Curious about all things Deadlands

[Frenegas]

Hello Playgrounders!

I recently got to play Deadlands (Classic/Revised) for the first time at Owlcon in Houston. I'm hooked. Apparently the last 27 (good lord that makes me old) years of gaming in various fantasy or futuristic settings have left a perfectly "Weird West" shaped hole in me that must needs be filled, and RIGHT NOW. In less than a month, I've picked up about 15 books, and the more I read, the more I like it. Say what you will about "clunky mechanics", and "this version > = < that version", but I'm extremely impressed with both the fluff and the crunch.

So, of course, one of the first things I did when I got home from the con was to log into trusty GITP to get the low-down, and maybe even join one of the pbp games that I was sure MUST be thicker than the flies on last night's dinner.. Needless to say, I was surprised at the lack of coverage it seems to get. I searched the forum archives, found a smattering of related material, but was left unfulfilled..

So, I defer to your collective wisdom with the following questions.

First, is there a reason other than "I think that system sucks, and so should you" that there aren't more pbp Deadlands games (of any version) here in the Playground? Is the game that obscure, or does it not translate well to pbp?

Secondly, I would like to discover if many of you still play Deadlands in your RL groups? Doya? Haveya? Wouldya? Why/not?

Next, I would like to find out if there are any Marshal's here in the Playground that would be willing to put together a DL game for PBP on this forum. Because that there is a bar I wouldn't mind ponying up to, if you know what I mean.

And finally, and only in the interest in getting this particular itch scratched, have any of you run across any other sites that have a more robust Deadlands community, whether just for forums or for pbp?

And post-finally, just because I have already monopolized your attention for this long, (and yes, I know that there are threads specifically for this, but in the general interest of laziness and opportunity, I'm throwing it in here), if anyone is part of a good RL group in the greater Houston, Tx area that could use another mature non-optimizing good ole' fashioned old-school roleplayer, drop me a line.

Keep your powder dry, folks, and thanks for listening.. (figuratively)

[Thane of Fife]

Well, pardner, I reckon the main reason ya don't see none too many Deadlands games PbP is cause o them cards. Ain't many good card-drawin apps online with memories. Course, you could get yer Marshall to do the drawin for you, but that takes some of the fun.

Also, with so many actions per hombre per round, and with plenty o' reactions, combat will get real drawn out, real quick-like, specially if yer playin by post.

I've considered wrasslin up a posse, but I can't really run any more games than I'm runnin as is.

As for experience, there's a coupla things that work none too well in Deadlands. In particular, I've had trouble with armor getting a bit too common. Combat tends to drag out real long too, even when in-game it's goin real fast. Actually, the mad science rules in general are a bit weak - good rollin can turn the posse into death machines with not much chance of blowin up.

I think Dinero's a bit too strong, too.

[Particle_Man]

This website might be useful to your interests, since it is the company that makes Deadlands and has a lot of highly committed fans: http://www.peginc.com/

I have played deadlands classic in the past, from which I learned that you don't take Veteran o' the Wild West if you want your character to survive long. Our party all took it, and I ended up with a leg missing. I was definitely the lucky one of the group. :smallbiggrin:

I have run deadlands the new version and that is nice, since I like the Savage Worlds system as a GM (and I *really* like plot-point books as a GM).

That said, it is not just a wild west game, it is a wild west *horror* game, with the PC body count that implies. I have seen pcs die before they could be introduced to the rest of the party! My very first session as a player we had a tpk. (We took veteran of the wild west in our second session thinking it would improve our survival rate - I guess we did last more than one session that time . . .)

I did have a vision of "winning" in deadlands classic as a pc group, although an important step in the plan involved everyone in the party being of the same exact faith and my group didn't go for it. Ah well. :smallsmile:

[eggs]

Why it doesn't see a lot of PbP? The old system uses a lot of cards, the new system's based on grids, and the d20 system... you said not to say nasty things. :smalltongue:

I don't think the game's exactly obscure. I've played it a few times in a few different groups, and it's been a blast every one of them. The one reason I don't play it more is that it has some pretty tough competition in both the western and horror genres.

