Ninja and Pirates get their due... But what of Cowboys?

[Klaus]

So Ninja and Pirates are the epitome of cool. But what of them Cowboys? Anyone tried to add a Wild West feel to a fantasy campaign? Long dustcoats, sword duels at noon, marshalls crossing the badlands to bring a criminal to justice...

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Well, there is Iron Kingdoms, with armored greatcoats and magical pistols. I've used a lot of their crunch to populate an area of my world that I'm trying to impart with a Wild West feeling. Gun Mages, Pistoleers, carrying rapiers and such as their melee weapons.

 

[FnordBear]

If I remember correctly there was a product put out called Spellslinger that was just this premise. The variant rules they introduced were not my thing but the idea of the setting with elves and dwarves gunslinging was right on.

I have tried to do the whole cowboy thing with settings that dont have guns but it always felt kind of forced. This whole reason is why when I reran the same campaign with a diffrent group I introduced firearms (though more primative than anything a real cowpoke would sling) and it had a real keen feel. Especially with the one set of rules from Spellslinger I did like (the gun dueling rules)

 

[crazy_cat]

Bcz C0w30yz r the suxx0rz, Ninjaz r the r0xx0rz...

... or something like that.

Or can't you just drop a new and mysterious (and maybe heavily armed, or maybe not) stranger into any town (or any other location) in any background at any time for any reason - especially the type who rides in alone (or with company) on a horse (or other mount, unless he walks, or arrives on a ferry, or airship) looking mean (or looking for trouble, or not looking for trouble but ends up causing it, or not looking mean or troublesome, maybe he looks sick, or the type that.. etc)

Its more a DM thing and a campaign style IMHO - look at how many westerns are actaully based on samurai stories, or Shakespear, or old legends or myths or folk stories or whatever.

In the end its down to the DM and the campaign - is it about duels, personal and family/clan honour and owing people duty and or debts, and facing responsibilities and insurmountable odds because its expected of you, or have you got a prior appointmnet in the kobold caverns killing the occupants and taking their stuff?

 

[Roger]

d20 Brokeback Mountain, coming soon to an amalgamated PDF retailer near you.


Cheers,
Roger

 

[Karl Green]

If I remember correctly there was a product put out called Spellslinger that was just this premise. The variant rules they introduced were not my thing but the idea of the setting with elves and dwarves gunslinging was right on.

Yep but I am not sure if it is still in print. It is a pretty fun little minigame IMO...

There are only 3 base classes in the game, and instead of spellcasters there are "Brands" which where "1 level" classes that gave you some basic spell like abilities that was tied to a brand like mark on your character - so 'Blackhands' had mage-killer like abilities and one of their hands was always pitch black, while Mages had one of their eyes was milky white and they would give you the evil eye, etc.

The setting was pretty spars but I ran a fun, short lived game where I expaned the world alot, so of making it a New World, 600 years in the future on the Greyhawk world

 

[Aeric]

I'm currently reading a book called Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb which is essentially what you're talking about. In it, a kingdom loses all of its coastal territory in a war, so it expands east into plains inhabited by nomadic tribes who practice magic. There are guns, but so far there have only been rifles (and they might be flintlocks), and there is no steam technology so far as I can tell.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Wild West Fantasy does have a pretty long and involved history.

DEADLANDS is the first thing that comes to mind, though it's a bit horror-focused.

There's gotta be more. IIRC, there was a d20 "Cowboy Fantasy" book released a while back, but I can't remember much about it.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

So Ninja and Pirates are the epitome of cool. But what of them Cowboys? Anyone tried to add a Wild West feel to a fantasy campaign? Long dustcoats, sword duels at noon, marshalls crossing the badlands to bring a criminal to justice...

The question is - do you want a little Wild West in your Fantasy, or a little Fantasy in your Wild West? Exactly what you do will vary depending on your answer. I get the idea that your question is "How do I add a little Wild West flavor to my otherwise standard D&D game," so things like Deadlands and Spellslinger are less applicable than they are for the reverse.

 

[blargney the second]

Judging by some of the Eberron artwork, dusters are kosher in that setting. The rest is easy.