About the Game

Undeadwood: Weird West RPG is a bespoke table-top role-playing game made specifically to fit a campaign set in a mysterious land where American and Mexican folk-lore and magic come to life alongside cowboys, outlaws, lawmen, and cunning thieves.

I am a big believer in hacking the rules of a TTRPG in order to tailor the game experience for the world that I am envisioning. When I pitched “Undeadwood” to my gaming group, I had no idea what game I would run it in. Once they decided that that specific campaign was the one that they wanted me to run, I searched for a game that was a good fit. I didn’t find any I particularly liked, however.

Challenge accepted! Instead of taking an existing one and hacking it to hell and gone, I set about making a game that was tailored both to the world I was imagining and their play preferences.

Building the Game based on the World

I started by imagining the world the game is set in, Wonkatonkwa County, a place that can’t be found on any map, where people arrive by way of a demon-run train. There are ways to escape, all of which lead to Texas, but are all so perilous that only the bravest or most desperate try to leave. They year is 1869, and the wounds of the Civil War are still fresh, many people who arrive by the train come with all the troubles, biases, and secrets they left behind.

And, of course, faced with the supernatural, many decide that they are in Hell, and see no reason not to indulge every sinful urge they spent a lifetime holding back. Others have carved out a good life for themselves in spite of everything, and are willing to fight to defend it.

Every design choice I made allows me to make sure that Wonkatonkwa, as I imagine it, is reflected in the game’s mechanics.

How the Game Runs

Undeadwood: Weird West RPG is a player-facing 2d6 system, the GM – or in this case, the Soul Wrangler– makes no rolls during action sequences. Players whose PCs -their Lost Souls – in danger roll to evade attacks and damage, just as they roll to see if whatever crazy stunt they are engaging in succeeds. The Soul Wrangler sets a difficulty which determines what they have to roll. The player has six slots for traits that can modify rolls. But every injury overwrites a slot, causing players to lose access to their skills and pile on penalties with every bad turn.

To help them they have expendable pools that let them spend a point to re-roll one die at a time to give them a better chance of success.

The game is under development, and I am making changes as I play with a hope that one day I will be able to release a complete, ready-to-play game, complete with adventure modules and assets for VTTs.