DEAD MAN'S HAND

A Western Bounty Hunting Game for the Poker Run Engine™

One Deck. Endless Expeditions.

THE FRONTIER DOESN'T CARE IF YOU LIVE.

The wanted posters are going up.

Outlaws are hiding in the badlands. Sheriffs need help. Informants know too much. Rival hunters are riding the same trails.

And somewhere beyond the dust and blood is a bounty big enough to change everything.

You're a bounty hunter.

Track them.

Hunt them.

Bring them in.

Get paid.

Then do it all again.

DEAD MAN'S HAND

Dead Man's Hand is a solo Western bounty-hunting overlay for the Poker Run Engine™.

You don't need a special dice system.

You don't need a stack of complicated tables.

You need one deck of playing cards, your hunter, and a willingness to ride into trouble.

The poker hand determines what happens.

You decide what it means.

A bad hand might mean an ambush in a canyon.

A strong hand might mean you've cornered the outlaw you've been tracking for days.

A face card might introduce someone who changes the entire expedition.

The cards stay the same.

The frontier doesn't.

RIDE THE BOUNTY TRAIL

Your campaign takes you through four increasingly dangerous zones:

I — THE SETTLEMENT

Your last taste of civilization.

Find warrants. Buy gear. Gather information. Make deals.

Everyone has a price.

II — THE OPEN TRAIL

Dust, distance and open country.

The further you ride, the harder it becomes to turn back.

III — THE BADLANDS

Canyons, ghost towns and men who don't want to be found.

The land itself becomes your enemy.

IV — THE HIDEOUT

The end of the trail.

The biggest targets.

The biggest rewards.

And the biggest chance that you won't ride home.

FOUR SUITS. FOUR SIDES OF THE FRONTIER.

Every suit tells a different kind of Western story.

♠ SPADES — OUTLAWS & DANGER

Gunfighters. Ambushes. Renegades. Gang members. Trouble.

♥ HEARTS — PEOPLE & DEALS

Sheriffs. Informants. Bartenders. Rival hunters. Allies.

♦ DIAMONDS — REWARDS & LOOT

Bounties. Gold. Gear. Horses. Hidden caches.

♣ CLUBS — THE LAND

Dusty trails. Rivers. Canyons. Ghost towns. Badlands.

Your poker hand determines the outcome.

The suit determines the story.

WATCH THE FACE CARDS

The frontier has people who can change everything.

JACK — THE CONTACT

A bartender.

A telegraph clerk.

An informant.

Someone who knows where your target is hiding.

They'll help.

For a price.

QUEEN — THE TEMPORARY ALLY

A sharpshooter.

A tracker.

A reformed outlaw.

Someone with a score to settle.

They ride with you for a while.

Make the most of it.

KING — ESCALATION

Something has gone very wrong.

A rival hunter arrives.

A gang starts hunting you.

A bounty gets placed on your head.

The law decides you're becoming a problem.

Every King raises the stakes.

BUILD YOUR REPUTATION

You're not just hunting bounties.

You're building a name.

Start as an Unknown.

Become Known.

Become Notorious.

Become Legendary.

Every 5 Reputation moves you up another tier.

And every tier opens another piece of the frontier.

But fame has a price.

Because eventually...

everyone knows your name.

And that's when the tables turn.

BUILD YOUR POSSE

You don't have to ride alone.

Your Posse unlocks specialists who can change the way you approach an expedition.

WRANGLER Keep your composure when things go wrong.

SAWBONES Patch you up when the trail gets bloody.

TRACKER Find the trail when everyone else has lost it.

SCOUT See trouble before trouble sees you.

HAGGLER Get a better deal when money changes hands.

GUNSLINGER When the shooting starts, make sure you're the one standing.

Your Posse isn't permanent power.

Lose people and their benefits disappear.

Recruit more help and they return.

Keep your people alive.

THE HIGH BOUNTY

Every campaign has a name.

A legendary outlaw.

A corrupt railroad baron.

A former partner.

The leader of the gang that's been bleeding the territory dry.

You've been hearing whispers about them since the beginning.

Now the trail is finally coming together.

Three warrants.

Two pieces of intelligence.

One legendary name.

The High Bounty is waiting.

But reaching the target doesn't mean you're ready to face them.

AND THEN...

Your Reputation reaches Notorious.

Or you've uncovered enough of the truth.

Word spreads.

People start talking about you.

Safe towns become less safe.

Kings become more dangerous.

Your enemies realize there's a bounty worth putting on your head.

The hunter becomes the hunted.

THE TABLES TURN.

And the rest of the campaign is played with a target on your back.

RUNS ARE DISPOSABLE.

You will lose.

You will make bad calls.

You will push your luck one card too far.

You will ride into an ambush with barely enough Grit to survive.

You will meet someone who could have changed everything...

...if only you had been able to afford their price.

That's okay.

Runs are disposable. Campaigns matter.

Every expedition is another story.

Every bounty changes the next ride.

Every decision builds your legend.

ONE DECK. UNLIMITED EXPEDITIONS.

Dead Man's Hand is built on the philosophy of the Poker Run Engine™:

Change the vocabulary, not the rules.

The poker hands don't change.

The core engine doesn't change.

Only the world around them does.

A Strong Success isn't just a number.

Here, it might mean putting a wanted outlaw in the dirt.

A Jack isn't simply an event.

It's the informant who knows exactly where your target is hiding.

A King isn't just escalation.

It's the moment you realize there's now a price on your own head.

The cards tell you what happens.

You tell the story.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

Dead Man's Hand — Version 1.0

• 🤠 Complete Western Bounty Hunting overlay
• ♠ Four Western suit categories
• 🃏 Jack, Queen & King event framework
• 🐎 Four campaign zones
• ⭐ Reputation progression
• 👥 Six Posse Specialists
• 💰 Bounty economy
• 🔎 Three Discovery Tracks
• 🔫 Decision-focused upgrades
• ☠️ Campaign Twist: The Tables Turn
• 🎯 Final Confrontation: The High Bounty
• ♣ Solo-friendly rules designed for the Poker Run Engine™

READY TO RIDE?

Shuffle the deck.

Pick a warrant.

Mount up.

The frontier is waiting.

And somebody out there has a price on their head.

DEAD MAN'S HAND

A Poker Run Engine™ Game

One Deck. Endless Settings.

Dead Man's Hand is an overlay for the Poker Run Engine™. The Poker Run Engine provides the core resolution system; Dead Man's Hand transforms it into a Western bounty-hunting campaign.