Pulp Hero

[AmadanNaBriona]

D'Oh!
Yes...Lands Of Mystery.
Got the title and genre confused. One of the best written gaming supplements EVER. One reason I'm so happy with the direction HERO is currently going is because Steve is one of the owners, and he is, along with Aalston, one of the two best authors who have ever worked on the hero line. I can't wait to see the new pulp Hero.

[BoloOfEarth]

I just finished playtesting a Pulp module I'm selling to Digital Hero, and my sample PC characters were 75/75, DEX 12-18, SPD 3-4. All had Combat Luck and some had super-skills or unique talents drawn up with Powers (no more than 20 Active Points). Normal equipment (including dynamite) cost no points, but a specialized Vehicle did. One character had homemade grenades that didn't cost points, but since there was a very limited number and they were underpowered compared to normal grenades, I didn't see that as a problem.

I also included a Power-based talent I created, Amazing Saves, representing the pulp hero's ability to escape seemingly certain death.

The playtest went well, though I have to patch a few minor bugs before I send it in to Dave. My players rock -- they went with the genre perfectly, even though they weren't exactly overjoyed to be running in it. And they gave me some great suggestions.

For an ongoing campaign, I'd say 100/50 or 100/75 would be good point levels, too. Maybe even 125/75 depending on how they spend the points.

[Captain Obvious]

Cool idea. Is this in Lands of Mystery? I'd look for it on ebay, but it's probably impossible to find, like his Strikeforce book.

You'd think that certain game supplements would be worthwhile to reprint, given the effort many gamers go to to get them....

[John Desmarais]

You'd think that certain game supplements would be worthwhile to reprint, given the effort many gamers go to to get them....

While I agree that Lands of Mystery was one of the best Hero supplements I.C.E. ever put out; as a pre-DOJ publication, determing who has current publication rights may be more trouble than it's worth. (Not to mention all of the work that would have to done to make it a 5th edition book - and then there'e the question "Does it fit into the meta-universe continuity that Steve and Co. have been building?").

There are many old supplements that I think would be good to see back in print (a disproportionately high number of them written by Aaron Allston) but legal and logistical realities lead to think that this is unlikely (or, at least, unlikely as Hero Games/DOJ publications.) Perhaps someone else, like the writer's of the various books, might be interested in updating and re-publishing under a license from Hero Games.

[Wolfjack]

Thought I'd throw my two cents in the ring. Back to the original question, I had players use a base 100 points plus 75 points in disads. The campaign was a PBeM and we got a unumber of adventures underway.

But "pulp" is less about the number of points that are used and more about attitude used in playing. Leaping from a building and hoping to reach the flagpole and use it to pole vault onto the truck that's leaving with not only the bad guys but the kidnapped femme fatale doesn't have much to do, in my mind, with point levels.

If anyone is interested in seeing a number of characters with fairly complete backgrounds, please check out the game's site:

www.brighthouse.ca/lee/odyssey/

I borrowed fairly heavily from the Justice Inc. sourcebook for parts of the game.

[Prometheus]

Very cool site- lots of Pulp flavor. Is your NPC page not up? I keep getting a dead link.

I agree with what you say about pulp, but I'd add that some of the burden falls on the GM. Having characters that are 200 pts or 50 pts doesn't make much difference if the campaign doesn't have a pulp feel. It's a long read, but I'd offer this to anyone as a good primer for pulp games:

THE PULP AVENGERS: Game Mastering Pulp Adventures in the 1930s and 1940s

[Captain Obvious]

Leaping from a building and hoping to reach the flagpole and use it to pole vault onto the truck that's leaving with not only the bad guys but the kidnapped femme fatale doesn't have much to do, in my mind, with point levels.

Try doing that with an incompetent normal then...

[Lord Liaden]

If anyone is interested in seeing a number of characters with fairly complete backgrounds, please check out the game's site:

www.brighthouse.ca/lee/odyssey/

I borrowed fairly heavily from the Justice Inc. sourcebook for parts of the game.

Very nice stuff, Wolfjack! Although I'm having the same trouble accessing the NPC page as Prometheus, the rest of the site looks topnotch - good writeups, real "pulpy" flavor to the writing, and nice use of B&W art.

Have you considered posting a link to this on the "Hero Links" section of the Hero Games website? It's actually very easy to do; this webpage explains it.

[Doc Democracy]

But "pulp" is less about the number of points that are used and more about attitude used in playing. Leaping from a building and hoping to reach the flagpole and use it to pole vault onto the truck that's leaving with not only the bad guys but the kidnapped femme fatale doesn't have much to do, in my mind, with point levels.

Absolutely. I only noticed your post when looking for people with low posts to rep so that I can rep the people I want to. When I got here I found I had repped to much and wanted to rep you - I have now added you to my list of rep when I can people.

If anyone is interested in seeing a number of characters with fairly complete backgrounds, please check out the game's site:

www.brighthouse.ca/lee/odyssey/

I borrowed fairly heavily from the Justice Inc. sourcebook for parts of the game.

Given how well the site looks haven't you ever thought of designing the character sheets to make them more atmospheric?


Doc

[ThothAmon]

Sweet site Wolfjack.

I recognize some of the imagery but not all - do you have an artist who draws for you or do you repurpose other material?

[AmadanNaBriona]

While I understand that there may be distinct rights and ownership issues with updating Lands of Mystery to 5ER, I REALLY hope pulp hero will address many of the elements from it. The various types of Lost Worlds settings are a core subgenre of Pulp, and LoM did an incredible job of rekindling a childhood love for them in me. The second thing I loved about it was the character archtype section, including the parts about the relative starting strengths of the different archtypes depending on their "status" to the story.
LoM led to many one off stories and a couple of campaigns, as well as leading me to scour local book stores and eventually aquire a LOT of E.R. Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard and other "period" authors. Its a really fun genre, and I'm glad it gets recognition in the gaming world.

[st barbara]

There are another couple of Pulp staple types that I would think of adding to your group. "The Hard Boiled Detective" and the "Dashing Aviator/Aviatrix" both of whom would fit nicely into a Pulp game !

[Wolfjack]

Sweet site Wolfjack.

I recognize some of the imagery but not all - do you have an artist who draws for you or do you repurpose other material?

Sheesh... I never went back to this thread to look at responses. I can be such a dumba$$. Yes, I do actually repurpose other resources, with an extensive touch of Adobe here and there. The site many of the pics came from is:

http://www.pulpgallery.com/

I would take snips and snaps of covers and use them as needed - I felt that converyibg to B&W helped me achieve the look I was aiming for. Considering the age of the covers and how this was primarily a resouce for friends, I didn't feel that I was actually breaking any kopyrite laws.

I can say with some small amount of pride that the charcater names were all doen by myself - my advertising career has given me a fond love for fonts.

I hope others get a thrill out of the pulp covers. They're great to look back on!

Best... Lee