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quote:The Spider Tribe: Known by a tattoo of a spider over their right eye, claiming that they were inspired by a legendary "Spider Warrior" to overthrow spider demons that once ruled over Manitoba. I guess you need to think like a spider to defeat a spider. They're strong-willed, "skilled" (+5% nickel bonus) trackers of the supernatural. Did they find some pre-rifts pamphlet detailing the legendary exploits of this man with the powers of a spider?
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Feb 5, 2019 13:15
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PurpleXVI posted:"middle-aged looking oriental" That's how you know Kevin wrote it.
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Feb 5, 2019 13:48
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As someone that has had a close family member commit suicide, go gently caress yourself, Deadlands.
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Feb 5, 2019 14:28
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The Wood of Suicides is actually not Deadlands' fault entirely, insofar as Dante invented it, and per Catholic doctrine of the period in which Dante wrote about it, suicide was a sin on par with murder, as you were taking a life given by God, albeit your own. e: what Dante's Hell is doing in Deadlands is, of course, a bit of an open question
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Feb 5, 2019 15:01
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Deadlands appears to mash together multiple religious cosmologies. Maybe Dante's Hell is a Reckoner realm where souls end up if they've had some real-world interaction with the Reckoners or, maybe, it's not a real place and the Reckoners have just convinced Hellstromme it is so that he'll happily tunnel a hole right into hell to save his wife. I mean, their plans don't hinge on Hellstromme's wife being eternally tortured in Hell, just on him believing she is so he'll use her rescue as the ends to justify his means.
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Feb 5, 2019 17:02
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PurpleXVI posted:Deadlands appears to mash together multiple religious cosmologies. Maybe Dante's Hell is a Reckoner realm where souls end up if they've had some real-world interaction with the Reckoners or, maybe, it's not a real place and the Reckoners have just convinced Hellstromme it is so that he'll happily tunnel a hole right into hell to save his wife. I mean, their plans don't hinge on Hellstromme's wife being eternally tortured in Hell, just on him believing she is so he'll use her rescue as the ends to justify his means. It feels like an homage to Doctor Doom in a way, whose main thing aside from showing up the Accursed Richards is saving his mom from one of Marvel's devil's realm. (I think Mephisto.)
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Feb 5, 2019 17:09
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Libertad! posted:
quote:One bloody Sunday, Sikh raiders under Runjoor Singh overran the East India Company’s base camp. The lightly manned garrison managed to repel the attack, but not before Vanessa was stabbed by a wild-eyed Sikh. From there it pretty much lines up with this book; he does manage to figure out the source of "mad science" but doesn't care because it just brings him closer to his overall goal of getting Vanessa's soul out of Hell. Which means that all the ghost rock tech, the Rail Wars, the colonization of Banshee and exploitation of its natives, and World War III were all steps to save her and "redeem" himself. (In Lost Colony, the Reckoners brought Vanessa back to life to gently caress with Hellstromme, fused her soul with a manitou, and she winds up running things on planet Banshee while he attempts to fix this new problem. She's set up as a potential ally for the PCs if they can undo the demon-binding.)
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Feb 5, 2019 17:15
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Emerald Empire: The Scottish Rite Shrines are vitally important to the life of every person in Rokugan, regardless of their rank. A shrine’s ceremonies keep the crops healthy, prevent disease and ward off natural disasters. Visits to shrines accompany every birth, every marriage, every death. At the fifth birthday, a child returns to the shrine to receive their childhood name and be formally introduced to their ancestors. A visit to a shrine can cleanse a soul of most stains. The shrine is, in short, the turning point for just about all life events. Every village, no matter how small, has a shrine of some sort, even if it is merely a single statue flickering with some dim light. It is considered an essential thing to live no more than a day’s travel away from a shrine, for entirely practical reasons. Without a shrine, the natural world is out of balance, and the lesser Fortunes would be blind to the people. There would be no way to cleanse the stains of daily life, which would accumulate and bring terrible events. The services of a shrine are vital to any community. Shrine attendants often serve as midwives, often the only ones available for a village, and the shrines keep records of births and astrological charts associated with them, which are handy tools in marriage arrangements. Happy marriages are often owed to the diligence of the shrine’s keepers, and their divinations often bring vital insights, no matter the question, even when they are not directly petitioning the kami enshrined within. The clergy occupy a special place in the social order. They are above the heimin, but most are considered to be lower rank than samurai, with the exception of shugenja, who are samurai by virtue of birth. There is also a distinct hierarchy of status within the clergy themselves. The highest ranking of all is the Emperor in his role as head of the Shintao and, by extension, all religion. Beneath him are the shugenja, then the priests, then the shrine keepers that serve as their assistants and protectors. Monks, while technically clergy, have no formal place within the social order whatsoever. Most shrines are managed by at least one shrine keeper. While they are of the lowest clerical rank, they are necessary for shrine maintenance, keeping them clean and holy. Shrine keepers can perform basic rituals, herbalism, lesser divinations and generally a collection of folk traditions known as mikodo. Further, protecting the shrine from danger is their duty, so most are trained with bows and naginata. Often, shrine keepers are the children of ashigaru or jizamurai, due to their martial duties, but this is not a requirement, and they may arise from normal peasants. If they do, it is considered a great honor to their family, as it is one of the only ways that they may rise in social rank. Priests serve as the administrators and primary caretakers for most shrines. They perform most of the ceremonies, assist visitors and give advice. They lack the close relationship with spirits that shugenja enjoy, but are capable of performing basic blessings and auguries, and may occasionally request aid from the kami via rituals. Anyone can, in theory, become a priest, but it isn’t easy. A priest-to-be must show deep spiritual knowledge and also demonstrate a rapport with the enshrined spirit of the shrine they are joining. Shugenja are the samurai-caste priests, and all have been embraced by the kami. They can sense the invisible, spiritual world, sensing and communing with the kami and the Fortunes and the ancestors. Priestly rituals are just a shadow of what a real shugenja is capable of, and shugenja are rare – no more than one in a thousand children will have the gift for it, and that gift must then be cultivated from youth. If done properly, the shugenja wields great power, as they may directly call on the kami for aid. Shugenja are not bound to specific shrines unless they choose to be. Spiritual cleanliness is central to the Shintao. Things become spiritually dirty over time and interaction with unclean things, and shrines are not an exception. At any given time, a shrine is always being cleaned, repaired or even rebuilt. Wards, ropes and icons must be replaced regularly, and at least once a year the kami must be released to allow the keepers to clean the shintai. Parts of the shrine with no visible problems may still need to get torn down and replaced, and some shrines will go so far as to build an exact one to one replica shrine and move into it, ritually disassembling the old one. The constant need for maintenance means shrines are very expensive in materials, and so some of the poorer and more rural clans, such as the Sparrow and Hare, must instead use hokora, miniature shrines that resemble stone dollhouses. Of course, commerce is spiritually filthy, as is concern over money and worldly goods. Priests are to be above such things. It is uncomfortable for most that shrines must rely on outside funding to operate, as a result. It would be an unbearable disgrace for a priest to conduct commerce directly, and might offend the enshrined spirits, especially those of ancestors. This means they have to get creative. Coins are a commonly accepted offering, and additional materials are “borrowed” as needed. Wishing wells are also commonly used for income, and most shrines expect a modest donation in return for major services like conducting weddings, although they would never dare to ask for it directly. Major shrines also often enjoy the patronage of a Great Clan family. The Shrine to Hotei, for example, is funded by the Bayushi in all things. This is common – funding the shrines makes the samurai appear pious, and in return they get valuable spiritual services. One of the biggest income sources from samurai is the so-called Training of the Sainensho, the youngest born. It is custom among some samurai families to send their youngest heir to be trained as a priest along with some money for expenses. The sum is determined by the shrine and never questioned, and many shrines compete for students (and their funding). Just one student might provide enough money to keep a shrine going for several years. We get a day in the life of the Mezameta shrine, outside the city of Ukabu Mura, the Floating Village. It is the shrine of the kami of Kanawa Lake, which feeds Drowned Merchant River, and legend holds that Shinsei once drank from the nearby waterfall, which awakened the waters’ spirit. While the shrine is important, it’s pretty small and has only one priest and a few shrine keepers. The actual day is fairly calm and peaceful by Rokugani standards. A lot of busy work cleaning and praying and doing some rituals, sure, but low on the hard labor scale (the worst thing someone has to do is wash a lot of laundry) and there are only a few times when a samurai shows up with the potential to be a huge rear end in a top hat; in each case, they choose not to, out of respect. Shrines pretty much rely on the good graces of the shugenja to not be dicks. Of course, the Fortunist practices vary widely across the Empire, so what’s done in Mezameta is hardly universal. Every clan has its own flavor of worship, and local folk traditions can be very influential. Debates between various shugenja philosophies are frequent, as well. Some basic practices are universal, though. First, you worship an enshrined spirit the way it wants you to. The shrine keepers and priests are there to tell you what that is, and you can rely on a few things. Before you enter the shrine, you will pass through a torii arch to cleanse yourself spiritually. Bypassing this is an innately foul act, like entering a house with muddy shoes on. After you pass the arch, you wash yourself at the cleansing pavilion, rinsing your hands and feet and mouth, then the ladle you used. Now you can walk around. Prayer is usually assisted by the local clergy for strangers, but locals usually need no help. You typically kneel before the icon of the spirit and present an offering they’ll appreciate, varying by what you’re offerin to. Ancestors like stuff they liked in life, Tenjin (Fortune of Stories and Secrets) likes secrets written on paper that are burned at his altar, and Sadahako (Fortune of Artists) likes foundation makeup. Kami tend to like stuff that aligns with their element. You always bow twice – once to pay respect, twice to prove it’s genuine. Then you need to attract the spirit’s attention, so you clap twice, ring a bell, sing or dance, depending on the shrine. (Clapping is most common, with the others mostly done by priests or shugenja.) Then you bow again, pray, bow again, and leave. Abandoned and unattended shrines are challenging, because you don’t know how to not offend the spirit. It can be risky! The safest bet if you anger the spirit is to be humble, keep your eyes and head low, apologize deeply and offer amends. Honest mistakes are often forgiven by the kami if you’re deferent. Next time: How to be Clean
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Feb 5, 2019 18:20
