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By: John Goff

™

™

By: John Goff

Hexarcana

Written & Designed by: John GoffOriginal Martial Arts Design by: Robin LawsEditing & Layout: Joyce Goff, John Goff & Josh “Roach” ReidCover Art: Pete VentersInterior Art: Michael Chen, Chris Libey, Jeff Rebner, Kenneth WaterCover Design: Zeke Sparkes

Logos: Zeke Sparkes, Charles Ryan & Ron SpencerSpecial Thanks to: Lee Banson, Paul Duke, Shane, Michelle, Caden & Ronan Hensley, John & Christy Hopler, the Listserv

Rowdies, Jay Kyle, Jason Nichols, Allan Seyberth and Dave Wilson

Deadlands created by Shane Lacy Hensley.Dedicated to: Shane Hensley, for creating the worlds of Deadlands and a dozen other reasons.

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Table o’ ContentsTable o’ ContentsIntroduction .................... 4Posse Territory......5

Chapter One:The DivineCalling ...............................7Fire & Brimstone Updates .... 7New Miracles .................................... 8New Gifts ............................................ 15New Divine Interventions . 17

Chapter Two:A Whole NewDeck.................................. 19The Old & the New ................. 19New Tricks ....................................... 20New Hexes ....................................... 23The Science of Magic .......... 30When Magic and Science

Meet .................................................. 33The Tricks ........................................ 34The Hexes ......................................... 35

Chapter Three:New Secrets ofShaolin.......................... 54The Times, They Are

A’Changin’ .................................. 54Making a Martial Artist .... 55Mano a Mano ................................ 57New Aptitudes ............................. 58New Edges ....................................... 60Martial Arts Hindrances .....61Ch’i Powers ...................................... 66

Chapter Four:The Way of theSpirits .............................83A New Drum for the

Dancers ........................................ 83New Guardian Spirits ........... 84New Favors ...................................... 86

Chapter Four:Conjure Bags &Curses ............................93Basic Beliefs .................................. 94New Aptitudes ............................. 96New Edges ....................................... 97Calling the Loa ........................... 97Doin’ That Voodoo................... 101Conjure Bags ................................ 102Spell Descriptions .................. 103

Archetypes .................... 73

The Marshal’sHandbook ................ 123

Chapter Four:Secrets of theArcane ......................... 125Shuffling the Deck ............... 125Your Kung Fu Is Weak! ... 126The Spirit Ain’t Willing .... 126Who Do Voodoo? ..................... 126

Index................................... 127

Get Your MojoRisin’

You’ve got in your hands the singlelargest collection of magical options forcharacters in your Deadlands campaign.If you’ve looked at the back of thiswork, you probably already had someidea of what you were getting yourselfinto before you even cracked the spineon this tome. But in case you don’tjudge a book by its cover, let us assureyou everything mentioned back there isin here.

That’s right—over 150 spells, hexes,favors, and more all in one place!

We’ve included the arcanebackgrounds from our popular boxedsets (The Great Maze, City o’ Gloom, andRiver o’ Blood), the martial artist, themetal mage, and the voodooist. Allthree of those sets are now out of printand we want everyone to have a shotat playing those character types.

Even if you’ve already got theoriginal versions of those rules, oddsare you’re going to find a good bit ofnew stuff on each of them.

We’ve retooled the arcanebackground: enlightened rules (over-the-top kung fu fighting) to bring it more inline with the revised rulebooks, theWeird West Player’s Guide and theMarshal’s Handbook. The voodooist isalso somewhat changed from heroriginal incarnation as well.

However, even if these newbackgrounds weren’t enough, you’ll findan additional 80 or so totally newpowers, spells, and options, as well as afew new Aptitudes and other goodiesas well.

Using This BookUnlike many of our other

sourcebooks, Hexarcana only has twosections.

Posse Territory by far contains themeat of this book. It’s divided into fivechapters, each dealing with a separatearcane background.

In each of those chapters you’ll findnew spells or powers associated withthe type of magic. You may also runacross new Edges, Aptitudes, or otheroptions as well.

In the chapters devoted to blessed,hucksters, and shamans, we’ve alsoincluded any information you mightneed to update the appropriatesourcebooks to the newer revised rules..We added in notes correcting any kinksthose pesky gremlins might havethrown into the printings as well.

Finally, at the end of this section,we’ve provided archetypes for the threenew character types in this book: themartial artist, metal mage, and voodooist.

The Marshal’s Handbook is veryshort in Hexarcana. Since the book ismostly dedicated to player characteroptions, most of what’s in this briefsection is the details on exactly whathappens when good magic goes bad.

We’ve also updated Marshal-only infofrom the sourcebooks mentioned above,included any errata that slipped past usin the first printing, and dropped a fewnotes of explanation for a secret or twothe players might not have the fullstory on.

PosseTerritory

Chapter One:

The DivineCalling

We’ll start this shindig with thegunhands of Good in the Weird West,the blessed. We’ve got an offering platefull of new miracles, some new gifts,and even a divine intervention or two.

Like many of the chapters in thisbook, though, we’re going to take aminute to talk about a previoussourcebook and update anything thatneeds it to the revised rules.

Fire & BrimstoneUpdate

For the most part, the rules andoptions we presented in Fire &Brimstone need little fixing to workwith the new revised edition of the

Weird West Player’s Guide andMarshal’s Handbook. The blessedand their miracles work pretty muchthe same as they always have, withone exception.

Gaining & Losing MiraclesThere is one area with a minor

change. Characters no longer gain a newmiracle or gift by raising their faithAptitude level. Now, the only way to gaina new one is to pay 5 Bounty Points.

However, on the upside to this, ablessed no longer loses access to amiracle or gift if he fails the requiredSpirit roll for transgressing against hisreligion.

Of course, his ability to use themiracle is reduced as he still loses alevel of faith, but he keeps the miracle.

Uhm, We Meant...We’d be courting serious trouble if

we tried to claim the book was perfectthough. There are one or two instancesof information we forgot to include ormisstated. Let’s take a minute andcorrect those little oversights.

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First off, we claimed Leonidas Polkwas a Methodist minister. That’s awhite lie we confess; he was actuallyan Episcopalian.

The miracle retribution lists its TN as“Special.” Well, it must be really special,because we didn’t tell you what it was!The miracle’s TN mirrors the standardhealing TN for the wound inflicted (pg.141, Weird West Player’s Guide).

The Rewardsof Faith

Okay, now that all that dull stuff isout of the way, let’s get down to thegood stuff—the new miracles, gifts, andsuch.

New MiracleDescriptions

These miracles are available toblessed characters of any religion.

There are four elements to eachmiracle besides the actual descriptionof the magic’s effect.

TN is the Target Number the blessedneeds to make on a faith roll toaccomplish the miracle.

Speed is the number of actions ittakes to complete the invocation.

Duration is the length of time theinvocation stays in effect.

Range is the distance at which themiracle can take effect.

AnointTN: 5Speed: 2Duration: 1 minute/faith levelRange: Touch

Kings, presidents, and most otherimportant leaders throughout historyhave looked to religion to sanction andsupport their rule. After all, they figure,with Heaven for them, who’s got achance of standing against them?

This miracle lets a blessed pass on alittle bit of that divine authority folks inthe spotlight seem fired-up to lay theirhands on. Granted, it doesn’t last but afew minutes, but, honestly, some ofthose kings and lords didn’t last muchlonger!

A blessed can only anoint acharacter with the same faith as hehas—for example, Christianity, Judaism,Islam, etc. Once cast, the miracleprovides the chosen character with abonus to all her Mien-based rolls, eitherTrait or Aptitude, equal to her faithAptitude level.

If she doesn’t have the same faith asthe blessed this miracle has absolutelyno effect.

The blessed cannot cast this miracleon himself. Another blessed of thesame faith could, however.

Anxious SeatTN: 7Speed: 1Duration: 1 round/faith levelRange: 5 yards

The “anxious seat” is the front rowpew in a church or revival tent. It’scalled that because that’s where thefolks who are itching to become newconverts are usually asked to sit.

This miracle lets a blessed lend alittle spiritual help to a cowpoke,provided he’s willing to show a littlepatience. Like anoint, a blessed cannotcast this miracle on herself, onlyanother character.

Once invoked, her target can spendAction Cards preparing to attempt asingle Trait or Aptitude roll. As each ofthe target’s Action Cards comes up in around, he simply discards them, lettingthe Marshal know he’s using them foranxious seat.

He can discard a number of ActionCards up to the blessed’s faith Aptitudelevel. Then, on his next action, he gainsa bonus to the Trait or Aptitude rollequal to the number of cards hediscarded for the miracle. So, if theblessed invoking anxious seat had afaith 4, the target could get amaximum of +4 to his next roll.

This bonus lasts until his next actionor for 1 round for every level of theblessed’s faith, whichever comes first.

Ashes to AshesTN: OpposedSpeed: 1Duration: InstantRange: Touch

There are few things as distastefulas a cowpoke that doesn’t have thecommon decency to stay dead. Themiracle last rites can help keep thedead quiet, but there’s always a corpsesomewhere just waiting to get up andtear into some innocent person.

Ashes to ashes lets your blessed puta walkin’ dead or other reanimatedcorpse like a zombie or skeleton backdown where it belongs. Unfortunately, ithas no effect on more dedicatedundead like vampires or ghosts, butfortunately, those aren’t nearly ascommon.

The blessed must touch theabomination on the head with his barehand to invoke this miracle. Notsurprisingly, those things aren’t tooreceptive to a pat on the forehead,though, so this requires a successfulfightin’: brawlin’ attack to the head. Theblessed can either call the shot (takingthe -6 modifier) or swing wild andhope for a lucky hit location roll.

Once he’s smacked the zombieupside the head, he may choose to dono damage, but instead invoke ashes toashes immediately. This doesn’t take anadditional action; he can strike thewalkin’ dead and invoke the miracle allon one action.

He must make an opposed roll of hisfaith versus the undead’s Spirit. If hewins, the thing drops (un-) lifeless tothe ground. If he loses, he’s fair gamefor it.

This miracle has no effect onHarrowed; they’re too stubborn to dropthat easy.

Bear the CrossTN: 7Speed: 1Duration: 1 round/faith levelRange: 5 yards/faith level

Heaven knows the heroes of theWeird West have enough trials andtroubles to bear. Anytime a good soulcan help carry those burdens, it’salmost as good as a victory for Light.

This miracle lets a blessed acceptanother character’s wound penalties fora short time. Once invoked, the blessedreceives any modifiers the targetcowpoke might have suffered due towounds. It doesn’t actually transfer thewounds themselves, Wind loss, or anyother effects, just the suffering.

The target character gets no penaltiesto his Trait or Aptitude rolls for woundsfor the duration of bear the cross.

The blessed receives the penalty forthe wound modifier in addition to anyshe might have herself. Combined inthis fashion, it’s possible the modifiersmight take her over the normal -5maximum!

Should the target be thick-skinned orotherwise suffer less than the fullpenalty for his wounds, this immunitydoes not carry over to the blessed. Shegets the full amount. If she has anability that allows her to reduce woundpenalties herself, she applies only tothe combined total, not to each set ofmodifiers.

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ConsoleTN: SpecialSpeed: 1Duration: InstantRange: 5 yards/faith level

Running like a scared rabbit can bedownright embarrassing—especially ifthe local townsfolk look up to yourgunslinger like a dime novel hero.Fortunately, with console, a blessed canhelp his companions avoid such ashameful development.

This miracle lets your hero cancelthe effects of a failed guts check onanother character. The TN for thismiracle is the original TN for the failedguts check. The blessed has oneadvantage though, the Fear leveldoesn’t modify his faith TN; he’s onlyrolling against the original number.

If he succeeds, any temporary effects,such as fleeing the scene, short-termTrait or Aptitude penalties, and the likeare immediately lifted. Longer termeffects, however, like reduced Traits,permanent Hindrances, and even lostWind, are not remedied by this miracle.

FastTN: 5Speed: 1 minuteDuration: 1 day/faith levelRange: Self

A truly enlightened soul supposedlycan subsist on nothing but spiritualsustenance. Of course, that’s littleconsolation when your stomach’sempty and grumbling!

Fast lets a blessed survive withoutfood for a number of days equal to herfaith level. She still needs water duringthat time, but only half as much asusual. At the end of this period, shemust eat real food for at least a daybefore she can invoke fast again.

Your hero can’t benefit from theeffects of this miracle at the same timeshe’s attempting to use the fastin’Aptitude, by the way. That defeats thespiritual purpose of the Aptitude!

Jawbone of an AssTN: 5Speed: 1Duration: 1 round/faith levelRange: Touch

Samson’s faith turned the jawbone ofa dead mule into a fearsome weapon.Your hero might not always have herfavorite hickory stick on hand when it’stime to knock a few heads for thegreater good, so she might want totake a few pointers here.

When successfully invoked, thismiracle turns any vaguely club-likeitem into a holy head-cracker. The itemmust be rigid, roughly cylindrical inshape and at least a foot and a half inlength. Beyond that, there’s a lot ofleeway; a stick, chunk of firewood,broomhandle, or even a bone doesnicely.

The weapon does your hero’sStrength damage, plus an additional 1d6for each success and raise she getswhen invoking jawbone of an ass. Ontop of that, the weapon has a DB of +1for each success and raise as well.

She needs fightin’: brawlin’ to usethe weapon effectively. Since manyblessed have issues with taking a life,she can choose to do either lethal orbrawling-type damage with it.

The weapon’s damage isn’t magicalso some abominations may not be tooimpressed with it.

Judgement of theUnrighteous

TN: SpecialSpeed: 1Duration: 1 round/faith levelRange: 10 yards/faith level

Vengeance belongs to the PowersThat Be, but occasionally, they’re willingto share it with a faithful servant.Judgement of the unrighteous lets ablessed show the particularly wickedthe errors of their ways.

The downside to this miracle is thatthe blessed must first turn the othercheek—although not necessarilyintentionally. In other words, your herohas to let the bad guy hit him first andtake at least a single wound levelbefore he can cast judgement of theunrighteous.

The Blessed 13Once that’s happened, the blessed

can invoke the miracle. He has totarget a specific opponent when hedoes, and he’d be wise to choose theone that’s done the most damage, asyou’ll see in a minute.

Also, he can only pass judgment ofthe unrighteous on foes with humanintelligence (or greater!). Nocondemning the poor beasts of thefield! The Marshal has final call onwhat’s a fair target for this miracle.

When invoked, this miracle convertsany wound level penalties caused bythe target opponent from negativemodifiers into positive ones as long asthe Trait or Aptitude roll is directlyaffecting that foe. Thus, a fightin’ attackor spiritual backhand miracle would getthe bonus, but a succor cast to keepanother hero in the fight—even if she’sfighting the target—wouldn’t.

Later attacks by the target duringthe duration that cause damage mayincrease this modifier if they causeheavier wounds. Use the highestwound level caused by a single attackbefore or during the miracle’s duration.Of course, the blessed has to still besuffering the modifier; there’s nopassing judgement for events in thedistant past!

In addition, any damage the blessedcauses the target gets the same bonus,whether it’s lethal or brawling.

Wounds from other sources stillcause their normal penalties, however.These may even cancel out the benefitsof the miracle, which is why judgmentis best invoked against the blessed’smost dangerous foe!

Finally, even if the blessed has thethick-skinned Edge or other means ofreducing the wound penalty, he gets thebonus modifier as if he didn’t. And, incase you’re wondering, your hero can’tcombine this with bear the cross, but hecould use it with martyrdom.

Reverend Harding takes a bulletfrom a cultist’s pistol, causinghim two wound levels. He’salready suffering a Light wound(-1 penalty) in the same location,for a total of a Serious wound(-3). He invokes judgement of theunrighteous against the gun-

toting cultist, offsetting the lastpenalty and actually gaining a +2bonus. He still suffers a -1 penaltyfrom the earlier wound, so histotal bonus against the target is+1; against any other foes, he’s -3.His first action is to cast smite onhimself. Since this move isn’t adirect action against the target,he doesn’t get the bonus to hisroll. However, on his next action,he wallops the goon with his axehandle, gaining the bonus notonly to his fightin’ roll, but also tohis damage as well. If, on hisnext action he chooses to invokespiritual backhand against thetarget, he gets a +2 bonus to hisfaith roll, and +2 to the Wind hecauses if the miracle issuccessful.

Opportunity’s KnockTN: 5Speed: 1Duration: 1 roundRange: Self

Sometimes, your hero gets only onechance to turn the tide against theforces of Darkness. If she misses it,even by a second, all hope might belost. Luckily, with a little divineguidance, your blessed never need misssuch an opportunity.

When invoked, opportunity’s knockturns another of her Action Cards intothe equivalent of a red Joker. Shedoesn’t get a draw from the Fate Pot,but she can go at any time during theround—and even interrupt anothercharacter’s action with a Quicknesscheck.

She can’t use this on a card up hersleeve, but she can keep anotherAction Card there and still enact themiracle. Also, she can’t keep the ActionCard she chooses to affect this waybeyond the end of the round.

PerseveranceTN: 7Speed: 1Duration: 1 round/faith levelRange: Self

If at first you don’t succeed, tryagain; that seems to be the point thedivine powers are trying to hammerhome with this particular miracle.Perseverance awards your hero for notgiving up just because he doesn’t enjoyimmediate success.

When the blessed casts perseverance,he chooses a single Trait or Aptitude rolland action he’s trying to accomplish. Forthe duration of the miracle, each timehe fails at the task, he gets a +1 bonusto his next attempt at that exact sametask. This modifier is cumulative untilhe succeeds, then it’s completelycancelled.

For example, if he’s attempting to hita particularly nimble walkin’ dead withhis Peacemaker, each time he misses hegets a +1 to the next shootin’ roll. So,should he miss three times in a row, hisfourth shot is at +3. Once he does hitthe confounded thing, though, he losesall the bonuses on the next attempt, butthe cycle does start over if perseveranceis still in effect.

The miracle can only target onespecific activity and associated Trait orAptitude roll. If your blessed changestactics and tries a different method, heloses any bonuses.

In the example above, should thehero decide to give up on hismarksmanship and beat the zombiewith a stick, he gains no bonus fromperseverance.. The bonus to his shootin’is lost, although he can start over if themiracle’s duration allows.

Prayers of the FaithfulTN: 7Speed: 2Duration: 1 round/faith levelRange: 10 yards/faith level

There’s strength in numbers,particularly if those numbers are joinedin a common faith and cause. Thismiracle allows your blessed to drawupon the power of other faithful of herown religion to assist in overcominghardships.

The Blessed 15Once invoked, any cowpokes in

range can immediately sacrifice one oftheir own Action Cards—just as if theywere making a vamoose—to utter alittle prayer of support for the blessed.For this prayer to actually work, thecharacter making the prayer must haveat least one level in faith and have thesame religion as your hero. He also hasto spend the Action Card at the time ofthe miracle’s casting—no waiting!

Each character can only do this once,and your blessed cannot participate inthis part of the miracle. For eachcharacter who sacrifices an ActionCard in this manner, she gains a +1bonus to her next Trait or Aptituderoll—which she must specifically statewhen she invokes the miracle. Nopulling the old bait-and-switch ondivine favor!

The bonus your hero gains in thismanner can’t be greater than her faithAptitude level. For example, if she hasfaith 5, the maximum modifier she canreceive from these prayers is +5, nomatter how many are praying for her.

The miracle lasts for 1 round for eachlevel she has in faith, or until sheattempts the named Trait or Aptituderoll—successfully or not—whichevercomes first.

There is one exception to this limit.The blessed can garner prayers of thefaithful to assist with her own naturalhealing rolls. To do so, she must invokethe miracle the day prior to actuallymaking the healing roll. Even thoughsuch healing normally takes longerthan the duration allows, Heaven cutsher a little slack and allows it.

Finally, a blessed can only benefitfrom a single prayers of the faithful at atime, even if she invokes it for anotherTrait or Aptitude.

QuenchTN: SpecialSpeed: 2Duration: SpecialRange: 10 yards/faith level

There’s a place for fire in a religion,but burning down a schoolhouse—orworse, your hero himself—isn’t it. Withquench, your blessed can invoke a littleHeavenly aid in extinguishing fires ofboth earthly and unearthly origin.

The TN for the miracle depends onthe intensity of the fire and is shownon the table below.

If successful, the miracleimmediately quenches the fire. Unlessrestarted by an outside force, the firestays permanently extinguished. Due tothe power of this miracle, however, nofire can restart on the target for 1 roundfor each level of the blessed’s faith.

While quench does initally put outghost rock fires, unlike other blazes,these do restart on their own after 1round for every level of your hero’s faithAptitude.

Sparrow’s FallTN: 5Speed: 2Duration: 1 day/faith levelRange: 1 mile/faith level

They say Heaven knows when evena single sparrow falls from its perch.That’s probably a little beyond the realmof even divinely inspired humans, butwith this miracle, a blessed can at leastkeep track of one of her own flock.

When she invokes this miracle, yourblessed must name a specific person.Furthermore, she can’t target anunwilling character with sparrow’s fall;the subject must allow it, otherwise itsimple fails. Finally, the target charactermust be within range at the time sheinvokes the miracle, or it fails beforeshe even rolls her faith.

QuenchQuenchQuenchQuenchQuench

Intensity TNLantern, torch 3Campfire 5Bonfire 7Small burning building 9Large burning building 11Magical fire, ghostrock 13

16 Posse

If these conditions are met and shemakes her faith roll, for the duration ofthe miracle, she is constantly aware ofthe state of the subject’s well-being. Ingame terms, she knows the target’swound levels and current Wind.

If she gets a raise on her faith roll toinvoke sparrow’s fall, she knows therough direction and distance to thechosen character.

Finally, thanks to the power of themiracle, she can give Fate Chips to thechosen character to prevent wounds orWind loss for the duration of themiracle without having to sacrifice oneof equal value to the Marshal. She cando so regardless of the distanceseparating the two, but the blessedmust be conscious to pass along theFate Chips.

Your blessed can only invoke a singlesparrow’s fall at a time. The drain onher spiritual awareness is too great tolet her maintain more than one.

Strength of FellowshipTN: 7Speed: VamooseDuration: InstantRange: 5 yards/faith level

Earlier we mentioned strength innumbers, but there’s also courage thereas well. Strength of fellowship helpsyour blessed boost the morale of hisfellow worshipers when faced with thehorrors of the Weird West.

When invoked, strength of fellowshipprovides a bonus to the guts rolls of allcowpokes within range who share yourblessed’s religion (i.e., have at least 1level in the same faith Aptitude). Thisbonus is equal to the total number ofcharacters within range of your blessedwho have the same faith Aptitude ashe does. Those who don’t neither gainfrom nor contribute to the bonus.

There is no upper limit to thismodifier, but it only applies to a singleguts check made in the same round asthe miracle is invoked. Later checks donot get this bonus.

This miracle is cast as an activedefense—in other words, as a vamoose—because often abominations have ahabit of jumping out at your characterwhen he’s not expecting it! To invokestrength of fellowship, your hero mustspend his highest Action Card.

Sometimes the servants of Darknessmanage to put the frighteners on folksbefore they’ve even had a chance to rollQuickness. In that case, your blessedcan chuck a white Fate Chip (or higher)into the Fate Pot to invoke strength offellowship at that time.

Your blessed counts toward thenumber of the total bonus to the gutscheck and receives it as well.

A cowpoke can only benefit from asingle strength of fellowship at a time.

The Lord ProvidesTN: 7Speed: 1 minuteDuration: 1 hour/faith levelRange: Self

The Good Book tells the faithful toask and their needs shall be answered.This miracle proves the truth in thatpassage.

Once she’s invoked the Lord provides,your blessed gets a +5 on herscroungin’ rolls, plus an additional +2for every raise. Now, she may not findexactly what she wants if her roll issuccessful, but she does find what sheneeds. Exactly what that entails is theMarshal’s call, of course.

The miracle is likewise effective in awilderness setting. There, the blessedgains a similar bonus to herappropriate survival rolls to find foodand water. Out in the wilds, it’s a littlemore straightforward than in the city,so for every success and raise, shefinds enough food and water to feed asingle person for one day.

Water of LifeTN: 7Speed: 1Duration: InstantRange: 10 yards/faith level

All life on earth needs water tosurvive. Given that, it’s really nosurprise that most religions place agreat importance on the substance.

The Blessed 17Turning this fount of life into foulpoisons, toxic liquids, and the like justdoesn’t sit well with many blessed ortheir divine patrons.

Water of life lets your hero cleanseliquid of any harmful impurities andturn it to a revitalizing tonic. Regardlessof how foul or toxic the target liquid isthis miracle converts it to the purest ofpure water. Acid, poison, alcohol, or anysimilar vile substance is instantlyneutralized and purified.

Your hero can change 1 gallon ofliquid per level of his faith to waterwith this miracle. He doesn’t have tosee it, but he does have to know wherethe water is and it must be withinrange when he invokes the miracle.

So, for example, he could transmutethe acid in a tank on a mad scientist’sback to water if he knew it was there;however, he can’t simply cast the miracleblindly and cleanse the entire area.

The miracle has an added effect: Notonly is the liquid cleansed, but water oflife provides it with a mild healingpower. Any hero that drinks of thewater so created regains 1d6 Wind foreach success and raise the blessedreceived when invoking the miracle.She must drink the liquid within 1minute of its conversion, however, forthis effect to work.

Water to WineTN: 7Speed: 2Duration: 1 hour/faith levelRange: Touch

The previous miracle completelypurifies liquid, making it crystal clearwater. This miracle, on the other hand,turns a beverage into a pacifyingintoxicant.

Sure, drunkenness is frowned on bynearly all religions, but betweenshooting an enemy or rendering himsenseless without violence, most wouldlikely choose the latter!

When cast, water to wine turns up to1 gallon per level of your blessed’s faithof water, coffee, tea, whiskey, or justabout any other, non-alchemicalbeverage to a pleasant, but powerfullyintoxicating, drink. A single sip of theliquid is sufficient to cause its effects.

For the duration of the miracle,anyone who imbibes the liquid mustmake a Vigor roll against a Fair (5) TNor settle down for a nice, relaxing nap.For every raise the blessed gets on herfaith roll to invoke this miracle, that TNincreases by +2.

Even if a drinker manages to stayawake, he suffers a -1 modifier for everysuccess and raise your hero received onher faith roll to all other Trait andAptitude checks for the duration of themiracle.

As noted, a single drink is sufficientto cause the effects noted above. At theMarshal’s discretion, cowpokes whoimbibe the liquid with gusto mayreceive additional modifiers to the Vigorroll to remain awake.

New GiftsWe described gifts in detail in Fire &

Brimstone. If you don’t have that book,the simplest explanation is that a gift isa miracle that’s always in effect, withno faith roll needed to activate it. Sortof a “Holy” Edge, if you will.

Gaining New GiftsA blessed picks up a gift in exactly

the same manner as he does a newmiracle: pay 5 Bounty Points. And, asbefore, if the Marshal’s working withthe rules in Fire & Brimstone, theblessed must pray for a day and makean Onerous (7) faith roll before spendingthose points.

New GiftDescriptions

Gifts don’t have common elements intheir descriptions like miracles. There isno TN, since the gift is always in effect;there’s no speed or duration for thesame reason. And, unless the giftspecifically states otherwise, the rangeis always self.

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Clarity of ThoughtAll your hero’s time in prayer and

meditation must have centered hismind, because he has the ability tothink clearly in the worst situations.

Whenever your hero draws a singleAction Card, he can discard it andimmediately redraw another.Unfortunately, even the calmest mindsoccasionally stumble, so if he pulls ablack Joker, he’s stuck.

This gift is cumulative with the Edgelevel-headed, but only when yourblessed draws a single Action Card. Ifhe draws more than one, you can’t useclarity of thought, but you can still usethe effect of level-headed.

Favored of HeavenThe Powers That Be are looking out

for your hero. So much so, in fact, thatshe has no chance of coming backfrom the dead as a walkin’ dead,vampire, or any other foul form ofundead.

If your blessed is put down by acritter that would normally cause herto come back as an unholy undead, shehas the good graces to stay dead and inthe ground. She’s got no protectionagainst other forms of unearthlytransformation like lycanthropy—orworse.

Also, when she’s unlucky enough todie through other means, there is achance that Heaven intervenes. Shedraws a number of cards equal to herfaith Aptitude plus one additional.

If she draws the red Joker, shesomehow avoids even certain death.Her work on Earth obviously isn’tfinished yet, for she tenaciously clingsto life. She does suffer a Critical woundto the guts, or at least enough to raiseher wound level there to that location;however, somehow she remains alive.

If she draws a black Joker, forwhatever reason, her Heavenly patron(s)has allowed her to return as aHarrowed; however, she does get a

bonus to her first Dominion roll equal toher faith Aptitude. This roll replaces theregular Harrowed card draw.

Good KarmaYour hero has built quite a stock of

good deeds to draw on in a clutch. Forthat reason, even Fate doesn’t seem tobe quite as harsh with him as it is withmost folks.

Whenever your blessed spends a redFate Chip to add a die to a Trait orAptitude roll, the Marshal doesn’t get afree draw from the Fate Pot. Also,anytime your hero pulls the black Joker,he still has to discard the Joker and anysleeve card, but at least the Marshaldoesn’t get to draw from the Fate Pot.

Thank Heaven for small favors!

GumptionCall it determination, pluck, or just

plain cussedness, but whatever it is,your blessed’s got it in spades! She justdoesn’t know when to give up, and herHeavenly allies appreciate that trait.

Once per game session, your herocan reroll a single Trait or Aptitudecheck; however, she’s stuck with thesecond result, for better or worse.

This doesn’t cost her any Fate Chips,but she can’t make a reroll if she goesbust on the first attempt. She canspend Fate Chips on the second roll aslong as she doesn’t go bust. Even then,if she’s got the gift divine providence,she’s allowed to spend Fate Chips on itas usual; if not, she’s out of luck.

Saint Patrick’s BoonYour blessed is a born snake-

handler! Well, maybe not born, but witha little divine assistance, she does justfine. She’s totally immune to naturalanimal venoms, like those of a rattler,copperhead, or even a scorpion. Thebite might sting a bit, but she suffersno ill effects from the poison.

This resistance extends to otherpoisons as well, although it’s notcompletely full proof against them. Shegets a +4 on Vigor rolls to resist thevenom of abominations, alchemicaltoxins, or poisons created throughblack magic.

New DivineInterventions

Divine interventions are the “bigguns” of the blessed. We introducedthem in Fire & Brimstone and there’s awhole passel of them in that book.

If you don’t have that sourcebookhandy, here’s a short explanation ofhow they work

BlessingsEvery time your blessed takes an

active roll in lowering a Fear Level, shecan gain a Blessing. A Blessing isneeded to request a divine intervention.Also, your blessed must have at leastfaith of 6; she can still gain a Blessing,but she can’t use it until she raises herfaith to the minimum level.

Using a BlessingYour blessed can call upon a divine

intervention by spending a Blessing. Asbefore, she has to make a faith rollagainst the intervention’s TN. She can’tadd to her roll or lower the TN throughother miracles or hexes (prayers or thefaithful) or lower the TN (penny ante),but she can spend Fate Chips.

InterventionDescriptions

Intervention headings follow thesame format as those of miracles.

Dust to RustTN: SpecialSpeed: 3Duration: InstantRange: 5 yards

This intervention calls on the mightof Heaven to send an infernal deviceback to the Hell that spawned it. Ifsuccessful, the intervention turns agizmo into a useless pile of rusted junk.

The TN for this intervention is equalto the Construction TN for the gizmo.You can find that number on TheGizmo Construction table in the WeirdWest Player’s Guide. If your blessedmakes that number, the gizmo is toast.

Fiery FurnaceTN: 13Speed: VamooseDuration: ConcentrationRange: 5 yards

This intervention protects the blessedand a number of companions up to hisfaith level from certain death due tonatural or environmental hazards. Thisincludes blazing fire, avalanches, minecollapses, or even being swallowed aliveby a whale!

Once activated, all your blessed cando is pray and attempt to move fromthe area. If he can’t leave the area, hemust continue to pray as he awaitsrescue. During this time, his friendsmust remain within 5 yards of him orcloser, depending on the circumstances.

Exactly how your hero and hiscompanions survive the disaster is upto your Marshal, but she can be ascreative as she wants.

This intervention is no help againstdirect attacks like artillery fire, blackmagic, or an abomination’s attack.

Chapter Two:

A Whole NewDeck

In this chapter, you’ll find a deck fullof new tricks and hexes, as well as thesecrets hidden in a very unlikely place.But before we get into the new stuff,we’re going to take a minute to clarifya couple of things from Hucksters &Hexes, as well as even admit to amistake or two. That last statementalone ought to be worth the time ittakes to read this book!

The Old &The New

Hucksters & Hexes was releasedunder a slightly different system ofrules than the newer, hexslingin’-based

set from the Weird West Player’sGuide. As a result, some of theinstructions in that first book might

seem a little unclear or justdownright confusing. Well, we’regoing to straighten all that out.

Unless you read differently in thefollowing sections, just use the rules inHucksters & Hexes as written.

Learning New HexesIf you’re using the expanded rules for

learning new hexes detailed inHucksters & Hexes, it only takes acouple of changes to make them fitwith the hexslingin’ Aptitude.

First, after your hero has completedall the steps necessary to learn a newhex, she has to spend 5 Bounty Points,instead of a single one; however, shenow learns it at her hexslingin’ levelinstead of level one like the text states.

TricksFor those of you without Hucksters &

Hexes, we’ll go into tricks in a littlemore detail in a minute, so don’t worrytoo much about this section right now.

22 Posse

Hucksters use the hexslingin’ Aptitudebased on the associated Trait to casttricks now, just like with hexes.

Also, if your cardslinger draws ablack Joker while casting a trick, hedoesn’t automatically take backlash.Now, the trick fails, he loses 2 Windand must make an Onerous (7) Smartsroll. Only if he fails that roll does hesuffer backlash.

Miscellaneous StuffCowpokes wishing to become

hucksters now need at least one levelin hexslingin’ before they can purchasethe Edge arcane background: huckster.That applies whether they’re startingcharacters or picking up a deck later intheir career.

Ignore the part about hucksters witha level of 3 or more in a Hex not takingbacklash from the red Joker. Like theWeird West Player’s Guide says,hucksters no longer take backlash onthe red Joker, regardless of theirhexslingin’ Aptitude.

Any time the text refers to “hex level”just substitute “hexslingin’ level.” Thereare no individual hex levels anymore.

And, just in case we’ve missedsomething, if a rule in Hucksters &Hexes flies in the face of the Weird WestPlayer’s Guide, ignore it.

Whoops!As usual, a pack of gremlins got into

the printer’s presses and played havocwith some of the hex descriptions.Here’s a few that need correcting orfurther explanation.

Bodyguard has a range of “Self,” not“Touch.”

Gambler’s luck needs twoclarifications. First, it has a range of“Self,” not “Touch.” Second, the chips thecardslinger gains with it can’t be usedfor Bounty Points, although they do stillcount against the 10 Chip limit.

Poltergeist has an area of effect of 5yards/hexslingin’ level.

Shadow man has a duration of”Concentration.” Now, you’ve probablybeen wondering how your huckster issupposed to sneak while maintainingthe hex. This hex is a specific exceptionto the rule that a cowpoke can onlytake simple actions whileconcentrating on a hex. She can usethe sneak Aptitude while maintainingshadow man, but is otherwise limitedto simple actions.

Silver-tongued devil has a Range of“Self,” not “Touch.”

Talisman has a Speed of three days,like the description says, not two asnoted in the beginning entry.

TricksBack in Hucksters & Hexes, we

introduced a sort of minor hex called atrick. These magics allow hucksters towork smaller effects without worryingso much about backlash.

If you’ve got that fine tome, youalready know the lowdown on tricks.You’ll want to read through this sectionanyway to catch up on a few tweakswe’ve made to update them to thehexslingin’ Aptitude revisions.

The basic idea behind a trick is thatthe huckster can avoid the big leaguemanitous he needs to power potenthexes and instead grab one of the littleguys and mop the floor with it.Spiritually speaking, of course.

Now, these peon manitous aren’tmuch good for casting a real hex likesoul blast, but they work just fine if allyour hero wants to do is light a cigar.

Casting a TrickSince they’re minor magics, casting a

trick is a whole lot easier than a full-blown hex.

All a huckster has to do to fire off atrick is make a Fair (5) hexslingin’ rollusing the associated Trait for the trick,just as if she were casting a hex. Shedoesn’t draw a full hand, though.;instead, she draws one card for eachsuccess and raise she gets on the roll.

If your huckster gets a red card, justone, the trick works. Even if she has 12black cards and the lowly Deuce ofDiamonds, the trick works.

Hucksters 23Of course, every now and then, even

one of the little guys gets a lucky shotin. If your huckster attempts to cast atrick and fails (it does happen!), sheloses 2 Wind.

If she’s unlucky enough to draw theblack Joker, she’s gotten hold of one ofthe shrimps’ bigger cousins. Not onlydoes the trick fail, causing her to lose 2Wind as above, but she’s also got toimmediately make an Onerous (7)Smarts roll to let go of the nasty ortake backlash just as if she werecasting a real hex. If she makes the roll,she still loses the Wind, but she getsout of Dodge before the angry spiritgets a shot at her.

This last rule is a bit of a changefrom Hucksters & Hexes. We’ve eased upon cardslingers a little here to bring therisk for casting a trick more in linewith the rewards.

Learnin’ TricksAs you’ve probably guessed, tricks are

easy to learn. During character creation,you can opt to learn three tricks insteadof one hex for every level of yourhexslingin’ Aptitude. You can mix andmatch tricks and hexes when creatingyour huckster as well. For example, ifyour hero had hexslingin’ 3, he couldlearn three hexes or nine tricks, or twohexes and three tricks, etc.

After character creation, yourhuckster can learn a new trick for 2Bounty Points and a couple of nightspracticing. He doesn’t have to have ateacher, worry about academia: occultrolls, etc. Tricks are simple enough thathe can figure them out for himself.

New TricksAll tricks take a single action to

complete. Additionally, each of thetricks described in the following pageshave three entries: Trait, Duration, andRange.

Trait is the Mental Trait the hucksteruses to determine the die type to usewith her hexslingin’ Aptitude.

Duration is the length of time thetrick stays in effect. Most areinstantaneous, but some last longer.

Range is the distance at which thetrick can be performed.

FinishTrait: MienDuration: PermanentRange: 1 elixir

This trick can put a shine on eventhe grimiest spittoon in a backstreetShan Fan saloon.

