starblaze Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Well I have been checking out some write-ups of both the Shadow and The Spider as well as some of their allies and villians. But I haven't been able to find anything on Doctor Clark Savage. I realize it may be difficult since he is mister can do everything but cook, but I cannot imagine that the possessors of such mighty Hero-Fu could come up with something by now. So any takers? Do you have the moxie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? I think I started a Doc Savage writeup at one point, when I realized my local library had a complete run of the reprints. Unfortunately, I've moved since then. As I recall, it started to get a little hairy after 1000 points - most of it stuff. If I had to do it again, I'd definitely give him a hefty Equipment allowance, as per Dark Champions. It's appropriate, really - he uses a lot of stuff once and then never again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Darren Watts did a write-up for his Pulp All-Stars con game two years ago. IIRC, it came to just under 900 points. Keith "Man of Bronze" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McCoy Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Darren Watts did a write-up for his Pulp All-Stars con game two years ago. IIRC, it came to just under 900 points. Keith "Man of Bronze" Curtis Under 900? I'm impressed! I would have thought followers, bases, and vehicles alone would have topped a thousand. 25 in all primary stats, every Talent in the book, and don't get me started on that gadget pool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazhoul Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? I've done a couple of different write-ups of Doc in the past. On at least one of them I used some house rules that Albert Deschene had posted on his website. In addition to Universal Translator his group had Universal Scientist, Universal Scholar, etc. For 20 pts. the universal skills would give the character an 11- roll in any science skill, knowledge skill, etc. A +1 to the roll could be purchased for an extra 5 pts. I just bought Doc every "universal" skill and saved myself some time and trouble. I'll see if I have any of the write-ups and try to post the best one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawksmoor Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? I've done a couple of different write-ups of Doc in the past. On at least one of them I used some house rules that Albert Deschene had posted on his website. In addition to Universal Translator his group had Universal Scientist, Universal Scholar, etc. For 20 pts. the universal skills would give the character an 11- roll in any science skill, knowledge skill, etc. A +1 to the roll could be purchased for an extra 5 pts. I just bought Doc every "universal" skill and saved myself some time and trouble. I'll see if I have any of the write-ups and try to post the best one. The GGU uses Universals to. One thing to be aware though, you lose the complementary skill bonus. I'd give Doc lots of skills in the broad sense (Physics Chemistry Ancient World, Current Events) and let the Universal XXXXX take over the complementary roll or the obscure (I'll only need this skill 1-2 in the whole campaign. Hawksmoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? So, are we talking about Lester Dent's Doc Savage or Phil Farmer's Doc Savage? Our campaign is shamelessly drawing from PJF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starblaze Posted July 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? So, are we talking about Lester Dent's Doc Savage or Phil Farmer's Doc Savage? Our campaign is shamelessly drawing from PJF. Probably Kenneth Robeson's version (that was Lester Dent's penname btw). I am not really familiar with Farmer's version. But I am cool with anyone's preference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted July 21, 2005 Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? So, are we talking about Lester Dent's Doc Savage or Phil Farmer's Doc Savage? Our campaign is shamelessly drawing from PJF. Are you doing the whole Wold-Newton thing, or just the Doc Savage books? PJF's Doc Caliban, the Jungle Lord, and the Nine stories figure into most of my campaigns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starblaze Posted July 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Are you doing the whole Wold-Newton thing, or just the Doc Savage books? PJF's Doc Caliban, the Jungle Lord, and the Nine stories figure into most of my campaigns. The only Doc Savage I know is from the novels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted July 23, 2005 Report Share Posted July 23, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? The only Doc Savage I know is from the novels. Lester Dent's novels are classics. I'm also a fan of Philip Jose Farmer's Doc Savage novels, and his Doc Savage tribute characters, Doc Caliban and Greatheart Silver. The Wold-Newton universe idea ran through much of Farmer's work, placing heroes from Sherlock Holmes all the way up to the 1940s Batman in the same world, and tying in much else as well. It's a great story setting, an extension of a similar conceit that ran through some Victorian Fantastique and Pulp novels. You can find multiple Wold-Newton web sites with a quick google. One good place to start (if you're interested): http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Pulp.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted July 25, 2005 Report Share Posted July 25, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Are you doing the whole Wold-Newton thing, or just the Doc Savage books? PJF's Doc Caliban, the Jungle Lord, and the Nine stories figure into most of my campaigns. Our campaign is set in 1905 and thus chocked full the PJF characters. We seem to be heading for adoption of the whole "family" as real. I had forgotten that Harry Flashman, for example, was one of the relatives of Tarzan, Doc Savage, Fu Manchu, etc. With multiple GMs, this particular site is becoming a primary resource. http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Pulp2.htm Edit: Duh, scooped by Oddhat.