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Weird West Update (Patreon)

Published:
2017-03-01 06:30:00
Edited:
2024-10-03 21:01:17
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

Howdy, partner. What brings ya' 'round these parts? 

The Weird West is hands-down my new favorite setting. It's not just the focus on guns and cowboy boots, it's the idea that you can take everything you love about fantasy and have it live in the West, with all the Western trappings and tropes. Just adding the Western elements feels like a force multiplier in terms of creativity when you're running an adventure.

This book is big. Its 50 pages includes a introduction chapter with a few adventure hooks, the entire Gunslinger class, 14 western archetypes -- one for every class, except the cleric, which inexplicably got three -- a selection of feats, pages of firearms, western equipment, and magic items, and some awesome spells.

And some truly amazing monsters. I dare you to resist putting a gatling dragon, gunsnake, and hidebehind in your next campaign session (Western themed, or not.)

Somewhere along the line, we also started channeling Loony Toons -- toward the end of the book you can find the cantrip finger gun, which allows you to fire imaginary bullets from your fingers (pew-pew style). Also right alongside the coyote statblock: the coyote, wily.

So, put on your +1 cowboy boots, put on a stetson, grab a broadsword, and enjoy the Weird West!

Changelog: 

3/1/17:  Gambler description: copypasta error

Lasso: typo fixed

Chromatic Bullet: 1st level evocation

Detonate Ammunition: affects a maximum of 50 pieces of ammunition

Zone of Fortification: 24 hour duration

Finger Guns: 40 feet

Cover: Almost invisible typo fixed

Various references to 'spread' replaced with 'scatter'

Dessicate: damage scaling increased to 2d6

Way of the Nameless: Capstone blocks magical damage and grants resistance to bludgeoning and slashing

Wendigo: Description changed to fit West better

Concealed Shot: No verbal component

3/18/17: Ammunition Domain:  Piercing Shot added at 6th

3/23/17: Gunslinger: Quick Build: Background suggestion removed

Telescopic Sight: Effect changed to be passive, with disadvantage out to 30 feet

Table: Firearm Equipment: Added with prices and weights

10/15/17: PDF bookmarks added

8/2/18: Firearm overhaul

Firearms have been changed/renamed/shuffled around, prices adjusted, and damages changed. 

Weapon Properties: Sighted added, Scatter reworked, Mounted movement penalty removed, Reload expanded to include multi-action reloads

NPCs and monsters have been updated to maintain consistency with firearm rules

Firearm Attachments removed; Bayonet made a simple melee weapon

8/24/18: Changes to archetypes and feats to correspond to new firearms

Comments

Dorian Jones

Are Finger Guns and Bursting Shot supposed to be able to stack? Because that's kinda ridiculous damage if so.

Mage Hand Press

They are supposed to stack, but the damage isn't too crazy. Bursting Shot's additional damage to the target doesn't scale, after all. For an action and a bonus action, you can deal a d8 + spellcasting mod to the target, and a d6 to the surrounding enemies (dice scaling as normal).

Dorian Jones

Does spellcasting mod stack for this if you're a Potent Casting domain cleric?

Patrick Mulgrew

This has got to be my favorite piece of content you guys have created. If I were to place your homebrew base classes into a weird west setting such as warmages or witches, what proficiencies would these classes gain?

Mage Hand Press

You can generally compare to other, existing classes. Alchemist + warmage + witch: same a warlock Warden: Same as ranger Shugenja: Same as wizard, etc.

Mage Hand Press

Only if those cantrips are cleric cantrips (I don't believe they both are.)

Ninja_Prawn

Conjure volley is in the PHB... However it's apparently not SRD so well have to change it. Thanks for pointing it out! As for the outlaw, it's a glass cannon. Offensive CR 7, defensive CR 1. That was my design intent, but you're welcome to modify it for your own games.

Santiago Mendez IV

So it's a little Necro, but I noticed that the Gunslinger on the blog has edits made after the last set of edits to this book. Does that mean the blog version is the more complete/correct version at this point?

Mage Hand Press

It /was/ more up to date, but now this is equally accurate.

Trace Christensen

So what classes can use what spells at the end of the book?

Lee Robins

Are the firearm rules mandatory, or can we use our own?

