Credits Writing: Chris Halliday, Christopher Helton, Jonathan Nichols and Jonathan M. Thompson
Additional Development: John Snead, DM Elliot, Anna Dobritt, Stephen J. Miller, Miller, Ramsey Lundock, Neale Davidson, José Por rio, rio, Timothy Brannon, Eric Pavlat, J. Thomas Pavlat and Luke Green Proofreading: T. R. Knight Graphic Design, Typography Typography and Digitial Pre-Press: Richard Iorio II Playtesters: Jonathan M. Thompson, Adam R. Thompson, Terrece Thompson, Clay Weeks, Christopher Helton, Ramsey Lundock, Mark Vorwerk and José Por rio rio Cover Art: Robert Hack Nemo Diary by Shawn Hilton
Pulp Fantastic Copyright © 2015 Christopher Helton and Jonathan M. Thompson. Pulp Fantastic is published by Battlefield Press, Inc., PO Box 861 Ringgold, Louisiana 71068 First printing. ISBN 0-9721419-8-7 0-9721419-8-7. Game system based on Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space, DESIGNED AND WRITTEN by David F. Chapman. Copyright © 2009 by Cubicle 7. Fantastic Universe, Pulp Fantastic, Fantastic World, Steel and Swords, Savage Adventures and Mystic East are all Trademarks of Christopher Helton and Jonathan M. Thompson. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be duplicated without permission of the publisher or the copyright holder. holder. Errata and other feedback can be sent to
[email protected]. Attention: The bearer of this PDF has the permission of the publisher and the copyright owners to have one (1) copy printed for personal use u se via any commercial printer. If you are a clerk in a copy print center and you are reading this notices please do not treat our customers or yours as if they were a criminal — print this file. We are allowing it and you should also.
Introduction What is Pulp Fantastic? What’s a Role-playing Game? The Basics
11 11 12 12
How To Use This Book Playing the Game PULP! Chapter 1 Characters Attributes Skills Traits Story Points Rules A Note On Dice Setting Example of Play Chapter 2 Creating a Group The Premise Who are the Characters Characters?? Who’ss the Supportin Who’ Supporting g Cast? What Resources Do You Have? Who Opposes You? Connect It All Up Creating your Character Attributes The Six Attributes Awareness Coordination Ingenuity Presence Resolve Strength Skills Areas of Expertise Trappings Assigning Skill Points Skills List
12 12 13 27 27 27 27 27 28 28 28 29 29 33 33 33 33 35 35 35 36 36 36 36 36 37 37 37 37 37 38 38 38 38 39
Animal Handling Athletics Convince Craft
39 39 40 40
Fighting Knowledge Marksman Medicine Science Subterfuge Survival Technology Transport Traits Aff ecting ecting your Character Buying Traits Traits List List of Traits in order Good Traits Bad Traits Special Traits Psychic Traits Creature Traits Good Traits Bad Traits Special Traits Psychic Traits Story Points Finishing Touches Name Background Connections Appearance Equipment Personal Goals Groups & Bases Story Point Traits Good Group Traits Bad Group Traits Chapter 3 The Colonial World Travel in the Colonies Regions of the Era The United States England and Europe North America South and Central America
40 40 40 42 42 42 42 42 43 43 43 43 44 44 44 44 45 45 45 46 52 57 59 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 63 63 65 67 67 67 67 67 68 73 74
76 78 81 81 83 83 83 83 84
Chapter 5 Division 4 French Foreign Legion Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Invisible College Knights of the Round Table MI7 The Air Cavalry Pinkerton Detective Agency
99 99 100 100 100 101 102 103 103
1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923
84 84 85 85 85 85 85 86 86 86 86 87 87 87 88 88 88 88 89 89 89 89 89
Scotlan d Yard Scotland International Criminal Police Organization Red Headed League The Tong of the Black Scorpion The Tsang-Chan The Maa The Nazis The Gestapo The SS The Ahnenerbe The Mara Brotherhood Chapter 6 Why Roleplay? Why Use Rules? Rules are meant to be broken Don’t Cheat Creating Your Character Playing Your Character Advanced Techniques Research & Investigati Investigation on Action Working as a group
104 105 105 106 106 106 107 108 110 110 111 111 113 113 113 113 113 114 114 114 114 115 115
1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936
89 90 90 90 91 91 92 92 94 94 94 95
Character Plots Downtime Conspiracies Chapter 7 The Basic Rule Unskilled Attem Attempts pts How a roll works Intent Difficulty How well have you done? Cooperation Taking Time
115 115 116 117 117 118 118 118 119 120 120 121
1937 1938 1939
95 96 96
Africa Asia Australia Antarctica Chapter 4 Interesting Times The Great War The Roaring 20’ 20’ss Timeline Time line 1901 – 1939
Contested Rolls Complications Multiple Opponents Combat & Extended Conicts
122 122 122 123
Intent Action Phases Exceptions Characters roll and perform their actions Reactions - Resisting the roll Ongoing Reactions Combat Complication Complicationss Getting Hit Chases
123 123 123 123 123 124 124 126 126
Terrain Pursuit! Combat in Chases Doing Something Crazy Cooperating Coopera ting in a Chase Losing a Physical Conict: Getting Hurt Levels of Injury Fighting Damage Marksman Damage Other Sources of Injury Mental or Social Conicts Bluffing & Deception Arguments Getting scared Losing a Mental or Social Conict Loss of Attribut Attributes es Temporary Bad Trait Forced To Comply Healing Natural Healing Medic! Multiple Injuries and Reduced Attribut Attributes es Story Points
127 127 127 127 127 128 128 129 129 130 133 133 133 133 134 134 134 134 134 134 134 134 135
Obtaining Equipment General Equipment Equipment That’s Not Listed You Have It Until You Need It… Improvising Equipment Weapons Guns Pistols Shotguns and Ries Machine guns Sub-machine Guns Beam Weapons Sniper Ries Telescopic Sight Other Ranged Weapons Melee Weapons Explosives Armor Lifestyle Vehicles Attributes Traits Sample Vehicles
139 139 140 140 140 141 141 141 143 143 144 144 144 145 145 146 146 147 148 149 149 149 149
Clues Bonus Dice Avoiding Failure Ignore Damage Ignoring Bad Traits Inspiring Others Altering the Plot Gaining Story Points Good Role-pla Role-playing ying Embracing Bad Traits Completing Goals Accepting Plot Twists
136 136 136 136 136 136 136 137 137 137 137 137
Motorcycles Cars Military Vehicles Airplanes Zeppelins Technology Tech nology Levels TL 1: Stone Age TL 2: Bronze/Iron Age – Middle Ages TL 3: Age of Reason TL 4: Industrial Age TL 5: Space Faring/Informa Faring/Information tion Age TL 6: Star Faring Age
149 150 150 150 152 152 152 152 153 153 153 154
Helping Out Maximum Story Points Learning and Improveme Improvement nt Attributes
137 137 137 138
Skills Traits Story Points Leaving the Game Getting Killed Forced to Leave Choosing to Leave Chapter 8 Trappings vs Group Traits
138 138 138 138 138 138 138 139 139
Purchasing Items of Lower or Higher Technology Technology Level 154 Chapter 9 155 Owning a Invention 155
Creating Inventions Behold! I call it the… Building Inventions Invention Traits Augment Bulky Control Convert Delete
156 156 156 157 157 157 158 158 158
Detect Disable Feedback Force-eld Fragile Hungry Innocuous One Shot Open/Close Restriction Scan Simple Controls Simple Mechanism Slow Transmit Travel Unreliable Weld Zap Invention Story Points Some Example Inventions Gas Gun Hypno-Disc
158 158 158 158 158 158 159 159 159 159 159 159 159 159 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160
Rocket Pack Sub-Etheric Electrosender Chapter 10 Storyteller Director Referee What do you need to play? Basic Gamemaste Gamemastering ring Taking Charge Be Prepared! Make The Players Do The Work Relax & Have Fun
160 161 163 163 163 163 164 164 164 165 165 165
Hints & Tips Rules & When To Bend Them Death is not the end… What To Do When Players Are Absent
165 165 166 167
Bringing the Game to Life Playing Non-Player Characters Atmosphere Experience and Gain The Gamesmaster Is Always Right Players Chapter 11 Building Buildi ng a Better Villain Motive The Patriot The Thrill-Seeker The Quester The Empire-Builder The Glory Hunter Just Plain Bad Villain Archetyp Archetypes es The Foreign Mastermind Siwang Lung – The Death Dragon The Mad Scientist Doktor Todeskopf Radium Man The Cult Leader The Black Lama The Anti-Villain The Pulp Nazi The Corrupt Corporate Rex Monday The Dragon Lady Du Kai Hua – Poison Blossom The Baroness Baroness Veronique Devereaux The Masked Terror The Crimson Claw The Master Spy The Great Dictator General Vladic Kazan, Premier of Berezkia Berezkia The Mob Boss Bruno Sposato The Man-Made Monster Die Schreck The Mangler The Hoxton Creeper Chapter 12 Creature Rules Size Speed Creature Skills Athletics
167 168 168 168 169 169 171 171 171 171 171 171 172 172 172 172 172 173 175 176 178 178 178 180 180 181 181 183 183 183 183 184 184 185 186 186 187 187 188 189 190 190 193 193 193 194 194 194
Fighting Marksman Subterfuge Survival Creature Creation Traits Additional Limbs* Aggressive Amphibious
194 194 194 194 195 195 196 196 196
Armor Aquatic Bite Burrowing Claw Constrict Climbing Enhanced Senses Environmental Fast-Moving Fear Factor* Flight Frenzy Grab Immaterial Immortal Immunity* Infection Invisible
196 196 196 196 197 197 197 197 197 197 197 198 198 198 198 198 199 199 199
Leap Lurker Natural Weapons Networked
200 200 200 200
Nocturnal Passive Poison
200 200 200
Possess Replication Savage Roar Screamer! Shapeshift Slow-Moving Snap Special Stalker
201 201 201 202 202 202 202 202 202
Stinger Stomp Strange Appearance Teleport
202 202 203 203
Trample Warning Chapter 13 Animals Alligator Bat Bear Big Cat Bird, Large
203 203 205 205 205 206 206 206 206
Boar (Wild Pig) Chimpanzee Gorilla Monitor Lizard Octopus Rat Scorpion Shark Snake, Constrictor Snake, Venomous Wolf Cryptids Ape, Giant Ape Man Kraken Stinging Bell Plant Mongolian Mongolia n Death Worm Spider, Giant Spider, Monstrous Vampire Bat, Giant White Ape Yeti Meh-Teh
207 207 207 207 208 208 208 209 209 209 209 210 210 210 210 211 212 212 213 213 214 214 214
Migoi Fantastic Creatures Eldritch Abomination Minor Eldritch Abomination Martian Martian War Machine Undead Mummy Skeleton Vampire New Vampire Master Vampire
215 215 215 216 217 218 218 218 219 219 219 220
Werewolf Zombie The Enslaved Dead The Hungry Dead
220 221 221 222
Dinosaurs Pterosaur Raptor Tyrannosaur Chapter 14 The Black Tie Aff air air Robin and His Unmerry Men Merry Men Robin Hood
222 222 223 224 225 225 225 226 226
Grease Monkey Gumshoe Jungle King Law Enforcer Mob Moll Martial Artist Masked Avenger Mystic Mystery Man
244 245 245 246 246 247 247 248 248
Aftermath Lady Lilliamont Mr Haberdrant of 22 Arcadia Avenue Mr. Haberdrant Underground Auction Thug Light Lance Aftermath All Seeing Eye Bibliography References Movies and TV Comics The Genre The Pulp Magazines Reprints Crimeghting/Superhero Aviation/War Horror/Weird Menace Spy/Espionage Adventure/Exploration Detective Stories
226 227 227 227 228 228 229 230 231 231 233 233 233 234 234 234 234 234 235 235 235 235 235
News Hound Operator Personality Relic Hunter Rocket Man Science Hero Scientist Sea Dog Soldier Weird Inventor
249 250 250 251 251 252 252 253 253 254
Science Fiction General Comtemporary Comtem porary Pulp The Era Places Appendix Academic Air Ace Big Game Hunter Brawler Escape Artist Explorer
236 236 236 236 236 239 239 240 240 241 241 242
Femme Fatale Gangster Gentleman Crook G-Man
242 243 243 244
Introduction T
he characters in a campaign are like the heroes from the pulp magazines of long ago. They let the Players be faster, stronger and smarter,
in a by-gone era where truth and justice could change the world for the better, even if only on a smaller scale. They are the technological knights who sweep from the tops of their gleaming high-technology towers with their
wonders from the world of tomorrow. tomorrow. They are the shadowy avengers who step out of the darkness of back alleys to strike against the criminals who are choking their city. They are the garishly dressed masked mystery men who use the loudness of their anonymity to work against the forces of evil. They are the heroes of .
Back in the Pulp Era, the lines between those who were heroes and those who were villains were clearly demarcated in the stark contrast of black and white. The heroes were giants in
their world, towering over even the colossal skyscrapers going up in the gleaming metropolis that they would safeguard. In the chapters that follow you will nd the rules that are the backbone of character creation in . But, these rules are only a part of the process of creating characters. Pulp heroes are stories, modern day mythologies that reected the time period in which they were created, as well as amplifying that world. Those stories should be the most important element of the character
creation process, and those stories should take precedence over the rules. The rules of character creation should help
of millions of readers, the magazines provided a nancial foothold for numerous writers who went on to create stories and books that are the great works that the pulps were (for the most part) not. Ray Bradbury, Max Brand, Jack London, London, Sinclair Lewis,
Stephen Crane, H.P. Lovecraft, Walter Gibson, Lester Dent — the list of writers whose works appeared in the pulps is long. The list of styles and genres that our ourished ished in those magazines is just as long, they promised promised fantastic fantasy and thrilling thrillers: thrillers: from the whodunnit to the horror story, from the Wild West to the moons of Mars, the pulps helped establish science ction and fantasy in the literary experience of the early 20th Century. The pulp publishers were in it, of course, for the money (some things never never change). Fortunes owed from the promises of the sensational and the sleazy. With literally
hundreds of competitors competitors on the news-stands, the publishers constantly searched for the type of story that would sell. And, in the 1930s, they struck gold with tales of
modern knights battling evil —the tales that provided provided the fodder for . The publishers could hardly help but notice that their largest-selling issues were ones featuring heroes — or villains — familiar to their audience, main characters char acters developed in earlier editions. From that formula, it was a
short alley-vault alley-vault to continuing series based upon the daring
to simulate the stories of the character, stories yet to be told, not limit them.
exploits of a Pulp hero. And it is the exploits of the hero that and almost all other are inuenced by.
If at times sounds too corny to be true,
The rst of these pulp heroes was The Shadow; Shadow; the nemesis
remember this: The pulp heroes heroes that inspire this game were not life-sized characters when they were created in the 1930s, and the decades have done little to make them
of the night, born from the runaway typewriter of Walter
appear any more realistic. They were larger than life colossi who stood astride the mighty metropolitan cities in which they were based, while their adventures spanned the globe…and sometimes beneath the Earth’s surface or far
into outer space. These mythic gures were never intended to reect their contemporar contemporary y world.
Gibson in the early 1930s. The pulp business bus iness was no more imaginative then than television or Hollywood is today; soon, a host of heroes was spawned to capitalize on the
success of The Shadow, from The Spider and The Octopus to Doc Savage and countless others.
!"## $ &' !" & ' () ( ) *+ ,# ,#- $# $#'' $& $&./ ./
The pulp heroes were the last burst of those mass-pro-
Well, that is an easy answer. It is an alternate history set
ction factories known as the pulp magduced, formulaazines. Born about the turn of the century, century, the pulps — they
during what was called the “pulp era,” or the period in history existing between the wars. This game is designed to emulate the adventure stories from that period, this also includes radio dramas and modern movies set in the period.
took their name from the inexpensive paper on which they originally originally were printed — were usually of suspect literary quality, but besides inaming the imaginations
Pulp Fantastic
!" ! "#$0' # 12*34+*#5&-6 7#83/
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You’re probably familiar with computer role-playing
The rst part of this book (once you get past this introduction) is all about set-up – how to come up with a framework
games, where you play a character in some fantasy setting. You wander around doing quests, levelling up, talking to
other characters and getting new gear. Tabletop role-playing games are similar, but there’s one key di ff erence. erence.
Instead of a computer running the game, there’s a human P U T E S
Gamemaster – and that changes everything. Instead of being limited to what the game allows you to do, you canpast do anything can say you need to get a guardedyou door. A imagine. computerLet’s game might only give you the option of ghting the guard or stealing a pass. In a tabletop game, you can try anything – maybe you can persuade the guard to let you past, or bribe him, or sneak through the sewers, or forge a fake pass, or even convince the guard that he should be on your side. The Gamemaster (or ) describes the world, the players decide what they want to do, and then the decides whether or not they succeed.
9"3 :#'&.' Firstly, you need a few friends to play the
rpg. One will beThe thegame Gamemaster, andasthe rest of you will be of theyou players. works with few as two people (one , one player), but it’s best with 3-5
and justice? Are they relic hunters in the employ of a major university museum, braving untold dangers for fortune and glory? Or have they all lost loved ones to the machinations of a nefarious evil mastermind, and are bound together in the cause of justice by grief and a thirst for
vengeance? There are some suggested group frameworks on page 36. Next, there’s the rules section. This covers everything hazardous and nasty that your characters might come across – what happens when you try to shoot a gangster gangster,,
what happens when the gangster tries tri es to shoot you, sneaking around, investigating mysteries and gaining new skill and traits.
responsibility.)
The Gazeteer describes the world of , and players are encouraged to read that to help immerse themselves in the Pulp Era. The Organizations section describes the various groups – both good and bad – your heroes might encounter.
Secondly, you’ll need to be familiar with the contents of this book. You don’t need to memorise the whole thing, but you should understand how the basic rules (chapter
Finally, there’s the Gamemasters section and the Pulp Archetypes chapter. chapter. The former is full of advice and tips for running the game, suggestions for series outlines,
7 – ) work, and how to make characters (chapter
along with a sample adventure to get you started, and the
2 – ).
latter describes the many notable individuals the characters may encounter.
players. (By the way, way, if you haven’t decided d ecided who’ w ho’ss going to be the , then the owner of the book should take on that
Thirdly,, you’ll need a few dice (the normal, Thirdly norma l, six-sided ones). When an outcome is in doubt, you’ll be rolling dice to see
whether or not your character succeeds. Let’s L et’s say you you want
Players are allowed to read everything apart from the ’ section and the Pulp Archetypes chapter – if you spoil the
to scramble over a fence to escape esca pe the gang of thugs thu gs that’s
secrets in there, the game might not be as much fun for you.
on your heels. You’d add your character’s Coordination and Athletics scores together, and then roll two dice. If the total of the dice plus your Coordination and Athletics
Gamemasters, Gamemaste rs, of course, can read the whole book.
is higher than a difficulty number set by the , you make it over the fence in time. If you roll badly... well, looks like
(*#5&-6 $"3 7#83 7 #83
you’ve a ght on your hands, unless you spend a Story Point.
is designed to be played in a series of
Fourth, you’ll need a way to keep track of Story Points. Story points are a way for you to change a bad roll or alter the story in your favour. You’ll be getting – and spending – a lot of story points, so you’ll need a pile of tokens.
Pennies, glass beads, jelly beans, cardboard chits, anything like that will do. Got all that? Good. Let’s get moving.
12
for your group, and how to roll up your individual characters. A framework explains why all your characters are working together, and what it is they’re trying to achieve as a group. Are they fearless explorers of the unknown, uncovering the secret history of mankind? Are they the agents of a reclusive millionaire, millionaire, searching for the secret of eternal youth? Are they a band of bored war-buddies, putting their battle-forged skills to use promoting truth
game sessions. Each game session takes up an evening. Think of each game session as an episode of your own
series. Most of the events in a game session will be mostly self-contained – you you’ll ’ll ght the threat-of-the-week and
deal with the problems surrounding the current crisis – but there will be plot elements and mysteries and conspiracies that continue from episode to episode. Keep the metaphor of the television series in mind as you play the game – it’s a good guide for both players and Gamemasters.
PULP! By Jonathan Nichols , 1937
T
he stake sank into the crumbled wall with a shunk
and Veronica Pentecost sent the vampire back to Hell.
As the last pockets of air wheezed out of the skeletal remains of the undead thing of the night, Veronica lit a
cigarette and blew b lew smoke into the fanged skull sk ull of her prey. Her client would be pleased. Satis ed with her victory,
television set that Veronica had ever seen was placed in the lounge area near the bar. She thought momentarily that she might get to see “The Ed Sullivan Show,” but then
realized that it most likely li kely would not air due to the tragedy and the moderate damage sustained by the show’s studio theatre) as well as many a strange and ancient archeological relic.
Veronica pulled her trench coat around herself and turned
As was instinctive to the detective, Veronica automatical-
to exit the abandoned Brownston B rownstone. e.
ly surveyed the penthouse in a ash, nding it full of the usual suspects:
But before the detective could even reach the doorway, a most terric upheaval of the earth occurred! Debris fell
Dr. Washington “Wash” Stuttz, archeologist and worldwide
from the ceiling and came crashing to the oor. The walls
adventurer. He was a man’s man if there ever was one.
buckled and began b egan to give way as well. Veronica Veronica was going to be trapped in seconds!
Perhaps that is why Veronica disliked him so.
Or rather she would have been, had she not vaulted through
Chase Danner, former agent of the O.S.S. Although he was a skilled pilot and renowned man of action, Chase was yet
the doorway and into the street. It was perhaps not the safest of moves, but a resident of New York seldom is
to turn thirty and still had a brash and impulsive nature. Perhaps that was why Veronica was so drawn to him.
taught earthquake safety. And indeed that is exactly what appeared to be happening that very day in the nation’s largest city: an earthquake.
Asphalt streets were cracked and split open, building foundations had slouched and dozens wandered in the dust-lled air of the aftermath. As the tremors subsided, re trucks and arrived on the scene, eager to put out
the blazes instigated by broken gas mains and fallen ammable materials. Residents turned out to help one another out from under the rubble and to rush those who were wounded to waiting ambulances. In still other pockets of the neighborhood, plumbing had ruptured, spewing forth water and lowering the water
pressure to a dangerously low level, a hazardous development for the remen. What could have caused such a disaster to occur in this
part of the world? world ? Veronica did not know, know, but as her wristwatch began to blink red, she knew that she would be on journey towards towards the answer answer soon.
Hours later in the midtown Manhattan penthouse of millionaire philanthropist Sterling Westinghouse, Veronica
Pentecost brought her sleek and silky form to what would otherwise be an all-boys club. And what a posh and expensive tree house that this boys club held their meetings in. Overlooking the city and out onto the Atlantic Ocean, the penthouse was furnished with every modern convenience conceivable conceivable (the largest
Dr. Campbell Fleming, theoretical physicist and inventor. With a balding head surrounded by long, white wisps of
hair, “The Doc” as he was known looked every bit the part of the prototypical mad scientist. Perhaps that is why he disturbed Veronica so. And nally there was Sterling Westinghouse, millionaire
Wall Street man and philanthropist (how rare those two titles were seen together). Whenever the world was in danger, Westinghouse would call upon Veronica and the three men mentioned previously. Together, they would confront the threat and always they would emerge victorious. Perhaps that is what gave Veronica hope when all seemed lost. “Ms. Pentecost,” Sterling Westinghouse said as he approached her in one of his custom-tailored suits. He took Veronica’s hand and lightly kissed it. “We were worried. When you hadn’t arrived we feared you to be a casualty of the quake.” “As you might imagine, it’s nearly impossible to make it across the city right now,” Veronica explained. “I’ve had a late supper brought up and placed on the bar. If you’d care for any food or drink, please feel free.” “Rather get straight to work if you don’t mind,” Veronica said while taking a seat dangerously close to Chase. “Very well. Obviously, New York City has su ff ered ered a terrible natural disaster this day,” Sterling said, taking center stage as it were on a rise overlooking the lounge.
Pulp Fantastic “But how?” Wash protested. protested. “The city isn’t anywhere near
“I will telephone the airport and have your plane fuelled
a fault line?”
and furnished,” furnished ,” Westinghouse Westinghouse announced. ann ounced. “You will leave
“Precisely, muchacho!” bellowed Dr. Fleming while his body quivered with nervous twitches and jerks of excitement. “Something is indeed rotten in the Big Apple and it’s not the garbage scows!”
P U T E S
“It is beginning to look conspicuously as if this disaster was not natural in any respect. For as you might not be
“Hot dog!” Chase slapped his hands on the machine,
causing no small amount of consternation from Fleming. “I’ve been achin’ something awful to get back into the skies, Daddy-O!” “Pack few personal eff ects, ects, but make absolutely certain
aware, Moscow, Moscow, London, and Paris have all a ll suff ered ered similar fates this day. day. Someone is orchestrating orche strating these earthquakes ea rthquakes
that you have your wrist communicators. Dr. Fleming and I will remain in constant contact with you,” ordered West-
and I have been authorized author ized to put an end to them. Doctor?”
inghouse. “With you lies the hope of humanity, democra-
With that, Doctor Fleming stood up and snorted. He then motioned for the others to follow him as he walked away
Moments later, a C-47 lifted off from from a municipal airport
from the lounge. They proceeded to follow him to an open area of the hardwood oor where some sort of mechanical device stood. It was replete with tubes, wires, coils, and
components hitherto unseen before by anyone in the room save for Jonathan. Excitedly, Doctor Fleming rubbed his hands together and then ipped a switch.
“Walla rutabaga!” the eccentric old man exclaimed as the electric device buzzed to life.
“It’s a doozy, Doc,” Chase said with a whistle. “What is it?” “In the aftermath of today’s quake, inspiration struck me! I became host to a grand idea that I hope will one day take root in the rest of the scientic community as well. Behold my fantastic device! The siesmo-locater!” Dr. Fleming said,
cy, and most importantly…America itself! Godspeed!”
on Long Island. Chase C hase Danner, one of the world’s top pilots, sat smiling in the captain’s seat as he nudged the plane higher and higher into the sky. But perhaps he would not have been smiling so had he
seen the mysterious man in the gray suit who stood at the airport, watching their every move before going to make a phone call…a call uttered entirely in German. CAN OUR BAND OF HEROES LOCATE AND STOP THE SOURCE OF THESE EARTHQUAKES BEFORE IT’S IT ’S TOO LATE?? AND WHAT OF THE MYSTERIOUS MAN IN GRAY FROM THE AIRPORT?
,
pressing another button and causing his device to utter a series of beeping noises.
The wailing of street vendors and beggars assaulted the
“Congratulations, Doc,” Wash grunted. “You’ve invented the seismograph…an instrument that’s been around for years.”
dirty and untouchable as she continuously yanked her owing robes away from grabbing hands.
“Oh no…” Dr. Fleming said with all seriousness. “This is far beyond any seismograph. It is meant to trace energy and force of an entirely di ff erent erent order.”
