Classic Hindrances

Ailin’ 1/3/5 

There are some things doctors just can’t cure. If you get a rash in your crotch from time to time, it’s damned inconvenient. If you’ve got consumption, you’d better make arrangements with the local undertaker. Diseased characters are affected by their ailments depending on the severity and the circumstances of their particular affliction. 

Lesser ailments are things like chronic allergies or colds, frequent lice, or worms. Some more serious diseases are consumption (tuberculosis), diabetes, and cancer. Remember this is the Weird West, so there are likely far worse ailments out there. 

Ailin’ 

Value Ailment 

1 Minor: Your character has a minor but incurable ailment. This might cause him to cough at poor times, make social engagements difficult, give him the shakes, etc. Subtract –2 from any persuasion rolls and sneak attempts. 

3 Chronic: Your hero has a chronic illness that causes constant agony and may eventually kill her. She suffers the penalties for a minor ailment, and at the start of each game session, she must make a Fair (5) Vigor roll. If she fails, she suffers –4 to all tasks she performs this session. The Marshal might modify your die roll depending on the weather and your particular illness 

5 Fatal: You’ve got a chronic illness that might kill your character at any time. Roll as above. If you go bust, your character must also make an Onerous (7) Vigor roll. Should she fail, Death’s door swings wide. 

All Thumbs 2 

You don’t like machines, and they don’t seem to like you much either. Scientific and mechanical Aptitudes cost twice the normal points to learn or improve. All rolls made to use or repair machinery are made at –2. 

Bad Ears ⅗

 The quick and the deaf. Choose the level of bad hearing your character suffers from the chart below. 

Bad Ears 

Value Status 

3 Mild: Subtract –2 from all Cognition tests based on hearing. 

5 Stone Deaf: Your character can’t hear at all.

Bad Eyes 3/5 

Sometimes it’s better not to see what’s coming after you. Bad eyes subtract from any Trait or Aptitude rolls you make for your hero to affect or see things at greater than 20 yards. The Marshal might sometimes allow you to use your bad eyes as a bonus to guts checks when viewing gruesome horrors at this range. 

If your hero wears spectacles, reduce the value of the Hindrance by 1. 

Bad Eyes 

Value Status 

3 Myopic: Subtract –2 from your character’s Trait and skill rolls made to see or affect things at greater than 20 yards. 

5 Near Blind: As above, but the penalty is –4. 

Bad Luck 5 

Calamity Jane’s got nothing on you. If you go bust, whatever your character is doing has the absolute worst effect possible. 

Big Britches 3 

It’s good to be confident, but only a fool charges 600 cavalrymen into 5,000 Sioux. Your character is severely overconfident. He believes he can do anything, and he never turns down a challenge. 

Big Mouth 3 

A little lip-flapping can cause a whole passel of trouble. Your hombre’s lips are looser than Miss Kitty’s drawstring. He always speaks before he thinks. Worse, he’s constantly blurting out the posse’s plans or telling the bad guys what they want to know. The hero also manages to put his boot in his mouth fairly often. No one ever trusts this habitual gossip twice. 

Big ’Un 1/2 

Your horse really hates to see you coming. Fortunately, it’s pretty hard to bust up someone your size. 

The effects of a character’s bulk depend on whether he is merely husky or truly obese. Increasing your character’s Size affects the damage he can take. See Chapter Four for details. 

Big ’Un 

Value Status 

1 Husky: Add +1 to your hero’s Size and reduce his movement by one step (minimum is 4). His maximum Nimbleness is a d10 

2 Obese: Add +2 to your hero’s Size and reduce her movement by two steps (minimum is 4). Her maximum Nimbleness is a d8. 

Bloodthirsty 2 

Some folks are just plain mean. Others don’t believe in leaving their enemies alive to come back and haunt them later. Your character rarely takes prisoners, and she enjoys confrontations. If she’s forced to take prisoners, they don’t tend to live long when they’re no longer useful. 

Cautious 3 

A good plan can turn a posse into an army. But no army ever won a war sitting on its kiester. Your character is a planner. He likes to plot things out long before any action is taken, often to the chagrin of his impulsive, gun-fighting companions. Of course, sometimes this can be a lifesaver. Custer could have used a little of this Edge. 

