league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

[pinecone]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Agreed' date=' although Nemo was willing to treat the castaways who dropped into his lap with kindness and respect. Rationalizations were provided for Hyde and Griffin to work with the League; but they were both solo operators, whereas Fu was a world-threatening mastermind in his own right, with an extensive organization behind him. I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't justify it, just that you'd really have to come up with a good one.[/quote']

 

He's scared of MIng? (Aliens! Pulp X-files! Whoo hoo!)

[st barbara]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Richard Seaton or ,better yet, Blackie Duquesne ! "Doc Savage" needs someone to chat with about scientific subjects and having Blackie around would stop him worrying about what "The Shadow" might be up to (he'd be too busy worrying about what Blackie was up to !)

[TrinSarda]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Okay, I'll go first.

 

Dr Clark Kent. A.K.A. Codename Superman.

The American government, in an attempt to stop the coming war before it happens, created a team of top scientists to create supersoldier technology. Dr Kent developed prototypes of an antigravity forcefield generator that extended one centimeter off the human body. It even provided the support needed to lift a car completely off the ground. Unfortunately, the generator required a very rare radioactive material called 'kryptonite' that was only available in small amounts. Because it is so rare, the government couldn't make one for every soldier. So they were covered up, the prototype was left in Dr Kent's hands, since he knows the device well enough to make field repairs, and he was recruited to the Allies new group the 'Just Societies of the Allied nations' or 'JSA' for short. They were people of immense power, who travelled the world, helping people, while working as propaganda both showing how benevolent the Allies are, and how powerful they are, in order to avoid a great war of the entire world. To seem more impressive, Dr Kent was given the codename 'Superman' (partly to mock the growing popularity of the Nazi movement and their suggestion of 'Aryan Ubermensh' and their anti-semitism since Dr Kent is Jewish) and given a colourful costume. A billowing red great coat, very american blue jeans, and a blue tshirt with a strange S on the front. The strange S is actually there to hide the bulge of the generator that he wears underneath, to make it seem more like he really is bulletproof.

[bubba smith]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

one more time ,imagine a group made out of of your player characters forms under surevision of col.bruce forsythe ala the loeg who'd be in it and what are there talents?

[NestorDRod]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Ah, so you're asking for personally-created PCs, then?

 

I humbly submit "Bear" Grissom, mechanic extraordinaire. Born Bernard Theodore Grissom of Irish immigrants in Canada (only his mother can get away with using his full name without swallowing a knuckle sandwich), he served during the Great War keeping the Allied planes in the air, then spent a fair amount of his life wandering the world, with stops in Australia, Hong Kong, and Cairo.

 

He can drive or fly most anything out there that has an engine, plus make sure it keeps doing so.

 

 

He's affable, quick to make friends, with a touch of temper. He has a tendency to speak with his fists, and a soft spot for any woman in trouble (which usually gets him in trouble himself). He's always spouting aphorisms which he attributes to his "sainted mother". Any aspersions cast on her are a guarantee for some bruisin'.

 

Physically, he looks like he walked out of a pre-historic exhibit. Broad chest narrowing down to his waist, thick red body hair, long arms that end just above his knees. A shock of orange-red hair on his head, sloping brows over deep-set brown eyes, and usually sporting a s**t-eating grin.

 

How's that?

[bubba smith]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Ah, so you're asking for personally-created PCs, then?

 

I humbly submit "Bear" Grissom, mechanic extraordinaire. Born Bernard Theodore Grissom of Irish immigrants in Canada (only his mother can get away with using his full name without swallowing a knuckle sandwich), he served during the Great War keeping the Allied planes in the air, then spent a fair amount of his life wandering the world, with stops in Australia, Hong Kong, and Cairo.

 

He can drive or fly most anything out there that has an engine, plus make sure it keeps doing so.

 

 

He's affable, quick to make friends, with a touch of temper. He has a tendency to speak with his fists, and a soft spot for any woman in trouble (which usually gets him in trouble himself). He's always spouting aphorisms which he attributes to his "sainted mother". Any aspersions cast on her are a guarantee for some bruisin'.

 

Physically, he looks like he walked out of a pre-historic exhibit. Broad chest narrowing down to his waist, thick red body hair, long arms that end just above his knees. A shock of orange-red hair on his head, sloping brows over deep-set brown eyes, and usually sporting a s**t-eating grin.

