Weird West: Characters and magic in Outgunned Adventures

 Following up on my article about using Broken Compass for the Weird West setting, here’s one on using its sibling game engine, Outgunned Adventures for the same thing. I only currently have the core OA book, and its supplements so far focus on modern action genres, so we have less to adapt than with BC. Out of the core book, all of the Roles and Tropes are appropriate and only need some thematic tweaking to make work in an alternative wild west world; The ‘Ace’ being more about horses, carriages, and trains than automobiles and airplanes. This may impact some Talents and they should be adjusted accordingly.

Gifted characters

While baseline characters in Outgunned Adventures are a combination of a Role and a Trope,  heroes in the Weird West get a third choice for their Gift. This identifies the nature of their magical power plus Feats, Attributes and Skills to support the choice. Every type of magic is empowered by an Feat relevant to that type of magic: “Elementalism” for an Elementalist, “Enchantment” for an Enchanter, “Shifter” for a polymorph, etc. With this initial acquisition, the character gains 3 Mana points, which are used and regained as outlined in the “What If” supplement for Broken Compass. 

If you don’t have “What If” here’s the skinny on Mana: Treat your Mana pool as a Magazine with 3 starting uses. An additional Feat called “Mana” can be acquired multiple times, each of which adds one more Mana point to the character’s pool. Adrenaline and Grit can be spent instead of Mana on a 1:1 cost. 

Small common uses of magic don’t cost Mana but big impressive and flashy uses should. To borrow a term from Burning Wheel: "Color" scenes uses of magic that don't invoke dice rolls don't cost Mana. If you're using magic to get a mechanics benefit, you're spending Mana. Some uses of magic should last an entire scene: a shifter who turns into a bear for an entire fight should only spend one Mana for that entire fight. If they shift into a different form for a different benefit during the scene, that requires another Mana expenditure. 

You recover all your spent Mana when you get a Time-Out (pg 184 of OA); this takes one of your Time-Out actions. Items like “Mana Potions” restore 1 Mana each immediately and can be consumed/used during an action scene with a Basic action.

Your choice of magical Gift also grants +1 FOCUS Attribute point and one Skill point based on the type of GIFT you have.

Magical GIFT: Talent:        +1 Skill:

ELEMENTALIST Elementalism    Force

SHAMAN Shamanism       Leadership

SHIFTER Shifting        Survival

STORMTECH Electrotech Fix

DIVINE FAITH Faith Heal

PLANESWITCH Witchcraft      Survival

ALCHEMIST Alchemy         Know

ENCHANTER Enchantment Stunt

HEXORCIST Exorcist Awareness

ARCANIST Arcane Know

“I want to cast Fireball!”

So how do heroes use their magic? Characters use their magic to give them an opportunity for action that they wouldn’t otherwise have without their magic; the difficulty of the challenge depends on how applicable their approach is to the situation. Skill rolls are still made with a dice pool of their relevant Attribute and Skill. Throwing a fireball? Roll NERVES + Shoot. Turning into a Bear will give you a bonus to your BRAWN + Fight dice pools. 

Weird West: Characters and magic in Broken Compass

Having already outlined the world and some sample characters for my Weird West setting, it’s time to detail some mechanics and character creation. The following assumes you already have knowledge or experience with Broken Compass which has a lightweight game engine and a focus on the narrative and speed and does not have a lot of ‘crunchy’ details. This isn’t a game with ten circles of spells, casting times and strict area-of-effect templates. ‘Magic’ is a general ability or calling; a method special to that character to solve problems that is different than other characters might have. 

I’ll write a separate article about integrating with Two Mice’s other RPG game which is a fraternal twin to Broken Compass, named Outgunned Adventures. It has the same core mechanics as Broken Compass, but different attributes and skills and slightly different terms for character creation.

Gifted characters

The magic of this module draws a lot from the “What If” supplement, specifically the Wild West and Fantasy Quest chapters as they are the most relevant to the Weird West setting. From the core rulebook the following TAGs are appropriate character choices: Action Hero, Cheater, Explorer, Gunslinger, Hunter, Medic “Healer”, Playboy/Femme Fatale, Professor, Rebel, Soldier, Spy, Techie, and Thief. From the “What If” Wild West chapter: all the character TAGS are appropriate to Weird West.

