Wild West

[Texguy84]

Always a good, timeless classic setting to have a story in, that Wild West. Wanna see if we can put together a story?

First, some characters (feel free to jump in with your own ideas too)

The Sheriff: I'm a fan of the noble Sheriff, a cynical, wise-to-the-world man who does his best to protect the townfolk from would-be no-gooders. Depending on how you want to write this, he could be forceful and energetic, quiet and watchful, or even worn out and usually drunk (ala Robert Mitchum in El Dorado)

The Rancher: This guy lives outside of town, and does what he can to support his family, raising cattle and/or crops, if trouble starts, his ranch is likely caught in the crossfire, too far out of town for the sheriff to guard easily, and highly valuable in it's own right.

The Rancher's Daughter: A tomboy and a firebrand, with hair "like a mustang in need of a comb", with a temper as short as she is. More likely to be seen in chaps than a dress.

The Heart of Gold: One of the girls down at the saloon, while she may have business with many men, her heart only belongs to one (usually the sheriff or the Lone Gunman). Usually a bit older and wiser than the other female characters, she has a strong maternal instinct.

The Deputy: The Sheriff's right-hand-man. He can either be a young idealistic sort, or the town drunk. Handy source of comic relief. Likely romantic interest for the Rancher's Daughter.

The Barkeep: An older, wiser man, he knows when it's time to grab for a gun to defend his bar, and more importantly, he knows when it's time to take cover behind his bar until the shooting's done. Often the Sheriff's eyes and ears when he's away.

The Storekeeper: Usually a widow, cynical like the sheriff, and tough too. A shrewd businesswoman, she is also capable with a shotgun and is a likely romantic interest for the sheriff (or the Lone Gunman).

The Lone Gunman: A wise, cynical, and dangerous man. He is met by the Sheriff initially with great caution and suspicion (especially if they know eachother beforehand). He will likely find himself helping the Sheriff, often because he takes sympathy on some particular locals (usually the Rancher or the Storekeeper), and will also be encouraged to hang around by one of the female characters (usually the Storekeeper or the Heart of Gold). May leave towards the end out of self-preservation, likely trying to get one of the other characters to stay with him, but will be motivated to return in the "TADAH!" nick of time.

The Cattle Baron/Railroad Tycoon: A very rich, usually corrupt man, he wants the Rancher's property for his own uses. Usually also has romantic intentions towards the Storekeeper or the Heart of Gold. Often a retired Civil War officer. Twirly mustaches or menacing eyepatches not required, but they help. A powerful, commanding voice a plus.

The Gangleader: He leads a gang of outlaws, usually affiliated with the Cattle Baron/Railroad Tycoon, and is mostly out for trouble. His henchmen are as stupid as they are dangerous.

So, ideas?

 

[Carnevil9]

You can work this into a parody of "The Quick and the Dead," but instead of a gunfighting contest, it is a sexual contest......Carney

 

[Texguy84]

Well, sure, but I was kinda hoping to play it a bit straighter than that. Yaknow, work within the old western movie framework, but with lots of sex scenes, yaknow?

That said, there could be lots of flexibility at the local cathouse, especially if, to quote Kaylee from Firefly: "They have boy-whores! Isn't that considerate?"

 

[Lee Chambers]

Well, sure, but I was kinda hoping to play it a bit straighter than that. Yaknow, work within the old western movie framework, but with lots of sex scenes, yaknow?

That said, there could be lots of flexibility at the local cathouse, especially if, to quote Kaylee from Firefly: "They have boy-whores! Isn't that considerate?"

You know Firefly. My respect for you is now ten fold.

The Lone Gunman:

His past is a mystery to everyone in town, except for the Railroad Tycoon/Cattle Baron. That's because the lone gunman was a junior officer who served under the Tycoon/Baron during the war. After the tycoon/baron ordered his men to commit some terrible act that went against the moral code of the gunman, the gunman deserted and has been on the run ever since. This makes them instant enemies and gives the gunman incentive to either kill the tycoon/baron (since he could summon the military to deal with the deserter) or try to avoid him all together (which could be a good excuse for an absence while the evil bad guy goes on his rampage and then showing up at the last minute to deal out justice).

Some other character ideas:

The Foreigner: A mexican, chinaman, maybe a black guy, or maybe an irish or itallian immigrant looking to make their way in a new land.

The Bounty Hunter: A lot of possibilities here. Maybe he's after the lone gunman for being a deserter (or some other crime) or maybe he's after the gang and decides to help out to claim his prize.

The Indian: Another one with lots of possibilities. The indian could be male/female and could be the tradtional indian who sticks to the woods and their tribe or could be more modernized and perhaps works as a tracker/scout/trail guide or even as the bounty hunter.

There are a lot of ways you can do this story, also.

First, is it going to be a one shot story or continue on in several parts?

Second, how big is your town? A bigger town can have more characters and more interesting storylines (and sex!) Some western towns have just the single street with buildings on both sides while others have several blocks.

