Roleplaying the Dog

 “You cannot share your life with a dog, as I had done in Bournemouth, or a cat, and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.”

— Jane Goodall

Someone in my social media recently mentioned my Heroes of Rura-Tonga sourcebook as a resource for pulp roleplaying in the style of the early 1980s television show Tales of the Gold Monkey. The short-lived series (lasting only one season, a whopping 22 episodes) followed a band of characters flying around the South Pacific in 1938, with all the international tension and intrigue that implies. No doubt fans had their favorite characters among the regulars, guest stars, and the secondary inhabitants of the home base island, “Bora Gora.” Among my favorites were the spunky one-eyed dog Jake and the Grumman G-21 Goose enabling everyone to fly off on various adventures and rescue them from tight spots every week. The show, along with my interest in World War II, inspired me to develop Heroes of Rura-Tonga as a more historically based pulp setting with a host of adventures to demonstrate the genre. I started writing it after completing my other period piece, Pulp Egypt. But my first dabblings with it came as a few convention events I ran using West End Games’ adaptable and cinematic D6 System. As I do for convention games, I created a group of appropriate pre-generated characters, many of whom emulated roles seen in Tales of the Gold Monkey...including the dog. And inevitably, even when I still (rarely) run Heroes of Rura-Tonga games today, someone, if not several people, enthusiastically want to play the dog.

Broadcast in the 1982-1983 American television season, Tales of the Gold Monkey combined the popularity of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) with previous “war-is-swell” style television fare that brought us Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976-78), the first season of Wonder Woman (1975) set during World War I, and Bring’Em Back Alive (1982). Such shows focused more on the superficial yet entertaining combination of stereotypical characters, interesting locations (many of which looked like southern California), and cleverly choreographed action sequences. Those drawing on history were filled with period trappings but playing fast and loose with the actual history. Tales of the Gold Monkey had the main character, pilot Jake Cutter, as a former member of the Flying Tigers, which, in 1938, didn’t exist (it formed in 1941 as the American Volunteer Group). The historical Greg “Pappy” Boyington — who was a Flying Tigers pilot — himself referred to the Black Sheep television show as filled with “...inaccuracies, hogwash, and Hollywood hokum” (despite serving as a technical advisor to the series).

Yet these shows, especially Tales of the Gold Monkey, were the kind of goofy adventure fun a teenager like me adored, especially as I was immersing myself in the medieval fantasy of Dungeons & Dragons at that time. I enjoyed the show’s run, but the pulp genre didn’t make it into my adventure gaming much beyond Mercenaries, Spies, & Private Eyes (which took advantage of the resurgent interest in pulp in 1983) and its few solo adventures. Of course I later wrote and promoted West End’s World of Indiana Jones game, even going so far as to propose a deluxe revision of the game into the D6 System (which died with the company in 1998).

In developing Heroes of Rura-Tonga I intended to offer a more historically based roleplaying game setting with adventures, in the spirit of pulp action exemplified by similar media. Heroes of Rura-Tonga parallels many elements from Tales of the Gold Monkey: an island base; local characters with ulterior motives; historically inspired threats and villains; exotic islands to explore; character templates similar to roles in the television series; and access to an airplane. And while the Grumman G-21 Goose might have been, to some, the star of Tales of the Gold Monkey, the ultimate star of the Heroes of Rura-Tonga games I ran at conventions was Jasper, the dog.

As a D6 System character he doesn’t seem like much. Many of his skill values simply list “X,” indicating he can’t use them. Dog’s don’t have the capacity to use the lockpicking, gambling, or demolitions skills. But dogs can shine with their use of such skills as brawling, dodge, jumping, sneak, running, swimming, intimidation, sneak, and tracking; all skills Jasper’s D6 System character sheet have boosted. Although I’ve never put it on the character sheet, I always explain when players pick the pre-generated characters that the one who plays Jasper must adhere to the “Wookiee Rule” from the Star Wars Roleplaying Game: when Jasper’s in contact with his human, the player can talk normally, but if separated, the player must communicate only as a dog. Like the relationship between Chewbacca and Han Solo, this playful little rule represents the dog-human bond of implicit understanding. And players who run Jasper revel in it.

Certainly playing within the limitations of skills presents a challenge, but the communication factor enlivens the entire table. The canine perspective, indeed the mindset, frees that player from some of the inevitable friction at the game table. (Notably that time on the zombie-infested island two characters, paranoid about getting infected without actually knowing how it happened, argued the other had become infected and, ultimately, shot each other. Just to be sure.) Some players even run Jasper simply to engage the story from a completely canine point of view. Trotting through the tropical jungle, the sight of a monkey might cause Jasper to run off in pursuit...and discover some key element of the adventure. A walk on the beach inevitably leads to finding the stick..or something that looks like a stick, but is dangerously not a stick. All presenting an enterprising gamemaster with opportunities. Like other human characters, Jasper’s player finds plenty of chances to play the hero.

Jasper remains one of the high points of running Heroes of Rura-Tonga for convention audiences, sometimes repeat players, other times completely new gaming friends. And while I try to imbue all my pre-generated characters with useful skills and notable quirks — and many players make the most of them — Jasper just brings out the absolute best and helps make for a memorable game every time.

At times I’ve toyed with including other non-human characters in my pulp games, but they never quite seem to have the charm of dogs. A feline character in my roster of Pulp Egypt pre-gens might work, but cats, alas, can become more wayward and independent without the physical abilities of a dog. A recent Pulp Egypt convention game included a persistent camel who followed characters around Cairo, more for comic relief than anything; but I don’t think “Camelton” (as the players named him) could have much more practical utility in a game. Perhaps my Pulp Egypt pre-gen roster needs a dog...obviously a Maltese Pharaoh Hound. Something to consider as I start brainstorming a new Pulp Egypt scenario for a convention later this year….

“There are three faithful friends — an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.”

— Benjamin Franklin