Suggestion for Western RPG

[pogre]

Howdy!

This past summer I read Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West. which I enjoyed tremendously.

I was thinking for one of my groups that is willing to try new things I would whip up a wild west campaign for them when our Traveller campaign concludes. The group is online and we meet once a week for a couple of hours. So some really cool games are ill-suited for online play - like Aces and Eights.

I also do not plan to have any blatant or conspicuous supernatural abilities in the game. Maybe a hint of Native American shaminism, but barely any if at all.

I have a ton of time to prepare, because we have a ton of material for our Traveller campaign. So, no big rush - if something's coming out that would work - share that too.

Have you played in a longer wild west campaign (10+ sessions) that you enjoyed? What would you suggest?

 

[Jd Smith1]

I ran a F2F campaign set in 1889, in the midst of the Mexican Revolution (same events, just moved the start back to 1889), but I had some CoC elements. Used Aces & Eights, and it ran 34 sessions.

I would recommend throwing in a CoC vibe; the historical West has very limited scenario fodder other than law enforcement and the strife between settler and Native American through the 1870s, and the later union strife and fence/open range issues.

I chose the Mexican revolution because it was a multi-sided conflict with lots of racial and social issues thrown in. Even thoughb the PCs were mainly interested in money, they had to navigate the ebb and flow of a very fluid, front-less war.

 

[MNblockhead]

I played Boot Hill back in the 80s, but never a long campaign. It was hard to stay interested. Maybe it was our age, be even now when my players and I are in our 30s through 50s, I think it would be hard to get folks interested in more than a few sessions of a game without fantasy. I really like JD Smith's suggestion of throwing in a CoC vibe. I think the AGE system would be a good one to base the mechanics off of. I played the Expanse, which is based on AGE, and I found it does a great job when running more cinematic campaigns.

Either that or I would build something from scratch using Cortex.

 

[Dioltach]

Have you considered D20 Modern with the D20 Past supplement? I haven't used it for an Old West campaign, but I've used D20 Modern for a variety of other settings and always had great fun.

 

[harunmushod]

I asked a similar question on the Facebook Group on Tabletop RPGs

 

[CapnZapp]

There's the Western RPG.

I would recommend running it light on rules and focus on the quality and research in its supplements.

 

[pogre]

I asked a similar question on the Facebook Group on Tabletop RPGs

Can you check your link? For some reason Facebook is telling me it is a broken link.

 

[pogre]

I ran a F2F campaign set in 1889, in the midst of the Mexican Revolution (same events, just moved the start back to 1889), but I had some CoC elements. Used Aces & Eights, and it ran 34 sessions.

I thought about Aces & Eights, but I thought the Shot Clock system might prove problematic for an online game.

 

[pogre]

I played Boot Hill back in the 80s, but never a long campaign. It was hard to stay interested. Maybe it was our age, be even now when my players and I are in our 30s through 50s, I think it would be hard to get folks interested in more than a few sessions of a game without fantasy. I really like JD Smith's suggestion of throwing in a CoC vibe. I think the AGE system would be a good one to base the mechanics off of. I played the Expanse, which is based on AGE, and I found it does a great job when running more cinematic campaigns.

Either that or I would build something from scratch using Cortex.

This group has done well with the historical rpgs I have run in the past. Years ago I ran an age of Rome campaign that was a lot of fun.

This group is more about trying new things and touching base online once a week. The adventures mostly flow from goals they create in game. I have given up completely on any kind of cohesive story lines - I just throw out hook and frame a few events and we are off on running. I am currently running a Pirates of Drinax campaign, but I don't think anyone would recognize it as such 30 or so sessions in

 

[pogre]

There's the Western RPG.

I would recommend running it light on rules and focus on the quality and research in its supplements.

ARe you referring to HERO system's Western?