Common Folk

Common Folk: The Backbone of the Weird West

"We ain't got fancy powers or special training. Just grit, guts, and the sense God gave a jackrabbit."

Not everyone in the Weird West wields divine miracles, deals cards for demonic powers, or communes with spirits. Most folks are just regular people trying to survive in an extraordinary and dangerous world. They're cowboys driving cattle across the open range, prospectors digging for ghost rock in played-out claims, saloon girls gathering information one dance at a time, and kids too young to know they should be afraid.

These are the common folk—the backbone of frontier society. They don't have supernatural powers or years of specialized training. What they have is determination, practical skills, local knowledge, and the kind of stubborn courage that says "I'm not backing down" even when facing down things that shouldn't exist.

Common folk are the most diverse archetype in the Weird West because they represent everyone else—every profession, background, and walk of life that doesn't fit neatly into the other categories. A common folk character might be a grizzled prospector, a sharp-tongued newspaperman, a kid with something to prove, an Indian brave who fights without shamanic powers, or a bartender who knows everyone's secrets.

What unites them isn't their profession or background—it's their ordinariness. They're the people who get up every morning, do their work, and somehow survive in a world where the dead rise, manitous possess the living, and mad scientists build impossible machines. They're proof that you don't need magic to be a hero.

What Makes Someone Common Folk?

Common folk characters are defined by what they don't have rather than what they do. They lack:

• Arcane backgrounds - No blessed miracles, huckster hexes, mad science, or shamanic favors
• Specialized combat training - Not professional gunslingers, soldiers, or lawmen (though they might know how to shoot)
• Formal authority - Not marshals, Texas Rangers, or Pinkerton detectives
• Criminal notoriety - Not famous outlaws or professional thieves

What they do have:

• Practical skills - Knowledge of a trade, profession, or way of life
• Common sense - Understanding how the world works, even when it stops making sense
• Adaptability - The ability to learn, improvise, and survive
• Connections - Friends, family, contacts—social networks that provide help
• Determination - The stubborn refusal to give up even when outmatched

Types of Common Folk

The common folk category includes dozens of professions and backgrounds. Here are the most common types you'll encounter in a Deadlands campaign:

Cowboys & Ranch Hands

Primary Skills: Horse Ridin' 3+, Animal Wranglin' 3+, Shootin': rifle 2+ | Typical Pay: $30-40/month

Cowboys are the iconic Western archetype—tough, weather-beaten men and women who spend their lives working cattle on the open range. They drive herds to railheads, rope calves for branding, break wild horses, and protect livestock from rustlers, predators, and worse.

Life on the Range: Cowboys work from sunrise to sunset in all weather. They sleep on the ground, eat beans and hardtack, and go weeks without bathing. It's hard, dirty, dangerous work that hardens a person fast. But it also creates an unbreakable bond with your fellow cowboys—out on the range, you depend on each other to survive.

Essential Skills:

• Horse ridin' 3+ - You live in the saddle; this is non-negotiable
• Animal wranglin' 3+ - For handling cattle and working with livestock
• Shootin': rifle 2-3 - For predators, rustlers, and the occasional varmint
• Survival: plains 2+ - Living off the land during long cattle drives
• Teamster 2+ - Driving wagons and handling pack animals
• Lariat use - Roping cattle (and occasionally monsters)

Why They Work for the Colonel: Seasonal work, ranch went under, wanted to see more of the world, or were run off by supernatural threats. The Colonel pays better than most ranches and the work is steadier—if more dangerous.

Kids (Ages 8-15)

Hindrance Required: Kid (–2 or –4) | Primary Skills: Variable, often Sneak, Scroungin' | Typical Money: Whatever they can earn or steal

Don't let the baby face fool you. A kid with a gun can still blow your guts out. Kids in the Weird West grow up fast—they have to. Some are orphans surviving on the streets. Others run away from abusive homes or boring farms. A few are just adventurous souls seeking excitement. Whatever their story, kids survive through quick wits, nimble fingers, and the kind of fearless stupidity that passes for courage.

