Re: [DL] Some questions for the Marshals...

[Allan Seyberth <darious@darious.com>]

At 02:16 PM 3/30/2002 -0500, you wrote:
 >PLAYERS...THIS IS MARSHAL TERRITORY!!! SCAT!!!!!!!!

Major spoilers follow.




 >        1) Two or three of my players are now at or beyond 5 Grit. As we
 >just finished Canyon O' Doom (which means they foiled a major plot of
 >the Reckoners), I'm thinking it might just be Los Diablos time! If
 >you've used these critters before, do you have any suggestions on
 >staging them, any cool buildups to their appearance, etc.?

Whatever you do, don't treat Los Diablos as just another critter.   There 
was an earlier thread some years ago about how the target just hopped on a 
horse and kept ahead of the Los Diablos, dropping dynamite behind himself, 
until the Diablo was dead.

Shrug.

  I've always viewed Los Diablos (from hereafter referred to as the Devil's 
Own Potroast, or DOPs) as . . . something more than just a Reckoner 
hitman.  In a way, they seem to be the Wild West version of the Cretean 
Minotaur and the Gaelic Wild Hunt.
Even without that in mind, there is something unusual about the DOPs.  If 
they are tools of the Reckoners sent to kill those who have foiled their 
plans too often, why do the Reckoners only send one?  Why do the Reckoners 
only send them once?   There are clearly some cosmic rules in place here 
that we can't fathom.

(At least that's my take).

I tend to run the DOPs as something more conceptually neutral in 
outlook.  A neutrality in Nature's sense - cunning, vicious, cruel and 
absolutely lethal to those took weak to survive.
They are a form of cosmic test weeding out those heroes that can't cut the 
grade.  Or perhaps they were once a power for balance that has somehow been 
subverted by the Reckoners.

All of which really doesn't matter to the hero, since either way the DOP is 
coming and will do it's
very damndest to stomp the guy into the ground.

But in the mindset of a cosmic test, I like to allow for alternate methods 
of victory for the hero.  This variant showdown at high noon is best run as 
something outside of a strictly mechanical combat.  When the DOP charges 
the gunslinger is he fast and accurate enough to quickdraw and hit the one 
critical vital spot in the split second he has?  Is the Blessed's faith 
strong enough to allow him to stand there firm before the charge - if he is 
then the DOP is stopped cold, but at the slightest waver in faith or moment 
of doubt - POW!  Roadkill.  A huckster had better be able to pull out 
enough power from a nearby manitou.  Has the Shaman kept enough faith with 
his totem and the spirits that they won't fail him now?

Actually - it may be appropriate to treat this as a showdown.  ie  neither 
side can chip off damaged.

This is also a pretty special occasion - the heroes are the sole focus of 
this encounter.  Don't treat this as an interlude between adventures, but 
as a full adventure itself.  Don't shortchange the player's chance at glory 
on this one.  This should be something that the player's remember forever.
And don't pull any punches - go all out to kill the hero.  The one's that 
live will really know that they passed a test.

 >        2) As the posse is headed back to Salt Lake City, I was thinking
 >of heading them into the Devil's Tower Trilogy. Anyone run these before?
 >Any problem areas? Suggestions? I've just started reading the first
 >installment...

I haven't, but I've heard that there's a strong feeling that the NPC's, not 
the player's, are more important to the story.
Two general hints I've heard - kill off Jackie early to keep the heroes as 
the focus, and when the party faces Stone, have lots of chips available to 
keep the party from just getting lucky and pumping 20 wounds to Stone's 
head on the Ace of Spades of the first round of combat.

 >        3) I know at the end of that trilogy, there's a chance that the
 >group could end up in the HOE world. I have no interest in running HOE.
 >Any creative ways to avoid this possibility?

Don't let them enter the light.
If they do enter the light, dump 'em out in a different spot of the Weird 
West, preferably lined up for the next adventure.

Or  -  you might want to bring the party to the Wasted West (HoE) just for 
a one shot adventure - give 'em a taste of biker gangs, mutants and cyborgs 
and let them know what will happen to the world if they (the heroes) fail 
to stop the evil of the Reckoners.

 >        4) In the course of the trilogy, the posse heads to Rev. Grimme
 >territory. I have not seen any stats for the good Reverend himself. Like
 >Stone, is he more or less "beyond stats"?

Oh yeah. Definitely beyond stats.  But while Stone's forte is his guns, I 
envision Grimme's specialty to be his charisma.
When envisioning a confrontation between PCs and Grimme, I always have this 
picture of the ending to the Conan movie - where Thulsa Doom is telling 
Conan "I am the wellspring of your strength, when I am gone you will have 
never been.  My son."  Only a lot more persuasive then Thulsa.  And backed 
up with every black magic and blessed power at rank 5.

:)

 >        5) The Trilogy opens in October according to an early handout.
 >Can the date be adjusted or should it occur in the set timeframe?

Yeah - it's fairly time independent if I remember correctly.

 >    Thanks a bunch for any and all help! We are, as always, having a
 >blast playing Deadlands! The posse was just about chipped out and ready
 >to cash in at the end of Canyon O' Doom...and loved every minute of
 >it!!!   :)

Perfect.



-------------------
Allan Seyberth
darious@darious.com
Deadlands fan site - http://www.darious.com/

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