A Spaghetti Western with Meat

Deadlands is an alternate history western/horror role-playing game. The world of Deadlands was much like our own up until July 4th, 1863. It is rumored that something supernaturally powerful was unleashed that day, and it changed the world forever. It was most noticeably changed in western North America better known as the Wild West. The American Civil war continued for decades finally ending in an uneasy cease fire around 1876 between the two factions (Union and Confederacy) and the successfully separation of the Confederate States of America in 1879.

In 1868, a great earthquake shook the California coast so violently as to have much of fall into the sea creating the Great Maze that now exists where the coast once was. From tragedy comes opportunity, as Ghost Rock a previously undiscovered super material and fuel was discovered. This Ghost Rock catapulted the world’s technology with wondrous inventions and awesome weapons by these popularly named mad scientists.

With the war protracted and so costly in men and resources, the long oppressed Indians of the west could resist placement on small out of the way reservations. Many of the Indian tribes banded together and formed the Sioux Nations in the Dakota Territories and Coyote Confederation out of most of Oklahoma. With their success many tribes are returning to the Old Way before the white man’s steel and gunpowder. These Indians eschew technology more advanced that what they great grandfathers had.

Many preachers and other blessed claim to be able to perform miracles including healing the sick and injured. Even some practitioners the ancient martial arts of Kung Fu claim to have mastered their chi, or life force, to the point they can do things no normal man can do.

While the Civil War might have come to a close, there are battles a ‘plenty in the disputed territories between the Union and the Confederacy. If that wasn’t bad enough the Great Rail War is become more and more intense as each of the six major railroads (Bayou Vermillion, Black River, Dixie Rails, Iron Dragon, Union Blue, and Wasatch) set up their attacks on each other to reach California.

Out west there are also tales of strange abominations and monsters. There are a multitude of fauna never seen by biologists that have recently been discovered of west from the huge Mohave Ratter to the small and enigmatic jackalope. There are stories stranger still about walking dead men and creatures straight out of nightmares. Some say that even the land itself can become a place with darker shadows of morbid and creepifying surroundings. Fear is becoming almost a phyiscal thing as these stories of the macabre increase.

However, there are few men and women who dare stand up to the darkness and fear. They tell tales of their struggles with the supernatural, and how they fought back against the fear and won. They prove that this terror can be battled and even beaten. Now at of them survive the fight with evil, but they die knowing their sacrifice was not in vein to make the world a brighter place.

The link is to a short explanation of the Western United States as understood by any character willing to read the sensational tabloid known as the Tombstone Epitaph. It is a brief over view of what has happened in the USA and CSA in last couple of decades. Players are recommended to read it as a primer for this setting.

Tombstone Epitaph Guide to the Weird West

This is a Deadlands: Reloaded game played on Tabletop Forge. Due to some of the limits of Google Hangout style gaming, some rule changes were made. See the Wiki tab, under House Rules will detail rule changes.

The Adventure Log tab will be a write up in short story form the actual play of the adventures for this game.

The Wiki tab is where the rules and game notes are. Tombstone Epitaph articles are posted here helping players learn more about the weird west and giving them some options on what kind of adventures they are getting into. Lastly, a state by state break down of the Weird West including all the major settlements and for the Marshal (Game Master) a list of adventures that take place in that state. Player are encouraged to use this information as character knowledge that is either common knowledge for most folks or something their characters researched during the “off camera” time of the game.

Under the Characters tab are list of the current Player characters as well as many of the NPCs within the Weird West. All NPCs that are viewable by the players is the information that is not terrible hard to learn. However, it should be noted that many of the character sheets for the NPCs are purposely incomplete or misleading for some NPCs that not much is known about them.

The Items tab will have a list of all the common weapons and items that can be found in West as well as a few artifacts and relics that can be found. Prices are the typical cost found across the Weird West, but not always the actual cost found in every general store.

The Maps tab has a picture of the Weird West.

Deadlands: Reloaded Material