Stumbling into the nearest saloon, I sat down at the bar, my tattered and torn duster drifting against the floor. Damn low barstools.

“What'll you have, stranger?” The bartender asked, looking at me like one would gaze at a rat. Couldn't blame him, I suppose. Hadn't had a decent wash in days.

“Whiskey, double.” I said, looking straight into his eyes. “Leave the bottle here too.”

As most did, his eyes widened as he looked into mine, seeing the madness practically dancing on my pupils. “C-coming right up, sir.”

As he left, I felt a familiar tingle up my spine. A grin spread across my face. A Card-holder, here? Must be my damn lucky day. Glancing over my shoulder, I took note of the people in the bar, looking for the right one.

Ah, there he was. Tall, thin, looked like one of them Brits, almost. Stiff upper lip and all that. Holding a powerful piece, too, by the feel of it. He'd be just the thing to stifle my boredom. I could tell that he sensed it too, the way he shivered and glanced around, his hand slipping into his jacket.

A clink came from the bar, and I grabbed the glass and tossed the whiskey back, tasting its bitterness as it hit the back of my throat. Not that it'd do much. Alcohol never did much nowadays. Somedays I'd drink two or three bottles and still nothing.

Behind me, I heard wood shifting across the floor, as that Brit stood up, walking over to me. Seems he had a limp. “I know who you are.” He said, only loud enough to barely be heard over the saloon's din.

“Oh really?” I said, taking a swig straight from the bottle. “You going to be a stupid one like all the rest? Or you gonna try to leave it behind?”

“After what you did, I can't let it go.” He said, his hand curling around my shoulder. Fucking people, touching me. No one's worthy enough to touch me. “I'll meet you outside.” He left through the swinging saloon doors.

Taking another gulp of whiskey, I stood up and left the bar too. Almost felt sorry for the barkeep and the rest of the poor souls in there.

Almost.

>Wild Cards thread

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS

As I left, the sun was just about under the horizon, a few flickering torches lit around the town providing enough light to see by. The Brit was standing in the middle of the path, staring at me.

“Why'd you do it?” He asked as I strode towards him. “You decimated my hometown, and almost everyone in it! My family, my friends, you murdered every one of them!!”

“...Did I?” I asked, thinking. Not that I remembered the bastard or where his town was. Just another notch on the barrel, as it were. “Can't remember every town I destroy, you know. Too many to count by now.”

“I'll kill you!” He screamed, pulling a pistol from his jacket, aiming it at me. “I'll take you out with my Card, and then my family and friends will rest in peace!”

“Ah, the avenging hero.” I laughed, crossing my arms. “I would think you'd know better. Thought you'd try to run and put your past behind.”

“Shut up!” He yelled, cocking the hammer. “It's all your fault! And at this range, my Card will hit without fail!”

“Oh? What've you got? A Heart, a Club?”

“Jack of Hearts. Dragon's Eye, I call it. Once I've aimed it at someone and cocked it, the bullets will follow him anywhere, like a mythical dragon stalks its prey.” He said, grinning.

“Well ain't that a nice piece.” I said, grinning right back. “Too bad it'll be the last shots you ever fire.”

He laughed at that too, before lining his shot up once more. “Go to hell.” He said, pulling the trigger.

I saw the bullet leave the barrel. Saw the smoke and sparks fly as it flew towards me. It was powerful, no doubt. Too bad he chose the wrong opponent, though.

Almost nonchalantly, I reached out and grabbed the bullet out of midair. His expression was priceless. “Problem, Brit?” I asked, dropping the bullet to the ground. “I think you missed, Mr. Dragon.”

“Y-you...” He stuttered before gritting his teeth and firing again with the other five bullets in his chamber. Effortlessly, I dodged each, dancing around and swatting his bullets from the air.

“Missed again.” I said, taunting him. “Maybe you got a fake Card?”

“SHUT UP!” He said, quickly reloading. “I won't lose! For the sake of my loved ones, I won't!” He ran towards me, slamming his knee into my gut. Not that it hurt, but I played along, doubling over and falling backwards onto the ground. In moments, he was over me, his Card aimed squarely at my forehead, the barrel pressing against my skull.

“I don't know why you didn't draw, but it's the last mistake you'll ever make.” He said, smiling. “Even you can't dodge this.”

Click.

Bang.

Ah, this was always my favorite part of the game. Watching their expressions change from joy, to confusion, to horror, as a grin spread across my face, the small hole in my forehead quickly vanishing as though a bullet had never perforated. He backed away as I pushed myself up, before shooting the rest of the bullets in his gun. Each hit. Didn't feel a thing.

