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  2 
  SPACE: 1889 
  ,To TESSA, 
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  beginning. 
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  Copyright�9 
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  All Rights Reserved. Made in USA. 
  Printed in USA~" 
  ISBN 0-~43580-80-3. 
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  PO Box 1646 
  Bloomington, IL 61702-1646 USA 
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  A catalog o~Space 1889 products 
  is available from .GDW. Just write 
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  CREDITS 
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  Game Concept and System DeSign: 
  W" 
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  Frank Chad lck 
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  Background Design/Development: 
  Frank Chadwick, Marc W. ~,lilter, 
  Howard Whitehouse, l~re'n K. 
  Wiseman 
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  Additional Design/D~velopment: 
  Timothy B.ABrown, Lester Smith, 
  Tim Ryanr Julia-Martin 
  Primary Visual Design Consultant: 
  J~David R. Deitrick 
  ~6rOver Art: David R. Deitrick 
  Interior Color Illustrations: Janet 
  Aulisio, Frank Chadwick, David R. 
  Deitrick, Kim Gromoll, James R. 
  l~,antz 
  \ Interior Illustrations: Tom Peters, 
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  Jam~j Colton McGonigle, Jirn~.. 
  Holloway, Joseph O'Neil, Richard 
  Hasenauer, Dave Choat,7?S'teve? 
  Crompto'tl; Jeff Dee,:Cralg Farley, 
  Paul Herbert,,Robert-Jamison~, ' Rick 
  Harris, 
  Ke~ May.field, 
  Tim 
  Bradstrce~Shea Ryan, James R. 
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  Art Director: Lauretta Oblinger 
  Graphic Design and Production: 
  ~Ud'mes R. Kuntz, Mark Fisher, Dana 
  Reischauer, Shea Ryan 
  Text Manager: Michelle Sturgeon 
  Typesetting: Julia Martin 
  Text Processing: Julia Martin, 
  David Moll, Tim Ryan 
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  TABLE OF CONTENTS 
  ~1 d 
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  Introduction .t.. 
  .~. 
  .... 4 
  'aj 
  ........... 
  Charact.~rs ............. ;~. ~. ........ 8 
  ~Attrib~es and Skills !.�9 ......... 10 
  ~areers ...................... . ,~. 12 
  Skill Explanations ...... ~:.:,... 18 
  \ 
  TABLE OF CONTENTS 
  3 
  Land Transportation ............ 72 
  Water Transportation ........... 73 
  "\ 
  \. 
  Luna:-: ..... .~ ................. ': ..... 134 
  European Aerial Vessels ....... 74~ ,'/l'he Trip to Luna .............. 136 
  Martian Aerial Vessels .... ~;..75": 
  \]'~i~ Crash ....................... 137 
  ~ /  
  "~ Descent into the Moon ....... 138 
  Science ................. ~':'" 
  '~F" 76 
  The (~verns of Luna ......... 140 
  Research and Inventions... 7... 78 
  T~ Selenites ................... 142 
  The Research~rea~,l. .......... 81 
  Russiai~Tj,r~de ................. 144 
  The Victorian Age ............. ~2~ '~ 
  Ether b-'Jye(D~sign ............. 82 
  Britain and the World ....... i:. 
  ~'22 
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  Victorian Values ................ 23 ,~e~m~at.) ........................... 
  89 
  Governnient and Politics ....... 24 
  ~Turn Sequence ................... 90 
  Victorian Society .......... ,,~;~.T6 
  "Attacks ............................ 
  91 
  The Military ............... t.'~... 
  Victorian-Women. ~ 
  ....... 32 
  The Chivalric Orders..~.'~. ....... 33 
  Melee Attacks .................... 92 
  Missile Attacks .................. 94 
  Movement ........................ 96 
  Impriso~te d ............ L ......... 145 
  Escape ........................... 
  14~ 
  Further Adventures ....... ~... 147 
  ~\ 
  "~ 
  -'~I 
  Mars ............... i~ 'L :~../.�9 
  148 
  Physical Chara~et' ........ . .... 150 
  Prehistory ..... . ...... ,~. .......... 150 
  Recent I-I]story ................. 152 
  The Referee ........................ 34 
  Non-Playdk Characters ......... 36 
  ~vept Resoluuon ................ 44 
  �9 
  Addentures ....................... 46 
  "~Rewards and Experience ....... 48 
  Equilnn'ent ......................... 51 
  Scientific E~. uipment ............ 52 
  Referent9 Materials ............ 52 
  Tools ....... ":N"" "~ ................ 53 
  Travelling Gear,~ ........... .~ .54 
  Fuels ............................ ,..55 
  Explosives ....... i'~ .... i~. .... r 
  55 
  Firearms ........ .~.~..'.~. ........ i~... 56 
  Melee W~pons......J-# .......... 58 
  Armor .... ....~ ................... 58 
  Primitive Weapons .............. 59 
  �9 9 
  Martmn~Artdlery ................ 59 
  ~eavy Ordnance ................. 60 
  Machineguns ..................... 6 l 
  Inventions ......................... 62 
  Wounds ........................... 
  96 
  Tile Canals of Mars ........... 154 
  Grappling ......................... 97 
  . City~tates ...................... 160 
  Heavy Weapons ................. 9~" , Syrtis Major .................... 162 
  Morale ..................... ~ .... 100 
  "~The Brmsh on Mars ........... 164 
  Explosives ...................... ~1~00 
  Europeans on Mars ............ 168 
  Aerial Combat...~,,, :.. ........ 102 
  Mars' Treasures ................ 172 
  Animal C0mbat.,~).~, ~., ....... 108 
  Skrill Riders of Mars ......... 174 
  ~* 
  High Martians .................. 176 
  TravePand Exploration."... ~ 112 
  Hill Martians ................... 178 �9 
  ,,, Land Travel~ ............ ..~.'.~ .... 114 
  Canal Martians ........... , ...... 180/ 
  ~'~ Watei' Travel ................. ]. 116 
  Martian Animals ........ ~.;,....]~ 
  , Aerial Travel ................ ,~,~ld~ 
  Adventures on Mars.~.~~ .... 186 
  ~ 
  Encounters .................... "..120 
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  Weather 
  12J~\ Venus 
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  188 
  Exploration ..................... 122" 
  \Ge0graphy ...................... 190 
  Th~E~plora.tion of ,Vea~us .... 192 
  Space Travel ..................... 124 
  .... Uolonies ................. J~;:~, 194 
  The Ether ...................... .1~26 / 
  Liza"iJd-Men ..................... 196 
  The Solar System ............ .~128~:~ Biology .......................... 
  198 
  Interplanetary Travel.~.-L.. 130 
  Players' Summary: Venus... 200 
  Hazards of Space Travel...~.. 132 
  Commercial PaSsag~ .......... 133 
  Charts ................. ....... 201-216 
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  )) INTRODUCTION 
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  INTRODUCTION 1( 
  5 
  INTRODUCTION 
  WELCOME TO the world of 
  Space: 1889, a world filled with 
  scientific wonders, strange civiliza- 
  tions, international intrigue, and, of 
  course, adventure. Space: 1889 is a 
  science-fiction role-playing game, 
  but one with a difference: It is set in 
  the 19th century at the height of Vic- 
  torian colonial expansion. 
  How is this possible? 
  The 19th century saw the birth of 
  science fiction, and the works of the 
  early masters of this genre, H. G. 
  Wells, Jules Verne, and Arthur Con- 
  an Doyle, still have tremendous ap- 
  peal. Their speculations about in- 
  terplanetary travel and alien civiliza- 
  tions were based on sound principles 
  of science as it was then understood. 
  Since then we have discovered that 
  principles like the "luminiferous 
  ether," then widely accepted, have 
  no real foundation in fact. 
  But what if they did? What if in- 
  stead of quantum mechanics and rel- 
  ativity, there was only "the ether"? 
  And what if the fertile, brilliant mind 
  of a young inventor named Thomas 
  Edison had turned its power to 
  harnessing the ether for science? 
  The answer to that question is what 
  Space: 1889 is all about. 
  WHAT IS ROLE PLAYING? 
  SPACE: 1889 is a role-playing 
  game, which means that the players 
  each take the role of a single char- 
  acter in an adventure. These char- 
  acters will be quite detailed, and 
  players will assume the roles of their 
  characters in adventure after adven- 
  ture, gradually accumulating more 
  knowledge, greater skills, and more 
  prestige. Each adventure is a story, 
  and the player characters are its 
  heroes, but with an important distinc- 
  tion: Their actions are not deter- 
  mined by an author, but rather by the 
  players themselves. 
  One person does not control a 
  character, but instead serves as the 
  referee. The referee's responsibilities 
  include resolving events and encoun- 
  ters, playing the parts of other char- 
  acters in the world with which the 
  players come in contact, and, most 
  importantly, serving as the eyes and 
  ears of the players. He describes the 
  world to them as they would experi- 
  ence it, in all of its exotic, beautiful 
  sights, its strange sounds, even its 
  smells and the way it feels. 
  ORGANIZATION OF 
  THE RULES 
  ALL THAT players really have to 
  read in this book are the first three 
  chapters: "Introduction," "Char- 
  acters," and "The Victorian Age." 
  This will tell them what sort of world 
  they are adventuring in, show them 
  how to generate a character, and ex- 
  plain how the proper Victorian ad- 
  venturer behaves. Players may read 
  the chapters on basic game mechan- 
  ics as well, as it will help speed play 
  if they know the basic steps of com- 
  bat, travel, etc. They should read on- 
  ly those parts of the background sec- 
  tions that their referee tells them to. 
  Referees will need to read the en- 
  tire book and become familiar with 
  both the rules and the background. 
  The last 16 pages of the book are 
  printed on heavy white paper and are 
  perforated for easy removal from the 
  book. These are reference charts 
  designed to make the referee's life 
  easier. If you do not want to tear 
  pages out of your book, you have 
  permission to photocopy as many 
  copies of these pages as you need for 
  your personal use with the game. 
  REQUIRED EQUIPMENT 
  THIS BOOK is almost all you'll 
  need to play. You will also need 
  several (six or more) six-sided dice 
  as well as paper and pencils. Graph 
  paper is also useful for drawing the 
  interiors of buildings, caverns, etc. 
  Dice are used to resolve tasks, 
  combat, and random events. As a 
  general rule, if a number is listed to 
  roll, the player must roll that number 
  or less to achieve the indicated result. 
  GDW also produces an extensive 
  line of supporting materials for 
  Space: 
  1889, including novels, 
  sourcebooks, adventures, and board 
  games. Any or all of these can prove 
  useful to the referee and players, but 
  none are absolutely necessary. This 
  book is a complete game by itself. 
  A NOTE ON GENDER 
  FOR EASE of expression, all 
  references to characters and referees 
  in this book use the masculine pro- 
  noun. This should in no way be in- 
  terpreted as excluding either female 
  players or characters. Although Vic- 
  torian society did not encourage 
  women to embark upon careers of 
  danger and adventure, the large 
  number of women who did so any- 
  way is ample proof that it was possi- 
  ble. For more on this theme, see the 
  section of "The Victorian Age" en- 
  titled "Victorian Women." 
  GDW 
  
  6 
  t) INTRODUCTION 
  THE WORLD OF SPACE: 1889 
  THE PERIOD from 1870 to 1900 
  was historically one of tremendous 
  political, social, and technological 
  change. In Space: 1889 this is even 
  more the case, as space travel and 
  flight have been added to all the other 
  achievements of this era. This sec- 
  tion of the book is designed to give 
  players and referees an overview of 
  this era so that they can understand 
  its many opportunities and occasional 
  limits. 
  Technology: Although electricity 
  was known and utilized, widespread 
  residential electrification was just be- 
  ing adopted. Many houses were lit 
  by gaslights, and all "appliances" 
  were hand-powered. Indoor plumb- 
  ing, on the other hand, was wide- 
  spread in the cities of the industrial- 
  ized countries. 
  Industry was almost universally 
  powered by coal-fired steam boilers. 
  Oil-burning boilers were used where 
  oil was plentiful; the gasoline engine 
  had been developed by Herr Benz 
  and Herr Daimler of Germany in the 
  mid-1880s; and Otto von Diesel was 
  tinkering with an oil-burning inter- 
  nal combustion engine of his own. 
  None of these were in widespread 
  use, however. 
  Transportation: Transportation in 
  the 1880s was notable for its lack of 
  single-person mechanical vehicles, 
  such as the automobile. The closest 
  to this was the urban cab, but the cab 
  of the 1880s was horse-drawn. Trips 
  outside of a city would usually be 
  made by train, powered by a coal- 
  fired steam locomotive. Horse- 
  drawn coaches still serviced areas not 
  linked by rail, and travel in primitive 
  surroundings was by horse or even 
  foot. 
  On the water, the sailing vessel 
  still was used as a slower, but 
  cheaper, means of transporting low- 
  priority cargoes. The majority of 
  cargoes and passengers were carried 
  in steamships. Steam vessels were in 
  the midst of a tremendous increase 
  in power and efficiency due to adop- 
  tion of more advanced engine tech- 
  nology and forced draught boilers. 
  Mr. Parsons in the United Kingdom 
  had produced his first working steam 
  turbine in 1884, and this invention 
  promised even more efficient steam 
  transportation in the near future. 
  Flight: One of the great differences 
  between the world of this game and 
  the historical 1880s is the greater in- 
  cidence of flight. Edison's discovery 
  of liftwood on Mars in 1870 and its 
  subsequent use in aerial steam ves- 
  sels provided a tremendous spur to 
  aeronautical research. Count von 
  Zeppelin produced an efficient, 
  hydrogen-lifted, rigid airship in 1874 
  powered by a lightweight steam 
  engine and in the 1880s began pro- 
  ducing airships using the more effi- 
  cient internal combustion engines of 
  Herr Daimler. These are now in 
  widespread use. 
  Flying machines are built using 
  liftwood whenever possible, how- 
  ever. Liftwood is the product of a 
  tree which grows in certain parts of 
  the Martian highlands, and which 
  synthesizes a complex organic com- 
  pound with contragravitational ef- 
  fects. Attempts to artificially repro- 
  duce this compound in the laboratory 
  have thus far failed, and the trees will 
  not grow anywhere except in certain 
  locations on Mars. Thus the supply 
  of lifiwood is severely limited and is 
  the cause of many conflicts. 
  Space Travel: Interplanetary space 
  travel was first demonstrated by 
  Thomas Edison in 1870, and while 
  it is hardly commonplace, it is an ac- 
  cepted part of life in 1889. It has 
  made possible the establishment of 
  extensive colonies on Mars and 
  Venus, frequent visits to Mercury, 
  and occasional visits to the Moon. 
  Space voyages are fairly long, 
  typically taking a month or more be- 
  tween worlds. The voyages are made 
  in interplanetary ether flyers 
  powered by large solar boilers. A 
  reflecting lens directs the Sun's rays 
  onto the boiler's water tank to pro- 
  duce steam and power the ship with- 
  out the need for combustion. (Ships 
  do not carry enough oxygen to sup- 
  port continuous burning of coal for 
  several weeks.) Because the Sun's 
  rays are quite weak further out from 
  the Sun, solar boiler-powered ships 
  have so far been unable to explore 
  beyond the asteroid belt. 
  
