jim mckee (Order #33372705)

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 \
WELLS FARGO
CORRAL

F R O N T S T R E E T

>

A L L E N S T R E E T

F R E M O N T S T R E E T
jim mckee (Order #33372705)
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Ifa lie Geneva

WI 531 ~7
iU.S.~ .

Print ed in t he U.S.A.

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

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®

• Wild West
Role-Playing Game

TSR, Inc.
PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION "'

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 First and Second Editions by Brian Blume Grubb, Jason Hainer, Bruce Heard , Glen
and Gary Gygax. Johnson , Paul Lidberg , Steve Null, David
Third Edition by Steve Winter. Okamura, E1ic Ostrander, Keith Polster ,
Pocket adventures by Dave Cook (from Lost Steven Schend, Pat Spencer.
Conquistadore Mine, 1982) and Jeff Special thanks to Jon Pickens for his
Grubb (from Burned Bush Wells , 1983 ). bibliographies and liberal advice.
Maps by Dave Sutherland and Dennis Kauth .
Computer design & layout by John Knecht . Cover painting courtesy of the Buffalo Bill
Playtesting by Marc Blumberg, Tim Brown, Historical Center , Cody, Wyoming (detail
William Burger, Jr., Keith Co, Bill Connors, of FIGHT AT THE ROUNDUP SALOON ,
Dave Cook, Sheila Davies, Ray Greer, Jeff 1928, William Gollings ).

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the nited tates of America . Any reproduction or other unauthoriz d use of the materi-
al contained herein is prohibited without the expres written permission ofTSR lnc .
Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House, lnc ., and in Canada by R ndom House of anada , Ltd.
Distributed to the toy a nd hobby trade by regional distributor s.
BOOT HILL, DRAGON, PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION, and the TSR logo are trademarks ofT R Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.

TSR Inc. TSR UK Ltd.

POB 756 120 Church End , Cherry Hinton
Lake Geneva Cambridge CBl 3LB
WI 53147 USA United Kingdom

@Copyright 1975 , 1979 , 1990 TSR Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN 0-88038-976-1
7005

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Introduction ............................................................................................ 4
Chapter 1: Characters ............................................................................ 6
Chapter 2: Gunfights ..................... ...................................................... . 23
Chapter 3: Fistfights ............................................................................. 43
Chapter 4: The Old West .................. .... :..................... .................... ...... 54
Chapter 5: Horses ................................................................................. 56
Chapter 6: Cavalry & Indians (& Other NPCs) .................................. 61
Chapter 7: The Western Campaign ..................................................... 84
Chapter 8: Tales of Discontinuity ....................................................... 106
Chapter 9: Adventures ................................................................. ....... 107
Appendix 1: Bibliography ................... ............ ..................................... 120
Appendix 2: Glossary ................. .................... ...................................... 124
0 K Corral Map ............................................... ....... ............................. 125

Tables ................................ ......................................... .......................... 126

Character Record Sheet ...................................................................... 128

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Those immortal words were written by John But there is a difference between the myth
Lane Soule in 1851. At the time the West was and the fact. Certainly life out west was
the great frontier, the promised land , the harsh. It was a harsh land, in spite of what
realization of manifest destiny. It was the Currier & Ives would have you believe. Still,
land where anyone with courage , a to conclude that most of the people who went
willingness to work, and strength and west were miserable and impoverished as a
fortitude could carve a lasting place for result is as far off-center as messrs. Currier
himself and his family. and Ives. The west was a frontier; people
The wide-open land was a symbol of the expected hardship. Most of those who went
boundless riches of America. Prairies west did so to escape the misery and poverty
stretching to the horizon, searing deserts, of eastern industrial cities, farm lots that
soaring mountains, raging rivers , created a were continually divided into smaller and
vast panorama of a paradise that held smaller parcels , or the devastated and
everything. While the other great powers of unreconstructed south after the Civil War.
the world scrambled for overseas colonies, the The conditions they endured were horrid by
United States could colonize its own modern standards, but modern standards
continent just by walking or riding to the don't apply. And the rest of the myth - well, if
west. it was all true, it wouldn't be a myth, but the
It was only natural that the people and same could be said if it was all false. The
events of this place would grow to mythical truth, as usual, is somewhere between.
proportions. The adventure and romance of
gunfighters, scouts, indian fighters, indians
themselves, cowboys, gamblers, and outlaws A Not e Abou t Th is 3rd Editi on
drew the attention of easterners and held it
for decades. Dime novels made pop stars of The BOOT HILL ® game is one of the
such characters as Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild longest -lived role-playing games around. This
Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Bat Masterson, edition is completely revised, updated, and
Jesse and Frank James, General George expanded from earlier versions.
Custer, Sitting Bull, Billy the Kid, Annie Throughout the rulebook, it is assumed
Oakley, and countless other figures, both real that the reader is familiar with role-playing
and fictitious. Traveling shows, like Buffalo games and has some experience with them. If
Bill's Wild West Show, were immensely that isn't the case, then your task will be
popular even while the events they portrayed more difficult. The best way to learn about
were still happening. Many of these shows role-playing is to sit in on a game with
toured Europe as weH as the United States . experienced players. If you can do that, you'll
The Western myth is so firmly rooted in know everything you need to inside of 30
the American psyche that we aren't even minutes. If that isn't possible, then aproach
conscious of much of it anymore; it's become the game in steps. It's really nothing more
second nature. Yet in recent decades than playing cowboys and indians, only the
debunking this myth has become popular. action takes place in your head and on paper
Some of this debunking is nothing more than instead of in the back yard.
revisionist rewriting of the history books; Begin by creating a character. Then create
some of it reflects much-needed honesty in another. Then let them shoot at each other
assessing our past. for a while. When you've got the hang of that,

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 have them punch each other a few time . What You Need to Play
Befor long you'll be comfortable with the
essential rules of creating character , All you need to play the BOOT HILL ®
shooting, and brawling. Invite a few friend game is this book, ome paper and pencil , a
over teach them what you know and then table for the player to sit around and ome
try the Gunfight at the O K Corral scenario. dice: two 10- ided dice, one 6-sided die, and
As players get involved in the game and their one 20- ided die at the minimum. The 10-
character , the role-playing will come ided dice are u ed only for creating
naturally. character . Once actual play begins, only 6-
a n d 20- ided dice are needed. Miniature
figure or token of ome ort are handy
during hootout but aren't nece ary.

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Every character in a BOOT HILL® game has sw·vive a fatal wound (look, the bullet must
five attributes: have hit the sheriff's badge!), and accomplish
any other task that he has no reason to think
Strength possible (I swear that fellow could track a
Coordination rabbit under water).
Observation
Stature
Luck Attribute Scores
Strength measures physical power (how The character has a numerical score in
much can this character lift and carry?), each of these attributes. This score indicates
stamina (how far can he run without collaps- how gifted the character is in that attribute-
ing?), health (how many nights can he sleep how strong, coordinated, observant, notori-
on the cold, damp ground before getting ous, and lucky. Scores for Strength,
sick?), and wound capacity (how many bullets Coordination, and Observation range from 2
will it take to lay him low?). to 20. Scores for Stature and Luck range from
Coordination measures manual dexteri- 1 to 10. Scores can be increased outside these
ty (can this character pick a lock? ), agility ranges through experience (descr ibed below).
(can he turn a somersault?), balance (can he High numbers mean the character is well-
walk across the balcony railing without endowed in that attribute, low numbers mean
falling), speed (can he beat Dirty Dan to the he lacks that quality. The Attributes Scale
draw? ), and accuracy (can he shoot the spot provides a handy comparison for different
off a playing card at 50 paces?). attribute scores. (Don't interpret this scale
Observation measures alertness (does too rigidly. After all, Strength measures a lot
this character notice the bandit sneaking of different things. One character with a high
past?), vigilance (does he stay awake all night Strength score could be powerfully muscled
while guarding the gold?), eyesight (can he while another is wiry but incredibly tough.)
see the spot on a playing card at 50 paces?),
and other senses (does he hear the gun cock-
ing behind him? can he feel the approaching Strength
rainstorm?).
Stature measures how widely known the 2 Puny, crippled, withered
character is (has anyone in the saloon heard 4 A weakling, a child
of him?), how much of a reputation he has (is 8 Average for women, men with
anyone in the saloon afraid of him?), and how sedentary jobs
physically imposing he is (if no one has heard 10 Average for active men
of him, are they afraid of him anyway?). 12 Rugged, tough
There were plenty of Western characters 15 Strong, and respected for it
whose reputations far outstripped their 18 Massive, corded muscles
deeds, while others deliberately played down 20 A mountain of a man, strongest in
their reputations to remain anonymous. the territory
Luck measw·es the character's ability to
escape unharmed from harrowing dangers
(how did he survive the buffalo stampede?),

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Coordination Generating Attributes
2 Has a hard time putting on his boot Three distinct methods for generating
4 Clumsy, frightening with a gun character attributes are described here. They
8 Awkward, tends to drop things are basically the same, with minor differ-
10 Average ences in the details. Method 1 is the tan-
12 Graceful, fluid dard; methods 2 and 3 are optional variants.
15 Extremely fast, has a reputation
18 Acrobatic, catlike Method 1: The first step in creating a
20 Greased lightning character is generating the scores for his
attributes . For each of the five attributes, this
Observation is done by rolling two 10-sided dice and
adding the results together, then modifying
2 Wrapped in fog that total. Modifiers are listed on the Player
4 Vacant, inattentive Character Attribute Modifiers table. Find the
8 Distracted, tends to ignore things dice roll total and add the listed modifier to
10 Average it.
12 Notices things that have changed
15 Very sharp, good memory for Table 1: Player Character Attribute Modifiers
details
18 Eagle eyes, incredible deductive Dice Roll Modifier
power
20 Seems to have a sixth sense 2-5 +5
6-10 +3
Stature 11-14 +2
15-17 +1
2 Who? 18-20 +0
4 Him?
8 People who know him realize he's OK The final, modified score is recorded on
10 Average the character record sheet in the appropriate
12 Commands respect spot, with two exceptions. The character's
15 Rooms fall silent when he enters Stature and Luck scores are divided by two,
18 A hero of dime novels with fractions rounded up , before recording
20 A living legend them. These halved score are the character'
final Stature and Luck scores .
Luck Example: A player's dice rolls for creating
his character are 9, 16, 5, 13, and 17. These
1 Amazes people that he's still alive are modified to 12, 17, 10, 15 and 18. On the
3 Never wins anything character record sheet the player enters
5 Average Strength 12 , Coordination 17, Ob ervation
7 Call him "Luck y" 10, Stature 8, and Luck 9.
8 A natural gamble r Method 2. Instead of using the charac-
10 Unbelievable ter's scores in exactly the order they were

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 rolled, generate and modify all five numbers , The third method is best for games of heroic
then arrange them in any order desired . (or Hollywood) proportions.
Example: In the original example, if the
player wanted a character who was very
strong and observant, he could rearrange his Using Attributes in Play
scores into this order: 18, 10, 17, 12, 15. This
would create a very different character with Attribute scores are very important dur-
Strength 18, Coordination 10, Observation ing the game. Whenever a player wants his
17, Stature 6, and Luck 8. character to do something and the judge
Method 3. Instead of generating only five decides that the outcome isn't certain , he can
scores, generate eight and modify them. ask the player to perform an "attribute check"
Then, without changing their order, scratch using a certain attribute. The player rolls a
out any three. The remaining five scores, in 20-sided die and compares the number rolled
order, become the character's Strength, to his attribute score. If the number rolled
Coordination, Observation, Stature , and equals or is less than his attribute score, the
Luck. action worked. If the number rolled is greater
Example: A player rolls the following eight than his attribute score, the action failed. The
scores: 10, 17, 6, 14, 7, 13, 12, 4. These are extent of that failure is up to the Judge.
modified to 13, 18, 9, 16, 10, 15, 14, and 9. E xam ple : Lucas McCade has been cor-
The player now has several options. He can
nered in a tiny saloon by a pair of vengeful
simply cross off the three lowest scores (9, 10,
cowhands who believe he robbed their friend.
and 9), giving his character Strength 13,
Seeing no other way out , the player decides
Coordination 18, Observation 16, Stature 8,
and Luck 7. If he wanted the highest possible that Lucas will dive out the window and run
for hi horse, hoping to get away without a
Strength, however, he could cross off the 13
and both 9s, giving his character Strength 18, fight. The judge calls for an attribute check
Coordination 16, Observation 10, Stature 8, against Lucas's Coordination. Quickly he
and Luck 7. Ifhe wanted the highest possible calls up a mental picture of the possible out-
Luck , he could cross off the 10, 14, and 9, giv- comes. If the roll is successful, Lucas will leap
ing his character scores of Strength 13, through the window the way he wanted. If
Coordination 18, Observation 9, and Stature the roll is really good-1 or 2- Lucas will
8, and Luck 8. land on his feet. If the roll fails, Lucas will
Choosing a Method. The chai-acter gen- still get through the window but then stum-
eration method that is best for you depends ble in the street and fall, perhaps getting a
mostly on the sort of game you intend to play. face full of dirt. If the roll is really bad-19 or
The standard method is best for games with 20-he has misjudged the distance to the
experienced role-players who enjoy the chal- window and tripped, falling with his legs still
lenge of making the most of what they're on the sill where the cowhands could grab
given. Method 2 is best when the players them and drag him back inside. Lucas's
have definite ideas about the sort of charac- Coordination is 12, and the player rolls an
ters they want to play and probably won't be 8-success! The judge announces that Lucas
completely happy with something else (it's leaps through the window, rolls a short dis-
bard to enjoy playing a muleskinner when tance, and is ready to jump back up on his
you had your heart set on being a gunfighter ). feet.

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 If a task is unusually easy or unusually depends on the total of the character 's
hard , the judge can impose modifiers to the attribute scores . Total up all the character's
character's attribute for this check. These attiibute scores and consult the Initial Skills
modifiers usually won't exceed + or - 5 in even table.
the most extreme cases. A +1 modifier, for
example , tempora1·ily increases the charac- Table 2: Initial Skills
ter 's attribute by one point , making it slightly
easier for his attiibute check to succeed. Total Number
Attribute of Initial
Scores Skills
Skills
27 - 40 10
In addition to his five attribute scores , 41- 62 8
each character also has skills. The e skills 63 - 80 6
give the character special knowledge, special
abilities, or modifiers to their attiibutes. At least half of these initial skills must be
There are 62 skills available to characters work skills. They can all be work skills if the
in the BOOT HILL ® game. Of these , 57 are player wants, but no more than half can be
work skills like Accounting, Gambling , weapon skills. A weapon kill can be taken
Swimming, and Trapping , and five are more than once to get a higher score , but each
weapon skills: Archery , Brawling , time counts as one skill.
Knife/Sword, Pistol, and Rifle. New skills can be learned during the
course of play, and old skills can have their
scores increased, if the player spends experi-
Skill Scores ence points for the skill . This is explained
under the heading Experience.
Like an attribute, each skill has a score .
To determine the score for a work skill,
follow the same procedure as determining an Using Work Skills
attribute score: roll two 10-sided dice , add
them together, and modify the result. Work skills are used during play the same
Weapon skills always begin with a score as attributes. When a character tries to use a
of 1. A character can, however, choose a skill, the player makes a "skill check" by
weapon skill more than once and add 1 to his rolling a 20-sided die. If the result is equal to
score each time. Choosing Pistol skill twic e, or less than his skill score, he succeeded at
for example, gives the character a score of his task. If the die roll is greater than his
Pistol 2. skill score, he failed.
If a task is unusually easy or unusually
hard, the judge can impose modifiers on the
character's skill scores. These modifiers usu-
Learning Skills ally won't exceed + or - 5 in even the most
extreme cases .
Every new character gets up to 10 skills of A skill check of any sort is required only if
the player's choice. The exact number there is some degree of difficulty to the task.

10

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Routine tasks are assumed to be completed Skill List s
automatically. A blacksmith need not make a
skill check every time he shoes a horse, for The 57 work skills are listed below.
example. If an outlaw is forcing him to do it
at gunpoint, however, this adds an element of Accounting
difficulty calling for a skill check. Artillerist
Artist
Assaying
Rolling a 1 or a 20 Bartending
Bureaucracy
It is possib le for a character 's skill or Carpentry
attribute score to be modified below 1 or Chemistry
above 20. This does not, however, mean that Civil Engineering
the character's skill works or fails automati- Cooking
cally. Cow Handling
If a character's skill score is less than 1, Dentistry
the character can still succeed by rolling a 1. Entertainer
However, success must be confirmed with a Explosives
Luck check. If the character subsequently Farming
rolls his Luck score or less on a 20-sided die , Fast Draw
his task succeeds. Otherwise , it fails. Gambling
Gunsmithing
Similarly, if a character's skill score is
Indian Contact
modified to 20 or more, that character can Law
still fail by rolling a 20. On a roll of 20, the Leadership
character must confirm his success with a Linguistics
Luck check. Literacy
Locksmithing
Medicine
Using Weapon Skills Orienteering
Photography
Weapon skills modify a character 's hit Pocket Picking
number when using that type of weapon . The Preaching/I'heology
skill score is added directly to the character 's Printing/Journalism
hit number . For example, a charncter with a Pro pecting/Mining
hit number of 12 and Pistol 2 effectively has a Public Speaking
hit number of 14 when firing a pistol. This i Railroad Engineering
explained in much greater detail in Chapter Riding
2: Gunfights. Roping
Saddlemaking
Scouting
Sheepherding
Silversmithing
Smithing

11

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Stealth Gatling gun. The use of heavy weapons is
Surveying/Mapmak.ing described in Chapter 3.
Survival Artist. This character is a skilled painter.
Swimming He could be a wildlife artist , a newspaper
Tactics sketch artist , or a traveling portrait painter.
Tailor /Seamstress Alternatively , a player could choose this skill
Teamster to be a poet or playwright (in which case its
Telegraph pr erequi site is Lit eracy ).
Thespian Assaying. This skill lets a character
Throwing assess the value of gold , gems, and other min-
Tracking erals. He is qualified to work in a government
Trading or private assaying office. He can identify
Trapping fool' gold automatically, and a skill check
Veterinarian will let him identify a metal or mineral, spot
Wainwright a counterfeit coin (if he handles it ), or judge
Whip the value of cut or uncut gems.
Wrangling Bartending. This character is skilled at
all the various aspects of tending bar, from
The five weapon skills are: the simple (pouring a shot of whiskey without
spilling ) to the complex (telling some lout
Archery what his problem is without making him
Brawling mad ). He knows how to make a wide variety
Knife/Sword of mixed drinks (which were quite popular in
Pistol the West ), judge good whiskey from bad , and
Rifle make bad-tempered men happy.
Bureaucracy. This skill conveys under-
standing of the inner workings of the army,
Work Skills the Bureau of Indian Affairs , and all forms of
national, state, and territorial governments
A description of each skill and its use in and commissions. A successful skill roll can
the game follows. Some skills list Literacy as help the character navigate through the
a prerequisite. This means that the character channels to get whatever information , permit ,
must also know Literacy before he can learn license , or deed he requires. prerequisite:
the skill in question. Lit eracy.
Accounting . A character with thi s skill is Carpentry. Thi s character is trained to
trained as a bank clerk, accountant , store build wooden buildings , furniture, toys, and
clerk, railroad ticket agent, or in another equipment . If the character tries to build
position that involves using math and han- something small , a single skill check at the
dling money . He has a fair amount of busi- end determines whether it turned out right
ness sense. pr erequisite: Litera cy. (on a bad roll , for example, the lid of a chest
Artillerist . This charact e r probably might not fit quite right ). On larger projects,
served in the U .S . or Confederate artillery several skill checks should be made, one for
during the Civil War. He knows how to han- each stage of the work . When building a
dle and fire a cannon , mortar, and even a hou se, for example , one check could be made

12

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 to determine whether the frame went up all cowhand does something foolish, embarrass-
right, a second to check the exterior apperu·- ing , or dangerous .
ance, and a third for the interior finishing. Dentistry. This skill lets the character
Failure does not necessarily mean that the treat toothaches, broken teeth, rotten teeth,
whole job is flawed, but some part of it proba- or make dentmes. A character with this skill
bly needs to be done over. A carpenter can is also considered to have 6 points of
also repair wooden items that have been Medicine skill, automatically. prerequisite:
damaged. Literacy.
Chemistry. This character is educated in Entertainer. This character has some tal-
the chemical sciences, including pharmacy . ent at singing and dancing. Or, if the player
He can mix and identify simple chemical s prefers, the character could be a stage magi-
(bicarbonate of soda) automatica ll y. More cian, a comic , a storyteller, a puppeteer, or
complicated procedures require a skill check. any other sort of entertainer (except an actor,
In any case, the character cannot produce any which is covered by Thespian skill). The skill
chemical without the proper ingredients . score is a general indicator of the character's
Even with this skill, no one can make gun- ability to keep an audience entertained. A
powder from cotton balls and wood shavings. successful skill check means the audience
However, in an emergency the judge may likes the show, an unsuccessful check means
allow a skill check for the player to come up things could get ugly.
with an insight on how the ingredients at Explosives. This character is trained to
hand can be usefully combined. pr erequisit e: handle, et, and detonate explosives. Most
anyone can light the fuse on a stick of dyna-
Literacy. mite and throw it, but only a trained charac-
Civil Engineering. This character is ter knows bow to position explosives for the
educated in the mechanical sciences, particu- best effect, rig multiple charges, safely trans-
larly architecture, drainage, railroad con- port nitroglycerine, or correctly judge the
struction, and street building. While the day- right amount of explosive to use for a particu-
to-day effort of designing and building a lar job. Usually, one skill check is all that's
municipal water tower is not the stuff of required for a small job, but larger tasks-
western adventure, characters can also use bringing down a railroad bridge, for exam-
this skill to spot weaknesses or flaws in such ple-may require several skill checks. Failing
structures. prerequisite: Literacy. a skill check does not necessarily mean that
Cooking . This character is qualified to the charge exploded in the character's hand,
work as a trai l cook or short-order cook. With or even that it didn 't explode at all (th ough on
a score of 17 or higher , he could work as a a very bad roll, both of those results are pos-
chef in a restaurant or hotel. sible). If the roll was close, it may simply
Cow Handling. This is the skill of cow- mean that the charges did not explode the
boys. Herding, cutting out , branding , and way they were supposed to-parts of the
rounding up are all among the skills essential bridge are still standing, the mine caved
to cow punchers. This skill can be used in a in, etc. The use of explosives is explained in
specific case where something needs to be Chapter 3.
done with one or more cattle. It can also be Farming. This character probably was
used in a general way, once every two or three raised on a farm. He knows about planting,
days on a cattle drive , to determine whether a harvesting, and tending crops , as well as rais-

13

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 ing cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, or any other Law. Yes, there were lawyers and judges
farm animals the player chooses. out west . A character with this skill is
Fast Draw. In those cases where clearing trained to serve as both. A skill check can
the holster first is important , characters serve to determine whether the character
make Fast Draw skill checks . If the number knows the legalities of a situation , whether
rolled is equal to or less than the character's he can adequately defend or prosecute a sus-
Fast Draw score, then he's pulled his gun up pect, or pass a judgement that is both fair
into firing position and the number rolled is and satisfactory to the crowd. prerequisite:
that character's speed for that shot. If the Literacy.
number rolled is greater than the character 's Leadership. A character with this skill is
Fast Draw score, he hasn 't cleared his holster either trained, or has a natural aptitude for,
yet and is not ready to fire. His opponent leading bodies of men, either soldiers or civil-
probably has gotten the drop on him. All of ians. The character can command a number
this is explained in greater detail in Chapter of civilians (as in a posse ) equal to his skill
2, Gunfights . score, or four time that many soldiers. A suc-
Gambling. When characters sit down to ce sful kill check will also keep a group in
gamble , a character with Gambling skill ha line when trouble is brewing.
a significant edge. He also has the option to Linguistics. This character has made an
cheat with a decent chance of avoiding detec- extensive study of foreign languages. One-
tion. Gambling skill can also be used to detect half the skill score, rounded up, is the num-
whether another player is cheating . ber of languages the character speaks fluent-
Gambling is explained in greater detail in ly. A successful skill check also let the char-
Chapter 7, The Western Campaign. acter understand at least part of any lan-
Gunsmithi .ng. This character can repair guage. prerequisite: Literacy.
or even make guns, with the proper equip- Literacy . A character with this skill can
ment. Any gunsmith will usually carry with read and write any language be can speak,
him the simple tools needed for most repairs, including indian languages. The Judge can
but he needs a stocked gunsmith's shop to require a skill check in cases where the writ-
make a gun or perform extensive modifica- ten material is complicated or the character
tions. If a Gunsmithing skill check fails, the doesn't get much practice.
judge decides whether the task is beyond the Locksmithing. This skill represents both
character's skill, he doesn't have the equip- the lawful and honest pursuit of craftsmen
ment he needs, or it is just impossible (too who make and repair locks, and the dishonest
badly damaged to be repaired, for example ). pursuit of safecrackers and lockpickers . A
A gunsmith can also cast and reload bullets, skill check lets the character open a lock ,
and modify existing guns (turn a regular pis- repair a lock, or build a lock . The Judge
tol into a fast-draw pistol, for example ). should impose modifiers on this skill check
Indian Contact. This character has con- suitable to the situation.
siderable experience dealing with indians. He Medicine. While great strides were made
speaks a variety of indian languages and in medicine in the years leading up to the sec-
knows their customs and tradition s . This ond half of the 19th Century, a combination of
does not mean that all indians like him , but a inadequate knowledge and poor facilities
successful skill check improves the likelihood made both disease and injury very lethal on
of a favorable reaction. the frontier. A good doctor was both very rare

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 and very highly regarded. Even ome of the who has been mortally wounded. Serious
basic principles of first aid, which we now wounds will begin healing after a doctor
take for granted, were largely unknown to the makes a successful Medicine skill check.
general public. Light wounds heal on their own, or twice a
Wounds are dealt with in detail in fast if tended by a doctor. A doctor can al o
Chapter 2, and recovery from wounds is cov- use his Medical skill to treat animal bites,
ered in Chapter 7: The Western Campaign. poisorung, fevers, and other diseases. prereq-
Regarding wounds, medical skill has these uisite: Literacy.
capabilities and restriction : No amount of Orient ee ring. This i the art of traveling
medical kill or tending will save a character cros -country , with or without a map, without

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 becoming lost. A character relying on his the faithful , read over the dead and dying,
Orienteering ability to get from here to there and grant blessings on endeavors of every
should make a skill check every one to five kind . Literacy is not a prerequisite for this
days, depending on how difficult the terrain skill but it is highly recommended .
is. The judge must decide , based on the land- Printing/Journalism. This character
marks available, whether a lost character knows every aspect of the publishing trade,
realizes his predicament. Characters without from writing to editing to typesetting to print-
Orienteering skill must make Observation ing. He is qualified to run a newspaper of his
checks, at least one per day, to not get lost in own , file stories to a paper, or even write
wilderness. dime westerns. Skill checks can be used to
Photography. This character knows how determine whether a story was gripping and
to take photographs , develop film , and even compelling, whether the character can get all
make his own emulsions. Photography was the information he needs for a story, and as a
still young, and very much in evolution , dur- general guide to how good a writer the char-
ing the years 1865-90. Many photographers acter is. prerequisite: Literacy.
were from the do-it-yourself school and had a Prospecting/Mining. This is the skill
keen interest in the art they were helping to that lets a character locate oil, gold, or other
both invent and develop. Cameras and other valuable minerals and recover them safely.
equipment were bulky and fragile , but the Skill checks can determine whether a mine
public clamored for photographs, from per - shaft was dug safely, whether anything is
sonal portraits to portrayals of fabulous natu- found in the mine (modified, of course, by
ral wonders and romantic figures to ship back whether there's anything there in the first
East. Skill checks can be required for a wide
variety of photographic tasks: exposing or place ), and whether the character even recog-
developing the plate; transporting the equip- nizes something of value when he sees it. If a
ment safely; coating the plates with emulsion . character is operating a mine, a weekly skill
Pocket Picking. Anyone who would check determines whether his work is paying
sneak up to another person, reach into his off. Again, the size of the payoff is up to the
pocket, and remove something is a thief. Judge, based on the richness of the area.
Anyone caught pursuing this profession can Public Speaking. The ability to address
expect harsh treatment. A successful Pocket and influence a crowd is essential to politi -
Picking check will lift a victim's wallet or cians, preachers , demagogues, temperance
purse (from a jacket or vest pocket, where it unionists , labor organizers, and dozens of
most likely would have been carried ). If the other professions. Depending on the initial
pickpocket attempt fails , the victim check s mood of the audience , a successful skill check
his Observation to see whether the attempt can calm them down, whip them up, or even
was noticed. get them ready to storm the jail and string
Preaching/rheology. This skill is essen- someone up. Like most skills, the player can't
tial to the stump-riding circuit preacher as just say, "I'm speaking to the crowd," and roll
well as to the selfless missionary. Successful some dice to see how people react. He should
skill checks can bring people into worship ser- have to give at least a summary of the con-
vices or hold them enthralled with the power tent of his speech. The Judge can impose
of the word. Preachers , ordained and other- modifiers on the skill check for particularly
wise, were always in demand, to minister to effective or ridiculous arguments.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Railroad Engineering. There i a mi - performed properly and to the cu tomer' at-
taken notion that anyone can climb into a isfaction.
locomotive and run a train. Thi i true to Scouting. The ability to move through
about the same extent that anyone can climb unknown or enemy territory gather u eful
into a car and drive it. If you value your life, information, and return to safety again with-
however, you might not want to be in that car out being detected is called scouting. This
or train . A railroad engineer (literally, ome- kill does not cover the immediate act of
one who runs the engine ) can operate a train moving silently or without being seen, which
safely and correctly. He knows railroad proce- are more properly covered by Stealth.
dures and signa l . A kill check can be u ed Instead, it deals with the bigger que tions
to avoid mi haps plann ed by the Judge (e.g., like can the character find the indian village?
stopping the train before it hits a torn-up sec- Can he get an accurate count of the warriors
tion of track) , but a failed check should never and their weapons? Can he spot th ir n-
be the cause of a random mishap. tries their source of water, or id entify how
Riding. Assume that everyone in a BOOT many different tribes are repre ented? Skill
HILL ®game knows how to ride a horse . This check can determine whether th couting
skill come into play in sit ua tion that call for character find what he's lookin g for, whether
something unusual: staying on a bucking or he avoids discovery , and whether he gets the
spooked horse, riding across difficult ground facts right about what he saw.
(steep slopes , deep rivers ), jumping an obsta- Sheepherding. Sheep ("woollies' ) were
extremely unpopular with cattlemen when
cle. A character on hor seback can also u e
herds were first brought West. Eventually
this skill to calm his mount if it gets fright-
around the turn of the century , even cattle-
ened or ornery. men began to ee how shee p and cattle could
Roping. A character with this skill can coexi t on tl,e ame range , and even b nefit
make a la sso and catch something with it. A from each other 's presence. Before that time,
single skill check is all that' required in mo t however, a heepherder had to be as cow·a-
cases. In combat, throwing a lasso i the geous and heroically dedicated to his profes-
equivalent of firing a careful shot, except the sion as anyone out West, considering the
character 's Roping skill is his chance to hit. If ob tacle he faced. Like Cow Handling skill
the throw misses, reeling the rope back in checks can be used to control a herd, calm it
takes at lea st six seconds (one combat turn ). down, top or turn a stampede, and giv rudi -
If a character is la ssoed, he gets one chance to mentary care to ick animals.
escape by making either a Strength or Silversmithing. When times were flush,
Coordination check. If the ability check fails, the silversmith's art was in demand.
the character 's arms are pinn ed at his sides Decorations on belt buckles , pistol grip
(or his legs are tangled , depending on the las- watche and watch chain , and j welry wer
soer's target). A la sso' hort, long, and fancied by gamb lers, gunmen, and wealthy
extreme ranges are 2, 5, and 10 yard . ranchers and businessmen. A kill check
Saddlemaking. Actually, this skill determine wheth r the work turned out a
entails leatherworking of all sorts: making de ired . It also allows the character to
sad dles, bridles , holsters, belts, or just about appraise silver items.
anything else with the exception of boots. A Smithing. The mith was a multi-faceted
skill check determines whether the work was craftsman, who e responsibilities ran far

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 beyond shoeing horse s. In remote areas he Characters recover one attribute point per
could be called upon to fix or manufacture attribute per day once they reach civilization
almost anything from metal : hor seshoes , (or find help, at least ).
plows, knives , buttons, shovel s , hammers, Swimming. Surprisingly few Westerners
hinges, bathtubs , and barber chairs. A skill actually knew how to swim. Anyone with this
check determines whether an item can be skill can swim automatically under normal
repaired, and whether the work turns out circumstances, but must make a skill check
properly. in turbulent water or rapids, if seriously
Stealth. This skill allows a character to wounded , or if weighted down with heavy
move silently or without being seen. Staying clothing, guns , gold, etc. Characters without
out of sight requires cover of some sort, this skill must make a skill check against
whether it is rocks and brush or a crowd. one-half their Strength score, rounded up,
Usually only a single roll is required to be anytime they get dunked. If this roll fails ,
stealthy. If the roll succeeds , anyone observ- they are going down. They get one more
ing the area where the character is has his chance to make a Luck check this time .
Observation score divided by three , rounded Success means they drag themselves to the
down, before making an Observation check. bank, half drowned. Failure means they can't
Surveying/Mapmaking. The job of sur- get out without help, and will drown in 30
veying and mapping the West was both vital seconds (five turns ) unless rescued.
to its eventual taming (via the railroad and Tactics. Tactics skill gives a character the
telegraph ) and dangerous (since the areas ability to predict, to some extent , what an
being surveyed were generally pretty wild). A opponent will do in combat , and also grants
skill check determines the accuracy of the some insight on the best course of action in a
character's mapping or survey measure- fight. At the beginning of a fight a character
ments. A character with this skill automati- with Tactics skill makes a skill check. If it
cally gets 6 points of Orienteering skill , too. succeeds, that character's side gets to add one
prerequisite: Litera cy. to its initiative die rolls through the whole
Survival. This character knows how to fight . Also at the beginning of a fight, if the
find water, food, and shelter in inhospitable players aren t sure what to do, they can ask
wilderness. He also can tell healthy food and the Judge for advice. The Judge makes a
water from potentially dangerous stuff , and Tactics skill check behind a screen where the
pick out a safe place to sleep (as opposed to, players can't see the result. If the check suc-
say, a scorpion 's nest . The player makes one ceeds, the Judge gives the players some
skill check per day. If the roll failed , the char- vague but generally good advice. If the check
acter's Strength, Coordination , and fails , the advice is vague but poor. The play -
Observation scores (and those of everyone ers, of course , don't know which they're get-
else depending on him ) are reduced by one. If ting. (If more than one character has Tactics
the rolJ succeeded but was within two points skill and they all try to use it at once, use it
of the character's score, his Strength is as an opportunity to spread confusion. Never
reduced by one. If the roll succeeded by more give more than one piece of good advice and
than two points, the character is all right for one piece of bad, and try to make them con-
today. If any attribute drops to 2 or less , that tradictory. )
character becomes helplessly delfrious. If any Tailor/Seamstress. Anyone who was
attribute drops to 0, that character dies. anyone at this time wore tailor-made clothes.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Clothes bought off the rack came complete Tracki ng. In a region with few roads,
with sharp creases, which were a dead give- often the only way to tell where someone
away of either cheapness or lack of funds. went was to follow the faint trail left by his
Tailor-mades, on the other hand, were always passage . Overturned stones and sticks,
fashionably rumpled. A tailor can make, fit, scuffed rocks, scratch marks, and chlll·ned-up
and alter clothing of any style, as well as rec- sod are the signposts a tracker reads, as well
ognize the value (and possibly even the region as his own intuition about where the quarry
of manufacture ) of a piece of clothing or an is headed. A skill check is required every 2
outfit. miles. Adjust the character's skill score by: -3
Team ste r. A teamster is, literally, some- if the area is hard or rocky; -6 if the trail
one who handles a team of animals; i.e., a leads through a large town or across a river
professional wagon driver. More information (only if the quarry moved up or down stream);
on wagon trains and freight hauling is given -1 if the quarry is indians; +6 if the quarry is
in Chapter 7. A Teamster skill check can indians in a town. If it rains, the trail is
maintain control of a panicking team, keep a wiped out. If the trail is lost, it can be recov-
wagon on its wheels at top speed, or prevent ered by making a skill check with an addi-
swamping when crossing a flooded stream. tional -4 modifier, one check per hour.
Te l e graph. By 1876 te l egraph lines Tradi ng. This character has a knack for
crossed the continent. A year later, they criss- haggling. He won't get a discount every time
he buys something, but if the price is nego-
crossed the West. This skill allows a charac-
tiable (and he makes his skill check ), he can
ter to send and translate messages via tele - probably get another 10 percent off (or add 10
graph in Morse code. Except in the case of percent to the sale price ). This applies equally
very simple messages (five words or less ), a to bartering and cash purchases. Knowing
skill check is necessary to get the whole mes- something about the items up for sale helps;
sage or send the message with no significant e.g., a trader may get an even better deal on a
errors. If the skill check fail , entire words horse if he has Horsemanship kill, too.
will be scrambled or untranslatable. prerequi- Trading must not be limited to a die roll, how-
site: Literacy. ever; as always , some role-playing should be
The s pian. This character has at least involved.
some talent and/or exper ience as an actor . Tra pping. By the end of the Civil War,
His skill score gives a measure of his general most hats were being made from felt instead
worth in this regard, as well as his chance to of beaver. Still there was a market for beaver
deUver a pleasing and convincing perfor- and exotic pelts , enough at least to support
mance . those few hard-core individualists who just
Throwing. This skill applies equally to couldn't stand having neighbors closer than
rocks, bottles, knives, and spears. Throwing 50 miles . The skill score represents the char-
something counts as a careful shot, but the acter's chance to run his trap lines successful-
character 's chance to hit equa ls his Throwing ly that week, bringing in 1 to 20 pelts (roll
skill score. This is covered in greater detail in one 20-sided die) worth $2 to $3 each. A skill
Chapter 3. A character without Throwing check can also be used to build a man trap,
skill can still throw, using one-third of his bear trap, or any other sort of trap the char-
Coordination score (rounded up ) as his acter needs .
chance to hit.

