Sidewinder: Recoiled
Publisher:
Dog House Rules
Authors: Bradley W. Hindman, Geoff Spakes, Christopher Warner, Eric A. Burns, Thomas L. Gregory
PDF Price: $16.50
POD Price: $37.50 ($29.50 if you buy the PDF first)
Pages: 292 excluding cover pages
Sidewinder: Recoiled (Recoiled) follows in the footsteps of Sidewinder: Wild West Adventures (WWA), which was published by Citizen Games. It is more than just a sequel or second printing however, as the original Sidewinder used the regular d20 rules, while Recoiled uses d20 Modern. Any time you try and update an existing product and switch to a different (although similar) rule set, there will be challenges. In this case, the Dog House Rules gang have taken on a particularly tough act to follow, as Sidewinder: WWA was nominated in the ENnies as best d20 game. It certainly helps that several authors of WWA have been principle contributors to Recoiled. In addition to telling you about Recoiled in this review, I'll also try and give you an idea how it compares to WWA, for those who own that.
I've always been a fan of role playing in the Old West, and have been playing Sidewinder: WWA since it came out. In that time, I've conversed with the some of the Sidewinder authors via email and message boards. I had planned to input Recoiled into Campaign Suite X (CSX) by Twin Rose Software, to make creating characters for Recoiled easier. Some folks at Dog House Rules also use this program, so at their request this data set will be available free of charge for those who use CSX. (Here comes the full disclosure part) Although I volunteered to create this CSX data, the Dog House Rules gang sent me a complimentary copy of the PDF for Recoiled as a thank you, and listed me in the credits. However, I'll be buying the Print on Demand (POD) book with my own cash once it is available (apparently a few weeks after the PDF release).
One key decision the authors made was to incorporate the d20 Modern SRD in Recoiled. For someone like me who does not own the d20 Modern rulebook, this is great as Recoiled is everything I need to play. For those who do own d20 Modern, there will be some repeating of material. However, according to a note in Recoiled they have incorporated all errata and have modified classes, feats and skills to match the western genre. In addition, there are a number of new classes, feats and skills that have been added that will be discussed below.
Overall Impressions:
The layout for Recoiled is very well done. The set up is logical and easy to read. There is a western flavor throughout the book that makes it an enjoyable read. In general, the book looks good and reads well. This is an improvement on Sidewinder: WWA, which had some confusing layout issues.
Dog House Rules has brought back the interesting and effective devise of having W.B. 'Bat' Masterson join their writing crew, as was done in WWA. Fans of the Old West will recognize that 'Bat' Masterson is one of the more famous lawmen and gunfighters of the era, and so must be accounted an expert on the subject. (The fact that he died long ago, of course, has no bearing on his expertise.) Just as in WWA, I found Bat's historical information to be highly entertaining and enlightening. Many of Bat's comments are drawn from a book he really wrote, titled Famous Gunfighters of the Western Frontier, and so have an authentic ring to them. Any comments from 'Bat' are in a shaded box, so they are easily distinguishable.
The beginning of each chapter tells part of the Gunter gang as they try and "liberate" a payroll from a train. The characters use many skills and abilities as they work through various situations, and you can find them throughout the book being used as examples of how the game mechanics work. These examples are very useful, as they explain how to use some of the trickier skills and feats in a game.
Artwork:
I'm no art major, but it seems to me the cover art does a nice job of acknowledging its Sidewinder: WWA roots while letting you know this is a new product. The interior art-work is all black & white. Some are simple line drawings, while others have more detail and shading. They are not as crisp as I would like, however when I asked about that I was told they intentionally reduced the resolution for the PDF to keep the file size down. The Print on Demand version should have sharper art work. There is header and footer art on each page that keeps the western flavor. I enjoyed the footer artwork especially, with its guns, knives, poker chips, etc. It might have been nice to have an ink friendly version of the PDF available without the header and footer artwork, but I don't think there is one. However, the bottom line is this is not a book you're buying to look at the pictures.
