Creating a Character Example

June 21, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

I realized that in my Posse creation posts I’ve kind of (incorrectly) assumed the subprocess of creating a character was clear. Well, a post on DakkaDakka helped show me that the section is only 100% clear to me because I wrote the rules. When I try to read it through anonymous, first-time-player eyes I can see a few issues. The main one is that the actual spending of IP is kind of buried and convoluted. Plus the page with the actual IP costs isn’t labelled very well, so it’s just this random page full of charts.

So what I did was re-arrange and clarify that section. Now Creating a Character is basically choosing a name and Allegiance. Spending IP is done under Step 4 of the Creating a Posse process, and the charts are labelled better. What I might end up doing is just combining the two sections, since the whole back and forth between Posse and Character is confusing and seems slightly unnecessary now.

Anyways I also made a Creating a Character Example that steps through filling in the sheet for someone. I thought I’d replicate that section below so everyone can see how you make a member of the Posse.

Creating a Character Example

This example will demonstrate the process to create a character. Included is choosing and applying the Allegiance, improving statistics, selecting a Trait, and buying equipment.

Name: We name our character “Quidel”, and he’ll be the Leader of our new Posse. Since he’s a Leader he automatically gets +2 HP and +1 BRV, which means his starting statistics are:

MV 4, AR 0, RMC 8, MMC 8, BRV 7 (6+1), HP 10 (8+2)

Allegiance: Quidel grew up in Nevada and only knows the hardship of life outside The Wall. Therefore his Allegiance will be Duster. This means he has an additional +2 HP, but -1 MV. His statistics are now:

MV 3 (4-1), AR 0, RMC 8, MMC 8, BRV 7, HP 12 (10+2)

Statistics: The plan for Quidel is to advance across the field firing his ranged weapons before closing into melee. Therefore he’ll be passably trained in shooting and close combat without being overly specialized in either.
The first statistic to improve is Ranged Miss Chance. We’re improving from 8 to 7, which costs 10 IP (as shown in the table above).
Increasing his Melee Miss Chance from 8 to 7 is a similar cost of 10 IP. His statistics are now:

MV 3, AR 0, RMC 7 (8-1), MMC 7 (8-1), BRV 7, HP 12

Since he’s our Leader some additional survivability would help. To this end we purchase +3 HP. At 6 IP per +1 HP, we’ve spent an additional 18 IP. We’ll also give him a base Armor of 1 for 10 IP. His final statistics are:

MV 3, AR 1 (0+1), RMC 7, MMC 7, BRV 7, HP 15 (12+3)

Traits: Let’s decide to allocate a Trait to Quidel. In this case we’ll choose “Berskerer”, a solid Active Trait option that gives +2 Melee Attacks once per encounter.

Equipment: Finally we need to equip Quidel. A basic gun will do to start, so we check out the Ranged Energy Weapons list and decide on the 80KW Six Shooter (4A-0D) for $10. It’s cheap and relatively effective.
However Quidel deserves a better melee weapon, so $60 is spent on a Spear (4A-3D).
To maintain the survivability theme we’ll buy him a suit of Cloth Armor (AR 1) for $50, which increases his total AR to 2.
Finally we’ll give him a Small IRP for $10, which can be used to restore D6 HP.

In total we spent 48 IP and $130 to create this character:
Quidel - Duster Leader
MV 3, AR 2, RMC 7, MMC 7, BRV 7, HP 15, Berserker
80KW Six-Shooter, Spear, Cloth Armor, Small IRP

Posted in Brainstorm, Rules. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

Battle Report: The Bounty at Caldwell Lake

June 18, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

After the Drylands United Cattle Company thrashed Kirk Peterson’s Hunting Expedition in a recent playtest game, I thought I’d continue the storyline.

Kirk retreated north closer to the big Neotechnoist towns, and eventually put a bounty on the Drylands gang. Desperate to escape The Wall in the shortest amount of time, the Drylands crew headed directly south. After escaping over The Wall they figured safety was theirs. Their surprise was complete when a ragged platoon of bounty hunters fell upon them near Caldwell Lake, Wyoming. Resting near a ruined lakehouse, the two posses collided violently.

I levelled up the Drylands Posse, which gave them an extra 30 IP. I figured the hired hunters of The Lost Platoon would have a bit more money, so I settled on $1,500 total. This meant Drylands had $500 additional, which is $200 extra than a standard level up.

Keep in mind this game was played using v0.7 of the rules, with a few tests for v0.8 (mainly around the Initiative system). So ideas like Levels, some of the weapons, etc. will be dated compared to the current version.

Note on images, all of them are clickable and will open the image in a new window/tab as a 1280×960 image. You can also view the images on my Flickr set.

Posse: Drylands United Cattle Company – 130 IP, $1,500
This was the first Posse I created, and so far they had a 1-0 record. Level 2 gave me some more IP and a bunch of Neodollars to spend on goodies.
My goal was to use the new income to expand my Posse a little bit, as well as ensure my equipment stayed up to date. To this end I recruited a new character named Tunher, who was really a Space Marine Scout figure with a shotgun that I had. I bought him a Pump Shotgun and Padded Armor to suit the model. Otherwise I sold Trista’s old 400kW Lever-Action Rifle and bought the ridiculously sweet 600kW version instead.
As for IP most of it went to Tunher. First of all I created him as a Duster, so he started with -1 MV and +2 HP, which would work okay with his shorter ranged weapon. I hoped to supplement his Padded Armor with a further boost, so I spent another 10 IP to give him +1 AR. Finally he got -1 RMC so he could actually hit something.
My remaining IP was spent giving Trista and Tunher +1 HP each (boosting Trista to 8 and Tunher to 11).
For my new Trait I opted for “Clear Sight” for Khulan, which boosted his Assault Rifle’s long range to 20″ and meant he could snipe alongside Trista if needed. Her style was different since her 3A-6D weapon rolled less to hit, but could technically do more damage. Khulan’s trusty Assault Rifle was 6A-1D, but his higher RMC meant such a weapon was well suited to help his aim.
My plan was to use Trista to hold a flank on her own, and maybe swing to the center if she needed to cover somewhere else. Khulan would cover the other flank, with Trask and Tunher advancing as a team and Quidel in as support. Trask’s higher movement meant he’d likely reach combat first, but perhaps he could take some pressure off Quidel and Tunher as they trudged in.
All said and done the Posse looked like:

Quidel - Duster Leader
MV 3, AR 0, RMC 8, MMC 7, BRV 7, HP 13, Berserker
Spear, 80kW Six-Shooter, Whiskey Drop

Khulan - Duster Member
MV 3, AR 1, RMC 7, MMC 8, BRV 6, HP 9, Clear Sight
Assault Rifle, Whiskey Drop

Trista - Neotechnoist Member
MV 4, AR 0, RMC 6, MMC 8, BRV 6, HP 8, Try Again
600kW Lever-Action Rifle

Trask - Bandit Member
MV 5, AR 0, RMC 8, MMV 6, BRV 6, HP 9, Sprint
Club, 80kW Six-Shooter

Tunher - Duster Member
MV 3, AR 2, RMC 7, MMV 8, BRV 6, HP 11
Pump Shotgun, Machete, Padded Armor

Posse: The Lost Platoon – 130 IP, $1,500
I outlined the detail and thought process around this Posse a while back. They are a knockaround ex-military outfit whose members are slowly going insane. Good times. I was interested to see how the Thickskull dinosaur would perform, since he doesn’t have a ton of hitpoints, but his 8″ Movement is almost the fastest of the dinosaurs. 5A-1D in melee doesn’t hurt either.

My plan was to mount Captain Gunfire and Colonel Higgins on The Ram and push them forward, hoping to get to grips with their melee weapons. I was excited to see the Shudder Lance in action, since the Knockback could be rather handy. Otherwise Private Jacobs would act as a second hand and backup man to The Phoenix. The Phoenix had some serious killing power, and if I could get his Light Repeater into range with enemies that were tied up with my melee troops I hoped to do some real damage. And of course once The Ram unloaded his two passengers I planned to throw him forward and lock up any backline shooters, or just cause havoc in general.

