Re: [HoE] assorted [HOPLER]

["Kirt A. Dankmyer" <loki@triadntr.net>]

> This happened in a crisis situation.  Last night, I witness 4 Backlashes
> from a Huckster just trying to get by. In the final battle, his Hexslingin'
> Dropped permanently as he was trying to fight the baddie.

But that's a different game. The opponents in the Wierd West are supposed to
be weaker, and, personally, I don't see the fact that people with an AB in the
Wierd West tend to suck half the time as a balance, really. Too much in the
opposite direction.

One of the reasons I prefer HOE to basic Deadlands is you actually get
something for taking an AB. You can actually be somewhat effective, instead of
sucking all the time because you can't draw a straight.

Also, no offense, having played in your Deadlands game, being someone without
an AB doesn't do too well in *Deadlands* as well. Half the supernatural stuff
isn't affected by bullets, which pretty much ruined my gunslinger character
and the only reason my Pinkerton could do anything is she had Faith and a
Knack, which, in my opinion, is close enough to having an AB that one might as
well have one. It's still a wierd supernatural power, and you're not a normal
anymore.

> But the original poster was saying what about the norms...do you agree or
> disagree its harder to play a norm PC in HoE then DL.

No, not really. It's hard regardless of the game you're in. Once the
supernatural gets in there, being a basic gunslinger or a saloon gal, you
might as well hope you get enough Grit to draw a Joker.

Also, as I said earlier, it depends on how the game is run. BOTH Deadlands and
HOE acan be run with less supernatural elements in them. In which case norms
do better.

> OK this I will grant you, Loki.  Still, Sykers, more then Doomies, can
> break a game, just outside combat.  In the (weird west) game I was in last
> night, had we had a Syker who could read minds the game would be over in
> the first hour, not have the game run 6.

If your plot can't handle something a PC can do, you shouldn't have let the PC
have the power in the first place, or you need to change your plot. If it's
"game breaking" it's your fault for letting it in there in the first place.

And there are no Sykers in the Wierd West. In the Wasted West, people are
aware mind reading is possible, and know to shoot at the wierd bald guy. The
background provides a balance. Read the source material about sykers. People
don't like them or trust them, for exactly that reason.

Also, remember that almost ALL the ABs in HOE have built-in enemies, from the
Old Wayers to the Green Robes to Black Hats to Anti-Templar to everyone (no
one trusts sykers). Quite a few have enemies the PCs don't know about, that
are only mentioned in the Marshal section. In the Wierd West, you're less
likely to bump into someone with the appropriate "counter" power, so the
balance is built into backlash. In the Wasted West, it's built into the
BACKGROUND -- a syker is much more likely to bump into another (evil) syker in
the Wasted West than a Huckster is to bump into another Huckster.

Taking the powers in the Wasted West and the powers in HOE and comparing them
without context makes no sense, because the world they're from is completely
different. We're talking a totally different game game background. You can't
simply compare how often backlash happens without comparing *all* other
factors, and in HOE there are several pages of Mashall section devoted to same
factors. Botching is not the only way to provide game balance.
	-Loki