Deadlands [classic] Fannin'

[Hand_of_Vecna]

I could be remembering wrong or maybe a lot of fate chips were spent or good rolls were the norm, but I seem to remember the original Fannin' rules (the ones that came from a seperate skill) being very good for taking down lots of mooks. It could very well be that my gunslinger companions regularly spent fate ships on this since Fannin' does turn super high rolls with lots of raises into lots of hits that can be on multiple targets.

Were the original rules actually different (in which case could someone give me the original rules so I can choose which to use)? I believe this is acceptable to ask for since it's just a few lines from a older printing of a book that is presently being given away as a free pdf by it's publisher.

[Kaun]

I'm going to work from memory here because the books are at home and i am not.

I don't think the fannin' skill changed that much from being its own skill to part of shootin'.

What makes fannin' a viable option was the "stray lead" rule; once again working from memory the stray lead rule was that any bullet that did not hit its target had a chance of hitting anybody else silly enough to be standing close by.

I think the other potential targets had to be within 1 meter of either the intended target or the path of the bullet.

From here on its probably easier to explain with an example;

Lets say your cowboy is fannin' the hammer at Out Law Jim who is standing in the street surrounded by 3 members of his posse'.

Your cowboy fans off 3 bullets from his 6 shooter but only rolls high enough to hit Jim once.

The three members of Jims posse who are all with in 1 meter of Jim are all close enough to fall prey to the "stray lead" rule.

Starting with the posse member closest to the shooter you roll a d6 for each of the stray rounds (ie bullet that didn't hit the intended target). On a roll of a 1 or 2 (depending on the weapon fired) the bullet hits that person instead and is resolved normally.

If one of the bullets hits the first posse member then it is no longer a stray round but if one or both of the bullets miss then you move onto the next potential "stray lead" candidate and roll again.

You move from one "stray lead" candidate to the next until either all the stray lead has found a home or all the the potential "stray lead" candidates have been missed by the bullets.

This is why fannin' was useful for taking out close packed groups of mooks because you could throw out tons of lead and have a better then average chance of hitting somebody! The trick was to make sure that everybody with in the "stray lead" radius was somebody you didn't mind shootin'.

Funny thing always wasthat the guy you were aiming at was the least likely to be hit.

p.s. sorry if this makes no sense.