...or fantasy western Mods I really wasn't sure where to put this so if you need to move it, it's understandable.

So I've had this crazy idea playing in my mind, for when I'm done with my current story. I'm kind of looking at creating a fantasy/western. You know, dragons, dwarves, and all those other great fantasy things, but mixed with cowboys, gunslingers, six-guns, and showdowns outside a saloon at high noon. Has anything like this ever been done? And would it be a good idea?

I think it would be a good idea. I've long been fascinated by the idea of dragons in the wild west.

Right? I'm already thinking of smaller wingless dragons used as everyday mounts and pack animals in addition to horses. I'm sure typical big winged ones would have to be in there somewhere too. Dwarves would make great miners, of course lol as well as have a love for gunpowder and dynamite lol. Elves would be present, perhaps in a Native American kind of way, or I could have Native Americans (probably use tribal names like Cherokee, Comanche... but different) as well. Bank robbers, railroads, the Pony Express, stagecoaches lol. I would probably add a comedic touch to it, but make it a serious story as well. I think I would have to include a halfling named Black Bart... just for giggles.

This sounds amazing.

Thanks Varon... I think it would be a fun write.

Mods: I'm wondering if this would be better suited in Story Development?

Sounds interesting. Although dragons aren't really suited for land travel as much as horses...which is why they generally have wings.

eruheran

P.S. I can move the topic. EDIT: No, I can't. Not sure why, but you'll have to wait for a Global Mod or something.

Yeah, I thought we had that ability too Eruheran, but I couldn't find how to move it either. A green name will stop by before long I’m sure.

Will a yellow name person work? Jay's been messing with permissions, etc. I can move it. Where did you want it?

I think a fantasy western would be the coolest, most novel idea I've ever heard of. I don't think it's ever been done. It would definitely be different.

Can you spell steampunk?

Well, it hasn't exactly been done with that flavor before, but it would be fairly easy to take the technological style of steampunk and change it a little bit to fit the west. I think it's a fine idea.

Yeah... maybe. But I wouldn't want it to be too closely related to steampunk. I guess some people may look at it that way though. Still it would be kind of fun, and I don't see myself writing it as a super serious story. I can't help but think there'd have to be a certain amount of a comical approach taken with it. At least in parts. Something tells me an angry dwarf in a gunfight on top of a moving train, might be quite comical. And yes... I would totally make the dwarves cliche in this story.... just because. How about a halfling using a coyote for a mount... or even better.... a halfling using a quarter horse for a mount. He'd be bouncing up and down in the saddle, falling off, hanging onto the reins for dear life and bouncing against the horses side and up in the air... screaming like girl the whole time. Who would try and stop a bank robber whose dragon was peering in the window at them? hehe. Oh yes.... fun stuff.

That is a really cool idea! (Now I want to read it... )

Yeah, let me know when it's ready to read!

eruheran

Well, the primary source of energy during the Western era was steam. I'm just saying, take that an exaggerate it a bit to get a more "fantasy" feel.

All I can say is that a dragon with a Gatling gun mounted on the back would be really fun.

It would be quite good, especially if the character's have been hearing so much about this gang leader named Black Bart, and when they meet him he's a small, quiet, ruthless halfling.

I am finding this whole idea extremely awesome.

heheehe the dragon and gatling is a super cool idea lol! I like that, and may use it I can hear little ol Black Bart screaming like a girl already lol.

So do I! Let us know when you have something for us to read, it sounds like a really cool story!

I will For now I'm going to continue working on To The Valley Of Dragons, but I may start plans for this when I have a few minutes here and there.

I've been playing around with some scene ideas for the western/fantasy idea... what do you all think?

