Hi I am GMEdwin and I really enjoy running games. I have been a GM on these boards for over 4 years.
I generally like to keep games running but have decided running APs are really difficult and take forever. Although I do love my Zeitgeist game and have been running that one for over 3 years.
I am interested in running one of three things: Boothill an old school cowboy game from TSR, Top Secret an old school Spy Game or run the Dark Outpost which is a sci fi module that is a ton of fun.
Anyone up for something different?
Not gonna lie, I love me some Boot Hill. It's certainly not for everyone, but I do enjoy it. Don't know the others, but I like Westerns and I'd be down for some old-school shoot-em-up fun.
Wow, Boothill. That's going back. I might even still have the box set packed away somewhere. I'll keep an eye on the thread to see what develops.
Boot hill? Haven't played since high school. I'd be tempted to play, but if there is Top Secret SI to be played, I'll be there in a hot second.
I'd be good with a TS/SI (I'd have to dig out my books). Boot Hill can be fun for a pick up game, but it's incredibly deadly, and I don't think it works well for a PBP game.
For those who haven't played it, when we played we took the first 30 minutes of every game day to roll up 5 characters. Usually someone ran out of characters by the time 6 hours was up and borrowed one from someone who had been very lucky that day.
Every time you get shot at, you have about a 20% chance of dying. :)
I can probably run both. My new job gives me a lot of free time to do this.
Ok, great we have enough players. I plan on running both.
For Boot Hill I want to run "Lost Conquistador's Mine to start out and for Top Secret, the adventure will depend on how many players. If it is 2 or 3, I can run a train adventure. If it is more I will come up with something else.
For those who haven't played it, when we played we took the first 30 minutes of every game day to roll up 5 characters. Usually someone ran out of characters by the time 6 hours was up and borrowed one from someone who had been very lucky that day.
Every time you get shot at, you have about a 20% chance of dying. :)
Oh yeah, it gets lethal quick. First time I ran it with some friends, the party rolled up a character each (we didn't know yet how quickly they'd fall), and I ran them through one of the sample encounters in the book (third edition). First round of combat, a bank robber unloaded both barrels of his shotgun on our PC deputy, and both caused lethal wounds. He got lucky on the first, but it didn't hold out for the second one...
By the end of the evening, which took them through that encounter and one more (where they had a skilled NPC sheriff for backup), only one PC was still alive, and he was barely clinging to life passed out on the second floor of a building. Very deadly, but also a ton of fun.
Ok, great we have enough players. I plan on running both.
Woo! Should we start doing character work here, or do you want to open up a new thread? And are we doing standard Boot Hill creation? (Also, which edition are we using? I have third.)
Doing a quick search online I noticed Boot Hill has more than one edition. What one do you plan to use?
Boot Hill 3rd edition would be fine because I have that one and 2nd edition. If anyone needs a copy of the rules, please send me a PM with your email address.
Top Secret, I will be using 1st Edition because I don't have access to TS/SI. Same thing applies for those who would need the rules, please PM me.
Feel free to use this thread for character creation for both. :)
Boot Hill 3rd edition would be fine because I have that one and 2nd edition. If anyone needs a copy of the rules, please send me a PM with your email address.
Top Secret, I will be using 1st Edition because I don't have access to TS/SI. Same thing applies for those who would need the rules, please PM me.
Feel free to use this thread for character creation for both. :)
Aww, too bad. Not sure i have the original TS rules, just the TS/SI rules now. I'll see if I can dig up the originals
Would you like access to the SI rules? I still have all my old books and some copies on PDF.
Here is the link for TS TS
What method of creation would you like us to use for Boot Hill? I'm partial to Method 2, although Method 1 gives the most old-school feel. Either way I'll roll...
[Strength]
[Coordination]
[Observation]
[Stature]
[Luck]
And that totals 46, so I'll have 8 points for Skills.
27
75
89
69
50
36
5'9"
23 years
Glasses
English - 81
Russian - 81
LOL, well, that looks like an infiltration specialist, high charm and willpower, decent courage.