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  Good Intentions Plot Point Campaign, Pt. 1 Good Intentions, as well as Stone and a Hard Place, break off from the first two Plot Point Campaigns by starting the PCs at Seasoned instead of Novice rank.* It also provides recommended ranks for specific Plot Points, with Veteran rank by Plot Point 5 and Legendary by the final eighth adventure. For character creation there isn’t much in the way of recommendation besides Texas Rangers needing to keep an extra-low profile considering most of the populace despises them. *Savage Worlds’ equivalent to experience levels What I’d Change: Good Intentions misses out on the fraught conflict of the double agent genre where one must balance the two sides’ goodwill and making yourself useful without making it seem like you’ve gone rogue. Regardless of the PC’s true allegiance or who they work for most of the adventure progresses as normal, making assumptions that the party will be friendly to the Agency, work for Smith & Robards, and being deniable assets for the Danites without any conflicting loyalties being a hindrance. If I were to run this game, I’d have three factions prominent for the PCs to aid. I’ll provide examples in this campaign of how said factions’ goals will clash and in some cases give orders which may possibly complicate their existing quest. To what extent does the party risk alienating their patrons, and when? Good help is hard to come by, but you don’t want your benefactors to think you’ve “gone native” and joined the enemy either. On the plus side, I’ve have it so that gaining enough of a faction’s trust can work in the PCs’ favor later on down the line, with NPC allies to spring them out of danger, the gifting of restricted and expensive equipment, and safe havens for when you’re on the run. United States: Operates via the Agency in Deseret. Goals: Establish economic and military dominance in the Western Territories, undermine the Mormon nation’s regional influence. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: Is the law in Deseret, but primarily operates via the Danites in this PPC. Goals: Ensure the safety and security of Deseret as an autonomous nation, expand the Church’s influence and membership, restrain and regulate the excesses of New Science. Undermine Hellstromme Industries without risking economic havoc due to high standard of living the company generates. Smith & Robards: Operates via company employees and hired help. Goals: Become the New Science power player in the West by crippling or destroying Hellstromme Industries. Ensure profit for shareholders and CEOs, seize upon innovations and trade secrets in New Science to gain an edge in the marketplace. Continue business with Deseret and the United States provided their money’s good. 1. We Got the Fear! Our tale begins one day in the City of Gloom during an unseasonably warm October. The opening boxed text does a good job of setting up the ambient sights, sounds, and melting pot of humanity before all hell breaks loose. A nearby steam carriage crashes, and a heavily-augmented scrapper with an embedded Gatling gun emerges and starts opening fire at the crowd. As a first encounter it’s not very hard. The scrapper’s an Extra, but he has a huge Strength score and piston jaw making him dangerous in melee, and his Gatling rifle can fire off two attacks at no penalty if he stands still thanks to an edge. When the PCs subdue him a pair of Danite agents take notice of the party’s fine fighting skills. Next morning each one of them receives a handwritten note offering them free lunch from a Mr. Ames claiming to represent the Denver-Pacific rail company. This is actually Jeb Morgan, a high-ranking Danite, and he wishes to hire the PCs to retrieve an unknown liquid believed to be in a Wasatch war train and disguise it as a robbery. They’re even nice enough to provide $150 each up front along with some dynamite, a fuse, and fake ID documents for the mission. PCs who did their homework before the meeting can find out that Morgan’s cover identity as Mr. Ames is not a DP employee, and/or that the gentlemen present during the lunch meeting carry concealed revolvers. Morgan will be impressed if they point this out, and admit that he’s working for someone more powerful but the money’s just as good.  Hellstromme’s war train is armed to the teeth, but the rail warriors onboard are drunk as skunks due to celebrating a recent victory in the Great Rail Wars. The locomotive is carrying liquid Fear which the PCs are tasked with retrieving, although a dead man’s switch is designed to blow the cargo car it’s in if the train stops for more than a few minutes, leaves the tracks, or said car detaches. The adventure presumes that the explosion will happen, causing a dramatic yet cinematically non-lethal explosion. Every PC will be affected by the fumes of raw Fear and experience furtive glimpses of their worst nightmares. Spiritual manitous will torment each of them one on one, and can be resisted via said PC’s trademark or best skill. The liquid Fear and its evidence vanished, but a partially-destroyed logbook has enough detail to note that it picked up said cargo near Mexican Hat. Jeb Morgan will still pay the PCs $200 each for finding a lead in addition to their $150 each up front. I’d like to note that this is a “cash-heavy” adventure in comparison to the other Plot Point Campaigns, and the money gained here is at the lower end of rewards. It makes sense given that Deseret is economically prosperous, and mad science devices in Deadlands are quite expensive to procure.  2. Vex Not Them Ghosts Several weeks later Morgan will contact the PCs again to follow up on the leads in Mexican Hat. He’s willing to give a slight history lesson on the place for those not in the know. It’s a long way south and the PCs may run into a patrol of 23 suspicious Nauvoo Legionnaires; as the Danites are a secret organization and have an almost-mythical place in Mormon folklore, trying to pull rank in this way will only make the soldiers burst out in laughter. The town itself is desolate and the 13 people still here bear haunted looks in their eyes. They are aware of Wasatch activity in the region but refuse to speak of it, but a successful Persuasion reveals that the company name is disliked around these parts. At night the ghosts of those killed from the fires and faminites manifest; they are unable to harm the living but do their best to scare the party in a variety of grisly scenes reminiscent of their deaths. The townsfolk are aware of them but have no idea how to put them to rest, although burying the ashes of the dead where they’re found and exorcism/sanctify spells can work. Not only does this put PCs in Mexican Hat’s good graces, it can be used to introduce players to Tale Telling, a unique game mechanic where the Fear Level can be lowered by spreading good news of evils put to rest. Investigation from grateful townsfolk and/or archives of the burned newspaper house reveals the location of the Wasatch Roundhouse deep in a canyon known as the Valley o’ the Gods. The place is abandoned, the laboratory in the basement eerily empty of equipment. Poking around the place puts the PCs in the crosshairs of spectral X-squad ghosts who died from on-site Fear-related accidents, as well as an invisible ghost by the name of Dexter Crawford. Said spirit is one of the major instigators of Hellstromme’s delusions, executed and left behind in Hell when he stowed away on the doctor’s failed dimension-traveling train expedition. He can only be seen via some spell or device that can reveal invisible people such as Detect Arcana, but otherwise never makes an appearance again until the final adventure. The adventure ends when the PCs report back to “Mr. Aimes” and share their findings. FACTIONS: PCs working for the US government will receive word to abscond with the lynched bodies of the Texas Rangers and deliver them to a contact at the Arizona border for proper burial. Taking them down without earning the townsfolks’ trust will cause a scene if discovered, and Nauvoo Legionnaires who find PCs with the bodies will presume them to be Rangers in disguise! PCs working for Smith & Robards can get some goodwill for the company in Mexican Hat by helping put the ghosts to rest. As Wasatch is despised and the only other rail line, they’ll be more than happy to discuss plans for being part of a Denver-Pacific rail spur going through southern Deseret.  3. Industrial Espionage This adventure’s the first which puts the PCs in contact with the Agency, the spiritual successors to the Pinkerton Detectives who joined the US government in the Deadlands universe. Their organization caught word of the party’s exploits via legendary Agent Nevada Smith, who arranges a meeting with them by posing as a pushy, annoying old lady eager to reward them a meal* in a restaurant’s private booth for helping her across the street. After his facial disguise literally melts off, he introduces himself and tells the PCs that they’re being used by the Danites, who in his words are very real and very bad. He wants them to continue working for them as double agents, and to sweeten the deal presents the party with the location of one of Hellstromme’s secret labs near the Mouth o’ Hell cave. PCs who are Confederates and/or Texas Rangers that balk at being a US patsy will be informed of Twilight Protocol** being in effect, saying that sending anything they learn to their respective capitals is in everyone’s best interests. *this seems to be a recurring theme in the PPC  **METAPLOT ALERT: As a result of the Cackler Going Bananas, the Agents and Texas Rangers are expected to coordinate efforts in regards to supernatural goings-on and New Science definitely qualifies. It’s an in-game way of getting parties containing Agents and Texas Rangers to stick together and not slit each other’s throats.The rest of the adventure is a dungeon crawl as the PCs approach the Mouth o’ Hell. The aboveground facility is guarded to the gills with an 80 foot tall crane made of ghost steel with an attached air carriage providing surveillance, guarded by over two dozen troopers and automations. Amore subtle way in includes going across a canyon by repairing some defunct machinery to extend a mechanical bridge. What I’d Change: The repair check has a penalty due to old equipment, but I’d allow a bonus or automatic success if the PCs can steal some mad science tools from outlying buildings in the facility. That way the party doesn’t have to fight or avoid nearly three dozen soldiers and automatons if they fail the repairs, but there’s still a risk of being caught. The Mouth itself is pitch-black, filled with 4 feet of water in most places, with deformed pseudo-statues of dead miners encased in solid metal popping up everywhere. A pair of abominations known as Metal Monsters were put here by Hellstromme Industries to stand guard, and although Extras they are tough and immune to anything that doesn’t deal Heavy Damage (bundles of dynamite, certain powers, etc). The secret passage leads to a section of Hellstromme’s Plutonian Express underground railroad and abandoned depots. The ambient Fear in the tunnel manifests as random sounds, erratic flickers at the edge of one’s sight, light sources dimmer than they should be, and such. The functional Fear Laboratory the PCs eventually find is fully-staffed by a small team of scientists and X-Squad guards. Here a dozen prisoners abducted from around Deseret are subjected to torturous tests where they’re strapped into chairs, forced to experience terrifying visions from a television-like device while test tubes drain literal liquid Fear out of them. All of the lab equipment is highly sensitive and attuned to surrounding emotional resonance, and the PCs’ arrival throws it all into whack. At a dramatically appropriate time the machine malfunctions and converts the Fear into a massive Earth Terrormental* which rampages throughout the complex.  The Terrormental makes for a nice boss battle. It can meld and burrow through the ground and has your expected high Strength and Toughness with a good slam attack to go along with it, but is immune to all forms of attacks as long as it is in contact with natural earth or if struck by a hero who is also supernaturally burrowing. One of the lead scientists will try to escape, and PCs who catch up to him can learn about the Fear process but not what Hellstromme wants it for as the staff doesn’t know. For their efforts Nevada Smith takes custody of the scientist once they return to civilization and pay them $600 each. What happens if said scientist dies or escapes the adventure does not say. FACTIONS: For more Faction opportunities, the notes and Fear process will be of value to anyone. Smith & Robards will want the PCs to sabotage the crane with explosives to put a damper on Hellstromme Industries’ construction in the area. One of the prisoners may be someone of value to the LDS Church and thus the Danites want them back alive. The US mission is already the default for this Plot Point, so the others are more side treks for getting into said organizations’ good graces. What I’d Change: Have it so that if the professor escapes the PCs may be able to find out the information he knows from research notes which are also at risk of being destroyed by the terrormental. Otherwise they’ll have to track him down or learn a watered-down version from one of the prisoners.  4. Crackin’ Skulls Several weeks after their last mission Jeb Morgan meets with the PCs in a black steam wagon. This time the Danites learned that an ex-Hellstromme employee who may know about the Fear labs is now playing on a Skullchucker team. Morgan does not know who this person is or why they left. The PCs are to go undercover by joining a team (or sponsoring one, or going on as doctors, and so on if they are not the sporty types) in an effort to get close to them and see what they know. The majority of this adventure is an open-ended investigation with multiple leads and some role-playing. The skullchucker teams are gearing up for a tournament with a $5,000 prize pot, so it takes some fancy Persuasion for relative newbies to prove their worth. The sports players of all teams are defensive about their private lives, so failing a Streetwise roll in asking around can make future checks harder as word spreads about “nosy types” or even an all-out brawl at worst. Leads further narrow down the teams sponsored by Hellstromme Industries to rule out leads, and that the Factory #12 Falcons recently got a new player. Said player is Edwina Till, who is actually on the opposing team of the PCs! But this is not a straightforward Where’s Waldo? adventure. Remember that scrapper the PCs took down in the first adventure? Well he was a skullchucker player himself, and his teammates are out looking for revenge! They will try to ambush the party at a most inconvenient opportunity. Also complicating matters is that Hellstromme learned the identity of the PCs by now, as well as suspicion that they might be looking for an ex-employee who knows too much. A Manniken, a prototype automatan disguised as a human, will attempt to assassinate the former employee. The manniken does not know the identity of the player either, and will target someone they believe the PCs to be contacting suspiciously during or after the Skullchucker game, rushing in and firing poison darts. Edwina can tell the PCs that she and a bunch of other workers were being forced to dig out a huge cavern in an unknown location (blindfolds were involved), and she and some laborers escaped by rigging a boiler to overheat. Whether Edwina survives or not, the PCs are now wanted men by Hellstromme Industries andboth Smith and Morgan will warn them as such. This means that during intervening Savage Tales a Hellstromme minion will arrive to attack or inconvenience the PCs at the earliest opportunity whenever the GM deals a black Joker card to an NPC. In the City o’ Gloom this happens whenever the GM deals anyone a Joker of either color. FACTIONS: For Faction activities, Smith & Robards may want a PC to showcase an arena-legal New Science device or augmentation during the tournament to advertise its function. The Agency may want to leverage blackmail on a Skullchucker player to throw a match by planting a threatening letter in one of their lockers undetected. Said player’s also a Freemason mage, so their belongings will be warded with a magical alarm that summons monsters from the Hunting Grounds if compromised. Thoughts So Far: The first adventure starts a little shifty for otherwise heroic PCs by basically committing a train robbery, but otherwise does a good gradual build-up in showing that Hellstromme Industries is up to some dirtier-than-usual deeds. There are multiple avenues for investigation and snooping around which I like, although the adventures’ major weak point is that the Agency and Danites never really work at cross-purposes which blunts the “double agent” feel quite a bit. I also like how monetary rewards are the default for this Plot Point Campaign: the Flood and Last Sons all too often had NPC patrons expecting the party to risk their necks for free. The Skullchucker chapter was very strong, for it could resolve in different ways. Even if a side plot, the monetary consequences for winning the tournament can net the party a new Infernal Device or three. Join us next time as we wrap up the second half of the Plot Point Campaign! Libertad! fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Mar 3, 2019 |
