The Sixth Gun is a comic book series from Oni Press set in a Wild West of fantastic and supernatural moments. Brought to life via Kickstarter, The Six Gun RPG, using the Savage Worlds system, debuted in 2015 from Pinnacle Entertainment. The Sixth Gun Role-Playing Game by Scott A Woodard brought universe created by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt to tabletop roleplaying. The Harvey and Eisner Award nominated main comic series ran 50 issues from 2010 to 2016, its spinoff mini-series continue on. The first graphic novel is described as:
“During the darkest days of the Civil War, wicked cutthroats came into possession of six pistols of otherworldly power. In time the Sixth Gun, the most dangerous of the weapons, vanished. When the gun surfaces in the hands of an innocent girl, dark forces reawaken. Vile men thought long dead set their sights on retrieving the gun and killing the girl. Only Drake Sinclair, a gunfighter with a shadowy past, stands in their way.”
EGG EMBRY (EGG): You wrote the core rulebook for The Sixth Gun, correct? What other The Sixth Gun RPG products have you written?
SCOTT A WOODARD (SAW): That’s correct, I wrote the core rulebook, plus (with the exception of the Savage Tale and comic, ‘Neath the Gallows Tree (story by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt) that appears in The Sixth Gun Companion), I wrote everything else for the line including the rest of the 32-page Companion, the 32-page book that accompanied the GM Screen (which includes a multi-part Plot Point Campaign titled The Winding Way), Fractured Frontiers (a Savage Tale of Deadlands and The Sixth Gun), Circle the Wagon and The One-Hand Gang (two other short Savage Tales), Six More Relics (an article in issue six of Savage Worlds Explorer), and an adventure titled Mimihqueh: Temple of the Dead that appears exclusively in The Sixth Gun Volume Five Hardcover Gunslinger Edition published by Oni Press.
EGG: Were you a fan of the comics before the RPG?
SAW: I was definitely a fan of the comic, though admittedly I was a bit behind on the series when Shane Hensley, president of Pinnacle Entertainment Group, asked me if I had any interest in writing a new Savage Worlds RPG based on it! After excitedly saying “yes” to the offer, I immersed myself in the universe of The Sixth Gun, picking up all the collected volumes and grabbing any of the more recent single issues beyond the graphic novels.
EGG: How much were Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt involved in producing the game?
SAW: They were very much involved, though in a “hands-off” kinda’ way. What I mean by that is that they were very happy with what I was doing with the core book (I was sharing bits and pieces with Oni as I was going along) and for the most part, they left me alone while I wrote. However, whenever I needed anything at all from them, they were easy to reach and incredibly responsive. In the end, I feel that it was a very nice collaborative relationship.
One of my favorite moments was when we were designing the GM Screen… Brian asked me for suggestions of things I wanted to see on the screen, so I sent him a list of some of my favorite characters, scenes, and creatures from the comics. In the end, Brian rendered an absolutely gorgeous triptych featuring EVERYTHING on that list!!! He was very proud of it too and actually wrote a series of articles for us describing the process of creating that image. You can still download those articles from Pinnacle’s site!
EGG: Which version of Savage Worlds does this RPG use? What made that system and the comic a good fit?
SAW: It was released in 2015, so it uses Savage Worlds Deluxe, however, Pinnacle recently released a FREE conversion document so that you can now run The Sixth Gun with the new Savage Worlds Adventure Edition. You can download that document directly from Pinnacle’s website.
As for why it’s a good fit, I think it comes down to two things… 1) Because of Deadlands, no other publisher knows the Weird West genre better than Pinnacle, so the infrastructure and love of the genre was already in place. 2) The Sixth Gun is a glorious blend of high-action, horror, and fantasy, all things that Savage Worlds handles beautifully. As Savage Worlds has always been promoted as a “Fast! Furious! Fun!” system, The Sixth Gun meshes extremely well, offering a slick system to handle swift gun fights, supernatural horrors, and spellcasting six-gun sorcerers.
EGG: How has it been received in the market and at the gaming table?
