I ran a very short game of what you speak. (Hopefulley we will come back to it. But that unfortunatly remains to be seen.) I ran it in the 1930's with a tramp freighter. No nazi's either. I was going to have the players deal with the japanese army/navy at one point but we never got there. But they did fight pygmies and carnivous apes!

I think the 30's would work well if the players were using a small plane as well. I can totally invision a "Tales of the Gold Monkey" thing. And that makes me smile.

maybe late 40's early 50's> lot's of "Cold war" intrigue going on. Independence movements, gun running, refugees, secret test bases, etc.

for inspiration on tramp steamer adventures try Louis L'Amour's Ponga Jim Mayo series-
Have a look at this site:

http://www.louislamourgreatadventure.com/ClassicAdventure.htm

they even have the deck plans for a tramp steamer there:

http://www.louislamourgreatadventure.com/PongaJimMerchantMarine3.htm

Quote from: The Evil DMfor inspiration on tramp steamer adventures try Louis L'Amour's Ponga Jim Mayo series-
Have a look at this site:

http://www.louislamourgreatadventure.com/ClassicAdventure.htm

Holy crap, Evil!  I don't "get" that site, but it is awesome!  Full of material and inspiration:



I mean, enough said!

But is the site a synopsis of the adventures with all kinds of other audiovisual material or is it the actual stories?  If not, where can I find the stories?  Used book stores?  Currently in-print volumes?

I woulda said "Star Wars" as well, but I kinda thought El Balbinador was shooting for historical.  

But if he's not limiting suggestions...

Quote from: walkerpHoly crap, Evil!  I don't "get" that site, but it is awesome!  Full of material and inspiration:



I mean, enough said!

But is the site a synopsis of the adventures with all kinds of other audiovisual material or is it the actual stories?  If not, where can I find the stories?  Used book stores?  Currently in-print volumes?

used book stores is where I would start to save a few bucks. go to the western section and look for Louis L'Amour's books. then look for the titles

West from Singapore:
Book Description
He's a two-fisted American adventurer and veteran of a hundred waterfront brawls.  He's "Ponga Jim" Mayo, and he minds his own business and leaves international intrigue to others.  But, as master of his own tramp freighter, trouble seeks him out as he navigates the treacherous East Indian seas from Borneo to Singapore.  Never one to back away from danger, Jim straps on his colt automatic and takes the helm of the Semiramis, ready to battle pirates and spies, dope peddlers and gunrunners and whoever else dares to challenge his command...and God help the man who crosses Jim Mayo.

http://www.amazon.com/West-Singapore-Louis-LAmour/dp/0553263536/ref=pd_sim_b_shvl_title_1/105-0935219-1670810

Night over the Solomons
Book Description
They're freelance pilots and full-time troubleshooters for democracy.  They're men like Steven Cowan, Mike Thorne, and Turk Madden who face danger every day of their lives and fight like tigers for what they believe in.  With the world on the brink of war, they're on the front lines, wherever there's action.  From the dangerous South Seas islands, to steaming South American jungles, to the other islands of Japan, you'll find these man ready to fight the enemies of freedom--in a battle to the death.

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Over-Solomons-Louis-LAmour/dp/0553266020/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/105-0935219-1670810

And don't forget that Robert E. Howard also wrote a whole series of "Boxing Stories" featuring merchant sailors who travelled the Far East and South Seas.

Boxing stories by Robert E Howard:
Book Description
Although he is best known as the creator of Conan the Barbarian and as a writer of historical fiction and fantasy, Robert E. Howard was both a successful author of popular boxing stories and an avid amateur boxer himself. The sixteen stories and three poems collected in this volume show the full range of his talents for action, humor, and fistic philosophy.
 
Ten of the stories feature the sailor Steve Costigan, a lovable, hard-fisted, and innocent semipro pugilist, who takes on dastardly villains in exotic ports of call. Howard's brilliant blue-collar humor belies his preoccupation with the real-life issues near and dear to his heart—death, honor, pride, and a man's love for his dog
 
Other stories are more dramatic and somber, including "Iron Men," which Howard called "the best fight story I ever wrote—in many ways the best story of any kind I ever wrote." Severely edited and truncated for its original publication in 1930 in Fight Stories magazine, the tale has never been published in its original form—until now. It appears here, completely restored from Howard's original typescript, in an authoritative version that Howard fans everywhere will appreciate.
 