While baseline characters in Broken Compass are a combination of two Tags (like Action Hero, Professor, Thief), the heroes in Weird West choose a third special Tag for their Gift. This identifies the nature of their magical power plus an Expertise, Field and Skills to support the choice. Every type of magic is empowered by an Expertise relevant to that type of magic: “Elementalism” for an Elementalist, “Enchantment” for an Enchanter, “Shifter” for a polymorph, etc. With this initial acquisition, the character gains 3 Mana points, which are used and regained as outlined in the “What If” supplement. An additional Expertise/Trait called “Mana” can be acquired multiple times, each of which adds one more Mana point to the character’s pool. Your choice of magical Tag also grants one FIELD point and one Skill point.

Magical TAG: Expertise: +1 FIELD: +1 SKILL:
ELEMENTALIST Elementalism GUTS Cool
SHAMAN Shamanism SOCIETY         Charm
SHIFTER Shifting WILD            Survival
STORMTECH Electrotech KNOW Tech
DIVINE FAITH Faith SOCIETY         Eloquence
PLANESWITCH Witchcraft WILD Survival
ALCHEMIST Alchemy         KNOW First Aid
ENCHANTER Enchantment KNOW Tech
HEXORCIST Exorcist GUTS Tough
ARCANIST Arcane KNOW Observation

“I want to cast Fireball!”

So how do heroes use their magic? Characters use their magic to give them an opportunity for action that they wouldn’t otherwise have without their magic; the difficulty of the challenge depends on how applicable their approach is to the situation. Skill rolls are still made with a dice pool of their relevant Field and Skill. Throwing a fireball? Roll Guts + Shoot. Turning into a Bear will give you a bonus to your Action + Fight actions.

Small common uses of magic shouldn’t cost Mana, but big impressive and flashy uses should. To borrow a term from Burning Wheel: "Color" scenes uses of magic that don't invoke dice rolls don't cost Mana. If you're using magic to get a mechanics benefit, you're spending Mana. Some uses of magic should last an entire scene: a shifter who turns into a bear for an entire fight should only spend one Mana for that entire fight. If they shift into a different form for a different benefit during the scene, that requires another Mana expenditure.

ANTHEM as a game setting

ANTHEM is an online multiplayer action role-playing video game, developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts, released for several platforms in 2019. While the world-building and movement mechanics of the game were praiseworthy, the grinding gameplay was not well received and the game ceased development and support in 2021. 

Which is a real pity, because Anthem had some really fun elements and fascinating potential in its setting. Powered armor? Magic and Technology blended as one? Deep mysteries about the world and the powers that made it the way it is? Radio dramas for people to obsess over? 

I really enjoyed my time with ANTHEM, short as it was. I found myself wanting to know more about this world and what other kinds of adventures could be had. I mean, if Neil Blokamp makes a live action trailer for your game, you’re onto something. What kind of pen-n-paper experience could we create to capture the feel of this setting?

Some more background for those not familiar with Anthem, I quote from the wiki:

Set on a fictional planet named Coda, players assume the role of Freelancers, heroic adventurers who wear powerful exosuits (called Javelins) to defend humanity from the threats beyond their cities' walls. The game's title refers to the Anthem of Creation, a powerful and mysterious force responsible for most of the extraordinary technology, phenomena, and threats in the world. … Freelancers rely on the help of Cyphers, individuals who are naturally attuned to the Anthem and use resulting psychic gifts to remotely assist on missions and sense Anthem energy.

While designing the powered-armor of the setting makes me want to get my Mekton books out, I don’t think it’s quite the right system for this setting. It certainly could be done; figuring out how to make mecha designs work is the entire point of the Mekton technical system. But Anthem combines powered-armor heroes, infantry on foot, huge monsters to battle and truly massive supernatural threats to fight. Designing all those and making them playable would be a headache in MTS terms. 

Instead, I am tempted to make this a Forged in the Dark style game and here’s my reasoning: In Anthem the video game play was divided into missions in the field, and interactions at your home base with teammates and allies. Materials and knowledge gained in the field during a mission gets turned into upgrades and refits back at base before the next mission. Your connections and resources at your home base inform your mission options and opportunities. Multiple player characters, each a Freelancer in their own right, working individually or together, pooling facilities and assets and sharing connections. This all sounds and feels more like a Blades in the Dark or Band of Blades structured game, doesn’t it? So let's run with that.

