When Science Meets Sorcery
In the Weird West, magic isn't just realâit's as much a part of daily life as steam engines and six-shooters. But this isn't your typical fantasy magic where wizards wave wands and speak Latin. This is frontier magic: raw, dangerous, and always demanding a price. It's like trying to harness lightning with your bare hands while riding a wild mustang in a thunderstorm.
Think of supernatural power in Deadlands as making deals with forces that operate by rules older and stranger than human law. Whether you're gambling with demons, bargaining with spirits, tinkering with impossible science, or calling upon divine intervention, you're always walking a tightrope between power and disaster.
The Four Paths to Power
Each path to supernatural power in Deadlands reflects a different philosophy about how humans should interact with forces beyond their understanding. It's like choosing your dance partner for a waltz where stepping on their toes might cost you your soul.
The Rules Underneath
Every one of these traditions runs on the core Savage Worlds power system: an Arcane Background Edge, an arcane skill, Power Points, and powers dressed in trappings. That system is covered in Powers & Magic, so this part doesn't repeat it. Here the focus is on what Deadlands adds: who the practitioners are, where their power really comes from, and what it costs them.
In the current edition, hucksters cast with the Spellcasting skill, mad scientists with Weird Science, and both the blessed and shamans with Faith. The setting book lists each tradition's starting powers, Power Points and special rules.
Huckster Magic: High Stakes Sorcery
The Art of Demonic Poker
Hucksters don't cast spellsâthey win them. Every hex is a poker game played against supernatural entities that would love nothing more than to drag the huckster's soul to hell. It's magic for people who think Russian roulette needs more excitement and better odds.
How Hexslingin' Works
A huckster's spells are called hexes, and the power behind them comes from manitous, the evil spirits of the Hunting Grounds. The huckster believes they're out-bluffing a demon in a contest of wills; the manitou plays along for its own reasons. Mechanically, a hex is cast with Spellcasting and Power Points like any other power.
The cards are where Deadlands gets its flavour. In Deadlands Classic, every hex was cast by drawing a poker hand, and a better hand meant a stronger hex. In the current edition, a huckster can push their luck by dealing with the devil: drawing a poker hand to gamble for extra power. A good hand pays out; a bad deal can bring backlash. It's like playing poker where losing doesn't just cost you moneyâit might cost you your mind.
Four Aces + King: The kind of hand every huckster dreams of drawing when the stakes are their soul
Dead Man's Hand (Two Black Aces, Two Black Eights): The most famous hand in the West, and an ill omen at any huckster's table
Common Huckster Hexes
Hucksters give their hexes colourful names. In Savage Worlds terms, each one is a core power with a huckster trapping: Soul Blast is essentially bolt, and Phantom Fingers is essentially telekinesis. Pick the power that does the job, then describe it the huckster's way.
Card Shark
Allows the huckster to manipulate playing cards with supernatural skill. Perfect for cheating at poker or making dramatic card throws that actually hurt people. It's like having telekinesis, but only for 52 specific objects.
Practical Use: Winning at cards, creating distractions, improvised weapons
Ghost Touch
Lets the huckster physically interact with ghosts and spirits. Useful for fighting incorporeal enemies or having conversations with the recently deceased. It's like getting supernatural customer service, but the wait times are terrible.
Practical Use: Combat vs. ghosts, gathering information from the dead
Soul Blast
Projects raw supernatural energy as a damaging attack. It's like having a magical gun that fires concentrated nightmare, effective against both living and undead targets.
Practical Use: Combat, intimidation, clearing rooms of supernatural vermin
Phantom Fingers
Creates invisible supernatural hands that can manipulate objects at a distance. Perfect for stage magic, pickpocketing, or dramatically slamming doors during tense conversations.
Practical Use: Telekinesis, sleight of hand, psychological warfare
â ď¸ Backlash: When the House Always Wins
Backlash is supernatural retaliation from the manitous a huckster gambles with. Mechanically it builds on the core Backlash idea, where a botched casting roll hurts the caster (see Powers & Magic), and the setting book supplies the manitou-flavoured results. The tiers below are a way to describe it at the table. The entities remember every slight and hold grudges longer than elephants.
Minor Backlash: Supernatural bad luck, temporary hexes backfiring
Major Backlash: Possession attempts, supernatural curses, reality distortions
Catastrophic Backlash: Permanent soul damage, demonic manifestations, reality tears
Mad Science: When Physics Takes a Holiday
The Science of the Impossible
Mad scientists in the Weird West don't just bend the rules of physicsâthey break them, stomp on the pieces, and rebuild them using steam, electricity, and pure inspiration. They're like regular scientists who looked at the laws of thermodynamics and said, "Those are more like guidelines, really."
