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Attributes in Pulp Games

Started by Ronin, July 17, 2014, 08:46:55 PM

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Ronin

July 17, 2014, 08:46:55 PM
So Ive been seemingly reading a lot about attributes lately on here. I had a thought. In a pulp game would you be ok with rolling straight attributes. 3d6 as they land so to speak? Say your playing an air ace of some sort. You roll a really crappy dexterity/agility score. Which directly affects your piloting ability. Would you take great risks? Knowing that you suck anyways, might as well go for the gusto. As just slugging it out, so to speak as your probably dead meat anyways? Like I said, just something I'm pondering.
Vive la mort, vive la guerre, vive le sacré mercenaire

Ronin\'s Fortress, my blog of RPG\'s, and stuff

Scott Anderson

#1
July 17, 2014, 11:10:29 PM Last Edit: July 17, 2014, 11:10:58 PM by Scott Anderson
Pulp air race?  Please elucidate.

Generally a pulp hero ought to be competent or better in most things, really good at one or two, and have one or two weaknesses. Pulp borders on superheroes, sorta, so think of them through that lens IMO.
With no fanfare, the stone giant turned to his son and said, "That\'s why you never build a castle in a swamp."

Ronin

#2
July 18, 2014, 06:19:24 AM
Quote from: Scott Anderson;770210Pulp air ace?

Scorchy Smith, Steve Canyon, Terry from Terry and the Pirates, G-8 and his Battle Aces, most of the characters from the games and fiction in the Crimson Skies universe, and etc.
Vive la mort, vive la guerre, vive le sacré mercenaire

Ronin\'s Fortress, my blog of RPG\'s, and stuff

The Butcher

#3
July 18, 2014, 06:38:14 AM Last Edit: July 18, 2014, 06:41:26 AM by The Butcher
If I was designing a pulp men's adventure game, I'd probably implement lifepath character generation a la Traveller, because pulp men's adventure protagonists (like classic SF protagonists) tend to have backstories, hard-earned competencies, contacts and rivals.

But of course, getting an air ace, like a space ace in Traveller (or qualifying for Paladin or Ranger in AD&D, for that matter) hinges at least in part on a player's luck. That is of course the whole point of random character generation. Though I don't think I'd be averse to a point-buy alternative.

Quite frankly, the only genre in which I'm not crazy about random PCs is supers.

Omega

#4
July 19, 2014, 08:49:05 PM
A character might be weak physically but outstanding in a particular skill.

Call of Cthulhu is like that in some ways.

In fact CoC would be ideal for running a G-8 campaign



Phillip

#5
July 19, 2014, 09:35:52 PM
"Pulp" could mean as many different things as were in popular fiction magazines of the early 20th century.

In the adventure-game context, though, it brings to mind highly -- if not incredibly -- competent heroes. If that's not the case in your game, perhaps it were better to use the potentially misleading term only in particular reference to pulp magazines, and explain clearly that it's really a game of "everymen" who may or may not attain to superiority.
And we are here as on a darkling plain  ~ Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, ~ Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Phillip

#6
July 19, 2014, 09:51:39 PM
There is of course precedent for the mixing of themes in the Indiana Jones movies, in which the hero seems gifted mainly with great good luck. There is also Call of Cthulhu.
And we are here as on a darkling plain  ~ Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, ~ Where ignorant armies clash by night.

apparition13

#7
July 19, 2014, 11:13:36 PM
Quote from: Ronin;770184So Ive been seemingly reading a lot about attributes lately on here. I had a thought. In a pulp game would you be ok with rolling straight attributes. 3d6 as they land so to speak? Say your playing an air ace of some sort. You roll a really crappy dexterity/agility score. Which directly affects your piloting ability. Would you take great risks? Knowing that you suck anyways, might as well go for the gusto. As just slugging it out, so to speak as your probably dead meat anyways? Like I said, just something I'm pondering.
Yes, if you decouple the "air ace" ability from the stats.

For example, from wikipedia on the Red Baron:

QuoteInstead of using risky, aggressive tactics like his brother Lothar (40 victories), Manfred observed a set of maxims (known as the "Dicta Boelcke") to assure success for both the squadron and its pilots.[17] He was not a spectacular or aerobatic pilot, like his brother or the renowned Werner Voss. However, he was a notable tactician and squadron leader and a fine marksman. Typically, he would dive from above to attack with the advantage of the sun behind him, with other Jasta pilots covering his rear and flanks.

Most successful of the WWI aces, but not the best flyer, so why was he so successful? Wis perhaps, rather than Dex? Or Cha, to represent his squadron leadership? Something else?
 
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