Silverado – One of My Favorite Westerns

The movie Silverado. As noted, it made my list of top ten favorite westerns (favorite, not necessarily the best). Silverado is a wicked fun movie and a throwback to the Westerns of old. I even mentioned it as a guilty pleasure, but it is not. I re-watched it recently and I have to say, in terms of pacing, it is hard to beat.

The opening scene of Emmett fighting off some desperadoes who were looking to bushwhack him while he was sleeping is all kinds of awesome. It then spreads out to the majestic scenery of the American West.

Did I mention this happens in the first five minutes of the movie?

From there we quickly meet the second protagonist, Paden, left for dead in the desert. From there it is a quick job picking up his brother Jake (played by Kevin Costner) and almost at the same time meeting Mal (played by Danny Glover). So within the first 20 minutes or so, we have all four main characters together.

One of the great things this movie does is give a sense of background very quickly for each of the protagonists. It is a bit clichéd, sure, but in each case it serves the movie well. Remember, Silverado is about quick action and keeping the momentum going throughout.

Before they even make it to Silverado, Paden and Emmett encounter Paden’s former trail friend Cobb and his unsavory henchmen, including Tyree. This introduces the running joke of “Where’s the dog?” This is of course preceded by a great gunfight with Paden in his underclothes.

Lawrence Kasdan also does a good job handling the racism of the Old West with Mal’s character, particularly in the bar fight in Turley. It is difficult to do in today’s political climate, but it is handled well, even with the subtle implications from Sheriff Langston when he runs Mal out of town.

A side track to recover a stolen money box from some wagon train eventually results in the four reaching Silverado. There Paden finds Stella at the Midnight Star saloon, meeting Cobb, who reveals himself as the town sheriff shortly thereafter.

The events in the middle section start the buildup to the finale, but are not without tension or deaths. Mal’s father is killed, Emmett’s nephew is kidnapped, and Emmett is nearly killed by the vicious Tyree. At no time does it feel forced as it jumps from scene to scene, with Jake getting into it with Tyree and Mal and Slick arguing over Mal’s sister.

Events come to a head with the kidnapping of Jake and Emmett’s nephew and McKendrick burning down their sister’s house.

I cannot say it enough: the movie is a whirlwind, with each scene having something to it. One area that lacks somewhat is the usual Western romance. Apparently it was part of the movie and we see snippets of it from the interactions of Paden, Emmett, and Hannah. The problem was that during editing they had to cut something from the various subplots. Because of that, the only thing that seems disjointed is those scenes, as the full story is not there.

In the end the final showdown is great as each of the protagonists guns down his own personal foe: Emmett killing McKendrick, Mal taking out Slick, Jake taking out two bad guys simultaneously (one being Tyree), and finally a high noon showdown with Paden getting the drop on Cobb.

The film ends with a toast in the Midnight Star, which Stella now runs on her own, for the brothers as they head to California. As Emmett and Paden exchange goodbyes, Emmett remarks that Paden will make a farmer yet, to which Paden grins and says “I’ve got a job” as he slowly pulls back his coat, revealing the sheriff’s star of the town of Silverado.

I would also be remiss if I did not point out the ensemble cast, its loaded with stars: Kevin Cline as Paden, Scott Glenn as Emmett; Kevin Costner as Jake, Danny Glover as Mal, John Cleese, Rosanna Arquette, Brian Dennehy, Linda Hunt, Jeff Fahey, Joe Seneca and Jeff Goldblum to name but a few of the actors in the movie. There are a number of other actors you'll probably recognize.

The scenery is great and the town feels very realistic. The filmmakers did an ingenious thing by simply filming it from different angles during shooting to represent different towns as needed. Shot in New Mexico, it is obviously the right climate and locale for the film.

