THE RULES WITH NO NAME

COMMENT, CRITICISM AND SUGGESTIONS ARE ACTIVELY SOLICITED BY:

Bryan Ansell

of
THE FOUNDRY

PLAYTEST EDITION 17/12/96 : call me, write or fax & tell me how you get on with these rules!

These are intended primarily as a straightforward, simple set of Western gunfight rules, suitable for a quick, cheerful game, possibly involving a large number of participants. However, we wanted to include a degree of tactical skill, involvement with the rule system and an element of tension and surprise. We hope that we have succeeded in doing so without making the game at all puzzling or complicated. Consumption of alcoholic beverage and high-carbohydrate snacks and the playing of these rules are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

We have tried not to introduce a lot of fussy rules to cover every eventuality, so if you are playing with large groups of strangers, you might like to use a gamesmaster; a god-like figure whose word is law. Fortunately, even the most competitive gamers don't come to a Western gunfight looking for an argument, so the way should be clear for a good time to be had by all.

However, for those of you who prefer a more sophisticated game, especially if you intend to run a campaign, with the extra level of detail and involvement that familiarity permits, there is a selection of optional rules for you to mix and match according to your tastes.

We eventually intend to polish these rules up and publish them, with a cover, proper illustrations and everything. Meanwhile, they need extensive playtesting, if you'd like to participate, let us know. If you would like to purchase another copy of the rules, then I'm selling them for £2.50 or $4.50 if you are ordering miniatures as well, and you don't mind me folding the rules up to fit in the box, £3.00 or $7 if I provide an envelope and stamp and post them separately. I know that they only consist of a few sheets of paper and a staple, but it's not very economical producing them on my laser printer! You can also have it on an IBM Word 6 disc at the same cost if you prefer. Until we get the commercial version out (when you are just going to have to go out and buy one), feel free to pass copies of this version out amongst your friends.

We're very keen to have your opinion, so get in touch! What we're looking for is what you like about the rules (assuming you find anything to like of course), and if you have reservations, what it is you are uncomfortable with. Thanks to Tony Yates, Mike Siggins, Tim Willis, Ahmed Ramiz, J. J. Parus, Robin Hill, Patrick Wilson, Chris Riches, Mark Moon, Matthew Hartley, Chris Swan, Andrew Maxfield, Robin Crawshaw, Michael Andrews, Derek Long, Graham Sargeant, Noel Williams, John Boadle, Peter Clarke, Michael Tooth, Paul Pengilly,Kevin Hendryx, Kevin Dallimore and Howard Whitehouse for getting in touch so far.

You could try using these rules for other periods, they would work well for most nineteenth century theatres, let us know how you get on!

Each player needs one or more models, each representing a single person or character. You will need something to note your characters' wounds down on and plenty of ordinary six sided dice!

Someone has to organise a Fate Deck:

This consists of just five special cards: one each Citizen, Gunman, Shootist and Legend Action Cards and a Joker, plus one character card for each character.

We use the smallest size of file record cards, but you could just as well use card chits or small squares of paper thrown in a box and drawn out randomly.

CHARACTERS There are four classes of character:

Citizen: ordinary citizens who have never been in a gunfight and are likely to be in a state of considerable panic.

Gunman: tough individuals who wear a gun with the expectation of having to use it.

Shootist: violent characters who have killed their man.

Legend: stone killers; the legendary heroes and villains of the West.

In addition, you might like to feature bystanders: non-participants whose actions are controlled by the gamesmaster.

THE FATE DECK The Fate Deck is used to determine which character takes a turn. A card (or chit or whatever) is turned, then:

If it is a character card, that character immediately takes a turn, and the card is placed on the discard pile.

If it is an action card then it is displayed face up on the table: The next player to draw a character card of a class at least as high as that of a displayed action card takes it into his hand, he can claim any number of action cards simultaneously. He can use each action card to give a free turn to any of his characters of a class at least as high as that on the card at any time; even part way through someone else's turn.

When more than one player plays action cards in the same turn, then irrespective of the order in which they were declared, the superior card goes first, Indian cards take priority.

Any number of action cards can be played simultaneously

An example:

The Gunman action card is drawn, it is left face up on the table.

The next card drawn is Enoch Weatherdrew, the town milliner, currently acting as a sheriff's deputy. Enoch is a Citizen, which is a lower class than a Gunman, so his player cannot pick up the Gunman action card. Enoch takes his turn..

The next card is Big John, the infamous murderous outlaw. Big John is a Legend, a higher class than a Gunman, so his player picks up the action card. Big John takes his turn, advancing menacingly down the street towards his opponents. If his player wished, Big John could use the action card to take another turn immediately, but he decides to wait and see what happens.

Next, the Chico Kid's card is drawn. The Kid draws a bead on Big John, but before he can throw his firing dice, Big John's player announces that he is using the card to make action. The action card is played and discarded, Big John fires and the Kid falls wounded to the ground.

If it is the Joker, all discards are shuffled back into the Fate Deck. Any action cards held by players must be played immediately or discarded, either way, they are shuffled back into the Deck too.

Character cards A good way to do character cards is to cut out the photos of your models from magazine adverts or catalogue sheets and glue each one to a card. Do one of these for each model in your collection, then you can give them all names, or you can allow the first player to use each character in a game to name him.

When the card is drawn, it's immediately apparent which character and model should take his turn.

This gives you a good way of randomly determining which characters to use in a game; you just draw from the deck that represents your collection. As characters have battles and adventures, and gain skills, they tend to develop their own personalities, and nicknames that reflect this can be entered on their card, along with a record of their kills and the skills they have gained.

When a character finally meets his end you can either start a new card for that model, or obliterate his name and information with a self-adhesive mailing label or similar and start again.

ACTIONS During a characters turn he can make one of the following actions:

Pass: do nothing (except turn to face any direction)

Move: throw three dice, this is the maximum distance in inches that he can move, he may set off in any direction at the beginning of his move, but must move in a straight line, making no further turns.

He must end his turn facing the direction he has moved.

Gunman and better class characters can move as far as they like up to that distance, but must move at least three inches.

Once gunplay commences, Citizens must move the actual distance rolled, if this means that an impassable obstacle would get in the way, then they must move in another direction if doing so would allow them to move the full distance(even if this is the opposite direction to that desired by the player), otherwise they stay where they are or behave as the gamesmaster thinks appropriate.

It's very hard for you to rely on Citizens ever being exactly where you need them; this is hardly surprising, they are confused and frightened when presented with gunplay and violence. This, combined with their low abilities and inability to fire deliberately means that citizens are often of only marginal use unless gathered together en masse.

Any character who throws three 1's with the movement dice falls over (treat as knocked down), a Citizen who throws two 1's falls over.

Move & Fire: works just as above, except only two movement dice are thrown, and the character must fire at the end of his movement if an enemy is within his arc of fire.

Fire: turn to face any direction then fire.

Aim: the character aims at an opponent. He states who his target is, and turns to face him.

If the aiming character is able to take another turn before the target makes a move or ducks back out of sight, he makes an aimed shot. If the target does Move or duck, or the aiming character is forced to duck back, he gains no advantage from his aim.

Reload: the character reloads one of his guns, after suffering an out of ammo result.

Recover: characters who are wounded or duck back must use a turn recovering before they can make any other action. Any number of wounds and duck backs can be recovered from simultaneously in one action.

Get up: characters who are knocked down by a bullet or in a fight must get up before they can make any other action other than recovering.

Duck back: a character may voluntarily duck back, so that he can no longer see or be seen. He must recover before he can then make any other action.

Fix gun: attempts to unjam his weapon: throw a dice

1, 2 - Plumb Busted, gun is no longer any use whatsoever.

3, 4 - Can't figure the danged thing out, try again another turn.

5, 6 - Jam cleared!

Challenge: call one or more of his enemies out to a duel in the open.

Fast draw: go for his gun, often in a duel or backshooting situation.

Unless Moving or Moving & Firing, the character can end his turn facing any direction.

ANGLE OF FIRE Characters can fire within an arc of 90 degrees; 45 degrees each side of straight ahead.

The best way to calculate this is by making a simple template from a folded square of paper.

SHOOTING Characters can either fire deliberately, or they can blaze away.

The character rolls the number of dice shown on the firing chart, subject to the modifiers listed. Note that the number of dice rolled is intended to relate to the chance of the character hitting at all, not directly to the number of shots fired.

Deliberate fire:

If any dice comes up with a 6, he has hit his target, but he can only score one hit.

Citizens may not fire deliberately.

Blazing away:

Each 6 rolled gives him a hit on his target, except that breach loaders may only hit once, repeating rifles up to twice, and six shooters up to three times.

If more 1's than 6's are rolled, he is out of ammo, he misses and must spend a turn reloading before he can fire again.