“W-what the hell?!” He said, falling to the ground in shock. “I-impossible!!”

“I'll let you in on a few secrets before you die, Brit.” I said, reaching to the back of my belt, pulling the gun from its holster. “First, you may have the power of a Heart. But I can wield a Spade-” I fired one bullet at one of the torches, which knocked the torch into the saloon. The bullet ricocheted into each of the other torches along the line, setting half the buildings in the town alight. “And a Diamond...” I turned to the quickly burning saloon as people began to rush out to escape the growing flames, pulling the trigger twice more, filling the air with hundreds of bullets, perforating person, building, table, and everything in their way.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him get up and start to run away. Turning back, I continued, “A Heart-” Pulling the trigger again, shooting straight through his kneecap. I could hear the delicious sound of it shattering. As he stumbled and twisted around, I took aim once more. “And a Club.” The night rang out with the sound of a massive blast, as the arm and hand that had violated my person but a few minutes ago disintegrated in a haze of blood.

Why you gotta do this when I need to go to sleep?

Sigh.

F5F5F5F5F5

He fell to the ground, panting heavily, as I strolled up to him. “All that power may kill me soon, but...” I took aim one last time, right between his eyes. “After all, every gunslinger, Card or otherwise, knows the stories. The man, clad in black, bringing death and destruction where ever he goes. His gun, a legend in and of itself...” I leaned in close, twisting the gun so he could see the design on the black ivory grip: A jester, upside down, his tongue flopping out of his mouth and his eyes bulging, the image of pure madness. “At least this way, you'll go down in history. Another hero, and another town, leveled without a trace by the Black Joker.”

I pulled the trigger one last time, and savored every moment as the bullet pierced skin, crushed bone, blew apart his brain. God, I loved those sounds. Every day wasn't complete until I heard those delicious sounds. Absolutely outstanding.

The sound of an explosion brought me down from my high, as the fire reached the alcohol in the saloon, leveling the saloon and part of the buildings around it. A few people ran for their lives, escaping the fires now consuming the town. I could chase them down...But there was no sport in hunting mere humans like them. They wouldn't even put up a fight.

Shrugging, I slipped my Card back into its holster, looking at the destruction I had created this night. The rumors would spread once more, about the black man who destroyed another town. Who knows? Maybe that damn Dealer will hand out another Card to a lucky survivor, and they'll try to take revenge too. And I'll have another toy to play with.

Sometimes, I remember the man I used to be. The sap I was, simple and stupid. One random card game later, I found the most powerful Card of all. True, it twisted my mind, made me a little crazy, maybe even insane. But it made everything a hell of a lot more fun. Death, destruction, carnage is what fuels me now, and I love every minute. And that's what counts, right?

repost of a previous writeup, but still awesome.

And that's all I've written for the Black Joker, in any case.

For those of you just joining /tg/, this here is Wild Cards.

http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Wild_Cards
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=wild+cards

Well done, sir.

>>8353307
>>8353321

Thanks very much.

I haven't seen a Wild Cards thread on here for ages, so I thought I'd try to revive it.

This is one of the best ideas to come out of /tg/ in quite a while, and I don't want to see it vanish without a fight.

>>8353375

Amen. Wild Cards is easily my favorite \tg\ project, and deserves to be a whole hell of a lot more than it is.

>>8353436

I suppose part of the problem is that the vast majority of it has been fluff with very little crunch to go with it.

I heard a while back that someone had run a very successful game of Wild Cards with his group, but I was never able to find out what rules (if any) he used, and the thread about it wasn't archived.

>>8353436
>>8353375
I've been running a Wildcards campaign for a while with my group. So far things are going swell.

>>8353490

Fucking awesome.
Care to fill us in with some more details and such?

>>8353522
Lemme get my notes together, brb. I just homebrewed a particularly rules-lite system for my group; your mileage may vary with it. I know there is a group on supTG working on a far more rules-heavy system with cards and stuff.

>>8353564
Here's the system. If you have any questions about our campaign, feel free to ask them and I'll answer them.

Hard and Fast rules (for starting at lvl 1):
Rolls need either 1, 2, or 3 d6s
Players spread 7 points between 4 stats, which correspond to the suits (each suit has different stuff associated with it, like brawn, brains, charisma, luck, etc.)
End result means 7 points distributed, with no more than 3 and no less than 1 in any given stat.
Suit of player's card adds a +1 to the stat associated with its suit.

