BRP Interplanetary

[seneschal]

IMO people have appropriated the word 'pulp' to be a synonym for 'gonzo action'... as in the sort of no-consequence action we seen in a lot of 'action movies'... James Bond is that sort of 'pulp' to me... and Brian Lumley's 'Guns Against Cthulhu' stuff.

It's not to my taste (and I think the real Pulps had a much wider range of style) but I can see why people enjoy it. I just don't think CoC needs an entire book devoted to it. Maybe just a pamphlet of guidelines regarding fate points and mooks... and the San mechanics Filbanto mentioned.

I'm also curious to see how Interplanetary will deal with the balance between the game and the literary style where the heroes seldom/never take the fall.

I've got no interest in playing PCs who cannot die (and seldom fail). Our group used to play Deadlands and that is pretty much how our GM ran it... and I blame it on the ability to 'chip away' most incoming damage. It seemed to me to short circuit the need to make plans (Our group would just charge in the front door, guns blazing).

I'm sure that someone will feel that if their PC dies during a game emulating the 'Planetary Romance' genre it would be a fail...

We've had a similar discussion in the superhero thread. As others have said, "pulp" encompasses a variety of sub-genres. BRP's gritty mechanics handle pulp horror (Call of Cthulhu) and pulp fantasy (Conan, that is to say, RuneQuest plus Call of Cthulhu) well. And they'd fit the pulp detective/noir sub-genre (Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Fantomas, the Fu Manchu novels) well, too.

But they're less of a good fit for other, more heroic and cinematic, sub-genres. Ace G8, Secret Agent X-1, The Shadow, The Spider, Doc Savage, The Avenger ... these guys fed into and were supplemented by newspaper strips, radio dramas (I Love A Mystery, The Green Hornet, I Love Adventure, Chandu the Magician) and again by the movie serials of the 1930s through the '50s. Throw in early South Seas adventures by writers like Louis L'Amour, too. This multimedia mix of the action/adventure sub-genre is what many gamers mean by the phrase "pulp adventure." In these tales, the heroes often get captured and beat up by the bad guys, but they aren't killed outright (because the Big Boss wants to know what they know before offing them). They think or luck their way out of innumerable deathtraps than can and have killed lesser men (and occasionally, lesser women). And they always manage to pull out the stops to defeat the villains -- and survive. Associates (NPCs in game terms) may die but the heroes and their immediate companions (the player-characters) almost never do, though they escape peril by the skin of their teeth. To emulate this sort of adventure, you would have to use some of BRP's options and tweak the rules a bit (CON + SIZ Hit Points for starters).

Now, it is possible to do this as an "attitude adjustment" as others have said. My Classic Traveller games (a system as lethal or more so than BRP) were very cinematic, with my players allowed to get away with all sorts of crazy heroic stuff. But that's because as GM I was bending, breaking, or ignoring the rules to enable them to do so. If we'd played the game as written, the heroes would have quickly perished. My indulgence enabled them to be the Flash Gordon and Captain Kirk types they wanted to be. When we played with other GMs, they quickly became sneaky Harry Mudds in order to survive. Neither play style was wrong, but cinematics weren't supported by the rules as written.

It's always assumed that John Carter, Indiana Jones, Sky Captain, The Shadow, Tarzan, James Bond, et. al., could die like any other mortal, but they somehow manage to elude the opportunity in adventure after adventure. To pull off a pulp adventure campaign with BRP, we'd need to find a way to emulate that instead of the old school "die at any moment, roll up a new PC" mentality left over from D&D.

[Mankcam]

I agree pretty much with Seneschal's take on all this...

Edited March 11, 2012 by Mankcam

[Simlasa]

It's always assumed that John Carter, Indiana Jones, Sky Captain, The Shadow, Tarzan, James Bond, et. al., could die like any other mortal, but they somehow manage to elude the opportunity in adventure after adventure. To pull off a pulp adventure campaign with BRP, we'd need to find a way to emulate that instead of the old school "die at any moment, roll up a new PC" mentality left over from D&D.

