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ACES HIGH - A Weird Wild-West Supplement for the BRP System


Trifletraxor

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aces-high.jpgAces High is a mythical western supplement. It’s a different time, a time where violence is an everyday occurrence on the frontier of Civilization. A time of six gun shoot outs, red skins on the war path, dying cowboys under a desert sun. A time where the people drag a living from the land of dreams. Violence is an everyday occurrence on the frontier of Civilization. Dust swirls around a crimson sun, reminding every one of their possible success, telling them of their mortality.

Prospectors are raping the hills for precious metals; dumping their waste in the fresh, clear rivers. Buffalo hunters slaughter vast herds of buffalo for their valuable pelts, leaving a wake of rotting carcasses, a mountain of bone and skulls. The Law can barely cope, as lynch mobs leave cadavers hanging from the trees. The Redskins fight for their very existence, caught between death and degradation. The old powers cannot compete with the new power from the East.

By Stuart Godbolt. 112 pages. Published by Chaosium March 2009.

Edited by Trifletraxor

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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I played this the other night and was impressed with how well it captures the genre.

Westerns as a genre is not something I have played very often, but I found it very easily (accents aside) to get into the spirit of it.

It's very accessible and the plots are simple enough.

We went for heroic hit points in the end, because it wouldn't be a western without a gunfight.

Well worth a purchase for a campaign, or one off. Definitelly one that could be easily run at a convention.

Likes to sneak around

115/420

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I played this the other night and was impressed with how well it captures the genre.

Westerns as a genre is not something I have played very often, but I found it very easily (accents aside) to get into the spirit of it.

It's very accessible and the plots are simple enough.

We went for heroic hit points in the end, because it wouldn't be a western without a gunfight.

Well worth a purchase for a campaign, or one off. Definitelly one that could be easily run at a convention.

Have you considered writing a review? It may be helpful for other gamers as you have played the setting as well as reading the book. :)

Very slowly working towards completing my monograph.

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Have you considered writing a review? It may be helpful for other gamers as you have played the setting as well as reading the book. :)

I haven't read the book, other than to do chargen and skim through it. Its not my book and if not for my budget, would get it in a jiffy.

I'll have to let someone else to the review.

Likes to sneak around

115/420

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Weird question... I just tried to get this special ordered by my FLGS, but they couldn't find it. I think they use Alliance, and I couldn't find it there either.

Is it only available direct from Chaosium?

This is a Monograph, and as such is only available from Chaosium. So far the only supplement to come out from Chaosium is Trollslayer.

SDLeary

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Can anyone give a better idea what the focus of this supplement is?

I keep hearing 'mythic Western', which conjures images of anything from the "Man With No Name" trilogy to the "Dark Tower" series. I also see the tagline of "weird wild-west", which sounds sort of Deadlands-y.

Is this a supplement for Westerns with supernatural/paranormal elements? Or more of a straight-up, down-to-earth Spaghetti Western sort of thing?

Please don't contact me with Chaosium questions. I'm no longer associated with the company, and have no idea what the new management is doing.

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Is this a supplement for Westerns with supernatural/paranormal elements? Or more of a straight-up, down-to-earth Spaghetti Western sort of thing?

Although it has paranormal elements, it could easily be used for a more historical down-to-earth setting. It is a solid supplement and worth while if you want to do anything with the old west.

294/420

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Can anyone give a better idea what the focus of this supplement is?

Is this a supplement for Westerns with supernatural/paranormal elements? Or more of a straight-up, down-to-earth Spaghetti Western sort of thing?

Very much the former, but to me it's different enough from Deadlands to actually be interesting. I find Deadlands a little over-the-top, but Aces High is more subtle, which to me is good. There are a lot of historical details to inform your own game (but no free blacks?). It also has rules to throw in numerous types of genre-appropriate magic.

