Pulp Hero

[AlHazred]

Since I started running a Pulp Hero game, I realized how many resources are available for 5th Edition modern that don't really apply to the Pulp setting. I've done most of the work I needed to do for my campaign already (just need to get Weapons and Vehicles out of the way) but I thought it would be a good idea to ask other people what resources they found to work for Pulp Hero.

For the purposes of this topic, I'll define the Pulp setting as: the setting of the Pulp magazines of the 20s, 30s and 40s. A time when heroes took care of problems the two-fisted way, science was promising everybody flying cars in twenty years, and a dollar would buy you five gallons of gas, a shirt or a night in a dingy hotel.

I'll start.

Hero Games produced a game by Aaron Allston called Justice Inc. (http://www.aaronallston.com/cred-gam.html#ityrant) which had rules for running "pulp adventurers." It was pretty good, and the Talents which it let you buy made it into the 4th Edition rulebook, but it's somewhat outdated now. It's chock full of two-fisted crimebusting. There was an adventure published for it, called Trail of the Golden Spike (http://www.aaronallston.com/cred-gam.html#spike), also by Aaron Allston. I haven't seen it, so I don't know how good it is.

Lands of Mystery (http://www.aaronallston.com/cred-gam.html#lom), also by Aaron Allston (note the pattern), was billed as an Adventure Sourcebook "designed to be used with all Hero System games," but the stereotypes it lists have a definite Pulp feel. The supplement covers "lost worlds" adventures. Highly recommended.

I've found Dany St. Pierre's Hero Pulp website (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/6532/) to have some nice info in it. Note that it has absolutely nothing to do with Aaron Allston. Dany's got some interesting ideas and some things I'd do differently, but I'd recommend his page as a starting point. Hasn't been updated in a while, though. Don't know how long it'll remain...

That's all I can remember off the top of my head.

[Emerald Mask]

Golden Age of Champions resource book. Lots of movies - The Shadow,The Phantom, The Rocketeer . The Mummy. The Indiana Jones movies and Bruce Willis - Last Man Standing.

[Derek Hiemforth]

You can also mine other games for material, of course. Possibilities include SJG's GURPS Cliffhangers, ICE's Pulp Adventures, White Wolf's Adventure!, Flying Buffalo's Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes, West End Games' The World of Indiana Jones, Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, and Otherworld Creations' Forbidden Kingdoms.

[GradonSilverton]

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth
You can also mine other games for material, of course. Possibilities include SJG's GURPS Cliffhangers, ICE's Pulp Adventures, White Wolf's Adventure!, Flying Buffalo's Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes, West End Games' The World of Indiana Jones, Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, and Otherworld Creations' Forbidden Kingdoms.

Talk about leading a cow to slaughter....

He'll not know what hit him after getting Cthulhlu (pre d20 version please!!!)

[BasilDrag]

Originally posted by GradonSilverton
Talk about leading a cow to slaughter....

He'll not know what hit him after getting Cthuthlu (pre d20 version please!!!)

Horror Hero has a section of pulp-era horror.

[AlHazred]

Originally posted by GradonSilverton
Talk about leading a cow to slaughter....

He'll not know what hit him after getting Cthuthlu (pre d20 version please!!!)

I've run Cthulhu for years. I just didn't want to salt the pot too thoroughly... :D

There've been a number of RPGs that cover the 20s, 30s and 40s. In addition to the ones Derek mentioned, there's TSR's Gangbusters (1982), The Adventures of Indiana Jones (1984) and Crimefighters (Dragon #47, 1981), Taupe Games' All-Adventure Action Roleplay Game (which I've never actually seen, only heard of), Fantasy Games Unlimited's Daredevils (1982), and Archon's noir (1997).

I'd even include Dream Pod 9's Gear Krieg RPG (2001) and R. Talsorian's Castle Falkenstein (1994) in the mix, since they draw heavily on the pulp-genre for their action theme.