Offense = 53
Deception = 72
Evasion = 56
Deactivation = 43
Life Level = 58
Movement Value = 152
HTH = 63
Wrestling = 80
Surprise Value = 128
Areas of Knowledge (5)
Home Economics
Political Science/Ideology
Arts & Crafts
Player's Choice (Law)
Medicine/Physiology
Home Economics 76
Political Science/Ideology 115
Arts & Crafts 58
Player's Choice (Law) 119
Medicine/Physiology 110
General Area of Knowledge : 25
Bureau : Investigation
Hmm, so a medical doctor as well as a lawyer and political scientist. Could be useful, but not in combat. :) Kind of feels like Doogie Houser, with the age. :)
In case we're also using the TS Companion :
Secondary Traits :
Observation (Willpower + Knowledge)/2 = 70
Shock Resistance (Courage + Willpower)/2 = 79
Perception (Courage + Observation)/2 = 70
Other Traits :
Female
Height Adjusted from 5'9" to 5'4" due to gender
Physical Strength: 27
Charm: 75
Willpower: 93
Courage: 69
Knowledge: 50
Coordination: 37
Offense = 53
Deception = 72
Evasion = 56
Deactivation = 44
Life Level = 12
Movement Value = 157
HTH = 83
Wrestling = 80
Surprise Value = 128
Observation 72
Shock Resistance 81
Perception = 71
Left-Handed
145 lbs
O
Positive
Education
Medicine/Physiology : 125 (M.D.)
Military Record
Military Service!
Entered : Navy, 2nd Lieutenant
3 years total : Rank Captain
Naval Science : 28 (General AoK 25 + 3 for 3 years)
Alignment
Neutral
Conservative
Netural leaning Unionist
Cover Job : Doctor (MD)
Medicine/Physiology : 145 (!)
Free for mission : 50%
Annual Salary Bonus : +$14,000
Annual Salary Increase : +5%
Surgeon
Social Class :
Upper Lower Class
Annual Income : $27,000 / Year
Base : $5,000 / Year
Education : +$6,000 / Year
Job Bonus : +$14,000 / Year
Cover Bonus : +$2,000 / Year
Additional Starting Funds : +$27 ($427 total)
Annual Tax : $7,290
Living Expenses : $27,000 - $7,290 = $19,710 * 0.77 = $15,177 / Year
Savings : $4,533 / Year
Bureau : Switch to Investigation Bureau, Infiltration Division
@Loup, I like method 2 as well.
I do have TS companion as well.
For those who need the Boot hill rules BH
Alright, in that case I'll take my base rolls of 13, 10, 9, 12, 16 and distribute them so I have Strength 10, Coordination 16, Observation 12, Stature 5, Luck 7. As much as I know it's useful to have a good Luck score, Coordination is your bread and butter, so that's where I want that 16. I'll figure out skills and the rest of the character shortly...
Then I guess my submission is ready. A doctor, entered college at a young age, not smarter than the average bear (just average in the brain department), but incredibly focused and the bearer of great skills and knowledge by dint of extremely hard work. Graduated with an M.D. in 5 years, and went into the Navy next as a surgeon.
BTW: What time are you setting it in? The $'s are crazy off for modern. :) For that matter, they were pretty wonky back in the 80's when first published (they were originally designed for the 60's/70's era and you get the feeling the designers didn't put any research at all into prices of equipment or pay of jobs). :) In the early 80's, an annual income of for a general surgeon was in the $170,000's. Even adjusting backwards, you're probably looking at $60,000 to $80,000 in the 60's and 70's.
Let's see how my Boot Hill character is going to look.
Observation
Strength
Coordination
/2=8 Luck
/2=5 Stature
Nice rolls for a total of 58 so 8 skills. (Thanks mdt for correction)
I must have the 2nd edition and it's been 3 decades so I'll have to look through the rules to come up with my character.
I never played Top Secret and am only going to work on one character at a time, so I doubt I'd get to that one until next week.