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Feb 5, 2019 23:51
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 Good Intentions Plot Point Pt 2 Terrors O’ Detroit METAPLOT ALERT In order for the Confederacy to gain international recognition and thus smash the Union blockade, President Jefferson Davis realized that slavery confounded this as it made his nation a pariah state to much of the world. In order to gain the aid of the British Empire he emancipated all of the slaves. How this was done in spite of being in direct violation of the Confederate Constitution and thus risking impeachment is because reasons, but the end result is that the British invaded from Canada in the North and annexed Detroit as part of a two-pronged pincer attack against the Union. Although peace has settled between the two Americas, the Motor City’s liberation wasn’t part of the peace talks. As of this Plot Point the United States decides to settle the matter on its own and conducts a joint effort with Wasatch troops to take back Detroit.The saloon the PCs visit is backed to the brim as a performer sings verses from Ode to the West Wind. This very friendly actor reveals himself to be Nevada Smith, and he’s got some hot new info! The good news is that they found the identity of one of Hellstromme’s old buddies from his military days, an engineer by the name of Lucian Vholes who’s rumored to be into devil summoning. The bad news is that he’s now in war-torn Detroit helping the British occupation, and that Hellstromme’s aid to the Union is a pretext for getting their hands on him. With little time to lose a Smith & Robards pilot known as 600 Pound Sally is ready to fly the PCs all the way there in her souped-up super-gyro to give Vholes a hasty extraction! Due to the Sioux Nation’s anti-technology field as of the Last Sons’ completion, she’ll have to make a slight detour which can end up with a few encounters during the days she stops and refuels at S&R waystations. If any of you were wondering the flight logistics. FACTIONS: If the PCs are on the out and outs with the Agency, the Danites will give them this mission instead. But their motives are different, for they have even less love of the dark arts. They want the party to assassinate Vholes and destroy any of his research notes so as not to let his secrets fall into Hellstromme’s hands, whereas the Agency wishes to take him alive. Sally lands outside Detroit due to risk of being shot out of the sky, so the PCs will have to go by foot. The city is far from easy to navigate, with many roads blocked off by the rubble of crumbled buildings and soldier-operated checkpoints. After potential encounters with ghouls and British platoons the PCs can find Nuppenau House currently serving as Vhole’s home. Although hastily packing to flee the city, four bound quilled devils are there to guard him from danger. If the scientist is subdued they can learn from him or his research that he was working on ways to open up a portal to Hell by collecting Roman soil believed to have once directly touched that infernal realm. He has a huge inert portal-like device in his house to prove it he dubs the Hell Hole. Vholes suspects that Hellstromme’s being manipulated by a spirit known as Dexter Crawford, one of his former associates. He does not believe Hellstromme to be wicked, but that he’s being led down a dark path by said specter.  Then a group of X-Squad soldiers on jetpacks bust into the house and open fire on everyone. Although the adventure gives conditions for failure and how many rounds it will take, the adventure’s resolution presumes that Vholes rigs his hell portal to blow up, and that Nevada Smith wil try and fail to disarm it.* The PCs escape out the building to be picked up by 600-pound-Sally. The fate of Vholes is the only thing that can change; he can be taken alive by the PCs and turned over to an Agency safehouse, get killed, or escape from the fight on his personal whirligig. *He dramatically swoops on in to aid the PCs during the firefight. What I’d Change: First I'd make it so that Vholes tells the PCs about Hell being a facsimile of the Deadlands in the Hunting Grounds and that its vision changes depending on the viewers' religious beliefs, as described in Last Sons. He'd also mention that he's noticed evil spirits known as manitou stealing innocent souls as a means of addressing the cosmic dilemma of the Wood of Suicides. I'd also make the PC’s actions in the house fight dictate the outcome. If the hell portal is not destroyed by the time they leave then it falls into the hands of Hellstromme Industries. During the final Plot Point adventure Hellstromme’s device will be even more foolproof as a result and thus harder to shut down. If Nevada Smith survives then he’ll go into hiding for a while. He won’t be heard of again until the final adventure when he joins the PCs as an Ally to stop Hellstromme once and for all. If Vholes is captured by the PCs and turned over to the Agency, he’ll create a mad science trinket studded with infernal runes. This will be one of the items delivered to the party via Nevada Smith’s steamer trunks, and can act as an “overloading agent” to the Hell Gate during the final Plot Point. It will make the destruction of said contraption faster by several rounds. At this point Hellstromme will want the PCs dead more than ever. The drawing of cards from the last Plot Point intensifies where a 5 or higher sends a team of manniken assassins after them whenever they’re in the City o’ Gloom without a disguise. 6. The Ghost of Rail Wars Past Between Plot Points 5 and 6 the PCs will be granted a safe haven at Smith & Robards’ compound. If they accept they can gain some employment by making aerial deliveries of said company’s mad scientist gadgets all over the Weird West. Most of the KickStarter stretch goal adventures for Good Intentions are meant to take place in this interim. Stacey O’Malley, of the Deseret branch of the Tombstone Epitaph, will contact the PCs with an urgent request. A labor union activist by the name of Syd Mallory and her allies were arrested by Wasatch rail agents and will likely be executed. If refused she’ll play on their responsibility by pointing out how she kept Hellstromme off their tail. An important note: offscreen Mallory formed a labor union during the Skullchucker quest to distract Hellstromme’s agents from looking too close into the party’s activities, but otherwise makes no direct mention earlier in the Plot Point Campaign. There’s a lot of behind the scenes sidebar stuff for each adventure to explain what respective factions are doing in the interim, but in Mallory’s case the PCs may very well likely have never heard of her. The X-Squadders have Mallory and her people hostage in a seemingly-abandoned train station. If rescued they tell the PCs that Wasatch is looking for a former employee by the name of Captain Gideon Robertson. Rifling through the train station’s records reveals blueprints for an underground Plutonian Junction to reach Salt Lake City in less than a week. This is too convenient. The kidnappers were instructed by Hanuman, Hellstromme’s second-in-command, to let slip their plans on Gideon who was one of the NPCs the party met back in Mexican Hat. Via a subsonic recording device implanted in one of the hostages, Hellstromme agents are listening in and hope that someone will blab his location. If the PCs get back to Mexican Hat in time, they can question Gideon on his relationship with Hellstromme. He was one of the rail warriors who accompanied the scientist during their first excursion into Hell, and infodumps an abridged version of his employer’s life story from the Marshal’s section and Hellstromme’s relationship with his dearly departed wife. But he also reveals that a stowaway huckster by the name of Dexter Crawford inadvertently caused the train to crash somewhere off course. In order to escape the infernal realm a human sacrifice was needed, and Hellstromme was more than happy to take out his anger on Crawford for ruining years’ worth of planning and expenses. Gideon has on his person a map of the City o’ Gloom, with Wasatch rail lines surrounding it highlighted to reveal a pentagram. This is Hellstromme’s second attempt at Operation Hell Gate, but with far worse consequences. The final encounter of this adventure occurs when a small army of steam carriages, automatons, and X-Squadders encircle the town of Mexican Hat, opening fire indiscriminately with Gatling weapons. A pair of auto-gyros carrying incendiary bombs will drop their payload on the few remaining buildings. They’ll be here ahead of the PCs if they inadvertently revealed Gideon’s location, and if trailed they’ll arrive shortly after. PCs who were thorough in both regards have enough time to talk to Gideon and prepare for an attack. Also saving Gideon’s life pays off later in the Plot Point Campaign too! FACTIONS: If the PCs are particularly valued by one or more factions, said organization will send Allies to provide aid during the siege of Mexican Hat. Smith & Robard auto-gyros can drop packages with Infernal Devices, Danite sharpshooters will shoot the auto-gyro bombers out of the sky, an Agent may plant a bundle of dynamite underneath one of the steam carriages, etc.  7. Hellstromme’s Secrets At this point in the campaign the major factions are coming out to help the PCs in a more direct manner. The Danites assign one of their Black Chaplains to act as their protector from afar, being discrete if possible but jumping in when dramatically appropriate to help them out of a pickle. The Reckoner Pestilence will sic a herd of demonic bulls known as Los Diables to track down and kill the party. As for the Agency, Nevada Smith sent one of the PCs a pair of steamer trunks on two different days. The first contains a key and a sheet of tin with rectangular holes punched into it with the Words “Teller” and “23” stamped on the top portion. The second trunk is unlocked by the first one’s key and contains an autobiographical dime novel titled Nevada Smith and the Teller of Secrets. Placing the tin sheet over page 23 reads out a secret message: to go into Hellstromme’s personal Compound, access a secret elevator when he’s away while he’s celebrating the completion of the Plutonian Junction, and that the password is “Phlegethon.” The location of the Hellstromme Compound is public knowledge, but is a walled enclosure and heavily guarded. PCs who follow Smith’s instructions find a hidden button in the hangar which reveals an elevator with a loudspeaker. If the PCs do not answer the correct password when asked the now-shut elevator will flood with knockout gas. Barring being Harrowed or immune to poison the PCs will lose consciousness and imprisoned within the Compound’s Biological Research Level. The required Vigor roll cannot avoid this, only determine how long they’re down for the count. The area below the compound contains Hellstromme’s most secret labs and is a multi-level yet short “dungeon crawl.” The Staff Level has scientists and soldiers; the Garage Level holds more scientists testing out experimental weapons and vehicles; the Biological Research Level holds captured monsters, human patients, and a distiller of liquid Fear; and finally the Brain Factory holds the process for the creation of Hellstromme Industries’ famed automatons. A herd of zombies kept in rooms have their brains extracted and put inside a canister lined with explosives in the event of unwanted tampering. Said canisters are shipped out to various factories and placed within the housing of said robots. The PCs need to break into the offices of the Biological Research Laboratory to find what they need. Hanuman, Hellstromme’s second-in-command, has the key and is on this level. He will hit an emergency release to set the monsters free as well as sound an alarm, forcing the PCs to tangle with him, the abominations, and X-Squad reinforcements which arrive over the course of several rounds. Sometime after the smoke from the firefight clears, the PCs are at liberty to look through the office’s files on Operation Hell Gate. Pieces of information are doled out based on the number of successes and raises, but the gist of it is that Dr. Hellstromme infused train tracks with ghost steel and liquified Fear to form a massive pentagram around Salt Lake City. This is part of a ritual to open a permanent portal to Hell underneath his own headquarters. There’s also information that he seeks to find and bind the soul of his dead wife Vanessa into his foreman Mary Jones, whose own soul will thus be cast into Hell in exchange. What I’d Change: the adventure talks about it in a sidebar, but the zombie brain secret for automatons is one of the company’s most closely held secrets. It will prove ruinous to Hellstromme’s fortunes if publicized, and the man himself will stop at nothing to kill those who found out the truth. I’d make it so that the knowledge can be passed onto any of the allied factions to either use as leverage, to design their own automatons independently, or to release the knowledge to the public and thus ruin Hellstromme Industries’ stock. It will not matter until after the final adventure, but it can make a difference in the geo-political economic sense.  