The finish trick lets a hucksterpolish up an item to make it look likebetter-than-new. It shines metal,brushes velvet, polishes wood, youname it.

It doesn’t do a thing for the item’sfunctionality; if it was broken before,it’s still broken after finish is cast—butit looks good! A fast-talking huckstercan use this hex to get a +2 bonusmade to his persuasion rolls to sell anitem for a higher-than-normal price.

This trick can only spruce up itemsup to the size of about a love seat orchest of drawers. In case you haven’tguessed, it only works on inanimateobjects; if your hero wants to dandyhimself up, he needs to use the groomtrick. Gizmos are fair game, though, aslong as they fit the size requirement.

Fooled You!Trait: SmartsDuration: ConcentrationRange: 1 elixir

This trick is a favorite of gamblinghall cheats and a couple of outlawswho’ve mastered the secrets of Hoyle.

Fooled you! lets the caster create asmall, two-dimensional illusion—justabout the size of, say, a playing card ora face on a wanted poster. The illusionis static (that is, it doesn’t move), butcan be just about as complex as thehuckster wants. The caster can alsomake the image created in color ormonochrome, as best fits his situation.

It can’t convincingly duplicate animprint, but it is able to duplicate abloody print, a small piece of a note,change a face on a wanted poster, andso forth.

24 Posse

The illusion lasts only as long as thehuckster concentrates on it andremains within range.

MirrorTrait: KnowledgeDuration: ConcentrationRange: 2 yards

Even the wisest man doesn’t alwaysknow what’s around the next corner.On the other hand, the most foolishhuckster can, provided he knows thistrick!

Mirror creates a small shimmeringarea about 2” in diameter that acts justlike, well, a mirror. It’s great for lookingaround corners, behind doors, or at anopponent’s poker hand.

The caster can move the mirroranywhere within two yards of himselfby spending an action. The mirror isinsubstantial and can be movedthrough solid objects.

Pick Me UpTrait: SpiritDuration: PermanentRange: Touch

There’s nothing like a shot ofwhiskey to snap a cowpoke to hissenses. This trick adds a littlesupernatural zing to a shot glass full ofliquor—”good stuff” or not—and whilesome saloon patrons shudder at thethought of polluting a perfectly gooddrink, the benefits are undeniable.

Once successfully cast, this trickcauses a shot of whiskey to restore 1d6Wind to the person drinking it. Just thething for those all-night saloon brawls!

There are a couple of drawbacks topick me up, though. First, it won’t workon anyone under the effects of anothertrick, coffin varnish. For some reasonthat trick complete cancels pick me up;in fact, both magics’ effects are nullifiedif the same person tries to benefit fromone while under the influence of theother.

The second is pick me up has anheightened intoxicating effect on thefolks it cures. For every point of Windrecovered with this trick, the imbibergets the effects of a full shot ofwhiskey—all at once. So, if your herohas been on the losing side of aserious brawl, she’s liable to be drunkoff her feet before she can recover allher Wind with pick me up!

On the other hand, it’s hard to usethis trick to get a cowpoke drunkwithout raising his suspicions. If he’slost no Wind prior to drinking it, it’s nomore potent than a regular shot. If yourhero goes to thumping on him prior tobuying his drink, his suspicions areprobably going to be running a littlehigh!

The Wind recovered is permanent(unless beat out of the cowpoke againlater!), but the intoxicating effects wearoff normally, usually after just a fewhours.

StartleTrait: SmartsDuration: 1 round/hexslingin’ levelRange: 1 yard/hexslingin’ level

This trick strums on edges of thefive senses, tickling the part of thebrain that controls the “flight or fight”instinct. It affects every person andanimal in range for its duration.

It’s not terribly effective against mostfolks because humans just aren’t allthat on top of their senses—often inmore ways than one. The worst startlecan do to a cowpoke directly is causehim to suffer a -1 to any guts check hehas to make during its effect.

Animals are quite a bit moresusceptible to the trick, however, asthey tend to be a little more aware ofgoings-on than their masters. Horsesbecome skittish, dogs perk up andgrowl, cats’ hiss and arch their backs,and so forth.

Now, most savvy Westerners aregoing to notice their animals are actingup, and maybe get a little skittishthemselves. A quick-thinking huckstercan no doubt find dozens of ways touse this trick.

Finally, any ridin’ or animal handlin’roll made on animals under startle’seffect is at -2 for the trick’s duration.

Tinhorn ShuffleTrait: SmartsDuration: 1 roundRange: Touch

For this trick to be effective, your heromust have a deck of cards handy.

When cast, it causes the deck tospray from his hand into the air, as ifhe’d just executed one of the worstshuffles in the history of poker. Thecards erupt upwards in a near-mesmerizing blast of color and motion,drawing the attention of anyone within5 yards. The tinhorn shuffle makes theexplosion of cards even more eye-catching than normal, wafting themabout on air currents for a momentbefore dropping them to the ground.

The effect of this—other than makingthe caster look like a total rube—is togive a +2 bonus to all filchin’, sleight o’hand, and sneak rolls for that round. Thehuckster himself can’t take advantageof the bonus, as he’s largely the centerof attention, but another posse memberwho was clued in on the act certainlycould.

New HexesThese hexes can’t be found in Hoyle’s

Book of Games. All are relatively newcreations from various cardslingers inthe Weird West. Of course, that meanslearning them isn’t going to be as easyas cracking a book and studying for alittle while.

Your huckster is going to need tofind another huckster to teach him anyof these hexes. A few have workedtheir way into other publications,though, so your hero might—justmight—stumble across one or two if heperuses the right books.

What are the “right” books, you ask?Well, that is the question isn’t it? Yourhero will just have to keep looking.

Hex DescriptionsJust like in the Weird West Player’s

Guide, the hexes below have fiveentries: Trait, Hand, Speed, Duration,and Range.

Trait is the mental Trait used to castthe hex.

Hand refers to the minimum pokerhand the huckster must draw to powerup the hex. Depending on the hex,better hands might mean the hex isstronger, lasts longer, or has someother enhanced effect.

Speed is the number of actions ittakes to finish the hex. A very fewhexes might take longer and aren’treally suitable for combat. These hexeshave their speeds listed in minutes,hours, or even days.

Duration is the length of time thehex stays in effect. “Concentration”means the huckster must concentrateon the magic and can take only simpleactions like moving or speaking. Otherhexes require Wind to maintain; thoselast as long as the huckster pays theWind to keep the hex in effect. A fewuse a combination of both. If that’s thecase, the huckster either maintainsconcentration or pays the listed Wind tokeep the hex in effect.

Range is the distance at which thehex can take effect. Some hexes targetthe huckster himself, but then give him

an ability to affect targets at a longerrange. If that’s the case, we’ll tell you inthe description of the hex itself. Thehex Cardsharp is a good example ofthis.

A Glass DarklyTrait: CognitionHand: PairSpeed: 2Duration: 1 round/hexslingin’ levelRange: 5 yards

This hex lets the huckster and hiscompanions view psychic imprints leftin a window pane by events occurringon the other side of the glass.

When cast, the viewers get ashadowy replay of an act or otheroccurrence that took place on the otherside of the glass. In effect, the hucksterrewinds time to view events of the pastthrough the window.

Details are very hard to make out, asthe images are little more than shadowplays and blurry; for example, amurderer’s face can’t be identified, but

the fact she was in a dark robe orlight-colored pants and shirt can. Theviewers might see a figure move to amantelpiece and take something butnot exactly what it was.

Anyone on the same side of theglass as the caster and within the hex’srange can see the images unfold in theglass. Folks on the opposite side cansee nothing but the long-neckedgawkers staring out the window.

The hex targets the most psychicallypowerful event (murder is always a safebet for this one!) in the period searchedby the huckster. Subsequent castings ofa glass darkly by the same cardslingerdon’t review the same scene, butinstead move to the next most potentevent in the period.

Black CatTrait: SmartsHand: Two PairsSpeed: VamooseDuration: InstantRange: 5 yards/hexslingin’ level

Every so often a cowpoke just plainbeats the odds and pulls off theimpossible. And sometimes, yourhuckster may have rather seen him fail.Black cat lets your hero twistprobabilities at the last second.

With this hex, your cardslinger canforce another character to immediatelyreroll a Trait or Aptitude check he’s justcompleted successfully. He—and yourhuckster—are stuck with the results ofthe second roll, for better or worse.Beware, this can be a double-edged hex!

To cast black cat, your huckster mustmake a vamoose and spend herhighest remaining Action Card, withsleeve cards going first. If she can’tvamoose, she can’t cast black cat.

A Glass DarklyA Glass DarklyA Glass DarklyA Glass DarklyA Glass Darkly

Hand TimePeriod Scanned

Pair 1 dayTwo Pairs 1 weekThree of a Kind 1 monthStraight 1 yearFlush 5 yearsFull House 10 years

Hucksters 27If she gets the requisite hand, the

victim has to immediately roll the Traitor Aptitude again against the same TNand with the same modifiers he had onthe original roll; however, due to theeffect of the hex, he actually gets a +2bonus on the second roll.

Obviously, then, your hucksterdoesn’t want to cast black cat onrelatively easy tasks. She’s better offslinging a confound hex instead.However, it’s great for foiling a one-in-a-million shot.

Finally, since the target has tosucceed in the first place, your herocan’t use the hex to give someone asecond chance at a failed task.

CardsharpTrait: KnowledgeHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: 1 round/hexslingin’ levelRange: Self

Cardsharp is pretty true to its name;with it a huckster can create his owndead man’s hand!

This hex works a little different thanmost, because the value of every cardin the five the huckster uses to makehis final hand matters. If you’llremember, a hand of cards magicallyappears in the huckster’s hand beforehe casts any hex. With cardsharp, thosecards remain, imbued with energy fromthe Hunting Grounds

Assuming he makes the minimumhand to cast the hex, each card of thefinal five he keeps becomes a razorsharp weapon he can hurl at his foes.Doing so effectively takes the throwin’:balanced Aptitude. The cards have aRange Increment of 5, and a maximumrange equal to the caster’s hexslingin’Aptitude level times 5 yards.

The amount of damage done by thecard is the huckster’s Strength plus abonus amount based on the value ofthe card itself. Deuces do +1d4, values 3to 8 get +1d6, 9s to Jacks do +1d8, Kingsand Queens are +1d10, and Aces inflict+1d12. Jokers do damage based on thecard value they’re copying (usually anAce, unless your hero needs them toimprove his hand!). However, the suit ofthe card doesn’t matter for damagepurposes.

Your hero can hurl one card on eachof his Actions.

For every hand above the minimumrequired, each card gets an additional+2 to damage. Occasionally, yourhuckster may opt to not take a higher-ranking hand so he can use other,more potent cards.

The damage dealt by these cards isconsidered magical, by the way.

The hex lasts until your huckster haschucked all his cards or the durationexpires. Any cards he has left in hishand at the end of that time fadequickly to nothing, as do all he’sthrown.

Velvet, faced by a threesome ofgun-toting henchman, casts

cardsharp. He draws an Ace, two 3s,two 5s, a Jack, and a King. He isn’tlucky enough to pull a flush, so heopts to keep the two 5s, Ace, Jack,and King. While the other pair wouldhave boosted all his cards’ damage by+2, he decides to take the higherdamage dice and hope for good rolls.He slings the Ace first, and hits witha 6 on his throwin’: balancedAptitude. He rolls a Strength checkand gets a whopping 4 as his highestdie—after all, he’s a gambler and agentlemen, not a brute! He now rolls1d12—getting an 8— and adds it to hisStrength roll for a total damage of 12.He’s still got 4 cards to throw too.

Cold SnapTrait: KnowledgeHand: PairSpeed: 2Duration: 5 rounds/hexslingin’ levelRange: 5 yards/hexslingin’ level

It’s hard to be light-fingered whensubzero temperatures are freezing theblood in your veins. Cold snap lets thehuckster bring a supernatural spell ofwinter weather down over an area,causing everyone a lot of grief—andnumb appendages!

Everyone in range has certainCorporeal Traits lowered for theduration of the hex as the uncannychill settles into their bones. Evenundead and other abominations sufferthese effects. Except, of course, thosethat are native to frosty climates or areotherwise resistant to the effects ofcold.

All in range have their Deftness,Nimbleness, and Quickness Traitslowered by a die type. For each handthe huckster gets above the minimumto cast the hex, those Traits aredropped by an additional step as well.Once the die type reaches d4, theCoordination is reduced instead, to aminimum of 1d4.

Once the Trait reaches 1d4, the poorsap is as cold as he can get, short of apermanent visit to the undertaker!

The cold radiates out from thecardslinger, so she’s affected as well.While it doesn’t give much offensiveadvantage, cold snap is a good defense,if your hero has the guts to take a littlechill herself.

Fifty-Two PickupTrait: SmartsHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 1 round/hexslingin’ levelRange: Touch

If tinhorn shuffle catches folks’attention, fifty-two pickup grabs it,clubs it over the head, skins it, andsells the pelt for a profit!

This hex was no doubt developed bysome cardslinger who felt the trickdidn’t go far enough with its effects.Instead of a seemingly clumsy spray ofcards that flutter into the air, fifty-twopickup fills an area with a swirlingmass of tumbling, spinning cards.

The hex effects originate from thehuckster, who, just as if he werecasting tinhorn shuffle, must have adeck of cards in his hand to begin with.The cards explode up, out and aroundhim, multiplying their number ahundredfold or more. They whip aboutin an area up to 5 yards across forevery level your hero has in hexslingin’.

Anyone in the area, or attempting tolook at, shoot, or otherwise affecttargets in it suffers a -2 to all vision-based rolls, whether they be purelyCognition-related, like search, or tied toanother Trait, like shootin’.

For every hand the huckster getsabove the minimum of an Ace, thismodifier is increased by an additional -2.

A word of warning, however: Whilefairly effective, this is a truly obvioushex. Your hero is going to be hardpressed to explain it off as anythingbut “black magic” to a rope-toting lynchmob of peace-loving townsfolk.

Hell’s BargainTrait: SpiritHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 1 Wind/roundRange: 5 yards/hexslingin’ level

With all the deals hucksters cutwith—or, more correctly beat out of—manitous, it was only a matter of timebefore one of them figured out how tostack the deck with the spirits. At leastas far as convincing one into bringinga cowpoke back from the other side,that is.

Hucksters 29In short, Hell’s bargain makes it more

likely for a fellow to come backHarrowed. This is actually one of theeasier hexes for a cardslinger to suckera manitou into powering, since theconfounded things are prone toreanimate the dead anyway.

It has to be cast on the body of acharacter who’s died in the last round.For obvious reasons, a huckster can’tcast it on herself.

The target of Hell’s bargain draws anadditional number of cards according tothe hand the huckster gets whencasting the hex. These cards are on topof any the poor sap might already getfor a high Grit or other reason. Theexact number of cards is indicated onthe table below.

As you might guess with a hexnamed Hell’s bargain, there’s a catch.

First, if the target does come backfrom the grave thanks to Hell’s bargain,roll for Dominion normally. The manitougets a bonus to its roll equal to thenumber of extra cards granted by thehex. At low levels, that’s not too bad,but it can be a killer later on!

Second, if he doesn’t come backHarrowed, there’s a pretty good chancethe manitou still decides to animate thecorpse—but as a walkin’ dead. Withoutreshuffling the deck, the target drawsan additional number of cards equal tothe bonus he got from Hell’s bargain.Don’t count his Grit for these draws.

If a Joker comes up in the secondbatch, his corpse becomes a walkin’dead in the next round. Now, keep inmind it’s awful hard to tell a Harrowedfrom a walkin’ dead—until the zombiestarts trying to eat a brain or two!

Hell’s FuryTrait: SpiritHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: 2 Wind/roundRange: Self

If your hero is tired of getting herkiester kicked around by barroom thugsor those fancy-pants Shan Fan kung futypes, Hell’s fury is just the hex for her.

Hell’s fury summons up flames from,well, probably the fires of Hell itself.These wrap the huckster’s body like anunholy shroud, but don’t so much assinge a hair on her head or even athread on her duds.

Folks that touch her, on the otherhand, are in for a world of hurt. Thehex does damage to the body part thatcomes in contact with her, based onthe hand she gets when she castsHell’s fury. If the hex causes so muchas a single wound to the cowpoke, thathit location catches fire and burns foran additional 2d8 damage each rounduntil extinguished.

Fires started by the hex can bedoused or smothered normally.

It’s important to note that the folksmust touch the huckster, whetherpunching, kicking, or prodding. If shetouches them, the fires do no damage,nor can she use Hell’s fury to ignitecombustibles, except as noted above.

Like fifty-two pickup, this is a fairlyobvious hex, what with the wreath ofunearthly flame and all. A hucksterwould be advised to take care whenusing it to avoid hemp neckties.

Hells’ BargainHells’ BargainHells’ BargainHells’ BargainHells’ Bargain

Hand Extra CardsAce 1Pair 3Two Pairs 5Three of a Kind 7Straight 11Flush 13Full House 17Four of a Kind 19Straight Flush 23Royal Flush 27

Hells’ FuryHells’ FuryHells’ FuryHells’ FuryHells’ Fury

Hand DamagePair 1d6Two Pairs 3d6Three of a Kind 4d6Straight 5d8Flush 6d8

30 Posse

Mirror, MirrorTrait: SmartsHand: Two PairsSpeed: 2Duration: 1 Wind/roundRange: 5 yards/hexslingin' level

Here’s a hex that’s handy for eveningup the odds in a stacked fight—at leastas far as your huckster is concerned.

Once mirror, mirror is successfullycast, your hero chooses a target withinrange. Usually, it’s an opponent, but itdoesn’t have to be.

Next, she has to win a contest ofSpirit with her intended target, and forevery hand she gets above theminimum for the hex, she gets a +2bonus to her roll. If she wins, she andthe target temporarily swap a singleTrait, Corporeal or Mental, of her choicefor the duration of mirror, mirror.

Now, bear in mind, she usually hasno idea exactly what anothercowpoke’s Traits are, but, with a Fair (5)Smarts roll she can usually make agood guess—at least about Corporealones. Mental Traits take a bit moreexposure and the Marshal decideswhen your character knows enoughabout an individual to make that sortof educated guess.

Finally, this hex can only swap Traitsbetween human or nearly-humantargets (Marshal’s call). Animals andother nonhuman creatures are too aliento make the exchange.

Sleeve CardTrait: SmartsHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 1 round/hexslingin' levelRange: Self

A good gambler doesn’t need to cheatto win, but sometimes having the rightcard up his sleeve makes all thedifference—unless he gets caught with it,that is. Sleeve card lets a huckster tweaktime to a minute degree, stacking theodds in a fight slightly in his favor.

When a huckster casts this hex, itallows him to discard an Action Cardand draw a new one to replace itimmediately after he rolls Quickness atthe beginning of a round. If his hand isgood enough, he can do this more thanonce. The exact number of times yourhero can discard and redraw isdetermined by his hand and shown onthe table following sleeve card’sdescription.

The huckster actually doesn’t gainany Action Cards through this hex;those are determined by his Quicknessroll as usual.

Each discard and redraw is doneseparately, so it’s possible for ahuckster to discard a card he receivedon a previous redraw. He doesn’t haveto use the discard/redraw ability duringa round if he doesn’t want and he canchose to discard/redraw less than thetotal number allowed by the hex.

Since he’s basically running a cheaton the laws of nature, there is achance he can get caught. If he pullsthe black Joker on a redraw, not onlydoes he lose it and his hole card (ifany), but he also suffers backlash, justas if he’d drawn it while casting thehex.

However, it’s a little easier to take thesecond time around, so the roll todetermine the result gets a -4 modifier,to minimum of 1.

Velvet casts sleeve card andgets two pairs, letting himdiscard and redraw up to threecards at the beginning of eachround. On his next Quicknessroll he gets a total of two cards.Drawing, he comes up with aJack and a Three. He chooses tokeep the Jack, but discards theThree. His redraw is only a Five,and so, since he has two morediscard/redraws remaining, hedecides to discard it and drawagain. This time he gets a Nine.Although he could discard onemore time and redraw, Velvetdecides to stick with the Nineand forfeits his remaining redraw.He can repeat this draw/redrawprocess each round until thehex’s duration expires.

Stayin’ PutTrait: SpiritHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: Concentration or 1 Wind/

roundRange: Self

This hex makes the caster tougherto budge from a spot than an Arizonamule on Sunday morning. It puts downmagical “roots” that help hold thehuckster in place.

While stayin’ put is in effect, thehuckster gets +5 to all her Strengthrolls to resist being pushed, pulled,tugged or even lifted. For every handabove the minimum, she gets anadditional +2 to the roll. Stayin’ putmakes a huckster a great doorstop!

She also gets this bonus to anyclimbin’ roll made to hang on or avoidfalling. The hex doesn’t help heractually climb, just stay stuck to a spotonce she gets there. Any climbin’ roll tomove up or down a surface doesn’t getthis bonus.

On the other hand, even she has tofight against the hex to some degree.Her Pace is lowered by 2 while shemaintains stayin’ put.

There is a benefit to the hex’ssupernatural restraint, as well, however.As long as stayin’ put is effect, yourhuckster gets a +2 to all guts checks. Inaddition, if she fails the check, she canchoose to stand her ground if the resultof the failed check forces her to flee. Ineffect she gains the Edge nerves o’ steel,although in this case it might better becalled Feet o’ Lead.

She still suffers any other effects,though. The hex only prevents her fromhaving to flee; however it doesn’tprotect her from Wind loss, negativemodifiers, or more lasting dementias.

The Demon’s EyeTrait: CognitionHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 1 Wind/roundRange: 10 yards/hexslingin' level

A huckster casting this hex forces amanitou to give him a tiny glimpse ofthe immediate future. In effect, he seeswith a “demon’s eye,” hence the nameof the hex. He can’t make out exactdetails or discern the outcome ofevents; his vision is limited to a snippetof the next few seconds only.

What this means in game terms isthat when your hero casts this hex, theMarshal has to reveal some of the ActionCards for the opponents your huckstersare facing. Better yet, she has to showthe highest cards first down to thelowest, so even with a minimal success,at least you know when the soonest shecan shoot your hero is!

The total number of cards revealed isbased on the final hand your huckstergets when casting the demon’s eye. She

Sleeve CardSleeve CardSleeve CardSleeve CardSleeve Card

Hand Discard/RedrawAce 1Pair 2Three of a Kind 3Straight 4Flush 5

32 Posse

also has to let you know which of yourhero’s opponents have which cards, incase she tries to get sneaky.

Cards up an enemy’s sleeve don’tcount against this total, but even theminimum hand lets you know fromround to round which opponents areholding Action Cards and which aren’t.

The table below shows how manycards your huckster can revealaccording to his hand.

The Scienceof Magic

Recently, a man named R. PercySitgreaves linked so-called “madscience” and the arcane practices ofHoyle. The result is a new group ofhexes that draws on certain, almostpseudo-scientific, theories to explaintheir form and function.

These “scientifically-based” hexes arecurrently only found in a single place.They’re also closely tied, in many cases,to mad science. For that reason, we’veseparated them—and the details behindtheir development—from the otherhexes in this chapter.

Man With a PlanR. Percy Sitgreaves is the 43-year-old

owner of Infinity Press, the companythat has the contract to print the Smith& Robards catalog for unique

inventions. A big part of the reasonSitgreaves was successful in getting thecontract was the fact he used to be anemployee of Smith & Robards in theirResearch & Development section.

Sitgreaves left the company forreasons we’ll go into in just a moment,but pursued the contract for the catalogprinting not out of loyalty to his formeremployers, but because R. PercySitgreaves has his own agenda.

“Mad” ScienceSitgreaves, like a handful of other

folks in the Weird West, had made theconnection between the sudden easewith which Hoyle’s formulae werepracticed and the advent of “madscience.” He did a little homework andpieced together that the floodgates on“creativity” opened right about thesame time so-called hucksters beganhaving such tremendous success. Heplaced the timeframe for the suddenchange in the rules of the universesomewhere between 1863 and 1868. Lotsof unusual things were going on overthose years, so he couldn’t quite naildown an exact date.

Nonetheless, he became convincedthat hucksters and mad scientists werejust two different approaches to thesame processes, but, becausepractitioners of either discipline tendedto ignore the other, neither realized it.You see, Sitgreaves had a leg up mostothers didn’t—he was familiar with bothHoyle’s hexes and the “inspired” geniusof mad science.

R. Percy Sitgreaves had mastered thesecret of Hoyle’s tome early on andeven dabbled a bit in mad sciencehimself. However, he tended toapproach mad science in a fashionunlike his peers, since he suspectedthe “muses” guiding the scientists’hands were actually manitous. He alsorealized that not only did other madscientists seem unaware of this, butthe majority would not accept this asfact.

Perhaps the inventors did notactually peer into the Hunting Groundsas hucksters did, or the manitouswarped their perceptions so that whatthey saw was a reflection of thephysical world. After all, if human

The Demon’s EyeThe Demon’s EyeThe Demon’s EyeThe Demon’s EyeThe Demon’s Eye

Hand Cards RevealedAce 1Pair 2Jacks 3Three of a Kind 4Straight 6Flush 8Full House 10Four of a Kind All

hucksters could alter their perceptionof the Hunting Grounds to see that of apoker game, it only followed that themanitous, who were far moreexperienced, could warp theirappearance to fool an unpreparedvisitor.

Either way, since the scientists hadno empirical evidence of Sitgreaves’claims, they would be very unlikely toaccept them as anything but theravings of a lunatic. Rather than makehimself a target for public ridicule, hekept his ideas to himself.

He also suspected the few who didoccasionally catch some glimpse of thesource of their power often went insane.The “laws” of the world their scientificminds rely on are shattered. Their mindssimply couldn’t handle the fact that theworld as they know it is a sham.

Some became afraid of the dark,others spouted utter nonsense becausedelusions of pink elephants are easierto believe than a demon whispering theplans to your last invention in yourmind’s ear. This is why, he theorized, somany of the best inventors are slowlygoing insane.

The Manitous’ PurposeThe revelation frightened Sitgreaves

in its implications. He’d gone head-to-head with manitous enough to knowthey were not likely to be passing alongplans and designs out of the goodnessof their hearts.

He knew the manitous are evil, sothe only logical reason he couldconceive for their assistance was tohurry humankind toward a horribleconclusion. Perhaps, he supposed, themanitous were handing humanity themeans to destroy itself in the gadgetsof mad science.

The number of new and devastatingweapons coming out of the laboratoriesof the “mad” scientists seemed to bearout his theory. Especially when oneconsidered the few advancements inhealing or devices built to helphumanity compared to the numbers ofhorrible new weapons designed toincinerate, crush, spindle, andotherwise mutilate that rolled out everymonth from laboratories across theWest.

Smith & RobardsSitgreaves is certainly the man to

make these assumptions. Not only washe once an employee of Smith &Robards, but he’d been a tinkerer andinventor all his life. He stumbled ontoHoyle’s secrets while traveling abroad,but it was little more than aninteresting hobby of his until 1863when all Hell opened up.

After that, he began honing his skillsas a huckster, suspecting he would oneday need them to fight against the evilshe had glimpsed time and again in theHunting Grounds.

Then, in 1871, he found himself in SaltLake City, and was fascinated by thestories of Hellstromme and Smith &Robards. Possessing an active mind, skillwith his hands, and a fresh outlook on“inventing,” Sitgreaves was offered a jobas a researcher. This was before asaboteur blew up one of the company’smain labs, and it was much easier to geton staff.

34 Posse

He watched his co-researchers withinterest because he could never quiteseem to equal their abilities. He hadgrown too fond of his abilities as ahuckster, and the long, tedious processof invention no longer suited him.

When a month had passed and hehad nothing to show, his employer gavehim a week to prove himself or befired. In desperation, he turned to theHunting Grounds. The manitous wereall too eager to help.

The very next day, he presented Mr.Robards with the electrostatic gun. Yes,that one was his.

At first he was elated; then, hebecame afraid. Over the next fewmonths he watched his fellow inventorscarefully. With the careful application ofhis hexes, he learned the awful truth.

Manitous swarmed about thecomplex. His companions were drawingtheir ideas from the Hunting Groundsas well.

ThaumaturgicalDiffusion

After that discovery, he turned tocrossing his skills in invention with thesecret arts of Hoyle. At first he focusedon the design process itself. He foundmagical ways to make the manitousreveal the process by which anotherinventor’s device had been made. Healso found ways of making themanitous help him in his work, thusthe devil’s workshop.

Over the last two years, heconcentrated on hexes that conjure rawmaterial and assemble them into usefuldevices. He called this summoning andassembling of materials “thaumaturgicaldiffusion,” as it uses the power of theHunting Grounds to accelerate thenatural (or in this case, unnatural)tendency for matter to move from anarea of higher concentration to one oflower concentration. So, under thisprinciple, since there is less of aconcentration of gunpowder and metal

in his hand than in certain other places,he is able to use a little magicalprodding to create a grenade.

To date, he has never been able toconjure ghost rock. This is the oneelement the manitous can’t seem tocreate from “thin air.”

The GorgonSitgreaves might have kept his

discoveries secret had he not realizedhe was being stalked by a horror fromthe Hunting Grounds. Although he has,as yet, only caught glimpses of thebeast, he’s named it a gorgon becauseit seems to be exactly that—a metallic-scaled, yellow-eyed bull straight fromthe Pits of Hell.

He has no idea why the gorgonhasn’t killed him yet—or even why it’shunting him in particular. Hesuspects it is waiting forhim to have some furtherrevelation or unearth ahidden secret his researchis speeding towards. Andwhen the abomination does,he fears it may strike before he canspread the word to others.

To ensure what he has discoveredcontinues, he’s taken two steps. Thefirst is to devise several new offensiveand defensive hexes with which toprotect himself. He’s afraid theubiquitous soul blast might not workon the gorgon, and created several newspells of a more physical nature.

His second safeguard is hiddenwithin the pages of the Smith &Robards catalogs. He may not stop allthe mad scientists from racing theworld toward oblivion himself, so thosehuckters who decipher his hiddenmessage will continue the researchhe’s begun and find a way to thwartthe inevitable.

Infinity PressOf course, he doesn’t want this

information shared with the public atlarge. In the course of his research onthe topic, he’s uncovered evidence thatindicates public hysteria only makes theinfluence of the manitous stronger. Tothat end, he purchased a printing press,founded a small printing firm named

126

Hucksters 35Infinity Press, and secured the contractto print the 1876 Smith & Robards’Catalog from his former employers.

Hidden within the catalog is not onlythe story you’ve just read, but also thehexes Sitgreaves has perfected using hisrather unique approach. He found thestructure of a catalog to be particularlyreceptive to encoding arcane formulaeand has had great success with it. To theuninitiated, nothing appears out of order;even those wise to Hoyle’s original textoften overlook the secrets of the catalog.

Nonetheless, word is slowly gettingaround among hucksters in the WeirdWest that there’s more to be had fromthe latest Smith & Robards than thenewest fashion in bulletproof vests...

When Magic &Science Meet

What makes Sitgreaves so specialthat he’s figured out something fewothers even suspect? The biggestreason is he’s not only a huckster, buthe’s also a mad scientist as well! Hehas both arcane background: hucksterand arcane background: mad scientist.

You’re probably wondering right nowif your character can do the samething. Sure she can!

If you’re making a character fromscratch, simply purchase both arcanebackground: huckster & arcanebackground: mad scientist. Spend yourskill points wisely, because you won’thave many to go around.

If you want your existing characterto pick up a new arcane background,she can do it as detailed in the WeirdWest Player’s Guide. If she already hasone of the Edges, it should probablytake about six months of game time todevelop the other. Speed things up tothree months if there’s a teacheravailable.

A character with neither arcanebackground Edge doubles those times,must have a teacher, and must havethe minimum levels in the requiredAptitudes for each: academia: occult andhexslingin’ for hucksters or mad scienceand science for mad scientists.

Sitgreaves’ hexes doesn’t require ahuckster to be a mad scientist. Many of

them turned out to be great offensiveand defensive spells that have nothingto do with building or inventing devices.When Sitgreaves created the grenadehex, for example, a huckster friend ofhis proved how potent it was against apack of young rattlers that hadcornered him.

Some of Sitgreaves’ other spells areuseful only if your character or one ofher companions is a mad scientist. Justtreat those hexes like any others, and ifyour hero is a mad scientist as well,pay particular attention to those thatincrease or augment his abilities—youmay find they’re among the mostpowerful, though perhaps in a far moresubtle and long-term way.

Finding the HexesAny huckster studying the catalog

with the intent to find a specific hexhas to make a Hard (9) academia: occultroll to find the complete formula. Thesame applies to hucksters trying to findthe new pseudo-scientific tricks as well.Of course, to look for either, thehuckster has know they’re there in thefirst place.

There are two ways for this tohappen. First, someone in the know canpass the information along. The secondis for the huckster to stumble acrossthe formulae himself.

Any character with the Edge arcanebackground: huckster simply perusing acopy of one of Infinity Press’ catalogsmay notice snippets of the formulae. Ifhe rolls a successful academia: occultcheck—based on Cognition instead ofKnowledge—against a Hard (9) TN, hecatches enough of a glimpse of thecodes to realize there’s more to thebook than first meets the eye.

After that, he must spend a numberof days equal to 15 minus his Smartsdie type deciphering the codes andreading the text. Once he’s finished, hecan find individual hexes and tricks asdescribed above.

36 Posse

The GoodsNow that you know a little about the

history of the secrets of Infinity Press,it’s time to reveal the actual arcaneformulae themselves.

Most of the hexes’ effects are ratherdistinctive and have a “technological”air about them—if a rusty piece ofmetal whizzing through the air atlethal speeds is technological. Anyhuckster seeing one of these in actioncan make a Fair (5) academia: occult rollto realize she’s just seen a hex evenHoyle never dreamed of in action.

The TricksWe’ve already covered the details on

casting tricks and their descriptionsearlier, so let’s go right to the realreason you’re here.

BraceTrait: SpiritDuration: ConcentrationRange: Touch

Sitgreaves developed the brace trickto help himself when building largergizmos or constructs by himself. Thistrick gives the caster a phantasmal“third hand.” She channels a smallamount of spectral energy to hold anobject in place or to brace a structure.

The object or structure supportedmust be one the caster could handleherself, and she has to actually holdthe object in place while casting thetrick. After that, she can move up tothree yards away from the braced objectand still maintain the trick.

A cowpoke trying to move a braceditem must overcome the brace in acontest of Strength. The trick’s Strengthis equal to the caster’s. In addition, ifthis trick is used to support, say, aceiling that was collapsing (assumingthe huckster was strong enough toactually hold it up!), it would buttressthe ceiling with the caster’s Strength.No more, no less.

This trick doesn’t work on liveorganic material. No bracing people,compadre. Your hero could, however,brace a fellow’s boot to the floor—if shecould get a hold of it long enough toperform the trick, that is!

DebugTrait: KnowledgeDuration: Next use or 1 hourRange: Touch

There are times when a mad scientistreally needs a device to work correctly.With his debug trick, Sitgreavesdeveloped a method to give a device amagical “once-over,” ensuring that thegizmo has a bit less of a chance offalling apart or exploding the next time itis used. The huckster needs about fiveminutes to tinker with the device,tightening a screws, oiling a joint, etc.

Once he’s finished, the device’sReliability is increased by +2 the nexttime it is used. This bonus applies onlyon the next use. If the device isn’t usedwithin an hour following the casting ofdebug, the benefit is lost as well.

A gizmo can gain the benefit of onlya single debug trick at a time. Furtherimprovement of the device’s Reliabilityrequires either redesign or a morepowerful hex.

StabilizeTrait: SmartsDuration: ConcentrationRange: 1 yard

Volatile chemicals and explosivesubstances are pretty common tools ofthe average mad scientist. Sitgreavesdeveloped stabilize to add a modicum ofsafety to his work environment.

This trick allows your huckster tostabilize any one flammable orexplosive substance within three feet ofhim. The amount affected is equal to asingle cubic foot; mad scientists whoinsist on working with larger amountsof dangerous compounds at any onetime deserve what they get!

Any substance your huckster targetswith stabilize has its damage die typelowered by a single step. For example, astick of dynamite stabilized has itsdamage die type lowered from d20 tod12.

Hucksters 37This can also lower the damage die

of any fire—except ghost rock, which isoddly resistant to the trick.

The effect lasts only as long as thehuckster is actively concentrating onthe substance in question and remainswithin range of it.

ToolTrait: KnowledgeDuration: 1 minute/hexslingin’ levelRange: Touch

The tool trick allows a huckster tocreate a tool from some raw material. Acasting of this trick creates a single,non-steam powered, hand tool.

Common tools created by the trickare hammers, screwdrivers, awls, andthe like. The trick doesn’t create the toolfrom thin air, however; it needs rawmaterial to work with. For instance, arock could be transformed into ahammer, a jagged piece of metal couldbecome a saw, and a stick could beturned into a awl.

The tool can weigh up to one poundfor every level of the caster’s hexslingin’Aptitude.

The HexesAs with tricks, we’ve already given

you the lowdown on what all theentries under each description mean,so let’s just get to the hexes themselves.

AnalyzeTrait: CognitionHand: AceSpeed: SpecialDuration: SpecialRange: 1 elixir

Sitgreaves dabbled in alchemy whileat Smith & Robards. One of the mostaggravating problems he faced wasfiguring out what someone else’sformulae was made of. If he couldcome up with a spell to do the work forhim, he could come up with new elixirsin half the time. Analyze finally gaveSitgreaves the break he needed.

This hex automatically reveals thecomponents of an alchemical formula(or an ordinary chemical formula if amore mundane use is ever needed). Thehand needed to understand the formula

is 2 ranks lower than would normally beneeded to invent the device to aminimum of an Ace (use the Elixirstable in the Smith & Robardssourcebook).

The time it takes to glean the theoryis equal to 5 minutes times the rank ofthe original hand needed for the gizmo..

The huckster must be able toperform some basic chemistry tests tocast this spell. That means he needs afew beakers, test tubes, and powders.He doesn’t really need an entire lab—the process is magical after all, but ittakes a bit of swirling, bubbling, anddistilling to help the mind understandwhat the manitous are telling it.

If the huckster is a mad scientist andthe spell is successful, he may nowbrew this elixir himself. If he is not amad scientist, he can relate his formulato someone who is, within a number ofhours equal to his Smarts die type.After that, the formula fades from hismind and the knowledge is lost.

