Ballad of the Pistolero

A Roleplaying Game set in the Wild West

By Sean Van Damme ​@DammeSean

Art: Sean Goodison ​@HighScoreKid
V .Beta 1.1 Feb 23, 2019

©Foxwood Games 2019

 Introduction
“Howdy folks, name’s Jed, and this here
is my partner Zeak. See you done found
your way to our little slice of paradise.
Now it isn’t all nice here, we have seen
our fair share of excitement, and if you
want to hear about it, well then sit down
and let me regale you of our adventures.
“Yes Zeak, I know that there were
others, and that the stories are far from
over. Hell you might even be the next
Pistolero to step up and change the
world. But I’m not so knowledgeable
about those types of things, so I’ll turn
that over to Zeak here.”
​ It is an
What is ​Ballad of the Pistolero?
RPG set in the Wild West, of directors
like Sergio Leone, John Ford, and Sam
Peckinpah. It is about gruff men, and
women in the desert, and the quick
violence that can burst forth from the six
shooters strapped to their hips.
Ballad of the Pistolero,​ is a d100 based
game with a simple set of skills and
combat rules so that the players have
the freedom to live out their spaghetti
western dreams. This quick start set of
rules will cover character creation, a few
out of combat skills and then Combat.
You will find that there are not rules for
everything. If in the course of your
adventures you come across something
that isn’t listed in the rules have the
Narrator pick a relevant skill and run a
test. The idea is for this set of rules to
be the dime novel of Tabletop games
and not a 700 page monster, because
those require two hands.
To play the game each player will need
a set of percentile (d100) dice, and a
few d6’s. A set of poker chips is
recommended for the table but not
required, though the rules will assume
you are using them as an AP pool.
A Note on History
“Now this is where I am an expert. Of
course this takes place in the Wild West
in the Year of our Lord
Eighteen-hundred and Eighty, but that
doesn’t mean that things have to stay
there. Oh but history says...bully that.
History says many a thing, and not all of
them are good stories. We are here to
tell stories and have fun. So when you
are coming up with your game don’t feel
the need to be beholden to what actually
happened.”
My Friend here is correct. In the
construction of these rules I took
inspiration from both history and the
genre of the Western which is far and
away not the same as the genuine
article. So my advice is to go nuts, and
think more about feel and tone, instead
of what actually happened when.
1

Chapter I:
How To Play
The saloon was quiet, sun spilling into
the room, blocked only by the shadow of
the man in black. With a flick of his wrist,
the coat was behind his back, the ivory
handle of the pistol drawing everybody's
eyes.
“We don’t want no trouble mister,” the
barkeep sputtered, covering up for the
sound of his foot hitting the release on
the shotgun under the bar.
“Won’t be none if you spit up that rat
bastard you hiding. The one that killed
my Pa.” The man in black’s eyes locked
in harder on the barkeep, turning to
squints of violence. The Barkeep
matched them. So it was going to come
down to this...
Skill Tests
The main way events will be decided in
Ballad of the Pistolero​ is through skill
tests. A skill test works as such. You,
the player, describe what you want to do
and the Narrator will tell you what skill
will need to be tested and the difficulty
rating that goes along with it. You will
then take that skill’s base rating and add
or subtract proficiency and difficulty
rating to come up with the final number
you need to roll under. That will then be
announced to the table and you will roll
1d100 and see if you arrive below the
determined number.
Both the players and the Narrator will
perform this skill math in the open when
making checks or attacks, which are
calculated in the same way.
Frederick Von Marken, played by Billy,
is looking nervously across the saloon.
Pulling his hat down he covers his
eyes, because he knows he is the rat
bastard that killed the Man in Black’s
Pa.
“I’m going to do my best to pull my hat
down and hide, pretend to be
somebody else,” Billy says.
“Okay can you make me a hard
Deception test, because The Man in
Black is looking for you.”
Billy looks at his sheet and does some
math in his head. “Deception is charm
which I’ve got in spades,” he cracks a
smile. “Plus I have a rank in it which
means that the test is only a -10% and
not 20%. So I need to get lower than a
44%”
Billy rolls the dice and gets a 56%.
“You pull your hat down, but it’s too
late, and your clothing to distinctive.
the Man in Black has seen you,
turning his gaze from the Barkeep to
you,” the narrator says describing the
outcome of the test.
2

Difficulty modifiers
Arduous -30
Hard -20
Challenging -10
Normal -
Easy +10
Routine +20
Trivial +30
If you are proficient in a skill based on
your profession you will have a rank in
it, meaning a +10% is added to your
base test. A character can have up to
three ranks in a skill for a bonus of
+30%.
So if you have a 40% base and one
proficiency rank a normal difficulty test
would be a 50%, an easy test 60% and
a challenging one 40%.
If you attempt to make a test with an
advanced skill that you are not proficient
in, you must take the test with
disadvantage.
Advantage/Disadvantage
In some cases things will be going your
way, and you will have advantage on
the roll. Other times, fate will not be on
your side and you will have
disadvantage. In both cases you will roll,
your d100 as normal, and add an extra
d10. If you have advantage, and
replacing the tens dice with the extra
d10 makes your roll better you can
switch them. If you have disadvantage
and that extra d10 in the tens place
would make your roll worse, you have to
switch them. If they are both failures but
one would be a critical fail that is
considered worse and must be used.
Critical Success/Critical fail:​ All tests
can critically succeed or critically fail. If
you roll doubles on your d100 ie 11%
that is a critical success. If you are
testing a skill you will pass in
spectacular fashion, if it is an attack you
will add an extra d10 to your damage
roll. If you rolled doubles and the test
was a failure, you will fail in a
spectacular fashion. If it is an attack,
your weapon will jam and you can not
take any more attacks this turn. You will
have to spend ​2AP​ to clear the jam. For
counting damage thresholds, a critical
strike counts as two hits for the same
amount of damage.
Opposed Tests: ​If two characters are
attempting to do something in opposition
to each other, such as grappling, they
will make opposed tests, with whatever
skill or attribute the narrator calls for.
Both parties add their modifiers and call
out the number they need to roll below,
and then roll. If one character fails while
the other succeeds on the test, then
finding who wins the opposed test is
simple, same if they both fail. If both
sides succeed on the test, you must
count degrees of success. For every
10% below your target number you gain
one level of success. Each party counts
3
their levels and the one with the most is
the winner. If both sides succeed on the
test but one is a critical success and the
other just a normal success the
character that rolled the critical is the
winner instead.
“Well if I’m pegged I guess I should
run. I’m going to push my chair back
and make a run for it!” Billy says.
“You can, that will be a normal
Athletics test to get a good running
start.”
“Okay that isn’t my best skill, but I
don’t have to add or subtract
anything…” Billy says taking a deep
breath and picking up his dice. “Need
below a 35%.” He rolls it comes up
88%. “Oh no,” he says looking at the
Narrator to see what horrible fate
awaits Frederick because of this
critical failure.
“Okay, so the Man in Black has a rank
in Athletics and a 55% so he needs to
roll under a 65%,” the Narrator says.
“Welp I don’t have any ranks in
Coordination, and Frederick isn’t the
quickest, so I need to get below a
30%.”
The dice are rolled. The Man in Black
gets a 57% a success, but Frederick
gets an 11% a critical success.
“You manage to catch him off guard
with the insults about his father, and
squirm away from under his foot
rolling across the bar and getting to
your feet.

“Seeing you down the Man in Black

walks over and puts his foot on your
chest. ‘Shouldn’t have killed my Pa
you two timing cheating bastard.’ He
pulls his pistol and points it at
Frederick.”

“I’m going to try and squirm away from

under his foot, and mutter something
about how his pappy had it coming,”
Billy says.

“Okay that is going to be an opposed

check, your Coordination against his
Athletics.” Billy looks worried. “Well I
don’t have anything to lose,” he says
picking up the dice.

