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  Halfway Station presents… 
  Space: 1889 
   
  Scenarios for the Space: 1889 RPG
   andyslack@bigfoot.com 
  
   
   
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  Space: 1889 
  Scenarios for the Space: 1889 RPG 
   
  My gaming group experimented with Space: 1889 for a while, but never really caught the 
  bug. We used these scenarios to try it out, which I have since reused successfully for 
  Traveller, Stargate and Empire of the Petal Throne...  
   
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  Krolik Run (Challenge 64). This one was inspired by the rabbit rustlers of Dark Ages 
  England. Don’t look at me like that. It’s true, I tell you! 
  • 
  Exogamous Mating (Challenge 68) 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Original material © Andy Slack 1992-1993, 1999. 
  Space: 1889 is copyrighted and is a registered trademark of Frank 
  Chadwick. All rights reserved. These articles appear by kind permission of 
  the copyright holder. 
  
   
   
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  Table of Contents 
  Krolik Run .........................................................................................................................4 
  Approach.................................................................................................................4 
  Retrieval..................................................................................................................4 
  Map Description ......................................................................................................4 
  Refereeing the Scenario .........................................................................................4 
  NPCs.......................................................................................................................5 
  Alternatives and Variants........................................................................................5 
  Exogamous Mating .........................................................................................................6 
  Approach.................................................................................................................6 
  Retrieval..................................................................................................................6 
  Map .........................................................................................................................6 
  Refereeing the Scenario .........................................................................................6 
  NPCs.......................................................................................................................8 
  Alternatives and Variants........................................................................................8 
   
  
   
   
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  Krolik Run 
  A Space: 1889 scenario by Andy Slack 
  © Andy Slack 1992, 1999. All rights reserved. Originally published in 
  Challenge 64. 
  The PCs learn that a local fortress villa has a krolik pen. Krolik meat is a rare delicacy, 
  valuable on the black market to those wishing to impress their dinner guests (or those 
  simply curious to taste it). If the PCs can break in, steal some kroliks and get out, they can 
  sell the meat on the black market for a tidy sum - say, 10/- per krolik. 
  Approach 
  The PCs must organize their approach to the villa, ideally under the cover of darkness. 
  The journey will not be too difficult as the villa is only a mile or so from the outskirts of 
  the Canal Martian city where the PCs are currently based. 
  The villa stands on a low hill a few hundred yards from a main canal. If desired, the 
  referee can roll for encounters along the way using the standard Space: 1889 encounter 
  tables. 
  Retrieval 
  The PCs must also organise their own escape route. This leg of the trip will be more 
  difficult than the approach, as the villa guards will probably be in pursuit. Additionally, 
  the PCs may be encumbered with a number of wildly thrashing kroliks. Again, the referee 
  may roll for encounters, if desired. 
  Map Description 
  The map shows the standard Martian fortress villa from Space: 1889 in suitable 
  surroundings. It can be located on the outskirts of any convenient Martian city, depending 
  on where the PCs are currently located. 
   The krolik run is in the courtyard, between the northeastern gun tower and the main gate. 
  Refereeing the Scenario 
  Kroliks are very similar to Earth rabbits, and the referee should use rabbits as a model for 
  answering any questions raised by the PCs on krolik behaviour. However, these creatures 
  have six legs and much shorter ears. 
  Detailed statistics are not really necessary, but the animals weigh about 10 pounds each. 
  
   
   
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  Once the PCs are in the pen, catching a krolik is a Difficult: Agility task which takes a 
  character’s complete attention for one combat round. 
  Unless the beast is immediately killed (any PC with an edged weapon can do this simply 
  by stating so), its frantic attempts to escape make it count as 40 pounds of weight for 
  encumbrance purposes. 
  The PCs can make their getaway wrestling with live kroliks (and the scenario is much 
  funnier if they do), but those of a practical frame of mind will despatch the animals first. 
  Kroliks can (and will) bite and scratch furiously. But while these assaults are painful, they 
  do only superficial damage - not enough to count in game terms. 
  NPCs 
  Kaashneek is the ideal NPC to alert PCs to this business opportunity. His stats and 
  description can be found in Space: 1889 on page 42. 
  For those running the scenario in other game systems - a TL4 MegaTraveller world 
  springs to mind as a viable alternative setting - Kaashneek is a cheerful, streetwise orphan 
  from the local slums with no taste in clothing and a weakness for crazy get-rich-quick 
  schemes. He has continually pestered the party until they agreed to take him on as a local 
  guide or party mascot, and has proven valuable for his contacts in the local underworld. 
  For other NPCs, use the human stock NPC characteristics in the Space: 1889 quick 
  reference charts. The Martians encountered are similar enough not to need separate 
  statistics. 
  Alternatives and Variants 
  If the PCs are too honourable to undertake this adventure as thieves, they can be invited to 
  dinner at the villa on the night that a band of NPC Canal Martians attempt to steal the 
  krolik. Their host may ask the PCs to help round up kroliks set loose by the thieves. 
  If you can’t resist the idea of your PCs fighting wriggling kroliks all the way home (I 
  couldn’t), advise them that their buyer wants the kroliks alive. Truly sadistic referees will 
  have the kroliks make loud embarrassing cries at inopportune moments (e.g., when the 
  PCs are sneaking back into town with “nothing to declare”). 
  
