Rituals

Rituals

The spirits don’t grant favors for nothing. They require the shaman make a show of faith in their power. This show of faith is done by performing a ritual. Each type of ritual is learned by a shaman as a separate Aptitude. The individual descriptions of each ritual list the Trait the ritual is associated with.

As in the Deadlands rules, all rituals have a speed, TN, Appeasement created, and Trait used to perform the ritual. We’ve also added a section describing the ritual items required to perform the ritual, and special anointed items that make the ritual more effective. These are described a little later.

Medicine Bundle

All rituals require the shaman to have a medicine bundle of some kind. This is a small bag filled with important and unique items. Any Indian who knows rituals has a medicine bundle filled with the items his rituals require.

This bundle is unique, however, and if it is destroyed or stolen the character must make a new one. This takes two weeks, a Hard (9) scroungin’ roll, and a Hard (9) Spirit roll. The character is at –6 to conduct all rituals without a medicine bundle.

Different tribes have different kinds of medicine bundles. Among the Sioux, it’s a necklace. Among the Crow, it’s an intricately beaded bag.

There are many different kinds of special medicine bundles which add all sorts of bonuses to medicine ways, specific favors, or rituals.

Group Rituals

Under some circumstances, one or more shamans may (along with the tribe’s chief and warriors) join in a group ritual to appease the spirits on behalf of the tribe and its members. For each additional shaman performing the same ritual in a group, raise the leader’s die type by +1 level. No more than three shamans can lead a ritual. Any shaman performing a spirit song ritual does not help raise the die type.

For every three non-shamans from the tribe participating in the ritual, add +1 die. Up to nine non-shamans per shaman may participate in a group ritual.

There is still only one roll made for the ritual.

Players should decide among themselves who makes the roll. Only the shaman who rolled gets the Appeasement points, but once received, he may divide them among the rest of his tribe, starting with at least 1 point to each additional shaman who participated. These points may be used immediately or given to the participants’ guardian spirits. Unspent points are lost and can’t be used.

If any member of the group goes bust, the entire ritual is wasted, and the spirits are not pleased.

Ceremonies

Ceremonies are several sequential or simultaneous rituals. For example, the Sioux Nation’s Sun Dance is a combination of dance, scarification, and sweat lodge rituals. Because there are so many rituals involved, and many thousands of braves, the Sun Dance in particular is the single largest accumulation of Appeasement for all the Sioux Nations. The shamans create powerful medicine at the Sun Dance, enough to protect the tribe for the entire year.

Ceremonies are a little different than the ordeal process, although you can still perform an ordeal when you need to create a lot of Appeasement for yourself. When performing a ceremony, the normal rules about having to immediately spend Appeasement on a favor are lifted—for a while. As long as the ceremony is going on, Appeasement is collected into a single pool and cannot be used. When the ceremony is over, the shaman or shamans join in council and decide how the points are divided. They can take up to a day to decide, during which time the earned Appeasement sits like a cloud over the ceremony site, waiting to be spent.

Normally, the shamans refill their guardian spirits first and perform any large medicines that benefit the tribe as a whole. They may also give Appeasement points to other peoples’ guardian spirits, call off curses that have been levied, and so on.

Unspent Appeasement points go away at the end of the day following the ceremony and cannot be used.

Another advantage of ceremonies is that not everyone participating in the ceremony must perform the same ritual at the same time (like a group ritual, above). Instead, all Appeasement points earned by anyone by any means during the ceremony are placed in the larger Appeasement point pool. These can be a number of group rituals, a number of individual rituals, or any combination.

Offerings

Offerings can help almost any ritual, group ritual, or ceremony. Generally speaking, an offering of food, tobacco or other valued object adds +1 die to the ritual roll, and a burnt offering adds another die. Once used, a particular offering cannot be offered again. Traditionally, the offering is left where it was placed.

Here are some examples of offerings for all the various rituals and medicine ways.

Food (usually Corn Meal, Pollen, or Salt): These items add +1 die to the shaman’s ritual roll when performing rituals for prosperity medicine or blessing medicine.

Cedar, Pine, Smudge Sticks, Tobacco: Tobacco has its own ritual, but it can also be an offering. Add +1 die to the shaman’s ritual roll when performing rituals for visionseeking medicine or earth medicine

Herbs: On a successful Hard (9) scroungin’ or academia: herb lore roll, the shaman has or can find the correct herbs for healing. This adds +1 die to any ritual used to provide Appeasement for the healing favor.

Carvings, Sacrificial Figurines: These add +1 die when performing rituals for war medicine or blessing medicine. A carving takes about four hours to complete.

