Doc Johnson had hiked all over the town of Pasco, WA in search of an answer to a single question: why was everything so sharp? Every saloon plate and tumbleweed–hell, even the buildings themselves–had a mean edge to ‘em. There Doc stood, rejected and ignored by the mayor of the whole town. One simple question and the mayor wouldn’t answer it. Doc shrugged, produced his flamethrower, and got to work. He’d asked nice. Now he’d ask again…
A week ago, a friend of mine in town asked me if I wanted to join a game a third friend was organizing. When I heard it would be a Deadlands Classic one shot, I knew I had to play. Beyond a fun day spent with friends, I considered it a pilgrimage into the system that eventually became Savage Worlds. Long story short: I’m very glad for all the ways Deadlands Classic was transformed into Savage Worlds as we know it today.
“End of the Line”
by Ansel Burch
Starring:
Roberta “Billie” Bolton, a buxom, swindlin’ huckster
“Painless” Doc Johnson, a man of science (and no social graces)
Daniel Parsimony, a lawyer from back east
Mark Quigley, Texas Ranger
and
Josiah Slabb, a Harrowed bounty killer
It was a wild stay in St. Paul, what with the fire in the tailor’s shop and the whole meat rafflery next door going up in smoke. But Slabb got his man, a soy wrangler from back east. Chased him into the fire, even, against all reason or sense.
Days later, a posse of five found itself in the town of Pasco, WA. The ferry in town would take them across the Columbia and into Oregon, but the ferry was loaded full. While Doc took note of how strangely… sharp everything seemed to be, the lawyer and the huckster went off to the saloon. Billie, our buxom huckster, found a table of pliant locals to work over in a hand of poker. One of these men, Aloysius Daisyfields, was who Mr. Parsimony had come out west to find, for the purposes of executing one Temerity Daisyfields’ last will and testament. Mr. Parsimony orchestrated what legal experts call a “honeypot stakeout” to vet Mr. Daisyfields’ suitability as an heir. Aloysius proved as susceptible to Billie’s, erm, ample charms as the other local. Both lost a handy sum that day.
Quigley, the lawman, had gone off to the mayor’s office, where he found the mayor to be reclusive and close-mouthed. He also saw a secret panel in the wall, and wondered how much money this well-dressed mayor has squeezed from his shabby townsfolk over the years.
Sooner or later (it was later), Slabb reckoned they oughta find out when the next ferry left. The ticketmaster was a rude son of a gun… and wouldn’t you know it? There was a wanted poster with his face on it outside the station. Much to Slabb’s ire, the ticketmaster was wanted alive. A short duel later, the ticketmaster would father no more children, but he hadn’t dropped before blowing Slabb’s ear clean off his head. Took part of his head with it! That was roundabout the time folks realized Slabb wasn’t normal, ‘cuz he scruffed that ticketmaster and dragged him off to the doctor, brains seeping out and everything. Folks grew more fearful, the town grew a little sharper, and Billie Bolton realized: Pasco’s being terrorformed. When things got bad enough, an Abomination might just show up to cause some havoc.
While Slabb went to find some grub and a bed for a little shut-eye, Doc, Billie, and Mr. Parsimony, decided to pay the mayor a visit. Quigley the lawman reckoned when an Abomination is around the corner, the best place for a sharpshooter to be is up in a clocktower. He peered into the mayor’s office as a fight broke out. Doc’s flamethrower malfunctioned, but a white flame flared up in Billie’s hand as the mayor was knocked out by an impossible blast of wind. Quigley shot the wood panel in the mayor’s office to send hundreds of gold coins bursting into the saloon on the other side of the wall. Folks were injured, Slabb woke up and noticed, and he mighta et that poor saloon gal if Quigley hadn’t shot a chandelier down to cage the killer. Not only that, but the town mighta lost its last nerve at the whole sight if Mr. Parsimony hadn’t summoned up the devil’s own tongue to sate everyone with a string of two-dollar words.
In the end, the fears of the town were calmed with gold coins, silver words, and a helping hand from Quigley the Texas Ranger. Billie fleeced a few more poor souls, Doc tried to improve their lives with his infernal gadgets, and Mr. Parsimony was on hand to handle any patent applications or local litigation (for a reasonable fee, of course). Slabb eventually regained control of himself from the manitou, but forevermore people knew him as an undead killer, like the grim reaper’s apprentice.
Reckoning With the Dead
The story was a ton of fun (made even more so by some of the funniest gamers I’ve played with in a while), but like I said: I was in it for the system as much as the setting. It was awesome to see the game that would one day become Savage Worlds. I marked its many differences, and asked myself why the folks at Pinnacle might have made the decisions they did. Across the board, I felt like their decisions were the right ones.
After playing Deadlands Classic, I understand more about what “Fast! Furious! Fun” means, and why the Savage Worlds community is so dedicated to keeping mechanics and rules in a state of simplicity. Card Draw trait generation! Ten Attributes! Attribute-Skill dice pool weirdness! Granted, we were almost all brand new and only had a couple rulebooks for the six of us, but it took almost two hours to create our characters. I think Savage Worlds is so much better off with a point buy system, not to mention fewer traits overall (Deftness, Nimbleness, and Quickness? can you really slice “Agility” that many ways?).
While I understood why they trimmed down or removed other mechanics, I thought they were nonetheless cool to have available as options. The “poker game with a demon” that all hucksters play to cast their powers was a complex, cumbersome time sink, but what a cool mechanic! Forget Vancian or point-based systems, you actually get to play poker with a demon! It’s almost a shame to miss out on such an innovative design. Other simplifications, like the initiative system, were vastly improved by the evolution to Savage Worlds.
All in all, it was a nice walk with a “dead” system and a hilarious day of gaming. Check back on Thursday for another new product from the Mythic Gazetteer! This time, we crack open…