8. The Door to Hell This final Plot Point is the threshold of no return. The timetable for Hellstromme’s dread ritual is in three days or whenever the GM thinks would be just enough time for PCs to lick their wounds, gear up, and gather a few allies. The Hell Gate is beneath the headquarters of Hellstromme Industries, which itself is guarded by countless rail warriors and machines, forcing a stealthy entry. If Gideon’s still alive he knows a way to get them inside with no skill checks needed! The climax of this campaign is preceded by a half-mile elevator ride down into an artificial cavern, the very same one Edwina Twill helped mine. We get some thematic boxed text on a huge robot-filled chamber where a huge ghost rock-infused ring glows with occult symbols. Dr. Darius Hellstromme himself is inside a neary transparent glass dome operating controls with a copyright-friendly control glove. The mad doctor will pay them no mind as he continues his labors, leaving his war drones and clockwork tarantulas (which can channel Hellstromme’s mad science powers through their bodies) to make work of the intruders. The dome itself has a very high 20 Toughness and the adventure assumes that this will render him untouchable to the PCs… ...except that there’s a power Harrowed can get which can make them incorporeal and “ghost” through physical objects. Yay for not-so-untouchable metaplot NPCs! If the PCs survive Hellstromme will give a genre-appropriate villainous speech, dramatically announcing how he expected the PCs to be here, how they have the privilege to be among the first witnesses of a scientific breakthrough which in due time will allow humanity to transcend death and suffering, and how their efforts are in vain as he already accounted for every possible variable and that they live only because he wills it. At this point the PCs must role-play out a Social Conflict with Hellstromme to get him to see the error of his ways. It is done via a series of opposed social-related skill rolls with modifiers based on how good a job the persuader does in-character as well as suggested talking points.* But there’s a catch: if Hellstromme wins an opposed skill roll, he will inflict his Touched special ability which allows him to make a PC believe something that he himself believes on a failed opposed Spirit roll. In this case the PC will argue in favor of Hellstromme, that opening the Hell Gate is the most noble and logical course of action, until they break free of the mental influence. *bring up knowledge of Hellstromme’s past, questioning the morality of putting Ms. Mary Jones in danger, etc. The next scene happens regardless, but the PC’s margin of victory here does make a difference in how quickly Dr. Hellstromme manages to overload the Hell Gate. But even on a success shutting it down is not an option, and then Hellstromme pulls an Ozymandias: Boxed Text posted:“I cannot shut it down. The process began almost an hour before you arrived. Did you really think I would allow you to pierce my sanctum if you had any hope of altering the outcome?” A woman’s face will appear on one of the trees, but when the entity steps out of the trunk it is not Vanessa at all but the specter of a man wearing a fancy suit who PCs may recognize from Plot Point 2 if they caught a glimpse: Boxed Text posted:“Hello Darius! Remember me? It’s Dex Crawford. The innocent bystander you murdered to effect an escape from the very gates of Hell. The gates are open now, you wrinkled blowhard. On behalf of my new friends, I thank you for your help. We will bring about a new age of mankind…it’s extinction. This is the Final Boss Battle of Good Intentions, but instead of fighting Dr. Darius Hellstromme he is aiding them against a demonic invasion! It will take him either 13 or 13+1d6 rounds for him to overload and destroy the Hell Gate depending on the results of the Social Conflict, and during this time waves of demons will emerge from the Hell Gate’s portal every round. What I’d Change: give some of the PCs control of Hellstromme’s clockwork tarantulas if they’re having trouble holding back the tide. These ones can also channel Hellstromme’s mad science powers, which can make for an interesting turn of events for players who did the other Reckoner Series adventures. I'd also make it so that going over the portal to rescue the tortured souls to be a possibility. Statwise Dexter Crawford’s a ghostly Huckster specializing in offensive and debuffing spells. He’s immune to nonmagical attacks, can become invisible at will, and can only be laid to rest if his corpse is somehow retrieved from Hell and given a decent burial. As for the devils, they come in three varieties: a single Wild Card satyr-like Devilkin possessing a host of Black Magic spells, quill devils* whose spine-covered bodies can erupt in a cone of thorny blasts, and Plague Devils whose mere touch can sap one’s Strength and Vigor. *earlier encountered in Lucian Vholes’ house in Detroit Once the rounds are up, the Hell Gate begins to melt and sink into the earth below, causing any remaining unholy abominations to wail in despair. A pair of activated war drones will help the PCs clean up any stragglers, after which they’ll aim their guns at the PCs, not firing but standing still as Hellstromme exits his protective dome:  Dr. Hellstromme posted:“In fewer than five minutes, you have undone decades of planning and study, years of construction, and months of mental preparation. In a single stroke, you have dashed all the hopes and dreams that sustain me to glittering shards. My life’s work lies in ruin. And yet…the only words I can think to offer you are these: He then returns into his dome, which roars to life and rolls away like a vehicle into the labyrinthine depths. In the aftermath of this Plot Point Campaign, the power of Hellstromme Industries’ headquarters is shut down and abandoned, and looters from Junkyard soon strip the place bare unless the PCs got to any undefined treasures first. Dr. Hellstromme retires to a secluded life on a private estate, and his company and Wasatch Railroad continue functioning as normal. By the 20th century the already-reclusive man vanishes from the public eye to parts unknown. As for the PCs, they may be called by the Danites or Agency to mop up any escaped devils or take advantage of the knowledge of Hellstromme’s secrets, but if they want to hang up their spurs and follow the good doctor’s example in retirement, that’s fine too. FACTIONS: The “brain in a jar” secret, along with the Hell Gate notes, can cause several things to happen depending on who the PCs give the evidence to. The LDS Church will use it as pretext to seize the assets of Hellstromme Industries and nationalize it. They will replace Hellstromme with a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. People who worked on the Hell Gate project will be arrested, possibly granted clemency depending on the circumstances of involvement and their willingness thereof. If the Hell Gate notes are given to the United States, they will publish it in their newspapers as part of an anti-Mormon propaganda war. This will cause Hellstromme Industries’ stock to plummet and Deseret to undergo an economic depression. The evidence will be regarded with mixed feelings: those who didn’t like Hellstromme are confirmed in their biases, but many whose jobs and livelihoods depended on the company view it as the USA finding yet another excuse to oppress them. US-Mormon relations will deteriorate as Deseret finds its sphere of influence in the Weird West limited. Smith & Robards will step in buy up the stock, but not before major damage is done. If the zombie brain and/or Hell Gate notes are given to Smith & Robards, there will be much internal debate within the company over what to do, but they will be used to make further developments in automaton/extraplanar technologies. In due time they will gain an edge over Hellstromme Industries as the premiere New Science corporation. Wages and working conditions will be better than Hellstromme’s business, but given the dangers of ghost rock and pollution business will overall continue as usual. Thoughts So Far: As far as the main Plot Points go, this adventure rates above Last Sons but below the Flood. It was shorter than both but really followed on its themes of Steampunk & Spy Games, Hellstromme’s plots really did feel like that of a mad scientist with an understandable motivation, the fate of important NPCs could be decided by the party’s actions barring one exception, the encounter-card mechanics representing Hellstromme’s manhunts encourage the PCs to take a low profile, and the ample monetary rewards and Infernal Devices on many NPCs do a good job of making Deseret feel like a more serious Wild Wild West. The Plot Point Campaign’s weak points are that the double agent aspect never becomes a source of conflict, and there are no mentioned consequences for what happens if the Danites discover that the PCs are passing info along to a US spy. More than a few adventures felt a bit “dungeon crawl” heavy in infiltrating secret labs, which may or may not be to all gaming groups’ desire. Hellstromme’s ambitions for the Hell Gate are hinted at gradually throughout the adventures, but his motivation is put in one big infodump by Gideon in Plot Point 6 which felt a bit too sudden and telling over showing. The opportunity to go into said gate themselves to free the suicide victims, or even find a resolution for Vanessa’s spirit, is never given as an opportunity which may be a downer to many gaming groups. PS Interestingly, an in-game explanation of the Reckoning or the Servitors is never given or alluded to in the Plot Point Campaign or the Savage Tales. For all intents and purposes Hellstromme is a ruthless megacorp CEO whose own loss drives him to undertake terrible courses of action. Join us next time as we cover Good Intentions’ Savage Tales! Libertad! fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 00:45
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I wonder how big a deal it would be to just have every Deadlands PC start at Seasoned.
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Feb 6, 2019 00:55
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Mors Rattus posted:The Wood of Suicides is actually not Deadlands' fault entirely, insofar as Dante invented it, and per Catholic doctrine of the period in which Dante wrote about it, suicide was a sin on par with murder, as you were taking a life given by God, albeit your own. PurpleXVI posted:Deadlands appears to mash together multiple religious cosmologies. Maybe Dante's Hell is a Reckoner realm where souls end up if they've had some real-world interaction with the Reckoners or, maybe, it's not a real place and the Reckoners have just convinced Hellstromme it is so that he'll happily tunnel a hole right into hell to save his wife. I mean, their plans don't hinge on Hellstromme's wife being eternally tortured in Hell, just on him believing she is so he'll use her rescue as the ends to justify his means. I Am Not a Catholic, but looking up their views on suicide the RCC's teachings took accordance with more modern understandings on mental health. AKA suicidal people aren't in the state of mind equivalent to a totally lucid person choosing to willfully sin. Jesus Christ will take this into account when judging their souls in the afterlife. Granted, the existence of real-world religious mages at all in your setting brings up a host of debates. Lord knows the adultery and murder sin mechanics spawned lots of discussion among Deadlands fans. But the whole "this was what's said in a book written in the Middle Ages" isn't exactly a good excuse when the modern church moved beyond such ill-informed proclamations. FWIW Lucian Vholes' Hell Hole manifests as him casting the Contact Spirit World power from Last Sons, so it's very likely that Hell is merely a Deadland in the Hunting Grounds manifesting as such based on the viewer's Christian belief system. Evil Mastermind posted:Huh, they actually changed Hellstromme's backstory from original Deadlands. Originally they had a happy marriage until he went to go fight the Sikh and she insisted going with him. That's interesting. Got any ideas as to why they would change it around? I suppose the "fighting off the siege only to find you lost" made Hellstromme a more tragic-yet-ennobled sympathetic character than a constant workaholic? Dawgstar posted:I wonder how big a deal it would be to just have every Deadlands PC start at Seasoned. Edit: I've done this more than a few times for my own games, including when I ran Coffin Rock for various gaming groups. I found that it's overall a good choice: SW characters do not get dramatically more powerful like with D&D levels, but a lot of good Edges come in at Seasoned rank. Especially the combat ones. It is a step up from Novice in that it makes for PCs who feel more well-rounded and competent at their chosen professions, too. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 00:59
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PurpleXVI posted:"middle-aged looking oriental" It was printed in November 1999. It's the last Rifts book of the 1990s. The Lone Badger posted:Did they find some pre-rifts pamphlet detailing the legendary exploits of this man with the powers of a spider? In any game I would run, absolutely. In the book? No, sadly.
