Cowboys And DInosaurs - Session 6

We enter the scene in the middle of a bank robbery.  Immediately Jack whacks one robber in the head, teeth and blood go flying. Lee grabs at the one nearest him, getting him into a hold and attempting to break his arm. While a solid hit, the 1 point or so of damage was not a whole lot. Molly has a faux fainting moment, getting off 4 shots on the way to the floor, not quite killing the robber nearest her. And Hambone, now upset that he has a rifle instead of his shotgun, smacks the man Lee is tussling with on the head with his rifle butt as Lee throws him out the window in a mighty throw.

Between the unexpected response, all 4 robbers actually missed in this round. I do roll badly, which does work out well for players when we're in combat.

The next round, Molly hits 3 times and Hambone crushes the man's head in. Jack finishes off his robber, and the sole remaining bandit drops both guns, hands in the air, wide-eyed as his fellow robbers were all pretty much brutally killed in just a few moments in front of his face.

At this point the back door opens up and Roger Rose, the raider with the smoldering gaze, comes out to help. Unfortunately, all is taken care of as the sheriff is walking in the front door. Mr. Rose offers Hambone his card, indicating he may want to hire this group when he gets his info on the Spires up to date. He is an adventurer and wants to explore the mysteries of the Spires. He shows them a Mayan coin he has that is supposedly from there (why yes, I did just get a set of Mayan coins! Would have been nice at the table) 

Sheriff Shelton takes the last of the Bad Company Gang under arrest, tells Heimlich to issue another $400 reward for these last 4 bandits, and moves off to put the sole survivor into a cell to be tried. And probably hung. Frank Schmidt, the town farrier, collects his $1500 and pays the group. Heimlich attempts to get them to open an account which they refuse. Spotted Horse has been watching the dinosaurs outside and was not quick enough to get in where the combat took place. Molly takes her share of the money and puts it against the account for Maximillian and the Paleo Express. They are about out of debt now from their initial venture.

Meanwhile, the boys go to the sheriffs to see about getting the gang leader, Six Gun Sal. While there is a $500 dollar reward, they also try to bargain for additional expenses to go and catch the man. Aaron Shelton offers to deputize them for the pay of $1.25 a day, which they scorn. He has to live within the laws of the country and territory, so cannot just pay them more. Only Lee accepts the tin badge, declaring he is now a sheriff. Molly comes in about now, having settled the accounts, and they discuss moving at that very moment to capture the leader.

They do have a map recovered from one of the others they have killed, and between the Indian's tracking and a map, managed to get to the cabin in the woods around 9 or 10. They did manage to avoid a tripwire tied to a bunch of cans.

While most managed to be pretty quiet, poor old Hambone stepped on a twig as they approached the house. From the front, the lamp inside went out, meaning that whoever was in there was now aware of being approached. The front window breaks as a rifle comes out, shooting at Jack and hitting him in the shoulder. Jack and Lee both shoot back, and actually managed to kill him in that very first round, even with all the disadvantage from shooting in the dark. Molly was sneaking around one side, Hambone the other, and when it was quiet, Jack went in the cabin. He crushed the man's throat in the event Six Gun Sal was faking his own death. There was not much around the house, and Hambone found the ripe outhouse around back.

Rather than beheading the man, they do sling him on the single horse in the paddock behind the cabin and start on back. Being late (both in the game, and for me!) we closed down the session there.

A few things: I really do have a hard time running interesting combats. And so far the fights have not been much of a challenge. Part of that for me is the theater of the mind makes it a bit difficult for me as a GM to track everything. Why I used the bank map and screensharing. But that fight also went\ by too fast. I had wanted some of the bad guys to move around the corners and have cover. It, and the final fight, did not last long enough. Going to have to figure a better way to handle combat.

Another aspect that is bothering me is for the 2nd time, I've managed to misunderstand the same player and what he was doing. While words matter, for me a flip is not an attack. So not sure how to really deal with that. The robber did die - the roll to hit was a natural 20 and I did not apply the fist fight max (which for him is a full d8 + whatever d8 he would have rolled) as I heard flip. I ruled the fall damage was a d4, so he did take enough damage to actually kill him anyway. While the net effect was the same, the cinematics of it from the player's perspective were not. Next time he does a "violent" flip, yes, we will apply that d8 damage as it is a flip designed to put the opponent on their head basically. And he also has a nice trait he has yet to be able to use as he has yet to be shot! I'll have to aim for him next time.

Part of this is also because I've never watched any kind of wrestling or fighting (I tend to be more of a pacifist and do not like violence, even in games. Go figure and note that I may be playing with the wrong group!) I just don't handle violence well, so running it is also a bit difficult.

I think they are still having fun, and I plan on running at least another 3-6 sessions as there is plenty to do. And I would like them to be able to level up as well. I'll have a few plans for the next session as they return to town with another dead body. After all, Jack Slade is still in Aurora, though he has few if any of his posse left. He may have to telegraph or hire some local thugs. And technically he and Molly (aka Virginia) are still married, and under the law, wives had far fewer rights in the 1880s. While not quite property, for some men there was no difference and I've a feeling that's the way Jack rolls.

And finally - don't think I did not notice my Traveller post got a lot more reads. I do need to make more Traveller posts. Thinking I could expand on playing Traveller in the Space:1999 universe. Come up with some guidelines, maybe spec out an Eagle (very close to the modular cutter!), stuff like that. Not that it is likely I'll ever get to run that game, but one never knows.

Traveller: Playing in other settings

Traveller as originally designed was a sandbox RPG without a setting. There was a nascent implied setting via the social scores, having a Navy and Army, and the jump technology was also a setting boundry. But other than the jump issue and lack of interstellar communication outside of jumping starships, it was set up so you could create any setting you want. 

Of course, as the supplements built up, the OTU was born and fleshed out until it was pretty securely bolted on to the rules. Now when one thinks of Traveller, one thinks of the Imperium and the OTU. This is a really rich universe with a LOT of supporting material and resources (hello TravellerMap, and hello Traveller Wiki!) 

However, as someone who collects a lot of technical manuals for things that do not exist, there are SF resources to play Traveller in other settings. Some I think work almost as-is, while others I just can't see using the Traveller rules to play.