 

How's that?

now THATS the kind of thing i had in mind

[NestorDRod]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

now THATS the kind of thing i had in mind

 

Glad to be of service.

 

I don't have a Hero write-up for him (he was played in a different system) but coming up with one shouldn't be that hard...

 

Oh, and I forgot to include his identifying quote:

 

"Pleased to meet'cha. I'm 'Bear' to my friends, 'Grissom' to my allies, and a cold wind from hell to my enemies."

 

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Project: Superpowers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Superpowers

 

Category: Golden Age superheroes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Golden_Age_superheroes

 

Golden Age Heroes

http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/g/goldenag.htm

 

Category: Characters is Pulp Fiction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Characters_in_pulp_fiction

 

 

Hmmm... more later

 

 

QM

[bubba smith]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Glad to be of service.

 

I don't have a Hero write-up for him (he was played in a different system) but coming up with one shouldn't be that hard...

 

Oh, and I forgot to include his identifying quote:

 

"Pleased to meet'cha. I'm 'Bear' to my friends, 'Grissom' to my allies, and a cold wind from hell to my enemies."

 

very good

[st barbara]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

one more time ' date='imagine a group made out of of your player characters forms under surevision of col.bruce forsythe ala the loeg who'd be in it and what are there talents?[/quote'] Sorry "Bubba" I was having too much fun with "real" pulp characters to give your request the attention that it deserved.

 

As far as using a character from a game is concerned. Hmm, let me look at my NPC's from "The Adventurers' Club" and see who looks useful. How about "Lady Cassandra Finch" (British nobility, archaeologist, wealthy, contacts in the academic world and high society, athletic, crack shot with her two Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistols, drives cars, expert rider,able to survive in many different environments, easily recognised because of her tinted , rose coloured glasses). In a special "two for one deal" with "Lady Cass" you get her partner/bodyguard "Jake Armstrong" (6ft 3" tall, 240 lbs of solid muscle, former World Heavyweight Catch As Catch Can Wrestling Champion, skilled at survival, especially in arctic conditions (he's from Canada), contacts in the sporting world, capable shot who prefers a Colt 1911a1 .45 automatic, can be very intimidating and at the same time is himself very hard to intimidate/interrogate)

[bubba smith]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Sorry "Bubba" I was having too much fun with "real" pulp characters to give your request the attention that it deserved.

 

As far as using a character from a game is concerned. Hmm, let me look at my NPC's from "The Adventurers' Club" and see who looks useful. How about "Lady Cassandra Finch" (British nobility, archaeologist, wealthy, contacts in the academic world and high society, athletic, crack shot with her two Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistols, drives cars, expert rider,able to survive in many different environments, easily recognised because of her tinted , rose coloured glasses). In a special "two for one deal" with "Lady Cass" you get her partner/bodyguard "Jake Armstrong" (6ft 3" tall, 240 lbs of solid muscle, former World Heavyweight Catch As Catch Can Wrestling Champion, skilled at survival, especially in arctic conditions (he's from Canada), contacts in the sporting world, capable shot who prefers a Colt 1911a1 .45 automatic, can be very intimidating and at the same time is himself very hard to intimidate/interrogate)

so thats where our fellow postercassandra gets her username from ok lady cass and jake are in

[st barbara]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Additional physical descriptions.

 

Lady Cassandra : Slightly above average height, dark eyes, olive skin, black hair usually worn in short pony tail. Prefers shorts, short sleeved shirt and boots with a peaked cap while in action.

 

Jake Armstrong : Dark hair, blue eyes, looks more rugged and intimidating than handsome. Drill trousers and short sleeved shirt, broad brimmed hat, hiking boots.

[Captain Liberty]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

In 1912, Jim Thorpe was the sensation of the Olympic games, winning both the pentathalon and decathalon and three individual events. But in 1913 it was revealed that he has played semi-pro baseball as a youngster and he was stripped of his medals. Many believe that his being a Sac and Fox Indian may have contributed to the zeal in which the Olympic Committee took away his medals.

