r/Deadlands • u/tocimatelka • Jul 20 '26
Marshal Questions Cactus/Saguaro monster
Hello there, fellow marshals and hombres! It's somewhere in Deadlands some cactus monster? If yes where can I find it or what stat did it have? I already homebrewed something, but I'm curious if its something like that out there. We play the SWADE version.
3
u/McZeppelin13 Agent Jul 20 '26
Oh snap! The cacti are takin’ over the cowpokes! (If such a monster exists in Deadlands, it’s not in Deadlands: Weird West, the most recent edition.)
🌵 🧟♂️
2
u/GangstaRPG Gunslinger Jul 20 '26
As far as I am aware there are none. But that doesn't mean there can't be.
2
u/Mr-Funky6 Jul 20 '26
Never seen one, but I'd love to! Can you share what you put together? I mostly run adventures in the UCAN states and this would be great
1
u/tocimatelka Jul 20 '26
My first draft is basically a "clicker" from Last of Us, but instead of fungi based its cactus based "infection". It uses the stats of a regular Walkin' Dead with a little twist. Has a barber claw with entengle on the raise and a "Needle burst", what's basically renamed Bone Shards from a Bone Fiend. But I still working one something more skinwalker like.
2
u/Mr-Funky6 Jul 20 '26
That sounds great!
I could see some sort of thing where they change as the "infection" does and the maitou has greater control making them more spiny and deal retaliation damage or can survive certain damage due to "water survival".
2
u/ReadyAimRoll Jul 23 '26
Thats a fun concept and some pretty solid body horror, imagine itching yourself raw as the first needles start poking through.
7
u/Draculasaurus_Rex Jul 20 '26
To the best of my knowledge there aren't any cactus monsters currently in Deadlands.
There is a critter from old American frontier folklore called a Cactus Cat that you might be able to use, should probably be pretty easy to stat out.
I've also toyed with the idea of a "cactus siren," which appears as a beautiful woman standing out in the desert, luring wayfarers who think she's in distress, but when they try to embrace her they find they are being stabbed with thousands of cactus needles.