So, in no particular order, here are my ideas. I'll also add in a completely subjective range of 1 = really won't work well to 5, perfect fit. A lot, if not all, of these have their own dedicated game systems, and usually those are tailor-fit to that specific universe. And I'll also note that the GURPS Traveller rules, and GURPS in general, is designed specifically to be generic. I've never played nor run a GURPS game (though I really love the supplements for Traveller and have several in print). But it was designed to handle any and everything.

In the admittedly limited amount of IP games I've played or run, I will note that trying to run a game like a TV episode has far too much rail-roading to be an enjoyable experience. TV shows have writers with a plot they want to cover in a designated time. They also have the ability to write character actions to further that plot. As we all know, GM plans rarely survive the meeting of the players and things go sideways right off the bat. Using an episode as the nucleus of a game is great: you have all the set pieces, even if they don't all get used. But do not try to recreate an episode as it appeared on TV.

And finally: anything can be run using pretty much any rule set. What really matters is that both the referee and players are having fun. I've played games that I did not think would be fun and they were a blast because of the group playing. With the right GM and players, anything can be played with pretty much any game system. The entirely subjective scores below would be 5/5 if the right group were playing honestly. But it would be bending or breaking the Traveller rules. Some will require a LOT of house rules. But as we all know, like all RPGs, Traveller is simply a framework for a shared game of make-believe to have internal consistency. 

Star Trek

Definitely a big ship universe, Star Trek has always been one of my favorite shows. There are a huge number of resources for this as well (as witness the many technical manuals and ship books I have. What can I say but repeat that I really like spaceships!) But for Traveller rules, I don't think you could do justice to the Star Trek universe. Transporters are available at TL 17 I think, and the warp drive is a far cry from jump drives. There is also the issue of interstellar communication: the original series had far more limits on it than later series, but even the later series had some limitations. But near-instantaneous interstellar communication existed, nonetheless. With TL 17 come a host of other things that, while at least with T5 there may be rules on, Classic Traveller would have a hard time to deal with. I have played a Star Trek game, and it was a lot of fun using the d20 mechanics. However - earlier eras for Trek would work fairly well. The Enterprise series did not use the transporter a lot to begin with. And there were several episodes across multiple series that could be readily adapted to a Traveller game. It is definitely a big ship universe though. Career-wise, Navy would work for Starfleet, and the science career would be used if playing on a Starfleet ship. However - there are so many other possibilities beyond just Starfleet: colony worlds, Marquis style of guerilla warfare, even merchants which are used a bit in various series. Using Traveller rules, I give this a 2/5 to play, maybe higher if you forego playing a Starfleet character and just play in the fringes of that universe.

Star Wars

Another big ship universe, it is also a small ship universe what with the Millennial Falcon and other freighters (though there really is not a lot of cargo space in that ship). I believe way back when Classic came out, more than one person worked up the light saber as a weapon (hey, what are rules for except to help you make your stuff up?) Though these ships apparently never needed fueling so the ship technology is far different, including fighter craft that can go to other systems. Then of course there is the whole Jedi thing. Psionics can cover that really, though I've never been a fan of psionics in Traveller, even as weak as it is. I think Star Wars would be a better and easier fit, but there are some great RPGs out there already for it that fit much better. Outside of the Jedi and sub-100-ton ships having some sort of jump drive, though, there are lots of worlds that seem could be easily played in the Traveller rules. Worlds that are basically planet of hat worlds. Yet worlds with generally a lower TL than available in the "core" worlds. Funny how that keeps showing up in science fiction, though I suppose it may well be how things work out assuming we ever get to other planets. You even have the big, bad Imperium, defined social ranks, and areas far out of its control. Using Traveller rules, I give this a 3/5 to play by using Traveller rules.

Space:1999

Another of my favorite shows, this is definitely a small ship universe. Other than the moon making apparent jumps through space, this show is a really good fit, I think. Limit the TL to 9 or so, and this show could be an exciting thing to play with the planet of the week somehow. I have the Moonbase Technical manual and it is a great resource. I think you could play in this universe with no changes to the rules at all, just some additional technical things. I think the careers would work as-is, though the Navy would probably be the Eagle pilots rather than an actual Navy. Fun thing: I never noticed when I originally watched the show way back when the stuff about the gravity generators. Think that comes into Traveller either at TL 8 in the Classic, or perhaps TL 9 in some of the newer versions of Traveller. I even have some deck plans that are pretty close to an Eagle, though you could just use the 50-ton modular cutter as it is essentially the same (and probably based on the Eagle). It could even be part of an MTU based off the OTU: a wandering moon that somehow hits jump space randomly (though this is Grandfather tech). This IP I give a 5/5 for being able to use the rules.

UFO

A precursor really to Space:1999, this is another series that I really like. And really hoping they end up making a technical manual for as well! This is another universe that is small ship, and even a lower TL limit than Space:1999 with some exceptions. They do have a moon base that has gravity, but their ships are reaction-based ships. They just have regular weapons, so this is a TL8 game. The main thing are the UFOs themselves: these are visitors with a much higher tech level. UFO could be played pretty much as-is without any rule modifications needed either. It could be played as an invasion type of game with players based on the moon base, SkyDiver or HQ. It would be fun to drive one of those Mobiles around! I had a Dinky toy of one as well as the Interceptor. Wish I still had them! I think there us a lot of potential to play in this universe, even within the OTU. Find a TL 8 or 9 planet with a balkanized government code, make it not part of the Imperium and have a neighboring, higher-tech world needing the biology of this world for some reason. This is also a 5/5 to play within the rules as is.

Aliens

The whole Aliens universe is pretty cool, and I do have a couple of really nice technical manuals. The Hostile RPG, which I think is a Cepheus setting, handles Aliens really well. The Traveller rules would not be broken, though ship travel is a bit different. But the other base limitations of the rules fit well within this universe as well. Most of the career paths can be used as-is, and the TL max is probably 10 or so. Pretty sure this could be played without any real changes to the rules as well, other than interstellar travel. Throw in Striker to make some of the weapons needed, and you could play in the Alien universe pretty easily. To play it right you would need to have the xenomorphs defined, and yes, someone did do that years ago somewhere, with the serial number filed off. 5/5 for using the rules as is to play.

