About NOIR 1933
While the world buckled under economic collapse and the shadow of fascism, heroes rose from neon-lit jazz clubs, crowded warrens, and hidden speakeasies. These were the protectors of the downtrodden, fighting in the shadows of a world that refused to see them. Forget the legends you know—help us reconstruct these forgotten histories and fight for justice in a world on the brink.
Justice is hard to find where the law fears to tread. Civil society, uptown heroes, and the precinct police have a habit of looking the other way when it comes to immigrant warrens and minority districts. In these neglected corners, survival often means brokering back-alley deals and skirting a law that was never meant to protect you. Yet, out of this darkness emerges a new kind of guardian: figures who provide food and shelter when the system fails, financed by illicit trades and hard-won profit.
Protecting your neighborhood is a dangerous business, however, and prosperity always earns you enemies. The smoke-filled streets of 1933 are a gritty noir landscape where mobsters and street toughs aren’t the only things to fear. Here, Cthulhu-esque horrors and classic monsters lurk in every shadow. You don't just survive these streets; you defend them. Play as a hero who draws their superhuman strength directly from their community, turning shared heritage and local roots into unstoppable power.
Noir 1933 is a new tabletop roleplaying game combining reconstructed lost histories, powerful communities, and pulp action. Take the role of a character who embodies the neighborhood they emerge from, with the strengths of their community coalescing into superhuman powers.
Our universe is a collaborative, contributor-led space. We’ve united a diverse team of creators to build a world where our differences are our greatest weapons. Your support doesn't just fund a rulebook; it builds an immersive pulp universe rich with original art and fiction based on "lost" heroic histories.
In the shadows of the Depression, unsung heroes rise from their communities to fight for justice. Join them and reclaim their history.
Why Make Noir 1933?
Basing our worlds on 1930s pulp is a delicate space to manoeuvre in. It gives us the beginnings of our superhero history with mythic and dark heroes, but those past storylines were tinged with an innately biased perspective and at times - clear racism. Historically that world was also awash with racial subjectivity which pushed people in and out of disjointed and illusionary circles of liberation, which kept some out as ‘others’, while welcoming some at the cost of their heritage and much of their souls.
It was a time when labour fought corporate-hired thugs in the street and organized for each other’s collective power, where real estate tycoons pushed the poor from neighbourhoods, where jazz clubs were raided by song-silencing police. A time when commercial-made pollution destroyed neighborhoods and killed those already living in poverty. Where the Pansy Craze was in full swing, titillating the mainstream with outlandish and culture-affecting shows. Where Prohibition birthed new crime and the opportunity for disregarded communities to create lucrative revenue streams. Where banks foreclosed on houses and farms alike, because the occupants could not overcome the devastating force of the Great Depression. A time when the dark shadow of fascism was cast across the world as a whole.
Yet, amidst this darkness, there was a renaissance in art, music, and thought. A time when education mattered, and its goal of raising all peoples up was apparent in even the headlines of newspapers. Where communities strengthened and came together for a greater good. Where political opinions along with music, art and philosophy were discussed in smoke-filled kitchens.
But what about the heroes? Sure, we have the pulp classics like The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Phantom and others, who often gained superhuman and mystical powers abroad. But we had to ask ourselves – why would a marginalized community give their secrets to these heroes and not to those within their own communities? Wouldn't those lost records also show how these heroes empowered their community’s collective strength - uniting them through shared culture and connection - and how those communities, in turn, served to further bolster the hero’s own power? Surely then, there must be heroes in this fictional universe that were lost to our pulp histories.
And really, that is what this project is for - to reconstruct the lost histories of the 1930s, moving beyond the traditional pulp canon to reveal the vibrant, hidden communities ignored by the fiction of the time. By centering ostracized heroes within the shadows of tenements, jazz clubs, and segregated neighborhoods, we give voice to how these unsung guardians organized to shield their neighborhoods from systemic injustice and economic ruin. By inviting a diverse collective of authors and illustrators to populate this universe, we will create a space where characters must overcome the heavy cost of racism, social barriers and complex community-based realities to ignite a flicker of hope in a world on the brink.
Join us. Reclaim their history