Curious 3 

If it killed the cat, think what it can do to you. Your hero wants to know all he can about just about everything he comes across. Anytime the character is confronted with a mystery, he must do everything in his power to try to solve it, no matter how dangerous the situation might be. 

Clueless 3 

Some folks can’t find a needle in a haystack when they’re sitting on it. The needle, that is. Your cowpoke is about as alert as a lightpost. Whenever the Marshal asks for Cognition checks to notice things, you must subtract –2 from your roll. Yes, this includes surprise checks. 

Death Wish 5 

Sometimes a fellow just doesn’t want to go on. Maybe his family has fallen victim to some heinous creature. Maybe he’s got consumption and wants to go out in a violent blaze of glory. Or maybe he’s a young upstart who knows just enough about the Harrowed to be dangerous. 

Your character wants to die for some reason (secret or otherwise), but only under certain circumstances. Most want to go out in a blaze of glory, such as saving a town or taking some major villain or critter to Hell with them. Your hombre won’t throw his life away for just any little thing (suicide is easy, after all). The Marshal should reward your character for taking extreme chances, but only when they help him attain his most important goal. 

Doubting Thomas 3 

Some folks have a hard time believing in supernatural events even when they’re halfway down some critters’ gullets. Doubting Thomases are skeptics. It’s hard not to believe in the supernatural after a few adventures, but these characters always look for some more mundane source than the blatantly paranormal. 

Enemy 1–5 

The past has a nasty way of coming back to haunt a cowpoke. Remember that every foe you put down likely has some friends or family who might come looking for you later. Your character has an enemy or enemies of some sort. You and the Marshal should determine the value of any enemies based on their relative power level and frequency of appearance. A vengeful but inexperienced youth who is stalking the character, for example, would likely be worth two points, since her appearance would be fairly common but she is relatively weak, not really a threat. If your hero’s being hunted by Jesse James, that might be worth closer to five! A deserter should take an enemy as well, but neither the USA or the CSA have much time or interest, so this is usually only worth 2 points. 

Ferner 3 

No man’s an island. Sooner or later, a fellow needs a hand, and if they can’t understand you, they can’t help you.  “Ferners” are outsiders in the culture central to your adventure or campaign. Usually, the outsiders are Mexicans, Indians, or Chinese folks who have a difficult time adapting to the white man’s language and way of life. An Englishman who insists on bad-mouthing the “democracy” or a Chinese railroad worker who speaks little English are likely to be shunned by most folks on the frontier. Sometimes whites are the ferners. If your Marshal is running a campaign centered in the Sioux Nations, those who don’t know the Sioux’s practices and traditions will find themselves the subject of prejudice. As long as your character can communicate well in the culture he’s in and doesn’t go out of his way to prove himself an outsider, he will likely suffer little prejudice and you need not take this Hindrance. Foreign characters may sometimes suffer from individual intolerance, of course. 

Geezer 3/5 

You may not have teeth, but you’ve still got a bite. You’re practically a fossil in the Weird West, and most cowpokes call you “old timer”. You’ve got one foot in the grave and the other in Hell. Not all older characters have this Hindrance—some folks are old at 40 and others are still young at 90. For 3 points, reduce your grandpa’s Vigor and Pace by –2. On the plus side, you get an extra 5 points to buy any Knowledge-based skills during character creation. For 5 points, reduce the character’s Vigor by two steps, Pace by –4 and take 10 extra points for Knowledge-based skills. Vigor cannot go lower than d4, and Pace cannot go lower than 2. 

Greedy 2 

It’s one of the seven deadly sins. But while your mortal soul might be damned to Hell, you’ll sure have a good time here on earth rolling in loot. Money and power mean everything to your scoundrel, and she’ll do most anything to get more of it. 

Grim Servant o’ Death 5 

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.” 

— Revelations 6:8 

Well, maybe that’s a bit much, but folks do seem to get dead around you. A lot. Maybe you look like a loser, and all the other losers like to pick on you. At least until they find out how quick you are. Or maybe you look like a dandy, but you’re really a huckster with a mean disposition. 

Whatever the story, your hombre gets picked on a lot, even when he isn’t looking for trouble. You aren’t even necessarily mean-tempered. You’re just trouble looking for a place to happen. Most of those troubles end up buried in Boot Hill while you’re being carted off to the hoosegow. 