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Feb 6, 2019 01:10
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Libertad! posted:I Am Not a Catholic, but looking up their views on suicide the RCC's teachings took accordance with more modern understandings on mental health. AKA suicidal people aren't in the state of mind equivalent to a totally lucid person choosing to willfully sin. Jesus Christ will take this into account when judging their souls in the afterlife. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that medieval Catholicism believing a thing removes the responsibility of the writers for including that thing in Deadlands. Just that they didn't invent the thing, they imported it. ...from fiction, mind you, even for the period. Dante's Hell wasn't Catholic Hell, it was a setting for his novel that was based on Catholic ideas. Real Catholic doctrine of the period, while still backwards on this, would probably not have been so, uh...viscerally cruel.
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Feb 6, 2019 01:32
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The cosmology would be more interesting if it were a blend of Mormonism and dispensationalism and various odd developments of American Protestantism in the 19th century, instead of just whatever goth and spooky bits the authors remembered from the Bible and Dante and suchlike.
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Feb 6, 2019 02:05
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 Savage Tales: Besides a central city home base, Good Intentions is a bit of an odd bird in its approach to adventures. It is the lightest Plot Point Campaign on Savage Tales too, with 8 total in comparison to the 20-plus average of the older three. Four side adventures and a pair of “one sheet” mini-encounters were released as KickStarter Stretch Goals, meant to be run in conjunction with Good Intentions or possibly on their own. As those are their own products I will not be covering them for this review, but minus the one sheets are larger in scope than the ones provided here. Early Birds: Innovations in New Science helped Mormon pioneers outmaneuver the rattlers on the salt flats, but the creation of dynamite launchers, wheeled landships, and autogyros make it possible now to hunt them! No fans of the “enemy of my enemy” adage, various companies eager to bag the most rattler hides have turned their Gatling and harpoon guns on each other in a series of skirmishes known as the “Worm Wars.” But the rattlers are intelligent, and see value in letting their tormentors weaken each other’s numbers before going in for the kill! This quest opens up when the PCs are out on the Salt Flats and spot a lone man dying of thirst and heavily wounded due to his New Science glider making a rough crash landing. What he does not tell the party unless they ask is that he is Paul Sibert, a notable individual singlehandedly responsible for starting more than a few “Worm Wars” of his own. A rival group of hunters have been tailing him in a landship, armed with rifles and Gatling guns who will try to get the party to surrender with their superior range and relative lack of cover on the PCs’ part due to the flats. Angry at Sibert and wanting revenge, they have no intentions on offering mercy in the event of a surrender, and after a few rounds of combat 10 rattlers led by a legendary species of its kind known as the Blood Worm attack the ship en masse. The ship will be torn apart, its crew devoured by the abominations in a feast of blood and screams, and the PCs are forced to retreat to a rocky outcropping safe from the worms’ range. Surviving hunters will come up here, too, too shocked and traumatized by the previous events to fight. The rattlers will wait underground, hoping that the lack of food and blazing heat from the salt flats will cause the survivors to make a desperate run. The adventure mentions that the rattlers will go after PCs with vehicles, but it’s railroady in that it doesn’t take into account the possibility of an autogyro or steam wagon outrunning the rattlers and wearing them down in hit and run tactics. The rival hunters will attack the PCs’ vehicles in the initial fight, but steam wagons can be quite tough. For those not in the know, rattlers are one of the most physically powerful monsters in Deadlands. They are giant tentacled worm-like monstrosities over 120 feet long. They have 24 Toughness and Heavy Armor, making them immune to conventional attacks and firearms that don’t deal heavy damage, and they can burrow through earth 4 times as fast as the average human in Pace. Furthermore, they add their +13 size to an area of effect slam attack, meaning that they can very easily incapacitate most PCs even when rolling low damage. Their only major weakness is shooting a nerve cluster in the nexus of their mouth-tentacles at -6, which hits them at a much more manageable 11 Toughness. All rattlers but the Blood Worm are Extras in this adventure, so one good shot can cinematically down them. For the next 3 days the party must find ways to avoid dying of thirst and starvation while fending off random encounters or find their own way to kill or drive off the rattlers. If they survive for three days a glider by the name of Crazy Pete will come to help save them. He has 10 sticks of dynamite as well as a Mad Scientist with the Blast, Deflection, and Fly powers. If both Sibbert and the surviving worm whalers make it back alive, this will usher in a sense of mutual understanding and cause an end to the Worm Wars. But if either Sibbert or the worm whalers die, this causes their acquaintances to blame the other side and lead to a renewed set of Worm Wars. Graveyard Follies: The crux for this tale is open-ended, centering around an undefined item the PCs need being buried with its last known owner in the Gentile Graveyard. The grave has already been robbed, and investigation can discover a discarded note signed by Gregory Tremaine. The man’s name is well known in town as a reclusive scientist who lives on a remote mountaintop. The graverobbers can also be followed and tracked to a steam wagon full of exhumed bodies, but none of them are their quarry and learned they were hired by a Junkyard scientist. The first lead to Tremaine is in a rickety shack built on the literal side of a mountain; the doorknob is trapped with an electric current and fragile floorboards are triggered to plunge an unlucky soul 100 feet. The scientist is reclusive but not the culprit, and gives them an electrostatic gun and knives for their trouble. Following the Junkyard scientist lead turns up a burn ward who hires gravediggers to provide her with corpses to experiment on in hopes of developing a medical breakthrough. Both scientists point to a Dr. Stark as the likely possessor of the MacGuffin corpse, and he lives in a creepy mansion overlooking the Gentile Cemetery. If confronted he’ll reveal to them that he was researching ways of reanimated dead tissue by stitching them together. Stark’s “creation” went wild and fled into Junkyard, with a demolished laboratory to prove it. Only after tracking down and doing away with his “Frankenstein’s monster” creation will the PCs be allowed to rifle through the lab’s adjoining sepulchre, where they can find the MacGuffin they’re looking for among the belongings. Or at least that’s what the adventure assumes in the “Aftermath” section. What’s to prevent PCs from not trusting the creepy doctor and searching the house themselves? In the Meantime: A Harrowed Texas Ranger by the name of Frank McMean was killed by the Nauvoo Legion and came back from the dead with his possessing manitou firmly in control. He’s taken to stalking and setting traps for people going through southern Deseret, and the PCs may be unlucky enough to cross paths with him. Stats are given for falling rock traps and rockslides along with Survival or Tracking rolls to find a way out of the twisting canyon that is his home base. Statwise McMean is a veteran ranger with a d12 in Strength, Vigor, and Shooting making him one tough customer. He has a high 11 Toughness, Improved Hip-Shooting to fan the hammer, and Improved Block and Improved Dodge to make him more easily be able to avoid melee and ranged attacks. The Lost Loco: Whether as acting as a delivery team for Smith & Robards or hired by Nevada Smith or another interested party, the PCs get word that Dr. Hellstromme’s personal rail runner was abandoned in the underground tracks within the territory of the Sioux Nations. As a result of the events of the Last Sons Plot Point Campaign modern technology no longer functions within said nation’s borders. After discovering an underground railroad tunnel in the earth, the PCs are tasked with following the line with 8 horses and rope to pull it out and all the way back to Salt Lake City. The abandoned section of tunnel has become darker and more dangerous since the US-Sioux War of 1881, filled with random encounters of demons, shadowy night horrors, will o’ the wisps, and other creepy things. The rail car itself is inhabited by 8 clockwork tarantulas who are inert and “on hold” until the car leaves the Sioux Nations’ borders, at which point they activate and attack the party.  Shooting Starr: Bonita Rose, the leader of the Outcast gang, was arrested and thrown in the Ogden town jail. Sheriff Eli Waters has a job for the PCs: Rose is being offered a full pardon by senior officials in the LDS Church if she can help authorities track down and capture Utah Starr, leader of another outlaw gang known as the Scorpions who split from the Outcasts. The Church hopes to kill two birds with one stone by getting two outlaws where they can see them and retract the formers’ pardon. The PCs need to search the wilderness and follow the train tracks in order to find the Scorpions. During this time they can learn more about Rose, how the split was a result of the Scorpions taking pleasure in killing and not being in line with the Outcasts’ role as “revolutionaries against Brigham Young’s tyranny.” Utah Starr travels with no less than 18 fellow outlaws in a mixture of steam wagons, velocipedes with sidecars, and horses. The Savage Tale presumes that Bonita will escape, either absconding with a vehicle during the fight or convincing the PCs of her just cause. The bounties for Starr and the Scorpions are still honored, even if Bonita Rose evades capture. What I’d Change: It’s rather odd that the Savage Tale expects the PCs to be sympathetic to Rose, considering that the default Good Intentions and Deadlands setting in general casts President Young and the LDS Church in an overall positive light. The false pardon is more in line with a corrupt government and morally grey setting, and given that the PCs may be working with the Danites against Hellstromme they may not wish to bite the hand that feeds them if they find out about the plot. Under the Mountain: Another “Smith & Robards Delivery” sidequest, the PCs are hired to investigate the tunnels under Mount Necessity to deal with a gremlin problem after a spiked increase in device malfunctions within the compound is traced to the source. The party is in over their head in that 200 gremlins live here and attack in groups of 1d6 per PC. Statwise they are small, weak creatures who can inhabit devices to make them malfunction more often. They come in a variety of colors which have their own additions to the base stat block, and if the PCs retreat due to their overwhelming numbers then S&R will request further expeditions to clear them in waves. Valley o’ the Hungry: When the PCs travel through the Valley of the Gods near Mexican Hat, likely as part of Plot Point 2, they encounter a group of miners in distress chasing a jackrabbit to no avail. Up closer they’re revealed to be faminites who attack the party. However they are not “true” members of the species and cannot infect the PCs. Following their trail via tracking can find 12 more of them, and further tracking can find the two “true faminites” eating bats in a nearby mine.  Who Stalks the Lurkers: A gang of masked thieves calling themselves the Lurkers have been known to rob strangers at knifepoint in the Steel Sky, taking advantage of rumors regarding monsters of the same name attacking people. The sheriff arrested two suspected members who turn out to be teenagers and claim innocence. They get an unlikely defender in the form of a Twilight Legion monster hunter who wishes to recruit the PCs to find the “real Lurkers.” During the hunt the party gradually gathers more and more strange bedfellows also pursuing a similar quarry, from fellow Lurker gangsters to a crusading Baptist preacher. The adventure concludes when the PCs find the monster-Lurkers to be behind the attacks and somehow prove their existence (corpse, camera, etc). The Reckoner-resurrected corpse of “Buffalo” Tom, the monster hunter’s old professional partner, also comes in to attack the party for revenge. Not a Harrowed but a unique undead, Tom has a war club, a velocipede, and a Sharps Big 50 rifle along with some high attributes and skills. But considering that the PCs’ party size is most likely effectively doubled from NPC Allies, I can’t see this being a challenging fight. Thoughts So Far: The Savage Tales are a mixed bag. Most of them are straightforward combat encounters without much variance. Early Birds and Graveyard Follies have by far the most content, while In the Meantime can make for a nice “hunter becomes the hunted” feel with clever use of traps and terrain. Lost Loco and Who Stalks the Lurkers are railroady point A to point B resolutions, and Valley o’ the Hungry is more of a side trek triggered for Plot Point 2. Join us next time as we cover the final chapter of Good Intentions where we see all of this adventure’s new monsters and NPCs!
