Re: [HOE] Wasted West Hodge Podge Questions

[David R Goecke <mightygecko@juno.com>]

That sounds great! i'd love to jump on the broom stick! Broad side that
is.... pointy end would be MIGHTY uncomfortable. What kind of stuff are
you looking for? Spell? Character Archetypes? stats for using the
Thirteen? Art? Edges? Hindrances?

I'm working on something right now that I call "The Youth of the Nation",
mostly about Kids in the Wasted West. i normally don't allow Kids to take
Arcane  backgrounds, assuming they havn't had time to develope arcane
powers, unless they take one of the Two Edges I developed (for any DL
setting). 

Faith of a Child: allows kids to take the AB's: Doomsayer (with marshal
permission) Squire (neither Jo, nor Simon would allow a REALLY young
Templar), Enlightened, Junker, Librarian, Blessed, Anahuac, Shaman, Toxic
Shaman 
(AB's that require some sort of belief system, uses Faith a lot). there's
more too it, but I can't seem to open my files right now...

Brain Child: Allows kids to take AB's: Huckster, Mad Scientist, Junker,
Blood Mage, Librarian
(AB's that require some sort of Academia and/or science skill) there's
more too it, but I can't seem to open my files right now...

Clint, If you come up with any Witch Kid heroes, let me know and I'll
mention them in my work. (I always like it when books refer to other
books. its makes the other books feel even more useful)