[Aroooo]

Another great resource is the Federal Writers Project. If memory serves, it was a gov't sponsored project in the 30's and 40's to give out of work writers something to do. They produced guide books of the States (thats all I know of anyway). I have one on Illinois that I used constantly for my Justice Inc game. They are great resouces for 'period' information. I'll dig my copy up (its still in a box after a move) and post publisher info.

Aroooo

[AlHazred]

I'd foprgotten about that project!

Since you jogged my memory, I'd like to add the Automobile Green Book, which you can find periodically on eBay or other auction sites. This is a reference work put out by the Automobile Legal Association during the 20s and 30s. Billed as a Road Reference and Tourists' Guide, it contains what amount to detailed directions (called Routes) between various cities. Since signs were scarce or nonexistent in that era, references like these gave drivers the info they needed to get where they were going. It's full of old gems like period advertisements for restaurants and hotels, maps, etc. If you're going to be running a wide-ranging campaign in the era, see if you can find a copy cheap; I got mine on eBay for five bucks...

[Steve Long]

Excellent suggestions, guys!

I myself have assembled a pretty good collection of atlases, almanacs, and encyclopedias from the period. They're tough to find, esp. for reasonable prices, but worth the hunting. For example, I've got one very cool atlas from 1941 that I bought at the Renaissance Bookstore near where GenCon is held for a mere $7. Even better, when I got it home and started leafing through it, I discovered that someone had stuffed it full of WWII newspaper clippings. Tres nifty. ;)

[AlHazred]

Can't beat that one, but I can come close...

[Edit to remove unattractive gloating. Ego Attack - 2 points!]

My father has an old 1928 World Atlas. The thing is chock full of details like industrial production, exports, etc., mixed in with the color maps. I check it every time I visit my dad in Florida, just to soak up the period...

[TheImperialKhan]

An excellent source of material is the "War Years" reprint books that many newspapers published on WWII 50th anniversary. They compiled full pages from their papers into a book form. Lots of ads and local information as well as world events, you could even find local high school sports reports in there.

Another source that is even more complete is the newspapers themselves. Many libraries have the complete run of the local paper available on microfilm. By now they may have them on CDs. Everything from the most sensational murder trials to the price of milk is right there for you.

There was also a series of books titled iirc "This Century". It was published back in the early 80s I think with one volume for each decade and a set-up volume on the last decades of the 19th Century. Lots of material that could be useful, particularly the Volumes for the 20s, 30s and 40s.There's a salary list for 1932-34 in one volume as well as a price list for the same period. If you were say a Public School Teacher you made $1,227.00 a year, a Coal Miner made $723.00 a year and a Lawyer - $4,218.00. A pound of Bacon would set you back 22 cents, a 3 piece Bedroom Set was $49.95, a new Studebaker automobile was $840.00 and a Modern 6-room House with a 2 car garage in Detriot would lighten your bank account by $2,800.00. Oh and gas was 18 cents a gallon which was considered high, very high.

[Starwolf]

The Novels....Don't forget the Novels...

I have a collection of all 89 issues of Doc Savage written by Lester Dent aka Kenneth Robison. There were a couple of Doc books written by ghost writers but you can definately tell the difference in Dent's writing. My Champions campaign characters didn't know that their HQ sponsor, The Hidalgo Trading Co., was Doc and da boys (in their twilight years).

Hmm...gives me an idea for a new champions character

Quick to HD.....
<Slides down the Hero Pole to a hidden Hero Designer HQ>

[AlHazred]

Doc Savage is nice, but very often he goes over the top; I tried to stat him out for my Golden Age/Pulp game, but he came in at way too many points to be a good "role model" for the players to base their characters on.

Slightly more equivalent to a starting PC's power level is The Avenger, also by "Kenneth Robeson". His team is much more useful and interesting, and he is not unbeatable.

In that regard, The Shadow (book version, not the radio Shadow) can be built on 250 points.

Others I haven't managed to read yet are The Spider and Operator 5. Have to haunt eBay until these guys show up...