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 Veterinarian. This is the animal equiva- Weapon Skills
lent of Medicine. Because of the difficultie s in
tending to them, however , there is often very All weapon skills work the same; the char-
little a veterinarian can do for an injured ani - acter's weapon skill score is added directly to
mal. Anesthetic for animals were, in many hi s chance to hit when using a careful shot,
cases, worse than the injury or illness. If an steady shot, or hipshot, and is the character 's
animal needed to be unconscious for surgery, chance to hit when fanfiring. Brawling and
it would be done as quickly as possible to Knife/Sword skill is added to the character's
maximize the animal 's chance to survive the die roll when attacking.
anesthetic. After being treated by a vet, an Archery. Archery skill applies only
animal recover three wound points immedi- to bows.
ately, though all light and serious wounds Brawling. Brawling skill applies to any
must still recover normally. Seriou wound attacks with bare hands , a chair, a club, a
do not begin healing until tended by a veteri- bottle , or anything else that isn 't really
narian. Light wounds heal on their own, or meant to be a weapon.
heal twice as fast if tended by a veterinarian. Knife/Sword. This skill applies to attacks
A character with this skill automatically has with any sort of edged or pointed hand-held
6 points of Medicine skill as well. prerequi- weapon, including tomahawks, but not to
site: Literacy . bludgeoning weapons.
Wainwright. This character can build Pistol. This skill applies to any shots
and repair wagons, coaches, carts, buck- fired from a revolver, de1Tinger, or other pis-
boards, surreys, and all other sorts of horse-
dra wn, oxen-drawn, or mule-drawn vehicles. tol. If the gun is used as a club, Brawling skill
A skill check can verify whether repairs are applies instead.
made co1Tectly or on time, and whether a new Rifle. This skill applies not only to rifles
wagon is built correctly and on time. but to shotguns and scatterguns as well.
Whip. The whip was a common tool
among teamsters, drovers, swampers, and
others who worked with animals . A skilled Handedness
man with a whip could slash clean to the
bone, though rarely would he use a whip in Players can simply choose whether their
such a way on an animal. When used as a characters are right or left handed. There is
weapon, a whip can be cracked as often as a no particular advantage or disadvantage to
careful hot. A Whip skill check determines either.
whether the target was hit. Check wound However, players can roll one 20-sided die
locations and severity a usual, but with a -2 to determine whether their characters are
modifier on the severity roll . ambidextrous. On a roll of 20, the character is
Wrangling. This skill is necessary to the ambidextrous, meaning he can use either
work of the wrangler, the man who oversees hand equally well; he never pays any penalty
the pare horses on a ranch, cattle drive, or for doing something with his off hand.
wagon train. This skill can also be used when
judging a horse's value or training them.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Experience
increase work skill score by 1
As characters survive adventures and range 7-15 100 experience points
travel through history, they also gain experi - range 16-19 200 experience points
ence which can improve their skills and range 20+ 300 experience points
attribute scores.
Experience is measured in points. Points
are handed out to characters as rewards for increase weapon skill score by 1
their actions. As experience points are range 2-4 100 experience points
earned, they are tallied under the label, range 5-6 300 experience points
"Experience Points Earned" in the character range 7+ 500 experience points
sheet . The Judge decides who gets experience
points, why, and when , but the list below pro- learn new skill 250 experience points
vides guidelines.
increase attribute score by 1
50 points for surviving a gunfight; range 7-15 500 experience points
40 points for bringing a criminal to justice; range 16-19 1,000 experience points
30 points for winning a brawl; range 20+ 1,500 experience points
20 points for coming up with a brilliant idea
that saves the day or resolves an adventure; When a character increases a skill score or
10 points for using a work skill; attribute score, simply add one to the old
5 points per hour of real time spent playing score and record the change on the character
the game. sheet. Strength, Coordination , and
Observation can be increased this way; Luck
The Judge can also hand out experience and Stature cannot. (Stature increases auto-
points in any amount he feels is justified as matically as a result of play; see below. Luck
rewards for players who role-play their char- can never be increased. )
acters exceptionally well and by doing so When a character learns a new skill, the
increase everyone's enjoyment of the game . Judge should restrict the skill to something
the character has a reasonable chance to
learn. It's pretty unreasonable, for example ,
U sin g Ex p e ri enc e Point s for a cowboy to suddenly become a doctor ,
based on his years of experience punching
Once you have them, the natural question cattle. If he'd been taking a correspondence
is, what do you do with them? Experience course dwing that time-perhaps. When the
points can be spent to increase a character's new skill is selected, its score is determined
skill scores, learn new skills, or increase an the same as an initial skill, by rolling two 10-
attribute score. The costs for these improve - sided dice, adding the results, and modifying
ments are listed below. Where indicated, the on Table 1. The character can begin using the
"range" refers to the range of the new, skill immediately.
improved score, not the old score; e.g., Expe1ience points that have been used are
improving a work skill from 15 to 16 costs deducted from the character's "Experience
200, not 100 . Points Earned" total.

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 Extremely High Scores This increase , however, is not automatic.
It applies only if the character's deeds are
As indicated in the preceding section, generally known. Drygulching a settler and
players can increase their characters ' scores leaving the body in a ditch won't increase the
in both skills and attributes higher than 20. character's Stature because there were no
This is useful for two reasons: it allows the witnesses. Likewise, robbing a bank so cun-
character to do things with large negative ningly that no one knows the robber's identi -
modifiers, and it provides the character with ty won't increase stature either, but will earn
die-roll modifiers in some cases . a reputation for "the mystery bandit."
If a character 's score with a skill is higher Stature can decrease, as well. If a charac-
than 20, after modification , then the player ter performs cowardly deeds , he will lose the
can add the difference to his die roll. This is public 's favor and find himself forgotten,
most important when using the Fast Draw replaced by more dashing heroes and villains.
skill. A character with Fast Draw 25 , for A character loses one point every time he
example, can add 5 to his die roll when mak- does something injurious to his reputation.
ing a Fast Draw. Since the Fast Draw die roll Note that no distinction is made here in
determines the character's speed for the shot , terms of legal versus illegal activity . If Long-
this bonus is significant. legged Tom Mosby takes a job as roarshall of
Any roll of 20 on the die, however, must Promise City, then robs the bank there and
still be confirmed by a Luck check. skedaddles, both things will increase his
Stature. High stature does not necessarily
mean everyone respects the character.
Stature Stature has several effects in the game . It
modifies the reaction roll when the character
As a character performs noteworthy meets someone. A Stature attribute check can
deeds, his Stature increase s . Add one to a be used to cow NPCs into compliance with the
character's Stature score every time he: kills character's wishes (very useful for lawmen
a man; brings a famous criminal to justice; trying to disarm rowdy cowboys). It can also
commits a major crime (like robbing a bank be used by the Judge to gauge how often the
or train); takes a job as a lawman in a major character will be challenged by young guns
town; gets written about in an Eastern news- looking to make a reputation for themselves.
paper.

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 Gunfighting was a significant fact of life on ond long, and even this is further divided into
the western frontier in the second half of the six "counts." A one-second turn is also called
19th century. With the end of the Civil War, a shootout turn .
hundreds of thousands of veteran soldiers The second sort of gunfight happens when
were turned out of the armies of both the speed is not important, but accuracy i . This
United States and Confederate States. These is usually at a range of more than 20 feet. In
men were trained to handle firearms, and this fight, the first shot fired doesn't mean a
most of them had at least some experience at thing. The first shot to find its target will set-
killing their fellow man. With no place better tle the affair, and that shot will be fired by
to go, many of them turned to the expanding the man who can think coolly as he draws his
West. pistol and aims, unconcerned by the storm of
Prior to the Civil War, the knife had been lead hail blasting harmlessly past him. This
the preeminent sidearm and personal fight- is the specialty of the gun fighter, the cold,
ing weapon of the American frontier. But aloof lawman and legitimate pistoleer. For
along with a multitude of veterans, the Civil this sort of a gunfight, a turn is six seconds
War also produced a variety of reliable, multi- long. A six-second turn is also called a combat
shot revolving pistols and magazine rifles. turn.
Almost overnight, Colonel Colt's "equalizer" When a gunfight begins , the Judge must
transformed the nature of frontier fighting decide which sort of turn is most appropriate
and gave the West one of its most enduring- to the action. It is even possible to mix the
and deadly-symbols . two in one fight. Gunfights often begin with a
flurry of shooting at very close range and
quickly open up and slow down as everyone
Time Scale dives for cover.
Many of the rules for combat are the same
Because there were really two different in both types of turns. Before discussing the
sorts of gunfights in the Old West, there specifics of shootouts versus combat turns ,
are two different sorts of turns in the here are the basics of combat.
BOOT HILL ®game.
The first sort of gunfight happens when at
least one of the characters involved is con- Types of Shots
cerned about getting off the first shot. This
usually happens at a range of 20 feet or less. There are four types of shots: careful
Two or more opponents blaze away at each shots, steady shots, hipshots, and fanned
other with lightning speed, shooting reflex- shots. A careful shot is aimed and fired with
ively from the hip. The whole battle could be the gun at eye level. A steady shot is fired
over in one or two seconds. This is the sort of with the gun held still, but below eye level. A
battle favored by gunmen, outlaws and bar- hipshot is fired from the hip, as soon as the
room brawlers who liked to close in and over- pistol clears the holster (or the rifle is
whelm their opponents with an explosion of cocked ), with only instinctive aiming.
violence. Aiming is so instinctive in this sort Fanfiring is an even faster form of hipshoot-
of contest that it's almost irrelevant ; the first ing. The shooter clamps his finger down on
shot may well be the only one that counts. the trigger (or just wires it back , or even
For this sort of a gunfight, a turn is one sec- removes it entirely) and then works the ham-

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 mer with the heel of his other hand. Careful, For example , a character with a
steady, and hipshots can be fired with any Coordination score of 13 has a careful shot
sort of weapon. Only a revolver can be used chance of 13, a steady shot chance of 7, and a
for fanfiring. hipshot chance of 3.
A careful shot emphasizes accuracy at the A characters chance to hit when fanfiring
expense of speed. A hipshot or fanned shot is 1, or his Pistol skill, whichever is more.
emphasizes speed by sacrificing accuracy. A This information is summarized on Table
steady shot is a compromise between speed 3: Chance to Hit
and accuracy .
A character can fire any sort of shot dur- Table 3: Chance to Hit
ing a shootout turn. The type of shot fired has
a big effect on when the shot is fired and how Type of Shot Chance to Hit
many shots can be fired. A character can fire
one careful shot, two steady shots, three hip- Careful Coordination
shots, or six fanned shots in a shootout turn. Steady Coordination/2,
A character can always opt to fire fewer shots rounded up
than he is entitled to. Hipshot Coordination/4,
A character can fire only careful shots rounded down
during a combat turn. This is by definition. If Fanfiring 1, or Pistol skill
someone wants to fire some other type of
shot, then shootout turns must be used.
Chance to Hit Modifier s
The Chance to Hit A character's chance to hit can be modified
by his skill, movement , wounds, range, cover,
The likelihood of a character hitting what and several other factors . These are summa-
he shoots at depends on the type of shot being rized on Table 4: Accuracy Modifiers.
fired. In all four cases, this is referred to as The character's weapon skill score is
the character's chance to hit. added directly to his chance to hit with any
A character's chance to hit with a careful sort of shot. For example, a character with
shot is his Coordination score. When the shot chances to hit of 13, 7, and 3, and Pistol skill
is fired, the player rolls one 20-sided die. If of 2, has modified chances to hit of 15, 9, and
the number rolled equals or is Jes than the 5. His chance to hit when fanfiring is 2.
character's Coordination score (plus or minus Ran g es depend on the type of weapon
appropriate modifiers, described below), the being fired (rifles, of course, having longer
shot hits its target . If the die roll is greater ranges than pistols ). Point blank range is 2
than the character's Coordination score , the yards or less for any type of weapon. Pistol
shot misses . ranges are reduced when a character hip-
A character's chance to hit with a steady shoots or fanfires the weapon ; the shortened
shot is one-half of his Coordination score, ranges are listed on Table 14: Weapons.
rounded up. Mo ve me nt modifier are applied if either
A character's chance to hit with a hipshot the shooter or the target is moving (walking,
is one-fourth of his Coordination score, round- evading, running, trotting, or galloping ). If
ed down. both the target and the shooter are moving,

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 apply a modifier for each. A character cannot The snipin g modifier applies only if the
shoot while he is evading . hooter's weapon is resting on a solid support:
Wound s also reduce the character's a rock or window ledge, for example, or even
chance to hit, regardless of where on his body across the saddle of a standing horse. This
they are. However, a serious wound in the bonus only applies to the first shot, however.
arm or shou lder prevents a character from If that shot sets off a general gunfight, the
firing a pistol with that hand. Thus, a charac- sniper loses his sniping benefit on any subse-
ter with a serious wound in his gun arm has quent shots.
both the serious wound modifier (-4) and the Shot g un s and sc att e rgun s get their
wrong hand modifier (-2) if he continues fir- bonuses at any range, under any conditions.
ing his pistol. If by some awful stroke of bad An ob sc ur ed ta rget is partially screened
luck he suffers serious wounds in both arms, by something that will not stop a bullet:
he can switch the gun back to his "good hand moke, leaves, curtains, stained gla , etc.
(this is strictly a game play thing; this poor Cover that will stop a bullet is handled differ-
fellow has enough problems without being ently; see Cover.
completely denied the use of his revolver). Most BOOT HILL ® game characters are
In extreme cases, the size of th e tar get right handed with a few left handed and very
affects the character's chance to hit. few ambidextrous. If a right-handed charac-
Something the size of a house or a railroad ter fins a pistol with bis left hand, or vice
locomotive is a very large target. A large tar - ver a, he suffers the -2 penalty for using the
get is smaller than a house but bigger than a wrong hand. This penalty also applies when a
horse. Horses and people are normal-size tar- rifle is fired with only one hand, regardless of
get . A small target is something the size of a which hand it is.
dog or a prone man. A playing card, bottle, or If a character shoots two pistols at once he
tin can is a very small target. has an additional modifier of -6 on all shots.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 The -2 modifier for using the wrong hand does not however, mean that the character
applies only to the shots from his off hand . misses or hits automatically.
If a character's chance to hit is less than
Table 4: Accuracy Modifiers 1, the character can still hit his target by
rolling a 1. However, this hit must be con-
Range firmed with a Luck check. If the character
Point Blank, pistol +4 subsequently roll hi Luck core or less on a
Point Blank, rifle -2 20-sided die , his shot hit. Otherwise, it
Short 0 mi sed.
Long -2 Similarly, if a character's chance to hit is
Extreme -5 modified to 20 or more , that character can
still miss by rolling a 20. On a roll of 20, the
Movement (of target ) character must confirm his hit with a Luck
Runningfl'rotting -2 check.
Evading/Galloping -4 In addition, a roll of 20 sometimes indi-
cates a misfire (see below ). If the gun mis-
Movement (of shooter ) fires, even a Luck check won't yield a hit.
Walking -2
Running!]).·otting/Galloping -4
Misfires
Wounds
Each light wound -1 Faulty ammunition was common on the
Each serious wound -4 western frontier. Even the famed Colt-.45
was prone to misfiring with alarming regu-
Target Size larity. (The advantage to a revolver or a mag-
Very large +4 azine rifle, of course, was that if a round mis-
Large +2 fired, you had several more to try.)
Normal 0 Any time a player rolls a 20 when shoot -
Small -2 ing a gun, there is a chance that round mis-
Very Small -4 fired, or worse. After rolling a 20, the player
must roll a 20 -sided die again and check
Miscellaneous Table 5: Misfires to see what happened.
Sniping +2 N o Mis fir e means nothing happened .
Shotgun +2 The round fired just the way it should have
catt rgun +4 (though it probably missed ).
Target obscured -2 Dud mean the round didn't fire at all .
Using wrong hand -2 Either the powder or the percussion cap is
Firing two pistols -6 faulty. This isn't a big problem with cartridge
ammunition or a revolving cylinder, but if the
weapon i a Civil War rifle, it means that the
Rolling a 1 or a 20 gun now ha a faulty charge of powder in its
breech and can 't be fired again until someone
It is possible for a character's chance to can dismantle and/or clean it. Neither of
hit to be modified below 1 or above 20. This the e is an option in the middle of a gunfight.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Table 5: Misfires

Weapon No Misfire Dud Explosion Jam

Derringer 1-12 13-20

CBR,RCR 1-16 17-20
SAR, DAR, LBR, FDR 1-16 17-20
Shotgun, Scattergun 1-16 17-20
Breechloader 1-8 9-20
Lever Rifle, Carbine 1-8 9-12 13-20
Muzzle-loader, smoothbore 1-20
Gatling Gun 1-4 5-6 7-20

One of these older guns with a dud round is one to its initiative die rolls for the whole
useless as anything but a club for the rest of fight. This bonus is never more than one
the fight. point, regardless of how many characters on
Explosion is possible only with a cap & that side make successful Tactics skill checks.
ball revolver or a revolving cylinder 1ifle. This If a character's skill check fails, that's it for
result means that the round in the chamber that fight; he can't try again on a later turn.
fired, and every other round still in the cylin- (As an optional rule, the Judge may allow
der also ignited and fired at once. If the round this: If a character 's Tactics skill check fails ,
being fired is the last one in the gun , treat subtract his Tactics skill score from his die
this result as No Misfire. Otherwise, the roll. Let him try the skill check again that
character suffers a wound in his gun hand. many turns later .)
Roll normally for the wound severity, with a When rerolling ties , do not use the Tactics
+1 modifier if the cylinder contained four or modifier. This modifier already did its part in
more loads (counting the one that was just tying the first die rolls; it does not apply to
fired ). tie-breakers.
Jam means that the round fired OK, but The advantage of having the initiative is
the cartridge cannot be extracted from the that characters on the other side must
chamber properly. Clearing a jam takes three declare their actions first . They don't neces-
combat turns ( 18 seconds ), or two combat sarily get to act first. They simply have to
turns if the character has Weaponsmithing announce what they are doing before they
skill and makes a successful skill check. know what their opponents are doing . Players
on the side that has initiative get to hear the
other guys' plans for the turn before choosing
Initiative their own actions .
In any case, players should not deliberate
Both combat turns and shootout turns rely over this decision. Remember , a turn repre-
on one side or the other having initiative. The sents only six seconds of real time. Anyone
side that has initiative is determined ran- who spends much more than that deciding
domly at the beginning of each turn. what he's up to is getting an unfair advan-
Initiative is determined once per side , not tage. The Judge is within his right to push for
once for each individual character in the a quick decision and penalize players who
fight. ponder.
While there are cases where the notion of
"sides" doesn't fit, in most gunfights there is a
clear distinction between "us" and "them. " It Combat Turns
is entire ly possible to have more than two
sides. In that case, each side rolls a die for A combat turn represents six seconds in
initiative . the life of a BOOT HILL ® game character.
One player from each side rolls one 6- During those six seconds he can shoot, reload,
sided die. Reroll ties. The side with the high- move, mount or dismount a horse, or do any
est roll has initiative. number of other things as described below.
Any character with Tactics skill can make These are some examples of when to use
a skill check at the beginning of the fight . If combat turns, instead of shootout turns:
the check succeeds, that character's side adds Indians or outlaws are chasing down the

27

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 stagecoach; members of a posse have cor- Declaring Actions
nered several train robbers in an abandoned
cabin and prepare to shoot it out; the sheriff, When characters are declaring their
rifle in hand, races out into the street to fire a actions for the turn, they must state whether
few farewell shots at the prisoner who just they are:
escaped from the jail and is now racing away
on the sheriff's horse. • Moving, and if so, how fast;
• Shooting;
• Moving and shooting;
Combat Turn • Pursuing some other action, with any par-
Action Sequence ticulai-s the Judge asks for.

A combat turn is resolved in the order out-

lined here. All actions are sequential. If Combat Turn Movement
Wyatt gets to shoot first and his shot serious-
ly wounds Isaac, then Isaac is subject to all A character can move the distances listed
the penalties for being seriously wounded on Table 6: Combat Turn Movement.
when he tries to do something. Crawling is useful if a character needs to
move thl"ough low cover without being seen.
l. One player from each side rolls a 6-sided It is also the only type of movement allowed if
die to determine initiative. The side the character has serious wounds in both
with the highest die roll has initiative for legs.
that turn. Walking is not something that a charac-
ter usually does during a gun.fight. It reduces
2. All the players on the side without initia-
your chance to hit someone else without mak-
tive must announce what their characters ing you any harder to hit in return, and
will be doing that turn. doesn't get you where you're going very quick-
3. All the players on the side with initiative ly. Still, for the character with nerves of steel,
must announce what their characters will it is an option.
be doing that turn. These decisions can be Evading involves lots of weaving and
based on what other characters have ducking while running in a crouch. It is the
already announced. best way to get to cover thl"ough a storm of
4. Every character on the side with initiative bullets, if getting to cover is all you care
can fire one or two careful shots. Wounds about.
inflicted take effect immediately. Running needs little explanation. It is
5. Every character on the side without initia- fast, but does not thl"ow off an attacker's aim
tive can fire one or two careful shots. very much as the target is moving in a pretty
6. Every character on the side with initiative straight line.
can either move, or delay his movement. Walking, Trotting, and Galloping are
7. Every charncter on the side without initia- also self-explanatory. In most cases where
tive can move. characters on horseback are involved in a
8. Characters with initiative who delayed gunfight, everyone will be galloping. Walking
their movement can move. and trotting may come up when someone is
being ambushed.

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 Table 6: Combat Turn Movement
(yards/turn ) Single-Action vs.
On Foot Mounted Double-Action
Crawling 2 Walking 8
Trotting 16 The primary difference between a sin-
Walking 6 gle-action and a double-action revolver i
Evading 12 Galloping 32 that a single-action revolver must be
Running 24 cocked manually before firing. A double-
action revolver cocks itself as the trigger
Moving through door -2 yards is pulled.
Moving through window -6 yards, Unquestionably, the single-action
Coordination check revolver was the most popular handgun
Moving on stairs up/down in the West. Yet the double-action
1 stair per yard revolver seems like a better idea, and is
Light wound in leg move distance the norm with police today. Why?
halved The key is trigger pull. The trigger of
Serious wound in leg walk only, distance a double-action revolver, because it's
halved doing more work, is much ha1·der to pull
Serious wounds crawl only than the trigger of a single-action
in both legs revolver, which has only to trip loose the
Other serious wound walk or crawl at hammer. This slows down that key first
normal speed,other shot by what could be a deci ive fraction
move distances halved of a second. With a single-action revolver,
Mountldismount takes one-half the shootist could pin down the trigger as
movement allowance he drew and instantly slip the hammer
Stand up takes one-half move- from under his thumb when he wanted
ment allowance to fire. The second and third shots from
Dive or fall prone no penalty the double-action revolver would proba-
Jump down one story takes one-half move- bly be quicker than from the single-
ment allowance action revolver, but that is dubious com-
Terrible footing move distance halved fort when the first shot could settle the
issue, fatally.
It must be remembered that a pistol
It is important to note that the distance a was not a sporting tool to a gunfighter.
character moves does not determine his type He was staking his life that his weapon
of movement, but rather it is the other way would perform exactly as expected on
round; his type of movement determines how demand, at any time. Betting your life on
something new and unfamiliar is not a
far he is permitted to move. A character who very attractive idea. Professional gun-
wants to move 6 yards this turn is not neces- men stuck with the tools they knew could
sarily walking. He can just as easily run or do the job, and of course, whatever the
evade 6 yards. The character does what the professionals used was what the ama-
player says, not what the movement table teurs wanted.
says.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Movem ent Penalties regard le of how much movement he ha
left unle he mak a u cce fu l
Many thing can interfere with move- oordination check. A ucces ful check
ment: ob tacle wound , and poor footing doe not reduce the obstacle movement
ar ome of th mor obviou . The mo t p naJty it imply l t him k p moving if
common movement penaltie ar Ii ted on h ha movement left.
Table 6, with explanation below. A ce nding or d ce nding stairs
Ob tacl es : Cro ing a window ledge or co t 1 yard of movem nt per ste p.
a imilar ob tacle con ume 6 yard of a Wound : A character with a light
character movement. Thi penalty i wound in hi leg can walk, evade or run
simp ly add d to t he di tance the character but the di tance he can move i halved.
ha moved a he cro es th ob tac ) . Crawling i unaffect d.
When a character cro e a window or A character with a eriou wound in
imilar ob tacle, he mu t top moving hi leg cannot evade or run, and hi move

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 distance is halved when walking. Crawling i pa se both, thing went really well. If he
unaffected. only passe the Coordination check, he is
All wound penalties are cumulative. If probably OK but omething el e may be dam-
Haple Bob ha a eriou wound in hi left aged: he lost his gun, the matche in hi pock-
leg and two light wounds in hi right leg, h et ignited . If he only pas es the Luck check,
can only walk and his movement di tanc i he' probably hurt, but not terribly: he ha a
halved three times, or divided by 8; i.e., he twi ted ankle, a gashed leg, or a broken fin-
can walk about 30 inches per turn. Crawling ger. If he fails both, he got badly busted up; a
is never affected by wound penalties, howev- broken arm or leg, a concu ion, a prained
er, so he can get around faster by crawling back. The everity of all these thing i up to
than by walking. the Judge, depending on the situation. A 20-
Mounting/Dismounting: This applie to foot jump into gravel i more dangerous than
horses, wagons, stagecoaches , bulls, or any a 50-foot jump into deep water. Bear in mind
other sort of transport. It can also be applied that falling off a hor e badly can kill a per-
generally whenever a character climb up son, yet people have fallen from airplanes and
onto omething or jumps down from some- urvived. And, ince thi i a game, if jump-
thing that i approximately horse- ize. Thi ing i the only option, character probably
action take up half of the character ' move- hould have a chance to survive. (On the
ment distance. other hand, if jumping was a tupid thing to
Standing Up/Falling Prone: A charac- do, go ahead and be har h.)
ter can fall prone as his entire movement, or Bad Footing: If the footing i really bad,
move any distance up to his full allowance character must make Coordination checks to
and then fall prone. Falling prone does not stay on their feet if they are moving fa ter
cost any movement. than a walk. "Really bad" footing would be
Standing up, on the other hand, eats up knee-deep muck, grea e, a swift-moving
half of the character' move distance. tream, or a bouncing buckboard.
For purpo ses of accuracy modifiers, a
character who falls prone is always consid-
ered to be evading (w hich by extension Shooting
means he cannot shoot).
Jumping: A character who makes a ig- The only ort of shot that can be fired dw·-
nificant jump-off the danc e hall balcony, out ing a combat turn is a careful hot.
of the hayloft, from the roof of a train - must Sighting and Facing: A character can
make a Coordination check. If the check suc- declare a shot against a particular target
ceeds, the jump uses up half of the charac- even if that target is not visible to him at that
ter's move distance and he can continue mov- moment. As long as the target i vi ible when
ing. If the check fails, the character tumble it's time to shoot, he can hoot .
and his move end imm ediately. If you use miniatures or counters on a
Jumps of more than one story (10 to 12 map to di play the action during a gunfight,
feet ) are a different matter. There are far too only their position is important, not their fac-
many variables to cover everything, but ing. A character can look in any direction any
here's the general rule . When a character time during the turn: during movement,
jumps more than 12 feet, he must make both before shooting, after shooting. Of course the
a Coordination check and a Luck check. If he Judge can restrict this whenever he wants, to

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 allow someone to sneak up behind another cut a loophole through an adobe wall
character or for ome other dramatic effect. (2 turns);
But in general, characters have 360-degree pick a lock (2-12 turns);
vi ion during a combat turn. bandage a wound (3-6 turns ).
S w it c hing Tar g ets : Characters can
switch targets during the turn for any reason In a case where a character might be able
with no penalty. to do something in one turn, but it might also
take longer, the Judge should have the player
make a Coordination or Strength check,
Allowable Actions whichever applies. If the check succeeds, the
action takes one turn. If the check fails, the
Shooting, moving , and a combination of action takes two tw-ns. Or perhaps the char-
these two are not the only options available to acter must keep trying every turn until he
characters during a combat turn. In fact, a either succeeds or gives up (a good example of
character can do or at least try to do) any- this is trying to light a match in a stiff wind ).
thing the player want . The obvious restric-
tion is that he has only six second to do it, if
he wants to finish in a single turn. The Shootout Turn
Some examples of what a character can do
in a six-second twn: The shootout tw·n is used in gun battles
where split-seconds make the difference
light a fuse; between winning and losing, living and dying.
If any character wants to fire a steady shot,
load three rounds into a revolver;
hipshot, or fanned shot, a shooto u t turn must
pour a glass of whiskey;
be used.
dump everything out of a box or che t;
A shootout tw·n represents only one sec-
tip over a table and crouch behind it; ond of game time . This one secon d is further
tie a simp le knot. divided into six "counts," which is nothing
more than a vague term for one tick of the
Other actions may take longer than six clock. A count is not necessarily one-sixth of a
seconds to complete. If a player announces second, it is merely one of six subdivisions of
that his character wants to do something that a shootout turn.
the Judge thinks will take several turns, the The exact sequence of events in a shootout
Judge should tell that to the player and then turn can vary from one turn to the next, but
let him decide whether he till want to do it. the sequence within a turn is very rigid. Each
Some examples of things a character can action a character performs i delayed a cer-
do in more than one turn: tain number of counts . As each count is ticked
clear a jammed breechloading rifle off, chru·acters who are acting on that count
(3 turns); compare their speeds. Actions are then
unsaddle a horse (2 turn ); resolved in speed order, with the fastest char-
search a trunk for important papers acters acting first. These key terms -s peed
(3-5 turn ); and count-and how they interact ru·e defined
nail a boaTd aero a door or window and described in detail below.
(2 turns);

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Shootout Turn this moment. As each count is ticked off, the
Action Sequence Judge rotates the die to the next number.
This eliminates a lot of confusion and mis-
Actions within ' a shootout turn must be takes.
resolved in this order: Each player, too, shou ld keep a six-sided
die in front of him. Instead of showing the
1. One player from each side rolls a 6-sided count currently in play, however, this die
die to determine initiative. The side shows on which count the character will be
with the highest die roll has initiative for performing his next action. For example, a
that turn. These rolls can be modified by steady shot has a three-count delay. If a char-
Tactics skill. acter's first declared action of the turn is a
2. All the players on the side without initia- steady shot, he rotates his die to show the
tive must announce what the characters number three. Now everyone knows that this
under their control wil1 be doing that turn. character i inactive during counts one and
3. All the players on the side with initiative two, but that he is doing something during
must announce what the characters under count three. After the player is finished with
their control will be doing that turn. These his action on count three, he will rotate his
decisions can be based on what other char- die again to show when his next scheduled
acters have already announced. action will occur.
4. The Judge calls for any actions being per-
formed on the first count. Players whose
cha1·acters are performing an action on Actions
this count compare their characters'
speeds. The character with the highest A character's choice of actions is quite a
speed perform s his action first, followed by bit more restricted during a shootout turn
the second fastest, and so on. If speeds are than it is during a combat turn, when a char-
tied, actions are simultaneous. Characters acter can do most anything. Chances are that,
who performed actions determin e which during a shootout turn, lead will be flying so
count their next action will occur on. thick that no character with any concern for
5. Repeat step 4 for counts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. his life will do anything other than shoot or
6. Characters who are moving perform their dive for cover.
movement . The actions that players can choose during
a shootout turn and the number of counts
Note that movement is not considered an that each is delayed are shown on Table 7:
action during the shootout turn. At this time Shootout Actions.
scale, movement is so minor that its effect on Fanned shots, hipshots, steady shots, and
a character's position can be ignored until the careful shots assume that the character is
end of the shootout turn. Its effect on accura- cocking the gun as part of his action. The list-
cy is quite important, however, and must be ing for cocking a gun is used only if someone
considered throughout the turn. cocks a gun without firing it.
Keeping Track of Counts: During this
sequence, the Judge should keep a six-sided
die displayed prominently in front of him.
This die show s which count is happening at

