Pulp Plot Generator

One pulp adventure per press: a hero, a scheme, a far-off place, a cliffhanger and one odd gadget.

Pulp Plot Generator: 30 plots

On a coral reef with a steel door in it, a field archaeologist who would rather be digging stumbles on a plot to keep a new gold strike out of the newspapers. Cliffhanger: the tide is coming into the cave, and the rope is gone. The one hope: a searchlight that writes on clouds.

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The herofield archaeologist who would rather be digging
The schemekeep a new gold strike out of the newspapers
The far-off placeon a coral reef with a steel door in it
The cliffhangerthe tide is coming into the cave, and the rope is gone
The odd devicesearchlight that writes on clouds

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Plot of the day

On a coral reef with a steel door in it, a field archaeologist who would rather be digging stumbles on a plot to keep a new gold strike out of the newspapers. Cliffhanger: the tide is coming into the cave, and the rope is gone. The one hope: a searchlight that writes on clouds.
On a volcanic island with a private harbor, a stunt flier from a traveling air show stumbles on a plot to bottle lightning and sell it back to the power company. Cliffhanger: the trusted pilot is flying the wrong way. The one hope: a suitcase laboratory.
At a weather hut on the roof of the world, a radio crime-show host who solves real cases stumbles on a plot to hide a stolen airship inside a storm. Cliffhanger: the signal lamp is answered from the wrong hill. The one hope: a portable lie detector with a bell.
In a mine that was sealed a century ago, a railroad engineer who knows every grade by ear stumbles on a plot to rob a treasure train on a mountain trestle. Cliffhanger: the police arrive, and arrest the hero. The one hope: a hearing aid that picks up short-wave.
On a closed amusement pier in the off season, a mapmaker who trusts no map stumbles on a plot to broadcast a signal that turns every compass wrong. Cliffhanger: the cell has no lock to pick, only a clock. The one hope: a glove with a magnet in the palm.
In a cliff-top castle with its own power plant, a glider pilot who reads the clouds stumbles on a plot to make off with an ocean liner's safe in a lifeboat. Cliffhanger: the evening paper already carries tomorrow's headline. The one hope: a glider that folds into a truck bed.
On a frozen river used as a winter road, a rocket-plane mechanic who was not meant to be aboard stumbles on a plot to make off with an ocean liner's safe in a lifeboat. Cliffhanger: a missing man's handwriting turns up on a fresh note. The one hope: a harmonica tuned to open one lock.
In a cliff-top castle with its own power plant, a stunt flier from a traveling air show stumbles on a plot to sell a city its own water back. Cliffhanger: the only key goes over the side. The one hope: a thermos of quick-setting cement.
On an island shaped like a question mark, a motorcycle courier who knows every back road stumbles on a plot to shrink a bank vault to pocket size. Cliffhanger: the ice starts to crack in a ring around them. The one hope: a flare gun that writes words in smoke.
On a plateau the maps leave blank, a test pilot fired for being right stumbles on a plot to freeze a tropical harbor solid. Cliffhanger: the lights come on, and the room is full of guards. The one hope: a radio set built into a violin case.
In a tin-roofed hotel at the edge of the map, an insurance man who believes nobody stumbles on a plot to launch a rocket and claim the moon first. Cliffhanger: the friendly stranger knows a name the hero never gave. The one hope: a gyro-stabilized motorcycle.
In a ruined observatory above the tree line, a police sketch artist who draws what witnesses forget stumbles on a plot to destroy the one photograph that proves it. Cliffhanger: the boat is drawn toward the falls. The one hope: a flare gun that writes words in smoke.
At the bottom of a crater lake, a young inventor with a patent pending stumbles on a plot to rob a treasure train on a mountain trestle. Cliffhanger: the freight hoist jams halfway up the shaft. The one hope: a rocket pack with ten seconds of fuel.
