Post by Catsmate on Nov 14, 2015 11:52:03 GMT
I was thinking, somewhat inspired by some ideas in a couple of previous threads, about a 'Pulp Who' campaign. That is a campaign set in the classic 'Pulp' era of ~1919 to 1939 that uses elements of the Doctor Who mythos (and the AITAS game) but doesn't invoke the mainstays of the Whoniverse, i.e. no Doctor, TARDIS or standard Who monsters, very little time travel and avoids explicit references to the Whoniverse. Basically a Pulp Fantastic or Call of Cthulhu style game but using elements of Who for inspiration and background.
OK sooner or later the players will catch on, and may try and use such inside knowledge, but you can easily alter details to confuse them.
In such a game if the Doctor appears it's off-stage, or he's a glimpsed presence or references in books and from witnesses; a more-or-less sinister who arrives, meddles and leaves, his agenda unknown to the PCs. They should never (except maybe at the climax of a campaign) actually meet or interact with him.
While the Pulp era was never a mainstay of Doctor Who onscreen there are quite a few elements that can be scavenged for inspiration, especially when using the EU novels and audios. A Call of Cthulhu crossover is eminently possible given the amount of Lovecraft mythos that's leaked into the EU.
Protagonists.
The Whoniverse is an excellent resource for justifying slightly superhuman PCs; they could be the culmination of breeding programmes by shadowy groups (hi Torchwood!)
with hidden agendas, humans effected by alien technology (e.g. Ashildr) or mutated by exposure to alien forces (Hsien-Ko), stranded aliens trying to survive (preferably near-humans or equipped with disguises), a curious Indigenous Terran (Silurians) woken from her long slumber....
Perhaps the most interesting idea is the Scion of Gallifrey; humans with some elements of Time Lord biology and legacy like River Song or Jenny. One of the sources for such individuals is the story Human Nature (both versions), where the Doctor changed himself into a human to hide from enemies. In the story he dreamed of a possible future where he married a human, fathered children, lived and died as a human. What if such a scenario happened?
Perhaps Dr. John Smith did father a child with Joan Redfern before 'rebooting' himself as a Time Lord and leaving 1913 Earth? Or maybe a different Time Lord lost the device (pocket watch or whatever) that held his bio-data and never changed back to a Gallifreyan, living and dying on Earth, fathering children who carry the legacy of Gallifrey.
And what happens to the person who finds the bio-data? In Human Nature Tim Latimer/Dean find's Smith's watch and seemed to be able to access some of the power stored in it, could it create a Scion if a human somehow absorbed it (perhaps after it's owner died in human form)?
If Smith impregnated Joan in 1913 then their child would be an adult in the early 1930s, just in time for a Pulp game. See here for some ideas on this.
Antagonists.
Of course the Doctor wasn't the only Time Lord to use a Chameleon Arch to hide from the Time War. What if the Master (or a similarly villainous Time Lord) used one to hide out in early twentieth century Earth? He (or she) could also create a Scion. If they retained some of the Master's personality, well there's a perfect megalomaniac mastermind antagonist for the players.
There's Hsien-Ko, the daughter of Li H'sen Chang, who has her own plans and is secretly plotting in China.
Then there are humans from the twenty-first century (or earlier/later) dropped back in time by Weeping Angels, or caught in the wake of primitive time machines. These could be protagonists, grateful for help in assimilating, or schemers with their own plans to grow rich, change history or kill for amusement.
Bystanders.
Percy Closed and the Circle. Time travellers from the future 'retired' to the twentieth century. Some brought back a few gadgets and have useful skills. Perhaps they get bored with all the peace and quiet, or have ulterior motives of their own.
Aleister Crowley and his associates. Jack Parsons, Robert Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, Maxwell Knight, Albert Grayson, Ian Fleming, Denis Wheatley, W. Somerset Maugham and more.
George Fabian Lawrence.
Events. (in no particular order)
1. The PCs are in Munich in 1923 and witness a strange attempt on the life of a rabble rousing ex-soldier during the insurrection. Possibly including a young girl with a fondness for explosives and a London accent.
