Interesting question, since I've thought about running an old west campaign. Looked into several systems, and really couldn't settle on one, so I am tacking on a poker hand addendum to the Black Hack chassis, with decks of cards basically being game currency that can be spent for various actions and perks. The higher the character level, the more cards you have to work with per session. You deal yourself a hand, and can use cards for on-the-spot bonuses and such, and/or create a "meld" from your hand that gives you session bonuses. In short, you can have some perma-+'s to stats (which BH uses for task resolution), and save some cards for specific situations (which, I anticipate, most players will do). Enemies have a deck, as well, which can give them some bonuses that can make them pretty dangerous, so it pays to keep some cards back to force enemy discards. I haven't playtested it, yet, so it could be a mess, for all I know.

As far as what's out there, I liked something called "Shotguns & Saddles," which is likely what I'd use, since I'm unsure of my little poker addendum. Not sure I'll ever run an old west campaign, though, since, in researching all this stuff, it occurred to me I can ape the feel of the setting using our fantasy campaign, since it has black powder firearms in it, as well as (expensive) custom, Gnomish crossbows that can serve as firearms that work like six-shooters and rifles...sort of...

Coyote Trail is my go to, but hell - you all know the gap between my tastes and yours! I love it though.

I've only played a couple of westerns.
I played a sort of Horror Western called "Dogs in the Vineyard".
It had a very abstract story based type dice rolling mechanism, which I generally don't like, but the GM knew the genre and rules set very well, so I had a lot of fun.
Very heavy on the RP and it was a lot of fun.

Anyway, I had a good experience with that, although I think you need to be really in the mood for that type of RP and you need a flexible GM.

Quote from: Omega;1017360Western Hero: Using the Hero system.

I picked this up for $1, and it's a hidden gem. The Speed Chart (which I'm usually not a fan of) really sings for Wetsern style shootouts. The split between Stun and Body is excellent for fists vs. bullets. And you need not worry about powers, which is where 90% of Hero's complexity comes in.  As an added plus, the campaign setting is Deadwood, and was done before the TV show. There's some nice historical (?) bits in there with the Earps and Teddy Rooselvelt. And the NPC roster in the appendix is fun, to see who really was the fastest gun in the West. I can't recall if it was Wild Bill or The Sundance Kid.  

But my favorite Western RPG is Sidewinder D20. It takes the D20 Modern chassis and adds roles like the gambler, the lawman, the rancher, the scout, the bounty hunter, etc. all with feats to make them shine.

I played boot hill a little bit in the early 1980s, but my recollection of any specifics is poor. I've tried to track down a copy of any edition in more recent times, but they are ridiculously priced often $100+. It seemed like a decent enough rules system for the genre. I do remember we ran an "all star" game where all the PCs were real and fictional gun slingers using stats from an issue Dragon Magazine. It doesn't seem to me it handled heroic style play very well as we were disgusted when Clint's Man with no name went down with an arrow in the chest from a mook during a throw away random encounter.

Western HERO was a good effort, one of the better supplements from late in the ICE period. They added rules for showdowns which worked fairly well. They incorporated physical quick draw skills with the Presence stat so a character could gain an advantage through bluff, bluster and intimidation as well as actual quickness. They would work well enough for pure Presence attack in a scene like this -

[video=youtube;IFrYus7gesA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFrYus7gesA[/youtube]

as well as for a more traditional quick draw in the street.

I'd use Western Hero for a more substantial campaign, but I'd probably like something a bit less wordy for more of a shoot'em up style game.

 

Quote from: Dumarest;1017410Civil War stalemate,  Mormons have a country,  Mexico owns half of California, Indians  get Oklahoma, and other things like that. Seems rather pointless to me as real history is much more interesting.

The shot clock is really cool but otherwise it's way too heavy on rules for me. I prefer Boot Hill plus judicious rulings.

I don't get the frequent emphasis on alternate history in more recent Western Genre games either. It is a period full of juicy stuff, you've got the more civilized East, the real and imagined "wild" west, and some pretty interesting events outside the US as well to break things up. Pre-ACW, during the ACW, post-ACW, and the very late period post 1900 with some modern technology semi-autos, machineguns, cars, maybe even the occasional airplane.

Quote from: Toadmaster;1017459... we were disgusted when Clint's Man with no name went down with an arrow in the chest from a mook during a throw away random encounter.

Meanwhile for some of us that is the glory and raison d'être of Boot Hill.

And as noted in a simmilar thread last year.

Id like to adapt Albedo's system to a western. Streamline chargen and remove the SF and modern warfare tech and go fourth.

I want Sine Nomine to do a western.

Quote from: quozl;1017480I want Sine Nomine to do a western.

Well, Stars w/o Number is cool so I'd probably give it a go.

In the back of my mind I think (classic) Traveller could be turned into a Western if I really wanted to try it.

With people wanting to do a Western themed game with various non-Western rulesets I am constantly reminded of Firefly/the TV series/Serenity the movie..

Quote from: RPGPundit;1017340Which game do you like most for running a campaign set in the Wild West?

This question was asked before. My answer is still Cowboys vs Xenomorphs.

Far East

oh wait...

To be honest, I haven't played a strict "western" RPG since the original Boot Hill. And that was so long ago it doesn't count. I have played the shit out of Deadlands and loved it. But I'd love to do a straight up western without magic. I'll have to put that on the list somewhere.

Quote from: Dumarest;1017461Meanwhile for some of us that is the glory and raison d'être of Boot Hill.

Wasn't meant as a condemnation of Boothill, just my reaction when I was like 12. We expected Clint to be 9 feet tall and bullet proof, like a 20th level fighter in D&D. I'm guessing the game doesn't work that way.

Assuming the game is best for fairly realistic settings where combat is very dangerous, probably less suited to cinematic play styles.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1017508This question was asked before. My answer is still Cowboys vs Xenomorphs.

This makes me realize that the wild west is probably the one genre that hasn't been Cthulhu'd yet. Hmmm, Cthulhu and Six guns yeah, I'd probably buy that.

Phoenix Command with the Wild West sourcebook.