Desert

Alright, so after trying to figure out how to pulparize Harry Dresden, and coming up with multiple answers, I thought I would get some other people's take on a concept. An idea in the vein of Harry Dresden, and Blackstone the Magician. The idea is basically: Pulp era detective with magician training. So, a pulp era detective that has training as a stage magician. If you were to make, have made, or are making, such a character, how do you would you? What skills and talents? Any sort of secret abilities? Something that might just be silly (pulling flowers out everytime he meets a woman)? Like to hear what you think.

Re: Pulparize It!

Re: Pulparize It! Harry Dresden Pulp Version Three, Non-Magical: Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, Private Investigator of 1920's Chicago. Harry has two major gifts in his life; getting himself into trouble, and just barely getting out of it. The son of a stage magician, Harry has learned many tricks of the trade and has found ways to apply them to his investigations, including being a master of lock picking and misdirection. Using his wits and training, he has made escapes that would do his father proud and put his namesake, Houdini, to shame. Dresden's life is a bit complicated. While trying to eke out a living, the P.I finds himself in the middle of a mobwar, from time to time helping one side or the other, with both of them wanting Dresden to work for them. His girlfriend, a reporter, is missing, with no one knowing what she was working on at the time. Meanwhile, someone is roaming the streets of the windy city, hunting down and killing other private investigators. Helping the Detective is: Mouse, a dog that seems to be one of the best at tracking scents in the world; Tomas Raith, Harry's half-brother, and the disinherited son of Raith industries; Molly Carpenter, Dresden's secretary who wants to be a private investigator in herself; Michael Carpenter, Molly's father and Harry's best friend who is a member a charity organization trying to help the less fortunate. Once in a great while, he even gets up from Billy Borden and his friends, a group of college students who want to turn Harry's adventures into a radio program.

Re: Pulparize It! I did say I would do three, with one of them, as is.

Re: Pulparize It! Pulp Harry Dresden Version Two, Toned Down: Harry Dresden, Occultist. Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is an occult investigator with minor mystic power (either low level magic or telekinesis). He is the most open person in Chicago about investigating, much to the frustration of his fellow paranormal phenomena fans. In fact, one of his fellow members wants to kill him. Meanwhile, Harry has to deal with some less then happy mobsters, including one of the most powerful mob bosses in Chicago, and the godmother, the matron of a lesser known gang, who wants Harry to come work for her and be part of the family. The young investigator also has to deal with some cults, including a vampire cult who think blood drinking will grant them powers and immortality (who his girlfriend, a reporter, was investigating when she mysteriously disappeared), and a group who worship the fallen angels. Harry is not alone however. He has a loyal dog, he mistakenly named Moue when it was small. He has a half-brother who is sexually promiscous and trying to find his place after his father's family disowned him. There is also Molly, his apprentice and a gifted young girl (telepath if psychic), and her father, a carpenter who seems to have god on his side.

Harry Dresden Pulp Alright. I'm finally going to do this. I'm going to pulp Harry Dresden, with three different options for it all. Now with ten books and several short stories, there is a lot to put with and I'm probably going to over do it. This is going to be three posts, one for each version. One small note. Only problem I seem to have is what to do with Karrin Murphy. As far as I know, there were not really any female cops back in the twenty and thirties. If I'm wrong you can leave her as is. Otherwise, you could have officer Murphy be a guy, Karrin be something else, or split the character in two, one for each part. and now Pulp Harry Dresden. Version One, As Is: Harry Dresden is a wizard in 1920's Chicago, and even advertises as such. If you look him up, you will find him as the only wizard advertising. Most people don't take the ad seriously, thinking it is a joke or just some crazy guy. He does get some actual work, but most of his pay comes from consutling with a special department in the police force. Harry has problems as many people. He has to make a living, paying for food, and rent. He is single and trying to have a relationship. Then there are the more unusual problems in Harry's life. His last girlfriend was bitten by a vampire and is fighting to keep from drinking blood, even have to leave Chicago. He has to deal with being part of a war between the vampires and the white council, who is also under attack from the inside by a group of evil wizards. He has an apprentice to train who break a rule, and if she ever does it again, they will both be automatically sentenced to death by the very council they are a part of and he is trying to help. Harry has an actual Fairy Godmother, but nothing like Disney. She wants him to become her slave and serve her in exchange for more power. Meanwhile, he is also in debt to perform a job for the queen of the winter court of the sidhe, who wants him to serve as her Winter Knight. On a less constant level, Harry also has to stop evil sorcerers, battle fallen angels, and keeps running across one of Chicago's most powerful mobsters, who Harry finds himself having to help more often than not. Harry is not going at it all alone though. Helping him is Mouse, a mystical dog with some strange gifts of his own, Tomas Raith, Harry's half-brother, who is an Incubus, Molly Carpenter, his apprentice who Harry has had to put his own life up for to save, Michael Carpenter, Molly's father, a religous man who is a carpenter and a Knight of god, and a pack of werewolf college students called the Alphas. How bad could things be?

