Deadlands Skills, Feats, Levels and Other Memories

Initially, the characters will have no memory of anything at all except for motor and vocal skills, but in one language (English) only. This includes knowledge of skills. This document describes the way that the parties knowledge will be returned to them.
There are 5 types of knowledge that will be considered here.

Skills

These are recovered by "Recollection". This requires a "Need" and a "Trigger". The Need is some reason that the character requires the information. The greater the need, the easier the roll to remember. The Trigger is something that reminds the character of something needed to help out. In game mechanics, here's how it should work.
DM Determines a "Need" - A situation arises where the skill would benefit the party.
DM declares the "Trigger" This has no effect on the outcome of the event, but is required to maintain the illusion that these memories are arising from something inside, not just the DM messing with them. The trigger could be something obvious like seeing a tool used on the skill or extremely obscure like a dust pattern that is suggestive. Remember, this is COLOR and the main thing is to be interesting.
DM Determins the degree of the need. This will result in a die modifier to the skill aqusition roll.
Dire: +4
Critical +3
Significant +2
Importanty +1
DM determines the characters skill level. Look this up on the character sheet.
Player rolls a d20 and tells the DM what the roll was.
DM adds the roll to the Degree of need modifier and the character's skill level.
The DC of this roll is 25. If the character succeeds, the skill and full skill levels is told to the character who writes this down on their sheet.
Character rolls against the skill score to determine the success of the skill use.
Example: Sally is badly wounded in a gun battle; her bleeding body lies on the ground at the feet of Rex Victor. A need is determined for the Heal skill. The DM says, "You look at the person dying at your feet and notice the way the breeze blows the fabric of her blouse over the wound. You wonder if there is anything you could do. Roll a d20" , the trigger is seen. The DM determines the need is significant (Sally still has 20HP left so her life is not in immediate danger) giving Rex a +2. The skill level is 19. Rex rolls a 4. With the modifier for the need, Rex just makes the roll and is intitled to make a skill roll.
All characters roll for the same skill. Other characters will this skill will be reminded if the initial character is successful in recollecting the skill. It will be harder for them to recover it however. All characters will roll d20 immediatly after the effect of skill use is determned. This will seek to "hide" which of the characters actually possess the skill. Add the roll to the skill level of the character to the roll. If the DC 25 is made, that character also recollects how to use the skill and is given the skill level to write on their character sheet. Only those who succeed are told anything; failures are hidden.
Rerolling - "So, the characters only get one chance to roll for their skills? That Sucks!" Let them beleve it! They should discover the information below by experimentation.
There is another way the characters can regain their skills. If the character(s) who succeeded in their skill recollection roll make a conshious effort to teach the skill to the others, the others may make another roll. However, this can only happen once per day. To make it more clear: One skill per group, per day. The DC to remember remains 25 modified by skill level.
Feats
In a way, feats are more easily regained than skills in that there is no roll involved. The rule is "If the Feat is needed by a character, and it can be used at the level of the character, it is made available at the instant it is needed and not before". The regaining of feats should be woven into the adventure itself, although random encounters may also trigger regaining a feat. Simlilar to skill reclamation, regaining a feat requires a need and a trigger. The need should be more than a "nice to have sort of thing", but something important. In this case, the same need and trigger could be sufficient for a number of characters to regain a specific feat. Also, more than one character may regain the feat during the same event. However, only one feat may be granted to a specific character for a single encounter.
Example: The party is walking down a dark alley on a moonless night. Suddenly they hear a voice from the other end of the alleys say "you bluecoats are all the same. Always ignorant of their surrounding" and then the gunshots begin to ring out. The DM says "you are under attack in darkness. Zoe, Kid and Des know instinctivly to rely on senses other than sight and use the sound of their attackers feet and the sound of the shots to direct their attacks. They all now may write that they have the blind-fight feat".
Feats can only be reclaimed in cascading order. A single reclamation does not indicate that the other feats in the cascade are also obtained. Other that this, prerequesits of the feat may be ignored.
This puts rather a burden on the DM. He must know the Feats available in the party and be ready to grant them at any time. For planned adventurers, this has to be considered and woven into the encounter.
Levels
Levels are handled in a different way than normal. They are not used to determine skill, feat, HP or attribute additions. They are used to determine BAB, saves and the rest. Going up a level is determned not by EXP, but by the result of specific encoutners. Random encounters will not be used to determine level increases; only planned encouters will increase levels. As most of the characters are 10th level, this means that there should be at least 10 planned encoutners before the end of the adventure. As usual, the first encounters will be relativly easy. For instance the encounter with the indians in the desert will be overcome if the players simply be respectful and ask for help. Each of the subsequent encounters will of course become more difficult.
Character Information - New Character
The memories of the original characters lives are still floating around in the brains of the players. Use the character previous life biography to make up events from their past. They will come out mostly in dreams. This is just a way for the DM to improve the strangness factor for the players and increase the horror of their situation. Try to limit this to one or two characters a game so as not to slow the adventure down. Do it on a rotating basis, but feel free to use events in the game to trigger dreams even if it is out of turn. Be creative! Freak them out! Make them unsure and increase the feeling of unreality.
Character Information - Old Character
The most obvious tie to the old characters is their image in a mirror. Remember, anytime they look in a mirror, they alone see their original characters image. Only high level characters with specific special abilities will be able to see the same thing. Other player characters do not see the orignal images for the other characters unless they also have special abilites.
In additon, waking dreams will occur on an irregular basis. These will mostly be memories of past grand events and will occur at times when the players need encouragement. If they occur at a moment when they are engaged incombat, they will not affect the characters actions in any way. If they occur during momets of calm reflection, the eyes of the charracter will glaze over for minutes at a time as an event from their old life replays in their minds.

Character Name
 Characters with the listed skills
Appraise
Balance
Bluff
Climb
Concentration
Craft
Decipher Script
Demolitions
Diplomacy
Disable Device
Disguise
Driving
Escape Artist
Forgery
Gambling
Gather Information
Gunplay
Handle Animal
Heal
Hexslinging
Hide
Holdout
Intimidate
Jump
Knowledge
Listen
Move Silently
Open Lock
Perform
Profession
Ride
Ridicule
Search
Sense Motive
Sleight of Hand
Speak Language
Speed Load
Spellcraft
Spot
Survival
Swim
Tale Telling
Tinkering
Tumble
Use Magic Device
Use Rope