Adapting Joe R. Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard for the Savage Worlds RPG

This is a work in progress

Updated March 24, 2019

The point of this page is to describe the characters from the stories for the Savage Worlds Roleplaying Game.

There are other good RPGs out there that could facilitate a Hap and Leonard-type game. The Gumshoe system could handle the investigative aspects quite nicely. Fate Accelerated (FAE) or Fate Core could be used to considerable effect. For me, I know Savage Worlds can support a Hap and Leonard-style story, especially when the wisecracks, fists, and bullets begin to fly.

Stories and the TV series

Hap Collins and Leonard Pine are the main characters in series of novels, novellas, and short stories by Joe R. Lansdale. Between 2016 and 2018, the Sundance network released three six-episode seasons of Hap and Leonard, which covered the novels “Savage Season”, “Mucho Mojo”, and “Two Bear Mambo”. As you’d expect, the TV series differs from the novels and stories but they are relatively faithful. The TV series is more of a mystery drama with occasional violence, whereas violence, horror, and fisticuffs feature more prominently in the stories.

Looking for more information on Hap and Leonard? See the Wikipedia entry.

Being a Joe R. Lansdale fan

Joe Lansdale writes some fun, evocative yarns. Thanks to Bruce Campbell and the movie version of Bubba Ho-Tep, I found Champion Joe. I will not claim I have read all of Joe’s stuff (the master is prolific) but I have read most of everything related to the Hap and Leonard series. To me, Hap and Leonard are similar to Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.

Being a Savage Worlds gamer

When I came back to tabletop role-playing games in my early forties, I soon found Savage Worlds. Savage Worlds is my system of choice nowadays because it is versatile and, when played right, fast paced. There is also enough crunch in the rules to satisfy my old-school RPG player wants.

Savage Worlds and Joe Lansdale’s East Texas

In 2015, Pinnacle Entertainment Group came out with the East Texas University (ETU) setting, which is a mash up where Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Miskatonic University, and Blue Mountain State meet in Lansdale country. There is even a building named after Champion Joe on the ETU campus.
Unlike the supernatural horror in the ETU setting, the horror in the Hap and Leonard books is visceral, earthly horror and it is effective because it is man-made, unnerving, mundane yet inhuman.
Hap and Leonard reside in the fictional town of LaBorde, Texas and that can easily be situated close by the fictitious university town of Pinebox. You can easily find a reason for Hap and Leonard to visit Pinebox. They have served as security guards at a chicken processing plant before, so maybe they can do a stint as campus police.
As far as the time lines are concerned, do not sweat it. Hap and Leonard were very active in the late 80s. The most recent novel, The Elephant of Surprise (March 2019) is likely set in the late 2000s or 2010s, based on the occasional references to devices (e.g., mobile devices). Hap and Leonard don’t exactly age as quickly as the rest of us.

collins-pine

Hap and Leonard as a team

Hap and Leonard are amateur investigators and typically find themselves doing legwork. Where they lack the classic sleuth skills, they get by with a little luck, intuition, and knowledge of the locals and location.

They are unambitious; some see that as lazy. OK, maybe they are a bit lazy but, when these guys get going, they do not sit back. Hap and Leonard also exemplify a great friendship that crosses lines of race, sexual orientation, and politics. They are very different people but they are brothers and do anything for one another.

Character spotlights

Hap Collins

  • Leans to the left on the political spectrum
  • Reads Doc Savage and Michael Moorcock
  • Dropped out of college to be drafted (Vietnam War) and then refused to serve and, as a result, went to prison as a protest.
  • Natural marksman
  • “Brother” to Leonard
  • Cannot stand injustice
  • Drinks near beer (Sharps brand is typical)
  • Will not shoot an unarmed foe
  • Sucker for the ladies, nurses in particular

Name: Hap Collins; XP: 45 (circa “Two Bear Mambo”)

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d6, Strength d6, Vigor d8

Skills: Athletics d6, Fighting d8, Intimidation d6, Research d6, Notice d8, Persuasion d6, Repair d4, Shooting d10, Stealth d4, Survival d4, Taunt d6

Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 6

Hindrances:

  • Heroic: Can’t stand by and watch when something bad is going down
  • Poverty: He’s generally doing unskilled labor
  • Loyal: You always have your friends’ backs; will do anything for his brother Leonard

Edges:

  • Level Headed: May draw an additional Action Card each round and choose which one to use.
  • Marksman: Ignore up to 2 points of Athletics (throwing) or Shooting penalties when not moving and firing no more than RoF 1 per action.
  • Martial Artist: Unarmed Fighting +1, fists and feet count as Natural Weapons, +d4 damage die to unarmed Fighting attacks (or increase die a step if you already have it).
  • Strong Willed: +2 to resist Smarts or Spirit-based Tests.
  • Two-Fisted: May make one extra Fighting roll with a second melee weapon in the off-hand at no Multi-Action penalty.

