Re: [HOE] Arcane Background:Road Warrior

[Brett Dixon <balance@tubas.net>]

On Tuesday, October 8, 2002, at 09:50  AM, Dan Sulin wrote:

> Oh for the love of God please don't give Law Dogs arcane powers(Or do, 
> its you game after all :) ).
>
> <Opinion>
> I know there has been some demand for more info on the Law Dogs but 
> I'm not sure people want another AB in HOE.  If you start giving 
> everyone some sort of different magical Schitck the games starts to 
> turn into a Super hero like game(or a White Wolf game).   I actually 
> like to keep the AB to a minimum in my HOE game.  I personally reward 
> players who forgo taking an AB for the Kewl Powerz and instead just 
> make a norm.
>
> It just seems like a slipper sloap.  First you get AB: Road Warrior, 
> then you get AB: Law dogs.  Soon you start getting AB: Pit Fighter, 
> AB: Savage, and AB: Kid.  In my game I stick to the 7 official AB and 
> I even put a cap to the number of them in the party.  </Opinion>
>
> Just my thought.  This is not meant to offend anyone.
>

I have to agree (and that goes for the 'this-is-not-a-flame' comment as 
well) that there's such a thing as too many ABs. I think this may even 
be why PEG hasn't been motivated to port the 2nd tier ABs (Like Martial 
Artists, Voodooists, etc.) to the Deadlands d20 as far as I know.

The Law Dogs and Road Warriors have their own schticks, and don't 
really need mystic enhancement to be viable concepts. A simple reason 
is that someone has to be around to calmly watch the Doomie melt his 
own brain, shake her head ruefully, and start blasting the 
abomination.... Almost all of my favorite ABs have a subtle but always 
present aspect of danger... (Hucksters risk frying their brain every 
time they cast a hex, for example) In HoE they are much safer, but 
there's still a lot of risks. Alternately, some ABs are relatively 
safe, but have other restrictions, such as membership in an 
organization or simialr. This would include the Templars, Blessed and 
similar.

I was initially disappointed when i saw that LC had only Mutes and 
Anouk Shamans as ABs, but I've since realized this may be good as it 
makes the ABs more valuable.

When I'm running, I always try to make sure the ABs can't run 
roughshod. I've got a syker in my posse who might be in trouble if not 
for the fact that his player does a good job of keeping him in 
character.. If he gets problematic, i can use one of the MANY ant-syker 
toys that are in the GM's bag of tricks. In my current HoE lineup the 
only other AB (beyond a harrowed) is a Templar, although the posse may 
pick up a Doomsayer soon...

Anyway, in a recent fight the posse (with a Cyborg NPC aiding) tried to 
take on a Raptor and two truckloads of Black Hats. The Syker was 
useful... Arson helped fry the Black Hats pretty well. the Templar 
tried, but her lack of range weapons was an issue. The non-AB people 
did some serious work... A Ravenite with a hunting rifle took down a 
number of black hats while the gunfighters kept them moving. Pity the 
Raptor was capable of taking the Cyborg out until the Cyborgs pet tank 
showed up, which was the posse's cue to leave...

In summary, ABs really shouldn't be overused. They require marshall 
intervention, especially to keep the standard Deadlands level of 
lethality present. Of course, not all games are the same...