Question about Deadlands

Inx · October 2006

Hey guys.

I've read about Deadlands on this board, looked it up on Wikipedia, and thusly did a search for the original core book on amazon.

However, I'm currently giving myself pause on whether or not to go through with the purchase. I've been told that there's alot of material, overwhelming in the way that L5R can be overwhelming. Also, I've never run a game even remotely like it.

So my question to you is this:

Can a GOOD Deadlands game be run with JUST the core book, and can a mildly experienced DM/ST/whatever (I've run D&D, Changeling, a homebrew superhero system, and Silver Age Sentinels d20) produce decent results?

Raziel · October 2006

Of course. Same holds true with any game. As long as you know the rules (or where to find them in a pinch), and can spin a decent yarn, you're golden.

I've been running Deadlands: Reloaded under the Savage Worlds rules, and it's smooth sailing. Something to consider if you're leery about picking up deadlands classic.

Inx · October 2006

Well, the reason I'm leery about deadlands: reloaded is twofold:

Id need to buy 2 corebooks, and from what I read about classic deadlands, the system is REALLY quirky and fun.

So, yeah...

laughingfuzzball · October 2006

The main thing people seem to get excited about is how poker is integrated into the magic system.

It's also the only complaint I've heard.

PMAvers · October 2006

Inx wrote:

Well, the reason I'm leery about deadlands: reloaded is twofold:

Id need to buy 2 corebooks, and from what I read about classic deadlands, the system is REALLY quirky and fun.

So, yeah...

Personally, I say go with Reloaded. Yes, it's two books. You have to understand that that's ALL you need. Everything that would've been spread across ten or so books with Classic is in that Reloaded book. Plus, since they didn't have to reprint all the core rules in it, they had a lot more space for setting info, which is handy.

And combat runs OMFG-smooth and awesome. Once we had it down, we were probably going through a combat round in around a minute.

Inx · October 2006

Well, while the porespect of only ever needing 2 books is indeed something I like, I also wanted to try out the system in Classic - something about it was really intriguing to me, and I would hate to miss out on that. What's the new system like?

Raziel · October 2006

Quick, simple, and a lot less dice. It also fixes a lot of the problems with DL Classic. Don't get me wrong, DL Classic is wonderful, but you have to houserule your way past some severe hiccups in the rules.

That, and a lot of the DL CLassic books are out of print AND impossible to find.

Inx · October 2006

Are cards still involved in any way? That was one of the things that really got me goin about classic - I dunno, maybe I'm getting sick of dice, lol.

DeVryGuy · October 2006

Inx wrote:

Are cards still involved in any way? That was one of the things that really got me goin about classic - I dunno, maybe I'm getting sick of dice, lol.

Cards are still involved in Reloaded. Initiative, for grabbing extra power points as a hucker, shootouts, etc.

Finster · October 2006

I played the original version a few times, and we only used the core book. We had a good time.

Inx · October 2006

are cards used in character creation?

You're slowly converting me, though it'll slow me down to around christmas before I get the books if I do convert...

How is the Savage Worlds itself, aside from Deadlands?

INeedNoSalt · October 2006

Raziel wrote:

Quick, simple, and a lot less dice. It also fixes a lot of the problems with DL Classic. Don't get me wrong, DL Classic is wonderful, but you have to houserule your way past some severe hiccups in the rules.

That, and a lot of the DL CLassic books are out of print AND impossible to find.

I almost bought the core book for like twelve bucks at a Halfprice Books here. >>

Pseudonym · October 2006

I played Deadlands for about five years, until quite recently when the Marshall and the back up Marshall got to wrapped up in work. And then the backup Marshall whom I had been dating for slightly less time than I had been playing the game dumped me. Regardless to say, if they ever start up games again, I likely wonâ€™t be invited. Shame cause I was in the game first. Before everything went to crap, we also played a little Savage Worlds. I was wondering how Reloaded was, because in my Deadlands starvation Iâ€™m getting desperate enough to try and run my own game with a new posse. Its good to hear that many of the stylistic flairs made it into the new game. How is it in the way of summarizing the information from the old books? Did the specialized bonus â€œclassesâ€ such as martial artists and alchemists make the transition over? Could someone who has played both systems briefly go over some of the notable changes, apart from it being a different system and all? The reactions in this thread sound positive so far.

Raziel · October 2006

I'll give you the rundown.

Savage Worlds in and of itself is super simple. First time players can knock off a character in about half an hour, and the system is designed so GMs can build characters on the fly.

Character creation is point-based, but there is a really good fan-created card-based creation system on Pinnacle's website, if you want to go old school.

Most bad guys can be knocked out in one hit - which makes sense from a cinematic perspective. I mean, how often did John Wayne one-shot an extra? So your gunfighters can plow through a gang of outlaws and feel pretty good about themselves, but you've also got the option of building tougher "Wild Card" enemies.

As for the game itself, the rules are dead simple, requiring only minimal preparation and memorization. The key is to get your posse up and killin' as fast as possible, which the system does very well.

All the flavour is there, with the important elements from all the sourcebooks and rail wars brought into one book.

In short, there's very little not to like in Deadlands Reloaded. I highly recommend it.

Pseudonym · October 2006

Raziel wrote:

I'll give you the rundown.

Savage Worlds in and of itself is super simple. First time players can knock off a character in about half an hour, and the system is designed so GMs can build characters on the fly.

