Tricks are a less powerful version of a hex. If you just want to channel a little power from the Hunting Grounds you don't need a powerful manitou to get the desired effect. A trick is a low-powered hex using the smaller denizens of the Hunting Grounds as it's power source.
To purchse one the huckster/hexslinger/thaumaturgist simply needs to spend two nights studying Hoyle's Book and spends 2 bounty. The Trick is then learned and mastered. Unlike hexes there are no power levels to tricks and they are not treated as a separate aptitude. To cast them you roll the associated trait dice against a TN of 5 and pull a card from the hex deck for every success and raise. If the huckster pulls but one red card the trick has worked. No need to consult tables of Poker Hands, a red card works the hex just fine. A black joker, however, causes backlash as normal!
For more information on tricks see Hucksters & Hexes which also contains a list of about 30 new tricks. The Thaumaturgy handbook in the City O' Gloom boxed set also contains a few new tricks specially for thaumaturgists.
All the following tricks have a Speed of 1 and may be learned by hucksters, hexslingers or thaumaturgists equally, although some suit certain huckster types better than others.
If an attempt to cast a trick fails (ie the draw cards are all black or a TN of 5 is not met) the huckster loses 2 points of wind.
Trait:Knowledge
Duartion:1 round/knowlegde co-ordination
Range:Touch
Description
By clasping a bullet in her fist a huckster can magically increase it's damage potential by casting this trick on it. When loaded into her gun and fired the bullet will cause an extra dice of damage if she hits her target. She'd better be quick loading the bullet up because the extra dice damage is lost when the trick ends!
Taken from the listserve and created by "Drea O'Dare"
Trait:Cognition
Duration:1 round
Range:Self
Description
With this trick, the huckster can make his eyes glow any colour he chooses, adding +5 to his Overawe rolls that involve eye contact. Any enhancements from The Stare and other edges still apply, but any hindrances (such as having only one eye) are negated for the round. This trick doesn't allow a huckster to see any better, in fact he is blinded for the duration of the hex and suffers from Bad Eyes(-3) for the following round after the trick ends, but the glowing of his eyes sure is noticeable!
Trait:Spirit
Duration:5 minutes
Range:Self
Description
By casting this trick on himself the huckster can write with his own blood! All he needs do is prick the end of his finger until a spot of blood appears and he then has a "pen" with which to write. This does not use up the Hucksters own blood, the trick just turns the spot of blood into a red ink supply which dries a dull, rusty brown. The huckster's finger-pen runs out of "ink" when the trick ends.
Trait:Smarts
Duration:1 Round/Smarts Co-ordination
Range:self
Description
If the huckster needs an extra boost when making a jump she can rely on this trick to give her just that! While the trick is active the huckster may add 1 yard (3 feet) to her maximum jumping distance. Useful if you're not sure if you can make that gap between those two rooftops!
For some rough guidlines on roof-top antics see my section on Jumping
Trait:Smarts
Duration:1 hour
Range:Self
Description
Ever found yourself hot under the collar after a spell in Death Valley? Not with this Trick! When succesfully cast the huckster feels heat from the sun as if it were 20 degrees(C) cooler. He does not sweat, go bright red, or begin to pant like a dog unless it's really hot. Note that the huckster only feels cooler. He simply appears to be having an easier time dealing with the heat, but his skin will burn in the sun just as fast as any other cowpoke's and he still needs watering on a regular basis else he'll get heatstroke and all the other badness associated with hot climates. The absence of sweating does mean that he loses less liquid from his body and as a conseqence needs a pint less liquid per day in hot conditions.
Trait:Smarts
Duration:Instant
Range:Self
Description
If this trick is cast just before drawing a bead on a target the Huckster may draw an extra bead over his maximum (usually 3) to give his shot that extra bit of accuracy. A huckster can draw a maximum of 4 beads with this trick to give +8 to hit. Useful for hucksters who plan to save their friends from a hangin' by shooting through the rope! The effects of this trick are lost if the huckster does not start drawing a bead immediately after casting
Trait:Knowledge
Duration:Instant
Range:Touch
Description
If a huckster needs to dry her clothes in a hurry she can do so with this trick. Dry will remove a pint of moisture from any material the huckster holds in her hands, turning it into mist (though not enough to cause any vision based problems!). This trick only affects clothes, sponges, and other porous, non-living items.
Trait:Smarts
Duration:1 round/smarts co-ordination
Range:5 yards
Description
If a huckster knows a companion, or herself, is about to be shot she can lessen the severity of the next bullet fired from an opponent's gun by casting this trick on the weapon. The next shot fired has one die taken from it's damage. A 3d6 damage peacemaker bullet becomes 2d6, a 4d8 rifle bullet causes 3d8 damage and so on. This trick ends when the weapon targetted next fires or the duration expires.
Trait:Spirit
Duration:1 minute/spirit co-ordination
Range:Touch
Description
With this trick the huckster's skin takes on the qualities of tough leather when resisting damage. The huckster may subtract 2 points from all damage rolled against him in combat as if he had 2 points of light protection (not 2 ponts of actual armour). A peacemaker bullet would cause 3d6-2 damage for example. Whilst the trick is active the huckster's skin takes on a leathery and worn look, as if he's spent a lot of time out in the sun.
