[DL] The Occult in DL

[James Knevitt <jknevitt@yahoo.com>]

Hey all,

As you may have guessed by the Subject line, today I'm
going to talk about the occult. Note I used a small
'o'.

Recently, in my campaign, the characters picked up a
few old occult tomes from the crumbling, decaying
plantation mansion of three witch sisters. They are
using said books to research a way to get one of the
posse's soul back (that was Jacque the hexslinger, who
sold his soul for $20 in poker chips to someone he
really shouldn't have).

I've decided that Jacque's soul is well in the hands
of the Reckoners/demons/manitou/what have you. Now, to
give the posse, and especially Jacque, a fighting
chance, I've decided to open up one avenue for them.
They have to bargain with a
demon/manitou/Reckoner/etc. for Jacque's soul. 

This is touching on the occult in terms of the
character's actions. I have no problem with this, and
I'm guilty of steering the characters in that
direction (pretty much all posse members have
academia: occult of at least 2). My players can handle
it; they're all seasoned, mature ropleplayers with
many years of horror roleplaying under their
collective belts. Heck, they're even looking forward
to it. :) I personally am a veteran GM, so I'm not
walking into this blindly.

I can see my game (which is set in Georgia at the
moment) turning into a mix of Deadlands (of course!),
Cthulhu by Gaslight, Ravenloft's Masque of the Red
Death, and Adventure! (by White Wolf). When you run a
Victorian-era horror game like this, you can't go past
the evil occultist as a villain.

The question is, what happens when your posse wants to
dabble in the Black Arts? I like dark, moody anti-hero
games, so I'm thinking that they can go into that dark
forest without a lantern if they want. I'm planning on
using the Corruption Points system from Black Circle
(if someone can post me a quick brief on Corruption
Points it would be helpful).

Does anyone have any thoughts on this matter? I know
Deadlands is meant to be a game of heroes, of good
guys and bad guys, of brave cowboys kissing the horse
and riding off on the schoolmarm (don't ask).

Has anyone else tackled the occult in their Deadlands
game, how did it go and do you have any tips?

James

=====
Knowledge is Power. Power Corrupts. Study Hard. Be Evil.

"Lend me your dark & nasty stuff, O my buddy Bert !"
- Paul Jacoby

"Should you choose to test my resolve in this matter, you will be facing a finality beyond your comprehension, and you will not be counting days, or months, or years, but millenia in a place with no doors." - Joe Black, "Meet Joe Black"

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