The Last Sons Plot Point Campaign, Part 2
5. Prime Cuts
This Plot Point begins whenever the party starts looking around for Jordrava’s burial ground. As one of the largest cities in the Disputed Territories, the PCs have several means of investigatory leads with their own skill checks. The Assayer’s Office and Town Hall can be accessed via Persuasion or by a lawman with jurisdiction in the area, while the Dodge City Times’ back catalogs are publically accessible but in disarray requiring some Investigation. Local Native Americans can point the party in the right direction, but require a Persuasion on top of a Streetwise roll if nobody in the party is of indigenous ancestry. All successful leads point to the Boot Hill graveyard in town being built atop an Indian Burial Ground.
Boot Hill itself is an overpopulated cemetery, with some caskets buried right on top of others. Few remnants of the original inhabitants remain. While looking around a group of Buffalo Hunters armed with Sharps Big 50 rifles will attempt to ambush the party; they’ve been eyeing the PCs since they arrived in town and seek to murder them and loot their corpses for beer money.
What I’d Change: One can surmise that being in a graveyard you’ll have lots of cover, but Sharps rifles only hold one shot.
Unless the party has long-range attacks themselves, they’d have to take cover as they get closer to the hunters. Only half of the enemies will fire, alternating between one group reloading while the others provide support.
If the PCs are having a tough time in the fight an Agent and a Texas Ranger, Mr. Pederson and Major “Bigfoot” Wallace respectively, will come in to help them. If not then the odd pair will be encountered after combat. Although their organizations are enemies, they’re allied out of convenience in the Disputed Territories. They’ll mention how they’re not the only group poking around Boot Hill and offer to take their conversation somewhere private. If the PCs follow up they’ll learn that the other searchers were Native Americans with raven tattoos, one of whom was captured but resisted interrogation before seemingly disappearing out of his jail cell. Wallace and Pederson know little about the Order of the Raven, but found a likely hideout of theirs on one of their confiscated sheepskin maps.
Naturally said NPCs cannot come with the party on this raid, citing not wanting to blow their cover and worry that the Ravenites are “waiting for them to tip their hand.”
You know, having a shootout with buffalo hunters in a cemetery isn’t exactly subtle, either.
The Ravenites are holed up in the cellar of a slaughterhouse, whose employees are unaware of their subterranean occupants. The Ravenites outnumber the PCs 2 to 1 and are led by a shaman called Wicked Bear. Their number will attempt to flee if the fight turns against them to report to their False Raven superior. The shaman has a map marked with an X on a particular place in Boot Hill.
What I’d Change: The cellar is a small, enclosed place with little in the way of environment. As it is guarded by one Inactive* sentry confident in their hideout, it is very possible that a party may take out the lone guard and lob some dynamite or a Blast/Burst spell into the place. To make things a bit tougher and more exciting I’d have the Ravenites spread out in other out of the way locations in the slaughterhouse.
*This is terminology for stealth rules in Savage Worlds, which back in the first Ravenite fight and with Dusky Jewel I see cited quite a bit more often than in the Flood.
Said map leads to a huge stone which can be pushed away by a group or one really strong PC. It leads into subterranean warrens full of ghouls, ravenous undead who can see in the dark and will make Disarm attempts against anyone carrying a light source. Fighting in the dark is pretty debilitating in Savage Worlds, imposing a -4 penalty on any rolls which require sight. The tunnels have no maps and require either physical marks or relevant skill rolls at -2 to not get lost and thus ambushed more. The “boss” of this area is the Ghoul King, a very large and fat specimen of his species whose lair contains Jordrava’s medicine rock amidst the pile of bones.
Jordrava’s Medicine Rock is a very powerful Relic. It provides the Arcane Resistance Edge (+2 Toughness vs magic attacks) to anyone who carries it. If said carrier is a Shaman, it can provide 10 Power Points which recharge at a rate of 1 point per hour in urban population centers or half that time in the wilderness. Having the Totem Spirit (Buffalo) Edge doubles the recovery rate for both,
and additional Power Points can be recovered by pleading to the spirits with Tribal Medicine in exchange for a Fatigue level.
A party Shaman in the Last Sons can become a veritable spellslinger with this, and is rather thematic for the adventure to boot.
The two government agents will not only let the PCs take the medicine rock with them, Agent Pederson will be more open from now on. He’ll reveal that “he works for the Union” and mention that the captured Ravenite was in possession of a very old but razor sharp tomahawk which could slice through metal. His organization shipped it off to a research facility in Denver, Colorado. He doubts the Agency will hand it over, “but you’re welcome to give it a try.”
What I’d Change: In my Flood campaign I used
RPGnet’s Dead South alternate-alternate-history model, meaning that the state of Bleeding Kansas would be purely due to the Great Rail Wars and not Confederate-Union proxy fighting. Instead of Agency and Texas Ranger NPCs I’d probably use a Ghost Dancer contact of my own creation.
