The Other OSR: Omega City

In the far future of broken landscapes, stretched landscapes, and lost landscapes there is often only the appearance of the Gunslinger and the power of his Gun to bring order to the mouldering settlements and ruins of the uncertain past, to drive back the strange creatures, lurking, ready to pounce and rend the unwary, and to stop the ambitious and the foolish attracted to the power of magic which threatens what remains. The Gunslinger is a wanderer, a member of a brotherly order, arriving unbidden one day, dispensing justice and order, stopping the monster, perhaps engendering a little hope, all before finding the next Slip Door and the next world. Their peripatetic existence is the only constant and perhaps the only certainty they know. This is the Drifted World of We Deal in Lead, an Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying game published by By Odin’s Beard. It is set in a post-apocalyptic dark and weird west that combines a stripped-down presentation with the mechanics inspired by Cairn, Into the Odd, and Knave and it is very much inspired by Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series of novels, but also has the feel of a weird Spaghetti Western with genre-hopping possibilities.

Omega City – Ashcan Edition is the first supplement for We Deal in Lead and presents something very different, almost a point of permanence, even though, like much of the Drifted World, it is subject to decay and decline. It arose out of the Dungeon23 challenge, the aim of which was to design a mega dungeon in one year, one room per day, over twelve levels. Each day creators would add something to their dungeons, but creators also switched format, one of which was ‘City23’. Omega City was born of this switch, a city inspired by two things. One was the city of Lud from The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, part of the series that inspired we We Deal in Lead, and the other was the author’s home city of Edmonton, Canada. This being the Drifted World of We Deal in Lead, the universe is still breaking down and so this supplement mixes more than it matches its various locations, drawing on a wide variety of locations, situations, and creatures from different time periods and genres. In this instance, the actual setting and its disparate nature means that the designer had more freedom of design than his counterparts working on a more traditional Dungeon23 creation.

Omega City does not so much detail individual locations within a city, but provide small regions—a total of twelve—each with five or six buildings, locations, and landmarks. These are presented over a two-page spread, with the places listed on the left-hand page and a corresponding map on the opposite side. Each location is accorded a listing of two or three bullet points. Each location is accorded a listing of two or three bullet points. For example, Region 9 has five locations, a ‘Shanty Town’, a ‘Cracked Riverbed’, a ‘Lumber Mill’, a ‘Colossal Skeleton’, and a ‘Writhing Mass Grave’. The Shanty Town is described as a “Collection of lost souls and broken travellers”, being home to “Residents from different worlds and times, the languages spoken number in thousands”, and the inhabitants suffer as “More and more victims vanish each night, lost to the red claws in the sands”. Meanwhile, the Lumber Mill is “Overgrown with pungent thorns that ooze vicious orange liquid”, as “Flies swarm constantly, adding to the ooze”, and “Great grey swarms cover the dead trees of the nearby woods”. All of the entries are like this, a clash of the old and new, of the ordinary and the outré.

However, amidst the ‘Burned Out gas Station’, ‘Pitted Gibbet’, ‘Spiral Slough’, ‘Corpse-Corrupted Reservoir’, ‘Flesh-Warping Runoff Pond’, and ‘Partially Phased Office Building’, there is no room for the individual. There are groups of people, such as at the ‘Shanty Town’, but no individuals, and also no hooks. The individual descriptions are intriguing, but possibly not quite enough to get the Gunslingers to investigate every case. Also, ‘Omega City’ itself does not have an overview or broad description. To be fair, both are due to the intermittent nature of the creation process involved in Dungeon23, the creator coming back to the process day-by-day rather than sitting down and working at it. On the other hand, this nature means that lack of connections between locations means that the Warden—as the Game Master is known in We Deal in Lead—can pull them out and insert them into her own content as much as she can develop her own hooks to them.

Physically, Omega City is not yet fully formed. Only an Ashcan version is available. It is handwritten and not always easy to read, whilst the map, though serviceable, are rough. The writing though, is by intent short and punchy, often spurring more questions than answers.

Omega City – Ashcan Edition is by its very nature rough and ready, but it does present some sixty or more locations that present mouldering mysteries and decaying dangers in a minimalist fashion that the Warden can use and interpret as is her wont. In this way, Omega City – Ashcan Edition can serve as a series of prompts for the Warden’s own city or prompts for her own version of ‘Omega City’.

The Other OSR—We Deal in Lead

The world has not so much died as moved on. Landscapes seem to stretch on and on, pockmarked by settlements and the ruins of ages past, as strange machinery rumbles below seemingly straining to keep the sky and the ground moving like they did the day before. Old technology, much of it advanced by the standards of then and now, rusts and moulders where it sits; strange creatures—some said to have been things of legend and myth, lurk, ready to pounce and rend the unwary; and magic weaves a cunning attraction for the studious and the curious, the ambitious and the foolish, its knowledge perhaps lost on this world, but not the next. Figures are seen to stalk this world, sometimes alone, sometimes in the company of beast which seems to understand their every action and word, and never leave their side, sometimes together in brotherly orders, but all wielding the gun, a deadly artefact that they use to kill. To kill the bandit, the robber, the cheat, and the murder, the apostate of their order, and in doing so restore order of society and ensure the men and women of this time can live free of tyranny and banditry. Then they are gone. Perhaps they left with the caravan as a guard, maybe they simply moved on to the next settlement, or they just found the Slip Door they were looking and their Guns knows the location of and stepped through, not to the next settlement, though there is always one, but the next world. This is the life of the Gunslinger, wielder of the legendary gun across the Drifted World and their credo is “We deal in lead.”

We Deal In Lead: A Weird West Wanders Game is an Old School Renaissance-style roleplaying game published by By Odin’s Beard. It is set in in the post-apocalyptic dark and weird west of the Drifted World that can step sideways into other worlds and genres and back again as legendary Gunslingers stalk the land, perhaps bringing order to the remnants of society, and then moving on to fulfil quests of their own. Perhaps to kill the murder of their order’s elder, retrieve their lost elder’s guns and take up her mantle, restore their honour, or even slay the demon within. It combines a stripped-down presentation with the mechanics inspired by Cairn, Into the Odd, and Knave and presents the tools and tables to create wildernesses, worlds, and excursions, whether the Warden—as the Game Master is called—is running for a single player, a group, or a player is playing it as a journaling game and thus solo. As a setting and roleplaying game, it is very much inspired by Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series of novels, but also has the feel of a weird Spaghetti Western with genre-hopping possibilities in terms of other roleplaying adventures.

We Deal In Lead begins with advice for Warden and player alike. It does this as a series of principles presented as bullet points. For the Warden these include design philosophy—neutrality of the role, that the roleplaying game is Classless, death is always a possibility, the players should always be presented with clear choices, and the players share objectives, and so on, as well as the nature of adventures, content and safety tools, how to handle information, difficulty, narrative focus, and preparation, and present danger, treasure, and choice. For the player, the principles advise agency, teamwork, exploration, talking, caution, planning, and ambition, and if one path leads to defeat, then they should look for an alternative path. For the most part, these will be familiar to adherents of the Old School Renaissance, but are not elucidated upon, but rather kept short and to the point. The same is done when describing the Drifted World, a set of principles that are to the point rather than providing any great detail. On the plus side this means that there are going to be basic elements which will be the same from one Warden’s game of We Deal In Lead to another because the principles are presented in a direct and accessible fashion, whilst leaving plenty of scope for the Warden to develop the details. On the downside, this can leave the Warden with more effort required to prepare and run a game, although the book includes numerous tables designed to help with that. Overall, the sparse nature of these sets of principles reflects the open nature of We Deal In Lead’s Drifted World.