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Feb 6, 2019 02:38
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Libertad! posted:
Teller is a major NPC from Hell On Earth. He was the guy who knew most of everything and was a potential quest giver in the setting. I wouldn't be shocked if the actual Teller went back in time to do this. quote:That's interesting. Got any ideas as to why they would change it around? I suppose the "fighting off the siege only to find you lost" made Hellstromme a more tragic-yet-ennobled sympathetic character than a constant workaholic?
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Feb 6, 2019 03:21
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A bit late, but I love, and by love I mean hate, that they immediately go "Oh yeah Hell on Earth is 100% happening, tee hee, look at how coy we're being about the fact that none of this poo poo you're doing matters"
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Feb 6, 2019 06:33
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 Encounters This chapter contains new NPCs and monsters found in the nation of Deseret, along with a list of existing Deadlands monsters highly appropriate to the region. The new monsters are a mixture of mad science gone wrong and Mormon folklore. Entries which are Wild Cards are marked with (WC) to denote their special status. Abominations Alleycat: In 1872 a new line of mechanical cat toys were the latest thing in Salt Lake City. The alleycats were an attempt to cash in on the craze by making ones modeled off of Hellstromme’s automatons. Said constructs gained sapience, killed their owner, and live as dangerous ferals in Junkyard. Statwise they’re glass cannons, small and weak but with claws and the ability to steal the breath from unconscious targets.  Automaton, Prototype (WC): These are customized steampunk robots designed for more specific tasks by Hellstromme. The Mannikin are ones which can pass for human and shoot virus-filled plague darts. They do not stand up to close inspection, so they wear heavy hats and coats when in public. Statwise they are meager infiltrators, with little offensive capabilities besides a fist attack and few skills but a high (9) Toughness. War Drones are improved versions of conventional automatons, dispatched only on missions of the greatest importance. Statwise they are big hulking mechas with a powerful Steam Gatling that can make 4 attacks per round at no penalty, a huge 16 Toughness, and a claw attack which deals a big 1d12+1d8+2 damage if in close combat. Both prototypes, like all automatons, have zombie brains implanted in their heads and explode if incapacitated or tampered with. Evil Tree Spirit: When local lumber companies began cutting trees down in a haunted grove, the evil spirits animating the flora began fighting back! These monsters are large and tough like real trees, and their branches can hit targets up to 2 hexes away. They can fire wooden splinters as an AoE cone attack and animate 2d6 slivers of surrounding curved wood as minions. Both the tree spirit and the silvers take double damage from fire attacks.  Faminite: The original faminites were created by a spirit of hunger which ended up in California on a crashed Chinese junk. Most of them went extinct after the death of Reverend Grimme as detailed in the Flood Plot Point Campaign, but a few managed to be rounded up by Hellstromme for experiments. Statwise they are classic walking dead zombies, but capable of normal movement and can manipulate fine tools such as firearms. Those they even nick with a bite or claw risk becoming infected within 24 hours unless the patient gains magical healing. Gargoyle (WC): A pair of gargoyles designed to decorate the LDS Temple in Salt Lake City vanished. People suspect they were stolen, but the truth is that they came to life and are breeding in a mountain cave. Statwise they are immune to all forms of magic save miracles from a Blessed, can fly three times as fast as a regular human can run, and have thick hides for a 10 Toughness and punishing claw attacks. Gargoyle Young’Uns are smaller, weaker versions of the default, but can fly four times as fast as a human running speed and are Extras instead of Wild Cards. Lake Hellion Swarm: Soot and pollutants from the industrialism of New Science led to strange mutations in the Great Salt Lake’s brine shrimp. Lake Hellions are six inches long and can suck the life force out of people. A leviathan known as Briny by the locals in Lakepoint is the only thing keeping their numbers down. Statwise they are a swarm, meaning they are affected best by area of effect attacks and bludgeoning weapons if the water’s shallow enough. Their life-draining attack results in Fatigue on a failed Vigor roll which can turn the murdered into various forms of undead. Lurker: The Reckoners took advantage of residents’ ambient fears of the Steel Sky, creating four-armed spider-like humanoids to menace people. Statwise they are nimble creatures with a Pace of 10 (normal humans have 6), can automatically walk on walls and ceilings in all but the most adverse of conditions, can attack with claws four times a round, and can shoot restraining webbing as a short-range attack. Mountain Meadows Ghost: The Mountain Meadows Massacre is one of the most shameful chapters in Mormon history, and the victims of the slaughter still linger as spirits. They now take revenge on all Mormons by visiting the City of Gloom at night, appearing as living people at first before dropping their guise to swarm lone Mormons. Statwise they are immune to nonmagical forms of damage, gain a +1 on grappling rolls when attacking in groups, but otherwise have no special weapons or attacks beyond their fists and the manufactured ones they can procure. The spirits cannot be exorcised, and only by finding their bones and burying them in sanctified ground can they be put to rest. Oreway Skulker (WC): Miners crushed in industrial accidents have a knack for coming back to unlife: their shattered forms crawl about like spiders, and if they sneak up on an enemy they can make a called shot to the head at no penalty. Statwise they can move their normal speed on walls and ceilings, and ranged attacks suffer a -2 penalty to hit their spry bodies. Rats: The pollutants of the City o’ Gloom and the dread influence of the Reckoning gave rise to many varieties of deadly rodents. We have Big Rats which are the size of small dogs and carry debilitating diseases, Junk Rats are infused with bits of iron and scrap they inadvertently ate and possess immunity to all forms of magic and magical weapons, and Mutant Rats are covered in slime and ooze and can infect bitten targets with Ghost Rock Fever. Salt Rattlers have already been covered earlier in the Early Birds Savage Tale. Sludge (WC): This sapient toxic slime possesses a hatred for all human life, taking care to attack its hated prey via ambush and ones in small groups. Statwise it can attack enemies up to 5 hexes away with multiple grappling tentacles, is immune to all attacks save disintegration, fire, and “matter-destroying” attacks, and can break off pieces of itself as smaller humanoid blobs known as Oozers. Oozers are weaker, humanoid-shaped versions of Sludge which have a lifespan of three hours, and possess a childlike, curious intelligence. Salt Stalker (WC): These humanoid-shaped elementals can be found on the Salt Flats outside the City O’ Gloom, preying on unlucky travelers with fluid-sapping touches. Statwise they can burrow as fast as a human’s normal speed, their mere touch can cause damage, can perform an AoE mass dehydration attack which can cause Fatigue, and take damage from heavy doses of water or if they lose contact with the salty soil of the Flats. Humans This section details generic NPC archetypes our heroes are likely to encounter within the nation of Deseret. They include tough factory workers able to kitbash together devices, Nauvoo Legionnaires who are typical soldiers, noncombatant scientists, Skullchuckers who oddly have an average d6 Strength, Wasatch Rail Agents who can dish out pain with Gatling pistols via some choice edges, and Veteran X-Squad Troopers who are hardened Hellstromme employees equipped with a mixture of Infernal Devices and a single Mad Science power. There are two Wild Card NPCs in this section. The first statblock is for a holy roller Blessed: they are usually Christians (Mormon and Gentile) in the Weird West but can be of other faiths. They have defensive-focused powers but can stand up to trouble with d6 Fighting and Guts;* they possess the Champion edge, which grants +2 damage and Toughness when damaging or being damaged by the supernatural forces of darkness. *Deadlands’ “bravery” skill The other Wild Card is a Danite stat block, representing the secret agents who do anything it takes to safeguard the LDS Church’s interests. They have an above-average d8 in every Attribute and a good array of skills both combat and utility. Each one is equipped with a Danite’s Badge attuned to them, granting them and any blood relatives who wield it the Champion edge as detailed above.  Famous Folks Both fictional and historical, these men and women of import are without exception all Wild Cards. Black Chaplains: These famed figures of the Nauvoo Legion not only exist, they are four Blessed called in only for the missions of most dire importance. They all have their own statblocks but are tough as nails warmage types who use a mixture of protection, buff, and some offensive spells. Their equipment includes a variety of firearms along enchanted and silver bullets to use against more resilient monsters. Brigham Young: This man may be the only head of state in the Deadlands universe who is a good guy.* President Young genuinely places the welfare of Deseret’s citizenry first and foremost, which is why he’s been covertly tangling with Hellstromme all this time. Statwise he’s a Blessed, but not just any Blessed: he uses the pre-Cackler Rules, meaning he has access to all of his powers at will albeit at a penalty to the Faith roll based on said power’s rank. Beyond this his stats prioritize social skills over combat ones, with exceptional d10 to d12 in the relevant areas of expertise. *if you don't count that he oversees the murderous Danites and is implied to have authorized the Mountain Meadows Massacre based on one of the relics from the Makin' Heroes chapter. Edna Jacobs: This sweet old lady is a Confederate spy who uses her local eatery as a “watering hole” to gather information for her superiors in Richmond, Virginia. She has a noncombatant statblock, with a Knowledge (Baking) d12 to show for it. Hanuman: Hellstromme’s second-in-command may not be a Mad Scientist, but he’s no slouch when it comes to running a business centered on the trade. Statwise he is heavy on knowledge and social skills but has disguised weapons such as a hat gun and rifle cane in the event of trouble. Jeb Morgan: The Danites’ second in command below the LDS Church, Morgan is a proactive agent more than willing to kill anyone he suspects of being dangerous to him and his operations. He has some leadership edges and the Secret Identity one, and possesses a saber relic of Captain “Fear Not” Patton. Said Captain is one of the Danites’ earliest heroes, and the saber deals 2d8 plus the wielder’s Strength die in damage.  Leonitas P. Gash: This demented doctor gave up a cushy position at Deseret University to push the boundaries of New Science augmentation beyond social mores and ethics. His manitou-ridden mind has gone insane with the many insights gained. Statwise he is a skill-heavy Mad Scientist with lots of Power Points and a mixture of social and magical edges, but his 4 Toughness makes him extraordinarily frail. Nevada Smith: The PCs’ most reliable Gentile ally, this legendary agent’s exploits have been featured in more than a few dime novels. This doesn’t hurt his cover as few people know his real face. He is a skill monkey par excellence, possessing a d10 in most of the ones in the default Savage Worlds rules. He has a lot of edges as well, specializing in making the most of said skills. He gets a massive 1d12+12 on Persuasion checks made to disguise himself thanks to a high Charisma* and a high-quality disguise kit. O.P. Rockwell: The “loose cannon” of the Danites isn’t the most pious of members. He is fond of whiskey and takes orders when it suits him, viewing President Young’s duel with Hellstromme as a circus act. He is one of the best killers in Deseret, which is why he hasn’t been let off or given a dirt nap. Statwise he’s a ranged fighter with d12+1 Shooting and a host of gunplay-related edges such as Duelist and Speed Load. R. Percy Sitgreaves: The spiritual father of the Metal Mage Arcane Background, he helps publish the Smith & Robards Catalog at his printing house while secretly training other disciples in Thaumaturgical Diffusion. Statwise he specializes heavily in Knowledge skills. He only knows four powers which manifest as physical devices such as the bolt power taking the form of launched metal shards. Sheriff Eli Waters: This lawman of the City O’ Gloom is a loyal Mormon, but he’s not fond of the Danites and views them as too liberal in the use of force. He sometimes oversteps his boundaries and gets involved in cases assigned to them; President Young resents the man for this, but he has not asked for his badge yet on account that Waters is beloved by the Gentile population. Statwise the sheriff has keen eyes with d12 Notice and d10 Tracking, and some typical cowboy skills such as Fighting, Guts, Riding, and Shooting ranging from d6 to d10. He rides in a steam carriage instead of a horse, but the rest of his equipment are typical firearms. Six-Hundred-Pound Sally: This skilled auto-gyro pilot got her name from the time she loaded 600 pounds worth of people onto her vehicle to save them from a zombie horde. She is one of Smith & Robards’ best mailmen. Statwise she has a diverse mixture of combat and social skills with amazing d12+2 in Piloting and Repair. Concluding Thoughts: Good Intentions is short, but it has the makings of a good cloak-and-dagger adventure. Its greatest weak points are primarily plot-related as well as the small number of Savage Tales. This last part can be ameliorated with the inclusion of the KickStarter stretch goal adventures, but as those are separate products this is not necessarily useful to Game Masters on a budget. The player-facing and setting material are fantastic, especially for Deadlands groups with an interest in Mormons and Mad Science. Although the “plot point book” for the Blessed, the default adventure does not exactly showcase said arcane background’s best features and the Mormon folklore material doesn’t show up as often as I’d want in the main campaign. That said, it rates above Last Sons for having a stronger focus and sticking to its themes, and as such is easier to change and alter the more warty parts of the plot. Join us next time for the most classically Spaghetti Western of the Reckoner Series: Stone and a Hard Place! Libertad! fucked around with this message at 06:38 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 06:34
