True Grit. That is exactly what you’ll find in the Aces & Eights: Shattered Frontier RPG by Kenzer & Company. When I first saw the beautifully tooled leather-bound tome at GenCon 2008[1], I was very much intrigued by the concept of an Old/Wild West roleplaying game…
Deadlands first debuted back in 1996 as a Western-Horror-Steampunk mash-up (before the term was as ubiquitous as it is today), a setting billed as the Weird West. The rules would eventually evolve into the current Savage Worlds roleplaying game (along with the Deadlands miniature battle spin-off rules, The Great Rail Wars). Deadlands is why Savage Worlds uses poker chips, playing cards, and exploding dice mechanics (referred to as “Aces” and “raises”) as those items helped give DL its Western flavor.
An overview of the different offerings that support gaming in the Wild West along with a Wild West RPG database I’ve compiled of all the Old West roleplaying games I’ve been able to dig up.
Over the next two weeks, Mad Brew Labs is hosting Wild West Weeks. For the following fortnight, I will be showcasing tabletop games, video games, miniatures, movies, music and other tools gamers can utilize to travel back in time and experience the freedom and grit of the Old West. The American Frontier is a setting rife with opportunities to be exploited at the game table.