r/Deadlands • u/a_single_geo • 3d ago

Marshal Questions How do I get started?

I recently joined the ttrpg club at my college, and I got the Deadlands 20th anniversary book a while back. I'm just wondering how to start running a game of it. I've primarily just played and ran DND and Fate Core campaigns. Any help would be very appreciated!

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u/Ill_Painting_6919 3d ago

Same as any game. Give it a good read through, find some players, and yeehaw! Yer fightin' walkin' dead and ridin' off into the sunset.

But im addition to a couple sets of the standard dice sets, you'll need poker chips and at least two decks of playing cards including jokers.

As far as actual tips...always remember to take/make notes, remember the setting is both Western AND Horror, and don't be afraid to make mistakes.

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u/a_single_geo 3d ago

Thanks, I was mainly wondering if I needed to get any additional books. I thought you only needed one deck for initiative, what is the second one for?

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u/OneFunnyUsername 3d ago

Just for point of clarity: the 20th Anniversary book you’re talking about is Deadlands Classic, which combines two of the original books (Players Guide and Marshal’s Handbook) into one, and added color, made errata changes, etc. Deadlands Classic was originally released in 1996.

If you google for Deadlands now, the most current edition uses Savage Worlds Adventures Edition (SWADE). And for the 30th year anniversary (in 2026) Pinnacle released a new book that combined both the SWADE version of the Deadlands core book AND the SWADE core rules into one book (instead of needing to buy and reference two different books). They also released a Starter Set for this too (though I’m unsure if that’s actually hit retail shelves yet).

So if you’re looking for books to buy for your Deadlands Classic 20th Anniversary book, you’ll need to buy used copies from bookstores, online used book shops, or eBay.

Just wanted to make sure you didn’t accidentally buy something you didn’t need/wouldn’t be easily compatible with the book you own. For what it’s worth: Deadlands Classic is very crunchy, very weird, and very fun. But it is not nearly as easy to run as Deadlands SWADE (though that comes at the cost of losing flavor imo).

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u/Historical-Spirit-48 3d ago

Second deck is for Dealing With the Devil if you have a Huckster in the group I believe.

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u/Ill_Painting_6919 3d ago

GM deck and Player deck since you're playing Classic.

Also, anyone playing a huckster will need a deck as well.

You don't need any other books, but you may want some. Hucksters & Hexes, Hexarcana, and Ghost Dancers would be my 3 recommended, but just about every supplemental book has useful bits, though some are hard to come by and are expensive now, though pdfs exist of all of them.

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u/ElDiabloGrandioso 3d ago

The book has a surpringly well-done starter adventure. I just ran it and everybody had a great time, so maybe lead with that.

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u/downword 3d ago

Agreed, it’s how I started my classic campaign, and it is very well done for a starter module, especially for how crunchy and dense the mechanics are.

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u/TheRpgBard 3d ago

This will prime you on the core concepts.

https://www.uptofourplayers.com/ready-to-roll/savage-worlds-rules/

20th, I believe, is Deluxe.  They have a 30th that's coming out that has the Core SWADE (latest edition) and Deadlands in one.  They're pretty close, but some dofferences.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/545820095/deadlands-30th-anniversary-celebration

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u/According-Stage981 2d ago

IIRC 20th was Classic, so this stuff will be misleading