Pulp Anyone ?

[snake]

Thanks for the go-ahead Pat and the kind words. Praise from the Master. Wow !!

I agree with you guys. The Aeropulp sub-genre is fantastic, esp with a bit of a Weird Menace twist.

I always remember reading an old British comic from the late 70's. The cover showed a Sopwith Camel going head to head with a Giant Vampire Bat !!! The pilot ends up on the Bats back, stabbing it to death and they fall both from the skies. To be Continued............ LOL. I can't remember how he escapes

You might want to check out books like the G-8 series and the Biggles books and film. Also the Enemy Ace Comics from DC.

Daring aviators, sinister Foreign Noblemen aces, Zeps, secret missions to destroy Giant Artilery guns and Sonic Deathray machines. 


 

[snake]

Ok. Heres my first thought on Pulp and SC.

Codenames. In the pulp genre, few heroes have Espionage-type Codenames (except maybe Operator No. 5 and Secret Agent X). Almost all, however, have a nickname or alias.

So Clark Savage Jr is called "Doc" Savage. His allies are "Monk" Mayfair, "Ham" Brooks, "Johnny" LittleJohn, "Long Tom" Roberts and "Renny" Renwick.  Lamont Cranston is The Shadow of course. And then there is Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr..........

Other examples include "Flash" Gordon, The Avenger, The Phantom and the Rocketeer.

In pulp games, thinking up a nickname or alias is good fun. So, in Pulp Spycraft, I'd use the Codename area on the Character sheet to record one for each PC.

So, here's a Challenge !!!!. Think up some cool, original Monikers for your Pulp PCs. No "Man of Mystery" or "Ghost who Walks" please.............


 

[snake]

Sorry about the delay. Heres my idea for a pulp campaign and an introduction I'm going to use for my Players.

Pulp Campaign Overview

Setting: Dark Thrills (Pulp Horror)

Introduction
In the years 1920 – 1939, between the First and Second World Wars, there were no computer games or TV, only radio, films and a set of magazines printed on cheap wood “pulp” paper.

From these mags, there arose great heroes like Doc Savage, The Shadow, the Phantom and the Avenger. These heroes fought crime and adventured in strange and lost lands. In other pulp magazines, investigators of the supernatural encountered strange monsters and mysteries.
 
More recently, in films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Mummy, the adventure and horror have been combined for a fantastic experience. Using the Spycraft rules, this campaign draws on these mags and films. Each of you plays a pulp hero, about to travel off into the unknown and face deadly terrors……….

Missions
1.   The Amulet of Death
2.   The Lost Land
3.   The Sands of Doom

I'm still working on the Common Classes and Sources of Inspiration but I'm starting to get a good buzz from the project. I'm planning to work my way through the Rulesbook and maybe work in some Psionics, now I got a copy of SFA.

If you see any turkeys or things you'd do in a different way, please dive in. I'm gonna be shooting from the hip on a lot of this but with the cool SC rules and you board gurus, I think we can come up with something interesting.

Lets see. First up, some PC Concepts ...............

[snake]

I'm quite lucky in that my PCs are quite happy to let me create PCs for them so for this game, I've come up with these concepts for a team of Pulp adventurers:

Count Ivan Zarnoff. Explorer. (A bit like The Shadow and Indiana Jones)

Ivan was born to a wealthy family in Russia before the 1917 Revolution. As a child he discovered he had a psychic gift – he could pick up other peoples thoughts at random times. His parents warned him to keep this power secret, which he did.

Then the Revolution came and rich families were attacked by rebels. A young man, Ivan watched his family murdered. With the aid of a servant who had been a soldier, he fled into the Russian Forests. There, he learned to survive and defend himself.

Ivan travelled across the East, down through China, eventually reaching Nepal. His servant was killed on the journey. Ivan had heard of a lost Monastery where wise men were said to study the mystic arts. After a dangerous journey, he reached the Monastery, where he was greeted by the monks.

He had to work hard to be accepted for training. He learned how to use his talent at will and gained other mental powers as well. He studied the Martial Arts, learning of pressure points to strike at and throws. 

Guided by the Monks, he swore to use his new abilities to defend the weak against the greedy and evil. He returned to civilization and eventually found himself in the US.

