Initiative plays a more prominent role in a Western. The classic showdown at High Noon relies heavily on the speed of the draw determining which gun fighter will be the victor.
This was another place where wearing heavy armor seemed to work against the idea of being first to draw your pistol, run across the street, or make a melee attack. It’s also an other example of the dX system I’m moving a lot of rule mechanics over to, where the size of dice being rolled is modified rather than …

After working on the Firearm Rules for the new campaign I wanted to revisit the melee combat rules and make sure things were in place to handle a bar room brawl in the saloon, or a kung-fu showdown at High Noon.
Fortunately a couple of other bloggers, Zak S and The Rambling Bumblers, had some excellent articles on Lucky Number Kung Fu and Super-Simple Combat Maneuvers that look like they’ll work very well. Combined with the Fatigue Points rules from the Under the Burning Sun post I think this makes a …

The Ranger is an iconic character class for a Western RPG. While the Fighting Man represents a wider variety of character types with a focus on martial training, the Ranger is more experienced with the Wilderness, and his abilities reflect his rough living background.
This is another character class who’s special abilities use the dX dice step system I’ll be covering in a future post. The notation +1 dice means the size of the dice being rolled goes up 1 step rather than rolling another dice of that type.
Ranger
Cowboy, Explorer, Hunter
Hit …

Here is the list of Equipment starting characters in the upcoming Swords of Cydonia campaign will be able to purchase from.
It also includes the damage and number of shots for non-standard weapons like firearms. I had to try and balance historical accuracy with keeping the game somewhat balanced and from drifting into “too heavy” territory with unnecessary levels of detail about firearms.
With real six-shooters and rifles you’d be balancing issues like range, reliability, number of shots, power, availability of ammunition, kickback, smoke, etc. For this game I just want to …

Here is another one of the classes for Swords of Cydonia. It’s pretty close to the regular Fighting Man, with a couple of minor tweaks reflecting how any class can use any weapon, although not always as effectively as the Fighting Man. The class also allows players to choose an area of speciality, and make multiple attacks against enemies under 1 Hit Dice.
Fighting Man
Bounty Hunter, Gun Fighter, Soldier
Hit Dice: d8
Armor: Any
Weapons: Roll up to d10 damage for weapons
Martial Training: Make a number of attacks per round equal to character level …