The d6 Shooters

The d6 Shooters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Episode 1: Long Road to Reno

Background

You are the leader of "The d6 Shooters", a posse who has been hired to escort the infamous outlaw, Billy Griggs, from his current location in the jail of Pyrite, California, to the courthouse in Reno where he is set to face charges for several crimes committed there in recent years. The preliminary hearing is in 40 days and if Billy is not there in time for that, his lawyer will see to it that the charges against him are dropped. So he must be there in 40 days or your mission is a failure and you won't be paid a dime.

Certainly, a train would be the fastest method for transporting the criminal, but there have been numerous train robberies as of late, and with Griggs' gang still at large, the threat of a train incident to free Griggs is just too great. So you and your posse must lead Griggs through the outlying California terrain, taking a route off the beaten path whenever possible.

Objective

Make it to Reno within 40 days. Making it there with some Gold in hand and at least a few other Posse members still alive would be even better.

Requirements

The playsheet. A pen or pencil. 3 red six-sided dice and 5 white six-sided dice (substitute colors as needed). A few extra dice would be helpful at times, but are not absolutely necessary. The Event cards or a sheet with the Event list (optional).

Starting Resources

You start the game with 6 Food, 6 Ammo, 3 Gold and 12 Posse members.

Gameplay

Each turn, roll three Red dice and five White dice. You get three rolls and can lock/unlock as many dice as you want each time, but any 5's or 6's rolled on the Red dice on the first roll are immediately locked, and can't be unlocked!

All dice are locked after three rolls, and are then resolved in numerical order (1's first). Always include the Red dice when determining the total number of dice. Dice that cannot be used (e.g. 3's less than a full set of three) are wasted.

At the end of each turn, check off one Day on the chart.

Dice Actions

Move (1's): Move one space for each 1. If movement reaches an Event, resolve the Event before resolving the other dice. If movement reaches a Town, you must stop. Resolve the additional dice for that turn before visiting the Town, however, any additional movement dice (1's or 4's) are wasted on that turn.
Find Food (2's): Receive one Food for every two 2's.
Prospect (3's): Receive one Gold for every three 3's.
Hide, Seek Shelter, Backroads Travel and/or Fight! (4's): You may split up any 4's rolled among the available choices.
- Hide = Remove two 6's and add 1 Day for each 4 used to Hide.
- Seek Shelter = Remove one 5 for each 4 used to Seek Shelter.
- Backroads Travel = Move one space for every two 4's used for Backroads Travel.
- Fight! = each 4 used to Fight will be rerolled for a Shootout (see Shootout!).
Extreme Heat! (5's) (immediately locks if rolled on a Red die on the first roll): Reroll each 5 that wasn't already resolved by Seek Shelter. For each 3-6 rolled, lose 2 Food or 1 Posse.
The Griggs Gang Attacks! (6's) (immediately locks if rolled on a Red die on the first roll): If any 4's are used to Fight, then all 6's are used for a Shootout (see Shootout!). Otherwise, reroll each 6 and lose one Posse for each 3-6 rolled.

Shootout!

When 6's are rolled, there will be a Shootout if any 4's are used to Fight. Reroll all 6's for the Griggs Gang and add them together. For your Posse, reroll the 4's used to Fight and add them together, plus your current Ammo rating, to get your total. The high score wins (reroll any ties). Remove one die from the losing side and continue until one side has no dice left. If you win, you're safe for now. If the Gang wins, lose one Posse for each remaining Gang die.

After every Shootout, reduce your total Ammo by one.

(Note: Ammo total does not go below 0. Ammo represents your combined weapon strength, stamina and ammunition. You can still have Shootouts with an Ammo rating of 0, but it is strictly dice against dice with no Ammo rating bonus.)

Your Posse

You begin with 11 other people in your Posse, plus yourself. You can regain people for your Posse at Towns and through certain Events, but you can never have more than 12 in your Posse. If you and your Posse are ever killed off entirely, you lose the game. (Note that Billy Griggs is never considered a member of the Posse when counting for Rations, etc.)

