Is Classic Traveller Suitable for Pulp Sci Fi?

[aramis]

I'd agree WEG would be a better fit for Pulp Serials.

Another choice that is fun is Cosmic Patrol - but it's a very different kind of game experience.

Traveller can do pulp... but not with CT bk 1 combat. Too deadly toward PC's and not deadly enough for the minions.

 

[Maksim-Smelchak]

I'm thinking of starting a Pulp Sci Fi game in the style of the 1930s or 40s serials such as Buck Rodgers or Flash Gordon.

Sure. Just tweak the combat rules to get the result you want and act like a potent referee.

As a generality, Traveller's combat is probably too deadly for proper pulp style, but you can tweak that as a referee.

Has anyone else run a pulp sci-fi style game using the Classic traveler books?

Yes. I have seen it done well many times. Pre-scientific Mars a la Edgar Rice Burroughs can be very fun. I also like C.S. Lewis in the same vein.

Give it whirl, adjust heat to preference, have a good time. Break a few eggs. Make a few omelettes.

Positive vibes to you!

Shalom,
M.

 

[aramis]

Suitability varies on several fronts...

Some people want the rules to actively support the setting; others want them to merely not interfere with the setting, and that's quite different.

Keep this in mind when considering the answers in thread.

 

[mike wightman]

Considering the list of literary characters in S1 and S4 I think MWM et al considered Traveller perfectly suitable for pulp sci fi adventures.

 

[aramis]

Considering the list of literary characters in S1 and S4 I think MWM et al considered Traveller perfectly suitable for pulp sci fi adventures.

People's tolerances differ wildly. I find CT doesn't mechanically support a pulp feel; you have a consistent pattern of accepting "doesn't interfere with" and a lower bound than I on that later measure, as well.

There's also the issue of "Who actually wrote them up?? S01 printing 4 doesn't list authorship, nor does S04 printing 13 (the two scans on my CDs)... We know some of who was on staff (Marc, Loren, Frank for certain; maybe Tim? ISTR Dave was later.)

 

[ShapeShifter]

Considering the list of literary characters in S1 and S4 I think MWM et al considered Traveller perfectly suitable for pulp sci fi adventures.

That was just a nod to the new hit movie by Gene Lucas. :rofl:

CT seemed to strive for a certain level of relative versimilitude, or in the least, level-headedness, which is not at all part of the sword-n-planet, swashbuckling adventure of Flash Gordon. Leave your brain at the door, and your PC/SJW sensibilities at the curb before consuming this genre of entertainment!

Come on. How many other polo players ever united various human-animal hybrid races on a rogue planet to overcome a seemingly immortal, pseudo-Oriental dictator?

 

[whulorigan]

Come on. How many other polo players ever united various human-animal hybrid races on a rogue planet to overcome a seemingly immortal, pseudo-Oriental dictator?

Well, someone has always got to be the first . . .

 

[BlackBat242]

Considering the list of literary characters in S1 and S4 I think MWM et al considered Traveller perfectly suitable for pulp sci fi adventures.

That was just a nod to the new hit movie by Gene Lucas. :rofl:

I thought he was dead long before then. https://www.imdb.com/Gene Lucas


Or did you mean George Lucas?