Discord Bot Commands

"Telegraph: Your Connection to Lady Luck"

About Telegraph

Discord serves as "Telegraph"—your out-of-character communication hub for the campaign. This is where you roll dice, shuffle cards, manage Fate Chips, and discuss game mechanics. Think of it as the telegraph office where you handle the technical side of the game before heading back to Nova to write what happens.

Use Designated Channels

Commands should be used in designated channels as applicable. The Marshal will let you know which channels are for rolling, which are for general discussion, and which are for specific purposes. Keep things organized so everyone can find what they need.

Rolling Dice

When the Marshal calls for a roll, you'll use the dice bot to determine success or failure. Deadlands uses various dice types, and you might need to roll multiple dice and add modifiers.

Command: /roll [number]d[type]+[modifier]

Examples:

/roll 2d6 - Rolls two six-sided dice
/roll 3d8+2 - Rolls three eight-sided dice and adds 2
/roll 2d6+1d4+2 - Rolls two six-sided dice, one four-sided die, and adds 2
/roll 1d20 - Rolls one twenty-sided die

The bot will show your result, and you can then discuss with the Marshal and other players before heading to Nova to write what happened.

Card Commands (General)

Deadlands uses playing cards for several purposes—gambling in-game, initiative in combat, and various special abilities. Each player has their own virtual deck that needs to be shuffled and dealt from.

Regular Deck (Gambling & General Use)

/shuffle - Shuffles your personal card deck. Use this before gambling or when the Marshal tells you to reshuffle.

/deal [number] - Deals the specified number of cards from your deck.

Example: Playing poker in-game? Use /shuffle first, then /deal 5 to get your hand.

Action Deck (Initiative & Combat)

The action deck determines initiative in combat. Higher cards act first, with Aces being best and deuces worst. Face cards can trigger special abilities.

/action-shuffle - Shuffles your action card deck. The Marshal will tell you when to do this (usually at the start of combat).

/action-deal [number] - Deals the specified number of cards from your action deck. Usually you'll deal 1 card for initiative, but some abilities let you draw multiple cards and choose the best.

Huckster Deck (Hexslinging)

If you're playing a Huckster, you'll use this deck to cast hexes. The cards you draw determine the power and success of your magical abilities.

/huckster-shuffle - Shuffles your huckster deck.

/huckster-deal [number] - Deals the specified number of cards from your huckster deck for casting hexes.

Each Deck is Separate

Your regular deck, action deck, and huckster deck are all separate. Shuffling one doesn't affect the others. Keep track of which deck you're using for which purpose.

Fate Chips

Fate Chips are your luck, your second chances, your divine intervention. They can turn a miss into a hit, save you from death, or power special abilities. You earn them through play and spend them when you need them most.

/fate-chips - Displays how many Fate Chips your character currently has (white, red, blue, and legendary).

When you want to spend a Fate Chip, discuss it with the Marshal in Discord. They'll handle the actual removal using Marshal commands.

Marshal Commands

The following commands are for the Marshal only. Players should not use these commands. The Marshal uses them to manage their own deck (for NPCs and monsters) and to award or remove Fate Chips.

Marshal's Decks

/marshal-shuffle - Shuffles the Marshal's card deck (used for NPC actions and monster initiative).

/marshal-deal [number] - Deals the specified number of cards from the Marshal's deck.

/marshal-huckster-shuffle - Shuffles the Marshal's huckster deck (for NPC hucksters and supernatural creatures).

/marshal-huckster-deal [number] - Deals the specified number of cards from the Marshal's huckster deck.

Fate Chip Management

/marshal-give-fate-chips [target user] [number] [type] - Awards Fate Chips to a player. The Marshal uses this to reward good roleplaying, clever plans, or surviving harrowing encounters.

/marshal-take-fate-chips [target user] [number] [type] - Removes Fate Chips from a player. This happens when you spend chips to boost rolls, avoid death, or activate special abilities.

Chip Types: white (common), red (uncommon), blue (rare), legendary (extremely rare)

Trust the Marshal

The Marshal manages Fate Chips for balance and fairness. If you think you should have more or fewer chips than shown, discuss it respectfully in Discord. Mistakes happen, and good Marshals will correct them.

Common Scenarios

Combat Begins:

Marshal announces combat and tells everyone to draw initiative
Each player uses /action-shuffle then /action-deal 1
Marshal uses /marshal-shuffle and /marshal-deal [number] for enemies
Initiative is determined, and combat proceeds in card order

Casting a Hex:

Huckster announces they're casting on Discord
Use /huckster-deal [number] based on the hex being cast
Show the Marshal your hand
Marshal determines success and backlash
Go to Nova and write what happens

Making a Skill Check:

Marshal calls for a roll (e.g., "Roll your Cognition + Search")
Use /roll with appropriate dice (e.g., /roll 2d10)
Marshal evaluates your result against the target number
Discuss outcome in Discord, then write it on Nova

Spending a Fate Chip:

Announce you want to spend a Fate Chip and which type
Explain what you're using it for (reroll, bonus, avoiding death, etc.)
Marshal approves and uses /marshal-take-fate-chips
Apply the effect of the chip

The dice don't lie, but the cards... well, that depends on your shuffle.

Next up: Check out House Rules to learn about campaign-specific modifications to the standard Deadlands system, then explore Reading Past Adventures to catch up on what's happened before. The Ford County Library has all the details.