No I haven't seen the movie but yes I am aware of the "history" behind the Jayhawkers and I realize his background will be a "sore point" for some (many?).

To make matters more interesting... I intend for at least some of his family to have been victims of the infamous Quantrill "Raid on Lawrence, Kansas" (bloody Lawrence Massacre).  So he has no love of "Bushwhackers" (and considering that Quantrill brought his Raiders to Texas near the end of the Civil War, I see that as a possible motivation to go to Texas).

Another element that I'm playing with is that Cyrus is a fairly new, "freshly minted" Deputy US Marshal (perhaps only for a couple of months at the start of the game).  Prior to this and subsequent to the disbanding of the 7th Kansas Cavalry in 1865, he was an officer in the Regular Army.  Specifically he served in the 10th Cavalry Regiment (one of the Buffalo Soldiers units), which was formed in  Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1866 and served on the Frontier.  Then in late 1870 or early 1871, he followed Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie (who earlier commanded the 41st Infantry, also a Buffalo Soldier unit serving alongside the 10th Cavalry on the Frontier) to serve in the 4th Cavalry Regiment, which was stationed in Texas.  Thus he was active during the recent Texas-Indian Wars campaigns from 1871 to mid-1875 (Battle of the North Fork of the Red River 1872, Red River War 1874-1875, Battle of Palo Duro Canyon 1874).

I see the end of the Red River War (and the beating of the remaining indian tribes in Texas) as a sign to Cyrus to pursue a different career outside of the military... hence his decision to become a US Marshal (and given his familiarity with Texas, it was logical for him to be assigned to Texas).

OK. Here we go with the tough stuff.

For those who don't have the link from Q&D, here is the link Beau had provided for "The Window"......http://www.mimgames.com/window/

I encourage everyone to check this site out. It's very light reading and won't take long to read from start to finish. It took me about 10 minutes to read it all. It's the basic layout for the system we are going to try here in Sixguns. I don't expect you to memorize it, especially since I will be tweaking it for our purposes now, but it will definitely give you an understanding of what's going on BEHIND the story. Please keep in mind the story and being together is our main objective.

I will post a list of the "traits", or "stats" if you like that term better next, but first I wanted to explain the 1st tweak I will be making. I agree with JK that Window is just a bit to ambiguous. It sets no limits to how you can design your character other than the Storyteller/GM's discretion. That creates to many options for unfairness and imbalance. Though I trust you all who have been with me so long, we hope to encourage and add new players. We don't want new players threatened or scared off by not being able to "compete" with existing characters. Limits have to be set. The Window doesn't set those limits trusting in us as players, but every single one of you have played with at least one God-moder, and I personally want to eliminate the God-moding ability. I still want you all to have the ability to create your own character, as I do any new players who may join us, so my solution is a point buy system.....

We will be using The Window's Competency ratings, but each level of competency is going to cost you so you can't just decide every trait or skill is "Incredible", or what I will be titling as "Epic". There will also be a beginning number of traits or skills you can have at each level of competency. Yes this will limit a lot of what you can do, but our characters, like ourselves, are human and we can't do everything.

You will be allotted separate points to spend on traits and skills. Keep in mind the d30 skills are pretty much open to everyone even if you aren't trained in them because you can try anything even if your character has never done it before. Your chances are kinda slim but that's the way it is in life, right? D30 won't cost you anything so if you post a d30 skill it's pretty much just to point out a character weakness you've decided on for RP purposes and I encourage that. You naturally can allot yourself d30 in a trait if you want to insure you can boost one trait to the max, but understand doing that in traits is going to cripple your character in some fashion. I will allow it if you have a good story reason, but I strongly advise against it!

I am hoping a point buy system for the Window competencies will balance things to be more comfortable for you all, because I know it will for me.

Cyrus if you can get a copy of Jayhawkers to watch I strongly recommend it. Very character driven movie.

LOL. I also encourage any suggestions for a new name to our town. I'm not fond of Armonia. Harmony was meant as sarcasm. Being close to El Paso and Santa Fe, New Mexico I thought a Spanish name was best, but the spanish word for harmony has no "ring" to it. This is an "OUTLAW TRAIL" town. Pleasae don't hesitate to create outlaw characters, but the name sucks. lol

Don't you love the excitement that comes with a fresh start. There is nothing like character creation to set the imagination buzzing. Look at us! We are humming again! How amazing that after nearly 10 years of real life in our way so many of us are present and accounted for. I hope to see all the old faces back in a new way before long.

