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Western Sandbox - Ideas?

Started by mcbobbo, November 30, 2013, 02:10:41 PM

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3rik

#15
December 02, 2013, 03:57:58 PM
I'm still planning a western game set to start in a Montana mining town in 1867, using Coyote Trail. I have the compatible Knuckleduster Firearms Shop which lists a number of weapons by year of manufacture with stats for Fudge and notes on how to convert these to other systems.
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"It\'s said that governments are chiefed by the double tongues" - Ten Bears (The Outlaw Josey Wales)
@RPGbericht

mcbobbo

#16
December 02, 2013, 05:52:17 PM
It seems the Henry and similar lever guns were pretty readily available during the time period, so I won't have much to worry about. 20 rounds a minute works out pretty well in RPG combat terms.
"It is the mark of an [intelligent] mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

Elfdart

#17
December 02, 2013, 06:45:30 PM
I played in one years ago where we used Phoenix Command for the shoot-outs. Everything else was done using shared knowledge of westerns (it helps that we were all from Texas and New Mexico and grew up on cowboy movies) or just making it up.

By the way, it's pointless trying to create a sandbox for the Old West since the Old West IS your sandbox. I suppose you could run a mini-campaign around a particular spot and still have more material to work with than you'll ever need. The late, great Elmore Leonard wrote three classics centered on the desert scrub between Bisbee and Contention, Arizona: The Tall T, 3:10 to Yuma (the original, not that Russell Crowe bullshit!) and Hombre.

Just pick several westerns you like and start cribbing from them!
Jesus Fucking Christ, is this guy honestly that goddamned stupid? He can\'t understand the plot of a Star Wars film? We\'re not talking about "Rashomon" here, for fuck\'s sake. The plot is as linear as they come. If anything, the film tries too hard to fill in all the gaps. This guy must be a flaming retard.  --Mike Wong on Red Letter Moron\'s review of The Phantom Menace

TristramEvans

#18
December 03, 2013, 03:11:17 AM Last Edit: December 03, 2013, 03:15:10 AM by TristramEvans
Quote from: mcbobbo;712482Passing the time on the drive home I asked the boy what he would like to play if we could do anything in the world.  He surprised me by suggesting the Wild West.  So I think we'll go for it, at least for a session or two.  I think we'll do a sandbox along the lines of Red Dead Redemption,  which is where I suspect he got the inspiration.  Later I plan to sit him down for some key cinema,  like maybe True Grit.

So, while I'm on the road,  has anyone done this lately?  What worked and what didn't?  Any suggestions?

Ride Lonesome. The best western ever filmed and so manly it makes John Wayne look like Zach Braff.

As for the game, my suggestions are:

Give the horses distinct personalities
Snake encounters-rattlesnakes, cotton mouths, etc.
Riverboat casinos
The soundtrack to Deadman

TristramEvans

#19
December 03, 2013, 03:18:57 AM
Quote from: Elfdart;712840I played in one years ago where we used Phoenix Command for the shoot-outs.


mcbobbo

#20
December 03, 2013, 05:26:06 AM
Ooh, I should add a 'horse personally table' to my list...

I was definitely already planning to do an animal encounter one, but hadn't thought of snakes yet.

As for the 'make it up as you go', yeah sure I will wind up doing that, but I like to deceive myself through over-preparing.  Plus I can recycle my own stuff so long as I keep good notes.
"It is the mark of an [intelligent] mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

mcbobbo

#21
December 03, 2013, 12:54:55 PM
Quote from: Sacrosanct;712746That's pretty much exactly how I did the sample campaign setting in Westwater.  (It's a B/X clone, and free BTW).  There's actually 3 suggested campaigns:

* 1840s (era of expansion)
* 1870s (era of outlaws)
* 1870 fantasy (era of outlaws...with dragons!)

Nice work, sir.  Your price list strikes me as a bit on the high side, but I am having trouble nailing that down myself.  I did find a source listing the Henry at $42, which is a fair bit lower than $65, back in that day anyway.
"It is the mark of an [intelligent] mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

Sacrosanct

#22
December 03, 2013, 03:47:12 PM
Quote from: mcbobbo;712990Nice work, sir.  Your price list strikes me as a bit on the high side, but I am having trouble nailing that down myself.  I did find a source listing the Henry at $42, which is a fair bit lower than $65, back in that day anyway.