As I outlined before, the Posse looks like:

Captain Gunfire - Bandit Leader
MV 4, AR 1, RMC 8, MMC 6, BRV 7, HP 11, Quick Hands
80kW Six-Shooter, Shudder Lance, S-IRP

Colonel Higgins - Bandit Member
MV 4, AR 1, RMC 8, MMC 6, BRV 6, HP 9, Strain Weapon
80kW Six-Shooter, Long Sword, S-IRP

Private Jacobs - Bandit Member
MV 4, AR 1, RMC 7, MMC 8, BRV 6, HP 8
Light Pistol

The Phoenix - Neotechnoist Member
MV 3, AR 1, RMC 5, MMC 8, BRV 6, HP 7, Go For the Eyes, Bonus RMC I
Light Repeater

The Ram - Thickskull Dinosaur
MV 8, AR 1, RMC -, MMC 7, BRV 7, HP 18, Bonus MV I

Table Setup
I used my usual kitchen table for the battle, which is 4 feet long and 3 feet wide with an 8″ deployment zone on either short end. I covered the map with a bunch of hills, mostly just one inch high. The central terrain feature was an old Mordheim building that represented the ruined Lakehouse. It provided solid cover and the second floor would hopefully give some bonus Elevation damage.

Deployment
During my random deployment side roll the Drylands posse got south (doorwards) and the Platoon got north (kitchenwards). The Drylands team had to set up first, followed by the Platoon, then the real fun could begin.

Drylands: I couldn’t resist the central building, and hoped by aiming most of my forces there I could make The Lost Platoon meet me in a big ball of war on that side. To that end Trask and Quidel setup very far to the right with a bunch of blocking terrain in front of them. Khulan and Tunher setup across the nearest hill to the west. I hoped to get Khulan into a commanding firing position and cut the Platoon to pieces as they advanced. Tunher would scamper up and take the left side of the Lakehouse, and his matching movement speed with Quidel would mean they could do a divide and conquer attack. Trista went for the far left (west) flank all on her own. Her big powerful rifle could bring the pain from 21″ away, so with luck I could shoot by the second or third turn.

Platoon: As I figured the Drylands crew pointed towards the big building. I thought I’d match them, except I’d ignore their sniper with a denied flank tactic. Denied flank basically means you try to avoid playing into the opponent’s hand by totally ignoring a section of his forces. In this case if I kept the building between my troops and the sniper Trista I’d basically stop her from having any impact on the game. As I mentioned the Captain and Colonel hopped aboard The Ram, whereas Jacobs and The Phoenix were up on a hill right by them.

Turn 1 – Closing to Range
Note that since I was testing the new Initiative rules I’d roll at the start of each Activation, so instead of seeing a global “X won Initiative” by each turn you’ll just see who Activated and in what order.
Drylands: Trask started my advance up the field by breaking into a dead Run forward.
Platoon: Neither of us were even remotely in range, so I knew this turn would mostly be moving in. To this end I Ran Phoenix down the hill he was on.
Drylands: Next up was Tunher, who also Ran. He aimed for the window in the closest wall of the building, but wasn’t nearly close enough and settled for being in the open.
Platoon: I figured Private Jacobs would try to maintain his role as Phoenix’s buddy, so he Ran down the hill and hung behind the next closest cliff.
Drylands: Quidel edged forward after Trask, but his 3″ Movement was laughable compared to Trask’s 5″. Better to get into cover before the Platoon closes in too far though. I knew eventually they’d arrive, and to that end I decided to reposition my main shooters instead of running them forward and wasting their distance advantage. Trista stayed on her flank, and Khulan climbed the hill by him to get a better vantage point and some bonus Elevation damage (+1).

Turn 2 – Tension Builds
What I like about Dinosaur Cowboys is you aren’t normally in shooting range on the first turn. What that means is everyone gets a turn to shuffle into position and react to the enemy’s advance. This also helps build tension because sometimes you can FEEL the storm of combat brewing.
Platoon: Figuring Khulan had the right idea, Private Jacobs mirrored his approach and climbed the hill he was taking cover behind. The Light Pistol is a handy weapon because it outranges the Six-Shooter, and I figured he was safe enough from Drylands big guns.
Drylands: Tunher continued his forward movement, ending up right at the window of the building. This looked awesome, but also meant he was a bit exposed. The cost of style I guess. Khulan also moved a bit, just to the very edge of the hill to maximize his range and hopefully get someone inside his 20″ killing zone.
Platoon: Time to start the shooting! I positioned Phoenix behind the fence in front of him, and this handily put Tunher into long range. I figured “no time like the present” and activated his “Go For the Eyes” Active Trait (Critical on 10+ instead of 12). With his RMC of 5 I only needed a 9+ to hit, and I smoked Tunher with 4/6 hits. Two of them were Criticals (thanks Trait!). All said and done his Cover reduced the damage by 1, but in total I hit for 6. Tunher promptly failed his Bravery test and was Fleeing. Looks like Drylands newest recruit isn’t working so well, heh.
Drylands: Having a Fleeing character is always annoying, especially in Tunher’s case where he needs every inch of the Pump Shotgun’s 9″ reach. Anyways I thought I’d move the more important stuff first, so Trask Ran forward into the building, and jumped up onto the second floor by the walkway. This gave him a great angle on the advancing Dinosaur.
Platoon: The Ram moved forward, his 8″ Movement being a great help. Then I dismounted Higgins and Gunfire into cover, but foolishly forgot to Face them very well, so their backs were exposed.
Drylands: Well the Dinosaur was dismounted, which meant next turn would be a crazy one. Lots of people were in range, and I suspected I might even sneak some melee in. Anyways Quidel moved forward and shot at Higgins through the window. This happened to be into his back, and a Surprise Hit always helps (Critical on 10+ instead of 12). I hit with 1 Critical, but Cover reduced the cheap and flimsy 80kW Six-Shooter damage to 1. Every bit helps I guess. With the Dinosaur further to the right than I liked it meant Trista was basically useless and out of range, so I Ran her forward.

Turn 3 – Crazy Shootout at the Lakehouse
Now that everyone had closed the gap, this turn would certainly be a blood bath.
Drylands: I won the first Activation, so I figured I’d best make a surprise attack of some sort. Trask used his “Sprint” Active Trait and flew across the walkway and into an elevated, back shot angle of Captain Gunfire and his associates. I hit 3/4 attacks with a total of 6 damage against Captain Gunfire. Regrettably he passed his Bravery test, which is too bad because I love when Leaders flee.
Platoon: Although daring, Trask’s rush forward had exposed him to Phoenix. I moved him up to the fence to ensure he was in cover. Then it was time to put that wonderful 5 RMC to use again. I hit 3/6 of times, but this only did 3 total damage (Trask had Cover).
Drylands: Although Phoenix was a better shot, Trista had a superior gun capable of doing 9 damage compared to his 7. I moved up her full 3″ which just brought Private Jacobs into range. He was exposed on the hill, so I had an easy roll of 7+ to hit. Still, I wanted to be sure, so I activated her trait “Try Again” (optionally re-roll one set of attacks). My first attack only hit once, so I re-rolled with a VAST improvement of 2 Criticals instead! 4 Hits plus 6 base damage meant 10 total damage, so Trista one-shot-killed Private Jacob!
Platoon: Um wow, ouch. I swung Captain Gunfire around the building to get a short range shot at Quidel. I hit and did 3 damage, which wasn’t too bad. I used his trait “Quick Hands” to instantly apply the Small IRP from his pack, but it only restored 2 HP (on a D6).
Drylands: Time for my other big hitter to warm up. Khulan continued creeping along the hill to get a solid shot, in this case putting Captain Gunfire into medium range. I rolled REALLY well, hitting 4/6 times (2 of which were Criticals) for 7 damage, which outright killed Captain Gunfire! Ah, the sweet taste of dead Leader. The rest of The Lost Platoon (except The Ram) passed their Bravery tests…I guess they knew their crazy captain would bite it eventually.
Platoon: Two characters down in one turn, not good. I guess that’s why people don’t move into range of Lever-Action Rifles and Assault Rifles, heh. Anyways I did the mandatory Fleeing move with The Ram, then Ran him forward to try to recapture some lost distance.
Drylands: Quidel continued into the Lakehouse, but couldn’t reach the second floor. He shot Higgins in the back through the window, getting 1 Surprise Hit Critical (he rolled an 11) for 2 damage.
Platoon: With all the deadly firepower going around I thought I should use as many Active Traits as I could, before the characters with them died. So Colonel Higgins activated “Strain Weapon” (more damage on attack), hopped around the corner and moved into melee with Quidel. I only hit 1/2 attacks, but this was still 1+4+2 damage. Quidel failed his Bravery test from the rockin’ damage, the cowardly dog.
Drylands: My last Activation was to Flee Tunher back, which actually helped because I could draw a line on Higgins. I fired at super duper long range (honestly it was ALMOST out of range) and hit with 1 Critical. The Pump Shotgun is nice because it has a high base damage, so all said and done I did 7 damage which killed Higgins!