How Weird Science Works
Mad science operates on the principle that if you believe hard enough and build it complicated enough, anything is possible. Devices are powered by ghost rock, held together by determination, and operated by people brave enough to use machines that shouldn't work but somehow do.
The dark secret is where the inspiration comes from: the manitous whisper designs to inventors through ghost rock, and those whispers slowly unhinge the people who listen. Mechanically, a mad scientist uses the Weird Science skill and Power Points to build gizmos that duplicate powers, and a botched roll means a malfunction.
Strain Meter: A way to picture how much supernatural energy a device is channelingâand how close it is to exploding. It's a storytelling image, not a rule.
Mad Science Devices
đ INVENTION BLUEPRINT: Difference Engine MK-VII
Purpose: Analytical computation and supernatural detection
Components: Brass gears, ghost rock power core, difference calculation wheels
Operation: Steam-powered mechanical calculation with supernatural sensitivity
Side Effects: Occasional prophecy printouts, temporal hiccups, mathematical poetry
Reliability: Temperamental (better on Tuesdays, for reasons nobody can explain)
đ INVENTION BLUEPRINT: Gatling Pistol
Purpose: Rapid-fire personal firearm
Components: Miniaturized Gatling mechanism, ghost rock ammunition feed
Operation: Hand-cranked rapid fire in pistol form
Side Effects: Extreme recoil, ammunition expense, intimidation factor
Reliability: Good, right up until it jams spectacularly
đ INVENTION BLUEPRINT: Velocipede of Unusual Size
Purpose: High-speed personal transportation
Components: Oversized wheels, steam engine, gyroscopic stabilizers
Operation: Steam-powered bicycle capable of 40+ mph
Side Effects: Terror in horses, frequent crashes, social ostracism
Reliability: Poor, but spectacular when it works
The Mad Science Process
Describing Malfunctions
The setting book gives the actual malfunction results; use these as ways to narrate them.
Minor Malfunction: Device works but with embarrassing side effects (sparks, smoke, strange noises)
Major Malfunction: Device fails dramatically but safely (spectacular light show, small explosions)
Catastrophic Failure: Device explodes, possibly taking the inventor and nearby bystanders with it
Temporal Paradox: Device works too well, creating impossible results that break local reality
The Blessed: Divine Intervention in the Devil's Playground
When Heaven Takes Sides
The Blessed are holy warriors who channel divine power to fight supernatural evil. They're like frontier preachers who decided that sometimes the best sermon is delivered at gunpoint, backed by miraculous power that makes the skeptics reconsider their position on theology.
How Faith Works
Blessed characters don't cast spellsâthey pray for miracles. Their power comes from genuine faith and divine approval of their actions. The more righteous their cause and the stronger their belief, the more spectacular the divine intervention. It's like having a direct hotline to Heaven, but the connection quality depends on your moral standing.
⨠Miracle Mechanics
Mechanically, the blessed roll Faith and spend Power Points like any other caster (see Powers & Magic). What sets them apart is their code: each faith has tenets, and breaking them is a sin that weakens the bond with the divine until the character atones. The setting book defines the sins and their penalties.
Divine Favors
Like hexes, these are names for core powers dressed in holy trappings: Lay on Hands is healing, and Consecrate Weapon is much like smite.
đ Lay on Hands
The classic healing miracle. The Blessed can cure wounds, diseases, and sometimes even supernatural afflictions through divine touch. It's like being a frontier doctor, but your medical degree is signed by the Almighty.
Limitations: Works better on the innocent, less effective on the wicked
đ Consecrate Weapon
Blesses weapons to be particularly effective against supernatural evil. A consecrated gun doesn't just kill demonsâit sends them home with extreme prejudice and a formal complaint filed with management.
Duration: Until used against evil or the weapon is defiled
đ Sanctuary
Creates a zone of divine protection that supernatural evil cannot enter. It's like having a "No Monsters Allowed" sign that actually works, enforced by cosmic law rather than local ordinances.
Area: Small building or large room, maintained by constant prayer
đ Speak with Dead
Allows communication with the recently deceased, providing they died with unfinished business or important information to share. It's like supernatural customer service, but for the afterlife.
