What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

[Mentor]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

As many in our group have always liked the turn of the century era for story lines; Holmes and Dracula, Teddy Roosevelt vs. Fu Manchu, Tarzan takes on the Mole people, we decided to use 1905 as the basis of our campaign.

 

The Pulp Hero source book will still be invaluable, but we are just doing a lot of our own research which we did for our 1935 pulp hero game in the 1980s.

[Fazhoul]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Yeah, one more vote for an SF Pulp setting.

 

Pulp Hero: 2130-2139 as it were.

 

Art Deco spaceships. Earth, Mars and Venus are all spacefaring empires. (Mars and Venus are not human, obviously.) Smugglers ply the asteroid belt. The moons Jupiter and Saturn are full of primative, barbaric races barely capable of spaceflight, and there are Things from Beyond further out on Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. (Remember Pluto is probably a captured planet from outside solar system, something reflected in it's eccentric orbit.)

 

* * *

 

If you can swing it, Thrilling Places sounds more useful that Madmen and Masterminds. I dunno what's in PH, but TP sounds like a better compliment for a new release.

 

And a sub-genre book on things that didn't make it into PH might be cool too. 1920's prohibition, 1940's noir, 1920's Cthulhu by gaslight, WWII pulp, etc. If you can come up with five concepts and devote a long chapter to each, people might buy the whole book just to get one or two things they are interested in. Maybe put this in a PDF first and see how it does.

You had me at "Art Deco Spaceships".

 

If the legal and financial hurdles weren't such a problem I would love to see a Doc Savage Sourcebook, a Shadow Sourcebook, an Avenger Sourcebook, a... well, I think you get the idea. From what I've read and heard though, the owners of the copyrights on these characters are difficult to deal with and want an exhorbitant amount of money to do anything with the characters.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

So -- with all that in mind -- what sort of Pulp Hero supplements would interest you?

For starters' date=' I'll second the following comments:

Well to start off with I'd say definately make Lands of Mystery a go. The original was one of the best supplements HERO has ever put out and I'm sure that Aaron has come up with more stuff to cram into the new edition.

 

In addition I'd really like to see a setting book, either the Hudson City 1935 you were talking about a while back or something else.

I'd like to add that the Hudson City book could easily include pulp-era characters and background stories based on public-domain characters, as suggested by someone else.

Pulp Amok would certainly work for me' date=' taking the stereotypical Pulp scenarios and set pieces and twisting them the way [b']Villainy Amok[/b] did for Champions. Since Pulp is primarily made up of these sorts of things it would be nice to see some unusual variations on the standard themes.

 

And certainly anything new by Aaron Allston. Beg if you have to.

Just to drive home the point, I would definitely use Pulp Amok for my Star Hero game -- Villainy Amok, not so much (though a Dark Champions version of the book would be even more useful for my particular campaign than a Star Hero one -- so go figure).

 

A book nobody else has mentioned would be The Prehistoric Bestiary. Whether to go with it or not would depend, of course, on how well the Asian and Celtic ones work out, but the dinosaurs and other prehistoric critters in The Hero System Bestiary barely touch the tip of the tip of the iceberg. This would be just the thing for those "Lost World" adventures, with plenty of usability for most other genres as well. It could even include an Appendix for "Caveman Hero." (Also, FWIW this is the one Pulp book that I most would want to write myself, if you'd let me. [please please please])

[Captain Obvious]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Dinosaurs are also good for populating Pulp Sci-Fi planets.

 

So here's the part where the spinning newspapers come up, and we read:

 

"Slavering Fan-Boys Demand Rocketships, Dinosaurs"

 

"Defenders of Justice Quiet on Estimated Release Dates"

 

"Captain Obvious Uses Yet Another Cliche"

[fredrik_nilsson]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

You had me at "Art Deco Spaceships".

 

If the legal and financial hurdles weren't such a problem I would love to see a Doc Savage Sourcebook, a Shadow Sourcebook, an Avenger Sourcebook, a... well, I think you get the idea. From what I've read and heard though, the owners of the copyrights on these characters are difficult to deal with and want an exhorbitant amount of money to do anything with the characters.

Art Deco Spaceships rock!

 

The "whatever" Sourcebooks should be that impossible. Many of there licenses should have ended by now. Besides, the idea has alreay been mentioned earlier in the thread.

