeve of mine, I believe that I have 
probably annoyed more than one person by analyzing something to death.