Trait:Spirit
Duration:Permanent
Range:Touch
Description
Just the trick to keep prying fingers out of a huckster's belongings! When this trick is cast on a locking mechanism it magically re-enforces the effectiveness, adding +5 to any TN's to Lockpick this lock. The trick ends if the lock is undone (ie someone manages to lockpick the devive or it is opened by a key)
Trait:Knowledge
Duration:1 round/knowledge co-ordination
Range:Touch
Description
By holding a regular playing card in her hand a huckster can turn the face of it into a reflective surface by casting this trick. Useful if you need to apply makeup in a hurry, or to look around corners, when hunting out certain Vampires etc...
Trait:Cognition
Duration:Instant
Range:Touch
Description
By casting this trick on a gizmo, or other item with a reliability value, the huckster can determine it's exact reliability and then decide whether or not he's going to use that flamethrower or not! This trick will not tell a huckster whether an item is infected with Gremlins but if one day the reliabilty of a device is 19 and the next it is 18 he knows he's got problems!
Trait:Spirit
Duartion:24 hours
Range:Touch
Description
When this trick is cast the huckster places a small magical seal on an object. Only the huckster can see this seal and if the seal is broken it disappears. This trick can be used on doors, envelopes, closets, pockets and any other items that require opening. The trick is useful when a huckster wants to know whether someone has been in his room, looked through his mail or tampered with his belongings. The huckster may only cast a number of Seals equal to his Spirit co-ordination at any one time.
Trait:Spirit
Duration:1 minute
Range:Touch
Description
By casting this trick and running her finger gently down the length of a blade a huckster can magically sharpen an edged weapon to make it slightly more effective. If a hit is scored in combat with the Sharpened weapon add +1 to the damage. for example, a Bowie Knife would cause STR+1d6+1 damage whilst affected by this trick.
Trait:Smarts
Duration:1 Round/smarts co-ordination
Range:Touch
Description
By touching his weapon (ahem) and casting this trick a hexslinger can change his pistol from a Double Action pistol to a Single Action pistol, meaning it can be fanned as per the fannin' rules (personally I let the posse use Gunplay in place of Fannin'). The shooter now has a speed of 2, rather than 1, and needs to be cocked before firing. This trick can also be cast on an opponent's weapon, if the hexslinger is able to touch it. The firer will no doubt be unaware that he now has to cock the weapon before firing, causing him no end of problems! This trick cannot turn a Single Action weapon into a Double Action weapon.
Trait:Smarts
Duration:1 minute
Range:Touch
Description
If you're short of money this trick might help you out. Casting this trick turns an ordinary dime (10 cents to us ferner's!) into a dollar, a dollar coin that is. The dime does not actually transform in the physical sense, rather it just has the illusion of being a dollar and changes back after the trick ends. The dime becomes a perfect fake, even seeming to weigh the same as a dollar and being the correct size too. Anyone examining the coin, however, and passing a Scrutinize(7) test will see through the illusion, and the dime will return to normal.
Trait:Smarts
Duration:1d8 hours
Range:Self
Description
Need help sleeping on rough ground? This trick will help those hucksters who have difficulty sleeping by knocking themselves out for 1d8 hours. Any huckster who casts this trick on themselves will immediately fall into a deep sleep for the allotted time as if they were a heavy sleeper and can only be woken by vigorous shaking or noises like a gunshot in the same room. Those who already have the heavy sleeper hindrance fall into a near coma! This trick will not benefit those hucksters who have night terrors.
Trait:Smarts
Duration:1 round/smarts co-ordination
Range:Self
Description
Whilst this trick is active a huckster can really pick up the pace when running. For the duration of the trick the huckster's pick up die is 1d6 as opposed to 1d4 when picking up the pace, draining 1 point of wind per roll as usual.
Trait:Knowledge
Duration:1 round/knowledge co-ordination
Range:Touch
Description
With this neat trick a huckster can temporarily increase the quality of her, or a companions, firearms. This trick is typically cast on pistols to make them operate more smoothly and has one of the following effects:
Casting this trick on a gun that is already of quality gives it either a set trigger or a hair trigger, the casters choice.
Note - Casting this trick on a gizmo, or a pistol that will not fire has absolutely no effect.
Trait:Spirit
Duration:1 minute/spirit co-ordination
Range:Slef/Touch
Description
This trick causes the huckster's hands to warm up until they are nearly hot to the touch. This is useful if the huckster is in a cold climate and his pinkies are too cold to fire a pistol properly, or perhaps he needs to melt some ice quickly, or maybe the huckster simply needs a quick source of heat for some reason.
Trait:Cognition
Duration:Concentration or 1 wind/round
Range:5 yards
Description
Being able to change one's appearance is all very well but what about when it comes to disguising your voice? With this trick the huckster may opt to target himself or another person within range. The voice box of the target of this trick is either tightened or slackned a little to create a higher or lower pitched voice, which sounds nothing like their usual self when they speak! If the huckster wants to simulate a specific person's voice he'll have to experiment a little (and will obviously have to know what the voice is supposed to sound like in the first place). The huckster must make a Cognition (11) roll to successfully do this on one casting, otherwise he must cast the trick a number of times equal to the difference in his roll and the TN. A huckster who rolls an 8 on his Cognition will have to cast the trick three times before he gets the voice right.
Trait:Spirit
Duration:Instant
Range:Touch
Description
Zap! is sometimes used by those hucksters teaching a new apprentice the ways of Hoyle to give them a little "encouragement". The huckster builds up a small charge of energy from the hunting grounds into his fingertips and can release it into a target by touching their exposed skin. This gives the poor fellow a small shock of pain causing them 1 wind in damage. The Zap! is roughly equivilent to being stung by a wasp but the pain completely fades after 30 seconds or so.