Pulp Alley Cluedo

[Chris Abbey]

Next weekend, I'm putting on a Pulp Alley game at Blam, based on the classic board game, Cluedo.

I am making a Cluedo mansion out of Terra-Blocks (Just another 6 rooms to paper)!
The idea is to play a modified trail of clues scenario. Plot points will be the Cludo weapons, randomly placed using the Cluedo room cards. Their will be 2-4 servants who are obstructing the investigation. They will be placed in random rooms using the cards and will be travelling to another room. A room or corridor section with a servant in will be an extreme peril.

I don't know how many people will be playing so I have made character cards as Leaders so they can play one character each. I might also make them all is sidekicks so each player has two characters one as a leader and one as a sidekick. Their are also some famous detectives staying at the mansion. They will not have sidekicks.

I have done first drafts of the cards. Not 100% happy with them, as I found it quite difficult to choose skills and attributes.
I would be very grateful if you could all have a look at cards and give me any suggestions for improving the characters, and indeed any ideas for running Pulp Alley Cluedo. The plan is if it is succesful to use it as one of our Pulp Alley demo games for shows next year.

Pulp Alley Cluedo

[Poiter50]

Never played the rule set but I love your figure choices even if I can't identify all of the makers. I also think your "papering" of rooms and exteriors is fantastic.

[joekano]

Very cool idea!

[Chris Abbey]

Figure Manufacturers:
Col Mustard, Mrs White, Miss Marple, Poirot, Holmes are all from Pulp Figures
Rev Green from Wargames Foundry
Prof Plum - EM4 Dulwich Detectives
Miss Scarlet, Miss Peacock are plastic playing pieces from the Cluedo game.

I have got the excellent metal set from EM4 (Thanks Doug), sculpted by Mark Copplestone. If I get time, I will upgrade them, but a lot of wallpapering of terrain still to do.

Any way, thoughts on scenario and figure stats, very gratefully received.

[warlord frod]

Love the idea and the cards especially your figures great work.   Please post pictures as the project continues and if possible a full report on the game.

[Eric the Shed]

looks great...see you next week

[Chris Abbey]

Hi Eric, very much looking forward to it if it was not for all of the papering that needs doing between now and then!!

[Commander Roj]

Intriguing! Do you envisage this as a largely cerebral exercise of "the little grey cells", more of a skirmish or a balance between the two?

[d phipps]

Very cool! What a great idea.

As far as selecting abilities, I am a big fan of the +1 dice you get from Fierce, Marksman, Agile, Mighty, Savvy, and Clever. I almost always start with one of those. These can make a big difference when you encounter a 3x challenge and so on.

The re-rollers are also very handy -- Brute, Crafty, and Sharp. I use these on lots of characters as well. AND I also like Plan, Slam, and Trick.

So I'd suggest the following adjustments just to mix it up a bit ---

Col Mustard -- raise Brawl to 3d10, lower Finesse to 2d8, add Marksman (drop Disarming)
Prof Plum -- add Clever (drop Quick Witted)
Rev Green -- change Brawl and Shoot to n/a
Miss Scarlet -- raise Brawl to 3d10, lower Might to 2d8, add Trick (drop Disarming)
Miss Peacock --add Sharp (drop Lucky Devil)
Mrs. White -- no change
Miss Marple -- appears to have 4 abilities? I'd drop Inhuman. (lowering her Cunning to 3d10)
Hercule Poirot -- add Crafty (drop Shrewd)
Sherlock Holmes -- add Plan (drop Shrewd)

[EndTransmission]

Sounds like a fantastic idea. Can't wait to see some photos of the game in action

[Marine0846]

Really great idea.
Look forward to reading about the game.

[Chris Abbey]

Thanks for all your comments, I will get the character cards updated and make them available as a download from our web store.
Is it an exercise in 'the little grey cells' or a skirmish?
Good question. Have you ever met any gamers? You would think that everyone would be to busy concentrating on resolving plot points to solve the murder, but.... based on every game I've run at a convention to date they just will not be able to contain that primal urge for a bit of gun play or two fisted action. I am very interested to see how it plays out, at it's first outing to BLAM next Sunday.

The updated outline is:

Trail of clues.

First clue is a cluedo weapon - these will be placed in a random room determined by draw of a cluedo room card.
On resolving a weapon clue - draw second plot point to be resolved - This is a room. - Go to room to resolve plot point.
Major plot point is 'the suspect' - this can only be attempted once you have resolved a weapon and a room. This will be a random draw of one of the other guests or a servant.

As in the boardgame mansion their are two secret tunnels connecting opposite diagonals of the mansion. These can be discovered by resolving a plot point. Once discovered they can be used for a single move action.

The servants resent this intrusion to their daily routine. Being around them is perilous. The butler, gardner, cook, chauffer are set up randomly and move towards a room drawn from cluedo room cards. The room or corridor that they are in is perilous!

That is the idea to date. Only thing I'm not sure about is, if their are more than 4 players, should their be more than 4 initial plot point / clues placed?

[Chris Abbey]

Cluedo, Pulp Alley character cards have now been updated with Dave's suggestions. Thanks Dave!



The free pfd file for these can be downloaded from our Pulp Alley store:
http://sally4th.co.uk/Pulp-Alley-Gaming-Accessories

[Commander Roj]

Cluedo, Pulp Alley character cards have now been updated with Dave's suggestions. Thanks Dave!



The free pfd file for these can be downloaded from our Pulp Alley store:
http://sally4th.co.uk/Pulp-Alley-Gaming-Accessories

I'm so interested to see how this turns out!

[Eric the Shed]

looking forward to this....