On Mon, 7 Apr 2003 11:03:29 -0400 "Clint Black" <cblack@ohtinc.com>
writes:
> 
> >> 3)Anyone else still working on those "Source books" for: 
> Witches?
> >> Sawbones?
> >> Or are they pushed to side?
> >
> >never knew there was any talk about a sawbones book, but the 
> witches...
> >If MEG does HoE also, this can be something to bug them about 
> making.
> >Complete with D20 stuff too (not that I need it, but they coudl 
> kill two
> >Raptors with one LAW Rocket). I've got a couple of witch spells 
> based on
> >fairy tales that I've been working on. A follower of Annabelle Lee
> >Devlins books developed a few of her own spells and hid the 
> formulas in
> >her illustrations of childrens books. I've also been playing with 
> the
> >idea that J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter author) is a witch and hid 
> spells in
> >her novels for kids.
> 
> 
> HA!  Nailed me in one!
> 
> The Witch was the follow up to the Librarian update I wrote that was 
> in the
> last Epitaph.  And indeed, "J.K. Rollins" is the daughter of 
> Annabelle Lee
> Devlin.  Furthermore, it explains why HOE witches aren't "Black 
> Magicians"
> like their Weird West counterparts.
> 
> The last draft was complete except for spell for 2 of the books and 
> filling
> in some effects on the "Ambushed" table.
> 
> Tell you what.  If anyone is interested in helping me fill in spells 
> for the
> two books, I'll add you under the byline as "with invaluable 
> assistance
> from..."
> 
> To give you an idea, here's the intro to the article...
> 
> Every Witch Way But Loose
> By Clint Black
> 
> 
>         Great.  What the hell are you doing here, Kane?
>         Well, you found me.  Now you can leave.  You have a way of 
> making a bad
> situation worse, and this situation has already passed the worse 
> stage.  So
> if you don't mind...
>         Are you crazy?  There's no way I'm going to tell you the 
> secret history of
> witchcraft.  We've been over this before.  There's a reason it's 
> called
> secret.
>         ~I want to tell you the secret history of witchcraft.~
>         ~Because then you would move along.~
>         ~These aren't the droids I am looking for.~
>         What are you laughing at, doofus?  Look, do you want to know 
> the secret
> history or not?
>         Mina Devlin?  Why in the hell would I start with her?  She's 
> a pimple on
> the history of witchcraft.  Okay, maybe not a pimple.  More like a 
> festering
> sore from a sexually transmitted disease.
>         The real history of witchcraft starts long before her.  And 
> it's not really
> called witchcraft.  And before you interrupt me, it's not Wiccan 
> either.  In
> the beginning, it had no name.  And it isn't exactly a religion as 
> it is
> knowledge and a belief system.
>         Well, it should sound a lot like voodoo since it's the same 
> thing.  Just a
> little cultural difference and a different set of archetypes.
>         Can you stop interrupting for ten seconds?  I will get to 
> archetypes later.
> First, no, witchcraft is not automatically evil.  But when their 
> powers came
> back after the Reckoning, the non-evil witches thought it might be a 
> good
> idea to hide.  It turned out to be a great idea.  This is where we 
> get to
> our festering pimple.
>         Mina Devlin, despite the irony, started her own witch hunt.  
> If she heard
> of anyone with the old knowledge, she would make that person 
> disappear.
> From what we understand, they would spend a long time being tortured 
> for
> their information.
>         I'm fine.  It's just some of us have a lot to make up for.  
> Which brings us
> to Mina's descendant, Annabelle Lee.  She learned from Mina's books 
> about
> the other witches.  In particular, one in the Appalachian Mountains 
> of North
> Carolina that Mina herself had been afraid to cross.  Annabelle Lee 
> went
> there to see if she could find any remnant of this woman's 
> knowledge.  She
> was surprised to find the old witch alive.
>         No, not harrowed.  She was alive.  Looked pretty good too 
> from what I
> understand.  She could tell that Annabelle Lee was made of different 
> stuff
> from her ancestor, although she did have issues with men.  The old 
> witch
> taught Annabelle Lee a few secrets and put the bug in her ear about 
> sharing
> her ancestor's knowledge with others.  So, Annabelle Lee learned a 
> few
> tricks and then, as you know, wrote her "cookbook" sharing her 
> ancestor's
> Minor Arcanum spells with the world.
>         Are you telling this story?  No.  Then be quiet.  Anyway, 
> soon after
> publishing her book, Annabelle Lee got busted by the Rangers.  
> Imagine their
> surprise when they discovered their prisoner was pregnant.  Turned 
> out old
> Annabelle Lee wasn't as much of a man-hater as everyone thought.
>         The child, a daughter of course, ended up being adopted by a 
> retired Ranger
> and his wife.  Guess where they lived?
>         Bingo.  The Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.  
> Somehow the old witch
> set everything up so she could train a Devlin daughter from birth.
>         She taught the daughter about the archetypes.  That's where 
> the true power
> of witchcraft comes from.  Anyone can learn to perform the Minor 
> Arcanum
> spells I mentioned earlier, but it takes a strong belief in the 
> archetypes
> or as the voodooists call them, loas, to tap into the true power of 
> the
> Hunting Grounds, the Major Arcanum spells.  Plus the most powerful 
> witches
> are favored of a specific archetype.  Kind of like what the 
> voodooists call
> being a chual.
>         Smart man.  I'm impressed.  That's right, the archetypes for 
> Mina and other
> evil witches are manitous.  That's why Annabelle Lee didn't publish 
> any of
> Mina's Major Arcanum spells; they were the blackest of black magic.  
> Be
> extra careful around those witches.  Not only do they get a lot of 
> power,
> but they're also aware of the cost.  That makes them doubly 
> dangerous.
>         Originally, there were thirteen non-evil archetypes; they 
> are creatively
> enough called the Thirteen.  I say "originally" because three of 
> them
> disappeared on Judgment Day.  Those favored by them went insane.  As 
> did
> those who searched too hard for them.  Today, the "Lost Three" are 
> spoken of
> no more than what I just told you.  The risk of even thinking about 
> them is
> considered too great.  In respect, however, they are all still 
> called the
> Thirteen.
>         Anyway, back to Annabelle Lee's daughter.  Remember her?  
> When she was old
> enough, the old witch told her the truth about her family.  I'm sure 
> you
> think that was risky, but while a witch may show a different face to 
> others,
> it is important that she or he always be honest about themselves.
>         Eventually, the daughter decided that she needed to pass on 
> what she knew
> about  "true witchcraft."  She chose to do it the same way her 
> mother had by
> coding it within her books.  You might have heard of her... Julia 
> Kay
> Rollins.
>         Yes, that J. K. Rollins.  I mean what better way to hide 
> spells than in a
> book about kids learning to cast spells.  Plus, it let her get to 
> her
> audience at a younger age and teach them a little bit about some 
> real moral
> values.
>         Of course the Rangers knew who she was and what she was 
> doing.  Why else do
> you think she moved to England.  She was able to publish book after 
> book
> there, and all the Rangers could do was gnash their collective 
> teeth.
>         All of her books contain the information on the archetypes.  
> The only
> difference is that each contains different spells that Julia knew 
> or
> discovered.  One of the most interesting is "Perry Trotter and The 
> Captive
> of Houma."  It covers her discovery of the link between voodoo and
> witchcraft and how the two work together.
>         Okay, like take this charm for instance.  In voodoo they 
> call it a conjure
> bag.  Different name, same effect.  It protects me from magic.  You 
> know,
> things like "old Jedi mind tricks."
>         Oh, don't even try to pull that again.  If you don't want me 
> to turn you
> into a toad, then you're going to help me out with my problem here.  
> Later,
> we'll discuss whether you get to remember what I've told you.  I 
> hope you're
> more convincing this time.
> 
> 
>         For a long time in the Wasted West, witches have had the 
> short end of the
> broomstick.  It's time to redress that situation, and explain how an 
> old
> Arcane Background fits into Hell on Earth.
> 
> So, anybody interested in jumping on the broomstick?  ;-)
> 
> 

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