Quote from: David RThanks Skywalker for that post.

Hmm it seems SotC is mighty popular with folks when it comes to Pulp. I am thinking of going the Savage Worlds route since I'm currently using it for a brief campaign I'm running.

SW would work well for Pulp too.  I don't mean to pimp SotC. The GMing advice for pulp is superb. I went from not knowing how to approach Pulp, from being able to run a session of Pulp with no more than a title for the episode and 20 minutes prep time. It worked wonders for me beyond its mechanics (which are also awesome ).

To pimp my own company's products, you could also check out The Gamemaster's Guide to Pulp Adventure from our THRILLING TALES line.   The line is d20 based, but the guide is mostly genre-content usable with any system.

Something that may be being overlooked. There are many flavors of "Pulp".

I consider CoC to be Horror Pulp. It has been popular for many years, while Action Pulp has come and gone. That is one of the reasons that I favor a CoC style game replacing Horror with Science!.
Nothing against Action Pulp of course, just that it is not the Only option.

Your group may not want to play an Action Pulp. That does not make it WrongBadFun to play a different style.
=

Part of it is having the right players and encouraging them to not avoid things that might seem silly or unrealistic to them.  Some players are good at running with what you give them and returning it tenfold.  Some players are too conventional for a good pulp game.

I love gaming in the pulp genre.  I even wrote an article for a gaming newsletter put out by some friends of mine a number of years back dealing with how to run pulp games.  It is a bit long and the section of specific games is dated, but at the risk of boring people here it is.  I hope it may be of use.

Genre in a Nutshell: Pulp Adventure

Brief Description
The Pulp Adventure genre had its popular culture heyday in the 1920s and 30s, when this style of adventure tale was found in the pages of the many magazines printed on cheap, unglazed (pulp) paper.  The quality of the pulp stories varied wildly and, since the writers were paid by the word and the intended audience was largely composed of adolescent boys, much of it was adventure-oriented, escapist fiction.  Some of the great writers of fantasy and science fiction had their start writing for the pulps, however, and the genre produced a number of stories of amazingly high quality.  This genre also includes the many adventure serial films and radio shows of the period, which had similar structure.

Gaming in the Pulp Adventure genre is very easy and very rewarding.  I have found that almost everyone has a good grasp of the expectations and conventions of the genre.  Even the linear nature of the typical Pulp Action story plot, the "black and white" nature of the characters, and the inevitability of the heroes' final victory over the forces of evil, makes for a really fun gaming experience.  Once the players realize that they have been liberated from worrying about "winning", they can concentrate on playing their characters to the hilt, and arrive at the plot's final destination in their own style.

Basic Expectations
   At its heart, the Pulp Adventure story is about heroes that represent good (and typically middle-class American values) that foil the plots of evil villains.  It's really that simple!  There is little room for shades of grey in this genre, with the possible exception of the "hardboiled" detective stories.  The typical characteristics of the Pulp Adventure story are:

• It is action-oriented
• Heroes are extraordinary people, or ordinary people who can do extraordinary things
• Heroes are always the good guys
• Villains are colorful, but unmistakably evil (no shades of grey)
• It features exotic locations (Unexplored or exotic lands, lost worlds, space)
• Heroes will always win (usually after being captured, hearing the villain explain his convoluted plan for world conquest, and escaping to foil that plan)

Character Archetypes
   The heroes of the Pulp Adventure story are of a kind that is very recognizable to most of us.  From Indiana Jones to Flash Gordon to Doc Savage, they are the iconic American action heroes.  They face great challenges, fight evil foes, and travel to exotic lands without blinking an eye.  They are not angst-ridden or haunted by guilt like so many modern heroes, but rather they have a clear sense of right and wrong and the desire to fight for what they know is right.  Some examples of typical Pulp Adventure heroes include:

• Academic/Explorer – From Indiana Jones to Professor Challenger, the explorer is on a quest for knowledge or to see new lands.  Usually they stumble across an evil plot while they are at it!
• Wacky Scientist – Science and technology played such an important role in many pulp stories, probably because it appealed to their audience of male teens.  It is only natural that in these stories brilliant, but eccentric, inventors and scientists like Hans Zarkoff of "Flash Gordon" would play prominent roles, countering evil through science.
• Average Joe with a Special Gizmo – This character catered to the teen fantasy of being the average guy who finds an amazing device or hidden talent, and then uses it to make a difference in the world (and usually to get the girl in the end, as well).  The Rocketeer is an excellent example of such a character.
• Mysterious Crimefighter – Some of the most popular pulp heroes were the almost superhuman crimefighters like Doc Savage, the Shadow, Zorro, and the Spider.  Usually, they were wealthy, impossibly talented, and sometimes had a whole group of incredible allies to help them bring down the criminal masterminds that they took on.  This type of pulp hero would have a huge influence on the development of characters like Batman.
• Detective – The hardboiled private detective, like Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade or Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, was cut of a different cloth than most pulp heroes. They had to make a living on the mean streets and therefore, although they still had a strong sense of justice, these characters were darker than other pulp heroes and hovered closer to the line between right and wrong.
• The Girl Next Door – Since the pulps were largely written for teenage boys, there are relatively few strong female characters.  The usual role of the woman in the story was to be kidnapped by the villain.  Those female characters that were strong were almost always of the attractive, but chaste, girl-next-door variety.  Dale Arden of the "Flash Gordon" series is an excellent example of such a character.
• Plucky Reporter – Overly curious reporters often stumble across evidence of the evil plots of the villain and find themselves in the middle of the action.  The best example of such a character is Hergé's Tintin.  This is another great role for female characters.
• The Mystic – Mystic characters like the magician the Amazing Chandu fight evil with the aid of the occult knowledge and powers from exotic lands.
• Everyman Hero – Armed only with their internal sense of goodness and their determination, heroes like Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers or Jack Burton rise to the occasion to thwart the diabolical plans of the villains they encounter.

