I'm starting to watch the Deadwood series (finally) and that means I'm going to get hooked onto westerns. I'm also planning to watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (credit to Captain America: The Winter Soldier for interesting me in Robert Redford) as well as The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

The setting will take place west of the Mississippi, obviously, but it's not going to be in an open expanse of desert. It's going to be more frontier-like; think of Little House on the Prairie, or Old Yeller. Mountains, forests, rivers, plains, that kind of stuff. We'll be keeping with the traditional western elements (saloons, prostitutes, 'savage Indians', shootouts, and whatnot) and the plot will be character-driven. Your character may fill any role you want them too, and they will be presented with choices that will ultimately mold the story of the entire roleplay. I am always open for suggestions and will collaborate with you guys as much as possible.

Plot
Butcher Bill is an infamous gunslinger, an outlaw whose gang has roamed the wild west for years. He has evaded capture dozens of times, killed countless lawmen and townfolk, slaughtered whole tribes of Native Americans, and so much more. He's a true killer.

But Bill's luck is about to change. John Taylors (my character) comes across a moral dilemma while riding with Bill that forces him to commit an action that will change the life of everyone in the territory. If Bill is killed, how many other outlaw gangs will rise up to take his place? What of the Natives, are they seeking revenge on the white men for the atrocities committed by Bill? I don't want to spoil to much, but there will be some opportunities for you to all jump in and grab hold of.

And I will try my best to fold the story around the characters too. If you're a bounty hunter, expect opportunities. A gold miner? Expect opportunities. An outlaw? Expect opportunities.

Strike me interested. Should I create a character now or wait?

If you have a general idea of a character, you may post it now. That way I might be able to come up with some ideas that your character could pursue. Also, give me some tips and suggestions that would make your character feel more comfortable in the roleplay.

So my character is a British bounty hunter. His entire life he has been a hunting and tracking enthusiast always looking for more difficult prey to claim. Eventually when he heard about the United States expansion west he decided it was time to take his sport to the next level. Hunting man. He lives for the thrill of the hunt. Perhaps he's coming into town looking for this "Butcher Bill". I'll flesh this out more later with a character sheet.

I've always liked Bounty Hunters (see avatar) and so I think I would enjoy reading about your character.

So far the background I have is that John (my character) and Butcher Bill are fleeing from another territory, they're on the run from the law and bounty hunters. Perhaps your character is a bounty hunter who was/is seeking John, Bill and their gang. I'll explain more of that later in my own character sheet.

John - a wanted criminal and outlaw - will be arriving in the town very shortly... so there could be some friction between your bounty hunter and John... but your character might be facing a hard decision which you will find out about later.

Also, do you think Yornley is a good name for the town? Suggestions?

Yornley sounds good. I can't really think of a better name at the moment. Yeah I guess my character could be tracking your gang. Also Boba Fett is awesome.

Hmmm....... How Interesting
If you're watching" The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" then you also need to watch For a Fist full of Dollars
It's a great movie and one of the Man with no name trilogy which GBU is the last in the series
If you'd like to watch all then the other Other in the series is "A Fist full of dollars"

I may give those movies a watch. Here's some background on my character; I've already got much ofit fleshed out and will probably write stories about him later, but this what most characters in the roleplay would know:

John Taylors family (a wife and a young daughter) was murdered. Afterwards, he freed Butcher Bill from jail (Bill had evaded capture for many years and this was the first time he was captured). In the process, John severely injured two lawmen at the sheriff's office, branding him a criminal. Bill and John fled town and put together a small gang of other outlaws, and the group killed several bounty hunters and lawmen. They eventually tracked down and killed Cassius Green, another notable outlaw in the region and the group fled towards the town of Yornley. There's a lot of stuff missing from this short background, but that's because I want to reveal it throughout the course of the roleplay (through character interaction and dialogue).

The roleplay will begin with John and Bill on their way to Yornley... but s*** happens, and decisions will be made. There will be countless other plots as well, concerning the Native Americans, the railroad, gold miners, new settlers, and much more.

A Fistful of Dollars is a great movie if you want to see how to play both sides against the middle and the Man with no name's ambiguous state as neither good or bad guy is great
Now if you'd like to see the movies that inspired these three movies then watch the Samurai series Yojimbo with Toshiro Mifune

Sorry is my miss-spent collage days as a liberal arts major showing or could it be that I love watching movies and learning about them?

I've been playing with some more ideas.

John breaks Cassius Green out of jail to track down Butcher Bill. So in a way, John is an outlaw but he's also trying to track down and kill an outlaw, so he shares the same sort of occupation as a bounty hunter (although he isn't a bounty hunter).

Butcher Bill just seems like a great antagonist. Let me play around with these stories for a little bit more and hopefully we can attract some more RPers and get this going.

EDIT: Okay, I think I'm happy with this background I got. Let me check on this later, hopefully some more people will get interested.

The first plot will probably revolve around Butcher Bill, but I'll add onto the plots depending on the types of characters get.

Interested if I can make US Marshall

I'd like to join this!mI'd want to make a deputy Meti from Canada. If that's ok. He wouldn't live in Canada just born there to french father and First Nations mother.

Sounds interesting, how about a vaquero out for justice?

A US Marshall and a 'vaquero' is fine. What exactly is a deputy Meti?

Let me work out some kinks in my own character. Trying to find out a good way to do this but I can't come up with something I like. I ought to finish him by today sometime.

A Meti were children of French and native Canadians or Americans and deputy would basically just be like a deputy to sherif in a town.

Okay Rocketrobie2.

I'm still having trouble piece my character together. Let me continue to try and work this out.

So are we all set to create the ooc thread? It seems plenty of people are interested.

Doctor Charles Richardson was born in England, he actually has no idea of medicine and is known in his town as the bloody butcher. he carry a small amount of surgical knives and a cattle man reviver and a old repeater.

Color me interested as well, i've got some character ideas but i'll wait to see what others have thought up before making any decisions.

OOC:

http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/43561/posts/ooc