“You were correct earlier, Dr. Stuttz,” Westinghouse interrupted. “Each of today’s catastrophic earthquakes occurred in proximity to no known geological fault lines. Therefore, they would have to be caused by a construct constru ct made by man that emanates powerful waves of force.” “Force that I have called ‘epsilon waves.’ And now for the rst time, you are about to witness my device track these epsilon waves to their point of origin,” Dr. Fleming said excitedly. Without another word, his machine clicked and whirred and beeped in rapid succession. Within the center of the
eardrums of the three as they made mad e their way through the marketplace. To Veronica Pentecost, the entire display felt
“Want to explain to me again why the hell I have to wear this again?” Veronica Veronica cursed from behind her veil. “Because doll, that’s how women are supposed to dress
round these parts.” Washington Washington Stuttz explained. “Me and Chase here just look like a couple of white men. But if the locals got a good look at your gams, we’d be in the soup for sure.” “How many times have you been here, Stuttz?” Veronica asked as she squeezed herself between denizens of the densely packed bazaar.
“I’m an archeologist,” Wash said blithely. blithely. “Can’t really call cal l yourself that until you’ve been on at least a couple of digs in Egypt, toots.”
Veronica Pentecost took hold of Wash by the shoulder and
device was a globe of the world, a globe that turned slowl slowlyy
spun him around to face her glare.
as a metal pointer dragged across the surface.
“One day you’re going to call me ‘toots’ or ‘doll’…and the next words out of your mouth will be ‘my crotch! She stabbed me in my crotch!’” threatened Veronica.
“It’s moving…it’s moving…” Fleming said with bated breath, b reath, anxiously awaiting awaiting the discovery of the location. The metal needle drew a slow but deliberate line from New York City across the Atlantic Ocean, over the coast of North Africa, and nally came to rest in the center of the nation known as Egypt. 14
presently for the sands of Egypt.”
“That’s right,” Wash replied with a dirty smile. “I like ‘em rough!” Mercifully, Chase arrived in their midst and broke the confrontation apart. He was wearing a turban and robes.
“So what are you supposed to be?” Wash asked incredulously. “One of the rst rules of espionage. Blend in with the populace and don’t call attention to yourself,” the young secret agent stated. “Got these from a vendor for a swell price.” “Friends! Friends!” shouted a just-arrived stranger.
Wash groggily came to after being jarred awake by the
impact of the sweat drop. His open eyes saw the assassins above him and immediately he gasped. This shocked gasp continued as the cloaked men jerked and jolted from the
multiple gunshots that suddenly tore through their bodies. Once they had fallen to the oor, Wash could see Chase Danner standing in the doorway, holding a smoking automatic handgun in each hand and smiling inexplicably.
The approaching stranger was a portly Arab man in an ill-tting and equally ill-fashioned suit. A scraggly black beard surround his lips and chin, contrasting against the pale teeth of his smile.
“Sorry to disturb you’re sheep countin’, Daddy-O. But it
“Welcome to Cairo, City of the Pharaohs! I am to be your guide here, Re-Zal Evad,” the man said with arms wide open.
he had just come within a sweat drop of being a shiskabob,
“Sterling Westinghouse sends his compliments, compliments,”” Wash said to him in response. “You know this cat?” asked Chase. “Westinghouse called me just after we took off and and said he’d found us a local contact,” Wash said. “And when were you going to let us in on that? I nearly blew this guy’s head off !” !” Veronica growled. “Come! Come! I have hotel waiting for you!” beckoned
Re-Zal Evad as he moved off into into the sea of humanity that was the streets of Cairo. A warm bath and a change of clothes later, our heroes
appears our hotel is surrounded by some mean hombres,” Chase said. Washington Stuttz was not happy. They were in danger, and his rest was disrupted…meaning he would be well beneath his required 7 hours of sleep for the day. Wash reached into his leather travel bag and pulled from it an iron mace that dated to medieval times “Sons of bitches must pay!” he sneered before following Danner into the hallway. Veronica was already in the hotel hall when Chase and Wash arrived. She slapped a clip into her pistol as bullets ricocheted from all directions. The other attackers were now pelting the building with ri e and machine gun re, indiscriminately shooting at the windows in hopes of hitting their prey. Boldly, Veronica charged to one such window and began to blazingly return re. “I could stand some help here!” she yelled to her cohorts.
found themselves in their modest hotel rooms, sitting and
“You “Yo u got it!” Chase said, taking a stance at another window
letting a ceiling fan attempt to push back the desert heat. Washington Stuttz sat on the bed and tuned the knobs of his wrist communicator until the vision of Sterlington Westinghouse Westi nghouse came into view in vivid black and white.
where he let the attackers have it with both of his barrels.
“We’ve “We ’ve checked into the hotel,” Wash reported to the boss.
where guests were eeing their rooms in droves and the night manager had ducked behind the front desk. Stuttz hid himself behind the potted palm trees near the stairs and watched as a group of men clothed exactly like the ones who had attempted to commit his murder ran into the lobby. As they approached the stairs, these men were met with the mace of Washington Stuttz.
“Our expedition leaves tomorrow morning. Anything new?” “No new quakes just yet, thank God. Be careful…and
contact me when you’ve reached the target,” Westinghouse ordered. “Got it, boss,” Wash said before cutting the channel and lying back on his bed where he promptly fell asleep.
Engulfed by the dense den se fog of exhaustion, Washington was oblivious that night to the cloaked gures that surrounded the hotel and even made their way inside and up the stairs. Unaware was he that three of these cloaked ones in fact had arrived inside his room while he slumbered and snored. So light were their steps that not even the
squeaky oorboard beside Wash Wash’s ’s bed uttered the smallest creak as it was pressed upon. The T he lead would-be-assassin drew the length of his scimitar blade from the cloth belt
that was around his waist. Directly and with sinister sin ister intent,
His reply came in the form of machine gun re being raked across the face of the hotel.
Meanwhile, Washington Washington Stuttz had entered the hotel lobby
The leading man got the mace in his stomach, the one who followed across his jaw, and another a pile driver to
the top of the head. Over and over, swing after swing, bash after bash, Wash left the veiled attackers in a mess that was unt to be viewed by any decent American. Upstairs, Re-Zal Evad came out of his room, still wearing the soft, cotton cabana pajamas that he had bought in London. He was just in time to see Chase climb out of the window that was his ring position and take up a stance on the ledge.
the assassin pointed his sword downward, raised high
“They’re splittin’!” Chase reported of their attackers, ring
above the midsection of Dr. Stuttz. If performed p erformed correctly, correctly,
off a a few rounds in their direction for good measure. “Friends! Friends!” Re-Zal chirped with great alarm. “Of what is this?”
Stuttz would never even utter a sound during his own murder. Were it not for a single, solitary bead of sweat
fallen from the sword wielder to Wash’s nose, that is exactly what would have happened.
I
“Being from out of town,” Veronica began as she dragged 15
Pulp Fantastic
P U T E S
an attacker’s corpse from Wash’s room. “We were going to ask you the same thing. Any idea who these jamokes might be?”
suggested as he brought a shovel over to the rock-hewn door. “It’s a the grave of a commoner. Shouldn’t have to worry about any traps.”
“I have no idea who these could be!” Evad replied, perplexed.
But nothing could have been further from the truth. As Wash Stuttz led his crew through the tunnel that led into the ancient Egyptian grave, a set of heavy, wooden spears tipped with bronze launched out of the walls, seeking to skewer whomever whomever they could and then block the way for the rest. It was only because of Wash’s quick reexes that
“Not a scrap of traceable evidence,” Veronica spat as if what she had said were a curse. Her hands continued to scour the body beneath her. “This fellow’s face is nondescript, he’s got nothing personal on his body. All I can tell is that he smells like goat.” “Yeah, but that’s everybody around here,” Chase said ignorantly. “No off ense, ense, Re-Zal.” “Oh none taken!” Evad said through a forced smile. “That one seems a little cold for your tastes, Veronica,” Danner chided, as Veronica could not give up the search. “Should try to nd one a little hotter.”
“I don’t try anything, anythin g, I just do it,” it ,” Veronica Veronica Pentecost stated as she stood to look Chase in the eye. “Want to try me?” With bloody mace in hand, Washington Stuttz came up the stairs just as Re-Zal Evad was growing very uncomfortable. “Well, that was a lovely way to spend the evening,” joked Wash.
It was a two-day journey into the desert to reach the target location. In a convoy consisting of two old Ford pickup trucks and the many camels brought by the local diggers and workers that Re-Zal Evad had hired, the three from America moved at a snail’s pace to their destination. On the morning of the second day, the expedition awoke to nd that the tires on the trucks had been slashed during the night, along with many of the water skins they had
brought along. The local help they had hired ran from the scene even as Evad begged them to stay on until they had
reached their destination. To that, the workers only replied, “mesh mumken!” Evad then had to break the news that he and Stuttz, Danner, and Pentecost were on their own.
With the shapes of the great pyramids rising in the distance before them, the desert travelers nally arrived at the coordinates provided by Dr. Campbell’s invention. The
destination itself was unremarkable, but as they dismount dismount-ed from their camels while Washington rubbed his chin and gazed upon the rock with great scrutiny, he rapidly determined the object’s true nature.
ately set about to smash the crisscross of spears with his mace while Evad went back to the camels for a change of pants. After the spears came the re. Some form of ammable substance had been released through holes in the sandy oor of the antechamber ahead and lit by a torch fallen from the hieroglyphic-laden walls. Stuttz fell backward into the others from the blast of heat cast forward by the crackling ames “Stand back!” Chase shouted, forcing his way past Stuttz and leaping through the re. His feet found their mark on the modest sarcophagus that was in the center of the chamber. “Just tell me what I’m looking for!”
“How the hell should we know what an earthquake
machine looks like?” Wash hollered back at Chase, hands to his head in order to de ect the heat. “Boss? Are you there?” Veronica said into her wrist communicator, wasting no time in taking matters to the top. “Yes, Ms. Pentecost,” a black and white image of Sterling Westinghouse said. “I am here.”
“Get Doc Fleming on the line,” she asked, the heat oppressoppress ing her succulent form. “I need a few answers here!” Chase shouted as he did a veritable tap dance upon a grave, dodging the tongues of re licking at his boot heels.
Elsewhere, the image of Dr. Campbell Fleming had replaced that of Westinghouse on Veronica’s wristwatch. His white hair seemed even more out of place than usual, his lab coat more stained, and his demeanor more harried than typical. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?” he asked in rapid succession. “I don’t have much time because I’ve got to get
back to the lab! One of my atomic experiments is not going
“I thought those were the tombs,” tombs,” Chase said, pointing to the pyramids in the distance. d istance.
at all the way I had expected and I’ve left Miss Akimoto and my monkey in charge of things and I really shouldn’t even have departed because an isotope of this nature can be so readily…”
“Not all the ancient Egyptians were buried in pyramids, pyramids,””
“The earthquake device!” Veronica cut him o ff . “What
Re-Zal outatpolitely before sand topointed join Wash the carved rock.waddling across the
does it look like?!”
“Maybe your next question will be better,” Veronica suggested in a hot whisper directly into Danner’s ear.
tion. He then shrugged and gave Veronica Veronica a dumb look. “Heck if I know. Uhhh, it would have to be a massive mechanical construct. Power cables and conduit should be
“It’s a tomb,” Stuttz stated glumly.
“Well let’s get started clearing clea ring the entry way,” way,” Washington Washington 16
he was able knock the rest of the party par ty backward and spare them the fate of certain impalement. Wash then immedi-
“The earthquake device?” Doc Fleming repeated the ques-
stretching out from it, it should be radiating a great deal of power…can’t miss it,” Fleming explained.
half a globe away away.. It still astounded Stuttz how Doc Fleming
“There’s nothing even close to that in here!” Veronica screamed.
“Have Doc take a look at what we’ve found,” Wash said as he pointed his wrist towards the machine so that the two men in New York could see it for themselves. “It’s cone shaped, kinda bent at the ends, there are wires hanging out at the bottom from where Danner ripped it free…”
“Huh, no foolin’?” replied Fleming, perplexed. “Might it be underground?” Evad suggested.
Then Chase pointed. In the direction directi on of his extended nger was a conical wedge of metal, camouaged in the corner of the antechamber amidst a few pottery urns. Stuttz looked it over skeptically. Could Chase reach it through the ames? As he looked around at the burning room,
Wash decided that Chase Danner would have to and tossed a heavy cloth bag to him. “Grab it and get out!” Wash ordered and then turned to Veronica and Evad. “The rest of you get out, too! I think this re is a self-destruct mechanism!”
As his compatriots evacuated the tomb, Chase leaped upon
could arrive at such marvelous inventions. inventions.
“Mazoomba! It’s not the earthquake device,” the voice of Campbell Fleming said. “You better be joking,” Veronica Pentecost said with no expression.
their point of origin. There could be many of these hidden all over the world,” Doc explained.
“So what is it that we do now?” Evad said, asking the question that was now on everyone’s minds.
the odd metal object in question. Rapidly he wrapped it in the heavy cloth as to protect his hands from what was now undoubtedly metal that had been heated to a most scorching temperature. temperature. Lifting it he felt resistance. With time running increasingly short, Chase Danner gave the object a mighty tug and felt it rip free. Beneath it stood
“We can only move on down the line,” Dr. Fleming replied replie d
now severed electrical wires and cables…leading to where
mirror somewhere and you can pretty up.” “I think I’ll toss you back into the re instead,” Veronica replied with complete sincerity.
Chase did not know.
Nor did he have time to investigate the matter. With smoke now beginning to ll the entire underground chamber, Chase took two more determined leaps and bounded his way past the ring of re. Though eet of feet, he was not fast enough to prevent the ames from licking across his legs and igniting his pants on re. Finally Chase emerged on the desert surface as the re
consumed the entire underground tomb. Immediately he fell to the sands, rolling about in order to extinguish the burning of his pants. Naturally, Veronica Pentecost immediately went to his side in order to determine just how
through the wrist communicator. “I’ll use the seismo-locater to run a trace.”
“It’s probably going to be a while,” Wash announced to the others. “If you want, Veronica, maybe you can go nd a
“I’ve got it!” Dr. Fleming’s voice mercifully declared, breaking the ugly silence between the bitter rivals. “Your next stop is…Zanzibar!” All that Dr. Fleming’s audience of four could then think about is the hot, sandy, windy journey back to the C-47 parked at Cairo’s airport. WHAT AWAITS OUR HEROES IN ZANZIBAR? WILL THEY EVER ARRIVE AT THE SOURCE OF THE TERRIBLE EARTHQUAKES? EARTHQUAKES? WILL VERONICA FINALLY SNAP AND JUST KILL WASH?
much of his pants had in fact disappeared. “Here it his,” a coughing and smoky Chase announced as
he unwrapped the machine that he had carried forth from
Where was Washington Stuttz? That was the single ques-
the inferno.
“You were lucky,” Veronica told him. “You could’ve gotten yourself burned alive by charging into the chamber that way.”
“I tell you, lady. There’s the safe way, there’s the dangerous way…and then there’s the Chase Danner way,” Chase said as he lit a cigarette that had mercifully not been ignited by the ames.
tion on the collective minds of Chase Danner and Veron-
ica Pentecost as they raced through the streets of the island of Zanzibar, the two of them again nding themselves in a crowded and exotic locality. Shortly after Chase landed the plane on the island, the four of them dispersed in search of the earthquake machine. That was 8 hours ago. Wash had not been heard from since.
The streets were clogged with bicyclists, pedestrians, and
that was now sitting in the sands before he and Wash. At a loss, Wash activated his wrist communicator.
a handful of cars that seemed antique by American standards, and even a healthy amount of oxen driven carts were thrown into the mix. Amidst the teaming throngs of humanity, how could they hope to locate Stuttz…let alone the quake device?
“You “Y ou there, boss?” he asked aloud.
“Zanzibar!” Chase hissed. “I’m back in Zanzibar!”
“I am here, Dr. Stuttz,” came Westinghouse’s voice from
“Not fond of ‘Africa’s Jewel?’” Veronica asked as she dodged
“A most tiny machine to cause such large earthquakes,”
Re-Zal Evad said aloud as he inspected the salvaged device
I
“As near as I can tell, it’s an ampli er…a mechanism that magnies the quake waves as they move outward from
17
Pulp Fantastic a bicyclist and made the charge through traffic in order to get to the marketplace across the street. “Was here about a year or two ago,” Chase explained as he tried not to bump into a table that was covered with a pile
of green vegetables that he could not recognize. “We knew that the Reds were real interested in Africa. I went here on
the sly-like to discourage what the Commies had in mind.” P U T E S
“You wouldn’t have been involved in a certain Soviet freighter explosion from around that time, would you?”
wondered Veronica, Veronica, again squeezing between pedestrians, pedestri ans, some carrying heavy loads atop their heads. “All I remember is how this damned humidity made me constantly sweaty,” Chase complained. Veronica stopped
dead in her tracks, and then turned to face Danner directly in the eyes. “And what’s wrong with being sweaty?” she asked in her typically sultry way. way. Though known for his cool, smooth, hipster repartee, repartee, even this spy could be left speechless by the withering and unbridled eyes of Veronica Pentecost. Truth to tell, she loved every moment of reducing the young agent to a befuddled schoolboy.
“We…we’dbetter nd Wash. Hey!” Chase shouted, grabbing “We…we’d the shoulder of a young, bare-chested bare-chested boy who happened
to by.. He displayed by displ ayed an old photogra photograph phyou of Wash to be thepassing boy, perplexing him even further. “Have seen this guy?”
The young African boy shook his head negatively and then scurried off for for fear of being further accosted.
“Well, that didn’t work. Time to try something else,” Chase
his, Re-Zal leaned across the table and divulged his secrets. “All is ready and in place. pla ce. Dr. Stuttz already has been bee n taken care of,” Re-Zal reported. “One of the natives here who is on my payroll is leading him to a substation of the earthquake device that is located deep in the jungle...but he will never nd it. There are a good many things in that jungle that will have have their way way with him and very soon, I will bring the others there for the same purpose!”
“And they are unaware un aware of your involvement?” Leermeister questioned.
“They suspect nothing!” a giddy Re-Zal replied.
“Stupid Americans,” the Colonel breathed through a toothy grin. “You have done well, Evad. Your payment will be wired to your account.”
“Oh one more thing if I may ask?” Re-Zal questioned
timidly, the question bordering on ingratitude and causing timidly, a raised eyebrow from Leermeister. “I wish to go to America and see…movie stars! And listen to this jazz!” Leermeister pushed his chair back and stood away from
the table, never once removing his narrow, predator’s eyes from Re-Zal. Grabbing Grabbing the edge of the table and the tablecloth, Leermeister ipped the table over, spilling the drink onto his sniveling conspirator. Without saying another word, the Colonel turned and exited the café. “So…I suppose that was the infamous German temper,” Re-Zal said very very glumly as the contents of the table saturated him.
said.
Once in an alleyway beside the café and off of of the bustling
“WASH!” he screamed into the bustling crowd. “! ?!” It was the best that Chase
streets, Leermeister removed what appeared as a small black and white television set from his suit coat pocket. He manipulated the contraption much as one would the wrist communicators invented by Dr. Campbell, turning small knobs to tune in a fuzzy black and white image and
could come up with. At his urging, the two of them resumed their hurried pace of walking. “Let’s hope that Re-Zal is doing better than we are.”
Elsewhere, Re-Zal Evad was seated in a café, fanning himself with his hat as the ceiling fans did little to reduce
the heat in the room. He looked about tautly and nervously; worried that someone would would see him there, even though
coaxing it into a clear form. A bald man with pointed ears, a slender goatee and vaguely Oriental menacingly back at Leermeister from thefeatures screen. stared
“We have success, Your Excellency,” Excellency,” Col. Leermeister Leerm eister told
there were only three other people in Zanzibar at that moment that might question his presence in a café. The waiter brought Re-Zal his drink, unknowingly bringing with it at least a small degree of distraction and comfort.
the sinister gure.
And then the man in the gray suit sat down at the table and Re-Zal jumped agitatedly.
whoever had built it. The native guide seemed every bit
“Colonel Leermeister!” Leermeister!” Re-Zal said in surprise. “You have information for me?” the German asked humorlessly. He was bald, craggily faced, and seemed genuinely disdainful of life in general. “Please sir!” Re-Zal begged in a hushed tone. “Do not call attention to me! There are ears and eyes about us!” “I am not concerned with that. I wish only to know what you have planned.” 18
After looking about to make certain that the café patrons were far more engrossed in their own business than in
Despite the language barrier between he and his native guide, Stuttz felt condent that at the end of the hike he
would be staring at two things: the earthquake device and as adept at nding his way through a foliage-ridden jungle as Wash, for Wash had certainly done his share of exploring in rough terrain. Along the way, Washington had spoken with several villagers who had reported strange,
mechanical sounds and strange, electrical glows emanating from what used to be a temple of worship deep in the jungle, conrming the rumors that the guide had reported to him. And now as the guided jabbered in a tongue incompre-
hensible to Wash, he pointed past enormous, green leaves the size of elephant ears and directed Stuttz’s attention to
what lie ahead. It was indeed a temple, centuries old by Stuttz’s reckon. But by catching sight of the gleaming metal tube that was at the temple’s center, appearing
entirely as an anachronism juxtaposed against the ancient stonework, stonew ork, Wash knew that his archaeological curiosities would have to take a back seat to the dangers that the world faced. He was, however, entirely oblivious of the dangers that lurked just around the corner for him. Wary of booby traps placed in the temple from ages for-
gotten, Stuttz entered the structure that was overwhelmed
In time the proper instructions were conveyed and the machine was indeed deactivated. Wash tromped wearily out of the ancient Zanzibarian Zanzibarian temple and met his native guide. Though his intellectual curiosity implored him to return to the structure in order to study it and discern its social and historical implications, physical exhaustion eventually won out in the argument. “Let’s go,” the archaeologist said to the native. “I’ve had enough for one day.” After they had been underway for a few moments, Stuttz
by vineshim, andlooking other foliage. metal out of the shined before most The distinctly ofdevice place amidst the ruins. He looked it over for a bit, studying all of its lights, wires and panels. All told, the entire thing was no
looked back and noticed that his guide was no longer behind him, thus not fullling the obligations of a native guide. Where could he have gone?
longer than three or four barrels placed plac ed end to end. Raising
Wash got his answer as the guide came running ru nning out of the
his wrist to his mouth, he made what was to Stuttz, the only sensible decision.
dense trees, hollering in his native language. Though Stuttz attempted to steady the man and calm him down
“Doc, you there?” Wash said into the communicator. “I found the machine, but I’m a little out of my depth here.”
“Well done Washington! Well done!” Dr. Fleming exalted from all the way in New York. “Now move over to the
bottom of the device where you’ll see a nodule protruding. It should be the power coupling.”
from hysterics, it was of no use. Instead, the native merely pointed behind them in the direction that he had just come running from…so that they could both watch the largest crocodile either of them had ever seen come rising out of the jungle! “Oh great,” Washington sighed in exasperation.
Wash complied. He removed his fedora and ground himself
Ominously it crawled, low to the ground and slithering
through the dirt until he was underneath the rear compartment of the technological cylinder just as if he were about to change the oil on a car.
its tail. Its powerful, beak-like snout opened ever so slightly and allowed a reptilian hiss to escape. In a desperate
“What am I looking for again?” Wash asked while struggling with the gizmo.
his walking stick between the upper and lower jaw of the
panic, the native guide charged the croc, causing it to
open its ever-gaping maw. The guide moved swiftly to jam
great lizard, rendering the beast unable to bite. Infuriated
“A power coupling,” the Doc replied.
by this, the crocodile mustered all the strength in its jaw and snapped the obfuscating walking stick as if it were a
“What’s it look like?”
dry twig. The native guide then proceeded proce eded to be swallowed
“A black cable.” “Is it bigger than a bread box?” “Of course it is! Don’t be ridiculous!” “I don’t see anything like that.” “Really? Are you sure you’re in the right place?” “Pretty sure, yeah.” “I don’t understand. Why don’t you see the power coupling?” “Look Doc, if I knew that we’d be able to skip this conversation altogether.” “Now where are you on the device again?”
whole, down into the gullet of the animal. Stuttz did not believe the croc to be sated, despite the human outline now in the belly of the beast. It eyed him with eyes cold and devoid of emotion. They appeared as two black pools, darkened voids which stared back at Wash. The giant reptile was rattled and it knew that he was there, making Stuttz a potential threat. Steeling himself, Wash drew his mace and prepared for the worst. First came its tail with a broad slash just slightly over his
head. Stuttz jumped back a good six feet, narrowly avoidavoiding connection with the spiny appendage. The second
time around he was not so lucky. The tail swung back and slapped into Wash’s hand with surprising force. He watched helplessly as the mace rolled away and into the green,
bushy, undergrowth of Zanzibar. The lizard moved swiftly
“Just where you told me to go! Under the t he gizmo where the
towards him, mouth agape just as it had done with its
nodule protrudes!”
previous victim. Empty-handed combat between a Harvard
“Oh,” Fleming said with realization followed by a brief silence. “That’s not it then. Let’s start over.”
Dr. Fleming is indeed fortunate not have been in the jungle temple with Dr. Stuttz, as the latter would most certainly have shown the former just where he could place the device’s protruding nodule.
I
professor and a giant crocodile; c rocodile; sounded fair to Wash. With ght-or-ight instincts fully in place, Washington Stuttz leaped onto the crocodile’s head. The head was
essentially at and made for a perfect springboard. Wash
was able to propel himself to the animal’s rear ank in order to grab hold of its tail. A wrestling match of evolu-
tionary proportions commenced. Reptile versus mammal. 19
19
Pulp Fantastic Cold, indiff erent erent blood versus hot, American blood.
As expected, the crocodile put up a erce ght. It ipped. It snapped. But Wash eventually was able to twist its tail enough to render it completely upon its back. Now came the most harrowing and treacherous part. Could he remember how to do it? He had seen it done once before at the World’s Fair in New York. You pin a gator down and
P U T E S
then gently rub its abdomen until it falls asleep. Of course this was a crocodile…and a big one at that. Still, there was little choice.
and bearing the red and black emblem of the swastika upon their lapels. On their backs were metal gizmos the likes of which neither Veronica nor Chase had ever seen before. Standing amidst these troops was a triumphant Col. Leermeister, smiling like a sherman who had just caught a prize trout. Bitterly resigned, both Chase and Veronica raised their hands in surrender as the barrels of each rie pointed towards them. “My name is Leermeister and I am Colonel in the Fourth Reich. I have pursued you halfway across the globe, mein
As a mother would to a child with a tummy ache, Washington Stuttz brushed, rubbed, smoothed, and even ca-
fruends.“You At last, may well, stop Evad.” chasing,” Leermeister said calmly. haveI done
ressed the stomach of the croc. He fought the urge to twitch
With that Re-Zal Evad took his place at Leermeister’s Leermei ster’s side,
and wretch as his hand moved over the outline of the native guide, being slowly digested within the animal’s
stunning the ones who were once in his charge.
stomach. Eventually, the reptile massage paid its bene ts and the crocodile collapsed, fast asleep. Wash followed suit. He fell backward into the grass as a spent shell casing on the battleeld of the wild. Through the tropical foliage and across the imsiest of
rope and plank board bridges, Re-Zal Evad led Danner and Pentecost on a most precarious trail that they could c ould only hope would end in nding their colleague, Dr. Stuttz.
“Money is in my account now, yes?” Evad asked. Col. Leermeister nodded affirmatively. “There’s two things in the world I hate, Daddy-O,” Chase
said to Re-Zal. “Nazis and traitors…and traitors…an d you gone and done did both of ‘em.”