[tenebre]

jsut a note.

trail of teh gold spike is a cool adventure.

definately typical allston standards.

you can pick it up rather cheap on ebay

[Peregrine]

Originally posted by AlHazred
Doc Savage is nice, but very often he goes over the top;


You say that like it's a bad thing... :cool:

[Toadmaster]

You can also occasionally find reprints of catalogs, I used to have a 1900 sears catalog reprint (loads of everyday items from irons and washtubs to shotguns and butcherknives) and another from Remington or Winchester from about the 1920's or 30's which had lots of outdoor equipment such as camping gear, ammunition, guns, canoes, portable lights etc. There is also a company the standard catalog of ..... (firearms, American cars, 4x4's etc) which is quite useful, they typically cover a period of the topic, I have several of the automotive ones, they give a pretty good escription of the cars (whatever) and typically include the price when new. I also had a similar book on homes which I was using for the floorplans but they also included the price when built.


There are lots of resources out there the tricky part is finding them (and then not misplacing them once you do).

[Thag13]

Don't forget G5 and his air aces.

Spy Smasher was a great one to.

Dont forget the Cool Serials of the 30.40 and 50s

The Purple Monster Strikes, Adventures of Capt.Marvel,
Daredevils of the Red Circle, Nikota of the Jungle, Lash Larue,
Radar men from the Moon, BlackHawk and many more

These serials can be found on ebay decently cheap now as many are stwiching over to dvds.....

they are worth watching....

[AlHazred]

Originally posted by Thag13
Don't forget G5 and his air aces.

I believe that's G-8 and his Battle Aces. That's another interesting one, much more supernatural in orientation than most of the Pulps.

[Thag13]

Doh!!!!

yep its G8, but I stand by my statement that its very pulpish in genre...

I think Lee Falk wrote some Phantom books also, while I think they were written in the 50 ans 60s, I think they quailfy as pulp style reads.


And lets not forget the insidious DR Fu Manchu!!!!!

[steriaca]

Yes, defently watch as much serials as you can get your grubbie littel hands on. Why, you may ask? Well...
1) Thay show you how to set up a good clifhanger. Just remember to leave the heros (and prehaps the pritty leggy NPC damsel) in a bind until next week.
2) Thay give you ideals on action sceens.
3) Thay give you ideals on deathtraps. Especaly the sound era serials, since many of them went away with the simple girl tied to the train tracks/buzzsaw, and done some new things.
4) Thay give you the ideal of how, fitunaly, that erra was like.

The same can also be said about comic books and pulp magazeens of the time period, of course.

Steriaca.

[Thag13]

I always loved the way the stunt men and women just thru themselfs in the fight scenes. No Wire work here , just huge men throwing anything they could get thier hands on and just duking it out...

My wife reminded me to tell everyone one about J Men forever, and really funny send up of the old serials, the dialoge was redubbed and the finished product is killer funny.

[TheImperialKhan]

Hey Steve or Darren!

Is any of this helpfull?

I'm sure that we all hope so. :)

Also I'm assuming that Pulp Hero will have the usual supporting books coming out at about the same time. What were you thinking of for this? I'd suggest a villian book full of Gangsters, Petty Tyrants and Insane Geniuses to start. And a setting book, maybe Aaron Allston's planned but shelved "The Big City", or even a reworking of Hudson City for the pulp era.

[cjudisch]

Also in the "resources" category is the website: >The Pulp.Net< (http://thepulp.net/) a website devoted to the fiction of the pulp era. It's got some pretty sweet stuff.

[Kevin Scrivner]

Don't forget old radio shows! You can listen to many of the original shows for free at web sites such as:

www.radiospirits.com
www.radiolovers.com
http://testbox.cob.rit.edu/

In addition to obvious picks such as "The Shadow," "Doc Savage," "Blue Beetle," "The Green Hornet," I recommend "I Love A Mystery" and "I Love Adventure" -- two radio series which highlight the escapades of a trio of adventurers and freelance detectives. I think medical student Jack Packard, Texas cowboy Doc Long, and English prizefighter Reggie York are better templates for Pulp Hero characters than many of the better known heroes.

