No Man's Land
Abbreviated Magic Rules
Deadlands: Reloaded used power point as a means for a player to cast thier spells. By default Genesys doesn't use power points, it uses strain (2 strain per check) as a limiting factor for magic users. The "Dealing With the Devil" hands have been adjusted appropriately.
Magic Careers
Huckster
A Huckster uses the arcane secrets found in Hoyle's Book of Games as a means to wield the arcane arts. Hucksters may also deal with the devil in order to use a demon's power instead of the hucksters own power.
Mad Scientist
A Mad Scientist uses the arcane powers found in Ghostrock to great machines far more advanced than any sane person could imagine. That's the point, they're all Mad and it only gets worse (or better) the more you use these devices.
Shamans
Shamans consider themselves far wiser in the ways of the spirits. They never deal with manitous except by accident. They rely instead on asking favors of other denizens of the Hunting Grounds, the nature spirits.
Huckster
Around 1740, a fellow named Edmund Hoyle wandered Europe, he knew that what he learned would probably get him burned at the stake for being a witch were he to write it down, so he came up with a cover story for his journal of the arcane. You and I call it Hoyle’s Book of Games.
The key to Hoyle’s power was communicatin with certain mischievous spirits—he called them “Jokers” to confuse the uninitiated—and besting them in mental duels. He would wager some of his soul against a Joker’s power, and if he won, he could force the Joker to carry out some task.
Hoyle eventually refined his mental duels by visualizing them as hands of poker. Poker was relatively new at the time, and quickly became Hoyle’s game of choice whenever he cast his hexes.
The 1769 edition of Hoyle’s Book of Games contains these secrets in their purest form. A proper reading of the complex bridge diagrams, numeric codes written into card play examples, and sample scores that litter the book can uncover secrets beyond imagining.
Everything To Lose
This contest between hucksters and manitous is entirely cerebral, but most hucksters visualize the process as some sort of game. The vast majority “play” poker, though a few play cribbage, rummy, or mahjong. Hell, a huckster could visualize the contest as a game of tiddlywinks if he wanted to (though he’d best not tell anyone). At any rate, if the huckster wins, the manitou is forced to do his bidding.
Manitous cannot normally affect the physical world directly, so the huckster must allow the manitou to inhabit his body for a short time in order to accomplish a required task.
Unfortunately, manitous are as clever as they are evil, and occasionally fool a huckster into believing he’s won, before wreaking ten kinds of holy Hell once they’re in control. When a manitou cuts loose like this, it can cause massive damage, insanity, and even death.
Genesys
Tipping Your Hand
Unfortunately, all these shenanigans in the Hunting Grounds don’t necessarily go unnoticed in the real world. Aside from the effects of the hex itself (which can be pretty remarkable), a hand of playing cards mystically materializes in the huckster’s hand when he casts the hex. The huckster must look at the hand in order to draw the manitou’s power into the physical world.
In other words, someone who knows what they’re looking for can spot a huckster from a country mile. If a huckster wants to hide his mystic mojo, he usually keeps a deck of real cards in his hand and conceals the magical cards with a fancy shuffle or a one-handed cut. This nifty bit of legerdemain is why most hucksters disguise themselves as gamblers, and it’ll fool most folks. But if some birddogger’s giving you the hairy eyeball, he can make a successful Notice roll to spot what you’re up to.
Most townsfolk in the West (even the Weird West) are God-fearing folk who view magic as the work of Satan. The consequences of being caught “consorting with the evil one” usually involve a rope, a short drop, and a sudden stop! You’ve been warned, amigo.
Playing a Huckster
Playing a huckster works by risking everything to draw from a manitou's power. Interested?
Backlash
If a huckster opts for the standard method of casting spells, he makes his Magic check as usual. If the Huckster rolls a d, he suffers backlash and is Stunned.
Huckster Talents
Listed below are all of the talents that are specific to hucksters.
Dealer’s Choice
Tier 1
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Any time you are dealt a card for any reason, after you have looked at it you can choose to spend a Story Point to discard and draw another card.
High Roller
Tier 2
Activation: Passive
ranked: Yes
When dealing with the devil, your hombre draws an extra card per rank of High Roller. He may still only use five cards to form the hand, but now he has more choices.