4

Chapter II:
Character Creation
Now we ain’t going to be telling no story
about you if you ain’t no Pistolero, so I
guess we should get down to fixing that.
All the great heroes and villains have to
start somewhere am I right Zeak?
Yes of course, before we get started
though a note on history, race, gender,
and sex. We can’t change history, but
since this is a game we don’t have to be
beholden to it. As such we make no
assumption about your character’s race,
gender, sex, pronouns, orientation, etc.
The goal of ​Ballad of the Pistolero​ is to
create a fun time at the table while
talking in silly western accents and
staring each other down before throwing
dice.
In ​Ballad of the Pistolero,​ your Pistolero
has six stats which will determine most
of the numbers you will be rolling
against. There are also eleven
professions for you to choose from
representing the current life you lead,
before turning towards gunslinging and
adventure.
Your six stats are:
Brawn:​ Your raw physicality.
Quickdraw:​ Speed reflexes, You can
see the bullets.
Vitality:​ This is a measure of how
healthy you are, and that gets chipped
away by getten’ sick and gettin’ shot.
Book Learnen’:​ This is all those facts
you learned from those fancy books.
Common Sense:​ All the facts you
picked up while living your life.
Charm:​ A winning smile and a wink will
get you far in life partner.
Your skills are generated by rolling 3d10
and adding that number to 25. Once you
have these six numbers you can put
them where you want.
If you didn’t generate at least one stat
over 40 you can pick one of your rolls
and change it to 40.
Each stat has an associated modifier
that will be used throughout the game.
The modifier is the tens place in your
score. So if your Pistolero has a brawn
of 45% their Brawn Modifier is 4.
Hitpoints, Stamina, Luck, and Moxie
Your Vitality score is involved in
calculating your Hit Points and Stamina.
Hit Points
Hit Points are generated by rolling a d10
and adding your Vitality modifier to it.
Stamina
Stamina represents a pool of energy
that you are able to draw from as you
get hurt or tired that once expended
exposes your small fragile pool of hit
5
points. Your Stamina is your Vitality
score. You regain half your Stamina
during a restful night’s sleep. If you are
over half it returns to full.
Moxie
Moxie is that hard to define trait that
some people have, that lets them push
forward, longer and harder than they
otherwise could. Or to carry out some
feat that should be nigh impossible.
During the game you can use your
Moxie for a few things. You can spend it
on feats and skills that burn Moxie or
you can also spend Moxie on…
● You can spend 10 Moxie to
regain 1AP
● You can spend up to 20 Moxie to
regain 10 Stamina. 2 to 1 ratio.
● You can spend 10 Moxie to
increase you movement by 15ft
for a round.
You recharge all your moxie with a good
night’s sleep and it can be temporarily
boosted by items like Whisky.
Moxie is generated by rolling 3d10 and
adding 20 then multiplying by 2.
(3d10+20)2
Luck
Luck, it is something some people have
and others do not. You are just born
with it, and as you get to living your life it
eventually runs out. Course while you
have it might as well use it.
Luck is generated by rolling a d100, this
number is how many luck points you
have to spend for the rest of your
Pistolero’s life. They do not regenerate
ever, period. Spend them with care.
Luck is used in a couple of different
ways. You can spend luck to…
● To make a roll better, spending
the needed luck to succeed.
● Spend 5 luck to gain advantage
on a roll.
● Spend 10 luck can to negate a
major injury.
Keep in mind though that you don’t gain
any more luck throughout the game and
it doesn’t recharge. The longer you live
the closer you are to your luck running
dry.
The narrator might also ask you to test
against your luck, so be careful with it.
Generally a luck test would come when
you ask the narrator if you can do
something that relies not on skill but the
hands of fate.
Douglas Turner, the Stagecoach
Driver, is running away from a group
of bandits. Running out of options
Shonda who is playing Douglass turns
to the narrator.
“I think I remember having a stick of
dynamite in my bag,” she says.
“Make me a luck test, and let's see if
that’s the case,” the narrator says.
“Okay I’m at 30% Luck left.” She rolls
6
 and comes back with a 25.
“Turns out you left a stick of Dynamite
in your bag, pulling it out out you strike
a match and set it to the fuse.”
Full, 1/2 , and 1/3
For some skills and effects it is
important to know when your Stamina
and Moxie are between full and half, half
and ⅓ and ⅓ and empty. Once you
have generated the score, divide to find
these numbers and record it on your
Wanted Poster. If you come up with less
than a whole number, round up.
Action Points:
Each character starts with an Action
Point(AP) value of three. These points
are what you spend in combat to
perform actions. At the start of your
second turn you will regain 3 action
points. Action Points carry over from
round to round forming an action point
pool. You can have up to 10 Action
Points in your pool.
Pick a Profession
Next you will pick your profession, write
down the talent that you have gained,
the proficances the profession has and
it’s starting gear.
Every character at the start of the game
is given two advancements to spend
how they would like.
Once you have spent your two
advances, flip to the chapter on Feats
and pick a feat to start with. If your
chosen profession has a feat as an
advance this starting feat doesn’t count
against that.
Ballad of the Pistolero​, doesn’t use
experience points, and character
advancement is driven by plot
progression. At times during the game
the narrator will award an advancement
to the players around the table. You will
then consult your class’s advancement
chart and pick an advancement. When
adding raw percentage to an ability
score the chart shows the max you can
aquire, but an advancement is taken in
5% increments.
Pick a Hat
One of the most iconic things that an old
west Pistolero has is their hat. The color
of this hat can tell you so much about a
person. Are they a villain looking for
trouble? A do-gooding lawman?
Perhaps they are just a ranch hand just
looking to make it from day to day? As
such when you are creating your
character, you are going to pick the
color of their hat, Black, Brown, or
White. Your hat color is not a hard and
fast rule of what kind of person you are
going to be, but it gives you an idea... a
place to start.
Background
7
On your Character sheet you will find a know about them, and those will come
paragraph that has blanks with up as I tell you their story.
questions. As you fill those out you will
start to get a good idea of who your
Pistolero is. Those questions are as
follows. Name, pronoun, where are you
from, ideal, flaw, goal, family, and other.
In the Appendix there will be tables and
charts for these questions with
examples and ideas, if you need help or
want to let the dice decide who you are
going to become.

“Sit down and let me tell you the story

of ​(Name). (Pronoun)​ was the best
damn Pistolero any of us had seen.
They walked into town for the first
time, and I turned to my friend and
said “Zeak now that there
whippersnapper is going places.”

They hailed from ​(Hometown)​ but we

never held that against them. For you
see they were here with a single
(ideal)​ and that was the driving force
in trying to achieve ​(goal)​.

Now they were not without ​(Flaw)

because let’s face it we all got flaws, I
myself never did learn how to follow
the rules.”

Family? Of course they had family.

Don’t we all? ​(Family)​ they had. Now
that was just a quick little history of
this interesting personality, and there
are ​(other)​ things you might want to

8
 Chapter III:
Professions, Skills, and
Feats
Before you became a Pistolero you had
a life, a job, maybe even a family. Now
you use those skills as you drift across
the high planes. Each Profession has
four skills that you are proficient in, a
talent, and an advancement chart.
When the Narrator awards an
advancement path showing what skills
and abilities you can increase over the
course of the game. Each profession will
have listed the six Ability scores. If there
is a number under the score, you can
increase that score. Each awarded
advance is worth 5%, and you can
increase the ability’s score to the listed
maximum. So if there is a 15% under
your brawn it would take three advances
to gain all 15%.
Under that are listed Secondary Abilities
that you can increase.
Skill: ​Skill proficiency rank
Feat: ​Feat
Mox: ​+1d10 to your maximum Moxie
Stam: ​+1d10 to your maximum Stamina
There is no set order that you have to
take your profession increases at. If you
want to take a bit from an Ability score,
then add to your Stamina and then go
back to the score you can do that.
Your Profession will also come with
starting equipment, and funds.
Bandit
Reynolds gang, Barranger Gang, James
Gang, they were all the same. You have
seen it all, skipped bounties, robbed
banks, and killed men. Ice runs through
your veins. Some of your comparits are
crazy ruthless killers, others men of a
strange code. Always looking for
another crew, but also willing to walk
away in five minutes flat if you feel the
heat coming around the corner.
​ ou are notorious for not
Paint it Red:​ Y
playing fair. The bandit can make an
intimidation test with +20% and cause
people to be frightened of them. They
have advantage against those feared
targets. At the start of their next turn
feared targets can attempt to make a
challenging resolve test to break the
fear. They gain +10% to the test for
every 30ft they are away from the
Bandit. If they fail the next test is Hard,
then arduous. 30 Moxie
Proficiency: ​Stealth, Sleight of Hand,
Counterfeit, Guns, Fighten’, Intimidate
Starting Gear: ​Common Clothing, Bed
Roll, lockpick, red bandana, Colt Single
Action army (20) and a Tomahawk, or a
Winchester (20). $35
Ability Scores
Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha
5% 15% 10% ----- ----- ----
9

