I have previously posted in role-playing games set in the world of pulp adventurers and heroes, and looked at a few I had. But there were others I only knew by name. Now we look at one of those games: Daredevils, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1982.
Unlike other game publishers, Fantasy Games Unlimited has no in-house staff, so did not have their own game system used in all their games.
Daredevils was created by Robert Charrette and Paul Hume, and used the game system the pair had used in their prior games. So there is no connection with FGU’s superhero game Villains and Vigilantes.
The base game comes in a box with a manual that covers the game mechanics, how to create characters, how the game is played, and a section for the gamemaster on running the games. There is a brief resources section that mentioned resources at the time such as Philip José Farmer‘s book on Doc Savage, pulp hero reprints like Doc Savage and others. Not the best list of resources, but better than nothing.
There are clear hints of pulp heroes as we can see characters looking like Doc Savage and The Shadow on the box cover, and several character names used are clearly based on pulp and pulp-inspired characters.
In addition to the game manual, there is the first issue of the Daredevil‘s scenario booklets, Daredevil Adventures, noted as Vol. 1 No. 1. It contains four scenarios, including the cover featured “Black Claws.” There is also a gamemaster screen and a single character sheet on card stock that can (and should) be photocopied. And a set of cheap dice that I think most players will replace with better ones.
After this came out, we got a series of five more issues of Daredevil Adventures:
- Daredevil Adventures Vol. 2 No. 1: Deadly Coins (1983)
- Daredevil Adventures Vol. 2 No. 2: The Menace Beneath the Sea (1983)
- Daredevil Adventures Vol. 2 No. 3: Supernatural Thrillers Issue (1984)
- Daredevil Adventures Vol. 2 No. 4: Lost World Tales (1983)
- Daredevil Adventures Vol. 3 No. 1: Nefarious Plots (2012)
These booklets each have three scenarios by several authors. In the first two are a pair of related scenarios, and the 4th has all three scenarios be linked. Also, in the fourth issue is a conversion system to allow for playing these scenarios with Hero Game’s Justice, Inc game. This is something I saw with scenario materials from several of the smaller games such as Justice, Inc, Daredevils, MSPE, Espionage, etc that scenario booklets would be put out that could be played with more then one game system. This probably helped the sales of such material as it could increase its appeal.
Now, as I don’t have a group that I can game with, I can’t play test it, but it seems clear this game wasn’t that popular. But certainly people should check it out. At the least, it may provide resources for scenarios with other game systems. I’m not sure if someone can create a key or method to help folks use these scenarios with others.
One thing I was surprised to discover, as I decided I wanted to get copies of these, is that FGU is still in business and all of the Daredevil material is still available from them at original prices. So before you hit eBay or another resource to get used materials at a higher price, check your local game shop to see if they still have it in stock or get it direct from FGU.
I plan on further postings on games. Topics I want to hit include Flying Buffalo‘s Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes game, which had a recent new edition, and a couple of new pulp-inspired games from some Kickstarter campaigns. So keep an eye out for those.
Has anyone played Daredevils? How was it? Comment below.