Limitations: Only works with willing spirits, limited time per conversation
The Price of Faith
â ď¸ Divine Disapproval
When the Blessed act against their faith's teachings or use miracles for selfish purposes, they risk losing divine favor. This isn't just mechanicalâit's a crisis of faith that can shake a character to their core. Heaven doesn't send angry letters; it just stops answering prayers.
Different Faiths, Different Miracles
Christianity isn't the only faith with power in the Weird West. Jewish rabbis might call upon ancient protective traditions, Muslim travelers could invoke divine guidance, and even folk magic traditions show divine favor. The key is genuine faith and moral righteousness, not specific denominational affiliation.
Shamanic Magic: The Old Ways in a New World
Wisdom of the Spirits
Shamans work with nature spirits and ancient wisdom to channel supernatural power. They're like diplomats to the spirit world, maintaining relationships with entities that have been around since before humans invented the wheelâor gunpowder.
How Shamanic Magic Works
Shamanic power comes from partnerships with spirits rather than dominance over them. Shamans ask spirits for aid, offer appropriate compensation, and maintain ongoing relationships. It's like having a supernatural social network where your friend count determines your magical power level.
Mechanically, shamans roll Faith and use Power Points, much like the blessed. Like them, they must keep faith with their traditions: offend the spirits and their favour, and the shaman's power, dries up until amends are made.
đş Spirit Partnerships
Each shaman has relationships with different types of spirits: animal spirits for guidance and strength, elemental spirits for control over natural forces, and ancestor spirits for wisdom and protection. These aren't servantsâthey're partners with their own agendas and personalities.
Types of Spirits
đŚ Animal Spirits
Provide abilities related to their nature: Eagle spirits grant vision and flight, Bear spirits offer strength and endurance, Wolf spirits enable pack hunting and loyalty. Each spirit has preferences about when and how their power is used.
Common Powers: Enhanced senses, animal communication, temporary physical transformation
đ Elemental Spirits
Control natural forces like wind, water, earth, and fire. They're generally more powerful than animal spirits but also more alien in their thinking. Bargaining with a fire spirit is like negotiating with a force of natureâwhich is exactly what you're doing.
Common Powers: Weather control, elemental attacks, environmental manipulation
đť Ancestor Spirits
Deceased shamans and wise tribal members who offer guidance and protection. They have the advantage of understanding human concerns but may have their own unfinished business or strong opinions about tribal politics.
Common Powers: Prophecy, protective wards, ancient knowledge, spiritual guidance
Shamanic Rituals
Shamanic magic often requires rituals: vision quests, sweat lodges, sacred dances, or spirit journeys. These aren't just mechanical requirementsâthey're genuine spiritual practices that connect the shaman to the spirit world. You can't just rush through a vision quest like you're ordering fast food.
Spirit Relationship Maintenance
A way to role-play the relationship; it isn't a rules track.
Honored Partnerships: Spirits eagerly assist, powers work at full strength
Neutral Relations: Spirits help but may ask for favors in return
Strained Relations: Spirits reluctant to help, powers work at reduced effectiveness
Broken Partnerships: Spirits refuse aid or actively work against the shaman
The Harrowed: Heroes Who Won't Stay Dead
Death Is Just a Setback
Sometimes a hero dies and doesn't stay buried. A manitou crawls into the corpse and drags it back up, and the hero claws their way out of the grave as one of the Harrowed. They're still themselves, mostly, but they now share their body with a demon that wants to use it for its own ends.
Living with a Manitou
Whether a dead hero comes back at all is up to fate and the Marshal, following the setting book's Harrowed rules. Those who return are tougher to put down for good (destroying the brain is the classic way), and they can develop unholy abilities through special Harrowed Edges. The price is the passenger: the manitou watches, waits, and sometimes takes the reins, and the hero may wake up to find it has been busy.
â ď¸ Playing the Harrowed
The heart of a Harrowed character is the struggle for control. The Marshal plays the manitou's schemes; the player plays the hero trying to stay human. Townsfolk who learn the truth rarely take it well, and the blessed may see a walking abomination rather than a friend.
When Different Magics Meet
Magical Incompatibility
Different supernatural traditions don't always play well together. Huckster magic might interfere with blessed miracles, weird science could disrupt shamanic rituals, and everyone's power becomes unpredictable around strong supernatural phenomena. It's like trying to run different operating systems on the same computerâsometimes it works, sometimes everything crashes. None of this is a formal rule; it's a way for the Marshal to dramatize the clash.
