What does Western Hack need compared to Fantasy Hack or Dark•Heritage 2.0?

Let's look at this from a rules perspective first.  A western fantasy, compared to a Medieval fantasy, probably needs an alternate rules module that offers the following:

• firearms more typical of the 1850-1900 period, more or less.  This can top out with mounted stuff like a cannon or Gatling gun, although these aren't really portable weapons in the individual sense.
• Some more variation and nuance to horse-riding, varieties of horse, etc. so that there's some flavor to the horseplay in the game.

I actually think that that's about it.  Other than that, the rules for FANTASY HACK would already work quite well for facilitating WESTERN HACK.  I probably should get to that so I can focus more on a WESTERN HACK setting without feeling like the rules adjustments are hanging over my head.  But I'm a little bit intimidated by the task; I'm afraid of going too far and breaking the rules-lite paradigm in order to get rules nuance, and being unhappy with the result. Sigh.

Borrowing from the three existing Microlite cowboys & injuns game only goes so far, so I'll probably have to make up the horse rules, at least, since none of them have anything like that.  Anyway, here goes:

Firearms (replaces the black powder firearms rules from Appendix II of FANTASY HACK)

• Pistol: Short range, single shot, holds 2 rounds, damage 1d8m reload time 1 round
• Revolver: Medium range, Single shot, holds 6 rounds, damage 2d6 reload time 2 rounds
• Lever-action Rifle: Long range, single shot, holds 15 rounds, damage 2d8 reload time 3 rounds
• Sharpshooter Rifle: Far range, Single shot, holds 1 rounds, damage 2d10 reload time 1 round
• Shotgun: Medium range, single shot, holds 2 rounds, damage 2d12 reload time 2 rounds
• Gatling Gun: Long range, 6 shots per round, holds 100 rounds, damage 2d6 each reload time 4 rounds
• Cannon: Long range, Single shot, holds 1 round, damage 4d8 reload time 2 rounds

Range to be decided by the GM, not specifically "measured".  The Gatling Gun and cannons are portable, but takes a crew of two to operate properly.  It is mounted on wheels like a cannon, requires a horse, mule or ox or equally strong animal to move, and once set up cannot be moved during a particular combat unless you hitch it to an animal (although with both members of the crew operating it, it can be rotated to fire at a different angle, although doing so takes an entire round to do.)  A single person can use this weapon, but cannot do anything with it except load it and fire it and hitch it to a horse; he cannot rotate it.  It also takes twice as long for a single person to reload it.

Horses (replaces the entries found in the Monster section of FANTASY HACK)

• HORSE, RIDING: AC: 12 HD 2d6 (8 hp) AT:bite or kick +2 (1d6) STR: +4, DEX: +2, MND: -3, S: Grants a rider a +10 bonus on chase rolls, standard cost: 40
• HORSE, WAR: AC: 12 HD 3d6 (12 hp) AT: bite +3 (1d6) or kick +3 (2d6) STR: +6, DEX: +2, MND: -3, S: Grants a rider a +7 on chase rolls, standard cost: 200
• HORSE, RACE: AC: 12 HD 2d6 (8 hp) AT: bite or kick +2 (1d6) STR: +5, DEX: +2, MND: -3, S: grants a rider a +14 bonus on chase rolls, standard cost:  125
• HORSE, OLD NAG: AC: 10 HD 1d6 (4 hp) AT: bite or kick +1 (1d6) STR: +4, DEX: +0, MIND: -3, S: grants a rider a +7 on chase rolls, standard cost 10

The performance of horses can be improved with proper care and tack.  There are three main items of gear used by these rules: a bridle, a saddle, and horseshoes.  All are rather specialized equipment that require considerable expertise to craft (and in the case of shoes, to put on the horse as well.)  Standard versions of the three cost: 10 for a saddle, 5 for a bit, and 5 for shoes (installed.)  Riding a horse without the proper gear results in a -1 penalty (each) for lack of a saddle or bridle, and a horse without shoes will face a -3 result on fatigue rolls during chase scenes.

