What ROLE-PLAYING have you been doing?

I'm running a holiday-themed Blades in the Dark one shot that I wrote! It will be the first time running Blades so if anyone has any advice I'm all ears. I think we are playing on the 26th.

Also my bi-weekly Warhammer 2nd edition game is nearing a finale, just leveled to my end game career of Sea Captain, and we are going to take a break and run some Traveller: 2300 AD. I'm excited to try Traveller as I have read about others playing it but never any of the game or actual source material itself.

Tonight I introduced D&D to my two 12 year old boys and their friend. We are using the D&D starter set. This was my first time as a DM in quite a long time, actually the first time ever for D&D. I gave them a very brief overview of how their abilities worked and how combat works.

The starter adventure is pretty neat; it's broken up into 4 parts and is essentially a mini-campaign intended to get characters from level 1 all the way to 5, which is where the starter set ends. You can download the basic rules from Wizards for free once you exhaust the starter set. It's 180 pages.

Anyway, it was my intent that we would finish the first section of the adventure... but the very first encounter, against 4 measly goblins, took them forever. They rolled so many 1s, and did dumb stuff... but it was still very fun. They needed a break and I would not be surprised if we don't revisit it tonight.

D&D was huge for me at that age... but I didn't have Fortnite.

I got to run my Blades one shot I wrote the day after Christmas and it went so well I got to run it a second time last Wednesday!

The system really is made for long term campaign play, but if you throw that stuff out you can make a pretty good heist style session. First time with an Apocalypse Engine style game and I really enjoyed it (but it won't replace DCC as my go to favorite game). I think its easier to create something from scratch because you lean so much on the players to fill in the gaps. I guess that could be a pro or a con depending on your GM style and what your players like to do.

Anyway highly recommended system if you were thinking about checking it out.

Da Bid Dabid wrote: Anyway highly recommended system if you were thinking about checking it out.

It's such a wonderful game. I ran a six-session "season" last winter with a bunch of folks, some of whom had never played an RPG before. It was remarkable how consistently fun it was, and it's because the game systems just work in generating funny, tense, and unexpected situations--it really makes your work as a GM easy.

Just began a new campaign of L5R 5E. Really like the system so far. Does some pretty cool things with the changes from 4. Excited to see how this plays out. I am converting Code of Bushido to 5E, its a first edition module i think, pretty old anyway.

The system is sort of like a streamlined Gynesis / FFG Starwars system, with a lot of change for the setting.

I'm definitely intrigued by L5R. I love the setting. Never played any of the RPGs, but I did play the original CCG and the more recent LCG. The world of Rokugan is just awesome.

Howdy, pardners! I'm trying to track down a solid RPG about Cowboys. A few months back I became obsessed with the Wild West, and between Western Legends and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, it seems I'm not the only one.

I started way back in time and re-read my ancient copy of Boot Hill (which might have been the second RPG ever), but it really shows its age (zero consideration of social skills at all).

I'm also aware of a few cross-genre western games, but my ideal game will be pure cowboys, not cowboys & zombies or cowboys & aliens, etc.

For the moment, we've been playing a modified Savage Worlds... but it's not quite scratching the itch.

Any suggestions welcome!

Dutch wrote: Howdy, pardners! I'm trying to track down a solid RPG about Cowboys. A few months back I became obsessed with the Wild West, and between Western Legends and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, it seems I'm not the only one.

I started way back in time and re-read my ancient copy of Boot Hill (which might have been the second RPG ever), but it really shows its age (zero consideration of social skills at all).

I'm also aware of a few cross-genre western games, but my ideal game will be pure cowboys, not cowboys & zombies or cowboys & aliens, etc.

For the moment, we've been playing a modified Savage Worlds... but it's not quite scratching the itch.

Any suggestions welcome!

Not my specialty but I’m aware of a few things out there that are straight genre stuff with no nerd tropes mixed in:

- Boot Hill came out with a 3rd edition in 1990. Maybe that adds social stuff?

