A Tale O' Terror

[dulux-oz]

The sun had finally set behind the nearby hills and the wind had picked up a chill as the warmth of the day had fled with the coming of night. The stranger sitting near the fire hunkered down over his bowl and sopped up the last of his stew with a slightly stale hunk of brown, gritty bread. As he popped the last morsel into his mouth he leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed and a small smile of satisfaction on his face. For the first time in days his belly was full and he had a warm place to sleep.

The rustling of feet on the inn floor caused his eyes to flicker open. He saw maybe four-dozen people had gathered in the main saloon of the inn; practically every member of the small survivor community able to walk and not required elsewhere. They were waiting and watching with an expectant, even excited air.

He tipped his chair forward and reached for the mug sitting near his now empty bowl. He took a long draught of the home-made hooch, grimacing at the raw, burning sensation as he drained the last of it down his throat. When he had finished he stood and ambled the half-dozen or so steps to the bar, his mug held out in front of him, his head c0cked to one side and a slight grin on his face.

The Innkeeper frowned and shook his head slightly in exasperation, but turned around anyway and grabbed a 5-gallon jerrycan off the shelf behind the bar. He then turned back and sloshed some of the clear liquid into the stranger’s outstretched mug, shaking his head slightly the whole time.

With a smile and a nod of thanks the stranger turned back to the waiting crowd. Every eye was on him, as he knew they had been from the moment he had finished his meal – waiting, watching, gathered around and murmuring softly to each other, ready to pay their full attention at a moment’s notice.

“So are ya gonna tell us a story, Mister?”

As the words of the 10-year old boy floated across the room every other voice was stilled. Some of the adults winced at the lack of manners, but the stranger just looked at the boy, his mug raised half-way to his lips, a slight twinkle in his eye.

This is what the townsfolk had come to hear, why they had fed him and provided him with a place to sleep tonight. Now, it was time to earn his pay.

“Yes” he replied after a long, drawn out moment. “I’ll tell you a story. A story of horrible deeds and of monsters. Of wicked men and of beings of legend. Of how and why our world is the way it is today. I’ll tell you a story – a true story!”

He had them in the palm of his hand now, as every soul leaned forward to catch his words. Not a sound was made, except for the moaning of the wind outside the inn and the soft crackle of the fire in the fireplace within. He took another swig of his drink.

“I’ll tell you a tale of two groups of heroes – true heroes – rough and ornery, genteel and refined, gunslingers and holy-men, survivors and soldiers – heroes separated by over two hundred years yet linked by fate or the spirits or God to battle the evil of our world as it was then and as it is now. Yes, we suffered Judgement Day fourteen years ago, and yes, that was a terrible price we paid for cavorting with evil, even though most of us didn’t know what we were doing at the time.”

He paused, looking around the room, meeting the eyes of the local townsfolk. Some nodded in agreement, some shied away from his gaze, but all of them were wrapped with attention. The young boy who had asked him for the story sat, eyes wide and mouth open, hanging on every word.

“But what was done by one group of these heroes before, and what was done by the others after that terrible event, has made things o-so-much better then it could have been – and perhaps, just perhaps, if Lady Luck had been just a little more kind they may well have actually prevented the Ghost Rock Bombs from falling at all. They certainly prevented the extinction of man and thwarted the Reckoners from completely turning the entire Earth into a Deadland!”

He leaned back against the bar and took another drink from his mug. The whole room was waiting with drawn breath for him to continue, but he gave them a moment more to really set the mood.

“It all began over two hundred years ago, in Dodge City, Kansas, in the Summer of 1877...”

[dulux-oz]

The Campaign
So this is the game that I am going to run: a full Deadlands Classic Saga (Saga is the Deadlands name for a campaign) and we're looking for a few more Players to join us. For those of you unfamiliar with the Deadlands series of RPGs, they are three Cattlepunk (Horror/Western/Steampunk), Apunkalyptic (Horror/Post-Apocalyptic/Cyberpunk) and Horror Western-SF RPGs that share a common universe and game system. As you may have gathered from the introductory story, the Saga spans over 220 years of game-time and focuses primarily on the Weird West of the late 1870s and the Wasted West of the mid 2090s.

How can we do this?