Beau, your character sounds rich and complex already. Good luck with that!

I have two character concepts in mind although I intend to introduce them one at a time. First out of the shoot so to speak is Clementine McQueen. My inspiration for her comes from the John Ford movie 'My Darling Clementine' with much adaptation to make her suit my style and Mav's new game. If you remember the movie, then you know the premise of Clementine is that she is a sweetheart from Boston who comes West an by chance falls in with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.

My idea for Clementine is somewhat similar in that when she arrives in Armonia she finds herself caught up in the local conflict and torn between two different men. That's to start; anything can happen to her after that. And even this beginning idea is open to revision. She has lots of detail which I will not bore you with now. If anyone is interested in joining me in this notion please send a private message. If no one steps up then I will ask your help, Mav. Brace yourself.  ;-)


This message was last edited by the player at 17:01, Wed 17 July 2013.

Since we are saints and sinners on the Mexican boarder how about naming the town Perdición (Perdition)?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:10, Wed 17 July 2013.

Here are some suggestions:

Pasado Parada "Last Stop"
Purgatorio "Purgatory"
Limbo
Cuchilla Filo "Knife Edge"
Duro Pecado "Unforgiven Sin"
Sin Perdon "Unforgiven" or "Without Forgiveness"
Desesperado "Desperate"
Muerto Sueno "Dead Dream"
Cruzado Via "Crossed Line"
Sin Volver "No Return"

I rather like 'Perdition.'  It has a nice western ring to it.

I like what I'm seeing already!  I hope you will all like my newbie.

Rebecca is very loosely based on a character and situation from Zane Grey's "Fighting Caravans," without the benefit of a Buff Belmont to rescue her. :)  She is teenager who has been left an orphan as the only survivor (as far as she knows) of a wagon train that was attacked (purportedly) by Indians, although it could have been a marauding group of outlaws masquerading as Indians too.  She is by nature adventurous, excitable and incredibly naive.  She had come west with her parents and older brother and had been excited to be heading to California... but that didn't happen, did it?  So she is alone and unsure at this point what is to happen to her next...

I am so looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!  Like Lorena, if you want to work something up with me, let me know!

Thanks for Lorena. I cannot imagine playing in a game that would have her face on another. Perhaps a list of 'unavailable' avatars is a good idea. Could EVL' s look belong to another? Such a list would allow for iconic faces and characters that we are not ready to erase. Just a thought.

To give all a heads up on what I am thinking for a character Is Edward Jennings. He served in the civil war as a spy for the north. Coordinating with deep south operatives. On Alan Pinkerton put together Lincoln's elite guard(First Secret Service). He became one of the men that protected Lincoln until his assassination. After, the President's death. Edward took his wife and child to Texas where few knew him. He dreamed of maybe a small ranch, and a happy ever ending. About 6 months ago, he set up a Pinkerton detective agency in town. Rumor has it that 2 yrs ago, his wife and children died of consumption, and he allowed his ranch to go to pot.

Edward is a reserve intellectual. Most can tell at a glance that he has seen rough times, and is probably dangerous.

Just a rough idea. Any suggestions or tie ends would be great

JK - I assume Edward's past as a Spy for the Union and even his brief Presidential "Secret Service" detail after the War would all be unknown to the PCs IC, correct?

So as far as we know, he and his family moved to Texas 10 years ago (1865 to 1875), 2 years ago his family is rumored to die of illness and his ranch does to hell, 6 months ago he opens his local branch of the Pinkerton Detective Agency (or is he not affiliated with Pinkerton and instead is running his own "shop" with its own name)?

It looks, after coordinating with some of the other players, that Cyrus received his Honorable Discharge about a month and a half ago and has been serving the area as a relatively newly sworn in Deputy US Marshal for roughly a month now.

I suppose if Edward's detective business were to coincide with a current/ongoing investigation by Cyrus that they might have professional dealings with each other.


Depending on what Edward did as a spy during the War (and how deep undercover he was), might there be a possibility he would have had a contact or liaison with a regular army officer (based in the Kansas/Missouri western theater)?  I'm not saying this is necessarily likely, but that's about the only possible War time connection I could see between Edward and Cyrus.

Of course if during a PI job Edward were to uncover information regarding fugitive members of Quantrill's Raiders/Bushwhackers operating in or in hiding in the local area, that could be of interest (both professionally and personally) to Cyrus (though whether Edward would know about Cyrus's interest, at least to begin with, is less clear).

