Pulp Hero

[phydaux]

I'm thinking of running a Hero System demo based on the old pulp serials - Sort of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

Thing is, I've only ever run Hero as Supers.

 

Now I think I understand the genera enough to lay out the characters - The two-fisted Adventurer, the brainy Professor, the British Big Game Hunter, the beautiful Neice, etc.

 

My question is point levels. 50/50? 75/75?

 

I'm thinking 50/50, but what have you guys run?

[phydaux]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

And what's a good range for DEX and SPD?

[Sketchpad]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

I usually run Pulp @ 75/75 with some of the following House Rules:

Characters may take up to 30 AP in powers

• Stats are considered to have Normal Characteristics Maxima and must spend additional points for stats higher than 20.

• I allow fantastic gadgets of the genre. Would I allow a "laser" gun? No. A "ray" gun on the otherhand is good.

• I avoid VPPs like the plague.

• I allow most things to be bought with money and Resource Points. The exception to this is odd/tricked-out vehicles and special HQs. Having a car and a flat is a money issue. Having a car that has oil slicks and a secret underground lair? That's a point issue.
  

 

Hope this helps

[phydaux]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

POWERS? For a Raiders-type campaign?

 

What kind of powers did Indy have? Or Short Round? Sure that Shiva-guy who could pull out your heart, but he was an NPC.

[Tetsuyama]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

I'm working on putting together a pulp flavored 1930s/40s steampunk influenced campaign. It'll probably actually be something like LXG meets Indiana Jones in its final incarnation. Here are my current rough guidelines for character development (still in some flux, but I don't expect major deviations at this point).

 

Starting Points: 175 base/100 disads, max from one disad category being 35. I decided not to go with NCM, rather limiting PCs to one Primary stat over 20. Characters can carry normal technology according to the rules for Resource Points in Dark Champions.

 

Power Levels:

 

OCV/DCV start at 5-8 and are capped at 12

Speed starts at 3-5 and is capped at 7

DEF probably in the 8-12 range, no more than 18

rDEF I'm expecting 3-8, max 12

Skill rolls 11- to 14-, max 16-

Powers should be in the 15-30 AP range with a negotiable cap of 45.

 

I'm planning on using Hit Locations, Knockdown, and some variant of Impairing. Characters will be allowed to Push.

 

All told, it's pretty high-powered for a true pulp campaign, I guess. But I tried building a couple of sample PCs for it, and they were surprisingly not outrageous (granted, my view may deviate from yours). My goal with these limits is to make the PCs able to take on lightly armed civilian criminals in droves, and Nazi thugs at 2 to 1 (or even 3 to 1) odds in hand-to-hand or with surprise, but still have them be vulnerable to massed small arms fire from infantry units or border patrols.

[Sketchpad]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

I look at things like super-skills and pulp-era abilities as some powers. Take for example the Shadow's ability to cloud minds, or the fact that Doc Savage is damn hard to hurt ... even Indy's incredible luck could be seen as a power

[GreyGuardian]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

better to start low with 50 / 50 and build up or infuse points if needed than to start too high. It's always easier to give things to the players than take them away.

[AlHazred]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

Alternatively you could give them 75+75 and just not give them XP every session; do it per story arc, and give them maybe 10 or 15, enough for them to buy another super-skill, group contact, device, etc. Make it a caveat that they can only buy one new skill per arc.

 

For a Raiders-style game, call 'em Talents and make a set list you're comfortable with. For instance, Combat Luck would be very appropriate, as would Hypnosis. On the other hand, Door-Smashing Fists might not be.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

POWERS? For a Raiders-type campaign?

 

What kind of powers did Indy have? Or Short Round? Sure that Shiva-guy who could pull out your heart, but he was an NPC.

 

Well, the Indy Jones movies did include a variety of supernatural elements such as artifacts. Also, the pulp and movie serial era embraced a lot of conventions and characters that were well beyond the ordinary world: this is the era of the Shadow, Doc Savage, Mandrake the Magician, the Phantom and Flash Gordon. Not that you have to include any of these elements, but they're not foreign to the genre.

