Old West BTS

[Jason Richards]

Is this a terrible idea? It would need mostly new O.C.C.'s (well, probably... haven't seen 2nd ed. yet), but I think it could definitely work. People were more superstitious, so it would change the "belief" dynamic a bit.

Just looking for something to work on after Rifts: Arzno.

[gaby]

It,s a very good idea! give more info

[Shaved Monkey]

It's a good idea. Actually any period BtS is a good game. With Old West (and in my case, London 1800) you don't have instant communication, fast and reliable recording medias, science doesn't quite cut it, and in the specific case of the Old West medicine isn't always available so a deep cut or a single bullet wound could take out a character since infection would now be a concern.

Also with the Old West, the theme could be that it would be the most supernaturally active regions in the world. The expansion and urbanization of much of Europe would squeeze out the supernatural who had a free reign but now find it hard to hide and are fearful of the potency of human technology (better at discovering, understanding and killing them). So they move to the frontiers of humanity, to stay within reach of their preferred prey but staying relatively safe. At the same time, those critters that shun humanity and have also escaped to untouched parts of the world to avoid humanity are now finding humans popping up on their doorsteps.

Scenerios like this could result in 200 year old european vampire lords running saloons, giving them a measure of power they once hard, and perfect place to assess victims from the transients that come through. Or the classic descacrated Indian burial plot, with spirits harassing those in the vicinity.

[Jason Richards]

It,s a very good idea! give more info

I've got some ideas, but maybe later. I've got to wait until I read BTS2 and can't really discuss it in forum anyway, for legalese reasons. Just wanted to know if this general topic is something people would be interested in.

[Larsen]

Cool idea to use the old west. I myself was thinking of a period peice only it would be the late 1940's after WW2 during the commie scare.

[gaby]

Ther later half of the 19th Century was the Heyday of the Spitualist movement.
You can make the Fake Medium O.C.C.

[Mike Taylor]

I recommend grabbing a copy of Fistful o' Zombies for even more ideas. The scenarios surrounding the Anasazi and the Indian Wars are especially good.

[Mike Taylor]

What system is that for?

Unisystem, but the ideas are readily useable with BTS without too much trouble. BTW, it also gives ideas for Civil War-era horror and campy "Singing Cowboy" silliness. If I haven't mentioned this already, a good companion piece is Atlas of the Walking Dead, which details undead from around the world, including Latin America and China. People of both regions had a significant part in shaping the western parts of the U.S., so it makes sense to have some of their own ghosts and bogeymen show up.

Imagine bearing witness to the acts that give rise to La Llorona, the Weeping Woman. Or discovering that a curse laid down upon Custer and his men threatens all of North America with death at the hands of an undead horde. Or what if the players found themselves in the middle of a three way war between Zorro, his archenemy the Alcalde, and none other than Dracula himself?

[Mike Taylor]

Well, the Zorro part is based on the Dracula Versus Zorro comic book. I just that would be a fun idea to include.

[Mike Taylor]

Or both at the same time ... which could be done if you were playing up the campiness of something along the lines of Brisco County Junior or the old low-budget afternoon matinees.

[pblackcrow]

I am going to laughed at for suggesting it, but Trimmers.

[gaby]

I just come back from the Cinescape site.

It said ther will be a Movie call High Midnight where a Sheriff and European,s Vampire hunter must stop a Undead force from taking over a Town in 1880,s.

Well I hope they will add a Mystery too it,Maybe a few who are not turn pic the Vampire side and the Vampire is not Obvious.

Do you have ideas for Bts game set in the Old West or in other times?

[Gallahan]

Great idea. Old West BTS. Weird West. There's already one game out there on the market that has this as a theme. I won't say the name of it, but you'll know if you do an internet search using the phrase of the third sentence fragment of this paragraph as part of your search.

It's a well done game and shows that there's a market out there, should Palladium wish to make such a supplement.

[bar1scorpio]

Think of it less as a movie genre (Old West) and more of a historical period. Read up, or just watch some serious history channel, and you can uncover some genuine wierdness.

For reference, I'll suggest picking up Factoid Books <i>The Big Book of the Wierd, Wild West</i> A series of colorful comic book chapters on subjects ranging from western serial killers & outlaws, cannibals & rustlers, to medicine shows & trade whiskey, into cryptids and ghosts!

But taking it as a period- you can easily take adventures into victorian cities (When did Jack the Ripper prowl the streets of London, again? And he was just one of many serial killers of the period.) the frontiers of Empires, such as teh British in Afghanistan or India... various colonialists & explorers in darkest Africa or the hidden Amazon....

Remember that Education while advancing... wasn't advancing too quickly... phlebotomy, a complete quack "science" could easily not only be a profession but a skill... people payed big bucks to get healthy at places like the Battle Creek Sanitorium, ran by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.

The Winchester House, teh Barabary coast, all sorts of strange and sordid places are available of locations during that period, when the world was in transition.

[bar1scorpio]

Well, either way, it might make for a good Rifter article..... but only if you had a decent artist to make some images for you... (hint hint)....

[Lazlo Kid]

Our Victorian BtS game has been going strong for some time now...years I think...

Kev: Yup. I've been running that game for three years now. I keep trying to get the team to go to the Western US, so I can use all the material I've developed for there, but everyone keeps wanting to go back to London.

[bar1scorpio]

I think the best part of BTS, as we're discussing right now, isn't so much of <i>what</i> you can do, as <i>when</i> you can do it. Palladium is a fantasy-genre game, Rifts has everything into a futuristic masala, and Heroes Unlimited is a comic-book superhero adventure, a bit cumbersome to put firmly into a 'realistic' histoprical setting.

However, with tweaking to the weapons, skills and occupations available, it's easy to send BTS back into the early industrial age, the age of exploration, the napoleonic era, teh civil war era, etc.

For "Wild West" adventure... a basic opening adventure could deal with a group of Cowboys of assorted skills and possible latent abilities, are forced to defend their livestock on a Cattle Drive against "something". (Boscholla? Hell Hounds? Gargoyles? there's a wealth of possibilities.)

[bar1scorpio]

Don't forget skills that can augment HtH skills. Primarily, Boxing & Wrestling
Sports like that were all the rage at the time.

Likewise, note that weapons damage from firearms should be ranked as caliber. Not just gun type. Researching some of the odder weapons of the day could help, too (things like the Ned Buntline Special, a Colt revolver with a 12-inch barrel.)

Many technological skills weren't available, then again, Computer Literacy would be unecessary for that sort of adventure, wouldn't it?

Likewise, horses have the same semi-psychic bonuses that Dogs & Cats have in the normal day games. "Somethin' spooked the horses" ain't just a sayin' in the movies....

[bar1scorpio]

Okay, so I'm working up some characters & and adventure to play at Sci Fi cons... But it's kinda interesting, just wholesale throwing out most of hte piloting skills, computer skills, & more.

If this quick adventure idea works, I might turn it into an article for the Rifter....

[Lazlo Kid]

And the article has been sitting on Wayne's desk forever....

[Shawn Merrow]

Think its a great idea Jason and giving a lot of thought to trying it out. As for O.C.C. you won't need to do that just make a bunch of Old West Occupations with the appropriate skills change what starting gear the character gets.