Best Pulp game?

Trond · March 09, 2020, 01:08:30 PM

Quote from: Gagarth;1123709Anytime I have encountered players wanting a Pulp game they have who never read or even glanced at any of the source material and they just want pc's not to get injured (never mind actually die), mow down multiple NPCs with a single die roll, never surrender and automatically succeed at anything that is not combat. Pulp was a medium not a genre and characters tended not to die because they were the income of poorly paid writers and bar a few exceptions like DOC Savage not because they were all indestructible .

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4194[/ATTACH]

For me, "Pulp" always has more to do with the time period (usually between the wars) combined with a few other things: usually quick story arc, sense of adventure, and often "obvious" villains etc.

Omega · March 09, 2020, 06:09:56 PM

Quote from: Brad;1123717I liked the lethality myself. When Indiana Jones shoots someone, they die. When he gets shot in the shoulder, he is seriously injured. Conan gets hit in the head with a sword, and only survives because he's wearing a massive helmet, otherwise he'd be dead. Etc.

And by Conan's own statements barbarians tended to die in droves because they tended to not wear any armour. Over the course of the stories he upgrades his gear some. I'd have to check but I believe he had a chain or scale shirt at the very least. Moreso when he wasnt gambling his gear away.

Trond · March 09, 2020, 10:22:58 PM

Quote from: Omega;1123754And by Conan's own statements barbarians tended to die in droves because they tended to not wear any armour. Over the course of the stories he upgrades his gear some. I'd have to check but I believe he had a chain or scale shirt at the very least. Moreso when he wasnt gambling his gear away.

He's wearing armor in many stories. But just as often, he just happens to end up bare-chested or half-naked (kinda like many of the girls in the stories)

Trond · March 15, 2020, 01:04:31 AM

BTW I would love to hear more about Chaosium's Astounding Adventures, if anyone has given it a try.

Spinachcat · March 15, 2020, 03:32:49 AM

Quote from: Trond;1123731For me, "Pulp" always has more to do with the time period (usually between the wars) combined with a few other things: usually quick story arc, sense of adventure, and often "obvious" villains etc.

You and Gagarth both bring up a good point. Different pulp GMs are going to focus on different definitions of the pulp genre and how they seek to emulate that aspect of the genre in actual play.

"Two Fisted Tales" as a trope is a good breakdown for a GM.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwoFistedTales

Omega · March 15, 2020, 06:54:32 AM

Quote from: Trond;1124200BTW I would love to hear more about Chaosium's Astounding Adventures, if anyone has given it a try.

Its not as extensive as Pulp Cthulhu in some ways. But also lacks any of the SJW undertones far as can tell. It tries to cover all styles of pulps so you have a broad range of skills, powers and gadgets.
Hate to say it. But Pulp C felt more focused and better presented. Also has more on the era. Very YMMV. AA will get the job done. PC will get the job done better... but wants to remind you that pulps were full of racist, sexist, whateverist stuff and thats just terrible.

Trond · March 15, 2020, 09:50:02 AM

Quote from: Omega;1124220Its not as extensive as Pulp Cthulhu in some ways. But also lacks any of the SJW undertones far as can tell. It tries to cover all styles of pulps so you have a broad range of skills, powers and gadgets.
Hate to say it. But Pulp C felt more focused and better presented. Also has more on the era. Very YMMV. AA will get the job done. PC will get the job done better... but wants to remind you that pulps were full of racist, sexist, whateverist stuff and thats just terrible.

Ok thanks!

Trond · March 16, 2020, 12:56:55 AM

I have bought the Lands of Mystery PDF to go with my Justice Inc. Looks like this is a very nice combo, and I'm enjoying figuring out this oldie. I have never played any Hero game before though, and sometimes I am a bit confused.

