WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE
2011 Edward H. Green III

A role-playing game inspired by the Boot Hill RPG, Law of the Gun and watching a zillion Westerns on TV.

Making Checks
Whenever theres a chance of consequential failure the GM will call for an ability check. Simply roll 1d20 equal to or less than the appropriate ability score to succeed. If the check is particularly difficult the GM may apply a penalty to your ability score for that check; conversely, if the task is easier the GM may give you a bonus for the check.

Creating a Character
Five abilities: Fighting, Shooting, Throwing, Speed, and Grit. Fighting is used for face-punching and stabbing. Shooting is used for firing guns and bows. Throwing is used for chucking dynamite or tossing tomahawks. Speed is how fast you do all this. Grit is your courage and determination. Roll 3d6 for each ability. If you want the PCs to be a little more powerful, roll 4d6 and use the best three dice. Hit Points = Fighting + Grit Next, pick your current (or former) profession, or roll 1d20 to randomly determine a profession: D20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Random Profession Chart Profession D20 Profession Army Scout 11 Blacksmith Buffalo Hunter 12 Gunsmith Prospector 13 Doctor Gambler 14 Snake Oil Salesman Lawman 15 Preacher Outlaw 16 Professional Gunfighter Pinkerton Detective 17 Cavalry Trooper Bounty Hunter 18 Rancher Cowboy 19 Mortician Railroad Man 20 Veterinarian

Animal 1d6 Melee Knife 1d6 Melee Tomahawk 2D Melee/6 Spear 1d6+1 Melee/6 Bullwhip 1d3 Melee Bow 1d6+1 12 Derringer* 1d6 2 Revolver 2d6 6 LA Carbine 2d6 12 Coach Gun 4d6 6 LA Rifle 3d6 18 Hvy Rifle 4d6 24 LA Shotgun 4d6 6 Gatling Gun 3d6 24 Dynamite 4d6 6 L = Light (non-exploding) damage LA = Lever action * = Derringers are easily concealed Pistol (and Carbine) Ammo (50) = $2 Rifle Ammo (50) = $5 Shotgun Shells (50) = $5 Arrows (20) = $1

1 2 6 10 2 7 1 5 50 1

N/A $5 $15 $10 $20 $10 $10 $25 $50 $50 $75 $100 $100 $1000 $10

Rifle Scope = $50 Binoculars/Telescope = $50 Specialized Tools = $100 Doctors Bag = $100 Horse = $75 Mule = $50 Rations and Feed = $1 per day Cowboy Accoutrements (holster, bandoleer, duster, saddle, 10 gallon hat, etc.) = $10 each

Combat
Combat is fought in a series of rounds, each lasting only a few seconds. Use 1-inch hexes and figures to track positioning and movement (you can use grids too, with one or two minor adjustments). First Shot Characters act in order of their Speed scores, from highest to lowest. If Speed scores are equal, use Grit to break ties. Each combat round a character can move and attack, or attack and move. Some other action may be performed in place of an attack, such as helping a friend, reloading a weapon, retrieving an item, moving again, etc. Surprise If surprise is a possibility, make a Grit check to avoid losing your first action for the combat round. Moving Characters have a base movement of 6 hexes or grids (henceforth called spaces) per combat round; burdened characters move 3 spaces per combat round. Characters can move through friendly occupied spaces but not through enemy occupied spaces. Movement through difficult terrain or over obstacles is halved.

It is assumed that a character can competently perform any task related to his or her profession. A few professions have specific mechanical benefits as well. Then roll 3d6x10 for the number of dollars available to spend on starting equipment (see below). Finally, give your character a name and a short description.

Outfitting
Weapon Fisticuffs Damage 1d3 Opt. Rng Melee Shots Cost Free

Your movement ends as soon as you move adjacent to an enemy occupied space.

