[center][img]https://www.peginc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/DL.png[/img][/center] The year is 1879 but in the world of Deadlands it is a very different 1879. In both of our worlds the year of 1863 saw the United States at war with itself but in this world things went very differently. For one thing, the war did not end two years later. For another rumors persist...persistently...enough that many have good reason, though oddly little evidence, to believe something else quite important happened that day. The dead of Gettysburg rose and beset the living, Blue or Grey making no difference whatsoever. That's ancient history now though. Well 16 years, but much has changed in those years. Slavery has been abolished. A new natural resource, known as Ghost Rock, has been found that burns Five Times Hotter and 100 Times Longer than Coal. California has, in large part, been reclaimed by the Pacific leaving a broken land known as The Great Maze. Utah has been taken over and renamed The Republic of Deseret. What's more Manifest Destiny has been considerably delayed with the founding of two separate large Indian nations, The Coyote Confederacy and the Sioux Nations. Amid all this chaos, Ghost Rock has dropped the nations into an Industrial Age. General Intentions [list] [*] Experience a short adventure in this setting [*] Determine if there is enough interest to start a longer adventure [*] Determine if we (well I) can mix Rules Based Pen and Paper with Free Form RPing [/list] In the future I'd like to start a longer adventure with everyone starting out properly with full character generation and purchasing items through the Deadlands Setting. For this RP I think we should probably just do it without such restrictions. This Little Adventure For this story we will all be either living in or making our way toward a small town in Kansas called Selina, likely on their way to Dodge City from which they can catch a rail line or carriage near anywhere in the West. This adventure is actually not a part of the Deadlands setting, I'm just importing a story I very much enjoyed. Factions: [hider] The Union Commanded since 1872 by General Ulysses S. Grant. While they have long proclaimed dominion over all the land they once claimed in the recent past, following the election of Eric Michele as Head of the CSA, they have been forced to come to terms with the divided world that we all live in. They have claim to much of the Northern Half of the United States, with the exception of Utah and chunks of Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, and Dakota, as well as the Disputed Lands. The Confederate States of America The CSA elections of 1878 would see Jefferson Davis reelected and then assassinated and the front-runner against him in the election Robert E. Lee would fall victim to an accidental rail car explosion. The President of the CSA elected in the aftermath of these events, Eric Michele, has since kept a tenuous peace with Union President Ulysses S. Grant. They have claim to much of the Southern Half of the United States, with the exception of California, and part of Oklahoma, as well as the Disputed Lands. The Disputed Lands Kansas, Colorado, California, most of Oklahoma, and some would argue Utah, make up The Disputed Lands. These are lands without any significant presence from the Union, CSA, or the two predominant Indian groups of the land. Utah is claimed by The Republic of Deseret but often not recognized. The Republic of Deseret A land for the followers of Brigham Young, ruled by Mormon law. At it's center a factory city, Salt Lake City, reborn as The City of Gloom. It is also the site of Junkyard, squeezed between Salt Lake City and Indian lands it is the site for a number of large factories owned by one of the richest men in the West. The Sioux Nations Ruled by Indian Chief Sitting Bull, after Ghost Rock was discovered in the sacred Black Hills of the Dakotas the Sioux first fought to expel the miners, prospectors, and other such greedy fools who would trample their lands. In time they compromised, allowing the mining of the Black Hills so long as they do not venture beyond them, mining the hills and staying within the city of Deadwood. George Armstrong Custer, once defeated by Sitting Bull himself now court-martialed from the Union Army remains on the outskirts of the Sioux Nations, trying to claim his revenge on the Sioux and bring the lands back into the hands of the Union. This is much to the chagrin of the Union who have largely found a peace with the Sioux. The Coyote Confederacy Inspired by the Sioux Nations many tribes of the South banded together to stake their own claim. They are ruled by a mysterious man (or perhaps woman) known as The Coyote and seem to have some agreement with the CSA as they do not conduct raids on CSA lands, with the exception of Oklahoma. [/hider] General Character Ideas [hider] [list] [*] Big Game Hunter [*] Blessed (Priests) [*] Bounty Hunter [*] Cavalry Man [*] Cowpoke [*] Deserter [*] Drifter [*] Escort [*] Explorer [*] Grifter [*] Gunslinger [*] Huckster [*] Indian Brave [*] Indian Shaman [*] Kid [*] Lawman [*] Mad Scientist [*] Marshal [*] Martial Artist [*] Outlaw [*] Prospector [*] Rancher [*] Soldier [/list] [/hider] Forms of Magic [list] [*] Blessed - Abrahamic Priests, Sin makes them weaker [*] Shamans - Indian Tribe or Voodoo, Not performing rituals makes them weaker [*] Hucksters - Communicate with and Play Poker against Demons to perform magic [*] Mad Scientists - Use expensive materials to build wondrous machinations [*] Chi Master - Use Kung Fu [/list]