33

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Table 7: Shootout Actions on count 6. Carl, who e blood is a thin and
cold a the water in a fjord, figure that in all
Action Count that excitement Joe couldn't hit a Texas
Fanned shot 1 longhorn ideway . Carl isn't too quick on the
Hip hot 2 draw but he' a good hot, o he tells the
Steady shot 3 Judge h ' going to do a normal draw (rather
Careful shot 6 than ri k failing a Fa t Draw check ) followed
Fa t draw, succes ful 0 by a teady hot. He'll pull hi gun clear on
Fast draw, unsuccessful 2 count 3 and fire on count 6 assuming he
Normal draw 3 hasn t picked up a fatal ca e of lead poisoning
Switch targets * 1 in the meantime.
Cock a gun 1 U ing this ystem the be t way to get the
Fire a cocked gun* * 1 les s than normal drop on someone i to come in with gun
Movement drawn and cocked, thus having at lea t one
crucial count off the fir t shot .
* A character can switch targets between
turns with no delay.
** Does not apply to fan.firing. Speed
As an example , let's look at Montana Joe When action come up on the same count,
in a hootout, quared off against Carl compare the character peed . The charac-
Bjornsen. Joe knows Carl is a good hot, o he ter with the highe t peed get to perform his
figures his best chance is to haul his piece out action (probably firing a hot ) first. If the
of hi belt and let fly real quick. He tells the speeds are tied, the actions are simultaneou .
Judge he 11 be doing a fa t draw followed by In mo t ca e , a character' peed equa l
three hipshots. If he makes hi Fa t Draw his Coordination score. In ome cases, it is
skill check, he'll get to fire his first hipshot on determined by his Fa t Draw skill check. In
count 2, hi econd on count 4, and hi third either ca e, it can be modified by any of the

34

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 items or situations listed on Tab le 8: Speed If a character's Fast Draw score is higher
Modifiers . than 20, he can add the difference to his die
roll. A roll of 20 on the die must still be con-
firmed with a Luck check, however.
Fast Draw
The notion of a "draw" is applied in these Speed Modifiers
ru les in a much broader sense than simply
pulling a pisto l from a holster. Pulling a pistol When determining a character's speed,
from a waistband or boot top, snatching it up consult Table 8 and add or subtract all appli -
from a table or the ground, or snapping it cable modifiers.
down from a spring holster concealed in your Mo ve m ent modifiers apply only to the
sleeve are all "draws ." Likewise, pulling a character who is moving, not to the character
rifle from a saddle boot or swinging it up from who is shooting at him.
a carrying position is also a draw . Doing any Wound modifiers are applied once for
of these things with a knife or tomahawk is a each wound. A character with three wounds
draw as well. has three modifiers.
If a character is not in a hw-ry to get his A character is s urpri se d if he wasn't
gun into firing position, he can use a normal expecting trouble-e.g., he steps around the
draw. This takes t h ree counts, but is a sure corner and there's an old enemy, fresh out of
thing ; the gun is guaranteed to be where it' prison and itching for revenge-or he has his
wanted in three counts. hands full of something besides his guns. He's
If a character is in a hun-y to get his gun completely surprised only if he was sleeping
out into the sunshine, he can do a fast draw. or completely occupied with something else;
This requires a Fast Draw skill check (which bathing, for example, or loading feed bags
requires that the character have Fast Draw into a wagon. In either case, the Judge has a
skill). If the character rolls his Fast Draw hand in moderating this . If the player
skill or less on one 20-sided die, he pulls his declared that he was keeping an eye open for
gun clear and into firing position with no trouble and the Judge agrees that the charac-
delay . A successful fast draw does not take ter has reason to be wary, a potentially sw· -
any counts at all. prising situation can be avoided or a com-
If the character 's Fast Draw check fails, pletely surprising situation reduced to merely
however, it costs him two counts and leaves surprising. The surprise modifier does not
his gun in his holster (or wherever it was to apply simply because someone drew fir t; if
begin with ). On his next action, he can try the other character was expecting trouble, he
Fast Draw again, or switch to a normal draw. is not surptised.
When a character uses a fast draw , his To suffer the penalty for firing two guns ,
speed on his next shot is the number that he the character must actually be shooting both.
rolled for his Fast Draw skill check. After Two guns can be fired simultaneously, but
that first shot, the character's speed is once only at a single target. It was common prac-
again his Coordination score. If a character tice in the West to carry two pistols but only
uses a normal draw, his speed is always his shoot with the one in your tight hand. When
Coordination score. that one was empty, you dropped it and shift -
ed the one in your left hand over (this was

35

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 called the "border shift") . There is no speed Carryover Count s
penalty for simply holding a second gun in
your off hand. It is possible for a player to declare actions
Various types of weapons also have speed taking more than six counts. Usually this
modifiers. Weapons range from very slow to comes up when the player gets to change his
very fast, with modifiers from -2 to +2 . declared actions during the turn . Any counts
Weapon speeds are listed on Table 14: beyond six simply carry over into the next
Weapons. turn.
For example, Hank "Dustbin" Waatt is
Table 8: Speed Modifiers throwing down on Sgt. Radkin of the Texas
Rangers and his two native trackers. Dustbin
Walking, Trotting -1 declares a fast draw and three hipshots. His
Running, Galloping -3 second shot , on count 4, kills Radkin. Dustbin
Light Wound (each) -1 now changes his actions to switch targets to
Serious Wound (each ) -4 one of the trackers (1 count ) and fire a hip-
Surprised -2 shot (2 counts ). The hipshot won 't happen
Completely Surprised -4 until count 1 of the next turn . At the begin-
Firing Two Guns -2 ning of that turn, Dustbin must still declare
Weapon is : what he'll do for the other five counts.
Very Slow -2
Slow -1
Normal 0 Shootout Movement
Fast +1
Very Fast +2 Table 9: Shootout Movement (yards/turn )

On Foot Mounted
Changing Your Action s Crawling 1 ft.
Walking 1 Walking 1
Generally, once a player declares his char- Evading 2 Trotting 3
acter's actions for a shootout turn, he is com- Running 4 Galloping 5
mitted to those actions. There are, however,
two instances when a character can do some- Movement during a shootout turn is much
thing else.
less significant than during a combat turn. It
If a character fails his Fast Draw check, has the same effect on accuracy in both types
he can either try another fast draw two of tw·ns. But a person just does not move very
counts later, or begin a normal draw two
counts later. Once he gets his gun out, he far in one second.
must continue with the actions be declared, All movement happens at the end of a
at least until the end of the turn. shootout turn, after all other actions on count
If a character 's target is mortally wounded 6 are finished. The distances a character can
or passes out, the character can scrap what- move in one shootout turn are listed on Table
ever actions he declared for the rest of that 9: Shootout Movement.
turn and immediately declare new actions.

36

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 Shootouts With Curly first, and by then no one can remember
Lots of Characters what Curly's die roll was and whether he
would have hit with a wound modifier. In this
The simplest and most common shootout type of situation it is far simpler to process
occurs one-on-one. Shootouts involving more everyone's actions at the same time and keep
characters are possible, however (the most it all chronological.
famous shootout of all time-the Gunfight at
the OK Corral-involved eight or nine people,
depending on who you count, and was over in Wounding
less than a minute with three dead, two seri-
ously wounded, one lightly wounded, one If a shot hits a character, that character is
unhurt, and two having fled immediately). wounded . The next step is to determine
There are two ways to handle a large where the character was hit, and how severe
shootout. The first is to resolve everything the wound is.
strictly according to the order in which it hap- To determine the hit's location, roll one 20-
pens, one count at a time. This cuts down on si de d die and check Table 10: Wound
some confusion and keeps everything orderly. Locations.
Shootouts, however, were nothing if not To determine the wound's severity, roll one
confusing and disorderly. 6-sided die and check Table 11: Wound
A better way to resolve the action is to fol- Severity. Add and subtract all of the modi-
low each event through to its conclusion fiers that apply to this roll.
before picking up the next event. Even a large For example, Montana Joe has just been
shootout tends to break down into smaller, shot . A 20-sided die roll of 8 places the wound
one-on-one contests. The gunfighter's natural in his right arm. A 6-sided die is rolled and
tendency is to shoot back at the fellow who is the result is 3. This would normally be a seri-
shooting at him and not worry so much about ous wound, but because it is an arm wound
the fellow who is sh ooting at someone else. there is an automatic modifier of -1, which
. . If players follow this natural tendency, the reduces the roll to a 2: a light wound.
Judge can focus on a single pair of dueli sts Some weapons have wound modifiers of
and carry their exchange of shots through to their own, depending on how hard-hitting
the end, then move on to the next pair. This they are. Small caliber weapons (purse guns,
preserves the rapid-fire flow of the game and very small derringers) have a -1 modifier,
the feel of lightning shots. while large weapons like buffalo rifles have a
It is possible to do this even in uneven + 1 modifier. These modifiers are listed on
matchups, if two or three characters are Table 14: Weapons.
ganging up on one. A severity roll modified to less than zero
If the situation gets complicated, as when means the wound was negligible, "a mere
Joe shoots at Bob , Bob shoots at Ned, Ned scratch." It has no effect.
shoots at Curly, and Curly shoots at Joe, the Modifying Wound Locations: Under
only real option is to play through the turn some conditions, a player can modify his
one count at a time. Doing it any other way wound location roll, shifting the hit toward a
runs a high risk of having to back up and do more vital area.
something over, because inevitably, Curly will If the shot was at short range (or point
kill Joe only to find later that Ned wounded blank range with a pistol), the player can

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 Table 10: Wound Locations modifier is halved. For a careful shot, the full
modifier can be used.
1- 2 Left Leg All of this halving and quartering is cumu-
3- 4 Right Leg lative. A character firing a steady shot at long
5- 6 Left Arm range, for example , can modify the location
7- 8 Right Arm die roll by adding or subtracting one-fourth,
9 Left Shoulder rounded down, of his weapon skill score. If
10 Right Shoulder the modifier is divided by more than four, no
11-14 Abdomen modifier is allowed .
15-18 Chest A player does not have to use the full mod-
19-20 Head ifier if he doesn't want to. This decision is not
made until after the wound location has been
rolled. The player can see his die roll and
Table 11: Wound Severity Number then decide how much to add or subtract.
This is summarized on Table 12: Wound
-1 A scratch Location Modifiers.
0-2 Light Wound
3-5 Serious Wound
6+ Mortal Wound Mortal Wound s and Luck
+1 if hit is to chest or head The only way a character can be killed is
-1 if hit is to arm or leg by suffering a mortal wound . Light wounds
+or - weapon modifier do not accumulate to become serious wounds
and no amount of serious wounds ever
becomes a mortal wound.
Table 12: Wound Location Modifiers Even when a character takes a mortal
(x weapon skill) wound , he is not killed automatically.
Instead, the player makes a Luck check. If
Type Range the check succeeds, something miraculously
of shot Short Long Extreme lucky has happened, saving the character's
life! The wound is reduced to a light wound
Careful full 1/2 1/4 causing one point of damage. The player must
Steady 1/2 1/4 none come up with an explanation for this. Maybe
Hipshot 1/4 none none the bullet struck the bible in his vest pocket
Fanfire none none none or glanced off his belt buckle. Maybe the
round wa s faulty and didn't contain enough
modify the wound location die roll by adding gunpowder to kill someone. Maybe the bullet
or subtracting his weapon skill score . At long actually struck a rock , and a rock splinter
range, the modifier is one-half weapon skill , caused the wound. Whatever the excuse, it
rounded down. At extreme range, the modifi- must be at least possible , if not plausible, and
er is one-quarter weapon skill , rounded down. no character can ever use the same excuse
Also, if the shot was a fanned shot, no twice. Also, since the character does suffer a
modification is allowed . For a hipshot, the light wound from the shot, a misfire is not an
modifier is quartered. For a steady shot , the acceptable excuse.

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 If the Luck check fail , the character is Wound Po int s
dead.
(As an optional rule, Judges may want to Whenever a character i wounded , in addi-
allow this. A character who suffers a mortal tion to uffering a light , serious , or mortal
wound and fails his Luck check may be kmed wound, he also picks up one to five wound
instantly, or he may only be dying. The player point . If a character's wound points total up
immediately rolls again, this time making a to more than his Strength score, the charac-
Strength check. If it fails, the character die ter pas es out (from shock and loss of blood).
instantly. If it succeeds, the character is still The number of points inflicted by a wound
alive, but completely incapacitated; he cannot is the modified wound everity die roll . In the
example above where Montana Joe suffered
move except to crawl pathetically , and he cer- a light arm wound, he also suffered two
tainly cannot shoot or attack anyone . To find wound points.
out how long the character lives , subtract hi When a mortal wound is reduced by a
die roll from his Strength core. If the differ- Luck check to a light wound, it inflict only
ence is zero to four, he lives one or two turn ; one wound point.
just long enough to gasp out a dying message
or leave one la t clue. If the difference is five
to eight, he lives for several minutes. If the
difference is nine or more, he lives anywhere Shotguns and
from an hour to a few days , depending on
what ort of care he receive . Under no cir-
Scatterguns
cumstances, however , will he recover; a mor- Shotgun and cattergun can be frighten-
tally wounded character is doomed , with no ingly deadly at close ranges; these were ome
chance for reprieve. ) of the mo t feared weapon on the frontier.

39

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 When a character is hit by a shotgun, the long range is 7 and his Rifle skill is 3, so he'll
player rolls one 6-sided die and consults hit with a roll of 10 or less. The unfortunate
Table 13: Shotgun and Scattergun Wounds outlaw is hit, and a 6-sided die roll comes up
before rolling for wound location. This roll 5, indicating he suffered two wounds from the
determines how many wounds are inflicted. A blast. These are determined to be a light
single shotgun blast can cause up to four wound in his left leg and a serious wound in
wounds! Location and severity are rolled sep- hi s abdomen. The outlaw's partner , standing
arately for each wound. Shotgun and scatter- only a few feet to the side, will also be hit on
gun wound locations can be modified, as a roll of 5 or less.
described above.
The disadvantage of both a shotgun and a
scattergun is that , at long or extreme range, Cover
it is also possible for a shot that was right on
target to cause no wounds at all! If the result Any sort of barrier that can stop a bullet is
from Table 13 is zero wounds, the target is considered hard cover, or simply cover. Cover
not hurt. provides considerable protection to a charac-
A scattergun has the added bonus that it ter lucky enough (or smart enough ) to be
can hit more than one character. If a scatter- behind it.
gun is fired at a character at long range , the When a character is behind cover , the
shot may also hit any and all other characters Judge must decide what portions of the char-
within 2 yards of the original target. If the acter's body are protected. If a shot hits the
original target is at extreme range , anyone character in a protected portion of his body, it
within 5 yards can be hit. This is possible hits the cover instead and the character is not
even if the original target was missed. The hurt.
chance to hit any additional targets is one- Examples of how much of his body a char-
half the chance of hitting the original target , acter must expose to fire when shooting
rounded down. The character 's Rifle skill is around cover are given below:
added in before the halving, so it is halved ,
too. However, wound locations on these addi - Standing behind window, bar, barrels: legs
tional targets cannot be modified. covered.
Crouching behind window, bar, barrels:
Table 13: Shotgun and Scattergun Wounds legs, abdomen, chest, arms covered .
Leaning around corner , doorjamb: abdomen,
Die Roll Short Long Extreme inside leg, arm, and shoulder covered.
1 1 0 0 Behind standing horse: abdomen , chest
2-3 2 1 0 covered .
4-5 3 2 1 Sitting behind desk: legs, abdomen covered.
6 4 3 2
Add'l target NA 2 yds 5 yds If cover is sporadic but solid , like a rail
fence, let the character make a Luck check to
For example, while guarding the stage- determine whether the bullet hits the cover
coach, Shadowy Dave fires a blast from his or him.
sawed-off double-barrel at a masked hold-up As an optional rule, Judges may allow
roan 12 yards away . Dave's chance to hit at light cover. This is any sort of cover that

40

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 won't stop a bullet, but will slow it down con- full moon, visibility is three times the charac-
siderably. Examples include wooden doors, ter's Observation score. If the target is stand-
floors, the sides of a stagecoach, or thin walls. ing near a light source (campfire, lantern ),
A bullet that strikes this sort of cover is not visibility is not reduced at all.
stopped entirely. Instead, the cover modifies Sur p rise . A character firing from com-
the wound severity die roll by subtracting 1 plete darkness, unless he was previously
to 3 points, at the Judge 's discretion. spotted or is being chased, always has com-
plete surprise.
Acc uracy Mod ifiers . All shots fired in
Reloading darkness have a -4 penalty to their chance to
hit.
It is possible to reload a gun during a gun- The Judge can apply some discretion to all
fight (t hough a true gunfighter wou ld say these situations, given the huge variety of
that if you can't finish the job with one load , darknesses. The inside of a mine is complete-
more probably won't help) . ly lightless, so accuracy penalties could be
Re loading is only a concern during doubled . If a character has a muzzle flash to
Combat turns. If a player feels that his char- aim at, complete darkness is not such a hand-
acter must reload during shootout turns, he icap. Darkness penalties could even be
must reload for six consecutive turns to get invoked if a character rushes out of the glar-
any benefit from it. Six consecutive shootout ing noonday sun into a shuttered building.
turns are the equivalent of one combat turn.
During a combat turn, a character can Concerning Table: 14 Weapons
reload the number of rounds listed on Table Ranges are listed in yards.
14: Weapons. A character can reload while Reload Rates are rounds reloaded per
riding or moving (but not evading). combat turn. A fractional rate of 1/3 indicates
that one round can be reloaded in three
tw·ns.
Night Fighting Speed modifies the shooter's speed during
shootout turns. These modifiers are listed on
Gunfights at night are a bit different from Table 8: Speed Modifiers.
those in daylight. Suddenly, the question of All smoothbore, trade, muzzle -loading ,
being able to see the target becomes very breech-loading, and buffalo guns (which are
important. breech-loaders ) hold only one round and must
Mo ve m e n t . All movement rates other be reloaded after every shot.
than wa lking and crawling are halved in Shotguns and Scatterguns hold one or two
darkness. rounds .
Visi bili ty. The distance that a character Lever-action rifles hold up to 15 rounds,
can see in darkness is some multiple of his carbines up to 12, depending on the model.
Observation score, in yards. The multiple Revolving cylinder rifles and carbines are
depends on how much ambient light there is . mechanically similar to cap & ball revolvers ,
On a cloudy, moonless night, visibility equals and hold six rounds.
the character's Observation score. Under the All revolvers hold six rounds. However,
stars and a crescent moon, visibility is twice pistols at this time bad few safety features.
the character 's Observation score. Under the The safety of the Colt .45, for example, was a

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Table 14: Weapons

Range (yards Reload Wound

Weapon Short Long Extreme Rate Speed Modifier

Thrown Knife, Tomahawk 2 4 8 NA average -1

Thrown Spear 10 20 40 NA average -1
Bow and Arrow 15 50 100 1 slow -1
Smoothbore Pistol 6 20 40 1/3 slow 0
Indian Trade Musket 20 65 150 V3 v. slow -1
Smoothbore Musket 22 75 200 V3 v. slow 0
Muzzle-loading Carbine 22 75 200 V3 slow 0
Muzzle-loading Rifle 25 90 240 1/3 v. slow +1
Breech-loading Carbine 25 80 200 1 slow 0
Breech-loading Rifle 30 100 500 1 v. slow 0
Revolving Cylinder Carbine 22 75 200 V3 slow 0
Revolving Cylinder Rifle 25 90 240 V3 slow 0
Buffalo Rifle 30 200 600 1 v. slow +1
Lever-action Carbine 24 90 200 2 slow 0
Lever-action Rifle 30 100 400 2 slow 0
Shotgun 10 40 110 2 slow 0
Scattergun 8 16 30 2 average 0
Derdnger 2 4 8 2 average 0
Cap & Ball Revolver 10 20 60 1/3 fast 0
Single Action Revolver 10 20 60 3 fast 0
Double Action Revolver 10 20 60 3 average 0
Fast Draw Revolver 6 15 50 3 v. fast 0
Long Barrel Revolver 12 30 90 3 slow 0
Any hipshot 6 12 36 NA NA NA
Cannon 20 60 120 V3 v. slow +3
Gatling Gun 40 200 400 1 v. slow +1

catch at the first notch as the hammer was alive are perfectly justified in requiring a
cocked. The hammer in this position would Luck check anytime a fully-loaded revolver is
not release when the trigger was pulled. It ja1·red or handled roughly. If this check fails,
was widely believed , however , that this safety the character just shot himself in the foot.
was inadequate and that a good jolt could set The exception to this safety rule is the cap
off the gun, shooting its canier in the foot (or & ball revolver. The cylinder on the CBR was
worse , if he tucked it into his waistband or notched between chambers, allowing the
belt). Most people canied only five rounds in hammer to rest safely in one of these notches
their revolver, leaving the hammer over an even when six rounds were loaded. When the
empty chamber , just to be sui-e. Such caution gun was cocked, the cylinder rotated partway
was probably unjustified, but it's part of the to b1ing the next chamber under the hammer.
legend. Judges who want to keep the legend

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 (plus knife fights, explosives, and ing sequence, however, brawling, grappling,
heavy weapons). and knife-wielding characters alternate
attacks; the character with initiative attacks
While the gun was the great equalizer, it was first. For example, if Hugh has initiative
not the only weapon men fought with on the against Snakebite Johnson , the sequence for
frontier. Knives and fists, plus bottles, chairs, their fight this turn will be: Hugh attacks;
whips, and anything else at hand, were used Johnson attacks; Hugh attacks; Johnson
as weapons. With few exceptions, fights out attacks; movement. In a shootout turn, a
West were deadly serious. And when all the brawling attack happens during the move-
chips are on the table, so to speak, most of ment portion of the turn.
the rules are called off. There's no such thing
as fighting dirty to the man whose life is in
the wager. He'll fight to win, any way he can. Brawling Procedure
There are two general types of fistfighting:
brawling, which involves lots of punching and When a character takes a swipe with his
kicking and smashing furniture; and grap- fist at another character, the player rolls one
pling, which is essentially wrestling. Both 20-sided die. To this roll is added the charac-
sorts of fighting are resolved in a similar ter's Brawling skill. If the character being
manner. The player rolls one 20-sided die. He attacked is in a position to defend himself, his
adds his Brawling skill score to the roll, plus Brawling score is deducted. If the punching
one if he is stronger than his opponent. He character is stronger than his opponent, he
subtracts his opponent's skill score and modi- gets to add another +1 to his die roll (the
fiers for light and serious wounds from Table opposite is not true; the weaker character
4: Accuracy Modifiers. With the final die roll does not subtract 1). The result is located on
determined, consult the appropriate table to Table 15: Brawling, and implemented imme-
see what happens. The two types of fighting diately.
use different tables, giving very different Damage. The damage listed on the table is
results. temporary wound points. These act just like
Knife fighting, while considerably more regular wound points, and are cumulative
dangerous, also uses essentially the same with them, but characters recover from tempo-
rules. rary wound points much faster. If a character's
Brawling, grappling, and knife attacks are wound points exceed his Strength score, he
possible anytime two characters are within 2 passes out. Recovery is covered in Chapter 7.
yards of each other. Damage is divided into right and left,
depending on which hand the character
punched with. Assume that the character
Sequencing always punches with his right unless he can't
for some reason, like when his opponent has
One brawling attack is the same as one it caught in an arm lock. Left-handed charac-
careful shot. That is, a character can make ters reverse the damage listings for right and
one brawling attack whenever he would oth- left. Ambidextrous characters use the right-
erwise be eligible to fire a careful shot . A hand damage for both hands.
character can make two brawling attacks in a The combination punch does three points
combat turn. Instead of using the stiict shoot- of damage if both of the punching character's

43

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Table 15: Brawling

Adjusted Damage Effect on Wound

Die Roll Result Left Right Opponent Severity

1 Miss +2
2-4 Miss +1
5-7 Blocked
8-14 Glancing Blow 1 1 -2
15 Jab 1 2 -1
16 Hook 2 2 0
17-18 Combination 1 2 -1 0
19 Uppercut 2 2 -2 +1
20 Haymaker 2 3 -3 +2

hands are free, one or two if one of them is Grappling

held.
As long as the character has at least one Grappling also works identically to brawl-
arm free, he can punch. If he is held in a bear ing , but uses Table 17: Grappling, instead. It
hug , punching is impossible. is possible on Table 17 to perform so badly
Effect on Oppo n ent. The number in this that you hinder your own next attack.
column is a modifier which is applied to the Otherwise, the procedure is identical. The
opponent 's next die roll, whatever it may be attacker adds his own Brawling skill to the
for: brawling, grappling, shooting , or even a die roll and subtracts his opponent's Brawling
skill check. These modifiers are cumulative skill. If the attacking character is stronger
until the character actually uses them or the than his opponent , he gets to add another +1
end of the next turn, whichever comes first. to his die roll (the opposite is not true; the
Wo u nd Sever ity . This column applies weaker character does not subtract 1).
during knife fights; see below. The descriptive results on Table 17 are
The descriptive results on this table are more than jus t color. Results marked with an
primarily for color and should not be tak en asterisk (arm locks , head lock, bear hug ) are
too literally, espec ially when combined with holds . Once a character has a hold on his
the next paragraph. opponent, he can either give it up and roll
again on his next attack , or maintain the hold
and inflict the same damage and effect auto-
Sma sh ing Thing s matically .
The opponent who is held can roll grap -
Table 16: Brawling Weapons pling or punching attacks normally . If he is in
an arm lock, he can only punch with his free
Weapon Modifier arm . If in a head lock, he can punch with
Bottle , pistol +1 either or both. A character in a bear hug can't
Chair, rifle butt +2 punch at all. A held character breaks free by
Empty barrel, crate +3 getting a throw result (a roll of 16 or 17). Two
Another person +2 characters can simultaneously have holds on
Large rock +1 each other.
On a roll of 1, the damage is inflicted on
Why hit someone with your delicate gun the attacking character , not his opponent.
hand when you could smash a chair over his
head? Using any sort of bludgeoning weapon
or improvised club works exactly the same Knife Fighting
way as brawling. The weapon allows an addi-
tional modifier to the Brawling die roll, Knife fighting uses a procedure very simi-
besides the character 's Brawling skill . lar to brawling and grappling. Everything
Sample modifiers are shown on Table 16: stated here about knives applies equally to
Brawling Weapons . Using a bludgeoning any edged weapon; a sword cane, tomahawk,
weapon also adds one to the damage inflicted axe , or bayonet.
by each hit . While brawling and grappling could be
considered "soft" forms of fighting, since gen -
erally no one dies as a result, knife fighting is

44

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 something el e. At lea t one person in a knife everyone tends to be a lot more cautious
fight u ually intend wholeheartedly to kill when approaching a knife-wielding opponent.
the other, who may feel the same way or may Because of this, a character cannot attack
imply be trying to defend himself. In either someone who has a knife unless he sees an
ca e, it almo t guaranteed that blood will be opening . This requires making either a
shed before it 's over. Coordination or an Observation check (play-
Given the deadliness of knife combat com- er ' choice), using only one-half of the charac-
pared to normal punching and grappling, ter ' attribute score rounded up. Thi check

Tab! 17: Grappling

Adju ted Effect on

Die Roll Re ult Damage Opponent You

1 Opponent gouge or knee you 2 -2

2 No hold +2
3-4 No hold +1
5-7 No hold
8-11 Arm lock, left * 1 -1
12-14 Arm lock, right * ___ 1 -1
15 Elbow mah 1 -1
16-17 Throw (an d break free) 1 -2
18 Kick 2 -1
19 Head lock* 3 -2
20 Bear hug * 1 -4
* Thi is a hold. A character held in a bear hug cannot punch.

45

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 can be modified by the character's Brawling flushed, scores a 17 adjusted to 18; a combi-
or Knife skill, whichever is appropriate. This nation that puts three more points of damage
attribute check must be made p1ior to every on the cowboy and gives Curly a -1 modifier
brawling , grappling, or knife attack against a in his next attack. But Curly surprises Moe
knife-armed foe, with the following excep- by rolling a 20. Even with Curly's -2 modifier
tions: when the opponent's back is turned; -1 for Moe's skill, -1 for the previous blow)
when the opponent's knife arm is pinned in this is a combination; three points of damage
an arm lock or bear hug; when the attacker and a -1 modifier. Moe's last attack misses
has his opponent in any sort of hold. If this but the cowboy scores again with an 11,
check succeeds, the character sees an opening another glancing blow.
and can attack. Thus ends the turn.
If an attack is possible, the attacking Moe wins initiative for the next turn.
character rolls one 20-sided die, adds his own Curly will keep swinging, but Moe decides to
knife skill, and subtracts his opponent's knife up the stakes and yanks a knife from his
skill. There is no modification for Strength. boot. This costs him his first attack.
This result is found on the "Wound Severity" Still, Cmly is now at a big disadvantage.
column of Table 15: Brawling. If a modifier is In order to get past Moe's knife and attack,
listed , the attacked character is wounded. Cmly must roll 6 or less (hi Coordination
The wound's location is determined randomly score is 12 and he has no Brawling skill ). He
knife skill can be added to the location die rolls 16 as Moe skillfully holds him off with
roll). The severity modifier from Table 15 the blade. Moe, however, is under no such
applies to the severity die roll, along with restriction and he attacks. He rolls a 15
other, normal modifiers . which draws blood; a light wound to Curly's
abdomen. This wound costs Curly 1 wound
Brawling Example point and gives him a -1 modifier on his
attacks (as per Table 4: Accmacy Modifiers ).
Three -fingered Moe has just accu ed The first exchange of the second tmn is over.
Curly Wilkins, a green cowboy on his first Again no one is moving, so Moe presses
trail drive, of cheating at cards. Unwilling to the attack. His second slash goes wide. Cmly
be treated this way, Curly takes a poke at must keep punching becau e that i his
Moe, which is exactly what Moe expected. No declared action. This time his first check is 5
one is shooting, o the Judge decides to use and he sees his opening. The cowboy rolls a 9,
combat turns for the fight. modified to 8 by his wound; a glancing blow,
Curly wins initiative on the first turn. A putting one more hit on Moe. But the gam-
die roll of 9, reduced to 8 because of Moe's bler is unpertw-bed and slashes again, rolling
Brawling score, is a glancing blow which 16. Moe crows with glee, seeing the dice turn
causes one point of damage to Moe. Moe fol- up a mortal chest wound! But his face falls as
lows up with a jab (die roll 13 plus Moe's Curly's Luck check converts the deadly
Brawling score of 1), causing two points of wound to a light wound, the blade apparently
damage to Curly. Curly comes back with a turned aside by the silver dollar in Curly's
roll of 5, a miss. This ends the first exchange hirt pocket. Cmly spits out a dire threat as
of blows . he leaps to avoid the swaying blade once
No one is moving, so the second exchange again, unable to find an opening.
begins. Curly misses again. Moe, feeling Thus ends the econd tw-n.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 an effort to knock Curly unconscious. Moe
know that Curly can inflict one point of
damage automatically every attack just by
maintaining his hold. Unless Moe breaks
free , he is in trouble (which, no doubt, he
richly deserves ).

Shooting at
Mounted Characters
When someone shoots a mounted charac-
ter , there i a chance the shot will hit the
horse instead of the rider . If the wound loca-
tion is in the leg or abdomen , the rider is hit
if the number rolled for the location is even. If
the number rolled for location is odd , the
horse i hit. Roll a new hit location for the
horse .
Likewise, if the horse was the original tar-
get, the rider is hit instead if the wound loca-
tion is chest or abdomen and the number
rolled is even. If the number is odd, the horse
i hit . Roll a new wound location for the rider .
Once a wound has shifted from the rider
to his mount , or vice ver a, it can 't shift back
again.

