Devil's Gulch is a typical town of the American Old West from 1870 through 1885. It is a collection of buildings set along a single dirt road with side streets where private residences are found. It features saloons, a bank, a general store, and a church. Most buildings are made of wood, though some boast of a brick addition or a stone foundation). Hitching rails are found in front of most buildings, and water troughs are set sporadically along the main street. Train tracks form one of the town’s borders. On the outskirts of Devil's Gulch are mines, ranches, and box canyons perfect for hiding desperadoes.
The cast of characters includes gamblers, gunfighters, a preacher, a blacksmith, and a nymph du prairie (that’s a prostitute to those in the know). If you make Devil's Gulch a base of operations for your Wild or Weird West campaign, the players may be interested in taking on the roles already filled by NPCs. There are many players who would jump at the opportunity to play the town sheriff or even the established gambler.
The basic layout of Devil's Gulch is suitable for an historical campaign set in the American Old West, but there are many suggestions included for placing the town in the Weird West. You can modify the setting even beyond the author’s suggestions: Devil's Gulch could be easily transferred to a steam-punk setting in which the town is an outpost of the new British Colony on Mars; perhaps it is populated with humans and grays, and the real trouble comes from tribes of xenomorphs roaming the Martian landscape; or maybe Devil's Gulch is an immersive amusement park created by an evil gunslinger with superpowers, just waiting to test his skills against your heroes!