  INTRODUCTION I( 
  7 
  Communication: 
  Alexander 
  Graham Bell invented the telephone 
  in 1876, and already it is in limited 
  use in major metropolitan areas. 
  Most long-range communication on 
  Earth, however, is by telegraph, and 
  communication between the U.S. 
  and Britain is via the Transatlantic 
  Cable. Wireless telegraphy (radio) 
  has not yet been invented, the closest 
  approaches being the heliograph and 
  the photophone. 
  The heliograph consists of mirrors 
  which reflect the Sun's light toward 
  the receiver, who sees a series of 
  flashes. The timing of these flashes 
  produces a readable code, just like 
  the dots and dashes of Morse Code 
  on the telegraph. Field heliographs, 
  with a range of a dozen miles, are 
  no more than a five-foot tripod and 
  a lens. The largest heliographs are 
  the two British orbital heliograph sta- 
  tions, above Earth and Mars, whose 
  giant lenses are powerful enough to 
  flash messages across the millions of 
  miles separating the two worlds. 
  Weaponry: Military weapons are 
  in a period of transition from breech- 
  loaders to bolt-action magazine 
  rifles; 1889 is the first year in which 
  large numbers of British infantry 
  turned in their Martini Henry breech- 
  loaders for the new Lee Metford 
  eight-shot bolt-action rifle. Artillery 
  was largely converted to rifle breech- 
  loaders, and for light close-range 
  work relied on the ingenious and 
  deadly Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon, 
  a sort of large Gatling gun that fired 
  exploding rounds. But the new tech- 
  nology of quick-firing guns, such as 
  the British 4.7" naval gun, promised 
  an even more dramatic increase in 
  firepower. 
  Machineguns had been in service 
  since 1861 when Mr. Gatling in- 
  vented his famous weapon. Still in 
  widespread service, it had been sup- 
  plemented and to an extent sup- 
  planted by newer versions of man- 
  powered machineguns, such as the 
  Gardner, Nordenfelt, and Montigny 
  Mitrailleuse. All of these weapons 
  relied on a gunner turning a crank or 
  operating a lever to continue firing. 
  In 1889, however, the British began 
  buying their first quantities of the 
  Maxim gun, a self-loading gun that 
  would continue firing under its own 
  power so long as the gunner held 
  down the trigger. 
  International Relations: Britain 
  was, at this time, a constitutional 
  monarchy, America was a stable re- 
  public, and France an unstable one; 
  Germany and Russia were empires 
  ruled by hereditary monarchs, and 
  Japan was a society in transition, a 
  curious mixture of the new and the 
  old. All aspired to "great power" 
  status, however, and in 1889 great 
  power status required interplanetary 
  colonies, trade, and liftwood. 
  The tiny state of Belgium did more 
  to destabilize the international 
  balance in the 1880s than any other 
  state, with its aggressive imperialistic 
  policies in the Congo and on Mars. 
  The Belgians were driven by King 
  Leopold's desire to secure a 
  sovereign territory a safe distance 
  from the armies of France and Ger- 
  many so that the monarchy could be 
  preserved in the event of a military 
  defeat. They slashed and burned their 
  way up two great basins: the Congo 
  and the Coprates. Resentment on 
  Mars created a ripe climate for plot 
  and counterplot, and the decade from 
  1885 to 1895 was as rich with in- 
  trigue as any in human history. 
  GDW 
  
  8 
  )) CHARACTERS 
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  CHARACTERS It 
  9 
  CHARACTERS 
  SPACE: 1889 is a role-playing 
  game, which means that you will 
  play it by acting out the role of a 
  character. This chapter tells you 
  everything you need to know to gen- 
  erate a character. When you generate 
  a character, you will first determine 
  his physical and psychological at- 
  tributes. Then you will select one or 
  two prior careers that will give him 
  additional skills and experience to 
  help him on his path to adventure in 
  Space: 1889. 
  The chapter following this one, en- 
  titled "The Victorian Era," tells you 
  a great deal more about the attitudes 
  of the day. This was a civilized time, 
  and your character will likely as not 
  be a Victorian gentleman or lady, 
  with a clear set of values to adhere 
  to. While this chapter ("Char- 
  acters") is about your own char- 
  acter's strengths and assets, the next 
  chapter is about his personality, 
  heart, and soul. 
  SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES 
  A CHARACTER'S attributes 
  define his physical and psychologi- 
  cal composition, while skills define 
  those special abilities he has learned 
  over the years. During the game a 
  character's skill levels will increase, 
  and a character will learn new skills 
  due to his experiences, but the char- 
  acter's basic attributes will tend to re- 
  main constant. 
  Skills and attributes are defined by 
  a number which ranges from 1 to 6. 
  As the characters attempt various 
  tasks, their players or the referee will 
  roll dice to determine the characters' 
  success or failure based, in part, on 
  the characters' different skills and at- 
  tributes. 
  1st C a r e e r ~  
  ~ 
  WOtY~OS 
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  Strength t- ~--~ 
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  10 )) ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS 
  ATTRIBUTES 
  CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES 
  are divided into two main types: 
  physical and psychological, Physical 
  attributes are Strength (Str), Agility 
  (Agl), and Endurance (End). Psych- 
  ological attributes are Intellect (Int), 
  Charisma (Chr), and Social Level 
  (Soc). Each attribute is defined by a 
  number from 1 to 6, with higher 
  numbers being better. In the case of 
  Social Level, the number defines a 
  specific social class to which the 
  character belongs, as shown below. 
  SOCIAL LEVEL 
  Attribute 
  Social Class 
  6 
  Aristocracy 
  5 
  Wealthy Gentry 
  4 
  Gentry 
  3 
  Middle Class 
  2 
  Tradesman 
  1 
  Working Class 
  For example, Fred Caruthers has 
  the following attributes: 
  Physical Psychological 
  Str: 
  6 Int: 
  2 
  Agh 
  3 Chr: 4 
  End: 
  1 Soc: 
  5 
  Fred's Strength attribute of 6 
  makes him a remarkably strong man, 
  perhaps the strongest in Europe, and 
  his Agility is average, but his En- 
  durance is very low. He has below- 
  average Intellect but sufficient 
  Charisma to make him a likable, 
  agreeable fellow with a reputation as 
  a wit. His Social Level of 5 indicates 
  that he is from the wealthy gentry. 
  DETERMINING ATTRIBUTES 
  THERE ARE three acceptable 
  means of generating attributes. You 
  and the referee should agree before- 
  hand as to which method will be 
  used. The three methods are distribu- 
  tion, free purchase, and random gen- 
  eration. 
  If the distribution system is used, 
  the character assigns a number from 
  1 to 6 to each attribute, but never 
  uses the same number twice. Thus he 
  will have one attribute rated as 1, one 
  rated as 2, etc. The distribution sys- 
  tem provides characters which have 
  strong points and weak points that 
  make for interesting role-playing 
  possibilities and is strongly recom- 
  mended for your first character. 
  In the free purchase system each 
  character is allotted a total of 21 at- 
  tribute points which may be assigned 
  in any way the player wishes. The 
  only restrictions are that each at- 
  tribute must have a value of at least 
  1 and no more than 6. The free pur- 
  chase system should only be used 
  once players are familiar enough 
  with the game to have a clear idea 
  of exactly the sort of character they 
  wish to role play. 
  In the random generation system 
  the player rolls a die once for each 
  attribute, with the die roll result be- 
  ing the attribute value. If the sum of 
  all six attribute rolls is less than 18, 
  the player may add points to the at- 
  tribute or attributes of his choice to 
  bring his total up to 18. This system 
  gives the player no control over his 
  attributes but does offer the possibili- 
  ty of a few lucky rolls giving him a 
  superior character. Many experi- 
  enced players prefer the challenge of 
  role playing a randomly generated 
  character. 
  SKILLS 
  THE GAME includes 24 principal 
  skills, although referees may feel the 
  need to make up additional skills. 
  The basic 24 skills are divided into 
  six groups of four each, and each 
  group is associated with a particular 
  attribute. These skills are listed be- 
  low. 
  SKILLS 
  Strength 
  Intellect 
  Fisticuffs 
  Observation 
  Throwing 
  Engineering* 
  Close Combat* 
  Science* 
  Trimsman* 
  Gunnery* 
  Agility 
  Charisma 
  Stealth 
  Eloquence 
  Crime* 
  Theatrics 
  Marksmanship* 
  Bargaining 
  Mechanics* 
  Linguistics 
  Endurance 
  Social Level 
  Wilderness 
  Riding* 
  Travel* 
  Piloting* 
  Fieldcraft 
  Leadership 
  Tracking 
  Medicine 
  Swimming 
  Skills marked with an asterisk (*) 
  are cascade skills (listed at right). 
  Cascade skills cover a variety of 
  specific skills. The skill level covers 
  the character's skill in one area of the 
  skill's field. The character is then 
  assumed to have a skill level equal 
  to half that (round fractions down) 
  in all other areas of the skill's field. 
  For example, Marksmanship is a cas- 
  cade skill covering pistols, rifles, and 
  bows. Caruthers has a Marksman- 
  ship skill level of 2; his weapon of 
  choice is the rifle. He has a Marks- 
  manship skill of 2 firing a rifle and 
  of 1 firing pistols and bows. 
  
  ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS 1( 11 
   ' m Srma  iyer 
  CASCADE SKILLS 
  Cloudship 
  Marksmanship 
  Pistol 
  Rifle (includes carbines and 
  shotguns) 
  Bow 
  Mechanics 
  Steam 
  Electricity 
  Machinist 
  Wilderness Travel 
  Mountaineering 
  Foraging 
  Mapping 
  Close Combat 
  Edged Weapon 
  Pole Arm 
  Bashing Weapon 
  Riding 
  Horse 
  Camel 
  Elephant 
  Gashant 
  Ruumet Breehr 
  Flying Skrill 
  Pacyosaurus 
  ,q 
  Crime 
  r 
  Lockpick 
  Pickpocket 
  Forger 
  Engineering 
  Structural Engineering 
  Naval Architecture 
  Explosives 
  Earthworks 
  Science 
  Physics 
  Chemistry 
  Biology 
  Geology 
  Archaeology 
  Gunnery 
  Muzzle-Loading Cannon 
  Breech-Loading Cannon 
  Machinegun/Rotary Cannon 
  Exotic Weaponry 
  Piloting 
  Aerial Flyer 
  Cloudship 
  Zeppelin 
  Interplanetary Ether Flyer 
  Sailing Vessel 
  Steam Vessel 
  Submarine 
  Linguistics constitutes a special 
  type of cascade. All characters are 
  assumed to be fluent in their native 
  language. Each point taken in Lin- 
  guistics allows the player to speak 
  and understand one foreign lan- 
  guage. The total Linguistics score is 
  the player's fluency in one particular 
  language, while his fluency in all of 
  his other languages is half that of his 
  primary chosen language (rounding 
  fractions down). Thus a character 
  with a Linguistics skill of 1 would 
  have a limited knowledge of one 
  language, while a character with a 
  skill of 4 would be quite fluent in one 
  language (skill 4) and reasonably 
  proficient in three others (skill 2). 
  WEIGHT 
  ~'~'~ 
  " 
  AT TIMES it will be important | 
  to know your character's weight. 
  To determine a character's 
  weight in pounds, multiply 
  Strength by 20 and add 100. Fred 
  Caruthers, for example, with a 
  Strength of 6, weighs 220 
  pounds. 
  OBTAINING SKILLS 
  SKILLS ARE obtained in three 
  ways: defaults, careers, and pur- 
  chases. 
  Default skills are those in which a 
  player has some ability by simple vir- 
  tue of his attributes. The first skill 
  listed in each attribute group is a 
  default skill. In addition, Throwing 
  is a second default skill in the 
  Strength group. Each character starts 
  with a skill level in each default skill 
  equal to one less than his attribute 
  value, except for Throwing. Each 
  player starts with a Throwing skill 
  equal to half his Strength attribute 
  (rounding fractions down). Colonel 
  Caruthers, for example, would have 
  the following default skills due to his 
  attributes: 
  Fisticuffs: 5 Observation: 2 
  Throwing: 3 
  Stealth: 
  1 Eloquence: 3 
  Wilderness 
  Riding: 
  4 
  Travel: 0 
  Career skills are obtained as 
  described in the section labeled 
  "Careers," which begins on page 
  12. 
  Finally, all players may purchase 
  additional skills for their characters. 
  Each player receives either two or six 
  general skill points (as described in 
  the "Careers" section) with which 
  to purchase more skills. Points may 
  be used to raise default skills and 
  subsidiary cascade skills as well. 
  Caruthers, for example, might use 
  one skill point to raise his overall 
  Marksmanship level to 3 (which 
  would make his skill with rifle a 3 
  but his skill with pistols and bows 
  still 1) or could spend a point in rais- 
  ing his pistol skill level to 2. 
  GDW 
  
  12 
  CAREERS 
  CAREERS 
  EACH PLAYER may take one 
  career and six general skill points, or 
  two careers and two general skill 
  points. If the player takes two ca- 
  reers, they are referred to as his first 
  and second careers. 
  Career Selection: Each career 
  lists a prerequisite for entry (or the 
  notation "no prerequisite"). For ex- 
  ample, the Merchant career listing 
  reads "Soc 4-, 
  Chr 3+". 
  The 
  prerequisite for being a merchant is 
  that your Social Level be 4 or less 
  and your Charisma be 3 or higher. 
  There are several limitations on 
  career entry, which are explained 
  below. 
  Male Only: These are government 
  positions from which women are 
  barred by policy. Female characters 
  may attempt to enter such careers, 
  but only by successfully imper- 
  sonating a man, which was done in 
  this period with surprising regulari- 
  ty (one woman in disguise actually 
  rising to the position of a cabinet 
  minister in Canada). To successful- 
  ly impersonate a man, the player 
  must roll one die and roll equal to or 
  less than the character's Agility or 
  Intellect, whichever is higher. 
  ~p 
  Female Only: The Adventuress 
  career is open only to women. 
  Criminal Careers: The Master 
  Criminal career may only be selected 
  as a second career. Other Criminal 
  careers may be selected as first ca- 
  reers, but, if so, then the only sec- 
  ond careers possible are~another 
  Criminal career, the Army, Acting, 
  or Adventuress. 
  Skills: A career provides a player 
  with a number of skills. Usually the 
  career provides seven skill levels 
  divided between several different 
  skills, although a few of the more dif- 
  ficult or selective careers provide 
  more. The Merchant career skill 
  listing is "Bargaining 3, Eloquence 
  1, Linguistics 1, Leadership 2." 
  Those skill levels are received or 
  added to skills already acquired. 
  Second Career: A second career 
  may be a repeat of the first career, 
  or it may be an entirely new career. 
  GENERAL SKILL POINTS 
  GENERAL SKILL POINTS are 
  used to purchase additional skills. 
  Each skill level purchased in an area 
  with an associated attribute level of 
  5 or 6 costs 1/2 point. Each skill level 
  purchased in an area with an associ- 
  ated attribute level of 3 or 4 costs 1 
  point. Each skill level purchased in 
  an area with an associated attribute 
  level of 1 or 2 costs 2 skill points. 
  No player may purchase a skill 
  level greater than his associated at- 
  tribute level (although career skills 
  may cause the skill level to be higher 
  than the associated attribute). No 
  character may buy an increase in 
  Close Combat skill greater than 1 
  above his career-generated level. 
  WEALTH 
  ALL CHARACTERS begin the 
  game with a "fortune," or life's sav- 
  ings. This represents the money they 
  have accumulated or inherited and 
  which is available to bankroll any ex- 
  pedition they care to undertake. The 
  aristocracy and wealthy gentry will 
  have an annual income or allowance 
  from their family or income-pro- 
  ducing lands, and their initial fortune 
  represents the first year's installment 
  of this. Each year in the game they 
  receive additional money. 
  The amount of the initial fortune 
  is determined by rolling one or more 
  dice and multiplying the result by a 
  fixed number. The formula varies for 
  each Social Level, as indicated be- 
  low. In all cases the resulting amount 
  of money is in pounds sterling (s 
  If either career of your character was 
  Merchant, Adventuress, or Crimi- 
  nal, multiply your starting fortune by 
  an additional 10. If your second 
  career was Master Criminal, multi- 
  ply your starting fortune by an addi- 
  tional 50. 
  Aristocracy: 3 dice x 100. 
  Wealthy Gentry: 2 dice• 100. 
  Gentry: 1 diex 50. 
  Middle Class: 2 dice x50. 
  Tradesman: 2 dice x 10. 
  Working Class: 2 dice• 1. 
  I, I 
  
  CAREERS I,( 13 
  ADDITIONAL 
  CAREER BENEFITS 
  SEVERAL CAREERS have an 
  additional benefit associated with 
  them, which can be an associate, an 
  income, or an invention. 
  Associates 
  CHARACTERS WITH certain 
  social levels or in certain careers may 
  have an associate. An associate is a 
  non-player character who travels 
  with the player's character and is, to 
  a limited extent, controlled by the 
  player. The actual actions of the 
  associate are determined by the ref- 
  eree, as explained in the chapter 
  "The Referee." However, the play- 
  er will have considerable influence 
  over his or her associate. 
  Characters with a Social Level of 
  6 have a servant who accompanies 
  them on their travels, looks after 
  them, and sometimes serves as a 
  bodyguard for them. Male characters 
  have a manservant. Female char- 
  acters may have either a manservant 
  or a maid. If the character is an ar- 
  my or navy officer, this servant is the 
  character's 
  "batman" 
  and is a 
  private soldier. 
  Adventuress characters have a 
  "gentleman companion," a wealthy 
  male usually of fairly high Social 
  Level and fairly low Intellect, who 
  serves as a convenient facade for the 
  character's activities. 
  Personal Servant characters have 
  a "master," who is again a wealthy 
  upper-class man or woman with a 
  fairly low Intellect and who is, 
  presumably, easily influenced. Per- 
  sonal Servant characters need a fairly 
  good Eloquence level, however, or 
  an attempt to talk their masters into 
  a liftwood-poaching expedition in the 
  Astusapes Highlands might end up as 
  an elephant-hunting safari in Africa. 
  Master Criminal characters have a 
  henchman, a petty criminal who can 
  be dispatched to do various dirty 
  deeds. 
  Income 
  CHARACTERS WITH a Social 
  Level of 5 or 6 receive an annual in- 
  come equal to their initial fortune. 
  This is paid in 12 equal monthly in- 
  stallments and represents the income 
  from their estates. 
  Characters who are in government 
  service receive a monthly salary. For 
  characters in the military, this salary 
  is entirely consumed by pay stop- 
  pages for lodging and equipment, 
  mess bills, and so forth. For game 
  purposes they have no income, but 
  are supported by the service. Of- 
  ficials of the Foreign Office and the 
  Colonial Office receive a salary of 
  s 
  per month. 
  Characters who are inventors 
  receive royalties from their patented 
  inventions. Roll 2 dice and multiply 
  the result by 10 to determine the an- 
  nual royalties received. These are 
  received once per ~,ear as a lump sum 
  payment. The dice are rolled each 
  year for the royalty rate, and thus it 
  will vary from year to year. If the 
  player ever rolls two or more 1 s for 
  royalty amount, subtract one die 
  from the number of dice rolled in 
  future years. If the player ever rolls 
  two or more 6s, add one die to the 
  number of dice rolled in future years. 
  For example, if a player rolled two 
  6s his first year for royalties, he 
  would roll three dice for royalties in 
  every subsequent year. 
  Inventions 
  INVENTOR 
  CHARACTERS 
  may have one or more inventions. 
  The process is described in the 
  chapter called "Science." 
  GDW 
  
