Highlights of a One-Shot

Today I stumbled across Andy Collins's blog about his "League of Extraordinary Cowboys" scenario that I got to play in at GwenCon this year. So I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

The game is best described as "a hoot". It was irreverant and iconoclastic, yet at the same time truly embodied a love and understanding of the genre on Andy's part. His insider intimacy with the D&D/d20 core rules (sorry, Andy, I didn't mean to imply you did something lewd or improper with the PHB) resulted in a stripped-down game that was seamless and elegant, at once familiar and new. There were new and streamlined mechanics, but just enough d20 tactical crunchiness to feel like you'd played the system before.
Everybody played a character from a different Western. I was Doc Holliday, and the rest of the gang was rounded out with Al Swearangen, Yosemite Sam, Ned Nederlander, and Mongo. They were pregenerated characters, complete with a picture from the movie/show/cartoon that inspired them. Everybody had several abilities unique to their PC, such as Yosemite's Acme catalog or Holliday's ability to inflict tuberculosis damage on himself to take an extra action.

Villains and NPCs were likewise drawn from a variety of Westerns. When a character entered the scene, Andy would hold up a picture of them, and everyone would try to name the character, the actor and the movie. If you were the first to name one of those, it gave you an initiative bonus or other benefit in the scene. My co-players had seen a lot more westerns than I had, so I only scored the bonus very rarely. Thankfully, as Doc Holliday, my initiative was already through the roof. I could sit back and let them crank up the bonuses, and nobody had to know it was 'cause I couldn't tell Liberty Valance from The Man Who Shot him.

In proper Wester fashion, downing shots at the saloon worked like healing potions.

I also enjoyed the mechanical bonus Andy granted when attacking someone from your own movie. It was a great way to reinforce the natural desire to go after your nemesis. That said, Johnny Ringo killed me when I refused to dodge and just stood my ground holding him by his pretty red sash. :) "You're no daisy... you're no daisy a'tall!"

The highlight of the session for me was the turn where I ran into the bank chasing that coward Billy the Kid. Robot-Gunfighter Yul Brenner fell through the roof (having fallen when Yosemite Sam's giant ACME magnet was turned off) and I was surrounded. So I "coughed up a lung", paying 20 HP to take an extra turn and spent all my action points. I actually killed Billy the Kid and The Gunfighter in a single turn! Talk about ego-rush. I GM far more often then I play, so I'd forgotten how powerful a single brief spotlight on your character can feel.
I need to remember to give my players opportunities to do the impossible more often.