Days

Each turn is considered to be one Day. Some turns may end up costing more Days due to Events or other situations. Mark off the number of Days as you go. Your goal is to reach your destination within 40 Days. If a "Hide" action or "Lost" Event adds a Day, mark that off immediately. If that reaches a "Rations" day, Food must be payed immediately before continuing.

Food

Food represents your total source of sustenance, including water. You begin the game with 6 Food. At the end of every 5th Day you must give out Rations and provide one Food to each person in your Posse, including yourself. If you don't have enough Food to feed everyone, you lose as many people as were not fed. If you have no Food remaining when Rations need to be handed out, you lose the game. You cannot carry more than 12 Food at a time.

Events

Events occur every time you reach one of the "E" squares on the map. If your movement reaches an Event, resolve the Event before doing anything else. To use the Event cards, either print them out or order them from Artscow and draw them as needed, or roll two dice and compare the numbers rolled to the card, choosing the corresponding card to resolve (e.g. for a roll of 6 and 5, use the "Army Deserters" card, labeled 5-6).

If you don't have the Event/Item/Poker deck, or do not wish to use the Event cards/list, roll a die when an Event is encountered:

SHORTCUT: Move 3 additional spaces immediately
ANIMAL HERD: You may spend 1 Ammo for 2 food
WAGON TRAIN: You may buy (1 Gold = 2 Food or 2 Ammo) or sell (2 Food or 2 Ammo = 1 Gold)
OPEN ROAD: Nothing happens.
LOST: Add 1 Day and lose 1 Food
DEMANDS: Either lose 1 Posse -or- lose 1 Gold and 1 Food

If you cannot fulfill the requirements of an Event (e.g. you are "Lost" and have no Food left), you lose the game.

Special Event

Once per game, you may initiate an Event at the start of your turn, no matter where you are.

Towns

At each Town, you can buy Items or play Poker in the local saloon. Movement always stops at a Town, and any additional movement dice (1's or 4's) are wasted on that turn. Resolve any other dice from that turn before visiting the Town (i.e. buying Items or playing Poker).

Items

You may buy as many Items as you wish and can afford, or none if you choose. You may buy Items at any time while in a Town (e.g. you may play Poker first and then buy Items).

Items That Are Always Available

2 Food for 1 Gold, or 5 Food for 2 Gold
2 Ammo for 1 Gold, or 5 Ammo for 2 Gold
Up to 3 Posse Members for 1 Gold each

Special Items

Roll a die to see what Special Item (cost in Gold) is available (only one per Town, reroll if you already have the Item rolled):

Compass (2): Red 1's count as 2 moves
Hunter (3): Counts as a Posse member; when Finding Food/Water, any Red 2's count as 2 dice (Hunter is lost if Posse is ever reduced to 1)
Prospector's Map (3): Gain one Gold for every two 3's rolled
Binoculars (2): May reroll one Red 5 rolled from the first roll
Medicine/Bandages (2): Prevent all Posse loss from a single source, then discard
Better Guns (): Add + to your final total during Shootouts (* = the Gold you spent)

Poker

At each Town, you can opt to play Poker. Wager an amount of Gold, Food and/or Ammo and roll the best hand you can in three rolls with the White dice, then draw the top card from the Event/item/Poker deck (disregard the Event/Item section of the card) and compare your hand to the hand on the card. You win or lose the same amount that you wagered. If there is a tie, start over.

Poker hand rankings: Five of a Kind > Four of a Kind > Straight > Full House > Three of a Kind > Two Pair > One Pair > High card

Roll a die after your hand is locked to determine the hand you need to beat, as follows:

High card (1 3 4 5 6)
Pair (4 4 6 3 2)
Full House (4 4 4 2 2)
Straight (1 2 3 4 5)
Four of a Kind (3 3 3 3 6)
Five of a Kind (4 4 4 4 4)

End of the Game

If at any time your Posse is reduced to 0, or it is a Rations Day and you have no Food remaining, or you cannot fulfill the needs of a particular event as stated, the game is over and you lose. The game is also over after the 40th Day, whether you've made it to Reno or not. You must reach Reno on the 40th Day or sooner to win the game. Once Reno has been reached, any other dice are disregarded for that turn and the game is considered to be over (you do not give out Rations if that would have been a Rations Day). However, if the Event just before Reno is passed with the same turn's movement, that Event must be resolved first before Reno is reached.

