Version 0.30 12/67/2024 now available

Welcome to Decimation – Outlaws and Lawmen, the next installment of the Decimation series of role-playing games. Step into the boots of a post American Civil War Outlaw, wanted for anything from bank robberies, cattle rustling, or murder or a Lawman tracking down and bringing criminals to justice - Dead or Alive.

Players decide up front whether they want to walk on the bad side or good side of the law and then live that destiny to the fullest with rules for progression along with mechanics for non-combat action resolution.

The Old West is an often-romanticized period of American history. The opportunity to make a name for yourself became the dream and hope of a melting pot of cultures, nations, and peoples sparked by the Homestead Act of 1862. Although the game is set at the end of the American Civil War after 1865 in terms of firearms and technology, you can run your game in any post black powder time up to the end of first World War in 1918 with no system modifications needed.

I will never forget getting the basic boxed set of Dungeons & Dragons as an 8th grader in the fall of 1977. That’s over forty-seven years ago. In fact, I can confidently say that the subsequent version, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, changed my life, forming the creative foundation for my video game industry career. During that time, we dove headfirst into all the TSR games such as Gamma World, Top Secret, and Boot Hill and as you might suspect, Decimation – Outlaws and Lawmen hopes to capture some of the magic of my youth, but through my own original game system. If you’ve played other games in the series, such as Decimation – World War II or Decimation – Kingdoms and Empires, you’ll find many mechanics are the same, while others are modified and tailored to best suit the American Old West – a time dominated by firearms.

As with most traditional tabletop role-playing games, each session revolves around players controlling individual characters and a Game Master who brings the game world alive while adjudicated the rules. In Decimation – Outlaws and Lawmen, the Game Master has simple systems to handle thousands of player actions with Action, Trait, and Discipline Checks. Lethality increases based on the character’s experience without health pool growth, tied together by an easy-to-understand d100 percentage chance mechanic.

Whether a bloody shoot out at high noon, a train robbery, or hot on the trail of a gang of bank robbers, you have a simple game system that can take you there.

Have fun and remember, “There’s nothing like a nice piece of Hickory,” Clint Eastwood – Pale Rider.

T. Elliot Cannon

November 2024