[AlHazred]

Okay, you forced it out of me: Blackmask Online (http://www.blackmask.com/page.php). It's got all kinds of etext goodies segregated by category. And one of the biggest categories it has is Pulp.

[Fazhoul]

Well, all of the gaming resources I have for pulp reference have been mentioned so I'll just stick to the other reference material. I managed to find a 1929 world atlas at a used book store that has been very useful. I also found out that Time magazine published a series of books highlighting the top news stories of the year for each year called Time Capsules. I'm not sure what years they cover but I have an almost complete run from 1916 thru 1948.

Being at work now I can't remember all of the books I have. If you want to drop me an email at fazhoul@yahoo.com I'll send you a list of what I've got.

[Thag13]

local libaries are great sources for this type of material.

I am amazed that more players and GMs don't use this free resource.

A lot of the books that have been listed in this thread are available at most public libaries.

Actully use your tax dollars, visit there.

[Koshka]

I've got both of the Green Hornet movie serials on VHS, and while there's some sound glitches early in the first one it was worth the time to hunt them down.

Dover Books has an "Everyday Fashion" series -- the book on the 1920's is a good reference for what normal people were wearing (as opposed to what Hollywood thinks everyone was wearing). The artwork's black and white, but clear.

[Just Joe]

For anyone who has not already stumbled upon it, the "Question about Resources" thread I started is not about pulps per se, but is about (a subset of) the era. Some of the answers posted there might be useful to folks interested in pulp gaming.

[Shadowpup]

The background for Crimson Skies might be useful for a pulp game too. I'm not really sure where to find good info other than what comes in the box for the table top game.

[TheImperialKhan]

Originally posted by Shadowpup
The background for Crimson Skies might be useful for a pulp game too. I'm not really sure where to find good info other than what comes in the box for the table top game.

Try the Crimson Skies website. Here's the link: http://www.microsoft.com/games/crimsonskies/

I should have thought of that. I love Crimson Skies and was very disappointed that the sequel is only coming out for the X-Box.

Still it's an intriguing Pulp style setting.

[ArmlessTigerMan]

I'v read alot of Doc Savage, but my problem with Doc was always the lack of fantastic elements in his adventures. Aliens and dinosaurs are always explained away as tricks by conmen. Notable exceptions to this include:
The Cold Death, The Secret in the Sky, and The Spook Legion, which feature death rays, anti-gravity flying machines, and invisible crooks respectively. I got these by cruising ebay at work. They are curently out of print, and as far as I know there are no e-texts, and you probably won't find them at the library.
I'm also a big fan of the WPA books, specifically The Wpa Guide to New York City (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1565843215/qid=1048104650/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-4314583-2372963?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) . If you can't wait to see whether or not Allston's Pulp Apple project ever sees fruition and want to write your own 1930's new york type setting, this is the reference to start with.
Really enjoyed Frost (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1878252429/qid%3D1048104847/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-4314583-2372963) he was kind of a Sherlock Holmes for the pulp era.
Also a big fan of The Spider. You can get his books here (http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulp/spider/index.cfm). Just browsing the titles of his novels will give you tons of adventure ideas.
I don't think anyone mentioned free shadow pdf's. (http://www.angelfire.com/retro/shadowpdf/) This one is neat, not just because it's free, but because they also inlcude the illustrations which originally went with the story.
If I need inspiration, I stroll the pages of Mr. Nevins. (http://www.geocities.com/jjnevins/pulpsintro.html) Truly he is a superior human being.
There are also Yahoo groups for Pulp_Games and AonAdventure which can be mined for ideas.

Heh, just couldn't let the pulp thread die without chiming in

[Shadowpup]

Gear Kreig is supposed to be Pulpish too but I know nothing about it.

http://www.dp9.com/Worlds/GK.htm

[Toadmaster]

Wasn't there a Crimson Skies RPG from FASA? I bought the computer game awhile back and thought it would make a good setting (I love anything with zeppelins and art deco).

