RE: [DL] Hexslinger Required (even longer)

[DEHAIS Bertrand <DEHAISBE@cic.fr>]

Hucksters and hexslingers usually keep a low profile about their arcane
abilities.
So finding somebody to be a mentor should be hard. That's why a relative
works fine for this purpose. (he/she knows the pc well, and can be willing
to pass his/her knowledge along to the next generation)
Now, why would a stranger mentor your character ?
-Retribution (money, ghost rock..) : I think the mentor would ask for a lot,
especially if his/her mentorship has to be a full-time job. Not sure if your
character has that wealth either.
-Personal Interest : perhaps the mentor needs a pupil to train as a future
help for his/her own grand purposes. A kind of middle/long term investment.
-No choice : given his pro-evil taint, here's what I would do : if the pc is
still after his uncle's killers, let him discover that the person who wanted
his uncle's dead is also a hexslinger (perhaps this person was one of the
poker players, or they were working for her). Have your pc hunt her down and
finally confront her in an all-out duel. If almost defeated, she will plead
for her life and offer to teach him all of her knowledge if he spares her.
Your pc just shouldn't kill her immediatly if he wants to know why his uncle
was killed (up to you here). Afterwards, he'll face a dilemna : either
avenge his uncle, or trust the killer to be his new mentor.

One flaw with this idea is that perhaps the pc won't think his enemy is
worthy of becoming his mentor, especially if he/she was beaten in a
hexsliging duel. But then again, perhaps he/she mostly knows non-combat
hexes, which would explain why he/she didn't kill the uncle him/herself.

Bertrand 

(sorry for my approx english and the general fuzziness of my ideas)

	-----Message d'origine-----
	De:	Roy Spence [mailto:rs95065@weir.co.uk]
	Date:	mercredi 22 novembre 2000 17:40
	À:	deadlands@gamerz.net
	Objet:	[DL] Hexslinger Required (long)

	Just wondered if anyone on the list could help me with a little
	inspiration.

	snip 

	Essentially he needs a mentor, however I don't want to present him
	with one all gift wrapped and ready for Christmas, and I was
wondering
	if anyone out there had any ideas that would fit with the character
	and not be a too obvious opportunity for the character to advance
his
	hexslinging knowledge?