Once related, a mad scientist muststill make an Incredible (11) Smarts rollto understand the process and makeuse of it. The listener may only makethis check once. If he wishes to tryagain, the huckster must cast analyzeagain for a “fresh perspective.”

BarricadeTrait: KnowledgeHand: JacksSpeed: 2Duration: 1 minute/hexslingin' levelRange: 5 yards/hexslingin' level

Using the principles of thaumaturgicaldiffusion, barricade conjures up atemporary wall of metal shards andother junk for your huckster, and herpardners to hide behind.

The wall stands only 3’ high and is 3’long for every level your hero has inhexslingin’. Barricade provides Armorlevels against ranged attacks for any hitlocation covered by it (see the combatsection in the Weird West Player’s Guide).It gives no protection against melee

38 Posse

attacks whatsoever; the attacker canjust reach over it to wallop yourcardslinger, although if she casts itbetween them, it might slow him downif he has to clamber over the mass ofmetal to get to her!

Like most creations of Sitgreaves’“thaumaturgical diffusion,” the materialsummoned by the barrier hex does notremain after the duration of the hex. Itseems to almost instantly corrode andcrumble to dust. In moments, even thedust dissipates, leaving nothing behind.

The exact toughness of the wall—inother words how good it is at savingyour metal mage’s hide—depends on thehand she pulls when casting the hex.

Blast FurnaceTrait: SpiritHand: AceSpeed: 2Duration: ConcentrationRange: 10 yards/hexslingin' level

Technology, weird or otherwise, reliesheavily on metalworking. Just becausean inventor can’t afford a full smeltingoperation doesn’t mean she doesn’tneed one. This hex provides a hucksterwith a pocket-sized forge no largerthan her deck of cards.

Blast furnace causes metal items toheat up and eventually melt. Thehuckster can affect a single metal itemof up to 10 pounds per level of herhexslingin’ Aptitude.

The strength of the hex’s energydepends on the huckster’s hand. Thehex begins to heat the metal

immediately, although it doesn’t usuallyreach full potency for a few rounds.Whatever the power of the blastfurnace, the energy begins at the levelgenerated by the lowest hand (a singleAce) and increases one level up thetable per round until it has reached thelevel indicated by the huckster’s hand.

Metals melt after the necessary levelof energy has been maintained for 2rounds per level of the minimum handnecessary to affect it. For example, ittakes 4 rounds for the energy to reachthe level necessary to affect aluminum,and then another 8 to actually melt it.Steel, on the other hand, takes 18rounds, and tungsten a whopping 20!

The hex has no direct effect onnonmetal items or creatures; however,either of these may suffer damage ifthey are in contact with an itemaffected by this hex. Most energy fromthe hex stays within the metal itself,but some does leak out as heat. Thisleakage is nowhere near the level ofenergy affecting the target item, but itis high enough to cause severe damageto less resilient substances—like humanflesh!

Any character touching an objectaffected by blast furnace takes damageat the beginning of each round to thehit location(s) in contact with it. Sincethe hex takes a moment to reachdamaging levels, usually only cowpokesintent on injury—or a bit short in thesmarts department—suffer from this.

However, touching an item after it’shad time to heat up does do the listeddamage to the body part contacting it.

Even if the hex is insufficient to meltthe item, it does still heat the metal,and anyone or thing touching it takesthe damage indicated by the huckster’sdraw hand. Flammable items may catchfire as well.

Once the hex ends, the metal, meltedor not, immediately cools to roomtemperature. Any fires or other damageresulting from the metal’s heatcontinue until dealt with normally.

Curiously, ghost steel doesn’t evenget warm unless the huckster draws aDead Man’s Hand (2 black Aces, 2 blackEights, and the Jack of Diamonds). Ifthis happens, the ghost steel actuallyspontaneously combusts causing 3d6damage to anyone touching it.

Hand Armor LevelJacks Light (-4)Two Pairs 1Three of a Kind 2Straight 3Flush 4

BarricadeBarricadeBarricadeBarricadeBarricade

Bullet ProofTrait: SmartsHand: PairSpeed: 2Duration: 5 rounds/hexslingin' levelRange: 10 yards

Sitgreaves was intrigued by Dr. Gash’saugmentation process. His first attemptto mimic some of Gash’s enhancementsproduced an ugly but useful effect—abullet-proof vest that “grew” from thesubject’s own skin.

This hex causes rusted, scalelikemetal growths to form on the subject’sskin. If the hex is cast successfully, thesubject gains 1 level of armor. For everyhand over the minimum, the armorprotection increases by an additionallevel to a maximum of 5 levels.

These scales provide protectionagainst most forms of damage, but alsoimpair the subject’s ability to movefreely. Every level of armor gained bythis hex reduces the subjectsNimbleness Trait by 1 die type, to aminimum of d4.

The hex always produces the fullamount of armor indicated by thehuckster’s hand. The caster can’tchoose a lesser effect for the hex.

Bullet proof characters have adisturbing and distinctly unnaturalappearance. As a result of the visualeffects, all persuasion rolls made whileunder the effects of this hex receive a -5modifier. Conversely, the bizarre

appearance is rather intimidating, andthe subject gains a +2 modifier tooverawe attempts.

Bullet-StopperTrait: SpiritHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 1 Wind/roundRange: 10 yards/hexslingin’ level

Some folks were just born unluckyand some folks get that way with a littlehelp. This hex is one of the ways to getsomeone on the bad side of Lady Luck.

Any cowpoke standing too close to atarget in a gunfight has a 1 in 6 chanceof catching a stray round meant for theother fellow. If your cardslinger gets atleast an Ace on her draw hand to castbullet-stopper, she ups that chance to 2in 6.

If, for some reason, the odds of thepoor sap getting hit by a misplacedbullet are already higher than normal,the hex increases them by one.

Hand Metal DamageAce None 1d6Pair Lead 2d6Two Pairs Zinc 3d6Three of

a Kind Aluminum 4d6Straight Silver 5d8Flush Gold/Copper 6d8Full House Nickel 7d10Four of

a Kind Iron 8d10Straight

Flush Steel 9d12Royal

Flush Tungsten 10d12+2

Blast FurnaceBlast FurnaceBlast FurnaceBlast FurnaceBlast Furnace

40 Posse

She also increases the distance atwhich her target is likely to catch astray shot, detailed on the table below.

Note this spell doesn’t do a thing forshots aimed at the cowpoke in the firstplace; it only increases the chances for abullet that missed other targets to hithim. In a heated gunfight, the targetisn’t likely to walk away unscathed—especially if the participants are poorshots to begin with!

Caustic GlopTrait: SmartsHand: PairSpeed: 2Duration: SpecialRange: 5 yards/hexslingin’ level

Working so close to the toxic goopthat is the City o’ Gloom’s Sludge Creek,it’s really no surprise that Sitgreaveseventually turned his efforts to a morechemically-based hex. As with many ofhis first hexes, this one is decidedlyoffensive in nature—but, with a monsterfrom the pits of Hell hunting the man,who can honestly blame him?

Caustic glop produces, well, prettymuch exactly what its name says.When cast, a fist-sized blob of acidicgoo flies from the huckster’s hand tohis target. As with soul blast, thehuckster has to not only cast the spell,but also hit the target with it.

Use the same hexslingin’ roll todetermine both the hex’s success and ifit hits. The glop requires a Fair (5) TN,but receives no range modifiers. The TNto hit is affected by factors such ascover, called shots, lighting, and so on.

The hex does the damage listedwhen the glop strikes its target, but itcontinues to burn the target at thebeginning of each following round.Each round, drop the damage die typedrops a level and it does damage again.Once the die type falls below d4, thegoo does no further damage, althoughit does leave a nasty stain on clothingor walls. That means on the minimumhand (a Pair) the hex does no furtherdamage after the initial hit.

Unlike soul blast, this hex’s effect isaffected by inanimate objects, so if thetarget’s wearing armor or behind cover,she might escape damage. On the otherhand, caustic glop does damage toinanimate objects as well.

Caustic glop can burn through armorin this fashion, lowering its protectionpermanently in that hit location. Theinitial round has no permanent effecton Armor levels, but each roundfollowing, provided the glop is doing atleast d6 damage or better on thatround, the target’s armor is lowered bya level permanently as the acid scoresit. In other words, the minimum hand todo lasting damage to armor this way isThree of a Kind.

DecryptTrait: KnowledgeHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: 1 minute/hexslingin' levelRange: Self

This hex comes in handy forbreaking codes and ciphers. Sitgreavesdeveloped this hex as a result of hiswork on encoding hexes into the Smith& Robards catalog.

Hand Bonus DistanceAce +1 yardPair +2 yardsTwo Pairs +3 yardsThree of a Kind +4 yardsStraight +5 yards

Bullet-StopperBullet-StopperBullet-StopperBullet-StopperBullet-Stopper

Hand DamagePair 2d4Two Pairs 3d6Three of a Kind 3d8Straight 4d8Flush 5d8Full House 5d10Four of a Kind 6d10Straight Flush 7d10Royal Flush 8d12

Caustic GlopCaustic GlopCaustic GlopCaustic GlopCaustic Glop

Hucksters 41Decrypt pulls coded and/or hidden

messages out of texts, or rather itgreatly assists a huckster in doing so.This hex gives a cardslinger a +5 bonusto his professional: cryptology rollswhile it lasts. Each hand above a Pairgives him an additional +2. The hexworks just fine if your hero is using itto boost her default in this Aptitude.

Decrypt does provide its bonus tobreaking a message hidden by the hexsteganogram. However, obviously yourhuckster has to know there’ssomething concealed in a message inthe first place! After all, it’s prettymuch impossible to look for somethingif you don’t know it’s there.

Rumor has it this hex was developedeither by the Union’s top-secret service,the Agency to monitor the Confederacyor by the group’s foes to break its ownsecret messages.

DementiaTrait: MienHand: PairSpeed: 2Duration: 1 minute/hexslingin' levelRange: 5 yards/hexslingin’ level

Few folks understand the humanmind as well as a mad scientist—atleast the failings of the human mind,anyway. Sitgreaves has studied madscience and the entities responsible forits students’ seemingly inevitableinsanity.

The result is a hex that lets thecaster simulate a mad scientist’s“madness” for a short while. Notsurprisingly, given the manitous’ nature,this was a particularly simple hex forSitgreaves to develop!

Dementia saddles the subject withthe effects of a short-term mentalillness. The exact type of madness andits effects depend on the huckster’shand and are depicted on the tablefollowing this description.

The caster may suggest possibleeffects for a result of delusion orphobia, but it’s the Marshal’s decisionas to the exact consequences of thoseoutcomes. He’s encouraged, however, todraw on the circumstances at hand toshape any delusions or phobias thesubject may suffer while under theeffects of the hex.

Hand HindrancePair Mild delusion:

Subject believes somebasically harmless, butbizarre, idea, like horsescan perform higher math problems, or dirt is anutritious food additive.

Jacks Absent minded:Subject must make aFair(5) Smarts check toremember importantfacts—such aswhat she isdoing.

Two Minor phobia:Pairs Subject gains a fear

ofsomething nearby. He is -2 to all actions involving the item/creature.

Three Paranoia:of a Subject has an unnaturalKind distrust of everyone else.

She will allow no one,even trusted friends,nearer than 5 feet.

Straight Major Phobia:Subject gains anoverpowering fear ofsomething nearby. He is -4 to all actions involvingthe item/creature andmust make a Hard (9)guts check to directlyaffect the source of fear.

Flush Delusion:Subject gains adangerously falsemisconception.Possibilities include “I canfly,” sulfuric acid is agood after-dinnercocktail, or that it’s aknown fact that asurefire way to calm aravening werewolf is toscratch its ears.

DementiaDementiaDementiaDementiaDementia

42 Posse

Devil’s WorkshopTrait: SmartsHand: PairSpeed: 1 hourDuration: SpecialRange: 1 yard

It’s not enough to simply have an ideafor some outlandish device—somebody’sgot to build it! Sitgreaves is a lazyinventor, so this was one of the firstspells he created when he worked atSmith & Robards. This hex providessome supernatural help around theworkshop by making the tinkerer faster,more efficient, and “insanely inspired.”

The huckster can cast this hex onherself or any other character witharcane background: mad scientist. Thehand drawn reduces the constructiontime as shown on the table below.

This hex must be cast on a tinkererwhen he first begins construction of aproject. It is “permanent” thereafter,until the item is built or dismantled.

GrenadeTrait: KnowledgeHand: PairSpeed: 2Duration: InstantRange: Self

There are few problems in life thatcan’t be solved with a big enoughexplosion. Grenade proved this whenone of Sitgreaves’ associates tried itagainst a pack of young rattlers. Hehimself hopes it will do the job whenthe gorgon finally comes for him.

This hex does just what you probablythink it does: summon up a metal shellfilled with explosives. It detonates onimpact with any surface, even if it’sdropped. This isn’t a hex forbutterfingered hucksters!

The huckster can throw the grenadejust like dynamite. It has a burst radiusof 5, and causes damage as shown onthe table below. And, again just likedynamite, this hex causes massivedamage which means it loses a step inits damage dice with each rangeincrement and its damage is spreadrandomly over a victim’s body. Thedetails for all of these effects can befound in the Weird West Player’s Guide inthe Blowin’ Things All to Hell chapter.

HaywireTrait: SmartsHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: 1 minute/hexslingin' levelRange: 20 yards/hexslingin' level

One of the problems with weirdgizmos is that your enemies can makethem too. Haywire hurries along thatinevitable malfunction to make sureyour gizmo wins the day and the otherguy’s blows up in his face. Sitgreaveshas run afoul of Hellstromme’s goonsmore than once, and his protection isthis handy spell.

The hex affects a single gizmo withinrange chosen by the huckster. Haywireaffects any type of gizmo, from acidguns to flapjack machines to mazerunners. It has absolutely no effect,however, against normal devices.

Hand Time ReductionPair 10%Two Pairs 20%Three of a Kind 30%Straight 40%Full House 50%Four of a Kind 60%Royal Flush 75%

Devil’s WDevil’s WDevil’s WDevil’s WDevil’s Workshoporkshoporkshoporkshoporkshop

Hand DamagePair 1d6 Wind (total)Jacks 2d4Two Pairs 2d6Three of a Kind 3d8Straight 4d8Flush 4d10Full House 5d10Four of a Kind 6d10Straight Flush 7d12Royal Flush 7d20

GrenadeGrenadeGrenadeGrenadeGrenade

Hucksters 43If the hex is used against a

complicated device made up of morethan a single component gizmo, suchas a submersible boat or an aircarriage, your huckster must chooseone of the component devices for thehex. He can’t affect the entire system ofgizmos with a single haywire.

A gizmo affected by this device actslike it’s been ambushed by a wholeposse of gremlins. Haywire can causethe device all manner of trouble—ranging from a simple malfunctioncheck all the way up to a CatastrophicMalfunction. The exact effect dependson the huckster’s hand.

This hex has no effect on alchemicalelixirs or tonics.

Infernal MachineTrait: SmartsHand: Two PairsSpeed: 1 minuteDuration: 1d4 Wind/roundRange: Touch

Sometimes a hero needs a weirdgizmo in a hurry. If a horde of prairieticks are descending on you, a quicklyconjured flamethrower might be justthe infernal device you need to saveyour soul.

Infernal machine lets the caster takea bunch of junk and turn it into amarvel of mad science. The huckstermust have roughly the same amount ofscrap metal, wood, and other basiccomponents of the device in questionwithin reach.

Your huckster must describe thedevice and its difficulty before castinginfernal machine; no waiting until yousee how good a hand he drew todecide!

On casting the spell, he “works” withthe materials for a minute, and, ifsuccessful, has the device he sodesperately needs in hand. The cost ishigh, though: It takes 1d4 Wind per roundto keep the device from falling apart.(Don’t reroll any Aces when checking forthis hex’s Wind requirement.)

This hex has no effect on existinggizmos. Also, the huckster gains noknowledge of what might be required tobuild the infernal machine for real later.

The device created by infernalmachine isn’t perfect. The gizmo has areliability of 10 plus your huckster’shexslingin’ Aptitude level. For every handabove that needed to create the device, itgains an additional +1. No matter howmany bonuses the device has, itsreliability is never greater than 18.

Hand EffectPair Reliability Check

(+2 to the roll)Jacks Reliability Check

(+4 to the roll)Two Pairs Minor MalfunctionThree of

a Kind Major MalfunctionFlush Catastrophe!

HaywireHaywireHaywireHaywireHaywire

One last note: The manitous whogrant this power do not provide“mundane” devices to the huckster.Infernal machine can’t be used tosummon up a simple pistol, forexample. It can only conjure up weirdgizmos.

It’s almost as if they want thesedangerous and unpredictable devicesfalling into the huckster’s hands—whichbears out Sitgreaves’ suspicions nicely.

Jerry-RigTrait: SmartsHand: PairSpeed: 2Duration: 1 minute/hexslingin' levelRange: Touch

One thing about machines that’salmost a universal truth is they all breakdown at some point. Few things are asdisappointing as having a gizmo failwhen your cowpoke’s life depends on in.

This hex allows your huckster toquickly, but temporarily fix a gizmo. Italso works on normal devices andequipment as well, but the effects onthose are just as brief.

There are two ways to employ jerry-rig to repair damaged equipment. Inboth cases, the repair only lasts a shortwhile—but if the posse needs themachine working right away, oftenthat’s long enough! They can worryabout long-term fixes if the heroes canpull their fat out of the fire!

The first method repairs structuraldamage for a short time. The hex canreplace lost Durability points to a singledevice or item. Jerry-rig even patchesdamage to structures like walls andbuildings, but in this case, the hex onlyaffects a 2’ x 2’ section at a time. Thetotal number of Durability pointsgained is based on the huckster’s hand.

The second method repairsfunctional damage to any device. Usedin this fashion, jerry-rig raises theReliability of any gizmo or device that’sbeen lowered due to damage or even amagical effect like the hex rust or theHarrowed power devil’s touch. Theamount of improvement in Reliabilitydepends on the huckster’s hand.

Jerry-rig won’t improve themechanism beyond its originalDurability or Reliability—it only repairsdamage done to it. Also, at the end ofthe hex, the item returns to itsdamaged state, so the posse had betterhave a mechanic nearby!

The exact effects of the hex arelisted on the following table. Remember,only one of the effects can be choseneach time the hex is cast, although thehex may be cast on any given item asoften as the huckster wants.

Jerry-rig has no effect on gizmos orequipment that have not suffereddamage or otherwise had theirReliability or Durability reduced belowthe starting levels. In other words, yourhero can’t use it to beef up faulty

Infernal MachineInfernal MachineInfernal MachineInfernal MachineInfernal MachineHand Description ItemTwo Pairs Slight (10%) improvement on Armor piercing ammo, 10% longer

existing technology range rifle, shooting knifeThree of a Kind Major (25%) improvement on Air catcher, silencer glove, 2

existing technology 5% faster locomotive, leverage bow

Straight Relatively simple, but new use Chain saw, rocket boots,of technology flamethrower

Full House New use of cutting edge technology Sound telegraph, steam wagon, electrostatic gun

Four of a Kind Entirely new but “realistic” technology Rocket pack, auto-gyro,submersible boat

Straight Flush New technology that flaunts Heat or freeze raythe laws of science

Royal Flush New technology that alters Mind control raythe laws of science

Hucksters 45engineering or to make “cheap” goodsmore reliable. He should invest a littlemore time or money to correct those.

Mad InsightTrait: SpiritHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: InstantRange: 1 yard

This is the hex that started it all.Sitgreaves actually stumbled onto itaccidentally, then later came back andrefined the process. This hex works likea beacon to draw manitous to the madscientist (or alchemist).

The huckster can target himself orsomeone else with mad insight.

When successfully cast, the hexallows a mad scientist to draw an extracard when devising her blueprint. Foreach hand above the minimum levelneeded to cast the hex, mad insightgrants her an additional card.

The real drawback to this hex is thatif your huckster suffers backlash whilecasting the hex, the manitou is liable toget a swipe in at the scientist workingwith her as well! The huckster takesthe normal effects of the backlash anda “research mishap” occurs as well. TheMarshal should roll on that table inSmith & Robards if he has it. If not, heshould devise some bizarre flaw for thedevice.

MagazineTrait: KnowledgeHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: 1 Wind/RoundRange: 1 weapon within 10 yards

Nothing spoils the fun of a goodshoot-out like running out ofammunition. Sitgreaves’ research hasprovided a near perfect solution to thisdilemma.

This hex affects a single hand-heldweapon. It works on pistols, rifles, andshotguns—including Gatling versions ofthe same. Magazine is ineffective forweapons like full-sized Gatling gunsand cannons of any sort. It also doesn’twork on more exotic weapons likeflamethrowers or acid guns.

While the weapon is under theeffects of the hex, it has an effectivelyinfinite supply of ammunition—the hexcreates a new round for every one fired.Characters should note the shots left inthe weapon at the beginning of thehex. After the hex ends, that’s howmany shots are left in the weapon.

This hex does not increase theweapon’s rate of fire or otherwiseaffect it, except as noted above.

Magic BulletTrait: SmartsHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: 2 rounds/hexslingin’ levelRange: 5 yards

Sitgreaves lives in Junkyard wherecrime is rampant. He carries a gunwhen he goes out late at night, butknows he isn’t a gunslinger.Fortunately for him, he doesn’t have tobe quick as long as he’s got a magicbullet.

Magic bullet turns one ordinary pistolor rifle round (no other type of shell)into, well, a “magic bullet.” Assumingthe bullet hits its first target, it bouncesout of the first victim and flies toward

Hand Reliability DurabilityRepair Repair

Pair 1 5Jacks 2 10Two Pairs 3 15Three of

a Kind 4 25Straight 6 35Flush 8 45Full House 10 55Four of

a Kind 12 70Straight

Flush 15 85Royal

Flush 20 100

Jerry-RigJerry-RigJerry-RigJerry-RigJerry-Rig

another target. If it hits that victim, itmight go on to hit a third, and so on upto a number of victims determined bythe spell, shown on the following table.

Figure the shot as fired from the lastvictim to the other. The rangeincrement is 5 regardless of whether itwas fired from a pistol or a rifle, andinstead of rolling another shootin’ roll,use your huckster’s hexslingin’ (basedon Smarts) to see if the bullet hits.

Regardless of the hand drawn, themagic bullet stops when it misses avictim.

MagnetizeTrait: SpiritHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 1 round/hexslingin' levelRange: 10 yards/hexslingin' level

Much like the name implies, this hexmagnetizes a metal item. Since justabout every technological device fromArmy revolvers to mechanical mules arebuilt at least in part with metal, if yourhuckster has this hex she can findendless potential for mischief.

The target item can weigh no morethan 25 lbs per level of the hex. Othermetal items stick to the target andrequire a cowpoke to make a Strengthroll to pull them loose or even just resisthaving them pulled from his grasp.

The TN for the roll is based on thehuckster’s hand. The TN starts atFoolproof (3) with an Ace (theminimum) and increases one level ofdifficulty for every hand above that,including Jacks.

The target item draws any othermetal objects to itself, provided theyweigh less. If they weigh more thanthe magnetized item, it is pulled tothem instead. The magnetism attractsany metal objects within a number offeet equal to the TN for the Strengthroll. So, an item that takes a Foolproof(3) Strength roll to pull loose affectsmetal objects within 3 feet of itself.

The magnetism persists for theduration of the hex and additionalStrength rolls should be made eachround if any other metal objects arewithin the range of attraction.

Power LeakTrait: SmartsHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 2 rounds/hexslingin' levelRange: 5 yards/hexslingin' level

Gizmos come in all shapes and sizes.They do everything from let a manwalk on the bottom of the ocean or flyaround the clouds. But, no matter howdiverse they may seem, most of themhave one thing in common—a powersource of some kind or another. Andno matter how fancy the doodad is,without power it won’t work.

Hand Extra TargetsPair 1Jacks 2Two Pairs 3Three of a Kind 4Flush 5Royal Flush 6

Magic BulletMagic BulletMagic BulletMagic BulletMagic Bullet

Hucksters 47This hex takes advantage of that fact

by siphoning energy from a non-magical power plant. The power sourcecan be as complex as a steam engineor as simple as a wind-up spring. Evenboilers fueled by ghost rock areconsidered non-magical for thepurposes of this hex.

Only items which are powered solelyby the effects of magic, such as relicsor other hexes, are unaffected by powerleak.

When successfully cast, power leakbegins to drain energy from the powersource and weakens the effectivenessof any device relying on it. The baseeffect of the hex lowers the device(s)effectiveness by 10%, and each handincrease (Jacks included) lowers this byanother 10%.

The energy drained by the hex isdispersed harmlessly into thesurrounding area. A really powerfulenergy source, like a locomotiveengine, may temporarily raise the airtemperature by a few degrees while it’sbeing drained, but lesser ones aren’teven noticeable.

The exact effect this power loss hasdepends on the device itself.Locomotives affected by power leak losea corresponding amount of speed,whereas a flapjack machine producesfewer flapjacks, and Gatling pistols fireslower. When figuring the effects of thehex, remember the golden rule—rounddown. So, for example, a 20% reductionis necessary to lower the rate of fire ona steam Gatling to 5.

The hex reduces the power ofexplosive devices, like dynamite,flamethrowers, or even bullets—reducing the damage inflicted by theappropriate percentage. In this case,each bullet or stick of dynamite isconsidered a separate power source fortargeting purposes.

The effects of the hex endcompletely when the duration runs out;power plants instantly return to fulloperating capacity.

Purely chemical reactions notfunctioning as a power source, likethose of an elixir or acid, are notaffected by this hex. Likewise, magicaleffects, except the hex power surge, arenot adversely affected by power leak.

Power SurgeTrait: SmartsHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 2 rounds/hexslingin' levelRange: 5 yards/hexslingin' level

Hindering an opponent is all well andgood, but sometimes it’s moreimportant to your hero to improve hisown situation. This hex is the oppositeof power leak. It increases the poweroutput of an energy source.

An Ace increases its energyproduction by 10%, and each additionallevel (including Jacks) adds another 10%to it.

As with power leak, the exact affectdepends on the device. Steam wagonsgain a boost in speed, mechanicalskeletons become more powerful, anddynamite does more damage. See powerleak for more details.

Increasing the power output doeshave a downside. A device affected bypower surge consumes a greateramount of fuel. The increase inconsumption is equal to the bonusproduction. For energy sources thatdon’t consume fuel, like spring loadedGatling pistols, each 10% increase inefficiency reduces its Reliability by -1.

As with power leak, pure chemicalreactions that aren’t serving as powersources, like elixirs and acids, aren’taffected by this hex. Power surge canhelp offset the effects of a power leak,but otherwise magic is unaffected aswell.

Razor CoilsTrait: KnowledgeHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: 1 round/hexslingin' levelRange: 5 yards/hexslingin' level

Ranchers have been using barbedwire for years to keep their herds inline. Binding a human up with thisstuff is just plain cruel. But it’s effective.This is one of the first of the

48 Posse

“thaumaturgical diffusion” hexesSitgreaves invented and its relativelysimple—but nonetheless effective—design shows that.

Razor coils appear as rusted wirewith pointed barbs laced throughout.They materialize around the target andentangle it immediately.

Anyone caught by razor coils canattempt to break free by making aNimbleness roll against a TNdetermined by the huckster’s hand. TheTN starts at Foolproof (3) for theminimum hand (an Ace) and increasesone level for every hand above that,including Jacks.

If successful, the victim can freehimself and act normally on his nextaction. Otherwise, he’s held fast untilhis next action, when he can attemptthe roll again. If the victim goes bust onthe roll, he’s trapped for the duration ofthe hex.

Struggling against the barbed wireisn’t a pleasant prospect. Every action avictim attempts to break free and fails,she suffers Wind equal to the amount bywhich she failed her Nimbleness roll. Ifshe’s successful, however, she still takes1d6 Wind, but she’s loose of the hex.

ReflectTrait: SpiritHand: SpecialSpeed: VamooseDuration: InstantRange: Self

There’s a saying that goes the bestoffense is a good defense...or is that thebest defense is a good offense?Whatever the case, this hex makes anopponent’s magical offense thehuckster’s defense.

This hex causes a jagged piece ofhighly reflective, magically-chargedmetal momentarily appears in the air tothe front of your huckster. Themirrorlike metal substance is intangibleto physical objects—bullets, fists, brokenbottles, and so forth pass through itwithout any effect.

However, the substance has areflective property that affects not onlylight, but also some forms of magic.Hexes, black magic spells, voodoo spells,and Harrowed powers that have atargeted and ranged effect can bedeflected with this hex. Area-of-affectspells or attacks cannot be reflectedunless the caster is foolish enough totarget it directly on the huckster.

Because the hex has an instantduration, the huckster must cast reflectin response to her opponent’s spell. Todo so, she must spend her highestaction card—and a card up her sleeve isconsidered her highest—just like she’staking an active defense, like dodge.

If reflect is successful, the originalcaster suffers the effects of the spell orpower he had intended for your hero.

The opponent’s level in hexslingin’,conjurin’, black magic or the specificHarrowed power determines the handnecessary to successfully reflect theattack. The following table lists thehand necessary for each level.

Reverse EngineerTrait: CognitionHand: AceSpeed: SpecialDuration: SpecialRange: Touch

It’s getting harder and harder for aninventor to come up with an originalidea. With all the mad scientistsrunning around these days, sometimesit seems like just about every good

Hand Opponent’s PowerLevel

Ace 1Pair 2Jacks 3Two Pairs 4Three of a Kind 5Straight 6Flush 7Full House 8Four of a Kind 9Straight Flush 10Royal Flush 11+

ReflectReflectReflectReflectReflect

Hucksters 49gizmo has already been invented. Someless scrupulous inventors have takenadvantage of the brain sweat of other,more creative individuals for their owncreations. Reverse engineer is a godsendfor those folks.

This hex allows your huckster tounderstand the theory behind a weirdgizmo built by someone else. The handneeded to understand the gizmo is 2ranks lower (including Jacks) thanwould normally be needed to invent thedevice (use the mad scientist’s GizmoConstruction Table in the Weird WestPlayer’s Guide). A minimum hand of anAce must be drawn.

It takes your huckster five minutestimes the rank of his draw hand to“get” the theory behind the gizmo.

Your hero must be able to touch andinspect the device to cast this spell. Ifhe is a mad scientist and the spell issuccessful, he may now construct sucha device himself.

If he is not a mad scientist, he canrelate his theory to another madscientist within a number of hoursequal to his Smarts die type. After that,the supernatural imprint of theblueprint fades from his mind and theknowledge is lost.

Once the information is passed on, amad scientist must still make anIncredible (11) Smarts roll to understandthe theory your hero has described andmake use of it. The listener may onlymake this check once. If he wishes totry again, your huckster must castreverse engineer again for a “freshperspective” on the theory.

Ride the RailsTrait: SmartsHand: Three of a kindSpeed: 1 minuteDuration: SpecialRange: Self

Sitgreaves occasionally has to travelto get components for his devices andformulae. This was inconvenient (anddangerous) until he read about a groupof mystics known as druids. Centuriesago, across the Big Pond in England,these folks developed sites of poweralong routes of mystical energy called“ley lines.” Druids would travel alongthese lines from site to site.

The closest Weird West equivalent ofthose are the rail lines crisscrossing thefrontier. Sitgreaves figured he could usethese to transport himself quickly alongthese modern day ley lines.

Ride the rails allows your huckster touse a railroad track as a fast method oftransport—and she doesn’t even have tobuy a ticket. All she has to do is castthe hex while physically touching therails (so it can’t be cast while alreadyon a train).

Next your hero determines whereshe wants to go, and the Marshalfigures out the distance.

A good rule of thumb is to measurethe straight line distance on one of ourmaps (or a more detailed “real” map ifyou have one), and multiply by 1.5 toaccount for all the different spurs,detours, and so on. Finally, look up thedistance on the table below to see howfar a single hand gets you, and howlong it takes to get there.

The huckster remains visible andtangible for the first 50 feet of hertravel as he suddenly races toward herdestination. Then she vanishes in aflash, becoming nothing more thanenergy along the rail line until hereaches his destination.

If the track has been broken ordestroyed—not an uncommonoccurrence with the Rail Wars goingon—the huckster’s trip is abruptlyended. The rough and unexpected stopdeals 3d6 Wind to the hexslinger, andshe winds up on the ground at the siteof the obstruction.

The same happens should she reachthe end of a rail line, even if she knewit was coming! The Marshal might wantto roll randomly to determine if the raillines have been cut somewhere alongthe way. The chance is 2% for each handneeded to reach the chosen distance.

Fortunately, encountering a trainwhile riding the rails has no effect onyour hero. She’s actually melded intothe track itself, so she may get herteeth rattled a little, but nothing else.

50 Posse

Scrap StormTrait: KnowledgeHand: JacksSpeed: 2Duration: Concentration and 1d4

Wind/roundRange: Self

Scrap storm is a good example ofwhat happens when a Texas twistertouches down in the City o’ Gloom.There are a lot of ways to describe theevent, but they all spell bad news!

This hex causes a fierce, supernaturalcyclone to whirl about your huckster,with a 5 yard diameter. A 1 yard diameter“eye” sits around your hero while shemaintains the hex, which is a goodthing, since the rest of the cyclone isfilled with shards of razor-sharp metalflying nearly faster than the eye can see.A cowpoke walking through a scrapstorm usually ends up looking like hewent running through a field of barbedwire wearing a blindfold!

Keeping the unearthly winds blowingand maintaining the sorcerous shrapnelwhizzing within them is very taxing—possible the most tiresome hex yourhuckster can attempt in a combat

situation! Scrap storm requires not onlythat your hero concentrate on the hexto the exclusion of all but simpleactions, but it also costs him 1d4 Windeach round he keeps it in effect!

Just like with a Texas twister hex,any attacks crossing the cyclone suffera -2 penalty and doing anything whilewithin the area of effect requires acharacter to make a Hard (9) Vigor roll—as much to ignore the stinging bite ofthe metal fragments as to work againstthe howling wind.

However, unlike Texas twister, yourcardslinger can’t move the scrap stormaround; because it sits in a deadly circlearound her. She can walk about at halfher normal Pace, though, and the stormmoves with her if she does.

The metal fragments do damage toevery cowpoke who’s within the stormbased on the draw hand the hucksterpulls. The damage from scrap storm isconsidered massive—similar to anexplosion—and may affect more than asingle hit location.

ShardTrait: SpiritHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: InstantRange: 10 yards/hexslingin' level

Soul blast has long been a staple hexfor hucksters. However, the mysticalenergy produced by the hex can only hita single target at a time. If thehexslinger’s outnumbered by his foes,he’d better have a back-up plan!Sitgreaves realized his magic bullet spellwas only useful if he could actually getto his gun, so he invented shard.

Hand DamageJacks 1d4 WindTwo Pairs 2d4Three of a Kind 3d6Straight 4d6Flush 4d8Full House 5d8Four of a Kind 6d8Straight Flush 6d10Royal Flush 7d12

Scrap StormScrap StormScrap StormScrap StormScrap Storm

Hand Distance TimeAce 10 miles 1 minutePair 25 miles 5 minutesJacks 50 miles 10 minutesTwo Pairs 100 miles 20 minutesThree of

a Kind 200 miles 30 minutesStraight 300 miles 40 minutesFlush 400 miles 50 minutesFull House 500 miles 1 hourFour of

a Kind 750 miles 2 hoursStraight

Flush 1000 miles 3 hoursRoyal

Flush 2000 miles 4 hours

Ride the RailsRide the RailsRide the RailsRide the RailsRide the Rails

Hucksters 51Shard makes one or more jagged

metal nails and hurls them at thedesignated targets. The nails last only afew moments, crumbling to rustmoments after they’ve been fired.

The huckster decides how manyprojectiles he wants to create beforecasting the hex. Each dart does the fulldamage indicated by the hand hedraws. He can only create as manynails as he has hexslingin’ levels. Everydart he conjures after the first raisesthe TN to cast the hex by +2. So, tocreate 3 darts with shard, yourhuckster must roll his hexslingin’against a Hard (9).

Just as with soul blast, the huckster’shexslingin’ roll to cast the hex is alsohis roll to hit with the darts. Normally,your cardslinger rolls against a Fair (5)TN. While this isn’t adjusted for range,cover does affect shard. Movement,lighting, wound modifiers, and the likemay also apply.

Your hero can choose to fire darts atmore than one target as well. Eachtarget after the first gives him a -2penalty to his roll to hit.

Finally, he can target specific hitlocations with the darts produced bythis hex. He can even choose differentlocations on each target! These receivethe standard modifiers for called shots.Since each target of a multiple dart hexmay have different modifiers to thehuckster’s roll, it’s very possible someof the darts hit while others miss.

Although the projectiles are createdby magic, the damage dealt by them isnot, so certain abominations may beimmune to the effects of this hex.

ShockerTrait: SpiritHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: 1 minute/hexslingin' levelRange: 5 yards/hexslingin' level

This hex creates a buildup of staticelectricity in a metal item. The effect issimilar to that of an electrostaticweapon. The first creature to touch theitem during the duration of the hexsuffers the effects of the discharge.

Shocker causes Wind loss to thevictim according to your huckster’shand. Also, the sudden burst of energymay startle and even momentarily stunthe subject. The powerful jolt raises theusual stun check to an Ornery (7).

The hex immediately ends when acharacter triggers the discharge.Otherwise the energy dissipates at theend of shocker’s duration harmlessly.

SliversprayTrait: KnowledgeHand: JacksSpeed: 1Duration: InstantRange: 1 yard/hexslingin’ level

When this hex is cast, a spray ofsmall metal splinters flies from yourhuckster’s hand, shredding anyoneunfortunate enough to be in the area.

The splinters created by sliversprayshower a wedge shaped area in frontof your hero out to the hex’s maximum

Hand DamagePair 1d4 WindJacks 2d6Two Pairs 3d6Three of a Kind 4d6Straigh 5d8Flush 6d8Full House 7d8Four of a Kind 8d10Straight Flush 9d10Royal Flush 10d12

ShardShardShardShardShard

Hand WindAce 1d4Pair 2d4Jacks 2d6Two Pairs 3d6Three of a Kind 4d8Flush 5d8Full House 6d10

ShockerShockerShockerShockerShocker

52 Posse

range. The wedge fans out to a widthequal toits length. Thus, a four-yardsliverspray would widen from a widthroughly equal to your character’s palmto a maximum of two yards at itsfarthest point.

Every creature within the spraytakes the full damage indicated by thehuckster’s hand. This damage ismassive damage, just like an explosion:see the Weird West Player’s Guide formore information on massive damage.For this reason, called shots aren’tpossible with sliverspray.