Belladonna's character:
Hearts: 2 (+1 due to Gun Suit)
Spades: 2
Clubs: 1
Diamonds: 2

If you need to roll dice, describe what you're doing and roll the number of d6 your score is. Trying to schmooze your way out of a gunfight? Roll Hearts. Want to see if you're quick enough to run away? Roll Diamonds. Power through? Spades. Try your luck at dodging? Roll Spades.

Other suits can be used for inappropriate rolls or rolls where they might make some sense (intimidating with Spades, as one example), but generally you'll use whatever score is most appropriate.

>>8353678
Who is Belladonna? What kind of guns do your players have? WHY ISN'T THIS ON THE 1d4CHAN PAGE AND WHY HAVEN'T I BEEN PLAYING WILDCARDS?

>>8353713
1. One of the players.
2. Coming right up in next post.
3. I never got around to uploading it, as I thought it was too lite to be of much use. Should I?

>>8353756

I'm on 1d4chan, ready to update the Rules page with all this delicious crunch. Keep it up, bro.

>>8353789
That one post?

Yeah, that's the extent of my crunch <_<

Like I said, extremely rules-lite. Its more of a Narrative/Role-playing vs. Rules/Roll-playing system.

>>8353678
>>8353756
To be clear, I'm using the the names the players gave their Guns to refer to them.

The Three of Hearts player went for a longer, more slender gun; it had ornate scrollwork on the handle, and he also added a heart-shaped trigger guard and an embossed-leather holster with gold trim. He gave the gun itself the name "Belladonna"

The Jack of Spades described her gun as a "Ladysmith" pattern revolver (a smaller version of a .38, generally used by female police officers/for female). Didn't really have any decoration, aside from some scrollwork and a big spade on either side of the handle. She named it "Duchess"

The Six of Clubs asked if he could have two instead of one, so I let him; He chose two really long-barreled revolvers with over-exaggerated sights/barrels. Nothing on the handle, except a 6 branded onto each. Named them "Leroy" and "Jenkins", despite our groans.

The Three of Diamonds also asked for something a little out of the norm, a little derringer. Kicker was that it was made out of solid gold (suspending disbelief about manufacturing materials), with diamonds inset in the barrel and a ruby as the actual sight. He named his gun "High Roller".

Pic related to Leeroy|Jenkins. This is how he's described himself.

>>8353860
What kind of powers do their cards have?

>>8353860
Same as >>8353888 , and I'd also like to know how you handled their meeting of the Dealer.

>>8353860

Hahaha. Well, less crunch allows for more flexibility, so it's all good. Is combat handled in the same manner?

>>8353888
>>8353888
Belladonna's power (at least as far as the players have been able to ascertain) is that
anybody who hits him with a bullet seems to die within a day or so of doing so.

The actual crunch behind it is that I have a hit table for Belladonna whenever he unholsters his gun:

1: Instant Death for person hitting him due to massive cardiac arrest
2-4: Slow Poison, kills within a couple of days
5-6: Highly Toxic, kills within a couple of hours.

Duchess' power is to be able to make one shot count for a lot by ricocheting it off of all manner of things to hit around blind corners and such.

Leeroy|Jenkin's power only works when his guns are combined into the shotgun-revolver. He can shoot both of them off for a shot that can demolish the side of a barn (which he actually did in-game).

High Roller's power is to fill the air with a hail of low-caliber bullets. HR combined this with Duchess' power to create a gatling gun of tiny ammunition that can shoot around corners, due to being deflected around them. The players call it the "meatgrinder".

>>8353908
Coming up

>>8353950
Coming right up

>>8354046

>High Roller's power is to fill the air with a hail of low-caliber bullets. HR combined this with Duchess' power to create a gatling gun of tiny ammunition that can shoot around corners, due to being deflected around them. The players call it the "meatgrinder".

Unlimited Bullet Works?

>>8353678

See, this is a good, simple approach, though I personally wouldn't use dice. I'd rely more on the card motif and handle random generation by players drawing playing cards.

Not sure how to work the mechanics with that, though.

Fuck yeah, I love these threads. Thanks for the game update.

>>8353950
Some additional background behind how I came up with the rules: We were just coming off of a campaign, and I got the idea to use the Wildcards setting for some nice western action. Before our session ended (the one before Wildcards began in earnest), I separated a deck of cards into the 4 suits (Hearts, Spades, Clubs, Diamonds), and asked the players to pick a card from any of the suits they wanted and to give me a western name they might want. Then, the next week, I whipped some character introductions up for them and let them describe their cards/guns and flesh out their characters more. And yes, combat is handled in the same manner.