Animals in Combat
Curly wins initiative on the third turn. When an animal is shot or otherwise
Moe intends to keep fighting with his knife wounded in any way, it is handled just like a
but Curly switches tactics and declares that wounded character. Table 10 is used to deter -
he will grapple his murderous a sailant. Moe mine the wound's location. "Legs" are rear
drops his guard for a moment a Curly rolls a legs, "arms" are forelegs.
2, then leaps in. With some badly-needed Animals also use Table 11 to determine
luck Curly rolls a 15. Even modified by -2 for wound severity, with one important differ-
his two light wounds , a 13 i till good ence: a severity roll of 6 against an animal is
enough to clamp an arm lock over Moe's right always a mortal wound, no matter what sort
arm and inflict one damage point. Suddenly of modifier applies to the roll.
unable to use hi knife, Moe can either grap - Other important bits of information about
ple with hopes of breaking free or punch in the mo t common animals are listed on Table

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 19: Animals. Entries are explained below. be reduced to the fact that it's almost as dan-
Strength. This is just like characters' gerous to the person using it as to the person
Strength. If an animal's Strength drops to 0, it's being used against.
it is unconscious . Four types of explosives were readily
Wound Severity Defending. This modi- available out west: dynamite, gunpowder,
fier applies to the wound severity roll when blasting powder, and nitroglycerine. Of the
the animal is wounded. It is based on the ani- four, dynamite was the best. Nitroglycerine
mal's size and toughness. was far too volatile, capable of being set off by
Attack Modifier. Animal attacks are the slightest jar, while gunpowder and blast-
resolved using Table 15: Brawling . Even ing powder were unpredictable and bulky.
though the animals aren't technically punch-
ing (an d the descriptive results can't be taken
too seriously), there is a lot of swiping and Safe Cracking
swatting going on. These modifiers are added
to the animal's die roll on Table 15. Aside from its legitimate use in mining
Wound Severity Attacking. The dam- and demolition, dynamite can be used to open
age entries from Table 15 are not used for locked safes (obviously, this is not the way a
attacks by animals. Instead, if the animal bank would do it).
connects (any result of 8 or more), a wound Safes come in two sizes: large and small.
location is rolled randomly and this damage Five sticks of dynamite will blow open a large
modifier is added to the severity roll. safe, two sticks a small safe. The Judge can
vary this from safe to safe, though some
warning should be given to the players, such
Explosives as stating that the safe is "very large" or
"medi um. "
The use of explosives as weapons has been The proper amount of dynamite used on a
grossly overplayed in movies and books. In safe will automatically crack the safe, but
fact, it was rarely used this way at all for sev- will also destroy one-fourth of the paper (such
eral very good reasons, most of which could as money) in the safe. One stick less has only

Table 19: Animals

Wound Severity Attack Wound Severity
Animal Strength Defending Chance Attacking
Horse 25 -1 +1 0
Buffalo 35 -1 0 +1
Grizzly Bear 50 -2 +5 +2
Brown Bear 40 -1 +3 +1
Wolf 16 0 +4 0
Dog, Coyote 12 0 +2 -1
Rattlesnake 5 +1 +3 -2
Eagle 10 +1 +1 -1
Mountain Lion 25 -1 +4 0

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 Jim Bowie's Knife
Before the Civil War, the knife was the most common personal weapon in
America. No sensible citizen was fully dressed, even in a large and civilized city,
without at least one knife somewhere on his person. Mo t pistols were of the single-
shot variety, fine for fighting a formal duel of honor but with obvious drawbacks
when defending yourself against a gang of highwaymen or thugs. A knife, on the
other hand, never ran out of ammunition.
Knife fighting at this time was not the wild, slashing, leaping, wrestling match so
commonly portrayed on film. In tead, it re embled fencing more than anything . It
was considered bad business to get too close to the working end of your opponent's
blade without introducing yours first.
The most famous American fighting knife of all was the Bowie knife, named after
Jim Bowie, hero of the Alamo. Before Bowie was a Texan, however, he earned con-
siderable fame for a particularly nasty knife fight on a sandspit across the
Mississippi river from Natchez in 1827. Bowie, run th.rough with a sword cane, still
managed to kill his chief opponent and drive off the man's accomplices. Although
Bowie definitely did not use a Bowie knife in this fight (it hadn't been invented yet)
a legend was being born.
Three years later, Bowie visited famed Arkansas blacksmith and knife maker
James Black. Black manufactured a knife that Bowie designed but, perfectionist
that he was, he also made a second with a few modifications, which Bowie preferred.
While its exact specifications are unknown (the knife disappeared after Bowie's
death at the Alamo), the typical "Bowie knife" had a 10 or 12 inch blade, very heavy
and thick, with a wickedly curved tip. The hilt guard was often sheathed in brass
which, because it is softer than steel, could trap an opponent's blade. Overall, a very
deadly weapon designed purely for fighting.
On his way back to Texas from Arkansas, Bowie ran afoul of three attackers. In
their first real action, Bowie and his new knife decapitated one man, split another's
skull, and disemboweled the third. From that point on, everyone wanted a Bowie
knife.

a 50/50 chance of crackin g the safe, bu t will ly-determined location. The second number i
not harm any of the paper . Using too much a modifier to the severity roll for that wound
dynamite will crack the safe automatically ,
but will also scatter the content s and de troy
all paper inside. Remember , however , coin Demolition With Dynamite
were also a major medium of exchange out
West, so most safes will contain a fair amount The chance listed on Table 20 to suffer a
of both gold and silver coins. wound is also the chance that a sim ple , wood-
frame building will be damaged by the blast.
To determine how much dama ge a structure
Injuries From Dynamite sustains, roll one 20- ided die. If the number
rolled is less than or equal to the listed num-
Anyone near dynamite wh en it explod es ber, the wall of the building clo e t to the
runs the risk of injury, even death. Table 20: exp lo sion ha been damaged: board are
Dynamite gives the chance that a character knocked loo se, windows blown out, holes
will be injured by exploding dynami te, punched through. If thi happens, roll again.
depending on how far the character is from If this second roll i les than the fiT t roll ,
the explosion. The first number in each entry the wall i actually destroyed; there 's a huge,
is the chance to suffer a wound. If this num- gaping hole in the side of the building. In this
ber or les s is rolled on one 20-sided die , the case, roll a third time. If this roll is les than
character suffer a singl e wound in a random- t h e econd roll, the whole building i

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 destroyed. There might till be a wall , or If character are behind a wall , they are
potion of a wall , tanding , at the Judge's dis- protected to the extent that he wall urvives
cretion, but the building is a loss. the bla t . If the building i completely blown
For example, con ider what happens when down , character take the full force of the
three sticks of dynamite explode 6 yard s from bla t , rolling for injury normally. If the wall i
a saloon. The chance for damage is 11. The destroyed bu the building remains, charac-
first die roll i 8, o the aloon has been dam- ter roll for injurie normally but reduce the
aged: window broken , swinging doors torn wound everity modifier by 2. If the wall is
off their hinge . The econd roll is 14, which only damaged , the chance for injury is halved
i greater than 8 o there is no further dam - (rounded down) and the severity modifier i
age and no third die roll. reduced by 2. If the wall is undamaged, the

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 Table 20: Dynamite

Sticks of Distance from explosion (yards)

Dynamite 0-1 1-2 2-4 4-8 8-16

1 18/0 12/0 8/-1 5/-2 2/-3

2 18/+1 14/0 11/0 8/-1 2/-2
3 20/+2 16/+1 13/0 11/0 3/-2
4 20/+3 18/+2 15/0 13/0 4/-2
5-6 20/+4 19/+3 17/+1 14/0 6/-2
7-8 20/+4 20/+3 19/+2 17/+1 8/-2
9-10 20/+4 20/+3 20/+3 19/+2 10/-1
11-13 20/+4 20/+4 20/+4 20/+3 13/0
14-17 20/+4 20/+4 20/+4 20/+3 15/0
18+ 20/+4 20/+4 20/+4 20/+3 17/+1

characters cannot be injured by the blast. is a flat 50/50 chance that the fuse will either
All of the preceding assumes a sing le-story fall out, extinguish itself, or otherwise fail to
wood clapboard building. Many other build- detonate the stick.
ing materials were used (wood was sca1·ce in Also, while the speed at which a fuse
the southwest), and some of these were stur- would burn could be estimated quite accu-
dier than others. And, of course, building s rately, very few people would be willing to
come in a wide variety of sizes. The list below estimate it within a few seconds. Con-
gives modifiers which are added to or sub- sequently, anyone throwing a stick of dyna-
tracted from the chance to damage various mite is going to be liberal with fuse. That
wall and buildings. guarantees that the dynamite will be well
away before it explodes; in most cases, it will
Material Modifier hit the ground and still have several seconds
left to burn. Now consider this; when a stick
Tent, tepee +5 of sputtering dynamite lands at your feet,
Sod adobe -1 looking like it will blow up any second, do you
Logs -3 A) throw yourself on the ground next to it, B)
Brick -5 try to yank out the fuse, or C) decide you have
Barrels, crates -1 little to lose and scoop it up and throw it back
Large building -2 at your antagonist? Actually, either B or C is
Multi-story building -2 a pretty good idea, under the circumstances.
Either option requires a Luck check. Yanking
the fuse gets a +3 bonus, while throwing it
Throwing Dynamite back is straight Luck. It can only be returned
once; the original thrower does not get a Luck
Contrary to what Hollywood would have check to throw it again.
us believe, a stick of dynami te is not a hand Throwing dynamite is like throwing any-
grenade. Whenever dynamite is thrown, there thing else. The thrower checks his Throwing

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 skil l, or one-third of his Coordination score, dynamite, but other characters run some risk.
rounded up. If the dynamite misses, the If the Judge rolls 1 on a 20-sided die, the
Judge can place it specifically if he wants, but dynamite is unstable and will explode if
it is best to assume that it lands somewhere jarred or treated roughly . This includes get-
it can do no harm. ting into a fistfight, jumping off a roof, or
being thrown from a horse .
Another problem with dynamite is the det-
Using Dynamite onators, now called blasting caps. Without
detonators, dynamite is quite safe (assuming
Only a character with Explosives skill can it hasn't sweated). A stick of dynamite can be
handle and place explosives for best effect. As tossed into a fire and it will burn like waxed
stated in Chapter 1, a failed Explosives skill paper, without ever exploding. Detonators,
check does not mean the dynamite blows up however, are far more dangerous. Any charac-
in the character's hand, it simply means ter carrying detonators who falls, jumps, or is
something went wrong. Specifics are up to the shot has a 25 percent chance (roll 5 or less on
Judge. one 20-sided die) of the detonator going off.
Assuming everything goes right, an explo- Each detonator causes one wound, with loca-
sive charge properly placed against a struc- tion and severity determined randomly.
ture gets a +5 bonus to its damage number Fortunately, only one detonator is needed per
from Table 20.
dynamite bundle, not per stick. (Please note
A character without Explosives skill can
that, even in the 19th Century, dynamite and
still stack up dynamite and light the fuse. If
detonators were never shipped or stored
the character passes an Observation check
nothing goes terribly wrong. The result won't together by responsible people . What the
be as good as if an explosives expert had done player characters do may be another story.)
it, but something like the intended target will
be blown up. If be fails the Observation
check, the charge has little effect, and a Luck Ni troglycerine
check is required to avoid a mishap. Mishaps
are also chosen by the Judge, but can range Nitroglycerine is the volatile ingredient in
from destroying an entire bank without dynamite . It is an alarmingly unstable liquid;
cracking the safe to blowing the character's any sharp blow or jar can cause detonation.
hands off. An Explo ives expert can handle it reason-
ably safely, as long as he does not try any-
thing foolish. Judicious use of skill checks is
Other Risks recommended. An untrained character trying
to use nitroglycerine is more likely to kill or
Dynamite in the late 1800s was prone to maim himself than anything else; liberal use
"sweating;" the nitroglycerine in it seeped out of Luck checks is recommended.
through the wax coating and puddled up on If someone is desperate enough to use this
the outside, making the dynamite very sensi- stuff, assume that one ounce of nitroglycerine
tive and prone to self-detonation. This will has the same explosive power as one stick of
not happen to a character with Explosives dynamite.
skill because he knows how to take care of his

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 Gunpowd er and Bla sting Powder When a character is hit , determine the
number of wounds by using Table 13:
Gunpowder can also be explosive in large Shotgun and Scattergun Wounds. However,
quantities. It is much easier to transport than reduce the number of wounds suffered by one
nitroglycerine, and is not subject to sweating in all cases; this modification can turn a hit
like dynamite. However, the least spark can into a miss , by shifting one wound to zero.
ignite an explosion . A Gatling gun can fire for six turns, and
Blasting powder is more potent than gun- then must be reloaded. Reloading takes one
powder , but no safer. turn .
If someone uses powder as an explo sive , A Gatling gun must check for misfire on
assume that six pounds of gunpowder or any roll of 18 or more. Unjamming it takes
three pounds of blasting powder is the equiv- one minute.
alent of one stick of dynamite.

Cannons
Heavy Weapons
Only cannister ammunition is considered
Heavy weapons out West consisted mainly in these rules, as long-range shellfire is really
of Gatling guns and cannons. A Gatling gun outside both the scope and intent of this
is a heavy , rapid-fire rifle with multiple rotat- game. Cannister is a bundle of large , iron
ing barrels. They were quite rare , and only ball s- essentially a giant shotgun shell-
available to the army . Cannons were not so which , when fired at the ground in front of
rare, but still restricted to the military the enemy , burst into a murderou s bail .
(though smaller howitzers - horse guns - Every target in a 45-degree arc in front of
might be found in private hands ). the gun must make a Luck check, with these
Neither Gatling guns nor cannons are modifiers (numbers are added to the charac-
very mobile. They can be pushed 6 yard s per ter 's Luck score ): short range, -2; long range,
combat turn (walking speed ) by four or more O; extreme range , +5. If a character i wound-
men, or ha lf that by three or less. If drawn by ed , location and severity are determined ran-
horses , they move like wagons. Four men can domly, with a +3 modifier for severity.
unlimber a gun and maneuver it into firing The character in charge of the gun crew
position in one minute (10 combat turns ). mu s t make a Heavy Weapons skill check
Once set up, it can be rotated as much as 90 before firing the gun. If no one on the crew
degrees per combat turn. has Heavy Weapons skill , assume that this
check fails automatically. If this check fails,
everyone in the target area gets to double his
Gatling Guns Luck score before making the Luck check.
If no one on the gun crew has Heavy
Wh en a Gatling gun fires , every target in Weapons skill, roll one 20-sided die before fir-
a 6-yard wide pat h in front of the gun might ing. On a roll of 1, the gun explodes with the
be hit . A separate roll is made for each target, force of three sticks of dynamite.
using the firing character's Heavy Weapons Reloading a cannon takes four men three
skill score and all applicable accuracy modi- com b at turns . Each man mis sing from the
fiers. crew ad ds two turns to this time.

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 Any sort of comprehensive history of the 1866 Red Cloud's War-4,000 Sioux under
events and people that shaped the western Red Cloud "besiege" Fort Phil Kearny
frontier and gave it its unique flavor and and Fort C.F. Smith (in modern
romantic appeal are far beyond the scope of Wyoming); 81 soldiers killed in
this game book. Countless excellent histories Fetterman massacre (December 21);
have been written on this fascinating period ; Satanta leads Kiowa raids into Texas
many of them are listed in the bibliography 1867 Nebraska becomes a state ; U.S. pur-
at the end of this book. Readers are strongly chases Alaska from Russia; Hayfield
urged to explore this wealth of material on Fight and Wagonbox Fight (August 1
their own, both for the greater realism and and 2) keep Red Cloud's War in the
excitement it will bring to the game and for news; first cattle drives to Abilene ,
the pure , simple joy of discovery. Kansas , signal the heyday of the
This chapter provides a skeleton timeline cowboy
of western history. The period covered is from 1868 President Johnson impeached but
the discovery of gold in California until the acquitted; Uysses S. Grant elected
last of the western territories attained state- president; Beecher Island Fight
hood in 1912. Entries on this list are intended (September 17); Red Cloud signs peace
to be representative rather than comprehen- terms, moves to reservation in South
sive. If nothing else, something here may Dakota (November 6); General
spark the reader's curiosity and lead him to Sheridan launches winter campaign
deeper investigation. against plains indians; Chief Black
Kettle killed at Battle of the Washita ;
1848 Gold discovered at Sutter's Mill, Arapaho,Kiowa , Cheyenne,and
California Commanche agree to move onto reser-
1859 Magnificent silver deposits discovered vations; more Kiowa raids in Texas
at Comstock Lode, Nevada 1869 Transcontinental Railroad completed
1860 Abraham Lincoln elected president; at Promontory , Utah (May 10); Battle
Pony Express begins operation; gold of Summit Springs (July 11) breaks up
discovered at Leadville , Colorado; Tall Bull's Cheyenne Dog Soldiers;
Cochise leads Apache indians from Satanta captured
strnnghold in Chiricahua Mountains 1871 Camp Grant Massacre sets off 15 more
against advancing settlers for 11 years of Apache warfare; nine men
years; Confederate States attempt killed in saloon shootout in Newton,
secession, Civil War erupts Kansas; Wild Bill Hickock hired as
1861 First transcontinental telegraph line marshall of Abilene
completed; Pony Express ceases opera- 1872 Ulysses S. Grant reelected to second
tion term; U.S. General Amnesty Act
1863 Gold mining makes Wickenburg, pardons ex-confederates; Modoc War
Arizona, one of the wildest towns in the in southern Oregon
West 1873 Satanta paroled
1865 President Abraham Lincoln assassi- 1874 General Custer's expedition into the
nated; Confederacy surrenders , Civil Black Hills discovers gold; Satanta
War ends again leads Kiowa and Commanche

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 raids into Texas; Battle of Adobe 1884 Grover Chveland elected president
Walls; Satanta surrenders 1886 Geronimo surrenders and is relocated
1875 Lead discovered at Leadville, to Florida ; Pleasant Valley Feud
Colorado; copper mines opened at begins in Arizona , lasting until 1904
Morenci Field, Arizona; Quanah 1888 Benjamin Harrison elected president
Parker, Commanche war chief, surren - 1889 North Dakota , South Dakota ,
ders; Mason County War, Texas; Isaac Montana, and Washington become
Charles Parker, "the Hanging Judge, " states; Oklahoma opened to nonindian
assumes office at Fort Smith, settlement
Arkansas, with jurisdiction over the 1890 Idaho and Wyoming become states ;
Indian Territory Spirit Dancer movement culminates in
1876 Presidential elections between Tilden Battle of Wounded Knee
and Hayes deadlocked with 20 elec- 1891 Gold discovered at Cripple Creek ,
toral votes in dispute; Colorado Colorado
becomes a state; The Plains War 1892 Grover Cleveland elected president;
against Sitting Bull's Sioux; Battle of Johnson County War, Wyoming
the Rosebud (June 17); General Custer 1896 William McKinley elected president;
and 263 troopers of the 7th Cavalry Utah becomes a state
killed at Battle of the Little Big Horn 1898 Spanish-American War, U.S. acquires
(June 25); Dodge City begins 10-year Cuba , Puerto Rico, Guam, and
reign as biggest cattle town Philippines
1877 A second presidential election held , 1900 William McKinley reelected president
Rutherford B. Hayes elected; Sitting 1901 Queen Victoria dies ; President
Bull escapes to Canada; Crazy Horse McKinley assassinated, succeeded by
surrenders (May ); Nez Perce War in Vice President Theodore Roosevelt
and around Bitterroot Mountains 1903 Gold discovered at Goldfield, Nevada;
(June to October ) first transcontinental automobile trip;
1878 Gold discovered at Tombstone, Wright brothers make first manned
Arizona; Bannock War in Idaho (May flight
to July ); Cheyenne abandon Indian 1904 Theodore Roosevelt elected president
Territory reservations and retreat 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fu-e kill
across Kansas and Nebraska; Lincoln 700
County War, New Mexico, seals Billy 1907 Oklahoma becomes a state
the Kid's reputation 1908 William Howard Taft elected president
1880 J. A. Garfield elected president; 1911 First transcontinental airplane flight
Geronimo rises to prominence as 1912 Woodrow Wilson elected president;
Apache war chief Arizona and New Mexico become
1881 President Garfield as sassinated in tates, thus closing down the frontier
September, succeeded by Vice
President Chester Arthur; gunfight at
the O K Corral
1882 U.S. bans Chinese immigration for 10
years
1883 Fence Cutters' War, Texas

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 The horse was the prime mover of the West. Horse Attributes
Few thing were as humiliating to a cowboy
than to be fi.rnd from a ranch and sent away Like player characters, horses have
on foot . Horse thieves were usually shot or attributes and scores. A good horse can be a
hanged on the spot. This sort of justice seems tremendous asset to a PC and is well worth
harsh until viewed in light of the time and amo t any price.
place. A man's horse was probably the most A horse's attributes are: Strength,
valuable and prized thing he owned. It was Coordination, Intelligence, and Luck. These
his livelihood and his salvation , and without score are determined just like character
he cou ld very well die in the unforgiving score , by rolling two 10-sided dice and
wilderness. Horse thievery was considered a adding the results. Instead of using Table 1 to
particularly cruel sort of murder, and those modify these scores, however, add the modi-
who understood that treated it correspond- fiers listed below:
ingly.
Horses came in a wide variety of flavors. Strength: +5
Each had its own perceived characteristics, Coordination: +2
advantages, and disadvantages. Some were Intelligence: divide by 2
smart, others were churn -heads. White hors- Luck: normal
es were considered weak, black horses too
vulnerable to heat exhaustion. Bay s were Strength, Coordination, and Luck are
considered mean, pintos too small. u ed exactly the same as a character's
A cowboy did not work with just one attributes.
horse, but with a string of 7 to 10. Each was Intelligence however, determines how
trained for a different kind of work: cutting , many and which kills a horse knows. When
roping, swimming, night riding, morning creating a hor e, make an Intelligence check
work , afternoon work, etc. These were not the once for each skill. If the check succeeds, the
cowboy's property - they belonged to the hor e knows that kill; generate a skill score
ranch-but they were his horses , and no one for it by rolling two 10-sided dice.
else rode them unless he was looking for trou- The kills a hor e can know are: herding,
ble. cutting, swimming, gun, and tricks.
While a horses breed has no effect in Herding is a catch-all for the skills that
these rules, player who like this sort of color make a good cowhorse (they were not general-
can select a horse from the list below, or roll a ly called cowpooies). Because a horse lacks
20-sided die and select one randomly. this kill doesn't mean be won't be used for
herding it ju t means he isn't the kind of
Table 21: Horses horse a cowboy wants in his string.
Cutt in g i the most prized of all skills for
1-3 Appaloosa a cowhorse. A good cutting horse was a trea-
4-6 Arabian sure beyond price. Cutting involved working
7-9 Morgan into tbe herd , singling out the one beef tbat
10-12 Palomino was wanted, driving it to the edge of the herd,
13-15 Pinto and then, in one rush, chasing it out of the
16-19 Quarter Horse ("short horse" ) herd. This last bit required excellent agility,
20 Thoroughbred as the cow would try everything to get back

56

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 into the herd and the hor se would spin and horse without Swimming kill checks against
weave at top speed to prevent it, plus high one-half it trength, rounded up.
intelligence, because the horse had to antici- Gun skill indicates that the horse i
pate the cow' maneuvers. A good cutting familiar with the sound of a gunshot and
horse could "turn on a quarter and give you probably won't panic when one is fired near
15 cents change." If a cutting horse's Cutting it . Normally, a horse makes an Intelligence
skill is higher than its Coordination score, check to not panic in a gunfight. A horse with
use it's Cutting ski ll whenever a Coordination Gun skill use it skill score instead. If the
check is called for. Otherwise, it get a three- horse's Intelligence is equal to or higher than
point bonus when making Coordination its Gun skill, increase its Gun skill to be
checks. three points higher than its Intelligence.
Swimming is not something that a horse Tricks is a broad category. If a horse
is well designed for, especially with a man on makes a successful Intelligence check for this
its back. A swimming hor se can easily roll skill, it knows two tricks of the player's choice
over or be tipped backward by pressure on and gets to make another check for two more.
the reins . Once swamped, even the best horse Each successful check earns two more tricks
is likely to panic and drown or kick its rider and another check. A particularly smart
to death. A swimming horse must make a hor e could know half-a-dozen or more tricks.
Swimming skill check to avoid panicking. A Each trick has its own skill score.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 A player can choose any trick he wants for are hard to detect until after it 's been pur-
hi s hor se, ubject to the Judge 's approval. chased and ridden for a while.
ome samples are: coming when the charac- To determine whether a horse has any
ter whistle ; picking up a hat from the unde irable traits, roll one 6-sided die. On a
ground· plucking a pi tol from a hol ter; roll of 6, it has one or more ba d quirks. Roll
climbing stairs; counting; bucking off anyone one 20-sided die and consult Table 22: Horse
but the PC; stopping when the character Traits to find out what its bad habit is.
whistles; responding to unusual commands
(other than 'giddyap" and 'whoa"). Table 22: Horse Traits

1-2 Bites
Horse Quality 3 Kicks
4-5 Steps on feet
In several place throughout the e rules, 6 Won't gallop
horses are referred to generally by their qual- 7 Chews fences
ity: excellent, good fair, or poor. This is based 8 Stops occasionally
solely on the horse Strength. An animal 9-10 Rubs against fences
with Strength 10 or le sis poor 11 to 15, fair; 11-12 Bucks
16 to 20, good· and 21 or more , excellent. 13 Untrained
14 Bone-jarring gait
15 Single rider
Panicking 16 Rears
Horses sometimes panic when faced with 17 Headstrong
sudden danger. Check a hor e for panic when- 18 Leaps
ever a gun is fired nearby (check only the fir t 19-20 Roll twice
shot in a gunfight ), it sees a rattlesnake, it is
in a burning building, or it i wounded. Mo t of the e thing are self-explanatory.
A horse panic if it fail an Intelligence The few that are not are explained below:
check. S top s Occa s ionally. This horse will
A panicked hor e bucks, leaps, or runs sometimes stop dead and refuse to move . A
blindly in a random direction. If the rider Riding or Horse Handling check will get him
passes a Riding skill check to stay on the going again.
horse (or one-half Coordination if he does not Untrain e d. This horse does not respond
have Riding skill), he can try to calm the ani- to the norma l commands. It does what it
mal down by making either another Riding thinks the rider wants, but it usually misin-
check or a Wrangling check. terprets his intent. A wrangler can train the
horse in a week or two.
Singl e Rid er. Thi horse i so accustome d
Horse Traits to its previou owner that it won't let anyone
else ride it. Over the cour e of several weeks,
The worth of a horse depends mostly on it will get used its new rider.
its attribute scores and kills. However, a H ea dstrong. This horse believes it is
hor e can also have undesirable qualitie that smarter than its rider and generally does

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 what it wants. A wrangler can train it in a If a character stays on the horse for 20
month or two. turns, the horse will stop, winded. It is auto-
A Judge can either invoke these traits matically considered to be broken, even if a
whenever he thinks the time is right, or Broken result was never rolled.
assign a score to each trait and call for a
check when the situation is right. Most of
these traits, like stepping on feet or chewing Table 23: Bronc Busting
fences, are just aggravations. A few, like
bucking and rearing, can be downright dan- Die Roll Result Next Turn Modifier
gerous if the horse decides to go bad at the
wrong time. 7 or less Thrown -8
8 Roll* -8
9 Sunfish * -6
Bronc Busting 10 Smash* -4
11-12 Buck -2
Bronc busting occurs when a character 13-14 Rear -1
tries to ride an unbroken horse. This ru le 15-16 Kick 0
gives characters a way to get horses at a 17 Gallop +2
lower cost (for an unbroken horse) or tame a 18 Trot +4
wild horse. 19 Walk +6
To use this rule, the referee must first 20 Stand +8
secretly determine the Strength of the horse 21 or more Broken Horse
to be broken. The player then rolls one 20- is tamed
sided die and adjusts the roll by the listed
modifiers. The adjusted roll is found on Table * If not using a saddle and bridle, treat this
23: Bronc Busting. result as Thrown.
The column Next Turn Modifier is the
amount added to or subtracted from the next Modifiers
die roll made by that rider.
Every time a character should be thrown, Strength 21-25 -4
he must make a Riding skill check. Success Strength 16-20 -2
means he stays on with a -8 modifier next Strength 11-15 0
turn, failure means he is thrown and this Strength 6-10 +2
busting attempt is over (though he can dust No saddle or bridle on horse +1
himself off and get back on if he wants.
Usually this was a good idea, as a horse who
threw too many riders could get downright
cocky).
If a character is thrown, roll a wound loca-
tion and severity. A mortal wound knocks the
character out for 1 to 20 minutes but does not
kill him. All Strength losses are treated as
brawling damage. Characters regain one lost
Strength point for each hour ofrest.

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 60

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 (and Other the rest keep fighting or hightail it out the
Nonplayer Characters) rear exit?; the sheriff has told several mem -
bers of his posse to circle around behind the
The West produced a cornucupia of unique outlaw's hideout to cut off their escape, but
and fascinating characters. It was a harsh can't send a seasoned deputy with them -
life, even in the towns , and surviving in the when the bandits come out shooting , will the
wilderness was a daily battle . Even the citizens risk their lives to stop them, or decide
names given to places evoke hardship: Death that this is someone else's job?
Valley, Tombstone , Cripple Creek, Contention NPC Bravery can be affected by the situa-
City, Diablo Canyon, Burden, Bearmouth, tion. Sample modifiers are listed on Table 24:
Las Cruces. NPC Bravery Modifiers.
Eventually, people of every stamp moved
west , for a multitude of reasons. One terse Table 24: NPC Bravery Modifiers
saw summed them all up, saying that folks
went west "to git something, to git away from +2 Avenging the death of a friend
something, or just to git. " +2 On same side as someone with
These people are the nonplayer charac- Stature 12+
ters , or NPCs, of the BOOT HILL ® game. +1 Defending personal property
They populate the background, ocassionally +1 Drunk
stepping forward to perform. +1 With companions (+ 1 each , up to 4)
In essence , NPCs are just like player char- -1 Wounded
acters , only under the Judge 's control. There -1 Outnumbered
are several key differences, however, in the -2 Fighting someone with Stature 12+
way their attribute scores are generated and -2 Facing a dangerous animal
in the attributes they have. -4 Unarmed
-4 Facing a weird or supernatural event

Gree d measures not just the character's

Nonplayer Character lust for money , but his self-interest as a
Attributes whole. Will the NPC steal something that is
left lying around? Will he betray his fellow
Nonplayer characters have the same five gang members to keep his own n ck from
attributes that player characters have. They being stretched? Or even kill them for their
also have two optional attributes, however: share of the gold?
Bravery and Greed. Both of these attributes are optional. The
Brav e ry measures the character 's steadi- Judge can use them if he wants to introduce
ness in the face of danger or adversity. If a an element of unpredictability into NPCs. In
threatening situation develops , the Judge can any case , these two scores should be kept
use an NPC 's Bravery score to determine secret from players if the NPCs are employ-
whether the character stays around and faces ees or accomplice s . Only the Judge should
the problem, or runs off to hide and save his know how brave or greedy an NPC is.
skin . Situations where this could come up Note that these two attributes are at odds
are: one or more outlaws in a gang have been with each other in certain situations. A char-
shot or killed in a battle with a posse-will acter with high scores in both will be in a per-

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 sonal conflict when put in a situation where Table 25: NPC Reactions
running wou ld obviously be cowardly, but
staying probab ly means death (the decision to Dice
remain and fight at the Alamo is a perfect Roll Reaction
example). Such a character could make
attribute checks for both Bravery and Greed. 2 Deadly-NFC attacks at slightest
Whichever check passes with the highest roll provocation .
wins out. 3 Hostile-NFC attacks if PC makes
any move toward gun.
4 Insulting-NFC tries to pick a fight.
Rolling NPC Attributes and Skills 5 Suspicious - NFC watches character .
6 Doubtful-NFC watches character.
The only difference between rolling 7 Undecided-NFC does not watch
attribute and skill scores for NPCs and for character .
PCs is that NPCs don't get to modify their 8 Friendly-NFC watches character.
rolls on Table 1: Attribute Modifiers. The 9 Trusting-NFC is friendly and does
numbers they roll are the numbers they get, not suspect PC.
which means that the average NFC will have 10 Helpful-NFC gives reasonable aid .
slightly lower scores than the average PC . 11 Cooperative-NFC is willing to join
character.
12 + Loyal-NPC is willing to risk his life
for the PC.
Reactions
Modifiers
When player characters meet NPCs , the
Judge should have some sort of encounter in -4 PC has killed a friend of the NFC .
mind. Often, the attitudes of the PCs sets the -4 PC is an indian or half-breed.
tone for the encounter. Sometimes, however, -3 PC was seen committing mmder.
the Judge may want to simply determine the -2 PC fought on "wrong" side in Civil War.
NFCs' reactions to the characters randomly -2 PC is a known criminal.
either for the sake of variety or to save his -2 PC is committing a crime.
brain power for something more important. -2 PC is Mexican.
In this case, the Judge rolls two 6-sided -2 NFC is angry to begin with.
dice and consults Table 25: Reactions . Bear in -1 NPC is drunk .
mind that these results do not dictate the +1 PC's Statme is 10+.
NPCs' attitudes throughout the encounter. +2 PC's Stature is 15+
Rather, they indicate the NFCs' moods as the +2 PC has helped NPC before.
encounter begins. Player characters also +2 PC is a known lawman.
influence the tone of the encounter with their +2 NFC is outnumbered.
own actions.
Group R e ac t ion s . A community has
common interests and concerns . Citizens
react as a body to events which threaten their
safety. Whenever one of the situations listed

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 ft
among the modifiers for Table 26: Group NPC Dice
Reactions use Table 26 to determine the atti- Roll Result
tudes of groups of NPCs. Roll two 6-sided dice
to obtain a number between 2 and 12. Add 10 People back the issue strongly and
any appropriate modifiers. support those involved.
On this table, "group" can also refer to the
members of any one side in a conflict: ranch- 11 Group support for the issue is strong.
ers, sheepherders, townspeople. "Leader" People whom groups favor become
refers to any major figure in the group: law- local celebrities.
man, deputy, ranch owner, or grange leader.
It is possible for a PC to become a leader, but 12+ Group support is very strong. People
in general, this table is used to determine the who receive community support
reactions of the townspeople or other large become local heroes.
groups without PCs.

Table 26: Group NPC Reactions Group NPC Reaction Modifiers

Dice -5 Killing of lawman or leader

Roll Result -4 Killing of group member
-3 Open gunfighting
2* The citizens are up in arms. -3 Harm done to livestock or crops
Vigilante groups form. Undesirables -1 Open brawling
get tarred and feathered, run out of -1 Vandalism
town, or even lynched. Ifleaders fail +1 Killing of criminal
to act, they lose their positions and +2 Killing of murderer
are treated as undesirables. +3 Action taken to stop unrest

3* The people demand action and volun- * A roll of four or less also results in the for-
teer to help keep order. People offer mation of a Citizens' Watch to patrol the
to form posses and serve as deputies. streets and keep them peaceful. If the
Citizens' Watch is formed, strangers must
4* The people are riled , ask for help, regi ter their lodgings with the marshal's
and begin arming themselves. office. Known troublemakers are subject to a
fine of $50 and two weeks in jail if caught car-
5-6 The people are annoyed, but do not rying a weapon in town. Anyone who i not a
think anything will be done. lawman or member of the committee who is
caught firing a gun in town will be arrested,
7 The people are not concerned. They fined $100, and sentenced to four weeks in
are more interested in weather, jail.
crops, and business.

8-9 People favor the issue, but take no

action.

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 Sample Nonplayer Characters
What follows is a list of typical nonplayer characters that can be encountered almost any-
where. The attribute scores listed for them are only suggestions, provided as a handy reference
when an NPC is needed quickly.

Table 27: Nonplayer Characters

Career Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Bra Gre Skills

Artist 9 12 15 2 4 6 8 Artist 14
Author 9 11 13 3 5 8 10 Journalism 13
Banker 8 10 12 6 2 4 13 Accounting 15
Bartender 12 10 11 8 7 15 10 Bartending 10
Blacksmith 14 10 9 4 5 11 12 Smithing 12
Bounty Hunter 11 14 16 12 9 18 16 Rifle 3
Pistol !
Knife 2
Tracking 8
Buffalo Hunter 11 13 14 7 6 14 8 Rifle 16
Survival 9
Cavalry Trooper 12 13 10 4 3 12 9 Riding 11
Rifle 1
Pistol!
Clerk 9 10 11 3 4 4 5 Accounting 8
Con Man 8 12 15 3 8 6 18 Thespian 12
Public Speaking 15
Cowboy 12 9 8 2 3 13 6 Riding 9
Cow Handling 11
Roping 12
Craft sman 15 8 8 3 4 8 8 Carpentry 13
Gunsmith 13
Locksmith 13
Saddlemaker 13
Wainwright 13
Dentist 6 11 13 8 6 11 9 Dentistry 14
Deputy Marshal 12 16 14 13 8 18 6 Leadership 16
Tactics 14
Pistol 2
Rifle 3
Deputy Sh eriff 11 14 12 10 7 14 8 Pistol 3
Rifle 1
Brawling 2

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 Career Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Bra Gre Skills

Detective 11 14 17 7 6 11 10 Stealth 11
Pistol 2
Doctor 7 12 15 16 7 13 5 Chemistry 8
Medicine 14
Drifter 9 11 12 1 2 2 15 Pickpocket 10
Stealth 9
Drunk 6 5 4 1 1 3 14 Brawling 1
Foreigner 13 11 11 5 8 14 7 Riding 15
Pistol 3
Fugitive 9 12 12 3 2 8 13 Fast Draw 11
Stealth 7
Pistol 2
Gambler 8 15 16 10 9 6 14 Fast Draw 14
Gambling 16
Pistol I
Gunman 11 17 14 14 8 15 12 Fast Draw 18
Tactics 13
Pistol 4
Gunsmith 13 10 12 6 4 7 9 Gunsmithing 13
Hangman 12 9 8 7 2 14 11 Law5
Homesteader 14 8 7 3 3 13 4 Fanning 10
Horse Thief 12 12 8 2 5 5 12 Horse Handling 9
Rifle 2
Indian 13 12 10 1 6 15 4 Riding 17
Stealth 11
Survival 14
Archery 2
Rifle 1
Indian Agent 7 10 11 4 2 8 12 Bureaucracy 9
Infantry Trooper 13 9 8 3 6 14 8 Brawling 2
Rifle 1
Judge 10 8 13 16 7 14 7 Law 13
Public Speaking 10
Laundress 8 6 9 1 3 6 6
Lawyer 11 9 12 13 5 10 10 Law 11
Public Speaking 12
Merchant 7 8 11 6 4 6 11 Accounting 9
Trading 15
Miner 14 8 7 3 5 13 12 Explosives 13
Brawling 2
Nun 6 7 8 5 7 11 2 Farming 9
Medicine 4

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 Career Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Bra Gre Skills

Photographer 11 10 14 3 6 8 7 Photography 12
Chemistry 7
Preacher 9 6 11 8 5 12 8 Preaching 15
Pistol 2
Railroad Worker 16 8 10 4 4 9 11 Brawling 3
Rancher 13 12 10 7 8 12 9 Cow Handling 12
Tracking 8
Rifle 1
Reporter 7 9 13 5 7 11 14 Journalism 11
Rustler 9 13 12 2 4 7 14 Cow Handling 9
Roping 13
Pistol 3
Saloon Girl 6 10 9 3 5 4 11 Bartending 14
Gambling 11
Scout 11 13 15 6 7 15 9 Indian Contact 9
Orienteering 12
Reconnaissance 15
Seamstress 7 9 8 4 1 3 3 Tailor 16
Secret Serv. Agent 11 10 12 7 6 12 6 Leadership 10
Bureaucracy 12
Secretary 6 8 9 1 1 3 4 Bureaucracy 10
Sheep Rancher 12 7 8 1 6 13 5 Farming8
Sheepherding 12
Sheriff 11 15 12 13 9 16 6 Stealth 10
Pistol 3
Rifle 2
Stage Guard 8 13 12 6 6 14 8 Rifle 4
Stage Driver 10 9 11 5 5 13 7 Teamster 14
Pistol 1
Tailor 7 10 9 4 1 5 5 Tailor 15
Teacher 6 7 13 9 5 11 3 Literacy 18
Teamster 13 8 8 5 4 9 11 Teamster 13
Texas Ranger 11 16 13 15 10 19 4 Riding 11
Tactics 14
Tracking 16
Rifle 3
Pistol 3
Town Marshal 10 9 11 14 7 12 12 Public Speaking12
Wells Fargo Agent 9 9 12 7 5 11 8 Telegraph 13
Widow 8 8 10 6 2 11 5

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 Wpn , Sk i. The most commonly carried
The Fastest Guns weapons and the character's skill when using
That Ever Lived that weapon are listed here. The character
may well have other weapons beside s these ,
especially outlaws and bandits , who generally
This next list gives BOOT HILL ® game were always much more heavily armed than
scores for 101 of the most famous and infa- they appeared (with deITingers, boot knives,
mous figures of the Old West. Judicious use of etc .).
these characters can liven up fictional games FD. Fast Draw skil l score.
or recreate historical encounters . Date s . These are the person's birth and
The categories of information provided death dates, where known. Assume that most
and abbreviations used on Table 28 are : gunmen were active beginning at age 18 or
Name. This is the figure's most common 20, and often continuing on until their deaths
name or nickname , along with well-known (which often came at a young age ).
alia ses, in alphabetica l order. Loe. Locations where the figure was most
Str , C oo , Ob s , S t a , Luc. Strength , active. The abbreviations used are: AZ-
Coordination , Observation , Stature , and Luck Arizona; CO-Colorado; IT-Indian Territory
scores. Halved and quartered Coordination (now Oklahoma ); KS-Kansas; KY-
scores are listed beneath the full score to Kentucky; MO- Missouri; NB- Nebraska;
show steady shot and hipshot chances . NM - New Mexico; RM- Rocky Mountain

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 The Gunfighter-Romantic Warrior?

