Western/Colonial America Setting

Update
To update all of you who don’t see me on a regular basis, I have been working on the game. I’ve fleshed out a lot more of the classes now, but still a bit to go, building a couple more classes and abilities, picking final numbers on what is done, picking final wording, etc. The Gunslinger classes are just about done though, and the rest is falling into place well enough behind them. But the first things first is to clarify for you guys what guns are what, and how they work for you all.

There are three categories of guns, Rifle class guns (the larger, two handed rifle/shotgun esc guns), Sidearm class guns (the revolvers, hand guns, etc), and Derringers (Jolts, or other small, single shot guns). Rifle class weapons will be dealing 5-6 damage, depending on the gun. Sidearms will deal 3-4 damage. And Derringers will deal 2.

The Race, Class, and Feats you choose, but mostly the Class, will determine what guns you can use.

Here’s a bit of a better description of what a Gunslinger class is.

A Gunslinger can have one of each gun category, a Rifle class gun, a Sidearm class gun, and a Derringer. They have the most accessibility to and variety of guns, being a Gunslinger and all, ya know. In addition to that they get four of the six abilities from their class.

For instance, A Deputy can step in front in of the party, badge borne, and everyone behind him takes less damage. Or, if chosen, the Deputy has an ability to, if dropped to 0 hp, can make one last attack, at increased damage.

Hunter can call out an enemy, and gets bonus damage against it, until its gone. Or he can cripple an enemy, making its attacks weaker.

And the Drifter, after getting shot, make a pot shot of his own and press the barrel of his gun to his wound after, healing some of the damage as he cauterizes his gun shot. Or, being the bastard he may be, he could shoot at someone’s feet, makin’ ‘em dance so long as he can keep shooting.

That’s just a taste of the Gunslingers, a teaser at two of their abilities, and they get four of the six available so no two of the same class have to be the identical. All six abilities have been written out for each class, now its just a matter of fine tuning. Feel free to inquire either publicly or privately for more info.

But just because you have access to big guns doesn’t mean you need to use them. You can buy down a big gun for two smaller ones! So if you wanted to play a twin revolver build, you could. Here’s how that works.

Buying down guns: If you have a Rifle class gun, you can buy it down, surrendering access to it, for two Side arms. A Side arm can further be swapped out for two Derringers. So a Gunslinger could buy out his Rifle for two Sidearms, for a total of three Sidearms and a Derringer. Or, if you are really that guy, you could be the Seven Derringer Kid, seven one shot jolt gun…

Any questions, feel free to ask. Unsure of when, but I plan on throwing an event this fall that will be 3 mini events to help playtest rules and abilities. I’ll be posting the rough draft rules here first, and I will ask that you bring three different character builds, one for each quest. This will help me balance everything. Garb and props will be fairly relaxed for the first event, and it will give me a chance to work on things over the winter.
With Love,
Marshal Tim

I'm going to talk to my roommate real quick, sounds like he just got home, then clean up my notes from my meeting, and I'll tell you about the ten classes.

Have you ever read "Red Country" by Joe Abercrombie? It's basically a fantasy western.

Former outlaw and her pacifist stepdad running her mom's farm in the rough outer colonies of an empire; farm gets burned, little brother and sister kidnapped, our heroes have to join a wagon train and cross half of the west to find them. Really good book.

There are ten classes, three gunslinger classes, and seven support classes. Support classes still get guns, for the most part, but smaller ones, less damage, but more utility and buffs.

Gunslinger
Deputy- Paladin esc, trying to bring order to a lawless land, good guns, and some support

Hunter- Looking for game, big, small, or most dangerous. Big gun, and some trappy tricks

Drifter- Mysterious stranger esc. Generic Western protagonist.

Support
Snakeoil Sales- Whole bunch of potions, half fake (coin flip), reveal when consumed? Buffs and such.

Priest- Cleric, religious based party buffs, divine healing, debuffs, holy tools and knowledge checks

Doctor- Sawbones! Good doctor, dr’s kit, kit has other useful bits in it.

Gunsmith-Enchant bullets, wrap tab of tape around bullet, can hand off bullets, can make bullets. Also, gun buffs.

