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Old 11-26-2018, 06:04 AM   #11
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Default Re: GURPS Old West

someone is playing red dead redemption :) damn O'driscoll
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Old 11-26-2018, 06:55 AM   #12
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Default Re: GURPS Old West

I'd love to see a Pyramid issue dedicated to applying the themes and tropes of the Western Genre in other settings like 22nd Mars or 18th Century Siberia.
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Old 11-26-2018, 09:04 AM   #13
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Default Re: GURPS Old West

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
John Wesley Hardin (no "G" or you'll find out a whole lot about a Bob Dylan album) was shot in a saloon in El Paso in 1895 during a thoroughly wild era. It's quite possible to go later than some people might think.
I think it's hard to argue that 1895 was truly wild anymore, Brother. Did crime still happen? Of course. It happens now. But when I recommended the 1870s I was recommending it as a start date, so that you could draw a campaign out for a whole decade or so.

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Depends on the game. If I'm on the Oregon Trail, 1836-1846 is the sweet spot. If I'm doing something along the lines of most Western gunslingers (Billy the Kid, Bat Masterson, Maverick, etc.), then the 1870s hits the spot.

The two have pretty different feels, too. Oregon Trail is pre-ACW, while most gunslingers are post-ACW. The change in weapons, increase in railroads, and other things makes the "golden age of gunslingers", what most people think of as the "Old West", a different feel from "We'll travel 20 miles on a good day following the Platte River west across the plains, and most days something will go wrong, even if it's minor... oh, and since this is 1837, Fort Laramie isn't yet built for resupply."
That's all true. I would call the 1820s more of a "Mountain Man" campaign than an "Old West" campaign. And it you want an "Oregon Trail" campaign then, yes, it can't really be set in 1880.

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I'd love to see a Pyramid issue dedicated to applying the themes and tropes of the Western Genre in other settings like ... 18th Century Siberia.
Osterns! That would indeed be very interesting. "Watch out, comrade Polkovnik- the Turkmen are on the warpath!"

Last edited by acrosome; 11-26-2018 at 09:13 AM.
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Old 11-26-2018, 09:20 AM   #14
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I think it's hard to argue that 1895 was truly wild anymore,
I think that argues nothing but your unfamiliarity with El Paso in 1895. People were being shot as frequently there and then as at any time and place west of the Mississippi after the Civil War.

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.

El Paso may not have been as small as Tombstone but Tombstone was so small tha the Earps and Youngers all played cards togethher the night before the OK Corral. They might not have been able to get up a game if they hadn't.
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Old 11-26-2018, 10:22 AM   #15
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Hello.

If anyone has run a campaign using GURPS Old West (3rd edition), I would like to know what year and location you used. What would be the best year for a game? Pre or post gold rush? Pre or post transcontinental railroad?
I ran a campaign set in California around 1855. Nice caplocks then, things are still wild, and the gold rush was really turning into an industrial affair. It was probably the most satisfying campaign I have ever run, as all of the tensions reached a climax in a massive shootout. That one involved people swapping cylinders, knife and hatchet fighting, and a couple of nice sniper shots with a pair of rifles.

Were I to run another campaign, though, I might set it in the 1870s, though there are a lot of good times and places. With my current group, I probably would need to add supernatural elements, and that would make it no longer a strictly old west game.

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Some of you may recall the old WEIRD WEST games - KNUCKLEDUSTER'S COWTOWN CREATOR might be worth picking up. There is also the FIREARMS version of the book series that might be worth picking up as well - but looking at Ebay right now, it looks like you will have a long wait for a decently priced copy to be found.
Just some thoughts... :)
I'd second this bit - the Knuckledusters Cowtown Creator and the firearms book are excellent. Unfortunately, I picked them up after I ran my campaign.
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Old 11-26-2018, 01:17 PM   #16
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Default Re: GURPS Old West

I'm starting to get an itch for an Old West Campaign darn it...
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Old 11-26-2018, 02:03 PM   #17
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Default Re: GURPS Old West

There was a really cool, as inKWEL!!! article in the old Pyramid weekly online mag OUT of THE BOX series that crossed the Western with Psionics. The storyline had tonnes of style and flavor.
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Old 11-26-2018, 02:48 PM   #18
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Osterns! That would indeed be very interesting. "Watch out, comrade Polkovnik- the Turkmen are on the warpath!"
I have a philosophical objection to the term "Ostern" because it is part of the idea that all epic traditions have similarity to western folklore therefore all are westerns. It is rather the reverse; the Western is a taletelling tradition suitable to North America and a Continent is worth getting on with.

From the Gurps point of view we already have a source for Osterns. It's called "Russia".
That said, the East has some advantages. There is a great deal more variety in potential adversaries and the winners did not have as great a technical and organizational superiority because there were rival empires like Persia and Turkey as well as the city-states and the Khans. There is a reasonable chance of a full-sized battle or siege. Of course those elements are not unknown in the Western but they are less especially for the 1870's. There is a lot of terrain people are unused to operating on and that has advantages too. In a sense Russia can be undiscovered from the players pov as well as the PCs. There is also a longer period of time and a lot more to choose from. Finally if you want a lot of darkness you can do anything from the Demitris to Stalin.
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Old 11-26-2018, 03:19 PM   #19
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Default Re: GURPS Old West

One idea that could be tried is the New Mexican frontier before the arrival of the Gringos. The PCs could be Mexican or even Spanish instead of US cavalry. Vaqueros instead of cowboys. Etc.
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Old 11-26-2018, 03:54 PM   #20
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One idea that could be tried is the New Mexican frontier before the arrival of the Gringos. The PCs could be Mexican or even Spanish instead of US cavalry. Vaqueros instead of cowboys. Etc.
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)
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