   
   
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  Exogamous Mating 
  A Space: 1889 scenario by Andy Slack 
  © Andy Slack 1993, 1999. All rights reserved. Originally published in 
  Challenge 68. 
  The PCs are summoned to the British Legation in Syrtis Major. There, they are told that a 
  European, Lawrence Carson, has been kidnapped by Hill Martians - steppe nomads of the 
  Nepenthes-Thoth Steppe. The British Legation is aware of the situation because a Hill 
  Martian nomad delivered a ransom note. The PCs are asked, in the Queen’s name, to 
  rescue the poor chap before something unspeakable happens to him. It is possible that 
  German agents are behind this ungentlemanly scheme. 
  Should any cad in the party require a reward beyond that of knowing he has served the 
  Queen and rescued a fellow Englishman from the clutches of the local barbarians, the 
  Legation will reluctantly pay him £30 - and do their best to make him feel thoroughly 
  guilty about it. 
  Approach 
  The Legation gives the group a map showing the general location of the nomads’ 
  campsite (use the map on page 164 of Space: 1889). The campsite is in the hex due west 
  of the city of Thoth. The party needs to make its own way there, then locate the nomad 
  camp. The PCs must devise their own plan for rescuing Carson. The Legation has told 
  them that Carson is a sound fellow, who can be counted on to keep his head in a crisis. 
  Retrieval 
  During the trip out, the referee should roll for encounters normally using the tables in the 
  rulebook. After accomplishing their mission, the adventurers will make their way back to 
  Syrtis Major, hopefully with Carson or a letter from him explaining the situation. Normal 
  encounter rolls are appropriate. Should the party have angered the steppe nomads (say by 
  perforating a number of them with heavy revolvers in a fit of pique), those worthies will 
  follow them as far as Shastapsh, where the local British garrison will dissuade them from 
  further pursuit. 
  Map 
  This is taken from the Shutterbug scenario card in Twilight Encounters (or Twilight: 2000 
  second edition), as it can be used as a generic temporary encampment in almost any time 
  period or campaign. It is reproduced here for your convenience. When the characters 
  arrive, there are only 20-30 Hill Martians present, although several hundred more will 
  arrive for a wedding feast over the next few days. So the longer the PCs take to making 
  their move, the more outnumbered they will be. The guards are expecting some Red Men 
  to attend as Carson’s guests, so they will be friendly toward the PCs unless attacked. The 
  PCs should not know this at first, so they will probably either sneak in or launch an 
  assault. Sentry positions are marked on the map. 
  The tribe’s chief and his daughter, Kallinak, are in tent 4; Carson is in tent 6. If the 
  would-be rescuers observe the camp for a while before making their approach, they will 
  see Carson wandering around the place freely and without concern, apparently on friendly 
  terms with the Martians, especially with an attractive and richly-dressed girl. 
  Refereeing the Scenario 
  Running this scenario may give PCs the impression that humans and Martians can 
  intermarry, in the tradition of pulp writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs. If you don’t 
  like this approach, you may want to devise an alternative plotline. 
  For the truth is that Carson has not been kidnapped - he has “gone native”, marrying into 
  the steppe nomads. The “ransom note”, in a dialect poorly understood by the British, is in 
  
   
   
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  fact an invitation to Carson’s wedding to a Hill Martian princess. Carson’s explanatory 
  note was lost by the courier on the way to Syrtis Major, and his explanation was not 
  understood. 
  While he poses as a footloose adventurer and explorer, Carson is in fact a foreign office 
  agent on a delicate mission among the nomads. It is this which explains the British 
  Legation’s interest in the affair, their suspicions of German involvement, and their 
  reluctance to simply send an aerial gunboat to blast the tribe into submission. However, 
  neither Carson nor the Legation planned on his romantic involvement with Kallinak. 
  If the PCs resolve the matter without bloodshed, the Legation will be officially pleased 
  that a strong bond has been forged between the nomads and the British by Carson’s 
  wedding, although he will be ostracised by some for going native. The tribe and the happy 
  couple will treat them hospitably, and all will be well-disposed toward them in future 
  encounters. 
  If the rescue attempt results in violence, especially if Kallinak is killed, the PCs will gain 
  the nomads and Carson as bitter enemies. 
   
  
   
   
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  NPCs 
  Kidnapped European: Lawrence Carson is an Elite foreign office agent. His motivations 
  are Leader, Aggressive. He is dressed as a Hill Martian warrior and is unarmoured, but 
  carries a heavy revolver and a saber. Carson’s charisma has served him well and has 
  caused the tribe to accept him. He feels the barbaric lifestyle suits him much better than 
  that of the typical European, especially since his lowly birth will forever bar him from 
  true power in Britain. When the chief dies, Carson’s marriage will give him control of the 
  nomad tribe. 
  Hill Martian Princess: Kallinak is an Experienced Hill Martian. Her motivations are 
  Arrogant, Adventuresome. As the chief’s only child, Kallinak has been treated with 
  deference since birth and has lacked for nothing. She has come to consider this as her 
  right and so appears arrogant. Kallinak has been trained in the arts of rulership and war, 
  which has given her a taste for adventure and the confidence to undertake it. 
  Alternatives and Variants 
  Should your group prefer a genuine kidnapping, assume that the steppe nomad chief 
  intends to forcibly marry Carson to his daughter. This will mean he does not need to pay 
  for his daughter’s dowry. Furthermore, under local (Thoth) law, the son-in-law is 
  responsible for supporting all his bride’s relatives - and is Carson not an offworlder, and 
  therefore by definition incredibly rich? 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Space 1889/Unofficial/Space 1889 - Scenarios.pdf