Western Hero 6th edition

[MrAgdesh]

On 11/30/2020 at 2:43 AM, Duke Bushido said:

Let's go with Conan wenching his way across the continent.

 

“Conan, what is best in life?”

”To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their Non-Binary Gender Identifying Civil Partners”

 

21st Century Conan. 

[HeroGM]

To help get folks in the mood....

[Christopher R Taylor]

I used the penultimate scene from Unforgiven to illustrate presence attacks

[JmOz]

Out of curiosity, did you cover weird West and Western Champions (Super heroes in the old west ala Lone Ranger and Zorro)

[Christopher R Taylor]

Briefly, in a section on variant types of campaigns, yeah.  My favorite Western superhero is the original Ghost Rider

 

[HeroGM]

I need to get the New 52 All-Star Western. Jonah Hex in Gotham City.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Please be patient, Western Hero is still on its way, its just being edited and cleaned up to make sure its as good as we can make it.  I hoped it could be out before Christmas but it looks like it will be next year.  I hope to have a cover reveal soon.

[Spence]

3 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

Please be patient, Western Hero is still on its way, its just being edited and cleaned up to make sure its as good as we can make it.  I hoped it could be out before Christmas but it looks like it will be next year.  I hope to have a cover reveal soon.

Much appreciated. 

I would much rather see it when it meets your approval, than see it rushed.

 

I can buy my copy in '21 just as easily as in '20. 

 

[Christopher R Taylor]

This is an example of something I wanted to tweak in the book.  I was using Matt Forbeck's map because I could not for the longest time find any remotely period map of Deadwood.  Then I stumbled across this one, and comparing it with the satellite maps, its really accurate.  It has some modern stuff which I deleted, but now I can build a proper map.

 

 

[shadowcat1313]

coming in to this way late, has anybody else tinkered with the Desperado skirmish rules set? or the newer Gunfighters Ball set?

one bit of trivia... the first Train robbery didnt take place out west... it was near Chesterton Indiana, and the first train robbers were John and Simeon Reno

as far as fantasy old west goes, you might look at the stories of Mad Amos Malone by Alan Dean Foster

Knuckleduster has some really nice minatures jf nothing else https://www.knuckleduster.com/shop/

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by shadowcat1313
added URL

[Korgoth]

On 11/29/2020 at 8:01 PM, Hedgehobbit said:

 

It isn't "modern legalism" as it's a central part of many old episodes of Gunsmoke such as S1E28 The Killer (with Charles Bronson). And I'm not suggesting it for realism, but to add a psychological element to gun fights; do you draw first and risk being an outlaw or wait until the other guy draws and possibly end up dead? Or do you take insults from a gunfighter or risk your life drawing on him? Anything to make a showdown something other than just a contest of who can roll the best dice. 

To me that's a big part of "Westerns" (and by extension Western RPG's). That is the "Duel in the main street of town at High Noon".  Whomever draws first is the aggressor (be they the White Hat or the Black Hat) and the one who draw's second is acting in self defense. At least if there are witnesses (Towns folk) who'll vouch for the Hero if he didn't draw first, but was faster than the Villain. 

 

To me it's one thing that's been missing from all the Western RPG's I've looked at, though that's by no means an exhaustive list. A "Stare-down/Flintch first" system where the Player and the Villian have to play a game of chicken and make the other one flinch and draw their gun first, thus making themselves acting in self defense, and safe from prosecution by the law. 

 

I'd like to see some sort of "Grit" stat (not sure what I'd use in HERO for that? Presence? EGO?) on which each part in the duel has to roll against their "Grit" and if they fail they draw their gun. Each round they succeed the next round is at a cumulative -1 to simulate the building tension till one of the parties snaps and goes for their gun. 

 

Now

 

As for gunfights when no ones is watching, well... anything goes pard'ner.

Edited December 31, 2020 by Gwarh
Added EGO for a "Grit" substitute/analogue stat.

[Ninja-Bear]

@GwarhI believe (and I’ll check when I get a minute) that one of the Martial Artists books has a stare down rule. You know samurai fights? 

[HeroGM]

@Christopher R Taylor

 

About what is the cost so I know to save my ¢ and $?

[Korgoth]

4 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

@GwarhI believe (and I’ll check when I get a minute) that one of the Martial Artists books has a stare down rule. You know samurai fights? 

I never thought of that! but that is EXACTLY the same sort of thing isn't it. For Samurai it's an "honor/test of skill" thing I think, not flinching first. Thanks for mentioning that. 

 

If you find that bit please post the book and page number as I own most of the 4th, 5th, and 6th edition books. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

I have no idea what Hero will charge, my guess is equivalent to existing print books like Golden Age of Champions.  I know it will be available in print and pdf

[HeroGM]

Bat Lash by Walter Simonson

Just now, HeroGM said:

Bat Lash by Walter Simonson

 

Players come across a cursed coin from colonial Spain? Or even (gasp) one of the 30 pieces of silver that's been recast as an american dollar?