Turn 4 – Shattered Recovery
After so many decisive kills it was up to The Lost Platoon to try to recover ground. The Ram hadn’t been the focus very much, so he might still get into combat. Plus The Phoenix was still prowling at the back, and even though he was outranged by 5 or 6″ he could hit pretty much anything.
Platoon: I thought I should try to even the odds, and the nearest and juiciest meal to do that with was Trask. The Ram agreed, and Charged up to the second floor and into melee with Trask. I rolled well and hit him 5/6 times which killed Trask.

Drylands: Well I was due to have someone die, and I’d prefer Trask over any of the real ranged hitters. One of these days he’ll get to Club someone to death though. Anyways it was time to focus on The Ram and try to bring it down before it reached the rest of my Posse. To this end Trista moved into short range and fired, hitting 2/3 times for 7 damage (good old Cover) against The Ram. Khulan followed suit, but at medium range, and only hit 3/6 for 3 damage. The Ram was now at 8 HP. Almost there!
Platoon: The Phoenix had to be careful in his movement, since I didn’t want to expose him to another one-hit-kill like poor Private Jacobs. So I played it a bit safer and stood and fired at Quidel through the window of the house. I hit 4/6 times for 4 damage which killed the Drylands Leader, woot. Khulan failed his Bravery test, but the rest passed.
Drylands: Well I guess Quidel couldn’t survive forever. At least my whole Posse didn’t run away as a result of his death. Anyways Tunher fired on The Ram, but needed 10+ to hit (7 base, +1 range, +1 AR, +1 target moved…yeah :( ). Anyways he still hit 1/3 times for 5 damage, so The Ram was down to 3 HP.

Turn 5 – Rampaging Beasts
Platoon: The Ram tried to continue his rampage, but with 3 HP I didn’t expect him to last the turn. Anyways I Ran him into close combat with Tunher. Even though the guy had a Machete, I figured Trista and Khulan hitting at -1 (the In Melee penalty) would be worth it. Plus if Tunher tried to move away I could get a Snap Attack in there.
Drylands: Time to do some big game hunting! Except my dice didn’t agree. Tunher missed entirely with his Machete against The Ram. Khulan Fled backwards, but was still in short range. He fired at The Ram but missed with EVERY FREAKING SHOT. Not only that but he rolled THREE 1s, so his gun was out of ammo and needed to be reloaded.
Platoon: Heh, looks like Khulan’s barbaric powder based rifle finally failed. To show him up I thought The Phoenix would give a demonstration of his laser based Light Repeater. He squeezed the trigger and sent a hail of laser blasts at Tunher, hitting 3 times (including 1 Critical) for 5 total damage, which killed Tunher. That’ll teach him to botch his Machete work. It did however leave The Ram exposed.
Drylands: Trista aimed down the barrel of her powerful rifle, but she must have been unaccustomed to the 600kW version as I MISSED with ALL 3 shots. I only needed 6+! Ugh, anyways I moved her back 4″ to keep out of Run/Charge range of The Ram. Guess I should have saved “Try Again”, but then I wouldn’t have one-shot Jacobs.

Turn 6 – Better Luck?
Platoon: Denied his tasty Tunher meal, The Ram Charged Khulan and hit 2/5 with a bad roll (not as bad as Drylands last turn, heh) for 3 damage. Khulan was down to 6 HP at this point.
Drylands: Khulan had his fill of being bitten by a Dinosaur so I decided he’d risk leaving combat. This meant The Ram got a free Snap Attack against Khulan, but it also cleared the shot for Trista. Too bad The Ram rolled well on his attack and hit Khulan with 2 Criticals and 1 normal hit for 4 total damage. Khulan at least passed his Bravery test. Anyways I moved him to the other side of the cliff and Reloaded his weapon.
Platoon: The 16″ max range of the Light Repeater was painful at this point as I had to Run the Phoenix across the fence and into the Lakehouse courtyard to try to get into range.
Drylands: Surely my dice can’t fail too miserably too often. I moved Trista into short range to be sure and she fired at The Ram, hitting twice for a total of 8 damage which killed the Dinosaur.

Turn 7 – Tightening the Noose
With an unfavorable 2vs1, the situation is looking grim for The Lost Platoon.
Drylands: I won Activation, and since it was a 2:1 ratio I had to handle both my characters. Trista moved closer to The Phoenix, but still was prudent enough to get behind the cover of a small hill. Khulan moved forward into line of sight with The Phoenix and fired at long range (actually at his max 20″ range – thanks to Clear Sight). He hit with 1 Critical (needed a 9+ to hit) for 2 total damage.
Platoon: The Drylands team weren’t looking too great, but neither was I. If I could just get one solid shot in I might take Khulan out. For now I tried to get out of line of sight and I used the Small IRP to heal The Phoenix back to 7 HP. Hopefully it wasn’t just delaying the inevitable.

Turn 8 – Another Notch
Drylands: I won Activation again, which helped since I could hopefully kill The Phoenix before he even got to act. Khulan backed away from the hill, mainly to protect himself. Then Trista maneuvered until she had a clear shot at The Phoenix through a window. Firing at long range she hit 2/3 times for 7 total damage which was just enough to kill The Phoenix and win the game.
Platoon: Nothing because they’re all deaaaaaaad.

After Action Report
The Drylands United Cattle Company was triumphant (again), this time against the bounty hunter mercenaries of The Lost Platoon. I imagine the motley Drylands crew is far enough away from Neotechnoist territory that they can safely blend back into the Duster towns. Anyways the game ran 8 turns and 1 1/2 hours (mostly due to taking the ~50 photos and writing a turn-by-turn report). Some thoughts from the players below:

Drylands: Another win for me. Or should I say for Trista and Khulan, because they pretty much carried the team. Trask acted as solid bait, drawing a lot of fire and distracting the main force of the Platoon. Quidel dying so early was unfortunate, but I guess The Phoenix in the backline was a taste of my own medicine. Tunher worked okay, but I think a smaller, cramped map would be more to his liking (especially with a 9″ range Pump Shotgun). I had some pretty solid dice rolls, but regardless Turn 5 was probably the worst I’ve rolled in a while (in any game, haha). To not be able to bring down The Ram when he only had 3 HP! Sad. Anyways good times, although we basically fought just around the Lakehouse and didn’t really exploit the rest of the map.