“Enough!” the Colonel hushed. “It is time for us to depart.” Having said that, Col. Leermeister removed a ashlight from his belt and pointed it into the darkening sky. After ashing as series of timed pulses from the hand-held light
“Hurry! Hurry!” Evad encouraged them, even as the rope
bridge began to give and buckle under their weight. “This way!”
“And how exactly did you nd out that he was here?” Veronica asked as she fought to keep her footing. “I bribed one of the local o fficials!” Re-Zal said as if he simply wanted the line of questioning to end. “Now we must hurry!” The end of bridge reached, the shores of Indian Ocean could be seen ahead with the sun setting in the distance. As fast as his stubby legs could carry his rotund body, Re-Zal ran to what appeared to be a log in the brush upon which a gure was splayed in exhaustion.
into the sky, sky, a response of o f similar ashing occurred. Then came a low, rumbling sound, as if the sky were about to become lled with large airplanes. But no such thing occurred. Instead, a large blimp came into view overhead…a blimp that bore the swastika emblazoned upon its canvas side.
“Come!” Leermeister barked. “We depart for New Berlin!” Ber lin!” Despite Veronica’s obvious repulsion to their hands, the
soldiers took hold of her and Chase and Wash, just before demonstrating that the contraptions on their backs were in reality rocket packs that would hoist them into the air and into the gondola of the Nazi Zeppelin. Where they would go to from there…none could say.
“Wash!” Chase exclaimed as soon as he recognized the gure and then joined Re-Zal in the beach foot race. Much to everyone’s surprise, it was not a log that Wash was upon, but rather a sleeping African crocodile. Stuttz was barely conscious, his mumbled and barely audible
babble were made all the more incoherent by the proximity of the jungle noises. Chase urged him to keep still and
quiet while he administered a canteen of water to him and cautiously dragged him away from the deadly reptile. “What the hell happened to him?” Veronica asked as she arrived on the scene, observing Wash’s torn clothes and bloody scrapes. “Is he going to live?” “He will live as long as the rest of you, fraulein, which I’m
afraid is not very long,” came a sneering voice on the beach behind them.
Veronica spun on her feet, her handgun drawn and at the ready,, only to nd that they were surrounded by soldiers ready
holding ries who were dressed in entirely gray uniforms
“Dr. Fleming!” Westinghouse said sharply as he entered
the wood-paneled room that had once been another study of his but was now an impromptu laboratory for Dr. Campbell Fleming, who was waving his hands defensively in response to his name being called. “Not now, Westy!” Fleming pleaded in a manner resem-
bling an epileptic seizure. “I’m up to my ass in alligators!” With that, Jonathan returned his full attention to the tuning knob of one of his devices.
“As is the rest of the world, Doctor. I’ve just received word that Bombay Bombay, justof b een been by a severe ea rthearthquake. What, India is thehas status ourtoppled adventurers?” adventurer s?” Westinghouse asked. “That’ss just it!” Fleming explained. “I don’t know! Maybe “That’
they’re alive…maybe they’ve th ey’ve met an ill-fate. i ll-fate. I don’t know… know…
20
because I can no longer get into contact with their wrist communicators!”
be! They were rocketships, on launch pads placed beneath silo doors in the rocky ceiling and pointing towards outer
Sterling Westinghouse paused briey and allowed his gaze
space!
to drift while he mentally measured what his chief scientist had just told him. If the expedition of the three was indeed lost, then whoever was responsible for these insidious earthquakes had already won.
“Damn,” Chase said with a long whistle. “I’d give my right
“You may have just written the world’s epitaph, Dr. Fleming,” Westinghouse said somberly. HOW LONG CAN THE WORLD HOLD OUT AGAINST THE EARTHQUAKE DEVICE? WHAT WILL BE THE FATE OF OUR CAPTURED HEROES? HAVE THE NAZIS RISEN FROM THE ASHES TO AGAIN TORMENT THE WORLD?
nut to y one of those babies.”
“When exactly did your people invade Antarctica, Colonel?” asked Veronica Pentecost as they were ushered into warmer parts of the hangar. Technicians and mechanics still moved about, shouting at each other in German. “We’ve been here for a very long time, frauline,” laughed Leermeister. SS troopers on guard snapped to attention and raised a at palm upward as Leermeister approached victoriously
with the prisoners. The guards stood as aside and allowed
Silently and eff ortlessly, ortlessly, the Nazi blimp glided above the
heavy doors to move away, revealing an entryway over which hung a swastika-bearing ag.
frozen wastes. Securely fastened to a chair in the gondola,
“Quite an igloo you got here, Colonel,” Wash remarked as
Washington Stuttz looked down at the mountains of ice
his eyes wandered about. “Like something out of Buck Rogers.”
and swirling snows. Below him was the coldest continent on earth. Temperatures were regularly well into the hundreds below zero, any exposed human skin would freeze on contact with the frigid air, and with nothing but white in all directions, it would be so simple to become lost.
There would be no means of escape for Stuttz and his crew this time.
“Don’t be so glum, Jack. I hear it’s nice down there, this time of year,” came the voice of Chase Danner, the man who was chained next to him and reading the creased copy of On The Road that he carried with him.
“Sure…if you call over a hundred degrees below zero ‘nice,’” Wash said with a sullen tenor. “Sounds cold,” remarked Veronica Pentecost who was
likewise chained to a nearby chair. “We’ll just have to keep each other warm, won’t we Chase?” The Nazis dispersed parkas to the prisoners and soon the
blimp descended and attached itself i tself to a gantry tower tower born skyward out of the snow and anchored in a metal platform. The entire area around the tower was bustling with activity as the Germans had apparently carved an airbase out of the ice of the Antarctic shelf. Snow crawlers and tanks scurried about with mechanics as Leermeister brought his captives down to the metal platform via elevator.
At the edge of the apron platform was a gaping black mouth that formed the entrance to a cave. As the troops plodded them along in a hurry to get out of the cold air, Chase could see that the cave stretched deeply into the recess of the ground. But what’s more, the cave served as an improvisational aircraft hangar. And what aircraft it housed! Chase’s jaw dropped as his eyes fell upon them for never before had he seen their level of sophistication. Some were jets shaped as batwings, others as saucers (explaining to him the source of what people had been
calling UFO’s. Little did the world know they weren’t from little green men, but from men more evil even than the Commies), and others were…yes they were! They had to
“This is all from technology invented by the Reich years ago,” boasted Leermeister as he led them through metallic hallways, dotted occasionally with electronic access panels and glorious portraits of Hitler. “Once you had invaded France in 1944, we knew that we were kaput in
Europe. So into U-boats went our most secret technologies, our most brilliant scientists, and our most elite troops. All of them brought here to the South Pole to build this Neuschwabenland that you see here today. “And while you stupid Americans occupied yourselves with your ridiculous victory parades, we were building rockets,” Leermeister said with a sly sneer. “And jet-powered aircraft that far surpass any of the ‘kites’ in your arsenal.” “This guy’s startin’ to bug me, Wash,” Chase said in anger as he attempted to wriggle loose of his captors. Stuttz cautioned him to remain as he was and allow for time to formulate a proper escape plan. “I think you’ll nd that the wings of liberty haven’t lost a feather, Herr Jack,” Stuttz bragged with all con dence. “America and her allies stopped you once before and we can do it again.”
“Ja? How interesting…” the Colonel smiled menacingly as he brought the prisoners to a halt by a closed door. “This time, Deutschland has allies of her own…and we’ve recently made an arrangement that will have most dire consequences indeed for America. America.”” With that, the Nazi opened the door. On the other side was a chamber that resembled a dining room, complete with a long and grandiose table with chairs and place settings all around. At the head of thegoatee table was man in purple robes, a bald man with a sharp andapointed ears. Slowly, the sinister being began to clap his hands…a considerable feat given his sickeningl sickeningly y long ngernails. “Welcome, Americans,” he said with an accent that was
I
21
Pulp Fantastic vaguely Oriental. “I am Xan, an emissary from the kingdom of Hyperborea.” This announcement was met with only an exchange of dumb looks and disaff ected ected silence from our heroes. “Of course, I should not expect you to know of where I’m
from,” Xan said smugly. smugly. “Please sit. si t. Our mid-day meal me al will be served shortly.”
P U T E S
The Nazi troopers shoved the prisoners to their places at the table. Resigned, Wash, Chase, and Veronica each sat down and unfolded their napkins. “Hyperborea is a civilization which exists many miles
beneath the Earth’s crust,” Xan explained. “Unbeknownst to your pitiful scholars, an entrance to this kingdom lies below the ice of this continent. We recently encountered
“Very well then,” a contemplative Xan replied before press“Very ing a button on his ornate belt. “I shall have you now meet a few of our other creations who escort you to your cells… where you will await whatever form of execution executi on we deem most amusing.”
At that, the door to the dining hall slid open…and six killer ki ller penguins entered the room. Yes! Killer penguins! Ordinary Emperor penguins of the
Antarctic now had rows of razor-sharp, piranha-like teeth in their beaks and heavy weapons held in their modi ed ippers.
Around their waists were belts laden with ammunition clips and grenades. The penguin in the lead of the formation leveled his heavy ri e at the three captives and opened his beak for the rst time and spoke:
Nazi scouting parties and though our rapport was tenuous
“Eep!”
at rst, we eventually came to nd that we have…mutual aspirations.”
After being herded and corralled by the killer penguins
“Namely,, world domination,” Leermeister said as he raised “Namely
course of action but to sit and wait…and wait…and wait.
his recently lled ute of champagne.
“This is driving me crazy!” Wash exclaimed as he stood up to pace, frustration nally getting the better of him. “I can’t just sit here! We’ve got to do something!”
As if on cue, the sound of thunder rocked the dining room and rattled all glasses and dinner plates on the table. For
Veronica, the telltale shockwaves were far too akin to those she had felt in New York. “Earthquake!” she cried as she attempted to crawl under “Earthquake!” the table, but was denied by Nazi guards. “No, no, silly frau,” Leermeister Leermeister cackled. “That is a squadron of our X-Jets, returning from patrol, no doubt.”
“Man, I ain’t never heard engines like those on a plane before,” Chase marveled in awe to the sound of the Nazi jets. “I would wager that there are a great many things here that you have never seen before,” Xan mused. “Yeah, like an earthquake device,” interjected Wash, attempting to bring the matter to a head. “What exactly do you hope to accomplish by bringing that kind of destruction to the world’s cities?” “Oh certainly I have now made our goals most clear, Dr. Stuttz,” the sinister man from beneath the earth pompously stated. “Unless the nations of the world turn total control over to Hyperborea…and of course the Fourth
Reich…we will level every major city on the surface world in less than two days.” “You end!” cursed Stuttz as he stood to vault over the table and wring Xan’s olive-toned neck. He was impeded
however by Chase’s outstretched arm. This prompted only laughter from Xan and Leermeister. “A pity, this aggression of yours, Dr. Stuttz. You all could
become part of the genesis ge nesis of the new world order,” off ered ered
into a frigid jail cell, Stuttz, Pentecost, and Danner had no
“You’re ippin’ out, man!” Chase hollered back. “There’s nothing we can do right now, so let’s use our marbles to come up with a plan!” And all the while, Veronica Veronica sat silently, seemingly oblivious to their rant.
“Oh yoo-hoo!” a girly g irly voice called from down the hallway ha llway.. Re-Zal Evad entered the brig to stand before their cell and taunt sadistically. His corpulent form had been squeezed into the accoutrements of an American teenager. “Re-Zal! You’re lucky I don’t tear through these bars and
stomp on your head while cryin’ cocka-li-doodle-lee-doo!” Chase said with his hands rmly planted on the steel bars of their cell. “Oh but sir! I was wanting to tell you that soon I leave for America! I am going to hear live jazz for rst time! And I could not have done it without money gained from your
imprisonment! Shukran! Shukran!” with that, he cackled and departed in same direction that he came.
“Oh yeah?” Chase called after him, barely able to stick his head through the bars. “I hope your jazz show gets cancelled…and they announce the a puppet show instead!” “I like puppet shows,” Veronica spoke for the rst time
since they had been forced from the dining room and into the brig. “Yeah? Well I like not being locked up in a cell by Nazis!”
Washington complained. “Now you want to actually contribute something to our planning here, or are you going to continued to just sit and stare like you have been?”
Xan with a ngernail thoughtfully poised at his lips.
“Hey I might not be a church-going, cookie-baking, Donna Reed kinda gal,” Veronica began, incensed. “But this girl stands for only the good ol’ red, white, and blue!” “No dice, square, square,”” Chase concurred.
Without anything else, Veronica placed her same hand down hersaying cleavage and removed a lock pick in the manner that a magician might extricate a rabbit from a hat. She brandished it about in the air pompously for the men to see.
22
“Where’d you get that?” Chase asked, surprised yet delighted.
“I’m a private investigator,” investi gator,” she replied plainly. “How else do you think I get into buildings and rooms that I’m not supposed to be in?”
Leaving that question to hang in the air, Veronica reached her hands through the bars and around to the lock mechanism that she began to pick with all deftness and skillful tenacity.. After what seemed like tenacity li ke endless seconds of rattling and clanking of metal, the lock popped and the door swung free. Before they were trapped and desperate, now thanks to Veronica’s crafty handling of the situation, the ght was again theirs to be had. Overwhelmed by enthusiasm for this prospect, Wash took Veronica in his arms and kissed her…before promptly dropping her. “Sorry,” he said wiping his mouth. “Got a little excited.” “S-seems I underestimated you, Stuttz,” stammered an uncharacteristically doe-eyed Veronica. “Chase, you get to a radio transmitter…or whatever kind of Flash Gordon gizmo they have around here…and get word to the boys back in New York. Veronica and I will nd the earthquake device and see how we can blow it up.
Now let’s move like we’ve never moved before!”
With those nal instructions from Washington Stuttz, the three moved out.
“A steamy sort of warm?” “Yeah. How’d you know?”
“If they’re working with the Hyperboreans, then I assume that the Nazis must now have the ability to tap geothermic energy sources. Listen, you must detonate the reserves of jet and rocket fuel that they have have in storage. Once you do, the heat from the blast will ignite the geothermic gases…
and that entire hall of nightmares you’re in will go up like a second sun. If we’re lucky, the blast might even be severe enough to shut off the the tunnel entrance to Hyperborea. At any rate, we must make certain that the Nazis not reach into space! Just make sure that you’re all plenty far away from there when it happens, okay, Chase? Chase?” “Dammit! Doc! I gotta go!” And with that nal, pleading statement from Chase, the airwaves fell silent. “Hold steady, boy! I’ll send help!” but Fleming had absolutely no idea how he would make good on that promise. “You’ve found them?” asked Westinghouse as he re-did
his cufflinks and walked into the room behind Dr. Fleming. Rapidly, Campbell Fleming recounted everything that the Rapidly, secret agent man had reported to him over the radio and
watched, as the face of Sterling Westinghouse grew grimmer by the moment. Though he momentarily raised his eyebrows in optimism as Dr. Fleming explained the physics behind
Back in New York City, the experiments of one Dr. Campbell Fleming were suddenly interrupted by the sound of an incoming transmission on the radio receiver.
the explosion that he had just ordered them to create, WestWestinghouse was still greatly troubled as to how to get his three
“Uhh, hello?” Fleming spoke into the microphone quizzically.. His reply was a voice garbled through cally throu gh static. “Hello? “Hel lo?
“I will call President Truman,” a determined Westinghouse nally announced, and then promptly turned for the tele-
Who is this? What do you want?”
phone that sat on the edge of Fleming’s cluttered desk.
“Doc! It’s Chase!” “Chase?” a startled Fleming hooted. “Chase Danner?”
operatives quickly out of harm’s way.
“And tell him that a rapid strike st rike force is needed in AntarcAn tarctica.”
“The one and only, Daddy-O.”
“But Boss! Won’t he think we’ve failed in our mission? Won’t he think…”
“Where in blazes have you people been? I’ve been trying to reach you for…”
“Truman will think what I tell him to think!” snapped the multi-millionaire multi-milliona ire as he picked up the phone and dialed.
“Cut out the hubbub, bub. We’ve been Shanghaied to Antarctica by a bunch of Nazis. They’re in cahoots with this other strange guy who claims to be from a kingdom inside the Earth and together they’re causin’ the quakes with an earthquake device.”
Well, that’s that’s a radio that’ll never work again, Chase thought to himself as he looked over the shattered and smoldering
“Great Scott!” Campbell exclaimed after slapping his forehead and jerking about.
“That ain’t all, Doc,” Chase cautioned. “These Nazis we got here in the South Pole? They’re building up for an attack.
radio console with the legs of a Nazi trooper sticking out of it. Far more serious than the state of communications though, this trooper would eventually be missed and it would be discovered that Chase and his compatriots had eff ected ected escape and were on the loose.
With those facts squarely in his mind, Chase Danner drew upon all of his learned instincts as a special agent in order
I seen a lot of military installations in my time and I should know.. I got a look at the know t he hangars on base and I saw they’ve
to skulk stealthily through the corridors of the Nazi base. Deeper and deeper into what he was sure was the recess-
been attack jets, penguins.” rocketships, and they’ve been building breeding super an army of killer
heart leaped when he came across Veronica and Wash as they were crammed into a conne space that overlooked an open expanse of the building that held storage tanks of fuel and housed generators to power the hidden Nazi fortress.
“All right! All right!” Dr. Fleming interrupted. “Listen, Chase? How warm is it in that base?” “You mean other than the brig? It’s actually very warm.”
es of the Earth beneath be neath the Antarctic An tarctic ice and snow, snow, Chase’s
I
23
Pulp Fantastic “Here,” Veronica Veronica winked before b efore tossing a handgun to him. “I got our guns and an d communicators out ou t of hoc. Got Wash’s mace, too.”
P U T E S
form of ammable material and causing a raucous explosion in the main hangar. “Keep ‘em pinned down!” Stuttz shouted. “I’m going to
“Cool, man, cool. But I got to the radio and chewed the fat
secure a plane!” Chase nodded in understanding to Wash
with the Doc. Here’s what we gotta do,” Chase began as re-told the plan to the others.
and then went back to drawing a bead on the enemy soldiers.
“Theoretically sound,” Stuttz ruminated to himself. “All we have to do is nd a way to blow this dump without getting ourselves killed in the process.”
Scurrying about and stopping to take cover behind whatever equipment had been left strewn about the aircraft hangar, Wash made his way over to his plane of choice: a bat-winged Nazi super jet. Not only did it appear large
“Plenty planes upoftop inand the Ihangar,” Chase “Just getofme to any ‘em can y us out ofremarked. here.”
enough to him to accommodate all three of them and not only did it look speedy enough to carry c arry them safely away
“Great, pretty boy. But outside of that we’re stumped,”
form the blast, but it just looked cool as all get out. Crouch-
confessed Veronica. With no better ideas coming, the three gave in and contacted Dr. Fleming on their wrist commu-
ing low, Wash made his play for the plane.
nicators. “Great day in the morning!” came Dr. Fleming’s exclamatory expression, transmitted from thousands of miles away. “None of you ever studied science? Oh for the love of… Break the piping of the geothermal gases near one of the large fuel tanks. The metal of the storage tank will
slowly rise in temperature and then ignite the liquid fuel,
It was then that his head bumped into the rmest set of abdominal muscles he had ever seen. A large, bald Nazi guard had emerged from behind the plane, carrying a
workmen’s wrench and batting it menacingly into his left hand. Every muscle in the giant’s giant’s torso rippled in a show of pure testosterone and his face sneered in challenge to Washington Stuttz.
were very nearly sent to a scalding death by the ensuing
That’s the biggest damned German I’ve ever seen! Stuttz That’s thought to himself. Oh well, no sense dragging this out any further. With that, Stuttz thrust himself forward and slammed into the man’s mid-section. Though tiny by comparison, Wash was a brawler by nature and was not
rush of gases that came straight from the inferno that was
going to go down without swinging a few. But then again,
the Earth’s core. Veronica Pentecost shrugged o ff the the matter, claiming that dodging death was what they did
neither was his opponent.
causing a domino eff ect ect throughout the area!”
And with the help of Wash’s mace, that is exactly what the three accomplished, despite the fact that all three of them
best and that the steaming gases had actually been a bene t to her by curling her hair. Less concerned with ladies fashion and more with escaping the Nazi’s Antarctic lair, the men of the three rushed for the surface to where the aircraft…and their escape…awaited.
“Fools!” Xan cursed after the S.S. lieutenant informed him that the cells containing Wash, Chase, and Veronica were empty. “Find them! You have 30 minutes to do so…before
I begin to nd new ways of motivating you and your men!” Not wanting to waste a precious minute of that 30, the lieutenant gave a Nazi salute and bolted out of the door.
Xan then turned to the table next to him and ran his frighteningly long ngernails over the scale model of the lunar base that was planned. On the wall behind him were biological diagrams showing the level of genetic intricacy that went into breeding a killer penguin. Too much was on the line. Too much stood to be accomplished and conquered to have it all in ruins because these insignicant
three. Leermeister Leermei ster stood in the corner smoking a cigarette, seemingly without sharing these concerns of Xan’s. “They must not be permitted to disable the earthquake
With a shove on the shoulders, the giant Nazi ung Stuttz from on top of him, sending him ying into yet another series of steel drums. After quickly picking himself back up, Wash drew his mace and closed to engage the wrench-wielding menace. Their metal weapons clashed and clanked, connecting
with each swing like swords in a duel. Wash could feel the Nazi’s superior strength battering away at him and did not know just how much longer he could hold out against him. Suddenly, the bald Nazi had found an opening and gave Wash a haymaker of a right hook to the jaw. Wash immediately immediatel y crumpled to the oor, seeing stars and very nearly blacking out, an action that would surely have doomed them all. The Nazi stood over him, giving him insidious prodding kicks to the stomach and jeering at him in German.
That was all it took for Wash to ght back the falling curtain of unconsciousness. No way was this man going to take a fall for a Nazi! Thinking his prey had been sufficiently disabled, the guard leaned his face downwa downward rd to inspect
and ridicule his fallen foe. It was a perfect opportunity for
device,” Xan told Leermeister, his Hyperborean condence
Wash to give a massive swing of his mace and cave in the side of the Nazi’s head entirely.
breaking.
Elsewhere in the hangar, Veronica and Chase had com-
ers took cover behind aircraft and equipment from the pistols of Veronica Veronica and Chase. Rapidly they returned re, their stray bullets hitting a drum that contained some
spat hot, leaded death at their enemies. A few Nazis ed, fearing that if a bullet didn’t kill them, Veronica’s wild
! ! Gunre lled the entire hangar as Nazi troop-
mandeered a tug cart. Veering and careening between the parked jets, Veronica drove the tug while Chase’ Ch ase’ss handgun
24
driving would run them over. Other’s still met one of the previously mentioned fates. “Hold on!” Veronica ordered as she found herself unable to brake in time to avoid hitting a wheeled tool chest.
Chase ducked and wrapped his arms around his head just before there was a prodigious crash and metal went ying. The tug went into a skid. The world began to spin. And
though Wash stood by the ying wing, frantically attempting to wave Veronica off , the heavy vehicle clipped straight through the nose gear of the jet, snapping it clean from the fuselage. The front end of the aircraft dropped to the oor with a heavy crash, shattering the canopy and fragmenting the nose into cracks with a small electric re beginning to burn. The tug came to a stop after it veered out of control into the side of the hangar, jolting its occupants free. “It’s ruined,” Stuttz said sadly. “We fought our way here for nothing.” “We don’t have much time left,” Veronica said somberly.
but another soon waddled into its place. Chase Danner joined in on the action, blazing his his handgun towards towards the deadly beasts. “Uh-oh,” Danner said as his pistol began making a tattle“Uh-oh,” tale clicking sound. “I’m “I ’m out…completely out.” “Probably should have saved a few bullets for ourselves,” Stuttz remarked, grimly assessing the tide of oncoming killer penguins. It was not in the nature of Chase Danner to give up quite so easily. all the foolish of youth, he dove fromWith the edge of the snowrecklessness crawler and into the mass of penguins. He punched. He kicked. He wrestled. He had a decent-sized chunk bitten out of the esh of his back. “Crazy kid,” Dr. Stuttz muttered while shaking his head in disbelief.
Mace at the ready, Wash followed Chase and jumped swinging into the fray. Through sticuff s and a mace, as well as the last remaining shots from Veronica Pentecost, many a killer penguin fell that day in the Antarctic snow. But
“Come on!” Stuttz said, shaking loose any self-pity for their situation. “There’s a snow crawler outside. Grab a parka from the mechanic’s rack and let’s go!”
the situation grew bleaker by the moment. For every avian
“This is a drag, Daddy-O!” Chase called out as he held on to the side of the snow crawler. crawler. “I think I just saw a turtle race pass us!”
It did indeed look like the end for our heroes.
Even Stuttz had to quietly agree with him. The vehicle was already at top speed in the snow and they had made only a modest amount of distance from the base. The ground shook from the shockwaves of the initial detonation in the lower levels of the base. Soon, the entire area would go up in a gigantic paroxysm of re. They weren’t going to make it.
adversary that was killed, two more seemed to follow in its place. The three fought as Sisyphus against the stone.
That is until the blast of a laser beam incinerated the penguin nearest Chase. Ray after ray of red lasers shot down from the sky, reducing the mass of penguins to a wide pile of smoldering ash and cutting an arc of safety around the snow crawler.
And as the three looked to the sky to determine the source of their salvation, they found it in the form of a group of
men ying through the clear Antarctic sky by way of rocket
Fissures began to develop in the ice as the tremors from
packs strapped to their backs. Their copper helmets gleamed in the sunlight and shone as justice before the
the blast owed outward from the center. As these cracks
spawn of the Nazi menace. It was the United States Rocket
in the ice gaped open wide, a moving mass of black and
Corps…The Fightin’ Rocketmen.
white began to spill forth from them…the Killer Penguins. Their incubation chambers had broken apart and the penguins had been set free…massing their way straight for the snow crawler.
“Man, those things are going to devour every scrap of esh on our bodies,” Chase said in soft awe, catatonic in the face of the oncoming tidal wave of penguins that emitted and endless chorus of “Eep! Eep! Eep!” “Devouring my esh has been tried on me before. But I somehow doubt it’s going to be as fun this time,” said Veronica as she lit a cigarette in preparation for an ugly ght. The region around the snow crawler had turned from an
Three of the Rocketmen landed on the snow crawler, causing Veronica, Chase, and Wash to avert their faces from the brief burst of heat that radiated from the rocket pack. “We’re The Rocketmen. We’re here to get you out,” the lead Rocketman said plainly to Veronica. “Let me get a hold on you, Ma’am.”
“Oh you betcha!” Veronica turned around with a grin and allowed her to be enveloped in the arms of the Rocketman. Rocketman . Wash and Chase also allowed themselves to be held by the other two rescuers (by the underarms und erarms only) and soon they were soaring up into the sky sky…just …just as a reball of immense
endless eld of white to a sea teeming of black and white.
proportions erupted forth into the air from beneath the polar ice.
