Re: [DL] Intro Adventure

[Jason Young <jason_d_young@yahoo.com>]

Doug,

I've run my first two Deadlands sessions myself here in the past two
weeks. I'll try to help, if I can.

1. I ran Last Stop (from the PEG web site) for the larger group. For the
solo player I ran a heavily modified Comin' Round the Mountain (from the
Marshall's Guide). He was a prospector working his way up into the Rockies
and wasn't actually on the train at all. These were both fine intro
adventures, but there are some gotchas that I'll get to.

2. I'll let the folks who've been playing for awhile answer that one. I
still don't know, myself.

3. Here's the things I missed as Marshall: Fear level effects, armor
effects, Stun and Recovery, Guts checks every time something new came
along, and vision effects in low light (both of those adventures had
significant night activity).

As for pitfalls, I need to tell you that /any/ abomination is nasty.
Really nasty. By all rights every player in both games should have died. I
gave them ways out, and even resorted to Deus ex Machina in one case. It
was still a good story, so I didn't mind. My opinion is that Deadlands
posses should start with mundane opponents and work up to the
abominations, but the one-shot adventures -- like the ones I mention above
-- make an effort to introduce the full DL atmosphere, which means that
they include abominations.

As I think about it now, I would say give your players Archetypes, tell
them not to fall in love with that character as they'll get to create one
for the campaign if they like the game, run an adventure with
abominations, and watch the PC's die. That's not all bad, as they'll
appreciate how tough things can be in the Weird West. I'd even consider
having the campaign posse start by investigating the former posse's
deaths.

The most important thing, in my opinion, is to include all the props: the
card decks, the poker chips, the colored paperclips, everything. These are
the things that help lend atmosphere to DL and make it really feel
different from most other RPG's, which it is.

And you'll need lots of dice.

Good luck!

Jason

--- Doug Dawson <dddawson@lpl.arizona.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hello, all.  I'm hoping y'all will be able to give me some help.
> I'm an experienced GM, but I've never run or played Deadlands.  Neither
> has anyone in my group.  We've agreed to run a one-shot; if the group
> likes it enough, it could turn into a campaign.
> 
> So, my question: are there any adventures (published or web-available)
> which are particularly good for introducing a group to the game?
> 
> Second: I have the main rules.  I can get maybe one other sourcebook
> before we play.  Are there any that are must-haves?
> 
> Third: Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of?  Rules that are
> tricky or that newbies tend to miss?


=====
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