Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

[Supreme]

I was posting to the TUB thread when I got to thinking about a pre-Golden Age campaign (early 30s pulps). The idea is to have a campaign where the players all play masked crime-fighters with VERY low power levels (8 DC tops). Characters don't have to have costumes, but they should wear a mask, have a motif, and a secret ID. I'm thinking the Shadow, The Phantom, Green Hornet, etc. The trouble I usually have with campaigns with such as this is keeping the players on the same page. Very often people want to make characters who have all kinds of wild powers and what-not that don't fit the little sub-genre very well. A stretching character just doesn't fit the campaign. The question is how to articulate that to the players. These are the parameters I thought of:

• Attacks must have a maximum of 8 DCs to start. Killing attacks are acceptable.
  
• Defenses should not be higher than 15 each. Resistent defenses are suggested.
  
• All powers must be either enhancements of existing physical abilities (strength, speed, etc.), psychic (telepathy, clairsentience, etc.), or gadgets.
  
• Characters must be humans from the present world. No aliens, time-travellers, androids, elves, quasi-demons, or people from alternate realities.
  
• Characters do not need to have costumes per se, but should have a mask or at least a "stage name."
  

What d'y'all think?

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

I was posting to the TUB thread when I got to thinking about a pre-Golden Age campaign (early 30s pulps). The idea is to have a campaign where the players all play masked crime-fighters with VERY low power levels (8 DC tops). Characters don't have to have costumes, but they should wear a mask, have a motif, and a secret ID. I'm thinking the Shadow, The Phantom, Green Hornet, etc. The trouble I usually have with campaigns with such as this is keeping the players on the same page. Very often people want to make characters who have all kinds of wild powers and what-not that don't fit the little sub-genre very well. A stretching character just doesn't fit the campaign. The question is how to articulate that to the players. These are the parameters I thought of:

• Attacks must have a maximum of 8 DCs to start. Killing attacks are acceptable.
  
• Defenses should not be higher than 15 each. Resistent defenses are suggested.
  
• All powers must be either enhancements of existing physical abilities (strength, speed, etc.), psychic (telepathy, clairsentience, etc.), or gadgets.
  
• Characters must be humans from the present world. No aliens, time-travellers, androids, elves, quasi-demons, or people from alternate realities.
  
• Characters do not need to have costumes per se, but should have a mask or at least a "stage name."
  

What d'y'all think?

 

I think...

 

I WANNA PLAY!!!

 

I love this sort of game. The problems come in when the limits are too restrictive, and the characters end up being too close to each other, which comes up more the larger the group is. If you can wind up with a group that is Red Hornet, Mr. Magician, Doc Feral and Max Blue: Aerial Adventurer then you're in good shape. But if you have a group of five Batman-types, everyone is basically the same and it can get boring for you and the players.

 

(And as for stretching characters - ever read the early Plasticman stuff? Lots of disguise, infiltrating bad guy outfits and thugbusting. But I definitely understand if you want a "Men of Mystery" game more than a supers one.)

[Supreme]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

I think...

 

I WANNA PLAY!!!

 

I love this sort of game. The problems come in when the limits are too restrictive, and the characters end up being too close to each other, which comes up more the larger the group is. If you can wind up with a group that is Red Hornet, Mr. Magician, Doc Feral and Max Blue: Aerial Adventurer then you're in good shape. But if you have a group of five Batman-types, everyone is basically the same and it can get boring for you and the players.

 

(And as for stretching characters - ever read the early Plasticman stuff? Lots of disguise, infiltrating bad guy outfits and thugbusting. But I definitely understand if you want a "Men of Mystery" game more than a supers one.)

Well, if I ever move to NC (no plans, but I have a lot of In-laws Supreme there) I'll be sure to look you up.

[Redmenace]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

First, I'd make sure the players are cool with playing the genre, assuming that is so I'd elaborate on what you have written allready, maybe photocopying the Mystery men section of Allston's Champion's book and including a sample character, a list of archetypes,etc.

 

Good luck, it's agreat genre.

[ChuckB]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

Only have players who are fans of the genre in the game. Another solution is to give a recommended reading/viewing list ( Indiana Jones , The Rocketeer , The Phantom , old pulp novels and/or old Republic cliffhanger serials).

[Vondy]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

Mechanically you have a good sense of it.

 

I would recommend the following:

 

1) select four or five good examples, or a good website, and tell the players they have to familiarize themselves with the genre.

 

2) I would make your definition of powers a little looser (I couldn't play the avenger without a liberal interpretation of your guidelines).

 

A great site for your players to look at is:

 

http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulp/index.cfm

 

Its hero-pulps section has explanations and issue summaries for: Ace G-Man, Avenger, Doc Savage, Dusty Ayres, G-8, Operator 5, The Shadow, The Spider, Secret 6, and Zorro

 

I suspect the Avenger, Doc Savage, The Shadow, and the Spider are the most apropos for what you have in mind, but all of them are genre relevent.

