[DL] Deadlands: Higher Stakes

[balance@tubas.net]

After much deliberating, ranting, and ruminating, one member of my posse 
pointed out that my normal session will occur on Halloween! We had 
previously been discussing a range of options for a planned Halloween 
game, but since I've got the day covered.....


Spoilers withing, may be marshall territory!


Lemme check your badge...


Hey, the golds rubbing off....


Gittout...



Now, in my main story arc, the heroes of a small Kansas town have split 
into two groups (allowing the players to test-drive alternate 
characters) that have gone in different directions to seek the 
components needed to prevent an elder god/werewolf thingy from being let 
into the world.

While they're gone, the town is in the hands of a competent former 
Northern Cavalryman, but the posse left a number of hanging plot threads 
when they left town... Loose 'normal' werewolves, a rogue hyper-fast 
automaton, and some others.

I'm thinking that my October 31 session will be a variation on the 
Zombie nightmare setup. A werewolf shaman with black magic will lead an 
undead  army through the town to perform the ritual to wake the 
uber-werewolf early. This occurs when the town's heroes are out of town 
on business, so the fate of the town depends on a bunch of 'met in the 
bar' average types. Farmers, barmaids, miners, and similar... a far cry 
from the gamblers, gunslingers, old soldiers and others the posse 
normally has around. Once the basic plot is figured out, the second wave 
starts when the local killer automaton decides that the ritual occurring 
in the home of his creator is stepping on his turf, and turns the battle 
into a three way as the characters have to deal with the werewolf and 
his undead army, an automaton and (I'm thinking) a small force of 
mechanical junkbots similar to Hellstromes' steam Turtles from GRW, and 
possibly a werewolf in their midst as they try to hold out...

While this should be pretty bad as-is, I think I'm going to restrict the 
initial chip draw to 1 chip, but be relatively relaxed on roleplaying 
and cool-move awards.

Any opinions, suggestions, etc.? The current plot seems a bit 
convoluted, but has the benefit of tying up several loose ends. Due to 
the lethality level of a bunch of unarmed farmers and such compared to 
the opponents they face, I'll have at least two to three pre-gen PCs per 
player so the recently deceased (if a harrowed draw comes up still 
walking: oh, and by fiat the harrowed will have no dominion for the 
scenario...) can get back in as townsfolk are 'rescued' or 'recruited'.

Oh... The only building I'm sure will survive is the local Black River 
stop and depot... Mina's witches can defend themselves.

Oh... If you aren't running Deadlands at the end of October, i highly 
recommend using the holiday as a chance to play a one-shot of some other 
game... It's a great time to stretch everyone's skills and broaden their 
experiences. We had some no-shows last year, but one group I play with 
took time out from our usual D&D3E campaign for a night of CoC that was 
a good influence on the hack & slash crowd, I think...
--
Brett

LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER 
MAN? (Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett)