"Tarzan stories/games are best gamed in..." Topic

A niche discussion came up when talking rules for gaming Tarzan:

1) ERB wrote Tarzan as "Victorian Science Fiction" so colonial warfare (Skirmish)

2) Most of the books were written in the early to mid 1900s so Pulp era

3) Tarzan does things "mere mortals" can't (including becoming immortal) so Superhero

4) All the strange places, events, races he finds makes the setting Fantasy/Role-Play game material

5) Other

6) all of the above
Tarzan stories has evolved over the years but personally I like number 4.

1:1 scale!

RavenscraftCybernetics said, "1:1 scale!"

That would be incentive to put the Numa and Sheeta miniatures away in the basement after the game ended…

Else the 0200 bathroom run might cause a fatal heart attack!

I agree with the grey ghost
6) all of the above

Just as a matter of personal taste, point #3 is not merely silly, but counterproductive.

I mean, how much suspense and actual danger can Tarzan face if he's bleedin' IMMORTAL? Where is the challenge for a demi-god who originally started out facing the very mortal dangers jungle predators, and the evil doing of some equally predatory humans?

Why make him immortal and a functioning superhero? Aren't there any superheroes elsewhere? If you want one who happens to run around in jungles, why not invent your own?

Let's face it, a lot of Burroughs is hack writing for the buck, and making a great character immortal was just a shot to sell more stories--not a logical progression of the character's growth!

Obviously, I have no need for superheroes generally as I like courage, honor, loyalty, a devotion to right, and a protector of the innocent to have something to risk--his life!--otherwise, he's just another bored bureaucrat who yawns to the other characters, "I'm from the Government. I'm here to help."

And don't even ASK me about Mrs. Clinton!

Rant…reluctantly over.

TVAG!

I've played Tarzan, in fact, in Pulp game settings. Quite enjoyable, and a chance to use some dimly remembered Great Ape language!

I mean, how much suspense and actual danger can Tarzan face if he's bleedin' IMMORTAL? Where is the challenge for a demi-god who originally started out facing the very mortal dangers jungle predators, and the evil doing of some equally predatory humans?

I actually agree that Tarzan, as well as many other pulp heroes (Conan and Doc Savage spring to mind) are superheroes, and many of them are practically if not actually (in story) immortal. No matter what dire circumstances your pulp hero encounters, you're thinking "how is he going to get out of it?" not "well, he's done for this time, for sure".

Immortality isn't omnipotence. Even if Tarzan can't be killed by the Umbata tribe warriors, and he knows he can't be killed by them(which, of course, isn't the case), that still doesn't mean he can wade through thousands of opposing warriors in time to save Lady Primnose from being sacrificed by the shaman. Even for a knowing immortal, some types of challenge can't be overcome by brute force. They require other skills like cunning, guile, deception, stealth, outmaneuvering, misdirection, tracking, hunting, leveraging the skills of allies, etc.

And, of course, non-immortal ones just have that many more challenges.

TVAG – Immortal doesn't mean invulnerable. If you read the story in the book Tarzan's Quest it essentially means "No Longer Age," not can't die.

In a later book Tarzan (referring to existing in the Jungle) says he/all can die and all will die, in the end the jungle wins. That is a paraphrase too.

Essentially Tarzan, Jane, NKima (the monkey!) and the others who split the immortality drugs at the end of the book have the option of being young, strong, and beautiful (to paraphrase one character,) for the rest of their lives which I take to mean they esentially plateau at that point aging but can still die to violence and (possibly) diseasse.

I get the impression from the story that at least one character plans not to use the drug himself or on others and I think his lady may make the same choice.

Back to re-read that part of the book after dinner…

im·mor·tal/i(m)ˈmôrdl/
adjective
living forever; never dying or decaying.

I think, from the story in Tarzan's Quest, ERB meant that to mean not dying of aging or even possibly "natural causes." Certainly not aging anymore from the point of taking the the drug.

link

I think a better adjective would have been "Eternal Life" perhaps. Maybe Perpetual Agelessness.

>>RavenscraftCybernetics said, "1:1 scale!"
That would be incentive to put the Numa and Sheeta miniatures away in the basement after the game ended…Else the 0200 bathroom run might cause a fatal heart attack!<<

Mute Bystander

I've read this post several times and I still can't figure out what you're talking about. Elucidate.

I stand… amended (if not reproved) in the matter of the intended meaning of "Immortal" as Burroughs may have meant it.

However, Tarzan's "immortality" was used in conjunction with "Super Hero," which still seems to suggest invulnerability.

But that's getting into semantics, which wasn't the point of my rant, actually.

I simply do not like playing RPG's of any sort where any/all of the player characters are guaranteed survival, which commonly also means guaranteed success in whatever adventure they are pursuing.

I know my (evidently continuing) rant is off the original poster's fair topic, but I think heroics should be something shown by the PLAYER not the Character. When the player knows that his act of courage or sacrifice can cost--even demand!--that Character's destruction, then something actually rather noble occurs, a genuine reaffirmation of those virtues.

What pride can a player take in simply being given more dice to roll to defeat another cardboard Character while risking nothing more than the time it takes to play?

Sorry for dragging this in here, but this camel got his nose under the tent edge when asked his opinion, and I still support all the choices originally posed--except #3!

TVAG

… the jungle.

