Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kudora Kyoji 09-19-04, 07:54 PM	I've been watching some western movies lately, and I thought it would be a cool idea to make a gunslingin' wild west style campaign. I know that Ride and Handle Animal would take on more importance, and death may be more common due to all the firearms, but beyond that, I'm stumped. Any ideas welcomed!
Arak the mighty 09-19-04, 08:54 PM	Read the "Gunslinger" by Stephen King. To be precise, it's a cowboy story (sorta) set in a very fantastical world, which if you even read (or have already read) one of the books in the series, will give you MANY MANY ideas.
Kudora Kyoji 09-19-04, 09:09 PM	Thanks! I may have to pick that up.
Arak the mighty 09-19-04, 09:15 PM	It's a series called "The Dark Tower" The books are The Gunslinger The Drawing of the Three The Wastelands (why couldn't I remember that?) Wizard and Glass The Wolves of Calla Anyways, I assume you're still wanting a rather fantasy feel (things beyond our own reality, like magic) for your western world? If not, then these wouldn't help much. For fantatical adventuring, The Wastelands is the best one.
DrMorganes 09-19-04, 11:06 PM	Don't forget Song of Suzanna (the most recent and next-to-last)!
Mythmere 09-20-04, 12:34 AM	If you want to play a wild west game with magic and monsters, see if Pinnacle games has any Deadlands D20 stuff left. It's got all the rules for what you need. I'm sure if the printed books are gone, they've got pdfs. If you want just to add guns and a wild west feel to an otherwise traditional d&d setting, the main thing to do is to add a quick-draw feature into the initiative system, and decide how powerful guns are. Almost everything else is just a matter of the way you, as the DM, describe the society. The power of guns isn't inherently unbalancing. They are essentially a simple ranged weapon, and I would just increase the damage and/or accuracy of the guns described in the DMG. What makes it a wild west setting is that these weapons have to be generally available. A lot of the Wild West is a matter of attitude and setting, not game mechanics. To add to it, you might consider the effects of suppressing fire and fanning a trigger, but if you're going to add that many modern nuances, you're better off switching game systems to Deadlands or possibly D20 Modern.
Arak the mighty 09-20-04, 01:03 AM	I'm running a campaign that's seeing a lot of firearm use, (not revolvers though) and they certainly haven't been unbalancing. (And we even beefed up the damage they do) Remember, if the PC's have ready access to firearms and ammo, the NPC's will too.
Mister Mayhem 09-20-04, 03:35 AM	Mongoose have just released "OGL Wild West", which sounds as if it should suit you admirably.
quarkstomper 09-21-04, 11:48 AM	I'm wrestling with trying to come up with a similar campaign. My big problem is, I don't just want "a frontier-type game" I want the Wild West from the movies and TV: the California gold fields, the Texas cattle drives, Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid; but with the fantasy elements blended in. My ambitious side wants to try to work out a historical and cultural background that will accomodate both. My practical side says, "Just start out with a town and some characters and let the background grow from there, just like you do with a regular D&D game." One source that I'm getting some ideas from is the "Six-Guns and Sorcery" suppliment from the CASTLE FALKENSTIEN game. FALKENSTEIN is a Victorian-era game that, as a friend of mine says, offers it's steampunk with a twist of elf; combining wild Jules Verne-type technology with magic. One feature from "Six-Guns and Sorcery" that I plan to use is the "Spellslinger", a gunfighter with enchanted, (and often cursed!) six-shooters. I'm also looting the book for ideas about Native American magic.