Revision as of 19:02, 29 May 2008

Here is the wikipedia link [1]

If I ran a Deadlands game it would be much less overt than the standard setting. Magic and all those things would exist, but they would not be common knowledge. From the first glance the world would look exactly as ours did in 1873.

Rules Snafus

Hey, look what I found! http://www.sonic.net/~dkjedi/deadlands/

The Posse

Reuben McRotch An ornery old cuss of a prospector who cant seem to keep his mouth shut about how he doesnt trust people, or his ex partner, or, well, anythin' really.

Jonah Benton A huckster from back east. Or at least he dresses like it.

Miranda Valentine A two-gun gal from parts unknown. She doesnt say much, she lets her six guns do the talkin'.

Other Available Characters

Wandering Bear A Shaman of the Peiute tribe. His entire tribal group was wiped out just a few months ago, leaving him their sole survivor. Even though he is only 13, he is determined to complete his visionquest and reunite his tribe and return them to their former glory.

lil' Tim McKenzie A wanderin' muckraker who just might be the one who writes that book about what is happenin' that nobody'll speak of. The tales livin' in this brain pan might curdle a double whiskey.

Father 'Silver' Hank O'Keefe A travellin' preacher who resolves to drive the devils back to hell by force of his faith and will, alone if necessary. He's seen 'em, but he has enough sense to keep to himself about it.

The Links that Fasten 'Em

All of the characters, as well as potential characters, have direct knowledge of the supernatural evil thats pointin' its bony finger at the world. All of 'em are damn sworn to do whats necessary to stop it, too.

The Setting

It is the world of 1873. Things are pretty much as you might see in a history book, with a few exceptions. The Civil War rages on, seemingly endlessly. Every time one side or the other seems poised to make a telling strike, something happens to prevent the conclusion from occurrin'. People are a little on edge; things are a little unnerving everywhere. Nobody knows why, but somehow they all know. The superstitious whisper about devils, or monsters, or things that cant be described. But nobody has any proof, nobody of any respectability has seen them, and no serious intellectual considers it anythin' more than wives tales.

Current Recap

Its been a few months, and the dead of winter is behind 'em, but the weather is still cold and the posse is itchin' to get back to Denver. Lucky for them Wells Fargo is payin' for tickets on a train to get 'em there.

The Elephant in the Room

Everybody saw it. A burst of white light shot from Jonah, and that white light was the tellin' blow for old Cap'n Linkous. Even after several requests Jonah aint sayin' a word. Miranda remains her stoic self, while Reuben seems content with his belief that its workin' for them, not against. But its still there, starin' the posse in the face. Someday maybe it will be somethin' else. For now its just a huge question mark.

All Aboard!

Its a two day trip by rail, but this train is far from fancy. Sure, its nice enough for their purposes, but thats about it. The train is about half full of passengers, about equal distribution o' cowpokes and saloon gals, if ya get my drift. A few of them begin a poker game, and reluctantly our posse joins as well. Things are playin' about even when one of the men mentions his health is failin' him, and that leads him to be interested in sellin' a little something.

The Dutchman Cometh

Seems a few years back an old gentleman saved the life of an Indian chief, and as a reward he was given a map to a location of some gold in the Superstition Mountains, down in Arizona. At some point a tragedy befell the man (imagine that), and he died. But not before he became relatively famous in the area for the quantity of gold he had been bringin' to the local assayers. After he died the chief wanted his map back, because, well, that was his tribes gold, and he only let this guy in on it because of the good deed he had done. Nobody else had earned the right to have the thing.

So he sent down a detachment o' his best braves to bring it back. They found the Dutchmans stuff alright, and even managed to locate the map. Problem is, when they left they happened upon some ornery cusses who happened to also have an idear that they wanted his treasure map. A little fightin' ensued, and next thing you know, those braves aint walkin' no more, if you know what I mean.

As fate would have it, only one of those murderous hombres made it out, and he took the map and immediately went back to Kansas City to gear himself up and prepare for his expedition. Thats where the wheels fell off this cart. Life got in the way, things intervened, and years past. He just wasnt able to get his trek on the road. Frustrated, one day he up and lost the map in a card game to this gentleman right here.

