USAFguy Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 I am so impressed with the History Channel. They had a show on adventuring archeologists. One guy (Morley? Marlow?) was an archeologist in Mexico/Yucatan peninsula who volunteered his services to the country during WWI. Apparently, the Germans were considering putting U-boat resupply posts on the coast of Mexico. Over the course of a year or so, he was able to allay US fears...none of the sites were really suitable. Apparently, he was charming (drinking buddies with the husbands of the women he seduced), able to associate with governors and laborers, and had a super capacity to imbibe tequila. They had other stories about the british archeologist who helped organize resistance to the Nazis (WWII) in Crete. GREAT source for inspiration. Best regards, Kofi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapier Posted May 6, 2006 Report Share Posted May 6, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds I am so impressed with the History Channel. They had a show on adventuring archeologists. One guy (Morley? Marlow?) was an archeologist in Mexico/Yucatan peninsula who volunteered his services to the country during WWI. Apparently, the Germans were considering putting U-boat resupply posts on the coast of Mexico. Over the course of a year or so, he was able to allay US fears...none of the sites were really suitable. Apparently, he was charming (drinking buddies with the husbands of the women he seduced), able to associate with governors and laborers, and had a super capacity to imbibe tequila. They had other stories about the british archeologist who helped organize resistance to the Nazis (WWII) in Crete. GREAT source for inspiration. My players are always surprised at the plot seeds I come up with. I get them from magazines, books, movies, tv shows...darn near anywhere. Sometimes real life has provided enough adventure that even fantasy seems tame by comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRavenIs Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds Plus the History Channel is about one of the things I love to learn about.....HISTORY!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds My players are always surprised at the plot seeds I come up with. I get them from magazines' date=' books, movies, tv shows...darn near anywhere. Sometimes real life has provided enough adventure that even fantasy seems tame by comparison.[/quote'] "Fiction must be probable. Real life is not thus contrained." -- Mark Twain (quote and attribution from memory, either/both may be incorrect.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werehawk Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds My main source for plot seeds from the History Channel is the series "UFO Files". "Deep Sea Detectives" is another. "Digging for the Truth" is probably the most Pulp Hero oriented. All these shows are on Mondays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning91 Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds "Fiction must be probable. Real life is not thus contrained." -- Mark Twain (quote and attribution from memory' date=' either/both may be incorrect.)[/quote'] Per www.twainquotes.com: Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't. -- Mark Twain - Following the Equator, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roter Baron Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds Plus the History Channel is about one of the things I love to learn about.....HISTORY!!!!! A little of topic - but I have anly watched History Channel a couple of times when I was in the US: It was basically all about wars! With a heavy stress on World War Two, followed by the Vietnam War and WW1. I found it rather boring and a little bit disturbing that the reduce history (I'm a history teacher) to "men go to war, fight, do heroic deeds" - REPEAT. Some details are surely interesting, but the whole package is very much reduced to war history, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds A little of topic - but I have anly watched History Channel a couple of times when I was in the US: It was basically all about wars! With a heavy stress on World War Two, followed by the Vietnam War and WW1. I found it rather boring and a little bit disturbing that the reduce history (I'm a history teacher) to "men go to war, fight, do heroic deeds" - REPEAT. Some details are surely interesting, but the whole package is very much reduced to war history, IMO. I can only surmise you caught The History Channel during one of their periodic (often weekly) focuses on a topic - war, in this case. They cover many things besides war, believe me. But for their target audience, I suspect war material is fairly highly rated. There's an old axiom that states that "History is all war except random periods of peace." Where would the history of Germany be without the centuries-long Germano-Roman conflicts, the Teutonic Knights, the Thirty Years War, the Napoleonic Wars, Prussian militarism, the Franco-Prussian War, World War One, World War Two? It'd be a discussion of philosophers, physicists, and composers. (And no, I'm not singling Germany out. I'm just pointing out that much of what we commonly call history is composed of armed conflict. Wars are as interesting as they are horrible.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds A little of topic - but I have anly watched History Channel a couple of times when I was in the US: It was basically all about wars! With a heavy stress on World War Two, followed by the Vietnam War and WW1. At one point, we joked that the History Channel was the "All Hitler Channel" due to the preponderance of WWII shows, while A&E was the "Arms and Entertainment" network due to the sheer volume of military-related programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roter Baron Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds I can only surmise you caught The History Channel during one of their periodic (often weekly) focuses on a topic - war, in this case. They cover many things besides war, believe me. But for their target audience, I suspect war material is fairly highly rated. There's an old axiom that states that "History is all war except random periods of peace." Where would the history of Germany be without the centuries-long Germano-Roman conflicts, the Teutonic Knights, the Thirty Years War, the Napoleonic Wars, Prussian militarism, the Franco-Prussian War, World War One, World War Two? It'd be a discussion of