Roleplaying Game Setting Idea: Madelyn Kidd's Academy for Inquisitive Children
Saturday Morning Cartoon Investigations in the Deadlands
Why I Decided to Write a Comic Book Weird West Microsetting
I’ve been a fan of the Deadlands role playing game since it was first published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in the 1990s. The way it combined Greg Gorden’s innovative step-die mechanics, Shane Hensley’s love of the Old West and Civil War history, with a strong dose of the artist Brom’s horror aesthetic appealed to me greatly. The game is a master class in meta-narrative design and marks the high point in the meta-narrative genre of role playing games that was so popular in the 1990s.
Pinnacle and Shane are still hard at work supporting the Deadlands setting, but the rules of the game have shifted over to the much more streamlined mechanics of their Savage Worlds role playing game. Deadlands was published during an era when highly complex rules were the trend, rather than the exception. While Deadlands rules are more streamlined than games like GURPS, it still contains a number of interesting subsystems. These included the incorporation of elements like Hinderances (similar to Champions’ Disadvantages) and Edges (similar to Champions’ Perks/Powers depending on the Edge) and a magic system where players try to put together the best poker hand possible in order to defeat the chaotic forces that provide magical power.
For example, if you wanted to cast a spell that allowed you to step into one shadow and step out from another you would need a pair of Jacks or Better to move a distance of 2 yards or a Full House to teleport 100 yards. It was a thematically inspired system, and fit in with the play style of the times. The trend eventually shifted away from complex systems and you saw games like Feng Shui signal a trend to games that played faster while still facilitating narrative playstyles. The trend away from complexity accelerated with the Story Game movement of the early 2000s, even as mainstream mechanics minded gaming hit its peak with Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition and the d20 Boom. Pinnacle Entertainment released a d20 version of Deadlands which did fairly well for the company, but also rubbed some fans the wrong way. The collapse of the d20 boom led my local game store owner to believe that Pinnacle Entertainment had gone out of business since they had participated in that boom. They hadn’t, but that’s a very complex story for another time.
While Pinnacle was smart enough to participate in the d20 Boom, they had enough foresight to lay the groundwork for the future even as they took advantage of a brief trend. They designed their Savage Worlds game system from 2001 to 2003 and released the game at the final Milwaukee Gen Con in 2003. I’ll be doing a post discussing the evolution of their free introductory rules sets (aka Test Drives) for the Savage Worlds game soon, but what’s important here is that the game demonstrated Shane’s savvy understanding of the market. Not only was he taking advantage of short term available revenue, he was building the foundation for future revenue by cultivating a solid fanbase.
Savage Worlds is a quick to play and easy to learn game that advertises itself as Fast! Furious! Fun! because of the ease of play and how it makes the job of the game master easy through a variety of tools. Those tools, random charts and adventure paths etc., will be discussed on their own in the future, but the fact that Savage Worlds approaches the ease of play problem from both the player and game master sides makes it a special game.
One of the things that I find interesting is that the mechanics of Savage Worlds are an adaptation of Deadlands Great Rail Wars, which was the tactical miniatures game Pinnacle Entertainment developed as a kind of Warhammer alternative in the mid to late 90s. Shane is an avid miniatures gamer, so it was natural that he’d want to make a miniatures game based on an intellectual property he cared about. Miniature wargames need more streamlined rules though and that’s what Shane and his team designed with Deadlands Great Rail Wars.
The more the staff at Pinnacle Entertainment, and their fans, played the system, the more they understood that they had not only a great skirmish miniature wargame, they had a great foundation for a role playing game and so Savage Worlds was born. All that remained was to eventually bring Deadlands under the Savage Worlds umbrella, which they eventually did and to glorious effect. I’ve been dying to play the game again for some time, but I need the right hook to get my daughters and their friends interested.
Then I remembered that the CW did a fantastic Scooby-Doo/Supernatural Crossover in Season 13 called Scoobynatural. In that episode, Sam, Dean, and Castiel find themselves transported into the animated world of Scooby-Doo where they applied their skills to aid the Scooby gang. Between that and Shaggy’s Showdown, I’ve got everything I need to create a campaign idea that will appeal to History, Mystery, and their friends.
