The Despicable
Nine
(WIP)
”The arc of history is long, but
it wheels towards
Desolation.”

Table of Contents
tbd


3
Foreword
placeholder


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Chapter I:
The Weird West
Howdy, partner.
The year’s 1876, and the American West is a
fucked up place.
It wasn’t always so bad. Sure, back before the
war you had outlaws, Indians, disease and wild
beasts all lining up to kill you. Might not have
been an easy life, but folks could make an honest
try with their own hard work and skill. Back then,
we thought the West was ours to win. Maybe we
all put a bit too much faith in that whole manifest
destiny bull.
That all changed July 3, 1863. Third day of the
Battle of Gettysburg. You won’t find many who
was there that’s all too eager to talk about it, and
even if you did getting a straight story’s near
impossible. What I can say is something bad
happened that day, bad enough to shake folks in
Washington and Richmond hard. The war may
not have outright ended, but it ground to a halt as
both sides pulled back. Some, not so wise in the
way of this world, even hoped we’d see some
peace. They were wrong.
While the war got quiet in the East, it only got
bloodier in the Disputed Territories - Kansas,
Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and California. It
wasn’t armies battling on the field. Instead, we got
the worst, the hired killers, raiding parties, and
local partisans. See, both the Union and the
Confederacy claimed the land - hence the name
5
Disputed Territories - but neither could afford to
enforce their claim. So each sends in their
bloodiest killers and rabble rousers to try and turn
the population one way or another. All that’s really
ended up happening is a lot of folks got
themselves killed for a fight they didn’t want.
It was also around then that they first found ghost
rock. The miracle of the new sciences, they called
it, something that would burn hotter and longer
than coal. If you thought the gold rushes of the
antebellum were something, they couldn’t hold a
candle to the frenzy of ghost rock hunters. They
flooded into the Black Hills, the Wasatch
mountains, but most significantly of all, the huge
ghost rock fields of California. Could have been
all that greed is one place is what brought us the
next catastrophe, the Great Quake of ’68. Huge
portions of California collapsed into the sea,
leaving a maze of twisting and broken stone
columns. We called it the Maze. Creative, I know.
There’s still huge deposits of ghost rock to be
found though, and the Maze is crawling with
soldiers of all types, bandits, Spanish pirates,
Chinese warlords, and all manner of nastiness
stirred up from the deep.
If there’s one group that seems to have turned
their fate around in the years since Gettysburg, its
the Indian tribes. Victory followed victory, and
suddenly the weakened States were hightailing it
out of the new-founded Indian Nations.
They weren’t the only ones to take advantage of
the chaos. The Mormons out in Utah created their
own independent Republic of Deseret. An
apocalyptic preacher called Farson wandered out
of the desert and led his dark followers to seize a
vast stretch of territory now called Farson’s West.
Even the British returned for their pound of flesh,
seizing the city of Detroit and much of Washington
Territory.
It’s a dangerous place out there, partner. I’ve told
you what I know, but there’s a whole lot more I
don’t. If you want to survive, you’ve got to be
ready for the good, the bad, and the weird alike.
Good luck.



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7
Deadlands Timeline Jan, 1866 Independent Republic of
Desseret founded.

July, 1847 Mormon settlers found Great Salt Aug, 1868 Great Quake.
Lake City.
June, 1870 Gen. Lee suffers a stroke and
Sept, 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, retires from active service.
Mormon militia slaughter migrant
wagon trains. Custer Expedition explores the
Black Hills.
Nov, 1860 Abraham Lincoln elected
President of the United States. Feb, 1871 Battle of Washington.

Dec, 1860 South Carolina secedes from the Nov. 1871 Gen. Grant elected next
Union. President of the United States.

Feb, 1861 The Confederate States of Mar, 1872 The Sioux Nation is founded.
America is formed.
Grant sworn in as president.
Jefferson Davis appointed
President of the Confederacy. June, 1872 Battle of Greasy Grass, Col.
Custer’s forces wiped out.
Mar, 1861 Abraham Lincoln sworn in as
president. Apr, 1873 John Farson appears out of the
desert.
April, 1861 Confederates attack Fort Sumter.
July, 1873 British-Canadian troops retake
Jan, 1862 Union orders full mobilization for Detroit and Washington Territory.
war.
Feb, 1874 The Coyote Confederation is
June, 1862 Gen. Robert E. Lee assumes formed.
command of Confederate forces.
Wasting Plague first appears.
Sept, 1862 Battle of Antietam.
Aug, 1875 Town of Border burned by Union
Jan, 1863 The Emancipation Proclamation. soldiers under Gen. Brand.

May, 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville. Gen. Sept, 1875 Gen. Brand’s army destroyed by
Stonewall Jackson killed. Farson’s militia.

July 1863 Massacre of Gettysburg. Both Wasting Plague disappears.

sides retreat and regroup.
Aug, 1862 ‘Bloody’ Bill Quantrill raids
Kansas, slaughtering Union
supporters.
Mar, 1864 Gen. Grant given overall
command of the Union army.
Aug, 1875 Farson’s Black Cloak militia seize
California, Nevada, Oregon.
Dec, 1875 December Campaigns, Union
and Confederacy attempts to
retake the West disappear
without a trace.

April, 1865 President Lincoln is May, 1876 Present day.


assassinated. Andrew Johnson
sworn in as President.

8
Nations of the Weird West
ThE UnItEd StAtEs oF AmErIcA
There was once a nation that aspired to stand
from sea to sea. The Union has the best claim to
that legacy, though Washington’s reach has
greatly diminished. President Ulysses S. Grant
has held office since ’72, and has been a steady
hand in a precarious situation.
The Union’s early advantages in the war have
largely faltered. Though the South lagged behind
in industrialization initially, their vast material
wealth has closed the gap considerably. The
Union army, once so vast, has been spent or
spread thin trying to contain fires on so many
fronts. What remains, however, is a very capable
and well-equipped core if it was ever brought to a
point.
ThE CoNfEdErAtE StAtEs oF AmErIcA
The Confederacy was born in rebellion and has
never had a day of peace in its brief existence.
Though the North does not recognize it as a
nation, it has had its own government, standing
military, currency and laws for over 15 years.
President Jefferson Davis has held office all those
years, though will soon be forced to defend it in
an open election against the venerated General
Robert E. Lee.
The army is in a state of transition, as a large
new generation of soldiers is being brought on.
For the first time in the war, the South looks to
have the advantage in numbers. At present,
however, they are untrained and under equipped,
forcing Richmond to rely heavily on the few
veteran units it has remaining however long in the
tooth they may be.
The last major battle of the war was the Battle
of Washington, when in 1871 Confederate war
machines powered by ghost rock advanced as far
as Washington DC, burning part of the capitol and
forcing a mass evacuation. Mechanical failures
and fuel supplies forestalled the attack there, and
the Union reprisal was fierce, but the campaign
was a potent reminder that the South was still a
power to reckon with.
The fortunes of the Confederacy have
improved as of late, as President Davis returned
from a diplomatic tour of Europe with
considerable new funding and investments. A
number of eastern European aristocrats and
seasoned military men returned with him, who
9
now make up a considerable part of his cabinet
and council.
ThE DiSpUtEd TeRrItOrIeS
The Disputed Territories are not a nation of their
own - quite the opposite, they are the areas
claimed by both the North and South. Since
neither side can devote the military presence to
enforce that claim, however, they remain
contested.
Although there are no large-scale battles, the
situation is far from peaceful. The settlers of these
territories are as divided as the nation.
Sometimes a whole town or mining camp will
declare for one side, while elsewhere loyalties
change house to house. There are no more
bloody feuds than when neighbours turn to
violence, and for 25 years now Bleeding Kansas
has earned its name. Into this chaos, the North
and South have sent their agents - demagogues,
firebrands, veteran killers and hired thugs.
Despite all this, there are many just trying to live
their lives in the territories. Many are drawn by the
promise of rich, readily available land on the
plains. Others have chased the promise of gold
and ghost rock in the Rockies or Utah’s Wasatch
mountains. The cattle markets in Colorado bring
in huge drives across both borders, while the
railroads have established prominent railheads in
towns like Dodge City and Denver. Some are
even drawn to the territories precisely for their
lawless nature, preferring not to live under the
Union or the Confederacy.
ThE SiOuX NaTiOnS
In 1872, a number of Lakota chiefs lead by Sitting
Bull pronounced the creation of the Sioux
Nations, an alliance of the many tribes in and
around the Dakota territory, united under the Old
Ways movement, and its independent
sovereignty. The Union took a dim view of this,
and launched a military campaign to bring the
rebellious Sioux to heel. To their shock, they were
utterly defeated in a series of battles, most
notably the Battle of the Greasy Grass, known to
the Union as the Little Bighorn. Reeling from such
a costly loss, the Union had no choice but to
accept the claim of the Sioux Nations, at least for
now.
The Sioux fiercely guard against outsiders.
White trespassers who do not put up a fight will
be forcefully throw from their land. Non-whites
and natives who do not follow the Old Ways
movement will be sternly turned away, while a
non-Sioux follower of the Old Ways might expect
a cold but not unkind hospitality. They reserve a
special hatred for Union soldiers, particularly
cavalrymen, who they will take great delight in
killing, even pursuing them far beyond their
borders.
ThE CoYoTe CoNfEdErAtIoN
In 1874, the bands of what was then called the
Indian Territory joined together in a loose
confederation under a wandering shaman known
as Coyote. Spurred by the success of the Sioux to
the north, and their own clashes with Union forces
at Adobe Walls, they declared themselves an
independent nation. Surprising many, the South
quickly recognized their sovereignty, signing a
treaty that formally established their borders. The
Coyote Confederation has proven a valuable ally
to the South, further legitimizing their
independence and providing scouts and raiders to
fight the hated ‘blue bellies’.
The tribes of the Coyote Confederation are far
more loosely associated than the Sioux to the
north, each with their own goals and enemies and
no central leadership. The shaman Coyote travels
between them, giving counsel where needed, but
does not take an active role in leading them. The
Old Ways movement is known to them, but has
not been widely adopted. The Coyote
Confederation hold a particular hatred for buffalo
hunters.
ThE RePuBlIc oF DeSeReT
Driven ever westward due to their strict religious
views and way of life, the Mormons eventually
founded Great Salt Lake City in 1847. Built by and
for the Latter Day Saints, and unwelcome of the
outsiders and non-believers that had driven them
to such lengths, the city enjoyed its isolation. Left
to their own devices, the Mormons created their
own law and governance free from federal
oversight. The gold rush, Mountain Meadows
massacre, and later ghost rock crazes challenged
that isolation as people moved west and forced
themselves into Mormon territory. With the War
Between the States in full swing, in 1866 the
Prophet Brigham Young declared the formation of
the Republic of Deseret, an independent Mormon
state, until such time as a sole federal
government could properly address their
concerns.
10
President Brigham Young is a shrewd
statesman and preacher, and Great Salt Lake City
has become a shining (if joyless) city-state to rival
anything back East. The Latter Day Saints are not
welcoming to outsiders, but the need for trade
and skilled experts has allowed a small
community of non-believers to grow in the Outer
City. The gated Inner City and its Grand Temple,
however, are only for the faithful.
FaRsOn’s WeSt
In 1873, an apocalyptic preacher named John
Farson seemingly emerged from the desert
promising relief from the darkness that he
believed was consuming the nation, and soon the
world. Captivating and charismatic, he amassed a
massive following among the wayward and lost
souls of the far west, those who had seen so
much destruction during the long War Between
the States and felt no love for either side.
Seen as an almost-Messianic figure, Farson
and his men travelled the west, putting an end to
the Wasting Plague, driving pirate from the Maze,
and defeating Union and Confederate forces
alike.
In 1875, Farson’s followers simultaneously
seized army bases in California, Nevada and
Oregon. Black-coated disciples appeared in every
city in the territories at the head of throngs of
supporters. The Union, the Confederacy, the
warlords of the Maze, any that stood against them
were expelled or killed. In a telegraph message
that mysteriously arrived at every station across
the continent, Farson announced that the West
was his.
Of course, neither the North or South would
accept this claim. Both sides readied campaigns
into the seized territories to retake control that
same year, and both ended the same way. As the
armies moved into Nevada, they encountered no
resistance, pressing further inward, until simply
vanishing. No reports of trouble were received by
either side, no warnings or survivors of a battle,
not even stories from the locals. The armies
simply disappeared. With the turning of the new
year, and elections upcoming, neither side has
again attempted to retake the West.
Under Farson and his Blackcloaks, the West
has become a lawless place. Live as you would is
the only law of the land, and each town is left to
fend for itself. Farson’s disciples live an almost
feudal lifestyle, collecting tithes from the locals in
exchange for protection. Some have flocked to
this new land for the freedom it seems to offer,
free from the laws of any government. Dissenters
rarely survive the flight through the desert.
One great mystery is the fate of the City of Lost
Angels, once a haven in the Maze from the Great
Quake of ’66. No word has reached back east as
to state of things since Farson’s takeover, a fact
which has the eastern politicians wringing their
hands in worry, as the city was considered
essential for a trans-continental railroad. 


11

Chapter II:
New and Changed
Rules
Deadlands III is based on the 5e rules system,
and uses many of its core mechanics including
advantage/disadvantage, death saving throws,
and proficiency. However, there are a number of
new or changed rules, to better emulate the genre
and the brutal nature of Deadlands.
LeVeLlInG Up
Its a wild and weird world out there, but its not all
doom and gloom, partner. As your character
levels up, they gain new class abilities listed in
their class tables.
Additionally, at every new level, your
character’s ability scores increase. Choose two
different ability scores. If the score is 13 or lower,
increase it by 2. Otherwise, increase the score by
1. An ability score can never be increased beyond
20.
FaTe ChIpS
The odds may seem pretty stacked against you at
times, but there’s some force of fate that’s pulling
for you. At the beginning of each game session,
12
all players gain 2 fate chips. These can be spent
to gain advantage on any d20 roll before the roll is
made, or to add 1d6 to the result of a d20 roll
after roll is made. Fate chips can be awarded in
game for strong roleplaying or audacious actions,
at the Marshal’s discretion.
NeW AcTiOnS aNd ReAcTiOnS
Aim: As an action, you can take aim at a
creature or object you can see that does not have
total cover. The next ranged attack you make
against the target is considered an aimed shot.
Aimed shots gain advantage on the attack roll.
If anything completely blocks your line of sight
to the target, such as you or it gaining total cover,
or if you aim at a different target, the benefit is
lost. Other circumstances that would cause you to
lose your aim, such as falling off a horse or being
swallowed by a worm, can also cause you to lose
this benefit, at the Marshal’s discretion.
Refocus: By taking your action to gain the
measure of the battle, you improve your place in
the initiative order for subsequent rounds. Your
initiative is increased as though you had rolled a
15 (plus whatever your bonus is).
Reload: Reloading a firearm is an action,
unless otherwise specified.
Opportunity Attack: In addition to moving out
of a creature’s reach, an opportunity attack can
also be triggered by making an attack with a
ranged weapon while in melee reach, and by
casting a spell while in melee reach. If the target
was casting a spell and is hit by an opportunity
attack, they must make a Constitution saving
throw equal to 10 or half the damage taken,
whichever is higher, or the spell or hex
immediately fails. In the case of hexes, this attack
is made before the Huckster rolls his Spellslingin’
check.
EnCuMbRaNcE
The Weird West genre is rooted in many elements
of the survival and horror genres, and finding
supplies and ammunition in the desert can be an
adventure in itself.
The amount of equipment and supplies that a
character can carry is abstracted by a system of
encumbrance points. Weapons, armour and gear
presented later in this book are given an
encumbrance value, representing their weight and
physical size. A character can carry up to their
Strength score in total encumbrance without
penalty.
 A character carrying more than their Strength
score would allow is encumbered, moving at half
speed and with disadvantage on all attacks,
checks and saves. A character with more than
double their Strength score in encumbrance
cannot move and automatically fails all attacks,
checks and saves.

HaRrOwInG
From across the veil, otherworldly entities pay
close watch on the heroes of the Deadlands,
always hungry for a powerful host.
All characters have a special statistic called
Harrowing. You Harrowing value is equal to your
level, and can never be reduced below that.
Events in game, and specific character choices,
can raise or lower that value.
Your Harrowing value only comes into play
when you die. That’s all you need to know for
now, partner. Your Marshal will handle things from
there. 


13
Injuries and Death
HiT PoInTs aNd PhYsIcAl ScArS
Deadlands does not use a hit dice system.
Instead, all characters have a number of hit points
equal to their Constitution score. If a character is
reduced to 0 hit points, they fall unconscious, and
must make death saving throws at the beginning
of each round.
Even if your character survives their brush with
death, it can leave lasting consequences,
represented by scars. If a character successfully
stabilizes from hit point damage, at the end of the
encounter they must roll on the Physical Scars
table below and immediately gain the effect
described.
A character can recover all lost hit points by
taking a short or long rest.
d20 Effect
1-15 No Effect
16 Strength Damage
Reduce your Strength by 2.
17 Dexterity Damage
Reduce your Dexterity by 2.
18 Constitution Damage
Reduce your Constitution by 2.
19 Crippling Injury
A part of your body, determined by the
Marshal, is crippled by injury.
20 Just Damned Unlucky
Raise you Harrowing by 10.
DyInG aNd DeAtH SaVeS
There are several changes to the death save
system to reflect the survival horror genre. Death
saving throw failures are not reset when you
stabilize or receive healing. Instead, they persist
until you take a short or long rest. For example, if
you stabilize after accruing two death save
failures and then subsequently are reduced to 0
hit points again before taking a rest, you begin
making your death saves with two failures
already.
An unconscious but stable creature regains 1
hit point 1 minute after the encounter ends.

14
SaNiTy PoInTs aNd MeNtAl ScArS
There are many horrors in the Weird West that
can hurt the mind as much as the body. Your
character has a number of sanity points equal to
their Wisdom score, and attacks or effects can
result in sanity damage in much the same way
that hit points can be damaged. If your sanity
points are reduced to 0, you become unconscious
and must start making death saving throws.
If a character that is reduced to 0 sanity
successfully stabilizes, they can suffer mental
scars. Roll on the Mental Scars tables below after
the encounter and immediately gain the effect
described.
A character can recover all lost sanity points by
taking a short or long rest.
d20 Effect
1-15 No Effect
16 Intelligence Damage
Reduce your Intelligence by 2.
17 Wisdom Damage
Reduce your Wisdom by 2.
18 Charisma Damage
Reduce your Charisma by 2.
19 Phobia
You gain an intense fear of something,
determined by the Marshal, such as fire,
your own blood, or darkness.
20 Just Damned Unlucky
Raise your Harrowing by 10.
NoN-LeThAl AtTaCkS
It’s a damn sight harder to bring someone in alive,
but that’s why it pays more. When you make a
melee attack, you may declare that it is a non-
lethal attack. You have disadvantage on the
attack, but if it reduces the target to 0 hit points,
they are knocked unconscious. Unconscious
characters do not need to make death saving
throws, and will return to consciousness with 1 hit
point after 8 hours. They do not gain the benefits
of a long rest.

Skills and Tools
Deadlands has a small number of additional skills
and tool proficiencies. Additionally, some regular
5e skills are modified or removed, to better fit the
setting and feel of the game. This section will go
through the skills available in Deadlands, noting
new skills, uses, or changes from the 5e core.
StReNgTh SkIlLs
Athletics: This skill is unchanged.
DeXtErItY SkIlLs
Acrobatics. This skill is unchanged.
Initiative. Initiative is changed to be its own
skill in Deadlands. Otherwise, it has the same
function as it does in 5e.
Sleight of Hand. This skill has all the same
functions as it does in 5e. In addition, it can be
used by Hucksters as part of casting a spell, as
described in the Spellcasting feature in their class
entry.
Stealth. This skill is unchanged.
Ride. This is a new skill for Deadlands. When
the 5e rules for mounted combat call for a
Dexterity check, instead make a Dexterity (Ride)
skill check.
In addition, while mounted, if an attack hits your
mount you can use your reaction to make a
Dexterity (Ride) check. If the result is higher than
the attack roll, the attack is not successful.
Ride should also be used when crossing
hazardous terrain or other situations where the
Marshal deems it warranted.
InTeLlIgEnCe SkIlLs
History. This skill is unchanged.
Languages. This is a new skill in Deadlands. It
is used when attempting to understand written or
spoken languages you do not know, communicate
with others you do not share a language with, or
discern an unknown language’s origin.
Medicine. In Deadlands, Medicine is an
Intelligence skill, instead of Wisdom. The
medicine skill is used to identify and treat illness
or perform other scientific endeavours. Stabilizing
a creature requires a Doctor’s Bag tool check.
Perception. In Deadlands, Perception is an
Intelligence check, instead of Wisdom. It
combines the usages of the Perception and
Investigation skills.
15
Religion. In Deadlands, this skill is largely the
same, however recalling information about
undead creatures is moved to the Weird skill.
Weird. This is a new skill in Deadlands used to
recall information about the supernatural,
including magic, monsters, and secrets.
WiSdOm SkIlLs
Animal Handling. In Deadlands, this skill is
largely unchanged, however controlling a mount
is moved to the Ride skill.
Insight. This skill is unchanged.
Survival. In Deadlands, this skill is largely
unchanged, however it has an additional use.
As part of a long rest, you can use the Survival
skill to forage in order to replenish spent rations
from an Explorer’s Kit, or spent charges from a
Doctor’s Bag or Bowyer’s Kit. The DC 10 check
restores a single ration or charge. For every 5 by
which you exceed the check, you restore an
additional ration or charge.
ChArIsMa SkIlLs
Deception. This skill is unchanged.
Intimidation. This skill is unchanged.
Persuasion. This skill is unchanged.
Spellslingin’. This is a new skill in Deadlands
only used by Hucksters as part of casting a spell.
The use of the skill is explained in the
Spellcasting feature in their class entry.
ToOlS
Tools function similarly to skills, typically requiring
an ability check to perform the desired action,
adding your proficiency bonus if you are proficient
with the tool. There are a few key differences,
however. Using a tool check requires you to have
the tool at hand. Additionally, some tool kits have
a limited number of uses as its supplies are
consumed, represented by charges. When all of a
kit’s charges are consumed, the kit is destroyed.
Bowyer’s Kit. This kit has two uses. You can
expend a charge from this kit during a short or
long rest to repair a broken bow. Make an
Intelligence check with a DC of 10. If successful,
the bow is fully repaired.
You may also expend a charge as part of a
long rest to attempt to craft arrows. You may
make an Intelligence check with a DC of 15. If
successful, you make 5 arrows. Bowyer’s kits
have 5 charges.
Doctor’s Bag. You can expend a charge from
this kit to attempt to stabilize a dying creature as
an action. You may make an Intelligence check,
with a DC of 15. If successful, the creature
immediately stabilizes. A Doctor’s Bag has 5
charges.
Lockpicking Kit. You can expend a charge
from this kit to attempt to pick a lock as an action.
You may make a Dexterity check with a DC
determined by the lock. If successful, the lock is
picked. Lockpicking kits have 5 charges.
Munitions Kit. You can expend a charge from
this kit over a long rest to attempt to make
ammunition. You may make an Intelligence check,
with a DC of 15. If successful, you make 10
rounds of a single caliber of ammunition of your
choice. Munitions kits have 5 charges.
Repair Kit. You can expend a charge from this
kit over a short or long rest to attempt to repair a
broken weapon or piece of armour. Make an
Intelligence check with a DC of 10. If successful,
the armour or weapon is fully repaired. Repair kits
have 5 charges.
Artisan’s Tools. This covers a broad category
of tools used for making most things -
blacksmithing, masonry, etc. Using artisan’s tools
requires an Intelligence check. When you take
this proficiency, choose which type of artisan’s
tool you are proficient in. You may take this more
than once, choosing a different tool each time.
Gaming Set. Games of all sorts are popular
across the Weird West, from poker and dominos
to chess. Mechanically, gaming sets are
considered tools, and require an Intelligence
check. Each time you gain this proficiency,
choose a different gaming set to be proficient in.
Musical Instruments. This covers - you
guessed it - musical instruments. Using a musical
instrument requires a Charisma check. When you
take this proficiency, choose which type of
musical instrument you are proficient in. You may
take this more than once, choosing a different
instrument each time.
Prospector’s Tools. These tools allow you to
pan for gold, mine for ore, check metal content,
and anything else required to prospect for gold or
ghost rock. Using prospector’s tools requires an
Intelligence check. 


