The Inside Scoop on Gaming

My overall impression

Very good book, and a must have if you are running a Deadlands game. It opens up and gives a lot of great information on what should be a major part of the game - the Indians. While it did not fill me with the fire to go out and play a shaman or Indian warrior, after reading this book I will certainly be including them into my game. (and the book makes me regret not having included them before).

I would recommend that GMs make this the third book to pick up (after the main book and Quick and the Dead) before picking up any others. I would recommend that player's buy this book if they are running an Indian of any sort.

Major strengths of the book.

This is not just a character class book. While it expands, corrects and adds new options for shamans, Ghost Dancers covers the political situation among the big tribes, has some guidelines for creating new tribes, sketches out the spirit realm (Hunting Grounds), and has some new features on making all types of Indian characters. This is the Indian sourcebook, instead of just the Shaman book.

It's simply amazing how much we were missing out of the main rulebook. Paul did an excellent job balancing... well, actually juggling between playability, readability and information content in Ghost Dancers.

Other strengths

Page references.

Yes! Reading through a section that refers to say, the Sun Dance and having a page reference off to the side for where you can go and get more information is excellent. It also includes an icon to refer if it's in the Chief, Sacred Ground, or War Party sections (that's Marshal, No Man's Land and Posse sections for us white men). I only wish RVC had page references like these.

And speaking of... The language in the book is direct and occasionally blunt when it needs to be. I like that. (imagine).

Plot hooks:

There are enough hints and opportunities for plot hooks to keep a party going for a long time. I could run for months on the hints and hooks that are in the last nine pages alone. There is no pre-set adventure in the book. I think Paul elected to put in information instead. (I have a sneaking suspicion that Paul could have easily used another 50 for information in Ghost Dancers).

Strong weaknesses:

Um.... Okay - next!

Other weaknesses:

While Paul did do a good job with juggling information, playability and readability, his hands did slip occasionally. A couple of times I found my eyes glazing over with that old college stare as the information and volume of Indian names started to overwhelm. But these episodes were brief and I consider the alternative worse, information glut being preferable to 128 pages of fluff and lists, IMnsHO.

Haves vs. Have Nots

This is not a weakness with Ghost Dancers, but an ongoing problem that is further increased by the new book. Those people who are playing with the main book, and only the main book, are increasingly playing a different game then those who have bought all the books. This happens with all the ongoing game systems, and the cure - forcing the supplements to bow to the canon of the main rulebook and/or not correcting faulty mechanics, is worse then the disease. It's still an issue. Hopefully Pinnacle will include all of these rules changes in their next run on the main rulebook. (Once all of the class books are out and hopefully not adding any more rules so that I will not have to buy the main rulebook again).

Here we go again.... Ghost Dancers adds in another organization of good guys and another bad guy organization. The Ghost Dancers are the good guys and are trying for a kinder gentler world by forcing back the Reckoners, and the Raven Cult is trying to secure the world for the Reckoners. Sound familiar? Looking at the Deadlands world I have this impression of the entire Marvel comics universe, with a thousand hero groups battling a thousand villainous groups in four color glory.

I know that you don't need to use each plot device, but they have been introduced to the system. Someone is going to use them and they will need maintenance, either with a satisfactory conclusion or an ongoing storyline.

Also Paul has done the standard - "Well, everyone who is mentioned by name is still alive. Even the people who lived 300 years ago..... before the Reckoning brought high powered mojo back." Well, the game is called Deadlands.....

Trivial weaknesses:

Mechanically and layout-wise, the book itself could use some tightening up. The reference links are great, but not consistent. A couple of times I found page references that were buried within the paragraph and other times there was no page reference at all. If there was a pattern to why one reference got an icon, another was in the paragraph and a third got no reference at all, I was unable to discern it. (But I didn't look too deep - this is a trivial matter after all). One section of tables came on rather abruptly with the description for the tables in the middle of the preceding paragraph.