2. While visiting Scotland they hear about disappearances on Tulloch Moor, near Loch Ness. Perhaps they catch a glimpse of a huge something in the fog?
3. Relaxing briefly at a friend's country house in June of 1925 the PCs observe a young give an excellent performance as a replacement stump batsman in a country cricket match.
4. One of the PCs reads about the disappearance of the SS Bernice in 1926 but later finds her memory is wrong and the ship arrived safely in Bombay. Why has she two sets of memories?
5. In New York in 1930 they read an account of rioting and deaths at a New York Hooverville. While most journalists blame the homeless one account links it to strange lighting effects on the Empire State Building and the disappearance of a man named Diagoras.
6. Invited along on the R101 during it's maiden voyage, the PCs are embroiled in sinister events, aliens and perhaps finally encounter the mysterious 'Doctor'.
7. In Cardiff in 1932 for some reason the PCs are invited to attend the opening of a dance club called the Ritz. Why is the manager so strange?
8. Relaxing in the Explorer's Club (or the Hourglass perhaps) they listen to some wild stories from a member named Travers describing his adventures in Tibet and decrying the need to sell the Yeti he managed to bring home. Do their ears prick up when he mentions meeting a strange man who called himself 'the Doctor'?
9. While in the Pacific, or the US West Coast, in the early 1930 the PCs hear while stories about a mysterious, hidden, island and it's giant flora and fauna. Do they investigate?
10. And if they're in Los Angeles or San Francisco do the group experience odd events in the hotel? Or observe the investigation of a murder spree and meet James Patrick March?
11. In the Caribbean they hear stories of events on Haiti. Are these just common Voodoo legends? Or is there more to the stories? And why is someone attempting to salvage a German commerce raider sunk during the war?
12. Or maybe one of the PCs served in the Great War with a doctor named Howard Phillips (or otherwise encountered him). Now the PC receives a package of diaries and papers from Phillips's executor describing events on Haiti during the US intervention of 1915. Do they investigate?
13. In the Explorers Club in London (or a suitable venue) the PCs meet Colonel Percy Fawcett, who's attempting to gather support for an expedition he plans to find a lost city in Brazil. But why is Fawcett so attached to a black basalt idol that he appears to be listening to? Who are the group, known only as ‘The Glove’, who've attached themselves to Fawcett and agreed to support him? Is there really a lost city in the Amazon jungle?
14. In 1936 Britain in embroiled in the Abdication Crisis, even the PCs are mildly interested in the future of the monarchy. Then they hear rumours of that maverick Churchill meeting with the mysterious 'Doctor'. What is he up to now?
15. Chicago in 1929 and the city is rocked by a gang war. But this is a mere background complication for the players who have their own reaoson for being in the city, at least until they hear of a man named 'Doc' and his gun-moll who are getting oddly close to Alphonse Capone.
16. Back in London in 1936, and resting from the globe-trotting adventures, the PCs meet a shaken RAF officer who tells a strange story. But why does he have two sets of memories of the events of that day, one including a small man with a hypnotic gaze?
17. In Cairo in 1936 the PCs overhear a loudmouth pontificating about the hunting habits of bats and owls to hims young female companion and a passing German naturalist.
18. While in Brighton they're regaled by a drunk with stories of odd happenings and a large man in a loud coat in Brighton in 1936. Is his story linked the PC's investigation?
19. Also in 1936 but in Los Angeles the PCs are surprised to see a red London bus and two strangely similar women. Are they linked to wild stories of a mysterious elixir? And is 'the Doctor' involved?
20. In 1937 Spain the PCs are attempting to avoid becoming embroiled in the civil war, but they're intrigued by stories of the mysterious 'Doctor' and his connection to the terrible events in Guernica.
21. In the slums of London in 1937 one of the PCs helps an unmarried teenager give birth.
22. What'd really happeing in the 'Red Zone'? Is the Doctor involved?
The new ITV series Jekyll and Hyde is a good resource for pulpy weirdness; it has Henry Jekyll's grandson visiting London, discovering his legacy and interacting with two sinister groups (one government monster hunters, one not) with different agendas.
