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Talenta Western?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
tgcampbe
Jan 21, 2011 18:36:17 Hi, folks, getting ready to start DM'ing a new game, and I kind of want to run a western-themed game. I just wanted to see if anyone else had run a game with a similar theme, and to see if they had any suggestions for me. Are there any setting elements that really made the theme for you that I ought to include? Any moments of fantasy-western fusion awesomeness that I could steal from in designing encounters? Inquiring minds want to know...
#2
Ogiwan
Jan 22, 2011 7:04:05 Hahahahaha. I just got the mental image of a Talenta halfling dismounting from his dinosaur mount...boots hit the ground, the camera pans up to show his white or black hat....

Anyways. I haven't watched any Westerns, but to me, their key traits are that they take place in frontiers, or other sparsely populated areas, that there is little civilization, and a dash of pulp action. Just a dash, though. So, I don't see it as being particularly hard to come up with your own.
#3
Madfox11
Jan 22, 2011 12:39:51 Many of the heroes is westerns have something in the past they are running from, either that or they are naive and young, wanting to make the world a better place. More often then not the two meet and have to work together ;) The heroes also tend to fight against injustice of one kind or another because the local authorities do not have the power to operate against the villains. Another thing that is very common in westerns is the fact that the many of the characters have odd eccintries. I personally always like the filthy rich lord (English or Russian) who hires the natives to ambush him just so that he can tell great stories at home ;)
#4
tgcampbe
Jan 22, 2011 20:49:51 Yeah, the pairing of the embittered retired gunslinger with the young upstart is a good one...not sure I can really make that happen with my players, but perhaps a great adventurer whose days of violence are behind him might pop up as an NPC at some point. Ogiwan, the frontier element is obviously present in Talenta, what with the general lack of permanent settlements, and putting it right next to the Mournland makes it even more of a frontier. Madfox, I definitely have plans to include such a "remittance man" character too...I doubt that Prince Oargev ir'Wynarn is quite as knowledgeable about the rigors of life on the edge of the Mournland as he'd like to think...

How about encounters? Have any ideas of classic western moments (train-top chase scene, saloon showdown, circling the wagons, etc.) that could be made into memorable combat encounters?
#5
Ogiwan
Jan 23, 2011 8:32:57 Oh I got the train-top scene. Done it. Twice. It ruled both times.

The first one was in 3.5, in Whispers of the Vampire's Blade, and was a blend of what was written and what I added in. Party was trying to catch a Vampire, and they were on the Lightning Rail. They hear a noise in the cargo car behind them, they check it out, and see some 'forged boarding the train. PCs fight them off, and hear a door opening on one of the cabins behind them. When they look behind them, they see the vampire they're trying to catch. So, they chase him up the train, and he's knocking luggage down to slow them down, lighting things on fire, etc. When the vamp gets to the front of the train, the engine cart, he stops, and climbs up a laddder. When the PCs get there, they see more 'forged in the engine cart, threatening the conductor. My two heavy-armor-clad PCs stayed to deal with them, and the other, lighter-armored PCs went up the ladder to continue the chase.

The fight in the engine cart was conventional enough. Nothing memorable, until the conductor died. More on that later. When the PCs climbed up to the top, they resumed chasing the vamp back down the train, jumping from cart to cart.....while Halfling mercs working in concert with the warforged attacked them. The haflings were on glidewings, and chucking javelins at the PCs willy-nilly. PCs managed to shoot one, maybe two down, but then the Artificer almost fell off the train. Of course, the conductor dying, and the train speeding up and threatening to derail and kill everybody aboard didn't help either. He used Levitate to not plummet to the ground and die, though. He looks back, and sees that the vamp is getting away. Then he realizes that he's levitating and holding onto a train. He looks at his companions up there, and utters, "Hand me a javelin." In his Crowning Moment of Awesome, he positions himself, levitating, on the back of the train, couches the javelin under his arm....and lets go. Remember your physics: Object in motion will stay in motion unless another force acts upon it. Since he's no longer holding onto the train, he begins to lose speed relative to the train, while to the Vamp, he's heading right for him at a very high speed. I think he rolled really high on the attack roll, too, and hit the vamp in the back. Messed him up, almost killed him, and "won" the fight. In the conductor's cabin, one of the PCs took ahold of the controls and managed to rein in the elemental, bringing it to a halt, and saving the train.