- GURPS has a supplement, Old West. Downside: GURPS.

- Aces & Eights has a good reputation. But OOP.

- BRP came out with a western supplement in the 90s.

- Dust Devils is more about the spiritual/redemption side of the genre. Wrestling with inner demons and such.

Thanks for the suggestions -- I'll try to track 'em down.

Dutch wrote: Howdy, pardners! I'm trying to track down a solid RPG about Cowboys. A few months back I became obsessed with the Wild West, and between Western Legends and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, it seems I'm not the only one.

I started way back in time and re-read my ancient copy of Boot Hill (which might have been the second RPG ever), but it really shows its age (zero consideration of social skills at all).

I'm also aware of a few cross-genre western games, but my ideal game will be pure cowboys, not cowboys & zombies or cowboys & aliens, etc.

For the moment, we've been playing a modified Savage Worlds... but it's not quite scratching the itch.

Any suggestions welcome!

Take a look at Owl Hoot Trail. It has some supernatural stuff, but you can easily cleave that stuff off.
site.pelgranepress.com/index.php/tag/owl-hoot-trail/

Just wrapped up a almost 3 year campaign of Labyrinth Lord. Lots of 1st level character deaths in the beginning, but we eventually got a handle on the lethality and most characters eventually got up to 7th level. Another guy is going to run the next few months to give me a DM break. I think we might go with T&T. I haven't played it since the 80's, but the guy who's wants to run it, just got the newest version from a recent Kickstarter from Flying Buffalo. Another factor is that Rick Loomis, long time owner of Flying Buffalo, had a recent cancer scare. He says the prognosis is good, but is looking for any extra sales to help offset the costs of medical bills his insurance won't cover. A bunch of us put a order together for a bunch of books, GM screen, ect to help him out.

Dutch wrote: Howdy, pardners! I'm trying to track down a solid RPG about Cowboys.

What RPGs do you like?

Dutch, this is probably more modern than you're looking for, but Copperhead County (based on the real good Blades in the Dark, mentioned above in the thread) is a crime game set in the American South. If you're into contemporary takes on western tropes, like Hell or High Water or even something like No Country for Old Men, this could scratch that itch: zzzwizard.itch.io/copperhead

Thanks so much for these suggestions.

Here's a little background: I embarked on this wild west campaign with an eye on bringing some history to familiar Hollywood-style cowboy tropes. One of the joys of historical gaming in general and the wild west in particular is how familiar everyone is with the setting. We all know all the rules of the society.

But after a couple sessions of the weekly campaign, I realized that my buddies weren't loving the dangerous, hardcore moments, and instead really preferred a far mellower experience. To my surprise, instead of Deadwood, I find myself running Bonanza...! Things are so mellow that half the time I feel like I'm watching old western episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.

Still, the players love the setting, love their PCs, and they're happy to just blab half the night away in character. It's been weeks since a gun has been fired in anger, and they really seem to be just fine with that (which might just be testament to how dangerous Savage Worlds can get with its exploding dice, come to think of it). My cast of oddball NPCs continues to expand, and, for now, at least, it seems like Happy Trails.

quozl wrote: What RPGs do you like?

Boy, that really depends on the table. I can enjoy somewhat heavy stuff like the Modiphius Conan or Star Trek... but I also really love just free-form make-believe-with-minis for super-hero games.

I've played a lot of Dungeon World/Apocalypse Engine -- whatever it's called. That sort of open narrative is perfect for tons of settings... but it's didn't feel quite dangerous enough for the wild west.

A few months back we dug up the old Victory Games James Bond 007 system (from 1980, I think?), and had a huge amount of fun. It's super-grognardy, though. To give you an idea, when creating a "00-class" secret agent, you have 9,000 build points to spend on stats & skills... a hilariously laborious process.

Savage Worlds is great for certain campaigns. We ran an epic Star Wars campaign using a hack of Savage Worlds (our SW SW hack) that really was one for the ages.

And I like D&D! But really only as D&D, not as a system for role playing in the fantasy setting.