Our first 5 stud - sort of.

following the tragic death of his sister, Bai Yang Chen has taken a vow of poverty. And he encourages you to take the vow with him.

Each card in your hand reduces that impressive 5 stud, and BYC will not hold on to worldly possessions to do something rude with those bullets, like a shotgun.

And for the D&D enthusiasts out there, he has enough monk levels to be immune to disease (conditions).

Finally, if you have purged yourself of the temptations of Wealth, you can draw a card. Not super useful when you cannot afford to play the card, unless it is a free action.

an aggressive heavy shooting deck would like to run BYC and leverage those bullets into a strong advantage.

Reggie here goes into my design basket of "all or nothing" type of risk vs. reward.

Start him, Darragh, Anthea, Maria, and Rosaleen and you can go all in with a 5 stud, 4 draw. Just make sure to win the round, because you lose a stud and a draw for each dude you have to remove from your posse.

and, from the other side of the table, know that Reggie needs to work as part of a unit, so the individual parts can be out maneuvered.

For those decks which want to get this beauty out faster, running a few copies of Technological Exhibition can make it happen much easier. I would have liked that it had more cost and less Upkeep though, to make it easier to keep in play.

Is there a story which explains how the QUATERMAN became harrowed?

I love my QUATERMAN deck. Even if it's not the best Gadget deck out there, I love the theme of creating a bunch of robo-cowboys! And even better, their immunity to bullet changes and being moved means that it messes up a lot of opponents' strategies. I love it when they try to play Sun in Yer Eyes, only to realize that QUATERMAN doesn't care!

So I was thrilled to see QUATERMAN PRIME, the new and improved version! He has the same benefits as the original with more bullets, and extra cost. The extra casualty for cheatin' players is a nice benefit, and the double-edged sword that means it effects you too means it fits well with the Law Dogs, especially Fort 51, given that they tend not to cheat.

The bad news: I've tried to make him work in a Law Dogs deck, but it just really doesn't work, which disappoints me greatly. There are a couple of reasons:

1. Because the rules don't allow you to have Gadget Dudes in your starting posse (unless you have an ability that says so like POST-A-TRON), you can't build a deck where PRIME is a core strategy. And PRIME isn't Non-Unique like his regular counterparts, meaning if you run more than 1 or 2 of him, you're likely to get dead hands. But if you only run 1 or 2 of him, your play hand only gets PRIME once in a blue moon.
2. The 4 value and 6 difficulty is tough for Law Dogs where he seems to synergize best. Most decks assume you will always succeed on your pulls, so if there are any other 4s in your deck, you need a Mad Scientist 2. There are currently no Mad Scientist 2 dudes in Law Dogs. You can use Dr. Dayl Burnett, but you have to remove a bounty from an opposing dude. If you include Drifters there's Margaret Hagerty, but that means you're relying on a single dude to allow QUATERMAN PRIME to be auto-pulled (which wouldn't be an issue if you could start with Gadget Dudes). And since Margaret is a Drifter, you might as well put both her and PRIME in another faction, or give up and switch to Entrepreneurs.
3. Related to value, if you're running QUATERMAN PRIME, you naturally want to run the original QUATERMAN. But with the latter being a 3♠︎, the pulls are even more difficult if you include them.

Maybe someday the rules will change to let you put any gadget dudes in your starting posse so he can see play more often, or Law Dogs will get a Mad Scientist 2 so he can be auto-pulled. But for now, Law Dogs can't very well build a deck that includes him, meaning only Entrepreneurs can effectively invent him.

The backstory of the art and this dude's origin are covered in this article at Pinebox's website in the article below. She and Dr Delphi Wallis are RPG characters given life in the card game, with art supplied by one of their players.

pineboxentertainment.com

The flavor text implies that Virgil Earp witnessed Doc Holliday firing more than 6 bullets through the use of hexslinging.

