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I've been playing and collecting Pulp RPGs for a long time. The first one I got (way back in the mid 1990s) was the World of Indiana Jones for West End Games Masterbook system. Despite the overly complicated rules, I managed to sell my gaming group on a session or two and much fun was had. Over the last few years I've gathered the remaining supplements for that line, as well as several other Pulp games: Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, Steve Jackson Games' GURPS Cliffhangers (both editions), Politically Incorrect Games' Two Fisted Tales and my personal favorite, White-Wolf's Adventure!: Tales of the Aeon Society (“Please, sirs, can I have some more?”). One game I’ve never been able to find was the nigh mythical Justice Inc, the old Pulp Adventure book using a Champions variant as its rules engine. Fortunately Hero Games, the current publishers of the HERO System, released Pulp Hero as their major genre book for 2005. The following is a review.
The Authors
Steve Long, HERO System Line Developer/work horse, wrote Pulp Hero with additional contributions from S. John Ross. I admit a slight bias in favor of the authors, as I own some of their prior work, particularly the old Last Unicorn Games Star Trek RPG lines and HERO 5th Edition. The authors wrote two of my favorite books for ICON Trek: Spacedock (Long) and Among the Clans: The Andorians (Ross). Ross also wrote two GURPS 3rd Edition books that I really enjoyed: GURPS Russia and GURPS Warehouse 23. Long’s body of work is quite extensive and includes contributions to two of my favorite Mage: The Ascension books: Order of Hermes, 2nd Edition and Guide to the Technocracy as well as the majority of titles for HERO 5th Edition.
Cover and Physical Attributes
The Cover is a full color illustration by Jon Grigni depicting what could be a scene out of many a Pulp game session: a stalwart Hero confronting the Nazi Femme Fatale as she escapes from an ancient temple on her zeppelin, a stolen map in hand. The title is emblazoned in yellow with a faux Indiana Jones style font (similar to Adventure!). Although I would have preferred a more traditional style painting, the cover effectively hints at the book's contents.
The book itself is a perfect bound, trade paperback sized tome that clocks in at 432 pages, which discounting the Cthulhu core rules, is the thickest Pulp RPG book on the market. I've subjected my copy to some heavy-duty travel across two continents and endless days of browsing. So far it's held up to the wear and tear pretty well, which is definitely a plus for those who are hard on their books (like myself). One quibble I do have is that I like my gaming books to lay flat on the table without breaking the spine, which Pulp Hero isn't able to do.
Interior Art and Layout
The vast majority of the interior art consists of line drawings of variable quality. Most are competently done, albeit a touch uninspiring. Some pieces are recycled from other HERO games books and a few pieces (including the cover) are used more than once in the book. There are also pieces from various Dover Clip art books scattered throughout the book. The line art could have been better, but it is by no means terrible. The reuse of art within the same book is a flaw I can't over look, but that is admittedly a personal problem.
On the other hand, the chapter intro art is gorgeous, featuring reprints of original Pulp magazine covers. They really help convey the mood of the genre and are also just damn cool. Perhaps the licensing fees for these covers ate up a bit of the art budget for the book, resulting in the reuse of other art.
The physical layout of the text is the standard HERO Games layout, with the main body taking up about 5/6 of the page with margins used for sidebars. The layout is a bit workman like, particularly for those who are used to flashier layout in their games but it suffices. Additionally, some folks I game with have complained that the majority of the sidebar space is left blank and is therefore wasted. I disagree since the margins can be used for scribbling down adventure/character ideas (just do it in pencil in case you make mistakes).
Front Matter
The book begins with a single page containing the credits & copyright information and a detailed two page Table of Contents, which lists the major sections of each chapter. This may seem like an odd thing to point out, but I've seen too many tables of contents in gaming books that are essentially useless and only list the Chapters themselves.
The two-page introduction is a standard outline of the book, explaining each chapter briefly. It also contains a sidebar explaining what other HERO Games books would be useful in running Pulp Hero.
Chapter One: The Pulp Genre
This chapter begins with a short section on the history of the Pulps as a medium, starting with Golden Argosy in the 1890s through the Pulp Era of the 1920s and 30s and ending with their swan song in the 1950s. A list of the more popular pulps is included for those who are interested in researching the primary source material.
The section covers the Pulp Genre, the heroic daring do that characterized so many of the stories contained in Pulp magazines. In its nine pages it discusses the key elements of the genre and lists several pulp tropes/clichés. This is really useful, especially if you have players who have never played in the Pulp Genre before. Simply have them read this and off you go. It also serves as a handy refresher for old hands at the genre.
