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Thrilling Places!


Darren Watts

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

Thanks Ghost Angel, but I did not see the "Champions 25th Anniversary" there.

 

I do appreciate it though.

 

Thanks again

 

QM

 

C25 may get special treatment. There's not much of a cover to it though: it's just a plain blue cover that says "Champions 25th Anniversary Edition" in silver foil. Nothing on the back cover.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

I usually see 100 to 150 people viewing the Champions thread' date=' maybe 25 viewing Fantasy Hero, a few less viewing Star Hero. In comparison this Pulp group is almost usually around 5-7 people, about on a par with Dark Champions. That doesn't seem to bode well for this genre in terms of support and interest. [/quote']

I wonder how much of that is simply a factor of those genres having been out for so much longer than PH? Nearly everyone on these boards has played Champions at one time or another, so even if they're not playing in a superhero game currently they have the background to contribute. Same for the other genres; even if people have never played Fantasy Hero per se, they've likely played a fantasy RPG before. Not as many people have played Pulp yet.

 

Also, the PH "setting" isn't nearly as fleshed out as any of the other genre settings, so you don't get the "Takofanes vs. Foxbat - Who Wins?" threads. At the same time, the PH universe bears much more resemblance to our universe, so there's less room for "How does FTL work in your SH game?" threads. It seems a lot more of the threads here seem to be of the "check out this cool resource" variety. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and a lot of them have been very useful. But there's not as much to talk about beyond "Cool link - thanks!" ;)

 

As to the original question, I haven't bought either M&M or TP yet. I will, I will. Soon, I promise. :) But since I'm currently running a superhero game, I've been catching up on Champions books.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

After a second complete read through of TP, it's got more tham Pulp Goodness in there. Since very little is embeded in an actual setting an enterprising GM could take many of the scenario's in there and get them into any campaign.

 

Since a lot of Pulp ideas are meta-genreish some of it fits easily into Dark Champions and even Champions. And a Modern Fantasy Campaign could more than benefit from some of the stuff.

 

Major kudos to Rob for this one. It skyrocketed to my top five favorites.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

I wonder how much of that is simply a factor of those genres having been out for so much longer than PH? Nearly everyone on these boards has played Champions at one time or another, so even if they're not playing in a superhero game currently they have the background to contribute. Same for the other genres; even if people have never played Fantasy Hero per se, they've likely played a fantasy RPG before. Not as many people have played Pulp yet.

 

Also, the PH "setting" isn't nearly as fleshed out as any of the other genre settings, so you don't get the "Takofanes vs. Foxbat - Who Wins?" threads. At the same time, the PH universe bears much more resemblance to our universe, so there's less room for "How does FTL work in your SH game?" threads. It seems a lot more of the threads here seem to be of the "check out this cool resource" variety. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and a lot of them have been very useful. But there's not as much to talk about beyond "Cool link - thanks!" ;)

 

As to the original question, I haven't bought either M&M or TP yet. I will, I will. Soon, I promise. :) But since I'm currently running a superhero game, I've been catching up on Champions books.

 

I hope that the Pulp genre draws more interested players (and more support). I admit I have been surprised to find the large amount of stuff out there in other systems for pulp gaming. There *is* interest in the gaming world, but I'm not sure that HERO is the system than most pulp gamers would choose for this genre.

 

Thrilling Places, though, sounds like it could be a great aid for other systems as well, without much need for conversion. Maybe that should be emphasized in any review. I cannot find TP even mentioned on RPG.now. It does not show up when I look for HERO products. A search with the world "Thrilling" does not bring it up. :(

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

There *is* interest in the gaming world' date=' but I'm not sure that HERO is the system than most pulp gamers would choose for this genre. [/quote']

You may have a point there. I think Hero works quite well for Pulp (tho so far I've only run one-offs and con games, not a real campaign) as long as the GM keeps things moving and doesn't let the combats get bogged down. But I can see where some folks might get the perception is that Hero is too slow and detailed for fast & furious pulp action.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

You may have a point there. I think Hero works quite well for Pulp (tho so far I've only run one-offs and con games' date=' not a real campaign) as long as the GM keeps things moving and doesn't let the combats get bogged down. But I can see where some folks might get the perception is that Hero is too slow and detailed for fast & furious pulp action.[/quote']

 

 

I love the HERO system, and have not played anything else in years. I've always wanted to run a Pulp campaign, and have slipped some pulp-like adventures into my Champions campaign on occasion. But those didn't quite have the feel of the real pulp genre.

 

I finally ran a one-shot session that was totally pulp in terms of characters, story and setting. But in preparing it, I wanted to try to speed things up, so I made some changes to the HERO system (got rid of the SPEED chart and made everyone the same speed, made the lesser minions fall with just one shot of a killing attack, etc.) I found the changes helped me get a much better sense of pulp action and really brought the game to life. It did not at all feel like a low-powered supers game, but had that sense of danger and quick action the pulps are known for. I was really surprised at how losing the Speed chart made for a much better flow for this particular game.

 

Still, there was an inconsistency in the rules that nagged at the back of my mind. I had one set of rules for lesser minions and another for main characters. The more I have thought about it, the more I have felt that the HERO system is probably not my best choice for pulp. I want something less detailed and more spontaneous. I want a simpler combat system with a bit less predictability. Much as I love HERO for Champions, it just doesn't feel right for the freewheeling pulp genre.

