PDA

View Full Version : DM Help Realistic Gun Slinger System?



tahu88810
2014-04-12, 12:43 PM
So I am interested in running a game revolving around western gun slingers. I've just got one small problem: I run my games over an IRC channel, using dice bots. Things tend to get bogged down quickly with even some of the fastest systems, especially when there is more than five or six actors. So I was wondering if anyone could suggest or direct me towards a system that might fit the following criteria:
-Can cover a wild west feel, with guns. Since that's the whole idea, anyways.
-Combat is resolved quickly. The OK Corral gunfight, after all, only lasted thirty seconds. I'd like to see that reflected in play.
-Combat does not require a grid or map.
-Contains a wide range of skills and character options, all the same. A lot of time in my games is spent outside of combat.
-Allows for easy customization and homebrew, to better fit or reflect whatever system is actually being used.

I don't suppose anyone knows of anything that fits that? As much as I'm in love with the Storyteller system, even with that, a gunfight between mortals can take up to fifteen minutes of dice rolling and numbers crunching.

Rhynn
2014-04-12, 01:27 PM
Aces & Eights (http://www.kenzerco.com/aces_n_eights/) is a great Wild West RPG, very realistic (the default setting is alt-history, but it's trivial to just run it in real history), with an awesome gunslinging system that uses a "Shot Clock" to determine what you hit (you overlay it on your target silhouette and the dice determine where the shot goes).

It has sort of "tiered" combat rules: the simplest iteration is very quick and easy, but the full rules can be a bit heavy. Combat isn't that slow, though, because getting shot tends to do a lot of damage and is likely to put you out of action - plus all characters (including PCs) have a point where they just give up the fight (this depends on the number of gunfights they've been in).

Other Wild West RPGs (can't say any of these are necessary easy to find):
Boot Hill
Coyote Trail
Dust Devils
Shady Gulch
Sidewinder Recoiled
Six Gun
Six Gun Sound - Blaze of Glory
Tombstones n' Tumbleweeds
Wild West Cinema

Science Officer
2014-04-12, 04:23 PM
How about... GURPS?

I know you said quick, but once you've got your characters built, and if they are mundane humans, gun-fights shouldn't last long. If your characters all have relevant combat skills, and know the rules, things can go smoothly.

Ravens_cry
2014-04-12, 05:08 PM
Savage Worlds combat tends to be pretty lethal, and there is the Deadlands RPG. It has an explicit system for duels at high noon. Deadlands isvery Weird West, but those mechanics can be taken out with relative ease and have nothing to do with the gun duel mechanics.

Jlerpy
2014-04-12, 05:37 PM
I'll second GURPS. Fights are usually over within a few seconds.