What follows is an expansion on information presented last issue, as well as additional stuff not fit for player consumption. If you don't find what you're looking for here, it was probably purposely left out; these articles are intended as a guide for the Marshal, not a script. Each group's version of Denver should have a slightly different feel, as interpreted by each particular Marshal. Recreate it, change it, and add to it however much you want; your players are sure to love you for it... in a hateful sort of way...

Transportation

Trains

The difficulty in catching a train to Denver varies wildly from place to place. However, getting out of Denver by of train is usually always the same; bothersome, but fairly reliable.

Tickets are sold at box offices in the Denver Pacific Train Station, and are nearly always available up until the train's departure time. The Denver Pacific is known for its problems with scheduling, so purchasing tickets too far ahead of time isn't usually worthwhile. Tickets can often be bought off the scalpers found standing outside the station, with most selling them under the listed price. However, let the buyer beware; although many are being sold for honest reasons, there are a few people who have made a profession of selling counterfeit tickets to the gullible. These crooks have a feel for good targets, so they are likely to stay away from the posse... but everyone makes a mistake once in awhile.

Trains leave Denver about once an hour between 6 AM and 9 PM, and about every two hours after that. Since there are only a few direct connections to Denver, most people don't have to wait more than five hours or so for a particular train. Although the schedule normally remains the same week to week, all sorts of problems in Denver or elsewhere can change this. It can happen at the most inconvenient of times, as well (for instance, when posse members need to get out of town in a hurry). You can just imagine the spot that could put someone in, can't you?

I knew you could.

Streetcars

Streetcar rails span the entire length of the city, and can usually get folks within a few blocks of their destination. Each streetcar has its own route, which is displayed on a sign hanging from its front and back.

It costs 5¢ to ride a streetcar, no matter how far along its route one travels. Passengers planning on getting on another streetcar within the next hour can get a punch-card from the conductor allowing them to do so for free. This only applies to routes within the downtown area, however. All routes leaving for more distant parts of Denver will not accept punch-cards.

Taxis

Prices for taxi service will vary every time people hitch a ride, as the drivers tend to charge based on how inconvenient the destination is rather than on the actual distance traveled. For short trips from one downtown location to another, the cost is around 10¢. Trips that require Cherry Creek or the South Platte to be crossed are between 15¢ and 25¢, depending on the distance. Anything further than that can run up to 50¢ or more.

Stagecoach Service

Prices for stagecoach service to and from Denver are competitive, and run around 10¢ a mile. Wagons from each major stagecoach company leave several times daily, the exact number depending on how business is. Tickets are normally bought a few days ahead of time, although "rush deliveries" can usually be acquired in a couple hours for a cost of two or more times the standard rate. The availability of a ride is usually based on the availability of a wagon and driver, so one never can tell if a ride will be available.

Handling Travel in Denver

Little time should be spent carting the player characters around Denver from place to place. Tell them how much it's going to cost, how long it takes, and voila! They're there. Keep in mind that travel almost always presents a perfect opportunity to throw situations at the heroes.

As far as time goes, figure that your average afternoon trip through downtown Denver will take 5 minutes per block traveled if on foot, 3 by horse, 2 by taxi, and 1 by streetcar. The farther away you are from the business district, the quicker the trip will become. Street congestion is much more important than distance, so these times can be juggled around to fit the situation. For instance, if Joslin's is having a giant sale on some hard-to-get item, you can figure that travel within a block of the store will take two to three times longer than normal.

Train fare to/from Denver
Location	Standard Fare	First Class
Cheyenne	$5	$7.50
Kansas City	$30	$45
St. Louis	$40	$60
Chicago	$50	$75
New York	$85	$120

Stagecoach Fare to/from Denver
Location	Ticket Fare
Cheyenne $8
Kansas City	$55
St. Louis	$75
Chicago	$90
New York	$150

The Economy

Unless the situation warrants it, most shopping trips in Denver should be made quick and easy, with a few rolls of a die determining how much something goes for and how long it takes to find it. If the acquisition of some item serves as a major point to the game, then hassle the players with the details as they go from store to store, block to block, trying to find it. This wears thin fairly quickly, though, so use it only if the posse needs to really appreciate the trouble they went through to find some item. Or you just feel like making their lives difficult.

If an item isn't found, the posse can continue to search for it, using the method above.

Note that mad scientist inventions and other super-rare items are always going to be extremely expensive in the first place, and are often sold in exchange for some service rather than for money.

Also, remember that most businesses will accept bartering as a means of commerce. If the players wish to purchase something through trade, use your judgment in determining the value of each item, and assume that most businesses will want to get more out of the bargain than the posse does.

Of course, in all cases, character skills can affect the outcome of a shopping trip...

Item lists the "availability" of the item, as well as some examples. Cost determines what percentage of the standard cost (see Deadlands rulebook, page 67) the item is found at. Time determines how long the shopping trip takes. Chance is the availability of an item at a particular time (roll that number or less on a d20).