[TheImperialKhan]

Originally posted by Toadmaster
Wasn't there a Crimson Skies RPG from FASA? I bought the computer game awhile back and thought it would make a good setting (I love anything with zeppelins and art deco).

Crimson Skies was originally released as a boardgame. In much the same way the Battletech was. FASA never did put out a roleplaying version although when the Unknown Aces e-book was released by HERO it was suggested that it could be used for role-playing in the Crimson Skies Universe.

A few years later FASA licensed Microsoft to make it into a computer game.

Hope this helps.

[AlHazred]

Originally posted by Shadowpup
Gear Kreig is supposed to be Pulpish too but I know nothing about it.

Gear Krieg: Two-Fisted Pulp Super-Science in a World at War! is a neat idea from the Dream Pod 9 guys. The game design basically started with the idea that Germany could have constructed large "Walkers" to rearm in secret after its defeat in WWI; the "Walkers" are, of course, transforming mecha that ordinarily resemble ground vehicles with wheels (to get where they want to go quickly) but can be transformed into large legged fighting machines. This basic idea (introducing mecha into WWII) was used in the setting in the Dream Park module The Fiendish Agents of Falkenberg, and it supplied a sprinboard to create a setting in which a lot of high-tech "paper projects" actually managed to get constructed.

Great setting, and good execution. Its application to a standard Pulp campaign might be rather limited, though.

[Space Cadet]

Originally posted by AlHazred
Doc Savage is nice, but very often he goes over the top; I tried to stat him out for my Golden Age/Pulp game, but he came in at way too many points to be a good "role model" for the players to base their characters on.

Slightly more equivalent to a starting PC's power level is The Avenger, also by "Kenneth Robeson". His team is much more useful and interesting, and he is not unbeatable.

In that regard, The Shadow (book version, not the radio Shadow) can be built on 250 points.

Others I haven't managed to read yet are The Spider and Operator 5. Have to haunt eBay until these guys show up...

Is The Avenger the one who gets whacked upside the head
after his wife and child disappear from the plane they were all
riding on, and winds up becoming an albino overnight?

Space Cadet :confused:

[AlHazred]

Originally posted by Space Cadet
Is The Avenger the one who gets whacked upside the head after his wife and child disappear from the plane they were all riding on, and winds up becoming an albino overnight?

Yup. The Avenger suffered such a shock when his wife and child disappeared, that he went insane for several months. Afterward, his skin and hair were chalk-white, and the muscles in his face unresponsive - they would assume whatever shape he put them in. This allowed him to assume anyone's likeness with a little work; I believe this ability made it into the Champions sourcebook under "Pulp Hero Powers". (As an aside, one of his companions had the "Door Smashing Fists" also in the sidebar.)

[Toadmaster]

Originally posted by TheImperialKhan
Crimson Skies was originally released as a boardgame. In much the same way the Battletech was. FASA never did put out a roleplaying version although when the Unknown Aces e-book was released by HERO it was suggested that it could be used for role-playing in the Crimson Skies Universe.

A few years later FASA licensed Microsoft to make it into a computer game.

Hope this helps.

Well if the product looked like the Battle tech products then I can see why I thought it was an RPG, FASA seemed to put more background into their "board" games than most.

I have no idea what kind of materials will eventually come from this but I ran across this from whiz kids while looking for Crimson Skies stuff on the internet

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/wk_article.asp?cid=37438&frame=company

even if there is little background it might be good for the mini's

[BlackCobra]

This site: http://www.memoware.com/
has a whole bunch of free downloadable Palm-format books -- including a bunch of Shadow serials. If you have spare time to read while waiting for progress bars to finish (like I do at work), you can whip out your Palm and read up on the Shadows latest (ok, to me) adventures.

Very Pulpy.