Second time, I was running a 4e game. PCs had an airship, and needed to board the Lightning Rail so the Bad Guys (Emerald Claw!) wouldn't get away. Conversation with my friend via AIM:
Scott: how long did you say the lightning rail is?
Me: uhhhhh
Me: about eight cars that you can land on, each car about 120 feet.
Scott: we have ~10 seconds
Me: and they are about 35 feet wide.
Scott: 3 seconds if we're crossing it perpendicular :P
Me: so, one round!
Scott: yep
Scott: 1-2-3-don'trollaone
Scott: while "you fell off the lightning rail and died while airdropping from a flying ship" sounds cool on paper, it's not so fun in practice

Anyways. Needless to say, they had to cross it perpendicular, because of the speed difference. The airship remains in the area to extract them if necessary. The PCs begin to move up the train, and are immediately attacked by Emerald Claw goons. A lot of them were minions, simply because I love being able to dispose of them in creative ways. Like the ones that got fried by the lightning blast.

Remember, you're on a speeding train called the "Lightning Rail" because of the electrical discharges that surround it. Its only natural to make those into a hazard. Anyways. PCs fight their way up one train, and they're fighting off Emerald Claw goons, and flying zombies who are dropping alchemical fires on the PCs on the train, and making runs on the airship, with the party's ranger trying to shoot them out of the sky. Let's see....Emerald Claw guys try to lose the PCs by decoupling a car, PCs jump the growing gap....oh, the Invoker barely makes it, is hanging off the side, and kicks a minion in the face as he comes out the door...and then things start to get really fun.

First, the first wave or two of goons has been disposed of, so Big Billy Badass and some of his friends come out to fight on the traintop. Also, the Ranger succeeded in shooting down a flying zombie....who has now crashed onto a bridge for the Lighting Rail just ahead, blowing a hole in it. Oh, and I told the airship pilot and the ranger that the bridge had a whole in it, and none of the other players. They were freaking out, and had to figure out how to tell the rest of the party. They figured out how, so now the rest of the party is aware that the Bridge is Out, and that they have to take care of these goons and get to safety before the train falls to its doom. Oh, and there is a tunnel coming up, right about....now.

The way I worked the tunnel is that I made them set a DC for an initiative check they would make. If they made it, they would be prone, and thus vulnerable to attacks from enemies, but they wouldn't hit the face of the mountainside the tunnel went through. All the PCs, and the Big Bad and one of his goons, made the check. One baddie didn't, and was turned into paste. Anyways. Everybody gets back up, and fights hard. The PCs, of course, all manage to grab ahold of the Airship's ladder just as the train tumbles into the gap.

It was a pretty exciting fight.
#6
Madfox11
Jan 23, 2011 8:54:21 There are a couple of scenes that often happen in westerns:

Shootout in the steets, whether as a duel between two people or an full blown combat between a large gang and one or two heroes. The later also tends to involve innocent bystanders as hostages or just people who are in the way. Makes use of buildings a lot, with people shooting from balconies, roofs, windows and the like and fleeing into barns, shops and so on. [In my experience these kind of scenes are difficult to pull of in D&D without some help from the PCs. Being hit in D&D is simply not lethal enough to be constantly seeking cover, and there is no chance of hitting the wrong person accidentally. If you want to stimulate this effect, I probably would give the PCs and monsters abilities that work better when a PC moved a few squares that turn such as the warlock's shadow walk and many skirmish monster's abilities.]

The posse chasing down the heroes or the villains.

Postcoach chased by large group of bandits and natives [great material for a skill challenge].

Person about to be hanged is liberated.

And the all time favorite, the tavern brawl ;) [In my experience, tavern brawls tend to work better as a skill challenge where the players are rewarded for descriptive actions than through actual combat. D&D PCs are simply too sturdy to feel overly challenged in a typical brawl.]

#7
tgcampbe
Jan 23, 2011 11:00:03 True, Mad, the barfight has to happen...I'm feeling that whoever the PCs get in a barfight with has to have brought along something a little more dangerous, though. I feel like an ankheg would work well, as it could grab and drag a PC, replicating the infamous "pick up an opponent and slide them down the length of the bar" trick. Maybe they checked their weapons at the door, and have to engage in typical barfight shenanigans to reach them before the fight starts in earnest?

