Night Train Review (with bonus Six-Shooters & Wagons conent)

The Deadlands Dime Novels were an amazing idea. For five bucks you get a short novella and adventure.  Last night, I picked up one of the most infamous for a few bucks at Half Price Books.

Night Train is a 32 page short story starring harrowed (undead) gunslinger Ronan Lynch, a 28 page adventure based on that story, and a 2 page scenario for the Deadlands Great Rail Wars miniatures game.

The story itself is entertaining enough. It's not going to win any awards, but it's got some merit. The real meat is the Night Train scenario itself.

A voodoo train baron is using a train full of recently rediscovered nosferatu and ran by (classic) zombies to disrupt other rail barons and sow fear and chaos among the isolated communities of the west.

This adventure gets an A+ on concept alone!

Now Deadlands is a deadly system (Hell, dead is in the name) and from what I see (and reviews I've read) this one is a true meat grinder that will probably kill a pc or two. Then again, in Deadlands, you can come back as a harrowed, so death isn't always the end. Stat wise, we're presented with a few new named cowpokes and two new types of abominations (monsters): the nosferatu and the zombie. These zombies are undead but closer resemble classic voodoo zombies. The traditional D&D style zombies in Deadlands are referred to as the walkin' dead.

If you like Deadlands (classic or Reloaded) you should pick this one up if you haven't. Even if you don't play Deadlands, but run some other weird west game... like let's say a Six-Shooters & Wagons (which will have a weird west supplement soon), this is a cool adventure to have.

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Six-Shooter & Wagons Monster Conversion

Nosferatu
AC 6 [13]     HD: 3   Attacks:  Slam (1d6) or Bite (1d3, see below)   Special: see below    Move: 12/12 (climb)

Nosferatu regenerate 1d6 hit points a round.  They can be rendered immobile by severing their spinal cords and a stake through the heart paralyzes them until it is removed. They take 10 damage every round they are in direct sunlight. Sunlight and decapitation are the only way to kill a nosferatu. Anyone killed by a nosferatu's bite will rise as a nosferatu in 1d6 hours.

Voodoo Zombie
AC 9 [10]     HD:2   Attacks:  Slam (1d6)  Move: 9

Voodoo zombies are strong, mindless walking dead created by houngans. Even if reduced to 0 HP the pieces of a voodoo zombie will continue to function unless completely destroyed (usually by acid or fire). Their mouths are sewn shot but if you fill one's mouth with salt and sew it back, it will be destroyed.