The first big piece of news is that the Hubris Kickstarter will be going live soon! I’m very excited about this! I look forward to finally seeing this book in print with tons of kickass art by some really talented people!
Anyways- that full announcement will be coming soon! On to new projects.
A few weeks ago I was watching the newest season of Hell on Wheels to hit Netflix Streaming (season 4) and was really enjoying it (especially the first half- the second half kinda goes heavy-handed in how they resolved many of the characters story arcs).
Anyways every time I watch a season of Hell on Wheels, I get the urge to run a western (or weird west) game. Thus far it hasn’t happened. However I decided that I wanted to write my own. The mechanics are inspired by White Star, Swords and Wizardry, Beyond the Wall, along with some stuff inspired by games like Savage Worlds, etc.
I figured I’d post a couple of the classes over the next few days. I’ll be posting the Gunslinger, the Scout, the Cult of Personality, the Pugilist, and the Doctor.
Full class list when the book will be released will also have: Rifleman, Maverick, and Monk
High Noon will also have a chapter called “But I Want it Weird” with rules on Weird West. This chapter will have Knight of Faith, Sorcerer, Shaman, Weird Scientist, and The Showman. I’ll post Knight of Faith and Sorcerer as well!
The book is bout 50-75% done for first draft already- so I’m hoping it’ll release in the next couple of months!
Posted thus far: Gunslinger and Scout
Enjoy the Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality
Whether a preacher, opportunistic businessman, a tribal leader, or a snake oil salesman, cult of personalitys survive on their wits, ability to read people, and then manipulate them into doing what they want. Some cult of personalitys use their gift for oration to achieve power, using their influence to get what they want and flout it. Others generally care about those that are devoted to them and use their influence to help those in need.
The cult of personality is educated, personable (at least on the surface), and charismatic. They know how quickly people’s opinions can turn from happy to murderous and are cautious to avoid becoming the target of a lynching mob.
Weapons Restrictions: Cult of personalitys is proficient with clubs, pistols, knives, swords, and staves.
Loyal Retainer: Even at level 1 the cult of personality has a loyal retainer that follows them around like a lapdog. This could be a sibling (or other family member), someone enamored with the PC, a body guard, etc. This retainer is a NPC of a trained skill level. The player can choose what type of vocation, etc. Should this character die, a new person will be attracted to the charisma of the cult of personality and glom onto the PC within one month.
Inspire: The cult of personality uses their silver-tongue to inspire those around them, spurning them to greater heights. This speech takes one turn to accomplish. At the end of it all allies receive +1 to attack, skill checks, or saving throws for 1 turn. The cult of personality can do this once per day at 1st level, twice per day at 5th level, and three times per day at 10th level.
Terrify: Whether it is using the word of god, war-chanting, or veiled threats, a cult of personality can cause unsettling fear in their enemies through the power of their words. All enemies within 60’ of a cult of personality must succeed a saving throw or suffer -1d6 to their attack roll, skill checks, or saving throws. This effect lasts as long as the cult of personality keeps speaking (they still receive a movement action), and for 1 round after. A target that successfully makes their saving throw cannot be affected by this for 24 hours.
Silver-tongued: When a cult of personality is making a charisma-based roll, they roll 2d20 and take the higher of the two.
Well-Read: Once per session a cult of personality is able to recall some historical fact, rumor, or remember something from a book they once read. They can automatically succeed on an information or history fact or can make a skill roll even if they do not possess the skill.
Saving Throws: Cult of personality’s receive +2 to resist attempts to influence them or cloud their minds.
Literate: A cult of personality can read and write their native language.
Congregation (4th): The cult of personality gains a following of loyal (or devout) individuals. At 4th level this starts as a small congregation of 5 people, but each level increases by 1d6 people.
Mayor (9th): The cult of personality has become so influential that they become the leader (officially or unofficially) of a town or city. The cult of personality will need help to run the town and there must be finances and trade coming in or the town will go bust.
Skills: A cult of personality begins play with three skills.
Starting Currency: 3d6 x 10 dollars.
| Cult of Personality Level Progression | |||
| Level | HP | BAB | ST |
| 1 | HP Option | +0 | 15 |
| 2 | +1 HP | +0 | 14 |
| 3 | +1 HP | +1 | 13 |
| 4 | +1 HP | +1 | 12 |
| 5 | +1 HP | +2 | 11 |
| 6 | +1 HP | +2 | 10 |
| 7 | +1 HP | +3 | 9 |
| 8 | +1 HP | +3 | 8 |
| 9 | +1 HP | +4 | 7 |
| 10 | +1 HP | +4 | 6 |
Other Information
Hit Point Option 1- The Gritty: At level 1 each characters starts with 10 HP + their Constitution Modifier + 1 HP. Each additional level the characters only gain 1 HP (+ their Constitution Modifer). A couple blows from a club or a shotgun blast (even at higher levels) will put a character out of action.
Hit Point Option 2- The Not as Gritty: At level 1 each character starts with their Constitution score + their Constitution Modifier +1d6 HP (or +2d4 for fighting-type classes- see below) +1 HP. Each additional level the characters only gain 1 HP (+ their Constitution Modifer). This keeps combat deadly, but the heroes are more robust.
Gunslinger: +2d4 HP
Scout: +1d6 HP
Cult of Personality: +1d6 HP
Pugilist: +2d6 HP
Doctor: +1d6
Hit Point Option 3- The Traditional: This follows the more traditional route that many RPGers are accustomed to. At level 1 each character starts with 6 HP + their Constitution Modifier. Each additional level the character rolls 1d6 for their HP and adds their Constitution Modifier.
Skills: Each class, unless stated in their description starts with two skills of their choice. Rather than creating an extensive list of skills, let the player come up with their own skills. These can be things like riding, survival, security, blacksmithing, history, trade, persuasion, intimidation, etc.
By-and-large a player character is able to attempt anything (however a GM is free to decided that certain things do require a skill, especially highly specialized things like hacking locks, etc.). To do this the GM decides which attribute is appropriate and the player rolls a d20 and must roll equal to or under their attribute. If they roll over, the attempt fails. When a player character has a skill, they receive a +2 bonus. A player may take a skill twice, giving them a +4 bonus.
Example: Big Eye James is attempting to pull a card from out of his cuff in a game of poker. The GM asks if he has an appropriate skill. James has sleight of hand, which the GM feels is more than appropriate for this situation. Big Eye James has a Dexterity of 13- adding +2 to that for the Sleight of Hand skill. Big Eye James rolls a 11 on his d20, thus succeeding on placing a card in his hand.
