Seems odd given this is a wargaming site but since I have quite a few Internet friends I thought I’d share.
I’ve been asked a few times if I’m going to recommence with the Word of Hashut, and given GWs stance on IP (amongst other issues) I’ve decided I’m unlikely to ever give GW my time and efforts for free.
For a while I was writing 2nd edition AD&D modules but to me that market is saturated with Tokeineque pseudo europe fantasy worlds. So looking around an old interest was rekindled: westerns. As anyone know who reads my blog I’ve been researching many westerns and getting back in touch with the genre. Think about it: how awesome is the movie Unforgiven?
With all that said I dusted off my rules for my unreleased fantasy based RPG that has its start back in December of 1996! I wrote it off and on until 2004. At the time it was d12 based and worked ok.
Going hand in hand with my reinterest of westerns was actually getting materials for the 1st edition Boot Hill which for those not in the know is more a minis game with skeletal RPG parts attached. I took a stab at writing a module for it and two things happened:
1. The rules are so incomplete that it would take a hell of a lot of work to finish. 3rd edition Boot Hill did this, but was a different game in terms of mechanics.
2. I thought about my time giving support to GW in terms of WoH and thought why shouldn’t it be for my IP rather then do done else’s?
So with all that in mind I’m nearing the release of my alpha rules of my RPG. So why am I mentioning it on this site? Because I can see quite easily that one could use the rules to play skirmish games. Right now for me time is a premium and 8 hour long set up and battles of warhammer ain’t happening.
I’ve been purposely staying away from almost any Western RPG and only recently acquired the GW rules for their historical line that was just discontinued.
So be on the lookout here. I hope to have the alpha rules complete within the next month. If RPGs arent your thing I’d still like non-rpgers to look at it. Even if you just have a simple suggestion or comment it may get me go think of something in a different way.
Once the core rules (including stuff for the referee) are done I’m planning a small doc for the skirmish game of it.
Forgot a few particulars: it’s % dice based, uses a deck of cards as well for certain things like the critical wound charts.
Sounds interesting. The deck of cards game mechanic sounds like a nice departure from the usual stuff. Is it an RPG that doesn’t require pen/paper? I’ve thought about using a system that replaces all the writing with a single deck of cards.
I’ve got a game of my own up my sleeve, but it needs far more playtesting before I release any further info on it.
Pen and paper, it’s tried a true so why deviate from it. Inline internal play testing but might get the alpha version out just to spark ideas.
Can’t claim I invented the deck of cards mechanic either. Savage Worlds does a good job and it appears in other western rpgs like aces and eights as well.
Is yours traditional fantasy fare? Or a Wargame? PM if you don’t want it public
It’s mostly a card game, more sci fi based than fantasy, a bit Firefly. I suppose you could make yours fit into a Firefly-style universe with just a few rules for guns and vehicles, maybe as a future expansion pack so it doesn’t make the whole game squeeze into a genre that some people don’t like.
Looking at it mine could easily cover a historical role play back to ancient times up till about WWI. For a traditional fantasy game it would work since I originally wrote it as such.
It has some similarities to 1st/2nd edition WHFRP as its scores are from 1-100, % based. The cards I’m really liking as I’m using them (amongst other things) for the working title of initiative called “who goes first?” deal three cards to each player and group of NPCs, and major bad guys. Play 3-card stud! Winner goes first, next highest hand and do on. 3- card stud goes VERY fast plus it gives you a moment to decide what do do when it’s your turn. The other cool part is the strategy. Which card to discard if any go get a better hand. Plus unlike other systems the fastet gun in the west still might not go first!
I’ve been thinking about how I can adapt this to a WWI flying aces game and suprisngly it works.
Reached a mile stone last night and the alpha rules are done. Probably rough and not edited either, but they are complete enough to be perused. Initial reaction so far has been good.
Next step is to work on the writing to make it less terse in spots. The rules seem solid so I’m starting with a limited release first (it’s off this site) with rpgers who play western themed games.
Once there I may post the link here if there is enough interest. So far that’s only Cornixt! Lol.
Those used to the WoH. Right it’s just a bare bones PDF. If there is enough intrest then I’ll think of a kickstarter project.
I’ve RPGed across most genres, from low fantasy to scifi, and have always enjoyed a good setting with plenty of opportunity to characterise.
Although i haven’t written my own system i have GMed most, written tournament modules, run conventions and my high claim to fame was writing the Australian background for AEG’s Spycraft setting.
And i really enjoy a good western!
So when either of you are ready for a wider release let me know.
Ok Alpha rules are ready. Couple of things to keep in mind: the parent rules for this was a fantasy RPG I wrote years ago, most artifacts are removed from that but Ive still found a few here and there. If you spot any let me know.
Two: this has NOT been edited. In a lot of spots I’m working on making the text less terse.
Three: Who goes first rule. I’m really close to renaming it High Noon. Thoughts?