Well, we’re actually going to be running two Deadlands Sagas intertwined: one set in Deadlands: The Weird West and the other in Deadlands: Hell On Earth (also know as the Wasted West). This means that you’ll each have two characters; one in each setting, and as we go back and forth from one setting to the other the actions of each of your cowpokes will effect the other, as well as effecting what happens in the plot of both parts of the story. Your two characters may be related (one being the great-great-whatever-grandchild (or something similar) of the other) or they may just be “cosmic twins”. Either way, their destinies are linked and the Fates have great (or not-so-great) things foretold for their futures.

This Saga will be a story in three Acts. Act I is set in the Weird West of the late 1870s and we’ll play several adventures to begin building the story. Act II is also set in the Weird West while Act III is set in the Wasted West of the mid 2090s. What we’ll do (when the time comes) is play an adventure or two from Act II and then an adventure or two from Act III, alternating back and forth so that the story-parts of Act II and Act III are told “simultaneously”, until the conclusion of the entire Saga – which might just be the springboard to further adventures in the third Deadlands setting of Lost Colony (The Way Out West; Act IV?) – this will depend upon a number of factors, including the desires of the group as a whole.

The “Cosmic Twin” Game Mechanic
The basic experience-gaining mechanic of the Deadlands games is Bounty Points. The full details of how these work are included in the Deadlands Rules (the Player’s Guides handouts), but for the purpose of having two characters separated in time but with their fates intertwined, when one character in the “Cosmic Twin” pair earns 5 Bounty Points the other will have a single Bounty Point “credited” to them as well. And no, before anyone asks, Bounty Points credited to a cowpoke by the “Cosmic Twin” Rule do not count towards the 5:1 Bounty Point ratio for crediting Bounty Points that go the other way – a cowpoke cannot be credited a Bounty Point via the “Cosmic Twin” Rule by earning 25 Bounty Points and therefore having 5 Bounty Points “credited” to the other “Cosmic Twin” in the pair, who then “credits” back a Bounty Point to the first “Cosmic Twin”. The Fates aren’t that kind.

Deadlands is a deadly game. There are more things to kill a cowpoke faster than anyone has yet counted, and so characters will die. Of course, if you were to believe some of the more outlandish stories appearing in rags such as the Tombstone Epitaph then death may not be the final answer to a cowpoke’s problems. But when a character does go on to their final reward (or punishment, as the case may be) their “Cosmic Twin” suffers a 10 Bounty Point “debit” penalty, which they must pay straight away (if they have the Bounty Points spare) or as soon as possible (if they don’t). Any new cowpoke created to replace the one no longer with us then become a “Cosmic Twin” of the character who remains.

My advice: do everything you can to keep your characters alive!

Campaign Logistics
We’ll be playing this Saga with the aid of the Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop (VTT) Software using a new Ruleset specifically designed for the Deadlands Classic series of RPGs. We’ll also be using Teamspeak for our voice communications. Video communications will not be used. Of course, there is nothing stopping anyone from physically getting together with other Players to socialise and game in the same room, and in fact, this is encouraged whenever and wherever it is possible, but each Player will require access to these two software tools (Fantasy Grounds and Teamspeak).

You will also need access to Dropbox, as this is the primary way (apart from within Fantasy Grounds via Reference Modules) that bulk information is being provided.

Nominally, the game will run every second Saturday between 04:00-09:00 UTC. This is, of course, subject to the collective desires of the group, and there is some flexibility in these times to accommodate people. Obviously, as this is a long-running Saga there will be breaks, etc, throughout the year to accommodate people’s needs and desires.

The new Deadlands Ruleset is still a work in progress, so not all of the possible automations, etc, possible with Fantasy Grounds are implemented – yet – but as time progresses I’ll be updating the Deadlands Ruleset, so please be aware of this.

Game Rules And Setting Information
You are being provided with and have the opportunity to peruse a vast array of background, settings and rules information. Some of the information is optional to those that would like it; some of the information should be read by all as it really is required to play the game; and some of the information is of interest only to specific “careers”. Some of the information is general information that is available to everyone; and some of the information is restricted to those with a “need-to-know” (the No Man’s Land documents and handouts).

How much or how little you choose to peruse is up to you!

Like most detailed RPGs, the more you as a Player know about the rules and the settings of Deadlands the more fun you’ll have playing. Deadlands is a game of mystery and surprises, as well as of horror, and of course, some information needs to be restricted, so you are being asked to please, do not read anything about any version of the Deadlands game not provided by your GM (known as a Marshal in Deadlands), even if you think that it has no relevance to the Saga – because you will be wrong; all of the versions and editions of the Deadlands game reference each other and events contained within, and by reading something that the Marshal has not provided you will probably gleam some interesting titbit that will ultimately spoil not only your own enjoyment of the game but of the other Players as well.

