Last Ride of The Campbell Gang: A Solo Western Adventure

Every Creative Concepts Solo Journaling Adventure is different, with its own unique card meanings and events, making a “core” book unnecessary. Last Ride of the Campbell Gang The barn doors blew inward as gunfire echoed across your homestead outside of town, splinters flying while you rolled behind the water trough and came up shooting. Shadows rushed the yard in the dim moonlight, Campbell riders moving, hooves and boots thudding, pistols flashing, until Maggie McCormac slid in beside you, snapping her shotgun shut and blasting a fence rail into kindling. Antoine Boucher vaulted the corral fence, firing on the move, and a horse screamed as it went down, pitching its rider into the dirt. You break cover, charging through smoke and dust, slamming one outlaw with the butt of your revolver, and taking out another at arm’s length as the barn lamp shattered overhead. As the last gunman fled into the dark, the yard fell silent except for hard breathing and the creaking of the barn doors, the fight over in seconds, but you know more hell was coming. Campbell is bringing it to you, or you’ll bring it for Campbell. It’s time for their last ride. It’s you and the townsfolk against the Campbell gang. Grab your guns and ammo and be prepared for a shootout! If you want to make the town a typical Western town, nothing in the cards needs to be changed. If you want to make it a "Weird West" type environment, please do. Cattle Barons could be vampires. Mountain men could be werewolves. Widows could be witches or sorceresses. Gunslingers could be possessed dead. Gender and race are not biased; anyone can have a profession called for in the cards. Change as needed. Ultimately, it's up to you. If you like the Dead Lands world of Savage Worlds from Pinnacle Entertainment, this is a perfect aid for playing their RPG. Materials you will need. You will need some simple items as follows: • A Standard Deck of Playing Cards (with Jokers): I own several decks with different face card themes. You can use a standard deck or a unique one to play solo games with themes. Every card will have a different meaning as you draw one. They produce the adventures to start you on your way, a side quest, a discovery, how your character may feel, or people or creatures you will meet along the way. You will need a d6. • Paper and pencil, or a writing program: I prefer a writing program or a spreadsheet to log in order to enter your ideas as you travel the world. Now, before you begin, you have to decide who you are: 1. Are you a Sheriff, a US Marshall, a Bounty Hunter, or just fed up with lawlessness? What’s your gender? How long have you lived in town? What’s your race, and how are you viewed among the wild western town? 2. Choose Your Role: What firearm or blade are you skilled with? Are you a decent pugilist? What’s your moral code and standards? Any bad habits? A risk taker or risk avoider? How dedicated are you to protecting the helpless? Do you plan, or are you more spontaneous? Are you brave, realistic, or a coward trying to be better? 3. Prepare your Deck: Shuffle your deck of playing cards and place the stack face down. With your character’s nature made, your role in the story selected, and your cards ready, it’s time to start your journey. Gameplay: Each card creates a new event or discovery for your character; make sure to chronicle them in order. A series of turns of fate may reflect on the card you have, two cards later. *Special game play: do NOT shuffle the 2 Joker cards in with the rest of the deck. Put them aside for use during conflicts.* 1. Draw a single card at a time from the deck. Begin by drawing a card, specifically a Club suit, which sets you off on the adventure. Reshuffle the deck with the cards drawn before the first Club and continue. 2. The prompts below will tell you the card’s meaning by number and suit. Try to imagine the scene with all five senses. 3. Write your entry describing the moment using your senses. Imagine it’s a scene in a movie, comic, or novel, and play with it. Use that imagination! 4. After writing down your scene, draw the next card to continue your adventure. When you reach the end of the deck, you can either imagine going back to where you started or use it as a cliffhanger for your next story after you shuffle the deck. You just completed “Book One” of your adventure. 5. Even though this is a solo adventure, you can bring your friends along and have them as part of your group, and all of you write your part in the adventure separately. Careful, their character may not be trusted! Watch your back.