The 1950's

[Vondy]

Is anyone aware of and (good) RPG supplements that deal with the 1950's. I'm thinking early cold war, the advent of the space age, and that sort of thing.

[Steve Long]

Re: The 1950's

 

Offhand the only one that occurs to me is GURPS Atomic Horror, which is a heckuva fun thing.

[TheImperialKhan]

Re: The 1950's

 

I'll second that one. GURPS may be a so-so system but they have some great sourcebooks.

[Susano]

Re: The 1950's

 

I own Atomic Horror and readily agree -- it's a blast to read. However, it is dedicated to a certain aspect of the 1950s -- the mad science and giant monsters part, but then, what else do you need?

[MisterBaldy]

Re: The 1950's

 

About the only suppliment that I am aware of is GURPS Atomic Horror, so I can't be of much help other than confirming what everyone else has said.

[Vondy]

Re: The 1950's

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like it might be partially useful. I'm looking at retconning the "official write up for a game" into the 50's. Its an espionage with powers game (not really supers) and would focus more on the space age and cold war aspects of the 50's. At the same time, some of the elements might be useful. We'll see what happens.

[Susano]

Re: The 1950's

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like it might be partially useful. I'm looking at retconning the "official write up for a game" into the 50's. Its an espionage with powers game (not really supers) and would focus more on the space age and cold war aspects of the 50's. At the same time' date=' some of the elements might be useful. We'll see what happens.[/quote']

 

Atomic Horror will be good for some of that. I know they did a second edition if it (or, at least, a release with a new cover), and it might be more into the space race and cold war than it was.

 

Hmm.... Better Dead Than Red HERO anyone?

[Vondy]

Re: The 1950's

 

Atomic Horror will be good for some of that. I know they did a second edition if it (or, at least, a release with a new cover), and it might be more into the space race and cold war than it was.

 

Hmm.... Better Dead Than Red HERO anyone?

 

If I restart it as a PBEM game the time-frame change would actually put the heroes in an interesting position. Most of them are patriots in the "american values and ideals" mold and not the "super-patriot" mold. They would likely fight the communists while having a real disdain for McCarthy, and one or two of them might come under fire from the HUAC for not being big enough flag-wavers. Also, the project director is Jewish. How would he react to having to work with Reinhardt Gellen in Europe?

[FenrisUlf]

Re: The 1950's

 

GURPS Atomic Horror does a pretty decent job of covering American society in the 50's, with lists of celebrities, cars of the time, entertainment, etc.

 

Kind of surprising no one else ever wrote a sourcebook covering the glory days of atomic monsters.

[Southern Cross]

Re: The 1950's

 

The problem with that is copyright-every copyright holder would have to give permission.It's the same reason the original Not Of This Earth has never been released on video or DVD-no one is sure who owns the rights to it.

[Redmenace]

Re: The 1950's

 

Definetly get the second edition. Gurps Espionage and or Gurps Russia might help as well but I haven't read either so can only guess.

 

Let me also reccomend the DC Elseworlds collection of the Unholy three. It Stars Batman, Hourman, Superman and others as OSS agents in a late WW2 setting and in a Cold War setting for the second miniseries. The latter might be good inspiration. I believe they;ve been complied into one collection.

 

 

I don't know how serious your planning the setting to be but Omlevex had a very useful chapter on playing in the silver age which included the comics code.

[carnifex]

Re: The 1950's

 

Hi there!

I work presently on a hero system version of the GURPS Gernsback world. Its very pulpish and very retro future in a way of the 50. I have begin to write several pdf documents who describes templates, weapons, vehicles and countries. I hae send this light appetizer.