This goes for websites as well – please don’t read anything not provided by your Marshal.

Also, please do not share “restricted” information you have been made privy too with other Players – revealing the information “in-game and in character” is perfectly AOK (although some in-game personnel might not take kindly to having their dirty laundry aired in public), but please don’t share No Man’s Land handouts with the other Players without first obtaining the Marshal’s permission.

Trust your Marshal to provide you with the information you need to play and the extra information you may want to have – what you are being provided has been “sanitised” to ensure that the maximum enjoyment of the Saga is had by all.

[dulux-oz]

Campaign Name: A Tale O' Terror

RPG System: Deadlands Classic

FG Ruleset: Deadlands Classic

Campaign Genre: Cattlepunk & Apunkalyptic

Campaign Style: I expect the Campaign Style to be about 35% Combat, 30% Role Playing and 35% Problem Solving.

Number Of Players: I’m looking for 5-8 players for this Campaign (some slots already filled).

Gender, Age & Experience Preferences: I have no preference as to Gender and would welcome a mixed group or even a fully female group. I would prefer people at least in their mid-20s, but as long as you are (relatively) mature I don’t really mind. There is no upper-age-limit. While I can handle one or two RPG “newbies” I would prefer it if you had at least some RPG-experience and also some FG-experience. I don’t expect anyone to have any Deadlands Classic-experience.

Language: English - actually Australian, which is basically English Pro

RPG Rules & Campaign Background: Provided by the GM.

Expected Commencement Date: Depending upon responses I expect to start sometime around late-March to early-April, but I am prepared to take as long as it does to find the right people. This is one reason for the extended recruitment process. I’m told I run a very good game, and part of that is making sure that I’ve got the right Players - with over 35 years of GM-experience I should know what I’m doing by now.

Expectations: I expect this Campaign to run for 12 months or more (perhaps even for a few years). As explained in the previous post, this is a three Act extended Campaign Story-Arc, so if you’re looking for a one-off or a short series of games then this is NOT the game for you. I expect the Players to commit to the possibility of a multi-year Campaign, hence the detailed recruitment and the fully detailed Rules-handouts I’ll be making available - I expect the Players to (eventually) make themselves thoroughly familiar with the Rules & the Campaign Setting. Now, life changes and things happen, so while I expect you to commit to the Campaign I also realise that sometimes unforeseen events occur, so if you need to miss a session or two then we’ll accommodate you by rearranging the schedule or postponing the session, but only when you give some notice or in the case of an emergency. I don’t even mind if you feel the need to drop-out, as long as you let me know in advance and, at the very least, genuinely start the Campaign with the intention to “see it through.” In exchange for all this you can expect a committed GM who will do his very best to provide you with a great Campaign full of intrigue, mystery, heroics, horror and danger. You can also expect a regular game with as few interruptions to the gaming schedule and Group as possible. If you have played the Deadlands Classic adventures before then you may not enjoy this Campaign as much as if you have never done so; however, you are still welcome to game provided you do not give away the plot. Similarly, all the adventures, etc, are available on the Internet: resist the temptation to “look ahead;” you’ll only spoil things for yourself and your fellow gamers.

How To Apply: Email me at [email protected] listing your relevant details (from the above). I won’t necessarily work on a “first come, first served” basis, but the sooner you get in contact the better the chance you’ll have of securing your slot in this exciting Campaign.

[jboyd4650]

looks interesting, send me an invite.

James

[damned]

looks interesting, send me an invite.

James

Better to read the full post and follow the directions

[dulux-oz]

Better to read the full post and follow the directions

Its cool - James is an old-hand (and a really good player)

[Callum]

Sounds great, Oz! I wish I lived in a time zone a little closer to yours...

[dulux-oz]

Sounds great, Oz! I wish I lived in a time zone a little closer to yours...

Yeah, I know, trying to set things up for the UK from here in Oz is a real PITA - unless you like getting up in the middle of the night.

[benkolera]

looks interesting, send me an invite.

James

Awesome! I'm in too. Sounds fun!

[dulux-oz]

Just giving this a nudge - we've got a great group of players already so we'll be starting very soon (a week or three ) but there are still 1 or 2 slots left if anyone is still interested. Everyone is new to the system and most are relatively new to RPGing, so don't feel afraid of joining in if you are new to FG, Deadlands Classic or RPGing in general.

Shoot me an email (address in the first couple of posts) if you're interested.

Cheers