Playing Kids:

• Age 11-15 (–2 points): Reduce Strength and Knowledge by one die type (minimum d4)
• Age 8-10 (–4 points): Reduce Strength and Knowledge by two die types (minimum d4)
• As your character grows up, you must buy off this Hindrance with Bounty Points
• Most kids don't live long enough to grow up—those that do become very dangerous adults

Common Kid Hindrances & Edges:

• Big Britches (–3) - Think you're tougher than you are; take unnecessary risks
• Curious (–3) - Can't resist investigating mysteries, even dangerous ones
• Squeaky (–2) - High-pitched voice makes it hard to be taken seriously
• Fleet-Footed (2 points) - Fast little bugger; +2 to Pace
• Knacks (various) - Some kids are born with natural talents that seem almost supernatural

Why They Work for the Colonel: Orphaned and need money, ran away and need protection, saw something they shouldn't have, or were recruited because their size and innocence make them perfect for sneaking into places adults can't go.

Prospectors & Miners

Primary Skills: Trade: Minin' 3+, Search 3+, Demolition 2+ | Typical Earnings: $1-2/day wages, or nothing if working own claim

Gold. Silver. Ghost rock. The West is full of folks who believe there's a fortune buried in the ground if they can just find it. Prospectors are the eternal optimists who spend their days panning streams, digging into mountainsides, or working claims in ghost rock country. Some work for mining companies. Others stake their own claims and hope to strike it rich.

The Reality: Most prospectors never find anything. They die broke, broken, and bitter after years of backbreaking labor. But a few strike it rich, and those stories keep thousands of dreamers digging.

Essential Skills:

• Trade: minin' 3+ - Core skill for finding and extracting valuable minerals
• Search 3-4 - Looking for signs of ore, ghost rock veins, or promising sites
• Demolition 2-3 - Using dynamite to blast through rock (dangerous but necessary)
• Strength 2d10+ - Digging, hauling, and working a pickaxe all day requires muscle
• Vigor 3d8+ - Enduring harsh conditions, cave-ins, and underground dangers

Dangers: Cave-ins, ghost rock exposure (madness), claim jumpers, underground horrors, toxic gases, and the slow grinding despair of years without finding anything.

Why They Work for the Colonel: Their claim played out, they need money for new equipment, they discovered something in the mines they'd rather not face alone, or the Colonel hired them for their knowledge of underground passages.

Saloon Girls & Entertainers

Primary Skills: Persuasion 3+, Scrutinize 2+, Performin' 2+ | Typical Earnings: $1-5/night plus "tips"

Saloon girls are dancers, singers, hostesses, and companions in the saloons and dance halls that dot every boomtown. Don't mistake them for prostitutes—some are, but many aren't. What they all share is the ability to entertain, flatter, and extract information from men who've had too much whiskey and not enough female company.

More Than Entertainment: Saloon girls often know more about what's happening in town than the mayor does. Men talk to them, confide in them, brag to them. A smart saloon girl becomes an information broker, trading secrets for favors and building a network of contacts throughout town.

Essential Skills:

• Persuasion 3-4 - Getting men to talk, tip generously, and behave
• Scrutinize 2-3 - Reading people, detecting lies, spotting trouble
• Performin' 2-3 - Singing, dancing, or playing piano
• Streetwise 2-3 - Knowing who's who and what's what in town
• Bluff 2-3 - Maintaining a pleasant facade even with unpleasant customers
• Lockpickin' 1-2 - Optional, but useful for accessing places you shouldn't

Self-Defense: Many saloon girls carry derringers in their garters, know how to use hat pins as weapons, or have bouncers they can summon with a signal. Working in saloons means dealing with drunk, armed men—smart girls learn to protect themselves.

Why They Work for the Colonel: Need protection from a dangerous ex-client, saw something supernatural they want investigated, have access to information the Colonel needs, or want out of saloon life and see this as their chance.