philosophers, physicists, and composers. (And no, I'm not singling Germany out. I'm just pointing out that much of what we commonly call history is composed of armed conflict. Wars are as interesting as they are horrible.) Yes, wars are crucila points in history, but if you only concentrate on the carnage you only leran that "people killed people". I had the impression that the concentrate too much on the fighting and gave almost nothing on the background - the Why the peple fought. And I like to learn more about the cultures of bygone ages, the lives of the people. I don't say: Don't tell me about wars. But from what I knwo about American historiography there is a tendency to "personalize" history to what that general, king, etc. did. German historiography is more about social aspects, not so much about great men doing great things. And US history stresses wars much more than German history does - as judged from my visist to bookstores in Pittsburgh. You can have detailed descriptions of battles of the Civil War, almost to the point of which Union soldier fired how many bullets from which position on Confederated Soldier So-And-So. And that seems to be very popular, if you see how many books like that are out there. Books like this wouldn't sell in Germany. But I'm digressing the thread again. I do think that you can get great plot ideas from History Channel. But I still think that it's more like a Grandpa's Old Stories about the War Channel. And it seems that my limited insight in the matter is not so far from the truth (see Susano's post). But hey, if anyone likes the program - don't take my word against it. I don't watch much TV in Germany either - it's all rather boring to me ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds And US history stresses wars much more than German history doesI suppose that might have something to do with the fact we win most of our wars... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USAFguy Posted May 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds Imminent wars and on-going wars often provide the backdrop for many plot seeds. One of the other fascinating episodes was on the Ahnenerbe, a SS group of scientists/socialogists/archeologists that were the real-life group that went to Nepal (Indiana Jones movie) along with MANY other areas. Good stuff for a Pulp setting. Best regards, Kofi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 7, 2006 Report Share Posted May 7, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds "Digging for the Truth" is probably the most Pulp Hero oriented. I enjoy DftT immensely, and it definitely is great for PH inspiration. Josh Bernstein has an awesome job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted May 8, 2006 Report Share Posted May 8, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds I suppose that might have something to do with the fact we win most of our wars... Give America another 1700 years of history as a coherent entity, and we'll see how the track record goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted May 9, 2006 Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds I enjoy DftT immensely' date=' and it definitely is great for PH inspiration. Josh Bernstein has an awesome job. [/quote'] Check your local PBS listing for "History Detectives." Another great show, with a twist, on history and historical investigations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted May 9, 2006 Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds Per www.twainquotes.com: Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't. -- Mark Twain - Following the Equator, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar I stand --- well, sit --- corrected. Thank you for getting the exact quote. Rep on the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted May 9, 2006 Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds I'm not a big reader of biographies or historical books, so the History Channel is virtually my only source of History. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barghest Posted May 9, 2006 Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds Al Hazred. Germany has a much shorter history than the United States does. Germany only came into existence in 1871. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted May 9, 2006 Report Share Posted May 9, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds I enjoy DftT immensely' date=' and it definitely is great for PH inspiration. Josh Bernstein has an awesome job. [/quote'] I liked the one where he was looking into the myth of the Holy Grail and journeyed to the Wewelsburg. As he said, he felt slightly unsettled there... considering his ancestry, no wonder. The one where he researched Fawcett and his lost Amazonian cities was also cool, and a _very_ good plot seed for Pulp heroes. Real lost civilizations in the Amazon and fierce headhunting Jivaros (or is it the Yanomamo?). Heck, add in the Kothoga and their magic monster-making fungus if you want! (See Preston & Child's The Relic for the reference.) The episode where he wound up hobnobbing with tempermental Badawin nomads in the Yemen while hunting down the Queen of Sheba was also good. Say, Steve, did you base your explorer in Champions Universe on Josh Bernstein? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds Say, Steve, did you base your explorer in Champions Universe on Josh Bernstein? Which character are you referring to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds I seem to recall his name as 'Aric Roston Rhodes'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds Oh, him, sure. No, when we wrote CU I'd never even heard of Josh Bernstein -- I don't even think his show existed then (or if it did I never heard of it). The primary (though by no means only) inspiration for ARR was Mordecai Chalk from Astro City. I'm kind of sorry I wasted him on a sidebar, though; I kind of like him and wouldn't mind doing something more with him sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirViss Posted May 10, 2006 Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 Re: HISTORY CHANNEL ROCKS for plot seeds ... I'm kind of sorry I wasted him on a sidebar, though; I kind of like him and wouldn't mind doing something more with him sometime. Well, that is why you started the Hero Plus Adventures! You could always use him in a more modern day Pulp adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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