Hey total newby here

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by adblue

Also whats some general advice for early sessions? This group tends to go a bit off the rails but not to an unmanageable degree.

Keep it simple rules wise and dont spend too much time looking things up. Take notes and make a judgement call then look it up later to keep the pace going.
Take campaign notes, especially with an off the rails and active players, they often provide great ideas you can use later.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by adblue

So its been a while since I started this thread, but I recently began the campaign I was asking advice about. Does anybody have any advice for the first few sessions? I currently have two players, one is playing a pilot for hire, and the other one is a witch/detective. Whats a good way to integrate these two occupations into one quest?

Originally Posted by adblue

Oh sorry I didnt specify. They already work together as a sort of hired gun agency. They work case by case. I'm just worried one will be more involved in a given case than the other I suppose. I'm gonna steal some of these ideas anyways though.

They sound like a pretty normal Detective Story duo. (Though my mind went first to Darkwingduck adn Lauchpad McQuack)

Espcial as you mention some pulp era settings, Pairing partial make me thing of "Remington Steel" and "Moonlighting" where a female detective hired a male assistant to help navigated easier some sexist hurdles (be they clients or sources) Especially if the Pilot can handle themselves in a barfight

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by adblue

So its been a while since I started this thread, but I recently began the campaign I was asking advice about. Does anybody have any advice for the first few sessions? I currently have two players, one is playing a pilot for hire, and the other one is a witch/detective. Whats a good way to integrate these two occupations into one quest?

Steal the plot from this, and manipulate it a bit to give the pilot more to do:

https://miamivice.fandom.com/wiki/Smuggler%27s_Blues

It's actually a great episode, even though Glen Frey was not that good as an actor.

nasty setup and a bit of a twisty plot, with a healthy dash of violence. :)

[namada]

Originally Posted by adblue

So its been a while since I started this thread, but I recently began the campaign I was asking advice about. Does anybody have any advice for the first few sessions? I currently have two players, one is playing a pilot for hire, and the other one is a witch/detective. Whats a good way to integrate these two occupations into one quest?

Originally Posted by adblue

Oh sorry I didnt specify. They already work together as a sort of hired gun agency. They work case by case. I'm just worried one will be more involved in a given case than the other I suppose. I'm gonna steal some of these ideas anyways though.

Sounds like Scooby Doo, scrubbed of its Hippie/Stoner vibe & replaced with two-fisted pulp tale vibe, so you may be able to get away with using episodes of Scooby Doo as plot inspiration, lol.

It seems the obvious thing here is to have the witch/detective shine in the case-solving and magic-solving bits, while the pilot shines in the piloting bits, but should probably double as "muscle" in action scenes, so that they can shine there as well. However, without the actual characters in front of me here, it still looks like you're heavily leaning on the detective part, which isn't a great thing for a campaign (when one PC consistently outshines another). So, perhaps adopt some cinematic combat options so that the pilot can take on hordes of minions without breaking a sweat? Or, give the pilot greater social contacts, if you'd prefer going a more realistic route. Probably both though, IMO.

As for a specific case to handle - heck, for every case - make sure your pilot has to fly as much as possible (through as much bad weather and enemy pilots or flying monsters as possible, before it becomes too silly to handle), and make sure your detective has a meaty case to solve in every case for hire (GURPS Mysteries can really help you here).

If, for example, they're based out of New York, have some Germans show up and hire them to fly to Germany to meet with the boss to discuss the case in detail. The case turns out to be - fly "these" Germans to Tibet so that they can snatch the Artifact and return it to Germany. Upon arrival in Tibet, there's a rival team trying to snatch the Artifact, and people keep dying under mysterious circumstances all over the place. You've got tons of action with the rival team while getting the Artifact, and a mystery to solve - tie the mystery to something occultist for the witch factor, and you've covered all the bases.

Sneak a twist in, at the end of the adventure, making the Germans Nazi SS, and your PCs will likely decide that it's better to not let Nazi Germany have the Artifact after all, and double-cross the Germans - so they gain Nazi Germany as a recurring Enemy!

Originally Posted by adblue

Also whats some general advice for early sessions? This group tends to go a bit off the rails but not to an unmanageable degree.

Generally speaking, advice for early sessions with a GURPS game is largely the same as with any other rpg campaign. You've already done some GMing, but since you're now going to be using a new system too, perhaps repeating some advice can't hurt. ;)

• If your players start to seem bored with the pace, throw a quick/easy combat at them. It'll soak up some time, and you can take note of the fact that you need to work on your pacing. Granted, these combats should ultimately have a plot-based purpose too, so if you can't find a way to tie them into this case, tie them into the next - or flashback to the previous one.
• Don't sweat the details. If you forget to apply some rule during the session, no big deal, try to remember it next time. Just remember the core rules for GURPS - 3d6, roll under some attribute or skill to do something - or 3d6, higher is better for reaction rolls.
• If you'd rank your plot complexity on a scale of 1-10, you might feel it's a 4, but that's because you know it all, your players will almost certainly feel it's double what you think it is.
• Etc.

