A Blast From The Past; Really Simple Wild West Shootout Rules

       I went to print these out a moment ago and realized what a pain it is to use Scribd. To fix this I am republishing them right here on the blog. Sorry about republishing old content but this is from 2011 so most of you haven't likely seen it before.  Feel free to made any changes you like. If you come up with something cool please post a link in the comments so we can all enjoy.

REALLY SIMPLE SHOOTOUT RULES

This set of rules is driven by a normal deck of playing cards with the Jokers left
in. At the start of the game each player is dealt three cards, these create the players
“hand” for that turn. The player consults his cards to see what options are open to him
in this turn; black cards are movement cards, red ones allow shooting, while Jokers
and Aces allow both.

In the case of black cards the numerical value of the card reflects the number of
inches the character may move. Extra penalties may be imposed by the gamemaster for
things like climbing walls or clambering up a rope so consult with him before choosing
your card. Face cards allow you to move up to ten inches and perform a special move
such as; sprinting across the street and leaping onto a horse (for more complicated
moves you should consult the gamemaster as he may impose a LUCK roll to see if you
succeed). Players may use a black card to aim at a specific opposing character to shoot with a re-roll in the next turn but may not move in this turn.

Red cards are simpler; odds allow one shot, evens allow two. Player may use a card to aim to gain a re-roll in the next turn.

Aces and Jokers are where things get interesting; they allow the character to
move up to ten inches AND shoot twice while doing something special as well, such as;
jumping out the window of the Saloon onto the balcony while shooting the bad guy
who is holding the hostage at gun point. Remember that this sort of thing can go
hysterically wrong if you fail a LUCK roll.

Each turn a player will place his chosen card beside his figure face down. Play
will proceed with the holders of Aces and Jokers going first, or choosing to hold, and
then down through the cards until the lowly Deuce has gone, then the remaining cards
that are face down will have to act as the count goes back up.

A “held” cards may act at any time in the lower cards actions, example a player
places a red king next to his figure hiding in the alleyway (essentially placing him on
overwatch) later that turn a player acts on his black ten and runs past the alley, the
holder of the red king may shoot at him if he so chooses. When the player holding the
higher value card acts his card is spent and removed from the table. As cards are spent
they are returned to the gamemaster.

If a player is dissatisfied with his hand he may discard all of his cards for new ones but then loses any action for that turn.

At the end of the turn the gamemaster will shuffle the deck and give each player
a new card to replace the spent card.

SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

Each character will have a list of skills and attributes, these comprise the
following; Expertise (weapons skill), Fisticuffs, Luck, Strength and Toughness.

Expertise is the level of skill a person has with a certain weapon. This ranges
from bumbling idiot up to the steely-eyed, stone-cold killer. When performing any
shooting action a score of one or two is required to score a hit. The various skill levels
are reflected by using different dice;

Professional d4
Gunslinger d6
Soldier d8
Troublemaker d10
Citizen d12
Slob d20
Neophyte d30

Each character has a preferred weapon, this will allow them to function at full skill
level. When using other weapons the character will drop one skill level, they will drop
three level if trying to use a weapon outside their cultural norm, ex. A city-slicker
gunslinger trying to use a bow or a Zulu warrior trying to use a scoped rifle. Cover
considerations are taken care of in the Hit Location Chart.

Fisticuffs reflects how skilled a character is at hand to hand combat. When two
characters engage in hand to hand combat they will compare their Fisticuffs value
with their opponent, the player with the higher score gets to add the difference to his
die roll. Players will then roll 1d8 each and compare the results. If the final score of one
player is twice that of his opponent he has knocked him unconscious for as many turns
as the difference was, if it was less than twice he gets to add an additional one to his
next turns die roll.

Any weapon held by the character engaging in fisticuffs is holstered (pistols) or dropped

(long guns of any type). Mark the location when the fight starts if a weapon is dropped so

that the player knows where to go to retrieve his gun.

