WhtKnt Character Discussions

This thread is for discussing WhtKnt's character please do not post anything here that is not related to WhtKnt's character and yes collaborating with WhtKnt is consider fair postings.

Marie Cheveau is a riverboat gambler from down New Orleans way. She is a red-haired, green-eyed huckster who is fluent in French and English.

Spoken only or also Script (read/write) in both or in one but not the other?

Spoken, though French is her native tongue. Do we not get Script for free in our native language?

No you do not get Script for free in any language as knowing how to read/write was not at all that common and while this world is quite different than our wild west was some things are similar -- besides everyone got an extra 8 Skill points from the basic character starting allotment so taking 1 or more skills in a Script or even boosting one's Language ('Native') skill should not hurt the overall concept of the character.

Name: Marie Cheveau
Race: Human
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Skullduggery d8, Script (English) d8, Script (French) d8, Fighting d4, Gambling d8, Language (English) d8, Shooting d6, Spellcasting (Arcane) d8-1, Stealth d6, Streetwise d6+2
Pace: 26 ft/rnd, Parry: 4, Toughness: 5, Charisma: 2, Grit: 1
Gear: Unarmed Strike d4 (Str)
Special Abilities:
•Curious(*): Must check out everything and solve all mysteries
•Focus: -1 or -2 Vigor to resist fatigue, poison, etc.
•Loyal: Will never leave a man behind
•Arcane Magic: Gain the Huckster arcane background (10 Power Points / 3 Starting Powers)
•Attractive: +2 Charisma
Arcane Powers:
•Bolt: Single bolt 2d6 damage; Up to 3 bolts at 1pt per bolt; 2pts does one 3d6 bolt
•Boost/Lower Trait: Raise/lower a trait by one die-type (or two with raise)
•Obscure: Obscures area equal to Large Burst Template; Attacks suffer blindness penalty of -6

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Attributes Check out fine
.... d8(2) + d8(2) + d6(1) + d6(1) + d6(1) = 7 points

My count on the Skills has you off
Fighting d4 .......................... (1)
Gambling d8 ........................ (3) .... (4)
Skullduggery d8 ................... (3) .... (7)
Shooting d6 ......................... (2) .... (9)
Spellcasting (Arcane) d8-1 ..... (3) ... (12)
Stealth d6 ............................ (2) ... (14)
Streetwise d6+2 ................... (2) ... (16)

Language (English) d8 ........... (3) ... (19)
Script (English) d8 ................ (3) ... (22)
Language (French) d8 ............ (0)
Script (French) d8 ................. (3) ... (25)

That is 2 more Skill Points than was allotted
Note as a suggestion you could drop Language (English) and Script (English) to d6s giving back those 2 points and only adding a slight French accent to the way she talks.

Also where did you pull the Focus (minor) Hindrance from -- it does not appear in Deadlands:Reloaded nor does it appear in SavageWorld:Deluxe -- further it makes no sense to me as it is written

Yeah, let's do that with the skills. Focus is from Stone and a Hard Place. I've reprinted it below:

Focus (Minor/Major)
Only characters with the Arcane Background Edge can take this Hindrance. It represents a mental dependence on a physical item to use their powers. It could be a deck of cards for a huckster, a holy item for a blessed, or a specific weapon for a chi master.

Whatever the item, the character suffers a –1 penalty to all arcane skill rolls if he does not have it. As a Major Hindrance, he suffers a –2 without the item. Anyone who sees the item used to enact a power can tell it’s real important.

If a Focus item is lost, the hero can replace it, but it takes two game weeks for the hero to acclimate to the replacement, during which time she suffers the appropriate penalties.

Note that hexslingers (described on page 23) and mad scientists already need a chosen weapon or gizmo to enact powers—an actual dependence rather than a mental one. Therefore, hexslingers and mad scientists aren’t eligible for this Hindrance...and it’s best not to saddle your hero with such an onerous disadvantage from the get-go, amigo.

