Welcome to the Weird West

"Out here, the dead don't always stay buried, and the truth is stranger than any tall tale."

Partner, You've Entered Strange Territory

Welcome to the year of our Lord, 1877. The world you're about to enter looks familiar at first glance—the same dusty frontier towns, the same smoking Colts, the same desperate men and women carving civilization from wilderness. But look closer, and you'll see the shadows move wrong. You'll hear the screams that carry too far on the prairie wind. You'll find the graves that don't stay full.

This ain't the Wild West your history books told you about. This is the Weird West, and it's been fourteen years since everything changed.

The Reckoning of 1863

July 3, 1863. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

That's when it happened. When the dead rose from the battlefield and walked again. The Agency—them that know about such things—they call it Event 070363. The rest of us just call it the day the world went to Hell.

The War Between the States didn't end like it should have. How could it, with corpses standing up to fight again? The generals pulled back, tried to make sense of it all. They never did. Now, seventeen years later, the war grinds on—a bloody stalemate along the Mason-Dixon Line, with periodic offensives and constant raids keeping the hatred fresh and the casualties mounting.

What Makes It "Weird"?

Since that dark day at Gettysburg, the world has gone from strange to stranger:

The Dead Walk: Battlefields birth walking corpses. Some shamble mindless. Others... others remember who they were. The Harrowed, they're called—dead men with a demon riding their soul, fighting for control.

Ghost Rock: Five years after Gettysburg came the Great Quake of '68. California shattered and fell into the sea, leaving behind a maze of towering rock canyons. But from that destruction came a miracle—or a curse. Ghost rock, a black mineral that burns a hundred times hotter than coal, moaning and releasing spectral vapors. It's made fortunes for some and drawn the attention of "mad scientists" whose impossible inventions now crowd the skies and rails.

Things in the Dark: The manitous—evil spirits, some call 'em—feed on fear. And there's plenty to go around. Every shadow might hide something hungry. Every ghost town might not be as empty as it looks.

Power Comes at a Price: Out here, there's folks who can do things. Hucksters who make deals with manitous for magical power. Blessed who channel the divine—or think they do. Shamans who walk the hunting grounds. Mad scientists whose contraptions shouldn't work, but do. Every one of 'em pays a price for their gifts.

The Divided States of America

The nation you knew is gone. In its place:

The Union holds the North, blockading Southern ports and pressing the war when it can.
The Confederacy controls the South, independent but economically strangled and war-weary.
The Disputed Lands lie between them—claimed by both, controlled by neither. This is where desperate men make their fortunes or their graves.
The Sioux Nations have reclaimed the Northern Plains, pushing back the whites with modern weapons and ancient magic.
The Coyote Confederation controls the Southwest, a Native alliance that's shown the world it won't be moved.
Deseret, the Mormon state, stands independent under Brigham Young.
The Great Maze—what's left of California—is a lawless labyrinth of ghost rock barons and desperate prospectors.

And Then There's the Rail Wars

Six major rail lines race across the continent, each one fighting for dominance. They'll do anything—anything—to lay track faster than their competitors. Sabotage, murder, hired guns, and worse. Much worse.

This is where you come in.

Your Place in This World

You're about to become one of Colonel Brennan's Troubleshooters—hired fixers for the Black River Railroad Company. The Colonel needs people who can handle the impossible, face the unthinkable, and keep their wits when the dead start walking.

Your base of operations? Dodge City, Kansas—right in the heart of the Disputed Lands. Founded as "Peacetown," meant to be neutral ground where Union and Confederate could live side by side. Reality's been... messier. With a Fear Level of 3 (higher than the rest of the Disputed Lands), Dodge has become a magnet for the things that feed on terror.

But it's also your home now. The railroad depot serves as your headquarters. The Dodge City Times keeps you informed. And somewhere in this powder keg of partisan hatred, supernatural horror, and rail war violence, you'll find your next job.

The pay is generous. Survival is not guaranteed.

Welcome to Colonel Brennan's Troubleshooters.
Welcome to Dodge City.
Welcome to the Weird West.

Ready to ride? Continue to the next sections to learn how to play, create your character, and understand the rules of this strange new world. The Ford County Library has everything you need to survive—if you're smart enough to use it.