Human Remains, Skin, Hair, Nails: These add +1 die when earning Appeasement for ghost medicine.

Burnt Offerings: Any of the above can be burned, sending the smoke up to the heavens to please the gods and spirits. Burning an offering adds +1 Appeasement to any successful ritual roll, and adds 10 extra minutes to the ritual.

Rituals

This sections lists all of the rituals from Deadlands, plus some new ones. These are the rituals most commonly used by the tribes to appease the spirits. Some tribes may have other rituals known only to them. This is up to the Chief to decide. The rituals here are listed in the same format as before, with the addition of the ritual items listing.

Each ritual item listed as “required” is just that—the bare minimum the shaman must provide when performing the ritual. Any item listed, but not noted as required, provides +1 additional bonus die if the shaman uses it in the ritual.

Just to review:

Speed is the time it takes to complete the ritual. This is listed in rounds unless otherwise noted.

TN is the Target Number for the ritual roll.

Appeasement is the number of Appeasement points awarded per success on the shaman’s ritual roll.

Trait is the Trait the ritual Aptitude is associated with.

Animal Spirit Sacrifice

Speed: Varies 

TN: Varies

Trait: Nimbleness

Appeasement: Varies

Ritual Items: Knife (required), anointed sacrificial knife

Some spirits are appeased when an animal’s life energy is offered up in sacrifice. Other spirits find this practice abhorrent.

On a success, the ritual works just like normal. On a failure, the shaman loses her highest chip, or if she has no chips, this ritual is reduced –1 level. If this was the shaman’s highest ritual, the Chief may select which favor the shaman loses. If the shaman goes bust, her guardian spirit leaves her until she purchases another level in this ritual.

Animal Spirit Sacrifice

A shaman may never sacrifice a creature that is the same as her guardian spirit.

Critter Time Appeasement TN

Small animal 1 minute 1 9

Large animal 10 minutes 2 7

Dance

Speed: Varies 

TN: Varies

Appeasement: 1 

Trait: Nimbleness

Ritual Items: Anointed mask

Few things attract the attention of the spirits like the energy of a rousing dance. Keeping their attention is another matter and depends on the quality of the performance.

Dances may be simple, complex, or elaborate.

A simple dance is one performed by a solitary dancer with simple steps and chanting.

In a complex dance, the dancer performs complex footwork and a series of athletic maneuvers.

Dance

An elaborate dance consists of complex steps combined with special costumes and perhaps multiple dancers.

Dance Speed T N

Simple 1 hour 9

Complex 2 hours 7

Elaborate 4 hours 5

Fast

Speed: Variable

TN: 13–the number of days fasted Appeasement: 3

Trait: Spirit

Ritual Items: None

Physical discomfort is a sign of great loyalty to the spirits. Going several days without eating (i.e., fasting) is a common way of invoking powerful medicine.

Each day the shaman fasts, she must make a Vigor roll versus a TN of 5 plus the number of days she has fasted. Failure means the shaman takes 1d6 Wind. This Wind may only be restored by eating. Even magical healing cannot restore the Wind until she eats—that’s part of the sacrifice.

At the end of the fasting, the shaman makes the ritual roll. The TN is 13 minus the number of days fasted. The minimum TN is Foolproof (3).

Jimson Weed

Speed: 10 minutes

TN: 9

Trait: Vigor

Appeasement: 2

Ritual Items: Jimson weed (required)

Jimson weed, also known as devil weed, also known as a really bad idea for most people, grows throughout the Plains and the Southwest. Its seeds are a powerful narcotic related to belladonna. Few tribes use it, but when successful it puts the user in the right frame of mind to speak with the spirits. It is a dangerous and unpleasant ritual, not to be lightly undertaken.

Appeasement earned with the devil weed can only be used only for visionseeking medicine favors.

The user must make a Hard (9) Vigor roll to draw forth the plant spirits. On a failure, the shaman takes a 4d10 wound to the guts. If he goes bust, he takes this damage and is in a coma for 1d4 days. If he passes the Vigor roll, the shaman gets 2 Appeasement points for each success.

This plant is also known as devil weed because its use tends to doom people to becoming Harrowed. Each time the shaman gets a raise when using Jimson weed, make a colored mark in his Grit box. These colored marks count as extra Grit but only for the purposes of returning from the grave. Each mark also reduces the Harrowed’s Dominion by –1 point when he first comes back.

Addiction to jimson weed is not uncommon among those foolish enough to dance with it. Each time it is successfully used, the user must spend a white chip or develop a mild hankerin’ for the plant.