If a rolled hit location is covered byan object or otherwise blocked frombeing hit by the slivers, any damagedealt is simply lost. Armor worksagainst sliverspray normally.

SteganogramTrait: KnowledgeHand: AceSpeed: 2Duration: 5 days/hexslingin' levelRange: Touch

Steganography is the technique ofhiding a message so that no oneoutside of its intended recipients evenknows the message is there.Technically, Hoyle was practicingsteganography when he hid the hexesin his book, not cryptology, since mostreaders don’t have a clue there’s anysecret message there at all. Sitgreavesused the same technique when hiding

these hexes in Smith & Robards’catalog, but before he got the hang ofthe actual skill itself, he developed thishex for passing messages.

When cast, steganogram completelyconceals a message written by yourhuckster so that it appears assomething completely different fromwhat he inscribed. Only the intendedrecipient can see the true messageunder the false script. Your hero mustname the recipient(s) of the message atthe time he casts the hex, althoughthey need not be present. He can nameone recipient for each level of hishexslingin’ Aptitude.

Others see an apparently innocentmissive on butterfly collecting, an aunt’sfavorite recipe, the weather, businessdealings, or whatever else yourcharacter wants the cover story to be.

If a suspicious reader scrutinizes thehex looking for hidden code, she has tomake an Onerous (7) professional:cryptology roll based on her Cognitionto even catch a hint something’s amiss.If she makes it, she only knows there’sa message other than the obvious onehidden in the text. To pull out what thenote really says, she has to make anIncredible (11) professional: cryptologyroll, this time based on Smarts.

Each hand above the minimum yourhuckster gets when castingsteganogram increases the TN by +2This applies to both the roll to spot themessage as well as the one to actuallydecipher it once identified.

Your hero can hide a message up toa single letter-sized page in length witheach casting, so really long-windedhucksters may have to make multiplecastings for a single correspondence.

The magic of steganogram workseven if transmitted over a telegraph, bythe way, but the telegraph operatormust send the exact wording of thecover story for the encoded message tomake sense to the recipients. Beware ofgremlins when doing this—a singlemisplaced word can wreak havoc on asteganogram.

At the end of the hex’s duration, themessage, both hidden and cover storybecome a jumbled mess of scrambledwords and completely undecipherableto anyone, including the originalrecipient and even the caster.

Hand DamageJacks 2d4Two Pairs 3d4Three of a Kind 4d4Straight 5d6Flush 6d6Full House 7d6Four of a Kind 8d6Straight Flush 9d8Royal Flush 10d8

SliverspraySliverspraySliverspraySliverspraySliverspray

Hucksters 53TranscribeTrait: SpiritHand: PairSpeed: 2Duration: 5 minute/hexslingin' levelRange: 5 feet/hexslingin' level

Some inventors, like Sitgreaves, needto pace the floor and just can’t bebothered to jot notes as they’rebrainstorming. As a result, many a goodidea has died of loneliness before itsowner got around to writing it down.This hex creates a magical recorder totranscribe the spoken word onto paper.

Transcribe writes every word spokenwithin a range of 5 feet/hexslingin’level onto a normal writing surface,whether it be paper, canvas,chalkboard, or whatever. It will evenprovide simple punctuation. Although itcan’t identify speakers, it does usevaried types of “handwriting” todifferentiate between them.

The hex writes only in your hero’snative tongue and doesn’t provide anytranslation for foreign languages.Instead, it phonetically spells wordsspoken in any language other than hernative one. Punctuation for otherlanguages is spotty at best.

Your huckster must have a writinginstrument and surface in order to castthis hex. Although it was originallyintended to help Sitgreaves track hisresearch, of late the hex has found useas a tool for magical spying. As such,the Agency and Rangers find it useful.

TweakTrait: SpiritHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: Concentration or 1 Wind/

RoundRange: One gizmo

Sometimes it’s critical that a weirdgizmo do what it was devised to do.This hex boost the dependability of amad scientist’s invention.

Tweak provides a temporaryimprovement in the Reliability score ofa gizmo. A Pair (the minimum hand)provides a +2 bonus to a gizmo’sReliability; it has no effect on “cheap,”normal goods. Each hand above theminimum gives an additional +1 bonus.

On Three of a Kind or better, the hexhas an additional effect. If the gizmodoes fail a Reliability check, roll twiceto see what kind of malfunction itsuffers (Minor, Major, or Catastrophe)and take the best result.

UpgradeTrait: SmartsHand: SpecialSpeed: 2Duration: 1 round/hexslingin' levelRange: Touch

Not only did Sitgreaves’ backgroundallow him to develop a hex or two togarner the assistance of the manitouswith the creation of gizmos—or torepair them when they break—he’s evenfound a way to force the hateful spirits

54 Posse

to help him make an existing one moreeffective. Or at least more complicated,at any rate.

Upgrade only works on gizmos. Itdoes so by adding even more of themanitous’ illogical concepts to anexisting design. In game terms, itbumps a gadget one level of the madscience Gizmo Construction Table inthe Weird West Player’s Guide.

Exactly what that entails is up toyour huckster, but it must fight withinthe framework of the gizmo designrules. In other words, your cardslingerstill has to come up with a concept ofexactly what and how he’s modifyingthe gizmo to do. A blueprint isunnecessary, however, thanks to themanitou’s (unwilling) assistance.

The hand required to cast the hex isequal to two levels below the one towhich the upgrade will boost thedevice. So, if your hero is modifying asteam wagon (Flush), that means thelevel he’s upgrading to is a Full House.To cast the hex, then, he needs to drawat least a Straight.

Remember, upgrade can only boost agizmo one hand rank. Your hero can’tturn a Gatling pistol (Three of a Kind)into a freeze ray (Four of a Kind) withupgrade but he very well couldtemporarily boost that pistol to aGatling shotgun (Straight).

Now, just because a device sits asingle hand above the gizmo your herohas to work with, it doesn’t mean hecan make the conversion. For example,it’s pretty difficult for even a manitou toupgrade a bullet-proof vest to aflamethrower! It might be possible tomake that bullet-proof vest AV 3—ormaybe even AV 4.

The magic of the hex makes all themodifications to the device. Throughthaumaturgical diffusion principles, thehex even provides the materialnecessary to conduct the upgrade.

The drawback—and you just knewthere was one didn’t you?—is that thisprocess is inherently unstable. Thegizmo enhanced in this manner has a

Reliability of 10, +2 for every handabove the minimum needed to cast thehex. It can be enhanced with otherhexes like tweak, but it can never havea Reliability greater than 16 or that ofthe original gizmo, whichever is lower.

Your huckster doesn’t really gain anytrue insight on how his newly upgradedgadget works; most of that is the workof the manitous. All he does is come upwith the basic idea. So, as a result, hecan’t rush to the drawing board andcome up with a blueprint for the newgizmo.

If he wants to do that, he has tofollow the “accepted” procedures of madscience—or, in other words, the rulesfrom the Weird West Player’s Guide.

Waste ProductTrait: KnowledgeHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: PermanentRange: Touch

Of all Sitgreaves’ hexes, wasteproduct gives him the most hope thathis methods may eventually provide amethod to oppose whatever schemethe manitous are cooking up forhumanity.

Waste product turns fuels of anykind into ash except ghost rock—without any combustion or otherdiscernible chemical reaction. As soonas the hex is cast, the target matter isconverted to plain old ash.

What gives Sitgreaves hope is the factthe hex also works on explosives inexactly the same fashion. Dynamite,nitro, even gunpowder—all turn instantlyto ash when waste product is cast.

For normal fuels like coal or peatmoss, the hex needs only a simple Pairto be effective. Your hero can affect tenpounds of fuel for each level she has inhexslingin’. Note that waste productonly works on wood specificallyprepared as firewood, not all wood.

For explosives, the hand is based onthe damage die type of the explosive orbullet propelled by it in the case ofgunpowder, as shown on the tablebelow. Your huckster can defuse asingle stick of dynamite, one bullet, or8 oz. of other explosives for every levelshe has in hexslingin’.

Hucksters 55

Weird ScienceTrait: KnowledgeHand: PairSpeed: 1Duration: 1 minute/hexslingin’ levelRange: Self

This hex applies the “unique”approach of mad scientists to morethan just simple inventions. Weirdscience uses insight straight from theHunting Grounds to boost any scienceAptitude roll, albeit in a roundabout andoften illogical fashion.

For the duration of weird science,your huckster gets to make two rollswhenever he uses any of his scienceAptitudes and take the best result.

For each hand above the minimum tocast the hex, he also gets +2 to the roll.

The catch is if he goes bust on eitherroll, he suffers the effects of thatcatastrophe. Worse, he’s convinced hiswhacked theory is completely sound!

Wire TapTrait: CognitionHand: AceSpeed: 1Duration: ConcentrationRange: 20 yards/hexslingin’ level

The fastest method of sendingmessages over distances is thetelegraph, but it’s not the most secure.And with wire tap, it’s even less so.

This hex lets your huckster tap intotelegraph wires and messages. Acardslinger armed with wire tap canintercept, send, and modify messagessent over telegraph lines.

Wire tap creates a barely visibleghostly white line from your huckster’sears to a nearby telegraph wire. Through

Hand EffectAce Listen to all messages

sent and receivedPair Send a messageJacks Stop a message from

being either sent orreceived

Two Pairs Sift through the wirefor any message sentwithin the past day

WWWWWire Tire Tire Tire Tire Tapapapapap

Hand Die Typeof Explosive

Pair d4Jacks d6Two Pairs d8Three of a Kind d10Straight d12Flush d20

WWWWWaste Productaste Productaste Productaste Productaste Product

this he can monitor the electricalimpulses traveling along the wire. Eventhough the signals are sent in Morsecode, your cardslinger can understandthe messages even if she doesn’t knowa dot from a dash.

Your huckster’s draw hand showsexactly how much control she has overthe lines and messages. The effects ofeach hand are cumulative.

ZilchTrait: SpiritHand: SpecialSpeed: 1Duration: 1 round/hexslingin’ levelRange: 5 yards/hexslingin' level

Sitgreaves rightly figured if themanitous could warp science enough tomake a strange gizmo work against thelaws of physics, they could warp it backto stop the same device for at least alittle while. Zilch proves that theory true.

With this hex, your hero can stop amad scientist’s gizmo from functioningtemporarily. The draw hand to cast thehex is two less than the hand to createthe device in the first place (see theGizmo Creation Table in the Weird WestPlayer’s Guide). The gizmo is complicated,but useless junk for the duration.

A mad scientist can try to jump starther gadget prior to the end of the hexby beating your cardslinger in anopposed test of her tinkerin’ versus yourhero’s Spirit.

Chapter Three:

New Secrets ofShaolin

The Chinese inhabitants of the Mazebrought secrets with them from theirhomeland. The most famous of thosesecrets are those of their ancientfighting arts. For centuries,practitioners of kung fu and otherChinese martial disciplines have madeextraordinary claims about theirfighting traditions. According to legend,the most accomplished martial artistscan perform acts of superhuman power.Since the Reckoning, those claims havebeen proven. Legendary powers arenow within reach of ordinary folk. Goodstudents progress much faster in thesedisciplines than they ever did before.

We won’t go into detail herediscussing the background or beliefs ofthe Chinese immigrants in the Great

Maze. Suffice to say it’s a good dealdifferent from the leather-slapping,tobacco-spitting you might be used

to in Deadlands. If you’re interested inthat sort of information, you’re inluck though. We’ve got a whole

boxed set dedicated to the Mazeincluding a ton of information on theChinese and their culture.

The Times, TheyAre A-Changin’!

First off, if you’re already familiarwith the martial arts rules from TheGreat Maze, you’re going to notice rightaway that we’re handling themdifferently in this book.

In the 14 years or so since all Hellbroke loose, many martial arts mastershave found it easier and easier toaccess the supernatural energies thatpower their more fantastic powers.Since this method is a markeddeparture from the millennia oftraditions that form the basis of mostmartial arts, more conservative mastersare reluctant to deviate from the triedand true. However, few immigrants andinhabitants of the

58 Posse

Maze are of the sort likely to be balkedby mere custom. The system we presentin this chapter depicts this new fu.

If you’re a player reading this and findyourself all fired up to try the new rules,as always, check with your Marshal first.She may have different plans for hercampaign. If you’re a Marshal and wantto incorporate the new system into yourcampaign, it’s not a bad idea to talk itover with the players. Especially if you’vegot one or more martial artists alreadyin the game!

But I Liked the Old Way!If you’re already using the martial arts

rules from The Great Maze and preferthem to the new incarnation, by allmeans keep using them! Like we said,this new incarnation represents thebeginning of the evolution of thefighting arts, not a rewrite of the rules.

While many masters—particularly onthe North American continent—haveembraced these advances, no smallnumber shuns them as well. It’s possibleto have both types of enlightened martialartists in a campaign. Be warned though,most traditionalists don’t get along wellwith the “disrespectful upstarts!”

I Love the New Way, But...If you’ve already got enlightened

martial artists in your campaign, youmight be afraid you’re going to run intotrouble if you want to use the newsystem. That’s okay—here’s a few quickguidelines to make it as painless aspossible.

Raise your character’s ch’i score tothe level of his highest ch’i power, if it’snot already. Individual powers no longerhave their own level; it’s all based onthe ch’i Aptitude—a lot like thehexslingin’ Aptitude for hucksters.

It’s a whole lot cheaper to make adecent enlightened martial artist underthe new system. Although the Edgearcane background: enlightened costs 1point more than the old enlightened

Edge, this is more than offset by thelowered cost of the powers.

You’ll need to talk with the Marshalto figure out how many points are nowleft over for you to spend on yourcharacter’s other Aptitudes or maybenew ch’i powers.

Making a MartialArtist

Okay, that’s enough palavering. Hereare the new rules for kung fu heroes.

A martial artist must have the martialarts training Edge. He must also take thefightin’ Aptitude with a concentration inone of the martial arts styles listedbelow. Once these minimumrequirements are met, the hero can buyany of the martial arts Edges, Aptitudes,and chi powers listed below.

If the hero wants to be a fly-through-the-air, fist-through-a-wall, snatch-bullets-from-the-air type of martialartist, he’s also got to buy arcanebackground: enlightened and at least 1level in the Aptitude ch’i. We’ll get intothat in more detail soon, though.

Fightin’ StylesWhile most folks out West think

there’s only one way to fight someone—dirty—the Chinese have actuallydeveloped all sorts of subtly differentstyles. If your hero has taken themartial arts training Edge, then shemust also pick up the fightin’ Aptitudewith one of the following Chinese-styleconcentrations.

Note that while each concentrationhas its own name, for purposes of rulesdescriptions, they’re all consideredfightin’: martial arts.

Your choice of style doesn’t restrictyour choice of other aptitudes orpowers listed in this book. Each specialaptitude was discovered by a particularschool, but techniques don’t remainsecret for long in the world of martialarts. Any martial arts teacher knowsmoves from a variety of different styles.You may also have picked up somemoves by observing other martialartists, even opponents, in action.

Martial Arts 59Martial Arts Fightin’

ConcentrationsDrunken Style. You weave

around like you’re out of your tree onfirewater, making your moves hard tofollow and predict.

Eagle Claw. This is a fast,vicious style where you hold yourhands like a claw and whale away onyour opponent’s pressure points.

Mantis. In this style, you holdyour hands in a hook-like manner. Youmove from mesmerizing stillness tosudden striking.

Monkey. Based on themovements of apes, in this style youhunker down, screw up your face, andthen move with sneakiness and speed.This surprises opponents who’veunderestimated you because you lookso dang funny.

Shaolin Temple. Moves arebased on five animal styles. In theCrane, you jab at people with yourfingers pressed together in a beak-likemanner; you also stand on one leg a lot.The Snake is sneaky and fluid. TheDragon is a punching style in whichsheer force is used to exert good, old-fashioned crushing damage. TheLeopard style is all knuckles. The Tigerstyle is all about ripping away at youropponent’s muscles.

Shuai Chiao. This Chineseform of wrestling’ discombobulatesyour eyes when you try to watch it. Thepractitioner grabs or throws hisopponent, while sneaking in all kindsof highly-directed rabbit punches.

Tai Chi. You focus somethingcalled your ch’i, or internal energy,which then allows you to smack youropponent halfway to Philadelphia andback. Your internal organs are also inexceptional shape, and can movearound inside your body to avoid takingwounds when you suffer a shot to thegizzards. (You gain no actual gamebenefit for this effect, but that doesn’tstop you from constantly braggingabout it.)

Tan Tui. In this style, youmostly kick your opponent. Some havetaken to calling this kickboxing. Up inShan Fan, where martial artstournaments are held all the time, thisis very popular with the spectators.

Wing Chun. This styleemphasizes power and big flurries ofpunches at your opponent. Its movesare both offensive and defensive at thesame time.

Mano A ManoSince martial artists spend more time

fighting up close and personal thanyour average cowpoke, we’d betterclarify and expand some of the fightingrules.

Armor and Bare HandsNormally, a fellow’s got to be a little

touched in the head to go hitting asteel plate with his bare hands.

Any normal sap that insists on bare-knuckle brawling with a locomotive (orany other target with Armor Value 1 orhigher), does no damage whatsoever tothe target. In fact, if the Marshaldecides the target is tough enough,your hero actually may take damagehimself! The numbskull rolls a Strengthcheck and suffers that much damage tohis fists.

Boxing gloves, boots (in the case ofkicking), or the like protect the heroagainst this sort of self-abuse.

Martial artists are specially trainedand toughened for this sort of fighting.They do their normal damage, adjusteddown for the target’s AV, but take nodamage themselves. That bonus 1d6damage lets them put a hurting on atleast lightly armored targets!

Attacks From BehindGenerally speaking, fighters don’t

add their fightin’ level to the TNs ofopponents who are attacking themfrom behind. The same applies forcowpokes who are attacked in hand-to-hand while surprised. Most folks can’tdefend against an attack they don’t seecoming! Your Marshal may makeexceptions to this rule as he sees fit.

Noggins & GizzardsNormally, bare-handed attacks by

humans get no bonus dice for blows tothe noggin or gizzards hit locations.Due to their special training, martialartists’ attacks do get the usual bonusdice—sometimes.

It all depends on whether the fufighter is making a brawling-typeattack or if she’s doing lethal damage.

For normal, non-lethal attacks, themartial artist does not get the bonusdice for the noggins or gizzard. However,if she’s making a lethal attack, shedoes.

Simple enough.

ProneWe covered the effects of being prone

against shootin’ and other rangedattacks in the Weird West Player’s Guide,but we didn’t say much about how itaffected people trying to stomp yourhero flat. Laying down in front ofunfriendly types is not a good idea!

Prone combatants suffer a -4 penaltyto their own fightin’ attacks, and ifthey do happen to connect, theysubtract -4 from the hit location roll. Bythe way, they don’t add the normal +2for fightin’ attacks either.

Fighters who have someone lying attheir feet get a +2 to their fightin’ rollsagainst the easy target. They get nobonus to the hit location rolls—not eventhe normal +2 for fightin’—though.

It doesn’t take any movement tothrow yourself to the ground, althoughyour character can only do it on one ofhis Action Cards. Getting back on yourfeet does take an entire action,however.

StunAs you already know, stunned

characters cannot take any offensiveactions against an opponent. They arealso at a disadvantage when it comesto defending themselves. Someone whois seeing stars cannot vamoose anddoes not add her fightin’ level to heropponent’s TN in hand-to-hand combat.

New AptitudesTo make all these nifty kung fu

powers work, your character is going toneed a few new Aptitudes. Most ofthese are specifically for martial artists.

Ch’iAssociated Trait: Spirit

This Aptitude is a measure of themartial artist’s ability to tap into thespiritual power of the Hunting Grounds.Without it, a fu fighter cannot generatethe energy needed to use special ch’ipowers described later in this chapter.

Whenever your martial artist wantsto use one of his ch’i powers, he has tomake a ch’i roll against the power’s TN.If he’s successful, he spends the Strainlisted for the power and it works asdescribed.

What’s Strain, you ask?Good question, and we’ll get to that

in just a moment.By the way, your hero must have the

enlightened edge to take this Aptitude.

Martial Arts 61Fightin’: Butterfly KnifeAssociated Trait: Nimbleness

Butterfly knives are broad, flashyknives about the size of a Texan’sBowie knife, but with a much widerblade. Any cowpoke with fightin’: knifecan pick one up and use it like a plain,old Arkansas toothpick, but to get thefull benefit of the weapon, a fighterneeds this specific concentration.

With it, he attacks using one of theknives in each hand without the usual-2 penalty for attacking with bothhands. He still suffers the standard -4penalty for off-handed attacks, however.

A hero with fightin’: butterfly knife canuse a normal knife in combat as well,but he receives the special bonus notedabove only with true butterfly knives.

To purchase this Aptitude, a charactermust have the martial arts training Edgeand fightin’: martial arts .

Fightin’: Flying ClawAssociated Trait: Nimbleness

This Aptitude lets your fu fighter usethe deadly flying claw—a nasty metalclaw attached to a length of chain—as anormal melee weapon. While he canput a hurting on opponents up closewithout the ch’i power of the samename, with it your hero can realize thetrue powers of the weapon.

To learn this Aptitude, a charactermust have the martial arts trainingEdge and fightin’: martial arts .

Fightin’: Flying CrescentAssociated Trait: Nimbleness

This Aptitude allows your hero touse the flying crescent—a metal bladeattached to a chain—as a normal meleeweapon. It’s somewhat similar to theflying claw, but different enough torequire a separate Aptitude to master.

To use this weapon to its fullest fu,your hero also needs the flying crescentch’i power. He can still cut folks toribbons without the power, but with it,he can really reach out and touchsomeone! See the power description fordetails.

This Aptitude requires a character tohave the martial arts training Edge andfightin’: martial arts .

Fightin’: Three-SectionalStaff

Associated Trait: NimblenessA hero with this Aptitude can wield

a three-sectional staff in combat. Thestaff, at first glance, resembles a set ofnunchakus with big britches; however,the staff is Chinese in origin whilenunchakus are Okinawan. It consists ofthree 2’ wooden sections joined byshort lengths of chain. The two endsections swing freely from the middle.A skilled wielder can turn the weaponinto a spinning, humming skull-cracker.

A fu fighter armed and trained witha three-sectional staff is very hard todefend against. As a result, she canignore 2 levels of an opponent’s fightin’Aptitude when figuring her TN to hit inhand-to-hand with the staff. So, forexample, if her opponent had fightin’:brawlin’ 4, her TN to hit him wouldonly be increased by 2 (to a total of 7),instead of the usual 4.

This special ability only works againstmodifiers caused by an opponent’sfightin’ score and can never reduce themodifier below zero. Remember, it’s nota bonus to hit the target; it just offsetsdefensive modifiers.

Needless to say, it’s quite a difficultweapon to use and an untrained fighteris as likely to crack her own skull withthe weapon as she is that of her foe! Acharacter armed with one of these whoisn’t properly trained in its use does notget to reduce modifiers to her fightin’TN as noted above.

To purchase this Aptitude, a charactermust have the martial arts training Edgeand fightin’: martial arts.

Medicine: ChineseTraditional

Associated Trait: KnowledgeThis new concentration of the

medicine Aptitude is not a martial artsAptitude. Any character can take it,although your Marshal may expect you

62 Posse

to explain how you learned it if itseems out of character with yourhero’s background history.

A practitioner of Chinese traditionalmedicine, like a general practitioner inthe Western style, can heal anything upto a heavy wound, unless that woundwas inflicted by or on a martial artist. Inthat case, the Chinese practitioner canheal a serious wound.

MeditationAssociated Trait: Spirit

This Aptitude is only useful to a herowith arcane background: enlightened. Asuccessful roll against a Hard (9) TN letsher recover 2 Strain an hour instead ofthe normal 1. She must roll each hour,however, and must be absolutely still inpeaceful surroundings to do so.

For more on Strain and how it’srecovered, see the section on Ch’iPowers later in this chapter.

Throwin’: BulletAssociated Trait: Deftness

This Aptitude is really only useful ifyour hero has the seize the pearl o’death ch’i power. She can try chuckingbullets at her foes without it, but itwon’t amount to much. This throwin’concentration cannot be used by default;it requires a hero to have arcanebackground: enlightened to even learn it.

Throwin’: Flying GuillotineAssociated Trait: Deftness

This Aptitude doesn’t do your hero alick of good unless he also gets theassociated ch’i power, flying guillotine.Then, of course, it’s quite wicked. Likethrowin’: bullet, this concentrationcannot be used by default and onlycharacters with arcane background:enlightened can learn it.

New EdgesWe’ve got a few new edges for your

aspiring martial artist.

Arcane Background:Enlightened 3

Your hero has achieved the spiritualdiscipline necessary to focus and controlhis chi energy. Enlightened charactersmay purchase any of the chi powerslisted later in this chapter. If you wish tobe able to use these powers, yourcharacter must also buy at least onelevel in the chi aptitude.

A hero must have the martial artstraining edge to purchase this edge.

Martial Arts Training 3Your character has trained for years in

the martial arts, under the tutelage of asifu, or master. Her sifu may have beenthe head of a renowned school ofmartial artists or just a wandering wiseman that most mistook for asaddletramp. He taught her the secretsof fighting, both standard and mystical.

Martial Arts 63He also taught her a spiritual

philosophy, which she can use toachieve harmony with nature, and alsoto spout poetical-type proverbs thatmake her sound real wise and peacefuljust before she goes out to crack skulls.

To better enable her to crack thoseskulls, she deals additional damagewhen fighting hand to hand. She dealsSTR + 1d6 damage when striking withher hand or foot. This damage may bebrawling type damage or lethaldamage—your choice.

In addition, for each level she has inthe fightin’: martial arts Aptitude, sheknows one special maneuver, detailed alittle later in this chapter.

A hero can’t take this Edge withoutalso taking the fightin’: martial artsAptitude, with one of theconcentrations described in the sidebar.Each represents a different style ofChinese martial arts.

This edge also entitles your cowpoketo pick up the arcane background:enlightened Edge.

Quick Thinker 2Maybe your hero has been trained to

avoid situations in which he might besurprised or maybe he just doesn’tseize up under pressure like most.Either way, there’s a tiny part of himthat always expects an ambush.

When making Cognition rolls to seeif your hero has been surprised, henever faces a Target Number higherthan 5. Even if he fails that roll, he stillgets 1 Action card during the round inwhich he was supposedly surprised. Heis never surprised past the first round;don’t even bother rolling to recover.

Anyone may buy this edge.

Martial ArtsHindrances

The following hindrances areavailable only if you have martial artstraining. They can be used to flesh outyour martial artist’s background or justhelp flavor the campaign in a moreOriental fashion. Remember, though,you can’t take more than 10 points ofHindrances as a starting character.

The Cup Overflows 2Your hero’s ch’i energy is powerful. A

mite too powerful, in fact. Whenevershe uses any of the powers describedin this book, her internal energy goesall external and wreaks high holy havocon the surrounding terrain.

For example, if she uses monkeygoes to the mountain to fly down asandy hillside, clods of earth explodebeneath her as if somebody’s plantedthe hill with firecrackers. When sheleaps into the air to kick a body, windswhip up all around her, whirling sandand leaves all over. Ever time she landsa punch, it sounds like a thunderclapgoing off.

In short, she stands out like a circusclown at a funeral. Anyone who seesher in action knows there’s somethingnot right about her. If they’re regularfolks, they run in terror from her, as ifshe’s some kind of abomination.

If somebody watching her knowsabout martial arts, he knows whatshe’s all about, and likely target her asthe one to shoot first in a fight. Andbelieve me, anybody with experience ofthe weirdness lurking behind thesurface of the Maze is going to knowall about martial arts.

“My Kung Fuis Superior!” 1— 3

Your hero is easily challenged to afight, especially if the challenger hasthe cojones to claim to be a betterfighter than you. You’re so proud ofyour martial arts abilities that you turnthree shades of purple when anyonedares to question your vaunted prowess.

Worse yet, there’s something aboutthe way you carry yourself that attractsother similar hotheads with bone-headed attitudes similar to your own.And wouldn’t you know it—challengersare extra likely to approach you at amoment of maximum inconvenience?

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Your hero’s ability to resist the urgeto rise to a challenge is determined byhow many points of this hindrance youselect when you take this Hindrance.

“Sifu! Sifu!” 2— 4Your hero is still in contact with his

sifu, the master who trained him.Whenever he sees her, he must bowbefore her and otherwise act as if he’sa miserable bug and the sun shines outof her patoot. He shows this “respect”even in public or in front of his friends.

Although your hero can expect her toconstantly castigate him for not livingup to some impossible Confucian idealof behavior, he is not allowed to giveher any lip, no matter what she says.There is no amount of humiliation heisn’t willing to endure in order to showhis devotion to the sifu.

The Marshal should know that it’sokay to threaten your character’s sifu,thus motivating him to go out and saveher on a regular basis. On the otherhand, he should try not to let yourhero’s sifu kick the bucket.

Sometimes, though, the Marshal can’tkeep an extra alive without blowing hiscredibility all to bits. If your hero’s sifudoes take one too many Winchesterrounds to the head, your hero isrequired to go through a lengthy periodof weeping and wailing. If you don’tthen buy off the Hindrance (see theWeird West Player’s Guide), the hero’s

sifu’s sifu shows up and commences tobossing him around and otherwisemaking sure that he still gets the fullkick out of this Hindrance.

Although the sifu has more kung fuin his little pinky that your hero has inhis whole body, for some reason shenever ends up helping your cowpokeout much. If he asks for her assistanceon a mission, she has other things todo. If she’s along with your hero on afight, she likely gets herself woundedin the first scene, and needs protectingthroughout the adventure (This is whenyour hero cries “Sifu! Sifu!”).

If she’s still healthy by the time shemeets up with the bad guys, she turnsup her nose and refuses to engagesuch measly opponents. In other words,you can’t use this Hindrance as a backdoor method of having your fu fighter’sbacon saved whenever he gets intotrouble. The sifu isn’t the cavalry.

The value of this Hindrance tells howbig a role the sifu plays in your hero’slife. If you’re thinking of taking a 4 pointsifu, talk it over with your Marshal andfellow players first. If the sifu is forevershowing up, that’s going to affect thedirection of the entire campaign.

The table below gives you a roughidea of how much trouble your fufighter is going to have with hissifu bythe point-value of the Hindrance.

Value Effect-2 Sifu shows up infrequently.

She rarely sends youon missions or requiresrescuing.

-3 Sifu shows up once everycouple of sessions. Sherequires a mission orrescue about one out offour sessions.

-4 Sifu shows up everysession. Almost everyadventure is a missionpicked by your sifu, arescue mission, or thelike.

Sifu! Sifu!Sifu! Sifu!Sifu! Sifu!Sifu! Sifu!Sifu! Sifu!

Value Level1 Onerous (7) Smarts to

turn down anychallenge to fight.

2 Incredible (11) Smartsto turn down achallenge.

3 Forget it—he’s got tofight each and everytime he’s challenged!

My Kung Fu Is Superior!My Kung Fu Is Superior!My Kung Fu Is Superior!My Kung Fu Is Superior!My Kung Fu Is Superior!

Martial Arts 65School Rivalry 2

There are countless schools ofChinese martial arts. These schools havelong histories, and those historiesalmost invariably include a deadly,ancient grudge against another school.Entire adventures might center aroundthe feuding between rival schools.

It’s up to you to pick the name ofyour fu fighter’s school; you can chooseone described in The Great Maze or youcan just make one up. If you use one ofthe former, your hero already has abuilt-in rival school. If you make up oneof your own, you’ve got to come up thename of a rival school as well.

Every member of that rival school isguaranteed to hate your hero’s guts.They can identify her as a member ofthat school just by watching her moveswhen she’s fighting.

And, wouldn’t you know it, it just sohappens that she seems to beconstantly running into members ofthis rival school, no matter how rare itis. She isn’t obligated to fight them, butthey might feel obligated to fight her. Infact, you can just about count on it!

When combined with “My Kung Fu IsSuperior,” this can be a dilly of aHindrance.

Style Vulnerability 1— 3Although your character may have

learned moves from a number ofdisciplines, his sifu mainly trained himin one particular style of the Chinesefighting arts.

This adherence to tradition is a bigpart of the spiritual essence of kungfu. It also makes martial arts easier toteach to large numbers of students,since it uses set formulas andtechniques. The disadvantage of thistraining method is that you’re a suckerfor the classic moves associated withcertain other schools.

Choose up to three styles describedabove in the Martial Arts Training edge.When your hero is fighting anopponent with a concentration in oneof the styles you have chosen, hisTarget Number to hit your hero isreduced by 3. You get 1 point for eachstyle you so designate. You can choosea maximum of three styles this way.

Martial ArtsManeuvers

Most martial artists worth their saltknow more than just the basic moves oftheir school. A number of specialmaneuvers and weapons exist which,when used correctly, can give a fighterthe edge she needs over her opponent.

Your hero learns one of the followingmaneuvers for each level she has infightin’: martial arts. The maneuversthemselves cost no additional points;they’re part of the specialized training afu fighter receives.

The only way to learn new maneuversis to increase your hero’s fightin’: martialarts. You can’t buy them separately atany cost. Mastery has its price, after all!

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Your character must have the martialarts training Edge to learn thesemaneuvers.

All the maneuvers are based on themartial artists fightin’: martial artsAptitude unless indicated otherwise.Also, unless the description saysdifferently, you must declare when yourhero is using a maneuver before youmake his fightin’: martial arts roll.

DisarmThis is a special form of vamoosing.

If your hero has an action cardavailable when he’s attacked in hand-to-hand combat by an armed opponent,you may spend the card to make afightin’: martial arts roll, but based onDeftness instead of Nimbleness.Compare your hero’s total to hisopponent’s attack roll. If your enemy’sroll is higher, she has hit your fufighter. If your character’s total ishigher, the attack misses and youropponent must make a Strength rollagainst a TN of 5, plus 2 for each raiseyour hero got on the disarm roll. If yourenemy fails the Strength roll, she hasdropped his weapon.

Eye GougeYour hero must hit with two raises

to use this maneuver. If she succeeds,roll a contest of her Strength versus thedefender’s Vigor. If she wins thecontest, her opponent takes 1d6 Windand suffers a -4 to all rolls for the nexthour due to his cry-baby eyes.

If the opponent goes bust on theVigor roll, he is permanently blinded inone eye.

Flying KickWith this maneuver, your hero

launches herself into the air at anopponent, leaping a distance equal tohis total movement toward the targetthis round. He can’t move a totaldistance of greater than his normal

Pace in this fashion, but he can clearintervening obstacles with the kick,like faro tables, other opponents, orboiling rivers of lava.

He’s at -4 to hit with this attack, butif he connects, he does an extra 1d6damage and adds an additional +2 tothe hit location roll on top of thenormal +2 for fightin’. If he misses, hemust make a Fair (5) Nimbleness roll toavoid coming down hard and taking 1d6Wind damage.

Get UpIf an opponent knocks your hero

down, the fu fighter can use thismaneuver on his next Action Card topop right back up and take an actionon the same card. This normallyrequires a Fair (5) fightin’: martial artsroll, but the Marshal may adjust this fortreacherous footing, high winds, etc.

Ground FightingThe get up maneuver can be a

lifesaver, but your hero’s enemiesprobably aren’t going to wait around forhim to have a chance to get to his feetin a fight. Those low-down, ornerycusses are liable to try to stomp hishead long before his next Action Cardcomes around.

Ground fighting isn’t so much amaneuver as it is a method of fighting.If your fu fighter knows this maneuver,opponents don’t get the usual +2 to hityour character when he’s flat on hisback. Also, your hero suffers only a -2to his own fightin’: martial arts attacks,instead of the usual -4. He stillsubtracts -4 from his hit location rollswhen attacking from the ground.

Head ButtYour hero really uses her head with

this maneuver! She smacks herforehead into an opponent’s face,causing him no end of pain and acouple of tears to boot.

She must get a raise on her fightin’:martial arts roll to connect with thepoor sap. If she does, roll a contest ofher Strength versus the defender’sVigor. Don’t add the usual +1d6 bonusfor martial arts to this roll.

Martial Arts 67If she wins, her opponent takes the

difference in Wind and must make aHard (9) Vigor roll to avoid beingstunned. If she loses, her opponent isunaffected by the attack.

Regardless of whether she wins orloses, she suffers 1d4 Wind herself forcracking her own skull.

LockThis maneuver allows your martial

artist to trap an opponent’s limb in apainful hold, hindering further actionson his part. Your hero must win acontest of her fightin’: martial artsversus her opponent’s fightin’ with atleast one raise.

If she does, her opponent must roll acontest of his Vigor against yourcharacter’s fightin’: martial arts. Shouldhe lose, he suffers a minus to anyaction he takes equal to the amount bywhich he lost the contest until hebreaks the lock. While maintaining thelock, your hero can take only simpleactions without losing her grip.

The victim can spend an action toattempt to break the lock by winningan opposed roll of his fightin’ versusyour hero’s fightin’: martial arts.

This maneuver only works onnormal—and living—human opponents.

Spin kickThis is a powerful kick with a lot of

speed behind it. Your hero suffers a -2penalty to hit with this attack, but if ithits, he does an additional 1d4 damage.

SweepThis is a non-damaging attack, but

your hero gets +4 to hit with it. If ithits, your opponent is knocked off hisfeet and must spend an action gettingback up.

This maneuver only works onroughly man-sized and two-legged (orless) opponents.

Throwin’ (People)This maneuver can be used to

attack, or—if you have an unused actioncard—as an active defense. Either way,your hero must make an opposed roll

of his fightin’: martial arts against heropponent’s fightin’. If she beats heropponent, she can chuck him to theground anywhere within six feet of her.

He must also make an Easy (3) Vigorroll to avoid being stunned by theimpact with the ground. This TN isincreased by 2 for every raise yourfighter gets on her roll. Even if he’s notstunned, he must spend an action toget back on his feet.

This maneuver only works onroughly man-sized and shapedopponents. No tossing Mojave rattlersover your shoulder!

New Hand-to-Hand WeaponsChinese martial artists have brought

with them a number of weapons notcommonly seen in the Weird West.

Each of these new weapons has itsown fightin’ concentration. Those withspecial effects or requirements aredetailed earlier in this chapter. TheChinese sword can also be used withgood, old fightin’: sword .

1 See description in throwing: flyingguillotine Aptitude.

2 Must be specially manufactured by anunscrupulous metalworker familiar withthe cruel and ancient techniques of itsmanufacture.

