tkdguy Posted August 7, 2003 Report Share Posted August 7, 2003 Okay, I just posted this on the d20 forum, but I think HERO would probably be a better fit. What do you think about a campaign based on the works of Jules Verne or HG Wells? I know Castle Falkenstein used War of the Worlds and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (among others) in the Steam Age sourcebook. Does a HERO version of this kind of campaign appeal to you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Warrior Posted August 7, 2003 Report Share Posted August 7, 2003 Forgotten Futures This sort of game can be a lot of fun. Many years ago I ran a game using Traveller rules in which the players were sent back in time to Victorian England to track down a deranged Vargr who had stolen some prototype time travel gear from an Imperial research station. The Vargr had a drug dependency that he couldn't fulfil and had become a psychotic killer lurking in the East End of London, murdering prostitutes. Well, it seemed like as good an explanation for the identity of Jack the Ripper as any other! What made it a really enjoyable game to run was the way the players threw themselves into what was a very atmospheric game. They were issued with what was felt to be suitably incognito period clothing based on what the research scientists had seen in surviving 20th Century films but in fact looked somewhat out of place. The players really roleplayed their hearts out, acting bewildered by the unfamiliarity of it all and making deliberately stupid mistakes that more "gamey" players wouldn't have. In fact, they were enjoying it so much they told all their friends and I ended up running the same game three times simultaneously! Oh, how much spare time we all had as teenagers!! Incidentally, this was based on a scenario published in White Dwarf at the time, "An Alien Werewolf in London". If anyone wants to track it down, it was in issue 62 (February 1985). Anyway, what I was going to say is that a good resource for this type of roleplaying is the Forgotten Futures game. I've never used the game system myself but the source material is truly excellent, covering all sorts of Scientific Romance style (Verne, Wells, Conan Doyle, etc) games. It's currently only available for download at the Forgotten Futures website but it was published in paper form a while back by Heliograph (the people who reprinted Space: 1889 - another good source for this sort of RPG) and copies seem to turn up on eBay pretty frequently. They are also working on a game of their own called Zeppelin Age which is supposed to be a pulp roleplaying 1900-1940 type of game. Hope some of this ramble is useful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanguard00 Posted August 7, 2003 Report Share Posted August 7, 2003 Re: classic sci-fi campaign Originally posted by tkdguy Okay, I just posted this on the d20 forum, but I think HERO would probably be a better fit. What do you think about a campaign based on the works of Jules Verne or HG Wells? I know Castle Falkenstein used War of the Worlds and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (among others) in the Steam Age sourcebook. Does a HERO version of this kind of campaign appeal to you? Pulp campaigns always have. What you're describing (at the risk of sounding commercial) is a League of Extraordinary Gentleman style campaign. Or Doc Savage, or The Shadow. Heck, the various "Indiana Jones" and "Mummy" movies fit into this, as well. Good stuff all around, and there's lots of source material around on the 'net. If you can run it I'm sure you're players would love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted August 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2003 Depends which group I'm playing with. One of my groups don't like historical or pseudo-historical games; they can't roleplay characters in those time periods. One of them just doesn't like fantasy, period. It may work with my current group. I'm running a swashbuckler/martial arts game, but again, they may not be able to get into it. If this campaign fails, I'll try a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen type of campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted September 3, 2003 Report Share Posted September 3, 2003 bump I'm not really into anime, and it seems to have taken over my beloved Other Genres board (aka Pulps and Post-Apoc, at least in my book). Let's throw some non-anime stuff out here. When I first got TUV, I worked up some Space: 1889 conversions. They're a little crude, but maybe worth posting. I'll have to find them. "Japanese cartoons are weird, man." -- Strong Bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted September 5, 2003 Report Share Posted September 5, 2003 >>>Incidentally, this was based on a scenario published in White Dwarf at the time, "An Alien Werewolf in London". If anyone wants to track it down, it was in issue 62 (February 1985).<<<< Good heavens. Someone else remembers this. So you're an old codger too, eh? I stole, er borrowed, the idea for my game and it was so well-recieved by the players that the dimensional portal that had dropped them in Victrorian London actually stayed open for a while, allowing a series of cross-dimensional adventures. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Warrior Posted September 8, 2003 Report Share Posted September 8, 2003 Good heavens. Someone else remembers this. So you're an old codger too, eh? Oh yes, I'm the grumpy old git of the gaming world who never misses an opportunity to remind all those Warhammer players that "White Dwarf isn't as good as it used to be you know and it all went wrong when they started publishing it monthly". They occasionally had a Champions scenario in there as I recall - quite a couple of good ones too. I remember "Peking Duck", essentially a super hero bar room brawl set in a Chinese restaurant in (London's) Chinatown and another time travelling one, "Strikeback", which was a sort of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen type thing with Captain Nemo and Sherlock Holmes, years before that was even a gleam in Alan Moore's eye Cheers, Marc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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