Quote from: Caesar Slaad;479519Ben, he pretty well laid out exactly what he was talking about in post 1. Picking at this "pulp is not a genre" thing at this point is a little unfair.

Why? No. I just agreed with his point, and I honestly can't pick a favorite.

You want me to pick one? Okay... randomly... Cthulhu d20. Done.

I long ago discovered almost by accident that MSH (FASERIP) system is absolutely perfect for 30s and 40s pulp themed games.

It's now bar-none the only system I'll use for such games, until something better comes along. Meanwhile, I didn't care for Spirit of the Century's take on the Fate system, but it serves as a pretty decent resource for players who don't know much about the source material. Ditto WW's Adventure!

I still like TORG and its Nile Empire cosm.

Quote from: Benoist;479582Why? No. I just agreed with his point, and I honestly can't pick a favorite.

You want me to pick one? Okay... randomly... Cthulhu d20. Done.

I wasn't saying you should pick one. I was responding to your last sentence. He made it pretty clear what he meant by pulp, and I thought you were cracking him over the knuckles with the old pulp is "not a genre" statement.

Quote from: Bradford C. Walker;479720I still like TORG and its Nile Empire cosm.

The Law of Drama is the best game element for simulating "Pulp," but since it's not precisely defined, you need to have a GM who can master what my GM called "obstacle piling": Ramping up the tension by having a whole bunch of dangerous things happening all at once.

JG

Don't fear the reaper.  Or the unknown set of rules.

Two fisted tales is very easy to learn, and its by far the best Pulp game out there.

RPGPundit

I agree. Two Fisted Tales is superb! It plays it straight and doesn't amp up the camp. A wonderful game!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;479867I agree. Two Fisted Tales is superb! It plays it straight and doesn't amp up the camp. A wonderful game!

-clash

I've been meaning to check it out. How does it compare to Savage Worlds?

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;479924I've been meaning to check it out. How does it compare to Savage Worlds?

I think it's faster, more furious and more fun.

Quote from: CRKrueger;479926I think it's faster, more furious and more fun.

Sounds like fun. What key difference do you think makes it so? Is there any trade-off? Any visible disadvantages compared to SW? I like Savage Worlds for certain kinds of games, and if Two Fisted Tales faster and more furious, I bet I will enjoy it.

Quote from: Sigmund;479333The most basic check is just straight ability number vs. target number. next up in difficulty is the ability roll, with 2 d10s. One d10 is the bonus die and the other is the penalty die. The 0 or 10 is counted as zero and the bonus is added to the ability while the penalty is subtracted, with the goal being to beat the target number. These rolls explode on a 9. It is advised that the roll is not needed for pedestrian actions, but this isn't unusual anymore players can use a deck of cards as well, with different cards adding different amounts to the check, but card use needs to be announced before the roll. The suits of the cards also have different effects. It's a simple but very cool mechanic, IMO.

1d10-1d10 with 10s counting 0s (i.e. not counting) and 9s exploding both ways, with an alternate playing card-based resolution system. Did I get it right? Sounds good (I'm a sucker for systems with playing cards, loved Castle Falkenstein).

Quote from: Sigmund;479333other systems detail

Intrigued by the Weird attribute. Love random scenario generation. Not sure how agile chargen is. I probably will be checking it out.

Quote from: Benoist;479397I don't have a favorite. Pulp for me is kind of like a vibe, a style. It's not a genre.

Quote from: Caesar Slaad;479516Spirit of the Century is my go-to pulp adventure game of choice. That said, it fits this point... less well. If you want something a bit grittier, Hollow Earth Expedition is a good game and fits you list pretty damned well. It had a good degree of character definition, it's point mechanic is limited in scope. The resolution system is a pretty slick gimmick-free take on a dice pool. It has a pretty good set of setting material.

The only thing I'm not particularly fond if is that it falls into the "new WoD" trap of making weapon skill and weapon damage essentially the same thing, but if you are okay with that particular abstraction, you should be golden.

Yeah, not a big fan of FATE here; tried some SBA but ultimately found the system too abstract for my tastes.

I'm partly OK with weapon damage depending on weapon skill (or rather, I'm not, but I'm confident I can houserule it away like I did in the nWoD system). Also the setting material for HEX looks top notch.

But how deadly is the game, really? Not just combat, but environmental hazards, etc. Have you (or anyone else) had any actual play experience in this regard?

Quote from: Benoist;479582Why? No. I just agreed with his point, and I honestly can't pick a favorite.

You don't have to, but I'd be happy if you could name 2 or 3 of your favorites, and why you feel they'd be good choices.

Quote from: RPGPundit;479845Don't fear the reaper.  Or the unknown set of rules.

I love learning a new system. My players, on the other hand...

Quote from: CRKrueger;479926I think it's faster, more furious and more fun.

Savage Worlds is "fast, furious and fun" enough for me. What I'm looking for is a system with some more teeth. SW has too much script immunity going on for my tastes. I want to know who is it that created the "pulp can't be gritty" meme and kill this person dead.

I had fair luck with Hollow Earth Expedition.  The certainly set a good "feel" for a pulpy-type adventure game.  As was mentioned, there are times when the system can become a bit of a head-scratcher, but all-in-all it's not too bad right out of the box.

My personal fave is the D6 System.  I've done so much with it that I could easily do a good pulpy-adventure game.  The system is simple, yet robust enough to handle any changes you may want to make to it.  As was mentioned, you can get the 3 core books for the D6 System (Adventure, Space and Fantasy) for free in PDF format....legally.  Plus there's movement on OpenD6 (the D6 system under the OGL) that can easily encompass any amount of variance in-between you might want (such as Mini-Six for super easy to understand and play D6)

I'd also have to put in a little nod towards Space: 1889.  It's old and out-of-print, and admittedly the rules could be explained better, but it offers pretty good pulpy-type feel of adventure.  It is, however, geared more for the Victorian era type of play.  I don't know how well it would handle WW-2-ish or even more modern settings.

I can vouch for the quality of the system used for Cadillacs & Dinosaurs.  If it's based on the Twilight: 2000 rules, it would be good for combat that moves quickly and has a fair potential for badly injured or dead characters without turning into a huge slug-fest.  How the setting is for Cadillacs  & Dinosaurs, though, I can't speak for.

I love Adventure!
I also love Two Fisted Tales, and Spirit of the Century.  Two Fisted Tales is a bit more traditional, Spirit of the Century Less, and Adventure somewhere along that line. I think its easier to explain Two Fisted tales, but I like the flow of the other two in play.

I need a print copy of Two-Fisted tales, sadly.

2FT can be very gritty. It has 4 different levels of play, and at the lower two, its quite gritty.

RPGPundit

My go-to pulp game is Adventure!. I ran a campaign of it a few years back, and we all had a lot of fun. It is set in the 20's instead of the 30's, but that doesn't bother me. It will some, as it's not "pure" pulp, which was usually set in the 30's (or much earlier).