##### Rules for Using the Tribal Nations as Opposition - **Aim.** Before any scene with a Tribal Nation's fighters, the GM states the aim: the treaty line, a hunt, a theft answered, an agent's offer refused, a trespass stopped. - **Parley.** A party that meets a nation's warriors meets people who count rifles, read the party's business and decide. Most meetings end in talk, trade, a warning or a turn back. Use Negotiation, Plain Words (Skills and Talents) and the Prejudice rule's Attitude (Era Rules). - **Nation and band.** Each entry below is for one nation. Do not use a Lakota entry in a Ute scene. Each entry says what that nation wants. - **Who decides.** A decision by one band or society binds that band or society. Two bands can want different answers to the same offer. - **The Showdown does not apply to the Tribal entries by default.** It is a street custom of the towns.

##### Posse Rider (Minion) *A townsman or ranch hand sworn in for a pursuit or an arrest.*

2 2 2 2 2 2

1 8 0 0

- **Group Size:** 2 plus the net Successes on the calling officer's Leadership check, maximum 8 (Era Rules, The Posse) - **Skills:** Ranged 1, Riding 1, Survival 1, Readiness 1 - **Attacks:** Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium) or Coach Gun (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Short; Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2); Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Before 1873 the Single-Action Revolver is a Cap-and-Ball Revolver. - **Equipment:** Riding Horse and Riding saddle (*The Stable*); a posse horse pays no upkeep for three days (Keeping a Horse) - **Abilities:** **Led:** while the calling officer is within Medium range and not incapacitated, the group adds 1 Boon Die to its Readiness checks. **Morale:** when the group has lost half its number or its leader is down, it makes the group Willpower and Readiness check (Average) and disbands on a failure (Era Rules, The Posse) - **Showdown:** A rider may act as principal with Willpower 2 and Readiness 1. The posse stands down if its officer does - **Tactics:** Keeps to the road and the fords, spreads to cover trails, takes cover when shot at and returns fire only at Short or Medium range. Will not enter unknown ground at night without a guide. Slows by a day if the officer is wounded - **Use:** The default force for a sheriff, a marshal or a stock association. Pay is $2.00 a day (the county's money, or the marshal's account for a federal posse; Gear and Prices). Set the group's Attitude toward the party by the Prejudice rule; a Sponsor in the posse can lower it. A pursuit across open country is a chase under *The Stable*, Riding, Chases

##### Deputy (Elite) *A county deputy, appointed by the sheriff to serve process and keep the peace.*

3 3 2 3 3 2

2 14 0 0

- **Skills:** Ranged 2, Melee 1, Riding 2, Perception 2, Readiness 2, Leadership 1, Streetwise 1 - **Attacks:** Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Coach Gun (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Short; Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2); Cudgel (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 4; Engaged; Disorient 1) - **Equipment:** A badge, manacles, Riding Horse and Riding saddle - **Abilities:** *Color of Law* - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 2. A deputy waits for the sheriff when the sheriff is near, and Stands Down from a principal with Notoriety 3 or more unless a crowd favors the badge - **Notoriety:** 0 to 1 (Reach: the home town) - **Tactics:** Arrests in pairs, calls the sheriff, holds the door of the jail and fires a warning shot before aiming. Will not leave a prisoner to join a chase - **Use:** A sheriff has two or three deputies for a county the size of a state (Law Enforcement, Factions and Powers). Use one as the obstacle between the party and a prisoner, or as a witness. A deputy is paid $2.00 a day. For a squad, make a Minion group (Reading a Stat Block)

##### Town Marshal (Elite) *A city officer elected or appointed under the town charter, who keeps the ordinances and the jail.*

3 3 3 3 3 3

2 14 0 1

- **Skills:** Ranged 3, Melee 2, Leadership 3, Intimidation 2, Perception 3, Streetwise 3, Readiness 3, Lore 1 (Law) - **Attacks:** Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Coach Gun (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Short; Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2); Cudgel (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 4; Engaged; Disorient 1) - **Equipment:** A badge, manacles, a ring of keys, the town's calaboose - **Abilities:** *Color of Law. Steady Nerve* (once per scene). **Town Law:** inside the town limits, no Bane Die for Outside Jurisdiction; beyond them he is a citizen (Law in Play) - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 3. A marshal calls a Showdown to end a fight in the street, not to start one - **Notoriety:** 1 to 2 (Reach: the home town at 1, the county at 2) - **Tactics:** Enforces Arms in Town: warns a stranger, gives thirty minutes, then arrests (Era Rules). Moves toward trouble, not away from it. Answers to the council and the mayor, who can fire him - **Use:** The authority a party meets first in Cheyenne or Denver. A marshal on good terms with the party is a patron; one who is owed money by a cattleman is an obstacle. The Cheyenne marshal was an elected office from August 1867 (Law Enforcement, Factions and Powers)

##### Cavalry Trooper (Minion) *An enlisted man of the regular Army, on escort, patrol or guard.*

2 2 2 2 2 1

1 8 0 0

- **Group Size:** 4 to 8, a squad or a detachment - **Skills:** Ranged 2, Riding 2, Readiness 2, Fortitude 1 - **Attacks:** Breechloading Rifle (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Long; Prepare 1; Military) (the carbine); Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Cap-and-Ball Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 3; Medium; Limited Ammo 6); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged); optional Sabre (Melee; Damage Might + 3; Crit 3; Engaged; Momentum 2, Balanced 1; Military) - **Equipment:** An Army horse on the quartermaster's account, never tracked (Keeping a Horse). The Sabre is issued but is often left at the post in the field - **Abilities:** **Drilled:** while an officer or sergeant is within Short range, the group adds 1 Boon Die to Readiness checks and to morale checks - **Showdown:** A trooper does not call or answer a Showdown with a civilian without an officer's order. If an officer is present, the officer is the principal - **Tactics:** Dismounts to fire, with one man in four holding the horses. Keeps formation, uses the post's telegraph, obeys the order of the sergeant over the wishes of a civilian - **Use:** Escorts, patrols, guards and arrests on the post's ground. The Army is not a civil police and acts for a sheriff only on request (Law in Play). A private is paid $13 a month (Gear and Prices). Give a trooper a history: a deserter, an Irish recruit, a man owed back pay. A fight between a squad and the party produces an officer's report

##### Cavalry Sergeant (Elite) *A veteran non-commissioned officer who runs a detachment and the officers' orders.*

3 3 2 3 3 2

2 14 0 0

- **Skills:** Ranged 3, Melee 2, Riding 3, Leadership 2, Readiness 3, Fortitude 2, Perception 2 - **Attacks:** Breechloading Rifle (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Long; Prepare 1; Military); Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Cap-and-Ball Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 3; Medium; Limited Ammo 6); optional Sabre (Melee; Damage Might + 3; Crit 3; Engaged; Momentum 2, Balanced 1; Military) - **Equipment:** An Army horse; a notebook; the keys to the guardhouse - **Abilities:** *Steady Nerve* (once per scene). **Sergeant's Voice:** as a Maneuver, a Minion group of troopers within Medium range adds 1 Boon Die to its next check. Once per round - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 3. Does not call a Showdown with a civilian on his own authority - **Tactics:** Puts the party's rifles under his own eye, places the squad, refuses to be rushed - **Use:** He decides whether the lieutenant hears of the party. A bribe tests his Readiness; fair dealing wins a Boon Die on later Negotiation

