TEXT: ♠♥
  ♣♦
  At the Mudbucket Saloon the whiskey tastes like kerosene 
  and the girls do, too, but it’s the only place in the world 
  you can play a game of Texas Hold Up. 
  Each player in Texas Hold Up takes on the role of a 
  super-powered villain in the Old West. The game is 
  played following the rules of Texas Hold ‘Em poker, but 
  an extra deck of cards is used to represent the villains’ 
  powers, which they can use to influence the cards on the 
  table and the narrative of the game. Each hand of poker is 
  a single heist, where the villains compete to see who can 
  defeat the good-guys and get away with the loot. Suits in 
  the powers deck represent different applications of power: 
  destroying your environment, damaging your opponents, 
  perceiving the hidden factors at play, or deceiving others. 
  Each of these influences the poker hand in different ways. 
  Every villain has different aptitudes for the various 
  applications of power, allowing him to be more effective 
  at some of these tasks than others. Everyone wants the 
  same thing, though: to win the hand and make off with 
  the loot from the heist. 
   
  They call me Doc Nobody, because you’ll be nobody by 
  the time I’m through with you. 
  Creating a villain to play is a simple affair. First, 
  choose your powerset. You might exert control over the 
  element of fire, summon demons from another dimension, 
  or rely entirely upon your finely honed instinct; your 
  powerset does not affect the mechanics of the game, but it 
  is incredibly important for fleshing out who your villain 
  is, and describing how your powers impact the world. 
  Once you have determined what your powers are, you 
  must next determine how you use them in each of four 
  applications: destroying the surrounding environment, 
  damaging fellow villains or heroes, perceiving things that 
  others would prefer to keep hidden, and fooling others so 
  they play right into your hand. At this stage you should 
  feel free to stretch the scope of the powerset a bit, or 
  introduce secondary powers. For example, Doc Nobody 
  controls the memories of those around him: he can 
  destroy his environment by convincing others that it’s 
  what they were about to do anyway; he can damage 
  enemies by directly assaulting their sense of self, leaving 
  them empty husks; he can perceive that which others 
  would keep hidden by reading it straight out of their 
  memories; he can deceive others by implanting whatever 
  false memories are convenient. 
  The last step is to assign aptitudes. Your aptitudes 
  represent how effective you are at each of the applications 
  of power. Aptitudes range from 1-4, with 1 indicating 
  great skill in an application and 4 representing little 
  ability in it. To assign the aptitudes rank how effective 
  you are at each application: destruction, damage, 
  perception, and deception. The highest ranked gets a 1, 
  the next a 2, then 3, and the application you are worst at is 
  assigned a 4. Your powerset will often guide your 
  aptitudes. Doc Nobody easily applies his powers to 
  deceive, has little trouble using them to perceive, can 
  destroy with some effort, and has a tough time damaging. 
  Thus his aptitudes are deception (1), perception (2), 
  destruction (3), and damage (4). 
  When starting a game of Texas Hold Up each villain 
  is given 50 chips and dealt three cards, face down, from 
  the powers deck. Chip totals carry over between sessions 
  when playing the same villain, but power cards do not. 
   
  I wasn’t about to lose out on the next big score, so I hired 
  the Sullivan boys to hench for me. 
  Texas Hold Up is played much like Texas Hold ‘Em 
  poker; familiarity with the rules of hold ‘em is 
  recommended. During play villains take turns as dealer. 
  The player to the dealer’s left is the small blind and must 
  bet one chip, the player to their left is the big blind and 
  must bet two chips. Chips represent all of a villain’s 
  resources: his wealth, influence, and even physical health. 
  Whenever players bet, even as a blind, it means they’ve 
  committed some of their resources to the heist; they must 
  describe what they are doing to put themselves on the 
  line. Once the blinds have bet all players are dealt two 
  cards face down from the play deck. These cards do not 
  have a direct impact on the narrative, but abstractly 
  represent the preparations a villain has made to ensure 
  victory in the coming heist. The player to the left of the 
  big blind starts a round of betting, in which the blinds are 
  considered active bets. 
  Do you remember the heist on the mail train? I hungered 
  for that shipment of gold. If I recall, we all happened to 
  catch up to it at high noon. 
  After betting is complete, three cards, called the flop, 
  are placed face up on the table (do not burn any cards 
  when dealing, or it will interfere with powers). These 
  cards are communal and can be used by any or all of the 
  players to form their hand. The flop is when the narrative 
  of the heist really beings to take shape. The first card of 
  the flop determines the location of the heist, the second 
  card determines the loot that is up for grabs, and the third 
  card determines other important factors such as time of 
  day or weather. The dealer looks up what each card of the 
  flop means on the table of cards, and describes the scene 
  to the other villains; he also places a number of chips 
  equal to its face value on top of the loot card (face cards 
  have a value of 10, and aces 11). Once the flop has been 
  dealt and the setting of the heist described, another round 
  of betting commences. As before, betting is tied directly 
  to the narrative of the heist. A player who raises must 
  describe how they dove headfirst through the plate glass 
  window or sent their minions into the caboose, one who 
  calls similarly describes how they redouble their efforts to 
  keep up with the other villains, and one who folds 
  describes how they rode into the sunset after seeing the 
  preparations of their competition. 
   