Old Hand
Tier 4
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
When dealing with the devil, red Jokers are wild cards but don’t cause Backfire. Black Jokers still bring the pain as usual.
Whateley Blood
Tier 1
Activation: Incidental
Ranked: No
-1 Presence. Hucksters with Whateley spirit running through their veins have learned “blood magic.” They can voluntarily be Stunned to add to their d Magic check.
They can suffer any number of wounds to add that many c to their Magic check. This is done exactly as you’d think it’d be—by cutting, carving, or otherwise maiming themselves. This is a free action—they’re quick, those Whateleys— and so can be done in the same action as the spell they so desperately need to cast, with no multi-action penalty. Since this is a free and instant action, the Whateley can actually render himself incapacitated and still get his spell off, if he should choose to do so. Good luck waking with your gear still in your pack, however.
Genesys
Poker Hands & Strain Recovery
| Hand | Cards | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ace High | Once Ace | Recover 1 Strain | Pair | Two cards of the same value | Recover 2 Strain (excess Power Points are lost) | Jacks or Better | A pair of Jacks or better | Recover 3 Strain (excess Power Points are lost) | Two Pairs | Two sets of two cards | Recover 4 Strain (excess Power Points are lost) | Three of a Kind | Three cards of the same value | Recover 5 Strain (excess Power Points are lost) | Straight | Five sequential cards | Recover 6 Strain (excess Power Points are lost) | Flush | Five cards of the same suit | Spell goes off with a positive bonus for you as determined by GM (if possible, otherwise no extra effect) | Full House | Three cards of one value, two of another | Same as above, and spell Duration is doubled(except Instant spells) | Four of a Kind | Four cards of the same value | Same as Flush, and spell Duration is multiplied by 10 (except Instant spells) | Five of a Kind | Five cards of the same value (requires use of a Joker) | Same as Flush, but the huckster can turn the power on or off at will for 24 hours | Straight Flush | Five sequential cards of the same suit | Same as above, and the huckster gains a Player Story Point |
Mad Scientist
Mad Scientists create machines that channel mystical energy through them, to some this is seen as magic, to others super-science. Mad Scientist create gadgets that allow the Mad Scientists to use more skills by giving them various benefits. The downside to being a Mad Scientist is that every time you craft a gadget, the GM rolls a on the Dementia table and you gain that effect.
The Power of Ghost Rock
Immediately after ghost rock's discovery, many hopeful inventors flocked to the Maze. In months, they had perfected devices powered by steam and fueled by ghost rock. Reports of horseless carriages, ghost-rock-powered ships, and even weapons capable of spewing great gouts of flame or torrents of bullets became common.
It wasn’t long before the miracle mineral was put to even more use, both in engineering and chemistry. It was discovered that ghost rock could be used in place of coke when refining steel, creating a much stronger and lighter metal with a higher melting point, called ghost steel.
Likewise, refined ghost rock—usually in powdered form—could be used as both a catalyst and reagent in chemical reactions, leading to the creation of many new tonics, salves, and unguents using the powdered mineral as a key ingredient. While these elixirs remain popular today, ingesting higher concentrations of ghost rock invariably proves fatal.