In these stories Howard created a realistic, richly populated boxing universe, with intertwining characters and histories that carry on from tale to tale. With them he takes his place in a tradition of American boxing writers but always with a uniquely Howardian twist, a gritty brooding atmosphere, and a reserve of humor that captures the often brutal ambiance of the 1930s.

http://www.amazon.com/Boxing-Stories-Works-Robert-Howard/dp/0803273525/ref=sr_1_1/105-0935219-1670810?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193159991&sr=1-1

West From Singapore.  I'm on it.  Thanks for that.  

(got the Costigan stories.  They are great.)

The Costigan tales are indeed brilliant, but I'll be picking up some Louis L'Amour.

Quote from: BalbinusSo, what is the best period for an rpg in which the PCs are the crew of a tramp freighter, selling dodgy cargos around the South China seas?

The ones that spring to mind are as follows:

1920s, it's just a cool time and you have Chinese warlords, White Russians, Shanghai, all kinds of coolness.

1930s, as above but with nazis, possibly a point against actually.

1970s, modern but still kind of low tech, not much by way of computers or satelites or whatnots.  The Cold War, tinpot dictatorships in Africa, war and terrorism abound...

Now, higher tech but not much of it penetrates that lifestyle I suspect.  Tensions with China, tinpot dictatorships in Africa (though less of them than the '70s I suspect), war and terrorism abound...

What do you think?  Which works best and why?

Every one of the time periods you mention has much to offer and could provide hours of enjoyment for players.  One thing you should ask is which time period do you think will most appeal to the players, some will want the more classic time periods (20s & 30s), some will want more modern (70s +).  One time period you leave out that I think is great is the late 40s through the early 50s.  There are lots of ships readily available (all those Liberty and Victory ships now on the market), you can have searches for Nazis trying to hide, the gigantic expansion of WWII surplus arms being shipped everywhere, the start of the Cold War, just loads of fun.

If I were to rate them in the order I and my players would like, it would be - 1)20s - 2)30s - 3) Current day - 4)40s/50s - 5)60s/70s.  But I could run and play any of the times.

Here's a few sites that have some information that you might find of use.

On the Hog Islanders ships
http://smmlonline.com/articles/hogislanders/hogislanders.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hog_Islander

On the Freedom Freighters and other ships (the entire site is good).
http://iancoombe.tripod.com/id50.html

Now, as to what system to use, it depends on your players and their likes, but I'd go with one of the following 1)BRP, 2)Gurps, 3)Savage Worlds.

QuoteAnd for the curious, yes, I was rereading this thread:  http://www.therpgsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3016 and I refer you to this excellent PDF by Green Tongue for those of you who've forgotten it http://home.earthlink.net/~djackson24/TrampSteamer.PDF

Excellent thread, and the one that brought me to The RPG Site.  There is a lot of good information and links there as I am sure you are well aware, though many of the links are more for a modern day setting, which is something that you should consider, as the thread shows, there is a lot of adventure on the high seas available even now.

QuoteFinally, would your answer change if the PCs had a small plane instead of a ship?

Yes, one of the things that must be strongly considered is WHAT plane the players would have access to, and here the time period makes a big difference.  Something to think on is the ranges and capacity of the planes available.  Many of the pre WWII planes simply don't have the capacity to 1)go long distances, 2)still carry a sizable cargo, 3)have a good capacity for people (basically the same as #2), and 4)be readily and easily available.  

Using planes I would change the order to the following 1)40s/50s, 2)60s/70s, 3)Current day, 4)30s, and 5)20s.  You really need those post WWII planes on the market to make it viable.  As to system, I wouldn't change my order given above.

You could tell two stories about the same boat. A post WWI crew, stunned by what they saw in the war, but looking brightly to the future has pulpy 20s adventures on a new boat. Later, a cynical post WWII crew has noir adventures on a weary, well-worn boat.

Hey, stu2000, that's nice.

Rico and Suave.

Quote from: SionEwigYes, one of the things that must be strongly considered is WHAT plane the players would have access to, and here the time period makes a big difference.  Something to think on is the ranges and capacity of the planes available.  Many of the pre WWII planes simply don't have the capacity to 1)go long distances, 2)still carry a sizable cargo, 3)have a good capacity for people (basically the same as #2), and 4)be readily and easily available.  

Using planes I would change the order to the following 1)40s/50s, 2)60s/70s, 3)Current day, 4)30s, and 5)20s.  You really need those post WWII planes on the market to make it viable.  As to system, I wouldn't change my order given above.

I'd suggest using some sort of Flying Boat for post WWII stuff.  This Site has a lot of cool info on a couple types.