Supernatural Conflicts
When a huckster's demonic ally meets a blessed character's divine protection, sparks flyâliterally. These conflicts create dramatic tension and interesting roleplay opportunities. It's not just mechanical opposition; it's a clash of fundamental worldviews made manifest.
Combined Efforts
Sometimes different magical traditions can work together despite their differences. A mad scientist might build a device that enhances shamanic rituals, or a blessed character could consecrate a huckster's cards to protect against backlash. These collaborations require trust, understanding, and often spectacular results.
Becoming a Practitioner
Starting Your Magical Journey
Learning supernatural abilities in Deadlands isn't like reading a textbookâit's like learning to dance with forces that could destroy you if you step wrong. Each tradition requires different approaches, mentors, and personal qualities.
Huckster Training
Usually involves finding an experienced huckster willing to teach (and who hasn't been consumed by their own backlash). Training includes card manipulation, supernatural theory, and gradually making contact with otherworldly entities. It's like learning poker from someone who's been playing against demons for decades.
Mad Science Education
Requires both scientific knowledge and the peculiar type of genius that ignores inconvenient things like physics. Many mad scientists are self-taught, driven by inspiration and desperation. Others learn from mentors who may or may not still be entirely sane.
Blessed Calling
Usually involves a genuine religious conversion or spiritual awakening. Divine power isn't learnedâit's granted to those who demonstrate faith and moral character. Some are born to it, others find it through crisis or revelation.
Shamanic Initiation
Traditionally involves tribal acceptance and spiritual guidance from established shamans. In the Weird West, some non-Native characters might find shamanic power through adoption, marriage, or extraordinary circumstances that put them in contact with spirits.
Magic in Daily Life
Professional Applications
The Traveling Preacher
Uses blessed miracles to heal the sick, consecrate graveyards, and protect frontier communities. Often serves as both spiritual advisor and supernatural defense coordinator.
The Frontier Doctor
Mad scientist who builds medical devices that shouldn't work but do. Steam-powered surgical equipment, ghost rock-powered diagnostic machines, mechanical prosthetics that work better than the original limbs.
The Gambling House Owner
Huckster who uses their powers to run "honest" games (the house edge comes from supernatural skill rather than cheating) and protect their establishment from supernatural threats.
The Trail Guide
Shaman who helps settlers navigate both physical and supernatural dangers of the frontier. Provides weather prediction, spirit negotiation, and protection from otherworldly threats.
Supernatural Services
In towns where magic is known and accepted, practitioners might advertise their services: "Ghost Removal - Reasonable Rates," "Mechanical Limbs - Better Than New," "Fortune Telling - Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back," or "Spiritual Cleansing - All Denominations Welcome."
Magical Practice Exercises
Exercise 1: Power and Price
For each magical tradition, create a scenario where using their power would be helpful but comes with significant risk or moral complexity. Consider: When is healing someone actually harmful? When might scientific progress be too dangerous? When does fighting evil require compromising your values?
Exercise 2: Magical Problem Solving
Present a challenge that could be solved by multiple magical approaches, then compare the solutions:
- A town is being terrorized by vengeful ghosts
- How would a huckster handle it vs. a blessed character vs. a shaman?
- What would each approach cost the practitioner?
- Which solution would be most/least acceptable to the townspeople?
Exercise 3: Magical Ethics
Create moral dilemmas specific to each tradition:
- A huckster could save lives by making a deal with a particularly nasty demon
- A mad scientist's invention could help people but requires testing on unwilling subjects
- A blessed character could perform a miracle but only by breaking their religious vows
- A shaman could gain powerful allies by betraying their tribal obligations
Exercise 4: Magical Collaboration
Design a situation where characters from different magical traditions must work together despite their incompatible worldviews. How do they overcome their differences? What compromises must each make? What new solutions emerge from their collaboration?
Magic as Metaphor
Technology and Progress
Mad science represents the double-edged nature of technological advancementâthe promise of progress balanced against the risk of unintended consequences. Every invention that makes life better also creates new problems to solve.
Faith and Community
Blessed miracles reflect the power of genuine belief and moral community. They show how shared values and mutual support can overcome seemingly impossible challenges, but also how moral certainty can become rigid dogma.
Tradition and Change
Shamanic magic represents the tension between traditional wisdom and modern challenges. It shows how ancient knowledge remains relevant but must adapt to new circumstances and threats.
Risk and Reward
Huckster magic embodies the entrepreneurial spirit of the frontierâthe willingness to take enormous risks for potentially enormous rewards. It's about making deals with uncertain partners and living with the consequences.