Mythras and the Wild West

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Has anybody ever approached TDM about doing a Western game using the Mythras rules? It looks like it would be a fairly good match and it wouldn’t require too much in the way of any new mechanics. And by Wild West I mean the historical West with no alternate histories or monsters running around. Something that could be used for anything from John Wayne to Wyatt Earp to the Lone Ranger. I’ve considered doing something in the genre but I’ve always tried to look for the best rules to use.
 
BRP Big Gold had a Wild West “monograph” (mini-setting?) called Devil’s Gulch, and of course, more recently, CoC got Down Darker Trails.

Anything an enterprising GM might pilfer for a Wild West Mythras game? Asking for a friend.
 
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Been poking at it. Did up the start of a campaign pamphlet for my players, but it’s not done. The guns need a little work to make them more accurate, but if you are willing to accept that, they are pretty good to go. Careers have not been done, but I think you could do just about all of the important ones from Mythras imperative.

it would be definitely a good one, and not hard either. RQ6 firearms and Mythras imperative would have most everything.
 
BRO Big Gold had a Wild West “monograph” (mini-setting?) called Devil’s Gulch, and of course, more recently, CoC got Down Darker Trails.
There was also Aces High. It had comparatively minimal horror/folklore elements that could be easily ignored. It also had a supplement dealing with New Mexico.

Aces_High.jpgAces_High_NM.png
 
As far as BRP goes, Aces High was great for the BGB, and Down Darker Trails is excellent for using the CoC 7E rules. The book itself is looks great, and the Mythos elements are only a small part of the book, easily ignored. So I'm pretty content with running a Wild West setting using the BRP rules, and these days I would go with Pulp Cthulhu + Down Darker Trails, throwing out the Mythos if I don't want it.

I'm not sure if Mythras will get an official Wild West product, given the overlap with the BRP systems.Anything is possible however

It would be very easy to make your own Mythras hack of the Wild West, retrapping the cultural backgrounds from the Mythras core book: Just off the top of my head, I would go with Townfolk (Civilised), Frontier (Barbarian), Drifter (Nomadic), and Native (Primitive). The professions could also be easily converted to Wild West equivalents, it's really just changing the title and the trappings.
Could have some pulpy firearms manuvers, stand-offs, rowdy saloon brawls, etc . Alot of that could be trapped from pre-eixisting material as well.
The rest is setting material.

Could be alot of fun

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My grandfather used to have this Time-Life series of books on the Old West. Sorta like the Enchanted World series, a series of tall, thin volumes on different topics. I seem to recall the covers being brown - maybe faux leather, but I could be mis-remembering that, with an oval picture on the front. Anyone familiar with these?

Anyways, I'd love to have an RPG Old West sourcebook that was like those books.
 
My Grandfather had the same set. Really a lovely set of books. I particularly liked the one on the gun fighters but tons of CM Russel paintings throughout the book. Lots of photographs of museum pieces too. My family went to the CM Russel museum once, l can't remember if it was in Great Falls but I'm pretty sure it was in Montana. I'm pretty sure CM Russel's art is out of the price range for any gaming company.
 
I know this isn't Mythras, but it is another version of BRP that scratches the itch. This is a very good review of Down Darker Trails, you can get the vibe quite well.
Artwork is beautiful, lots of flavour. It is contemporary artwork, but it does evoke some of the flavour of the classic western pulp art, the time-life art, all that era.
The book is amazing for it's level of detail, iit's excellent for running any Wild West period game.

If not wanting to get the the CoC 7E core rulebook, then the free CoC 7E Quickstart rules would be all that would be necessary to add to Down Darker Trails..
Just sayin' :thumbsup:

 
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My grandfather used to have this Time-Life series of books on the Old West. Sorta like the Enchanted World series, a series of tall, thin volumes on different topics. I seem to recall the covers being brown - maybe faux leather, but I could be mis-remembering that, with an oval picture on the front. Anyone familiar with these?

Yep, I have the whole 26 volume set. Scored them on eBay (used, but in very good condition) a number of years ago for about $100.
 
My family went to the CM Russel museum once, l can't remember if it was in Great Falls but I'm pretty sure it was in Montana.

pretty sure it is, as I’ve been there, though it’s been a long while. i grew up in Montana, ages 12-20 or so.

Funny story, in the late 80s I was taking a bus across the state to meet my girlfriend (now wife). Guy on the bus was taking it from Seattle to Chicago. He asked me if we still rode horses and wore six shooters. I of course encouraged this sort of belief.

Just off the top of my head, I would go with Townfolk (Civilised), Frontier (Barbarian), Drifter (Nomadic), and Native (Primitive).

thank you for that. Much better than what I was lining up. Native I might do up a little different, as many of the old west natives are nomadic, and some are arguably civilized or barbaric.
 
pretty sure it is, as I’ve been there, though it’s been a long while. i grew up in Montana, ages 12-20 or so.

Funny story, in the late 80s I was taking a bus across the state to meet my girlfriend (now wife). Guy on the bus was taking it from Seattle to Chicago. He asked me if we still rode horses and wore six shooters. I of course encouraged this sort of belief.



thank you for that. Much better than what I was lining up. Native I might do up a little different, as many of the old west natives are nomadic, and some are arguably civilized or barbaric.
Yeah, and Native could also be a sensitive title as well, although it's much better than 'Primitive' in that respect. And certainly many were Nomadic. May need to massage things to get the right terminilogy here.
 
My grandfather used to have this Time-Life series of books on the Old West. Sorta like the Enchanted World series, a series of tall, thin volumes on different topics. I seem to recall the covers being brown - maybe faux leather, but I could be mis-remembering that, with an oval picture on the front. Anyone familiar with these?