The Bad Guys
   The Pulp Adventure villain is the exact opposite of the heroes of the genre.  They are not "misunderstood" and driven to evil by society as often appears in modern fiction.  There is no blurring of the line between hero and villain in the pulps, and the bad guys are completely bad.  In fact, they are often over-the-top evil masterminds bent on world domination, complete with hidden fortresses and armies of masked henchmen.  The GM should not feel guilty about hamming it up when the villains make their appearance!  Presented below are some of the most typical villains found in the Pulp Adventure genre:
   
• Nazis – The classic pulp villain is the Nazi thug.  There is no mistaking them as anything but evil, so they are excellent foes for the heroes of this genre to tackle.
• Commies – Before the years leading to World War Two, one of the common pulp villains was the communist agent.  In America and Britain in particular, there was great fear of Communism, and there was real concern about their sinister plots to overthrow the governments of the Western democracies.
• Mobsters – During the Prohibition era in the United States in the 1920s and 30s, organized crime grew tremendously and the public at large feared the lawlessness that the mob gangs created.  Many pulp fiction stories about detectives and crimefighters reflected these fears, and the heroes of these stories often tangled with the Mob on behalf of honest citizens.
• The Femme Fatal – Just as the Girl Next Door appealed to the male teen who was the average reader of the pulp, so too, did the implied sexuality of the Femme Fatal.  She is the female villain who uses sex as a weapon to get her way.  She is cruel and evil, but often falls for the dashing hero.  Can he convince her to mend her ways?
• Evil Alien Empires – The world is sometimes threatened by sinister forces from other planets, or even an entire alien empire bent on conquering the Earth.  The classic pulp villain of this category is, of course, Ming the Merciless, the evil Emperor of Mongo and mortal enemy of Flash Gordon.
• The Weird Menace – The supernatural was also a frequent feature of the pulps, and many foes that the pulps heroes faced were supernatural in nature, or at least appeared to be.  Sometimes what appeared at first to be a supernatural threat was revealed in the end to be explained by the villain's use of science to cause fear as part of their nefarious plans.
• The Foreign Mastermind – During the period the pulps were written, many white, middle-class Americans had very negative views of foreigners.  As a result, some pulp villains reflected these views.  A staple of these stories was the insidious Chinese criminal mastermind who ruled a vast empire of opium dens and other illegal operations, like the famous Fu Manchu.  Sometimes, other foreigners (Germans were also popular) were also employed as villains, usually using a negative stereotype of the nationality in question.  If a GM wishes to avoid the potentially thorny issue of using these stereotypes in their games, then villains with suitably vague foreign accents can be used instead.
   
Adventures
   The first rule of creating Pulp Action adventures is simple:  Always keep the action going.  As Raymond Chandler put it, "When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand."  When running a pulp game, don't worry too much about everything making perfect sense, just keep the action coming and have a large-then-life villain for the heroes to match up against and chances are nobody will notice any gaping plot holes.  Ideally, the action should be paced so that if the adventure takes more than a single session of play, then each session ends on a "cliffhanger", a seemingly impossible situation for the heroes to get out of.  Finally, make sure that in the end the heroes win, beating the villain and saving the world.  Even if you have to resort to an improbable series of events to explain their victory, it is OK.  Pulp Adventure is one of the few gaming genres where dues ex machina plot devices are not only acceptable, but are often required!

Famous Examples
   Many of the old pulps are now available in reprints that can often be found in used bookstores.  Additionally, the pulps have heavily influenced many modern adventure movies.  Listed below are some of the more accessible sources.  I recommend that anyone planning to run or play in a Pulp Adventure game find as many as possible for inspiration.

From Movies, Radio and TV: "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "The Rocketeer", "The Mummy", "Johnny Quest", "Flash Gordon" (both a serial and a cheesy modern film), "Big Trouble in Little China", "The Shadow" (both on radio and in movies), "The Maltese Falcon"
   
From Books and Comics: Doc Savage series, Flash Gordon series, Tintin, Buck Rogers, Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon", Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep"

Games To Play
   GURPS Cliffhangers – Even if you don't use GURPS to run your campaign, this book is a must-have for all Pulp Adventure GMs.  It is packed with useful background on the genre and the history of the period.  I would recommend it as a starting point for anyone interested in running a pulp game.