Whatever that case, when the 1920 Olympic Committee was confronted by an equally gifted Navaho athelete named Bartholomew Techumseh Manyshadows from the Navaho tribe, they were quick to pounce on the fact that he had fought four semi-pro boxing matches to disqualify him at the Olympic trials.

Batholomew, disappointed, went back to Harvard, where he graduated with a PhD in physics and an MS in Engineering. For a gifted athelete with a PhD, there was only one obvious career, adventuring.

Several patents made him rich. He acquired the heroic nickname of "Doc" Amerind, and used his scientific expertise and ready fists to assemble a group of similarly gifted adventurers to fight evil wherever they could find it.

"Doc" has the build of a Middleweight fighter, though expanded to Heavyweight proportions. His bronze skin is smooth with very few blemishes. He wears his coal black shoulder-length hair in a traditional navaho style of braids or sometimes loose with a headband, and generally wears American Western garb with a distinct Indian approach. He is well-spoken, with a trace of Harvard accent. He often indulges in stereotypical Amerindian phrases such as "many moons ago," and "In his wigwam, my grandfather had many scalps of enemies like you." This often sets up a quote from Shakespeare or the Bible.

He is a top pilot, in superb shape, and a crack shot with several different weapons, including the bow and the machine pistol. He always carries an elaborately decorated Bowie knife, though he has never used it in combat (to anyone's knowledge).

 

"Doc" is the lead NPC of a pulp game I am slowly assembling that will actually be centered on his followers.

[bubba smith]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

In 1912, Jim Thorpe was the sensation of the Olympic games, winning both the pentathalon and decathalon and three individual events. But in 1913 it was revealed that he has played semi-pro baseball as a youngster and he was stripped of his medals. Many believe that his being a Sac and Fox Indian may have contributed to the zeal in which the Olympic Committee took away his medals.

Whatever that case, when the 1920 Olympic Committee was confronted by an equally gifted Navaho athelete named Bartholomew Techumseh Manyshadows from the Navaho tribe, they were quick to pounce on the fact that he had fought four semi-pro boxing matches to disqualify him at the Olympic trials.

Batholomew, disappointed, went back to Harvard, where he graduated with a PhD in physics and an MS in Engineering. For a gifted athelete with a PhD, there was only one obvious career, adventuring.

Several patents made him rich. He acquired the heroic nickname of "Doc" Amerind, and used his scientific expertise and ready fists to assemble a group of similarly gifted adventurers to fight evil wherever they could find it.

"Doc" has the build of a Middleweight fighter, though expanded to Heavyweight proportions. His bronze skin is smooth with very few blemishes. He wears his coal black shoulder-length hair in a traditional navaho style of braids or sometimes loose with a headband, and generally wears American Western garb with a distinct Indian approach. He is well-spoken, with a trace of Harvard accent. He often indulges in stereotypical Amerindian phrases such as "many moons ago," and "In his wigwam, my grandfather had many scalps of enemies like you." This often sets up a quote from Shakespeare or the Bible.

He is a top pilot, in superb shape, and a crack shot with several different weapons, including the bow and the machine pistol. He always carries an elaborately decorated Bowie knife, though he has never used it in combat (to anyone's knowledge).

 

"Doc" is the lead NPC of a pulp game I am slowly assembling that will actually be centered on his followers.

your take on doc savage sounds good i wonder who doc amerinds amazing five are?

[Captain Liberty]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Actually, they are Doc's Super Six (six players in the group). And at this point I have no idea who they are because I haven't even briefed them on the game. We are in the midst of a Fantasy Hero campaign at the moment that will probably go on for a few more months.

 

More time for me to prepare.

[bubba smith]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

all right keep us posted on the good doctor and associates

[Maelstrom]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

After his mother died, victim of a mugging/shooting in the streets of Rome, Dr. Giovanni Rossali turned his back on a huge criminal empire built on his powers of hypnosis and blackmail, and turned his attention towards avenging his mother. An outcast from Rome's underworld, he preyed on street criminals, interrogating them in alleys under hypnosis, and then dispatching them with fists or pistols.

 

Once he tracked down his mother's killer, he realized he could never return to crime, and now he sets his sights on crime, wherever his wandering uncovers it. And many are the criminals whose last vision is the tall man, with the black clothes and trenchcoat, and the hellish, mesmerizing eyes . . .