 

Description

 

Gernsback's scientific progress seems to differ from our world in several important ways. Though Gernsback is only at local year 1969, in many ways they are far more advanced than our world. A thriving lunar base is home to Governor Robert Kennedy. The chief point of historical divergence occurred in the late 1890s, when Nikolai Tesla developed broadcast electrical power well in advance even of the things that needed electrical power. This, combined with several other related scientific leaps forward created worldwide prosperity and prevented the standard era of early twentieth century war. Russia has been almost completely rebuilt since the violent and unsuccessful communist uprising of 1951. Personal jetpacks have reached the market (though costly and dangerous), and air cars are commonplace (even more dangerous for your health and your wallet). Food pills have wiped out starvation in all but the most isolated areas of the world. However, speaking socially, Gernsback suffers from parochialism and hypocrisy. Women remain in many ways unliberated, and treatment of minorities by America and Europe remains poor. If you are rich (millionaires) a government employees (president, minister of economy, etc) or are a brilliant scientists, you have probably an aircar a visiophone and a robot servitor but if you are an ordinaries Joe you have only the technology of the era 1969. Gernsback is a shining example of everything optimism can achieve and everything it can miss in a blind spot.

 

Points of Interest

 

New York City, nicknamed "Technopolis", is home to the World Science Council and the greatest city on the face of the earth. The Big Apple is without question the center of the world’s scientific, financial and political power.

Gernsback is a good example of a world where the "places" and "people" of the world follow somewhat that of our world, with small but important diversions. You could use a map of 1969 USA to travel through Gernsback without much in the way of problems - a highway that was only a two-laner on California might be a sixteen-lane super freeway on Gernsback, but landmarks are quite different. (The four faces on Mount Rushmore are of Tesla, Edison, Einstein and Mendeleyev, for example.)

 

 

 

 

Big Four Influence

Because of Gernsback's wild speed of scientific progress and his numerous masterminds, mad scientist and would be world conqueror, it is considered highly dangerous for its inhabitants. Only the vigilance of the INTERPOL the beat cop of the League of Nation maintains the Pax Sapienta (Wise Peace). It is completely unknown to the general public how numerous dastardly plots have been thwarted by this international agency to save the world economic and political stability. Only the cooperation of the Big Four (the United States, the German Republic, the British & Japanese empire) inside the League of Nations and his support of the politic of the World Scientific Council has permit to create the first real world police force. Quickly Gernsback could develop a World Government if unfortunately the Japanese Empire has not the ambition to become it by himself. All of these things make the life of Gernsback citizen very difficult and very easy at the same times.

The Big Four have tried as much as they can to wipe out of Gernsback the last remains of the URSS ideology, the Comintern (the international communist) political group who has become the biggest terrorist organisation in the world. Molotov and Ceausescu cleverly sow chaos and corruption in the European social tissues. Uncle Ho and Mao Dze-Dong are the cause of many big headaches for the Japanese Empire has Che Guevara and Fidel Castro for the United States in South America. The mysterious first secretary is totally unknown. For the time ahead the effort of the INTERPOL has been powerless to identify him.

INTERPOL have numerous subdivision, each of them specialized for fighting a type of crime, drug trafficking, prostitution and gunrunning. The strangest of it is the ABISS (Administrative Bureau of Investigation for the Super-criminal and Supernatural). This bureau is a strange mix of the UNCLE and the X-files. At his beginning it was only an administrative bureau charged of debugging supernatural event (haunted home, UFO and Yeti sighting) and devising new method to detect and fighting high-tech crime like air pirating and industrial spying.When in the 50 the now famous archaeologist Daniel “Tombstone†Dalton discover the city of Troy the scientific community was forced to admit that the old legend and myth was not in totality a bunch of lies and total non-sense. The inquiry of the ABISS proved the veracity of the yeti, UFO sighting and numerous supernatural events. The result was in totality published at the exception of the proof of the supernatural events; the World Scientific Council has to order Interpol to establish a cover-up of the occult world. A major fraction of the occidental population was now liberated of the old superstition. Only a minority of them believed in them and they were with minor exception a really instable and dangerous lot. Publish proof of their belief will only contribute to throw in to chaos an orderly society. At least the UFO contrarily to phantom and vampire are explicable scientifically and the help of witness will help the authority to understand this phenomenon.