RE: [DL] Message for Clint

["Clint Black" <cblack@ohtinc.com>]

I hate it when they don't take any psychological hindrances.  ;-)





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Hmm, there's the old
eleven-year-old-martial-artist-who-has-really-been-harrowed-for-ten-years,
but that's been done to death.  ;-)


I don't know but from what you've described (a Mao who is a VERY casual
killer) I'd say there's something you can do to this guy to challenge him.
Make him face who he is.

Think about the whole paradigm that Deadlands is based off of.  The
Reckoners are representations of four of humanity's greatest fears.  They
need fear in order to come to Earth.  Therefore, people who are disciples of
a Reckoner's domain are granted powers by the Reckoners because knowingly or
not, they create fear.  They serve the Reckoners.  They become Servitors.

Can you tell me Mao does not serve Death?


First of all, you've got to start assigning Mao something akin to Corruption
points for pretty much every time he kills a person in anything other than
pure self defense.  Also, you've got to throw some Tests at him.  No
Corruption points until he fails the first Test.  The second Test comes when
he has Corruption equal to half his Spirit die type.  If his Corruption
surpasses his Spirit die type, then he becomes a full-fledged Servitor.
Give me the sheet; he's now an NPC.

The first Test should be something like three guys perfectly set for a sweep
maneuver, only the middle guy throws down his gun and surrenders.  Does Mao
still sweep?  If so, then roll some dice, tell him the ground is
particularly rocky, and there is a chance for extra damage.  Roll one die,
then roll it again, and again, and again as if you are rolling aces.  Tell
him the middle guy apparently hit his head just perfectly on a rock and
died.  The real failure here is if Mao doesn't show true remorse or grief
for what he's done.  If he doesn't, give him his first Corruption point.


The second test is more serious.  The posse comes upon a Northern or
Southern (depending on your game) army detachment.  They offer their camp as
a haven for the night.  The commanding officer informs them they have
cleaned out a local bandit gang.  They have three prisoners and the others
were killed.  He glances at Mao a few times before saying that he believes
one of his prisoners is Allen Coulter.

Tell Mao he recognizes the name; years ago Coulter was an infamous man in
Dixie Rails/Union Blue (the opposite of the side they are with).  Among
Chinese rail workers, he is known as a kind of bogeyman.  Before he was
discovered by his superiors, he had raped, slaughtered, and mutilated
hundreds of Chinese by his own hands.  It was believed that he escaped
across the border, but no trace of him was ever found.  Perhaps Mao had
family who died there.

The commander says that a wounded survivor of one of the bandit raids had
known Coulter and recognized him as one of the bandits.  Unfortunately, the
man died before he could give an accurate description.  However, the
commander believes one of the three men he has is Coulter.  They are all
about the same age that Coulter would be now, and all the other bandits
killed were either much younger or much older.  He's tried to get them to
talk, but they've only known each other less than a year.  So if one was
Coulter, the other two wouldn't know.  The commander is obviously very
occupied with this situation.  If asked why, he says he knew a young Chinese
girl that worked at a saloon in Dodge City.  They were... close.  He saw the
scars Coulter had left her with from when she was just a child.  It burns
him that Coulter might get away with just a few years in prison for
banditry.

The commander then says he and his men are all tired from their long chase.
He would appreciate it if the posse would take the last watch before
morning.  He also tells them to be on the watch for Indians.  He says around
here they like to sneak into camp and kill men who are sleeping or...
otherwise unable to defend themselves.  Of course if they got his prisoners,
at least we would know Coulter got his justice.  The others are probably
only slightly less deserving.  He also says that he and his men will
probably sleep in past first light, so if the posse leaves before him, for
them to have a safe trip.  He and his men will be heading in the other
direction... whatever that may be.

For each prisoner killed, Mao gets one point.  The prisoners should probably
be played as stoic, scared, and a Chinese hater.  Though it really doesn't
matter, none of them is Allen Coulter.  The witness was mistaken.


Now, you can't just place this guy on the slippery road to hell without at
least giving him some warning.  So here's where you start.  After the first
Corruption point, shamans and blessed start spouting prophetic verses upon
sighting Mao.  If there is any shaman or blessed in your group, they have
all their beneficial target numbers to affect Mao raised by his Corruption
points.  If they ever get three raises on a roll to affect Mao with their
powers, they get a vision of Mao on a dark path.  There are coffins lining
both sides equal to his Spirit die type.  For each Corruption point he has
at that time, there is the body of the person he killed to get it in one of
the coffins.  At the end of the path is a tall figure in black robes.  In a
sepulchral voice, it says, "Come to me, my chosen one."  The figure then
turns as if seeing the shaman/blessed for the first time, it throws up a
skeletal hand, and screeches.  The shaman/blessed is jerked back to the
physical world (guts check TN:15).

If Mao reaches the halfway mark, throw a Shaolin monk his way to lead him to
the Truth.  Basically, the only way he can rid himself of these Corruption
points is to take "Good" hindrances (Heroic, Pacifism, some Vows) equal or
higher than his current Corruption point level.  If he can play these for a
number of game sessions equal to his Corruption points times two, then the
Shaolin monk can perform a blessing and cleansing ritual to remove them.

But... the possibility is always there that Mao could slide down the path
again unless he continues to live according to his new ways.

Anyway, that's what I've got off the top of my head.  If I come up with
something else, I'll let you know.

Back to EVIL school.  :)


Clint Black

"You smell that? Do you smell that? ...Ghost Rock, son. Nothing else in the
world smells like that. I love the smell of ghost rock in the morning. You
know, one time we had a hill bombed, for twelve hours. When it was all over
I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' Yank body. The
smell, you know that sulphurous smell, the whole hill. Smelled like...
victory. Someday this war's gonna end..."