Gauging Interest - It's a 30s Sci-Fi pulp Ripping Yarns jokey sort of thing...
What Ho!
Looking to see if anyone is interested in a light-hearted Boy's Own Adventure* kind of pulp sci-fi game, with simple mechanics and general daftness all round, where the good guys win because Johnny Martian doesn't understand the rules of cricket.
Inspirations:
Boys Own Tales, (as spoofed by Palin and Jones in) Ripping Yarns, war comics (e.g. Commando, Victor), Saturday serials (e.g. Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon. King of the Rocketmen, Undersea Kingdom, anything with Larry “Buster” Crabbe or Ray "Crash" Corrigan), Johnny Weismuller’s Tarzan, Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes, any film starring Doug McClure, Bulldog Drummond, Dick Barton Special Agent, The 39 Steps, Jules Verne, HG Wells, Dan Dare, Willans and Searles’ Molesworth, Girl Genius, Daily Mirror’s Jane, Rudyard Kipling, Enid Blyton, Arthur Ransome, Biggles, etc...
If you have some life to waste at TV Tropes, look up Raygun Gothic, George Lucas Throwback and the film Bullshot, with pretty much every reference therein, for more genre tropes to play with.
Setting:
1930s SF. Thirties era aesthetic in politics, clothing and projected technology, set in far future (2011!) but with backward looking ideals (Empire, Pluck, Public Schools and lashings of ginger beer). King Zagrox of Mars, green-skinned, dome-headed Martian ruler of a pseudo-fascist dictatorship with plans to conquer the whole solar system with his fleet of saucer ships. Blue-skinned, four armed warrior women ride dinosaurs through the jungles of Venus. Mysterious races beyond, perhaps intelligent blue gasses from Pluto who speak only in bad poetry. Earth is protected by the brave men and women of the Space Ranger Corps, culled from the finest that each nation has to offer (but led, naturally, by the valiant British**).
Potential story arcs:
Warrior Queen of Venus, Deathray of Doom, Warlords of Saturn, The Scurrilous Scheme of Doctor Awful.
Post your interest, and I'll transform this thread by the power of SCIENCE! into a character creation thread.
*Girls are allowed too, as long as they promise not to talk about dresses and kissing and stuff.
**Well, they think they're in charge and everybody respects them.
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The rules are like a super-light version of GURPS or FUDGE. Here's what I had in mind:
All characters start with two “Good” skills, one “Great” skill and one “Poor” skill. Optionally, you can add another Good Skill by taking a Rubbish skill. Skills are loosely defined, although you are honour bound to make Poor and Rubbish skills something that might actually be a handicap (so no Rubbish: Knitting) for example.
Examples Characters:
Algernon “Squiffy” Atkinson Archetype: Absent-Minded Boffin Hooks: Unruly blond hair, glasses, unfeasably long scarf. Skills:
Great: Fixing Things
Good: Alien Flora and Fauna
Good: Accidentally Avoiding Trouble
Poor: Noticing Non-Trivial Things
Andrei Alexeivitch Obromov (Andrushka to his mother) Archetype: Robust Boffin Hooks: Huge bear of a man, big beard, effusive, Russian Skills:
Great: Making Things
Good: Wrestling
Good: Making Friends
Good: Resisting Poisons (includes homemade vodka)
Poor: Firing Guns
Rubbish: Being Quiet
The Basic Mechanic: Roll 2d6, add modifier. Beat difficulty or opposing roll
Typical Difficulties
20 Nigh Impossible
16 Very Hard
13 Hard
10 Difficult
7 Average
5 Easy
3 Very Easy
1 Trivial
Skill Modifiers
Legendary +8
Excellent +6
Great +4
Good +2
Average +0
Poor -2
Rubbish -4
Dreaful -6
Hopeless -8
Added refinements: Degree of success may be a factor. If you only need an Average success, for example, but your total is high enough for Hard success, then you may achieve more than you hoped for.
Damage and combat is fairly abstracted. Using the above examples, if a Martian footsoldier fired his ray gun at Squiffy, Squiffy could use his Accidentally Avoid Trouble skill to oppose the roll. He just happens to notice a rare example of a Martian Poisonous Daffodil and ducks to examine it at the moment the footsoldier fires. Andrei, on the other hand, has no defensive skills to speak of. The footsoldier would have to make a straight attack roll based on range. If he missed, though, Andrei could then employ his wrestling skill to crush the little martian.
Wounds etc. are abstracted. The heroes can't get killed outright, but a good shot might incapacitate them, and a really good one might give them a wound that could be fatal if not treated. Goons tend to go down on a single hit, henchmen and named bad guys tend to be a bit more durable. If you want a really tough hero then give them a Shrug Off Damage skill or similar.
Example Archetypes:
Square-Jawed Hero
Brash American Pilot*
Loyal Batman
Spivvy Corporal
Plucky Heroine
Bluff Old Colonel
Fierce German Officer*
Louche French Agent*
Notes: There are two types of Martian. High Martians are the Mars Attacks kind of green, bulbous headed sadistic types. Low Martians have golden skin and little antennae on their heads. They are ruled by the High Martians.
