Deadlands Campaign Opening Help-Jailbreak

[GoddTodd]

I'd like to start a Deadlands campaign and heard the suggestion that a good ol fasioned jail break might be a good idea.

That way the players can make up what they are in for, get to know one another, and firm a bond rrying to escape together.

If I have all the characters in the jail, what sort of trappings should I give them that might help them escape?

I have a Huckster with good persuasion, a gunslinger, a mad scientist agent, a whisky priest, and a frontier man thats delusional in thinking he has call o' the wild (thinks he can talk to them), but is really just really good with them (beastmaster).

Worst case scenario, I suppose I could give them a Deus Ex and have another prisoner in the cell that's aranged a jail break.

Thoughts?

GT

[LordEntrails]

Never played Deadlands so I might be off.

But, irl, jails in the Old West (1800's USA) often weren't really that hard to break out of. Billy the Kid escaped several by climbing out of the chimney! Guards weren't all that cautious, because people were good, so if they said they just wanted to walk around in the outside the cells, why would they do otherwise? Bars were often set in simple mortar, very prone to crumbling through repeated stress (wiggle the bars free). Or the cells were designed with a typical "level" view, look up to see the gaps, access to the rafters, or even the roofing shingles etc.

Heck, there was a jail break THIS year because a guard left the keys in the jail cell door! (Detroit, Philly? I forget where)

If your environment is similar to that, your players shouldn't have much trouble figuring there own way out.

[GoddTodd]

Thanks mate.

I suppose there's also the good ol sleeping guard with the key ring gag.

Todd


Never played Deadlands
so I might be off.

But, irl, jails in the Old West (1800's USA) often weren't really that hard to break out of. Billy the Kid escaped several by climbing out of the chimney! Guards weren't all that cautious, because people were good, so if they said they just wanted to walk around in the outside the cells, why would they do otherwise? Bars were often set in simple mortar, very prone to crumbling through repeated stress (wiggle the bars free). Or the cells were designed with a typical "level" view, look up to see the gaps, access to the rafters, or even the roofing shingles etc.

Heck, there was a jail break THIS year because a guard left the keys in the jail cell door! (Detroit, Philly? I forget where)

If your environment is similar to that, your players shouldn't have much trouble figuring there own way out.

[Mgrancey]

The agent should be able to pick the lock, not exactly hard. The beast caller could get an animal to come close then used to break wall, pull bars out.

The thing with Deadlands to remember is it is a Dark place, the party could be entirely innocent and simply be wrong place/wrong time and they have been sentenced to hang in the morning. Kangaroo court against an outsider fits in perfectly for Deadlands, and probably wasn't that uncommon. OR they have yet to have been tried but hear that Judge XXXX is coming and is a known hanging judge even when not appropriate. They break out and then need to escape, which would involve breaking the laws making them real criminals.

As such unless, you want the party to be innocent outlaws where the people and/or people in charge are corrupt; you should probably have them start somewhere else from where you want to actually run, unless they are going to be moving around a lot.

TYPICAL Methods of escape would include: horses (at least some stolen unless all players have their own, also not best idea as they could scatter); train hopping or train stealing; if have mad science vehicle available to steal; stage coach. Train or mad science vehicle would probably be best as it would force them to stick together for awhile.

[Black Hammer]

Make your players do the work. Ask how their characters would go about a jailbreak. No need to turn it into a find the pixel adventure, that's what computer games are for. Since the campaign obviously depends on them escaping, let it be a narrative thing.

Unless you're using it as a skill tutorial for new players, of course.

[GoddTodd]

Lots of great ideas!
I was thinking part of the fun would be to ask the player characters why they are in jail. I might also pull a page from Apocalypse and suggest to them they should come up with "bonds" with two other players.
Ultimately, I think after the jail break, I'm going to probably start them off on Blood Drive because I like the idea of playing around with traditional western themes and scenarios before things get extra weird.
The jail break sounded fun because it starts them off having to make some interesting morality choices.
If they don't retrieve their gear from the jail most of them will likely be in need of a job (cattle drive).
Since it's Halloween, I may throw in a ghost story, or some other random encounter if there's time, but the jail break should provide plenty opportunity for everyone to get a grasp of the system and how the game works.

Down the road, I also want to do an interlude mechanic called The Campfire.
Once per gaming session I want to get everyone gathered around the fire where one person can tell some part of their back story or tell a tall tale, and then I'd like to have them sing a cowboy song like Tumbling Tumbleweeds, or if the mood is more brooding, maybe bust out, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie.

[GoddTodd]

Another idea that occoured to me is I could make the townsfolk beholden to a supernatural Hanging Judge.
The posse has no clue why they are in jail, but soon figure out that the villagers sacrifice strangers to the hanging judge so that he doesnt go after thier own folk.

[Trenloe]

The posse has no clue why they are in jail, but soon figure out that the villagers sacrifice strangers to the hanging judge so that he doesnt go after thier own folk.
Like it. :D

[GoddTodd]

The Jail Break went well.
The group leader persuaded the sheriff that the party could take care of the town's hanging judge problem and then the agent on the team would erase the party's memories (after the judge was vanquished) so that the party couldn't alert the authorities that the town had been sacrificing strangers for many years.
The sheriff then took each person out to the barn yard and had them demonstrate their skill. I also encouraged them to spend fate chips to make sure their demonstrations would convince the sheriff they could do the job.
All in all I think it work out as a great party bonding experience.
Next week, they confront The Hanging Judge.