(Good job, that.) Read the whole thread first, Mentor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred_Death Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Our campaign is set in 1905 and thus chocked full the PJF characters...... Erm, I hope you don't have your PCs adopt the culinary peculiarities of Doc Caliban and Lord Grandrith, or for that matter some of their more obscure methods for killing flies. ROFL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? If anyone hasn't seen it yet, take a look at the last of the "Similar Threads" at the bottom of this page. Some very good suggestions and discussion there. (For once the board software actually came up with a Similar Thread that's similar.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Erm, I hope you don't have your PCs adopt the culinary peculiarities of Doc Caliban and Lord Grandrith, or for that matter some of their more obscure methods for killing flies. ROFL A ramble: Caliban and Grandith are the most fan-wanked (*ahem*) characters in the Wold-Newton chronologies. In the three books where he used them (or five if you count each novella as a separate book), Farmer intended them as the "real" people on whom the fictional characters of Doc Savage and Tarzan were based. Good stories all, and they introduced us to The Nine, one of the best bits in the Wold-Newton mythos. Then, in some of his Tarzan novels, Farmer used the Nine again. If the Nine were the same in both series, fans had to explain how Savage, Tarzan, Caliban, and Grandith had all co-existed in the same places and times without being aware of one-another. The answer they came up with involved, well, lots of brainwashing. It emasculated all four characters. Er...so to speak. Myself, I just say that Granith and Caliban were always the "real" characters in my take on the Wold-Newtonverse and leave it at that. If Farmer can ignore his own continuity for the sake of a story, so can I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Erm, I hope you don't have your PCs adopt the culinary peculiarities of Doc Caliban and Lord Grandrith, or for that matter some of their more obscure methods for killing flies. ROFL Thankfully, no. Those, um, peculiarities were from the Mad Goblin, IIRC so I will attribute them to exageration for the purposes of our campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Thankfully' date=' no. Those, um, peculiarities were from the Mad Goblin, IIRC so I will attribute them to exageration for the purposes of our campaign.[/quote'] A Feast Unknown, unless there was more stuff in the Mad Goblin I can't remember. And I don't use that ritual either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale A. Ward Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Erm, I hope you don't have your PCs adopt the culinary peculiarities of Doc Caliban and Lord Grandrith, or for that matter some of their more obscure methods for killing flies. ROFL Since my only acquaintance with Farmer's Wold/Newton works comes from my reading "Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life", I would sincerely appreciate it if someone could PM me with the punchline to this in-joke. And, maybe some "Suggested Reading" lists, as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Since my only acquaintance with Farmer's Wold/Newton works comes from my reading "Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life", I would sincerely appreciate it if someone could PM me with the punchline to this in-joke. And, maybe some "Suggested Reading" lists, as well... Starting with "A Feast Unknown", Farmer did a series of pulp style adventure novels revolving around the "real" Doc Savage and Tarzan. They were very good books. They were also filled with explicit sex and, well, a little cannibalism. Farmer did not worry much about continuity between the Caliban / Grandrith books and the rest of his Wold-Newton books, but fans do. Because, well, we're strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? I seem to recall it in a double volume entitled The Mad Goblin/Lord of the Trees. Is that not the same source? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Since my only acquaintance with Farmer's Wold/Newton works comes from my reading "Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life", I would sincerely appreciate it if someone could PM me with the punchline to this in-joke. And, maybe some "Suggested Reading" lists, as well... If you follow the link that Oddhat (and I redundantly;) ) posted earlier, the list of resources is huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? I seem to recall it in a double volume entitled The Mad Goblin/Lord of the Trees. Is that not the same source? That's the second (or second and third, depending on how you look at it) volume of their adventures, after they decide to defy the Nine. I don't remember any strange dietary stuff in there, but I am often wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted July 27, 2005 Report Share Posted July 27, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? That's the second (or second and third' date=' depending on how you look at it) volume of their adventures, after they decide to defy the Nine. I don't remember any strange dietary stuff in there, but I am often wrong.[/quote'] D*mn, now I need to find the "A Feast Unknown", which no doubt has been out of print for decades. Thanks a lot, Oddhat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted July 28, 2005 Report Share Posted July 28, 2005 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? Writing up "Doc Savage". Hmm no problem if you aren't concerned with point costs. Just put ALL characteristics at human maximum, give him every skill in the book, throw in scads of wealth, the most useful bunch of followers imagineable and all the contacts that you can dream up ! Simple really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corwyn Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Re: Doc Savage Write-up? On a related note, any write-ups on his men? I'll be playing in a one shot and a few of us thought since there are 5 of us it was a natural. if there aren't any, how about some suggestions on languages known and obscure skills and disads. It's been a while since I've read any Doc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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