Excuses to use swords in a western

[Teapot Salty]

Hey guys. (k, to ad to this question, anyone got a better intro?) As you could probably gather from the title, I'm looking for an excuse to use swords in a western, be it for a campaign or a fanfic. Any Help is appreciated.

[GenericGuy]

What type of western?

A lot of post-apocalyptic settings have a very western feel (fallout, and zombie movies come to mind), and often characters will use melee weapons because bullets are scarce.

[Red Fel]

Cowboy samurai. Obviously.

[Teapot Salty]

What type of western?

A lot of post-apocalyptic settings have a very western feel (fallout, and zombie movies come to mind), and often characters will use melee weapons because bullets are scarce.

Red Dead Redemption style western.

[Xaotiq1]

The monster hunting, catholic priest has such an abysmal dexterity that a sword is his best option. From a Deadlands campaign.

[Teapot Salty]

Cowboy samurai. Obviously.

But.... But guns......

[GenericGuy]

Red Dead Redemption style western.

Remember Undead Nightmare?

[Teapot Salty]

Remember Undead Nightmare?

Quickly me, sound like the biggest idiot ever.


No, what's that.

[1337 b4k4]

Zorro

[/thread]

[squiggit]

Swordcanes are a good holdout weapon.

[Jenrock]

If you set your game early enough in the West, say between 1807 and 1875ish (around the time the Colt Peacemaker started gaining traction), most guns used a cap and ball system. I bring that up because those guns took a while to reload, so you might be able justify a character eschewing reloading in favor of charging the bad guys with a yard of sharpened steel.

[GenericGuy]

Quickly me, sound like the biggest idiot ever.


No, what's that.

Anyways; I think scarcity of ammo is still your best option, perhaps some really remote frontier outpost in the north-west during the winter and shipments can't make it through the wilderness/snow.

[Thinker]

Hey guys. (k, to ad to this question, anyone got a better intro?) As you could probably gather from the title, I'm looking for an excuse to use swords in a western, be it for a campaign or a fanfic. Any Help is appreciated.

If you need stealth, a small sword or a knife is superior to a gun for quickly taking out enemies without raising an alarm (like Zorro, though he tends to pre-date typical Old West tales). Suppressors weren't invented until the early 20th century so they wouldn't have been available in the Old West. It may also be easier to conceal a small blade than a gun in case your character is searched or captured. Firearms could also be outlawed in some places, while swords and/or knives are not.

If magic is available, there could be any number of reasons to use swords instead of guns. They might work as a focus for the magic. Spells might empower the blade to do more than it normally would (deflecting bullets, attacking at range, increasing mobility, etc.).

Swords may be the only way to defeat certain opponents. A vampire might go down from bullets to the chest, but you might need a sword to lop off its head afterward.

In post-apocalyptic settings with an Old West aesthetic, ammo might be rare so melee weapons might not be uncommon.

As for your other question, you don't really need to have a greeting like "hello" on the forum. It's not common etiquette, though there's no harm in continuing.

[ParsimonyJones]

The Western genre is often around the time of the Civil War, during which cavalry sabers were still plausibly useful. I don't know anything about real-world marksmanship, but slashing while riding past someone feels like it would be a more natural fit than trying to aim and shoot while galloping.

[Mighty_Chicken]

In 19th century Japan, technology for guns was already there, but swords were everywhere anyway. They happened to have a warrior caste that had been not only advancing their technique with the sword for a thousand years, but also developing a whole philosophy around swordsmanship for the past few centuries. So swords and other melee weapons were still common for practical and cultural reasons.

[Knaight]

The Western genre is often around the time of the Civil War, during which cavalry sabers were still plausibly useful. I don't know anything about real-world marksmanship, but slashing while riding past someone feels like it would be a more natural fit than trying to aim and shoot while galloping.

There was a great deal of cavalry fighting that boiled down to riding up with a pistol, firing it, then riding back away.

[LibraryOgre]

I particularly like the "ammo is scarce" option, and the excuse that you're going to have cavalrymen who still carry their weapons. You might combine the two and change the look of western dueling culture, to where it's acceptable to use a gun in combat, but for duels, you're supposed to use a sword (especially as stray sword swings in a duel are less likely to cause the death of bystanders than spare bullets).

[oudeis]

Swords never require an excuse, but merely a pretext.

[Ravens_cry]

A cavalry sabre, a naval cutlass, a remittance man's small sword or rapier, a dandy's sword cane, there is plenty of excuses to use swords in a western. More exotically but still possible (though check with your GM) is immigrant from Eastern Asia using one the swords of their native culture, like a dao or a khukuri.

[The_Werebear]

The Western genre is often around the time of the Civil War, during which cavalry sabers were still plausibly useful. I don't know anything about real-world marksmanship, but slashing while riding past someone feels like it would be a more natural fit than trying to aim and shoot while galloping.

The bigger issue was trying to reload a cap and ball revolver while mounted. If both sides are riding up, firing, and falling back, you can reload on then, but if the issue is pressed, you need something.

[Vanitas]

1-You really like swords.
2-You really hate guns.
3-You are so good with a sword, it's actually better than a gun.
4-All of the above.

[LibraryOgre]

1-You really like swords.
2-You really hate guns.
3-You are so good with a sword, it's actually better than a gun.
4-All of the above.

Alan. Bourdillion. Traherne.

[Ravens_cry]

The bigger issue was trying to reload a cap and ball revolver while mounted. If both sides are riding up, firing, and falling back, you can reload on then, but if the issue is pressed, you need something.

Plus, they weren't called cavalry sabres because they were used by the horses.

[Mr. Mask]

Armour is a consideration. If some of the best plate harness was available for some reason, it will definitely stop pistols and shotguns. Rifles are more questionable--but I think they were on average a bit less penetrative than the early firearms made to counter heavy armour.

[Mastikator]

http://emergingcivilwardotcom.files....r-portrait.jpg
Picture of General Custer. Notice he has a sword.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Alan. Bourdillion. Traherne.

I don't know if that's a spell or what, but I agree.

[BrokenChord]

Plus, they weren't called cavalry sabres because they were used by the horses.

This reminds me vaguely of some 3.0 Dungeons and Dragons book that mentions a point at which a Paladin's special warhorse realizes that it has a higher intelligence than its Paladin. I'm now trying to imagine the ways that horse could engage in swordplay with a sword properly attached to its armor

[Scow2]

In addition to cavalry (Which also allows a bulletproof breastplate!) you could go with the Priest idea.

I had a catholic priest for a Savage Worlds campaign that carried a bible in one hand, and a sword disguised as a cross in the other. (He was also secretly a member of the secretly-revived order of the Knights Templar - or at least a similarly ordained knighthood to function in a similar role in North America)

[Ravens_cry]

This reminds me vaguely of some 3.0 Dungeons and Dragons book that mentions a point at which a Paladin's special warhorse realizes that it has a higher intelligence than its Paladin. I'm now trying to imagine the ways that horse could engage in swordplay with a sword properly attached to its armor

The warhorse could use a mouthpick weapon. It's from Lords of Madness according to the internet and it allows any weapon so imbued to be used by a creature with a bite attack. Like a warhorse.

[Beleriphon]

Lets not forget that even today US Marine officers are still issued perfectly good combat read swords. Mind you they don't exactly train to use the things, but they still have them.