Mage Hand Press

I can't tell you how to run your game -- what I can tell you is that our rules balance gunplay next to martial combat very evenly, and will help you make sure that no party member feels too powerful or weak with the introduction of firearms.

Mage Hand Press

Drat -- I thought I fixed that already. Thanks for pointing it out!

Mage Hand Press

Ha! Not intentional at all -- it's the leftover text from the Lovecraft Update rogue. I'll fix that right away

Tybold

Love the rogue class, by the way! Really does capture the gambler feel very well.

Altanius

Uh, is the reaper bullet supposed to have a save? Instant death with no save is something I wouldn't hand out lightly (probably at all), even as a legendary.

John Hoffman

Is Zone of Fortification supposed to only last 10 minutes? The Stairs section of the spell seems to suggest it should be longer and it feels like a weird thing to spend 10 minutes casting if it only lasts for 10. Also you're missing an instance of the word "the" in the stairs section as well.

John Hoffman

Chromatic Bullet is listed as a 5th Level conjuration spell in the spell descriptions but is otherwise listed as a 1st level. It's 1st level.

Altanius

I also really think you should rephrase 'Detonate Ammunition' Detonating "all" of someone's ammunitions is incredibly debilitating. For the gunslinger who relies on bullets for all of his attacks, he's basically been rendered useless by one 4th level spell with no save.

Ninja_Prawn

Yup. Zone of Fortification should be 24 hours, Chromatic Bullet is 1st level. Thanks for the catches!

Mage Hand Press

See, I love the Reaper's Bullet. It's stupidly powerful, but it's also a one-time use Legendary magic item -- not something to be used lightly. I think of it as more of a plot item than something to be given out willy-nilly. Also, I may have stolen the concept from Supernatural, so there are a number of people who will like it /just/ like this. And, I'll compromise with you on the Detonate Ammunition thing: I'll cap the affected pieces of ammunition at 50.

John Hoffman

ALSO, there is a range of 40 feet listed for Finger Guns. but in the text is says thirty. I'm not sure what's going on there. Also, I'm very excited to combine the Busting Shot and Finger Gun cantrips with Warmage. Unless there's a reason you see not to do it. Not sure if it's too powerful or not.

Altanius

I don't actually watch supernatural, but I figured it was something like that, in the arrow of slaying vein. I'd just be hesitant to include /anything/ that can kill 'anything' with no save. While I realize to an extent, that's the intent, it's just an item that seems to dangerous to exist on any side of the table. Personally, I'd just phrase it as 'some of the target's ammunition explodes' I've never sat at a table that's kept close track of arrows/crossbow bolts, etc. I just think 'all' is way too powerful/debilitating.

Mage Hand Press

Bursting Shot and Finger Guns /are/ intended to work together, and they're not too powerful when combined. since Bursting's damage only scales on the splash damage targets, and Finger Gun's damage only scales on the primary target. With warmage, be warned that you shouldn't be allowed to add the same ability score twice (I'm looking at you, Warmage Edge.)

John Hoffman

That helps keep it toned down. So far my character has canonically finger-gunned a lot at people and being able to finger gun at someone, Drop 2d8 force+4 thundering+Strength save vs prone. Is pretty badass. And then the 2d6+4 area thunder is icing on the cake.

Mage Hand Press

I have to put a number on it for the tables that /do/ keep track of it. I'm not normally one of those tables, but I decided to track the ammunition for my recent string of gunslinger playtests, and it was actually kinda fun. You have to balance the shots loaded in your weapons and plan when to reload, pulling them from the total ammunition bank when you reload. Here's the way I'm thinking about the Reaper's Bullet: it's a tool for the DMs that want to use it for their stories. I would only include this if I sent the party to kill a Gatling Dragon (or maybe if I sent them to kill Old Scratch) -- you know, completely crazy stuff. At that point, it starts being a component of the story and stops being a conventional component of the game. DMs that think it's too powerful just won't use it, and that's fine too.

John Hoffman

Also page 38 is completely blank for me?

Mage Hand Press

Crap! I was afraid this glitch might happen. The Vampire Outlaw box is so big, it overwhelms the PDF converter. I'll get it fixed as soon as I can.