Merchants & Shopkeepers

Primary Skills: Trade 2+, Persuasion 2+, Professional: Merchant 2+ | Typical Earnings: Variable, $50-500/month depending on business

Every town needs general stores, trading posts, and specialty shops. Merchants are the economic backbone of frontier communities, supplying everything from flour and ammunition to mining equipment and coffins. They're shrewd negotiators, skilled hagglers, and often the wealthiest people in small towns.

Essential Skills:

• Trade 2-3 - Knowing fair prices and market values
• Persuasion 2-3 - Convincing customers to buy
• Professional: merchant 2+ - Running a business, keeping books, managing inventory
• Scrutinize 2+ - Detecting counterfeit money and assessing customers
• Streetwise 2+ - Knowing who can pay and who's trouble

Why They Work for the Colonel: Business is threatened by supernatural forces, need protection from extortion or robbery, have debts to pay off, or the Colonel made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

Journalists & Newspapermen

Primary Skills: Professional: Journalism 3+, Tale-Tellin' 2+, Scrutinize 2+ | Typical Pay: $30-60/month plus freelance work

Muckrakers, they're called—journalists who believe in reporting the truth no matter who it offends. In the Weird West, that often means writing about things people don't want to believe: supernatural events, government conspiracies, and horrors lurking in the shadows. The Tombstone Epitaph is famous for publishing these "wild stories" that other papers reject.

Essential Skills:

• Professional: journalism 3+ - Writing articles, conducting interviews, fact-checking
• Tale-tellin' 2-3 - Making stories compelling and readable
• Scrutinize 2-3 - Reading people and detecting when they're lying
• Persuasion 2+ - Getting people to talk to you
• Streetwise 2+ - Finding sources and following leads

Edges & Hindrances: Often have Curious (–3), Heroic (–3), and Friends in High Places (1-3 points). May have Enemy hindrances representing powerful people they've written exposés about.

Why They Work for the Colonel: Following a story that led them to his operations, offered exclusive access in exchange for help, need protection from people they've angered with their reporting, or see the Troubleshooters as a source for incredible stories.

Drifters & Wanderers

Primary Skills: Survival 2+, Scroungin' 2+, Variable skills from past life | Typical Money: Whatever odd jobs pay

Not everyone who wanders is lost—some are just moving. Drifters travel from town to town, taking odd jobs, moving on when things get boring or dangerous. They're hard to pin down, harder to trust, and often hiding from something in their past. But they're also adaptable, streetwise, and full of surprises.

Essential Skills:

• Survival 2-3 - Living rough between towns
• Scroungin' 2-3 - Finding food, shelter, and work
• Streetwise 2+ - Knowing which towns to avoid and which offer opportunities
• Variable skills - Drifters often have eclectic skill sets from diverse past experiences

Common Hindrances: Poverty (–3), Mysterious Past (–1), Enemy (various), Wanted (various)

Why They Work for the Colonel: Needed money and work, drifted into Dodge City at the right time, heard the Colonel pays well for certain kinds of work, or are hiding from something and need protection.

Farmers & Homesteaders

Primary Skills: Survival 2+, Trade: Farmin' 2+, Drivin' or Teamster 2+ | Typical Income: Whatever the land yields

The hardscrabble folks trying to carve farms and homesteads out of unforgiving land. They face drought, locusts, harsh winters, hostile Indians, and now supernatural threats. Most fail and move on. Those who succeed become the foundation of new communities.

Essential Skills:

• Trade: farmin' 2-3 - Growing crops and raising livestock
• Survival 2-3 - Living off the land and weathering hardships
• Teamster or Drivin' 2+ - Handling wagons and plows
• Shootin': rifle or shotgun 2+ - Protecting homestead from threats
• Vigor 3d6+ - Farming is brutal physical labor

Why They Work for the Colonel: Farm failed, family killed by supernatural threat, need money to save their land from foreclosure, or their homestead sits on something the Colonel needs investigated.

Indian Braves (Non-Shamans)

Primary Skills: Fightin' 2+, Shootin': bow 3+, Trackin' 2+, Sneak 2+ | Typical Role: Tribal warrior

Not every Indian warrior is a shaman. Most are braves—skilled fighters who defend their people through martial prowess rather than spiritual power. They're expert horsemen, trackers, and guerrilla fighters who know how to use terrain and surprise to overcome better-armed enemies.