If two or more 1's than 6's are rolled the gun is jammed.

Characters firing deliberately are assumed to calmly and sensibly take their shot and allow themselves time to reload. Blazing away is reckless, continuous fire; firing and reloading as fast as possible, without care or planning, and leaving the character vulnerable to a jam, or to being caught short with an empty chamber by an enemy with the drop on them.

If playing with a gamesmaster, you might like to introduce a rule where if four or more 1's are rolled the character "fumbles" and something terrible happens. He could drop his gun (which might go off), catch it in his clothing or suspenders, shoot himself or someone standing nearby, fall on his face, mistake a friend for an enemy or vice-versa, bump into someone, bang his head on a sign or post, a little old lady might launch a frenzied attack with her umbrella, the gunpowder flash might temporarily blind him, the sidewalk might collapse, a mule might bite him, his gun explode, shirt catch fire etc Further suggestions are invited, if we get enough we could do a big list or a deck of event cards.

Since writing the above, dozens of suggestions for event cards and fumbles have come in. I hope to do a proper event deck (including a sub-deck of fumbles). Perhaps having a player draw a card if his character throws all 6's for movement.

RANGE CHART
PISTOL	POINT BLANK	CLOSE	MEDIUM	LONG	EXTREME
RANGE	2"	6"	9"	12"	24"
NUMBER OF DICE	2	3	2	1	minus 1

RANGE CHART
RIFLE	POINT BLANK	CLOSE	MEDIUM	LONG	EXTREME
RANGE	2"	6"	12"	24"	IN SIGHT
NUMBER OF DICE	1	2	3	2	0

Modifiers: add or subtract the following NUMBER OF DICE rolled by the character:
Target in cover - 1 Firing pistol or throwing weapon after moving - 1 Firing rifle after moving - 2 Firing two pistols or wrong-handed, or rifle single-handed - 4 Head wound - 1 Flesh wound on firing arm for pistol, or either arm for rifle - 1 Each Serious wound - 2 Backshooting +3 Target knocked down or Knocked out +2	Citizen - 1 Shootist +1 Legend +2 Aimed shot with rifle +6 Aimed shot with pistol +4 Blazing away With breech loader +1 With repeating rifle +2 With pistol +3
Gamesmasters may further modify the number of dice as they find appropriate

Characters armed with a rifle and pistol(s) must discard the rifle to use a pistol. Characters armed with two pistols may fire them both simultaneously, making a separate throw for each, but may not fire deliberately. If firing just one of the pair, the character may automatically switch to the other if he runs out of ammo or jams.

Characters firing from horseback subtract one dice for each movement dice they are about to throw, two if they are firing a shoulder arm. Expert Riders ignore the first movement dice thrown.

Lucky shots: A character who finds he must throw no dice (or less) may still fire, he throws three dice needing two 6's to hit. He is out of ammo as usual if he throws more 1's than 6's.

NUMBER OF FIRING DICE AT CLOSE & POINT BLANK RANGE

Perhaps I'd better justify my reducing the number of firing dice at closer ranges. I'm assuming that a close (and possibly closing) opponent is busy either rushing towards the firer in an alarming manner, shooting back within spitting distance or behaving evasively. It's the combination of the unnerving aspects of all this with the fact that you physically have to move your gun hand further to correct for the movement of your opponent at close range (at twenty feet you just have to twitch your wrist to follow your target as he takes a pace, at six feet your whole arm or body must move through an arc: by which time he's somewhere else) that makes a proactive target hard to hit close up, especially with an unwieldy weapon like a rifle. This is one of the reasons why so many gunfights involved the protagonists chasing each other round at very close range, firing dozens of shots, but hitting nobody other than innocent bystanders.

The number of dice rolled is easily modified to fit other theories though!

HIT LOCATION & EFFECT

Either throw two dice, the first for location, and the second for effect, or draw a shooting chit:

HIT LOCATION CHART
DICE THROW		1	2	3	4	5	6
1	HEAD	GRAZE		FLESH WOUND	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED OUT	DEAD	DEAD
2	CHEST	GRAZE	FLESH WOUND		FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN	SERIOUS WOUND & KNOCKED OUT	DEAD
3	RIGHT ARM	GRAZE	FLESH WOUND			SERIOUS WOUND	SERIOUS WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN
4	LEFT ARM	GRAZE	FLESH WOUND			SERIOUS WOUND	SERIOUS WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN
5	BELLY	GRAZE	FLESH WOUND	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN NO MOVEMENT	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED OUT NO MOVEMENT	DEAD
6	LEGS	GRAZE	FLESH WOUND	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN		FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN NO MOVEMENT	SERIOUS WOUND & KNOCKED OUT NO MOVEMENT

Wounded or grazed characters who are behind cover must duck back, even if the shot is stopped by the cover.

Wounded (but not grazed) characters must use an action recovering before making any other action.

Knocked down characters must Get up before making any other action other than recovering.

Movement is reduced by one dice for each serious wound and each flesh wound on a leg.

No movement or turning is permitted with a serious leg or belly wound.

Knocked out characters must attempt to throw a 6 each time they have a turn, until they succeed they may make no actions.

Characters with a serious arm wound cannot fire a pistol in that hand, fire a rifle at all, or reload any weapon.

You know enough now to stage your first gunfight! Take out eight miniature gunfighters: one each Citizen, Gunman, Shootist and Legend for each side, give them all appropriate names. Make up a Fate Deck, cut out the hit location chits overleaf if you want to use them, then set the two sides up about twelve inches apart.

Turn your first card, and let the gunfight commence!

USING CARDS TO DETERMINE HIT LOCATION & EFFECT

Instead of rolling two dice to determine the location and effect of a hit, you can make up a pack of 36 cards instead, and have the victim pull out a card, or simply copy and cut out one or more sets of the shooting chits below and draw one out of a box for each hit.

This is a quicker method, and less fuss than using the chart. It's also more fun; there's something about using cards that makes everything seem more lively. It seems to be that when you're rolling dice you're just testing your luck, but when you turn a card you're dealing directly with fate.

SHOOTING CHITS
GRAZE	GRAZE ON HEAD	FLESH WOUND ON HEAD	FLESH WOUND ON HEAD	FATAL HEAD SHOT	FATAL HEAD SHOT
GRAZE	FLESH WOUND ON CHEST	FLESH WOUND ON CHEST	FLESH WOUND ON CHEST	SERIOUS WOUND ON CHEST	SHOT THROUGH THE HEART
GRAZE	FLESH WOUND ON RIGHT ARM	FLESH WOUND ON RIGHT ARM	FLESH WOUND ON RIGHT ARM	SERIOUS WOUND ON RIGHT ARM	SERIOUS RIGHT ARM WOUND. KNOCKED DOWN
GRAZE	FLESH WOUND ON LEFT ARM	FLESH WOUND ON LEFT ARM	FLESH WOUND ON LEFT ARM	SERIOUS WOUND ON LEFT ARM	SERIOUS LEFT ARM WOUND. KNOCKED DOWN
GRAZE	FLESH WOUND	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN NO MOVEMENT	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN NO MOVEMENT	DEAD	DEAD
GRAZE	FLESH WOUND	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED DOWN NO MOVEMENT	FLESH WOUND & KNOCKED OUT NO MOVEMENT

The way that shooting works, is that the better a shot the character is, and the larger the number of extra dice he has to throw because of modifiers, the less likely he will have any need to blaze away or aim.

Blazing away is usually only a good plan if it more than doubles the number of dice at your character gets to throw, as there is a rather less than a 50% chance that blazing away will cause him to miss and be out of ammo because of rolling too many 1's.

Aiming works well if your targets character card has recently passed and yours hasn't come up yet. It's even better if you hold an action card that will allow you to take your shot whenever you like; no need to take it straight away, you can wait to see when your opponent's card or the Joker comes up before you decide.

COVER

A character behind cover is protected from some of the shots that would otherwise hit him.

A gamesmaster can be useful to adjudicate which parts of a targets body are protected, but as a rule of thumb:

Characters firing round the corner of a building always expose their head and chest. Pistol shooters also expose their right arm, and rifle shooters always expose both their arms. When firing over a wall or other obstacle, the chest is not exposed.

If a character has taken cover behind something reasonably substantial, like an adobe wall or a pile of crates, then shots that would have hit protected parts of his body cause him to duck back, but cannot injure him.

If he is only behind something like a wooden building wall or fence, then throw for each shot that hits cover:

1, 2 - shot penetrates, target hit, subtract one from the damage dice .

3-6 - shot is stopped.

Some cover, like brush or stands of wheat, is too insubstantial to stop a bullet, but hiding behind it still reduces your opponents chance of hitting by subtracting one of his dice.

Unless a character ducks back, his head is always visible when he is behind cover.

