Re: [DL] Advice, Pitfalls, and Monsters of the Week

["Daphne Brunelle" <dbrune4@po-box.mcgill.ca>]

*snip*

> What I do worry about are some pitfalls I see and I'm curious if some
> more grizzled Deadlanders have encountered them or have advice
> on how to avoid them...
>
> - My biggest worry is that there will be a lack of direction.  This is
> a new campaign setting for the players, so a lot of the early game
> will be dedicated to slowly immersing them in the setting.  One
> thing a lot of the adventures seem to assume is that the characters
> are a bunch of mercenaries, always looking for the next way to
> make a fistful of dollars.  I'm contemplating whether giving the
> characters a long-term patron would help give them direction
> and help them learn about the setting.  Two obvious patrons
> are the Agency and the Texas Rangers.  But I don't want to
> lead the players by the nose either - anyone have any experience
> in such games?  The other possible patron would be the teacher/
> mentor of the Huckster in the group - the player of that character
> loves D&D-style wizards, with the whole master-apprentice
> relationship.

Well, as a player (and a novice Marshal), I'm a little leery of having one of
the two big powers involved with the PCs right from the start, especially if you
want to introduce them to the weirdness slowly.

I would shy away from the master­apprentice thing too, if only because it makes
it too easy for your Huckster to gain access to new hexes. Magic is supposed to
be elusive and scary in the Weird West, and not something to be bandied about
willy­nilly. This is just my opinion, of course: if you want to have magic be a
little more prevalent, then that's perfectly acceptable. :)

Of course, you could always have the patron in question be evil, which would
open up a whole new kettle of fish.
>
> - I also see something of an X-Files syndrome.  It seems Grimme
> and Hellstromme are behind EVERYTHING going on in the
> Weird West.  :-)   Am I imagining things?  Is there a good way
> to present this?  After a few dozen battles with the Guardian Angels
> I'd think any self-respecting possee would start thinking about
> taking Grimme out.  Which I'm sure they couldn't do, which could
> get really frustrating.

Not entirely true: sure, there's Hellstromme and Grimme, but there's also Raven
and the Whateleys and Baron LaCroix and any number of small­time desperadoes who
have plans of their own.

Heck, you can even make up your own if you want. Not everything is directly
related to the major Servitors, after all.

In our campaign we had a couple of direct servants o' the Reckoners who took the
form of creepy undertakers named Wright & Grey (think the Deadlands version of
Penn & Teller). They were very powerful, but we only ever saw an indication of
that once in a campaign that lasted over two years.

You might also want to impress on your posse that there are other ways of
thwarting Grimme and his buddies apart from direct confrontation.
>
> - Are there any regions that lend themselves really well to immersing
> characters into the setting without overloading players with too
> much information?  I absolutely love the Maze, but at the same time,
> it looks like there is a LOT going on there...

We started in Colorado, but I think any of the Disputed Lands are a good place
to start. You can tailor the amount of weirdness and horror you want to inflict
on your posse there: there's everything from Jackalopes to Hangin' Judges, and
it's ripe territory for inventing your own abominations.

Not to mention that there's enough violence and gore and conflict there without
even having to bring in the supernatural for a few sessions if you don't want
to. Or else make the weirdness *look* normal, until the posse starts to suspect
that there's more to the situation than meets the eye.

I know I'm being vague, but I hope this helps. :)

Daphné
--
The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow
words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to
beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.
                 -James D. Nicoll