 

But I have no players interested in a pulp campaign at this point anyway, so I haven't really pursued a different system. I did download the free Savage Worlds demo rules, and like what I see, though I haven't played it. This definitely seems like a system built with pulp action in mind.

 

And from what I understand, a book like Thrilling Places would still be very useful for such a camapign.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

I admit I have been surprised to find the large amount of stuff out there in other systems for pulp gaming. There *is* interest in the gaming world, but I'm not sure that HERO is the system than most pulp gamers would choose for this genre.

 

I think the reason you see a lot of Pulp support material out there is twofold:

 

1. Like Victorian, Pulp is a genre beloved by game designers... just not by enough customers that any true Pulp game has ever really succeeded.

 

2. Fans of the genre are enthusiastic enough about it to produce support material on their own.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

I think the reason you see a lot of Pulp support material out there is twofold:

 

1. Like Victorian, Pulp is a genre beloved by game designers... just not by enough customers that any true Pulp game has ever really succeeded.

 

2. Fans of the genre are enthusiastic enough about it to produce support material on their own.

 

 

That's pretty much what I had gathered by looking at the stuff available and gauging the interest I've seen on this board ... that is, there is a hard-core group of people who really love the Pulp genre (which apparently includes a number of game designers), but that the pulp genre has just not garnered a really wide audience. My own campaign is kind of a microcosm of this. I really *love* it, but most of my players are lukewarm and would rather play modern day Champions. Most of them have not had firsthand experience of pulp material, but have a concept of it based on films like Indiana Jones.

 

Maybe that's all the more reason to get the word out that Thrilling Places is the kind of book that can be very useful for genres outside of pulp and even outside of the HERO system.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

I ordered Places direct from Hero, and hadn't read most of it, because I'm prepping my Pulp adventure for GenCon SoCal. Just the other day, however, I was leafing through it and found a couple of things that worked perfectly for my adventure - pulling critters and NPCs from two different chapters solved a significant gap in my plot. It's a great book, and something I'm sure I'll find useful even more as time goes on.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

Well' date=' we love Pulp too, and Pulp Hero itself sold pretty darn well. But so far, to be honest, the supplements have been a bit of a disappointment sales-wise (which is a double shame, because Rob did a fabulous job on both.) So be sure to go out and spread the word on how cool these books are, because we'd really love to do more of them! dw[/quote']

 

Please Darren, could you stop writing me mails, leaving messages on my answering machine and knocking on my bedroom window at night? My girlfriend is starting to freak out now.

 

Beside, I bought both Masterminds and Madmen and Thrilling Places last week so you have accomplished your goal I guess.;)

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

Well "Thrilling Places" finally made its way "downunder" and I picked up a copy last night. Lots of useful information for future adventures there. I've already had an expedition set in New Orleans (at least partly) but i'm sure that I can get the players back down in that direction again so as to utilise the "plantation" maps. Hidden cities and lost islands are always handy as are nightclubs and German castles. The one thing that I could have used that isn't in there is a map of a large public library, but I think that my co conspirator (oops referee !) has printed maps of the Vatican library(and the British Museum) off the net for us to use. Well we are playing today and I think that breaking into the British Museum or the British Library could be on the players agenda (Don't you just HATE it when the wrong people get hold of books full of "things man was not meant to know" ?;) )

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

Actually we were supposed to be playing tomorrow (Saturday' date=' local time) but I have had to call the session off on account of two of the players being un available. I hope to play again next month ![/quote']

 

Me too. Ah, well. It gives you and Mike extra oppurtunities to work in additional kinks and revoltin' developments before then. As the Character with only a limited grasp of what is going on this time (has to be one in every scenario), I am enjoying myself immensely.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

Glad to hear it. With Mike's help I am a scenario or so ahead of the game , with a number of ideas jotted down for future adventures. My recent purchase of "Thrilling Places" will enable us to use some generic "maps" of things like villain's lairs,a nightclub,a Southern plantation, German castle,a lost island and an Egyprian style tomb.

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

Didn't even know TP came out. Just picked it up today. Good stuff. Looks nice next to my copies of Pulp Hero and Masterminds & Madmen.

 

I would say that the relative lack of a unified pulp 'setting' hurts it, but really, Star Hero and Fantasy Hero have developed setting material, and they haven't sold that well either. *shrug*

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

The setting is... the 1930s-ish (yeah, there is a bit more of a range). Now, I like (scratch that, love) the idea of a alternate history or a Weird 30s or something like that, but Pulp Hero does have a unified 'setting', the details of which are located in history books and filled out by the GMs and players (and of course, excellent source material like Thrilling Places itself).

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Re: Thrilling Places!

 

Didn't even know TP came out. Just picked it up today. Good stuff. Looks nice next to my copies of Pulp Hero and Masterminds & Madmen.

 

I would say that the relative lack of a unified pulp 'setting' hurts it, but really, Star Hero and Fantasy Hero have developed setting material, and they haven't sold that well either. *shrug*

 

As Publius pointed out, There is a Pulp Setting. It's detailed extensively in Pulp Hero (p34-219, Chatpers 1 and 2).

 

Unless you were looking for a CU Pulp Hero Sourcebook; much of which is touched upon in the various city source books (Vibora Bay at least touches on the pulp era a bit). For the most part CU Pulp Era matches Real World Pulp Era.

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