It was an early, cool morning in Palamino, as Richard, newly appointed as sheriff in the town, stepped outside. He looked from his right to his left along the wooden walkway that ran the front of the building on his side of the street. There was no one there. He looked across the dirt road to the buildings and businesses there. Not a soul stirred, the only movement being a tumbleweed rolling across the street, propelled by the winds. He felt a chill and pulled his brown duster closed and lowered his hat against the wind before stepping out onto the dirt road, his tan boots crunching loudly in the town's silence. He tried to stifle a yawn but it came on strong and he stretched his square jaw, putting his knuckles to his lips. "I could sorely use a strong cup of coffee," he said and began walking toward The Laughing Coyote Saloon. He heard a crack, like thunder, and the dust at his feet jumped into the air. He crouched, startled, an ivory handled six-gun already in his hand, as he tried to find the direction of the gunshot. Crack... crack... crack... three more in rapid succession and he ran for the cover of the overhangs of a shop to his right, dust flying in his face as the bullets landed at his feet from somewhere above. Crouching behind some barrels he held his gun ready, looking at the roofs of the buildings across, nothing there. Dogs barked here and there, at the noise of a moment before. It had to be Dirty Dave out there somewhere. He knew he'd be gunning for him. He'd killed the last two sheriffs and frightened away any would be takers, and wanted to rule the town his own way... through fear. Richard wasn't a man to back down in the face of fear though. He felt men like Dirty Dave were cowards at heart. Slowly he stepped out into the street again, his pistol raised, looking at the building across. He knew the gunshots came from somewhere in that direction, but the culprit was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he done tucked tail and ran off, he thought to himself. A loud screech pierced the once again silent town from above. Sweet mercy! A dragon was diving down right for him, Dirty Dave upon it's back with a rifle aimed and ready to shoot. The dragon was diving fast, and its rider fired a shot, re-cocked the rifle and fired again, both bullets missing the new sheriff by inches. He stood his ground, and rose pointing his gun, aiming steady, and as the dragon and its rider drew closer, now soaring right down the middle of the street, he fired. He saw Dirty Dave rear back in the saddle, dropping his rifle, as the bullet hit him in the shoulder. Richard rolled out of the way just as the dragon flew by and fired another shot. Dave rolled sideways out of the saddle and hit the ground rolling in a cloud of dust. Walking toward Dave as the dragon flew away screeching in anger, he kept his barrel aimed just in case the outlaw had any tricks up his sleeve.

"You rotten dog!" Dave rolled on the ground in agony holding a wound in his left shoulder and trying to reach another wound in the back of his right shoulder. "You shot me!"

"Ya think?" The sheriff said. "Took you awhile to figure that out."

"You shot me! You coulda killed me!" he cried out again.

"Shut up. I'm awful tempted to shoot ya again, just so I won't have to hear your wining." Richard pulled the man to his feet, and he cried out in pain, tears in his eyes.

The saloon owner, a short, red bearded dwarf named Drogan, with a very wide barreled sawed off in his hands, walked outside calling out. "Hey Richard! You alright out there?"

"I'm fine, Drogan! Run and fetch Doc Erinis for me will ya? Tell 'im I got a wounded man in my jail." And on second thought, turned and added, "And d'ya think ya could bring me some coffee?"

"Sure thing, Sheriff," the dwarf said and then hurried up the street.

"You ain't gonna be so scary locked away in my jail, Dave." Richard said as he cuffed him and led him toward the jail house. "Where in blazes did you find yourself a dragon anyway?"

I like the sudden appearance of the dragon, which will quickly let people know this isn't a typical western.

That's really good. I'm just wondering how it could be extended into a series.

Well, I'm thinking there are so many Western-ish type things that can could be considered what we call a "quest" in the fantasy realms. A posse could be formed to hunt down a notorious outlaw, someones daughter could be kidnapped by natives (some native americans did that after a raid... I would make good guy natives and bad guy natives) like in the John Wayne movie, The Searchers. Great Movie, not lame-o like many older westerns were. There could be a group of cowboys, made up of various people, who are trying to drive some cattle... like perhaps wingless dragons across the plains to a territory far to the north. I could go civil war-ish, with the main characters having to choose which side to fight on, and perhaps putting them against each other, brother against brother, that kind of stuff. The American Civil War was a sad affair. The characters could be going west to find gold.... or I could make it backward... the main characters could be going east to find gold lol. Or it could just be newly appointed Sheriff Richard, like in that little bit I wrote up, and some of the townsfolk going up against a bad gang of outlaws, or an evil railroad baron. Or an evil cattle baron.... I don't know. I guess there's some cool stuff in there that could be done.

I guess it would be easier than I thought.

Might I suggest an evil dragon baron? Perhaps he also dabbles in coal mining a bit.

Hehe I like that Neil of Erk! Coal mining... and of course where there's coal, there's a chance at diamonds

Excellent idea. Don't forget, where there are diamonds, strife is sure to follow.

Eep. This is an awesome idea! I'm not sure if I've ever heard of a fantasy western (sci-fi western, sure, they're over-done and poorly-done ones can usually be turned into a plain western with the omission of laser-pistols). Dragons. . . coal. . . strife.

Awesomesauce.
I guess I'm not saying anything different than anyone else. . . oh wait, yes I am.

"Shut up. I'm awful tempted to shoot ya again, just so I won't have to hear your wining."
I noticed you put "ya" for "you" put left "your" alone. Say that sentence out loud. It doesn't role right. "Your" should be "yer." There is the possibility of the reader supplying the accent on their own (which is what I naturally did, being a born and bred Texan ), but most likely supplying a little but not all accent will just throw a reader (which is what happened to me after a bit).

Suggestion: write it all one way or all the other. On your second draft, decided which way you'll go with, and then use the find and replace tool. My personal recommendation is to write it normally and let the reader supply the accent.

But I haven't looked into writing accent in writing. You might want to make use of google.