Other characters provide cover too: if the firing line is obstructed by another character, determine which parts of the targets body are protected by him. Hits on these parts are rolled for again on the unfortunate interloper.

DUCK BACKS

Duck backs are an important feature of these rules; you can use the duck back rule to pin and neutralise your opponents and provide realistic covering fire for your friends.

Only characters behind cover are subject to duck backs.

When a character behind cover is grazed or wounded, but his cover stops a shot for him, he is forced to immediately duck back; getting his entire body behind cover.

He must then use an action recovering before he can make any other action. He can use one action to recover from any number of wounds and duck backs simultaneously.

While he is ducked back, or even while any character is known to be lurking, completely behind cover, opposing character can still fire at him. All the successful shots will hit the cover, but the hidden target will still be subject to the duck back rule, and will have to spend his next turn recovering. This is a good way of protecting your friends while they dash across open ground.

STARTING POSITIONS

If you don't want to work out a scenario, and just want to get stuck right in with a general gun battle between all the players divided into two or more sides, a good way to get things rolling (as suggested by Tony Yates) is to draw from the fate deck, as each characters card is drawn, his model is placed on the table. He can be positioned anywhere his player likes, as long as he is either at least eighteen inches from all enemy models, or is closer to the nearest friend than the nearest enemy.

As soon as the Joker is drawn, the game starts, with those characters who have not yet appeared being placed on the table as above when their cards are drawn.

OPTIONAL RULES

You may have no need of these optional rules at all! If all you plan to do is fight big, cheerful, beery shoot outs at the club or at conventions, then there is no reason to add further complication; in fact you might want to do away with some of the existing rules. You could get rid of the rule that forces all movement to be in a straight line, get rid of duck backs and/or knock downs or reduce the number of firing modifiers, for instance, anything that you find speeds the game up can be useful if you are trying to entertain as many groups of players as possible at a convention.

Remember, these are your rules now and you can do what you like to them! Feel free to add or change to suit your own needs. If you settle down to regularly gaming in the Old West amongst a group of friends, you'll probably get the most out of it if you develop the rules to suit your own tastes. You'll soon find out the depth of detail that you prefer. You can start by seeing if you think that any of the optional rules we offer here will provide you with sufficient extra interest and excitement to justify the effort and time they consume. Let us know where your own version of our rules ends up: we're very interested to see what you get up to, though we're unlikely to add any extra complication to the mechanisms of the published rules in future editions: our feeling is that once you're ready for a high level of extra detail, you might as well add it yourself to be sure that it fits your playing style.

I'm eventually going to cover: Locoweed/Drunks/Imbeciles, Stray Shots, Dynamite, Scenarios, Randomly generated groups, gangs & units, random towns and occupants, Random Events, Bystanders Behaviour, Veterans. But as you can see, I haven't got to everything yet, call Guernsey Foundry if you'd like to know how far I've got.

EXPERIENCE

Games become more interesting if each little lead warrior is allowed to take on a life and personality of his own. We can do this with almost no effort at all by allowing them to improve in class between games, and with a little more effort we can allow them to acquire skills which really individualise them.

Characters do not receive promotion to the next class during a game, they have to wait for their next gunfight.

A Citizen becomes a Gunman providing he at least gets to fire a shot at, or fight with, an opponent, most Citizens should manage this during their first gunfight!

A Gunman becomes a Shootist once he has killed an armed man.

Becoming a Legend is harder; a Shootist must kill or seriously wound three armed men in one gunfight, or kill a Legend, to become a Legend himself.

Even if you are running a series of games for different groups of players at a convention, you can add extra interest (not least for yourself) by allowing surviving characters to be promoted between games, even though they will then be run by different players. You could start with two sides consisting entirely of Citizens, perhaps each led by a more dangerous individual, and see how many of them make it to Shootists and Legends over the day or weekend. It's amazing how much individual personality your miniature gunslingers can gain just by naming them an introducing a small element of continuity. No arduous record keeping is involved; you can just make notes on their character cards in the Fate Deck.

SKILLS

The next stage is to allow characters to gain individual skills. This is a little more complicated, but all the record keeping can still be done on the character cards. You can either dice for skills randomly, draw chits, or allocate them according to your knowledge of the personality of the character based on his performance in previous games.

Shootists gain a skill for each gunfight in which they kill an armed man (including the gunfight when they first qualify as a Shootist). They have a 50% chance of an additional skill for each man after the first that they kill.

Legends automatically gain a skill after every gunfight in which they took an active part. They also have a 50% chance of an additional skill for each man after the first that they kill.

Legends rapidly become super-human, until someone comes along and shoots them down to take over their mantle. If you like, you can allow any character who kills a Legend to gain a skill.

"Double" skills: those skills marked with an asterisk can be gained twice, the second time doubles the effect (Very Strong, Very Terrifying etc). Some skills are mutually contradictory, possibly cancelling each other out, some are complimentary, or combine in interesting ways. You are going to have to sort the precise detail out for yourselves! It's up to you whether you allow "treble" skills. If, for whatever reason, a character can't take (or the gamesmaster thinks it would be inappropriate for him to take) a particular skill, roll or draw again.

Backshooting, shooting unarmed, unconscious and surrendered characters and all women does not count towards experience or skills, and anyone who does so, or surrenders or refuses a challenge does not gain any experience or skills for the whole gunfight.

These experience and skill rules assume that players will be having the occasional casual game, and will want to see their characters progress reasonably quickly. If you are playing in a more committed and regular manner, you might like to slow the process up so that all your characters aren't super human before your campaigning has barely begun.

However, bear in mind that every gunfight your characters participate in carries a risk. We find that the fatality rate runs at about one in six (though this depends on your style of play), of course, the more experienced characters have a better chance of survival, especially if they're played carefully. When you are thinking about the rate of experience and skill accumulation, you need to consider how tough and skilful you want a typical character to be before he takes up residence on Boot Hill.

SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES Agile: no firing penalty when moving, may make one change of direction during move*, ends move facing any direction. Adds one dice* in a fight.

Ambidextrous: no penalty for firing two pistols.

Bossman: all the characters on his side add one dice* when testing nerve, except that those within six inches of his beloved person add three dice (including the Great Man himself). If his own nerve fails, then all his friends test with minus three dice.

Brawler: adds four* dice when attempting to hit in a fight.

Charmed: once* per gunfight he may re-roll a whole batch of dice, or make an opponent do the same.

Clumsy: gun will jam if equal or less* number of 1's is rolled. Falls over it two* 1's are throw on movement dice.

Crack shot: add one* firing dice.

Cursed: each opposing player may cause him to re-roll one dice once* per gunfight (it's a good plan to give each player a "curse" token to pass over, a coin will do).

Deadeye: hits on a 5 or 6 when firing single shot.

Drunk (or Deranged): subject to drunkenness rules.

Evil: gains normal* experience from backshooting, shooting KO'd and unarmed victims, also friends and allies.

Hard as nails: ignores the effect of the first* wound he receives (still knocked down, knocked out or dead though!).

Jumpy: only has a 50%* chance of recovering, subtract three* dice in a fast draw situation, always blazes away, subtract two* dice when testing nerve. Moves like a Citizen.

Knifeman/Swordsman: adds four* dice in a fight, and one* to the throw for effect, but only if armed with a knife/sword. A knifeman may throw his knife as if making a deliberate pistol shot at point blank and close range only, but with plus one dice to hit.

Legend of the West: when his character card is drawn, his player takes it into his hand as if it was an action card which can be used only for this character. May fire at a group of characters within four* inches of each other and distribute any hits between them as he chooses. If Ambidextrous may fire each gun at a different target. Fears no-one Roll randomly for one* additional skill now. When this character gains further skills he may choose whichever one he wants.

Lightning Fast: adds three* dice in a fast draw situation.

Lucky: may re-roll one* of each batch of dice he throws.

Marksman: may add or subtract one* when rolling for hit location.

Nerves of steel: not subject to duck back, add one* dice to testing nerve. Fears no-one.

Quick shot: adds three* dice in a fast draw situation, when blazing away he can hit with one* extra shot.

Runt: subtracts three* dice in a fight.

Slow: subtract one* dice for movement and fast draw. May not use an action card.

Stealthy: if motionless behind cover, cannot be seen at all beyond 12* inches, subtract one* firing dice if shot at behind cover.

Stoopid: throw each turn:1, 2 - do nothing. 3 - continue doing whatever he did last turn. 4, 5, 6 - take normal turn.

Strong: adds three* dice in a fight.

Swift: opponents subtract one* dice when firing at him if he moved on his last turn, may choose to roll one* extra movement dice. Adds one* dice in a fight and in a fast draw.

Terrifying: causes fear* in everyone, opponents subtract one* dice when testing nerve.