This section ends on a serious note involving a discussion of racism and sexism in the Pulp Genre and how to handle it in game (which follows the SOP of "whatever your group is comfortable with"). While more modern Pulp homages tend to gloss over the social conventions of the era, the source material does not and reading it in the course of researching a game may offend a modern reader's sensibilities.
Pulp Sub-Genres follows this, discussing the major flavors of Pulp campaigns, such as Air Adventure, Detective Fiction, Weird Science and the old standard: Globe Trotting Adventure. Each genre gets a quote from a relevant pulp magazine, a brief overview, a paragraph describing campaign rules in HERO speak and a break down of the associated character archetypes. This is a good primer for GMs who are just starting up a new campaign.
A short section on applying meta-genres such as comedy or horror to a Pulp game follows, as well as a discussion of mixing Pulp Hero with other HERO genres, like Champions (superheroes) or Ninja Hero (Wuxia/Chambara).
Chapter Two: Pulp History
This chapter is divided into two discrete components: a mammoth timeline covering the years 1920 to 1939 and a series of capsule biographies covering famous persons from the era.
The timeline is gigantic, taking up 1/5th of the book by itself. Each year gets two to six pages divided by both month and by topic. The topics covered are Politics & War, Science & Technology, Crime & Punishment, Arts & Entertainment, Life & Times and an Undefined Category for things that don't fit into the above. The amount of detail contained in the timeline is staggering and provides the sort of little details that can make a GM's description of a setting sing. Like, describing the PC's hearing a corner paperboy announcing a story about scientists smashing the atom or one of their mobster contacts worries that something big went down last February and he's afraid he's next. Just figure out when your campaign takes place, look it up and start throwing in details.
I've read on some forums and other reviews that this sort of thing isn't necessary in a gaming book in the age of Wikipedia. I disagree, especially for a book that describes a historical setting like the Pulp Era. I’d be more upset if a book that purports to be the end all be all tome for a historical setting didn’t have a decent timeline; it would be incomplete and not worth buying. Plus, there’s also the chance you’ll be browsing the timeline and suddenly get... Inspired.
That said, I do have one issue with the timeline. The first is that it doesn’t include either of the two World Wars. While the Pulp Era usually refers to the interwar years, both wars are inexorably intertwined with the pulp genre and leaving them out seems like a bit of a disservice. I understand that they would also have added to what was, in all likelihood, an over limit manuscript. For example, a disproportionate number of Pulp Heroes, both in the various campaigns I’ve run and in several pulp stories I’ve read, were involved in WWI. Even the modern pulp heroes like Indiana Jones or Rick O’Connell cut their teeth in the war. Including the Great War years would allow players to nail down their character histories easier. Likewise, World War II can provide a thrilling, if melancholic, conclusion to a long running campaign, with the older and slightly world-weary heroes facing down their Nazi nemesis one last time as the world is outgrowing the need for heroes.
The biography section is arranged into roughly the same topics as the timeline and provides short biographies on 181 famous people of the era. They aren’t that extensive but certainly are interesting and provide enough information to name drop or provide a walk on cameo if the GM doesn’t mind winging the personality. This is my only problem: I’d have preferred a sentence or two about some of the more obscure individuals’ personalities so I could drop them into a game. Playing folks like Churchill or the Babe is easy; playing folks like Ataturk or Coco Chanel isn’t. In addition to providing fodder for Young Indiana Jones style meetings with famous folks and giving the PCs a world renowned patron or rival, reading through the biographies can be inspiring for NPCs or even PCs if the GM allows them to be movers and shakers in the world (aside from being the guys and gals who save the world of course).
Chapter Three: The World of the Pulp Era
As its title indicates, this chapter covers the state of the world in the Pulp Era, coming in at eighty-two pages. It starts with a section on global affairs, and then proceeds to go through each continent, giving highlights on several countries, circa 1935, along the way. As can be imagined, this is one of the most interesting and useful parts of the book due to providing a plethora of information on the period.
First of all, I have to mention the maps. They are awesome. There are eleven maps: a map of the world circa 1935, maps of individual regions from the same year and a map of German expansion covering the years 1930-1939. It’s nice to have accurate and detailed maps of the period included with the game. In fact, if HERO Games were to release them as full color prints, I’d probably buy them.