He spent the money he had acquired on his travels and set up a base in a mansion in San Francisco.  Then, well dressed, carrying a silver swordcane, he established himself in society as Count Ivan Zarnoff, an exiled Russian nobleman and explorer.   

Whilst investigating a case, he met Rip Rogan and Wrench McClusky.  Together, they solved the case. The Count offered them jobs as his aides and as his Pilot/Driver and Mechanic. 

In criminal circles, the Count is sometimes known as the Ghost, because of his mystic powers and his stealthy attacks. Together with his team, he strikes at evildoers across the globe………………

Captain Richard “Rip” Rogan. Wheelman. (Bit like Rick O’Donnell, Biggles and Sky Captain)

As long as he can remember, Rip Rogan wanted to fly, to leave land behind and soar through the clouds.

When World War One came, he joined the US Army Air Corp and soon became a flying ace. During a battle, he encountered the German Baron Klaus Von Horst. Horst was involved in testing many super weapons against the Allies and Rip and he became deadly enemies.

The super weapons consisted of things like monstrous giant bats, sonic disruptor rays and giant artillery guns. With the aid of his brilliant mechanic, “Wrench” McCluskys scientific knowledge, Rip defeated these threats.

After the war ended, Rip and McClusky joined an Air Circus and performed across America. This become involved in many strange adventures.

Finally, they found themselves near San Francisco with an airplane and a handful of bills. They could just about afford to rent a hanger at an airfield. Rip was flying cargo and McClusky was doing repairs for people. 

Then whilst investigating a robbery, they met Count Zarnoff and started working for him.
Rips transport skills come in useful as the team travel the world. ……..

TO BE CONTINUED..................

[Desertpuma]

You should also look up Serial Pulp. It was a home game campaign that became an unofficial Living campaign based out of Colorado. The missions they have are written using Spycraft 1.0 rules and they play using that system. All the characters work for a mysterious Mr S.

Very fun stuff. I've played and run several mods for it.

http://spadventures.org/

Check it out!

[snake]

Excellent. Thanks Desertpuma. Sounds like a great source of info. To quote Sky Captain. "I'm on my way !!!" 

Lt James “Wrench” McClusky. Scientist. (A bit like Doc Savage, Monk )

Born in a poor part of New York City, James had a greater intelligence than his classmates and soon had to learn to defend himself. A genius with gadgets and machines, he enlisted in the US Army and fought in World War one.

He served in the Army Flying Corps as a mechanic and there he met Richard Rogan. The duo flew many missions together and were shot down many times behind enemy lines.

After the war, they joined an Air Circus and travelled across the US.  

When the Count offered them employment, James was overjoyed. He converted part of their hanger into a lab where he can work on new refinements to the planes and cars and any other gadgets he feels like working on.  

He looks forward to trying them out………………….

[snake]

Mara Roxton. The Jungle Woman. Scout. (A bit like Tarzan or The Phantom)

In 1912, Professor George Challenger, Edward Malone and Lord John Roxton discovered a lost land of dinosaurs, cave people and ape men.  After an adventure there, they returned to civilisation but Roxton longed for the excitement and thrills of this new world.

He journed back to the lost land and eventually married a woman of the cave people. His daughter, Mara, was born in 1914. Lithe and strong, she hunted dinosaurs with her father and became a master tracker.

Roxton taught her the english language before he was killed in 1928.

On one hunting expedition, Mara found a sabre-tooth tiger kitten and as she raised it, it became a close companion.

Now, as a young woman, Mara fights evil in a Land Lost to Time.………………….

[ThunderMonkey]

haha...

Some of the descriptions are so cheesy and over the top... You've pretty much nailed the genre for the most part.

[snake]

Thanks ThunderMonkey.

I sometimes think everything about Pulp is over the top, thats what makes it great fun. I'm gonna have a go at stating out the PCs this weekend and that should be interesting too.

In the meantime, heres a bit of real life Pulpiness I came across:

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-usn22/z-types/zrs5-m.htm

[Bill Whitmore]

Thanks ThunderMonkey.

I sometimes think everything about Pulp is over the top, thats what makes it great fun. I'm gonna have a go at stating out the PCs this weekend and that should be interesting too.

