The Brandin' Iron Saloon - Out of Character

[Black Wyvern]

Okay so I have a few different angles I am looking at to continue on.

Usually I would run Boot Hill as individual games with paths crossing from time to time. That is a ton of work for PbP though and I have found it didn't work real well. I am a bit worried that the group may be a bit oversized. Would you guys like to split into smaller groups? Maybe based on your characters goals. I wouldn't mind running two or maybe even three groups, with the chance of some or all merging up from time to time. Not that characters can't do things on their own during their down time. My original goal was to try out some of the published modules but after reading them only one is really worthy of a campaign though there are a lot of cool ideas that can be mined. Long story short, what do you guys want to do? We have a good active group and I would like to keep us moving and give everyone a fair chance to develop their character.

[Rex]

Whatever makes it easier for you. Small groups sounds good, Nahum needs to build some experience.

[Zhym]

Groups of some sort would be good. Whatever's easy to run.

What are the mechanics for adding one gunfight? Does that mean bumping down one row on the Experience table? Do we adjust the % die roll on that too, or does the % die roll only matter at character creation?

Also, can we salvage any of the guns from the fight? Ted should probably have a scatter gun.

[Rusty Tincanne]

I'm game for whatever. I still need to roll up that new character though.

[Rex]

Zhym,
You add 1 to your gunfights, then you need to add to your % score for speed and bravery. How much depends on what it currently is. Then adjust based on any potential changes to those 3 attributes. My speed went up due to the speed increase and my accuracy went up due to my experience penalty changing from -10 to -5. Bravery didn't do anything for me this time (it wont for a long time).

[Black Wyvern]

Yup as Rex says. The table for improving is in the Character Creation Rules thread under Effects of Gunfights.

Plunderin' from th' dead - naw! That'll git ya strung up. It'sn a one thang ta kill e man in e fa'ar fight but 'nother ta steal from tha ded. Only tha lowesa snakes 'ould do such e thang. Grave robbers an' such. What er ye some kinda monst'r er somin?

Seriously though it isn't civilized to take the possessions of the dead. It would kind of nullify the upstanding service you provided. Not saying you can't do it but if you get caught you won't have the kind of reputation you want.

[Zhym]

Well, shoot, I wasn't talking about going through their pockets for loose change or anything. Just seems that if a man tries to kill you and fails, no one would begrudge you the gun he tried to do it with. It ain't like he's gonna need it now.

[OGRE MAGE]

So, with an added gunfight, does your Experience attribute score increase as well, to match your "number of gunfights" on the chart? Or would that number always stay the same?

I am ok with whatever direction BW is willing to go with the game. If smaller groups are easier to run, lets do that.

[Black Wyvern]

It is one thing to pick up someones gun and finish a fight another to keep it afterwords. Again it is your character and you can do what you want with him, but there could and probably will be status repercussions. Taking another person's possessions is at best viewed as unseemly and at worst criminal. Those bad guys have families, their possessions belong to their family members now that they are gone, just because you killed them that doesn't make their possessions legally yours. Property rights exist and are almost held to be more important that life.

Nope you don't need percents on experience after character creation. It is strictly used to calculate the number of gunfights and then that is all you worry about.

[Zhym]

Okay, fine. No spoils of battle.

Given Ted's performance in the gunfight, this exchange from Firefly comes to mind:

Simon: I never - never shot anyone before.
Book: I was there, son. I'm fair sure you haven't shot anyone yet.

[Black Wyvern]

You guys can spend your money IC or OOC as you see fit. Before we start up there will be an establishing post that will give you some room to buy stuff in character.

Seven isn't completely unmanageable I just don't want you guys to feel like you aren't getting enough time to shine. How about I throw out some hooks for my next IC post and we let nature take its course.

[Rex]

That sounds like a good idea, maybe we will sort of fall into a couple of groups.

[Zhym]

I'm happy in one group, FWIW. Seven doesn't seem extreme, and it's easier to keep everything time-synced that way. And with seven, there's less pressure on each player to help move the action forward.

[Scott308]

Seven is a magnificent number for a group of gunfighters.

[Zhym]

[Rex]

Nice!

[Scott308]

Wow, Wapsii! That's some impressive accuracy!

[wapsii]

Can we sell items, such as guns, back to upgrade them?

[Black Wyvern]

Yeah you wont get full price but you can certainly sell them. If you do it here in Mad Mesa where you are heroes roll 3d10+60 for a percentage. Anywhere else 5d10*40. Round down to the nearest two bits!

Hey guys let me know when you are done or if you need help.

So I have tried out a house rule on my kids and it seems to work pretty well. If anyone has any objections we wont use it but it would be retroactive to already created characters. You loose some universal weapon ability but all in all it should make your characters better and gives you some ability to customize them. All you would need to do is change the names of your stats on your characters and adjust weapon modifiers. It is an all or none deal though. We all agree or don't use the rule.

There are four types of Accuracy: Bow, Pistol, Rifle, and Throwing, which must be taken in that order. Players get to pick two that they have trained in. If you have trained you apply the Stat mods. Attacks with untrained Accuracy never gets an Accuracy stat mod, but Bravery and Experience still apply.

Example: Bob rolls 45 and 85, modified to 60 and 90 for his two accuracy rolls. He has a really good speed and decides he wants to be a pistoleer. To make the most of his pistol skill he chooses to be trained in bow and pistol (as the weapons must be taken in the order listed). This gives him a 60 (fair +5) in Bow Accuracy and a 90 (excellent +15) in Pistol Accuracy. His bravery is 67 after mods giving him a (brave +2 +6) and 4 gunfights. He has base to hits of Bow 61, Pistol 71, Rifle 56, Throw 56. The additional downfall is that Bob is probably never going to use a bow in a fight, so he actually only has one trained weapon but he is 10 percent better with it than he would have been.

[jason.connerley]

Unfortunately my work situation has changed some and I will be unable to continue with this campaign. Let’s just say after the shootout Stumpy moved on. Sorry about this and good luck to everyone!