Quote from: Matt;805994So I'd like to get my friends to play a Western RPG as a break from our AD&D game as I'm not all that into fantasy anyway. I used to have Aces & Eights but found it was too rules-heavy for me and wasted too many pages on its alternate history setting for me. Traded A&8s away for some Traveller stuff.

Since you mentioned Traveller, I recommend Cowboys vs. Xenomorphs. It is a generic western setting using Mongoose Traveller's mechanic. Just leave out the Xenomorphs.

For inspirations to help get them in the mood, I'd recommend Deadwood, Hell on Wheels and Copper.

Nothing magical or fantastical in any of them, but lots of roleplaying potential.

Wild West Cinema is a pretty simple take on the genre. I got in the sales a while back but I've not had a chance to run it yet. It's by the same author of Shotguns and Saddles but less old school in it's inspiration.

Quote from: Kiero;806413For inspirations to help get them in the mood, I'd recommend Deadwood, Hell on Wheels and Copper.

Nothing magical or fantastical in any of them, but lots of roleplaying potential.

My Western inspirations are actually from books rather than films.

Quote from: Matt;806465My Western inspirations are actually from books rather than films.

They're all TV shows, not films. Lots more depth and characterisation to them, not to mention a lot more variety of plots.

Quote from: Soylent Green;806419Wild West Cinema is a pretty simple take on the genre. I got in the sales a while back but I've not had a chance to run it yet. It's by the same author of Shotguns and Saddles but less old school in it's inspiration.

I found Wild West Cinema rather underwhelming. Haven't looked at Shotguns and Saddles.

Quote from: Matt;806281I'm looking into Coyote Trail. Probably go with that or just use Boot Hill. Trying to find useful reviews of Coyote Trail. Found one that left me with some reservations due to notes about the ease of called head shots resulting in instant death.

I either don't allow called shots to the head with Old West weaponry under most circumstances or make sure it's extremely difficult to pull off.

Quote from: Kiero;806473They're all TV shows, not films. Lots more depth and characterisation to them, not to mention a lot more variety of plots.

Whoops. I guess you can tell I don't watch much television. I didn't know Westerns were on the air since, what, the early '70s? Let alone three of 'em.

Quote from: Matt;806504Whoops. I guess you can tell I don't watch much television. I didn't know Westerns were on the air since, what, the early '70s? Let alone three of 'em.

All ran to more than one season. Deadwood I haven't actually watched, but it won many awards, it's about a frontier town and the people who live there. Notable at the time for it's foul language as much as anything else.

Hell on Wheels is about the building of the Union Pacific railroad just after the Civil War, focusing primarily on the charlatan who owns the company and an ex-Confederate soldier hunting down the Union soldiers who raped and killed his wife during the war.

Copper is a more unusual one, it's about the a detective in the nascent NYPD, an Irishman and former Union corporal, at the tail end of the war. For me it makes a nice counterpoint to HoW, a sort of mirror showing what's going on "back East" while the railroadmen hack away at the frontier heading west.

The latter two have all sorts of RPG-worthy plots in them that could be stolen.

Quote from: Matt;806281As for someone's suggestion of 5th Ed D&D: I don't want to buy a $100 game I'd never use for anything else just so I can do the work of turning it into a game it was not built to be. I'm not a fan of classes and levels anyway. Nor a fan of D&D: I play it only as a way to rope in players and then introduce them to better games that I enjoy much more.

The Basic version is completely free, from PHB.pdf to MM/DMG.pdf.

But classes & levels & D&D is not your thing, so there you go.

Quote from: Matt;806504Whoops. I guess you can tell I don't watch much television. I didn't know Westerns were on the air since, what, the early '70s? Let alone three of 'em.

At least four counting the Hatfields & McCoys mini series with Kevin Costner.

I know the OP stated he was not interested in HERO but Western Hero from the 4th edition days is a great source book.  And as far as the Hero System rules, it is by far the easiest iteration of the rules as there is no need for the Powers system.  If you can find a used copy it would be worth it.

Quote from: Hyper-Man;806655I know the OP stated he was not interested in HERO but Western Hero from the 4th edition days is a great all in one book.  And as far as the Hero System rules, it is by far the easiest iteration of the rules as there is no need for the Powers system.  If you can find a used copy it would be worth it.

If I could find it cheap. 4th Ed. is the last Ed. of Champions I could manage. 5th  and most of its supplements suffered from that dry, minutiae-obsessed, Steve Long-winded style that pretty well turned me into an ex-Hero customer.

There are inexpensive used copies for sale on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Hero-Campaign-Book-System/dp/1558061185

Does Western Hero include the rules, or is the 4th ed rulebook required?