[Character] Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective

SKJAM! · April 17, 2005

I thought I should repost this fellow here, now that we have a dedicated genre forum for pulp.

DAN TURNER, HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE

Created by Robert Leslie Bellem; First Appearance: Spicy Detective, June 1934

Val Char Cost

13 STR 3

13 DEX 9

13 CON 6

11 BODY 2

13 INT 3

11 EGO 2

13 PRE 3

12 COM 1

3 PD 0

3 ED 0

3 SPD 7

6 REC 0

26 END 0

24 STUN 0

Cost Powers

4 "Safe sex is making sure the dame ain't packing heat" Life Support: Immune to all STDs

Skills

7 Seduction 14-

5 Deduction 13-

3 Acting 12-

3 Combat Driving 12-

2 Fast Draw (Handguns) 12-

2 Gambling (Golf) 12-

3 Interrogation 12-

3 AK: Los Angeles 12-

3 KS: Hollywood Gossip 12-

3 KS: Denizens of Hollywood 12-

3 PS: Private Eye 12-

3 KS: How to Pleasure a Woman 12-

3 Shadowing 12-

3 Streetwise 12-

1 TF: Small Motorized Ground Vehicles

1 WF: Handguns

Perks

3 Access: Movie studios

10 Contact: Dave Donovan, LAPD Homicide detective, 14-

1 Perk: Private Eye license

2 Perk: Concealed weapon permit

2 Reputation: Top-notch private eye, +2 to Los Angeles residents 11-

1 Reputation: Stud, +1 to women 11-

50+ Disadvantages

15 Lecherous

15 DNPC: Clients (incompetent, 8-)

10 1 1/2x STUN from blows to the head

10 Watched by Police 11-

8 Experience

OCV 4 DCV 4 ECV 4 Phases: 4,8,12

Char 36 + Pow 72 = Total 108

Note: This version was put together using the seventeen stories in _Roscoes in the Night_, recently published by Adventure House. Since these stories span Dan's entire career, this is a composite version rather than a particular one; and may be missing vital information presented in others of the 300+ Turner stories.

Background: Little is known of Dan Turner's past. His first recorded cases as a detective working in Hollywood are in 1934, but he'd clearly been in the detective business for a year or two before that, as he'd already accumulated enemies. Dan had a very busy career from 1934 to 1950, the last recorded of his adventures; almost all of his cases involved murder. They also almost all involved beautiful women, who Dan was not in the least shy about having sex with.

Personality: Dan Turner comes off much as a standard hard-boiled dick of his time period. He was macho, somewhat cynical, not given to displaying emotions other than anger or lust, and not overly respectful of authority. His stated goal in life was to accumulate enough money so that he could retire early and comfortably. Dan also had a raging libido, and had sex with any attractive woman who wasn't married, underage or actively trying to kill him. Dan's rough but persuasive courting attracted many women, but they quickly realized he wasn't a good marriage prospect, so he didn't have any long-term entanglements. Dan was also casually racist; while he wouldn't go out of his way to oppress or insult minorities, he would see nothing wrong with prejudging people based on skin color or national origin. On the other hand, Dan had a love of justice and a hatred of crime.

Like many men of his time, Dan Turner smoked heavily, drank more Vat 69 whiskey than was good for him, and gambled at golf.

Quote: "I don't know how long I remained in dreamland; but when the time came for me to open my glims, the Navarre quail was stretched out on the floor alongside me. Her midnight hair was clotted with ketchup where the bullet had dug its tunnel, and she was as dead as Coney Island in a blackout"

Dan used a lot of tough-guy slang, although he could turn it off at will when speaking to a client who needed a more cultured approach. Use a lot of terms like "doll", "roscoe", and such.

Powers and Tactics: Dan Turner was a healthy man with two good fists, but he wasn't overly trained in combat. It was usually a struggle for him to overcome one healthy and aggressive opponent in hand-to-hand combat, Dan had somewhat better luck with his .32 automatic (generally kept in a shoulder holster, with a backup in the car), but still vastly preferred to get the drop on opponents. Despite his tough-guy attitudes, Dan was actually quick-witted, and solved most of his cases by spotting the discrepancies in suspects' stories. A favorite Turner tactic was getting the real killer to go along with a plan that would railroad another suspect, only to have it turned around at the last moment.

Dan was also given to using his sex appeal to pump female witnesses, or to intimidate them. (In at least one case, he threatened to rape a woman if she didn't tell him the truth.)

Other than being distracted by women, Dan's biggest weakness was being whacked on the head. He spends a lot of time unconscious in the stories.

Appearance: Dan Turner was a Caucasian male of indeterminate age; probably in his late twenties in 1934 and aging extremely well. He stood a bit over six feet tall and weighed 190 pounds. In most of the illustrations, Dan has straight black hair combed back with some sort of cream. He was ruggedly handsome, but not in a way movie cameras liked. Dan habitually dressed like a hard-boiled private eye, trenchcoat, fedora and all, but unlike most of them his clothing was not cheap, since he needed to impress well-off clients.

Important People: Dave Donaldson was a detective on the Homicide Bureau of the Los Angeles Police Department (possibly the head of that bureau by the end of his career.) Before making detective, Dave had spent time on the Chinatown beat, and was familiar with the crime and criminals of that area. While a fairly competent police officer, Dave had the bad habit of immediately fixing on the most obvious person as the killer. Even if that person happened to be Dan Turner.imself, as it often did. While the two men would describe themselves as friends, they weren't afraid to slap each other around if the circumstances seemed to require it.

Campaign Use: Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective is a low-powered pulp character. By switching out a few of his area-specific skills, he can be transported to any major American city of the time period. As is, he makes a good Contact in the Los Angeles area, especially with his ability to get on movie studio property, which may be difficult for other characters. He'd only Hunt player characters if he was paid to, and only within the state of California.

With a little updating of Dan's speech patterns and fashions, he'll work well into the Seventies. After that point, however, attitudes towards sex and women change in a way that makes Dan's usual behavior dangerous and liable to get him slapped with lawsuits.

If you need to make Dan more physically dangerous, give him Brawling as a martial art, and a couple of Combat Skill Levels. It shouldn't be necessary to make him weaker.

Questions, comments?

SKJAM!

FenrisUlf · April 18, 2005