Maybe there is some kind of bad omen or somethin' attached to it, because by golly he wasnt able to get his journey started for a few years either, and now he finds himself with a failin' ticker. O' course, he would be happy to sell it to the posse for the paltry sum of $1000.

Whoa Pardner

Thats a lot o' scratch. Reuben informs him that while he is an experienced miner, he isnt interested in goin' underground anymore. Of course, if his companions are game, well, he will help them all he can. Jonah and Miranda both share the wide eyed shock at the price. Its a good story, but not $1000 worth in their book. They'll pass.

Ascent Into Mayhem

After the card game breaks up the posse goes back to their seats and pretty much avoids all contact with the rest of the train. They aint rude, they dont shun anyone, but they make no effort to otherwise interact with the other passengers.

Eventually, dusk begins to settle and they round a bend and head up a steep grade deep in the Rockies. The train lurches a mite and heads up, slowly but surely. Just as they near the crest the trains whistle sounds.

HOOOOOOOOT!

Holy Jesus thats loud! The train is skiddin' to a halt. Someones a layin' on the brakes!

KABLAM!

Before anyone can do a damn thing the engine and coal cars tumble over the mountainside, into the smoke ahead. What the hell happened to the bridge?

Come Out With Yer Hands Up

Even as the whole train is filled with thick, disgusting coal smoke, Miranda jumps into action and races to the back of the car and into the next one. When she opens the rear door its clear that whatever cars were behind that are gone.

Thats right, gone. Plummeted down the hill it seems, and it must've been a few minutes ago, because she cant even see 'em anywhere. Somehow that ornery old gimp Reuben comes up right behind her and sees the same thing. Jonah is a bit dazed, but finds a way to get out the back door of the passenger cabin and stagger to the side of the train.

"Throw out your valuables and put up your hands. We'll shoot ya if we gotta!"

Even though he hears it, his head aint clear enough to draw a bead on exactly who said it. He knows it came from the valley below, but he cant make out any targets.

By this time Reuben has made his way around the other side of the cabin, and he can see a head pokin' out maybe 100 yards distant in the valley. Just his luck he didnt have a shotgun with him in the passenger cabin. He did, however, have the presence o' mind to grab a fallen brake handle in that old car, and now he is brandishin' it all clublike.

Miranda, on the other hand, has scampered back into the passenger car and located the man with the map. He is out cold, so she grabs the map and stores it somewhere nobody proper will be lookin'. She then makes her way to the side of the car where Jonah has just drawn his pistol.

30 Seconds

A man wieldin' a rifle and pistol comes stormin' up the side of the mountain, just into Jonahs view. With some kind o' precision nobody knew he had he buries a slug right in that poor gentleman's (and Im usin' the term loosely here) temple. Reuben hears that and crouches down a bit. Another guy pokes his head up in front of him, and Reuben heaves that hunk o' metal right into his cranium.

Im sensin' myself a pattern here. Didnt know they made vorpal dice, did ya?

Anyway, the guy is dazed and staggers a bit, while on the other side Miranda has moved up to the front of the car. She pokes her head around and sees a guy with a shotgun. He shoulda known better, but he dint. Hesitation costs him all he had as she squeezes off two from each pistol into the guy, droppin' him in his tracks.

While his quarry is dazed Reuben is busy scourin' the ground lookin for a suitable rock. He cant find that, but does scare up a large hunk o' metal, perfect for chuckin'. He yells for their surrender just as another hombre emerges from below. Before Miranda can react he plants a tree of lead right through her skirt. It did him no good however, as it exits the other side harmlessly.

Of course, when her guns hum their music, the only song they know is death. Another fusillade of bullets and he drops.

The Smoke Clears

Past Recaps

Deadlands Recaps

What's Next?

Next Sunday: A trip to Arizona, and a visit to: The Mission.

Now that the posse are agents of the Secret Service all right and proper, the whole world is different.

Status

This game is active and weekly.