 

[sunandshadow]

Something like the movies "The best little whorehouse in texas" or "paint your wagon", or maybe even"cockeyed cowboys of calico county"? Or I'm fond of mail order bride wagon train stories myself. Are there any indians around? And are any of the characters gay?

 

[Texguy84]

Was thinking small-to-medium sized town. If you've ever played the video game "Gun", I'm thinking something larger than Dodge, but smaller than Empire.

Other characters to toss in:

The Preacher: Could either be a frocked priest, with the various requirements that go with it, or he coudl be more of a soapbox preacher, who doesn't mind the occasional roll in the hay with a fellow God-fearing Christian. Possible for him to either be corrupt or noble, or even somewhere in between with room for change.

The rich lady: An aristocratic sort of woman, possibly traveling through town and waiting for a few days for the next stagecoach, or just waiting to meet someone (maybe the Cattle Baron/Railroad Tycoon) for some reason. If you have an overabundance of "good guy" female characters, she can be one of the bad guys, scheming and perhaps using her feminine charms to try and gain influence from one or more of the more important men in town.

The Mayor: The elected leader of the town, he can afford to be a coward, since it's the sheriff's job to fight the bad guys. He can be corrupt or an all-around good guy. If he has a daughter, she is likely to be relatively prim-and-proper compared to the other female characters (or you can go the route of "Support Your Local Sheriff/Gunfighter" and just have the girl be nuts and dangerous in her own right).

 

[Texguy84]

Something like the movies "The best little whorehouse in texas" or "paint your wagon", or maybe even"cockeyed cowboys of calico county"? Or I'm fond of mail order bride wagon train stories myself. Are there any indians around? And are any of the characters gay?

Don't see any reason why we can't have some indians or gay guys, though the gay guys will probably need to be relatively low-key in this setting.

The movie that inspired this train of thought was "El Dorado" with John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. Mostly it was the character of Josephine "Joey" MacDonald that inspired the train of thought, actually.

How do I describe the character? I think I would be best off quoting a line from "Lone Wolf McQuade":

"Wouldn't you just love to bite that in the ass, develop lockjaw, and be dragged to death?"

 

[Lee Chambers]

I came up with some more ideas while I was at work today.

1) The railroad tycoon is building his railroad through the town. Not in the "sell me your land for pennies on the dollar or die" kind of way, but running it through the town which will help the town grow and prosper. However, his hidden agenda is to use the town as a frontier base of sorts for expanding his ever growing empire (he didn't make his fortune on railroads alone, after all). Part of this means buying up anything he sees as a valuable resource, such as the ranch or any nearby farms. This could put him at add with some of the townsfolk, making a conflict since he's trying to force them off their land, but the other people in town want to have the rail road to help the town.

2) Two seperate gangs of bad guys. One are the hired muscle of the railroad tycoon who keep his workers in line and do his dirty work for him. They've traveled with him since he's been building the railroad and they enjoy a number of perks. Because of that, they have a vested interest in making sure the business keeps running smoothly.

The other gang can be the traditional bank robbers/bandits who terrorize town banks and rob stage coaches. These guys would serve more of the role of a foil, but still a good tool to have around to create more danger in the wild west.

3) For a little interracial action at some point in the story, I'd say introduce a black character as one of the rail road workers traveling with the work. He could start out visiting the saloon, maybe hooking up with the heart of gold at one point. But I see him eventually getting together with the rancher's daughter, maybe saving her at one point if she gets captured by one of the gang's. Definitely possibilities for romance and sex there.

I'm sure I'll come up with some more later.

 

[SesameStreet]

Don't see how you can do a Western without the Native American presence. That can come either with a half breed gunslinger or with one of the female characters being kidnapped by the Tribal chieftain and added to his harem of wives. Lots of choices for sex scenes there.

 

[Lee Chambers]

Don't see how you can do a Western without the Native American presence. That can come either with a half breed gunslinger or with one of the female characters being kidnapped by the Tribal chieftain and added to his harem of wives. Lots of choices for sex scenes there.

I like the idea of the native american who has adapted to the modern ways, in some respects. Similar to Injun Joe from Tom Sawyer. A bounty hunter or tracker who has a reason to involve himself with the town but would also have reason to see the native americans as well.

Hey Tex, you still running with these ideas or did you decide to do something else? I was enjoying throwing these ideas at you.

 

[Texguy84]

Still playing with the ideas (El Dorado came on TV again and I was re-inspired by the character of Josephine once again ), but I haven't had an oppertunity to sit down and work with any of them yet, so in the mean time I'm enjoying just kicking the ideas back and forth to see what fleshes out.

 

[emap]

I am running with these idea's even if tex is being a two stepper.

I started another thread detailing what I have in my mind and on 'paper' so far, needing more characters though. I'd do it myself without asking, I've watched enough westerns, except I am working on another story at the same time and not coming to me so easily at the moment.

If you would be a dear and come up with some idea's based on what I am doing I'd write you in as one of the customers.