In a tin-roofed hotel at the edge of the map, a wing-walker who is afraid of ladders stumbles on a plot to steal a gold shipment in midair. Cliffhanger: the police arrive, and arrest the hero. The one hope: a jar of glow-in-the-dark paint.
In a valley where the compass spins, a bush pilot who flies by smell and luck stumbles on a plot to put a whole city to sleep for one night. Cliffhanger: the plane's controls are locked on a course for the cliff. The one hope: a speedboat with a second engine nobody mentions.
In a ruined observatory above the tree line, a wildcat oil driller with a lucky hat stumbles on a plot to steal the formula for an unbreakable glass. Cliffhanger: the gangplank is pulled up with the hero still aboard. The one hope: a pair of goggles that see through fog.
Aboard a seaplane tender in a hidden cove, a government agent on a first field case stumbles on a plot to rob a treasure train on a mountain trestle. Cliffhanger: the cell has no lock to pick, only a clock. The one hope: a pocket flashlight that throws a beam for a mile.
In a cliff-top castle with its own power plant, a wing-walker who is afraid of ladders stumbles on a plot to replace a governor with a perfect double. Cliffhanger: the brakes fail on the mountain road. The one hope: a tie pin that takes one photograph.
On a frozen river used as a winter road, a professor's assistant who does all the real work stumbles on a plot to broadcast a signal that turns every compass wrong. Cliffhanger: the plane's controls are locked on a course for the cliff. The one hope: a folding autogyro.
On a glacier that is moving faster than it should, a botanist back from a plateau no map shows stumbles on a plot to hypnotize a stadium crowd through the loudspeakers. Cliffhanger: the map was drawn to bring them exactly here. The one hope: a one-seat tunneling machine.
In a temple that sank in an earthquake, a night-run trucker with a short-wave set stumbles on a plot to blackmail a city with its own weather. Cliffhanger: the floor begins to sink. The one hope: a wind-up carrier pigeon.
On a private railroad car crossing a desert, a young inventor with a patent pending stumbles on a plot to melt the polar ice with a mirror the size of a town. Cliffhanger: the gas gauge has been stuck on full all along. The one hope: a wind-up carrier pigeon.
In a salt-flat mirage that turns out to be real, a private detective with an office over a laundry stumbles on a plot to blackmail a city with its own weather. Cliffhanger: the countdown they stopped starts again. The one hope: a fountain pen that fires a grappling line.
In a walled city reached by a single cable car, a two-fisted mail pilot stumbles on a plot to build a mechanical brain that can pick any lock. Cliffhanger: the floor begins to sink. The one hope: a radio-controlled decoy airplane.
Behind a waterfall three days upriver, a wildcat oil driller with a lucky hat stumbles on a plot to counterfeit a small nation's entire currency. Cliffhanger: the plane's controls are locked on a course for the cliff. The one hope: an armored touring car with a spare everything.
On a flying boat forced down in a lagoon, a radio crime-show host who solves real cases stumbles on a plot to hypnotize a stadium crowd through the loudspeakers. Cliffhanger: the wing strut snaps with the hero on it. The one hope: a folding autogyro.
In a ruined observatory above the tree line, an ex-prizefighter with a glass jaw and a good heart stumbles on a plot to hold the shipping lanes to ransom with man-made fog. Cliffhanger: the plane's controls are locked on a course for the cliff. The one hope: a plane on floats and wheels both.
On an island shaped like a question mark, a harbor patrol sergeant with a fast launch stumbles on a plot to grow a jungle over a city in a week. Cliffhanger: the cell has no lock to pick, only a clock. The one hope: a typewriter that types in cipher.
On a liner that has changed its name at sea, a government agent on a first field case stumbles on a plot to sell a city its own water back. Cliffhanger: the walls of the chamber begin to close. The one hope: a diving suit with its own headlamps.
On a closed amusement pier in the off season, a government agent on a first field case stumbles on a plot to keep a new gold strike out of the newspapers. Cliffhanger: the evening paper already carries tomorrow's headline. The one hope: an umbrella that works as a parachute, once.

