Cowboys, Samurais & Barbarins all in the same setting?

[Crothian]

Ronin Arts has a great little PDF that uses a feat to be able to ignite the fire within gunpowder, so not everyone can do it. It does a a great job of allowing them in the campaign world and explaining why they never catch on.

 

[Andor]

The tech level obviously would have to be restricted so that it isn't too widespread. Samurai still existed in one form or another when firearms were first introduced to Japan, but they "died out" eventually because firearms finally became mainstream or widespread. Of course... the samurai didn't have supernatural fighting abilities of the level D&D gives the typical character.

Not up on our Japanese history eh? The Japanese introduced firearms in the 1500s watched samurai die off by lots, sealed the borders and then taxed the crap out of firearm production until they became expensive toys rather than weapons of war. Before Perry forced then to open their borders in 1853 Japan was very much a Samurai controlled feudal society, and remained so untill the Mejii restoration. The Japanese were the only society to remove firearms as weapons of war once they were introduced.

So while almost nobody will buy cowboys, barbarians, and samurai in a game they did all exist concurrently here on earth.

Remember truth is stranger than fiction.

 

[Starglim]

Two words: Shanghai Noon.

OK, if you want to be serious, you could blend in Stephen King's Dark Tower: The Gunslinger or David Gemmell's Jerusalem Man as post-apocalyptic gunfighters who fit in very well with a world that also holds mediaeval-style warriors. Of course, the pistol-fighters in those books sweep the floor with all the sword-fighters they meet (as they would probably do in D&D as well), but the flavour is there.

 

[ThoughtBubble]

I think it could work with a little tweaking in both mechanical and contextual settings.

Your biggest concerns are really about how effective you want guns to be, and the feel you want for your settings. I've thrown around concepts where guns were rare, and ammo was expensive. I've thrown around concepts where guns were the common weapon, and you just had the 'sword enthusiasts' who used swords. I've worked out one setting with guns coming up as the new challenger to the longsword as the common weapon, due to ease of use, however, the mounted knight was still supreme, due to the superiority of his armor. And there was one where swords were simply better weapons for channeling psychic phenomina.

You're not bound by the dictates of history. You can say what the stopping power of a bullet is. Maybe, this time around, bullets don't go through chain armor so well. Maybe skilled swordsmen can parry bullets away. Envision what you want. Let that guide you and the rest is easy.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Well there is a movie just for you then!

It's got Cowboys, Samurai, and Barbarians (indians)!

One of the greatest movies EVAR!

 

[Aris Dragonborn]

The Red Steel setting for 2E D&D featured similar elements in the campaign, so if you're able to find the two boxed sets (Red Steel and the Savage Baronies) they could prove to be an invaluable resource for that type of campaign.

IIRC, it featured all the standard 2E races, as well as three new ones: The Lupins, the Tortles, and the Rakshasa (no relation to the demon Rakshasa; they may have been called the Aslan, but I think that was Traveller). Anyway, it was a splinter setting of Mystara, set on the Savage Coast, and featured Cowboys, Samurai (especially the Rakshasa/Aslan), and Barbarians (mainly the Goblinoids). IJR that there was a fourth race: the Aranea, a sorta spider/human hybrid that lived in the jungles of the Savage Coast. Also, the Tortles tended to be monks, and as the setting was along a coast, you also had pirates.

Cowboys, Samurai, Barbarians, Ninja/Monks, and Pirates. What's not to love?

 

[warlord]

While of course I would have firearms not hurt AC thats just evil. But the reason I want six-shooters is that I'm tired of RPGs where a character will fire his gun and have reloaded and be ready to fire again 10 minutes after the fights is over. Plus the mental image of a dwarf with a shotgun and battle axe is just cool.

 

[Mallus]

Anyone besides me remember Grimjack?"

John Gaunt... yup, remember it fondly.

The key is to remember how verisimilitude works in (most) RPG's. The games are supposed to resemble their souce materials; swords and sorcery novels, action movies, wuxia, pulp, Westerns, Trek, etc.

In other words, the games are supposed to accurately reflect things that never made a whole lot of logical sense to begin with.

So use anything that's remotely cool and blend it togther. Slap the thinest coat of justification on top of it, and you're done.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

While of course I would have firearms not hurt AC thats just evil. But the reason I want six-shooters is that I'm tired of RPGs where a character will fire his gun and have reloaded and be ready to fire again 10 minutes after the fights is over. Plus the mental image of a dwarf with a shotgun and battle axe is just cool.

This is the PDF Crothian was talking about: The Gunslinger

If you want a fast shootin' gunman, the Gunslinger is your man.

I designed the guns, the feats, and the class to go for cinematic gunfighting - the damage is in line with bows, so the gunslinger can reload and tear it up every round.

It's not "realistic", but it's fun.

Patrick Y.

 

[jester47]

Well, the historical west has cowboys and barbarians. As I recall the barbarians started using guns too. Everyone had guns. It was just hard for the barbarians to get them. I hear they fought a good fight for a long time.

Aaron.