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Shotguns Saddles
By David Bezio

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Old school old west RPG

Sa m ple file

Shotguns Saddles
Old school old west RPG
By David Bezio
David Bezio 2013, Creative Commons BY-NC-SA Some Rights Reserved

Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 The Real Wild West 1.2 The Game Rules 1.2.1 Youve Done This Before 1.2.2 Dice 1.2.3 Miniature Figures 1.2.4 Game Time (and Rounds) 1.2.5 Measurement 1.2.6 Most Important!

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2. Character Creation
2.1 Summary of Character Creation 2.2 Starting Level 2.3 Rolling Attributes 2.4 Background 2.5 Move and Defense 2.5.1 Move 2.5.2 Defense 2.6 Hit Points 2.7 Alignment 2.7.1 White Hat 2.7.2 Brown Hat 2.7.3 Black Hat 2.8 Starting Special Ability 2.9 Roll for Money / Buy Gear 2.10 Fill in the Details 3.1 Attribute Checks (check) 3.1.1 Making the Attribute Check 3.1.2 Attribute Check Target Number 3.1.3 Opposed Checks 3.1.3 Combat to hit rolls 3.1.4 Know When to Rollem 3.1.5 Secret GM Rolls 3.2 Attribute Descriptions 3.2.1 Athletics 3.2.2 Book Learning 3.2.3 Fighting 3.2.4 Frontier 3.2.5 Grit 3.2.6 Horsemanship 3.2.7 Perception 3.2.8 Presence 3.2.9 Shooting 3.2.10 Stealth 3.2.11 Strength 3.2.12 Quickness 4.1 Special Ability Descriptions 4.1.2 Advantage 4.1.3 Alert 4.1.4 Animal Affinity 4.1.5 Born in the Saddle 4.1.6 Doc 4.1.7 Fancy Shootin! 4.1.8 Fast 4.1.9 Fast Healer 4.1.10 Gunslinger 4.1.11 Hard to Kill 4.1.12 Hit em Hard! 4.1.13 Lucky 4.1.14 Marksman

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3. Attributes

4. Special Abilities

4.1.15 Mighty Blow 4.1.16 Plum Loco 4.1.17 Quick 4.1.18 Quick Draw 4.1.19 Rapid Reload 4.1.20 Thief 4.1.21 Tough Hombre

7.8.2.1 Digging in the Spurs 7.8.3 Catching your Opponent 7.8.3.1 Jump to the Wagon 7.8.3.2 Tackle him!

8. Damage and Death

8.1 Taking Damage 8.1.1 Weapon Damage 8.1.2 Falling 8.1.3 Poison 8.1.4 Fire 8.2 Damage Effects 8.2.1 Critical Hit Table 8.3 Healing 8.4 Death

5. Gear
5.1Carrying Capacity 5.2 Basic Equipment 5.2.1 Clothes 5.2.2 Food & Drink 5.2.4 Transportation 5.2.5 Gear 5.3 Weapons 5.3.1 Weapon Details

9. Showdown
9.1 The Showdown isnt Combat 9.2 Summary of a Showdown 9.3 Showdown Total (ST) 9.3.1 Dividing the ST 9.3.2 Revealing the ST 9.4 Resolving the Showdown 9.4.1 Still Alive!? 9.5 Showdown Damage

6. Improving Characters
6.1 Experience Points (XP) 6.1.1 Level 6.1.2 Gaining Hit Points 6.1.3 Gaining New Special Abilities

