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Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Spring Break Battle Report: Episode 2 of The Return of the Mad Guru

 The play test of the solo rules for "Pulp!" continue:


In our last episode (after a "ahem" shaky start in which I forgot about some of the Pulp genre rules!) somewhere in the forgotten jungles of India, next to the wastelands, is the lost city of REDACTED no longer rumored to have fabulous relics that can give power to the righteous - and to those that are evil. The Mad Guru (BWAH HAH HAH!), leader of the ancient Thugee Cult, has discovered the whereabouts of REDACTED and all of the relics have been found: The Marble of Mystery, The Jewel of Chance, and the Sword of Destiny. Fortunately there are heroes that will risk all to stop him and his murderous minions. The forces of good and evil are now locked in deadly combat that may decide the fate of the British Raj . . . 





(Game Note: The Bad Guys get to activate the Princess and if successful, she must do their nefarious bidding.)



(Game Note: Yep our hero failed(!) his activation due to the Terrifying Laughter of the Mad Guru (BWAH HAH HAH!))



(Game Note: "Uncanny Skills" sounds better than "he had enough movement by running to get past the bad guys. Actually he used the Special Benefit "Swing from the Chandelier". Maybe it's a chandelier, maybe it's a tree branch, or maybe you use some terrain to bounce over the other guys. Whatever the case, the Benefit allows you to move through other figures or over tall obstacles that are otherwise impassable - but you cannot end movement in the same space with another figure or an impassable terrain piece.)





(Game Note: We won't publish what the Mad Guru said but it had to do with never in his life seeing so many "1's" rolled in his entire life."

















It seems the fate of the world hangs in the balance as the forces of the Mad Guru now have in their possession the "Jewel of Chance" and the "Sword of Destiny". Can the Bat stop the minions of the Mad Guru now that The Big Guy is in the area? Will Colonel Douglas catch the Mad Guru? Will the Princess ever do anything except be a stereotypical damsel in distress and avenge her father's death. And will Captain Hawkes continue his sprinting ways with the "Marble of Mystery? Stay tuned for the exciting Conclusion of "The Return of the Mad Guru"!

5 comments:

  1. Neil -
    This is a great way of reading/ viewing Tomb Raider/Green Eye of the Little Yellow God/ Ballad of East and West type of stories. My favorite character is the cobra, poor thing...

    'There's a long lost temple on the road to Xanadu,
    A once mighty empire long since overthrown,
    Where long lost treasures lie coveted by the Mad Guru,
    Across a turbid stream amid jungle overgrown;

    'There lies Jewel of Chance, by random happenstance:
    The Sword of Destiny fated to stand there too.
    But the weightiest of the Three is the Marble of Destiny,
    All Three the heart's desire of the Mad Guru...'

    Cheers,
    Ion

    ReplyDelete
  2. Neil -
    So enjoyable I found this take of rediscovered treasures in ancient realms, that I knocked together a couple of stanzas in the style of J. Milton Hayes. I thought I had sent them via comment, but I either forgot to hit "Publish' (as I too frequently do), or it got itself lost in the aether, or you haven't seen it yet. I've added a third stanza, but I'll send it by way of comment only if the notion meets your approval.

    Strange narratives - or narratives of the strange - do occasionally stir the versifier in me. As has the Return of the Mad Guru. Not, be it noted, that the ballad is ever completed!
    Cheers,
    Ion

    ReplyDelete
  3. The third stanza:

    'A minion of Fu Manchu is the Thugee Mad Guru
    A disciple and acolyte as well;
    Travellers are warned 'Beware! the Guru's baneful glare
    The demonic "Bwah hah hah" as he cast his hypnotic spell'.

    Cheers,
    Ion

    ReplyDelete