##### Railroad Detective (Elite) *A special agent of a railroad, tracing theft, strikers and loose freight.*

2 3 3 4 3 3

1 13 0 0

- **Skills:** Perception 3, Streetwise 3, Ranged 2, Stealth 2, Deception 2, Lore 2 (Law), Readiness 2, Leadership 1 - **Attacks:** Pocket Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 2, Limited Ammo 5); Coach Gun (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Short; Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2) (on a company car) - **Equipment:** A company pass, a telegraph account, a notebook, a badge that is the company's and not the law's - **Abilities:** *Paper on a Man.* **Company Wire:** with a depot telegraph in reach, the detective can have every station on the line told of a person's description within the hour. A party the detective names adds 1 Bane Die to Streetwise and Deception checks on that line until the detective is satisfied - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 2. Avoids a Showdown when he can arrest with others - **Notoriety:** 0 to 1, to people who deal with the line - **Tactics:** Shadows, asks clerks, rides the train, waits at the depot. Calls a marshal or a Posse Rider group rather than arresting alone. Railroads run their own police and special agents (The Railroads, Factions and Powers); off company ground a detective has a citizen's power - **Use:** Pursues a stolen shipment, a union organizer, a deserter or a party that has pulled a company survey stake. He can also be a patron: the company pays well for quiet work

##### Judge (Elite) *A territorial district judge on circuit, or a justice of the peace with a larger docket.*

2 2 4 3 4 3

1 13 0 0

- **Skills:** Lore 4 (Law), Leadership 3, Perception 3, Readiness 3, Intimidation 2, Negotiation 2 - **Attacks:** Derringer (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 3, Limited Ammo 2, Inaccurate 1) (kept in the bench or the coat) - **Equipment:** A gavel, a law book, a clerk and a bailiff; the sheriff to carry out the sentence - **Abilities:** *Color of Law.* **The Bench:** in his court the judge sets the Attitude of the room toward any marker; the players may lower it one step with a Sponsor or Cover (Prejudice). **Contempt:** as an Action, make a Leadership check against a person in the court; on a success the person suffers 2 Strain and the bailiff steps up. **Ruling:** once per scene, state a ruling; to argue against it takes a Hard Lore (Law) check, and a failure is Contempt - **Showdown:** Does not take part. A Showdown in his court is Contempt - **Notoriety:** 2, a county - **Tactics:** Hears, rules, delays. A territorial judge is appointed by the President and sits twice a year in a given county (Law Enforcement, Factions and Powers) - **Use:** A trial, a hearing or an examination. A party's Bounty ends in a trial, a pardon or a death (Notoriety and Bounty). A claim argued before him is a Stakes contest of Intellect and Lore (Law or Land). He can be a patron or a bought man; if bought, the Corrupt Agent is the buyer

##### Rustler (Minion) *A stock thief who runs cattle and horses off by night and alters the brand.*

2 2 2 2 2 2

1 8 0 0

- **Group Size:** 3 to 5 - **Skills:** Riding 2, Ranged 1, Survival 1, Stealth 1 - **Attacks:** Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium); Cap-and-Ball Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 3; Medium; Limited Ammo 6) - **Equipment:** Riding Horses, a running iron, Lasso; trail horses are kept unkept away from towns (Keeping a Horse) - **Abilities:** *Rope Hand.* **Scatter:** when the group drops below half its Wounds, it breaks into singles and flees by different trails; the GM does not track them past Medium range - **Showdown:** A rider may act as principal with Willpower 2 and Readiness 1. The crew Stands Down rather than lose its stock to a posse - **Notoriety:** 0 to 1 - **Bounty:** Reward if posted. Minor: $68 a rider, for stock theft - **Tactics:** Works at night, moves stock toward a rail town or a buyer who asks nothing, and will not fight for a herd it can leave - **Use:** The ordinary threat of the range, and the first rung toward a town buyer and a gang boss. A herd with an altered brand is the scene; the brand book and the stock association settle it (Cattle Interests, Factions and Powers). Horse theft is grand larceny, and before the courts sat it was answered outside them (Historical Reference, Cheyenne lynching, 1868)

##### Stage Robber (Minion) *A road agent who stops a coach at a grade or a ford.*

2 2 2 2 2 2

1 8 0 0

- **Group Size:** 2 to 4 - **Skills:** Ranged 2, Riding 1, Intimidation 1, Stealth 1 - **Attacks:** Coach Gun (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Short; Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2); Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Cap-and-Ball Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 3; Medium; Limited Ammo 6) - **Equipment:** Masks or kerchiefs, saddle horses, a sack - **Abilities:** *Hands Up.* **Masked:** add 1 Bane Die to Perception checks to identify a robber by face - **Showdown:** A robber may act as principal with Willpower 2 and Readiness 1. Robbers do not Stand Down once the coach is stopped; a hold-up is already committed - **Notoriety:** 0 to 1 - **Bounty:** Serious: $246 a robber, for robbery of a coach - **Tactics:** Chooses a place where the team slows, puts the shotgun on the driver, takes the strongbox and the passengers' cash, and leaves by different trails - **Use:** A stage can be stopped, robbed or delayed (Travel at the Table, Era Rules). Let the players be passengers, the guard, the posse or the pursuit. A freighter's Coach Gun is a good reason for a robber to choose a different coach

##### Hired Gun (Elite) *A professional paid by an association, a company or a claimant to settle a dispute by force.*

3 4 2 3 3 2

2 14 0 1

- **Skills:** Ranged 3, Melee 1, Riding 2, Stealth 1, Intimidation 2, Readiness 3, Perception 2, Streetwise 2 - **Attacks:** Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Abilities:** *Quick Reload. Steady Nerve* (once per scene) - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 3. Calls a Showdown on terms the employer set - **Notoriety:** 1 to 3 - **Bounty:** Serious: $318, once a killing is reported - **Tactics:** Waits for the other side to commit, picks the ground and the witnesses, and works for the pay. Stands Down if outbid or outnumbered; a Hard Negotiation check can buy him out - **Stakes:** The pay is the Pot: a hired man will raise only what the employer has advanced - **Use:** Muscle for an association's detective, a land claimant or a mine superintendent. Shooting one is a crime with a client attached. The stock association began paying for detectives in 1875 and had them on its payroll by 1877 (Cattle Interests, Factions and Powers)

##### Bounty Hunter (Elite) *A private man who finds people with a price on them for the reward, holding no commission of his own.*