Secondary Abilities
Feat Skill Skill Skill
Bounty Hunter
“Bounty Hunters, we don’t need their
scum,” except for those times when ya
kind of do. You don’t have attachments
to people, people are product. Just
walking stacks of cash waiting to be
traded to the right person.
Like a hound who has been attracted to
blood, the bounty hunter doesn’t stop,
they don’t know how.
I Will Find You:​ T​ he bounty hunter can
make a survival or eavesdrop test with
+30% when looking or a person or
object. If they already have +30% they
gain advantage on the test. 20 Moxie
Proficiency: ​Guns, Investigation,
Interrogation, Tracking, Rumor, Stealth
Starting Gear: ​Common Clothing,
Bedroll, Hardtack (10) lantern, Iron
Chain, Bear Trap, LeMat Revolver,
Winchester (20 rounds for each, 4
shotgun shells) Water, and poster for
one outlaw. $80
Ability Scores
Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha
---- 10% 5% ---- 5% 5%
Secondary Abilities
Feat Feat Skill Stam Mox
Cowboy
Driving cattle across the range, living off
the land, doing tricks with your rope. It is
a simple if not lonely life. Maybe there is
something in this world more than just
pushing the herd from one grazing area
to another, it’s hard work sure and you
are good at it, but you hear tell that dogs
do it in Scotland.
Hogtie:​ W​ hen attempting animal
handling tests with rope you have
advantage. You may also make the test
from a distance of up to half the rope’s
length. You can hogtie people as well.
Pulling people to the ground and making
them Prone costs ​2AP​ and 10 Moxie.
The hogtied target is considered
grappled. Dragging a Hogtied target
your full movement costs 20 Moxie, this
cost is negated on horseback.
Proficiency: ​Handle Animal, fighten’,
Ride, Athletics,survival, tracking
Starting Gear: ​Common Clothing, Rope
30 feet, Bedroll, Hardtack (10)
10
torch,compass, Colt Single Action Army
(20) Sharps Rifle (20) Bowie Knife. $10
Ability Scores
Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha
10% 5% 5% ---- 5% ----
Secondary Abilities
Mox Skill Skill Skill Feat
Doctor
The big cities in the east are great
places to make money, but not really for
adventure. With a little nest egg, and
maybe some war experience you have
set out for the west, with a plot of land
and some dreams. There are thousands
of homesteaders, good sawbones
though are harder to find. So if the
ranching doesn’t work out, you can
alway return to hacking off limbs and
prescribing drugs.
Tie it off:​ The Doctor can apply a
tourniquet to a wounded ally while
making a Heal test. The narrator will
determine the difficulty, and the doctor
can spend 1-3 Action Points to bring
down negative mods, or add positive
ones to the test. Each action point is
+10%. If this test is a success, the target
gains back 2d10 to their stamina and is
healed of one minor wound. ​1AP ​to
make the check, and an additional AP
for each 10% bonus up to 30%.
Proficiency: ​Heal, fighten, leadership,
survival, Resolve, Investigation
Starting Gear: ​Fine Clothing, Bag with
bandages (4), soap, set of surgeons
knives, Derringer 10 rounds $100
Ability Scores
Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha
10% ---- ---- 15% 5% ----
Secondary Abilities
Feat Skill Skill Mox
Duelist
Think you’re fast partner, I can
guarantee you are not as fast as me.
One on one, when the clock strikes high
noon we draw, and then you land six
feet under. I take my winnings and my
guns and head on to the next town
where another might be foolish enough
to challenge me.
Shoot from the Hip:​ ​As your first action
in combat you can draw your pistol and
fire as many rounds as are in the
chamber. These tests are made with no
positive mods. ​3AP ​30 Moxie
11
Proficiency: ​Guns, Athletics,
Perception, fighten’, Gamble, Reaction
Starting Gear: ​Common Clothing,
Tobacco, garish pair of chaps, 2 Colt
Single Action Army Revolvers (30)
Starting Gear: ​Fine Clothing, deck of
cards, flask, lockpick, Colt Single Action
Army (20), or a Derringer (10) and Brass
Knuckles. $5d10.
Ability Scores

Ability Scores Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha

---- 5% ---- ---- 5% 15%

Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha

---- 15% ---- ---- ---- 10% Secondary Abilities

Secondary Abilities Feat Skill Skill Skill Mox

Skill Skill Stam Mox Feat

Gambler
You got to know when to hold them, and
know when to fold them. There is
always a game of poker to be played,
always a race or fight to bet on. You’ve
never been one to pass up an
opportunity for a game of chance.
Living on the Edge:​ ​After rolling a
charm, gamble, or bargen test but
before you look at the result you can flip
the tens and ones places on the die. If
you are still successful it is a critical
success but if you fail it is a critical
failure. 30 moxie.
Proficiency: ​Gamble, Counterfeit,
Oratory, Rithmetic, Deception,
Magnetism
Homesteader
You were a poor farmer back east, and
you’re a poor farmer out here. Sure
you’ve got a bit more land, and a house
you built with your own two hands but
that doesn’t mean life is better, or that
this was the be all end all of freedom.
The bank and the government are still
breathing down your neck, along with
other threats from the wilds that get
blown in on a evil wind. In the end all
you have that is truly reliable is your
work ethic...and shotgun.
Both Barrels: ​You can as a single
attack fire both barrels from your
shotgun at once. Test at +30% if that is
already the difficulty, then test with
advantage. Can be used once per
gunfight. Counts as two hits when

12
figuring damage thresholds. ​2AP ​20 fight is over. If you lose, well….it’s over
Moxie for you. 30 Moxie

Proficiency: ​Survival, Fighten, Handel Proficiency: ​Guns, Leadership,

Animal, Bargen, Athletics, Navigation
Starting Gear: ​Common clothing, Rope,
bedroll, hammer, hardtack (5) Break
action Shotgun (12 slugs) $10
Ability Scores
Interrogation, Scrutinize, Oratory,
investigation
Starting Gear: ​Common Clothing, Tin
Star, Colt Single action Army Revolver,
(20 rounds) Bowie Knife.Winchester
Rifle (20). Key to the jail $20

Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha Ability Scores

10% ---- 5% ---- 10% ----

Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha

Secondary Abilities 10% 10% 5% ---- ---- ----

Feat Skill Stam Stam Mox Secondary Abilities

Lawman Feat Skill Mox Stam Stam

You are the law. Or were the law. So

many men step up to be sherif, and just
as many quickly step down...or are
gunned down. Small towns in the west
are ruff places, and you are all that
stands between the good people of
Rockridge and those bandits that are
coming to take their land. It is a
thankless job, but it brings the respect of
everybody in town.
Madam
I came to America and this little voice of
adventure said “you can be whatever
you want to be,” and here I am.. In this
piss ant town, serving piss ant
people...but there is still hope, still a
place to head forward, and be whatever
the I want to be, because this is
America.

Call out:​ ​You can call out the leader of
any group and settle things one on one.
The challenged party is unable to
refuse. A duel starts and if you win the
Are you sure about that darling?: ​The
Madam can use their wiles and make a
charm based test with +30%, if they
already have +30% make the test with
advantage. 25 Moxie.

13
 their papers, your investigate tests are
Proficiency: ​Magnetism, Leadership, taken with advantage. On your person
Eavesdrop, Deception, Gamble, you hold a fake set of papers identifying
Rithmatic. you as somebody else, this cover is of
the highest order. People who don’t
Starting Gear: ​Fine Clothing, Perfume, know you don’t question it.
ink and pen, fancy undergarments,
mirror, Derringer (8 rounds). $20 Proficiency: ​Investigate, Eavesdrop,
Guns, Leadership, disguise, Tracking
Ability Scores
Starting Gear: ​Fine Clothing, Bed Roll,
Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha Magnifying glass, paper, pen and ink,
Credentials, Colt Single Action Army (20
---- 5% ---- ---- 10% 15% rounds), Light Cavalry Saber $60

Secondary Abilities Ability Scores

Feat Mox Skill Skill Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha

5% 5% ---- 5% 10% 5%

Pinkerton
Secondary Abilities

You are a detective for the highest

bidder. Part of a vast security and
intelligence gathering network that
crosses the country. You work for
whoever has the money to pay your
fees.
Infiltration and intelligence are your
specialties, you have a network of
contacts spread across the west.
Revealing yourself isn’t always option
number one but when you do local
governments roll out the red carpet.
​ hen looking to infiltrate an
Detective:​ W
organized group, or digging through
Skill Skill Feat Mox
Pugilist
You were a fighter back east. The best
there ever was, or maybe not. Maybe
you were just a scrapper who liked to
get paid for smashing people’s faces in.
Regardless the money dried up, not the
fights though. You figured there is this
whole wild part of the country, might as
well go out there and get paid to hit
people.

