Deadlands Marshall advice needed please

[Suppoko]

I am currently running the flood and am having a couple issues....

1. Money woes for the posse, How much do you give for side gigs like transport and protection and such? These city cost multipliers are causing them to count dollars more than they enjoy. I want them to be comfortable with being able to buy food and rooms but not too rich they still do not have to worry about money.

2. How do you impress upon them that you can not just handle every situation with violence? This is a definite struggle for my used to DnD group. I have tried to make sure they know killing and looting to sell doesn't quite work but they don't get it. I prefer not to kill them all or lock them in jail for life but it seems to head that way.

3. Where is the streetwise skill? It doesn't seem to be listed in the skills menu on the right.

[amerigoV]

I'll toss a few options out there for you:

1. You might look at the Wealth section of SWADE, page 145. Its an abstract approach that might be of use. You might need to adjust that multiplier in there - I know the starting funds for Deadlands (SWADE) is lower than the standard $500, so it might be wise to scale the multiplier for when you roll as well.

2. Yes, an ongoing battle. Start by a chat out of game - set expectations. I'll give a different example - I am running Blood Drive right now - I told the the players up front Riding is going to be an important skill and it will be used often. The set the tone for how the players built their PCs. Same here - say that D&D time is over, if the law is around or if people see you breaking what law there is out in the west, its going to come back around.* The west is dangerous, so people stick together and word gets around fast (and them wealth rolls in (1) above start to rack up penalties).

* For example, if its headed for a fight in a saloon, do the classic "I'm calling you out!" and describe the whole saloon is looking at the PC, seeing if they are yella. Then you get to use the gun fighting rules - classic western trope.

Also Bennies - someone tries to resolve issues without a gun, toss them a bennie. Give some leeway when they do different things (if you have a choice of making them do multiple rolls, one of which might be a weak skill, cut it down so they use a stronger skill for the roll). It helps break them of the attrition game.

If they do not come around, well, might just have to stretch the neck of one of the PCs.

3. SWADE replaced the skill Streetwise with an Edge.

[Doswelk]

Streetwise has been replaced by Networking rules, so the posse can use Persuasion to ask around or Intimidation to beat people up until they talk, of course the violent option will lead back to the above post and how people stick together.

[Maetco]

Sorry for the probably unnecessary necro, since the OP has not replied but question 2 is one of my favorite topics in roleplaying so I hope my reply helps at least someone.

This question has nothing to do with Deadlands, Savage Worlds or D&D. Believe it or not, but there are D&D groups who focus on ROLEplaying, instead of for example: game mastering, character builds, dungeon grinding, tactical tabletop combat...This is about what kind of campaign can exist and what kind of campaigns your players are interested in. You might be running a campaign they don't want to be part of. Trying to force them to enjoy it won't fix any problems. Or maybe they simply don't yet understand what kind of campaigns / roleplaying sessions there can be. Because the variety of potential campaigns is huge, it is very important to align the gaming group's expectations before a campaign is started. This train obviously already left the station in the OP's campaign, but better late than never.

Step 1 - Answer the following kind of questions yourself
- What is your campaign's theme (light adventuring, murder mystery, space horror...)?
- How do you expect the PC's to spend their time during sessions (fighting, investigating, talking...)?
- How do you expect the players to spend their time during sessions (roleplaying, making elaborate plans, creating powerful game mechanical combos...)
- Why are you using the chosen game system (why does it fit well for this campaign)?

Step 2 - Tell your potential players the answers and why you are excited

Step 3 - Ask if they are excited and create your gaming group out of the people who are

(Step 4 - If your gaming group is tied to a predetermined group of people, keep brainstorming together until you have a campaign idea which everyone is excited about)