3 3 2 4 3 2

2 14 0 0

- **Skills:** Streetwise 3, Survival 3, Ranged 3, Perception 2, Riding 2, Intimidation 2, Readiness 2, Negotiation 1, Stealth 1 - **Attacks:** Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium); Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6) [Cap-and-Ball Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 3; Medium; Limited Ammo 6) before 1873]; Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Equipment:** The notice, folded; manacles and a length of chain; two Riding Horses, the second for the man he brings in; a letter from an express company or a stock association that says who will pay - **Abilities:** *Paper on a Man. Reads Sign. Steady Nerve* (once per scene). **No Commission:** he arrests as a private citizen. His arrest check (Era Rules, Warrants and Arrests) adds the Outside Jurisdiction Bane Die unless a sheriff has sworn him for the day or he carries a court's warrant for an officer; he prefers the Showdown and the ambush, which need no commission. **Known at the Office:** the Negotiation check to Claim a reward (Era Rules, Taking a Bounty) is Easy at an office that has paid him before, and he is paid before a rival claimant who arrives the same day - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 2. Calls one when the quarry is alone and the street is empty; Stands Down when the quarry's friends outnumber his, and comes back by another road - **Notoriety:** 1 to 2 (the sheriffs of a county know him, and so do the men he has brought in) - **Bounty:** None, unless he kills a man the notice wanted alive: then Serious, $283, and the county that posted the first notice posts the second - **Stakes:** The reward is his Pot. He will sell a lead to a sheriff for a share rather than lose the whole sum to a posse, and he will Raise with the second horse

- **Tactics:** Finds by Streetwise in a town and Survival on a trail, identifies from a distance, and takes the man at a ford, a livery or a bed, never in a crowd. Brings the man in alive when the notice pays the same either way, because a body needs a witness to its name - **Use:** The opponent for a player character who is Wanted (Era Rules, Notoriety and Bounty): the Calamity that has an NPC inform him is the hook, the Find is his, and the party's defense is its friends, its Cover and the county line. A rival for a party hunting the same Bounty, a patron who hires a tracker (Anselmo Ybarra's trade), or a collector a creditor sends after an unpaid Debt (Money and Credit). The men who claimed rewards in the record were officers, express-company and stock detectives and private persons. In 1874 he is called a detective, a hunter or a man after the reward

##### Claim Jumper (Minion) *A man who occupies a claim, a quarter section or a mine working and defies the owner to remove him.*

2 2 2 2 2 1

1 8 0 0

- **Group Size:** 2 to 4 - **Skills:** Melee 1, Ranged 1, Athletics 1, Intimidation 1, Lore 1 (Land) - **Attacks:** Cudgel (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 4; Engaged; Disorient 1); Hatchet (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 3; Engaged; Vicious 1, Sunder); Trade Gun (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 4; Medium; Prepare 2, Unreliable); Pocket Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 2, Limited Ammo 5) - **Equipment:** A tent or a shack, a notice nailed to a post, a plat that may be forged - **Abilities:** **Paper and Pistol:** the group carries a filing or a notice that looks valid. A Lore (Law or Land) or Perception check, Hard, shows it to be forged or out of date. Until then, a sheriff holds the claim in dispute - **Showdown:** A jumper may act as principal with Willpower 2 and Readiness 1; the crowd of neighbors decides - **Bounty:** Reward if posted. Minor: $39, for a claim jumped - **Tactics:** Moves in when the owner is away, fires to scare, and falls back on the law's slowness - **Use:** A claim before an official is a Stakes contest of Intellect and Lore (Law or Land). A fight is the owner's last option. The Land Agent, the Judge and the recorder are usually the real adversary

##### Whiskey Trader (Elite) *A seller of liquor from a wagon, a back room or a hide-out, to soldiers, hands, teamsters and anyone with money.*

2 3 3 3 2 3

1 13 0 0

- **Skills:** Negotiation 3, Streetwise 3, Deception 2, Ranged 2, Survival 2, Riding 2, Perception 2 - **Attacks:** Trade Gun (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 4; Medium; Prepare 2, Unreliable); Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium); Pocket Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 2, Limited Ammo 5) - **Equipment:** A wagon or pack outfit of Strong Drink (*The Apothecary*, Habit 1; Price 2), a ledger - **Abilities:** *Convincing* (Core). **Regular Custom:** a customer who has bought from him twice makes the Strong Drink Habit check (Habit 1, *The Apothecary*, Drugs, Dose, Crash and Habit) if the table uses the Habit rule. **Contraband:** he knows where the Army, the agent and the U.S. Marshal are not, and adds 1 Boon Die to Stealth and Streetwise checks to avoid them. Selling liquor or arms to a Tribal Nation is a federal offense, tried in the district court and served by the U.S. Marshal (Law Enforcement, Factions and Powers). Selling or giving spirituous liquor to a member of a nation under an agent's charge, or carrying it into Indian country, was a federal offense (Revised Statutes of 1874, section 2139): up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $300 - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 2, Readiness 1. Stands Down for any badge - **Notoriety:** 1 - **Bounty:** Serious: $263, a federal charge. The payer is the U.S. Marshal's office - **Tactics:** Sells fast, moves, hides the barrels, blames the customer. Runs from a patrol and fights only to protect the wagon - **Use:** His customers are soldiers, teamsters, miners, cowhands and members of any nation, each deciding for himself what to buy and from whom. A raid on his wagon raises who bought, who protected him and who warned him

##### Vigilante (Minion) *A member of a masked committee of citizens that takes a prisoner out of a jail.*

2 2 2 2 2 2

1 8 0 0

- **Group Size:** 4 to 10 - **Skills:** Ranged 1, Intimidation 2, Readiness 1, Stealth 1 - **Attacks:** Coach Gun (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Short; Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2); Trade Gun (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 4; Medium; Prepare 2, Unreliable); Cudgel (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 4; Engaged; Disorient 1) - **Equipment:** Masks, a rope, a lantern - **Abilities:** **Masked** (as the Stage Robber). **A Crowd's Courage:** while the group has 6 or more members, add 1 Boon Die to its Intimidation checks against a lone officer - **Showdown:** A member may act as principal with Willpower 2 and Readiness 1. A group of fewer than 4 Stands Down - **Notoriety:** 0 for each member. The leader or the deed can earn a Name if a newspaper reports it - **Bounty:** Serious: $283, offered only for a named leader after a killing - **Tactics:** Comes at night, forces the jail door or the sheriff, and goes home before dawn. Breaks if its leader falls or a respected townsman steps in front - **Use:** Cheyenne's vigilance committee captured three robbers in January 1868 and hanged them, and a masked mob took Charles Martin from a dance house on 21 March 1868; no one was charged (Outlaws and Vigilance Committees, Factions and Powers). These were nearly the last such lynchings there, and the courts were in place by 1869. Use a committee where there is no court, in a county the sheriff cannot reach, or as the crowd at the jail door. Holding the jail takes a Hard Leadership check or a Showdown at the door (Law in Play).