Next step Deal a second adventure Deal a twist for the next chapter

The hero: all 60 heroes

Fliers and drivers 15

airship navigator who never gets lost
barnstorming flier with one working engine
bush pilot who flies by smell and luck
deep-sea diver who talks to the pumps
glider pilot who reads the clouds
motorcycle courier who knows every back road
night-run trucker with a short-wave set
racing driver banned from three circuits

Show all 60 heroes (52 more)

Fliers and drivers, continued

railroad engineer who knows every grade by ear
rocket-plane mechanic who was not meant to be aboard
speedboat racer who has never come second
stunt flier from a traveling air show
test pilot fired for being right
tramp steamer skipper who owes money in every port
two-fisted mail pilot

Reporters and investigators 15

cub reporter chasing a first byline
customs inspector with a perfect memory
gossip columnist who knows where everyone was
government agent on a first field case
harbor patrol sergeant with a fast launch
hard-nosed newspaper reporter
hotel detective in a hotel full of spies
insurance man who believes nobody
masked avenger who is a dull lawyer by day
museum night watchman with a law degree
night telephone operator who hears too much
police sketch artist who draws what witnesses forget
press photographer with one flashbulb left
private detective with an office over a laundry
radio crime-show host who solves real cases

Scholars and scientists 15

absent-minded professor of dead languages
astronomer who spotted it first and was not believed
botanist back from a plateau no map shows
code clerk who breaks ciphers for fun
field archaeologist who would rather be digging
mapmaker who trusts no map
museum curator who can spot any fake
polar geologist with frostbitten luck
professor's assistant who does all the real work
radio engineer who built a set from scrap
radium chemist with a steady hand
reference librarian who remembers every page
ship's doctor who has read every mystery novel
veterinarian to a traveling circus
young inventor with a patent pending

Drifters and daredevils 15

boxcar drifter who reads the classics
cardsharp who only cheats cheaters
circus strongman on the run from a contract
deckhand who is secretly the owner's heir
escape artist between engagements
ex-prizefighter with a glass jaw and a good heart
jungle guide who has never fired a shot
lighthouse relief keeper with a week to kill
lumberjack who can outclimb anyone
sailor who has jumped ship in the wrong port
sideshow mind reader who knows how it is done
soldier of fortune who works for expenses
trick rider from a rodeo gone broke
wildcat oil driller with a lucky hat
wing-walker who is afraid of ladders

How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-15. Each entry is a hero named by a trade of the 1920s to the 1940s. No character of any magazine, serial, film or comic is named or described, and no real person. What the pulps were (inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 until around 1955; the word pulp from the cheap wood pulp paper they were printed on; at their peak of popularity from the 1920s until the 1940s; best known for lurid and sensational subject matter; often featuring stories of heroic characters) follows Wikipedia, "Pulp magazine": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine, read on 2026-10-15 (CC BY-SA 4.0). Licence: own work

The scheme: all 60 schemes

Corner it or steal it 15

corner the wheat market by stealing the rain
corner the world's helium and ground every airship
corner the world's supply of radium
counterfeit a small nation's entire currency
empty a bank through the subway tunnel beneath it
hijack a mail plane with one letter aboard
loot a tomb the night before it is opened

Show all 60 schemes (53 more)

Corner it or steal it, continued

lure the world's best engineers to a secret island
make off with an ocean liner's safe in a lifeboat
rob a treasure train on a mountain trestle
steal a gold shipment in midair
steal a skyscraper's blueprints one floor at a time
steal the formula for an unbreakable glass
steal the only map to a diamond pipe
swap the crown jewels for paste

Rule it 15

black out a city and loot it in the dark
blackmail a city with its own weather
buy a seat in every government with stolen gold
control every newspaper by owning the ink
crown a puppet king in a country nobody can find
fix an election with a machine that counts wrong
hold the shipping lanes to ransom with man-made fog
hypnotize a stadium crowd through the loudspeakers
put a whole city to sleep for one night
replace a governor with a perfect double
rule a continent by radio from a hidden transmitter
run a city from the top floor of an unfinished tower
seize a canal with an army of clockwork men
silence every radio station but one
take over the railroads by forging one signature

Build it 15

bore a tunnel to the center of the earth
bottle lightning and sell it back to the power company
broadcast a signal that turns every compass wrong
build a mechanical brain that can pick any lock
build a ray that stops every engine for miles
build a submarine that swallows ships whole
freeze a tropical harbor solid
grow a jungle over a city in a week
launch a rocket and claim the moon first
launch an aerodrome that never has to land
melt the polar ice with a mirror the size of a town
raise a sunken city with a stolen tide machine
shrink a bank vault to pocket size
turn lead into gold and crash every market
wake something that has slept under the ice for an age

Hide it 15

bury the truth about an expedition that never came back
cover up a shipwreck that never happened
destroy the one photograph that proves it
discredit the one scientist who measured it right
erase an island from every chart
fake a lost civilization to sell the ruins
frame an explorer for a discovery that was stolen
hide a stolen airship inside a storm
keep a new gold strike out of the newspapers
pass off a forged treaty at a peace conference
run a fake rescue mission to reach the real prize
sell a city its own water back
sell the same lost gold mine to nine buyers
smuggle stolen gold out as circus tent poles
swap a missing heir for an actor

How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-15. Each entry is a villain's scheme, written to follow the words a plot to. The schemes are too big to be real; nobody is hurt in an entry, and no people, nation or faith is the villain. No plot of a magazine story, serial or film is retold. What the pulps were (inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 until around 1955; the word pulp from the cheap wood pulp paper they were printed on; at their peak of popularity from the 1920s until the 1940s; best known for lurid and sensational subject matter; often featuring stories of heroic characters) follows Wikipedia, "Pulp magazine": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine, read on 2026-10-15 (CC BY-SA 4.0). Licence: own work

