Western / Steampunk Hero Idea Bouncing: "Bone Falls"

[Agent X]

I dunno, even if you wanted the tribes, you could say that the Chinese Traders did come and the natives learned much from them. Suddenly you get different tribes using their version of "War Arts" to kick butt barehanded and do all sorts of funky things. Or, they acquired Gunpower and were actually expert gunsmiths before the Euros showed up, which would be quite the shock for the Euros! This time the Indians have the bigger guns!

Rob

I'd probably go with actual Chinese with martial arts skills and guns which weren't quite as good as the Spanish. If there were Chinese colonies in America, the Native American population would have dwindled from exposure to all those nasty Old World diseases. Of course, in a fictional world, the Native Americans could be more resistant. And the Chinese would likely be less enthused than Europeans with colonization anyway.

[UltraRob]

I'd probably go with actual Chinese with martial arts skills and guns which weren't quite as good as the Spanish. If there were Chinese colonies in America, the Native American population would have dwindled from exposure to all those nasty Old World diseases. Of course, in a fictional world, the Native Americans could be more resistant. And the Chinese would likely be less enthused than Europeans with colonization anyway.

Which is where you get the Native Americans being used as pawns in a kind of "cold war" between the two coastal powers. Or, as an alternative, they could be the ones using the Euros and Chinese! I could see the Chinese backing the Natives as a way to deal with the Euros, but then again they could be cautious enough to not want to risk arming the natives when the natives could turn those arms against them.

Hmm, as you point out, the Spanish would be players in this game too...A 4th side (5th if you count the French up in Canada)...This fictional North America is getting pretty crowded!

Rob

[BlackSword]

Which is where you get the Native Americans being used as pawns in a kind of "cold war" between the two coastal powers. Or, as an alternative, they could be the ones using the Euros and Chinese! I could see the Chinese backing the Natives as a way to deal with the Euros, but then again they could be cautious enough to not want to risk arming the natives when the natives could turn those arms against them.

Well, its not like there was one big happy, peaceful native population in the Americas before the Europeans showed up. Likely the various warring tribes would be using the Euro and Asian powers to their own ends as well. Also as the tribes got squeezed on both sides (Chinese on the west, Euros on the south and east) tensions and fighting would be escalated in the plain states.

I throw in my recommendation for Deadlands too. I have been reading "Ghost Dancers" the book about native americans. In Deadlands setting, Native Americans are divided into two large nations with many of the smaller tribes being dislocated and tensions are high.