Since critics give out stars, this gets 4.5 out of 5 from me. For a Western there are very few that are better in terms of pure action. Sure, some are legendary like Searchers or Once upon a Time in the West, but Silverado is a fun movie any way you slice it. It is PG-13 as the level of violence is up there, but no worse than the revisionist Westerns of the 1970s.

How does this apply to RPGs?

If you are playing your favorite Western system (Deadlands, Boot Hill, Western City, or whatever), modeling even a portion of your campaign on Silverado will give you a great game. Right from the beginning there is a rise in tension, setups galore for later payoffs, and reasons to care about the heroes (and wrongs for them to right). If one were using the default city and area in Boot Hill (Promise City and its environs), it would work extremely well.

Think about it: recovering loot, vengeance, stampedes, gunfights, shootouts, swearing, tension, whiskey, bar fights, hangings (almost), gambling, backstabbing, the cavalry making an appearance (not in the usual clichéd way) — you name it. The only thing missing is some stagecoach or locomotive fight scenes. In fact, my own game Hurled into Eternity would be a great way to recreate the Old West! (Plug, plug.) Speaking of which, I am gearing up to add some changes to the way combat works to make it a bit more survivable and it should be up soon.

All in all, a great movie, saddle up!

Top Ten AD&D modules of all time

Seems that people like it around these parts when I write up Top 10 lists (or at least they generate lots of commentary cyber-fights)... So with that in mind I am going to list my Top 10 favorite D&D/AD&D modules of all time. As that suggests that means I am leaving out any editions later than 2nd.

And unlike what some have presented on Dragonsfoot, no I do not consider a module as only those that were "stand alone products, not anything that appeared in a magazine!"

To me, that is entirely arbitrary and a module/adventure in terms of nomenclature is interchangeable. Module =adventure, adventure= module.

Willmark's Top Ten

1. UK4 - When a Star Falls
2. The Tomb of Horrors 
3. Return to the Tomb of Horrors
4. Threshold of Evil - Dungeon #10
5. Iron Orb of the Druegar - Dungeon #43
6. G1-3 Against the Giants - a bit of a cheat choice here because I get to pick three modules all in one.
7. UK2 - The Sentinel
8. UK3 - The Gauntlet
9. T1 - The Village of Hommlet
10. I2 - Tomb of the Lizard King

Discuss away as to why I am wrong (even though I know I am not).

Boot Hill BH3 Bullets and Ballots – Classic TSR Old West Module

Is that Brian Blume and Gary Gygax on the cover?

The next Boot Hill  module up for review is BH3: Bullets and Ballots. This should come as no surprise if you've been reading the blog. And you have been reading, right?

Unlike the first two modules, BH3 is almost a mini-campaign in a single booklet, though nowhere near the scope of BH4- Burned Brush Wells or BH5: Range War! It takes the players on a very different ride than either of its predecessors and explores a subject that few RPG adventures have ever attempted. Rather than hunting for treasure or tracking down outlaws, the players become involved in a local election and can potentially influence its outcome. I'm hard pressed to think of another RPG module, especially one from the early 1980s, that centered on electoral politics.

Written by David James Ritchie, the module expands on material from the Boot Hill boxed set by returning to Promise City and greatly enlarging the map and descriptions of the town. The events take place shortly after those in Tombstone, Arizona, following the famous Battle of the OK Corral. At 32 pages, BH3 is a standard TSR module, yet it manages to pack in a surprising amount of material. With the expanded treatment of Promise City, the Game Master is given a well-developed home base should the players decide to settle there.

The Story

The premise is that Promise City is every bit as lawless as Cochise County, Arizona, during the height of the cattle wars. Familiar historical figures, including Johnny Behan, Billy Breakenridge, Ike Clanton, and "Buckskin" Frank Leslie, are mentioned throughout the setting. In total, the module details roughly 300 NPCs, giving Promise City one of the largest casts of characters found in any Boot Hill product.