Weapon DB Damage CostFlying Claw - STR + 2d4 $30Flying Crescent - STR + 2d8 $50Flying Guillotine - special1 $1502

Knife, Butterfly +1 STR + 1d6 $5Pole, 10’ +3 STR + 2d4 $2Pole, 5’ +2 STR + 1d4 $1Staff, Three-Sectional +2 STR + 2d6 $10Sword, Chinese +2 STR + 2d8 $15

Chinese Fightin’ WChinese Fightin’ WChinese Fightin’ WChinese Fightin’ WChinese Fightin’ Weaponseaponseaponseaponseapons

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Ch’i PowersNow that we’ve gotten the more

mundane aspects of kung fu fightingout of the way, let’s get down to thereally powerful stuff! Truly wise martialartists (in other words, those with theEdge arcane background: enlightened)can tap into the power of the HuntingGrounds themselves.

With this supernatural energy toaugment their awesome physicalprowess, enlightened fu fighters arenothing short of living legends.

Starting Ch’i Powers: Anenlightened martial artist knows onepower for every level he has in the ch’iAptitude.

New Ch’i Powers: After charactercreation, raising the ch’i Aptitude doesnot grant your hero any new powers.Instead, he must spend time in trainingand practice. Each new ch’i power costs5 Bounty Points, but the only timerequirement is how fast your charactercan accumulate Bounty Points.

The Marshal may decide your heroneeds to find a teacher to learn a newch’i power. If so, that can turn into anadventure in itself. However, fu fighterswith the sifu! sifu! Hindrance at 3points or higher get a little break here;it’s safe to assume the sifu is willing toinstruct his pupil (your character) in thenew power.

Ki-Yah!To the enlightened martial artist, ch’i

is the name for a supernatural energywhich all possess and can learn tofocus and tap. Although it requiresgreat stamina to use effectively, theenergy itself comes from the HuntingGrounds, regardless of what theancient masters might claim.

The spiritual and physical disciplinelearned through martial arts training isthe key to using this power. There’s alittle more to it than that, but that’ssomething only Marshals need to know.

StrainFocusing supernatural energies and

shaping them to enhance one’s physicalabilities is very taxing to say the least.When used successfully, a ch’i powercauses an amount of Strain to yourmartial artist.

Once an enlightened martial artist’sStrain has reached the breaking point(equal to his Vigor die type), he can nolonger channel these supernaturalenergies.

Reducing StrainA hero’s Strain is reduced by quiet

rest and meditation. Every hour the fufighter rests allows him to lower hisStrain by 1 point. By “rest,” we mean nophysical or mental exertion.

Using Ch’i PowersTo use a power, you declare the

power you want your martial artist toemploy and make a ch’i Aptitude roll. Ifyour hero makes the TN, mark off theStrain required and the power worksjust as described. If she fails the roll,nothing happens. Failed powers cost noStrain.

If the power’s Strain would push theenlightened head-knocker past herbreaking point, the power fails and shesuffers no Strain.

If the fu fighter goes buston her ch’i roll, she suffersa surge of energy fromthe Hunting Grounds. TheMarshal has the details onthis, but trust us, it isn’tgoing to be a pleasant eventfor her!

The PowersBelow are the powers available to

enlightened martial artists. Here’s aquick explanation of what all themumbo-jumbo at the beginning of eachpower means.

TN is the Target Number the martialartist needs to make on a ch’i roll toactivate the power. “Opposed” meansyour hero must compare his roll to onemade by his opponent. Don’t forget that

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Martial Arts 69in an opposed roll, the minimum TN isa 5. Even if your fu fighter beats hisopponent, if he doesn’t get a 5, thepower still fails.

Strain is the amount of stress thepower puts on the martial artist. A herodoesn’t suffer Strain for failed ch’i rolls.

Speed is the number of actions ortime it takes to complete the power.Powers with Speed “0” activateinstantaneously with no prep time.

Duration is how long the power staysin effect once activated. If the duration is1 round, it lasts to the beginning of thenext round, regardless of when thepower was enabled during the previousround. “Concentration” means the powerlasts only as long as the martial artistdoes nothing but simple actions. Anumber means the fu fighter can takethat much Strain at the beginning ofeach round (or time period if otherwisenoted) to keep the power in effect.

None of the ch’i powers have a rangelisted. That’s because they only effectthe martial artist himself. Some doenable the hero to make a rangedattack, but in and of themselves, theystill only affect the martial artist,granting him a special ability. He stillhas to make the required rolls to hit histarget. The specifics of those aredetailed within the powers themselves.

Abundance of PeckingBirds

TN: 7Strain: 1/arrowSpeed: 1Duration: Instant

Robin Hood’s got nothing on you!This ability allows your hero to stringand fire multiple arrows simultaneously.The arrows may all be aimed at asingle target or she may divide yourarrows between multiple targets.

All targets must be within yournormal arc of fire and range. Your herocan fire up to five arrows at fivedifferent targets if she wants with thispower, but she gets a -1 modifier to herattack roll for each target after the first.

Make a single bow Aptitude roll andcompare it to all the TNs for your hero’schosen targets to see which arrows hitand which miss. It’s possible for someto hit and some to miss completely.

Even if your fu fighter fires multiplearrows at a single target, a separate hitlocation must be rolled for every arrow.It is possible to make called shots withsome or all of the arrows, but don’tforget to figure in the TN modifiers foreach separate arrow.

Li Ho knocks 3 arrows in hisbow and takes aim at 3 banditsrobbing a stage. Two are in hisfirst range increment and thelast is in the second. He decideshe wants to hit their gun handsinstead of causing a senselesswaste of life. The Strain cost is4, and his TN is 11 for the firsttwo, but 12 for the last. He rollsan 11, hitting two of the outlaws,but the third arrow whizzesharmlessly into the desert.

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Blood of GoldTN: SpecialStrain: SpecialSpeed: SpecialDuration: Permanent

Your hero has such control over theinner workings of her body that she canuse her ch’i to accelerate her ownhealing.

To use blood of gold, pick a woundlocation on your hero, make a ch’i roll,and pay the appropriate Stain. The TN,Strain, and time required to heal thewound are shown on the table below.Each success and raise against the TNfor the wounded location heals onewound level.

The power only heals a singlelocation at a time. Your hero has to rollher ch’i and pay the listed Strain foreach location she wants to heal.

A martial artist cannot cure Maimedwound levels with this power. Whileshe can recover wind with blood ofgold, the power closing the gate is muchquicker for that purpose.

Cobra StrikeTN: 5Strain: 1 + 1/Action Card heldSpeed: 1Duration: Instant

Your hero’s sifu taught him to waitpatiently, conserving his energy, untilan enemy presented an opening—thenattacking with a single powerful strike.

When your martial artists activatesthis power, you must declare how manyactions he’s going to spend beyond theinitial one to start the power.

At that time, he makes his ch’i roll toactivate the cobra strike, but only pays 1Strain. Once your hero begins a cobrastrike, he may not perform any actionsother than simple ones on his actioncards until he unleashes the strike.Instead, as each action card comes up,set it aside.

Your hero may unleash the strike onany of his action cards—new ones, notsaved ones. At this point, he must pay 1additional Strain for each action card hehas set aside to prepare the cobrastrike. If he can’t pay the requiredStrain, the power fails.

Once the Strain is paid, he lashes outin a lightning fast hand-to-hand attackthat is +2 to hit and damage for eachaction card he set aside earlier.

You may set aside as many actioncards as you want, but don’t wait toolong. If the black Joker is drawn, hemust surrender all his saved cards atthe end of that round to be reshuffledand start all over again—although hedoesn’t have to pay any more Strain ormake another ch’i roll.

If your martial artist takes any actionother than moving at half pace, allcards set aside are lost and he mustbegin again. If you are attacked inhand-to-hand combat while preparing,he gets his normal defense, but he maynot vamoose without negating thecobra strike.

Closing the GateTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: 1Duration: Permanent

This ability allows your fu fighter torecover lost Wind very quickly so shecan continue to battle her enemies. It’sso embarrassing to be the first oneknocked senseless!

While blood of gold can cure lostWind, it’s too slow to be practical to usein the middle of a brawl.

If your hero makes her ch’i roll, sherecovers 1d6 Wind for every success andraise she received (by the way, don’tforget to reroll aces). The total is theamount of Wind your hombre recovers.

This may not increase your hero’sWind above her normal maximum.

Blood of GoldBlood of GoldBlood of GoldBlood of GoldBlood of Gold

Wound TN Strain TimeWind 3 1 1 minuteLight 5 2 5 minutesHeavy 7 3 15 minutesSerious 9 4 30 minutesCritical 11 5 1 hour

Martial Arts 71Crane Guides the ArrowTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: 0Duration: Instant

Your martial artist has mastered theconcentration necessary to be a truesharpshooter with certain rangedweapons. He’s even learned how to focusthe power of the Hunting Grounds togive him supernatural accuracy!

This power can only be used inconjunction with throwin’ or bowAptitude. It can’t be used with a gun, ahex, or any other kind of weirdnonsense, nor, for some reason, doescrane guides the arrow seem tofunction with flying guillotine.

You have to activate crane guides thearrow before your hero makes hisattack roll. In other words, you don’t getto wait until you’re sure he’s hit thetarget before making the ch’i roll andspending the Strain!

For each success and raise, you mayalter the hit location roll by 2 points ineither direction, up or down. This is inaddition to any modifications you receivefor raises on the initial attack roll.

By the way, if the attack misses, yourhero still spends the Strain—andprobably should consider a few morelessons with his weapon!

Crumbling DamTN: OpposedStrain: 2Speed: 0Duration: Instant

While most enlightened martialartists concentrate their extraordinarypowers on feats of legend, some take amore roundabout method to defeattheir opponents. Crumbling dam tiresan opponent out in the same way thatusing a ch’i power does—by addingStrain.

To employ this power, your hero usesfightin’: martial arts to hit her foe asnormal. This attack does no physicaldamage, but if she makes contact, rolla contest of her ch’i against heropponent’s Spirit. If she wins, heropponent loses 1d4 Strain for everysuccess and raise she received on thisroll. If she loses, there’s no effect.

While your fu fighter can use thispower on anyone, it really only affectscharacters using special abilities (likechi powers) that rely on Strain. For now,only enlightened martial artists aretruly susceptible to its effects.

Devastating Ape StrikeTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: 0Duration: Instant

This power allows your character totransfer ch’i energy to his foe’s body,causing her no end of hurt.

Use devastating ape strikeimmediately before he attacks anopponent using fightin’: martial arts. Ifhe hits, make a ch’i roll to activate thepower, but, if your hero is successful,add the result of that roll to his normaldamage. Note you can spend Fate Chipson the ch’i roll to activate the power.

Devastating ape strike can only beused with a bare-handed attack; yourhero can’t use it to augment aweapon’s damage. Also, the damage isadded after the effects of any armor,but if your fu fighter can’t penetratethe victim’s armor, devastating apestrike doesn’t cause any damage.

Dragon’s ClawTN: 5Strain: 2Speed: 1Duration: 1/round

Few things are more frustrating to amaster of kung fu than raining a dozenperfectly executed blows down on anautomaton, and end up with onlybruised knuckles to show for it. With thedragon’s claw, a fu fighter doesn’t haveto worry about that sort of humiliation.

When this power is activated, themartial artist’s hands (and feet) arecharged with focused energy, allowingthem to cut through wood, stone, andeven metal. Your hero’s bare-handedattacks gain 1 level of armor-piercing

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for every success and raise he gets onthe ch’i roll to activate the dragon’sclaw. So, a hero who gets an 11 on hisch’i roll gains AP 2 for his empty-handed attacks—enough to punchthrough a piddling bulletproof vest!

This bonus applies only to attacks hemakes with his hands or feet. In noinstance does the dragon’s claw affect aweapon of any sort. Your hero coulduse the power in conjunction with thehead butt maneuver, but smashingone’s head against really hard objectsisn’t usually a good idea!

A martial artist can also use thispower to simply break throughinanimate objects like a door or wall. Ifyou’ve got access to Smith & Robards,you can find detailed rules there.

If not, use the armor values on page133 of the Weird West Player’s Guide andassume every 10 points of damage doneafter adjusting for armor pounds a 2’ x2’ hole in the target.

Fangs of the SerpentTN: OpposedStrain: 4Speed: 0Duration: Instant

Crumbling dam lets a martial artistdrain the fortitude of an opponent, butfangs of the serpent goes one better. Itlets the fu fighter actually regain someStrain herself while fatiguing her foe!

To do so, she rolls fightin’: martialarts to hit as normal. This attack doesno physical damage, but if she makescontact, she then rolls a contest of herch’i against her opponent’s Vigor. Heropponent loses 1d4 Strain for everysuccess and raise she gets on this roll.In return, she regains 1 Strain for everytwo which are drained from her foe.

Like crumbling dam, this power isreally only effective against charactersusing abilities based on Strain. Whileshe can use it against other victims, ithas no game effect whatsoever if shedoes.

Flying ClawTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: 0Duration: 1/round

This power allows your hero to usethe flying claw to its full potential. Yourfu fighter must have at least one levelin fightin’: flying claw to purchase thispower.

The flying claw is a metal claw on theend of a long chain. It can be used as anormal melee weapon againstopponents within 10’. If your hero makeshis ch’i roll and pays the Strain, he canpropel it through the air at an opponent.There are no range modifiers, simplymake a normal fightin’: flyin’ claw roll tohit. The weapon does normal damagewhen used in this fashion.

The TN to hit is modified by thetarget’s fightin’ Aptitude level, and thevictim can choose to use either fightin’or dodge should she vamoose.

If the claw causes at least onewound to the target, your martial artistcan yank on the chain on your nextaction. If he wins a contest of Strengthwith his victim, he pulls the targetback through the air to land at his feet,where he can lay a regular whippingon her. This special attack is completelyoptional; he can simply return the clawby itself and throw again on his nextaction is you’d prefer.

The flying claw, when powered bych’i energy in this way, has a ROF 1 andyour hero can hurl the weapon amaximum of 5 yards times his ch’iAptitude level. There are no rangemodifiers to his attack roll.

Flying CrescentTN: 5Strain: 2Speed: 1Duration: 1/round

This is another weapon whichrequires some spiritual power to use toits fullest. Your character must have atleast one level in fightin’: flying crescentto purchase this power.

The flying crescent is a big pole-armtype blade on a chain. It can be used asa regular melee weapon against anyopponents within 10’.

When powered by your hero’s ch’i,she can chuck it at opponents, like afisherman casting a fishing lure, andhit them with its huge blade and thenwhiz the blade back to her, so she cango a-chucking it again on her nextaction card.

Your hero’s TN for the attack roll ismodified by her opponent’s fightin’level, if any. Due to the nature of theattack, however, targets may choose touse either fightin’ or dodge to make anactive defense.

The flying crescent has a ROF 1when used this way. The maximumrange your hero can hurl the weaponis equal to 5 yards times her ch’iAptitude level, but there are no rangemodifiers to the hero’s attack roll.

Flying GuillotineTN: 7Strain: 4Speed: 1Duration: Instant

Only martial artists who want toidentify themselves as Pure Evil on aStick use the dreaded flying guillotine.

The weapon consists of a wire meshbag attached to a ring. Inside the ringare a series of telescoping, ultra-sharpblades. The ring is attached to a chainthat the wielder holds.

Using the guillotine is sort of like arazor-blade ring toss.

If your hero succeeds in chucking thering over an opponent’s head, he thenyanks the chain tight, activating theblades inside the ring. The blades sliceright on through his opponent’s neck.The hero jerks the chain and isrewarded with a gruesome, severed headin his wire-mesh bag. The opponent,sans head, is left spurting great gouts ofblood all over the sagebrush.

Your character must have at leastone level in throwin’: flying guillotine topurchase this power. All attempts to hitwith a flying guillotine suffer a -6penalty for the required called shot tothe head, but each success and raiseyour martial artists gets on his ch’i rollto activate the power reduces thepenalty by one.

The Marshal may assess furtherpenalties if the target is hiding undereaves, wearing a large sombrero, or

otherwise impeding the flow of thering over her head. The power onlyworks on human-sized opponents, forobvious reasons.

If he fails the throwin’ roll, he’s outthe Strain it took to activate the powerand looks foolish tossing his fancy wirebag on the ground.

If he succeeds with a flyingguillotine hit, the characterautomatically suffers a level 5 wound tothe head—and that’s why they call himEvil.

Each time your hero wants to usethis bit of nastiness, he must pay theStrain and roll his ch’i. He can’tmaintain flying guillotine like he couldflying crescent or flying claw.

Recently, some martial artists whospecialize in fighting undead havebegun using the flying guillotine.

The weapon has a ROF 1 and amaximum range equal to five yardstimes your hero’s ch’i Aptitude level;however, he doesn’t receive anymodifiers to his attack roll for rangewhen using this power.

Fury Fans the FlameTN: 7Strain: 2Speed: 0Duration: Instant

This power lets your hero unleash aflurry of fists and feet on a singleopponent. Some folks liken this attackto a gunslinger fanning his pistol andthe analogy isn’t too far off!

This is one of the very few powersthat can be used after your martialartist determines if his attack roll wassuccessful.

Any time your hero gets a raise on afightin’: martial arts roll using only hisfists or feet (no weapons!), he canattempt to use fury fans the flame tofollow up with another attack. All heneeds to do is make a ch’i roll againstthe power’s TN and spend his Strain.

If his ch’i roll is successful, he canimmediately make another fightin’:martial arts attack against the same foe.Like the original attack, however, thesecond attack cannot use a weapon.

The attack takes place on the sameaction and doesn’t require him tospend—or even have—another actioncard to do so. If he gets a raise on hissecond attack, he can once againattempt to use fury fans the flame andgain yet another attack. He can keepup this merciless rain of blows until hefails to get a raise on his fightin’:martial arts attack or he runs out ofStrain.

The attacks may do lethal orbrawling-type damage and the fufighter can switch between them if hewants, but he must decide before herolls his attack. He can also makecalled shots and/or use any martialarts maneuver he knows while furyfans the flame, but don’t forget to applythe appropriate modifiers to his TN.

Li Ho is fighting one of Kang’sSilver Tigers. The Tiger has afightin’ Aptitude of 4, but Li rollsa 14, giving him a raise on hisfightin’: martial arts attack. Lithen successfully activates furyfans the flame. On the sameaction card, he follows up with aspin kick. This gives him anadditional -2 to his roll, but luckis with him and he gets an 11.That’s enough to hit his foe withthe devastating kick, but notenough for a raise, so he can’tcontinue the assault on thisaction.

Gimmick WeaponTN: 5Strain: 2Speed: 1Duration: 1/round

Your hero is able to use an object notnormally considered a hand-to-handweapon when fighting. That weaponmight be an umbrella, a suitcase, herown hair (assuming it’s long enough),or any other odd weapon.

You have to be able to describe howyour fu fighter is using it as a weaponto the Marshal, who is allowed todisqualify anything he finds simply toounbelievable or unduly silly.

Regardless of the item chosen, yourhero uses her fightin’: martial arts towield it. The impromptu weapon does

Martial Arts 75STR damage, plus an additional 1d8 foreach success and raise your martialartist gets on her ch’i roll to activatethe power. It provides a +1 DefensiveBonus for each success and raise aswell.

Due to the nature of the power, yourfu fighter might very well getdrastically different results from thesame gimmick weapon over time.

While almost anything is fair game,your hero can only use objectsweighing up to 10 lb for each level shehas in her ch’i Aptitude.

Hell’s ThunderclapTN: OpposedStrain: 1Speed: 0Duration: Instant

Use this power immediately afteryour fu fighter makes a successfulfightin’: martial arts (unarmed) attack tohis opponent’s head. The attack can bethe result of a called shot or just alucky hit location roll—it doesn’t matter.

Instead of causing damage, heflattens his palms and claps them overhis opponent’s ears. Not only does heset up a ringing in her ears, but hetemporarily severs her connection toher ancestors, the source of herprosperity and good fortune.

Roll a contest of your hero’s ch’iversus his foe’s Spirit. She suffers apenalty equal to the amount by whichyour hero won the contest to all of herTrait and Aptitude rolls. This effect lasts1d6 rounds, rolled secretly by theMarshal.

This power only effects living targets(human or not) that have a pair of earsyour hero can easily clap his handsover. Undead are immune to its effects.This probably isn’t your martial artist’sbest choice against a Maze Dragon, forexample!

Warning: In some cases, theMarshal may have decided a characterhas been cursed by his ancestors. Thismost often happens when a Chineseperson fails to engage in the ritualsnecessary to propitiate his ancestors. Ifyour hero disrupt a character’sancestral curse, your hell’s thunderclaplevel is applied as a positive modifierinstead!

Jade King’s StanceTN: 5Strain: 2Speed: 1Duration: 1/round

By striking the ancient and mysticpose of the Jade King, your hero canintimidate your enemies and make itdifficult for them to attack her. Thisapplies even to those inferior sorts whodon’t know the Jade King from ajackrabbit.

To activate this power, your hero mustmake a ch’i roll against a Fair (5) TN, butthe higher she rolls, the better. Whilethis power is active, any enemieswishing to attack your hero must makean Onerous (7) Spirit roll. That TNincreases by +2 for every raise your herogets on her ch’i roll.

If the opponent fails the roll, he isovercome by your character’s awe andmajesty and cannot attack directly.Indirect attacks, like causing anavalanche, stirring up a stampede, andthe like are all fair game, however.

If he succeeds, he can attack buttakes a negative modifier of -2 for everysuccess and raise your hero got on thech’i roll to activate the Jade King’s stance.Again, if he chooses to make indirectattacks, he suffers no penalty.

As always, the Marshal has final sayon what is direct or indirect, but theprotection miracle (Weird West Player’sGuide, page 176) should serve as a guide.

Your fu fighter can speak and useother powers which don’t require her tomove in any way while Jade King’sstance is in effect, but if she alters herpose in any way the effects of thispower are immediately canceled. Thisincludes taking an active defense ormaking a fightin’ attack.

Finally, while this power is active,your hero can use it to boost overaweattempts against enemies within 30yards. She adds +2 to her overawe totalfor each success and raise she got onher initial ch’i roll. All of her opponents

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must then roll guts against thatnumber. This can be real handy forchasing off lynch mobs!

Regardless of the result or thenumber of folks she’s cowed with heroverawe, you can’t gain a draw from theFate Pot for achieving a broken resultwhile using Jade King’s stance. You’ve gotto earn those the hard way, pardner!

Li finds himself facing a rowdypress gang looking to crew aship to Lost Angels. He usesJade King’s stance to convincethem to look elsewhere. He getsan 8 on his ch’i roll to activatethe power. Any of the thugstrying to club him must beat anOnerous (7) TN on a Spirit roll toact against him. However, Lidecides to take the offense andmakes an overawe attemptagainst the group. He got only asingle success on his ch’i roll, sohe gets a +2 bonus to his roll toaffect them. He rolls once for theentire group. Hopefully, thetoughs aren’t that tough!

Leopard and Her CubsTN: SpecialStrain: 2 + 1/recipientSpeed: 2Duration: 1/round

With this power, your enlightenedhero can connect his ch’i energy withthat of his companions in a field ofpositive juju. It’s often used by kung fumasters to aid their students in a fight.

During a battle, choose any numberof your allies and make a ch’i rollagainst a Foolproof (3) TN. The onlycatch is that the TN is increased by 2points for every character you chooseto include in the ch’i field. You have tochoose at least one recipient by theway or the power fails.

If the roll succeeds, your hero hasharmonized his ch’i with his chosenrecipients, making them more resistantto damage. All those affected are

treated as though they had a Size 8when figuring damage; if a targetalready has Size 8 or larger, she onlygets a bonus of +1 to her effective Size.The recipients don’t actually growlarger, though, just tougher.

Your hero can include himself in thisfield and gain the benefits, but he mustpay Strain and increase his TN by 2 justlike he does for each other recipient. Ifhe chooses to add himself in thisfashion, he still must select at least oneother person to harmonize with for thepower to work. He can’t activate itsolely on his own.

A single person or group can onlyharmonize their ch’i with one martialartist at a time. Any other attempts touse leopard and her cubs simply fail.

Mantis PinchTN: OpposedStrain: 2Speed: 0Duration: 1/round

This particular attack does not causedamage, but instead hits critical nervejunctions and impairs the flow of ch’ienergies through an opponent’s body.By choosing which nerve junctions tohit, your hero can decide which of anopponent’s Traits to temporarily reduce.

To use mantis pinch, your hero mustfirst make a successful fightin’: martialarts attack. Then, pick a Trait and makean opposed ch’i roll against your foe’sVigor. For each success and raise youscore, the opponent’s die value in thatTrait is reduced by one step. You can’treduce a Trait below a d4.

This reduction lasts for as long asyour martial artist chooses to maintainmantis pinch—or until he runs out ofStrain, whichever comes first.

Undead and other abominations areimmune to this power.

Many Arms of the SpiderTN: 5Strain: 1/attackSpeed: 0Duration: Instant

Many Westerners aren’t considerateenough to follow the unwritten rulethat only one foe may attack you at atime—maybe because it’s unwritten!

Many arms of the spider allows yourhero to teach them some manners.With this ability he can crack multipleheads at once or one head many times.

He may activate this power on anyof his Action Cards. Once activated, hemay perform as many hand-to-handattacks—with or without weapons—onthat action as he has unused ActionCards. You must discard a number ofAction Cards—highest first—equal to thenumber of attacks performed. Holecards are considered your highestAction Cards, followed by the red Joker,by the way.

Your fighter may move up to his fullremaining Pace to reach his opponents,but this power does not allow him anymovement bonuses.

Merciful SparrowTN: OpposedStrain: 1Speed: VamooseDuration: Instant

Is an opponent fixing to make aranged attack on someone you’d rathernot see perforated—including your hero?Well, merciful sparrow gives yourmartial artist the opportunity tointervene on their (or your) behalf!

With this handy ability, your hero canforfeit her next action—assuming shestill has one this round—to kick orthrow a nearby object between theopponent and his target, hopefullythrowing off his aim.

You must be able to describe to theMarshal a suitable object that wouldlogically be available to your hero.Sample objects might include floor tiles,rocks, tree branches, lengths of rope,spittoons, or small woodland animals.

Roll a contest of your character’s ch’iagainst her opponent’s ranged weaponAptitude. If your hero wins, the attackis blocked. If she fails, she still has tospend the Strain to make the attempt.Yes, that’s an exception to the rule wementioned earlier. She’s still makingthe attempt, so, like devastating apestrike, she still pays her Strain up front.

The maximum die type this powercan block is d12, no defecting cannonballs! The power also only worksagainst actual physical missiles; yourhero can’t block soul blasts with it.

Mind of QuicksilverTN: 9Strain: 3 + cost of copied powerSpeed: 1Duration: 1/round + special

When it comes to martial artsabilities, your fu fighter is a fast study.Her masters trained her to carefullyobserve other fighters and pick up theirtricks.

Whenever she sees a character usinga ch’i power or martial arts maneuverin an actual, we’re-in-genuine-danger-here fight, she may use an Action Cardto make a ch’i roll. If she succeeds, shegains the use of that special abilityuntil she stops paying the Strain tomaintain it. If she copies a ch’i powerthat has a cost to maintain it, she mustpay that cost in addition to the 1 Strain/round for mind of quicksilver.

As a bonus, your hero can learn anypower she copies through mind ofquicksilver without having to find asifu. She still has to pay the BountyPoints, but she can do so on her own.

Monkey Goes to theMountain

TN: 3Strain: 3Speed: 1Duration: Instant

Your fu fighter can travel greatdistances in the course of a singleaction. Although it looks like he’sliterally flying, in actual fact he’sleaping.

He has to occasionally touch downon objects as he leaps, although theseobjects don’t have to be strong enoughto support his weight normally. Theycan be treetops, branches, or lampposts,for example.

Doing this requires a ch’i roll againsta base Foolproof (3) TN. That allowsyour martial artist to cover up to 5yards up, down, backward, or sideways.The TN increases by +2 for every 5yards (or fraction thereof) beyond thefirst 5 yards. If you succeed in the ch’iroll, he covers the distance and looksgood doing it.

If you fail the ch’i roll, he runs out ofjuice in mid-leap and comes crashingback to Buddha’s green earth. For eachpoint of difference between the actualresult and the Target Number, he takes1d4 Wind. To keep him on his feet,you’ve got to also make a Nimblenessroll against of Wind taken.

If you go bust on the roll, he takesthe damage above, lands flat on hisback, and has to make a Vigor rollagainst the amount of Wind he lost orbe stunned!

Palm of PreventionTN: 5Strain: 2Speed: 1Duration: Instant

This power is especially preferred bypacifist monk-types. They use it tohumiliate evil-doers without actuallyhurting them.

Using open-handed slaps, lightning-fast holds, and the occasionaldownright sneaky trip, your herothrows her opponent about, preventinghim from taking hostile action againsther or others. She does no actualphysical damage to her opponent withthese maneuvers. His pride, on theother hand, may be severely injured.

Your martial artist must spend anaction preparing palm of preventionbefore actually attacking her foe. Onceshe’s ready, she must be within hand-to-hand range of her opponent. Make anormal attack with her fightin’: martialarts. For each success and raise scored,her opponent loses his next remainingAction Card. Hold cards go first, by theway.

If, as the result of a single use ofpalm of prevention, her opponent isreduced to zero actions for a round—hemust have had actions to lose in thefirst place—your fu fighter mayimmediately make an overawe rollagainst him. This does not cost her anaction. On a broken result, heropponent is demoralized and decides towithdraw from combat. Other resultshave the normal consequences.

Should your martial artist—or anyoneelse—attack him while he retreats, theeffect is canceled, and he may freelyattack once again.

Martial Arts 79Righteous ReversalTN: SpecialStrain: 2Speed: VamooseDuration: Instant

Your hero’s ch’i is so strong that shecan inflict a form of supernaturalretribution on anyone rude enough toattack her!

When your fu fighter is forced tomake a stun check, ifshe has anyAction Cards remaining, she may usethis power to force her attacker tomake the stun check instead.

Make a ch’i roll against the usual stuncheck TN for the wound your hero justreceived; however, you must add +1 to theTN for every 10 yards between yourcharacter and her target.

If she succeeds, the target mustmake the stun check instead of her.The TN for her opponent’s Vigor roll isFair (5), but with a +2 for every raiseyour hero got on her ch’i roll. If he failsthe stun check, he must make arecovery roll versus the same TN beforehe can take any other action.

Be careful, though—righteous reversalis not without its dangers. If she failsthe ch’i roll, she’s stunned as normaland suffers an additional 1d6 Strain!

An inconsiderate gunslingerwings Li Ho for a Heavy wound.Hoping to show the pistolero theerror of his ways, Li usesrighteous reversal. The target is15 yards away, so Li’s TN is a 9 (7for the wound, +2 for range). Hemakes the roll with a 15. Li Hoavoids the stun from the wound,and, since he got a raise, his foemust make a Onerous (7) Vigorroll or be stunned herself.

River Flows UphillTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: VamooseDuration: Instant

Even the greatest fu-masters can’tavoid every single hit. With river flowsup hill, they at least get a say in wherean unavoidable blow lands. And,sometimes, that makes all thedifference between life and death.

When he is hit in combat, your herocan use this power to change thelocation of the hit—no, he can’t movethe location off his body! He mustsacrifice his highest Action Card to dothis. If you have no actions remaining,you can’t use this power.

Once river flows uphill is activated,you can modify the hit location roll ineither direction by 2 points for everysuccess and raise your hero got on hisch’i roll.

Unfortunately, this power has noeffect on called shots. It only workswhen an opponent is relying on luck toplace the blow in a soft spot!

Seize the Pearl ofDeath

TN: SpecialStrain: 2 + 1/missile caughtSpeed: VamooseDuration: Special

Some martial artists prove the handis not only faster than the eye, but evenfaster than a speeding bullet! If yourhero is being attacked by a bullet orhurled ranged weapon, she can spendher highest Action Card to use thisspecial active defense.

While using seize the pearl of death, itdoesn’t look like she’s vamoosing.Instead, she’s standing her ground andplucking any arrows, bullets, spears, orthe like out of the air as they whiztowards her.

Announce your character’s intentionto use seize the pearl of death as soonas she’s been hit, but before hit locationor damage has been rolled. Make a chiroll against a Target Number based onthe amount of damage dealt by themissile. See the table at the end of thepower’s description for details.

If she succeeds, she catches the bulletor other missile and is unharmed. If shefails, roll a d6. If it comes up odd, shetakes full damage to her right hand(left, if she’s a southpaw) in addition totaking full damage to the rolled hitlocation.

If your martial artist catches a bulletor other missile, she may immediatelythrow it back at an enemy. For mostweapons, she uses throwin’: balancedor unbalanced according to the missile.By the way, arrows are consideredunbalanced for the purposes of thispower. On the other hand, if it’s abullet, she specifically needs throwin’:bullet to toss it back.

The returned weapon has a RangeIncrement of 5, regardless of its originalone, and does its full normal damage.That’s right—a Sharps Big .50 does 4d10!Missiles that do damage based on thewielder’s Strength use your martialartist’s Strength as a base.

The table below lists the TNs basedon the damage die type of the missile.For weapons based on Strength, usethe bonus die type, not the wielder’sStrength when possible. If the weapondoes not have a bonus die type, use theTN for d4s.

Your hero can continue to use thispower until her next Action Card, or thebeginning of the round, whichever

comes first. She has to make a ch’i rollfor each missile so caught, but mustonly pay an additional 1 Strain for eachone. Once her next Action Card comesup or the round ends, she must pay 3Strain to reactivate it, however.

Finally, your hero can’t catch missilescreated by a hex, spell, or other magic—no snagging bolts o’ doom!—and shecan’t catch weapons with a die type ofgreater than d12.

The Serpent’s EmbraceTN: OpposedStrain: 2Speed: 0Duration: 1/round

Mantis pinch uses pressure points todisrupt an opponent’s ch’i and weakenthe body as a whole. The serpent’sembrace uses those nerve junctions tocause a foe’s muscles to constrictuncontrollably, immobilizing a limb.

Your fu fighter must make asuccessful attack against a humanopponent’s arm or leg, taking intoaccount the usual modifier for a calledshot. If he hits, immediately make anopposed roll of your hero’s ch’i againstyour opponent’s Vigor. If your martialartist wins, the limb goes numb andthe victim can’t use it for as long asyour hero maintains the serpent’sembrace.

This power has no effect on undeador any non-human creature, natural orotherwise. Their pressure points eitherdon’t work (in the case of the undead),or are different enough that your herolacks enough knowledge of them tomake the power work.

Finally, a victim can suffer only asingle serpent’s embrace at a time.

Seize the PearlSeize the PearlSeize the PearlSeize the PearlSeize the Pearlo’ Deatho’ Deatho’ Deatho’ Deatho’ Death

MissileDie Type TN

d4 3d6 5d8 7d10 9d12 11

Martial Arts 81The Slithering EelTN: 7Strain: 2Speed: 1Duration: 1/round

Your hero can wrap a rope or otherflexible cord around an opponent sothat it entangles him. She can use justabout anything from a belt to thick,shipping rope, but she needs at least 3’to bind up a single opponent.

She doesn’t tie it up or anything, butruns up to a foe and uses her superiorspeed and manipulation abilities towrap him up tightly.

If the attack hits, her opponent isentangled in the rope and incapable ofattacking or using any skill whichrequires the use of his arms or legs.This lasts until he takes an action tofree himself of the rope.

At that point, make an opposed roll,your hero’s ch’i versus the foe’sNimbleness. If he wins, he wrigglesfree.

If she has enough rope and heropponents are within 3’ or so of eachother, she can entangle more than onewith this power. Your hero can catchone goon for every success and raiseshe gets on her ch’i power to activatethe slithering eel.

If your hero stops maintaining thepower the victims free themselvesautomatically.

Smoke Parts for IronTN: 9Strain: 3Speed: 2Duration: 2/round

All the fu in the world is useless ifyour hero’s enemy can only be hurt bymagic. Well, all the fu except for smokeparts for iron. This handy power lets themartial artist channel his ch’i right tohis fists and feet, making them, ineffect, magical weapons.

As long as he maintains smoke partsfor iron, he can affect beings normallyimmune to physical damage with hisbare-handed (and -footed) attacks. If hisopponent requires some special act orweapon to put it down for good, hispummeling won’t send it to Boot Hill,although he may be able to temporarily

drive it away or even pound itsenseless. In other words, if yourmartial artist is facing a hangin’ judge,he might chase it off, but don’t expectto beat it to death!

Also, be warned that some creaturesare immune to even magical attacksand only a very specific weakness cancause them harm. Apparitions are agood example of this, so don’t go tryingto start a fist fight with a ghost! As arule of thumb, ifsoul blast affects thecreature, smoke parts for iron does aswell.

While your fu fighter can’t useweapons with this power, he cancombine it with martial arts maneuversor other ch’i powers, like fury fans theflame or ten-foot punch.

Step Back to Ward OffMonkey

TN: 5Strain: 2Speed: 1Duration: 1/round

Step back to ward off monkey isuseful when your hero is being shot at,or when deadly objects are beingchucked in his direction. It’s a series ofmaneuvers which confuse the humaneye, causing it to misjudge his location.

Once activated, the Target Numbersof all of his opponents’ ranged attacksare increased by +2 for each successand raise your marital artist got on hisch’i roll to activate the power. This evenincludes magical attacks that requirean attack roll to hit the target, like soulblast or bolts o’ doom.

Ten-Foot PunchTN: 7Strain: 3Speed: 1Duration: 2/round

Your hero’s kung fu is so powerfulshe can beat on an opponent many feetaway from you. With ten-foot punch, shecan use her fightin’: martial arts

82 Posse

aptitude to attack opponents who areoutside of normal hand-to-hand range—which can be pretty handy since somany folks in the Weird West arepacking six-shooters!

The exact distance at which she canperform this feat depends on her ch’i roll.Her attacks affect targets up to 10 yardsaway for each success and raise shereceives on her ch’i roll.

She can only use bare-handed (orbare-footed) attacks with this power,although she can couple it with otherpowers like devastating ape strike orfury fans the flame.

Thunder Strums the PipaTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: 0Duration: Instant

When your hero strikes an opponentin hand-to-hand combat, he may usethis power instead of causing normaldamage. This allows him to land a flurryof lightning-fast blows designed to saphis opponent’s strength.