14
One Two Punch: ​Your left hook is as
dangerous as your right. When you land
a melee hit, and do damage, you can
spend 15 Moxie to make a second
attack. You can repeat this until you fail
to do damage, or run out of Moxie.
Proficiency: ​Athletics, Intimidate,
Fighten’, Resolve, Magnetism, Gamble
Starting Gear: ​Common Clothing,
Rations (10) Old fight poster, brass
Knuckles, Bowie Knife. $20
Ability Scores
Always a Flask:​ T ​ he Saloon Keeper
has a flask with five shots of whisky on
them at all times. Each shot restores 10
Moxie points. The flask is refilled each
morning. Players receiving the shot
must test following the rules for drinking
alcohol. ​2AP
Proficiency: ​Gamble, Eavesdrop,
Rumor, Magnetism, Rithmatic, Sleight of
Hand
Starting Gear: ​Fine Clothing, Flask,
Perfume, Tobacco and rolling papers,
Colt Single Action Army (20 rounds) $30

Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha Ability Scores

10% ---- 10% ---- ---- ----

Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha

Secondary Abilities ---- 10% ---- ---- 5% 15%

Mox Stam Skill Skill Feat Feat Secondary Abilities

Saloon Keeper Feat Skill Skill Mox

“Get you a drink sir?” Gold, money, and Soldier

booze are what make the world go
round. Stiff drinks and simple
conversation. You are half doctor half
shrink. The bar might not be yours, but
there is a bed to sleep in, and the
money is steady. Ya there are fights,
and the occasional murder in the main
room but people don’t rob saloons when
the bank is down the street.
With the end of the War between the
states, the frontier is filled with
ex-soldiers. People filled with a need to
get away, to find a better life for
themselves. Some though are just
looking to get away, to retreat into the
vastness of the desert staying one step
ahead of their memories, and the
horrible things that they did in the name
of home and county.

15

Soldiers tend to see most problems as
something that can be shot or stabbed
into submission. Some consider
themselves scholars of war and men.
Most though have just grown
comfortable with the killing.
Push on:​ You are able to keep going
even after others would have fallen
apart. When you use this skill gain back
any Action Points you have spent this
round, and if your Stamina is less than
half, it returns to half. 40 Moxie.
Proficiency: ​Leadership, Athletics,
Guns, Resolve, Survival, Tracking
Starting Gear: ​Common clothing, Long
Jacket (faded blue or gray), boots,
bedroll, rations (10) Colt Single Action
Army, and a second pistol or a Sharps
Rifle. 20 bullets for each. $20
Ability Scores
Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha
5% 10% 10% ---- 5% ----
Secondary Abilities
Stagecoach Driver
Wells Fargo, the Pony Express, normal
people, everybody needs a ride, and not
everybody can drive a team of six. It’s a
good job sure, but the danger is there,
also you hear things, and less than
savory people do try to rope you into
things.
The allure of not being tied down is
strong and even for the West you are a
transitory person.
Look Ma, I’m going fast!:​ ​You can
reroll failed drive tests and take the
better result. This skill can be used up to
the stagecoach drivers Common Sense
mod per day. 10 Moxie
Proficiency: ​Drive, Ride, Perception,
Cordenation, Navigation, Reaction
Starting Gear: ​Common clothing, rope,
hardtack (10) bedroll, map case, Bowie
Knife, Winchester (40 rounds). $30
Ability Scores
Br Qd Vit BL Cs Cha
5% 10% 5% ---- 5% ----

Feat Skill Skill Stam

Secondary Abilities

Feat Skill Skill Stam Mox

16
 Skills
Skills come in two styles, basic and
advanced. Basic skills are things that
everybody knows, and you can make
tests against these without penalty if you
lack proficiency ranks. Advanced skills
require special learning that comes from
life experience or schoolin’. If you are
not proficient with these skills you will
have to make the test with
disadvantage.
Being proficient in a skill confers a
bonus of +10%. You can have up to
three ranks in a skill bringing your bonus
to +30%.
Each skill also has a corresponding stat
that it is connected with. If you are
making a test with a skill you have no
training in you test with the raw stat, and
any modifier that the Narrator puts on
the test.
Basic
Athletics (Brawn):​”I was all American
in college, I can run and jump faster
than anybody!”
Bargain (Charm): “​Let’s make a deal
partner, this silver tongue isn’t doing me
or you any good just sitting in my skull
now is it?”
Coordination (Quickdraw): “​You’re
real good at that knife game, haven’t
stabbed your finger all night, never fall
off your horse nether.”
Deception (Charm): “​This cure all will
make you feel younger and shoot
straighter. Come one! Come all!” ​Holds
crossed fingers behind back.
Fighten’ (Brawn) ​“I’ll crack my knuckles
over your fucken’ head, then ram my
knife into your gut if you speak that way
‘bout my ma again.”
Guns (Quick Draw):​ Bang, bang. Iron
comes out bullets go flying, I point
people drop sometimes, blood flys. It’s a
gunfight.
Handle Animal (Common Sense):
“Whoa there, girl, just hold on,” ​pet’s the
big Mare’s main, ​“That’s it, ya...just calm
down and let me slide this over your
head.”
Intimidate (Brawn): ​“I will come over
there a fuck you two ways to Sunday
unless you tell me where you hid the
money!” ​Cracks knuckles.
Investigation (Book Learnen’): ​“Looks
like he had money hid in this account,
and I see that under the bed he had a
safe deposit box so we can postulate…”
Magnetism (Charm): ​“I got the looks, I
got the charm, people love me, they
follow me, they do what I want.”
17
Oratory (Common Sense): ​“Four score
and seven years ago...we talked about
whether it was nobler to suffer the slings
and arrows… or to refresh the tree of
liberty from time to time with the blood of
patriots!”
Perception (Common Sense): ​“I saw it
out of the corner of my eye I did. Don’t
trust me well then turn and look for
yourself.”
Reaction (Quick Draw): ​“Do you need
a count?” ​Nope I’m good, ain’t nobody
​ ang...​fast as me...
as...B
Readen’ (Book Learnen’)​: “I got a
house full of books and I’ve read them
all. Ask me something and I’m sure I
know the answer, I went to Yale after
all.”
Resolve (Common sense): ​“I saw so
many things during the war, I close my
eyes and they are there, always.
Prepares me what to expect out here in
the west.”
Righten (Book Learnen’): ​“I shall write
my account of this great and vast
western land, then sell it once I return to
New York.”
Rithmetic (Book Learnen’): ​“If you
have five bandits, and I shoot three of
you how many does that leave?”
Rumor (Common Sense): ​“I hear tell
that there is gold in the hills, and that old
man Don is pushing for the mayorship.”
Scrutinize (Common Sense): ​“That
there don’t look right to me. I know you
said you’re Stinky Pete, but he don’t
have no wooden leg, it’s made of iron.”
Advanced
Counterfeit (Book Learnen’): ​“I’ve got
this big bag of greenbacks, I assure you
they are real. Need some documents, a
land grant, military severance?”
Disguise (Book Learnen’): “​Fake
mustache, wig, jacket from a dead man,
grease paint, looks like you got an
actor’s tool kit here.” ​Yes...actor...
Drive (Quick Draw): ​“Grab the reins
boy, I’ma teach you how to run this here
stagecoach.”
Eavesdrop (Common Sense): ​Leans
back in their chair, “​ Mr. so and so is
doing what now?”
Gamble (Charm): ​“I’m
in...raise...raise...call.” ​Puts cards down,
“And that boys is how you play the
game.”
Heal (Book Learnen’): ​“I need a
bandage, a sharp knife, a hot poker and
and three fingers of whiskey.” ​What’s
the whiskey for? “​ Me.”
18
Interrogation (Brawn/Charm): ​“Just
one more question sir, it’s one I forgot a
second ago, that has just been in my
mind, you said you were at the
saloon…”
Leadership (Charm): ​"From this day
until the ending of the world but we in it
shall be remember'd. We few, we happy
few, we band of brothers, For he today
who sheds his blood with me shall be
my brother, Be he ne'er so vile, this day
shall gentle his condition, and
gentlemen in England now abed shall
think themselves accursed they were
not here, and hold their manhoods
cheap..."
Navigation (Book Learnen’): ​“Looking
up at the sky, as long as I have the
north star, we will never be lost. All your
maps and directions are fine, but give
me my star and we shall be right.”
Ride (Quick Draw): ​“I was born in the
saddle, I suspect I’ll die in it as well. Not
much use being out here if you can’t sit
a horse.”
Sleight of Hand (Quick Draw): ​“Miss
direction, that is the key, they look the
other way, look at your face, and then
the coin just slides away in the palm of
your hand.”
Stealth (Quick Draw): ​“Move like
shadows boys, like the night. The sherif
won’t know what hit’em, and then we'll
be out of town with our prize before he
can even sound the alarm.”
Survival (Common Sense): ​“I look at
the desert, and I don’t see a vast empty
waste, I see food and water, just hidden
away,...”
Tracking (Common Sense): ​“A herd of
bison came through here yesterday, and
before that the men we seek made
camp, the ash from their fire is still
warm, come friends we are on the right
track.”
Feats
Ambidextrous:​ I​ f your primary hand
has been wounded, you can still fire
your weapon without suffering any
negative modifiers to the test that are
conferred by the wound.
​ all where your shot will
Called Shot:​ C
land. If your attack test is successful roll a
d4 and see if your call matches. If it’s a
match consult the table and add the effect
plus the rolled d4 as damage, if you don’t
match just add the damage. (requires
ranged weapon) ​2AP
Called Shot Table
1 Body- Pushed 10 ft
backwards
2 Legs- Fall prone
19
 3 Arms- Drops 1 item held
4 Head- Blinded
Card counter:​ W ​ hen playing cards, you
can spend 15 moxie to pick the number
or suit of the next card drawn, or 20
moxie to pick the exact card. At the
same time you may make a gamble test,
if you succeed the moxie is refunded, if
you critically succeed the skill
recharges. If you fail everybody you are
playing with knows you were counting
the cards. Can be used once per day.
Dark Jokes:​ W ​ hen the world goes to
shit, all you can do is make a joke about
it. When seeing something grim that
forces a resolve test you can make a
joke, and spend 10 Moxie, to have
advantage on the test.
Die Hard: ​You regain 1d6 Stamina at
the start of your turn. Doesn’t nigate
bleeding.
Dodger:​ ​Bullets can’t touch you, if you
fail a dodge test, you can spend 15
Moxie to swap the units and the tens
value on your d100 if it would make the
roll a success.
Fearless:​ ​Resolve tests are taken with
advantage, and if you are outnumbered
you can spend 10 Moxie and gain 3AP.
Good Eyes:​ W ​ hen making a perception
test, or a ranged gun test that is at max
distance you can spend 10 moxie to
have advantage on the test.
Gruesome shot:​ ​Spend extra Action
Point to do an extra d6 of damage. You
can only add 1d6 to an attack.
Gruff Looken’:​ I​ ntimidate people with
your presence. You, or any friendly
character within view of you gain +10%
on intimidate tests. If you suffer any scar
or wound to your face this goes up to
+15% because you look even worse.
Happy Drunk:​ G ​ ain an extra 5 moxie
from alcoholic beverages.
Healing Touch:​ ​When the Doctor uses
a Stem the Flow action, and succeeds
they can spend an extra Action Point to
give the targeted character 1d10 back to
their stamina.
Kidney shot:​ ​When making Melee
attacks if the test is a critical, double the
value rolled on non weapon damage
d6’s. Spend 20 Moxie to double the
value of the weapon damage dice.
​ hen spinning a story, you have
Liar:​ W
advantage on deception tests. If the test
is passed it is considered a critical
success even if doubles are not rolled. If
a critical fail is rolled treat it as a normal
failure. On a fail you can spend 5 luck to
retake the test.
​ ou get the benefits of a
Light sleeper:​ Y
good night’s rest after only 4 hours of
20
shut eye. Sleeping on the trail doesn’t
affect your stamina or moxie
regeneration. You can spend all your
Moxie and get the benefits of a full
night's rest without sleeping, but your
Moxie won’t recharge until you get a full
night’s sleep.
Mean Drunk:​ + ​ 10% to Brawn and
intimidate tests when dunk.
Picker of locks:​ Y​ ou have advantage
when making lock picking tests, as long
as you have a lockpick. You can spend
15 Moxie and skip all but an arduous
test to pick a lock.
Pickpocket:​ ​When stealing you have
advantage on the Sleight of Hand test. If
you fail you can spend 10 moxie to
make it a success, unless the failure is
critical. If you fail critically you can
spend 20 to negate the test having
happened, but you can’t retake it.
Saddle born:​ Y ​ ou were born to ride.
When making ride tests you can ignore
one level of difficulty. If the difficulty of a
ride test is already in your favor you can
test with advantage. Sleeping in the
saddle is a possibility, and during that
night you regain half of the resources
you would get from a normal night’s
sleep.
Stargazer:​ ​When making navigation
tests if you can see the stairs you
always know which way is north, and
add +20% to the test.
Streetwise:​ T​ he city is your natural
environment. Travel time through a city
takes you half the time as an outsider,
and you can always find a contact when
looking for information.
Tough:​ ​You were just born tougher than
the rest of your family. Roll a d6 and add
the value to your hit points.