Re: What's in the moon? What, is Anti-cheddar?

Re: superuseless superpowers Mind Scan (self only). He knows what he's thinking, just not anyone else.

Planet Buster Ooh. We could take a page from the Beast Wars series. The moon as we know it is not actually a moon. The surface is actually a part of a disguise by the super intelligent aliens who built it. It is actually a moon sized weapon with the power to destroy a full planet once it has charged to full power. The aliens intend to use it on earth when one of two events occur. One, when they feel the earth has fulfilled the purpose of their experiment that they have set it up to use it for. Two, some outside force, such as another alien race, has influenced earth, causing the beings to feel that their experiment is contaminated, and thus must be destroyed so they can start over.

Stranger Than Fiction In the mean time, continuing on. For some reason though, I seem to be getting multiple versions of the same thing. Stranger Than Fiction: Version 1: (pretty much a straight take) Harold Crick is an accountant quite skilled with numbers and seemingly obsessed with them and time saving. When he is sent to deal with the accounts of a bakery, he meets a baker girl who is also a flapper. As he works, he soon finds himself, hearing a disembodied voice narrating his actions. Shortly, he finds his life in danger and out of control. Now he starts to try out life and find new things, only to find out the person in charge is planning to kill him. Now that he is finally living, he has to find a way to keep hmself from getting killed. Version 2: (I like the idea behind this one more myself ) Harold Crick is an accountant, with one of his clients being a well known and quite skilled detective . One day while working on the account, Harold ends up being mistaken for the detective . Stuck between trying to solve a case he does not really understand, and attempt to clear up his identity as NOT the detective, two other things begin to occur. One, Harold meets a mysterious Femme Fatale who is quite skilled and independent. Two, Harold starts to hear a voice, that seems to be narrating his story in the manner of a detective novel. Now Harold has to deal with a dangerous attraction, and dangers to his own life. If you want to get more creative with it, instead of a novel, have it be a new radio series. Harold hears the voice only during certain times and the key events are aired regularly, either as they happen, or at the end of the day or week depending on when or how often the show is aired. This could make it quite strange, but very interesting.

Better and Dresden Better the Mystery Men movie than the comic book series. I mean would you want to try to create a pulp version of a guy who has a six foot flaming carrot for a head? Or a group of vampire Chickens? As for The Harry Dresden Files, it has been mentioned that it's easy to pulp, but no one actually has. If Susano wants to actually do it, feel free. I have put some thought into it myself and have come up with three different versions.

Mystery Men Mystery Men: The name seems to work in itself if you want to keep it as is at least. However: In a world where names like Indiana Jones and Rick O'Connell are known as great heroes, there is in one city a small group of individuals who wish to make their own names known as heroes, though they seem to be lacking some skill or such to become well known. When a mad scientist is released from confinement and the city's greatest hero disappears, it is now up to this less then impressive team to save the city themselve. Though they may need some help from their own, rather eccentric inventor.

Future Tech What's in the moon? The same thing many governments and mad scientists want most ; advanced technology. In the core of the moon, is the engine of a prototype spaceship that was made to either travel through time, or between dimensions. During the first test flight, something went wrong, causing the ship to travel to such a point where it crashed into earth at some point during it's history. While most of the ship was destroyed on impact, the engine survived and is currently buried in the moon. Should someone be able to get a hold of it, they could cause technology to jump ahead by years, decades, maybe even centuries. Of course, they could also use the technology to travel through time or space in an attempt to take over the world, if not the universe (or multiverse)

skull knives and Wanted Well in the 80's Punisher Movie starring Dolph Lundren, he did not wear the skull shirt. Instead the skull was the ball at the very bottom of knives he used. The knives and hundreds of bullets were all that were found at most of his scenes and were considered his calling card. The same could be done in pulp era. But anyway: Wanted: (Movie) The movie in itself is easy enough. The Fraternity is supposed to have been around since the Renaissance, so any point between when it was formed and modern day could be used. I did have an interesting idea for it though. (1) Several Members have defected from the fraternity and have become part of some other group (nazis). Recently, several members in Europe have been killed while trying to take out the marks they have been sent to assassinate. All indications seem to be that the killer were the former members. Now it's up to some newer members to find the opponents who are taking out the other fraternity members. (2) Adolf Hitler is a fraternity member who has gone rogue, and is now the leader of an entire nation. He is a threat, and his name has come up. The fraternity now has to assassinate Hitler, but there are two problems. One, he knows all their tricks as he was one of them, and with the guise of an incompetent artist, one of the best. Two, he is too public a figure, and if he is actually publically assassinated, the war will escalate further as the ally powers are blamed. Wanted: (Comic) I can't quite do the comic as well. The main idea would basically that pulp era villains have taken over the world and secretly rule through their weaponry, fighting skills, and advanced technology. if you wanted to get creative and turn it into a campaign, the pcs could always be the first new pulp heroes, signifying the return of heroes, and attempt to defeat the fraternity.