  14 
  )) CAREERS 
  THE CAREER or careers chosen 
  by a player determines the sorts of 
  skills available to his character. 
  Part 1--Government Careers 
  Army: Male only. No prerequi- 
  site. 
  Soc 1: Private soldier, any branch-- 
  Close Combat 1, Wilderness Travel 
  1 (foraging), Marksmanship 1 (rifle), 
  Bargaining 1. 
  �9 Infantry: Marksmanship 1 (ri- 
  fle), Fieldcraft 2. 
  �9 Cavalry: Riding 2, Observation 1. 
  �9 Artillery: Gunnery 2 (BLC or 
  machinegun), Mechanics 1 (ma- 
  chinist). 
  �9 Sapper: Marksmanship 1 (ri- 
  fle), Engineering 2 (earthworks). 
  �9 Medical Orderly: Medicine 1, 
  Science 1 (biology), Observation 1. 
  Soc 2: Noncommissioned officer-- 
  Close Combat 1, Wilderness Travel 
  1 (foraging), Marksmanship 1 (rifle), 
  Leadership 1. 
  Branch skills same as for private 
  soldiers. 
  .~~ 
  REGIMENTS 
  A RULE the regiments of" 
  :itish Army fell into two 
  d categories. The expen- 
  "fashionable" units--the 
  s, most of the cavalry, and 
  select infantry regiments 
  e 60th Rifles and the Gor- 
  ighlanders--were the pre- 
  of the wealthy and well- 
  they were often superb on 
  but unready for the hard 
  ~s of active service. (The 
  ~resident of the Grenadier 
  s once wrote to his counter- 
  a the unfashionable War- 
  1ires to ask about the avail- 
  of ice in the Sudan.) The 
  estigious county regiments 
  )t, or the "technical ser- 
  '--the artillery and en- 
  s--were the place for a 
  ,ho wanted to get practical 
  experience on campaign. He 
  might also avoid the crippling 
  mess bills and cost of horses and 
  tailoring that were expected in, 
  for example, the 1 lth Hussars or 
  the Coldstream Guards. For 
  those inclined to the military but 
  without private means, the best 
  options were the Royal Ma- 
  rines-life afloat was cheap--or 
  the Indian or Egyptian armies; 
  besides, it was not lineage or in- 
  fluence that helped a man get 
  ahead in the Afridi hills or the 
  Nile frontier. 
  Soc 3: Officer, native regiment or 
  technical branch--Leadership 2, 
  Marksmanship 1, Close Combat 1. 
  O lnfantry (Native Regiment): 
  Fieldcraft 1, Linguistics 1 (as troops 
  commanded), Observation 1. 
  �9 Cavalry (Native Regiment): 
  Riding 1, Linguistics 1 (as troops 
  commanded), Observation 1. 
  �9 Artillery: Gunnery 2 (BLC or 
  machinegun), Mechanics 1 (ma- 
  chinist). 
  �9 Engineer: Engineering 3 (earth- 
  works). 
  �9 Surgeon: Medicine 2, Science 
  1 (biology). 
  Soc 4: Officer, common regiment 
  or technical branch--Leadership 2, 
  Marksmanship 1, Close Combat 1. 
  All branch skills are the same as 
  for Social Level 3, except that 
  Wilderness Travel 1 (mapping) is 
  substituted for Linguistics skill in the 
  infantry and cavalry. 
  Soc 5, 6: Officer, fashionable in- 
  fantry or cavalry regiment (technical 
  services not allowed)--Leadership 2, 
  Marksmanship 1, Close Combat 1, 
  Linguistics 
  1 (any European 
  language), Riding 1, Eloquence 1. 
  
  CAREERS |( 15 
  Navy: Male only. No prerequisite. 
  Soc 1: Ordinary seaman--Swim- 
  ming 1, Gunnery 1 (BLC or ma- 
  chinegun), Mechanics 1 (steam), 
  plus any four of the following: 
  Linguisticg 1, Observation 1, 
  Close Combat 1, Marksmanship 1, 
  Trimsman 1, Piloting 1, Medicine 1. 
  Soc 2: Petty officer--Swimming l, 
  Gunnery 1 (BLC or machinegUn), 
  Mechanics 1 (steam), Leadership l, 
  plus any three of the same group as 
  for ordinary seamen. 
  Soc 3, 4: Engineering officer-- 
  Leadership 1, Mechanics 2 (steam), 
  Science 1 (physics), plus any 3 of the 
  same group as for ordinary seamen. 
  Soc 5, 6: Line officer--Leadership 
  2, Close Combat 1, Piloting 1, 
  Observation 1, plus any one of the 
  following: 
  Linguistics 2, Marksmanship 2, 
  Gunnery 2. 
  Foreign Office--Agent: Int 4 +. 
  Linguistics 2, Crime 2, Thea- 
  trics 2, Observation 1. 
  '
  ~
  -
  ,
   
  '-., 
  "::, 
  "::,'.'~,. I 
  Foreign Office--Diplomat: Male 
  only. Soc 3 +, Int 4+. 
  Bargaining 2, Linguistics 3 
  (French), Eloquence 1, Observa- 
  tion 1. 
  Colonial Office: Male only. Soc 
  4+. 
  Bargaining 1, Linguistics 2, Elo- 
  quence 1, Observation 1, Theatrics 
  1, Marksmanship 1. 
  ~ "  
  ADMINISTRATORS ,, 
  THE MEN who ran the Empire "on the spot 
  were products of a~'~l 
  narrow caste, and most spent their entire careers running Britain's 
  overseas possessions, working their way through postings in Sarawak 
  or Swaziland in the hope of a plum job, a governorship in a pleasant 
  land with a decent climate and properly organized sporting activities. 
  Mostly young men of the upper middle class, educated at the public 
  schools and older universities, they were generally Anglican in faith 
  and Conservative in politics, and well imbued with the games-playing 
  cult of "Muscular Christianity." The Foreign Office selected candidates 
  by examinations of notorious difficulty, to be followed by a year's study 
  in law and languages before being placed in postings abroad. The less 
  prestigious and less pompous Colonial Office chose its men by per- 
  sonal recommendation and informal interview, on the grounds that, in 
  the strange and backward territories that fell to its lot, "character" and 
  robust good health were rather more necessary than brains or knowledge. 
  Once.posted in Upper Burma or deepest Gorovaan, the young District 
  Commissioner (or whatever his local title) would function as judge, 
  policeman, tax collector, census taker, architect, civil engineer and per- 
  form a hundred other duties. As far as possible he would try to follow 
  local laws, omitting only those repugnant to Anglo-Saxon tastes, and 
  invent legal theories and procedures as seemed appropriate to the mo- 
  ment. Some stations were more comfortable than others--Ceylon and 
  Syrtis Major were renowned as "good billets"--while others offered 
  only mud huts and mosquitoes, the closest European company being 
  the French or German official in his own thatched hovel across the ill- 
  defined border. Not surprisingly, some administrators grew slack, taking 
  to imported gin and local mistresses--especially in tropical Africa, where 
  the "Old Coasters" had an unenviable reputation--but most showed 
  a dedication, energy and resourcefulness that far outweighed their lack 
  of useful training or empathy with their often misunderstood charges. 
  GDW 
  
  16 
  )) CAREERS 
  Part 2--Exotic Careers 
  Big Game Hunter: Agl 4 +, End 
  5+. 
  Wilderness Travel 1, Fieldcraft 
  1, Tracking 2, Marksmanship 2, 
  Linguistics 1. 
  Explorer: End 5 +, Str 2 +. 
  Wilderness Travel 2, Fieldcraft 
  1, Marksmanship 1, Linguistics 2, 
  Leadership 1, Swimming 1. 
  Dilettante Traveller: Soc 5 +. 
  Linguistics 3, Pilot 1, Science 1, 
  Wilderness Travel 1, Marksmanship 
  1, Swimming 1. 
  Adventuress: Female only. Int 
  4+, Chr 5+. 
  Close Combat 1, Marksmanship 
  1, Linguistics 2, Theatrics 2, Elo- 
  quence l, Crime l, Leadership 1. 
  Reporter: Int 4 +, Chr 4+. 
  Observation 1, Theatrics 2, Elo- 
  quence l, Linguistics 2, Wilderness 
  Travel 1. 
  Part 3--Service Careers 
  Actor: Soc 4-, Chr 5 +. 
  Theatrics 
  3, Eloquence 
  1, 
  Linguistics 2, Leadership 1. 
  Personal Servant: Soc 3-, Chr 
  4+. 
  Close Combat 1, Linguistics 2, 
  Bargaining l, Medicine l, Riding l, 
  Observation 1. 
  Tutor/Governess: Soc 2, 3 or 4, 
  Int 5 +. 
  Science 2, Linguistics 2, Elo- 
  quence l, Theatrics 1, Leadership l, 
  Medicine 1. 
  Grounds Keeper: Soc 3-, End 
  4+. 
  Marksmanship l, Wilderness 
  Travel 1, Tracking 2, Fieldcraft 3. 
  •W 
  THE PRESS 
  THE ADVANCE of literacy during the Victorian Era, particularly 7 
  after the Education Act of 1870, fueled a growth in readership for cheap, 
  popular literature of all kinds. The older, highly respectable press ex- 
  emplified by The Times was joined by a vigorously Imperialist group 
  of London dailies--The Standard, The Morning Post, and, especially, 
  by "the embodiment and mouthpiece of the Imperial idea," The Daily 
  Mail. Weekly pictorial magazines--The Illustrated London News, The 
  Graphic, The Black and White Budget--portrayed the growth of Em- 
  pire as both a divinely inspired mission and a jolly lark in the (often 
  rather distant) countryside. Journalists became celebrities, especially 
  the intrepid war correspondents. Archibald Forbes rode through enemy 
  territory alone to be first with the news of the defeat of the Zulus at 
  Ulundi in 1879 and would alternately predict trouble in the Balkans 
  or the Belgian Coprates, "in the spring, mark my words." Bennet 
  Burleigh rallied a broken square at Tamai in the Sudan; his "Desert 
  Warfare," "Conquest of the Red Planet," and "Khartoum Campaign" 
  were enormously successful. Melton Prior's impression of the "Last 
  Stand at the Shastapsh Residency" hung above the mantelpiece in many 
  a suburban parlor. G. W. Stevens, "the High Priest of Imperialism," 
  never regained his health after a dose of Parhoon thorn fever and died 
  of typhoid at Ladysmith in 1900. It was the work of these cor- 
  respondents, whose purple prose made the myth of Empire so real for 
  the man in the street, to create a popular enthusiasm for Imperial 
  adventurism. 
  
  CAREERS 
  Part 4--Mercantile Careers 
  Inventor: Int 4+, Agl 3 +. 
  Science 2 (physics), Engineer- 
  ing 2 (naval architecture), Mechanics 
  2 (choice). 
  Merchant: Soc 4-, Chr 4+. 
  Bargaining 3, Eloquence 1, 
  Linguistics 1, Leadership 2. 
  Mechanic: Soc 3-, Agl 4 +. 
  Mechanics 3, Engineering 1, 
  Science 1, Observation 1, Bargain- 
  ing 1. 
  Engineer: Soc 4-, Int 4+. 
  Engineering 2, Mechanics 2, 
  Science 1 (physics), Observation 1. 
  Seaman: Soc 3-, Str 3 +. 
  Fisticuffs 1, Throwing 1, Swim- 
  ming 1, Linguistics 2, Piloting 1, 
  Observation 1. 
  Part 5--Professional Careers 
  Detective: Soc 3 +, Int 5 +. 
  Close Combat 1, Science 2, 
  Crime 2, Theatrics 1, Tracking 2, 
  Medicine 1. 
  �9 
  < 
  i.! 
  ! 
  Doctor: Soc 3 or 4, Int 4+. 
  Science 2 (biology), Medicine 3, 
  Observation 1, Linguistics 1. 
  ! 
  t 
  Scientist: Soc 4 +, Int 5 +. 
  Science 3, Engineering 1, Ob- 
  servation 1, Linguistics 2 (German 
  or French). 
  Part 6-Criminal Careers 
  Master Criminal: Second career 
  only. Int 6. 
  Crime 2, Science 1, Close Com- 
  bat 1, Marksmanship 1, Theatrics 1, 
  Linguistics 
  1, Leadership 2, 
  Medicine 1. 
  Poacher: Soc 3-, Agl 4+. 
  Marksmanship 1, Close Combat 
  1, Fieldcrafi 2, Tracking 2, Crime 1. 
  Smuggler: End 4 +, Agl 4 +. 
  Close Combat 1, Piloting 1, 
  Crime 2, Linguistics 1, Bargaining 
  1, Swimming 1. 
  Thief: Soc 3-, Agl 5 +. 
  Close Combat 1, Stealth 1, 
  Crime 2, Theatrics 2, Eloquence 1. 
  Anarchist: Soc 3-, Agl 5 +. 
  Crime 2, Close Combat 1, Elo- 
  quence 1, Engineering 1 (ex- 
  plosives), Theatrics 1, Linguistics 1. 
  GDW 
  
  18 
  SKILL EXPLANATIONS 
  EXPLANATIONS OF SKILLS 
  THIS SECTION defines the vari- 
  ous skills and the tasks they are used 
  to perform. 
  Strength Skills: The following 
  skills fall under the Strength 
  attribute: 
  Fisticuffs: Fisticuffs skill is the 
  ability to hit an opponent with fist or 
  foot and cause pain or injury, and 
  also the ability to hold and restrain 
  an opponent or, conversely, to strug- 
  gle free from an opponent's grasp. 
  Fisticuffs skill would be used in any 
  situation where a character attempts 
  to subdue or silence an opponent with 
  a blow, wrestle someone to the 
  ground, fight off an attacker, or 
  escape from the coils of a giant snake 
  or octopus. 
  Throwing: Throwing is the ability 
  to hurl objects accurately. As a 
  weapons skill this is used as the 
  equivalent of Marksmanship with 
  any thrown weapon (spear, knife, 
  hatchet, bolo, boomerang). It is also 
  used to determine the success of 
  throws of grappling hooks, heavy 
  lines, rocks, grenades, etc. 
  Close Combat: This skill defines 
  a character's ability to keep his head 
  in situations of mortal danger and use 
  a weapon effectively. While Marks- 
  manship determines the ability of a 
  character to hit a distant target, it has 
  little or nothing to do with the 
  likelihood that a character will be 
  coolly able to drop a charging der- 
  vish or swooping High Martian at 
  less than five paces. Close Combat 
  is a cascade skill which must have a 
  primary emphasis on bashing weap- 
  ons, edged weapons, or pole arms. 
  Whenever a character attempts to use 
  any weapon in close combat, wheth- 
  / 
  era firearm or melee weapon, the 
  Close Combat skill is used to deter- 
  mine success. 
  Trimsman: Trimsman skill is the 
  ability to maintain a liftwood vessel 
  in proper, 
  level trim. Liftwood 
  vessels are held up by many in- 
  dividual liftwood panels, arranged 
  much like Venetian blinds, which 
  provide varying amounts of lift 
  depending on their angle toward the 
  surface of the planet. Trim is main- 
  tained by almost constant adjustment 
  of the individual panels and is an ex- 
  acting task. As Martian and Euro- 
  pean trim controls differ consider- 
  ably, this is a cascade skill which 
  must have a primary emphasis on 
  either cloudships or aerial flyers. 
  Agility Skills: The Agility at- 
  tribute is closely tied to the follow- 
  ing skills: 
  Stealth: Stealth is the ability to 
  move silently and avoid detection. 
  This skill is used to determine the 
  ability of a character to sneak up on 
  guards, creep past enemy outposts or 
  sleeping animals, lurk in shadows 
  and dark alleys, etc. 
  Marksmanship: The ability to hit 
  a distant target with a firearm or bow 
  is Marksmanship. This is a cascade 
  skill which must have a primary em- 
  phasis on pistols, rifles (including 
  carbines and shotguns), or bows. 
  Mechanics: The ability to con- 
  struct, operate, and repair machines 
  is Mechanics. This cascade skill must 
  have a primary emphasis on steam 
  engines, electrical devices, or skill 
  with precision machinery (called 
  machinist). 
  Crime: Crime 
  skill covers a 
  familiarity with one or more of a 
  variety of illegal practices. This 
  cascade skill must have a primary 
  emphasis on forgery, lockpicking, or 
  pickpocketing. 
  I 
  Endurance Skills: Endurance in- 
  fluences the following skills: 
  Wilderness Travel: Wilderness 
  Travel is the ability to travel across 
  uncharted and hostile country. This 
  is an essential skill for explorers and 
  adventurers. It is a cascade skill that 
  must have a primary emphasis on 
  mountaineering, foraging, or map 
  making. 
  Fieldcraft: The ability to judge the 
  lay of the ground and use its poten- 
  tial to the fullest is Fieldcraft. 
  Fieldcraft skill determines the abili- 
  ty of a character to move silently 
  through the woods, use the lay of the 
  land to move under cover and 
  unobserved, and take up covered 
  positions with good fields of fire in 
  combat. 
  Tracking: Tracking is the ability to 
  detect and follow the trail of a man 
  or an animal. This is particularly im- 
  portant for hunters, but is also useful 
  if pursuing a fleeing enemy. 
  Swimming: The ability to avoid 
  drowning without recourse to flota- 
  tion devices is Swimming. 
  
