Recovery of Attributes

[Coleslaw]

Hello, I finally had a chance to play Dust Devils with some friends after purchasing it decades ago.  It took a while to get my friends to try a new game, but when the player suppose to run the regular game failed to show I pulled out my guns ready to play!  We all had a very good time, to say the least.  The game was fast paced, colorful, and funny with players trying to use "western" slang.  If I get some time I'll try to post the session.

It didn't take long to get into the groove of things; however, there was one aspect of the rules we couldn't quite grasp--Revovery of Attributes during the gaming session.

Here is my question(s):  Do only NPCs with an appropriate Knack aid characters in the recovery of attributes?  Does this mean that a character cannot use one of his/her own Knacks to aid in recovery?  For example, a character that has had his feelings badly hurt after Red Sally rejects his plead for help in an upcoming robbery (which resulted in a lose of Heart) attempts to bring his spirits (Heart) up again through some successful hands of poker (using his gamblin' Knack).

If players cannot do this, then must the Dealer play against the NPC himself with his own Dealer's hand?  In otherwords, does the dealer play a hand of cards by himself to resolve the conflict?  That is, a hand of cards for the NPC with the Knack and a hand of cards for himself?  Also, is the NPC with the Knack dealt a base hand of five cards?

Lastly, the text states that characters at zero in any attribute do not recover.  Does this include aid by others or does it simply mean they don't recover at the beginning of a session OR does it mean they never recover under any circumstance?

I'm sorry if this is obvious to others.  Thanks for your time and help, and thanks for a great game.

Phillip

[Matt Snyder]

In all cases of recovery, the Dealer deals himself a 3, 5, or 7 card stud hand to compete against the character doing the recovery (i.e., the character using a Knack to recover another character, or his own, attribute points). This may mean the Dealer plays against himself of an NPC is doing the recovery. However, I recommend another player (anyone, including the player with the injured character) temporarily play the NPC to make it easier. The NPC is dealt a normal hand. He/she receives a number of cards equal to any two characteristics (Hand + Heart, for example), plus draw-backs for the Knack being used, plus any other bonuses for Traits, etc.

Characters with zero attributes DO NOT recover EVER. The Devil number supplants this attribute.

Hope that helps! Glad to hear you had fun with the game.

[Coleslaw]

I understand now.  Thanks for the quick reply.

Phillip