Modified Punisher. Here's an easy one, but I decided to modify it slightly, partially because I like it with the addition. The Punisher: During the Prohibition. After an act of mob violence, former police officer and Untouchable Francis Castle is believed dead, killed with the rest of his family. Francis is alive though. Now he roams the streets, killing petty criminals and various mobsters as he tries to get to the man he holds responsible for the death of his family, Al Capone. Meanwhile, Castle's former boss, Elliot Ness, believes that Francis is still alive and is trying to catch him while trying to find a way to bring Al Capone to justice. Now, Francis Castle must run from his former friends and coworkers while trying to get the one man he wants to kill most. It's a race against time and each other to see who can bring down one of the most powerful mobsters of the era.

Re: Superhero Legacy. Passing on a Name From my experience, it is rare for a hero to pass on a legacy, but that's more because the heroes do not retire or die. They are too popular are such. While it is true that some times the character has no say in the matter, because the legacy is passed on by someone else, or someone takes it upon themselves, there are cases where the hero chose a friend or someone they trust to take over, and one or two have actually passed it on in family, though not directly, like a nephew, niece, or cousin. Besides, as you are the players, you actually get to have more of a say in the choice in the actual characters. A player could decide to start training a replacement, who will be their next character if something happens to the original.

So, taking a comic event and bringing it into the game. Your character is getting older, and time is taking it's toll. They are starting to move slower and have a hard time fighting. It's getting to the point where he or she has to face the truth that they are getting too old to continue to fight crime and battle evil as they do. Soon they are going to either have to retire, or they are going to get killed. So, the time for the hero is coming to an end, but they name, and it's legacy needs to live on. While the person may be getting old, the hero needs to live on. So, who will your character pick to take on the name and it's legacy? Who will pick up the fight for your hero and take his or her place as the symbol and what it represents? Try thinking about it from where your character currently is or going in his or her life. They aren't all going to have children after all. This could be altered some for immortal characters. They may not be getting old physically, but they do have more years of experience and may be feeling the need to apply their skills elsewhere. So. Who will take up your Champion's Legacy?

Interesting idea for a villain Alright. So I was speaking with a coworker the other day, and he told me about a super villain game. The players were villains and the GM created the heroes they were to face and defeat or be defeated by. When he brought it up, he went on to tell me how there were numerous super heroines. My coworker defeated them, mind controlled them, and basically made them into a harem. He also made their capture profitable, by opening a website called "Supers Gone Wild." I think this could be a fun villain to have. May have to start working on it

Symbolism It's all about the symbol. What you stand for, what they stand for, and what the people see. I don't remember the exact quote, but I'll try my best. They mention it in Batman Begins. I forget the exact quote though. "A man can be killed, can be injured. But a symbol. That is something more powerful. Something that will be remembered." It was along those lines. A hero is a symbol. They stand for and signify what people believe are right. They have great powers and feel a need to help, whether from guilt or responsibility or duty does not matter. The person may be flawed and make mistakes, but the hero is a sign of great goodness and being a step closer to perfection. They are also an example to the people around them. The hero, especially the superhero, tries to make the world a better place. One or two might have the power to force people to do what they want, but eventually people would fight back so they could have their freedom. However, by doing the right thing, no matter how tiring, frustrating, irritating or whatever, they lead by example. A person, or group of people see the hero going through it all again, doing everything that they can to do what they believe in, for what's right instead of what's easy. Maybe it makes them think that if they are willing to try and do something for such a hard matter, then maybe they can do something similar on a smaller scale. Even if it's just stopping to check on someone, giving a couple dollars to a charity, or doing their best at a job they aren't happy with because it needs to be done. It can also be thought of as a symbol on an individual level. Every person has the great potential to do good or evil. Most of us try to do our best to do good, what we feel is right. It does not stop us from having certain feelings and urges we would rather completely ignore. Most people feel the urges, and do everything we can to keep them "in prison" as it were and continue to to do good. The urges do not go away though. As such, asking "What's the point of stopping criminals and turning them in if they keep getting away?" would be the same as "Why should I bother fighting these dark urges and trying to do good when I'm just going to feel them again?" So long as good is willing to fight evil, be it on a personal level, like our own urges, or a superhero scale like with supervillains, there is some strength to it. So long as people are willing to try, there is hope. If heroes start to kill villains, they're saying "there is no real hope. Evil is stronger than good, and only evil will get you what you want." A small scale, but one that would grow as people started to give up. The world needs hope. The world needs people willing to do what's right now matter how burdensome or frustrating it can be. The world needs people willing to try and be a symbol of all that is good and right, all that is the hope of humanity and its future. Neither good nor evil may be able to be destroyed, but so long as there is a feeling that something good is out there willing to protect people and keep them safe from evil, it will make many people willing to sleep a little better, and try a little harder. Of course, solely from a comic book view, there are two reasons. One is that if they never got free, then the companies would have to keep coming up with new villains more often for not as the old one are imprisoned for years, possibly decades. The other is the popularity of the villain. Some of them are, despite how wicked they are, tend to be something that appeals to people for one reason or another. We may know they will lose, but it's interesting to see what they will do. A great villain will want to be seen again. A not so great one will never be remembered, and disappear after one or two appearances.