The legend Doc Holliday locks a dude to 4 bullets, meaning that Doc Holliday cannot allow a dude to fan the hammer and fire more than 6 shots.

Complete flavor fail. smh.

Since I've seen quite a few people asking about it now, if you're wondering about the background behind the art on this card, check out this article: pineboxentertainment.com

with Secret Paths, you can take a whole posse of dudes from home over to a contentious deed without having to stroll casually through a Murder Blender in town square. Sure, the deed in question might become the site of a fire fight, but at least your dudes will be there unbooted. Great when there are things that you want to boot for. Or if you have a Totem that you want to drop on their deed.

Sure, it is expensive, but the effect makes you into the king of movement.

And if you can entice a fool hardy claim jumper to boot on out to one of your out of town deeds, then all of your dudes get to attend their upcoming funeral.

our old west version of suppressing fire. For times when your are not using Fives for Pistol Whip, or facing down a mess of 0 Stud dudes. Or, if you are trying to set up a bigger Nightmare at Noon. Or refining the target field for a Point Blank.

Also ruins Raven's day. Or helps secure the benefit, depending on who has pledged their oath to War.

and the dude you boot could be a temporary Bounty Hunter or Shane & Graves Security guard.

for the first part, I wanted some way, outside of Unprepared to impact opposing spells. Like a spell targeting version of Phantom Fingers.

Then there is part 2

another element of the influence denial suite alongside Blood Curse - but only useful against dudes with greater than 1 influence.

or ... Use Mind Twist on your own Zero Influence dude(s) to take control of deeds, or just to stay in the game.

This was conceived as another element in the Control Hex toolbox. A spiritual successor to the old Paralysis Mark, only with decision points for the opponent. Keep a Ghost Rock in reserve to unboot your dude or make deliberate movement decisions to keep the dude from getting booted. Scatter a few castings on different dudes and then they will think twice before bringing a whole passel of dudes into a shootout or Job.

or add in a forced booting effect like Leonardo "Leon" Cavallo, and you can be very effective turn after turn.

Depending on the huckster that is casting this, the bullet penalty can get up to 3, or more with an Attire boost. Or Lillian Morgan to drop a 5 point hammer.

of course the potential bullet bonus is best with a stud huckster, like Dave "Slim" Gorman, or Nicodemus Whateley, or even Auntie Sinister.

for extra dirty tricks, you could tag team this with Nightmare at Noon to render the opposing posse into a field of brass.

Improvised Weapon - thy name is Battered Banjo. This submission was a bit of a weird one, but I ran with it. A melee weapon to support that theme, and a bonus when applying musical accompaniment for a Hymn. add in a Sword of the Spirit and you can turn the banjo into an "axe"

And, YOU CAN SMASH IT ON A DUDE'S HEAD

We do not have a ton of options for hitting a dude with a bullet penalty as a noon action. Great is they are the lowball winner and your are trying to dodge a shotgun.

or this CAN lower the bullets of a dude with a Peacemaker.

Safety note on the influence bonus, reacting to Amazing Grace is great, since the influence boost will last until the end of the turn, but reacting to Onward Christian Soldiers will only endure to the end of the shootout.

I know that the world is pretty broadly divided into cat people and dog people. And we already have three hounds as sidekicks in Doomtown. People know that a dog would take a Bullet for them. And the indifference of cats is well documented (meme'd) on the internet.

Scratch here, can go both ways. If her "owner" is in a shootout that she has no interest in, she can promote a nearby dude as her new caretaker. Or Scratch can see a fight breaking out and decide to wander into the middle of it.

The card cycle is to represent a luck aspect. Possibly even a deliberate sacrifice play to get better cards into hand (and recycle a 5 of hearts).

Playtesters pushed back hard on my idea for a gadget weapon that removes Stud. Even though it discards itself when used. All of that concern really was hinged upon the scrounging scientist Janosz Pratt.

But this is a 4. and the ability requires a pull. And needs to be used by a mad scientist. How is this going to be useful Rich?

