Re: [DL] Sourcebooks and realism (was: Murder at Overlook Hotel)

[Brett Dixon <balance@tubas.net>]

On Monday, April 14, 2003, at 07:31  PM, mightygecko@juno.com wrote:

> as wonderful as the cowtown creator is, i'd like to warn anyone who 
> gets it to be carfeul with the detail. I own it, but havn't really 
> used it yet, but i loned it to our current Weird West Marshal and his 
> last advenutre had so much detail that we had no idea what to do. the 
> town was so deatiled that we couldn't pick out what was a lead and 
> what was flavor. i don't know it that's happened to anyone else who 
> has it.

Yeah... My Deadlands classic game was set in a small town, and using a 
framework like that is a double-edged sword.

You get some pluses from a detailed regular setting. NPCs can be a bit 
deeper and more detailed, and the posse will tend to not always assume 
that certain things are an actual 'adventure component'... for example 
if an NPC has a major disadvantage (Obvious hankerin, physical 
disability, Ailin', etc.) in my HoE game I'm currently running, the 
posse will tend to focus on that in an attempt to fix it. In my classic 
campaign (Put on hiatus for a two-three month HoE game that's been 
going for over a year now) the [osse doesn't concentrate on the more 
extreme residents of their home base in Little Dog, Kansas such as the 
drunkard mayor (OK, he's a PC) or the weird not-quite-the-Whatley's 
family, or the residents of the town's small Chinatown. It makes the 
game a bit deeper, and really allows those Kin and similar hindrances 
to get some play-time.

On the other hand, being able to blow things up with impunity is fun, 
too. The "wandering heros" setup, a classic from the earliest RPGs, 
works well in Deadlands, especially HoE. One rule-of-thumb I use is 
that the marshall has the right to handwave the group wandering with 
the gains/losses from wandering miraculously balancing out. However 
some trips, especially those that are player driven, get the full 
treatment with supplies worked out, etc. The town setup can get a bit 
odd if there's too much trouble.

Either way can be fun... Some frameworks I'd consider for another 
Deadlands campaign include:
	the recently discussed Ranger/Agent teamup in LA.
	Bandits: My current favorite for a deadlands game with lots of 
newbies. Require 1 or more points of appropriate hindrances and do 
somewhat 'Robin Hood' style adventures, with a tone of kill the 
monster... and steal the rail baron's payroll!
	Maze Pirates!
	All Agents
	and a few more...