Stuttz turned the beam the snow crawler’s light directly upon theofencroaching killerrotary birds.searchTheir
Soaring away from the blast like an insect spat forth from
beaks squawked out at the light as they became blinded
an inferno was one of the Nazi super jets. It desperately made its attempt at escape, desperately for it contained Re-Zal Evad.
from the glare reected by the snow and ice. That is when Veronica took the rst shot. The rapport of the gun made a sharp crack in the cold air. A killer penguin fell dead…
I
25
Chapter 1 Basics his chapter covers the basic concepts and rules of the
T
role-playing
game. Everything
gets explained in more detail in the appropriate chapters later on in the book, but here’s the glossary and quick reference.
?"#@#.$3@' Player characters () are the avatars controlled by the
players. They’re the heroes of the series, the protagonists, and the starring cast. Non-player characters ( ) are controlled by the Gamemaster; they’re villains, extras, and the supporting cast. In terms of rules, characters are de ned by Attributes, Traits and Skills. They also have Story Points.
A$$@ A$ $@&B &B)$ )$3' 3' All characters (, , even monsters and creatures) have six Attributes. These attributes are: • • •
• • •
Awareness: spotting dangers, noticing things out of place, avoiding surprises Coordination: dexterity, agility, dodging, climbing, accuracy IQ , inventiveness, cleverness. cleverness. Not Ingenuity: IQ, necessarily a measure of education. A character might be very clever, but poorly educated. Presence: personal charisma, likeability, likeability, charm Resolve: determination, courage, willpower. Strength: physical strength, toughness.
Everyone has at least 1 point in every Attribute.
For humans, all Attributes are rated from 1 to 6. For
example, a Strength of 1 means the character is noticeably weak, small or physically challenged. A character with a Strength of 6 might be a weightlifting athlete or a really tough soldier. Particularly strange villains, creatures and monsters can have Attributes well beyond human maximums—a love-struck giant ape from a lost South Sea island might have a Strength of 16, 16 , while a Kraken might have a Strength of 40 or more!
C>&**' Skills cover the character’s specialist knowledge and learning, everything from shooting a gun or moving stealthily stealthily to being an expert on Occult History or safe-cracking. Skills are rated from 1-6, where 1 means passing familiarity with the topic, while a Skill of 6 means that the char-
acter is a world-r world-renowned enowned expert in that eld. Skills above 6 are theoretically possible, but represent a nigh-superhuman level of expertise. The skills used in are: •
Animal Handling: Caring for animals,
calming down ferocious monsters, commanding animals. • • • • • • • • • • • •
Athletics: Climbing over obstacles, running, tness Convince: Persuading people, lying with conviction Craft: Making or repairing items Fighting: Brawling, punching, using melee weapons Knowledge: History, geography, cultural information, folklore, humanities. Marksman: Using rearms, from bows to assault ries and pistols to electro-blasters. Medicine: Everything from rst aid to brain surgery Science: Research, experimentation, scientific knowledge Subterfuge: Sneaking, sleight of hand, hiding from monsters Survival: Outdoor survival, navigation, living rough Weird d science, using gadgets, Technology: Weir Transport: Driving, ying, operating vehicles
All skills have associated Areas of Expertise. A character
can pick up Areas of Expertise if they have the related Skill at 3 or more. Areas of Expertise Experti se give a bonus to rolls related to that area. See page 40 for a full description of all the skills.
9@#&$' Traits Tr aits are special talents, quirks or foibles possessed by a
character. Traits can be Good or Bad. Good Go od Traits help out in certain situations – for example, a character with the
Pulp Fantastic Sense of Direction trait gets a bonus when trying to navigate unfamiliar terrain or avoid getting lost. Bad Traits
hinder a character in certain situations, but provide bonus Story Points in recompense. For more on the various Traits
P U T E S
the Difficulty and the Result. You don’t have to follow this step for every roll, but it adds detail to important, dramatic rolls.
you can get, see page 46.
C$2@5 (2&-$'
9+
Fantastic
Yes, AndYou not only succeeded, you get an extra benefit on top of succeeding
4-8
Good
Yes! You managed to do exactly what you were trying to do
0-3
OK
Yes, ButYou succeeded, but at a cost.
Story Points are a character’s edge, that little spark of luck lu ck or genius that makes him special. All player characters
have a few Story Points, and can earn more from Bad Traits or role-playing. Story Points can be spent to re-roll the
dice, change events in the game, or activate special traits.
1)*3'
1 to 3
Failed
No, ButYou didn’t do what you set out to do, but you managed to accomplish something
There are all sorts of special-case rules for unusual situa-
4 to 8
Bad
No! You failed. It didn’t work.
9+
Disastrous
No, AndNot only did you fail, you’ve made things worse!
tions like combat or investigation, but the basic system in inde ed. Here’s the catch is very simple indeed. all rule: ATTRIBUTE + SKILL (+TRAIT) + TWO SIX-SIDED DICE = RESULT.
Then, compare the Result to a Difficulty set by the GM. If the Result is greater than or equal to the Difficulty culty,, you succeed. If the Result is less than the Difficulty, the attempt fails. Finally (and optionally), determine how well you succeeded or failed by working out the diff erence erence between
A D2$ D2$33 E- F& F&.3 .3 Sometimes, we’ll say something like an attack does 1 - 6 damage, or an event happens after 1 - 6 minutes. Just roll
a dice to nd the actual number. You’ll also run into more complex formula, like “2 dice +6”. Roll the listed number of dice, add them up, and then apply any modiers.
Really Really Easy
3
Really simple, automatic success. Opening a bottle of drink, using a phone, walking down the street, eating chips. (So simple, you shouldn’t even need to roll!) roll!)
Really Easy
6
Doing basic research in the library
Easy
9
Winding a clock, operating a radio, jumping a low fence,
Normal
12
Driving a car in traffic, shooting at someone, swimming in the sea, uncovering a useful but not secret fact.
Tricky
15
Driving at speed, shooting a moving target, climbing a building
Hard
18
Picking a lock, lift twice your own weight, treat a gunshot wound
Difficult
21
Climb a sheer cliff without ropes, charm your way into a government facility, escape from rope bonds.
Very Difficult
24
Recall a whole speech from a Shakespeare play, fix a broken piece of gadgetry, gadgetry, fly a plane in turbulence
Improbable!
27
Hit a very small target with a slingshot, break into the Division 4 offices, slide down an elevator cable using only your boots and your pistols.
Nearly Impossible!
30
Clim Cl imbb a sk skys yscr crap aper er in th thee rai rain, n, sh shoo oott a sm smal alll tar targe gett in in an an adj adjac acen entt roo room m wit witho hout ut lo look okin ing. g.
28
Basics
C3$$&-6 The world of is the world of the popular
Terri: I got 8. Adam: 10 here. :
but idealised, simplied, and greatly exaggerated. exaggerated.
Right. Runt looks around, but doesn’t see much of anything – he’s too busy watching the shadows. Wild Bill
First, the bright spots were brighter. Scientic achievements really could deliver on its many promises. Heroes
the manhole cover, but his attention is drawn by a faint
ction of the 1920’s and 1930’s. It’s the past of our world,
were generally the noble and strong characters in stories, even if they had a aw or two. The question wasn’t if the good guys would win. The question was usually ‘how’.
On the other hand, the darker spots were dark. Crime and corruption in the cities was even worse than what the papers were reporting. Nefarious schemes hatched by
masterminds both criminal and political were everything. But this all just gave the heroes something to ght against.
The reason for this more ‘idealistic’ view of the world was simple. The Great Depression was a recent, ugly memory. Not too long ago, there’d been a brutal war in Europe, and it looked like another was on the way. In 1918 Spanish Flu had suddenly, swiftly and inexplicably killed nearly ve per cent of the world’s population. Times were hard, and people wanted to escape their lives with light reading.
notices a manhole cover in the rain-slicked rain-sl icked alley that isn’t sitting right, as if it’s been moved recently. recently. Charlie notices not ices scuffing sound as if there is someone on the rooftop above you.
Clay: I Look up quickly. Can I see anything? : No. It’s night, it’s raining and the glow of the street lights barely reaches down this dingy alleyway. You do,
however, get the creeping feeling feel ing that you’re being watched. Clay: Riiiiight. Charlie unholsters his automatic, just in case. : Cool. What are the rest of you doing?
Adam: Wild Bill moves over to the manhole cover to check it out. Terri: Runt is sticking close to Wild Bill.
true and victorious, and life’s problems could be solved
British accent) That’s right lad, you stick Adam: (In a gruff British with me.
with a solid right hook. So the pulps weren’t about realism,
: Can I have Awareness + Survival Rolls from Wild Bill
They wanted stories in which the good guys were stalwart, they were simply about entertainment, about stirring stories of adventure, intrigue, action and horror. This world – a world of square-jawed heroes and villainous masterminds, of weird science and lost worlds, of mystery men and two-sted justice – is the world of .
GH#8+*3 2I (*#5
and Runt please.
Adam: Can I add my Tracker Trait bonus? : Sure.
Adam: Cool. Awareness 3, Survival 4, +2 from Tracker… I rolled 4. That’s a total of 13. Terri: I got 10.
In this example of play, there’s a and three players; Clay, Terri and Adam. Each player has a diff erent erent character. “Quick Draw” Charlie McCoy, a soldier for hire, is played by Clay. Runt, a boy rogue is played by Terri and Lord William “Wild Bill” McGommery, big game hunter, is played by Adam. The group have thwarted an attempted kidnapping on the streets of Hong Kong and tracked one of the kidnappers to the docks.
: Excellent. Wild Bill, as you’re examining the manhole
: Yo You u follow the
Adam: I call Charlie over.
scurrying gure of the would-be kidnapper down alleyways and between buildings, always staying just out of sight. Pausing to let the gure get far
enough ahead that you won’t be seen, you round a corner
cover, you notice a thin smear of something dark on the edge, partially washed away by the rain. Moving the
manhole cover slightly sligh tly,, you can see the top rung of a metal ladder, on which you clearly see a bloody handprint.
Terri: (as Runt) Gee Wild Bill, looks like that shot you got off connected connected after all! Clay: I head over, but I’m trying to keep an eye on the rooftops.
to nd that he has completely vanished. Ahead you can see an old, crumbling brick-built warehouse warehouse set right on the waterfront.
Terri: Looks like our boy went to ground, Mr McCoy!
Clay: Is there anywhere else he could have gone? : Is that in character c haracter as Charlie, or are you asking me?
Adam: Wild Bill just grunts and starts to climb down the manhole.
Clay: That’s Charlie. (Clay adopts a lazy drawl) Anyone see anywhere else he could have gone?
Clay: Charlie looks at Runt. (As Charlie) Are you as crazy as he is?
: Roll Awareness + Ingenuity, everyone.
Terri: Runt grins at Charlie and clambers down after Wild Bills. (As Runt) Last one down’s a sissy!
Clay: Awareness 4, Ingenuity 3, plus a roll of 5. That’s a total of 12.
Clay: Charlie looks at Wild Bill and Runt. (As Charlie) Don’t tell me you’re going down there after him!
Clay: I’m going to regret this. Okay, Charlie heads down
1
29
Pulp Fantastic after them. (As Charlie) Someone’s got to keep you yahoos outta trouble… :
At the bottom of the ladder is the tunnel, maybe a
sewer or a storm drain. With all the rain you you’ve ’ve been having it doesn’t smell too bad, but you don’t feel like setting up home just yet. It’s very dark. Did anyone bring a light?
P U T E S
Clay: Are they coming closer? : Awareness + Ingenuity, please. Adam, Wild Bill rolls
Awareness + Survival, plus his Tracker bonus.
Adam: I got 10. Clay: I got 12
Adam: Uh…
Adam: Again? I’m using your dice next time.
Terri: Oops.
You’re u’re both pretty certain that the voices aren’t getting : Yo closer. In addition, you can’t hear any of the splashing that
Clay: Nope. : If one of you spends a Story Point, I’ll let you remem-
ber that you’ve packed a torch.
Adam: I’ll do it. : Cool. Mark a Story Point o ff your your character sheet.
Adam: Done. Wild Bill pats his jacket pockets for a moment before nding and extracting an electric ashlight. : The yellow glow of the
torch illuminates an ancient tunnel of brick extending ahead and behind. Which way to you go?
Terri: Does it go toward the warehouse? : Roughly,
yes.
Terri: Then lets go that way! : Does
everyone agree?
Clay & Adam: Sure. : Okay. You move slowly along the tunnel, taking care
would indicate footsteps in the tunnel. Terri: Runt is going to sneak closer to the sound to see what he can see.
Clay: Charlie follows. Adam: And me! : Coordinati Coordination on +
Subterfuge rolls, please.
Terri: Er, 10. Adam: 9. Clay: 12. Adam: C’mon!
an the evilthree grin)ofHe can’t likeinthat : (With forever forever. . Right, you stealkeep up torolling the bend the tunnel and peer around. Ahead of you it opens out into a
large cavern or grotto, dimly lit by several oil lanterns la nterns hung on beams and pit-props. Several men seem to be working in the semi-darkness, moving heavy wooden crates.
not to make too much noise. With every step you take the
Terri: (As Runt, whispering) What are they doing?
ankle-deep water stirs and ripples ahead of you. Who’s going rst?
Clay: No idea. Can you see what’s in those crates?
Clay, Adam & Terri: (All looking at each other) Errr… : Tick tock, time’s a wasting. I’ll need a decision or I’ll
have to pick one of you at random in 5…4…3…2…
Terri: I’ll go rst. : Well done, Terri. Have a Story Point for volunteering.
: (To ) Can we? :
Not from here; they’re too far away and the light is too dim.
Adam: Can we get any closer without being seen? : Maybe. Are you going to try?
(To Clay and Adam) For shame, boys! So, with Runt taking
Terri: I’ll go.
the lead, you proceed down the tunnel. (To Terri) Runt, make an Awareness + Ingenuity Roll, please.
: Coordinati Coordination on +
Terri: Awareness 3, Ingenuity Ingenui ty 3 (Rolls die) I rolled 5. That’s Tha t’s a total of 11! :
You see that the tunnel curves slightly to the left
ahead of you, and you can faintly hear the sound of voices muttering in the distance. If you squint in the darkness you can see a faint glow playing on the tunnel walls.
Terri: Runt turns to the others and whispers “Douse the light!” Adam: Wild Bill icks off the the ashlight. : You wait in the darkness as your eyes become accus-
tomed to the gloom. Faintly ahead, you can see light and
shadows moving on the walls of the tunnel, and dimly you become aware of the sounds of men, talking and muttering amongst themselv themselves. es.
Subterfuge roll, please.
Terri: I got 12! : Excellent. Pressing yourself into the brick wall of the
tunnel, you slither closer to the entrance of the cavern. At the lip of the tunnel you pause and peer into the space beyond. About two metres away you can see one of the
crates. Stamped onto the side is a crest you recognise from your adventure in Europe; the horned eagle of Berezkia!
Terri: Oh, no… :
Before you can head back to the others there’s a
metallic rattling above your head, and a heavy iron grat-
ings clangs down across the entrance to the tunnel and locks in place. At the same time bright lights snap on inside the cavern, dazzling you all. As you struggle to
regain your sight, a familiar voice chills you to the bone.
30
Basics
“So gentlemen, we meet again, as I predicted!” It’s your arch-nemesis, the Death Dragon, Siwang Lung!
Adam: Wild Bill rushes down to Runt’s side and snarls at Siwang Lung through the grating. “Curse you, Siwang
Lung! Whatever endish plot you’re engaged in, you won’t get away with it!” : Siwang Lung smiles grimly. “But I have gotten away
with it, gentlemen. These are the last of the crates, but even without these I have stockpiled enough Berezkian weaponry to set the whole of the East a re.”
Clay: Charlie joins Runt and Wild Bill. “But we’ve foiled your kidnapping plot!” : Siwang Lung’s twisted smile grows wider. “You have
foiled nothing! I knew you would track me down eventually, so I engineered a fake kidnapping to draw you here on my terms. Now you are here…” Siwang Lung extracts a small whistle from his pocket and blows upon it. No sound emerges from it. “Now you are here I will dispose of you.”
Terri: (As Runt) “Tough talk from a man on the other othe r side of an iron grate!” :
Siwang Lung bows very slightly. “True. It pains me
to leaves,the worthy foes minions, minion but execution I am a manof onsuch a schedule after all.to all.” ” lesser
Adam: Wild Bill draws his pistol. : Siwang
Lung wags an admonishing nger. “No, no,
Lord McGommery! That will not do. You should save your ammunition. You’re going to need it.” Make Awareness + Ingenuity rolls, please.
Terri: 9. Adam: 11 Clay: 8. : Wild Bill hears it rst, then Runt, and nally Charlie.
It’s behind you, in the tunnel, getting closer. Much closer. Terri: What is it? : Rats. The squealing of rats. Thousands of them. And
they sound hungry… Just what is Siwang Siwang Lung’s Lung’s dreadful plan? Can Can our heroes stop stop him, or will they be devoured by a tide of scurrying death? Find out in our next thrilling episode of !!
1
31
Chapter 2 Genesis
T
his chapter covers the rules for creating your player character. If you’re using the characters from the templates, you’ll still need to refer to this chapter to learn about Attributes, Skills, Traits and the other character-centricc rules. acter-centri
?@3#$&-6 # 7@2)+ Before you start making your character, you should get together with the other players and the Gamemaster and
discuss how the game is going to work. What sort of characters is everyone going to play? What brings brin gs all the characters together? Is there an overall theme or goal to the game? Everyone needs to have an idea of what the game is going to be like before anyone moves onto character generation. That doesn’t mean you can’t play the character you want – but you need to nd a reason to integrate everyone into
the group. If you come up with an English Big Bi g Game hunter traipsing through the wastes of Antarctica, you have to have a reason why. We call the structure you come up with for your game
striving to crush the home-grown disease that is organized organi zed crime? Are they the agents of an ancient mystical brotherhood, ghting to push back the forces of supernatural darkness? Are they explorers and hunters, trekking off
the edge of the map in search of fame, glory and a dinosaur head to mount over the club replace? Are they a combination of the above, or something entirely diff erent? erent? With the above examples, many di ff erent erent types of character can be brought together by similar experiences. Perhaps the agents of the mystical brotherhood all en-
countered some foul supernatural threat at some point in their lives, and are now bound together by a sacred vow to protect the innocent from Eldritch Abominations.
Maybe the wise-cracking, whip-wielding adventurer and the stuttering, bookish scholar both lecture at the same university, and maybe the grim government agent has been assigned because the artifacts they dig up have a tendency to be… dangerous. Perhaps the gum-chewing news hound follows them around because the scrapes they get into make the best copy!
!"22 #@ !" #@33 $" $"33 ?" ?"#@ #@#. #.$3 $3@' @'/ /
your Group Framework, and Pulp stories are a good place
Pulp characters tended to break into two wide archetypes:
to start.
Protector and Avenger.
9"3 (@38&'3 The first step is coming up with the premise for the
Group Framework. Think of it as the ‘elev ‘elevator ator pitch’, pitch’, the quick thirty-second thir ty-second summary of what your game’s going to be about. For example, the Doc Savage stories were about an altru-
istic scientic genius surrounded by men who were experts in their elds, who teamed up to help people and make the world a better place. While Doc was undoubtedly the powerhouse of the group and the reason they stayed together, each member was a capable adventurer in his (or
in the case of Pat Savage, her) own right. The Shadow and the Spider stories featured a vengeful crime-buster with a cadre of assistants and operatives who frequently went off on on adventures of their own, often coming to their leader’s rescue at the last moment. What about your group? Are they a team of treasure
hunters and archaeologists, working for a major museum? Are they government agents, bent on cracking down on Nazi spies and threats from the Orient? Are they G-men,
The Protector is a bulwark against evil; defending the
“common man,” society, society, the American Ameri can government, government , Truth and Justice. While the Protector is willing to bend rules and laws in the pursuit of higher goals, ultimately he is about upholding the law. Regardless of what evil and heinous acts occur, the Protector will work within the
system to prevent those acts from happening. happen ing. The Protector is a role-model, as well as a model citizen. He is the one given the public plaudits, the honorary police badge, the one handed the key to the city. The Avenger acts from the shadows and embraces them as a part of his way of life. While the Avenger may hold the Protector in high esteem and respect, he knows that
having high morals can get in the way when trying to break a crime ring. The Avenger is about practicalities and getting the job done, even when it means breaking the law…or the occasional bone. Remember that regardless of which of these two general archetypes is used as a theme for your character, that character is supposed to be a hero. The world of the Pulp
Era can be brutal at times, but the characters are the heroes
Pulp Fantastic
P U T E S
‘ !
The characters are a group of naturalists, guides, hunters and reporters who travel the world in search of the biggest, most elusive and mysterious game for study in a major metropolitan zoo. Funded by a mysterious benefactor, their mission is to investigate reports of strange and unusual wildlife, and retrieve live specimens if possible. So far they’ve not had a lot of success, mainly because the Nazis keep getting there first. But what does d oes the Fuhrer want with these animals, some of which seem as if they shouldn’t be native to the Earth at all? !
Nikola Tesla, Tesla, the “wizard of the 20th Century”, Century”, has created a new technological Camelot Cam elot in upstate New York. Playing both Arthur A rthur and Merlin, the quiet genius has recruited some of the worlds most extraordinary men and women to serve as his “knights”; guardians who serve to advance the boundaries of human knowledge, and protect the people from the willful abuse of that knowledge. Together the characters investigate abuses of the new technology, fighting to stop the fruits of Tesla’s genius from ushering in a new Dark Age. But how are dictators and mad m ad men getting hold of Tesla’s designs? Is there a traitor in Camelot? And what of Thomas Alva Edison and his insatiable desire to make Tesla’s Tesla’s discoveries his own? !
From their super-secret super-secret floating island, the brave airmen and women of the visionary Air Cavalry protect the skies of the world from the machinations of science villains, dictators and criminal masterminds. Beholden to no nation, the Air Cavalry has vowed that the skies shall remain free from war. But as the nations of the world move closer to conflict, and Herr Hitler’s scientists experiment with new and faster aircraft, and newer and more terrible technologies, can the Air Cavalry really hold back the tide and keep the skies open for Freedom? - !
The publishing industry in the pulp-era is a cut-thr cut-throat oat business, and these days a magazine has to have a gimmick g immick to stay in print. Say,, wouldn’t it be a great idea if, instead of paying hack writers to churn out unbelievable stories month after month, the magazine Say had it’s very own real-life adventurers and chronicled the scrapes they got into? Sure it would! If that’s not a sure-fire hit idea, then my names not J. Montgomery. Montgomery. Cruickshank III. Get to it boys! b oys! And where’s that copy-boy with my danish?! da nish?! !
You’ll always remember the night the time traveler appeared. Grim, determined and weighed down with terrible knowledge, he first convinced you of his veracity with information about your life; information that no-one alive could possess. Then he told you a little about the terrible future he had seen, on his voyages astride his chronovelocipede. Finally, Finally, he told you that you, and others like you, were the key to stopping that awful, empty future from coming to be. Shortly after the traveler introduced you to his other recruits, he vanished, leaving behind a tattered journal brimming with notes concealed in a complex cipher. The brightest guy you know is decoding it, and lets you know whenever he uncovers something useful. The trouble is, you don’t know how that dreadful barren world will come about. You hope you’re doing the right thing, but what if you’re just making it happen, or even making it worse?! And who are a re the dark-suited strangers you seem to be running into more and more often? Are they time travelers too? Or do they serve an even murkier, more fantastic purpose?
34
Genesis
who are striving for a better world – even when their motives may appear vague and mysterious to others.
•
period that is the basis for the campaign. The
Source-book included with this game, the Pulps themselves, and many readily-available books on history will supply you with most everything
The Pulp Era was before the time of the anti-hero. Whenever the pulp magazines tried to create a magazine with a
villain as a main character within a few issues that magazine would fail in the market place. The readers wanted to know
you need to know. (You don’t need to be as
relentless as this game’s designers and purchase
that there were heroes out there in the world, leading by
mountains of books, magazines, almanacs,
example and deed, making the hard choices and who could not live an easy life. They wanted heroes, and at its roots it is heroes that is actually about. Character conception is also the most important idea to
remember when actually playing your character. The basic, all-important basis of role-playing games is that the players role-play. Players put together their characters according to their character conceptions, and in all subsequent adventures react to situations as would their characters. This means that if a player has put together a character who is a fearless-unto-self-destruction hero of heroes, when playing this character he should react as this strapping hero, even if the real player is a skinny and paci stic scholar. On the other hand, a strapping player may wish
to portray a near-sighted and indolent coward – and should, in spite of any real-life inclinations, respond to most threats
Try also to become familiar with the historical
encyclopedias, and gazetteers from the period •
for your research…but it helps). Lastly, get inside your character’s head. You
should essentially have done this already, when conceiving your character. How does he respond to danger? To prolonged stress? Is he cynical or romantic? Curious or indiff erent? erent? Outgoing or introverted? Absentminded or ercely intent? Comprehend your character, and react to the adventure’s adventure ’s situations as he would. That is role-playing. It is the most important part of a
role-playing game. The characters react to dangers, clues, and each other and without those interactions, a game
becomes nothing more than a tactical tactica l exercise in mayhem.
!"20 !" 20'' $" $"33 C) C)++ ++2@ 2@$& $&-6 -6 ?# ?#'' $/
by running away and using his wits.
Who are the key non-player characters? Do the characters
Of course, the situations the creates will not merely be
have a mysterious benefactor who bankrolls their adventures in return for whatever scientic knowledge they acquire along the way? Do they know a long-su ff ering ering Chief of Police, a dry-witted University Dean or a particu-
threats and danger. Role-playing Role-playing games should not consist of a series of incidents of random violence and combat. So, our strapping hero may have the ghting ability of a squadron and the social awareness of an orangutan, while the
sniveling yet scholarly coward may not be able to out-wres-
larly feisty lady reporter with a knack for nding trouble? A good Premise gives the Gamemaster a few fun recurring
glyphics by touch and operate every known mode of trans-
characters to play. The characters are the supporting cast, not the stars of the show—e show—even ven if they tag along on
port in the world. And all this, of course, c ourse, is at the choice of the individual player and his .
the mysteries and save the day.
tle an over-stuff ed ed armchair but may be able to read hiero-
In order to role-play more e ff ectively—providing ectively—providing for more depth, enjoyment, and color in the campaign— you should; should; •
!"#$ !" #$ 13 13'2 '2)@ )@.3 .3'' F2 J2) ;# ;#K3 K3/ /
Talk to your GM and understand the nature and
How well funded is your group? What sort of support do
scope of the campaign he is creating. You’ll You’ll want to create your character to t comfortably within the nature of the campaign. A chivalrous adven-
you have? Areyou yougot amateur sleuthsheadquarters or secret government agents? Have a luxurious in one of New York’s tallest buildings, or are you operating out of
turer or a genius inventor/ scholar will t in well in practically any campaign; however, a hardboiled detective may feel a little foolish within the pyramids of Egypt, a devout monster-slayer may feel useless in a campaign where creatures
of the night do not appear (or worse, do not exist!), and a whip-cracking and boisterous adventurer
may be of little use tracking delicate sets of clues •
adventures, it’s up to the player characters to actually solve
through the social strata of Boston. Become familiar with the genre—understand
the very feel of the pulp adventures from which this game is derived. Heroes were a trie more
the back room of a disreputable disreputa ble bar on the docks of ShangShan ghai? Do you have the legal authority to go stomping around the country looking for spies, cultists and madmen, or do you have to sneak around and blu ff your your way in? Look at the rules for Group Traits on page 65 for ideas.
