Differentiating grumpy gunslingers

[Dalillama]

I have resurrected my weird west campaign with new players, two of whom have expressed a desire to play lone men with a horse, a gun, and an attitude problem. Specifically, one wants a "wore out grizzled ex-gun fighter type. Your basic slow to anger but devastating when necessary tank that’s not much good to anyone anymore except as a weapon," while the other summarized his concept as "Clint Eastwood". Now, this concept works reasonably well for the game, but I'd like to be able to give some advice on differentiating the actual characters so they don't come out as basically clones. Relevant notes: the game is a hidden magic setting which allows for cinematic and supernatural abilities, the latter requiring some type of explanation. Characters are 300 points. I don't have any of the Monster Hunters books. Imbuements are available to Gunslingers or people with another reasonable enabling trait.

[robkelk]

Have you ever watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? Lee Van Cleef's character isn't worn-out, but he isn't too bad a match for the rest of the first description. Clint Eastwood's character is, of course, the Clint Eastwood stereotype. Take a look at how they interact and what the other characters think of the two of them...

[William]

Might get some comedy mileage out of the first guy trying to minimize trouble that the Clint type tends to get them into -- positive/negative interpretations of their basic personality swinging from lazy-versus-energetic to patient-versus-impulsive.

Powers-wise, Low Voltage Guy is probably more of a cannon and High Voltage Guy seems more like a chaingun stereotype.

That might be a first cut, anyway.

[Randyman]

Sit down with the players and work it out among the three of you. They will probably satisfy your requirements eagerly, and may surprise you with their solution(s).

[benz72]

Introduce a sense of competition between the two. They will seek to differentiate themselves.

Twist fate so they keep ending up with similar looking horses and serapes. Have the local population confuse one for the other. High jinx ensue.

"No! That's him! I'm the good one!"

[Infornific]

Take a look at True Grit (the book or either movie) for a model of a grumpy old gunslinger who's not Clint. Also the Shootist. A more obscure old gunslinger model would be Thomas Van Leek from El Diablo ("I ain't as fast as I used to be but I cheat real good.") Or if the players want to go with old Clint and young Clint look at his character in Unforgiven. As long as they have different personalities.

Now that I think of it, old John Wayne and young Clint Eastwood would be a pretty fun team up.

[Phantasm]

No doubt, both will have Guns (Pistol) and Guns (Rifle). Up to you whether you roll Shotgun into Rifle, but for an Old West game it's certainly useful.

If I was making these characters, I'd probably have the grizzled veteran specializing in his rifle, probably one of the lever-action models, possibly an older version from the War Between the States. The younger one I'd focus mainly on the pistols, possibly dual-wielding revolvers or at least Off-Hand Weapon Training so he can alternate shots without penalty.

Here, too, Quirks and Disads come in handy. The old veteran may have Chronic Pain or Wounded from old injuries, and lacks the Fatal Trio of Overconfidence, On the Edge, and Impulsiveness. The younger one might have any combination of those three.

The Cavalry Training and Mounted Shooting techniques with their given weapons are also a given. If they have both Guns skills, I'd go with whichever one they specialize in, but not both. Gunfighting while in the middle of a horse chase through a canyon is fun!

Gun-Fu is your friend for this game, IMO, particularly with their styles. One could have Double Trouble, the other Sniper; both could also have Way of the West.

[trooper6]

In my games it doesn't much matter if two characters have the same main skills, because it isn't a skill that define the character...it is their character.

So sit down with each player and ask them about their PCs background. Find out each PCs history. Were they old enough to serve in the Civil war? What side were they on? What was their childhood like? Where did they grow up? Why are they in the job that they are in right now? How do they feel about it? Do they have any friends or loved ones? Do they have any enemies? Have each one come up with a short term and a long term goal. What history do they have with the town? How do they pass the time when traveling? Hobbies? What reputations do they have? What do people think about them?

Through a conversation with each player, really help them developed a well rounded person for their PC, with a backstory and an internal life. Then encourage them to take some secondary skills that reflect that background. Maybe one of those grumpy gunslingers can play the piano, maybe another one has Area Knowledge(New York City). Once they and you know what motivates and drives the characters then you can craft different experiences for them and differentiate between them.

If you ask the players for their background and they give you a cliche that wasn't thought through, for example--"as a child my PC lived with his parents. Homesteaders. Dad was honorable and Mom was Pure. Then the evil Enemy came in killed his parents, and stole their land. My character has sworn revenge."

Okay well, we've all heard that story a million times...and maybe both players give you that same story. First things first they both have the same enemy...implying that this villain has done this to a LOT of people. So maybe you can have some NPCs who had the same thing happen to them. Also, why does the villain never kill the kids? That might lead to some interesting villain development. Anyway, start asking questions that will lead to differentiation:

How old were you when this happened?
Before this happened, what sort of kid were you? What were your hobbies? Who were your friends? Perhaps some of the other PCs?
When this happened exactly what did you do? Where did you go? To an Aunt? How did you survive? What work did you do?

Just get in there deep and find the character. Find what will elevate the PC from a two-dimensional archtype or niche to a well rounded three-dimensional character with an inner life.

Then you won't have a problem.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Trooper6 is 100% correct about the "right" way to go about this. If that's too much work, however, here's a quick and easy spitball take on differentiating these two archetypes in GURPS terms:

#1: Strengths: Amazing shooter (definitely has Gunslinger and Combat Reflexes, possibly one or more gun-related Imbuements). High IQ. Even Higher Willpower and Perception. Danger Sense and maybe Intuition if the setting allows it.

Weaknesses: Callous [-5]. Addiction (Tobacco) [-5]. Uncongenial [-1]. Maybe Stubbornness and/or a physical defect from combat or aging. Not much else; some of this guy's high point value goes into freedom of action.

#2: Strengths: Equally-amazing shooter. Has a different Imbuement than #1, if we're doing that. Fearless, but with all the points #1 spent on other mental advantages dumped into Speed.

Weaknesses: (I'm assuming that "Clint Eastwood" specifically refers to the "Man With No Name" character that he is most famous for portraying in the Sergio Leone westerns, correct me if I'm wrong)... Addiction (Tobacco) [-5], Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10], Loner (12-) [-5], Responsive [-1], maybe some kind of Secret, and Code of Honor (Act Justly. Your word is your bond. Punish the injust proportionately when it is reasonably doable; shun them when it is not, even if that means leaving the whole town) [-10].

[Not]

Stagecoach has two very different gunslingers, a Virginia gentlemen and the Ringo Kid. They might have similar character sheets, but the Western genre has room for different play types.