1) splash this in a higher value pulling deck so that you can neutralize bigger shooters more reliably.

2) run in a more mid range value gadget weapon deck, as there is usually a solid back up stud to wreck with a net gun. Heck, Barton Everest should already be in range.

3) use Prof. Aloysius Roe to pump the skill check.

4) look into some value lowering tricks like Stone Idol to bring that target down

yes, this is best in a situation where putting the 4 back into the rotation is not going to cause problems. Of course a savvy player could focus on the 4 value and capitalize on what going back into the deck does for the draw structure.

I have the Deadlands roleplaying game, all the editions, and when it come to Kung Fu, this is one of the maneuvers that just has the coolest name.

So then, how to incorporate it into the Doomtown mechanics???

The Bull Demon techniques already gave us kung fu tricks for casualty mitigation, so I didn't want to crowd that design space.

But the Kung Fu bag of tricks did not yet have a Cheatin' Resolution in their arsenal, so I thought I would try that.

... But we also knew we were aiming for a high value kung Fu technique, and that can really be a hard sell if a card cannot pass its own check. So this needed to be magically powerful.

Seizing the Pearl of Death is a spectacle to behold. It replaces itself, it dazzles and confounds a nearby onlooker. AND it causes a 2 casualty swing in the shootout, as you return the leaden pearl to sender. And if you can do all of this and stay legal, the legend of your kung fu master sticks with her for the rest of the day. (alas Doomtown memories are short, and tomorrow only the opposing player will remember what you did to them)

my initial playtest name for this idea was "Table Flip". Both for the gamer reference and for the trope of flipping a table to use as cover.

this can be a great way to survive a round when a dude is in way over their head. Or even, if you are feeling dirty, to Behold White Bull and live to tell about it.

I believe that there is a full blown article on the development of the second wave of Heroic Legends.

Honest Andrew Lane here went through a ton of changes, with my play test team telling me the number of different ways that I was letting the manitou take control.

The Ghost provides a degree of action economy. If you have the money for a weapon, but are not sure if your opponent is going to oblige you with a fight, you can try, and if they back down you can play that deed you were considering.

if facing off against a melee weapon deck, you can sand bag your weapon and get them to commit to a fight that you can turn favorable.

if you are using weapons that turn your dudes into studs, you can wait out their Sun in Yer Eyes and use a weapon to restore a semblance of studdage.

this card feels like it was made to shut down people who want to camp out in the town square. just make sure she has backup or an exit plan if they want to get into the fight. a personal ornithopter or make the smart choice is a way to get out of a tight spot with the damage already done.

Tumblebleeds is another card where the art came first. Our resident Marshal Artist, David Hammond, had this piece done up, and I had to design how in the nine hells Tumblebleeds from the RPG would take form in Doomtown.

The weeds don’t make it indoors, but they can certainly enhance plans for a town square murder blender. And while you can send intrepid heroes to dispatch the infernal thistles, the removal job happens in town square, and Tumblebleeds make that a dangerous place.

Safety tip, in tie hands their is still a loser. Try not to be that player.

Another of the aspects that more than one playtester submitted ideas for was a way to mitigate the frequent and heavy handed Boot costing of some of the early Miracles. Design was swinging the pendulum hard back from the raw strength of Hexes, and early miracles showcased a comparative weakness

Enter Babble On. On 9, solid value for passing whatever Miracles you might be running. Conditional use for shootout control. Makes spells like Soothe more better.

But for all that, you do need to pay a ghost rock for it. No free rides.

Sometimes on the design side of things you get yourself in a spot. "I want another gadget horse, but what can it DO that is different than what we already have?"

Enter the Iron Mole.

While not much mining is going on these days around Gomorra, or Tombstone, or Deadwood, the advantages of mechanology can still pay off to increase production.

And while the dude running the drill cannot contest in town locations with ease, should a ruckus break out, she can goose enough speed out of the Iron Mole to come to the rescue.