16
11
13
17
16
Coordination : 18
Strength : 16
Observation : 13
Stature : 11 / 2 = 6
Luck : 16 / 2 = 8
Total : 18 + 16 + 13 + 6 + 8 = 61
8 Skills
Work Skills (4)
Gunsmithing 16
Orienteering 12
Stealth 11
Survival 9
Weapon SKills (4)
Brawling 1
Pistol 1
Rifle 1
Knife/Sword 1
No
Let's see how my Boot Hill character is going to look.
2d10+1
2d10+3
2d10+1
2d10+1
2d10+3Nice rolls for a total of 71 so only 6 skills.
I must have the 2nd edition and it's been 3 decades so I'll have to look through the rules to come up with my character.
I never played Top Secret and am only going to work on one character at a time, so I doubt I'd get to that one until next week.
Remember to divide your Stature and Luck by 2, and then add up your stats. I think you're below 71. I count you at most at 60. Maximum stat total you can have is 80 (20, 20, 20, 10, 10).
I was considering a scout type character but it looks like mdt might be going that route. Is that the case, mdt?
It looks like we need to spread out our skills as much as possible to be able to cover necessary skills.
Nope, I was pushing more towards a settler, not a scout. I didn't take the scout skill (which is required for a scout!). Just Orienteering (to not get lost, settlers don't want to get lost) and Survival (Gotta be able to eat!). Stealth was just thrown in because I figured it would be needed to avoid getting scalped, not because he's a scout. Basically, was going for someone who was a gunsmith in the war, then decided to head out west and settle after the war. Probably a Graycoat.
We're gonna have overlaps on some of the skills (Stealth probably, and survival). Beyond that, we're likely to spread out some more.
Alright, I've got a character coming together. Time to roll for skills, and then I'll be compiling it all to an alias.
+2=13
+1=17
+2=16
+2=14
+3=9
Well, at least he'd make a fine lawyer, even if that's not really what I was going for. He's also got 2 points in Pistols and 1 in Rifles. More to come, but the basic concept is a bounty hunter type.
With only 1 or 2 others showing interest, I think my scout concept is too similar to mdt's settler and Loup's bounty hunter, so I'll go a different direction.
with weapon skills in brawling, pistol, and rifle.
He came out west thinking he'd get rich quick after hearing stories of mining gold. Has a tendency to gamble when in town.
I also thought this skill set would be useful for "Lost Conquistador's Mine"
What do we do about starting cash/equipment? Maybe I missed it but I couldn't find any mention of it in the rules.
I did miss this initially though:
Top Secret was published in January of 1980, so I would figure the rates were Carter era. I wanted to set it in the 80s anyway because it has that Cold War vibe which is fun.
We can wait till next week to start TS.
Boot Hill is going to be set in 1868
So are we using the game $'s as is, or correcting for real world prices/salaries?
I found my 2nd edition of Boot Hill. It says start with $150. Should we go with that?
I would use the game prices as is because it saves me a lot of time doing a conversion from the book to modern currency, plus there will be foreign currencies most of which don't exist anymore... I miss the Deutschmark dammit!
@Agamer, $150 is good. please give me your (general) backstory before purchasing equipment.
Sounds good, are my characters good as is? Other than buying equipment?
So if I'm reading this right, if we are going with 1868, we have the following available:
Pistols: single barrel derringer, muzzle-loading pistol, and cap & ball revolver.
Shotguns: all but pump
Rifles: muskets, muzzle-loading, breach-loading, revolving cylinder rifle, buffalo.
Is that correct?
I think you are correct, and the hands down winner on all of those are C&B Revolver and C&B Revolver Rifle. Oh, and sawed off shotguns.
Actually, in theory a few others are available as well. Lever-action rifles were around as early as 1860, and the Spencer and Henry models saw extensive use during the Civil War, so those could certainly be around. There were some early cartridge-firing revolvers by this time as well, although the most famous models (like the Colt Single Action Army and the Smith and Wesson Model 3) were yet to come.