Tough: when hit by shooting or in a fight, subtract one* from the effect dice, never knocked down or knocked out.

True Grit: adds three* dice when testing nerve. Fears no-one.

Vengeful: hates anyone who shoots at him or attacks him.

White knight: may not back-shoot, shoot knocked down targets or anyone unable to shoot back, gains one* firing dice against all Evil characters and hated opponents, he is also Charmed* and Tough*, he never loses his nerve. Fears no-one.

Wildman: must move (towards an appropriate enemy) and fire every turn if he can, , opponents he is moving towards suffer fear. He is also Tough*, an Expert Fighter* and has True Grit*.

Yellow: subtracts three* dice when testing nerve. Fears anyone who grazes or wounds him.

INTRODUCING EXPERIENCED CHARACTERS

When you invent an experienced character from scratch for a game, rather than using one who has been "built" over a series of gunfights by one of the players, you might like to give him a few skills. If a gamesmaster has a particular sort of personality in mind, he can simply select the skills that he thinks are appropriate. Alternatively, you can throw or draw randomly. All Shootists and Legends should really have that least one skill, you could throw a dice to determine how many more skills a Legend has, and throw a dice and subtract three to see if a Shootist has more than one.

Especially if using a gamesmaster, players should make an effort to award appropriate skills to any character whose model catches their eye, irrespective of his experience. So, a model of a big, brawny blacksmith should entitle the character to be Very Strong and Tough, even if he is only a Citizen. A model of a dashing Mexican officer posturing with his sword obviously represents an Agile Swordsman, and so on.

Also, if a character performs particularly well in a game, in terms of properly fulfilling the role allotted to him, behaving in character, and generally doing the manly thing, then he can be awarded an extra skill: ideally a skill chosen because it relates specifically to some successful action performed during the game.

If you like, and your players can cope with it, you can allow each player using new characters to pick one of them to receive a skill at the beginning of the gunfight. You could even allow all new characters a starting skill, or have each one dice to see if they get one.

Now would be a good moment to cut out the skill chits, or roll some dice, and give skills to the Shootists and Legends that you were using to try out the shooting rules back on page 5. Then go ahead and run the gunfight again, and award appropriate experience to the survivors.

t really is amazing how much more personality your characters have now isn't it? Their progress in the gunfight, and their range of skills really give them an individual identity; now you can probably think of an appropriate "handle" or nickname for each of the survivors, and you're all fired up to test their mettle in another heroic confrontation!

As you will see, this is an enjoyable process, but the resulting characters are also quite complicated, and their players would have a fair few things to remember during a gunfight. This works fine if players build their characters up gradually, and are able to assimilate each skill as it is acquired, but you don't want too many multi-skilled characters in a game unless your players are experienced and enthusiastic.

So, don't give inexperienced players characters with loads of skills to worry about, at the most give them one character with a single skill until they earn more for themselves.

You can have an interesting gunfight with the gamesmaster running a number of particularly tough characters himself, this gives players a chance to meet up with heavy duty Legends complete with interesting selections of skills without having to worry too much about the rules themselves. Of course, if you expect your players to take on highly skilled Legends, you'd better provide them with an appropriately sized force.

Skill Chits
Draw Two Skills	Pick Any One Skill	Draw a Dice Worth of Skills and Pick One	Randomly Select an Existing Skill and "Double" it	Pick Any Existing Skill and "Double" it	Agile
Anbidexterous	Bossman	Charmed	Crack Shot	Cursed	Deadeye
Drunk or Deranged	Lightning Fast	Swift	Hard as Nails	Legend of The West	Lucky
Marksman	Evil!	Nerves of Steel	Jumpy	Quick Shot	Runt
Brawler	Slow	Stealthy	Stoopid	Strong	Terrifying
Draw a Dice Worth of Skills & Have Your Opponent Pick One for You	Yellow Plus Draw Another Skill	Bruiser Slow Stoopid Touhgh & Strong	Evil Plus Draw Another Skill	Knifeman or Swordsman	Clumsy
Tough	True Grit	Vengeful	White Knight	Wildman	Yellow

You don't need your characters to be able to thump each other to have a good game; they manage perfectly well with their fire arms. However, it does add additional colour and interest if you can cope with the additional complication.

If a character chooses to move into contact (or chooses to remain in contact) with an opponent, he makes an attack, while the victim defends, providing he has not been knocked down or knocked out.

The attacker rolls the number of dice indicated on the fighting chart below, each 6 rolled is a potential hit.

The defender then also rolls the number of dice indicated on the fighting chart, each 6 rolled cancels one of the attackers hits.

Roll for the effect of each of the attackers remaining hits. If the defender rolls more 6's than the attacker, then the attacker is knocked down (mounted attackers must throw to retain control of their steed), and cannot make any other action or defend himself properly until he has spent a turn recovering.

If the victim has been knocked down, he does not roll dice in defence, and each 6 that the attacker rolls scores a hit.

If he has been knocked out, the attacker automatically scores a hit with each dice he throws, alternatively the attacker might just as well shoot his unfortunate victim at point blank range, which automatically kills. Neither course of action is regarded as gentlemanly, and should not be permitted except to evil characters or perhaps where the victim is hated; both disqualify the character from earning experience or skills.

Characters in contact with an opponent who wish to attempt to shoot him do not use the shooting rules: they roll on the pistol or the rifle rows of the fighting chart, as appropriate.

THE FIGHTING CHART
			THROW FOR EFFECT
WEAPON	ATTACKER	DEFENDER	1	2	3	4	5	6
FIST	3	4	KNOCKED DOWN			FLESH WOUND	KNOCKED OUT!
PISTOL	2	2	KNOCKED DOWN		FLESH WOUND	SHOT!
CLUBBED PISTOL	3	3	KNOCKED DOWN		HEAD WOUND	KNOCKED OUT!
RIFLE	2	2	KNOCKED DOWN			FLESH WOUND	SHOT!
CLUBBED RIFLE	3	3	FLESH WOUND		HEAD WOUND		KNOCKED OUT!
BOWIE KNIFE, LANCE, SWORD or BAYONET	7	6	KNOCKED DOWN	FLESH WOUND		TERRIBLE WOUND!
KNIFE	4	4	KNOCKED DOWN	KNIFED!
TOMAHAWK	5	3	KNOCKED DOWN		HEAD WOUND	KNOCKED OUT!	HEAD WOUND & KNOCKED OUT	DEAD!
TRAMPLED or thrown from horse	2	2	BOWLED OVER or foot caught in stirrup	BROKEN LIMB	KNOCKED OUT!	BADLY BRUISED	KNOCKED DOWN

If a character has a shield, he suffers no effect when his opponent rolls a 1.

If you are fighting an encounter between Indian war bands; with an emphasis on hand to hand combat, you might like to try the slightly more sophisticated rules contained in our Horse & Musket Skirmish Rules.

Modifiers: add or subtract the following NUMBER OF DICE rolled by the character:
Defender is behind cover - 1 Attacker moves over 9 inches +2 Each flesh wound - 1 Each serious wound - 2 Wounded right arm - 1 Backshooting +2 Defender on ground +2 Citizen - 1 Shootist +1 Legend +2 Attacked from side - 2 Attacked from rear - 4	Horse combat only: A mounted Good or Expert horseman adds one per movement dice rolled. Horses trampling their opponent add one per movement dice rolled. Mounted + 2 Striking or receiving a passing blow - 1 Mounted lance + 3 Diving + 4 Dodging + 2 Heroic leap - 2
Gamesmasters may further modify the number of dice as they find appropriate

Throw for the location of flesh wounds, and for the effect of head wounds, on the hit location chart.

You also throw for the location and effect of terrible wounds! on the hit location chart, but:

A graze or flesh wound becomes a serious wound.

And a serious wound either also causes the severing of a limb or the head, or runs through the body, killing the victim and having a 50% chance of causing the weapon to become stuck.

Victims who are shot! or knifed! are treated exactly as if they had been shot in normal firing except that a character who is out of ammo cannot shoot an opponent, and counts a shot! result as no effect.

Attackers and defenders must announce that they are clubbing their weapon before the attacker rolls his movement dice, neither can fire on their next turn, irrespective of whether a fight takes place.

We include the modifiers for horse combat and trampling here for convenience. The rules for horses are elsewhere in the optional section, and are best not messed with until you are confident using the rules for two-footed combat!

TRAMPLED OR THROWN CHARACTERS are always knocked down and winded: so that they can make no actions whatever until after the Joker is next turned.

Thrown characters are placed immediately behind their departing horse.

Bowled over: a: throw to determine the distance that the character flies through the air; throw a red and a black dice, leave them where they fall, the character is propelled the difference between the two scores.

b: move the character in the direction parallel to a line drawn from the positions of the red to the black dice.