7. Unpleasant Encounters
7.1 Surprise 7.2 Determine Initiative 7.2.1 Held Initiative 7.2.2 Hirelings Initiative 7.3 The Combat Round 7.3.1 Combat Round Actions 7.3.1.1 Free Actions 7.4 Running or Dodging 7.4.1 Running away from melee 7.5 Attacking 7.5.1 Natural 20s and 1s 7.5.1.1 Fumbles and Gun Jams 7.5.2 Drawing a Weapon 7.5.3 Melee or Ranged Attack? 7.5.4 Moving and Attacking 7.6 Other Encounter Rules 7.6.1 Improvised Weapons 7.6.2 Unarmed Opponent 7.6.3 Advantageous Position 7.6.4 Ganging Up 7.6.5 Using Two Weapons 7.6.6 Defensive Melee Fighting 7.6.7 Shooting into Melee 7.6.8 Called Shots 7.6.9 Reloading 7.6.10 Line of Sight 7.6.11 Aim 7.6.12 Range 7.6.13 Cover 7.6.13.1 Soft Cover 7.6.13.2 Hard Cover 7.6.13.3 Total Cover 7.6.14 Shooter Unstable 7.6.15 Knocked Back or Prone 7.6.16 What in Tarnation!? (The Rule of 2) 7.7 Dynamite 7.7.1 Dynamite Miss Diagram 7.7.2 Dynamite Blast Area 7.7.3 Dynamite is Fun! (And dangerous) 7.8 Horse Chases 7.8.1 Keeping Track of Distance 7.8.2 Horse and Wagon Movement

10. Gambling
10.1 S-n-S Poker 10.2 Summary of a hand of poker 10.3 Ante Up 10.4 Roll the Bones 10.5 Cheating and/or Bluffing 10.5.1 Cheating 10.5.2 Bluffing 10.6 Bidding 10.6.1 Folding 10.7 Winning

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11. The S-n-S Wild West

11.1 Cinematic Wild West 11.2 The Boring Reality 11.3 The Shotguns & Saddles World 11.4 Bad Girls 11.5 Bawdy House 11.6 Bounty Hunters 11.7 Buffalo 11.8 Cattle Kingdom 11.9 Chuck Wagon 11.10 Civil War 11.11 Frontier Town 11.12 Fur Trade 11.13 Going West 11.14 Gold Fever 11.15 Hotel 11.16 Indians 11.17 Lawmen 11.18 Long Drive 11.19 Longhorns 11.20 Mexicans 11.21 Nighthawks 11.22 Outlaws 11.23 Pony Express 11.24 Presidents 11.25 Saloon 11.26 Silver Mines 11.27 Stagecoach 11.28 Ranches 11.29 Railroad

11.30 Telegraph 11.31 Trains

14.12 Scorpion 14.13 Wolf

12. Folks & Critters

12.1 Creating Folks & Critters 12.1.1 Choose a Level 12.1.2 Assign Attribute Values 12.1.3 Calculate Hit Dice, Move, and Defense 12.1.4 Assign Special Abilities 12.1.5 Assign Gear

15. Legends of the West

15.1 Bat Masterson 15.2 Belle Starr 15.3 Bill Tilghman 15.4 Billy the Kid 15.5 Black Bart 15.6 Butch Cassidy 15.7 Calamity Jane 15.8 Clay Allison 15.9 Cole Younger 15.10 Crazy Horse 15.11 Cochise 15.12 Doc Holliday 15.13 Frank Canton 15.14 Geronimo 15.15 Heck Thomas 15.16 Henry Starr 15.17 Jesse & Frank James 15.18 Johnny Ringo 15.19 John Wesley Hardin 15.20 Sitting Bull 15.21 Texas John Slaughter 15.22 Tom Horn 15.23 Wild Bill Hickok 15.24 Wyatt Earp 16.1 Adventure Background 16.2 Referee information 16.3 Adventure Summary 16.4 Players Introduction 16.5 Scene One: The Saloon 16.5.1 The Door Guard 16.5.2 The Drunk Mexican 16.5.3 The Job Offer 16.5.4 Gunfire in the Saloon 16.6 Scene Two: Tumbleweed Valley 16.6.1 The New Morning Ranch (El Rancho de nuevo maana) 16.6.2 Approaching by day 16.6.3 Approaching by night 16.6.4 Fighting for Their Home! 16.6.5 Somethings Not Right 16.7 Scene Three: Dry Gulch! 16.7.1 The Lone Horseman 16.7.2 Bush Wack! 16.8 Scene Four: Showdown at Tarnal Diggins 16.8.1 Showdown with Sasha 16.9 Concluding the Adventure 16.9.1 Awarding Experience 16.9.2 Further Adventures Last Chance Saloon Map Rattlesnake Gorge Map El Rancho de nuevo maana Map