Platoon: Well I ALMOST had my hopes up near the end that I could pull a win out. Then Trista killed The Phoenix, and it was kind of like “Oh…well then”. The early one-shot-kill of Private Jacobs certainly didn’t help. I didn’t even get to use Captain Gunfire’s Shudder Lance because he dawdled around and got himself shot a turn before melee. At least I got Quidel back eventually. That 600kW Lever-Action Rifle Trista had sure was a beast and made The Phoenix’s Light Repeater look like a toy. Then again it costs about three times as much, heh.

Complete Turn Log
Turn 1:
– Trask Runs forward
– Phoenix Runs down hill
– Tunher Runs up middle, behind hill
– Jacobs Runs behind next closest hill
– Quidel slowly follows Trask
– Ram runs big 12″ to cover behind the building
– Khulan climbs hill for better vantage
– Trista stays

Turn 2:
– Jacob climbs hill
– Tunher walks to window
– Khulan moves forward on hill to the edge
– Phoenix forward near the fence, shoots Tunher through the window. Activates “Go For the Eyes”, hit 4/6 (at 9+), 2 are criticals, 7-1 (Cover) = 6 damage, Tunher fails BRV
– Trask Runs into the house, onto second floor
– Ram forward to near Trask, Higgins and Gunfire dismount
– Quidel walks, shoots through window at Higgins, 1 crit at 9+ to hit, 1 damage total (target in Cover)
– Trista Runs closer to get in range

Turn 3:
– Trask uses Sprint, moves along second floor to flank. Hits 3/4 on Captain, Surprise Hit, 5+1 (Elevation) damage to Gunfire, he passes BRV
– Phoenix moves behind fence, shoots Trask at medium range, only 3/6 hit into Cover, so 3 damage to Trask
– Trista moves forward full 3″ to get Jacob in range, activates “Try Again”, hitting 7+. Only 1 hit, so uses re-roll from trait, hits with 2 Criticals instead. 4+6=10 damage, one shot kill on Jacob!
– Gunfire circles building, shoots Quidel at short range, 3 hits. Uses “Quick Hands” to use S-IRP on self for 2 HP
– Khulan inches forward, shoots medium range against Gunfire, hits 4/6, 2 Criticals for 7 damage, killing Gunfire. All members pass BRV test except The Ram.
– Ram Flees back then Runs forward.
– Quidel moves into bottom house floor, shoots Higgins in the back, 1 Surprise Hit Critical (roll 11), for 2 damage
– Higgins uses “Strain Weapon”, moves around corner into melee with Quidel, hit 1/2 but for 1+4+2 damage. Quidel fails BRV
– Tunher flees back, then shoots Higgins in melee at long range (almost out of range), 1 crit for 7 damage, kills Higgins

Turn 4:
– Ram Charges up onto second floor into Trask, hits 5/6 and kills Trask
– Trista moves to short range, hits 2/3 for 8-1 damage vs Ram
– Khulan shoots medium range against Ram, hits 3/6 for 4-1, Ram down to 8 HP
– Phoenix shoots Quidel through window at medium range, hits 4/6 for 5-1 damage, kills Quidel. Khulan fails BRV, all else pass
– Tunher shoots Ram through window at 10 (7 +1 range +1 AR +1 move), hits 1/3 for 6-1, Ram now at 3 HP

Turn 5:
– Ram Runs into close combat with Tunher
– Tunher misses Ram with Machete in melee
– Khulan Flees back, shoots short range at Ram, misses all and rolls 3×1 so needs Reload
– Phoenix stands and shoots at Tunher, his 3 (1 Critical) for 5, kills Tunher
– Trista shoot at Ram, misses 3 times on 6+. Moves back 4″ to keep out of Ram’s range.

Turn 6:
– Ram Charges Khulan, hits 2/5 (bad roll) for 3, Khulan down to 6 HP
– Khulan tries to leave combat to clear the shot for Trista, gets hit 2 Criticals and 1 normal for 4 damage by Snap Attack, passes BRV, moves back and Reloads
– Phoenix crosses fence with a Run
– Trista moves up slope to short range, shoots Ram and his for 2 shots (1 Critical) + 6 damage for 9-1, kills Ram

Turn 7:
– Trista moves up behind hill
– Khulan edges into line of sight of Phoenix, shoots at long 20″ range, hit 1 Critical on 9+, 2 total damage
– Phoenix moves 3″ forward, uses building to block line of sight. Uses S-IRP on self to heal back to 7 HP

Turn 8:
– Khulan backs to the edge of the hill
– Trista moves into line of sight through the window against Phoenix, shoots at long range, hits 2/3 for 7 total to kill Phoenix

Instant Replay
I felt that the game was so close and could have swung either way that I wanted a rematch. I ran through it again, and The Lost Platoon rolled over Drylands with a vengeance, so I guess that Posse is just good when in the spotlight. Although I imagine improving target priority helped a bunch, as did knowing how deadly each member could (or couldn’t!) be.
The map was the same, but the setups were reversed. The Lost Platoon had some solid early turns, basically wiping out everyone but Trista and Khulan. In a sweet twist of fate Private Jacobs actually got into a running shooting match with Trista, and WON! The minimum range on her rifle hurt since she had to keep moving to get into a firing position, and eventually Jacob’s Light Pistol overcame her and won the game for The Lost Platoon. There were a few close calls for sure though! I found it interesting how a second match can change the flow of the game. Plus I could run the game without worrying about too many pictures or writing, so it finished in 30 minutes instead of 1 1/2 hours like the battle report version.
Like I said I didn’t do a turn by turn report for it, but I did take a few pictures:

Posted in Game Sessions, Images. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments »

Preview of v0.9

June 17, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy
Note! v0.9 has actually been released, so you don’t really need this preview. Go and download the official v0.9 here.

Well I haven’t been sitting idle after v0.8, and I wanted to share some of the progress. I thought by this point I’d just be fine tuning rules, but I actually made a few big sweeping changes for v0.9…enough so that I almost might call it v0.85.

Anyways the highlights are: Added a Quick Reference Sheet, added Slowed weapon ability, made custom exotic Lassos, added a few new weapons (Derringer, Saber, Stun Gun, etc.), added a ton of traits (over 50 total now), changed Charge to be an Action that gives +D6″ Movement under certain circumstances, split Brawl into Natural Weapons which also now includes Dinosaur attacks (like Trample and Gore), removed Levels and awarded IP/ND on a per-kill basis, renamed Leadership to more flavorful Yeehaw, put the rules under a non-commercial Creative Commons license, added Falling damage, general clarifications and editing.

So yeah, big list of stuff! Most of it is checked off from yesterday’s TODO list. I’m a big fan of the new Charge approach, and an even bigger fan of removing Levels. Now the 4 fields at the top of the Posse Roster are IP Total/Current and ND Total/Current, so you can compare with your opponent to ensure the IP and ND match.

Anyways if this sounds interesting please check out the preview and give me some feedback!

Download the Dinosaur Cowboys Rulebook v0.9 Preview.

I’m hoping to get the battle reports up next, and then maybe start on the Variant Rules section.

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Another playtest I need to write up

June 17, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

I now have a queue of 2 battle reports to write up. I fought “The Bounty” a while back (which helped test some v0.8 rules) and just yesterday I ran “Town Fight”, which implemented the most recent TODOs and was actually the most fun I’ve had with Dinosaur Cowboys so far. I think the board layout and similar teams (both had a dinosaur) helped. But yeah I have pictures from both sessions, so now I just need to sit down and write them up. Hopefully I can get some time this weekend.

For now here is a preview of the Posses involved in the “Town Fight”. You can see the cool road I used (I previously made these for Car Wars), as well as the Greyhound Bus which dominated the central street (and could be blown up).

Anyways the battle was Coleman’s Raiders versus The Duskhelm Posse:

VERSUS

So much fun.