 

I would also consider:

 

3) using a hard NCM and telling players that superhuman stats have to be purchased as powers (and be justified in their SFX).

[Supreme]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

Mechanically you have a good sense of it.

 

I would recommend the following:

 

1) select four or five good examples, or a good website, and tell the players they have to familiarize themselves with the genre.

 

2) I would make your definition of powers a little looser (I couldn't play the avenger without a liberal interpretation of your guidelines).

 

A great site for your players to look at is:

 

http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulp/index.cfm

 

Its hero-pulps section has explanations and issue summaries for: Ace G-Man, Avenger, Doc Savage, Dusty Ayres, G-8, Operator 5, The Shadow, The Spider, Secret 6, and Zorro

 

I suspect the Avenger, Doc Savage, The Shadow, and the Spider are the most apropos for what you have in mind, but all of them are genre relevent.

 

I would also consider:

 

3) using a hard NCM and telling players that superhuman stats have to be purchased as powers (and be justified in their SFX).

Excellent advice, Von D-Man, as from everyone. I have a cavil with your item #3. Characters like Doc Savage abound in the genre. I was thinking more of using the legendary NCM from the Champions book (for 0 points).

[Vondy]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

Excellent advice' date=' Von D-Man, as from everyone. I have a cavil with your item #3. Characters like Doc Savage abound in the genre. I was thinking more of using the legendary NCM from the Champions book (for 0 points).[/quote']

 

Legendary NCM works, too - and is genre appropriate.

 

I actually use the hard ncm in my heroic supers game. Its a gritty espionage and commando oriented game in a world where a small number of people (1,000 or so) have superpowers, so its not really a "comic book." It actually has a lot in common with pulps in terms of power levels and pacing (Cliffhanger!) - though the outlook is more modern/realistic.

 

Both methods work, and one may be better for your personal style than the other.

[austenandrews]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

If your players don't know the genre, you'll want to get them up to speed or face potential tone/mood problems. Movies are quick and accessible; I'd say watch The Rocketeer, The Shadow, The Phantom, Zorro, Tarzan, the upcoming Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, plus pulpy adventure stuff like King Kong, Valley of the Gwangi, The Mummy & The Mummy Returns, Indiana Jones and even James Bond. I'm sure there's anime that fits the bill, too, though I don't know enough to tell you what it is. As for watching old serials, proceed with caution. Many of us think they're wonderful, but I know adventure fans who can't stand more than a few minutes of the stuff.

 

-AA

[John Desmarais]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

I was posting to the TUB thread when I got to thinking about a pre-Golden Age campaign (early 30s pulps). The idea is to have a campaign where the players all play masked crime-fighters with VERY low power levels (8 DC tops). Characters don't have to have costumes, but they should wear a mask, have a motif, and a secret ID. I'm thinking the Shadow, The Phantom, Green Hornet, etc. The trouble I usually have with campaigns with such as this is keeping the players on the same page. Very often people want to make characters who have all kinds of wild powers and what-not that don't fit the little sub-genre very well. A stretching character just doesn't fit the campaign. The question is how to articulate that to the players.

What d'y'all think?

 

Dang... I wanna play!

 

OK, first off - are your players all familiar with the genre? If not, educate them (several folks have suggested good info sources already in this thread).

 

Next, do they like the genre? If not, why not? Sometimes this is merely a by product of not knowing the genre, sometimes it's a true dislike. If a player truely doesn't like the genre then you are going to have difficulty getting him to stay "in genre" - even if he actually tries.

 

Help the players build their characters. Heck - have a big "party building party" as your first session. This will help you stear them in the right direction, and help avoid the possibility of everyone making the basically the same character (this happens more often than you would think at the lower point levels).

 

One of my favorite things to do with low point-level pulp games is eliminate the normal char max (or use the Legendary NCM someone else mentioned). This encourages the building of non-balanced characters - characters who have a very definite schtick by encourage them to dump an innordinate number of points into one stat. This helps give you "the strong guy", "the smart guy", "the fast guy", "the tough guy", etc, etc... Very genre.

 

Train your players. Use point rewards to encourage appropriate in-genre role-play. Now, this can be dangerous as it can cause points to escalate faster than you might want. Are you familiar with the Brownie Point system from Super Agents? If so, give these out instead. (Brownie Points could be used for buying equiment, perks, rank, and other indirect character benefits. If someone has a copy handy they could probably summarize it better).

 

John D.

[Enforcer84]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

When can I start?

[devlin1]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

Alright, I'm going to do a plug, but only because it's almost relevant.

 

Lee Deline runs some great pulp games (collectively known as The Odyssey League) over on VCGames.net that have a lot in common with what Supreme seems to be planning (although admittedly, one of them, The Misfortune Cookie, involves some characters who push the envelope of what "pulp" really is). Maybe there's an opening. Ask him. He's a nice guy, even for a Canadian.

