Aces and 8's is pretty darn slick!

[Evil_Dead_Jedi]

Wow, those are some good ideas. I never really watch westerns or read the books, although I have one laying around somewhere... But those really do sound like fun scenarios and adventure ideas. Very cool. I am more and more tempted as time goes on to look in to this genre. Thanks for the ideas everyone!

 

[ValhallaGH]

Wow, those are some good ideas. I never really watch westerns or read the books, although I have one laying around somewhere... But those really do sound like fun scenarios and adventure ideas. Very cool. I am more and more tempted as time goes on to look in to this genre. Thanks for the ideas everyone!

It's worth looking into. I used to have much the same issue, but after a few months of looking into it, I realized just how open-ended the possibilities are.
Recommended watching:
TV: Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Deadwood, Gunsmoke
Movies: Silverado, Blazing Saddles (a very good comedy but the underlying scenario is solid in any western), Tombstone, most John Wayne westerns, 3:10 to Yuma (old and new versions), The Magnificent Seven, and the spagheti westerns.

Really, the genre is as open to adventure as any other. Many modern scenarios find their roots in the Western, and most of the basic plots from fantasy tales can transfer over to the Western (orcs become bandits, renegade soldiers, or savage natives, etc.). You can have as much or as little supernatural mixed in as you want, along with super-science (steam-tech is popular), or you can just play it straight and go the semi-historic route.
Lots of fun, and even more style than most settings. It's quickly become a favorite of mine.

 

[garyh]

(strangely cowboys and samuraii seem oddly interchangeable).

That'd be the doing of the work of Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone. Both fantastic filmmakers.

Speaking of Western RPG's, I picked up Sidewinder: Recoiled from Green Ronin's big sale, haven't had time to look at it yet. GR's usually pretty good, though.

 

[Protagonist]

The Wild Wild West (the series, not the crappy movie) is also a nice source of inspiration, but it will work a bit better for Deadlands than for A&8s due to the steampunk elements.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

That shot-clock system needs to be turned into an iPhone app.

 

[Max]

Speaking of Western RPG's, I picked up Sidewinder: Recoiled from Green Ronin's big sale, haven't had time to look at it yet. GR's usually pretty good, though.

Sidewinder is another good western game (it won an ENnie - which is pretty impressive for a western game to pull off vs. the SF/Fantasy competition). It is from Dog House Rules, who signed a distribution deal with Green Ronin. As an FYI to western fans, DHR has all their products at 50% off through December 18th. Even if you don't run their main rules, they have supplemental western information (some of it free), western adventures, and setting info that would would be good for any western game, including Aces & 8's.

Max

 

[scourger]

Yeah, I just got my As&8s book back from a friend and have been enjoying the setting. The maps, alternate history and atlas-type entries are very cool. It's like Deadlands without being too weird. I have an old Boot Hill module that I've been wanting to run as a Savage Worlds/Deadlands Reloaded game, but I am thinking about setting in the As&8s Shattered Frontier. K&C even have a poster map on offer.

 

[howandwhy99]

I bought this when it came out and read most of it. It's a cool game with some really nifty new systems for roleplaying. It really gets what makes roleplaying fun IMO. It may be some time before I can play in or run a game, but I'm glad I own it nevertheless.

 

[Grazzt]

Yep, kinda fun to see that silhouette/template stuff again.

I don't even remember, which game it was, that did that... Phoenix Command most likely.
Bye
Thanee

Millennium's End, by Chameleon Eclectic, by chance?

 

[Highland Raider]

The Morrow Project is the first game i recall with a silhouette / template system for combat... that is early 80's geekdom speaking

MERC (1981) by Fantasy Games Unlimited used a sniper scope and silhouette for the Sniper class. Guns, Guns, Guns (or 3G) by BTRC came out a few years later with a shot clock and silhouettes and rules to use them for several different systems (d20 based, d100 based, and so on).

Later.
Highland Raider