[HoE] On topic: A thought on the Huckster debate.

[Phil <pames@unidial.com>]

Recalling to mind the recent treatments of Hucksters in the Junker book,
and the treatment thereof, something's needed like Greenie or Squire or
Initiate; a zero value version of the arcane background.

For example:

Dabbler<0>: Hexslingin' isn't your main focus, for whatever reason. Perhaps
you picked it up as an adjunct to occult engineering back in the day, or
you're just starting out in the trade, wanting an edge for when the chips
are down. When the bombs fell, your lack of focus became deadly; unlike a
fully trained Huckster, you get manitous on the red and the black joker,
and it's harder for you to get the full oomph out of a manitou; it requires
one higher hand to cast than normal. The manitous also bite back, and hard;
Any roll on the backlash chart is increased by four.

With much time, and perserverance, <and nine bounty points> you can
increase this to...

Wasted Huckster:<3> You're better than most of those at the Hex tossin'
biz. You don't take a hit from the red joker, and you can get full use of
your mojo, elminating the increased hand requirement. You still get a +4
penalty to rolls on the backlash chart.

Finally, there's a new edge:

Mechanic's grip: <2> You're damned skilled at finessing the manitou; the
ones who take this most often are huckster that are veterans of the weird
or wasted west. You not only take no penalty to backlash rolls, for every
raise you got on the original roll for the cast, you can adjust the roll on
the backlash chart by one in your favor...at your Marshall's discretion, of
course.

Phil