As long as your hombre kills in self defense, juries usually find him innocent. Unfortunately, your character spends a lot of time locked up, on the run, or sitting in a courtroom proving his innocence. 

Needless to say, local lawmen aren’t fond of your hero. They usually know your character’s name and warn him about staying too long in their towns. Worse than the local lawmen are hanging judges. They hate the competition and will dream up just about any method imaginable to see you swing. 

Habit 1–3 

Folks aren’t much on cleanliness in the Weird West, but that doesn’t mean they like to watch some tinhorn shove his picker up his nose. Your character has a habit others find annoying or revolting. Besides putting off other characters, this Hindrance subtracts a number of points from your character’s persuasion rolls equal to the value of the Hindrance. The value of the Hindrance depends on the frequency of the habit and just how gross and disgusting it is. 

Hankerin’ 1/3 

If you just can’t think without a stogie in your pie-hole, you’ve got yourself a habit. If it’s alcohol or opium you’re craving, welcome to Addiction City, population one. 

A mild hankerin’ means the character is highly addicted to some mildly harmful substance (such as tobacco), or slightly addicted to a more dangerous substance. A severe hankerin’ means the character is addicted to alcohol, opium, laudanum, peyote, or some other dangerous drug. 

Hankerin’ 

Value Status 

1 Mild: Subtract –2 from Mental skills if the substance is not available after 24 hours. 

3 Severe: Your character suffers the same as above and also subtracts –4 (total) from Mental and Corporeal skills if the substance is not available every 48 hours. 

Heavy Sleeper 1 

Logs wake up faster than you. Subtract –2 from your hero’s Cognition rolls made to wake up in an emergency or when some critter is sneaking up on him. He usually oversleeps. 

Heroic 3 

You’re a sucker for someone in trouble. Ever hear of nice guys finishing last? Heroes who go chasing down wild critters aren’t likely to finish at all. At least they’ll write something nice on your tombstone. Your character can’t turn down a plea for help. She doesn’t have to be cheery about it, and she doesn’t have to be a “nice” person, but she always helps those in need eventually. 

High-Falutin’ 2 

High-falutin’ snobs turn up their noses so high they usually drown when it rains. Your character has no tolerance for those of a lesser class. Those who notice your upturned nose don’t like you. Subtract –2 from any friendly persuasion rolls you make toward those who know your hero thinks they are beneath him in social stature. 

Illiterate 3 

It’s a terrible thing to come back from the dead and not be able to read the words on your own tombstone. Illiterates can’t read even the most basic words of their own language or any other they happen to speak. 

Impulsive 3 

Some folks just can’t keep their pistol in their pants (no, not that pistol—that’s the randy Hindrance). We mean this one literally. 

Impulsive characters are doers, not thinkers. They tend to go off based on their own hunches even while the rest of the posse makes elaborate plans and preparations. Of course, quick action sometimes saves the day, but this Hindrance also gets your character into a lot of trouble, which the rest of the posse may not feel obligated to help her out of. 

Impulsive characters have a deep and abiding hatred for cautious pansies. The opposite, of course, is also true. 

Intolerance 1–3 

There’s some folks you just can’t stand. They don’t cotton to you, and you’d like to push them off a tall cliff. 

Your character does not get along with certain kinds of people (Mexicans, white men, politicians, and so on) and has nothing to with them if possible. If forced to work with them, he insults and provokes them whenever he gets the chance. The value of the Hindrance depends on the frequency of encounters your character has with those he is intolerant of. 

Kid 2/4 

Don’t let that face fool you. A kid with a gun can still blow your guts out. Your character is a kid 8–15 years of age. Most people don’t take him seriously and call him “sawed-off,” “runt”, or “half pint.” 

For two points, the kid is 11-15 years old. Reduce his Strength and Knowledge by one step to a minimum of d4. 

For four points, the kid is 8-10 years old. Reduce his Strength and Knowledge by two steps to a minimum of d4. 

As your character grows up, you must buy off this Hindrance with Bounty Points (see Chapter Five). When you do, increase his Traits as appropriate. Don’t worry about it too much. Most kids don’t live that long. 

Law o’ the West 3 

You’ve heard the expression “nice guys finish last?” There’s some truth to it. A true gentleman of the West won’t draw down on an enemy until the foe draws first. Boot Hill hides the bones of many of these honorable folks. 

