Are you excited for High Noon at Midnight? We know we are! Bruce R. Cordell, the lead designer for this book, has shared a preview of "Hand of Fate" from High Noon at Midnight with us, which we’d like to pass on to all of you as well!
How the West Was Weird by Bruce R. Cordell
What if a genre blended classic western tropes and settings with fantasy, horror, science fiction, and action? You’d get dusty saloons haunted by vengeful spirits, gunfights against cyborg outlaws, bounty hunters in spaceships, cowboys wielding magical six-shooters firing banishing rounds, and even weirder stuff.
In other words, you’d get the weird west.
And High Noon at Midnight is packed choc-full of resources to bring the weird west into your game. It includes set-pieces and rules to create your own weird west setting, as well as a fully-realized setting—The Ghost Range—you can use immediately to jump start a campaign. Likewise, three adventures and two cypher shorts give you everything you need to begin a weird west game as soon as you open the book.
And so much other stuff that choosing just one fun thing to highlight here was tough but, I think I’ll go with a preview of the “Hands of Fate” optional rule. It leans into some of the poker themes and related optional rules found in the sourcebook (which also includes additional optional card rules for playing poker, PC skill vs. real poker, evoking poker with dice, and using a deck of cards as a d20).
Hands of Fate
Is life utterly random or ruled by hidden fates? Either way, introducing the Hands of Fate optional rule gives PCs a bit more control over their situation while further investing them in a weird west feel. Here’s how it works.
Dealing Fate’s Hand: At the beginning of each day (usually after players have completed a 10-hour recovery roll), deal each player two cards—this is their personal Hand of Fate cards. The hand doesn’t exist in-world, but is instead a meta resource, to be used by the player for the benefit of their PC (sort of like XP).
Drawing Community Cards: The first time the PCs have an encounter that day, draw three Hand of Fate community cards. These cards are placed face-up on the table where all the players can see; all the players can use these community cards, combined with their personal Hand of Fate cards, to evaluate and eventually play their individual Hands of Fate. After you’ve dealt the first three community cards, draw and place one additional Hand of Fate community card each time a player triggers an intrusion or you intrude, until there are five community cards in total. These cards remain in play until a new day dawns or until all the players have played their individual Hands of Fate.
Playing a Hand of Fate: After the first three Hand of Fate community cards are drawn, a player can, at any time, choose to play their Hand of Fate for the day, using any combination of personal and community cards. Their PC gains the benefit noted for their hand, or a lesser benefit that appears further on in the list .
Royal Flush (an ace, king, queen, jack, and 10 all of the same suit): PC gains 1 benefit below and can be dealt another Hand of Fate for the day.
Straight Flush (five sequential cards, aces high, all of the same suit): PC gains 1 XP (to keep or use like any XP).
Four-of-a-Kind (four cards of the same value): PC can immediately take an action, even if they’ve already acted this round.
Full House (a 3-of-a-kind and a pair): PC replaces a d20 roll (their own or another player’s) with a 20.
Flush (five cards of the same suit): PC can apply three free levels of Effort to any one roll.
Straight (five sequential cards, aces high, in sequence): PC can apply two free levels of Effort to any one roll.
Three-of-a-Kind (three cards of the same value): PC can apply a free level of Effort to any one roll.
Two Pair (four cards, being two of value, twice): PC regains 5 Pool points.
One Pair (two cards of the same value) : PC regains 3 Pool points.
Fold (none of the above hands): PC regains 1 Pool point.
The Woods watch you as you wander, lost among the trees. The Woods don't care. The Woods see you isolated, lonely, and in terrible danger. The Woods don't care. The Woods are ancient (eternal?) and vast (infinite?). You are small and brief. Hardly worth noting—to the Woods.
Discover why mankind has always feared the wilderness.
The Darkest Woods is a standalone TTRPG mega-adventure and setting in the spirit of The Darkest House, usable with any rule system. You can insert The Darkest Woods into any campaign—including the one you're playing right now. The characters drawn into its mysteries don't even have to all come from the same world, campaign, or game system.
Curious about The Darkest Woods, but want to know more about what you're getting yourself into? Download a FREE PREVIEW of The Darkest House on the Darkest Woods campaign page! 🕷️💀🪓🔦
Face The Darkest Woods today!
Thanks again for your support, and we hope to see you deep in the woods soon… —Team MCG