Moving on to the text, the first section covering Global affairs is a thorough overview, containing bits on the League of Nations, the Depression, Colonialism and how to use them in your game. The section also discusses the state of travel and communications in the era, including helpful details like postage and telegraph costs. There are quite a few useful charts and sidebars, like a listing of all the colonial territories & what countries they eventually become, water & air based travel distances and a listing of solar eclipses (because you know you’ll be stuck in a Haggardesque lost valley during one and the local vizier will blame it on you. Cue evil GM cackling.).
A ten-page section on the States follows. The US receives the most coverage of any country in the book, due to its prevalence in the Pulps. It’s a thorough look at the US in the Pulp Era, covering Prohibition, the Depression, social life and a selection of cities (New York, Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles).
The rest of the chapter consists of sections on the Americas, Europe (with Nazi Germany and Great Britain getting the spotlight), Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania & Australia. A half-page sidebar on the Arctic and Antarctic rounds out the chapter. Each of the countries presented includes a brief synopsis of vital statistics: population, form of government, prevalent religion, languages, currency, and a brief overview of the nation in the Pulp Era.
My only criticism is that it doesn’t cover every nation. The countries that aren’t covered are listed in a short side bar in their respective regions. While I understand that not every nation could be covered due to space limitations, a brief blurb about those not covered in depth would have been nice. Don’t get me wrong though; there is a lot of information here, more than enough to run several years of Pulp goodness.
Intriguing antagonists? Try the Yezidis, a sect of alleged devil worshipers in the Middle East. Or the Ku Klux Klan, a national movement of racial and religious separatists in the USA. Or the Comintern, the Soviet Union’s world wide communist spy ring.
Interesting characters? Try King Faustin Wirku of Haiti, a US Marine proclaimed the second coming of Haitian Emperor Faustin I by the locals. Or the Mad Baron of Mongolia, a Russian freebooter who briefly conquered Mongolia in 1921.
Exotic locales? From the tundra of Canada, to the jungles of Brazil, to the streets of Paris, to the sands of Egypt, to the peaks of the Himalayas and the palaces of China, the world is at your fingertips.
Chapter Four: Character Creation
Covering Pulp character creation for the HERO system, this chapter spans seventy-two pages. It begins with a brief one-page overview defining the traits of the generic Pulp Hero before diving into a sweeping overview of the archetypal pulp characters.
This section is very extensive and covers all of the genre’s standbys. Each archetype, called a Package Deal in the text, contains a description, an analysis of motivations and abilities, suggested character development and a sidebar detailing suggested HERO System statistics. HERO System fans can use this chapter as is; those using another system can nonetheless find inspiration from the text and stats. Besides, HERO is a generic system and most of the stats easily map over to another system.
All of the archetypes are interesting and detailed. In addition, each Package comes complete with suggestions on tweaking it with the Detective Package deal receiving the most space due to the variety of detective types in the Pulps. You could easily make Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Jules de Grandin, Mike Hammer or Nero Wolfe with the variety of detective packages offered.
The section concludes with a small smattering of background packages, which reflect the circumstances of a character’s upbringing (Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes being raised by gypsies comes to mind). They’re interesting but number less than a dozen. I’d have liked to see more of them.
Following the package deals are discussions of Characteristics, Skills, Perks, Talents and Disadvantages. While the two pages of Characteristics are definitely limited to HERO system users, the other sections are quite useful. The Skills section briefly discusses historical variations of some skills (like Computer Programming). Perks, which are HERO’s counterpart to White-Wolf’s Backgrounds, discusses the more common Perks in Pulp games such as sidekicks or animal companions. The Disadvantages section goes over the flaws common to characters of the genre and provides a variety of ideas for fleshing out a character.
The next section is entitled Heroic Talents and covers the “human +” type of abilities Pulp Heroes possesses. Heroic Talents are divided into Offensive, Defensive, Movement, Sensory, Psychic and Miscellaneous Abilities. The abilities run the gamut from combat modifiers to things like cinematic climbing and being an expert at disguise. Since they’re written up in standard HERO notation, they’re pretty simple to convert over to another system. In particular, a majority of them would make serviceable Knacks for Adventure! (and vice versa) or (braces for beating) Feats in a Pulp d20 game.
Overall, this chapter is wonderful as it definitely passes the Chupp test, where a character oriented gaming book should be able to inspire a character idea and the burning desire to play said character. The suggested variations in the Package deals can add a lot of variety in a single character type game (I’m particularly fond of the “Met the Devil Down T’ ‘Th Crossroads” option for the Jazz Musician Package).