Your hero must live by a code of honor that not everyone else subscribes to. He treats all women with respect even if they’re “soiled doves.” He won’t draw his gun on others who don’t have their own weapons drawn (unless he’s seriously outnumbered and even then he just uses the guns to threaten first). In a duel, he always lets his opponent go for her guns first. And he absolutely refuses to shoot someone in the back, or take a shot at a foe who’s distracted (unless he’s in a large firefight). 

On the plus side, folks know your hombre is one of the white hats. You can add +2 to any negotiations or friendly persuasion attempts whenever your character’s honorable reputation is known and might make a difference. 

Lame 3/5 

There’s an old chestnut that says when something’s chasing you, you’ve only got to outrun one person. Unfortunately, you’re usually that one person. This Hindrance affects a character’s Pace and active defense (using the dodge or fightin’ skill—see Vamoosin’ in Chapter Four). 

Lame 

Value Status 

3 Limp: Your hero’s Pace is reduced by –2 to a minimum of 2. Subtract –2 from active dodge rolls and other tests requiring mobility. 

5 Crippled: One leg is missing or disabled. Your hero’s Pace is 2 with crutches, 1 without. Subtract –4 from active dodge rolls and other tests requiring mobility. 

Loco 1–5 

No one in their right mind would stand up to some of the critters in Deadlands. Maybe that’s why there are so many kooks wandering the High Plains. Loco covers all sorts of crazy. This can range from being absentminded to being a compulsive liar or suffering from phobias, delusions, depression, or schizophrenia. The illness is always present, and it rules your character’s actions most of the time. The value of the Hindrance depends on the severity of the illness and its effects on the character. You should discuss the exact dementia with the Marshal and work out the effects and penalties it has on your nutjob. 

Phobias, by the way, usually inflict a -2 penalty when in the presence of the feared object or situation. This is usually a 2-point Hindrance unless the source of fear is very common, in which case the value is 3 or higher. 

Major phobias inflict a -4 penalty. The base cost is 3, with higher values for how common the source of fear is. 

Loyal 3 

You may not be a hero, but your friends know they can count on you when the chips are down. Your character is extremely loyal to his friends. He willingly risks his life to defend them and protect them for danger. 

Lyin’ Eyes 3 

You can’t hide those lyin’ eyes. Your character can’t tell a lie to save his life. Besides suffering a –4 to his bluff rolls, he cannot mislead, deceive, or even omit the truth from others without giving himself away. Maybe his eyes twitch, or he wrings his hands. Whatever he does, it’s a dead giveaway. 

Miser 3 

A miser knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Miserly characters must always buy the “cheapest” goods available and haggle incessantly over everything. Because of this, she can only buy “el cheapo” gear. See Chapter Three for more on “el cheapo” gear. 

Mean as a Rattler 2 

You think the whole world pissed in your canteen. Maybe it did. People tend not to like your hero. He’s hateful and mean-spirited. Besides making it hard for others to like your hombre, subtract –2 from friendly persuasion attempts. At the Marshal’s discretion, you may occasionally be allowed to add +2 to hostile persuasion or overawe rolls. 

Night Terrors 5 

The Indians say nightmares are glimpses into the Hunting Grounds—a mad limbo where evil spirits devour the souls of the newly dead. Your nightmares make you think there might be some truth to this. Your character’s nightmares are far worse than most, something that keeps her from wanting to sleep much. Coffee is her best friend, and she usually only gets about 3–4 hours sleep at night. Make an Onerous (7) Spirit check at the beginning of each game session immediately after drawing Fate Chips. Chips left over from the previous session may be spent on this roll, but those you just drew cannot. Consider them “on loan.” 

If you fail, your character loses her lowest value chip. This represents the fatigue and strain the constant terror of sleep has on her. Go bust and your character loses her highest value Fate Chip. 

Roleplay your character’s sluggishness and fear of sleep and your Marshal should reward you with chips as usual, but the real benefit of night terrors lies in the dreams themselves. 

A character who suffers from night terrors is actually a plaything of evil spirits. They drag her “dream self” into the “Hunting Grounds” and torment her with her own worst fears. Occasionally, however, these dreams reflect reality and can impart important clues into the heroine’s current predicament. 