Pockets for days:​ ​Swiping and hiding

small objects that can be palmed comes
naturally to you. Doing so doesn’t
require any kind of test to be done.

​ rowing up a
Rural sensibility:​ G
homesteader, you know the country and
the folk who live out there. You have
advantage on deplomany when dealing
with county folk, and can always find a
place to stay in a small town, or with
homesteaders.

21
 Chapter IV:
Combat
The day is calm, the galloping of hooves
filling the air, dust choking the trail.
Chloe, looks down the barrel of her rifle,
zeroing in on the man riding shotgun on
the stagecoach. Squeezing the trigger, a
bloom of red bursts from the man’s
head, splattering the driver, spooking
the horses.
Twisting the Stagecoach turns, rolls and
comes to a stop, the whinnying of the
trapped and broken team now filling the
air as the dust clears. Chloe looks at her
fellow desperados and nods. They all
know what it means.
Down below three figures start to crawl
out from the Stagecoach...
Once the guns come out the game
slows down. Everybody involved will roll
a d10 and add their Quickdraw mod to
generate their initiative. Combat then
goes in order from the highest number
to the lowest.
Combat is broken up into turns, where a
Pistolero will use their Action Points to
perform actions, these can include
shooting your gun, reloading, moving,
trying to dodge, or patching up a fallen
friend. The only limit to what you can do
on your turn is how many Action Points
you have. You recharge 3 Action Points
at the start of each turn, and any that
are not spent roll over, allowing you to
build up a pool of Action Points. Your
action point pool maxes out at 10. If you
start a round with 10 action points your
normal three don't generate. If you have
8 or 9 in your pool you will only generate
1 or 2 AP that turn. At no point can you
have more than 10 Action Points.
Actions
Attack: ​You aim and pull the trigger on
your weapon. ​1AP
Dodge: ​You throw yourself out of the
way hoping to avoid an oncoming bullet.
Make a reaction test if you pass the
attack has been avoided. ​1AP
Move: ​You can move up to 30ft, can
only take once per round. Can’t use the
Sprint action in the same turn. ​1AP
Sprint: ​You can move up to 60ft, can
only take once per round, and not if you
have taken the move action. ​2AP
Stem the flow: ​You roll to see if you
can stem to flow once you start
bleeding. (see below for a breakdown).
2AP
Reload: ​Reload your weapon. The
Action Point cost will be on your gun.
Basic Skill test: ​Perform a basic skill
test. ​1AP
Advanced Skill Test: ​Perform an
advanced skill test. ​2AP
Attacking
22
When it comes down to it, the pistols
have been drawn, the triggers pulled,
the bullets ripping through the flesh of
other men. This is a gun fight.
Declare who you are attacking. The
Narrator will then tell you the difficulty
class of the attack. You will add this to
your gun(quickdraw) skill. Once you
have this value, state it outloud and roll
a d100. The goal is to roll under that
generated number. If you roll under then
a hit has been scored, and you roll
damage.
Attack Difficulty Table
Outnumbered by 3 or more -30%
Outnumbered by 2 -20%
Outnumbered by 1 -10%
Even Steven ---
Up by 1 +10%
Up by 2 +20%
Up by 3 or more +30%
This table is just a guideline, the
narrator will take other factors from the
gunfight into account before deciding on
a difficulty for the attacking test - such
as cover, injuries, being on the ground,
weather, etc.
“Sheriff Brooks rolls out of the
wreckage of the Stagecoach. I’ll spend
1AP to move a bit so I can get a good
shot and then another to pull my pistol
and shot at the bandits.” Says Jason.
“Okay, there are four bandits and
three of you so the difficulty of the test
is going to be Challenging.” The
narrator responds.
“Sounds good, my Guns are 60%
minus the 10% means I need to roll
under a 50%. I’m okay with that. I
want to target the closest henchmen.”
Jason rolls his d100 and gets a 44%.
“That is a crit!. I’ll save my last AP in
case I need to dodge.”
“Well this bandit is going to try and
dodge. His reaction is 35%” ​The
Narrator rolls for the banit and come
up with a 67% ​“Redhead moe turned
just in time to see the round smash
into him. He lets out a grunt, go ahead
and roll for damage.”
“Lets see my pistol does 1d10 and
that was a crit so I double all the dice
right?” Jason asks.
“Yes 2d10+2d6. This doesn’t look
good for Redhead Moe.” ​Jason Rolls
coming up with 10+7+2+4 for a total of
23 damage. ​“As you roll out of the
ruined stagecoach, your pistol comes
out. Leveling it you pull the trigger.
The round rips through his forehead,
blowing brains out across the
tumbleweeds. Redhead Moe falls to
the ground like a sack of potatoes.
You have the Gun Skill and a Quickdraw
of 48% thus your base chance to hit is
58%. If it is a challenging test your
chance to pass the test goes down to a
48%. You roll a 32 on the d100 and
pass the test thus hitting your target. If
you had rolled a 50 that would have
been a miss.
23