A Gunslinger in We Deal In Lead has three Abilities—Strength, Dexterity, and Heart, ranging in value between three and eighteen. Of the three abilities, Strength and Dexterity are obvious in their use, whilst Heart is used for social interaction, carrying out rituals, and in Gunslinger duels. Grit represents his ability to endure and continue rather than health, plus various physical and mental traits and some equipment. He owns a Gun, a firearm out of antiquity with inlaid stock and engraving. He may also be a member of an order of Gunslingers, led by an Errant. This might be a Player Character or an NPC. To create a Gunslinger in We Deal In Lead, a player chooses or rolls on the tables for name, surname, and background, plus any extra traits, and then three six-sided dice for the Gunslinger’s abilities, followed by two six-sided dice for his Grit. He selects or rolls for the details of his gun and his hat, and then some equipment. The Gunslinger is ready to play.

Maggie Chambers
Age: 38
TRAITS
Background: Bandit Physique: Short Skin: Pockmarked Hair: Braided Face: Sunken Eyes: Distant Speech: Squeaky Clothing: Colourful
Virtue: Tolerant Vice: Cold Reputation: Driven Misfortune: Heartbroken
Strength 13
Dexterity 16
Heart 15
Grit 9

EQUIPMENT
Three days’ rations, torch, 12 lead, Rifle with ironwood grip and hawk engraving, galloner hat

Mechanically, We Deal In Lead is straightforward. When a player wants his Gunslinger to act, he rolls a save versus either Strength, Dexterity, or Heart, needing to roll equal to or lower than the value. A one always succeeds and a twenty always fails. Standard rules are used for advantage and disadvantage. Armour provides some Defence, but only against mundane attacks, not against bullets. Damage is inflicted directly on Grit, then Strength, which can inflict critical damage. When Strength is reduced to zero a Gunslinger is dead. Critical damage necessitates checking on the Scars Table, which depending on the damage suffered, can leave the Gunslinger with concussion, bloodied, touched (and aware of the location of the next Slip Door), or even dead. Gunfire is resolved not through a Save versus an ability, but a roll of two six-sided dice on the ‘Shoot Table’ which might mean maximum damage, a hit or a graze, a miss, or a mishap. It is thus random, but because the gun of the Gunslinger is an artefact or relic gun, it grants certain advantages, including Steel Resolve, in which the Gunslinger draws resolve from his weapon to restore Grit and special attacks. These differ by weapon. Thus, there is ‘Fan the Hammer’ for the six shooter and ‘Give It Both Barrels’ for the shotgun. If a Gunsmith and a forge can be found, a Gunslinger can have his Gun upgraded, although the price is high.

Duels—and specifically duels against other Gunslingers—are even deadlier as you would expect. Contests are required to determine who fires first and hitting an opposing duellist necessitates a save versus Heart. Damage is deducted directly from a Duellist’s Strength rather than Grit. Combat can be deadly, especially duels, and opponents will often flee Gunslingers, their morale broken. Gunslingers themselves can also be affected by the loss of morale, though usually only when they lose their Guns or their Errant is killed. Then they are broken.

Beyond the core rules and combat, We Deal In Lead provides for magic and companion beasts. The latter can bond with a Gunslinger and so become a Gunslinger themselves—bar the Gun, of course, a loyal companion who can help a Gunslinger on his quest. The former mostly involves rituals, often cast by groups. No magic itself is described, but rather the rules suggest that it be rare, knowledge of it having been mostly lost, and not without its cost. Unless presented with the means and motive to cast magic, it is likely to remain a narrative aspect of a campaign’s villain and thus the province of the Warden. Further rules cover wilderness exploration, of which there is a lot in the roleplaying game, so turning parts of its play into a hexcrawl, and traversing to other worlds, primarily through Slip Doors. There are threats and legends that stalk the in-between spaces, but a Gunslinger’s Gun never stops working—though he may need to find a world’s alternative to lead. The wilderness rules are supported by a table of wilderness encounter hooks and a lengthier and more detailed set of tables to create excursions, essentially missions on the other side of Slip Doors on other worlds. Both are designed to work with the solo or journaling rules that allow a single player to stalk the Drifted World via his Gunslinger, including a flow chart to track his progress. In addition, the bestiary in the appendix provides nearly forty monsters to face along the way. Some feel drawn straight of Dungeons & Dragons, some have a cryptological bent to them, whilst others like the Mayhem Beast, Serfbot, Skinshift, Ursborg, and Drifted Third are native to the setting. Lastly, in the scenario, ‘Swampwater Shootout’, the Gunslingers go after the turncoat who killed the Errant of their Order. It is a fairly short affair, designed to introduce the game and its mechanics, and should provide a session’s worth of action.

Physically, We Deal In Lead is well presented. For the most part the book is done in cream, but the thick border of every page is colour coded according to the chapter and its subject matter. This makes finding things in the book that little bit easier. The rules are all very clearly presented and surprisingly, for a book of its length, supported by proper examples both of character creation and combat. The latter is quite lengthy, taking up two whole pages and also serving as an example of play.

If there is an issue with We Deal In Lead it is in its openness and often its sense of the ineffable and the beyond. It leaves a very great deal for the Warden to fill in and develop, certainly in terms of anything akin to a campaign or long-term play. For some Wardens this will not be an issue, but for others, it may be the case. By comparison, the short term is very well supported with encounters and excursion ideas. This does though mean that there is a flexibility to We Deal In Lead, the Warden being free to run it in the slightly done setting as presented, create her own endless prairie, or even switch genres to a standard Western.

We Deal In Lead: A Weird West Wanders Game takes the Old School Renaissance and the Wild West to an empty, endless frontier, its sparseness and openness often matched by the look of the book. Whilst the origins of We Deal In Lead: A Weird West Wanders Game may lie in micro-clones such as Cairn and Knave, the designers do an excellent job of building upon them to present something new, in a different genre with the sense of a world that really has drifted on.

[Fanzine Focus XXX] Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 2

On the tail of Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, such as Crawl! and Crawling Under a Broken Moon. Some of these fanzines provide fantasy support for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but others explore other genres for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game.

Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery is one such fanzine. Published by Stormlord Publishing, it takes Dungeon Crawl Classics to the Wild West and the Weird West of the 1880s. The discovery of ‘Demon ore’ in the Dakota Territory in the 187os leads to the establishment of the town of Brimstone in South Dakota, conflict with Lakota and other Plains Indians, and a rush to work the mines soon built under the town and the Dark Territories surrounding it, to strike it rich! With it came graft and corruption and Demon Stone and Hellstones. Since Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery is published as a series of fanzines, its secrets and details are revealed issue by issue rather than in one go. Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 1 introduced the setting and got a Judge and her players playing with a ‘Character Funnel’. A feature of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, this is a scenario specifically designed for Zero Level Player Characters in which initially, a player is expected to roll up three or four Level Zero characters and have them play through a generally nasty, deadly adventure, which surviving will prove a challenge. Those that do survive receive enough Experience Points to advance to First Level and gain all of the advantages of their Class. What those Classes are, are not revealed in Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 1, but they are in Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 2.

Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 2 was published in 2015 and picked up where Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 1 left off. It includes new rules and new Classes, changes to existing Classes, magical items, a patron, and more for running a Black Powder, Black Magic campaign under the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game. These begin with ‘Armour and Armour Class’ which removes armour from the setting, which would be useless against firearms anyway, in favour a Defensive Bonus based on Class and Level. It represents a Player Character’s combat awareness, use of cover, and simple luck when comes to being in a gun fight. It is a simple solution, more of a fudge to account for the fact that Black Powder, Black Magic is not a realistic Wild West setting, but a pulp horror Wild West setting. Alongside the new rules are a couple of pieces of magical armour, or rather magical items which provide a bonus to Armour Class. A nice touch is that they have their downsides too. For example, the Moonstone Spectacles both protect the wearer from the effects of the midday sun and grant a +2 bonus to Armour Class because they distract opponents, but they also occasionally distract the wearer and force him to attack someone other than the intended target. This combination of a benefit and a penalty makes these magical items more interesting and gives them more than the singular effect within the game.