[Doctor Agenda]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Raised by circus-folk, Louis "The Astounding Louis" Lambert, is the magician also known as "The Ghost-hunter", who uses his skills as a magician to solve hauntings and expose frauds with the help of his faithful assistant, Mitzi Dunkirk. A magician-detective as deadly with his concealed throwing knives as Mitzi is with her revolver, Lambert's sense of justice and powers of observation are as quick to get him into trouble as his sense of misdirection, bag of tricks, and tumbling-style of fighting are to prevail over it.

[Doctor Agenda]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

He's been known by many names, some legendary, most lost to history. He forgot his first name before the dawn of the current era of history. A being who can change his appearance, as strong as ten strong men, who can heal from any wound, he does not know what he is. He fought as a Legionaire in WWI and remembers only flashes of his life before the last fifty years. Of late, Lance Griffin (memory: a coat of arms?), a big game hunter in Africa, now a gentleman adventurer in the US. Respectable, married to a socialite, the former Olivia Dubuque (she looked so much like...?). Taken from him by American bandits, (gangsters? cultists?), by violence, like so many before her, too soon. He hunts them, ALL of them, wearing a face glistening with blood. The underworld dreads the vengeance of the Crimson Mask!

[bubba smith]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

very good guys keep it up

[Susano]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

He'd knock most pulp heroes on their keisters, and might give Doc a run for his money.

 

The Wiki entry skips most of the really interesting stuff; time in Japan studying Jujitsu, running battles with the Ku Klux Klan and the German American Bund, teaching hand to hand combat to the NY State and City police departments, anti-gang patrols, run-ins with celebrities and political figures. He was as close to a Pulp character as a real human gets.

 

The Spielman book has been one of my favorites for years. I still have a copy on the shelf.

 

Is there a biography of this man anywhere?

 

Never mind, I found it.

[Ian Mackinder]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

My Character, from St Barbara's "Adventurer's Club" campaign:

 

Captain John "Blackjack" Ferguson.

 

Born in Australia, into a family with a strong tradition of service in the Royal Navy. Gained a commission in the RN, then transferred to the Royal Australian Navy upon its inauguration in 1912 (was a very new Lieutenant aboard the battlecruiser HMAS Australia when it first arrived in Sydney Harbour). During The Great War, he served with distinction in various capacities in various locales, gaining his own command (a destroyer) before war's end.

 

After the Armisitice, he transferred to the Reserves, and took up a new career path as a tramp freighter deck officer (also doing the odd job or two for HM Government).

 

At the time of the campaign opening (mid-1930s), Captain Ferguson is well-known in nautical circles as a capable and (reasonably) honest freighter captain with a mean right hook and a fondness for taking on "unusual" jobs. Most of his experience has been gained in the Far East, with forays into the South Seas and even the Caribbean - he speaks several languages fluently (including Mandarin and German) and is acquainted with nearly every major port and stretch of water from Shanghai to Havana. Within the Adventurer;s Club, Ferguson is seen as the resident expert on Maritime Lore and naval matters, as well as being able to tell a good story. Additionally, he is a keen Treasure Hunter, having a definite knack in collating data on finding "lost" valuables. Profit is not always the motivator, since he has been known to seek out artifacts of purely historical interest (generally of a maritime nature) and then donate them to a suitable museum or university.

 

He is especially interested in the famed Chinese navigator, Admiral Zheng He, and any chance of turning up new information about him (or a related artifact) is GUARANTEED to get Ferguson's full attention.

 

Ferguson is also a mean opponent in a brawl - favoured weapons being fists, big heavy objects (furniture, people, capstan bars, whatever) and large-calibre revolvers.

 

These days, he owns his own ship, the 'ANTARES', a small (400 ton) freighter registered out of Hong Kong, but currently homeported in New York (the Adventurer's Club provides a free berth in exchange for occasional assistance). The crew is very VERY mixed, and quite loyal. 'Antares' is kept busy with both routine coastal trade and "special" jobs for the AC.

 

Most recently, Ferguson has become part of a small group within the Adventurer;s Cllub. This group is composed of relatively junior members with a widely diverse range of skills and abilities, often called upon to handle especially ... unusual problems for the Club and, sometimes, for the US and/or British governments.