For Hero veterans: how does the stun multiplier of guns work? For knives etc the "stunx" is listed explicitly so there's no problem. But for guns it only says basically "minimum stunx is 1, +1 means stunx =1d6, +2 =1d6+1" but I fail to see the pattern here?? So I guess a stunx modifier of 0 means stunx is 1, many guns giving the same Stun as Body damage. Fine. So what if stun modifier is +3? Is it 1d6+2 or 2d6+1?

Armchair Gamer · March 16, 2020, 08:43:27 AM

Quote from: Trond;1124306For Hero veterans: how does the stun multiplier of guns work? For knives etc the "stunx" is listed explicitly so there's no problem. But for guns it only says basically "minimum stunx is 1, +1 means stunx =1d6, +2 =1d6+1" but I fail to see the pattern here?? So I guess a stunx modifier of 0 means stunx is 1, many guns giving the same Stun as Body damage. Fine. So what if stun modifier is +3? Is it 1d6+2 or 2d6+1?

I'm only familiar with HERO from 4E onward, so there may be nuances in the earlier versions I'm not aware of, but for killing attacks, the default Stun Multiplier is a roll of 1d6-1, minimum result of 1, with any Increased STUN Multiplier added to the d6 roll. So +1 = 1d6, +2 = 1d6+1, +3 = 1d6+2.

Trond · March 16, 2020, 10:24:46 AM

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1124322I'm only familiar with HERO from 4E onward, so there may be nuances in the earlier versions I'm not aware of, but for killing attacks, the default Stun Multiplier is a roll of 1d6-1, minimum result of 1, with any Increased STUN Multiplier added to the d6 roll. So +1 = 1d6, +2 = 1d6+1, +3 = 1d6+2.

Thanks! That seems reasonable. In a few sections I get the impression that Justice Inc has been cut down from another rules set (Champions?) and that they could have used some more time editing and clarifying the text.

Omega · March 16, 2020, 05:48:08 PM

Quote from: Trond;1124327Thanks! That seems reasonable. In a few sections I get the impression that Justice Inc has been cut down from another rules set (Champions?) and that they could have used some more time editing and clarifying the text.

Overall the same system as Champions. With Tweaks for the setting.

As for the Stun damage. It is as follows
0 = no stun?
-1= 1d6-1 (minimum of 1)
+1 = 1d6
+2 = 1d6+1
+3 = 1d6+2
+4 = 1d6+3

Trond · March 16, 2020, 11:22:39 PM

Quote from: Omega;1124386Overall the same system as Champions. With Tweaks for the setting.

As for the Stun damage. It is as follows
0 = no stun?
-1= 1d6-1 (minimum of 1)
+1 = 1d6
+2 = 1d6+1
+3 = 1d6+2
+4 = 1d6+3

Honestly, I don't get this one, and it doesn't seem to follow what was being implied by the other rules ("minimum stun modifier is 1").

Omega · March 17, 2020, 03:10:46 PM

Quote from: Trond;1124418Honestly, I don't get this one, and it doesn't seem to follow what was being implied by the other rules ("minimum stun modifier is 1").

Far as I could discern from the book the "minimum stun modifier of 1" means that even with a negative mod you cant go below 1 on a roll. Similar to how other games have a rule like that. So say you roll a 1 and have a -1 mod. Then its still a 1.

Lynn · March 17, 2020, 03:30:08 PM

There's been some discussion of Tiny Pulp over on the Tiny Cthulhu Kickstarter. I don't know if it will be combined with Tiny Cthulhu or not.

If you aren't familiar with the "Tiny" system the Tiny Supers game is currently PWYW:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/274295/Tiny-Supers?affiliate_id=1446

3rik · March 20, 2020, 04:55:21 PM

Quote from: Lynn;1124469There's been some discussion of Tiny Pulp over on the Tiny Cthulhu Kickstarter. I don't know if it will be combined with Tiny Cthulhu or not.

If you aren't familiar with the "Tiny" system the Tiny Supers game is currently PWYW:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/274295/Tiny-Supers?affiliate_id=1446

Yes it will be combined. Tiny Cthulhu will include sections on pulp and noir style play.