The next time your character sleeps after failing her Spirit roll and losing her chip, the Marshal should take you aside and quickly describe your character’s last nightmare. Hidden within the symbolism and pseudo-reality of the dream should be an important clue about something in the current adventure or the character’s own background. It’s up to you to interpret the dream, but the Marshal should give your tormented heroine something good for all her suffering. 

Oath 1–5 

A person is only as good as his word. Your hero has an oath to perform some important task or always react to certain conditions. The value of the oath depends on how often it might come into play and the risk it involves. 

Obligation 1–5 

A man’s got to do what a man’s got to do. 

Your character is obligated to his family, his job, the military, a town, or a duty of some sort. This should be frequently inconvenient, as he has to report to work or go off on an assignment from time to time. Note that this is not the same as an oath. 

Outlaw 1–5 

The only authority you abide by is the “law of the West.” And even that’s flexible when it suits your needs. 

Outlaws are lawbreakers by nature. They have little respect for the law and are wanted for everything from petty larceny to horse thieving. The point value depends on just how little respect your character has for others. For 1 point, your “hero” swipes bottles of whisky from behind the counter when the bartender isn’t looking. For 5 points, your blackheart is a cold-blooded killer. 

The worst of these characters shouldn’t normally be heroes in the world of Deadlands, but sometimes Fate leads folks down strange roads. A jealous, drunken bastard might join a group of “white hats” who are fighting evil. Maybe he sees the monsters as a greater evil than the law. More likely, there's some treasure or payment for putting an end to some varmint’s rampage. 

Be careful, friend. Most outlaws meet bad ends. 

One-Armed Bandit 3 

There are a lot of folks who lost limbs in the war. Fortunately it only takes one finger to yank a trigger. 

Your character has only one hand or arm. You must subtract –4 from any skills that require the use of two hands. 

Pacifist 3/5 

Being a pacifist doesn’t mean a fellow is afraid of a fight. It’s just that he’d rather find a different way. 

Pacifists range from those who simply don’t like to kill until it’s absolutely (in their judgment) unavoidable (3 points) 

to those who won’t kill under any circumstances (5 points). 

Poverty 3 

A fool and his money are soon parted, and what little cash you’ve got in your pocket is burning a hole straight through your jeans. Your character has a hard time saving, and he spends money like water. He starts with only $50 instead of the normal $250. Try “el cheapo” gear (see page 75) to get your pauper suitably armed. 

Randy 3 

If it moves… School marms run in terror at the sight of your drooling lech. Your character wants sex and lots of it. He or she hits on every reasonably good looking member of the opposite gender in sight, usually more than once. Like it or not, men and women suffer this Hindrance differently. If your hero is a man, he’s well known in every bordello in the West. Polite society thinks he’s a pig, and “respectable” women avoid him like the plague. The lecherous hero has a –4 to any persuasion rolls made to influence “nice girls.” He suffers no penalties with ladies of lesser morals, but resists their charms at –4. 

If your character is a woman, all other women, respectable or not, call her all sorts of unpleasant names. She suffers the same penalty as a man around polite society, but other men might treat her differently., especially if the two of them are alone. Your heroine will likely never gain any real respect from “respectable folk” or be able to hold a position of authority if her sordid past becomes known. It may not be fair, but that’s just how it is in the Weird West. 

On the plus side, a female with this Hindrance actually gains +4 to any persuasion rolls she makes to seduce a fellow. This can have its own consequences, of course, but it can be really handy in getting out of jail, distracting guards, or the like. 

Scrawny 5 

Beanpoles are thicker than you, and in a stiff breeze, you feel like bending. At least your horse is happy about it—he can barely feel you up there on his back. Scrawny cowpokes (who usually run under the name “Slim”) are slight and weak and must subtract –1 from their Size. Their maximum Strength is a d10. 

A character’s slight frame might benefit him in certain situations, like crawling through a small cave or window, but usually it just gets him picked on. 

Self-Righteous 3 

If you’re not always right, then you’re at least sure the ignorant masses are always wrong. Given a chance, you’re sure you can prove it. Your character believes everything she does serves some greater cause (such as Christianity, the taming of the West, etc.). She never backs down from her beliefs. 