  SKILL EXPLANATIONS [( 19 
  Intellect Skills: Intellect is the at- 
  tribute of primary importance for: 
  Observation: Observation is the 
  ability to notice things. This skill 
  defines the ability of a detective to 
  notice clues or items out of place, the 
  ability of a soldier to notice an enemy 
  ambush or signs of enemy move- 
  ment, the ability of a scientist to 
  notice an unusual rock formation or 
  the skeleton of an extinct animal, etc. 
  Engineering: The ability to design 
  and supervise the construction of 
  structures 
  is Engineering. 
  This 
  cascade skill must have a primary 
  emphasis on structural engineering 
  (bridges, roads, dams, and build- 
  ings), naval architecture (the design 
  of nautical and aerial vessels), ex- 
  plosives (the use of dynamite and 
  gunpowder to move earth and rock 
  or destroy structures), or earthworks 
  (the construction of military fortifi- 
  cations). 
  Science: The Science skill covers 
  a familiarity with the basic laws of 
  science and the body of scientific 
  knowledge. This is a cascade skill 
  which must have a primary emphasis 
  on physics, chemistry, biology, 
  geology, archaeology, or astronomy. 
  Gunnery: Gunnery is the ability to 
  man and direct the fire of large 
  weapons. This is a cascade skill 
  which must have a primary emphasis 
  on muzzle-loading cannons (such as 
  the Martians use), breech-loading 
  cannons (of the modem European 
  type), machineguns 
  (including 
  rotating cannons of the Hotchkiss 
  type), and exotic weapons such as the 
  Smutts Discharger. 
  Charisma Skills: Charisma is 
  very important to a good skill level 
  in: 
  Eloquence: Eloquence is the ability 
  to convince non-player characters to 
  go along with your ideas.~ This is par- 
  ticularly imP0~tant when trying to 
  convince a university to fund an ex- 
  pedition, a senior officer to send a 
  relief column, or a bureaucrat to 
  issue a permit. 
  Theatrics: The ability to play a role 
  convincingly is covered by Theatrics 
  skill. This skill defines the ability of 
  a character to fool non-player char- 
  acters when impersonating someone 
  else, or the ability to tell convincing 
  lies. It also is used when preparing 
  a successful disguise. 
  Bargaining: The ability to effec- 
  tively negotiate is Bargaining. This 
  determines the ability of a character 
  to get the best possible price when 
  buying or selling an item, the abili- 
  ty of diplomatic personnel to negoti- 
  ate with foreign officials, etc. 
  Linguistics: Linguistics is the abili- 
  ty to learn and speak foreign lan- 
  guages. 
  Social Level Skills: Social Level 
  influences the following skills: 
  Riding: Riding skill is the ability 
  to control animals while riding them. 
  This cascade skill must have a 
  primary emphasis On riding the ter- 
  restrial horse, camel, or elephant, the 
  Martian gashant, ruumet breehr, or 
  flying skrill, or the Venusian pacyo- 
  saurus. 
  Piloting: The ability to steer a 
  vessel is Piloting. While any skill 
  level of 1 or greater is sufficient to 
  operate such a vessel, higher skill 
  levels are useful in avoiding crashes 
  in hazardous situations and are used 
  to attempt difficult maneuvers. This 
  cascade skill must have a primary 
  emphasis on aerial flyers, Martian 
  cloudships, Zeppelins, interplanetary 
  ether flyers, nautical sailing vessels, 
  nautical steam vessels, or subma- 
  rines. 
  Leadership: Leadership is the 
  ability to project a forceful, com- 
  manding presence. This skill is used 
  to determine a player's success in 
  rallying demoralized troops, recruit- 
  ing followers from non-player char- 
  acters, facing down brigands or 
  thugs, and so forth. 
  Medicine: A knowledge of medi- 
  cine and the ability to administer care 
  to wounded and ill characters is 
  covered by this skill. Medicine skill 
  determines the chance of successful 
  recovery by a patient and the length 
  of time that a specific recovery will 
  take. 
  GDW 
  
  20 ~) THE VICTORIAN AGE 
  FC 
  
  THE VICTORIAN AGE 
  21 
  THE VICTORIAN AGE 
  IN THE year 1889, Great Britain 
  was approaching the height of her 
  power, pride, and prestige. She was 
  the mistress of an empire which 
  covered a quarter of the Earth's dry 
  surface and exerted a quiet, iron grip 
  on the water. She controlled much of 
  the world's commerce and led the 
  globe in manufacturing production. 
  She possessed a political stability 
  unknown amongst the nations of 
  Europe and had, two years before, 
  celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 
  coronation of her ruler, Queen- 
  Empress Victoria. Confident, com- 
  fortable, vigorous, perhaps a little 
  heavy around the jowls, the British 
  Empire was growing. In 1889, Brit- 
  ish troops were fighting in Sikkim 
  and Sierra Leone, Nyasaland in 
  Africa, Lushai in Asia, and Syrtis 
  Major on Mars. The crown had re- 
  cently taken control in Burma and 
  Bechuanaland; the columns would 
  march into Mashonaland and Mala- 
  kand Pass within the next year. 
  There seemed no limit to British 
  energy, ambition, and resolution. 
  The frontiers of the Empire were be- 
  ing pushed back farther every day; 
  and, since Edison and Armstrong 
  had plummeted into the atmosphere 
  of Mars 19 years before, there were 
  vast areas of two planets upon which 
  the Sun, it was said, never set. 
  The United Kingdom is a combi- 
  nation brought about by England's 
  domination of her three Celtic neigh- 
  bors. In 1889, it consisted of two 
  large and several smaller islands, 
  something more than 100,000 square 
  miles, floating off the northwestern 
  coasts of Europe in the warm, wet 
  path of the Gulf Stream. For most of 
  its history this small nation had been 
  of secondary significance, at best, in 
  global affairs. Greek traders had 
  visited; Roman conquerors had 
  walled half of it inside their empire 
  and stood sentry against the re- 
  mainder. Angles, Saxons and Jutes 
  had seized the eastern lowlands from 
  the Romanized Celts and pushed 
  them westwards, then fallen prey 
  themselves to Danes and Normans. 
  The Britons of the Victorian Age, 
  however, were likely to point to the 
  reign of Elizabeth, another much- 
  revered queen, as the time in which 
  the first signs of a greatness, an Im- 
  perial destiny, could be seen. Col- 
  onies had grown up along the coasts 
  of the Americas and the Indies. By 
  1763, two centuries of seagoing der- 
  ring-do and indomitable land-taking 
  had given Britain possession of huge 
  tracts of North America, key areas 
  of India and the Caribbean, and 
  toeholds in Africa and the Antipodes. 
  When the older colonies of the 
  American seaboard fought for and 
  won their independence, Britain's 
  response to the loss of an empire was 
  to go out and find another one. In 
  1889 it was busily doing so. 
  GDW 
  
  22 )) BRITAIN AND THE WORLD 
  BRITAIN AND THE WORLD 
  TO SAY that Britain set out to 
  conquer an empire is rather to 
  simplify things. The British rarely 
  wanted overseas holdings merely for 
  the act of acquisition. Britain was a 
  trading nation, and her colonies had 
  to serve a commercial end. If they 
  provided raw materials, or offered a 
  market for British goods, or stood as 
  strategic points for the Royal Navy 
  which guarded British shipping, they 
  were worthwhile; if not, London 
  wanted to get rid of them, or at least 
  avoid spending any money for their 
  upkeep. In the middle of the 19th 
  century, British governments were 
  concerned not with expanding the 
  empire but with making a profit from 
  the useful bits and preventing hot- 
  headed men on the spot from getting 
  into expansionist adventures. When 
  an army was sent to fight King 
  Theodore of Ethiopia in 1867, it 
  marched in, defeated him, released 
  his British captives, and marched 
  out; owning Ethiopia was not part of 
  the Imperial plan. Likewise, the 
  reaction of London to the outbreak 
  of the Zulu War in 1879 was one of 
  horror that local officials had begun 
  a campaign without consultation and 
  against government wishes. India, 
  now "the Jewel in the Crown," the 
  romantic heart of the Empire, had 
  been conquered largely against in- 
  structions from home, as aggressive 
  governor-generals gobbled up Sikh 
  states and Hindu princedoms. 
  By the 1880s, however, a new 
  spirit of populist expansionism had 
  taken hold. The "New Imperial- 
  ism," embodied by men like Cham- 
  berlain and Cecil Rhodes, was a 
  creed of "the White Man'~Burden," 
  of divinely inspired missions, a right 
  and duty to dominate foreign lands 
  and peoples as a race of natural-born 
  rulers. This was not the old style of 
  mercantilist empire--though the 
  profit motive loomed large in its 
  manifestation and its rhetoric--but a 
  new, proud, vulgar expression of 
  British ambitions. Fueled by the so- 
  called "Yellow Press," the expo- 
  nents of' 'jingo" imperialism talked 
  of Cape-to-Cairo railways crossing 
  British territory all the way and of 
  maps awash in British red. This was 
  almost a religion; it was one thing to 
  steal the lands and burn the villages 
  of indigenous peoples for British 
  gains, but quite another to claim it 
  was for their own good. 
  Not surprisingly, Britain had few 
  friends. The traditional isolationism 
  of a seagoing power, the rapid 
  growth of her overseas empire, and 
  the ancient British disdain for those 
  unlucky enough to have been born 
  elsewhere--sometimes expressed as 
  "Wogs begin at Calais"--meant that 
  she sought few alliances. Her Euro- 
  pean neighbors generally envied 
  British wealth, disliked British 
  boastfulness, and, if they laughed at 
  the small size of her army, had a 
  healthy respect for the might of the 
  Royal Navy. Relations with the 
  French were built upon an ancient 
  rivalry, and threats of an invasion by 
  Napoleon HI in the '50s and '60s; the 
  Fashoda Incident of 1898 almost 
  brought the two to war. Relations 
  were worse yet with the Russians, 
  for the "Great Game" of intrigue 
  and exploration over the northern 
  gateways to India was in full swing. 
  Germany was increasingly seen as an 
  economic threat, as her industry 
  grew in leaps and bounds, and the 
  new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, was prone 
  to making grandiose and excitable 
  comments that worded his great-aunt 
  Victoria and her government. Land- 
  locked Austria-Hungary was of 
  minor concern to British interests, 
  while the minor nations--Italy, 
  Spain, Portugal, Turkey--were 
  treated with a cavalier mixture of 
  patronizing goodwill and callous 
  disregard. The only nation which 
  seemed to be growing closer to Brit- 
  ain was the United States, where 
  people spoke most of the same 
  language and claimed an Anglo- 
  Saxon heritage; American heiresses 
  married British noblemen--like Lord 
  Randolph Churchill's bride, Miss 
  Jennie Jerome--and U.S. sailors had 
  tacitly supported the British seizure 
  of the Suez Canal in 1882. Whatever 
  the actions and attitudes of foreign 
  powers towards the British govern- 
  ment, private travellers were usual- 
  ly more than welcome abroad, and 
  wealthy Britons might spend much 
  of their leisure time in fashionable 
  continental spas and resorts. 
  
  VICTORIAN VALUES t( 23 
  VICTORIAN VALUES 
  "" VICTORIAN SOCIETY was characterized by strong adherenc 
  a widely accepted set of values, and many of the actions of the British 
  government and her citizens can be explained by that. Each value tended 
  to produce both virtues and vices, sometimes, paradoxically, at the same 
  time and in the same person. All that was best and all that was worst 
  about Victorian society lay in these virtues and vices. 
  Value 
  Virtue 
  Vice 
  Honesty 
  Loyalty 
  Resolution 
  "Progress" 
  Enthusiasm 
  Sportsmanship 
  Bravery 
  Detachment 
  Pride of Race 
  Personal integrity, fair 
  dealing 
  Sense of duty 
  Dynamism, strength of 
  purpose 
  Concern for improve- 
  ment 
  Good humor, vigor 
  Fitness, team spirit 
  Courage, leadership 
  Fair judgment, cool 
  reasoning 
  High self-esteem 
  Naivete and disdain 
  for alien codes of 
  behavior 
  Failure to examine orders 
  or actions of comrades 
  Inflexibility, 
  intolerance 
  Disregard for foreign 
  values, tendency to 
  meddle 
  Lack of foresight and 
  planning, failure to learn 
  from others 
  Obsession with games, 
  anti-intellectualism 
  Rashness, militancy 
  Coldness, lack of 
  sympathy 
  Racism, bigotry 
  At his best the Victorian Englishman combined a boyish zest for hard 
  work and adventure with tremendous personal courage and integrity. 
  At his worst he was smug, prudish, half-witted, hostile to everything 
  alien to his race and class, and pointlessly obsessed with sporting ac- 
  tivities. The difficulty for outsiders was that very often all these at- 
  tributes, positive and negative, could be found in the same individual. 
  Add to this mixture the frequent eccentricities cultivated by Victorians, 
  and one might meet a particularly "rum character" or "queer fish," 
  a fellow whose obvious virtues were somehow counterbalanced by 
  strange or unattractive quirks of character. 
  Players should be aware that a general acceptance of and adherence 
  to these basic values is essential to success in Victorian society at large. 
  However, that does not mean that the characters they play in Space: 
  1889 are obligated to rigidly play out each and every virtue and vice 
  appearing on this chart. 
  Beneath the pomp and cir- 
  cumstance, the British Empire was 
  an odd, ramshackle entity, working 
  in spite of, rather than because of, 
  its internal organization. Britain was 
  an industrial power ruled by landed 
  aristocrats. She was proud of her 
  achievements in trade, manufactur- 
  ing and practical engineering but had 
  been in a state of economic decline 
  vis-a-vis her German and American 
  competitors since the '60s and had 
  been in a commercial slump since 
  1875. London was the largest city in 
  the world, teeming with four million 
  people, yet the focus of British life 
  remained essentially rural for many 
  of her rulers. The Empire was a 
  hodgepodge of systems. Canada, 
  Australia and New Zealand had 
  elected assemblies based on the 
  model of Westminster, while India 
  was ruled autocratically by the 
  Viceroy appointed by London. Egypt 
  continued in a pretense of in- 
  dependence, while British ad- 
  ministrators quietly ran things. In 
  west and central Africa, private 
  trading companies such as the Royal 
  Niger Company and African Lakes 
  Company had writs to govern and 
  produce dividends for investors 
  without any real Crown supervision. 
  In isolated areas, British officials left 
  the old rulers in charge, a pragmatic 
  decision later developed into the 
  "theory" of Indirect Rule, while 
  valuable regions were tightly con- 
  trolled. Every rule seemed to have 
  an exception, and all were enforced 
  with scrupulous fairness. It was that 
  sort of time and place. 
  y 
  ill I 
  GDW 
  