Hap

Leonard Pine

  • Openly gay but not flamboyant (i.e., not a “skipper”)
  • Generally votes Republican
  • Likes classic country music (e.g., Pasty Cline)
  • Vietnam war veteran (green beret)
  • “Brother” to Hap
  • Cannot tolerate hypocrisy
  • Loves dogs and won’t suffer folks who abuse them
  • Loves vanilla cookies and Dr. Pepper
  • Needs a hat/likes a hat

Name: Leonard Pine; XP: 45 (circa “Two Bear Mambo”)

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d6, Strength d8, Vigor d8

Skills: Athletics d6, Driving d4, Fighting d10, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Riding d4, Shooting d6, Stealth d6, Survival d6, Taunt d6

Pace: 6; Parry: 7; Toughness: 8

Hindrances:

  • Heroic: Comes off as a reluctant hero, but his impulse to do the right thing and help others wins out sooner rather than later
  • Loyal: See Hap; will do anything for his brother Hap
  • Poverty: See Hap

Edges:

  • Brawler: Toughness +1, add d4 to damage from fists; or increase it a die type if combined with Martial Artist, Claws, or similar abilities.
  • Brawny: Toughness +1; treat Strength as one die type higher for Encumbrance and Minimum Strength to use weapons, armor, or equipment.
  • Combat Reflexes: +2 Spirit to recover from being Shaken
  • Martial Artist: Unarmed Fighting +1, fists and feet count as Natural Weapons, +d4 damage die to unarmed Fighting attacks (or increase die a step if you already have it).
  • Quick: Discard and redraw Action Cards of 5 or lower.
  • Two-Fisted: May make one extra Fighting roll with a second melee weapon in the off-hand at no Multi-Action penalty.

Leonard

Brett Sawyer

  • Ginger female, Hap’s girlfriend
  • Professional nurse (later a private investigator)
  • She’s an awesome, strong female character
  • Her daughter, Tilly, is a drug addict and runs with a bad crowd
  • Who would I cast as Brett? Marg Helgenberger from her early CSI years.

Vanilla Ride

  • Blond female, very attractive
  • Known to be interested in Hap
  • Assassin, very stealthy
  • Expert shot
  • Very good driver
  • Lethal customer
  • Who would I cast as Vanilla Ride? Blake Lively

Cason Stadler

  • Caucasian male
  • Handsome and persuasive; consider him a “player” with the ladies
  • Pulitzer prize-nominated investigative journalist who now works for the local paper (in Camp Rapture)
  • Iraq war veteran
  • Leverages connections/contacts
  • Who would I cast as Cason? Mark Ruffalo

Veil

  • Hit man turned lawyer, defended Leonard
  • Vigilante who had hunted down rapists, killers, molesters, child pornographers
  • Old friend of Hap Collins
  • Wandering eye; average height; graying hair; “beard like a Brillo pad”
  • Thin
  • From the big city (Outsider in East Texas)

See the write up of Veil’s Visit

Booger

  • Describes himself as a mutt (from a racial/ethnic perspective)
  • Possible sociopath
  • Iraq war veteran
  • Crazy Cheshire-cat like grin
  • Knows booby traps and can spot and disarm them
  • Picks locks too
  • Very stealthy
  • Boxer’s physique
  • Associate of Cason Stadler (Iraq war buddy?)
  • Will shoot an unarmed foe

Jim Bob Luke

  • Tough-as-nails private detective; very capable in combat
  • Acts like a redneck and uses racial/ethnic slurs (calls Mexicans “Fritos”); is not a racist, but cultivates a hick/redneck image
  • Has a network of connections
  • Experienced investigator with great instincts
  • Drives “the red bitch”, a vintage red Cadillac with steer horns on the front
  • Known to raise pigs
  • Played by Don Johnson in the 2014 movie Cold in July.

JimBob

The Red Bitch

Marvin Hanson

  • Former detective turned private investigator; later chief of police in LaBorde, Texas
  • Friend and patron to Hap and Leonard; has them do legwork for his cases
  • Wounded in the leg, is debilitated for a long time, eventually recovers but should be considered to have the lame hindrance
  • Troubled married life after her cheated on is wife
  • Is not intimidated by Leonard

Hanson

Charlie Blank

  • Detective, worked with Hanson
  • Friend to Hap and Leonard
  • Wears a pork-pie hat and a K-Mart suit

Charlie