Edited by cjbowser
Kantspl
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Very much the former, but to me it's different enough from Deadlands to actually be interesting. I find Deadlands a little over-the-top, but Aces High is more subtle, which to me is good. There is a lot of historical details to inform your own game. (but no free blacks?) It also has rules to through in numerous types of genre-appropriate magic.

Okay, apparently I really need this book...

;D

Please don't contact me with Chaosium questions. I'm no longer associated with the company, and have no idea what the new management is doing.

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Hey at the least it will make a good read and a reference book for BRP style stuff. You never know when some idea or element in any book might come into being needed in ones campaign realm. I usually tend to try to have a complete collection of gaming stuff for a system I like and use. Thus the more the better in the long run.

Penn

Old time RPGer of +34 yrs, player/DM/GM.

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Can anyone give a better idea what the focus of this supplement is?

I keep hearing 'mythic Western', which conjures images of anything from the "Man With No Name" trilogy to the "Dark Tower" series. I also see the tagline of "weird wild-west", which sounds sort of Deadlands-y.

Is this a supplement for Westerns with supernatural/paranormal elements? Or more of a straight-up, down-to-earth Spaghetti Western sort of thing?

It's definitely Pale Rider / High Plains Drifter (i.e. gritty, plausible if somewhat non-historically specific "real" western with an occult / paranormal edge) more than it's Deadlands garish walking zombie's and the magic came back and history has radically changed schtick. Albeit a lot depends on how the GM chooses to handle things of course.

Cheers,

Nick

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Just remember keep building that gaming reference library. You never know what one day might come to be useful material.

Indeed!

It's definitely Pale Rider / High Plains Drifter (i.e. gritty, plausible if somewhat non-historically specific "real" western with an occult / paranormal edge) more than it's Deadlands garish walking zombie's and the magic came back and history has radically changed schtick. Albeit a lot depends on how the GM chooses to handle things of course.

Nick -- sounds awesome. Funny, when I first saw Deadlands, I was hoping for something more "Pale Rider" or "High Plains Drifter" and was almost instantly turned off by how over the top it was. I'll definitely add this to my 'have to get' list. I should probably swing by the Chaosium office and say hi sometime soon anyway, so picking AH up is a good excuse to do so.

Please don't contact me with Chaosium questions. I'm no longer associated with the company, and have no idea what the new management is doing.

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My group have just finished playing through the included scenarios in the book. I haven't read it myself as a friend of mine was the GM, but it was a lot of fun to play. Comes highly recommended! :)

SGL.

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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Thanks for all the nice stuff you guys are saying! And I'm glad you enjoyed the game Trif, makes it all worth while.

Cjbowser said 'but no free blacks?' No, nonono. Blacks get two extra occupations that non-blacks do not get access to (ok, so its two slave occupations...) because Blacks also have access to the Cowboy and Outlaw occupations. I made enough contentious mistakes, you can't lay this one on me as well :-)

High Plains Drifter is spot on. It inspired the Drifter NPC class, and it's one of my favorite westerns, but there are lots of others that went into the mix.

I did originally try this as a 'straight' western but over time I found it lacked something, and so I tried to get a CoC parallel. Sort of, on the surface everythings 'normal' but when you start digging, then you find the weirdness. I found that a lot more interesting, but you don't have to use it. I found running a couple of straight sessions then chucking in a gribbly kept the players on their toes.

I hoping to finish a little freebie thing some time soon, I'll let you know when its done amigos.

Mr Jealousy has returned to reality!

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Yeah, I seriously need this book. I've said for a long time that Horror and Westerns are the Chocolate and Peanut Butter genres.

Please don't contact me with Chaosium questions. I'm no longer associated with the company, and have no idea what the new management is doing.

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I'd very much like to see a campaign book for Aces High. I'd buy it in a heart beat and give it to my friend to GM! :)

Our Aces High sessions usually included wearing hats and western-type scarfs, and a bottle of brandy!

I'd recommend Deadwood to anyone who'd like to get in the right mood for western playing!

SGL.

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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