Pulp!: Episode 3 of The Return of the Mad Guru (originally published 10/24/23)

And now, the stunning conclusion of the play test of the solo rules for Pulp!.

(Game Note: The Princess has the Life Experience Profile "You killed my father. You'll pay for it." For having this attribute she can only use the Special Benefits Adrenaline Surge and Mighty Shove; however, she receives a +1 in all Melee and Ranged combat against the Mad Guru only.

(Game Note: I couldn't have scripted it any better myself. The Mad Guru failed to activate, Colonel Douglas fires at him with a result that he is suppressed. The minions fail to activate (Yikes) and the Princess does, fires at the suppressed Mad Guru (who is now -1 on saves) and nails the evil villain that killed her father.)

(Game Note: The Bat declares he will use the Special Benefit "Mighty Shove" as he charges into combat. If your character inflicts at least one unsaved hit the enemy figure can be moved up to 3" in the direction opposite of the charge - and the figure would drop any objectives it might be carrying!)

(Game Note: The Big Guy is no dummy and as soon as The Bat moves into contact with him, he performs an Acrobatic Dodge before Melee is resolved and move away from the attacker in the opposite direction 1 to 3 inches.)

 

(Game Note: The Bat uses his last Special Benefit of the game (he could do four) which is "Second Chance" which forces The Big Guy to reroll any Combat Roll or Save Roll. The Big Guy had to reroll all of his Save dice and . . . well . . . you see the result above. No more The Big Guy.)

(Game Note: I figured the last 3 minions would have had enough and decide to scatter into the Jungle.)

So Colonel Douglas, any advice?

For up close pistol play, the Special Benefits "In The Zone", "Precision Shot", and "Second Chance" are very effective.

Yep, I forgot to use the Special Benefits until the beginning of Turn 3 - What's a Pulp Game without daring do, miraculous dodges and heroic leadership? In addition, I made The Mad Guru too weak: he should as a minimum had a total of 4 IP's (combat dice) and should not have given him a Consuming Obsession which limited the Special Benefits he could use - really limited them!

And what about the fight at the bridge? All that beautiful terrain to use to dodge and scoot and the majority of the figures end up fighting out in the open by the bridge. I guess someone learned a lesson. And in fairness to the Bad Guys, I have never rolled so many "1's" (and automatic fail) in my entire life.

Uh, thanks Bat.

I think Pulp! has gotten a bad rap by experienced gamers (myself included). In actuality, it's a great introduction to skirmish gaming for new or inexperienced players using the Basic Rules. Experienced players (myself included) will find that just using the Basic Rules will be boring. If you want to have fun with Pulp! you have to take the effort to add the chrome yourself based on the outlines and sections in the book. After all, if you have an unsaved hit from the Death Ray - your dead in this game! It fires DEATH. It covers a lot of territory and ideas in 64 pages; it's not Pulp Alley which has characters that come with the game, game aides, etc. Remember, we are living in a Golden Age of Gaming.

I enjoyed the Solo Rules (click on the link to get a PDF file) which have tables and an interesting AI system for the "other" guys in the game. I did not use the Solo Special Benefits table as I used common sense when the Bad Guys would need to use one. As recommended in the Solo Rules, I adjusted the priority of actions for the "Bad Guys" based on the scenario and common sense. I guess the Collaborative part is players are all on one side controlling specific figures and teams and the "main" hero or villain would determine which unit activates when. Bottom line - I had fun playing the game and honestly I thought the Bad Guys were going to win. Until next time: BWAH HAH HAH!