Scoring

Only applies if you reach Reno safely within 40 days.

Arriving in Reno = 10 points
Each Day you arrived early = 2 points
Each remaining Posse member = 3 points
Each Gold you have = 2 points
Each Food you have = 1 point
Every 2 Ammo you have = 1 point

Easier Version

For a version of the game that should be a little easier to finish, start with 12 Food, 5 Gold and one of the Special Items.

Shorter Version

For a shorter version of the game, consider Essen to be the destination and 30 Days the time limit.

Turn Example

Current location and resources: 8 Days have passed. Joe's Posse is three spaces past the Town of Calico. Food is at 4, Posse is at 6, Ammo is at 4 and Gold is at 0.

First roll: Joe rolls the three Red dice and 5 White dice and gets 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 on the White dice and 4, 6 and 6 on the Red dice. The two Red 6's are locked automatically. Joe opts to lock the white 1, 2 and 4 and the Red 4.

Joe rerolls the remaining two white dice and gets 3 and 5, neither of which he wants to keep (it's unlikely he'll roll two more 3's). He decides to unlock the white 2 to have a better chance at getting more 4's, which he wants to defend against the 6's.

Joe rolls the three remaining white dice and gets 1, 2 and 5. Three rolls have passed, so all dice are locked now.

The dice are resolved in numerical order, so for the two 1's, Joe's Posse moves two spaces, which lands them on an Event. He rolls for the Event and gets a 5, which is "Lost: Lose 1 Day and 1 Food". He marks off a Day and discards one Food, bringing his total Days to 9 and his Food down to 3.

Next, the 2's are resolved, but since he only has one 2, that is not enough to gain a Food with, so it is wasted.

Joe must decide what to do with the 4's he has. He decides to use one 4 to Seek Shelter and one to Fight against the attacking Gang members (the 6's).

For the Seek Shelter action, the 5 die is removed, so Joe does not lose any Posse members to the Extreme Heat.

Since Joe is using a 4 die to Fight against the attacking 6's, there will be a Shootout. Joe rerolls his one 4 die and gets a 5, to which he adds the 4 Ammo that he has remaining, for a total of 9. The two 6's are rerolled and the result is 3 and 4, for a total of 7. Joe has won this round and so one of the attacking dice are removed, leaving one on each side. Joe rolls a 2, adding the 4 Ammo again, to get 6. The attacker's remaining die is rolled for a 6, so they tie and must roll again. Joe rolls a 1 and adds the 4 Ammo to get 5. The attacker's die is again a 6, so Joe has lost the Shootout and loses one Posse member (for the one remaining Gang die). He now has 5 Posse. At the end of every Shootout, Joe must reduce his Ammo by one, so he now has only 3 Ammo left.

That ends the turn, so Joe checks off the next Day, which is Day 10, a Rations day, so he must pay Food to each of his Posse. He only has 3 Food remaining, and there are 5 Posse members, so two Posse members are lost, and Joe is now out of Food.

Alternately, Joe might have opted to use a 4 to Hide against the 6's. He'd have been guaranteed not to lose any Posse to the attacking Gang members. However, he would have had to add a Day. He could have also used the two 4's for Backroads Travel to move an extra space, but that would have left him completely vulnerable to the 5 and the two 6's.

Event List

Roll two dice and choose the corresponding Event. (e.g. A roll of 4 and 3 would be 3-4: Posse Demands)

