Western Noir Plot Ideas.

[nik1979]

Will be running a GURPS Firefly/Cowboy Bebop game (using Fading Suns as the setting) in a couple of weeks and i need some help brainstorming for plots that fall well into the Western Noir.

As space cowboys go, i have watched (and studied) Firefly and been reading about Cowboy Bebop (watched already but don't have my own copy) and been trying to read up on Deadwood (hard to catch the show). Is there anything/one else out there that can give me some ideas?

I know that I gotta have a story about whores w/ a heart of gold, showdowns at high noon, scars of war, the good-the bad-the ugly, yojimbo, 7-samurai... am i missing anything else?

[Xenarthral]

Originally Posted by nik1979

am i missing anything else?

DUCK, YOU SUCKER! ...errm A Fistful of Dynamite
Django
Once upon a time in the west
etc.

Just google "spaghetti westerns" (and maybe "revisionist westerns")
and go from there...

[Atreyu_Hibiki]

TRIGUN.

Can't have Space Westerns without an appearance of the mysterious black cat...

[GoodGame]

Pitch Black and Riddick, or to quote one of the creators---bad fighting evil/animal.

Probably lots of bounty hunters that are themselves barely civil and legal. Other errant characters like misunderstood bandits, young nuns, bi-cultural indians (or aliens and maybe viewed as turncoats by their tribes), military renegades, and egotistical (to meglomaniacal) land/herd rustlers, as well as plain evil bandits. 'Civilized' women that want to get independently wealthy and experienced, without too much male support. Lots of neutralist lazy townies/colonists, only interested in their own businesses and paying a sheriff (or warlord) off for peace. Unenergetic town lawmen that mainly just pay rewards and lock up malcontents. Prejudiced, bigoted, neutralist ruffians trying to be lawmen very roughly. Probably some jayhawkers and refugees from border territory brushfire wars.

Overall Yojimbo and spaghetti western Clint Eastwood parallel each other so well that you can mix and match them to make reasonable variations.
And add a dash of John Wayne just for a little 'lightness'.

Originally Posted by nik1979

Will be running a GURPS Firefly/Cowboy Bebop game (using Fading Suns as the setting) in a couple of weeks and i need some help brainstorming for plots that fall well into the Western Noir.

As space cowboys go, i have watched (and studied) Firefly and been reading about Cowboy Bebop (watched already but don't have my own copy) and been trying to read up on Deadwood (hard to catch the show). Is there anything/one else out there that can give me some ideas?

I know that I gotta have a story about whores w/ a heart of gold, showdowns at high noon, scars of war, the good-the bad-the ugly, yojimbo, 7-samurai... am i missing anything else?

[Mgellis]

"Last Man Standing"--Yojimbo remade as a gangster movie set in a western town in the 1930s

"Big Jake"--Western set c. 1910, with one character on a motorcycle (for a while, at least); not one of John Wayne's best films, but pretty good

And, just to get a better feel for the genre, here are three you may like...

"Shane"

"The Outlaw Josey Wales"

"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"

Oh, and if you are desperate for a nice cowboys and dinosaurs movie, there is always...

"The Valley of Gwangi"

I hope this helps.

Mark

[imp of chaos]

the valley of the gwangi rules. it's a must see for anybody!!

i.o.c.

[Xenarthral]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

"Last Man Standing"--Yojimbo remade as a gangster movie set in a western town in the 1930s

Tangent: As I've done my best to avoid Last Man Standing I have one
question regarding it (said question is part of the reason I'm avoiding it):
Does (the credits of) Last Man Standing refer to or acknowledge Dashiell
Hammett's Red Harvest or did someone have the bright idea "Let's set
Yojimbo in 1920-30s USA!" without knowing the origin of Yojimbo?

Speaking of Dashiell Hammett, the Intercontinental Op might give some
mileage for bounty hunters. (He had one western adventure, but his
European one might be more adventure-inspiring.)

[nik1979]

Wow thanks!
The ideas are all great, although I won't be able to find any western movies to check out all the way here but i'll be able to read up the synopsis (and possibly use that as a game plot).

Working with the characters my players are making.
A player made a (Scraver) Respectable Pimp (Bugaw in tagalog; pronounced "Boo'gao") who has 6 very beautiful courtesans and a skeleton crew. He uses the same reason and similar perks as Inara in Firefly but takes it in another direction, as he is also the captain of the ship looking for a few good men (no female players) who can protect his business (girls) but he's such a greedy bastard to afford a competent crew. This is where the other crewmembers come in.

He hires bounty hunters who can moonlight as his bodyguards while he moves system to system. Since bounty hunting can be rather slow, he uses the the expert muscle inbetween jobs taking a huge cut of their bounty as his rent while their living expenses are taken care of. He also hires them as muscle between jobs which is really helpful since he goes system to system. No FTL communications so when his reaver (lawyers and bankers guild) contacts and his scraver (mobster "guild") contacts can't get him out of the hot water, thats when bounty hunters come in.

One of the players have chosen an Avesti Bounty hunter. A churchman and from the Inquisitorial sect. It is not strange that someone uses the cloth to use his legal enforcement for profit. A churchman is very usefull especially in Church owned or aligned worlds allowing him to do business and a show of respectability (since some sects do not have a vow of celebicy ei. Escatonics and have a liberal interpretation of the Pancreator's laws).

The others are taking the Cowboy bebop concept and making characters from one of the influences of the series: Lupin the Third. An expert gunman/driver and a Kensai (swordsman). So far this crew has not detailed their characters and i don't know how well rounded they wil make.

[GoodGame]

Originally Posted by nik1979

Wow thanks!

He hires bounty hunters who can moonlight as his bodyguards while he moves system to system. Since bounty hunting can be rather slow, he uses the the expert muscle inbetween jobs taking a huge cut of their bounty as his rent while their living expenses are taken care of. He also hires them as muscle between jobs which is really helpful since he goes system to system. No FTL communications so when his reaver (lawyers and bankers guild) contacts and his scraver (mobster "guild") contacts can't get him out of the hot water, thats when bounty hunters come in.

LOL, this character is well on his way to being a head mobster if he starts a black market business and starts bribing lawmen.

[nik1979]

Originally Posted by GoodGame

LOL, this character is well on his way to being a head mobster if he starts a black market business and starts bribing lawmen.

One of his more favorite perks of being a pimp is not having to pay in cash when he can. Despite how he can seem in the background, he can very well take the foreground of the story using his social skills, streetwise, and um... sex appeal (of his courtesans), its really shows of the game system cause this kind of character is very hard to do in any other system and shows off how GURPS can be all about social, where alot of systems arent designed for.