Pulp RPGs
While the fiction published in the original pulp magazines actually covered a wide variety of settings and genres (including space adventures, sword and sorcery, detective tales and Lovecraftian horror), the “pulp genre” in RPG parlance has a much more narrow scope. It generally refers to heroic adventures taking place in the 1930s and 1940s, often in exotic locales, and is typified by characters such as Doc Savage and Indiana Jones. Slightly more recent points of reference include Tomb Raider and Uncharted series of video games, with their strong focus on travel and treasure hunting among mortal perils.
The following list mainly assumes this specific understanding of “pulp”, although some of the games listed sometimes stray quite far away from the Indiana Jones or Lara Croft archetype.
Savage Worlds
5 figs out of 5
Hollow Earth Expedition
5 figs out of 5
Pulp Cthulhu
4.5 figs out of 5
Fate Core
4 figs out of 5
Spirit of the Century
4 figs out of 5
Adventure!
4 figs out of 5
Broken Compass
3.5 figs out of 5
Pulse-Pounding Pulp!
3.5 figs out of 5
Pulp Hero
3.5 figs out of 5
Atomic Robo
3.5 figs out of 5
Justice, Inc.
3.5 figs out of 5
Two-Fisted Tales
3.5 figs out of 5
Amazing Adventures
3.5 figs out of 5
Thrilling Tales
3 figs out of 5
D6 Adventure
3 figs out of 5
Pulp Fantastic
3 figs out of 5
GURPS Cliffhangers
3 figs out of 5
Genesys
3 figs out of 5
Daredevils
3 figs out of 5
OneDice Pulp
2.5 figs out of 5
Rocket Age
2.5 figs out of 5
Feng Shui
2.5 figs out of 5
Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes
2.5 figs out of 5
Trinity Continuum
2.5 figs out of 5
Achtung! Cthulhu
2.5 figs out of 5
Temples & Tombs
2.5 figs out of 5
Doctor Who
2 figs out of 5
The Adventures of Indiana Jones
2 figs out of 5
John Carter of Mars
2 figs out of 5
Jaws of the Six Serpents
2 figs out of 5
Cinematic Unisystem
2 figs out of 5
Leagues of Adventure
2 figs out of 5
Raiders of R'lyeh
2 figs out of 5
Torg Eternity: Nile Empire
2 figs out of 5
Leverage
2 figs out of 5
Firefly
2 figs out of 5
Raiders of the Lost Artifacts
1.5 figs out of 5
Resolute, Adventurer & Genius
1.5 figs out of 5
Trail of Cthulhu
1.5 figs out of 5
The Troubleshooters
1.5 figs out of 5
d20 Modern
1.5 figs out of 5
Night's Black Agents
1.5 figs out of 5
Astounding Adventures
1.5 figs out of 5