…I was going to say underpants.

But then saw it was multiple choice.

Savage Worlds

2) "early to mid 1900s"?

Tarzan first appeared in the novel Tarzan of the Apes (magazine publication 1912, book publication 1914). The rest were also completed in magazine form closer to early than mid century, if I recall correctly.

As for the compilation of the magazine versions into actual book form, out of the 24 in book form, most were written and compiled before the mid 30s. His writing rate definitely slowed down quite a bit after that.

I think a couple were put together by family in the 60s, long after Burroughs had passed away in 1950.

The character's basic persona was already fully established well before WWII broke out. He was certainly "Victorian", or tried to be, but he never let that get in the way of being opportunistic and getting vengeance in an animal-like (unsportsmanlike, some might say?) manner, when the conditions called for it. To him, all was definitely fair in love and war, including psychological warfare.

I love that character. He was a ninja with a Victorian veneer.

Check out what he did with Kala's killer:

"That night Kulonga slept in the crotch of a mighty tree and far above him crouched Tarzan of the Apes.

When Kulonga awoke he found that his bow and arrows had disappeared. The black warrior was furious and frightened, but more frightened than furious. He searched the ground below the tree, and he searched the tree above the ground; but there was no sign of either bow or arrows or of the nocturnal marauder.

Kulonga was panic-stricken. His spear he had hurled at Kala and had not recovered; and, now that his bow and arrows were gone, he was defenseless except for a single knife. His only hope lay in reaching the village of Mbonga as quickly as his legs would carry him.

That he was not far from home he was certain, so he took the trail at a rapid trot.

From a great mass of impenetrable foliage a few yards away emerged Tarzan of the Apes to swing quietly in his wake.

Kulonga's bow and arrows were securely tied high in the top of a giant tree from which a patch of bark had been removed by a sharp knife near to the ground, and a branch half cut through and left hanging about fifty feet higher up. Thus Tarzan blazed the forest trails and marked his caches.

As Kulonga continued his journey Tarzan closed on him until he traveled almost over the black's head. His rope he now held coiled in his right hand; he was almost ready for the kill.

The moment was delayed only because Tarzan was anxious to ascertain the black warrior's destination, and presently he was rewarded, for they came suddenly in view of a great clearing, at one end of which lay many strange lairs.

Tarzan was directly over Kulonga, as he made the discovery. The forest ended abruptly and beyond lay two hundred yards of planted fields between the jungle and the village.

Tarzan must act quickly or his prey would be gone; but Tarzan's life training left so little space between decision and action when an emergency confronted him that there was not even room for the shadow of a thought between.

So it was that as Kulonga emerged from the shadow of the jungle a slender coil of rope sped sinuously above him from the lowest branch of a mighty tree directly upon the edge of the fields of Mbonga, and ere the king's son had taken a half dozen steps into the clearing a quick noose tightened about his neck.

So quickly did Tarzan of the Apes drag back his prey that Kulonga's cry of alarm was throttled in his windpipe. Hand over hand Tarzan drew the struggling black until he had him hanging by his neck in mid-air; then Tarzan climbed to a larger branch drawing the still threshing victim well up into the sheltering verdure of the tree.

Here he fastened the rope securely to a stout branch, and then, descending, plunged his hunting knife into Kulonga's heart. Kala was avenged."

Dan

I'd love for someone to tell me how to game THAT!!!

And check out what he does to the villagers afterwards:

link
link
link

Dan

TVAG,

Never reproved!

Dan

>>I'd love for someone to tell me how to game THAT!!!<<

LOL! Yeah. Old Edgar could get pretty specific about how some of the characters met their demise.

There's some pretty good fodder for games though, with several characters (minis) to a side. How about that great climax in "The Beasts Of Tarzan" where Tarzan gathers a squad of apes led by the intelligent ape Akut, and Tarzan's new found panther buddy Sheeta, and attacks a ship full of baddies.

Then there's the end of the film "Tarzan and his Mate" where Tarzan leads an army of elephants and apes against bad natives and lions! What a battle! I love that scene where Jane is up in the rocks picking off lions with a hunting rifle while wearing her jungle bikini!

[q]I simply do not like playing RPG's of any sort where any/all of the player characters are guaranteed survival, which commonly also means guaranteed success in whatever adventure they are pursuing.[/q]

Back in OD&D days I worked a character (Cleric) into the high teens level and the threat of dying with no chance of being raised or wished back into existence in an adventure custom made by a GM to test high level PCs resulted in my actually feeling challenged/involved in a way that I had not faced in long time… and… my retiring the character to his church/stronghold/college.

Adventures are for the young characters. Just saying…

And a skilled GM should never guarantee any character who makes a really stupid move from surviving. A chance… yes.

"Roll these four D20s – roll below your intelligence on the red one, below you dexterity on the white one, below your strength on the blue one… the black one will tell me how much karma bites you anyway even if you succeed on the other thee dice… a natural one and you die, a natural 20 is facial scar/disfigurement, in between is the degree of drop in your abilities…"

LOL! Reminds me of playing the great Chip Coffee Pulp Games!

I roll awful and get a key character killed early. Chip: "Uh, roll again !"

I'd actually prefer wargaming ER Burroughs' John Carter of Mars. The Tarzan series has no appeal to me.

To each their own, Carter of Mars is painful to read for me.