[Gamer Printshop] Horror on the Gila Express (a Gothic Western)


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Among my many projects, I recently created an 1880's Train map set that includes, encounter scale maps (print-ready and virtual tabletop ready) of an entire steam train including: locomotive, coal tender, flat car, box car, livestock car, passenger car, Pullman luxury car and a caboose. Then got lots of interest in a possible Old West Pathfinder module idea. So I'm using my 1880's train set as an entire location for a one-shot module, and an introduction to a setting I call Gothic Western.

Its a place that gunslingers can best fit, but I'm also including a magus archetype called the Shootist, an investigator archetype called the Pinkerton, a bard archetype called the Journalist, and an inquisitor archetype called the Cabalist - though I think mad scientists, native bloodragers and shaman, occultists and many others belong. Think of the setting as gothic horror old west with Pathfinder, with elements of steampunk.

I've never been a fan of the gunslinger, but in a setting where they truly belong, it makes more sense. Plus I want to use revolvers, repeating rifles, cartridge ammo, and sticks of dynamite as normal for a setting.

It will probably be a few months before this is ready for release. Just seeing if there is any interest out there for such a setting.


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I'm always up for horror, especially if it has an uncommon premise.


Also created a train station map product, both products would be ideal for player-friendly maps of what will be used in the module. The station should be incorporated at the end of the one-shot as a destination.


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This would be a very interesting setting, I am intrigued!


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gamer-printer wrote:
Think of the setting as gothic horror old west with Pathfinder, with elements of steampunk.

Er...Hells yeah!


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Working with an alternate US Western territories (alternate US) rather than a completely fictional "like the Old West, but not" setting. I plan to keep in place some of the territories established earlier in the 19th century, and include ones that many people never knew existed.

Republic of Texas - includes regions of Texas, western Oklahoma, eastern New Mexico and the southwestern corner of Colorado. Gets along with the US, in conflict with Mexico (there was no Mexican War). Defended by the Texas Rangers.

Republic of Sonora - established by the American fillibuster (freebooter) William Walker and a band of mercenaries in 1853 controlling the northern part of the Mexican state of Sonora and Baja California. Unrecognized by the US, and in conflict with Mexico.

Territory of Deseret - the theodemocratic territory of the Mormon state, encompassing western Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, northen Arizona and southern California. Unrecognized by the US, in constant conflict with the New Mexico Territory and the Unorganized Territory. Defended by the Nauvoo Legion (Mormon militia).

Territory of New Mexico - includes New Mexico and southern Arizona, claimed to be abandoned by Mexico (since no longer contiguous with that nation, being separated by the Republics of Texas and Sonora) and now a US territory. Defended by US cavalry forts, though dominated by native tribes (Apache and Navajo).

State of California - the only US state in the western territories, though consists of north and central California only.

Oregon Territory - all lands north of California to the Canadian border, currently under lease to purchase agreement with Great Britain.

Unorganized Territory - Idaho, Montana and the Dakotas, claims held by several US cavalry forts, though actually controlled by the Great Plains native tribes (Cheyenne, Lakota/Souix and Blackfoot)

The Reserved Lands - native tribes forced by US army into concentration camps called "reservations", located in eastern Oklahoma.

I am also including several organizations and secret societies important to Gothic Western:

Knights of the Golden Circle - southern sympathizers that seek to establish a new Confederacy encircling the Gulf of Mexico, by taking Mexico and the West Indies, as well as the southern US.

Knights Templar and Freemasonry - seeking control of local government through its membership, also works to secure eldritch knowledge, artifacts of power and mystery, suppress the knowledge of their existence and bury all such knowledge in their hidden vaults.

Pinkerton Detective Agency - although a privately owned company it serves as the US secret service and the forerunner of the FBI, though also serving various US industrialists and business concerns, it will not support opposition to US in any way.

Order of Oblivion - a fictional secret society consisting of anti-American European aristocrats and concerns, includes anarchists, communists, elements of criminal syndicates, working in opposition to the Knights Templar.