Stone and a Hard Place Player's Guide, page 9

Which Savage Worlds rulebook did you pull your skills from? If we're using Savage Worlds Deluxe, then there isn't a Guts skill, it was removed. And I can't find any rulebook with Skullduggery as a skill.

It's driving me nuts, it's like they released a new core rulebook every 6 months and named them similarly every time....

Skullduggery is from Joker's post about character building. Guts is used in Deadlands: Reloaded. I can find the reference if you like.

Yeah, I saw Joker's post, and I've been going off that for now. We're in an odd situation, because we're using the Savage Worlds: Deluxe rules (which removed Guts as a skill entirely), but Deadlands: Reloaded mentions it in multiple places, including as a requirement to certain Edges.

I think it's just a consequence of having multiple revisions and editions to a main set of rules, and then alternate settings with their own rules. It's not just this system, either. The way I understand it, D&D had a lot of similar issues in the AD&D days.

Guts is used for Deadlands. It's even mentioned in the SW book somewhere as still being used in certain games. It comes up often in Deadlands.

That being said, are you a Huckster or a Hexslinger, Knight? Hexslingers can't take Focus, so I assume you're a Huckster.

Actually no -- they removed it from Deluxe because it was only specifically used within certain genres -- such as Deadlands-Reloaded -- and Deluxe is meant to cover the commonalities of all the genres

also Skullduggery is on me -- and is just me renaming a skill to something I felt was more appropriate -- pulled the term I believe from another game -- but do not recall which one

note for Attributes and Skills -- it is best to use the ones I posted as those 2 are complete -- I am working on the Hindrances and Edges -- to create a more complete list of those as well hope to have that done soonish

Yes, Marie is a huckster.

Okay, does Marie need Hexslinging or Arcane Spellcasting? I want to make sure that she has the correct skill.

I think you want the Background Edge - Arcane Background (Magic) as they handle these things generically it appears using further Edges to fine tune what you do -- so for instances a Hexslinger would initially take Arcane Background (Magic) and then augment this with a Weird Edge called Hexslinging (which does not currently exist but could be made)

I hope that helps -- if you stumble across anything within the 2 main books we are using (or any official books that we are not necessarily using) that contradict or clarify anything please let me know and I will look them over

Note I ran Deadlands a long while back as Deadlands and I am just familiarizing myself with these Reloaded and Deluxe rules to make sure I have all the bits and pieces needed to run the game efficiently which I should have sorted out by the time we are ready to start having helped design a few games I am pretty good at picking up on rule sets (if they are written well and these seem to be such).

Marie Cheveau is a New Orleans native who grew up on the Mississippi, honing her skills since the tender age of 8. She would sneak aboard and watch the games in progress, learning the rules and the skills necessary to become a card shark. She was 12 years old when a passing stranger taught her simple card tricks, and by the time she was 15, she was dealing regularly for several different riverboats. Life was good until she turned 19. That was the year that she met Jacque LeMarche. He was tall, dark, and handsome and she fell hard for him.

Unfortunately for Marie, he was also a thief and a con man and was too ready to take advantage of a young woman who was infatuated with him. He led her on and took her for everything that she had; money, goods, and worst of all, her reputation. LeMarche framed Marie for the murder of a local man of some prominence. Marie was later acquited for lack of evidence, but the damage was done. Her reputation was soiled and she was forced to leave New Orleans before being run out of town on a rail.

She headed west, following LeMarche's trail. She isn't sure what she intends to do once she finds him, but it won't be pleasant... or quick.

Okay clarifying -- found these items in the Deadlands:Reloaded book
That covers the huckster versus hexslinger question
That covers that other question except in Deluxe it says you need to use your Spellcasting skill which does not exist in Deadlands because they changed its name to Hexslinging -- so in short you need both the Arcane Background (Magic) Edge and the Hexslinging skill as you use that skill to cast your Arcane Magic spells

If I uncover more I will let know