Day 27: Tiny Deadlands - Nathaniel "White Beau" Beauford, Steamboat gambler

How about for today I re-make a character I play in a Savage Worlds Deadlands campaign in a Tiny D6 version? The twist is that there is no Tiny D6 Deadlands (to my knowledge), so I get to show how easy it is to clobber together something fun from Tiny D6 games. In general, the games share mechanics, with each genre adding some specialized tools for genre-specific situations. Tiny Pirates, for example, adds sailing ship combat. 

Deadlands, of course, is a game set in an alternate Wild West, where supernatural forces exist, and history is a bit twisted. It seems like a good idea to try to make White Beau on a scaffold of Tiny Gunslingers, the Wild West Tiny game. White Beau has a special feature, however - he is a Huckster, someone who has made a deal with a supernatural entity that gives him magical powers with a games-of-chance theme. In White Beau's case that are poker cards, as is common for Hucksters. 

To give a bit of a description, White Beau is a gentleman in his early thirties. He likes to dress a bit above his means, in white suits and hats, with red shirts and handkerchiefs, and a black cane with a silver knob on the top. He always has a few card games in his pockets and is often found playing with them when idle, or nervous. White Beau is a war veteran, and the war was where he began thinking about luck and games of chance in terms of magic, and where he made his deal; it has left him with a massive dislike for violence. He isn't a coward but will try to avoid physical violence if possible. His demeanor is usually soft, and his heart has an equally soft spot for the innocent. Loyalty is really important to him. Finally, he came back from the war with an ailment and has been suffering from coughing fits from time to time. His handkerchiefs sometimes have spots of blood on them. The life he chose for himself is that of a professional gambler on Mississippi steamboats. As a rather smart and observant man, he is very careful to fit into the right spot. He never cheats, never is the winner of the biggest pots, but tries to leave tables as the second-place winner, so to speak - it draws less attention, keeps him out of trouble, and steamboat captains don't see him as someone there to fleece innocent customers. And since Hucksters are not generally liked, what with making deals "with the devil" and so on, he keeps his powers only in reserve for emergencies.

Let's see what we can make of him in Tiny D6, shall we? Now Tiny Gunslingers does not use Archetypes or Heritages, and I think that fits Deadlands very well. All PCs are human, and while I could suggest different PC themes with Archetypes, I am not sure what that would add. The main issue as far as I can see would be to integrate Magic into TG, and I think that is easiest done by lifting magic from Tiny Dungeons 2nd Edition. This essentially means that any magic-user takes a Trait that signifies how their magic works. So, in White Beau's case, that would be 'Huckster', a rebranded version of TDs 'Spell-Reader'. Hucksters essentially learn spells, and Hoyle's Book of Games is a rather different book in this world than in ours. More on that trait later.

So, White Beau gets three Traits in basic TG. I like games where characters have Disadvantages, and his ailment comes from me thinking about Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday in the movie Tombstone. In Tiny games that would make a Drawback Trait, and allow me to add another positive trait as well. So, for White Beau:

• Huckster - magic
• Gambler - test with Advantage when playing games of chance
• Insightful - test with Advantage when trying to see if someone lies or not
• Perceptive - test with Advantage when finding out information on your surroundings

• Ailin' (Drawback Trait) - tests involving endurance are at a Disadvantage, and start with only 5 HP.

That should work well. Weapon Proficiencies I just keep from TG and select Light Ranged. White Beau has mastered the Derringer as well. Due to Ailin' he gets one HP less than a typical Gunslinger, i.e. 5. He has 10 Dinero, and a Traveller's Kit for equipment. I am sure the GM will agree to let me have a dozen or so card games stashed away in luggage and pockets. White Beau also needs a Drive, and I think 'The world is a harsh place, and the meek sometimes need someone to guide them.' works well for him. He also has a Grit of 3, which is a TG-specific feature. It can be used to re-roll failures and other such things. It is actually somewhat close to what Bennies do in Savage Worlds.

Finally, I want to expand a bit on the Huckster Trait. I would say we start White Beau with three spells, and I re-create Favourite Hand, Card Fiend, and Luck of the Draw, spells I had made for his SW incarnation. For Favourite Hand White Beau flings a spread of cards in front of him, which start glowing and sending out lightning bolts as the fly;  it is a magical attack, dealing one damage at range. Card Fiend summons a small creature looking like a Jack from just such a card to help in some situations. Luck of the Draw means that when cast cards start hovering around him; any non-magical attack by an enemy might get repelled by a card flying up to derail it. I'd say this means the attacker tests at a Disadvantage. 

Hucksters in Deadlands also get a feature called Deal with the Devil, where they engage their patron in a trade in the form of a mental card game to gain powers beyond their means. In the Savage World edition that is done with an actual poker game, modified by skill rolls. When successful they get to cast spells they haven't learned yet, at the risk of backfires. I want to keep that feature. Let's say wanting to do such a deal is a quick invocation (costs no time), but both player and GM draw cards. The PC rolls (a Gambler rolls at Advantage); success means they draw seven cards, failure only five cards to assemble the best poker hand they can. The GM draws five cards, though if the PC is asking for especially powerful effects they might draw more at the GM's discretion. If the PC wins they get to cast whatever effect they went for. If the GM wins they do not. If the GM wins, and the PC only has a pair or less, they suffer from a backlash using the same table as in Deadlands: Weird West, page 88 (Note: some effects in there would need to be modified). This means the spell might do the opposite from what was intended, or the PC loses consciousness or loses access to magic temporarily, and so on.

Ok, I think all of that works! Done! There is no sheet, so here is the summary:

Nathaniel "White Beau" Beauford III.

"The world is a harsh place, and the meek sometimes need someone to guide them."

HP 5, Grit 3

Traits: Huckster, Gambler, Insightful, Perceptive

Disadvantage: Ailin'

Spells: Favourite Hand, Card Fiend, Luck of the Draw.

Dinero: Five