  24 )) GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS 
  GOVERNMENT 
  AND POLITICS 
  GREAT BRITAIN was a constitu- 
  tional monarchy--the first of its kind. 
  Over the centuries, from the Magna 
  Carta through the Glorious Revolu- 
  tion of 1688, to the period of major 
  electoral reforms from 1832 onward, 
  the power of the Crown had been 
  stripped away; it was now a cere- 
  monial, almost ritual symbol of Brit- 
  ish nationhood. The Queen, much 
  beloved by her subjects, reigned but 
  did not rule. Government was in the 
  hands of Parliament, the two houses 
  of Lords and Commons, and specifi- 
  cally the Prime Minister and his 
  cabinet. 
  By 1886 there was universal male 
  suffrage in Britain, but the extension 
  of voting rights had as yet made lit- 
  tle difference to the traditional pat- 
  tern of government. A tight ruling 
  clique of eminent, often aristocratic 
  families who had controlled British 
  politics for centuries remained in 
  power; Lord Salisbury's cabinet was 
  overwhelmingly patrician. 
  A two-party system was in force. 
  The Whigs had become Liberals; 
  their Tory opponents were now Con- 
  servatives. Both were dominated by 
  established, landowning families, 
  and both were feeling the push from 
  below, from ambitious middle-class 
  politicians and from working-class 
  voters. The Liberals were more 
  prone to "progressive" instincts--a 
  tendency which, as we look at the 
  world of 1889, had brought division 
  and eclipse. 
  Two issues had brought this about. 
  First, the age-old Irish question had 
  split the party into "Home Rulers," 
  who favored limited self-government 
  for Ireland, and "Unionists," who 
  did not. The "Grand Old Man" of 
  the Liberals, William Ewart Glad- 
  stone, had worked to preserve uni- 
  ty, but the failure of his Home Rule 
  Bill (1886) broke the party and swept 
  Salisbury's Conservatives into 
  power. The second issue was the 
  New Imperialism, the aggressive ex- 
  pansion of British influence in 
  Africa, in Asia and, most important- 
  ly, on Mars. Gladstone had railed 
  against the expense, questioned the 
  moral reasoning, and thundered 
  against the motives. It did no good. 
  The Liberal-Unionists, led by Joseph 
  Chamberlain, trooped over to join 
  the Tories in support of "Union, 
  Empire and Mars" (as Chamberlain 
  was to put it in his Selly Oak speech 
  of 1890), and the rump of the Liber- 
  als fell into disorder as Gladstone 
  finally retired, at the ripe age of 82, 
  in 1891. 
  All of this rather put the ball in the 
  Conservative court. The Tories had 
  taken on the confident, assertive 
  spirit of Imperialism under the far- 
  sighted Disraeli (1804-81), finding in 
  it a cause which brought the new 
  working-class vote together with the
  ancient landholding elite. Lord Ran-
  dolph Churchill made Martian ex-
  pansion a plank of his "Tory Demo-
  cracy" platform, advocating invest-
  ment and settlement in the mooted
  "White Man's Country" of the
  Meepsoor Highlands. More aggres-
  sive still was Chamberlain, who as
  early as 1882 had looked forward to
  standing in the Commons Lobby
  with the Honorable Member for
  Parhoon West. 
  All this came as something of a
  surprise to Salisbury, a traditiona
  Tory who believed that Britain ought
  to be ruled by gentlemen bred for the
  purpose. A half-century in politics
  had shown Lord Salisbury the 
  fleeting nature of Imperial glory, and 
  he considered "this Martian Adven-
  ture" a red herring in Britain's ef-
  forts to preserve a waning global 
  hegemony. He was by nature a 
  power broker, a maker of deals, and 
  is alleged to have mortified his 
  cabinet, in 1888, by advocating that 
  Britain barter Syrtis Lapis, Heligo- 
  land and Ceylon for the whole of the i
  Kaiser's sphere of influence inl
  Africa. 
  Outside these two parties, govern- 
  ing alternately, were others of a dif- 
  ferent stamp. The Irish Nationalists, 
  led by Parnell, had seats in the Com- 
  mons. George Bernard Shaw found- 
  ed the Fabian Society, a group of 
  Socialist moderates, while William 
  Morris--the Renaissance Man of 
  Victorian Britain--advocated a Uto- 
  pian society. Karl Marx developed 
  his theories in London and waf 
  buried in Highgate cemetery (1883), 
  while the exiled Russian anarchist 
  Prince Kropotkin, advocated th~ 
  politics of the bomb from his homq 
  in Hammersmith. 
  
  GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS 
  25 
  The statesmen might devise policy 
  and issue orders, but administra- 
  tion-the act of doing--was in the 
  hands of career civil servants. 
  Bureaucracy had grown immensely 
  during the Victorian Era, in response 
  to the increasing sense that govern- 
  ment could be a force for improve- 
  ment. Among the civil servants, it 
  was those with Imperial responsibil- 
  ities-the men at the Foreign, Co- 
  lonial and India Offices--who were 
  most strongly smitten with a sense of 
  dedicated destiny, that which Kipling 
  would dub "the White Man's Bur- 
  den." These administrators were 
  idealistic and highly principled-- 
  usually far more scrupulous than the 
  trader or settler on the Imperial 
  Frontiers--generally the products of 
  the public schools and universities, 
  and selected by rigorous examina- 
  tion. There was fierce, if friendly, 
  rivalry between the three depart- 
  ments for control of the most presti- 
  gious territories and the budgets that 
  went with them. The Foreign Office 
  was in charge of relations with 
  sovereign powers, from France and 
  Russia to the Martian treaty depen- 
  �9 dencies, whose independence was no 
  more than nominal. This situation 
  was to bring friction with the Co- 
  lonial Office, who had taken control 
  of Syrtis Major on the establishment 
  of the Crown Colony in 1881. That 
  the upstart Colonial Office, which 
  Cecil Rhodes had denounced as be- 
  ing run "by missionaries, philan- 
  thropists and Jews," should admin- 
  ister important new lands concerned 
  not only the smart set at the Foreign 
  Office, but also the powerful India 
  Office. In 1878 the Viceroy of India, 
  Lord Lytton, took time off from the 
  business of invading Afghanistan to 
  suggest that the ` vast experience, 
  huge treasury, and powerful armed 
  might of British India made her the 
  obvious choice to govern the Mar- 
  tian Regency, as it had so many of 
  the Princely States of the subconti- 
  nent. A series of biting editorials in 
  The Times, and a famous Punch car- 
  toon showing a winged elephant 
  transporting the Viceroy from Cal- 
  cutta to the red planet for the hot 
  season, ended the idea, though Indian 
  troops were to serve in the Goro- 
  vaangian War as instructors to the 
  Parhoon Rifles. The father of the 
  famous Martian writer, Gurchan 
  Xyypt Singh, was one of these Indian 
  troops. 
  JOSEPH PROFILE: JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN 
  signifi~ 
  CHAMBERLAIN (1836-1914) was perhaps the most 
  cant politician of his age and certainly its most characteristic. The son 
  of a shopkeeper, Chamberlain became a manufacturer of screws, retir- 
  ing at 38 to become Lord Mayor of Birmingham. His success in slum 
  clearance led to his election to Parliament (1876) and an increasing stand- 
  ing in Liberal circles. Still the radical, he saw himself as the successor 
  to Gladstone, but the Grand Old Man showed no signs of stepping down. 
  Chamberlain's imagination was soon fired by the commercial 
  possibilities opened up by the Martian possessions; he began to "think 
  Imperially." On his split with Gladstone in 1886, Chamberlain caused 
  a sensation by accepting Salisbury's offer of the Colonial Office while 
  still a member of the Liberal party; his popularity in the Midlands en- 
  sured reelection, and in 1895 he formally "crossed the House" to the 
  Tories. Unlike the cool aristocrats of the Salisbury cabinet, "Pushful 
  Joe" was sharp, aggressive, and a player to public opinion. Faultless- 
  ly dressed, monocled, with a fresh orchid in his buttonhole, his smooth 
  manners did not cover his ambitions, and his devious maneuvers as Co- 
  lonial Secretary--the Avenel Incident (1887), the Jameson Raid (1896) 
  and the events leading up to the second Boer War--caused disquiet in 
  government circles. Chamberlain saw the new acquisitions in Africa 
  and on Mars as a vast slum in need of "improvement," and his love 
  of orchids meant that his trips to 
  Syrtis Major (1886, 1894) were as 
  much in search of new species for 
  his conservatory outside Birming- 
  ham as State Visits. He left the Co- 
  lonial Office in 1903 and was struck 
  down by paralysis--possibly caused 
  by chemical secretions of the Oeno- 
  trian Black Palm in Earth's at- 
  mosphere-three years later. 
  GDW 
  
  26 )) VICTORIAN SOCIETY 
  VICTORIAN SOCIETY 
  BRITISH SOCIETY in the 19th 
  century was divided quite sharply in- 
  to classes which determined the lives 
  and expectations of its members. 
  Movement between classes was not 
  easy; it was difficult to gain accep- 
  tance when attempting to rise, and it 
  was a shameful degradation to fall. 
  There was no real "system" at all 
  in this class system; there were dif- 
  ferences between the city people-- 
  who, in Victoria's reign, for the first 
  time became the majority--and the 
  country dwellers, and between the 
  different regions. Wealth had little to 
  do with class per se--certainly less 
  than manners--but an improvement 
  in personal fortune might well be the 
  spur to acquire the behavior and at- 
  titudes of a higher status, an effort 
  that might succeed or fail according 
  to the whims of fate and the com- 
  petence of one's teacher of etiquette. 
  In descending order, as a Victorian 
  observer might see them, the class 
  hierarchy ran as follows: ~ 
  The Royal Family, which was at 
  this period fairly large. Besides the 
  queen herself, there were royal per- 
  sonages in key positions in society; 
  the Prince of Wales was the leader 
  of the London "fast set" of bon 
  viveurs, while the Queen's cousin, 
  the Duke of Cambridge, was com- 
  mander-in-chief of the army from 
  just after the Crimean War until 
  1896. Nevertheless, many of the 
  older noble families of England 
  preferred to regard the Royals as 
  upstart Germans of questionable 
  breeding and manners. 
  The Aristocracy was the elite of 
  British society in terms of wealth, 
  prestige and power. Political reform 
  was beginning to undercut the tradi- 
  tional domination of government by 
  the titled and privileged, while the 
  decline in farm prices would slowly 
  devalue the country estates upon 
  which noble fortunes depended. If 
  decline was in the wind, however, it 
  was not obvious. The aristocrats 
  were, in many ways, the least "Vic- 
  torian" element of society. They 
  came to enjoy the conveniences of 
  the modern world, but their outlook 
  remained Georgian, Rococo per- 
  haps, in a time of grave and somber 
  virtues. The nobles did not really 
  care about "progress"; they were 
  perfectly satisfied with the way 
  things had always been. Hunting and 
  balls and winters in France and after- 
  noon drives and dinner at the Carlton 
  or the Turf club; these were the pur- 
  suits of a leisured class, a class 
  whose wealth, though based in roll- 
  ing acres of prime farmland, allowed 
  them to live wherever and however 
  they Chose. As rulers, they had little 
  regard for trade or industry; their 
  education consisted largely of Greek 
  and Latin, with an increasing em- 
  phasis on games as the century wore 
  on, for a gentleman needed little 
  knowledge of mathematics or sci- 
  ence. In turn, there were few careers 
  he could enter after his years at Eton, 
  Harrow or Winchester, perhaps fol- 
  lowed by a spell at Oxford or Cam- 
  bridge. The eldest son would take 
  over the family title and estate, the 
  younger brothers would enter the 
  more fashionable regiments of the ar- 
  my, or the Church, or enter politics. 
  By the last quarter of the 19th cen- 
  tury it might be possible to go into 
  law, or the more prestigious parts of 
  the civil service. The real aristoc- 
  racy-as opposed to the county 
  squires of Berkshire and Kent--con- 
  sisted only of some 200 families, and 
  those born to rule usually knew one 
  another from childhood. A man was 
  expected to be a leader, but could 
  comfortably be a "cad"--one of 
  Lord Salisbury's sons is alleged to 
  have died a drunk in Australia. 
  Women were luxuriously cloistered 
  and bargained away in marriages 
  every bit as arranged as those of In- 
  dia; their educations were limited to 
  music, art, and the conduct befitting 
  a lady. The nobility was not ready 
  for the 20th century, which was to 
  bring almost total eclipse; indeed, its 
  only concessions to the 19th were a 
  slight tightening of the lax morality 
  and raucous good living it had en- 
  joyed since 1066 or thereabouts. 
  Nevertheless, although young Lord 
  Algie might appear something of a: 
  fool in his monocle and paisley 
  cravat, he was certainly a fine 
  horseman, probably an excellentl 
  shot, and knew very well indeed that 
  he had been born to run things. 
  
  VICTORIAN SOCIETY |( 27 
  The Gentry were the poor rela- 
  tions of the aristocracy. They were 
  not dukes or earls, though some 
  might carry minor peerages or bar- 
  onetcies, often of very ancient 
  lineage indeed. These people would 
  seldom admit inferiority to anyone, 
  least of all a Johnny-come-lately 
  whose title was granted by Charles 
  II or any of that nouveau 
  kind. In 
  education and attitudes they were 
  much like the higher nobility, but 
  with lesser expectations, assump- 
  tions, and, of course, bank accounts. 
  These were people who went hunting 
  and shooting in their own shires 
  rather than in Argyllshire or Central 
  India, and whose traditional offices 
  of government were those ancient 
  county appointments--magistrates 
  and sheriffs rather than ambassadors 
  and ministers. Likewise, their career 
  paths were the same restricted 
  avenues--estate management, the 
  church, the armed and diplomatic 
  services, and perhaps law; "trade" 
  was, of course, almost taboo. In 
  retrospect, the country gentry seem 
  as anachronistic and pleasure-bent as 
  their superiors, rather more stuffy 
  and reactionary, yet more attractive; 
  they had strong ties to the land, car- 
  ried traditional responsibilities 
  seriously, were stable and honest, 
  and retained tremendous respect in 
  their communities--far greater than 
  any self-made man could ever ex- 
  pect. The country gentleman could 
  be expected to be a model English- 
  man, courteous and dutiful, at home 
  in the Manor or serving as a District 
  Commissioner in Uganda or Avenel. 
  Below the "quality" of the shires 
  was a group that has received little 
  recognition as a class but which 
  would contribute its sons to the ser- 
  vice of the Empire in large numbers. 
  These were the country doctors, par- 
  sons, lawyers, and the better-off type 
  of landholding or tenant farmer. 
  Their traditional role was as sup- 
  porters of the gentry and the old, 
  rural-based order. Many would grav- 
  itate to the Army and Navy, or the 
  civil services of India or Syrtis Ma- 
  jor, where they would enjoy a frugal 
  prosperity and a sense of useful posi- 
  ti A- 
  The Urban Middle Classes were 
  the Victorians par excellence. It was 
  the values and virtues of the rising 
  bourgeoisie--self-help, duty, com- 
  petition, piety, thrift--that came to 
  define the era. In their prosperous 
  respectability the tradesmen, law- 
  yers, manufacturers, parsons, and 
  clerks came to dominate the tone, 
  and many of the institutions, of 
  British life. It was a middle-class em- 
  pire, and Victoria, in her attitudes 
  and pronouncements, was a middle- 
  class queen. The rise of the Victorian 
  middle class was a consequence of 
  a burgeoning economy fueled by 
  Britain's industrial and commercial 
  dominance in world affairs. The 
  traditional elites might scorn 
  "trade," as "money-grubbing" busi- 
  ness, but their social inferiors em- 
  phatically did not and rose drama- 
  tically in wealth, prestige and in- 
  fluence as a result. Austere and 
  prudish in their Methodist and Con- 
  gregationalist forms of Christianity, 
  judgmental and moralistic in their at- 
  titudes, dedicated to "progress," to 
  Free Trade, to "improvement," the 
  middle class dominated the town 
  councils, the charities, and the Tem- 
  perance Movement. The middle- 
  class man tended to look down on the 
  workers, so clearly morally inferior 
  in their drunkenness, poverty, and 
  savage amusements, and when he 
  had contact with the poor, it was 
  often with the plan of educating and 
  improving them in his own likeness. 
  The upper classes were another mat- 
  ter. The bourgeois world had scant 
  regard for the idleness, frivolity, and 
  scandalous morals of the nobility, but 
  the urge for "gentility" was strong; 
  if, as a Scots engineer or Lancashire 
  mill owner, he was a little rough for 
  "Society," he would send his sons 
  to the right schools to learn Latin and 
  become a barrister or broker and 
  would hope to marry his daughters 
  to young aristocrats of ancient 
  pedigree and empty pockets. 
  The middle class was not adven- 
  turous in spirit. Caution, planning, 
  thrift, and profit were the watch- 
  words. The daring frontiersman 
  riding with the Rhodesia column or 
  venturing into the Meroe Badlands 
  was more likely to be an impover- 
  ished aristocrat or a grim-jawed 
  millwright. The middle class provid- 
  ed the traders, the professional men, 
  the engineers, and the senior clerks. 
  These were respectable pioneers, 
  concerned about steam turbines, lift- 
  wood prices, the appalling moral tur- 
  pitude of the Canal Martians, and the 
  rarity of a decent cup of tea. With 
  wives, housemaids, and rosy-cheeked 
  children; they epitomized Victorian 
  civilization on Mars. 
  GDW 
  
