Saddle up again Pardner as its time too head out west and once again wrassel with those nasty critters and mean hombres way out west. Yet another release for Deadlands the Weird West roleplaying game is out now in the shape of Hucksters and Hexes. For those of you who haven’t had the chance to play yet or don't know you’re Huckster from a Hex, here’s the low down.

Way back when, the world was a much different place than it is today. The forces of Magic that had been so prevalent in the middle ages had all but died out and where forgotten. That was till a young Englishman by the name of Edmond Hoyle stumbled on the strange and often sinister world of Magic while serving in India. Hoyle was responsible for bringing about the death of a shapechanger who had been terrorising the locals for months. Killing the supernatural beast awakened a passion in the young man and he dedicated the rest of his life to pursuing the arcane arts of Magic.

Hoyle studied hard and even took on a young apprentice Ernest Johann Biren, who would eventually surpass his mentor and leave him for dead. Magic opened a whole new world and Hoyle after his dealings with Biren realised that it was something that was far too powerful for the average man. Still he wished to pass on his findings to others and teach them to learn from the mistakes that the evil Biren had made by using the Dark Arts. He made numerous notes on his findings and how to cast the hexes he had learned and placed them as a hidden subtext in A Short Treatise on Whist a book he had started to write years before. He was shocked to learn that a nephew of his had published the book while he was away fighting against the evil villain Biren in Russia. The book contained codes that if deciphered could teach one to learn the arcane arts, and other people became interested in its hidden context and soon a small but dedicated band of followers began to learn the arts.

Since the book was a card game book, many of the Hucksters as they became known took on the guise of gamblers and rouges, who made their living from hustling cards. Whenever a hex is cast the Huckster will more than likely have a hand of cards appear from nowhere in his palm as he casts the hex. The Hucksters are still misunderstood and often and quite rightly feared, but they along with the Native American Shamans wield one of the greatest powers known to man.

That is a very basic description of just what a Huckster is and of course the rulebook and the supplement go into far much greater detail. Suffice to say a Huckster is not someone to be taken lightly when playing Deadlands.

Hucksters and Hexes is set out in the standard format that is so popular with players of Deadlands. An excellent cover once again by Hal Mangold, and filled throughout with some of the best black and white illustrations that you will find in a roleplaying game. The usual layout is followed with the book split into Posse Territory, No Mans Land and Marshals Handbook each well thought out and easy to navigate. The Posse section gives the players all they need to know about the Hucksters and presents another three Archetypes for the player to choose from. No Mans Land section gives the hexes and relics that the players can use, but they may only read it with permission from the Marshal (Gamesmaster.) and finally the Marshals Handbook, gives the real low-down to the GM and sorts out all the red herrings and truths of the Posse section, plus a ready to play adventure .

Hucksters and Hexes is mainly a book for those who would like to play magic users in Deadlands and as such would be lost without its spells. There is definitely no shortage of hexes in the book, with well over 100 different hexes and their effects being described in full detail. Some of these hexes are pretty petty or small, such as changing your luck in a game of chance, but others are much more complex and can have devastating results. Relics are also given for both Marshal and Posse alike and allow the characters and NPC’s to enhance their capabilities with items such as the deck of cards that Wild Bill Hickock was using when he was shot dead. All thought out well with a clear description of use in play.

The new Archetypes that join the ever growing list from the other supplements are again on par with usual and present the player with the Ranger Huckster, Trickster and finally the Tempest. All work well, with the Tempest being something of a wild card in the game as they are very temperamental and can be uncontrollable at times. Also given are new Edges, (make you better) Hindrances (make you worse and give you more points to spend) and Knack’s (skills) that help round out a Huckster character and can be used in some cases with other none magical characters.

The adventure Abracadabra and an Arab Cadaver is a simple yet highly playable adventure and could very easily be spun out into a campaign with little trouble. All this plus an highly extended Backlash table make Hucksters and Hexes a must for any Deadlands Marshal.

Marc