Even though Pederson’s tight-lipped the Agency is an extension of the US government, which Native and Native Sympathizer PCs would not be very trusting of thanks to the joint occupation of Deadwood between Col. Manning’s soldiers and Custer’s irregulars. Motivation-wise I
could see the Agency not wanting their country and the Sioux Nations to plunge into war: especially given the higher-ups know about the Reckoning, and Manning’s defiance of orders is definitely illegal in a military court. But given that James A Garfield will win the election in a landslide very soon and declare war on the Sioux Nations with widespread public support, I cannot see the Agency openly defying the very administration which is writing their paychecks.
Finally, the clandestine meeting location the PCs talk with the Agent and Ranger is a dime novel publishing house. I’d put fictionalized accounts of parties from prior campaigns for sale there.
6. The Ghost Returns
Like Plot Point 5, this one does not trigger until the PCs follow Agent Pederson’s directions and go snooping around the Nevada Land Basin Office that is a front for the Supernatural Research Facility. The entire neighborhood around the area has businesses which are fronts run by Agents so as to have “hiding in plain sight” security. The PCs will have an opportunity to look around the place, and possibly sneak into the back rooms via lockpicking or absconding with an employee’s key. They won’t get very far before a dozen Agents disguised as ordinary townsfolk will confront the party and ask why they’re so interested in the land office.
Mentioning the Agency in any way will cause one of them to “check upstairs” and leave the other eleven to keep watch on the party. After a tense few moments he’ll return and...grant them entry! It turns out that the Agency’s in a bit of a pickle: their Administrator for this region, Hattie Lawton, has her hands full with her forces helping Union Blue fend off Black River rail warriors. The Ghost, the highest-ranking member of the Agency, was to arrive in Denver by train to help the beleaguered Administrator...before said train was hijacked by some outlaws.
Hattie not only has Jordrava’s tomahawk in her possession, she’s willing to give it to the PCs if they help her out with this little problem. She will not say what the problem is until they agree, and will only say that the train has valuable cargo the Agency needs and not who or what. She’ll even grant them an autogyro and pilot to catch up to the train before it reaches the town of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The following encounter is an action-combat scene where the PCs must either riskily land the autogyro or leap off of it. The train is moving uphill so it’s slower than usual, but at a bit of an incline. The hijackers in question are a mixture of outlaws and former rail warriors hired by Mordecai Whateley. Said practitioner of the Lovecraftian arts rightly figured that the well-guarded yet small train had valuable cargo. Mordecai’s outlaws use various generic stats from the Marshal’s Handbook (rail warriors, outlaws, superior gunman and martial artist), but the head honcho is a huckster with Improved Hip Shooting, Marksman, and a single action revolver to make him deadly with a side-arm when fanning the hammer. Half of his powers center around buffing: Aim and Boost/lower Trait, while Fear and Teleport can help put distance between him and the PCs.
Fun Fact: The Whateley clan of Lovecraftian origin exists as a family of vile sorcerers in the world of Deadlands. They have members all across the American continent and their bloodline has a knack for being adept with black magic.
As for any hostages...the only one here is Coot Jenkins, one of the metaplot NPCs who is a grizzled old prospector that knows quite a bit about the Reckoning. His specialty is in helping Harrowed regain self-control from their possessing manitous, and he’s insistent on opening up a nearby wooden box.
Said box holds the “precious cargo,” which is a bound, gagged, and handcuffed corpse bearing an eerie resemblance to a certain US President:
Coot will remove the gag and force-feed the now-awake and angry Harrowed some of his patented elixir to subdue the dominant manitou, causing the original spirit to regain his sense of self. The now-grateful man will introduce himself as Andrew Lane, the owner of Union Blue. Any mention of resemblance to the Great Emancipator will earn a chuckle:
“I get that a lot. But I don’t believe I bear that much resemblance to the man.”
Good ol’ Abe is willing to repay the PCs’ rescuing of him, willing to make use of the Agency’s resources in the process. Asking him about Raven and/or his Order will explain how one of their strongholds is in Adobe Walls within the Texas Panhandle.
Fun Fact: I take it some explanation is in order. In the world of Deadlands, John Wilkes Booth’s assassination attempt was half-successful. He certainly ensured that President Lincoln was dead, but he didn’t stay that way for long when the man came back Harrowed with a manitou spirit riding co-pilot. Naturally such a famous face could not maintain a low profile by himself for long, so he ended up back in the US government’s employ. His “civilian” identity was Andrew Lane, the owner of Union Blue railroad company, while he also acted as the Agency’s leader codenamed the Ghost. Unfortunately his manitou finds bureaucracy boring and every so often does its best to wrest control. One of Lincoln’s possessed episodes caused the Agency to bind him down and ship him out to Denver, both to use the Star Chamber to “put the right pilot in charge” and to help the beleaguered Colorado branch with some direct administration.
