[HOE] Hucksters and Strain

[john tfs <johntfs1@yahoo.com>]

After reading the recent discussion regarding
Hucksters and Strain, I think folks have been taking
too much of an "either/or" approach.  Yes, replacing
the cards with Strain makes Huckster magic simpler and
more predictable, but it violates the spirit of the
character, which is that of someone playing with
forces he can't truly control.  On the other hand,
huckster magic should be dangerous and mysterious, not
futile and frustrating.  Spending three to four action
trying to cast a simple Soul Blast and failing due to
the luck of the cards also strikes me as wrong.  

However, I think I have a compromise solution: Stake
(yes, it's actually Strain, but Stake sound more
"pokerish").  A gambler who comes to a game with a
large stake tends to have more options than one with a
smaller stake.  Many times, such a gambler can raise
the pot beyond his opponents' ability to match.  It's
not exactly "according to Hoyle", but it can work. 
Likewise, a huckster who has a large Stake (based on
Vigor as per Strain) can more readily influence the
game he plays with the manitous.  He can do this in
several ways:

1) BUYING IN: For 1 point of Stake, a huckster can
"buy in" when casting a hex.  A huckster who buys in
does not roll his Hexslingin' skill or risk botching
on the die.  However, he is assumed to have gained
only 1 success in casting the hex.  As such, he draws
only the 5 cards as usual.

2) RAISIN': For each 2 points of Stake a Huckster
spends, he may add a raise to an already successful
roll to cast a Hex.  Raisin' may not be used to negate
a failure or a botch.  Raisin may, however, be
combined with Buying In.

3) ANTE UP: Sometimes a Huckster needs a Hex to be
successful.  For every point of Stake a Huckster
spends, he may boost his card hard by 1 level up to a
maximum hand of Two Pairs.  As long as a Hex achieves
at least minimal success, a Huckster may spend the
stake.  Examp: Martin Deveraux wants to cast Shadow
Walk, which has a hand minimum of Two Pairs.  He makes
his roll but gets only an Ace, so he Antes Up 3 Stake.
 This moves the hand up three levels to Two Pairs
(from Ace to One Pair, to Jacks, to Two Pairs).

4) PAY THE DEALER: Manitous are evil, vicious and
vengeful.  They're also greedy and can be influenced
(or at least distracted) by a tribute of power.  With
Pay the Dealer, a Huckster who backlashes  for
whatever reason may reduce his total on the Backlash
table by 1 for every point of Strain he spends.

LIMITATION: The more experienced and knowledgeable a
Huckster is, the better he can spend his Stake.  To
reflect this, a Huckster may only spend Stake up to
his skill level in Academia: Occult (which reflects
his understanding of the "physics" of the Hunting
Grounds) on any one Hex casting.  Exam: After
successfully casting Shadow Walk and getting behind
his opponent, Deveraux decides to launch a Soul Blast.
 He rolls against gets a 6 for a single success.  He
decides to spend 2 Stake to give himself an extra
success (and thus, an extra card).  His first five
cards give him a pair.  His sixth card is the Black
Joker, which gives him a three of a kind and a roll on
the Backlash table.  Deveraux's Academia: Occult is a
4d10.  Thus he can spend up to 2 more Stake to reduce
the roll on the Backlash table.  Had he spent 2 Stake
earlier to give himself 2 successes, he would not now
be able to spend to modify his roll, since the
Blacklash result is part of a single Hex casting.

I think the Stake option will give the Huckster a
little more control over the forces he commands, but
will not remove the danger of those forces.  I
deliberately limited the Ante-Up option to Two Pairs,
since that's the limit for Tempests.  I figure that if
a Huckster wants to go for larger hands, he'll have to
take the risks associated with them, which keeps more
toward the spirit of the character.

=====
"I am Justice.  I am Fate.  I am what happens totinpot scum like yourselves when you begin to sufferfrom delusions of adequacy.  I am the Shithammer ofGod swinging down from Heaven to smash you back intothe wastelands that spawned you.  There comes a timewhen fear, greed and evil must be redressed.  The timeis now, the place is here and God help anyone who getsin my way." - Malachi Shepherd

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