Essential Skills:

• Fightin': tomahawk or war club 2-3 - Traditional melee combat
• Shootin': bow 3+ - Primary ranged weapon (if following Old Ways)
• Shootin': rifle 2-3 - Many younger braves use firearms despite traditionalist objections
• Horse ridin' 3+ - Plains Indians are among the best horsemen in the world
• Sneak 2-3 - Ambush tactics and silent movement
• Trackin' 2-3 - Following enemies and prey
• Survival: appropriate environment 3+ - Living off the land

Cultural Considerations:

• Many face pressure to follow the Old Ways (no manufactured goods or technology)
• Some leave their tribes due to disagreements over modernization
• Warriors from different tribes have different fighting styles and cultural practices
• Working with whites is controversial; some do it for pragmatic reasons, others are outcasts

Why They Work for the Colonel: Exiled from tribe, seeking to protect tribal interests through intelligence gathering, hired as scouts, or believe fighting supernatural threats serves the greater good regardless of who's paying.

Bartenders & Saloonkeepers

Primary Skills: Scrutinize 2+, Streetwise 3+, Overawe 2+ | Typical Income: $40-100/month depending on business

Bartenders and saloonkeepers are the social hub of every Western town. They hear everything, see everything, and know everyone. A good bartender knows when to listen, when to talk, when to water down the whiskey, and when to reach for the shotgun under the bar.

Essential Skills:

• Scrutinize 2-3 - Reading the room and identifying trouble before it starts
• Streetwise 3+ - Knowing everything that happens in town
• Overawe 2-3 - Intimidating rowdy customers into calming down
• Persuasion 2+ - Defusing tensions and keeping the peace
• Fightin': brawlin' or Shootin': shotgun 2+ - For when talking doesn't work

Why They Work for the Colonel: Their saloon is threatened, they need muscle to deal with protection rackets, they have information the Colonel wants, or they're looking for more excitement than pouring drinks.

Craftsmen & Tradesmen

Primary Skills: Trade: specific craft 3+, Variable supporting skills | Typical Pay: $40-80/month

Blacksmiths, carpenters, cobblers, tailors, wheelwrights, gunsmiths—every town needs skilled tradesmen. They're the people who keep civilization running by making and fixing the things people need to survive. Their skills make them valuable members of any community.

Common Trades:

• Blacksmith - Makes and repairs tools, horseshoes, wagon parts; requires high Strength
• Carpenter - Builds structures, furniture; requires Deftness and patience
• Gunsmith - Repairs and modifies firearms; requires Deftness and knowledge of mechanics
• Farrier - Shoes horses and treats basic animal ailments; requires animal wranglin' and strength
• Seamstress/Tailor - Makes and repairs clothing; requires Deftness and patience

Why They Work for the Colonel: Need protection for their business, owe the Colonel money or favors, possess unique skills he needs, or want adventure beyond their workshop.

Building a Common Folk Character

Here's how to create an effective common folk character:

Focus on Your Core Competency

You can't be good at everything, so pick 2-3 things your character excels at and build around those. A prospector should be great at minin', search, and demolition. A saloon girl should excel at persuasion, scrutinize, and bluff. A cowboy needs horse ridin', animal wranglin', and shootin': rifle.

Allocation Strategy:

• Put your highest Traits (3d8 to 3d12) in your primary professional area
• Invest 3-5 skill levels in your core competencies
• Pick up 1-2 levels in several supporting skills
• Don't spread yourself too thin trying to be okay at everything

