DeadlandsFAQ

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions | Back to Main Page |

Please remember to bold OOC questions! Character Creation What if I don't know how to create a character? If you have any concerns about making a character using the modified system we have made for the game, please feel free to contact us. We can either make the character for you (based on the information you provide) or assist you every step of the way. If we make the character for you and spend the points, the final character sheet will be sent to you for your approval. I didn't realize that _______ would be so important to my character when I created it. May I make changes? Character sheets are not necessarily final even after game starts. Ciosa and I completely understand that there are many unfamiliar with the system and realize that their character is lacking an attribute or trait that may be very important to the character. If that happens, please feel free to PM us and we will allow for certain changes to be made. If this is used to alter a character to set them up for each situation, we will no longer allow for changes to be made. Please do not abuse this! How many characters can I play? Ciosa and I are limiting every player to one main player character. However, we do allow players to play NPC characters. There are some limits on what we allow for the NPC's as we do not wish them to become confused as an actual player character (See more information below). As the game is based in a city that has several other people within and we don't want the players to require a GM for everything – we allow players to create interactions with people as they see fit. For instance, if the character is going to a bar, there is no need to wait for a GM to have your character get a drink from a bartender. They can even sit at a table with other non-PC or GM-NPC's and have basic conversation happen, light gambling take place, etc. Why the modified system? Why not use either completely freeform style of play or the Deadlands rules as they have been published? Doomtown Reloaded is using a modified system for ease of the players. While all the PC's have character sheets and they do matter, Ciosa and I find it easiest and more player friendly to have the majority of the mechanics done behind the scenes. We do not want players to be rolling every post nor needing to stop and compare traits, aptitudes, etc. It slows the games progress and can be very confusing for those less familiar with system games. In the sandbox section, we expect players to adhere to what their characters are actually capable of (according to their character sheets). If there comes a time in which players are using abilities their character doesn't possess or there is a deadlock between players for any reason, we will send a PM to correct the problem. For instance, if a character doesn't have 'Perform: Pole Dance' but the player has written that the character is the best pole dancer ever, we will send a PM. This should not be confused with what a character SAYS. A character can run around and say pretty much anything they want to without it being a problem. A character who has never pole danced before can tell everyone that they are the best pole dancer in history. We are using a modified system to make sure that all the characters started out with similar levels of ability. That doesn't mean that the characters will have the same trait levels and aptitudes but every character started out with the same points. It is also meant to avoid the min/maxed characters and “power players”. No one gets to start the game with their character being better than everyone at everything (however a character can certainly say they are the best at everything). We are NOT willing to move to the actual Deadlands system nor are we willing to go to completely freeform. I don't have the points to create the character I envisioned. What do I do now? Please bear in mind that all new characters are starting characters. The points allotted for each character is enough for a character to be good at a couple things and decent at a couple more or, should a player choose, a character that has a lot of low level knowledge or skills. We are intentionally avoiding the characters that are the master of everything so that all of the player characters have the chance to shine. It should also be noted that the limit of 5 for Traits and Aptitudes is the cap for character creation. Both Traits and Aptitudes can raise above a 5 with Bounty and GM permission. To raise anything above a 5, the character must be working toward it in-game. General Questions What about the bigotry, racism and sexism in that era? Should we pretend that doesn't exist? The racism, bigotry and sexism of the time is alive and well in the IC threads. We do not require people to play it out if they have issue with it but it will be a portion of the game. Many of the NPC's will be using offensive terms regularly. It is necessary to mention: These are all characters! The views of the characters, NPC's and world in NO WAY reflect the beliefs of the players and/or GM's. Also, we do NOT allow any carry over of the offensive behavior into OOC threads. Questions about various terms will be allowed in OOC but nothing more. Can I play an NPC or have someone play an NPC for me? Yes! Below is information pertaining to player NPC's. Player NPC's do not use a character sheet nor are they allowed to have various edges and/or hindrances (please see below). As we are encouraging players to write together rather than just with GM's, we are asking that NPC's that are merely meant for one particular player's background or story idea be played by other players. There are a couple ways of going about that. The first is posting in the classifieds section. This allows for all the players to peek in and see if there is a role that they would like to play for a shorter duration of time. The Classifieds can be used for incredibly specific requests or vague ideas. If a player has interest in playing a role that another player has posted, the negotiations will happen through PM. ALL OF E's RULES APPLY TO THESE NEGOTIATIONS. Meaning that the player who posted has a right to refuse any player that contacts them for any reason. In the same spirit, the player who contacts the poster has the right to decide to not take up the role if it doesn't match something they are comfortable portraying. NPC's are not meant to take up all the time of the players and any player can stop playing an NPC whenever they so chose. They are not meant to be secondary PC's. The second method is to contact someone via PM and make a private offer. This bypasses the classifieds step but the rest of the regular rules of NPC's apply. For those that may be shy, have a specific idea in mind for an NPC or want to write with a specific player may decide that this method is better for them. While we are not wanting the NPC's to have character sheets, there are some things we will not allow NPCs to do. They are not allowed to have an arcane background, faction rank, high levels of dinero (if they are based in Gomorra), high levels of Belongings (if they are based in Gomorra). Also, NPC's are not meant to come in and be the biggest, baddest... anything (they can say they are or sell themselves as such). The PC's are the star of the show and NPC's should not be