13. Folks
13.1 Army Officer 13.2 Army Sergeant 13.3 Army Soldier 13.4 Bad Girl 13.5 Bartender 13.6 Blacksmith 13.7 Bounty Man 13.8 Buffalo Hunter 13.9 Cattle Baron 13.10 Citizen (Townsfolk) 13.11 Cowboy / Cowgirl 13.12 Deputy 13.13 Drunk 13.14 Express Car Guard 13.15 Federal Marshal 13.16 Gambler 13.17 Grub Slinger 13.18 Gun Fighter 13.19 Indian Chief 13.20 Indian Brave 13.21 Kung Fu Wanderer 13.22 Madam 13.23 Mexican Bandito 13.24 Mexican Boss 13.25 Mexican Peasant 13.26 Mountain Man 13.27 Outlaw Boss 13.28 Outlaw Gang Member 13.29 Pinkerton Man 13.30 Pony Express Postman 13.31 Posse Member 13.32 Prairie Nymph 13.33 Prospector 13.34 Rail Boss 13.35 Rail Worker 13.36 Roughneck 13.37 Settler 13.38 Sheriff 13.39 Shotgun 13.40 Soiled Dove 13.41 Stagecoach Driver 13.42 Texas Ranger

14. Critters
14.1 Bear 14.2 Bobcat 14.3 Buffalo 14.4 Cougar 14.5 Coyote 14.6 Dog 14.7 Gila Monster 14.8 Horse 14.9 Jackalope 14.10 Longhorn 14.11 Rattle Snake

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16. Tumbleweed Valley

Character Sheet Tables and Summary Sheets

1. Introduction
Shotguns & Saddles (S-n-S) is a cinematic role playing game set in the American wild west. The player characters take the role of cowboys, drifters, the town sheriff, or other desperados. The referee creates adventures for these characters full of fast paced action, nail biting showdowns, and barroom shootouts!

1.2.2 Dice
The referee and each player should have a set of six standard polyhedral dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. When referring to dice the first number given will be the number of dice to be rolled followed by the letter d (die or dice) followed by the die type. Sometimes there may be a modifier listed after the dice. This is simply added or subtracted from the die roll total. For example, 2d6+2 means to roll 2 six sided dice then add 2.

1.1 The Real Wild West

The American wild west is a period in history that only ran about 20 years (1865-1885). However, many of the elements that people associate with this genre actually happened in the decades just before or after. Many of these specific elements, occurrences, and people only crossed paths briefly, and some, never at all. S-n-S takes its cue from the movies, books, and TV shows that dramatized this period. It downplays the importance of specific dates and continuity while focusing on the romance, drama, action, and adventure of a good western tale. This allows the referee to include any of the trappings of the genre, whether historically accurate or not.

1.2.3 Miniature Figures

Miniatures are not needed to play S-n-S. However, the tactical combat system rules are designed to be used easily with miniatures in the 25-28mm range. The choice to use them or not is yours.

1.2.4 Game Time (and Rounds)

Time isnt important unless the referee determines it is. If the PCs are waiting for a train that will arrive the next day, and nothing of importance is going to happen till it arrives, then just skip forward in time to the trains arrival. Control time abstractly as needed. The Only instance that game time becomes very important is during combat, or other intense action sequences. When these action sequences take place you will need to know how long things take, and who gets to do things first. When this happens, the game time breaks down into Rounds. Rounds are 3 second periods of time during which individual character can usually take a single action.

S-n-S uses old school type mechanics inspired by the earliest role playing game. The goal was to develop a familiar, simple, yet comprehensive set of rules that can be learned very quickly. While concise, you will find them extremely versatile and able to satisfactorily handle most situations with a minimum of confusion or guesswork. The game system is designed to fade into the background for most of the actual role playing, delivering quick resolution when needed. During combat, the rules are more specific, designed to provide answers for most situations that might arise and handle them in the simplest way, wile maintaining a high level of strategically choices.