So join me as I introduce you to...
Madelyn Kidd's Academy for Inquisitive Children
On "real" Independence Day (July 3rd) 1863 the United States and the world experienced "The Reckoning." The border between Earth and the Happy Hunting Grounds was sundered, if only for a moment, and all kinds of terrors leaked into our world. On that day, the field of Gettysburg was littered with corpses...and some of those corpses rose from the grave to spread horror. In the years that followed, the sinister Reckoners selected four champions who would transform the world into a literal Hell on Earth.
All of this is well documented in the Deadlands Role Playing Game. What is less well known is that on that day, the forces of Good selected some champions of their own. Four children who were born on the day of The Reckoning who might just have a chance at stopping the world's transformation, but only if they could meet up and gain sufficient knowledge and power to thwart the Servitors who served the Reckoners.
These young children would never have met if it hadn't been for Madelyn Kidd. A simple school teacher from Serendipity, Pennsylvania, Madelyn had been on a picnic with her beau Aleister McKenzie overlooking the Battle of Gettysburg when the events of the Reckoning took place. Her beau was killed by a stray bullet and as Madelyn reached over to comfort her dying lover, she experienced a vision of a terrible future. She saw the world as it would be if the Reckoners had their way. She also saw a vision of hope where she was the founder of a new kind of school, a school dedicated to teaching children the skills necessary to fight back evil and to bring joy to lands that are dominated by fear.
While her vision was grand, the results so far have been very meager. Madelyn Kidd's Academy for Inquisitive Children was successfully established in 1865 in the town of Serendipity, Pennsylvania. The first graduating class of two students matriculated in 1869 and both of these students have gone on to jobs with the Union Government. Since that time, Madelyn has trained a number of gifted young students and currently has 45 students enrolled in her school. For all that success, not one of her students has gone on to achieve any great success against the evils the world is facing. All of her students are struggling against the darkness, but no great hero has emerged. Madelyn is on the verge of giving up hope because her four oldest currently enrolled students seem more concerned with solving local mysteries than they are with confronting greater threats.
Madelyn had high hopes for these four students. All four were born on the same day, July 3rd 1863, and all four exhibited high levels of potential. They were quick learners too, but they lack focus. They constantly take day trips in their Stagecoach, which they have named the Ratiocination Roller, to neighboring cities to unravel mysteries that the locals think are supernatural. Initially, Madelyn encouraged the behavior because she knew how important it was to fight real supernatural dangers, but as it became clear that every "supernatural" foe the students fought was revealed to be a fraud she began to lose hope. How would these students fare against the real horrors of the Weird West, let alone the Servitors, if they never had to face down supernatural horrors? It's a worry that has begun to affect her sleep. She recently sent them on a trip to disputed territory to do a field study of flora and fauna in the hopes that the students would begin their training in earnest. Time is so short and 17 year old kids have to grow up quickly in the Weird West.
What Madelyn doesn't know is that her students really are fighting supernatural foes, they only make it appear that the creatures they defeat are humans in disguise of swamp gas. This is because Eliza "Em" Vilnius noticed that when she made towns think that the evil that haunted them was a mere trick being performed by greedy individuals, those towns became happier and more successful places. It didn't take "Em" long to catch on to the fact that the best way to undermine the Reckoners was to take away the power that fueled them...fear. The kids, who call themselves Ratiocination Incorporation, are looking forward to their trip into the Weird West with the knowledge that if they get into too much trouble, they might be able to call on Madelyn Kidd and her other students to help them fight the good fight.
What ever the case, Madelyn hopes to create a world where “the Reckoners might have succeeded if not for those Madelyn kids.”