Spiritualist- Focuses: spirits(wards, healing, utility), ancestors (Self Buff), the Land (area of effects), Beasts () , Weather (attack magic)

Other
Laborer (Prospector/Miner/Railworker/Farmer) - small gun, tool for weapon, and bonus (tnt, rail spikes)

Gambler- deck of cards based, each ‘spell’ (sway?) has 4 teirs. Pick a card, T1, color match. T2 suit. T3, number. T4, their card. Each tier better than last. Can cheat In character, but if caught,they get a bonus

Gunslingers get four of the six options. They can double up on the same ability if they want.

Deputy- Paladin esc, trying to bring order to a lawless land, good guns, and some support

Lay on hands: Mild Healing
Deputize: give badge to someone, can buff for next X time
Can pick one at a time: increase next damage, decrease next damage
Flinch- Show badge, short verbal, target(s?) flinch back, stumble a bit, etc
I am the Law: As long as you are in front badge out, all allies get DR 1
Serve and Protect: As long as you are in front of most of the party, badge out. Dr X
The Job is not Finished: After being reduced to 0 or fewer hp, take one more shot. +dmg

Hunter- Looking for game, big, small, or most dangerous. Big gun, and some trappy tricks

Tracking: Can follow clues to track a target
You’re my Target: Bonus damage vs target
That’s the Weakness: Everyone gets bonus damage
Right about there: Double damage?
Crippling Shot: Target does minus 1 Damage
Trap: Throw a foot diameter prop, anyone who steps on it is immobilized and takes dmg

Drifter- Mysterious stranger esc
Disarm:
Duel: honorable one on one combat. If someone breaks the honor of the duel, they take increased damage.
- Seal the wound: mild healing, self only
Called Shot- no damage, all effect
Make ‘im dance: Fire a shot at targets feet, they have to remain fairly stationary and cant attack for 5 seconds. Time can be reset with another shot near the feet without expending another use
Sundering Shot: breaks hit thing

Those are the three Gunslingers. But Now I need rest. Im going to bed. If you have questions, I'll answer in the morning

What about other parts of America, the continent? Infinite jungles with lost cities in them and uknown animals and monster in there, weird tribes everywhere, the dicotomy of tribes trying to assimilate and protect they ways etc.

So, I'm going to need all of this info when you're done. I wanted to do something similar, but didn't know what to look for to make my own homebrew campaign. I had a summary in mind, and wanted to start working from there.

Por favor, compadre

I hadn't, but I'll give that a look too. The story synopsis sounds great though! I'll give it a look on Amazon here in a minute. Thank you, user!

Here's a larger version of that image, found it on the artist's website.

Good morning Bump.

There is an expansion or splat book or whatever the phrase is for Deadlands called "The Weird White North", thats about Canada

I havent gotten all of the lore down yet, just bits and pieces. Gold is cursed in the new world by an ancient Native god, driving people exposed to it mad, in varying ways (bloodlust, coveting above all else, paranoid. Fun for the Prospector.).
Serpant's Fang Gang is going to be a reoccuring gang, starting out as a gang, then dabbling into cult mysticism.
There is a mild amount of steampunk, Britan is going through their Industrial Revolution and some of that has crossed over the seas, but not much.
Almost all horses are dead. (It would be hard to explain why there are no horses in the west in the LARP, so this is that). After travelling west and murdering most of the buffalo population, the settler meet a Native American god who is upset with people for that, so in turn he kills most of the horses on the continent.

Pin Up Pretty to start my morning. It was that or one of the "Bump Girl" gifs, but thats not my plan for the next 4half hour, 45 minutes.

Last night I ended the gunslingers, today I'll post my Support classes. Most support classes still get a hand gun, but some only get a derringer (a jolt one shot gun).

Priest- No gun
Cleric, religious based party buffs, divine healing, debuffs, holy tools and knowledge checks
Alternative attack [O], Healing Self [O] , Healing Others [O],
Minor smite (Beanbag, decent damage, massive VS evil)
Holy Protection (Temporary DR)
Divine Healing (Fewer uses, but high healing)
Divine Inspiration (minor scrying)
Holy Tools (Cross, wooden stake, silver bullets, holy water)
Group healing (mass minor healing)
Group protection (Fewer uses, mass DR)
As Lazarus was (Bring someone who is at 0 or Negative to almost full)

Doctor- Sawbones! Good doctor, lot of minor healing, but it all takes time. There is a pacifist feat, Hippocratic Oath, no fighting or harming another, but +2 on all healing.

