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View Full Version : A bit of a gamble...[PEACH?]



Mulletmanalive
2010-02-19, 08:37 PM
I love Deadlands by Pinnacle Entertainment. I thought I should get that out of the way first before this seems like fan-wank.

Anyway, I was reading the depressingly mediocre d20 rulebook on my way to the monsters section [gotta love their take on Zombies and the Hangin' Judges] and came across the way they implemented Hucksters. I thought it was rather weak on flavour [the spell points system they used was solid though] so I decided to have a go at a magic system where you gain power by playing cards with something malevolent on the other side...

I plan to make this into a class, though i'd like to get thoughts on the subject as I go. For those of you how actually like poker, no this is only loosely based on it; were i after actual poker in game, i'd be playing Deadlands original flavour!:

Huckstering:
The basics of being a Huckster is that you have learned to draw power from an unseen agency with power to spare and a low boredom threshold. In this case , you play cards or some other form of game that is part chance and part being a bastard with the spirits of the dead just behind the veil.

The Table:
Your character may invite a limited number of spirits to the table by spending a long and costly ritual [3 days and 100gp per level he holds, you'll see why in a minute]. Each spirit can manifest one spell of each level, chosen by player/dm concent when the ritual is made, with one additional spell each for each level up to the Huckster's Cha modifier.

The maximum number of spirits at the table is determined by your level in the eventual class but i'm thinking that one per 5 levels or part thereof should be enough.

It would be wise for a DM to determine who the big gamblers in the spirit world are in the area and allow the player to pick from those when choosing a players for the Table. [i'm avoiding detailing this because i don't actually use the standard D&D spell list in my games: it would have taken more effort to tweak it than to simply come up with more controlable mechanics, so i did the latter]. In general, Hucksters have a tendency towards Illusion and mild Necromancy, though mostly defensive stuff.

The Game:
The game, as Hucksters call spellcasting, alters the way spells work. There is no point placing a Swift action spell on the list because ALL games take a Full action to play. This includes all of the following stages:
The Pot: Deciding what spell you want to try for
The Deal: the first cycle of the game
The Choice: what do you do next? Get greedy, keep going or raise the stakes a little? Or are you chicken?
Hit: further cycles of the game. Each one gets a little messier until someone wins big or looses their shirt!

All of the above stages take place in the same Full action. The game takes place somehow outside time, virtually instantaneous to anyone who isn't the Huckster. Observers will note two things: first, that he suddenly gains a sheen of sweat every time he casts and second, that cards will materialise in his hands...

[B]The Pot:
Because this is gambling rather than true spellcasting, a Huckster has no limit to the number of spells he may invoke of the table. He just has to win them and in order to play the game, he must buy into the pot.

Buying in costs a bet of 1d6 hp [rolled after success or failure is determined] per level of the spell being called up from one of the gamblers. The pot stands until the spell is either cast, you lose the hand, in which case you lose the HP, or if you fold, where you lose some of the HP, see below.

You may never attempt to be on a spell with a level higher than half your own level [rounded up] unless you "Make Things Interesting" as noted under Raising.

The Deal:
The basic mechanics of this are as follows:
Roll 1d20. If the number rolled is equal or less than the level of the spell, you are called and beaten before you can get started. You lose your stake and take the damage. Continue to step 2 anyway because, frankly, the other spirits at the table have no use for the spell energy either...
Add your Huckster level to the dice roll. If the roll is less than a DC of 12 + twice the spell level, you do not win and may go on to Fold, Raise, Make Things Interesting or simply Hit. If the roll is above the DC, you successfully win the hand. Go to step 3.
If you won the hand, congratulations, you don't lose your hit points and the spell is cast at a target of your choice. The save DC of any spell cast in this way is equal to 10 + Spell Level + your Cha + Any raises taken [see below].
Should you win on a Natural 20 [or if you're familiar with MV, achieve a threat via a Risk] you win big and gain a free Raise on your next spell, with no hp cost and actually win back 1d6 hit points from your competitors.