Mage Hand Press

Alright, I think I've found a workaround. It's just going to be annoying to do as I find and fix errors

Ninja_Prawn

Sorry. There's a lot of 'stock' text you have to include on vampire stat blocks. Adding the outlawry in there just made it even bigger :S It seemed to be ok on the pdf I downloaded, though...

d20crit

First- love it. One of my favorite genre mashups is fantasy and western. Super excited to run a weird west campaign for my players. Found a typo/legacy reference though I think: Telescopic Sight and the Ammunition Domain's Bonus Proficiencies refer to spread firearms or firearms with the spread property. I can't find any "spread" property anywhere. Old keyword for "scatter"?

Dathan

Bulletproof seems a little underwhelming for a 5 ki, 17th level ability.

TheNightNinja

The title on the front cover is Werid West. Assuming that's a typo.

Mage Hand Press

Yeah, I just fixed that a few minutes ago. The live version should be fine

Mage Hand Press

That's the intent! However, this is a debate we had when designing the feature, so I'll make the following concessions: I'll remove the nonmagical clause, and also throw in resistance to bludgeoning and slashing damage to make it a little more general. How does that sound?

Dathan

That sounds awesome

TheNightNinja

I might be downloading from the wrong place, but the copy I get from the link above still has the typo.

Tyler Adkins

Typo on the Wendigo flavor text, it's from the arctic update, might want to change it to fit in with the other western stuff.

Spinel the Fox (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-29 03:00 Is chromatic bullet supposed to be a 5th level conjugation spell?
2017-03-02 00:18

Dragun

Loving the Weird West update, helps inspire me and my DM with my current Gunslinger. I just wanted to confirm something with you all. Does the Sharpshooter feat work with firearms? I've noticed several factors in the book give you the ability to ignore half and three-quarters cover, which could already be done by the feat. Just want to get your thoughts on the matter.

Josh Smyth

Another thing about Detonate Ammunition, if the player keeps ammo in different containers(and has specified this) then it should only detonate the targeted container.

Mage Hand Press

No, it's a 1st level evocation (and it should already be fixed and uploaded.) Confirm for me if the PDF above is showing you an incorrect version?

Mage Hand Press

Confirmed -- the Sharpshooter feat works with firearms.

Mage Hand Press

Check for me whenever you get the chance to confirm that this is still incorrect. The version I downloaded right now looks to be correct

Mage Hand Press

Yeah, good point. I'll change this to refer to winter and the West, so it fits a little more nicely.

Ninja_Prawn

@Josh: should it? My whole reason for making this a spell is to head off 'realism' concerns at the pass. It's magic! The spell can find and detonate your ammo wherever you store it!

Altanius

I'd say there's an argument to the opposite nails. Most magic in D&D requires line of sight and line of effect, and being in a container would probably block both, technically.

Mage Hand Press

Yeah, but that's a generality. In D&D specific trumps general. This specifically puts a mote of fire into a store of ammunition to begin the explosion, and requires a spell attack roll to get there, so I think it's all fair game. From there, I think the explosion itself can reach other containers of loose ammunition (though probably not into loaded guns.)

Altanius

I'm not really opposed to the ability to detonate closed containers, but assuming sympathetic detonation from bullets (of other bullets no less) is a tad egregious. Especially because describing loose ammo that discharges as an 'explosion' is generally a gross overstatement.

Ninja_Prawn

When it comes to 'thoughts on the matter,' I have a few. In a traditional D&D game, melee fighters are widespread and cover plays only a marginal role, but in the Weird West, many characters have deadly ranged attacks. This is intentional; these rules should encourage ranged shootouts and leave melee brawls as the more 'marginal' situation. Therefore, by default, cover is more important. Since the Sharpshooter feat allows you to bypass cover, it looks even more attractive now than it did before - and a lot of people consider it overpowered purely for its +10/-5 aspect. Therefore it seems prudent to undercut that by offering other ways of getting the 'ignore cover' aspect, so that people don't feel like they *have* to take Sharpshooter. That's what I was thinking, anyway.

Dragun

Thanks for the reply. I think the things I, and maybe some others, are forgetting is that several parts of the book are meant to be balanced around this western world. That being said, I am thoroughly enjoying my Gunslinger in our fantasy-based world; it feels a lot more balanced after the initial changes done, while still being fun to play. One of the things I initially overlooked in the book, but glad I went back to was the feats. They add some extra thematic elements to character (especially the alignment specific two). I would like to know your thoughts on the requirements on some feats. Was it just to add the thematic effect of them, or is there a balancing reason behind it? One of the things I kind of miss with my Pistolero is the reload mechanic. I know that might sound odd, but I feel that it's one of the major things that separates firearms from bows and crossbows. Did you lot consider adding a magic item that made use of this?

