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otherdoc
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Joined: 29 Jun 2006
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Location: Charlotte, NC
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 Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:29 pm Post subject: Kansas City, MO |
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In one of my ongoing Deadlands campaigns, the posse is finishing up a security job for the Explorers' Society in Kansas City, Missouri and I'm trying to think of some other things to throw at them before they head back to their current home in Dodge.
Aside from the bits and pieces centering around the KC & LR in River o' Blood, has Kansas City been covered in any detail in any of the Deadlands books?
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Thunderforge
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robert4818
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Joined: 25 Jan 2009
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| Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:42 am Post subject: Re: Kansas City, MO |
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| otherdoc wrote: | In one of my ongoing Deadlands campaigns, the posse is finishing up a security job for the Explorers' Society in Kansas City, Missouri and I'm trying to think of some other things to throw at them before they head back to their current home in Dodge.
Aside from the bits and pieces centering around the KC & LR in River o' Blood, has Kansas City been covered in any detail in any of the Deadlands books? |
Here's a nice tidbit from history in the area. I grew up there.
About 40 miles north/North east of KC is a small town called Camden. Its in Ray County. During the Deadlands time frame, Camden sat at the tip of what was known as Camden Bend on the Missouri River. It was a bustling little town (around 1000 people) built on a steep hill that went down to the riverbank. The riverboats would come and stop frequently in this little town. It had its own post office, school, cemetary, even its own Masonic Lodge. The area near the riverbank was built up with brick buildings.
In the real world, one morning in April 1903, the river changed course. Camden bend was an Oxbow whose time had come. The river finally cut through the narrow strip of land separating the two halfs of the Oxbow. When this happened, camden Bend drained, and the people of the city woke up with the river simply having Disappeared from where it had normally been.
The concept of the river changing course has been something I've been toying with for a while, but have never been able to get the right story for it myself.
One Idea I had was having the Confederacy building a fort inside the oxbowed area, and a bridge over the narrow strip of land. They then use explosives to hasten the removal of the beend, and having the river run under their bridge, giving them a new fort and bridge into Yankee Territory in Missouri.
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Nordicnomad
Seasoned
Joined: 08 Jun 2012
Posts: 108
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 7:41 am Post subject: Re: Kansas City, MO |
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| otherdoc wrote: | In one of my ongoing Deadlands campaigns, the posse is finishing up a security job for the Explorers' Society in Kansas City, Missouri and I'm trying to think of some other things to throw at them before they head back to their current home in Dodge.
Aside from the bits and pieces centering around the KC & LR in River o' Blood, has Kansas City been covered in any detail in any of the Deadlands books? |
Couple more ideas from another native.
- Mormon Heaven is located in Independence Mo. It's the location where they say he is going to return to earth by falling out of the sky. They even built him a giant spire "slide", lovingly referred to by locals as the Jesus Slide. Somekind of Mormon plot to hasten the end to the world with the posse fighting monsters falling out of the sky might be pretty unique. The good news for the posse would be that it was still technically legal to kill a Mormon in Mo up until the 1970's.
- The largest earth quake ever witnessed by human kind took place in Mo in the 1880's or 90's. Called the New Madrid earthquake, if was so strong it caused the Mississippi river to run backwards and opened a huge rift in the middle of the state. I think having the posse fight off monsters crawling out of the ground in the aftermath of an earthquake would be pretty cool.
- The temperance movement that eventually led to prohibition started in Belton, Mo. Where ax wielding old women and other church folk would storm into bars all over town, smashing them up with axes, maiming sinners, and screaming scripture. It led to the creation of a speak easy culture in town that started long before and lasted long after it had subsided every where else. One of the by products of which was KC basically being run by organized crime for much of its mid early history. Which led to it being somethig of a las Vegas of its day, called the "Paris of the Plains". Gambling, music, food, shopping, and art were a big deal (a lot of it african american, which led to affluent italian and african american neighborhoods that you didn't see many other places). So any of your typical prohibition, mafia, or Las Vegas story elements can work in Kansas City a lot earlier that anywhere else.
- Where most of the city originally built up wasn't high on the river bluffs like today, but down in what are called "the bottoms" (East or West). After one particularly huge flooding that didn't retreat for weeks or months, the bottoms became a ghost town. Literally, nothing but old sprawling slaughter houses, abandoned buildings, stories of ghosts, and those who were to poor, stubborn, or insane to move to higher ground. Today even, there are some of the best professional haunted houses in the world huddled together in the west bottoms in gothic 7 and 8 story buildings. I'd say there's some potential adventures in there.
- The limestone bluffs that Kansas City is built on which I mentioned earlier have huge extensive natural cave systems. And due to all the natural caverns that form in that rock, how easy it is to dig, and the need to store things at an even temperature the caves have been dug out and connected with considerable industry. Of the roughly 4 million sqft of Warehouse space in this city today, at least half of it is underground. God knows what they might have uncovered down there and paid some well known adventurers to take care of. 
- One of my favorite weird things is a little church outside of Lawrence, KS that from what people recall has always been abandoned. And has earned a hell of a reputation for have a stair case in it that just goes down, and down, and down, etc. Kids and local amateurs brave enough to investigate it have never found the bottom of it before losing their nerve. It's however on a large private cattle farm, and the owners have never allowed formal investigations or visits. Might be a fun thing to run into on the way back out to dodge on horse back, or have the train break down right next to it. |
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otherdoc
Seasoned
Joined: 29 Jun 2006
Posts: 256
Location: Charlotte, NC
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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This is great stuff - I'd gone hunting for urban legends on the web but couldn't find any old enough. This should help out a great deal. 
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My Blog: Jim - Yes, THAT Jim
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otherdoc
Seasoned
Joined: 29 Jun 2006
Posts: 256
Location: Charlotte, NC
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| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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Just wanted to let you know the info you folks provided really helped.
The posse was chasing a pair of twin sisters who'd stolen the body of a chupakabara from the Explorers' Society. They found them hiding out in the Kansas City Bottoms in an abandoned hotel that was still being managed by the ghost of its deceased owner. He didn't give them any trouble because they went ahead and signed in as visitors, but because they were kind to him, he left out a food tray whose contents included some silverwear. Which turned out to be quite handy when they confronted the sisters and one of them turned into a werewolf.
So, thanks again! Otherwise I wouldn't have had a nice, creepy location with an increased Fear level for the fight to take place. 
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My Blog: Jim - Yes, THAT Jim
My Setting Creation Podcast: Crucible of Realms
My RPG Podcast: The Great Debate!
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Nordicnomad
Seasoned
Joined: 08 Jun 2012
Posts: 108
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:27 pm Post subject: |
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| otherdoc wrote: | Just wanted to let you know the info you folks provided really helped.
The posse was chasing a pair of twin sisters who'd stolen the body of a chupakabara from the Explorers' Society. They found them hiding out in the Kansas City Bottoms in an abandoned hotel that was still being managed by the ghost of its deceased owner. He didn't give them any trouble because they went ahead and signed in as visitors, but because they were kind to him, he left out a food tray whose contents included some silverwear. Which turned out to be quite handy when they confronted the sisters and one of them turned into a werewolf.
So, thanks again! Otherwise I wouldn't have had a nice, creepy location with an increased Fear level for the fight to take place. |
Awesome, glad it helped! |
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