GURPS Old West

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by a humble lich

In many ways, that is what Zorro is like, except I believe New Mexico was much populated at the period than California. (Point of disclosure, I am from New Mexico). So it would be more like Zorro with Apaches, Navaho, and American Fur traders.

As far 1905 being too late for Westerns, I would say that period is when things were becoming more settled, but there are still plenty of fringes. Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch were from this era (1895-1908?), but they decided to go to Bolivia because the West wasn't wild enough anymore (at least according to the movie)

In real or real-ish history, the law had made the West too hot. So Butch and Sundance went where they thought there would be less restraint and fewer lawmen.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by a humble lich

In many ways, that is what Zorro is like, except I believe New Mexico was much populated at the period than California. (Point of disclosure, I am from New Mexico). So it would be more like Zorro with Apaches, Navaho, and American Fur traders.

As far 1905 being too late for Westerns, I would say that period is when things were becoming more settled, but there are still plenty of fringes. Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch were from this era (1895-1908?), but they decided to go to Bolivia because the West wasn't wild enough anymore (at least according to the movie)

Don't forget ''Treasure of the Sierra Madre''. That happened quite a bit later. ''Big Jake'' wasn't in the twentieth century but almost.

It wasn't just fur that was being traded in New Mexico. There were gold strikes in the area. Kit Carson was a shotgun rider on a Mule train and a few other famous adventurers too, I think.

One interesting phenomenon was that it was often the settlers that were at the disadvantage their rather then the Indians because of neglect by the government. To soldiers, New Mexico was where people got sent when they were Reassigned to Antarctica.

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Incidentally, Hardin was shot by law enforcement.In the back of the head while his guns were still holstered but the coroner didn't object. He thought it showed good judgment. The coroner was a busy man and Hardin's shooter didn't last long either. Very little job security in law enforcement back then.

That reputation had been earned between 1866-77, though. When he was killed he'd just come out of a 25 year prison term.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

That reputation had been earned between 1866-77, though. When he was killed he'd just come out of a 25 year prison term.

18 years out of that 25 year sentence. They had early release even back then.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

18 years out of that 25 year sentence. They had early release even back then.

Who in the world would get the idea of releasing John Wesley Hardin?

[Astromancer]

As late as the 1930s Hollywood films set Westerns in contemporary times. Many Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were examples of this. TV shows like Longmire continue this trend. The Western is still alive and still sets some of its stories in the present.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

Who in the world would get the idea of releasing John Wesley Hardin?

<shrug> Somebody who only knew that he'd been convicted of just one killing?

Or Hardin could have rolled a crit on his Law roll. He studied Law so well in prison that he became a lawyer after he got out.

I can sense a "But what was a convicted felon doing practising law in a saloon with two revolvers in his waistcoat? Didn't his parole officer have anything to say about that?" from somewhere out there in the ether. We may someday reach a point where young children can't even comprehend the age much less play make-believe in it.

[dcarson]

Not too long after he was released he was pardoned. So he wasn't a convicted felon anymore.

[hal]

For those who may be interested, there was once upon a time, an old RPG named WILD WEST by FGU. Some kind soul sought the permission of the original owners of the material, requesting that he be permitted to share the contents of the out of print material.

THIS is where you can go to get that material.

I would recommend it for use because it has a large scale map of the region from Texas to Denver that would be useful for a campaign. Unfortunately, the map in reality is a poster sized map - and the details on the poster map are a touch too fine to make out. For example, for every "Indian tribe" symbol on the map, the names of the tribe are listed, but you can't really see it on the online map.

In any event, these are the two books that I picked up used from Amazon.com that might be of interest:

THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO EVERYDAY LIFE in the WILD WEST FROM 1840 - 1900 by Candy Moulton. Ever wonder how much land cost? page 21 says this about the Homestead Law in 1841:

"...Preemption Act, under which a settler could file on a 160-acre claim and purchase the land for $1.25 per acre after erecting a dwelling and meeting certain conditions"

Later on, it states that land could be purchased in 1854 for as little as little as 12 and one half cents per acre (which was based on land quality).

1842 to 1853 saw people moving westward to Oregon, Washington and New Mexico because the land was being offered FREE. The homestead act of 1863 allowed people to earn land free - or buy land for $1.25 per acre in approved public lands west of Mississippi.

Ever wonder why people planted 160 acres of woodland? Yup, some law that granted land if the land was planted with trees and tended for 8 years.

In short, an EXCELLENT book filled with tidbits of information that any aspiring GM might find interesting for his players to enjoy.

Want to know how much a Stetson's Boss of the Plains hat cost for 2 oz of felt? $5.00. In buying power terms, if one month's wage was about $30 at that time, then it represented a price worth 1/6th a month's income.

Ever wonder what the income tax was back in 1861? 3%.

So - grab a copy of that book, it has a lot of interesting details. :)

[hal]

As I go through some of the material I use or used in prior old west campaigns, I thought this might be of interest as well.

Those who may be aware, there is a company that produces a product (amongst others) called Hackmaster. They support it with a magazine - and two of those magazines had articles I thought worthy of buying the magazines for.

They were:

HackJournal #34: Winning the West: Water Law (Aces & Eights) .
HackJournal #37: Fort Kane [Aces & Eights].

KODT131:
Aces & Eights: The Bandit’s Guide to the West
Aces & Eights: Buying Land & Raising Buildings in the Shattered Frontier

KODT140:
Making Nowhere Somewhere… (Building Construction)
Building/Construction Worksheet
Build Yer Own Lazarus (town set up using WHITEWASH CITY model bldgs)
Plot Werkz: Swing Station Alexander (Stage Coach station for food/horses)

KODT142:
The Old Gun Shop (optional gun malfunction rules)

of them all, I would whole heartedly recommend the KODT131 and 140 for the costs involved in buildings and buying land within a town (formulas for determining market value etc).

Depending of course, on the level of detail that you want. The water rights article was particularly informative, which I think might be worth exploring.

Addenda: KODT is short for Knights of the Dinner Table. Sorry, forgot to mention that.