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While I wasn't looking for a writer/designer, aside from myself, I've gotten a volunteer, Mike Riter, who is already designing new classes, and class archetypes (including a druid variant - the Texas Ranger), new aberrant species, and setting specific spells. We're also brainstorming ideas for modules and one-shots.

I've also secured a cool font for the setting logo (arranged for commercial use with the font designer, font is called Bleeding Cowboy).

And I've gotten Mark Hyzer, an artist who has done MtG card art, but has also done many pencil illustrations for my published Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG), secured to do the cover art for the Horror on the Gila Express one-shot. (I will post the cover art once it is ready.)

Progress is moving forward!


That's great news! :)


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With the presence of aberrations and undead, called The Unclean in Gothic Western, as well as some of the effects of existing PF spells and magic items (and new ones), everyone is subject to exposure to corruption. So Gothic Western features the Corruption Score (0-100 scale) - we'll only include applicable lesser scales of corruption for this one-shot, but we're working on the entire scale. Corruption is a combination of madness and aberrant properties - very much inspired by CoC.

Sovereign Court

I am just going to dot this thread.


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Just leaving this here...


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Thanael wrote:
Just leaving this here...

That Boomerkid (Clinton), always amazing!

As an aside, I've got another excellent writer interested in doing Gothic Western PF one-shots. For years I've watched Jonathan Newell (Steerpike) develop creepy settings and adventures on campaign builders wiki site, and know he'd be ideal for this. He just PM'd me wanting to write, with 3 sample ideas.

So the staff is growing!


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Working on some deliciously evil artifacts just to hint to you the tone of the setting...

Archambault's Deck

Said to have been the pupil of the legendary French cartomancer Jean Baptiste-Alliete, the occultist Gilbert Archambault created this deck of cards at some indeterminate point in the 1860s near the end of his very long life, reputedly basing his designs off certain ancient Egyptian writings long since lost. The cards – which resemble a standard 52 card deck of playing cards – bear macabre illustrations that shift and change when shuffled: the images are never quite the same. Inevitably, though, the faces of the Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Jokers bear twisted expressions of madness, horror, pain, or obscene delight. Unusual hieroglyphic marks corresponding to no known alphabet adorn the backs of the cards; these also seem to change subtly when noone is looking.

In most hands, the cards of Archambault’s Deck are simply ordinary playing cards, though when dealt they often generate very unlikely results and seem to have a whimsical will of their own. When placed in certain esoteric configurations, however, the cards have uncanny power. Not only can they be used to divine past and future, they can actually be manipulated to open rifts through time and space to primordial ages long past and black futures yet-to-come, calling forth the consciousnesses of the aberrant denizens of unknown epochs. The unfathomable inhabitants of those alien aeons can possess the bodies of those near to the cards, sometimes at the behest of a deft dealer of the deck – an unskilled dealer will often find himself or herself the host, being the nearest target. As the parasitic consciousness takes hold, it begins to reshape the body of its host as well, warping it into a form closer to its own. Different configurations of cards open different conduits, piercing the ragged veil of reality. Even Archambault himself had not discovered them all. Some have speculated that certain arrays may open permanent rifts to other times and even other universes.

Fortunately, Archambault’s Deck is no longer intact but is scattered amongst occultists, demonologists, magicians, and scholars. Eliphas Levi reputedly collected a full suit of hearts, only to have them stolen in London; Marie Laveau is rumoured to have acquired the Queen of Clubs. The location of most of the cards remains unknown.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

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Ah, very interesting! What arcane calamity would result from drawing the infamous "Dead Man's Hand" from such a deck, I wonder?


Interestingly we are bringing other real-world historic factoids into our setting. With the upcoming Unclean Brand one-shot module, the eventual location will be an abandoned Spanish Mission in western New Mexico (Arizona), called Mission San Drogo. San Drogo was the patron saint of those stricken with deformities, insanity, diseases, deafness, gallstones, broken bones, and other bodily afflictions, as well as cattle. How perfect for a setting of aberrant properties acquired by members of the population, is that?

