Pulp Rules Recommendations?

[Parzival]

I've recently acquired some pulp figs, and haven't really gamed anything in this genre before. I'm looking for rules that would fit a mix of Indiana Jones/Doc Savage/The Phantom or even WWII era Cap. America scenarios. So something that would allow for fast-and-wild slugfest action with a tinge of mysticism and low-power "superpower" heroics. Given the figs I currently have available, I'm imagining a scenario in which Cap and a few sidekicks run up against a team of Nazis and Egyptian/Turkish bad guys, all racing to discover the mystic secrets of an Egyptian tomb... that just might have a real live (well, undead) mummy.

I'd want something geared more for tabletop fast action than roleplay, with the possibility of multiple players, little to no need for a ref/gamemaster, and possibility for solo play as well.

Oh, and simplicity is a big plus for me...

Any thoughts?

[AxolotAl]

.45 Adventure, maybe, or Astounding Tales.

I'd normally suggest Larger than Life but there's not so much the rules for superheroics and magic there...

AxolotAl

[Prof.Witchheimer]

45 Adventure, my favorit Pulp setting. Great possibilities to create a narrative scenario. If you need more action so Chaos in Cairo.

[warrenpeace]

.45 Adventures and Savage Worlds use similar character attributes, so it is easy to translate stats for one system into the other. .45 Adventures uses d10 while Savage Worlds uses a range of die sizes. If you can find a Savage Worlds booklet with the type of supernatural stuff that interests you then it could be translated into .45 Adventures without much trouble.

[Huascar]

I use Fear and Faith by Ganesha game for my pulp gaming. FF is very flexible and gives a great skirmish sized game (it's also relatively cheap and available for immediate download from a number of places).

Peter W

[postal]

I would check some of the two hour wargames stuff out and battleground works real well thats what I have been using with the same ideas you have.

[tima113]

Two hour wargames just released War Without End which includes rules for supersoldiers and other Weird WWII stuff. I haven't purchased WWE yet, so my knowledge stems from advertisements and online posts. For solo or no GM play, you can't get much better than THW rules

Otherwise, I'd echo the sentiments for .45 Adventures, Astounding Tales, and include Where Heroes Dare.

[General]

The Savage Worlds Pulp GM Toolkit is another thing you might want to look at...

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=54795&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=27

[fanfavorite]

Another for .45 Adventure. Its now in its 2nd edition (wasn't there in time for 1st ed.) and its fantastic. They have a WWII supplement for it, still stuck in with 1st ed. rules, but its a breeze to convert- even for a novice gamer like me. I really can't insist that enough, even buying the book (Amazing War Stories- the WWI supp) and using the 2nd edition archetype generator (character gen) rules you can easily recreate all the classic Weird War II archetypes for an updated edition.

2nd Edition now has a Occult section too for spells and items of power, though the real fun is making your own!

2 Hour War games are great from what I know, but from my experience can be a little "involved", meaning mostly its a little clunky as far as the rule set goes only to support the extreme immersion of the games.

Never got around to playing Savage Worlds when I was younger though I had a GM that wanted to run it for us as an rpg.

All I can say is about these last three games with little to more experience in all three- they allow and encourage light elements of roleplaying and that my friend is always a good thing, as I'm sure you know. (the highest form of gaming afterall)

Now for Chaos in Cairo, I've heard a lot about it, but never have got my hands on a ruleset. I think you have inspired me to try and find one, if in print.

So overall, I have to recommend .45 Adventure for a great setting, an intuitive rule set, and most of all, a community to get ideas from and share your own with- here on LAF and on the Speak East Forums over at Rattap Productions . com, respectively.


Good look, and I hope to see your battle reports up here sooner than later- as you won't be seeing mine anything soon... 

[richarDISNEY]

Astounding Tales will fit the bill really nicely.
http://www.thevirtualarmchairgeneral.com/079-rules.html#Astounding%20Tales
Or...
Give "Where Heroes Dare" from Iron Ivan Games.  Lots of good stuff in there.  AND it is compatible with "Disposable Heroes", so you can add all the evil tanks you want for Cap Am to fight
http://store.ironivangames.com/whheda.html!

[Parzival]

Thanks, all. I had forgotten about WHD. That might be a winner.