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

Deadlands: Ghost Dancers
Author: Paul Beakley Category: game Company/Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group Cost: $20.00 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-889546-20-8 Playtest Review by Allan Seyberth on 04/14/98. Genre tags: none	My overall impression Very good book, and a must have if you are running a Deadlands game. It opens up and gives a lot of great information on what should be a major part of the game - the Indians. While it did not fill me with the fire to go out and play a shaman or Indian warrior, after reading this book I will certainly be including them into my game. (and the book makes me regret not having included them before). I would recommend that GMs make this the third book to pick up (after the main book and Quick and the Dead) before picking up any others. I would recommend that player's buy this book if they are running an Indian of any sort. Major strengths of the book. This is not just a character class book. While it expands, corrects and adds new options for shamans, Ghost Dancers covers the political situation among the big tribes, has some guidelines for creating new tribes, sketches out the spirit realm (Hunting Grounds), and has some new features on making all types of Indian characters. This is the Indian sourcebook, instead of just the Shaman book. It's simply amazing how much we were missing out of the main rulebook. Paul did an excellent job balancing... well, actually juggling between playability, readability and information content in Ghost Dancers. Other strengths Page references. Yes! Reading through a section that refers to say, the Sun Dance and having a page reference off to the side for where you can go and get more information is excellent. It also includes an icon to refer if it's in the Chief, Sacred Ground, or War Party sections (that's Marshal, No Man's Land and Posse sections for us white men). I only wish RVC had page references like these. And speaking of... The language in the book is direct and occasionally blunt when it needs to be. I like that. (imagine). Plot hooks: There are enough hints and opportunities for plot hooks to keep a party going for a long time. I could run for months on the hints and hooks that are in the last nine pages alone. There is no pre-set adventure in the book. I think Paul elected to put in information instead. (I have a sneaking suspicion that Paul could have easily used another 50 for information in Ghost Dancers). Strong weaknesses: Um.... Okay - next! Other weaknesses: While Paul did do a good job with juggling information, playability and readability, his hands did slip occasionally. A couple of times I found my eyes glazing over with that old college stare as the information and volume of Indian names started to overwhelm. But these episodes were brief and I consider the alternative worse, information glut being preferable to 128 pages of fluff and lists, IMnsHO. Haves vs. Have Nots This is not a weakness with Ghost Dancers, but an ongoing problem that is further increased by the new book. Those people who are playing with the main book, and only the main book, are increasingly playing a different game then those who have bought all the books. This happens with all the ongoing game systems, and the cure - forcing the supplements to bow to the canon of the main rulebook and/or not correcting faulty mechanics, is worse then the disease. It's still an issue. Hopefully Pinnacle will include all of these rules changes in their next run on the main rulebook. (Once all of the class books are out and hopefully not adding any more rules so that I will not have to buy the main rulebook again). Here we go again.... Ghost Dancers adds in another organization of good guys and another bad guy organization. The Ghost Dancers are the good guys and are trying for a kinder gentler world by forcing back the Reckoners, and the Raven Cult is trying to secure the world for the Reckoners. Sound familiar? Looking at the Deadlands world I have this impression of the entire Marvel comics universe, with a thousand hero groups battling a thousand villainous groups in four color glory. I know that you don't need to use each plot device, but they have been introduced to the system. Someone is going to use them and they will need maintenance, either with a satisfactory conclusion or an ongoing storyline. Also Paul has done the standard - "Well, everyone who is mentioned by name is still alive. Even the people who lived 300 years ago..... before the Reckoning brought high powered mojo back." Well, the game is called Deadlands..... Trivial weaknesses: Mechanically and layout-wise, the book itself could use some tightening up. The reference links are great, but not consistent. A couple of times I found page references that were buried within the paragraph and other times there was no page reference at all. If there was a pattern to why one reference got an icon, another was in the paragraph and a third got no reference at all, I was unable to discern it. (But I didn't look too deep - this is a trivial matter after all). One section of tables came on rather abruptly with the description for the tables in the middle of the preceding paragraph. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Deadlands: Ghost Dancers