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?
OK sooner or later the players will catch on, and may try and use such inside knowledge, but you can easily alter details to confuse them.
In such a game if the Doctor appears it's off-stage, or he's a glimpsed presence or references in books and from witnesses; a more-or-less sinister who arrives, meddles and leaves, his agenda unknown to the PCs. They should never (except maybe at the climax of a campaign) actually meet or interact with him.
- Or her. There's no reason not to confuse the players by changing elements of the Whoniverse.
While the Pulp era was never a mainstay of Doctor Who onscreen there are quite a few elements that can be scavenged for inspiration, especially when using the EU novels and audios. A Call of Cthulhu crossover is eminently possible given the amount of Lovecraft mythos that's leaked into the EU.
Protagonists.
The Whoniverse is an excellent resource for justifying slightly superhuman PCs; they could be the culmination of breeding programmes by shadowy groups (hi Torchwood!)
with hidden agendas, humans effected by alien technology (e.g. Ashildr) or mutated by exposure to alien forces (Hsien-Ko), stranded aliens trying to survive (preferably near-humans or equipped with disguises), a curious Indigenous Terran (Silurians) woken from her long slumber....
Perhaps the most interesting idea is the Scion of Gallifrey; humans with some elements of Time Lord biology and legacy like River Song or Jenny. One of the sources for such individuals is the story Human Nature (both versions), where the Doctor changed himself into a human to hide from enemies. In the story he dreamed of a possible future where he married a human, fathered children, lived and died as a human. What if such a scenario happened?
Perhaps Dr. John Smith did father a child with Joan Redfern before 'rebooting' himself as a Time Lord and leaving 1913 Earth? Or maybe a different Time Lord lost the device (pocket watch or whatever) that held his bio-data and never changed back to a Gallifreyan, living and dying on Earth, fathering children who carry the legacy of Gallifrey.
And what happens to the person who finds the bio-data? In Human Nature Tim Latimer/Dean find's Smith's watch and seemed to be able to access some of the power stored in it, could it create a Scion if a human somehow absorbed it (perhaps after it's owner died in human form)?
If Smith impregnated Joan in 1913 then their child would be an adult in the early 1930s, just in time for a Pulp game. See here for some ideas on this.
Antagonists.
Of course the Doctor wasn't the only Time Lord to use a Chameleon Arch to hide from the Time War. What if the Master (or a similarly villainous Time Lord) used one to hide out in early twentieth century Earth? He (or she) could also create a Scion. If they retained some of the Master's personality, well there's a perfect megalomaniac mastermind antagonist for the players.
There's Hsien-Ko, the daughter of Li H'sen Chang, who has her own plans and is secretly plotting in China.
- And she might not be the only one, I've speculated on a Doctor Who/Fu Manchu crossover before. The Devil Doctor might be active in China also. Think of the fun when the two groups fight over China.
- And then there's the "Doctor" title, a fertile source of confusion if the players (nudged by the GM) conflate Fu Manchu with the mysterious traveller whom they never quite meet.
Then there are humans from the twenty-first century (or earlier/later) dropped back in time by Weeping Angels, or caught in the wake of primitive time machines. These could be protagonists, grateful for help in assimilating, or schemers with their own plans to grow rich, change history or kill for amusement.
Bystanders.
Percy Closed and the Circle. Time travellers from the future 'retired' to the twentieth century. Some brought back a few gadgets and have useful skills. Perhaps they get bored with all the peace and quiet, or have ulterior motives of their own.
Aleister Crowley and his associates. Jack Parsons, Robert Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, Maxwell Knight, Albert Grayson, Ian Fleming, Denis Wheatley, W. Somerset Maugham and more.
George Fabian Lawrence.
Events. (in no particular order)
1. The PCs are in Munich in 1923 and witness a strange attempt on the life of a rabble rousing ex-soldier during the insurrection. Possibly including a young girl with a fondness for explosives and a London accent.
