Why are Victorian and Western Games incompatible?

[Achan hiArusa]

I read a recent thread that had a comment that disturbed me. Someone had mentioned how they felt that you should never mix Victorian and Western games, and I was wondering why anyone would think that.

First off, they happened on Earth at the same time, it is simply a matter of travel to go from London to Kansas City.

Secondly, player's are used to bizarrely different worlds being welded together, the biggest example is the Forgotten Realms where you have a country like Medieval France across the sea from a country like classical Greece and ancient Egypt (not to mention that Celtic Britian is a coach and ship ride away).

The only reason I could see for this is that most Americans are used to watching Westerns where the only Western characters are Americans. Rarely, a show like Bonanza would have some British big game hunter show up, something which doesn't happen in the movies.

Sincerely,




Sammy Grimes

 

[Voneth]

I did some mixing for a d20 Steampunk game and had no problems, (It was even done in literature, in Dracula).

I think the comment, however, is that Victorian and Western themes don't mesh on all levels. For example:

Victorian is about "good form"
Western is about "getting the job done any way you can"

Victorian is about urban and afflunent traditions
Western is about rural and "this peice of land is all I got" tradition

Victorian decor is usualy over the top and with trim
Western decor is ... "What the hell is decor?"

I think a good example is a suppliment for Castle Falkenstein. The Cowboy template was all about a lack of decorum and thinking up new ways.

Funny that, now a days cowboy tradition is about "taking it back to the old days."

 

[nharwell]

I find the two genres completely compatible. Both are about "high adventure"....

 

[Henry]

Two Names:

Quincy Morris and Dracula.

The two go so well together BECAUSE of their ironic juxtaposition, not in spite of it. It's like going between Vampire and Werewolf, or between Boot Hill and the old 1st edition Gamma World, or Chocolate and Peanut Butter. And the fact that both eras are coexistant is serendipity itself.

I'll stop now.

 

[Ranger REG]

Hmm. I guess it would be in poor taste to cite Will Smith's Wild Wild West film as a good example of blending the two genres: at least with regards to steampunk and western.

Of course, you do have the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen featuring an American Agent Tom Sawyer joining up with the European counterparts.

 

[Vigilance]

Perfectly compatible.

Not only was there a cowboy in Dracula (as has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread).

Sherlock Holmes tracked a suspect to Utah in a memorable Holmes story.

Very interesting mix of different worlds.

Chuck

 

[Voneth]

Of course, you do have the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen featuring an American Agent Tom Sawyer joining up with the European counterparts.

While I agree the two genres can be mixed togther for fun, I am drawing the line at this example. I can understand the reasoning why American movie makers thought they needed an American in the movie But ... Tom Sawyer! >.<!!!

Pecos Bill, Wild Bill, Helll! a Jack London character! Better yet, Jack London himself!!

And I say that being a fan of Mr. Clemens myself. For the record, I am a fan of Alan Moore too.

 

[Ranger REG]

Let's see...

Pecos Bill prefers to ride tornadoes. No tornado in Europe that I know of.

Wild Bill too old and too damn busy running his western show.

And forgive me, but who is Jack London? Have not come across that in any of my school reading. Just Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Did they make a movie based on Jack London?

If you don't like that movie, then perhaps Brotherhood of the Wolf where a werewolf hunter brought a native american friend (and I say that loosely because he is played by a Filipino-American actor) to go hunting for werewolf in Europe(?).

 

[TheAuldGrump]

And forgive me, but who is Jack London? Have not come across that in any of my school reading. Just Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Did they make a movie based on Jack London?

Jack London was a writer of the American North West. Several of his books have in fact been turned into movies, most notably Call of the Wild. Other great stories by him include White Fang and The Sea Wolf.
A short bigraphy can be found at:
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/jackbio.html

The characters created by Robert Service would also have been pretty decent for LXG. Tom Sawyer would not have been my choice either, (But then I prefer Huckleberry Finn any way.) Better still the (I believe) nameless protagonist in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Or, best if a bit obscure, A. Gordon Pym of Nantucket. A character created by Edgar Allen Poe, who's adventures were further chronicled by Jules Vernes...

The Auld Grump

*Edit: Somehow my reference to the Sea Wolf vanished, without my even noticing...

 

[Mark Chance]

Wild Bill too old and too damn busy running his western show.

And, if we were to remain faithful to sources, Tom Sawyer would be at least pushing 60 by 1899, the year LXG is set in.