Hey there! Just wondering if there is any interest in a straight up wild west type of RPG anymore. No magic, or weird cross genre types of games, just good old spaghetti western style shoot 'em up action. I've been on a western kick lately, watching Hell on Wheels, My Name is Nobody, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, etc., and was just wondering if the genre is too blasé for folks these days. I remember that Boot Hill saw at least two or three revisions, and I know of at least one Indie RPG that was circulating several years ago. Are there any others that I should know about / check out?

If you don't mind a game that is extremely slow running in combat (no turns everything is tracked simultaneously in 1/10th seconds) you could go with Kenzer's monstrosity Aces & Eights

Well, there is GURPS Old West which could be used with most any system. Though if you did use GURPS, you could get REALLY into the grit with the right supplements if you desired. Here's a link to a fun western horror one-shot if you're interested in one, written up for both GURPS and Call of Cthulhu: https://1shotadventures.com/old-west-horror-the-black-mine-of-teihiihan/ (links at the bottom; there are a bunch of other neat ones on that site too, though they vary in genre)

Aside from that I don't really know of any outside of Deadlands for example using Savage Worlds, or its original system. I think I may have heard of a new one that is "Powered by the Apocalypse" ala Apocalypse World? Not sure of the name as PbtA is not really my thing but someone else might know more.

Unfortunately I've never successfully conned a group into playing in a Western campaign (neither historical nor 'weird west'), but I've always wanted to. Best of luck!

No love for Boot Hill?

Quote from: Antiquation!;1118256Here's a link to a fun western horror one-shot if you're interested in one, written up for both GURPS and Call of Cthulhu: https://1shotadventures.com/old-west-horror-the-black-mine-of-teihiihan/

If Lovecraftian wild west is your thing, there's also Chaosium's own version of old west Cthulhu, Down Darker Trails.

Quote from: Dimitrios;1118260No love for Boot Hill?



If Lovecraftian wild west is your thing, there's also Chaosium's own version of old west Cthulhu, Down Darker Trails.

I didn't know that existed, nice!

I was at Boot Hill in Tombstone Arizona on New Years Eve (12/31/2019).  I definitely think there's interest in Western RPGs.  

From a player perspective, I think that a lot of the resistance comes from the potential lethality of the setting.  You can be the greatest gunfighter in the land, but some 8-year-old kid can shoot you in the back and you're dead. The haunted gunfighter works for Jim in Blazing Saddles, but you don't REALLY want ultra-paranoid players that tactically assault every town and murder every inhabitant for their own safety.

I've been thinking a lot about how to do a Western (and other genres that are informed by film) and I'm pretty sure that you need to set up a system that requires getting someone 'dead to rights'.  This would be some number of successes that allows someone to make a 'deathblow' against someone - if they don't have you 'dead to rights' they're going to miss/the damage isn't significant.  From a narrative point of view, if the players are caught 'dead to rights' they have to have a way out that doesn't involve getting shot.  In the Western, shooting someone that you have 'dead to rights' is usually murder - so at that point they're getting hauled in/left in the desert to die.  

Making sure players buy into the setting conceits is important to make the game work.  

I have played a little Aces and Eights, and I think it's too cumbersome and VERY deadly.  My first character took a shotgun blast at point-blank-range and died immediately.

Quote from: deadDMwalking;1118266Making sure players buy into the setting conceits is important to make the game work.

Although it can be grimly fun when the players end up with the Federal cavalry and every bounty hunter within 200 miles gunning for them after they forget that they're not playing D&D and come crashing into town shooting everything in sight.

Honestly, just about any system can do a basic Western. Horse riding? Check. Guns? Check.

Maybe you would want some specialized rules for a quickdraw contest, but that is pretty easy to house rule.

I had fun with a brief Western game that was done using Feng Shui first edition. Most of the gun-fu worked out of the box, we used a ninja template for the Apaches, and my character was a regular townie deputy built using Everyman Hero.

If you're looking to do specific Western tropes, you might want to look out for systems with rules that fit them.