‘Core DCC Classes in Black Powder, Black Magic’ gives the alterations necessary to make them fit the setting. For the Cleric, there is a choice of Clerical Traditions to chose from, including Protestant Preacher, Catholic Priest, Native Shaman, Chinese Mystic, and Cultist of the Old Gods . These primarily provide choice of weapons and the unholy creatures that each Clerical Tradition acts against, and they are bare bones. Enough to get started, but the Judge may want to add detail to really flesh them out. The Thief distributes points to its Thief Skills according to player choice rather than Alignment as per the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, allowing an element of specialisation. The Warrior is the least changed, being the only Class to be proficient in Buffalo Guns, Cannons, and Gatling Guns. The Wizard is the most changed since magic was but absent from the world until the discovery of Demon Ore. A Wizard in Black Powder, Black Magic requires a Patron, much like the Cleric does, and needs to know or use a True Name when casting magic. This is often the caster’s own name, which becomes woven into the effects of a spell when cast. There are some fun suggestions such as having it appear in the flames of a Fireball spell! The single spell given is True Name Ritual, which enables the caster to learn the True Name of a demon, devil, summoned creature, or even another Wizard. However, the use of the True Name in Black Powder, Black Magic is really only a narrative hook, being required to cast magic, rather then providing any mechanical benefit, that is until the True Name Ritual spell comes into play provides that benefit.

The two new Classes in Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 2 are the Gambler and the Prospector. Gamblers vary according to Alignment, Lawful being rare and mostly working licensed establishments, whilst Chaotic Gamblers are common, willing to take big risks for big rewards. The Class has Luck like the Halfling in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, several Thief skills, and in a nice nod to The Maverick always go first in round when drawing a concealed weapon. The Prospector is typically Lawful in Alignment, methodical and practical when extracting the difficult mineral, whilst Chaotic Prospectors often align with dark powers. The Class is used to working in cramped conditions, so can fight close in with the Warrior’s Mighty Deeds of Arms with mêlée weapons, have bonuses to skills related to mining, and with ‘A Nose for the Infernal’, can sense the presence of Demon Ore. The Prospector’s Luck modifier also applies to mining and hunting for Demon Ore, and for mêlée weapons used in mining. The Class can also spend it to negate the negative effects of Demon Ore. Both Classes are fairly lightly done, but come with detail and mechanics changes enough to make them interesting to play as well as fit the setting.

‘John Henry: Steel Drivin’ Patron’ is the only Patron given in the second issue of Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery. This article does reveal a minor secret to the setting, but primarily provides the folk legend and hero as a Patron. There is a pleasing physicality to the details of the Patron, such as channelling past exertions into the Steel Drivin’ Man Patron spell to gain bonuses to physical abilities for the caster and his allies and the Shake the Mountain Patron spell which with a stamp of the caster’s foot, knocks people and causes buildings to collapse. Unfortunately, having only the one Patron severely restricts player choice when it comes to selecting the Patron for their character, exacerbated by the fact that the Wizard Class also needs a Patron.

Rounding out Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 2 is the first entry in the ‘Varmits!’ series. This describes creatures suitable for the setting, and for this issue, it is the Mine Wight, an undead humanoid creature when a miner dies in the presence of Demon Ore or is killed by a Mine Wight. Quiet and cunning, the deadly claws of the Mine Wight leech Luck from a victim when struck. The description is accompanied by a table of folklore to roll on—the article actually begins with how to handle folklore and research in the game—and a basic plot hook. Overall, the monster is decent, the folklore rules useful, and the hook something for the Judge to develop. 

Physically, Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 2 is done on pale cream paper with a fittingly buff cover. It is lightly illustrated in black and white, but the illustrations are good and the issue is also well written and overall, everything feels right about this issue. Except of course, it leaves the reader, just as it will the Judge and her players, very much wanting more. There are four issues of Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery in total as well as the Brimstone Census and Fire Insurance Atlas of 1880, so there is yet more of this setting to explore. However, the actual issues of the fanzine are limited, so are difficult to find and purchase.

Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 2 is a solid continuation from Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 1. The changes to the Classes make sense to fit the setting and the new Classes good too, but where the issue comes up short is in including only the single Patron. More would have been very useful. Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 2 picks up where the first issue left off and delivers more of the same entertaining flavour and feel of a ‘Weird West’ suitable for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but both Judge and players will be left wanting more.

1998: Hell on Earth: The Wasted West Roleplaying Game

1974 is an important year for the gaming hobby. It is the year that Dungeons & Dragons was introduced, the original RPG from which all other RPGs would ultimately be derived and the original RPG from which so many computer games would draw for their inspiration. It is fitting that the current owner of the game, Wizards of the Coast, released the new version, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, in the year of the game’s fortieth anniversary. To celebrate this, Reviews from R’lyeh will be running a series of reviews from the hobby’s anniversary years, thus there will be reviews from 1974, from 1984, from 1994, and from 2004—the thirtieth, twentieth, and tenth anniversaries of the titles—and so on, as the anniversaries come up. These will be retrospectives, in each case an opportunity to re-appraise interesting titles and true classics decades on from the year of their original release.

—oOo—

Published in 1998, Hell on Earth: The Wasted West Roleplaying Game is a roleplaying game with an identity crisis. On the one hand it is a standalone roleplaying game. On the other it is a sequel to Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game, which had proved to be a big hit for their publisher, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, two years earlier. It uses the same mechanics and it is set in the same background, only two hundred years later. It uses many of the same character archetypes as well as adding a few new ones and removing others. It is another genre mashup, but where Deadlands does horror and the Wild West to get the Weird West, Hell on Earth adds post-apocalyptic and fantasy to get the Wasted West. Hell on Earth also reveals all of the major secrets to the Deadlands storyline which had been hinted at in supplements released in the two years leading up to the release of Hell on Earth.

All of which raises two fundamental problems with Hell on Earth. The first is background versus mechanics. The rules for Hell on Earth are those for Deadlands, barring the new and changed character types and genre rules, so if Marshals and players already had that roleplaying game—which seems likely given that the audience for Hell on Earth and Deadlands were essentially the same. Arguably this space could have been better devoted to more of the new background of the Wasted West—there is some background in Hell on Earth, but it does not feel enough, especially considering that it took another supplement, Wasted West, to give that background. This compounds the second issue, that of too many genres, which made the roleplaying game difficult to access. The horror-Wild West combination of Deadlands was an easy sell and an easy buy-in, but the horror-Wild West-post-apocalypse, fantasy mashup of Hell on Earth or ‘It’s the sequel to Deadlands’ was not as much. Setting up, running, and playing a scenario  for Deadlands was easy because both Marshals and players knew both genres from years of exposure to both genres in film and television. Again, with Hell on Earth and its extra genres, not so much.