[Beetle]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

I'll go along with the requests for prehistoric/hollow earth type stuff, but I can sum it up in two words:

 

Sleestak Hero!

[fredrik_nilsson]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

A book nobody else has mentioned would be The Prehistoric Bestiary. Whether to go with it or not would depend' date=' of course, on how well the Asian and Celtic ones work out, but the dinosaurs and other prehistoric critters in [i']The Hero System Bestiary[/i] barely touch the tip of the tip of the iceberg. This would be just the thing for those "Lost World" adventures, with plenty of usability for most other genres as well. It could even include an Appendix for "Caveman Hero." (Also, FWIW this is the one Pulp book that I most would want to write myself, if you'd let me. [please please please])

Steve wrote the following earlier in the thread:

 

TP will remain confined to Earth, though obviously it's going to include some places that don't actually exist on the real Earth (sadly... we really need an island full of dinosaurs!).

 

It's not that I don't want a pre-historic bestiary, I just think it might be better to write it less pulpish. I would buy the book as you describe it, but I think it might be of more general use if it were a cross-genre book.

[Curufea]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Hmm, so we should expect to see Mu, Leng, Shangri-La and Atlantis as well as the Plateau of the Lost World

I'm also wondering if time travel will be involved - I can definitely see a Morloc invasion being a nice Pulp adventure.

[Steve Long]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

There will be no time travel in Thrilling Places, except insofar as this wondrous book transports you via your imagination to days past and places fantastic.

[TheImperialKhan]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

You know, Steve, I'm getting the impression that, like Aaron 20 years ago, you're really enthusiastic about the Pulps and are really hoping that this will go big. Not just because of the financial considerations but also because you have a lot of ideas for supplements and sourcebooks that you really want to bring out.

 

This thread is mainly to help you decide what to bring out first.

 

So...

 

 

Did I make my Deduction roll or blow it?

[Steve Long]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Yes and no. Yes, I have a great deal of enthusiasm and hope PH will do well enough to support a long line of strong supplements. But since we've already announced the books we're doing for the next 18 months or so, I'm not looking to re-arrange the schedule or anything like that. I'm just genuinely interested in what people might want to see. Usually in threads like this I get a useful idea or three, and it's a fun topic to discuss.

 

As always, though, ultimately to some degree it comes down to sales -- so if you want to see lots of PH supplements, be sure to buy PH itself and whatever else we concoct! I like Science Fiction, too, but SH supplements don't sell well enough for us to do very many of them. I'm hoping the Pulp Hero line won't suffer the same fate. It's common "wisdom" among some parts of the gaming industry that Pulp games can't succeed, and I'm counting on Hero fans to help us prove that particular chestnut wrong.

[TheImperialKhan]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Well you know I'll do my part.

 

I didn't mean that you would re-arrange the shedule through 2006 btw. I meant that you'll know what to put on the schedule for 2007.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Steve wrote the following earlier in the thread:

 

TP will remain confined to Earth, though obviously it's going to include some places that don't actually exist on the real Earth (sadly... we really need an island full of dinosaurs!).

 

It's not that I don't want a pre-historic bestiary, I just think it might be better to write it less pulpish. I would buy the book as you describe it, but I think it might be of more general use if it were a cross-genre book.

My intent would be that, like the current general bestiary and the upcoming Asian and Celtic ones, it would be a "general HERO System" product. I, too, would strongly prefer it as a "genre-neutral" product (other than the "Caveman Hero" appendix I mentioned). I brought it up here mainly because its most likely use would be in a Pulp Hero context. It definitely would be also appropriate for Champions, possibly for Fantasy Primeval, and for certain Star Hero games, among others.

[fredrik_nilsson]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

My intent would be that' date=' like the current general bestiary and the upcoming Asian and Celtic ones, it would be a "general HERO System" product. I, too, would strongly prefer it as a "genre-neutral" product (other than the "Caveman Hero" appendix I mentioned). I brought it up here mainly because its most likely use would be in a [i']Pulp Hero[/i] context. It definitely would be also appropriate for Champions, possibly for Fantasy Primeval, and for certain Star Hero games, among others.

I guessed so, but I wanted to double-check.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

I have an idea for a possible book. However, I readily acknowledge that it might only be feasible/desirable if the Pulp HERO line does fairly well, but not too well. (How's that for a weird intro?)