##### Outlaw Leader (Nemesis) *A gang boss who runs stock or road robbery through buyers, safe ranches and a crew of riders.*

3 4 3 3 4 4

2 16 17 0 1

- **Skills:** Ranged 4, Riding 3, Leadership 3, Intimidation 3, Streetwise 3, Readiness 3, Stealth 2, Negotiation 2 - **Attacks:** Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6) (two, one in each hand) [Cap-and-Ball before 1873]; Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium) - **Equipment:** Two revolvers, a repeater, a good horse, a safe ranch and a buyer - **Abilities:** *Fan the Hammer. The Drop. Lie Low. Name Precedes You* (once per session). **Crew:** runs one or two Minion groups (Rustler or Stage Robber) and, at Notoriety 4, a Hired Gun. **The Back Way:** once per session, the Nemesis spends 1 Peril Point to be gone when the party closes in: a second horse, a window, a friend in the crowd - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 4, Readiness 3. The Nemesis Draws only if the numbers favor the crew; otherwise he Stands Down and returns - **Notoriety:** 3 - **Bounty:** Serious: $467 for a coach robbery. Grave: $1,184 for the killing of an officer - **Tactics:** Sends the crew first, holds the ground that favors the rifle, and uses a buyer in town to cover his tracks. Wants the party to go away or to be paid - **Use:** The campaign villain below the Corrupt Agent. In the open he fans two revolvers; a party of four starting characters that Draws on him loses one of its number in the first round. His weaknesses are the buyer who asks no questions and the crew member who wants the reward (Outlaws and Vigilance Committees, Factions and Powers: internal splits). Carrick is a built example, set in Laramie County. A gang boss can come from any background the record gives (The Era, Immigration, Communities and Prejudice): a Texan trail boss, a Tejano horse dealer, an Irish teamster turned fence, a Union veteran, a Black cowhand who knows the drives

##### Land Agent (Elite) *An agent of a railroad land department, a land company or a speculator, who files, buys, surveys and sues.*

2 2 4 3 3 3

1 13 0 0

- **Skills:** Lore 3 (Law, Land), Negotiation 3, Science 2, Perception 2, Charm 2, Survival 1, Ranged 1 - **Attacks:** Pocket Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 2, Limited Ammo 5) - **Equipment:** A plat roll, a transit and chain, a letter on company paper, an escort when needed - **Abilities:** *Reads the Fine Print. Plat and Section.* **Stakes in the Land:** takes a Stakes contest of Intellect and Lore before an official, and will Raise before he Folds - **Showdown:** Does not seek one. Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 1; he Stands Down at once and sends for the escort - **Stakes:** Plays the claim contest well and the horse race badly - **Tactics:** Files first, buys out the weak, sues the stubborn, and brings in a Hired Gun or a Minion escort when a stake is pulled. His stake line may cross a treaty boundary he does not know of (The Railroads, Factions and Powers) - **Use:** Opposes a rancher, a squatter, a claimant or a nation's survey line; can be a Scots or English company man, an Irish clerk, a German speculator or a Chinese merchant who holds the lease; can be an ally to a party that can use his authority. Edmund Harrow of the Era Cast is a Union Pacific land agent and a player character; this entry covers others like him

##### Saloon Keeper (Elite) *The owner of a saloon or gambling room, who is the town's host, banker and listening post.*

3 2 2 4 3 3

2 14 0 0

- **Skills:** Streetwise 3, Perception 3, Negotiation 2, Intimidation 2, Melee 2, Ranged 2, Charm 2, Readiness 2, Deception 1 - **Attacks:** Coach Gun (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Short; Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2) (under the bar); Cudgel (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 4; Engaged; Disorient 1) (a bung starter); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Equipment:** A bar, a safe, two Minion toughs (use the Posse Rider block, group size 2), a license the council can pull - **Abilities:** **House Rules:** in his own house, add 1 Boon Die to Intimidation and Leadership checks to eject a person or end a quarrel. **The Ear:** the first Streetwise check each scene to learn rumors in his house is Easy - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 2; his regulars and the toughs at the bar count as allies in view. Wants the quarrel out of the house, not a death - **Stakes:** Hosts games run by a gambler. A cheat caught at his table is a Showdown he wishes to end; he can call Perception for any onlooker to notice - **Tactics:** Defuses, then ends the argument with the shotgun. Enforces Arms in Town for the marshal, and may take a stranger's weapon behind the bar for the marshal (a table practice; Arms in Town, Era Rules) - **Use:** A patron, an informer, a rival or the man whose lease is held by a creditor. The town's power gathers in his house, and he remembers what the party does there

##### Gambler and Card Sharp (Elite) *A professional who lives by the table, in a saloon's back room or a hotel parlor, and cheats when the pot is worth it.*

2 3 3 4 3 3

1 13 0 0

- **Skills:** Deception 3, Subterfuge 3, Perception 3, Charm 2, Streetwise 2, Readiness 2, Ranged 1, Lore 1 (Trade) - **Attacks:** Derringer (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 3, Limited Ammo 2, Inaccurate 1) (in a vest pocket); Pocket Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 2, Limited Ammo 5); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Equipment:** His own deck, a second deck already arranged in a coat pocket, chips, a bankroll of about $300 of which half is the house's, a good coat, a room upstairs - **Abilities:** *Poker Face. Read the Table. High Roller.* **His Own Deck:** in a game played with his cards, the Hard Subterfuge check to cheat (Era Rules, Stakes) is Average; with the house's cards it is Hard as printed. **A Misunderstanding:** once per scene, when a cheat of his is noticed, he makes a Charm check, Average, opposed by the onlooker's Perception; on a success the room takes it for a mistake and no Showdown starts unless a principal insists - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 2. Stands Down to any armed principal; a Backed Down mark sends him to the next town on the next train - **Notoriety:** 1 to 2 (the saloons of a town, then the county's sheriffs) - **Bounty:** None for the cards. A cheat caught answers to the room, not to a notice; a theft from a drunk man's coat is Minor, $68, Reward if posted - **Stakes:** Bluffs with Charisma and Deception when the hand is good and reads with Savvy and Perception when it is not; Raises when he holds the Lead and Folds at the first Call short; cheats on the third exchange of a long contest, never the first. His Pot is the money; a Name he will not stake - **Tactics:** Sits with his back to the wall and the door in view, loses small to strangers early in the night and wins the last pot, and leaves by the back stairs when a loser's friends gather - **Use:** The opponent for any Stakes contest at a table, and the figure the Saloon Keeper's games are run by. Against a party he is a scene of reading and cheating: Read the Table against Poker Face, an onlooker's opposed Perception, and the Saloon Keeper deciding who leaves. A cheat exposed is the Showdown nobody wanted (Era Rules, Stakes, Cheating). He can be a patron who buys information with a lost hand, a witness who saw who sat at the table, or a creditor who holds a note won at cards (Money and Credit)

##### Cattle-Company Foreman (Elite) *The man who runs a ranch's hands, herds and shipping for an owner or an association.*

3 3 3 3 3 3

2 14 0 0

- **Skills:** Riding 3, Leadership 3, Survival 3, Ranged 2, Perception 2, Lore 2 (Trade), Negotiation 2, Intimidation 2, Readiness 2 - **Attacks:** Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6); Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium); Lasso (Ranged; no damage; Short; Ensnare 2, Limited Ammo 1) - **Equipment:** A string of horses, a brand book, a crew of 4 to 8 hands (use the Posse Rider block) - **Abilities:** *Eye for Stock. Rope Hand.* **The Owner's Name:** adds 1 Boon Die to Negotiation checks with a rancher, a shipper or a sheriff who owes the outfit - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 3, Readiness 2. A foreman calls one to defend the herd or a hand, not to prove himself - **Tactics:** Holds a herd at the yards, demands the bill of sale, pays hands the rate the owner set. Hires a Hired Gun if the loss is large enough to warrant a bill - **Use:** An employer, a gatekeeper at a hiring (the Prejudice rule's hiring-window example), or the man who pays low and asks no questions. The same work can pay different hands different sums; that is a scene, not a sheet value (Cattle Interests, Factions and Powers)