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A big post of dubious ideas, variants, and TODOs

June 16, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Below is a big huge brainstorm of some new ideas or features for Dinosaur Cowboys. You can thank another playtest, plus I’ve started carrying a pad of paper to scribble my wild ideas down on, so I forget less. At least it gives me something to do besides try to make artwork for the v0.9 rulebook. Anyways I’m a big fan of variant rules because sometimes a cool feature doesn’t quite make it into the core rules, but I still LIKE that cool feature, so I aim to make those available as “official” house rules. The TODO below that list is mostly Traits to add, but a few neat ideas in there too (like maybe doing away with Level entirely and just going by IP/Dollars).

Possible Variant Rules
– Armor reduces damage instead of modifying RMC/MMC
– Use MMC for ranged weapons in melee, but still apply the In Melee penalty
– Dinosaur adds their Armor to any riders (makes getting across the field easier)
– Fumbles (unmodified rolls of 1) count as -1 Hit
– Variable Run speed (D6″) instead of 1/2 Movement
– 1 Improvement Point can be bought for $10
– Do not remove an entity at 0 HP, just place them face down (called Unconscious or Downed). They can be revived by someone using healing (Medpack, Whiskey Drop, IRP, etc.) on them.
– Alternative Leadership effects: grant additional Action Phase to one entity in 12″?
– Can buy and set traps (marked down with X-Y coordinates in inches) like spiked pits, etc.
– Some kind of “quick draw” with Six-Shooters that lets you roll off / duel an opponent within short range? Maybe autokill the loser?
– Gatling Gun that has D6 or D12 Attacks instead of a set number
– Additional +1 Miss Chance against targets that Ran
– Fire rules for Molotov cocktails (maybe a X” wide patch that lasts until the end of the turn?), get same attack if target enters or is pushed into it
– Dinosaur equipment upgrades (armor plates, extra saddle, etc.)
– Weapon upgrades (laser sight, etc.) that grant additional benefits to the gun? Arguably covered as +XA or +YD weapons, maybe just need +ZSR (short range) or those kind of extra mods? Maybe make a way to purchase these upgrades (percent of base price? [might make upgrading cheap guns too desirable], or just flat price per plus?)
– Non-Dinosaur beasts (Sabertooth cats, etc.)

Possible TODO
– Develop “The Saloon: Dinosaur Cowboys Posse Builder” webapp, including export to PDF form
– Weather effects (sandstorm, acid rain, etc.) and hazardous terrain (lava, quicksand, etc.)
– Add RMC default for Dinosaurs due to Roar attack (Beast type), since it’s ranged (Removed Roar attack so Dinosaurs stay pure melee)
– * Clarify Dismounting for multiple people on a single Dinosaur
– * Clarify no move at all on a failed Charge (that comes up short, as in you don’t still move the X” inches you rolled)
– * Maybe make Charge a 2″ or 3″ minimum, so basically can try to charge targets in 3-6″
– * Note about Fleeing off the board. Instead give the Fleeing person a Movement Phase, but Stunned in that Action Phase
– * Maybe note that more terrain and more powerful posses increase play time (on the 30-60 minutes game req at the start)
– * Change Kill system to be based on victory (like +5 XP on win), or maybe get Improvement points on a per-win or per-kill basis instead of per-level? Then Levels could be entirely removed and you just play Posses with matching IP/Dollars.
– * Trait “Climber” Passive trait that treats vertical climbs (cliffs, hills, etc.) as normal non-Difficult terrain?
– Trait “Sacrifice” Active trait that adds +damage but takes HP from self?
– * Trait “Rejuvenating Strike” Active trait that gives +HP if target is killed
– * Trait “Underdog Strike” Active trait that gives +damage if target has more HP than attacker
– Trait “Fresh Strike” Active trait that gives +damage if target is unhurt
– * Trait “Retreat” that gives +Movement to nearby ally
– * Trait “Clear Me” that removes harmful effects (Stopped, etc.)
– * Trait “Frightful Strike” that gives -Bravery penalty if a test is required from your attack
– * Trait “Burst Move” gives +Move but makes self Stopped or Slowed next turn
– * Trait “Cleave” hits adjacent melee target as well as main target
– * Trait “Stoneroot” make self Stopped but give +X Armor
– * Trait “Final Thrust” that does +damage if target is already half HP, otherwise it does less damage
– Trait “Grapple” makes self Slowed and target Stopped
– * Trait “Hamstring” apply Slow to target
– * Trait “Protector” transfer some HP to nearby ally (maybe 1:2 ratio?)
– Trait “Riposte” means next enemy melee attack causes them to take damage
– * Trait “Bull’s Strike” that Stops target and does extra damage if they’ve moved?
– * Make some Dinosaur fighting feats, like +X vs Dinosaur
– * Do traits specific to some weapons? Or maybe just to weapon categories? Like “Thrower” that increase Grenades range, etc.
– * Make some Traits that only work when mounted? Like further Lasso range, maybe higher move (“Spur Mount”), etc.?
– * Make some Traits apply weapon special effects, like “Stopped” for a “Knockdown Shot” or the like
– * Create a “Slowed” weapon special ability that forces target to move half (and can’t run) for their next Activation, could be a Bola or Whip attack
– * Make a note of falling damage (being pushed off a cliff, etc.). Flat 1 HP per 1″
– * Make Knockback as X” Knockback, where X is how far, similar to Explosion. So Shove would be 2″ Knockback and Shudder Lance would be 1D6″ Knockback and so on
– * Explain Minimum range somewhere (for example 4-14″ range on Lever Action rifle)
– * Different Lassos (more damage, further range, pull closer, etc.)
– * Dinosaurs have a Stampede / Trample attack? Further Charge range or damage maybe? Just a bunch of different special attacks similar to Brawl for humans, like Knockback, Trip, etc. Maybe Berserk which hurts self after attack but does more damage?
– * Variable Charge speed, maybe Move+D6″ in a straight line? Could add a fun element of uncertainty to Charging. Need to make sure there is a chance of reaching the enemy, otherwise a person could just Charge forward and gain additional free Movement.
– * Add Stopped, Stunned, and Slowed as tokens, maybe centralize their rules? (centralized enough as weapon special effects)
– Maybe make an “X” attack that means you roll to hit with 1D12 but it does no damage, perfect for Trip or Shove (instead of 1A-0D). (Want to maintain the same mechanism throughout)
– Clarify Dinosaur sizes in one spot, and what effect each size has (passenger count, travelling, etc.) (Kind of clear already)

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Completed the Quick Reference Sheet

June 15, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

I’ve been waffling on creating a Quick Reference Sheet, mainly because I find after one or two games a person knows the rules well enough to not need it. But I’m aiming to make this game easy for other people to play, and surely someone out there would like a one page reference of modifiers, available actions per turn, etc.

So with that in mind I whipped up a nice looking document. I’ve integrated this into the main rulebook (for v0.9) so this will be the only direct download of the PDF, since going forward you’d just print the last page of the rulebook and be done with it.

Anyways if you’re interested please download the Quick Reference Sheet (PDF). If you’re interested with how it looks, well, here is an image:

PS: West Test is such a great flavorful font! Except I totally forgot to set the headers in Items.odt (the weapons, armor, and equipment lists) to that font, whoops. Remedied now.

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A bunch of links

June 15, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

I’ve collected a few links I wanted to share, since they are clogging up my email.

  • Dinosaur Central Weird Wild West – Tons of great dinosaur and cowboys artwork, some of which you might recognize from this site (well mainly Go West). I’d like to try to get a mention on this site eventually, but we’ll see.
  • Dinosaur Toys List – Gigantic list of various companies and their prehistoric offerings. Almost like a to-purchase list.
  • TheMiniaturesPage topic – I visit this board irregularly for The Sword and The Flame, but maybe it’s time to post and see if I can get some feedback on the rules, as they seem like a pretty sharp bunch of wargames.
  • The Lost World book – And not the silly new one, but the 1900s Arthur Conan Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) version. His equally old book “The White Company” is one of my favorite novels, but that’s beside the point.
  • Journey to the Center of the Earth book – Speaking of books here is another old classic with some dinosaur-ific nods.
  • Bone Wars and Two Tiny Claws books by Brett Davis – I have no idea, but it looks right up my alley.
  • The Fallen Cloud Saga books – Alternative history where dinosaurs existed during the colonizing of America and the natives have tamed them.
  • The Last Dinosaur book – I am up in the air on this one, but maybe it’d be interesting. I think it’d just frustrate and annoy me though.
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Humor break

June 15, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy


From the Truck Bearing Kibble webcomic.

