Character classes from Deadlands
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Deadlands is something of a hybrid system. The basic character generation process is a classless, skills-based system. Whether a character is a gunfighter or a thief depends on which skills the player picks and emphasizes. However, characters can also pick Arcane Backgrounds for their character, which introduces a class-like concept into the game, and generally provides the character powers and abilities not available to non-arcane characters.
[edit] Deadlands: The Weird West
- Black Magician: An NPC-only Arcane Background, Black Magicians willingly and deliberately make deals with the Reckoners and their Manitou minions for potent spells.
- Blessed: The Blessed are religious beings whose sheer faith allows them to draw pure spiritual energy from the Hunting Grounds to create miraculous effects. Blessed cast their spells using the Faith Aptitude, which several other Arcane Backgrounds (such as Black Magic, Voodoo and Doomsayers) also do. Blessed are detailed in the Fire and Brimstone Sourcebook, while their close relatives, the Voodooists, are introduced in The River o' Blood and expanded in Hexarcana.
- Blood Magician: Blood Magicians carry the blood of the Whateley family in their veins, an ancient line of corrupted and evil practitioners of sorcery. These characters are usually considered "grey hats" at best, and are the darkest character choice currently available in the game. Blood magic used by characters with this arcane background resemble black magic in theme and mechanics, although blood magic is less powerful. Rules can be found in the supplement Black Circle: Unholy Alliance.
- Harrowed: A Harrowed character has risen from the grave due to their body being possessed by a Manitou. As an undead, a Harrowed has a variety of special powers, but these are balanced by supernatural drawbacks, such as the Harrowed constantly needing to battle their Manitou 'inmate' for control of their body. Because of the presence of the Manitou within their bodies, Harrowed can absorb the life energies of certain abominations to gain mystical powers, such as Soul Eater and Sicken. The process of absorbing this energy is called "Counting Coup". Harrowed are detailed in The Book o' the Dead Sourcebook. Their Hell on Earth counterparts, the Cyborgs, are detailed in the Cyborgs Sourcebook.
- Hexslinger: A more militant version of the Huckster, a Hexslinger uses his or her magic to improve his gunslinging abilities, hence the name. First introduced in the Law Dogs sourcebook and finalised in the Lone Stars: The Texas Rangers Sourcebook, by which stage they have been renamed Shootists.
- Huckster: Roughly equivalent to the common Mage or Wizard. Due to the nature of their world, Hucksters pretend to be card sharks, professional gamblers, or any other type of person for whom constantly carrying around a deck of playing cards is not abnormal. When a Huckster casts a spell, a hand of playing cards manifests itself in his hand and vanishes after the spell is finished.
- Martial Artist: Martial Artists are introduced in The Great Maze, and refined in the Hexarcana sourcebook.
- Mad Scientist: Unlike the other Arcane Backgrounds in the Weird West, the Mad Scientist Edge is passive in nature. A Mad Scientist has the dubious honor of having attracted the not-so malevolent attention of one or more Manitou, who whisper dark secrets into the mind of their witless ally and provide inspiration for all manner of mystical machinery. Most of the steampunk technology in Deadlands has its origin in the fevered mind of a Mad Scientist, but the magical energies channeled by the creator during the building of the invention generally make mass production impossible. A variety of Mad Scientists, such as Dr. Hellstromme, have surmounted this obstacle to some extent, which has led to the wide-spread use of Ghost Rock Boilers, Steam Tarantulas, Clockwork Automatons, and several of the more exotic (and dangerous) weapons floating around the Weird West. In Deadlands: Hell on Earth, the Ghost Rock Bombs that led to earth's apocalyptic state were created by Dr. Hellstrome.
- Shaman: Shamans are detailed in the Ghost Warriors Sourcebook.
[edit] Deadlands: Hell on Earth
- Anti-Templar: Anti-Templars have defected from the Templars due to clashing views. Anti-Templars refuse to test worth, and instead help whomever they choose. Anti-Templars have some of the powers that Templars do, but they have a few tricks of their own. Anti-Templars are detailed in the Last Crusaders sourcebook.
- Cyborgs: It just wouldn't be Deadlands without something really strange. Scientists couldn't get Human Cyborgs to take, so they began making Cyborgs from Harrowed. While most Cyborgs do not have the same kinds of powers as Harrowed, some (usually those who were Harrowed before the Cyborg conversion) do have access to those powers. Cyborgs are detailed in the Cyborgs sourcebook.
- Doomsayers: An evolution of Blessed, they are magically gifted people who draw their power by worshipping radiation. With some very devastating powers, Doomsayers are one of the more potent, and disliked, arcane backgrounds. Doomsayers are divided into two groups: the Cult of Doom (who wear green robes and preach that mutants are the next step in evolution, and that all humans need to be killed) and the Schismatics (who wear purple robes, and while having the same views on mutation as the Cult, choose not to speed up evolution). Doomsayers are detailed in the Children o' the Atom sourcebook.
- Junker: The evolution of Metal Mages (characters with both the Mad Scientist and Huckster Arcane Backgrounds), Junkers scavenge for debris, and use shamanistic rituals to construct amazing devices. These devices are held together and powered by "Tech Spirits" (spirits that once inhabited normal objects). Junkers are detailed in the sourcebook The Junkman Cometh.
- Martial Artist: Martial Artists are very similar to those from the Weird West. Martial Artists are detailed in the Waste Warriors sourcebook.
- Syker: Most Sykers were trained by military training facilities, and have developed powerful psychic abilities. Most Sykers saw action on Banshee (the location for Deadlands: Lost Colony) during the Last War. However, many were stationed on Earth, and developed differently than the Sykers on Banshee. Since the Last War, a small number of people have developed "wild" power, and are very similar to Sykers, only weaker. Sykers are detailed in the Brainburners sourcebook.
- Templar: The Templars were formed to help those in need. However, because the founder of the Templars felt that people still needed to be able to help themselves, he decreed that each Templar must only help those that (s)he deems worthy. The Templars get magical powers from "Saints", great people from the past who lend the Templars their strength. Templars are detailed in the Last Crusaders sourcebook.
- Toxic Shaman: When the Ghost Rock Bombs were dropped, and the world transformed into a toxic wasteland, many of the nature spirits were affected by the mystical corruption. As a result, spirits of pollution and insects suited for this toxic world gained greater power and the spirits of pure nature were severely weakened. Toxic Shamans channel the mystical energies of these "Toxic Spirits" in the same way their predecessors, the Shamans, channeled the power of the nature spirits. Toxic Shamans are detailed in the Spirit Warriors sourcebook.
- Witch: Witches are similar to Hucksters in practice. Witches use an old cookbook (titled "How to Serve your Man") with encrypted spells in it. Witches don't learn their spells, and are a minor arcane character in Deadlands. Witches are detailed in the Wasted West sourcebook.
Some arcane backgrounds from the Weird West still exist in Hell on Earth, including Shamans, Hucksters, Voodooists, and sometimes Blesseds, and are detailed in their respective Weird West sourcebooks.