16
 Step I
Generate Starting Ability Scores
The heroes of Deadlands are hardly ever the
cream of the crop, but that just means there’s a lot
of room to grow. To determine your starting ability
scores, roll 3d6 six times, in order. That’s your stat
array. Too harsh? Tell you what, do that twice, and
then pick one array. Don’t worry if its not an ideal
set of stats for the character you had in mind, at
least for now. They might not be the stats your
character wanted, but they’re the ones they
deserve.

Chapter III: Step II

Choose a Background

Character
Nobody starts out a hero. Your background
represents how your character was raised, how
they’ve made their way in the world, or some
defining moment in their lives.
Choose one background, which are detailed in

Creation
the following pages - Academic, Blueblood,
Clergy, Con Man, Craftsman, Doctor, Musician,
Soldier, Tribesman, or Vaquero.
Your background can help you establish your
character and motivation. Who were you, before
Well now, I suppose you’d like to know just how to becoming an adventurer? Did you leave that life
go about getting your boots on the ground with by choice? Do you want to return?
your very own character. Let’s run through the Your background will also provide several
steps real quick before diving in. mechanical benefits, including skill and tool
proficiencies, bonus languages, and some
1. Generate Starting Ability Scores starting equipment. As well, each background
2. Choose a Background provides a special ability, and an inspiration. Your
3. Choose a Class inspiration is a specific, once-per-session ability to
4. Finalizing the Character invoke your background and gain a fate chip. 


RaCe
Hoo boy, lets just hit this elephant right off the bat.
Race, as it is used in 5e, is not a factor in
Deadlands. Everyone’s a human, more or less, so
there are no racial modifiers for being human.
Apart from game rules, however, there was a
whole lot of baggage that went along with race in
the Old West. When you are making a character,
it is worthwhile to consider their race and how
they view the issue, even though there are no
mechanical implications.

17
Academic
Fluff
Skill Proficiencies. History, Languages, Weird.
Languages. Any two.
Starting Equipment. Ink and quill set, field
journal, common clothes, $5.
Researcher
When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of
information, if you do not know it, you often know
where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually,
this information comes from a library, university, or
other learned individual. This does not make the
information any more accessible, but you have at
least an idea where to look.
“According to my research, …”
Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing how the
current situation relates to your studies and
research. So long as you establish a credible link,
you gain a Fate chip.
18
Blueblood
Fluff
Skill Proficiencies. History, Ride
Tool Proficiencies. One gaming set of your
choice.
Languages. Any one.
Starting Equipment. One gaming set you are
proficient in, fine clothes, common clothes, $25.
Privilege
Thanks to your privileged upbringing, people are
inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome
in high society, and people often assume you
have the right to be wherever you are. Those folks
who respect society make every effort to
accommodate you and avoid your displeasure,
and other people of high birth treat you are a
member of the same social sphere. You can
secure an audience with local high society if you
need to.
“Have you any idea who you’re talking to?”
Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing how the
current situation relates to your privileged
upbringing or the responsibilities of the upper
classes. So long as you establish a credible link,
you gain a Fate chip.
Clergy Con Man
You grew up or spent a portion of your early life in Fluff
a church, temple or other religious institution.
Christianity is most common in the Weird West, Skill Proficiencies. Deception, Stealth.
whether Catholic, one of the many strains of Tool Proficiencies. Lockpick Kit.
Protestant, or Mormonism out of Utah. Judaism Starting Equipment. Lockpick kit, fine clothes,
and Islam are uncommon but not unheard of. common clothes, $5.
Native characters are much more likely to have
faith in the Great Creator. Haitian Voodoo and Criminal Contacts
Santeria have gained a significant foothold in the You have several reliable and trustworthy
free city of New Orleans. Beyond those, the influx contacts who act as your liaisons to a network of
of immigrants to the West have brought in just other criminals. You know how to get message to
about every conceivable religion. and from your contacts, even at great distances,
reliably and securely.
Skill Proficiencies. Religion.
Languages. Latin (or other language as “Not too many people know this, but believe
appropriate to your faith), one other. me, …”
Starting Equipment. Holy symbol (crucifix, Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
rosary or other appropriate symbol), holy book invoke your background while constructing an
(bible or other as appropriate), priest’s vestments elaborate lie or forming a devious and cunning
(as appropriate), common clothes, $10. plan. So long as you relate it to the current
situation, you gain a Fate chip.
Sanctuary
When you create your character, you must
choose a faith.
Due to your religious training, you command
the respect of those who share your faith, and you
can perform the appropriate religious ceremonies.
You and your posse can expect to receive aid and
shelter at a church, temple, or other established
presence of your faith. Those who share your
religion will support you (but only you) at a
modest lifestyle.
You might also have ties to a specific church
dedicated to your faith, and have a residence
there. This could be the temple where you used to
serve, if you remain on good terms with it, or a
church where you have found a new home. While
near your temple, you can call upon the other
clergy for assistance, provided the assistance you
ask for is not hazardous and you remain in good
standing with your faith.

“As it says in the good book, …”

Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing how the
current situation relates to some article of your
faith. So long as you establish a credible link, you
gain a Fate chip.

19
Craftsman
Fluff
Skill Proficiencies. Perception
Tool Proficiencies. Any 4.
Starting Equipment. 4 tools you are proficient in,
common clothes, $10.
Skilled Trade
There is always work for someone skilled in a
trade. When you visit a settlement, you can find
paying work in your trade without difficulty. In
addition, tools you are proficient in do not
encumber you.
“Well that’s your problem right there, …”
Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing how the
current situation relates to your trades. So long as
you establish a credible link, you gain a Fate chip.
20
Doctor
Fluff
Skill Proficiencies. Insight, Medicine
Tool Proficiencies. Doctor’s Bag.
Languages. Any one.
Starting Equipment. Doctor’s bag, ink and quill
set, medical journal, common clothes, $10.
Medic
The Weird West is just too dangerous a place to
turn away a doctor. Most settlements will provide
you with as comfortable shelter and food as they
can afford so long as you provide medical
services to the populace. Additionally, most
people are reluctant to kill a doctor if given the
choice.
“Dammit, I’m a doctor, …”
Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing how the
current situation relates (or very much does not)
to your medical training. So long as you establish
a credible link, you gain a Fate chip.
Musician
Fluff
Skill Proficiencies. Insight, Persuasion
Tool Proficiencies. Any three musical
instruments.
Languages. Any one.
Starting Equipment. One musical instrument you
are proficient in, stage costume, common clothes,
$5.
Popular Demand
You can always find a place to perform, usually in
a bar or saloon but possibly with a circus, at a
theatre, or even a wealthy admirer’s home. At
such a place, you receive free lodging and food of
a modest or comfortable standard, as long as you
perform each night. In addition, your performance
makes you something of a local figure. When
strangers recognize you in a town where you
have performed, they typically take a liking to you.
“Tell me, have you ever heard the ballad of…”
Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing how the
current situation relates to some song or story you
know. So long as you establish a credible link,
you gain a Fate chip.
21
Soldier
Fluff
Skill Proficiencies. Initiative, Intimidation.
Tool Proficiencies. Munitions Kit, Repair Kit.
Starting Equipment. Munitions kit, repair kit,
military uniform, common clothes, $5.
Military Honour
When you take this background, you must
choose which army you belonged to. By far the
most common choices would be the Union or
Confederate Armies, though other choices are
possible.
You held a rank or honour (such as a
distinguished service medal) from your career as
a soldier. Soldiers loyal to your former military
organization still recognize your authority and
influence, and they defer to you if they were of
lower rank. You can invoke your rank or honour to
exert influence over other soldiers and requisition
food or simple equipment and horses for
temporary use. You can also usually gain access
to friendly military encampments or bases where
your authority is recognized.
“This one time, me and the boys of the 14th
had to…”
Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing how the
current situation relates to something you
experienced during the war. So long as you
establish a credible link, you gain a Fate chip.
Tribesman
Fluff
Skill Proficiencies. Stealth, Survival.
Tool Proficiencies. Repair Kit, Bowyer’s Kit.
Languages. Any one native language.
Starting Equipment. Repair kit, bowyer’s kit,
tribal clothes, common clothes, $5.
Hospitality
Your time with the tribe has taught you the
customs of hospitality. When you encounter native
NPCs, so long as you are able to give the proper
and respectful greetings, most will have no lower
than an indifferent initial attitude towards you.
“Among the People, we tell the story of…”
Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing how the
current situation relates to a story, legend or
parable from your tribe. So long as you establish
a credible link, you gain a Fate chip.
22
Vaquero
Fluff
Skill Proficiencies. Animal Handling, Ride,
Survival.
Tool Proficiencies. Firearm Repair Kit,
Prospector’s Tools.
Languages. Any one.
Starting Equipment. Firearm repair kit,
prospector’s tools, common clothes, $5.
Wanderer
You’ve travelled the trails up and down this
country, and anywhere you haven’t been you’ve
heard stories from fellow travellers. You can
always recall the general layout of terrain,
settlements and other features around you. You
know the rough location tails and notable features
wherever you go. Finally, have you a decent
chance to know someone from any settlement
you visit.
“Met a guy whose cousin’s friend told him…”
Inspiration - Once per game session, you can
invoke your background, describing some rumour
or bit of information you heard in your travels
relating to the current situation. So long as you
establish a credible link, you gain a Fate chip.
Step III
Choose a Class
Y’all know what a class is. This book provides 5
starting classes to choose from at 1st level.
Gunslinger. The premier gun fighters in the
Weird West. Play this class if you want to be
reliable and deadly in combat.
Huckster. Skilled tricksters that wrest arcane
power from the spirit world. Play this class if you
are willing to gamble your life and sanity for great
power.
Mad Scientist. Unconventional, possibly even
genius, inventors with a trick up their sleeves for
every problem. Play this class if you want an
unusual challenge and creative problem solving.
Brave. Physical and spiritual warriors that
embrace the Native Old Ways movement. Play
this class if you want to be a warrior of the old
ways with a mystical bend.
Huntsman. Incomparable hunters that
combine knowledge of their prey with devastating
strikes. Play this class if you want to be a patient
and clever hunter in tune with the wildest,
weirdest west.
Each class’s starting abilities and features are
provided in the following sections.
Note: Multi-classing
Deadlands does not use the optional multi-
classing rule found in the PHB. Once you pick a
class, you’re stuck with it ‘till death, and possibly
longer. 

23
Step IV
Finalizing the Character
Now that you’ve chosen your Background and
Class, there are just a few details left to finalize
your character.
Ability Scores. You gain 4 points to add to
your ability scores, distributed as you wish. You
cannot raise an ability score above 15 in this way.
Hit Points. Your hit points are equal to your
Constitution score.
Sanity Points. Your sanity points are equal to
your Wisdom score.
Encumbrance. Your encumbrance limit is
equal to your Strength score.
Proficiencies. Gain 1 skill or tool proficiency
for each point of Intelligence modifier (if positive).
Languages. You know English and any
additional languages provided by your
Background. In addition, you know 1 language for
each point of Intelligence modifier (if positive).
 Proficiencies
The Gunslinger Skills: Initiative, Intimidation
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Constitution
They say a real gunslinger’s got three things; a Equipment
steady hand, a fire in his eyes and gunpowder in You start with the following equipment, in addition
his veins. to the equipment granted by your background:
- 2 Cut-rate pistols
Level Proficiency Class Features - 1 Knife
- 2 Cases pistol ammunition
1st +2 Shootist’s Edge, Sand - Travelling leathers
2nd +2 Deadeye
Class Features
3rd +2 Way of the Gun
ShOoTiSt’s EdGe
4th +2 Greased Lightning +2
The great ones all got something that sets ‘em
apart, and while you got a ways to go yet, you’ve
5th +3 Fan the Hammer
got that edge. Choose one of the options below.
6th +3 Red Iron Hand
Brawlin’
7th +3 Way of the Gun You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with
melee weapons and unarmed attacks.
8th +3 Greased Lightning +4
Hardened
9th +4 True Grit While you are wearing armour, you gain a +1
bonus to Defense.
10th +4 Way of the Gun

Duelin’
11th +4 Fan the Hammer (2)
When you are wielding a weapon in one hand and
12th +4 Greased Lightning +6 no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to
damage rolls with that weapon.
13th +5 True Grit (2)
Long Arms
14th +5 True Killer When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an
attack you make with a ranged weapon you are
15th +5 Way of the Gun wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die
and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a
16th +5 Greased Lightning +8
1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed
17th +6 Deadeye (2), True Grit (3) or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

18th +6 Way of the Gun Guardian Angel

When a creature you can see attacks a target
19th +6 Fan the Hammer (3) other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can
use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the
20th +6 Legend of the West attack roll.

Twin Shooter
When you attack with a weapon in your off hand,
you may add your relevant ability score modifier
to the damage.

24
SaNd
While most folks know when they’ve been beat,
you’re too tough or too dumb to lay down. On
your turn, you can use a bonus action to regain all
lost hit points.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a
long rest before you can use it again.
DeAdEyE
With the bullets flying, the whole world slows, if
only for a moment. On your turn, you can take
one additional action.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a
short or long rest before you can use it again.
Staring at 17th level, you may use this feature
twice before a rest, but only once on a single turn.
WaY oF tHe GuN
There’s as many sorts of gunslingers as there are
guns, and the West has more than its share of
both.
At 3rd level, choose from the White Hat, Black
Hat or Pistolero options detailed at the end of this
class description. The Way of the Gun you select
grants you features at 3rd, 7th, 10th, 15th and
18th level.
cannot use this feature again until you finish a
long rest.
You can use this feature twice between long
rests starting at 13th level and three times
between long rests starting at 17th level.
TrUe KiLlEr
Ain’t nothing from God’s green earth, or whatever
stranger places beyond, that you can’t kill. When
you score a critical hit, you deal an additional die
of damage.
LeGeNd oF tHe WeSt
You’ve seen it all, done it all, and survived
everything the West’s thrown at you. You’ve made
a legend that will last long after you’re gone, and
for good or ill your story is a part of the West.
Here’s to you, pardner!
You no longer gain physical or mental scars,
though you keep any you already have.

GrEaSeD LiGhTnInG
Your smoke wagon leaps to your hand like, well,
like greased lightning. You gain the listed bonus to
Dexterity (Initiative) checks and to the Quick Draw
portion of duels. In addition, you can draw a
weapon as part of making an Initiative check.

FaN tHe HaMmEr

There’s two things that let a gunslinger survive
again and again. His hands get faster, and that
little voice that tells you to hold, that hesitates to
kill, gets quieter and quieter.
At 5th level, when you take an Attack action,
you may attack twice. At 11th and 19th levels, you
may make an additional attack.

ReD IrOn HaNd

The gunslinger’s hands are blazing crimson iron.
At 6th level, you treat a roll of 19-20 as a critical
hit.

TrUe GrIt
You’re one tough hombre, no mistaking.
Beginning at 9th level, you can reroll a saving
throw that you fail. You must use the new roll, and

25
White Hat
There’s a rarified breed that come around once
every while, folks who see the horror and the
hardships of the West and have the will and
wherewithal to do something about it. We call
these men and women the White Hats, and make
sure ‘Hero’ is written is big letters on their
tombstones.
The heroes of the Weird West are a mixed lot, as
it is often only the smallest margin that separates
them from the terrors they hunt. The White Hat,
however, is a true beacon of hope in the
Wasteland, a genuine crusader for the light. He is
a natural leader, able to bring the most out of his
allies and protect them from the agents of the
Reckoners.
Level Class Feature
3rd Rally Cry d6, Grazing Shot
7th Rally Cry d8, Blessed
10th Rally Cry d10, Balm o’ GIlead
15th Rally Cry d12, Unbowed
18th Fearless
RaLlY CrY
Amid the blood and the smoke, the rally cry of the
White Hat is like the clarion call of the host. You
may use this ability to steel your allies for battle
and renew their fighting spirit.
This ability may be used as an action or a
bonus action. If used as a bonus action, choose
one ally who can see and hear you, and roll a
2d6. That ally immediately gains that many
temporary hit points. If used as an action, you and
all allies who can see and hear you instead gain
that many temporary hit points.
You may use this ability a number of times
equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum once).
You regain any expended uses when you finish a
short or long rest.
Your Rally Cry improves as you gain levels. At
7th level, the dice increases to 2d8. At 10th, 2d10,
and at 15th 2d12.
GrAzInG ShOt
26
Mercy only comes from the Lord, at least
according to those sun-addled reverends on the
street corners. Well that’s as may be, but you
don’t kill if you don’t have to. You take no penalty
when attempting to deal non-lethal damage with
melee attacks, and may choose to make non-
lethal attacks with firearms.
BlEsSeD
Maybe someone on high’s looking out for you, or
maybe there’s something to what the Aurientals
call karma. Could just be the power of clean
living. You gain a bonus to all saves equal to your
Charisma modifier.
BaLm o’ GiLeAd
A hero’s words can give strength when needed
and turn the meek to lions. So long as an ally has
temporary hit points from your Rally Cry ability,
they gain the same bonus to saves from your
Blessed ability.
UnBoWeD
You got that look of purpose in your eyes, and I
reckon the gates of Hell itself won’t stop you.
When you have more than 1 temporary hit point
granted by your Rally Cry ability and take damage
that would reduce your temporary hit points to 0,
you are instead reduced to 1 temporary hit point
and any excess damage is discarded. This also
applies to any allies granted temporary hit points
by your Rally Cry ability.
FeArLeSs
Takes a righteous man to look the Reckoners in
the eye, and a hardened one to make ‘em blink
first. You are immune to all fear-based effects and
powers, including the ambient effects of Fear
Levels and the fear-based powers of the
Reckoners.
Black Hat WiThErInG FiRe
Once you’ve set the fear in a man, he’s yours to
The Black Hat is the type of hero that could only break. When you attack a shaken foe, if your
emerge from the horrors of the Weird West. Often attack does not hit, they become frightened of you
as not greedy, deceitful and untrustworthy, their until the end of their next turn, at which point they
motivations for joining a posse tend to be entirely are merely shaken again.
personal. Despite this, they are some of the most
fearsome opponents of the Reckoners, willing to GrIm SeRvAnT oF DeAtH
do whatever it takes to stay alive in the There are not many meaner or more dangerous
Wasteland. than you. From the greenest tinhorn to the most
grizzled line driver, everyone can see that where
you go death follows closely.
Level Class Feature
You gain advantage on all attacks against
3rd The Stare, Paunch frightened creatures. You may additionally use
your Sudden Strike against frightened foes. 

7th Sudden Strike

10th Withering Fire

15th Sudden Strike (2)

18th Grim Servant of Death

ThE StArE
Lots of folks who think they’re real bad hombres
will try and flinch ya, but there’s nothing that
makes a man wilt like the rattlesnake glare of a
Black Hat.
You gain proficiency with Intimidate checks, if
you did not already have it. You may attempt to
Demoralize a target as a bonus action, instead of
an action.

PaUnCh
Some bastards don’t always shoot to kill, and a
gut shot is about the most painful way to go. As
an action, you can make a ranged weapon attack
against a single target. If the attack hits, the target
has disadvantage on its next attack roll. This
ability can only be used against humans or
animals of medium size or smaller.

SuDdEn StRiKe
Dishonourable? Maybe, but shooting a man in the
back is a the only sure way to disarm any threat.
Once per turn, you can deal an extra weapon die
of damage to one creature you hit with an attack.
You may only use this ability against a flatfooted
target, or when using a weapon with the
Deceptive quality. At 15th level, this increases to
two extra weapon dice of damage.

27
 ReCkLeSs ReCkOnInG
Desperado Damn, you got a death wish or something? When
you make your first attack on your turn, you can
The Desperado is a dangerous individual with a decide to gain advantage on all attacks this turn.
pistol. While wars are increasingly fought at long If you do, all attacks against you until gain
range, he loves nothing more than charging into advantage until the beginning of your next turn.
the middle of any fight with his six-shooters
blazing. Several of the most famous men in the ThUnDeRiNg ChArGe
West have been counted among the ranks of A Desperado running hell-bent and full bore
Desperadoes. So have hundreds of dead ones. ablazin’ is a terrifying sight. After you perform a
Dash action, if you end your move adjacent to an
enemy, you may make a ranged weapon attack
Level Class Feature
with a pistol. If the attack hits, you may make an
3rd Six-Gun Tango, Rolling Finger Trick additional pistol attack. You may continue to make
pistol attacks until you either miss the target, run
7th Maverick Dodge out of ammunition, or suffer a misfire.
After you use this ability, you cannot use it
10th Rending Irons again until you finish a short or longer rest.


