I was thinking of making a kind of Wild West D&D on 5e, with its own set of classes and archetypes. Things like a Lone Ranger, or a desperado, or an Indian.

But I need archetype ideas. What kind of classically western things can you think of?

Also, a way to change the alignment system to fit the western themes would be good too. For instance, I think Lawful and Chaotic could actually fit, since on one side you have the law enforcers and then on the other the outlaws. But maybe it could be finessed into something more specific, like Honorable/Dishonorable. And then there's Good/Evil which could possibly be replaced with something else that captures the idea of a western game better.

Mechanically you could say the toughest armor you can have is Light, and then you could make feats like Quick Shot or Fastest Gun In The West where you get to attack twice if you win initiative or something.

I'd suggest checking out Owl Hoot Trail. It's a D&D derived fantasy/western pastiche which really focuses on wild west feel  (it doesn't just feel a conversion) and has lot's a really clever touches.There is a legal, free version floating about. The commercial version contains a very well crafted sandbox adventure.

Even if you decide you want to do your own thing or that maybe Owl Hoot Trail isn't D&D enough, it still contains a lot of good ideas.

Well, my original idea was to make a board game, then halfway into it I realized that the scenario I was crafting would work just as well as a D&D thing.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out.

Hmm, looking now, it looks way more fantasy than I was expecting. I want to capture the feel of western movies and tales rather than throw in goblins and ogres and stuff.

Well I could, but maybe later.

Blood & Bullets is freely downloadable and is basically wild west D&D (based on swords & wizardry)

There's also Westwater, based on B/X (thus much less crappy than anything built on S&W)

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/119688/Westwater-RPG-No-art-version

Off the top of my head?  You'd have archetypes like Pistolero, Rifleman, Bounty Hunter, Man of the Cloth, Cattle Rustler/Bandit, Lawman, - that type of stuff.

Edit it add- there's a surprising amount of D&D character types that have a Wild West counterpart.

Some of the suggestions so far are pretty decent, but they aren't 5E specific. A guy at my local game store is running some sort of modern campaign using 5E, but I think his solution was basically to keep classes the same and make firearms work like crossbows. (That's what he posted on his campaign invite; I have no idea how it's working out for him.)

I have several non-5E western RPG products on my shelf and thought I might mention a few good ones.
* Boot Hill (several versions) was the original. It has some neat charts for first-shot, bravery, etc, and the AD&D DMG does a conversion to AD&D. The original game is more of a combat simulator, but if you get to the 3rd edition it has skills and such and has been worked into a regular RPG.
* Spellslinger is an old d20/3E product which has wild west mixed with magic.
* Aces & Eights is a lot like AD&D in the west. Lots of details if you like that stuff. Nice resource.
* Owl Hoot Trail mixes fantasy and wild west using a simplified version of 3E (I think).

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;899393I was thinking of making a kind of Wild West D&D on 5e, with its own set of classes and archetypes. Things like a Lone Ranger, or a desperado, or an Indian.

But I need archetype ideas. What kind of classically western things can you think of?

Classes from Owl Hoot Trail include the following: Gunslinger, Marshal, Ruffian, Scoundrel, Scout, Gadgeteer, Mentalist, Preacher, and Shaman. I can't recall which exact 3E-style game system the rules are based upon (three stats; maybe one of the MicroLite rules sets?) but it's not 5E.

I'm pretty sure there is a Gunfighter class for 5E on the Dungeon Master's Guild website (A friend was telling me about it but I haven't actually seen it.) and there may be other options there as well. I would think that you could use base 5E classes with a few tweaks (depending upon how much magic you want) to recreate something similar to the wild west. Off the top of my head I imagine something like this:
Barbarian -> Indian tribesman
Bard ->
Cleric -> Preacher
Druid -> Indian Shaman
Fighter -> Soldier or gunfighter
Paladin -> Marshal or lawman
Ranger -> Cavalry scout or Indian tracker
Rogue -> Bank robber
Sorcerer / Warlock / Wizard -> not sure

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;899393Also, a way to change the alignment system to fit the western themes would be good too. For instance, I think Lawful and Chaotic could actually fit, since on one side you have the law enforcers and then on the other the outlaws. But maybe it could be finessed into something more specific, like Honorable/Dishonorable. And then there's Good/Evil which could possibly be replaced with something else that captures the idea of a western game better.

My background is rooted in OD&D, so I enjoy a simple alignment system over a complex one. I like Law/Chaos because it fits the notion of being a good guy or bad guy.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;899393Mechanically you could say the toughest armor you can have is Light, and then you could make feats like Quick Shot or Fastest Gun In The West where you get to attack twice if you win initiative or something.

I'd be careful with feats, as they sometimes can take over the game, but there are many 3E feats which you could probably look at for ideas.

