Deadlands is retconning the Confederacy away. They lost the war, no longer playable.

[macd21]

If it helps... in the original setting, they were kind of screwed...

It doesn’t.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I’m honestly more interested in Deadlands now than I was before. But, that is the fault of a GM several years ago, by the sound of it, who liked the whole Confederacy still being around thing a bit too much.

 

[Retreater]

Deadlands is a Savage Setting I've never gotten into, or even been curious about.
That said, if I were running Deadlands (or any other Western-themed game), I would expect the CSA to be in the backstory. Not necessarily that it survived in an alternate history way.
I think this is the idea of what they're changing with this revision. I'm okay with it.
I live in a battleground state that was a part of the Union that has shifted to Confederate sympathy since the 20th Century, largely through efforts of groups like the Daughters of the Confederacy. We have a Confederate statue outside our Courthouse to commemorate - when the Confederacy destroyed our previous courthouse.
For me, the alternate history of the CSA lasting beyond its time is a tired trope. And for those of us living in these areas, that "alternate" history is published in text books, displayed in bronze on courthouse lawns, and waved on flags in yards.

 

[dragoner]

I played in a Deadlands game in the mid-90's, the GM lifted the setting from Tex-Arcana (Tex Arcana - Wikipedia) and Blood Meridian (Blood Meridian - Wikipedia); I don't think he included the part of the South winning, there were ex-Confederates, but it wasn't a big part of the game, just chrome like Jesse James stuff. That said, we also didn't include any overt racism or sexism, not as main themes. I think dropping the whole Confederacy wins thing is actually better for the setting in general. One gets more drama out of the defeated.

 

[Undrave]

I’m honestly more interested in Deadlands now than I was before. But, that is the fault of a GM several years ago, by the sound of it, who liked the whole Confederacy still being around thing a bit too much.

Yikes.

Deadlands is a Savage Setting I've never gotten into, or even been curious about.
That said, if I were running Deadlands (or any other Western-themed game), I would expect the CSA to be in the backstory. Not necessarily that it survived in an alternate history way.
I think this is the idea of what they're changing with this revision. I'm okay with it.
I live in a battleground state that was a part of the Union that has shifted to Confederate sympathy since the 20th Century, largely through efforts of groups like the Daughters of the Confederacy. We have a Confederate statue outside our Courthouse to commemorate - when the Confederacy destroyed our previous courthouse.
For me, the alternate history of the CSA lasting beyond its time is a tired trope. And for those of us living in these areas, that "alternate" history is published in text books, displayed in bronze on courthouse lawns, and waved on flags in yards.

They say the South lost the War, but won the Peace...

 

[Umbran]

Please note: This thread should steer away from discussion of real-world political situations or movements. That's outside our scope, folks.

 

[Undrave]

So steering it back to Deadland...

How heavy is the Savage Worlds system? Any people have experience with it and Deadland? I'm curious what the basic mechanics are like?

 

[Retreater]

So steering it back to Deadland...

How heavy is the system? Any people have experience with it? I'm curious what the basic mechanics are like?

Are you asking about Savage Worlds, in general? I can speak to that, but not to the Deadlands setting.

 

[Undrave]

Are you asking about Savage Worlds, in general? I can speak to that, but not to the Deadlands setting.

Oh right... yes.

 

[GrahamWills]

The base game is set west of most of the combat of the war that happened in the real world. It is extremely easy to play the game leaving most of the racism, sexism, and bigotry behind, and cause no real cognitive dissonance.

Having read Shane's detailed comments, I completely understand why they did this. It's too easy for people with a strong real-world attachment to issues the CSA stood for to project them into the game, making games unfriendly to a large group of people. Even if it's only a small fraction of your customers, it's not a good look and it's a sensible decision to stop giving people that opportunity.

Having said that, I agree with Umbran -- it's extremely easy to play without those issues surfacing. I'm actually in the middle of running a Classic Deadlands campaign right now. My PCs are a mix (as always!) but do include two southern players who are both very happy playing Texas Rangers. No slavery or racism issues have been in our campaign -- which has mostly been using published material, adapted by me -- and that feels like the default tone of the campaign. It's a game that is clearly about ridin', shootin' and getting rid of bad thangs that threaten civilization. To bring in racial justice issues in any sense would feel like a big switch in genre. Deadlands has never taken itself very seriously (last night they fought a giant spider -- a "terrantula"), not a way to explore important issues.

Now, I fully understand that this POV could feel like I'm implicitly supporting a system of thought that oppressed many and still causes pain to many today. I'm not a fan of the "this is just good, clean harmless fun in an imaginary world" self-absolution claim, so I understand if you feel I'm starting into that and of apologetics. For the group I am in, and the style of play we are running, I don't feel I am, but, yeah, maybe I'm wrong. And if I were starting a new campaign, I'd probably go for the ret-con version.