walker

Well, now that it's definite that Indy 4 is well underway and due for release in May 2008, I wonder if Hero Games might not license the character for a Pulp Hero supplement? TSR and West End did the previous games, but I expect the license is up for grabs at this point. Good question for Mr. Long. Any chance of that happening? Thanks

Re: What are your favourite Pulp cities? Absolutely correct. Home of the Shadow as well.

Re: What are your favourite Pulp cities? Gotta be NYC. With huge areas devoted to Chinatown, Little Italy, etc., hundreds of art deco-filled nightclubs and museums, and the most active ports/airfields for international travel in the country, my group has always found Manhattan to be a great base of operations. And if you've ever been there, you know the buzz it gives off. Feels like a pulp adventure could start up at any time. Plus, it's the home of Doc Savage. If it's good enough for Doc, it's certainly good enough for us.

I know, I know, they've made announcements about their intentions before, but this time it comes with an official press release, which has been posted on the official http://www.indianajones.com site managed by Lucasfilm. According to the release, filming begins June 2007 for a 2008 release. No specifics on the release date, but one might assume Memorial Day weekend 2008. Personally, that month is already loaded with heavy hitters, so I'm hoping they move it to July 4th, or Thanksgiving. Here's a thought. Other companies have tried to create Indiana Jones-rpgs to no great success. Perhaps Hero Games could license the Indy brand for a series of Jones-specific scenarios? Between Pirates of the Caribbean: World's End (May 07), National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets (Dec 07), Indy 4 (May 08?) and Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (July 08?), the next year and a half is shaping up to look pretty sweet for lovers of pulp adventure. And on top of all that goodness, we've got Fantastic Four 2, Hulk 2, Ironman, The Dark Knight, James Bond 22, Harry Potter 5, Chronicles of Narnia 2, Jurassic Park 4, Star Trek XI by J.J. Abrams, 10000 BC, Angels & Demons [DaVinci Code sequel], Power of the Dark Crystal, Speed Racer, Beowulf, Spiderman 3, and Transformers. Not a bad two years. Walker

Re: Thrilling Places! I tried to get Thrilling Places at Gen Con, but the Hero folks only brought something like five copies, which were gone within an hour or two. I ended up ordering it from Noble Knight Games. My local comic shop has tried to order the Hero core rulebook several times, but are usually told it's out of stock. Makes me wonder what kind of print runs the folks at Hero adhere to. Do they wait for backorders to build before going back to press? Bad idea, IMHO. In any case, I thought Thrilling Places was a worthwhile purchase and also quite liked the villain reference as well. I've also purchased most of the PDF adventures. I look foward to continued additions to the line, but my one issue with Hero products is expense. Most of the Pulp Hero products are in black & white, so the markup seems extreme. Unit cost depends on size of the print run, of course, so if they're only printing 2500 copies or so, perhaps it really is ridiculously expensive. Still, it always gives me pause when ordering this stuff (which is why I usually get it from Noble Knight, as they discount most everything).

Re: THRILLING PLACES -- What Do *You* Want To See? Love Pulp Hero. Thanks for being so proactive about creating supplements for the system. As to your question, personally, I've always thought that Lester Dent (AKA Doc Savage author) was able to come up with a ton of great spots, usually mining them from other stories or myths/legends, but putting his own great spin on them. That said, how about the following: 1) A fog-enshrouded, seaweed filled Sargasso Sea, perfect for trapping unsuspecting ships 2) Hidden city within the caverns of a still active volcano 3) Mysterious city in the desert that appears for a few days at a time once a year 4) Forgotten city on top of a mesa in the American southwest 5) Lost Indian tribe in the wilds of Canada, along with a mysterious supernatural guardian, the Wendigo 6) A secret Nazi fortress, high in the Alps, in which devious experiments on human subjects are taking place 7) "Haunted" catacombs beneath the streets of Paris Hope some of those help. Walker

Re: PULP HERO -- What Do *You* Want To See? Arch villain creation ideas or guidelines. Travel time between locations. For example, how long did it take to travel between NYC and London in 1934 in a plane? In a boat? Just provide standard means of transportation for the time with info about average flight/sail/drive speeds. And finally -- I'd like to see the game!! Release date says mid-2005, which is now. I'm really looking forward to it.

Re: Pulp Film Recommendations Sooo many great pulp films. One of the all time classics (and one from which much of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was "borrowed") is Gunga Din. Great flick and holds up very well, even today. Here are a few others: The Spiders (early silent film that has more Indy action than I ever expected). Big Trouble in Little China ("Jack Burton...ME!") Young Sherlock Holmes (not a particularly good movie, but cool setting) Doc Savage (this was full of terrible camp, but I still dig it) The Shadow (some bad parts, but lots of good too) The Rocketeer The Phantom (again, some bad parts, some good parts) Jungle Girl (movie serial) Nyoka and the Lost Tablets of Hippocrates (movie serial sequal to Jungle Girl) Gunga Din (it's worth noting twice....)

Re: Pulp Reading There was a really cool book that came out a few years ago entitled The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life from Prohibition through World War II. It was from Writer's Digest Books. It's not in print anymore, but you can find it at used bookstores, or used on Amazon. Very useful for creating period flavor, or just doing research into how people lived in the pulp era. walker