Relique du Madde
Adventurer
For some reason I just thought about Lightning Jack which wasn't that great, however it did make me think of another movie: Posse a post civil war western that focuses on a group of black cowboys.
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Westerns: Your recommendations?
- Thread starter Umbran
- Start date
Ahzad
Explorer
lots of good suggestions that i would've named off, but i'll list a couple i haven't seen yet.
the shootist
they call me trinity
they still call me trinity
my name is nobody
the first is one of john wayne's finest perfomances, imo, and the last 3 are some of the funniest slapstick spaghetti westerns ever.
the shootist
they call me trinity
they still call me trinity
my name is nobody
the first is one of john wayne's finest perfomances, imo, and the last 3 are some of the funniest slapstick spaghetti westerns ever.
Steel_Wind
Legend
Hell yes to the above.
Game wise, it's pretty hard to run anything close to Unforgiven. You may aim for Pale Rider, True Grit or Josey Wales, too.
But too be honest - I think that's asking a little too much out of an RPG session, too.
Silverado? Hell yes. You can achieve that in a RPG. I'd set my sights on that one, were I you. And if you like - shift em to the movie noted below, too:
To the above admirable list is I would add another film which is equally as desrving of the label "Western" as all of the above: The Mask of Zorro. Very vigorous!
Orius
Unrepentant DM Supremacist
If you're looking for Deadlands inspiration, then Brisco County Jr. is the way to go for sure.
Most of the recommendations in this thread are pretty good. I have to say that I generally prefer Clint Eastwood Westerns to John Wayne. His character in Pale Rider is a pretty good inspiration for a cleric or paladin type in a D&D campaign IMO.
Most of the recommendations in this thread are pretty good. I have to say that I generally prefer Clint Eastwood Westerns to John Wayne. His character in Pale Rider is a pretty good inspiration for a cleric or paladin type in a D&D campaign IMO.
To sum up (and add a couple of things), I'd go to these sources for Deadlands inspiration and other yoinks:
This isn't to say that my and others' suggestions outside of that are not good ones, just that those right there tend to capture the "Weird West" vibe that permeates Deadlands.
But of course, a Deadlands campaign can't ALL be weird. Can it?
FWIW, if you really want to warp your player's psyches? When you wrap up the campaign, reveal that they were actually trapped in an immersive high-tech LARP game that went awry, like in Westworld or Niven & Barnes' Dream Park novels...or a half-dozen episodes of Star Trek.
Or heck...start them there! Then take them through a time-space warp into an alternate dimension where the LARP is real, like the D&D TV series or Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series.
- Wild, Wild West (TV Show only)
- The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr.
- Kung Fu (original TV series)
- The Fallen Cloud Saga by Kurt R. A. Giabastiani
- Pale Rider
- The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
- The White Buffalo
- Jonah Hex comic book series
- Northern Crown, Nyambe, and Broncosaurus Rex RPGs, possibly CoC and Space: 1889 if you really want to go out there. (A Deadlands campaign set in the lush jungles of Venus? Or the High Planes of Mars? GET OUTTA HERE!)
- D&D's own Greyhawk setting...in the form of a cameo or 2 from Murlynd
This isn't to say that my and others' suggestions outside of that are not good ones, just that those right there tend to capture the "Weird West" vibe that permeates Deadlands.
But of course, a Deadlands campaign can't ALL be weird. Can it?
FWIW, if you really want to warp your player's psyches? When you wrap up the campaign, reveal that they were actually trapped in an immersive high-tech LARP game that went awry, like in Westworld or Niven & Barnes' Dream Park novels...or a half-dozen episodes of Star Trek.
Or heck...start them there! Then take them through a time-space warp into an alternate dimension where the LARP is real, like the D&D TV series or Joel Rosenberg's Guardians of the Flame series.
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Jack7
First Post
I saw this thread Umbran and since I like Westerns so much I thought I'd give it a shot before hitting breakfast.
My favorite Westerns, and the ones I'd recommend are by Robert Parker, Larry McMurtry, and some of the Western short fiction of Louis L'Amour. I'd also recommend the more modern Westerns of Cormac McCarthy.
As far as TV went I liked Kung Fu (been rewatching that series from the beginning), Wild, Wild West (I'll watch part of the second season tonight - skip that crapfest of a movie though), High Chaparral, Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, the Rifleman, and Bonanza.
As for films my favorite Westerns are Open Range, and Once Upon a Time in the West (I watch both once a year). Now I also like 3:10 to Yuma, the remake. I also love Lonesome Dove and some of the related films. I'd also highly recommend Unforgiven, Pale Rider, may of the old westerns with Jimmy Stewart and Robert Mitchum (I met him once, not while filming a Western though), and the Outlaw Josey Wales. And even Dances with Wolves. But if you've never seen it, see Dead Man with Johnny Depp. I now it sounds crazy, Johnny Depp. But trust me. And don't forget Black Robe.
