[DL] Normal Bad Guys (WAS: Too Easy)

[Ivan E <ivan_gaming@yahoo.com>]

--- balance@tubas.net wrote:
> other fun critters... I can give them a hard time
> with supernatural 
> beasties, but I feel a group of normal black hats
> should be a threat as well.

To make normal black hats a threat, remember to try
these options:

1) Power. If the bad guys work as Marshals, Preachers,
Judges or Sherrifs, they have the whole town behind
them. Make clear to the posse that anyone who goes
after them with guns blazing is gonn get a hangin'.

2) Money. Bankers, developers, rail barons and
speculators can afford to buy a lot of loyalty, and a
lot of toys. Outfit your next seven black hats with
bulletproof vests and tricked-out Colts.

3) Specialists. The reference to a sharpshooter was
already mentioned. Make sure he's got a shootin' skill
at least one die higher than the best gunfighter the
posse has to offer. Throw in other specialists, too,
like the gambler who consistently takes heir cash or
the Injun nobody ever hears sneaking up on their
campfire. Then, eventually, put them all in the same
group - an anti-posse, if you will.

4) Vulnerability. While not technically 'Black Hats",
a gang of demonically possessed children make a really
creepy and difficult group to go up against,
especially if some are still clutching their stuffed
bears as they attack. Make clear in these cases,
though, that the possessing force can be broken.

5) Take away the players' toys. Rooms get robbed,
horses get stolen, guns can jam and swords can break.
A group of gunfighters without their irons is a lot of
fun to watch...

6) Hold cards and dodge! I forget this all the time in
the interest of hurtin' the players, but it fits in
nicely with the idea of fighting to survive rather
than to win.

7) Surrender. Try it. See if the posse doesn't let
them go. If they do, you have a recurring gang of bad
guys (or, once in a great while, allies). If the posse
shoots them dead, then eventually word gets around and
their enemies will get a lot less likely to spare them
if they ever try to surrender.

8) Aiming. Don't bother with heads. Aim for the arm,
the leg. Easier to hit, gives the same kinds of
penalties to their rolls, and will keep them from
firing on / chasing you after the combat. Only do this
with sharpshooters, of course, but do it all the time
with them.

9) Use their Hindrances. Is one of the posse members
Loco? Distract her with voices in her head during the
next massive firefight, and penalize her either a chip
or a die until the fight's over. Is one Mean as a
Rattler? Tell him he'll have to spend a chip in order
to retreat. And most importantly, for those with
Hankerin': How are you getting booze after two weeks
on the High Plains?

10) Choose your battlefields. You have control over
the bad guys, they can set up in canyons under cover,
in old farmhouses, in the posse's favorite saloon
after they've spent all night drinkin'. 

11) Choose your victims. In most games, splitting the
party is a massive headache for GMs. In DL, it's a
gold mine. With half the posse wandering around Tucson
while the other half stays to watch the Mine, your
villains are effectively twice as strong. And it's not
going to take a rocket scientist among the black hats
to know the grizzled guy with the squint is more
dangerous than the nun. Fire at him first.

12) Choose other victims. Kill everyone in the hotel
except the posse, with little notes left under their
doors advising them to leave town. Kill the schoolmarm
who has a crush on the gunfighter. Rob the church
where the posse got healed. Burn down the saloon owned
by their friend. If you hurt the people around them,
eventually you start to dismantle their support
structure.

And, finally...

Lucky 13) Mirror the players. This is my favorite
method. Take the posse's character sheets and change
their names, change their looks, and let the posse
fight a batch of bad guys who are *precisely as
powerful as they are*. Inevitably, these are the
toughest and most dangerous bad guys the players will
ever face.

Whew. Sorry, guys. Didn't mean to go on like that but
my coffee's stronger than usual today ; )

- Ivan
http://www.gamesgroove.com/ivan/DustAndBones/

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