Roll normal brawling damage for yourmartial artist—including the bonus 1d6—but for every success and raise yourhero gets on the ch’i roll to activate thispower, add +1d4. Your opponent thenrolls a Vigor check against that total andtakes Wind equal to the amount bywhich she fails, if any.

She must also make a Vigor rollagainst a Fair (5) TN, +2 for every raiseyour martial artist got on his ch’i roll. Ifshe fails, she’s stunned and can’t takeany action until she recovers by rollingagainst that same TN.

Tiger Shakes Its ManeTN: 7Strain: 2Speed: 1Duration: 1/round

Your hero has learned to manipulatethe flow of ch’i energy through herbody, allowing her to shake off the

effects of pain and shock easier thanregular folk. Whenever she is stunned,she may take an action to activate thispower and automatically shake it offwithout making a Vigor roll.

As long as she maintains tigershakes its mane, she may also ignoreone level of wound penalties for eachsuccess and raise she got on the ch’iroll to activate it.

Veins of IronTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: 1Duration: 1/round

Through his mastery of his ch’i andhis own physical body, your martialartist is able to weather physical abusebetter than the average cowpoke. Hecan’t actually avoid wounds with veinsof iron, but he can minimize the shortterm effects.

While this power is active, your herocan subtract 5 Wind for each successand raise he gets on his ch’i roll fromany he suffers from wounds or the like.He still loses Wind normally frompicking up the pace or severe weatherconditions, and so forth.

And yes, this does make him onebad dude in a regular brawl!

Vengeance of Angry MonkeyTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: 0Duration: Instant

Your hero has learned to mimic thevicious attack of an enraged monkey;however, instead of hurling merely fruitor, uh, other things, she can turn nearlyany small item into a deadly missile.

The missile does her Strength, plus1d6 damage for every success and raiseshe gets on her ch’i roll.

To hit, she uses her fightin’: martialarts, but based on her Deftness Traitinstead of Nimbleness. It has a RangeIncrement of 5 and a maximum rangeof five times her ch’i.

She can slap, headbutt, kick, orotherwise chuck the item at her foe;she’s not limited to simply throwing it.The chosen item can weigh more than5 lb. for each level of her ch’i Aptitude.

Venom PunchTN: OpposedStrain: 3Speed: 1Duration: Special

This power gives an opponentsomething to remember your hero by—and not fondly. When your heropunches an opponent with his barehand (or, if he prefers, kicks her withhis bare foot), he may introduce a smallamount of his own ch’i energy into hersystem. His ch’i acts as an irritant, ineffect becoming a poison that causesincreasing harm to his victim over aperiod of time.

Your hero must spend an actionconcentrating his ch’i before attemptingto use this power. Once activated, theattacking hand or foot crackles withvisible chi energy. Use fightin’: martialarts to hit as usual. For this power towork your hero must be able topenetrate your foe’s armor level—if any.

If the attack hits, make an opposedroll of your hero’s ch’i versus his foe’sVigor. If he wins, he does his normalmartial arts damage. However, she alsotakes an additional 2d6 to the guts ashis ch’i energy begins to invade hersystem. The ch’i energy continues toburn in his foe’s guts for an additionalround for each success and raise hereceived on the opposed roll.

As it lingers, it grow in intensity,gaining a die type each successiveround. With a simple success, it burnsone additional round, doing another 2d8to her guts; with a raise, it lasts for twoadditional rounds, causing 2d8 the firstround and 2d10 on the second. Themaximum die type of damage causedby venom punch is 2d12, but thatshould be plenty sufficient to take outall but the toughest opponents!

If the attack misses, the chi energydissipates and is lost. Your martial artistmust spend another action to refocus it,but he doesn’t lose any Strain. If heloses the opposed roll, though, he doeslose the Strain, even though hisopponent isn’t affected.

Normal western medicine does squatagainst the effects of a venom punch.Even magical healing like lay on handsor the medicine favor is too slow tocancel a venom punch; however, a

character with the medicine: Chinesetraditional aptitude can stop the effectsof a venom punch by treating the victimfor a round and beating a Hard (9) TN.

Wind Blows Over the EarthTN: 5Strain: 1Speed: 0Duration: Instant

If your hero successfully hits a foeusing fightin’: martial arts, she can electto throw him a fair distance instead ofdoing damage to him. For each successand raise scored on her ch’i roll, shecan throw your opponent three yards.Unless she throws her opponent off acliff or into a pit of alligators, hedoesn’t suffer any damage. He doestake 1d6 Wind for each success andraise she got on the ch’i roll.

He’s also knocked down and mustmake a stun check against a Fair (5)TN +2 for each raise your hero got onher ch’i roll.

Chapter Four:

The Way of theSpirits

As in most of the other chapters sofar, we’re going to give your character alot of new options, in the form of amedicine bag full of new favors. Asbefore, however, we’re going to updateour older sourcebook—in this caseGhost Dancers—to the newer revisedrules and clarify or correct any areasthat need a little patching.

A New Drum forthe Dancers

If you’re familiar with our older rulesas well as the revised changes, youprobably already know the effects on

shamans and their magic systemwere slight. If you’re not, the onlyreal difference is that now

individual rituals are actuallyconcentrations of a single Aptitudenamed ritual.

Now, when your hero wants to learna new type of ritual, instead of startingfrom scratch, he pays 3 Bounty Pointsand gains that new method at thesame level as his other ritual Aptitudeconcentrations. It works just likeshootin’ or any of a multitude of otherAptitudes that have concentrationsrelated to one another.

Of course, each concentration ofritual, like ritual: pledge or ritual: scar,has its own associated Trait. That’s alittle different than shootin’ or fightin’,which use the same Trait for all theirconcentrations. Also, your shaman can’tdefault on a ritual concentration. Heeither knows it or he doesn’t.

New FavorsStarting characters get one favor for

every point in their ritual Aptitude,regardless of the number ofconcentrations. If you’re using theguardian spirit Edge

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from Ghost Dancers, your character canalso learn an additional one for everypoint she has in that Edge. The rulesstill apply for bonus favors for choosingthem from your guardian spirit’s favoredmedicine way.

Learning new favors is a bit simpler.Now, if your shaman wants a newfavor, she has to pay 5 Bounty Points.That’s it. Don’t worry about trying toraise the ritual Aptitude to gain a newfavor, just pay the cost and pick a newone.

It’s possible the Marshal may wantyou to pay an extra 2 Bounty Points foran unfavored medicine way under thissystem, but that’s his choice. He mayalso require your hero to find ateacher—either another shaman or aspirit—but that’s his option.

Guardian SpiritsLooks like a coyote spirit got loose in

Chapter Four: Guardian Spirits!Luckily, he didn’t stay long.

The Special Abilities paragraph inthat chapter should read:

“Special Abilities: Guardianspirits can also impart specialabilities with the expenditure ofa Fate Chip, as if they were aspecial kind of knack. Theseabilities are revealed as morepoints are put into the Edge: a 1-point guardian spirit onlyimparts the first ability listed, a3-point guardian spirit impartsthe first two, and a 5-pointguardian spirit grants access tothe first three abilities. TheLegend Chip ability of theguardian spirit can be used atany level, but the Edge maynever be increased above level 5.You can always use a higherchip for a lower ability.”

The maximum value (and level) for theguardian spirit Edge is always 5 points.

Specific FavorsA couple of favors from Ghost

Dancers need a little clarification, solet’s take care of those right quick.

Earth speak lists a Duration of“Concentration.” This favor works likethe hex shadow man in this respect.The shaman can use trackin’ and stillmaintain this favor. Any other actions,except simple ones, end the favor. Thisis an exception to the usual rule.

Wilderness walk works just like earthspeak but with sneak instead.

Spirit guide’s Appeasement Costdepends on what the shaman isseeking in the Hunting Grounds.

Also, the spirit guide power no longerallows a shaman to contact anotherthrough her dreams. The shaman mustnow use the favor dream walk (a newone introduced in this chapter) to do so.

Spirit weapon lists its Duration as“Concentration or the duration of thetrip in the Hunting Grounds.” That canmake it a little tough for a shaman towield the weapon herself. Now, thefavor lasts for the duration of theshaman’s trip to the Hunting Grounds,or, if she’s remaining in the physicalworld, the Duration is “Concentration or1 Wind/round.”

New GuardianSpirits

We first introduced the Edgeguardian spirit in our Ghost Dancerssourcebook. We’ll give you the shortversion of how these work in case youdon’t have access to that fine tome, butyou can find out more about this Edgethere.

Target Sought AppeasementA general type of spirit 1Portal known to theshaman 2Specific spirit or portal not known to shaman 5A particular spirit relic, agodlike spirit 7

Spirit GuideSpirit GuideSpirit GuideSpirit GuideSpirit Guide

Shamans 87A guardian spirit is an Edge worth 1 to

5 points. For each point in the guardianspirit your hero may store 1Appeasement point for later use. Thesepoints don’t automatically refill whenexpended. Your hero must performrituals as normal to replenish them.

Guardian spirits are associated withone or more medicine ways (or groupsof favors). When your shaman uses hisguardian spirit’s Appeasement points forits favored medicine way(s), they countdouble. For this purpose, you can trackhalf-points.

Guardian spirits also impart specialabilities. See the previous section,Guardian Spirits for details.

When creating your character, youcan select one additional favor for everypoint in your guardian spirit Edge—ortwo favors from the spirit’s associatedmedicine way.

Finally, guardian spirits have specificoaths that any hero choosing them isrequired to live by. If your shamanbreaks his spirit’s oath, he must makea Hard (9) faith roll or lose 1 point in theguardian spirit Edge.

The GuardianSpirits

ButterflyAssociated Medicine: Trickster

This spirit embodies elusiveness andagility. Warriors seek to gain its favor tohelp them dodge their enemies’ attacks.Some Southwestern tribes even teachthat man and all the other animalswere made by the Great Butterfly

White: The spirit grants your herothe misdirect favor. This costs him noAppeasement points.

Red: Butterfly grants the confusionfavor, with an Appeasement point valueequal to the number of points currentlystored in the guardian spirit.

Blue: Cancels a ranged attack madeon a target within 10 yards of your herothat requires the attacker to make anAptitude roll to actually strike the target.Guns, bows, thrown weapons and evensome spells fall under this description.You can spend the chip after theattacker has already made her roll.

Legend: On a successful Hard (9)Spirit roll, increase your hero’s guardianspirit Edge by 1.

Oath: When given a choice betweena peaceful resolution and fighting, yourshaman must always choose peace.Your hero must always try to avoidconfrontation rather than seek it whensolving her problems.

DogAssociated Medicine: Earth

Dog holds an odd place among Indiancultures. Its namesake is a beast ofburden, guardian, and hunter—butoccasionally a source of food. As a spiritit is a protector and helpmate to thetribe, perhaps not as fierce in battle asWolf, but more reliable and trustworthyas a defender.

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White: Your shaman can cancel theeffects of a failed surprise roll byspending a white Fate Chip.

Red: The spirit grants your hero theearth speak favor with an Appeasementpoint value equal to the pointscurrently stored in the guardian spirit.No points are spent; this is just todetermine the favor’s effects.

Blue: Automatically and instantlyreplace all your shaman’s lost Wind.This won’t take your hero above hisstarting total.

Legend: On a successful Hard (9)Spirit roll, increase your hero’s guardianspirit Edge by 1.

Oath: Your shaman must alwaysobey the dictates of his tribe. AllIndians with a Dog guardian spirit areloyal. If your hero no longer has a tribefor some reason, he bows to the wishesof whatever leader or group to whichhe has attached himself. Dog is not aleader.

ThunderbirdAssociated Medicine: Visionseeking

and warThunderbirds are powerful spirits and

protectors of the Hunting Grounds.They’re also the protectors of humanity.In recent years, more and more bravesare being accepted by younger spirits ofthis sort. The oldest, wisest shamansamong the tribes aren’t sure what thismeans, but fear it foretells humanityfaces a terrible battle in the times ahead.

The Thunderbird guardian spirit Edgecosts twice as much as a normalguardian spirit. For example, it costs 6points to buy a 3-point Thunderbirdspirit. Due to the power and respectthese spirits command, your heroreceives a +2 to all social rolls towardany shaman who knows your hero’sguardian spirit is a Thunderbird.

White: The spirit grants the cleanseportal favor to your shaman.

Red: The Thunderbird grants yourhero the lightning strike favor. TheAppeasement point value of the favor

is equal to the points currently storedin the guardian spirit. No Appeasementpoints are spent; they merely determinethe power of the favor. If your hero’sguardian spirit has less than 2Appeasement stored, you cannot usethis ability.

Blue: Automatically refill theguardian spirit’s Appeasement pointpool.

Legend: On a successful Hard (9)Spirit roll, increase the guardian spiritEdge by 1.

Oath: Thunderbirds aren’t known forsubtlety, neither are the shamans theyaccept. Your hero must choose thedirect solution to any problem. He mustnever avoid fighting an abomination ormanitou, even involuntarily (as infailing a guts check and fleeing).

New FavorsWe’ve organized these new favors

into medicine ways, just like in GhostDancers. If you’re not using thatsupplement or guardian spirits, don’tworry too much about the divisions.We’ve provided a brief description atthe beginning of each medicine way tohelp you choose favors that best fityour shaman’s motivations andbackground, but there is no game effectotherwise.

Favors have three entries in additionto the actual description of the effect.

Appeasement is the minimumnumber of Appeasement points it takesto garner the favor.

Duration is how long the favor lasts.Range is the distance at which the

favor takes place or the “reach” of theshaman, depending on the favor. Aswith huckster magic, the shaman mustbe able to see his target to affect,unless otherwise noted in the favor’sdescription.

Blessing MedicineThis medicine way is concerned with

luck, chance, and overall success.Gambling and material wealth areimportant to some tribes, but blessingmedicine is more far reaching thansimply fixing a game of chance.

Breath of the SpiritsAppeasement: 1Duration: InstantRange: 5 yards/Appeasement

This favor grants your shaman theability to help himself and othercharacters recover from exhaustion,flesh wounds, and the like. This is avery valuable favor for war parties.

Breath of the spirits restores 1d6 Windto the shaman or any other individualwithin the favor’s range. For eachAppeasement point he spends beyondthe minimum, he can allow recovery ofanother 1d6 Wind. Your hero can givethis to the same character or toanother within range, but he must allotall the dice before rolling.

No character can go above herstarting Wind through this favor.

Sacred GroundAppeasement: 20Duration: PermanentRange: Touch

Just as Catholics have cathedrals orJews have temples, certain places areholy to Indians. Some sacred ground isholy because it has always been so, butother sites, like burial grounds or sweatlodges, are made that way throughritual and appeasement of the spirits.

Sacred ground blesses a site for atribe. This favor consecrates an areawith a radius of 1’ per Appeasementpoint spent to the spirits.

Any manitou or abominationattempting to enter an area cleansed bysacred ground, must make an Onerous(7) Spirit roll, or be blocked at the edge.This TN increases by +2 for everyadditional 4 Appeasement points spentwhen your shaman requests the favor.

Even if the creature succeeds in itsspirit roll, all its Trait and Aptitude rollswhile on the sacred ground receive apenalty equal to the faith Aptitude ofyour shaman (assuming your hero wasgranted the favor).

The high cost of this favor virtuallyguarantees only a lengthy ordeal canprovide a shaman the necessaryAppeasement, so it’s only requested fortruly special locations. In other words,your hero probably shouldn’t be using itto protect his nightly campsite!

Turtle’s GiftAppeasement: 10Duration: 1 yearRange: Self

Among many tribes, Turtle is reveredfor his long life and his blessing issought to grant longevity.

When your shaman is granted thisfavor, she must make a Hard (9) Spiritroll. If she succeeds, she ages at halfthe normal rate for the next year.

She may gain the benefits of Turtle’sgift only once a year.

Earth MedicineThis medicine way calls upon the

favors of nature spirits. Virtually all ofcreation has an associated spirit: wind,fire, rain, animals, and even the grounditself. This is the most commonmedicine way followed by tribalshamans as it best allows them toprovide for and protect their people.

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Nature’s WrathAppeasement: 2Duration: 6 roundsRange: 10 yards/Appeasement

With this favor, your shaman calls onthe spirits of the earth and any nearbyplants to hinder his enemies. Grass,vines, even dirt and mud wrap thevictims’ legs slowing or even stoppingthem fast. The spirits hinder anyone,except the shaman, who enters the areaof the favor!

Nature’s wrath affects a circular areafive yards across for every Appeasementpoint spent. A creature in or enteringthat area must make a Fair (5) Strengthroll or be stuck fast. It can try the rollagain on each of its actions. AdditionalAppeasement points do not increase theTN to break free.

Even if it makes the Strength roll, ithas its Pace reduced by 2. EveryAppeasement point above the minimumlowers its Pace by another 2 points. Acreature with 0 Pace is stuck fast for theduration.

RemedyAppeasement: VariesDuration: InstantRange: Touch

The favor heal treats wounds on thebody but not all dangers to a hero’shealth are visible. Remedy treatspoisons and disease, invisible foes thatcan fell the mightiest warrior.

The Appeasement cost depends onthe type of poison or disease beingtreated and is shown on the table below.

Secret PathsAppeasement: 2Duration: 1 dayRange: 10 yards

The spirits know the easiest paths tofollow through the wilderness, and, ifyour shaman requests this favor, theycan show him as well. Secret paths letsyour hero move twice or more thenormal distance in a day’s travel on foot.

He can cover 20 miles with nodifficulty at all. For every 10 miles abovethat he wants to travel, he must makea Fair (5) Vigor roll. Each check afterthe first is at a cumulative -2 penalty,to a maximum of -6. The most distanceyour shaman can cover in a day withsecret paths is 70 miles.

For every Appeasement point afterthe first, your hero can allow anothercharacter to gain the benefits of secretpaths, but she has to make her ownVigor rolls to move the extra distance.

Finally, this favor has no effect onmounted riders, gadgets like steamwagons, or autogyros, only on bravesmoving with the old heel-toe express.

This is a favorite magic of raidingparties, letting them strike deep intotheir foes’ territory.

RemedyRemedyRemedyRemedyRemedy

Poison orDisease AppeasementNormal diease

(smallpox, chlorea)or infection 4

Normal poison 5Supernatural poison

or disease 7

Shamans 91Show the PathAppeasement: 1Duration: 6 hoursRange: Touch

A pathfinder in the wilderness is agreat help when moving from place toplace, but only if she leaves a trail yourhero can see. And when she does, yourshaman always has to worry that oneof his enemies might find it as well.

Show the path allows the shaman tofollow the subject unerringly for theduration of the favor. Conversely, if yourhero is the most woodswise member ofthe war party, she can cast the favor onherself and grant another member ofthe group the ability to see themagical trail she leaves.

Casting this on an unwilling orunknowing subject requires your heroto beat the target in an opposed test ofSpirit or the favor fails.

Anyone with the ability to seemagical auras—like through hex sense,a Knack, or other ability—can also seethe trail left by this favor.

Ghost MedicineGhost medicine is often called

witchcraft or sorcery among the tribes.These favors are most often the toolsof evil magicians and shaman usuallystay far from them.

Each ghost medicine favor a shamanknows increases her Grit by one, butonly for the purpose of returningHarrowed. If she does come back fromthe dead, the manitou automatically hasDominion and the shaman must win anopposed Spirit roll against the manitouor be cast out of her own body forever.

Blood OathAppeasement: VariesDuration: VariesRange: Touch

This favor compels a brave to followhis word—or suffer dire consequences.

Your shaman must have thecooperation of the subject to make useof this favor. She’s got some leeway asto how she goes about getting that: afriendly request, coercion, bribery, evenoutright abuse. All that matters is thesubject agrees to accept the blood oath.

The subject makes her promise andseals it by cutting her own hand orother body part for at least one woundlevel, so as to spill the blood necessaryto seal the pact.

Now, your shaman must spendAppeasement points equal to thetarget’s Spirit die type. This gives thefavor a duration of a single week. EachAppeasement spent above that amountdoubles the duration. So, with 2additional points, the favor lasts 4weeks; with 4 additional, it lasts 16months, and so on.

Each time during the duration of theblood oath the subject breaks herpromise, both her Spirit and Vigor dietypes drop a level. The only way toregain the lost die types is for her toeither redress the transgression (ifpossible) or wait for the favor to expire.

Your shaman must be careful on thewording of the promise, as blood oath,unlike the word o’ honor miracle, holdsthe subject to the letter, not the spiritof the pledge.

Devil’s DanceAppeasement: 1Duration: 4 roundsRange: 5 yards

Hucksters insist on consorting withmanitous to work their hexes. When itcomes to gaining the attention ofspirits—even manitous—shamans areundeniably experts. This favor helps ahuckster attract more manitous withwhich to work her hexes—more thanshe would care for.

This favor targets a single hucksterand, for its duration, forces thecharacter to draw an extra card eachtime she successfully casts a hex. Thisextra card can’t be used to form abetter hand, however; it only increasesthe huckster’s chance of gettingbacklash by drawing the black Joker.

Each Appeasement point beyond thefirst adds an additional card to thedraw for backlash.

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Summon SerpentAppeasement: 2Duration: 6 roundsRange: Touch

Ghost magic sorcerers are masters ofshapechanging. Usually, they shift theirown forms, but summon serpent letsthem turn a simple piece of wood intoa deadly animal.

This favor transforms a normal stick,at least 1’ long, into a rattler—no, notthat kind, a rattlesnake! The snakefollows the shaman’s orders exactly andwon’t attack him, which is a goodthing, since it changes into a snake inhis grasp!

Every Appeasement point beyond theminimum allows him to transform anadditional stick, assuming he hasenough wood on hand.

The Marshal has the details on arattler’s profile and its poison in theMarshal’s Handbook rulebook.

Trickster MedicineThis is the medicine of confusion

and illusion. Many claim the tricksterspirits use their magic to teach andillustrate, but they’ve probably neverhad one of those spirits play a prankon them.

Coyote’s LaughAppeasement: 2Duration: 1 roundRange: Self

There’s nothing Coyote likes betterthan a good practical joke—unless it’s apractical joke at a foe’s expense!

When a shaman is granted this favor,she causes all around her to falter andstumble in their actions for a momentand then all try to act at once.

In game terms, coyote’s laugh takeseffect the round after your shaman isgranted the favor. In that round, no onein the combat can act before yourhero’s highest Action Card. If a

character has a higher card he has toput it up his sleeve. He can only have asingle card up his sleeve, so if healready has one there, or has morethan one higher then your hero’s card,he has to discard the extras whenthose card are called.

Even if your shaman has a card upher sleeve going into the round, evenhe can’t take an action before hishighest card drawn for that round.

The one exception to this is ifanother character draws the red Joker.In that case, she can act normally.

When your shaman’s card comes up,everyone with a card up their sleeve asa result of coyote’s laugh (or otherwise)may act. Of course, this may mean awhole passel of braves are trying to goat the same time, so a contest ofQuickness should be rolled.

The trickster spirits have a twistedsense of humor, so request this favorwith caution. If she draws the red Joker,the favor is canceled and she mustdiscard the Joker (although he does geta draw from the Fate Pot). If she drawsthe black Joker, however, while hesuffers the full effects of it, everyonewho drew more than a single ActionCard this turn must discard their highest.Cards up the sleeve are unaffected.

MisdirectAppeasement: 1Duration: 4 roundsRange: Touch

This favor calls upon the tricksterspirits to distract, divert, or annoy anopponent’s aim in combat. A glint ofsunlight, a heat wave, a barely glimpsedmovement in the corner of an eye—allof these are fair game for the spirits.

Each Appeasement point applied tothis favor causes an opponents targetingthe recipient with a ranged attack tosuffer a -1 penalty to their rolls.

Truth of the CrowAppeasement: 1Duration: 6 roundsRange: 5 yards

It takes a foolish man to lie to thebest liars in the Hunting Grounds. Thisfavor asks for the trickster spirit’sassistance in finding the truth.

Shamans 93However, in true trickster fashion,

the spirits don’t give a forthrightanswer. Instead, they cause each lie tomake a terrible and bitter taste in thesubject’s mouth. Truth of the crowtargets a single character.

Your shaman may make an opposedroll of her Cognition versus thesubject’s Vigor to catch the telltalepucker or grimace caused by the horridtaste. This favor doesn’t give your herothe truth, but it is good for a laughwhile she’s looking!

VisionseekingMedicine

This medicine way is devoted todealing with the spirits and theirhomeland, the Hunting Grounds. Spaceprevents us from addressing all theaspects of visionseeking medicine here,but full details on this medicine wayare in Ghost Dancers.

Dream WalkAppeasement: 2Duration: 5 minutesRange: Self

Using his knowledge of the HuntingGrounds, your shaman is able to enterthe dreams of others. Distance is noobstacle to this favor.

He has to enter the Hunting Groundsto dream walk, either physically,through a portal, or spiritually, with thevision quest favor. Once there, he mustmake an area knowledge: HuntingGrounds roll to find the correct person’sdreams. This has a TN of 17 (!), so mostdream walking shamans use a spiritguide to assist them (use the cost of aspecific spirit for Appeasement).

Your shaman can observe the dreamand even speak to the dreamer throughthe favor, but can’t otherwise interactwith the dream unless he’s physicallyin the Hunting Grounds. If your shamanis able to interact with the dream, hecan warp it to cause the dreamer tosuffer from the night terrors Hindrance.

If the dreamer is aware of yourhero’s presence and doesn’t want himthere, she can attempt to force theshaman from her dreams. This takesan opposed contest of Spirit.

War MedicineAlthough the Indians are great

warriors in their own right, a big partof the reason they’ve been able to holdtheir own against the white man andhis advanced weapons is their allies,the spirits. With the favors in thismedicine way, a war party is afearsome opponent for any militaryunit!

CourageAppeasement: 1Duration: 4 hoursRange: Touch

With this favor, your shaman canconvince herself or her companionsthat any day is a good day to die. It’soften used by war parties facingterrible odds.

The recipient is immune to overaweattempts, gets +2 to all other gutschecks for the duration and does nothave to flee as the result of a failedguts check. Each additionalAppeasement allows another characterto be included in the effects.

There is a drawback, however; thefavor breeds foolhardiness. Any timeyour hero wants to flee or otherwisewithdraw, she must make an Onerous(7) Smarts roll or stay and fight!

Hawk’s SwiftnessAppeasement: 3Duration: 1 roundRange: Self

The race isn’t always to the swift—but that’s the safe bet. This favor grantsyour hero a hawk’s swiftness in battle.

Each 3 Appeasement spent givesyour hero an extra Action Card at thebeginning of the next round afterQuickness is rolled.

Although there is no limit to thenumber of extra cards he can receivethrough this favor, if he goes bust onQuickness, he forfeits those as well ashis regular draw.

Chapter Five:

Conjure Bags &Curses

There’s more to those Voodoo cultsdown New Orleans way thansuperstitious mumbo-jumbo. It’s enoughthat the Texas Rangers have takenmore than a passing interest in them oflate—particularly with all the influenceLaCroix’s enjoying lately thanks to theBayou Vermillion.

As with most human practices, there’sa good side and a bad side to Voodoo.Since heroes in Deadlands are primarilyjust that—heroes—we’re going to concernourselves with the primarily good side ofthe practice. The Marshal has theinformation on the bad side of Voodoo.

Word to the WiseIn New Orleans, voodoo is prettymuch accepted—if not exactly smiledon—by most of the populace. Outsidethe city, most practitioners of the

religion are more skittish than long-tailed cats in a room of rocking chairs.

And with good reason. These folkshave to be even more careful abouttheir doings than hucksters. Abloodthirsty lynch mob would let ahexslinger go in a heart beat overnothing more than a rumor of aVoodoo-practicing “witch doctor.”

By the way, for clarity, when talkingabout the religion, Voodoo, we usecapital letters; if we’re talking aboutmagic spells, though, we use lowercase.

Style and SubstanceIt’s important to understand that

while Voodoo has a lot of very visualelements and a heavily supernaturalflavor to it, voodoo magic tends to befairly subtle in its effects. Voodooistsdon’t generally go about flinging boltsof doom or other flashy spells. Instead,they craft complicated and long-lastingspells that work behind the scenesrather than in plain sight.

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Basic BeliefsUnlike many religions, voodoo doesn’t

have a strict set of moral guidelines.The general ideas is most folks knowwhat’s right and what isn’t anyway, socluttering up the religion with a lot ofphilosophy on it is a waste of time.What voodooists do pay attention to isshowing the proper respect to apowerful group of spirits known asloas.

LoasLots of folks tend to think of loas as

the gods of voodoo, but that’s not quiteright, they’re actually very powerfulspirits. Each has its sphere of influence,and the faithful petition them for aid.

Rada and PetroThere are two types of loa—the rada

and the petro. For every rada loa, thereis a petro aspect mirroring its influence,but with a darker, malicious cast.

Rada loas are generally consideredthe “good” loas, and are the onesvoodooists most often pay homage to intheir ceremonies.

Petro loas are malevolent andmischievous entities. Even though theirmagic is more potent, it’s considered abad idea to consort with the petro loa—that’s the realm of the black magician,or bokkor.

The LoasThe total number of loas is probably

somewhere in the hundreds, but we’velisted a few of the more powerful andcommonly worshipped below. These areall rada loa as well—in case you werewondering.

LegbaLegba serves as the interpreter to

the other loa. Only through Legba, canthe other loa communicate with each

other and human beings. As a result,all rituals and ceremonies first honorLegba, regardless of the practitioner’sprimary loa.

This loa is also the guardian of gates,fences, roads, and paths. He is known asthe Master of Crossroads—and sincecrossroads are a favorite haunt of spiritsand sorcerers in Voodoo, he receiveshomage from magicians as well.

Although he is represented as acrippled old man dressed in rags, Legbahas a terrific strength. Nonetheless, heis often represented by a crutch.

AgweAgwe is the patron of the sea, sailors

and sailing. Anyone planning ashipboard journey is well advised to payrespects to him. He’s also viewed bymany Haitians as the patron loa ofHaiti, so he’s got quite a following inthe waters of the Caribbean.

Agwe has a fondness for gunfire.Many ceremonies to him involve a bitof gunfire to honor his desires.

Damballah-WedoDamballah-Wedo, or just plain

Damballah, is the snake god of voodoo.Now, most folks north of the bordertend to look on snakes as squirmy andcreepy, but Damballah is viewed as abenevolent spirit by most voodooists.Damballah is one of the most popularof all the loas.

Silver is his color, so he’s also the loapeople seeking treasure most oftenconsult for aid—maybe that hassomething to do with his popularity.

OguThis boisterous loa is the patron of

soldiers and war. He is a powerfulcombatant—and a powerful cusser, too!However, Ogu is depicted as being asskillful as he is strong. Believersseeking aid in battle often petition Ogufor assistance.

Few things please Ogu more than achance to prove his toughness andability. Ceremonies to him often includetests of will and strength. It’s notunheard of for chuals to burnthemselves to prove their toughness.

Voodoo 97Loco

Contrary to what his name mightindicate to the average cowpoke, Locois the patron of plants. He’s also the loaresponsible for healing the sick andinjured and that makes him a rightpopular fellow!

Loco is a cautious sort, not given tosnap decisions or rushing into asituation. Because his power is moresubtle than some, Loco’s following isn’tas large as many of the other loas.That is, until somebody gets hurt!

Ezili-Freda-DahomeyThis loa is the patroness of feminine

beauty, grace, and love. Her name isusually shortened to simply Ezili. She isflirtatious and passes her favor oftenseemingly according only to whim.

Ezili loves the company of men, andhas romanced many of the male loa.

Baron SamediThe Baron is a member of the Guédé,

the group of loa responsible for theunderworld and darker side of life. TheBaron is a member of a trio of spirits.These three, Baron Samedi, Baron-la-Croix (not the owner of BayouVermillion!), and Guédé-nibo, are soclosely united, it’s difficult to tell if theyare three separate spirits or justdifferent aspects of the same one.

Although his realm is death and thegraveyard, the Baron is one of theliveliest of the loa. He’s renowned forhis black sense of humor and love ofcelebration.

Mounting the ChualFrom time to time loas possess, or

“mount,” their followers, much like arider mounts a horse. The “mount,” orchual takes on many aspects of the loaand gains some of the being’s power aswell. Possession by a loa is a honor to avoodooist, and shows the spirit’s favorfor the individual.

Usually, this only occurs duringsecretive ceremonies in the humfor.However, a few voodooists are speciallyfavored by their patrons and can openthemselves to the loa outside the

sanctified ground of the humfor.They’re often able to take advantage ofthe power of the loa in a more practicalfashion. These folks are called favoredchuals and you’ll find the details onthem later.

Holy GroundJust as in many other religions, certain

areas are considered to be consecratedground. These are sanctified to a loa orloas and very important for castingspells. The two types of consecratedground most often encountered are thehumfor and the shrine.

Voodoo holy sites serve as worshipand meeting sites, but they also serveas a workplace for conjure doctors andmambos due to the connection to theloas.

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The HumforA humfor is holy ground for voodoo

ceremonies. You can think of it like avoodoo temple or church, if you’d like.It’s a square, or sometimes round,building or hut with a number ofshrines to various loas.

A humfor always contains a poteau-mitan, a large pole that serves as sortof a supernatural lightning rod, aidingin the congregation’s efforts to contactthe loas. A humfor is a kind of“neutral” holy ground—it honors all theloa equally.

Ritual ceremonies are held to payhomage to the loas and petition fortheir favor. Congregations of thefaithful are lead by mambos, or voodooqueens, and houngans, or voodoopriests. Women hold the preeminent

role in a congregation as mambos, buthoungans wield just as much magicalpower.

The ShrineA shrine is a small altar dedicated to

a particular loa. It usually contains avariety of ritual objects and sacrifices tothe loa. Shrines are often found in thehomes of voodooists. Unlike humfors,shrines are dedicated only to a singleloa—usually the voodooist’s patron.

Voodoo and the DeadThe spirits of the dead, receive

special honor in voodoo for a prettysimple reason. Unhappy ghosts tend tomake other folks unhappy as well.Voodooists have known this for a longtime, but it’s especially true lately.

As long as the spirits of the dead areshown proper respect, they tend to notbother the living too much. Voodooistput a lot of stock in proper funerals,wakes, and burials. Send a fellow offright and he’s not likely to come backis the general thinking.

Not such a bad idea given the turn ofevents over the past decade or so.

Many bokkor use petro magic tocompel the dead to do their bidding.The best known example of thispractice is the zombie—an undead slaveof a black magician. Such sorcery is asfrightening and repulsive to a voodooistas it is to the average cowpoke—maybeeven more so!

New Aptitudes

Conjurin’Associated Trait: Special

This is the Aptitude which practicingvoodooists use to make magic. Itfunctions in many ways like ahuckster’s hexslingin’ Aptitude.

It’s seldom used by itself and worksa little differently than normalAptitudes. Each spell has an associatedTrait. When your voodooist casts aspell, she rolls her conjurin’ Aptitudelevel, paired with the die type of theTrait with which the spell is associated.

Voodoo 99Note that conjurin’ is a separate and

different Aptitude from faith: Voodoo.Faith: Voodoo is the belief in thereligion’s tenets and conjurin’ is theknowledge to work spells through it.

However, since the working of voodoomagic is directly tied to the religionitself, voodooists must have at least onelevel in faith: Voodoo. Many spells rely, atleast in part, on the voodooist’s faith aswell, so your character may want topurchase more than the minimum inthat Aptitude as well.

Faith: VoodooAssociated Trait: Spirit

This is the religion followed byvoodooists. It includes a knowledge ofthe tenets of voodoo as well as thenames and spheres of the various loas.

Unlike most other characters withfaith Aptitudes, voodooists do not gainaccess to the protection miracle. Also,characters with this Aptitude seldombecome blessed—instead, they canchoose the arcane background: voodooEdge (see below).

A character must have at least 1 levelin this Aptitude to select arcanebackground: voodoo.

New Edges

Arcane Background:Voodoo 3

Your hero knows the ways and thesecrets of Voodoo. Maybe he’s a conjuredoctor, a houngan, or even a mambo.Whatever her background, she’s able tolearn voodoo spells as described in thesection on them.

Your voodooist must have at leastone level in faith: Voodoo to take thisEdge. Also, since the whole point ofthis Edge is casting voodoo spells, he’sgoing to need the conjurin’ Aptitude.

Most folks that know how to workvoodoo spells and rituals grew up nearNew Orleans or in certain areas of theCaribbean. Of course, if you’ve got agood idea for a character that learnedthe mysteries of Voodoo another way,talk it over with your Marshal—if hesays it’s okay, that’s fine, too.

Favored Chual *Loa possession is a central part of

Voodoo. In ceremonies and rituals, it’s afairly common occurrence—but itusually takes a lot of preparation toperform. Some folks are favorite mountsof a particular loa, however. Possessionis almost second nature to thesevoodooist.

To purchase this Edge, your charactermust have at least 1 level in faith:Voodoo. While your hero doesn’t have tohave arcane background: voodoo topurchase favored chual, some abilitiesare tied to voodoo spells.

The cost of this Edge depends on thevoodooist’s patron loa.

If your hero’s one of these favoredmounts (or chuals) select a rada loa ashis favored patron. From time to time,he can call upon certain aspects of thespirit for aid. This requires not only afaith: Voodoo roll, but also theexpenditure of a Fate Chip—not unlikea knack. The color of Fate Chipdetermines what type of assistance theloa grants.

Only the hero’s patron loa can bepetitioned in this manner.

See the next section, Calling theLoa, for all the details on this.

Calling theLoa

A favored chual may attempt topersuade his patron loa to aid him.When a favored chual wants to call hisloa to aid him, he must first declarewhat color of Fate Chip he intends touse.

Next, he spends an action and makesfaith: Voodoo roll against a Fair (5) TN. Ifsuccessful, he captures the attention ofthe spirit and can persuade it to grant alittle of its power. Now, the voodooistmust spend the chosen Fate Chip toactivate the power.

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If he fails, he can try again on thenext round if he wants. The Fate Chipis not spent until the power is activated.

However, if he goes bust on the faithroll, he’s captured the attention of apetro loa. He loses the chosen FateChip, and, to add injury to insult, hebecomes possessed by the loa’s petrocounterpart.

The possession lasts as long as theoriginal power would have. The Marshalcontrols the hero for that time, and giventhe malicious nature of the petro loa,that’s plenty of time for mischief! Oh,and by the way, the loa also manifeststhe chosen power as well—only the petroloa uses it for its own ends.

Mount ‘em Up!Below you’ll find the descriptions of

the powers each loa conveys on itschual. Like we said above, once thefaith roll has been made, these workjust like knacks.