Maim

Speed: 1 

TN: Varies

Appeasement: 3 

Trait: Vigor

Ritual Items: Knife or flame (required), eagle claw, anointed knife

One of the most frightening Indian rituals— especially to non-Indians—is that of self- mutilation.

This involves burning, cutting, or even removing certain body parts. While the shaman is hurt, the Chief should give him penalties or Hindrances to match any major damage or collective minor damage.

If the shaman cuts off a finger, for instance, he should subtract –1 from future Deftness totals. If he eventually removes all of his fingers, he gets the one-armed bandit Hindrance and all the penalties that go along with it. Shamans receive no points for these new Hindrances though.

Maim

Shamans with blessed friends can often have major “incurable” damage healed. That’s fine. The risks involved for the healer far outweigh the benefits of picking up a couple of quick Appeasement points, so such undertakings are rarely made lightly by savvy heroes.

Action Speed TN

Minor curable damage 1 11

Minor incurable damage 2 7

Major incurable damage 3 5

Minor curable damage is an injury at least equivalent to a light wound.

Minor incurable damage is removal or disfigurement of a small body part that may apply penalties to certain actions (like a toe). The immediate effect is a heavy wound to the body area.

Major incurable damage debilitates the shaman in some way. He loses a finger, eye, tongue, or some other important body part. Major damage also causes an immediate critical wound to the affected area.

Music

Speed: Varies 

TN: Varies

Trait: Mien

Appeasement: Special 

Ritual Items: Varies

Music is not its own ritual, but it makes the dance ritual more effective. The music must be performed by the dancing shaman if he is performing the ritual alone, or it may be played by anyone in a ceremony that includes dancing. Music is learned as a performin’ skill. Each kind of music is a different skill.

Drumming adds +1 die to the ritual roll if the dancing shaman is performing, or +1 die per three drumming braves in a ceremony. No skill roll is necessary, and the drummer needs only 1 point in performin’: drummin’ skill. Ritual Items: Drum (required), anointed drum.

Only one flute may be played during a ritual. Add +1 die to the ritual per success on the performin’: flute skill roll. Ritual Items: Flute (required), anointed flute. Chanting adds +1 die to the ritual if the dancing shaman is chanting, or +1 die per three chanting tribesmen in the ceremony. A skill roll is necessary and each participant must roll his spirit song ritual skill. To speed things up, a whole group of chanters can roll once against the lowest spirit song skill in the group.

Paint

Speed: Variable 

TN: Varies

Appeasement: 2 

Trait: Cognition

Ritual Items: Paint (required), anointed paint Sand paintings, cliff paintings, and ceremonial markings on the body are other ways of showing the shaman’s commitment to the spirit world. The larger and more elaborate they are, the better. When requesting a favor for another, body painting is applied to favor’s recipient.

Of course, only natural tools and pigments can be used in this ritual.  The time required for this ritual depends on the level of Appeasement desired.

Paint

Painting Time TN

Simple 10 minutes 11

Complex 30 minutes 9

Elaborate 2 hours 7

Peyote

Speed: 5 minutes

TN: 5

Trait: Vigor

Appeasement: 1

Ritual Items: Peyote button (required) Peyote, a hallucinogenic plant found in the

Southwest, is a powerful plant spirit. It is most commonly used in visionseeking medicine, but its Appeasement can be used for any favor. Appeasement points earned through the peyote ritual count double when used for visionseeking medicine. A peyote vision lasts 8 hours, during which the character is –2 die types lower in all Traits while functioning in the physical world. There is no effect while functioning in the Hunting Grounds.

Your shaman can’t repeat this ritual until the old peyote wears off. Even then, it’s dangerous to do it again too soon. If less than 24 hours have passed since the last time peyote was used, the character must make a Hard (9) Vigor roll. On a success, the ritual is conducted normally. On a failure, the character takes a 3d6 wound to the guts area. If he goes bust, the character’s Vigor is permanently reduced –1 level. In any event, the character’s Traits are kept lowered for another 8 hours.

Pledge

Speed: 1

TN: 9

Appeasement: 1 

Trait: Knowledge

Ritual Items: Eagle feather

A pledge is a promise to a particular spirit of nature. The promise is to respect and honor the spirit and its “sphere of influence.” An Eagle spirit, for example, would want the shaman’s promise to respect it, the air, and even the wind itself.

A good-natured shaman likely lives up to these values daily, and so can call upon the spirits without pledging any additional or specific tasks. If he doesn’t live by these values, the Chief should feel free to penalize the wayward shaman whenever she tries to call upon the spirits in the future. This damage can be repaired by fulfilling the pledge to the spirits at any time.

