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Hucksters and Hexes continues in the tradition of PEG's "class" sourcebooks, each detailing a different type of character in Deadlands. Hucksters in Deadlands are the gambling magicians, playing poker against a manitou to force effects in the real world. H&H provides a great number of more resources for hucksters, making them more effective but their profession more dangerous.

Like most PEG products, H&H is broken into three sections - posse territory, No Man's Land, and the Marshal's section. This keeps the posse out of the sections they should not be in.

The Posse Territory starts off with the story of Edmond Hoyle, the father of hucksters. It tells how he researched the various hexes that ended up in the Hoyle's Book of Games, and how he encoded them.

The second chapter describes new edges for hucksters that make their life a little less dangerous. It also includes tricks - little tricks that a huckster can do without as much risk to their life and head. It also provides rules for tempests, a specialized form of knack where the person has somewhat unpredictable control of a single hex.

After that is the chapter on hexes. More hexes are provided and the old ones clarified, and guidelines are provided for the creation of new hexes. A huckster should never lack for spells to learn.

The posse territory ends with a section on "keeping your hide intact". It includes information on how the typical Westerner reacts to a huckster, as well as others, such as Texas Rangers and Pinkertons. This is good to illustrate to the huckster that he cannot show off his powers randomly, and also gives a good idea to Marshall's about how to treat PCs who insist of casting black lightning in the middle of town.

The No Man's Land is short and consists mostly of new relics. None of these are completely necessary, but they do provide more flavor and help with some aspects of the West.

The Marshal's section starts off with a chapter on Backlash and how it affects a huckster. Backlash is the most common bad thing that happens to hucksters when they screw up. It is followed up by a chapter on the people that hunt down hucksters, from secret societies and organizations to law men.

The section ends with a scenario "Abracadbra and an Arab Cadaver". It's a good scenario, though somewhat dangerous to PCs, but it does not focus on hucksters - a huckster-less party could deal with it just fine.

All in all, this is a good sourcebook for marshalls of Deadlands, and for anyone thinking of playing a huckster. Any campaign of Deadlands should reference this book on a regular basis.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Hucksters & Hexes (#1005)
Author: John Goff Category: game Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group, Inc. Cost: $20.00 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-889546-05-4 Capsule Review by SeanMike Whipkey on 03/08/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Horror Old_West	Hucksters and Hexes continues in the tradition of PEG's "class" sourcebooks, each detailing a different type of character in Deadlands. Hucksters in Deadlands are the gambling magicians, playing poker against a manitou to force effects in the real world. H&H provides a great number of more resources for hucksters, making them more effective but their profession more dangerous. Like most PEG products, H&H is broken into three sections - posse territory, No Man's Land, and the Marshal's section. This keeps the posse out of the sections they should not be in. The Posse Territory starts off with the story of Edmond Hoyle, the father of hucksters. It tells how he researched the various hexes that ended up in the Hoyle's Book of Games, and how he encoded them. The second chapter describes new edges for hucksters that make their life a little less dangerous. It also includes tricks - little tricks that a huckster can do without as much risk to their life and head. It also provides rules for tempests, a specialized form of knack where the person has somewhat unpredictable control of a single hex. After that is the chapter on hexes. More hexes are provided and the old ones clarified, and guidelines are provided for the creation of new hexes. A huckster should never lack for spells to learn. The posse territory ends with a section on "keeping your hide intact". It includes information on how the typical Westerner reacts to a huckster, as well as others, such as Texas Rangers and Pinkertons. This is good to illustrate to the huckster that he cannot show off his powers randomly, and also gives a good idea to Marshall's about how to treat PCs who insist of casting black lightning in the middle of town. The No Man's Land is short and consists mostly of new relics. None of these are completely necessary, but they do provide more flavor and help with some aspects of the West. The Marshal's section starts off with a chapter on Backlash and how it affects a huckster. Backlash is the most common bad thing that happens to hucksters when they screw up. It is followed up by a chapter on the people that hunt down hucksters, from secret societies and organizations to law men. The section ends with a scenario "Abracadbra and an Arab Cadaver". It's a good scenario, though somewhat dangerous to PCs, but it does not focus on hucksters - a huckster-less party could deal with it just fine. All in all, this is a good sourcebook for marshalls of Deadlands, and for anyone thinking of playing a huckster. Any campaign of Deadlands should reference this book on a regular basis. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Hucksters & Hexes (#1005)