Really the only gun in the Third Edition table that might not exist at all is the Double-Action Revolver, since those mainly came along in the 1870s; in theory the difference between regular revolvers and the fast-draw/long barrel models is simply the length of the barrel and maybe other slight design considerations, and you could easily rationalize a cap and ball revolver being made in a similar fashion.
Also, it might be a difference between editions, but I don't see any considerations in the 3rd Edition Boot Hill book on the actual cost of guns and ammunition. I think it's kind of assumed to be handwaved as each character having whatever makes sense for them. I'm fine with using a money system, since obviously it'll come into play during the actual game, but we'll either need a comprehensive table of costs or we'll potentially need to play a little quick-and-loose with how much things cost. I'm good either way, though!
General cost of goods and services (including stagecoach tickets and time with 'soiled doves')
For weapon costs, you'll probably have to look up each one individually in Wikipedia, as I haven't been able to find a list of weapons and prices in a table.
page 92 of the rules has some equipment and weapons costs.
The prices are located on pages 90-98 in the Boot Hill 3rd edition book.
Depending on your character's backstory will depend on the price of certain guns.
Oh crap, yeah. I completely forgot about that section of the book. It has been a while since I read through the thing...
I'm still working on the character--hopefully I'll have the backstory together within a day or two.
EDIT: That table also includes years listed for when the guns are available--do we want to run with those, or allow some of them that would actually have existed by 1868? I'm good either way but it's worth checking.
Erik Volker grew up in Pennsylvania. The son of a coal miner and a seamstress, he enlisted late in the Civil War after witnessing the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg. Being a good shot, he was trained as a sharpshooter but never saw action. He typically patrolled and protected supply lines, which he found boring. After the war, he tried to follow in his father's footsteps as a coal miner. However, he often thought about moving west and trying his hand at gold mining. After saving up enough money, his restlessness became too great and he moved west.
Initial equipment:
Breach-loading rifle (20)
Cap & Ball revolver (20)
Knife (1)
Ammo - 100 rds (2)
Black powder - 12.5 lb keg (5)
Holster & gun belt (5)
Rifle sheath (4)
Hat (2)
2 shirts (2)
2 pants (4)
Boots (10)
2 sets of gloves (4)
$71 remaining
Alright, Loup Blanc here with my character done up--stats thus far and background are in the profile. I realize I probably wrote more than I should have given the average life expectancy of a Boot Hill PC, but what can I say? I wanted to give some life to the character. Let me know what you think and what all I can purchase (and at what prices)!
Just so it doesn't slip under the radar, I'll repeat my question on whether we're going strictly by the dates the table gives for when guns become available, since those dates aren't totally accurate.
All weapons except the pumpshotgun, single action and double action revolvers are available. Repeating rifles 6,9, and 15 are available at triple the price unless your character is from back East, where they are more widely available.
The double barrel Deringer is also available but at double the price unless you are from Back East.
Other weapons of interest may be the Dreyse Needle Gun but to have that you need a damned good backstory.
Alright, with that in mind I've purchased weapons for Niko. He's armed with three Colt Army 1860 revolvers--his, his brother's, and his father's from the war. He also carries a Springfield rifle and a hunting knife. (Part of me wanted to go with a shotgun, but having a long-range weapon is probably a good idea.)
Do you get a discount if you're a gunsmith?
If you had a gun shop you would be able to get a discount, lets say double the book price for shipping... Obviously your store would need to place a mark up on the goods.
My character was a military gunsmith, so he would have had access to lots of weapons. Then he moved out west when it looked like things might be going to war (since we're going to be in 1860, that's just before the war). So it's likely he'd have a gun shop out west.
It is 1868 not 1860.
Ooops, sorry, in that case, he was a gunsmith in the war, and moved out west after the end of the war, thus had a chance to pick up a bunch of weapons to start his store on the cheap after the war?
I guess it depends how many guns you would want to bring. I would think you would be coming to the town of Dead Mule to look fora place to set up shop and maybe build a general store or something which could work.