Madelyn Kidd (Huckster)
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d10, Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Gambling d6, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Investigation d8, Persuasion d6, Riding d6, Spellcasting d10, Stealth d4, Streetwise d8
Charisma: 2; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5; Grit: 3
Hindrances: Enemy (Major), Heavy Sleeper, Loyal
Edges: Arcane Background (Magic), Attractive, Brave, Connections, Investigator, Linguist, New Power, Power Points
Powers: Armor, bolt (burning cards), hunch, mind rider; Power Points: 15
Gear: Hatchet, Knife (Str+d4) x3, Playing cards x8, Shirt/blouse, dress, Spectacles, $247
Jedediah Heiter (Mad Scientist)
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d4, Guts d6, Investigation d6, Notice d4, Persuasion d4, Repair d8, Shooting d6, Weird Science d8
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 4; Toughness: 5; Grit: 1
Hindrances: Big Mouth, Doubting Thomas, Overconfident
Edges: Arcane Background (Weird Science), Knack (Bastard), New Power
Powers: Deflection (Jedediah's Ocular Disruptor), stun (Jedidiah's Auditory Imbalancer); Power Points: 20
Gear: Backpack, Bed roll, Boots, Canteen, Derby, Drill, Duster, File, Gun belt, Hammer, Lantern, Lantern oil (per gallon) x2, Lockpicks, Mule, Rifle (.38-.52) x5, Shirt/blouse, work, Trousers/skirt, Watch, gold, Winchester ‘76 (.45) (Range 24/48/96, 2d8, Shots 15, AP 2), $62.65
Petra Quartz
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d6, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Notice d4, Riding d6, Shooting d8, Streetwise d4, Throwing d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5; Grit: 1
Hindrances: Arrogant, Stubborn, Vengeful (Minor)
Edges: Quick Draw, Two-Fisted
Gear: Backpack, Bed roll, Boots, Chaps, Colt Peacemaker (.45, Double-Action) (Range 12/24/48, 2d6+1, Shots 6, AP 1) x2, Duster, Gun belt, Knife (Str+d4), Pistol (.40-.50) x10, Quick-draw holster, Rifle (.38-.52) x5, Shirt/blouse, work, Trousers/skirt, Winchester ‘76 (.45) (Range 24/48/96, 2d8, Shots 15, AP 2), $133
Eliza "Em" Vilnius (Hellstromme?)
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d4, Vigor d6
Skills: Faith d8, Fighting d6, Guts d6, Investigation d4, Persuasion d8, Riding d6, Shooting d6
Charisma: 2; Pace: 6; Parry: 5; Toughness: 5; Grit: 1
Hindrances: Bad Dreams, Heavy Sleeper, Loyal
Edges: Arcane Background (Miracles), Brave, Charismatic
Powers: Aim, armor, barrier, beast friend, blind, boost/lower trait, confusion, deflection, dispel, elemental manipulation, environmental protection, exorcism, gambler, greater healing, healing, inspiration, light/obscure, protection, pummel, quickness, sanctify, smite, speak language, stun, succor, warrior’s gift, windstorm
Gear: Boots, Horse, Knife, Bowie (Str+d4+1, AP 1), Saddle, Saddlebags, Shirt/blouse, dress, Shoes, Shotgun shells x2, Suit/fancy dress, Trousers/skirt, Winchester Lever Action (Range 12/24/48, 1–3d6, Shots 4, +2 Shooting rolls), 80¢
Mockingjay (Shaman)
Attributes: Agility d6, Smarts d4, Spirit d8, Strength d6, Vigor d6
Skills: Fighting d8, Guts d6, Intimidation d6, Riding d6, Throwing d6, Tracking d4, Tribal Medicine d6
Charisma: 0; Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 6; Grit: 1
Hindrances: All Thumbs, Curious, Loyal
Edges: Arcane Background (Shaman), Beast Master, Brawny
Powers: Beast Friend, healing; Power Points: 10
Gear: Arrow x5, Bolas (Range 4/8/16, Str+1, Shots 1, see notes), Boots, Bow (Range 12/24/48, 2d6, Shots 1), Horse, Knife, Bowie (Str+d4+1, AP 1) x2, Shirt/blouse, work, Spear (Str+d6, Parry +1; Reach 1; requires 2 hands), Tomahawk (Str+d6), Trousers/skirt, $68.50
I love it!!! 🥰 I want to play!