Hattie Lawton is a woman of her word and hands over the tomahawk once the train ends back up in Denver. Jordrava’s Tomahawk is a relic, specifically a two-handed melee weapon which deals the user’s Strength die + 2d8 damage. It is virtually unbreakable, and when carried on the owner’s person grants a +2 on Fighting rolls against anybody directly empowered by the Reckoners. Siad category is rather vague and broad, but includes all Black Magicians and the four Servitors. Most monsters and manitous gain their powers from the Hunting Grounds and do not count unless they know of and made a conscious decision to serve the Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
What I’d Change: So a thing I noticed with this campaign is that while the PCs fight the Order of the Raven heavily, the adventure goes out its way to avoid encounters with US or Confederate soldiers or their spy agencies. President Garfield’s election is only ever an indirect background element at most and not referenced directly in the adventure. Although I do not if the historical Garfield was notable for any anti-indigenous sentiments in comparison to the already prejudiced time period, I figured that if I ran this adventure I’d alter things quite a bit.
First off, I’d have Presidential Candidate James Garfield visiting Denver on the last weeks of the campaign trail, wanting to show that he’s not afraid of going into the frontier settlements “on the frontlines of Indian Country.” He’d also have Jordrava’s tomahawk on his person, obtained from the Agency and used as a rhetorical rallying symbol of him “claiming the savages’ most precious artifact.” He’d have Agency bodyguards and Denver’s streets will be more crowded than usual. The PCs’ job will be to find a way to retrieve the tomahawk.
I’d also make Garfield a Harrowed. He is aware of the supernatural, and even has an inkling of a raven-themed Order stirring up the fires of war. But he has no reservations against ordering the US to battle if he wins because 1.) the loss against the Sioux Nations is a pretty big symbolic loss in the American Indian Wars; 2.) he can still act the part of a hero swooping in to defend the good settlers of Deadwood “besieged by Indian tyranny;” 3.) the ghost rock veins in the Black Hills are a mother lode of treasure, and figures that they can pay for losses from the war; 4.) he believes that President Grant’s corruption contributed to the US Army losing against the “primitive savages” from misappropriated funds, and fears a domino effect of similar losses if Grant wins another term.
7. Lodges o’ the Last Sons
The Agency may be the best intelligence gatherers in the Union, but the Order of the Raven is a worthy contender west of the Mississippi. At this point Raven is now directly aware of the PCs’ exploits, suspects that they’re tied to Jordrava, and knows they’re headed to Adobe Walls. Thus he arranges a special squad of assassins to take out both of his foes in one fell swoop.
Adobe Walls was once a trading post which saw pitched battles between white settlers and a joint war party of Comanche and Cheyenne braves. In 1874 it became a deserted ruin and Battlefield Site* many believe is haunted. Tales of evil spirits roaming its land mean that only Raven’s followers spend any time around there. The PCs will encounter the latter here outnumbered 3 to 1, along with possible random encounters with walking dead and manitou or kachina spirits. The Ravenites’ have a note in Spanish written by the Esteemed Son to return to the Serpent Mound when the moon is full. This note was intentionally planted to lure the party, and indirectly Jordrava, to the Mound in the first place.
*as detailed in Marshal’s Section.
The PCs can also encounter a group of Comanche braves lead by Quanah Parker, a warleader who can tell the party that he spotted Raven’s forces around said Mound and that the place’s binding rituals hold a great beast in slumber known as the Thing That Devours Tribes. His 16-strong forces are willing to escort the PCs within sight of the Serpent Mound, but will not accompany them.
Wasted opportunity for a medium-size battle. Come on, this Plot Point Campaign’s themed around War!
Fun Fact: Quanah Parker was a famed leader of the Comanche nation who resisted United States’ efforts to push his people onto reservations. The hunting of buffalo was also a deliberate attempt to starve out the Comanche and other tribes, which resulted in an attack on Adobe Walls where buffalo hide merchants congregated. The Comanche would eventually surrender and settle onto reservations, although Parker continued to lead them and became rich through various financial investments. He also helped found the
Native American Church Movement, one of the largest indigenous religions in the United States.
The Ravenites at Serpent Mound consist of 8 shamans with the “Esteemed” Last Son as their leader. They are conducting a ritual to free the sleeping beast, which is an ancient carcajou (supernatural wolverine-like monster) the size of an African bull elephant. When the PCs engage the Ravenites in combat, Jordrava decides that the time has come to take the fight directly to the Order of the Raven:
Boxed Text wrote:A piercing screech rings from the night sky, and everyone looks up to see a large, powerful eagle flapping its wings and descending out of the darkness. The bird settles onto the mound and in the blink of an eye assumes its true form—Jordrava. With a single movement of the Old One’s hand, one of the Ravenites clutches his chest, struggles to breathe, and falls dead. “Your work is finished here,” says Jordrava.