Dan Dare

I have this interesting Haynes manual for Dan Dare. This is a very pulpy comic from way back in the 50s I believe. They have interplanetary travel, several alien races, and some interesting technology. Probably a TL limit of 9, with some exceptions. It would be an exciting universe (okay, exciting system!) to play in. Some of the alien races have much higher technology, but I like the idea of beings from Venus and other planets, and of course, there is a greater interstellar community. There are a lot of adventure possibilities just from the technical book, though I'd have to read the comics to get a better feel in this small-ship universe. There is nothing from what I've read in this book that has any serious issues with the Traveller rules, so it would be easy to play. Heck - I would not be surprised if this belongs in Traveller's Appendix N. 5/5 again.

Battlestar Galactica

I love the old series, as flawed as it is. Galactica 80, well, we can choose to pretend it never happened (Glen Larson wrote it primarily for his grandchildren was one story I've heard). The new series I did not manage to finish. While I enjoyed the updated effects, it was too depressing for me. Here they are, the last remnants of the colonies, and all they do is fight amongst themselves. Probably a realistic appraisal of the human condition, which is what I think I found depressing. Anyway - the jump is a lot different, but other than that, the technology all fits well within Traveller. TL is maybe a 10, perhaps an 11 in places. Navy is of course the Viper pilots and crew of the battlestar. All the other careers obviously exist, just as survivors on various ships. This would have a lot of potential I think as well and could be played in a number of ways. The other big change would be the ship combat: I don't think Traveller handles the dog-fighting that you would want to play in a Galactica game. I'd give this a 4/5 for playing with Traveller as I think we'd need to graft in some good space dog-fighting rules from somewhere.

Six Million Dollar Man / Bionic Woman

Well, cyborgs such as Colonel Steve Austin and Jamie Summers are a pretty high TL and not really covered in the original Classic rules. Cyborgs are covered in later editions and supplements and things.  I will admit that when I played in college back in the 80s, my Scout character did almost die and got bionic legs. We just did what all gamers do and use the rule of cool rather than any specific rules or mechanics. I even threw in a bit of Robocop as he did have a small gun in one of the legs. This would be a TL-7 game with the exception of robotics and cyborgs which are probably TL 10 or 11, or even higher depending on the rule set. At this point, though, it is more a superhero game than a Traveller SF game. While the rules would work, I think to really enjoy playing in this universe a more bespoke ruleset may be a better choice to handle the more TV episode style of play. A 3/5 as yes, it is a pretty good match rule-wise, I just don't think it would be in actually using the rules.

Visitors

I never watched the remake, and just have vague recollections of the original series (I do recall I really liked the shuttle craft). This is something similar to UFO: TL-7 humans against TL-A or so aliens who are more alien than we expect. Can Traveller rules play well here? Certainly. Would it be fun? Under the right referee I think it could be a blast. I am just unsure if you could get a lot of mileage from it. I'll give this a 3/5 as well, simply because while the rules can easily support it, as with the Six Million Dollar Man I don't think Traveller rules could encompass the feel of that universe.

Firefly

Well, most people believe this was based off a college Traveller game to begin with, so obviously this is an easy fit. Biggest thing is to remove the jump drive: Firefly existed in a single system that had several terraformed worlds. Maneuver all the way. Technology goes a bit all over the place here, though probably 11 or 12 would be the max for most places. The inner system obviously a higher TL than the outer planets. And dang - now I want to watch that series again. May have to buy the DVDs or something. I did rent it years ago from Netflix I think, so I managed to watch it in the correct (if far too short!) order. This is a 5/5 to play with the Traveller rules, just no jump drive. 

There are plenty of other shows that may be an inspiration for Traveller games. I'd really like to try a Space:1999 game, or a UFO game and may try that some time with my group. And I think I could run a Battlestar Galactica game if I could find some good dog-fighting rules that my group would like.

Cowboys and Dinosaurs - Session 5

Our group, after brutally breaking young Roy's ankles with the Indian war club, headed back out to the lands surrounding Aurora to camp for the night. Being late, and Miss Molly's boarding house would have already locked the doors, Molly stays with the group, comfortable around the older men. 

Setting up camp, they rest and tell tales over coffee and beans as they settle down. Jack Looking Horse takes the first watch, and all is quiet. Hambone takes the next shift, gazing out into the dark night, a silver crescent of the moon overhead. He hears a twig snap in the distance but does not see anything. A few moments later, he hears a gunshot, and feels a bullet hit is shoulder. Between the cussing and the gunshot, the rest of the group wakes up. 

The darkness hinders everyone, so we're all rolling with disadvantage. Realizing they can't see who they are shooting at, Jack takes a blanket, gets it on fire, and throws it out towards where he things the shot came from. Using a 2d6 range where 12 becomes an untamed fire and 2 the blanket goes out, he rolled an 8, giving the group a bit of light. Seeing two rifles glinting in the darkness, Hambone starts heading towards one. A sawed-off shotgun has a very limited range, so he needs to get closer, dodging, weaving and taking advantage of rocks and trees. Lee has his rifle out and despite a lack of light, manages to wing one of the bandits shooting at them, then decides to follow Hambone. Molly is shooting as is Jack, with returning bullets bouncing off the rocks and hitting the trees. The fire is brighter and one of the bandits curses as he drops his rifle. The fire gets a bit brighter, but nonetheless everyone is still missing each other. Hambone is still moving forward. followed by Lee. 

Next round, a couple of the bandits get hit, and Hambone is finally close enough to shoot. And misses. And cusses his shotgun out as more shots are fired around, hitting the bandits but missing our heroes. The fire blazes up this round (he rolled a 12!) and giving a clear shot, Jack and Molly both hit their targets, while Hambone decides to flip his gun around and just whack the bandit in the head with the butt of the gun. Which he does. Lee somehow misses, but in turn is missed as well. 

Along about this time a much stealthier bandit comes along. Much harder to hit as well, especially with the fire dying down. Seeing this newcomer and seeing as he is in melee range, starts to hit the man. Having some skills, he manages to actually cave the man's head in (he has iron fists and can do a lot of damage in a fist fight!)

When all is done, we have one lone survivor, Jake. With a few threats of torture and well-done charisma rolls. they found that Jack really had no idea Molly (aka Virginia) was here in Aurora: he was working on taking over the local pony express as he did back in Colorado. Then they hang the man, frontier justice. Hambone does his own barbering skills and manages to bind his own wounds readily. 

Rounding up the 5 horses, they sleep the rest of the night after putting out the remnants of that fire. In Aurora the next day, Finding Zachariah Schmidt, the German stable owner, they sell the horses and tack for $1500. Turns out the horses are from the Double Ankle Ranch, which often sells its horses to people coming into town. Zachariah heads with them to the bank to withdraw the money, and the group to also cash in on the reward from the sheriff.