##### Striking Miner (Minion) *A miner out on a labor dispute, with the shift behind him.*

2 2 2 2 3 2

1 8 0 0

- **Group Size:** 4 to 8 - **Skills:** Athletics 2, Fortitude 2, Melee 1, Readiness 1 - **Attacks:** Cudgel (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 4; Engaged; Disorient 1) (a pick handle); Hatchet (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 3; Engaged; Vicious 1, Sunder); Fists (Unarmed; Damage Might; Crit 5; Engaged) - **Equipment:** Tools of the trade. One member of the group may hold a mine-issued Dynamite Stick (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 4; Short; Blast 6, Limited Ammo 1, Prepare 1, Siege 2; Restricted); the strikers use it only if the Peril Pool is spent to escalate - **Abilities:** *Mine Wise.* **Solidarity:** while 4 or more members are within Short range, add 1 Boon Die to the group's Readiness and Willpower checks. If the leader is arrested, the group does not go home - **Showdown:** A striker may act as principal with Willpower 3 and Readiness 1. The group Stands Down when its leader tells it to - **Tactics:** Pickets the shaft, bars the strikebreakers from the cage, and refuses to disperse. The strikers are mostly unarmed; violence follows from the owner's agents, a sheriff's deputy or a bomb

##### Corrupt Agent (Nemesis) *An agent, contractor or official who profits from the office: short rations, false vouchers, bought votes, forged paper.*

2 2 4 3 3 4

1 15 16 0 0

- **Skills:** Negotiation 4, Deception 4, Lore 3 (Law, Trade), Leadership 3, Charm 3, Streetwise 2, Perception 2, Ranged 1 - **Attacks:** Derringer (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 3, Limited Ammo 2, Inaccurate 1) - **Equipment:** A ledger, a pen, a letter from a patron, a clerk, a guard (a Hired Gun or a Posse Rider group) - **Abilities:** *Good Credit. Reads the Fine Print. Poker Face.* **The Ledgers:** once per scene, produce a voucher, receipt or bill of lading that explains a shortage; to break it takes a Perception or Lore (Trade) check at Hard. **Passing the Blame:** the first time he is accused, a contractor, a quartermaster or a railroad takes the blame in his story; a character who can show the paper trail (Hard Lore, Trade) removes this. **Protected:** an attack on him is an attack on an office, and brings the Army, the Bureau or a federal marshal - **Showdown:** Does not take part; he will leave the room before he Stands Down - **Notoriety:** 0 in public. He earns a Name only if a newspaper or a trial exposes him - **Bounty:** None. The consequence is a scandal: exposing him before a judge or in the press earns Notoriety 1 (Era Rules) - **Tactics:** Delays, shifts the blame, offers a bribe or a favor, and pays a Hired Gun to bury a witness. He spends Peril to arrange a Sponsor in a scene - **Stakes:** A claim contest is his best ground. Raises with paper and not with cash - **Use:** He can be a Bureau agent, a freight contractor, a post trader, a county treasurer or a mine superintendent, of any background. The villain of The Short Wagon (Tribal Nations): a freight wagon of agency flour arrives half-filled with grit, and each office blames another. The headmen at the agency press the claim for the full ration. The agencies and the Bureau of Indian Affairs are described in Factions and Powers

##### Reading the Tribal Entries Each entry is for one nation and states what that nation wants, from the Tribal Nations and Factions and Powers chapters. The figure is a person of that nation, with a band, society or trade the GM names. Equipment is the kit those chapters give: a rifle, a bow, a knife, a horse. The Stable has no entry for Tribal Nations' horses, so use the nearest entry (Gear and Prices). A war bonnet is not equipment; it marks a specific honor held by specific men on specific occasions. The Oglala Lakota warrior and the Northern Cheyenne interpreter of the Era Cast are player characters (Pregenerated Characters).

##### Oglala Lakota Warrior (Elite) *A fighting man of an Oglala band, a hunter and scout, and a member of a society.*

3 4 2 3 3 2

2 14 0 0

- **Aims:** The 1868 treaty kept: no miners, soldiers or roads in the reserved lands; the buffalo hunt; honest and full rations; its own say in who sits at the agency (Oglala Lakota, Factions and Powers). The band's headmen decide what a society does - **Skills:** Riding 3, Ranged 3, Survival 3, Stealth 2, Melee 2, Readiness 3, Perception 2, Leadership 1

- **Attacks:** Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium) or Trade Gun (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 4; Medium; Prepare 2, Unreliable); Horse Bow (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium; Accurate 1, Fragile 1, Cumbersome 2, Point Blank 1); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Equipment:** A Riding Horse (nearest entry), a hide bow case and quiver, a beaded bag, trade-cloth dress - **Abilities:** *Mounted Fighter* (Skills and Talents; the technique is attested for several nations). *Reads Sign.* *Steady Nerve* (once per scene) - **Showdown:** Does not apply by default. A challenge in a town is the GM's call, and a warrior is not bound to answer one - **Tactics:** Watches before acting, counts rifles and riders, and carries the headmen's answer. Warriors tell a party that crosses the treaty line to turn back; a party that deals fairly can trade, be guided or be left alone. A fight needs a reason the GM states - **Use:** A delegation, a hunting party, an agency escort, a trader or a surveyor's stakes north of the North Platte (Hooks: Oglala Lakota). For a war party, use the Minion version (Reading a Stat Block) with one Elite as leader

##### Northern Cheyenne Warrior (Elite) *A society member and fighting man of the Northern Cheyenne.*

3 4 2 3 3 2

2 14 0 0

- **Aims:** Keep the hunting grounds and the alliance with the Lakota and the Arapaho, read treaties as binding only those who agreed to them, and settle accounts with an agent or a trader who has cheated a band. The Cheyenne of 1874 remember Sand Creek as recent (Tribal Nations) - **Skills:** Riding 3, Ranged 3, Survival 3, Perception 3, Melee 2, Readiness 3, Negotiation 1 - **Attacks:** Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium) or Trade Gun (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 4; Medium; Prepare 2, Unreliable); Horse Bow (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium; Accurate 1, Fragile 1, Cumbersome 2, Point Blank 1); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Equipment:** A Riding Horse (nearest entry), a bow case and quiver, a blanket or a shawl - **Abilities:** *Mounted Fighter. Reads Sign. Cool Head* (Core) - **Showdown:** Does not apply by default - **Tactics:** Acts as a society acts: polices a camp, directs a move, and answers a wrong to the band. A warrior hears a party out before a society decides - **Use:** An agency, a camp or a trading counter where a trader's ledger of debts is disputed (Hooks: Northern Cheyenne). The Cheyenne interpreter of the Era Cast is a player character who can stand between the party and a society