The one real strength that's usually my motivation to play a game or two is that it has some fantastic modules that are both light and splattery in overall tone, but actually pretty grim in their backgrounds and themes.

[Kaun]

Love Deadlands but the system is not PbP friendly.

I just finished up a game last year (mainly because half my players went OS), there is a log Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211035).

The original rule system while clunky is still a tons of fun.

The fluff for the game is awesome.

[Project_Mayhem]

The old system uses a lot of cards, the new system's based on grids

Hold on - is it? I've never seen the need to use any maps more complex than a white board running Savage Worlds before. It's about the least griddy system I know

[Trekkin]

Hey, something I can answer somewhat informedly!

I run Deadlands, actually, in all three settings more or less simultaneously, because it's cold up here and there's not much else to do.

As to why it's not more popular, I think part of it's the multiple systems, and that most of the games up here I've heard of want to use D20 because everyone knows D20 and D20 Deadlands loses some of the immersion of Classic. Beyond that, you need people well up on how everything works so that combat flows fluidly, because the card mechanic and chips and exploding die rolls can take a long time to pick through, and I suspect that turns some people away. It's not a particularly fast system unless you're willing to ignore some stun checks and Wind damage from wounds like I do. You can replace initiative order with Quickness checks in a pinch, though, but for things like hexslingin' you need cards.
There are also frankly a lot of bad rules. I get around that by going player-friendly rules-lite, but especially in later settings, the ability to game the system is just incredible and you get things like massive damage (that being explosions) that are either laughably ineffectual or horrifically deadly, depending on which version of the rules you've found, and I know at least one GM who won't touch it because she doesn't want to deal with basically rewriting the system.
Beyond that, it's just too easy to run Deadlands poorly. I know of four other people besides myself running games either between semesters or in school, and we've all got some problem we're trying to work through. It's a tough balance to strike, to be sure, between just killing everyone and setting up bags of meat for the players to shoot.

All that said, I love it to death and wish it were more popular, but I can understand why people don't play it by post; the few times my group's done it via IM we've resorted to gametable, home-programmed card/dice generators and a good deal of trust.

I suppose I might be able to figure out a way to run it in true PbP, though.

[eggs]

Hold on - is it? I've never seen the need to use any maps more complex than a white board running Savage Worlds before. It's about the least griddy system I know
When I say "grids," I mean "shared visuals with meaningful spatial relations vital for the tactical element of the game's engine."

But "grid" is shorter. :smalltongue:

[Darth Stabber]

Just recently started playing deadlands classic, and it has been a ton of fun (especially with it being the first game I haven't had to GM in 3 years). Must say a metric ton of fun. The setting is thoroughly amusing and the system is interestingly quirky. My Mormon bishop has been a ton of fun, and the lack of other Mormons in the party hasn't been all that much for my character's miracles to overcome (though none of the other characters have even a single rank of faith for me to overcome), though the inability to lay on hands myself has put me in some tough situations. The various magic systems all make sense in context of setting, and their mechanics are divorced from each other, heightening the difference between the types of magic and magicians, and none of the effects are so overpowering that they would make "mundane" characters any less functional by comparison.

[Smokey]

I suppose I might be able to figure out a way to run it in true PbP, though.

Given that the issue with Deadlands in PbP seems to be the lengthy and clunky combat system I would think a giving GM and openminded players might solve the issue by having the DM handle the rolls, cards, chips, etc. Play by Post by it's nature is descriptive so players could simply post their actions and trust the GM to handle the random aspects.

Not a novel concept but certainly a manner of speeding up the more unwieldy aspects of the game.

I love the flavor of Deadlands and would certainly be into handing the responsibiity of dice rolls, etc. into a GMs capable hands. The payoff would be a character and setting rich world built by players and GM both.