The hooded figure twitches and hisses laughter, “That’s right, Old One. It was finished long ago. The only thing missing…was you.”
Jordrava’s eyes widen. “Oh. No…”
Before the Old One can react the earth cracks open at his feet and swallows him to the waist. A thunderous rumble rolls through the earth—the groan of some primordial creature awakening. An angry hissing rises from beneath the Old One, who struggles to free himself.
This entire ritual was centered around not only weakening the Serpent Mound’s bonds, it also involved summoning spirits specifically chosen for their ability to weaken Jordrava’s Eagle totem. This is a fine way of saying that there’s nothing the PCs can do to save the Old One from his monumentally stupid decision.
The mega-carcajou will join the battle, and it’s a pretty tough customer. It has a Strength and Fighting both at 1d12+2, the highest one can ordinarily get a skill or trait in Savage Worlds. Its Toughness is also the highest we’ve seen so far in this Plot Point Campaign, ranked at 18. Furthermore its bite deals its Strength plus 1d10, and its claws do a lesser 1d8 but penetrate up to 2 points of Armor. Furthermore, it is so horrifying that it can make an Intimidation check as a free action at the beginning of combat as well as being immune to fear effects itself. Magic attacks deal half damage which combined with its 18 Toughness would render it immune to most such abilities barring lucky exploding dice. Its major weakness is against snake bites and powers with snake motifs, which deal double damage to it.
Although the monster is known as the Thing That Devours Tribes to the Comanche, it is known to the grizzled mountain men settlers as Hungry Annie and that’s the name the adventure uses for its stat block. I personally think the first name sounds cooler and more appropriate, if a bit longer.
Due to the Power of Plot, Jordrava will be able to live long enough to talk to the PCs. He tells the party that they must head back to the Sioux Nations and warn them of Sitting Bull’s treachery by speaking to Crazy Horse, and afterwards join the Ghost Dance shamans at Medicine Wheel during the summer solstice. He will then die with a smile on his face, confident that the PCs will succeed where he failed.
Speaking of which, the Last Son has a note written in Sioux on his person, signed by Sitting Bull. It is basically instructions to perform a ritual at the Serpent Mound to kill Jordrava from orders of the Hooded One. He will mention that an attack on Deadwood is imminent and for the Ravenites to head back north once their job here is done:
We have received word from the Hooded One. Draw them to Serpent Mound and Jordrava will follow. Then the Thing That Devours Tribes will see to it that no one stands in our way.
The attack on Deadwood is imminent. We will cause bloodshed such as neither the whites nor the tribes have ever seen. If we must, we will expend a million arrows to get our revenge. Raven wills it. Return to us when your business in the Confederation is finished. —Sitting Bull
The note is listed first, but chances are most parties will go to Jordrava first, so him talking about Sitting Bull’s treachery will come out of left field.
What I’d Change: First off I’d not have Jordrava act so stupidly. I’d instead have him covertly appear to the party in Adobe Walls in a clever disguise, and offer to lend them his aid directly now that they got his relics back. He’d be controlled as a Wild Card Ally and give the players a chance to demonstrate his great powers so as not let his stat block go to waste. I’d also have Quanah Parker’s warband join the PCs in the assault on the Serpent Mound, and buff up the Ravenite’s numbers to compensate.
And depending on the overall strength of my party, I’d have Raven himself be there. Jordrava would recognize the real man when he sees him from a fake, and figures that the stakes are high enough to strike. The reason I’d consider doing this is that ordinarily the PCs never meet the real Raven in this Plot Point Campaign, instead being part of an optional post-game Savage Tale. Additionally Raven must be killed twice, the second time in a specific way using a specific weapon, in order to end his reign. I’ll get into more detail in the Savage Tales entry, but this “first encounter” will serve as a way to make the rematch feel not a waste. With a fellow mega-shaman Jordrava on their side, the PCs’ odds should be better.
I’d also have the Thing That Devours Tribes be on the cusp of awakening, and for Jordrava to mention that he must seal the great evil back into the mound. The mega-carcajou’s form would be an extension of its manifested spirit so as to give off the impression that a far worse version lurks just beneath the surface. I’d turn the Old One’s tactical error into a desperate sacrifice to run up to the “maw” of the mound and seal the creature in, giving it his all just like when he sealed the Reckoners all those years ago. At this point the real Raven will do everything in his power to kill the Old One. If this happens, then the PCs have a more personal reason for revenge now. If not then the last of Jordrava’s power has been expended, making him lose his spells permanently.
8. Last Stand on Bear Butte
No image for this one, sorry.
This Plot Point happens when the PCs make the long trail back to the Sioux Nations and likely complete more than a few Savage Tales along the way. Due to the Law of Metaplot this adventure is expected to take place between May and June of 1881, around half a year since James A Garfield won the Union Presidential election and three months since he officially took up office.
