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Building a Pulp Adventure


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So the Astounding Adventures supplement has a pair of random adventure generators. So, using the less structured of the two, The Mad Mayor's Thrilling Adventure Generator Gizmo lets see what we can get.

So, started with five rolls.

16. Finding a Lost World.

76. Earthquake.

60. Fight on the Docks.

98. Attacked by cultists.

15. Interview an Expert.

Hmmm.

Decided to make one more roll.

27. Searching the Ruins.

Hmm.

So lets say its 1937. Havana.

A commotion at the waterfront draws the attention of the heroes. Religious fanatics have hi-jacked the yacht of

Texas oilman, Harv Tanhill.

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So the Astounding Adventures supplement has a pair of random adventure generators. So, using the less structured of the two, The Mad Mayor's Thrilling Adventure Generator Gizmo lets see what we can get.

So, started with five rolls.

16. Finding a Lost World.

76. Earthquake.

60. Fight on the Docks.

98. Attacked by cultists.

15. Interview an Expert.

Hmmm.

Decided to make one more roll.

27. Searching the Ruins.

Hmm.

So lets say its 1937. Havana.

A commotion at the waterfront draws the attention of the heroes. Religious fanatics have hi-jacked the yacht of

Texas oilman, Harv Tanhill.

http://www.iias.nl/nl/34/IIAS_NL34_21.pdf

The "religious fanatics" are, in fact, Indonesian tribesmen, devout Moslems, members of a religious and political group that has been giving Dutch authorities trouble for some time. International news reports indicate that native unrest has escalated since Tanhill returned from negotiating an exploration and mining agreement with the colonial government, outbidding a Japanese competitor. What Tanhill hasn't told the press, but which he may tell the player-characters if they succeed in rescuing him, is that he brought something else back in addition to a valise filled with contracts: a softball-sized ruby inscribed with Islamic devotional verses -- and with older characters and glyphs that don't look like Arabic or any other alphabet the PCs are familiar with. Hence the need to consult an expert. The would-be kidnappers were attempting to retrieve the gem.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So anyone else want to chime in with a 'Lost World'. We also have some ruins that are apparently hiding a secret.

They might be linked. The seemingly abandoned ruins actually are still inhabited by the people that built them, and are the doorway to a big hidden city. The city might be an underground complex, or the ruins might be the way the still lively city appears to those who don't possess the right gizmo, haven't solved an ancient riddle, or aren't allowed to see it having failed a test. Mmh, maybe this is too similar to a couple Indiana Jones's movies.

Perhaps the ancient civilization has succeeded in hiding itself from the world by means of a "mystic shroud" only the initiates (e.g. those who have a high enough Occult rating and/or fail a Sanity check) can see through. The veil possibly works both ways, and also the "hidden" natives cannot normally perceive the exterior world. So a focus of the adventure might be on establishing a contact with the right "hidden" natives, and avoiding it with the wrong ones (à la Kult).

If the "hidden" natives live underground, they might possess a powerful artifact that let them control earthquakes. Perhaps the members of a sect of "common" natives of the country have intruded the hidden city, trying to get to use the artifact to provoke earthquakes that might destabilize the colonial government, no matter what (the ruins would be equidistant from all the epicentres).

Edited by MatteoN
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The 'common' natives are actually fierce Dayak Headhunters, skilled warriors who use the fearsome Parang blades. They plan to use the earthquakes as cover for unleashing a reign of terror against the colonial government and immigrant settlers whom they consider to be a stain upon Dayak honour...

"Not gods - Englishmen. The next best thing."

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  • 1 year later...

Resurrecting this thread since I recently got my greedy paws on Astounding Adventures myself.  I've loved pulp adventure role-playing since I discovered Hero Games' Justice, Inc., in the 1980s.  The AA adventure generator reminds me a bit of the one in TSR's old Buck Rogers Adventure Game, which is perfectly appropriate since Buck Rogers is classic pulp science fiction.  Here's what I came up with during my first set of random rolls:

 

Hook and MacGuffin – Captured or stolen groundbreaking invention

 

NPCs – An archeologist, a soldier, and a professor

 

Plot Twist – The player-characters or their non-player character friends are captured by the villains

 

Locations – An old mansion or castle, a desert, a jungle or forest, a secret base, and the mountains

 

Action Scenes – A chase (x2), a gunfight (x2), an investigation

 

I wasn’t too thrilled with the repetitious action options, so I thought a few rolls on the "Mad Mayor’s Thrilling Tale Generation Gizmo" might help.  Here’s what I got to stir into the potboiler:

 

-- Attacked by an animal (we've got desert, forest and mountain locations)

 

-- Finding an old friend in trouble (which might fit in with the either the hook or the plot twist)

 

-- Trekking through the mountains (which fits in with one of my locations)

 

-- A showdown in a nightclub

 

-- Terror at the airfield

 

-- Cut power line

 

Hmm, given the set-up, the obvious choice would be that the Professor (an old friend of the adventurers) has come up with some sort of amazing scientific discovery which villainous parties want very badly to get their mitts on.  They're even willing to snatch him or his nubile daughter in order to get it.  On the other hand, perhaps the old friend is the Archeologist, who has stumbled upon some ancient medical secret or weapon which modern (1920s or '30s) science cannot duplicate -- and the Professor is an evil genius out to part him from it.  How does the Soldier fit in?  Is he an agent or pawn of one of the other two, a stolid good guy out to protect the Great Secret (perhaps allowing the PCs to help), or a representative of a foreign power with his own plans for the ... whatever it is?

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  • 2 weeks later...

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