RolePlay Wiki

Bronc Busting

Bronc busting occurs when a character tries to ride an unbroken horse. This rule gives characters a way to get horses at a lower cost (for an unbroken horse) or tame a wild horse. To use this rule, the referee must first secretly determine the Strength of the horse to be broken. The player then rolls one 20-sided die and adjusts the roll by the listed modifiers.

Modifiers

Excellent horse (Str 21-25)	-4
Good horse (Str 16-20)	-2
Fair horse (Str 11-15)	0
Poor horse (Str 6-10)	+2
No saddle of bridle on horse	+1

The adjusted roll is found on Table 23: Bronc Busting.

The column Next Turn Modifier is the amount added to or subtracted from the next die roll made by that rider.

Every time a character should be thrown, he must make a Riding skill check. Success means he stays on with a -8 modifier next turn, failure means he is thrown and this busting attempt is over (though he can dust himself off and get back on if he wants. Usually this was a good idea, as a horse who threw too many riders could get downright cocky).

If a character is thrown, roll a wound location and severity. A mortal wound knocks the character out for 1 to 20 minutes but does not kill him. All Strength losses are treated as brawling damage. Characters regain one lost Strength point for each hour of rest.

If a character stays on the horse for 20 turns, the horse will stop, winded. It is automatically considered to be broken, even if a Broken result was never rolled.


Table 23: Bronc Busting

Die Roll d20	Result	Next Turn Modifier
7 or less	Thrown	-8
8	Roll*	-8
9	Sunfish*	-6
10	Smash*	-4
11-12	Buck	-2
13-14	Rear	-1
15-16	Kick	0
17	Gallop	+2
18	Trot	+4
19	Walk	+6
20	Stand	+8
21 or more	Broken	Horse is tamed

* If not using a saddle and bridle, treat this result as Thrown.


Table 10: Wound Locations

Die Roll d20	Location
1-2	Left Leg
3-4	Right Leg
5-6	Left Arm
7-8	Right Arm
9	Left Shoulder
10	Right Shoulder
11-14	Abdomen
15-18	Chest
19-20	Head

Table 11: Wound Severity

Die Roll d6	Severity
-1	A Scratch
0-2	Light Wound
3-5	Serious Wound
6+	Mortal Wound
Modifiers
+1	if hit to chest or head
-1	if hit to arm or leg
+/-	weapon modifier

Horses