Slowpoke 1-5 

You’d better learn to fight, ’cause you ain’t gonna get away from anything that’s chasing you. Your hombre is faster than a dead turtle. Barely. His Pace is reduced by 1 for each point in this Hindrance, down to a minimum base Pace of 2. 

Squeaky 2 

Your voice sounds like you swallowed a mouse. Actually, your voice and the mouse’s sound quite similar. Your character suffers –2 to any test of wills rolls he initiates (he can defend normally) that involve his voice. 

Squeamish 3 

You can’t hold your chow when you see blood and gore. It’s embarrassing compared to your gunslinger friends who don’t flinch even with half their guts hanging out. Guts checks caused by gory scenes are made at –2. 

Stubborn 2 

It’s your way or not at all. If the rest of the world is too stupid to realize you’re right, they can go hang themselves with an itchy rope. The hero is pigheaded and as stubborn as a mule. He always wants to do things his way and holds out until everyone agrees or some major concession to his idea has been made. 

Superstitious 2 

Owls never hoot “just for the Hell of it,” and black cats should be shot if they try to cross your path. You keep a rabbit’s foot in your pocket, and you rarely wonder why it didn’t seem to do the rabbit any kind of good. 

Your character believes in superstitions and tries to live his life by signs and omens. You should check out a book of superstitions from your local library to help you roleplay this Hindrance. 

Tinhorn 2 

Dudes using “two-dollar words” are a dime a dozen in the Weird West after gold and ghost rock were discovered in California. Those who live on the frontier don’t take kindly to these fast-talking dudes and their New York ways. Tinhorns are big talkers, usually from back East. They use big words and brag about their families a lot. 

Thin-Skinned 3 

You get splinters from your own pistol grip and won’t quit whining about it until you see a sawbones. 

Increase your character’s wound penalty by 1 whenever your hero is wounded (see Chapter Four). 

Tuckered 1–5 

A strong man can run a mile without getting winded. Others get tuckered out just getting up in the morning. 

Reduce your character’s Wind by 1 for each point of tuckered you take, down to a minimum of 4. 

Ugly As Sin 1 

It’s too bad the old saying about “stopping a bullet with your face” isn’t true. If it was, you’d sure never have to worry about being shot. 

Subtract –2 from friendly persuasion rolls made whenever your character’s looks might intervene. On the up side, you can add +2 whenever his looks might help, such as when making overawe or hostile persuasion attempts. 

Vengeful 3 

The world needs to be taught a lesson, and you’re the schoolmarm. Your character must always attempt to right a wrong committed against her. Whether this revenge is violent or not depends on her nature. 

Wanted 1–5 

Your hombre’s wanted for some crime. He may not be guilty, but he’s on the run and doesn’t want to be caught. Most folks who are wanted are outlaws as well, but they don’t have to be. Some are falsely accused of their crimes. The value of this Hindrance depends on how bad the authorities want your hero and where exactly he’s wanted. 

Below are a few examples to give you an idea of where your hombre might fit in. 

Wanted 

Value Status 

1 Thief: Your hero is wanted for a petty crime in a single town or county, or he’s wanted for more serious charges in a foreign country. 

2 Swindler: Your hero is wanted for a host of crimes that could net him a few years in prison. 

3 Outlaw: Your hero once participated in a bank or train robbery and is wanted in either the North or the South, but not both. 

4 Desperado: Folks have read about your sidewinder’s life of crime in both the North and the South. He’s likely killed a few guards in his sordid career. Someday he’ll swing for his crimes. 

5 Villain: Congratulations. Everyone hates this bastard. He’s killed innocents and murdered in cold blood. He’s wanted throughout the North and South. He’s wanted dead, not alive. 

Yearnin’ 1–5 

Your character has a dream or goal of some sort. Maybe he wants to own his own cattle ranch or become the town marshal of Abilene. 

The more difficult and dangerous the goal, the more points the Hindrance is worth. It’s up to the player and the Marshal to come to an agreement as to exactly how many points this is worth. If the hero ever attains his goal, he might have to buy off this Hindrance. 

Yeller 5 

You usually get shot in the backside and you’ve got the stitches to prove it. Cowards don’t have the heart for combat and try to avoid it whenever possible. “Real” men don’t like them much unless they’re female, in which case they might actually be more appealing. Subtract –2 from guts checks and persuasion rolls made on those with no respect for your character’s cowardly ways.