Took me a while to figure out what you meant by price list.  I was like, "Huh?  It's a free download if you want it."

Then I realized you were talking about in game prices lol.  I don't have the links handy, but I do know I looked into a lot of different sites that had prices listed.  Problem is that it varied widely even from 1850 to 1875, and especially by area (boom towns were much more expensive for example).  But I went with numbers that are overall pretty good, I think.
D&D is not an "everyone gets a ribbon" game.  If you\'re stupid, your PC will die.  If you\'re an asshole, your PC will die (probably from the other PCs).  If you\'re unlucky, your PC may die.  Point?  PC\'s die.  Get over it and roll up a new one.

mcbobbo

#23
December 03, 2013, 04:43:28 PM
Yeah, sorry.  In-game.  I hope to work up a decent-sized list that I suppose I'll just post here.
"It is the mark of an [intelligent] mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

mcbobbo

#24
December 03, 2013, 08:07:01 PM
Found a solid-looking resource here - http://d_little.tripod.com/Games/Western/wildwest.htm
"It is the mark of an [intelligent] mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

Elfdart

#25
December 03, 2013, 10:32:35 PM
Quote from: TristramEvans;712928...

I'm serious. Phoenix Command had a Wild West expansion set that covered pretty much every weapon used in the 19th Century. Another expansion includes animals (bears, horses, etc). With the super slow-motion way the game handles combat (each turn is a half-second) it's like acting out your very own Sam Peckinpah movie!

Good call on Ride Lonesome, but then you can't go wrong with Randolph Scott.
Jesus Fucking Christ, is this guy honestly that goddamned stupid? He can\'t understand the plot of a Star Wars film? We\'re not talking about "Rashomon" here, for fuck\'s sake. The plot is as linear as they come. If anything, the film tries too hard to fill in all the gaps. This guy must be a flaming retard.  --Mike Wong on Red Letter Moron\'s review of The Phantom Menace

Sacrosanct

#26
December 03, 2013, 10:47:55 PM
Quote from: mcbobbo;713100Found a solid-looking resource here - http://d_little.tripod.com/Games/Western/wildwest.htm

Lots of info, but from another RPG source.  When I was doing mine, I would go to sites like this, or this site

In fact, I wish I would have found the latter when I was doing the game, because it looks very detailed.
D&D is not an "everyone gets a ribbon" game.  If you\'re stupid, your PC will die.  If you\'re an asshole, your PC will die (probably from the other PCs).  If you\'re unlucky, your PC may die.  Point?  PC\'s die.  Get over it and roll up a new one.

Spinachcat

#27
December 04, 2013, 03:08:00 AM
I ran Sixguns & Sorcery (D&D / Boothill mashup) in the 90s at various conventions year after year, aka Shadowrun: the Western and the players really enjoyed it. Never could get a home crew to do it unfortunately.

Soylent Green

#28
December 04, 2013, 03:42:54 AM
One thing I notice is that in many of the best western, the escalation of violence is very gradual. It might start with a warning, followed by a beating. Then someone sets a barn on fire in response, accidentally kills someone which triggers a retaliation kill and it just snowballs from there.

I may be wrong, but I don't think slow escalation of violence is something roleplayers do.
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mcbobbo

#29
December 04, 2013, 08:53:08 AM Last Edit: December 04, 2013, 09:04:22 AM by mcbobbo
Quote from: Soylent Green;713156One thing I notice is that in many of the best western, the escalation of violence is very gradual. It might start with a warning, followed by a beating. Then someone sets a barn on fire in response, accidentally kills someone which triggers a retaliation kill and it just snowballs from there.

I may be wrong, but I don't think slow escalation of violence is something roleplayers do.

One of the best summaries of the genre compared frontier justice with the knights of old.  Basically the white hats were proto-Jedi.  I think it can be made to work, but it might make sense to write down the 'code of the West' and make sure everyone knows that's how we intend to play.

For my purposes, I can file the serial numbers off the light side/dark side system from WEG.

But what to call it?  Honor / ???

Edit: Just thought of it - 'Outlaw' was the negative word.  'Desperado'.  But those are nouns...  still thinking.
"It is the mark of an [intelligent] mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
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