Bootleg Edition of Dark Trails RPG is well worth the dollars spent. The adventure is playable either as a quick one-shot intro session to the genre using the well-written rules contained within, or as our group is currently playing it, a hard slog through the trails using just a small selection of the MANY encounters within the almost 200 page book, which should take us to level 2 and I imagine, begging for more.

I'm a fan of paying for the PDF, testing the waters and if it stacks up, I grab a physical copy too... if I'm not too cash strapped at the time. Many times I have paid for PDF plus full-priced physical just to support the author/s and I'd not hesitate to do the same for this. Mind you, I've also jumped right in with the late backed Kickstarter and will be waiting patiently by the trail for the pony express to drop off my full stand-alone Dark Trails RPG tomes (600 pages, what more could it contain??!!), plus all and any add-on adventures and also some swag for the players who take up the reins... and shirts, I'd proudly wear!

I support this product FULLY and have been a David Baity fan since the awesome 'Carnival of the Damned' DCC RPG adventure (which again has more encounters than you'll ever need)! As a comparison, I own Call of Cthulhu Down Darker Trails and have played Deadlands Weird West and I have way more fun and feel more comfortable with the DCC RPG family of products.

PDF: Have not found any issues with the product, it is well organised and quality is A+! Physical: Will let you know. Last Word: I was not coerced or plied with booze to write this review and am of sound mind and body! I think! :)

Ever wondered what a Shadows Over Brimson board game would be like as an RPG, and using best the (and maybe your favorite) system DCC. Well, fret no more Dark Trails is now created and you can still late back it which I did. I am glad I did. I was unaware of this while it was running on KS, but I immediately 'got it' once I knew about it. I then found myself a game and played it. I am glad I did. That really is the best way you'll know if you want this game or not.

Go find a game, such as on the DCC discord to play a game and try it out. If it suits you, and you like the DCC system, like I do, then you should get it, but what if you don't and want to use some other system. Well there is another Chaosium Weird West product on Drive Thru I noticed and I thought about getting it simply for the fact it is a) CoC based in its conception and mythos aspects and thus potentially related and useful to any CoC based setting, especially one set in the Old West or Weird West. As a reference material then this book also serves a function.

All that aside, things I immediately liked and noticed was the Civil War is over but it is not really ended in that the South remains and I like that for a fictional setting, then add in some zombies which if anyone has played another Old West game involving zombies seems reminescent, but I don't play that right now so including that type of thing in this game I found very, well, Inclusive and Diversity of them. Diversity is Our Strength don't you know so that means Zombies and all manner of living death awaits you.

I like that the game incorporates the use of Play Cards and it mechanically is useful then to have a deck of cards lying around.

Poker Chips and of course the DCC funky dice are incorporated too. I like that Poker Chips are Boons and that one thing is different than other DCC games. Boons you earn by rolling a 20. I rolled two 20's during my game. I started with one Boon so I had a total of 3 in my game. I really liked it as it is sort of like a Hero Point from Mutants and Masterminds or some other game that uses a similar mechanic.

Essentially it is the DCC system but some small differneces, like how it uses Boons, and something called the Paths System instead of alignment. The same basic stats are used but also something called Grit which is like your Mythos related Willpower/Sanity.

The character concepts / classes, I love. It is again, like Shaodw Over Brimstone. There is a Gambler class, but it is not exact such as there are the Luchador, and not something like a Bandito. I played a Revator, and you can play an Occultist and Mysthic Monk like in the TV Show Kung Fu, and I'm sure if you wanted your Gunfighter to be a Mexican Bantio called El Guapo you could. I wish they had special rounds for the Gunfighter, like they could produce Blazing Hot Bullets or some other fire-related name as a class ability, but no, yet, that doesn't stop the GM coming up with special items or some way to incorporate that. Instead the Gunfighter can 'fan' their gun to gain multiple shots.

There are also characters which seem Steam punk and mad scientisty in nature so the characters are very cool and some more unique than others but the ones that are not unique to Dark Trails, like a Gun Fighter obviously fit into this setting how they build the class and it works very well together.

