Re: [DL] going to the hunting grounds(indians)SPOILERS

["John Goff" <JohnGoff@deadlands.com>]

> the favor spirit guide has no cost for appeasement listed, im assuming its
> the same as summon spirit( 2,4,6).?
>

As long as it's being used for simply information in navigating the Hunting
Grounds, those numbers work fine. The favor needs a little tweaking (like
Appeasement Costs), and perhaps some seperation of effects into two
different favors (perhaps a different Spirit Guide and a Dream Walk favor),
which I'll take care of in Hexarcana.

> when you summon a spirit it gives a type of spirit that is associated with
> your guardian spirit( if a vision seeker its a thunder bird or kachina)
what
> is the differance between a lesser and greater? they only list one set of
> stats?
>

For simplicity, for lesser Animal Spirits, use the stats as listed, but
lower the Spirit die type by one level. For normal, use as listed. For
greater, increase _all_ die types by one level.

Kachinas are broken down by lesser, normal, and greater, you've just got to
look closely at the profile (there's not a lot of difference). For now,
consider all Thunderbirds as greater spirits.

Again, if I've got room, I'll quantify this better in Hexarcana...

> it then says roll your area hunting ground skill and the spirit does the
same
> and add them together, but i cant find any area skill listed under the
> spirits.?
>

Actually, the spirit makes a _Spirit_ roll, not an area knowledge roll (pg.
67, Ghost Dancers).

> so if the player rolled 8 and the spirit got 9, you add the two together?

Yes. It may get tweaked in Hexarcana, as noted above; I'm not on the Shaman
section yet.

>  how many
> encounters does he get? 1 an hour ?
> could some one pleeeaase help me.

Hmm...it's not mentioned. I'd give him a number of encounters equal to his
final number on the Travel Time roll (after subtractions for however much he
succeeds by). So, if he makes the area knowledge roll (plus the spirit guide
bonus) by 3, rolls a 7, he gets a final total of 4. That means he wanders
about for a short while, but hits a lot of encounters.

That might dissuade him from jumping back in to often. :-)

> i thought the hunting grounds were dangerous but from what i read its
fairly
> simple to navigate, and im a little scared about the players powers, due
to
> the fact if he can find the dead mans spirit he can solve the scenario
> without any investigating.

Naw, don't sweat it. Remember he's going in without any gear, unless he
brings along a Spirit Weapon. Opening the way to the Hunting Grounds and
getting a Spirit Guide are going to cost him Appeasement Points. If he's
only doing a Vision Quest, they're going to get gobbled up quick if he
doesn't get a really good rool on the travel time table. If he opens a
Portal, that just grabs a huge chunk right away.

Once he's there, he runs the risk of turning into some manitou's cabana boy
if he's killed.

Even assuming he's totally buffed (read: munchkined) out and can ignore all
these threats, you can always dead stop him by having the dead man's spirit
be in the possession of a Manitou and in the Deadlands.

Or, if you prefer a subtle approach, the spirit is traumatized by the death
and never answers his questions directly, choosing to give cryptic riddles
and clues that make him think for the solution rather than just roll a few
dice and spend Appeasement.

Finally, remember the dead man's spirit doesn't know anything he didn't know
in life. If he was shot from behind or otherwise didn't get a look at his
killer, he can't provide an easy solution to the mystery.

John