Genesys
Dementia Table
| d20 | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Absent Minded: The character tends to forget little details. He might eat raw coffee one day or forget to wear his pants the next. To remember an important detail, he must make a Vigilance check. If he fails, he can’t remember it |
| 3-4 | Delusion: The inventor’s mind snaps and he comes to believe something that is patently untrue. This quirk reduces his Presence by 1 |
| 5-6 | Eccentricity: This cowpoke becomes what we like to call an eccentric. Other folks just call him “loco.” Maybe he smothers his food in vinegar or eats lots of bran to keep his digestive system clear (ugh). The condition is basically harmless and amusing, though occasionally annoying, lowering his Presence by 1 |
| 7-8 | Evil Deeds: An insidious manitou convinces the hero that someone or something is evil, and must be stopped. Each time the character gets this result, his madness is more pronounced. At first he may only talk badly about his “enemies.” Later on he might attempt to ruin or even kill them. |
| 9-10 | Depression: The tortured genius becomes incredibly depressed about himself, his inventions, the futility of humanity, or his chances of surviving another adventure. He often speaks of mankind’s impending doom. His lack of faith causes him to lose 1 point of Cunning every time he gets this result |
| 11-14 | Phobia: The scientist develops a strange fear of something completely irrational and unrelated to his inventions (his phobia does not prevent him from working). Whenever near his Phobia, he gains 2 difficulty die to all checks |
| 15-16 | Mumbler: The engineer talks to himself constantly and his sentences often taper off into meaningless drivel. Occasionally, he might hear “voices” talking back, whispering the secrets to brilliant new inventions. The frightening truth is, the voices are real. This lowers his Presence by 1 |
| 17-18 | Paranoia: Everyone’s out to steal the inventor’s ideas, or so he believes. Or maybe sinister creatures from “Dimension X” are lurking just outside his lab, waiting to steal his amazing breakthrough so they can conquer the Earth. His bizarre claims lower his Presence by 2 |
| 19-20 | ESchizophrenia: Any time any player draws a Joker, the character adopts a drastically different attitude. At one moment he might be passive and restrained. Later on he’s a raving madman. Choose a new Obligation for the poor sap to reflect the change. Make sure the Obligation is mental rather than physical |
Gadgets
Gadgets are crafted as described on page 84 in Special Modifiactions. During the crafting you will decide the purpose of the gadget, a gadget can help with a skill or be a tool to enable more complex crafting tasks.
Gadgets can be a way for a nonmagical character to use magic, during gadget creation model its purpose to behave as a specific spell. However, when using a gadget to cast a spell a Mechanics check is used rather than a Magic Check (You still take 2 strain for the check though).
Gadgets may also be weapons, because they are so advanced they can be any (GM Approved) weapon youd like, weather it be from this setting or any other. A weapon gadget functions exactly like the weapon you templated it after except it also uses the gadget failure rule described below.
Gadget Failure
Seeing as gadgets are advanced science, they are prone to breakage. If you make a check involving a gadget and you roll three or more h or you roll a d your gadget breaks and deals damage in a Short range around you. The damage is determined by the GM and should be based on the complexity of the gadget.
Mad Scientist Talents
Inventor
Tier 2
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: Yes
Genesys
When your character makes a check to construct new items or modify existing ones, use this talent to add a number of b to the check equal to ranks of Inventor. In addition, your character may attempt to reconstruct devices that they have heard described but have not seen and do not have any kinds of plans or schematics for.
How Convenient!
Tier 4
Activation: Active (Action)
Ranked: No
Once per session, your character may use this talent to make a Hard (d d d) Mechanics Check. If successful, one device involved in the current encounter (subject to your GM's approval) spontaneously fail. This can be because of your characters actions, or it can somply be incredibly convenient timing!
Mad Inventor
Tier: 4
Activation: Active (Action)
Ranked: No
Once per session, your character may use this talent to make a Mechanics check to attempt to cobble together the functional equivalent of any item using spare parts or salvage. The difficulty of the check is based on the item’s rarity; see Mad Inventor Item Rarity Table.
Your GM will modify the check based on the circumstances and might decide that some items simply can’t be created with what’s available (if you are being held in a prison cell, for instance). Your GM may spend d on the check to indicate the item ends up being dangerous to the user and anyone around them in some way. For instance, a pistol might explode instead of running out of ammo, or a breathing mask might make the user light-headed.
Mad Inventor Item Rarity
| Rarity | Difficulty |
|---|---|
| 0-2 | Easy (d) |
| 3-4 | Average (d d) |
| 5-6 | Hard (d d d) |
| 7 | Daunting (d d d d) |
| 8 | Eormidable (d d d d d) |
| 9+ | Impossible |
Overcharge
Tier: 4
Activation: Active (Action)
Ranked: No
Once per encounter, your character may use this talent to make a Hard (d d d) Mechanics check and choose one of their cybernetic implants that grants them one of the following: +1 to a characteristic rating, +1 rank to a skill, +1 rank of a ranked talent. If your character succeeds, until the end of the encounter, the chosen cybernetic instead provides +2 to the affected characteristic rating (to a maximum of 7), skill (to a maximum of 5), or ranked talent.