SAW: The folks who have picked up The Sixth Gun have absolutely loved it (and trust me, those fans have reached out to let us know)! Fans of the comic adore it for expanding the universe they love so much, and expanding it with officially-licensed content. Gamers interested in playing a Weird West RPG who might be a little intimidated by the vast amount of material available for Deadlands, can pick up The Sixth Gun core rulebook as a PDF for just $9.99 ($19.99 for the paperback), download a few of our freebies (including a couple adventures), and dive right in. At the same time, we also offer custom Bennies, a selection of metal miniatures based on the main characters from the comics, and even a set of low-cost print-and-play figure flats.
EGG: Some of your RPG work appeared in the comics, correct? How was that crossover received?
SAW: Kinda… Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt created an original short comic story for The Sixth Gun Companion featuring a cast of pre-generated characters that I made for people to use in one-shots or con games. Also, Oni Press asked me to write an all-new adventure (based on elements from the comics) to be included in The Sixth Gun Volume Five Hardcover Gunslinger Edition, and I was thrilled to contribute that to that absolutely gorgeous, limited edition volume. Brian Hurtt also did some new illustrations to accommodate the adventure, so in a weird way, it has all come full circle.
EGG: Coming from Pinnacle Entertainment, home of the Deadlands RPG and its variety of system options over the decades, this could have touched on that world. Was there ever any thought of mixing properties?
SAW: We did precisely that with my short adventure Fractured Frontiers! It doesn’t delve TOO deep, and the two realities don’t QUITE come all the way together in the adventure (spoiler), but it was a nice way to perhaps prompt some creative GMs to forge their own crossovers.
EGG: In the Flash Gordon RPG, you managed to tackle some of the racially insensitive aspects of the original series and alter them in a way that allowed the property to move forward without being held back by that baggage. The Sixth Gun takes place in the aftermath of the American Civil War, a topic that has impacted Deadlands recently. What was done in The Sixth Gun RPG to keep the game from crossing into insensitive and uncomfortable territory while dealing with some of the darkest parts of America’s history?
SAW: Well, with The Sixth Gun, I defaulted to Cullen’s handling of the issue in the comics (the primary story does take place after the Civil War, as you said), but I also included a note in the character creation section stating that ultimately, it is up to the GM how much they want to deal with “…ignorance, racism, and sexism…” in their campaigns. After that, as far as I recall, I pretty much avoid such issues altogether.
EGG: All for the best. Stepping away from The Sixth Gun, what other projects are you working on?
SAW: Right now, I am actually writing a new Savage Worlds RPG for Pinnacle, but at the moment, it’s all a bit hush-hush. It’s possible it will be announced prior to the release of this interview, but for now, my lips are sealed! I’ve also written some other Savage Tales for Pinnacle and a few other publishers (can you tell that I love writing for Savage Worlds), but I’m always open to writing for other systems as well. I still have a 25,000-word [D&D] 5E adventure sitting in the hands of a third-party publisher, and I hope that sees the light of day sometime soon! Will keep you posted! Lastly, I write the weekly company news for Pinnacle Entertainment Group, so if you read those articles on their site or you subscribe to the mailing list, that’s all me!
EGG: Where can fans follow your work online?
SAW: I’m all over social media (though be warned that my Twitter feed is where I get more political from time-to-time). On Facebook, I have a professional page, @therealscottwoodard (that I don’t update as much as I should) and a personal page (just look for “scott.a.woodard”). And my Twitter and Instagram accounts are both @sawoodard. I also run The Southern California Savages Facebook group and matching Discord channel and even if you’re not local to SoCal, you’re welcome to join and see what sort of Savage shenanigans we’re getting up to!
EGG’S AFTERWORD
Not too long ago, I reviewed the Flash Gordon RPG by Scott A Woodard from Pinnacle here on d20 Radio. Pinnacle showed my article love like I never expected: At the time, they ran a sale because of the piece. I don’t suffer from imposture syndrome, but if I did, that act would have laid it to rest. In July 2019, some of The Sixth Gun RPG books were a part of the “Savage Heroes” Bundle of Holding offer, where I grabbed them. I’ve planned to share more from Pinnacle (as well as a number of other publishers), so I want to thank Scott for sharing some of the history of The Sixth Gun RPG!
The Sixth Gun RPGs are available at:
The Sixth Gun graphic novels are available at:
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