Today, I'm releasing another map product - Old West Justice Maps, I call them, which includes an authentic Old West jailhouse, courthouse, outhouses for both, and a gallows - the full range of justice.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

I may have to pick up some of your old west maps. I am working on some rules for a cowboy based miniatures skirmish/shootout game.


Rusty Ironpants wrote:
I may have to pick up some of your old west maps. I am working on some rules for a cowboy based miniatures skirmish/shootout game.

I've been ill, so hadn't gotten to release my Old West Justice Map Set with jailhouse, courthouse, outhouses and gallows uploaded to DTRPG until today, but it ready for download.

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

gamer-printer wrote:
Rusty Ironpants wrote:
I may have to pick up some of your old west maps. I am working on some rules for a cowboy based miniatures skirmish/shootout game.
I've been ill, so hadn't gotten to release my Old West Justice Map Set with jailhouse, courthouse, outhouses and gallows uploaded to DTRPG until today, but it ready for download.

Cool. Any chance you will do some cowboy/old west character tokens or virtual minis?


Its possible, though I tend to make maps more than people objects. Maybe I could see what my schedule is like and see if I can fit some in over the next few weeks.


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Here's a sneak peek at the first page of content, which follows the cover, credits and table of contents pages. Note the corner decorations used will represent the border on all pages, as well as the use of parchment for the paper background. I am using as much public domain art as I can find, to keep costs down, and still look very authentic for the project. This first page gives a concise briefing on what the setting will entail, plus a glimpse at the adventure goals.

Working on low CR aberrations at the moment. Have already created all the archetypes that are included in the one-shot, including the villian. Created several spells, but need to finish 2 more for the one-shot. I also need to make a map of the US Western Territories still. We are quickly moving forward.

Also another writer is well on his way for the writing and development of the second one-shot, The Unclean Brand.


So resurrecting this thread, after a year in slow development (one of the designers is a full-time university student), we're starting to make headway. On my last post I stated that "another writer" was working on a one-shot, well that turned into a full 1st level module, Unclean Brand, is complete and in editing now.

We're writing the introduction, setting overview, and even created a lot of classes. Fortunately and unfortunately, both Occult Adventures and Horror Adventures have been released, both overlapping Gothic Western. In some cases we preferred to be inclusive with published Paizo official rules, which forced us to rewrite some mechanics that we created before their releases and worked differently. So much of our time has been adapting our work with Occult Adventures.

Our toughest decision in development involves the fact that we created our own Corruption rules almost a year ago, and Horror Adventures Corruption rules are different, however Gothic Western is heavily steeped in corruption, and the HA rules don't work as well with the setting as our own. So now we plan to keep our Corruption Rules with a side bar in the rules section on how to use HA Corruption Rules instead of our own, while sticking with our rules for the our products.

I'm hoping for a Christmas season release of this product, but we're much closer than we were when this thread started.

Here's a quick overview on what's been developed:

All aberrant beings, as well as those extensively affected with corruptions are called the Unclean. A half dozen new monsters and some new templates have been created.

New Archetypes include:

Cabalist (sorcerer archetype) who've embraced corruptions, the unclean and eldritch influences.

Dog Soldier (druid archetype) are native American warriors of the Cheyenne nation.

Journalist (investigator archetype) an investigator reporter with limited firearms training, and powerful public influence.

Pinkerton (slayer archetype) a private investigation operative while practically FBI agents of their day, watching, tracking and eliminating the unclean is their primary occupation.

Shootist (magus archetype) a card playing, arcane enhanced gunfighter - inspired by Doc Holiday.

Templar (inquisitor archetype) secretive member of the Knights Templar with connections to Freemasonry, whose primary activity involves finding, retrieving and eldritch artifacts to protect the public from exposure to the primary source of Corruption in the world.

Texas Ranger (ranger archetype) a skilled rifleman of the desert and plains serving as both lawman and military for the Republic of Texas.

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