 

Since, as you say, you haven't run a pulp-era game before, I'm going to offer you a few HERO-related web resources that may help you. All of these contain or have links to many useful items:

 

Here are two HERO websites for ongoing pulp campaigns which include guidelines for character creation, and sample characters: Jesse Zwerling's Thrilling True Tales!, and Donald Doepke's Amazing Adventures! (which is adapted from White Wolf's Adventure! pulp game).

 

Dany St. Pierre's Hero Pulp website has lots of prebuilt stuff - many period weapons, vehicles, character Package Deals, and prewritten characters - but I'd especially recommend you download the free "Pulps Fuzion Jazz" PDF. That contains an excellent essay on pulp gaming and dealing with its various subgenres.

 

For general inspiration, you might look at The Empire Club, a long-established campaign based on a classic Hero pulp era organization. It has no game stats, but lots of characters (heroic and villainous) and extensive campaign logs to crib ideas from.

 

I hope that's of some help to you.

[Curufea]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

Has anyone done Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? It only opened in theatres here two days ago, and it has enthused some local GMs

[Barton]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

Has anyone done Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? It only opened in theatres here two days ago' date=' and it has enthused some local GMs [/quote']

Just released in US on DVD, own a copy!!!

Great idea for game, get the Hero Games book on vechicles and you will be set.

I have not used that genre, but I have run (and will run at GENCON Indy) a 1938 Heroes adventure. Set in East Africa, it is "good guys" vs. Itialian and German facists in Ethiopia. Lots of fun when I ran it at Rock-Con a few months back. They liked the story line and I even had to add an extra player because of demand. I used 100pt + 100pt disads with few powers allowed (mostly as super-skills), many skills, some perks, and of course NCM. For equipment I was somewhat generious for what players were allowed.

[Koshka]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

My question is point levels. 50/50? 75/75?

 

I'm thinking 50/50, but what have you guys run?

 

If you're sticking with the more "realistic" serials, such as The Green Hornet or (so far, I haven't finished watching it yet) Phantom Empire, 75/75 should be plenty of points. Personally, I like building 100 base/50 disad -- but that's because several of the disads really don't apply to regular people.

[rjcurrie]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

The characters for my Friends of Justice Pulp Hero convention game are built on 100 + 50 Disads + XP and range from 200-224 points. All of them are pretty normal except for a few talents (some from FH) and a couple of gadgets for the scientist/inventor in the group.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

I've always liked the "base points from campaign role" type idea that A. Alston put forth in Lost Worlds. It seems to fit most of the pulp era novels I've read, but you need players who are willing to start unbalanced. One idea I've been toying with for my current campaign is to allow 3 different starting point levels, each having certain incentives. A "rookie" level, that starts with less points but gains additional XP and has more options to go through "retraining" situations which can also add additional Disads, a Standard Hero level, that uses all the normal rules, and an Epic level, which gets more starting points but gets decreased XP and requires GM permission, and gets, essentially, a Semi-NPC disad for no points to reflect that the price of these extra points is that the GM is GOING to use the character to drive elements of the Plot even if it is to the detriment of the character (GM hands note to Gandalf's character... "You will NOT run from the Balrog")

[ArmlessTigerMan]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

I've always liked the "base points from campaign role" type idea that A. Alston put forth in Lost Worlds.

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.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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

 

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

[John Desmarais]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

You'd think that certain game supplements would be worthwhile to reprint' date=' given the effort many gamers go to to get them....[/quote']

 

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]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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:

 

http://www.brighthouse.ca/lee/odyssey/

 

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

[Prometheus]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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' date=' in my mind, with point levels.[/quote']

 

Try doing that with an incompetent normal then...

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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

 

http://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]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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' date=' in my mind, with point levels.[/quote']

 

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:

 

http://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]

Re: Pulp Hero

 

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?