Building the Ultimate Old West RPG

The Aces & Eights vs. Coyote Trail thread got me to thinking. I own both games and neither of them really strike the right cord with me. I also have a lifelong love of Western fiction, movies and RPGs. So, the obvious conclusion to reach is - create my own dang Old West RPG.



All that being said, I do have some limited game design experience but I have never created an RPG from scratch. With that in mind, I would like to turn to the keen minds of theRPGsite to find out what you would like to see in an Old West RPG.



Here some of my initial questions/ideas/thoughts.



- style will be heroic/cinematic with perhaps an option for more realistic damage results, etc.

- Not as crunchy as A&8's but more crunchy than Coyote Trail. Maybe have 'plug and play' sections of rules to add/remove crunch.

- Should it incorporate 'genre' elements in the rules like cards and poker chips or should it be a straight dice system?

- How capable should characters start out?

- Should there be an experience/improvement system?

- What kind of 'special abilities' system should it include, if any?

- Should it include rules for non-realistic elements like magic/monsters?



All I have for now. Eagerly awaiting your comments...

Building the Ultimate Old West RPG