Since the loa is to a degreepossessing the voodooist, some aspectsof its nature carry over into the chual’sbehavior. The section on your hero’spatron loa tells you exactly what effectthis has; often it’s fairly obvious or evenextreme, so be careful about when yourhero uses these abilities.

Unless the description of the powersays otherwise, the length of thepossession depends on the color ofFate Chip spent to activate it. The tablebelow gives you these default times,but be sure to check the individualability descriptions as some of themvary greatly from those listed.

Beside each loa is the Bounty Pointcost to purchase the favored chual Edgefor that loa. Remember, a voodooist canonly purchase this Edge once and onlyfor her patron loa.

Agwe 3Agwe is very fond of gunfire—

sometimes a little too fond. If he has afirearm handy when possessed byAgwe, the chual must make an Onerous(7) Spirit roll or fire off a couple ofrounds just to hear the sound of them!

Also, a voodooist under Agwe’sinfluence is attracted to large bodies ofwater. The chual has to make a Hard(9) Spirit roll to resist the urge for aquick dip any time he’s near a river,lake, or larger body of water.

White: The voodooist gains a +5bonus to all trade: seamanship rolls forone hour per level of his faith. Duringthis time, she can detect navigationalhazards, such as hidden reefs or cross-currents, by making a Fair (5) Cognitioncheck.

Red: For the remainder of the day,she automatically makes all Cognitionrolls to prevent surprise or detecthidden dangers. This ability lasts untilthe next sunrise or sunset, whichevercomes first.

Blue: All swimmin’ rolls areautomatically successful and the herogains +2 to his Pace while in the water.Further more, he can also breathefreely underwater for the duration.

Legend: The voodooist can protect aship and its crew from the worst effectsof a storm at sea. The passengers mightstill get a look at what they had forbreakfast that morning the hard way,but the ship won’t sink, founder, capsize,or otherwise fall victim to the storm, norwill anyone aboard her be sweptoverboard or otherwise seriously injured.

Baron Samedi 5Folks under the influence of the good

Baron Samedi gain a rather black senseof humor. Although they’re quiteamiable, they tend to crack somewhatoff-color jokes at the most inappropriatetimes. A voodooist mounted by BaronSamedi gains a 2 point habit: darkhumor Hindrance.

Color of Time ofChip Spent PossessionWhite 5 minutesRed 10 minutesBlue 30 minutesLegend 1 hour

Mount DurationMount DurationMount DurationMount DurationMount Duration

Voodoo 101Additionally, the Baron’s presence

manifests itself as a palpable sense ofdeath. Anyone near the voodooistduring a possession can detect the odorof decay similar to that of a Harrowedon a Fair (5) Cognition roll.

Fortunately, the Baron has afondness for a good time—and a gooddrink. When mounted, the chual has ahard time passing up a quick swig ofthe “good stuff.” While he neverconsumes enough to hamper hisabilities, he might hide the graveyardsmell with the odor of whiskey!

White: The voodooist can cast theHeal spell to heal wounds on aHarrowed character at the normal TNs.The spell dice must still be rolled todetermine if the casting is successful.This effect lasts for a single casting ofthe Heal spell.

Red: The voodooist can ask a singleyes or no question of the spirit of arecently deceased person. The corpsemust be present and nor more than 1day per level of the voodooist’s faith:Voodoo may have passed since itsdeath. The voodooist may spend morethan one chip per spirit.

Blue: Baron Samedi’s presencemakes the voodooist invisible towalkin’ dead and zombies created byblack voodoo. The abominationscompletely ignore the character for aslong as he maintains the power. Thispower requires the voodooist’sconcentration to maintain, so he mayonly take simple actions like walkingor speaking for the duration. Even withconcentration, the effect ends after aperiod equal to 10 minutes per level ofthe voodooist’s faith: Voodoo.

Legend: The voodooist temporarilyraises a zombie (actually a walkin’dead)—provided, of course, he has accessto a dead body—that remains animate for1 hour before collapsing back to a morenatural state of immobility. Theabomination follows the voodooist’scommands to the letter, so he must becareful of the wording.

Since zombies are generallyassociated with bokkors and blackmagics, most voodooists use this abilityonly in dire emergencies; however,because the effect is only temporary, fewfollowers of the belief view this poweras truly evil.

Damballah-Wedo 4A chual being ridden by Damballah-

Wedo can’t speak for the duration ofthe possession. She frequently hissesand her tongue occasionally darts out—acting for the most part like a two-legged snake.

As you might guess, most folks findthis behavior downright odd. In additionto being unable to speak, the voodooistgets a –2 to all Mien based Aptitudeswith people. This negative modifierdoes not apply to anyone with at least 1level in faith: Voodoo—although she stillcan’t communicate with them.

White: The loa guides the mount toa minor hidden or lost treasure. Thevalue is equal to the result of thevoodooist’s faith roll to call the loa indollars. It takes 10-60 minutes to locatethe treasure.

Red: The chual is immune to effectsof all poisons—natural, magical, orotherwise. Any poisons injected into orimbibed by the hero during this timeare negated. This immunity has lastsfor a number of minutes equal to thechual’s faith Aptitude.

Blue: The voodooist becomessinuous and serpentine in movement.The mount automatically succeeds atall climbin’ rolls and takes no damagefrom falls of 30’ or less. Also, themount is able to squeeze her body intospaces as small as 1’ in diameter. Thiseffect lasts for 10 minutes per level ofthe hero’s faith.

Legend: The voodooist gains a biteattack for (STR) damage, based onfightin’: brawlin’. Worse yet, her bite isas venomous as a rattlesnake’s. Anyonebitten by her must make a Hard (9)Vigor roll. Success means the affectedlocation is paralyzed for 1d6 days.Failure results in death in 1d6 hours. AHard (9) medicine roll removes thepoison, as long as it occurs before thelast half hour. This effect lasts for 1minute/level of her faith: Voodoo. Notethat poison is generally useless against

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undead and often ineffective againstother abominations as well—likeanyone would really want to bite one ofthose things anyway!

Ezili-Freda-Dahomey 5In order to attempt to call this loa,

the chual, male or female, must bewearing feminine clothing—that meansa dress! While that’s not much of aconcern for her female voodooists, itmay cause the males some discomfort.

While possessed by Ezili, her chual allflirt as though they have the randyHindrance. The hero isn’t required tofollow up on her flirtations, but theymay cause no end of trouble later. Bythe way, Ezili only flirts with men, so ifthe chual is male, he might have someexplaining to do after the loa departs!

White: The voodooist radiates graceand poise. She gains a +5 bonus to allpersuasion rolls made against men—against women, this bonus is only +2.This bonus is in addition to any fromother sources. The bonus lasts for 1minute for each level of the chual’sfaith Aptitude.

Red: Ezili’s presence raises the hero’scharisma and charm to supernaturallevels. The voodooist’s Mien is raised bya number of levels equal to her faith.This effect lasts for 10 rounds.

Blue: The loa’s manifestation is sopowerful, any man must make anopposed Spirit roll against the chual’sfaith in order to cause her harm. If heloses, he can’t cast spells, fire a gun, orotherwise directly attack her. MaleHarrowed are affected by this power,but other abominations are not. Theeffect lasts for 1 round for each level ofthe voodooist’s faith.

Legend: By winning an opposed rollof her Mien versus a man’s Spirit, shecan make a single, powerful suggestionthat is nearly irresistible. Short ofoutright suicide, the target does nearlyanything she suggests. Extremelycomplex instructions might bemisconstrued, so it’s probably a good

idea to keep them simple. Thesuggestion lasts for 10 minutes for everylevel of her faith: Voodoo Aptitude. Thishas no effect on abominations otherthan Harrowed.

Legba 5Due to the power of the loa, the hero

must make an Onerous (7) Spirit roll. Ifhe fails, he’s thrown into violentconvulsions from the force of his powerfor 1d4 rounds and is unable to act untilthe seizure passes. After that time, thepossession has normal effect.

For the duration of the possession,the voodooist gains a pronounced limpand loses 2 from his Pace.

White: The voodooist is able tocommunicate in any spoken language.This ability lasts the for a number ofminutes equal to the chual’s faithaptitude level.

Red: Legba’s presence allows thechual to open any non-magical lock ordoor. The hero can open one lock around in this manner and the effectlasts for a number of rounds equal tohis faith Aptitude.

Blue: The loa boosts the chual’sphysical strength enormously. Thehero’s Strength is increased by anumber of levels equal to his faithAptitude. This effect lasts for 10 rounds.

Legend: The voodooist can exert nearcomplete control over spokencommunication between people withinan area equal to 5 yards times his faith:Voodoo Aptitude. He can allow oneperson to make perfect sense to anotherand yet be absolutely unintelligible to athird. Or, he can simply turn the entirearea into a babbling mass of confusion.However, he cannot change a person’swords around or omit a portion of adialogue; he can only either allow it ornot—and the choice must be madebefore the person speaks.

Loco 5Voodooists possessed by Loco display

his customary cautiousness. They gainthe cautious Hindrance for the durationof the possession. Additionally, Locoprefers to heal wounds, not causethem, so a voodooist filled with hispresence becomes a 3 point pacifist.

Voodoo 103White: The voodooist can pass

through uncultivated areas withoutleaving any trail. Plain and simple, thehero is untrackable—even by a TexasRanger with a pack of Tennessee Bluebloodhounds. This effect lasts for 10minutes per level of the voodooist’sfaith: Voodoo Aptitude.

Red: By spending a red Fate Chip,the hero is able to heal a single woundlevel on herself or a comrade. Doing sorequires the mounted voodooist to treatthe wound for about 1 minute, but atthe end of that period, the wound isreduced by 1 level—no roll required. Thisworks on any level of wound up toCritical.

This ability may be used as manytimes a day as desired (as long as thevoodooist spends a red Fate Chip eachtime), but only once per patient.

Blue: The chual instantly restores allher lost Wind and that of a number ofcomrades up to her faith: Voodoo level.

Legend: Loco’s power enables thevoodooist to use the conjure doctorspell to completely heal all woundlevels up to and including Maimedlimbs on a target (including herself)—noAptitude roll necessary. It also curesany normal disease and poisoncurrently in the patient automatically.This ability can also affect supernaturaldiseases and poisons, but the voodooistmust make an Incredible (11) conjurin’roll to do so. It has no effect if used onsomeone who’s already kicked thebucket though; the patient must still bealive.

Ogu 5Ogu’s presence in a voodooist is

evident by his loud and, uhm, colorfullanguage. For the length of thepossession, the voodooist suffers from a2 point habit: foul language Hindrance.

Also, the warrior loa has never beenone to turn down a good battle. Thevoodooist under his influence mustmake a Hard (9) Spirit roll to avoidrushing headlong into any real, or evenpotential, fight.

Finally, Ogu has a fascination withfire. Chuals frequently dousethemselves with rum and light it whileunder his influence; however, heusually controls this minor pyromania—

especially if there are other things tokeep his attention—like a good fight!

White: The chual gains a +2 bonusto all rolls in a single bow, fightin’, orshootin’ concentration for the durationof the spell. This bonus applies even ifthe chual is using an Aptitude bydefault.

Red: The hero gains Armor 3 versusfire and fire-based attacks for theduration of the spell. During this period,he’s also immune to the effects ofsmoke inhalation.

Blue: The chual can ignore twolevels of wound modifiers and gains 1level of Armor versus all attacks. Thiseffect is cumulative with any Edges orother abilities. The power lasts for 5rounds for every level of the voodooist’sfaith: Voodoo Aptitude.

Legend: As a blue chip, but all thehero’s Corporeal Traits are raised byone die types for a duration of oneminute for every level of his faith:Voodoo Aptitude as well.

Doin’ ThatVoodoo

Starting SpellsEach voodooist begins with as many

voodoo spells as she has levels in theconjurin’ Aptitude. A voodooist withconjurin’ 4, for example, starts withfour spells. These starting spells cost noextra character points; they’re freebiesto get your character rolling.

Learning New SpellsAfter character creation, voodooists

can buy any of the spells that follow byspending 5 Bounty Points. These spellsare considered common knowledgeamong practitioners of Voodoo; even ifshe doesn’t know them, your voodooisthas seen and heard enough about themto work out the details for herself.

To learn other spells, a voodooistmust seek out a teacher. This can betough in areas outside of the WestIndies or southern Louisiana—Voodoojust isn’t that widespread!

Once she’s found a teacher, she hasto spend a week studying. At the endof this time, she spends 5 BountyPoints and she’s learned the new spell.

Casting VoodooSpells

To cast a spell, the voodooist simplyhas to roll her conjurin’ Aptitude usingthe appropriate associated Trait andmake the TN for the spell. If thatsounds too easy, don’t worry, there area few other considerations.

Unlike the hexes of hucksters orblessed miracles, voodoo spells usuallyrequire fairly complicated rituals andpreparation. It takes effort to set up for aproper gris-gris after all.

Anyone observing a voodooist castinga spell knows something is up—therituals are pretty darn obvious. However,

using a conjure bag (see below) once it’sbeen prepared is fairly subtle. Most folkswon’t have any idea something’s amiss.

Hallowed GroundVoodoo spells work best when

they’re cast on the consecrated groundof a humfor or at a shrine. There, thevoodooist has an easier time makingthe connection to the loas on theHunting Ground.

As long as the spell is cast in ahumfor or a shrine, the voodooist getsa +4 bonus to his conjurin’ roll! That’swhy most conjure doctors set up ashrine in their place of business.

IngredientsMost spells also require some pretty

odd components and/or monetaryoutlay. Without these, the spell simplywon’t work, no matter what the TN.Each spell gives a description of what,if any, special ingredients are needed.

In some, the necessary ingredientsare common enough that they can bepurchased or found with a scroungin’roll; however, others need an object,hair, or similar items belonging to theintended target. Those items avoodooist has to acquire through guile,theft, or other means.

Final StepsEven once the spell’s been

successfully cast, the voodooist mightstill have to do a little work to get it totake effect. For example, some spellsrequire an item be hidden near thetarget to be effective or a conjure bagbe carried by the spell recipient. If that’sthe case, we tell you in the spell’sdescription.

Going BustWhenever a voodooist goes bust on

her spell casting roll, a petro loa hasmanaged to get its hands into the mix.The spell ends up backfiring and hasexactly the opposite of the desiredeffect. We’re leaving the details up tothe Marshal to decide on a case-by-casebasis, but just remember, it’s neverpleasant!

Throughout the spell descriptions, you’llsee us talk about conjure bags. Dependingon the locale, conjure bags may also becalled gris-gris bags, mojo bags, or anynumber of other names. Regardless ofthe name, the function of the items is thesame.

A conjure bag is a small pouch, oftenmade of felt, no larger than the palm ofthe hand. Occasionally, small bottles mayalso serve as conjure “bags.”

A voodooist uses a conjure bag tocontain the various items required tomake a chosen spell work. If the bag isdestroyed or its contents emptied, theeffect of the spell automatically ends.

A hero can determine the function of aconjure bag by emptying it and making anOnerous (7) conjurin’ roll based on hisKnowledge Trait,.

Conjure Bags

Building a ShrineSince there’s such an advantage to

casting a spell at a shrine or humfor,most voodooists build small shrines atwhich to practice their magic. A shrineis a small, consecrated altar to thevoodooist’s patron loa.

It needn’t be large—most are built inone corner of a small room; however,the rituals necessary to consecrate itare somewhat time consuming.

The voodooist must spend a daypreparing the area for use with ritualsand offerings. The preparation of ashrine requires the voodooist makeofferings worth at least $10. Alternately,a few hours and a Hard (9) scroungin’ rollcan also provide the necessary items.

At the end of a full day, she mustmake a Hard (9) faith: voodoo roll. If she’ssuccessful, the shrine becomesconsecrated, otherwise, he has to repeatthe process until he makes the TN.

The drawback to a shrine is avoodooist can only use a shrineconsecrated to his patron loa. Othershrines are useless to him for spellpurposes.

A voodooist may only have a singleshrine at a time. Building anotherremoves the consecration of theprevious one.

Building a HumforHumfors are a bit tougher to

consecrate. They’re also much largerand conspicuous—and with all theweird things going on lately, most folkslook on voodoo as the work of theDevil. So, what we’re saying is don’t gobuilding a humfor in the local saloonunless you’re fond of dancing on theend of a rope!

Building the humfor itself is aserious task. Even with the assistanceof a full congregation, this takes aminimum of 2d4 weeks and an outlayof $100. There is no scroungin’ for ahumfor!

Afterwards, it must be cleansed andconsecrated just like a shrine; however,the process is much more complex andlengthy. The voodooist must spend aweek performing the rituals andofferings before attempting anIncredible (11) faith: voodoo roll. If

successful, the humfor is consecrated,but if she fails, she has to start therituals all over again.

Unlike a shrine, the humfor isconsecrated for all loas. Any voodooistcan use a humfor to cast spellsregardless of her patron loa.

SpellDescriptions

Now that we’ve told you the basics ofvoodoo, we’ve got a whole mojo bagfull of spells for your voodooist to learn.

Spells have five entries: Trait, TN,Speed, Duration, and Range.

Trait is the Trait used to cast thespell. Unlike normal Aptitudes, spellsare tied to a specific Trait. Also, youcan’t make a default roll for a spellAptitude. Either you know the spell oryou don’t—no guessing!

TN is the Target Number for thespell. These vary from spell to spell andsome spells may have more than oneTN for different effects. If that’s the

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case, we’ll tell you about it in thedescription.

Speed tells you how long the spelltakes to cast. Most of these are listed inminutes or hours, but a very few takeless time. Certain spells let yourvoodooist prepare powders or otheritems for later use. These are detailedin the appropriate spells’ descriptions.

Duration is the length of time thespell stays in effect. “Concentration”means the voodooist must activelyconcentrate on the spell and can onlytake simple actions while maintainingit. Because close ties with the loas helpmaintain the magic’s potency, manyspells’ durations are tied to the caster’sfaith: Voodoo Aptitude. Some spellsallow your voodooist to create conjurebags that last until they are used; ifthat’s the case, we’ll note it in thedescription of the spell itself.

Range is the distance at which thespell can take effect. Many voodoospells enchant either a specific item orbundle of ingredients (called a conjurebag). Sometimes the item must kept onthe voodooist’s person, but other itemsmay need to be placed elsewhere. Sincethe voodooist must assemble andenchant the item, the range entry forthis type of spell is always listed asTouch. However, the spell details therange of the item’s effects once created.

Baron Samedi’s PactTrait: SpiritTN: 11Speed: 4 hoursDuration: 1 week/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

When it’s time to cash your chips, it’salways nice to be on good terms withthe banker. This spell lets the voodooistbuild up a little good favor with the lordof the dead, Baron Samedi.

In order to cast this spell, thevoodooist creates a small conjure bagwhile making sacrifices to appease theBaron. The sacrifice consists of a bottleof whiskey—the ‘good stuff’, not

rotgut—and the bag must contain someform of graveyard dirt. The whiskey isconsumed regardless of whether or notthe spell is successful.

The scroungin’ TN for theseingredients is usually Onerous (7) forthe whiskey—the good stuff is hard tocome by!—and Fair (5) for the graveyarddirt. The Marshal may modify thesenumbers depending on where yourvoodooist is when she goes huntingthem, though.

Once successfully cast, the voodooistmust keep the conjure bag on herperson for the spell tobe effective.Should the bag ever leave herpossession, the spell automaticallyends. Otherwise, it lasts for 1 week perlevel of her faith: Voodoo Aptitude.

While the spell is in effect, whendrawing cards to determine if shereturns from the dead as a Harrowed,she draws an extra card for every levelshe has in conjurin’. For each raise shegets on her conjurin’ roll to cast thespell, she draws an additional card.

Bad Ju-JuTrait: SpiritTN: 7Speed: 1 hourDuration: 1 day/faith: Voodoo levelRange: 5 yards/conjurin’ level

Voodoo magic works best when theconjure doctor knows exactly who andwhat he’s trying to affect. However, theworld being what it is, you can’t alwaysknow what’s around the next bend. Badju-ju is a spell with broad applicationsfor those nasty little surprises.

The voodooist constructs a conjurebag using $10 worth of ingredients—or,alternately, finds them with a Fair (5)scroungin’ roll. This takes the timelisted above. Once it’s done, thevoodooist has a handy little fail-safegris-gris.

Bad ju-ju gives a single target withinrange a -1 to a single Trait or Aptituderoll for every success and raise thevoodooist got while making the conjurebag. He can even wait to see if hisvictim makes the roll before using thebag!

To use it, he must make a vamoose(i.e., spend his highest Action card orthe card up his sleeve) and tell the

Voodoo 107Marshal which roll he’s affecting, butthat’s it. Although he can take no otheraction during this vamoose, the spellrequires no further roll to be effective.If he’s out of Action cards, he can’t usebad mojo.

While he must roll conjurin’separately for each such bag he wantsto create, a voodooist can have as manybad ju-ju bags prepared as he has levelsin conjurin’. However, he can only useone bad ju-ju bag at a time on a victim.No double ju-ju!

No one but the voodooist who caststhe spell can make use of one of thesebags. The conjure bag lasts until usedor a maximum of 1 day for each of hisfaith: Voodoo levels.

Bite of ArigneeTrait: SmartsTN: 11Speed: 1 hourDuration: SpecialRange: Touch

Guédé-z-Arignee, a spider-like loa, isone of the lesser known member ofBaron Samedi’s extended family. Assuch, he’s seldom called for apossession; most folks are justdownright disturbed by this inhumanloa; however, he can be a powerful ally.

This spell enchants a bullet, arrow, orsimilar weapon to cause continuingpain when left in a wound—even morethan usual. The voodooist must smearthe weapon with melted sugar candy (afavorite offering of Arignee) andinscribe the loa’s vé-vé (or symbol) inthe candy coating. That means thisspell doesn’t work on shotgun pellets!

The bullet or other projectile causesdamage on a number of successiverounds equal to the voodooist’sconjurin’ level. At the beginning of eachround following the initial wound, itcauses one die less damage than itsnormal amount until it reaches a singledie. At that point, it deals one die forthe remainder of the spell’s effect.

When used with weapons that arebased in part on the wielder’s StrengthTrait, like a bow and arrow, the spellonly affects the bonus dice rolled for theweapon. The Strength portion is notconsidered for the purposes of bite ofArignee.

Also, the continuing damage receivesno bonus dice for hit location after theinitial damage is dealt; only the weapon’soriginal dice of damage are considered.

While it certainly could be used onanother weapon, the spell is onlyeffective as long as the item remains inthe wound. A knife, spear, or otherweapon is likely to be quickly andeasily removed by the victim.

Very large or damaging projectilesusually pass completely through thebody, but this varies according to thetarget’s Size. The Marshal has the finalsay, but, in general, weapons with a dietype of greater than d10 don’t remain inhuman-sized victims.

The weapon remains enchanted untilused (successfully or not) or the nextsunrise, whichever comes first.

Lafayette, with conjurin’ 4,enchants a bullet for hisPeacemaker with bite of Arignee.Later that night, he plugs acultist with it. He hits the poorsod in the gizzards and does anextra 1d8 on the initial hit for atotal of 5d8 damage. Since hereceives no bonus dice for the hitlocation on subsequent damage,the next round, the bullet does3d8 damage to his opponent’sguts. On the second round, itdoes 2d8, and only 1d8 on each ofthe last two rounds of the spell.

Bitter TongueTrait: SmartsTN: 9Speed: 1 hourDuration: 1 day/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

With this spell lets a voodooistcreates a conjure bag that puts a curseon the victim that sours his words andmakes his smoothest speech soundlike 5 miles of bad road. Just like withbeneficial conjure bags, a bitter tonguemojo bag is tailored to a specific personand is useless against anyone else.

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Unless the target is the town idiot,he’s probably not going to volunteer tocarry the bitter tongue conjure bag. Thevoodooist must place it in the victim’shome or living quarters. For those folkswho don’t have a spread to call theirown, the bag has tobe secreted in theirbelongings to work. If the bag isremoved from its hiding place, the curseis lifted.

The conjure bag gives the victim anegative modifier to all Mien based rollsmade equal to the caster’s conjurin’level. For example, a bag prepared by avoodooist with conjurin’ 3 provides itsowner with a -3 bonus to all thevictim’s Mien rolls.

The bag must contain some smallpersonal belonging of the intendedvictim that is related to socialinteractions. Good examples of such area comb, a razor, aftershave or perfume,or an earring.

Unless the target is having arummage sale, it’s not too likely avoodooist is going to be able to buy oneof those or obtain it through scroungin’.

A victim can only suffer from theeffect of a single bitter tongue conjurebag at a time. After the first, any othersare ineffective.

Buried TreasureTrait: CognitionTN: 9Speed: 4 hoursDuration: SpecialRange: Self

One thing about practitioners ofVoodoo, they’ve got a firm grasp onwhat’s important. This spell is a primeexample of that understanding. Withthe assistance of the loas, voodooistshave a talent for rooting out ‘found’money.

When successfully cast, the spellleads the voodooist to a lost or hiddentreasure worth an amount of money.Very seldom does this spell turn up achest of pirate gold or a lost ghost rockmine. But, while the value isn’t earth-

shaking, everyone’s heard the oneabout gift horses and looking in theirmouths.

The treasure has a value equal to$1d10 for every success and raise hegets when casting the spell, plus $1 forevery level the voodooist has in theconjurin’ Aptitude.

Whether or not it’s actually money orsome other item of value is up to theMarshal. The caster has only a generalidea of what type of valuables he’llfind, but he does know once he seesthem. The voodooist knows the locationof the treasure and the valuables arealways within a single day’s journey ofthe voodooist.

A treasure located in this mannernever belongs to anyone. However, theremay be a few obstacles for the voodooistto overcome before he can claim hisprize. Legends always warn of ghostlyguardians watching buried treasure!

Attempts to use this spell more thanonce in a single week automatically fail.

Cemetery GatesTrait: SpiritTN: 9Speed: 5 minutesDuration: Until the next sunriseRange: Touch

Lately, it seems a lot of folks havebeen sneaking out of Boot Hill—folksthat ought to have stayed put, if you getour drift. With this spell, a voodooistcalls on Baron Samedi’s influence toprotect a portal against trespassingzombies.

Cemetery gates makes an openingimpassable to the undead. The spellmust be cast on a door, window, orother opening. It can’t be cast on openground or even a hallway—it only workson a portal of some sort.

For the duration of the spell, allforms of the undead—including ghosts,Harrowed, and nosferatu—are unable topass through the opening. Otherabominations find the barrierunpleasant and are stopped by it for asingle round. At the end of that time,the creature can pass freely through it.

Each casting of the spell affects asingle portal or opening. Remember, azombie stopped at the door can stillclimb through the window!

Charm o’ SuccessTrait: SmartsTN: 11Speed: 4 hoursDuration: 1 week/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

With this spell, the voodooist createsa conjure bag that provides its ownerwith a supernatural edge in business.As with all conjure bags, each istailored to a specific person and isuseless to anyone else.

As long as the conjure bag is with itsowner, he gains a bonus to all rollsmade in a specific trade or professionalAptitude. The bonus provided by thebag is equal to the voodooist’s level inconjurin’. A bag prepared by a voodooistwith conjurin’ 3 provides its ownerwith a +3 bonus to the chosenAptitude.

The trade or professional Aptitude tobe affected is chosen at the time of thebag’s creation and can’t be changed.The contents of the bag must containitems related to the profession or tradeselected; for example, a tailor’s bagwould contain, among other items, aneedle and thread, while a blacksmithsmight hold horseshoe nails.

While the exact item is going to varyaccording to the target’s profession, ingeneral the ingredients are so simple toobtain as to not require the voodooist tospend any money or even effort onscroungin’.

A person may benefit from a singlesuccess conjure bag at a time. Others,even for other Aptitudes, are useless.

Cloud the MindTrait: KnowledgeTN: 9Speed: 1 hourDuration: 1 hour/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

This spell creates a packet of powderthat confounds and confuses folks’thinking. People in an area affected bythis magic just aren’t as mentally awareas normal.

To be effective the powder must bespread over an area no greater than 10’square per level of the voodooist’sconjurin’ Aptitude; for example, avoodooist with conjurin’ 3 could affect

an area up to 30’ x 30’. Once used inthis fashion, the dust is effective for 1hour per spell level.

All characters inside the affectedarea, with the exception of the caster,suffer a –1 modifier to all Cognitionbased Trait and Aptitude rolls per levelof the voodooist’s conjurin’ Aptitude.

Only the voodooist who created thedust can use it. Each packet keeps itspotency until used or for 1 day per levelof the voodooist’s faith: Voodoo,whichever comes first.

CoaxTrait: SmartsTN: 1Speed: 2 hoursDuration: 1 day/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

Coax provides a person asupernatural ability to influenceanother individual. While this spell usesconjure bags like many other voodoospells, it actually requires two suchbags—one for the spell recipient andone for the target of the spell’s effect.As usual, each bag is tailored to aspecific person and has no benefit oreffect if given to another person.

The person seeking to gain thepersuasion bonus must carry herconjure bag at all times. The voodooistmust hide the other conjure bag in thehome of the person to be influenced. Ifthe victim’s bag is removed from itshiding place or the recipient’s bag lost,the spell immediately ends.

The conjure bag gives the recipient apositive modifier to all persuasion rollsmade against the victim. The bonus isequal to the voodooist’s level in conjurin’.

The bag for the recipient of the spell’sbonus must contain some small personalbelonging of the intended victim. Thevictim’s bag must contain an itemowned by the spell recipient in a ball ofmelted wax. The items must be relatedto social interaction in some way.Examples of such items can be found inthe description for bitter tongue.

The voodooist may cast the spell forher own benefit or for someone else. Avoodooist may have no more activecoax spells at a time than her level inconjurin’, regardless of the recipient ortarget.

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Multiple castings for the samerecipient and same target are notcumulative.

Conjure DoctorTrait: SmartsTN: SpecialSpeed: 30 minutesDuration: InstantRange: Touch

A voodooist with this spell can healwounds or cure a normal disease.Supernatural diseases cannot beaffected by this spell.

Each casting of the spell affects asingle hit location. The voodooist mustmake a conjurin’ spell roll against theTN for the wound level in the location tobe affected. If he succeeds, all wounds inthat location are completely healed.

The location for curing a disease isnormally the guts, although certainones may affect other areas of the body.Check with the Marshal for details.

The voodooist can only cast conjuredoctor once a day for every level he hasin conjurin’. Unsuccessful castings docount against this daily limit. Unlikemany other kinds of spellslingers, avoodooist can heal himself with thisspell.

This spell has no effect onabominations or Harrowed characters.

Curse of FailureTrait: SmartsTN: 11Speed: 4 hoursDuration: 1 week/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

With this spell, the voodooist createsa conjure bag that puts a curse offailure on a victim’s business. Just likewith beneficial conjure bags, a curse offailure gris-gris is tailored to a specificperson and is harmless to anyone else.

This bag uses ingredients similar tothose for charm o’ success, except therelated items must be damaged in someway—nails bent, needles dulled, etc.

It’s not too likely the target is going toagree to carry a cursed bag around withhim, so the voodooist must place it inthe victim’s place of business. For thosefolks without a set place of business, itmust be placed in their home. If the bagis removed, the curse is lifted.

The conjure bag gives the victim anegative modifier to all rolls made in aspecific trade or professional Aptitude.The modifier suffered by the victim isequal to the voodooist’s conjurin’ level.For example, a bag prepared by avoodooist with conjurin’ 5 provides itsowner with a -5 bonus to the chosenAptitude.

Wound Level TNLight 7Heavy 9Serious 11

Critical/Normal Disease 13

Conjure DoctorConjure DoctorConjure DoctorConjure DoctorConjure Doctor

Voodoo 111The trade or professional Aptitude to

be affected is chosen at the time of thebag’s creation and can’t be changed.The contents of the bag must containdamaged items related to the professionor trade to be affected.

A victim can only suffer from theeffect of a single curse of failure conjurebag at a time. After the first, anyothers, even for other Aptitudes, areuseless.

DerangeTrait: SmartsTN: 5Speed: 6 hoursDuration: 1 day/faith:Voodoo levelRange: Touch

While voodooists are usually prettyused to having a loa jump into theirhead for a little while, most other folksaren’t. This curse takes advantage ofthat fact.

With derange, the voodooist crafts aconjure bag that causes anyone inpossession of it to suffer the negativeeffects of a loa’s possession. In gameterms, that means the victim picks up amental Hindrance of some sort, like bigbritches, randy, mean as a rattler, and soforth.

Since there are more loas out therethan ticks on a hound, the voodooistcan choose virtually any Hindrance ofthis sort he wants. The only stipulationis that it must be mental in nature;when in doubt about this, ask yourMarshal for his ruling. By the way, grimservant o’ death isn’t a mentalHindrance; it’s something much worse.

The voodooist can give the target anyHindrance with a point value equal to orless than 1 point for each success andraise he receives when crafting the bag.So, for example, a voodooist who rolls a13 on his conjurin’ roll to make thecharm can select any 1 or 2-pointHindrance; however, the voodooist mayonly select a single Hindrance; he can’tsplit the points among multiple ones.

Like bitter tongue, the catch to thislittle magic is that the bag must beplaced on the victim’s person—or atleast his place of residence. See thatspell for further details on exactlywhere it’s acceptable and where it’s notto hide one of these conjure bags.

A voodooist can only create as manyderange conjure bags at any given timeas he has levels in conjurin’.

Dream SendTrait: CognitionTN: 9Speed: 1 hourDuration: 1 messageRange: 20 miles/conjurin’ level

The loa often communicate with thefaithful via dreams. With the aid oftheir patron loa, a few voodooists areable to use a similar ability.

Dream send allows the voodooist tosend a short message to anotherperson. The image of the voodooistactually seems to appear in the target’sdream and speak to him.

The message is very brief—no morethan 1 word per level of the voodooist’sconjurin’ Aptitude. The spell doesn’tallow two-way communication.

The voodooist doesn’t actually appearin the dream, only her image does. Infact, she has no way of knowing themessage was even received—but sinceonly death and very powerful magiccan prevent it, it’s usually a safe bet.

The spell can only be attempted onceper target per night. The target doesn’tneed to be asleep at the time the spellis cast, the magic will delay until heeventually does bed down.

If the voodooist has an itembelonging to the target or knows himpersonally, she receives a +2 on hercasting roll.

Eye o’ the BeholderTrait: CognitionTN: 11Speed: 5 minutesDuration: 1 roundRange: 3 feet

Everyone’s heard the old adage aboutbeauty and the eye of the beholder.Well, by working her spells the rightway, a voodooist can find a whole lotmore in an eye than just good looks.

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To cast the spell, the voodooist mustlook into the eye of another person.Yes, that does mean she can’t cast thespell by herself—and in case you’rewondering, no mirrors either.

As she casts the spell, the otherperson concentrates on someone theywish to locate. If he has a personalbelonging of the desired individual tohelp him focus his thoughts, thevoodooist gets a +4 on her conjurin’ roll.

If she’s successful, she catches aglimpse of the target’s whereabouts—say, an exterior view of a house, anatural landmark, or other similarimage that can help locate the person.She doesn’t actually see the individualin question, only his location.

Each raise she gets on the roll givesher a larger-scale view of the location,helping to further pinpoint it.

Note that the voodooist doesn’t knowthat the house is the third one onSycamore Street in Virginia City, butshe should pick up enough clues topoint her in the right direction. And,once she, or anyone to whom she’sdescribed the vision, sees the actualsite, they recognize it for the spotidentified by eye o’ the beholder.

Foretellin’Trait: CognitionTN: 9Speed: 15 minutesDuration: Until the next sunsetRange: 3 feet

Some folks say the gift of foresight isas much a blessing as it is a curse.That may be true, particularly if acowpoke can’t do much about thefuture except hold on and ride it out.However, a skilled voodooist cansometimes call on favors from the loato get Fate to swing a fellow’s way.

A voodooist can do foretellin’ onherself as well as others.; however, shecan only cast the spell on a willingsubject.

Now, there’s a whole heap of waysvoodooists go about seeing the future—some use tarot cards, some read tealeaves, and others use an odd collectionof bones. Regardless of the effect, theforetellin’ spell is always resolved asfollows.

The voodooist rolls her conjurin’Aptitude against the spell’s TN (9). Ifsuccessful, she draws one card fromthe top of a deck of cards, plus onecard for every raise. After she’s drawnher cards, she chooses one—unless shedraws a black Joker. Black Jokers areautomatically chosen—the voodooist hasno say in the matter.

Until the next sunset, the person forwhom she did the foretellin’ receivesthe modifier listed on the table below.Red cards foretell good fortune for therecipient, while black cards speak ofdanger and trials. The value of the carddetermines the amount of good fortuneor difficulty.

Only one foretellin’ can be performedfor any person each day. Thisstipulation applies whether or not thespell was successful. Sometimes, theloas like to hold onto their secrets.

Voodoo 113

GadTrait: SmartsTN: 11Speed: 4 hoursDuration: 1 day/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

This spell creates a conjure bag thatprovides the owner with a potentprotection against magical attacks.

In order to be effective, the ownermust keep the conjure bag with her atall times—it doesn’t do any good sittinghome on the nightstand!

The gad protects the owner againstevil mojo in a couple of ways.

First, any caster of a spell or hextargeting the owner of a gad conjurebag receives a negative modifier to hisspell roll equal to the voodooist’sconjurin’ level. This also applies to anyopposed rolls resulting from the spell orhex effects.

Second, the voodooist’s level inconjurin’ directly subtracts from anydamage done by a spell or hex. Againstspells that cause only Wind, it subtractsfrom the Wind instead. This is inaddition to the first effect, so adamaging spell directed at the owner ofthe gad suffers both penalties.

The gad is effective against hexes,black magic, and voodoo spells. Itprovides no protection against favors ormiracles.

The voodooist can only create asmany gads as she has levels inconjurin’. Each gad is tailored to itsowner and no one else gains anybenefit from it.

MalisonTrait: SpiritTN: OpposedSpeed: 1Duration: InstantRange: 5 feet/conjurin’ level

With this spell, the voodooist can putthe “whammy” or “evil eye” on a person.

Most voodoo spells are fairly complexaffairs carefully shaping power grantedby the loa. This isn’t one of those. It’sjust about the only quick-and-dirty spellavailable to the voodooist at the spur ofthe moment.

With this spell, the voodooistunleashes a very minor curse at hervictim. There’s not a lot of finesse tomalison, and its only effect is totemporarily stun the target—butsometimes that’s all a hero needs.