At the bank, a fancily dressed woman is finishing up her business and leaves. As Jack is holding the door, men in masks rush in, guns out. And that is where we left that session.

A few things of note. I entirely missed Tourmaline Tabitha's primary purpose being there: she was supposed to comment that perhaps the gentleman and young woman could use, ahem, a bath. The town madame as well as owning the bath house, she is always on the lookout to gain new customers. I may just retcon that next session. And try to write down some of these things ahead of time!

Then we had a discussion on blind fighting: the player thought it would also apply to ranged attacks. I did not, and ruled it as such during the game, so that he was still shooting at disadvantage. He did melee combat with no disadvantage, but so did the NPC he was fighting as the fire was burning pretty brightly at that point. The player thought, as I ruled it, that that trait was therefore worthless. For me, fighting means melee fights, not ranged attacks. One of those ambiguously worded traits open for interpretation. I finally decided to stand firm on the game ruling, but will offer the following trait for level 4+ characters:

Zen Shooting: When shooting in darkness or impaired vision, you can ignore disadvantage if you've detected your targets. A wisdom check if the targets are trying to be stealthy, but automatically available if the target is shooting.

Yes, stolen from another game that has Zen Archery as a skill or something. But I like to appease my players when I can.

And I think everyone enjoyed the Double Ankle Ranch, an homage to Jack's consistent use of his war club to break ankles (and in this time period, probably cripple the person for the rest of their life).

I've got a map I made, and the character tokens. Using this so that everyone knows where they are are when the shooting starts. Doing a share screen, and hoping my computer does not decide to drop Skype like it likes to!

This has been a pretty combat heavy game so far, though there are some threads going on. Jack Slade, John Chisum are the immediate goals of this group at the moment, and I've a few more to toss that way.

Hmm, and seems to me this may be good time to also introduce another NPC who is at the bank, our raider with the smoldering gaze. Another side-quest for that character and possibly the players. A side quest that could lead to the same map I used in Apex!

Because yes, most of my game worlds are connected. I just need to decide about the Spires, and if they go there, if there is indeed an entrance to the Center of the Earth. With bigger dinosaurs of course!
 

Generating Traveller Characters

There are always some interesting discussions over on COTI, and I am sort of participating in one about reinventing Traveller. Of course, what with at least 5 mainline versions, and several Cepheus versions, Traveller has been reinvented probably a couple dozen times by now. Yet I always go back to the core Classic for my gaming. I just take a few rules here and there to shake things up.

One of the core tenants of Traveller character generation is that originally it was completely random. Nothing really new there: most RPGs at the time I believe were mostly "roll the dice, and this is what you get" with then some choices similar to picking a career. Where Traveller had a significant difference is that the character generation was in essence a way to level up your character. It was, and still is, a game unto itself. You have to weigh getting older or possibly dying against getting more skills, and possibly more benefits. After a while, at least with Classic, you can generate a character in a few minutes that has lived for decades before playing. 

It is that pre-game experience that to me is most interesting. While initially I just rolled and wrote down the results, after reading how others interpreted the die rolls, I realized you could read a lot into those rolls. 

Barely made survival roll: you were cocky or something horrible happened that term. Missed a promotion - didn't suck up enough or just goofing off. Even the skills told their own story and could lead to a richer back story than just mere die results. Picked up gambling - spent a bit of time behind the barracks or in the seedier parts of town. Gaining strength from personal development and you were hitting the gym a good bit that term. You can embroider an entire history from those rolls.

This randomness, similar to world and system creation, for me opens up my imagination and lets me create a character that I never would have thought of. I know I've posted this before, but I really do like the fact that you don't always get what you want but you get what you need. 

And in the end, it is all about the role-playing. I've previously mentioned the 1 term barbarian player we had in a game. We all had fun - even though that barbarian did not have a lot of skills, in Traveller (or really any RPG) that is not necessarily limiting. You can try to do anything, you may have less of a chance to succeed, but you can still try. In the end, he actually played a pivotal role in the entire game.

Now, I do have some house rules to help players who want a bit more agency over their character creation. While I do like the stats roles RAW, I'll often allow one additional roll to replace any existing stat, players choice. If the player wants it, I let them roll then pick the skills table they would like. This does allow them to finesse their characters a good bit. And a final one from the Deluxe Cepheus (which is not Traveller for certain, at least for me in terms of its character generation) I will allow the player to exchange a benefit roll for a rank promotion. 

And I would be remiss if I did not include the instant background builders from the various events that Mongoose introduced (at least that is the 1st place I saw that, and Cepheus has used that technique as well). Those life events are interesting and can add more nuance at the expense of only have a few to roll against (once I seemed to roll the same event every term, I house ruled that the 3rd time it happened I could re-roll or, if it was a d66 roll, swap the dice). 

Some of my January character challenges does this - take a look at Ghon Davtell for an example of reading between the rolls. 

I've also read that the original premise for Traveller characters was that they would only be used for a few sessions, enough to complete the initial story arc. New games and you would roll up new characters. I don't know if that is true or not, though it could be supported by the Classic having no way to improve yourself after exiting the service you were in. I want to say the instruction skill in Book 4 was the 1st time there was a way to learn new things outside of service. But not 100% positive - guess I'll need to get my old books back out and take a look!

And finally - my solo game has pretty much stalled. Just not as much fun as playing with actual people who do things you don't expect. I may try to get back into it, but I feel it was not really going anywhere other than me rambling. Oh wait, this is me rambling as well.

Cowboys & Dinosaurs: Session 4

Our heroes searched the bodies and picked up some guns and ammo, and a bit of spare change. There was also the map to Six Gun Sal's place outside of Aurora, but not much else of note.

playing with map software. one of these days I'll get good!

The crew sleeps the night away, sounds of coyotes yipping in the distance. Above them, the clear skies of a cool September night in Utah, the stars and the milky way shining above. Early in the morning, taking four heads in a bag, they head back to Aurora. Lee Suong tells his sad tale as the sun rises in the east.