I can see myself using this setting and maybe they find a Mine and maybe in the Mine they find all manner of dark evil in there and portals to other worlds and dimensions, and maybe Fantasy or Post Apoc or Sci-Fi based characters can be met (i.e. I can use my XCC, DCC, MCC and Starcawl materials) so this game fits perfectly with all that stuff, and could easily make a good referene for someone not playing DCC who just wants ideas and material for a Weird West type sourcebook, and one with a healthy does of Mythos related things, but it is not Call of Cthulhu per se. It is clearly a DCC based game and the same Crawl type of experience you probably love and expect from a Goodman related product line.

Other details I loved about the product: Amazing cover art. If you print the pdf it will come out perfectly aligned double sided. Has a good index.

I stumbled upon this little nugget while looking for something new to run for our online group back in June. Before I write more you should know that you can still back the KS that's due out by end of the year. I did some searching to learn more about the system and found out I could still back through their FB group. I backed it to get the free copy of this Bootleg along with the character sheets (quite a few other stretch goals too).

Dark Trails might not be your kind of system, but we have had a blast running through the adventure over the last several weeks. Weird west isn't our regular groove, so I don't think we'll be running a campaign anytime soon, but we have really had some fun over the sessions I've ran. The system is easy to pick up if you have any DCC experience, but two of my players don't but they had a decent grasp of the rules after the 1st session (though they're well-versed in RPGs to be fair). I could definitely see us going back to the game in between breaks of our 5e campaign, plus one of our guys just ordered a luchador mask, lol!

I think the classes are the strength of the game. It look us a while to level everyone up just because everyone had a hard time choosing what to play. We like the gun deck, and the Boons and Hexes mechanic help you get into the spirit of things.

If I had to ding it for anything I'd say I just wish it included the full version of the classes and more spells. The book is already at 190+ pages, so I guess size was an issue. Also, maybe some examples would be nice for the rules? It would be really cool to see this ported over to 5e!

I was lucky enough to play in one of the sessions for this game during the online Con Goodman Games hosted several weeks ago. The author was kind enough to give free codes to Dark Trails judges to hand out to their players to better help the flow of the session (more eyes on the rules, less stress on the judge). I had a blast playing the game (lots of laughs and creepy encounters). I'm relatively new to DCC, but so glad a friend convinced me to try it! I've always loved weird west games, so Dark Trails definitely was a must try during the convention! You won't find a better group of gamers than you do within the DCC community

It's taken me a few weeks to have time to go through the Bootleg (it's beefy), but now that I have I can say I'm really excited at the potential for the world the author has created. The classes are really cool and some of the mechanics really help give the game a western feel with the gun deck probably being my favorite.

I liked it enough to back it tonight, so I'm putting my money where my mouth is!

Be wary, the creator of this "quick start" product is padding the reviews. On March 24th, 2020, on the project's Kickstarter page, update "Dark Trails Contest!", the creator asked his backers to pad the reviews here in exchange for prizes. Until the creator asked this of his backers, there were zero reviews here on DriveThruRPG. If you look through the reviews, you will notice over half of the 5-star reviews came in on March 24th and 25th (the day of and the day after he asked the backers to bump the reviews).

As far as the game itself, it's just meh. Subpar interior artwork (the cover is cool though) and just adds unnecessary complication to DCC's smooth mechanics. The gun deck is an interesting idea, but with little reward. Again, it just slows down DCC's quick combat.

This is poor quality meterial. I will wait for the full version to complete to see if the game improves.

**I happen to be a backer of this awesome game, and logged in today to purchase a POD version of the free PDF I received for backing the KS. My plan was to leave a few kind words for the game David is writing, but after seeing the negative review a fellow by the name of Lexington wrote I felt the need to clear some things up in regards to a few things he brought up.

First off, this game might not be for everyone, but it definitely fits well in my holster in regards to what I want in a weird west RPG. There's certainly nothing wrong with Down Darker Trails, Deadlands, or any of the other RPGs skinned for the weird west genre currently out there, but Dark Trails serves up something truly special and unique. Instead of playing a boring yahoo going up against the supernatural, you take on the role of a character that is filled to the brim with "weird". The 11 available classes (with another to come as a stretch goal) are such a blast to play! Who doesn't want to play an oiled-up luchador cracking zombie necks, or the calavera, a spooky chick that can converse with spirits and walk with them in the Spirit World? The classes are the backbone for the game and David has really done his homework with Dark Trails.