Recommended Trait Priorities by Type

Useful Edges for Common Folk

• Belongin's (1-5 points) - Equipment, property, or resources that support your profession
• Dinero (1-5 points) - Ongoing access to money; you're doing well financially
• Friends in High Places (1-5 points) - Contacts who can provide help, information, or resources
• Keen (2 points) - +2 to Cognition and related skills; helps with perception and awareness
• Level-Headed (3-5 points) - Draw extra action cards; good tactical advantage in combat
• Light Sleeper (1 point) - +2 to Cognition when waking; useful for survival situations
• Luck o' the Irish (5 points) - Extra Fate Chip each session; common folk need all the luck they can get
• Mechanically Inclined (3 points) - +2 to all device-related rolls; good for craftsmen
• Purty (1 point) - +2 to persuasion with opposite sex; useful for saloon girls and social types
• The Voice (1 point) - Soothing, commanding, or mesmerizing voice; adds bonuses to appropriate rolls
• Veteran o' the Weird West (5 points) - You've seen things; start with higher Grit
• Knacks (5 points) - Supernatural-seeming natural abilities; some common folk are just born lucky or talented

Common Hindrances for Common Folk

• Poverty (–3) - Start with only $50; struggle to make ends meet
• Obligation (–1 to –5) - Duty to family, employer, or community
• Loyal (–3) - Never betray friends or those you feel responsible for
• Stubborn (–2) - Your way or the highway; can cause problems with teamwork
• Curious (–3) - Can't resist investigating mysteries
• Big Britches (–3) - Overconfident; think you're tougher than you are
• Kid (–2 or –4) - You're young and people don't take you seriously
• Geezer (–5) - You're old; –2 to Pace and reduced physical capabilities
• All Thumbs (–2) - Terrible with machinery and devices
• Greedy (–2) - Argue over loot division and take unnecessary risks for money
• Heroic (–3) - Can't turn down pleas for help
• Slowpoke (–2) - –2 to Pace; you're just slow

Playing Common Folk Characters

Here's how to make common folk characters interesting and effective:

Embrace Your Limitations: You're not a supernatural powerhouse or combat specialist. You're just a regular person trying to survive. Play up the fear when facing horrors. Show genuine surprise at miracles. Be impressed by professional gunslingers. Your character's normalcy makes the supernatural seem more terrifying—and more real.

Use Your Practical Skills Creatively: Your character's professional skills have countless uses beyond their obvious applications. A prospector's knowledge of demolition works on doors and walls, not just rocks. A saloon girl's persuasion can gather intelligence or distract guards. A kid's ability to sneak into small spaces solves problems adults can't. Think laterally about how your skills apply to situations.

Build Connections: Common folk survive through community and relationships. Know the bartender. Be friends with the blacksmith. Have family in town. These connections provide resources, information, and help when you need it. They also give you something worth protecting.

Highlight Your Expertise: When situations involve your profession, step up and shine. The prospector is the expert when investigating abandoned mines. The journalist knows how to research and follow leads. The cowboy is invaluable when dealing with stampeding cattle. Common folk may lack supernatural powers, but they're experts in their fields.

Show Growth: Common folk characters have excellent growth potential. That kid grows into a hardened adult. That naive farmboy becomes a battle-scarred survivor. That timid shopkeeper learns to stand up to bullies. Character development is often more dramatic with common folk because they start from a more relatable baseline.

Be Resourceful: When you lack powers and specialized training, you compensate with cleverness and improvisation. Use the environment. Make allies. Employ misdirection. Set traps. Think your way through problems rather than blasting through them.

Remember Your Motivation: Why is a regular person risking their life alongside gunslingers, shamans, and blessed heroes? Have a clear, personal reason. Your family was killed by monsters. Your town needs protecting. You're trying to prove yourself. You need the money desperately. You stumbled into this world and can't get out. Keep that motivation front and center.

Common Folk Archetypes

The Grizzled Veteran: Been around the West for decades. Seen it all, done most of it, survived what killed others. Weathered face, scars, and a thousand-yard stare. Not fast anymore, not strong, but experienced and unshakeable. Uses knowledge and cunning rather than youth and strength.

The Idealistic Youth: Young, enthusiastic, and convinced they can make a difference. Haven't been broken by the world yet. Full of energy, naive optimism, and reckless courage. Will either become a grizzled veteran someday or die young and noble.