A pack of desert wolves stalked the group for a while, but seeing as the riders were atop large dinosaurs, and none of the dinos seemed old or weak, they eventually pull off to hunt easier game. Close to town, they hear the loud footsteps of a brontosaurus. Readying their guns, they finally see Sally, the pony express rider, riding Sugar the Bronto. Loaded with supplies for the pony express station, she waves, and a brief conversation follows. However, stopping Sugar means trying to get her started again, and Sally prefers to keep moving. She waves goodbye as she continues north to the station. Closer to town, a long drifter, Vernor, is walking along the path. He tips his hat to Miss Molly and continues his walk. When they look back, there is no sign of the guitar-playing drifter in the bright morning.

Sugar carrying supplies to the Pony Express Station

Getting into town, they realize it is Sunday. In front of the Short Stop Saloon are two nuns, Sister Cicely and the Mother Superior Gladys. They are trying to block entrance into the saloon, being a Sunday. Our crew, despite being on the way to the sheriff's to collect the bounty, decide to wet their whistle after the long trek in the scrublands. While the "heathens" Jack Looking Horse and Lee Suong are allowed to go in, Hambone and Molly are prevented by the zealous sisters. Hambone is as indignant as the nuns but for the opposite reason, and while trying to force his way in, the Mother Superior tries to whack him in the head with the butt of her gun. Lee blocks the hit, and Hambone picks up Sister Cicely, kisses her as he moves her out of the way. Her guns drop and a look of complete surprise is on her face. Mother Superior is flustered and lets them all pass into the bar, with Sister Cicely looking after Hambone, a look of longing crossing her face before looking down as Gladys glares at her.

Mother Superior and Sister Cicely

Once in the bar, they are welcomed by Flynn, the red-haired bartender this Sunday morning. Seeing how they managed to pass the nuns, he offers free drinks for the entertainment of the moment. Reuban, the cook, grills and cooks up their breakfast and coffee. The sound of the train is heard in the Short Stop Saloon, with the walls rumbling slightly as the trains comes to a stop across the street at the station. Not long after they finish eating, Sheriff Shelton shows up in his Sunday best. Noting the bloody bag Lee is holding, he asks about that. Explaining they have the heads of the Bad Company Gand, the sheriff, a bit green about the gills, takes the bag and asks them to come to the station and they can see about the reward. 

The sheriff passes a slightly grizzled man on the way out. A tall blond is walking behind, carrying bags. As his eyes adjust, the man spots Molly, and calls out, "Virgina, is that you?". Turns out Jack Slade, Molly's estranged husband, is in town. Molly had changed her name, so the rest had no idea who he was talking to until he walked up and started talking with his wife. Noting the uncomfortable way Molly was reacting, and the 3 men of grizzled and dangerous appearance with her, Jack and Roy walk back out. 

Before Roy can exit, Jack steps up to him. Towering over the 6-foot blond, the huge Pawnee Indian has a few words with Roy. Along the lines of do not mess with Miss Molly. Saying he will forward the information, the large man, dwarfed by Jack, continues out the doors and follows Jack Slade.

Having finished their meal, they head to Doc Calloway's to check on Spotted Horse. The nephew of Jack is doing fine and ready to get out, though wondering why they did not get him the other day when they were in town. A few words with Doc and Alice, causing Alice (Doc's assistant) to blush and Doc to clear his throat, and Molly puts a polite end to Hambone's gossip about the two. With Spotted Horse, they head to the sheriff's again. 

Sheriff Shelton has Miss Molly fill out the paperwork, and there is a reward of $200 per head. They will be able to collect from the bank in the morning, as it being Sunday, pretty much everything (except that saloon apparently) is closed down. The townspeople are wandering the streets in their Sunday best as the group also just wanders around. Unable to re-supply at Olsen's Mercantile, they eventually head out of town to find a good place to camp for the night. 

Noticing that they are being followed, they split up. It is Roy, who is following Miss Molly despite earlier warnings from Jack. A scuffle happens, and Roy gets head butted, his nose broken and blood flowing down his face. 

And sadly, that is my last note: I'll have to get with the players as I am pretty sure there were more words spoken. Several things about this session. It was a bit lower key in action, but we had a longer introduction of Lee, who is decidedly not a Buddhist monk but rather a follower of Asura who thrives on destruction. I was not particularly pleased with the session, but we did introduce Jack Slade and one of his henchmen. My notetaking is still not up to snuff as witness losing the end of the session. I also tossed in the nuns as I found those pictures and thought they would be fun. I tend to use the Traveller reaction roll for how people respond. I rolled an 11 when Hambone kissed Sister Cicely. I believe she may be willing to give up the cloth soon. From my guide:

The nunnery has been nicknamed the Sisters of the Gun. Devout anti-alcohol, Sister Cicely and her Mother Superior are known to try and block access to the saloons, particularly on Sundays. They do carry guns though the shotguns are filled with rock salt. Doc Calloway has spent a lot of time pulling out salt crystals from various patrons. Sheriff Shelton has jailed both of them more than once, but they are always released a day or two later - “I ain’t got the facilities for women prisoners” is the general excuse. So far no one has been killed by them.

I have a few ideas for the next session that should amp up the excitement a bit. Assuming I can handle it well - theater of the mind is sometimes a lot harder get everyone to agree internally where everyone is relative to everyone else. I may have to do a share screen as I did with the original Apex game which helped to show where everyone was. This is where I lament that we are not at a table, rolling dice. But as one player is now more than an hour away, and another is moving to Florida, remote gaming is actually the only way we can play as a group. Though I do want to try other systems than Skype. I'd love to learn how to use a VTT system such as Roll20. Unfortunately, most of this group does not want to go through that learning process. Which is why I am hoping that I can get my work group to play RPGs! We used to have game night at the office, then when Covid hit we switched to TableTop Simulator. They would be willing to learn Roll20 or another system (we're all software developers, and love to play with software). Then I'd hope to have the ability to more easily get my Monday group into a VTT system.

Cowboys & Dinosaurs: Session 3 Recap

 And realized my blog titles are not always consistent. However, as neither am I, I suppose it merely reflects myself.

We brought in a new player and character. The player had been out of communication most of the summer at his job, but was ready to jump in. Fortunately, we could work him into the game from the start of the session.

As we last left our heroes, there was a stampeding herd of parasaurolophus was stampeding towards them, harassed by raptors! Utahraptors, that is. I believe only one character managed to notice that the stampede, being herded by the utahraptors who themselves being herded by four horsemen. Up the road a bit, a man yelled at them from behind some large fallen trees that may work as a shelter from the stampede. They made good time, though Jack & Millie were a bit slower: first failed the action check, then failed the save roll. Using the grit point Jack and Millie just managed to get behind the crude shelter. Meanwhile, Hambone managed to get Puddin to move the timber to provide a better protection. It was one of the tricks the dino used, so we managed to use some of the mechanics for the dino rider class!

