Other People’s (New) Pulp: Tropicana

30 November 2015 by Davide Mana 1 Comment

My plans for the weekend have been completely shot by the publication of Tropicana, a new Savage Setting for the Savage Worlds roleplaying game.
This week I’ll be posting various stuff about this setting – because it’s the sort of game that really clicks with a lot of my interests and passions, and reading the handbook was really inspiring.

If you are looking for a capsule review and an overview of the pulpy goodness that is Tropicana, point your browser at the GreyWorld blog.

In this post I’d like to offer a selection of resources I think players and game-masters might like to check out – if they don’t know them already.
Sort of an essential reference shelf.

Let’s go.

Six non-fiction books

. Barry Clifford, The Lost Fleet: The Discovery of a Sunken Armada from the Golden Age of Piracy

From a “professional adventurer” and treasure hunter, the story of lost ship and (real) underwater adventure, off the coast of Venezuela.

. Victor Von Hagen, Maya Explorer: John Lloyd Stevens and the Lost Cities of Central America and Yucatan

The travels and discoveries of a 19th century explorer and artist, on the trail of the ancient Mayan civilization.

. Robert Young Pelton, The World’s Most Dangerous Places

Just what it says on the label: a travel guide with a difference, focusing on the most dangerous places on the globe. Out of date (the last edition is from 2003), but well worth a look.

. Michael Hodges, AK47: The Story of the People’s Gun

Everything you ever wanted to know about the classic assault rifle.

. J. Marteen Troost, The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific

The less-than-glamorous side of life in those £”paradise islands” we all would love to visit. Great source of ideas.

. Misha Glenny, McMafia: Seriously Organised Crime

Quick reference on the structure, organization and operations of the major crime syndicates.

Three fiction books

(from Hard Case Crime, but that’s a coincidence)

. Michael Crichton (writing as John Lange), Grave Descend

Fast and loose story about a salvage operation gone wrong. Mystery, thrills, underwater action in the Jamaican waters.

. David Dodge, Plunder of the Sun

Pre-Colombian treasure, smuggling, an American expat trying to make ends meet, from the author of “To Catch a Thief”.

. Lawrence Block, Killing Castro

From 1961, a book about a band of mercenaries hired to… well, to kill Castro.

And this is it for the moment – and I realize this is a sort of weird “review through a bibliography”: I didn’t tell you anything about the game, but I guess you can guess at least the gist of it, just based on this bibliography.
There’s a lot more – movies, TV series, comics – but we’ll talk about those another time.