Tropes
We'll be finishing up an extended look at the literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries this month as we hop over the Atlantic to the New World.
At the mid-point of the 19th Century, the cohesion of the United States was threatened in a bloody civil war. Father fought son and brother fought brother as both sides lined up to cast their vote on core issues of Federalism and Freedom with blood and muskets.
After the war, West opened up for settlers as pioneers headed for the pacific seeking land and gold. Between the soldiers of the Civil War and the dawn of a new century, there briefly existed a romanticized ideal surrounding the Cowboys and the indigenous natives that inhabited their world.
A group that wants to play a Western campaign needs to understand the following tropes common to all subgenres.
Dead Man's Hand
Life in Western Fiction revolves around the communal gathering space of the Saloon. No matter if the story is a singing Tom Mix cheesefest, a Spaghetti Deconstruction, or a modern “realistic” update, there will be a saloon, where at the very least alcohol and gambling will occur.
Uses:
The Saloon is often the home base for the party. Everyone comes though, because in many small towns of the period, it was the only place to stop once you arrived from a hot, dry, dusty trek across unforgiving terrain. The good guys, the bad guys, the young schoolmarm, the old Doctor who is half in his cups and holding three aces just as the shooting (inevitably) starts are all likely to be present when the Action occurs. And when the action is a shootout (See The Law Firm Of Smith & Wesson, below), the piano player has a whole separate book of sheet music ready to go for the fight.
Pitfalls:
There's a name for a group of protagonists who never leave the bar. “Cheers”. If you mean to play comedic wild west versions of Sam, Diane, Norm, Cliff, and Carla, by all means proceed.
The Law Firm Of Smith & Wesson
They who live by the gun die by the gun. And everyone lives by the gun. The Sheriff addresses hardened criminals with hot lead instead of due process. Ranchers trade rifle fire over fence disputes. Everyone but everyone has a personal weapon strapped to their hip. Even the fancy pants New Yorker in his ridiculous clothes has a derringer hidden in a concealed holster. There is no law but Newton's Second applied in the court of the Revolving Chamber.
Uses:
An armed society is a polite society. When everyone carries openly, the extreme care of speech and formality of the Victorian era becomes a languid drawl and a casual eloquence that is no less rigidly formalized in a deceptively laconic way. Disputes are settled by exchanges of gunfire, often exploding into a room full of flying lead. In many Westerns, however, no one ever gets so much as a flesh would in these altercations, and one side concedes rather than risk further odds. For serious one-on-one gunfights, however, see High Noon, below.
Pitfalls:
Always being armed and ready is an excuse for some times of player to depopulate entire settings. Be prepared to enforce consequences to keep the tone where the group wishes.
Beer For My Horses
Car culture began with horses. Having the fastest, strongest, best mane, best coat, most loyal, smartest, horse was a claim every single cowboy made, and the measure of a man included his ride. On the trail, the Western Hero's best and often only companion is their faithful steed.
Uses:
Always assume there's a trained horse nearby waiting to carry the antagonist to safety, summoned by a whistle for a daring leap from a balcony into the saddle. Horses are as much a part of the scenery and setting as cars are in the modern world.
Pitfalls:
If Western characters want trained super horses like Silver, Scout, Trigger, or Champion, then make sure they own the abilities in terms of points, feats, or what have you.
High Noon
The free for all in the street is over. Dusty ruined his best hat, the whole town will be replacing those broken-out windows later, and Otis comedically staggered across the street without a scratch to refill his corn whiskey jug before he could sober up. Now the Hero and the Villain stand in the street facing each other, hands ready. Only one of them will walk away.
Uses:
A final confrontation between two characters on opposite sides is a set piece that is central to many Westerns. Whether an interim character arc resolution, a mid-point action to enrage the real villains, or the climax of the adventure, two bullets and one dead man (or in some cases, one ruined gun hand) is a welcome and central trope of Western fiction.
Pitfalls:
If this happens every adventure, people are going to start coming after the Gunslinger who built a reputation. Enough times with enough powerful people falling before them, some of those are inevitably going to be Texas Rangers.
3:10 to Yuma
During the conquest of the west, the three key points of infrastructure were the horse and stagecoach, the telegraph, and the train. Rail barons rapidly supplanted cattlemen and sheep ranchers as the economic forces in the area. Often in cahoots with mine owners for raw material to expand, the trains carried supplies, payrolls, and important people faster than most horses could manage.
Uses:
A good train robbery is an always welcome set piece in a Western setting, as is a running fistfight atop a dangerously fast-moving railcar. Likewise, as often as the heroes or bandits rode into town on their horses, the villain would arrive on the midnight train. And there is always a poor widow with an adorable small child who is being pressured, bullied, and terrorized by the rail baron who wants to make her homeless to make way for his new route. It falls to the heroes to rally the criminally underpaid and overworked minorities and immigrants building the tracks to throw off the shackles of their oppression, teaching everyone a valuable lesson in peace and coexistence.
Pitfalls:
Railroads really did emerge on the broken backs of the downtrodden. Avoid compressing the people suffering under the thumbs of oppressive greed into offensive ethic stereotypes.
Pale Rider
The Weird part of the Wild and Weird west is the same kind of subtle paranormal influence as felt in the Pulps. A man with no name comes into town on a mysterious mission of vengeance. He looks a hell of a lot like someone who was killed a few years back. A Native American warns the heroes not to go into the hills at night because of a curse. Sure enough, odd coincidences start happening after they have no choice but to pursue a villain there, only set right by an act of righteous justice or mercy. There are things in the desert that cowboys never speak of as they huddle close to the fire and hope the stars watch over them for just one more night.
Uses:
As with pulp, occasional brushes with the strange and unusual are part and parcel of the Western campaign. Native legends that seemingly haunt the heroes, ghosts and revenants crossing their paths, strange objects that carry their own luck or misfortune until laid to proper rest are all a part of life for the Western Hero.
Pitfalls:
As with pulp, there should never be any proof, and a logical explanation should at least be plausible... even though there is subtle evidence to prove the experience. It should never become about the supernatural, unless the campaign is focused in that direction.
Sources:
That wraps up this installment of Tropes. Next time, we'll tackle the big brother of the hobby as we examine Sword & Sorcery Gaming. Meanwhile, here's a list of some past and present published games that deal with Western gaming. Look them up in RPGNet's Game Index.
Aces & Eights (Kenzer and Company), Aces High (Chaosium), Boot Hill! (TSR), Blaze of Glory (Golgatha Games), Burros and Bandidos (Sierra Madre Games), Coyote Trail (Precis Intermedia), Deadlands (Pinnacle Entertainment Group), Devil's Crossroad (James Embry), Desperados (Skycastle Games), Dust Devils (Stories You Play), From Mud to Silver: Horror in the Old West (Pangenre LLC), Go Fer Yer Gun! (Beyond Belief Games), Gunslinger & Gamblers (FJ Gaming), Gunslingers: Wild West Action! (Gold Rush Games), GURPS Old West (Steve Jackson Games), Mano-a-Mano (Green Dragon Hobbies), Outlaw (Iron Crown Enterprises), OGL Wild West (Mongoose), QUERP Modern - Wild West (Greywood Publishing), Six Gun: The Game of the Western (Deep7), Six-Guns & Sorcery (R. Talsorian Games), Sidewinder OGL (Paizo), The Best Little Hellhouse in Texas (Savage Mojo), True 20 Wild West (Green Ronin), Western (Ravspel), Werewolf Wild West (White Wolf), Wild West (Fantasy Games Unlimited), Wild West Cinema (Spectrum Games).
