True Western

[mrloucifer]

I love westerns, but I'd never run a game without a book based on it as I know squat about the genre besides what I see in the movies and on tv.

[Lord Z]

Mephisto, why 'farmer'? I thought that 'cowboy' would be more stereotypical.

[Lord Z]

Out of the five OCCs listed, I see that three of them are based upon the character's profession, and two are based upon a fighting style. It seems to me that there would be a lot of crossover between a mercenary and a gunslinger. I suggest based all of your classes on professions with skills determining the fighting style -- or basing all of your classes on fighting styles with skills determining the profession.

[Hendrik]

Hi there,

just saw this.

To be quite frank, Sharpshooter and Gunsmith make not so much sense to me. I love Gunslinger. I think that Farmer makes a lot of sense. Still, Cowboy makes extremely good sense even if there is a Farmer OCC as the Cowboy will have a different set of skills (cowboys travel to herd animals from a to b), while I guess the farmer stays very much put, although maybe a Farmer OCC should be geared to represent farmers who have just arrived with a wagon trail, that makes them more driven and hardy.

What about these occupations:

Federal Soldier OCC
Native American RCC (I don't know if that is cricket to say - forgetting about the many shades and idocies of the term "race", here used only in the rules engine sense of an occupation only open to a certain/one people - but it would be stereotypical)
Lawman OCC
Charlatan OCC (you know travelling medicine show and all that)
Trapper OCC (your basic ranger or scouting hero like Bowie)
East Coast Businessman OCC
Southern Gentleman OCC / maybe also a: Former Confederate Officer OCC
Dancing Girl OCC
Gambler OCC
Tough Priest OCC
Bandit OCC (you know train robbers, charming rogues - although that would maybe already be covered by the Gambler OCC - and all that)

Cheers
Hendrik

[Lord Z]

I suppose that the word 'rancher' would be a more accurate term than 'cowboy', but the later is a staple of the genre.

Hendrik, I liked your list. A Charlatan is an excellent idea, and dancing girls are a requirement.

Then again, if Mephisto goes the other way and decides to base his classes on styles instead of professions, I propose one addition to the list:

Sharpshooters like Wild Bill and Annie Oakley, specialize in rifles and shotguns, accuracy.
Gunslingers like Doc Holiday and Billy the Kid, specialize in revolvers and other pistols, speed.
Weapons Masters like Geronimo, skilled in all styles of combat including unarmed, ancient-style weapons, and firearms, can be used to build bullfighters and kung-fu immigrant characters also.

[Hendrik]

Hi there,

I really like the pioneer.

I also like easy character creation.

Still, I would advocate stereotypes because especially for a wild west setting it makes getting into the character so much easier and the picture we have of the wild west is very Hollywood stereotypical and romanticized anyway.

That said, aside from the two ways to go about it - (i) Mephisto's approach via "styles" and (ii) my approach via "stereotype professions" - I think there is perhaps a third way. One could make a very few typical wild west OCCs, but - as is well and typical for BtS - use a list of occupations. After all, many wild west guys will be immigrants or guys from the less rowdy and more civilized east. The set of skills you need in an east coast cty or in Europe may be entirely different from what you need in the west. Of course, a European soldier, fresh from the Napoleonic wars (or one of the many conflicts that tore Europe apart from the 16th to the 20th century), will have a lot of good skills that make survival in the west maybe more likely, but then there will be a lot of people far less good a fit.

Maybe this "third way" should rather be combined with another as there ARE, after all, also people already living in the wild west. I think it would depend on the kind of campaign one would like to play. Although, I think that a system - even if slim - needs to accomodate all of them. Perhaps it is a good idea to look at the typical campaign types and then conclude from that what kinds of characters are necessary.

CAMPAIGN (or adventure) TYPES

Westward Ho!
(I am thinking 1935 John Wayne movie NOT any other meaning given to either of the words these days).
Although that movie IIRC would also fit the next caregory, I was thinking of wagon trails and pioneering as the topic here.