Chapter 1: Introduction:
This chapter gives a very good introduction of life in the Old West. 'Bat' has many interesting stories to tell regarding the Code of the West and the common professions that can be found there.
If you own WWA, you will find a lot of material repeated here. However, they have added some new text and have cleaned things up so it flows better when you're reading. I found myself enjoying this section all over again, as I hadn't this chapter in WWA in quite a long time.
Chapter 2: Characters
This chapter has the basic d20 Modern character classes (Fast Hero, Tough Hero, etc). They are essentially the same as you will find in the SRD, however they have been edited to match the western genre. For instance, Computer Use has been removed from class skill lists and replaced with something more appropriate. There are other changes along those lines. This is part of the reason why I think people will appreciate having the full SRD in Recoiled, even if you own d20 Modern. Recoiled has already taken care of the things that are too modern for the old west, so you don't have to edit the Modern SRD yourself. Bat Masterson provides historical western examples for each of the basic classes.
The d20 Modern Wealth system is presented here, however they have also included alternate rules for using "Cold Hard Cash" in case you want to really track what your cowpokes are buying. There are many suggested alternate rules scattered throughout Recoiled, however they are always in a shaded box and clearly called out as an alternate. I like seeing options like this, myself.
In comparison to WWA, Sidewinder works much better when creating characters. WWA introduced non-standard concepts to regular d20 (like background packs) that meant you had to learn a new character creation system. It also made it difficult to use a standard character generation program. Recoiled uses the standard rules, and so creating characters is a snap if you've ever done it before.
Chapter 3: Skills
In general, the skills section mirrors the Modern SRD. However, all skills have been reviewed and, if necessary, modified slightly to match how things were in the old west. Recoiled has modified skill descriptions so that they are western in flavor; and there are movie quotes scattered around to help illustrate how skills could be used. Both of these things makes Recoiled a fun read.
One skill that did not make the transition from WWA is Fast Draw. In Recoiled, improving your fast draw skill is largely a function of feats instead of skill points. I'll touch on this change more in the combat chapter.
Chapter 4: Feats
The feats chapter has received treatment similar to the skills chapter. Descriptions have been updated, and inappropriate feats removed. However, Recoiled also adds over 25 new feats to help your desperado survive out west.
Chapter 5: Equipment
As you would expect, this chapter contains a breakdown of the cost of common weapons and goods in the Old West. The list has been heavily modified from the SRD to reflect proper pricing and items that might exist. This chapter also corrects one of the most annoying things in WWA. There are different guns detailed out, rather than being lumped into a generic category. For example, in WWA you could only buy a Single Action revolver. Regardless of brand, they were all treated the same. In Recoiled, you can buy a Colt Peacemaker, a S&W Schofield, a Walker Dragoon, etc. Each has its own stats, and makes for a much more interesting time equipping your characters.
One thing that did not get full treatment are horse qualities. There are prices for different levels of horses, however no rules to tell you the difference between them. I'm told this information is slated for an upcoming product called the Judge's Lawbook. I'd rather have seen at least basic rules in Recoiled, even if they are going to expand on the subject later.
Everything you can buy has a price set for both the standard Wealth system and the alternate Cold Hard Cash system, making it easy to use the one you prefer.
Chapter 6: Advanced Classes
There are 19 advanced classes in Recoiled, so no matter what kind of character you want to be they pretty much have you covered. Some of the classes originally came from the SRD and some are totally new. You can select from Bounty Hunter, Brave, Desperado, Gunslinger, Mountain Man, Rifleman, Scout, Tin Star, and Wrangler just to name a few.
Since WWA was based on regular d20, there were prestige classes instead of advanced classes. However there were only five in WWA, so Recoiled has improved on your options dramatically.