  I punched you in the face and nearly had the box, but then 
  Shining Marshall showed up. 
  Following this round of betting another card is dealt 
  face up for communal use. This card is called the turn, 
  and represents law enforcement or heroes that arrive to 
  thwart the villains. What form this resistance takes is 
  described in the table of cards. In order to get the loot, 
  and add the chips that have been placed on the loot card 
  to the pot, the resistance must be defeated before the last 
  round of betting ends. Players defeat the resistance by 
  placing chips onto the turn card. These chips do not count 
  as bets and do not need to be matched by other players; 
  they are also not added to the pot, and are not claimed by 
  the winner at the end of the hand, they are simply 
  Texas Hold Up © 2014 Greg Engel 
  
  removed from the table. The resistance is defeated when 
  the turn card has a number of chips equal to its face value 
  on it. After the turn is revealed there is another round of 
  betting. 
   
  After the whole thing was over and you took off with the 
  loot, I jumped off the train before the next station. Twisted 
  my ankle something fierce, though. 
  After betting, one last card is played onto the table; it 
  is called the river. The river represents how villains who 
  lose the hand will make their escape. The winner always 
  manages to get away clean, as do those who choose to 
  fold, but everyone else might have a tough time. This is 
  determined by the suit of the river card: clubs or 
  diamonds and everyone manages to escape without 
  additional cost, spades means the losers are exhausted 
  trying to get away: they can regain only one power card 
  before the next hand, hearts indicates that the losers were 
  injured making their escape: they lose one chip (like those 
  played onto the turn card, these chips are not gained by 
  other players, but are removed from the table). After the 
  river is played a final round of betting takes place. 
  Following this, whoever has the best hand wins and takes 
  the pot. It is the winner’s privilege and responsibility to 
  describe how they overcome their adversaries and make 
  off with the loot (or cut their losses, if the resistance has 
  not been defeated). Following resolution of the hand, each 
  player draws up to three power cards, unless prevented 
  from doing so by the river. The job of dealer moves to the 
  next person clockwise around the table, and the next hand 
  begins. 
   
  Looks like I’m out of chips, but you’re out of time! I 
  captured your buddy a week ago, and now I’ve got you, 
  too! 
  When a player runs out of chips it is revealed that they 
  have been a hero in disguise the whole game! The real 
  villain has been captured, and now the hero has caught the 
  other villains with their guards down. An epic fight 
  ensues which is, unsurprisingly, resolved by a hand of 
  poker. Five card straight: no betting, no powers, no-holds-
  barred, winner-takes-all. Each player is dealt five cards. 
  Whichever player has the best hand wins. If a villain 
  wins, the hero is defeated; the winner gets a ten chip 
  reward and the hero player can rejoin as a new villain 
  (starting with 50 chips) or their newly released original 
  (with only 25 chips). If the hero wins, all the villains are 
  captured; each player may choose to rejoin as a new 
  villain (starting with 50 chips) or their original who has 
  just escaped from prison (with only 30 chips). 
   