Much has been written on the subject of the Western gunfighter.

Conflicting opinions paint pictures of noble benefactors, laconic drifters,
and psychopathic killers. There probably is a little bit of truth in all these
images, in that there was no typical gunfighter any more than there is now
a typical housepainter. But the best sources of information on these phleg-
matic men are contemporary; in many cases, the gunfighters themselves.
Gunfighters were popular material for the newspapers and dime novels
of the day. Undoubtedly many of the reports of their exploits were exagger-
ated beyond all reason. But accounts of their pasts and personalities are
revealing.
Skill with the tools of the trade was essential. Professional gunmen
practiced their craft every day, knowing full well that their lives often
depended on their reflexes.
In many cases they were described as veterans of the Civil War, where
many fought with guerrilla units or as scouts. Although it's an anachro-
nism, these were the commando units of their age. Such men were condi-
tioned to kill without hesitation, as a means to an end. The enemy was not
a human being, but an obstacle to be overcome. Time and again society has
witnessed the difficulty with which such soldiers try to readjust to peace-
time, civilian life. Out West, they didn't have to; they weren't misfits so
much as professionals with valuable skills.
This isn't to say that they killed without remorse. Many gunmen were
tortured by their deeds. But, as Wild Bill Hickock was reported to have
said, there's no time to think about it when it's happening and no gain in
regretting it after.
Hickock was also a perfect example of another main aspect of the gun-
men's personality; absolute fearlessness, to the point of disdaining death.
Every gunfighter who wrote or spoke about his experiences mentioned that
the man who hesitated, because he didn't want either to kill or be killed,
was lost. Hickock and others like him could draw, aim, and shoot to kill
with almost inhuman detachment, seemingly unaware or unconcerned that
someone was also shooting at them. This capacity, more than any other, dis-
tinguished the great gunmen.

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 states; SD-South Dakota; SW-Southwest Additional Skills. Judge s hould feel
states; TX-Texas; UT-Utah; WY- free to assign additional skills and scores to
Wyoming. these characters as the need arises . No Knife
Prof. The character's profession. Most of or Brawling scores are listed, for example,
these figures held many positions throughout because little or no evidence is available to
their careers, on both sides of the law. A char- support them. In such a case, a score
acter listed as a gambler definitely has a assigned to fit the local campaign is better
Gambling skill score above 12; the Judge can than an arbitrary but "official" number
decide just how high it is, depending on the assigned here.
competition.
Kills. This lists the number of men the
character probably killed along with the max-
imum number that, if you believe everything The Fastest Guns That
you hear, this character might have killed .
Am. An X in this column means the char- Never Lived
acter definitely was ambidextrous. In the This portion of the rules is adapted from
absence of contradictory historical evidence, four articles published in the early days of
assume everyone else is right-handed. (Even DRAGON® magazine (and even the waning
Billy the Kid, who is described as left-handed days of Strategic Review). It must be stressed
by many authors, probably was right-handed . that these fellows are far deadlier than most
The left-handed claim is based on a photo - player characters, deadlier even than some of
graph of Billy showing him wearing his gun the historical figures, so they should be used
for a left-handed draw. Unfortunately, this with caution. Their arrival can quickly unbal-
photograph has most often been printed back -
ance most cenarios unle s they are matched
ward, as an examination of the buttons on his
against their own kind.
vest and the loading slot on hi s rifle will
show.)
Rew. The amount of the reward offered No other type of program has ever domi-
for an outlaw, where known. Few of these nated television the way westerns did in their
rewards were for delivery "Dead or Alive," so h eyday . For more than a decade , cowboys,
the full amount should be paid only if the indians, ranchers, gunmen, and their ubiqui-
man is brought in alive enough to be convict- tous sidekicks blazed across our screens.
ed. If he is brought in dead , only half the Along with their movie brethren, the enter-
reward should be paid. Also note that these tainment industry gave us some of the great-
rewards were not always offered by a single est gunslingers of all time. Their exploits
entity. Those on the James Gang and the would have stunned their normally toic fore-
Wild Bunch , for example, are totals of all bears.
rewards offered by the various banks , rail- The Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore ) is
roads, and other concerns who had been vic- perhap s the best known hero of the western
timized. It is up to the player characters to sagas, dating back to the day s of radio adven-
collect their rewards from the people who tures. Together with Tonto (Jay Silverheels ),
offered it; the local marshall won't simply his faithful Indian companion, they were a
hand over $1,000 when Bill Dalton is brought match for any bad man as well as a voice for
in. compassion and charity.

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 ft
The Rifleman Chuck Connors) appeared I'm better than both of 'em. No brag, jest
on TV in the early 60s. fact."
Matt Dillon James Arness) was the fic- Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) was
tional marshal of Dodge City on "Gun smoke." drummed out of the U.S. cavalry for cow-
An unforgettable supporting cast included ardice in "Branded." Every time he comes
Chester, his deputy; Doc; Miss Kitty; and into a town, there is a 75~ chance someone
Festus. who had a relative killed at Bitter Creek will
Paladin (Richard Boone) was the finest recognize him and challenge McCord to a
televised example of the paid gunman. His gunfight.
card read "Have Gun, Will Travel"-which Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe
was also the name of the show. Cartwright (Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts,
Josh Randall (Steve McQueen) was the Dan Blocker, and Michael Landon) were the
perfect bounty hunter from "Wanted: Dead or rugged operators of the Ponderosa ranch in
Alive. ' He carred a special single-action "Bonanza." Little Joe was left-handed, and
revolver which was very fast (+2 speed) and had a quick temper .
has short, long, and extreme ranges of 14, 24, Red Ryder (Don Barry, William Elliot,
and 70 yards. and Allan "Rocky" Lane) was one of the most
Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) was popular serial westerns. The stars who
one of the early TV heroes of the 50s. "Hoppy" played him also appeared in many other roles
was the two-gunned champion of justic e. on TV, movies, and radio.
Yancy Derringer (Jack Mahoney) and "Hoot" Gibson was one of the first cow-
his indian sidekick Pahoo were a . tough pair. boy stunt men. During the 20s, he was second
Yancy has a Gambling score of 85. only to Tom Mix as the leading cowboy star.
Johnny Yuma (Nick Adams) appeared on Hi pictures were mostly nonviolent, but fast
"The Rebel" in the early 60s. and full of action.
The Cisco Kid and Pancho (Duncan William S. Hart portrayed the Old West
Renaldo and Lee Carrillo wisecracked their as it really was, probably more than any
way across the television screens of the late other star of the early westerns. His films,
50s and early 60s. "The Cisco Kid" is still in such as "Tumbleweeds " (1925 and 1939) are
syndication in some areas. now classic westerns. When movie realism
Bert, Bart, and Beau Maverick (Jame s lost its box office appeal, Hart retired-and
Garner, Jack Kelly, and Roger Moore) starred had never made a talkie!
in "Maverick, " one of the most popular and Tim Holt displayed a talent for acting far
well-written television shows ever produced. above most of his contemporaries at a time
The "tall, dark strangers" all have Gambling when the acting, even in the finest old west-
scores of 19 and they all prefer talking their erns , was admittedly not top notch. He was a
way out of trouble to shooting. They will, leading box office draw in the late 30s and
however, support their friends to the end. 40s. His movie career ende d in the 50s, but
Will Sonnet (Walter Brennan) and his he continued to appear in guest roles on TV
grandson Jeff spent severa l seasons looking into the 60s.
for their son and father, a missing gunslinger, "Lightning Bill" Carson (Colone l Tim
on "The Guns of Will Sonnett." Will claimed McCoy) was "the detective of the range." He
the prodigal son was the third fastest gun in frequently donned disgui ses during the
the West. "He's good, but Jeff's better . .. and course of a movie.

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 71

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 The Virginian (James Drury) was the became a major star on his own. His role in
first 90-minute Western series. "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" launched
Tom Mix was a U.S. mar hal and a Texas hi tarring career in European westerns.
ranger before becoming a movie actor! By Eli Wallach was the bandit chief in ''The
1921 he was the "King of the Cowboys" in Magnificent Seven." Wallach also played
movie westerns. His films had lots of action, opposite Eastwood and Van Cleef in "The
chases, and fight scenes, but usually no one Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," along with hun-
was killed. He never smoked nor drank on dreds of other heavy roles throughout his
screen. Mix did all of his own stunt work and career.
suffered over 80 injuries during his film Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the stoic sheriff
career. He retired from the movies in 1935 who stood alone against overwhelming odds
and died in a car accident in 1940. in "High Noon," is a western icon.
The Durango Kid (Char les Starrett) The Magnificent Seven: Yul Brynner
rode across the screen in 56 movies, starting played Chris, the wise and seasoned leader of
in 1940. The kid would typically appear from "The Magnificent Seven." His cohorts includ-
nowhere, save the day, and reappear later a ed: Steve McQueen, Brynner's friend and a
a mild-mannered nobody. superb rifleman; Jame s Coburn, always cool
Bob Steele was probably the fastest draw as ice and deadly accurate with a throwing
of all the old movie cowboys. He rose to fame stiletto; Charles Bronson, whose strength and
in the late 20s. He did a movie series as Billy fearlessness won him a reputation as a very
the Kid and appeared in both the "Three
tough hombre; Robert Vaughn, a selfish sur-
Mesquiteers" series and the "Trail Blazers"
series. Others may remember him as Trooper vivor who overcame bis fear in the end; Horst
Duffy on the TV series, "F Troop." Buchholz greedy and careful about the odds
John T. Chance (John Wayne), the heroic but steadfast in action; and Chico (Juan
sheriff of "Rio Bravo," is representative of Mateos), the brash, untried youth who was
many of the roles Wayne played. From brought along becau e he upped their number
"Stagecoach" (1939) to "The Shootist" (1976), to a lucky seven.
he made countless westerns, all memorable Shane (Alan Ladd ) was the haunted,
and many classics. John Wayne was undoubt- mysterious gunman who couldn't escape his
edly the greatest western actor to grace the past or his destiny in a classic tale of ranch-
screen. ers versus homesteaders.
The Man With No Name (C lint
Eastwood) is also representative of
Eastwood's later film roles. He appeared in Special Abilities
television westerns earlier, but his career
didn't take off until the "spaghetti westerns" A- o accuracy penalty when shooting
of the 60s. The Man With No Name has from a moving horse .
Gambling skill of 80, along with being one of B-Never surprise d.
the most ruthless and cold-blooded gunfight- C-Double the length of medium range when
ers ever seen. shooting.
Lee Van Cleef was one of the few ca es D-All rifles and shotguns considered "fast."
where someone who almost always played E- Always applies wound location modifiers
bad guys (did you see him in "High Noon"?) as if firing careful shots.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 F-Anyone who beats him to the draw must J-Must shoot only at opponent's gun hand,
also make a Luck check to actually get the using hipshot chance, but shot counts as a
first shot. careful shot.
G--Subtract 3 from all wound severity rolls K-No penalty for shooting with his offhand .
against him. 1-Weapon never runs out of ammunition.
H-Halve penalty when shooting at a moving
target.

Table 28: The Fastest Guns That Ever Lived

Name Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Date Loe Prof Pr Max Am Rew

Clay Allison 17 18 15 18 9 FDR 7 26 40-87 TX Rancher 8 26 $500

9 SAR 7 SW Gunman
4 LR 3 KS Gambler
Apache Kid 11 18 13 14 5 FDR 3 20 68-94 SW Outlaw 4 20 $5,000
9 SAR 3
4 LR 2
Cullen Baker 12 18 17 19 9 FDR 7 21 35-69 TX Gunman 12
9 CBR 7
4 LR 3
Sam Ba ss 11 15 13 9 7 FDR 1 14 61-78 TX Bandit 0 $2,500
8 SAR 1 SD
4 LR 0 NB
Charlie Ba ssett 9 16 11 13 6 FDR 1 19 47-96 KS Lawman ?
8 SAR 1 Gunman
4 LR 1
"Billy the Kid ," 8 18 11 18 8 FDR 7 26 59-81 SW Outlaw 8 21 X $1,200
"Kid Antrim," 9 AR 7 Gambler
William Bonney 4 LR 2
Billy Br eake m;d ge 10 17 15 11 5 FDR 1 17 49-31 AZ Lawman 3
9 SAR 1 Rancher
4 LR 1
Dick Broadw ell 10 17 11 6 3 FDR 2 14 ?-92 IT Bandit
(Dalton Gang ) 9 SAR 2
4 LR 1
Curly Bill Brociu s 16 17 12 6 9 FDR 4 23 57-82 AZ Ru st ler 4 $500
9 SAR 4 TX
4 LR 3
Bill Brooks 17 15 16 14 7 FDR 1 20 49-74 KS Lawman 4 15 $500
8 SAR 1 Bandit
4 LR 0

73

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Name St1· Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Date s Loe Prof Pr Max Am Rew

Henry Brown 9 16 16 9 6 FDR 3 26 57-84 KS Lawman 4 6

8 AR 3 w Bandit
4 LR 1
"Black Face 11 16 16 10 6 FDR 2 17 ?-91 IT Bandit 2 $1,000
Charlie" Bryant 8 SAR 2
(Doolin Gang ) 4 LR 1
Frank Canton 12 16 15 16 4 FDR 7 23 49-27 WY Lawman 3
8 SAR 7 IT Gunman
4 LR 3 TX

Bill Carver 10 15 12 9 8 FDR 1 21 ?-01 RM Bandit 2 4 X $500

(Wild Bunch ) 8 AR 1 w
4 LR 1
"Butch Ca sidy," 14 16 11 11 F R 1 17 66-09 RM Bandit 0 10 $2,000
George Parker 8 SAR 1
(Wild Bunch 4 LR 0
Augustine Chacon 13 18 15 19 5 FDR 7 16 ?-02 w Killer 10 29 $2,000
9 SAR 7
4 LR 4
Ned Christie 17 19 11 3 4 FDR 2 15 ?-92 IT Outlaw 2 $500
10 SAR 2 Gunsmith
5 LR 4
Billy Claibourne 7 15 16 4 2 FDR 1 20 ?-88 AZ Rustler 1 3
8 SAR 1
4 LR 0
Billy Clanton 18 19 12 5 1 FDR 1 21 ?-81 AZ Ru tier 0 0
10 AR 1 Rancher
5 LR 0
Finn Clanton 9 14 18 5 1 FDR 1 19 ?- AZ Rustler 0 0
7 SAR 1 Rancher
3 LR 0
Ike Clanton 8 12 18 3 4 FDR 1 16 ?-87 AZ Rustler 0 0
6 SAR 1 Rancher
3 LR 0
N. H. "Old Man " 10 15 12 11 3 FDR 2 18 30-82 AZ Rustler 3
Clanton 8 SAR 2 Rancher
4 LR 1
"Long-haired" 13 1 14 15 9 FDR 6 28 48- 7 TX Gunman 4 13 X
Jim Cow-tright 9 SAR 6 NM Lawman
4 LR 2
"Flat Nose" 12 14 12 6 5 FDR 1 14 ?-00 RM Bandit 1 $3 000
George Cun·y 7 SAR 1
3 LR 1

74

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 ft
Name Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Dates Loe Prof Pr Max Am Rew

"!Gd Curry ," 10 19 12 19 3 FDR 7 24 65-04 RM Bandit 9 $4,000

Harvey Logan 10 SAR 7
(Wild Bunch ) 5 LR 3
Bill Dalton 15 17 16 14 4 FDR 6 16 73-94 IT Bandit 3 $1,000
(Doolin Gang ) 9 SAR 6 KS
4 LR 2
Bob Dalton 13 19 16 8 3 FDR 5 16 67-92 IT Bandit 3 $5,000
(Dalton Gang ) 10 SAR 5 Lawman
5 LR 3
Emmett Dalton 13 15 16 8 10 FDR 1 16 71-37 IT Bandit 1 $5,000
(Dalton Gang ) 8 SAR 1 Lawman
4 LR 0
Frank Dalton 9 15 15 8 8 FDR 4 16 ?-87 IT Lawman 1
8 SAR 4
4 LR 2
Grat Dalton 12 17 11 3 2 FDR 3 17 62-92 IT Bandit 1 $5,000
(Dalton Gang ) 9 SAR 3 Lawman
4 LR 2
Bill Doolin 16 17 14 12 10 FDR 3 15 63-95 IT Bandit 3 $5,000
(Doolin Gang ) 9 SAR 3
4 LR 1
"Arkansas Tom" 11 16 18 9 4 FDR I 15 ?-24 IT Bandit 2 $1,000
Dougherty 8 AR l
(Doolin Gang ) 4 LR 1
Morgan Earp 11 16 15 10 8 FDR 2 22 ?-82 AZ Gunman 1
8 SAR 2 KS Lawman
4 LR 1
Virgil Earp 14 16 12 11 7 FDR 2 19 ?-05 AZ Lawman l
8 SAR 2 KS Gunman
4 LR 2
Warren Earp 8 14 12 12 9 FDR 1 19 ?-00 AZ Gunman 1
7 SAR 1 Lawman
3 LR 0
Wyatt Earp 19 18 15 17 8 FDR 6 26 49-29 KS Lawman 5 12
9 SAR 6 AZ Gambler 18
4 LR 2 RM
"Colorado Bill" 6 15 15 7 9 FDR 4 18 ?-79 IT Bandit 5
Elliott 8 SAR 4
4 LR 1
Je sie Evan s 8 14 17 3 1 FDR 1 24 57-? SW Gunman ? $500
(Billy the !Gd's 7 SAR 1 Bandit
Gan g) 3 LR 0

75

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 ame Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Dates Loe Prof Pr Max Am Rew

John ''King" Fisher 15 19 12 15 9 FDR 7 28 54-84 TX Rustler 7 26

10 SAR 7 Lawman
5 LR 3
George Flatt 10 16 15 10 1 FDR 0 17 53-80 KS aloon 2
8 SAR 0 Lawman
4 LR 1
Pat Garrett 13 18 11 13 10 FDR 4 17 50-08 NM Lawman 2
9 SAR 4 Cowboy
4 LR 2
Jim Gillett 10 17 17 3 2 FDR 1 20 56-? TX Ranger 2 6
9 SAR 1 Lawman
4 LR 1
"Cherokee Bill" 11 18 13 18 2 FDR 6 15 76-96 IT Killer 9 13 $1,000
Crawford Goldsby 9 SAR 6
4 LR 2
"Deaf Charlie " 12 14 7 4 3 FDR 1 14 63-02 RM Bandit 1 $1,000
Hanks 7 SAR 1
(Wild Bunch ) 3 LR 0
John Wesley Hardin 7 19 16 20 3 FDR 7 30 53-95 TX Gunman 22 44 X $4,000
10 SAR 7 KS Gambler
5 LR 4
"Wild Bill" Hickock 16 19 13 20 9 FDR 8 28 37-76 KS Lawman 11 30 X
10 CBR 8 SD Gamble1·
5 D 8 MO
"Doc" Holliday 6 19 14 19 9 FDR 6 28 52-87 KS Gambler 15 30
10 SAR 6 SW Gunman
5 SCG 5 RM
Cash Hollister 12 15 12 11 7 FDR 4 17 40-86 KS Gunman 2
8 SAR 4 Lawman
4 LR 3
Tom Horn 16 20 17 12 2 FDR 5 17 61-03 RM Detectiv 7 24
10 SAR 5 TX Gunman
5 LR 7 IT
Temple Houston 11 17 12 7 5 FDR 1 19 ?-05 IT Lawyer 1
9 SAR 1 TX Gunman
4 LR 1
Frank James 14 18 11 18 1 FDR 5 16 43-15 MO Bandit 2 8 $10,000
(James Gang) 9 CBR 5 KY
4 LR 2 KS
Jesse Jams 12 19 18 20 7 FDR 6 17 47-82 MO Bandit 4 15 $10,000
(James Gang ) 10 CBR 6 KY
5 LR 3 KS

76

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Name Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Date s Loe Pt·of Pr Max Am Rew

"Canada Bill" Jon es 8 15 15 8 3 FDR 1 18 ?-77 MO Gambler 0 X

8 SAR 1 KS
4 D 1
Sam Ketchum 11 14 18 6 5 FDR 1 14 ?-99 SW Bandit 1 $1,000
7 SAR 1
3 LR 1

Tom "Black Jack " 13 16 17 13 5 FDR 3 15 66-01 SW Bandit 3 X $1,000

Ketchum 8 SAR 3
4 LR 2
Jeff Kidder 10 18 13 16 2 FDR 1 25 ?-08 AZ Ranger 4
9 SAR 1
4 LR 0
Ben Kilpatrick 16 15 17 11 7 FDR 0 21 ?-12 R Bandit 1 4 $1,000
"The Tall Texan" 8 SAR 0 SW
(Wild Bunch ) 4 LR 1
John Langford 12 16 11 9 9 FDR 5 21 ?-69 KS Gunman 6
8 SAR 5
4 LR 3
Elza Lay 11 14 11 6 4 FDR 1 16 65-33 RM Bandit 1 $1,000
(Wild Bunch ) 7 SAR 1
3 LR 0
"Buckskin Frank " 11 16 18 13 8 FDR 4 24 42-24 AZ Gunman 4 14
Leslie 8 SAR 4 IT
4 LR 1 TX
Lonny Logan 8 16 16 9 10 FDR 1 17 ?-00 RM Bandit 1 $1,000
(Wild Bunch ) 8 SAR 1
4 LR 0
"Wild Bill" Longley 17 19 16 20 6 FDR 6 30 5 1-78 TX Gunman 17 32 X $1,000
10 SAR 6 KS Gambler
5 LR 2 UT
"Rowdy Joe " Lowe 19 16 15 5 3 FDR 3 20 45-99 KS Gambler 2 10
8 SAR 3 TX Gunman
4 SCG 1 co Saloon
Chris Madsen 10 19 18 7 9 FDR 6 23 51-? IT Lawman 3 10
10 SAR 6
5 LR 1
Bat Masterso n 12 18 15 16 5 FDR 5 25 53-21 KS Lawman 4 27
9 SAR 5 TX Gamb ler
4 LR 2 0
Ed Master son 11 17 15 12 3 FDR 4 18 52-78 KS Lawman 1
9 SAR 4
4 LR 2

77

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Name Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Dates Loe Prof Pr Max Am Rew

Jim Masterson 11 17 13 9 3 FDR 3 20 55-95 KS Lawman 1

9 AR 3 IT
4 LR 1
"Mysterious Dave" 9 17 11 14 4 FDR 4 27 44-20 I<S Lawman 4 8
Mathers 9 SAR 4 w Bandit
4 LR 3 Gamb ler
Frank McLaw·y 15 16 12 7 3 FDR 1 21 ?-81 AZ Ru tier 2
8 SAR 1 Rancher
4 LR 1
Tom McLaury 11 15 17 6 7 FDR 1 17 ?-81 AZ Rustler 1
8 SAR 1 Rancher
4 LR 0
John Meagher 12 14 16 12 9 FDR 1 14 ?-? I<S Lawman 1
7 SAR 1
3 LR 0
Mike Meagher 11 16 18 6 7 FDR 2 15 44-81 I<S Lawman 1
8 SAR 2 Politicn
4 SCG 1
"Old Bill" Miner 10 14 14 3 4 FDR 1 14 47-13 RM Bandit 2 $500
7 SAR 1
3 LR 1
"Bitter Creek" 12 15 14 12 2 FDR 4 22 ?-95 IT Bandit 2 $1,000
George Newcomb 8 SAR 4
(Doolin Gang) 4 LR 3
Print Olive 10 15 14 10 2 FDR 3 17 40-86 TX Rancher 3
8 SAR 3 Gunman
4 LR 1
Bas Outlaw 6 17 17 6 2 FDR 3 16 ?-78 TX Rang r 2
9 SAR 3 Outlaw
4 LR 1
"Big Nose George" 14 15 11 13 10 FDR 4 16 ?-78 RM Bandit 2 5 $500
Pan·ott 8 SAR 4
4 LR 0
Bill Powers 7 18 13 5 2 FDR 1 15 ?-92 IT Bandit
(Dalton Gang ) 9 SAR 1
4 LR 2
Bill Raynor 11 15 14 6 1 FDR 3 23 ?-85 TX Lawman 3
8 SAR 3 Gunman
4 LR 2
Johnny Ringo 16 19 15 17 7 FDR 7 29 51-82 AZ Rustler 6 12
10 SAR 7 TX Gunman
6 LR 0 KS Gambler

78

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 ft
Name Str Coo Ob Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Dates Loe Prof Pr Max Am Rew

Baldy Russell 10 14 9 13 1 FDR 2 17 53-28 TX Outlaw 3 $500

7 SAR 2
3 LR 1
Thomas Rynning 13 19 15 15 1 FDR 6 19 66-? AZ Ranger 6
10 SAR 6 TX Soldier
5 LR 3 KS
"Old John" Selman 7 17 17 6 7 FDR 5 17 39-96 TX Lawman 5 20
9 SAR 5 Outlaw
4 LR 3
Luke Short 11 18 13 11 8 FDR 6 26 54-93 KS Gambler 4 9
9 AR 6 TX Gunman
4 LR 0 co
Charles Siringo 11 18 18 11 10 FDR 4 19 55-27 RM Detectiv 4 6
9 SAR 4 TX
4 LR 3
Joe Slade 20 18 14 12 1 FDR 5 23 24-64 RM Gunman 4 26
9 SAR 5 SttAgen
4 LR 1
John Slaughter 12 19 17 17 2 FDR 7 24 41-22 AZ Lawman 8 20
10 SAR 7 TX Rancher
5 LR 4 Ranger
Charlie Storms 10 15 16 6 6 FDR 2 21 ?-81 co Gambler 2
8 SAR 2 AZ
4 LR 0
Dallas Stoudenmire 18 16 14 8 FDR 7 27 45-82 TX Lawman 7 11
8 SAR 7 Gunman
4 LR 3
Sam Strawhim 11 14 16 5 4 FDR 2 17 ?-69 KS Gunman 2 3
7 SAR 2
3 LR 0
"Sundance Kid, 11 17 12 10 7 FDR 5 26 67-09 RM Bandit 3 11 $6,500
Hany Longabaug 9 SAR 5
(Wild Bunch 4 LR 1
Heck Thomas 14 19 16 16 3 FDR 4 24 50-12 IT Lawman 4 10
10 SAR 4 TX Ranger
5 LR 6
Ben Thompson 15 19 15 15 7 FDR 6 30 51-84 TX Gambler 8 40 X
10 SAR 6 KS Lawman
5 LR 2 Gunman
Billy Thomp on 7 15 14 5 5 FDR 2 18 47-? TX Gambler 3 $500
8 SAR 2 KS Gunman
4 LR 0

79

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Name Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Dates Loe Prof Pr Max Am Rew

BilJ Tilghman 15 18 12 8 1 FDR 5 25 54-24 IT Lawman 3 12

9 SAR 5 KS Cowboy
4 LR 4
"Mad Dog' Harry 16 19 15 13 6 FDR 7 17 ?-02 RM Killer 12 20 $3,000
Tracy 10 SAR 7 Bandit
(Wild Bunch ) 5 LR 0
Matt Warner 8 15 14 7 10 FDR 3 19 ?-38 RM Bandit 2
(Wild Bunch ) 8 SAR 3
4 LR 1
Ben Wheeler 9 15 13 14 6 FDR 3 18 ?-84 KS Lawman 2
8 SAR 3 TX Bandit
4 LR 1
Zip Wyatt 11 14 17 5 9 FDR 1 14 ?-95 IT Bandit 2 11 $1,000
7 SAR 1
3 LR 0
Bob Younger 10 18 11 7 7 FDR 6 17 51-89 MO Bandit 2 $5,000
9 SAR 6 TX
4 LR 2
Cole Younger 20 19 18 14 1 FDR 7 17 44-16 MO Bandit 2 10 $5,000
(James Gang ) 10 AR 7 TX
5 LR 3
Jim Young er 11 18 13 7 7 FDR 6 16 48-02 MO Bandit 2 $5,000
(James Gang ) 9 SAR 6 TX
4 LR 2
John Younger 10 16 14 4 1 FDR 4 18 50-74 MO Bandit 2 $5,000
(James Gang ) 8 SAR 4
4 LR 1

Table 29: The Fastest Guns That Never Lived

Name Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Sp. Abil.

Th e Lone Ranger 19 20 16 14 8 FDR 8 22 A,E ,F ,G,H ,J

Tonto 16 18 20 7 5 SAR 5 19
KNF 4
The Rifleman 18 19 13 11 6 SAR 4 22 C,D,E,F
LR 8
Matt Dillon 20 19 20 19 10 FDR 7 22 E,F,G
LR 6
Paladin 19 19 13 12 9 FDR 9 23 A,B,E ,H
LR 6

80

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Name Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Sp. Abil.

Josh Randall 16 18 17 13 4 SAR 6 22 E ,F

LR 6
Hopalong Cas idy 16 17 16 11 8 FDR 7 21 A,E ,F ,G,H,J ,K
Yancy Derringer 15 19 13 13 7 FDR 7 22 B,E
Pahoo 19 17 11 7 4 SAR 4 21 D
KNF 5
Johnny Yuma 13 18 15 8 6 FDR 6 21 E,F
The Cisco Kid 13 19 13 15 9 FDR 7 21 A,B,E,G,H,J
Pancho 15 13 9 6 4 FDR 4 8 G
Bret Maveiick 15 15 18 12 9 DER 2 19 E ,G,K
Bart Mave1·ick 16 15 20 12 8 DER 3 18 E
Beau Maverick 16 15 17 12 7 DER 2 19 E
Will Sonnett 12 20 13 7 4 SAR 7 23 A,E,H ,K
LR 5
J eff onnett 17 17 8 6 4 FDR 5 20 A,E ,H
LR 2
Jason McCord 18 17 12 16 8 FDR 6 21 E,G ,H,J
KNF 4
Ben Cartwiight 15 15 12 15 6 FDR 5 19 A
Adam Ca1twright 17 18 20 9 5 FDR 6 21 A,E
Hoss Cattwi;gbt 20 15 8 10 5 FDR 4 18 A
Little Joe Cartwright 15 15 13 10 7 FDR 5 20 A
Red Ryder 15 19 14 16 9 FDR 7 23 A,B,E ,F,H,K
LR 7
"Hoot" Gibson 18 18 12 13 8 FDR 6 21 B,G,J
LR 5
William S. Hart 15 18 16 14 9 SAR 7 22 A,E,F ,H
LR 4
Tim Holt 13 18 16 12 6 FDR 6 22 A,E ,F,H
"Lightning Bill" Carson 16 20 13 11 7 FDR 7 22 A,B,E,H
The Virginian 15 19 18 15 8 FDR 7 23 A,E,F,H
Tom Mix 19 18 14 17 9 FDR 6 23 A,B,C,E,G,H,J ,K
The Durango Kid 9 19 18 9 6 FDR 7 23 A,B,E ,H
Bob Steele 12 19 16 10 6 FDR 6 24 A,B,F,H
John T. Chance 19 19 13 17 9 FDR 7 23 A,B,C,E,G,H
The Man with No Name 17 20 18 11 FDR 9 25 A,B,E,H
Lee Van Cleef 15 19 11 9 5 FDR 7 24 B,E ,H
LBR 7
Eli Wallach 16 17 11 7 3 FDR 5 20 E,F
Will Kane 15 18 17 14 7 FDR 6 21 B,C,F
Yul Brynner 18 19 15 9 5 FDR 5 22 B,E, H

81

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Name tr Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn lei FD Sp. Abil.