I have an idea similar to this. But mine's quite different in setup. But I won't tell you because I want to write it first

I'm thinking I could possibly do something with this story... I would like to build on it and perhaps come up with a few chapters here and there when I'm not working on To The Valley Of Dragons. I have this cool scene of dragons chasing a stagecoach through a canyon playing in my mind now lol.

That puts a very vivid image in my mind. I see a stagecoach rushing through a dusty canyon just like in a thousand westerns... only this time a huge flying reptile is swooping down on them.

Epic is way too over-used to describe this.

Try brilliant and breath taking. I'm not sure what else to say about it.

I visualized a flying stagecoach somehow pulled by a team of dragons, with a gang of dragon mounted outlaws hot on its tail.

There's all sorts of fun stuff you could do with this, I absolutely love this idea (and I would totally read it). The appearance of the saloonkeeper dwarf was neat, although I think you should specify the type of "sawed-off" gun he had. Shotgun? Buffalo rifle?

And a notorious halfling named Black Bart would be hilarious.

If you don't mind, I'll go ahead and move this thread over to story development (aka, The Forge).

I'm looking forward to hearing more!

Thanks everyone I'm having so much fun writing To The Valley Of Dragons right now.. but I think this one would just blow it away in the fun department. I love fantasy but I also love a good western. I've seen a ton of western movies and tv shows, but I've actually never read a western novel. I'm thinking it may be a good idea to do so just to help give me a feel. Although I also think the movies give me enough visual data. What do you all think?

Well, it's hard to do too much research, unless the research takes up all your time and keeps you from writing. Probably just pick a few westerns by classic authors and read them.

However, the only western novel I've read recently was pretty much the same as the movies and TV shows, except with more violence, so I'm not sure how much reading the books would actually help.

I think I'll put on the Lonesome Dove miniseries on one tv, LOTR trilogy on a second tv... watch them together at the same time, and see what happens lol

That sounds crazy enough that it might work.

Imagine doing it in 3D

I think the genre mash-up and combined coolness, when exploding out in 3D, might lead to a sensory overload. But probably an inspirational sensory overload.

Yeah, I think you're right, lol. Before you know it I'll be walking outside wearing chain mail and a surcoat with a wide brimmed hat and cowboy boots.

Anyhow... I'm thinking i might start writing short stories based on these ideas all on the same world. I think it will help with the world building process until I have the other story finished. And then I can actually start working on it as a novel. I'm currently trying to come up with a good world name where the story can take place... something that sounds western and fantasy all at the same time. I'll probably draw a map as well. I think having a map ready to go first and foremost helps. I had the map for To The Valley Of Dragons actually LONG before i began writing the story. It was meant to be used originally for a rpg campaign setting that I never got around to completing.

If you lived in LA, that probably wouldn't stand out.


Those sound like good ideas.

I would definitely make the Elves American Indian like (or vice versa) and have the dwarves be panning for gold. There would have to be a lot of room to tie a dragon outside the saloon though.

Unless you have different sizes for dragons, and some of them are around the size of a horse?

There's a painting by fantasy artist Kieth Parkinson (before you go hunting for his art, be forewarned he did do a few pieces containing nudity)... he died just a few years ago... that has someone mounted on a smaller wingless dragon. I've thought of using something similar to that before as mounts. Of course I would still use horses as the main means of transportation... can't have a good western without horses, right? As far as dwarves panning for gold, that would just be a given lol. You just know that's likely. Of course the dwarves would also be blowing the sides out of mountains with dynamite and nitro to get to some of that gold too lol

Scientifically, dragons, as reptiles, would never stop growing (true, most reptiles grow very slowly once they reach maturity, but the point is valid). You just need a young dragon.

This is why the dragons hiding away in caves over eons are as large as a house.

Which explains the ginormous monster of a beastly dragon in the cave in How To Train Your Dragon

Which is one of the coolest movies I've watched...

I'd love to read this once you write it, 6strings! =)

eruheran

Was thinking about clothing for the western fantasy thing....

Would it be better to have strictly clothing related to a western setting, basically 19th century fashion and clothing, or should I have a mix between 19th century clothing and medieval style clothing. I'm wondering because I think a western duster (trench coat like thing) over a surcoat and chainmail with a gunbelt, topped off with a wide brimmed hat would be a super cool look for someone like a sheriff or marshal.

Also as far as weaponry goes... should it be weaponry from the mid to late middle 19th century, or a collection of that and medieval style weaponry... the reason i ask is because the above example just screams that said sheriff or marshal also have something like a.... Scottish Claymore The ability to switch from a pistol to a sword would just be awesome, I think.

Any ideas or opinions?

As long as Western clothing and weapons are used predominately, with medieval armor and weaponry just mixed in, it sounds like it should work fine. It would certainly be unique.