 

In terms of physical appearance, Ferguson is about 6'2" and can most simply be described as an un-klutzy, well-muscled and somewhat tidier version of Captain Haddock (of 'Tin Tin' fame). His chosen vocation is unmistakable on sight (Distinctive Appearance), so disguises or "blending in" can be very difficult in his case.

 

Normally very even-tempered, preferring the 'quiet authority' style of leadership over anything louder. He is very tolerant as regards matters of race and origins (evidenced by his crew), but this is noticeably absent when it comes to Nazis or Communists - both of which he has absolutely no regard for. Thanks to some rather ... unfortunate events in recent adventures, he has become less than enthusiastic about flying - he is not phobic and recognizes the usefulness of aircraft, but ... well, given a choice, he would rather walk, or sail, or even swim. Crawl, even. He plays the part of the bluff forthright sea dog to the hilt, but is well-read and a shrewd tactician. To the ladies, he tends to be rather gallant in a crusty sea-farer way and, whilst not the crusader type, does believe that wrongs exist to be righted (if at all possible). Ferguson also takes captaincy seriously - willingly deferring to others as regards their own areas of authority and expertise, but on his ship there can only ever be one captain. Suggestions listened to (when possible) and higher authority at least acknowledged, but the buck always stops with him.

 

Also worth mentioning that, depending upon whom you ask, that his ship either has or does not have a deckgun, or a fake deckgun, or a 'Weird Science' weapon provided by the Adventurer's Club. That last is, most assuredly, not true. Well, at this point, anyhow.

[Shoutybloke]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

one more time ' date='imagine a group made out of of your player characters forms under surevision of col.bruce forsythe ala the loeg who'd be in it and what are there talents?[/quote']

 

I'm sorry, no pc I've ever played would take orders from Bruce_Forsyth

[st barbara]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

Shame you couldn't "appropriate" on of those Nazi weapons from Rugen Island !

[st barbara]

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

 

While i'm throwing in my NPC's from "The Adventurers' Club" I might try to do Amber Sinclair. Tall (5ft 10''), and lithe with short blonde hair and grey eyes. Very wealthy, but the exact source of her wealth is a mystery. Considered to be something of a specialist on occult matters (one of several at the club) she is also thought of as being a "bit strange" because of her uncanny "intuition" that often gets her to solutions well before more logical people. Is DEFINATELY a "weirdness magnet" (if something "out of the ordinary" is likely to happen, it will probably involve Amber !) and has become used to it over the years. Trained martial artist (Wing Chun) and a good shot with her Polish Radom 9mm Automatic. She has some archaeological skills (but no formal training) and can drive cars, ride horses etc. Her reputation often preceeds her, which can be both a good and a bad thing. Often appears to be of the "rich dilettante' type, but is a fine conversationalist and popular at parties. Has a thirst for adventure and is prepared to dash off at a moment's notice if there is something exciting in the offing !

 

Amber works with two partners. Barry Muir an ex theif and safecracker, locksmith etc he is a small, wiry man of rather forgettable appearence but(it is said) can get past any alarm system or lock that was ever devised ! Expert climber and skilled at disguise and shadowing. Not a great hand to hand fighter, he prefers to let his two Enfield .38 revolvers (modified to take the 200 grain Special police ammunition) do his fighting for him. Very streetwise and seems to have contacts in the most unusual places, worldwide. How he became Amber's partner is a mystery which neither of them will explain but he has described it as "A life changeing experience".

 

Her other partner is Honeydew Holliday. Honeydew looks like what she is, a librarian ! However she is a special librarian, cheif assistant at "The Adventurers' Club" library and an expert on Occult literature and lore... If there is a weird book out there that might have occult significance, she is the person who will know about it, AND be willing to go after it. Did her Librarian course at U Texas Brownsville, said to be the most haunted campus in the U S A.. Honeydew is above average height and attractive with bobbed dark hair and brown eyes, usually hidden behind large round glasses. Often seems "bookish" and distracted but , when the chips are down and violence is necessary, she is deadly shot with her Colt SA .38, and a lightning fast draw to go with it ! Within nthee club she is generally highly respected and gets on with almost everyone. She is also the person willing to help the P C's in the campaign with information that they might need, if they ask.