Things are not looking well for the Sioux Nations. Just about every big nation and faction are gearing up to get involved. Dr. Darius Hellstromme, ever the kindly Mormon with a shared interest against US expansionism, offers to sign a treaty in secret with Sitting Bull to lend his forces to fight alongside the Sioux without setting a single rail upon their lands. Hellstromme twists the wording to use his Hellebore digging machine to create an underground railroad supply line under said lands in order to reach the Black Hills. Meanwhile President Garfield’s first executive action is to order the Army to march upon the Sioux Nations to help defend Deadwood, using Iron Dragon rail lines to ship in troops as part of a last-minute deal with Kang. The Confederacy, for their part, notices the Union’s northern concentration of forces and uses the opportunity to annex parts of Kansas. Many indigenous tribes across the West, concerned about the loss of the Sioux Nations as both a buffer state and a potential domino effect, begin to deploy their own braves to help the Sioux.
The town of Deadwood shot up to Fear Level 4, just about every citizen is fully-armed and locked in their own homes, and the soldiers manning the cannons and earthworks surrounding the town are in fear for their lives. They will not let the party inside unless mollified with Persuasion or good role-playing, and is the only time in this Plot Point Campaign where fighting Union soldiers is a distinct possibility.
Crazy Horse’s location is nowhere to be found, but Charley Bull can help them out. He’s hiding in his favorite residence, the Langrishe Theater:
Charley Bull wrote:Listen to me and try to understand. Custer’s men are mustering in the streets. Thousands of my people are gathering. When they are finished there won’t be a single white man left alive in Deadwood. The clanking, screaming machines of Wasatch march across the Black Hills, eager to fight for the Sioux and help themselves to a share of ghost rock. My friends…even the spirits are in hiding. It is too late to turn back this tide.
You want Crazy Horse? You are crazy to try to find him now. But if your minds are made up, ride northeast toward Bear Butte. And pray to the Great Spirit Crazy Horse is the first of my people you meet.
I can’t help but notice that Charley seems to express more fear for the “foolish white men” than casualties among his own people, or the affects of a second war causing his homeland to be annexed by the United States. Maybe he’s wording his fears so as to give a greater impact on the PCs.
When going to Bear Butte the PCs have some boxed text to see the thousands of troops convening on Deadwood, reminding us of yet another wasted opportunity for the PCs to break out the Mass Combat Rules. Crazy Horse will find the PCs before they can do the same, giving them one chance to explain themselves. This is resolved via Persuasion, and even showing Sitting Bull’s note merely gives a +2 bonus rather than an auto-success, which can possibly turn into a shootout on a failure. If they win him over, Crazy Horse will realize that Sitting Bull has sold out his people and accompanies the PCs to take justice into their own hands.
After some more boxed text of the Deadwood battle below, the PCs and Crazy Horse ride up to where the Sioux Wicasas are supposedly gathering. But said leaders disbanded when Sitting Bull told them of his plans,* causing them fragment in disgust. Now alone, Sitting Bull is accompanied by a bunch of Ravenite warriors, the Order of the Raven’s Thunder Guard, and the Hooded One whose face will be recognized automatically by Native PCs as Raven himself and on a Common Knowledge roll by other PCs.** This is not the real Raven, but one of the false ones taking on his identity, which contradicts the earlier text in the Marshal’s section of how very few people from Raven’s era are still alive and would thus recognize the man himself. Or how this “false Raven” is more famous than others.
*but not the secret deal with Kang granting Iron Dragon exclusive mining rights in the Black Hills
Statwise the False Raven is a physically powerful Shaman with a healthy heaping of all manner of combat and leadership Edges, along with several melee weapons, a bow, and various buffing spells from armor to healing to shape change. The sole Thunder Guard who fights the PCs (the others are occupied by Crazy Horse’s braves) is a Harrowed with a double-barreled shotgun. Finally, Sitting Bull a Shaman who has more of a leadership focus with more powers than the “warcaster” False Raven, some of which are debilitating like entangle and fear.
After defeating Raven’s forces, the PCs are treated to a third bit of boxed text describing the carnage and explosions in the Battle of Deadwood, and finally gives them an opportunity to ride back down and take part...in the form of encounters with various warring factions rather than Mass Combat. Said factions include summoned Earth Warriors, Ravenite and Sioux Warbands, Iron Dragon and Wasatch Rail Warriors...but none of Custer’s forces or Union soldiers, because reasons.
Wovoka and the Ghost Dancers will arrive at Bear Butte, happy to hear that the PCs are alive. They have one last great task to stop the war once and for all: accompany them to Medicine Wheel with Jordrava’s relics, and participate in the Great Medicine Dance.