In the meantime, heres a bit of real life Pulpiness I came across:

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-usn22/z-types/zrs5-m.htm

Ooh, that is perfect for the Aeropulp stuff that was being discussed.

[Txabier_Arrizotegui]

NIT PICK!

Codenames. In the pulp genre, few heroes have Espionage-type Codenames (except maybe Operator No. 5 and Secret Agent X). Almost all, however, have a nickname or alias.

So Clark Savage Jr is called "Doc" Savage. His allies are "Monk" Mayfair, "Ham" Brooks, "Johnny" LittleJohn, "Long Tom" Roberts and "Renny" Renwick.  Lamont Cranston is The Shadow of course. And then there is Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr....

Ahem... Doc, Monk, Ham... are monickers, not codenames. There's a difference. Stallion, Beachhead, Backbreaker, Madgoose thoese are codenames. The ones used in pulpy goodness for the most part were just monickers. The Octopus, The Shadow, The Spider, The Scorpion, , The Rocketeer, are all aliases, while the "affectionate term" for other characters are monickers. A subtle difference, some may say, but a difference nontheless.

Then, Indiana Jones is not Henry, but Junior. He's name is JUNIOR. He's dad say so on the third movie, so I'm sticking to that... 

So, here's a Challenge !!!!. Think up some cool, original Monikers for your Pulp PCs. No "Man of Mystery" or "Ghost who Walks" please....

Leandro "Stilleto" Arias, affectionately referred to as "Stilo", and going under the alias "The Widower" according to the authorities records.

[Mister Andersen]

Back in the USSA -- An alternate history of the twentieth century in which the United States experienced a communist revolution in 1917 and became a communist superpower, whereas Russia did not.

[ahzad]

Another pulp-fantasy mash up to recommend would be Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco's Arrowsmith six issue comic series. http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Their-Fine-Uniforms-Arrowsmith/dp/1401202993

Basically an alternate earth where magic is real, and it's set in 1915 during the Great War, with the prussians using gas that turns folks into monsters, dogfights with swords and dragons. It had a very pulp-fantasy feel to it I wish they would do some more.

[snake]

Thanks, I'll check them out.

I'm still working on the Talents for my PCs and getting to grips with the Psionics rules from SFA and the conversion. Still a bit unclear the difference between Psi Powers and Skills. Could anyone give me a quick overview plz ?

If I have a PC who wants the Mind Control type Psi Power (I think it is called Domination), which Feats/Skills do I take ?? Any there are pre-reqs ??

Anyway, here's a few thoughts I had about pulp classes:


Classes

Common Classes

The SC rulesbook (P.420) lists the following as good classes for Pulp games and they are. I’ve added in a few more examples and comments :

Advocate.

Explorer. Eg Indiana Jones or The Avenger

Scientist. Eg Doc Savage 

Sleuth. There were a number of different types of Pulp sleuths. They could be Intrepid Newspaper Reporters like Polly Perkins (Sky Captain) and Clive Burke (Shadow) or  Trench-coated Gumshoes like Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe.

Wheelman.  Perhaps an aviator like Biggles, Sky Captain and Jake Cutter , Hack driver like Moe Schevritz (The Shadow) or Boat Captain like the Skipper


I would add the following to the list of common classes:

Scout.  In the Pulp era, the scout could be a savage champion of the wilderness or a Great White Hunter leading expeditions into unexplored lands. Examples are Tarzan and Alan Quatermain.

Soldier.  Maybe a member of  the Foreign  Legion Eg Rick O’Donnell

Snoop. Here the snoop is the Master of a Spy Ring, maybe striking behind enemy lines or acting as a saboteur. Eg Kent Allard, Secret Agent X

Lawman. The Lawman here could be a G-Man trying to bring down the Big Man of a crime syndicate or a Police Flatfoot working the beat. Examples Elliot Ness
 
Thug. A Reformed Gangster. Example Cliff Marsland (One of the Shadows agents) 

Common Expert Classes
Ace
Inventor
Vigilante. Eg The Avenger, The Shadow, The Spider.

[glimmerrat]

It's out of print, but go look up an old White Wolf game called Adventure!, as it will provide a lot of cool source material.

The dramatic editing mechanic is pure genius.