He is affiliated with the Pinkerton's. One thing to remember that the Pinkerton's were starting to bring in modern investigative techniques, but in reality they were often hired by government or big business as bounty hunters and assassins.

Real life screams . . . Clementine will be offline for the next 24 hours. (July 18th) I will follow up then.

Rebecca's story is that she was found nearly dead in the burned wreckage of her parent's wagon, a little over a month ago.  She was brought into town and has had a fever for quite some time, and many injuries, and is only now starting to get around.

I'll have her description up later, but the picture is pretty close. :)

I am thinking Escondér maybe for the town name. It has more of a "ring" to it. It means hide. The town started as a hideout for criminals and outlaws, is still largely ruled by them, wild and free, and on the "Outlaw Trail". Or even Pueblo del Escondér, which would roughly translate into "town to hide"?

Greetings all, it's me Hannah wearing a new hat. New flash! This town is going to need a doctor. I'm not it. Temperance is my new character and she's never seen the outside of a medical school. I'm still working on her details. We well see.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:23, Thu 18 July 2013.

Howdy everyone, good to see ya's. I am so looking forward to this fresh start and a new game with all of you.

 Now that all that is out of the way :) I'll let ya know about Taron. He's a local boy, born and raised on a ranch outside of town ran by his grandfather, Kris Bein. 'Ol Bein loves his ranch and is a no nonsense straight forward guy. He's been fighting bandits and Indians for years and has no qualms in defending his ranch, his family, firends and the town he has helped build. In that order.
Tarons father Wade was an ex-Sheriff killed during a bank robbery attempt in Harmony (?) Wade was extremely loved and respected. He and his father got along but had different idea's about family and the town. Wade was active in the ranch and everyone thought he'd be sure to take it over some day. Then he became Sheriff and he was good at it, damn good. But all that can come up later and the rift between Wade and Kris. Biggest thing about the respect and love that Wade got from the townspeople, was his wife was excepted... even though she was half Comanche, half Mexican. Her name was Ysabella and the sweetest looking gal in Texas.
Ysabella died of Pneumonia when Taron was 10. His father killed when he was 13. He's lived at the ranch since. 'Ol Bein loves him more than he loved his own son, and Taron takes to horses like a fish to water. Taron is also well liked in town even with his mothers ancestry. Some hope someday he will walk in his fathers footsteps and become sheriff.

Okay that's a short summary, being a local boy if anyone wants to make a background as friends, co-workers or just anything let me know. BTW, Taron is a blade wizard. He often has 3-4 blades on him, including a wicked looking tomahawk. He also prefers his 1866 yellowboy carbine with loop lever and 18 inch barrel over his 1860 Army sheriffs model converted to .38/40 carried in a left side shoulder rig with two extra loaded cylinders on the right side. His dress is more traditional to his mother, light tan linen pants and a collarless faded blue shirt, un-tucked with a belt around his waist. Like I mentioned he carries blades, usually a couple on his belt and a couple in his moccasins, yep, no heeled boots for this bronc buster, he does it the Comanche way.

Welcome, Temperance. I am sure good things are in store!

Are you an old Quick and the Dead friend wearing a new face or a newcomer to Mav's game? Wherever you are from -- Welcome!

I am so ready to start!  And just a heads up, if we haven't started by the end of next week, I will probably be out of the picture until the middle of August on military duty and won't be able to work up a character sheet during that time.

I have every intention of being started THIS weekend, Hun. We are very close

I will have my point buy adoption to "The Window" system posted soon with the traits and everything we will be using. You all have well thought out characters, so this should be as fun as Q&D since we are still family.  :)

If I might make a suggestion... barring someone just dying to play a character from literature or cinema, I would suggest that we keep this game strictly "original characters".

Now that said, I don't mind if people use established fiction (or even history, which some may simply refer to as its own form of fiction... "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend") as an inspiration for their characters (I know I'm probably borrowing shamelessly left and right from my favorite Westerns in building Cyrus) but I'd prefer not to run into the actual characters name (and face) and all.

It looks like most everyone is developing their own personalized original character in any case, so I don't think this would be unduly restrictive.

And, of course, if people really want to keep the option open to play canon Western characters by name... well ultimately it is no skin off my nose (merely a mild preference).

LOL. You're the only reason I posted that because you mentioned Paladin. So shut up.   ;)

Well you did have Johnny Madrid and Lorena Wood on the Cast List (even if only to make then non-playable).

Besides... consider that my "freeing" you of any obligation to allow canon fictional characters.  ;)