To start, yes, i know there is one already in AFMBE with singing cowboys.

And i like Unisystem enough but would like to have an alternative to present to the players. I dont want to use zombies in my games cause im dad tired of them. What i envision is more like the movie segment ''The Ballad of Buster Scruggs'' where a singing cowboy gets dropped into a spagetti western setting demonstrating how he really dosent fit in it, unless as a violent psychopath whose actions are grusomly funny. In my games i would like to present the players with the Weird West(no, not Deadlands either) where people are truly oddballs, the plots are bizarre and the world is just plain weird. A singing cowboy group would fit in there.

So to sum up, does anybody have an inkling what would be appropriate?

For Buster Scruggs?  Toon maybe?  I mean, sure you could build that in GURPS or Hero.  There was a Rolemaster Second Edition western supplement.  I'm betting a 50th level Bard might play like that.  Risus would do well for the theme of the new kid in town being one step better.

Toon is inherently silly, thou i love that about it:) Dosent seem a good fit for the uberviolence unless i gm for the players who are into that. The group i want to lead are 40+ guys who are no longer into silly stuff, maybe a bit but not that much. They are much more into the uberviolnce and the setting. Im not familiar with Rolemaster sadly. GURPS.. hmm maybe. That system can do pretty much anything. Hero i dont know, i have only passing knowledge about Risus. Seems i have to do some reading.

Rolemaster might be a surprisingly good fit, IMO, with sometimes wacky and over-the-top critical results/failures/etc. GURPS or BRP might work, too.

I was also inspired by Jonah Hex comics, and mostly the over the top gunplay from multiple sources, like balancing an egg on the gun for practice, bullet curving, shooting a whole barrage of guns in a hurricane of moves and the inhuman speed Buster exhibited. Each cowboy would have a speciality fueled by singing. I doubt making the players sing would be fun ofc, but them describing the song is a possibility.

Quote from: Warder;1128721I doubt making the players sing would be fun ofc, but them describing the song is a possibility.

Nawwwww, you gotta sing for you superpower! Find your gravely inner Jack Elam and let it shine!

Alternately, how would you model singing cowboys in Boot Hill?

I'd go with RISUS. The characters are going to be all about their roleplay, not minutiae about stats and skills or making 5 foot moves in combat.

Though part of me wants to recommend Hong Kong Action Theater because I could see the Singing Cowboy Weirdness crossing over with Kung Fu Hustle.

Suggestions... Just about any mentioned in the Zorro thread.

TSR's Marvel Superheroes: It can most definitely handle a western setting and musical themed heroes.

Boot Hill: Especially later editions that added non-combat skills.

Werewolf: Wild West: Weird, but it can do it.

and several others. Such as the wild west themed Call of Cthulhu book.

But MSH would be my go-to for that sort of theme. Especially if you are trying to emulate the sorts from the old serials like Phantom Empire, or the various movies.

Seems like Dogs in the Vineyard could work well, though you'd need to make some pretty severe alterations in the premise and setting.

Oddly enough, Traveller 4 paired with Cowboys and Xenomorphs. Traveller 4 has Perform as a skill and Entertainer as a profession in it. Cowboys and Xenomorphs does a pretty good job of giving you the bare bones of the American West in a Traveller compatible format.

Deadlands (Savage Worlds) could do it. Hell, there's a lot of silly stuff in there already, you could build a whole Arcane Background off of "the Singing Cowboy" schtick... complete with insane accuracy, effects, bullet-time, God-mode trick shooting, etc.

Now hold on a second. What if you used a hacked *Pun intended* together combination of Hackmaster 5e and Aces and Eights 2e? You could mix the games together pretty easily. Though the realism dials might be set a little too high.