The Pulp Era

One of the biggest inspiration for Roleplaying Games in general was the Golden Age of Storytelling, the pulp era.



Let UFOTV take you back to the era of Pulp Magazines.

The Feudal System

Greatly, one of the things about Feudalism, especially the English System, is that it has been romanticized.  The tales of King Arthur, Grimm's Fairy Tales (although Cinder-Ella is an ancient tale that was adapted around the life of a Noblewoman), and various fantastic works and paintings and even the Romanticizing of the Society of Creative Anachronism.

Although it was an interesting time.  Even to re-enact; there are some things about the Feudal System that is often glossed over in Hollywood movies, fairy tales, and Arthurian stories.  It's the fact that the Feudal System is anathema to Freedom and Scientific Progress.

The one system the Shadow Government of the U.S.A. wants us to return to is the Feudal System. 
Albeit modified around Socialism.  To understand where we are going, we need to understand where we've been.  In studying for this week's adventures of the PCs in Grummond Cave, I needed a base where they can go to resupply if needed.  I chose the hamlet of Wodfeld; which is produced by 0one Games and sold through various outlets -- including Iron Crown Enterprises and Your Games Now.  However, the PCs have seen the good and are expecting the good of the Feudal System, I think its time to introduce the Bad.

The Feudal System, in Collusion with the Church of Medieval times, suppressed learning and literacy. The Church kept all the knowledge of science to itself, and promulgated fallacies that are largely disproved today.  The Feudal System also placed humankind into at least three different social castes, with some divided further.

They are

Those who War: which included the Nobility.  Knights, Princes, Lords, Earls, Barons, Marque's, and Kings.  Those who pray: included the priests of the Church as well as the monks.  And those who toil: which includes everyone else.

During Medieval Times, there was incessant warfare.  No body knew what year it was.  The best inventions of the day was the waterwheel and the windmill.  Knowledge of the Gastrophetes, the Ballistae, the Scorpion, and other inventions were lost.  Basic knowledge of Art and Science was lost too.  There were no steam engines, no robots, no computers, nothing of the Wonders of Archimedes or the Helenic Age.  The only relic of the forgotten Helenic Age that was produced in quantity was the Astrolabe -- an invention of Hypatia of Alexandria.

The Medieval Period was marked by a very powerful Dark Age.  There were no prophets, no apostles, no evangelists, no Seventy, no ministers, no deacons, no teachers, and no high priests, or patriarchs.  Kings ruled by Divine Right, something that would be tested against the Church by King Henry VIII (Henry Tudor II?). The system was unjust, since it give a lot of rights to the nobility and the priestly caste.  The people on the bottom had problems.

The Feudal System didn't truly break down until the Crusades of Europe against the "Saracens."  The Crusades was the beginning of the break down, and who would have known that the Pope at the time was contributing to the destruction of his system?

However, the Feudal System was lent a heavy blow during the Black Plague.  When the Black Plague struck Europe, everyone -- Christians, Jews, and Pagans alike; cried for deliverance and a "Restitution" of their world.

After the first and second waves of the plague, however, things did turn upside down. What the people didn't realize that when you ask for a restitution of your world -- YOU GET IT!  Although it took a full generation, through Danse Macabre generation, the Renaissance started as Indian artists and their intelligentsia migrated into Italy to escape oppression.  Although it really ended in during the American Revolution -- the Feudal System broke down.  After all, the Black Plague killed one third of the Population of Europe.  And not one class of people were spared.  The black plague killed villein, freeman, merchant, nobles, kings, and priests.

Not too soon was the Discovery* of America, the colonizing of the New World, the First Revival in the Colonies, the second Revival; and the hundreds of inventions and rediscovered science of the Helenic Age.  We have a lot to be thankful for.  The Medieval system is a terrible system to be under.  If you were born a free man or a noble, you had privileges.  However, even nobles were vassals to someone else.