Classic Doomtown had a number of cards with the bullet trait. Most were some sort of silver bullet solution to dudes with certain traits. Including them was a question of risk of a wasted card in some matchups vs an auto kill of, say, an Abomination.

The Magnum Bullets in classic inspired these. As did the myriad ways we have these days of pumping up hand ranks. These babies make short work of Force Fields.

And, for those interested in reliable value structures, this is a playable 3❤️ that you can easily roll back into the deck (for free even).

Akin to a Pearl-Handled Revolver, but more expensive. But it does trigger Mystical interactions.

And, if you are a shooting huckster, this can add up the bullets.

Mind you, I am fully aware this is a 2, which is a rare breed of value for a huckster deck. So this doesn’t carry the same nuclear deterrence as a Soul Blast in a high pulling deck. But what happens when your noon hex control lock down has a surprise slip through the net? Or a first action job before you can begin choking their position?

Or Blue Lightnin’ makes use of more conditional spells. Or to get that huckster skill boost needed to make a spell reliable. Or a sneaky way to ramp up the bullets of Bobo.

and allows José Morales to lock in the stud without giving up a slot that could be used for Corporeal Twist

More than one contributor submitted ideas involving influence fights, or “rap battles” as some call them.

In retrospect, after our Tombstone visit, this should probably has the Government trait. Oops.

Makes some of those zero stud dudes look pretty spiffy though, if you can force the fight to be here.

Also really hamstrings shooter tactics relying on bullet boosts (Faster on the Draw, Thunder Boy, Zach Deloria)

Trying to come up with cards to support Abominations is a balancing act, so easy to go too strong (when Abominations already have strong tactics), or so weak as to make a card be a waste of our limited production.

And what do abomination tactics usually complain about? Influence. So here is a little saloon that caters to a rather “odd” clientele.

Feel free to use those extra bullets to start a commotion. Or Rope and Ride someone into the slavering jaws of your unnatural death trap.

Or just be happy for a private saloon on seven.

A 2/1 CP deed on 8’s?? The ability to scout extra cards from your opponent while fishing for their jokers? Kills a Heretic Joker? Rewards you against stacked decks?

What is not to love?

I like information about opponents decks, even if my veteran inertia still doesn’t think to look at either of our discard piles.

Probably says something that this sweet lady made appearances in a number of decks the first event that this set was allowed for.

Another piece for those of you looking for safe out of town production. Although less safe.

Competition on the 10 spot is pretty fierce though.

Of course this could also be a great lure in a jobs based deck looking to generate isolated marks.

Or another deed for Arnold Stewart to go looking for.

Nothing too tricky

An eleventh hour add in to answer the question, “when are the first peoples getting a Core Deed?”

The challenge was how do you do a core deed for FP that fits their themes and doesn’t become the next Spirit Fortress?

Lots of my bad ideas got smashed by my playtesters, thank goodness.

So here we support Holy Grounds and Town Square dominance.

The timing was courtesy of Chief Stephen Seven-Eagles.

Makes sure you have someone in town square to start next turn. As long as you are not worried about blocking / protecting income, you can recover a dude who would be “stranded” on a deed next turn.

And you can still throw some Silver Pheasant's Bounty on it to turn it into a money maker. Or hit it with some CP from the Office of Ancestral Affairs.

have you ever drawn up your shootout hand and wondered "what the &^$? How did all my off value cards find their way into this draw hand?" Or the flip side, faced a straight flush from a deck with exactly one way to do all that? Or the cursed double joker legal five of a kind?

Enter Red River Roulette.

as long as you can spare a dude to sit at the table and call out "double or nothing!", you can make some magic happen.

if you can bait someone into a big Siege Of The Orphanage, so much the better.

also spicy if you can inflict a non-casualty removal effect at the same time (Jael's Guile, Coachwhip!, Ricochet, etc)