!"22 E+ !" E++2 +2'3 '3'' J2)/ Adventure and drama requires conict—who’s the antagonist? Who opposes your group? Who’s your Evil Master-
mind? In Sax Rohmer’s classic Fu Manchu stories the epon-
single-minded than those today; happily, distinctions between good and evil were also
ymous “Devil wasalso the lesser main antagonist the series, butDoctor” there were villains likethroughout his daugh-
clearer. Think in black and white, and remem-
senior agents. There’ll be disposable bad guys and enemies
ber that your characters should be portrayed as larger than life.
ter, the beautiful and venomous Fah Lo Suee and other in each adventure, but you’ll also want some ongoing opposition, the quirkier and more memorable the better.
2
35
Pulp Fantastic
?2--3.$ L$ A** =+ Finally, take a look at everything you’ve come up with so far, and see if you can nd any interesting connections. The stunning Femme Fatale is much more interesting as
a character’s ex-wife or lover than if she was just a random spy, and the twisted Mad Scientist’s grudge could be made P U T E S
even more personal if he was once the lab partner of one of the heroes, and blames him for being laughed out of University. Throw in a few unexpected links between diff erent erent elements of the Group Framework. What if your resources come from the wealthy industri-
alist father of one of the player characters? What if evidence comes forward that he was a war pro teer? What if the
opposition are a secret faction of the US Government, run by a Shadow President? What could tear your group apart?
?@3#$&-6 52)@ ?"#@#.$3@ Now that you’ve got an idea of what sort of characters t
within your group framework, it’s time to create your own character. Characters are dened by Attributes, Skills and Traits.
Attributes are what the character is like – how strong they are, how clever they are, how perceptive, and so on. Skills
are what the character knows – can they drive a car, strip down an engine, know rst aid, know how to ski, how to ght or how to bluff their their way out of a situation? Finally, Traits detail what your character can do, or in some cases
cannot do – are they ambidextrous, have a particular knack for xing things, do they heal surprisingly quickly, are
they rich, famous, or have a family that keeps getting them into trouble? Attributes and Skills have numerical ratings. The higher Attributes the rating the better they are at something. Each character is given a number of points to purchase Attributes,
Skills and Traits, but these points are limited, so the players should think things through before assigning numbers.
Attributes of the character, limited to a maximum of six in each. Six is the human maximum, and no character may have an attribute above six. It is very rare for a char-
acter to start with an Attribute at six. At the other extreme, you must put at least one point into each attribute. You can’t have an Attribute of zero - when Attributes reach zero due to injury or other e ff ects, ects, the character becomes incapacitated - so you can’t start in that state! You could put more points into the character’s Strength, and less into their Ingenuity, meaning that they’re more of an athlete. you equally could make the Attributes the same, makingOr them goodall (orofbad) at everything, though that may not be very realistic - nobody is equally good at everything everything..
9"3 C&H A$$@&B)$3' There are six attributes that de ne the capabilities of the character. They are Awareness, Coordination, Ingenuity, Presence, Resolve and Strength. Attributes are ranked from one to six, with six being the human maximum. A description of what the Attributes are follows, each cov-
ering the various levels so you know what having a Strength 2 or Resolve 3 actually means.
You can spend up to 24 points on Attributes, but you don’t have to spend that many. Most people have only 2s and 3s and maybe a single 4 in their Attributes. People with an Attribute of 5 are pretty exceptional – people with a 6 are incredibly talented. There’s no need to make your character superhuman. Unless you have a specific character concept in mind, limit yourself to 3s, 4s and maybe one 5. You You will have more fun if your character’s exceptional qualities are balanced by his weaknesses. Be careful of putting a 1 into an Attribute – that’s a significant weak spot in your character that any good GM will exploit.
They’ll have to decide if the character is stronger than they
are smart, wittier than they are agile, and what their particular areas of expertise are. You’ve got 42 Character Points to spend. Each point spent buys you a single point of an Attribute or Skill. You can also buy Traits – Good Traits cost a variable number of points, while Bad Traits give you points back! Left-over Character Points become unspent Experience Points at the end. You’re limited to spending a maximum of 24 points on Attributes.
A$$@ A$ $@&B &B)$ )$3' 3' Attributes are a measure of a man (or woman) and give you an indication as to what the character is capable of. How strong they are, how smart, how charming, how
clever, all these are dened by Attributes ranked from one to six. Using the Character Points given, you purchase the
A C"2$ (Minor Good Trait) You’ve a special knack for hitting things from distance.
Perhaps you grew up hunting in the backwoods with your pappy, red weapons for sport or just have a particular gift for accuracy, but it means that you rarely miss and can literally literall y shoot the wings off a a y.
Eff ect: ect: Crack Shot is a Minor Good Trait, and characters with this gain +2 to their roll when using Marksman for trick shots, like shooting a gun out of an enemy’s enemy’s hand or ring at a weak spot.
G#'&*5 =-M3@3'$&8#$3M (Minor Good) No one takes you seriously. Maybe it’s a carefully cultivated ction you’ve created over time, falsely acting like a mild-mannered reporter or a ditzy socialite. Maybe you’re a minority,
or a woman, or you just look young, and nobody expects you to be intelligent and capable. Whatever the reason, there are actually advantages to being underestimated sometimes...
Eff ects: ects: As long as you’re not dressing like a clown or anything else too weird, and not doing anything that will attract their attention, people will leave you to go about what you’re doing. If the Gamemaster asks for a roll to “blend in”, the Trait provides a bonus of +2 to any Subterfuge Skill roll when you’re trying to sneak about and not get noticed. Note: Cannot be taken with the Distinctive Bad Trait.
,#'$ ;3#*3@ (Major or Special Good Tr Trait) ait) You heal a lot faster than most people. You can recover
from injuries that would hospitalize another person with a few night’s rest, and you hardly ever get sick.
Eff ects: ects: You heal 1d6 points of Attributes lost to injury with a night’s rest. The Special Good version of this Trait
allows the character to recover 1 Attribute point per minute and costs 3 Character Points. Points.
,#'$ 1)--3@ (Minor Good Trait) You’re eet of foot (always useful when you might come face to…well…whatever with an Eldritch Abomination).
Eff ects: ects: Increase your movement speed by 1 when sprinting or eeing.
,#K2@&$3 7)-R7#M63$ (Minor Good Trait)
Eff ect: ect: You receive a +2 bonus to all social conicts with someone underestimating you. Additionally, you may
You’ve got a favorite weapon or item.
end a social conict dramatically by suddenly confronting another character, replacing the +2 with a free upgrade of
Eff ects: ects: Once per game session, this trait gives you a free
one degree of success to your roll; however, the other character will never underestimat u nderestimatee you again. In a physical conict with someone who still underestimates you,
to your favorite item. You can’t stockpile these Story Points;
Story Point that must be spent on a roll or action related you get one and only one per game.
you receive a free upgrade of one degree of success to your
,@&3-M'S
roll, but only in your rst Action Round.
(Minor or Major Good Trait)
G8+#$"&.
The Friends Trait can mean a variety of things, but essentially the character has people they can call upon for in-
(Minor Good Trait) You can read people’s body language and subtle emotional
formation or help. Friends can be either eithe r a Minor or a Major
cues very well, giving you an insight into what they’re feeling.
Trait, depending upon how informative or helpful the friend(s) in question are!
Eff ects: ects: Empathic allows the character a +2 bonus on any rolls when they are trying to empathize or read another
When you take this trait, you’ve got to specify what sort
person. This could be a simple Presence and Convince roll to reassure someone who’s panicking in the middle of a battle, or an Awareness and Ingenuity roll to try to read the actions and speech of another to see if they’re lying.
,#.3 &- $"3 ?@2&-3'&'
Eff ect: ect: Gives the character an innate ability to sense when something is amiss or unnatural and what needs to be
(Special Good Psychic Trait)
done tois, setbut thethey’ll worldknow right.something They may isn’t not know what it right. exactly
to moveTrait something with thought Telekinesis is a Special that costs 2 points to alone. purchase, and should
The character will sense something wrong with an Awareness and Ingenuity roll with a +2 bonus – the more suc-
cessful it is, the more likely they are to know what is wrong
Telekinesis, sometimes called psychokinesis psychokinesis,, is the power only be picked with the approval of the Gamemaster. Also, they can only purchase this Trait if they already have the Psychic Trait (see p.52).
and how to start to x it.
Eff ect: ect: The Telekinesis Trait has a ‘strength’ equal to the
60
Genesis :
Let’s create a new character for Pulp Fantastic. We’re Let’s We’re playing in the Two-Fisted Action Tales! campaign framework. The players agree that all the characters are working for the magazine. They’re a bunch of second-rate adventurers and rogues, down on their luck and offered a chance at some great PR – and maybe the chance to become real heroes – by the publisher. So, our sample character is going to be the sort of person who would fit right into this slightly shabby band. So, who’s who’s our character? The idea id ea of a news hound appeals. Maybe J. Montgomery Cruickshank III has sent his daughter’s favorite favorite up and coming journalist along to chronicle the adventures of his comrades, and incidentally keep him where he can cause the least trouble! Maybe each adventure is a chapter in his (possibly posthumous) memoirs! We’ve got 42 Character Points to spend, starting with the Attributes—Strength, Attributes—Strength, Coordination, Awareness, Ingenuity, Ingenuity, Resolve and Presence. We’re limited to a maximum of spending 24 points on Attributes. The rest of the group are rough, tough sinewy types, so it’d be nice to have a character who is a contrast to that. Our news hound is going to be clever and quick, both physically and mentally (4 in Coordination and 5 in Ingenuity). Unlike his comrades he’s not particularly muscular or athletic (2 in Strength), but he’s gutsy and determined (4 in Resolve). A reporter needs to be observant (4 in Awareness), but not stand out too much (3 in Presence).). That’s 22 points spent Presence sp ent on Attributes, leaving us with 20 Character Points. So, our roving reporter (lets call him Jake for now) has the following Attributes; Awareness 4, Coordination 4, Ingenuity 5, Presence 3, Resolve 4, Strength 2. He’s He’s not very strong, but what he lacks in brawn, he certainly makes up for in brains and moves. Skills come next, but we take a quick peek at Traits first, to make sure we have enough points for any important ones. Empathic sounds appropriate, as does Photographic Memory and maybe Face in the Crowd. Or Attractive, if the publisher’s pub lisher’s daughter thinks he’ss cute. Anyway, he’ Anyway, keeping 6 points or so for Good Traits sounds like a plan. Let’ Let’ss spend 14 points on Skills and see how far that gets us. If we run out of points, we can always take some more Bad B ad Traits or become Experienced. So, let’s let’s look at the Skills. Convince is a must; 4 points in there. Another 4 in Knowledge; Jake’s a smart young man. That’s 8 points so far. far. His job entails a little sneaking around, a round, so lets put 2 points in Subterfuge. He’s a writer, writer, and a good one at that, so we’ll put 3 points in Craft and spend a further 1 to give him the Writing Area of Expertise. 1 point each in Technology and Transport make sense, for 16. Really, Really, though, we have to put some points in Fighting just so he’s not totally defenseless—2 defenseless—2 points at a t least. That eats into the points we’ve put aside for Good Traits, so we’ll definitely have to take some Bad Traits to compensate. That’s 18 points spent on Skills. Back to Traits. We’ll We’ll take Empathic (Minor) and Face in the Crowd (Minor), costing us 2 points. We’ll also give him Attractive (Minor) and Fast Runner (Minor), as he’s not a fighter, for another 2. While we’re at it, let’s give him Friends (Minor) to represent his Press contacts and Lucky (Minor)...because he’s probably going to need it! We’ve spent a total of 22+18+6=46 22+18+6=46 Character Points, out of our budget of 42! We need to take at least 4 points worth of Bad Traits to compensate. Jake’s a reporter, so let’s give him Obligation (Major) to his boss—this sets up a conflict of loyalties between the group and the publisher that could be b e really fun to play! p lay! Finally, let’s let’s take another two Minor Bad Traits Traits,, like Insatiable Curiosity and a nd Dependent. Maybe the publisher’s daughter doesn’t want to stay home when her dear, d ear, brave Jake is traveling the world! Next, Story Points. A starting character normally has 12 Story Points. We also need to work out his Trappings. The notable ones are his high Convince, which gives him a steamer trunk full of dapper clothing, and his knowledge of 4; Jake’s a reader and accumulates books wherever he goes. His Craft skill means he has his own typewriter and transcribing pads. That’s more than enough to get playing. We can fill in more about Jake’s personality and background during the game!
character’s Resolve. They are lifting an item with the power of their mind, and use their Resolve in exactly the same way
1
Touch only
2
Line of Sight
something with their Telekinesis as if they were physical-
3
Adjacent Room
ly lifting it with a Strength of 1. The only diff erence erence is,
4
Adjacent Building
they’re not using their hands – they’re using their mind. To actually use the ability, a roll is necessary. There is no Skill for Telekinesis, it relies entirely on the character’s innate ability, so uses Ingenuity and Resolve.
5
Within the same city / area
6
Within the same country
7
Anywhere on the same planet
as they’d use their Strength for physically lifting an object. For example, if the character has Resolve 1, they can lift
2
8
Within the planet s system
9+
Across the Universe! 61
Pulp Fantastic
P U T E S
93*3+#$"5
,&-&'"&-6 92)."3'
(Special Good Psychic Trait)
You’re You ’re nearly done with your character – just jus t a few nish-
Telepathy is the ability to communicate with others through the power of the mind. Telepaths can project their thoughts
ing touches to go.
directly into someone else’s head and they’ll hear it as if they’re speaking to them. Usually, the person isn’t too far away, but if the character’s Resolve is high, they could communicate to someone up to half a mile away or even further. Very handy if you’re a prisoner somewhere and
D#83
need to call for help! Once a link has been established, they can hold a short conversation as long as they are not distracted or under
:#.>6@2)-M
stress. The moment they are distracted (for example being surprised by a loud noise or a sudden attack) the link is lost and the character will have to try again at a calmer moment when they can concentrate.
Telepathy is a Special Trait and costs 1 point to purchase. Approval from the Gamemaster will be required before selecting this Trait. In addition to this, the character must also have the Psychic Trait before they can purchase Telepathy.
Eff ect: ect: Telepathy uses the character’s innate abilities, rather than any Skill, so Ingenuity and Resolve are used for the roll to establish communication. If the target
doesn’t want to be contacted, they can resist with a similar roll. The distance over which the character can commu-
nicate with the Telepath Telepathyy Trait depends upon their thei r Resolve.
C$2@5 (2&-$' You start the game with 12 Story Points. That’s also your maximum number of Story Points at the
start of each adventure. If you end an adventure with more or fewer than 12, you reset back to 12. (Unless, of course, you took the Experienced Trait, in which case you’ve got 9 or 6 Story Points instead of 12, and reset back to your lower limit after each adventure). Story Points are very, very useful things. You can spend them to: Get extra dice to roll for a critical test Boost your level of success, or reduce your level of failure Ignore the eff ects ects of damage Activate certain traits Pay off the the cost of ignoring other traits Get a clue when you you’re ’re stuck Give them to other player characters
What’s your character’s name? Do people commonly address him by his rst name, or his last one? Or does he go by a title or a nickname?
Think about how your character’s Skills and Traits t to-
gether. Where did you pick up all those ranks in Fighting? If you’ve got the Brave trait, what brave things have you done in the past? Do you have any family? family? You don’t need to come up with a full biography at this point, but do come up with a little background for your character. If you can drop in some plot hooks (like, say, a
missing sibling, a family secret, or a burning ambition) so much the better. Is there anything he regrets in his past?
Are there big decisions that could have gone another way?
?2--3.$&2-' How do you know the other characters? What brought you into their world? Why do you do what you do? Are you motivated by tragedy, inspiration, obligation or
revenge? Were you recruited, or did you blunder in? Who do you trust? Who’s your best friend in the group? Who do you always nd yourself disagreeing with?
A++3 A+ +3#@ #@##-.3 .3 What does your character look like? How does he dress, what sort of accent does he have? Does he have any quirks or mannerisms? Empty his pockets – what does he keep in there? Who’d play your character in the movie of your game? Playing with a dream cast list is a good way to pin down your character’s appearance and demeanor.
GV)&+83-$ Note down any trappings you get from your skills, as well as any other equipment your character might reasonably carry with him. Have a think about where your character lives. Describe his home.
(3@'2-#* 72#*' What does your character want right now? What does he need? What is he searching for? What’s his big problem? In short, what will push him into the adventure adventure??
or even tweak the events of the story.
The rules forofStory Points are on pagesStory 135-137. For now, now , you’ll need a way keeping track of your Points. Tokens or glass beads work best, but you can just use dice or coins, or just wri write te you yourr tota totall down down on on your your char charact acter er sheet sheet..
7@2)+' Q :#'3' and his arctic Fortress of Solitude – what’s your group’s
Doc Savage had the 86th Floor of the Empire State Building center of operations? Are you working out of a custom-built secret fortress lled with technological wonders, or are you
hunting criminals from the sub-basement of an abandoned 62
Genesis
theater? Do you belong to a government institution, a secret military unit, or are you just a gang of amateur investigators
A@82@ A@ 82@ 5
who’ve discovered the thrill of ghting evildoers?
You’ve got an arsenal of weapons and other equipment. If
Just like like characters, characters, Groups and and Bases have Tr Traits. aits. All the players have to decide collectively what Group & Base Traits to buy. You start with Three Good Traits and One Bad Trait.. You can get extra Group Points by taking Bad Group Traits (or with the Team Player Good Trait).
of restraining an angry rhino, then you can just get it from
you need a dart gun, or a sniper ri e, or a steel cable capable your handy armory. armory. Your armory might be an actual armory room, with lockers full of weapons, or it might be a cellar
full of black-market weapons and old military-surplus gear, but either way, you’ve got the repower.
Eff ect: ect: You can get any Common or Uncommon Weapons,
C$2@5 (2&-$ 9@#&$'
Some of these Group Traits say ‘this trait gives 3 Story Points that can only be spent on…’ some particular type of skill check. These points can be spent by anyone in the organization, organizatio n, including non-player character c haracters. s.
Armor or can other equipment you need without any items problems, and spend a Story Point to obtain any Rare you need from the Armory.
A@."&K A@. "&K 3' You’ve got records and les going back years. You might have a really extensive library, or access to government
Advanced Technology*
Boss from Hell
Armory
Code
Archives
Criminal
Computing Power
Dangerous Experiments
Considerate Superiors
Dark Secret
dice to succeed at a really difficult Knowledge roll, or spend
Fortified
Demands Results
them toin declare you’ve got a copy of some vital document or map the archives.
Holding Cells
Harsh Conditions
Laboratory
Isolated
Landing Facility*
Traitor
Lockdown
Unreliable Resource*
Medic
Underfunded
Minions*
Wandering Civilians
Mobile base Official Sanction Secret Base Secure Base Training Troops*
les, or maybe your organization has just been around for
a very long time. Either way, you’ve got information at your ngertips.
Eff ect: ect: This Trait provides 3 Story Points every game session that can only be spent on research and related activities. You could spend the Story Points to get extra
?28+)$&-6 (2&-6 -6 #' # 6@ 6@2) 2)+ + Your characters are part of a team. Find ways to combine
method for doingwhat this your is viacharacter email. During briey describe is updowntime, when he’s you not
technology and materials for the Invisible College, MI7,
or whatever organization to which w hich you belong, but there’ the re’ss more to the game than that. Between game sessions, you can cover ‘downtime’ events with the . The usual
having adventures. We don’t mean ‘my character goes to
6
your skills and support each other. If you can, look for opportunities to bring other player characters in on the action. Find ways to make them look cool. If you come up
with a plan, make sure it relies on at least one other player
the shops, pays his rent, etc. – you can do interesting things in downtime too, like research ongoing mysteries, pursue character plots, hone your skills or get into new sorts of trouble. 115
Chapter 7 Action!
T
his chapter covers all the rules you’ll need to play . These rules are pretty simple – really, almost everything comes down to variations on the same basic formula. In every situation, you follow these steps. 1.
The describes what’s going on. The
Gamemaster briey describes where the characters are, what they can see (and hear, and smell) and what’s going on (as far as they know, anyway). 2. The players decide what they’re going
to do. The players choose courseon of action they’re going to try. try.what Depending circumstances, the players may be able to talk amongst themselves and carefully plan their next move (say, they’ve just found an entrance to the villain’s lair in
a building site and are discussing the best way to get to it without attracting attention) or each player might have to make a snap decision on his or her own about what their character does (a swarm of clock-work bugs y out of the lair! What do you do!) 3. Work out which (if any) rules apply.
A lot of the time, there’s no need to resort to the rules. If a character is just trying to open a door, or talk to someone, or
read some research notes, or drive safely
4. Roll the Dice, Work Out The Result. The player (or the ) rolls the dice and adds up the total of all the modiers (Attribute + Skill + any applicable Traits + the dice roll + anything else). 5. Compare the Result to the Di fficulty. If the result’s bigger than the Di fficulty, it’s a success; otherwise, it’s a failure. The player (or ) uses the rules to interpret what happens next. In general, the player can describe the results as
they wish, but everything’ everything’ss subject to the ’ approval. 6. Back to Step 1. The
narrates
the
results of what the characters did (or failed to do), and the players get to react again. Don’t ignore the rules – they exist for a reason. They’re there to make the game more challenging and existing, and to make sure that everyone’s on the same page. The may decide to override the rules from time to time in unusual circumstances.
9"3 :#'&. 1)*3 All the action in is based around this basic system:
Attribute + Skill + Two Six Sided Dice = Result (try to match or beat the Di fficulty of the task)
a murder scene, then there’s no need to roll the dice. You only need to use the rules if the action is tricky, dangerous, risky, under time pressure, or if someone’s opposing the character.
Let’s break that down.
If the decides the player does need to roll, then decide on the combination of Attribute and Skill that best applies.
nuity.. Keeping your cool in nuity i n the face fac e of danger? Use Resolve.
Traits and other bonuses may also come into play.
The sets the Difficulty for the roll. The Difficulty is the target number that the
Attribute for what Attribute: Select the most appropriate Attribute the Character is trying to do. Trying to lift something? Then Strength is the one you need. Trying to work out a scientic problem, or remember a key fact. That’s IngeSkill: Next nd the Skill best suited for the task. Are they
running for their lives? Having some Athletics Skill would mean they could run faster and for longer. Having a good Animal Handling or Survival might help identify those tracks, while shooting someone uses Marksman. It’s possible that no Skill applies in a situation, or that
roll needs to beat to succeed.
the character doesn t have the right skill. In that case,
the may permit the player to substitute another skill at a penalty, or apply a penalty to the roll. See Unskilled Attempts, below.
Pulp Fantastic :
Lord William “Wild Bill” McGommery is tracking a wounded lion through the jungle. The GM asks Wild Bill’s player to roll to see if he can follow the trail. The GM G M decides that it’s Tricky to find the lion’s tracks amid the thick undergrowth, u ndergrowth, so the Difficulty is 15. Wild Bill rolls Awareness + Survival + two six-sided dice and compares the total to the Difficulty. If his total is higher, then he can follow the trail without any problem. If his total is less than the Difficulty, he loses the lion’ss trail and cannot follow it. lion’
=-'>&**3M A$$38+$' Usually,, attempting to do something Usually someth ing that you have no Skill in results in failure. You wouldn’t try to x the wiring inside of a radio if you didn’t know what you were doing,
and you wouldn’t try to perform surgery on someone with
Trait: Do any traits apply? If so, have a look at the Trait description and see if it applies any modiers to the roll.
no medical training. However, in desperate times, you may have to try despite being untrained.
Dice: Roll two six-sided die, add them together and re-
Even without a Skill you use the same formula as before.
member the number. Spending Story Points can add more dice to this roll. ?
S E L U R
The Result: Simply add up the value of the Attribute you’ve selected, the Skill you have and any adjustments from Traits, and the dice roll. If the total is equal to or higher than the Difficulty of the task, then the roll was a success! Otherwise, it’s a failure.
In most cases, which Skill and Attribute to use are fairly obvious. However, in some cases, there may be two Attributes or Skills that could be used equally well. For example, let’s say the group are trying to follow a wounded lion through dense jungle. The lion has already mauled a couple of local villagers, and our heroes want to capture it before it can do more damage. Tracking is based on Awareness, but what’s the best skill? Survival, to follow the tracks and scrapes on the ground? Animal Handling, to know that lions can climb trees? Science (Zoology) (Zoology) to recall that lions are a re pack animals, and know that this injured animal will try to reach the safety of her pride? You could make an argument for all three. In this case, the player would choose whatever they’re better at, or the Gamemaster would choose whichever is more apt in their mind. If two Skills or Attributes are relevant, the Gamemaster should keep the unused Skill or Attribute in mind when deciding the outcome of the roll. You’ll see below on the success tables (see page 120) 120) that the results can
be interpreted in different different ways depending upon the roll. If the Gamemaster chooses, he can bring the unused u nused Attribute or Skill into the result. For example, if Runt is the one following the lion, his low Animal Handling score might mean he backs the wounded animal into in to a corner, causing it to become even more aggressive. If Wild Bill or Charlie McCoy had been the one pursuing the lion, they’d have known better than to get g et too close.
The Gamemaster doesn’t need to bear this in mind all of the time, but it may be a great way to inspire cool additions to the action and plot.
Of course, without a Skill to add in there, the result r esult is going to be lower, which reects their lack of training, and in
most cases, trying to do something without any Skill could actually make things worse.
Any time you try to do something that t hat you have absolutely no Skill in, your roll suff ers ers a -4 penalty. If you have a Skill that could help a little, but isn’t completely related, if the Gamemaster approves you can try with a smaller penalty of -2.
Tricky tasks will have a high di fficulty that will make unskilled attempts almost impossible. Others, such as ring a weapon without training, are possible though without a Skill though the chance of actually succeeding will be slim. :
Lord William McGommery is standing guard over an Evil Mastermind’s earthquake device when it activates and starts to pulse—it’s about to cause a quake and topple the city! Wild Bill’s player asks the GM if he can tell how much time he has before the device completes it’s warm-up and triggers the quake. The GM tells him to roll Ingenuity + Science. Wild Bill doesn’t have Science, so he’ he’dd normally be rolling Ingenuity -4 (unSkilled penalty) + 2 dice. Wild Bill’s player points out that he’s got Technology and a stethoscope, and the GM GM agrees that Wild Bill can use the stethoscope to examine the device. Wild Bill rolls Ingenuity + Technology + 2 dice -2 to study the movement of the devices d evices inner workings and estimate how long he has to deactivate d eactivate it
;2< # @2** ' So you know how a roll adds up, but what do you need to
roll for, and what do the numbers mean? We’ll start at the
Using Two Attributes: Sometimes, two Attributes are equally appropriate. Tremendous Tremendous physical endurance could be mea-
beginning and decide what the character wants to do.
sured by Strength + Resolve, for example. While most rolls should be Attribute+Skill+Trait, the GM can vary the composition of a roll on occasion.
