It’s been quite a few years now since Bryan Ansell first put pen to
paper to produce the initial draft of The Rules With No Name: these
rules have been playtested, developed and enjoyed many, many times
since then and it is a travesty that they have not been seen on
bookshelves until now. Very little editing to the original text was
required, but I have added a painting and terrain guide for
completeness and sincerely hope that Bryan likes the way his rules
have been laid out and presented.
Here’s what Bryan originally wrote in his introduction to the
playtest version of these rules all those years ago:
These are intended primarily as a straightforward, simple set of
Western gunfight rules, suitable for a quick, cheerful game,
possibly involving a large number of participants. However, we
wanted to include a degree of tactical skill, involvement with the
rule system and an element of tension and surprise. We hope that we
have succeeded in doing so without making the game at all puzzling
or complicated. Consumption of alcoholic beverage and
high-carbohydrate snacks and the playing of these rules are not
necessarily mutually exclusive. We have tried not to introduce a
lot of fussy rules to cover every eventuality, so if you are
playing with large groups of strangers, you might like to use a
gamesmaster; a god-like figure whose word is law. Fortunately, even
the most competitive gamers don’t come to a Western gunfight
looking for an argument, so the way should be clear for a good time
to be had by all.
However, for those of you who prefer a more sophisticated game,
especially if you intend to run a campaign, with the extra level of
detail and involvement that familiarity permits, there is a
selection of optional rules for you to mix and match according to
your tastes.
Set in the time of the American Old West where life was cheap and
survival was the order of the day, these rules are written in a
very conversational style that are a joy to read as well as play,
and there are many suggestions by Bryan as to how the players can
choose to extend and adapt the rules to suit their own levels of
skill and/or to simply increase their sense of enjoyment.
In this fast paced game all facets of life and the characters in
the Old West as depicted in those many Hollywood and Italian
`Cowboy’ films are covered; from the hardened gunslinger and town
drunk to the law abiding owner of the General Store; all have to
hone and develop their particular skills over the course of the
game… or end up having that eternal slug of whisky in the saloon in
the sky!
So, get out those toy soldiers, strap on that six gun and get
yourself a whole lot of pleasure by having a game with friends
using these action-packed and fun- filled rules.
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