 

On second thought, don't go there. The site seems to be down.

[Peregrine]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

I was posting to the TUB thread when I got to thinking about a pre-Golden Age campaign (early 30s pulps). The idea is to have a campaign where the players all play masked crime-fighters with VERY low power levels (8 DC tops). Characters don't have to have costumes, but they should wear a mask, have a motif, and a secret ID. I'm thinking the Shadow, The Phantom, Green Hornet, etc. The trouble I usually have with campaigns with such as this is keeping the players on the same page. Very often people want to make characters who have all kinds of wild powers and what-not that don't fit the little sub-genre very well. A stretching character just doesn't fit the campaign. The question is how to articulate that to the players. These are the parameters I thought of:

• Attacks must have a maximum of 8 DCs to start. Killing attacks are acceptable.
  
• Defenses should not be higher than 15 each. Resistent defenses are suggested.
  
• All powers must be either enhancements of existing physical abilities (strength, speed, etc.), psychic (telepathy, clairsentience, etc.), or gadgets.
  
• Characters must be humans from the present world. No aliens, time-travellers, androids, elves, quasi-demons, or people from alternate realities.
  
• Characters do not need to have costumes per se, but should have a mask or at least a "stage name."
  

What d'y'all think?

Here's another suggestion:

 

Have one entire 'gaming session' dedicated to discussing the campaign, the genre, what tone you're trying to set, etc. Have each player express to you in their own words what they understand the campaign to be about, and what kind of character they plan to play, the latter without using game mechanics in their description. Don't proceed with character generation until everyone is on the same page to your satisfaction.

[Koshka]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

As for watching old serials' date=' proceed with caution. Many of us think they're wonderful, but I know adventure fans who can't stand more than a few minutes of the stuff.[/quote']

 

I've got both of the Green Hornet serials, and love them -- but let's face facts, they weren't made to be watched in one sitting. I'd suggest running one episode, then putting on a full-length pulp-style movie or starting a game session. Repeat the next week . They are nice ways to get people into the right mood for the game.

 

Another option would be old-time radio adventures. I've seen some at Borders on CD, but there's a wider assortment available if you order online and are willing to take tape cassettes.

[SAVeira]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

I would have them see the trailer for the Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/skycaptainandtheworldoftomorrow/). Then I would sugguest they read some Doc Savage or Shadow novels (http://www.blackmask.com/page.php?do=page&cat_id=212). Plus, I would direct them to some Old Time Radio shows (http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/)

[Lamrok]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

http://www.movieflix.com has a bunch of old serials avalable for free.

[loraxxx]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

make them watch "mystery men"--while very silly, and not to everyone's taste, it gives good examples of what you want, and what you don't want, for example:

 

"notice the difference in power levels between the group and 'capt. amazing'--these guys are nowhere near as powerful as him"

 

" 'the shoveler', 'the bowler' and 'the blue rajah' are weapons specialists, but each one is unique in the type of weapons they use, and the types of things they can do with those weapons"

 

"both 'mr. furious' and the 'invisible boy' have powers, but those powers are very llimited, and only work at certain times, or in certain situations--most of the time they depend on skills, gadgets, or just plain, dumb luck!"

 

"please notice--these guys are afraid of bullets!"

[zornwil]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

I'm surprised Shelley didn't post this, though she's way too busy with school so I guess I'm not surprised, but anyway, a suggestion she has often had is to employ music of the era. Probably would help in this case. And even better if you can find some old serial music (shouldn't be too hard, even if you have to record it off of VHS or digitally take it off of DVD) as that's very heroic and period.

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Campaign Advice: How to Enforce Style?

 

I was posting to the TUB thread when I got to thinking about a pre-Golden Age campaign (early 30s pulps). The idea is to have a campaign where the players all play masked crime-fighters with VERY low power levels (8 DC tops). Characters don't have to have costumes, but they should wear a mask, have a motif, and a secret ID. I'm thinking the Shadow, The Phantom, Green Hornet, etc. The trouble I usually have with campaigns with such as this is keeping the players on the same page. Very often people want to make characters who have all kinds of wild powers and what-not that don't fit the little sub-genre very well. A stretching character just doesn't fit the campaign. The question is how to articulate that to the players. These are the parameters I thought of:

• Attacks must have a maximum of 8 DCs to start. Killing attacks are acceptable.
  
• Defenses should not be higher than 15 each. Resistent defenses are suggested.
  
• All powers must be either enhancements of existing physical abilities (strength, speed, etc.), psychic (telepathy, clairsentience, etc.), or gadgets.
  
• Characters must be humans from the present world. No aliens, time-travellers, androids, elves, quasi-demons, or people from alternate realities.
  
• Characters do not need to have costumes per se, but should have a mask or at least a "stage name."
  

What d'y'all think?

 

 

Would this qualify?