Character Creation: Deadlands

 A Little Meatier: Finished.

Now, the question is, can I get 25,000 words of Splish Splash done before 9/1, which is when final drafts of the book I was just redlining...did I ever give that a funny name? I could call it Get Off My Bloody Lawn, I guess.

Anyway, I might not get all of it done before 9/1, but it's not due until mid-September, so as long as I can get, say, 20K done before I go to Pennsylvania next weekend, I should be OK. So I'm done working for today, and it's only 3:30, which feels pretty good. I shall now do something I enjoy: Make a character. Ah, but what? I don't want to do one that'll take me all day, but I worry about saving the Tri-Stat characters (which take a while because they're point-build) for last, because then I'll have no leverage at all to do one that's quick.

Hmm. OK, let's do this:

The Game: Deadlands
The publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment.
Degree of familiarity: Never ran it, but played a bit with my brother back in the day, and of course there's a currently-on-hiatus game.
Books required: Just the Deadlands book, but since I have Quick and the Dead, I may use it.

 
Deadlands, the game of the Weird West and a weird system, but one I rather enjoy. Yes, it's bizarre and uses cards, too many different dice, and some wonky-ass probabilities, but I've never had anything but fun with it.

OK, so I play a huckster in the above-linked game. I'd like to do something different this time around. I've been listening to this book on CD that my kiddo got from Wendy's or someplace that involves a cowboy who originally came to the West to write a book, and wound up wrangling herds of wild horses. I think that's a workable concept - a guy whose not originally from 'round these parts, but is part of the local scene now. He's even forgotten his original purpose in coming out here. I don't think I want to make it about a book, though. I think his original purpose was to find a man, the man who his brother asked him, while dying in the streets of New York, to kill, thus avenging his death. But it's been years, and my character has lost sight of that vow.

And in a way, that's good, because the guy he's sworn to kill isn't really human anymore (not that my character knows that).

My character's real name is Rick Bell, but since he's from New York, most folks call him "Easter" (short for "Easterner"). It just kind of stuck.

Right, so that's Concept. Now we do Traits. I break out a brand-new deck of cards, shuffle, and deal 12 cards: 8H, KC, 7S, 10D, 8S, 6C, 5C, 3H, 7H, KD, 4D, Joker (woo!). Drawing a card for the Joker's Coordination gets me: Spades! Rock out!

OK, so the way this works is that the suit tells you Coordination (number of dice) and the card tells you the type of die. So right now, I've got:

4d12 (thanks to that Joker)
3d6
1d10
4d6
2d8
4d6
1d6
1d6
3d6
3d6
2d10
2d6

Well, balls. Doesn't take much thinking to figure which ones I want to jettison. I'll lose the two 1d6s, thanks. While I'm thinking about it, I'll draw for my Mysterious Past, since I got a Joker (normally the Marshall would do this, but y'know). I get a 10H, so checking the back of the book, I have a Favor. Apparently I did someone a good turn a while back, and now he can bail me out of trouble at certain points. Interesting. I'll let that percolate while I assign my Traits.

I want this guy to be good in a gunfight, so that'll mean keeping Quickness and Deftness high. Likewise, Nimbleness deals with Horse Ridin', so I want some points there. I think I'll throw my massive 4d12 into Deftness, and my two 4d6s into Nimbleness and Quickness. I don't want to die easily, so I'll put 3d6 into Vigor. I'll put 2d8 into Strength - I'm no powerhouse, but I get by.

Easter's not educated, but he pays attention, so I'll throw 3d6 into Knowledge. I want to be a decent tracker, so I'll put 2d10 into Cognition. I'll put 3d6 into Smarts and 2d6 into Mien (he's a nice guy, but not someone you notice, really). That leaves 1d10 for Spirit. That's OK - I like that the Coordination is low, but his potential there is high.

Traits:
Deftness 4d12
Nimbleness 4d6
Quickness 4d6
Strength 2d8
Vigor 3d6
Cognition 2d10
Knowledge 3d6
Mien 2d6
Smarts 3d6
Spirit 1d10

Now, Aptitudes. I get 22 points for these Skill-like things. Let's get to it.

Well, duh. We'll start with Shootin' (Pistol). I'll put 3 there. To complement that, we'll do 2 into Quick Draw and 2 into Speed-Load (Pistol). Better take a point in Fightin' (Boxing). Definitely 4 in Horse Ridin'. One in Sneak, one in Teamster. Three in Trackin'. One in Scrutinize. One into Search (which is really 2, since I get a free point). Two into Trade (Telegraphy) - that was Easter's job back East, before his brother's death got him out here. That last point will go into Guts. He's seen some shit since he's been here.

Hindrances. I can take up to 10 points, and use them to buy Edges or Aptitudes. Since I don't have to worry about spells with this character, that'll be nice. OK, let's see what we got here.

I'll take Curious. It's 3 points, it's pretty much required for PCs, and I figure it's a big part of why Easter's brother is still unavenged. I need Enemy to represent my brother's killer. He's a badass, but he's not really tracking me (not yet), so I'll just take him at 1 point. Heroic - see Curious. 3 Points.

I waffle about Oath a little, but in the end, I think it fits. It's why my dude's out here, after all, it's just that he gets distracted easily. 1 point. That's the end of the useful ones from the core, so I take Tuckered from The Quick and the Dead, for 2 points. I figure Easter got laid up with some nasty lung butter for a while, and sometimes, well, he just loses his wind.

Edges. I have 10 points to use, but if I want to up Aptitudes, I'll have to use these points, too. Let's see. I'll take Brave; that adds to Guts checks. I'll take Sense of Direction; sounds good for someone who's navigated his way cross country. I'm tempted to take Veteran of the Weird West, but honestly I think Easter's experiences have been more on the mundane side of things...so far. I will, however, take a point of Belongings, to represent my Fast horse (not Bad Horse).

The other six points go into Aptitudes. I'll boost Shootin' to 5 (2 points) and put 2 into Fannin' (4 points). My last two go into Shootin' (Rifle) and Survival (Desert).

I get $250 to buy shit. I know I want a good pistol, so I'll lay out the money for a Peacemaker. And the gun belt, and the quick-draw holster. I'll buy a Winchester, too, for huntin', and some rounds for both. I'll just throw in $25 for clothes in general. Canteen, backpack, bed roll, lantern, rope, shovel, saddle, saddlebags, hatchet. That probably leaves me some money leftover, but screw it.

And that'll about do it, actually. Oh, right, there was that favor. Well, I think what happened was this: That lung butter I mentioned earlier was the result of wading into a river to pull out a young lady whose stage had overturned. She was grateful. Easter got deathly ill, but got top-notch medical treatment. Turns out the young lady was the daughter of a very rich Confederate industrialist, and he always looks after those that do him a good turn. Easter doesn't know who she was or who paid his doctor bills, though he does wonder sometimes.

And that's about it.