by Mean Mark Damon Hughes <kamikaze@kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu>

(so mean, he once shot a man for gaming too loud)

[This review has already been printed in Serendipity's Circle. Subscribe to this fine fanzine today!]

Deadlands Player's Guide (224 pages), hardcover, $25
Marshal's Handbook (224 pages), hardcover, $25

Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc.
10908 Blacksburg, VA 24062-0908
<http://www.peginc.com/>

Deadlands? Well, Deadlands is a horror game set in the old west. There's a few flaws, but it's one of the best games for settin' either mood I've ever seen. If'n you like either one, get this game.

Both books're durn sturdy hardcovers, as orange as an Arizona sunset. The whole line's that color, so's you won't mistake 'em for your Good Book, I reckon. Them cover pictures're dandy works of art, too, but a mite creepy - an undead gunslinger on the Player's Guide (PG), a punkinhead with a scythe for the Marshal's Handbook (MH) - lettin' you in on the tone right up front. The 1.5" decorated margins are a waste of paper, and the hand-scrawl header font looks weird next to the normal font for the rest of the book, but other than that, the layout's as tidy as a schoolmarm's house. You'll need a whole passel of dice, up to 4 or 5 of each type, several decks of cards, and a box of poker chips. On the good side, each book is only $25, so a cowpoke can afford to pick up the extra supplies. The Marshal (alias "Game Master") does need both books, and anyone playin' an occult character will want a PG of their own. Those just playin' gunslingers can probably do without.

The first part of the PG is a newspaper-style "Epitaph's Newcomer's Guide to the Weird West", written for greenhorn Easterners coming west. It's thin, but gets most of the points across; there's a whole trainload more in the _Quick and the Dead_ book, but that's a review for another time. In short, it's an alternate-history old west, where during the Civil War, suddenly the dead rise, California sinks, a super-powerful coal called "ghost rock" leads to a boom in mad science, and tribal shamans, "huckster" magicians trained from Hoyle's Book of Games, and the few honest holy men or women can work magic.

A quick explanation of the system: Stats ("Traits") and skills ("Aptitudes") in Deadlands are rated by die codes, with both the number of dice and sides varyin'. To use one, you roll the dice and see how high a total you get. It's as fast and noisy as a rattlesnake, but about as rational.

After that is the character creation, which is as weird a hybrid of a point and random system as you'll ever find. The traits are determined by drawin' cards from the deck and lookin' up how many dice and how many dice sides each card indicates. It's slow and tedious, but you do get to arrange them how you like. Aptitudes, edges, and hindrances are purchased with points.

In the center of the book are color paintin's of pregenerated characters, a map of the "Weird West", and some art. Next up is "Blowin' Things All To Hell", which is just what you'd figger. It's extremely detailed, and even includes rules for lynchin', in case the players get a bit uppity. Remember those poker chips? Well, those are used for luck, to get dice rerolls, and to improve your character, by tradin' 'em in for "bounty points". It does a fine job of putting some power in the players' hands, but not makin' anything a sure bet. Roundin' out the PG are rules for the various kinds of magics and comin' back from the dead. You just cain't keep a good man down, not lessen you put a stake in 'em, anyway.

All through the PG are law-marshall's badges with page numbers in the MH. Well, sure enough, the MH is mostly explanations for the Marshal of what's really goin' on, from the truth behind the history, the mechanics of fear on a county-wide scale, the side-effects of magics, and more.

Unfortunately, then we get the critters. Now, I ain't got nothin' against critters. Blowin' mean critters up is a fine thing. But most o' these aren't all that interestin', and they're too common. Dumpin' all of 'em but the Mojave Rattler (the beastie from _Tremors_) and the Maze Dragon (sea serpents), and makin' unique critters for every adventure makes for much better horror.

Then there are rules for black magic. The player magics are all very detailed systems and really match the style of each kind of magic. Black magic, bein' for the Marshal's eyes only, is as bare-bones as the Donner Party. The Marshal's gonna have to be on his or her toes to make it seem interestin' or terrifyin'.

The history, though, makes up for the last two bits. It all makes sense. All of it. For once, there's a reason for everythin' that goes on, the tools in the first half work with it, and all the important NPCs have stats. This is what RPG histories should be. See y'all in Tombstone, strangers.

You know, it's really hard for a feller to stop writin' like this once he's worked up a good head o' steam...

Last modified: 2001Dec29
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