[Boot Hill] Rules Editions

[Finarvyn]

Just doing a little research about the various rules editions for Boot Hill and thought I would share....

Boot Hill 1E (Gary Gygax & Brian Blume, 1975, first printing)
- godenrod color
- pamphlet size booklet
- 34 pages
- Cover shows a lone gunfighter walking along an empty street with his shadow along behind him.


Boot Hill 1E (Gary Gygax & Brian Blume, 1977, second printing)
- goldenrod color
- pamphlet size booklet
- 34 pages plus fold-out insert of charts
- Cover shows two gunmen shooting each other in a cloud of smoke.


Boot Hill 2E (Gary Gygax & Brian Blume with Mike Carr edit, 1979 version)
- came in a box with rulebook and map
- rulebook and box have similar covers
- rulebook is 8.5x11" size
- 34 pages plus character sheet


Boot Hill 2E (Gary Gygax & Brian Blume with Mike Carr edit, 1984 version)
- came in a box with rulebook and map
- rulebook has light brown wood-grain appearance cover
- rulebook is 8.5x11" size
- 34 pages plus character sheet
- Cover shows cowboy on horse with lasso in hand


Boot Hill 3E (Steve Winter, with mention of Gygax & Blume, 1990)
- dark brown wood-grain appearance cover
- 8.5x11" size book
- 128 pages, includes character sheet
- Cover is the 1928 painting “Fight at the Roundup Saloon”
- Game system has undergone a significant overhaul. Percentile dice have been replaced by d20’s. An elaborate skills system has been added. While previous editions have been more miniatures rules, this is clearly designed to be a role-playing game.


That's all I have so far. Any additons or corrections would be appreciated!

[ffilz]

Hmm, what about the 1979 boxed set?

Frank

[Finarvyn]

I think that's the same thing as 2E. Mine came in a box, but has the 1984 date on it.

Anyone know if there were differences in printings with the boxed set?

EDIT: As an aside, it's interesting that there are printings and/or editions dated 1975, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1990 and maybe even more that I don't know about yet. That's five printings and/or editions in about 15 years, yet the game never seems to get any real chatter on discussion boards.

[Finarvyn]

Now that I know that there are two boxed set variants (1979 and 1984) I thought I would look into it farther. I found this...

This popular boxed set contains the 36-page rulebook, poster map, and counters. A re-release of the box set in 1984 featured a Frederic Remington cover ("The Cow Puncher"). Contents are identical, save the rulebook's cover matches the box. The 1984 version is quite rare.

I guess I had the "quite rare" one without knowing it.

[rastusburne]

Are both '2e' sets (1979 & 1984) identical content wise?

[jmccann]

Mar 9, 2008 14:05:08 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Just doing a little research about the various rules editions for Boot Hill and thought I would share....
!

This would fit in really well at the www.acaeum.com/index.html site. I don't see any discussion of printings over there, even in the forums.

[ukgendarme]

Mar 9, 2008 14:05:08 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Just doing a little research about the various rules editions for Boot Hill and thought I would share....

Boot Hill 1E (Gary Gygax & Brian Blume, 1975, first printing)
- godenrod color
- pamphlet size booklet
- 34 pages
- Cover shows a lone gunfighter walking along an empty street with his shadow along behind him.


Boot Hill 1E (Gary Gygax & Brian Blume, 1977, second printing)
- goldenrod color
- pamphlet size booklet
- 34 pages plus fold-out insert of charts
- Cover shows two gunmen shooting each other in a cloud of smoke.


Boot Hill 2E (Gary Gygax & Brian Blume with Mike Carr edit, 1979 version)
- came in a box with rulebook and map
- rulebook and box have similar covers
- rulebook is 8.5x11" size
- 34 pages plus character sheet


Boot Hill 2E (Gary Gygax & Brian Blume with Mike Carr edit, 1984 version)
- came in a box with rulebook and map
- rulebook has light brown wood-grain appearance cover
- rulebook is 8.5x11" size
- 34 pages plus character sheet
- Cover shows cowboy on horse with lasso in hand


Boot Hill 3E (Steve Winter, with mention of Gygax & Blume, 1990)
- dark brown wood-grain appearance cover
- 8.5x11" size book
- 128 pages, includes character sheet
- Cover is the 1928 painting “Fight at the Roundup Saloon”
- Game system has undergone a significant overhaul. Percentile dice have been replaced by d20’s. An elaborate skills system has been added. While previous editions have been more miniatures rules, this is clearly designed to be a role-playing game.


That's all I have so far. Any additons or corrections would be appreciated!

Out of all the Boothill editions out there, which one would be best to run a PBP campaign. I have all 3 but never
really looked into or played the game. For a PBP it has to be easy to run, interesting content for players and give
the proper feeling for the genre. I have heard bad things said about the 3rd Edt. but it appears to have the most
content. 2nd is rules light but is it too light for an attempt at a campaign and just a combat system??

[Finarvyn]

1E and 2E are mostly rules for combat, so if you are fine with players filling in the gaps (very freeform style) then they will work just fine. 3E has more info about backgrounds and is more "RPG-like" rather than "miniatures" based, but in a PBP game I don't know that you need the extra RPG stuff because you lose that face-to-face feel of an RPG anyway.