So in explaining the set-up for the 2094 of the Wasted West, Hell on Earth goes both into some details as how this future came about and how the set-up of Deadlands is the foundation of that. It explains how Native American shaman, known as the Last Sons, in 1863 performed a ritual known as the Reckoning which unleashed malicious spirits that increased the fear levels nationwide, let magic into the world, fuelled mad science with a newly discovered glowing mineral known as Ghost Rock, and created monsters, cultists, and madmen. Their influence prolonged the American Civil War and permanently divided the United States of America into the United States of America and the Confederate States of America with great swathes of disputed territory between them. The need for Ghost Rock would ultimately send mankind to war on Banshee, another world where more of the weird mineral was discovered—as detailed in Lost Colony, the third roleplaying game in the Deadlands series—whilst at the same time bring about the Last War. This was not just a war fought with nuclear weapons, but nuclear-Ghost Rock weapons, and the contained within Ghost Rock the spirits of the damned. When they burned in the irradiated flash of the nuclear explosion, they raised the levels of fear even further, in the process turning the planet into a series of ‘Deadlands’, areas warped enough to draw out monsters from mankind’s nightmares. This ‘wasted’ land enabled those responsible, known as the Reckoners, to reveal themselves and stalk the land in waves of War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death—literally the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Hell on Earth introduces numerous new character types. Doomsayers are ‘radiation priests’ who believe the irradiated and the changed will inherit the Earth and that ‘norms’ are normal humans are doomed. Most cult members see it as their duty to hurry norms to their deaths, but others have rebelled against this and want to protect both people and their future without the slaughter. Doomsayers can blast their enemies with radiation or technology with EMP, cause mutations, and can tolerate radiation. Junkers are ‘techno-wizards’ of the Wasted West who scavenge for pre-war technology, then use a G-Ray Collector to store the power of Ghost Rock into spirit batteries which power the devices they build. Typical devices include chainswords, motion detectors, junkguns, and so on—all powered by the arcane energy of Ghost Rock. Sykers are powerful psychics who were trained by various governments to fight against the insurgency on the Banshee. They can use powers like Arson, Brain Blast, and Tattletale, but suffer strain in doing so. Templars are holy warriors dedicated to helping those in need, but only if they are deserving of such help. Armed with a sword they forge themselves, they gain minor blessings like Lay on Hands and Armour of the Saints which help them in their mission.

Other archetypes in the Wasted Waste include Gunslingers, guns for hire; Indian Braves, Native Americans who eschew technology and stick to the Old Ways; Law Dogs, who wander the land keeping the peace; Ravenites are Native Americans who embraced technology and wealth rather than the Old Ways and are always well equipped; Road Warriors are nomads, ever travelling in search of parts and fuel for their vehicles; Savages grew up after the Last War and distrust technology, whereas  Scavengers search the ruins of the past for it; Soldiers are survivors of the Last War; Tale-Tellers are storytellers who spread hope and news with their tales; and Traders find and sell goods as they can. It is also possible to play certain other character types from Deadlands in Hell on Earth, primarily those with arcane powers. They include the Blessed, Hucksters, Voodooists, and Martial Artists, though to bring Voodooists and Martial Artists into the Wasted West, the Marshal—as the Game Master in both Deadlands and Hell on Earth is known—will need access to the relevant sourcebooks. Lastly, just as in Deadlands, a character in Hell on Earth can die and come as one the Harrowed, one of the ‘undead’ who constantly fights with the evil spirit that reanimated him for possession of his corpse and who is capable of developing his own unnatural powers.

As in Deadlands, the character creation process in Hell on Earth is slightly complex. A character has ten Traits or attributes. His Corporeal Traits are Deftness, Nimbleness, Quickness, Strength, and Vigor, whilst his Mental Traits are Cognition, Knowledge, Mien, Smarts, and Spirit. Each Trait has an associated die type—four-sided, six-side, eight-sided, ten-sided, and twelve-sided, and a Co-ordination, an associated number, typically ranging between one and four. Combine the two and the player has a number of dice that he rolls when his character is undertaking an action, for example, three eight-sided dice if the character has a Deftness of 3d8 and wants to shoot at some varmint. In addition, a character has Aptitudes that represent skills, talents, and trades, such as Fannin’, Shootin’, Teamster, Trackin’, and so on. These are rated between one and five and use the same die type as Trait that the Aptitude is associated with. So the character with a Deftness of 3d8 uses eight-sided dice for all associated Aptitudes, for example, Shootin’ and Speed-Load.

To create a character, a player draws twelve cards from a standard deck of playing cards, discarding two. Any two cards can be discarded bar draws of two and Jokers. The former grants or penalises the character with the four-sided die type, whilst the Joker grants the character the twelve-sided die type and one of two twists. If Black, then an obligatory dark backstory devised by the player and the Marshal together, although a Mysterious Past table is included in the book for the Marshal. If Red, the character is further affected by the supernatural and radioactive energies left over from the Last War. The suit and number of each card determines the type and number of dice for each Trait. So for example, ‘4 of Diamonds’ gives a Trait of 2d6, whilst the ‘Jack of Spades’ gives a Trait of 4d8.  Once generated, a player assigns them as he likes. In addition, a number of secondary stats are derived from the various Traits, notably the number of points to assign to Aptitudes, from the character’s Knowledge, Smarts, and Cognition die types. A character can also have up ten points’ worth of Hindrances, the amount spent on Hindrances generating a corresponding amount with which to purchase Edges.

Our sample character is Walter-5, a Psyker was once Doctor Walter Gallardo, a med student in pre-war Chicago. He was planning to become a surgeon but was discovered to be a Psyker, conscripted by the army, and after his training, was sent to fight the insurgency on Banshee. There he served as the squad medic, but the truth is that he did not want to fight and only did so when he was forced to. Otherwise Walter does not like to talk about what happened off world, although he still suffers nightmares about it. Since returning to Earth, he has walked the land offering to help where he can.

Walter-5

Corporeal Traits
Deftness 4d6
Shootin’ (Pistol) 1, Shootin’ (Rifle) 1, Speedload (Pistol) 1, Speedload (Rifles) 1
Nimbleness 4d6
Climbin’ 1, Fightin’ 1
Quickness 2d10
Strength 2d6
Vigor 4d12

Mental Traits
Cognition 4d8
Scrutinise 2, Search 2, Sneak 2
Knowledge 4d12
Academia (History) 1, Area Knowledge (Home County) 2, Blastin’ 5, Language (English) 2, Language (Spanish) 2, Medicine (General) 3, Medicine (Surgery) 3, Science (Biology) 2
Mien 4d10
Overawe 2, Persuasion 3
Smarts 3d12
Spirit 2d12
Guts 3

Grit 0
Pace 6 Size 6 Strain 12 Wind 24

Hindrances
Intolerance (Military Authority) (2), Self-Righteous (3), Vow (Do no harm to Gamma Squad) (1)

Edges
Arcane Background (Syker) (3), Fortitude (1), Gift o’ Gab (1), The Voice (1)

Powers
Brain Blast, Fleshknit, Mindrider, Slow Burn, Tattletale

Mysterious Past: Destiny
Mutation: Fused Synapses (Never Surprised)

Equipment
NA Pistol with nine rounds, thick winter coat, backpack, combat boots, compass, mess kit, mechanical watch, water purification kit

To undertake an action in Hell on Earth, a player rolls the dice for the appropriate skill. For example, if Walter-5 has to shoot a Radrat, his player rolls Walter-5’s Deftness/Shootin’ Aptitude (1d6), whereas if he wants to determine if the weapon that the Radrat has in its nest is the legendary possessed six shooter that he and his posse has been looking for, then the Marshal might have the player roll Walter-5’s Cognition/Shootin’ Aptitude (1d8).  In either case, the player rolls the dice and counts the best result, attempting to beat a Target Number set by the Marshal, ranging from Foolproof (3) and Fair (5) up to Hard (9) and Incredible (11). Beat the target and the character succeeds, but by beating the Target Number by five, he can get a ‘Raise’, and by beating it by ten, he can get two ‘Raises’. Each Raise improves the success of the skill attempt. ‘Raises’ are made possible because dice in Hell on Earth explode and become Aces, enabling rerolls to increase the total.