As for the train fight sequences, Ogi...oh, yes, I'll definitely be doing something very similar to that. The tunnel, the car decoupling, the ticking clock before imminent destruction, all must definitely occur.
#8
Alex_
Jan 25, 2011 23:42:57 I ran an Eldeen Reaches western themed game. PCs come to a small town on the frontier being attacked by Ashbound Shifters with lots of psuedo-Great Plains Native American imagery- stone tomahawks, wearing animal hides, scalping their victims, etc.

One of the PCs was a cleric of the Host and was from the Eldeen Reaches, so I made it their hometown. Their father appeared- a grizzled old preacher named Flint Westood who scolded the PC for running off and leaving their home town behind.
#9
tgcampbe
Jan 26, 2011 9:48:04 Yeah, the NPC's in the town they're based out of will definitely be what make or break it. I'll probably be stealing your grizzled preacher, Alex. Most of my time has been spent coming up with representatives of the dragonmarked houses: a Ghallanda heir Miss Kitty, a hard-drinking Medani sheriff who's "gettin' too old fer this," a Phiarlan piano player in Miss Kitty's saloon, a Kundarak banker who's a bit of a spoiled dandy, a Vadalis cattle baron, etc. Any other stock characters I need to find a way to fit in?
#10
Ogiwan
Jan 26, 2011 16:16:18 Tharashk bounty hunter.

Orien railroad guy. Or stagecoach guy. Or mail guy.