The central conflict revolves around the struggle between the Law and Order faction, representing the town's respectable citizens, and the Cowboys, who have no intention of surrendering their influence. With elections approaching, both sides are determined to win by whatever means necessary. The offices up for grabs include mayor, city council, and town marshal, making the stakes considerably higher than a simple local dispute.

The campaign unfolds over a twelve-week period, providing the players with plenty to do. They can run for office themselves or throw their support behind one of the competing factions. Public opinion shifts from week to week based on campaign events, speeches, newspaper editorials, rumors, financial contributions, and, naturally, the occasional murder. After all, this is the Old West.

The mechanics supporting the election are surprisingly robust. Players can funnel money into campaigns, spread rumors, publish broadsheets, and deliver speeches in an effort to sway public sentiment. The Civic Association, representing the current administration, can also use its influence to hinder the Cowboys' efforts. Should the violence spiral out of control and too many candidates wind up dead, the Governor may eventually dispatch the Arizona Rangers or even call in the U.S. Army to restore order. It is a clever way of showing that there are consequences if the town descends into outright chaos.

When election day finally arrives, the outcome depends entirely on how events unfolded over the previous twelve weeks. There is no predetermined winner, and that is perhaps the module's greatest strength. Different groups can experience entirely different results each time they play.

Like the earlier Boot Hill modules, the final pages include several short scenarios that can either be inserted into the campaign or played independently. I particularly enjoyed the obvious nods to classic Western films with titles such as Hang 'em High and Once Upon a Time in the West.

That is certainly one way to win an election...

The Art

The artwork is something of a mixed bag. Some pieces are excellent, while others leave me scratching my head. More than the previous modules, BH3 indulges in TSR's habit of inserting inside jokes throughout the book. I enjoy a good bit of irreverent humor as much as anyone, but here it sometimes feels excessive.

One example is "Zebadiah Cook" on page 16. The illustration appears to be by Jim Holloway. Normally I enjoy Holloway's slightly exaggerated, humorous style, even in Dungeons & Dragons, but for whatever reason it does not quite fit the tone of this module.

The front cover continues the hand-tooled leather motif of the earlier Boot Hill adventures, but the characters themselves were apparently modeled after TSR staffers Jim Roslof, Jeff Easley, Jim Holloway, and Larry Elmore (they look like Brian Blume and Gary Gygax in the middle and left to me). I have no objection to inside jokes, yet this cover simply does not resonate with me. In fact, I like the module in spite of the cover rather than because of it. It is almost the opposite of N2: The Forest Oracle, where I love the cover but find the adventure itself rather disappointing (to say the very least). The back cover, featuring Mongo Bailey, likewise aims for humor but never quite lands for me.

Much like BH1 and BH2, BH3 demonstrates just how experimental the Boot Hill line really was. The more of these modules I read, the more convinced I become that the series lacked a consistent direction. Either there was no one steering the line with a long-term vision, or support arrived only sporadically as TSR found time and resources to devote to it. Given that the company's creative energy was increasingly focused on Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, I suspect it was probably a combination of both.

Despite my criticisms, I genuinely like BH3. It does require a group willing to embrace politics, intrigue, and social maneuvering rather than constant gunfights, but that change of pace is part of its appeal. Not every Boot Hill adventure needs to end in a shootout at high noon, and Bullets and Ballots proves the game could successfully explore other aspects of life in the Old West.

Solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

Let me know your thoughts on this rather unusual module. 

 

Let it Beagle Media Debut as an Indie RPG Publisher - Hurled into Eternity

Time for a micro blog update.

Since June I've been toiling away most nights in my man cave working on my first RPG. But, the story of the RPG in question: Hurled into Eternity goes farther back then June of 2012; in fact it goes back to 1995/96. Hurled into Eternity got its start as a traditional fantasy RPG back then. I wrote the game in an on and off again fashion for years, never quite finishing Quest (as the game is called).

