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The Midnight Riders:
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NOTE! This page is still being updated! |
Chapter Nine: Sunset at
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The Midnight Riders:
Specialties in Blue represent new Specialty purchased by Character
Claim Jump Charlie's Gang
(all NPCs played by Paul Mauer):
NOTE: Game stats are still being updated!
“Thank you everyone for making this more successful than we could have hoped for," said game co-creator Mike Mitchell as he presented the Midnight Riders with commemorative T-Shirts during the final game of the summer campaign.
EVERYBODY LOVES A SHARP DRESSED GAMER!
The Midnight Riders and the GMs line up for a group shot wearing
their new, limited-edition "Wanted" T-shirts. Front Row (left
to right) : Ian K., Austin Byers, & Kevin Ortiz. Back Row: Jonathan
Burton (in cowboy hat), J.J. Shaw, Justin Nemieti, Mike Mitchell (holding
shirt), Kyle Nearhood, Laura Potter, Leslie Garcia, Rick Haufe, Trevor
Johnson, Gary Ortiz, Thomas Striker, and Mike Murphy.
July 29, 2003
Houston, Texas -- The Midnight Riders have ridden to
the end of The Outlaw Trail. The Summer Campaign -- a two-month, nine-game
frenzy of blood and bullets -- ended in the streets of Mustang Junction
as Stumpy, the one-legged Deputy they had left for dead in the first game,
returned to unleash his terrible revenge.
"We always knew Stumpy would come back," Mitchell said. "He's been a presence lurking in the background ever since they dropped him in the first game. Even players who weren't there knew who he was, and knew they should be worried about meeting him face to face."
As it turned out, those concerns were well justified.
When the lead stopped flying and the gunsmoke cleared, five of the Midnight Riders had been felled by Stumpy's Posse: Isabella, Cord, Billy, and Thomas Irons. Ian's Character, Big Jack, was also down, but he was a victim of treachery. While escaping from prison (in Chapter 7), he had killed the man who had sent him to prison: Johnny Gunshot. In a trick as old as gaming itself, Jonathan Burton (who played Johnny Gunshot), created a new character named Johnny V. Naturally, this new character was the original character's brother, and tonight he decided to call in the old debt.
"I really wish Jonathan had not done this tonight for two reasons," Mitchell said. "First, it was Ian's birthday, and secondly, they really could have used Big Jack to take care of Stumpy. I honestly don't think Cord and Isabella would have fallen if Big Jack had been alive."
"But," Mitchell said with a sigh. "When you kill somebody's Character, you've gotta know that someday, somehow, they're gonna come to kill you. Westerns would be really boring if it weren't for brothers seeking revenge."
And the Summer Campaign was not at all boring.
The Midnight Riders were already knee-deep in lead when they took a break around 9:30 p.m. to share Ian's birthday celebration (Jill, his mom, brought a delicious chocolate cake decorated with cowboys and a covered wagon).
Gamers have a long-standing relationship with snack foods -- the cake was being quickly scarfed up as Mitchell made an announcement.
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LET THEM EAT CAKE Ian K. shared his 11th birthday with the riders. his mom, Jill, brought Pizza and cake for everyone (which was greatly appreciated by all, and helped make the final game even more special for everyone). "Ian's had a lot of fun," Jill said. "He's really going to miss this game." Appropriately, the cake had cowboys, a covered
wagon, and had "Wanted" message about the Midnight Riders. |
"Ive got the new Wanted Posters ready," he announced as Jill sliced and distributed the cake. "But I've got a special format for you." He then reached into a bag that he had tucked away behind the game table and pulled out a custom T-shirt with the Wanted Poster on the front.
The Riders were quite thrilled as Mitchell gave a shirt to everyone who had played in the previous games. The Wanted Posters had long been a popular prop in the game, and players were always anxious to see if the price on their Character's head had increased. The front of the shirt features 15 Midnight Riders, the name of the player who ran that character, and the final bounty on their head. In the case of the murdered Johnny Gunshot, it also features a big red "X" across his face. "I spent about five days designing, printing, washing, and ironing these T-shirts," Mitchell said. "I'm pooped, but it was worth it to see the looks on their faces when I handed them out." Mitchell also said he had intended to print out some paper versions of the Wanted Poster, but forgot in the rush to get the T-shirts completed. |
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"Don't worry about that," Rick Haufe said. "These are much better!"
"Thank you very much," added Leslie Garcia.
After wrangling everyone up against the wall for a group photo, the game resumed.
As the hands of the clock quickly moved towards midnight, Kevin Ortiz summed up the feelings of a lot of players: "You've gotta do this again next summer, please!" he requested. "It's too cool."
"Right now there are no plans for another extended campaign," said Gutshot co-creator Mike Murphy. "But we'll hitting some other game stores and conventions once we publish."
After the game, some of the players sat with Mitchell and discussed some of the rules variations they had liked and disliked, including Retaliation fire and the need for finding a ballance to the Point Blank modifiers.
When all was said and done, as he packed up the miniatures and buildings for the last time, Mitchell looked tired, but happy.
"Aside from having a lot of fun, they players really helped us fix some things that were out of ballance, and to see things that we would never have seen without them. Gutshot is going to be a better game because of everyone who helped us this summer," Mitchell said. "Nevertheless," he said zipping up his duffle bag, "I'm gonna miss the Midnight Riders."
There were 13 primary Characters and about 10 NPCs.
The game lasted two Turns, taking almost four hours to play.
Our Story Thus Far: Text to come.
Game Type: Two teams. Midnight Riders are the Black Hats, Stumpy's Posse are the White Hats.
Character Placement:
Text to come.
Victory Objectives: Rob the bank and get out alive!
Victory Points Awarded: Text to come.
Restrictions: None.
GM Instructions: Text to come.
Loot
In the Bank: $50,000 in gold dust and nuggets!
NPCs: $1 - $6 (roll 1d6)
Characters: See individual Character descriptions.
Turn One
The Midnight Riders lurked behind the ridge, spying on the mine that jutted
out of the cliff wall.
Turn Two
Full text to come.
The Riders failed their mission, so no points
were awarded for completing the mission.
Big Jack got 4 points for shooting the Old Coot.
The GM gave everyone 25 "sympathy" points so that some of the
Characters could buy new abilities for the next, final game of the campaign.