Doesn't Deneith kinda fit the role of the Pinkerton Agency? In terms of hired muscle.
#11
tgcampbe
Jan 26, 2011 23:03:31 Well, at this point in my version, Tharashk is mainly about prospecting...dragonshard rush, gold rush, it still fits. Also, don't worry, Orien plays a big part in the story...I mentioned they were near the Mournland, right? Well, they have to be on hand for the linking up of the transcontinental lightning rail line. Might call the location Promissory Point, or something. As for the bounty hunter, I'm kinda feeling a Cyran avenger...did I mention the Mournland? It's kind of a central theme...makes for a good reason to have a ghost town, too...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 tgcampbe Jan 21, 2011 18:36:17	Hi, folks, getting ready to start DM'ing a new game, and I kind of want to run a western-themed game. I just wanted to see if anyone else had run a game with a similar theme, and to see if they had any suggestions for me. Are there any setting elements that really made the theme for you that I ought to include? Any moments of fantasy-western fusion awesomeness that I could steal from in designing encounters? Inquiring minds want to know...
#2 Ogiwan Jan 22, 2011 7:04:05	Hahahahaha. I just got the mental image of a Talenta halfling dismounting from his dinosaur mount...boots hit the ground, the camera pans up to show his white or black hat.... Anyways. I haven't watched any Westerns, but to me, their key traits are that they take place in frontiers, or other sparsely populated areas, that there is little civilization, and a dash of pulp action. Just a dash, though. So, I don't see it as being particularly hard to come up with your own.
#3 Madfox11 Jan 22, 2011 12:39:51	Many of the heroes is westerns have something in the past they are running from, either that or they are naive and young, wanting to make the world a better place. More often then not the two meet and have to work together ;) The heroes also tend to fight against injustice of one kind or another because the local authorities do not have the power to operate against the villains. Another thing that is very common in westerns is the fact that the many of the characters have odd eccintries. I personally always like the filthy rich lord (English or Russian) who hires the natives to ambush him just so that he can tell great stories at home ;)
#4 tgcampbe Jan 22, 2011 20:49:51	Yeah, the pairing of the embittered retired gunslinger with the young upstart is a good one...not sure I can really make that happen with my players, but perhaps a great adventurer whose days of violence are behind him might pop up as an NPC at some point. Ogiwan, the frontier element is obviously present in Talenta, what with the general lack of permanent settlements, and putting it right next to the Mournland makes it even more of a frontier. Madfox, I definitely have plans to include such a "remittance man" character too...I doubt that Prince Oargev ir'Wynarn is quite as knowledgeable about the rigors of life on the edge of the Mournland as he'd like to think... How about encounters? Have any ideas of classic western moments (train-top chase scene, saloon showdown, circling the wagons, etc.) that could be made into memorable combat encounters?
#5 Ogiwan Jan 23, 2011 8:32:57	Oh I got the train-top scene. Done it. Twice. It ruled both times. The first one was in 3.5, in Whispers of the Vampire's Blade, and was a blend of what was written and what I added in. Party was trying to catch a Vampire, and they were on the Lightning Rail. They hear a noise in the cargo car behind them, they check it out, and see some 'forged boarding the train. PCs fight them off, and hear a door opening on one of the cabins behind them. When they look behind them, they see the vampire they're trying to catch. So, they chase him up the train, and he's knocking luggage down to slow them down, lighting things on fire, etc. When the vamp gets to the front of the train, the engine cart, he stops, and climbs up a laddder. When the PCs get there, they see more 'forged in the engine cart, threatening the conductor. My two heavy-armor-clad PCs stayed to deal with them, and the other, lighter-armored PCs went up the ladder to continue the chase. The fight in the engine cart was conventional enough. Nothing memorable, until the conductor died. More on that later. When the PCs climbed up to the top, they resumed chasing the vamp back down the train, jumping from cart to cart.....while Halfling mercs working in concert with the warforged attacked them. The haflings were on glidewings, and chucking javelins at the PCs willy-nilly. PCs managed to shoot one, maybe two down, but then the Artificer almost fell off the train. Of course, the conductor dying, and the train speeding up and threatening to derail and kill everybody aboard didn't help either. He used Levitate to not plummet to the ground and die, though. He looks back, and sees that the vamp is getting away. Then he realizes that he's levitating and holding onto a train. He looks at his companions up there, and utters, "Hand me a javelin." In his Crowning Moment of Awesome, he positions himself, levitating, on the back of the train, couches the javelin under his arm....and lets go. Remember your physics: Object in motion will stay in motion unless another force acts upon it. Since he's no longer holding onto the train, he begins to lose speed relative to the train, while to the Vamp, he's heading right for him at a very high speed. I think he rolled really high on the attack roll, too, and hit the vamp in the back. Messed him up, almost killed him, and "won" the fight. In the conductor's cabin, one of the PCs took ahold of the controls and managed to rein in the elemental, bringing it to a halt, and saving the train. Second time, I was running a 4e game. PCs had an airship, and needed to board the Lightning Rail so the Bad Guys (Emerald Claw!) wouldn't get away. Conversation with my friend via AIM: Scott: how long did you say the lightning rail is? Me: uhhhhh Me: about eight cars that you can land on, each car about 120 feet. Scott: we have ~10 seconds Me: and they are about 35 feet wide. Scott: 3 seconds if we're crossing it perpendicular :P Me: so, one round! Scott: yep Scott: 1-2-3-don'trollaone Scott: while "you fell off the lightning rail and died while airdropping from a