This year my interest in westerns was reawakened and I started to write a Boot Hill module. It quickly became apparent there are far too many holes in the 1st and 2nd editions of Boot Hill, and 3rd is a different animal altogether. So in June I started to consider writing my own game. Looking about, the western genre isn't too crowded so I went for it. Fortunately for me however, I was able to reuse a ton from my unreleased game.

As of right now the game is available in its Alpha state. The rules are there, a bit rough and not edited by my editor yet, but playable.

If you are interested let me know and I can direct you to the rules. Owing to its fantasy roots I might back-port the game to Quest. They certainly worked the other way around. So in a sense I've got a game that can go from ancient times to 1920s tech fairly easily.

I'd just like to be able to go back to my 1995 self and tell me that what I was working on would first be released as a western, I probably wouldn't have believed it.

Western City RPG – A Dusty Gem Worth Discovering

 

Continuing my read-through of lesser-known Western RPGs and modules, today I’m taking a look at Western City, designed by Jörg Dunne and first published in Europe back in 2006.

Before we get into it: this is an overview, not a rules deep dive.

might be a rules-light system on the surface, but it’s got enough nuance that a full breakdown would go well beyond a standard review. Just know: it’s lean, but not shallow.

How I Got It

I came into possession of Western City thanks to a good friend who scored a lot of games off eBay. He handed it to me with a shrug and said, “I’m probably never going to read this.” Challenge accepted.

It sat on my desk for a few days until I cracked it open — and then finished it in one go. That’s not too hard, since it clocks in at a digest-sized 92 pages with a clean layout and a manageable word count per page.

Presentation & Style

Let’s start with the aesthetics. Western City immediately gets a nod for its sharp cover design and internal art by Kathy Schad, which has a distinctive and appealing style — somewhat reminiscent of early Elmore, which is a plus in my book (despite what the grognards say).

The period photos, bullet-hole textures, and playing card visuals throughout reinforce the Western tone well. This isn’t the dry grit of Boot Hill — this feels more stylized, more cinematic.

Unfortunately, the translation (in my January 2008 first printing) leaves a lot to be desired. There are numerous awkward phrases and reversed quotation marks. It’s readable, but janky — a shame, because the presentation otherwise really works.

The Game Itself

Let’s clear one thing up: Western City isn’t a Western RPG in the vein of Boot Hill, Deadlands, or even Sidewinder. Instead, it’s designed for collaborative storytelling, player-driven scenes, and a gamemasterless structure. It leans more “story game” than “simulation.” Think improv theater with poker chips.

Here’s all you need to play:

• One d8
• A deck of playing cards
• Poker chips
• A dollar bill (!)

That’s it. And just to make it more impressive: it was written in 72 hours for a game design contest. If that’s true? Hats off.

Character Creation

Characters are built around three core stats:

• Body (Clubs)
• Mind (Diamonds)
• Charisma (Spades)

Players distribute points between 1–5 across these. Everyone gets 8 “Hearts”, which serve as your hit points (shades of Legend of Zelda, maybe?). No rolling — just assign points and move on.

Skills range 1–5 and are resolved with a d6. You get a pool of points to spread as you like, with difficulty based on what you’re trying to do.

From there, you assign background details, Hubris (a character flaw), and — most importantly — you create an Extra and a Foe. These characters serve as part of the supporting cast for other players’ stories. Once all players have built theirs, you use poker chips to bid and assign Extras and Foes. It’s a brilliant mechanic — ensuring everyone’s story is already entangled with everyone else’s. You’re building a shared narrative web from the jump.

Later in play, you can also introduce spontaneous Extras as needed, which keeps the story flexible and reactive.

How the Game Flows

Time is divided into three parts per day:

• Dawn
• Noon
• Dusk

Events or “Scenes” happen during those time blocks. Each player proposes a scene where their character is the star. Other players take the roles of Extras or Foes — so no one is ever just watching. Even if your character’s not in the spotlight, you’re still part of the action.