  Villains begin play with three cards drawn from the 
  powers deck. Which application of power the card can be 
  used for is determined by its suit. The potency of the card 
  is found by dividing its value (face cards = 10, aces = 11) 
  by your aptitude in that application of power (round up). 
  As with betting, all uses of power cards must be described 
  in the narrative first, and then resolved mechanically. 
  Destruction: Spades represent destruction of the 
  environment around you. At any point during play you 
  may reveal a power card of spades to replace community 
  cards with new ones from the top of the play deck. The 
  number of cards you can replace is equal to the potency of 
  the power card. The same card can be replaced more than 
  once provided you have sufficient potency. When you 
  replace cards in this way, describe how you have used 
  your powers to reshape the battlefield; though this power 
  does change the community cards it does not alter the 
  setting of the heist as determined by the table of cards. 
  Damage: Hearts represent damage inflicted upon your 
  enemies. At any point during play you may reveal a 
  power card of hearts to force an enemy to add chips 
  directly to the pot; chips added in this way do not count as 
  a bet and do not need to be matched by other players. The 
  number of chips added is determined by the potency of 
  the power card. Alternately, a power card of hearts can be 
  used to damage heroes described by the turn card. When 
  used in this way the number of chips necessary to defeat 
  the hero is reduced by the potency of the power card. 
  Perception: Clubs represent your ability to perceive 
  that which is hidden around you. At any point during play 
  you may reveal a power card of clubs and look at cards on 
  the top of the play deck and/or in opponents’ hands, then 
  replace them. The number of cards you can reveal in this 
  way is equal to the potency of the power card. 
  Deception: Diamonds represent your ability to 
  manipulate others to your ends. At any point during play 
  you may reveal a power card of diamonds to take chips 
  you previously bet back from the pot. Only chips you bet, 
  and not those spent in other ways, may be taken back 
  using deception. The number of chips you may take back 
  is equal to the potency of the card. 
   
   
  Flop 1 
  Flop 2 
  Flop 3 
  Turn 
  2 
  homestead 
  cattle 
  cattle drive 
  townsfolk 
  3 
  outpost 
  provisions 
  midnight 
  ranchers 
  4 
  general store 
  ammunition 
  thunder storm 
  deputies 
  5 
  courier 
  deeds 
  flash flood 
  bandits 
  6 
  Indian village 
  gems 
  Indian raid 
  Indians 
  7 
  stagecoach 
  heirlooms 
  dust storm 
  posse 
  8 
  river boat 
  liquor 
  poker 
  tournament 
  sheriff 
  9 
  bank 
  cash 
  parade 
  Texas Rangers 
  10 
  train 
  gold 
  high noon 
  US Army 
  J♠ 
  church 
  blessed cross 
  religious 
  service 
  The Justice 
  Brothers 
  Q♠ 
  mineshaft 
  phlebotinum 
  falling debris 
  Dragon 
  Commander 
  K♠ 
  burned 
  mission 
  holy relic 
  unstable footing 
  Silent Shot 
  A♠ Indian burial 
  ground 
  cursed 
  necklace 
  clouds of flies 
  zombies 
  J♥ 
  mountain 
  lake 
  magic sword 
  blizzard 
  Merlinus 
  Lazarus 
  Q♥ 
  secret lab 
  clockwork 
  man 
  spider robots 
  The Professor 
  K♥ 
  open desert 
  an entire train 
  blinding sun 
  The Red 
  Bandito 
  A♥ 
  Fort Valor 
  prototype 
  weapons 
  bandit raid 
  Shining 
  Marshall 
  J♣ 
  art museum 
  Mona Lisa 
  (on loan) 
  heightened 
  security 
  Agent One 
  Q♣ 
  deep woods 
  a rare bird 
  animal attack 
  Lumber Jack 
  K♣ 
  cliff 
  dwellings 
  ancient 
  artifacts 
  thick fog 
  Rattler 
  A♣ Hero Society 
  mansion 
  super soldier 
  serum 
  automated 
  turrets 
  Captain 
  Sunshine 
  J♦ 
  opera 
  famous singer 
  crowds of fans 
  The Fibrillator 
  Q♦ 
  floating city 
  flying machine 
  dangerous 
  winds 
  General Chaos 
  K♦ hidden valley 
  water of life 
  hallucinations 
  golem 
  guardians 
  A♦ 
  ghost town 
  haunted 
  bloody axe 
  ghosts 
  The Butcher 
   
  Texas Hold Up © 2014 Greg Engel 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Other (Unique) Systems/Top Secret Games Two Page Tabletops/Texas Hold Up.pdf