Combat in Hell on Earth builds on these basic rules, but uses the deck of Playing Cards, known as the Action Deck, to determine initiative order and a Quickness roll by each participant to find out how many cards they draw and thus how many actions they have. Cards and thus Actions can be held until a player wants to act in a round, whilst Red Jokers enable a character to interrupt another character or NPC and Black Jokers force a character to discard his highest other card and a reshuffle of the Action Deck. Rules allow for Drawing a Bead, Fannin’, Shootin’ from the Hip, two-gun action, the Rifle-Spin, and so on, all straight out of the Weird West of Deadlands, but updates the firearms rules to allow for pumping shotguns one-handed, automatic weapons, and so on. The rules introduce more armour, but also add armour-piercing rounds. When a character takes a hit, he loses Wind, but can also suffer Wounds to various parts of his body.

Other new rules in Hell on Earth cover new environmental dangers like Ghost Storms, which caused by the Ghost Rock Bombs, can inflict spiritual damage as well as radiation damage and mutations. Radiation on the Wasted West has a spiritual component to it also. Vehicle rules also allow travel via cars and vans, as well as supporting the Road Warrior archetype and Mad Max-style games. 

Every character also starts each session with three Fate Chips. These come in three colours. White chips allow a character to roll an extra die on Trait or Aptitude checks, whilst Red chips let him add an extra die to the highest die rolled on a check at the cost of allowing the Marshal to draw a Fate Chip of his own. Blue Fate Chips act like Red chips, but without the benefit to the Marshal. Both White and Red Fate Chips are earned when a player does anything clever or when his Hindrances make his life difficult, but Red chips can also be handed out when a character finds important clues, defeats a minor opponent, and so on. Blue chips are handed out for exceptional roleplaying, discovering a critical clue, or for defeating a major villain. Fate Chips can also be converted into Bounty Points which can spent to improve a character’s Traits and Aptitudes.

Beyond these basic rules are the rules for the ‘Weird’ things that the characters can do in Hell on Earth as Doomsayers, Junkers, Sykers, and Templars. In each case, the character makes the appropriate Aptitude roll—so Faith for both Doomsayers and Templars, Science (Occult Engineering) for Junkers, and Blastin’ for Sykers, and in general, the mechanics for each Arcane Background are roughly the same, although there are small differences for each. So each Doomsayer also has a mutation and knows the Tolerance Power in order to soak up all of that lovely radiation, but there is a limit to the number of times a Doomsayer can use his Powers, represented by his Strain. Sykers simply suffer Strain when using their Powers. 

The Arcane Background that is different is that of the Junker, who collects or scavenges parts, and then builds and modifies devices which are then powered by Spirit Batteries. Like the Mad Scientist of Deadlands, the Junker also gets to concoct theories, determine and buy powers to work the device, and assemble the components, all before building it. For players, this perhaps the most complex of the Arcane Backgrounds in Hell on Earth, involving a lot more than just selecting a power and then getting to roll it in play. There is though, the possibility of Backlash from the Spirit World when attempting to build a Power into a new device. One problem with the Junker rules is the lack of Powers to choose from. The three given—Damage, Sensor, and Trait (as in to assign a Trait like Deftness or Cognition, which then allows Aptitudes to be purchased for it)—provide a limited range of devices which a Junker can build. 

Each of the different Arcane Backgrounds gets its own chapter in the rulebook, each explaining how they work and how playing a character of that type works as well as one devoted to the Harrowed and another to Fear in Hell on Earth. They are in the middle section of the book labeled ‘No Man’s Land’, between ‘Posse Territory’ and ‘Marshal’s Territory’, for the players and the Marshal respectively, just as in the Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game. These two sections are specifically written for the players and the Marshal, and whilst the Marshal has to read all of the book, the players only need to read ‘Posse Territory’. It is only if he wants to play a character with an Arcane Background that a player needs to read the appropriate chapter in the ‘No Man’s Land’ section.

In ‘The Marshal’s Handbook’, the lid is lifted on the secrets of Hell on Earth—what caused the American Civil War to last longer than 1865, the true nature of Ghost Rock, who the Reckoners are, and so on. This though, as the book suggests, is a future, a possible future awaiting the nineteenth century of Deadlands. It is possible for the posse of player characters in a Deadlands campaign to prevent the events that lead to the Wasted West, which means that Hell on Earth can be played as an alternate timeline rather than as a sequel. The bulk of ‘The Marshal’s Handbook’ is dedicated to discussing various aspects of the roleplaying game’s rules as well as providing rules for both fear and terror—the former the environmental factor which can be escalated into creating Deadlands, the latter the rules for handling characters getting scared; what to do when a player character dies—the answer being to let them come back as undead or ‘Harrowed’ and have them fight their inner demons; possibilities for character mysterious pasts and mutations; and a short bestiary. In fact, at just thirteen entries, the bestiary is very short.

Physically, Hell on Earth: The Wasted West Roleplaying Game is as light as Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game felt in the hand. The book is decently written the editing is good, but the artwork does vary in quality. The black and white artwork often tends to be grey and murky, but unlike Deadlands, the colour illustrations in Hell on Earth are much, much better, not being as muddy.

Of course, being based on Deadlands, the mechanics in Hell on Earth not only suffer from exactly the same issues, but they are exacerbated by the switch to a new genre, from the Wild West to the Post Apocalypse. Now the mechanics were and are appropriate for Deadlands, but they are nevertheless often cumbersome and clunky, with dice and Playing Cards and three—sometimes four—different coloured Fate Chips. Indeed, having three types of Fate Chips just complicates the game, as does having a different ruleset for each of the four Arcane Backgrounds. Fundamentally though, there is a disconnect in the mechanics between a character’s Traits and Aptitudes since the two are never rolled together and Aptitudes have a more direct application in the game than Traits do. In fact beyond providing the die type for its associated Aptitudes, each Trait has relatively little effect on a character and thus even lesser effect on his Aptitudes. Instead Traits only really come into play when a character lacks an Aptitude, in which case the associated Trait is rolled and a heavy penalty levied. At the same time, a character has too many Traits all doing variations upon the same thing. Thus Deftness, Nimbleness, and Quickness are all variations upon a character’s dexterity, whilst Cognition, Knowledge, and Mien are variations upon his intelligence.

What is not really present in Hell on Earth though, is any real advice on scenarios or campaigns. There is a page on adventure set-up, but nothing on the types of games that can be played or the types of adventures or how to get a posse of disparate player characters together. In Deadlands this was not an issue because its combination of genres was simple and familiar, so it was easy for the Marshal to write for, but with its disparate array of genres and character types, this is definitely not the case for Hell on Earth. The consequences are that it feels underwhelming and that is a problem with Hell on Earth from start to finish. Certainly, the rules are all there and will cover most situations and there are plenty of interesting character options and there are roleplaying hooks for them in their particular sections. Yet the lack of overall background, the lack of adventure hooks, and the lack of monsters in combination with the underwritten background, combine to give the feeling that there is not enough to support a campaign and not enough to support the array of character options included. The fact that Hell on Earth reprints much of the content from Deadlands and that another book—the supplement, Wasted West—is needed if the Marshal and her posse want more background to the setting, not only compounds that feeling, but drives it home. Despite the fact that Hell on Earth makes a big thing of its secrets being revealed in this core book, the authors are at best economical with its contents, at worst, stingy. 