Steers: Cattle Drivers
Also very much glorified hard work, it makes for a great and very different type of setting. The players are all cowboys and such, driving cattle from "A" to one of the great markets.

My little Farm!
That would really be different. I am not talking about the movie series although I could not resist to use the name. Build, make successful and defend the farm: a game of survival in a hostile environment. It is the wild west, right. Robber barons want to take your land, Indians want to take your scalp, bandits just want to rob you, somebody wants to put train tracks on your best field, the weather kills your crops, strange illness takes your cattle, and the guy you hate wants to be mayor of "New Town" (inhabitans 370) but the troubles really start when you discover a gold (or silver or gems) near your stash of schnaps in that old bear cave on your land.

High Noon: There is a new man in town!
Party has to bring law and order to a small town. Vigilantes fit in here and bandits. It is the High Noon feeling.

Gold! Gold! Gold!
This is about finding gold or oil or anything else that makes for a "goldrush" type of setting.

This means war!
From the Wars of Independence to the Mexican, Civil and Indian Wars. A truly grand scope and backdrop. It could be anything from the romanticising "Gone with the Wind" to a nitty gritty no fuss war to letting your players go through the hell of Antietam.

Down (or Up) the Mississippi
From the exciting (although I doubt the explorers would have seen it in that positive light) French - or Spanish - expeditions to travelling the river via steam boat, which incidentally might make a great campaign vehicle to get from place to place.

Cheers
Hendrik

[Lord Z]

Mepho, Recon would be an excellent basis for this. You might want to start a parallel discussion outside of the BtS forum to attract feedback from other Palladium players.

[Beatmeclever]

RECON would be better for a western simply for the lethality. A farmer isn't as likely to grab a gun and go after a gunslinger if he knows he could die so easily. I might try running one of these soon too.

[Lord Z]

So which is the next project, Mephist-oh-no? Will it be Hidden India or this or something different?

[bradshaw]

Hi there,

just saw this.

To be quite frank, Sharpshooter and Gunsmith make not so much sense to me. I love Gunslinger. I think that Farmer makes a lot of sense. Still, Cowboy makes extremely good sense even if there is a Farmer OCC as the Cowboy will have a different set of skills (cowboys travel to herd animals from a to b), while I guess the farmer stays very much put, although maybe a Farmer OCC should be geared to represent farmers who have just arrived with a wagon trail, that makes them more driven and hardy.

What about these occupations:

Federal Soldier OCC
Native American RCC (I don't know if that is cricket to say - forgetting about the many shades and idocies of the term "race", here used only in the rules engine sense of an occupation only open to a certain/one people - but it would be stereotypical)
Lawman OCC
Charlatan OCC (you know travelling medicine show and all that)
Trapper OCC (your basic ranger or scouting hero like Bowie)
East Coast Businessman OCC
Southern Gentleman OCC / maybe also a: Former Confederate Officer OCC
Dancing Girl OCC
Gambler OCC
Tough Priest OCC
Bandit OCC (you know train robbers, charming rogues - although that would maybe already be covered by the Gambler OCC - and all that)

Cheers
Hendrik

love the idea just Wild-Westernized up the names
Federal Soldier OCC
Indian RCC
Lawman OCC
Snake oil salesman OCC (you know travelling medicine show and all that)
Mountain man OCC (your basic ranger or scouting hero like Bowie)
Greenhorn OCC
Southern Gent OCC / maybe also a: Former Johnny Reb OCC
Saloon Girl OCC
Gambler OCC
Preacher OCC
Desperado OCC (you know train robbers, charming rogues -

and to add
Cowboy (gunfighter occ)
Prospector occ ("Don't you be lookin at my Gold!"
Doc occ ("cause' Well shoot, sumone gonna haff'ta be patchen you up now" )

[Beatmeclever]

The Weird West is a complete setting, just don't post your conversions (if any). I have been looking and there are not a lot of Western RPGs out there.