The herd went stampeding past the group huddled behind the trees. I wish I had thought to say just how loud and noisy the stampeding, bellowing and screaming dinosaurs were, as they managed to get to meet Lee Suong, a martial artist who was actually trying to find them. His uncle (more or less an elder rather than a blood relative) Chang Heng-di, recommended he find the people he rode in with yesterday. They would provide the young Chinese man more adventure and training to be a soldier than hanging out with an old Buddhist monk. Though I do have plans for that old Buddhist monk and the Chinese workers at the BB Grapler RR).

Of the 6 raptors chasing after the parasaurolophus herd, only one hopped up on the logs, and looked at the dinners hiding behind the barricade. While the raptor cocked his head and looked down at them, Lee swung with his staff. And somehow managed to miss. Raptor did not take this well - I rolled a really bad reaction roll. The raptor attacks Lee in retaliation, slashing the man across the chest. Jack has his 30-30 and manages to hit the raptor. Molly, standing on Puddin, tries to shoot and drops her gun (a 1 - critical failure). Hambone manages to catch the falling rifle, so we did not have to check for it breaking if it hit the ground. Lee swings again and manages to whack the dino on the head. Wounded, the raptor misses Lee, and Molly shoots again. And misses again. Hambone meanwhile had turned Puddin around, and a swing of that wrecking ball of a tail takes out the raptor.

The immediate threat taken care of, they start to regroup and bandage up Lee a bit (Hambone's barber skill allows for 1d4 +1 for wound binding, the normal is just 1d4).  Then they hear the horses. Jack reloads and shoots, knocking one off of his horse. Molly manages to shoot and hit one without dropping her rifle, while Lee, master of martial arts, and his gun packed up on Pachy (his dino), decides to charge the horsemen. Hambone follows "that crazy Chinaman", sawed off shotgun in hand. All four of the horsemen manage to miss our heroes, bark chips flying from the trees. Next round, Jack's next shot takes out the same man he shot before, and Molly hits again. By this time, Lee has rushed the 3rd horseman and knocks him off his horse, and Hambone kills him with shotgun blast to the face. 

With one bandit flat on his back and not moving, one starting to sit up, the 3rd dead, the last bandit shoots and manages to miss again (my bad die rolls really work out well for the players when I run a game!)  Lee charges him & knocks him off his horse as well, and (I think - I did not write down all that happened) Hambone kills that varmint as well. The bandit getting back on his feet decides it may be better to run away (failing a moral check) and gets back on his horse to run away. I think Jack missed him, but Molly gets on Volgol and gives chase. She tried a stunt to knock him on the back of his head with her gun, but missed, and almost caused Volgol to crash. Pretty sure she then took a shot and managed to kill him (he did not have much HP left after Jack's gunshot). The horse kept galloping along a bit, dragging the dead man whose foot was caught in the stirrup. Switching mounts to the bandit's horse and sending Volgol back aloft, Molly returns to the group, dragging the dead man behind her.

There were 2 bandits still barely alive. Lee is busy digging a hole and burying one, and Hambone and Jack have words with the other. They eventually find out that they are part of the Bad Company Gang. Six Gun Sal (why yes, I was listening to 70s songs while working on this) was hired by John Chisum to take out Jack Looking Horse. They also find that Six Gun is in a box canyon a few miles south-west of Auroa and have a small hand-drawn map. Then they kill off the remaining two bandits, and some rather violent acts so they will have proof for the reward the sheriff is offering for them. 

They cook up the raptor, and smoke some of the meat for supplies, and over the campfire Lee Suong tells his story. And this we ended that session, which took us about 3 hours to run and covered all of one day.

I managed a few things I think here. First, I brought in a 2nd player's "big bad" (yeas, each player has their own big bad I am thinking). Second, the club strike of Puddin was something the player had been wanting to do (and I had not realized it) so was very happy to get that action piece in. Finally, I think I managed to bring in our 4th player without changing much of anything. He did send me his info and background, but I've yet to read it. He too should have a big bad, but we're already at 2 and I think Jack Slade may be coming to town very soon. I also managed to use some of the players abilities and class things. I need to re-read the character sheets as well so that all the players get a chance to use their abilities. Though it is only implied that Jack (who is a feral child) does well in the wilderness, I feel I need to make sure the other players know that Jack is doing a lot more than looking grumpy.

I also got a pretty long list of possible things to throw in from the player who really loves Western games. I added it to my "potential plot points" and fortunately, there was at least some overlap! 

Jack after killing the bandits

I'll read over the new player's background, re-read the other players' backgrounds, and work out some ideas for the next session. And I am indeed fortunate that this group is heavy on the role playing. I gave 750 XP for the session from the bandits killed and the role playing. I am not great at the whole XP thing, but this is close enough. They may manage to level up in another session or two.

While westerns really are not my thing, I think they are having a lot of fun. I know I am, and I am slowly relaxing a bit more. This last session was not particularly planned out, but I need to do that for the next. Getting back to town gives a lot more NPC interaction and a lot more paths that they can take.

Guest Blog: Hambone Hewiggins Story

I was sent a pretty fun character background and got permission to post it here. I am using parts of this in the game - in fact, the Marshall is coming up from Texas. Not looking for Hewiggans - he is on the trail of another bad guy. But they may meet up...wonder if he is still limping? And there are a few other elements I need pull out I think as I re-read it prior to posting.

"Hambone" Hewiggins- Christian Name (I am not!): Delbert Bartholomew Hewiggins
Son of Pinkie and Mama Jess Hewiggins of Clearwater, Tennessee (both parents deceased)

Well here ya go, Cousins. My tale......

I am 61 years old in this present year of........"JACK! WHAT YEAR IS IT?" (dramatic pause) Well, Jack don't know the year and he don't care so why should I?

I am a widower of my beloved, who I will get to later. Just shut up and listen, will ya?

I got me a son and a daughter from my beloved. Her name was Sara Anne Hewiggins but that has changed. She married a big shit banker and moved to Austin, Texas. I am not allowed in Austin, Texas for two, maybe three reasons. One of them is that my daughter's new husband don't allow me to see her and won't allow her to come see me up here in the Territories. See, my daughter married an ugly sumbitch and he's homely as the ass end of a Bronto with the scares. He's just a ugly man, inside and out. What she sees in a man that ugly I will never know, but he's got money. I reckon that makes love tolerable. Money......