 

If the Pulp HERO line already slated is doing quite well, then it could probably support sub-genre books (Pulp SF, Pulp Horror, etc.) and setting/campaign books for them. In the unfortunate event that the Pulp HERO line already slated doesn't do well at all, then adding any books beyond those already planned might be impractical.

 

But if it does "in-the-middle" well, (well enough to justify a little more support, but not a lot more), then I'd love to see a good sized (256+) book with several compact setting/campaign frameworks, covering different Pulp sub-genres.

 

For example, If the line isn't selling gangbusters, it might not be practical to publish a setting book aimed at Globetrotting Adventurers Seeking The Strange And Wonderful, and a setting book aimed at Ray-Gun Sci-Fi, and a setting book aimed at Things-Man-Was-Not-Meant-To-Know Horror, and a setting book aimed at Mob Ganglands And Crimebusters, and a setting book aimed at Monsters, Maidens, And Mad Scientists, and a setting book aimed at Spy-Vs-Spy Intrigue, and a setting book aimed at Chandleresque Gumshoe Whodunnits, and so on and so on. Some of these overlap enough to be covered in a single setting book, of course. But some (say, Ray-Gun Sci-Fi, TMWNMTK Horror, and Mob Ganglands & Crimebusters) really don't.

 

So if it should happen that it doesn't look like the line will support campaign materials for several different sub-genre setting books, maybe a single combined book could include several, more compact settings. It wouldn't be able to provide the Pulp GM with an out-of-the-box campaign solution for every Pulp genre, but it could provide useful campaign "cores" for several Pulp genres, upon which the enterprising GM could build more easily than starting from absolute scratch.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Well, yeah, Derek... but what do you think of what's been suggested so far?

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Well' date=' yeah, Derek... but what do you think of what's been suggested so far? [/quote']Just answering the original question.

[Old Man]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Pulp Battlegrounds (really just another excuse to do another battlegrounds book):

 

King Solomon's Mines

The Sarcophagus Room Deep Beneath the Sphinx

A High, Rocky Cliff with a Waterfall

A Remote Tibetan Monastery

A Remote Tibetan Tavern

A Seedy Bar in Hudson City

The Hudson City Docks

The Steps of City Hall

Hudson City Rooftops

Evil Ming's Sinister Death Ray Control Room

...

[Steve Long]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Evil Ming's Sinister Death Ray Control Room

 

Come now! This is a gross mischaracterization! Poor Ming may be grumpy at times, and perhaps misunderstood, but surely "Evil" goes too far.

 

And we don't like to think of his Death Ray as "Sinister." We prefer the more accurate term "Practical."

 

 

[Curufea]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

I'm wondering if screen captures of base layouts from Evil Genius might suffice

(one of my favourite games)

[Sketchpad]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Come now! This is a gross mischaracterization! Poor Ming may be grumpy at times, and perhaps misunderstood, but surely "Evil" goes too far.

 

And we don't like to think of his Death Ray as "Sinister." We prefer the more accurate term "Practical."

 

 

Steve ... I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything at the time ... I would've lost it!

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

I'd love to see a good sized (256+) book with several compact setting/campaign frameworks' date=' covering different Pulp sub-genres.[/quote'](Yeah, I know quoting myself is weird. So sue me. )

 

After reading about the Cool Stuff Steve has in mind as stated in the Dime Hero Adventures thread, I just wanted to note that the kind of thing he's describing for Aetherial Earth is exactly the sort of "campaign nugget" I had in mind for collecting in a multiple-sub-genres setting book. Maybe if the Aetherial Earth PDF is well-received, and if other "mini-campaigns" are done and also well-received, it might be feasible to gather them up (possibly expanding them slightly) and publish them in a collected "Worlds Of Pulp Hero" of some such thing...

[Steve Long]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Certainly if the DHAs do well enough, maybe we'll collect 'em up and print 'em in book form. Heck, maybe we'll print 'em on newsprint to keep the price low and simulate that Pulp feel.

 

While I don't have any other ideas for mini-settings like Solar Smith in mind at present, I'll let the concept rattle around in my noggin for a while. Maybe something will pop out.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

Certainly if the DHAs do well enough, maybe we'll collect 'em up and print 'em in book form. Heck, maybe we'll print 'em on newsprint to keep the price low and simulate that Pulp feel.

 

YES!

[Curufea]

Re: What Other Pulp Hero Books Would You Like To See?

 

And preferrably using few colours too