The Brandin' Iron Saloon - Out of Character

[Rex]

I doubt you need the quick draw revolver, but having never played I am basing that off of just reading the rules. The only advantage rifles have is range, they are slower and no more accurate except at longer range.

[Black Wyvern]

Zhym - It can matter quite a bit, but so can the range. Encounter range will vary a great deal, even within the same encounter. I like having some bad guys use rifles from cover and some closing to a dozen yards or less. I was actually going to suggest you may want to look at a character who uses a knife at close range and a scattergun for mid ranges. Rifle shots are never really going to be your character's forte.

[Zhym]

That makes some sense. I was starting to think of my character as a kid with brand new shiny guns he'd never used, clothes he thinks are fancy (but aren't), and a decent horse. A pair of six-guns seems like it would fit with that type of character.

The scattergun range isn't that great either. So maybe my character just isn't that useful at long range.

[Black Wyvern]

Yeah but that +20 to hit still gives you a bonus out to 8" and the chance for multiple wounds out to 4. Knives are for an inch or two away. Much beyond 8" and you pretty much every character is better off with a rifle. The knife/scattergun combo gives your character a chance to shine and cover up his weakness a bit. The thing about accuracy is it never changes. Your chance to hit will go up but you never get more accurate. So he is never going to be a premier gunslinger but he still can be pretty deadly if you play to his strengths.

[Rex]

That sounds good. It would also help both Nahm and Ted to get some gunfights under our belt so that we can get rid of the experience penalty to Accuracy. The group is starting to shape up now that we have an idea of 4 of us.

[jason.connerley]

Sorry for the delay, I’ll get a character up today after work.

[OGRE MAGE]

Would you like us all to use the same template for our character sheets?

[Black Wyvern]

As long as all the character info is there you can do what you feel is needed for character sheets.

[Zhym]

Yeah but that +20 to hit still gives you a bonus out to 8" and the chance for multiple wounds out to 4. Knives are for an inch or two away. Much beyond 8" and you pretty much every character is better off with a rifle. The knife/scattergun combo gives your character a chance to shine and cover up his weakness a bit. The thing about accuracy is it never changes. Your chance to hit will go up but you never get more accurate. So he is never going to be a premier gunslinger but he still can be pretty deadly if you play to his strengths.

I guess that makes sense, but when I look at his rolls—fast, ambidextrous, and inexperienced—I think of a kid who just bought his first pair of guns and doesn't really know how to use them yet. The way accuracy works, he isn't that much better with knives than with a gun: a base 58% chance of hitting with a knife versus versus 43% with a gun is significant, but it isn't enough to make the kid a thrown-blade assassin or anything.

Also, a scatter gun (and ammo, and probably a rifle sheath?) costs more than a second revolver. If he only uses knives and a scattergun, with no handgun, it seems like his range would be really limited and he'd be giving up most of the advantage of being a quick draw. Plus, I'd have to rethink my character concept.

What's the timing for the second and third shots from a gun that can fire three times per turn? If Ted shoots only once with a revolver, that's a 43% chance of hitting. But if he can get three shots off, there's a 71% chance that at least one shot will hit what he's shooting at (of course, a double-barrelled scatter gun has an 83% chance of at least one of two shots hitting). But he'd still have to get those extra shots off.

[jason.connerley]

I know there is one character being ported over from the existing game. Are the rest of us meeting for the first time during the game or do we already know each other?

[Black Wyvern]

Multiple shots are on speed. So it is highly variable. Basic rule is: first shot determination is calculated for each combatant. If a character has a first shot score 10 points higher than another character he can take 3 shots before the other character can fire, if he has a first shot score 5 points higher he can take 2 shots. So if we have two character A1 and A2 fighting two other characters B1 and B2 with the resulting first shot scores: A1: 36, B1: 30, B2: 22, A2: 6. The initial sequence would look like this. A1,A1, B1, B1, A1, B2, B2, B1, A2, A2, A2. Now injuries accrued during combat can move a character down the line according to wound modifiers. So if A1 hits B1 on his second shot with a serious wound to the chest and reduces him to below 50% strength B1's first shot score drops to 10. Which would change the round of combat to: A1, A1, A1, B2, B2, B2, B1, A2, B1, A2, B1, A2. Which would again change as wounds are inflicted. This means it takes me quite a while to work through a round of combat on the summary end.

Go with the concept you want. I was just giving a recommendation. But remember every point does count. For example on the earlier question about FDR vs. SAR, if A1 is using a FDR and B1 is using a SAR he could have only been shot at once, meaning he would have taken a shot before he was wounded, maybe taking A1 out. But range could have just as easily played into it giving the SAR the advantage.

[Zhym]

Thanks. I figure this character will probably die quickly enough that I can apply any lessons learned to the next one.

One more thing—does the quality of a horse make any difference?

ETA: Also, how hard is it to make more money or get other guns? Is the equipment we start with basically what we can expect to have, or will there be a chance to "upgrade?" Starting with a clueless two-six-shooter kid is a more viable choice if it won't be long until he can get a scatter gun and do things right.

[Black Wyvern]

On characters knowing each other; up to you guys. Wapsii’s character just rode into town a day earlier on request of his Uncle Zeke. Others can have similar back stories. After we settle this range war we will move onto another more permanent location.

Horse quality only matters on the strategic map by the book. As I have pretty extensive horse experience you can expect horse house rules to be coming soon. But for now by the book.

Money seems to flow like honey in this game. Before long there will be nothing characted improvement wise to spend it on. There will be some rules coming for this at some point as well.

The base rules are a starting point. I will introduce both official and house rules as we go on.

[Zhym]

Thanks.

Draft character sheet is up.

[jason.connerley]

Sounds good, so this might be a situation where we all show up for a job? I’m thinking a slightly older former soldier who hasn’t seen much action, maybe his unit was stationed in the West during the war. What year is this set in?

Also do you see anything egregiously wrong with my character build?

[Black Wyvern]

More a favor than a job. The Kane faction, aka the good guys, don't have much in the way of cash. Only the Russell faction, aka the bad guys, have hired gunmen because of their connection to "tainted" Eastern money. But your characters could owe favors, here about the trouble and have convictions against big money taking over the West, etc.

Date is kept off the table intentionally. It takes place sometime after 1873 allowing the inclusion of the Peacemaker and before 1885 excluding the repeating shotgun. I have found this is the best way to keep history buffs from spoiling the fun. I say this as a history grad student, so no offense to history buffs as it includes me.

I will go through the characters with a fine tooth comb sometime in the next couple days.

I will be leaving on vacation mid week but should be able to post at night so I don't think it should slow us down.

[jason.connerley]

Cool beans. I asked about the date because I was planning on calling my rifle a 1876 Winchester in .45-75, just a flavor thing, but didn’t want to be anachronistic.

[Black Wyvern]

That is great, I love flavor, but it will have the ammo capacity you pay for and not the historical capacity. I have worked on a historically accurate weapon list for BH but the options and possibilities get overwhelming, so I decided to stay with the generic list.

[jason.connerley]

That is great, I love flavor, but it will have the ammo capacity you pay for and not the historical capacity. I have worked on a historically accurate weapon list for BH but the options and possibilities get overwhelming, so I decided to stay with the generic list.

No problem! Winchester offered a huge variety of options, the six round tube can be explained by it being a half or 3/4 length magazine model.

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detai ... ver-action

[Black Wyvern]

We don't have to explain it. It is a movie Western not historical. Guns have however many rounds you purchase them with.