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Version 0.8 available (and looking awesome)

June 14, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Another Milestone
Celebrate for version 0.8 of Dinosaur Cowboys is here! It’s really starting to look professional, if I do say so myself. I’ve integrated the main rules, items, and roster into a single document, and really made it shine with a logo, some snazzy flavorful fonts, new table of contents and footers, a few new descriptive sections, and most importantly tons of fixes and updates as a result of playtesting (new Initiative system, new Standalone / Campaign Game section, new weapons and also some price changes, etc.).

Anyways get the goods here: Dinosaur Cowboys Rulebook v0.8 (PDF).

Changelog
I use Subversion for tracking my document revisions, and I figured I’d share the check-in log with you, since it’s as close to a changelog as I’m going to get. The points are ordered newest to oldest, from June 14th to July 6th (I didn’t even stop for a break after v0.7 you understand).

  • Put newly fonted Posse Roster into the main rulebook
  • Modified Posse Roster with stylized fonts, instead of basic Deja Vu Sans Mono. Now West Test is used sparingly, and Universalis Std is used for all the main headers. Definitely adds some nice variety
  • Made Level Up give $300, and member recruiment cost $200 inititally and $250 (down from $300) later
  • Made the Thickskull Small size instead of Medium, to match what Jurassic Park 2 had
  • Increased level up dollars to $200
  • Changed Lasso / Wrangle to just Lasso, to avoid confusion
  • Removed some needless headers from the table of contents. Re-organized some of the document sections, mainly to name ‘Time and Travel’ as ‘Campaign Game’ instead, which mirrors ‘Standalone Game’ section that was previously the new ‘Setting Up a Game’ section.
  • First draft of ‘Setting up a game’ section
  • Further reduction of melee weapon prices
  • Clarified how to write IP on the Posse Roster
  • A bunch of minor formatting, grammar, typo, and consistency changes
  • First draft of new Initiative system that relies on per-Activation rolls and ratio checks
  • Clarified Selling to only allow items $40 or over
  • Clarified the Elevation damage bonus to be 2 inches or higher above the target
  • Added a Lasso attack. 1-6 inches range, 1A-0D with Stopped. Can only be used while Mounted.
  • Alphabetical order for weapon special abilities
  • Added ‘Trip’ Brawl attack, 1A-0D with Stopped. Also formatted the index headers to match the West Test font
  • Made ‘Grenade’ plural, made ‘Web’ special into generic ‘Stopped’ (still no Movement effect)
  • Changed the column ordering for the weapons in Items.odt. Previously it went Ranges, A-D. Now it goes A-D, Ranges. This is to match the ordering in the Posse Roster, so that is easier to fill out
  • Decreased Reload values, such as 80KW from 3×1 to 1×1, just to get some more reloading going (only had 1 reload in 3 games, and it was 2×1 on a 6A gun). Clarified that Leadership can only be used on ANOTHER entity, not on self.
  • Noted that Surprise Hits don’t apply to targets in melee. New subsection talking about making a Bravery Test when the entity is already fleeing.
  • Tried re-saving as ODT specifically
  • Added a Pickaxe, prospector style
  • Tried the fun ‘West Test’ font for main headers
  • Testing a different title font and style
  • Added Table of Contents and Table of Figures. This meant marking headers as Header 1, 2, 3 styled, and also giving titles to the OLE objects in the doc.
  • Added page numbering to everything except the title page, charts, and roster
  • Added a logo, hooray. Basically a dinosaur skull with two crossed pistols underneath
  • Fixed up naming so ‘posse sheet’ isn’t used anymore
  • Minor formatting. Also added Posse Roster to the main Rulebook
  • Some document shuffling and renaming
  • Added Light Repeater and Heavy Repeater as alternatives to Low/High Burst Rifle. Also put the Items and Posse
  • Roster into the Rules, so that everything is in a single doc

Alternative Formats
I’m trying to move away from some of the harder-to-support file formats, but if you want you can still get the rules as ODT or DOC. Also you can download individual Posse Rosters as PDF or ODT, in case you don’t want to print directly from the rulebook (I personally like the single sheet approach).

Looking Forward
What will v0.9 look like? Well, it’ll have pretty pictures scattered throughout the rulebook, because deep down that’s all anyone cares about. I still want to test Armor as Damage Reducing instead of modifying the to-hit, but otherwise I don’t have any big changes or tests planned. Probably just get some more games in. I had looked into doing a Quick Reference sheet (as per my previous TODO), but honestly aside from the Modifiers table there isn’t anything that needs a summary or needs to easily be on hand.
Also once I reach v1.0 (my heart flutters just to write that) I want to add the game to Board Game Geek (or their spin off RPGGeek). Maybe even RPG Drive Thru as a free PDF (I should check what the requirements are for that). The more I can get the rules out the better, I figure.
Also as I mentioned there should be another battle report coming soon, and I hope to get one more after that with the full v0.8 rules (less of a playtest and more of a, well, flat out “play”).

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More updates and decisions

June 13, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Recent Playtests
Like I said I was busy pretty much all weekend, but I did squeeze in two playtests. Both pitted the Drylands United Cattle Company against The Lost Platoon, and both were Level 2 Posses. The table setup remained the same for each match with a large building to the east and a thick scattering of hills elsewhere. I took photos and recorded Activations for the first games, so expect another battle report coming soon. The second game was a rematch more than anything, so I just powered through it without a turn by turn account, which helped since I could get a real test of play time (the game took 27 minutes).

Decided on Initiative and Resolution
Anyways I think the two playtests helped me decide on two big rule issues I had wondered about: Initiative and simultaneous resolution. I’ve decided to go with a new Initiative system and to leave combat resolution as it is (so if you kill someone they are removed instantly, instead of at the end of the turn). The Initiative system is similar to before, except instead of rolling at the start of each turn you roll off at the start of each Activation. This helps numerically unbalanced teams since you can compare the number of un-Activated entities on an ongoing basis, instead of once at the start of the turn where it can be out of date.

Damage Reducing Armor? MMC for Ranged in Melee?
I did come up with two other possible big changes:

  • Make AR reduce damage instead of miss chance? Downside is reworking some of the numbers and mechanics, upside is you don’t have to check with the opponent when trying to hit, it’s basically My Skill + My Modifiers instead of Your Modifiers, ya know? +1 AR for 10 IP would need to cost more though, as would armor. I don’t want to get into a bunch of 0 damage hits though.
  • Test using MMC instead of RMC for ranged weapons in melee.

Damage Reducing Armor?
I’ve considered the first point before during the long process of choosing what exactly Armor means. Inititally there was no Ranged Miss Chance and Armor was the value you had to roll against (it was higher back then). But then with RMC and MMC I went to a modifier approach where it simply makes the target harder to hit. A lot of people have qualms with this approach in modern/sci-fi games, since arguably (well, technically) having a kevlar vest doesn’t mean you won’t get hit, it means the bullet won’t do as much damage.
So now I’m considering whether Armor should be damage reducing. Aside from all the flavor reasons, the main upside I see is it would further streamline the combat process. Right now the real world implementation of the rules goes like this:

Player A: “Alright I’m shooting, *measures distance* 18″, so that’s Long Range. You’re in Cover, so -1 damage. What’s your Armor?”
Player B: “*checks sheet* Just 1 for this guy”
Player A: “Okay so RMC of 6, two mods which means 8+ to hit. *rolls and high fives because Dinosaur Cowboys is so much fun*”

The second line above is my concern. Having to check with your opponent to do your OWN shooting is kind of a bother. In a sense it helps involve your target in the attack, but it’s also kind of a hassle since you can’t just independently figure out what you need to roll.