Another thing to ponder is a hit dice cap to keep the campaign deadly and keep players on their toes. I think SimonW's Go Fer Yer Gun for C&C uses a 4 HD cap, if I recall correctly, for that exact purpose.

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;899393But I need archetype ideas. What kind of classically western things can you think of?

From left to right:

- The Con artist.
- The Survivor.
- The Gunslinger.
- The Hunter.
- The Thief.
- The Murderer.
- The Veteran/ex-military.
- The Lawman.

Don't forget the common folk:

The Settler - farmer, rancher, fisherman, surveyor, explorer/mapper.
Railroad men - track layers, bridge builders, engineers, conductors, yard workers.
Town folk - barber, banker, carpenter, stable master, hotel keeper, saloon owner, newspaper writer, doctor, undertaker, veterinarian, store owner, tailors.
Women folk - housekeeper, farmer, waitress, nurse, prostitute.
Others - miners, repairmen, wanderers, translators, teachers, carpetbaggers, traveling merchants, sawyers.

Basically, go watch Deadwood and copy from that.

Quote from: Doughdee222;899458Basically, go watch Deadwood and copy from that.

Thing is, that show is an example of how a lot of folks of that era/area were a lot of things... moved back and forth between various sorts of jobs/careers, up and down the ladder of society.
Look at Wyatt Earp (from Wikipedia) "Earp lived a restless life. He was at different times a constable, city policeman, county sheriff, Deputy U.S. Marshal, teamster, buffalo hunter, bouncer, saloon-keeper, gambler, brothel owner, Brothel keeper, miner, and boxing referee."

The freedom to redefine yourself strikes me as one of the big attractions to going out into the frontier.

Or go with just three or four bases, then have the rest defined as backgrounds and proficiencies. Rather than a proliferation of classes. ugh! Please God no!

A Fighter type for the gunslingers and sheriffs, a Thief type for the bandits, a Ranger type for the scouts and trackers. Everything else can be covered via backgrounds. Doctor, Prospector, etc.

Something Ive been tinkering with is a sort of classless "assembly" system for 5e.

I wasn't even really thinking of having classes, per se.

Everyone could just be a commoner with a gun basically. You don't need 50 different variations on it, and it would add to the gritty feel.

You could have classes for big differences like, an indian and a cowboy, but stuff like cowboy vs outlaw could just be a matter of your actions or what other abilities you have if any...

Define your setting better, particularly pay attention to atmosphere, and a lot of this should clear up.

D&D classes were deliberately not a slice of everyday life from the Medieval Ages; its atmosphere took on very specific play assumptions that lead to playable classes. That's why there's no TSR class based on a single baseline CON or CHA prerequisite (as per usual, when in the hand of WotC all sorts of shit got fucked up). The assumed default play was about a level of mobility, exploration, and danger that played to those lives lived on the margins. Only later was the system expanded outward, and it was discovered the chassis was strong enough to handle quite a few new default play variants.

So you got the word Western... now what?
Western where? Canada? Mexico? Argentina? USA?
Western why? What's its frontier life being compared to -- what the hell is the Eastern standard? And why are you leaving supposed civilized comfort for it?
Western how? What slice of Western life is it focusing on? (Dying of starvation and cholera on your frontier homestead?) What atmospheric feel is it?
etc.

Do the hard work after your initial launch point or otherwise this is just flailing.

How do these D&D adaptations deal with the lethality of gunshots? I've played games that have a D&D style damage/AC/hit point mechanic but include guns, and it can lead to some weird dynamics, like anyone with more than 2-3 hit dice can basically ignore it when another person points a gun at them. I just play Boot Hill when I want to get my wild west on, but if I were to try and do a D&D game in this genre I think I would introduce some sort of rule that makes your gunshot damage rise dramatically as you level up (so a high level character can blow off a bunch of mooks with guns, but still has to take it seriously if a dangerous hombre takes a bead on him).

Quote from: Larsdangly;899619How do these D&D adaptations deal with the lethality of gunshots? I've played games that have a D&D style damage/AC/hit point mechanic but include guns, and it can lead to some weird dynamics, like anyone with more than 2-3 hit dice can basically ignore it when another person points a gun at them. I just play Boot Hill when I want to get my wild west on, but if I were to try and do a D&D game in this genre I think I would introduce some sort of rule that makes your gunshot damage rise dramatically as you level up (so a high level character can blow off a bunch of mooks with guns, but still has to take it seriously if a dangerous hombre takes a bead on him).

AD&D) Switch Point Blank, Sniiper, Dead to Rights, shots to Save vs. Death.

D&D 5e) Use Death Saves per landed shot. Convert those shots after medical treatment and Long Rest into Exhaustion levels.

Done.

(Also, bullets are a lot more variable in their killing power than our popular imagination has accorded. For example, bolt action rifles should be more terrifying from a penetration standpoint, but pistols often take more than a shot or two to kill a man. At some point HP works well enough for the vaguaries of such results.)