The Choice:
Folding:
Some times, it's just wiser to cut your losses. After any game cycle, you may choose to fold. In this case, the bored spirits cut you a little slack to keep the game going. You may make a Will save against the DC necessary to cast the spell. If you fail, you lose the full quantity of hit points bit to the pot. Should you succeed, you suffer the minimum amount of damage that the pot could cause [all dice roll '1's].

Raising:
Should you neither win nor lose the initial bidding cycle, you may choose to "Raise" by bidding a little bit more of your essence. For every 1d3 hp you bid, you increase your caster level for the spell by +1 and gain a +1 bonus on the spell's Save DCs to boot.

If you choose to Raise, you MUST Hit, see below.

Make Things Interesting:
Though the last words of many a Huckster, you can choose to massively increase the pot: You take a far greater risk doing so but can cast beyond your means if it pays off.

When you Make Things Interesting you raise the level of spell demanded by one. This increases the casting DC by +2, the Error range [chance of losing your shirt] by +1 and you must add another 1d6 hp to the pot.

When you do this action, you choose another spell from the list available for bidding at the Table of the new level of spell that you are casting. The previous spell is discarded. Alternately, you may request a level 1 or 0 spell to be added to the pot and cast simultaneously to the primary effect.

If you Make Things Interesting, You must Hit.

Hit:
When you call Hit, you roll for the deal again.

Only this time, you gain a +2 bonus on your roll and the Error range [the chance of losing the pot in step 1 of the Deal] increases by 2. Repeat all of the steps of the deal, including the possibility of returning to the Choice again. Remember that it's possible to lose and the spell still be cast because one of the other players just tosses it away.

Spells of the Game:
So you cast the spell. Good for you. Does anything else change, you ask? Well...

Not overtly.

That's an oversimplification but still.

Spell effects should be visually tailored to the Huckster's nature: Blur will take the form of swirling cards for instance [The Tinhorn Shuffle], while Fireball could be the world's nastiest shower of papercuts.

Metamagic is basically unchanged: You can choose to apply it to spells, effectively increasing their level for both DC and the hit points that you'll need for the Pot. Some Hucksters love 'em and some hate 'em.

Card Tricks:
Reserve feats and Cantrips may be resolved using a game of 21 or High Lady if you prefer. The Pot on these is one hit point per effective level of the spell you're going for [to a minumum of 1 and a maximum of half your Huckster level].

Roll 1d20 and compare it to the size of the Pot. If you rolled higher, the effect works. If not, you lost, it fails and you lose the hp. Simple as that.

Conclusion:
Now that i've finished wafflin', any o' y'all tinhorns got any 'pinions?

I'm not sure about the casting DC for the offing. I was considering that there may be class features for the Huckster class that reduce the Error range slightly [though not too much] and/or the ability to count cards and cheat, either as feats or class features.

Bear in mind, this is an attempt to replicate the unpredictable power of a Deadlands Huckster: you were the party's big hitter...until things went south.

Dante & Vergil
2010-02-20, 03:02 PM
This is too coincidental, I was just looking for Deadlands stuff on Google.
Never played a Huckster myself, but looks good for D&D game.
Also, has anyone tried to do D&D with the original Deadland rules?

Mulletmanalive
2010-02-20, 06:16 PM
The system really isn't well disposed to play in the D&D mould, simply because your heroes don't get much more powerful as time goes on. A Mojaveh Rattler is going to win in melee no matter how experienced you are [though i did once witness an Enlightened Martial Artist give it a solid run while helped by a Shaman and a Blessed...].

Savage Worlds is a simplified version of it, made to work fully as a miniatures game and isn't too closely tied to the game setting [trying to design Huckster Hexes was a pain. You always ended up too powerful or the draw was too high], so that could be used for a gritty D&D type game. I think Great White Games did something like that anyway...

They certainly did a version of G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T that played better than the original...