Anyways in terms of mechanics I don’t think much would need to change. The IP cost to increase Armor would probably go up a tiny bit (12 instead of 10 most likely). Otherwise the rules are pretty close to what is needed.

The main downside I’m worried about is 0 damage attacks. Nothing is more frustrating to a player than rolling a bunch of dice, hitting something, and then doing nothing against it. I mean the opponent is happy, but it just feels like a wasted shot. Right now the damage per shot seems pretty high, so reducing it by 1 or 2 probably wouldn’t be too bad. Also it’s extra math, which can be annoying…although I can’t say TOO much against that since Cover and Elevation both modify damage, and if they do it why can’t Armor?

Definitely something to playtest.

MMC for Ranged in Melee?
Right now I’m having a tough time striking a balance between ranged and melee. I flat out don’t want melee to be more powerful than ranged, because no one in the wild west won a draw by punching the other guy at one hundred paces. Melee does have some benefits, like you aren’t going to have a bunch of modifiers to hassle with, the attacks are normally fairly damaging for the price, etc.

Dinosaurs also factor into this, since you are basically obligated to push forward and get to grips with the enemy to be effective, so Melee NEEDS to be considered. And after running across the board (3 or 4 feet of space to cover sometimes), shedding HP and maybe even having some casualties, the last thing you want is to get stomped in close combat by someone shooting you in the face.

So to that end I’m considering changing how guns/ranged weapons in melee work. Currently there is a +1 Miss Chance to Ranged in Melee, so it’s a bit harder to hit your target. What I’m considering instead is using MMC in place of RMC for ranged weapons in melee.

This feels a bit more realistic, and would also mean those 5 RMC/8 MMC snipers wouldn’t be so hot in close combat. But it opens up ranged weapons as viable melee weapons, whereas right now they aren’t. I mean if you’re using MMC anyways, why not save money and get a gun and shoot as you advance and still get to use it in close combat? So I’d probably have to leave the +1 penalty in there.

I’m lukewarm about this idea since it starts to blur the line between what exactly RMC/MMC stand for, and whether they are interchangable or not.

Smaller Changes
As usual I have a growing list of TODO items based on my recent playtesting and brainstorming. Completed items are retroactively marked with a bold asterick.

  • * Implement new Initiative system in rules (basically roll at the start of each turn, move based on the current numbers in the sense of 2vs1, 3vs1, etc.)
  • * Simultaneous deaths won’t be used with the new Initiative system.
  • * Reload values were decreased (eg. 3×1 to 2×1), may still need tweaking. I’ve had 1 Reload over 3 games, when I’d rather it be closer to 1 per game, so yeah, basically everything got the Reload value decreased by 1.
  • * Do a “Setting up a Game” section under Game Overview, with details on non-standard IP/$ values, table size, etc.
  • * Lasso / Wrangle / Rope ‘Em attack (inspired by the huge amount of rope work in The Valley of Gwangi). New attack that can only be used while Mounted. 1-6″ range, 1A-0D with Stopped special ability (target cannot move during their next Activation).
  • * Make a note of how to fill out the Posse roster (X of Y IP instead of just X IP, etc.)
  • * Quick Reference sheet (if enough tables exist to make it worthwhile)
  • * Try Posse Roster with custom western fonts used elsewhere in the doc

Anyways that was a long post, but yeah, keeping on with the rules improvements towards that wonderous v1.0.

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Idea for rulebook images

June 9, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

You know how I mentioned that I wanted to put more images in the rulebook to spice it up and break up the big walls of text? Well originally I had planned on using old, real-world photographs from the west thanks to the digitized Library of Congress archives. I would try to use the photo “as is”, but since I’d want some consistency I’d more likely end up applying Gimp’s “Old Photo filter”. Doing so would result in something like this:

However I was thinking more about this, and heck why not use photos from my playtests, or from actual photoshoots I could do (with a tripod and proper lighting). The result would be similar to this photo (which was actually from another project of mine):

Definitely worth considering, since with some tweaking I think I could get a really nice effect going on.

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Posse: The Lost Platoon

June 9, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Posse: The Lost Platoon
Level 2, IP 130, $1,500

I went for a higher starting Neodollar value for this gang, mainly so I could try out a Thickskull dinosaur ($500 on it’s own).

My theme for this Posse was a Neotechnoist patrol that got lost in the deep jungle near The Wall. Over time the patrol slowly lost men to dinosaurs, hostile savages, and jungle disease. Finally only a few remained, the “Lost Platoon” as it were. The Captain’s sanity dwindled alongside the patrol’s numbers, until they became an unreliable, rag tag mercenary band.

As before I looked in my figure case to get inspiration, and stumbled across an old set of 8 metal Warhammer 40,000 Imperial Guard figures (old enough that you’ll have to excuse my amateur paintjob). I went for a Captain (named Captain Gunfire…certainly a nickname of an insane man) with a fancy jacket and hat, a second-in-command looking fellow with his hand up (loyal, and slightly slow Colonel Higgins), a basic rank and file trooper (uncertain but dedicated Private Jacbos), and a special weapons soldier (The Phoenix, equally insane as Captain Gunfire). Definitely less of a “traditional” wild west gang, but they still have their place as Neotechnoist flavor.
As I mentioned I wanted to try out a Thickskull dinosaur, which I aptly named “The Ram”. The idea was he was harnessed and trained during the patrols long wanderings in the jungle.

For strategy I thought a split between range and close combat would be good. Captain Gunfire and Colonel Higgins would ride The Ram into combat, with Private Jacobs as midline support, and The Phoenix off on his own or back a bit to lay down suppressive fire.

Creating Captain Gunfire
As before I started with my Leader. I didn’t feel that I needed to sink a ton of IP into him, so I settled for -2 MMC (total of 25 IP) to ensure if he did reach combat, he’d have no problem hitting. I also decided to do a global +1 AR for each member, and a further +1 HP for the Captain for that little bit extra survivability. I figured that even if he started as a Neotechnoist, his Allegiance was now Bandit. In fact everyone but The Phoenix would be a Bandit. So his IP purchases were:

10 for -1 MMC
15 for -1 MMC
10 for +1 AR
6 for +1 HP

His finished statistics were: MV 4, AR 1, RMC 8, MMC 6, BRV 7, HP 11

Creating Colonel Higgins
Time for the second in command. He was basically a mini version of the Captain, so I mirrored the Allegiance and most of the improvements:

10 for -1 MMC
15 for -1 MMC
10 for +1 AR
6 for +1 HP

Like I said, basically a slightly weaker (because he lacks the Leader bonuses) version of Captain Gunfire. His finished statistics were: MV 4, AR 1, RMC 8, MMC 6, BRV 6, HP 9.

Creating Private Jacobs
My basic cadet, but someone who had also succumbed to the Bandit Allegiance. I didn’t want to spend a ton of points on him, so I settled for the global +1 AR and a -1 RMC so he’d at least be able to support kind of well. His improvements:

10 for -1 RMC
10 for +1 AR

Poor little Private, only 20 IP spent on him. Anyways his finished statistics were: MV 4, AR 1, RMC 7, MMC 8, BRV 6, HP 8.

Creating The Phoenix
You know all those points I saved on Private Jacobs? Time to blow the rest of them on The Phoenix. I visualized him as a quiet sharpshooter, which is a pretty standard stereotype in movies and books. Anyways since he wouldn’t need to be very mobile, I actually gave him Voluntary Weakness for Movement, so he dropped from 4 to 3 for a +5 IP benefit. I decided he’d stay semi-loyal to the Neotechnoist creed, so he went for that Allegiance instead of flat out Bandit. The IP purchases I made were:

+5 for -1 MV
15 for -1 RMC
10 for +1 AR
6 for +1 HP

A starting RMC of 6 certainly is nice, even if he has the classically weak HP of a Neotechnoist (7 total).