The Target at this point can spend AP to
use the dodge action, this allows them
to make a reaction test.
If the attack hits, the target takes the
weapon’s damage plus your Quickdraw
Modifier for ranged weapons and your
Brawn Modifier for melee.
If any of your rolled dice land on their
highest face value, add an extra die of
that size to your damage for that hit. If
the extra dice lands high face add
another. Keep doing this until you do not
get the high face. This rule doesn’t apply
to dice added from a Critical Hit. If you
generate 2 extra dice through high
facing that counts as an extra hit with
equal damage when calculating
threshold damage for bad guys. So you
roll 1d10 and get a face ten, then roll
another get a face ten, roll a third and
that is also a face ten, your single hit
now counts as two hits. This is similar to
how critical hits work. If you cirt and
generate an extra hit this way, it would
count as three hits and not four, and the
amount of hits are not doubled.
If you get a critical hit (roll a double on
your percentile dice) double the number
of rolled dice. You will calculate the
number after any extra dice from high
faces have been rolled. Critical hits
count as two hits with the same damage
value when calculating damage
thresholds. A bandit with a Damage
threshold of 2/7 who takes a critical hit
of 15 would treat that like two hits at 15
damage and as such be killed outright.
This final damage number is added to
the target’s Stamina value, which in
combat acts as a sort of shield for your
hit points. So if the target has a Stamina
of 50 and takes 20 damage, their
stamina is now at 30. Most people the
Posse will be facing off against do not
have Stamina values….but you do.
Falling to half:
When you fall to half of your stamina
score, you start to bleed, and roll on the
minor injury table.
When your Stamina falls to ⅓ any
damage taken requires you to roll on the
major injury table.
Once you are taking damage to your hit
points you must roll on the Major injury
table. If you reach 0 Hit Points you are
bleeding out and unconscious. If nobody
comes and uses the Stem the Flow
action on you, your Pistolero will bleed
out over the next two turns. If they are
attacked, the test is taken with
advantage, and the unconscious target
can not attempt to take the dodge
action. If they are hit, then it is over, and
the grave digger has to get to work.
“The bullets are flying fast now, Chloe
hits Douglas the stagecoach driver,
she deals 35 damage with two
rounds.”
24

Shonda, looks at her sheet. “​ That
takes me to half my stamina.”
“Then I’m going to need you to roll on
the minor injury table.”
Shonda rolls her d10 and gets an
eight.
“The round rips into your shoulder,
causing you to miss a step, looks like
you’ll have disadvantage on brawn
tests until you get that looked at.”
Stem the Flow: ​You perform a Heal test
on the unconscious target in an attempt
to stem the flow of blood. The difficulty
of the check is based on how injured
they are, and the Narrator will give you
this number. If the test is passed then
the targeted creature stops bleeding and
they are no longer dying. If the test fails
then you did more harm than good and
they say a few last words as the camera
pans up and away, and they die in your
arms. The Difficulty of this test is based
on the number of injuries the dying
target has taken. Each Minor Injury is
worth -10% and each Major Injury is
worth -20%, up to a total of -30%.
Bleeding: ​Once a Pistolero falls below
half their stamina Max they are
considered to be bleeding. At the start of
your turn you take 1d10 damage to your
stamina. If you have exhausted your
stamina, then this applies against your
hit points. You can fall unconscious and
start to bleed out from bleeding damage.
Once you have hit 0HP you are no long
suffering from the bleeding condition,
you are in much worse shape.
“That round to the shoulder has put
you in bleeding territory Douglas. I’m
going to need you to take 1d10
damage.”
Shonda rolls a 4 ​“That was lucky, I’m
going to spend one of my AP to take a
heal test. I don’t have a rank so it’s at
46%, and it’s just a normal test” ​Rolls
d100 gets a 88% “​ Damn!”
“That’s a crit fail, gonna need you to
roll me another d10, you just couldn’t
get that bleeding under control.”
“I press my hand against my shoulder
and turn to the rest of the Posse. ‘Little
help!’”
If you are between half and 1/3 a normal
heal test and a bandage will stop the
bleeding. If you are between ⅓ and your
Hit Points the test becomes challenging,
and if you are taking damage to your Hit
Points it is arduous. A critical success
restores the stamina or hit points you
lost at the start of the turn. A Critical fail
requires you to roll another d10.
Duel: ​A quickdraw duel is a staple of the
old west, and how many tried to solve
their problems. But it is also a
dangerous route to take. When a duel is
declared, both sides have to agree to
take part. This is a special kind of
contested test, as it is a flat roll vs roll.
25
Both sides roll 1d10 plus a d6 for each
level of proficiency you have in the Gun
skill, up to 3d6. Both parties will pick up
their dice, and then wait for the narrator,
or a neutral party, to call draw. Both
parties roll. Whoever gets the highest
number wins. The winner lives and the
loser, well end of the line partner. If the
roll is a draw then both sides missed. At
this point you can walk away with your
honor intact or holster your pistol and
get ready to draw again until the deed is
done.
Sheriff Brooks is leaning against the
broken wagon as more bullets are
flying. Looking over he sees Douglas
bleeding on the ground.
Jason: “‘Fuck this,’ I mutter, standing
up and pointing toward the bandit
leader. ‘Come out and face me like a
man and we can end this with only
one more body!’ I yell using my Call
out feature.”
“Stand down boys, if this lawman
wants to die who am I to stand in his
way. No man that is for sure!”
Both Jason and the narrator pick up a
d10, Chloe as 2 ranks in guns, and
picks up two d6. Brooks only has one
rank and only takes 1d6. The two of
them eye each other. Shonda yells
draw, and they throw the dice.
The narrator gets 5+2+3 for 10. Jason
gets 8+5 for 13.
“You draw fast, and your round is true
smashing through Chloe's chest. She
stumbles back dripping her pistol and
putting a hand on the wound, blood
dribbling from the hole.”
Action Point Pool (optional)
At the start of combat put a pile of poker
chips in the middle of the table, equal to
10x the amount of players. Each player
pulls out 3AP, in chips. During the start
of their second turn they will draw three
more chips up to a max of 10. When you
want to use an action and spend AP you
put the appropriate amount of chips into
the Action Point Pool.
Wounds
Minor Injury Table
1. Lady luck has her peepers on
you partner, nothing happens.
2. Arm:​ You get grazed, and have
disadvantage with rifles or tests
requiring two hands until healed.
3. Hand:​ A round finds your hand,
forcing you you to drop your
weapon. Spend ​1AP ​to pick it up.
4. Knock on the head:​ Your noggin
takes a knockin. Disadvantage on
Booklearnen’ tests until you take
a long rest.
5. Foot:​ stub your toe, and start
hobbling, for the rest of the
combat the move action only
takes you 15ft.
6. Fall:​ You’re not hit but the near
impact takes you off your feet to
the ground.
26
 7. Bruise:​ diving to the side you land
wrong and suffer a soft tissue
injury, your stamina max is
lowered by 10 until you take a
long rest.
8. Shoulder: ​A round rips into your
shoulder, you have disadvantage
on brawn tests until healed.
9. Leg: ​A round smashes into your
leg, lowering your movement by
half until healed.
10. Major injury: ​Just ain’t your lucky
day. Roll on the Major Injury
table.
Major Injury table
1. Butchered knee:​ A round blows
through your knee splattering
blood and bone everywhere. You
fall prone and can’t stand again
until the injury is healed. Move
action is only 10ft.
2. Concussion:​ You are knocked
unconscious, but not dying.
Waking you up in combat
requires the use of smelling salts.
3. Maimed foot: A ​ round blows
through your boot, and you lose
three toes. Permanent loss of 5ft
of movement.
4. Mangled organ:​ A round goes
bouncing through your body,
ripping apart vital flesh. Once
healed your stamina max is
permanently lowered by 10. Until
you are healed you can’t regain
Stamina.
5. Mutilated hand: C ​ an’t use 2
handed weapons, disadvantage
on skill checks requiring two
hands. Persists until healed.
Permanently can’t dual wield
pistols.
6. Punctured lung: ​Your Moxie is
knocked to half if above that
threshold. You can’t regain Moxie
until healed.
7. Splintered elbow: ​Drop your
weapon and suffer 1d10 bleeding
damage. Your arm is gimpy
forever. Call it, the narrator Flips
a coin to see which one.
8. Blown off ear: ​Permanent
disadvantage on tests requiring
hearing. +10% to intimidate
because you look scary.
9. Neck shot: N ​ ot unconscious but
now bleeding out. See bleeding
out rules. If Stem the Flow isn’t
used by the start of your next turn
you are dead. (Can make the test
on yourself with disadvantage.)
10. Head shot: ​It’s over partner, time
to get rolling a new Pistolero.
Healing and Drinking
The thing most Pistoleros want to do
when they are in town after a gunfight, is
drink away the memory, and go get
patched up by the Doc. The doctor can
patch up most of your major and minor
injuries, along with making it so that
your Stamina recharges at a normal rate
if it has been slowed down. The bar
keep? Well he will make sure you don’t
27
think about all those pesky bullet holes
while you set off on your next dumb
adventure. Many an man has been
known to say that whiskey puts the
moxie back into him in, and let me tell
you friend that is exactly what it does.
Healing a Minor Injury, regaining hit
points.
The best way to get back on your feet is
to see the Doctor, they can patch you
right up...mostly. It will be better than
whatever trail medicine you were going
to end up with.
Once at the doctor, you are going to
need to make a vitality test to see if you
are able to survive them doing work on
you, but lucky there are some things
that operate in your favor. If you are at a
good doctor who you have had to pay at
least $30 to, you will get a +30% on the
test. For every ten dollars less than 30
you lose 10%. Each minor injury that
you have adds a level of difficulty to the
test. If you have a compatriot with two
levels of heal assisting the doctor, this is
negated. Three levels and you have
advantage.
$10-$30 = +10-30%
Injury = -10%
Friend with 2 ranks of heal = negate
injury negative
Friend with 3 ranks = test with
advantage
If the test succeeds you are on your way
to healing and with two days of rest per
major injury will be good as new. All of
your stamina and hitpoints return once
the healing process is complete. A
critical success on the heal test will have
you back on your feet in two days,
regardless of how many wounds were
healed.
If the test fails, you have to look at how
much it failed by. For every 20% that it
failed by you lose 20 to your max
stamina until another heal test from a
better doctor can be made. The injuries
you were trying to heal also persist. If
the test is a critical fail then you suffer a
major injury, 1d10 hitpoint damage, and
all the above issues. It is completely
possible, to die on the operating table.
Drinking
This grizzly fact of life is why many
Pistoleros, who already know that their
life is short choose to medicate with
firewater. The Saloonkeeper in town will
gladly sell you a shot of Whisky for $.50
a pop. The whole bottle can be yours for
a low low price of $10. You know he
bought it for less, but unless you can
find those shiners in the hills this is what
you got.
Each shot of Whisky will recover 5
Moxie. You must then take a resolve
test to see if you become drunk. The
first shot’s test is Trivial, but each shot
after that ups the difficulty rating of the
28
test by one. Once you fail a test you are
considered drunk, and have
disadvantage on checks involving
Quickdraw and Common Sense, but you
might just net advantage on Charm or
luck based tests if the narrator is feeling
kind.
Once you have slept after suffering the
drunk condition you take a second
Resolve test with no modifiers. If you fail
you are hungover, and grumpy as hell.
You will find that none of your stamina
or Moxie have been recovered, and any
injuries that are healed with a long rest
persist.
Conditions and Status Effects
Blinded: ​Something has gotten into
your eye, or that little globe has run from
your skull. Disadvantage on all tests
requiring sight until taken care of.
Deafened: ​There is a odd buzzin’ in the
the back of your head, a bubble of water
in your hearing holes. Until taken care of
you have disadvantage on tests that
involve hearing.
Frightened: ​Holy dog shit what was
that!? Something has spooked you
good. On your turn you must dash away
from whatever has turned ya yella’.
Make a resolve test at the end of your
turn to find your wits.
Grappled: ​Your foe, standing toe to toe
with you has tried to grab you and hold.
Both parties make Brawn Tests, and if
the grappling character wins then their
target is grappled and can’t move on
their own or shoot until they break the
grapple with another opposed Brawn
test. A grappled character can be
moved up to half the grapplers
movement, or full movement if they
dash.
Incapacitated: ​You are unable to move,
still conscious but not able to control
your body. If you are incapacitated you
remain so until you pass the test
associated with whatever caused the
status.
Poisoned: ​You ate something bad, or
got a snake in your boot. Until healed,
you no longer regain stamina and each
hour that passes you lose 1d10 from
your stamina max. Vitality tests are
made with disadvantage.
Restrained: ​You done been hogtied, or
strapped down, or under some kind of
weight, regardless you ain’t going
nowhere. At the end of your turn you
can try and make a Brawn test to see if
you can bust free of what is holding you
back, the difficulty of the test will be
decided by the narrator.
Unconscious: ​You are on the ground,
eyes closed, mind not all there. You are
at the mercy of the world. All attacks
29
against you have advantage, and you
are probably bleeding out.