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Evil Mastermind posted:Oh lord. Although I've been excising content to make for a readable F&F, I do have to wonder how many other obscure references I happened to miss based on this. OvermanXAN posted:A bit late, but I love, and by love I mean hate, that they immediately go "Oh yeah Hell on Earth is 100% happening, tee hee, look at how coy we're being about the fact that none of this poo poo you're doing matters" Hoo boy, we talk about this and some time-traveling shenanigans in Stone and a Hard Place, but I regret to inform everyone that said review may take some time. I have to be in the right frame of mind to review it, as it is like none of the other Plot Point Campaigns we covered here.
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Feb 6, 2019 06:41
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SirPhoebos posted:The only alt-history CSA I will tolerate is one where the C stands for "Communist" Gibson’s ‘The Difference Engine’ had a communist slave owner. Once the revolution was achieved, they’d be your slaves too!
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Feb 6, 2019 06:43
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Battle Mad Ronin posted:Gibson’s ‘The Difference Engine’ had a communist slave owner. Once the revolution was achieved, they’d be your slaves too! I'm reminded of one of the in-game Nazi propaganda advertisements in Wolfenstein: the New Colossus, where a heroic fascist was protesting against his Communist factory boss racially integrating the workplace. Both take the role of villains, but in very weird ways. Anyway, before covering Stone, I'm thinking of doing Coffin Rock next. It's a really short adventure of 32 pages, but surprisingly packed with content. It also has the honor of being the first adventure released for Reloaded back in 2008 as well as not being a linear railroad endemic to the game line. After running it for several gaming groups it rates really highly. Or review the Good Intentions stretch goal adventures, depending on people's interest. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 06:50
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OvermanXAN posted:A bit late, but I love, and by love I mean hate, that they immediately go "Oh yeah Hell on Earth is 100% happening, tee hee, look at how coy we're being about the fact that none of this poo poo you're doing matters" I've always had a theory that this kind of stuff is much more grating in an interactive medium. The way people feel more responsible for what happens when they're actually playing the characters (especially long-term) and actively making decisions feels like it makes 'Oh also nothing you did matters and you're all hosed' much worse than it would be if you were just setting up tragedy in a novel.
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Feb 6, 2019 06:54
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Just out of curiosity but is the whole Cackler thing ever explained in more detail in the books, or are you just expected to go buy their other stuff to find out more about some guy who screwed a bunch of rules up?
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Feb 6, 2019 06:59
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Night10194 posted:I've always had a theory that this kind of stuff is much more grating in an interactive medium. The way people feel more responsible for what happens when they're actually playing the characters (especially long-term) and actively making decisions feels like it makes 'Oh also nothing you did matters and you're all hosed' much worse than it would be if you were just setting up tragedy in a novel. I do not have a link handy, but there was a good discussion how Deadlands is effectively a cosmic horror setting where the deck is so stacked against humanity that doom is all but assured. But what makes it bad is that when there's a chance for the PCs to become great and do cool stuff, the bad guys explicitly cheat, and are even called out as such in the book's text. The whole concept of Stone is that he's not just killing off heroic NPCs, but is implied to do the same to all the PC gaming groups who are making their mark on the Weird West. Did your gaming group kill Raven once and then used the Conquistador weapons to kill him again, for good this time? Stone killed them. Did your gaming group create an alternative energy source to ghost rock via some weird hodgepodge of "clap your hands and believe" holy aether? Stone killed the PCs before they could even get a working prototype. That Stone in Classic was a statless Terminator for the GM to pull out if the players got "out of line" was an in-game justification for the GM, but having it be canon that all those gaming groups' victories were stolen from them makes the sting so much nastier. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 07:03
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Worst of all, Stone was just a lame character. Some lovely Confederate soldier gets harrowed and now he's supposed to be the West's greatest zombie gunfighter? No, that spot is for the player who made the greatest zombie gunfighter, and s/he should get to stare down Stone and beat him in a quick draw.
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Feb 6, 2019 07:13
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Geizt posted:Just out of curiosity but is the whole Cackler thing ever explained in more detail in the books, or are you just expected to go buy their other stuff to find out more about some guy who screwed a bunch of rules up? I suppose I should include this as part of the write-up, but it's in the tie-in comic. I once wrote up a detailed review of the comic in a PM to a friend, so I guess I can now share it with the world. OBVIOUS SPOILERS BELOW!  Deadlands: the Cackler Graphic Novel The Metahistory: So this isn't something entirely new. Shane Lacy Hensley's metaplot 20+ years in the making has made references to an evil entity known as the Cackler. Here and there references spoke of him as a powerful undead, very likely the first Harrowed (back during the Middle Ages before the Reckoners were sealed away). There were even references teasing that although his true identity may seem unknown, the readers already knew who he was elsewhere. But Shane didn't want to explain this bad dude in a mere RPG sourcebook! His ideal was to have it be in a television show or movie, but financial hard times put this on the backburner. It wasn't until a successful run with Visionary Comics on some Deadlands books that he grew open to revealing the legend of the Cackler to us in a comic. I got it in PDF form due to backing their latest kickstarter (it was either the 20th anniversary edition or good intentions plot point campaign, can't recall at the moment). Also keep this reddit thread in mind while you read more below: https://www.reddit.com/r/Deadlands/comments/2whv5p/who_is_the_cackler/ "Think you can figure out the Cackler's secret identity before you get to the end of the tale? We've been putting the clues out there for 20 years, amigo!" The Comic: So the Cackler is more or less a typical graphic novel. I won't go blow by blow, but the general idea of the plot is the Cackler is this pale, glasses-wearing blackhat who rides alongside a bunch of bad dudes* on the lookout for a young girl of his bloodline by the name of Rachel. As part of a deal with Mina Devlin Black River agents are searching for her before her 13th birthday (the number 13 has occult significance and all). Due to a bunch of interwining factors, a Texas Ranger by the name of Hank Ketchum (yes I know), a former Black River witch by the name of Morgan Lash who's actually related to Rachel end up on a wild chase to find her before the Cackler does. *a mute gunslinger with a bowler cap, an Irish druid who can change into a flock of ravens, a hulking Apache warrior who has magical tattoos that can deflect bullets, and one of Black River's Wichita Witches The plot tries to cram too many things at once into the story. Although I take it most readers are going to be Deadlands fans, concepts and things from the RPG are introduced one after another without time to let things sink in and it feels more like the writers going "hey, you know who THIS character is wink wink?" The two most egregious examples are Suitcase Lee, an NPC from the Flood making an appearance, but with no lines of dialogue and all he does is block a Triad gangster's knife throw; and the other is when the heroes are battling the Cackler's crew on a train, and to tip the scales the bespectacled villain summons a rattler to rise up and block the train, causing a crash. That's literally all the rattler does in the comic, act as a glorified roadblock. No cool scenario where the Texas Ranger has to shoot at its weak point in the mass of tentacles, nor a moral dilemma of going after the Cackler vs letting the folk on the train get eaten by the giant worm. Wasted potential. There's also a moment where it turns out that Hank and Morgan run into Nevada Smith, a famous Agent who's also after the Cackler who seems to be causing a lot of bad mojo. Bad enough that both the Agency and Texas Rangers invoked a super-special Twilight Protocol to pool their resources against the Cackler. This ties into the later Plot Point Campaigns and adventures in Deadlands, aka a reason for Agents and Rangers to be in the same party although they don't necessarily have to like it. I can applaud Pinnacle for wanting to eliminate sources of unnecessary inter-party conflict, but this is ruined given that the very origin for what initiates the Twilight Protocol has to be found in a comic book and not say, errata or a public update! Also our lovely Nevada Smith (who's Deadlands' James Bond expy) has to depart the party on urgent business which he casually mentions like it's no big deal. Except that the thing calling him away is Hellstromme's Hell Gate Project, a huge spoiler for the last Plot Point Campaign and will ruin the suspense for any players reading the comic and seek to play said adventure! Goddammit Pinnacle! Unfortunately the Cackler discovers the whereabouts of Rachel, who is in an Agency safehouse and put into an anti-aging slumber preventing her from turning 13 and thus ruining the ritual. He ends up absconding with her and goes for Devil's Tower in Sioux Nations territory. This is where a huge battle between the forces of good and evil occur, and we find out the Cackler's true identity and motives. Brace for it. The Cackler, whose name we already knew and thus you're likely thinking it's an NPC in the established Deadlands universe is... Mordred, the knight who betrayed King Arthur in the Battle of Camlann! You know, that old English legend? Oh yeah, he's also related to the Whateleys, since Morgan and Rachel are Whateleys and he's "of their blood" and all. And he needed Rachel's body so that his mother Morgan LeFay's spirit can come back into this world and wreak havoc. The possessed Rachel then flies away while our heroes are enmeshed in the middle of a zombie army. Instead of explaining how our heroes overcome the last of the Cackler's forces, it just cuts to a "some time later" of battered and bruised heroes vowing to track Rachel down to the ends of the earth, but for now they need to recoup their losses and gather up allies. As a result, we get an epilogue of how the Rangers and Agency extend the Twilight Protocol, there are more horrors in the Weird West, and heroes from across the world gather to form a new organization known as the Twilight Legion whose sole purpose is to ensure humanity's survival. It never actually explains how Morgan LeFay is powerful enough to change the very rules of magic and cause the Almighty who's supplying the Blessed their power to metaphorically "retreat" said gifts. Afterword: There's a