First up: Freelancers. A Freelancer character is a combination of traits that represent their prowess in the field, and their relationships and connections, and resources at base. Field skills are used in the Missions phase, while connections and resources are used during the downtime between mission phases. Freelancers track Stress and Traumas; They have XP clocks. They have Connections for their standing with various Factions and NPCs, and Skills which are used both in the Field and otherwise. They have Talents that grant special impact on actions in the field as well as social interactions at Home Base. Their base Resistance dice pools are based on their Skill groups. 

Second: Javelins. What Javelin a Freelancer takes on any given mission depends on what they have access to, what the Mission calls for, and so on. The Javelin is really an equipment choice before going on a Mission (almost like a Load choice, since the four base Javelins in the game have different mobility and weapons loadouts), and Javelins should have their own stats to track; each is essentially a mini-character, which is combined with the Freelancer’s skills to make an effective combined unit during the Mission phase. A wealthy Freelancer, or team, could have access to several Javelins, each with its history and stats and options. Javelins would track their speed, power and armor. They have Traits and special abilities and gear options based on their base frame, and can be upgraded in stats, special abilities and what gear options they have. Javelins can suffer temporary conditions, such as overheated, out of ammo, jammed, etc. They can take Harm, and can be disabled, even destroyed.

Third: Home base. This is where the Freelancer(s) eat, sleep, heal up and repair/upgrade their Javelins, as well as plan and prepare for Missions and work their contacts. Home is where you store your loot, where your supporting cast do their work from, downtime is spent, and where the majority of social events occur. Your home base can grow, improve, change, and be affected (even negatively) by world events. Each Home Base should have a ‘character sheet’ representing and recording the resources, assets, progress clocks and status that reflect it. This should function much like the ‘gang’ sheets from Blades in the Dark. Home Bases can have clocks for ongoing activities, Assets for making downtime checks, Resources point pools that fuel downtime activities (repairs, R&D, recovery, etc…), or can be burned to boost Mission engagement rolls. 

I imagine that Freelancer teams would choose an initial type of setup at their home base before play begins: this reflects their initial setup and what kinds of missions they already have experience in. From there with experience and materials they can expand facilities and connections and improve their tools and support mechanisms. Adding Striders to their asset pool would extend their mission reach, maybe unlock entire new areas to go on missions in.

Gameplay should have three Phases: Downtime, Mission, and Aftermath. Downtime and Mission should work much as they do in Blades in the Dark; you spend your Downtime to rest up, make connections, get information, interact with NPCs and factions in a social way. Succeeding in Mission objectives could win more Downtime actions (representing more money coming in, as well as material resources that boost productivity). 

Missions are when you mount up in your Javelins, make that Engagement roll, and try to achieve your goals. Missions will have primary goals, secondary objectives, and failures that impact during the Aftermath phase. A truly devious game model would present multiple possible Missions choices to take, and force the players to choose which to focus on and which to ignore. Ignoring some Missions might have consequences …

The new phase is the Aftermath; the ‘Find out’ phase of play after your Mission. Missions take time, and life moves on when Freelancers are away. Aftermath is where world and social events are kicked off that affect the next play cycle. NPCs and Factions pursue their goals (clocks), change status. Supporting cast not involved in the Mission report back what their activities resulted in. You may have successfully intercepted the smugglers and gotten that locked chest of artefacts, but what’s actually in that chest and can it help you further your other goals?

Obviously there’s a LOT more to explore and prep before jumping into a FitD style game set in the ANTHEM universe, but there’s a TON of lore already to pull from, and many examples of FitD games to adapt mechanics from (I’ve only referenced Blades in the Dark and Band of Blades but there is a lot of fan made content and published games that run with this style of game play already). I’ll probably come back to this one several more times this year: exploring some character and Javelin options, what a playsheet for a Home Base might look like, and so on.

The Weird West: Character sampler

When I write vignettes, I tend to write very little about the central protagonist, they are after all the point of view by which I want to show the world I am writing about, and generally the camera cannot see itself. Character and motivations can be inferred from how they speak and what they do in the scene, but I don’t spend time and effort to describe them physically and rarely do I state any overt motivation. I prefer show don’t tell. This allows the reader to project themselves and their ideas about the POV character. John Scalzi did something rather clever with his Lock In series’ main character (which if you haven’t read, I won’t spoil things here. GO READ THEM) but I’m not attempting that level of writing talent. I like writing the short teasers and paragraph intros that begin a chapter, give you a taste of the world and context before diving into the mechanics of a game. 