15th Reckless Reckoning

18th Thundering Charge

SiX-GuN TaNgO
You are at your best when you’re up close and
personal, shooting away in close combat. While
you wield a pistol, you may make ranged attacks
without provoking opportunity attacks and
threaten adjacent opponents.

RoLlInG FiNgEr TrIcK

Long hours of practice have taught you some
special tricks for reloading your pistols. If you are
wielding two pistols and take the Reload action,
you can reload both pistols with the same action
as if you had a free hand.

MaVeRiCk DoDgE
Running towards the bullets might seem like a
good way to chew gravel, but them desperadoes
have a knack for jack-rabbittin’. As a reaction
when you are targeted by a ranged weapon
attack, you can move up to 5ft and drop prone
before the attack is resolved.

ReNdInG IrOnS
Fling enough lead down range and even the
weirdest varmints should get a halo gratis. If you
hit a single target with two or more ranged
weapon attacks with pistols during your turn, the
target takes an additional 1d6 damage.

28
 Proficiencies
The Huckster Skills: Spellslingin’
Tools: One gaming set
Saving Throws: Charisma, Wisdom
Fluff Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition
Level Proficiency Class Abilities to the equipment granted by your background:
- Hoyle’s Book of Games, 1870
1st +2 Hex (d6), Spellcasting, Eldritch - 1 Cut-rate pistol
Knack
- 1 Case pistol ammunition
2nd +2 Petty Dabbler - 1 Gaming set you are proficient in

3rd +2 Eldritch Covenant

Class Abilities
4th +2 Magical Secret
HeX
5th +3 Hex (d8) There’s something downright supernatural about
the way the world seems to bend around that
6th +3 Eldritch Covenant gal’s needs. A Hex is a minor magical effect that
the Huckster may perform by drawing on her own
7th +3 Arcane Interference
power.
At 1st level, you learn the Cutting Words and
8th +3 Magical Secret
Inspiration hexes. Your Hex die is a d6 at 1st
9th +4 Hex (d10) level, and increases as you gain levels. You may
use this feature a number of times equal to your
10th +4 Eldritch Covenant Charisma modifier plus your proficiency bonus (a
minimum of once). You regain all expended uses
11th +4 Arcane Arsenal when you finish a long rest.

12th +4 Magical Secret Cutting Words

When a creature that you can see within 60ft of
13th +5 Arcane Arsenal (2)
you makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a
damage roll, you can use your reaction to expend
14th +5 Hex (d12)
one of your Hexes, rolling your Hex die and
15th +5 Eldritch Covenant subtracting the number rolled from the creature’s
roll. You can choose to use this feature after the
16th +5 Magical Secret creature makes its roll, but before the Marshal
determines whether the attack roll or ability check
17th +6 Mental Fortitude succeeds or fails, or before the creature deals its
damage.
18th +6 Eldritch Covenant
Inspiration
19th +6 Arcane Arsenal (3)
As a bonus action, you can choose one creature
other than yourself within 60ft. Once within the
20th +6 Master of the Mystic Arts
next 10 minutes, when the creature makes an
ability check, attack roll, or saving throw, it can roll
your Hex die and add the result to its total. The
creature can wait until after it rolls the d20 before
deciding to use this ability. Once targeted, a
creature cannot be targeted by this ability again
until it uses the Hex die.

29
SpElLcAsTiNg
Through tricks and deals with otherworldly
entities, you have access to incredibly powerful,
and dangerous, energies known as spells.
Spells Known
You begin at 1st level knowing two spells of your
choice from the Huckster Spells section. At 4th,
8th, 12th and 16th level, you may learn a new
spell from the list. You may also cast spells from
any spell book you have in hand, treating them as
known spells. If you already know a spell and
have a spell book with the same spell, it confers
no additional benefit.
Casting a Spell
Casting a spell is usually an action, unless it
states otherwise in the spell’s description. To cast
a spell, make a Charisma (Spellslingin’) check,
and compare it to the spell’s DC. So long as you
meet or exceed the minimum listed DC, you cast
the spell at the highest DC level you achieved. If
you failed to achieve the DC, or rolled a natural 1,
see the Failure and Backlash section below.
Casting the same spell more than once in a
day is difficult, as the spirits get wise to your
tricks. If you attempt to cast a spell that you have
already successfully cast since your last long rest,
your Spellslingin’ roll is made at Disadvantage. If
you attempt to cast the spell subsequent times, it
is made at additional degrees of Disadvantage
(ie, on the third casting, roll 3d20’s and use the
lowest, on the fourth 4d20’s, etc). If you gain
Advantage on any of these rolls, it cancels out a
single Disadvantage die, rather than making the
whole roll neutral. This is an exception to the
normal rules of Disadvantage. Completing a long
rest removes all Disadvantage from multiple
castings.
Failure and Backlash
When you’re gambling for power, the stakes are
body and soul. When you do not meet the
minimum DC when casting a spell, you suffer any
Failure penalty listed in the spell’s description.
If you roll a natural 1 on your Hexslingin’ roll,
you suffer a backlash as you unwittingly subject
yourself to angry, destructive spirits. The spell you
are casting is automatically a failure, regardless of
your total. In addition, you take 4d6 sanity
damage as the spirits claw at your soul.
Sleight of Hand
30
All spells have both a verbal and visual
component, unless otherwise noted in the spell
description. For most, the visual component will
be a spectral hand of cards appearing in front of
you, a manifestation of the arcane duel of wits
going on as you attempt to wrest power from the
spirits.
As a bonus action when casting a spell, you
can attempt a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to
conceal both the verbal and visual signs (DC 10).
If the signs are not concealed, any observers will
be aware the effects are obviously unnatural, and
are coming from you. Where a spell has obvious
supernatural effects, this check allows you to
conceal the fact that you were its source. A few
spells, such as Black Lightning, are so obvious
and destructive that they cannot be concealed, as
noted in the spell description.
Concentration
Some spells require you to concentrate
throughout their duration to keep them active.
While concentrating on a spell, you can perform
most actions, such as moving or attacking,
however concentration can be broken in the
following ways:
- Casting another spell that requires
concentration.
- Taking damage. Whenever you take damage
while concentrating on a spell, you must make
a Constitution saving throw (DC 10 or half
damage taken, whichever is higher) to maintain
concentration.
- Taking a rest.
- Being incapacitated or killed.
Save DCs
If a spell requires your target to make a saving
throw, the DC is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your
Charisma modifier.
ElDrItCh KnAcK
What’s the point of living if you can’t abuse dark
and dangerous energies from another realm just
for your own convenience. You can perform any
of the following magical effects as an action with a
range of 10ft.
- You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory
effect, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of
wind, faint musical notes, or an odd odour.
- You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle,
a torch, or a small campfire.
- You instantaneously clean or soil an object no
larger than 1 cubic foot.
- You chill, warm, or flavour up to 1 cubic foot for
nonliving material for 1 hour.
- You make a colour, a small mark, or a symbol
appear on an object or surface for 1 hour.
- You create a non-magical trinket or an illusory
image that can fit in your hand and that lasts
until the end of your next turn.
- You can transform a mug of clean water into
coffin varnish, a thick coffee-like substance that
instantaneously removes intoxication.
If you use this ability multiple times, you can have
up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active
at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as
an action. Using this ability has both verbal and
somatic components.
PeTtY DaBbLeR
You’re gonna need a wide set of skills to pull one
over on the spiritworld. You can add half your
proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability
check you make that doesn’t already include your
proficiency bonus.
demonic magic, and you’re always prepared with
whatever the moment calls for. You can attune to
an additional magical item at 11th, 13th and 19th
level.
MeNtAl FoRtItUdE
Got to be right tough in the head to take on
demons day in and out. Or is that thick in the
head? You gain resistance to mental damage.
MaStEr oF tHe MyStIc ArTs
Through long study and dark dealings, you have
become a master of the mystic arts. You might
use this power to reshape reality, lead students
into a new magical tradition, or rule over men like
the sorcerer-kings of old.
You no longer gains physical or mental scars,
though you keep any you already had.
In addition, you may use a Hex ability even if
you have no remaining uses of the feature,
though the Hex die becomes a d6.

ElDrItCh CoVeNaNt
There’s no wrong way to approach wresting
arcane might from otherworldly entities, except all
the ways where you get eaten by a demon. At 3rd
level, choose one of the Eldritch Covenants
detailed at the end of the class description. Your
Covenant grants abilities at 3rd, 6th, 10th, 15th
and 18th levels.

MaGiCaL SeCrEt
There are always new and exciting ways to get
your mind melted attempting to steal power. At
4th, 8th, 12th and 16th level, you learn a new
Huckster spell.

ArCaNe InTeRfErEnCe
As an action, you can begin channeling arcane
energies around yourself. Until the end of your
next turn, you and any friendly creatures within
30ft have advantage on saving throws against
fear or charm effects. A creature must be able to
hear you to gain this benefit. This ability ends
early if you are incapacitated or silenced or if you
voluntarily end it (no action required).

ArCaNe ArSeNaL
The secret to pulling a rabbit out of your hat is
90% preparation, 5% showmanship, and 5%

31
Huckster Spells
AlArM
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch, or 20’ radius
Duration: up to 24 hours
This spell creates one of two effects. First, it may
be applied to a single object, such as a door, a
weapon or a rock. If that object is moved, you are
immediately aware of it, waking you if you are
sleeping. Alternatively, the hex may be cast in a
20ft radius around you. If anyone moves through
that area, you are alerted as above. The spell
ends if the alarm is triggered.
DC: 10 (object), or 20 (radius)
Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can
only be removed through rest.
BlAcK LiGhTnInG
Casting Time: action
Range: 60ft line
Duration: instantaneous
Arcs of dark lightning erupt from your hand,
withering all they touch. Targets within the area of
the spell must make a Dexterity save. A
successful saving throw halves the damage listed
below. Due to the obviously magical nature of this
spell, it cannot be disguised with a Sleight of
Hand check.
DC: 20 - all targets in the line take 6d6 damage.
25 - all targets in the line take 6d8 damage.
30 - all targets in the line take 6d10 damage.
Failure: You and all creatures within 20ft take 4d6
damage.
BuRnInG BuLlEtS
Casting Time: action
Range: touch
Duration: concentration, up to 10 minutes
You touch a gun, causing all bullets within to burn
with eldritch energy. When the targeted gun is
used to make a ranged weapon attack, it deals
the bonus damage listed below. The spell ends
immediately if the gun is reloaded.
DC: 10 - +1 bonus damage.
15 - +1d4 bonus damage.
20 - +1d6 bonus damage.
Failure: The targeted gun immediately jams.
DeAtH WaRd
Casting Time: action
Range: touch
32
Duration: instantaneous
You can help a creature fighting for its life, though
not without great risk.
DC: 10 - the target gains 1 death saving throw
success.
15 - as above, except 2 successes.
20 - as above, except 3 successes
Failure: The target gains 1 death saving throw
failure.
DeUcEs WiLd
Casting Time: action
Range: personal
Duration: concentration, up to 1 minute
Your form shimmers as multiple illusionary
duplicates fan out around you. When you are hit
by an attack, randomly determine whether the
attack hits you or a duplicate (ie, if there are 4
duplicates, roll a d4). If a duplicate is hit, it is
destroyed, but you suffer no damage. Attacks that
target an area you are in target you and all
duplicates. When all your duplicates are
destroyed, the spell immediately ends.
DC: 14 - 2 duplicates
17 - 3 duplicates
20 - 4 duplicates
Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can
only be removed through rest.
DiSsOnAnT WhIsPeRs
Casting Time: action
Range: 60ft
Duration: instantaneous
Maddening whispers claw at your target’s mind.
The target must make a Wisdom saving throw. On
a failed save, it takes the mental damage listed
below and must use its reaction to move as far
away from you as its speed allows. The creature
does not move into obviously dangerous ground.
On a successful save, the target takes half as
much damage and does not have to move.
Mindless creatures are not affected by this spell.
DC: 15 - 3d6 mental damage.
20 - 3d8 mental damage.
25 - 3d10 mental damage.
Failure: You immediately take 2d6 mental
damage, and cannot move closer to the target
until the beginning of your next turn.
HaNd oF ThUnDeR
Casting Time: action
Range: personal
Duration: instantaneous
Your fist crackles with power and your strikes
send foes reeling. As part of casting this spell,
make a melee attack against an adjacent foe
using your Charisma in place of your Strength for
the attack and damage rolls. If the attack hits, the
target takes the damage listed below and must
make a Strength saving throw. If the target fails
the save, you may choose to knock it prone or
push it 5ft. This spell does not provoke an
opportunity attack.
DC: 10 - 2d8 + Cha mod.
15 - 2d10 + Cha mod.
20 - 2d12 + Cha mod.
Failure: The target can immediately use its
reaction to make a opportunity attack against you
at advantage.
Failure: All recently killed corpses within range of
the spell are reanimated as Hungry Dead, hostile
to you.
ShAdOw MaN
Casting Time: action
Range: personal
Duration: concentration, up to 10 minutes.
Your form fades to a black ethereal shadow. While
the spell lasts, you have advantage on Stealth
checks, your speed increases by 20ft, and attacks
against you are at disadvantage. The spell ends
immediately if you are hit by an attack.
DC: 15
Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can
only be removed through rest.

KnOcK ShAtTeR
Casting Time: action Casting Time: action
Range: touch Range: 60ft
Duration: instantaneous Duration: instantaneous
You open a single non-magical lock. Each creature in a 10ft radius must make a
DC: equal to the lock’s DC Constitution save. Creatures of inorganic material
Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can have disadvantage on the save.
only be removed through rest. DC: 14 - Creatures take 3d6 damage, or half on a
successful save. Nonmagical objects that are not
NiGhTmArE ReAlM being worn or carried take double that damage if
Casting Time: 10 minutes they are in the spell’s area.
Range: 1 mile radius 18: as above, except objects take three times
Duration: 24 hours the damage.
Shadows lengthen, wood warps, and malicious 22 - as above, except objects take four times
lights appear all around you. This hex increases the damage.
the Fear level within its range by 1 step. Failure: You take 2d6 damage and are knocked
DC: 20 prone.
Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can
only be removed through rest.

ReStLeSs DeAd
Casting Time: action
Range: 30ft
Duration: concentration, up to 12 hours
This spell reanimates recently killed corpses
(within the last 12 hours) as zombies under your
control. On each of your turns as a bonus action
you can issue orders to the zombies, which will
follow it to the best of their abilities until ordered
otherwise. The spell ends immediately if all the
zombies are destroyed.
DC: 15 - up to 1 zombie
20 - up to 2 zombies
25 - up to 3 zombies

33

Dark Soul
While all Hucksters bargain with demons, some
seek out the most dark and vile of them,
promising to set the world ablaze in exchange for
the power they desire.
Level Class Feature
3rd Evil Eye Curse
6th Burning Rebuke
10th Devil’s Own Luck
15th Break the Seventh Seal
18th Unearthly Recovery
EvIl EyE CuRsE
When a real black-hearted bastard of a huckster
sets the evil eye to you, its like Old Scratch
himself has you in his sights. At 3rd level, you
learn this new hex.
As an action, spend 1 Hex use and choose a
creature you can see within 60ft of you. The target
is cursed for 1 minute, or until it dies, you die, or
you use this action to curse another target. Until
the curse end, you gain the following benefits:
- You gain a bonus to damage rolls against the
cursed target equal to your Hex die.
- Any attack roll you make against the cursed
target is a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
- If the cursed target dies, you gain temporary hit
points equal to your Charisma modifier plus
your proficiency bonus.
BuRnInG ReBuKe
Those that don’t know better might be afraid
there’s a demon lurking behind that rage in your
eyes. Those that do know better are more afraid
there isn’t.
As a reaction, when you a creature you can see
within 60ft of you damages you with an attack,
you can spend a Hex use to deal your hex die in
damage to the attacker and curse it, as described
in your Evil Eye Curse ability. You may have more
than one target cursed as a result of your abilities,
but all existing curses end if you use the Evil Eye
action to curse a new target.
34
DeViL’s OwN LuCk
The Lord above may watch over his flock, but the
darker powers take a more active hand in
protecting their favoured servants. If a target you
have cursed hits you with an attack roll, you can
use your reaction to roll a d6. On a 4 or higher,
the attack instead misses you, regardless of its
roll.
BrEaK tHe SeVeNtH SeAl
Let the powers above and below beware, for you
have stolen the secret to magics not meant for
mortal hands. At 15th level, you learn the
Judgement of Fire and Gates of Hell spells.
JuDgEmEnT oF FiRe
Casting Time: action
Range: 150ft
Duration: instantaneous
A bright steak flashes from your pointing finger to
a point you choose within range and then
blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of
flame. Each creature in a 20ft radius here centred
on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw.
Targets take the listed damage on a failed save,
or half as much damage on a successful one. The
fire spreads around corners and ignites
flammable objects in that area that aren’t being
worn or carried. Due to the obvious nature of this
spell, it cannot be concealed with Sleight of Hand.
DC: 20 - 4d6 damage
25 - 5d6 damage
30 - 6d6 damage
Failure: An uncontrolled explosion of flame deals
4d6 damage to you and all creatures within 20ft
(Dexterity save for half).
GaTeS oF HeLl
Casting Time: action
Range: 20ft radius centred on self
Duration: concentration, up to 1 minute
A 20ft radius void appears around you,
surrounded by hellish flames and filled with
sibilant demonic whispers. The void’s area is
difficult terrain and filled with shadowy darkness,
conferring disadvantage on ranged attacks made
against targets in the area. All creatures in the
area are cursed, as described in your Evil Eye
Curse ability. Any creature other than you that
starts its turn in the area takes 2d6 sanity
damage, and creatures that move into or out of
the area takes 2d6 damage from the flames
(Dexterity save for half). You can move with the
area, but it does not move with you. The spell
immediately ends if you leave the area.
DC: 20 - as described above
25 - as above, but the damage is 2d8
30 - as above, but the damage is 2d10
Failure: You are pulled into hell, disappearing in a
burst of fire only to reappear in the same or
nearest unoccupied space at the end of your next
turn. You take 3d10 sanity damage when you
reappear.

UnEaRtHlY ReCoVeRy
At this point I suspect the devil himself is none too
keen to see you dead and delivered to his
keeping. When you succeed at a death saving
throw, you are instantly returned to half your
maximum health (rounded up), and may choose
to stand up. All hostile creatures within 10ft of you
take 2d6 damage as flames spring forth from your
resuscitation.You cannot use this ability again
until you finish a short or longer rest.


35
Hexslinger
It looked like nothing more than trash, an old gun
scratched and scrawled in strange glyphs and
markings, yet when it leapt to the Hexslinger’s
hands it burned with eldritch energy.
The power a Huckster wields is a fluid thing; it
ebbs and flows, is bargained for or gambled away,
won and spent in an instant. There are some,
however, that seek to bind that power to metal, to
meld magic and steel into a singular weapon; a
Ghost Gun. In your hands, the Ghost Gun
becomes a conduit for magical power. To others, it
may appear as nothing more than a rusted old
pistol covered in strange scratches. You, however,
can see the magic contained within, and to your
eyes it fires ghastly rounds wreathed in green
flame.
Level Class Feature
3rd Ghost Gun, Phantom Reload
6th Green Fire Helix
10th Phoenix Chamber, Speed of Sin
15th Embershards
18th Perdition’s Flames
GhOsT GuN
At 3rd level, you learn how to craft a Ghost Gun,
the focus for your Hexslinger abilities. The
process can be completed during a long rest, and
requires a pistol, one pound of ghost rock, and
$25 worth of additional materials. Afterwards, it
will no longer function as a regular pistol.
You can use the Ghost Gun to make ranged
weapon attacks, just as you would a mundane
pistol, with the following exceptions.
- You may use your Charisma modifier in place
of Dexterity when attacking.
- The Ghost Gun deals 2d8 damage, has a
range of 30/100ft, and an Encumbrance of 1.
- The Ghost Gun cannot misfire; instead, on an
attack roll of a natural 1, you take 2d6 sanity
damage and the attack misses.
- The Ghost Gun does not use ammunition;
instead, it has 6 spectral charges. Each time
the gun is fired, it consumes 1 charge.
36
The Ghost Gun will only function for the
Hexslinger that crafted it, and if you craft another
your previous gun will lose its magic and become
a worthless hunk of metal. When you craft the
Ghost Gun, any special properties of the base
pistol will be transferred to the Ghost Gun.
PhAnToM ReLoAd
Hand to heart, I swear I ain’t never seen that lady
reload that old iron no matter how many times
she’s fired. At 3rd level, you also learn the
Phantom Reload hex.
As a bonus action, you can spend a Hex to
reload your Ghost Gun, at the cost of your own
magical energy. Your gun regains all spent
charges, then you take that much sanity damage,
minus the result of the roll of your Hex die
(minimum 0).
GrEeN FiRe HeLiX
Power corrupts, twisting and changing whoever
possesses it. Binding power in steel is no
different. The metal form of your gun has begun to
change, reflecting the arcane power stored within.
With each pull of the trigger, two blazing rounds
leap out, twining in eldritch patterns, towards your
foe.
At 6th level, when you make an attack with the
Ghost Gun, you may spend 2 charges instead of
1 to make the attack roll with advantage. After
rolling the attack, before learning if you hit, you
may choose to use the lower result to add an
extra die of damage to the attack.
PhOeNiX ChAmBeR
Though it looks like cold steel to anyone else, you
can see the ghostly fire burning in the heart of
your gun, how each shot leaps with dreadful
eagerness at your foes, and how it recoils if it
does not find its target. When attacking with your
Ghost Gun, if the attack does not hit, you regain 1
charge.
SpEeD oF SiN
You’re faster now, quickened by the blazing
eagerness of your gun calling you to combat.
When you take the Attack action, you can make
an additional attack.
EmBeRsHaRdS
You can feel it, now, the ravenous hunger of the
gun. It has trained your hand to kill, the fiery
shrapnel of its shots seeking out the heart blood
of its victims.
When you make a ranged weapon attack, you
treat a roll of 19-20 as a critical hit. Additionally, if
you roll a critical hit with the Ghost Gun, it regains
all spent charges.

PeRdItIoN’s FlAmE
It’s always whispering to you now, a brazen beast
of steel and hellfire, promising glory and
damnation in equal measure. You have created a
harbinger of perdition itself.
Your Ghost Gun deals an additional die of
damage. When you kill a foe with your Ghost
Gun, you can spend a Hex use to roll your hex die
and heal that much damage. 