Robots have the aesthetic of the clanks from Girl Genius, or Forbidden Planet and Lost in Space.
*Crass racial stereotypes are part of the genre, and can be overturned if you like!
__________________ New from The Lazy GM: Savage Creatures. 40 monsters, hundreds of stat blocks. The Lazy GM Series. Pre-generated monster stats for the discerning adventurer. The World of Conclave. Innovative (and free) webworld for d20.
I'm definitely interested, but have no experience with either of the mentioned rule sets.
I've read some of the genre and seen several of the movies (I was a HUGE Buck Rogers and Tarzan fan growing up) but I'm also not sure I can pull off the role play. Definitely willing to give it a try, though . . .
I'm definitely interested, but have no experience with either of the mentioned rule sets.
Well, Fudge is sort of a meta-rules set, and its free so you can check it out for yourself. Mainly I was thinking that both systems involve rolling some d6's, adding a modifier to the total and comparing the result to a target number. Pretty much like d20 system but with a bell curve of probabilities rather than linear, so your character tends to accomplish things within his capability most often, with extremes being more rare.
Fudge is quite free-form, with player-defined abilities like the ones I've given here. GURPS is a lot more point-buy based, infamous for extreme min-maxing of flaws and traits.
Bottom line, though, is that the system is not too important.
Edit:
@Shayuri: Yeah, Flint Steele, Man of Action sounds appropriate!
Edit #2:
Just to make it clear, you invent the skills for your character, there isn't a preset list.
__________________ New from The Lazy GM: Savage Creatures. 40 monsters, hundreds of stat blocks. The Lazy GM Series. Pre-generated monster stats for the discerning adventurer. The World of Conclave. Innovative (and free) webworld for d20.
Sounds like a blast! Put me down for the Brash American Pilot. Half Tom Sawyer/ half Buck Rodgers!
Lesse:
David "Crash" Jones
Archetype: Brash American Pilot
Hooks: Unruly brown hair, Charming grin, Worn Leather Jacket
Skills:
Great: Flying Things
Good: Mixing it up
Good: Shooting Things
Good: Conning Suckers
Poor: Holding his Liquor
Rubbish: Keeping his mouth shut
__________________ -Andor
"Congratulations. You just invented 'negligent regicide.'" - Schlock Mercenary
Zig'Knock "OVERLORD" Lil'Britches
Archetype: Alien Mind Controller
Hooks: Superior Arrogance, Mind-enhancing Helmet (HUGE shiny dome), Short Alien/Long Cape.
Skills:
Great: Mass Mind-Control
Good: Mind Over Matter
Good: Telekinesis
Good: Mental Force Shield
Poor: Dealing Damage
Rubbish: Anything Athletic
Life at three foot is lived under the rule of larger animals, unless you control the larger animals brain! Mwa HA HA HA!!!
Zig'Knock is your typical Martian would-be overlord. Green with a huge head, only made to look larger by his comically oversized "Mind-enhancing Helmet".
Zig'Knock can stun large numbers of foes using his Mass Mind-Control abilities.
Using Telekinesis he reaches items... On The Top Shelf!
Bolstering his allies to knew feats of supreme epic-ness using Mind Over Matter!
And when things go truly south, Zig'Knock protects himself with a Mental Force Shield.
However being three foot tall doesn't lend to hurting anyone, so Zig'Knock has others do that for him! Even while invading someone's mind, Zig'Knock has trouble causing lasting mental problems.
Telekinesis has made Zig'Knock even less athletic than he was born, be it running, jumping, or simply walking up stairs, it's all difficult to Zig'Knock...
How does Zig'Knock control others minds, if you ask him it's because, I'M BETTER THAN YOU!!! MWA HA HA HA!!!
Last edited by CaBaNa; 5th June 2009 at 04:53 AM..
Lax "Slingback" Lackadaisical
Archetype: Reefer Madness
Hooks: Violent Moodswings, Crazy Eyes, Smoke Cloud.
Skills:
Great: Having That Thing
Good: Reefer Madness
Good: Homeopathic Healing
Good: Fog of War
Poor: Motivation
Rubbish: Memory
Lax was a good boy, brought up in a [insert appropriately fundamental religion here] school, living in a fine suburban neighborhood.
That was until the Devil's Lettuce Affected the poor boys mind. Now he wanders with his slingback backpack, with who knows what's in it!
His violent mood swings are the obvious symptoms of the criminal seed planted deep within the poor boy... Fits of jazz music and wild rgies!
Getting "Slingback" to do anything is a feat in itself, but worse than that, in the middle of whatever he is doing, he may forget! Lax can't even remember the last sentence, of his own paragraph...
Luckily for the seedy individuals he hangs around with, his trademark slingback backpack contains everything he may need, if he can just remember where he put it... Accessible even while running, the pack is the only reason Lax is still functioning in society at all.
If you see Lax "Slingback" Lackadaisical do not attempt to apprehend him on your own. Contact with the perpetual cloud surrounding Lax will cause a brief fit of Reefer Madness to overcome even stout individuals. Symptoms include: Dancing, Laughing uncontrollably, Crying uncontrollably, "Zoning out", and any number of other debilitating conditions.