Item Availability
Item	Cost	Time	Chance (d20)
Very Common (Food, clothing)	60+(1d6x10)%	1d8x5 min.	19
Common (Trail equipment, tobacco, alcohol)	60+(1d8x10)%	1d12x5 min.	17
Uncommon (Horse, ammo, pistol)	50+(2d6x10)%	1d10x10 min.	14
Rare (Rifle, wagon)	50+(2d8x10)%	3d4x10 min.	9
Very Rare (Explosives, camera)	50+(2d10x10)%	3d6x10 min.	6
Yeah, right (Mad scientist inventions, mystic items)	70+(4d6x10)%	4d8x10 min.	1

Pay Rates in Denver
Occupation	Salary
Denver Police Deputy	$35 a month plus $0.25 per arrest.
Guard (Low-risk)	$50 a month.
Guard (High-risk)	$75 a month.
Teamster (Full-time)	$125 a month.
Teamster (Freelance)	$0.05 a mile, or various flat rates.
Hired Gun	Varies from individual to individual.
Manual Laborer	$25 a month.
Soiled Dove (Prostitute)	$200 a month... if she's pretty.
Card Dealer	5%-25% of the house cut.
Dancer	$30 a month.
Bartender	$40 a month.

The Government

Not a whole lot needs to be said about the government, as the posse probably won't have much contact with it, except at the lowest levels. Of course, the upcoming elections may very well be of some concern to the heroes. Election season is a dangerous time in Denver, and there are dozens of different organizations and people in the city with their own agendas. Many are willing to go to great lengths to make sure that their lackey gets into office.

Posse members, especially those new to Denver, may find it all to easy to get themselves tangled in the web of one conspiracy or another. How much of an effect this has on a game is up to the Marshal. Remember though, nothing ever happens in a vacuum, especially in a city like Denver. If the posse gets involved in something big, they may very well be messing up someone's plans. And, as always, some people don't take to kindly to that.

The Law

Denver Police

Two words pretty much sum up the use of the police in a Denver campaign; "comic relief." Sure, they'll occasionally slap 'cuffs on a fellow and haul him off to jail for some minor misdemeanor. It's usually only couple hours before the offender is back on the streets, sooner if some cash is handy. Basically, the police should throw some life into the game, adding atmosphere where it is needed. Most have little idea how to actually enforce the law, and so end up getting themselves into some of the worst situations imaginable. Others, such as Slick (...you remember Slick, don'cha?), spend their time meddling in other folks' affairs for profit and amusement.

The Soldier and Gunslinger archetypes make for good generic police, although their traits and aptitudes should be lowered to better fit their cannon fodder image.

U.S. Marshals

Ouch. These are the guys who you need to be worried about. Where the police are next to useless, the Marshals should never be underestimated. If the heroes ever slip up, you can be sure that a couple Marshals will be knocking on their door.

The Marshals make perfect adversaries for the posse, no matter what side of the law they may be on. Well-known criminals are their prime targets, as are those that manage to pull off some newsworthy heist. On the other hand, law-abiding characters will still end up running into the Marshals on various occasions, as their paths are very likely to cross during an adventure.

The Marshals dislike it when someone else tries doing their job for them. Although most will try and handle any and every situation alone or with the help of only one or two compatriots, they aren't against calling in a dozen or more to deal with a big situation.

If a hero happens to be a Marshal, things are little different. This is one of the few instances where the Marshals will be more of a benefit than nuisance. Most of the other Marshals in Denver keep themselves pretty busy, so the players shouldn't come to rely on them for assistance when the going gets tough. But, if given enough notice, the Marshals can be called in to help out the posse with the real important situations.

In all cases, care needs to be taken to keep the Marshals from having too much of an influence on the game. Marshal characters shouldn't be allowed to "call in the cavalry" every time they're about to take on some bad guys, and the Marshals shouldn't ruin every law-bending plan the posse members think up. If they're giving the players something to think about, they're doing their job. And so are you.

The Texas Ranger archetype, with a few modifications, will make for a quick-and-dirty US Marshal. More importantly Marshals should be created as full-fledged NPCs.

The Pinkertons

The more a particular campaign is centered around the supernatural, the more the posse should come in contact with the agents of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Although they can be used in a similar fashion to the Marshals, interfering with or aiding the characters as they fight the forces of evil, they play another major role in Deadlands: a source of information.

The Denver branch of the Pinkerton Detective Agency acts as a "central headquarters" for much of the West Coast, gathering and sorting the information brought to it by agents from all over. If the posse has some inside connections (a fellow Pinkerton Agent, Friends in High Places, etc.), a large assortment of reports, studies, guides, and all other manner of knowledge can be made available.

Need to know how to kill a vampire? No problem. Well, almost none. You see, the difficulty with all that information that there is so much of it. If you're really lucky, you'll only find a dozen papers explaining how to slay a bloodsucker, and at least half of them will agree with each other. Most of the time, each will say something completely different, and only a couple will actually work. The same goes with news reports, maps, and just about everything else to be found. If an hombre can sort the wheat from the chaff, the Pinkertons are a gold mine of info. If not, faulty information might just buy him a prime spot in the bone orchard.

The Pinkerton archetype can be used for a generic agent.

Where the police are next to useless, the Marshals should never be underestimated. If the heroes ever slip up, you can be sure that a couple Marshals will be knocking on their door.

Preface
Marshalling in Deadlands' Denver
Things to Do
Groups of Interest

Deadlands: Denver Part 1
Deadlands: Denver Part 2