##### Northern Arapaho Scout and Trader (Elite) *A man of the Northern Arapaho who scouts and trades, without a reservation of his own.*

2 3 3 3 3 3

1 13 0 0

- **Aims:** A seat in the alliance and land of his people's own, and a letter of safe conduct to cross the Union Pacific line. He trades and scouts to get them (Northern Arapaho, Factions and Powers) - **Skills:** Negotiation 3, Survival 3, Perception 3, Riding 3, Ranged 2, Lore 2 (Peoples and Tongues), Streetwise 1 - **Attacks:** Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Equipment:** A Riding Horse (nearest entry), trade goods, an account of hides and credit - **Abilities:** *Reads Sign. Many Tongues. Plain Words* (once per scene) - **Showdown:** Does not apply by default - **Tactics:** Deals, talks, carries a word between camps, and weighs the Army's rations against a band's own hunt - **Use:** A guide, a rival trader, an informer, or a man the Army wants to hire as a scout. He disagrees with other Arapaho about treaties, as a nation does; the Army and the agent do not speak for him

##### Eastern Shoshone Scout (Elite) *A scout of the Eastern Shoshone, whose nation has a reservation by treaty and a calculated friendship with the Army.*

3 3 2 3 3 2

2 14 0 0

- **Aims:** Protect the Wind River country and the treaty, and use the alliance with the Army to do it. Play the alliance as strategy (Eastern Shoshone, Factions and Powers). The Shoshone have a long list of enemies on the plains - **Skills:** Survival 3, Riding 3, Ranged 3, Perception 3, Stealth 2, Readiness 2, Negotiation 2, Leadership 1 - **Attacks:** Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium); Horse Bow (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium; Accurate 1, Fragile 1, Cumbersome 2, Point Blank 1); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Equipment:** A Riding Horse (nearest entry), a rifle and a bow case, a blanket - **Abilities:** *Mounted Fighter. Reads Sign. Keen Eye* (Core) - **Showdown:** Does not apply by default - **Tactics:** Scouts ahead of a column, reports at the post, and refuses an order that serves the Army and not the nation. In the field he follows the leader the band named - **Use:** A scene with a mining party heading into the reservation's southern third, a scout asked to find an Arapaho camp, or an agent who has not built the promised sawmill (Hooks: Eastern Shoshone)

##### Ute Hunter and Guide (Elite) *A man of one of the Ute bands who hunts and guides prospecting parties through the mountains.*

3 3 2 4 3 2

2 14 0 0

- **Aims:** Keep the line of the Brunot agreement, speak for his band and not for the seven, and be paid and heard by the surveyor, the miner and the agent. A treaty that one headman signed does not bind the White River bands (Ute, Tribal Nations) - **Skills:** Survival 3, Stealth 3, Ranged 3, Perception 3, Riding 2, Lore 2 (Land), Negotiation 2 - **Attacks:** Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium) or Trade Gun (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 4; Medium; Prepare 2, Unreliable); Horse Bow (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium; Accurate 1, Fragile 1, Cumbersome 2, Point Blank 1); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged) - **Equipment:** A Mountain Horse (*The Stable*), a pack saddle, a bow case - **Abilities:** *Reads Sign. Wayfarer. Keen Eye.* **The Ground:** adds 1 Boon Die to Survival and Stealth checks in mountain country, and knows which copy of the boundary is right - **Showdown:** Does not apply by default - **Tactics:** Guides, warns, sets a price, and leaves a party that crosses the line. His fighting is a response to a trespass he has already warned about - **Use:** The guide of The Line on the Map (Tribal Nations). He is present in Denver in 1874. A failed Survival or Lore check on an unclear line puts a party inside the reservation, and the next people to find them are not friendly

##### Band Leader and Council Speaker (Elite) *A man who speaks for one band or one society in council, at an agency and at a parley, and for no one else.*

2 2 3 3 4 4

1 13 0 0

- **Aims:** Those of his nation's entry above, in the order his band holds them this season; the GM names the band, the society and the nation before the scene (Tribal Nations). He wants the band fed, the young men alive and the band's name clear - **Skills:** Leadership 3, Negotiation 3, Lore 3 (Peoples and Tongues), Perception 2, Riding 2, Survival 2, Readiness 2, Ranged 1 - **Attacks:** Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium) or Trade Gun (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 4; Medium; Prepare 2, Unreliable); Knife (Melee; Damage Might + 1; Crit 3; Engaged). He does not fight if the band has fighters - **Equipment:** A Riding Horse (nearest entry) and a string of others, a blanket, a trade-cloth shirt; the band's riders at his back - **Abilities:** *Cool Head* (Core). *Rallying Words* (Core). **Speaks for the Band:** a decision he gives binds his band or society and no other (Tribal Nations); a party that asks him to answer for another band is told to ask that band, and a second band in the scene is a second audience with its own Attitude (Era Rules, Prejudice). **Holds the Riders:** once per scene, as an Action, he makes a Leadership check, Average, to keep the band's young men from acting until he has spoken; on a success they wait for the rest of the scene; on a failure they act, and his Attitude toward the party moves one step toward Hostile for the rest of the scene because the party has cost him standing - **Showdown:** Does not apply by default. A challenge in a town is a thing he walks away from and remembers - **Stakes:** A council is not a Stakes contest (Era Rules, Stakes). He may accept a horse race or a shooting match as a contest, Agility and Riding or Agility and Ranged, and his stake is horses

- **Notoriety:** 2 to 3 (the agency and the county know his name; the territorial press prints it when the band is in the news) - **Tactics:** Hears the party out before he answers, asks through an interpreter even when he understands, counts what the party brought and who sent them, and gives an answer the band can keep. A party that comes with soldiers is answered by the soldiers' presence - **Use:** The speaker in every parley and council scene: an agency issue day, a trader's disputed ledger, a survey crew on the hunting ground, a delegation at a depot (Running the Era, Mode Five). The headman of the Starter Adventure's Scene 4 uses this block with the Oglala Lakota entry's Aims. Set his Attitudes by the Sample Audiences row for a council (Era Rules); the Plain Words talent and a Sponsor the band respects are the party's levers. For the band's fighters use the nation's warrior entry; for a war party, its Minion version

##### Wolf (Minion) *A pack animal that follows a herd or a camp in winter and tests prey before it commits.*

2 3 1 3 2 1

1 6 1 0

- **Group Size:** 3 to 8 - **Skills:** Unarmed 2, Athletics 2, Stealth 2, Perception 2, Survival 2 - **Attacks:** Bite (Unarmed; Damage 5; Crit 4; Engaged); on 2 Boons the target adds 1 Bane Die to movement checks until treated - **Abilities:** **Pack:** add 1 Boon Die to attacks against a target already engaged with another wolf group. **False Retreat:** below half its Wounds the pack backs off to Short range; if pursued, it turns and attacks with 1 Boon Die - **Tactics:** Circles the rear, pulls at the stock and the horses, drags one target out of the firelight - **Use:** Use wolves in weather and darkness. A revolver hit drops a wolf; the pack's danger is to the stock and to a lone rider at night, not to an armed party. Horses panic at the howls, and an unkept horse (Keeping a Horse) is easy to cut off. A Survival check at Average reads the pack's direction and reasons for being there