Foot caught in stirrup: throw for injury again immediately, and each time the characters card is drawn. A second 1 allows the character to escape, otherwise he suffers the damage indicated. A character who's horse has been shot from under him is trapped underneath. Treat as above, but subtract one from the dice for each friend trying to pull him clear.

Broken limb: throw on the hit location chart to see which one. The effect is like a serious wound, but with a broken neck causing death.

Badly bruised: throw on the hit location chart. The effect is like a light wound.

OUTNUMBERED CHARACTERS

Many players have asked about this. There are no special rules or modifiers for characters outnumbered in combat. When a character moves (or remains) in contact with one or more opponents, he decides which one he attacks, they may each attack him in return when their character card is turned.

The outnumbered character is at a considerable disadvantage; if any of his opponents succeed in knocking him down or damaging him in any way, then he is left at the mercy of the others. The rules feel balanced to us as they stand; we feel that any additional modifiers would be over the top - but feel free to introduce whatever mechanic you find suits your own preferences!

CHALLENGES, DUELS & THE FAST DRAW
The Code Of The West!

There are three situations where you use the fast draw rules:

1. When a character has an opponent within his arc of fire and sees him attempt to draw his weapon, the character may immediately announce a fast draw, even though it is not his turn.

2. When a character challenges one or more of his enemies to a duel during a gunfight. It's up to you whether this is permitted only at the beginning of the gunfight ( perhaps only before shots are fired) at any time, or at the discretion of the gamesmaster.

3. When a character coming up behind an enemy challenges him in a gentlemanly manner, rather than just shooting him in the back.

Making a challenge is an action. The character challenges one or more of his opponents within eighteen inches to a duel. The challenged parties must respond immediately. If they accept, then providing they also have a six gun (they may be passed a six gun by friends close by), the duellists discard any rifles, then rise to their feet and step out into the open if necessary, and the duel commences.

The duellists take a turn as normal when their character card is dealt or their player uses an action card. However, they may only Pass, Move directly towards an opponent or Fast Draw.

Once one of the duellists declares a Fast Draw against one of his opponents (if facing more than one enemy, he must Draw against the fastest), they both throw Fast Draw dice to determine who fires first.

The character immediately rolls a number of Fast Draw dice: (Conveniently, this is the same number as when you test Nerve)

Citizen 3

Gunman 4

Shootist 5

Legend 6

Modifiers: add or subtract the following NUMBER OF DICE rolled by the character:

Head Wound - 1

Each Serious Wound - 1

Wounded Firing Arm - 1

Sideways To Opponent - 1

Back To Opponent - 3

The character who rolls the most 6's fires first, if both duellists roll the same number of 6's, they fire simultaneously.

If neither rolls any 6's, then see who rolled the most 5's, and so on!

Once the winner of the Fast Draw has fired, then if his opponent is still standing, he may fire back.

If, once they have both fired, both of them are still on their feet, they thrown Fast Draw dice again, and continue to repeat the process until one of them falls to the ground.

Firing can be either deliberate or blazing away.

Once one of the duellists is killed, knocked out or knocked down, the duel is over. The winner now immediately makes two actions, and the game proceeds normally.

While the duel is unfolding, no character is allowed to interfere with the duellists in any way.

ALTERNATIVELY, the duellists may agree to fire on a signal, in which case they Move until they are an agreed distance apart, and then Fast Draw as above.

If a character refuses a challenge, all his enemies hate him for the rest of the gunfight, any characters present who fear him no longer do so, he gains no experience or skills for this gunfight, and he may well earn himself an uncomplimentary sobriquet.

The rules for Fast Draw have deliberately been set up so that one lone hero can take on a number of opponents simultaneously with some hope of success (just like in the movies). If our lone hero can outdraw his fastest opponent (and proceed to shoot him down like the dog he is), then he gets two extra actions to deal with the rest of the bad guys. Legends of the West are good at this.

If there are no other duellists, the two actions will give him a chance to get off the street before his enemies in the crowd open up.

When complex situations evolve; like when Bloody Bart draws on Dirtface Sam, who in turn is drawing on Smiley White, you're just going to have to let common sense and the gamesmaster determine events!

BACKSHOOTING

Backshooting is a despicable and umanly act. Any character who sees another attempt to backshoot will hate him from then on.

The gentlemanly approach to coming up behind an unsuspecting opponent is to announce one's presence with a well chosen phrase or two. The situation then is resolved exactly like a normal Fast Draw, except of course that the previously unsuspecting target suffers the loss of three dice because of the "back to opponent" modifier.>

If a character is challenged from behind, he has the option of throwing down his weapon and surrendering.

Of course, the little lead protagonists on the table top shouldn't really be able to turn to face an enemy sneaking up on them just because their player has an aerial view of proceedings. If you have a gamesmaster, then he will be able to sort out who can react to what. Otherwise an element of common sense is required, combined with judicious dice throwing. We suggest that a character should have a one in three chance of reacting to an enemy within twelve inches of their rear, and a 50% chance once the scheming rat gets within six inches. Once he actually draws a bead on his proposed victim, there should be a further 50% chance of reacting to the sound of the gun cocking, and an immediate Fast Draw resulting, just as if he had been challenged.

NERVE

You will find that there is a tendency for games between stubborn opponents to only end when the last wounded survivor from the losing side is hunted down and shot or beaten unconscious by his enemies, many of whom will be hobbling around with wounds of their own by this point. Really, the gunfight should have ended long before; when it became apparent that one side was severely disadvantaged and could not fulfil its objectives. In "real life", the losing side, finding themselves in an untenable situation, would have vamoosed while they had the opportunity to get away in one piece. However, the little lead men only have as much intelligence as either their players or the rule system provide them with, and if you find that your gunfight drag on beyond the point of common sense or lively entertainment, then you will find the following rule useful:

There are three circumstances when a character must throw to see if his courage fails him and he loses his nerve:

1. When he is HURT REAL BAD: this happens when:

A Citizen suffers any wound or graze.

A Gunman suffers any two wounds.

A Shootist suffers any three wounds.

A Legend suffers any three wounds, at least one of which is serious.

He must throw again each time he suffers an additional wound.

2. When half of his friends go down; either killed, seriously wounded, knocked out, surrendered, lost their nerve, refused a challenge or left the table.

3. Whenever the gamesmaster thinks it appropriate.

The character immediately rolls a number of Nerve dice:

Citizen 3

Gunman 4

Shootist 5

Legend 6

Subtract one dice for each flesh wound, and two dice for each serious wound.

Add one dice if he and his friends have caused more of the enemy to go down than they have lost themselves.

He must throw at least one 6, otherwise he has lost his nerve, and starting on his next turn, must hide, run or surrender, as appropriate.

HATRED & FEAR

Characters can hate or fear each other in a number of circumstances:

The gamesmaster can create a scenario where relationships of hate and fear already exist, or rule that events during a gunfight cause one character to hate or fear another.

Some skills cause hatred and fear.

Backshooters and yellow dogs who refuse a challenge become hated.

Additionally, if you want emotions to run high in your gunfights, you can introduce the following extra rule:

Whenever a character is grazed or wounded by an opponent, throw a dice: a one means he now fears his tormentor, a six means he now hates him.

When a character HATES an opponent:

He adds one dice when fighting or shooting at him.

He must always accept his challenge to a duel.

He must fire at a hated enemy within his arc of fire if he can. If a hated character who is neutral, or on his own side, comes within his arc of fire, he must throw a dice, on a 1 for 2 he must fire at him! Normal backshooting rules apply.

When a character FEARS an opponent:

He subtracts one dice when fighting or shooting at him.

If he is challenged by him to a duel, he tests to see if he has lost his nerve. If he has, he runs away, hides or whatever. But, if his nerve is good, he accepts the challenge, and if he survives, then in the best Western tradition he becomes Fearless, and never fears anyone ever again.

It is possible for situations to arise where a character both hates and fears the same opponent. In which case, he does not resolve this turmoil of conflicting emotions until he has either fired at or is fired upon or comes within twelve inches of his nemesis. Throw a dice to see if he hates or fears him for the rest of the gunfight, except this is extreme hatred or fear, and involves adding or subtracting two dice when fighting or shooting.

MORE ACTION CARDS

In the basic rules, the fate deck contains only four action cards, one each Citizen, Gunman, Shootist and Legend. In the basic game we were keen to keep things straightforward and quick, but didn't want the rules to be so simplistic as to be mind-numbingly dull, so we made sure to include rules that allowed (perhaps even forced) tactical planning. These are:

The movement rules that permit only straight line movement and turning only at the start of the turn.

The duck back rule.

The aiming rule.

And the action cards.

Of course, you can just ignore any of these rules if you want an even simpler game.

