Character Creation Overview

Character Creation Overview

"Every Legend Starts Somewhere"

Building Your Troubleshooter

Creating a character for Deadlands is part strategy, part luck, and part storytelling. You'll work with the Marshal to bring your troubleshooter to life—someone capable enough to survive Colonel Brennan's missions, interesting enough to tell stories about, and flawed enough to feel real.

The process combines mechanical choices (your stats and skills) with creative ones (your personality, background, and goals). Don't worry if this is your first time creating a character—the Marshal will guide you through every step.

The Seven Steps

Character creation follows seven steps. You don't have to do them in order (creativity doesn't work that way), but they're organized logically to build from concept to finished character.

Step One: Concept

Who is your character? Start with a basic idea: a vengeful gunslinger, a disgraced cavalry officer, a card-sharp huckster, a determined widow seeking justice. Your concept doesn't need to be complex—just a starting point that excites you.

Think about why Colonel Brennan would hire them and why they'd accept. What are they good at? What do they want? What are they running from?

Step Two: Traits

How capable is your character physically and mentally? Traits are your character's raw attributes—strength, speed, smarts, spirit, and more. You'll draw cards to determine these randomly, which means every character is unique right from the start.

Deadlands uses 10 Traits divided into two categories:

Corporeal Traits (Physical):

• Deftness: Hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity (shooting, throwing)
• Nimbleness: Agility, physical prowess (dodging, climbing, fighting)
• Quickness: Reflexes and speed (determines actions in combat)
• Strength: Raw muscle and brawn (lifting, melee damage)
• Vigor: Endurance, constitution, toughness (surviving damage, resisting fatigue)

Mental Traits (Mind & Spirit):

• Cognition: Perception and alertness (noticing details, tracking)
• Knowledge: Book-learning and education (medicine, science, languages)
• Mien: Presence, charisma, influence (leadership, intimidation)
• Smarts: Wits, deduction, thinking on your feet (survival, streetwise)
• Spirit: Psyche, willpower, spiritual presence (faith, guts, resisting fear)

See Traits & Aptitudes for the full details on how this works.

Step Three: Skills (Aptitudes)

What has your character learned? Skills (called "Aptitudes" in Deadlands) represent training, practice, and experience. Can you shoot? Ride a horse? Pick a lock? Perform surgery? Read ancient languages? Cast hexes?

You'll spend points to buy skill levels. Every character starts with a few basic skills for free (climbing, sneaking, searching, and knowledge of their home region). From there, you choose what else your character knows.

Skills range from level 1 (beginner) to level 5 (expert), with room to grow beyond that through play.

See Skills for the complete list and how to choose them.

Step Four: Hindrances

What makes your character interesting and flawed? Hindrances are disadvantages, quirks, or problems that make your character more than a collection of numbers. They add personality, create roleplaying opportunities, and earn you extra points to spend elsewhere.

Are you haunted by your past? Do you have a drinking problem? A price on your head? A lame leg? A code of honor you can't break? These flaws make characters memorable and give the Marshal hooks for stories.

See Edges & Hindrances for options.

Step Five: Edges

What makes your character special? Edges are positive qualities, advantages, or talents that set you apart. Maybe you're ambidextrous, incredibly lucky, have friends in high places, or heal unnaturally fast. Perhaps you have an arcane background that lets you use magic or faith.

You spend points (earned from Hindrances or your starting allotment) to buy Edges. Choose ones that fit your concept and playstyle.

See Edges & Hindrances for the full list.

Step Six: Background

Who were they before they became a troubleshooter? Write a brief background covering your character's history, personality, goals, and connections. This doesn't need to be a novel—a paragraph or two is often enough.

Consider:

• Where are they from?
• What's their history with the War? With the supernatural?
• Do they have family? Friends? Enemies?
• What do they want? What are they afraid of?
• Why did they take Brennan's telegram?

The Marshal may add a "Mysterious Past" if you draw a Joker during Trait generation, giving your character a secret that will be revealed during play.

Step Seven: Gear

What do they carry? Every character starts with some money and equipment. You'll choose your guns, clothes, tools, and other possessions. In the Weird West, the right gear can mean the difference between life and death.

See Starting Equipment for what you can afford and what you'll need.

Key Concepts

Traits Use Dice

In Deadlands, your Traits are represented by dice types (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12). When you need to use a Trait, you roll multiple dice of that type. A character with 3d8 Deftness rolls three eight-sided dice when shooting.

Higher die types and more dice mean you're better at that Trait. A 5d12 is exceptional. A 2d4 is... not great.

Target Numbers & Success

When you attempt something uncertain, the Marshal sets a Target Number (TN). You roll your dice, and each die that meets or beats the TN is a success. Usually, you only need one success to accomplish a task, but more successes can mean better results.

Example: You're trying to shoot a bandit (TN 5). You roll your 4d8 Deftness + 3 levels of Shootin' skill = 7d8. You roll: 2, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8. Five of those dice meet or beat 5, so you hit with five successes—probably enough to put the bandit down hard.

Aces (Exploding Dice)

When you roll the maximum on any die, it "aces"—you get to roll it again and add the results together. Keep rolling as long as you keep getting maximums. This means anyone can get lucky and pull off amazing feats.

Example: You roll a d6 and get a 6. Roll again: another 6 (total 12). Roll again: 4 (total 16). That's one hell of a shot.

Secondary Traits

A few traits are derived from your primary Traits:

• Grit: Your resistance to fear. Starts at 0 and increases as you face horrors.
• Pace: How far you move in combat. Equals your Nimbleness die type.
• Size: How big you are. Normally 6 unless modified by Edges/Hindrances.
• Wind: Your stamina and shock absorption. Equals Vigor + Spirit die types.

Tips for New Players

Don't Sweat Perfection: Your first character doesn't need to be optimized. Focus on making someone you want to play, not someone with the best stats.

Lean Into Flaws: Hindrances make characters interesting. Don't be afraid to take a meaningful disadvantage—it creates better stories.

Think About the Group: Talk to your fellow players. What roles do they want to play? You don't need a "balanced party," but it helps if characters have different strengths.

Consider Survival: The Weird West is dangerous. Having at least one combat skill (Shootin' or Fightin') is recommended, but not required if you're clever.

Leave Room to Grow: You don't need to be an expert at everything immediately. Characters develop through play.

Ask Questions: If you're unsure about anything, ask the Marshal. That's what they're there for.

Your character is more than numbers. They're a person with a past, a future, and a story to tell.