Bleed the Wound- Deal target 1 damage, then they start regening at 1 HP a minute, up to 6 (Net 5)
Anesthetic- slow healing takes half as long
Sutures- 3-4 minutes, heal 4-5
Antivenin- cures poison or infection, also, few doses of poison
Malpractice- couple minutes of working on a person, and can deal a lot of damage to target
Crutches/cane- target must use cane/crutches for x time, heals X damage (maybe more because its inconvenient )
Bandage- Quick fix, bunch of uses, heals 1-2
High Quality Stitches- Finite amount, faster stitches on sutures

Guess it's important to note here that to balance gunfights in a low hp high damage system, there is a reload speed. For each bullet you reload you have to do a pronounced countdown from 5. Reloading one, Reloading two, Reloading three, Reloading four, Reloading five. Feats and abilities can reduce that.

Gunsmith-
Enchant bullets, wrap tab of tape around bullet, can hand off bullets, and buff guns

Clear Jam
Buff Gun- increase damage
Enchant bullet- wood, incinderiary, healing, silver, (Bonus damage or effects)
Gimme that!- Take someone elses gun. Reload gun at speed, can fire at +1 damage
Reloader- can reload at speed
Reinforce Gun- Can survive being hit and not being disarmed

Focuses: spirits (Ward), ancestors (Self Buff), the Land, Beasts, Weather (attack magic)

All from one focus, get bonus ability
spirits (Ward): protection,
Jam Gun
Healing
Protection

ancestors (Self Buff),
Use gun for X time
increased melee for X time
Use of other class’s ability (Fewer uses, pick ahead of time)

the Land: Can throw ‘terrain spots’ that have effects in 5 foot radius around
Pool- Pool of water, anyone entering other than caster must go to your knees
Brambles- Slows people down and 'catches them' there
Scorching heat- partially blinds and exhausts whoever enters
Blistering wind- Wall like effect, can pass through, but hurts
Fridged air- slick ground, gun hand shaking from cold
SandStorm- Jams guns within 5 feet

Beasts: Plushie, can use few abilities per per spell, and one toss prop for thing- each spell has three different abilities , each one costs a use (5 uses?)
Toxic one (poison for damage, sicken), toss to intimidate.
Winged one ( ) .
Buzzing one (Distraction, ).
Hungry one (damage beanbag), halts advances, no running.
Strong (Beanbag of slam, Strength of two ).
Clever (Guidance, ) Gather item, info, resource.
Weather (attack magic):
Hailstone (v, beanbag, unlimited, minor damage (decent damage)
Lightning Bolt, fewer uses, higher damage, bolt prop
Downpour (unlimited beanbags, each has to be thrown within 5 seconds of the last, 1,2,3,4,5,5,4,3,2,1 damage)
Beating sun (Bolt, exhaust)
Brightlight (beanbag, blinding)
Twister (foam Frisbee, writing in a spiral, need to read the writing before can move on)

Laborer- a handgun, tool for weapon

Laborer gets to pick an Archtype: Miner/Prospector, Farmer, Railworker, Lumberjack. Most abilities have an associated class, if you take an ability associated with your archtype, you get another X uses.

ShopTalk (Thars gold in them there hills!): A- M,F. Distraction via conversation about work.
Hard Worker: Strength bonus to melee damage (Static?)
Decent Pay: (Bribe)
Self Healing: Second wind
One With Nature: A- F, L. Nature checks?
Folksy Wisdom/Mad Ramblings: Mild scrying?
Toolbox: a pointbuy that can be taken multiple times. Associated Archtype choices cost less.
TNT- tnt, coil, box. Fused, massive radius, massive damage
Dynomite- Fused, burst Ten feet, big damage
Nitroglycerin- Bomb that does 7 Damage, or destroys terrain/cover
Thrown weapon
Food- Resets an ability
Rail Spikes (stick it on something, then if you can hit it with either rail hammer or bullet, massive damage)

Well, there's also this.

Gambler- deck of cards based, Most ‘spells’ have 4 teirs. Pick a card, T1, color match. T2 suit. T3, number. T4, their card.
Each tier better than last
They can cheat In character, but if caught, the person they cheated against gets bonus damage against the gambler.