[steriaca]

Diden't TSR, for a short time when thay had a comic book line which thay published, have a pulp-ish like advenger of the night named Agent 13, with a ring which would brand a "13" on his targets when he is done with them?

[Kevin Scrivner]

Yep. I have the campaign book they did for Top Secret/SSI. It had a lot of good player and genre information as well as the setting and major character write-ups for their Agent 13 universe. The sampe adventure at the back of the book was a waste of space but the rest of it was useful. TSR also published at least two Agent 13 novels. I enjoyed the first one.

[Dr.Unpossible]

http://www.crimsonskies.com/ (http://)

Crimson Skies is absolutly 100% pulp. It's a great setting for an RPG to. Now there was an RPG version of it in the works. I swear I saw it at my local game store. I know I saw a suppliment for "Bullets of Broadway" a NewYork source book. But it may have been just the tactical arial combat sorucebook.

Either way, like mentioned before. Its a war game that reads like an RPG sourcebook. If youcan pick up the Boxed set, treat yourself. It's one of my fav games for presentation. One of the most well presented games I have ever seen to be honest. And I don't think I'm exagerating either.

Also at the crimson skies site are short story pulps in the Crimson Skies seting.

http://www.crimsonskies.com/story/spicy-air.htm (http://)

All in all a great pulp resource. Also as mentioned above. WizKids is relaunching the title with lil prepainted airplanes. COOL!

http://www.microsoft.com/games/crimsonskies/ (http://)

Click on the radio on the left for some "News Flash!" fun

[Blue]

Anyone mention the Sears Catalogs yet? Okay, most of the ones in re-production are from the turn of the century (1901). I bought one for the heck of it, and it was indeed a reproduction, from a used bookstore. The thing this is useful for really is finding out what products were actually for sale that early on. There were things for sale in 1901 that I figured weren't available until much later. Also gives you a median price which you can then inflate a tad for 1920's period and considerably for the 1940's.

[caersidi]

Ah, the memories. I ran a JI campaign for years and still believe it to be one of the best products Hero ever put out. Two more sources I found helpful: The New Nile Empire sourcebook from TORG (a land of pulp heroes and weird science) and the Atlas of World Revolutions, which has some great maps and background on events of the twenties and thirties.
Users of JI will also remember that the "weird talents" such as hypnosis, aura reading, etc. were considerably cheaper than they would be if built using standard Hero rules today, and yet the price seemed totally appropriate given the power levels of the genre. It raises interesting questions on the point scale of relatively low-level campaigns.

[Just Joe]

Originally posted by caersidi
Ah, the memories. I ran a JI campaign for years and still believe it to be one of the best products Hero ever put out. Two more sources I found helpful: The New Nile Empire sourcebook from TORG (a land of pulp heroes and weird science) and the Atlas of World Revolutions, which has some great maps and background on events of the twenties and thirties.

Please tell me more about the Atlas of World Revolutions. Who published it? Do you know if it's in print? Is it specifically an RPG resource or is it a "regular" book?

[Blue]

Probably referring to this...
World Atlas of Revolutions (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0241109930/qid=1050422774/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_3/002-3426094-5156849?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) which has no reviews or any real write-up.
Though this looks interesting too...
Atlas of Military History, Maps... (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1592480438/qid=1050422774/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-3426094-5156849?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

[Aroooo]

I don't know if its been mentioned before, but another good resource is GURPS Places of Mystery - if you can find one. Its currently out of print, but shows up on ebay and used rpg dealers often. There was talk back when Cliffhangers 2nd was being playtested that they may do an update if there is interest. Don't have any updates - I've been out of the GURPS scene for a while now.

Aroooo

[caersidi]

The World Atlas of Revolutions, by Andrew Wheatcroft, 1983, Simon and Schuster. Apparently now outof print but widely available at libraries. For the "Pulp Age", has maps and background articles on such places as Arabia, Russia, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Spain, India and China. I found it invaluable when our JI party went to Turkey in 1922.