Villeiny vs. Freedom

There was two distinctions in the lower classes from the nobility, and that was being a Villein or a Freeman.  A villein -- from which our word villain comes from -- is essentially a man in serfdom or more properly, in slavery.  The legal definition of villein depends on a number of points.  If all of them were true, you'd be considered a villein.  The children of villeins are villeins by birth.  That's just the way it is. Villeins were to perform labor services, apparently without limit.  They also couldn't marry without paying a merchet tax.  Women in villeiny that were caught in fornication had to pay a fine known as the leyrwite. During the Middle Ages, about a tenth of the population of the countryside engaged in illicit sex, simply because they can't afford to get married, which is tragic (marriage shouldn't be taxed, even in the real world, but it is). Villeins can be sold by their lord to other freemen.  Anything they own is considered their lord's property, and they hold their land only at his whim.  Villeins can be evicted from their land by their lord without apparent warning.  Villeiny is one of the bad things about the Middle Ages.


Repressed Opportunity to Learn

The Second bad thing about the Middle Ages is the repressed opportunity to learn.  Who ever controlled the government at that time (the Pope?) felt that knowledge was power so they repressed learning.  By repressing learning, they could control the masses.  If the masses are kept in ignorance, it makes it better to control them.  For almost a thousand years, the Church kept a monopoly on freedom and taught the masses through medieval friezes and morality plays.  However, progress was made, with Guttenberg inventing the Printing Press, the Church's monopoly on Learning was broken.  It took one printing press, one expedition to China, and one religious Reformation to break the stranglehold of the Church on Learning.  Repression of Learning is another bad thing about the Middle Ages.


Incessant Warfare

By John Gilbert (1817–97)[see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons

 Warfare was incessant in the Middle Ages.  Well, actually, its incessant now.  War was once a religious ceremony of mass missionary work and evangelizing of a people that didn't believe in your religion.  In the Middle Ages, as now, Warfare is fought for economic and political reasons.  However, war was regulated by the Church.  The purpose for the Church to regulate war was to protect the lives and property of the non-combatants in the war.  At least, I believe given the power of the Roman Catholic Church, that the Church wanted to reduce the collateral damage of War in Europe.  However, it doesn't reduce the human impact.  War, after all, is used to reduce the population of human beings in Medieval Europe.  And most everywhere else.


Feudalism in Roleplaying Games

Most Roleplaying games, like Dungeons and Dragons, Rolemaster, the Palladium Roleplaying Game,  RuneQuest, and Pendragon; assume a Medieval Fantasy gaming environment.  The Fantasy of being a knight that saves the princess and slays the dragon is a very powerful one.  Especially since you have Tolkien's stories to work off of and the imagination of many other fantasy authors. Most fantasy worlds do not really explain how feudal systems work.  The best works to get started on this subject, of recreating a realistic medieval environment for your games are King Arthur Pendragon for the Nobility side of the Feudal System, Harn: A Real Fantasy World by Columbia Games, Ars Magica, and the Ars Magica supplement Heirs to Merlin to show the other sides of the feudal system.

And there are a lot of books you can go to and read up on Feudal Europe.  However, if Feudal Europe isn't something you don't want to portray to your players, there are several other settings you can use.  Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, the Celts, Biblical Palestine (i.e. the Kingdoms of Israel), and the forgotten Age of Seventy Nations.  There is also the time of the 3 Musketeers, the time of the Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro, etc.  There are endless other settings you can use for Roleplaying fodder.

But note, brave is the GM that lifts the veil of Feudalism and shows it to his players.  In all of its glory -- both ugly and beauty.  The Medieval World is well documented in History, a lot of historians have written about the Medieval World.  You can get anything on that time period from recipes to eating menus to military history.  Go to the Library, surf the web, there is a wealth of information for the GM/DM use in his games.

Horror Scenarios

Sometimes, you need to inject some horror into your gaming to get your players running scared. ICE's Nightmares of Mine suggests that fear is the easiest to invoke along with satisfaction at the end of an adventure. Spicing up your RPG scenario to include horror is quite the best thing to do. Horror from Call of Cthulhu not withstanding, I've been reading Werewolf: the Wild West (my copy of Werewolf: The Apocalypse is somewhere, can't find it!).

The following scenarios from American history can help generate ideas for your own scenarios:

1. The Mountain Meadows Massacre: One of the greatest atrocities in the American West was the Mountain Meadows Massacre. And yes, it had everything to do with Religion. The story is somewhat different every time it is told. But the Massacre happened all the same: a group of Mormons and Ute Amerindians slew a party of pioneers and migrants to California. Everyone was slain except the children under the age of 12.