>>8353908
Multi-posting one of the character's meeting with the Dealer (which I individualized for each player)

Part One
Introduction of the Jack of Spades to the Dealer:

You wake up in a dark, smoky room, with a piano playing in the background and a general hubbub of humanity around you. You appear to be seated at a small table across from a dark man.

...On second thought, you can't really place what he looks like. His features are wreathed in shadows, and your eyes seem to slide off of him, keeping you from pinning down any identifying features. The only thing you seem able to focus on are his burning, sulfurous eyes, as they stare back at you from under a hat.

"So, Jillian... How long's it been since you've touched dem cards?"

Before you can answer, the man waves a hand and your words leave your head, passing out of your mind like an errant breeze.

"Doan bother answerin' dat, girly. I know how long its been; an' I know how you've been tryin' ta stay away from mah domain."

You remain mesmerized by the shadowy man's eyes, which seem to flicker ominously, like a guttering candle.

>>8354170
Part 2

"You of ALL people should know, Jillian; ain't nobody who ever really leaves meh behind. Jus' a couple people who set me aside for a little while before dey come acrawlin' back on their bellies, like an old, lame dog."

The din of the crowd and the piano begin fading away, the smoke and gloom becoming thicker. You still cannot take your eyes away from the man, though every fiber of your being is screaming at you to run.

"So, girly, here's the deal; y'all can keep on goin' the way y'are, and ye'll be dead within a week..."

The shadow man got up and walked around behind you, resting his hands on your shoulders. You cannot move your body, though you feel an intense, icy chill where his hand lays on your shoulder. You feel rather than see the shadowy man lean down and speak in your ear again.

"...Or you can take a stake in th'Deal, an ye'll get a new lease on life."

The shadow man walks back to his side of the table and a deck of playing cards appears in his hand as if by magic. Shuffling the cards endlessly, the man looks you in the eye with his sulfurous, yellow-eyed gaze.

"So... What's it gonna be?"

>>8354205
Part 3

You feel your mouth loosen, your heart pounding, and a dull ache in your head. Looking into the shadow man's eyes again, your spittle dries up and the next words out of your mouth become like ash.

"I'll take a stake."

If the man's features had been distorted before, now they were almost a caricature, as his mouth split into a wide grin with far too many teeth. Fanning out the deck of cards in one hand, the shadow man spoke again.

"Well then, girly... Pick a card. Any card."

Your hand reaches out almost of its own volition, picking out a card on the far end. Looking at the card, you see it was the Jack of Spades.

Looking at the man again, you see that he is fading from sight, though the caricature grin is still on his face. Before fading completely from sight, you hear his parting words.

"See ya soon, Jillian, and try t'remember dis time; the House always wins, in da end..."

----------------

Jerking awake, you sit up in bed in a cold sweat. You feel shaken, wondering at the incredibly realistic dream you had. Then you look down at your hand.

A Jack of Spades sits in your palm, its eyes a dull shade of yellow, as it looks up at you. And next to your hand, laying on the bed, is a holster and a strange gun...

>>8354170
>>8354205
>>8354242
...Why aren't you MY Dealer?

>>8354170
>>8354205
>>8354242

>>8354170
Addendum to this for Supachibi:
I worked out Health as being your main Suit + Club Suit level.

Combat is handled as just mostly free-form, with rolls to either activate your Gun's powers or to pull something off.

Out of combat tasks, just free-form it, with a roll using whatever suit is appropriate if you want a better than average result. (Clubs for strength, Hearts for smooth-talking, etc.). Suits can also be used for other tasks if you can justify it (Clubs to intimidate somebody instead of Hearts, Diamonds for accuracy as opposed to Spades, etc.)

Like I said, pretty rules lite =)

>>8354346
You said in >>8353490
that you've BEEN running a game. What sort of hijinks are your players getting into?

This is awesome stuff, man.

Major props to you.

>>8354398

Bumping, I want to hear too.

>>8354410
Thanks!

>>8354398
>>8354660
Sorry, went to go get a bite to eat.