Anyhow this sumbitch has the unfortunate last name of Poppadouplous or some such nonsense. I can't even spell his last name most of the time so I just refer to him is "sumbitch", or "butt face". He's foreign, like from Spain or Greece of some other country over there on the other side of the ocean where they have relations with goats and emus and stuff like that. Unnatural it is.

Reason Two why I can't go to Austin, Texas. I blew up a shithouse behind Thompson's General Store on Massey Street. It weren't for no meaness and I didn't mean no harm. I was just trying to scare a Texas Ranger who stole my damned rock candy. I put a little too much black powder in a watermelon and blowed his ass, and his lizard, through the back side of the general store. Mr. Thompson called the law on me but me and Jack was high in the weeds by the time their dinos hit the scrub. We is good at runnin' to fight another day. I do hate that I hurt his lizard. Poor old feller was in traction fer six weeks before he could put weight on his drumstick. I ain't sure what happened to that ranger, but I am sure that Ranger Eugene Martell has it out for me. I hadn't been back since. 

Ok Iied........The Reason Number Three Why I ain't Allowed in Austin, Texas is as follows. I punched ol' buttface in the mouth when he snapped his damned French cuss words at my daughter. I knocked his front teeth out and now I haven't been back to Austin, Texas. I shoulda not done that, but its water under the bridge now.

My Son is named Festus Eugene Hewiggins. He works as a Railroad Foreman in San Francisco, California. I ain't been to visit because my daughter told him about me blowing up the shitter and knockin' that sumbitch she's married to's teeth out. California is a long ride and Jack wouldn't be able to walk if we road our dinos that far.

I sometimes get me a letter or a telegraph message from Eugene and I miss my boy pretty bad. My beloved would be very proud of him and I am too. He is doing very well from his last letter, which my fried Molly Slade delivered to me on that goddamned flying monster she rides. Damn thing gives me the willikers and I have to go pee every time I see the critter. It just looks at Puddin like it wants to eat her but I tell you, he don't want none of Puddin. She's 100% hide and armor plates, and I love that damned beast.

Anyways, Eugene married him a little yeller woman, from the Chinas. I reckon she's good to him and he talks about her fondly. I got three Grandyounguns, named Effie, Abner and the youngest, Minnie (same name as my beloved). I want to see the little fellers one of these days I hope. Maybe when it gets colder I can talk Jack into catching one of them trains west. I doubt it but I'm gonna see if he wants to go.

I carry a picture of my wife, Minnie in a locket she left to me after she died of the consumption. The locket is on a chain around my neck. It shares a chain with a carved Rex tooth, a dried bison testicle (Pawnee medicine pouch), four Apache teeth from them what I dentisted up, and a gold doubloon I found on the beach near New Orleans when I was shootin' revenuers what done blowed up my favorite corn squeezins still. Her name was Gladys and she was the best still I ever built. I miss her almost as much as Minnie.

Minnie has been gone for seventeen or so years and I really am still heartbroken. She is the mother to my two children and the only woman I ever loved. It's just whores fer me now. Sad......

My Past

I fought the U.S. Cavalry in their war against the Pawnee over in Black Canyon. They decided they was gonna tell the Pawnee where to live and move them to some shitass land in the middle of nowhere. The Pawnee said "hell no" and the shootin began. That was eight years ago. If the Gov'ment knew how many of my fellow paleface idiots I done killed, I'd be hanging from a tree somewheres. I met a rouster of a feller during them years, name of Jack Looking-Horse. Yeah, we're best chums I tell ya. He's an injun and a real good one. He taught me how to catch the little lizards and train em up so we can make some trade and a little money. Me and Puddin, my Ankylosaur been on the road together for about ten years and nearly that long with Jack. He's a good injun, but the bestest friend I done ever had. 

Lately we've been working and camping. I am a barber and dentist ya see. I fix them what's sick out in the frontier. Bad teeth, haircuts, broken bones fixed, ingrown toenails, I just about do it all. Last Tuesday I delivered an Apache squaw's baby in the creek over by Needle Point. She give us a sack of blue corn and some fox pelts. I think she wanted to give Jack some other stuff but I believe her parts weren't in no fit state to be used that away.

Oh, our new friend is a lovely little old gal called Molly Slade. She trades with us and is a rider for the Paleo Express I think she says. She trades with us and throws us a little business from time to time and we do the same. She's a good gal and we ain't about to let nothin happen to her, if'n we can help it.

Did I mention the Civil War? Oh yeah, that. When I was a younger man I got drafted but it didn't take, and then the Union tried to do it too! I set up shop with some fellers and we called ourselves the Harriers. It's some kind of damned bird according to them well read fellers but I don't know. Might be its a word that describes some kind of shitty assed pie up north or something. I don't know,

Well the Harriers, we shot anybody who crossed the Mississippi, west of Memphis. We was real good at it too. Sunk their boats, lit up their barges, and killed em off by the droves. We warned em first, of course but they kept at it so we did too. We let the Pawnee and other tribes know where they was crossing too so they could go hide. Both sides hated the injuns, and on that they agreed, so we agreed to kill blue and gray. Worked for us and it kept the math down to a minimum. We became heroes to the injuns and they took good care of us.

Before we wrapped up and the Harriers went our separate ways we fought the U.S. Cavalry at Two Forks, with the Pawnee. We kilt ever last one of them and supplied the Pawnee with really good Cavalry blankets, them tins of beans and lots of guns and ammunition. It went real good. We gifted Chief Blue Eyes with the Cavalry's Gatlin Gun and he liked us a bunch more even than he did before. The last time me and Jack passed Two Forks, ol' Chief Blue Eyes' son, Che'Lote remembered what his dad told him about us and he gave us some bison hides cause it was fixin to get cold. He also give us some salt pork and eight pounds of stolen U.S. Army tobacco. He also gived us a spinner toy on two strings that when you flip it and spin its a big titty woman who takes off her blouse! Good trade says I.

I reckon the frontier barberin and doctoratin' is getting thin. I ain't had no business for a few weeks and we might need to find Aurora and Molly Slade and see if we can drum up some business. There's some caves near Aurora that me and Jack can camp in, and they are big enough fer our critters, which will suit us just fine.