running around to show them up. This is not to say that an NPC can't be good at something. A social/mental character could easily have a gunslinger NPC helping them out with something, etc. What we are trying to avoid is the “power gaming” problems that could creep up with NPC's. Also, if there are minor NPC's running around (ones that have been named but are not in the GM's who's who section) and you would like to play them, please feel free to contact the GM's. We may be making a section for minor, unclaimed NPC's for the PC's to be able to look through at any time. Combat and Player NPC's Getting into combat while playing an NPC will run much like PVP combat. The players will need to speak with each other via PM (please include the GM's so we're aware) before the posts involving combat are done. The players (PC and NPC) will almost always decide the outcome of the conflict together. Please see the Combat section for more details on this subject. How often do I need to post? Doomtown has new posting rules. As characters can be in more than one thread (so long as it's not at the same IG time), we have little posting rate rules when it comes to the sandbox portion of the game. However, if you are participating in a GM arc with other players, we would like posts regularly. Each GM arc will have a posting rate associated with it. If you cannot make a post in that time, we will skip over your character in the posting rotation. This is not meant to pressure or exclude anyone but the momentum of a group event is very important. The GM arcs are events that the players will be signing up for rather than something that a player must be involved in. We simply ask that, if you do not have the time for the posting frequency, do not sign up for that particular event. There will be others! How long should posts be? Is there an accepted style in Doomtown? We do not enforce any requirements for post length. Post length will vary from player to player and circumstance so we do not impose minimums or maximums. While we have no real rules for this, please bear in mind that it is a group game. We require that all posts in Doomtown are written in the third person, past tense format. We find that the story flows better if everyone's format matches. How does time work in Doomtown? Every three months in real life, we will have a two week in-game window for people to post in as they see fit. As much of the game is sandbox and player driven, we allow characters to be involved in more than one scene at a time so long as the character is not in multiple scenes on the same date and time (a character cannot be in both a brothel and at a shop on May 12th in the afternoon). GM arcs will take place in the last week of the in game time period. Our current two week time is May 11th - May 25th. The GM arcs would not begin until May 17th. Those that have signed up for a GM arc should make certain to check the dates the arc will cover. During those times, the characters are busy and won't be able to post in the sandbox portions of the game. We have a timeline on the wiki that allows players and GMs to add information about what has happened on certain in-game dates. This entry is to allow players to better track where their characters are, what they are doing and when they are doing it. (After the two week period of time, the major events will be added to the Gazette). While we allow for characters to be in more than one scene, we do not require it. Some players do not like to have their character in multiple scenes as it can be confusing. Foreign Languages Gomorra has many spoken languages, from a wide potpourri of immigrants. English, Spanish, and Chinese are spoken frequently on the streets. When posting any dialogue in a language other than English, please use the [acronym] command. For example: [acronym="My God!"]"Mon Dieu!"[/acronym] will simply show up as "Mon Dieu!" in side the post, but anyone hovering over the selected text will see a translation into English. Edges and Hindrances How does the money system work for Gomorra? Dinero 1 will equal $10/day Dinero 2 will equal $50/day Dinero 3 will equal $200/day Dinero 4 will equal $500/day Dinero 5 will equal $1000/day. Having a Belonging will operate slightly less effectively than Dinero. Because it includes such things as employees, a potentially useful inventory of goods and additional political power. (Not just the one vote - in an election, but a reflection of an entrenched view of respectability for store/business owners.) PCs with Dinero or Belongings can assume they receive pay in the mornings, from the previous days work. With inflation for modern times, dinero 5 represents roughly 20,820 dollars a day as income - but Dinero 5 is the province of extraordinarily wealthy families or businessmen. Similarly, the 'little shops and saloons' are usually being paid in ghostrock, gold, or silver. Inflation of prices in Gomorra means that all costs are three times what they would be anywhere else in the west. Food is actually inflated five times. During character creating, the purchase of equipment and items comes at normal costs. After character creation, all items are purchased at the inflated rates. This somewhat mitigates the wealth accrued, but not completely, especially not at the higher levels. There is a reason that people are willing to try to control the town - ghostrock is a precious resource, coveted by every world government and scientific pursuit, and Gomorra is one of the largest mining towns in the Maze. (It's also perched atop a mesa which might collapse at any time, for extra risk factor.) What role do the factions play in the game? The factions are the groups of people vying for power in Gomorra. All of them have various goals. **Please see the Faction Section for further information. There are seven active factions in Gomorra: The Law Dogs, The Collegium, Sweetrock Mining Company, The Whateley's, The Maze Rats and Blackjack's Raiders. If a player chooses to take a membership to one of these factions, there are a few perks. For any event that takes place in the game that may effect one of the factions, those who are members (known or not known) will receive a PM letting them in on further details. Those with faction will also gain perks based on the faction they chose. However, if the character begins actively working against their faction (and get caught), the faction points could be lost without compensation (meaning that the points spent on the faction will not be returned). How do the Arcane Backgrounds work? Arcane Backgrounds are something that must be approved through the GM's. Further explanations about each of the potential arcane backgrounds will be given to the players who contact us with interest in playing someone that has access to this Edge. We are keeping this particular Edge vague as there are a lot of new players to the Deadlands universe and we don't want to spoil everything. What is the Mysterious Destiny Edge? The Mysterious Destiny Edge is for those that want some sort of future surprise for their character. It will always be something that is a boon to a character as it is an edge that the player is using points to pay for. Ciosa and I will also be taking the character concept and development into account while plotting the Mysterious Destiny in order to make the edge fitting for the character. | Back to Main Page |