Re: What's the point? They're gonna escape anyways

I for one I for one am curious as to what the DM did to set off the destruction and what the players did:eg:

Similar I have had similar problem occur. Running Call of Cthulhu. About three constant players and one that can't make it often. This is an example of some of what happens with a specific player. Me: What do you do? Player: I work at my job. Me: What do you do? Player: I eat (lunch/dinner) Me: What do you do? Player: I go upstair to my room (which is right above where the character works) and read. After three or four sessions of this, I had him get attacked by an undead with a knife. Got stabbed but survived. Later, another player talking about the above player: He's mad that his character doesn't get to do anything. He's bored because there's no action.

Confession of my own stupidity I unfortunately have to admit that I fit here. I was playing a swashbuckler in D&D and for the most part was very new to roleplaying. We were doing something, and there was a rapier style fight with what was basically an female pirate captain of a ship. I had thought that it had been a fun battle, so I chase her down, thank her, and give jewels to her. She is a pirate. She is evil. The DM is vindictive I was an idiot. So, she refuses the jewels and kidnaps me. So the plot of the next story in this campaign is for the rest of the group to rescue me from the pirates. P.S. This is the same campaign with the exploding clones mentioned... somewhere else by me.

Re: Watchmen: A GM's tale...or why we set campaign limits Both Vulcan and Nexus do have the best take on how it would be if someone did decide to try and run an actual Watchmen campaign. The thing is the story is set and if someone were to try and run such a thing, the characters could change so much by making a single choice. (An example would be if the second Nite Owl was at the first's house on halloween and fought the people who would have killed them, ending up getting himself hurt or potentially even arrested). I did mention Watchmen as an alternate material source for a roleplaying campaign in a different thread, but I was thinking more along the lines of running some sort of fall out story line. How the people react after Rorschach's journal is published and the truth of the even is exposed. Base material itself as a source is a bad idea. It's too linear and if you try to keep to the source too much, it's railroading the player. Using it as a basis to an open ended campaign with some strong points from the material used however, could be quite interesting.

A small moment of harrassment. I unfortunately have had one very less than pleasant moment when I was trying to learn how to run a game. Relatively Unnecessary Information: I first learned about roleplaying when I went to college. As in that was when I first saw others play, and started to play myself. Pretty much all of it at the time was D&D, with one or two home made systems that were just heavily modified thrown in. Later on, I actually started to play away from the college with friends, and learned about some of the other systems. The additional player below had found a class/prestige class in a third party companion for D&D called a song mage. From what I understand, the characters basically sing out their spells or such. The guy liked the class so much, it seems that not only did he ALWAYS play it in EVERY D&D campaign he was a part of, but he wanted to ALWAYS find a way to play something similar in ANY campaign he was a part of. End Some years ago, I was still very new at roleplaying as a whole and had learned about D20 Modern. I read some of the books and decided to try my hand at running it. I let the group know and they were okay with it. The day of, about two other players showed up to play as well. One of them asked about playing a specific type of character. Nothing I had read really fit his concept, but I tried to think of something that seemed to fit it. Characters were finsihed, and the game was started. I was new, and am the type to give open reign so the characters decide what to do first, and I work from there to try and have something happen while giving them what they want as best I can. Admittedly it was going slow and I was still trying to figure out what I was doing. Around some point in the game, the player mentioned above ended up on his cell phone (I think someone called him). During the conversation, I hear: "This guy has no idea what he's doing.":( Very crushing. Not something you want to hear as a novice trying to run your first game. I still try to run some, and it's mixed results, but I think I have improved some over all. I saw that guy in one other campaign when he got to play his oh so special class, which from where I sat was not that impressive. I haven't seen him since, which I don't mind, and eventually stopped playing with that group for various reasons.