Impress
Off guard- bonus damage based on tier
Seeds of doubt- higher tier, may turn
Healing (2HP per tier)

These ones are not based on the Tier system
Gamblin Man- draw, Heart, heal 2 self. Spade, DR to next hit. Club, +Dmg. Diamond, find a nickel
Cheat Death- Starts with a single bullet that deals 8. When dropped to 0 or -5, call dead and step out of combat. When the Marshal is free, you can challenge death to a game. If you lose, you die. You NPC for the remainder of the event. If you win, Death gives you his gun and two bullets worth 15 Damage each.
Misfortune- Bad luck infects target
I Raise/ I Call- Raise, all damage for encounter, +1/Call, Step to back, DR 3

Fantastic genre. I've been running in a Western Fantasy setting for... six years or so? From Pathfinder to 4E and now converted into 5E.

I honestly can't stand to run anything else aside from horror one-shots at this point, it's just so fuckin' comfy. About the start up a new campaign in the West's primary port as shit hits the fan and the players are left scrambling for some sense of order and safety.

Thats awesome!

There's a game called Colonial Gothic that's been described as "Dark Heresy if Benjamin Franklin was your Inquisitor". I can post both the original and the d20 conversion in a little while.

>Hey Veeky Forums! Just want to start off by saying love you guys and gals here.
lel, faget

>Hey Veeky Forums! Just want to start off by saying love you guys and gals here.
for fantasy western, deadlands - as mentioend by others. if you really want to ramp the action up though, buy Savage Rifts instead and the Palladium sourcebooks for the old west. or try to combine both.

for standard western, aces & eights or, if you want a more old-school feel, TSR's Boothill 3E (it's still palyable).

>Western/Colonial America
>fantasy western
You do know colonial era is like 100+ years before the wild west setting you're lookimg for, right?

Mild bump

I think he's mostly just talking about the general feel of exploring a savage new land filled with strange peoples and environments. That joy of landing in a new world with only a modicum of civilization and large patches of frontier.

And killing shit outta natives, in revenge for killing the shit outta you.

Hey there, this is the OP. And I am aware of that, but...

This user explained it perfectly. Thank you user!

I would love to take a look at that! Thank you, sir!

That sounds great! You have any great stories to tell from your campaign? I've loved this genre forever, and have always wanted to get more into it.

Quick explanation: the natives of the West are your elves, goblins, orcs and the like which all have immortal bodies but mortal minds. A mystic people with a strong connection to the spirits and primitive magic, once a native reaches 700 or so years, they tend to crack as a dozen generations of experience muddy their minds. In response, these elders tend to craft a Fable, some sort parable or story which becomes the crux of their existence while their strength of will and magic begins to warp the very landscape and their tribe into actors and a stage for this story to be told forever. For orcs and goblins, in-fighting tends keep a pretty healthy rate of turn-over, while most elven tribes have ceremonial suicide rituals and the like.

In addition, the various People of the West end up divided into various subgroups -- from the lizard-riding, sharp-toothed raiders of the People of the Lizard to the cowardly and crafty People of the Rat that wind up in tunnels and burrows wherever others gather in great numbers -- which Carskan scholars believe is the result of particularly ancient Fabled chiefs slumbering for millennia in remote and likely heavily censored locations.

tl;dr: Ancient elves and orcs have a tendency to turn into eldritch abominations.

Carska, meanwhile, is basically the prime-mover for everything happening in the West. A fairly militant magocracy, their policy of ruthless expansion following the discovery of a magitech engine that's revolutionized society leading them to a series of false-flag conflicts back East and now increased settlement of the West. Basically think if you mixed a stereotype of Unionists with Nazis.

Well, the campaign that just wrapped up was up in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, in the very far corner of one of the territories of the west where an native chief had Fabled. Now the party finds themselves dealing with some political intrigue between a Carskan magister who was making a bid for control of the region, the ghost of a Carskan explorer who had died a century ago who had bewitched a Dwarven mine, and a Fable chief that had covered the landscape with an oppressive blizzard and unleashed wendigo and other foul monsters, was twisting the local tribes into yeti, and raising a skeletal uktena.

Once school shit settles down, starting up a new one in the bustling city of Port Marston, the oldest city that settlers established in the West and the primary way anyone finds their way there, before riding the slowly-growing rail network further into Sonaugh or out to the Free Territories. Due to its somewhat unique history and the charter that created it, it's something of a political headache for the Carskan Territory Authority since it's led by a hereditary governor who's death as the party tries to dismantle a crime lord's operation in revenge for misdeeds against themselves and their loved ones will open a can of worms as magisters jockey for power, the city's fill with rioters, and Carskan politics prove just how deadly and messy they can get.

Huh, this thread took a nap suddenly.