[adblue]

Originally Posted by namada

It seems the obvious thing here is to have the witch/detective shine in the case-solving and magic-solving bits, while the pilot shines in the piloting bits, but should probably double as "muscle" in action scenes, so that they can shine there as well. However, without the actual characters in front of me here, it still looks like you're heavily leaning on the detective part, which isn't a great thing for a campaign (when one PC consistently outshines another). So, perhaps adopt some cinematic combat options so that the pilot can take on hordes of minions without breaking a sweat? Or, give the pilot greater social contacts, if you'd prefer going a more realistic route. Probably both though, IMO.

So the pilot is sort of a Han Solo figure, and my plan was to basically have NPCs come to him to do smuggly stuff, I was a little concerned "Take thing to place" would get kinda old. But all these suggestions have made me realize I can turn those sort of missions into more high adventure stuff. I've asked my players to come up with backstories for their characters so I'm hoping that will give me some meat for balancing character focus. Thanks for all the advice! I realize this sort of drifted off of questions about the system, but I'm probably going to have a few of those in the future.

[namada]

Originally Posted by adblue

So the pilot is sort of a Han Solo figure, and my plan was to basically have NPCs come to him to do smuggly stuff, I was a little concerned "Take thing to place" would get kinda old. But all these suggestions have made me realize I can turn those sort of missions into more high adventure stuff. I've asked my players to come up with backstories for their characters so I'm hoping that will give me some meat for balancing character focus. Thanks for all the advice! I realize this sort of drifted off of questions about the system, but I'm probably going to have a few of those in the future.

You might want to consider the Jobs section on B516, just making monthly Job Rolls, for the Smuggling aspect, only occasionally having the smuggling mission be the actual adventure, just for variety. Or if you'd prefer not to use those rules, use the smuggling job as an excuse to get to new adventure sites, with the occasional smuggling mission for variety. When I first read your campaign premise, my impression was that you'd have to use the agency simply as a means to transport the PCs around the globe, so that they can then get embroiled in high-adventure hijinks at each new location, just to keep things from getting old. It also has the benefit of being episodic in nature, which is a familiar format to most D&D players, whereas a more story-arc type of campaign might be harder to pull off, right out of the gates with a new system for all to learn.

Some other sources for plot inspiration came to me:

• Archer Season 8 - Dreamland (can be watched as a standalone) is set in the era, and might inspire something for your PI character.
• Archer Season 9 - Danger Island (can also be watched as a standalone) is set in the same era too, and features a Pilot on a fictional Polynesian Island, complete with Nazis and lost tribal treasures. This season seems written with your campaign in mind.
• Tales of the Gold Monkey - I haven't watched it, but it's obscure so your players likely won't recognize anything you might rip off, and is listed as inspiration for Archer - Danger Island, so it would likely be some useful inspiration.

Good luck with the campaign, adblue.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by namada

• Archer Season 9 - Danger Island (can also be watched as a standalone) is set in the same era too, and features a Pilot on a fictional Polynesian Island, complete with Nazis and lost tribal treasures. This season seems written with your campaign in mind.
• Tales of the Gold Monkey - I haven't watched it, but it's obscure so your players likely won't recognize anything you might rip off, and is listed as inspiration for Archer - Danger Island, so it would likely be some useful inspiration.

Tales of the Gold Monkey was a great show and Archer Season 9 Danger Island was great tribute to it.

See also Disney's Talespin which was another great tribute to Tales of the Gold Monkey.


Yes, I am that old, now get off my lawn!

[Kale]

[QUOTE=namada;2291653]

• Archer Season 8 - Dreamland (can be watched as a standalone) is set in the era, and might inspire something for your PI character.

The post-WWII PTSD and flashbacks Archer's character exhibits in that arc are a goldmine of ideas for character construction for a pulp campaign. A player can make a character with flashbacks from his time in the service, but also use that as an excuse to have skills typically only learned in the military or in a theater of war.

[namada]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Tales of the Gold Monkey was a great show and Archer Season 9 Danger Island was great tribute to it.

Well, that's nice to hear. I really liked that season of Archer (heck, all of the "mini-series-like" seasons were better than the ol' Super-Spy seasons IMO). I guess I'll have to track the old show down and watch it.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

See also Disney's Talespin which was another great tribute to Tales of the Gold Monkey.

Nice - I forgot about Talespin - I loved watching that show when I was in grade school.

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Yes, I am that old, now get off my lawn!

;) - see the above. I'll move off your lawn now, sir...

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by namada

Nice - I forgot about Talespin - I loved watching that show when I was in grade school.

I was watching Tales of the Gold Monkey when I was in grade school when it first aired, ya whippersnapper. Now get o--

;) - see the above. I'll move off your lawn now, sir...

Yer parents raised right. ;)