My interest in
western RPGs was first piqued when, at Gen Con a few years back, I
found a copy of the
Sidewinder Reloaded RPG
for sale at a discount. That was back when 3
rd
Edition was giving way to 4
th, and a game that used d20
Modern as its core rules was being phased out. That book proved to be
a remarkably comprehensive set of rules for running adventures in the
western genre, and I was intrigued. What is more, I learned that the
game's publisher, Dog House Rules, also produced some high-quality
supplemental material, especially the
Fort Griffin Trilogy of
setting books and the lovely little scenario
Johnny Comes Marching
Home. Even so, I was also gradually losing my taste for the
mechanically heavy d20 Modern system, and so never ran much with that
rulebook.
Not long
thereafter, on Free Comic Book Day in May of 2011, I found a free
copy of Oni Publishing's The Sixth Gun #1.
I was hooked, and went on to collect that series for the following
five years. I was also excited when I saw the Kickstarter for a Sixth
Gun RPG from Pinnacle
Entertainment Group, using the Savage Worlds
rules. While I'd dabbled in writing and running scenarios using that
RPG, most notably in the Pirates of the Spanish Main
setting, I didn't have much experience with it. That quickly changed
as I began developing ideas for a series of adventures that developed
into my current campaign, which I call Manifested Destinies.
It
was to my pleasant surprise, then, when I learned that Dog House
Rules was converting much of its d20 material over to Savage
Worlds. That had already been
the case with Johnny
and two other adventures, but now is also the case for Fort
Griffin. It was in looking at
that hefty text that I also found the following three free
supplements, part of their Six Guns
line, each of which presents a group of historical NPCs ready for use
in any kind of Savage Worlds
western game.
The
first of these supplements presents the notorious James-Younger gang.
It provides stats, naturally, for Frank and Jesse James; Cole and Jim
Younger; as well as Clell Miller and Arthur McCoy. It also provides
printable half-page reference sheets for the characters, along with
half a page of works cited, which I appreciate.
Next
up is a supplement dedicated to the Earps and Mastersons. It provides
stats, of course, for Wyatt, Morgan and Virgil Earp; and Bat, Ed and
Jim Masterson. Once again there are half-page stat sheets and
references for further reading.
The
third supplement is titled Wild and Woolly Women.
The ladies presented in it include Calamity Jane, Belle Starr, Pearl
Hart, Charley Parkhurst, Poker Alice Ivers, and Annie Oakley. This
was the most interesting supplement to read, since the stories of
these women were not as familiar as those of the preceding bandits
and lawmen. Also, the list of references for this one is longer than
those for the other two.
Using
These Supplements in Savage Worlds
Western Adventures and Campaign
Presented
below are just a few ways in which a GM (Judge) could work these
characters into various plots.
As
raiders and bank robbers, the members of the James-Younger Gang are
synonymous with loot. This could include money or other items taken
from various bank and train robberies, or even material from back
during their days serving under the infamous Bill Quantrill during
the heated conflicts of the Civil War.
Various
members of the Earp and Masterson families served as deputies of the
US Marshals; who is to say they weren't actually members of the
Black Stars, tasked with investigating occult-related crimes and
other such mysteries?
The
women presented in the third supplement are such a colorful bunch
that they could add drama to any adventure.