Prone: ​You done fallen to the ground

partner. It might take you a moment to
get up, but in that time you are
vulnerable. Any attacks that are made
while ajastent to a prone target have
advantage. Attacks made from range
are made with at least a -10% difficulty
modifier. Being at range and height
negates this.

Playing on a Grid

A grid is not required to play ​Ballad of

the Pistolero​, but if you are the kind of
group that loves to build terrain, use
minis, or just whip out the battle map
and drop some candy and bottle tops
down, then the game works for that.
Treat each square, or hex as 5 square
feet. Simple as that. You thought it
would be hard didn’t ya partner?

30
 Weapons Break Action Shotgun
A break action shotgun that holds two
“A Pistolero is only as good as the slugs.
weapon that is in his hand. I used to Range 20ft
have this revolver, got it during the war. Damage 3d10
It fit perfectly in my hand, just the right Reload 2AP
amount of recoil. Oh it was a beauty of a Price $50
weapon. It was a sad day when she
finally jammed up on me to the point I Colt Single Action Army
couldn’t fix her.” A .45 caliber pistol with a 6 shot
cylinder.
The bread and butter of every Pistolero Range 50ft
is their weapon. Pistols are held in one Damage 1d10
hand and all use pistol ammo, Rifles are Reload 3AP
held in two and use rifle ammo. I know Price $30
what you are saying, bullets ain’t always
interchangeable between all types of LeMat Revolver
pistol or all types of rifle. Well to that I A .38 caliber revolver with a 9 round
say remember what I was saying about chamber. It also has a single cartridge
history at the front of the book. shotgun barrel at the bottom.
Range 50ft/20ft
Bowie Knife Damage 1d10/2d10
A large sheath carried fighting knife with Reload 5AP to full 3AP for the bullets
a 5-12 inch fixed blade made popular by only.
Texas hero Jim Bowie, who died at the Price $45
Alamo.
Range melee Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber
Damage 1d6 A saber with a 35 inch blade and a
Price $15 brass hand guard. Popular with the US
Army during the Civil War and the Indian
Brass Knuckles Wars.
A ring of brass that fits around your Range Melee
hand, good for hiding a weapon and Damage 1d10
brawling. Price $20
Range: melee
Damage: 1d6 + Brawn mod Remington Derringer
Price $10 A small pocket pistol chambered in .41
rimfire. It holds two rounds.
Range 20ft

31
Damage 1d10
Reload 2AP
Price $10

Sharps Rifle
A .52 caliber single shot rifle modified to
fire cartridges.
Range: 200ft
Damage: 2d10
Reload 2AP
Price $60

Springfield Allin Conversion

The classic Civil War rifled musket
converted to have a trapdoor in the rear
and fire cartridges. This is a single shot
rifle commonly used by the US Army.
Range 300ft
Damage 2d10
Reload 2AP
Price $65

Tomahawk
A fighting ax held in one hand. Popular
with the Native Americans, and white
men who believe they are less in touch
with civilization. Balanced so that it can
be thrown a short distance.
Range: melee/15ft
Damage 1d10
Price $10

Winchester Rifle
A lever action .223 rifle that holds 15
rounds.
Range 100ft
Damage 2d6
Reload 4AP (2AP if half empty)
Price $80