Lax keeps the criminals he is with in good health, knowing some way to cure most anything, using plants. He keeps the most useful of which in his pack.
It may be difficult to identify Lax "Slingback" Lackadaisical do to the fog that surounds him. Even veteran sharpshooters have had trouble targeting "Slingback" through the haze.
Keep a watchful eye for Lax and his ilk, and remember, TELL YOUR CHILDREN!
Tork Archetype: Throwback from a Lost World Hooks: Sniffs at everyone, terrible grammar, ignorant to etiquette, hairy. Skills:
Great: Breaking Things Good: Getting medieval
Good: Handle Animals
Poor: Use modern equipment (that do not breaking things or people )
'Found' in the last adventure of another group member.
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Percy Ambleton-Smythe
Archetype: British Upper-Class Investigator
Hooks: Well Connected, Well Dressed, Wealthy, Accent, Gentleman
Skills:
Great: Observation
Good: Shot
Good: Sports
Poor: Being inconspicuous
Percy is the youngest son of Peter Ambleton-Smythe, 35th Earl of Cookridge. Followed in the family tradition, Percy went to Eton school where he was captain of both the Cricket and Rugby teams as well as been head boy. Percy them moved on to Cambridge university where he got a 1st Class honors degree in Philosophy. Again been captain of the cricket and rugby teams.
Following graduation, Percy was at a bit of a loose end. He was independently wealthy, so did not need to work. Although he was an excellent sportsman, he really did not fancy doing it full time. His salvation came when his 3rd cousin, twice removed (an obnoxious clod, who Percy hated) was murdered. The police were clueless, so Percy's family asked him if he would mind looking into it for them. Percy agreed and after a short investigation, solved the case (the butler did it). Although a simple enough case, it opened up a whole new world to Percy and he decided to become a gentleman investigator.
Last edited by ghostcat; 5th June 2009 at 05:51 PM..
Reason: Added background
Y'Know, there's a lot of mileage to be had just from coming up with character concepts, these are all fun in a small amount of space, folks.
Ghostcat - reckon we can fit you in.
WD - Tork good, me like Tork.
Mowgli - yeah, love the genre cross-over, perfect for the movie serial style.
Andor - Always good to have a two-fisted type in the gang. Shades of Jake Cutter from Tales of the Golden Monkey, can't go wrong!
CaBaNa - very funny concepts, slightly on the Toon side. I'm not sure either would quite fit into a heroic party, but I might use Zig'Knock as an NPC. Slingback's a little too 1960s but I like the idea of a bag that always seems to have a useful item.
__________________ New from The Lazy GM: Savage Creatures. 40 monsters, hundreds of stat blocks. The Lazy GM Series. Pre-generated monster stats for the discerning adventurer. The World of Conclave. Innovative (and free) webworld for d20.
klklklkk "Clicks" Chklkiklkk
Archetype: Alien Sidekick
Hooks: Quiet and off to the side, Unclothed, Pet-Like
Skills:
Great: Carapace
Good: Tentacle Bind
Good: Digestion
Poor: Communicating
"Clicks" resembles a small pony, or a large dog, covered in chitinous plates. instead of four legs, "Clicks" has eight tentacles, the longest being the two front at 12', the rest coming in just under 8'6". His language consists of clicking noises, very few people understand him. "Clicks" can eat almost anything.
__________________ New from The Lazy GM: Savage Creatures. 40 monsters, hundreds of stat blocks. The Lazy GM Series. Pre-generated monster stats for the discerning adventurer. The World of Conclave. Innovative (and free) webworld for d20.
Doctor Alowishus Ecks Archetype: Wanna-be Villain/Accidental Hero Hooks: Mysterious Black Bag, Lab Jacket, Short Tempered Skills: Great: Scheming Good: Ray Guns Good: MacGyvering Things Good: Can Sleep Through Anything Poor: Easily Angered Rubbish: Narcoleptic
Visions of grandeur have become tainted by missed opportunities. Doctor Ecks has the uncanny ability to become frustrated at anything, and when his frustration is triggered, so is his narcolepsy. Actually, when any emotion is elevated above normal, his narcolepsy kicks in.
He can have the perfect plan, execution a matter of time, excitement courses through his veins and immediately Doctor Ecks falls victim to a nice, refreshing sleep. Having his nefarious goals foiled time and time again, he decided that instead of planning-evil-doing-good he would try to plan-good-do-evil by extension. It was beautiful schemes like this that pleased Doctor Alowishus Ecks so much that he'd fall asleep.
Shades of Jake Cutter from Tales of the Golden Monkey, can't go wrong!
Ye gods, someone actually remembers Tales of the Gold Monkey! I haven't thought about that show in years! I wonder if it's really as good as I remember it being . . .
Mowgli - yeah, love the genre cross-over, perfect for the movie serial style.
Totally unintentional - I just now ran across the recruiting thread and saw the game title. But if it's good for you, I think it's got some possibilities.
rgies! 
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