However, a number of people have commented on the fact that the number of action cards doesn't increase with the number of characters in use. Our rationale was that if there are only a small number of characters, then any group of players should be able to cope with the action cards coming round frequently, but with big games with lots of casual players, you don't want the rhythm of play constantly interrupted, and also the scarcity of the action cards makes it much more exciting for the casual participant to draw one.

With more sophisticated and experienced players, there's no reason not to include as many sets of action cards as you like, perhaps one set per ten characters as a starting point. Our inclination would be to include full sets irrespective of the number of characters of each type in the game. This would mean that if there was only one Legend in a big game, he would have the sole use of all the Legend action cards, this seems fair enough: with no challenger of anything like his calibre, he should be able to dominate the confrontation.

Its up to do whether you restrict the number of action cards that can be played sequentially. You can limit it to one for a more "realistic" game, or allow any number for a spaghetti western sort of approach!

As in the normal rules, When more than one action card is played in the same turn, then irrespective of the order in which they were declared, the superior card goes first, but if there are a number of each type of action card, you will have to mark each card with a number to indicate their superiority over each other.

Having said all of the above, these rules were really intended for games where each player controlled about four or five characters at most, and in big participation games we had imagined that only one character would be used per participant, though obviously some of you are using many more successfuly.

BUILDINGS

Most gunfights will take place in and around towns; with most of the cover supplied by the corners of buildings and the occasional fence or wagon.

If you want your characters to move around inside the buildings you can reduce the distance they move to one dice, or adopt a more abstract approach and have them move from a adjacent window or door to the next each turn.>

Other penalties:

Opening a door: one turn

Opening a window: one turn and throw a 4,5 or 6

Climbing through a window one turn and throw a 4,5 or 6

We find that while allowing movement through buildings is fine in principle, in practice it slows up the game, and in the worst case can result in unbearable tedium. Normally, these rules play very quickly, but all you need is one player who is determined to spend the whole time lurking around indoors waiting until he can manoeuvre himself into position for a perfect ambush, and instead the game takes four painful hours instead of forty thrilling minutes. So, we only allow movement in buildings if it is specifically required as part of a scenario; like posting snipers on roofs, balconies or at windows, or going in to rob a bank.

GROUP MOVEMENT

The action card system doesn't allow groups of men to could easily move around in concert. It's very difficult to organise the Earp's and Doc Holliday moving purposefully down the street of Tombstone, shoulder to shoulder and matching stride for stride when their cards don't come up in any predictable sequence. So if a scenario requires one or more groups of characters organised into determined bodies you can use the following rule:

Characters can be organised into groups at the beginning of the gunfight. Each group has a leader. Only the leaders action card is included in the Fate Deck; the rest are kept to one side. When a leaders card is drawn it can either be used to allow him to make an action as normal, or to allow the whole group to move in the same direction as a body.

As soon as the first shot is fired, all the missing character cards are shuffled into the Fate Deck, and group movement is no longer allowed.

COMBAT IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Most conventional gunfights will take place in towns. However, some scenarios (especially those involving battles against or between bands of Indians) will take place in areas where most of the cover is made up of trees, rocks and undergrowth.

Here there are two sorts of cover; individual large rocks and trees and suchlike that use the rules for cover in the main section, and areas of concealing terrain where the protagonists only gain glimpses of each other through the trees and scrub, and the first thing that a character wishing to fire at an opponent in such circumstances must discover is whether he can make a clear shot.

Wooded and scrubby terrain is represented by terrain pieces. There are four classes of such terrain; each is represented by different combinations of modelled trees and undergrowth mounted on card of a circular, oval or an irregular shape:

Loose scrub, Dense scrub, Loose woods, Dense woods.

These can be any size, roughly from three inches to six inches in diameter works well. The spaces between the wooded terrain represents relatively clear areas and woodland tracks.

Once a player has decided that a character will attempt to aim or fire, he must throw a dice to discover if he has a clear shot at his proposed target. Draw a line between the firer and target. Total up the density of the woods between them, this is one for each area of loose scrub or woods, and two for each area of dense scrub or woods. The firer must throw a dice and score more than the total density to be permitted to fire. If he fails the throw he stands instead.

Subtract one from the dice when attempting to find a clear shot at an Indian, or at a character who has ducked back.

In the open, all characters must move in a straight line. In wooded terrain, they have the option of following the edge of any terrain piece that they would otherwise enter, ending the turn facing their direction of movement. We call this skirting the terrain piece.

A character skirting a terrain piece can choose to move away from it at any point in his turn, moving away tangentialy.

Characters choosing to enter terrain pieces halt immediately their entire base is within the terrain, on subsequent turns they have their movement reduced; by two dice if they start their turn in dense terrain, one dice for loose terrain.

If a character in loose or dense woods would be grazed or wounded, throw to see if the shot was stopped by a tree; needing a 4, 5 or 6.

A character grazed, wounded or having a shot stopped by a tree, in either woods or scrub must duck back.

Rocky ground can be treated exactly as wooded terrain, with rocky terrain pieces counting as dense or loose woods. In a similar way, tall prairie grass can be counted as loose or dense scrub.

SHOTGUNS

Shotguns work differently to rifles. The spread of their shot is such that it is sometimes possible to hit more than one opponent with the same blast, the two-trigger arrangement allows both barrels to be fired more or less simultaneously, and they are rather unwieldy to reload. They can be breach or muzzle loading.

Shotguns fire twice in the same turn, once for each barrel. Both barrels must be fired at the same target spot.

First, mark out your target spot, this should be at a point about 12 inches from the character firing the shotgun it indicates the approximate direction he is pointing his weapon. You should mark this spot with a small marker; a blob of plasticine or Blu-tak works well, we use one of the pieces of cat litter that we also use to represent small rocks on our terrain features.

Now throw accuracy dice. You throw one red dice for right, and one black dice for left. The difference is the distance you should move your marker.

So, if the right dice comes up three, and the left dice comes up five, you should move the marker two inches to the left.

Throw accuracy dice for each barrel. You will probably have two marker spots now.

All characters with any part of their base within one inch of an imaginary line drawn from the head of the character firing the shotgun to either of the marker spots is hit.

Throw for the location and effect of the hit as usual, except that as six inch range or less shotguns cause two separate wounds per hit, and sawn-off shotguns cause three. Throw for the location and effect of each hit separately.

The effect of a shotgun blast reduces markedly with range. So deduct two from the effect dice if the target is over eighteen inches away, deduct one at over six inches, and add one within three inches.

The normal rules for cover apply, except that a shotgun will not penetrate wooden walls or fences unless they are exceptionally flimsy.

Having fired, the shotgun is automatically out of ammo.

Sawn-off Shotguns

Sawn-off shotguns work just like conventional shotguns, except that they deduct two from their effect dice if the target is over nine inches away, and at six inches range or less, they hit all characters within one and a half inches of the imaginary line drawn from the head of the firer to each of the target spots.

Sawn-off shotguns can have their stocks modified so that they can be fired one-handed like a pistol, in which case place the target spot just three inches away.

Blunderbusses and Musketoons

Blunderbusses and musketoons work just like sawn-off shotguns, except that they only have one barrel, but cause six hits at six inch range or less. They are always muzzle loaders.

Le Mat Revolvers

As well as being a conventional revolver, this "grapeshot pistol" had a short shotgun barrel fixed underneath. The shotgun barrel can only be fired once per gunfight. It works like a ordinary sawn-off shotgun, except that it only has one marker spot, placed three inches away, just like any other one-handed sawn-off.

You will notice that shotguns are markedly more accurate on the near side of the target spot than they are beyond it, becoming dramatically more accurate as the range gets closer, until it is not possible to miss once you get within one inch of your target. Shotguns are particularly deadly if you can open up on a bunched group of victims a few inches away.

The shotgun rules have attracted more comment than any other part of the rules, and haven't received universal acclaim!

Some people prefer a template system, and others prefer to use the standard shooting system with modifiers to be number and effect of the hits. But mostly, people comment that shotguns are just as effective in the hands of a wounded Citizen as those of a Legend of the West.

Its true that I do see shotguns as the great equaliser; that's why shaky old men and stagecoach guards bumping down dusty roads favour them, but I don't think it's true that they're really as deadly in the hands of a Citizen as those of a Legend. Basically, the Legend has many more opportunities to put his shotgun to good effect, he gets all those action cards, while the Citizen rarely sees one, he may have useful skills that will put in the a good position to use his shotgun in a devastating manner, and he doesn't run away just because he picks up a couple of scratches. I think that if you gave him any more advantages, given the potential of shotguns, there'd be little point in him carrying anything else! Let me know your preferences!

