Pulp Cthulhu

[PK Games]

So, yeah, when?

Also, anyone done any coversions for H.E.X.? Or Space 1889?

[Simlasa]

Isn't Cthulhu already 'pulp'?

[SDLeary]

So, yeah, when?

"Real soon now"... year not specified.

SDLeary

[NickMiddleton]

Isn't Cthulhu already 'pulp'?

Not really.

The term is generally used to refer to the action stories featuring characters such as The Shadow and Doc Savage etc in the pulp magazines. Where as Call of Cthulhu is what was at the time generally termed weird fiction.

And to a modern audience "pulp" (whatever it's original usage) means lots of things that typical Call of Cthulhu games simply aren't.

Cheers,

Nick

[Steve Mitchell]

It was "real soon now" when I talked to Chaosium guys at Origins in 2002. . .and again in 2004. I haven't made it back to Origins since then, but I bet I'd get the same answer.

Lovecraftian Cthulhu is not pulp in the "smashing action tales" tradition of pulp, although a couple of HPL's stories drift in that direction, notably "The Lurking Fear" and "The Horror at Red Hook." But Lovecraftian Cthulhu is not the only Cthulhu brand; there's also Howardian Cthulhu, much more in the pulp action vein.

Remember, when confronted by the loathsome aberrations of the Mythos, a prim New England mama's boy will curl up in a ball and whimper a lot while his hair turns white; but a barrel-chested he-man from Texas will grab the nearest yataghan or six-shooter and charge straight in!

[Dredj]

Remember, when confronted by the loathsome aberrations of the Mythos, a prim New England mama's boy will curl up in a ball and whimper a lot while his hair turns white; but a barrel-chested he-man from Texas will grab the nearest yataghan or six-shooter and charge straight in!

And that barrel-chested Texas he-man committed suicide when he could no longer live with his mother.

[rust]

Remember, when confronted by the loathsome aberrations of the Mythos, a prim New England mama's boy will curl up in a ball and whimper a lot while his hair turns white; but a barrel-chested he-man from Texas will grab the nearest yataghan or six-shooter and charge straight in!

Well, at least the New England guy has a slim chance to survive, while the

... ah, let's call it "heroic" ... Texan doubtless becomes a "statistic" ... :cool:

As for the publication date of Pulp Cthulhu, I think it will be soon after the

day of the Pope's marriage ...

[seneschal]

I dunno. The testosterone-pumped hero of The Hoofed Thing managed to chop an 11-foot-tall eldritch monstrosity in half with a broadsword (that just happened to be laying about), apparently without suffering SAN breakdown. And how many ancient, otherworldly, partially intangible nasties did Conan, Kull, and Bran Mac Morn elude or defeat?

To be fair, Lovecraft's average protagonist is an 86-year-old scholar with a limp and a heart murmur while Howard's average protagonist is a 20- or 30-something varsity athlete with a credit account at the local Army surplus store. I also remember an episode of G.I. Joe ("Yo, Joe!") in which Our Heroes battled and defeated a very Lovecraftian critter dwelling in a well. (It is well-known that 1980s era energy weapons were incapable of killing men but were highly effective against supernatural and semi-supernatural entities.)

[Simlasa]

Lovecraft's average protagonist is an 86-year-old scholar with a limp and a heart murmur

Surely that's hyperbole... most of them are just average shmoes. Others are plucky enough to bring guns, explosives and big tomes of magical aid. Some are a bit 'sensitive' but I can't think of any that are actually infirm... at least not at the start.

I guess when I think 'pulp' I just see it as a kind of cheap magazine... solely for entertainment purposes... but not any specific kind of genre or story. Not necessarily action-packed.

Pulp Cthulhu has never been on the list of games I'm awaiting on pins and needles... it suggests something too close to the Brian Lumley trash I once got suckered into reading.

[GianniVacca]

Pulp Cthulhu has never been on the list of games I'm awaiting on pins and needles... it suggests something too close to the Brian Lumley trash I once got suckered into reading.

Some of Brian Lumley's stories are indeed pure "Pulp Cthulhu" (the Dreamlands cycle); some others definitely aren't (e.g., the ones featuring Deep Ones).

[Simlasa]

Yeah, it was the Titus Crow stuff that annoyed me... but that's what I read first... and kind of poisoned me on being able to read any of his other stuff.

I'm unreasonable like that sometimes...

[Merak Gren]

I've been looking forward to this for a while now.

My suggestions to up the Pulp element in CoC are;

1. Heroic hitpoints.

2. BRP combat

3. Half hit points for the mythos nasties.

4. No armour points for mythos nasties.

5. Mythos nasties vulnarable to gunfire.

6. Mythos nasties suffer double damage from Marquis of Queensbury rules fisticuffs.

7. Hero Points: Shrug off a SAN loss, shrug off Major wounds, Quad damage for D4 combat rounds (this is a nod to Sandy Petersen who wrote an article about giving bonus to players).

I haven't play tested it, but should be fun.

[Charles Green]

I've been looking forward to this for a while now.

I like it. The only addition I'd make would be to have mythos beasties never immune to explosives.

