Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Kertain]

Evening folks,
I am forming a new group and want to start off with a short 2-4 part adventure for Deadlands. I have never run a Deadlands game and being a new group I want to "feel" everyone out.

Anyone have suggestions on a nice simple adventure that will give the players a good taste of Deadlands without being too long?

I see there are some excellent plot point settings out there, but those seems for a more extended campaign. However, if DL plot point are anything like 50 Fathoms or NE..do they have Savage Tales? I suppose I could just string a few of those together in a pinch.

Thought?

[Crumbs]

If you don't mind buying something Coffin Rock makes for a decent little intro to the setting that shouldn't take more than 2-3 sessions if you include character generation. Plus it's a good way to feel out how your group is with the super natural element to the setting. Makes it really easy to know if you need to dial it up or down.

The free one sheets make for excellent intros and it's fairly easy to just say they happen in the same general area. A couple can even be combined to make a mini campaign pretty easy.

[ValhallaGH]

Greetings.

[brumcg]

I'm in a similar situation. I decided to run Blood Drive I: Bad Times on the Goodnight.

I think it's a great intro to the system and the setting. The majority of my group doesn't know either very well. The downside is that it's linear (well, it is a cattle drive). I'm not sure how many sessions it will take to get through it. I'm thinking 5-ish, but I could be underestimating quite a bit.

My plan is to take them through Blood Drive I and see if they want to continue to High Plains Drovers, do something else with DL, or try something else entirely.

[Kertain]

Wow folks, thanks for all the info.

I have plenty to go on now..will look over the recommendations and take a swing

[thudthwacker]

Wow -- "Murder on the Hellstromme Express" sounds *amazing*. Just to make sure I've got all my ducks in a row: if I wanted to run a Deadlands:Reloaded campaign, I would need:

Savage Worlds Deluxe (Core Rules)
Deadlands Player's Guide
Deadlands Marshal's Handbook

(And, of course, if I wanted to run "Murder on the Hellstromme Express", either the PDF of the adventure or the Reloaded GM Screen, which comes with it.)

Is that correct?

[Kertain]

Correct.

[GruffaloCrumble]

Just picked up the new Deadlands Reloaded adventure (Bad Times on the Goodnight) and it would be a very, VERY promising start to a new Deadlands game. Very strongly recommended! It introduces a load of western staples very naturally throughout it's three acts and would take 2-3 sessions to run.

[RJack]

Coffin Rock was what I used to start up my most recent Deadlands campaign. All the players were complete Deadlands newbies, but it does a pretty good job of quickly bringing players in. As stated, it's more of a mini sand box campaign. I ended up trimming out a lot of the extra material so the players could just concentrate on the main plot, and it still ended up being 3 sessions.

I've also recently run Murder on the Hellstromme Express. While it's a fun adventure, I'm not sure it's as good of an introduction to Deadlands. The first part is very heavy on the roleplay, as the heroes run around a train with eight fully fleshed NPCs, each with their own motivations. You need a scorecard or something, or else it gets a little overwhelming. Also the final fight is more of a puzzle monster. If your players are newer to Savage Worlds and aren't as familiar with the different tactics available, it can turn into a bloodbath. We had a lot of fun with it, just throwing some caveats in there.

[thudthwacker]

Many thanks for the information about the available adventures, RJack. Very much appreciated.

[Kertain]

Seems like Coffin Rock seems to be the common consensus for a starter game.

However, it is very nice to get personal reviews for the other products since I plan on running them if the DL game has staying power

Thanks again.