Steve McQueen 18 18 13 8 4 FDR 5 22 B,C,D,E,H

LR 7
James Coburn 18 17 12 7 5 SAR 3 24 B,E ,F,H
KNF 8 Throwing 18
ha1·Ie Bronson 18 18 11 7 4 FDR 6 23 A,B,D ,E,H
Rob rt Vaughn 17 18 13 8 2 FDR 6 23 E ,F ,H ,K
Hor st Buchholz 17 18 14 6 5 FDR 7 22 A,E,H,K
Chico 15 16 13 4 8 FDR 2 18 B,H

Table 36: Fictional Nonplayer Characters

Name tr Coo Obs Sta Luc Wpn Ski FD Prof Am Rew

Luk Hardeman 15 12 4 7 FDR 1 20 Gambler 18 X

8 AR 1
4 LR 0
Julio Diego Garcia 14 11 10 9 8 FDR 1 6 Horse
Jim Ward ) 6 SCG 1 Rancher
3 LR 1
Jake Priddy 14 12 13 3 3 FDR 0 Sheep
6 AR 0 Rancher
3 LR l
Dwayne De Truthe 15 16 11 7 4 FDR 1 9 Preacher
(Mike arr) 8 SAR 1
4 LR 1
"Moonwaltz Kid, " 17 16 11 14 4 FDR 4 15 Gambler 19 X
Montgomery Picken 8 SAR 4 Gunman
(Rob Kuntz ) 4 KNF 3 Thrnw 18
"Hole in Juan" Gomez 18 15 13 11 4 FDR 2 16 Gambler 15
8 LR 2 Gunman
4 KNF 3 Throw 15
"Pig's Eye' Dougla s 13 14 10 10 6 FDR 3 18 Bandit $500
(Dougla s Gang ) 7 SAR 3
(Mike Carr ) 3 LR 1
"Deadeye " Dougla s 16 13 8 8 5 SAR 1 9 Bandit $500
(Douglas Gang 7 LBR 1
(Mike Carr ) 3 LR 1
"Bullseye" Douglas 14- 13 10 9 6 AR 2 Bandit $500
(Douglas Gang ) 7 LBR 2
(Mike Carr ) 3 LR 1
"Eagle Eye " Dougla 14 14 10 6 8 SAR 0 Bandit $500
(Dougla s Gang ) 7 BOW 2 (half-breed )
(Mike Carr ) 3 KNF 2 Throw 14

82

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 ft
ame Str Coo Ob ta Luc Wpn Ski FD Prof Am Rew

Jake Krain 20 10 17 4 3 FDR 1 11 Bandit $250

(Dougla Gang ) 5 SAR 1
(Mike Carr ) 2 LR 0
Toby HaJTi 12 9 18 7 6 FDR 1 14 Bandit X $250
(Dougla Gang ) 5 LR 2
(Mike Carr ) 2 KN 2 Throw 10
"Dastar dly Dave" Slade 16 14 15 14 5 FDR 3 15 Sa loon
(Dave Megarry ) 7 SAR 3 Gambler 16
3 SCG 2
Ben Cartwheel 14 18 13 12 9 FDR 4 16 Rancher
(Dav e Arne on) 9 SAR 4
4 LR 2
"Bad Joe " Johnson 13 12 11 8 7 FDR 1 16 Gambler 17 X
6 DER 1
3 LR 0
Mister G 15 13 9 8 4 FDR 1 22 Rancher
(Gary Gygax) 7 SAR 1
3 LR 2
Mason Dix 19 14 10 11 2 FDR 2 13 Lawyer
(Ten·y Kuntz ) 7 DER 2
3 LR 0
"Silver Dollar" Tim 18 14 14 8 5 FDR 1 14 Saloon
McCall 7 SAR 1 Gambler 18
(Tim Kask ) 3 SG 2
Mark "Sna ke " Redman 15 13 18 12 4 FDR 4 17 Gambler 19 X
7 SAR 4
3 DER 4
Ernie Sloan 13 10 15 7 9 FDR 3 17 Gambler 17
(Ernie Gygax ) 5 AR 3 Saloon
2 KN 1 Throw 13
George "Shotgun" 12 11 18 3 FDR 1 14 Marshal
Chambers 6 SAR 1
3 SC 2
Fred Hicks 16 9 11 4 4 FDR 0 11 Saloon
5 SCG 1
2 KN 1
Irby Cole 16 10 4 5 5 FDR 1 12 heriff
5 SAR 1
2 SG 1
lem Hawkins 14 11 11 4 7 SAR 1 Saloon
6 CG 1
3 KN 2 Throw 13
eil Tolson 16 9 6 7 7 SAR 0 7 Justice of
5 LR 1 the Peace
2 KN 1

83

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 The full flavor and scope of the BOOT HILL®
game comes out in campaign play, with
Healing Wounds
numerous characters vying for a wi.de assort- As characters heal, they recover both the
ment of goals and objectives. The interplay of Strength points they've lost and from the
per onalities (on both sides of the law) can be effect of the wounds. The rate at which the
fascinating and fun, and a well-run campaign character heals depends on whether a doctor
with a competent Judge and a good assort- has tended his wounds (s omeone with
ment of player will be satisfying for all. Medicine skill has made a successful skill
Campaign hould be tailored to uit the check).
preference of the player , but ome general A character who ha received medical care
guidelines are given here. This chapter also heal at the rate of one Strength point per
includes additional rules that the extended week per serious wound and two points per
etting of a campaign requires. week per light wound. All light wounds are
considered healed after one week , all serious
wounds are considered healed when the char-
acter has recovered all his Strength points.
The Referee Thu , a character wi.th two light wounds and
one eriou wound heals five point the fir t
All campaigns require an impartial refer- week (two for each of the light wound , one
ee. The person taking the role of Judge is a for the serious wound ). At the end of that
pivotal figure for it is he or she that shoul- week his light wounds are completely healed .
der the principal responsibility for all He now heals one point per week for the next
aspects of play. The Judge must have a good three weeks. At the end of that time, his seri -
working knowledge of the ru les. ous wound is completely healed.
A Judge must also be impartial and mod- If the character has not received medical
erate the action without interfering in the attention, he heals only one point per week
course it might take. The Judge is in charge per light wound and no points for serious
of processing and revealing information as wounds. A light wound is considered healed
the campaign goes on. This "limited intelli- after two weeks . The character discussed
gence ' aspect greatly adds to the appeal of above would heal only two points per week .
the game, when not every character is aware After two weeks hi light wounds would be
of all that is happening. healed, but hi se1ious wound would not be
The Judge provides background for the healed at all.
player s . The scope of the campaign is deter - If a seriou wound goes untended for three
mined by his judgment. The Judge's deci ion weeks , the character must make a Luck
are always preeminent and the players must check. If thi check ucceeds, the character
accept them accordingly. begins healing normally. If the check fails ,
the wound has gone eptic and the character
dies.
Special penalties (to accw·acy, speed, and
movement ) due to light wound are no longer
in effect after one week of healing. Special
penalties from serious wounds are no longer
in effect after two weeks of healing.

84

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Brawling damage is restored at the rate of enness. Minor felonies include petty theft,
one point per hour of rest. tre passing, bribery, aggravated assault,
The point at which a character recovers manslaughter , and fraud . Major felonies
consciousness shou ld be decided by the Judge include robbery, rustling, assault with a dead-
on an individual basis. ly weapon, arson, attempted murder , and sell-
If a character is not fully recovered from a ing whiskey to Indians. Hanging offenses
brawl , it will affect his accuracy, movement, include murder, cheating at cards horse
speed, and strength. If the character has lost theft, and selling guns to Indians.
four or less points to brawling damage , he is The maximum sentence for a misde-
affected as if he had a light wound. If his meanor is 90 days and $90. For a minor
brawling damage is five or more points, the felony, the maximum sentence is ix months
effect is the same as a serious wound. This to two years. The maximum sentence for a
does not come into play until after the brawl major felony i two to twenty years. The max-
is over.
Table 30: Trials and Sentence

Roll Result
Frontier Justice
1-6 Prisoner is found innocent
If a character is arrested for a crime 7 Prisoner is jailed overnight
(regardless of whether he's guilty) he proba- 8 Pri oner is run out of town
bly will be brought to trial. This can range 9 Prisoner is fined $50
from a formal affair with a real judge and 10 Prisoner is fined $200
lawyers to a frontier trial in the saloon where 11 Prisoner is fined $500
the character isn't even allowed to speak in 12 Prisoner is fined $30 and sentenced
his own defense. In both cases, the Judge can to 30 days with a work gang
either role-play the trial or get it over with 13 Prisoner is fined $90 and sentenced
quickly by using Table 30: Trials and to 90 days with a work gang
Sentences. 14 Prisoner is found guilty; sentence
Some common sense is required when suspended in favor of a 90-day
using this table. If the result obtained from a probationary period
die roll is obviously not consistent with the 15 Prisoner is sentenced to 6 months-2
crime, choose the closest result or roll again. years *
For example, few judges would hang a man 16 Prisoner i sentenced to 2-20 years *
for disturbing the peace, so if a hanging 17 Prisoner is sentenced to 20 year -
result was obtained for this crime, either roll life*
again or , preferably, assign the maximum 18 Prisoner is sentenced to life impris-
sentence for a misdemeanor (90 days and onment *
$90). 19 Pri oner is sentenced to be hanged
In general, there are four categories of by the neck until dead
crimes: misdemeanors , minor felonies, major 20 Prisoner is lynched
felonies, and hanging offenses. Misdemeanors
include disturbing the peace , carrying a con- *Sentence served in the federal, state, or ter-
cealed weapon, assault, vagrancy , and drunk- ritorial penitentiary, not in the local jail.

85

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 imum sentence for a hanging offense is, of Vigilantes will act on the following types
course, hanging. of crime: murder, arson, molesting a woman,
If a crime has a valid justification, it prob- jailbreak, cattle rustling, horse stealing,
ably does not come to trial. Ju tifications theft, claim jumping, poisoning wells, cheat-
include self-defense, a fair gunfight, shooting ing at cards.
a card cheat, and shooting an individual Vigilantes also often persecuted vagrants,
engaged in a crime other than a mi de- business competitors, or "undesirables."
meanor. Some other circumstance may Characters can expect trouble for any of the
assure a minimum penalty at the Judge' dis- following reasons: being nonwhite, vagrancy,
cretion. Such circumstances include the vic- rai ing sheep, selling quack medicine, com-
tim having in ulted a lady, the crime being a peting with local bu ine ses, owning property
fir t offense, town opinion favoring the crimi- desired by the vigilantes, etc.
nal, or the criminal being completely drunk If there is a possible connection between a
at the time (and not being a habitual drunk- player character and a crime, there is an 80%
ard). chance that the vigilantes will believe the
If the prisoner cannot pay a fine, he or he character is guilty . The chance is reduced
can work the fine off at a rate of $30 p r 10% for every local citizen of good reputation
month. In addition to the fine listed, any sen- who speaks in favor of the character . If the
tence with a fine also includes paying the cost charncter is found innocent by the mob, he or
of all damages incurred as a result of the she will be released and told to leave town. If
crime. the vigilantes decide that the character is
The prisoner may wish to retain a lawyer. guilty, use Table 31: Vigilante Justice to
For each $100 the prisoner spends, he gets a determine what action they take.
lawyer modification of -1 on the die roll, to a
maximum modification of -05. Money
obtained illegally cannot normally be used to Table 31: Vigilante Justice
hire lawyers; all fees must be paid in
advance. Die Roll Result

1-4 Cha1·acter told to leave town

Vigilantes 5-8 Character's goods confiscated,
character told to leave town
An important part of Western history were 9-15 Character beaten uncon cious,
the vigilantes group of citizens organized to afterward told to leave town
maintain peace and order in their community. 16-20 Character hanged or shot
In areas where official law enforcement was
lax or nonexistent, vigilantes were nee s ary
to combat lawle sness. The Judge may modify the die roll for pun-
Vigilante justice was quick and efficient i hment based on the severity of the crime
but was conducted without legal formalities and other factors (such as the character's
or fair bials for the accu ed. Tho e who were race, occupation, etc.) The effect of such fac-
believed to be guilty of violent or deadly tors on the die roll is left to the Judge.
crimes were usually executed immediately.

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 Posses
The take from cattle rustling, horse thiev -
If a posse is needed to pursue bandit , ing , and other types of theft will depend on
Indian raiders, or whatever, there will be a the market value of the sto len animals or
delay in assembling the group (which will be items . Stolen goods may ometimes be diffi-
an assortment of various citizen characters, cult to dispo se of without rai ing undue
primarily ). attention - the Judge 's discretion is needed in
Up to 10 NPCs can be assembled almost such ca es.
immediately for a posse· roll one 10-sided die
to determine how many NPCs vo lu nteer.
When a campaign map is used for the pur- Rewards
suit, this group sets out one hex behind the
quarry. Rewards for player outlaws and their gang
An additional 1-10 volunteers can be members are determined as follows:
added to the posse by waiting one hour and
rolling another 10-sided die . An additional • Any crime involving robbery of more than
wait of another hour will add another 1-10 $10,000 places a reward of $1,000 on the
persons. The posse will not attract any more gang leader and $250 on other gang mem
members beyond this. ber . Any robberies of le ser amount call
If word is te legraphed or taken by rider to
for rewards of $500 and $100, re pective ly.
another town or area, one hour must be spent • Any crime involving murder add a
preparing for the pursuit before the local law
reward of $250 (or more if the victim i a
officers and another 1-10 persons can be
prominent citizen ) to each of the criminals
ready to ride.
involved.
• Any other crime may add reward of up to
$250, at the discretion of the Judg e.
Loot (The Wages of Sin)
A successfu l robbery or holdup nets a haul Not all rewards are "dead or alive"
for the outlaws within the following ranges: reward . The full amount hould be paid only
if the outlaw i brought in alive and convict-
Bank $1,000 -$50,000 ed . If he is brought in dead, only half of the
Citizen $0-$50 + watch , ring etc . reward should be paid.
Freight Wagon Value of good , bullion , Rewards are usually offered by either the
or ore aggrieved party in the case of bank, payroll ,
Post Office $0-$1,000 in mail and train robberi es, or the governor of the
Stage Coach state or territory in the ca e of particularly
with payroll $10 0-$1, 000 troublesome outlaws. It is the re pon sibi lity
without payroll $5-$500 + watches , of the player characters to collect their
rings, etc. reward and be ure they aren't cheated by
Stage Office $100-$1,0 00 shady politician s.
Train (express $1,000 -$50,000 in mail,
car ) payroll , orsecUI·ities
Other Bu siness $50-$500

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 primitive , since these were built mainly for
Transportation freight hauling.
Stag ecoach. Coaches were not new in the
While the hor se was the most common 19th Century, but the rugged, dependable,
means of transport out West , it was not the and reasonably comfortable concord coach
only means. Folks were always looking for was an American innovation . The average
ways to carry more and cany it faster than a speed was about 5 miles per hour. Stations
horse was able . Some of the most successful were usually positioned along the routes
are outlined below. every 20 miles or so, where passengers could
Pa ck Mul es . A mule is a cross between a wash up and eat and horses could be
donkey and a horse , and usually combines changed. A continuous trip from St . Louis to
the sure-footedness and sturdiness of the for- California could be made in about 25 days
mer with the size and strength of the latter. A and cost about $200. Average speed was 4 to
mule could can-y approximately 200 pounds, 5 miles per hour. Indian attacks on stages
though this usually included 50 pounds of were rare after the 1860s, though bandits
feed. A mule could walk all day, though rarely were a major problem in gold-mining areas
did they travel faster than a walk, covering where passengers often carried large sums of
12 to 15 miles a day. money ).
·ain s. A mule can haul a lot more
Mul e 'I'l. Railroad s. The first transcontinental rail
cargo than will fit on its back, so as soon as line, a joint project between the Union Pacific
there were roads there were mule trains. A and Central Pacific railroads , was completed
wagon could hold 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of on May 10, 1869. Several other lines were
cargo and travel 12 to 15 miles per day . completed in the following years, and all of
Typical costs for this sort of transport was these branched out feeder lines in every
approximately $20 per ton across prairie , but direction. Train travel was safe, fast (16 to 20
this could be doubled or tripled across moun- miles per hom ), comfortable, and reasonably
tains. priced. If the rail lines went to your destina -
Ox Train s. An ox train is pretty much the tion, there was no better way to get there .
same as a mule train, but with oxen instead Au tomobil es . While automobiles are not
of mules. Oxen are a bit slower, covering only part of the great Western tradition, their
10 to 12 miles per day. impact was being felt by the tw ·n of the cen-
Carreta s. The carreta is a two-wheeled tury. The first transcontinental car trip, from
Mexican cart. Usually drawn by oxen, these San Francisco to New York, was made in
carts could travel up to 30 miles per day over 1903. Almost overnight there was demand for
level ground. They were horribly uncomfort- good roads to replace rutted tracks and trails.
ab le and indescribably noisy (their rough- Before long, stagecoaches and prairie
hewn axles were often not even greased ), but schooners would be only reminders of a
simple to build and effective. passed age .
St ea mbo a t s were common on inland
waterways and along the coasts. A typical
steamboat had three decks: the freight deck,
the passenger deck , and the hurricane deck.
Accommodations on the lighter boats were

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 not supposed to know. Such cheating was
Intoxication accepted as part of the profes ion, provided
that the cheater was not clumsy enough to
Alcoholic beverages affect people in vari- get caught.
ous ways. For every three average- ized Professional gamblers in the BOOT HILL ®
drinks a character takes, reduce all of his game (anyone with Gambling skill) have two
skill scores plus Coordination and advantages. The first represents their knowl-
Observation by one. For every ix average edge of the game rather than actual cheat-
drinks consumed, add one point to his ing. If a character with Gambling skill rolls a
Strength score. No more than two points can number less than his Gambling skill score, he
be added to Strength in thjs fashion. gets to split the difference (and round frac-
If a Judge is moderating the action, his tions up ). For example, a character with
discretion can be u ed to determine when Gambling skill 15 who roll an 8 get to add
consumption takes a character past normal one-half of the difference to ru roll. The dif-
drunkennes . ference between 15 and 8 i 7, half of 7 (round
up ) i 4 and 8 plus 4 is 12, so the gambler
has a roll of 12 for that hand. This is relative-
ly safe in that, since the character isn t cheat-
Gambling ing, no one can catch him doing anything
underhanded. Still, a liquored-up cowboy
Gambling was an accepted profession in who's just lost his month's pay may not care
many parts of the West. The two most popu- too much about the formality of evidence.
lar, both card games, were poker and faro. Alternatively, a gambler can cheat. This
To represent poker, set a wager for each work the same as usual, except the gambler
hand. Each participating player bets that gets to roll twice, modifying each roll if it's
amount every hand. The "pot" is then the less than his skill score, and use whichever
wager multiplied by the number of players . roll he wants. Every time the gambler does
Each player rolls one 20-sided die, with the thi , however, be must make a Gambling skill
pot going to the highest roll. If the high rolls check. If this check fails, then every other
are tied, both players double their wager and character at the table (even those who aren 't
roll again. playing! ) make an Ob ervation check.
To represent faro, the Judge (or one of the Characters who have Gambling skill make a
players , if his character is the dealer ) acts as Gambling check as well. If any one of these
the "house.' Everyone wager the same checks succeeds, that character has detected
amount of money, including the house. The the cheating. At that point, it is up to the
dealer rolls one 20-sided die. Every other character how he handles it. Customarily,
player also rolls one die. Anyone who beats NPCs will demand that all of their losings for
the house score wins , taking the wagered the night be returned before going for their
amount. The house wins ties. guns.
Professional gamblers have an edge. Other games were played, including keno,
Be ide having vast experience with the pos- roulette, and three card monte . If roulette or
sible card combinations and knowing the keno is played, only the hou e may cheat. If a
odds on each, they can mampulate cards and professional gambler can find a sucker to play
often take advantage of information they are three card monte with him the gambler will

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 never lose, but must make a Gambling check Women's Clothing
every round , with a +3 bonu . Shoes: $4
Hat : $3
Shirt $1.50
Skirt $3
The Cost of Living Wrap $15

As character progress in a campaign, Food

they will probably get job , eat meal , and Coffee: 30c per pound
locate a place of residence. The following list Bacon: 20c per pound
gives guideline on wages and expenses Beef: 7c per pound
which can occur in Promi e City or elsewhere Dried beef: 20c per pound
in a typical Western town. Flour: 4c per pound
For simplicity, assume that a character Root beer: 10c per bottle
can live cheaply for about $25 per month in a Cheap Meal: 25c
town. This includes two meals per day and Mes Kit: $2
lodging in a sleazy hotel. A cowboy has virtu- Canteen: $1
ally no expenses while living in the ranch Survival rations
bunkhouse and eating at the ranch-of (hardtack, beans,
course, he must work about 16 hours a day, beef jerky, etc.): $1.50 per day
six day a week, or even longer on cattle
dtive ! Entertainment and Miscellaneous
Bear in mind, when examining this list, Tobacco: 10c per bag
that all of these items probably were avail- Whiskey: 10c per shot or
able for considerably les in the East. Good $2 per bottle
of all sorts were difficult to tran port to the Beer : 5c per mug or gla s
We tern frontier, and their price were inflat- Shave and haircut: 25c
ed to reflect this. Bath: 75c, fresh water $1
Field gla ses: $10
Tabl 32: Co ts of ·ving Tele cope $6
Steel afe, mall $50
Men's Clothing Stereoscope 75c
Hat: $2 Tombstone $10
Good hat: $5 Cattle:
Shirt $1 calf: $5
Vest: $1 yearling: $10
Trousers: $2 at Kansas railhead: $30
Suit, plain: $5 Doctor's services ($3 per visit min. ):
Suit, fancy: $10 bullet removed: 25c
Boot : $10 bullet hole patched: 50c
Chaps: $5 broken bone set: 50c
Spurs: $7 per pair broken bone splinted: 75c
Gloves: $2 buckshot removed: $2
concussion treated: 50c

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 lacerations stitched: 50c Undertaker: $20 per bw-ial
powder bmns treated: $1 Midwife: $3.50 per delivery
other bw·ns treated: $2
leeching: 25c Weapon
amputation: $5 Derringer, ingle barrel $5
disea es* treated: $2 Derringer, double barrel $15 1870
Muzzle-loading pistol $7
*Diseases treated could include consumption, Cap & Ball revolver $20
grippe, gangrene, cholera, dysentery, malaria, Single action revolver $30 1869
smallpox, typhus, typhoid fever, yellow fever, Double action revolver $28 1869
spotted fever, tetanus, rabies or social di - Fast draw revolver $40 1869
eases. No cw·e is guaranteed by treatment. Long barrel revolver $35 1870
Shotgun, ingle barrel $20
Lodging Shotgun, double barrel $30
Sleazy hotel: 25c per night
Average hotel: 75c per night
Deluxe hotel: $2 per night
Corral space for horse: 25c per day
(free at deluxe hotel)
Rooming house: $1 per day, meals
included

Wages and Salaries

Cowboy: $30 per month
Cowboy foreman: $45 per month
Guard at
territorial pri on: $90 per month
Coroner: $5 per inquest
Lawman: $75 per month, plus
$2 per arrest leading to
conviction
Deputy: $50 per month, plus
arrest bonus as above
Justice of the Peace:
Fine : $2 to $20 for disorderly
conduct
Court costs: $2 to $5 for above
Marriages: $5
Bartender: $50 per month
Waitress/saloon girl: $17.50 per mo. plus tip
and room/board
Hired gunfighter: $5 per day plu expenses
Teamster: $40 per month
Civilian scout
for the army: $75 per month
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 Shotgun, pump (6 shot) $75 1885 Maps
Scattergun, double barrel $40
Indian trade musket $10 The large mapsheet included with the
Smoothbore musket $12 game is printed on two sides and is specially
Muzzle-loading carbine $15 designed to serve several uses.
Muzzle-loading rifle $17 The first ide of the map shows a portion
Revolving cylinder rifle (6shot )$28 of a "typical" Western town, with streets
Breach-loading carbine $18 defined and buildings of various types
Breach-loading rifle $20 arrayed along them. Doors and windows are
Lever action rifle (15 shot) $50 1872 shown (the presence of two or three windows
Lever action rifle (9 shot) $40 1872 indicating a two- or three-story struct lue),
Lever action rifle (6 shot) $30 1872 and individual buildings are identified by
Lever action carbine(12 shot) $48 1872 name.
Lever action carbine (9 shot) $38 1872 The town map is designed to serve three
Lever action carbine (6 shot) $28 1872 purposes. First, it can function as the main
Buffalo rifle $30 portion of the fictional town of Promise City
Hunting/fighting knife $1 which is prominent in the various scenarios
of the game, or as almost any Western town
(Dates listed are when that item became of similar size . Second and third, portions of
available.) the town map can be utilized for the two his-
torical scenarios in this book: the Battle of
Related Items Coffeyville and the Gunfight at the O.K.
Corral. The map's scale is 1 space = 2 yards .
Ammunition, except $2 per 100 rounds
On the opposite side of the town map is
shotgun
the fictional area surrounding Promise City
Ammunition, shotgun $2 per 25 rounds and El Dorado County, located "somewhere in
Hol ter and gun belt $5 the Southwest." The map can be modified or
Rifle heath $4 enhanced in any way desired by the Judge.
Black powder $5 per 12.5 lb. keg Details can be left as shown, added, or delet-
ed as desired. The scale of this map is 1 hex =
Transportation 2 miles.
Poor horse Str 6-10) $20
Fair hor e(Str 11-15) $50
Good horse(Str 16-20) $100
Excellent horse(Str 21-25)$150
Moves On the Campaign Map
Mule $20
Ox $25 A campaign map such as the one included
Saddle, bridle , pad s $40 in the game or another designed by the Judge
Buggy $40 can be used for strategic movement. With a
Buckboard $35 scale of two miles per hex, the following
Saddle bag $5 guidelines are appropriate for movement
from place to place under variou conditions.

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 Table 33: Strategic Mounted Movement (miles/hour )

Horse's
Strength 1st Hour 2nd Hour 3rd Hour 4th Hour 5th Hour

21-25 16 12 8 4 must rest

16-20 14 10 6 2 must rest
11-15 12 8 4 2 must rest
6-10 10 6 2 must rest

• Men on foot can move 2 miles per hour for Effects of Terrain. Table 33 and the pre-
up to 16 hours, then must rest for 8 hour . ceding paragraphs assume the characters are
Men on foot can run 4 miles per hour for 3 traveling across open ground. When that is
hours, but then must rest for an hour; not the case, movement slows down . Check
running men must also rest for 8 hours Table 34: Strategic Movement Adjustments to
per day. find out how fast the characters can really
• Mounted men can move 4 miles per hour travel in one hour .
for up to 16 hours, but then must rest for
8 hours. Mounted men may also move at a Table 34: Strategic Movement Adjustments
higher rate depending on their horses'
Strength. Most horses are fair or good Terrain Effect on Movement
quality, but there are also poor or excell- Mounted Foot
ent types. Use Table 33: Strategic
Mounted Movement to find the distances Badlands * 1/4 speed 1/4 speed
(in miles per hour) that a horse can travel. Desert * 1/4 speed 1/2 speed
Resting a horse for one hour will shift its Forest 1/4 speed 1/2 speed
speed two columns to the left on Table 33. Hills 1/2 speed 1/2 speed
If the character dismounts and walks Mountains * 1/4 speed 1/3 speed
beside the horse for an hour, it shifts one Prairie , clear 3/4 speed 3/4 speed
column left. Road normal normal
Trail 3/4 speed normal
If a horse is ridden to exhaustion (t he
point where it "must rest "), make a Strength * This i "hard or rocky" terrain for tracking
check for it at the end of the day, with a -5 purposes.
Strength penalty. If this check fails, the horse
cannot use its "1st hour" rate on the following
day. If the horse fails two such checks on con- Rations
secutive days, it dies.
For example, Crazy Pierre is escaping Characters can find adequate amounts of
from a bank heist on a horse with Strength water , as well as grazing for their horses , in
18. In the first hour he moves 14 mile s, in the most types of wilderness terrain. Characters
second hour he moves 10, and in the third must carry food and water for themselves and
hour he moves 6 for a total of 30 miles cov- their horses when traveling in desert or bad-
ered in three hou1·s. Knowing that his horse lands. Each character needs at least half a
(which is tiring rapidly) would only move 2 canteen of water per day, as well as 3 pounds
miles next hour, Pierre decides to rest his of meat, beans, or hardtack per day. Each
horse for a time. At the end of one hour of horse needs at lea t a gallon of water and 10
rest, Pierre could start traveling again at a pounds of feed per day. Failure to provide
speed of 10 mph; however, he does not adequate feed for animals will eventually kill
observe any close pursuit, and so elects to them. See the description of Survival skill for
rest his horse another hour, which will bring detail on starvation.
it back to its full speed of 14 miles per hour.

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 Field Glasses again to determine what that group is doing
and a third time to add a quirk or two to the
and Telescopes group. The fir t die determines which portion
of the table i u ed the second determines
Player characters traveling in the wilder- which entry is used. For example , if the first
ness may find it useful to have a pair of field roll i 8 and the second is 12, a gambler is
glas es or a telescope. A telescope costs $15, encountered. If the first roll had been 16 and
field glasses $30. These may be hard to find the second 12, a sheepherder would have
away from metropolitan areas. been encountered. For quirks , there are four
Both devices increase the user's sighting lists from 1 to 20 instead of two.
range in the wilderness. Sighting ranges for Some random combinations may seem
various landmarks are listed on Table 35. non en ical at fir t, but try to reason them
through as rolled . If a rationale can be found
Table 35: Telescope Sighting for a seemingly paradoxical situation , the
foundation has been laid for a very interest-
Object Range ing adventure .
The Judge decides how many characters
Man in open 1 to 1.5 miles are in a group and what sort of equipment
Tree or similar landmark 2 to 3 miles and weapon they have. Encounters can
Very large object 3+ mile range from individual to infantry companie s
or even indian tribes.
The practical limit for a telescope is about Example: The Judge wants to set up a
5 miles. However, someone who knew what random wilderness encounter. His die rolls
he was looking for could spot a large land- are 5 (first table ) 11 (drifter ) 9/6 (fleeing lone
mark, like a town from an elevated position lawman ), and 12/ 14 (plays musical instru-
as much as 30 miles away. Because of the ment . It's now up to the Judge to figure out
wide variety of terrain and vi ibility condi- why the drifter is fleeing the lawman and
tions, the Judge mu t re ly on his own judg- whether the musical instrument has any-
ment in unusual case thing to do with it or is just a prop. Perhaps
the instrument was stolen; perhaps the
drifter was supposed to play at the lawman 's
Encounters wedding and insulted the man' bride; per-
haps the lawman has mi taken the drifter for
During the course of play, characters can someone else who carries a price on his head.
encounter many NPCs. It is difficult if not As the example illustrates, the Judge
downright impossible, for the Judge to plan would do well to roll out several random
in advance every encounter the characters encounter before play begins so he has time
will have. to think about them and flesh out the situa-
The lists that follow can be used to stimu- tion s and NPCs.
late the Judge 's imagination when coming up
with encounters.

To use these tables, roll two 20-sided dice

three times: once to determine who is met,

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 Table 36: Random Encounter
Wilderne Town
Group Encountered (11-20) (11-20)
Wildemes Town
(1-10) (1-10) 1 Lone lawman Deputy h riff
or ranger
1 Army patrol olclier 2 Lone outlaw Mugger
2 Artist Arti t 3 Miner Miner
3 Bounty hunter Bounty hunter 4 Nun un
4 Buffalo hunter Buffalo hunter 5 Photographer Photographer
5 Cavalry couts Cavalry cout 6 Po e Bully
6 Cavalry patrol avalry officer 7 Soiled dove oiled dove
7 owboy owboy 8 Railroad urveyor Railroad
8 Denti t Denti t executive
9 Detective Detective 9 Rancher Rancher
10 Doctor Doctor 10 Ru tiers Drifter
11 Drifter Drifter 11 ettler Pilgrim
12 Gambler Gambler 12 Sheepherder heepherder
13 Gunfighter Gunfighter 13 Stagecoach tage guard
14 Gun mith Craftsman or driver
15 Homesteader Granger 14 Texas ranger Texas ranger
16 Indian family Re ervation 15 Trapper Trapper
indian 16 Traveling merchant Merchant
17 Indian tribe Indian woman 17 Unemployed cowboy Drunk
18 Indian war party Indian fugitive 18 Vigilante Vigilante
19 Itinerant preacher Pr acher 19 Wagon train freight 'I1 am ter
20 Lawyer Lawyer 20 Writer Novelist

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 What They're Doing Wilderness Town
Wilderness Town (11-20) (11-20)
(1-10) (1-10) 4 Raiding homestead In ulting ettlers
1 Building home Putting up 5 Raiding indian camp Insulting indians
building 6 Raiding ranch Insulting
2 Catching wild horses Selling hor e ranchers
3 Delivering a parcel Delivering mail 7 Repairing Looking for some-
4 Dying of thirst Getting drunk telegraph line one who reads
5 Fleeing indians Talking about 8 Rounding up cattle Herding cattle
the "old days ' through town
6 Fleeing lone lawman Fleeing deputy 9 Setting an ambush Setting an
sheriff ambush
7 Fleeing pos e Forming posse 10 Starving Begging
8 Fleeing relatives Skipping out on 11 Tearing down fence Loading supplies
wedding into wagon
9 Fleeing vigilantes Searching for 12 Tracking grizzly bear Looking for a
undesirables fight
10 Going to hanging Lynching 13 Tracking indians Chasing someone
someone 14 Tracking wolf Mistakes PCs for
11 Heading for town Heading out omeone el e
of town 15 Transporting gold Taking money to
12 Hiding out Hiding out the bank
13 Hunting Catching chickens 16 Transporting ore Buying dynamite
14 Looking for Hiring a guide 17 Transporting payroll Hiring guards
a homestead 18 Transporting pilgrims Buying horses
15 Looking for Selling patent 19 Transporting Holding a shoot-
lo t treasure medicine prisoners ing contest
16 Looking for Looking for 20 Transporting wounded Touting a
mis ing per on workers champion boxer
17 Looking for work Looking for work
18 Planning crime Scouting robbery Quirks
targets (1-5) (6-10 )
19 Prospecting Bringing in ore 1 Addicted to Enormously
for assaying laudanum fat
20 Pursuing Chasing a 2 Aggressive Fanatical
bank robbers spooked horse 3 Albino Foolhardy
4 Alcoholic Forgetful
Wilderness Town 5 Armed to the teeth Generous
11-20) (11-20) 6 Anogant Has captives
1 Pursuing kidnappers Rounding up 7 Bigoted Has no horse
truants 8 Blind Ill
2 Pursuing ru tlers Trying to calm 9 Brave Impatient
jea lous husband 10 Cautious Incompetent
3 Putting up fence Looking for a bath

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 11 Chews tobacco Inferiority The Campaign Scenarios
excessively complex
12 Clumsy Injured Two campaign scenarios are included in
13 Cowardly Insane this book. One is quasi-historical, the other is
14 Cultured Irritating completely fictional. Either of these can pro-
15 Deadbeat Kleptomaniac vide the beginning of a campaign, or the
16 Defensive Knows every Judge can start his own campaign, cutting it
thing "from whole cloth." In any event, players can
17 Disorganized Laughs too much make their own destinies in such settings by
18 Doesn't speak English Lies habitually choosing a personal role or occupation . The
19 Dressed outlandishly Limps objectives of each character can be outlined
20 Dying Lost by the player or the Judge, and the e are the
goals each will seek as the campaign goes on.
(11-15) (16-20)
1 Loud Speaks many
languages Campaign Time
2 Messy Stingy
3 Midget Stutters At the Judge's option, campaign turns can
4 Missing an arm Talks about be daily, weekly, monthly, or of any specified
death duration. Each turn, the players describe to
5 Missing a leg Talks too much the Judge what their characters' actions and
6 Mute Tells tall tales undertakings will be, and the Judge moder -
7 Naive Terrified of ates the results. The Judge takes all actions
indians into account and describes appropriate infor-
8 Neat Trusting mation on events to the players as their char-
9 Owns mean dog Trying to give acters would know it.
something away When the action becomes appropriate to
10 Paranoid Uncooperative combat or shootout turns, the larger goings-
11 Passive Uncouth on are suspended until the tabletop action is
12 Personable Very bright resolved . With that done, campaign play
13 Phony accent Very old resumes.
14 Plays musical Very young Thi s approach is slightly different from
instr ument many role-playing games, where the empha-
15 Practical joker Very quiet sis is on tactical combat and acting out all the
16 Pursued by Well traveled minute-by-minute decisions a character
mortal enemy makes every day. While the BOOT HILL ®
17 Reckless Well groomed game can be played that way perfectly well, it
18 Sadistic Whist les also allows the option for a wider focus, tak-
obnoxiously ing in events on a grander scale.
19 Sloppy Wise
20 Smells bad Witty

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 Record s Campaign Scenario I
The Judge should keep copies of all start-
ing statistics and changes made by all perti- Promise City, 1876
nent characters in the campaign, giving spe-
cial care to the player characters (who
undoubtedly will also want to keep records of This quasi-historical campaign is centered
their own). For example, the Judge should around Promise City, a fictional town in
provide each player at the start of the game Texas, not far from the Indian Territory. It is
with an inventory of his character's cash on the seat of El Dorado County. Located on the
hand, equipment, animals, possessions, Great Southwestern Trail (one of the impor -
hirelings/associates/friends, and so on. Much tant trails up which cattle are driven to the
of this can be done by the players themselves, Kansas railheads for shipment to the East) ,
alleviating some of the load on the Judge, Promise City has become a bustling locale. It
especially if the players have expe1ience with is one of the main top of the gamblers' cir-
role-playing games. cuit, drawing gamblers from all over in
Orders for the actions of characters in search of a quick buck. Promise City's popula-
each campaign tw·n can be given orally, but tion of miners, cowboys, and businessmen are
the Judge may wish to consider requiring easy pickings for the deft gamblers.
written orders from each player, just so he The town is located near the army post,
has a record of the characters' intentions. Fort G1iffin. The fort was established to pro-
tect the area against the ravages of renegade
Indians who leave their reservations in the
Roles and Objectives Indian Territory to strike out at the ranchers
and farmers and cowboys driving herds to
The roles and objectives assigned to the Kansas. The Indian Territory is also a
participants must match the scope of the favorite hideout for bandits and outlaws,
campaign. If the map covers a large area and since it is a federal territory where Texas law -
the campaign is expected to last several game men have no jurisdiction.
years, players should represent major charac- The town of Promise City is, of course
ters: ranchers, outlaw leaders , sheriffs, somewhat larger than that portion shown on
Indian chiefs, cavalry commanders, and so the town map included with this book.
on, each with subordinate characters under Although the map provided offers enough
his command. Objectives would be similarly room for most action, the Judge can outline
broad. On the other hand, a campaign taking other parts of the town if he wishes.
place in a small county with but a town or This campaign focuses primarily on
two would cast its participants in less Promise City. If a larger playing field is
grandiose roles and give them smaller objec- desired, the town's environs (and even outly-
tives. An outlaw's objective might be to lead a ing parts of El Dorado County) can be includ-
gang of desperadoes into town, rob the bank, ed.
escape to a hideout , and lay low for a month
before pulling another job.

