Harrow County (FfoL Weird West gaming plans)

[Legionnaire]

As it says on the tin, I'm currently in the early stages of setting up a 4 player mini-campaign at our local gaming club. I will be using the FfoL rules, which everyone are quite familiar with but I'll be having some tweaks to fit in with what I have in mind.

I am going to use my TT Combat wild west scenery collection with some other bits and bobs and mainly using the Zombicide Undead or Alive miniatures for the heroes.

HARROW COUNTY (Setting)

Drawing on inspiration from Deadlands, The Sixth Gun and other weird west stuff. It's the late 19th century in a different America. Magic exists but there'll be no weird science/ steampunk elements. There is a lot of nasty stuff out there that goes bump in the night. The players will be a posse of "specialists" working on behalf of the Pinkertons (other agency might be a possibility) to sort these problems out.

THE CHARACTERS

I've gone with 4 characters, one per player. Each will have a choice of a Role (Arcanist, Shootist, Fighter or Support) and there'll be a male and female version of each. Each character will be built like a Leader as experienced individuals (3 Traits) handpicked for these dangerous and challenging jobs.

As there's no appointed leader, I am considering having something like a "once per game" mechanic, applicable to the team. Maybe, "once per game, anyone in the Posse can invoke (Rally, working title), which will give EACH member +1 to ALL rolls for that Round and ignore penalties from Wounds..." (maybe).

PREMISES OF THE GAME

It will at it's core be a very objective and narratively driven game. Each scenario will have a setup and some instructions about what the players have to do. For example: "Find the Holy Chalice, bring it to the Church, and complete the Ritual before the Sun Sets."

With the low character count in mind, most likely on a 2'x2' or 3'x3' board.

SPECIAL RULES

Instead of having a definite "loadout", the players, as a team, will have 16 equipment slots (4/ character) to decide upon at the start of each game. That way, "oh, bugger, we needed Wooden Stakes" when knowingly dealing with vampires shouldn't be an issue :).

I plan on giving this a whirl in January sometime and suggestions are very welcome.

Below are the characters (Zombicide Undead or Alive) that I will use:

Balthazar Kroogen- A fourth generation Witch Hunter.
Sister Theodora- Nun with a calling.
Clint Sherman- Quick-draw artist and cardsharp.
Becky O'Bannion- A lass with a keen eye.
Moses Monroe- Heavy hitting blacksmith and prize fighter.
Xiao Wei Ling- Mysterious swordswoman.
Alfred Burger- Procurer of rare goods.
Constance Dubicek- Lady with a sordid past, seeking Redemption.

Each player will pick one character and there can only be one of each Role.

[Legionnaire]

Throughout history, mankind had been fighting a losing battle against the forces of Darkness. The monsters of legend and folklore were terrorising humankind and it didn't help either, that some more unscrupulous men and women had their own scores to settle with their fellow brothers and sisters. Things looked grim indeed...

In 1750, Albrekt af Silfverkrona, a Swedish nobleman, adventurer and disciple of Emanuel Swedenborg managed to bring together a handful of men and women, from very diverse cultural and social backgrounds, to effectively make a stand. Together, they set aside their differences and worked tirelessly for the Common Good, laying the foundation to what is now called The Sunset Watch.

In the 130 years that have passed since their fledging beginnings, many more have joined the cause all over the world. The members are divided up in different groups, or Chapter's as some call them. The organisation has its headquarters in Stockholm, but most of the groups work with a lot of autonomy and is encouraged to make their own decisions and actions.

Each “chapter's” size can vary widely, from a handful of individuals in a remote rural area to close to a hundred people in cities like London and Peking. Cross training between different faiths/ disciplines is common, as it's been proven time and time again, that the monsters are nothing if adaptable. What works for a Carpathian vampire is very different from a Hopping Chinese Vampire...

The greatest assets of each chapter are the Diviner and The Roads. The Diviner is a spiritually sensitive person who will be on the lookout for shifts in the Aether that something unnatural is afoot in their district.  With the discovery of ley-lines, each chapter has got a “Conductor”, who can transport a small team via these in the fraction of time it would take to get there by normal means.

Most times when a Chapter is sending out their members to investigate a disturbance, they send out a highly competent but small team of four individuals, to cover a wide range of specialist duties:

Arcanist- Ranging from a dabbler in the occult to a fully fledged mage, depending on experience and skill.

Shootist- It could be a highly skilled archer, hunter or a gunslinger.

Assault- Brawler, fencer, thug, martial artist, a skilled hand-to-hand combatant.

Support: Thieves, doctors, merchants, craftsmen, they are a very varied bunch.

Each Chapter has also access to a quite varied and interesting eqipment to do their work. Encouraging the members to pick the right tools for the job. If they suspect they are going up against a group of werewolves, the cloves of garlic and standard issue ammunition is only going to lead them to a short and bloody end, so therefore the Chapters, having learned it the hard way, try to gather as much info as possible about what kind of threat they are going to face.

Below, a very rare picture. Taken in Alaska 1882, it's a party of four men, who seems to materialize out of thin air. It's later confirmed, these are members of The Sunset Watch, using the Roads to deal with a pack of Wendigos.

[Khusru2]

Interesting start.
Are you expecting it to lead to s grand showdown or just linked scenarios for gaming purposes?

[Legionnaire]

Interesting start.
Are you expecting it to lead to s grand showdown or just linked scenarios for gaming purposes?

Definitely a linked narrative gaming experience in this case. I've always favoured a story element to my gaming.

[Legionnaire]

I have now settled on the following Special Rules and Premises.

There will be a 4 part mini-campaign, with 3 loosely interlinked scenarios culminating in a Grand Finale.
One game per month will be played at my local gaming club, first game to take place January 13th.
I have 4 players, characters and opposition sorted and ready to go!

TWEAKS TO THE FfoL RULES

ALL monstrous enemies will automatically case a FEAR test within 12".

The Roads (Leyline System) is unpredictable. Each scenario when deploying, the Heroes roll a D5 to see where they emerge.

1 Left side halfway point
2 Upper left corner
3 Mid top side
4 Upper right corner
5 Right side halway point

The Heroes get the trait Veteran and two more. Each Class also get a Class Trait:

Arcanist- +1 to resist Fear and +1 to Occult relatet Tasks.
Shootist- Barrage. Works as Burst but can be fired with either Handgun or Repeating Rifle at Short Range.
Assault- Flourish. After eliminating an enemy, they may immediately move up to 2" to another enemy, within LoS and make a melee attack. If they eliminate this one as well, they may continue, providing enemy is within range and LoS.
Support- +1 to most mundane Tasks and may pick 2 pieces of Special Equipment, which will only take one Item Slot.

Each scenario, each Hero may pick one (1) piece of Special Equipment, which will take one slot.

Garlic
Holy Items
Holy Water
Holy Weapon
Light
Sacred Bullets
Silver Weapons
Wooden Stakes
Etc.

The Group Trait is Agent Network, where the Sunset Watch calls upon help from brave (or foolhardy) locals. Roll before the game starts, 5+ (D10), the players collectively choose either 2 Regulars OR 1 Specialist.

I will be the GM, running the monsters and villains, writing up the scenarios and (hopefully) providing a fun, exciting little series of games .

The first scenario will feature a train, an ancient relic and vampires!!!

Stay tuned