The Reluctant Hero: Didn't ask for this. Just wanted a quiet life working their trade. But circumstances dragged them into adventure, and now they can't walk away—someone needs to do something, and it might as well be them. Grumbles constantly but always shows up when needed.

The Survivor: Lost everything—family, home, livelihood. All that's left is survival instinct and the skills needed to keep breathing. Pragmatic to the point of ruthlessness. Doesn't trust easily. Makes hard choices others won't. Will do what's necessary to survive another day.

The Expert: The best at what they do, whether it's mining, tracking, journalism, or carpentry. Takes fierce pride in their skill. Calm and confident when dealing with their expertise, even if out of depth elsewhere. Other characters come to them for advice in their area.

The Dreamer: Came West chasing a dream—fortune, land, fame, adventure. The dream hasn't worked out as planned, but they're not ready to give up. Still believes that tomorrow might be the day everything changes. Optimistic despite evidence to the contrary.

The Local: Born here or been here so long it amounts to the same thing. Knows everyone, knows every story, knows the land. Not the strongest or fastest, but invaluable for local knowledge. The person newcomers come to for information.

The Outsider: Doesn't fit in anywhere. Maybe they're from back East and don't understand Western ways. Maybe they're from a different culture. Maybe they're just odd. Uses outsider perspective to see things locals miss, but struggles with social situations.

Common Folk & the Troubleshooters

Colonel Augustus "Gus" Brennan doesn't just hire specialists. He needs common folk too—people with practical skills, local knowledge, and the determination to get jobs done without supernatural assistance. In fact, some of his most effective Troubleshooters are regular people who've proven they can handle extraordinary situations.

Why the Colonel Hires Common Folk:

• Practical skills: Sometimes you need a carpenter, not a gunslinger. A prospector who knows mines, not a blessed who performs miracles.
• Local connections: Common folk have networks in communities. They know people, hear gossip, can gather information specialists miss.
• Authenticity: When investigating supernatural events, sending in a saloon girl or merchant draws less attention than a heavily armed posse.
• Expendability: Harsh but true. The Colonel has invested less in common folk than in trained specialists. Sometimes you need people for dangerous reconnaissance.
• Different perspectives: Common folk see problems differently than professional adventurers. Fresh eyes find solutions others miss.
• Proof of concept: If regular people can face supernatural threats and survive, it proves these threats can be overcome. That's good for morale.

Challenges Common Folk Face:

• Imposter syndrome: Working alongside blessed heroes, shamans, and professional gunslingers makes you question your value
• Limited resources: You can't heal with miracles or hex reality. You've got skills, guts, and whatever equipment you can afford
• Learning curve: Professional Troubleshooters have experience with supernatural threats. You're learning on the job
• Respect issues: Some specialists don't take common folk seriously until you prove yourself
• Physical limitations: Kids are small and weak. Geezers are slow. Common folk often have Hindrances that matter in dangerous situations

Opportunities Common Folk Have:

• Underestimation: Enemies don't see you as a threat. Use that
• Unique skills: Only you know mining, journalism, or whatever your trade is. That makes you invaluable in specific situations
• Social access: You can go places and talk to people that heavily armed professionals can't
• Growth potential: Every mission is training. You're becoming more competent, tougher, more experienced
• Common touch: You relate to regular people better than specialists do. That builds trust and gathers information

What the Colonel Expects: He doesn't expect common folk to match specialists in their areas of expertise. A shopkeeper won't outshoot a gunslinger. A kid won't perform miracles like the blessed. What he expects is: (1) competence in your area, (2) willingness to learn and adapt, (3) courage when it matters, (4) creativity in solving problems, and (5) the common sense to know when you're outmatched and need help.

Pay Scale: Common folk often earn less than specialists ($30-50 per mission versus $50-100+), but the Colonel is fair. If you prove yourself effective, your pay increases. If your specialized skills solve a problem, you get bonuses. Performance matters more than background.

Remember: In the Weird West, it doesn't matter if you're blessed by God, touched by spirits, or just an ordinary person with a gun and guts. What matters is that when darkness comes, you stand and fight. That's what makes you a hero.