[Enpeze]

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

Depends on how puply you want to make it. Plus there is the fact that most wild animals are no real threat. In an RPG you can only have the hero run out of ammo, drop his gun down a crevass, and such a handful of times before the players have had enough.

I always thought, pulp is non-simulationistic. Its hero-centric and the story is bended around the hero. (to enable another story with the same hero in the next magazine) He has to survive or the reader (or player) is not satisfied. Even in not-so-pulpy westerns like tombstone there are scenes where the villain is able to fire at least 20 shots with 2 pistols without reloading. In italian pulp westerns the hero (or villain) is able to kill 1 person per second with one shot. How do one want to play such impossibilities out in the BRP rules? (I dont really understand why some people want to play these pulpy hero things, thus the question of "how" is only a theoretical one)

So the solution (also for the sake of a good roleplaying game) for this dilemma is to play a mix of pulp and simulation - as you seem to suggest in your post. For me the answer is clear. 80% simulation, 20% pulp. For others it may be the reverse.

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

Relaoding most weapons was a slow, time consuming process.

Now run one of those "band of injuns attack the settlers" type western stories and see how the characterstics of the firearms would make a big difference.


Prior to the 1870s or so the settlers are going to have a hard time keeping enough weapons loaded to fend off those "injuns".

I am not against detailed weapon data, especially if they are researched for a scenario which is focusing on those differences in ammo etc. (and having the right ammo at the right place is a matter of live and death) But I just do not see the necessity of detailed weapon data in a typical pulpy western scenario, where it is clear that the hero kills 6 black hats in 6 seconds with head shots. (right ammo or not...)

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

Custer probably wound have won at Little Bighorn if he had waited for his gatling guns.

If Custer has been a pulp hero he would surely have won Little Bighorn - just with his bare fists.