Using the Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Massacre turns up already in the Deadlands RPG. In the City of Gloom expansion set, the ones who died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre return from the dead as Revenants or Wraiths, slaying everyone who had something to do with the Massacre (Revenge from beyond the grave). In a typical fantasy scenario, the men, women, and children who were slain could have been slain by a combination of Men and Orcs; and they too have returned from the grave to hunt down those who have slain them.

The PCs are hired by the town mayor (who was involved with the Massacre) to protect him from the evil "ghosts" who are trying to slay him. The initial encounter should strike fear in your players' hearts. Seeing someone from beyond the grave should instill fear or apprehension.

Books required for reading:

• The Mountain Meadows Massacre by Juanita Brooks (1950)
• Brigham Young: American Moses, by Leonard J. Arrington, University of Illinois Press, (1986)
• Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Will Bagley (2002)
• September Dawn a film by Christopher Cain (2006)
• Massacre at Mountain Meadows a book by historians Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley, Glen M. Leonard. (2008)

2. The Headless Horseman: the legend of the Headless Horseman begins in Sleepy Hollow, New York. The Horseman was a Hessian of unknown rank; one of many such hired to suppress the American Revolutionary War. During the war, the Horseman was one of 548 Hessians killed in a battle for Chatterton Hill, wherein his head was severed by a cannonball. He was buried in a graveyard outside a church. Thereafter he appears as a ghost, who presents to nightly travelers an actual danger (rather than the largely harmless fright produced by the majority of ghosts), presumably of decapitation.

Using the Headless Horseman: Classic for a fantasy scenario. The Headless Horseman is a ghost that waylays travelers looking for a suitable head to replace his missing head. Any number of undead can be used: Ghost, Revenant, Ghoul, Ghast, even a Death Knight. The power of the Headless Horseman ends typically when you cross a border marked by water (i.e. the river Styx should come to mind here). The adventure should be one where you are building the horror and dread right up until the last when the players encounter him. Don't forget to include at least one true believer in ghosts to help build suspense and to challenge the players' skepticism (if any).

3. The Donner Party: Like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the Donner Party was a real part of history. The Donner Party left Missouri rather late to follow the Oregon Trail. The Party stopped to resupply at Fort Bridger and was about to go into Idaho and Oregon and then settle downwards in the new promised land of California. Using the Hastings Cutoff instead of going over the Oregon Trail, the party had traveled over the Great Salt Lake Desert and into Nevada.

Attacked by the blistering heat, suffering Indian attacks, and a Death by Manslaughter (Donner himself killed a man to protect his wife), the party made it to the Sierra Nevada mountains only to be stopped by the winter. A California winter is not as hard as a Utah Winter, but it is hard enough. Especially with the shape the Donner party was in. During the Winter, the Donner party suffered hypothermia, frostbite, and the dwindling of supplies. Eventually, the party turned to cannibalism in order to survive.

Donner did survive to make it to San Francisco. When he heard that they were stuck in the mountains, Donner did all he could to get his party out of the Mountains and down in the San Fernando Valley. However, many of the Donner party did not survive that harsh winter.

Using the Donner Party: The Donner Party makes a good scenario for the Savage West (Werewolf: the Wild West) or the Weird West (Deadlands). In either case, the Wendigo should be involved. The Wendigo is a cannibalistic spirit that a man turns into when he eats human flesh (according to American Legend). In the Savage West, part of the Donner Party turns into Mockeries and the pack must go to investigate.


Savage West Donner Party Wendigo (no relation to the Wendigo tribe of Werewolves):
The Wendigo is blue furred with yellow teeth. He wears all the clothing of a settler and is armed with tooth and claw.
Physical: Strength 4, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2
Social: Charisma 1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 2
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 1, Wits 2
Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 4, Brawl 3, Dodge 1, Intimidation 3, Larceny 1, Firearms 1, Melee 4, Stealth 1, Survival 2, Occult 1
Powers: Claws and Fangs, Immunity to the Delirium, Monstrous Strength.


In a typical fantasy scenario, you don't have settlers who are trapped in the Mountains everyday. But what if its a caravan? Using the ideas from an old solo adventure, you can turn a caravan trapped in a snowed in mountain pass into a nightmare! Monsters and animals can be most disconcerting. Snow orcs, ice mummies, mountain lions, and the threat of hypothermia and starvation can turn what was a normal caravan to another town or city into a living nightmare! All it takes is a little skill and imagination.