Speaking of that general subject matter personally I think that the West and the Cavil War and the Frontier's era were all related. The West was simply a continuation of the Frontier's era and the push West in the US, and the Civil War affected both greatly.
So as strange as it might seem up front I'd also recommend studying and reading things on the Civil War and on the frontier's era. Like I will Fight No More Forever, a lot about the American Indian, I'd recommend the Civil War series by Ken Burns, and stuff like Deerslayer, and Last of the Mohicans (which was about "the West" of that era). I'd recommend studying about famous Frontiersmen and Mountain Men. Come to think of it I used to really like Grizzly Adams. There's also a show on right now called Wild West Tech. It ain't half bad.
But I'm serious about the Civil War and Daniel Boone (real and imagined) and Davy Crockett (ditto) and the Texas Wars and the Plains Wars being really part of the Western movement. To me that was the era of the fathers of the West. As a matter of fact I'm writing a novel right now which starts out during the Regulator movement in SC (before the American Revolution), then eventually moves West right before and during the Civil War to end up in the town of Letterman. I've done a lot of research for both novels which have convinced me that the Frontiersman and Mountain Man simply morphed into the cowboy once he got over the Mississippi.
My Name is Nobody is a brilliant comedy to me. So is Blazing Saddles.
My favorite Westerns, and the ones I'd recommend are by Robert Parker, Larry McMurtry, and some of the Western short fiction of Louis L'Amour. I'd also recommend the more modern Westerns of Cormac McCarthy.
As far as TV went I liked Kung Fu (been rewatching that series from the beginning), Wild, Wild West (I'll watch part of the second season tonight - skip that crapfest of a movie though), High Chaparral, Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, the Rifleman, and Bonanza.
As for films my favorite Westerns are Open Range, and Once Upon a Time in the West (I watch both once a year). Now I also like 3:10 to Yuma, the remake. I also love Lonesome Dove and some of the related films. I'd also highly recommend Unforgiven, Pale Rider, may of the old westerns with Jimmy Stewart and Robert Mitchum (I met him once, not while filming a Western though), and the Outlaw Josey Wales. And even Dances with Wolves. But if you've never seen it, see Dead Man with Johnny Depp. I now it sounds crazy, Johnny Depp. But trust me. And don't forget Black Robe.
Speaking of that general subject matter personally I think that the West and the Cavil War and the Frontier's era were all related. The West was simply a continuation of the Frontier's era and the push West in the US, and the Civil War affected both greatly.
So as strange as it might seem up front I'd also recommend studying and reading things on the Civil War and on the frontier's era. Like I will Fight No More Forever, a lot about the American Indian, I'd recommend the Civil War series by Ken Burns, and stuff like Deerslayer, and Last of the Mohicans (which was about "the West" of that era). I'd recommend studying about famous Frontiersmen and Mountain Men. Come to think of it I used to really like Grizzly Adams. There's also a show on right now called Wild West Tech. It ain't half bad.
But I'm serious about the Civil War and Daniel Boone (real and imagined) and Davy Crockett (ditto) and the Texas Wars and the Plains Wars being really part of the Western movement. To me that was the era of the fathers of the West. As a matter of fact I'm writing a novel right now which starts out during the Regulator movement in SC (before the American Revolution), then eventually moves West right before and during the Civil War to end up in the town of Letterman. I've done a lot of research for both novels which have convinced me that the Frontiersman and Mountain Man simply morphed into the cowboy once he got over the Mississippi.
My Name is Nobody is a brilliant comedy to me. So is Blazing Saddles.
Ahzad
Explorer
I love the fact that mel brooks offered the role of the waco kid to john wayne first, but he turned it down saying "I can't be in that film it's to dirty, but I'll be first in line to see it."
We'd ordered the DVDs before I started the thread. I am also thinking of seeign if I can beg or borrow the "Legend" series, starring Richard Dean Anderson and John de Lancie
While warping, that's a sort of bait-and-switch my players probably wouldn't enjoy. They all want to be able to make a difference in the campaign world, and to be told, "It was all an illusion/dream/fake," is apt to put them off.
I think they'll get enough warpage from simply not having the Deadlands books themselves, so they'll get to discover the greater story going on as they go, instead of just reading it in a few pages.
All in all, folks, this thread has had some wonderful ideas. Keep 'em coming! I am going to collect them and give them to my players as a suggested viewing list.
There's going to be a follow-on thread about music. Keep your eyes peeled!
StreamOfTheSky
Adventurer
Trigun and Cowboy Bebop.
What? They're space westerns.
What? They're space westerns.
Relique du Madde
Adventurer
You forgot to mention Firefly and Firefly: Serenity!
Since the Space western is now unleashed, I'll add in Muse's
[sblock=Knights Of Cydonia]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI]YouTube - Muse - Knights Of Cydonia [OFFICIAL VIDEO][/ame][/sblock]
, Bravestarr cartoon and the entire planet of Tatooine in Star Wars Episode IV.
