Old West Sourcebooks?

[Dunadin777]

I'm thinking of doing a special campaign sometime in the future set in the Wild West. Specifically, I'm looking at doing something within a few years of the end of the American Civil War. I know there's a GURPS Old West book for 3e, but I'm wondering how useful that will be for making a campaign in 4e--whether it retains its value as a guide for creating a setting in the current edition, and so on.

Some other sourcebooks I'm looking at right now...
Knuckleduster's Firearms shop and Cowtown Creator: I'm certainly going to be picking up Cowtown Creator, but I'm not too sure about the Firearms Shop. It says it contains 80 period weapons with a detailed treatment and some interviews with police with gunfight experience. I'm not sure how this might compare with the information already presented in High-Tech and other supplements.
Precis Intermedia's Shady Gulch Revisited: I've heard of this being another useful setting book, with a detailed treatment of one specific town.

Do any of you have these books? What's your input on how useful they will be? Any other suggestions for books would be appreciated, particularly if they won't require much translating from other systems(generic stuff would be great).

[macphersonrants]

You'll find plenty material in Tactical Shooting to justify the purchase. If you plan on 4e and allowing weirdness and want to convert the magic rules in Old West, then Thaumatology would be worthwhile. Even if you aren't allowing weirdness, GURPS Deadlands has some useful maps and other material.

[sjard]

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

I know there's a GURPS Old West book for 3e, but I'm wondering how useful that will be for making a campaign in 4e--whether it retains its value as a guide for creating a setting in the current edition, and so on.

I haven't seen that book in particular, but if it follows like other GURPS 3e historical setting books, the only ares where you will have any version issues will be in the characters chapter or other stat blocks. And considering how easy it is to convert (ignore point costs and just pick the closest equivalent in 4e) I would imagine it would retain about 80-95% of its value.

[ULFGARD]

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

I'm thinking of doing a special campaign sometime in the future set in the Wild West. Specifically, I'm looking at doing something within a few years of the end of the American Civil War. I know there's a GURPS Old West book for 3e, but I'm wondering how useful that will be for making a campaign in 4e--whether it retains its value as a guide for creating a setting in the current edition, and so on.

Some other sourcebooks I'm looking at right now...
Knuckleduster's Firearms shop and Cowtown Creator: I'm certainly going to be picking up Cowtown Creator, but I'm not too sure about the Firearms Shop. It says it contains 80 period weapons with a detailed treatment and some interviews with police with gunfight experience. I'm not sure how this might compare with the information already presented in High-Tech and other supplements.
Precis Intermedia's Shady Gulch Revisited: I've heard of this being another useful setting book, with a detailed treatment of one specific town.

Do any of you have these books? What's your input on how useful they will be? Any other suggestions for books would be appreciated, particularly if they won't require much translating from other systems(generic stuff would be great).

Both of the Knuckleduster books are excellent. The firearms book goes through a number of period firearms in a qualitative fashion that should give you a good handle on them. Add High Tech and Tactical Shooting for realism. And the 3e GURPS sourcebook is quite good, giving a nice overview of the genre and era. Ultimately, it depends on what you want to do, exactly. Post civil war is pretty much the quintessential "old west" period, so most "old west" supplements should speak to it (Deadlands included, with the exception of anything dealing with weirdness). Thaumatology provides the alternative magic systems that might work well for "historical" Indian magic (or Occidental, for that matter).

If you're doing a straight up Old West game (realistic or cinematic) without obvious magic/supernatural events, I recommend picking up something by Louis L'amour. Those books run around 150 pages and can be read in a day or so, but give you great adventure ideas.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by ULFGARD

If you're doing a straight up Old West game (realistic or cinematic) without obvious magic/supernatural events, I recommend picking up something by Louis L'amour. Those books run around 150 pages and can be read in a day or so, but give you great adventure ideas.

Yeah, Louis L'amour and Zane Gray are your friends for getting in the mood. Your used book store probably has some of their works for under a dollar. The library will definitely have some of their stuff.

[ULFGARD]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

Yeah, Louis L'amour and Zane Gray are your friends for getting in the mood. Your used book store probably has some of their works for under a dollar. The library will definitely have some of their stuff.

Would've mentioned Zane Grey, but I find him slower reading. Not sure why, but I do. Excellent. Ralph Compton as well. I didn't really discover them until I ran an old west campaign.

[Dunadin777]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

My inspirations: 3:10 to Yuma, The Missing, Open Range, Wyatt Earp, Unforgiven, Dead wood, and so on in the dramatic, brief-but-intense violence range.

I'd like to do something with a gritty, but stream-lined feel to it. So I will probably restrict a number of options to make it simple and unimposing for new players. I'm not going to have much in the way of weird elements, with one notable exception. Unless I change my mind, I'll be having the setting be at least one or more years after the end of the war, set in antebellum Gettysburg. The solitary weird element will be that the dead soldiers buried there are starting to rise, and the players will have to try to find out how to stop it before they are overrun by thousands of undead.

I'm planning on this game being a special halloween event at the store where I work, so I'm focusing on it working as a good demo game, but most of the stylistic elements and resources(realism especially) I would likely use for other games in the future.

So, books I should probably pick up: GURPS Tactical Shooting, GURPS Old West, the Knuckleduster books, and maybe Thaumatology/Deadlands for the secondary elements.

Originally Posted by ULFGARD

If you're doing a straight up Old West game (realistic or cinematic) without obvious magic/supernatural events, I recommend picking up something by Louis L'amour. Those books run around 150 pages and can be read in a day or so, but give you great adventure ideas.

Oh, it's been such a long time since I've read a L'amour story, but I think it's time to pick up one of his anthologies again. Thanks for that reminder.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

I'd like to do something with a gritty, but stream-lined feel to it. So I will probably restrict a number of options to make it simple and unimposing for new players.

You might really enjoy this thread.

[Dunadin777]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

You might really enjoy this thread.

Hmmm, I just might at that. Great recommendation Appel. I couldn't find that earlier when I was searching for western threads. I added the old west tag to it, and I'm sure I'll get a lot of mileage out of it.

[Xplo]

Originally Posted by Dunadin777

So, books I should probably pick up: GURPS Tactical Shooting, GURPS Old West, the Knuckleduster books, and maybe Thaumatology/Deadlands for the secondary elements.

If there's not going to be any magic, or at least none that the PCs will be using on a regular basis, you don't really need Thaumatology for anything. You certainly don't need it to invent zombies, rituals, or magic McGuffins.

OTOH, I strongly recommend High-Tech if you don't already have it for TL5-6 guns and equipment.