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Pulp Traveller

kafka47

kafka47

SOC-14 5K
Marquis
As a Space Opera, Traveller owes its lineage to many things...the classic novels of Asimov, Heinlein, Niven, Tubb, etc. as well as the pocket Westerns (and the numerous films they inspired). There is naturally a smattering of Star Wars and other films of the 1970s in there.

But, one area that Traveller does not seem to aknowledge openly is the heritage of the pulp magazines. Whilst most of us were born after the heyday of the Pulps in the 1920s/1930s...one cannot underestimate the importance this genre in shaping Traveller.

Has anyone ever incorporated the Pulps into their Traveller game? For instance, I incorporated Flash Gordon by having a larger than life villain a la Ming in my Campaigns over the years. Also, my lasers do not and never save at really low techs required backpacks.
 
Beaten to a Pulp

Oh, my gods yes. There's far more classic Heinlein running through my games than any other writer. Mostly in the form of the Individual vs. Governments and Corporations.
 
Well I wouldn't say Heinlein was pulp but yes Traveller is, or should be, pulp. Far more pulp than "Hard SF"

But good pulp is fun and Traveller is about fun
 
Edmond Hamilton, Leigh Brackett, & C. L. Moore (Northwest Smith) have influenced my campaign. I've also had influence from far too many Doc Savage novels. I also admit to running a character based on Flash Gordon's Dr Zharkhov.

Personal feeling: I can't image SF without Edmnond Hamilton. The number of SF firsts: the first spacewalk, one of the earliest working description of a spacesuit, first intergalactic mixed race civilizations including nonhuman leaders, & the earliest SF writer to have a female combat pilot, not to mention being probably the first writer to take SF out of the solar system.
 
I like the idea of Pulp Traveller, or even Noir Traveller. And isn't that the beauty of Traveller, that it can be taken in any of these directions.
 
Jamus said:
cthulhutraveller
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See Anne McCaffrey's Tower and Hive Series for large-scale Psionically-active Sci-Fi horror (ok, not quite like Lovecraft, but works well for a "Cthulhu-lite" setting).


The prequel Talent Series gives a nice start for a very psionics-oriented 'verse.

Talent Series
To Ride Pegasus , Dent 1974
Pegasus in Flight , Del Rey 1990
Pegasus in Space , Del Rey (1st Edition) 2000

Tower and Hive Series
The Rowan (aka A Meeting of the Minds) , Penguin Putnam 1990
Damia , Putnam Publishing Group 1992
Damia's Children , Putnam Publishing Group 1993
Lyon's Pride , Ace (1st Edition) 1994
The Tower and the Hive , Ace (Reissue) May 2000
 
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Ran Targas said:
Agreed! The horror aspect of encountering aliens has been sorely overlooked IMHO, particularly the Ancients and their ilk.
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Never IMTU...encountering the "Ancients" or more acurately the aliens from Antiquity is akin to Event Horizon or Sphere. The unfathomable nature of their technology is reason enough to cause fear. I remember reading somewhere about the researcher who first discovered Black Globes which promptly sliced off his arm...now that is mild compared to some of the Ancient tech. I like using GDW's DC Dark Tek sourcebook to mess things really up.
 
Ran Targas said:
Sigg,

Have you read any of the Eric John Stark stories by Lee Brackett (sp?)?
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Leigh Brackett got her entry into published writing through Sci-Fi legend Henry Kuttner!
She married Sci-Fi writer Edmond Hamilton n January 1, 1947 with Ray Bradbury* as best man.

*She was mentor to Ray Bradbury!

She wrote the screenplay for Rio Bravo as well as Hatari!, El Dorado and Rio Lobo (all for John Wayne)!

An interesting history of her career (not quite a bio) can be found here:
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue250/brackett1.html
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue250/brackett2.html
 
I'd add A. Bertram Chandler's "Commodire Grimes" books/stories to the list. Plenty of good ideas/inspiration to found therein.
 
While late to be considered "classic pulp", they can be called "retro-pulp", and are among my favorite books.

The "Commodore Grimes" series (and indeed ABC's non-Grimes books) are among the best "Traveller-like" books ever written.
 
kafka47 said:
As a Space Opera, Traveller owes its lineage to many things...the classic novels of Asimov, Heinlein, Niven, Tubb, etc. as well as the pocket Westerns (and the numerous films they inspired). There is naturally a smattering of Star Wars and other films of the 1970s in there.

But, one area that Traveller does not seem to aknowledge openly is the heritage of the pulp magazines. Whilst most of us were born after the heyday of the Pulps in the 1920s/1930s...one cannot underestimate the importance this genre in shaping Traveller.

Has anyone ever incorporated the Pulps into their Traveller game? For instance, I incorporated Flash Gordon by having a larger than life villain a la Ming in my Campaigns over the years. Also, my lasers do not and never save at really low techs required backpacks.
Click to expand...

I scored all of the Flash Gordon comics collections by Kitchen Sink Press around 20 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed them. It always amazes me how greatly his artistry improved after the first few years of the strip. My current CT campaign is classic, retro, tail-landing goodness with ray-guns, death-rays, busty heaving/throbbing damsels always in distress (talk about tail-landing! :rofl:), etc. I also mix in a hearty ladle-full of ERB Barsoom! (yup, you gotta use an exclamation mark after that word) for gustatory satisfaction. :)
 
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