1-1: Tumbling Tumbleweeds. A tumbleweed tumbles on by and runs right into a cactus.
1-2: Stampede! Roll two dice. If you roll lower than the total number of your Posse, lose 2 Posse members.
1-3: Rattlesnakes! Roll one die per Posse member. Add 1 Day for the first 6 rolled. Lose 1 Posse member for any additional 6's rolled.
1-4: Billy Escapes! Billy escapes while your Posse is resting. You are able to track him down, but it costs you some time. If the nearest Town is behind you, add 1 Day. If the nearest Town is ahead of you, move ahead 2 spaces and add 1 Day. If distance is equal, add 1 Day.
1-5: Deer Herd. A herd of deer passes by, and you see a lot more down across the valley. You may spend 1 Ammo to gain 2 Food. OR You may spend 2 Ammo and add 1 Day to roll a die and get Food equal to the number rolled +2.
1-6: There's Gold in Them Hills! Until you reach the next Town or Event, you may change any one die to a 3 on the first roll of each turn. (Red 5's and 6's may not be changed.)
2-2 & 2-3: Wagon Train. You may buy or sell Food and/or Ammo at a rate of 2 Food or 2 Ammo for 1 Gold.
2-4: Slow Train Crossing. No further movement can be made on this turn (with 1's or 4's).
2-5: Downhill Ride. You always have an extra 1 die available until you reach the next Town or Event.
2-6: Lost Gunsight Mine. You have found the legendary Lost Gunsight Mine, but the heat of the valley is particularly brutal. You may gain 5 Gold, but if so, then until you reach the next Town or Event, you may not use 4's to Seek Shelter.

Episode 2: Ghost Town Showdown

Background

When a wealthy rail baron offers a big reward for someone to get back his daughter, who was recently kidnapped and held for ransom by the infamous Crowe Gang, who else would eagerly take that challenge but The d6 Shooters? You are the leader of The d6 Shooters, an indie posse known all around the West for your daring deeds and adventurous treks.

Russell and Sheryl Crowe and their gang were last spotted heading south and are rumored to be hiding out at Hoodia, an old ghost town just past Loud Mouth Canyon. There's likely to be a nasty shootout once you get there, and you'll have to persevere in order to rescue the baron's daughter and collect the reward. But you'll have some time to worry about that on the journey there, which will be treacherous enough. Not only is there the heat to worry about, but Crowe's gang members will surely be heading north to fight off anyone heading towards the ghost town. And you can't spend too much time dealing with that... the Crowes have given a deadline of 30 days before they will kill the baron's daughter and escape to the south. So you'd better get moving...

Objective

Make it to Hoodia within 30 days and kill off the Crowe Gang to rescue the baron's daughter.

Requirements

The playsheet. A pen or pencil. 1 black, 2 red and 5 white six-sided dice (substitute colors as needed) for the main gameplay. Several extra six-sided dice might be needed for the final showdown. The Event list or Event cards (optional).

Starting Resources

You start the game with 5 Food, 4 Ammo, 3 Gold and 10 Posse members.

Gameplay

Each turn, roll the Black die, two Red dice and five White dice. You get three rolls and can lock/unlock as many dice as you want each time, but any 5's or 6's rolled on either of the Red dice on the first roll are immediately locked, and can't be unlocked!

All dice are locked after three rolls, and are then resolved in numerical order (1's first). The Black die counts as two of its number. Dice that cannot be used (e.g. 3's less than a full set of three) are wasted.

When all dice have been resolved, mark off one Day.

Dice Actions

Move (1's): Move one space for each 1. You must always use the full movement of 1's that are locked. If you reach an Event or Town and have more 1's available, resolve the Event or visit the Town first, then resolve all additional dice.
Find Food (2's): Gain 1 Food for every two 2's.
Recruit Posse or Find Gold (3's): Gain one Posse member or one Gold for every three 3's.
Seek Shelter, Hide, Fight and/or Backroads (4's): You may split up any available 4's among the following choices.
- Seek Shelter = Remove one 5 die for every 4 used to Seek Shelter.
- Hide = Remove up to two 6's for each 4 used to Hide. Add 1 Day whenever a Hide action is used.
- Fight! = each 4 used to Fight allows one die to be rolled for a Shootout (see Shootout!).
- Backroads = Move one space for each 4 used for Backroads (maximum of 2). Unlike 1's, which must always be used for their full movement amount, 4's not used for Seek Shelter, Hide or Fight may either be ignored or used for Backroads, and if you have more than one 4 available for Backroads, you may opt to use only one die for that. (There may be times when you don't want to move forward at a particular time.)
Extreme Heat! (5's) (immediately locks if rolled on a Red die on the first roll): Reroll each remaining 5 (that wasn't removed by Seek Shelter). For each 4-6 rolled, lose 1 Posse.
The Crowe Gang Attacks! (6's) (immediately locks if rolled on a Red die on the first roll): If any 4's are used to Fight, then all 6's are used for a Shootout (see Shootout!). Otherwise, reroll each 6 and lose one Posse for each 3-6 rolled.