Josh Smyth

conjugation spell? That's an entirely different book of spells... I know it's a typo but it still made me laugh.

Ninja_Prawn

Well, as a general rule I don't like to bring alignment into the game mechanics. It's not the 5e way. But in this case I think they help to enhance the theme: for me, the West is a land of stark contrasts: lawmen and outlaws, settlers and natives, lovers and fighters. So it makes sense to have opposed feats. As it happens, I've been taking a bit of an interest in feat design recently and I've come to feel there's a lot of scope for reinforcing the themes of a campaign by placing extra/unusual requirements on things like feats. The results might just find their way onto the blog at some point, so keep an eye open for those! Regarding the gunslinger, you'll have to ask the other digits. That wasn't my baby.

JaQKnife

My phone decided to not download the updated PDF last time I checked. Chromatic Bullet was fixed!

Braden Read

Ok, this may be a stupid question, but if I was a wizard and had the school of black powder and multiclassed into sorcerer, would I be able to use a firearm as a arcane focus for sorcerer spells? Thanks!

Ninja_Prawn

Nope, you could not. See page 164 of the PHB: "a spellcasting focus... can only be used for the spells from the class associated with that focus." @ Middle Finger: if you can find room, could you insert the clause "for your wizard spells" into the Gun Mage ability please? Thx.

Joseph Blanc

Luv this stuff. Keep up the great work guys!

luke maxwell

The Ammunition domain does not have a level 6 feature, am i missing something or is that intentional?

Gavin Coxen

Question: The Telescopic Sight, it says "if you take a bonus action to aim the weapon" does the Aim action on sharpshooter count towards this? it seems contradictory that the sniper-esque archetype would have to share it's actions between aiming or aiming through a scope.

Gavin Coxen

Very much to my liking, now I can go all sniper elite on my games now.

Trevor H Callaghan

For the School of Black Powder's "Spell slinging" ability, it mentions when you "use your action to cast a spell that does not involve making a weapon attack, you can make an attack with your firearm as a bonus action" Now obviously that's really cool as a combo with a cantrip like True Strike, but could you also use in in conjunction with Fire Bolt? Since technically you're making a spell attack not a weapon attack. Was that your intention or is the min max gremlin in me reading too much into it?

Mage Hand Press

That's the intention! It's a good amount of damage, but since you only get one-handed firarms, this isn't a crazy amount.

Trevor H Callaghan

That's true. After I posted that I started thinking about the damage other classes can do at that level and yeah, it's pretty standard in that regard.

Ninja_Prawn

Man, I'm a little late on this one, huh? If anyone's still reading this, I can confirm that this ability is supposed to work with *most* spells. The only ones it doesn't work with are those that require *weapon* attacks, like Booming Blade. You know, just in case.

Tyler Richie

Been eyeing the Mage Hand website for a while now, and I decided to finally thrown down on the Patreon, and boy am I so happy that I did. The Weird West book is for sure my favorite of the bunch, but I do have a rules question. Given the nature of the Gunslinger being seemingly quicker about drawing his firearms, if he is dual wielding and takes a bonus action to Reload, how exactly does that work? Can you not do so while dual wielding or is it just assumed that they're quick enough to reload and then have both guns back out? This same question applies to the Deed "Dodge Roll," though if I'm understanding that one correctly it's just one firearm.

Mage Hand Press

Good question! When the gunslinger uses his dodge or reloads as a bonus action, he only reloads one firearm. This can be challenging if you're dual-wielding, so I recommend keeping a minimum of four firearms on your person when you play a gunslinger, since it's actually much faster to draw new guns than it is to reload in the heat of combat.

Levi Rendon

Are there no rules for multiclassing into Gunslinger, or am I just overlooking it?

Mage Hand Press

No multiclassing rules in this book, but if you want to multiclass Gunslinger, you need 13 Dex and get non-heavy firearm proficiencies.

Jester_the_Great

The School of Black Powder says that it gets the spell ‘conjure volley’ at level 9, but that’s not a spell in the book. Also, should outlaw have 5 attacks? That seems a little too unfair for a monster with a CR of 4.