Decent men will not retreat from a fight, anyone fleeing an engagement will be
labeled a scoundrel and shunned by proper civilized people everywhere, likewise no
gentleman will take action against a downed opponent for fear of loss of standing.
Bandits, rakes, card-sharks and other riff-raff will not shun such actions as they are
already unwelcome in polite society.

Strength is the measure of the physical power of the character, difficult tasks
are tested against strength.

Toughness reflects how physically hardened a character is, it is independent of
weapon skills as certain types could be very tough without having any particular skill
with a weapon, ex. a miner or gandydancer would be very strong, resistant to pain and
discomfort and mentally and physically hardened to injury as the result of the type of
work they do, whereas a city slicker could be quite good with a six-gun but a real sissy!

Toughness is tested by rolling a d8 against your Toughness value and trying to
score equal or less than, if you score higher the character passes out for the difference
in turns.

Luck is that inestimable value that seems to accompany some people while
completely ignoring others. Any foolish, risky or just plain crazy task you wish to
undertake will be rolled against the character's Luck rating by rolling a d8 and trying
to score equal or less than the rating.

Any situation or sequence of events that the player wishes to undertake will be
explained to the gamemaster. He will then decide if, or how many, luck rolls need to be
made and the likely results of failing the roll so that the player has a clue as to what
might happen if things go poorly. Once the action is begun the player may not decide
to stop it because of a Luck failure, you have to live (or die) with your bad decisions.

SHOOTING

Hitting Roll against the Character's Expertise level, a 1 or 2 indicates the target has been hit.

Hit Locations When a character scores a hit the player doing the shooting rolls two additional dice; 1d6 and 1d8. The d6 indicates the level of severity and the d8 shows where the hit
occurred. Knives, Derringers and small pistols always add one to the d6 roll, Carbines
and rifles subtract one from the d6 roll, shotguns subtract two from the d6 roll. NOTE
Shotguns run out of ammo after any double.

Use of Cover If a target is behind cover roll for the hits as normal, any area that is not
exposed cannot be hit ex: a character is standing behind a waist-high pile of crates
therefore all hits below the waist are ignored. All such hits cause the target to flinch
and duck, if he has not yet fired or moved this turn he must pass a toughness roll to do so.
If a character is shooting a pistol around a corner the head and arm holding the
weapon are exposed; for a long gun the head, both arms, and the chest are exposed. If
the character chooses to shoot around a corner to his weak side he is either completely
exposed or drops a expertise level.

WOUND EFFECTS

F= Fatal, your character is killed instantly, if he was holding a card, too bad, dead.

M= Mortal roll 1d8 to score under your toughness, the difference is how long your
character remains conscious before expiring.

W= Wound, check notes on stat sheet, two wounds in the same place disable a limb,
three become a mortal wound.

S= Scratch, 'Tis but a scratch, you may carry on.

CHARACTER SHEET AND HIT LOCATIONS

NAME___________________
EXPERTISE_______ TOUGHNESS________
STRENGTH_______ LUCK______________
PREFERRED WEAPON_________________FISTICUFFS _______

S=SCRATCH W=WOUND M=MORTAL F=FATAL

#1 Head
1F 2F
3M 4W
5W 6S
Any head wound and you must test Toughness not to fall down

#2 Right Arm                                      #3 Chest                                  #4 Left Arm

1M 2M 3W                                             1F 2F 3M                              1M 2M 3W
4W 5W 6S                                             4W 5W 6S                              4W 5W 6S
Any arm wound you must test against Toughness not to drop your weapon

#5Upper abdomen

1F 2F 3M
4W 5W 6S

#6 Lower Abdomen

1F 2F 3M
4W 5W 6S

#7 Right Leg                                                     #8 Left Leg
1M                                                                        1M
2M                                                                        2M
3W                                                                        3W
4W                                                                        4W
5W                                                                        5W
6S                                                                          6S

Any lower abdomen or leg wound you must test against Toughness
not to fall down