Shootout!

When 6's are rolled, there will be a Shootout if any 4's are used to Fight. Reroll all 6's for the Griggs Gang [sic] and add them together. Reroll the 4's used to Fight and add them together, plus the amount of Ammo you have, to get your total. The high score wins (reroll any ties). Remove one die from the losing side and continue until one side has no dice left. If you win, check off one of the boxes in the "Crowe Gang" area on the playsheet (Russell and Sheryl are never crossed off from a Shootout). If the Gang wins the Shootout, you lose 1 Posse for each remaining Gang die.

After EVERY Shootout, reduce your total Ammo by one. (Ammo total does not go below 0.)

Your Posse

The number of your Posse represents the number of people in your Party, as well as their general morale and strength. You begin with 10 Posse and can never have more than 10 in your Posse. If your total Posse is ever reduced to 0, you lose the game.

Days

Each turn is considered to be one Day. Some turns may end up costing more Days due to Events or other situations. Mark off the number of Days as you go. If you do not reach Hoodia within 30 Days, you lose the game.

If a "Hide" action or an Event adds a Day, mark that off immediately. If that reaches a "Rations" day, Food must be payed immediately before continuing. Mark another Day off as usual at the end of the turn.

Food

Food represents your total source of sustenance, including water. You begin the game with 5 Food. At the end of every 5th Day you must hand out Rations and provide one Food to each person in your Posse, including yourself. If you don't have enough Food to feed everyone, you spend what you have and lose as many people as were not fed. If you have no Food at all remaining when Rations need to be handed out, you lose the game. You cannot carry more than 10 Food at a time.

Events

Events are triggered whenever you reach certain spaces on the map. If you have additional movement dice available when an Event space is reached, pause movement at the Event space and continue after the Event is resolved.

To use the Event list/cards, roll two dice and compare the numbers rolled to the Event list/cards, choosing the corresponding card to resolve (e.g. for a roll of 6 and 5, use the "Army Deserters" card, labeled 5-6).

If you do not wish to use the Event cards/list, roll a die when an Event is encountered and consult the following chart:

SHORTCUT: Move 3 additional spaces immediately
ANIMAL HERD: You may spend 1 Ammo for 2 food
WAGON TRAIN: You may buy (1 Gold = 2 Food or 2 Ammo) or sell (2 Food or 2 Ammo = 1 Gold)
OPEN ROAD: Nothing happens.
LOST: Add 1 Day and lose 1 Food
POSSE DEMANDS: Either lose 2 Posse -or- lose 1 Gold and 1 Food -or- lose 2 Gold -or- lose 2 Food

If you cannot fulfill the requirements of an Event (e.g. you are "Lost" and have no Food left), you lose the game.

Movement

You must always move the exact amount of spaces indicated by the number of 1 dice you have locked at the end of your rolls. If you reach an Event or Town, resolve the Event or visit the Town first, then resolve any remaining dice.

Backroads travel using up to two 4's is a specific action choice and may be ignored or limited to one die. Movement from 1's and from Backroads 4's is considered separate, so movement stops after 1's and after 4's, which may be relevant for Resource Spaces (see below).

Resource Spaces

There are some spaces on the map that will provide a bonus or a loss to your resources if the space is landed on exactly (not merely passed over). If you land on one of these spaces, gain or lose one resource as indicated:

-P+ = -/+ Posse
-F+ = -/+ Food
-G+ = -/+ Gold
-A+ = -/+ Ammo
D+ = + Day (Days can only be added)

Towns

At each Town, you can buy Items. You may buy as many Items as you wish and can afford, or none if you choose.

