The new year starts with a meaningful update to the Blackwater Gulch Playtest Rules, bringing clearer faction identity, more flexible character building, and deeper support for campaign play.
These changes are the result of ongoing testing, community feedback, and a push to make Blackwater Gulch easier to learn while offering more long-term depth for players who want to run narrative gangs over multiple games. The updated rules are available now on our site, and this post breaks down what has changed and why it matters.
Professions Are Now Limited to Mortals
One of the biggest structural changes is that only Mortal characters now use professions. Beasts, Demons, and Undead no longer pull from the same profession list as humans.
Instead:
-
Beasts gain abilities tied directly to their animal form
-
Demons gain abilities based on their infernal nature
-
Undead gain abilities based on how they were created or what sustains them
This helps each creature type feel more distinct on the table and avoids odd overlaps where wildly different beings were drawing from the same mechanical pool. Mortals remain the most customizable through professions, while supernatural factions lean into what makes them dangerous and strange.
Abilities Are Now Gear-Driven, Not Profession-Locked
Several abilities have been removed from professions entirely and moved onto equipment instead. Healers, Preachers, Shamans, and Hexers no longer unlock their abilities by profession choice alone.
Instead, abilities are granted through items:
-
Smellin’ Salts enable reviving
-
Bibles grant prayers
-
Totems unlock wildcraft rituals
-
Grimoires allow corruption powers
This shift gives players far more freedom when building characters. Any character can now fill one of these roles if they’re equipped for it, rather than being locked into a narrow profession path from the start.
Campaign Play Is Now Fully Integrated
A recent community survey made one thing very clear: players want campaigns. In response, campaign rules are now fully integrated into the core structure of Blackwater Gulch.
There are now two supported game modes:
-
Standard Play, which uses premade characters for fast, balanced games
-
Legacy Play, a campaign mode where gangs gain experience and evolve over time
Premade characters can still appear in Legacy Play as hired guns, but they won’t gain experience. This keeps campaigns grounded while still letting players bring in iconic characters when needed.
Updated Character Cards Are on the Way
Updated character cards for Standard Play are currently in development. These are being rebuilt from the ground up using a shared data source so that:
-
The cards match the rules exactly
-
The same data can be used in the upcoming gang builder app
This process takes longer than expected, but it ensures consistency across print materials, digital tools, and future updates.
Changes to the Online Store
Alongside the rules update, several changes are being made to the online store:
-
Miniatures are now listed individually and organized by role, not just by gang
-
Print-on-demand miniatures are being removed from the site due to long delivery times
-
Print-on-demand models will still be available through Only Games
-
Digital STL files will continue to be sold directly, alongside platforms like MyMiniFactory and Cults3D
These changes are aimed at making the store easier to navigate while setting clearer expectations for fulfillment and delivery.
Get the Updated Rules
The updated Blackwater Gulch Playtest Rules are available now. As always, feedback from active play is what drives these changes, and more refinements are planned as testing continues.