[DL] Random questions

[Kirk Monsen <munchwolf@yahoo.com>]

Just some random questions for Marshals and how they
run their deadlands universe...

1) How far apart are your towns?  A few hours ride by
horse?  Half a days ride?  Longer?  I figure it would
depend on where you are.  Back east towns would be
closer together (but how close?) than out west.

2) How often does a town have a rail line going
through it?  Are lines out west mostly single lines,
or double?  How often do trains run?  If a train needs
to turn around, or two trains meet head to head, what
do they do?

3) How many towns have a telegraph station?  I assume
towns near a fort would have stations, and there would
be central lines heading out east, but just how far do
the lines run westward?  Is there one main trunk, or
is there a network established?  Just how do telegraph
lines work, must each station relay the information? 
If there's a break in the line, how quickly is it
detected and someone sent out to repair it?

4) How many Marshals actively include the civil war in
their adventures?  If one side rushed across the
boarder, how quickly would a defense be mobilized? 
How would it be detected, and better yet, verified? 
What's to stop one side from tricking a scout into
thinking a large force is moving into an area, only to
move troups to another area?  Do people play the
confederate as bad guys and the union as good guys, or
are the sides portayed more neutrally?

5) How often do the Agency or the Rangers investigate
a supernatural report?  An interesting Urban Legends
site (http://www.snopes.com/) mentions a famous legend
of a Mummy sinking the Titanic
(http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/mummy.htm). 
That article had an interesting quote which I will
include in it's entirety:

"In looking to blame their bad luck on an outside
force they couldn't possibly have hoped to defeat,
those crew members weren't all that unusual. They
merely brought into play a standard avoidance
technique employed to keep us from ever confronting
what a scary, random world this place can be. In the
wake of any disaster, there's a strong urge to explain
away the tragedy by ascribing it to some dark power
beyond our control. As inconceivable as this might
seem at first blush, it's easier for many people to
accept that a cursed mummy was the cause of a great
loss of life than it is to co-exist with the knowledge
that sometimes even unthinkable accidents will happen.
Being at the mercy of the God of Random Chance is far
more frightening a reality to face than any old
vengeful mummy will ever be.
Ghost stories like this one reaffirm our faith in the
world being a predictable (and therefore safe) place.
If a great tragedy such as the sinking of the Titanic
can be explained away as the direct result of the evil
forces of the supernatural's being stirred up, we can
again feel safe about placing our faith in the
inherent safety of great ships, airplanes or even
automobiles."

So do most people of the time explain away events as
supernatural?  Are ghost stories commonplace?  If so,
how does the Agency and the Rangers tell what is real
and what is fake?  How often do you have players
investigate a boogie man who is really a snipe?  Or a
different boogieman than expected (ie, the vampire
attacks were really caused by Tick men)?

Just Curious
-Munch Wolf

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