The far-off place: all 60 places

Lost cities and blank maps 15

at the bottom of a crater lake
at the end of a road the surveyors gave up on
behind a waterfall three days upriver
in a canyon city carved by nobody knows who
in a city of towers half buried by dunes
in a kingdom the size of one mountain pass
in a lost city under the polar ice

Show all 60 places (53 more)

Lost cities and blank maps, continued

in a mine that was sealed a century ago
in a ruined observatory above the tree line
in a temple that sank in an earthquake
in a valley where the compass spins
in a walled city reached by a single cable car
in caverns where the walls give off their own light
inside a mountain hollowed out for a hangar
on a plateau the maps leave blank

Sky and sea 15

aboard a night mail plane over the mountains
aboard a seaplane tender in a hidden cove
aboard a submarine that flies no flag
aboard a zeppelin over the open ocean
at a mooring mast above a jungle clearing
at an airfield cut into the side of a volcano
in a diving bell on the edge of the deep
in the wreck of a treasure galleon
on a derelict freighter adrift in the shipping lane
on a floating aerodrome in the middle of the sea
on a flying boat forced down in a lagoon
on a lighthouse rock that no ship visits twice
on a liner that has changed its name at sea
on a sandbar that is an island for six hours a day
on an icebreaker locked in for the winter

Ice, sand and jungle 15

at a dig site half a continent from the nearest town
at a lonely desert railroad junction
at a mountain pass the mules refuse to cross
at a radio mast nobody admits to building
at a river landing three weeks from a telegraph
at a weather hut on the roof of the world
at an oasis that is on no caravan route
in a desert fort that the sand keeps burying
in a ghost town with one lit window
in a salt-flat mirage that turns out to be real
in a swamp where the trees grow on stilts
on a frozen river used as a winter road
on a glacier that is moving faster than it should
on a jungle airstrip overgrown since last season
on a private railroad car crossing a desert

Islands and outposts 15

at a cable station on the loneliest rock in the ocean
at a frontier post on a high pass
at a mountain hotel with no guests and a full staff
at a mountain lodge with a laboratory in the cellar
in a border town where three countries meet
in a cliff-top castle with its own power plant
in a customs shed at the end of a pier
in a fishing village that has stopped fishing
in a tin-roofed hotel at the edge of the map
in a trading port where every flag is false
on a closed amusement pier in the off season
on a coral reef with a steel door in it
on a volcanic island with a private harbor
on an island fort that was struck off the charts
on an island shaped like a question mark

How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-15. Each entry is a place far from help, with its preposition. Every place was invented for this list: no real country, city or people is named. Licence: own work

The cliffhanger: all 60 cliffhangers

Trapped 20

the air hose goes slack
the airlock will not open from the inside
the cell has no lock to pick, only a clock
the cellar is filling with seawater
the door they came in by is now a wall
the drawbridge goes up with the car halfway across
the freight hoist jams halfway up the shaft

Show all 60 cliffhangers (53 more)

Trapped, continued

the gangplank is pulled up with the hero still aboard
the guide has taken the map and the mules
the handcuffs are real and the key is a fake
the hero wakes in a crate marked for export
the last match goes out
the lights come on, and the room is full of guards
the only key goes over the side
the radio dies in the middle of the warning
the tide is coming into the cave, and the rope is gone
the trapdoor opens over a pool of patient crocodiles
the tunnel caves in behind them and ahead
the vault door swings shut with the hero inside
the walls of the chamber begin to close

Falling, sinking, burning 20

the avalanche starts with a single shout
the boat is drawn toward the falls
both engines quit over open water
the brakes fail on the mountain road
the building catches fire with the proof inside
the first stone of the dam works loose
the floor begins to sink
the fuse is lit, and it is shorter than promised
the gas gauge has been stuck on full all along
the harbor light goes dark as the ship turns in
the ice starts to crack in a ring around them
the ladder runs out twenty feet above the ground
the parachute pack holds a picnic blanket
the plane's controls are locked on a course for the cliff
the quicksand has reached the hero's belt
the rope bridge is cut from the far side
the train uncouples on the steepest grade
the volcano picks this moment to wake up
the wing strut snaps with the hero on it
the zeppelin's nose dips toward the mountains