Having said all that, I do need to work on my characterizations. So here’s some write ups about some characters concepts from the Weird West setting, including some from the teaser post. I’m also going to try and write in the vernacular and ‘voice’ of the people of this setting, as if they were describing each other in their own way. No game stats here, but I instead provide qualitative statements about their abilities and talents which should be easily translatable into whatever game engine they could appear in.

Malcolm Solomani, Arcanist and Wayfarer

Malcolm has been a wanderer his entire life. His earliest memories are of riding in the back of a wagon train and never seeing the same town twice. He remembers his guardian, whom he called ‘Grandfather,’ teaching him rituals and arcane secrets. His last memory of Grandfather was helping with a ritual and something going very wrong. Wrong as in explosions, memory loss, and waking up alone somewhere entirely different. Malcolm has been searching for answers to what happened since. 

Malcolm is a talented Arcanist, and Wayfarer. He is a seasoned traveller, camper and rider. He has a talent for languages and has traveled far and wide across the Territories. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and hates injustice. 

Grunner Brock, the Sturmgunner

Grunner is a recent emigree to the new world, but things he has said imply his native lands are not the same old world that most other people know of; His skill with exotic Volt-based technologies surpass just about anyone else’s yet he claims only mediocre knowledge of the science. When he speaks of his past, which is rare, he’ll sometimes mention a recent war that doesn’t match up with common knowledge of history; That he was a soldier in that war, and it was in that conflict he learned to tinker with sturmtech as he calls it. Grunner is large man of germanic descent, his speech is thick with a Deutchlander accent and he often slips fully into his native tongue. He can initially come off as standoffish, but warms up considerably once he has learned to trust someone. He travels the Territories hunting, prospecting for minerals and crystals, and helping those he deems in need. His compatriots gather in their travels with him that Grunner is eternally seeking redemption for something that happened in the past, but he has never spoken of what that event (or events) were. 

Grunner has a soldier’s field skills for camping and survival. He is an excellent marksman, especially with his charge-rifle, and is constantly tinkering with various Volt-tech devices which he can cobble together into useful gadgets. 

Red Feather, the shifter scout

Red Feather comes from a tribe of semi-nomadic people who regularly travel between a small range of Territories as the seasons change. Red Feather is a Shifter; he can turn into animals that he has formed a special bond with via ritual taught to him by the medicine people of his tribe. He is on his Wandering, which is a coming-of-age experience for youths of his people: he is to travel far and wide and return when he has learned something profound to bring back to his people. Red Feather is young, energetic and occasionally reckless, but always well meaning and positive in attitude. He loves good stories and is learning to write with the intent of bringing back not only literacy to his people, but also many more good stories to tell around the campfires.

Red Feather is young, but already an excellent scout, rider and hunter. His preferred tools are bow and spear, but he’s learning how to use firearms.

Irinia Gardenia, former farmer with a grudge

Irinia Gardenia has what she thought of as an ideal life. She had married an earnest man who offered her the challenge of raising a farm and family in a new settlement. It had been hard but rewarding work, and the addition of their first child was a welcome complication. Then the war happened, and their Territory became a battleground. Soldiers occupied their farm, did unspeakable things before she blacked out.

When she awoke the farm house had been burned to the ground but it seemed to have happened a long time ago. Now there is a voice in her head, urging her to find those responsible. Promising to help her make them pay. Whispers secrets to her. When she does what the voice wants, she gets stronger. Weirder. 

To all appearances, Irinia looks like an average young frontier woman. She’s had experience raising animals and keeping a household in order, but little beyond that. However in truth she’s made a pact with a spirit of vengeance, which grants her tremendous strength and speed when it wishes to, among other dark powers. The more she uses these powers, and gives in to its insidious goading, the stronger it gets. One day she will come to a line in the sand: will she retain any shred of humanity left and turn against this demon within her, or will she give in and be destroyed in the process.

Kerrigan “Kerry” Goodhand, Gambler and trickster

“Kerry” has a long history of trouble. With family, with the law, with the laws of probability itself it seems. To get out of a forced marriage, Kerrigan Godfry became ‘Kerry Goodhand’ and stole away on a caravan from New London deeper into the Territories. ‘He’ soon discovered he had a talent for playing card games, games of chance, really anything that involved luck and has made a living as a gambler and con artist since. There’s actually a bounty to return “Kerrigan” home, but he has changed looks so often he doesn’t recognize the portrait in the wanted posters.

“Kerry” presents as a svelte man, impeccably dressed. Kerry is an expert gambler and experienced traveler. He knows how to fight with fists and knives, and while can use guns doesn’t like them. They are also skilled at disguise and fashion.

