A project I backed in 2011 finally came home to roost.

Once upon a when I got behind this really cool project called Far West from Adamant Entertainment. It was this really awesome looking mashup between Wuxia Kung Fu action against a Wild West gunslinger cowboy backdrop. I was stoked for this book! I had even started writing backgrounds for characters based on what little info had been given prior to preorder sales.

Bear in mind this was way back before ICONS went over to Steve Kenson at Ad Infinitum Adventures. Adamant announced Far West at Gen Con clear back in 2010, I think. It was due for release December of 2011. Then disaster struck.

I was in contact with the game’s designer, Gareth Michael Skarka in 2012.

Unfortunately, Gareth’s health took a turn for the worse that year. As things continued to decline, Adamant properties were handed off or sold to other publishers. It was looking like Far West was pretty much dead in the water.

Far West DTRPG stats as of 9/21/2023. COPPER!

Hey, if you don’t take care of your health, your body will remind you to do so.  It sucks. I’ve had my share of health issues. Medical bills are no fun. I can only imagine what the additional stress might have been like. TTRPG fans are capable of tremendous compassion as well as disgustingly callous disregard for the feelings of others. Ten years later, I really get the impression Adamant/Gareth have seen both ends of the spectrum.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, I reached out to Gareth and asked what was going on with Far West just to see where things were at. Cubicle 7 Entertainment, publishers of Qin: Warring States and Kuro in English (among other games) had been given the go ahead to do Far West. It appeared as if Far West might be released using the same ruleset as Qin, but it apparently never came to fruition as such. I’m still not clear on what happened with Cubicle 7 and Far West.

Fast Forward to September 2023.

I was casually perusing the DriveThruRPG.com Best Sellers list and I saw Far West. My family must’ve heard the resounding gasp and thud of me falling out of my office chair. I may have been in some sort of weird catatonic state for a moment. I’ve had the Mandela Effect before, but not on this scale.

To make things more laughable, the PDF was on sale for the price that I preordered the book for back in the day. People had been righting this project off as a “failed Kickstarter” for years. I had written off my $30 as having gone to a good cause and moved on.

So, I reached out to Gareth, (still having his email on file because I never delete anything, apparently.) Much to my shock and surprise, he must have remembered me because he got back to me within 24 hours. Eleven years and one week to the day from my last email, I finally had a copy of Far West Core Rulebook in my possession. Holy buckets! Thanks for stopping by. I’ll post a Far West review sometime in the coming weeks. I appreciate you. Never give up!