[Ninja-Bear]

21 hours ago, Gwarh said:

I never thought of that! but that is EXACTLY the same sort of thing isn't it. For Samurai it's an "honor/test of skill" thing I think, not flinching first. Thanks for mentioning that. 

 

If you find that bit please post the book and page number as I own most of the 4th, 5th, and 6th edition books. 

Look at Ninja Hero 5th Ed pg 55 Staredown Rules.

[Korgoth]

8 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Look at Ninja Hero 5th Ed pg 55 Staredown Rules.

Awesome, thanks for looking that up Kuma Shinobi.

 

In reading the rules for "Staredowns" I really like them, but... for Melee Combats. 

 

In Westerns sometimes it's the Town Drunk, or a Simple Farmer that stands up to Black Bart and shows that he has true courage. So that sort of Hero I don't envisage having much Presence above 10 if any, heck maybe even lower than 10. Also a Bully/Villain could have a High Presence, rep as a "Bad Man" but in actuality when he's alone without his gang backing him up he may be a coward deep down.

 

I guess the real question is...

 

What do you all reading this think. Do you consider the HERO "Presence" stat as encompassing more than just a character's/npc'c reputation and fame/notoriousness? Does it also encompass courage?

[Duke Bushido]

       

 

Careful there, Son....

 

If we have too many more discussions about PRE, it's going to disappear in the next edition and become "Startling Appearance" or some such nonsense. 

 

 

Seriously, though:  all the reasons you stated in your Farmer vs Bad Guy argument?

 

Those are the reasons I allow EGO (force of will) to defend against Presence Attacks.

 

 

However--

 

and man, I really hate reaching back to this thing over and over, but not only was it our most successful "western" game, it was the longest-running of all of our non-supers stuff (I will happily run supers; I will happily play supers.  I would _rather_ run or play pretty much anything else.  Such is life.    ) except for the space opera, and even that is only "long running" because we keep playing in the same universe, same characters and stories or not.

 

Anyway, during our occult western game, I had cobbled up an ability (when 4e came out-- about mid-way through our western campaign, I took to calling it a "Talent") called Strength of Conviction.  Essentially, it allowed you to make a modified EGO roll.  If you succeeded, then you could add the higher of the amount by which you succeeded to your EGO (again: I defend PRE attacks with EGO, not with PRE.  For "normal" use, you'd add it to your PRE) _or_ the value of any relevant Psych Lim you had on your sheet that might be triggered by the situation.  For example, a strong code of ethics might be listed as a disadvantage on your character sheet.  Not the value of the whole thing, mind you, but the value of the "results in this kind of action" part of that limitation.  If you only had 5 points of that section (say, "well, I'll be unhappy, but I'll go along with it"), then you could add the higher of the Conviction roll's success or that 5 points.  If you had the 15-point "I will kill everyone in this room over this!" level of reaction, then you could add the higher of the Conviction Roll's success or the 15 points for that (odds are, it was going to be that 15).

 

Okay, before everyone breaks out into "But Disadvantages can't be advantageous!" complaint, let me get in a couple of comments:

 

First, we had that discussion here a few years ago, and we accepted (some more grudgingly than others) that within limited bands, it is conceivable that they work to some advantage.

 

Second: an untrained farmer whose strength of conviction has encouraged him to stand fast before Lightning McFastdraw, Killer of a Hundred Men, is hardly doing something "advantageous."

 

Third: failing the save v psych lim is going to put him doing something stupid anyway.  This Talent simply let him channel and control that stupid into something other people might consider brave.  This was simply buying the ability to voluntarily trigger a psych lim.  For all the arguing and protesting that can come out of the idea, I'd have to say that politics and the public the last couple of years have demonstrated this actually far more common-- and likely less-expensive-- than I actually priced it.

 

Fourth:

 

Let he who has _never_ taken a Berserk or Enraged with the idea tickling the back of his mind that it might somehow prove "accidentally" useful cast the first stone.

 

 

 

 

[Spence]

4 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

Let he who has _never_ taken a Berserk or Enraged with the idea tickling the back of his mind that it might somehow prove "accidentally" useful cast the first stone.

 

[SCUBA Hero]

On 12/30/2020 at 11:40 PM, Gwarh said:

I'd like to see some sort of "Grit" stat (not sure what I'd use in HERO for that? Presence? EGO?) on which each part in the duel has to roll against their "Grit" and if they fail they draw their gun. Each round they succeed the next round is at a cumulative -1 to simulate the building tension till one of the parties snaps and goes for their gun.

 

I'd use Presence vs. Ego for this.  Presence is intimidating the other party; Ego is keeping your cool and not drawing first.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I can now proudly announce that

Western Hero: Rough and Ready Roleplaying is available and on the shelf, in pdf

 

and print on demand on drive thru RPG!

 

Get your cowboy on!  Or Native American warrior.  Or gambler.  What have you.

[archer]

Save a horse, ride a cowboy.

[Ninja-Bear]

You got to know when to hold them and know when to fold ‘em. know when to walk away and know when to run.

[Chris Goodwin]

Just ordered it in PDF and POD from DrivethruRPG!