Chapter 7: Combat
The combat chapter does a good job of laying out the basics, and then adds in several levels of optional rules so that you can decide for yourself how deadly you want a gunfight to be. Just as in WWA, combat begins with a fast draw round (essentially a surprise round). If you are shot while flatfooted, then an automatic critical threat exists (that still must be confirmed). If you want to get more deadly than that, just start applying some optional rules that make the d20 Modern massive damage rules even more massively damaging.
Recoiled fixes some problems that existed in WWA. For instance, in a showdown (an opposed intimidate check before you reach for your pistol) WWA did not explain what to do if there were multiple people on one side or the other (or both). Recoiled provides the answer.
As mentioned previously, Recoiled has done away with the fast draw skill. If you want to be fast on the draw then I suggest you take the Quick Draw and Improved Initiative feats. I'm not sure if I like this change or not -- I haven't had a chance to play it the new way yet. One thing that will be nice is PC's won't have to burn skill points putting them in fast draw. However, I may bring back the fast draw skill as a house rule, depending on how my players and I like the new way of doing things.
Recoiled uses the standard Modern non-lethal damage rules, which have been debated extensively elsewhere. Whether or not you like them, Recoiled also includes an optional rule that will make it easier to knock out low level characters, so that your wrangler doesn't have to pummel some shopkeeper for several rounds before he's able to knock him out.
Chapter 8: The Trail
In this chapter you will find rules that cover many things that can happen to you when traveling. Travel rates of speed, effects of terrain, hazards, etc. are all covered here.
There is even an optional rule for how to handle all the smoke generated from firearms, since smokeless powder didn't come around until 1890. You could give yourself some concealment due to the powder smoke from your Colt. There are also rules on alcohol consumption and some of the diseases that plagued the west.
Chapter 9: The Corral
Here you will find stats for over 50 animals that you might run across.
Chapter 10: The Bunkhouse
The final chapter deals with ordinary citizens as well as some sample heroic characters (the Gunter gang that appear frequently in Recoiled).
Finally, we get to the references that were used when creating Recoiled. Here they list many, many movies, TV shows, games, fiction and non-fiction books. You can use them to research the Old West or mine them for gaming ideas. There are also several web pages that look particularly interesting for western research. Great idea to include web pages for people to check out.
Final Thoughts
There are a few things that were in WWA that you won't find in Recoiled. Number one is a character sheet. However, Dog House Rules has set up a Snakebites section on their web page where they will be posting free additional information for Recoiled. They have said that a character sheet is in the works and will be posted on their site for download. (edit: They have posted a very nice pdf character sheet on their web site now). WWA included a couple of sample adventures, but Recoiled does not. While having adventure ideas is nice, Recoiled is 100 pages longer than WWA as it is, so I suspect they were just flat out of room for extras like this. It is worth noting that again -- Recoiled is 100 pages longer than WWA, and they have not wasted any space on the pages. This book is packed. There is an extensive preview available on their web site, if you want to see what the product looks like (address at the top).
I like how Modern treats the old west. It never felt natural in WWA that a first level character should have to decide if he's a mountain man, a scout, or a wrangler. I much prefer starting out with the basic classes and growing into an advanced class. I also found all the alternate rules suggestions to be a great thing to include. They have presented options in many areas so that you can customize your game to your style of play.
Sidewinder: WWA was a great game however it was never supported with additional material like I had hoped. Obviously game companies have to make business decisions, and I have no problem with that. However, Dog House Rules has a rules supplement for Recoiled that they are already starting to work on and appear committed to supporting their product. They have created a "Branded for Recoiled" label for future products. Combined with their free Snakebites and excellent communication on their forums, I'd say the prospects for future support for Recoiled are looking great.
Sidewinder: Recoiled is an excellent update to what was already a very good game. It keeps the things that made the original such fun to read and play, while improving upon several areas that needed it. The expanded weapon selection and 19 advanced classes are especially nice. Overall they've packed a tremendous amount of material in here, so that you can play a complete western campaign without needing to consult other books.
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