7 Ending the Session

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Ending the Session

While accounting for real-life considerations around scheduling and availability, typically a session of Texarkana will end for one of three reasons:

• the Dealer has exhausted their supply of Woe chips, and the narrative has reached a lull (see session rewards below);
• all PCs have either died or exhausted their Will (see ending the campaign, below)
• the Posse has confronted and prevailed over the Malignant Force at the center of the campaign (see ending the campaign).

Session rewards

If the session draws to a close yet there is still more campaign to progress, the Dealer should lead the players through several steps:

The Dealer should begin by asking the players "which of you was driven by your Motivation'?

Players take it in turn to review their Motivation , and then propose to the table how their PC's actions throughout the session were specifically driven by that Motvation. This should go beyond a general alignment with the underlying value of the Motivation, and speak to something proactive, deliberate or specific that the PC did which drove towards that motivation.

When considering whether they have been driven by their Motivation, players should ask themselves:

• was there a decision I made throughout the session which was specifically informed by my character's Motivation?
• are there actions which were advantageous I refrained from taking because they didn't align with my character's Motivation?
• did my character achieve goals which align with what they are striving towards (as described by their Motivation)?

If a player proposes that they have been driven  by their Motivation, the other players and the Dealer should consider whether they have and reach a consensus. If it is agreed that the player has been driven by their Motivation, then the player may choose a reward:

• gain 2 Grit (up to a maximum of 10); or
• gain 1 Will (up to a maximum of 10).

If the PC is already at 10 Will and Grit, they may gain 1 Luck instead. 

Finally, before the players return their chips and cards the Dealer should make a note of all PC resources on the Posse Ledger — players might also wish to note this on their Character Sheet.

Ending the campaign

If the campaign ends, then the Dealer should, after drawing the narrative to a close, prepare a brief conclusory epilogue for each PC where it is decided whether or not they found absolution on the Frontier, and extinguished the guilt and wrongdoings of their former life.

Much like when ending a session (see above), the type of epilogue a PC receives is measured against their Motivation, however the Dealer is the only one who can decide whether the PC found absolution. The questions the dealer should ask are:

1.  "did this PC achieve (or make a good-faith effort to achieve) their motivation"?; and
2. "did this PC overcome at least one of their Flaws" (see Characteristics and Flaws)

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, then the Dealer should narrate an outcome in which that PC found comfort, solace, redemption of absolution on the Frontier. 

A character might find absolution, even if they died, so long as their actions before death (and perhaps even their death itself) aligned with their Motivation anf they overcame at least one of the Flaws. 

A character who loses all of their Will can never find absolution, and will be forced to forevermore wander the Frontier in shame and indignity. 

The Dealer should progress around the table in turn, and narrate the final ballad of each Posse member, whether they died in ignominy, obscurity, infamy or glory.

Next: Player Characters Overview

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