Movement must end in an empty space. Attacking To make an attack roll, simply roll 1d20 equal to or less than the appropriate stat score. Use Fighting for melee attacks, Shooting for guns and bows, and Throwing for thrown weapons (like dynamite). A roll of 1 always hits; a roll of 20 always misses. Range Guns, bows and thrown weapons have an optimal range. Attacks made against targets within this optimal range suffer no penalty. Each space beyond optimal range incurs a cumulative -1 penalty on the attack check. Most thrown weapons have an optimal range of 6. Scopes Scopes may be mounted on rifles and carbines. By spending a combat round aiming through the scope you can double the weapons optimal range for a single attack. Cover If a target is behind some cover, make a Cover check to see if the shot hit the cover instead of the target. Soft cover (such as wood) has a Cover Rating of 5; hard cover (such as stone or water trough) has a Cover Rating of 10. Cover only works against ranged attacks. Rate of Fire These rules assume you are taking your time and picking your shots carefully, so you can make one attack per round. You can rapid fire for two shots per round (provided you have enough ammo in your gun), but incur a -4 penalty on each attack roll. Bows and thrown weapons have a maximum rate of fire of 1 attack per round. Fanning Fire Revolvers can be fired very rapidly; this is called fanning. Fanning requires two hands. When fanning, you can fire every shot in the revolver in a single attack. Make a separate attack roll for each shot with a -6 penalty. Damage When an attack hits, roll damage. If a 6 is rolled on any damage dice, re-roll those dice and add the result to the total damage. If you get more sixes, keep rolling. This is called an exploding dice roll. Death Characters reduced to 0 or fewer hit points are dead. Healing Lost hit points are healed at the rate of 1 HP per day of complete rest. If treated by a doctor, the healing rate is doubled. Coach Gun/Shotgun Each space between you and your target gives you a +1 bonus on the shooting check. However, each space of distance also subtracts 1 from each damage die rolled. For example, two spaces between you and Nevada Bob gives you a +2 bonus on the shooting roll, but subtracts 2 points from each of the 4 damage dice. With a coach gun, you can fire both barrels simultaneously at the same target. Make a single attack roll, doubling the damage dice and attack bonus. You still subtract damage for distance from every damage die rolled. Gatling Gun Gatling guns fire a ridiculous number of shots per combat round (at least by Old West standards). They affect a cone shaped area, say 30 to 60 feet across. Anyone caught in the cone of fire has to make a Speed check to avoid

being hit (and a Cover check, if applicable). If hit, roll 1d6 to determine the number of bullets that hit that target, and then roll damage for each bullet. Gatling guns cannot be carried by hand, and use up an entire box of rifle ammo with each attack. If you have a second person to reload the weapon you can keep firing as long as your ammo holds out. Dynamite Dynamite has a blast radius of 20 feet. Everyone caught in the radius takes 4d6 points of damage, but is allowed a Speed check for damage. If the dynamite throw misses, roll 1d6 to determine which direction the stick deviates (use 1d8 if playing with grids instead of hexes) and another 1d3 to determine how many spaces it is off. Tomahawk Axe A tomahawk axe rolls 2 six-sided dice for damage, but instead of adding them together, use the higher result. A tomahawk may also be thrown. Dual Wielding Characters can opt to wield a light weapon in each hand (such as two knives or two pistols, or a pistol and a lever-action carbine). Make an attack roll for each weapon, incurring a -4 penalty for each. If you also rapid fire, the total penalty is -8 for each attack. Trick Shots Making any kind of trick or called shot incurs a 6 penalty to the attack roll. Pistol Whipping Pistol whipping some poor fool is a Fighting check with a -4 penalty, inflicting 1d6 damage; if you roll a 6 on the damage, they need to make a Grit check to avoid being knocked unconscious. Barroom Brawling In a barroom brawl, attacks inflict 1d6 points of non-lethal damage. If hit points are reduced to 0 or less, a character is just KOd, not killed. However, if a 6 is rolled on the damage die, the subject of your tender affections has to make a Grit check to avoid being knocked out immediately. Note, this rule only applies to friendly bar fights, not to life-and-death combats.