Where Deadlands proved popular, winning awards, and being supported by multiple supplements, Hell on Earth was less so. Like Deadlands, there was a d20 System adaptation published in 2002 and a version for use with Savage Worlds called Hell on Earth Reloaded, published 2012. Notably, this moved the timeline on to 2097.

Hell on Earth is proof that lightning does not strike twice, for Deadlands was a success, both critically and commercially, whereas Hell on Earth not as much. Deadlands is revered and remembered today, whereas Hell on Earth not as much. The problem was twofold. In Deadlands, the setting and its genres were familiar and easily accessible and gameable, and the mechanics were appropriate. In Hell on Earth, the setting and its genres were not as familiar, not as easily accessible and gameable, all because there were too many genres and not enough support in terms of the background and advice for the Marshal.

There are some great character options and a potentially interesting setting presented in Hell on Earth: The Wasted West Roleplaying Game. It is just a pity that not enough of that potential is realised in the core book and that it would take other supplements to properly realise it.

Fanzine Focus IX: Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery Volume 1

On the tail of Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Another popular choice of system for fanzines, is Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, such as Crawl! and Crawling Under a Broken Moon. Some of these fanzines provide fantasy support for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, but others explore other genres for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game.

Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery is one such fanzine. Published by Stormlord Publishing, it takes Dungeon Crawl Classics to the Wild West and the Weird West of the 1880s. The discovery of ‘Demon ore’ in the Dakota Territory in the 187os leads to the establishment of the town of Brimstone in South Dakota, conflict with Lakota and other Plains Indians, and a rush to work the mines soon built under the town and the Dark Territories surrounding it, to strike it rich! With it came graft and corruption and Demon Stone and Hellstones. Both can be fashioned into amazing artifacts, but what exactly these are, Black Powder, Black Magic Volume 1 does not state. That will come in a later issue.

Instead, what Black Powder, Black Magic Volume 1 does is introduce the setting in a broader sense and get the player characters to Brimstone as well as hint at darker things to come. So as well as providing a timeline and map of this magic-infused United States of America, it gives rules for firearms, including a new Mighty Deed for Fighters in the setting—Fanning, which enables multiple shoots to be fired from revolvers. There is some decent pieces of short fiction too, which in turn hint at the dark things to come, but the bulk of the issue is really devoted to character creation and a scenario.

Dungeon Crawl Classics does character creation and Class selection in a special way—the ‘Character Funnel’. In the latter, each player creates and plays not one character, but four, each of them Level Zero. None of them possess a Class—as in Fighter, Cleric, Magic-User, or Thief—but each has ambitions to, and in playing through a Character Funnel, perhaps one or more of them will survive the adventure to earn the ten experience points necessary to attain First Level. Instead of relying upon the abilities of their Class, each of these player characters is forced to rely upon their wits, and in the setting of Black Powder, Black Magic Volume 1, also their grit. 

Creating a Zero Level character for the Dark Territories setting follows the pattern as set for Dungeon Crawl Classics. All characters are Human, all are ‘Starting at the Bottom’, with a few Hit Points, dollars, and a Token of the Past as well as Motivations for Heading West. Tables are provided for both, plus Occupations and Common Names in Brimstone. The Occupation, just as in Dungeon Crawl Classics provides a weapon and some kind of trapping related to said Occupation. Unlike Dungeon Crawl Classics, what a character does not have is an Augury, which modifies how a character’s Luck will work.

Our sample ‘Starting at the Bottom’ character is Charity Eichelberger, who trained as an engineer by her father wants to be recognised as a professional, but it being a man’s world, she cannot find work or acceptance. The best place to find recognition she knows is in Brimstone on the frontier, there perhaps she will find the means to build the radical new engine she has designed, perhaps using the Demon Stone mined around the town. She has another reason, her fiancée, Hartwell Giltner, also went to Brimstone. She has not heard from him in several months, except to receive a land deed, a Dark Permit necessary to prospect for the Demon Stone.

Charity Eichelberger
Zero Level Human Draftsman
STR 11 (+0) AGL 11 (+0) STM 12 (+0)
PER 10 (+0) INT 16 (+2) LCK 14 (+1)
Hit Points: 4
Saving Throws
Fortitude +0 Reflex +0 Willpower +2
Alignment: Lawful
Token of the Past: Another person’s land grant
Motivation for Heading West: To impress a love interest
Possessions
Steel Triangle (1d2), Plans for a new engine, $30

The second half of Black Powder, Black Magic Volume 1 is dominated by the Character Funnel, ‘The Dark Cauldron’. This refers to the train that the characters will taking to journey from Rapid City, South Dakota to the frontier town of Brimstone as well as the journey itself. Along the way, there are plenty of events for the characters to involved, some cliches, such as a train robbery and protecting the train from an attack by the Sioux, others involving the weirdness of the setting. All are really quite well done and nicely detailed, with some decent NPCs and opportunities for roleplaying and heroic action. Rather than give a blanket ten point experience point award at the end of the scenario, the Dungeon Master is given points to hand out on a scene by scene basis. The characters, if they survive to the end, will definitely get enough Experience Points to attain First Level and perhaps if they really do well, enough to get a few more. Overall, ‘The Dark Cauldron’ is a fun adventure that should provide a solid session or so of gaming, as well as setting everything up for Black Powder, Black Magic Volume 2.

Physically, Black Powder, Black Magic Volume 1 is done on pale cream paper with a fittingly buff cover. It is lightly illustrated in black and white, but the illustrations are good and the map is clear. The issue is also well written and overall, everything feels right about this issue. Except of course, it leaves the reader, just as it will the Dungeon Master and his players, very much wanting more. There are four issues of Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery in total as well as the Brimstone Census and Fire Insurance Atlas of 1880, so there is yet more of this setting to explore.

As an introduction to a weird West of Demon ore and magic using the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, Black Powder, Black Magic Volume 1 gives everything a gaming group would want. This is a good read as well as a good introduction and if you pick up this issue of Black Powder, Black Magic: A ’Zine of Six-Guns and Sorcery, then you will want to pick up the rest too.

1996: Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game

1974 is an important year for the gaming hobby. It is the year that Dungeons & Dragons was introduced, the original RPG from which all other RPGs would ultimately be derived and the original RPG from which so many computer games would draw for their inspiration. It is fitting that the current owner of the game, Wizards of the Coast, released the new version, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, in the year of the game’s fortieth anniversary. To celebrate this, Reviews from R’lyeh will be running a series of reviews from the hobby’s anniversary years, thus there will be reviews from 1974, from 1984, from 1994, and from 2004—the thirtieth, twentieth, and tenth anniversaries of the titles. These will be retrospectives, in each case an opportunity to re-appraise interesting titles and true classics decades on from the year of their original release.

—oOo—

By 1996, the Roleplaying industry was in the doldrums. Primarily this was due to the effect of the first collectable card game, Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: the Gathering. Its popularity meant that the sales of other games, such as RPGs, suffered, whilst other publishers focused their attention of replicating the success of Magic: the Gathering instead of on either their existing games or on developing new games. Certainly the year 1995 will not be remembered for any RPG of note, but 1996 would be a whole other matter as would the years that followed in the lead up to the end of the millennium. Released at GenCon that year, Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game, the first RPG from Pinnacle Entertainment Group, heralded a renaissance in the hobby and the industry that would last until the release of Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition and into the d20 System bubble beyond.

