So... rattling around in my brain for the past year and a little more is the idea of doing a fantasy western setting.
There's -tons- of Pseudo-Medieval Europe settings, a fair few Steampunk Europe settings, and a couple "Outlier" concept settings like Eberron which really don't feel like they belong to any one time period or region of the world. Dark Sun is another really good example of that. Meanwhile Ravenloft is Spooky Europe... And most of the settings for southeast Asia are... problematic... to say the least.
But there's also some strong Weird West contenders like the inestimable Deadlands or the Fistful of Darkness setting. There's also the EXCELLENT Sci-Fantasy setting Coyote and Crow which involves an America that was never colonized.
But when I say "Fantasy Western" I mean more "D&D with Cowboys". Gonzo monsters, kings and fiefdoms, stagecoach robberies, dragons... The whole nine yards. In point of fact it's why I've got the Gunslinger in Martial Artistry.
And a part of why I wanna do it is: I have English players, now, in my games, and I'm mortified of my terrible 'faux-British' accents that I know are hilariously inaccurate compared to my Midwestern accent or my Brooklyn accent or my variety of southern accents... Watching Brennan Lee Mulligan have Midwest halfling anarcho-socialists was pretty huge, if I'm honest. And Plug with his Butt Ugly Stuff Hut was also influential.
So lemme touch on a few of the core conceits and see what y'all think:
1) No Colonization (Almost)
This is a fantasy setting where the allegorical European settlers didn't found colonies. Instead they joined the cultures and communities of people who already lived in Acadia. They brought their own cultural elements, of course. Food, clothing styles, customs, religions. But rather than try to conquer the Acadian natives they did their best to settle alongside them in symbiosis where possible, and outright joined their societies where it made more sense to do so. However...
2) Evil Empire
Gotta have a pretty universally recognized "Bad Guy" in most settings. And since this is a setting about a fantasy version of America where the settlers weren't evil conquering jerks, having some solid evil and conquering jerks helps to show they're not imperialists. An expansionist imperial interest has landed on the continent of Acadia and begun conquering settlements and nation-states. They're slavers and they're building rail lines to connect their empire and expand its reach. Hard to avoid using a railroad to get where you wanna go without giving them money.
3) Fantastic Environments
Redwood forests are incredible and rarely seen in your typical D&D setting. But there's also the Great Basin. Historically there was an Inland Sea that stretched from Canada down through Wyoming and Nevada. It dried up millions of years ago, of course, but in this setting it dried up a few years ago. So now there's this strange and wondrous "Bottom of the Ocean" vibe in the deserts of the southwest. Coral highlands and shallow salt-rich lakes. Populated largely by aberrations that used to live at the bottom of the sea now living largely in caves. Things like Gricks and Carrion Crawlers. How about Appalachia as it's described by the people who live there? How about New England as Lovecraft writes it, and Maine as King writes it?
4) American Monsters
In addition to the traditional ogres and faeries of forgotten realms, some good old fashioned American mythical monsters. Hoop snakes and Hodags. Skunk Apes and Snallygasters. Even the dreaded Dungavenhooter and the adorably dangerous Jackalope. Might even go on a -real- Snipe hunt! From the Jersey Devil to the Chupacabra, America's got some wild monsters in it's myths and legends. Might even come across a herd of Blue Oxen... or some Ghost Riders in the Sky.... But also let Don Quixote tilt windmills -and- giants in equal measure!
5) American Dangers
While the idea of making a deal with the devil appears to have started in Europe sometime around 1000 CE, no other culture has ever done it as thoroughly as America has. Whether it's Crossroads Deals or Politicians selling their soul for a shot at office it's a common theme. And tied to it? The idea of dying a little inside every day. Of giving up pieces of your soul over time to accomplish things that seem necessary, even if they're evil... So how about a setting where it's not only easy to lose parts of your soul... but where you don't -die- when it's gone? Where you might even be able to get it back by outwitting a devil, or fighting to take it back from other monsters... Or even do a train robbery on the Ghost Train to reclaim your own soul before its ticket is punched...
6) Magical Metal and Spellcraft
Every single suit of armor, every sword, every gun and bullet, is imbued with -just- enough magic to keep the game fair. Guns are fun and interesting weapons, but they're not significantly stronger, or more expensive, than a longsword. They are, however, ridiculously easy to use compared to a longbow. Coincidentally, Warcasters are their own thing in the setting with magical force-shields to protect against cannonfire and return volleys of firebolts.
7) Nebulous Time Period
Pretty much every Weird West game is set right after the Civil War, essentially, so far as cultures and technology. And every fantasy game is nebulously trapped between the 8th and 15th centuries. But for this setting? Knights in shining armor, cowboys, railcars, golden age pirates, and six-gun samurai. Everything all at once because wild! Why bind yourself to a specific time period in a fantasy setting meant to make an imaginary America feel like D&D? Okay, so I'll probably make some of it more or less Regional. But you have to admit a knight wearing black armor with a great coat and a tin star hunting down criminals to bring them to justice would be amazing in it's own way. Blend the tropes!
8) Heritage Variety
Every heritage in every culture. Native Acadians aren't all Elves or something weird like that. They're the same sort of blend of heritages as any other culture in the setting. Elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, etc. PROBABLY try to keep the player heritage variety a touch limited in the world-book, but let players import whatever heritages they want to their tables. Nothing wrong with havinge Podes off the coast or Zevite invaders. Honestly, looking over the heritage list in A5e.tools I'm positively shocked there's no "Undead Heritage" yet... so I might add that to the setting. After all: Spooky Western is a whole genre as we've established.
