Re: [DL] The Sidhe in Deadlands [rant]

[Soothsprayer <hercubadger@yahoo.com>]

> Wraith is fine in print, but have you actually
> played
> that monster? 

Indeed I have, both as a Player and as the
Storyteller. One campaign lasted for two years and
only came to a halt when our group scattered to the
four winds of the world in search of employment.

The game system works as long as the Players
understand that it’s not a competition as to who can
create the most angst-ridden hopeless case destined to
explode out of self-pity and loathing. I sat mine all
down, plied them with alcohol, and got them to discuss
character concepts together. That way ST veto was in
full effect (“nice concept, but not in this game”) and
people were able to mesh together their characters
into a group that could work together.  Much as with
any game, the Players have to realise early on that
they’ll be working together. Best for them to remember
that from the start.

For Deadlands and Weird Wars I’d recommend Wraith: The
Great War as a resource. Ideas of how to turn the
battlegrounds of the civil war into Deadlands of their
own, equipment and horrors that can be used in either
game, concepts of abominations that may walk the
lands, and general mood information.

Another resource includes The Reality Disfunction
series by Peter Hamilton. While serious science
fiction the concept of a gateway returning the spirits
of the dead has some merit. Perhaps cultists in the
Weird West open just the wrong portal and instead
provide this gate way for restless spirits to return.
Throw some famous figures at the Posse who really
shouldn’t be there in that time. Perhaps pick some
American generals who died early on in the piece and
have the Posse stumble across a reenactment of the
battle where they fell being constructed by the very
people who died in it the first time. I’d tone down
the returned dead though, fire balls and energy
shields were a little much in the sci-fi version let
alone in the Weird West. 

> As for the use of the Wraith setting in Deadlands,
> Harrowed and Risen do indeed share some similar
> qualities, but there still remains the fact that the
> Shadowlands of Wraith is not the primordial spirit
> world shared by both Deadlands (the Hunting Grounds)
> and Changeling (Arcadia).

Not necessarily. The Hunting Grounds are without limit
and stretch beyond the realms of mere space and time.
Apparently. So there is no reason why the far reaches
of the Hunting Grounds could not also contain the
spirits of the restless dead. A part of the spirit
world but certainly not its entirety. 

Who is to say that the Reckoners don’t keep tainted
souls in storage until the time they may be useful.
There used to a series on television called Brimstone
where the lead character was the returned soul of the
damned. The Devil had returned him to this world so
that he could hunt down 100 or so other damned souls
who had escaped hell. That could make an interesting
NPC to run across. These souls could have escaped from
the Wraith side of the spiritual fence and are now
Harrowed/Risen running around the Weird West. Perhaps
the Reckoners themselves want these spirits contained
as the time is just not yet right for them to be
discovered. As another thought, perhaps these escaped
souls know too much and have to be tracked down before
they spill the beans. The Posse could on one hand want
to eradicate the evil but on the other hand want to
learn more. 

Some Posses have made use of the Hunting Grounds in
their games. Next time they try to pull that trick
instead have them take a wrong turn and end up rather
too close to the real lands of the dead. See how they
relate to that experience. 

As an aside, the only thing I’ve discovered that was
worse than a Vampire LARP was a Changeling one. There
should be laws against people doing that sort of thing
in public.

Cheers,
Mr. B

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