Four: if you think it sucks or is not your cup of tea, great thanks for stopping by. If you feel compelled to tell me it sucks without offering how I can make it better know I’ll feel free to label you a jack wagon.
Had a quick look through. First impressions: Wow, that’s a lot of attributes! Needs quite a bit of proofreading at the moment. Some things are mentioned but aren’t explained until later on (like Bucking the Tiger), which was a bit confusing for me. I wonder if distilling the game down to just cards and D10 would be better than the occasional D6 and such.
High Noon sounds fine. I wonder if that mechanism would work well for other parts of the game. Not so sure about the title Hurled Into Eternity though, sounds like sci fi!
Lastly, I’d probably add sample character sheets and a basic plot as a starter for anyone who wanted a quick try-out. You’d spend half the session just generating characters otherwise. Some of the generation seems a bit too random - commonly held skills should come up much more often than the lesser, but I may have missed something.
Two: this has NOT been edited. In a lot of spots I'm working on making the text less terse.
willmark
;)
Seriously. I'm surprised its actually gone this well so far given that its been through umpteen billion iterations, on multiple computers, different formatting and the fact that it's an entirely different genre now. Add to the fact that it started out as d12 based! O_O I'm so close to the text after reading it since 1996...
Not so sure about the title Hurled Into Eternity though, sounds like sci fi!
cornixt
Actually you don't get much more western then Hurled Into Eternity ... I'll let you go for a while and see if you can figure it out! :)
Had a quick look through. First impressions: Wow, that's a lot of attributes! Needs quite a bit of proofreading at the moment. Some things are mentioned but aren't explained until later on (like Bucking the Tiger), which was a bit confusing for me. I wonder if distilling the game down to just cards and D10 would be better than the occasional D6 and such.
cornixt
Attributes are that way for a reason, probably owes to its WFRP inspiration. It comes down to the Fighting attributes mainly where you could be good at say knife throwing, but not gun fighting. In a system with no classes or levels it adds the ability to customize which areas you want to improve in.
d100 is a great mechanic. In game there is the other two cards method as well as you'll see: straight 3 card poker or for quicker resolution red black suits. I've weeded out a bunch of the d4 ones to the red/black card mechanic. I'll look at adding more where possible. I dont see it going to straight d10 however.
High Noon sounds fine. I wonder if that mechanism would work well for other parts of the game.
cornixt
Its what I was thinking and Who Goes First? was always been a working title and I think High Noon fits the character of the game better.
Lastly, I'd probably add sample character sheets and a basic plot as a starter for anyone who wanted a quick try-out. You'd spend half the session just generating characters otherwise.
cornixt
There is a make do sheet at the very end; its still a work in progress.
Some of the generation seems a bit too random - commonly held skills should come up much more often than the lesser, but I may have missed something.
cornixt
Haha so far the random skills has been well received! Just goes to show different takes eh? In the game you can try anything, even if you don't have the skill. It's just with a skill you have a greater chance of success.
I picked the name quite easily. I was at the title page of the doc and boom. Of course having read several books on the topic a few days before had nothing to do with it.
UPDATE: Rules for the Game have now moved to Beta. If there is anyone with an interest in editing let me know. Likewise if there is an interest for play-testing it should be playable at this stage and most of the rules have been gone over multiple times, probably missed something so feel free to point it out.
Version 1.5 Beta is now up. I’ve changed the rules for combat from insanely deadly to deadly. In all seriousness I came up with some better ideas surrounding it and modified a few other sections.
Still not edited yet but its getting there in terms of the rules. Also created some better covers for it.
Ok so it's probably at the review play test stage as well as editing? Anyone want to volunteer for taking that on? ;)
Willmark
My group intends on playing this game this week.. Ill get back to you with results.. I will say after 3 weeks with my group... we will have found every kink and broke ass combo available.
I have no illusions that its perfect its been a fun exercise and after 15 years of looking at it it’s great to have fresh eyes.
Make sure you have the latest version. I toned down gunfire some from insanely lethal to lethal. I’m also not striving for firearm realism, but more of an over the top, things go bad at criticals.
Two other parts: initial impressions? I don’t write in a straight line so it jumps around plus as noted it started as a fantasy game 15 years ago. Please note any fantasy artifacts if they pop up.
And make sure you get all of their names (or how/if they want to be listed under play testers).
I’ve been toying with getting this fully card based. A deck of cards has its own advantages and disadvantages. Namely the fact each suit has 13 cards, creates a bit of an issues when trying to frame it on a range of 1-100… I’ve worked out the percentage jumps about (7.5 per 4 cards of each suit.) Part I’m debating is assigning a card value to each attribute. Would seem weird to look at Gun Fighting on your sheet and instead of a score it says “Queen”? Or “Jack”? Tentatively I’m putting down 2 through 13…
EDIT: found I think a better way to marry up 1-100 with a Card deck working through it now.
I’m almost ready to link it here. First group is doing some play testing tonight.