Boot Hill: Prologue

Ah, Friday nights were always best. Or that's what Kakashi Hatake thought to himself as he worked alongside his friend Kurenai Yuhi on putting the finishing touches on a massive role-playing game campaign that the two of them had been planning for over a month now. The two elite ninja masters were extremely excited to introduce their pupils to this new tabletop game. Well, it was actually a very old role-playing game, in fact it was one of the oldest ones ever published. But the kids hadn't played it yet, so it was new to them! Kakashi quietly hummed the tune to Marty Robbins' "Big Iron" under his breath while Kurenai finished drawing the last of the campaign world maps that she and Kakashi had so meticulously planned out on many sheets of graph paper.

"So, Kakashi, how many of your students are going to be playing in this campaign?"

"All three of them. Normally getting Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to all three agree on anything is like herding cats, but getting them to agree to play a tabletop role-playing game was surprisingly easy. How about you, Kurenai?"

"Well, Hinata and Kiba are definitely playing. Hinata's never played any RPG's before, but she is definitely interested in getting into the hobby and while Shino does play D&D, he said he had no interest in the Wild West as a game setting and decided to sit this one out. Shino is a very good role-player, but if he doesn't enjoy tales of cowboys and the open frontier, I can't fault him for wanting to sit this campaign out."

"Alright, that gives us five players. I can work with that. Do you know what time they'll be getting here? I told my students to be here at 4:00 PM, so they should be here pretty soon."

"I gave them the same time you did, oddly enough. So we should have the full group together within the next ten minutes or so."

"Excellent."

After Kurenai and Kakashi had laid out the maps and set the tables for their prospective players, suddenly a knock was heard on the classroom door.

"Come in."

In walked Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, with Kiba and Hinata following closely behind. The five of them immediately grabbed some chairs and sat down at various places among the plain gray gaming table that had been set up by the two ninja masters.

"I'm so excited to play this game, believe it!" said Naruto with an upbeat air of excitement in his voice.

"We know, Naruto. You wouldn't shut up about it for the last fifteen minutes!" replied Sasuke begrudgingly.

"Easy now, Sasuke. Naruto is just excited to be playing a new game, and there's nothing wrong with that. As a Game Master, I appreciate that kind of enthusiasm at the table."

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. As annoying as Naruto can be at times, you do have a point."

"Yeah, the gaming table is one of the few places where Naruto shines." said Sakura.

Hinata raised her hand and nervously spoke up.

"Kurenai-sensei, what kind of game will we be playing and how do you create your characters in this? I'm new to all this stuff, although Kiba did explain Dungeons & Dragons to me and how it is played. But I was told we're not playing that game but a different game instead."

"Correct. We are playing a game called Boot Hill, specifically the Second Edition rules released in 1979. It is a Wild West tabletop role-playing game and it is a very easy and simple system when compared to the newer editions of Dungeons & Dragons, and indeed many other role-playing systems. You play as characters in an Old West setting and play through interactive fictional scenarios. You can be a cowboy, a lawman, a rancher, settler, a miner, a gambler, a Native American, an outlaw, one of the townsfolk, or for this particular campaign, you could even be a member of Caesar's Legion. The specific setting of this campaign is the frontier town of Promise City, located in the vast El Dorado County, located at an unspecified area in the territories of the American West."

"Neat. I always loved watching Westerns on TV with my grandparents." replied the nervous girl with a sigh of relief in her voice.

"Then you will love this game a lot, Hinata. Character creation and game mechanics are largely based on percentile dice, which we have already provided for you in case you need them. All we need from each of you is a basic character concept and then we'll roll the stats for your characters."

"I shall play a cowboy who has just arrived in Promise City after a long cattle drive." said Naruto.

"I want to play a gentleman gambler seeking his fortunes in the West. Sort of like Doc Holliday." said Sasuke.

"I'll be a saloon girl who is also the partner-in-crime of Sasuke's character. She'd be the Big Nose Kate to Sasuke's Doc Holliday." replied Sakura.

"I'll play one of the spies for Caesar's Legion, disguised as a simple miner in Promise City." said Kiba.

"I want to be a pioneer homesteader woman living in Promise City, a reluctant hero of sorts." replied Hinata.

"Excellent, I like all of the character concepts that the five of you have mentioned. Let's get this show on the road then, shall we?"

As Kakashi set up the GM's screen and readied his campaign notes, Kurenai guided the players in creating their characters.

This would be a campaign that they would not forget.