37
Street Mage
fluff
Level Class Feature
3rd Barrier, Vicious Mockery
6th Inner Power, Practiced Hand
10th Mountebank’s Escape, Practiced Hand
15th Rewrite the Fates, Practiced Hand
18th Shape Your Future
BaRrIeR
Gotta look out for your own skin first and
foremost, right? You have learned to divert a
small sliver of power from your spells to protect
yourself.
When you successfully cast a spell, you gain a
number of temporary hit points equal to your
proficiency bonus plus your Charisma modifier.
ViCiOuS MoCkErY
You’re not above hurling a little abuse at your foes
to get them off their game. At 3rd level, you learn
this new Hex.
As an action, choose a creature that can see
and hear you within 60ft, which must make a
Charisma saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency
bonus + your Charisma modifier). If it fails its
save, it takes your Hex die in mental damage, and
has disadvantage on its next attack, or half
damage and no additional effect on a success.
Creatures that cannot comprehend your language
or are immune to mind-affecting effects are not
affected by this ability.
InNeR PoWeR
You trust in your self before anyone, mortal or
demon. With enough will, you can draw on your
own power more frequently, and control your own
fate. You now recover all expended uses of your
Hex ability when you take a short or long rest. In
addition, you can target yourself with the
Inspiration hex.
PrAcTiCeD HaNd
The only way to stay one step ahead is to never
stop learning. Each time you gain this feature,
38
choose one of the options below. If you are
already proficient in the skills granted, your
proficiency bonus becomes doubled for those
skills.
Beast Whisperer - You gain proficiency in the
Animal Handling and Ride skills.
Beguiling Influence - You gain proficiency in the
Deception and Insight skills.
Calisthenics Training - You gain proficiency in
the Acrobatics and Athletics skills.
Hide and Seek - You gain proficiency in the
Perception and Stealth skills.
Natural Instinct - You gain proficiency in the
Initiative and Survival skills.
Traveller’s Tongue - You gain proficiency in the
Language and Persuasion skills.
Unearthly Pursuit - You gain proficiency in the
Intimidate and Weird skills.
MoUnTeBaNk’s EsCaPe
Vanishing in a puff of smoke might sound like a
stage magician’s trick, but that doesn’t make it
any less useful. When you take damage, you can
use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up
to 60ft to an unoccupied space you can see. You
remain invisible until the start of your next turn, or
until you attack or cast a spell.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it
again until you finish a short or long rest.
ReWrItE tHe FaTeS
With a strong enough force of will, you can
reforge fate. When you use a Hex ability, you can
expend an additional Hex use. If you do, when the
Hex die is rolled, roll twice and use either result.
ShApE yOuR FuTuRe
Glimpsing the future’s not that hard. Three
quarters of it is just being smart enough to know
what’s coming, and the rest is unfettered arcane
will. Once per round, when you are hit by an
attack, you can use your reaction halve the
attack’s damage against you.

 Proficiencies
The Mad Scientist Skills: None
Tools: Any two
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Constitution
Fluff Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition
Level Proficiency Class Abilities to the equipment granted by your background:
- 1 Cut-rate pistol
1st +2 Thunder Cannon, Frontier Armourer - 1 Case of pistol ammunition
- 1 pound of ghost rock
2nd +2 Tool Expertise, Invention

3rd +2 Particular Genius Class Abilities

4th +2 Thunder Monger ThUnDeR CaNnOn
With all the many wonders of machinery these
5th +3 Tinkering, Invention
ghost rock tinkers have made over the years, I
6th +3 Particular Genius ain’t met one yet who didn’t first try and make
himself a gun.
7th +3 Tinkering You begin the game with a Thunder Cannon, a
ghost rock-powered weapon of your own design
8th +3 Invention and make (and 10 rounds of ammunition). Only
you are proficient with it; even other Mad
9th +4 Particular Genius Scientists with this feature are not proficient with
your design. It is a two-handed firearm that deals
10th +4 Tinkering
4d4 damage, has a normal range of 30ft and a
long range of 100ft, and a capacity of 1 shot
11th +4 Invention
before needing to be reloaded. It requires a
12th +4 Experimental Ammunition special type of ammunition that only you can craft
(see Frontier Armourer below), has a misfire rate
13th +5 Invention of 2, and an encumbrance value of 3. You may
use your Intelligence modifier in place of Dexterity
14th +5 Particular Genius when making attacks with the Thunder Cannon.
If you lose your Thunder Cannon, you can
15th +5 Tinkering create a new one with three days work, an ingot
of ghost steel, and $20 worth of supplies.
16th +5 Invention

17th +6 Extra Experimental Ammunition FrOnTiEr ArMoUrEr

You got that bag of tools and tricks that always
18th +6 Particular Genius seems to have exactly what’s needed. Its almost
magic.
19th +6 Invention You begin play with a leather bag used to carry
your tools, powders, lead shot and other materials
20th +6 Architect of the New West needed to maintain your guns and craft
ammunition.
Your tool bag is considered a Tool that you are
proficient in. You may use the tool bag in place of
any artisan’s tool for a crafting or mechanical task,
or a repair kit for repairing weapons or amrour. It
has no charges, and cannot be used up. In
addition, you can use the tool bag to produce
ammunition. At the end of each long rest, you can

39
produce 40 rounds of ammunition, or 10 rounds
after a short rest. You can choose to create any
regular caliber of ammunition, or the special
rounds required for your Thunder Cannon.
If you lose your tool bag, you can create a new
one as part of a long rest, using $25 worth of
supplies and one pound of ghost rock.
ToOl ExPeRtIsE
You might be crazy enough to boot, but you sure
know your way around a workshop. Starting at
2nd level, your proficiency bonus is doubled for
any ability check you make that uses any of your
tool proficiencies.
InVeNtIoN
Ideas swirl around you like flies on a donkey, but
every once in a while you catch hold of one long
enough to make something special. Each time
you gain this feature, you craft one of the devices
listed later in this section.
Crafting a device is a difficult task. When you
gain a device from this feature, it reflects long
hours of study, tinkering and experimentation that
allowed you to complete an item of your own
design. It does not spontaneously appear, but
should represent your continual effort over your
rest and other down time.
When you gain this feature, you immediately
gain your chosen device. This represents your
prototype design, and does not cost you anything.
You also learn the methods to create the device,
at the cost listed in the device’s description.
You learn how to create additional devices as
you level up. At 2nd and 5th level, you can
choose one of the Apprentice devices. At 8th, 11th
and 13th level, you can choose one of the
Journeyman or Apprentice devices. At 16th and
19th level, you can choose one of the Master or
lower devices.
PaRtIcUlAr GeNiUs
You maybe ain’t got it all going on up there mister,
but what you do got is firing on all cylinders. At
3rd level, you choose which Particular Genius you
are; Alchemist, Automatist, or Mechanist, which
are detailed below.
ThUnDeR MoNgEr
Ain’t met a mad scientist yet who could resist
seeing just how far past 11 those dials could go.
As a bonus action, you can attempt to overcharge
your Thunder Cannon. If your next attack before
40
the end of your turn hits, you can choose to add
any number of additional d4s to your damage roll,
up to your proficiency bonus.
Overcharging the Thunder Cannon is risky. If
you roll four or more 4’s on your damage roll, the
weapon overheats. You may immediately drop it,
otherwise you take 2d6 damage. Anyone that
picks up the Thunder Cannon or is holding it at
the start of their turn takes an additional 2d6
damage. It cannot be fired while overheated. An
overheated Thunder Cannon will cool off on its
own after five minutes, or can be vented by a
character holding it as an action.
TiNkErInG
There’s always room for improvement, ain’t there.
At 5th level, you learn how to make one of the
following upgrades to your Thunder Cannon.
Upgrading the weapon takes a short or longer
rest, and costs nothing. At 7th, 10th, and 15th
level, you learn one additional upgrade.
Compact Design: By miniaturizing the key
components, your Thunder Cannon becomes a
one-handed weapon.
Extended Barrel: The range of your Thunder
Cannon increase to 100ft/500ft.
Integrated Magazine: Your Thunder Cannon’s
capacity is increased to 4.
Extended Magazine: Your Thunder Cannon’s
capacity is increased to 10. Requires Integrated
Magazine.
Stable Mechanism: Reduce the misfire
chance of your Thunder Cannon by 2, to a
minimum of 0.
Quickloader: Reloading your Thunder Cannon
is a bonus action.
Ultralight Components: Your Thunder
Cannon’s encumbrance is reduced to 1.
ExPeRiMeNtAl AmMuNiTiOn
Some say you can’t solve all your problems with a
bullet. You say they just ain’t found the right type
of bullet, then.
When you craft ammunition with your tool bag
as part of a long rest, you can craft special
ammunition rounds. At 12th level, you may have
up to 3 experimental rounds at once, increasing to
6 at 17th level. They may be of any type or
combination described below. These are in
addition to the normal rounds you can craft during
a rest, and do not cost anything extra to produce.
You may make them of any caliber, including the
special rounds for your Thunder Gun. Anyone
other than you firing an experimental round has
disadvantage on their attack.
Inventions
Dragon Round: Any target hit by a Dragon
ApPrEnTiCe DeSiGnS
Round must make a DC 14 Dexterity save or be
set on fire. A burning target takes 1d10 fire
Athlete’s Flanges
damage at the start of its turn, until it puts itself
These webbed and tacky gloves allow you to
out as an action. Increases your misfire chance
climb and swim more easily. While wearing them,
by 3.
climbing and swimming do not cost you extra
Penetrator Round: Your attack ignores up to 5
movement, and you gain a +5 bonus to Strength
points of damage reduction or soak. Increases
(Athletics) checks made to climb or swim.
your misfire chance by 2.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $20
Rattlesnake Round: Any target hit by a
Encumbrance: 0
Rattlesnake Round must make a DC 14
Constitution save or be poisoned. A poisoned
Automated Mixer
target has disadvantage on all attacks and checks
This steel contraption looks like a canteen with
until it makes a successful save at the end of its
a number of revolving internal chambers. By
turn. Increases your misfire chance by 2.
placing 1 gallon of water into the chamber and
Splinter Round: You treat a roll of a 19-20 as a
activating it, it can produce any of the following in
critical, and on a critical deal an extra die of
10 minutes;
damage, or two extra dice with the Thunder
Acid, 8 ounces
Cannon. Increases your misfire chance by 2.
Basic poison, 1/2 ounce
Tracer Round: If your attack hits, until the end
Beer, 1 gallon
of your next turn the target is outlined in soft
Honey, 10 ounces
glowing light. It cannot benefit from invisibility, and
Mayonnaise, 1/2 gallon
all attacks against it are at advantage. Increases
Oil, 1/2 ounce
your misfire chance by 2.
Vinegar, 1 gallon
Whiskey, 8 ounces
ArChItEcT oF tHe NeW WeSt It can only produce each substance once per 24
The future of the Weird West will be forged by hours.
your hands. By steel and artifice, you have Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $25
remade the world. Encumbrance: 1
You no longer gain physical or mental scars,
though you keep any you already have. Gilman’s Cap
When building any invention you have already This leather and glass contraption, when worn
learned, the cost and time required is halved. on the head and submerged underwater, pulls
oxygen from the water for you. It allows you to
breathe normally underwater.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $25
Encumbrance: 2

Parachute Pants
These bulky pants may seem unstylish, but can
help slow you in case of an unexpected fall.
Reduce the distance of any fall by 40ft for the
purpose of damage.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $15
Encumbrance: 1

Pneuma-heeled Boots
Air-cushioned heels and supple leather makes
these boots virtually silent. Your steps make no
sound, and you gain advantage on Dexterity
(Stealth) checks that rely on moving silently.

41
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $15
Encumbrance: 0
Sunglobe
When the button on this small sphere of thick
glass is pressed, it gives off a soft light that fills
the area in 30ft around you with daylight for 10
minutes. Once used, it must be left in natural
sunlight for 1 hour before it can be used again.
Cost: $15
Encumbrance: 0
JoUrNeYmAn DeSiGnS
Adaptive Cloak
This felt coat has been treated with a variety of
chemicals, allowing its shape and colour to
appear to match whatever is around it. While
wearing it with the hood up, Wisdom (Perception)
checks made to see you have disadvantage, and
you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks
made to hide.
Chiming Fork
This metal fork, when stuck against an object
that can be opened such as a door, lid or lock,
vibrates at the perfect pitch to unlock one lock or
latch on the object that the sound can reach. If no
locks or latches remain, the object itself opens.
The chime can be used ten times, after which it
cracks and becomes useless.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $40
Encumbrance: 0
Climate Controlled Boots
These miraculous pieces of engineering keep
you cool in the desert and warm in the
winterlands. You can tolerate temperatures as low
as -30 or as high as +50 degrees Celsius without
any additional protection.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $25
Encumbrance: 0
Electro-static Cans
This pair of apparently nondescript tin cans are
linked by an electric frequency. So long as they
are within 1 mile, anything said into one of the
cans can be heard from the other. This can be
used once per day, and will function for 10
minutes.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $10
Encumbrance: 1 (each can)
42
Hydraulic Piston Boots
Hydraulic pistons in these boots power your
steps. Your walking speed becomes 40ft, unless it
would be higher. In addition, you can jump three
times the normal distance, though you cannot
jump farther than your movement would allow.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $25
Encumbrance: 0
Foldable Boat
This invention appears to be a wooden box
about the size of a loaf of bread, but when the
lever is pressed it expands outwards, unfolding
into a rowboat that can seat up to 6 people
comfortably. It has a pair of oars, a small mast,
and a sail. Another latch inside the boat will
collapse it down to its previous size.
Cost: Two ghost steel ingots, $50
Encumbrance: 2
Mind Shielding Head Wrap
Resembling a turban of thin metal wrapping,
this device protects your mind from intrusion.
While wearing it, you are immune to any attempts
to read your thoughts or communicate with you
telepathically.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $10
Encumbrance: 1
Multi-focals
This elaborate pair of eyewear grants
advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that
rely on sight, and Intelligence (Investigation)
checks while searching an area or studying an
object within 1ft.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $40
Encumbrance: 0
Sparking Horseshoes
These ghost steel horseshoes seem to skip
along the ground with ease. While wearing all
four, a horse’s walking speed in increased by 30ft.
Cost: Two ghost steel ingots, $40
Encumbrance: 1
MaStEr DeSiGnS
Ghost-light Lantern
This heavy hooded lantern’s light is filtered
through ghost steel meshes and treated crystal.
While lit, it sheds bright light in a 30ft cone and
dim light for a further 30ft. Invisible creatures
shimmer slightly in the dim light, and are fully surfaces and upside down along ceilings, though
visible in the bright light. you need at least one free hand to do so.
Cost: Three ghost steel ingots, $80 Additionally, you cannot be caught in webs of any
Encumbrance: 2 sort, and move through webs as if they were
difficult terrain.
Howling Horseshoes Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $60
These faintly glowing horseshoes use magnets Encumbrance: 1
to push off against the earth’s own energy. Only
seems to work for horses, though. Wearing all
four allows a horse to move normally while
floating 4 inches above the ground. The means
the horse can cross or stand above difficult or
unstable surfaces, such as water or lava (though
they would not protect against the heat). The
horse leaves no tracks and ignores difficult
terrain.
Cost: Four ghost steel ingots, $100
Encumbrance: 0

Icarus Wings
Canvas and wax cover two bulky wooden
frames, attached to an oscillating engine worn on
the back. They grant a fly speed of 60ft, though
you must end your turn on solid ground or you will
fall.
Cost: Two ghost steel ingots, $80
Encumbrance: 4

Night-Waning Cloak
While wearing this heavy leather cape and
mantle, you have advantage on all Dexterity
(Stealth) checks. Additionally, you can grip the
edges of the cloak with both hands and use it to
fly at a speeds of 40ft. You must end your
movement on solid ground, If you ever fail to grip
the cloak’s edges while flying this way, or if you
are no longer in dim light or darkness, you lose
this flying speed.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $80
Encumbrance: 1

Sea-Devil Cloak
This oiled leather cloak incorporates a large air
pump worn on the back. While wearing this cloak
with its hood up, you can breathe underwater, and
you have a swimming speed of 60ft.
Cost: One ghost steel ingot, $75
Encumbrance: 3

Wallcrawler’s Coat
This thick, somewhat bristly coat is interwoven
with faint silvery threads. While wearing it, you
gain climbing speed equal to your walking speed.
You can move up, down and across vertical

43
 The Alchemist
Fluff
Level Class Feature
3rd Alchemist’s Satchel, Alchemical Formulae
6th Potent Potables
9th Cast Iron Innards
14th Quick Mixing
18th Elixir of Life
AlChEmIsT’s SaTcHeL
That’s a mighty fine collection of powders, oils
and stranger things still you’ve got there. In
addition to your tools and ammunition, your tool
bag contains everything you need to make
alchemical items from the Alchemical Formulae
you know (see below).
You can craft alchemical items during a long
rest. They do not cost you anything to produce,
and you may have up to 4 crafted at once. This
increases to 6 at 6th level, 8 at 9th level, and 12
at 14th.
Adding reagents to your concoction from the
satchel is a crucial component in producing them,
and therefore they will not function if given to
another character. After producing a concoction, it
becomes inert if it is not used before the end of
your next turn.
AlChEmIcAl FoRmUlAe
I know for a fact, twisting and bubbling in that
head of yours is a whole store of secret recipes
and nasty tricks. At 3rd level, you learn three
alchemical formulae; Alchemical Acid and two
others from the list below. You learn an additional
formula at 6th, 9th, 14th and 18th levels.
If an Alchemical Formulae requires the target to
make a saving throw, the DC is 8 + your
proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.
Alchemical Acid: As an action, you can reach
into your Alchemist’s Satchel, pull out a vial of
acid, and hurl it at a creature or object within 30ft
of you. The vial detonates in a 5ft radius. Any
creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving
44
throw or take 2d6 damage. Objects automatically
take maximized damage.
The damage increases to 3d6 at 7th level, 4d6 at
10th level, 5d6 at 13th level, 6d6 at 16th level,
and 7d6 at 19th level.
Bronco Buster: As an action, you can produce
a vial of thick red liquid and drink it or administer it
to an adjacent ally. The drinker can immediately
make a Constitution save (DC 12), If successful,
they immediately gain 1d10 temporary hit points.
On a failed save, the drinker is sickened for 1
minute.
The temporary hit points increase to 2d10 at 9th
level, and 3d10 at 18th level.
Drying Dust: As an action, you can produce a
pinch of alchemical dust and sprinkle it over
water. The dust turns a cube of water up to 15
feet on a side into one marble-sized pellet, which
floats or rests near where the dust was sprinkled.
The pellet can be smashed against a hard
surface as an action, causing it to shatter and
release the water that was absorbed. The pellet
will crumble on its own within 3 days if it is not
smashed. So long as the pellet exists, it counts
against the number of alchemical concoctions you
may have at once.
Ethereal Oil: As an action, you can produce a
vial of oil and spread it on yourself or an adjacent
willing creature. For the next minute, their form is
slightly obscured, seeming to drift in and out of
vision. Attacks against the target suffer
disadvantage. At the end of the duration, the
target must make a DC 12 Wisdom save or take
2d6 points of sanity damage from the experience.
Flash Bomb: As an action, you can throw a
clay pot filled with explosive flash powder at a
point on the ground within 30ft of you. The pot
explodes on impact, producing a bright flash.
Each creature within 10ft of the point of impact
must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or
become blinded until the end of your next turn.
Jack Rabbit Juice: As a bonus action, you can
produce and drink a vial of bubbling, brown liquid,
increasing your speed by 20ft for 1 minute.
Noxious Gas: As an action, you can produce a
vial of greenish brown fluid and hurl it at a point
on the ground within 30ft of you. The vial shatters
on impact, producing a cloud of poisonous fumes.
Each creature within 15ft of the point of impact
must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or
become poisoned for 1d4 rounds.
Smoke Stick: An an action, you can produce a
stick of gives off a plume of smoke. You can hold
on to the stick or throw it to a point up to 30ft
away as part of your action. The area in a 10ft
radius around the stick is filled with thick smoke
that blocks vision. The stick and smoke persist for
1 minute and then disappear.
Snake Oil: An an action, you can produce a
vial of curative tonic and drink it or administer it to
an adjacent ally. The drinker can immediately
make a Constitution save (DC 12). If successful,
immediately end one ongoing condition that a
save can end, or one ongoing critical damage
effect. On a failed save, the drinker is sickened for
1 minute.
Tanglefoot Bag: An an action, you can
produce a bag filled with clinging, sticky black tar
and hurl it at a point on the ground within 30ft of
you. The bag bursts on impact and covers the
ground in a 5ft radius with sticky goo. That area
becomes difficult terrain for 1 minute, and any
creature that starts its turn on the ground in that
area has its speed halved for that turn.
Thunderstone: As an action, you can produce
a crystalline shard and hurl it at a creature, object
or surface within 30ft of you. The shard shatters
on impact with a blast of concussive energy. Each
creature within 10ft of the point of impact must
succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be
knocked prone.
ElIxIr oF LiFe
Aqua vitae, uisce beatha, the philosopher’s stone.
Who would have guessed the Magnum Opus
would be found out here in the desolate West.
At 18th level, you learn how to craft this special
concoction. It takes one week’s work, and
requires 10 pounds of ghost rock powder. You
may only have one of these concoctions prepared
at a time, and it does not count against your limit.
If this concoction is administered to a living
creature, it immediately regains all lost hit points,
and any status ailments or ongoing effects that a
save can end are cured.
This concoction has a more miraculous use. If
administered to a creature that has died within the
past 30 minutes, that creature returns to life at 0
hit points but stable. A creature can only ever be
resurrected in this manner once.

PoTeNt PoTaBlEs
A shot of whiskey or a pinch of rattlesnake venom
is just what that concoction needs for that extra bit
of kick. When you use an alchemical item that
deals damage or provides temporary hit points,
add your Intelligence modifier to the roll.

CaSt IrOn InNaRdS

You’ve been mixing up those poisons for so long
you’re just about inured to anything. At 9th level,
you gain resistance to poison damage and
advantage on saves against the poisoned,
sickened or drunk conditions. At 14th level, you
become immune to poison damage.

QuIcK MiXiNg
Mixing delicate acids and reagents in a fraction of
the time while dodging bullets and worse? Not a
problem for you, doc. As an action, you can craft
any Alchemical Formula you know, even if you
exceed your total capacity. You must use this
concoction before the end of your next turn, or it
becomes inert.
After using this feature, you must finish a short
or longer rest before you can use it again.