INDIANS

While white and Mexican settlers and townsmen may become fighters through choice or circumstance, Indians are born warriors. On a one-to-one basis the Indian warrior has the advantage, especially on his home ground. A weakling would not survive, and a warriors' life of hunting and warfare ensured that his prowess grows with his years.

There are only three classes of Indian character (there is no equivalent of Citizen):

Young Blood: a young warrior with little experience (equivalent of Gunman).

Warrior: an experienced, mature warrior with a few feathers to his name (equivalent to Shootist).

Mighty Warrior: a widely famed and honoured hero with many trophies and stories (equivalent of Legend).

Indians can use the normal Citizen, Gunman, Shootist and Legend action cards, picking up cards as if they were their gunfighter equivalent.

In addition, unless the fight is taking place in a town (where the Indians are not at their normal advantage) three additional cards: one each Young Blood, Warrior and Mighty Warrior Action Cards are added to the deck, these are used only by the Indians.

Young Blood's may start their table top career with skills. Throw a dice:

1,2 no skills

3,4 one skill

5 two skills

6 three skills

However, these skills are not rolled for on the main Indian list; instead throw a dice:

1 Agile

2 Hard as nails (Stoic)

3 Nerves of steel

4 Fighter

5 Swift

6 a Plains Indian is a Mystic Warrior/ an Apache is a Crack shot with a rifle and Stealthy

The main list of Indian skills is shorter than that for white men; it contains no disadvantageous attributes, and no enhancements to their shooting abilities for Plains Indians, Indians rarely had the ammunition to develop their shooting skills.

Indian Skills & Attributes

Agile

Fighter

Great Horseman

Hard As Nails (Stoic)

Hunter

Legend Of The Tribes

Mystic Warrior

Nerves Of Steel

Accomplished Shot

Stealthy

Strong

Swift

Terrifying

Tough

True Grit

Vengeful

Wildman

Suggestions for new skills are very welcome!

The Bossman skill does not appear. Instead, one Indian is chosen as the Warleader of the war party. He is treated exactly as if he is a Bossman, but if his war party is unsuccessful (in that it does not gain sufficient honour for its members) he gains no experience or skills and cannot be Warleader of those warriors again, if it succeeds he automatically gains an additional skill.

Army scouts, red or white, can choose to roll or draw skills from either the main or the Indian chart, as can mountainmen, frontiersmen, and Indian or half-breed gunfighters. They also are permitted to use the Young Blood, Warrior and Mighty Warrior Action Cards.

A Mystic Warrior is particularly receptive to powerful visions and attuned to the spirit world. Before each conflict, throw to see the effect that communion with the spirits has had:

1 Charmed: Once during this encounter he may re-roll a whole batch of dice, or make an opponent do the same.

2 Cursed: During this encounter, each opposing player may cause him to re-roll one dice once per gunfight.

3 Lucky: During this encounter he may re-roll one of each batch of dice he throws.

4 Dream Quest: The Mystic Warrior must leave the tribe to endure hardship and solitude in search of the spirits. He takes no part in this encounter.

5 Medicine Man: During this encounter all the members of the war party are charmed. From now on, each time that the Medicine Man takes part in a significant victory, he is able to adopt a junior comrade as his protégé. The protégé receives a duplicate of the Medicine Man's medicine bag, and may imitate his war paint and regalia, he becomes a Mystic Warrior himself. The war band may eventually grow to become an organised warrior cult.

6 Mighty Vision: The power of his dream message is such that the Mystic Warrior is permanently effected. Throw again:

1, 2 Charmed

3, 4 Cursed

5, 6 Lucky

Accomplished Shot: may choose to become accomplished in throwing one of a lance, knife or tomahawk, or in firing a bow. Apache may become accomplished with a rifle.

A Young Blood adds one, a Warrior two and a Mighty Warrior three firing dice with that weapon. This bonus automatically increases as the character gains experience and rises in class.

A Hunter adds one to his throw when trying to get a clear shot at an opponent.

A Great Horseman may choose to add or subtract one from any or all of his dice when rolling dice for horse movement, loss of control, regaining control, and rescuing comrades on foot. Apache don't get the Great Horseman skill, but instead become an Accomplished Shot.

EXPERIENCE

Apache gain experience just like anyone else, except that they suffer no penalties for killing unarmed opponents, back shooting or refusing a challenge. This is also true for Plains Indian, but they gain no experience at all unless they succeed in counting coup during the encounter.

To count coup the character must physically strike any standing opponent, or be the first to strike a fallen opponent. He gains honour and is entitled to wear a feather to mark his accomplishment.

GAINING SKILLS

Apache Warriors & Mighty Warriors gain skills exactly as in the main rules.

Plains Indian Warriors & Mighty Warriors gain a skill for each encounter in which they count coup (including the encounter when they first qualify as a Warrior). They have a 50% chance of an additional skill for each man they kill, and for each additional coup they count.>

With their additional action cards, starting skills and the additional beneficial skills that they will rapidly accumulate (especially if you allow them to "double up" on skills), Indian war parties rapidly develope into formidable enemies. After a few encounters they should be able to handle several times their number of inexperienced soldiers.

INDIAN WEAPONS Firearms

With the exception of Apache Crack Shots, all Indians subtract one dice when shooting firearms.

Bows

Use the range chart for pistols, except that long range extends to 24 inches.

Bow armed characters cannot move and fire.

All shots count as deliberate fire. A warrior prided himself on his ability to keep a number of arrows in the air; so, while a Young Blood can only score one hit, a Warrior can score two and a Mighty Warrior three.

If more 1's than 6's are rolled, then either he has run out of arrows, or he has a mechanical problem (probably a broken string) with his bow. It cannot be fired again either way.

If the target suffers an arrow wound, throw again: on a 4, 5 or 6 he has been impaled.

An impaled character can only move one dice per turn, and if he does so must throw for an additional wound, subtracting one from the dice.

The best plan is to get the arrow out, or if that proves impossible, break it off. Shootists, Legends (& Warriors and Mighty Warriors) and characters who are Hard As Nails, a Legend Of The West (or of the Tribes), have Nerves Of Steel, are Tough or have True Grit can manage this on their own, others need someone to help them.

The character or his helper must throw a dice:

1, 2 arrow fast, must be broken off, try next turn.

3 no progress, roll again next turn.

4, 5, 6 arrow removed.

If the arrow must be broken, throw on subsequent turns.

1, 2 uncontrollable bleeding/vital organ: victim dies.

3 victim suffers additional wound

4 victim passes out

5, 6 arrow broken

Impaled characters, subtract two dice if firing or fighting with the arrow still projecting from them, one dice if it has been broken off.

MUSKETS & OTHER MUZZLE LOADING WEAPONS

Muskets, flintlock rifles and pistols, blunderbusses and muzzle loading shotguns all take quite a while to reload. A gunpowder charge, wadding and the ball or shot all must be rammed home and the weapon carefully primed.

To represent the delay and uncertainty of this process we introduce new cards into the Fate Deck; one Muzzle Loader Firing Card for each character armed with a muzzle loader, and just one reload card.

When the reload card is drawn, it is placed face up on the table.

When a character's muzzle loader firing card is drawn, then, only if the reload card is face up on the table and that character is stationary, the firing card is passed to the character's player. Otherwise, the firing card is discarded. It is up to the drawing player whether he reveals which character's card this was. This introduces an element of tension, as often it is not possible to tell which characters have their weapons loaded.

If it is the Joker, all discards, the reload card, and any action cards not immediately used by the players are shuffled back into the Fate Deck. Players still hang on to their precious firing cards though!

Unless a specific scenario dictates otherwise, a player always starts the game with all his characters' firing cards in his hand.

When firing muzzle loading weapons, if more 1's than 6's are rolled, then the gun miss-fires.

Muzzle loaders fire unusually large lumps of lead; add one to be dice when throwing for the effect of a hit.

Muzzle loading shotguns must be reloaded one barrel at a time.

THROWN WEAPONS

All Indians can throw their knife, tomahawk and lance, but if they are not an Accomplished Shot with that weapon, they subtract one dice from their accuracy. Treat the throw as if it was a deliberate pistol shot with a maximum range of:

Knife & tomahawk: Medium (9")

Lance: Long (12")

Weapons can be thrown after moving. Normally, Indians carry only one each of knife, tomahawk and lance.

A thrown lance will always cause a terrible wound instead of a serious wound.

HORSES

Once you introduce horses the game inevitably becomes more complicated, and you have to start recording the final move rate of all your steeds every turn, though you can use counters to indicate your horses speed. We suggest that you don't worry about using horses until you're familiar and confident with the rest of the rules.

We have tried to represent the problems and excitement involved in trying to manoeuvre these huge beasts at speed in confined and dangerous circumstances, and we have made a particular effort to reflect the widely varying capabilities of riders of different levels of competence. You will find that your Inept mounted captain must approach mounted warfare with great caution, while a Plains Indian is capable of running rings around the opposition.

