Pulp Fantasy Core--The Group

PULP FANTASY CORE
(c) Jerry Harris, 2012
Published here as Open Game Content.

Pulp Fantasy Core Index

THE GROUP
As a group, the characters are considered to already be experienced adventurers with a supernatural background. They perhaps come together only in certain situations or for opportunities. Perhaps they are recruited or hire themselves out to a benefactor or an organization. Perhaps they are a club with regular meetings looking for capers or a formal (if secretive) business venture.

Whatever form the group takes, their motivation is to investigate the supernatural. That they are foolhardy enough to do so is due to the seductive nature of the supernatural (and perhaps the money to be made at it). That they are generally on the side of the law, speaks to the corruptive nature of the supernatural. The characters are all aware of how dangerous it is.

Suppressing and policing the dangerous element is also self-serving so that all supernaturals aren't cracked down on. It's also a great way of more-or-less legally recovering magical artifacts and such. Knocking off other wizards is often how one gathers more power. Having some sort of legit backing is also helpful. Heroes and superheroes may get a little respect from law enforcement, but death-dealing vigilantes (even those just killing dangerous people) do not.

Character groups should all have some inherent motivation. Examples: a superhero-like group, a private agency run by the characters (likely the company has a cover identity), contract employees of a government agency (like the FBI and a back-in-day X-files department or foreign intelligence) or a university or a private company, they work for an eccentric millionaire (who might also be one of the characters), members of an Adventurers Club or Geographic Society, templars of the Vatican, a totally ad hoc group of independent contractors working for themselves or whoever wants to retain their services whenever there's an opportunity (a good option if the gaming group doesn't have regular members).

Adventures start with a hook put out by the Ref that represents an opportunity or an interesting incident warranting investigation or a direct threat to the characters or others that needs to be dealt with. This level-less game will likely not lend itself to a "sandbox" of adventure possibilities. Rather, adventures would probably work best as missions that work toward a definitive resolution. Think more in terms of a superhero adventure, than a typical fantasy adventure.

As such, players should be free to suggest ideas for future adventures. Some examples: The Scientist character has an idea for an invention and wants an adventure to try it out in the field. The Wizard character wants to investigate the area where a supernatural creature came from. The Muscle character is interested in the ties between a government agency and a mystical cult. The Detective character owes a wealthy client a favor for his help in the last adventure, who needs an investigation of strange happenings at a construction site on a supposed Indian burial ground. Of course, any weird old (or new) stories (factual, fictional, or questionable) that the players discover off the Internet or in books that might be adventure material, should be brought to the Ref's attention too.

This isn't a mandate that the Ref has to run every player idea, but given the mission-oriented nature of the game, having plenty of ideas available is a good thing. If anything, the players need to be committed to responding to the situations presented to their characters and running with them (preferably in the same gonzo fashion that they've created their characters).