flying ship" sounds cool on paper, it's not so fun in practice Anyways. Needless to say, they had to cross it perpendicular, because of the speed difference. The airship remains in the area to extract them if necessary. The PCs begin to move up the train, and are immediately attacked by Emerald Claw goons. A lot of them were minions, simply because I love being able to dispose of them in creative ways. Like the ones that got fried by the lightning blast. Remember, you're on a speeding train called the "Lightning Rail" because of the electrical discharges that surround it. Its only natural to make those into a hazard. Anyways. PCs fight their way up one train, and they're fighting off Emerald Claw goons, and flying zombies who are dropping alchemical fires on the PCs on the train, and making runs on the airship, with the party's ranger trying to shoot them out of the sky. Let's see....Emerald Claw guys try to lose the PCs by decoupling a car, PCs jump the growing gap....oh, the Invoker barely makes it, is hanging off the side, and kicks a minion in the face as he comes out the door...and then things start to get really fun. First, the first wave or two of goons has been disposed of, so Big Billy Badass and some of his friends come out to fight on the traintop. Also, the Ranger succeeded in shooting down a flying zombie....who has now crashed onto a bridge for the Lighting Rail just ahead, blowing a hole in it. Oh, and I told the airship pilot and the ranger that the bridge had a whole in it, and none of the other players. They were freaking out, and had to figure out how to tell the rest of the party. They figured out how, so now the rest of the party is aware that the Bridge is Out, and that they have to take care of these goons and get to safety before the train falls to its doom. Oh, and there is a tunnel coming up, right about....now. The way I worked the tunnel is that I made them set a DC for an initiative check they would make. If they made it, they would be prone, and thus vulnerable to attacks from enemies, but they wouldn't hit the face of the mountainside the tunnel went through. All the PCs, and the Big Bad and one of his goons, made the check. One baddie didn't, and was turned into paste. Anyways. Everybody gets back up, and fights hard. The PCs, of course, all manage to grab ahold of the Airship's ladder just as the train tumbles into the gap. It was a pretty exciting fight.
#6 Madfox11 Jan 23, 2011 8:54:21	There are a couple of scenes that often happen in westerns: Shootout in the steets, whether as a duel between two people or an full blown combat between a large gang and one or two heroes. The later also tends to involve innocent bystanders as hostages or just people who are in the way. Makes use of buildings a lot, with people shooting from balconies, roofs, windows and the like and fleeing into barns, shops and so on. [In my experience these kind of scenes are difficult to pull of in D&D without some help from the PCs. Being hit in D&D is simply not lethal enough to be constantly seeking cover, and there is no chance of hitting the wrong person accidentally. If you want to stimulate this effect, I probably would give the PCs and monsters abilities that work better when a PC moved a few squares that turn such as the warlock's shadow walk and many skirmish monster's abilities.] The posse chasing down the heroes or the villains. Postcoach chased by large group of bandits and natives [great material for a skill challenge]. Person about to be hanged is liberated. And the all time favorite, the tavern brawl ;) [In my experience, tavern brawls tend to work better as a skill challenge where the players are rewarded for descriptive actions than through actual combat. D&D PCs are simply too sturdy to feel overly challenged in a typical brawl.]
#7 tgcampbe Jan 23, 2011 11:00:03	True, Mad, the barfight has to happen...I'm feeling that whoever the PCs get in a barfight with has to have brought along something a little more dangerous, though. I feel like an ankheg would work well, as it could grab and drag a PC, replicating the infamous "pick up an opponent and slide them down the length of the bar" trick. Maybe they checked their weapons at the door, and have to engage in typical barfight shenanigans to reach them before the fight starts in earnest? As for the train fight sequences, Ogi...oh, yes, I'll definitely be doing something very similar to that. The tunnel, the car decoupling, the ticking clock before imminent destruction, all must definitely occur.
#8 Alex_ Jan 25, 2011 23:42:57	I ran an Eldeen Reaches western themed game. PCs come to a small town on the frontier being attacked by Ashbound Shifters with lots of psuedo-Great Plains Native American imagery- stone tomahawks, wearing animal hides, scalping their victims, etc. One of the PCs was a cleric of the Host and was from the Eldeen Reaches, so I made it their hometown. Their father appeared- a grizzled old preacher named Flint Westood who scolded the PC for running off and leaving their home town behind.
#9 tgcampbe Jan 26, 2011 9:48:04	Yeah, the NPC's in the town they're based out of will definitely be what make or break it. I'll probably be stealing your grizzled preacher, Alex. Most of my time has been spent coming up with representatives of the dragonmarked houses: a Ghallanda heir Miss Kitty, a hard-drinking Medani sheriff who's "gettin' too old fer this," a Phiarlan piano player in Miss Kitty's saloon, a Kundarak banker who's a bit of a spoiled dandy, a Vadalis cattle baron, etc. Any other stock characters I need to find a way to fit in?
#10 Ogiwan Jan 26, 2011 16:16:18	Tharashk bounty hunter. Orien railroad guy. Or stagecoach guy. Or mail guy. Doesn't Deneith kinda fit the role of the Pinkerton Agency? In terms of hired muscle.
#11 tgcampbe Jan 26, 2011 23:03:31	Well, at this point in my version, Tharashk is mainly about prospecting...dragonshard rush, gold rush, it still fits. Also, don't worry, Orien plays a big part in the story...I mentioned they were near the Mournland, right? Well, they have to be on hand for the linking up of the transcontinental lightning rail line. Might call the location Promissory Point, or something. As for the bounty hunter, I'm kinda feeling a Cyran avenger...did I mention the Mournland? It's kind of a central theme...makes for a good reason to have a ghost town, too...