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1.2 The Game Rules

1.2.1 Youve Done This Before

This game assumes that the reader is familiar with what a role playing game is, standard game terms, how to referee (game master), and how to design adventures. There is little space used defining and describing things you already know.

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1.2.5 Measurement
Measurements are usually used to tell how far a person can move in a round, or the distance a weapon can be thrown or shot. All of these ranges are given in inches for ease of use with miniatures on the tabletop. 1 is equal to 5 feet real distance if not using miniatures.

1.2.6 Most Important!

Anything in this book should be thought of as changeable! This book should simply be thought of as guidelines for you to create the type of game you desire. Remember, S-N-S is an old school style game. It doesnt include rules and modifiers for every single possible situation. It is purposely designed like this to allow you to customize and create your own style of play and house rules, like in the good old days.

2. Character Creation
The first step in playing the game is to create a character. This is a simple matter of rolling some dice, doing a few calculations, and making a few choices. Before you start, print out, or photocopy the character sheet included in the back of this book and record your (players) name.

2.3 Rolling Attributes

Each character has 12 attributes: Athletics, Book Learning, Fighting, Frontier, Grit, Horsemanship, Perception, Presence, Shooting, Stealth, Strength, and Quickness. These are described in section 3. For each of the 12 attributes roll 3D6, add the result, and record the score listed on the Attribute table below.

2.1 Summary of Character Creation

Grab a character sheet, record level (0) Roll for each attribute Roll for background (modify attributes) Calculate move and defense Roll for Hit Points Choose alignment Roll a special ability Roll for money / Buy gear Fill in the details 3D6 3-4 5-8 9-12 13-16 17-18

Attribute Table
Description Poor Below Average Average Above Average Great Score -2 -1 0 +1 +2

2.4 Background
Despite your characters current position in life, they didnt just come into being. Roll 1D20 and consult Background Table below to determine your characters past role. Each background has 2 - 4 Attributes listed; add +1 to these attributes.

2.2 Starting Level

All characters start out at level zero (0). Level is a simple way of defining how competent your character is. Your character level will be used as a modifier to many rolls reflecting his experience.

1D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Background Lawman Preacher Soiled Dove Outlaw Kid Gambler Sod Buster Frontier Widow Scout Mountain Man Indian Outcast Buffalo Hunter Teacher Medicine Man Cowboy Shopkeeper Railroad Worker Launderer Tender-foot Immigrant

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Background Table

Attributes +1 Fighting, Frontier, Grit, Shooting Book Learning, Perception, Presence, Frontier, Grit, Perception, Presence Fighting, Grit, Horsemanship, Stealth Athletics, Horsemanship, Quickness Frontier, Perception, Presence, Stealth Frontier, Grit, Shooting, Strength Frontier, Perception, Shooting, Quickness Fighting, Frontier, Grit, Stealth Fighting, Frontier, Shooting, Strength Athletics, Frontier, Horsemanship, Stealth Fighting, Frontier, Shooting, Stealth Book Learning, Perception, Perception, Presence, Stealth, Quickness Fighting, Frontier, Grit, Horsemanship, Perception, Stealth, Quickness Frontier, Grit, Strength, Athletics, Fighting, Stealth, Quickness Book Learning, Stealth, Fighting, Horsemanship, Shooting, Strength

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2.5 Move and Defense

Next you will calculate your movement and defense scores. Use the table and formula below to calculate movement and defense and add the result to your character sheet.

2.5.1 Move
Move is how far your character can move, it is used primarily during combat. Movement is measured in inches per 3 second round. To determine your move score look at your athletics attribute and check the table below Athletics -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 Move 2 3 4 5 6 7

Defense = 10 + Quickness + Level

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Defense is used during combat and tells how hard it is to hit you with weapons or fists. It reflects a combination of dodging, weaving, toughness, and luck. Defense is equal to 10 plus the characters quickness attribute plus the characters level (remember, all characters start out at level 0, but that will go up with time).

