Re: [HOE] Hucksters and Strain

["Jeff Shoffner" <shoffner@usit.net>]

On the whole, this is a fairly good way to work in "Strain" or some sort for
a huckster.  One thing I'd change though is Stake would be the huckster's
Spirit die type, not Vigor.

Jeff S

PS I think I was the original one who brought up this whole can of worms,
but for the life of me, can not remember my original intent for having a
huckster with Strain.  Maybe it was to limit how many hexes he could cast in
a day....



-----Original Message-----
From: john tfs <johntfs1@yahoo.com>
To: hoe@gamerz.net <hoe@gamerz.net>
Date: Monday, May 06, 2002 4:52 AM
Subject: [HOE] Hucksters and Strain


>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
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness
>http://health.yahoo.com
>
>
>To unsubscribe, send a message to esquire@gamerz.net with
> unsubscribe hoe@gamerz.net
>as the BODY of the message.  The SUBJECT is ignored.
>