45
The Automatist That metal friend of yours is mighty impressive,
but don’t you reckon it could do with a fresh coat
of paint and maybe a fancy stripe?
You can improve your automaton by upgrading
Fluff
or adding components. At 3rd level, you can
choose three of the upgrades presented at the
Level Class Feature end of the Automatist description. You may make
one additional upgrade at level 6, two at levels 9
3rd Automaton, Hardware Upgrades
and 14, and one at 18.
6th Advanced Commands, Hardware Upgrade
AdVaNcEd CoMmAnDs
9th Hardware Upgrades I can’t say I know much about all that clockwork
so-and-so, but can it do any tricks? At 6th level,
14th Hardware Upgrades you have programmed your automaton to accept
three new commands.
18th Hardware Upgrades Defensive Maneuver: As a reaction, if you are
hit by an attack and your automaton is adjacent to
you, you may have it take the damage instead of
AuToMaToN you.
That’s one hell of a tinker toy you got there, Offensive Maneuver: As a bonus action, after
pardner. At 3rd level, you successfully build your you successfully attack an opponent, you may
first automaton, a mechanical servant formed direct your automaton to make an attack against
from ghost steel and clockwork. it.
When you build your mechanical servant, you Mobile Maneuver: As a bonus action, you may
determine its game statistics by selecting a direct your automaton to take a dash action.
chassis and a build, provided at the end of the
Automatist description. Your construct’s chassis
determines its general appearance, but it can look
however you like, as long as its form is
appropriate for those statistics.
Your automaton has its own proficiency bonus
which matches your own. It increases in level
whenever you do, and gains statistical increases
at each level just as you do. Its physical ability
scores can be increased to a maximum of 24.
Your automaton does not have an action of its
own. It may move up to its movement speed on
your turn, and as your action your may direct it to
perform any action it is capable of. It follows your
orders instantly and to the best of its abilities,
without regard for its own safety.
If your automaton is reduced to 0 hit points, it is
disabled. It recovers hit points during short and
long rests just as a character can, so long as you
are actively making repairs.
If your automaton is beyond repair, or you wish
to construct a new one, it takes one week of work
and $150 worth of raw materials, as well as 3
ingots of ghost steel. You may only ever have one
automaton at once. If you construct a new
automaton, you may choose a new build, chassis,
and upgrades from the list below.

HaRdWaRe UpGrAdEs

46
The Automaton Upgrades to your automaton are chosen from the
list below. You cannot select the same upgrade
more than once, unless otherwise specified.
BaSe StAtIsTiCs
Your automaton has the following base statistics Ablative Armour I
when first created. Your choice of chassis and You have built redundant armour into your
build will modify these statistics. design to absorb damage in place of more
important components. Your automaton gains 10
Automaton hit points.
Construct, unaligned
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Ablative Armour II
10 10 10 - - - Prerequisites: Ablative Armour I, 6th level
Your automaton gains 10 additional hit points.
Melee Attack
Slam, 1d8 + Str mod. Ablative Armour III
Condition Immunities: exhausted, poisoned, Prerequisites: Ablative Armour II, 9th level
mind-affecting Your automaton gains 10 additional hit points.
Senses: passive perception 10 + Wis mod
Ablative Armour IV
Prerequisites: Ablative Armour III, 14th level
ChAsSiS Your automaton gains 10 additional hit points.
The basic physical form of your automaton,
including its size and speed. The specifics of its Advanced Materials
appearance can be tailored to your choosing. Prerequisite: 14th level
Your increased knowledge of metallurgy allows
Aerial Chassis you to upgrade the entire frame. Your automaton
• Size small gains resistance to all damage.
• Skills acrobatics
• Speed 10ft, fly 40ft Cargo Capacity
Outfitting your automaton with cargo capacity
Biped Chassis allows it to carry your burdens. Your automaton
• Size medium gains an encumbrance capacity equals its
• Skills athletics Strength.
• Speed 30ft, climb 30ft
Charging Pistons
Quadruped Chassis Prerequisite: Quadruped Chassis
• Size medium By upgrading the automaton’s joints to be more
• Skills athletics, acrobatics nimble at high speeds, your construct gains the
• Speed 40ft ability to attack while dashing. When you use an
action to direct your automaton to dash, you can
BuIlD use a bonus action to direct it to make a single
The manner in which you build your automaton is melee attack or to shove a creature.
just as important as its components and design. If the automaton moves at least 10 feet in a
The build determines your automaton’s strengths straight line immediately before taking this bonus
and weaknesses. action, it gains either a +5 bonus to the attack’s
Choose one of Strength, Dexterity, or damage roll (if it makes an attack and hits) or
Constitution. Increase that stat by +6. pushes the target up to 10 feet away from it (if it
The DC of any construct features that require succeeds on the shove).
one is 8 + chosen ability modifier + proficiency.
Increase one of the statistics not chosen Clockwork Brain
previously by +3. You design and install your first rudimentary
attempt at a thinking machine.
UpGrAdEs Your automaton gains an Intelligence score of
3, Wisdom score of 9, and Charisma score of 1.

47
These abilities may be improved as you gain
levels normally, to a maximum of 14. It loses its
immunity to mind-affecting effects.
The automaton gains its own action during your
turn. It may only take its own action if you are not
directing it with yours, and may only take the
Dodge action.
Clockwork Brain, Advanced
Prerequisite: 6th level, Clockwork Brain
Increases your automaton’s intelligence by 4. It
may take the Help action on your turn if it is not
directed.
Combat Ready Brain
Prerequisite: 9th level, Clockwork Brain
Your automaton may take the Attack action on
your turn if it is not directed.
Cranial Housing
Prerequisite: 18th level, Clockwork Brain
They thought you were mad, but you showed
them. You have managed to install your brain into
your automaton’s body.
Your automaton is no longer a separate entity.
You retain your mental ability scores, but gain the
physical abilities and form of your automaton. You
retain any of the upgrades you have made. You
retain any mental, but not physical, scars.
The process of extracting your own brain and
installing it in an artificial body is somewhat
stressful. Reduce your Wisdom score by 4.
Extra Attack
Prerequisite: 9th level
Faster moving gears allow your automaton to
attack rapidly. When your automaton performs an
attack action, it can make two attacks.
Flame Spout
Prerequisite: 6th level
The automaton is upgraded with a flame
weapon. As an attack action, it can send out a
gout of flame targeting each creature in a 5ft
wide, 30ft line starting from the automaton and
extending in any direction. Each creature targeted
must make a Dexterity saving throw. If it fails, it
takes 3d6 fire damage, or half as much on a
successful save.
Once your automaton uses this feature, it
cannot use it again until you replenish it during a
short or longer rest.
Grappling Clamps
48
Prerequisite: Biped Chassis
You upgrade the arms of your automaton with
grappling clamps. When the automaton hit a
target with its melee attack, the target becomes
grappled. The escape DC is equal to the saving
throw DC determined by your automaton build.
Hair Trigger Springs
Prerequisite: 14th level
By fitting your automaton with highly wound
springs you have improved its reaction time
dramatically. When forced to make a Dexterity
save to avoid taking damage, the automaton
takes only half damage on a failed save, and no
damage on a success.
Heavy Weapons Mount
Prerequisite: 9th level, Larger Chassis,
Quadruped Chassis
You install the housing for a heavy weapon on
your automaton. Any heavy weapon may be
installed on the housing. The automaton may not
use the weapon directly, but you or your allies can
fire it.
High Tension Pistons
Using superior alloys allow your springs and
pistons increase the construct’s movement
speeds by 10ft.
Integrated Cannon
You have integrated a version of your Thunder
Cannon into the automaton. When performing an
Attack action, the automaton may fire this weapon
in place of its melee attack. It shares all statistics
with your Thunder Cannon, including any
Tinkering upgrades you have made.
The weapon is integral to the automaton. It
cannot be disarmed, but can only be reloaded
during a short or longer rest.
Larger Chassis
You upgrade the chassis of your automaton to
create a larger, more powerful frame. The size of
your automaton increases one category.
Increase your automaton’s Strength and
Constitution scores by 2. Its physical ability
scores can be increased to a maximum of 30.
Longer Reach
Prerequisite: Large size, Biped Chassis
Taking advantage of the larger frame, you
extend the reach of your automaton. The
automaton’s range for melee attacks increases by
5ft.
Nimble Flight Control
Prerequisite: Aerial Chassis
By upgrading the maneuverability of your flying
automaton, it is able to move nimbly in and out of
combat. The automaton does not provoke
opportunity attacks while flying.
Increase your automaton’s Strength and
Constitution scores by 4. Its physical ability
scores can be increased to a maximum of 40.
Upgraded Build
Prerequisite: 6th level
You improve on the foundation of your
automaton’s build. Choose two ability scores to
increase by 2. 


Perpetual Engine
Prerequisite: 18th level
Your automaton is capable of repairing itself.
So long as it is not disabled, it recovers 5 hit
points at the start of your turn.

Precision Instruments
You attach a set of fine tools onto your
automaton, allowing it to manipulate small details.
The automaton gains proficiency with thieves’
tools, and always has thieves’ tools available.

Razor Claws
Your automaton’s melee attack increases to
1d10 damage, and may use either Strength or
Dexterity for attack and damage rolls.

Remote Sight
Prerequisite: 6th level
You build a special pair of goggles of your own
design that allow you to see through your
automaton’s eyes. They only function for you, and
work to a range of 1 mile.

Smoke Screen
Prerequisite: 6th level
You attach a mechanism capable of creating a
20ft radius sphere of thick grey smoke entered on
a point within 120ft. The sphere spreads around
corners, and its area is heavily obscured. It lasts
for 2d4+1 rounds or until a strong wind disperses
it.
Once your automaton uses this feature, it
cannot be used again until you replenish it during
a short or longer rest.

Stealth Engine
The automaton gains proficiency in Stealth.

Titan Chassis
Prerequisites: 18th level, Larger Chassis
You further upgrade the chassis of your
automaton to create a titanic frame. The size of
your automaton increases to Huge.

49
The Mechanist
fluff
Level Class Feature
3rd Armoured Suit, Hardpoint Upgrade
6th Chassis Upgrade, Ghost Addict, Hardpoint Upgrade
9th Advanced Archetype
14th Chassis Upgrade, Hardpoint Upgrade
18th The Invincible
ArMoUrEd SuIt
At 3rd level, you complete construction on the
Mechanist’s signature piece of equipment - a
unique, personalized suit of powered armour.
Only you are proficient in the armoured suit you
create, other characters attempting to wear it gain
no benefit and cannot use any of its features.
Armour. At its most basic, the suit is still a
highly effective armour. While wearing it, your AC
is 15 and a Soak of 1d10 (see Armours in the
Equipment chapter). You have disadvantage on
Stealth checks. The suit has an Encumbrance of
15 (however, see Power Core below).
Power Core. The mechanist’s suit is powered
by a core of ghost rock. A core can power the
basic functions of a suit indefinitely. While
powered, the suit increases the wearer’s
maximum Encumbrance by 20.
You can wear a non-powered suit, providing
you can manage the Encumbrance. However, any
Hardpoint Upgrades (see below) attached to the
suit cannot be used if it is not powered.
When you first create your Armoured Suit, it
includes a functioning Power Core. Constructing a
new Power Core requires 1 pound of ghost rock,
1 ingot of ghost steel, and $10 in additional
materials.
Wearing the Suit. Getting into and out of the
suit is no easy task, and requires 10 minutes to
properly assemble and power up or down.
Additionally, you can expect quite a few odd looks
and questioning stares while wearing the suit.
Maintenance. If your suit becomes damaged
or broken, it can be repaired using your Frontier
50
Armourer tools with a repair DC of 12, just like
any regular armour.
If your armour is lost or destroyed entirely, or
you wish to construct additional suits, you can
construct a new suit with one week of work, 10
pounds of ghost rock, 10 ingots of ghost steel,
and $40 of additional materials. When you
construct a new suit, you can choose different
upgrades if you wish.
HaRdPoInT UpGrAdE
Sure you got that fancy suit, but what good is it if
you can’t blow something up? Each time you gain
this ability, you can add one Hardpoint
Modification to your armour from the list below.
Hardpoint Upgrades must be activated as an
action (unless other wise specified), and can only
be used if your armour has power.
All Hardpoint Modifications have charges that
are consumed when activated. Charges are fully
restored as part of a short or long rest.
If the modification has no remaining charges,
you can still use it by drawing power from your
suit’s Power Core. Before resolving the effects of
the modification, roll a d12 and add the number of
charges that have been drawn from the core
since your last rest, including the current one (for
instance, if you are using the core to power a
modification, and have already used the core
twice since you last rested, roll 1d12+3). If the
result is 12 or higher, the core immediately burns
out. The modification fails to work, and your
armour immediately loses power.
Once you choose a Hardpoint Modification, it
cannot be changed or removed from the suit. If
you construct a new suit, you can choose new
modifications according to your level.
ChAsSiS UpGrAdE
Don’t get so caught up in the shiny toys that you
forget to work on the fundamentals. At 6th and
14th levels, you gain a Chassis Upgrade for your
suit from the list below.
Absorptive Underlay. Your suit’s Soak
increases to 1d12.
Ghost Steel Plating. Your suit’s AC is
increased to 18.
High-Powered Core. When you activate a
Hardpoint Upgrade by drawing power from your
suit’s Core, roll a d10 instead of a d12 when
determining if the core burns out.
GhOsT AdDiCt
Having a ghost rock-powered generator running
next to your chest all day is bound to have some
consequences. As your body grows accustomed
to the power of the suit, you feel noticeably
weaker without it.
At 6th level, if you are out of your armour for
more than 24 hours, you gain a level of
exhaustion. The exhaustion is removed by taking
a short rest in your armour. At 9th level, the
penalty becomes 2 levels of exhaustion. At 14th
level, you begin to suffer the effects after only 1
hour out of your armour. At 14th level, the penalty
becomes 3 levels of exhaustion.

AdVaNcEd ArChEtYpE
Making the suit functional was just the first step,
now you make it yours. Advanced archetypes
alter or expand your suit’s capabilities, and at 9th
level you can choose one from the list below. It
cannot be changed, though if you make a new
suit later you can choose a different advanced
archetype.

ThE InViNcIbLe
Maybe not quite, but it sure feels like nothing can
stop you in that suit. While wearing your armour,
you take no additional damage from critical hits,
cannot be pushed or knocked prone, and have
advantage on Strength-based checks and saves.
Additionally, when you are dealt physical
damage, you can choose to reduce that damage
to 0. If you do, you cannot use this ability again
until you finish a short or longer rest. 


51
Hardpoint Upgrades and cannot make reactions until the start of its
next turn.
Electric Coil (1 Charge)
Thermal Lance (3 Charges)
Action, make a ranged attack against a creature
Action, make a ranged attack against one target
you can see within 30ft. If the attack hits, the
within 120ft. On a hit, the target takes 1d12
target takes 1d12 damage. For the next minute,
damage.
you can make this attack again without spending
an additional charge.
Whip Coil (3 Charges)
Action, make a melee attack against a target
Electric Pulse (1 Charge)
within 30ft. If the attack hits, it deals 1d8 damage,
Action, each creature within 15ft of you must
and if the target is Large-sized or smaller it is
make a Constitution save. On a failure, the
pulled 10ft closer to you.
creature takes 4d4 damage and is pushed 10ft
away from you. On a success, the creature takes
half damage and is not pushed.

Flamethrower (1 Charge)
Action, spray a 15ft cone of fire. Creatures in the
area must succeed on a Reflex save or take 3d6
fire damage. On a success, they take half
damage. Unworn or unattended flammable
objects in the area catch fire.

Guided Rockets (1 Charge)

Action, launch three guided darts at a creature or
creatures you can see within 30ft. Each dart hits
automatically, and deals 1d4+1 damage.

Jump Rockets (3 Charges)

Bonus action, until the end of your turn, your
speed becomes 60ft and you can fly, though you
must end your movement on solid ground.

Magnetic Shield (1 Charge)

Reaction, when you are hit by an attack, gain +4
to your AC until the beginning of your next turn,
including against the triggering attack.

Medical Stimulator (1 Charge)

Bonus action, heal 1d4+1 hit points.

Rocket Punch (1 Charge)

Action, make a melee attack against a creature. If
you hit, the creature takes 2d8 points of damage,
and must make a Strength saving throw if it is
medium-sized or smaller. If it fails, the creature
takes 1d8 additional damage, and is pushed 10ft
and knocked prone.

Shock Glove (3 Charges)

Action, make a melee attack against a creature,
with advantage if the target is wearing metal
armour. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 damage

52
Advanced Archetypes are hit by an attack, and is restored when you
take a short or longer rest.
Finally, so long as you are not in direct sunlight,
AeGiS you can attempt to hide even when you are being
Aegis-pattern armour is specifically warded observed.
against mental assaults and supernatural threats.
You gain resistance to sanity damage while
MaNdArIn
wearing the suit.
Mandarin-pattern armour attempts to distill a
In addition, you are considered proficient in all
dozen different mystical traditions down to a
saving throws while wearing the armour.
fundamental geometry forged into the suit’s form.
Finally, you are immune to level draining effects
Your suit can be summoned as an action,
or abilities that would reduce your total hit points
appearing around you powered and ready or
caused by undead or supernatural creatures.
beside you as you prefer. It can also be dismissed
as an action, disappearing from existence. When
CeNtUrIoN not summoned, it resides in an extra-dimensional
Centurion-pattern armour provides the maximum space that no one apart from you can access.
protection against conventional weapons. Additionally, while wearing the armour, if you
Your suit has a collapsable shield built into one are targeted by a spell or other magical effect that
arm. As a bonus action, you can expand or retract would allow a save for reduced damage, you
the shield. While it is expanded, you gain a +2 instead take no damage on a successful save,
shield bonus to your armour class. However, you and reduced damage on a fail.
can hold nothing else in that hand.
Additionally, when an attacker that you can see
WaR MaChInE
hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction
The War Machine-pattern armour all about
to halve the attack’s damage against you.
overwhelming firepower.
You immediately gain an additional Hardpoint
DyNaMo Modification.
Dynamo-pattern armour incorporates a second In addition, when you use your action to make
ghost rock core, making it highly reliable and an attack with a Hardpoint Modification, you can
capable of incredible surges. use a bonus action to make an additional attack
Drawing power from two cores makes them far with the same or a different Hardpoint
less likely to burn out when activating Modification. 

modifications. When you draw power from the
cores to use a Hardpoint Modification, roll two
dice. If both rolls would result in a burn out, then
the modification fails and one core burns out. You
can continue using the suit as you would a
normal, single-cored suit until you replace the
burnt out core.
Additionally, you can intentionally burn out one
core for a sudden surge in power. Activating a
surge is a bonus action. Until the end of your turn,
you gain a +30ft bonus to your speed. You can
also take an additional action this turn.

GhOsT
Ghost-pattern armour is designed for silent
infiltration and covert operations that the bulkier
patterns could never manage.
Your suit now grants advantage, instead of
disadvantage, on Stealth checks.
In addition, attacks against you are made at
disadvantage. This effect ends the first time you

53
 Proficiencies
The Brave Armour:
Weapons:
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Constitution
Skills:
Fluff
Equipment
Level Prof. Class Abilities Favour Move You start with the following equipment, in addition
to the equipment granted by your background:
1st +2 Old Ways Oath, Warcry, - -
Warrior Edge
Class Abilities
2nd +2 Spirits Favour, Swift 2 +10ft
Runner
OlD WaYs OaTh
3rd +2 Ancestor Lodge 3 +10ft You have sworn an oath to maintain the Old
Ways, rejecting the tools of the white men and the
4th +2 Warrior Instinct 4 +10ft pollution of technology to forge a deeper
connection with the spirits.
5th +3 Lightning Strike 5 +10ft
In broad terms, your oath forbids you from
6th +3 Lodge Ability 6 +15ft using any of the tools or crutches of ‘modern’ life;
firearms, alcohol, manufactured goods or clothing,
7th +3 Fear No Arrows 7 +15ft trains, horseless carriages, and so on. Individual
cases should be left to the Marshal, and there
8th +3 Warrior Edge 8 +15ft should be room given to accommodate for group
cohesion and gameplay (picking up a
9th +4 Evasion 9 +15ft companion’s dropped gun to return it to them
compared to actively using one, wearing clothing
10th +4 Lodge Ability 10 +20ft in cases of absolute necessity, staying at a hotel
in a city so as not to sleep in a gutter, etc). In
11th +4 Warcry (2d6) 11 +20ft
most cases, it should be clear when an action
12th +4 Spirit Ward 12 +20ft would violate the oath by intentionally trying to
make use of such things.
13th +5 Oaken Toughness +5 13 +20ft Maintaining the oath is necessary to gain your
Brave class abilities. If you violate the oath, you
14th +5 Retaliation 14 +25ft cannot use your Warcry or any abilities that
require Favour (see below) until you reconcile
15th +5 Lodge Ability 15 +25ft with the spirits as part of a long rest. Regularly
breaking the oath may make it more difficult to
16th +5 Warrior Edge 16 +25ft
reconcile, potentially permanently locking you out
of their favour in extreme cases.
17th +6 Oaken Toughness +10 17 +25ft

18th +6 Lodge Ability 18 +30ft WaRcRy

Let loose a proud cry as you enter battle, for it
19th +6 Oaken Toughness +15 19 +30ft announces your intent to the spirits and the living
alike. When you roll Initiative, you can unleash
20th +6 Great Spirit Beast 20 +30ft
your warcry. If you do, roll a d6 and gain that
many temporary hit points. If you do, you cannot
use this ability again until you finish a short or
longer rest.
At 2nd level and beyond, you can spend 1
Favour to use this ability even if you have already
used it.