Your GM may spend d or h h h from the check to have the overcharged cybernetic short out at the end of the encounter; it provides no benefit until your character spends several hours making an Average (d d) Mechanics check to repair it.
Eureka!
Tier 5
Activation: Passive
Ranked: Yes
After tinkering and working, you may create a true Infernal Device out of one of your powers. When this Talent is taken, pick one gadget you currently have, that gadget no longer causes strain when used for a check, and thereafter functions solely on ghost rock.
Each time you take Eureka!, choose a new gadget to upgrade.
Genesys
Shamans
The Medicine Way
The life of a shaman is dedicated to the ideals of his tribe. Most are spiritual leaders and healers for their people, though some are war leaders. Some shamans are feared, but all are respected. All must set an example for their people and live a life that pleases the spirits that grant their powers. Shaman characters who do not uphold these beliefs find the spirits rarely listen to their pleas. And a shaman ignored by the spirits gets no respect from his people, and is not a shaman for long.
Shamans must perform regular sacrifices and rituals of some sort to entreat the aid of the spirits. This can be anything from a period of fasting or a pledge, to a ceremonial dance, or even ritual scarring and maiming. Generally, the more time required for a ceremony or ritual, or the more permanent the effect, the more it impresses the spirits.
The Old Ways
The most significant of these ceremonies are oaths to follow certain restrictions set down by the spirits in exchange for their aid. The most powerful of these is the Old Ways Oath.
To nature spirits, “natural” clothing, weapons, and other belongings made by and for particular humans have a history, and carry a bit of the maker’s soul. This is why they dislike mass-produced items with no past, things so commonly used by the white man and symbolic of their ways. Many shamans are also repulsed by machines that pollute and ravage the earth, such as steam-powered trains and wagons, particularly since the mad scientists who constructed them required the aid of manitous to do so (knowingly or not).
Many shamans believe the spirits’ disapproval of such things has weakened their relationship with the People. Some are attempting to remedy this by urging their tribes to return to the Old Ways, and forgo manufactured goods and technology in favor of hand-crafted items. While shamans are not required to take the Old Ways Oath Obligation at character creation, those who do tend to have a more powerful connection with the spirits.
Playing a Shaman
Shamanism uses the magic skill Primal (which is linked to Cunning), so be sure to put a few points into that.
First, decide whether to take the Old Ways Oath to reflect the shaman’s devotion to the ways of the ancestors. For shamans, the Old Ways Oath carries extra significance, as it helps to maintain a strong connection with the spirits.
Appeasing the Spirits
The spirits require rituals, performed daily, to appease them so they grant favors. A shamanic ritual takes four hours with a Primal magic skill of rank 1. For each rank type above 1, the time required is reduced by 30 minutes. Therefore, a shaman with Primal Magic rank 3 must perform rituals for three hours each day.
Instead of the usual effects of a “sin,” shamans who do not regularly perform rituals suffer the penalty listed to their Primal magic roll and may recover strain slower, as noted below. The spirits are more forgiving to those shamans who follow the Old Ways; a character who does can reduce the Primal Magic penalties by 1 rank. Strain recovery is unaffected, the Spirits can only forgive so much.
Ritual Requirements
| Severity | Primal Magic Penalty |
|---|---|
| Minor | Has not performed a ritual within the prior day. Primal Magic –1 rank. |
| Major | Has not performed a ritual within the prior week. Primal Magic –2 ranks; Recover half as mush strain. |
| Mortal | Has not performed a ritual within the prior month. Primal Magic –4 ranks; Recover 1/4 as much strain. |
Shamans begin with two powers, and as long as the shaman is in the wilds, sleeps under the stars, is warmed by an open fire, or otherwise away from “civilization,” he recovers strain at twice his usual rate (subject to the limitations imposed by his “sins,” of course).
Tribal Medicine
To use a power, the shaman must also perform some sort of ritual on the spot. At the very least this involves chanting and a TPrimal Magic check. If the shaman cannot speak, he cannot use any powers.