All said and done these choices left me with 2 IP leftover. Hooray?

Creating The Ram
Since dinosaurs can’t be improved using Improvement Points (their HP can be increased by paying though!) he had a standard set of Thickskull statistics:

MV 7, AR 1, RMC -, MMC 7, BRV 7, HP 18.

I certainly am digging that higher Bravery and big HP pool.

To +AR or Not
I’ve been facing the interesting conundrum with my recent Posse creation tests on whether to give members the +1 AR for 10 IP or not. I find money is normally scarce enough that $50 for basic Cloth armor isn’t always an option, whereas IP tend to be fairly abundant (once the obvious choices are out of the way).
Forcing the enemy to take a +1 penalty to hit sure is nice, and turns an average 8+ into a painful sounding 9+. All you need is to move and be at long range and suddenly they’re hitting on 11+. I mean, unless they have a sick 5 RMC like The Phoenix, haha.

Allocating Traits
Since this Posse was starting at Level 2 I got to allocate 4 Traits (3 base plus 1 for the Level Up). There was one obvious choice, and that was “Bonus RMC I” for The Phoenix, which put his RMC at 5! Definitely a nice alternative to paying the increasing IP costs to move from 6 to 5. Anyways after that obvious choice I was kind of stuck on what to do. I went for another Passive, this time “Bonus MV I” for The Ram, since it put him at 8 MV instead of 7. What’s nice about this is a Run action nets him an additional 4″ instead of 3″ (due to rounding), so a 10″ (7+3) run turns into a 12″ (8+4) run, which is a big difference. Anyways I wanted to have someone hit a bit harder, so I went for Strain Weapon with Colonel Higgins. It’s a handy Active Trait that gives him +2 damage, and is versatile enough to be either a ranged or melee weapon. Finally I went for “Go For the Eyes” (blatant Baldur’s Gate 1/2 reference) for The Phoenix, since it allows him to Critical on 10+.

Throwing Some Dough Around
Time to spend some Neodollars! Actually I didn’t have a huge pool of cash available after recruitment costs. My 3 Members totaled $600, and the Thickskull was a further $500, so already I was down to $400. I can’t complain too hard at that though.
Similarly to the creation process, I opted to buy from the top down. It seemed like the clear military patrol chain of command choice after all. The Captain and Colonel got basic 80KW Six-Shooters (still the best $10 money can buy). I gave the Captain a Shudder Lance, it does a respectable 3A-5D, but also has Knockback! The Colonel got a Long Sword (mainly to match his figure, which had a sheathed blade), which was slightly worse at 2A-4D.
Private Jacobs got a Light Pistol which I find is a nice, cheap alternative to a rifle. The high maximum long range (16-17″) certainly helps if I get in a duel with a six-shooter armed foe.
The Phoenix was next, and I sprung for a Light Repeater (I love the name so much). It’s the same stats as a Low Burst Rifle, and similar to the projectile based Assault Rifle (except it barely ever has to reload – 4×1!). Otherwise the stats are what you’d expect, 6A-1D, so a big pool of dice available (which should help get his “Go For the Eyes” Trait going).
I had $40 left over, so I sprung for Small IRPs for everyone. These handy medical packs can heal 1D6hp instantly, so basically a better Whiskey Drop.

The Lost Platoon is Ready
Another Posse all done and ready to dive into the sweltering jungle. Let’s hope I can pit them against a leveled up version of the Drylands United Cattle Company in a playtest soon…

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Document formatting and fonts

June 9, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Progress and Document Changes
Although I wanted to get to another playtest yesterday, I played D&D and then formatted the rules document instead. So still some progress, just not on the core rules themselves. The good news is the docs are looking a lot more professional.
First of all I put the new logo on the title page, added a table of contents and table of figures, added page number footers, and merged the Items.odt and Sheet-Posse-Roster.odt into the main rules document (including proper landscape formatting and margins). So yeah, going forward I’ll be distributing a single document called “Dinosaur-Cowboys-Rulebook”.

Fonts
In addition to all that tedious (but necessary) formatting work, I had some fun and added neater fonts for the main title and overall headers. The two fonts used are:

Future West (used for title)
Original: dafont.com
Mirror: Mediafire

West Test (used for headers)
Original: dafont.com
Mirror: Mediafire

So if you plan to view the non-PDF version of future rules, you’ll want to download those fonts, otherwise the title page and headers won’t look nearly as impressive. PDFs of course will have the proper fonts, and I’ll mainly be stressing that format for distribution going forward. I mean you really only need the ODT if you plan on making changes.

Anyways my “Document TODO” from yesterday is now down to a single item: a Quick Reference sheet. I realized there might not even be enough to put on it, since besides the Modifiers table you don’t need much else. We’ll see going forward though.

Next Up
Well this weekend is shot for Dinosaur Cowboys development, since I’m hitting the ol’ dusty trail for most of it. I hope to get another playtest in next week to tweak the Initiative rules.

I might also try a Posse Roster using the new fonts, to add that little bit of additional flavor. I care about readability over style though, so the smaller size might not work well for the fonts. We’ll see though.
Speaking of the Posse Roster I’ll probably make a version that is an editable PDF (or “PDF form”). I also had a wild, feverish idea of making a “Posse Builder” web application where you can spend IP and buy equipment and have the result be a nicely populated Posse Roster (since I could use the Java library iText to fill in my planned PDF form version.
Finalizing the rules comes first, but yeah, could be something fun to think about in the future.

Also as I hoped the battle report helped generate interest in the game, as did getting the rules posted on freewargamesrules.co.uk (thanks!). Hopefully I can use the forums to discuss different ideas, instead of having to blunder through and decide on the best way myself.

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Logo completed

June 8, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Well, that’s one TODO item done! I like the repeating pistol silhouette theme (since it’s used on this website and also on the Posse sheet), and the dinosaur skull looks classy:
Logo

I also managed to get the Items.odt and Sheet-Posse-Roster.odt into the main Rules.odt, which is now called Dinosaur-Cowboys-Rules.odt and has everything. I think a Quick Reference sheet would be a good last or second to last page.

Oh and I added an alternative name for the Low/High Burst Rifle as a Light/Heavy Repeater, because Repeater is such an old fashion way of saying “fast firing gun”.

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Outstanding Items

June 8, 2011 — Dinosaur Cowboy

Alrighty let’s pile all my TODOs together and see if I can’t get a few issues resolved and v0.8 done. I won’t have a ton of time until next week to get to these, but it’s good to keep a list somewhere.

Playtest TODO

  • * Test removing Movement to-hit modifier, or making it only apply to someone who Ran. Downside is less motivation for a full shooty Posse to be mobile.
  • * Test simultaneous attacks, so that being taken out of action doesn’t actually remove the figure until the end of the turn.
  • * Test different activation methods. Most likely is rolling for Initiative before every Activation, but still accounting for uneven numbers. For example if it’s 2vs1 and the larger team wins Initiative, they would Activate 2 figures. Simultaneous fire would help keep this easy because the numbers per side wouldn’t change in the middle of a turn. Instead of a rolloff could flip a coin, draw a card, or odds/even a single dice.
  • Test making Leadership grant 1 extra Activation, even perhaps double Activation of a single figure?

Document TODO

  • * Make a snazzy logo for the title page (t-rex skull with crossed pistols below it?).
  • * Add a table of contents (tedious but pretty much necessary).
  • * Add page number footers.
  • * Create a quick rules reference sheet filled with modifiers, available actions, etc.
  • Create a quick character reference sheet filled with statistic IP costs, steps, etc.
  • * Potentially combine the Rules.odt, Items.odt, and Sheet-Posse-Roster.odt into a single document (mixing portrait and landscape print styles might be a hassle?).
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