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THE WAY OF THE GUNA Double-Barrelled Examination of GUNSLINGERBy Richard Hamblen5I. THE GAME OF THE GUNFIGHTMany myths have been promoted and debunkedabout the Old West, but one fact stands unchallenged:it was a dangerous place, filled withdangerous people. Violence was so prevalent thatmen commonly went armed simply to defend themselves.In saloons, quarrels, politics, business,feuds and on the range, men were in the habit ofcalling on their guns to punctuate their arguments.And often the guns would speak out, creating asituation where a few seconds' worth of skill, witand speed would decide who would live and whowould die.GUNSLINGER is designed to recreate the highstrungexcitement of such gunfights from the splitseconddecisions to the explosive outcomes. Eachplayer takes the part of one participant in the gunfight,choosing exactly what he will do during eachfraction of a second as the bullets begin to fly. In aconfrontation that lasts only seconds (in gametime), the critical question is: who will fire the firstshot that hits? Luck, special abilities and other advantagescan all affect the outcome, but victory willusually go to the one who plays skillfully enough toget that crucial first effective shot.This article explores both how GUNSLINGERcreates the dynamics of a split-second gunfight andhow the players can function most efficiently (andsuccessfully). Since the article explains two things,it is [what else?] double-barrelled.II. SET UP: CIRCUMSTANCES OFTHE GUNFIGHTGUNSLINGER was intended to be a gamesystem that could recreate famous gunfights; so thefirst problem was to find some famous gunfightsthat were suitable-small gunfights that either sidecould win. <strong>The</strong> current fad of debunking westernlegends had left me uneasy about how authentic thegreat gunfighters and infamous gunfights actuallywere, and how much they owed to the dime novels.To my horror, initial investigations confirmed myfears: the most celebrated gunfight, the Gunfight atthe OK Corral, was little better than a firing squadexecution. <strong>The</strong> most celebrated gunfighter, Billythe Kid, did most of his shooting from ambush orwith a gang. <strong>The</strong> most celebrated outlaw, JesseJames, rode with a large gang behind him tooverawe opposition and avoid gunfights (actually,very sensible for a robber, when you think about it);and the most famous lawman, Wild Bill Hickok,had intimidated lawbreakers so thoroughly that hehad only one major gunfight during his mosthistoric tenure, as Marshal of Abilene (which madehim impressively successful as a lawman-but I waslooking for gun battles)! Alarmed, I began readingabout those lesser-known names-Doc Holliday,Ben Thompson, John Wesley Hardin, and so on.Slowly the chrome plating deposited by dimenovelists and screenwriters wore away, as I foundthe accounts of what had really happened.I should have realized that the "famous" gunfightershad wide reputations in their own time andplace, among men who knew them-hard men whoknew how to handle a gun and who would not beimpressed by empty reputations or backshooters.<strong>The</strong> gunfighters were far from the plaster saints picturedby Hollywood, but they were the epitomes ofa society that lived by a violent code of honor andthey had all the attendant virtues: unbridledcourage, skill with weapons, intolerance of"dishonor" in their own actions or in the commentsof others, and a callous willingness to kill. Differentgunfighters had these qualities in differingamounts, and some of them were notoriousprimarily for the blackness of their villainies andtheir sullying of the "Code of the West". But mostof them were striking in their honesty andcharacter, and above all in their courage.<strong>The</strong> numerous gunfights fell into a limitednumber of patterns, ranging from simple murderthrough spontaneous bar fights to classic MainStreet showdowns. Naturally enough, men who expectedgunplay would have their guns out whenthey entered into a confrontation; but many, lawofficers in particular, would keep their gunsholstered right up to the last moment in hopes ofavoiding gunfire. This resulted in a lot of peacefulresolutions, a few law officers caught off-guard andshot down (the fate of Ed Masterson, amongothers), and some fast-draw shootouts (often starringWild Bill Hickok as Marshal of Hays City,where he made the reputation that served him sowell in Abilene).Unfortunately, the historical gunfights did notprovide enough variety: some types of gunfight weresimply too unfair to be used, while the usable showdownswere often so similar in interaction that theyplayed identically with each other. Equally annoying,many interesting situations that sprang out ofwesternfiction (and the developing GUNSLINGER system)either were mentioned only in passing or had nohistorical precedent at all. In particular, the popularhistories are short of hand-to-hand combat andmulti-sided battles, even though there are somegeneral references about barroom free-for-alls. <strong>The</strong>obvious solution was to combine annoyances, so thehistorical showdowns were augmented byapocryphal showdowns based on interesting situationsnot detailed in the histories.<strong>The</strong> lack ofdetailed information and the need touse standardized mapboards made it impossible torecreate any of the gunfights with total authenticity,so the emphasis was put on capturing the relationshipsbetween the characters during the gunfightrather than on historical details such as the exactlayouts of buildings and such. This approach madeit possible to allow limited flexibility in eachshowdown's set up: the characters are allowed to setup as they wish, as long as they do not modify thebasic relationships that existed at the start of theshowdown (the SET UP restrictions in each, forcethe characters to preserve these relationships). Forexample, characters who "know" gunplay is imminentare alerted and can take such precautions asthey choose.<strong>The</strong> characters generally set up in the order ofthe enemy attention that is on them-the mostwatchedcharacters placed first. <strong>The</strong> rationale isthat characters to whom less attention is being paidcan move into positions of their choosing withoutprovoking counter-maneuvers from other characters.Ambush showdowns start at the moment thevictim hears a gun cock or a twig snap, and the hiddenbushwacker sets up last.<strong>The</strong> premier consideration when setting up is tosave time during play. A judicious placement cansave a character time that he would otherwise spendin moving later on. <strong>The</strong> key to setting up effectivelyis to devise a plan for the first few turns and then setup to minimize the time needed to fulfill that plan(for example, a character planning to move shouldset up upright, close to his destination and facing sohe can use ADVANCE, RUN and SPRINT to getthere speedily). Ifa character has a variety of plans