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THE BOOK
A small (A5-ish) but relatively thick (256-page) paperback. A glossy, colourful cover outside, with black and white text and art within. Attractively laid out with uneven (ranging from dodgy, homemade to gorgeous period) art and illustrations.
OVERVIEW
This book is intended as a kind of resource book, as well as an alternative and expanded ruleset, to be used alongside the standard Savage Worlds system. In the introduction its authors explain that it was created by converting material from Adamanat’s earlier d20 pulp line for use with the Savage Worlds system.
Reading Thrilling Tales, I was impressed by the writers’ efforts to achieve ‘rules fit’ with their target genres: the many varieties of pulp magazine fiction which sprang up in the early to mid 20th Century. As those who have played using the Savage Worlds system would probably agree, the core rules already support fairly ‘pulpy’ play. Bennies and wild dice give player characters plenty of plot immunity, and the damage and wound systems favour the story’s heroes in a way that is quite reminiscent of pulp writing. The Thrilling Tales authors take this further, attempting to emulate the kind of heroic action stories –the Lone Ranger, Biggles, The Shadow-in which the major characters are able to achieve seemingly impossible feats, and literally cannot be killed! Some of the new rules seemed to owe something to the innovative Spirit of the Century (Fate) system, permitting players to declare story events, and for characters to take on masses of tactically disposable mooks. Not a bad thing either; good ideas should be spread around.
The volume also serves as an interested sourcebook and recipe for play. Chapters dealing with the histories of the 30s, period equipment, and sample enemies appear to have been well researched and are steeped in the art (though please see my comments below) and atmosphere of the period. Though I was willing at first to dismiss some of this material as fluff, much of the background blurb proves to be highly evocative and inspiring, and appear to have been written by somebody keen to convey the essence of authentic pre-war pulp, including some surprising tropes that have become lost over the decades. They serve as a good introduction to pulp preoccupations and obsessions of the period (the Yellow Peril, an almost mystical belief in the power of science) that readers might be less familiar with.
CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER REVIEW
Chapter One explains that the Pulp (cheap, colourful magazine) medium was home to a number of genres; a variety of these are briefly outlined as possible directions for play. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the writers not only provided sketches of revived (‘Spielbergian’) Pulp varieties , such as the Foreign Adventure, or Science Fiction, but also less visited themes (Air hero, Jungle Stories) rooted in the technology and experience of the time. Food for thought, and for some authentic pulp game play.
Chapter Two gives a short (5 page) timeline for the 1930s. Some well-chosen dates that might provide story ideas or support the introduction of realistic-feeling details. A bit Americo-centric in places(e.g. ‘Lincoln Brigades’ in the Spanish Civil War are mentioned rather than just ‘International’ Brigades), perhaps?
Chapter Three is interesting but my least fave section, largely because it dedicates a whole page (or more) to each suggested character concept (Man of Mystery, Gumshoe) etc. Some of these are unexpected and evocative (Gun Moll, Boxer, Big Game Hunter) and suggest authentic pulp tropes that keen players and GMs will want to pursue further. The Gun Moll and in particular the Paragon descriptions manage to capture character concepts that I had reached for in my own (Spirit of the Century) play, but whose exact descriptions had eluded me. Despite these strengths, the one page/one concept description format seemed too expensive of space. Each idea begins with a quite (or too) lengthy pulp passage to evoke the character concept. Large portraits-of very variable quality (the Fortune Hunter seems to be missing some cheek) –add to the flavour, but bulk out the descriptions.
Importantly, the chapter also offers some new Edges, Hindrances and chargen ideas. Some, I hope I can say, resemble closely ideas familiar from my Spirit of the Century play experience. One edge allows a player to escape danger by playing a benny and declaring an appropriate event. Another allows characters who are not Weird Scientist to nevertheless make use of trademark gadget.
Chaper Four is the Equipment chapter, describing (and portraying with small pictures) the guns, cars and planes that players and GMs are likely to use. The items are well-selected, for style and flavour as well as utility. This is an area where the Savage Worlds system can shine in comparison with more rules-lite games in which equipment is sidelined as ‘colour’. Wielding a Luger P-08 instead of a standard revolver makes a difference with these rules –and so it should!
Chapter Five is a short section dedicated to new rules. Too short, in my opinion, as there is a danger the reader may overlook the impact of these system adjustments. The genre –specific rules are, in my opinion, almost uniformly excellent. Players can declare stunts, make story declarations. Enemies can be mooks or henchmen as well as Wild cards or Extras. One rule I’m not so keen on from my SOTC experience is that mooks can be used for damage absorption by Wild Card enemies (a concept my SOTC players disliked). Over all though, excellent stuff, readily adopting a ‘design’ school mentality to rules development and bringing fresh ideas into the Savage Worlds stable (mixed metaphors, anyone?).
Chapter Six is a compilation of usable (even stat-blocked) sample enemy villains; all-important ingredients to any pulp campaign. These range from the fairly staple (Mafia hitman Vinnie Five Angels) via the exotic (Dr Sin, a Fu Man Chu-alike Chinese mastermind), to the bait-and–switch surprising (least said here the better)!
Chapters Seven, Eight and Nine are each dedicated to a separate villainous organisation: the Nazis, the Thugees, and (more generic) Perils of the Orient. The history sections for each chapter seemed overly long, especially that for the Nazis. The timeline here seemed to go to greater lengths than my Fifth Form history book (and to switch tense at times). The chapters describing Thugees and ‘Orientals’ are interesting and flavoursome, rooted in somebody’s careful research. The chapters remind us that the pre-war period was often an unenlightened one, and that these themes can be pursued today in different ways (or, perhaps ironically, ‘authentically’, playing the prejudices and bizarre obsessions for comedy).
Chapter Ten offers an adventure generator. It’s a nice idea, riffing off the idea that pulp stories are literally ‘formulaic’, capable of generation by turning the dials on some lists of colourful tropes. I imagine this would work-after all, imagination is required to fit the various pieces together-though some might find the randomness a little trying.
Chapter Eleven, the Crimson Emperor, presents a pretty respectable adventure, with some genuinely cool and colourful touches. I was surprised to see that it presents itself as a Plot Point campaign , though, as it seemed fairly linear in development to me.
THE ART ISSUE
Finally, I would like to discuss the issue of art in the book. Some of the images have been taken from period posters or pulp magazines and demonstrate the beauty, glamour and mystery present in many pre-war Pulp art styles. Many (the girl being carried off by a monster on page 11, for example) are downright sexy. Another picture, that of the Mobster in the Characters chapter, reminds us that these guys were classy, stylish dressers despite their unclassy profession. The thumb-sized images given of various guns, cars and planes in the Equipment chapter are another nice touch, reminding us how damned graceful some of this stuff really was (ok, ok, I’m a fan of the period)! Unfortunately, the contemporary, homemade art that is inserted to fill the gaps is up against too much competition. Some is not bad (the Femme Fatale images for example), taken on its own merits but can’t hold up against authentic period images. The result is that the art quality comes off as uneven. Uneven that is, in that it varies from poor -to delicious.
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