What do you think? Is this a thing I should work toward publishing or just keep it for my own table?
There's -tons- of Pseudo-Medieval Europe settings, a fair few Steampunk Europe settings, and a couple "Outlier" concept settings like Eberron which really don't feel like they belong to any one time period or region of the world. Dark Sun is another really good example of that. Meanwhile Ravenloft is Spooky Europe... And most of the settings for southeast Asia are... problematic... to say the least.
But there's also some strong Weird West contenders like the inestimable Deadlands or the Fistful of Darkness setting. There's also the EXCELLENT Sci-Fantasy setting Coyote and Crow which involves an America that was never colonized.
But when I say "Fantasy Western" I mean more "D&D with Cowboys". Gonzo monsters, kings and fiefdoms, stagecoach robberies, dragons... The whole nine yards. In point of fact it's why I've got the Gunslinger in Martial Artistry.
And a part of why I wanna do it is: I have English players, now, in my games, and I'm mortified of my terrible 'faux-British' accents that I know are hilariously inaccurate compared to my Midwestern accent or my Brooklyn accent or my variety of southern accents... Watching Brennan Lee Mulligan have Midwest halfling anarcho-socialists was pretty huge, if I'm honest. And Plug with his Butt Ugly Stuff Hut was also influential.
So lemme touch on a few of the core conceits and see what y'all think:
1) No Colonization (Almost)
This is a fantasy setting where the allegorical European settlers didn't found colonies. Instead they joined the cultures and communities of people who already lived in Acadia. They brought their own cultural elements, of course. Food, clothing styles, customs, religions. But rather than try to conquer the Acadian natives they did their best to settle alongside them in symbiosis where possible, and outright joined their societies where it made more sense to do so. However...
2) Evil Empire
Gotta have a pretty universally recognized "Bad Guy" in most settings. And since this is a setting about a fantasy version of America where the settlers weren't evil conquering jerks, having some solid evil and conquering jerks helps to show they're not imperialists. An expansionist imperial interest has landed on the continent of Acadia and begun conquering settlements and nation-states. They're slavers and they're building rail lines to connect their empire and expand its reach. Hard to avoid using a railroad to get where you wanna go without giving them money.
3) Fantastic Environments
Redwood forests are incredible and rarely seen in your typical D&D setting. But there's also the Great Basin. Historically there was an Inland Sea that stretched from Canada down through Wyoming and Nevada. It dried up millions of years ago, of course, but in this setting it dried up a few years ago. So now there's this strange and wondrous "Bottom of the Ocean" vibe in the deserts of the southwest. Coral highlands and shallow salt-rich lakes. Populated largely by aberrations that used to live at the bottom of the sea now living largely in caves. Things like Gricks and Carrion Crawlers. How about Appalachia as it's described by the people who live there? How about New England as Lovecraft writes it, and Maine as King writes it?
4) American Monsters
In addition to the traditional ogres and faeries of forgotten realms, some good old fashioned American mythical monsters. Hoop snakes and Hodags. Skunk Apes and Snallygasters. Even the dreaded Dungavenhooter and the adorably dangerous Jackalope. Might even go on a -real- Snipe hunt! From the Jersey Devil to the Chupacabra, America's got some wild monsters in it's myths and legends. Might even come across a herd of Blue Oxen... or some Ghost Riders in the Sky.... But also let Don Quixote tilt windmills -and- giants in equal measure!
5) American Dangers
While the idea of making a deal with the devil appears to have started in Europe sometime around 1000 CE, no other culture has ever done it as thoroughly as America has. Whether it's Crossroads Deals or Politicians selling their soul for a shot at office it's a common theme. And tied to it? The idea of dying a little inside every day. Of giving up pieces of your soul over time to accomplish things that seem necessary, even if they're evil... So how about a setting where it's not only easy to lose parts of your soul... but where you don't -die- when it's gone? Where you might even be able to get it back by outwitting a devil, or fighting to take it back from other monsters... Or even do a train robbery on the Ghost Train to reclaim your own soul before its ticket is punched...
6) Magical Metal and Spellcraft
Every single suit of armor, every sword, every gun and bullet, is imbued with -just- enough magic to keep the game fair. Guns are fun and interesting weapons, but they're not significantly stronger, or more expensive, than a longsword. They are, however, ridiculously easy to use compared to a longbow. Coincidentally, Warcasters are their own thing in the setting with magical force-shields to protect against cannonfire and return volleys of firebolts.
7) Nebulous Time Period
Pretty much every Weird West game is set right after the Civil War, essentially, so far as cultures and technology. And every fantasy game is nebulously trapped between the 8th and 15th centuries. But for this setting? Knights in shining armor, cowboys, railcars, golden age pirates, and six-gun samurai. Everything all at once because wild! Why bind yourself to a specific time period in a fantasy setting meant to make an imaginary America feel like D&D? Okay, so I'll probably make some of it more or less Regional. But you have to admit a knight wearing black armor with a great coat and a tin star hunting down criminals to bring them to justice would be amazing in it's own way. Blend the tropes!
8) Heritage Variety
Every heritage in every culture. Native Acadians aren't all Elves or something weird like that. They're the same sort of blend of heritages as any other culture in the setting. Elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, etc. PROBABLY try to keep the player heritage variety a touch limited in the world-book, but let players import whatever heritages they want to their tables. Nothing wrong with havinge Podes off the coast or Zevite invaders. Honestly, looking over the heritage list in A5e.tools I'm positively shocked there's no "Undead Heritage" yet... so I might add that to the setting. After all: Spooky Western is a whole genre as we've established.
What do you think? Is this a thing I should work toward publishing or just keep it for my own table?