Horses can also be found in the wild, although race horses and war horses are extremely hard to find.  Catching and breaking a wild horse involves sneaking up on it, lassoing it, mounting it, and then doing MND + Athletics checks against the horse's STR + HD.  You will need to pass three such checks in a row, while if you fail three in a row, the horse bucks you off, you'll need to do a DEX + Athletics check to avoid taking 1d6 damage from falling, and the horse will then either attack you or (more likely) run away and you will have failed.  If you do not get these checks in a row, you can continue trying to break the horse until you either succeed or fail three in a row.

Non standard, specialized or even magical versions can improve the performance of horses above that of the standard listed.  The following are some improvements that can be made:

• +1 or +2 (cost of +10 and +50) to fatigue checks during a chase scene; can be applied to a saddle or bridle
• +2 to kick damage with improved horseshoes
• +1 or +2 or even +3 (cost of +10, +50 and +150 respectively) to speed bonus on chase checks; can be applied to any of the three parts of equipment, and if applied to more than one, they can be cumulative.  A really tricked out race-horse, for instance, could have an additional +9 to it's chase bonus, for a total of +23
• Barding can offer +2 or +4 to AC (cost of 15 and 30 respectively) but reduces the speed bonus by the same amount, and imposes a fatigue penalty during chase scenes by the same amount as well.  It isn't much used in the Old West, but it's not entirely unheard of.

This same equipment can be used if riding any other more fantastical creature, by the way, although horseshoes probably won't be relevant to most creatures unless they have similar hooves.

Extra Mythical Horses

Mythical horses can be created by using the following standard mythical template, and then adding a special ability to the horse to customize it.

HORSE, MYTHICAL: AC 15 HD 5d6 (25 hp) AT: bite or kick +5 (3d6) STR: +6, DEX: +3, MND: -1, S: Grants a raider a +12 on chase rolls

Mythical horses cannot be bought.  Often there will only be one of each type in the entire setting, although legends and folklore suggests that if one is somehow killed, it will be spat back out of the Spirit World as an archetype, fully grown, again within the next few weeks or months.

How to catch one is different for each; for unicorns, for example, the lure of a virgin by a crystal clear pool in the forest is supposed to be the best method, for the four horses of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, you may have to fight and defeat the Horseman.  The following are a sampling of mythical horses:

• Unicorn: gains an additional gore attack at +5 that does 3d8 damage
• Hippocampus: can travel through water as well as on land and allows its rider to breathe water while mounted
• Pegasus: can fly through the air as well as travel by land
• Sleipnir: this eight legged horse gains an additional +7 to chase checks due to its tremendous speed
• Death: the horse of the Horseman of the Apocalypse, this emaciated/skeletal and ghostly pale horse has the immunities of a flesh golem
• Famine: the horse of the Horseman of the Apocalypse, this black horse causes 1d4 STR damage with each bite attack (STR + level DC 18 to resist) and is surrounded by a swarm of insects that attacks anything adjacent to the horse (except its rider) until the swarm is defeated.  This swarm will restart with each new combat encounter.
• War: the horse of the Horseman of the Apocalypse, this red horse has a fiery breath weapon, exactly like a hell hound
• Conquest: the horse of the Horseman of the Apocalypse, this snowy white horse will cause anyone adjacent to it (except the rider) to be shocked by the lightning that courses about the horse for 1d6 damage each round (can be avoided or resisted on a DC 14 (DEX or STR + level check.)

Ta-da!  The Western Hack supplement (or Attachment IV, I suppose, to FANTASY HACK, which would be the best way to publish it) is done!  However, this may mean that I need to update the main body of FANTASY HACK to make sure that it's consistent with DARK•HERITAGE 2.0.  Sigh.  Still, that's quite an accomplishment; I didn't set out to do this when I started typing this post, and now it's done!  I may end up tweaking this a bit before it's published officially.  We'll see.

Anyway, here's a nice image of the Four Horsemen, although I'd have the red one a much brighter, unnaturally so red (about the color of the flag, actually) and my death would be even more... dead and ghostly looking, I suppose.

Still, you can do your own image search for the Four Horsemen.  There's obviously tons out there.  Maybe this one is a bit better on the horses themselves.