An Indian should also expand the type and scope of his pledges to the spirits. Each time he repeats the same pledge for a ritual, raise the TN by +1.

Sand Painting

Speed: Varies TN: Varies Trait: Deftness

Appeasement: Varies

Ritual Items: Colored sand and powders (required), anointed colors

Sand painting is a slow and painstaking ritual used by tribes throughout the Southwest, California and portions of the Plains. The name is misleading, since there’s no painting involved. Instead, the images are created by sprinkling colored sand in thin lines on the ground.

A sand painting can be small as the palm of your hand or as big as a pueblo floor. If the shaman does not sweep away the sand painting after he’s through with it, he’s at –2 to perform this ritual again.

Sand Painting

Size Appeasement Time TN

Small 2 1 hour 9

Medium 3 3 hours 7

Large 5 12 hours 5

Scar

Speed: Variable TN: Varies

Appeasement: 1 Trait: Vigor

Ritual Items: Knife (required), eagle claw, anointed knife

Scarring is far less drastic than mutilation (see the maim ritual for details about appeasing the spirits in that particularly drastic way). A shaman need only mar his skin, not destroy or lop off parts of his anatomy.

When requesting a favor for another person, the scarring is applied to the recipient instead of the shaman. The shaman requesting the favor must be the one wielding the scarring knife in any case.

Scar

An Indian with several large and visible scars (at least three) has the ugly as sin Hindrance.

Size Speed T N Damage

Small Scar (1–3") 1 7 1d6 Wind

Large Scar (4"+) 2 5 2d6 Wind

Spirit Song

Speed: 5 to 10 minutes

TN: 9

Trait: Spirit

Appeasement: 1 Ritual Items: None

Every Indian who has a guardian spirit also has a unique song. A shaman automatically has as many spirit song points as points in his guardian spirit Edge. Your character can only sing the song once per day. Any interruption ruins the song until he can sing it again the next day.

Characters can use their spirit song in three ways:

To participate in a chant.

To create Appeasement points to store in the

guardian spirit.

To take the Appeasement points created by any group ritual. Only one singer may participate. The song redirects the group ritual’s Appeasement to the singer rather than the shaman leading the ritual. On a successful roll, the shaman creates no Appeasement but can take control of all of a ceremony’s accumulated Appeasement points.

Star Gazing

Speed: 30 minutes

TN: 9

Trait: Smarts

Appeasement: 2

Ritual Items: Clear night sky (required)

By looking at the stars, the shaman can learn the will of the spirits. He can also get a crick in his neck. Points earned by star gazing can only be applied toward earth medicine favors.

Sweat Lodge

Speed: 1 hour

TN: 9

Trait: Vigor

Appeasement: Special

Ritual Items: Lodge (required)

The sweat lodge is a common way for shamans to cleanse themselves before speaking with the spirits. Rather than creating Appeasement, taking a sweat lodge makes performing other rituals easier. After spending an hour in a sweat lodge, all participants must make a Hard (9) Vigor roll. The TNs of all other rituals performed within 24 hours are reduced by –1 for every success made on the Vigor roll.

Anyone who fails to make their Vigor roll loses 2d6 Wind.

Tattoo

Speed: Varies TN: Varies

Appeasement: 2 Trait: Deftness

Ritual Items: Needle (required)

This ritual proves the shaman’s dedication to the spirit world by permanently inscribing a tribute directly on human flesh. The greater this tribute is, the more likely the spirits are to honor it with favors.

Tattoos have three basic sizes: small, medium, and large. Small tattoos are only a few inches square. Medium tattoos cover a sizable portion of the shaman’s body, such as the forearm. Large tattoos cover the majority of a major body part, such as the back or chest.

New tattoos may not be placed over existing tattoos. When requesting the favor for another individual, the tattoo is inscribed on the recipient of the favor.

Tattoo

Tattoo Size Speed TN

Small 1 hour 9

Medium 2 hours 7

Large 8 hours 5

Tobacco

Speed: 15 minutes

TN: 9

Trait: Spirit

Appeasement: 1

Ritual Items: Tobacco (required), anointed pipe Tobacco is a spiritually powerful herb among

almost every tribe. Its smoke carries the words of the shaman up to the heavens so the gods can more clearly hear them.

War Cry

Speed: Instant 

TN: 7

Trait: Mien

Appeasement: 1

Ritual Items: War paint

This ritual is fast but may only be used once per scene. It’s the Chief’s discretion as to when a scene ends. If the player (as opposed to the character) actually lets loose with a huge whoop, he gets +1 die to roll.

Appeasement earned with a war cry can be used only for war medicine favors.