This list is by no means all-encompassing. If you’ve an idea for a role that isn’t listed here, feel free to roleplay it out. Just keep in mind that your character has to be historically appropriate and typical for the settings.
There is no need to go through an application process for these roles, just come in and roleplay them out! If your role involves working for someone else, i.e. saloon girl, please seek out your future employer before starting your work.
Base character types
- Prospector/miner (lots of men and women came out to stake their claims)
- Cavalry based in Fort Laramie
Have a talent for entertainment?
- Actor/actress, Traveling Performer (There is a theatre in Deadwood)
- Prostitutes/whores (usually abused women forced into slavery in Deadwood by the brothel owners)
Proud to be a working professional?
- Newspaper writers
- US Govt Geologist
- US Govt Surveyor
- Business owner (run a mercantile, gun shop, meat shop, any kind of goods)
- Telegraph operator
- Laundry operator
- Bathhouse worker
- Meat butcher
- Opium/heroin trader
- School Teachers
- Bankers
- Doctor’s staff
- Photographer, Artist
- Livery hands
Like to play the gunslinging type?
- Bounty Hunter (lots of criminals came to Deadwood running from the law a breeding ground for good bounties)
- Gunman/woman (traveling folks that ply their trade as enforcers, relying on thier reputations and thier guns)
- Con Artists, Carpet Baggers, Thieves, Highwaymen, Card Sharps, Swindlers, and the like, both women and men, in some cases women and children using their assumed innocence to rob and murder)
- Business Enforcer (Hired men in Deadwood used to enforce business rights, assasinate competition or to persuade interests)
- Hired men and women for big mining interests (seeking to buy or steal miners out of their claims)
On the side of the law?
- Deputy (apply with the sheriff)
- Lawyer
- Town Council member (this is an elected position)
Prefer to be a drifter?
- Gambler
- Frontiersman/Trapper plying their trade in the rough mountains
- Rich Victorian tourist (wealthy men and women seeking a thrill in a dangerous mining camp often murdered for their valuables, or cheated out of money in fake claims)
- Orphan (children left behind while their parents ply the gold fields or are killed for their claims)
- Lakota Sioux (Remember though that, historically, Sioux natives were considered hostile and hunted actively in and around the town of Deadwood. To enter Deadwood, your character would dress like a “white man” so as not to get killed. In Fort Laramie and the Indian camps, you won’t need to do so.)
PROHIBITED ROLES
The following roles are not permitted in Deadwood.
- Lawmen and political figures higher than the local law
- Historical figures (ex. Doc Holliday, Wild Bill Hickok)
- Extremely wealthy or powerful characters
These characters upset the balance of the roleplay in town and hold too much influence on other people’s personal stories. The admins may bring in Non-Player Characters (NPC) of this nature only for special occasions and to advance the historical mythology of the sim.
Also not permitted are:
- Animals
- Child avatars younger than 7 years old