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 Th e Players Billy Thompson , gambler
Sam Bass outlaw
Each player creates a character as
described in Chapter 1.
The Nonplayer Characters
(fictional)
The Non -Player Characters
(historical) A list of locally prominent nonplayer char-
acters residing in the Promise City area is
To add interest and spice, the following given on Table 37: Fictional Nonplayer
characters (from Table 28: The Fastest Guns Characters. These characters can be used as
That Ever Lived ) may occasionally drift desired in setting up the campaign situation.
through El Dorado County in general, and
Promise City in particular . The list below
assumes an 1876 setting in northern Texas; Campaign Scenario II
appropriate adjustments can be made for
other times and locale .
Promise City & Eldorado
Wes Hardin , outlaw
Bill Longley, outlaw County, 1890 (Fictional)
Ben Thompson , rancher on a cattle drive
Jim Courtright, deputy from another part of Promise City is the seat of fictional
Texas in search of criminals Eldorado County, "somewhere in the
Johnny Ringo , gambler Southwest. " Outside the town is Fort Griffin,
Doc Holliday , gambler an army outpost of some importance, at least
Clay Allison, rancher on a cattle drive locally.
King Fisher , rancher on a cattle drive The campaign map shows Eldorado
Wyatt Earp , gamb ler County, its surrounding areas, and prominent
Bat Masterson , gambler geographical features. The map is designed to
Luke Short, gambler be "finished" by the Judge , who can set
John Slaughter, Texas Ranger Promise City in the locale of his choice-per-
Bill Raynor, deputy U.S. marshal in the ha ps in Colorado or Wyoming, perhaps in
Indian Territory Texas (near the Indian Territory, along the
Heck Thomas, Texas Ranger Mexican border, or elsewhere ), or anywhere
Chris Madden, deputy U.S . marshal in the in the Old West desired. The Judge can orient
Indian Territory the map as appropriate to the chosen setting
Frank Canton, outlaw (us ing the name Joe (designate which way is north and identify
Horner ) the borders as county or state lines , an so on).
Rowdy Joe Lowe, gambler In addition, various parts of the map (the
Bill Elliot, outlaw towns , in particular ) must be placed and
Jim Gillett, Texas Ranger marked with names. The following list of
Baldy Russell , out law town s (with descriptions ) can be consulted ,
John Selman , outlaw with each town being assigned an exact loca-
Print Olive, rancher on a cattle drive tion. Several of these entries have a distinct

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 Mexican flavor, which is appropriate if the Once the setting is determined, the follow-
campaign is set near the Mexican border. If ing list of geographic features can be placed
the campaign is set somewhere el e, the by the Judge on the map to "fill in" the details
Mexican listings can be disregarded or their as desired . A representative list of map fea-
names can be changed. Other features tures is given-it is up to the Judge to decide
de cribed below should also be marked on the where they belong. Likewise, not all listings
map. need be used, and additional features can cer-
tainly be added as desired. The end result
should be a unique campaign map with an
Using the Map interesting assortment of locales. The Judge
can map out appropriate details of specific
Before marking up the county map, the locales as the tabletop action requires.
Judge must decide what setting he wants for
the campaign-i.e., what part of the Old West
Promise City will be in. Once this decision is Towns
made, the map can be oriented as desired and
filled in. The following examples are just Bre w s ter. A railroad town, Brewster is
some of the possibilities. developing into a major trading center in the
area. It is larger than Promise City, but the
• Promise City in Texas, near the Indian considerable distance between the two towns
Territory. The map is oriented so that Fort ha allowed Promise City to grow without
Griffin is east of Promise City. Thus, the being in constantly in Brewster's shadow.
river at the north with the boundary Brewster boasts about 90 buildings. (If
marks the border of Texas and the Indian desired, this town could be off the map as the
Territory (a fictional equiva lent of the nearest city of importance.)
actual Red River border between Texa Bullion City. Once a prosperous town for
and present-day Oklahoma). pro pector and miners, Bullion City is now
dying because the mineral and precious metal
• Promise City in Texas, neal' Mexico. The deposits nearby are almost played out. It is
map is oriented so that Fort Griffin is now a hangout for rough characters of all
west of Promise City. Thus, the river at descriptions. There are about 25 buildings.
the south mal'ks the Texa -Mexican bor Burned Bu sh Wells. A small town which
der (a fictiona l equivalent of the actual Rio is nonetheless bustling . Burned Bush Wells
Grande River). has sprung up along a cattle trail as a regular
stop. Gambling is one of the main activities.
• Promise City in Colorado, at the edge of About 20 buildings comprise the town.
the Rockies. The map is oriented so that Buffalo Chip s Junction. This hamlet is
Fort Griffin is south of Promise City with a rather sleepy town, lying at the intersection
the mountains rising to the west. of two well-traveled routes . There are about
12 buildings.
These are only a few possible settings for Flapjack Junc tion. A small town which
the action. The map is designed to be placable serves the local farmers and ranchers,
almost anywhere With a little planning, it is Flapjack Junction is a rather quiet settle-
suitable for most locations. ment. There are only about 10 buildings.

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 Gordon. Now a ghost town, Gordon elegance, and progress that give the local citi-
enjoyed a brief existence when mining enter- zen prid e-an d which would even be a wel-
prises in the area sprang up, but they were come sight for the more discriminating visi-
short-lived. There ru.·eabout 15 buildings, all tors from such places as St. Louis, New
in disrepair. Orlean , or San Francisco.
Garrison del Neuvos. Garrison del Promise City carries on a bustling mer-
Neuvos is located along a well-traveled route, chant and banking trade, with a good a sort-
meaning it harbors its share of intriguing men t of business enterprises to serve the
characters. There are about 15 buildings in local populace and indeed, the entire county.
the town. Regular stagecoach service links the town
Glencia Portos. A growing settlement, with the outside world, and Promise City is
Glencia Portos primarily serves the small on the propo ed route of the planned railroad
ranchers and farmers in the surrounding which, it is hoped , will soon cros the county.
area. Regular stagecoach service is a There are about 75 buildings comprising
reminder of its relative importance locally. Promise City (the town map shows about 60
There are about 20 buildings. of them).
Hacienda del Roberto. This town has Prosperity . A boom town which has
grown up around the prominent ettlement of sprung up with reports of recent strikes by
a local landowner, and now numbers about 15 prospectors in the area, Prosperity is a wild
buildings. and woolly place that has attracted all sorts
Justice. Justice , located in an abundant of newcomers. There are already almost 20
farming area, is a somewhat prosperous town building in the town, and more are being
which is assuming greater importance as
local growth continues. There are only about built.
a dozen buildings , but new construction is Rio Neche . Rio Neches i a backwater
certain in the near future. town. It attracts few visitors due to its isolat-
Plaza del Lobo. One of the oldest settle- ed location. There are about 10 buildings .
ments in the entire area, Plaza del Lobo has Stetson City . A ranching town, Stetson
not enjoyed growth in the area 's recent boom City has gained a reputation as a tough place
because it is so isolated. Recurring rumors of from the outbreaks of local violence that seem
bad water in the surrounding area have also to recur there with alarming frequency. About
kept new settlers away. There are about 15 20 buildings make up the town.
buildings. Shiftless . A cattle town of some reputa-
Prairie Gulch. A quiet but mysteriou tion, Shiftless is a ramshackle ettlement
place, Prairie Gulch enjoys a rather unsavory where pas sing visitors usually outnumber
reputation in the county because of it local residents. Shiftles s has become a popu -
unfriendliness to travelers and outsiders . lar stop for traveling gambler , and that
There are about 10 buildings. activity abounds in the town. There are about
Promise City . A prosperous town which 15 buildings.
has grown up as the seat of Eldorado County , Two Feathers. Two Feathers is a semi-
Promi e City i growing in importance. While permanent Indian encampment outside the
retaining a definite measure of its rough and boundaries of the designated Indian land s .
ready frontier nature, Promise City nonethe- The fact that it is away from traveled routes
less shows other mall signs of refinement, and in a relatively remote area accounts for

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 the fact that few white men ventw·e there or Railroad Lines
care about it exi tence. No rail line are marked on the map but
Wild Creek. A mall but bu tling lumb er can be added initially or con tructed during
town, Wild Creek's future i bright a the the cour e of the campaign-depending of
county continues to pro per and grow. It in- cow· e on the year elected for play and the
gle mill ha enjoyed success but if rail con- area cho en a the location of the campaign
nection are made to the town as anticipated, setting the first tran continental railroad
a boom could occur. There are about 15 build- was completed in 1869). Rail plans for the
ings. county call for a line to Promi e City perbap
Zion. The newe t sett lement in the area from Brewster , with eventual connections to
Zion is small but growing. Another group of Wild Creek (due to the lumber busines
settlers from ''back Ea t i expected in the there). Rumor ha it that two competing rail-
near future, with an accompanying boost in road each have separate plans for the first
the town's ize. There are 10 building , most- line through th county.
ly new, comprising the town.

Water Features
Road & Trails
Bodies of water and watercour es can be
The major routes of travel in the area are named as desired. Smaller creeks can be
shown on the map. The most prominent of added in certain area ince the map how
the e can be named a de ired. Stage routes only the mo t promjnent tream .
should be noted by the Judge. Cattle ti-ails if
any, can be marked on the map or at least
noted elsewhere (an d they will of course be
common know ledge in the area).

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 Mines Topographic Features
There are several mines in the area, Badland s. The barren Badlands cover a
including some which have been abandoned . considerable area. They are a desolate
expanse of dry hills with irregular rock for-
Bronco Mine mation throughout. They are generally
Caliente Mine inhospitable, although their very nature
Downer Mine makes them a suitable locale for isolated
Mother Lode Mine hideouts. (The Badlands are a permanent fea-
Red Rock Enterprises Mine ture marked near one edge of the map. ) Some
T.T. Mine of the locally known landmarks in the
Badlands are:

Ranches Cactus Flats

Desolation Valley
Catt le and sheep ranching is a major Eldon Hills
activity in the county (with the inevitable Flat Top Mountains
conflicts between the two groups ), and there Hidden Cave
are numerous ranches of every size. The size Horn Mountains
and location of prominent ranches can be des- Mesquite Hills
ignated by the Judge. The most prominent of Mesa del Sol
these are: Mesa Grande
Morgan Range
Benjamin Ranch Mustang Hills
D BarKRanch No Man's Canyon
Double C Ranch Profit Valley
GBarGRanch Red Rose Pass
Hanging S Ranch Remembrance Pass
Lazy J Ranch Rock Spring
Logan Ranch Sandy Hills
Ponderous Ranch Scavanger Flats
Rocking G Ranch Sugar Bowl Valley
Templeton Enterprises Ranch Token Pass
Vulture Hills
Yellow Rock Canyon

Neighboring Counties Othe r Features

Benton County Lodg e Po le Trading Po st. A small set-
Big Rock County tlement (five buildings ) has arisen next to the
Cimmaron County established trading post at the place known
Patch County as Lodge Pole, near the Standing Bear Indian
Wyler County Reservation . The trading post is well-known,

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 but the clientele ' generally tough and impos- The P laye rs
ing nature keeps roost timid souls away.
Standing Be ar Indi an Re serv ation. A The size and cope of the campaign
fairly large land area comprises the reserva- depends on the number of players - the more ,
tion , named after Chief Standing Bear , an the merrier (in the largest campaigns, having
Indian leader . A large number of Indians two Judges can be helpful )!
from two different tribes live on the reserva- Players should be divided into two basic
tion. Despite the governments designation of group - outlaws and everyone el e. There
the reservation as a single entity, it i actual- can be an assortment of prominent citizens-
ly settled in two di tinct sections , with each ranchers, businessmen, and so on-plu law-
tribe keeping its di tance from the other . An men, railroad executives , Indian chiefi , caval-
uneasy peace exists between the two people, ry commanders, gamblers , or hired guns,
whose dislike for each other is exceeded only drifters, and bounty hunter .
by their mutual resentment of white men. Characters involved in law enforcement
This ill-feeling manifests itself on occasion in can take such roles a : county sheriff , town
various ways, adding great and continuing marshal, deputy, state ranger (such a Texas
uncertainty to the entire situation. or Arizona Ranger ), or deputy U.S. marshal.
The reservation land is mostly barren and Jurisdiction depend upon the situation and
bleak. Indian groups have settled in variou s locale for each official-county sheriffs have
parts of the reservation , but the two main no jurisdiction out ide their county, state
encampments are known as Buffalo Tooth rangers have no power to arrest outside their
and Many Tears. There is a small trading state border (and they only operate in a coun-
post on the reservation known as the ty at the request of county law officers), and
Standing Bear Trading Post which is gener- deputy U.S . marshals have no jurisdiction
ally the only place white men are seen. (The outside a federal reservation or the Indian
reservation can be located where desired on Territory unless carrying a federal arrest
the map, and its ize i up to the Judge. ) warrant.
Fort Griffi n. Although important in the Players opting to be outlaws start their
area, Fort Griffin is an um·emarkable out- own gang by hiring nonplayer characters
post. Its garrison is small considering the and/or by joining with other player charac er
extent of the surrounding territory , and the of similar bent. None of the player outlaws
fort itself consist only of a blockhou e and are wanted by the law at the start of the
several buildings. game , so they are free to travel and act as
D es p era do es' D en . An ar ea of mall they plea e until such time as they break the
cave and protective overhanging rock forma- law. Famous outlaws from the li t of histori -
tion i known locally as Desperado es' Den. cal nonplayer characters will seldom have
This i olated place in the semi-mountainous anything to do with the player characters.
hills is barely acce ible, and few know its Players who are something be ides law-
exact location de pit e it reputation as a men or outlaws may have special individual
hideout for hard cases on the run or on the goals as outlined privately by the Judge at
wro11gside of the law. (The Judge may initial- the start of play (for instance, a prominent
ly want to keep the location of this place a a rancher 's objective may be gaining control of
secret from all except the roost prominent part of the county . With town and county
outlaw characters. ) elections occurring from time to time on a

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 regular basi , the selection of elected official Charlie Bryant , Doolin gang member
friendly to certain players can add additional Ned Chri tie, outlaw
intrigue, as well. The possibilities are many. Bill Doolin, outlaw
"Cherokee Bill" Goldsby, outlaw
Zip Wyatt, outlaw
Nonplayer Characters, Fictional Tom Dougherty, Doolin gang member
H ck Thomas , deputy U.S. Marshal in the
The list of locally prominent nonplayer Indian Ten-itory
character prevfou ly pre ented on Table 37
can be used as de ired. See the table for
details on the individua l character . Th e Obje ctiv e
The objective of outlaw players is to be the
Nonplayer Characters, Historical first to accumulate $100,000 and safely
escape from the area. The objective of the
To add intere t and pice, the following lawmen players i to be the one who garner
historica l characters from the li t The Fastest the most reward money for capturing outlaws
Gun that Ever Lived might occasionally drift without being killed (all player outlaw must
through Eldorado ounty in general and be captured for any lawman to win). The
Promi e City in particular. Thi list a um objective of other players will vary depending
an 1890 setting in northern Texas; appropri- upon their tarting ituation and the
ate adjustment can be made for other time re ource at hand (or attainable) and the
and locales. Judge ' di cretion.
Since the BOOT HILL ® game i a role-
Bas Outlaw, Texa Ranger playing game, "winning" is relative to a large
Luke Short, gambler degree. A campaign can run to some predeter-
Bill Tilghman, deputy U.S. Marshal in the mined time limit, or can simply keep on going
Indian Territory if the Judge and player agree that it would
"Bitter Creek" Newcomb, Doolin gang be fun to do so. In such cases, formal guide-
member line for winning are discarded and each
Chris Mad en, deputy U .S. Mar ha ! in the player endeavors simply to best improve his
Inclian Territory individual position (and that of his colleagues
Rowdy Joe Lowe, gambler and henchmen ). As always, the main objec-
Jim Master on, deputy U.S. Marshal in the tive i nothing more than having fun!
Inclian Territory
Temple Hou ton, lawyer
Tom Rynning, Texa Ranger
Jim Gillett, rancher on a cattle drive
John Selman, lawman from another part of
Texas searching for a criminal
Grat Dalton, outlaw
Bob Dalton, outlaw
Emmett Dalton, outlaw
Bill Dalton Doolin gang member

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 If you prefer your Westerns pure and unadul- Dis co n tinuou s Ad ventures
terated, it might be wise to skip this chapter.
The notions contained here are for the adven- Some samples of the types of adventures a
turous, for Judges who seek something truly discontinuity can lead to are:
different and who love throwing curve balls to • Characters come across strange tracks in
their players. the wilderness which lead to a hidden val-
No doubt role-players who sit down for an ley or a subterranean world populated by
evening's BOOT HILL ® game expect some- dinosaurs and cavemen;
thing in the classical Western genre: cattle • Characters riding across the wilderness
drives, gunfights, bank robberies, gold rush- suddenly come upon a valley they've never
es. Imagine their surprise when they seen before with a smooth , black tower
encounter ... a vampire! Or a werewolf , or rising ominously from the ground;
creatures from beneath the Earth. • Wagon trains are disappearing in a
No, these things are not typically Western, remote area and indians come into town
but they can be the basis for a very enjoyable talking of strange and savage creatures
role-playing session. The sense of wonder living in the hills;
that is so essential to adventure gaming is • A silent, brooding foreigner drifts into
strongest when encountering the unknown or town, and then townspeople begin disap-
the unexpected. pearing, or turning up in the morning ,
drained of blood;
• The characters are captured, accused
Discontinuity (rightly or wrongly ), tried, convicted, and
hanged, only to be launched on a series of
If any of this material is used, it follows weird and surreal after-death adventures .
these assumptions.
The universe contains not just one, but
many parallel realities. We know and exist in Making It All Fit
only one of them. Most bear a strong resem-
blance to one another, differing in only a few Obviously, this sort of device can't be used
key details. too often or it loses its shock value . This is,
Occasionally, these alternate realities after all, a game of Western adventure, not
overlap. When that happens , someone (or horror. But remember , too, that the latter half
something ) can inadvertently cross from one of the 19th Century was the time of Sherlock
reality to another. This switch may not be Holmes, Tarzan, John Carter, and Jack the
immediately apparent, but soon small differ- Ripper. Victorians (and the American west
ences will begin to make things seem very was as steeped in Victorian attitudes as any
strange indeed. This effect, of being ''lost in other place ) were either incredibly supersti-
the twilight zone," is behind many seemingly tious or dogmatically empirical , in fiction
inexplicable events. anyway.

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 This chapter contains two distinct sections. Tom McLaury and Ike Clanton, a loud-
The first is a pair of historical scenarios. mouthed braggart, were supposedly unarmed,
These are shootouts based on two very but for the purposes of this scenario should be
famous gun battles from the Old West: the armed with one fast-draw revolver apiece.
gunfight at the O K Corral and the battle of Billy and Frank were both holding horses ,
Coffeyville . The second section is a series of each of which had a rifle in a scabbard next to
short adventures which can be added to any the saddle. Billy Claibourne was also actually
BOOT HILL ® campaign, either as a change of present at the fight , but ran before the first
pace or to lengthen one of the referee's own shot and later claimed that he was just a
adventures. These were originally published bystander and had no part in the feud. As an
in the adventure modules BHl through BH5. option, he can be added to the cowboy side.
The one-page map included in this book is
suitable for this scenario (some minor liber-
ties have been taken with the exact location
The Gunfight at or distance represented, but these will not in
the O K Corral any way interfere with the recreation of his-
tory ), and the setup should be as illustrated.
This scenario (with the example of play The scenario starts just as the first shot is
which follows it ) provides a suitable training fired and continues until one side ha s been
game for beginning players . eliminated or has fled. The winner is the side
The Gunfight at the O K Corral is the with remaining characters, although a histor-
most famous of all American gunfights. In ica l compari son can be used to modify suc-
this fight Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and cess.
Morgan, and John "Doc" Holliday fought Ike The actual outcome of the battle found
and Billy Clanton and Frank and Tom Billy Clanton and both McLaury 's dead. Ike
McLaury , leaders of the "cowboy" (rustler ) Clanton had fled at the beginning of the
faction in the Tombstone , Arizona area. The shooting. On the Earp 's side, Virgil and
chain of events which led to the fight is too Morgan were both seriously wounded, and
long to recount here , but can be found in most "Doc" Holliday was slightly wounded. Wyatt
books on the Old West. was uninjured.
The gunfight did not actually take place at
the O K Corral , but just down Fremont
street, between Fly 's Boarding House and
Harwood's House (a map of this area is The Characters
included in this rule book ). The Earp group
was allegedly approaching the cowboys to dis- The characters who are involved and the
arm them. weapons they carry are listed below.
The Earps were each armed with two fast- Complete statistics and attribute scores for
draw revolvers, all loaded with six rounds. these figures are listed in Chapter 6, Table
"Doc" Holliday carried both a fast-draw pistol 28: The Fastest Guns That Ever Lived.
and a shotgun. Of the cowboys (who were
obviously expecting a fight at this time ), only 1. Virgil Earp FDR6
Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton were wear- 2 . Morgan Earp FDR6
ing revolvers~two each of the fast-draw type. 3. Wyatt Earp FDR6

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 4. "Doc" Holliday FDR6, SG2 Speed Chance Shots Target
5. Frank McLaury FDR6,LR15
6. Billy Clanton FDR6,LR15 Wyatt Earp 22 8 3 Frank
7. Tom McLaury FDR6, LR15 Morgan Earp 19 4 3 Tom
8. Ike Clanton FDR6, LR15 Frank McLaury 16 3 3 Wyatt
9. Billy Claibourne FDR6 Virgil Earp 15 18 1 Ike
(optional) Billy Clanton 10 16 1 Wyatt
Tom McLaury 9 3 3 Virgil
"Doc" Holliday 9 19 2 Billy
Ike Clanton 4 2 3 Morgan
Ex ample of play
Everyone 's Fast Draw rolls succeed, so no
What follows is an example of how a sce- one's shot is delayed.
nario of the Gunfight at the O K Corral might Five shots are fired on count 2. Wyatt 's
be played, with the addition of NPC Bravery first shot puts a serious wound in Frank's left
for Ike Clanton (seeing how he was the only shoulder. Morgan's shot puts a light wound in
major participant to skedaddle during the Tom's left shoulder . Frank, his chance to hit
shooting). now reduced to less than 1, misses Wyatt.
Tom also misses Virgil and Ike misses
Turn 1 Morgan.
One shot is fired on count 3. Doc's shotgun
Bravery is first checked for Ike Clanton , blast hammers Billy, causing four wounds:
as he is faced with a dangerous situation. His abdomen /mortal, left shoulder/serious,
Bravery score is 9. An 8 is rolled, meaning he chest/serious, head/light. Billy fails his Luck
will stay and fight this turn. check and dies on the spot.
Knowing the action will be fast and furi- Five more shots are fired on count 4.
ous, the Judge announces that shootout tmns Wyatt's second shot causes another serious
will be used. Initiative rolls are 4 for the law- wound to Frank 's abdomen. Morgan rolls a
men and 2 for the cowboys. light wound to Tom's right shoulder . Tom
All of the cowboys elect to Fast Draw and misses Virgil again . Frank , with two serious
shoot, with no movement. Frank will fire wounds, rolls a 1 and then makes his Luck
three hipshots at Wyatt . Tom is firing three check, inflicting a serious head wound on
hipshots at Virgil. Ike fires three at Morgan. Wyatt. Ike scores a light wound to Morgan's
Billy Clanton fires one careful shot at Wyatt. abdomen.
All of the lawmen are Fast Drawing and On count 6, four shots are fired. Wyatt's
shooting as well. Wyatt elects to fire three third shot is a mortal wound to Frank's
hipshots at Frank. Morgan fires three hip- abdomen , and Frank dies (before his third
shots at Tom; Virgil aims one careful shot at shot ). Morgan's third shot is also mortal, hit-
Ike. "Doc" Holliday fires two steady shots ting Tom in the chest . Tom's Luck fails and he
from his shotgun at Billy. dies . Virgil 's careful shot causes a serious
At the start of the turn , Fast Draw rolls wound to Ike 's abdomen. Ike misses Morgan.
(in descending order ) and chances to hit are
as follows:

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 Turn2 hit chances and sequence. Maybe next time
the Clanton/McLaury crowd will win.
The lawmen win initiative for this turn.
The Judge decides that, given how badly
things are going, Ike must check his Bravery The Battle of Coffeyville
score again. Thi time the roll i 18 and Ike
will run for it, but he also will fire one careful The Battle of Coffeyville marked the end
shot a he goe . All four lawmen fire careful of the trail for the Dalton Gang . The battle
shot at their fleeing enemy. began when five members of the gang tried
Doc Holliday has the highe t peed , and robbing two banks in the ame town at the
his shot cau e one light wound in Ike's right ame time. Thi had only been attempted
arm. Morgan Earp fire econd, and get a once before-unsucce fully-by their
mortal wound in Ike's chest. Miraculously, cou ins, the James/Younger Gang. Tb n u-
Ike pa ses hi Luck check, converting the ing fight ended with four citizen killed and
mortal wound to a light wound. Wyatt fire four wounded; of the bandits , only Emmett
third, scoring a serious wound to the Dalton lived, and he received a long jail s n-
abdomen. The unfortunate Ike, with two eri- tence.
ous and two light wounds , finally pas e out The Promi e City map can be u ed for this
in the alley from loss of blood. scenario (it corresponds to the hi torical situ-
ation in general re p cts- ome minor detail
The final core of the fight- have been altered, but they will not affect the
recreation of history ).
Frank McLaury: dead
Tom McLaury: dead
Billy Clanton: dead Setup
Ike Clanton: two seriou wound in abdomen,
light wounds in che t and arm The Dalton Gang members begin in two
Wyatt Earp: serious wound in head locations at the start of the action: Grat
Morgan Earp: light wound in abdomen Dalton Bill Power , and Dick Broadwell are
Virgil Earp: unhurt in Condon' Bank (use Berman's Mercantile ),
Doc" Holliday: unhurt and Bob and Emmett Dalton are in the 1st
National Bank. Each is armed with a lever-
The Gunfight at the O K Con-al i over, action rifl and two fa t-draw revolver .
again. Set it up and practice working out the They are opposed by 16 citizen s in three
groups of 6, 8, and 2. Their abilitie are deter-

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 mined randomly as normal for NPCs, except Options
for one, John Kloehr, who is in the group of 8
and who has Coordination 17, Rifle 3, Pistol Bill Doolin, a man who later became the
2, and Bravery 19 (he is noteworthy as the leader of his own famous gang, wa supposed
person responsible for killing two or three of to join in the robbery attempt. His horse went
the outlaws, depending upon whose account lame on the way to the meeting place, and
is read). The group of 6 citizens starts in the when he failed to arrive on time the others
Indian Head Saloon, the group of 8 citizens started without him. To give the Daltons a
starts in Slade's Hardware, and the group of slightly better chance, Bill Doolin can be
2 citizens starts in the Harness Shop and added to the Dalton Gang (the victory condi-
Bootmaker's building. The citizens can begin tions remain the same) .
As an option, try setting up the gang
taking action immediately upon hearing any members and citizens in other locations, with
shooting; Even if no shots have been fired, each side unaware of the other's position.
however, each group can become active if a 6 This requires planning and constant oversee-
or less is rolled on one 20-sided die; roll sepa- ing by the Judge , but can make the situation
rately for each group, at the beginning of more challenging for both sides.
every combat turn until shots are fired. These
citizens are suspicious and can act according-
ly. The Judge must use some discretion here Victory Conditions
to determine reasonable actions. (Firing a few
shots into the air just because someone's nose To win, the outlaws must get to their hors-
itches is not reasonable.) es (adjacent to the Lumber Yard) and get off
The citizens have one gun each at the the board (while mounted) across Sierra
start and minimal ammunition on their per- Street with at least three of their gang. The
son (extra ammunition or guns must be citizens win if they capture or kill all of the
obtained from a hardware or similar store on gang members. Any other result is a draw.
the map). A random number is generated by
the roll of a single die for each citizen's
firearm: 1-8 Rifle ; 9-16 Revolver (random The Characters
type); 17-20 Shotgun .
Complete information on the outlaws
(Bob, Grat, and Emmett Dalton, Dick
Broadwell, Bill Powers, and Bill Doolin) is
Special Rules listed on Table 28: The Fa test Guns That
Ever Lived.
All buildings are locked and cannot be
entered except for those that are used as
starting positions.
The Dalton Gang members never make
Pocket Adventures
Bravery checks, but a citizen must whenever The following sections are short adven-
he is wounded or sees another citizen get tures, taken from adventure modules BHl
killed. through BH5 which were published for the
BOOT HILL® game between 1981 and 1985.