L-$3-$ What are you trying to do? What are you trying to accomplish
and what risks are you willing to take to do so? Whats What s likely to happen if you fail? Intent is simple to work out when a character’s doing something specic and self-contained. If
a character’s intent is “I want to shoot the cultist guard before 118
Action! he sees that I am here,” then the consequence of failure is that the guard will be able to attack the character freely. If you say something like ‘I want to take a shot at the guard, but I’m staying in cover and slamming the door before he gets too close’, then you’re obviously unwilling to risk an
:
Describe what wha t you’re you’re trying to do to the . Be descriptiv descriptivee
Charlie McCoy is trying to persuade the manager of a nightclub that he needs to evacuate immediately, but he has to convince him without telling him that there’s an earthquake machine upstairs. The GM decides that’s pretty tricky, and sets the difficulty at 21. Cliff’s Cl iff’s player rolls Presence + Convince against a Difficulty of 21.
and creative.
Charlie has a Presence of 5 and a Convince of 4. If he fails the
F&II&.)*$5
roll by 9 or more (which will happen only if she rolls a 2 or 3, then he gets a Disastrous Failure, a ‘No, And...’ result. The manager doesn’t evacuate the nightclub, feels that Charlie is a nut case and calls the cops.
attack from the guard, so your chance of shooting him should be lower and the should set a higher difficulty.
Whenever the characters have to do something that requires require s a roll, the Gamemaster will determine the di fficulty. This is the number the player will have to beat to succeed with
the task. The average human Attribute is 3, the average Skill is 2-3, and the average die roll is 7, so an average person should be able to accomplish something with a difficulty
If he fails by 4-8, he gets a Bad Failure, a flat fla t no. The manager refuses to listen to him.
ed difficulty levels, though the Gamemaster can adjust these to suit a particular situation.
If he fails by 1-3, then it’s a plain Failure, a ‘No, But’. But’. The GM asks the players what the consequence should be. Charlie’ Charlie’ss player suggests that maybe the manager ma nager doesn’t believe his character,, but has club’s bouncers check the exits. character
If the player succeeds by 0-3, it’s a basic ba sic Success, a ‘Yes, But’ result. The manager agrees to shut down the club, but the evacuation will take almost an hour as everything is careful-
of 12 most of the time. The table provides you with suggest-
Don’t feel like like you always have to use these numbers. If the task is harder than t han a Tricky, but not as difficult as a Hard, you can set the Difficulty of the task at 16 or 17. 17. The numbers on the table are a guide, not set in stone. If you want your your characters to feel particularly heroic, you can reduce the Difficulty of their tasks to make it easier for them to succeed.
ly switched off and locked down instead of being bei ng abandoned in haste.
To get a result beyond a basic b asic Success in this case, Charlie’s player needs to spend a Story Point for extra dice – the highest result she can get without spending a point is a 21 (5+4+12). If the result beats the difficulty by a 4-8, it’s a Good Success, a ‘Yes’. The manager is convinced by Charlie’s story, and agrees to immediately evacuate the club. To get a Fantastic Success, Charlie’s Cha rlie’s player would need a total of at least 30, which gives him a ‘Yes, And’ result.
Really Really Easy
3
Really simple, automatic success. Opening a bottle of drink, using a telephone, walking down the street, eating chips. (So simple, you shouldn’t even need to roll!) roll!)
Really Easy
6
Doing basic research in the library
Easy
9
Winding a clock, operating a radio, jumping a low fence,
Normal
12
Driving a car in traffic, shooting at someone, swimming in the sea, uncovering a useful but not secret fact.
Tricky
15
Driving at speed, shooting a moving target, climbing a building
Hard
18
Picking a lock, lift twice your own weight, treat a gunshot wound
Difficult
21
Climb a sheer cliff without ropes, charm your way into a government facility, escape from rope bonds.
Very Di Difficul ultt
24
Recall a whole spe speeech fr from a Shakespear aree pl play, fi fix a br brooken gi gizmo, fl fly a pl plaane in in tur turbbul uleence
7
Improbable!
27
Hit a very small target with a slingshot, break into the Division 4 offices, slide down an elevator cable using only your boots and your pistols.
Nearly Impossible!
30
Clim Cl imbb a skys skyscr crape aperr in th thee rain rain,, shoo shoott a smal smalll targ target et in in an adj adjac acen entt roo room m with withou outt look lookin ing. g. 119
Pulp Fantastic
;2< 3$ (#.>
ly, it does 4/8/12 damage, but also makes things explode and burn.
A man-portable rocket pack that allows a character to y. It’s a heck of a ride though, and take o ff is is a real kick in
The Major version of this trait can either hit multiple
the pants!
(Major Invention)
targets, as long as they’re close together, or else is strong enough to blast vehicles or low-ying zeppelins.
Traits: Feedback (Minor), Flight (Major), Restriction (Requires Jet Fuel) Story Points: 2
160
Equipment
C)B4G$"3@&. G*3.$@2'3-M3@ (Major Invention) A large, bulky device capable of tuning in to a distant location (perhaps even another world, with sufficient
power!), and transmitting a character to it. Unfortunately Unfort unately,, it’s a one-way trip, unless there’s another Sub-Etheric Electrosender at the other end.
Traits: Restriction (One-W (On e-Way), ay), Teleport, Teleport, Unreliable Un reliable (Minor) ( Minor) Story Points: 2
Not all Inventions involve wires and vacuum tubes. You You can use these rules for any sort of research or invention, not just building technological doohickeys. A character could use Medicine to research a cure for a virus, v irus, Knowledge to research some obscure historical fact, Science to come up with a new theory and so on. There are Mad Chemists, Mad Biologists, Mad Botanists, Mad Economists (quite a lot of those, actually), Mad Clockmakers...
8
161
Chapter 10 Gamemastering This chapter is the real heart of the game. Everything else is just suggestions and guidelines, but the game relies on the Gamemaster to make make it all work. It is tricky and challenging, but it lets you play with wonderful ideas and create adventures with your friends. In the role of Gamemaster you’re asked to be part storyteller, part director and part referee.
movies) and in the exotic realms of lost worlds, steaming jungles, isolated temples and secret volcano lairs. You
need to describe describ e them all in an a n exciting and engaging e ngaging way. way. If the players take your description and run with it, i t, inventing further details as they describe what they are doing, then
great! It’s a sign that they are really getting into it, so encourage this and reward them for it by developing the story around them and incorporate their ideas into your setting.
C$2@5$3**3@
It’s also up to you as director to make sure everyone’s involved and having fun. If one of the players hasn’t done
Although you’re all making a great adventure together,
anything in a while, then you need to put the spotlight on
the Gamemaster has an idea of where the plot will go, has
that player character and give them a problem to tackle or a chance to shine.
certain scenes planned and some cool action worked out and knows the story of the adventure. Well, more accurately,, he knows a possible story – the players could do rately something completely unexpected that takes the story in new directions, and the Gamemaster will often have to
improvise to stay ahead of the players. p layers. Run with what they throw at you! Before the game, you need to come up with an outline of the adventure – who the villain is, what they want and why, how they plan to get it, what comes through, what
complications the players face, what challenges they have to overcome, and what other characters are present. This outline can be as simple as a few scribbled notes, or as detailed as a fully written adventure. We’ll talk about
designing adventures and series later on, but you can think of an adventure as being equivalent to a television episode, and a series being six or more episodes long.
F&@3.$2@ As a director it’s your job to bring the action to life. Instead of saying ‘the robot attacks you’, you’, be descriptive. Talk about the stench of hot metal and ozone, the light gleaming off its rivets, the buzz and crackle of it’s inner workings, the
glowing of its photo-receptors, the way the ground shakes as it charges towards the players. When the characters go into a new area, it’ll be up to you
13I3@33 While creating great stories and new adventures for the characters, is a game and games need rules. These books provide the rules, but in your role as Gamemaster you’ll be asked to make judgment calls and
decide the outcome of rolls. Not only that, you’ll be expected to know the rules fairly well and so it may be up to you to teach the rest of the gaming group exactly how to play! ?
Answer: You. You. If you’re reading this, try it out. Usually, it’s the person who has purchased the game as Usually, a s they will have more access to the rules and adventures than the players, giving them a chance to prepare between games. Often, the Gamemaster acts as host for the game, and the players gather at the Gamemaster’s place, but that’s not a rule. Anyone can be the Gamesmaster. Of course it doesn’t have to be just one person running the game indefinitely. indefinitely. It could be that a new Gamemaster takes over with the start of a new series or adventure. A new Gamemaster can change the feel and tone of the game. It also gives you all chance to give Gamemastering a go, and gives everyone a chance at playing (and having a break from
When the characters goso into new area, ll abefeel upfor to you to describe the location theacharact characters ersitget the place. The better the detail and description, the better the players will be able to picture where they are and what
they have to interact with. Yo You’ll u’ll have to describe the place, p lace, the sounds, the smells and the weather. is set in world of the 1930’s and 40’s (familiar from the
the Gamemastering duties). Running a game that everyone enjoys is a tremendously satisfying experience. experience. It is more challenging that ‘just’ being a player, but it also more rewarding and a great chance to indulge your creativity.
Pulp Fantastic Why use rules, instead of just making up a story? Well, the rules make sure everyone plays fair, and the dice give
an element of uncertainty and danger. The game is always best when unexpected stuff happens! happens!
:#'&. 7#838#'$3@&-6 The Gamemaster is the glue that binds the game together. They are the eyes and ears of the players, as well as the
voice behind the creatures and characters they meet. They
!"#$ M2 52) -33M $2 +*#5/
are the narrator and the storyteller who brings the world to life with descriptions, imagination and stories. The
Before you start actually actu ally playing, you’ll you’ll need a few things. t hings.
Gamemaster is the arbiter of decisions and makes the nal
The Rulebook: This book, right here. Dice: Tra Traditional ditional six-sided dice. Raid an old copy of Monopoly if you have to. Ideally, every player should have at
The Gamemaster does not have a character of their own. Instead the Gamemaster plays or ‘acts out’ the characters of everyone the players meet. The Gamemaster is the storyteller who knows all the secrets of the game, and it’s their job to be mysterious and dynamic, and to keep the
least two six-sided dice each, but you can get by with only one pair between the whole group.
Somewhere to play: You really need somewhere to play. This can be anywhere, though the most traditional place is a decent sized dinner table. Make sure everyone’s comfortable, you can see each other (and especially the Gam-
emaster), and everyone can hear each other. If you haven’t access to a dinner table, just nd somewhere you can all sit together. These days, of course, you can also play online using chat programs or message boards. Online games usually go a lot more slowly than face-to-face games.
Paper, Pencils and Character Sheets: Everyone needs
a copy of the character sheet, plus some extra scratch paper for notes, maps, doodles of ray guns and so on. Post-it notes can also be very handy for keeping track of temporary traits, NPCs and so on.
pace of the game as exciting as possible. They know what is going on behind the scenes and they act as referee in battles and when a decision needs making on the rules.
The Gamemaster is the schemer who creates the fantastic fantas tic stories the players will experience, and it’s up to the Gamemaster to keep the players on course during duri ng their adventures by giving them sufficient clues and to make sure they don’t lose their way or get bored. The Gamemaster is impartial. They do not take sides and should be fair at all times – or at least, make it look that way. In practice, you should make things harder for the playerss in the middle of the game, when things get out of player control and it looks like they’re doomed, and then make it slightly easier at the very end to come to a dramatically satisfying conclusion.
Beads or Tokens: Not strictly necessary, but it’s really handy to have some physical way of representing the players’ Story Points and the monster’s Threat Points.
9#>&-6 ?"#@63
Added Extras: You have everything you need, but you can add to the experience with a few extras – snacks (just
goes in a game, but you don’t have to make up everything
some sweets, drinks or fruit or something someth ing – you don’t need a lot, after all it’s hard to game with a full plate of sh and chips in front of you and you don’t want to distract from the actual game). However, a few nibbles can keep everyone’s attention red up.
R E T S A M E M A G
call on disputes, questions and problems.
You could also add a little mood music, with some soundtrack CDs or moody classical music. Having a few
miniature gurines can be fun if your group likes tactical play and combat.
Players!: Without players, there’ ther e’ss no game. game . We’d We’d probably recommend a smaller group with three or four players
and a Gamemaster, but you can easily play the game with more or fewer. A single player game is possible, but very diff erent erent to regular play. Beyond seven players, it’s close to unmanageable – if you’re lucky enough to have eight
The Gamemaster might be in charge, and what he says that happens. By listening to the players you can allow them to create their own adventures. For example, they
might be talking about what they are going to do next and by listening to their conversations you can plan ahead to the future. A good Gamemaster is descriptive, creative, energetic, and eager to listen to the players as they work with you to create the story. The plot may not go exactly in the direction you had planned but, with a little improvisa-
tion and quick thinking, the story will continue and can easily come back to the plot. It’s important to give the players free reign to do as they please (without being pressured into going in a certain cert ain direction) and to give
them enough to do without being bored or so much that they feel overwhelmed. Make notes and do your preparation. Being the Gamemaster takes more work, but it’s very rewarding. A bit of
or moreaplayers, suggest splitting into even two groups and getting second we Gamemaster. You could have characters from one game appear in the other as a “special guest stars” or as part of a special “crossover “crossover story”!
preparation goes a long way and if you listen to your players and look where they’re they’ re going to be for next week’s session, you can prepare.
164
Gamemastering
:3 (@3+#@3Md
;&-$' Q 9&+'
Just before the players assemble, or the night before, go
Be creative. There are lots of ways to create atmosphere
through the adventure again and a nd make a few notes to keep
in a game. Give your NPCs distinct voices and mannerisms.
it fresh in your mind. Think of the various events in the story, highlight them on the pages if you like, and think of the sequence in which they occur. Remember, they
Chew the scenery!
could happen out of sequence – you don’t know where the
Remember that the story is everything. You’re there to have fun and to entertain each other.
players may go. There’s an old saying – no plan survives
Don’t let the story you’re you’re telling get bogged down in details.
contact players but that mean you shouldn’twith havethe a plan, it just–means thatdoesn’t you’ve got to adapt
Pay attention to the pace and keep things moving. Listen to the players – sometimes you can let them create the story for you.
to circumstances. If the players do go completely off your your planned sequence
of events, then you’ve got several choices. You can just have their superior or benefactor order them to go back to the main mystery. You can run with what the players are inter-
ested in, or even just say to the players ‘guys, I thought you’d be investigating X this week, not Y. I’ve nothing prepared
for Y. Let’s go back to X for the moment, and you can follow up on Y next week once I’m ready for it.’
P#>3 9"3 (*#53@' F2 9"3 !2@> Where possible, get the players to handle parts of the game. If the group visits the home of one of the player characters, let that player come up with the details. If a character goes off to to meet a contact, have her describe where or even who the contact is. Harnessing the players’ creativity makes your job easier and makes the players more invested in
the game. Of course, you’ll have to exercise editorial control over some players (‘my character lives in a giant mansion with a vast headquarters in a cavern underneath!’) You can even have a player play a minor non-player character in scenes where his usual PCs is not present. If the players split up and half of them go to the National
Don’t force them down a path just because you want them to (or because you’ve worked hard on it) – simply use it at a later date. Challenge the players. Give them hard problems to solve, force them to make difficult choices. Let them win, but make them earn that victory. Use the dice rolls to tell the story. If something unexpected happens, don’t ignore it – work it into the game. Don’t be afraid to improvise. Don’t randomly kill off the the player characters, but don’t
pull your punches either. eit her. The players have Story Points to keep their characters alive – make them use them!
Remember to keep the pace of the game going. If the players are stuck, help them out (maybe at the cost of a Story Point), but don’t let the story slow down with them wallowing wallowin g in confusion. Stay grounded. The world of is wild,
but part of the fun is keeping it rooted in an approximation
play the snooty curator for a scene.
of real history. You can make things up, but have a quick look at encyclopaedias and history books rst. You’d be amazed at what inspiration you can get from real life events and concepts.
13*#H Q ;#K3 ,)-
Make the game exciting. Be mysterious and secretive (without being vague or frustrating).
Some game sessions work perfectly. Others... don’t. There will be times when you can’t come up with an original plot
Be spontaneous, go with your gut instincts. If it feels right,
Museum to do research, then one of the other players can
to save your life, or the players gure out your big plot twist two minutes into the game, or all your NPCs come across as cardboard robots, or your big exciting set-piece combat scene falls at. Don’t worry about it. As long as the players have fun, it’s all ne – and players are remarkably easy to entertain sometimes. Just don’t let the game drag or have ‘dead air’
where nothing’s happening. If you can’t think of anything else at all, then just have a gang of thugs with guns kick the door open and charge in, right now, no matter where
do it! Remember to have fun!
1)*3' Q !"3- 92 :3-M 9"38 While the rules are there to allow you to play the game, they are not set in stone and a good Gamemaster should know when to bend them. Firstly, only call for a dice roll if it’s going to mean something. The system, with its it s ‘Yes...And’s ‘Yes...And’s
10
the player characters are.
and No…But s means that still every dice roll is it’s potentially interesting, but you should only roll if a) dramat-
ic and b) you can think of a consequence for failure. Don’t make the characters roll to nd clues if you’re going to give them those clues no matter what. Don’t make them roll Transport if they’re going to get there anyway.
165
Pulp Fantastic Changing the rules can confuse your players and create
bitten, pounded, beaten, shot, zapped, poisoned, knocked
problems with your group. If there is a rule r ule you’re you’re unhappy
out and battered over the course of the game. That said,
with in the game, make a new ruling and discuss it with the players before you start to play. Announce at the be-
player characters shouldn’t die pointlessly po intlessly.. When they do
ginning that you’re you’re changing the rules and this will be the way you’re playing. For example, you could say at the beginning of the game, ‘I want the game to be more cin-
ematic so I’m making everything easier. Instead of 12 being the normal Difficulty for any task, I’m I’ m making it 9.’ Once you’ve you ’veyou announced newtime, ruling, tokeep it. If changing it doesn’t work, can scrapthe it next bu stick but t if you the rules every ve minutes you’re going to frustrate and confuse the players. Of course, it’s not just the rules that sometimes undergo some bending. Often, dice rolls can be tweaked to keep the game going smoothly. As the Gamemaster, you could
roll your dice in the middle of the table, just like the players – that way everyone knows that you’re being fair and playing the game by the rules. If the dice are unlucky and
a character gets killed early ear ly in the game, it’s not your fault as the Gamemaster, just those pesky dice. However, it does mean that you may have to get creative to either keep the player alive or to allow a new character to join the group to replace the player’s departed character. You could roll your dice out of the sight of the players. Gamemasterss usually hide behind a screen that protects Gamemaster the adventure details from the prying eyes of the players,
and a lot of Gamemast Gamemasters ers roll behind the screen. The clatter of dice, and then the sucking air noise that the Gamemaster makes to get the players nervous – a little like when
you go to a mechanic and they are about to tell you what’s wrong with your car... It means that the dice rolls can be tweaked a little to aid the ow of the story, but it could build distrust from the players players.. At other times, you may want to ignore the rules for simplicity or drama. If your your adventure starts with a player
R E T S A M E M A G
die, it should be an important part of the story. So, let the bad guys hurt the player characters. characters. Make the game dangerous—but let the players use Story Points to avoid pointless, trivial deaths. (And if a character runs into danger without a few Story Points to keep him alive, he deserves everything he gets.) Death should come only when either a player thinks it would be dramatically ap-
propriate and cool if his character died (perhaps (perha ps in a heroic
moment of self-sacrice) or if the player’s out of Story
Points and the character has been beaten down to the point of death, but is going down swinging. It’s important to know when to protect the companions
from a senseless death. If a character is killed from a stray bullet, it’s ne to put steps in place to protect them from leaving the game forever. The ‘dead’ character could be taken away, only to be healed by mysterious monks using ancient potions and herbal medicines, or by denizens of lost worlds using advanced medical technology. A good Gamemaster can heighten suspense by having the character taken away while the other players don’t know whether their companion is alive or dead. d ead.
Ideally,, the death of a character should be meaningful and Ideally heroic. Character death shouldn’t be too common in the game – after all, while the body count in pulp adventures was frequently high, it was very rare for a notable character to die. Player characters will have Story Points to bail
them out of an instant death, or they could heal by taking a Bad Trait to recover from too many smaller wounds. If all this doesn’t keep the characters alive, the rst thing is for the player to know that everyone has been playing fair. If they know the Gamemaster hasn’t been cheating, they
should feel better – though a bad dice roll can be pretty harsh,
character get abducted by the bad guys, then don’t bother
at least they weren’t singled out and killed deliberately.
using the combat rules and doing a called shot to the character’s Resolve for a quick knockout – just say ‘you get knocked out’ and give the player a few Story Points as compensation. (Word to the wise – players don’t mind being ‘railroaded’ like that at the start of the game, but don’t do it in the middle of play. You can set the story up in a heavy-handed manner, but don’t try to resolve it that way.) You can also ignore the rules if it is a foregone con-
If the character really does die, it’s up to the player what they choose to do next. Character death isn’t something that should be taken lightly – on the rare occasions when it happened in the Pulps, it had a powerful e ff ect ect on the
clusion. If the players have successfully found and beaten
until next session – who knows, they may enjoy playing them so much they’ll stick with this character.
the villain who was the main obstacle in the adventure, don’t make them roll to search his headquarters and his minions. Just cut to the next scene.
F3#$" &' -2$ $"3 3-Mf
remaining heroes. The death of a comrade should spur the other players into action to ensure they didn’t die in vain
while the player creates a new character. Or they could take over one of the more friendly and helpful NPCs in the story
’
Sometimes, it seems like a player is doing everything they can to get their character killed. Just because a player is having
Sooner or later, the inevitable will probably happen in your
game – one of the characters characters will die. Not everyone can have the Immortal Trait, but it doesn’t have to be the end. No-one wants to see their favorite character killed, but… The life of a hero in is very, very dangerous. The player characters will be menaced, clawed, 166
their character do something stupid or against the plan for the adventure, it doesn’t mean that you should punish them by killing their character. If they’ve done something stupid, like trying to stop a squad of Nazi storm troopers armed only with a rolled-up copy of Weird Tales and a cellulose comb, they will receive their own punishment just by adhering to the rules. Just roll the dice and let fate do the rest!
Pulp Fantastic erything is, you don’t have to worry about people arguing “I thought he was over near the kerosene tanks?” or “no, I’m over near the door, not close to the re.”
you can read the character sheets, the dice rolls and the rulebooks without straining your eyes! Of course, for
lighter toned games you can keep the lighting fairly fair ly bright, or play outside on a sunny day.
(*#5&-6 D2-4(*#53@ ?"#@#.$3@' A major part of your role as Gamemaster is to portray all the characters that the players meet, from victims and
Music can certainly help. You could use soundtracks editing out any lyrical songs so you don’t have any dis-
tractions. You can also obtain ‘s ‘stock’ tock’ sound eff ects ects – having
witnesses to the characters’ superiors, friends and enemies.
a deafening monster roar ready to play at the press of a
Minor characters can be one-note clichés. All you need for them is a name, a small bit of context, and an accent
and the sound of a locomotive can really add color to that long train journey. (That said – don’t neglect the game by spending ten minutes fumbling with 3 players and speakers. Only use music and sound eff ects ects if you can do so without disrupting the ow of the game.)
or mannerism to latch onto in play. play. Something like “Officer Bob Morrison, skeptical police officer, pulls his notebook
out whenever he starts a conversation” is enough. You do not even need to work out Attributes, Skills and Tr Traits aits – just assume that the has 2s and 3s in most Attributes. If a character becomes important later on, you can develop
him in more detail. It’s a good idea to have a list of random names and traits that you can pull from when you need to come up with a character unexpectedly. Players are always going off track track and interrogating unlikely people, so you’ll need to be able to think on your feet and come up with characterizations on the spur of the moment. For major characters like the ’ superiors, you’ll want to get more into the persona of the . Write up a full character sheet for the . Come up with a few physical mannerisms or verbal tics to make your portrayal of the
distinctive, and write out two or three lines of dialogue that exemplify how that speaks. You don’t need to keep up
verbal tics and sparkling dialogue for a whole scene, as long as your makes a strong impression on the players. When playing villains, make the players hate them or
admire them. Dr Fu Manchu is a great example – he’s cold,
button can really put the players on the edge of their seats,
Props are another easy way to add to the mood. Instead of telling the characters exploring the scene of a crime that they nd a manuscript describing bizarre experiments involving Element X, you can print or write out a document and hand it to them (complete with tears and fake blood splatters…)
Unless they have access to weird-tech wrist radios or some other fancy doodad, the characters will not have the kind of instant personal two-way communications technology that the players are used to. In the world of the Pulp Era, there’s no internet, no cellphones, no wikipedia or google. In the 1920’s and 30’s, communication takes time. Characters will have to rely on fixed telephones, telegrams and the mail, making communication delays a useful plot element for Gamemasters to exploit.
inhuman and utterly ruthless, but he’s also an honorable man whose word is his inviolable bond. He sticks to his principles, even if they do make him a monster. Other villains may be slimy, conniving, manipulative and meg-
When a player is out of contact, you may want to pull that player aside and run some scenes in private. In the normal course of play, you want to keep the number of secret conferences to a minimum, but plots like l ike a character’s Dark Secret
alomaniacal by turns. Your villains should be equally
really from the other players being kept in the dark for as benefit long as possible.
connected to the player characters – shadowy conspiracies conspiraci es lack the bite that comes with a personal connection. (For more tips on creating c reating memorable villains, see page 177)
R E T S A M E M A G
Don’t dominate the game with your . The player characters are the heroes – they’re the ones who save the day, solve the mystery and make the big decisions. Your are there only to give the player characters information, motivation or opposition.
A$82 A$ 82'+ '+"3 "3@3 @3 Being a good Gamemaster means paying attention to the theatrics of the game. In addition to describing the scene and
GH+3@&3-.3 #-M 7#&Each session, the players are given experience points,
reecting the fact that their characters have learned from their experiences. They can spend these points to increase their abilities. Usually such increases tie into something the character has done during the adventure – have they used a Skill well? Have they shown particular prowess with an Attribute? Have they learned something new during the course of the game? All of these are great
the well,the youmood can make game far more atmospheric byevents changing in thethe room you’re actually in!
questions should ask yourself before dishing out an increase inyou Skill or Attribut Attribute. e.
Lighting is one way to change the way the game feels. If
It could be that the character deserves a new Trait, or the removal of a Bad Trait that they have struggled with for a while. Are they braver now than they used to be? Does that mean that they should gain the Brave Trait, or lose their Cowardly Bad Trait?
you’re playing a particularly spooky adventures you could dim the lights in the room, draw the curtains, have a few
table lamps but keep the place dark with plenty of shadows shadows.. Moody lighting helps in most mystery settings, as long as 168
Gamemastering Of course, the most common reward will be the restoration of spent Story Points, though on very rare occasions you
could allow the character’s maximum Story Points to increase so they can keep more Story Points in between adventures.
the creation of their characters (if they’re using their own), and molding the team to the series you have in mind. As you play, you’ll discover some players develop certain
styles of gaming. Some like to get straight into the action.
However, Skills, Attributes, Traits and Story Points are not the only way you can reward your players. In-game rewards
Others prefer the moody and emotional high stakes,
are even more important than changing numbers on the character sheet. Let the player characters get a better reputation, invent new gizmos for their headquarters, make new friends and allies. Make the characters part of
players just want to know where the bad guys are so they can shoot at them, while other players may take more of a back seat, spectating more during d uring the game and enjoying the action as others make the major decisions. Some players only want to know what their characters knows, and want the whole game to be as real as possible. Others will want to come up with stories for their character and work with you to put their own character through an emotional wringer.
the world. If they save an from a ninja attack and make
a connection, bring that back as a love interest or a friend (or a troublesome conspiracy theorist). If a character keeps a great ape as a pet, then bring the character’s
landlord in as a comic-relief . Every adventure should add something new to the story.
