Duels

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MJH
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Duels

Post by MJH »

Duels
Ask most folks about the Law of the West, and they’ll tell you good and decent folk observe frontier justice. In other words, if a fella steps outta line, he may not need to wait for the law to settle his hash, since his neighbor might just decide to do it for him. This attitude, along with an unspoken code of honor among gunfighters, often leads to that classic western scene: the
shootout at High Noon.

In these duels, the combatants each wait for the other to go for his gun before drawing and firing. You see, if you just skin your hogleg and shoot someone, it’s murder; if he draws first, it’s
self-defense. Believe it or not, there’s some sense of law and order, even here in the Weird West. The idea is to goad your opponent into going for his gun first, then draw and fire yours before him. That way you can kill the son-of-a-gun all nice and legal like. Of course, it’s a risky game giving another gunfighter this kind of advantage, but getting the other guy to throw down is the only way to be sure you stay out of the hoosegow.

Dueling isn’t just a matter of drawing your gun and popping the cowpoke who called you a cheat. Dueling is an almost sacred event. You see, once the two gunslingers stalk into the street and face off, something strange happens. Time seems to stop, as if nothing else matters but the battle of nerves and lead about to take place in the street—a battle in which one of the protagonists will likely die.

The high stakes involved make dueling a tense and dangerous event. Men may enjoy watching the spectacle of two gunslingers squaring off, but few have the guts or the skill to participate. It
takes a fast hand to gain an advantage in a duel, and in the midst of the smoke and the lead, the Devil gets his due.

If all this isn’t your particular brand of beans, friend, you’d better think twice before calling a gambler a cheat or getting over-charming with his special lady friend. A western duel is no place
for the gun-shy, and if you’re not looking for a serious case of lead poisoning, you’d better make your apologies and leave.

The Quick and the Dead
Once the time for backing out has passed, the gunslingers hit the street and face off. Unless the duelists have agreed something unusual, they start a short distance apart (typically the limit of Short Range for whichever of the duelists’ handcannons has the lowest range). Fingers flex, eyes lock, and maybe even a few cutting remarks are exchanged as the duelists steel themselves for that snake-reflex draw that means the difference between life and death. For all the show and bravado, the stages of a duel are simple. Just follow the steps below.
  1. Face Off
Engage in a Test of Wills. Each duelist makes a single Intimidation (the hard stare) or Taunt (trying to unnerve his opponent with trash talk) roll opposed by his rival’s skill. Duelists don’t have to use the same skill—Intimidation versus Taunt rolls are fine, and represent different ways of preparing for death. Ideally, the player should adopt a steely stare for the duration of the duel, or come up with a suitable insult. Unlike standard Reloaded Rules, the results are exactly like those in the Savage Worlds Core rules granting all the standard benefits and can result in the loser being Shaken. If the result is a tie, the Test of Wills is repeated until there isn’t one. For this game, the Reloaded Duelist Edge is equivalent to the Savage Worlds Strong Willed Edge.
  1. Reach for it!
Each cowpoke (starting with whoever lost the test of wills) now has to decide whether to go for speed or accuracy. Just like in regular combat, a duelist can choose to draw and shoot in a single action (taking a –2 penalty to his Shooting roll in the next step) or can take things slower and hope to hit his mark instead. Remember that the loser of the duel’s test of wills could be Shaken. If this is the case, he must remove this condition in the standard manner before he does anything else. If he fails to do so, his opponent can declare to shoot him. HOWEVER, this will appear that the loser was shot without making a move towards his weapon and could be viewed as murder. Alternatively, the winner can engage in another Test of Wills and use his bonus on that roll (the legal thing to do). At any point during the process, either opponent can decide to back down, but will likely earn the reputation as a yellow-bellied coward.
  1. Swappin’ Lead
This is the important part, friend, where the metal meets the meat! Any duelists who chose to draw and fire now get to fire a single shot (you don’t get to fan the hammer just yet, amigo). Action cards are dealt as usual with all applicable Edges. Duelists make a Shooting roll as normal with the benefits of winning a Test of Wills if applicable. Assuming he hits, a duelist now gets to roll damage. Dueling damage works slightly differently than regular ranged combat. The cowpoke rolls his weapon damage, plus an extra d6 if he won the Test of Wills and this stacks with the extra d6 if his Shooting roll Aces. Any participants who opted for accuracy over speed (assuming they’re still capable of breathing) get to fire next. This is handled in exactly the same way as above except if you already fired, you do not get an action card which may result in no need to deal any action cards. Should the duelists still be on their feet when the smoke clears, deal out action cards and move to standard combat rounds to finish the fight.
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