To cast the spell, the voodooist mustbe able to see her target while shecasts a short verbal ritual. Then shemakes an opposed roll of her conjurin’Aptitude versus her victim’s Spirit Trait.

If she’s successful, her target isstunned, just as if he’d failed a stuncheck from a wound. He can attempt torecover on each of his Actions bymaking a Vigor roll against a Fair (5)TN. The TN is increased by +2 for eachraise the voodooist received over hervictim’s total.

Card Effect2-10 Red/Black: Neutral reading.

No effect.Face Red: Mild success. The hero

gains a +1 to all Aptituderolls for the next day.

Black: Difficulties ahead. Thehero gets a –1 to all Aptituderolls for the next day.

Ace Red: Moderate successforetold. The hero gains a+2 bonus to all Aptituderolls for the following day.

Black: Moderate trials in thenear future. The herosuffers a -2 penalty to allAptitude rolls for the nextday.

Joker Red: Loa’s boon! The herogains a the bonus listedfor a red Ace above, plusa draw from the Fatepot. The chip must bespent in the next day. Itcan’t be used for Bounty.

Black: Loa’s curse! Thehero suffers a penalty asfor a black Ace, and mustsacrifice his lowest FateChip back to the pot.

Foretellin’Foretellin’Foretellin’Foretellin’Foretellin’

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If she fails, the spell simply fizzles.However, if she goes bust, she isstunned and must roll her Vigoragainst an Onerous (7) TN to recover.

Malison is very taxing on thevoodooist and costs her 1d4 Wind eachtime she casts the spell. If she losesconsciousness, the spell fails.

Ogu’s AuraTrait: SmartsTN: 11Speed: 4 hoursDuration: 1 day/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

With this spell, the voodooist createsa conjure bag that provides its ownerwith magical protection against harm.

For Ogu’s aura to be effective, thespell recipient must carry the conjurebag at all times. Should she lose it, thespell immediately ends. As with allconjure bags, the magic is tuned to oneperson and simply doesn’t work forsomeone else.

The owner of the conjure bag gainslimited defense against physicaldamage. The magic serves as lightarmor equal to the voodooist’s conjurin’level. So, for example, an Ogu’s aura bagprepared by a voodooist with conjurin’ 4works as light armor -4.

The spell does not provide anyprotection against magical weapons,effects, or spells. These do full normaldamage.

At any given time, a voodooist canonly have as many Ogu’s aura conjurebags prepared as he has conjurin’ levels.

Poison PowderTrait: KnowledgeTN: 9Speed: 2 hoursDuration: InstantRange: Touch (Special)

Using this spell, the voodooist cancreate small packets of poison dust.The poison can be quite deadly wheninhaled, so it’s nothing to sneeze at!

A successful casting of this spellmakes a single packet of poisonpowder. Each packet contains justenough poison to effect a single person.

The poison does 1d6 damage to thevictim’s guts for every level thevoodooist has in conjurin’. This damageis considered to be magical in nature.However, in order to be effective, thevictim must breathe the powder—it hasno effect if its eaten or injected.Obviously, targets that don’t breathe,like Harrowed, are completely immune.

The most common method used todeliver the powder is for the user tosimply blow it into the victim’s face.This requires the user to be within fivefeet of the target and make a Fair (5)Nimbleness roll. If she’s successful, thevictim gets a snout full of the poisonand takes the damage.

Most folks are caught completely off-guard by a puff of deadly dust and geta good breath of it before they realizethe danger. Even if they hold theirbreath, the powder is still in theirnostrils when they do inhale; however,someone wearing a diving suit orsimilar sealed breathing device isunaffected by the powder.

Otherwise, armor—including magicalarmor and Ogu’s aura—is completelyuseless against poison powder.

If she fails, the powder dispersesbefore it gets to her target and has noeffect. Finally, if she goes bust on theNimbleness roll, she inhales when sheshould have exhaled and takes thedamage herself!

Only the voodooist can use thepackets and she can have no morepackets prepared than her conjurin’level at any one time. The poisonremains effective for 1 day per level ofthe creator’s faith: Voodoo Aptitude.

Pool o’ DoomTrait: KnowledgeTN: OpposedSpeed: 4 hoursDuration: 1 hour/faith: Voodoo levelRange: 2 miles/conjurin’ level

Voodooists have a nasty reputationfor casting malicious spells on folkswhen they’re least expecting it. Pool o’doom doesn’t help those rumors onebit!

Voodoo 115This spell lets a voodooist turn a pool

of water into a poisonous, acidic liquidmoments before his target takes a sipfrom it or even just washes up.

To cast it, the voodooist must have aknife, a bucket of water, andingredients worth $50 dollars. If he’sthe stingy sort, each successfulscroungin’ roll against an Incredible (11)TN gathers $25 worth of ingredients. Healso needs at least a thimbleful of hisintended victim’s blood. Exactly how hegets that is up to him...

He then mixes the ingredients intothe bucket as he casts the spell but hedoesn’t roll his conjurin’ Aptitude yet.Once he’s finished, he must then watchthe reflection on the surface of thewater. Or, rather, the lack of one. Forthe duration of the spell, the watershows a reflection only if the targetapproaches a pool, bucket, bowl, oreven glass of water within range of thevoodooist. If she does, her reflectionappears on the surface of thevoodooist’s bucket.

A canteen or shot glass has toosmall a surface for the spell to beeffective, by the way.

As soon as it does, the voodooist muststab it with his knife. At this point, herolls an opposed contest of his conjurin’(Knowledge) Aptitude versus her SpiritTrait. If he wins, the water turns to adeadly burning acid as it contacts herbody, whether as a drink or just to washup. If he fails, she gets a cool refreshingdrink of water. Either way, she doesn’tknow a spell has been cast.

If the victim touches poisoned water,she takes 1d10 damage plus another1d10 for every raise the voodooistreceived on the opposed roll to any hitlocation that comes in contact with it; ifshe’s drinking it, that’s straight to theguts! On following rounds, the damagecontinues, but reduces by one die typeeach round. So, on the second round, itdoes d8s, then d6s, and finally d4sdamage. Once it drops below d4s, thepoison has run its course.

As soon as the poison stops causingdamage, it becomes normal wateragain—thus making an undetectablepoison! The poisonous liquid onlyaffects the victim; another person candrink from it at the same time with noill effects.

PoulticeTrait: KnowledgeTN: 11Speed: 2 hoursDuration: SpecialRange: Touch

This is one handy spell to havearound if your hero is planning ongetting into a lot of gunfights—or anyother type of fight for that matter! Itcreates a quick-and-dirty healingpoultice that anyone can use.

The voodooist must assemble $10worth of ingredients (or round them upwith a Fair (5) scroungin’ roll). Then, hespends a couple of hours performing thenecessary rituals over them and puttingthem together into a bound packet.

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To use the poultice, a cowpoke needmerely apply it directly to a woundedhit location and let it sit for 5 minutes.At the end of that time, the wound ishealed as though a doctor with themedicine: general Aptitude had treated itsuccessfully.

In other words, if the wound is aLight or Heavy one, it is reduced onelevel; however, unlike “modern”medicine, there is no time requirementon how quickly the poultice must beapplied; it works hours or even daysafter the injury.

It can even work in conjunction witha real doctor’s medicine Aptitude,allowing a double whammy on theinjury! Of course, the doctor must tendto the wound within an hour after theinitial injury as usual.

Unfortunately, poultice can’t helpwounds of Serious or greater levels;however, if a wound of Serious orhigher level is reduced to Heavy orlower levels by either good, oldfashioned sawbones or another magic,poultice can then be applied withnormal effect.

The poultice packet retains itspotency until used or for a number ofdays equal to his faith: Voodoo score,whichever comes first.

A voodooist can have no morepoultices prepared at any one time thanhe has levels in conjurin’, although hecan sell or give these to other folks orkeep them himself.

Powerful MojoTrait: SpiritTN: 7Speed: 1 hourDuration: 1 day/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

This spell is the “good twin” of bad ju-ju. Instead of providing some poor sapwith an unwanted hindrance, it gives alast minute leg-up to a soul in need.

Just as with bad ju-ju, the voodooistconstructs a conjure bag using $10worth of ingredients—or, again as

before, finds them with a Fair (5)scroungin’ roll. He makes his conjurin’roll and takes the time listed above.Once it’s done, the voodooist has apocket-sized friend-in-need..

The conjure bag gives a singletarget—including himself—within rangea +1 to a single Trait or Aptitude roll forevery success and raise the voodooistgot while casting the spell. And, likebad ju-ju, he can wait until after thetarget gets her total before chipping inwith his own boost.

To use it, he must make a Vamooseand let the Marshal know which rollhe’s affecting. He can’t take any otheraction during this Vamoose, but the noroll is needed at this point. If he’s out ofAction cards, he can’t use bad mojo.Only the voodooist who made the bagcan use it, by the way.

Once again, like bad ju-ju, he mustroll conjurin’ separately for each suchbag he wants to create and he canhave as many bad mojo bags preparedas he has levels in conjurin’. However,he can only use one powerful mojo bagon any single roll.

The conjure bag lasts until used or amaximum of 1 day for each of his faith:Voodoo levels.

Red-HandedTrait: CognitionTN: 9Speed: 1 hourDuration: 1 hour/faith: Voodoo levelRange: 1 mile/conjurin’ level

This spell is a good reason forburglars and thieves to stay on avoodooist’s good side. With it, thevoodooist can track down stolen items,and sometimes even identify the thief!Fortunately for the criminal element,few law dogs rely on voodoo to do theirinvestigations.

The voodooist must cast the spell atthe location the item was stolen from.This usually means she’s got to becareful to avoid a lynching for“practicin’ witchcraft!”

If she’s successful, red-handed beginsguiding her to the item’s location,provided it is within the spell’s range.

If she gets a raise on the conjurin’roll, she can also identify the thief;however, to do so, she must actually

Voodoo 117touch the stolen item before the end ofthe spell. Otherwise, the thief’s identityremains unknown to her.

Before a civic-minded voodooistvolunteers her services to the localsheriff, she’d best remember townsfolkforget about petty larceny pretty darnquick when faced with “black magic!”

Revelation DustTrait: KnowledgeTN: 9Speed: 2 hoursDuration: 1 minute/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

This spell creates a small packet ofpowder that helps extract the truth andpenetrate deceptions.

To use the dust, the voodooist mustsprinkle it over a person. For theduration of the spell, the target must rollan opposed test of his Spirit vs. thevoodooist’s conjurin’ any time he’squestioned. If he looses, he must answertruthfully. If he wins, he can choose notto answer and with a raise, he can lie.

In general, one “yes-no” question canbe asked each round; more involvedquestions take considerably longer. Werecommend handling these exchangeswith a watch and real time.

The dust is also handy for uncoveringdisguises, magical or otherwise. Whensprinkled on the target, the voodooistrolls her conjurin’ Aptitude vs. thetarget’s disguise or other Aptitude asappropriate. If she wins, she can seethrough the disguise. The Marshal mayroll dice even if the target isn’t disguised,just to keep the hero guessing!

Only the voodooist who created thedust can use it. Each packet keeps itspotency for 1 day per level of thevoodooist’s faith: Voodoo Aptitude.

Salango’s CharmTrait: SpiritTN: 9Speed: 6 hoursDuration: 1 week/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

Salango is one loa any voodooistwould be well advised to make friendswith. Salango’s role is as guardian of allfolks in danger—pretty much businessas usual for heroes in the Weird West!

This charm doesn’t directly protectagainst harm as such, but it does go along way towards warning the bearer ofdangers ahead. And, like a great warrioronce said foreknowledge is half thebattle—or something like that, anyway.

The spell creates a small conjure bagand requires the voodooist to includeingredients worth $25. He can alsolocate the necessary items on a Hard(9) scroungin’ roll. The recipient of thebag must be present during the castingof the spell for the magic to work.

As long as the owner keeps the bagin her possession, for each success andraise the voodooist got on his conjurin’roll to make the bag, she gains a +1 to allCognition rolls to detect traps, ambushes,or other hidden dangers. That includessurprise rolls, but not necessarily otherAptitudes like trackin’, scrutinize, or thelike, unless the Marshal rules failingexposes the owner to immediate danger.

Should the owner ever losepossession of the conjure bag, themagic is dispelled. Salango’s charmworks only for whom the voodooistcreates it.

A voodooist may have only a singleSalango’s charm in existence at anygiven time. Further charms dilute thethe loa’s attention and cause all thecharms—including the original—fail.

Sending o’ the DeadTrait: SpiritTN: 13Speed: 8 hoursDuration: 1 week/faith: Voodoo levelRange: 1 mile/conjurin’ level

This is a potent curse that touchesevery aspect of the victim’s life. While itdoesn’t directly doom the target, manya poor soul has suffered their demisethanks to this spell.

When successfully cast, sendin’ o’ thedead plagues the victim with maliciousand mischievous ghosts that confoundnearly every endeavor. For the durationof the spell, the target of the sendin’gains the bad luck Hindrance.

118 Posse

In order to cast the spell, thevoodooist must have in her possessionan item of value belonging to theintended victim. The spell is ended ifthe victim recovers the personal itemused in the spell’s casting. Alsoexpended during the casting of thespell are other costly ingredients andsacrifices totaling $50 in value.

Each successful scroungin’ rollagainst an Incredible (11) TN gathers $25worth of ingredients. However, thevictim’s possession must be obtainedthrough hook or crook—not scroungin’!

Multiple castings of this spell on asingle target have no additional effect.

Soul TrapTrait: SpiritTN: 9Speed: 4 hoursDuration: SpecialRange: Touch

This ritual allows a voodooist tocreate a powerful conjure bag capableof stealing the supernatural essence ofpowerful abominations.

When successfully cast, the conjurebag allows the voodooist to ‘count coup’on certain powerful abominations. Hegains the same benefit as a Harrowedwould. See page 165 of the Deadlandsrulebook for details on counting coup.

When creating the conjure bag, thevoodooist must specifically name theabomination from which he seeks tosteal the essence. For example, “theHangin’ Judge outside Albuquerque.”

Additionally, if the creature has aspecific weakness, a sample must beincluded in the bag’s contents. A bag tocapture a Hangin’ Judge’s coup wouldcontain, among other things, a bit of ahangman’s rope and a lawman’s badge.

Once the bag has been filled and theritual completed, the voodooist has 1week for each level he has in faith:Voodoo in which to count coup. Afterthat time the conjure bag loses itsenchantment and is useless.

If he succeeds in counting coupduring that period, the conjure bagtraps the essence of the abomination;however, should he lose the bag or ifits contents are emptied, he also loseswhatever coup power he gained.

If another hero is also attempting tocount coup on the same creature, thevoodooist may roll his conjurin’Aptitude (based on Spirit) instead ofmerely his Spirit Trait if he wishes, butthis is optional. If he wants, he can stillroll his Spirit Trait.

Finally, a voodooist may not gainmore coup powers in this manner thanhe has levels in conjurin’.

Spell BreakerTrait: SpiritTN: OpposedSpeed: 15 minutesDuration: InstantRange: 5 feet

This handy spell lets a voodooistattempt to dispel the effects of anothermagician’s sorcery. It only works againsthexes, voodoo, or black magic. It has noeffect on miracles or favors.

To be effective, the voodooist mustmake an opposed test of her spellbreaker Aptitude vs. the other caster’sAptitude in the spell she’s trying todispel. If she wins the contest, thetarget spell ends immediately.

If she gets a raise on her opponent,the spell is warped back onto theoriginal caster if possible. He nowsuffers the full effects of his ownmagic, just as if he’d cast it on himself.Of course, if the spell can’t affect thecaster, ignore this effect.

If the voodooist gets 2 raises, inaddition to rebounding the spell, thecaster of the original spell takes 3d6damage to the guts! Even if the spellcan’t affect the caster, he still takes thedamage in this case.

On the other hand, if the caster ofthe original spell should get a raise inthe opposed contest, the voodooistsuffers the effects of the spell as well asthe original victim, if possible. And, ifher opponent gets two raises, thevoodooist gets the previous effect and3d6 damage to the guts herself. Ineither case, the original spell isunbroken.

Voodoo 119Voodoo DollTrait: SmartsTN: 13Speed: 8 hoursDuration: SpecialRange: Touch (Special)

This spell creates the single itemmost familiar to those uninitiated withvoodoo, a voodoo doll. These potentcharms aren’t as common amongpractitioners of voodoo as most folksbelieve—they’re time consuming anddifficult to make; however, in spite ofthe drawbacks, a properly enspelleddoll is still a potent weapon.

Each doll can only affect a singleperson who must be chosen by thevoodooist at the time of creation. Thespell requires a small part of the personbe included in the doll, usually hair ornail clippings.

Additionally, other ingredients andsacrifices totaling $50 must be usedduring the construction. Eachsuccessful scroungin’ roll against anIncredible (11) TN gathers $25 worth ofingredients. And, it goes without sayingthe hero can’t use scroungin’ to obtaina piece of the target’s body—at least notwithout a very impressive explanation!

Once the doll is made, the voodooistcan use it to cause the target terriblepain by twisting, poking, sticking, orotherwise damaging the doll— as long asthe person is within 1 mile per level ofthe voodooist’s conjurin’. To do so, thevoodooist must win an opposed roll ofhis conjurin’ Aptitude versus the target’sVigor.

Using the doll within the confines ofa shrine or humfor, grants a +4 bonusto this conjurin’ roll as well!

If he’s successful, the victim losesWind equal to the difference in therolls, for example, if he got a 15 on hisconjurin’ roll, and the target onlyreceived a 7 on her Vigor check, shewould take 8 Wind from the doll.

If the voodooist fails the contest,there is no effect. If he goes bust, thespell is broken and the doll is useless.

The voodooist can attempt this sortof attack once for every level he has inconjurin’; however, he can spread thesemagical assaults out over the durationof the spell; he does not have to makethem all at once!

A voodooist may have only a singledoll at a time. Only the creator can usethe voodoo doll. This spell has no effecton abominations or Harrowed.

WangaTrait: SmartsTN: 11Speed: 6 hoursDuration: 1 day/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

This spell makes a normal weaponmuch more potent for the voodooist. Ineffect, wanga turns a weapon into akind of special conjure bag.

The spell enchants a single weapon,providing it with a bonus to all damageit causes. When using the wanga, thevoodooist adds his level in conjurin’ tothe damage done. So, for example, a

120 Posse

Peacemaker under the effect of awanga spell cast by a voodooist withconjurin’ 5 would do 3d6+5 damagewhenever its creator fired it.

The damage inflicted by the weapondoes cause Wind to Harrowed or otherforms of undead, but otherwise is notconsidered magical in nature.

In addition to the weapon to beenchanted, the spell requires anadditional $20 dollars worth ofingredients and sacrifices to beexpended during the casting. A Hard (9)scroungin’ roll also produces theseingredients.

Only the creator gains the benefitsof the wanga—in the hands of anyoneelse, even another voodooist, it has nospecial abilities. A voodooist may haveonly a single wanga at a time.

A wanga can be used with bite ofArignee. However, the bonus onlyapplies to the initial damage. Just likethe bonus dice for certain hit locations,damage on subsequent rounds does notreceive the extra points.

Winnin’ WaysTrait: SmartsTN: 9Speed: 6 hoursDuration: 1 day/faith: Voodoo levelRange: Touch

No, the name of this spell isn’ttalking about the voodooist’s charmingpersonality; instead, it refers to a subjectnearer and dearer to most folkshearts—money. Or, more specifically,gambling for money.

The voodooist enchants a conjurebag containing ingredients with a valueof $15; of course, since money isprecious to most gamblers, he can putthem together with an Onerous (7)scroungin’ roll instead.

He must specify the owner of thebag at the time of casting—even if it ishimself. The conjure bag works for noone but the owner. As long as theowner keeps the bag in her possession,it grants her a +1 for each level the

voodooist has in his conjurin’ Aptitudeto all her gamblin’ rolls. It also gives hera similar bonus to any Cognition orCognition-based roll to catch anothergambler cheating in a game she’splaying. If she loses possession of thebag or cheats herself, the magicdissipates, leaving her to her own skill.

Multiple bags of this sort are notcumulative; in fact, the loas considerthat a form of cheating with results asabove!

A voodooist may have only as manywinnin’ ways conjure bags in existenceat any time as he has levels in conjurin’.

Zobop’s FixTrait: KnowledgeTN: OpposedSpeed: 6 hoursDuration: Until the next sunriseRange: 1 mile/conjurin’ level

The Zobop are a group of evil bokkorprone to hexing others with evil magicsjust to show their own powers. Someare even rumored to be cannibals.Honest voodooists have an abidinghatred of these malign sorcerers, butoften a member of the Zobop is simplytoo powerful for a conjure doctor toconfront. This spell was originallycrafted to help even those odds a little.

A “fix” is another word for curse invoodoo magic, and although the titlesays it’s “Zobop’s,” it works equally wellon anyone. Zobop’s fix creates atalisman that makes the voodooist’svictim more susceptible to thevoodooist’s other spells.

It requires, like most powerful voodoomagics, that the voodooist get hishands on a piece of his intendedvictim’s body. It doesn’t have to beanything that’s likely to be missed, likean arm or a leg; a fingernail or hairclipping is more than sufficient. Oncehe’s got that, he sits down and startshis rituals. At the end of the two hourperiod, he makes an opposed roll of hisconjurin’ versus his target’s Spirit.

If he wins, he gets a +1 modifier to allhis conjurin’ rolls to affect the victim.That applies to resisted rolls as well asregular conjurin’ rolls. Furthermore, anyspell with a range of greater than touchhas double the normal range when castagainst the victim.

Voodoo 121The spell provides no bonus to

damage nor does it lower the victim’sown rolls to resist spell effects.

Only the voodooist can takeadvantage of this bonus and only aslong as he has the enspelled charm inhis possession.

Lafayette casts a pool o’ doomagainst a target he’s saddled with azobop’s fix. He has conjurin’ 5, so hegets a +5 bonus to the opposed rollto see if the spell works and hisspell now has a range of 20 milesinstead of the original 10!

Zombie MasterTrait: SpiritTN: OpposedSpeed: 2Duration: ConcentrationRange: 5 yards/conjurin’ level

Making zombies is the realm of thebokkor, and good—or at least non-evil—voodooists steer clear of the practice.However, once a fellow’s back from thegrave and walking around, there’s noreason he can’t do a favor or two for afriend of Baron Samedi!

This spell is one of the few voodoomagics that don’t require a conjure bagor other ingredients to be preparedahead of time. That is, if you don’t countthe walkin’ dead—and somebody elseusually takes care of that. All thevoodooist needs is a bit of backboneand a good conjurin’ Aptitude.

Zombie master lets the caster taketemporary control of a walkin’ deadand/or voodoo zombie. It has no effecton Harrowed, ghosts, vampires, or otherforms of undead, however, and anyvoodooist who tries to use it that wayis likely in for a terminal case of death!

In the case of independent walkin’dead, the caster rolls a contest of herconjurin’ Aptitude against the corpse’sSpirit. If she wins, she can command itfor as long as she concentrates.

If she’s facing a voodoo zombie orwalkin’ dead created by black magic orsimilar power, she must roll against thecreator’s Spirit instead.

Even if she wins, she doesn’tnecessarily have full control of theundead. A simple success or a singleraise on the roll means she can

command it as above. The undead’soriginal controller can attempt to regaincontrol on each of his actions by rollingthe contest again. Should the originalcontroller win, the spell ends and thevoodooist must recast zombie master tochallenge his control again.

On the other hand, if the voodooistgets two raises on the initial contest—or any later one—her control iscomplete until she stops concentrating.

Language is no barrier to thevoodooist’s control; the undeadunderstands the intent of hercommands. However, the zombie orwalkin’ dead must be able to hear—or atleast see—the voodooist in order for herto command it. Zombie master conveysno other special communicationabilities beyond those noted above.

Traits & AptitudesDeftness 2d6

Bow 2Nimbleness 2d12

Climbin’ 1Fightin’: martial arts (Wing Chun) 4Sneak 2

Quickness 4d10Strength 4d6Vigor 2d10Cognition 3d8

Search 1Knowledge 1d6

Area knowledge 2Language:

Cantonese 2Language:

English 1Medicine:

Chinesetraditional2

Mien 2d6Overawe 2

Smarts 3d6Spirit 1d8

Ch’i 4Guts 2Meditation 2

Wind 18Pace 12Edges

Arcane backgroud:enlightened 3

Light sleeper 1Martial arts training 3Quick thinker 2

HindrancesCurious -3Heroic -3“My Kung Fu Is Superior” -2Style Vulnerability: Drunken -1

Special Abilities:Strain 10Ch’i Powers: Fury fans the flame,

gimmick weapon, monkey goes tothe mountain, veins of iron

Martial arts maneuvers: Disarm,get up, head butt, Lock

Gear: Derringer, 25 rounds ofammunition, knife, and $238 in CSAcurrency.

PersonalityDo not test me. I merely wish to be

left alone. What do you say to me? I donot threaten you. I carry no gun.

Ah, you say you have heard of me.You know my reputation, and you wishto fight me? No. It is against the

principles I was taught by my sifu. Imust not fight without cause.

In the words of my sifu:“When peace andharmony rule—”

Pardon me?You say your

kung fu issuperior? It isnot good tojoke withme...You sayit is nojoke.

I amsorry myfriend. Iwish youno harm,but my

kung fu issuperior. I’llgive you onelast chanceto take

back yourchallenge.

Youwill not?

HEEEEYYAAHH!

Quote: “My kung fu is stronger thanyours!”

Martial ArtistMartial Artist

Traits & AptitudesDeftness 1d8

Shootin’: pistol 2Sleight o’ hand 2Throwin’: balanced 3

Nimbleness 2d6Climbin’ 1Sneak 1

Quickness 4d6Strength 1d6Vigor 3d6Cognition 4d10

Scrutinize 2Search 2

Knowledge 2d12Academia: occult 4Area knowledge 2Language: English

2Science:

engineering 2Science: physics 1

Mien 2d6Smarts 3d8

Bluff 2Scroungin’ 2Tinkerin’ 3

Spirit 2d10Guts 2

Wind 16Pace 6Edges

Arcane backgroud:huckster 3

Arcanebackground: madscientist 3

HindrancesBad luck -5Curious -3Yearnin’ -2 (to

combine scienceand sorcery).

Special Abilities:Hexslingin’ 4Hexes: Devil’s

workshop, haywire, infernalmachine, scrap storm

Mad Science 4Gear: Double-action Colt Peacemaker,

deck of cards, box of bullets, tool kit,steam wagon, and $132.

PersonalityScience? P’shaw. What you call

science is really a form of madness. Ihappen to know that your inspiration

comes from dark sources.Oh, certainly the seed

of the idea began inyour own mind, but itwas demons thatnurtured it. Mad? Ofcourse I’m mad—Iconsort with the samedevils as you. Who

wouldn’t be insane dealingwith such horrors. Thedifference is that Iunderstand the origin ofmy abilities—and I cantap in to their incrediblepower in several ways.

Quote: “Hex orinfernal device? Bothlead to madness.”

Metal MageMetal Mage

Voodooist

Traits & AptitudesDeftness 2d6

Shootin’: pistol 2Nimbleness 4d6

Climbin’ 1Sneak 2

Quickness 3d6Strength 1d6Vigor 3d8Cognition 1d8

Scrutinize 2Search 1

Knowledge 2d6Academia: occult 3Area knowledge 2Language: English 2Medicine: general 2

Mien 4d10Performin’: dance 3

Smarts 2d10Bluff 2Scroungin’ 2

Spirit 2d12Faith: Voodoo 4Guts 2

Wind 20Pace 6Edges

Arcane backgroud:Voodooist 3

Favored chual:Damballah-Wedo4

HindrancesEnemy -3 (evil

bokkor)Superstitious -2Stubborn -2Vengeful -3

Special Abilities:Conjurin’ 4Voodoo Spells: Conjure

doctor, poison powder,powerful mojo, spellbreaker

Gear: Derringer, 25 rounds ofammunition, knife, and $238 in CSAcurrency.

PersonalityNo, I ain’t troublin’ nobody unless

they go troublin’ me. I don’t do badworks like some folks around herewho know the mysteries, but turnin’

evil back on itself ain’t evil.If you’re wantin’ a gris-

gris on a rival for someyoung filly’s heart, you golookin’ elsewhere. But, ifyou’re wantin’ help atsome honest work, I’dbe happy to lend you ahand—for a price.

Now, from whatyou’re tellin’ me, thisain’t no everydayproblem you’re sufferin’.No, it sounds like there’ssome bad mojo workin’.Not the worst I’ve seen,mind you, not by a fairpiece. I don’t expect we’llget to that point either—not unless you startcoughin’ up snakes, thatis!

Take this home withyou and sprinkle itthree times each nightunder your pillow. That’llfix you right up.

Quote: “There’sconjurin’ work here. Iknow the signs.”

Voodooist

TheMarshal’sHandbook

Marshal, your section in this book isa whole lot shorter than usual. That’sbecause there’s very little for you toworry about here. Most of the rules andtables you need are in the Marshal’sHandbook rulebook.

We chose not to reprint any materialfrom full-sized sourcebooks like Fire &Brimstone or Ghost Dancers both toavoid repeating ourselves and to give usmore room for new stuff.

Still there are a few loose ends in ourother arcane-background sourcebooksthat we’d like to tie up before we closeout. And, since those are all for youreyes only, we waited until now to do it.

We’ve also got a little backgroundinfo and behind the scenes information

that’s not for players’ eyes hiddenhere. Finally, we’ve got to give youthe goods on what happens to

those pesky fu-fighters when theygo bust on a ch’i roll.

Shuffling theDeck

The biggest change to huckstersfrom the revised rules is the addition ofthe hexslingin’ Aptitude. This simplifiedmuch of the character side to thearcane background, but we’ve got toapply a little touch-up in a spot or twoto make the transition from old to newbooks smooth.

Losing Hexslingin’ LevelsLosing a level of hexslingin’ does not

cause a huckster to lose a hex, eventhough the amount of starting hexesshe gets is based on that Aptitude.

This is merely a game mechanic toallow a character to start with enoughhexes to be enjoyable and to representthat more experienced hucksters havemore hexes. After creation, they are nolonger tied together.

Chapter Six:

Secrets ofthe Arcane

128 Marshal

Creating New HexesThe full details on how to balance a

new hex a player wants to develop arein Hucksters & Hexes. We’re not going torehash that subject here, but we didwant to hit one aspect that’s changedwith the new hexslingin’-basedhucksters.

For the “trial run” casting of the hex,Hucksters & Hexes says to have thecardslinger roll the appropriate Trait.With the addition of the hexslingin’Aptitude, things got a little easier; nowshe rolls her hexslingin’ based on theappropriate Trait. Odds are that’s goingto give her a little bit better chance atsuccess.

BacklashEverywhere the Extended Backlash

Table mentions the result affecting ahuckster’s skill level in a hex, insteadread it as affecting his hexslingin’Aptitude instead.

The GorgonYou guessed it, Marshal, the gorgon

is actually a particularly nastyspecimen of the Reckoners’ favoriteerrand boy—los Diablos. This one is alittle more circumspect about its attackand is biding its time.

So far, Sitgreaves’ hexes actuallyfurther the Reckoners’ designs. A goodnumber of them are designed to kill,maim, or otherwise cause discomfort.Waste product and stabilize are the firststeps he’s actually made toward off-setting the downward trend, and theReckoners are noticing his research.

When the gorgon does finally go forSitgreaves, he’s going to find his skillstested to the utmost.

Your Kung Fu Is Weak!Going bust on a ch’i roll costs the

martial artist the normal Strain for thepower, plus 1d6 Wind for every point hishighest die missed the TN. Yes, it’s

possible for him to actually make or beatthe TN and still go bust as long as themajority of his dice are 1s. If that’s thecase, he loses the Strain and 1d6 Wind.

The Spirit Ain’tWilling!

A couple of quick notes on GhostDancers and we’re done, Marshal.

First, on pg. 97 of that book underSacred Grounds, it makes it soundlike appeasement points can bequadrupled if a shaman favored by aparticular medicine way practices it inthe right place. Actually, we meant tosay appeasement points were triplednot quadrupled in that case. Oops!

Spirit GuideIf the shaman wants his spirit guide

to take him to the Deadlands, the guidetakes the Appeasement and thenrefuses, but does give him a +2 to hisarea knowledge: Hunting Grounds roll.

Hunting Grounds EncountersWe gave you a neat encounter and

travel times table for the HuntingGrounds, but we forgot to tell you howoften to roll for encounters! Forjourneys up to one day in length, rollonce; up to a week, roll twice. Forlonger trips, roll once for each week,plus one additional time. If the cleanseportal favor is used, by the way,subtract 5 from the first encounter roll.

Who Do Voodoo?Both types of loas are actually

inhabitants of the Hunting Grounds. Infact, you can think of loa as justanother name for “spirit.” Rada loa arepotent spirits just like those worshippedby the Indians, while petro loa areparticularly powerful manitous.

If the voodooist goes bust on aconjurin’ roll, a petro loa (manitou) hasgotten into the mix and fouls the spell.Use your imagination as to the finalresult, Marshal, but you can’t go wrongif you have the result backfire on thecaster. One important note: When aspell does backfire it always gets thecaster, not the intended recipient!

IndexA glass darkly 24

Abundance of pecking

birds 67

Agwe 98

Analyze 35

Anoint 8

Anxious seat 8

Arcane background:

enlightened 60

Arcane background:

Voodoo 97

Ashes to ashes 9

Bad ju-ju 104

Baron Samedi 95, 98

Baron Samedi’s pact 104

Barricade 35

Bear the cross 9

Bite of Arignee 105

Bitter tongue 105

Black cat 24

Blast furnace 36

Blessing medicine 86

Blessings 17

Blood of gold 68

Blood oath 89

Brace 34

Breath of the spirits 87

Bulletproof 37

Bullet-stopper 37

Buried treasure 106

Butterfly 85

Cardsharp 25

Caustic glop 38

Cemetary gates 106

Charm o’ success 107

Ch’i powers, new 66

Ch’i powers, starting 66

ch’i Aptitude 58

Clarity of thought 16

Closing the gate 68

Cloud the mind 107

Coax 107

Cobra strike 68

Coldsnap 25

Conjure bags 102

Conjure doctor 108

Conjurin’ Aptitude 96

Console 10

Courage 91

Coyote’s laugh 90

Crane guides the arrow 69

Curse of failure 108

Damballah-Wedo 94, 99

Debug 34

Decrypt 38

Dementia 39

Derange 109

Devastating ape strike 60

Devil’s dance 89

Devil’s workshop 40

Divine interventions 17

Dog, guardian spirit 85

Dragon’s claw 60

Dream send 109

Dream walk 91

Dust to rust 17

Earth medicine 87

Errata 7-8, 20, 84, 126

Eye o’ the beholder 109

Ezeli-Freda-Dahomey 95,

100

Fangs of the serpent 70

Fast 10

Favored chual, Edge 97

Favored of Heaven 16

Favors 83, 86

Fiery furnace 17

Fifty-two pickup 26

Fightin’ concentrations 59

Fighting styles, martial

arts 56-57

Finish 21

Flying claw 70

Flying crescent 70

Flying guillotine 71

Fooled you! 21

Foretellin’ 110

Fury fans the flame 72

Gad 111

Ghost medicine 89

Gifts, gaining new 7, 15

Gifts, new 15

Gimmick weapon 72

Good karma 16

Gorgon 32, 126

Grenade 40

Guardian spirits, new 84

Gumption 16

Hallowed ground 102

Hawk’s swiftness 91

Haywire 40

Hell’s bargain 26

Hell’s fury 27

Hell’s thunderclap 73

Hexes 19, 23, 33, 35

Hindrances, martial arts

61-63

Humfor 95-96, 103

Infernal machine 41

Infinity Press 30, 32

Ingredients, spells 102

Jade King’s stance 73

Jawbone of an ass 10

Judgment of the

unrighteous 10

Legba 94,100

Leopard and her cubs 74

Loas 94-95, 98-101

Loas, calling 97

Loco 95, 100

Mad insight 43

Magazine 43

Magic bullet 43

Magnetize 44

Malison 111

Maneuvers 63-65

Mantis pinch 74

Many arms of the spider

74

Medicine: Chinese, 59

Meditation, Aptitude 60

Merciful sparrow 75

Mind of quicksilver 75

Miracles, gaining new 7

Miracles, new 8

Mirror 22

Mirror, mirror 28

Misdirect 90

Monkey goes to the

mountain 76

Nature’s wrath 88

Ogu 94,101

Ogu’s aura 112

Opportunity’s knock 12

Palm of prevention 76

Perseverance 12

Pick me up 22

Poison powder 112

Pool o’ doom 112

Poultice 113

Powerful mojo 114

Power leak 44

Power surge 45

Prayers of the faithful 12

Quench 13

Quick thinker, Edge 61

Razor coils 45

Red-handed 114

Reflect 46

Remedy 88

Revelation dust 115

Reverse engineer 46

Ride the rails 47

Righteous reversal 77

River flows uphill 77

Sacred ground 87

Salango’s charm 115

Saint Patrick’s boon 16

Scrapstorm 48

Secret paths 88

Seize the pearl o’ death 77

Sending o’ the dead 115

Serpent’s embrace 78

Shard 48

Shocker 49

Show the path 89

Shrines, Voodoo 96

Shrines, building 103

Sleeve card 28

Slithering eel 79

Sliverspray 49

Smoke parts for iron 79

Soul trap 116

Sparrow’s fall 13

Spell breaker 116

Stabilize 34

Startle 22

Stayin’ put 29

Steganogram 50

Step back to ward off

monkey 79

Strain 66, 67

Strength of fellowship 14

Summon serpent 90

Ten-foot punch 79

The demon’s eye 29

The Lord provides 14

Throwin’ 60

Thunder strums the pipa

80

Thunderbird 86

Tiger shakes its mane 80

Tinhorn shuffle 23

Tool 35

Tricks 19, 20-21, 34

Trickster medicine 90

Truth of the crow 90

Turtle’s gift 87

Tweak 51

Upgrade 51

Veins of iron 80

Vengeance of angry

monkey 80

Venom punch 81

Visionseeking medicine 91

Voodoo doll 117

Voodoo spells 101-102

Wanga 117

War medicine 91

Waste product 52

Water of life 14

Water to wine 15

Weird science 53

Wind blows over the Earth

81

Winnin’ ways 118

Zilch 53

Zobop’s fix 118

Zombie master 119