Frontier Scum Western;Old-School Renaissance (OSR);Classless;Low Prep;Sandbox;Survival;Quick-Play;Rules Lite
At‑a‑glance: OSR/NSR • d20 saves and simple checks • 3–5 + GM • Low prep • Rules‑lite • 2–3h sessions
Theme and Setting
Frontier Scum is an acid‑washed Spaghetti Western where outlaws, drifters, and bounty scum scrape by on a hallucinatory Lost Frontier. It leans hard into dust‑choked towns, rattling coach roofs, and back‑alley deals that end in gun smoke. The world is cruel, surreal, and blackly comic—closer to Dead Man and El Topo than heroic pulp. Survival is mostly about reading the table, hoarding a few bullets, and knowing when to run.
Core Mechanics and Rules
The engine is rules‑lite OSR: quick character creation, classless play, and lethal consequences. Most resolutions boil down to simple ability saves, advantage/disadvantage‑style tweaks, and straightforward damage. Encumbrance and ammo matter just enough to push tough choices without bookkeeping. Tables do the heavy lifting—odd jobs, bounties, mishaps, wilderness hazards—so a session can spark from a single roll. Combat is fast and punishing: cover, timing, and nerve beat mathy builds.
What Makes It Unique
Frontier Scum nails a specific tonal mix: weird west grime with a punk zine attitude. It’s visually loud, mechanically spare, and relentlessly practical at the table. The book stuffs in adventure sparks like “Escape the Organ Rail,” carousing fallout, and grim relics—each a ready‑to‑run hook. Instead of system mastery, it rewards player cunning and appetite for risk. You’ll jury‑rig plans, blow scarce coin on bad ideas, and wake up owing the wrong people.
Target Audience and Player Experience
If you like rulings over rules, fiction‑first problem solving, and a campaign that feels one bad decision from a boot‑hill burial, this fits. It’s ideal for quick‑start one‑shots, episodic bounties, and sandboxes that drift between towns and trouble. New players click with the tiny character footprint; veterans get a lean chassis that showcases improvisation. Expect gritty survival, black humor, and momentum—sessions that start with a job and end with a jailbreak.