I may do an alternative, massively simplified set of horse rules that remove these details if playtesters find all this too much. The test is whether people find that the rules recompense you for the extra work required by the feeling of exhilaration and danger as you gallop around on your lead-alloy steeds!

There are four classes of riders:

Inept: someone who has rarely been on a horse.

Poor: someone who has occasionally ridden in civilian life, barely trained cavalry.

Good: most cavalry, most Apache.

Expert: many officers, all Plains Indian , some veteran cavalry, scouts.

MOVEMENT

Each class of rider throws dice each turn to see how far their horse moves:

Inept: always throws two dice, multiplies them together, and moves that distance straight ahead, he may then turn through up to 45 degrees. If an Inept rider wants to stop, he must announce his desire to do so then throw his dice as usual, if both dice come up even he stops immediately, if both come up odd he cannot stop this turn, otherwise he moves half distance then stops.

Poor: throws up to 6 dice, then moves the total distance straight ahead, he may then turn through up to 45 degrees. He may speed up or slow down by one dice each turn, to a maximum of 6 dice.

Good: throws up to 3 dice, then moves the total distance straight ahead, he then may turn through up to 45 degrees, he then throws again and may make a second turn of up to 45 degrees. He may speed up or slow down by one dice each throw, to a maximum of 3 dice.

Expert: throws up to 3 dice, then moves the total distance straight ahead, then may turn through up to 45 degrees, throws again and may make a second turn of up to 45 degrees, and then throws for a third time and may make another turn. He may speed up or slow down by one dice each throw, to a maximum of 3 dice.

All riders who were stationary at the end of their last turn must build up their speed by just one dice each throw, with the exception of Inept riders, who are considered to be riding a horse permanently on the verge of bolting, and always move the product of their two dice.

Riders moving & firing may fire once during the turn; immediately before making one of their movement throws.

Riders firing pistols subtract one from their firing dice for each movement dice they are about to throw. They may fire in a 270 degree arc running clockwise from their left side to directly behind them with their right hand, or in a 270 degree arc running anti-clockwise from their right side with their left hand.

Riders firing shoulder arms subtract two from their firing dice for each movement dice they are about to throw. They may fire in 270 degree arc like a pistol if firing one-handed, but only in a 90 degree arc running from their left side to straight ahead if firing two handed.

Plains Indians ignore the first movement dice thrown when calculating their firing penalty.

COLLISIONS

All riders must move the full distance thrown, if this would cause them to collide with an obstacle other than a person, the horse will avoid the collision. Throw for loss of control:

LOSS OF CONTROL

A rider must throw for loss of control:

1. As a result of putting his horse on a collision course, the throw is made immediately before making contact.

2. As a result of combat.

3. As a result of a jump.

4. As a result of attempting to trample a character.

5. If he rolls three 6's simultaneously when rolling for horse movement, or an Inept rider moves 30 inches or more.

6. As the result of receiving a graze ( Inept and Poor only), a flesh wound (not Expert) or a serious wound.

Throw a dice:

1, 2, 3: Rider loses control, throw again below.

4, 5, 6: Everything fine, horse continues on his way, moving tangentialy away from the obstacle if on a collision course.

Lost Control

1, 2: Horse bucks. The horse immediately makes a series of bucks; leaping madly around trying to throw the rider:

Bucking sequence:

a: Throw to determine distance of movement; throw a red and a black dice, leave them where they fall, the bucking horse moves the difference between the two scores.

b: Move the horse in the direction parallel to a line drawn from the positions of the red to the black dice.

c: Throw to see if the rider regains control, requiring:

Inept 6
Poor 5, 6
Good 4, 5, 6
Expert 3, 4, 5, 6

d: If control is not regained, throw to see if the rider is thrown. He is thrown on:

Inept 1,2, 3, 4
Poor 1, 2, 3
Good 1, 2
Expert 1

Continue this sequence until either the rider regains control or is thrown. Any collisions or tramples are dealt with as normal.

3 - 4: Horse rears. Throw immediately to see if the rider is thrown, using the chart above.

5 - 6: Horse bolts. The rider is treated as Inept until he can regain control. Riders who were Inept to start with cannot now stop the horse, and will be carried away unless stopped, shot, thrown etc.

A character who can move into contact with a bolting horse can stop it with a throw of 4, 5 or 6 (Inept subtract two, Expert add one), but must risk being trampled first.

Characters may not fire on a turn where they throw for loss of control or are on a bolting horse.

Riderless bolting horses move on the Joker.

THROWN RIDERS

Throw on the Combat Damage Chart to determine the effect on the rider.

FIGHTING FROM HORSEBACK & TRAMPLING

If a rider's last movement throw was just one dice, he must halt alongside his opponent and fight a normal round of combat.

If the last throw was two or more dice, an Inept or Poor rider may choose to either trample anyone on foot in their path, or strike a passing blow. They may strike only one passing blow per turn.

Good and Expert riders may both trample and strike a passing blow. They may strike any number of passing blows per turn against different opponents. The trample round is fought first.

Any character on foot who otherwise comes into contact with a moving horse, friend or foe, is automatically trampled.

Any blow struck against a mounted character or his horse causes a test for loss of control.

A character on foot may strike against the horse if he is being trampled, otherwise against the rider, but may choose his target in a stationary combat.Where two mounted characters fight, they may each choose their targets.

Mounted opponents are never trampled.

PASSING BLOWS

A mounted character who does not halt alongside his opponent to trade blows strikes a passing blow instead. Both he and his opponent subtract one dice to simulate the reduced chance of a telling blow, unless the rider is armed with a lance.

ATTACKING CHARACTERS ON FOOT

A character on foot with a loaded weapon and facing the right direction who is attacked by a rider, or trampled by a horse, may first fire a hasty shot. Then, he may attempt to either:

Dive out of the way (this is compulsory for Citizens and Yellow characters).

Dodge.

Stand and fight, or attempt to stop a bolting horse.

Make a heroic leap.

Diving out of the way (+ 4 dice)

If the diving character survives a round of combat without receiving a hit, he isn't eligible to knock his opponent down, but dives one dice worth of inches out of the way. He is knocked down and winded; he cannot make any action until after the Joker is next drawn. He dives in the most obvious direction, if in doubt dice randomly.

Dodge (+ 2 dice)

The character ducks and dodges. If he survives a round of combat without receiving a hit, he isn't eligible to knock his opponent down, but moves a dice worth of inches in any direction, ending facing in his players choice of direction.

Stand and fight (no modifier)

An entirely conventional combat or trample is fought. If the horse is bolting, and the character is not hit, he may throw to see if he can bring it under control; needing a 4, 5 or 6 (- 1 if Inept, + 2 if Expert).

Heroic leap (- 2 dice)

The character attempts to leap up onto the horse. Only Legends, Expert horsemen and characters with various appropriate skills may attempt this.

The Assault or trample round is fought as normal, but if the leaping character throws the most 6's, he does indeed leap up into the saddle. An opponent already sitting up there is thrown, and the leaping character now has a mount (for the moment anyway!). On his next turn he must throw to see if he is thrown, as with bucking horses.

SHOOTING AT HORSES

Citizens cannot choose whether they fire at the rider or the horse, if they score a hit, throw a dice:

1, 2, 3 Horse

4, 5, 6 Rider

Subtract one if firing at a Plains Indian, as he will be proficient at using his steed as cover.

Gunmen also throw a dice as above, but may add or subtract one from the result.

Shootists & Legends are always on target if they score a hit.

INJURY TO HORSES Injury to horses is calculated in a simplified manner. Just throw a dice.

1 - 4 Grazed. Throw for loss of control.

5 Horse wounded. maximum dice per throw reduced by one, Inept riders throw for loss of control when throwing more than one dice for movement, Poor riders throw for loss of control when throwing more than two dice. Throw for loss of control.

6 Horse falls to the ground. Rider thrown.

Throw again:

1 - 2 Horse dead/seriously injured.

3 Horse wounded, bolts once rider has extricated himself.

4 Horse only grazed, but bolts once rider has extricated himself.

5 Horse wounded, stands once rider has extricated himself.

6 Horse only grazed, stands once rider has extricated himself.

RESCUING COMRADES ON FOOT

A rider can hoist a comrade up onto his horse as he passes by; all he has to do is throw 3,4,5 or 6, applying the following modifiers:

Each horse movement dice about to be thrown - 1

Either rescuer or rescued is an Expert rider +2 each

Either rescuer or rescued is seriously wounded - 1 each

Plains Indian + 1

If the unmodified dice throw is 1 or 2, the rider must first throw for loss of control.

The rescued pedestrian must be standing up, an unconscious character may be held up by his friends.

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