54
 At 11th level, the temporary hit points you gain
increase to 2d6.
WaRrIoR EdGe
You don’t need to be a Union Colonel to know that
a brave can kill in a dozen different ways before
you could reload that rifle of yours. Choose one of
the options below at 1st level, and again at 8th
and 16th levels.
Buffalo Hunter
When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an
attack you make with a melee weapon you are
wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die
and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a
1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed
or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
Brutal Throw
When you use your Strength to make a ranged
attack roll with a thrown weapon, you gain a +2
bonus to the attack and damage rolls.
Hardened
While you are wearing armour, you gain a +1
bonus to Defense.
Sky Clad
While you are not wearing any armour, your
Defense equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier +
your Wisdom modifier. You can use a shield and
still gain this benefit.
Sudden Strike
Once per turn, you can deal an extra weapon die
of damage to one creature you hit with an attack.
You may only use this ability against a flatfooted
target, or when using a weapon with the
Deceptive quality.
Twin Claws
When you attack with a weapon in your off hand,
you may add your relevant ability score modifier
to the damage.
SpIrItS FaVoUr
The spirits themselves are with you, brave. Their
ability to influence the world and willingness to
intercede on your behalf is represented by a
number of Favour points. Your level determines
the number of points you have, as shown in the
class table above.
55
You can spend Favour points to fuel a number
of your class abilities. You start with the
Windwalker, Swiftblade, and Counting Coup
abilities, presented below, and may learn
additional uses of your Favour as you gain levels.
During a short or longer rest, you may spend 30
minutes communing with your guardian spirit to
replenish all spent Favour points.
If an ability requires your target to make a
saving throw, the DC is equal to 8 + your
proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.
Windwalker
You can spend 1 Favour point to take the Dash,
Disengage or Dodge action as a bonus action on
your turn.
Swiftblade
After you take an Attack action on your turn, you
can spend 1 Favour to make an additional attack
as a bonus action.
Counting Coup
The practice of counting coup, or lightly tagging a
foe in battle, is said to draw the spirits favour. As
an action, you can touch a foe by making an
unarmed attack roll that deals no damage. If
successful, you regain 2 Favour points.
SwIfT rUnNeR
Braves on the war path seem to strike as quickly
as the wind. Starting at 2nd level, your speed
increases by the amount shown in the class table
above.
AnCeStOr LoDgE
Lodges guard the secret teachings and medicines
of the tribes, training those young braves who
show aptitude. Your ancestors show you the
teachings of one of these lodges. At 3rd level,
choose one of the War Dancer, Skinwalker or
Shaman Lodges detailed at the end of the class
description. Your Lodge grants abilities at 3rd, 6th,
10th, 15th and 18th levels.
WaRrIoR InStInCt
You can use your well-developed ingenuity to
smell danger on the wind. At 4th level, your
instincts are so honed that you have advantage
on initiative rolls so long as you have at least 1
Favour point available.
LiGhTnInG StRiKeS
Them braves are mighty quick with a blade. your reaction to make a melee weapon attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice against that creature.
whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
GrEaT SpIrIt BeAsT
FeAr No ArRoWs You have become a champion of the Great Spirit
I’ve seen braves catch arrows only to fire them Beasts, a guardian of the world and all the tribes
back, and swat bullets out of the air with their that remember the Old Ways.
stone axes. You no longer gain mental or physical scars,
Starting at 7th level, you can spend 1 Favour although you retain any you already have.
point to use your reaction to deflect or catch the Additionally, when you roll for initiative and
missile when you are hit by a ranged weapon have no Favour points remaining, you
attack. When you do so, the damage you take immediately regain 4 points.
from the attack is reduced by 1d10 + your
Dexterity modifier.
If you reduce the damage to 0, you can catch
the missile if it is small enough to hold in one
hand and you have at least one hand free. If the
attack was from a thrown weapon, or was from an
arrow and you have a bow in your other hand,
you can spend 1 additional Favour point to make
an immediate ranged attack with the weapon or
arrow as part of the same reaction.

EvAsIoN
At 9th level, your instinctive agility lets you dodge
out of the way of certain dangers. So long as you
have at least 1 Favour point available, when you
are subjected to an effect that allows you to make
a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage,
you instead take no damage if you succeed on
the saving throw, and only half the damage if you
fail.

SpIrIt WaRd
The spirits are constantly with you, aiding you and
directing your fate. Beginning at 12th level, the
spirits grant you proficiency in all saving throws.
Additionally, whenever you make a saving
throw and fail, you can spend 4 Favour points to
reroll it and take the second result.

OaKeN ToUgHnEsS
Braves age like an oak, they just get tougher and
tougher. At 13th level, you increase your total hit
points by 5. This increases by a further 5 at 17th
and 19th levels.

ReTaLiAtIoN
It’s no surprise that some of those braves are
itching to strike back. Starting at 14th level, when
you take damage from a creature that is within 5ft
of you, you can spend 1 Favour point and use

56
War Dancer
fluff
Level Class Feature
3rd War Dance
6th Strike the Heart
10th Enduring Sun Dance
15th Lightning Strikes (2)
18th Unyielding Dance of Death
WaR DaNcE
The war dances ain’t just some fancy hootenanny,
they call the spirits and ready the brave for battle.
On your turn, you can begin a War Dance as a
bonus action.
While performing a War Dance, you gain the
following benefits:
- You have advantage on Strength checks and
Strength saving throws.
- You gain a bonus to weapon damage equal to
your proficiency bonus.
- You have resistance to physical damage.
Your War Dance lasts for 1 minute. It ends
early if you are knocked unconscious or if your
turn ends and you have not attacked a hostile
creature or taken damage since your last turn.
You can also end it on your turn as a bonus
action.
After you use this ability, you must complete a
short rest before you can use it again.
StRiKe tHe HeArT
The war dance trains you to strike hard and true.
When you score a critical hit with a weapon
attack, you deal one additional die of damage.
EnDuRiNg SuN DaNcE
Braves lost in a war dance are mighty hard to put
down. Starting at 11th level, your War Dance can
keep you fighting despite grievous wounds. If you
drop to 0 hit points while you’re using your War
Dance, you may make a DC 10 Constitution
saving throw. If you succeed, you drop to 1 hit
point instead.
Each time you use this feature after the first,
the DC increases by 5. When you finish a long
rest, the DC resets to 10.
Finally, your War Dance no longer has a timed
duration. It will only end if you choose to end it, or
have not attacked or taken damage since your
last turn.
LiGhTnInG StRiKeS
Braves that practice the war dance are even
faster than their peers, a storm of blades and
arrows. At 15th level, you can make a third attack
when you take the Attack action.
UnYiElDiNg DaNcE oF DeAtH
Beginning at 18th level, if you are reduced to 0 hit
points, you can choose to enter a Death Dance. If
you were already in a War Dance, this
supersedes and ends it.
At the beginning of each of your turns, you
must make a death saving throw. You die if you
reach 3 failures, as normal. Reaching 3
successes immediately ends this ability, leaving
you unconscious and stable. If you roll a success,
you may choose to discard it instead of counting
towards your required successes, though if you
do so you also lose any previous successes you
had accumulated. So long as you do not have 3
of either, you may act as normal on your turn. Any
damage you take adds a death save failure as
normal.
While in a Death Dance, you gain double your
proficiency bonus to damage rolls, and have
advantage on all ability checks and savings
throws (other than death saves). Additionally, you
may take any number of bonus actions on your
turn, though you may not perform the same bonus
action more than once. Finally, if you kill an
enemy, any death save failures you have are
removed.
You cannot voluntarily end this ability. While
you are in a Death Dance, you cannot be healed
by any means, Medicine checks cannot be
performed on you, and you cannot receive
temporary hit points. Only stabilizing naturally or
dying will end this ability.
As a bonus action on your turn, you may
choose to initiate this ability. Reduce your hit
points to 0, lose any temporary hit points, and
immediately make a death saving throw. 


57
Skinwalker
fluff
Level Class Feature
3rd Skinwalking Forms
6th Blessed Beast
10th Greater Forms
15th Primal Nature
18th Supernal Skinwalker
SkInWaLkInG FoRmS
By wearing the skin of an animal, you can take on
its form. At 3rd level, you may take the form of a
Dog, Hawk, Horse, Lizard, Owl, or Wolf, as
detailed in the next section.
Taking an animal form is a standard action, and
you must possess a skin of the animal you wish to
transform into. You can stay in animal form for a
number of hours equal to half your level. You then
revert to your normal form unless you expend
another use of this feature. You can revert to your
normal form earlier by using a bonus action on
your turn. You automatically revert if you fall
unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die. You can
use this ability twice, after which you must
complete a long rest before you can use it again.
While you are in animal form, the following
rules apply.
- You gain the physical ability scores (Strength,
Dexterity, Constitution) of the animal form, but
retain your consciousness and mental ability
scores, as well as your proficiency bonus.
- When you transform, you assume the animal’s
hit points. When you revert to your normal form,
you return to the number of hit points you had
before you transformed.
- If you take enough damage to reduce you to 0
hit points, you immediately revert to human form.
Any excess damage you took beyond the hit
points of your animal form, you immediately take
in damage. Additionally, the animal skin you used
to transform is destroyed.
- You retain all of your special abilities and
features, with two exceptions. You may not use
any abilities that require Favour, and you may
58
only use abilities that can be physically used while
in your animal form.
- You retain all skills you are proficient in, and
gain any skill proficiencies listed in the animal’s
description.
- You are considered proficient with all natural
attacks your animal forms have, using your
proficiency bonus and the animal’s ability score.
- Any gear and equipment you are carrying
transforms with you and has no effect until you
revert to your human form.
At 6th level, you can additionally take on the
Black Bear, Cougar and Elk forms.
BlEsSeD BeAsT
The spirits are wary of your unnatural form, but
favour you enough to grant their power, albeit at a
cost. At 6th level, you can use abilities that require
Favour while in animal form. However, they cost
one additional Favour point.
GrEaTeR FoRmS
Powerful skinwalkers can call upon the spirits to
empower their animal forms, enhancing their
abilities or transforming them into creatures of
myth.
When you take on an animal form, you can
spend Favour to assume an enhanced form. At
10th level, you can spend 1 Favour to take on the
Brown Bear, Crocodile, Dire Wolf, or Great Owl
forms. At 15th level, you can spend 2 Favour to
take on the Blink Dog, Giant Hawk, Great Elk,
Grizzly Bear or Sabre-toothed Tiger forms. At 18th
level, you can spend 4 Favour to take on the
Chinook, Mexican Dragon, Nightmare or
Thunderbird forms. Using a greater form only
requires the skin of a normal animal, as noted in
the description.
PrImAl NaTuRe
You have drawn the favour of the old, primal
spirits of a more bestial age. When making a
natural attack while in animal form, you score a
critical hit on a roll of a natural 18-20. Additionally,
when you score a critical hit, you can spend 1
Favour point to gain an additional die of damage.
SuPeRnAl SkInWaLkEr
You are fully accepted by the spirit beasts as one
of their own. While in animal form, you are
immune to critical hits, and may use Favour
abilities at no additional cost.
Animal Forms Lizard
Small beast, unaligned
3rD LeVeL FoRmS Armour Class 14
Hit Points 6
Dog Speed 30ft, climb 30ft
Medium beast, unaligned
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Armour Class 14 12 12 14 - - -
Hit Points 5
Melee Attack
Speed 40ft
Bite, 1d6 + Str modifier
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Skills:
13 14 12 - - -
Senses: Darkvision 30ft
Melee Attack
Bite, 1d6 + Str modifier. If the target is a creature, Owl
it must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw Tiny beast, unaligned
or be knocked prone.
Armour Class 15
Skills: Perception Hit Points 1
Senses: Scent Speed 5ft, fly 60ft
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Hawk
3 13 8 - - -
Tiny beast, unaligned
Melee Attack
Armour Class 15
Talons, 1d4 + Dex modifier. The owl does not
Hit Points 1
provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an
Speed 10ft, fly 60ft
enemy’s reach.
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Skills: Intimidate, Perception, Stealth
5 16 8 - - -
Senses: Darkvision 120ft, Keen Hearing and
Melee Attack Sight (advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks
Talons, 1d4 + Dex modifier that rely on hearing and sight).
Skills: Perception Wolf
Senses: Keen Sight (advantage on all Wisdom Medium beast, unaligned
(Perception) checks that rely on sight).
Armour Class 14
Horse Hit Points 11
Large beast, unaligned Speed 40ft
Armour Class 10 Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Hit Points 13 12 15 12 - - -
Speed 60ft
Melee Attack
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Bite, 2d4 + Str modifier. If the target is a creature,
16 10 12 - - - it must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw
or be knocked prone.
Melee Attack Pack Tactics: The wolf has advantage on attack
Hooves, 2d4 + Str modifier rolls against a creature if at least one of the wolf’s
Skills: allies is within 5ft of the creature.
Senses: Skills: Perception, Stealth
Senses: Keen Hearing and Smell (advantage on
Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing
or smell).


59
6tH LeVeL FoRmS Charge: If the elk moves at least 20ft straight
toward a target and then hits it with a ram attack
Black Bear on the same turn, the target takes an extra 2d6
Medium beast, unaligned damage. If the target is a creature, it must
succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be
Armour Class 13 knocked prone.
Hit Points 19
Speed 40ft, climb 30ft Skills:
Senses:
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
15 10 14 - - -
Melee Attack
Bite, 1d6 + Str modifier
Claw, 2d4 + Str modifier
Multiattack: When the bear makes an attack
action, it can make a bite and claw attack.
Skills: Perception
Senses: Keen Smell

Cougar
Medium beast, unaligned
Armour Class 14
Hit Points 13
Speed 50ft, climb 40ft
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
14 15 10 - - -
Melee Attack
Bite, 1d6 + Dex modifier
Claw, 1d4 + Dex modifier
Pounce: If the cougar moves at least 20ft straight
toward a creature and then hits with a claw attack
on the same turn, the target must succeed on a
Dc 12 Strength saving throw or be knocked
prone. If the target is knocked prone, the cougar
can make one bite attack against it as a bonus
action.
Skills: Perception, Stealth
Senses: Keen Smell

Elk
Large beast, unaligned
Armour Class 12
Hit Points 19
Speed 50ft
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
16 10 12 - - -
Melee Attack
Ram, 1d6 + Str modifier
Hooves, 2d4 + Str modifier

60
10tH LeVeL UpGrAdE FoRmS Dire Wolf
Requires wolf skin
Brown Bear Medium beast, unaligned
Requires bear skin Armour Class 15
Large beast, unaligned Hit Points 27
Armour Class 14 Speed 50ft
Hit Points 24 Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Speed 40ft, climb 30ft 17 15 15 - - -
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Melee Attack
19 10 16 - - - Bite, 2d6 + Str modifier. If the target is a creature,
Melee Attack it must succeed on a DC 14 Strength saving
Bite, 1d8 + Str modifier throw or be knocked prone.
Claw, 2d6 + Str modifier Pack Tactics: The wolf has advantage on attack
Multiattack: When the bear makes an attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the wolf’s
action, it can make a bite and claw attack. allies is within 5ft of the creature.

Skills: Perception Skills: Perception, Stealth

Senses: Keen Smell Senses: Keen Hearing and Smell (advantage on
Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing
Crocodile or smell).
Requires lizard skin
Large beast, unaligned Great Owl
Requires owl skin
Armour Class 16 Medium beast, unaligned
Hit Points 25
Speed 30ft, swim 30ft Armour Class 15
Hit Points 19
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Speed 5ft, fly 60ft
16 10 16 - - -
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Melee Attack 13 15 12 - - -
Bite, 2d8 + Str modifier, and the target is grappled
(escape DC 12). Until this grapple ends, the Melee Attack
target is restrained, and the crocodile can’t bite Talons, 2d6 + Dex modifier. The owl does not
another target. provoke opportunity attacks when it flies out of an
enemy’s reach.
Skills:Stealth
Senses: Darkvision 30ft Skills: Intimidate, Perception, Stealth
Hold Breath: The crocodile can hold its breath for Senses: Darkvision 120ft, Keen Hearing and
15 minutes. Sight (advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks
that rely on hearing and sight).

61
15tH LeVeL UpGrAdE FoRmS Melee Attack
Ram, 2d6 + Str modifier
Blink Dog Hooves, 3d4 + Str modifier
Requires dog skin Charge: If the elk moves at least 20ft straight
Medium magical beast, unaligned toward a target and then hits it with a ram attack
on the same turn, the target takes an extra 3d6
Armour Class 17 damage. If the target is a creature, it must
Hit Points 22 succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be
Speed 40ft knocked prone.
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Skills:
13 17 12 - - - Senses:
Melee Attack
Bite, 1d6 + Str modifier. If the target is a creature, Grizzly Bear
it must succeed on a DC 12 Strength saving Requires bear skin
throw or be knocked prone. Large beast, unaligned

Skills: Perception, Stealth Armour Class 17

Senses: Keen Hearing and Smell Hit Points 32
Blink: Non-magical attacks have disadvantage Speed 40ft, climb 20ft
against the blink dog. Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Teleport (recharge 4-6): The blink dog magically 20 10 16 - - -
teleports up to 40ft to an unoccupied space it can
see. Before or after teleporting, the blink dog can Melee Attack
make one bite attack. Bite, 1d10 + Str modifier
Claw, 2d6 + Str modifier
Giant Hawk Multiattack: When the bear makes an attack
Require hawk skin action, it can make a bite and claw attack.
Large beast, unaligned Skills: Perception
Armour Class 16 Senses: Keen Smell
Hit Points 20
Speed 10ft, fly 80ft Sabre-toothed Tiger
Requires cougar skin
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Medium beast, unaligned
16 17 13 - - -
Armour Class 16
Melee Attack Hit Points 25
Beak, 1d6 + Dex modifier Speed 50ft, climb 40ft
Talons, 2d6 + Dex modifier
Multiattack: When the giant hawk makes an Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
attack action, it can make a bite and claw attack. 18 15 15 - - -

Skills: Perception Melee Attack

Senses: Keen Sight Bite, 1d10 + Str modifier
Claw, 2d6 + Str modifier
Great Elk Pounce: If the cougar moves at least 20ft straight
Require elk skin toward a creature and then hits with a claw attack
Large beast, unaligned on the same turn, the target must succeed on a
Dc 14 Strength saving throw or be knocked
Armour Class 15 prone. If the target is knocked prone, the cougar
Hit Points 29 can make one bite attack against it as a bonus
Speed 60ft action.
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Skills: Perception, Stealth
22 12 18 - - - Senses: Keen Smell 


62
18tH LeVeL UpGrAdE FoRmS Nightmare
Requires horse skin
Chinook Large magical beast, unaligned
Requires bear skin Armour Class 16
Huge magical beast, unaligned Hit Points 40
Armour Class 19 Speed 60ft, fly 90ft (must end on solid ground)
Hit Points 42 Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Speed 40ft, climb 30ft 18 15 16 - - -
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Melee Attack
28 8 24 - - - Hooves, 2d8 + Str modifier + 2d6 fire
Melee Attack Skills: Perception
Bite, 1d10 + Str modifier + 2d6 cold Ethereal Stride: Non-magical attacks made
Claw, 2d8 + Str modifier against the Nightmare and any rider have
Multiattack: When the chinook makes an attack disadvantage.
action, it can make a bite and claw attack. Damage Immunity: Fire, any rider gains
Skills: Perception resistance.
Senses: Keen Smell
Blizzard: A small blizzard constantly surrounds Thunderbird
the chinook. All ranged attacks within 30ft of it are Requires hawk skin
made at disadvantage. Huge beast, unaligned
Damage Immunity: Cold Armour Class 16
Hit Points 34
Mexican Dragon Speed 20ft, fly 120ft
Requires lizard skin
Huge magical beast, unaligned Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
16 20 18 - - -
Armour Class 20
Hit Points 34 Melee Attack
Speed 30ft, swim 30ft Beak, 1d10 + Dex modifier
Talons, 2d8 + Dex modifier
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Multiattack: When the thunderbird makes an
18 10 16 - - - attack action, it can make a bite and claw attack.
Melee Attack Ranged Attack
Bite, 2d10 + Str modifier + 2d6 acid, and the Call Lightning, 3d10 exploding damage, any
target is grappled (escape DC 14). Until this target within Storm Aura, DC 14 Dexterity save for
grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the half.
crocodile can’t bite another target. Skills: Perception
Special Attacks Senses: Keen Sight
Acid Breath (recharge 6): 6d6 acid damage, 30ft Storm Aura: The area within 100ft of the
line, DC 14 Dexterity save for half damage. A Thunderbird is a constant thunderstorm.
grappled creature automatically fails its save. Damage Immunity: Electricity
Skills:Stealth
Senses: Darkvision 30ft
Hold Breath: The Mexican dragon can hold its
breath for 12 hours.
Damage Immunity: Acid

63
Shaman
fluff
Level Class Feature
3rd Exhortation Ritual, Medicine Way, Manifest Spirits
6th Call Spirit Animal
10th Medicine Way
15th Medicine Way
18th Grand Medicine
ExHoRtAtIoN RiTuAl
Shamans call upon the spirits more than most
braves, and rely on special rituals to coax greater
favour from them. These rituals are usually
performed during or after a long rest, and the
effects last until your next long rest. A shaman can
only benefit from one ritual at once.
Tobacco Ritual
Tobacco is a spiritually powerful herb among
almost every tribe. Its smoke carries the words of
the medicine man up to the heavens so the gods
can more clearly hear them.
The tobacco ritual takes 15 minutes and
consumes one portion of tobacco. Your maximum
Favour increases by your proficiency bonus while
this ritual is active.
Scar or Tattoo Ritual
Ritual scarification and marking is a sign of great
loyalty and devotion to the spirits. It is both a
permanent symbol and a sacrifice, as the ritual is
extremely physically taxing.
The ritual takes 1 hour. While the ritual is
active, your maximum Favour increases by your
proficiency bonus, and any medicine way favours
you use that target yourself cost 1 fewer Favour
(minimum 1). However, your Constitution is also
treated as being 4 points lower for all purposes,
including your maximum hit points. Using this
ritual multiple days in a row incurs stacking
penalties; your Constitution is reduced by 8 on the
second day, 12 on the third, and so on. Having an
effective Constitution score of 0 or lower results in
death.
64
Sand Painting Ritual
Sand painting is a slow and painstaking ritual
involving sprinkling coloured sand in thin lines on
the ground to create sacred patterns and images.
It calls to the spirits, but also attracts ghosts,
elementals and stranger things beyond, making it
extremely mentally taxing.
The sand painting ritual takes 1 hour. While the
ritual is active, your maximum Favour increases
by your proficiency bonus, and any medicine way
favours you use that target an enemy cost 1 fewer
Favour (minimum 1). However, your Wisdom
score is also treated as being 4 points lower for all
purposes, including your maximum sanity. Using
this ritual multiple days in a row incurs stacking
penalties; your Wisdom is reduced by 8 on the
second day, 12 on the third, and so on. Having an
effective Wisdom score of 0 or lower results in
death.
Fasting Ritual
Self-denial and sacrifice attract the attention of
the spirits, who reward the shaman’s discipline.
Fasting rituals do not take any time. While the
ritual is active, your maximum Favour increases
by your proficiency bonus, and medicine way
favours you use that have a willing target cost 1
fewer Favour (minimum 1). However, you
immediately incur one death save failure. Using
the Fasting Ritual multiple days in a row incur
stacking penalties; two death save failures on the
second day, and death on the third.
If you eat after conducting a fasting ritual
before your next long rest, you immediately clear
any associated death save failures. However, this
greatly angers the spirits, and you are treated as
having broken your Old Ways Oath.
MeDiCiNe WaY
Shamans develop their connection with the spirits
to a much greater extent, allowing them to call
upon favours that affect the world around them
more directly. These favours are called medicines,
and are divided into a number of medicine ways.
At 3rd level, your shaman learns one of the
medicine ways presented in the following section,
and all associated favours. You learn additional
medicine ways at 10th and 15th levels.
Some effects require you to maintain
concentration. You can maintain concentration as
a free action indefinitely, but cannot use another
ability that requires Favour while concentrating. If
you take damage while concentrating, you must
make a Constitution saving throw equal to half the
damage taken or 10, whichever is higher, or
immediately lose concentration. You lose
concentration immediately if you are rendered
unconscious, dead, or recover your Favour points
by resting or any other means.
When you first gain this ability, you must
choose what your spirit animal is. Use the profile
that best fits your choice; mount (horse, elk, etc),
companion (cat, wolf, etc), or bird (crow, owl, etc).
Each time you call your spirit animal, this is the
form it appears in.