  28 )) VICTORIAN SOCIETY 
  The Working Classes of the cities 
  fell into several categories, though 
  this was only dimly understood by 
  those better placed in society. At the 
  top were the craftsmen, the "ar- 
  tisans," who with careful budgeting, 
  good health, and 12-hour shifts could 
  attain a modest prosperity and adopt 
  some of the comforts and values of 
  the middle class. Often deeply 
  religious, committed to self-help less 
  through the entrepreneurial spirit 
  than through trade unions and co- 
  operative enterprises, this group 
  might oppose the bourgeoisie as 
  workers against employers but 
  shared with them a fear of the teem- 
  ing masses of the poor. Literacy was 
  high amongst the artisans; they were 
  believers in Empire, but also sup- 
  ported reform in the shape of a prac- 
  tical, populist socialism that was to 
  grow into the Labour Party and the 
  Liberal radicalism of David Lloyd 
  George. These were not usually em- 
  pire builders in the sense of admini- 
  strators and soldiers. Their contribu- 
  tion would be later, as settlers, 
  engine drivers, and skilled workmen 
  hired to oversee the efforts of local 
  laborers. 
  Below this comfortable working 
  class came the poor. They made up 
  the largest group of urban Britons, 
  THE SCOUNDRELS OF EMPIRE 
  "~"~ 
  THEY BRIBED, they lied, they swindled. They lived at the 
  best hotels and drank champagne at eleven o 'clock in the mor- 
  ning. When not involved in some sordid financial intrigue, they 
  spent their time making open and indecent love to the maids 
  behind the bars set up at almost every corner. 
  This description, by the jaundiced Mr. Vere Stent, is of the transient 
  collection of British scavengers, shysters, and petty criminals who found 
  their way to any part of the Empire or beyond where an easy4iving 
  might be made; here it was Johannesburg in the Transvaal gold belt, 
  there it might be the rough ruby diggings of Moerus Lacus. To these 
  adventurers Victoria's Empire meant only a chance to play by their own 
  rules and flout the laws of others. Some were from the lowest class- 
  es-escaped convicts, children of transportees, thieves and tricksters 
  from London, Glasgow and Dublin. Others were aristocrats, disappoint- 
  ments to their families, like Lord Avonmore, or "Have-one-more," 
  whose well-appointed entourage conspicuously failed to reach the Yukon 
  in time to make a fortune, or, indeed, at all. The low-born vagabond 
  might be hustled out of Singapore or Syrtis Major, before he could bring 
  down the tone of things; he might be hired as an estate manager, abus- 
  ing the native peoples at will. The public school "bounder" might parlay 
  his breeding and charm into position and property. The astonishingly 
  lax morals and brutal conduct towards indigenous peoples was explained 
  away as "Tropic Frenzy," a behavioral disorder brought on by stren- 
  uous living in a hot climate. In fact, it was more a matter of bad char- 
  acter, bad whiskey, and a belief that a fox, provided that he be a British 
  fox of proper ancestry, could be trusted in charge of a henhouse. 
  yet they were unrecognized in any 
  form other than a narrow and unfair 
  stereotype. The myth saw the poor 
  as immoral, drunken, and shiftless. 
  In truth, since they were overcrowd- 
  ed in tiny, dark, cold rooms, and 
  grossly underpaid for their labor, 
  they had every reason to fit this im- 
  age. If they were angry, prone to 
  fight outside pubs and riot in Trafal- 
  gar Square, they had every right to 
  be so--that was the opinion of re- 
  form-minded observers. The harsh 
  life of bad food, "cruel habitations," 
  work that was back-breaking in ef- 
  fort and seldom steady, meant that 
  the city poor were stunted and mal- 
  nourished; army statistics showed a 
  serious decline in the size and health 
  of recruits from 1800 to 1900, as the 
  slums replaced the country villages 
  as prime sources of young men. The 
  London of Sherlock Holmes and Jack 
  the Ripper--both at the height of 
  their careers at this time--is one 
  where images of the dim alleys of 
  Whitechapel and the Dickensian work- 
  houses and grim streets of "back to 
  back" houses without water or drain- 
  age loom large. Yet amongst those 
  who lived the life of the streets--the 
  thieves and prostitutes who domi- 
  nated the stereotype--were millions 
  of honest working people deprived 
  of the opportunity to change their 
  situations, who would always be day- 
  laborers and never skilled craftsmen. 
  They did not need policemen to con- 
  trol them or charity workers to teach 
  them thrift and temperance; they 
  needed a decent place to live, a 
  reasonable wage, and some chance 
  for advancement. Many of them 
  were to emigrate for that chance-- 
  to New Zealand, Canada, or, as 
  politicians now suggested, the cool, 
  dry uplands of the red planet. 
  
  VICTORIAN SOCIETY L[ 29 
  The Rural Laborers were, 
  perhaps, the poorest of all. The green 
  fields might not run rife with 
  pickpockets and beggars, but there 
  was little hope for the comfortable 
  life of an established town artisan; 
  many countrymen made their way to 
  the towns in the hope that, since 
  employers liked the "thick-set, red- 
  faced men of enormous strength" 
  from the shires, they might find suc- 
  cess. With a pig in the cottage yard 
  and a vegetable garden, the laborer's 
  family would not starve--though, as 
  the tragic tale of the 1840s testified, 
  the devastating poverty of Ireland 
  could not guarantee any kind of sup- 
  port. At best, prospects were slen- 
  der-domestic service for daughters, 
  the fields for sons (and even when 
  he had the chance of going to school, 
  the country lad was likely to be 
  pulled out for harvest time). Pay was 
  bad, especially in the marginal 
  areas--the heaths and moorlands of 
  the north, the thin-soiled glens of the 
  Scottish highlands, and especially in 
  Ireland. The Irish tenant had fewer 
  rights to his land than even the 
  English cottager, and, despised for 
  his Catholicism and "ignorance," 
  was probably the poorest, most badly 
  treated and angriest inhabitant of the 
  "Sceptr'd Isles" that comprised Vic- 
  torian Britain. 
  The urge to escape rural poverty 
  was strong, and country-born people 
  could be found at the ends of the 
  Earth and beyond--as soldiers and 
  sailors, domestics, horse handlers, 
  blacksmiths, and any position that 
  honest labor and a strong back could 
  take on. If he was unsophisticated, 
  a "yokel," he was exactly the man 
  an empire-building gentleman would 
  want ~,~ his side, and at his back, dur- 
  ing a difficult moment. 
  ~" 
  GOING 
  GOING NATIVE was a phe- 
  ~' 
  nomenon that the Victorian world 
  regarded as eccentric ,:scandalous, 
  and, worst o fall, un-British. In the 
  18th century, Englishmen abroad 
  had been expected to conform to 
  local styles, and an officer or administrator would set up a home with 
  Hindu wives, adopt Indian clothing, and embed himself in the native 
  culture. This was no longer tolerable. An Englishman was expected 
  to dress and conduct himself as an Englishman at all times--in Bangalore 
  or Syrtis Major as much as in Kew Gardens. Yet there remained some 
  individuals, relishing their independence and reveling in their flouting 
  of convention, who "went native" with a vengeance. 
  Wilfred Seaven Blunt (1840-1922) served for eleven years in the 
  diplomatic service, but left to marry the granddaughter of the poet Byron 
  and travel with her through North Africa and the Middle East. Blunt 
  was enraptured by the Arab world, founding a stud farm in Sussex with 
  brood mares given to him by an Emir. He bought an estate, "Sheykh 
  Obeid," which he referred to as "my house in the desert," although 
  it was actually in the suburbs of Cairo. His studied adoption of Bedouin 
  ways, vocal anti-Imperialist agitation, and bad poetry made him 
  something of a celebrity in British-occupied Egypt; if he was a poseur 
  and a madman, he was good company, and his attempts to provoke the 
  Consul-General, Lord Cromer, were always interesting. Blunt's amorous 
  career led to a separation from his wife; she remained at Sheykh Obeid 
  while he retired to Sussex with a "niece." 
  Franklin Jeroboam Peel (1858-1965) was a research geologist in 
  the service of the Royal Moerus Lacus company who took off into the 
  wilderness of the Astusapes in 1884. The High Martians believed that 
  Peel, with his pale complexion and unusual physique, was part Mar- 
  tian and welcomed him into their society. Peel adapted to the highland 
  culture, transcribing their war chants for the Spanish guitar, drinking 
  the potent Yfgraag liqueurs in legendary quantities, and occasionally 
  coming down from his mountain to deliver the drafts of his influential 
  treatises on the geomorphology of the Astusapian uplands (vol 1, 1893; 
  vol 2, 1898) and his neglected "Offal Recipes of the Martian." 
  Few, however, went as far as Charles de Russet. The son of a British 
  contractor resident in Simla, he gave up his faith and family to become 
  a disciple of the Fakir of Jakko; silent, saffron-robed, draped in a 
  leopard-skin headdress and surrounded by apes, De Russet spent two 
  years alone at the Temple of Hanuman the Monkey God. As late as 
  the 1920s, he was still living in the jungles below Simla, having forgotten 
  most of his native language. 
  GDW 
  
  30 
  THE MILITARY 
  THE ARMY 
  BRITAIN DID NOT have much 
  of an army by the standards of con- 
  tinental Europe. 
  She had some 
  200,000 officers and men, all volun- 
  teers, spread from County Cork to 
  Singapore, with a heavy concentra- 
  tion in India. In addition, Britain 
  could call on assistance from the In- 
  dian Army, whose peacetime strength 
  was less than 150,000, but whose 
  reserves of manpower made those of 
  the Czar seem paltry. Britain could 
  also draw upon the eager volunteer 
  forces of white colonists (New South 
  Wales forces served in the Sudan in 
  1885) and the countless local corps, 
  from the superb Hausas of the Gold 
  Coast Constabulary to the terrified 
  members of the Natal Native Con- 
  tingent, who had run from the Zulus 
  in 1879. In combination, as at Vic- 
  toria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, the 
  armed might of the Pax Brittanica 
  was impressive, but, serving in 
  penny-packets throughout the Em- 
  pire, "Victorier's sons" could ex- 
  pect to find themselves outmanned in 
  any outbreak of hostilities. It did not 
  help that the British Army had no 
  permanent tactical organization of 
  brigades, divisions, and army corps; 
  nor did it have a General Staff on the 
  Prussian model. It was a very old- 
  fashioned army; a German military 
  attache reported, "It is excellent for 
  fighting savages, just as ours is ex- 
  cellent for fighting the French." In- 
  deed, the British Army was a superb 
  instrument for small-scale operations 
  against irregular opponents. Sea- 
  soned professional warriors, imbued 
  with a rigid regimental discipline, 
  would take on huge numbers of 
  brave and skillful Afghans or 
  "fuzzy-wuzzies" without fear or loss 
  of drilled order, and beat them unless 
  something went dreadfully wrong. It 
  was at this regimental level that the 
  British Army was unequaled, which 
  served rather to mask the manifest 
  inadequacies of officer training, staff 
  work, tactical theory and logistical 
  support. As it was, the British Ar- 
  my of 1889 was entirely ready for the 
  Crimean War of 1855. 
  There were, however, voices for 
  reform. In 1871 the Purchase Sys- 
  tem, the appointment of officers by 
  sale of commissions, had finally been 
  abolished. In 1881 the old regimen- 
  tal numbers had been replaced by a 
  system of pairing battalions by coun- 
  ty, one serving overseas and the 
  other at home on an alternating basis 
  to avoid the ancient habit of leaving 
  forgotten units in the colonies so long 
  that they collectively died of fever or 
  settled down with local wives and 
  families. A staff college was set up 
  at Camberley in Surrey; flogging 
  disappeared as a punishment. Weap- 
  onry was up-to-date, and the British 
  professional soldier could validly 
  claim to show as much skill at arms 
  as any foreign competitor. 
  The Maxim machinegun. 
  The leading exponent of reform 
  was Britain's most successful general 
  of the Victorian Era, Sir Garnet 
  Wolseley. He was, in 1889, 56 years 
  old and Adjutant General of the Brit- 
  ish Army. He was a member of the 
  militant Anglo-Irish gentry, highly 
  ambitious, vain, and none too tact- 
  ful; he was also a brilliant organizer, 
  a superb strategist and a man so 
  respected for his successes that the 
  phrase "All Sir Garnet" was coined 
  to indicate anything that worked per- 
  fectly. He had won campaigns in 
  Canada (1870), Ashanti (1874) and 
  Egypt (1882); he had been just too 
  late to claim credit for the defeat of 
  the Zulus, despite his efforts to reach 
  the front before his predecessor had 
  time to win a battle; he was the man 
  who had taken the expedition to 
  rescue General Gordon 1500 miles 
  up the Nile. In 1889 his enemy was 
  no longer a Red River Metis rebel or 
  a wild Sudanese warrior but the 
  Commander-in-Chief of the Army, 
  the Duke of Cambridge. Ancient and 
  reactionary, the Duke had been in his 
  present job since 1856; his actual 
  field experience was limited to an un- 
  distinguished period of service in the 
  Crimea. He had fought all attempts 
  at reform fiercely in the belief that 
  the only time for change was when 
  it could no longer be avoided. 
  Wolseley's response to the archaic 
  and amateurish attitudes of his 
  superiors had been to create his own 
  staff system, known as the "Ashan- 
  ti Ring," from its origins as a group 
  of officers who had impressed him 
  in that campaign. Whenever Wolse- 
  ley went to war, he would assemble 
  his chosen band as key staff officers, 
  and his patronage was often the key 
  to rapid promotion; Sir Herbert 
  Stewart was an unnoticed captain 
  when he met Sir Garnet in 1879, but 
  was a brigadier general when a der- 
  vish bullet got him six years later. 
  Not surprisingly, the preferential 
  treatment given to the Ring was 
  resented by the rest of the officer 
  corps, not just by the rigid, conser- 
  vative element, but by the "In- 
  dians," the clique of soldiers led by 
  Lord Roberts, Kipling's "Bobs." 
  
  THE MILITARY 
  31 
  Not surprisingly, the officers of 
  this army varied from dedicated 
  career men to inefficient, lazy-- 
  though always brave--sons of privi- 
  lege waiting for the family title to 
  drop into their laps; there were, of 
  course, many officers who combined 
  duty and an interest in their com- 
  mands with a high-spirited love of 
  The "other ranks" of the Vic- 
  torian army were recruited from 
  Britain's poorest citizens, the slum- 
  dwellers of the cities and the starv- 
  ing peasantry of the peat bogs; up- 
  wards of a third of the army was 
  Irish, and the brogue was a familiar 
  sound in English and Scottish regi- 
  ments as well as those from the 
  Emerald Isle. Conditions were im- 
  proving for the soldier, with properly 
  built barracks, army schools, and 
  facilities for recreation that went 
  beyond the traditional drinking and 
  fighting. The young recruit now 
  signed up for six years of active du- 
  ty and six more with the reserves, 
  rather than the 25 years of "life" 
  enlistment in Wellington's day. Still, 
  soldiers were continually feared and 
  looked down upon by most British 
  civilians, and military service was 
  not a career a mother would likely 
  want for her son. 
  The Combat Arms 
  British infantry battalions were 
  comprised of eight companies of 
  60-120 men, armed with the Martini- 
  Henry, a single-shot breech-loading 
  rifle; in 1889 this was being replaced 
  by the Lee-Metford 303 magazine ri- 
  fle, a rapid-fire weapon using smoke- 
  less powder rather than the old black 
  gunpowder which wreathed a battle- 
  field in smoke. The Martini would 
  remain in service in Indian and 
  Egyptian hands until 1914. Both of 
  these rifles had a range of 1500-2000 
  yards, but normal usnge was to open 
  fire with volleys at 600-800 yards; 
  fire discipline was more important 
  than rate of fire, for excited soldiers 
  could waste ammunition at an aston- 
  ishing rate. Kipling characterized the 
  infantry battalion as "eight 'undred 
  fighting Englishmen, the colonel and 
  the band," and though its numbers 
  might be as low as 350 men on cam- 
  paign, it was the backbone of the 
  army. 
  Cavalry was organized into troops 
  of 40-50 men, two troops to a squad- 
  ron, four squadrons to the regiment, 
  which then totaled somewhere be- 
  tween 400 and 600 horses and men. 
  Modern training emphasized dis- 
  mounted action with carbines, 
  mounted scouting, and pursuit of a 
  beaten foe as the work of the cavalry, 
  but natural conservatism, success 
  against spear-armed opponents, and 
  a belief in the virtues of the "arme 
  blanche" meant that cavalrymen, 
  even the highly experienced Indian 
  regiments, still looked for a chance 
  for the knee-to-knee charge with 
  sword and lance. 
  Gunners and engineers were, as 
  groups, the most modern and profes- 
  sional elements in the British Army. 
  With rifled guns, some muzzle-load- 
  ing, others breech-loading, with 
  balloon detachments, railway com- 
  panies, telegraph crews, and steam 
  traction engines, the technical ser- 
  vices looked forward to the 20th cen- 
  tury rather than backward to a 
  glorious martial past. 
  "~ THE MEN who commanded~l 
  this navy were iron-willed and 
  often eccentric. The ability to 
  make one's subordinates quake in 
  their seaboots was widely regard- 
  ed as the key to success. Color- 
  ful characters abounded. One 
  captain asked to be brought a 
  bucket because the second-in- 
  command made him sick! Cap- 
  tain Algernon Heneage insisted 
  on calling all his chief engineers 
  by the same name, dressed his 
  hair with two eggs each morning, 
  and always removed his coat 
  before praying since it would be 
  unthinkable for a British officer 
  in uniform to sink to his knees. 
  He lived to be 81, opposing the 
  reforms of Admiral "Jacky" 
  Fisher all the way. The com- 
  mander of the Channel squadron, 
  known as "Old 'Ard 'Art," re- 
  corded in his diary for June 6, 
  1884: "Docked ship. Received 
  the V.C." Perhaps the best ex- 
  pression of the mind of a Royal 
  Naval officer in the face of dif- 
  ficulties was the comment of Wil- 
  liam Packenham to his Turkish 
  interpreter when surrounded by 
  an angry mob of Asiatic brig- 
  ands: "Tell these ugly bastards 
  that I am not going to tolerate any 
  more of their bestial habits." 
  GDW 
  