##### Grizzly Bear (Elite) *A bear in the mountains and foothills, protecting a den, a kill or cubs.*

4 2 1 3 3 0

2 24 0 0

- **Skills:** Unarmed 3, Athletics 3, Fortitude 3, Perception 3, Survival 3 - **Attacks:** Swipe (Unarmed; Damage 7; Crit 3; Engaged; Vicious 2, Knockdown on 2 Boons); Bite (Unarmed; Damage 6; Crit 4; Engaged; Pierce 1) - **Abilities:** **Charge:** from Short range it moves to Engaged and makes a Swipe in the same turn. **Maul:** on a Swipe hit, spend 2 Boons to hit with the Bite as well (in place of Knockdown). **Keeps Coming:** the first two Critical Injuries it suffers in an encounter have no immediate effect on it; they still count and add to later rolls. **Stand and Roar:** as an Action, every creature at Short range makes an Average Readiness check or suffers 3 Strain - **Tactics:** Charges the nearest threat and keeps attacking until it is stopped or flees. A mother with cubs does not flee - **Use:** A grizzly is not proof against a revolver: a Single-Action Revolver hit does 4 to 6 Wounds, and it takes about five such hits, or three or four from a Breechloading or Buffalo Rifle, to stop it. One or two characters with revolvers lose; a party of four kills it, and at least one of them is mauled; rifles halve the cost. Use it as an obstacle between the party and something they want, not a fight. A Survival check at Average reads the sign: track, scat, claw height on a tree. Hard tells whether it is a male ranging, a mother with cubs or a problem bear. For a black bear, set Might 3, Resistance 2, Wounds 18

##### Rattlesnake (Minion) *A venomous snake in rock, grass and a woodpile.*

1 3 1 3 1 0

0 3 0 0

- **Group Size:** 1 to 3 - **Skills:** Unarmed 2, Stealth 2, Perception 2 - **Attacks:** Bite (Unarmed; Damage 1; Crit none; Engaged; Poison). It delivers Viper Venom (*The Apothecary*, Natural Poisons and Venoms): Pot 2, Injury, Onset 1 round, Interval Round, Course 4; 2 Wounds and Disoriented. Antivenom is Rare (Price 120) - **Abilities:** **Rattle:** a character who passes Perception (Average) hears it first and the snake does not get the surprise - **Tactics:** Warns first, strikes when stepped on, reached for or cornered - **Use:** A hazard in a camp, a cave mouth, a trail or a rock outcrop. A Medicine check treats the bite (*The Apothecary*, Treatment and Antidotes)

##### Stampede (Hazard) *A herd of cattle or horses running in fright, with the party in its path or in the saddle.* - **Trigger:** thunder, a shot, a wolf pack, a rider crossing a herd at night, or a Calamity on a Survival or Riding check near stock. - **Difficulty:** Hard. Easy for a rider who was already mounted and awake; Severe at night. - **Check each round:** Riding (to stay with the herd or ride clear), or Reflexes or Athletics on foot. On a failure the character suffers 8 damage (Knockdown), reduced by Resistance. A mounted character who fails also makes a Riding check to stay in the saddle (Easy, but add 2 Bane Dice if unkept). - **Turning the herd:** an extended Riding or Survival check, Hard, threshold 4 net Successes. A character with *Rope Hand* adds 1 Boon Die. Two Boons turn a part of the herd toward a rail corral or a creek. - **Ends** when the herd is turned, or after 3 rounds of open country. The herd then scatters over miles. Gathering it is a day's work and a Survival check (Average). - **Use:** a Calamity at night. A stampede is the best moment for a rustler to take half the stock.

##### Blizzard (Hazard) *A winter storm on the high plains or in the foothills, of the kind that closes the roads and the rails.* - **Trigger:** winter travel (Travel at the Table, hazard), a Calamity on a weather check, or a story beat. - **Difficulty:** Hard in the open; Average with a windbreak, a fire and a shelter; Easy in a building. - **Check each hour exposed:** Survival or Fortitude. On a failure the character suffers 2 Strain and adds 1 Bane Die to all checks, cumulative to 3. A character incapacitated by Strain suffers 2 Wounds in place of Strain each further failure, ignoring Resistance. - **Horses:** a horse in the open adds the same Bane Dice to its checks and its rider's Riding checks; it counts as unkept from the first day (Keeping a Horse). - **Care:** a fire, a blanket and shared body heat give 1 Boon Die to the check, as does a stage station or a ranch. A character who reaches shelter recovers all Strain after a full night's rest. - **Ends** when the party reaches shelter or the weather passes (the GM decides, usually one to three days). Use it to strand a pursuit, a posse and a fugitive in the same room. - **Use:** a Calamity on the Travel hazard roll in winter. Illness follows exposure (Illness, Era Rules).

##### Flood (Hazard) *Spring runoff or a cloudburst that swells a creek, ford or river valley.* - **Trigger:** a river crossing or low camp in spring or after rain; a Calamity on a Survival check near water. - **Difficulty:** Average for a shallow ford; Hard for a flooded crossing; Severe in full flood. - **Check:** Riding for a mount, Operate for a wagon or team, Athletics to swim or cross on foot. On a failure the character or the vehicle is swept 1 range band downstream and loses 1 piece of gear of the GM's choosing. On a Calamity or a second failure, the character suffers 6 Wounds ignoring Resistance (drowning) and the animal or wagon is at risk. - **Rescue:** another character at Engaged or Short range may make the same check at Hard to pull the swept character out. - **Ends** when the party is across or the water falls (usually a day). - **Use:** a pursuit that must cross, a freight wagon that can't, or a herd that has to. Denver stands on the South Platte and Cherry Creek; Cherry Creek flooded the town on 19 May 1864 and again in 1878 (Denver; Historical Reference).

### Disease as an Adversary Disease uses the illness clock in Era Rules, Illness. It has no stat block. The illnesses of the corridor and the Severity of each are listed in Era Rules, The Corridor's Illnesses; the table below gives the scene. | Outbreak | Who is exposed | Scene for the GM | |:--|:--|:--| | A cold winter in a crowded boarding house | Everyone sharing the rooms | Who is sent to the doctor and who is not | | Mountain fever on a trail or in the foothills | A party in wet country | A town with no doctor, a day lost | | Typhoid or a fouled well | A boarding house, a camp, a company | The water, the cause and who must be told | | Cholera, smallpox or diphtheria in a town | The whole town | Quarantine, flight, the doctors, the sickbed, the sexton | **Outbreak scene.** The GM announces the outbreak before the scene so the players know the danger (Illness). Each day a character is in the affected place, and each time a character is a caregiver, the GM may start the illness without a Calamity, at the Severity the Era Rules give the illness; for a player character an outbreak start is Mild or Serious, and a Grave illness needs a Calamity or the player’s agreement (Illness). The party can leave, tend the sick, clean the source or try to keep it quiet. Each is a scene, not a check. A doctor’s Care check (Illness) is the main countermeasure. No dated cholera, smallpox or diphtheria outbreak in Cheyenne or Denver for 1869 to 1876 has been verified; the Denver typhoid of 1879 and the southern Colorado smallpox of 1877–78 lie after the range.