Famously inspired by Brom’s cover for the then-unreleased Necropolis: Atlanta, a supplement for White Wolf Publishing’s Wraith: The Oblivion RPG, the setting for Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game combined two genres—horror with the wild west. Specifically it described an America in its centennial year, 1876, with the appearance and then spread of horrors at Gettysburg on July 3rd, 1863, having served to prolong the Civil War and permanently divide the United States of America into the United States of America and the Confederate States of America with great swathes of disputed territory between them. In the years since, evil has spread across and infected the land, literally altering it be a darker, twisted place; monsters and other things stalk the land, including hostile Indian spirits, undead gunslingers, and strange cults; and magic has returned, practised by the Blessed, Hucksters, and Shamans. The Blessed can call upon Miracles to do the work of the Lord, Shamans bargain with spirits for magical favours, whilst Hucksters have learned the real secrets of Hoyle’s Book of Games to cast ‘Hexes’ that they hide behind hands of playing cards. In the West, earthquakes shattered much of California, throwing much of it into the Pacific and in the process creating the badlands known as the ‘Great Maze’ and exposing rich seams of a mineral known as ‘ghost rock’. Despite the fact that it seems to moan when burnt, ‘ghost rock’ is used as a fuel to power a rash of amazing new gizmos—many of them designed by Mad Scientists, from gatling guns and steam wagons to rocket packs and elixirs of healing. The discovery ‘ghost rock’ also drives a race to connect the East to the West, both in the North and the South, in a series of ‘Great Rail Wars’. Meanwhile, Federally sanctioned Pinkerton agents and Texas Rangers now prowl these territories searching for the horrors that threaten ordinary folk and their respective governments alike.

Deadlands is a game with plenty of secrets, the most well-known being that a player character can return from the dead as one of the Harrowed. Difficult to kill and capable of developing unnatural powers, a Harrowed constantly fights with the evil spirit that reanimated him for possession of his undead body. This though only comes into play should a player character be killed and have the strength of will to return from the dead. More basic character options include Wild West standbys such as Bounty Hunters, Cowpokes, Gunslingers, Indian Braves, Marshals, Muckrakers, Prospectors, and Saloon Girls, whilst the ‘Weird West’ additions include the Huckster, the Blessed (those able to cast Miracles), the Shaman, and the Mad Scientist.

The character creation process in Deadlands is slightly complex. A character has ten Traits or attributes. His Corporeal Traits are Deftness, Nimbleness, Quickness, Strength, and Vigor, whilst his Mental Traits are Cognition, Knowledge, Mien, Smarts, and Spirit. Each Trait has an associated die type—four-sided, six-side, eight-sided, ten-sided, and twelve-sided, and a Co-ordination, an associated number, typically ranging between one and four. Combine the two and the player has a number of dice that he rolls when his character is undertaking an action, for example, three eight-sided dice if the character has a Deftness of 3d8 and wants to shoot at some varmint. In addition, a character has Aptitudes that represent skills, talents, and trades, such as Fannin’, Shootin’, Teamster, Trackin’, and so on. These are rated between one and five and use the same die type as Trait that the Aptitude is associated with. So the character with a Deftness of 3d8 uses eight-sided dice for all associated Aptitudes, for example, Shootin’ and Speed-Load.

To create a character, a player draws twelve cards from a standard deck of playing cards, discarding two. Any two cards can be discarded bar draws of two and Jokers. The former grants or penalises the character with the four-sided die type, whilst the Joker grants the character the twelve-sided die type and an obligatory dark backstory devised by the player and the Marshal together, although a Mysterious Past table is included in the book for the Marshal. The suit and number of each card determines the type and number of dice for each Trait. So for example, ‘4 of Diamonds’ gives a Trait of 2d6, whilst the ‘Jack of Spades’ gives a Trait of 4d8.  Once generated, a player assigns them as he likes. In addition, a number of secondary stats are derived from the various Traits, notably the number of points to assign to Aptitudes, from the character’s Knowledge, Smarts, and Cognition die types. A character can also have up ten points’ worth of Hindrances, the amount spent on Hindrances generating a corresponding amount with which to purchase Edges.

Our sample character is Sister Henrietta, an Amish girl whose family was slaughtered by a creature that she cannot recall. The only survivor, she was blamed for what had happened and driven out of her community. Now she travels the disputed territories preaching against and fighting evil when she finds it. She also preaches the word of God and regularly performs at Prayer Meetings all over the West.

Corporeal Traits
Deftness 4d10
Shootin’ 2, Speed-Load 2
Nimbleness 3d8
Climb 1, Dodge 2, Horse Ridin’ 1, Sneak 1
Quickness 4d4
Quick Draw 2
Strength 1d6
Vigor 3d6

Mental Traits
Cognition 4d8
Scrutinise 2, Search 1, 
Knowledge 1d10
Area Knowledge (Home County 2), Language (English 2, German 2), Profession (Theology 2)
Mien 2d8
Persuasion 2, Tale-Tellin’ 2
Smarts 1d6
Spirit 4d12
Faith 3, Guts 2

Wind 18

Hindrances
All Thumbs (2), Loyal (3), Self-Righteous (3)

Edges
Arcane Background (Blessed) (3), Brave (2), Light Sleeper (1), Reputation (1), The Voice (Soothing) (1)

Equipment
Double Action .45 Peacemaker revolver, fast-draw holster, box of ammunition, gun belt, speedloader, horse, saddle, saddlebags, $38

Miracles
Exorcism, Inspiration, Lay on Hands, Protection

To undertake an action in Deadlands, a player rolls the dice for the appropriate skill. For example, if Sister Henrietta has to shoot one of the Walkin’ Dead, she rolls her Deftness/Shootin’ Aptitude (2d10), whereas if she wants to work out if said Walkin’ Dead is using the possessed six shooter that she and her posse have been tracking, the Marshal—the term for the Game Master in Deadlands—might have her roll her Cognition/Shootin’ Aptitude (2d8). In either case, the player rolls the dice and counts the best result, attempting to beat a Target Number set by the Marshal, ranging from Foolproof (3) and Fair (5) up to Hard (9) and Incredible (11). Beat the target and the character succeeds, but by beating the Target Number by five, he can get a ‘Raise’, and by beating it by ten, he can get two ‘Raises’. Each Raise improves the success of the skill attempt. ‘Raises’ are made possible because dice in Deadlands explode and become Aces, enabling rerolls to increase the total.

Combat in Deadlands builds on these basic rules, but uses the deck of Playing Cards, known as the Action Deck, to determine initiative order and a Quickness roll by each participant to find out how many cards they draw and thus how many actions they have. Cards and thus Actions can be held until a player wants to act in a round, whilst Red Jokers enable a character to interrupt another character or NPC and Black Jokers force a character to discard his highest other card and a reshuffle of the Action Deck. Rules allow for Drawing a Bead, Fannin’, Shootin’ from the Hip, two-gun action, the Rifle-Spin, and so on. When a character takes a hit, he loses Wind, but can also suffer Wounds to various parts of his body.

Every character also starts each session with three Fate Chips. These come in three colours. White chips allow a character to roll an extra die on Trait or Aptitude checks, whilst Red chips let him add an extra die to the highest die rolled on a check at the cost of allowing the Marshal to draw a Fate Chip of his own. Blue Fate Chips act like Red chips, but without the benefit to the Marshal. Both White and Red Fate Chips are earned when a player does anything clever or when his Hindrances make his life difficult, but Red chips can also be handed out when a character finds important clues, defeats a minor opponent, and so on. Blue chips are handed out for exceptional roleplaying, discovering a critical clue, or for defeating a major villain. Fate Chips can also be converted into Bounty Points which can spent to improve a character’s Traits and Aptitudes.