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 These are not complete adventures by them- come out into the street. Most of the towns-
selves, but can be used as jumping off points people will be there to watch the fight . A rope
for longer adventures or as fill-in items dur- will be laid on the ground to mark the boxing
ing a campaign. ring.
If none of the player characters decide to
fight Big Mike, an NPC will enter the ring.
The Manchester Mangler Before starti ng the fight, Bentham will take
side bets against his fighter. These will be at
This scenario begins with the arrival of even odds. The total of all the bets cannot
the stagecoach in town. The driver has been exceed $1,000. After this is done, Bentham
having trouble with the brake and must stop will explain that the fight is "no-holds-
to make repairs before going on. The stage barred" until one man is unconscious. The
will not be able to continue until the next referee may let one of the players control the
morning. Big Mike O'Halloran and Jeremy NPC for the fight, or simply announce that
Bentham are the only passengers on the the fight lasts several minutes before the
stage. Big Mike is the Manchester Mangler, a local is knocked out . Big Mike should lose
professional bare knuckles boxer. Jeremy about five Strength points in this fight.
Bentham is his manager. Both have come Bentham will then challenge the crowd to
over from England to tour the Southwest and come up with a better fighter. No one will
stage prize fights. Since they are stuck here come forward (except possibly a player char-
overnight , Jeremy decides to see if they can acter). If no player characters volunteer,
make a profit. After getting rooms at the Bentham will single one of them out (referee's
hotel, he will go out on the balcony and begin choice) and offer him $100 if he can knock out
yelling (in his best English accent), Big Mike. If the character refuses, Bentham
"Gentlemen! Tonight, for one night only, the will give up for the night, but not before
fighter of the century-The Manchester implying the player character is a coward.
Mangler-will give a demonstration of his Jeremy will continue to offer fights and
pugilistic skills against all comers! $50 to the side bets until there are either no comers or
man who can knock him out! Remember, Big Mike is down. So long as there is a will-
tonight only, in your town!" While he is giving ing fighter, the crowd will not let Jeremy
his sales pitch, Big Mike will come out in his withdraw his fighter and will get mean if he
boxing clothes and stan d beside Bentham. tries to do so.
O'Hallorao is a huge man with a bald head After the fight, Jeremy and Big Mike will
and handlebar mustache. Jeremy will keep go back to their room and stay there all night.
the sa les pitch going until he attracts a Jeremy will keep the original $1,000 and the
crowd. Once this has been done, both will winnings ($300 plus any character's sidebets)

Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Skills

Big Mike O'Ha lloran 18 16 12 9 6 Brawling 4

Jeremy Bentham 10 11 9 6 9 Public Speaking 12
Thespian 14

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 in a money belt under his nightshirt. tions. They will shoot at anyone who fires on
Bentham and O'Halloran will both leave in or pursues the robbers.
the morning on the stage. Shadowy Dave's plan was that all the rob-
bers would ride peacefully out of town with-
Jeremy carries $1,000 in his money belt out attracting any notice. However, two
and a derringer in his trouser pocket. things will go wrong. First, the bucket
brigade crosses the street they planned to use
for escape . Second, the teller comes out of the
Stable Fire and Bank Hold-Up bank with a CBR and shoots at the bank rob-
bers as they reach the bucket brigade.
One morning, the various members of an Panicked, the robbers (except for Shadowy
outlaw gang drift into town, posing as Dave) begin shooting at anyone in sight and
strangers just passing through. At 11 A.M., then concentrate on those people who shoot
one of the outlaws enters the stable and back. Shadowy Dave will spur his horse for-
ignites the hay in the loft. The stable owners ward and try to ride out of town as fast as
are elsewhere at the time . After the fire is possible. The gunfight continues until the
burning well, the outlaw runs out into the robbers are all dead or have surrendered . The
street and raises the alarm, shouting, "Fire! bank robbers will not sun·ender until two or
The stable's gonna burn!" Most all the male more of their gang are dead or unconscious.
citizens of th e town come to help put out the When this happens, they have to pass a
fire. They form a bucket brigade from the Bravery check every turn. Bank robbers who
nearest well to the stable. fail this check will smTender. The citizens are
Meanwhile, the outlaws are robbing the unarmed (except for the sheriff) and will run
bank. Shadowy Dave and the man with the for cover when the shooting begins unless
shotgun enter the bank, one man (with an they pass their Bravery checks also. Those
RCR7) is holding their horses outside, one citizens that pass Bravery checks will contin-
man (with the BR) is in front of the sheriff's ue to fight the fire. Hence, the job of stopping
office, and the last two are posted near the the outlaws will have to be done by the player
southern end of the town. Shadowy Dave and characters. The bank will pay a $100 reward
the other man force the teller to open the safe if the money is retm'lled.
and then take all the cash. They (and the If the characters help fight the fire, it will
man holding the hor es) then ride south, try- be put out after it has burned the upper half
ing to leave town. Their escape will be cov- of the building (about 30 minutes). If the
ered by the other men at their different posi- player characters have horses in the stable,

Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Brv Skills

Shadowy Dave 13 17 9 6 5 16 CBR2
Struthers RCR2
Riding 11
Gang Members (5) 13 14 9 4 4 13 Pistol 1
Rifle 1

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 the animals will die from heat and smoke sheriff guesses that since their kin are still
inhalation unles a player character lets alive, the Berreras will try to break them out
them out of their stalls. Anyone entering the of jail. Furthermore , it is likely that the
burning building can release the horses into attempt will be made at night.
the corral. There is a 50% chance that the As night falls, the sheriff tells the play er
character will be injured while doing this. characters to take po ition in the town
The injury will either be light (70% chance ) or where they can watch the main street and
serious (30% chance ) and will be caused by the lockup. He also sugge t that people stay
general burns. If two or more characters in pairs for safety. Since none of the bu iness-
enter the stable, one may rescue the horses men want their building s hot up , player
while the other gathers saddles and other characters will not be able to hide inside. The
tack . only buildings that player characters might
Three of the outlaws are armed with be able to hide in are the stable, the lockup,
RCR7s, one carries a BR, and the last has a and the sheriff's office. The sheriff plans to
SHG2. All of them carry CBR6s. The five out- watch the lockup from the back door of hi
laws have identical characteristics. All of the office.
bank robbers have good horses with saddle, That night the air is chill and clear. The
bridle, and other normal gear. moon is only one quarter full. Buildings and
Use standard NPCs for the bank teller, shape are only vaguely outlined. At about 2
sheriff, and townspeople. A.M., the Mexicans enter the town. Jose
Berrera, El Moro, and seven of the other out-
laws enter from the north, on foot. They will
Jailbreak! be moving quietly and slowly, watching for
signs of trouble. As they close in on the lock-
The night before this scenario occurs, the up , El Moro and two of the outlaws split off
local sheriff Mule arrested Luis Vaco and from the main group and circle around ot the
Esteban Berrera for horse stealing. They are east. Meanwhile, Sebastian and three other
now in the lockup. The sheriff is now worried outlaws approach from the west side, going
and comes to the player characters for help. directly to the lockup . Once at the lockup ,
The Be1Tera family is a close-knit group and Sebastian will pass two CBRs in ide. Ropes
the sheriff expects violence because of the will be tied to the window bar and all the
arrest. In fact , the previous sheriff was horses will be used to pull the window out.
gunned down in the night after he arre ted About a minute after Sebastian reaches
some members of the family. The heriff the lockup (or the instant any shooting
wants to deputize the player characters and starts), Jesus and the two remaining outlaw
be ready, with them, for the Berreras. ride fa t into town from the south. They make
If the player characters agree to the sher- as much noise as po ible, firing their guns
iff's plan, he will hastily make them all tem- into the air and screamjng oaths and cur e .
porary deputies. Any character without a rifle If the player characters fire at them, the
will be given one from the sheriff 's office. The other member of the family in town will
sheriff exp lain s that the Berrera family is immediately open fire. Under cover of this
about 20 to 30 members strong and most are noise, Sebastian (covered by EJ Moro and hi
known banditos in Mexico. They use the U.S. two men) spur the horse . After a minut e or
as a hideout from Mexican authorities. The two of pulling , the window and a good portion

113

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 Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Brv Skills

Jose Pedro Ruiz 14 17 13 12 7 16 SAR3

y Berrera LR2
Fast Draw 18
Jesus Berrera 17 13 9 7 4 12 CBRl
Knife 2
"El Moro" (the 10 14 10 11 5 15 CBR2
Moor) Berrera Fast Draw 17
Sebastian Vaco 14 14 13 5 2 11 CBRl
RCR2
Knife 3
Luis Vaco 13 11 11 6 3 10 Pistol 1
Esteban Berrera 11 9 13 4 4 10 Pistol!
12 Banditos 12 11 10 4 3 10 CBRl
RCRl

of the wall crack and fall free. The prisoners good horses. El Moro is Jose's father. Luis
are free. When this is done, Sebastian and El and Esteban are currently in the lockup. The
Moro shout, "Ojalla!," their signal. All surviv- 12 other banditos are all members of either
ing members of the family mount up and ride the Berrera or Vaco families. All have identi-
out of town as fast as possible. Sebastian has cal characteristics.
extra horses available just outside of town.
This is the plan the Berrera family will
follow. There are several things that could go The Fake Map
wrong with it and there are several ways the
player characters might ruin the plan. The Jeremiah Longley and Samantha DeVries
Judge should not suggest any of these meth- arrive in town on the stage. They will be let
ods through the sheriff, but should let the off in town, although anyone watching will
players do the planning. Possible complica- notice Jeremiah arguing with the driver
tions could include moving the prisoners, sub- about something. After a heated exchange,
stituting player characters for the prisoners, Jeremiah walks away, cursing under his
or even lighting the whole area with lanterns. breath. If there are rooms available in the
If any special precautions are taken, the hotel, Jeremiah reserves two rooms, one for
Berreras still follow their plan up until the himself and one for his "daughter." He gives
point where something goes wrong. the names Jeffrey and Amelia Turpin.
Thereafter, the family members do whatever Sometime after checking into the hotel,
seems best, depending on their Bravery Jeremiah will wander about town. If asked
checks. If all the named members of the fami- what he is doing, he explains that he and his
ly are killed or unconscious, the remaining daughter had little choice, as they lacked suf-
outlaws flee immediately. ficient funds to travel further. He is now in
Jose is the bandit's leader, and he has an distress about their situation (he explains)
excellent horse. All other bandits have fair or and must make plans. He will continue to

114

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 travel about the town, until the story of him the only thing he has of worth is an old map.
and his daughter is widespread. The Judge He claims the map is a copy of the old
should see that the player characters hear Mendoza map that shows the location of the
the story if they do not meet Jeremiah per- Lost Conquistador Mine . Once he had ambi-
sonally. tions of going after the mine himself, but
That evening, Jeremiah will accidentally since the death of his wife, he has had to
let slip (as ifhe were a forgetful old man) that devote his time to raising his daughter in a
he has something of great value to sell. manner befitting a proper young girl. He is
Samantha will quickly quiet him and try to still very unwilling to sell the map, but (after
convince others that he meant nothing. much persuasion ) would be willing to cut the
Again, if the player characters are not pre- characters in on the deal. For $2,000 up front,
sent, the news of this story should reach their he will consider the player characters part-
ears. ners and will give them the map to recover
Early the next morning, a stranger named the ti·easure. Once the mine is found, a claim
Robert Hamilton will ride into town. After would then be filed in all their names. If
stabling his horse, he will go to the sheriff's asked why he needs the $2,000, he will
office. While Hamilton is in the sheriff's explain that it is a security in case the char-
office , Samantha will "accidentally" meet a acters decide to skip out on him. As proof of
player character (bump into one on the street, his sincerity, he will show the player charac-
enter a bar looking for her father, etc. ). She ters a small portion of the map. It shows the
will use this opportunity to strike up a friend- area around Promise City and is apparently
ship with the player character. If possible, authentic.
she will arrange for the characters to dine After stating his problem, he will be ready
with her and her father that night. During to deal with the PCs. If the characters wish to
the rest of the day, nothing else will happen argue about the price, he will be willing to
in this scenario, except that Robert Hamilton haggle about the money, but he will not go
will be seen about town, saying little to any- lower than $500 . After any dealing is done,
one. he will retire , pleading his old age . If the
That evening, if the player characters dine player characters have not agreed to the deal,
with Jeremiah and Samantha, the two cons Samantha will give them the final hook. She
deliver their "pitch." Samantha (as Amelia ) explains that she has been very nervous
will appear nervous and worried. Jeremiah because there have been some men following
will explain that he needs money badly, due her and her father, men who want to take the
to a series of unfortunate reverses. However, map from them . As proof she describes the

Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Brv Skills

Jere mi ah Longley 7 11 15 2 7 6 Thespian 16

Samantha De Vrie 9 10 14 3 6 6 Thespian 15
Robert Hamilton, 13 13 12 8 8 15 SAR3
Pinkerton agent LR2
Stealth 8

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 stranger who rod into town today (Rob rt If the characters travel into the wilderness
Hamilton), claiming that he i on of tho e u ing the phony map, they travel in a random
men. The player have until morning to direction for at least 30 or 40 mile before
decide what to do. finally realinzing that they cannot seem to
If th player character accept th deal, find any of the landmarks on the map. What
they receiv th map when they pay the happen next i up to the player .
agreed um. They have bought a worthle Jer rniah is a frail looking man who appear
piece of paper. If the players confront Robert to be about 60 yeaT old. He ha a very pUTi-
Hamilton, he tries to bluff his way out of the tanical look about him a he normally wears
ituation if possible. Failing that he reveal dark clothing and a broad brimmed hat. He
that he is a Pinkerton agent. If the player ha grey hair and a full alt and pepper
character realize the truth and inform beard.
Hamilton of what has happened, he will ask Samantha a pretty young woman, often
them to meet with the two con one more po e as Jeremiah's daughter. She dresses
time. At thi meeting he (and the player nic ly and i very polite and demure. he car-
charact r ) will arre t the pair. It is highly rie an FDR in her handbag.
unlikely that thi will come to a hootout, Hamilton i an agent of Pinkerton's
ince the couple are con artist , not gunfight- National Detective Agency. He ha been
er . tracking Longley and his partner for everal
If the characters buy the map and do week . He wants them for a railroad swindle
nothing el e, Jeremiah and Samantha skip they pulled earlier this year. He dres es in
town at the earlie t po ible moment. They dark suits and wears a bowler hat.
buy hor es and gear and ride away in an
unknown direction.

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 A Woman Wronged crops on the little homestead they have in
Nebraska.
Jerry and Margaret arrived in town riding Jerry and Margaret are actually pulling a
a freight wagon. Jerry is searching for the con. Neither of them ha s seen th e player
roan who promised to marry his sister. They character before. Margaret, a s an unwed
will ask for rooms in the hote l and offer to mother, seemed to have little hope of doing
work for their room and board. Late in the well in life. To help her get ahead (or get mar-
afternoon, they both walk up and down the ried ), Jerry hit upon a scheme of marrying
streets of town, Jerry with shotgun in hand . her to an unsuspecting stranger. However , all
Each time they approach a man, Jerry turns he and Margaret really want is money. If the
to Margaret and asks , "Is that him? " Each player character offers over $200, Jerry and
time he asks, she shakes her head no. Finally, MaTgaret will agree to drop their claim, say-
they meet the player characters (either in the ing, "At least the skunk had honor enough to
street or in a building ). Before Jerry can ask offer support for the child ." They will stick to
his question of Margaret, she stops and their story unless positive proof can be given
points to one of the male player characters that they are lying. Testimony from the play-
and say, "Him! He's the man!" The Judge er character' s companions will not be consid-
chooses which player character she is point- ered positive proof. If asked, the sheriff will
ing at. Immediately Jerry will point his shot- make inqui1ies for the player character. His
gun at the character and tell that "low-down checking has a 60 % chance of revealing the
deceiver" to freeze. One to four citizens will truth.
be on hand to see this. If the player characters kill Jerry to pre-
If the character obeys, Jerry will lead him vent the wedding from happening , the sheriff
to the Justice of the Peace. There , with (assisted by several other townspeople ) will
Margaret holding her child in her arms and arrest the characters involved. If the hooting
Jerry holding the shotgun on the player char- was in self defense , the sheriff will let the
acter, a traditional (if somewhat hasty ) shot- player character go after two day s. He will
gun wedding will be performed. Jerry will warn the character that it might be best to
provide the money for the wedding license leave the area. If the PC ignores this warn-
and the Justice of the Peace's fee, comment- ing , he will be visited by 12 masked vigilantes
ing on how he has been saving his money a during the night. They beat him soundly, tie
long time for this . After the wedding, Jerry him on his horse backward, and run him out
will still be suspicious of the player character, of town .
but Margaret will be very loving . She will If witnesses say it was mwder , the player
give the player the child, calling him their character will be held by the sheriff for the
son, etc. She will also say how they can all go circuit judge. The remaining player charac-
home now and mind the farm , raising their ters will have one week to rescue the prison-

Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Skills

Jerry Mortens 13 10 9 3 3 SHGl

MargaretMortens 10 10 9 1 1

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Brv Skills

Lyle Underhay 12 10 13 13 6 9 Accounting 9

Pistol 1
cronies 13 11 10 8 4 10 Pistol 2
Brawling 1
Wesley Phillips 8 17 16 2 1 6 Pickpocket 14

er. After this, public outcry (assisted by the west to east at a slow rate. The air has
vigilantes) will force a trial. A trial will be become thick, choking, and hot. It will be
held with one of the local vigilante leaders obvious to the player characters that if they
filling in as judge. Unless the player charac- remain in this area much longer, they will be
ters can present strong evidence to the con- overtaken by the fire. At this point, check
trary, the verdict will be guilty and the char- each horse for panic. Panicked horses flee at
acter will be hanged . full gallop in a random direction until
Jerry is about 20 years old and is very exhausted or brought under control.
tanned and weather-beaten. Margaret is 18 If the characters don't want to be roasted
years old and is very pretty. She is unarmed. to death or die from smoke inhalation, they
will have to gallop away from the fires, either
to the east or west. Characters must make
Fire! either an Observation check or a Riding check
to avoid having their galloping horse stumble
As the characters ride along, they notice in a pothole and break a leg or go lame.
that the weather, which has been overcast for If the characters ride to the west, they
most of the day, is now breaking up. A breeze travel for 30 minutes and then discover that
has risen and thunderheads are starting to the changing wind has swept the southwest-
sweep across the sky toward the east. ern fire line around so that it is heading
Lightning flashes brighten the horizon to the toward them. They will not be able to reach
north, south, and west. To the characters, it safety by traveling west. Characters trapped
appears they will soon be in for a cloudburst. by the fire will be killed unless they dig shel-
After riding a distance further, the charac- ters for themselves. Those sheltered will suf-
ters see a mass of low-lying clouds to the fer 3-18 points (three 6-sided dice) of damage
southwest. These clouds are actually smoke to their Strength. Half of this damage is
from a large grass fire started by lightning. If burns, which must recover like wounds, the
the characters have a telescope and observe other half is from smoke inhalation and can
the smoke, they will be able to see the fire be recovered like brawling damage. It is
sweeping in a long line to the west. At the impossible for trapped characters to save
same time, the wind will start to pick up, their horses. If the characters travel east,
whipping dust and tumbleweeds through the they will have to ride at a gallop for an hour
air. before reaching safety.
After riding 5 miles more, the player char- Shortly after the characters reach safety
acters will be able to tell that the fae to the (or are roasted to death), the wind direction
southwest is only slowly moving in their changes, forcing the flames back on them-
direction . It appears to present no dang er. selves. The faes slowly die out, except for a
A few minutes later , the wind shifts. few areas of smouldering remains.
Within 10 minutes, smoke begins blowing
over the characters and soon it will become
quite thick, restricting vision as if it was The Pickpocket
night. The characters will top a small rise
and see, in the depression below, a second fire The characters are walking through town
to the north, obscured from their notice by when a short figure wearing a black hat rush-
the drifting smoke. This fae is burning from es around the comer, colliding with one of the

118

jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Str Coo Obs Sta Luc Brv Skm

Mad Tex Randolph 11 16 16 9 5 7 FDR2

Fa st Draw 12
Bad Arnie 17 13 6 5 7 8 SAR2
LR 1
Sam Wells 8 15 8 5 6 9 SARl

characters. The figure, his face masked by a Band its

red kerchief pulled up over his nose , drops his
hat, a pocket watch, and a wallet, and tries to An emergency at an outlying ranch calls
run away down the same route the player the town doctor out of town for a few day . He
characters came. asks the player characters to watch hi s office
The short figure is Wesley Phillips , a petty while he is out, passing out only pre crib d
thief who has taken the wallet and watch of medicine and handling small emergencie s in
Lyle Underhay, wealthy businessman and return for $5 each.
owner of much of the town. If the party stops The fir t day pa es calmly; th e major
Wesley, he starts a brawl with them. Unless problem i Widow Simms coming in for her
it is protected, the watch is smashed . medication. About 9:00 that evening there is a
thunderous knock on the outside door, and it
Underhay and two drunken cronies arrive on swings open to reveal Mad Tex Randolph , a
the scene in a minute and get into the brawl. known bandit , holding a cocked s hotgun
The sheriff arrives in another two minutes under his arm. Behind Tex is Bad Arnie
and tries to break up the fight by firing into Randolph caITying a wounded Sam Wells. Tex
the air. He arrests the fighting characters , explains that Sam caught a lug in the thigh
charging them all with brawling and Wesley in a hunting accident " and needs the doctor
with theft. to cut out the bullet and patch him up. He
If the characters do not stop Wesley's assumes that the eldest character pre ent is
escape, Underhay accuses the party of the the doctor, and does not take no for an answer.
theft when he and his sidekicks arrive . He Sam has a serious wound in the leg and
calls for the sheriff while his men hold their has alread lost four Strength points . He is in
weapons on the characters . Underhay offers shock and bleeding heavily . He will be dead
the dropped hat, watch, and wallet as proof to by morning if the characters wait for the doc-
the sheriff. He agrees with Underhay and tor to retw·n.
arrests one character as the thief. If someone agrees to operate (and assum-
Unless someone proves them wrong , both ing he has no Medical skill ), that character
Underhay and the sheriff insist they have the must make either a Coordination or
real thief. The dropped hat, for example , is Observation check , using one-half of his score
far too sma ll for anyone in the group . Wesley (rounded down ), to remove the bullet.
is hiding out at a local saloon until things die Alternatively , the character can make a Luck
check instead . Each failed attempt costs Sam
down. If the PCs fail to persuade the sheriff Wells one Strength point, plus extracting a
that they are innocent, the local doctor comes loud scream. Once the bullet is removed and
forward and supports the characters' story the wound closed , Arnie carries Sam to the
(he was across the street at the time ). The horses , Mad Tex covers the retreat , and the
doctor does this only if the character haven 't trio rides off into the darkness. (This sort of
done anything to upset him recently. treatment won't help Sam to recover , but the
In any event the characters are exposed to outlaws don't know that .)
the corruption and control of Mr. Underhay in Mad Tex and Sam both have prices on
this town. As the sheriff lets the characters their heads ($150 and $50 , re pectively ) for
go, he warns them to stay clear of Underhay crimes committed in Texas. Bad Arni e i not
and his powerful friends. wanted .

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 This list of books and films is not meant to be York, 1982; This is a very complete guide to
complete. Any list that pretended complete- Western films and is enjoyable reading if
ness would be as long as this entire book. But Garfield's rather strong opinions agree with
the books and movies listed here are among your own. Garfield is also the author of many
the best around, and the books especially Western stories, some of which have been
were invaluable in writing this edition of the made into films, so he knows his subject.
BOOT HILL® game. Even a little historical Monaghan, Jay, The Book of the
research will go a long way toward making a American West, Simon and Schuster, New
BOOT HILL campaign more realistic and York, 1963; This fascinating book contains 10
exciting. The Old West as it really was is chapters, each written by a different author,
every bit as fascinating and thrilling as the covering a gamut of Western subjects . It is
adulterated versions popular in movies and among the most comprehensive one-volume
fiction. And in a BOOT HILL campaign, histories available, and is delightful reading
there's no reason why both sorts can't exist to boot, filled with period woodcuts and illus-
side by side. trations.
Patterson Richard, Historical Atlas of
the Outlaw We t, Johnson Books, Boulder,
Colorado 1985; State by state and town by
Nonfiction Books town, this book examines outlaw activity in
the West from before the Civil War until after
Chapel, Charles Edward, Guns of the the turn of the century. Packed with informa-
Old West, Coward-McCann Inc., New York, tion that is invaluable when designing adven-
1961; An exhaustive reference book which tures.
includes not on ly detailed notes and pho- Rosa, Joseph G., The Gunfighters ,
tographs on hundreds of guns but also inter- University of Oklahoma Press, 1969; Much of
esting anecdotes about the people who used this book is straightforward recounting of
them, and how. actual gunfights, but later chapters on the
Cunningham, Eugene, Triggemometry: psychology of gunmen and the business of
A Gallery of Gunfighters, The Caxton gunfighting are fascinating.
Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho , 1975; Brief Utley, Robert M., The Indian Frontier
biographies on 17 famous gunmen, plus a of the American West, 1846-1890, University
chapter on gunslinging in general. A bit of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1984. A
romantic, perhaps , but informative and enter- well-balanced look at the treatment of
taining nonetheless. Indians from both perspectives. The emphasis
Foster-Harris, The Look of the Old is on the interaction of competing societies
West, Viking Press, New York, 1955; This rather than battle accounts.
homesy and whimsical book covers a com-
plete range of Western topics, from army uni-
forms to horses to cowboy equipment to gun-
fighting techniques. It is filled with the sort Fiction Books
of trivial yet fascinating details that really
bring the period to life. To attempt to list even a portion of the
Garfield, Brian, Western Films: A wonderful Western fiction available would
Complete Guide, Da Capo Press Inc., New inevitably result in too many worthwhile

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 The Code of the Old West
The code of the gunfighter was a practical one. If a man thought he had
just cause to kill someone, he simply went to the saloon where he had
checked his gun and then looked up his victim-no seconds, no engraved
invitations, just action. While this readiness to kill might seem shocking
today, remember that this was a wild and dangerous frontier where people
expected to have to fight to protect what they had. Also remember that, for
every person who got tangled up in a gunfight, there probably were hun-
dreds who never fired a gun in anger.
When a fight started, the only rule was to be the last one on his feet.
The sole objective was to kill or incapacitate while avoiding return fire.
Even the quick draw was decisive only if it prevented the other man from
firing.
Black powder was one obstacle to shooting accuracy. That explosive
threw up dense clouds of foul smoke, and indoors a gunfight of more than a
few shots duration caused an effect similar to tear gas.
There was only one real clause in the gunfighter's code. That was that
the gunfighter could not shoot an unarmed man or one who was not on his
guard. This was a practical rule, because it often saved him from hanging.
If an argument occurred and both men were armed and willing to fight, any
killing was usually judged to be self-defense. A minor condition to the rule
was that it was not healthy for a stranger to kill a prominent townsman
under any circumstances. Such occurrences frequently ended in lynching.

titles being dropped off for the sake of space. Pronzini, Bill, and Martin H.
Readers are directed to the classics, rather Greenberg, The Arbor House Treasury of
than the newer books which accent blood and Great Western Stories, Arbor House, New
sex . Anything by Louis L'Amour, Dan York, 1982 ; This one volume contains 33 of
Parkinson , Willa Cather, Zane Grey, Eugene the greatest western short stories ever writ-
Manlove Rhodes, James Warner Bellah, Luke ten, by authors like Mark Twain, Ernest
Short, or Ernest Haycox is worth reading. Haycox, Bret Harte, Max Brand , an d many
Deserving special mention are the two books others. Highly recommended.
listed below.

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 Schaefer, Jack, Shane, Bantam, New Canyon Passage, Universal, 1946. A
York, 1950; Like the movie made from it, this small picture full of wonderful , memorable
powerful book is the definitive retelling of the characters.
Western myth: a strong, mysterious stranger Cat Ballou, Columbia, 1965. One of the
rides into the valley, sizes up the conflict, and few really funny western comedies .
coolly risks his life for the cause of justice. If Destry Rides Again, Universal, 1939.
there's only one Western novel on your shelf, One of the big westerns of 1939 that revived
it should be Sha ne. the genre. Destry is the soft-spoken sheriff
who never carries a gun.
Duel In the Sun, independent , 1946.
Not a great movie, but a great big movie. This
Films one covers a lot of ground in a very satisfacto-
ry manner.
To a large degree, film is the preeminent Four Faces West, United Artists, 1948.
medium of Western storytelling . Sadly, the Another version of the Pat Ganett/Billy the
genre seems to be dead; many people feel The Kid story which very nicely captures the
Wild Bunch was the last real western to be atmo phere of the time and place .
made. (Was it parabolically significant that The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,
that movie was about the end of an era? ) United Artists, 1966. The most distinctively
Recent entries tend to lack substance or come stylish of Sergio Leone's "spaghetti westerns"
off as just too slick. Many of the films listed (others being A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few
below are landmarks in the genre, and some Dollars More, and Once Upon a Time in the
are just good fun. West). They are entertaining films but pre-
sent a juvenile, mindlessly violent view of an
Barbarosa, inde pendent, 1981 ; This almost ludicrous, fairyland West. If this is the
movie cast Willie Nelson as an American out- sort of thing you like, you'll really like this.
law caught up in a Mexican feud. The sets The Gunfighter, Fox, 1950. The origi-
and costumes are very good, as is Nelson 's nal, and likely the best, version about the
cha1·acterization of the wily bandit. aging gunfighter who wants out of the busi-
Billy the Kid , MGM, 1930. This movie's ness but whose reputation won't let him quit.
strongest asset was William S. Hart as tech- High Noon, United Artists, 1952. A
nica l director. It captures much of the feel of film of enormous intensity, High Noon 's story
the times and the characters, even if the end- is somewhat cliche but it's never been done
ing , in which Pat Garrett lets Billy go, is ludi- better than here. Not only a great Western,
crous. The rest of the movie is welJ wo1th see- but a great film in alJ regards.
ing. Hondo, Warner Brothers, 1953. One of
Blood on the Moon , RKO , 1948. A John Wayne's best. An army scout holes up in
familiar script but excellent in its portrayal of a settler's cabin during an indian uprising.
the Western frontier. Jesse James, Fox, 1939 . Although
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, something of an apology for those bad James
Fox, 1969. Lousy history lesson but wonderful boys (which is only to be expected), this is
entertainment. probably the best of the James Gang movies .

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 The Magnificent Seven, United Artists, it look too familiar, but it is still the original
1960. A gripping and involving film. If it's not and it helped spark a western revival.
a great movie, it's at least a great story. Tumbleweeds, United Artists , 1925.
My Darling Clementine, Fox, 1946. This silent movie is the last and most memo-
While the story bears little resemblance to rable of William S. Hart's films . Hart is best
the historical events or characters involved in remembered for his dedication to preserving
the gunfight at the O K Corral, it is a dandy realism in sets, costumes, and props. Like all
legend, beautifully filmed. silent films, the acting is exaggerated and
Red River, United Artists, 1948. One of somewhat comical to modern eyes. Still, this
the best cattle-driving pictures, with a story is a fine movie and, if you want to see on film
reminiscent of Mutiny on the Bounty. what the West really looked like, well worth
Ride the High Country, MGM, 1962. A watching.
magnificent picture about integrity and shat- The Virginian, Paramount, 1929. The
tered friendship , as two aging gunfighters movie that in many ways defined the west-
escort a shipment of gold down from the ern. As a very early talkie, its edges seem
mountains. awfully rough today, but it still has the power
Rio Bravo, Warner Brothers, 1959. It's to enchant.
a bit juvenile and absurd in places, but this The Westerner, United Artists, 1940.
film is also great fun. Stereotypes get played The enigmatic Judge Roy Bean tangles with
to the hilt and there's never any doubt the homesteaders and the quintessential laconic
good guys will come out on top. stranger .
The Searchers, Warner Brothers, 1956. The Wild Bunch , Warner Brothers,
Lauded by some critics as the greatest 1969. Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece is haunt-
American film ever made, The Searchers cer- ingly beautiful, yet some critics found it dis-
tainly is a monumental work. It relates , in a gusting. Look beyond the ultra-slow motion
series of episodes, the efforts of two Texans to violence and you'll find a powerful and tradi-
track down a white girl kidnapped by tional story about values, loyalty, and the
Commanches . The movie's tremendous passing of old ways-themes that define the
strength comes from its powerful characteri- Western.
zations.
Shane, Paramount, 1953 . A mythical
tale of a mysterious gunman trying to escape
his past who is forced through friendship to
strap on his guns and kill for the sake of jus-
tice. Shane is the ultimate retelling of the
Western myth.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, RKO, 1949.
The best of John Ford's cavalry trilogy, with
one of John Wayne's best performances.
Stagecoach, United Artists, 1939. This
film was not John Wayne's first western, as
many people believe, but it did rescue him
from B oaters . Hordes of imitators have made

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 The slang of the Old West was colorful, amus - Hoosegow: jail or lockup.
ing, and confusing to anyone unfamiliar with Iron: branding iron.
it. The items listed here are only the barest John B.: Stetson hat.
sampling. Readers interested in this subject Lariat: rope used for throwing and catching
are recommended to the writings of Mark cattle.
Twain and Ernest Haycox in particular, and Leafl,ess tree: gallows.
Western fiction in general. Maverick: unbranded livestock.
Montana Brim: hat with four creases on the
Arkansas toothpick: long, straight-edged, crown, now called a campaign hat or Smokey-
tapered fighting knife the -Bear hat.
Artillery: gun. Mud wagon: light stagecoach, used on muddy
Barbiquejo: chin strap of a sombrero. roads because it was less likely to get stuck.
Beeue: cow or steer. Mule skinner: mule-team driver.
Bit: one-eighth of a Spanish dollar, or 12 ½ cents. Mustang: wild horse.
Blue whistler: bullet. Necktie party: lynching or hanging.
Boot Hill : cemetery, usually for less Piece of Eight: Spanish milled dollar.
respectable corpses . Plew: plug pipe tobacco.
Buckboard: wagon, usually drawn by one or two Quirly: hand-rolled cigarette. Cigarette papers
horses , with a plank bed. at this time were not glued, the smoker had
Bull wha.cker: bull-team driver. to hold the cigarette to keep it from
Chin music: sermon or speech. unrolling.
Cutter: gun. Real: small Spanish silver coin, equal to one bit
Feed yard: wagon lot . (pl. reales).
Fiddle footed: restless, a wanderer. Remuda: spare horses.
Fish: cowboy's slicker or raincoat. Salty bronc: bad horse .
Flat goods: tobacco. Short bit: U.S. dime.
Frog- tabber: Arkansas toothpick. Steel Dust: excellent horse.
Gone up the fium e: died. Stingy gun: gun intended for concealment, a
Go pel sharp: preacher. derringer .
Gospelmill: church. Swamper: wagon driver's assistant.
Granger: farmer. Throw down: attack, usually by drawing first or
Gullet Tickler: back edge of a Bowie knife. coming in with gun already drawn (as in,
Gun: a revolver , not a rifle. Guns were worn, "Come quick! Utah Bob's throwin' down on
derringers carried. Guns were pulled, not Jake!").
drawn . Thumb buster: Colt .45 revolver.
Hackamore: bridle used in bronc busting. Toro: double-bladed knife.
Hair-case: hat. Whip: stagecoach driver .
Hand: cowboy working for a ranch. Wool hat, wool hat bunch: someone with little or
Harvey House : one of a chain of restaurants no money (as in, "He's a wool hat") . A wool
common along raih·oad lines, known for good hat was much cheaper than a good felt hat.
food and pretty waitresses. Wrangler: man in charge of extra livestock,
Hog ranch: a covert saloon, common during the especially horses .
Hayes administration.
Hondo: the loop at the end of a lariat.

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jim mckee (Order #33372705)

 Table 6: Combat Turn Movement
(yards/tum)

On Foot Mounted
Crawling 2 Walking 8
Walking 6 Trotting 16
Evading 12 Galloping 32
Table 4: Accuracy Modifiers Running 24

Range Moving through door -2 yards

Point Blank, pistol +4 Moving through window -6 yards,
Point Blank , rifle -2 Coordination check
Short 0 Moving on stairs up/down
Long -2 1 stair per yard
Extreme -5 Light wound in leg move distance
Movement (of target) halved
Running/l'rotting -2 Serious wound in leg walk only, distance
Evading/Galloping -4 halved
Movement (of shooter) Serious wounds crawl only
Walking -2 in both legs
Running!I'ro tting/Galloping -4 Other serious wound walk or crawl at
Wounds normal speed,other
Each light wound -1 move distances halved
Each serious wound -4 Mount/dismount takes one-half
Target Size movement allowance
Very large +4 Stand up takes one-half move-
Large +2 ment allowance
Normal 0 Dive or fall prone no penalty
Small -2 Jump down one story takes one-half move-
Very Small -4 ment allowance
Miscellaneous Terrible footing move distance halved
Sniping +2
Shotgun +2
Scattergun +4
Target obscw:ed -2 Table 8: Speed Modifiers
Using wrong hand -2
Firing two pistols -6 Walking , Trotting -1
Running, Galloping -3
Light Wound (each ) -1
Serious Wound (each ) -4
Table 7: Shootout Actions Surprised -2
Completely Surp1ised -4
Action Counts Fi1ing Two Guns -2
Fanned shot I Weapon is:
Hipshot 2 Very Slow -2
Steady shot 3 S~w -1
Careful shot 6 Normal 0
Fast draw , successful 0 Fa~ +1
Fast draw, unsuccessful 2 Very Fast +2
Normal draw 3
Switch targets * 1
Cock a gun 1
Fire a cocked gun ** 1 less than normal Table 9: Shootout Movement
Movement (yards/tum)

* A character can switch targets between On Foot Mounted

turns with no delay. Crawling 1 ft.
** Does not apply to fanfi1ing. Walking I Walking 1
Evading 2 Trotting 3

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 Table 10: Wound Locations Table 11: Wound Severity

1- 2 Left Leg -1 A scratch

3- 4 Right Leg 0-2 Light Wound
5- 6 Left Arm 3-5 Serious Wound
7- 8 Right Arm 6+ Mortal Wound
9 Left Shoulder
10 Right Shoulder +1 if hit is to chest or head
11-14 Abdomen -1 if hit is to arm or leg
15-18 Chest +or - weapon modifier
19-20 Head

Table 12: Wound Location Modifiers Table 13: Shotgun and

(x weapon skill) Scattergun Wounds

Type Range Die Roll Short Long Extreme

of shot Short Long Extreme
1 1 0 0
Careful full 1/2 1/4 2-3 2 1 0
Steady 1/2 1/4 none 4-5 3 2 1
Hipshot 1/4 none none 6 4 3 2
Fanfire none none none Add'l target NA 2 yds 5 yds

Table 14: Weapons

Range (yards ) Reload Wound
Weapon Short Long Extreme Rate Speed Modrner

Thrown Knife, Tomahawk 2 4 8 NA average -1

Thrown Spear 10 20 40 NA average -1
Bow and Arrow 15 50 100 1 slow -1
Smoothbore Pistol 6 20 40 1/3 slow 0
Indian Trade Musket 20 65 150 1/3 v. slow -1
Smoothbore Musket 22 75 200 1/3 v. slow 0
Muzzle-loading Carbine 22 75 200 1/3 slow 0
Muzzle-loading Rifle 25 90 240 1/3 v. slow +1
Breech-loading Carbine 25 80 200 1 slow 0
Breech-loading Rifle 30 100 500 1 v. slow 0
Revolving Cylinder Carbine 22 75 200 1/3 slow 0
Revolving Cylinder Rifle 25 90 240 1/3 slow 0
Buffalo Rifle 30 200 600 1 v. slow +1
Lever-action Carbine 24 90 200 2 slow 0
Lever-action Rifle 30 100 400 2 slow 0
Shotgun 10 40 110 2 slow 0
Scattergun 8 16 30 2 average 0
Derringer 2 4 8 2 average 0
Cap & Ball Revolver 10 20 60 1/3 fast 0
Single Action Revolver 10 20 60 3 fast 0
Double Action Revolver 10 20 60 3 average 0
Fast Draw Revolver 6 15 50 3 V. fast 0
Long Barrel Revolver 12 30 90 3 slow 0
Any hipshot 6 12 36 NA NA NA
Cannon 20 60 120 1/3 v. slow +3
Gatling Gun 40 200 400 1 v. slow +1

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 e 1990 TSR, Inc.

Player Name:
Character Name:
Age: Background:
------------ ------------
Sex: Home state:

Strength: Wounds:
Coordination:
Observation:
Stature:
Luck: Wound Points:

j Hipshot/Steady Shot/Careful Shot I I

Weapon Speed Short / Long / Extreme Reload Rate

Skills: Equipment:

I Experience:

jim mckee (Order #33372705)