Accomplishments so far:
-Belladonna wined and dined the mayor's daughter, causing the local toughs to fight the "deck" in a street brawl.
-During said street brawl, Duchess and High Roller invented the Meatgrinder
-They defeated a band of banditos and hid out in a ghost town, where Duchess was groped by a lecherous poltergeist
-After the Deck started communicating with the poltergeist, it was determined that the man had been killed by a Face card (though the PCs don't know it, the face was the King of Hearts, whose gun ties whoever it kills to wherever they died, making them haunt the place until the King of Hearts is "shuffled back into the Dealer's deck", i.e., killed).
-The party vowed to avenge the poltergeist's allegedly wrongful death (in reality, the poltergeist had been a corrupt mine-owner who drove the town to ruin).
-During the quest to avenge the poltergeist, they helped defend a trading town against a Warband of Indians led by a Shaman who was himself a card and used a Tomahawk as his card manifestation (it could grow to enormous size and be ridden into battle).
-The PCs defeated and drove off the Warband and went back to tracking the King of Hearts, who they find out is actually a woman.
-After saving a stage-coach caravan, the PCs learn that the King of Hearts is in a big city and head there, hoping to kill her.
-After reaching the city and confronting her, they get a SURPRISE TWEEST when they find out the truth about the Poltergeist and the King of Hearts (who was actually his wife).
-Currently, PCs are just lounging around and enjoying the city until I move them on to their next big plot point.

>>8354799
>Tomahawk that can grow gigantic
>CAN GROW GIGANTIC
>could ride on his Tomahawk
>RIDE ON HIS TOMAHAWK

FUCK YEAR, GETTER TOMAHAWK

>>8354799

>>8354799

Goddamn.

You weave an awesome tale, man.

When you say the Deck, though, are you referring to your players, or am I missing a detail here?

>After the Deck started communicating with the poltergeist, it was determined that the man had been killed by a Face card etc.

>>8354948
Yeah, Deck is my name for the party. The Hand might be more appropriate, but Deck is already stuck in my head, so eh.

>>8355039
...Would you be willing to DM a game for us fa/tg/uys?

I wish I had a GAME right now, let alone a WILDCARDS game..

>>8355110
Seconding this LIKE THE FIST OF THE NORTH STAR

>>8355110
>>8355159

>>8355110
>>8355159
What do you want to run it on? IRC? A gaming forum? Here on /tg/?

>>8355223
Here on /tg/ might be cool, but it'd likely get sage-bombed as a quest.

On a gaming Forum? I'd rather not.

I like the IRC option though!

IRC or OpenRPG or something

>>8355223
>>8355247
IRC is always a good idea.

>>8355247

I'm all for it too.

>>8354799

I'd play.

My card would be a shotgun. No doubt.

>>8355358
Shotgun... I could see alot of awesome things coming from shotguns. Derringer would be my style though, not a fan of big and easy to spot.

How does suptg's IRC sound for the game, then?

Also, you may start rollin' up a character, if you want. Pick a suit (Hearts, Spades, Clubs, Diamonds) and roll dice+1d13 to determine your gun, assign the 7 stat dots you have, and give a little background about your gun/gunslinger!

i'm still ecstatic that my crappy character i wrote up in 5 minutes ended up in the Last Stand at Tombstone writefaggotry. now we have rules too! my brain might explode.

Mmm. I wouldn't mind playing Sons of the Gun. I was the writefag who came up with Solemn John and the Cannon and I'd love to actually play him...

>>8355486
guess that makes us bros, i wrote up Jake with Atonement.

rolled 7 = 7

>>8355432
Rollan' a <3

>>8355504

I wrote Seven of Spades and the Black Joker a while back.

rolled 11 = 11

>>8355432
Diamond.
I have no clue which Suit is what character wise.
Diamond 3 (2+suit)
Hearts 1
Spades 2
Clubs 2

>>8355557
11 is the Jack

>>8355562
>>8355557
shit, misunderstood, diamonds are speed i believe. it got changed around a bit since the beginning.

>>8355557
>>8355581
So I'm a fast draw Jack? Huh. I'm WIGK on IRC, where do you want us to come up with our backstories? Post em here?

>>8355710

Diamonds are generally the 'fastest' of all suits, whether it be at drawing, the speed of the bullet, or the amount of bullets that the gun can produce.

There's actually not a lot of Diamond fluff at the moment, so it's rather open to interpretation exactly what one can do.

i'm bad with IRC, how do i change my name? right now i'm anon400something

>>8355710
Either here on the IRC is fine, WIGK. I am Dealer on suptg's IRC.

>>8355834
Try /nick (insert name here)

>>8355877
thanks, that did it. it doesn't help i'm still 90% convinced that IRC is witchcraft.

bump for amazing

The current channel is #Wild_Cards

May as well put this here for people who might care; I'd started a Wave up a while back for myself and some friends to try and flesh out more of the settings and crunch of Wild Cards. We got some crap done, but interest petered out... but if you want to see what we'd thought up, or add to it, or whatever, knock yourselves out:

https://wave.google.com/wave/?pli=1#minimized:nav,minimized:contact,restored:search,rest
ored:wave:googlewave.com!w%252BI_tr33eBA

bump