For instance, if you want a High Noon style showdowns to be a big deal, you definitely want fastdraw rules, and maybe a more fleshed-out minigame style approach. Maybe steal some of the iajutsu duel rules from Legend of the Five Rings? (I've never actually seen a formal quickdraw duel take place in a Western RPG game. As soon as combat started all the player characters just had their guns out immediately.)

Do you want a big bar fight? Look at systems that do mook fights.

Do you want a Zane Grey style epic horse race? Then look for a system with good chase rules, and steal them.

Heck, maybe your players want to have a little romance on the side. Not sure which game you go for there.

DCC has a new 'weird west' setting coming out... Dark Trails.

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One of its inspirations is the old Tex Arcana comic from Heavy Metal.

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I'd most likely want to tone down the gonzo... have 'normal' games so when the weird stuff did arrive it would seem properly weird... though some spaghetti westerns get pretty weird without invoking anything supernatural.

Thank you all for the input and the suggestions. I'm currently working on my own version using the 4C Expanded rules I released a few months ago. I'm adjusting some of the rules here and there, and adding several new rules to fit with the genre (Fast Draw/Dueling rules especially). The way I envision it, the characters will be larger than life, sort of like super heroes. They can take more punishment than regular folk, where a bullet from a .44 would take down a shop keeper, but it would take two or three hits to take out one of the PCs.

I'm considering whether or not to include a specific setting, like a town or something where the characters can have a base to work from. I'd like to keep it as free flowing as possible where the characters can travel around at will, but I figure having a place for the characters to fall back to would be handy. I suppose I can include one as an option for folks to use.

Any suggestions for other things that should be included are welcome!

Quote from: Dimitrios;1118260No love for Boot Hill?

Boot Hill was the first RPG for Westerns and is always my first thought. It has pretty good rules for gunfights.

QuoteIf Lovecraftian wild west is your thing, there's also Chaosium's own version of old west Cthulhu, Down Darker Trails.

I had  not heard of that. Thanks!

Quote from: Jamfke;1118310I'm considering whether or not to include a specific setting, like a town or something where the characters can have a base to work from. I'd like to keep it as free flowing as possible where the characters can travel around at will, but I figure having a place for the characters to fall back to would be handy. I suppose I can include one as an option for folks to use.

I see three options for a town.

1. Have the campaign focused on a single area with the town as either the focal point (like Dodge City in the Gunsmoke TV series) or make it the nearest place with a saloon and town stuff to do (like Carson City in Bonanza). In this case you want a  fairly detailed town.

2. Create a bit more than minimal detail for the town which gets further developed and filled in during play. If the players choose to spend time there lots more detail is gradually added. If not, you don't waste a lot of effort on stuff that never sees play.

3. Do the bare minimum of detail on the town like you would if it was a town where the players were going to stop for a drink before moving on.

Quote from: Jamfke;1118237Hey there! Just wondering if there is any interest in a straight up wild west type of RPG anymore. No magic, or weird cross genre types of games, just good old spaghetti western style shoot 'em up action. I've been on a western kick lately, watching Hell on Wheels, My Name is Nobody, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, etc., and was just wondering if the genre is too blasé for folks these days. I remember that Boot Hill saw at least two or three revisions, and I know of at least one Indie RPG that was circulating several years ago. Are there any others that I should know about / check out?

Theres an older thread on this.

Personal favourites are...
Boot Hill: Originally more a tactical minis game than an RPG, by 2nd ed it got more fleshed out. Havent seen 3rd ed yet.
Legends of the Untamed West: Part of the "Legends of" series of The Fantasy Trip compatible games. In this case adapting it for a western. As of last check there was one solo module for it. The rules are up for free.
TSR's Marvel Superheroes: Interestingly enough this can easily handle a wild west setting and there is a module set in the wild west for it.
Far West: This is an interesting western from Spain. Recently saw a revival.
Others are...
Gunslinger: A tactical board game thats pretty good.
Rolemaster: Outlaw
Pretty sure theres one for Hero, but cant find it at the moment. Wild West Hero?
And there is I believe a Gurps Wild West.

Dave Bezio's Shotguns & Saddles is free and worth a look. Bezio also wrote Wild West Cinema. My own Blood & Bullets is free. Go Fer Yer Gun! isn't free but it is inexpensive. I also like Coyote Trail, by Precis Intermedia.