2.6 Hit Points

Hit Points (HP) are an abstract measurement of how much punishment you can take when hurt. Subtracting HP for any damage taken represents scratches, near misses, and luck. When you run out of HP you are really hurt and may die. To determine your HP you roll what is referred to as your hit die. A starting character rolls his hit die once and records the result (your referee may allow starting characters to take the maximum number of HP). To see what type of hit die your character has look at your Grit attribute and check on the table below. Grit -2,-1 0 +1,+2 +3 Hit Die D4 D6 D8 D10

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2.7 Alignment
Your characters alignment is an outline of his moral code. The character you play has his own personality, motivations, or reasons for doing the things he does. On occasion, with good reason, he may act outside his alignment, but he will usually go with his gut and do the right thing in his mind. There are 3 alignments to choose from, White Hat, Brown Hat, and Black Hat.

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2.7.1 White Hat
White hats are the good guys of the wild west. They seek justice and fairness for all. They believe in order, law, honesty, and honor. A White Hat puts others before himself and always does the right thing.

2.5.2 Defense

2.7.2 Brown Hat

Brown hats are generally good people. However, they are more concerned with the well being of

themselves and their loved ones than they are with always doing the right thing. A brown hat weighs out a situation, and then does what he thinks is best in that particular circumstance.

2.8 Starting Special Ability

Special abilities, unlike attributes, are things not every character has. Each player character starts the game with 1 randomly determined special ability. Roll 1D20 and consult the chart below. Special abilities are detailed in section 4.

2.7.3 Black Hat

Black Hats are generally self centered and selfish. They worry about themselves first, and dont much care about anyone else unless they directly affect their own life. A black hat will shoot someone in the back and steal his nugget of gold without any though beyond how he is going to spend his new found wealth.

2.9 Roll for Money / Buy Gear

Money comes in two forms, coins and paper. Paper money isnt given much value by most people as it is printed up by individual banks, and they wont redeem other banks notes most of the time. Coins are the most common currency. To keep things simple we will stick to 3 coins. $0.01 = Penny (copper) $1.00 = Silver Dollar (Silver) $10.00 = Gold Eagle (Gold) Starting characters begin play with 3D6 x 10 dollars and a set of clothes. Use this money to equip your character from the lists in section 5.

D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Special Ability Advantage Alert Animal Affinity Born in the Saddle Doc Fancy Shootin! Fast Fast Healer Gunslinger Hard to Kill Hit em Hard! Lucky Marksman Mighty Blow Plum Loco Quick Quick Draw Rapid Reload Thief Tough Hombre

Summary Draw stingy pistol as a free action; +3 to initiative and to hit first round Never surprised in combat; +1 to perception checks Avoids animal attacks; Animal companion; +1 horsemanship +2 to all horsemanship; Can shoot while riding with no penalty Can heal 1-3 D4 HP; Within 1 hour of damage; 10 minutes to perform 2 attacks at -2 penalty; If taken twice -1; 3rd time, no penalty +2 to move score; Can be taken up to 3 times +2 to his natural healing roll every day; +4 if taken twice In a showdown, +2 to ST, +4 if taken a second time +1 to any roll made on the critical hit table +1 to all damage rolls; + 2 If taken a second time Can reroll once per game session; Can be taken up to 3 times No penalty at long range; +4 instead of +2 from a round of aiming -2 from his attack roll, +3 to his damage roll 2 fighting attacks at -1 to hit; Defense drops -2 until his next turn +2 to his Initiative roll Draw as free action; High initiative = bonus attack at -2; +1 ST reloads any weapons as a free action Knows how to pick locks and pockets +2 HP per hit die rolled after special ability is chosen

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Special Ability Table

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2.10 Fill in the Details

Name your character and create their background story. Add any details you like or will help you role play, such as height, weight, age, and a physical description. Draw a portrait if you have the talent.