Genesys
Shaman Talents
Tier 2
Imbue Item
Tier: 2
Activation: Active (Maneuver)
Ranked: No
The character may take the Imbue Item maneuver, suffering 2 strain. He then grants one weapon or item within short range a temporary enhancement chosen from the following options: increase weapon’s damage by 1, decrease the a cost for its Critical Hit or for any other single effect by 1, to a minimum of 1, or increase a piece of armor’s ranged or melee defense by 1. Alternatively, the character can decrease an item’s encumbrance by 2, to a minimum of 1. The character suffers 1 strain at the beginning of each the beginning of each of his turns in which he keeps the item imbued.
Spirits' Favor
Tier: 2
Activation: Passive
Ranked: Yes
Normally a shaman who follows the Old Ways is proscribed from using technology under any circumstances. The shaman with this talent may petition the spirits to allow him to use one normal technological device (no Mad Science gadgets or Infernal Devices) without offending them, in return for a surrender of personal power. Petitioning the spirits involves a ritual offering, which takes 1d10+10 minutes. This Talent may only be applied to one device at a time.
For as long as the shaman makes use of the device, he has a strain threshold of 4 less than usual. When he stops using the device the threshold returns to his usual. The shaman may abandon one item and switch to another, which requires another 1d10+10 minutes. During this time the favor does not apply to either device.
Harrowed
So what’s it like being undead? A mixed blessing, truth be told. A walking corpse is a tough hombre to take in a fight, but he has trouble making friends.
Death Wounds
As you’ll see in a bit, Harrowed regenerate. It’s awfully tough to do any serious harm to someone who’s already crawled out of the grave once, much less hurt him bad enough to leave a scar. That said, all Harrowed have at least one wound that never quite heals—their death wound. Whatever puts a fellow down the first time leaves an indelible mark.
Most Harrowed do their best to cover these ugly scars up. The living don’t cotton to seeing folks’ guts falling out of their bellies. Some wounds are easier to hide than others. A Harrowed who was strangled might just start wearing high-collared shirts; a fellow who had some ornery critter use his guts for garters is going to have a bit harder time of it.
Death wounds aren’t as horrible as they were at death—they “heal” enough to be passed off—but they’re always there, and always ugly.
Decay
Undead have pale, sallow skin. They don’t truly rot since the manitous sustain their bodies with supernatural energy, but they don’t smell like roses, either. Anyone who gets up close and personal with a Harrowed picks up the smell of decay with a Perception check.
Drinking a quart or so of alcohol “pickles” a Harrowed for a day or two. He’ll smell like the dead. Animals, though, can always tell. Any Riding rolls, or any other rolls involving the cooperation of animals, gain b when attempted by Harrowed.
Undeath
Harrowed are a pretty sturdy bunch. The don’t suffer strain from mundane sources, and non-lethal damage has about as much effect on them as a mosquito does on a steer. can’t be killed except by destroying the brain. The only way a Harrowed can be snuffed is if a Called Shot to the noggin sent him there, or if a roll on the Critical Injury Table indicates a head shot. If the brain is mush, the manitou can’t control the corpse’s functions and is ejected. For some strange reason, this destroys the sucker as well. The Harrowed is now actually dead, as in, “not getting back up again.” However, if he “dies” due to anything other than a head shot, he’s only put down for 1d6 days.
Genesys
Harrowed talents
A character gets a free tier 1 Harrowed talent the moment he comes back from the grave.
Tier 1
Cat Eyes
Tier 1
Activation: Passive
Ranked: Yes (Max 2)
The character gains d d to his Perception checks to spot visual clues, and ignores penalties for Dim and Dark lighting conditions.
If a character has the second rank of Cat Eyes then the Harrowed can see in the dark, ignoring all penalties for lighting. He can also sense if a character within a few feet is a supernatural creature of some sort.
Claws
Tier 1
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
When a Harrowed makes Brawl checks to deal damage to an opponent, he deals +2 damage and has a Critical Rating of 3.
Tier 2
Ghost
Tier 2
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
The Harrowed decides if he is corporeal or incorporeal at the beginning of each of his actions. He must remain in that state until his next action—he cannot attack and then go
While ghosted, the deader is intangible, though he is still visible and magical attacks remain ghosted as long as he continues to concentrate. If he suffers damage while in this state, he must make an Average (d d d) Discipline check or become tangible once more.