I think that the 'could die' still needs to be a possibility there though... somehow... otherwise (from my experience) people starts playing as if they're a Terminator. "Why bother to sneak in by the sewers? I've got a full load of fate points!"

I think it's a tricky wire to walk... if you don't want Harry Mudd and you don't want Invincible Killing Machine.

Give my PC some statistical superiority over the common villains (mooks), but when I go up against Ming the Merciless I want it to be a nail-biter.

I don't think it's a 'mentality left over from D&D' though... it's just that nagging remembrance that in real life doing those things will get you killed, fast. If you get in as many sword fights in a day as the average John Carter episode you're gonna eventually lose one.

For whatever reason it seems a book/movie can sell me on it better than when I'm playing it in a game (the main reason I'm not big on 'cinematic' rules). Some of us can make the 'attitude adjustment' easier than others. Maybe that means I'm insecure.

Edited March 11, 2012 by Simlasa

[1d8+DB]

Hee. Maybe this needs a thread of its own?

Alright, so what I see as being specifically conventions of the pulp genre are as follows:

1.) Incredibly lucky heroes. The heroes are always cheating death via the most amazing coincidences.

2.) The Death Trap. As these stories were often serialized, this quickly became a common device. Whether it was being suspended over a pool of sharks (or mutant baracudas), or fed into a sawblade on a conveyor belt, it was never simply enough to shoot the hero, or his girlfriend.

3.) No moral ambiguity. We're good, they're evil.

4.) Sex. From the famous, or infamous Margaret Brundage covers, to swooning heroines always suffering drastic clothing malfunctions, they was a lot of suggested sexuality in these stories.

Catalog

Edited March 11, 2012 by 1d8+DB

[Worrapol]

Any progress reports on BRP Interplanetary?

. . . . gotta think about something while I wait for Mythic Iceland to become available in hard copy . . .

[Jason D]

Any progress reports on BRP Interplanetary?

. . . . gotta think about something while I wait for Mythic Iceland to become available in hard copy . . .

Still working on it, and just chatted briefly with Dustin about it a week or so ago via email.

[NurgleHH]

Any release dates???

[Jason D]

Any release dates???

The book would need to be finished first, and it's not quite there.

I'll announce when it's done and the manuscript is in Chaosium's hands, and follow through with each step as I hear it.

[seneschal]

Thanks for letting us know you are still slogging away. Your tome is highly anticipated.

[Simlasa]

Yep, I'm trying to be patient and not keep asking 'are we there yet?'... but it's still top of my wish list.

[scribe]

Hmm. this sounds interesting. I've been working on a sci-fi (story/?series?) off & on for about a year. Wife loves the old TV series Little House & Walton's Mt. (for two.) After the elventieth time I'm tired of it, but thought that colonizing a planet (complete with both friendly & not - so -friendly aliens for neighbors) might make a good story line. So maybe it might be a good place to game. Trouble is there are so many threads, themes and things to put in! {Yeah i know it's "my world" but I still like to keep it together. And the ideas just keep flowing! So - Go You!

[USAFguy]

Scribe, it sounds a bit like the storyline of High Chapparal (sp?)...lots of interesting neighbors, all living uneasily/peacefully together until outsiders (or insiders) stir up trouble for everyone.

[seneschal]

Scribe, it sounds a bit like the storyline of High Chapparal (sp?)...lots of interesting neighbors, all living uneasily/peacefully together until outsiders (or insiders) stir up trouble for everyone.

Heh, or the storyline of Lost in Space. The Robinson family's crash site -- no matter how remote, uncharted, and inhospitable it may have been -- was apparently in a high traffic area, attracting miners, escaped convicts, Space Patrolmen, pirates, mummies, witches, cruise lines, con men, merchants, would-be conquerors, Mephistophelean bargainers, even Peter Pan. Who needs a working starship or a TARDIS when every nut within three galaxies knocks on your front hatch asking to borrow a cup of sugar?