2. While visiting Scotland they hear about disappearances on Tulloch Moor, near Loch Ness. Perhaps they catch a glimpse of a huge something in the fog?
3. Relaxing briefly at a friend's country house in June of 1925 the PCs observe a young give an excellent performance as a replacement stump batsman in a country cricket match.
4. One of the PCs reads about the disappearance of the SS Bernice in 1926 but later finds her memory is wrong and the ship arrived safely in Bombay. Why has she two sets of memories?
5. In New York in 1930 they read an account of rioting and deaths at a New York Hooverville. While most journalists blame the homeless one account links it to strange lighting effects on the Empire State Building and the disappearance of a man named Diagoras.
6. Invited along on the R101 during it's maiden voyage, the PCs are embroiled in sinister events, aliens and perhaps finally encounter the mysterious 'Doctor'.
7. In Cardiff in 1932 for some reason the PCs are invited to attend the opening of a dance club called the Ritz. Why is the manager so strange?
8. Relaxing in the Explorer's Club (or the Hourglass perhaps) they listen to some wild stories from a member named Travers describing his adventures in Tibet and decrying the need to sell the Yeti he managed to bring home. Do their ears prick up when he mentions meeting a strange man who called himself 'the Doctor'?
9. While in the Pacific, or the US West Coast, in the early 1930 the PCs hear while stories about a mysterious, hidden, island and it's giant flora and fauna. Do they investigate?
10. And if they're in Los Angeles or San Francisco do the group experience odd events in the hotel? Or observe the investigation of a murder spree and meet James Patrick March?
11. In the Caribbean they hear stories of events on Haiti. Are these just common Voodoo legends? Or is there more to the stories? And why is someone attempting to salvage a German commerce raider sunk during the war?
12. Or maybe one of the PCs served in the Great War with a doctor named Howard Phillips (or otherwise encountered him). Now the PC receives a package of diaries and papers from Phillips's executor describing events on Haiti during the US intervention of 1915. Do they investigate?
13. In the Explorers Club in London (or a suitable venue) the PCs meet Colonel Percy Fawcett, who's attempting to gather support for an expedition he plans to find a lost city in Brazil. But why is Fawcett so attached to a black basalt idol that he appears to be listening to? Who are the group, known only as ‘The Glove’, who've attached themselves to Fawcett and agreed to support him? Is there really a lost city in the Amazon jungle?
14. In 1936 Britain in embroiled in the Abdication Crisis, even the PCs are mildly interested in the future of the monarchy. Then they hear rumours of that maverick Churchill meeting with the mysterious 'Doctor'. What is he up to now?
15. Chicago in 1929 and the city is rocked by a gang war. But this is a mere background complication for the players who have their own reaoson for being in the city, at least until they hear of a man named 'Doc' and his gun-moll who are getting oddly close to Alphonse Capone.
16. Back in London in 1936, and resting from the globe-trotting adventures, the PCs meet a shaken RAF officer who tells a strange story. But why does he have two sets of memories of the events of that day, one including a small man with a hypnotic gaze?
17. In Cairo in 1936 the PCs overhear a loudmouth pontificating about the hunting habits of bats and owls to hims young female companion and a passing German naturalist.
18. While in Brighton they're regaled by a drunk with stories of odd happenings and a large man in a loud coat in Brighton in 1936. Is his story linked the PC's investigation?
19. Also in 1936 but in Los Angeles the PCs are surprised to see a red London bus and two strangely similar women. Are they linked to wild stories of a mysterious elixir? And is 'the Doctor' involved?
20. In 1937 Spain the PCs are attempting to avoid becoming embroiled in the civil war, but they're intrigued by stories of the mysterious 'Doctor' and his connection to the terrible events in Guernica.
21. In the slums of London in 1937 one of the PCs helps an unmarried teenager give birth.
22. What'd really happeing in the 'Red Zone'? Is the Doctor involved?
The new ITV series Jekyll and Hyde is a good resource for pulpy weirdness; it has Henry Jekyll's grandson visiting London, discovering his legacy and interacting with two sinister groups (one government monster hunters, one not) with different agendas.
Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?