What I’d Change: Errrr...a lot, that’s for sure. One, neither in this nor the next Plot Point adventure do you have the opportunity to fight General Armstrong Custer. This is a huge wasted potential in an adventure path ostensibly about securing the autonomy of the Sioux Nations. Secondly, I’d avoid the unfortunate implications of civilians in Deadwood by having most of them already fled along the Iron Dragon Rail lines to be replaced with active-duty soldiers. Thirdly, Sitting Bull would be replaced by a corrupt Wicasa of my own creation. The tribal council will not have been disbanded by the time the PCs find them. In fact, they’ll have an opportunity to present their case of the Ravenites’ corruption, their part in the desecration of the Black Hills, and call upon witnesses of activities in prior adventures such as a Comanche brave present at the Serpent Mound. If the PCs present a good enough case then the legacy of Raven will be tarnished among the Sioux and other tribal leaders present, effectively robbing the Order of much of its support as a pan-Indian movement.
I’d probably also include a Mass Combat where the PCs and allied Sioux fight to reclaim the Black Hills from the US and various rail baron factions warring over its ghost rock deposits.
9. The Great Summoning
The final encounter in challenging War’s dominion is underway, and takes place several weeks after of the Battle of Deadwood but no later than June 21st for unexplained Laws of Metaplot. The Ghost Dance Movement is gathering its best members across the West at Medicine Wheel, including any shamans, Native leaders, and other figures the PCs may have come across in the campaign.
Now that Kang has openly sided with the Ravenites, Hellstromme pulls a doublecross and aids Custer’s troops in the hope that President Garfield will grant Wasatch exclusive rights to the Black Hills ghost rock. Nobody is able to gain a clear advantage as warbands roam the Sioux Nations, pillaging villages for food or torching them out of spite. The Native citizens of the nations are suffering the most, and the death toll rises to Fear Level to 5 in the worst-affected places.
The Wicasas loyal to the Ghost Dance and Old Ways congregate north of the Grand River in hopes of holding onto what land they have. But Wovoka spoke to them of his plan at Medicine Wheel, and when the PCs arrive they find a great gathering of Ghost Dancers and their allies. But Custer’s army and Wasatch X-Squad soldiers are in hot pursuit and gathering around the area. The Ghost Dancers begin a ritual lasting for a week, of fasting, praying, dancing, and leaving burnt offerings. The adventure does not explain why the Union and Hellstromme forces don’t bum rush the place. Perhaps there are implied skirmishes being beaten back? But that goes against the rules where an entire war party must participate for the Ghost Dance.
This takes a powerful toll on many participants, who all hope to contact the greatest spirits of the land. Wovoka has other plans for the PCs, and near the Dance’s end he rounds up a force of 100 braves and opens up a portal into the Hunting Grounds, mentioning that the legions of manitou and other spirits loyal to Raven amass to fight a war of their own in the spirit world.
But before the PCs leave, he gives them one final piece of cryptic advice:
One last thing—every army needs a general. I have called to one of your most illustrious ancestor spirits... and he has answered. He awaits you now. Good luck.
The PCs and army of braves find themselves in a mirror-world version of Medicine Wheel,, where a giant spoked wheel made of arranged quartz stones glows in the moonlight beneath their feet. To the east the spiritual army of the Reckoner of War approaches, bearing all sorts of monstrous shapes. War himself towers over the infernal army, appearing as a massive ideal warrior riding astride a horse. Every PC knows who this is due to War’s sheer supernatural presence which forces a Guts checks at -6. But as all seems lost, that “illustrious ancestor spirit” Wovoka spoke of appears!
The translucent, bloodied ghost of a white man approaches from among the nearby nature spirits, wearing the scorched remains of a Confederate uniform. The apparition salutes you... and strangely, you feel no fright.
In a proud Southern accent the ghost intones, “Ah say, you all must be the illustrious soldiers we’ve been waiting for. General Robert E. Lee, at your service.
“For a while ah thought my entire brigade would consist of—” he gestures toward the bizarre congeries of spirits “—these odd things, and the loyal boys who accompanied me. With a little flesh and blood on our side my optimism has returned, Sirs and Madams. It is well that war is so terrible, lest we should grow too fond of it.
“Now, as you see, our time is short. We must ready ourselves! The enemy is on the march.”
This is not the first time the Deadlands Plot Point writers preemptively assumed the PC’s race, although this time it’s rather jarring on account that the Last Sons’ beginnings was pushing you towards a Native American party. Also as far as illustrious white ancestors go, Robert E. Lee is hardly an ideal choice for reasons I hope are obvious.
But on the plus side, this is the only time in the main Plot Point Campaign we actually see the Mass Combat Rules from Savage Worlds used. Naturally, War’s Legions have the advantage in numbers, while the PCs’ forces include the aforementioned braves, 100 ghostly Confederate soldiers, 100 nature spirits, and General Robert E. Lee acting as Commander with a Knowledge: Battle d12. The PCs’ army has nowhere to retreat, and this is a fight to the death. On the other hand our party has the defensive ground, and any clever plans they come up with to fortify their position grants +2 on their Battle Plan roll.