Scenes are bid on and ordered collaboratively, though if there’s strong disagreement, there’s a rule called “Not In My Town” that lets a player force a scene through. It’s all very improv-heavy — and cleverly set up to prevent players from just sitting on the sidelines.

High Noon, naturally, is where the big confrontation is most likely to take place — though it’s not locked in.

Mechanics & Design Choices

Combat, wounds, resolution — all are simple and snappy. The suits from the playing cards play a subtle mechanical role in tests and effects. It’s clever without being clunky.

One downside? Characters can’t die unless the player wants them to. For me, that’s a head-scratcher. I’m not saying every RPG has to be meat-grinder mode, but the lack of stakes takes the wind out of high tension moments. Then again, this is designed for narrative control, not tactical risk.

Optional Magic

There is an optional magic system, and it follows the same rules-light approach as the rest of the book. Personally, I’m a fan of gritty realism in Westerns, so I’d likely skip it — but if you want to inject a bit of Weird West flavor, it’s there.

Equipment? Monsters? Nope.

There are no gear lists or bestiaries. The assumption is: if it exists in a Western, it exists here. That’s either liberating or annoying depending on your comfort level with improv.

Leveling Up

No XP tables here. Players vote on experience awards based on scenes and performance — another narrative-heavy design choice that fits the game’s structure, even if it leans more “actor” than “gamer.”

Final Thoughts

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

There’s a lot to admire in Western City. The system is elegant, unique, and impressively efficient. It leans hard into collaborative, character-driven roleplay — and if you’re the type who loves improv, narrative arcs, and shared storytelling, it’s probably a 4-star (or higher) game.

But for me? I’m a role-player, not an actor. I like some structure. I like GMs. I like death being on the table. Western City is a beautifully crafted storytelling machine — but it’s not what I reach for on game night.

Still, it’s inventive, inspiring, and absolutely worth a read — especially if you’re looking to stretch beyond traditional RPG formats.

Boot Hill BH2 Lost Conquistador Mine – Classic TSR Old West Module

  

BH2: Lost Conquistador Mine, as the title suggests, is the second Boot Hill module in TSR's line for its miniatures and role-playing Western game. It was written by David Cook and Tom Moldvay, which is pretty impressive when you stop and think about it. Here you have the future principal designer of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition working alongside the editor of the Moldvay Basic Dungeons & Dragons set on the same adventure.

As noted on the frontispiece, the adventure was originally written as a tournament module for GenCon XIII in 1980. Two years later it was revised and published for general release. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but like its Dungeons & Dragons cousins, the A1-A4 tournament series, it still shows signs of its origins. I've discussed this both here and elsewhere on the web. Tournament adventures are not inherently flawed, but they often reveal the constraints of what they were originally designed to accomplish. I could be off base in this case, however, as BH2 lacks the scoring system found in the A-series modules.

Right from the cover, I love the graphic design. Like BH1, Lost Conquistador Mine perfectly captures the feel of an Old West RPG. The hand-tooled leather motif evokes saddles, holsters, and cowboy boots, immediately putting the reader in the right frame of mind. The module follows TSR's standard 32-page format, and the interior artwork is equally strong. Jeff Easley, Jim Holloway, and Bill Willingham provide most of the illustrations, and the quality shows.

The introduction is fairly lengthy and assumes the referee is new to the game, which is not a bad approach. It also establishes the adventure's timeframe as 1868, meaning not every iconic firearm of the Old West is available. I actually like this restriction because it helps reinforce the historical setting.

Before the adventure even begins, however, the referee is presented with another batch of rules additions. Like BH1, there are noticeable gaps in the core Boot Hill rules that the module attempts to fill. This time we get rules covering vigilantes, NPC reactions, crime and punishment, overland travel, dangerous animals, night fighting, telescopic sights, and bronc busting. That is quite a list. As I mentioned in my review of BH1, if someone collected all of the supplemental rules from the first three Boot Hill modules into a single document, it would go a long way toward completing the game. I know I sound like a broken record, but while I think 1st and 2nd Edition Boot Hill have an excellent foundation, they clearly needed more development as role-playing games.

