Listening to some music today got me imagining doing a Deadlands or Spellslinger campaign set in a fantasy version of Mexico in the late 19th/early 20th century; with Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa running around fighting the government, peasants, deserts, and mariachi music, and gunslinging outlaws in the Butch & Sundance style hiding out from the law on the southern side of the Rio Grande.

If I run either of those games, I think that's what I would do with it.  
With Deadlands, it could have all kinds of Mexican "dia de los muertos"/santeria-style folklore thrown in there.
If it was Spellslinger it could have full-on Orc-filled Mayan ruins to the south, a Dwarven Silver Mine, and crazy spellslinging pre-Vatican II catholic priests!
Not to mention the morningstar-wielding attack Nuns.

Anything else to add for it?

RPGPundit

Borrow liberally from Cormack McCarthy's Blood Meridian.  It would make the game darker, but marauding bands of 'Mericans hunting down Apache and cashing in scalps for government bounties would fit.

For Deadlands:

There's still plenty of opportunity for mayan craziness.  Consider the idea of undead mayan warriors waging war against mexican villages, and only Poncho Villa can hold them off with his rag-tag army!

The Catholic Church could send missionaries to recover the lost bible of Hernan Cortez, some of which could be Blessed PCs.  Little do they know that the bible is hidden in a secret cache of cursed Aztec treasure!

etc.

Oooh, neato. This might be the perfect sequel to my own Spellslinger game. For sheer parody value, I'd go for that, as just mixing fantasy races with all the stereotypes is a treasure chest of amusement.

For a more gritty Deadlands style, "Shaun of the Dead" meets "Desperado" sounds about right.

Whatever you play, don't dare to forget Bunny Wigglesworth!

I would add "The Legend of The Crystal Skull" as sub-plot.  I always liked the idea of an artifact found that the civilization shouldn't have been able to create.

BobManGM

Don't forget the gringos.

Secret conspiracies both pro and anti American. Mercantile corruption leading to spiritual, that sort of thing. A lot of U. S. corporations in early 20th century Mexico acted like corporations are supposed to in cyberpunk games. Hell, United Fruit was treating a number of Central American countres as fiefdoms, and the governments as estate managers.

At one time in the Mexican Revolution a battalion of Federal troops fled into U.S. territory in order to avoid slaughter by Mexican rebels. They were interned in San Diego County, and were a source of controversy for years afterward. Most were later repatriated to Mexico, but a few choose to stay and eventually became American citizens.

For that touch of horror/comedy, a From Dusk Till' Dawn vibe would do nicely

Regards,
David R

Tacos.  Tacos, tamales, carnitas, pancita, flautas, chalupas, pozole, atole, quesadillas, sincronizadas, pambazos, enchiladas, enchiladas suizas, albondigas, milanesas, tortas, mole con pollo...

...

...those are all foods.

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!Tacos.  Tacos, tamales, carnitas, pancita, flautas, chalupas, pozole, atole, quesadillas, sincronizadas, pambazos, enchiladas, enchiladas suizas, albondigas, milanesas, tortas, mole con pollo...

...

...those are all foods.

Muy delicious.

Folks around here make carnitas by marinating the meat in coca cola.  o.o

Damnit, now I want carne asada.

While not strictly Southwestern/Mexican, a wandering Man With No Name spirit of vengeance, who roams the plains dispensing justice one bullet at a time, is pretty much de riguer for any spooky Western game I run.

Or maybe you could throw in the tattered remnants of a Confederate cavalry unit, who drifted south of the border after their gutless leaders threw in the towel at the end of the War of Northern Aggression. They sit in a dusty cantina all day, bickering and planning for the day when the South shall rise again, and they'll storm northwards across the border at the head of an army of mercenaries, brigands, cutthroats... and stranger things.

...to include "the donkey show".  Because it just ain't Tijuana without it.

    Bonus points for involving the party's elf in it.  

Andrew

Lots of cool ideas there, guys.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Samarkand...to include "the donkey show".  Because it just ain't Tijuana without it.

    Bonus points for involving the party's elf in it.  

Andrew

Never thought I'd ever want to rescue the donkey.

I may have missed it if someone had posted it, however there was a supplement for DL:C called South of the Border. Just what your looking for.