D&D General Western-Inspired D&D adventures

Remathilis

Legend
So I just picked up Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone because the idea of doing a Wild West inspired D&D campaign tickled a part of my brain. The sourcebook gives a lot of great background and a module to get players to 5th level, but I'm looking to see what other modules either have a western theme or can be given a western coat of paint.

Before we begin, I know pretty much ANY module can be given a western theme by putting it in the desert and giving the goblins cowboy hats. Keep of the Borderlands is a western in medieval trappings. What I'm interested in are modules that fit the WW aesthetics. Bandits and robberies, old mines, homesteaders, that kinda thing.

So far, I think The Fiend of Hollow Mine (from Radiant Citadel) is a good fit, being set in an industrialized southwestern city. And my preference is for stuff in the 5-10 level range. 5e preferred, but I will convert older/other D&D-like games.

I'm interested in your suggestions.
 

log in or register to remove this ad


Would it help if I started bashing WotC to get some traffic?
It wouldn't hurt.

My advice: Don't do a D&D Western. Western RPGs are fun, but D&D is not the best system for it. D&D is a game with massive power growth. Your PCs at first level and 10th level are entirely different beasts ... but the core of what makes a good western starts to lose that specific feel of a western when the power levels escalate.

I love western RPGs - especially with a fantasy twist: But I use GURPS for the rule set. It has a slower power growth scale and handles weapon based ranged combat better. It isn't the only option, but it is my favorite.
 


Would it help if I started bashing WotC to get some traffic?
This is a difficult one for me because the themes and stock characters we expect from the western genre are often lacking in D&D. If you want to make a module a western, you just slap on those stock characters and trappings and you're pretty much there, but there are a few that are probably easier to adapt.

Against the Giants is a combination of modules G-1, G-2, and G-3, and starts with the player characters tasked with stopping the nearby hill giants from raiding human lands. That's pretty much a classic "bandits are attacking the homestead" type of story.
 

My advice: Don't do a D&D Western. Western RPGs are fun, but D&D is not the best system for it. D&D is a game with massive power growth. Your PCs at first level and 10th level are entirely different beasts ... but the core of what makes a good western starts to lose that specific feel of a western when the power levels escalate.
I don't necessarily think that's true. At least, not in the "D&D doesn't do horror well" sense of the term. A lot of westerns feature almost mythical protagonists: the best gunslinger in the West, etc. Now, I'm not running a Western RPG, I'm running D&D set in the Wild West of Eberron (not unlike I'm not running a horror RPG, I'm running D&D set in Ravenloft, two different things). I'm just looking for good adventures that captures the feel, not necessarily recreates the genre.

This is a difficult one for me because the themes and stock characters we expect from the western genre are often lacking in D&D. If you want to make a module a western, you just slap on those stock characters and trappings and you're pretty much there, but there are a few that are probably easier to adapt.
That's basically my plan. I'm just looking for modules that are the easiest to do that with.
 


.... A lot of westerns feature almost mythical protagonists: the best gunslinger in the West, etc. Now, I'm not running a Western RPG, I'm running D&D set in the Wild West of Eberron (not unlike I'm not running a horror RPG, I'm running D&D set in Ravenloft, two different things). I'm just looking for good adventures that captures the feel, not necessarily recreates the genre...
You had me until that last sentence - because it contradicts your message. If you want an adventure that captures the feel of a Western (either have a western theme or can be given a western coat of paint) you need to consider the iconic elements of a Western. There is no absolute universal rules - but there are elements that are very prevalent.

A small group versus a big group of bad guys. Whether they're infiltrating and destroying a fortress, protecting a town, or rescuring the kidnap victims from the coal mines.

Anti-anti-heroes. They look like the type of anti-hero that you should not trust, but in the end the only thing they do that is non-heroic is be rude and kill bad guys.

Mounts. You've got to have horses or their equivalents.

Desolate setting. While a desert is not required, the surrounding does have to be inhospitable like a tundra or swamp. The environment needs to feel a threat.

Ideology. There is usually something ideological about the conflict. The heroes represent freedom while the bad guys represent oppression. The hero protects the people because they have the home he wishes he could have, but does not think he deserves ... and the villains represent his self hate. %$@# like that. This all stems from Westerns being movies and movies being allegories. Or porn. They can also be porn. Those are usually pretty straight forward, except the Western ones which are more farce - but even those include alleorgies.

By level 5 to 9 many of these features become less meaningful in D&D. Hordes of monsters are obliterated by a fireball. Who needs a mount when you can fly and teleport around? A desolate setting is pretty meaningless when magic provides food, water, shelter and summons for entertainment.

This is why I think of Western motifs as low level fare. The 'frontier town adventure' gives way to higher level challenges around 5th level where the PCs go from isolated challenges to regional challenges (followed by global challenges between levels 11 and 16 with interdimensional challenges for the highest levels).

Regardless, here are a few options:

Lost Mine of Phandelver. Replace forest with desert and boom. If you change the names and rewrite the maps most people will not pick up on the module being used - even if they've played it before.

Secret of Bone Hill. It is also very easy to convert to a Western feel for a low level party. In the late 1980s I converted it into the starting block of a mega dungeon and selected it because I was on a Western kick at the time and it had the right feel.

In the 1970s, TSR released Boot Hill as a Western Game. There were a few modules for it. They can be modified. Taming of Brimstone was in Dungeon or Dragon magazine (I do not recall which), but it was a good little romp.

Be George Lucas. Find a story you like, copy the architecture, and then put it in your setting. You could steal Firefly or another semi-western story ... but you can also take Saving Private Ryan or Dragonball Z and convert those stories into a western as well.
 


I saw that there's an Ogre-Run Trail module available from one of the adventure subscription services, but I can't vouch for it, not being someone who subscribes to such things. Still, a fantasy Oregon Trail adventure is a pretty great idea.
I'm in as long as everyone dies- likely from dysentery. Not a hero way to go, sadly.

I have run a Magnificent 7 style game. It was more a Magnificent 4 with a pair of ok henchmen and a sacrificial DMNPC, but it worked out ok. I needed to sell the protecting the town over just going out to kill the bad guys in their lair. I needed some town NPCs with ties to something the players and PCs liked. I ended up with a silver mine and a cousin of one of the PCs.

I have also run a simple stagecoach train traveling through hostile territory series of encounters. I made a 4-coach train pulled by a large team of horses in case a few died along the way. Depending on how many NPCs died and horses, the number of coaches could go to 2 and maybe even just 1 to be successful. There was a couple side missions such as delivering the medicine and transporting the explosives without shaking them too much. There was a dinosaur egg that needed to get to the zoo before hatching and a couple secret bandits hiding among the others. It was fun, but mostly a series of encounters with some good roleplay bits thrown in such as when the they took breaks and needed to hunt for food after some was destroyed and stolen by the hidden bandits.
 

Trending content

Remove ads

Top