MaNiFeSt SpIrItS Companion

Whispering to the spirits of nature, you can call on Medium spirit
them to create any of the following effects; Armour Class 12
- You can predict the weather for your location
Hit Points equal to your maximum
for the next 24 hours. Speed 40ft + your movement bonus
- You can create an instantaneous, harmless
sensory effect, such as falling leaves, a puff of Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
wind, the sound of a small animal, or the faint 13 14 12 6 10 14
odor of skunk. The effect must fit within a 5-foot
Distracting: Enemies adjacent to this spirit
cube.
- You can cause flowers to bloom, seed pods to animal have disadvantage on ranged attacks
against the shaman that called it. 

open, leafs buds to bloom, and grass to grow
Spirit Essence: The spirit animal is immune to
within 5ft of you.
- You instantly light or snuff out a candle, torch, Sanity damage and has resistance to non-magical
weapon attacks.
or small campfire.
This ability can also be used to other similar minor Skills: Perception
magical and spiritual effects, at the Marshal’s
discretion. Bird
Tiny spirit
CaLl SpIrIt AnImAl
Armour Class 13
While all who follow the Old Way have a spirit
Hit Points equal to half your maximum
animal that watches over them, your link is strong
Speed 10ft, fly 60ft
enough to call it into the material world.
Calling a spirit animal requires at least an hour Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
of prayer performed over a long rest, after which it 5 16 8 6 10 10
appears anywhere within 60ft of you. The spirit
will remain with you until you dismiss it as an Ill Omen: Enemies adjacent to this spirit animal
action, it is reduced to 0 hit points, or it is ever have disadvantage on all saving throws. 

further than 60ft from you, after which it Spirit Essence: see above.
disappears into mist. You can call it again after Skills: Perception
your next long rest, and can never have more Senses: Keen Sight (advantage on all Wisdom
than one. (Perception) checks that rely on sight).
The spirit animal appears as a normal animal of
its type, though particularly observant folks might Mount
notice a glimmer of above-average intelligence in Large spirit
its eyes or a slight ethereal shimmer as it moves.
It cannot speak, though it intrinsically understands Armour Class 10
anything you say to it. Hit Points equal to your maximum
In combat, the spirit animal acts in conjunction Speed 60ft + your movement bonus
with you on your turn. It has its own Movement,
Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
and may move at any point during your turn.
16 10 12 6 8 10
However, it has no actions of its own. As your
action, you can direct it to perform any action it is Ethereal Strider: This spirit animal ignores all
capable of. Spirit animals cannot attack or dangerous and difficult terrain. 

perform bonus actions. Spirit Essence: see above.

65
GrAnD MeDiCiNe
The greatest shamans are forces of nature,
spiritual hurricanes bound in the form of man. At
18th level, you learn the grand medicine, the most
powerful favours of the spirits, for each medicine
way you know.
Blessing - Sacred Radiance
Sacred light washes out in a 30ft radius around
you when you spend 15 favour as an action. So
long as you concentrate, up to 1 minute,
creatures of your choice in that radius have
advantage on all saving throws, and other
creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls
against you. In addition, when a fiend or an
undead hits an affected creature with a melee
attack, it must succeed on a Constitution saving
throw be be blinded until the medicine favour
ends.
Earth - Storm of Vengeance
As an action, you can spend 20 favour to
summon churning storm clouds centred on a point
you can see and spreading to a radius of 360ft.
Lightning flashes in the area, thunder booms, and
strong winds roar. Each creature other than you
under the cloud when it appears must make a
Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, a
creature takes 2d6 damage and becomes
Deafened for 5 minutes.
Each round you maintain concentration on this
favour, the storm produces additional effects on
your turn.
Round 2: Acidic rain falls from the cloud. Each
creature and object under the cloud takes 1d6
damage.
Round 3: You can call bolts of lightning from
the cloud to strike up to six creatures of objects of
your choice beneath the cloud. A struck creature
must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature
takes 4d10 damage on a failed save, or half as
much damage on a successful one.
Round 4: Hailstones rain down from the cloud.
Each creature under the cloud take 2d6 damage.
Rounds 5-10: Gusts and freezing rain assail
the area under the cloud. The area becomes
difficult terrain and is heavily obscured. Each
creature there takes 1d6 damage. Ranged
weapon attacks in the area suffer disadvantage.
The wind and rain force any creatures other than
you concentrating on a spell or favour to make a
DC 10 check at the beginning of each of their
turns.
66
Ghost - Manitou Bound to Flesh
You can bind a manitou to a living creature. This
medicine requires a 24-hour ritual involving you
and the creature to be the manitou’s host. If the
creature is unwilling, it may make a Wisdom
saving throw after the ritual. If it fails, or the
creature is willing, it becomes Harrowed under the
dominion of the manitou.
Trickster - Weird
As an action, you can spend 15 favour to draw
upon the deepest fears of a group of creatures,
creating illusions visible only to them. Each
creature in a 30ft radius sphere centred on a point
of your choice within 120ft must make a Wisdom
saving throw. On a failed save, the creature
becomes frightened for as long as you maintain
concentration, up to 1 minute. The illusion calls on
the creature’s deepest fears, manifesting its worst
nightmares as an implacable threat. At the end of
each of the frightened creature’s turns, it must
succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or take 2d6
sanity damage. On a successful save, the spell
ends for that creature.
Visionseeking - Shattering Revelation
An an action, you can spend 20 favour to blast
the mind of a creature you can see within 150ft
with visions from the spirit world. The target takes
3d6 sanity damage, and must make an
Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, the
creature’s Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma
scores become 1. The creature can’t cast spells,
use medicine favours, activate magic or mad
science items, understand language, or
communicate in any intelligible way. The creature
can, however, identify its friends, follow them, and
even protect them. At the end of every 30 days,
the creature can repeat the saving throw. If it
succeeds, the effect ends.
War - Hoakah’s Blessing
As an action, you can spend 15 favour to
surround yourself in crackling lightning. As long as
you maintain concentration, for up to 1 minute,
your melee attacks deal an additional die of
damage. In addition, as a bonus action, you can
deal 1d6 damage to each creature within 5ft of
you. If they are medium sized or smaller, you may
push the creature up to 10ft or knock it prone. 

Medicine Ways
BlEsSiNg MeDiCiNe WaY
This medicine way is concerned with prosperity,
luck and chance.
Blessed Weapon
The Shaman touches a weapon, conferring the
spirits’ favour. For 1 hour, the weapon’s damage
counts as magical and deals +1d4 damage. This
takes 1 minute, and costs 3 Favour, or Favour if it
is not an Old Ways weapon.
Heroism
A willing creature you touch as an action is
imbued with bravery. Until the effect ends, the
creature has advantage on Wisdom saving throws
and gains temporary hit points equal to your
Wisdom modifier at the start of each of its turns.
When the effect ends, the target loses any
remaining temporary hit points it possessed. This
ability costs 2 Favour points to use, and 1 Favour
point at the beginning of each round you maintain
concentration.
Spirits’ Bounteous Feast
You bring forth a great feast, including magnificent
food and drink. The feast takes 1 hour to
consume and disappears at the end of that time,
and the beneficial effects don’t set in until this
hour is over. Up to twelve other creatures can
partake of the feast.
A creature that partakes of the feast is cured of
all poison and gains advantage on all Constitution
and Wisdom saving throws. Its hit point maximum
also increases by 2d4. Partaking of the feast also
counts as a short rest, after which you must
spend 10 Favour points. The effects last until you
next recover your Favour points, up to 24 hours.
Spirit Guidance
As an action, you can target up to three creatures
you can touch, including yourself. The next time
the target makes an attack, ability check or saving
throw within the next 10 minutes, add 1d4 to the
roll. This costs 1 Favour per creature targeted.
EaRtH MeDiCiNe WaY
This is the medicine way of nature spirits. The
elements, weather, animals, even rocks and mud
are all imbued with nature spirits. They can all be
spoken to, and they can all be great helpers or
hinderances.
67
Alter the Winds
Calling out to all the spirits of nature, the shaman
can attempt to alter the weather itself. This
medicine requires 10 minutes of prayer, and will
take effect 1d4x10 minutes after the prayers are
complete. The Favour cost should be determined
with the Marshal beforehand, and will depend on
how great a change the shaman is attempting,
how severe the desired effect is, and how great a
distance she is requesting. Creating a localized
rainfall on an overcast day might cost 4 Favour,
while calling thunderstorms and freezing gales in
a 5-mile radius out of a clear day could cost 10 or
more.
Circle of Wellness
Purifying energy radiates from you in an aura with
a 30-foot radius. Creating this aura is an action,
costs 2 Favour, and lasts as long as you maintain
concentration. While in the aura, friendly
creatures have advantage on death saving
throws. Additionally, while the aura is active, as an
action you can remove a failed death saving
throw from one target creature within the aura.
This costs 5 Favour if it is the creature’s first failed
death saving throw, or 3 if it is the creature’s
second (or higher).
Commune with Nature
You briefly become one with nature and gain
knowledge of the surrounding territory. In the
outdoors, this gives you knowledge of the land
within 3 miles of you. In caves or other natural
underground settings, the radius is limited to 300
feet. This favour has no effect where nature has
been replaced by construction, such as in
dungeons and towns.
You instantly gain knowledge of up to three
facts of your choice about any of the following
subjects as they relate to the area:
- terrain or bodies of waters
- prevalent plants, minerals, animals or peoples
- powerful unnatural creatures
- influence from the spirit world
- buildings
For example, you could determine the location of
powerful undead in the area, the location of major
sources of safe drinking water, and the location of
any nearby towns.
This favour requires 10 minutes of prayer and
communion with the nature spirits, and costs 3
Favour plus 1 for each question asked.
Speak with Beasts
You gain the ability to comprehend and verbally
communicate with beasts for the duration. The
knowledge and awareness of many beasts is
limited by their intelligence, but at a minimum,
beasts can give you information about nearby
locations and monsters, including whatever than
can perceive or have perceived within the past
day. Using this medicine costs 1 Favour, and lasts
up to 10 minutes.
GhOsT MeDiCiNe WaY
The ghost way is both feared and respected, for it
walks perilously close to the darkness. For those
brave enough, this can be a potent tool against
evil spirits, yet those who use it risk eternally
losing their soul to the darkness they seek to
wield.
A shaman that learns the Ghost Medicine Way
has a greater chance of returning as Harrowed
under the dominion of a manitou.
Cursed Touch
Your touch channels dark spirits, malicious
entities that torment the target. As an action, you
can touch a creature, which must succeed on a
Wisdom saving throw or become cursed. When
you use this favour, choose the nature of the
curse from the following options;
- Choose one ability score. While cursed, the
target has disadvantage on ability checks and
saving throws made with that ability score.
- While cursed, the target has disadvantage on
attack rolls against you.
- While cursed, the target must make a Wisdom
saving throw at the start of each of its turns. If it
fails, it wastes its action that turn doing nothing.
- While the target is cursed, your attacks deal an
extra 1d4 damage against it.
The shaman may choose an alternative curse
effect, at the Marshal’s discretion. This favour
lasts as long as the shaman maintains
concentration, up to 1 minute.
Using this favour costs 3 Favour, and 1
additional Favour each round it is maintained.
The Shaman may use this medicine in two
additional ways. At a cost of 20 Favour, the curse
effect is permanent, lasting indefinitely and no
longer requiring concentration. The target may
make a new saving throw each week to break the
curse. At a cost of 30 Favour, the shaman can
place a permanent curse on an object or location
with a half-mile radius. Any creature that
68
possesses the item or resides in the location must
succeed on a saving throw at the beginning of
each day or be effected by the curse for 24 hours.
Speak with Dead
You channel a small amount of the energy of the
Hunting Grounds into a corpse you can touch,
granting it a semblance of life and intelligence and
compelling it to answer your questions. The
corpse must still have a mouth and can’t be
undead, and cannot be subjected to this medicine
more than once every 10 days.
Using this favour requires 10 minutes of prayer.
Afterwards, you can ask the corpse up to five
questions. The corpse knows only what it knew in
life, including the languages it knew. Answers are
usually brief, cryptic or repetitive, and while the
corpse is compelled to answer you truthfully it is
not necessarily cooperative. This spell doesn’t
return the creature’s soul to its body, it is only
animating the corporeal memories stored in the
corpse. The corpse loses all semblance of life
after it has answered up to five questions, or after
10 minutes have passed.
Using this favour 5 Favour, and 1 additional
Favour for each question asked. Afterwards, the
shaman gains 1 death saving throw failure.
TrIcKsTeR MeDiCiNe WaY
Trickster spirits play an important role for many
tribes, acting as teachers and antagonists, agents
of chaos but also growth. The trickster medicine
way embraces this role, focusing on obfuscation
falsehoods and revealing truths.
Fog Cloud
As an action, you create a 20ft radius sphere of
fog centred on a point within 120ft. The area
within the cloud is heavily obscured. This
medicine costs 3 Favour, and lasts as long as the
shaman maintains concentration, up to 1 hour. A
moderate or stronger wind can also disperse it.
Fox Fire
As an action, you can spend 2 Favour to fill a 20ft
cube within 60ft of you with small, flashing
multicoloured lights. Any creature in that area is
outlined in light if it fails a Dexterity saving throw.
For the duration, objects and affected creatures
shed dim light in a 10ft radius. Any attack rolls
against an affected creature or object has
advantage if the attacker can see it, and the
affected creature or object can’t benefit from
being invisible. The effect lasts as long as the
shaman maintains concentration, up to 1 minute.
Pass without Trace
A veil of shadows and silence radiates from you,
masking you and your companions from
detection. For as long as you maintain
concentration, up to 1 hour, each creature that
you choose within 30ft of you has a +10 bonus to
Dexterity (Stealth) checks and can’t be tracked
except by magical means. A creature that
receives this bonus leaves behind no tracks or
other traces of its passage. Using this ability costs
5 Favour.
Phantom Tricks
As an action, you create a sound or image of an
object within range that lasts for the duration. The
illusion ends if you dismiss it as an action or use
this favour again.
If you create a sound, its volume can range
from a whisper to a scream. It can be your voice,
someone else’s voice, a wolf’s howl, a harmonica,
or any other sound you choose. The sounds
continues unabated throughout the duration, or
you can make discrete sounds at different times
before the duration ends.
If you create an image of an object - such as a
chair, muddy footprints, or a small chest - it must
be no larger than a 5ft cube. The image can’t
create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory
effect. Physical interaction with the image reveals
it to be an illusion, because things can pass
through it.
If a creature uses its action to examine the
sound or image, the create can determine that it
in an illusion with a successful Intelligence save. If
a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the
illusion becomes faint to the creature.
This ability costs 2 Favour points, and lasts as
long as you maintain concentration, up to 10
minutes.
ViSiOnSeEkInG MeDiCiNe WaY
Visionseeker shamans look to the spirit world for
hidden knowledge, long-forgotten secrets, or
glimpses of what may be.
Commune with Spirits
You reach out to the spirits and ask up to three
questions that can be answered with a yes or no.
You must first pray for 10 minutes, after which you
have 1 minute to ask your questions.
69
You receive a correct answer for each of your
questions. However, the spirits are not
necessarily omniscient, so you might receive
“unclear” as an answer if the information is
beyond the knowledge of the spirits.
Using this medicine costs 4 Favour, and 1
additional Favour for each question asked. If you
use this medicine more than once between long
rests, there is a cumulative 25% chance at each
use after the first that incorrect information is
received.
Find the Path
After praying for 10 minutes, the spirits show you
the shortest, most direct physical route to a fixed
location that you are familiar with.
For up to 24 hours while concentrating, you
know how far it is and in what direction it lies.
While you are traveling there, whenever you are
presented with a choices of paths along the way,
you automatically determine which path is the
shortest and most direct route to the destination.
Using this medicine costs 2 Favour.
Legend Lore
Through 10 minutes of prayer, you can receive a
vision containing a brief summary of any
significant lore about a person, place or object
you name or describe. The lore might consist of
current tales, forgotten stories, or even secret lore
that has never been widely known. The
information is accurate, but might be couched in
figurative language.
Using this ability costs 6 Favour. If you use this
medicine more than once between long rests,
there is a cumulative 25% chance at each use
after the first that incorrect information is received.
Voice of the Wind
As an action, you imbue yourself with the wind
spirits, who know all the tongues of man. For 1
hour, you understand any spoken language you
hear. In addition, any creature that knows at least
one language and can hear you understands you,
no matter what language you are speaking in.
Using this medicine costs 3 Favour.
WaR MeDiCiNe WaY
The Sioux Nations and the Coyote Confederation
owe a large part of their success to the rise of
several powerful War Shamans, invoking mighty
spirits to aid them on the battlefield.
Horned Owl’s Fury
You call out to the Horned Owl spirit, great
predator of the Hunting Grounds, to strike out
against anyone that would use firearms against
you.
As a reaction, after you are hit by a ranged
firearm attack, you can spend 1 Favour point to
deal 1d6 damage to the attacker. A successful
Dexterity saving throw halves the damage.

Path of the Shadow-Wolf

Following the hidden ways of the shadow wolves,
the Shaman can rapidly close on his prey. As a
reaction after hitting a foe with a ranged thrown
weapon attack, you can spend 2 Favour to
teleport to any space adjacent to this target. You
appear weapon in hand, and can continue to
make any additional attacks you have available.

Strength of the Bear

When you successfully hit a target with a melee
weapon attack, you can spend 1 Favour to ignore
up to 5 Damage Reduction when rolling damage.

Shell of the Turtle

As a reaction, whenever you are hit by an attack
or targeted by the Soul Blast spell, you can spend
2 Favour to create a shell-like barrier of energy.
Until the start of your next turn, you have a +5
bonus to AC, including against the triggering
attack, and you take no damage from the Soul
Blast spell. 


70
 Proficiencies
The Huntsman Armour:
Weapons:
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Constitution
Fluff Skills:

Level Proficiency Class Abilities Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition
1st +2 Beast Hunter, Frontiersman to the equipment granted by your background:
2nd +2 Wild Edge, Expertise
Class Abilities
3rd +2 Hunter’s Trail
BeAsT HuNtEr
4th +2 Sudden Strike
A man’s gotta eat, and these bushmen have
learned everything there is to know about
5th +3 Big Game Hunter
predator and prey. Beginning at 1st level, you
6th +3 Hunter’s Trail have significant experience studying, tracking,
and hunting wild animals.
7th +3 Supernatural Hunter You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival)
checks to track beasts and vermin, as well as on
8th +3 Sudden Strike Intelligence checks to recall information about
them. Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus to
9th +4 Expertise damage rolls with weapon attacks against them.
10th +4 Hunter's Trail
FrOnTiErSmAn
11th +4 Hide in Plain Sight A hunter in the wilds is a dangerous animal; fast,
alert and difficult to drop. You gain the following
12th +4 Sudden Strike benefits:

13th +5 Abomination Hunter - You ignore natural difficult terrain.

- You have advantage on initiative rolls.
14th +5 Vanish - On your first turn during combat, you have
advantage on attack rolls against creatures that
15th +5 Hunter’s Trail
have not yet acted.
16th +5 Trophy Hunter
In addition, you are skilled at navigating
17th +6 Expertise wilderness. You gain the following benefits when
travelling for an hour or more:
18th +6 Hunter's Trail
- Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
19th +6 Old Reliable - Even when you are engaged in another activity
while travelling (such as foraging, navigating, or
20th +6 Hero of the Frontier tracking), you remain alert to danger.
- If you are travelling alone, you can move
stealthily at a normal pace.
- When you forage, you find find twice as much
food as you normally would.
- You have advantage on Wisdom (Survival)
checks to track creatures across long distances.

WiLd EdGe

71
Surviving out in the wilds takes exceptional skills
and a special knack. Choose one of the options
below.
Brawlin’
You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with
melee weapons and unarmed attacks.
Hardened
While you are wearing armour, you gain a +1
bonus to Defense.
Duelin’
When you are wielding a weapon in one hand and
no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to
damage rolls with that weapon.
Long Arms
When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an
attack you make with a ranged weapon you are
wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die
and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a
1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed
or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
Thick Skin
While you are not wearing any armour, your
Defense equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier +
your Constitution modifier.
ExPeRtIsE
You don’t get too many careless huntsmen, not
living ones anyhow. At 2nd level, choose two of
your skill proficiencies, or one of your skill
proficiencies and one of your tool proficiencies.
Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability
check you make with either of the chosen
proficiencies.
At 9th level, and again at 17th, choose two
more of your skill or tool proficiencies to gain this
benefit.
HuNtEr’s TrAiL
Probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise
that a bunch of wild men who carve a living out of
the wilderness come in all imaginable shapes and
sizes, and a few beyond that. At 3rd level, choose
one of the Hunter’s Trails detailed at the end of
the class description. Your Trail grants abilities at
3rd, 6th, 10th, 15th and 18th levels.
SuDdEn StRiKe
72
Hunting is all about timing; a rifle round at the
perfect moment or a blade in the darkness. Once
per turn, you can deal an extra weapon die of
damage to one creature you hit with an attack.
You may only use this ability when attacking with
advantage, or when using a weapon with the
Deceptive quality. At 8th level, and again at 12th
level, this extra damage increases by one weapon
die.
BiG GaMe HuNtEr
I’ve never known a hunter that could resist trying
his luck against the really big game. When you hit
a Large or larger creature with a weapon attack,
the creature takes an extra weapon die of
damage. You can only deal this extra damage
once per turn.
SuPeRnAtUrAl HuNtEr
Surviving out in the wastes this long has taught
you a thing or two about some the weirdness
thats lurking out there. The benefits from your
Beast Hunter feature now apply to magical
beasts, and the damage bonus increases to +4.
Additionally, you have advantage on saving
throws against effects from creatures your Beast
Hunter applies to.
HiDe iN PlAiN SiGhT
A good huntsman knows when to pick his
moment, and has the patience to find it. Starting
at 10th level, when you are hiding, creatures that
attempt to detect you have a -10 penalty if you did
not move on your turn. You are still automatically
detected if any effect or action causes you to no
longer be hidden.
AbOmInAtIoN HuNtEr
You’ve seen some of the worst the wasteland can
throw at you and learned how to hunt it down. The
benefits from your Beast Hunter feature now
apply to aberrations, dragons, outsiders and
undead. Additionally, the damage bonus
increases to +6. Finally, you have resistance to
damage from the natural attacks of all creatures
your Beast Hunter applies to.
VaNiSh
A skilled huntsman can seem to fade into the
wilderness, disappearing as suddenly as they
appeared. Starting at 14th level, you can use the
Hide action as a bonus action on your turn. Also,
you cannot be tracked by nonmagical means,
unless you choose to leave a trail.