Betrayed or unmasked 20

a double walks in wearing the hero's face
a missing man's handwriting turns up on a fresh note
the client turns out to be paying both sides
the countdown they stopped starts again
the crate is opened, and it is empty
the evening paper already carries tomorrow's headline
the friendly stranger knows a name the hero never gave
the map was drawn to bring them exactly here
the missing professor steps out of the shadows, smiling
the one honest official is shown the door
the partner has sold the route for a ticket home
the police arrive, and arrest the hero
the prize is in the hero's hands, and it is a copy
the rescuer takes off a mask, and it is the villain
the ship that rescued them belongs to the villain
the signal lamp is answered from the wrong hill
the telegram calling for help was never sent
the trusted pilot is flying the wrong way
the villain raises a glass and thanks the hero for coming
the voice giving orders on the radio is the hero's own

How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-15. Each entry is the fix a chapter stops on, written to follow the word Cliffhanger and a colon. The danger is always about to happen and never shown happening: nothing in the list is graphic. Licence: own work

The odd device: all 60 devices

Worn or pocketed 20

belt-buckle compass that points at gold
coat button that is really a radio beacon
fountain pen that fires a grappling line
glove with a magnet in the palm
harmonica tuned to open one lock
hat with a periscope in the crown
hearing aid that picks up short-wave
monocle that reads microfilm

Show all 60 devices (52 more)

Worn or pocketed, continued

necktie woven from unbreakable wire
pair of goggles that see through fog
pair of spring-heeled boots
pair of suction-cup gloves
pocket flashlight that throws a beam for a mile
pocket watch that runs backward near magnets
raincoat that inflates into a raft
signet ring that opens one particular door
tie pin that takes one photograph
vest lined with cork
wrist radio with one channel
wristwatch with a lock pick for a second hand

Fits in a suitcase 20

bottle of ink that vanishes in an hour
camera that develops its own pictures
collapsible canoe in a hatbox
diving helmet made from a soup kettle
electric skeleton key
flare gun that writes words in smoke
folding autogyro
jar of glow-in-the-dark paint
kite big enough to lift a person
pair of rocket-assisted roller skates
periscope made from shaving mirrors
pocket-size printing press
portable lie detector with a bell
radio set built into a violin case
suitcase laboratory
thermos of quick-setting cement
typewriter that types in cipher
umbrella that works as a parachute, once
wind-up carrier pigeon
wire recorder disguised as a lunch pail

Too big to hide 20

airship lifeboat with its own propeller
armored touring car with a spare everything
diving suit with its own headlamps
glider that folds into a truck bed
gyro-stabilized motorcycle
handcar with a sail
hot-air balloon painted like a cloud
magnetic crane on a barge
mechanical butler with a firm grip
one-seat submarine
one-seat tunneling machine
pedal-powered airship for one
plane on floats and wheels both
radio-controlled decoy airplane
rocket pack with ten seconds of fuel
searchlight that writes on clouds
snow tractor with a kitchen in the back
speedboat with a second engine nobody mentions
steam-driven mechanical horse
truck-mounted listening horn

How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-15. Each entry is one gadget a hero might carry. All are invented for the list and none works as described; no gadget of a named character is copied. None is a firearm. Licence: own work

How it works

This pulp plot generator deals a magazine adventure in five parts, such as a stunt flier from a traveling air show against a plot to bottle lightning at an airfield cut into the side of a volcano. Nothing in the lists is graphic.

Read the full guide

A random pulp story generator, part by part

The hero is known by a trade: a flier, a reporter, a professor, a drifter. The scheme is always too big, such as cornering the world's helium or putting a whole city to sleep. The place is far from help. The cliffhanger belongs to a later chapter, wherever the chase has reached, and the gadget is the one thing in the kit bag that might undo it.

Where pulp stories come from

Pulp magazines were inexpensive fiction magazines, published from 1896 until around 1955 and named for the cheap wood pulp paper they were printed on. They were most popular from the 1920s until the 1940s, so these lists keep to that world: radio, airships, propeller planes and telegrams.

Give the villain a title and no name: the Director, the Voice, the Collector.
Let the hero's trade solve it. A mail pilot knows schedules; a code clerk knows patterns.

Questions and answers

What is a pulp story?

A story of the kind the pulp magazines printed. They were best known for lurid and sensational subject matter, though that was a small part of what they ran, and often featured novel-length stories of heroic characters.

Is this a pulp story generator or only a plot?

Only the plot of one episode, in three sentences. The story is yours to write: plan it backward from the cliffhanger to how the hero got there.

How do I write a pulp adventure from one of these plots?

Keep it fast. Open with the hero at work, bring the scheme in by the second page, move to the far-off place, and stop each chapter on a fix like the cliffhanger. Save the gadget for the last possible moment.