9"3 7#83'8#'$3@ L' A*&# General Vladic Kazan is the autocratic dictator of Berezkia, a small Balkan nation that has risen swiftly in the
last few years with the discovery of a large deposit de posit of ores rich in the mysterious Element X somewhere within the Berezkan mountains.
Avengers, Mystery Men, Rocket Men and Science Heroes.
9"3 7@3#$ F&.$#$2@ The Great Dictator is unusual in that he already has wealth, power and resources. In fact, he has control of an entire country, possibly several. The classic example
of the Great Dictator is, of course, cou rse, Adolf Hitler. However there were several real-world examples at the time, in-
cluding Benito Mussolini, General Francisco Franco and Josef Stalin. Since Pulp magazines magazin es were all about escapism, the magazines tended to steer clear of plots that
veered too closely to real-world politics. However, authors would often invent ctional dictators and war-lords from imaginary countries, who shared similar characteristics with Hitler and his allies. Great Dictators make great recurring villains, as they
possess enough resources and power that they can almost never be completely defeated, short of a full scale war. Worse, they may be beloved by their own people, eff ecectively surrounding them with a vast shield of innocent dupes willing to die for their leader. Great Dictators have a tendency to rant and rave when thwarted, and maintain their iron-sted rule through a startlingly well-informed secret police, an army of jackbooted thugs and an elite guard of intelligent, sadistic
henchmen. They usually have an eff ective ective overseas intelligence network, operating spy cells in every country of the globe. They also seem to have a certain sense of style, employing visually impressive iconography to promote and unify their cause.
R E T S A M E M A G
A former chief of the Police,toKazan into politics after the Royal Great Secret War, rising powerentered by ex-
ploiting the poverty, poverty, chaos and unrest unre st endemic in the years following the t he defeat of o f Germany, Germany, Berezkia’s main ally and trading partner. Using images of racial strength and purity pur ity,, and invoking the mythology of the Norse gods, Kazan created a powerful cabal of loyal extremists to back his
move to seize total power within the small country co untry.. While initially the Western powers were unconcerned with Kazan, the situation changed when it became apparent that Kazan’s forces, in investigating the legends of the gods of
Asgard, had uncovered something remarkable. What that something was only came to light when Berezkia – for-
merly a struggling agricultural country – suddenly began to produce advanced technology vehicles, equipment and weaponry, much of it powered by Element X. Under Kazan, the economy of Berezkia has ourished, though civil liberties have almost completely vanished. Kazan himself is rarely seen, though his secret police – known as the Hammer – are everywhere. Worse, Kazan seems to instantly know when dissent is plotted, leading the peasant folk to mutter darkly about him giving up an eye for omniscience, as Odin did. The people of Berezkia are well-paid, well-fed and healthy, but they know they are not free. Most simply try to turn a blind eye to their oppression, by pretending that they have chosen to live the way they do, and by ignoring the disappearances and the occasional scream in the night. Kazan’s armed forces – the Fist – are well-trained, wellequipped and motivated. To a man they appear to be intelligent, capable and fanatically loyal to their leader,
Some Great Dictators combine aspects of the Mad Scientist or the Foreign Mastermind, and most have a rm grasp of the power p ower of advanced technology, either using their own inventive genius or employing the services of scientists and engineers (often kidnapped) to develop advanced weaponry weaponry..
almost unnaturally so. Again, odd rumours have emerged
While Great Dictators tend to rule totalitarian fascist states,
ulately cut, austere uniforms in black, red and grey, and wears his long dark hair swept back from his forehead. While shrewd, intelligent intelligent and urbane, he is also a racist, sexist bigot with a powerful distrust of intellectuals.
this is not always the case. Some may rule monarchies, theocracies, or any other state structure that places ulti-
mate power in the hands of a single individual. While Pulp examples tend to be Eastern European, there is no reason why a Great Dictator can’t be the master of an obscure
from Berezkia about the large number of men who enter the military training academies and emerge weeks later, somehow changed. Kazan himself is a tall, muscular man in his late forties,
though in excellent physical condition. He wears immac-
why a Great Dictator can t be the master of an obscure
Asiatic country, or of an African or Middle-Eastern nation, or of an Atlantic or Pacic island.
186
Pulp Villains Quote: “It is the fate of the common to be ruled by the uncommon. To be ordinary is to be weak. Free will is the lot of the strong alone. It is the lot of the weak to obey.”
Many Mob Bosses are family men, and have a somewhat
old-fashioned view of the way things should be done. They
Awareness:
4
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
5
rule their organisation like a feudal lord, valuing respect and tradition. Oddly, despite their involvement in everything from numbers rackets to white slavery, a lot of Mob
Presence:
6
Resolve:
4
Strength:
4
Bosses are patriots who will vehemently oppose any truck
Skills: Animal Handling 3, Athletics 2, Convince 5, Knowledge 3, Marksman 3, Science 2, Subterfuge 2, Technology Technology 2, Transport 2 Traits:
Authority (Major Good Trait) Kazan is the leader of a nation.
with Nazis or other enemies of their country.
:@)-2 C+2'#$2 Bruno “Bullet” Sposato is one of the city’s top crime bosses, and considers himself a self-made man in more ways than one. Born the son of a grocer in the slums of the south side,
Dark Secret (Major Bad Trait) Exactly what is the secret of Berezkia’s advanced technology?
young Bruno was intelligent enough and adaptable enough
Empathic (Minor Good Trait) Kazan is an instinctive reader of people.
hard to control his conscience and worked his way up
Indomitable (Minor Good Trait) Kazan possesses an iron will.
Minions (Major Good Trait) Kazan can call upon the armed forces of his nation.
Obsession (Major Bad Trait) Kazan believes in his own manifest destiny. Linguist (Minor Good Trait) Kazan has a natural grasp of languages. Voice of Authority (Minor Good Trait) Kazan is a natural leader. Wealthy (Major Good Trait) Kazan is the leader of a prosperous nation. Weird Tech (Major Good Trait) Berezkia’s labora-
tories turn out suspiciously advanced technology. technology. Total Character Points: 58 Story Points: 6
9"3 P2B :2'' Some might assume that the Mob Boss is merely an ordinary criminal. They’d be wrong; the Mob Boss is an extraordinary criminal. The head of an organised crime family, the Mob Boss has clawed his way up through the ranks the hard way, through spilling the blood of his
enemies. Now he’s at the top and enjoying the fruits of his labors, he demands respect respe ct and he’s he’s got the muscle behind him to get it. Though the Mob Boss may operate with some distance between himself and the front line, part of him misses
to realise that his best chance of escaping the ghetto was
to run with the local gangs. Tough and smart, Bruno fought through the ranks, graduating from petty theft the ft to numbers running. His ingenuity and intelligence caught the eye of a local mobster, and soon Bruno found himself doing
minor jobs for the mob. It was during this time that Bruno gained his nickname “Bullet”, for his habit of carrying a .45 calibre bullet with is name carved on it in his pocket, apparently in the belief that if he carried the bullet that had his name on it, it could never be used to kill him. After proving himself a reliable man to the mob, he was soon inducted into it’s ranks, and killed his rst man at the age of 16. Bruno’s mob career was unremarkable, and he was set to become just another disposable asset until
he was caught in a three way shoot-out between the Police Department, his mob and agents of the Crimson Claw. Trapped and out of ammunition, Sposato used the last bullet he had, his good-luck piece. Bizarrely, the bullet ricocheted off a a police officer’s badge and hit Sposato in the left eye, travelling straight through his brain before exiting the back of his head.
Sposato survivafter survived ed theleaving terriblehospital. injury and was sent he to prison for ve years However, was a very diff erent erent man. Those who knew him before his injury often whisper that perhaps he didn’t survive after all, and that the Bruno Sposato that walks today is merely the body of the mobster, a body lled with something other than Bruno’s soul.
Though Bruno survived being shot in the head, he did not survive unscathed. The damage to his brain caused changes to his personality, eliminating his compassion, conscience and most of his emotions. Strangely, it also robbed him of his ability to see in colour and his ability to feel pain. The Bruno Sposato that emerged from prison was brilliant, ruthless and utterly deadly. Within a matter of month he
11
rolling hisMob sleeves and breaking heads. his henchmen, the Bossup is more than capable ofLike violence, often
had thecontrol rank ofof Consigliere, staging a bloody couprisen thatto put the mob before rmly in his hands.
switching from disarming urbanity to primal savagery in a heartbeat. Unlike the majority of his henchmen, he’s intelligent, if not educated. He’s gotten where he is by out-thinking and out-manoeuvring his rivals, and he’s capable of almost anything to maintain his position.
Since that time Bruno “Bullet” Sposato has consolidated
his grasp on the reigns of power, while working to present the facade of a “legitimate businessman” with an interest in property investment. Sposato is a neat, aristocratic looking Italian American man with prematurely silver 187
Pulp Fantastic hair, handsome despite his craggy looks and eyepatch. He rarely gets directly involved in anything criminal these days, but remains t and is more than capable of beating a man to death with his bare hands should it prove necessary. Due to his brain injury he is utterly unafraid of physical pain (he can be damaged, he just won’t feel it) and cannot be intimidated or made the subject of emotional appeals.
Despite his criminal history, Bruno is a patriot, though he nds
this difficult to articulate or understand. He loves
his country and despises the thought of foreign spies and collaborators, and as such has proven quite an eff ective ective deterrent to the agents of enemy powers unfortunate enough to operate in his city.
Quote: “Don’t disrespect me, boy. It’s not a mistake you want to make.”
9"3 P#-4P#M3 P2-'$3@ A horror icon since the 1818 novel by Mary Shelley, the Man-Made Monster is the ultimate product of Weird
Science. If the Science Hero is nature improved by science, the Man-Made Monster is nature replaced and subverted by science. Whether a clone, homunculus, robot, zombie or stitched-together assemblage of reanimat reanimated ed esh, the Man-Made Monster is a created c reated or otherwise engineered
being. Sometimes the Man-Made Monster is simply muscle for his creator, other times he is a rebellious child, driven by an Oedipal desire to steal his “fathers” power (and occasionally his fathers love-inter love-interest est too). Man-Made Monsters are often tragic gures, misunderstood and lled
with self-loathing at their own monstrous nature, but are just as as often often hostile and aggressive, aggressive, believing believing in their own own superiority over the “merely accidental” creations of nature and evolution.
Awareness:
3
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
4
Presence:
4
Resolve:
5
Strength:
3
Skills: Athletics 2, Convince 2, Marksman 2, Subterfuge 3, Transport 3 Traits: Brave (Minor Good Tra Trait) it) Bruno is fearless.
may have a ghastly pallor and be covered in crudely stitched scar-tissue, while a creature grown in a tank of bubbling uids may lack a
hair or eyes.
navel and have strangely coloured skin,
Code of Conduct: Omertà (Minor Bad Trait) Bruno follows the code of silence.
Some Man-Made Monsters may have successfully mastered the techniques that brought them to life, and have
Dark Secret (Minor Bad Trait) Few in society know that Bruno is a mob boss.
Some may plot to replace or dominate humanity, while
wrought their own minions out of the same sa me raw materials. others might wish to be left in peace peac e or simply be acknowl-
Distinctive (Minor Bad B ad Trait) Bruno’s Bruno’s missing eye makes him stand out.
edged by their creators. c reators.
Impaired Senses: One Eye (Minor Bad Trait) Bruno only has one eye.
individual Gamemaster. Perhaps the key to his creation lie in the long-forgotten notes of Victor Frankenstein or
Maverick (Minor Bad Trait) Bruno dislikes being told what to do.
Minions (Major Good Trait) Bruno is accompanied by made men.
R E T S A M E M A G
Man-Made Monsters vary wildly in appearance, often reecting their manner of creation in their physical features. A being engineered from disassembled cadavers
Never Gives Up (Major Good Trait) Bruno is hard to put down.
Exactly how the Man-Made Monster is created is up u p to the his contemporaries. contemporaries. Perhaps he is the product of alchemical experimentation, or a human being engineered in the womb. It could be a thinking machine, a reanimated corpse, or an animal brought to human levels of intelligence by unthinkable surgery and hormone treatments. Though the Frankenstein Monster is itself the product of
the previous century, century, its most recognizable incarnation was
Tough (Minor Good Trait) Bruno feels no pain.
born at the height of the Pulp era in James Whale’s Whale’s famous 1931 movie adaptation. Another notable Pulp Man-Made
Wealthy (Minor Good Trait) Crime does pay!
Monster is the decapitated Major Sir Eric Moreland Clapham-
Total Character Points: 36 Story Points: 5
Lee - reanimated by Herbert West - who went on to use his knowledge of West’s techniques to create and control his own band of undead servants, combining the Man-Made Monster with the Mad Scientist. Other period examples include the articial people from Carel Kapek’s 1921 play
R.U.R., the computer brain in Edmund Hamilton’s story The Metal Giants, the alien automaton Gnut in the short story
Farewell to the Master (Gort in the lm adaptation The Day Farewell the Earth Stood Still), and of course Futura the robot woman from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
188
Pulp Villains
F&3 C."@3.> Many terrible stories are told of the Great War and the horrors good men experienced in the trenches, but some stories are far darker than others. One such is the story of what the advancing German forces discovered in the bombed out ruins of a eld hospital in St. Eloi, Flanders, in the April of 1915.
Soldiers securing the site, recently vacated by a retreating Canadian regiment, uncovered the remains of a strange hidden laboratory, lled with patchwork monstrosities
and mindless undead creatures. At the heart of the ruined laboratory was a sundered vat of luminous serum, the contents of which had drained away into the earth when the hospital was destroyed. In the months that followed troops on both sides of the trenches reported strange visitations, sightings of fallen comrades resurrected as eerie revenants, with mortal wounds that dripped a glowing green ichor. When one such creature was captured and returned to the German High Command, doctors soon determined two facts. The rst was that the creature was biologically dead, and the second was that its curious cu rious unlife was due to contamination by reptilian cell matter infused with a strange luminous chemical uid.
Faced with terrible losses, the German scientists attempted to analyze and reproduce the reanimating serum, in the hope of creating soldiers that could not be killed. The
from the dead are, for the most part, mindless zombies (Enslaved Dead, page 227) except when under his direct mental control. He has, however, succeeded in creating lieutenants - thinking undead creatures like himself - by carefully refrigerating corpses before reanimation so as
to preserve the delicate tissues of the brain. So far, however, none have demonstrated the same power to raise the dead. dea d. The ultimate aims of Die Schreck are unknown, but he has spoken of breaking down the barrier between death and life, of “freeing humanity from the tyranny of life” and of “emancipating the truly silent majority.” Despite being German, Die Schreck seems to have no political or nationalist allegiance, seeing himself as the leader of the nation of the dead
Quote: “What you call life, I call slavery. You are slaves to your emotions, to your need for warmth, air, food and water. Truly, death is freedom from all these things. Join me and be free…” Awareness:
4
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
5
Presence:
6
Resolve:
6
Strength:
5
Skills: Athletics 2, Convince 3, Fighting 4, Knowledge 2, Marksman 3, Science 1, Tr Transport ansport 3 Traits:
Amnesia (Major Bad Trait) Die Schreck has no conscious memory of his former life.
rst such soldier was codenamed Die Schreck Schr eck – The Terror.
Distinctive (Minor Bad Trait) Die Schreck has
Stitched together from the corpses of fallen infantrymen,
a memorable facial scar.
its veins lled with cultured reptile cells and the reanimating uid, the horrible creature shrieked its way into the world in the winter of 1916. Escaping containment,
Environmental (Major Good Creature Trait)
the undead thing destroyed the laboratory that birthed it, killed the scientists who created it and vanished into no-
man’ss land, there to become just another battle man’ ba ttleeld horror story. But it did not remain there for long.
As an undead being, Die Schreck suff ers ers almost no ill-eff ects ects due to environmen environment. t.
Fast Healer (Special Good Trait) The serum in his blood allows Die Schreck to regenerate his wounds rapidly, recovering 1 point of damage
In the confusion that followed the armistice, tales began to emerge from the ruined French countryside of graves deled, of entire cemeteries being emptied by an eerie band of silent, disgured men under the leadership of a scarred officer....
per minute. Fresh Meat (Minor Bad Trait) Die Schreck’s unnatural scent drives animals to attack him.
Physically, Die Schreck is tall – almost seven feet tall – and Physically, athletically built. He dresses in black, close, tting clothing and an black officers greatcoat. His face is handsome, save for a disguring scar that winds down from his right
to kill, since he’s already dead.
temple, across his eye and down to the right corner of his mouth. His skin is pale, and his dark eyes glow with a strange greenish light. When he speaks his voice is cultured, with a slight German accent and a curiously hollow quality quality..
Immortal (Special Good Creature Trait) Die
Schreck does not age and is almost impossible Indomitable (Major Good Trait) As an intelligent undead monster, Die Schreck is resistant to any form of control.
Minions (Major Good Trait) Die Schreck commands an army of the dead.
More Than Human (Special Good Trait) Raised
11
Die Schreck – he goes by no other name and does not seem
from the dead by mad science, Die Schreck is no longer human.
to recall any previous life – is a true monster. His body
Never Gives Up (Major Good Trait) Die Schreck is hard to knock down.
seems to have become an eternally regenerating reservoir of reanimating ichor, and he has demonstrated repeatedly the ability to raise and control the dead by injecting them with his own blood. Those that Die Schreck raises
Obsession (Major Bad Trait) Die Schreck wants to overthrow the living. 189
Pulp Fantastic Outcast (Minor Bad Trait) He’s an undead monster.
drowned, poisoned and blown up with gelignite. None of these took.
Special: Re-animator (Special Good Creature Trait) By administering injections of his own blood, Die Schreck can raise the recently dead as zombies.
The Creeper rst appeared in London during the later 1880s, working as hired muscle for a number of di d iff erent erent criminal masterminds. It is here that he rst gained his reputation as an unstoppable force, becoming a symbol
Tough (Major Good Trait) Die Schreck feels no no pain. Voice of Authority (Minor Good Trait) Die Schreck still carries himself with an o fficer’s bearing. Weakness (Major Bad Trait) The serum in Die
Schreck’ss blood is volatile at high temperatures. Schreck’ Total Character Points: 80 Story Points: 12
9"3 P#-6*3@ The Mangler is a character that shows up in various guises
throughout the Pulps. He is a hulking homicidal man-mountain used as muscle by other villains. He frequently has a bizarre obsession with beauty, and is xated on the Mad Scientists beautiful daughter, the mob bosses Moll, the Baroness or the Dragon Lady, whoever is the most inaccessible. The Mangler is characterised by his great size, physical strength and durability. He is a gure of terror with a reputation for dealing horrible death, usually with his bare hands. He almost always has a signature method of dealing with his foes, by which his murders can easily be
identied. Perhaps he breaks backs, crushes skulls, snaps necks or twists his victims into pretzels. Whatever his method of killing, the mere thought of him is enough to ll those who know of him with dread.
R E T S A M E M A G
of terror and ruthlessness for whoever bought his loyalty. Though his appearance was terrifying, he developed a tendency to become obsessed with one attractive young woman after another, silently stalking them in order to
present them with small tokens of his aff ection ection (and incidentally break the backs of any potential rivals). At some point however, each of these women would disappoint him, and they would shortly be found somewhere with their spines crushed. The Creepers rst reign of terror was brought to an end when he was ambushed by armed o fficers of Scotland Yard. In the resulting melee it is estimated he was shot between ten and twenty times without apparent eff ect, ect,
before he fell into the Thames and vanished without trace.
The Creeper re-appeared in London nearly ten years later, working for the notorious art thief thi ef Giles Conover. Conover made an attempt to steal the infamous black pearl of the Borgias, and ran afoul of Sherlock Holmes. During this adventure, the Creeper appears to have forged a strange bond with the black pearl, as his life ever after seems closely linked with the blood-stained treasure. Holmes
successfully managed to turn the Creeper against Conover by invoking the name of the Creeper’s latest obsession, and later apparently shot the Creeper dead. The Creeper
revived during durin g his autopsy, autopsy, broke the back of the examining pathologist, and again disappeared. Five years later, the Borgia Pearl was sold at auction to an
anonymous American millionaire, and the Creeper resur-
Though the Mangler is usually a reliable weapon, he can
faced once again. Displaying uncanny stealth for a man previously considered to be rather stupid, the Creeper
sometimes behis turned against master (or mistress), by playing upon tendency to his obsess.
followed jewel agent to New York, where he murdered the courier, athe docking and three deck-hands.
9"3 ;2H$2- ?@33+3@
Since then he has worked as mob muscle and a killer for hire, always following the Black Pearl as it passes from owner to owner, always murdering those foolish enough to keep it in their possession long enough for him to nd them. It has been suggested that the Creeper can sense the
The brutal killer known as “the Hoxton Creeper” in Britain, and later simply “The Creeper” in the United States, is a deformed giant of a man whose monstrous appearance strikes terror in his victims shortly before he murders them by crushing their spines with his bare hands.
The origins of the Creeper and the source of both his great strength and his uncanny ability to cheat death are
unknown. A medical report made while he was presumed dead having been shot several times by Sherlock Holmes, suggests that the cause of his facial deformity and great
jewel jew el some somehow how,, as as he he has has trace tracedd itit seve several ral times when every precaution had been taken to conceal its true location.
In the mid-1940’s mid-1940’s a character loosely based on the Creeper will be featured in a number of movies, played by the actor Rondo Hatton. Note that although the Creeper rarely speaks, he is not
size may be a form of acromegaly, acromegaly, a disorder of the pituitary gland. However this does not explain the Creepers Creepe rs near-to-
mute. Quote: “… “…””
tal silence, his apparent fearlessness, his cold-blooded ruthlessness or his great physical strength. Nor does it explain his peculiar resistance to injury. Though records on the Creeper are sparse at best, he is said to have been shot several times, hung twice, electrocuted, burned, 190
Pulp Villains Awareness:
3
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
2
Presence:
1
Resolve:
4
Strength:
6
Skills: Fighting 3, Subterfuge 2 Traits: Animal Lover (Minor Bad Trait) The Creeper has a peculiar fondness for animals, particularly cats. Breaking & Entering (Major Good Trait) Nowhere is safe from the Creeper. Distinctive (Minor Bad Trait) At seven feet tall, the Creeper is easy to spot. Enhanced Senses (Minor Good Creature Trait)
The Creeper always seems to know the location of the Borgia Pearl.
Fast Healer (Major Good Trait) The Creeper is hard to put down.
Fear Factor 3 (Special Good Character Trait) The Creeper is simply terrifying. Immortal Special Good Trait) ait) No-one knows the (Creeper’s age,Creature and he’sTr been reported dead over a dozen times. It never seems to stick.
More Than Human (Special Good Trait) Whatever the Creeper is, he’s more than human. Obsession (Major Bad Trait) The Creeper is
fascinated by two things; beautiful women and the Borgia Pearl.
Outcast (Minor Bad Trait) He’s wanted for murder on three continents.
Tough (Major Good Tra Trait) it) The Creeper seems to soak up punishment like a sponge.
Unattractive (Minor Bad B ad Trait) He’s He’s got a face not even a mother could love.
Total Character Points: 37 Story Points: 12
11
191
Chapter 12 Beasts & Monsters
T
he Pulp World is full of strange and fascinating crea-
tures, along with those tho se of the more mundane variety.
This chapter contains creatures from the alligators that roam among the swamps of Louisiana and Florida to the mummies that inhabit old tombs in the great deserts of Africa.
This chapter provides pre-generated creatures and characters for . It also includes tools to help create interesting new creatures to t the special needs of their campaigns.
C&W3 All creatures fall into one of six Size Categori Categories es
Tiny: Only a few centimetres long. Tiny creatures are things like most insects and vermin, as well as mice, rats, most lizards and snakes—anything that’s small enough to hide in your boot or pocket. Tiny creatures have a maximum Strength of 1, and a single point of damage is
enough to squish a Tiny creature. Marksman-based attacks on Tiny creatures suff er er a -2 penalty (or more—you try shooting a mosquito out of the air with a sniper ri e!)
?@3#$)@3 1)*3' Creatures use the same Attributes as humans, although
Small: These creatures are noticeably smaller than an adult human. It covers most cats, dogs and human chil-
they can have a much higher Strength score than puny homo sapiens. A giant ape can smash through a concrete c oncrete
will have a Strength of only 1-2.
wall or ip a car with a ick of its wrist. On the bright side, most animals have a much lower Ingenuity than a human; creatures rely on instinct, not intelligence.
dren. Small creatures have a maximum Strength of 4; most Average: We’re being a bit self-centred by calling the human species ‘average’, but anyway, this covers adult humans as well as any creature that’s roughly our size,
Awareness for most creatures ranges between 2 to 5. Save Awareness 1 for creatures who are out of their natural
like apes, big wolves, crocodiles, raptors, lions and tigers.
environment, or for creatures who are almost completely
Big: This is a creature roughly the size of a horse, gorilla or
oblivious to the world, like simple-minded insects.
Average creatures have a maximum Strength of 8.
bear. If it’s bigger than a human, but can still hide from you,
Coordination is a very important characteristic, as it
it’s Big. Big creatures have Strength scores of up to 12.
determines how likely a big creature is to be able to hit a
Huge: Huge creatures are really big. Elephants are Huge,
human. In general, assume most animals have Coordina-
for example, as are most of the big dinosaurs din osaurs in lost worlds
tion 2, with 3 or 4 for creatures who can y or climb.
Ingenuity isn’t used by most creatures. Unless a creature approaches human intelligence, then it’s going to be 1.
and hidden valleys. Huge creatures have Strength scores up to 16.
Colossal: There aren’t supposed to be any Colossal crea-
Presence is higher for bigger or more demonstrative
tures in the modern day outside the oceans, but that doesn’t
creatures. If it roars, makes lots of noise, or has impressive threat displays, give it a higher Presence. Stealthy or quiet
mean they aren’t out there. These titanic creatures have no upper limit on their Strength scores, and attacks on them are like shooting a barn door—you get a +2 bonus when shooting at a Colossal creature (but it’ll probably only annoy it).
creatures have a lower Presence.
Resolve is the creature’s determination and courage. If a creature keeps doggedly pursuing its prey, give it a high
Resolve. If it’s opportunistic and ees if it meets resistance, give it a low score.
Size has one key eff ect ect on combat—if there’s more than one size category between attacker and defender, the bigger creature has to use Coordination when making
Strength is mainly determined by the creature s Size, so don’t give it a Strength yet.
melee attacks. That means that even if an dinosaur has a
Strength of 16, it can’t automatically automatically squish a tiny human. Instead, it has to roll Coordination + Fighting to hit. It can, however, bring its full Strength to bear on a bigger bi gger target— like, say, a tank. This also applies to humans—you can’t use your Strength to attack a Tiny creature, you have to use Coordinati Coordination. on.
Pulp Fantastic
What can a creature do with a high Strength? Use this table as a guideline guid eline for Strength + Athletics difficulties.
15
Break down a wooden door.
