Medicine is a rudimentary science on the frontier, and there are worse ways to die than a severe case of lead poisoning. Your cowpoke suffers from a chronic and at least so far incurable disease of some sort. The Minor version of the Hindrance means you subtract 1 from any roll made to resist @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Fatigue]{Fatigue} from any source. Subtract 2 if it’s a Major Hindrance.
\nA @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Trait Rolls]{Critical Failure} on such a roll means things are getting worse. If your pistolero has the Minor version, she gets worse and her Hindrance becomes Major. If she already has the Major version, the Reaper comes calling. The good news is you gain an immediate point of @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Conviction]{Conviction}. The bad news is you choose when and how your hero dies during that session. She might go out in a blaze of glory or surrounded by friends on a peaceful mountaintop. When your character finally passes, the other player characters gain a point of Conviction, drawing strength from the brave death of their stalwart companion.
\nYou can also buy off your Hindrance by spending an @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Advancement]{Advance} (two for the Major version of the Hindrance). You should work with the Marshal to figure out a narrative reason for the improvement—treatment at a sanatorium, a miracle cure, a transfusion from a unique donor, or some other story-based explanation for the character’s miraculous improvement.
\nEverybody’s got skeletons in the closet, but yours are trying to claw their way out! Your hero has done somebody wrong, either through past affiliation or dark, unspoken deeds. While most folk don’t know or care, the Fella Upstairs sure does—and he ain’t too pleased. For each player character with the Cursed Hindrance, the GM starts with one additional @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Bennies]{Benny}!
\nOnly @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Wild Cards and Extras]{Wild Cards} can take this Hindrance, and you shouldn’t do it lightly, amigo. Your hero’s a killer. His family’s probably pushing up daisies, his enemies are worm food, and even a few of his friends have holes in them that are suspiciously the same caliber as his very own shootin’ iron.
\nThe good news is your hombre adds +1 to every @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Dealing Damage]{damage roll} he ever makes, whether it’s from @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-skills.Fighting]{Fighting}, @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-skills.Shooting]{Shooting}, an @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Activation]{arcane skill roll}, or even using @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-skills.Athletics]{Athletics} to throw things at people in a most inhospitable manner.
\nThe downside is your malcontent winds up in the hoosegow or on the run from his enemies a lot. Worse, anytime his attack roll is a @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Trait Rolls]{Critical Failure}, he hits the nearest ally in sight with a raise! This happens whether the target’s in the line of fire or not. Maybe the killer’s gun hand gets jostled, the bullet ricochets, or he catches flying shrapnel from an explosion. Other players’ characters are always first choice, but any friendly soul will do in a pinch.
\nEven hand-to-hand attacks hit allies when a Grim Servant o’ Death gets violent. This may require a little imagination, but either the weapon flies out of the hero’s hand and strikes his friend, or the hero moves adjacent to his erstwhile comrade and “accidentally” whacks him. Even if you’re using miniatures, combat is more fluid than the tabletop depicts.
\nA thunderstorm from Hell itself doesn’t wake this Dozing Doolie. Once he drops off, he must make a @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-skills.Notice]{Notice} roll (−4) to wake up. He also suffers a −4 penalty to @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Trait Rolls]{Vigor rolls} made to stay awake.
\nLies just don’t come easy to this hombre. That sounds all good and noble, but often causes problems when dealing with more nefarious types. A hero with this Hindrance suffers a −1 penalty to all @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-skills.Intimidation]{Intimidation} and @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-skills.Persuasion]{Persuasion} rolls where lies—even little ones—must be told.
\nWorse, if your hero plans to make money playing poker, the penalty also applies to bluffing. That’s −1 to your @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-skills.Gambling]{Gambling} rolls in a poker or faro game as well, compadre!
\nTo say your hombre has bad dreams is a severe understatement. The Land of Nod is a constant nightmare. He tosses and turns like a demon on a rack, and likely keeps everyone within earshot of him awake with his nightly torment. The repeated barrage on his psyche results in an overall weakened resolve. He suffers a −1 penalty to all @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Trait Rolls]{Spirit rolls}.
\nYour hero has pledged to forego modern technology to honor the nature spirits. Those who remain true to their vows get a free reroll on any @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Trait Rolls]{Spirit roll}.
\nIf the mortal violates the agreement, however, the spirits withdraw this advantage for 24 hours. If the oath-taker uses an item powered by @Compendium[deadlands-core-rules.deadlands-rules.05 Ghost Rock]{ghost rock}—a noxious and cancerous substance to nature spirits—their support is withdrawn for a week.
\nOnly characters with an @Compendium[deadlands-core-rules.deadlands-rules.03 New Edges]{Arcane Background Edge} can take this Hindrance. It represents a mental dependence on a physical item to use their powers. Anyone who sees the item used to enact a power can tell it’s important.
\nThe Talisman could be a specific deck of cards for a @Compendium[deadlands-core-rules.deadlands-rules.06 Hucksters]{huckster}, a medicine bag for a @Compendium[deadlands-core-rules.deadlands-rules.08 Shamans]{shaman}, a holy item for a @Compendium[deadlands-core-rules.deadlands-rules.03 Blessed]{blessed}, or a unique weapon for a @Compendium[deadlands-core-rules.deadlands-rules.04 Chi Masters]{chi master}. Whatever the item, the character suffers a −1 penalty to all @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Activation]{arcane skill rolls} if she doesn’t have it on her person. As a Major Hindrance, she suffers a −2 without it.
\nThe hero can replace a lost Talisman, but it takes two game weeks to acclimate to the replacement, during which time the hombre suffers the appropriate penalties.
\nNote that @Compendium[deadlands-core-rules.deadlands-rules.07 Mad Scientists]{mad scientists} already need a chosen gizmo to enact powers—an actual dependence rather than a mental one. Therefore, characters with that Arcane Background aren’t eligible for this Hindrance.
\nEvery little ol’ cut and scrape makes your cowpoke cry for mama. As long as he has at least one @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Damage Effects]{Wound}, he suffers an additional −1 penalty to all his actions (so a hero with two Wounds would suffer a −3, for example, although −3 is still the maximum). A hero with this Hindrance can’t take the @Compendium[deadlands-core-rules.deadlands-edges.Don't Get 'Im Riled!]{Don’t Get ’im Riled! Edge}.
\nThings never go smoothly for this hero. As a Minor Hindrance, whenever the character rolls a @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Trait Rolls]{Critical Failure} the consequences are subtly worse in some way, as determined by the Marshal. A hero isn’t just spotted trying to infiltrate a US Army fort, someone recognizes her face. A buckaroo doesn’t just fail at @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-skills.Intimidation]{Intimidation}, the target also has friends. Or a botched @Compendium[swade-core-rules.swade-rules.Attacks]{attack roll} results in the cowpoke’s weapon busting too.
\nThe Major Hindrance has a different effect. Anytime the Marshal must choose a “random character” to be hit, attacked, or otherwise negatively affected by something—it’s this poor devil.
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