Items That Are Always Available to Buy

2 Food or 2 Ammo for 1 Gold
5 Food or 5 Ammo for 2 Gold
Up to 2 Posse Members for 1 Gold each

Special Items

Roll a die to see what Special Item (cost in Gold) is available. (Only one per Town, and you may only have one per type. You may reroll if you already have the Item rolled.):

Compass (3): Red 1's count as 2 moves
Hunter (3): Counts as a Posse member; Red 2's count as 2 dice
Lucky Charm (2): Each turn you may change one locked White die by one pip
Binoculars (2): May reroll one Red 5 or 6 rolled on the first roll
Medicine/Bandages (2): Prevent all Posse loss from a single source, then discard
Better Guns (): Add + to your final total during Shootouts (* = the Gold you spent)

The Ghost Town Showdown

If you make it to Hoodia, the turn immediately ends and all additional dice are disregarded.

Make two separate dice groups; one group with a number of dice equal to your current Posse, and one group of dice equal to the number of Crowe Gang members remaining on the Crowe Gang section of the playsheet. Russell and Sheryl are never crossed off from Shootouts, so the Crowe Gang should always have at least two dice available to begin with, if not more.

Combat

For each round of combat, roll both groups of dice separately. For each 4-6 your Posse rolls, you may either remove a Crowe Gang die that was 1-2 or set aside one Crowe Gang die that was 5-6. For each remaining Crowe Gang die that is 5-6, remove one of your Posse dice. Once per round of combat, you may spend 1 Ammo to reroll up to three dice (three dice total, but from either side). This continues until one side has no dice remaining. (Note that to "remove" a die means that it will not return. To "set aside" a die means that it is out of the current round of combat, but will return to its group for the next round.)

Tactics

During combat, you may use the following Tactics, one time only. You must declare which Tactic you are using before rolling.

Defend: For each 3-6 your Posse rolls, remove a Crowe Gang die that is 1-2. For each remaining Crowe Gang die that is a 6 remove one of your Posse dice.
Charge: For each 3-6 your Posse rolls, remove a Crowe Gang die that is 1-3. For each remaining Crowe Gang die that is 4-6 remove one of your Posse dice.
Distract: You may change up to three pips total on any dice. This may be combined in any way. For example, you could change one die by three pips, or three dice by one pip, or one die by one pip and another die by two pips.

End of the Game

If at any time your Posse is reduced to 0, or it is a Rations Day and you have no Food remaining, or you cannot fulfill the needs of a particular Event as stated, the game is over and you lose. The game is also over after the 30th Day, whether you've made it to Hoodia or not. You must reach Hoodia on the 30th Day or sooner and defeat the remaining Crowe Gang members there in order to win the game. Once Hoodia has been reached, any other dice are disregarded for that turn and you proceed directly to the Ghost Town Showdown (you do not give out Rations if that would have been a Rations Day).

Scoring

Only applies if you reach Hoodia within 30 days and defeat the Crowe Gang there.

Reward = 15 points
Each Day you arrived early = 2 points
Each remaining Posse member = 3 points
Each Gold you have = 3 points
Each Food you have = 1 point
Every 2 Ammo you have = 1 point

Turn Example

Current location and resources: 18 Days have passed. Joe's Posse is two spaces past the Town of Levitra. Food is at 4, Posse is at 6, Ammo is at 4 and Gold is at 0.

First roll: Joe rolls the Black die, 2 Red dice and 5 White dice and gets 1 on the Black die, 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 on the White dice and 6 and 6 on the Red dice. The Red 6's are locked automatically. Joe opts to lock the black 1, the white 1, 2 and 4 and the Red 4.

Joe rerolls the remaining two white dice and gets 3 and 5, neither of which he wants to keep. He decides to unlock the white 2 to have a better chance at getting more 4's, which he wants to defend against the 6's.

Joe rolls the three remaining white dice and gets 2, 4 and 5. Three rolls have passed, so all dice are locked now.

The dice are resolved in numerical order, so for the 1's, Joe's Posse moves three spaces (the Black die counts as two), which lands them on an Event space. He rolls for the Event (using the basic table on the playsheet) and gets a 5, which is "Lost: Lose 1 Day and 1 Food". He marks off a Day and discards one Food, bringing his total Days to 19 and his Food down to 3.

