I think the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system could do Old West justice. A game set in the American (south-)west, somewhere between the 1860's and 1880's. The core would not have to be changed much, only some minor tweaking would be needed and more things could be added to enchance the gameplay. The game would be isometric and combat would be turn-based, of course, to provide a similar pleasure we experienced while playing Fallout.
Attributes
You can't carry as much shit. 150 kg / 300 lbs for one guy? No way, this ain't going to happen. The cap for a guy with 10 strength should be around half of that => 70 kg / 140 lbs, considering that he needs to be capable of running, dodging, crouching etc. And weak characters should get used to the fact, that if they don't want to end up winded half-way through their 50 yard walk, they better be carrying only their clothes and guns, nothing more.Most attributes should be balanced in many ways to fit the setting and the renewed skills system better.
Skills
Simplify the system a bit. Maybe like this:
- Small Guns => Pistols. This skill would cover all kinds of short/small weapons, ranging from revolvers to sawed-off shotguns.
Big Guns => Rifles. This skill would cover all kinds of long/large weapons, basically meaning full-sized rifles and shotguns.
Unarmed and Melee Weapons => HtH combat. To make fighting with your fists and knives worth the skill point investment.
Throwing => Like it used to be.
Lockpick and Traps => Tinkering. This basically means one skill that's used to disarming traps and lockpicking doors alike.
Steal => Like it used to be.
Outdoorsman => Like it used to be.
Repair and Science => Repairman-skill. Again, one skill that's used for both kinds of tasks. Fixing your gun, reinforcing your boots, repairing a well etc.
Speech => Like it used to be.
Gambling => Like it used to be.
Horses
Horses can carry about 1/6 of their own weight as extra load. So that means a 700 kg (~1400 lbs) horse could carry an 80 kg (~160 lbs) man and about 36 kg (~72 lbs) of his equipment. Working horses can carry relatively more, but they are slow when on the other hand riding horses can carry less, but they're fast. Mules would be poor on both sectors, but they're cheap. You could buy an extra mule to carry your shit around, for example. omg omg dungeon siege omg lollorz!!1 It would be important to have enough horses to carry around your merchandise if you plan to earn a living as a travelling merchant.
Clothing/Armor and Hide-feature
Because there wasn't much armor worn in the old west, your clothing should be of some more use than just good looks. Depending on the type of coat you wear, it should have different kinds of uses. A long coat (trenchcoat) can hide even rifles and shotguns. So you can walk to a Saloon with your loaded 2-barrelled without anyone suspecting anything before you draw your weapon. Generally it wouldn't be acceptable to carry big weapons into public places (not even revolvers to some). A normal jacket could only cover revolvers, sawed-off shotguns, dynamite, knives and things like that.
But a long coat is more uncomfortable to wear and cumbersome. You get a negative modifier to your agility from wearing a long coat, even though it may look cool and help hide your stuff. You could also add armor plates (read: steel plates) to your coats. A long coat would therefore cover both your torso and your legs while a normal jacket could with plating would only cover your torso. The material of the coat would also matter. A cloth coat weights less but means less protection while a leather coat weights more but also means more protection. You could add armor plates to both.
Clothing could be named "A(n) [armored or not] [material] [type]", ie. "An armored leather jacket" or "A cotton coat". Boots, gloves and hats would also have functions. Hats provide protection from the sun glare and therefore ease your aim, gloves can be reinforced and therefore can bring you a HtH-combat bonus. Boots are not compulsory, but you better have some, unless you want to be a victim of random damage (shattered glass, rusty nails, sharp rocks) caused by your lack of footware. Boots can also be enchanced with steel-tipped toes, that provide you another HtH-bonus. But all reinforcements also weight a lot, so you have to be strong enough to carry around all that iron.
Boots could come in different sizes (S, M and L for example), which means you (and your party members) could only wear boots of their own size. You might be bare-foot, but can't take the boots of a first person that comes buy, becomes you're size M and those boots are size S. I'm not sure if this is a reasonable feature in a game, but it has some potential.
Weaponry and Ammunition
CALIBERS
- .22
- .32
- .44
- .45
- .16 gauge
- .12 gauge
All calibers should have some kinds of JHP and AP / buckshot and slug variants.
FIREARMS
- Normal revolvers in .22 (7 rnd chamber), .32 (6 rnds), .44 (6 rnds) and .45 (6 rnds)
- Pocket revolvers (can be hidden without jackets/coats) in the same calibers as above, less range / damage than normal revolvers
- Deringer pocket pistol, two shots of .22, easily concealed
- Lever-action rifles in .22 (21 rnd mag), .32 (15 rnd mag), .44 and .45 (both 10 rnd mags), scoped versions also
- Revolver-action rifles in .44 and .45 (6 rnds), scoped versions also
- Two- and one barrelled shotguns in both .16 and .12
- Two barrelled sawed-off shotguns in the same as above, less range, conceavable and faster than long barrelled shotguns
- Lever-action shotguns in .16 (6 rnd mag) and .12 gauge (5 rnd mag)
OTHER
- Dynamite, throwable and plantable
- Knives, machetes, throwing knives
- Axes, tomahawks
- Spears, clubs
Various things I had in mind
Instead of the whole Radiation Poisoning deal, you could have a hidden water addiction factor and a showing "thirst tolerance" meter (stolen from the FOT: modding forums). Every character needs to get a sip of water every day. One canteen could last for, say, two weeks and it would have (unrealistically) low weight, so carrying around water wouldn't become such a pain in the ass. You could refill your canteens at wells pretty much anywhere. A shot of whiskey or any other liquor would serve as thirst killers as well, but alcohol (as we know) has some side effects. Although, maybe if your character chooses the trait "Drunken Fighter" in the character creation scene, he could get more easily addicted to alcohol but he earns some HtH-combat bonuses from getting drunk?
There could also be some scripted scenarios where you get drunk with your friends or associates. Depending on your intelligence and charisma you can avoid getting wasted, but if you're unlucky, you end up in a fight after you tumble out of the Saloon straight into enemy's hands, dead drunk. That could be interesting.
You could be able to rob banks, become a sheriff of some town, drive cattle, protect caravans / stage-coaches, interfere with military's and native Americans' affairs, kill the governor, burn down a town, catch wanted outlaws or join them, buy a farm with a steward (if you get filthy rich, like the castle in Baldur's Gate 2) and perhaps get married / hassle in a whorehouse.
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Any thoughts?