Character creation is point-based, but there is a really good fan-created card-based creation system on Pinnacle's website, if you want to go old school.

Most bad guys can be knocked out in one hit - which makes sense from a cinematic perspective. I mean, how often did John Wayne one-shot an extra? So your gunfighters can plow through a gang of outlaws and feel pretty good about themselves, but you've also got the option of building tougher "Wild Card" enemies.

As for the game itself, the rules are dead simple, requiring only minimal preparation and memorization. The key is to get your posse up and killin' as fast as possible, which the system does very well.

All the flavour is there, with the important elements from all the sourcebooks and rail wars brought into one book.

In short, there's very little not to like in Deadlands Reloaded. I highly recommend it.

Sweet! I'm glad to hear the homebrew card based generation is good. That was always the fun part. If I can ever get my guts up to a high enough level I'll try my hand at a one shot. Speaking of Guts, how is it handled now? Just the standard savage world's leveling, or something special?

Raziel · October 2006

Guts is still a skill, modified by your grit, which is equal to your rank.

Inx · October 2006

Can someone post a link to Pinnacle's website, specifically the homebrew card build system?

Raziel · October 2006

http://www.greatwhitegames.com

They update weekly. Some good stuff, especially the Deadlands One-Sheet adventures.

The card-based system is here: http://www.peginc.com/Games/Savage%20Worlds/Downloads/Deadlands%20Reloaded/DLR%20Cards.pdf

Beware, it's a PDF.

Pkmoutl · October 2006

I picked up the Deadlands d20 a couple of years back, but have never really read the rules or gotten around to running it. Is the d20 version even worth playing or should I pick up the Reloaded version?

Also, are the rules overly complex? I have a person in my group who has certain pscyho-emotional problems that make it nearly impossible to introduce anything tougher than the Tri-Stat system into the group. She knows the d20 system from years of D&D in various forms.

I want a really cool Western game, but I know that Boot Hill is all but lost to the sands of time.

Inx · October 2006

So I've decided to get the game, likely going to go with Reloaded. However, now I have a question to those who have run or played in successful Deadlands games, or games like it:

And tips, hints, or tricks to running a good western/horror/steampunk game? I know I could use the help with horror, and I've never really approached western or steampunk, so I'm not entirely sure where to begin.

I know a big part of running a good game is confidence, but another part is getting the feel and setting right, and doing the correct research, if research is necessary.

Pseudonym · October 2006

Inx wrote:

So I've decided to get the game, likely going to go with Reloaded. However, now I have a question to those who have run or played in successful Deadlands games, or games like it:

And tips, hints, or tricks to running a good western/horror/steampunk game? I know I could use the help with horror, and I've never really approached western or steampunk, so I'm not entirely sure where to begin.

I know a big part of running a good game is confidence, but another part is getting the feel and setting right, and doing the correct research, if research is necessary.

You need western movie music in the background. And hats.

But seriously, allow your players the freedom to explore. Don't railroad them. And be prepared for your players to do unexpected things. Especially the mad scientists. That character type is based on inventing, so be prepared to look at strange drawings and have to decide how it works in game. But, itâ€™s a big and awesome alternate world, so have fun exploring it with your group. I can't tell you how much time I spent in Salt Lake City hanging out at the Mad Scientist bar. (I think I may have picked up a date there too, looking back on it.) I think it was months before we hit the actual adventure in Salt Lake, but fun months they were! But I guess all of that is good advice for any game. Except for the hats.

Inx · October 2006

Well, I typically allow the players to try just about anything in-game, so that should be too tough, and western music shouldnt be TOO too difficult, as long as I can track some down.

The hats'll be a problem. I have a cowboy hat myself, but itll be tough to get anyone else to wear one, I think.

I'm really glad I have the Maple LeaF Rag...it'll probably be my bar or chase scene theme.

Pseudonym · October 2006

Inx wrote:

Well, I typically allow the players to try just about anything in-game, so that should be too tough, and western music shouldnt be TOO too difficult, as long as I can track some down.

The hats'll be a problem. I have a cowboy hat myself, but itll be tough to get anyone else to wear one, I think.

I'm really glad I have the Maple LeaF Rag...it'll probably be my bar or chase scene theme.

Well, in all honesty we only had one hat that we put the chips in, but if you have any hats at all I say wear 'em. It's not often one gets to play cowboy.

We had various music CDs but my favorite was a K-Tel collection of movie western themes. We didn't know it until we put it into the player, but it was a bunch of really bad synth covers. I can't tell you how great it is to be in a really deadly situation and the stereo starts blaring this bizzare rendition of "Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head".

Although I am pro hats/music its more gravy really. All you really need is players and a desire for fun.

While I was performing my file clearking duties today, I realized I gave you no useful advice at all save for "Hats" and "Have fun". And that's not even that great of advice. So here's my new reflections as an old Deadlands player.

On Horror: Make your players feel like they might not get out of a situation alive. Make them tence. As I wasn't a GM, I'm not quite sure as how to balance this with not actually killing the characters unless they are really asking for it.

For the general feel of the game I suppose one could run anywhere from historical (plus monsters) or more something more fantastic. Our game tended toward the more fantastic. Think of Clint Eastwood movies. Actually, there are many silly western movies that I think fit with Deadlands very well. (Shanghi Noon, Wild Wild West, Back to the Future 3, ect.) As you can see, I really have a weakness for mad science.

Penny Arcade

Quick Links

Question about Deadlands

Posts