series of short stories afterward which I have not read, along with Afterwords from Shane Lacy Hensley talking about how the Cackler came to be. It was one half him loving Arthurian myth, the other based off of an evil Dark Sun elf slaver who had a trademark evil cackle his gaming group loved to hate. We also have stat blocks for the Cackler and his crew, along with Hank Ketchum and Morgan Lash. Some of them go by typical NPC stuff, although the bad guys have unique abilities and equipment (the druid is not an arcane background so much as a host of unique abilities, the Cackler is a black magician harrowed who has 50 power points, etc). Overall Thoughts: I did enjoy seeing where the plot would head next on my first read, but even then there were times when I felt like they were trying to do too much. It was basically a funhouse ride through the Weird West's attractions, but the roller coaster is going too fast for you to appreciate all of the curiosities. Given that canonically this comic takes place during the last Plot Point Campaign, it seems that Pinnacle is gearing up the Cackler to be the next Big Bad Evil threat considering that the 4 PPCs more or less had the PCs putting stops to the plans of the 4 major Reckoner's servants. I may be a bit too harsh, but I'm not exactly a fan; although there is some chicanery with alternate timelines and how major setbacks doesn't mean evil's sealed away forever, I can't help but feel that having a grinning madman come out of literally nowhere to be the next Stone/Hellstromme/etc feels a bit...weak, especially since the ending of the comic hasn't really hinted what Morgan LeFay's going to do now that she has her body. The Cackler hasn't wowed me enough to rank him alongside Stone's "Undead Terminator," Hellstromme's tragic obsessions, or Raven's vengeance-driven terrorism. I feel that this comic would be served better if it was used as a true series of its own rather than just another tie-in to metaplot. And given how sourcebooks out now are going "read the Cackler" in reference to events I feel that this just diminishes the story by making it a chore. A chore with a major spoiler for one of their existing major adventures at that! PS I couldn't find a way to insert this naturally into the above text, but Morgan's meant to be a bit of a conflicted anti-hero who's ashamed of her past. The start of the story has her and some Wichita Witches bust into a Salt Lake City saloon (Gentile neighborhood in Junkyard, FYI) in a moment of conscience after looking into the mirror and seeing something she hates. This causes her to turn on the other Witches. I get what they're going for, but when literally a page before you have her choking a black bartender with a whip while smiling doesn't make for the best first impression and whose racial connotations trigger my dog whistle. That's something the unrepentant villain does in cinema nowadays! I seriously had to double back and make sure that the crisis of conscience renegade witch was that one for sure. They all had dark hair and near-fetish gear in the scene, so it was hard to tell the difference. Said scene also got a full-page spread, and was repeated again in the stat block entry at the back. Is that really the best photo you guys wanna go with? Hank Ketchum also had his own artwork if that makes a difference. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Mar 3, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 07:21
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I hate time travel.
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Feb 6, 2019 07:33
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The "What I Would Change" sections are the best parts of these amazibad Deadlands reviews and more people should do them.
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Feb 6, 2019 07:44
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Halloween Jack posted:The cosmology would be more interesting if it were a blend of Mormonism and dispensationalism and various odd developments of American Protestantism in the 19th century, instead of just whatever goth and spooky bits the authors remembered from the Bible and Dante and suchlike. The Mormon afterlife is positively wonderful. You either receive the celestial exaltation (their words, not mine) if you're a good and proper Mormon, the terrestrial exaltation (again, their words) if you're a good person who didn't Morm Up due to "the craftiness of men," or if you accept Jesus post- The only way to go to hell is to positively reject Jesus when Jesus comes to hang with you in the afterlife, at which point you become a "son of perdition." Brigham Young even said there would be no "daughters of perdition," in other words no woman can go to Hell. Which does kind of raise questions about how well Hellstrome paid attention when he became a Mormon.
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Feb 6, 2019 08:02
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Nessus posted:The problem is that none of these things would let you get sufficiently mad at your old youth pastor or at fundamentalist politicians. Unless I'm terrible at reading jokes online, it's strongly implied that Hellstromme converted for purely self-serving intentions. That the man remained a bachelor all throughout his time as a Deseret citizen shows that he's not exactly "walking the walk," even if you discount all his many sins as Mad Scientist CEO, given that Mormon culture places a strong emphasis on marrying and raising children in order to get to the highest levels of heaven. The whole portal to Hell possibly disproving Mormon theology is also not something addressed in the adventure either. For example, an idea that it may be hard for the PCs to get the LDS Church to act directly against Hellstromme when they learn about it on account that the President and the Quorum do not believe in it in the Dante's Inferno sense. They certainly don't like the economic stranglehold he has on their country, but they'd need a better reason for the Nauvoo Legion to storm his headquarters. Libertad! fucked around with this message at 08:18 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 08:09
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 Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion, Part 7: "G.M. intervention to 'save a player group' should always have a price or ramifications of some kind." First, we get some Hook, Line,
 "Watch my back while I cast Lazlo's Lines of Indistinct Offense!" Lazlo vs the Xiticix Well, it's time for the main event, the war against the Xiticix. We get... well, a recap of the whole plan described earlier. And then a % breakdown of the Lazlo forces. The top three groups represented are: Wild Psi-Stalkers, Military Soldiers, and... Wilderness Scouts or Woodsmen-Trap- fffffu- quote:Trapper-Woodsman O.C.C.: Dearest Martha, I write to you this day to tell you about how the war agin the bugs is doin'. So, their tactics are as follows: kill any patrols if it's deemed safe. Then, find Queens... somehow. Send in "Surgical Strike Teams" to eliminate them. Eliminate any larvae or eggs if possible, but survival is placed before doing so. Queen hit squads are to note any nurseries they find, which are then given follow up strikes with explosives or area-effect magic. When all Queens are eliminated, they're to perform additional raids to eliminate Nannies. Meanwhile, Lazlo forces will be in place to evacuate or defend nearby locales as necessary. However, they're underestimate just how agitated the Xiticix will become, and the bugs will rapidly broaden the space of their patrols and start killing any humanoids or communities they run across. The cost in life will be massive. Lazlo will be trying to cope, but they simply don't have enough people. They estimate about eighteen months for the campaign, about the same that the Coalition estimates to fight Tolkeen. Hmmm. Funny, that. Almost as if they were planned to be concurrent! But they're not, so just forget about that. Like, no sarcasm. They're not. Maybe they were? But not.  Followup teams will be sent in to try and eliminate any missed Queens or ensure no new one emerges. It turns out by this point they'll likely be assisted - ironically - by the Coalition pushing into the region. The Coalition will be just as interested in eliminating the Xiticix Queens, even if they don't necessarily cooperate with Lazlo forces.  "I smell Xiticix that wa-" "WE KNOW." The start of the War So, Lazlo will launch Operation Queen Check to try and eliminate a bunch of Queens simultaneously, but they'll probably have a harder time than expected. It presumes the PCs are working with Lazlo, but also offers the option of the PCs being... Coalition soldiers engaged on Xiticix containment, in case your players would rather be fascists. Or they could be Splugorth agents sent to secretly aid Lazlo, in case your characters would rather be slaves or slaveowners. It's a Megaverse of possibilities! Most of the suggestions are "go in do a thing get out of the thing" - scouting, striking, distracting, sabotaging, etc. There are also rescue missions to retake people captured by the bugs, save units or communities under siege, dealing with unrelated disasters, and so on. Then, adventure hooks attack!
 "Bzzz bbzzz bbzzz bz bz!" "I don't know what you're asking!" "Bzzzz bzzz bz!" New Beginnings After all things, we're reminded that some Xiticix probably survive anyway and they seek...  ... revenge. Really, Siembieda? Really? Really? These mindless bugs are out for revenge? Well, I guess once they're nearly wiped out, it's finally time to give them a personality. Siembieda suggests returning, revenging villains so often I can only imagine his campaigns becoming conga lines of villains tripping over each other for the chance to arch the PCs. That'd be fun, at least. Rifts World Book 23: Xiticix Invasion posted:The bottom line is that the Xiticix should be hard to completely destroy, and return as recurring villains for years after Lazlo's Great War. A devouring evil that is never completely stomped out and struggles to grow in new, unsuspecting places.  The Xiticix-Men. The Legacy of the Xiticix Fighter So, those who survive the war are seen as heroes against an inhuman foe. Yay for you! There are are those that try and falsely claim credit. Boo for them! Next: Operation Infektion.
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Feb 6, 2019 11:45
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Alien Rope Burn posted:After all things, we're reminded that some Xiticix probably survive anyway and they seek... I think I'd change this by having the surviving xiticix have no interest in revenge, not even really understanding the concept. Instead they suddenly become the friendlist bugpeople you could ever hope to meet. You see, humans beat them. Now they want to learn everything about humans. Adopt human dress and customs. Horribly mangle human language. Try (and fail) to eat human food. Memorise libraries-worth of human movies. Find out what it is about humans that let them win, so they can bring it home.
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Feb 6, 2019 12:22
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Bugs that seek revenge? Why? Weren't they boring enough the first time? Are you trying to kill your players through monotony, Kevin?
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Feb 6, 2019 12:29
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Remember when Jaws did it? Also a voodoo curse.
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Feb 6, 2019 12:33
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Is the Tracker-Woodsman sticking with us through all of the next books? Because I hope so.
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Feb 6, 2019 12:55
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There's tuppinware in it for him!
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Feb 6, 2019 13:33
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I even like Deadlands, some setting elements aside, but even I look at The Cackler and think I'd really rather go re-read The Sixth Gun which also a weird west comic and much more creative. (I think Savage Worlds has a setting for it, too, if you wanted 'weird west but not Deadlands.') Oh, ew. I just got the joke behind calling a Texas Ranger 'Ketchum.' There IS a famous Old West personality with the same last name, but he was Tom Ketchum better known as Black Jack and was an outlaw and member of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Dawgstar fucked around with this message at 14:15 on Feb 6, 2019 |
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Feb 6, 2019 14:12
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Libertad! posted:Unless I'm terrible at reading jokes online, it's strongly implied that Hellstromme converted for purely self-serving intentions.
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Feb 6, 2019 14:51
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 14:02 |
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Sorry Deadlands, I am not accepting your "the confederacy just decided it didnt need slaves anymore and freed them all" bullshit. If you just want another large scale antagonistic faction on the continent just make one up instead of this insane attempt at white washing a terrorist uprising founded on slavery.
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Feb 6, 2019 15:25
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