Cloudian- I get where you are coming from. Games that have only a single combat skill are a lot simpler to play. If I were to reduce things to only a few stats it’d be something like: Fightin’, Talkin’, Sneakin’, Learnin’. Maybe with special traits (Sharpshooter, Devil with a handgun, Bear-puncher, etc) Unfortunately, I’ve gone past the point of no return on ‘Tin Star’. Maybe next game.
Ajax: I’ve played bundled stat games before and it is a tempting idea. Talislanta comes to mind with their Combat Rating (An average of Strength, Dexterity and Speed) and Magic rating (The average of intelligence, Willpower and Charisma). All the GM did was compare one against the other to figure how advantaged or disadvantaged you were with every roll. It seemed a good way of taking a set of disparate physical and mental stats and fusing them into what really mattered. I don’t think I’ll be able to do that with ‘Tin Star’ though.
Ramidel- That is an interesting skill set for Meixiang Liao. Not a lick of gunfighting, sharpshooting or brawling but more Persuasion than I figured anyone could get.
I’m glad you like Carson as a character. He just sort of popped in when I was trying to figure out what sort of Cowboy would be interesting. His backstory is becoming quite a thing, though I’m not certain when it will make it into the game.
Caraway, well, as you said, gunslinger girls are always lively. If you choose the massacre then she takes to it like a duck to water. Chapter four fleshes her out a little more, as it goes a bit into her backstory.
Schmidt though, I can see why you’d say he’s a bit bland. I’ve put in a few amusing scenes that flesh him out a bit more, but you have to work to get there. My running joke with him is that he’s been around so long, has moved around so much, that he essentially already knows everyone you meet. Everyone. I’ll try to work on him a bit more to bring that into play.
First off great game love the setting.
Have you ever seen unforgivin with Clint Eastwood he talks about how it’s not who shoots first, it’s who shoots best, I think you would be safe with just speed and accuracy.
Like rifles and pistols are tools to be used in different situations.
Maybe have your player meet a legendary gunfighter like Clint’s the nameless one, or blondie and he shows you the business of gunfightin.
@Allen: It’s a versatile skill; Mei-mei doesn’t have to pull the trigger when she can solve her problems with her brains. Of course, this means that her legend will be rather sparse, but she’s not in it to be famous.
Pale_Strider- First of all, good user name. Especially considering the topic. Second, I did in fact see Unforgiven. Its a great film and the remarks on what it takes to kill a man via a pistol (Especially if you are drunk( are well put. I did initially consider stats like reflexes, accuracy and plain old luck, but decided to condense them into the more general Gunfighting. Same with Sharpshooting and Brawling. If you’re real good at once aspect then you’re probably just plain good at the other parts too.
I’ve seen the various spaghetti westerns that Eastwood has been in over the years. Pale Rider, of course. Fistful of Dollars, Hang’em High, etc. It would be interesting to have that sort of icon show up. Maybe at the end, chapter seven or eight. Friend, foe, indifferent, I don’t know. That part hasn’t written itself yet.
If you’ve got a suggestion though on what kind of opposition you’d like to see, I’d be interested to hear it. Tumbleweed Jack obviously wasn’t a big threat (Though he could still take you down if you screwed up), Miss Caraway could do you in too, but she’s a possible companion and therefore in a separate class.
Raimdel, Good point about legend and accumulating the same in the old west. I did include a few optional garnerings of legend through non-violent means, but only a few. Clearly I should consider adding more.
Thanks I came up with this name playing red dead redemption
Remember angel eyes(the bad) from, the good the bad and the ugly, that was a good bad guy
because they had an uneasy truse, they wanted to kill each other but needed the other one alive to get the gold.
Bad guys have to be just as smart and good at fighting as the hero maybe even more so,
like with Tumbleweed Jack I knew i was going to beat him so there was no tension.
In terms of opposition showing up, I always think Pinkertons, or some other private “detective” agency make for good villains in western stories. They operate somewhat similarly to law enforcement agents, but they don’t answer to anyone but the person who pays them. I can easily see the man villain hiring one or more Pinkerton agents for extra muscle if the player character proves too formidable for the local goons.
I can also see how a player with a high persuasion/intimidation level or a ton of cash might be able to convince the Pinkertons that the job is not worth it, or even convince them to switch sides, thus giving players who don’t specialize in combat a way out. After all, a hired gun doesn’t really have any personal stake in the fight, and probably only cares about getting paid. The same storyline could easily work for any kind of hired gunslinger if you’re looking to incorporate the “man with no name” archetype.
I generally agree with you, however it was obvious that Tumbleweed Jack wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed from the outset and sort of the tutorial gunfight encounter to boot.
Pale_Strider- Yeah, there is always good drama when you know you can’t trust someone but the situation demands it anyway. There will be some of that coming up in Chapter 5.
And yeah, it is funny that Schmidt will shoot Tumbleweed Jack for you. I’ll have to put in a little something about that willingness. “He never liked listening to anyone else’s stories. That’s just wrong.”
Vermander- The Pinkertons do add muscle to things. I believe I’ll be using something similar. After all, out west you could start over no matter what you did back in civilization and vice-versa. Earning a bit of money as a mercenary could appeal to a diverse group of people, and if they aren’t too picky about what they have to do to get it… yeah, they might flip on their employer.
Idonotlikeusernames- Tumbleweed did have some mental failings, as you might have noticed from certain conversation choices. But while he wasn’t that difficult to defeat, he could still kill you if you went head on with him, were only marginally talented and/or didn’t have any companions. In many ways, Miss Caraway could give a harder fight; especially if you barged in on her and didn’t try to talk her down any.
Mardam- I’m sorry the Beta doesn’t work with an Ipod. After I get done with my final coding, the Choice of Games team will polish up iterations of it for use on a variety of devices. Until the game reaches that stage of maturity, it may not be playable on anything but the PC.
My lawyer didn’t kill anyone i done it peacefully if you don’t count thy bear:p and I didn’t se many lawyer choices and the ones I saw seemed to have no effect?