TrOpHy HuNtEr
Them shamans say wearing a trophy from a
defeated enemy can give you a bit of its power,
but I’d say these stylish rattler boots are the real
prize.
Whenever you slay a Large or larger creature,
you can take a body part as a trophy, such as a
horn, tooth or claw. You must have dealt damage
to the creature in the encounter that killed it, and
you must harvest the trophy within 10 minutes of
the creature’s death. You must then treat the
trophy with a mixture of precious oils and
preservatives costing at least $25. This process
takes 24 hours.
When wearing a trophy, creatures of the same
type have disadvantage on attack rolls against
you, and your attacks against them are critical hits
on a roll of a 19-20.
You may have any number of trophies, though
only one may be active at once. When you
complete a short or longer rest, you may choose
which trophy is active.

OlD ReLiAbLe
You’ve been doing this for so long its second
nature. When you make a skill or tool check that
you have chosen for your Expertise ability, any roll
lower than a 10 is treated as a 10.

HeRo oF tHe FrOnTiEr

You set out just to survive, but through sheer
force of will and your own two hands, you’ve
tamed the wildest frontiers. The society that you
turned your back on will be singing songs of you
for generations to come.
You no longer gain physical or mental scars,
though you keep any you already have.
Additionally, you may have three trophies active
at any one time. 


73
Marksman MaRk tHe TaRgEt
Keep your eyes keen and your sights steady, and
fluff you can be sure to find your target again and
again. After you make an aimed attack, you can
take the Aim action as a bonus action. You must
Level Class Feature
target the same target as your previous attack.
3rd Crack Shot
ExPaNdEd CrAcK ShOt
6th Mark the Target Ain’t enough just to hit the target. Amateurs hit the
target. You call your shots. At 10th level, you learn
10th Expanded Crack Shot the following additional crack shot options.

15th Overwatch Head Shot

18th One Bullet
CrAcK ShOt
Any half-wit cowpoke with a pistol can throw a
bunch of lead in the air, but a real marksman can
do a hell of a lot more with just one bullet.
At 3rd level, when you make an aimed attack
(see the Aim action, Chapter 2), you can choose
one of the crack shot options listed below and
apply it to the attack. If the shot requires a saving
throw, the DC is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your
Dexterity modifier.
Dazing Shot
If this attack hits, the target suffers normal
damage and must make a Constitution saving
throw or suffer disadvantage on attacks until the
end of its next turn.
Disarming Shot
If this attack hits, the target suffers normal
damage and must succeed on a Strength saving
throw or drop 1 held object of your choice. You
may choose whether the object is dropped at the
target’s feet or pushed 10ft further away from you.
This attack is a critical hit on a roll of a 19-20, and
deals an extra die of weapon damage on a critical
hit.
Sniper Shot
This attack ignores defense bonuses from any
cover less than total.
OvErWaTcH
They even think about popping their heads up
when you got ‘em in your sights, and its bullet,
whack-a-mole. If a creature that you have
targeted with the Aim action moves during its turn,
you can use your reaction to make a ranged
attack against it.
OnE BuLlEt
… and that’s the story of how I killed the Parson
Brothers, all 15 of them, with just one single
bullet. You may now apply two Crack Shot options
to a single shot when making an aimed attack. 


Distracting Shot
Whether or not this attack hits, the next attack
against the target before the beginning of your
next turn gains advantage.

Forceful Shot
If this attack hits, the target suffers normal
damage and must succeed on a Strength saving
throw. If they fail, you may choose to knock them
prone, or push them up to 10ft directly away from
you. This can only affect creatures your size or
smaller.

74
Mountain Man Additionally, if you succeed at making a melee
weapon attack with your off hand against a target
you had already hit this round with your main
hand, you deal an additional 1d6 damage.
fluff

GrIzZlY VeTeRaN
Level Class Feature
The mountains do not abide weak men, and a
lifetime of scars testify to your strength. You gain
3rd Towering Presence
resistance to all damage from melee attacks, and
6th Bear Claws, Human Shield require 4 failed death saving throws before you
die. 

10th Chokehold

15th Twin-Fanged Rend

18th Grizzly Veteran

ToWeRiNg PrEsEnCe
Tough climates breed even tougher people. You
have advantage on all Strength and Constitution
checks. Additionally, as a bonus action, you can
use the Shove special attack.

BeAr ClAwS
Wrestling is all about angles, and 10” of steel can
give you a lot of leverage. When you successfully
damage a foe with a knife, tomahawk or similar
weapon, you can make a grapple special attack
as part of the same attack action. Additionally, you
may grapple while wielding two one-handed
melee weapons.

HuMaN ShIeLd
Always helps to have another body between you
and the line of fire. When you have a creature
grappled, ranged attacks against you are at
disadvantage.

ChOkEhOlD
You don’t wanna find yourself in the crushing
grasp of one of these wildmen. As an action, you
can make a Strength (athletics) check opposed by
a Strength (athletics) or Dexterity (acrobatics)
check against a creature that you have already
grappled. If successful, the target gains one level
of exhaustion. Multiple levels of exhaustion stack.
Targets recover all levels of exhaustion suffered
from this ability after a short rest.

TwIn-FaNgEd ReNd
You gain your full Strength bonus to damage with
melee weapons wielded in your off hand.

75
76

Chapter Iv:
Equipment
The ecstasy of gold is all well and good, but
what’s the point unless there’s something to
spend it on.
This section will list a variety of weapons,
armour, tools and good commonly available
across the West. It is not meant to be an
exhaustive list; ask your Marshal for anything not
listed. As a general rule when pricing an item, a
dollar in 1876 was worth about 20 times what it is
today.
Weapons
The image of the West in popular culture is linked
with several iconic firearms - the Colt Army
‘Peacemaker’, the Winchester Repeater, or the
Sharps Buffalo Rifle. However, they were just a
few of a huge number of firearms produced during
that time. The years between 1840 and 1880 saw
the emergence of the first modern firearms, but
that was only achieved through trial and error as
competing gunsmiths unveiled their own patented
innovations. This meant that there were hundreds
of different firearms and dozens of calibers of
ammunition in varied usage. Compound that real
history with the added weirdness and unhinged
science of Deadlands, and there are more types
of firearms than could be covered in this ruleset.
77
This book will take a slightly more abstracted
and streamlined approach to the weapons
available in the game. While there is certainly a
place for the hardcore historical simulationist
approach to modelling every possible weapon in
the West, that level of granularity does not fit well
within the 5e framework or the narrative tone of
this book. Instead, each broad weapon category
will have the statistics for a ‘baseline’ version of
that weapon, a list of special enhancements
which can be mixed and matched to create
unique variants, and a few historical examples
that might be available in your game. The
Marshal’s chapter will also have a section on
randomly generating special weapons.
AmMuNiTiOn
Ammunition is heavily simplified - pistol rounds,
rifle rounds, and shotgun rounds. Keeping an eye
on your ammunition can add to narrative tension,
but asking players to track the caliber of each
bullet is unnecessary bookkeeping.
OtHeR WeApOnS
Of course, there were plenty more weapons in the
Weird West than just firearms. The Bowie Knife
was a staple of the period, while bows and
tomahawks are nearly as iconic as six-shooters.
These weapons follow the same framework as
firearms, as discussed above.
The table on the following page has the
statistics for a number of the commonly available
weapons in Deadlands. Each statistic is explained
below.
Damage. The base damage the firearm deals
on a successful ranged attack, which may be
modified by special abilities, enhancements, and
typically your Dexterity modifier.
Range. The normal and long ranges of the
weapon in feet. Attacks made at long range are at
disadvantage.
Capacity (Cap). The number of rounds of
ammunition the weapon can hold.
Misfire (Mis). The range of results on the
attack roll that result in a misfire. When rolling
your attack, if you roll the misfire value or lower
on the d20, the attack fails and the weapon
misfires, causing it to become broken until it can
be repaired with a Repair Kit.
Encumbrance (Enc). How heavy or bulky the
weapon is. You may only carry up to your
Strength score in total encumbrance. 

PiStOlS Cost Dam. Range Cap. Mis. Enc. Properties

Cut-rate Pistol $5 2d6 30/60 6 4 2 Light

Common Six-Shooter $15 2d6 30/60 6 2 2 Light

S&W Model 3 $30 2d8 30/60 6 2 3

Deringer Pocket $30 1d6 10/30 2 2 1 Deceptive, Light

Colt Peacemaker $50 2d6 30/60 6 2 2 Exceptional +1, Light

Colt Buntline Special $300 2d6 60/120 6 1 3 Exceptional +1

RiFlEs
Cut-rate Rifle $10 2d8 100/600 1 4 4 Two-handed

Common Rifle $20 2d8 100/600 1 2 4 Two-handed

1860 Henry Rifle $30 2d8 100/600 14 3 5 Slow Reload, Two-handed

Spencer Carbine $30 2d6 60/120 7 3 3 Carbine, Slow Reload, Two-handed

1873 Winchester $50 2d6 100/600 12 2 4 Variable Ammunition, Two-handed

Sharpe’s Big 50 $50 2d10 200/1200 1 2 6 Two-handed

1873 Winchester “One $1500 2d8 100/600 12 1 4 Exceptional +1, Two-handed, Variable
in a Thousand” Ammunition

ShOtGuNs
Cut-rate Scattergun $5 2d8 30 1 4 4 Two-handed

Common Scattergun $15 2d8 30 1 2 4 Two-handed

Double-barrel Shotgun $30 2d8 30 2 2 4 Double-barreled, Two-handed

Winchester Repeater $50 2d8 30 5 2 5 Two-handed

BoWs
Cut-rate Bow $10 1d6 100/600 - 2 3 Two-handed, Old Ways

Common Bow $20 1d8 100/600 - 1 3 Two-handed, Old Ways

Sioux War Bow $50 1d10 100/600 - 1 4 Two-handed, Old Ways

MeLeE WeApOnS
Knife $2 1d4 10/30 - 1 - Deceptive, Finesse, Light, Thrown, Old
Ways

Bowie Knife $5 1d6 10/30 - 1 - Finesse, Thrown

Tomahawk $10 1d8 10/30 - 1 - Thrown

Warclub $10 1d8 - - 1 - Versatile (1d10), Old Ways

Longspear $10 1d8 - - 1 - Two-handed, Old Ways

Cavalry Sabre $25 1d8 - - 1 - Finesse

78
SpEcIaL PrOpErTiEs
Carbine. This weapon does not have
disadvantage when fired from horseback.
Deceptive. When attacking with this weapon, if
you have the Sudden Strike ability, you always
deal the additional damage.
Double-barreled. This weapon’s two barrels
can be fired individually, or linked to fire together
in a single shot. If you shoot with both barrels,
add one die of damage to the attack, though it
spends two rounds of ammunition.
Exceptional. This weapon is so well made, it
adds the listed bonus to your attack and damage
rolls.
Finesse. When attacking with this weapon, you
can choose to use your Strength or Dexterity for
the attack and damage rolls.
Light. This weapon can be wielded in your off
hand when fighting with two weapons.
Old Ways. This weapon can be used by
character with the Old Ways Oath.
Thrown. This weapon can be thrown with the
listed range.
Two-handed. This weapon requires two hands
to wield.
Slow Reload. This weapon takes longer than
normal to reload. When you take the Reload
action, you can only reload a single round.
Variable Ammunition. This weapon can use
pistol or rifle ammunition.
Versatile. This weapon can be wielded one-
handed or two-handed. If used two-handed, it
deals the damage listed in the property.
Shields
Shields had largely fallen out of favour since the
development of modern firearms. To the devotees
of the Old Ways movement, however, who
remembered the ancient charms and powerful
medicine of a brave’s shield, they were not
forgotten.
Shield use the same special property rules as
armour.
 Old Ways oath.
79
Armour
While the weapons of the Weird West are iconic,
at least a few folks thought it might be a good
idea to try and protect themselves. The War
Between the States spurred the search for
reliable defense, while enterprising ‘inventors’
sold questionable iron-plated vests to the soldiers.
Over time, however, more reliable methods were
discovered as weird sciences thrived and the
States grew more willing to put resources into
protecting their dwindling ranks.
AC. This is the number the bad guys roll above
to shoot you.
Soak. This is a new mechanic in Deadlands,
representing your armour’s ability to absorb
damage. When you take physical damage, you
can use your reaction to roll the soak dice for your
armour and reduce the damage by that amount.
You cannot reduce damage below zero, and
damage is soaked before any other reductions,
such as from resistance or similar abilities.
When you soak damage, there is a chance it
breaks your armour. If you roll a 1 on your soak
dice, the armour is breaks after absorbing that
attack. Broken armour still provides its armour
bonus, but cannot be used to soak any more
damage until it is repaired with an Armour Repair
Kit.
Some armours, typically weird science
creations, roll 2 dice to soak. If either die is a 1,
the armour breaks after absorbing that attack.
Encumbrance. The weight and bulk of the
armour, counted against your total Encumbrance.
Properties. Any special properties your armour
has.
SpEcIaL PrOpErTiEs
Bulky. This armour is larger and heavier,
unsuited for sneaking. While wearing armour with
this property, you have disadvantage on Stealth
checks.
Old Ways. This armour does not violate the
Weird. This armour is made through weird
science. The DC to repair it is 18.
HeAvY WeApOnS Cost Dam. Range Cap. Mis. Enc. Properties

tbd

ArMoUr Cost AC Soak Enc. Properties

Unarmoured - 8 + Dex modifier + proficiency bonus - -

Tribal Armour $15 8 + Dex modifier + proficiency bonus 1d4 2 Old Ways

Travel Leathers $10 10 + Dex modifier 1d6 1

Buffalo Leathers $30 12 + Dex modifier 1d6 2

Armoured Duster $50 12 + Dex modifier 1d8 3 Bulky

S&W Bulltet-proof Vest $250 14 + Dex modifier 2d4 3 Weird

Bearskin $30 8 + Dex modifier + proficiency bonus 1d8 4 Bulky, Old Ways

Boiler Plate $10 15 1d8 5 Bulky

Battle Armour $40 16 1d8 4 Bulky

S&W Powered Armour $1,500 18 2d6 5 Weird

ShIeLdS
Warrior Shield $10 +2 - 2 Old Ways

Great Sioux Shield $50 +2 1d4 3 Bulky, Old Ways

80
Huckster Spell Books 3 - Burning Bullets
4 - Death Ward
5 - Deuces Wild
Committing a spell to memory is extremely 6 - Dissonant Whispers
mentally taxing, and only the strongest Hucksters 7 - Hand of Thunder
can ever manage to contain more than a few 8 - Knock
without their heads exploding. Spell books are 9 - Nightmare Realm
used both to transmit knowledge, and to cast 10 - Restless Dead
spells the Huckster has not memorized. 11 - Shadow Man
Edmund Hoyle was the first to visualize spells 12 - Shatter
as mental games of poker against the spirits, and
he recorded much of his knowledge in Hoyle’s Hoyle’s Book of Games, 1780-1830
Book of Games, published in 1769. This original This edition preserves much more, containing
edition encoded nearly all of his knowledge, Phantom Bolts and 1d4 additional spells, rolled on
though subsequent republishings over the years, the table above.
lacking the knowledge of that hidden code, have
lost much of that hidden knowledge. The latest Meditations of the Spheres, by Deckard Cain
edition, published in 1870, has very little true spell This book was written by a travelling scholar,
lore left, which is why Hucksters are always on detailing the many and varied treasures he had
the look out for older editions. encountered in his journeys. It contains the spell
Though by far the most famous, Hoyle’s was Identify.
not the only spell book to pass into the Weird
West. Several famous examples are included Identify
here, but the Marshal should be free to make their Casting Time: 1 minute
own. Range: touch
Duration: instantaneous
Hoyle’s Book of Games, 1870 You learn any magical properties or spells
By far the most widely-available, this edition currently affecting one item or creature touched.
only has one usable spell, Phantom Bolts. DC: 15 - as above.
20 - Additionally, you learn of any spells that
Phantom Bolts had previously been affecting the item. You also
Casting Time: action get a sense of who cast the spells. It does not
Range: 60ft provide any details about their identify, unless you
Duration: instantaneous previously knew them.
This spell creates a number of bolts of raw energy Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can
that unerringly seek out their targets. Each bolt only be removed through rest.
deals 1d4+1 damage, and can be fired at the
same or different targets. Leomund’s Guide to Homesteading
DC: 10 - 2 bolts. This seemingly innocuous self-help book
15 - 3 bolts. conceals a favourite spell of many travellers,
20 - 4 bolts. survivalists and scholars alike - Instant Adobe
25 - 5 bolts. Abode.
Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can
only be removed through rest. Instant Adobe Abode
Casting Time: 1 minute
Hoyle’s Book of Games, 1840-1860 Range: 30ft
Numerous editions of the book were published Duration: 24 hours
between 1820 and 1860, each preserving This spell creates a 20ft by 20ft simple adobe
different pieces of Hoyle’s legacy. A book from structure centred on a point of your choice within
any of these years will have the Phantom Bolts range. The structure has a sturdy wooden door on
spell, as well as one other, determined by rolling one side, and wood-shuttered windows with rifle
on the list below. slits on the other three. It has a central fire pit and
1 - Alarm small chimney.
2 - Black Lightning

81
DC: 15 - Creates the structure described above,
with the same hardness and durability of a
mundane adobe and wood structure.
20 - As above, except the hardness and
durability of the structure are doubled. In addition,
the interior contains a small but functional kitchen
and up to 6 cots.
25 - As above, except the structure has five
times the durability, and instead of cots has
comfortable beds, chairs and accommodations.
Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can
only be removed through rest.
Other Goods
Tobacco. A pouch containing 10 portions of
tobacco (chewing, snuff, or loose). As part of a
short or longer rest, you can use 1 portion to
remove 1 level of exhaustion.
Travelling Pack. Contains flint, a bed roll, 5
charges of rations, a water skin or canteen, and
50ft of rope. 


Naming Your Horse, by Dewey Bunnell

This oddly-composed pocketbook hides a useful
magical spell for any Huckster amid lists of horse
names. It is unknown if that was intentional.

Phantom Steed
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 30ft
Duration: Concentration, up to 8 hours.
A large, spectral steed appears. You decide its
appearance, and it appears with saddle, bit and
bridle. Any of the equipment vanishes if it is more
than 10ft from the steed. You or another creature
you designate can ride the steed.
DC: 10 - The steed has the statistics of a
mundane horse.
15 - The steed has double the hit points of a
mundane horse, and adds your proficiency bonus
to its AC and saves. It’s speed increases by +30ft.
20 - As above, plus an additional +30ft speed,
and the steed can move across water, loose
sand, or any other non-solid material so long as it
ends its turn on solid ground.
Failure: You gain a level of exhaustion that can
only be removed through rest.

82
Equipment Faro Set $1 -

Poker Set $0.25 -

AmMuNiTiOn Cost Enc.

Musical Instruments

Arrows (x20), Quiver $2 2

Fiddle $10 1

Pistol Rounds (x20), Case $2 1

Flute $1 1

Rifle Rounds (x20), Case $3 1

Guitar $4 2

Shotgun Shells (x10), Case $2 1

Harmonica $1 -

HuCkStEr’s SpElL BoOkS

ClOtHiNg
Hoyle’s Book of Games, 1870 edition $1 1
Common Clothes $2 -

Hoyles, 1840-1860 $20 1

Fine Clothes $10 -

Hoyles, 1780-1830 $500 1

Military Clothes $1 -

Meditations of the Spheres $30 1

Priest’s Vestments $5 -

Leomund’s Guide to Homesteading $20 1

Stage Clothes $5 -
Naming Your Horse $20 1
Tribal Clothes $5 -

ToOlS aNd KiTs

OtHeR GoOdS
Bowyer’s Kit $10 1
Ghost Rock, 1 pound $5 -

Doctor’s Bag $20 1

Ghost Steel Ingot $10 -

Lockpicking Kit $5 -
Tobacco, 10 portions $1 -

Munitions Kit $10 1

Travelling Pack $5 1
Prospector’s Tools $5 2

Repair Kit $5 1

Artisan’s Tools

Artist’s Tools $2 1

Blacksmith’s Tools $5 1

Mason’s Tools $5 1

Woodworking Tools $5 1

Gaming Sets

Chess Set $1 1

Domino Set $1 -

83
Chapter v:
No Man’s Land
Still to come

No Man’s Land
(out of character information only)
- the Reckoning
- Playing a Harrowed
- Playing an Apocalyptic Horseman

Marshal’s Section
- generating random new guns
- monsters
- more to come

84
AcknowledgemenT
I do not own Deadlands or Dungeons & Dragons,
or any of the countless sources of inspiration that
they draw on. No challenge to ownership, fan
content, fair use, etc.

The Mad Scientist is based around the Revised

Artificer posted by u/forgottenduck
<https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/
comments/5phy6s/
5e_ua_artificer_revised_and_mechanist_specialty
/>

Art Citations

Savage Worlds Deadlands, by Sebastien Ecosse,

@Pinaccle Entertainment

Savage Worlds Deadlands logo, @Pinaccle

Entertainment

Deadlands: Stone and a Hard Place Weird West

Map, @Pinaccle Entertainment (modified)

Red Dead Redemption Minimal Poster, by

Ryanswannick

85