Wild west campaign idea

[DruLock85]

I'm going to start a new custom campaign. Premise: High fantasy meets wild west.
Six-shooters are common. A railroad company is making the world more easy to travel but run by a ruthless malevolent man (probably a vampire Lord) importing slaves to build his railroad. A new loose government is trying to take hold of the land with an intense Manifest Destiny mentality, led by a lich (although very few actually know this) who seeks power. The "government" is killing natives and taking over the land. Small towns dot the land, most people pledge allegiance to the new government out of fear. But the real authority in the towns are just local sheriffs maybe a Marshall.
Dragons are endangered, hunted for the various useful things that can be extracted from them. Breath glands used for anything from "dynamite" to medicine, scales for armor and jewelry and decorations. Even dragonborn are thought extinct , hunted for the same reasons.

I'd love to hear thoughts and opinions and I'm open to ideas!

[Sparky McDibben]

I recommend using Werewolf: the Wild West. It's got some interesting ideas about using the Wild West in a "hidden fantasy" world. Should be easy to pick up on Drivethrurpg.com.

[Cikomyr2]

Have everyone 's hit die be d4s. A gun gives you Eldritch Blast, so everyone can shoot everyone with Dex or Cha, so initiative, advantage, deception, and the likes are super important.

[Vogie]

You'd have to figure out the PC's reason for being a party - while there's lots of focus on the various lone ranger / single marshall tropes in westerns, there usually aren't parties of people doing things together. Some ideas:

• The PCs are the indigenous people, who are working to save their land, as well as the dragons and drakes from the expansion.
• The PCs are hired by a competing baron of the railroad-equivalent to sabotage the Ruthless Vamp
• The townspeople are fighting against either the baron, the government, or both, and the PCs are part of this group
• The PCs are a neutral third party that is opposing the settlement, the government, the natives AND the baron. Such as a land-focused, druidic based faction, or abolitionist anti-slavers

I'm not a huge fan of the existing forms of 5e Firearms. However, there are ways around this:

• I remember listening to a podcast where they were talking about using the Magic Stone Cantrip as a way to create ammunition - guns would have 1-3 barrels, so a player could have scaling damage depending on the weapon choice.
• There was a Pathfinder adventure that introduced "Wand Rifles" from back in the day. Basically, instead of attuning to multiple wands, one could attune to the rifle, then load it with 2+ wands (depending on the rarity of the wand rifle).

[Sjappo]

I am planning a Wild West campaign as well. The premise is a bit different. Colonists are unable to gain a large footing in the new world because the Natives have vastly more power over the Spirit World. There exists a border region between the Colonists and Natives where the campaign will take place.

Anyway, my solution for fire-arms was pretty simple.
I dumped crossbows and made the following new martial weapons:
Long Rifle: 1d10 P 150/600 loading, two-handed
Carbine: 1d8 P 80/320 loading, two-handed
Pistol: 1d6 P 30/120 loading, light
Repeating rifle: 1d8 P 100/400 reloading, two-handed
Repeating carbine: 1d6 P 80/320 reloading, two-handed
Revolver: 1d4 P 30/120 reloading, light

Reloading: This weapon has a magazine and allows multiple shots per turn/round. When you roll minimum damage on the main damage die (not counting sneak attack and other damage enhancers) the magazine is empty. From that point on the weapon is treated as having the loading property until an action is used to reload the weapon.

Basically the loading ones are reskinned crossbows with bow ranges. The reloading ones are bows with crossbow ranges. I'm thinking to up the pistol range a bit. That way there is a trade-off between range/damage and firing multiple shots.

I'll have 2 sizes of bullets, one for the pistol and revolver and one for the rifles and carbines.

I'm thinking of making a shotgun as a simple weapon:
Shotgun: 1d8 p 30/120 reloading, two-handed

And have it have different kind of ammo. Normal P shots, magnesium shots doing fire damage, slugs doing B damage, AP shots, slugs forcing a drop prone save. Etc.

[Garfunion]

my opinion/ideas

The first thing we need to do is lay in the groundwork on why it will be a “Wild West”.

A new continent has been discovered and what lies within the ground of this continent is a mineral that is used to power many of the machinery and “magic” items of the civilized world. This mineral is called Arconite.

Arconite
There are three grades of Arconite
•Least; is used as fuel for steam powered machinery and can be refined into an explosive for bombs and bullets
•Lesser; is used to make medicines, alchemy items and as a replacement for material spell components.
•Greater; is the rarest and most valuable and it’s usually sold to the highest bidder. Which generally is one of the Dukes(Liches). The Liches use greater Arconite to sustain themselves. “The spice must flow”

Transportation of least or greater(more so greater) takes priority of all other goods requiring transport.

The Slave Trade
When a new Arconite deposit is found, a mining town and railroad system is quickly developed. This is done through the use of slaves. The Viscounts(vampires) are the ones in control of the slave trade. The primary slave race are half-orcs, all the other races can become slaves through “unique” circumstances. “Who is going to notice a few slaves going missing? Mmm tasty.”

The drow are in charge of the collection and overseas transportation of half-orc slaves. “And yes they wear tinted glasses.”

Mining Towns
When a mining town is created most of the slaves are removed and “well” paid workers are employed. Because there is less of a chance of rebellion when it comes to paid workers. The majority of the miners are dwarves. However many races come together to find profit in a mining town.

Trains
Humans have managed to gain the majority control of all railroad and train construction. However most train conductors and engineers are gnomes. “Choo-choo!”

Drakes & Dragons
Arconite deposits tend to lure flights of drakes and very very rare occasion a dragons to them. These beasts eat(lick) the deposit as if it was a salt lick. They care very little about the mining town that may have sprung up around these deposits. Causing collateral damage and injury as they attempt to gain access to the Arconite. As such, this has created a need for people known as dragon hunters. Drakes tend to feed on Arconite during mating season and dragons feed on Arconite to replenish their strength and heal their wounds. Harvesting parts from these creatures tend to fall under more exotic market. Their parts equal in value as lesser Arconite. “An injured dragon can lead you to good fortune.”

The Natives
The native people are Dragonborn. They believe in survival of the fittest and revere drakes and dragons. As a law for them, they will not knowingly/willingly interact with or use Arconite. However some tribes have gone back on this law in order to defend their land and people. When a Dragonborn uses Arconite, they are treated as dead to their tribe. “ I will wield the weapons of my enemies.”

Class and Race Restriction
In order to create a “blood and sweat” kind of world, the convenience of magic is restricted.
•Classes; bards, clerics, druids, warlocks, and wizards are not playable. Sorcerers is new class that has recently come into existence due to the exposure to Arconite. As such sorcerer’s tend to be hunted down and sold to be used as weapons or taken apart and studied. “Everybody wants me.”
•Races; humans, dwarves, gnomes, dragonborn, half-orc, and drow are common races all other races are rare. “Your not that special.”

Firearms
Re-skinned crossbows plus a little extra.

•Light crossbow(shotgun) scattershot, loud, reload(2)
•Heavy crossbow(rifle) brutal(3), loud, reload(4)
•Hand crossbow(pistol) brutal(2), loud, reload(6)

Reload(x); is how many times you can fire the weapon until you need to reload.
Brutal(x); if the damage die rolls lower than the brutal number, you use the brutal number instead. Additionally you critically hit on a 18-20.
Scattershot; attacks made with this weapon ignore half and three-quarters cover.
Loud; after firing this you cannot take the hide action, until the end of your next turn.


I was bored.