Anyways, I'd love to have an RPG Old West sourcebook that was like those books.
My Grandfather had the same set. Really a lovely set of books. I particularly liked the one on the gun fighters but tons of CM Russel paintings throughout the book. Lots of photographs of museum pieces too. My family went to the CM Russel museum once, l can't remember if it was in Great Falls but I'm pretty sure it was in Montana. I'm pretty sure CM Russel's art is out of the price range for any gaming company.
Yep, I have the whole 26 volume set. Scored them on eBay (used, but in very good condition) a number of years ago for about $100.
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This is a good series. They cover a wide range of topics, some unlikely to figure into any Western RPG campaign but worth reading if you like learning for its own sake. They are by no means in-depth, though, as the subject is too wide and deep for even 26 volumes to cover every nook and cranny. They're a great starting point and all you need if you just want a general veneer of "Wild West," though. They're also rife with scenario ideas, though some only work in certain locations and times.
 
Yeah, and Native could also be a sensitive title as well, although it's much better than 'Primitive' in that respect. And certainly many were Nomadic. May need to massage things to get the right terminilogy here.
A parallel set might make sense in his case. Frankly, it would probably enhance the game a bit, as there is a lot of cultural conflict there.
 
I seem to recall my dad having those when I was a child, certainly I have a distinct memory of them.
My dad took the whole 26 volume set as part of payment for work on a building site in New York in the 80s. It cost him a fair bit to bring them back over the Atlantic with the weight of them. I've these three on loan from him

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Yes, they feel really familiar to me!

ETA: just checked with my folks and they have 25, bought through Readers Digest back in the day. Now I want to know which one they are missing...
 
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Loz Loz hope you don't mind me asking here, but since this board is full of Mythras fans that seem to recommend the rules for nearly every possible game I could ever want to play, any word on when the rules will actually be back in print?
 
Loz Loz hope you don't mind me asking here, but since this board is full of Mythras fans that seem to recommend the rules for nearly every possible game I could ever want to play, any word on when the rules will actually be back in print?

0_o ? Mythras is in print...
 
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Loz Loz hope you don't mind me asking here, but since this board is full of Mythras fans that seem to recommend the rules for nearly every possible game I could ever want to play, any word on when the rules will actually be back in print?
They rules haven't been out of print. You can download in PDF from our website, order POD from Lulu, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Drivethru, or from Aeon Games if in UK/Europe.
 
BRP Big Gold had a Wild West “monograph” (mini-setting?) called Devil’s Gulch, and of course, more recently, CoC got Down Darker Trails.

Anything an enterprising GM might pilfer for a Wild West Mythras game? Asking for a friend.
Devil's Gulch I thought was much better than Aces High.
Oh, and if you want a more developed setting than Promise City without having to work it all up on your own, Devil's Gulch from Chaosium is pretty good as it has two listings for everything: one without and one with the supernatural junk I abhor. I have borrowed elements from it for use with 2nd edition Boot Hill; it has useful NPC ideas and the town map and layout is pretty good. It was written for BRP but adapting it is child's play.
 
Devil's Gulch I thought was much better than Aces High.
Why's that? I didn't look too far into Devil's Gulch because it looked more overtly 'weird west' and 'pulpier'... and it seemed more like an adventure than an ongoing game/setting.
 
A Mythras rules hardcover for only $28.49? I'd definitely buy that if I didn't already have 4 copies...

I would love a Mythras Wild West game. I have Aces & Eights from Kenzerco and plan to run it with Mythras... someday...
 
A Mythras rules hardcover for only $28.49? I'd definitely buy that if I didn't already have 4 copies...

I would love a Mythras Wild West game. I have Aces & Eights from Kenzerco and plan to run it with Mythras... someday...

indeed, that’s like $8 cheaper than I got it 2 months ago. Hrm. Maybe time

edit: suckered. needed another table copy anyways.
 
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Why's that? I didn't look too far into Devil's Gulch because it looked more overtly 'weird west' and 'pulpier'... and it seemed more like an adventure than an ongoing game/setting.
It has a pretty good town set-up that you can use, plus NPCs to populate it, and it presents the "Weird West" stuff separately from the normal write-ups, which makes them very easy to discard if you don't want to go that route.
 
Chaosium has Devil's Gulch on sale right now as part of their warehouse-clearing.
 
Maybe I can work on a Western Mythras in my spare time. God only knows I keep tinkering with all these other systems and getting nowhere fast. Most of the work here has already been done.
 
If someone was looking to pitch a Western supplement, here's my preference for what such a supplement would support:

Historical accuracy...
...but still able to provide mechanics and atmosphere for:

  • John Ford-style sweeping epics
  • One-Man-Against-the-Odds-Gary-Cooper-Style
  • One-Man-Against-the-Odds-Edge-Style
  • Spaghetti Westerns, esp. Sergio Leone/Magnificent Seven
  • Saturday afternoon TV Saddle Soaps (The Virginian, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Alias Smith & Jones, etc)
  • Passing of the old guard, Wild Bunch style
  • The West as a Myth (as opposed to a Mythic West), in the style of Josie Wales, High Planes Drifter, Pale Rider, and Unforgiven
  • Frontier/Range survival and exploration, in the style of Open Range, Lonesome Dove

I wouldn't be interested in another Weird West, or anything that involved zombies/mythos monsters/aliens/steampunk or other assorted strangeness. I like Westerns when they're Westerns, and not a mash up of genres. All the above are things I loved to watch/read when growing up, and I never cared for 'Wild, Wild, West', 'Cowboys and Aliens', or even Deadlands. But there's plenty of room for gritty realism, the opera of the Man with No Name trilogy, and even the schlocky, pulpy, ultraviolence of Django and The Hateful Eight.
 
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