##### Wade Carrick (Nemesis) *Stock thief and road agent, a Missouri ex-guerrilla of about thirty-eight. (Era Cast, The lawless)*

3 4 3 3 4 3

2 16 17 0 1

- **Skills:** Ranged 4, Riding 3, Readiness 3, Intimidation 3, Streetwise 3, Leadership 2, Deception 2, Stealth 2, Survival 2, Melee 1 - **Attacks:** Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6), two, worn cross-draw [Cap-and-Ball Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 3; Medium; Limited Ammo 6) before 1873]; Lever-Action Repeater (Ranged; Damage 7; Crit 3; Medium) on the saddle - **Equipment:** A black duster, an ash-grey wool shirt, a flat dark hat, a black neckerchief, a Riding Horse. The last two fingers of his left hand are gone. He speaks gently and never rushes - **Abilities:** *Fan the Hammer. The Drop. Steady Nerve. Lie Low. Fast Hands* (Core), worn cross-draw. **Affable:** Carrick adds 1 Boon Die to Charm and Deception checks until a character has seen him kill. **The Back Way:** once per session, spend 1 Peril Point to be gone: a second horse, a friend in the crowd, a buyer who asks no questions - **Crew:** One or two Minion groups (Rustler, Stage Robber) and, if the campaign has a Hired Gun at his shoulder, an Elite - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 4, Readiness 3. In a street at Medium range, with the crowd for the sheriff, Carrick will Stand Down to the badge and come back; in the open, with his riders behind him, he Draws. A Backed Down mark on Carrick is a hook for a rematch (Era Rules, The Showdown) - **Notoriety:** 3, a territory. A character in Laramie County who knows the Name treats it as Attitude 2 (Era Rules) - **Bounty:** Serious: $412, offered by the Laramie County commissioners for robbery of a coach (the Notice Board example). If he kills an officer, the sum rises to the Grave band: $1,376 - **Tactics:** Works the Texas drives and, from 1876, the roads to the Black Hills. Takes stock by night and a coach by day on a grade, with riders as the first blow and the repeater as the second. Sells cattle to a Cheyenne buyer who asks no questions - **Stakes:** Plays cards for the information, not for the money. A Calamity on his cheating check exposes the cheat, and he leaves the room with the door at his back - **Use:** The villain of the Laramie County stories. In the open he fans two revolvers; a party of four starting characters that Draws on him loses one of its number in the first round. The party takes him through the buyer, the crew's betrayal or the reward, not in the street. His weaknesses are the Cheyenne customer who pays him and the rider who wants the sum (Outlaws and Vigilance Committees, Factions and Powers). Deveney carries a warrant for him in the Showdown example

##### Michael Deveney (Elite) *Deputy U.S. marshal stationed at Cheyenne, about forty-one, an Irish-born Union veteran and a Catholic. (Era Cast, The law; a named NPC and patron)*

3 3 2 3 4 2

2 14 0 0

- **Skills:** Ranged 3, Leadership 3, Perception 3, Readiness 3, Streetwise 2, Intimidation 2, Riding 2, Lore 2 (Law), Melee 1 - **Attacks:** Single-Action Revolver (Ranged; Damage 6; Crit 4; Medium; Accurate 1, Limited Ammo 6) [Cap-and-Ball Revolver (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 3; Medium; Limited Ammo 6) before 1873]; Coach Gun (Ranged; Damage 8; Crit 3; Short; Blast 4, Knockdown, Vicious 2, Limited Ammo 2) (the short double-barrel in the marshal's office); Cudgel (Melee; Damage Might + 2; Crit 4; Engaged; Disorient 1) - **Equipment:** A plain nickel star, a brass crucifix on a cord, sky-blue Army trousers kept from the war, a deputy marshal's commission, hired guards by the day, and the county jail by arrangement - **Abilities:** *Color of Law. Steady Nerve* (once per scene). **Knows the County:** every Irish grader, soldier and parishioner is a source; add 1 Boon Die to his Streetwise and Leadership checks with them. **Slow to Speak:** he never hurries; the first Intimidation check against him each scene adds 1 Bane Die - **Showdown:** Stare: Willpower 4, Readiness 3; a hired guard or a county deputy at his shoulder is an ally in view. His aim is to end the fight without a shot; a Draw is his second choice - **Notoriety:** 2, a county - **Tactics:** Plants himself, waits, speaks slowly, keeps his hand near the coat. Calls a Posse Rider group when the quarry is a rider with friends. Holds the jail door for the sheriff with the Coach Gun, then his Leadership - **Use:** A patron who hires the party as posse men, guards or witnesses on federal business (the mail, the agencies, the Fort Russell herd, the land office); an obstacle if the party is wanted on a federal charge; a lawman a party can disappoint. A federal Bounty is paid through the marshal's office; a territorial one is the sheriff's business, and Deveney takes an Outside Jurisdiction Bane Die on a territorial arrest unless the sheriff has sworn him too (Law in Play)

##### Odette Marchand (Nemesis) *Keeper of a Cheyenne parlor house, a voter, and a broker of deals. French-Louisianan, about thirty-six. (Era Cast, The deal-maker; a named NPC and patron)*

1 2 3 4 4 4

1 14 17 0 0

- **Skills:** Negotiation 4, Streetwise 4, Charm 3, Deception 3, Perception 3, Leadership 3, Readiness 3, Lore 3 (Trade), Ranged 1 - **Attacks:** Derringer (Ranged; Damage 5; Crit 4; Short; Concealable 3, Limited Ammo 2, Inaccurate 1) (in the reticule) - **Equipment:** A leather ledger of favors and debts, kid gloves, a lease on the house - **Abilities:** *Poker Face. Boon Reader* (Core). **The Ledger:** a character who owes her a recorded Debt (Era Rules, Money and Credit) adds 1 Bane Die to all social checks against her. Once per scene, she may call a recorded favor to add 2 Boon Dice to a Negotiation or Leadership check against that character. **Remembers Everything:** cattlemen, officers, officials and politicians sit in her parlor, and she may reveal what one said there. **A Warm Host and a Cool Counter:** she never raises her voice; the first Intimidation check against her each scene adds 1 Bane Die - **Showdown:** Does not take part. A quarrel in her house ends when she says so - **Stakes:** Plays the long contest of favors. Uses Charisma and Negotiation, Raises with a debt and not with cash - **Notoriety:** 2, a county. She votes in a territory where women do (Wyoming, 1869 and after) - **Tactics:** Seats the party, hears them out, and names a price in a favor. Her house is tolerated by the authorities who use it - **Use:** A patron, an informer, a creditor or an enemy. She brokers a deal between a cattleman and an officer, or sells a name to the party. A Hard Negotiation check wins an outright favor; a failure sets a Debt the party must repay