Pulp Character Suggestion Thread (it was inevitable)

[SleepyDrug]

I know this game has been played before but it would be nice to have either links to previous discussions or a new review of Pulp Character's most worth using in a Pulp Game.

[Curufea]

You could break it down by type-

Consulting detective - Sherlock Holme, Nero Wolfe
Gumshoe private investigator - Sam Spade
Heroes of the People - Biggles, Sky Captain, Tarzan, The Phantom
Vigilantes - The Shadow, The Spider
etc..

[st barbara]

To "Curufea" That's Sam SPADE as a detective. I would also suggest the catergory of "Occult Detectives" the obvious choices being Jules de Grandin, Carnacki the Ghost Finder and, if you want someone a little more obscure, John Silence.

[Curufea]

Whoops - too much 2000AD in my youth ;-p

[st barbara]

The "dashing aviatrix" (like Amelia Earhardt or Amy Johnson) is a good one for someone who wants to play a female character !

[ldorn]

After reading the posts and doing a lot of thinking on the subjects of Pulp Hero NPCs, I have come up with a list of possibly overlooked historical personages for GMs to stat out for use in their campaigns. I also include a quick idea for using them. They could be used as suggested or worked into a larger scenario.

Frank Buck, Clyde Beaty – Explorer/Animal Tamer

Known for his reputation of “bringing them back alive”, any characters exploring “darkest Africa” might run across him at work, or be asked to join him in collecting a “rare and unusual” specimen. And bringing it back to civilization alive. Or you could put Buck’s reputation on the line and have an animal he caught escape, and then have Buck ask the PCs to help him recapture it with out harming or killing it.

Clyde Beaty was Buck's "rival". While there were no contests that I know of pitting the two men against each other it could be possible in-game, with the PC's caught in the middle.

Edward R. Murrow, Lowell Thomas – various reporters/news hawks

“Good Evening Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all ships at sea! Lets go to press…”

Edward R. Murrow is considered to be the father of modern journalism. He became noticed during the Second World War reporting on the Blitz. His stable of CBS reporters would set the standard in broadcast journalism during the next several decades.

Lowell Thomas was a globetrotter looking for stories. On the radio for NBC and narrating newsreels, Thomas is the only reporter I know of to interview Laurence of Arabia.

Thomas might join an expedition he found interesting. Brining a newsreel crew, he would report on the expedition and the peoples he found along the way. Heroes operating in the war zone during WW II might find themselves with a member of “Murrow’s Boys” or Murrow himself along for the ride. Those campaigns surviving beyond WW II might find Winchell a good source to sell information about Communist activities that your PC comes across, or to be interviewed by Winchell about their commie busting activities.

Cecil B. DeMille, Sam and Jack Warner, Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Alfred Hitchcock – various movie moguls/directors

A recent adventure has caught the imagination of one of these Hollywood titans. A tale of epic adventure and romance (even if it was not) has been scripted and the parts cast, all you have to do is show up, sign away your rights to the story, and act as an “advisor” agreeing to what ever the production crew says. Easy right?

Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Edgar Bergen (with or without Charlie McCarthy), Abbot and Costello, Bing Crosby – various entertainers

You have become famous enough through your exploits that, during a trip to either New York or Hollywood, you are asked to do a guest spot on one of these or some other top rated show of the day. A good test to see if the PCs can make fun of themselves.

[FenrisUlf]

What about scientist-explorers like Roy Chapman Andrews (for the real world) and Inidana Jones or Professor Challenger (for fiction)?

[Dr. Anomaly]

(Ahem)

Dr. Clark Savage, Jr. anyone?

Not only is he the travelling adveturer-scientist type, but he's also the quintessential renaissance man -- not only a master of all kinds of science, but Eastern meditation techniques, methods of the Indian fakirs, master of weapons and unarmed combat. Basically an early version of the sort of character that, for example, various versions of Batman have been shown to be, or for that matter, The Doctor from Dr. Who.

[KA.]

Depending on the tone of your campaign, I think it would be really cool to encounter Hope and Crosby or Abbott and Costello in an adventure setting!
If your players have seen the Road pictures, or any of the more exotic Abbot and Costello movies, imagine their surprise to find either pair involved in an actual adventure!
"Oh sure, we make comedy movies about this stuff, but in out spare time, we take it seriously!"

Based on my limited recall, Hope and Crosby displayed more actual "skills" in their films, (picking pockets, etc.) but I could see Bud Abbott having a fair number of 'heel' skills, like Gambling, and Costello having Breakfall, Brawling, and a high PD.

I may have to watch some movies and write them up!

KA.

[FenrisUlf]

Depending on the tone of your campaign, I think it would be really cool to encounter Hope and Crosby or Abbott and Costello in an adventure setting!
If your players have seen the Road pictures, or any of the more exotic Abbot and Costello movies, imagine their surprise to find either pair involved in an actual adventure!
"Oh sure, we make comedy movies about this stuff, but in out spare time, we take it seriously!"

Based on my limited recall, Hope and Crosby displayed more actual "skills" in their films, (picking pockets, etc.) but I could see Bud Abbott having a fair number of 'heel' skills, like Gambling, and Costello having Breakfall, Brawling, and a high PD.

I may have to watch some movies and write them up!

KA.

Now that's funny! And since humor always did play a role in pulp, it sounds like a good idea. (Maybe the heroes have to put up with the bumbling duo during the adventure, and then afterwards see 'their' adventure on the screen.)

And going off on a tangent here, a lot of vaudeville performers developed some shady skills -- Moe Howard of the Three Stooges was quite a brawler, especially when growing up, had a heck of a throwing arm, and according to his partners would have made for a great pickpocket!

[ldorn]

While most films were shot on a back lot. It is quite possible for a film crew to go on location (ala King Kong) to shoot a movie and ask a famous explorer (a PC) to act as a guide or to have a small role in the picture.

The PC's could have a mystery of some sort to solve (a mysterious temple to explore, a string of mysterious deaths to solve, etc.) while protecting the film crew and/or participating in the film.