Idea seed: exploring zoologists

[Basil]

OK, in the real world, in 2005, all the major land animals have been found, right? Oh, there's undiscovered bugs in plenty, and some amphibians, maybe some snakes, perhaps a few rodents, but all the major things, like, say, carnivores, have been discovered, right?

 

Wrong!

 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17485571%5E30417,00.html

In the depths of Borneo a new carnivore has been found! And they still don't know what its face looks like!

 

Oh, and the last time a carnivore was discovered in the region? 1930!

 

I'm sure any GM worth his dice can use this as a springboard for a campaign/story-arc/scenario. Do your intrepid explorers find this critter in the Pulp era? Do they find something else? Something, shall we say, larger?

 

Or are they exploring somewhere else remote, and find a brand new mammal/carnivore? And how big is it?

 

Indeed, this new discovery add a patina of plausability to crypto-zoology. And crypto-zoology is a fun subject for Pulp campaigns.

[st barbara]

Re: Idea seed: exploring zoologists

 

As I said on the NGD board that talked about this. Guess where the PCs in my Pul;p Hero game are headed for next saturday !

[Susano]

Re: Idea seed: exploring zoologists

 

I specifically state that several entries in the AB are perfect as goals for pulp adventures.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Idea seed: exploring zoologists

 

And of course, the world of the pulp era was rife with "lost world" regions harboring all manner of exotic and/or extinct species... including humanoids.

 

If you want to really open up the unexplored regions, try running exploring underwater zoologists, aboard a Nautilus-type supersubmarine. Even today we haven't explored a thousandth part of the deep oceans. Almost anything could be down there in a pulp setting, from mermaids to aliens to Atlantis to Godzilla. Heck, almost anything could be down there in real life.

[Susano]

Re: Idea seed: exploring zoologists

 

And of course, the world of the pulp era was rife with "lost world" regions harboring all manner of exotic and/or extinct species... including humanoids.

 

If you want to really open up the unexplored regions, try running exploring underwater zoologists, aboard a Nautilus-type supersubmarine. Even today we haven't explored a thousandth part of the deep oceans. Almost anything could be down there in a pulp setting, from mermaids to aliens to Atlantis to Godzilla. Heck, almost anything could be down there in real life.

 

Case in point? The Colossal Squid, which is even bigger than a Giant Squid!

[Basil]

Re: Idea seed: exploring zoologists

 

I'm glad eveyone's so interested.

 

Yeah, I found the other thread on this after I'd posted. Still, since that was just "wow!" and I posted "wow, this is so Pulpy-good!" I guess this thread isn't redundant.

 

Yeah, Pulp stories are full of "lost worlds" and "un-/under-explored places." The reason I like this article is that it gives verisimilitude to what is too often an over-used, and poorly-used, "bit" from the Pulps. After all, if a cat/fox sized carnivore escaped detection until 2005, it's easier to believe in human-eating (or merely human-endangering) carnivores "unknown to civilization" in 1920-1940.