[Interest Check] League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Pulp Nonsense

[grufflehead]

Try the right forum this time!

Bless me father, I have sinned: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is one of only 3 movie DVDs I own, and I happen to really like it.

So I was browsing a thread about Pulp Heroes and of course I had to put my oar in. One thing led to another and I remembered the 'Return of the League' game I ran for a few friends years ago. Now I'm thinking 'that might work as a pbp...'.

Take the premise of the League, fast forward to 1936. War clouds gather again, and the Nazis are up to no good. Somewhere in the bowels of Whitehall, a secret dept who have been monitoring 'talented' individuals who might be persuaded to work for His Majesty's government one way or another, decides the time has come to reform the League and set about recruiting members.

It will be pulp in the style of Indiana Jones ie characters can have abilities slightly beyond the normal joe, but within reason as they are largely 'hidden' from society - it's the very lowest level of supers, so big flashy powers like flight (unless via devices or the like) don't really fit. Magic and the occult definitely exist, plus a bit of super science, but again, within the same sort of parameters as films such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Rocketeer, and LXG. Where it diverges from 'classic' pulp is that while 'lost' civilisations may exist, I'm less keen on dinosaurs roaming the earth, and there are definitely no Martians.

Problem is that last time I ran it in HERO 5th. I had a good enough grasp of the rules to get away with it, but had to do the characters for pretty much all the players. It's not the easiest system to learn, and I don't expect a lot of people to have it lying around. So, I'm looking for an alternative that will cope with high action pulp that is free (or cheap and/or commonly available enough that people may have it).

I could do it in Wushu as that seems to be working well enough for the fantasy game I am running, so that is a possibility. I don't know Fate that well but could be persuaded to give it a try if someone can talk me through it.

Would anyone be interested in a game like this? And if so, suggestions for a system other than those mentioned?

 

[Thanee]

The obvious suggestion, as usual, is Savage Worlds. Take a look.

The complete rules (Explorer Edition) cost $10. There is a supers supplement around, which is a bit more expensive, though.

There is a thread in the general RPG forum right now, where someone looks for a similiar game, and there are a few more suggestions... click.

Bye
Thanee

 

[grufflehead]

Wow, what are the chances of that?! Thanks for the heads up - I've PMed the OP to see if we can compare notes.

I have Savage Worlds, but I have to say despite it having a big fanbase, it didn't really click for me. I may revisit it and see if it might work.

 

[Voda Vosa]

I will be strongly interested. I'd recomend d20 past, pulp heroes
There you go, a system designed just for your needs, easy to roll, and most people have played a d20 game at least once, also there are many character generators that have d20 past options. I could give you a few links.
d20 past is just like d20 modern, but with another set of weapons and stuff. Also there are some nifty advanced classes, like scientist, gangster, explorer, and many more to get the feel of the gender.
You could also run it with M&M, at low power levels. I'm running a semi-pulp adventure myself, Ivasion, gathering of heroes, check it out, you can find the links in my Link Village

 

[Walking Dad]

I'll be more than interested in this, it is after all, my favorite gender!

I will not talk about my favorite gender () but my system suggestions would be:

M&M 2e (easier to do than HERO...)
ICONs
d20 modern (the past sourcebook has a good pulp chapter)
Savage Worlds
True 20
Spirit of the Century (based on what I have heard of it) (SotC SRD)

and as a bit strange suggestion:
Adventure! from White Wolf

also: Interested!

Edit: this d20 modern character generator includes d20 past options:

http://www.pathguy.com/d20modern.htm

 

[perrinmiller]

Hey, the usual suspects I have been running into lately. I just happened to be browsing around. It happens when it's 11:30 at night and all of my games are updated. Instead of clicking refresh to see if a new post came up, I start cruising.

I am interested if you decide either d20 or even M&M2e.

 

[Voda Vosa]

I think that both are pretty cool. d20 past has some nice stuff made especially for Pulp. M&M, well, you can make it what you want, that's the system's grace.

 

[grufflehead]

Thanks for the replies so far. I'll give it a little while yet to see if there is any more interest then make a decision. Unfortunately I have neither D20 past, not M&M, and I wasn't really planning on going out and buying a ruleset and learning it just so I could run a game. I have Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition, but am only passingly familiar with it so having someone else who knows it well to act as a 'rules mentor' would be useful if other people are interested in trying that out.

The alternative is something free that we can all pick up for no cost and with WD's very handy link to the SotC SRD (thanks!), that looks like a possible candidate if other people were interested in trying it. You'd need to give me a bit of rope if I'm learning it as we go. How complicated can it be!?

Have a think - if it doesn't appeal, then no harm no foul as they say. Looks like my Wushu game is about to bite the dust as well so I'll either stick to playing or pick a nice simple system like Pathfinder that I know most people will have when the GMing urge strikes in future

 

[perrinmiller]

Gruffle; d20 Modern is a rule set you should be familiar with as far as combat, skills, and feats. D&D3.5e has many things exactly the same. Also d20 Modern has an SRD on-line.

Adding the d20 Past is only a source for more classes. With myself and more importantly VV, you have 2 rules mentors in that Rule Set.

Running a game under M&M is a little more challenging if you have never played it. I am still struggling with some of it.

 

[Felix1459]

First off, hi. Second, color me interested, especially if you run it d20 modern/past. Technically you don't even need past. Sure past has weapons and things to that era but all it is really is lowering the cost and range of most weapons. I'm definately interested in the having just a bit more power than the rest sounds interesting.