The game is built upon the backbone of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, of which I'm a big fan of! You don't need DCC to play it, as from what I know Joseph Goodman gave the author permission to reprint the rules in Dark Trails, which is something no other 3PP has been able to do! So, the two are mostly compatible but also independent of each other. With Dark Trails, David has added several mechanics that make the game really feel "western". All you need to play is included in the Bootleg Edition, but you're only given a portion of the class abilities. As I understand, space was a consideration (The Bootleg is close to 200 pages) and he wanted to make it easier to learn and run for people not familiar with the DCC rules (kind of a throwback to OSR with some cool mechanics thrown in to boot). The adventure is well written and can be run several times different ways. The entire book is filled with quality art, so you're getting something special for your bucks with a purchase (I just popped on to order a POD version, so that should say something).

Now, in regards to the Lexington fellow. I'm feeling like this chap might be a ,troll, because what he says makes no sense to me and he mentions the Down Darker Trails game in his review. The problem with the review is he spends much of his time insulting the author, and a lot of the things mentioned just aren't true.

I went back and counted at least 59 updates for Dark Trails. I'm not sure what everyone expects, but I've gotten a lot less from other projects I've backed.

So far, several of the stratch goals have been met. Added monsters, spells, the world map (that is wicked cool!), form fillable character sheets, etc. So, it's obvious by updates and stretch goals that the author is working regularly on the project. It is running late, but I've waited far longer on things I've backed in the past and Dark Trails is slotted for release by end of this year.

The "junk" items Lexington mentioned were only offered at the time of the KS, and included some really nice items. Custom dice and the dice bag look really cool. You also had options for character sheet pads, extra maps (one is included in as a physical stretch goal), t-shirts, and a limited edition signed print by SanJulian (the cover artist who is legendary). I don't get why he said that the author is continually selling new "junk". This just isn't so.

I have no idea where he's coming from with some of the other remarks, but I'll say this about his complaints for the game. The game is designed in such a way that you can easily leave out any of the mechanics that you don't like. It's really that simple. If you don't like the gun-deck (which my group loves) then drop it for another d20 compatible mechanic! He complains that it drifts too far away from DCC, but there really aren't that many extra rules and those that are in place make the game feel like a western. So, again, I don't know why this guy left such a crappy review, but hopefully this will put things into perspective.

Dark Trails may not be your cup of tea, but our group loves it and we've played a lot of weird west games. We can't wait for the full release at the end of the year. Thanks for the great game, Mr.Baity**

I've read this and watched a bit of a play through, and I'm really excited! I was just introduced to DCC RPG and I think this is going to fall right in line with the fun of that! My only feedback is that I hope that more examples of the rules are included in the complete book. There were a few paragraphs in this quick start I had to reread carefully just so I could understand how the mechanic works.

I have been fortunate enough to play in two of David Baity's (creator) Dark Trails adventures, as well as one of John Watson's, "Hell Train". All were immensely enjoyable and memorable events, so I was very excited to be able to get the quick start rules and to begin creating my own world for Dark Trails. Although having the DCC rulebook will help you, mostly by increasing the amount of spells for Dark Trails spell casters like the Occultist and Revelator, you could run games with just this quick start. I can remember some of the class abilities and powers from my convention play testing, that are not in the quick start, but I have found that they are not yet needed for the lower level of play that I have been running. The system's defining rules on character Path (alignment), Boons and Hexes, and the Gun Deck are enjoyable, easy to employ, and provide distiction from the rest of the DCC family. Like DCC and its kin, there is the 0 level funnel, birth signs, and cool crit and fumble tables - all are assets to Dark Trails as they are to DCC and MCC. Myself and others are already brewing up ideas for cross genre senarios. I have, and am currently, running a 0 level funnel and a 2-3rd level adventure, once at a live convention, and again on an online convention, with plans to run and refine these throughout the summer. You'll find you can do the same with the quick start - any gaps in the currently available material are an opportunity to utilize your own creations. I tend to tinker with any system I run, and Dark Trails has the breadth and depth to allow you to do this without "breaking" the game. If you missed the Kickstarter, you can still preorder the full rules set. You can also check out David Baity's "Carnival of the Damned", a DCC adventure I was fortunate to play in at GaryCon VII or VIII. Join "Dark Trails RPG" on Facebook for its growing community's ideas, inspirations, events, advice, and feedback.

Pretty disapponited in this after all the hype. I have to say that much of the content is outstanding, it's just that his really needs to be it's own game, not a modification of an existing rule system. If you love DCC, espeically it's "rules light" quality, then you will not be happy with this. It seems to have forgotten that "rules light" is a big part of what makes DCC what it is.