We ran into some injuns we ain't never seen before a couple of weeks back. They was saying that there was a Rex up in the box canyon near the August River. Them things are alright and just avoided until they decide to be an asshole. When that happens you gotta hunt em down and cull em, like a rogue wolf or a panther with the rabies. I hope they was wrong but I ain't knowed injuns as long as I have not to pay attention to them when they speak. Nobody likes a rogue Rex. They are too big and too dangerous to fool with. I will say though if you can get a posse or a hunting party what's good enough, they fry up in the pan or on the spit real good. Mighty good eatin!

Dinos and Cowboys - Session 2 Recap

My predictions on what would happen were pretty far off. They did get to the sheriff's office but did not go to Doc Calloway's place to check on Spotter Horse nor the unconscious Slim, the only remaining gang member from the day's shoot-out. 

I did have an outline that they followed a bit, but there were a lot of paths once they actually got into town. Travelling back, they got more of Molly's story. I introduced Jack Slade the previous session: he is her ex-husband who had done some bad things. The conversation went on for a bit and I had them roll up on the random encounters. A small herd of Parasaurolophus passed them but posed no threat. About an hour out of town they met up with Chang Heng-di, a Buddhist monk walking to Aurora. 

Hambone is not sure what "Budder" is but seems okay with someone who follows those tenants. Jack Looking-Horse proved to be a quiet man, though Hambone insists he is quite the jabberjaw and can't get a word in edgewise. He is offered a ride on Milly, seeing as Molly is on Puddin with Hambone while Volgol circles above, eating the occasional buzzard as he keeps an eye on the group. Hitching up behind Jack, they continue into town.

Once there, Heng-di parts ways, heading off to Chinatown. Molly, Jack & Hambone head up to the sheriff's office. Sheriff Shelton is not there, but his deputy Beauford "Bo" Smith is. A large Black man, he is still dwarfed by Jack.

They do notice and read up on the wanted posters and fill out their statements. A bit of conversation about the angry women on the posters, though only Reba is a woman. Eventually one or more of these will show up - the old Chekov's gun principle at play here.

Seeing as it is supper time, they decide to eat at one of the saloons. While Bo was invited, he politely declined as he was still on duty until the Sheriff got back. They head to the Brewer's Goose (apparently at least 1 player actually read my huge PDF and he brought it up!) and get some supper. Beans, corn bread (which devolved into a real-life discussion on corn bread). The Goose was actually generated by the Two Minute Tavern, a Kickstarter zine that, while fantasy-oriented, was useful for this as well. The owner, Fran Browly, is an older woman who wears fancy clothes and excessive makeup. She greets them at the door.

During the dinner, the bartender, one Big Frank called out for Verner, the guitar player, to play one of the songs he did the previous week. The players asked if there was a rat nearby, but no, just a small dinosaur.

They seemed to enjoy the Easter egg. A bit later, and four young men were getting visibly drunk and visibly irritated by having an Indian in the saloon. Getting aggressive, they start a fight. As it started, most of the patrons picked up their plates and moved to the edges of the room, eating and watching the entertainment. Miss Browly was getting flustered, her fan waving rapidly in front of her face. It lasted all of 3 rounds, but basically: Neil (the most aggressive one) swung and somehow missed the 300-pound Indian. Who did not miss with his warclub, smacking him across the face. Meanwhile, Hambone punched Jake in the pie-hole, while Seth was asking the boys to set back down. Molly attempted to help by throwing a chair at Frank, but missed and managed to knock over Seth. Jake manages a light tap on Hambone. Being an iron-jawed man, Hambone barely noticed. Another swing of the warclub brought down Neil, a bloody yet still alive mess on the floor. Jake missed Hambone, and Frank missed as well while Seth was getting up off the floor. A swing of the warclub takes out the right knee of Jake, who goes down alongside Neil. Frank and Seth are about to attack when the click of a shotgun getting cocked makes everyone pause.

Big Frank kindly asked everyone to stop. Miss Browly has her makeup smeared between sweat and some blood that got on her. As Hambone tries to help her, she starts flirting with that man, who says she would be a whole mite prettier without all that makeup.

The sheriff does show up, gets what happened, and as no charges are being pressed, helps everyone get straightened out as Doc Calloway and his nurse Alice get the two downed boys on stretchers and out the door to the doctor's place. Mr Rogers puts his knotted string back up as there are no deaths (Mr Rogers is the town mortician and carries a knotted string to measure out the bodies. No one seems to know his first name. I think of Lurch for his character basically). 

Jack mentions that Spotted Lily, Spotted Horse's dinosaur, was killed. Being that was how he ran the pony express. perhaps there was a way to replace the dino. The sheriff promises to write a note to take to Captain Dalton, head of the local Pony Express office. Said he'll bring it by the town station in the morning. 

Jack & Hambone head to camp outside of town while Molly goes back to her women's boarding house ($1/week for her 1 room). They camp out in the cool evening, watching the stars circle above as they fall asleep.

Next morning, the sheriff leaves the note with Mr. Oxford, who is still badly hurt by Jack. She flies out and meets up with Jack & Hambone and they start back north again to the station. 

There was a brief encounter with characters from another Western game, which in turn had a character I played in yet another Western game. Western Inception if you will! Anyway, they were heading north when a larger herd of Parasaurolophus was stampeding towards them, harassed by raptors! And on that cliff-hanger, I finished the session.

Several things: that session was a bit slower, but at least there was a brief fight. I do like to try & have at least one fight per session. Session 1 we introduced one of the bad guys, Jack Slade. This was an NPC from Molly's background. Next session I'll be giving a bit more weight to John Chisum who was briefly mentioned this session. He is a cattle baron whose cattle are starting to move into Jack's tribal lands and where his dino herds are. And there was a brief mention that Ranger Martel was heading up from Texas following a lead. They got that info from the sheriff.

Basically, I'm setting up each character's personal foe/enemy/NPC. It will take several sessions to get to a resolution of most of the threads, but I am hoping to keep everyone both entertained and all have something to gain or lose. It does help that I do have that character relationship chart as I am still horrible with names. But Hambone actually saved John Chisum's life, so that is intertwined with both Jack Looking-Horse and Mr. Hewiggans. 

I did get permission to post both Mr. Hewiggan's background and Doc Calloways. I'll do that next post or two as they are pretty good. The author is a big western fan, and I think manages to capture his character well. Plus, it makes for an easy post! Copy/paste.