[RPG] What Does ‘Pulp’ or ‘Pulpy’ Mean in the Context of RPGs

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From time to time, I see people describe either campaigns or systems (not necessarily at the same time) as 'pulp' or 'pulpy'.

At first I thought it referred to pulp fiction (the literature, not the film!), which, one one hand, seems to be defined as being low quality and having 'lurid, exploitative, and sensational' content, and on the hand tends to be associated with such great classics as Mark Twain, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Agatha Christie, Arthur C. Clarke, and Philip K. Dick.

But I have to conclude that the word has to mean something else than those two things, as none of the campaign and systems described by it seem to exhibit any of the two groups of characteristics: they seemed neither any more lurid, nor sensationalist, nor exploitative than 'usual' campaigns and systems, and they didn't seem to exhibit anything that would make me think 'Oh, this is Twain/Howard/Bradbury/etc.!' upon reading or playing them. (There's also the complication that the writing styles of those authors are quite different: Bradbury is unlike Twain is unlike Lovecraft is unlike Clarke.)

For example, Cypher- and FATE-based games are typically described as innately pulpy due to the game engine they use, but I wouldn't say that Numenéra, Transhumanity's Fate, Mecha vs. Kaiju, Tianxia, Crisp Line, or even the Core itself shares much, if anything, with Lovecraft, Bradbury or Twain; they also don't seem particularly more lurid or exploitative compared to RPGs in general. Similarly, I once joined a campaign that was pitched as pulpy, curious how that should feel, and after many years of play I'd say that it felt more like a cross between Dishonoured and X-Com (the two computer games) than with the writings of pulp authors as either described or experienced.

Thus I want to ask: if 'pulpy RPGs' are not characterised by any of the above, then by what are they characterised? What sets them apart from other styles or similar groupings of RPGs? Is there a difference between the things that define a pulpy system (rules and mechanics) and a pulpy campaign (plot, drama etc.)?

Best Answer

Pulp is about larger than life games. You can substitute phrases like "rip-roaring" or "swashbuckling" for "pulp".

Pulp literature tropes and movie logic applies to the type of plots used and to NPC characters. Grim-dark themes are absent. Heroes will fight against impossible odds and prevail. Lost kingdoms, ancient prophecies and evil masterminds with secret bases are ten a penny. You defeat the evil mastermind by punching him in the jaw or fighting a duel, not by targeting him with your sniper rifle or nuking the whole site from orbit.

Compare some styles of pirate RPG campaigns:

In a 'historical' pirate game you're all at dice penalties because you're suffering from scurvy, and One-Eyed Bob can't hit a barn door at 10 paces because having an eyepatch messes up his depth perception. If you swing from a chandelier it'll probably break and plummet to the floor, injuring you. When you break into the governor's mansion you steal the lace tablecloth, because your characters' knowledge of the economy means they realise it took a year to make and is therefore worth more than a year's wages. You steal the Maltese falcon because it is a jewel-encrusted statue worth a fortune. If you are shot, you are more worried about your character dying of gangrene than from the bullet wound itself. El Dorado is a myth - but you might find an indigenous village with enough gold to buy the whole party a round in the local pub. If a volcano erupts, you all die.

An 'action movie' pirate game scurvy is flavour text for NPCs, and One-Eyed Bob has a dice penalty to ranged attacks. If you swing from a chandelier there will be an Acrobatics check and the other players will wonder why you are wasting time instead of skewering a bad guy with your cutlass. When you break into the governor's mansion you steal the silver candlesticks and his wife's diamond necklace, because all treasure looks like bling. You steal the Maltese falcon because it is a jewel-encrusted statue worth a fortune and it's important the bad guys don't get it. If you get shot, you don't care about gangrene, but do care about the dice penalties, and taking a couple of sessions to get better. El Dorado may exist. If a volcano erupts, it's a scary thing you need to make dice rolls to escape from.

In a 'pulp' pirate game scurvy doesn't exist, and an eyepatch makes you dashing and heroic.If you swing from a chandelier it makes you look cool and looking cool (and making witty one liners) gives you dice bonuses to skewer a bad guy with your cutlass. When you break into the governor's mansion you steal the bling. You steal the Maltese falcon because it contains one of 7 secret clues to the location of El Dorado. If you get shot you'll be back to normal in a scene or two. El Dorado exists and is a magical city in a hidden valley behind a mighty waterfal. It has pavements of gold, is filled with dinosaurs and there's a sacred pool which grants you immortality. If a volcano erupts, it's to provide a race against time to get to the next clue before it is smothered in molten lava.

Game mechanics would promote the latter style of play. Story points to spend to avoid injury penalties or to re-roll failed dice. Bonuses for doing larger than life stunts. Non-granular skills, so that you have Science, not Biology + Geology + Astronomy + Physics + Chemistry. Characters have skills outside their 'profession', and are competent at those 'non professional' skills. So Professor Challenger is a scientist, but he also has Brawling, Firearms and Survival. If the Professor lacks a skill, such as Streetwise, it is hopefully because the system is encouraging you to play him as a bumbling academic, not simply because you ran out of points during character gen.