Chapter Five: Pulp Technology
Chapter Five, running at forty pages, opens with a discussion of the relative levels of availability of Technology in the Era and an accompanying table listing several of the 20th century’s technologies as Available, Recent, Rare or Unavailable. Each technology has a date listed. Like the period details in the timeline, this chart is helpful in establishing period detail and forestalling arguments with the walking encyclopedias that frequent game sessions.
Following this is a series of charts for various small arms of the Pulp Era, covering revolvers, semi-autos, rifles and shotguns. Also included here is a “blink and you’ll miss it” write up of a 1930s bulletproof vest. The charts are extensive and in standard HERO format, which may make it a bit difficult to convert, but if you’re using another system chances are you’ve already got firearms stats.
A discussion of vehicles and charts for their stats follows this. Included is a neat little definition of the car types in the Pulp Era (for example the difference between a sedan and a coupe or a roadster). Two small complaints: the first is that, aside from three entries at the end of the Vehicle Chart, there is no mention of sea going vessels and the Submarine/U-boat isn’t even one of the three ships listed. This is admittedly minor, but the submarine is a genre trope that should have been included, at least stat wise (to be fair Adventure! doesn‘t include sub stats either). The other is the lack of mph/kph entries on the Vehicle Chart, listing vehicle speed in “inches” per action (an inch in HERO is usually equal to 2m, though it can vary). While this is standard HERO notation (and there is a formula for converting inches to mph/kph on page 238 of Hero 5th Edition), it would have been nice to include real world speeds.
Weird Science is up next. Beginning with a brief summary of the types of Weird Science, the principles of Weird Science and how to use it in your game, it segues into a series of pregenerated Weird Science devices. They include the Death Ray, Gas Gun, Rocket Pack and Radio Wristwatch. Also included is a write up for a novel device that allows someone to record phone calls when they’re not home.
The chapter finishes up with a series of tables detailing costs and availability for a variety of goods and services in the period. An international currency chart is also included.
I’ll be honest, lists of game stats and equipment don’t really enthuse me. However this chapter is well done and provides pertinent information. The discussion of Weird Science is one of the better treatments of the subject I’ve seen in that it doesn’t get too bogged down in rules minutiae and focuses on thematics and campaign use.
Chapter Six: Gamemastering the Pulps
Now we turn from setting data and character related matters to the man behind the curtain in this chapter. These forty-two pages are a thorough discussion of the Pulps from a Gamemastering standpoint.
The first section, the Pulp Feel, goes over the specific ingredients that separate Pulp Gaming from other RPG genres, such as modern day action or superheroics. While these differences are primarily a matter of tone and outlook, this section handles the topic deftly, shedding light on how to incorporate themes such as hope, idealism and luridness into a campaign, which may seem a touch naïve or cheesy to a modern audience but are part and parcel of the genre. A brief segment on capturing the feel of the times rounds out the section. One of the more interesting things in this section is the margin sidebars. These contain excerpts from “how to” essays by Walter Gibson (The Shadow) and Lester Dent (Doc Savage). They’re quite useful for a peek into the minds of the writers of two of the most successful pulp writers, something the GM could benefit from while constructing his campaign.
This brings us to the next section, the Pulp Campaign. An overview of how to build a Pulp Campaign, it discusses character generation outlines, weird abilities, tone and the subgenres from chapter one all in the context of a campaign.
Now we come to Running the Game, a section on the actual nuts and bolts of designing a Pulp Session. Covering basic principles (such as making your games more exotic, aptly called “Add More Yaks“), structure (plotted vs. unplotted), disconnects and using (read: flagrantly abusing and exploiting) PC Disads in the course of a session, this is a solid part of the chapter. I found the section on dealing with disconnects to be a good look at the differences between normal gamer behavior and the expectations of the genre. For example, gamers tend to sit and ponder their actions, particularly in combat, so as to minimize negative consequences while Pulp heroes tend to charge right into the thick of things heedless of the circumstances, confident in their abilities (and the writer) to keep them from harm’s way. Although brief, this section deals with these matters and I’m glad it was included. A half page is also dedicated to a Random Pulp Generator, which is useful either as possible inspiration or if you were too busy drinking the night before to write up your session.