Kerry’s Gift is that he has incredible luck. When he concentrates, he can pretty much dictate the outcome of the roll of dice, or draw of cards. It’s exhausting and the more he uses this power, the worse the karmic balance comes later to bite him on the ass.

Padre Esteban, Buckshot priest

Esteban Villenova always believed. He left home early to pursue seminary and returned home an ordained padre. However the home he returned to was now beset by horrors and unnatural happenings. One night as he led his congregation in prayers for protection from the things clawing at the church’s doors, he had a vision of an angel of the creator who handed him a gun. Awakening from his enlightenment, Padre Esteban got himself two shotguns just in time as the walking dead broke down the church’s doors. Padre Esteban learned that day that faith and prayer will get you far, and for the rest you need double-o buckshot.

Padre Esteban is a stoic and supportive person, freely offering benediction and jovial advice together. He possesses a righteous fury however, and fearlessly rightens wrongs, choosing to send unrepentant sinners and threats to his community ‘to the creator, so they can be judged.’

Esteban’s gift is his faith. He honestly and truthfully believes in a benevolent creator who acts through boons to the faithful and answers prayers. He alone can invoke some impressive effects, but when he gets a congregation to pray together, miracles can and have happened. It’s a difficult path he walks, but he does it proudly.

Hazel Moonseer, Planeswitch with a ferncat familiar

Hazel comes from a long line of witches. Her family just happens to have moved out to the frontier Territories instead of staying back east with the established covens. She’s old enough that her elders are starting to pressure her to settle down and start the next generation. Hazel isn’t sure she’s ready for her Matron years. Having finally come of age and level of skill she thinks she’s ready to experience the world beyond her home plots and make a difference. After all, if her ancestors could thrive in these wild lands, how is she going to show her worthiness? 

Hazel is a young and talented arcanist and herbalist. She’s experienced with frontier life and can hunt and shoot and camp. She prefers pants and vests over dresses, and her grimoire and herbalist kit are never far from her grasp.

Willowisp, her ferncat familiar, is a green feline about the size of a Serval cat (up to 24” tall and 20 to 40 lbs. in weight ). Ferncats aren’t plants, but their luxurious green fir naturally forms fern-like structures and thus their name was given. Willowisp is very clever and sociable, but is also a cat, so don’t expect human-rational responses. Willowisp is an excellent hunter, guardian and scout. She’s very intelligent and can understand the intent of human speech, but not complex ideas (she’ll understand ‘Fetch the red bag,’ but not ‘Go get the dynamite and blasting caps.’). Hazel and Willowisp know where each other is at all times, and they constantly know each other’s emotional and physical well being as well. When Hazel concentrates, she can sense what Willowisp can.

Vernian Wells, Wandering Hexorcist

Vernian is a wandering hex breaking exorcist. He could teach volumes on what he knows about supernatural evils and how to defeat them at the major religious institutes, if he weren’t ex-communique for breaking their rules. Vernian doesn’t give a damn, he’s got work to do. The scar-like patterns branded into his arms itch and burn and glow in the presence of evil spirits and demons. Ghosts from his past drive him to keep scouring the Territories and he cannot stop while he feels the itch in his scars. Hunting and destroying evil magic and spirits is both his curse, and his salvation.

Vernian Wells appears as a gaunt man in well worn travel clothes. While skilled at shooting and fighting his best skills are in knowledge of the supernatural, rituals of binding and breaking spells and hexes, and making fetishes and trinkets for protection and utility against non-human threats. 

Tisiphone “Tish” Allegloria, Frontier Alchemist and brewmeister

The Allegloria’s are a famous, if small, family of brewmeisters and vinters. “Tish” is the prodigal daughter of the family, having left the comforts of Nuova Toscana to bring the family's products and name brand to the new world. She’s also on a personal mission to discover what herbal and floral opportunities lay unknown in the Territories. She's eager to uncover their potential uses, both alchemical and alchoholic. Tish is a glorious being of energy and reckless enthusiasm. Seemingly irrepressible in spirit, even her ‘low’ moments are soon replaced with joyous highs that the future hold for her. Tish is not only a skilled brewmaster and vinter, but also a very talented alchemist. She's never without a pouch of tinctures, potions, and brews. She’s new frontier life, but she’s got the financial backing of her clan so is always prepared, even if she doesn’t know one end of a rifle from the other.