But just like the Battle of Heavenly Park in the Flood, the Mass Combat results have no bearing whatsoever on the plot. After five rounds of said battle the Last Son known as Kills Alone will take a party of Ravenite Braves, manitous, and a greater snake cloud to dash to the top of Medicine Wheel. The PCs need to either kill the Last Son or hold him off for 10 rounds, after which the Ghost Dance ritual (and the Plot Point Campaign proper) is complete:
Suddenly the drums go silent. A bright flash illuminates the entire battlefield, followed almost instantly by a great peal of thunder. All the raven spirits fall smoking from the sky, leaving black feathers in their wake. The ground beneath your feet begins to buckle and shake.
A wheel of fire turns in the sky, and from it fly four massive thunderbirds that circle about. A hot, driving wind funnels down from the heavens and scours the sides of the mountain. The manitous and snake spirits are dispelled like smoke. Everyone else is driven to their knees. The searing wind raises blisters on your exposed skin.
As you watch in awe, the giant thunderbirds soar off into the sky—one in each
direction. The wind seems to follow them, sweeping over all the land the Indians call home, burning it clean with ribbons of flame. The light grows brighter and brighter, until it’s all around you, it’s all you can see. The scorching heat is the very last thing you feel.
...for a little while at least. When your vision clears you’re still on your knees, but you’re back in the world you know best, on top of ol’ Medicine Wheel. The wind picks up, and the enemies of the Sioux tremble in fear. Where the wind blows, machines die. Steam tanks at the base of the mountain clank to a halt as the ghost rock fires in their bellies go out. Clockwork spiders skitter around in a manic frenzy and then explode in a hail of gears and springs. Automatons sputter and fall over, and X-Squads find that their Gatling guns no longer fire.
And everyone—from Custer, to the lowliest soldier, to you cowpokes on top of the
mountain—discovers that his shootin’ irons …just won’t. The rounds are all duds. Silence falls over Medicine Wheel.
A second later, war whoops of Indian braves ring out as they charge down into the midst of the enemy, break Custer’s ranks, and chase fleeing Union soldiers across the Plains. Something tells you Ol’ Yellow-Hair won’t be escaping this time.
You’re all tuckered out, so you gaze over the wreckage left in War’s wake. This was the sacrifice it took to break Raven’s hold on these people, but somehow that sentiment rings hollow. War might be banished from this wasted, blood-soaked land, but it will rise up somewhere else—meaner and more ornery than ever before.
Best get your guns reloaded before then, pards. But sharpen your knives first. The road out of the Sioux Nations is bound to be a bloody one.
This is a rather odd downer ending, especially given the effects of the Great Summoning.
Basically, what’s happened is that the Ghost Dancers enacted a ritual to cover the entire borders of the Sioux Nations with an anti-technology field. This field is of infinite duration and cannot be dispelled. It does not just affect ghost rock devices, but any form of technology the indigenous people within the Nations did not develop or come into contact with before contact with white settlers. Gunpowder, steam power, and can even wagons and riding saddles cease to function and/or fall apart. This is due to meddling spirits which prevent the items from working and can discriminate on what counts rather than say, all saltpeter magically evaporating from the Sioux Nations.
This has some massive geopolitical implications for the Deadland setting. Not only did the United States lose twice against the Sioux, this hampering of their technological advantage causes a new and more reserved attitude towards American colonialism. There is a not unreasonable fear that if the Ghost Dancers can do this, then surely they can do so again in other regions. The Sioux Nations are thus more or less left alone for the entirety of the Deadlands plot line, and the Sioux and Cheyenne within live nomadic lives with bountiful buffalo herds.
With Kansas’ annexation, Wasatch and Iron Dragon are the only transcontinental lines which go into the West through Union territory, and both of those rail companies are headquartered in the autonomous lands of California and Deseret. With Union Blue rail lines cutting through a now-Confederate Kansas, it’s safe to say that the North is gonna face some hard times.
Furthermore, Hellstromme for once miscalculates and loses big as his underground railway under the Sioux Nations longer works. Compounding this are the loss of his countless soldiers and devices in the war. Oddly the Ravenites are able to erect special totems around Deadwood and along Kang’s rail line to ward off the anti-technology effect. Kang’s business continues running as normal, but his Dusky Jewel mining camp is no longer profitable.
Furthermore, President James A. Garfield is assassinated one month after the Great Summoning, and VP Chester A. Arthur is pressured to recognize the Confederate States of America as a free and independent nation.
You might have noticed that throughout this Plot Point that the PCs never interact with the real Raven or get a chance to fight him. Well they can in a post-game Savage Tale, but the metaplot assumes that he survives.