Anybody who has been gaming for very long has surely run into these system modifications that, by their nature of being a modification, make things much more awkward and difficult than if they just started from scratch and wrote a system that would work smoothly for their game. That's what happened here. I'm sure it started out as a weird west source for DCC games but has become entirely it's own creature, and sadly, it's pretty broken IMO. The classes are great, the spells and items are mostly good, but there's a few mechanics that are just unnecessary and would be dumped from my games, though I don't suspect I'll be running it. The first two that come to mind are the crazy gun deck and the alignment system. I understand the gun deck is a tool to simulate wear and tear on a gun and drive the need to clean it, but with a limited deck it's pretty easy to count cards and know if you are due for a critical hit soon. By cleaning your gun you may actually reduce your chances for a critical hit, or bring a critical fail card to the top of the deck for your very next shot. Not to mention requiring a deck of cards for each player at the table (though David will happily sell you some cards with his brand on them). And the alignment system, well, sounds interesting in theory but I can't imagine actually using it in play due to the general "fiddliness" of it. Those are just two examples of mechanics that strike me as diametircally opposed to the DCC philosophy of keeping the rules simple so play flows smoothly.

My two star rating is based upon some of the great content and artwork involved, but I just can't go higher than that when I read through and thinki "I can't imagine running this game". I'll stick with my Dark Trails Call of Cthulhu system, thank you.

I would certainly not recommend buying two levels of play for the listed price regardless of how many pages and how much content is involved. I'd hold out for the full rules and see how the reviews look. At this point, that could be a long hold out as the final package was scheduled for delivery two months ago, at which time the creator was still writing spells, at least according to one of the very few updates that actually update anything about the project. Most of the updates we get are just pushing more junk to buy - dice, dice bags, playing cards, etc. - or pushing unrelated contests and updates on the creator's personal life. What we are hearing is "I'm really busy at work, doing the best I can, but I swear it's going to be done in 2020." During the campaign there was tons of excitement and regular communication, since then it's like our money is gone and the project is dead (from our point of view) with nothing coming out except "trust me I'm doing the best I can but this is hard".

Based upon the reliability of past updates, I wouldnt count on 2020 as a solid delivery date. Again, it's been in playtesting for 5 years but yet still writing content after the original projected delivery date? David clearly bit off more than he can chew and seems to be getting bad advice about how to manage his communication with backers. He gets upset anytime anyone asks "where's my stuff?", despite us all having shelled out $80+ to back the project a year ago. But hey, at least we got pictures of his birthday party.

Made of sterner stuff than other RPGs of its ilk. Lots of character classes choose from and set in the weirdest of wests. You can be sure to chill the saddle weary bones of any player who dares to venture into its eerie world.

Fantasitc game! If you're in any way a fan of westerns, you gotta give this a try. Based on the DCC core rule set, but uniquely expanded and enchanced for the setting, this game has a flavor unlike any other RPG. From the inventive rules for the use of firearms, to the diverse and creative character classes, to the phenominal background and setting, this game is a must for horror and western fans alike!

I love this RPG. As a huge fan of Dungeon Crawl Classics, I love to see the imaginative places the game is taken in the hands of the hugely creative community. Dark Trails gives the player the opportunity to delve into many new classes including gunslingers, luchadors, and alchemists. It also gives GMs the chance to terrify their players with tons of unknown monsters, patrons, and deities. As a Kickstarter backer, I'm waiting patiently for the book to drop, but meanwhile I'm delighted to have access to this fully playable Bootleg Edition. This is a purchase you won't regret.

Dark Trails oozes style! I've been fortunate enough to play through a couple of different modules at conventions and have never been disappointed! It's a gritty escape into a weird and macabe wild west that will leave you wanting more!

Dark Trails is Fantastic! First off, its based on the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game which is also fantastic. Then, you take the Wacky West and put it into the zaney DCC system...nothing can go wrong there!

Seriously though, if you are a fan of Deadlands or any other creative enterprise in the Ol' West then Dark Trails is perfect for you.

Some favorite mechanics: The Gun Deck, using a deck of cards to simulate gun action ractchets up the tension! Boons and Hexes using poker chips are a fast and loose system for destiny and fate to intervene when needed!

You should check this out!