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Originally Posted by Enpeze
I always thought, pulp is non-simulationistic. Its hero-centric and the story is bended around the hero. (to enable another story with the same hero in the next magazine) He has to survive or the reader (or player) is not satisfied. Even in not-so-pulpy westerns like tombstone there are scenes where the villain is able to fire at least 20 shots with 2 pistols without reloading. In italian pulp westerns the hero (or villain) is able to kill 1 person per second with one shot. How do one want to play such impossibilities out in the BRP rules? (I dont really understand why some people want to play these pulpy hero things, thus the question of "how" is only a theoretical one)
So the solution (also for the sake of a good roleplaying game) for this dilemma is to play a mix of pulp and simulation - as you seem to suggest in your post. For me the answer is clear. 80% simulation, 20% pulp. For others it may be the reverse.
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Pretty much. Ideally the GM can "dial up" whatever level of realism or pulpiness, or TV or film to suit his desires. That's why I did up most of the Western stuff as options. For instance, historically the Quick Draw was pretty much a non issue. Hip shooters and fan-firers actually do tend to shot first, but don't hit anything. It's the ability to act calmly and take the time for a good shot, while in a fight, that spelled the difference between joe average and a successful gunfighter.
But the genre stresses the quick draw. So it's in there.
Likewise gun-spinning has no real place in a fight. It looks fancy, but will get you killed. The rifle reload thing might have some use, as would a border shift, but mostly it is just a good way to shoot yourself or an innocent bystander with your own gun. But its part of the TV and film Westerns up to the 1960s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enpeze
I am not against detailed weapon data, especially if they are researched for a scenario which is focusing on those differences in ammo etc. (and having the right ammo at the right place is a matter of live and death) But I just do not see the necessity of detailed weapon data in a typical pulpy western scenario, where it is clear that the hero kills 6 black hats in 6 seconds with head shots. (right ammo or not...)
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Yeah. But I don't think BRP is going to lean towards pulp. If I wanted to do a pulpy western, I'd probably go with
Spirit of the Century. It's got about 90% of what is needed already, and the few things it is missing could be worked up pretty quickly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Enpeze
If Custer has been a pulp hero he would surely have won Little Bighorn - just with his bare fists.
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Well yeah, the people he was fighting weren't white. THe pulps were rather racist. Not so much by conviction, just because any outsider makes for a good villain.
BTW, there is a distinction between Pulp, Film, and TV Westerns. Some overlap, too. So many of the "rules of the genre" depend on what version of the West you are going after.
The "Wild West" suffered in part because it was being fictionalized before it's demise. Much of the real West was obscured by the legend.