Quote:
Originally Posted by Simlasa
Nope, I wouldn't have much desire for an entire supplement that was only about 'real world' weapons...
Years ago I got into a 'realism' phase and bought up all the Phoenix Command books and pored over them... even tried gaming with them... and that was what it was...
But nowadays I'm mostly interested in stuff that promotes story... having rules/ratings that describe the fine details between two handguns of the same caliber is not going to promote much story in my games.
Having a book of interesting critters, with a viable ecology tying them together would be much more useful.
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That might depend on what information went with the weapons. Generally there is a lot on interesting stuff that doesn't end up on the tables that can indeed promote story. For instace, there was a reason why the slightly less powerful version of the "Peacemaker", the "Frontier" was popular, specifically because it used the same ammo as the Winchester rifle. And any big game rifle would probably benefit for notes of how they were used for hunting.
There a lot of little details there that can add to the setting and story. Also quite a bit that the setting looses without it. People tend to think of the firearms in modern terms, and frankly they weren't that good. Parts weren't interchangeable, even between "identical" models. Early revolvers, really anything prior to metallic cartridges, couldn't be reloaded in combat. That was actually the reason why many carried two guns.
Plus, unlike modern firearms, the differences between similar guns was probably more pronounced. Today we have dozens of companies producing lots of fairly similar 9mm and .45ACP pistols. But back in the old west, there were some big differences between a Colt .45 and a Smith & Wesson .45. For starters, they couldn't use the same ammo. Secondly, the S&W "broken open" and ejected the empty shell casings, making the weapon a lot easier to reload.
In many ways the guns stuff is far more important story wise than the "critters' stuff. About 95% of the critters in the Old West, as anywhere else, have enough sense to stay clear of humans, and only attack when threated. I've got stats in the works for coyote's and bobcats, but they probably won't be needed much. More along the lines of sneaking onto the ranch after chickens or sheep.