Other Stuff
Falling Every 10 feet fallen inflicts a cumulative 1d6 points damage. Falling inflicts non-exploding damage; however, every 6 rolled on a damage die means you broke one of your bones. Riding Stunts The game assumes that all PCs are competent riders. If you want to urge your faithful steed to do something risky, like jumping over a railing, youll need to make a successful Grit check. Quick Mounting Normally getting into the saddle of a horse takes a full combat round. If you want to spring into the saddle, or drop onto it from above, make a successful Speed check. If you drop down and miss, youll probably take falling damage. Lassoing Using a lasso is a Throwing check. If youre trying to lasso a person, that person gets a Speed check to avoid your attempt. Lassoed people cannot escape on their own.

Whips Whips may be used to knock something out of a persons hand, or to latch onto a person or object. Simply make a successful Fighting check. If youre trying to latch onto a person, they get a Speed check to avoid your attempt. Dragging Horse dragging a lassoed person through fields of cactus and rock is a time-honored tradition of the Old West. However, it hurts. Each round of being dragged inflicts 1d6 points of damage. Gambling Roll 2d6 for each participant. Gamblers add +1 to their roll. Anyone can attempt to cheat by making a successful Speed check to avoid being caught; however, Gamblers always spot non-Gamblers at cheating. Successful cheating adds +1 to your roll; unsuccessful cheating will likely result in a gunfight. Highest total wins the pot; Gamblers always win ties, followed by PCs. If the game is still tied, roll off to determine who wins. Tracking When you need to track someone down, compare their relative Tracking scores to determine success: City Slickers = Tracking 0 Cowboys/Pinkertons = Tracking 1 Indians/Lawman/Bounty Hunter = Tracking 2 Hunter/Scout = Tracking 3 PC w/ Indian Blood = +1 Tracking (i.e. a player-character Indian Scout would have Tracking 4; an Indian Bounty Hunter would have Tracking 3) Compare the Tracking score of the hunter vs. the Tracking score of the prey; if the hunters total is greater, tracking is successful. If the Tracking scores are equal, then the odds of successfully tracking are 50/50 (resolved however the GM likes). The greater the discrepancy the more details are learned (i.e. number present, how old the trail is, if they have a lame horse, how much spare change theyre carrying, etc.) and the faster the pursuer catches up to the pursued.

28 36 45 55 66 Etc.

+1 +1 +1 +1 +1 Etc.

You may choose to increase hit points directly, but its usually better to improve Fighting or Grit instead, unless both are already at 19. Optionally, instead of improving an ability score, you can pick a second profession.

Targets
Name Fight Shoot Townsfolk 7 7 Hardened 9 9 Professional 11 11 Notorious 13 13 Legendary 15 15 Mythic 17 17 Mean Dog 8 0 Coyote 9 0 Bear* 12 0 Wildcat 10 0 * = Bears inflict 2d6 damage Throw 7 9 11 13 15 17 0 0 0 0 Spd 7 9 11 13 15 17 12 13 12 14 Grit 7 9 11 13 15 17 8 10 18 12 HP 14 18 22 26 35 40 16 19 30 22

Optional Rules
Cashing Out If you play a lot its likely the PCs will accumulate large sums of cash and have little to spend it on. As an optional rule, you can let them spend some of that money to purchase experience points. A ratio of $1,000 for 1 XP is a good starting point. Spaghetti Points If you want your games to have a more cinematic feel, give your players a certain number of Spaghetti points (generally 1 to 5). 1 Spaghetti point may be spent to do any of the following: Automatically pass one check Add +1d6 exploding damage to any attack (may spend multiple points on the same attack) Reduce damage from a single attack to just a 1 point scratch (no Shock roll required) Double your movement rate for one combat round Anything else you can think of, subject to GM approval Spaghetti points refresh at the start of every play session, or whenever the GM decides they do. Unspent points may not be saved for later use. Wanted Dead or Alive RPG 2011 Edward H. Green III

Advancement
You earn 1 experience point (XP) for each combat you survive. A combat has to be an encounter where theres a risk the character could be injured or killed (i.e. killing sleeping enemies doesnt count, nor do barroom brawls). Earning XP allows you to improve ability scores, up to a maximum score of 19. Compare total accumulated XP to the following chart to see when an ability score bonus is earned: Total XP 1 3 6 10 15 21 Ability Score Bonus +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1