Working on WILD : Quickdraws and Duels
Fellow Eastern-Time-Zoner and master of all things emergently adventure-oriented Nova recently linked me to this this post on the Alexanderian on Standoffs and Surprise. Now I don't think the post is particularly bad, especially if you're going for something cinematic, but I for one don't plan on Xandersing my duels.
WILD is meant to be me shrugging off my cinematic tendencies to create something grimier. This is not an age of honorable gunfighters with gleaming badges, this is the age of tobacco spitting drunkards who are just as likely to piss on you as piss you off. But of course I can't just not have mechanics for these kinds of things, so lets go over what's currently built:
SCRAMBLE
First I need to explain initiative as it currently exists. Lets say a pack of wolves attacks the party, you're now in combat! You'll roll a d6 + your Scramble Score and that determines your Scramble for this combat (initiative).Turns are taken down the line from highest to slowest, and you only get one action. But that's not all your Scramble is good for ~ You can expend your Scramble like points to do other actions (ex: Spend 2 Scramble to move), this will permanently reduce your Scramble for next round's order, but can allow faster units to really get an edge on their opponents (ending combat quickly is preferred after all). If your Scramble dips to zero you lose your turn next round and instead re-roll your Scramble to determine your initiative after that. Doing this also drains d3 Brain or Belly. This also means that characters going in with a negative Scramble are winded right off the bat, so best to keep that heavy armor in check.
And if you're wondering yes Alcohol can reduce your Scramble, and cocaine can enhance it.
Got it? Simple? Awesome.
SHOOT FIRST ASK QUESTIONS LATER
OK so what about the all powerful Mexican standoff? A bunch of angry folks with guns pointed at each other? Well those rules are relatively simple (for the sake of this example I'm going to describe the in-person rules, for online you simply call what's happening and work on an honor system).
So you want to point a gun at the sonofabitch who keeps stealing your chicken eggs huh? Well pick up d6s equal to the number of shots you're willing to make (up to your max ROF with that gun), and point that fist right at him! The moment you roll those dice is the moment you shot. But suppose he pulls a gun at you too? Well supposing you didn't shoot him as he was pulling it out, now that bastard can roll his dice at you! This makes negotiations tense, as the first to betray them gets an edge.
In the Alexandrian post it's recommended that you avoid - “The guy who shot first took initiative, so we should ignore the mechanics and he just makes an attack roll.” Is that fair, though? Everyone was literally watching everybody else with a hair trigger. - But to me this is the sauce of the suspense, is the bastard who's brave enough to make things truly violent. I had considered giving whoever shoots first a huge edge, but that just felt clunky. This is a system meant to simulate the kind of folks who'd settle a duel by stabbing each other in the mud, so being the scum to shoot first should definitely have its benefits. It also means players are palpably afraid if a gun is trained on them!
This gets a little complicated when the GM is having to manage multiple NPCs, so suffice to say you can absolutely just say who's pointing at what, but the big take away is this: In a stand-off, whoever rolls their shot first, shoots first. If the target they shot survives, they get the option to take an immediate shot back. After that, you roll your Scramble like normal and chaos ensues! That is assuming both parties aren't on the ground bleeding out too much...
THE DUEL
Oh I see you're one of those folks who likes to keep your Filth score low and your Honor score high, huh? Suppose you could challenge that egg-stealing varmint to a Quick Draw Duel then. Dueling rules are simple, just roll competing Scramble and whoever rolls higher gets to shoot first, and remember you can spend excess Scramble on things like firing an extra bullet or adjusting your Shot Roll. Does this mean that the faster gun usually wins? Well of course, they don't call 'em quickdraw duels for nothin'. Sheesh.
As always there's probably a slew of perks that'll make you especially deadly in a duel, but good luck getting the other guy riled enough to accept it.
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