So I Want To Run A Western Game...

MortalPlague

Adventurer

• Dec 29, 2009

• #1

What's a good system for Westerns? I'd like to run a pretty action-packed game, though I'd also like a healthy dose of lethality involved (particularly with gunfights). I was considering using the Traveler system and just reflavoring it to fit, but if there's something great that would fit the bill, I'd love to hear about it.

 

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Crothian

First Post

• Dec 29, 2009

• #2

Sidwinder and Aces & Eights are probably the two best western games out there.

 

Dice4Hire

First Post

• Dec 29, 2009

• #3

I am a big fan of Deadlands, the classic version, not the revised or d20 versions.

It has a lot of wonky mechanics, but combats are deadly. It really brings out a different roleplay vibe.

 

Derulbaskul

Adventurer

• Dec 29, 2009

• #4

Savage Worlds seems to be the "go to" system for Western games and pretty much anything else. Why not give it a try? It's very cheap, too, and there's a lot of fan-made stuff available.

 

P

Primal

First Post

• Dec 29, 2009

• #5

'Deadlands' and 'Aces & Eights' have been already mentioned, but I also heartily recommend them. If you want to run a grittier, heavily thematic western game, I'd also recommend 'Dogs in the Vineyard' and 'Dust Devils'.

 

Umbran

Mod Squad

Staff member

Supporter

• Dec 29, 2009

• #6

Dice4Hire said:

I am a big fan of Deadlands, the classic version, not the revised or d20 versions.

It has a lot of wonky mechanics, but combats are deadly. It really brings out a different roleplay vibe.

Click to expand...

I will second Deadlands. My players found the wonky mechanics to actually add to the atmosphere. of the game.

 

Talysian

Explorer

• Dec 29, 2009

• #7

Umbran said:

I will second Deadlands. My players found the wonky mechanics to actually add to the atmosphere. of the game.

Click to expand...

I'm gonna third deadlands the cards and chips just add to the western feel. and you do not have to throw the supernatural in if you don't want to.!

 

Philotomy Jurament

First Post

• Dec 29, 2009

• #8

I think my first choice would be Go Fer Yer Gun. My other picks would by Aces & Eights or the venerable Boot Hill.

 

Cam Banks

Adventurer

• Dec 29, 2009

• #9

Dogs in the Vineyard is excellent, but it's not necessarily a western RPG so much as it's a game about being the enforcers of a religious tradition rooting out demons from small towns. Dust Devils might be closer to what you want. Aces and Eights is really complex, but it's exhaustive.

Cheers,
Cam

 

Piratecat

Sesquipedalian

• Dec 29, 2009

• #10

My favorites in order are:

Sidewinder Reloaded
Savage Worlds
Deadlands (love the fluff, don't much like the rules)
Aces & Eights (a little too complicated for my playing style)

Dogs in the Vineyard is great if your game has tough moral decisions and not many people, but it's modeling something other than the classic shoot-em-up.