The next section introduces the town of Dead Mule, detailing its buildings and inhabitants. Like BH1, a number of smaller encounters can occur before the players ever reach the main objective, the Lost Conquistador Mine. The buildings themselves receive their own keyed descriptions, making the town feel reasonably complete.

The adventure hook is a variation on the classic "a man walks into a bar with a job." In this case, the man is an aging prospector named Dutch Jack, who dies after leaving his possessions, including a map to the Lost Conquistador Mine, to the player characters. In some ways it reminds me of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" where the dying Confederate soldier sets Blondie and Tuco on the trail of the buried Confederate gold. From there, the adventure shifts into overland travel, with the partially decipherable map serving as both a navigation challenge and a way to expand the adventure.

My biggest reservation involves the wilderness portion of the module. The keyed encounters often feel disconnected from one another once the players leave town. I am not entirely sure whether this is a weakness of the adventure or simply a challenge inherent to the Western genre. In BH2, many of the encounters feel isolated rather than contributing to a larger narrative.

If you are trying to emulate a classic Western, the various scenes should generally reinforce one another. A good example from another TSR game is O2- Blade of Vengeance for Basic D&D. That module succeeds because each encounter builds toward the climax. I sometimes wonder whether a Boot Hill adventure structured in a similar fashion would have been stronger. Here, we have a mixture of fixed wilderness encounters and broader wilderness scenarios that function much like the town encounters. Part of me likes the flexibility, while another part thinks it creates unnecessary confusion. Even after rereading the module, I am still undecided.

The Crazed Prospector attacks!

Eventually, the players reach the eponymous Lost Conquistador Mine, where they explore a series of relatively small caves rather than a sprawling mining complex. I will not spoil the surprises for anyone who has not read the adventure, but this section occupies only a small portion of the module. And yes, just as you would expect, there is gold waiting at the end.

Of special note is the hedging on the supernatural by the authors. I don't fault them for a real-world explanation for the ghost of the conquistador. At the time there was some that did not like their RPG genres mixed together and over two decades before Deadlands came out. 

Overall, I like BH2, but I cannot quite give it more than 3.5 out of 5 stars. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the adventure, but the Lost Conquistador Mine itself turns out to be a surprisingly small part of the overall module. In reality, it is more a collection of caves than an actual mine. BH2 illustrates a criticism I have heard for years. The designers often seemed uncertain how to structure Western adventures when they could not simply send the players into the local "monster hotel." It also demonstrates how difficult it is to make a cave-based finale compelling in a Western setting. You can only rely on mountain lions and bears so many times, and BH2 uses both.

Ironically, this is about as close as the TSR Boot Hill line comes to a traditional dungeon crawl, at least until BH5: Range War!, which I have yet to track down. Like BH1, it serves as an excellent introductory adventure for both new referees and new players.

In the end, I do recommend BH2, particularly if you are running the Promise City campaign, as Dead Mule fits nicely into that setting. Like a real gold mine, the adventure contains worthwhile nuggets, but you have to put in a little work to uncover them.

As an aside, I have been remarkably fortunate picking up these modules on eBay. Most have cost me between $5 and $10, and nearly all have been in excellent condition, with very little staple rust and few, if any, blemishes.

What are your thoughts on Boot Hill BH2 Lost Conquistador Mine?

Click here for my next Boot Hill review: BH3- Bullets and Ballots.

Boot Hill BH1 Mad Mesa Review – Classic TSR Old West Module

 

Cover art by Bill Willingham

Boot Hill modules were something of a mixed bag. This is especially true when you consider that BH1 through BH5 spanned two different editions between 1981 and 1984. Granted, the structural differences between 1st and 2nd Edition are minor, but it’s still worth noting. Five modules in three years, with one being a Gen Con tournament module (BH2), is not a stellar track record. Of course, D&D was exploding for TSR at the time, so they rightly focused on their biggest seller. Can’t fault them for that.