As for how War’s loss affects the rest of the rail barons, well...
Epilogue: Busted Arrow
There is one post-Plot Point adventure that is completely optional, but is inserted as a chance for Legendary rank PCs to strut their stuff. It’s completely disconnected to the overarching war against the Order of the Raven or the Ghost Dance Movement, instead determining the fate of the rail lines in the Disputed Territories. It takes place when the PCs revisit Dodge City. The Rail Baron heads of Black River, Union Blue, Dixie Rails, and Wasatch sent representatives to a neutral meeting ground in the Alamo Saloon to negotiate land rights. But a pair of skinwalker monster assassins employed by Bayou Vermillion are covertly planting bundles of dynamite throughout the place. Whether they’re successful or caught, the various representatives blame the other side of treachery, which spirals into an all-out clash.
The battle is overall open-ended, but we get a full-page description of a Steam Tank which can make for a rather deadly vehicle to fight, as well as the Gal With No Name, a harrowed who has a personal vendetta against all rail barons for unknown reasons. She is a wild card* who may aid or hinder the PCs depending on who they’re fighting for.
*Both the Savage Worlds mechanic and the thematic kind
During the battle there’s some boxed text as several of Hellstromme’s airships get ready to drop ghostfire bombs, but several planes are shot to pieces and land harmlessly. The one plane with an intact Ghostfire Bomb will be the main focus as the rail warriors maneuver to either retrieve or steal it unless the PCs get there first. Whether the bomb’s detonated or taken away safely, this major battle marks the end of what the papers dub Rail War Two. The six companies then settle long-term into their respective areas of influence.
But some companies are doomed regardless of the outcome. Union Blue goes bankrupt and is bought out by a New York company by the name of Empire Rails owned by the Freemasons. The official end of the Civil War causes wartime leaders to demand Dixie Rails repay debts the company cannot afford. A group of Texan cattle barons buy up the stock and rename it Lone Star Rail Company.
Finally, Hellstromme Industries secures contracts with both the Union and Confederacy for having the first transcontinental railroad, with Iron Dragon the only competitor that has reached the West Coat. In spite of the losses from the Great Summoning he has two streams of cash to fund his own projects back in Deseret.
What I’d Change: For the Great Summoning, I’d probably not use thunderbirds. This is a sample size of one, but I once spoke with an Ojibwe man and learned that for his tribe the portrayal of the Thunderbird in fiction is frowned upon. Basically it boils down to concerns of outsiders writing sacred figures inaccurately or without appropriate knowledge and respect for the source material. I realize that a lot of things in Deadlands in general and likely this book may also qualify, but I’d operate based on what I know.
Instead I’d have the Great Summoning manifest as a spontaneous eruption of all the ghost rock veins in the Black Hills, clear as day for the various fighting forces to see. This will thus rob the white settlers and US Army’s economic incentive, and be a means of securing longer-term peace for the Sioux and Cheyenne.
I’d also replace Robert E. Lee with some other famed warleader based on the PC’s ancestry. I’d also make it so that Kang’s Iron Dragon operations no longer function and that the Ravenites cannot build said totems. This will not only further cement Hellstromme’s supremacy as a rail baron, it would also be a long-term resolution of Kang’s downfall from a previous Plot Point Campaign I ran, the Flood.
Thoughts So Far: The Last Son’s second half could be summed up as missed opportunities and strange narrative choices. The investigation for the Medicine Rock in Dodge City was fun, although the Agency mission felt little more than an excuse for metaplot NPC cameos. Jordrava’s sacrifice comes out of nowhere and feels wildly out of character for the normally cautious survivor. The major war in the Sioux Nations is like the Flood’s Battle of Lost Angels, but longer-lasting and worse on account that the Last Sons is literally themed around War!
As I read Wovoka’s “surprise ally” I began to think that the Last Sons was rewritten sometime during the creative process. I get a sense that one vision wanted a Native American Braveheart, an all-Indian party fighting against colonialism and the Ravenite traitors who just want to watch the world burn. This is more apparent during the first half, what with the restricted travel outside Deadwood, the gaining of Native American allies from the Ghost Dance Movement, and travel in the spirit world.
But then there’s the other vision which takes root during Dodge City, wanting a broader “war is hell for everyone” in its unwillingness to cast any human faction besides the Ravenites as bad guys. The pro-Union Agency as recurring allies, and the overall reluctance to have PCs fight Union soldiers or Custer’s forces feels way too jarring. You know that something’s wrong where a campaign sourcebook tells you to make characters who are “Friends to the Indians” but you end up killing more Indians than invading Union forces.
The heavy amount of Savage Tales in Kansas, the Ghost Dance Movement’s relative inactivity save at the beginning and end, along with the rail wars epilogue, make it seem that the second authorial vision won out.
Join us next time as we cover the Last Sons’ many, many Savage Tales!