Beyond these basic rules are the rules for the ‘Weird’ things that the characters can do in Deadlands as Hucksters, Blessed, Shaman, and Weird Scientists. In each case, the character makes the appropriate Aptitude roll—for each Hex for the Huckster, Faith for the Blessed, Tinkerin’ for Mad Scientists, and Ritual for Shaman, but after that, the mechanics work differently for each Arcane Background. Hucksters need to draw from the deck of Playing Cards and assemble Poker hands to improve spells—better Aptitude rolls provide more cards. For example, with a single Pair, the Huckster can use the Corporeal Tweak Hex improve a target’s physical Traits by a single step, that is from one die type to the next. Two Pairs grants two steps, a straight three steps, a Flush four steps, and so on. Similarly, once a Mad Scientist has concocted a theory and devised a blueprint, he draws cards and attempts to create Poker hands, with better hands not only indicating that he has successfully built it, but improved its reliability and build time. In comparison, the Blessed simply has to have his Faith roll beat the Target Number for each Miracle and a Shaman needs to perform Rituals that will generate sufficient Appeasement Points that will allow one of the spirits to grant the Shaman a favour.

Each of the different Arcane Backgrounds gets its own chapter in the rulebook and what is interesting about this is the placement of these chapters, along with one devoted to the Harrowed and another to Fear in Deadlands. They are in the middle section of the book labeled ‘No Man’s Land’, between ‘Posse Territory’ and ‘Marshal’s Territory’, for the players and the Marshal respectively. These two sections are specifically written for the players and the Marshal, and whilst the Marshal has to read all of the book, the players only need to read ‘Posse Territory’. It is only if he wants to play a character with an Arcane Background that a player needs to read the appropriate chapter in the ‘No Man’s Land’ section.

As well as learning how a Arcane Background works, a player will also discover the dangers inherent to casting Hexes and building weird devices. Whereas the Blessed are in danger of losing their faith and the Shaman can anger the spirits, the Huckster and the Mad Scientist are dealing with ‘dark’ powers and when such dealings go wrong, madness and insanity can ensue… Each chapter also explains the life of the Huckster, the Blessed, and so on, giving some nice cues as to how each fits into the divided America of 1876 and thus be roleplayed.

Further secrets are explored in the ‘Marshal’s Territory’ section. Primarily this concerns the background to the events leading up to 1863 and the forces behind it, the Reckoners, but it also details various Abominations that the Posse might encounter, such as Dust Devils, Gremlins, Hangin’ Judges, Night Haunts, Tumbleeds, and more. Beyond the secrets,  the ‘Marshal’s Territory’ includes tips and advice on running the game and structuring adventures; on the role of fear in the game—important because essentially, the Reckoners are trying to increase the levels of fear whilst the player characters or Posse are working to reduce it by defeating horrors; and on beyond fear, on handling dementia in the game.

Physically, it is surprising just how light Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game feels in the hand. In comparison with contemporary RPGs and their density in terms of content and page count, Deadlands is lighter in terms of background and content. This does not mean that the book omits anything needed to play the game, but rather that the book is economical with its content. It is also well written and the editing is good, but the artwork does leave something to be desired. The black and white illustrations are fine, even excellent in capturing the pulp horror of Deadlands, but the full colour artwork, though suitably lurid, is somewhat murky.

There is a great deal to like about Deadlands. It is an enticing setting with a combination of genres that made it a commercial and critical success. In particular, in 1997 it received the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game and for Best Graphic Presentation of a Role-playing Game, Adventure, or Supplement of 1996. A second edition would follow in 1999 with adaptations written for Steve Jackson Games’ GURPS and Wizards of the Coast’s d20 System both being released in 2001. Two spinoff RPGs, Deadlands: Hell on Earth and Deadlands: Lost Colony were released in 1998 and 2002 respectively, but neither were as successful. Several other games, such as the miniatures wargame, Deadlands: The Great Rail Wars and the Collectible Card Game, Doomtown would also be released, all based on the Deadlands setting.

Yet despite its popular and critical acclaim, Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game is not a perfect game. The problem lies with the mechanics, because as thematically appropriate as they feel, they are nevertheless often cumbersome and clunky, with dice and Playing Cards and three—sometimes four—different coloured Fate Chips. Indeed, having three types of Fate Chips just complicates the game, as does having a different ruleset for each of the four Arcane Backgrounds. Fundamentally though, there is a disconnect in the mechanics between a character’s Traits and Aptitudes since the two are never rolled together and Aptitudes have a more direct application in the game than Traits do. In fact beyond providing the die type for its associated Aptitudes, each Trait has relatively little effect on a character and thus even lesser effect on his Aptitudes. Instead Traits only really come into play when a character lacks an Aptitude, in which case the associated Trait is rolled and the result halved. At the same time, a character has too many Traits all doing variations upon the same thing. Thus Deftness, Nimbleness, and Quickness are all variations upon a character’s dexterity, whilst Cognition, Knowledge, and Mien are variations upon his intelligence.

Given these issues it is no wonder that Deadlands Reloaded, essentially the third edition of the game which would itself win the 2006 Origins Award for Roleplaying Game Supplement of the Year, would use the Savage Worlds system. This would be appropriate given that the Savage Worlds rules are actually derived from the mechanics used for Deadlands: The Great Rail Wars, the miniatures wargame about the construction of the transcontinental railways that also won the Origins Award for the Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures Rules of 1997. The result, was a slicker, faster, and slightly cinematic version of Deadlands with more options within its pages and more background and in the decade since its publication, various supplements including three campaigns—The Flood, The Last Sons, and Stone and a Hard Place.

Another issue with Deadlands is that it was never a living roleplaying game in that its background and timeline never really advanced. The second edition of Deadlands reset the game’s starting date to 1877, whilst Deadlands Reloaded reset it to 1879. The sequel RPGs, Deadlands: Hell on Earth and Deadlands: Lost Colony, advanced the timeline into the near future and far future respectively. Deadlands: Noir, set in New Orleans in 1935 is a a more recent sequel. Nevertheless, between 1879 of Deadlands: Reloaded and the 1935 of Deadlands: Noir, the Marshal is on his own as what happens in North America. As to what happens in the rest of the world in the setting of Deadlands, the Marshal is given even less information. This leads to a more parochial issue—that Deadlands is a very American-set RPG which does not concern itself with the rest of the world. Now this is not really a design issue, but rather a desire to learn more about the setting in general and desire is actually given a nudge in the background given in the original rulebook, which mentions that as of 1871, Great Britain had it issues of its own in both Africa and India that prevented it becoming too involved in the ongoing American Civil War. Which begs the question, what were those issues?

Ultimately, there is the controversial question of how Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game deals with the issue of slavery, especially given that its Civil War is ongoing in 1876. It deals with it in a simple fashion, by having Confederate South abolish it as an institution in 1864, essentially to provide more manpower for the ongoing war with the northern states, to gain support from Great Britain, and negate the moral high ground held by the North over the issue. Further, the focus of the game is upon the ‘Weird West’ rather than the South and only in a later supplement, Back East: The South, do the game’s designers explore the issue, or rather the reasons for its abolition, in further detail. Essentially, the authors avoid the issue in Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game and that is understandable both because of the potential controversy in addressing the issue and because it is not what the RPG is about. This does not mean that the Marshal and his Posse cannot address the issue themselves, but in hindsight, perhaps Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game could have included a disclaimer about the subject of slavery as well as racism in the core rules, especially that it is possible to have both Black characters and White characters from the South in the game.

At the heart of the success of Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game is its superb melding of the horror and Wild West genres that make the game extremely easy to buy into, pick up, and play. This is despite the cumbersome nature of its rules—as thematically appropriate as they are. It is a formula that Pinnacle Entertainment Group would try and repeat with Deadlands: Hell on Earth and Deadlands: Lost Colony, but not with the same success, at least not critically. As the original of this trilogy, Deadlands: The Weird West Roleplaying Game remains the most powerful and most accessible of the three.