What is your favorite Wild West RPG?

[ProfessorCirno]

Allow me to join the chorus of Deadlands

 

[Ranger REG]

Sidewinder: Recoiled ... with some material from Shadow Stalker/Shadow Chasers campaign models.

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

Anyone wanting more information on Aces and Eights can check the game out here: Aces & Eights Roleplaying Game

Obviously I'm biased.

 

[TheNovaLord]

Deadlands reloaded all the way

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Which version.

I found the original to be so-so, but the Sidewinder Reloaded (D20 Modern) version was very good.

I have the original version (2002 copyright).

Aces & Eights is gorgeous, but not my preferred style of play.

What style of play do you think it promotes?

In terms of d20 systems...I dislike d20 systems for the Wild West in general. d20 systems, with their cumulative hit points doesn't make a good Wild West game for me.

This was one of my biggest hesitations with Sidewinder. I don't know how Sidewinder combat actually plays but if it is like the other d20 games I've played, combatants getting hit multiple times before falling doesn't emulate western films as I would want. (Although overall I'm more concerned with having a game that is enjoyable to play than a game that is just like a western movie.)

 

[Ranger REG]

I have the original version (2002 copyright).

For use with the D&D Player's Handbook? Yeah, that won't work for me. The d20 Modern rules make it better for resolving gunfight. Of course, Star Wars Saga Edition have an even better wound-level hit point system than d20 Modern.

This was one of my biggest hesitations with Sidewinder. I don't know how Sidewinder combat actually plays but if it is like the other d20 games I've played, combatants getting hit multiple times before falling doesn't emulate western films as I would want. (Although overall I'm more concerned with having a game that is enjoyable to play than a game that is just like a western movie.)

Maybe, but I try not to think hit point as actual injuries, or you going to have to explain a lot of grazing bullet wounds.

But many (not all) western films emulate what would be in a D&D game ... minus the swords but add the guns.

If you want, change the term "hit points" to "luck points."

 

[scruffygrognard]

So what are your favorite wild west RPG and what are the good and bad points to it? Thanks for the help!

Deadlands... [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Weird-West-Players-Guide-Deadlands/dp/1889546577/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224803252&sr=8-2"]the 1999 revision[/ame].

My weekday group is still playing it and we all dig the way that dice, poker chips and cards are integrated into gameplay. The system for duels is one of its strengths... duels are always tense.

 

[Silver Moon]

I've run four interrelated western campaigns. For three of them I've used hybrid Boot Hill and Dungeons & Dragons rules. Guess what, D&D rules work great in a western setting! My first campaign was with my weekly gaming group and we used the rules in the 1st Edition DMG for hybrid play and it was very successful. I then ran a very extensive Play-by-Post game that ran for four modules over almost three years with primarily D&D 3E rules, which was even more successful. During the last year I've run an occassional table game using the same rules, which has also been fun. In all three cases my source materials have been the TSR Boot Hill prepackaged modules.

I have also run a traditional western using Sidewinder Recoiled rules. It is a rotating Gameday module that I've run seven games of since 2005.

The Story Hours for all four campaigns listed above can be found in the ENWorld Story Hour forum.

 

[jdrakeh]

Six Guns & Whiskey, originally a plug-in for the Story Bones free RPG from Hubris Games, later re-worked as a Story Engine plug-in. Now available here. Classic Deadlands would be my second choice.

 

[Grazzt]

"Aces & Eights", by Kenzer.

Deadly combat. Uses a Shot Clock (like the old Millennium's End game by Chameleon Eclectic).