[DL] Getting there is half the fun

["Jeff Shoffner" <shoffner@usit.net>]

>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...

Marshal eyes only...




Well, I tend to draw from advice in the Deadlands books.  First off in Night
Train, the book suggests building up to the actual adventure by having
'hints' being dropped every now & then in other adventures.  Pretty much
every time my posse had to go somewhere by train, the train would stop for
coal or water & the dispatcher at the depot would be missing, or there would
be an abandoned train on the tracks somewhere, etc.  The Posse had the
chance to get out & look over the place, maybe find something odd, but
nothing to start up an investigation, the railmen would mutter something
either about Sioux war parties, Confed raiding parties, whatever, & the
train would go on its way.  So, after about a half dozen or so of these
encounters, we got to the actual adventure, the train pulls in, mayhem
ensues, & one of the posse goes, "Oh! That's what was going on with the
empty depots!"

Another good piece of advice was from the Heart of Darkness series; when
first starting the adventure, it helps if the posse has been in City o Gloom
for a while & recognize some landmarks.  So, since we're based out of Dodge,
I frequently use whatever folks & places I know are there.  That way, if I
want to do something IN Dodge, like Independence Day, the posse has a feel
for the city.

Be vague with monster descriptions.  I had one other guy tell me about this
GM he had that he hated.  This GM would go into great descriptions for the
locale, the weirdness of things, screams, etc, & when the posse faced the
'monster,' he'd say something like, "Before you, you see Frankenstein's
monster," or "You see a werewolf."  Major let down.  Much better to say,
"You see a huge man with with several scars running over his face & hands,
his eyes are clouded over like cataracts & his mouth has a sneering maw of
jagged teeth..."  Actually, you can have fun with this the other way--I had
a monster weary group that killed on contact, so to speak.  So, I had them
tracking down a 'monster.'  He pretty much fit the above description with
the addition of bandages over most of his head & hands.  Was he an
abomination?  No, he was a burn victim being treated by a doctor who freaked
& ran.  Fortunately, the posse figured out something wasn't right & didn't
kill him.  Darn.

SOmeone asked about killing characters.  The Heart of Darkness pretty much
states if the posse is having a hard time against the opposition, but they
haven't done anything stupid, give them a little help.  If they're in
trouble because of something totally stupid (like taking on Stone when they
KNOW they can't defeat him) then go for Total Posse Kill (TPK according to
the Deadlands creator)  And besides, in this game, just because you're dead
doesn't automatically put you out of the game.

Jeff S