Also included in this section is the introduction of Heroic Action Points, Pulp Hero’s answer to Adventure!’s Inspiration Points and Star Wars’ Force Points. Heroic Action Points allow the players to change outcomes of die rolls, dramatically edit a scene to their liking and generally engage in the over-the-top heroics that categorize the Pulp Genre. Since these aren’t a standard part of the HERO system, a fair amount of discussion is geared toward how to use them, how many players can have and how they are earned. The great thing about Heroic Action Points is that they could port over to another system with little work.
A short section on Environmental Hazards like disease, lava, quicksand, rope bridges and various traps follows. The bit on disease was nice and includes short write-ups on some diseases common in the period. The rest of the section is useful as well, though I must say: Two pages on Rope bridges?
The last section of the chapter focuses on one of the most important genre elements: Pulp Villains. It begins with a survey of motives followed by a rundown of the basic attributes of Pulp Villainy: things like intelligence, tenacity and hubris. A listing of the stock Pulp Villains like the Fiendish Oriental Mastermind (which can easily be changed to any ethnicity), the Femme Fatale, the Cult Leader and everyone’s favorite, The Nazi, are given a treatment involving their benefits, drawbacks and use in the campaign. The section rounds out with a brief blurb on non-villainous NPCs and provides three stock Pulp NPCs. Frankly, this bit seems like it was an afterthought or subjected to heavy cuts in editing.
This chapter more than pulls its weight and serves as a good source of ideas and advice on Pulp Gaming that both newbies (to GMing or Pulp) and old hands benefit from perusing.
Chapter Seven: Randall’s Raiders
The final chapter covers Randall’s Raiders, an example group of Pulp heroes that serve to illustrate how fully developed characters should look. It’s a well-drawn team and suitable for using at a game store demo or a convention game.
A selection of Pulp Villains continues the chapter. It’s pretty much what you’d expect: a series of archetypal Pulp Villains including the Nazi, corrupt archaeologist (think of Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark), mad scientist and gangster. What I thought was really cool was the Fiendish Hindu Mastermind. I’m not really a big fan of pre-generated characters, though, I might use this one in a campaign. A smattering of generic antagonists (cop, cultist, mobster, etc) rounds out the chapter.
Appendices
What, you thought we were finished?
The first appendix is a voluminous dictionary of Pulp Slang. I’ve always been a fan of period slang in a pulp game, though, getting the players to comply has been a losing battle. Still, it helps provide an extra bit of color and verisimilitude to the game.
The second appendix is a listing of the more popular Pulp Writers and Pulp Characters along with information on Pulp anthologies and scholarly works on the Pulps themselves.
The bibliography follows and is a veritable wealth of information if you feel the need to pursue extra research for your game. A brief filmography and listing of other Pulp roleplaying games is included.
And finally, we come to the index. Like other HERO Games products, it’s extensive and detailed, making it easy to find things instead of flipping around fruitlessly while your players glower at you for wasting playtime.
Objective Analysis
This is an excellent book. It’s full of loads of material for running or playing in a Pulp adventure game. All my grumbling aside (see below), from an objective standpoint, the only flaw in the book is a reuse of artwork. Fortunately, the quality of the prose, the gorgeous Chapter Illustrations and the maps outweigh this.
I will also mention that this book does not contain a unique Pulp Era setting. It provides information that allows you to create your own setting. In that sense it’s a tool-kit and a very flexible one at that.
So is this book worth your $35? That really depends.
- If you’re a Pulp RPG junkie who lays his hands on any Pulp RPG he comes across, provided there’s money in his pocket (like me), you’ve probably already bought it.
- If you’re a Hero and Pulp fan (also me), you’ve probably already bought it as well.
- If you play another Pulp RPG but are turned off by the Hero System, don’t worry; it’s all easily portable and the vast majority of the information is system free.
- If you’ve never tried Pulp as an RPG genre but want to try it, the book is still worth it for the broad scope and amount of data geared towards introducing the genre to new players.
Regarding Style, I give it a 5 out of 5, though the reservations about reusing the art stand. For substance, it also gets a 5 out of 5, with no reservations.
Subjective Thoughts
As I was reading this book, I kept thinking: wow, that’s cool; I wish they had more. And that pretty much sums up my thoughts on Pulp Hero. There’s so much information presented in it and presented well that I kept hoping for more. Despite my grumbling of things that I thought should be included, which is always bound to happen when covering a historical setting due to differing personal tastes, the book has definitely earned a place on my gaming table when I run a pulp game. While I probably won’t switch over from Adventure! for the rules set (though I use HERO for other things, like Pirates), I’m really eager to see what the future holds for the Pulp Hero game line.