18
Snap a rope, smash through a plaster wall.
21
Flip over a small car, break a steel chain, tear someone limb from limb.
24
Tear the door off a car, dent a reinforced security door.
27
Tear the roof off a car, flip a pick-up.
30
Smash through a concrete wall.
33
Smash through a reinforced steel door.
36
Flip a tank.
39
Crush a tank.
C+33M Creatures fall into three Speed categories—F categories—Fast, ast, Average or Slow. In combat, Fast creatures go rst, then Average creatures, then Slow creatures.
?@3#$)@3 C>&**' Animals use the same Skills as ordinary characters, more or less—you’re unlikely to nd an animal with Technology or Science, but Skills like Athletics, Fighting and Survival are common. In general, animal Skills use the same rules as the
regular version of the Skills, but have diff erent erent areas of Expertise.
A$"* A$ "*3$ 3$&. &.'' Strong, healthy animals have high Athletics scores. It’s used
for running, wellaerial as displays of brute force. Flyingjumping creaturesand alsoclimbing use it foras agile manoeuvres. Areas of Expertise: Beast of Burden, Climbing, Flying,
Swimming,, Rending, Jumping, Squeezing Through Narrow Swimming
R E T S A M E M A G
Spaces
,&6"$&-6 Fighting covers almost all forms of natural weapons, like
claws, bites, tail lashes or stings. Some animals are especially good at a particular type of attack—an ambush predator gets a bonus when making a surprise attack, for example.
Areas of Expertise: Ambush, Bite, Claw, Fighting When Cornered, Block, Wrestling, Strangling
C)B$3@I)63 Animals are unlikely to be smart enough to use Subterfuge to pick locks or palm cards, but the ‘sneaking ‘sneaking and hiding’ parts of Subterfuge apply just as much to animals as they do to people.
Areas of Expertise: Stalking, Hiding in Shadows, Hiding in Undergrowth
C)@K&K#* All wild animals have at least a point or two in Survival, reecting their ability to nd food and shelter. Especially adept hunters and trackers have more points; pets and other domesticated animals may lack any knowledge of how to survive in the wild.
Areas of Expertise: Environment Environmentss such as Arctic, Forest, Jungle, Coastal Coastal Waters, Waters, Surface Surface Ocean, Deep Ocean
When you’ve got lots of small creatures — say, a mass of soldier ants, or a frenzied horde of rats — then it’s easier to treat the whole group as a single creature, called a Swarm.
The Swarm’s Size determines how dangerous it is—the bigger the Size, the more attacking creatures there are in the Swarm (note that the Size of the Swarm is not the same as the Size of the creatures that compose the Swarm). A Swarm makes one attack roll each round, and then makes a number of hits equal to its maximum Strength. For example, a Big B ig Swarm can do 12 hits. Furthermore, the larger a Swarm is, the harder it is to avoid being hit; add ad d the Swarm’s maximum Strength score directly to its Coordination + Fighting when making attacks. Each hit inflicts normal damage dama ge for a creature in the Swarm. It can hit a single target multiple times, or split its attacks. Characters attacked can make Resistance rolls as normal (remember there’s there’s a penalty for multiple Reactions in a round, so a character trying to dodge or parry a Swarm will be rapidly overwhelmed.) If a character is wearing armour, it only applies against half the Swarm’s attacks (unless it is some sort of full-body armour). arm our). If a character gets hit by 5 or more attacks in one round, and his armour isn’t strong enough to protect him, then don’t bother rolling—that’s ‘covered in carnivorous beasties and skeletonised’ territory unless the character spends Story Points to escape. Most attacks on a Swarm are pointless—a character might be able to squish one bug, but that does no good if you’re
P#@>'8#Only a few animals have the Marksman Skill. Any creature
being attacked by hundreds of them. Unless you’ve got a flamethrower or another area-effect area- effect weapon handy, the best strategy is to run.
with a ranged attack (like a dinosaur that spits acid, or a giant frog with a long sticky tongue) has a few points in Marksman.
Areas of Expertise: Spit, Grab, Thrown Weapons 194
Beasts & Monsters
?@3#$)@3 ?@3#$&2Now you’ve had a chance to consider the background of the creature you’re creating, creating, you should consider how it is being used in the adventure. If they are adversaries (quite a common occurrence in Pulp adventures), where will they be encountered? Are they simply a minor en-
counter, a setback, or minions of the major villain? In that case, they shouldn’t be too powerful. Try creating the creatures using a similar number of points to a player
9@#&$' Below is a list of creature Traits that the creature can have to set them apart from mere humans. Just as other Traits that can be purchased, they come in Minor, Major and Special Good and Bad Traits. There’s no hard limit on the number of Traits that a creature can have, but in general you should try to keep things from becoming too compli-
cated. Remember that Traits are abilities that are constant-
character. If the heroes will be encountering e ncountering many of them,
ly ‘on’—the monster doesn’t need to spend Story Points or use an action to get the advantage of the ability.
this should be a fairly even match.
Of course, the list of Creature Traits presented below is
The players should be able to face the encounter with
just a sample of what can be done, though though most creatures
few problems, depending upon how many of them there are. For example, a single Radium Man is a tough oppo-
nent, far stronger than a normal person. However, However, they’re
can be built using these Traits. The list isn’t exhaustive— you should use these Traits as a basis for making new,
unique Traits for your own creatures. If you wish to design
slow and too logical, giving the players a bit of an edge
your own Trait, you should feel free.
against it. Increase the number and you’ve got a ght on
To get started and create your creature, you can pick any of the creature Traits presented here, as well as those available to human characters.
your hands!
Additional Limbs (Minor Good)
Leap (Special Good)
Aggressive (Minor Good)
Lurker (Minor Good)
Amphibious (Minor Good)
Natural Weapons (Minor or Major Good)
Armor (Minor, (Minor, Major or Special Good)
Networked (Minor or Major Good)
Aquatic (Minor Bad)
Nocturnal (Minor Bad)
Bite (Minor or Major Good)
Passive (Minor Bad)
Burrowing (Minor Good)
Poison (Special Good)
Claw (Major or Minor Good)
Possess (Special Good)
Climbing (Minor or Major Good)
Replication (Major Good)
Constrict (Minor Good)
Savage Roar (Major Good)
Enhanced Senses (Minor Good)
Screamer! (Minor Good)
Environmental (Minor or Major Good)
Shapeshift (Minor, (Minor, Major or Special Good)
Fast-Moving Fast-Mo ving (Minor or Major Good)
Slow-Moving (Minor or Major Good)
Fear Factor (Special Good)
Snap (Major Good)
Flight (Minor or Major Good)
Special (Special Good)
Frenzy (Minor Bad)
Stalker (Major Good)
Grab (Minor Good)
Stinger (Minor Good)
12
Immaterial (Special Bad)
Stomp (Minor Good)
Immortal (Major or Special Good)
Strange Appearance (Special Bad)
Immunity (Major Good Trait Trait))
Teleport (Major Good)
Infection (Major Good)
Trample (Major Good)
Invisible (Special Good)
Warning (Major Good)
195
Pulp Fantastic
AMM& AM M&$& $&22-#* #* N& N&8B 8B'S 'S (Minor Good Creature Trait) The creature has an additional pair of limbs. This can mean arms or legs or an odd creature limb or tentacle that functions as both. Of course, taking an additional pair of limbs means that the creature is usually very obviously weird in appearance, and will automatically get the Strange Appearance Bad Trait (Minor). The Additional Limbs Trait can be taken a second time, giving the creature a cumulative bonus, but their Strange Appearance Trait becomes Major.
Eff ect: ect: Additional Limbs is a Minor Good Trait, and costs
just 1 point point for every addit additional ional pair of limbs limbs.. If the creatu creature re has additional legs, their eff ective ective Speed (when calculating chases and alike) is increased by +2. If the limbs are arms, the rst additional action in any Round receives no penalty (as they can eff ectively ectively do two things at once). This Trait can be taken twice to create an eight limbed creature, though they will be obviously weirder. Additional limbs can be had on top of this, but they receive no bonus and
cost no extra – there comes a point when you have so many legs or arms that it just becomes confusing and you can end up tripping over your own feet.
A66 A 66@3 @3'' ''&K &K33
In most cases, this armor will be thick plating, such as metal or scales, and so this isn’t suitable for player characters. At this level, the Armour Tr Trait ait costs 2 points, but their Coordination is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1). The highest level is as a Special Trait, costing 3 or more. Every additional point spent, increases the armor by +5 (and reduces their Coordination by an additional -1 to a minimum of 1). This means you can create huge and heavily armored creatures, but they don’t move particularly fast or accurately.
AV)# AV )#$& $&.. (Minor Bad Creature Trait) The creature lives in the water and cannot move on dry
land. It may be a sh or other aquatic creature that breathes through gills, or it may need to surface every so often to rell its lungs.
Eff ect: ect: Aquatic creatures have their Coordination reduced to 1 or even 0 when on land.
:&$3 (Minor or Major Good Creature Trait) Trait) The creature has strong jaws and sharp, tearing teeth.
(Minor Good Creature Trait)
Eff ect: ect: Bite attacks usually do Strength +2 or +4 damage.
This creature is quick to attack when threatened.
penalty, unlike claws. The damage bonus provided by the
Eff ect: ect: It gains a +2 bonus to its Coordination for the purposes of working out who moves rst during the Fighting Phase.
A8+" A8 +"&B &B&2 &2)' )'
Bite attacks can be used in cramped conditions without Minor version is +2 damage and the Major version is +4 damage.
:)@@23*3$2-
Speed: Fast
Skeletons are the bones of the long dead, animated in a parody of life by dark powers. Skeletons are e ff ectively ectively simple supernatural automatons, able to use tools and carry out simple tasks and instructions, but incapable of independent thought or reasoning reasoning.. Awareness:
2
Coordination:
2
Ingenuity:
1
Presence:
1
Resolve:
1
Strength:
4
Size: Average Speed: Average Skills: Athletics 1, Fighting 3 Traits: Environmental (Major Good Creature Trait) Skeletons suff er er no environmental eff ects. ects.
Coordination: Resolve:
4 3
Ingenuity: Strength:
Skills: Athletics 3, Convince 3, Fighting 3, Subterfuge 2 Traits: Climbing (Major Good Creature Trait) Vampires can move at their full speed on any surface. Dependency (Major Bad Trait) Vampires Vampires need to feed on fresh human blood nightly. Fast-Moving (Major Good Creature Creatu re Trait) The vampiress Speed is doubled. vampire Fast Healer (Special Good Creature Trait) Vampires recover 1 Attribute point per minute. Fear Factor 2 (Special Good Creature Trait) The vampire gets +4 to any roll when actively attempting to frighten a victim.
Natural Weapons (Minor Good Creature Trait)
Hypnosis (Major Good Trait) Vampires can hypnotize their prey.
Bony, claw-like ngers do Strength +2 damage.
Immortal (Special Good Creature Trait) Vam-
Never Gives Up (Major Good Trait) Skeletons cannot be incapacitated, only destroyed. Bad Trait) Skeletons have Obsession no free will (Major and must follow their instructions no matter what.
Tough (Minor Good Trait) Skeletons are eshless and do not easily take wound damage. All damage taken is reduced by 2. Weakness (Major Bad Trait) Destroying the skull of a skeleton will deactivate it permanently. Character Points: 17
U#8+& U#8 +&@3 @3
3 5
pires cannot die through age, violence or disease (see Weakness, below).
Keen Senses (Major Good Trait) The vampire has +2 to all Awareness rolls. Natural Weapons (Minor Good Creature Trait) Claws and fangs give the vampire Strength +2 damage. Phobia (Minor Bad Trait) The vampire is repelled by sunlight. Tough (Major Good Trait) Vampires Vampires reduce all damage taken by 3. Weakness (Major Bad Trait) Beheading or burning will destroy the vampire, while staking it will immobilize the creature.
13
Vampires exists in the folklore and mythology of every nation on earth. The apex predator of humankind, vam-
Character Points: 49
pires exist wherever their food source exists, stalking the shadows and picking off the the weak and the isolated. Vampires tend to diff er er from culture to culture, with diff erent erent forms, abilities and vulnerabilities, but they all have one thing in common - the need to feed on human blood. Note: The stats below represent fairly “realistic” vampires; humanoid creatures with enhanced strength, speed and 219
Pulp Fantastic
!3@3< !3@ 3
Like the gentleman crook, the gangster is a criminal. Unlike
For the idle rich, boredom is a constant threat. With nothing more serious to do than plan the next party or the next seduction, the gentleman crook has turned to crime to provide the ultimate thrill or to right some perceived wrong. Motivated by a need to outsmart the opposition, the gentleman crook usually cares little for the
the gentleman crook, he’s no gentleman.
The gangster may be a bank robber, mob enforcer or simply a low level mook involved with the rackets (illegal gam-
bling, bootlegging, extortion, kidnapping, kidnappi ng, fraud, etc). The pulp era was highly conscious of crime. The “Ten Most Wanted” list turned bank robbers into national heroes of
a sort, while prohibition made bootleggers rich, and gang wars with Tommy-guns created legends.
Quote: “Gangsters don’t ask questions, sweetheart. Gangsters just get answers.” Awareness:
3
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
4
Presence:
4
Resolve:
5
Strength:
3
Skills: Athletics 2, Convince 3, Fighting 2, Marksman 3, Subterfuge 3, Transport 2 Traits: Adversary (Major Bad Trait) Breaking & Entering (Major Good Trait) Maverick (Minor Bad Trait) Owed Favor (Minor Good Trait) Selsh (Minor Bad Trait) Tough (Minor Good Trait) Total Character Points: 37 Unspent Character Points: 5 Story Points: 12
money he steals, instead focus the from style and daring of thepreferring crime itself. Rarelytodoes heon steal those ho cannot aff ord ord the loss, and his spoils are often donated to the poor or those in need, giving him a “Robin
Hood” reputation. Many gentleman crooks prefer to steal only from those who it is felt deserve it; criminals, corrupt politicians or just people with appalling taste and bad manners.
Some gentleman crooks operate under an assumed identity, while others are known but rely on their great skill to avoid being caught.
Quote: “What a charming necklace, Lady Carstairs.” Awareness:
4
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
5
Presence: 4 Resolve: 3 Strength: 3 Skills: Athletics 3, Convince 3, Knowledge 2, Subterfuge 3, Technology 2
Traits: Adversary (Minor Bad Trait) Breaking & Entering (Major Good Trait) Charming (Minor Good Trait) Dark Secret (Major Bad Trait) Lucky (Minor Good Trait) Obsession (Minor Bad Trait) Wealthy (Minor Good Trait) Total Character Points: 36 Unspent Character Points: 6 Story Points: 12 A
243
Pulp Fantastic
74P#-
7@3#'3 P2->35
Smart, stalwart and rigidly dedicated, G-men are agents of some branch of the U.S. Government: the , the Prohibition Bureau, the Treasury Department, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (), the Immigration and Naturalization Service, etc. Armed with access to national resources and powers far beyond that of local law enforce-
The grease monkey is a skilled engineer and mechanic with a natural affinity for technology, particularly of the vehicular variety. With his stained overalls and battered
ment, the G-Man organized crime. is the sworn enemy of espionage and
camshaft, but the best there is atloyal what hehard-workdoes, and what he does is he’s Courageous, l oyal and x things.
Quote: “No sir, the does not have a sense of humor that we are aware of.”
ing, the grease monkey is as invaluable a tool in the ght against crime as the chrome-plated .45 and the domino mask. He’s the one who keeps the crime-ghters esoteric
Awareness:
4
Coordination:
4
Ingenuity:
4
Presence:
4
Resolve:
4
Strength:
4
toolbox, the grease monkey may often look slightly shabby sha bby next to the square-jawed hero types, and may have difficulty talking to anything that doesn’t have an overhead
vehicles and arsenal of equipment in peak working order,
Skills: Athletics 2, Convince 2, Fighting 3, Knowledge 3, Marksman 3, Subterfuge 1, Technology 1, Transport 2
the one who coaxes a battered engine into life just long enough to track the gang of hijackers and who is always willing to wade into a scrap armed with nothing but his trusty over-sized wrench.
Traits:
Quote: “I knew I should have brought a bigger wrench!”
Authority (Minor Good Trait)
Awareness:
2
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
4
Breaking & Entering (Major Good Trait)
Presence:
2
Resolve:
3
Strength:
2
By the Book (Minor Bad Trait) Code of Conduct (Minor Bad Trait) Crack Shot (Minor Good Trait) Obligation (Major Bad Trait) Tough (Minor Good Trait) Total Character Points: 42 Story Points: 12
Tech-Skills: Craft 4, Fighting 2, Knowledge 2, Science 2, Tech nology 2, Transport 2
Traits: Attractive (Minor Good Trait) Clumsy (Minor Bad Trait) Dogsbody (Minor Bad Trait) Favorite Tool (Minor Good Trait) Technically Adept (Minor Good Trait) Total Character Points: 31 Unspent Character Points: 11 Story Points: 12
244
Appendix
7)8'"23 Hard-boiled, cynical and wisecracking, this is the down-
at-heel private private detective in the tradition of Sam Spade and Mike Hammer, a tough guy often ready to fall for the rst dame through the door. In the Pulps, the gumshoe could
be your best friend, or your worst enemy. enemy. Most of the time t ime he’s broke, with nothing to his name but the name on the ffi
door of his rented o ce,,aa half-empty of details cheap bourbon in his desk drawer drawer, ling cabinetbottle with the of the case that got away, a loaded .38 in his pocket and a rep for getting the job done. The gumshoe’s life is hard and often grimy, but it’s never boring.
While the Pulps did feature examples e xamples of rogue private eyes who’dd branched out into blackmail, theft and even murder, who’ by far the majority were bound by a deeply ingrained sense of justice and a personal code of honor.
A private detective with his own business will need to nd suitable office space and advertise. On the other hand, he can also set his own fees. The private detective’s relationship with the local police may be one of mutual respect or complete antipathy. A private detective must usually have a license. It gives the private detective the right to advertise and to charge for Investigations; otherwise he has the same powers as any private citizen.
X)-6*3 O&-6
Quote: “I woke up feeling lousy, mostly because I’d gone to bed sober.”
zation who – due to bizarre and unfortunate circumstance
Awareness:
4
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
4
Presence:
3
Resolve:
4
Strength:
3
The Jungle King (or Queen) is a native of Western civili- was raised by animals in an isolated wilderness and has
attained a peak of physica physicall perfection. Jungle Kings often possess enhanced senses and the ability to communicate
with animals. They use their heightened abilities to protect
Skills: Convince 3, Fighting 3, Knowledge 2, Marksman 3, Subterfuge 3, Transport 3
their “kingdom” from intrusion and exploitation by the
Traits:
highlights the hypocrisy and shifting morality of modern
outside world. Their adventures often often bring them into the civilized world, where their rough and ready nobility
Breaking & Entering (Major Good Trait)
life.
Code of Conduct (Minor Bad Trait) Emotional Complication (Minor Bad Trait)
Quote: “N’gawa!”
Face in the Crowd (Minor Good Trait) Favorite Gun (Minor Good Trait) Friends in the Underworld (Minor Good Trait)
Impoverished (Minor Bad Trait) Insatiable Curiosity (Minor Bad Trait) Tough (Minor Good Trait)
Awareness:
5
Coordination:
4
Ingenuity:
3
Presence:
3
Resolve:
4
Strength:
5
Skills: Animal Handling 3, Athletics 3, Fighting 3, Subterfuge 3, Survival 3 Traits: Animal Friendship (Minor Good Trait) Animal Lover (Minor Bad Trait) Fast Runner (Minor Bad Trait)
A
Total Character Points: 40 Unspent Character Points: 2 Story Points: 12
Keen Senses (Major Good Trait) Maverick (Minor Bad Trait) Pet (Minor Good Trait) Strange Visitor (Minor Bad Trait) Total Character Points: 39 Unspent Character Points: 3 Story Points: 12 245
Appendix
P#@$&#* A@$&'$
“normal”” men who use their abilities at stealth and disguise “normal
The martial artist hails from the mysterio mysterious us eastern realm
they face, giving them a superhuman edge over their much
known as Asia (see Mystic East for more details on the Asian continent), and is a student of one or more martial arts disciplines. To the martial artist, these disciplines represent more than self-defense and combat expertise.
more numerous opponents.
to terrify the cowardly and superstitious criminals that
Crime in the Pulp Era was often brutal, and brutal methods were sometimes necessary to ght it. A vigilante who
The training includes a profound philosophy that teaches
deals with criminals too powerful or strange for the police,
restraint artists work to master their mind as and wellhumility. as theirMartial body, attuning both to work in
darkness and (usually) blazing twin .45’s to deliver justice
harmony through the techniques they have learned.
Martial artists might develop their combat skills and philosophy to aid a career as an agent or a law enforcer, or might become an independent operative whose entire person is a weapon. No matter what career they choose to pursue, martial artists possesses condence, commitment, and the means to get the job done.
Quote: “If you know your enemy, but not yourself, you will always be defeated.” Awareness:
5
Coordination:
4
Ingenuity:
3
Presence:
3
Resolve:
4
Strength:
4
Skills: Athletics 3, Fighting 3, Marksman 2, Subterfuge 3 Traits: Adversary (Minor Bad Trait) Code of Conduct (Minor Bad Trait) Enlightened (Special Good Trait)
the masked avenger is a weird gure who uses terror, and hot lead to the guilty. guilty. While a predecessor of the super-hero, the masked avenger’s costume usually consists
of a dark suit, a trench coat or cape, a fedora and a domino mask or concealing bandana, though more outlandish and garish costumes have been known. Due to their lethal methods, masked avengers were often as persecuted by the police as they were hated by the under-
world, hence the need for a secret identity identity.. Masked avengers often faced gangsters and mad scientists, but their investigations frequently led them into conict with stranger and darker adversaries, such as vampires, ghouls and black magicians. While most masked avengers used theatrical tricks and special eff ects ects to terrify their opponents, some used psychic gifts and mesmerism to achieve their aims. While some masked avengers are motivated by tragedy,
the majority are simply trying to do the right thing. Many are wealthy young men (very rarely women) who have decided to put their natural gifts and extensiv extensivee resources
to the service of justice – as opposed to the Law. The masked
Fresh Meat (Minor Bad Trait)
avenger is a staple of the Pulp genre. Examples include the Shadow, the Spider and the Black Bat.
Indomitable (Major Good Trait)
Quote: “Crime does not pay!” ! ! !
Martial Artist (Major Good Trait)
Awareness:
4
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
4
Quick Reexes (Minor Good Trait)
Presence:
4
Resolve:
5
Strength:
3
Tough (Minor Good Trait) Total Character Points: 38 Unspent Character Points: 4 Story Points: 12
Skills: Athletics 3, Fighting 3, Knowledge 3, Marksman 3, Subterfuge 3, Technology 2, Transport 2 Traits: Adversary (Major Bad Trait) Breaking & Entering (Major Good Trait)
P#'>3M AK3-63@ The laughter lilted softly through the wet, dark alley. “Crusher” Kreel had run into a dead end, and had just realized it. He drew his gun, more out of fear than out of any desire to use it. The quiet voice of Smoke lled the darkness and the alley. It was a voice lled with menace. “Those guns are useless, Kreel. You
Cloud Men’s Minds (Major Good Trait) Code of Conduct (Minor Bad Trait) Crack Shot (Minor Good Trait) Dark Secret (Major Bad Trait)
A
Insatiable Curiosity (Minor Bad Trait)
know that you can’t shoot Smoke. Smoke.”” Kreel fell to his knees and dropped his gun as the laughter again lled the alley alley..
The weed of crime bears bitter fruit, and the masked avenger intends to ensure it tastes very bitter indeed. While some characters thrive on their Reputation, on being known, the masked avenger thrives on being unknown. His weapons are rumor and superstition, his cloak secrecy. The masked avenger represents those
Maverick (Minor Bad Trait) Obsession (Minor Bad Treat) Psychic (Special Good Trait) Wealthy (Minor Good Trait) Total Character Points: 42 Story Points: 12 247
Pulp Fantastic
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To the mystic there is no such thing as magic, there are only occult sciences and technologies of the mind that
Grant could never get used to the view from up on top of his building…looking out over the city, his city, he could almost fool himself into thinking that it was clean…
man has yet to master. The mystic has delved deep in areas shrouded in darkness and ignorance, be they the secrets of lost Atlantis, ancient Tibetan meditations, the true
power of mathematics, the power of the Chi, or the correct pronunciation and power a handfulseparates of the truemystics names of God. The weight of thisof knowledge from their fellow man, and they keep their secrets close. Mystics tread the ne line between scholar and scientist,
with the occult and the unknown as their specialty. Many mystics operate as “ghost breakers”, using their genuine arcane skills to uncover frauds and hoaxes. Others such
as Thomas Carnacki, Anton Zarnak and Jules De Grandin, use a blend of arcane science and psychic mastery to overcome genuine intrusions of the unknown into the everyday world. Some mystics operate as supernatural detectives, using their special gifts to solve both mundane and arcane mysteries.
Somewhere between the Masked Avenger and the yet to emerge super-hero is the Mystery Man (and Mystery Woman). Wom an). From out of the shadowed back alleys, and the rain slick rooftops, comes the Mystery Man. Unlike the Masked Avenger, who prefers to remain in the shadows and have his existence known only to the criminals he haunts, the Mystery Man understands how publicity and public knowledge can be important tools in the battle against crime. The Mystery Man wears a (very often brightly colored) costume. Unlike the Masked Avenger, he prefers to use his sts rather than hot lead to dispense justice. He is the prototype of the superhero, and his costume is as much a uniform to him as is a policeman’s. While most Masked
Avengers avoid the limelight, the Mystery Man embraces the attention, using it as a tool in his campaign against
Quote: “The aetheric vibrations are very strong. There’s
crime. Public awareness and support sup port can often be as valu-
been a manifestation here.”
able as the fear of criminals. Quote: “Stand back, I’m here to help.”
Awareness:
4
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
4
Presence:
3
Resolve:
5
Strength:
3
Skills: Convince 3, Knowledge 4, Science 3, Subterfuge 3 Traits: Adversary (Major Bad Trait)
Awareness:
4
Coordination:
3
Ingenuity:
4
Presence:
3
Resolve:
4
Strength:
4
Skills: Athletics 3, Fighting 4, Medicine 2, Subterfuge 3 Traits:
Clairvoyance (Special Good Trait)
Adversary (Minor Bad Trait)
Code of Conduct (Minor Bad Trait)
Brave (Minor Good Trait)
Eccentric (Minor Bad Trait)
Code of Conduct (Minor Bad Trait)
Enlightened (Special Good Trait)
Dark Secret (Major Bad Trait)
Good Samaritan (Minor Bad Trait)
Dependents (Minor Bad Trait)
Hypnosis (Minor Good Trait)
Fast Healing (Major Good Trait)
Insatiable Curiosity (Minor Bad Trait)
Obsession (Minor Bad Trait)
Psychic (Special Good Trait)
Quick Reexes (Minor Good Trait)
Psychic Training (Minor Good Trait)
Tough (Minor Good Trait)
Telepathy (Special Good Trait)
Total Character Points: 33
Total Character Points: 36
Unspent Character Points: 9
Unspent Character Points: 6
Story Points: 12
Story Points: 12
248
Appendix
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