[Merak Gren]

I like it. The only addition I'd make would be to have mythos beasties never immune to explosives.

Yes. Agreed I forgot about explosives.

All you need now is some colourful careers, a jungle, biplanes, tribal natives, abox ful of dynamite and some mythos nasties.

[TrippyHippy]

Not really.

The term is generally used to refer to the action stories featuring characters such as The Shadow and Doc Savage etc in the pulp magazines. Where as Call of Cthulhu is what was at the time generally termed weird fiction.

And to a modern audience "pulp" (whatever it's original usage) means lots of things that typical Call of Cthulhu games simply aren't.

Cheers,

Nick

Actually this is more of a gamer fad definition than a universal one. If you asked someone what 'pulp' refered to 10 years ago, they'd almost certainly start refering to a Tarantino movie.

'Pulp' is any type of cheap fiction, including action, romance, westerns, sci-fi, fantasy and horror. Lovecraft's work would be part of this.

[GianniVacca]

'Pulp' is any type of cheap fiction, including action, romance, westerns, sci-fi, fantasy and horror. Lovecraft's work would be part of this.

Er... This only works if you consider Lovecraft as a writer of 'cheap fiction'. I certainly don't.

[Jarulf]

I assume "cheap" in this case means low cost. From magazines printed on cheap pulpy paper. Not a comment on the quality of the stories themselves?

[Vorax Transtellaris]

According to Wikipedia

(...)The name "pulp" comes from the cheap wood pulp paper on which such magazines were printed. Magazines printed on better paper and usually offering family-oriented content were often called "glossies" or "slicks". Pulps were the successor to the "penny dreadfuls", "dime novels", and short fiction magazines of the nineteenth century. Although many respected writers wrote for pulps, the magazines are perhaps best remembered for their lurid and exploitative stories, and for their similarly sensational cover art. Modern superhero comic books are sometimes considered descendants of "hero pulps"; pulp magazines often featured illustrated novel-length stories of heroic characters such as The Shadow, Doc Savage, and the Phantom Detective.(...)

[Steve Mitchell]

Actually this is more of a gamer fad definition than a universal one. If you asked someone what 'pulp' refered to 10 years ago, they'd almost certainly start refering to a Tarantino movie.

'Pulp' is any type of cheap fiction, including action, romance, westerns, sci-fi, fantasy and horror. Lovecraft's work would be part of this.

The real pulp fiction is any fiction published in the pulp magazines. Lovecraft had stories printed in Amazing Stories, Astounding Stories, and Weird Tales, so he was most definitely a pulp writer. As were Long, Derleth, Howard, Smith, et al.

It's the gamers who have tended to restrict the concept of "pulp" to the action-adventure brand of pulp fiction. But you could just as easily make an RPG about romances in the old west, college sports, or defective detectives and call it a Pulp RPG.

Right now, I'm hard at work on an RPG based on the legendary pulp magazine Strange Suicide Stories. One-off adventures only, though; the topic does not lend itself well to campaign games.

[GianniVacca]

Right now, I'm hard at work on an RPG based on the legendary pulp magazine Strange Suicide Stories. One-off adventures only, though; the topic does not lend itself well to campaign games.

[TrippyHippy]

No it's not a comment on the stories themselves - which have been re-evaluated over time. But it is pertinent to remember that Lovecraft made very little money from his writing while he was still alive.

Actually most 'pulp' rpgs seem to be slightly powered down supers games to me, but actually pretty much the entire genre selection of rpgs could be termed 'pulp' on one level or other. D&D is pulp, Traveller and Star Wars are pulp, CoC is pulp, Champions is pulp, Deadlands is pulp, etc.

There are a few games that aspire towards more serious literature representations - Pendragon, for example - but most games just aspire towards 'fun'. And there is nothing wrong with that.

[p_clapham]

Pulp being powered down SuperHeroes is entirely appropriate thematically. The Heroes in Pulp narratives were the precursors to the comic book heroes. Elements of Doc Savage for example can be found in Batman, Superman and the Fantastic Four. Batman himself owes as much to Zorro as he does the Shadow and the Spider.

Actually most 'pulp' rpgs seem to be slightly powered down supers games to me, but actually pretty much the entire genre selection of rpgs could be termed 'pulp' on one level or other. D&D is pulp, Traveller and Star Wars are pulp, CoC is pulp, Champions is pulp, Deadlands is pulp, etc.

[p_clapham]

That depends on the story actually. Lovecraft was under constant pressure from editors to simplify his stories. Some of the "Pulpier" tales such as "Herbert West, Reanimator" were hated by Lovecraft. He felt his talents were being cheapened to write tales like that.

I assume "cheap" in this case means low cost. From magazines printed on cheap pulpy paper. Not a comment on the quality of the stories themselves?

[soltakss]

He felt his talents were being cheapened to write tales like that.

Lovecraft's talents cheapened? They must have been bad.

[p_clapham]

Depends on your individual taste really. I did enjoy "Herbert West: Reanimator". Then again I also liked "The Nameless City", which Lovecraft was aparently fond of.