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Astounding Adventures: Pulp Adventures for Basic Roleplaying
Pulp Adventures for Basic Roleplaying Welcome to the heart-pounding, two-fisted, action-filled world of the Pulps! Throughout this book you will find Basic Roleplaying rules for new character types, skills, combat, magic, mad science, and a plethora of villains, henchmen and monsters. Accompanying the text are several sidebars containing special, optional rules to help jack up the pulpiness of your campaign, and rules aimed specifically towards those who enjoy using miniatures and map grids in their games. How far you want to push the envelope is up to you and you ll find all the tools you need within these pages. So strap on a rocket-pack, load up your .45, and get ready to take on a dozen Nazis single-handedly, while standing atop the ruins of a lost Aztec temple! Once you open up the Pulps you are in for the adventure of a lifetime!
112 pages, Paperback
First published June 11, 2013
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August 19, 2017
The idea of a pulp book for Basic Roleplaying is cool, and there's some good stuff here, but overall it's a bit of a disappointment in my opinion. There's not really enough of a discussion of pulp tropes or what makes pulp adventures stand out from other kids of stories. I do like some of the new rules, especially the action point system which is well suited to this genre and works a lot better than the version seen in the BRP core book. There's also a neat idea that characters can either have superpowers (in the form of gadgets like a jetpack or a raygun) or a special ability similar to feats in D&D. My one issue is with the execution, as fairly useful stuff like contacts or an animal companion cost the same as the ability to take unlimited amounts of alcohol. The latter is a nice reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark, but otherwise seems rather weak.
The chapter on history and equipment does give some nice plot hooks in the form of a list of noteworthy events from 1930 through 1939, though the equipment doesn't have as much mechanics as I'd like. While the GM chapter doesn't give much advice on how to do pulp games specifically, it does have some nice random tables for making adventures that'd be useful for this or any other pulp system. The enemies chapter provides a fun mix of archetypical pulp enemies, from Yellow Peril sorcerers to Amazons and generic tribal primitives. Plus, there's robots and other more out there stuff. I do feel like it would've been worth addressing, if only briefly, the significant racism issues in a lot of the pulps. As it is, I'd personally stick mostly to punching Nazis and gangsters.
The book ends with a trio of adventures, showing different styles of pulp. The first is an Indiana Jones pastiche in which the players get pulled into a hunt for a magic fear-creating staff hidden on an Asian island. It's got some fun globe-trotting bits, you get to stop the Nazis, and there's a lot of potential for more adventures with other factions trying to get the staff away from the heroes. The second adventure is a somewhat railroady romp against a mad scientist with a death ray that threatens to destroy all of Manhattan. It's the sort of adventure that mandates the PCs can't beat the villain until the end, and even then there's a hint that he's survived. The basic concept works, but if I were to use it I'd alter it heavily. The final adventure is basically pulp Cthulhu mythos by way of ripping off Ghostbusters. The PCs encounter a radio show being used to mask cult activities and have to race agains time to prevent a monstrous god call Xhuul from being summoned at the top of a skyscraper. This was my favorite of the adventures, though I'd still alter it a little flowwise and likely sub in a Mythos god for the final battle. Calling the human villain Phillip Howard is a cute touch.
Overall, this is a fun little supplement, but I feel like it's best used to mine ideas, either for BRP or another system, such as Savage Worlds. However, the last adventure has whetted my appetite for pulp monster fighting, and I expect that the new Pulp Cthulhu book for the latest Call of Cthulhu edition may better meet my expectations for BRP pulp action.
The chapter on history and equipment does give some nice plot hooks in the form of a list of noteworthy events from 1930 through 1939, though the equipment doesn't have as much mechanics as I'd like. While the GM chapter doesn't give much advice on how to do pulp games specifically, it does have some nice random tables for making adventures that'd be useful for this or any other pulp system. The enemies chapter provides a fun mix of archetypical pulp enemies, from Yellow Peril sorcerers to Amazons and generic tribal primitives. Plus, there's robots and other more out there stuff. I do feel like it would've been worth addressing, if only briefly, the significant racism issues in a lot of the pulps. As it is, I'd personally stick mostly to punching Nazis and gangsters.
The book ends with a trio of adventures, showing different styles of pulp. The first is an Indiana Jones pastiche in which the players get pulled into a hunt for a magic fear-creating staff hidden on an Asian island. It's got some fun globe-trotting bits, you get to stop the Nazis, and there's a lot of potential for more adventures with other factions trying to get the staff away from the heroes. The second adventure is a somewhat railroady romp against a mad scientist with a death ray that threatens to destroy all of Manhattan. It's the sort of adventure that mandates the PCs can't beat the villain until the end, and even then there's a hint that he's survived. The basic concept works, but if I were to use it I'd alter it heavily. The final adventure is basically pulp Cthulhu mythos by way of ripping off Ghostbusters. The PCs encounter a radio show being used to mask cult activities and have to race agains time to prevent a monstrous god call Xhuul from being summoned at the top of a skyscraper. This was my favorite of the adventures, though I'd still alter it a little flowwise and likely sub in a Mythos god for the final battle. Calling the human villain Phillip Howard is a cute touch.
Overall, this is a fun little supplement, but I feel like it's best used to mine ideas, either for BRP or another system, such as Savage Worlds. However, the last adventure has whetted my appetite for pulp monster fighting, and I expect that the new Pulp Cthulhu book for the latest Call of Cthulhu edition may better meet my expectations for BRP pulp action.
Displaying 1 of 1 review