Next, the 2's are resolved, but since he only has one 2, that is not enough to gain a Food with, so it is wasted.

Joe must decide what to do with the 4's he has. He decides to use one 4 as Shelter and one to Fight against the attacking Gang members (the 6's).

For the Shelter action, the 4 die removes the 5 die, so Joe will not lose any Posse members to the Extreme Heat.

That ends the turn, so Joe checks off the next Day, which is Day 20, a Rations Day, so he must pay Food to each of his Posse. He only has 3 Food remaining, and there are 5 Posse members, so two Posse members are lost, and Joe is now out of Food.

Alternately, Joe might have opted to use his other 4 to Hide against the 6's. He could have removed both 6's by hiding with the 4, and he'd have been guaranteed not to lose any Posse to the attacking Gang members. However, he would have had to add a Day, and he wanted the chance to win a Shootout to reduce the number of Crowe Gang members at Hoodia. So he opted to Fight, which didn't work out... Joe might also have used both 4's to Fight, which would have made the Shootout a more likely win, but would have given a chance for the Heat to claim a Posse member. Still, considering that he was going to lose two Posse members anyway for not having enough food on Rations Day, that was probably the best option at that time. He could also have used the two 4's to take the Backroads and move two additional spaces, but that would have left him completely defenseless against both the Extreme Heat and the Crowe Gang attack.

Showdown Example

If you reach Hoodia within 30 Days, make two separate dice groups; one group with dice equal to your Posse and one group with dice equal to the remaining Crowe Gang. Roll all dice (keep them separate) and resolve each round of combat as follows: For each 4-6 that you rolled for your Posse, either remove one Crowe die that is 1-2 or set aside one Crowe die that is 5-6. For each remaining Crowe die that is 5-6, remove one Posse die. You may spend 1 Ammo per round of combat to reroll up to three dice (from either side). Return dice set aside to their group and roll remaining dice again. Continue until one side has no dice remaining. If the Crowe Gang is defeated, you win!

In the worked example, Joe's Posse reaches Hoodia on the 28th Day. He won 13 Shootouts during the journey, leaving five Gang Members plus Russell and Sheryl, for seven dice on the Crowe Gang side. Joe has 5 Posse members and 2 Ammo. He uses the Distract tactic in the first round, spends one Ammo to reroll three dice, then uses Charge in the second round and Defend in the third, spends his last Ammo on a reroll, and wins the Showdown after rolling the remaining dice. (The individual dice results are shown only as pictures in the original.)

Event List

Roll two dice and choose the corresponding Event. (e.g. A roll of 4 and 3 would be 3-4: Posse Demands)

1-1: Tumbling Tumbleweeds. A tumbleweed tumbles on by and runs right into a cactus. You laugh and proceed as normal.
1-2: Traitor. One of your Posse turns out to be a member of Crowe's gang. Lose 1 Posse and add one Crowe Gang member.
1-3: Rattlesnakes! Roll one die per Posse member. Add 1 Day for the first 6 rolled. Lose 1 Posse member for any additional 6's rolled.
1-4: Stampede! Roll two dice. If you roll lower than the total number of your Posse, lose 2 Posse.
1-5: Deer Herd. A herd of deer passes by, and you see a lot more down across the valley. You may spend 1 Ammo to gain 2 Food. OR You may spend 2 Ammo to roll a die and get Food equal to the number rolled +1.
1-6: There's Gold in Them Hills! Until you reach the next Town or Event, you may change one White die to a 3 after the first roll of each turn.
2-2: Wagon Train. You may buy or sell Food and/or Ammo at a rate of 2 Food or 2 Ammo for 1 Gold.
2-3: Wagon Train. You may buy or sell Food and/or Ammo at a rate of 3 Food or 3 Ammo for 1 Gold.
2-4: Slow Train Crossing. No further movement (from 1's or 4's) can be made on this turn.
2-5: Downhill Ride. Red 1's count as two moves until you reach the next Town or Event. (Roll again if you have the Compass.)
2-6: Crowe's Hometown. If you stop at the next Town you reach, you will have a Shootout there; two dice against two dice.