So You've Decided to Run a "Western" Game. What Kind?

[J.Quondam]

For the record, I like to WATCH more westerns than I’d enjoy playing in.

Also for the record, I forgot to include “Horror Western” as one of my choices (Space, Weird and Wuxia being the others).

(Psst... You can "Change Vote" in the lower right of the vote graph to re-enter your choices. I forgot one and had to amend my vote, too!)

 

[MidnightBlue]

Well it wouldn't be a D&D campaign, but I'd love to get some Deadlands, Firefly, and Werewolf: Wild West on the table.

 

[MidnightBlue]

Well it wouldn't be a D&D campaign, but I'd love to get some Deadlands, Firefly, and Werewolf: Wild West on the table.

Oh...and how could I forget the Zorro RPG. Got to give that a run sometime too!

 

[Argyle King]

I think, my initial thought would be to run something in the vein of what you've classified as either "classic western" or "epic western."
I've often felt that Star Wars Edge of the Empire could be tweaked to play a game in which you're a band of outlaws rather than space smugglers.

Is Post-apocalyptic Western a thing?
I think it could be fun to explore that idea. It would be like Thunder the Barbarian (or Dark Sun); but with six-shooters, trains, and the mutated mega-fauna of a Wild West wilderness.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

(Psst... You can "Change Vote" in the lower right of the vote graph to re-enter your choices. I forgot one and had to amend my vote, too!)

Thanks! Did so…and added Fantasy as well.

Don’t get me wrong: if the right GM invited me to join a classic western campaign, I’d do so in a heartbeat. But I prefer RPG gaming to have a certain level of surreality involved. So even in a classic setting, my PC might be a tad…off.

 

[ruemere]

Voted Fantasy, Horror, Other.

Other: Fairy Tale Western (Fables the game).

 

[MGibster]

Now obviously, this is just another one of those "which genres are your favorite?" popularity contests. But I'm hoping to push past that initial assessment a little, and really dig in to what we all look for in our tabletop RPG experiences. Maybe have some interesting discussions about what we like (and don't like) about the Western genre, and how these elements might translate into a game setting.

It's not so much a question of what my favorite might be but more of a question of what can I find players for. I am hard pressed to think of any games I've either run or played in that did not have some element of the fantastic in it whether it was science fiction, the supernatural, or sometimes both. And although I'm a fan of westerns, most of the people I game with really aren't so that means I need to find a hook that will interest them.

One of my group's go-to games is Deadlands for Savage Worlds. It is a setting we've visited multiple times over the years and one we'll visit again in the future. So I selected Horror Westerns for the poll.

 

[Umbran]

I'm more limited by what I wouldn't consider running.

LIke... Electric Westerns are, as I understand it, differentiated from others by the type of music in the work. I'm not doing my tabletop games as musicals, so that's not on my list.

I'm not going to run an acid western. Classical and Contemporary westerns are unlikely to be attractive to my group. The rest, though, are all on the table.

I note that "Weird Western" is effectively a kitchen sink of many of the other types.

I ran Classic Deadlands as my main campaign for... five years? I might return to it, but if so, I'd probably use Savage Worlds instead of the more baroque Classic ruleset.

 

[MGibster]

I ran Classic Deadlands as my main campaign for... five years? I might return to it, but if so, I'd probably use Savage Worlds instead of the more baroque Classic ruleset.

When I switched to Savage Worlds part of me was a little nervous that I'd lose out on some of the "flavor" provided by the original system. Nope. Turns out I don't really miss it at all. I have toyed with the idea of running a fantasy western with your typical D&D races like elves, dwarves, and halflings but it's just too easy to go to Deadlands.

 

[Yora]

Wild West is a great treasure trove of wonderful elements to add to other settings.
I don't find it interesting as a setting itself, though.