   Adventure! – This game is part of the White Wolf sci-fi series that includes "Trinity" and "Aberrant".  It is a very solid genre-oriented game, and even though it is tied to a specific background, it can very easily be used to run a game in a more traditional pulp setting.  A good review of the game can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/blackhatmatt/htradventure.htm

   Savage Worlds – A relatively recent addition to the pulp gaming market, the action in Savage Worlds is quick and dirty, just like the pulps.  Additionally, the character creation system makes is very simple to create larger-than-life heroes.  It is one of my personal favorites for running a pulp game.

Internet Resources

The Vintage Library http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulp/index.cfm - A good place to get a general history of the pulps, as well as information about specific characters and series.  You can also purchase many of the pulps on this site and some are also available in electronic format here, as well.

Pulp and Adventure Heroes http://www.geocities.com/jjnevins/pulpsintro.html - This site is an amazing collection of short descriptions of more than 1700 pulp heroes from print, movies and serials of the pre-WW2 years.  Its value cannot be understated for browsing for character ideas or adventure plots.

Writing Action Adventures http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/gallows/954/fsuns/actionad.htm - A quick primer on writing action adventures.  A must-read for GMs running a Pulp Adventure game.

Pulp Art Gallery http://www.pulpgallery.com/ - A web gallery of pulp magazine cover art.  Great for inspiration and to get a feel for the genre.  The art could also be used in game sessions to set scenes and mood for the players.

Authentic History http://www.authentichistory.com/ - A good resource for general information about the period of the pulps.  There are sections about the fashion, popular music and images from the 1920s and 1930s.

The Dirty Thirties http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/ - A great gaming-oriented resource for 1930s America, including history, slang and general background info.

Pulp Shanghai http://www.geocities.com/shanghaithegame/ - Another gaming resource for the pulp era.  This site focuses on Shanghai, one of the most exotic, most colorful and wildest cities in the world during this period.  It is an excellent place to set your pulp adventures!  It has details about locations and colorful characters in the city.

Pulp Serials at Oldies.Com http://www.oldies.com/genre/listing.cfm/genre_ser.html - Many of the old "cliffhanger" movie serials are now available on DVD.  This site sells some of them, including "Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe", "The Amazing Chandu", and "Ace Drummond: G-Man of the Air".


TGA

TGA - you missed one important hero type - the aviator, veteran of the Great War and now a barnstormer.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceTGA - you missed one important hero type - the aviator, veteran of the Great War and now a barnstormer.

Funny that you would notice that.

Great article TGA, thanks for all the references.

Quote from: NicephorusFunny that you would notice that.

Great article TGA, thanks for all the references.

Yep! Funny, that!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceTGA - you missed one important hero type - the aviator, veteran of the Great War and now a barnstormer.

-clash

Thanks for the catch!  And there is no excuse for the oversight considering that one of best characters in the legendary Pulp campaign ran by a friend in my university days (and the experience that turned me on to pulp gaming) was of this type of hero.  As a hero aviators naturally appealed to the male teen audience of the original pulps, and they look darned cool in their flying gear.  Consider it added!


TGA

Quote from: The Good AssyrianThanks for the catch!  And there is no excuse for the oversight considering that one of best characters in the legendary Pulp campaign ran by a friend in my university days (and the experience that turned me on to pulp gaming) was of this type of hero.  As a hero aviators naturally appealed to the male teen audience of the original pulps, and they look darned cool in their flying gear.  Consider it added!


TGA

You're very welcome! I think you covered all the major types aside from that, but given my recent activities, I was peculiarly sensitized to that particular type.

-clash

Added: Great job, TGA!

Quote from: The Good AssyrianI love gaming in the pulp genre.  I even wrote an article for a gaming newsletter put out by some friends of mine a number of years back dealing with how to run pulp games.  It is a bit long and the section of specific games is dated, but at the risk of boring people here it is.  I hope it may be of use.

Awesome. Thanks!

Seanchai

Quote from: David RI am thinking of going the Savage Worlds route since I'm currently using it for a brief campaign I'm running.

This may be of use, Pulp GM's Toolkit from Pinnacle,  written by Wiggy.

Ahem.  First post.  Nice to be here.

Quote from: MountZionRyanAhem.  First post.  Nice to be here.

Welcome to theRPGsite!


TGA

TGA ,bloody hell that was a damn fine post. You have really described the "feel" of what a Pulp campaign can be like. This is the second time you've helped me out in my gaming

MountZionRyan thanks for the link (I've got some reading to do ) and welcome to the site.

Hey if anyone else has got a particular take on what "pulp" is please share it.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: MountZionRyanThis may be of use, Pulp GM's Toolkit from Pinnacle,  written by Wiggy.

Ahem.  First post.  Nice to be here.

Hi MountZionRyan! Good to have you here!

-clash