[fmitchell]

Heh, or the storyline of Lost in Space. The Robinson family's crash site -- no matter how remote, uncharted, and inhospitable it may have been -- was apparently in a high traffic area, attracting miners, escaped convicts, Space Patrolmen, pirates, mummies, witches, cruise lines, con men, merchants, would-be conquerors, Mephistophelean bargainers, even Peter Pan.

Let's not forget the talking carrot. Or the frog prince, who apparently walked there.

If I were going to do the "settlers on an alien planet" thing, I'd come up with a consistent set of settlers (maybe not all at once) and a plausible reason for visitors.

[Evilschemer]

Anyone interested in a sci fi castaway game should check out the bbc series Outcasts on Netflix.

[seneschal]

Anyone interested in a sci fi castaway game should check out the bbc series Outcasts on Netflix.

The solar flares were getting rough; the tiny ship was tossed.

If not for the courage of its fearless crew the Minnow would be lost, the Minnow would be lost.

On the other hand, getting spacewrecked with Ginger and Mary Anne would be no bad thing ...

[Jeffrywith1e]

a three hour tour?

[seneschal]

I've been teasing, but a serious campaign of "Settlers in Space" could be a good one. For inspiration, Little House on the Prairie, Swiss Family Robinson and The Waltons are good places to start, as well as other frontier shows such as Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Boone, Doctor Quinn, Medicine Woman and Davy Crockett and/or your favorite Westerns involving "nesters" or homesteaders. Ironically, the first season (black-and-white) of Lost in Space attempts to do this, having an emphasis on exploration and discovery -- and dealing with weird stuff encountered. Despite its goofy title, Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a decent sci-fi survival tale.

[Matt]

Forgive me if I missed it, but there are 30 pages of posts in this thread: is this book out or coming out soon? I would love some Flash Gordon/Dejah Thoris action. "Space: 1889" is too clunky for me. Would love to see a good sourcebook I can draw from and that will save me some work.

[ORtrail]

Sadly no, it is a work-in-progress, it seems. On the positive side, there is Swords of Cydoria, in PDF or print form. I only just got my print copy this month, but it might be what you are are seeking. There should be some threads on it too. The author has been active on this forum too.

Try this thread

And this one for more Cydoria goodness

[Jason D]

Forgive me if I missed it, but there are 30 pages of posts in this thread: is this book out or coming out soon? I would love some Flash Gordon/Dejah Thoris action. "Space: 1889" is too clunky for me. Would love to see a good sourcebook I can draw from and that will save me some work.

I can confirm that it is still in progress, slowly. It got put on a back burner while I completed other projects, and then many life issues intervened to slow progress. I'm hoping that when my slate clears in the next few months I can get it into the final stretch of development.

[Matt]

I can confirm that it is still in progress, slowly. It got put on a back burner while I completed other projects, and then many life issues intervened to slow progress. I'm hoping that when my slate clears in the next few months I can get it into the final stretch of development.

Well, here's hoping you find the time to finish it up and make it available to the rest of us! It's a genre I have always enjoyed but unfortunately have yet to be able to roleplay in. Unless you count my "Star Wars without the Empire or the Force" game usng West End Games' 1st edition, but that was more just goofy sci-fi than swords 'n' planets.

[K Peterson]

Anything ever happen with this?

[Guy Hoyle]

I'm still interested in this. I'd love to see it in BRP format. but what other Sword & Planet games are out there?

Guy

[Jason D]

Anything ever happen with this?

It's still on a back burner, sorry to say. Work intensified, life stuff got in the way, and I did a lot of work on a different project that was a more personal matter and had a limited window of opportunity.

That project was Lords of Gossamer & Shadow, a diceless game based on Erick Wujcik's system for Amber Diceless Roleplaying. Erick was a friend and a mentor to me, and I had to put other projects aside to help get his game system back into print.

I also did some writing for Cubicle 7's The Laundry and World War Cthulhu lines.

However, I'm still interested in finishing the project, but I still need to gauge Chaosium's interest given how late it is. The changes to Call of Cthulhu might impact things, as well.

It may end up being a self-published thing, or going through another publisher.