As I’ve covered before, Boot Hill is one hell of a game. It was one of the very first RPGs ever written and was designed by Brian Blume and Gary Gygax.

Back to the modules: I’ll be reviewing all five:

• BH1 Mad Mesa 
• BH2 Lost Conquistador Mine
• BH3 Ballots and Bullets
• BH4 Burned Bush Wells
• BH5 Range War! 

Right now I have the first three and just finished reading through BH3.

First off, I’m a big fan of the graphical presentation of the first three modules. They have that tooled-leather look, and my favorite old-school TSR artist, Bill Willingham, did the cover. Anytime you get Willingham and two-gun action, it’s going to be good. There are also several of his interior pieces, which is even better. Everything about the look screams Old West, mission accomplished. The early covers also remind me strongly of the excellent Time-Life Series "The Old West series (which I finally completed!).

I even like some of the Jeff Dee and Erol Otus pieces here. Dee’s sense of motion is excellent. The inside cover has a map of the town of Mad Mesa, and the back cover features the Mesa Gazette. In general, there is a lot of art inside the module, especially for an early RPG product. Contrast this with A2- Secret of the Slavers Stockade which sparse in comparison but is around the same length.

Interior art by Bill Willingham

BH1: Mad Mesa

BH1 is a collaboration between Jerry Epperson and Tom Moldvay (of Basic Set fame). At 32 pages it’s a standard-length module for the era. Like many TSR products of the time, it includes a large solo-play section using “choose your own adventure” style rules. Before that, it adds new rules, something all Boot Hill products do. This can’t be overstated: the core 1st and 2nd Edition Boot Hill rules are incredibly sparse, skeletal is how I often describe it. Mad Mesa nicely fleshes out law & order and NPC reactions.

The solo-play premise is straightforward: Your character is riding at dusk looking for a place to spend the night when shots ring out. From there you follow numbered entries until the tale ends. It’s a quick way to learn the system and gives the referee (they weren’t called GMs yet) a chance to practice without players.

The multi-player section builds on the solo material and uses the central NPC “Uncle Zeke” (related to one of the PCs) to kick things off. This works well because in Western RPGs, NPC interactions matter far more than in fantasy games. Western adventures are driven more by character drama than by monsters in funny suits. BH1 gives the referee a bare-bones plot and plenty of encounters to expand upon.

The Kane-Russell Cattle War could easily stretch for months or years of game time. Many of the hooks can lead to glorious gunfights and TNT-flinging, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I’ve only recently gotten deeper into Western RPGs, but Mad Mesa would work great as a Village of Hommlet or Keep on the Borderlands -style introductory module. The town setting keeps the scope manageable even with a large cast of NPCs. From there the referee can expand outward as the players get comfortable.

If I ran it, I’d set it in a slightly “mythical” Old West rather than strictly historical. I’m not talking full Weird West, but modern Western RPGs often lean too hard on “six-guns and sorcery” because pure roleplay-driven adventures are harder to structure than dungeon crawls.

Even more Bill Willingham art!

Final Verdict: Out of 5 stars I give BH1: Mad Mesa a 3.5. There are no real flaws, but it also lacks deep, standout hooks. Like the core Boot Hill rules, it relies heavily on the referee’s skill to bring it to life. At its heart, Boot Hill feels closer to Chainmail than to D&D. In summary: I like it, it looks great, and it’s a useful module, just not a barn burner.

I should add that my next review might be Western City RPG before I tackle BH2, as I’ve also been reading through the Mongoose/Redbrick Western RPG I received as a gift. It’s a neat system, but I’m not sure I’d run it. More on that later.

What are your thoughts on BH1- Mad Mesa?