32

Chapter V:
General Store Items
“The general store is the heart of a town. I
know some people will say it’s the saloon,
but they are dead damn wrong. Sure people
gather there, but it’s the store where they
get what they need where the locals come
and have community. I mean it’s why Zeak
and I sit outside the store and not the
Saloon. How we meet good people like you.
Can’t have a real conversation in a Saloon.”
In every town you will find a general store,
where you can find all manor of things from
pioneering items, to household goods, and
firearms. Like the saloon the general store
is a pillar of any frontier town. There are
always people sitting outside having coffee,
smoking their pipes, gawing about gossip.
Items
Backpack: ​A large bag made of buckskin,
filled with pouches and straps. ($10)
Ball bearings (500): ​bag of small brass
balls. ($5)
Bandage:​ Honeyed bandage. Required to
use Stem the Flow action. Used out of
combat it adds +10% to a heal test and on
a successful test restores 2d10 Stamina. On
a failed test nothing happens. In both cases
the bandage is lost. ($.50)
Bear Trap: ​Iron jawed trap that can be set
with a pressure plate trigger. ($6)
Bedroll: ​A wool blanket with a softer
underside. ($5)
Block and tackle: ​A pulley system for using
ropes to lift heavy objects.​ ​($1)
Blue Jeans: ​Denim pants, colored blue,
held together with rivets. ($3)
Bucket: ​Wooden pale with iron straps that
holds a gallon. ($.70)
Bullets(Pistol): ​A box of 24 rounds for a
revolver. ($5)
Bullets(Rifle): ​Box of 30 rounds for a rifle.
($10)
Caltrops (20): ​small pointy traps. They
cover a 10x10 foot area. ($2)
Chalk: ​small bit of white chalk. ($.02)
Chemistry kit:​ Small wooden box with vials
and a burner, used to making elixirs and
snake oil ($9)
Chest: ​Large wooden with a lock. ($20)
Clay Jug: ​Empty one gallon jug with XXX
on it. ($.50)
Clothing, Common: ​A pair of pants and a
shirt, in just about any color you could want.
In a good town it might even have buttons.
($5)
Clothing Fine: ​A really nice set of clothing,
a suit with a jacket and tie. Or a fancy skirt.
($20)
Coffee Beans(ground): ​Enough coffee to
make 20 cups. A cup of coffee regenerates
5+Vitality mod Stamina. ($2)
Coffee Percolator: ​Tin pot for brewing
coffee on your campfire. Takes ten minutes
to brew once a fire is built.
Compass: ​Small navigational device that
always shows north. Having one of these
will give a party’s navigator advantage on
their checks when setting a course.
Cowboy Hat: ​A wide brimmed hat, that
helps keep the sun out of your eyes, and
makes you look fancy. Comes in white,
brown, and black. ($4)
Crowbar: ​The best the Freeman Iron works
have to offer. Gives you advantage to open
doors and crates. ($3)
Deck of Cards: ​Deck of 52 playing cards.
($1)
Dice: ​Set of five six sided dice for gaming.
($ 1.50)
33
Fishing Pole: ​Good rod with a reel. You’ll
always have food. ($15)
Flask: ​Small tin flask to hold half a pint, or 8
shots ($2)
Glass bottle: ​Small empty one pint bottle.
($.20)
Gold Pan: ​A sloping tin pan made for
getting gold from rivers. Also helps you look
for Mr. Pocket.
Grappling Hook: ​Steel hook for the end of
the rope. Helps you with climbing. ($2)
Hammer: ​A small nail hammer. ($.75)
Handbell: ​Iron bell with a wooden handle
popular with town crier. ($2)
Hardtack: ​A hard unleavened cracker that
is slow to rot. Great for the trail, not really
for eating. ($.20)
Ink and pen: ​A small jar of ink and a
dipping fountain pen. ($1)
Iron Chain: ​10ft of iron chain with the
option to add more at a smith. ($5)
Iron Pot: ​Strong gallon pot made of cast
iron. Great for stew over the fire. ($10)
Iron Spikes: (​10) Iron spikes from the
railroad. ($4)
Ladder: ​ten foot wooden ladder. ($4)
Lamp Hood: ​focus the light of you lamp
with this little bit of tin. ($1.50)
Lamp oil: ​Four hours of lamp oil. ($3)
Lockpick:​ These let you pick locks with
your Sleight of Hand skill. ($9)
Magnifying Glass: ​An eye sized ring of
convex glass with a wooden handle. Made
for helping people read and investigate.
Gives advantage on visual based
investigation tests. ($3)
Map case: ​Case with a map of the State or
Territory it was sold in. Oiled so that it’s
waterproof. ($2.50)
Mess Kit: ​Small tin plate and bowl that fit
together with a hook that makes the bowl a
little pan. ($1.25)
Mirror: ​Small handheld silvered mirror. ($8)
Oil Lamp: ​Glass lamp with a wick and four
hours of oil. 2 ounces ($6)
Oiled Paper Case: ​Waterproof case that
can hold 30 sheets of paper. ($5)
Padlock: ​Small iron lock and key. ($2)
Paper: ​Small pad of paper with 20 sheets.
($.20)
Patent Medicine: ​A cure all tonic. ($5)
Perfume: ​Small glass bottle of a sweet
smelling liquid. Two types one that just
makes you smell clean and the other that
makes you smell rich. Each bottle have 10
uses, and the scent lasts for 8 hours. ($5)
($10)
Pick: ​A twin headed pointed tool for
breaking up rocks, you know once you find
Mr. Pocket.
Piton: ​Small pack of 5 climbing spikes. ($5)
Reading glasses: ​bifocals so that you can
read if you have weak eyes. ($4)
Rope: ​50ft of well coiled hemp rope. ($2)
Shovel: ​Good digging shovel, nice for
farming - or digging a grave. ($4)
Soap: ​Small bar of tallow soap so you can
be clean. ($1)
Smelling Salts: ​Salts used to wake people
up if they have fallen unconscious. ($2)
Spyglass: ​Tube of wood with two lens that
lets you see up to a mile away on flat
ground. ($8)
Tackle Box: ​The lours and such for fishing.
Can bait up to six hooks. ($1.50)
Tent for Two: ​A frame canvas tent with
poles and stakes. Waterproof even. ($15)
Tinder Box: ​Small wooden box with lint,
and a small bar of magnesium and a little
stick of flint. ($.50)
Tobacco Pouch: ​Pouch of loose Tobacco
and enough papers to roll 15 cigarettes.
Torch: ​Stick with cloth dipped in oil. Burn
for two hours. ($1)
Water skin:​ A one quart oiled animal hide
full of drinking water ($.50)
34
 . ​Chapter
VI:
Creating Foes
“Throughout your travels in the west you
are going to run into desperados,
bandits, dirt bags and Confederados.
Any number of nasty and dastardly
personalities. Now Zeak and I can’t lay
them all out for ya, but we can break
down what you are most like to see.”
Bad guys come in four versions, that we
will break into tiers. For the first three
Tier’s they will have damage thresholds
and a number of times which the
threshold has to be met before they are
killed. Damage: 1(9) would mean that a
Villain has to have one hit of at least 9
damage scored on them to kill them.
3(10) would mean you need to hit them
3 times and each hit needs to do at least
ten damage.
A tier 1 villain doesn’t pose much of a
treat to the Posse. They will only have
one attribute over 40% and only two
skills with a perficancy rank. They have
no feats, or Stamina pool. A Tier 1 villain
has three actions they can perform.
They can move and shot, or dash. Their
Damage threshold will be between 1-2
hits for 6-10 damage. Think of them as
the cannon fodder foes in a movie that
get quickly knocked over by the heroes.
A tier 2 villain has a little bit more helft to
them than the cannon fodder chumps.
They will have two attributes over 40%
and a single skill with a perficancy rank.
making them just a little harder to take
down. They can move and shot, or dash
and dodge. Damage 3-5 hits for 6-15
damage.
Tier 3 villains are the Lieutenants of
roving gangs, they are the bully that
makes things hard for the pose near the
start of the game. They have 3 abilities
over 50% and three skills with 2
perficancy ranks. They will have 2 feats,
or a feat and a class skill. They can
attack twice and move or they can dash
and dodge. They can use their special
moves once an encounter in place of
one of their other actions. Damage 5-10
hits for 10-15 damage.
A Tier 4 villain is the equal of a player
character who has all 8 of their
profession advancements. They can
have abilities that are cresting into the
60s or 70s. They have all three pools at
their disposal, (Stamina, Moxie, and
Luck). This is the boss of an adventure,
they are truly foes to be worried about.
They will run on Action Points and not
just set actions.
These simple guidelines should help
you build any bad guys that you need
for your games. While there is not going
to be a list of foes in this book, all
published adventures for ​Ballad of the
Pistolero​ will have full stat blocks for
anybody that your plays might want or
need to kill.
35