Dinosaur Cowboys – Tabletop Skirmish Game

This post will cover Saloon updates as well as Windy River Campaign updates, specifically what happened during the End of Encounter process from the Big Raid at Little Hyran Mine.

The Saloon Supports Campaigns
First of all I’m very pleased to announce I’ve added extensive Campaign specific support to The Saloon online posse designer. The program has been great so far, specifically the PDF export feature I use heavily in all my games. But it was also somewhat lacking for ONGOING posses, instead of just initial creation. Well this latest update remedies this problem and means I can track everything from used medical devices to Wounds and Injuries.

The entry to this magical land of campaign tracking goodness is the new “Campaign” mode checkbox, pictured to the right. This checkbox value will be persisted when you use the “Save to URL” function. There is also a warning beside the checkbox telling you the Campaign mode is for advanced users. So advanced in fact that if this is your first visit to The Saloon this checkbox won’t even be displayed!

Once the Campaign mode is checked there are a few fundamental changes to how your posse is managed:

• Recruiting a new Member costs $250 (although the recruitment cost isn’t tracked per member, so you’ll have to toggle the Campaign checkbox if you want to remove them at a normal price)
• “Use” Medical Devices by clicking the little pill icon () to the left of the Medical Device in the Inventory section of each posse member.
• Sell any viable piece of equipment (price must be greater than or equal to $10, as per the rules) by clicking the “dollar sign” () to the left of the item. You can also sell your Dinosaur (again as per the rules) instead of flat out removing them. Tooltips have been updated to reflect what each button icon does.
• Manage Wounds/Injuries! Select the entity you want to manage and click the “Wounds/Injuries” button to open a new panel below the posse list. From here you can choose a Wound/Injury from the full list and apply it to that entity, or Heal it when the time comes. All Wounds/Injuries are properly persisted when you use “Save to URL”.
• Wounds/Injuries are noted by bolding the HP field in the posse list, which can then be moused over to see the full list of what is affecting the entity.
• If the “Apply to PDF?” checkbox is selected any Wounds/Injuries will be noted at the top of the “Current HP” field in the PDF, and directly modify stats if possible (so a “Busted Leg” with -1 Speed would indeed reduce the character’s Speed on the PDF roster).

So as I said, lots of really handy functionality! I think the majority of players (anyone out theeere?) tend to play one-off games and not a Campaign. But the functionality is very useful for me and the Drylands Expedition. Speaking of which…

End of Encounter Process for Drylands Expedition
I finally got around to sitting down and figuring out Wounds/Injuries and what to do with my leftover IP and ND from last game. The Drylands Expedition is at 179 IP, $2,000, and 5 Traits, and I need to spend some of that!
After much deliberation I decided it’s time to recruit a new Member! So exciting. Also a little sad because my roster is now full :( I don’t have a ton of IP to really bring them up to snuff with the rest of the posse, so they will start a bit wet behind the ears, but that’s okay because it’s realistic and fun to try to keep them alive.
So let’s all take a moment and welcome “Sarah Love”, a Duster cowgirl with a brace of pistols and a sunny disposition. She is a wandering caravan guard that happened to stumble across Hyran Mine soon after the attack. Having heard of the Night Daggers, seen the effect of their Toxic Guns (poor Amp!), and generally finished her current caravan job, she joined the Drylands Expedition in their quest for revenge (and an antidote).
As I said she’s a Duster, and the model I have for her is pictured to the right. Currently she’s unpainted, but I have her based and undercoated, so hopefully I can remedy that problem this weekend. I won’t get a chance to play Dinosaur Cowboys before then anyway, so the next time you see her she could be all done.
The model is great with a very dynamic “over the shoulder” pose. She has a ton of cool looking pistols belted onto her hip, 4 in total. So I figured I’d run with that idea in regards to her equipment. I gave her TWO Handcannons ($240 total). That means she’s actually better equipped than Quidel, so guess who will get an upgrade in the future? Anyway after Campaign recruitment of $250 that left me with exactly 0 ND, so no armor to start.
For statistics I didn’t have a ton of IP, like I said, but I did manage +1 Defense and +1 Speed (she’s also faster than Quidel!). Unfortunately no Ranged Target Number improvements so her shooting might be lackluster to start. But with the “Dual Wield” variant rule she’ll get 3A-6D on those awesome Handcannons. Know what would make them even more potent? The Rapid Fire Trait which gives +2 Range Attacks once per encounter. 5A-6D…swoon!
I actually had enough IP left to boost Amparo’s Hitpoints from 9 to 10, which will also help reduce his chance to take a Bravery Test. And that means my entire Posse has double digit Hitpoints (finally)!

I also did the unfun process of seeing how my numerous Out of Action characters did. As you might remember everyone but Dwaal was Taken Out of Action last game, haha. However I HUGELY lucked out on rolls with only Quidel suffering an Injury! The rest passed their 8+ Wound Test roll.
Quidel rolled a 2-4, which gave him a temporary “Broken Knee” which means he cannot Hustle! At 3 Speed…ouch. Sort of ironic (and vaguely karmic) though since his Trait is “Knee Shot”.
I can’t complain too much though considering everyone but the dinosaur was taken out.

So in summary:
– Hired Duster “Sarah Love” for $250
— Two Handcannons ($240)
— +1 Defense, +1 Speed
— “Rapid Fire” Trait
– +1 HP for Amparo
– “Broken Knee” Injury for Quidel

End result: 1/179 IP, 0/2000 ND, 5/5 Traits
PDF: Drylands Expedition Roster (Day 6)
Saloon Link: Drylands Expedition Online (Day 6)

Like I said I probably won’t get a game until this weekend, but I do have the Night Daggers Antidote Defense posse (PDF) all setup and ready to go!