  32 )) VICTORIAN WOMEN 
  REMARKABLE WOMEN 
  THE TRADITIONAL picture of 
  Victorian womanhood presents us 
  with an image of frailty and ti- 
  midity-an oppressed group rigidly 
  corseted into a sternly respectable 
  second place to the male. There 
  were, however, women unwilling to 
  bow to convention, and many more 
  whose outward genteel graces con- 
  cealed a spirit of strength, vision, and 
  adventure. 
  Beatrice Potter Webb (1858- 
  1943) was born into a class that 
  "habitually gave orders." The 
  daughter of a prosperous business- 
  man, she was briefly courted by the 
  rising politician Joseph Chamberlain. 
  She was drawn towards radical social 
  reform through association with the 
  Trades Union and Cooperative 
  movements. Miss Potter married the 
  Fabian socialist Sidney Webb in 
  1892, spending their honeymoon 
  tracing Union records in Glasgow; 
  together they became influential pro- 
  ponents of reform, founding the Lon- 
  don School of Economics and The 
  New Statesman magazine. In a 
  stream of books and articles, the 
  Webbs laid out their plans for a bet- 
  ter world, Beatrice often referring to 
  Britain's expansion into the Solar 
  System as "humbug" and "sheer 
  tommyrot designed to divert the in- 
  terest of the proletariat from its 
  legitimate concerns." 
  Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) was 
  a classic Victorian spinster who, at 
  30, went from caring for her elderly 
  parents to paddling alone down the 
  crocodile-infested rivers of West 
  Africa. Two best-selling .books 
  showed her knowledge and authori- 
  ty, revealing a compassion and 
  understanding for the African peo- 
  ples, and opposing the extension of 
  British crown rule. Miss Kingsley 
  died of enteric fever in South Africa 
  while tending Boer prisoners-of-war. 
  Ethel St. Clair Grimmond was 
  the beautiful, young wife of the 
  British political agent in Imphal, the 
  capital of the remote protectorate 
  of Manipur. In March of 1891, the 
  leaders of a revolt seized the senior 
  British political and military officials 
  in Imphal, including Ethel's husband 
  Frank, and murdered them. The sur- 
  viving junior British officers of the 
  small garrison proved incapable of 
  exercising decisive leadership and so 
  Ethel, "dressed in a white silk 
  blouse, black patent leather shoes, 
  and a long, blue skirt," led the 
  small column of 
  loyal native troops 
  through the steam- 
  ing jungles and on 
  a 3000-foot climb 
  up the mountains 
  to safety. The of- 
  ricers with the col- 
  umn were later 
  cashiered while 
  Ethel, hailed by 
  the 
  Illustrated 
  London News as 
  "the heroine of 
  Manipur," was 
  awarded the Order 
  of the Royal Red 
  Cross and granted 
  a pension for life. 
  Lizzie Hessel (1870-1899) began, 
  in 1896, a 4000-mile journey up the 
  Amazon by steamer, canoe, and 
  mule. Thirteen months later, after 
  being stranded amongst primitive 
  Amerindian tribes, she reached the 
  rubber plantation managed by her 
  brother. Her let- 
  ters home reveal a 
  fascinating mix- 
  ture of Victorian 
  gentility and in- 
  domitable adven- 
  ture. Sadly, Lizzie 
  Hessel died of fe- 
  ver in Bolivia, at 
  age 29. 
  Frances 
  "Fanny" 
  Duberly 
  (1830-1903) was the wife of a cap- 
  tain in the 8th Hussars. Vivacious 
  and witty, she became the toast of the 
  British Army in the Crimea; indeed, 
  she was the only officer's wife to stay 
  there, riding Lord Cardigan's horse 
  and being present--as an observer-- 
  at the Charge of the Light Brigade. 
  In 1857, Mrs. Duberly accompanied 
  the regiment to India, and marched 
  1800 miles with the Rajputana col- 
  umn. She wrote to her sister: "There 
  is plenty of fighting to be done, they 
  say. I hear ladies are forbidden to go 
  further than Deesa. In which case, 
  I shall stain my face and hands and 
  adopt the Hindu caftan and turban--I 
  ain't going to stay behind." At 
  Gwalior she rode 
  with the Hussars 
  in a charge against 
  the mutineers. Thel 
  remainder of her 
  life was quiet; in 
  1896 she com- 
  plained to a neph- 
  ew, 
  "I cannot 
  stand dullness for 
  long." 
  
  VICTORIAN WOMEN 1( 33 
  Elizabeth "Nellie Bly" Cochrane 
  by the age of 22 was already an ace 
  reporter for the New York Worm and 
  had a reputation for courage and de- 
  termination. She had written an ex- 
  pose of New York's Blackwell Island 
  Insane Asylum by successfully pre- 
  tending madness. 
  In 1889, she set 
  out to beat the fic- 
  tional record set 
  by Jules Verne's 
  novel Around the 
  World in Eighty 
  Days and, without 
  resort to liftwood 
  flyers, completed 
  the journey in 72 
  adventure-filled 
  days. 
  Annie Besant (1847-1933) lived a 
  most scandalous life, at least by the 
  standards of her time. Raised in a 
  devoutly Christian home, she mar- 
  ried a clergyman at 17; at 23 she left 
  him to become a militant Atheist, ad- 
  vocate of birth control, Fabian 
  socialist and, in 1893, a convert to 
  Madame Blavatsky's doctrine of 
  "Theosophy," a mystical blend of 
  Eastern religions. The mesmerizing 
  and mysterious Madame Blavatsky 
  passed over into the spirit world in 
  1895, entrusting her mission to Mrs. 
  Besant, who immediately sailed for 
  India and announced that she had, in 
  a previous life, been a Brahmin. She 
  founded the first college for Hindus 
  (at Benares in 1898), split the Theo- 
  sophic Society by proclaiming her 
  adopted son the Messiah (which 
  claim he later denied), and, in 1916, 
  initiated the Home Rule for India 
  League. Interned briefly, she lost the 
  leadership of the Independence 
  movement to Gandhi but continued 
  to vocally decry British rule in India. 
  v'~ 
  THE CHIVALRIC ORDERS 
  ~a,~ 
  HEROISM OR outstanding service to the monarch was often rewarded 
  with a knighthood. This award usually entailed membership in one of 
  the chivalric orders. ~e 
  these were technically all equivalent in honor, 
  everyone knew different. The different orders, and their various ranks, 
  are listed below in order of precedence; the Order of the Garter was 
  the most prestigious of all. Those ranks noted with an asterisk (*) had 
  fewer than 20 members, most of whom were members of the royal fami- 
  ly; players should not expect to achieve these ranks in the normal course 
  of things. Nothing, however, is impossible. 
  Members of chivalric orders were entitled to append the initials of 
  that order after their name, these usually being given in order of 
  precedence of the order. For example, Queen Victoria's son was of- 
  ficially Field Marshal His Royal Highness Albert Edward, The Prince 
  of Wales, KG, KT, KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE. 
  Women were uncommon members of the chivalric orders but were 
  not altogether absent from their rolls. Women members of the chivalric 
  orders substitute the title "Dame" for Knight, and thus a Dame Com- 
  mander of the Order of the Bath (of which there were several at this 
  time) would append the initials DCB to her name instead of the initials 
  KCB. 
  Order of the Garter 
  Knight (KG)* 
  Order of the Thistle 
  Knight (KT)* 
  Order of St. Patrick 
  Knight (KP)* 
  Order of the Bath 
  Knight, Grand Cross (GCB) 
  Knight Commander (KCB) 
  Companion (CB) 
  Order of the Star of India 
  Knight Grand Commander (GCSI) 
  Knight Commander (KCSI) 
  Companion (CSI) 
  Order of St. Michael and St. George 
  Knight, Grand Cross (GCMG) 
  Knight Commander (KCMG) 
  Companion (CMG) 
  Order of the Indian Empire 
  Knight, Grand Cross (GCIE) 
  Knight Commander (KCIE) 
  Companion (CIE) 
  GDW 
  
  34 )) THE REFEREE 
  THE REFEREE 
  WHAT IS the essential difference 
  between a role-playing game (or 
  RPG) and other games, such as 
  board games? Some would say that 
  board games are obviously different 
  because they are played with play- 
  ing pieces on a map or game board. 
  However, many times in an RPG 
  maps and playing pieces are extreme- 
  ly valuable. This book itself contains 
  several maps, and the use of minia- 
  ture figures to represent players and 
  non-player characters can be very 
  helpful. That can't be the difference, 
  then. 
  Other people point out that in a 
  role-playing game each player plays 
  the role of a single character, usual- 
  ly quite different from himself, and 
  measures his success in terms of 
  achieving the goals that his character 
  holds dearest, rather than his own. 
  However, that's a pretty fair descrip- 
  tion of Monopoly, as well. In that 
  game, each player assumes the role 
  of a business tycoon and attempts to 
  drive his competition into bankrupt- 
  cy. Seldom are players of the game 
  actual businessmen, and if they are 
  they probably measure their own 
  success somewhat differently than in 
  the game. This is equally true for 
  Risk (world conqueror), Milles 
  Bornes (European auto racer), and 
  many other games. This, then, is also 
  not what separates RPGs from other 
  games. 
  The essential difference between 
  an RPG and other games is the 
  referee. In a board game, players in- 
  teract with a world defined by the 
  game rules. In an RPG they interact 
  with a world defined by the referee, 
  and the rules are merely present to 
  help him in the task of definition. 
  RPG rules are not meant to limit the 
  referee, but rather to free him from 
  having to decide how to resolve 
  every routine event in the game. By 
  freeing him from that task, the rules 
  allow him to make his most impor- 
  tant contribution to the game--his 
  imagination. 
  It is the referee's imagination that 
  turns the cold, printed words of the 
  rules into a rich, vibrant world, full 
  of colorful characters and thrilling 
  adventure. To make this world come 
  alive for your players, you will have 
  to do four things. The referee must 
  describe the world, play non-player 
  characters, resolve critical events, 
  and guarantee adventure. Let's ex- 
  amine these one at a time. 
  DESCRIBING THE WORLD 
  TAKE A MOMENT off from 
  reading these rules and just think 
  about what your senses tell you about 
  your environment. Sight is the most 
  obvious source of information avail- 
  able to you, but it is supplemented 
  by sounds as well. What do you see 
  around you? What do you hear? Do 
  these two senses complement each 
  other or give you contradictory 
  messages? Perhaps you're in a quiet 
  room which looks tranquil and order- 
  ly, but you can hear your brother and 
  sister arguing in the next room- 
  contradictory messages. What can 
  you smell? Dinner cooking? Some- 
  one painting somewhere in the build- 
  ing? Garbage you've been meaning 
  to take out getting a little rank? How 
  about touch? You can feel this book 
  in your hands and the chair you're 
  sitting on, but what else? Is it a little 
  warm, or is it maybe a little chilly? 
  Is the humidity fairly high, or is it 
  pretty dry right now? Are you out- 
  side? If so, you don't need a weather- 
  man to know which way the wind 
  blows. 
  All of these things let you know 
  that you aren't just watching a TV 
  program; you are alive in the world. 
  For your players to enjoy the game 
  fully, the world must seem real to 
  them. That sense of reality must 
  come from their senses. You are 
  their senses. You are all of their 
  senses, not just their sight and hear- 
  ing. Your descriptions of the world 
  don't have to be ageless prose, and 
  they shouldn't be tediously detailed. 
  They should include the most vivid 
  impression the player receives from 
  each of his senses. If the players want 
  more detail, you can always provide 
  it to them. 
  
  THE REFEREE it 
  35 
  For example, a group of players 
  makes a long trip from Earth to 
  Venus and lands their interplanetary 
  ether flyer in the lowlands. They tell 
  the referee that they will open the 
  hatch and climb down to the ground. 
  The referee now takes over. 
  Referee: "You look out the hatch, 
  and see swamp and jungle." 
  Right away the players can tell that 
  Venus is going to be a real yawner. 
  Try adding the other senses as well, 
  and always begin your description 
  with the sensory stimulus that will 
  make the first and strongest impres- 
  sion on the players. On Venus that 
  will probably be the heat. 
  Referee: "You open the hatch and 
  you're hit by a wall of hot, damp air. 
  You start sweating immediately, and 
  you can feel your clothes sticking to 
  your skin. You wipe the sweat out 
  of your eyes and see mostly jungle 
  and swamp. The sky is overcast, and 
  you can't see for more than maybe 
  half a mile because of the mist. The 
  marsh smells like a combination of 
  rotting vegetation and dead fish. 
  There's kind of a sulfur smell, too, 
  like you have near a volcano. You 
  can hear lots of animal noises, the 
  screech of small tree dwellers and the 
  deep roars of the hunting meat eaters. 
  You can also hear the distant crash- 
  ing of trees and branches, the sounds 
  a really big animal makes going 
  through the bush." 
  Venus has just become real. It is 
  exotic and interesting, with hints of 
  danger to make it exciting. It's a 
  place the players may be a little 
  afraid of, but they probably feel a 
  tingle of excitement, too, and they 
  know that whatever happens, they 
  probably won't be bored. 
  Here are some brief rules of thumb 
  to remember when describing a scene 
  to your players. 
  �9 Never make it overdetailed. 
  Stick to impressions, and let the 
  players ask for details if they want 
  them. Tell them the wall is covered 
  with carvings; don't describe the 
  carvings unless they ask. 
  �9 Use all the senses. Movies and 
  television have sight and sound. 
  Reality has sight, sound, smell, taste, 
  and touch. Don't just tell them 
  they're tired; tell them what it feels 
  like to be tired. Don't just tell them 
  they fell in the bog; tell them what 
  the bog tastes like when they swallow 
  a mouthful of it. 
  �9 Start with the strongest sensory 
  impression. The biggest change will 
  be the first thing they notice, so start 
  with that. That first sensory input 
  (heat and humidity in the case of the 
  Venus description above) sets the 
  stage for all the others. 
  �9 Nothing gets players' interest 
  like a hint of danger. In most cases 
  there will be no immediate threat to 
  the players, but they will seldom be 
  in a situation where there is absolute- 
  ly no hint of danger. In the Venus 
  description we have the roar of car- 
  nivores, the sounds of a giant animal, 
  and the suggestion that there are vol- 
  canoes at least fairly close by. None 
  of these pose any direct or immediate 
  threat to the players, but each of 
  them suggests lurking danger. 
  �9 Save the best (or worst) for last. 
  In the Venus description, the single 
  greatest possible threat to the players 
  is the sound of the giant animal. Save 
  that for last so that the other, more 
  mundane impressions will not dilute 
  its effect. When the players hear 
  about the giant animal noises, their 
  first reaction will probably be to ask, 
  "Are the sounds coming closer or 
  getting further away?" Now they 
  don't have to wait through the other 
  descriptions to ask. Also, saving the 
  best for last will help keep the 
  suspense level high during the ad- 
  venture. 
  .,l,  L#l 
  " 
  -= 
  -~ ii !, /11 < ~ 
  ~ 
  .... 
  _
  ~
   
  __-~/~,~lii~. 
  _ 
  ~ 
  -,.~___-~ 
  GDW 
  
  36 )) NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS 
  NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS 
  (NPCs) are all the thinking beings 
  that inhabit the universe with the ex- 
  ception of the players. They may be 
  Martian pirates, Venusian Lizard- 
  men, or German spies. They can be 
  friendly, indifferent, or murderous- 
  ly hostile toward the players. The 
  one thing that they all have in com- 
  mon is that the referee plays them 
  when they come in contact with the 
  players. 
  NPCs are extremely important in 
  a game and can make the difference 
  between a good, serviceable world 
  and one that literally comes alive. In 
  fact, in the best adventures the NPCs 
  seem nearly as real as the player 
  characters. For your NPCs to come 
  alive in the minds of your players, 
  you need to know three things: their 
  abilities, their motives, and their 
  appearance. 
  NPC ABILITIES 
  THE ABILITIES of an NPC are 
  determined by his skills and at- 
  tributes, just as with a player 
  character. However, you can't afford 
  to spend all the time of going through 
  the character generation process just 
  to come up with an NPC that the 
  characters may ask one question of 
  and then walk away from. Instead, 
  a very simplified process is used. 
  NPC abilities are determined 
  largely by the NPC's occupation. To 
  begin with, occupation will almost 
  always dictate Social Level. If the 
  NPC is an ordinary seaman, he is 
  almost certainly Social Level 1; if 
  he's an admiral, he's probably Social 
  Level 5 or 6. 
  Next, the occupation is liable to be 
  either physically oriented or mentally 
  oriented. The referee should make 
  this decision, although usually it's 
  pretty clear. A mentally oriented oc- 
  cupation has Intellect and Agility at- 
  tributes of 4 with Strength and En- 
  durance attributes of 2. Physically 
  oriented occupations have these 
  numbers reversed. 
  Roll a die for his Charisma, or 
  decide on it yourself. Is he charm- 
  ing and outgoing, or inarticulate and 
  somehow irritating? This attribute is 
  obviously not based on occupation, 
  and you're as likely to find a charm- 
  ing rogue in an army barracks as on 
  a country estate. 
  Skills are determined almost en- 
  tirely by occupation. If the skill is 
  needed for the character's job, give 
  him a 2 or 3 in it. Exceptionally ex- 
  perienced NPCs might have a 4, 
  while very young ones might have a 
  1. If it's the sort of skill the character 
  might have picked up by chance, roll 
  a die and subtract 2, 3, or 4 from the 
  result. (The more experienced the 
  character, or the more closely related 
  the skill is to his occupation, the less 
  you subtract.) 
  Close Combat skill and morale are 
  determined by placing the character 
  in one of five experience categories: 
  Green, 
  Trained, 
  Experienced, 
  Veteran, and Elite. Close Combat 
  skills range from 1 to 5 and morale 
  from 7 to 11 (respectively). This is 
  repeated on the NPC Chart at the 
  back of the book. 
  Finally, remember that none of the 
  above is meant to limit your freedom 
  of action. These are suggestions as 
  to quick and easy ways of determin- 
  ing skills and attributes of NPCs. If 
  your adventure plot calls for an ac- 
  countant with a Strength of 6 and an 
  Endurance of 5 whose hobby is the 
  study of physics and the ancient stone 
  carvings of the proto-Martians, well 
  fine. 
  NPC MOTIVES 
  ANOTHER THING that can be of 
  aid to a referee in playing the part 
  of an NPC is a definition of that 
  NPC's motives. In many cases the 
  motives of NPCs are unimportant. 
  For example, the third spear-carrier 
  from the left in King Hattabranx's 
  personal bodyguard may be seething 
  with anger and humiliation over the 
  fact that his fiancee has jilted him for 
  a local merchant, but that fact is 
  unlikely to affect your player char- 
  acters. Motives become important, 
  however, with influential or poten- 
  tially influential characters. 
  To determine NPC motives, roll 
  two dice, preferably of different col- 
  ors. The result thrown on the first die 
  (called the control die) determines 
  the general category of NPC motive 
  while the result of the second die 
  rolled (the trait die) determines the 
  specific motive or personality trait. 
  The personality trait is described in 
  the sidebar with a single word meant 
  to sum up the trait, followed by a 
  short explanation. Later in the rules 
  and in adventures these motives will 
  be listed only by the single identify- 
  ing word. After a short while this one 
  word should be sufficient, but an oc- 
  casional rereading of these descrip- 
  tions can be helpful. 
  
  NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS 
  37 
  NPC MOTIVATIONS 
  ROLL TWO differently colored dice; read results as two different numbers (do not total). 
  1: Danger 
  11: Coward. The NPC is a total coward 
  and will run from danger at every oppor- 
  tunity. 
  12: Cautious. He is particularly mind- 
  ful of the potential hazards of a venture 
  and is often suspicious of potential tricks 
  being played upon him or his group. 
  13' Steady. He is not frightened or in- 
  timidated by violence or threats of vio- 
  lence. 
  14: Aggressive. He is aggressive and 
  accepts the necessity of violence as an oc- 
  casional means of achieving solutions to 
  problems. 
  15: Adventuresome. He loves danger 
  and adventure and will actively seek it out 
  for the excitement and variety is brings. 
  16" Sadistic. He is a sadistic brute who 
  enjoys inflicting pain on others. 
  2: Honor 
  21: Liar. The NPC is a liar, perhaps 
  a thief, and probably a traitor. He is com- 
  pletely untrustworthy. 
  22: Disgraced. He has been disgraced, 
  either by his own actions or by events 
  beyond his control. This has left him a 
  broken man with little hope or self- 
  esteem. 
  23: Driven. He has been disgraced, as 
  above, but he now bends all of his efforts 
  toward redeeming himself and recovering 
  his honor by means of a deed of great 
  heroism or some exceptional service. 
  24: Proud. He is concerned with prov- 
  ing that he is honorable and is likely to 
  take offense at any suggestion that he is 
  not. 
  25: Honest. He is scrupulously honest 
  and his word of honor is his absolute 
  bond. He has contempt for liars and 
  anyone who breaks his word. 
  26" Just. He sees justice as the greatest 
  virtue and the only important considera- 
  tion in deciding on a course of action. He 
  hates cheaters, liars, and crooks, will 
  always assist any attempt to right an in- 
  justice, and would sooner die than turn 
  away from the obligations that his concept 
  of honor imposes on him. 
  3: Wealth 
  31: Generous. The NPC is~generous to 
  a fault and gladly gives whatever he has to 
  those in need. 
  32: Spendthrift. He is a reckless spend- 
  thrift or addicted to gambling. He is either 
  squandering what money he has or already 
  is heavily in debt. 
  33: Mercantile. Making money is always 
  his first consideration, and he will always 
  haggle over prices and wages. 
  34: Frugal. He is cost-conscious and in- 
  terested in making money. He has a good 
  eye for a bargain. 
  35: Greedy. His lust for money makes 
  him easy to bribe, and he might even betray 
  his friends if the price were right. 
  36: Miser. He is obsessed with money, 
  believes that everything has a price, and will 
  do literally anything if offered enough 
  money. 
  4: Power 
  41: Boastful. He is a self-important brag- 
  gart who wishes to impress everyone with 
  his importance. 
  42: Responsible. His desire for a posi- 
  tion of greater importance and social status 
  makes him self-reliant and willing to accept 
  responsibility. He has a healthy ambition 
  that makes him a go-getter. 
  43: Ambitious. He is ambitious and has 
  a tendency to manipulate those around him. 
  He does so for what he believes to be the 
  common good, however, not for personal 
  gain. 
  44: Ruthless. He is ruthlessly ambitious 
  and will let nothing stand between him and 
  his goals. He can appear to be considerate, 
  generous, loyal, or anything else which 
  serves his purpose. But beneath this exterior 
  he has no genuine concern for anyone else 
  and will use anyone or anything to achieve 
  his ends. 
  45: Arrogant. He is pompous and ar- 
  rogant. He clearly believes himself superior 
  to everyone around him and makes no secret 
  of the fact. 
  46: Leader. He is a charismatic natural 
  leader who draws others to him and inspires 
  extreme loyalty. 
  5" The Mind 
  51: Eccentric. The NPC is an eccen- 
  tric. He is actually harmless and may be 
  quite entertaining but insists on engaging 
  in bizarre behavior. 
  52: Knowledge. He is driven by an 
  overpowering thirst for knowledge. This 
  may be knowledge of a particular ancient 
  race or civilization, knowledge in a par- 
  ticular field of science, etc. 
  53: Stubborn. He is stubborn and near- 
  ly impossible to persuade once he has 
  made up his mind. 
  54: Wise. He is very wise, shows good 
  judgement, and offers sound advice. 
  55: Rage. He is subject to sudden, 
  violent, and uncontrollable rages. 
  56: Mad. He may appear to be a 
  harmless eccentric or, perhaps, complete- 
  ly normal. However, he is genuinely and 
  completely insane. This condition may 
  render him helpless and bewildered or 
  may turn him into a dangerous and cun- 
  ning killer. 
  6: The Heart 
  61: Lust. The NPC is driven by lust for 
  the opposite sex and a desire to control 
  or dominate them. This desire can be 
  directed either toward one particular per- 
  son or just toward the opposite sex in 
  general. 
  62: Hatred. He is consumed with 
  hatred for a person or group, usually 
  because of a real or imagined injury, and 
  will direct much of his energy toward 
  seeking revenge. 
  63: Friendly. He is amiable, friendly, 
  and cooperative. 
  64: Fair. He has a strong commitment 
  to fairness and reacts with anger to in- 
  justice and brutality. 
  65: Loyal. He feels a strong bond of 
  loyalty to his group. This bond may be 
  toward his band of fellow adventurers, his 
  regiment (in the army), his country, his 
  family, or any other suitable group. 
  66: Love. He loves a person (friend, 
  spouse, parent, child, etc.) so complete- 
  ly that he would willingly sacrifice himself 
  for that person. 
  GDW 
  
  38 )) NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS 
  NPC APPEARANCE 
  THE APPEARANCE of an NPC 
  is the first thing a player notices but 
  should be the last thing you decide 
  about the NPC. The NPC's appear- 
  ance will in many cases be a reflec- 
  tion of his abilities and motives. 
  Likewise, appearances will shape the 
  opinions of your player characters; 
  often they will be all a player has to 
  go on when making a decision. Ap- 
  pearance includes physical descrip- 
  tion and clothing, speech, posture, 
  and so forth. As with a scenic de- 
  scription, emphasize the things that 
  deviate from the norm and will catch 
  the player's eye. Also, make an at- 
  tempt to use colorful adjectives when 
  describing NPCs. If you were a 
  player, which of the following NPC 
  descriptions would you prefer? 
  "As you ride down the road you 
  see a farmer standing in his field." 
  "As you ride down the road, you 
  come to a grizzled, old farmer in 
  dusty work clothes leaning against 
  the sagging rail fence that surrounds 
  his field." 
  The second NPC description gives 
  a much more vivid picture of the 
  farmer. Now apply some of the other 
  advice concerning scenic description. 
  Provide other sensory information, 
  throw in a hint of danger, and save 
  the best for last. You may end up 
  with a description like this: 
  "As you ride down the road, you 
  come to a grizzled, old farmer in 
  dusty work clothes leaning against 
  the sagging rail fence that surrounds 
  his field. He must be resting after 
  hard work, because he gives off the 
  strong smell of sweat. He shows no 
  sign of interest or welcome as you 
  approach. The left side of his face is 
  puckered by a long, jagged scar." 
  Usually you will want to make up 
  the appearance of NPCs yourself 
  with some specific image or mood in 
  mind. Also, the appearance of some 
  NPCs will be dictated by their oc- 
  cupation. A member of the engine 
  crew on a steamship will be covered 
  with coal dust. A government clerk 
  will be conservatively dressed and 
  perhaps physically frail or small. 
  STOCK CHARACTERS 
  THERE ARE a number of in- 
  stances where a stock character can 
  come in very handy, usually when 
  large numbers of them are en- 
  countered. The NPC Chart in the 
  chart section of this book lists a 
  variety of stock NPCs and their 
  typical experience, attributes, and 
  skills. 
  DETAILED NPCS 
  MOST NPCS are "spear-car- 
  riers." They hang around and pro- 
  vide local color as long as they are 
  needed, and then they vanish for- 
  ever. They are generally slow of wit, 
  weak of limb, and quick to perish. 
  Well, not everyone can be the hero 
  of this story, and if the NPCs were 
  as capable as your players, life would 
  be much more difficult for them and, 
  more importantly, impossible for 
  you, the referee. Imagine every per- 
  son your players run into with de- 
  tailed skills and attributes, and three 
  or four cunning plans up their sleeve. 
  The paperwork alone would choke 
  your game. So, for a variety of ex- 
  cellent reasons, most NPCs are just 
  the bare bones of a character, a card- 
  board cutout to which you give the 
  illusion of reality with elaborate 
  descriptions and a couple of well- 
  chosen motivations. 
  Most NPCs. But not all of them. 
  "So, Baron von Gruber, 
  We Meet Again." 
  SOME NPCS deserve more, and 
  we call these detailed NPCs. These 
  detailed NPCs are recurring char- 
  acters. They include the NPC asso- 
  ciates that the characters have ac- 
  quired as a result of character gen- 
  eration as well as certain major char- 
  acters that the players may run into 
  from time to time. As there is only 
  a limited number of these, you can 
  lavish them with a little more atten- 
  tion. Most importantly, however, 
  these NPCs are where the referee 
  really gets to play the game, for in 
  a sense these are his own characters. 
  You can generate detailed NPCs 
  yourself once you are familiar with 
  the system, but we've included 
  several of them here and on the 
  following pages to get you rolling. 
  Att. 
  Gentleman Companion 
  (Green NPC) 
  Skills 
  Str: 
  3 
  Agh 5 
  End: 2 
  Int: 
  1 
  Chr: 4 
  Soe: 6 
  Fisticuffs 2, Throwing 1, 
  Stealth 4, Marksmanship 
  2 (rifle), 
  Wilderness Travel 2, 
  Swimming 1, 
  Science 1 (astronomy), 
  Eloquence 3, Linguistics 
  3 (French, German, 
  Italian), 
  Riding 5 (horse), Pilot 1 
  Motives: Friendly, Generous. 
  Appearance: A handsome, well 
  dressed man of average build with a 
  faint scent of cologne about him. His 
  speaking voice exhibits an upper- 
  class accent and a trace of a lisp. His 
  expression is almost invariably 
  cheerful and friendly, if just a trifle 
  blank. 
  
  NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS it 39 
  Manservant (Experienced NPC) 
  Att. 
  Skills 
  Str: 4 
  Agh 3 
  End: 4 
  Int: 2 
  Chr: 3 
  Soc: 2 
  Fisticuffs 3, Throwing 2, 
  Stealth 2, Marksmanship 
  2 (rifle), 
  Wilderness Travel 3, 
  Observation 3, 
  Eloquence 2, Linguistics 
  4 (French, German, 
  Italian, Spanish), 
  Bargaining 2, 
  Riding 3 (horse), 
  Medicine 2 
  Motives: Honest, Loyal, Steady. 
  Appearance: He is a large man, 
  although in excellent condition. If en- 
  countered in civilized surroundings, 
  his clothing (which is well made but 
  not flashy in any way, as befits his 
  station) will disguise his size and 
  strength to some extent. He will sel- 
  dom venture an opinion of his own 
  and if asked about any subject out- 
  side of his immediate responsibility, 
  he will claim ignorance and display 
  a lack of interest. His entire atten- 
  tion seems to be focused on his 
  master at all times. 
  Master (Experienced NPC) 
  Att. 
  Skills 
  Str: 4 
  Agl: 4 
  End: 3 
  Int: 
  2 
  Chr: 2 
  Soc: 6 
  Fisticuffs 3, Throwing 2, 
  Stealth 3, Marksmanship 
  3 (rifle), 
  Wilderness Travel 3 
  Swimming 1, 
  Observation 1, Science 1 
  (chemistry), 
  Eloquence 1, Linguistics 
  3 (French, German, 
  Arabic), 
  Riding 5 (horse) 
  Motives: Adventuresome, Ar- 
  rogant (or Proud, if desired), Rage. 
  Appearance: Though large, his size 
  does not impede his actions, and he 
  deports himself in a manner befitting 
  his class and athletic interests. His 
  clothing is stylish and well tailored. 
  Maid (Trained NPC) 
  Att. 
  Skills 
  Str: 2 Fisticuffs 1, Throwing 1, 
  Agl: 3 Stealth 2, 
  End: 3 Wilderness Travel 2, 
  Int: 
  4 Observation 5, 
  Chr: 4 Eloquence 3, Linguistics 
  4 (French, German, 
  Italian, Spanish), 
  Bargaining 2, Theatrics 
  2, 
  Soc: 2 Riding 3 (horse), 
  Medicine 2 
  Motives: Honest, Loyal, Cau- 
  tious. 
  Appearance: She is an attractive 
  woman, but not exceptionally so, a 
  fact emphasized by her very plain but 
  proper clothing. She is well-spoken 
  but does not venture to speak unless 
  spoken to. Her face is an intelligent 
  one, and she seems quite alert to her 
  surroundings. 
  Henchman (Experienced NPC) 
  Att. 
  Skills 
  Str: 4 Fisticuffs 3, Throwing 2, 
  Agh 5 Stealth 5, Crime 2, 
  End: 3 Wilderness Travel 2, 
  lnt: 
  3 Observation 2, 
  Chr: 2 Eloquence 2, Theatrics 2 
  Soc: 1 
  Motives: Loyal, Sadistic, Ambi- 
  tious. 
  Appearance: He is a wiry man, of 
  about average size, badly in need of 
  a shave and haircut. If the wind is 
  blowing toward you, you can tell that 
  he could use a bath as well. He has 
  cruel but penetrating eyes and his lip 
  curls in a sneer as he sees you. His 
  clothes are dirty and shapeless. His 
  nose has been badly broken at some 
  point in the past, An especially 
  observant character may notice that 
  his lean face and baggy clothes 
  disguise the fact that he is actually 
  extremely strong and carries himself 
  with a natural grace reminiscent of 
  a hunting cat. He is undoubtedly ex- 
  tremely agile. 
  GDW 
  
  40 
  )) NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS 
  Baron Hasso von Gruber 
  (Experienced NPC) 
  THE BARON is the head of the 
  German diplomatic mission to Mars 
  in Western Dioscuria. He is in his 
  mid-50s and served as a junior of- 
  ricer in the army when younger, see- 
  ing some action in the Franco- 
  Prussian War (1870). 
  He was 
  wounded in action, as a result of 
  which he has lost the use of his left 
  arm. Despite this he has a warm 
  regard for the French and respects 
  and admires their culture greatly. He 
  has little regard for the British, how- 
  ever, whom he sees as dull, med- 
  dlesome, middle-class merchants, 
  with neither the martial discipline of 
  the Germans nor the fiery dash of the 
  French. He is frequently known to 
  observe that, "It is one of nature's 
  genuine paradoxes that the achieve- 
  ments of the British are so fascinat- 
  ing, while the British themselves are 
  so mind-numbingly dull." 
  His mission on Mars is to increase 
  German power and prestige and to 
  obtain a secure access to liftwood for 
  the Imperial German Navy's building 
  plans. While able to purchase con- 
  siderable supplies from various 
  sources over the past three years, 
  Gruber has so far been unable to gain 
  a secure territorial enclave with per- 
  manent access to liftwood. To an ex- 
  tent this is due to the fact that he 
  devotes considerable resources to 
  undermining British rule in Syrtis 
  Major as opposed to improving Ger- 
  man influence in the northwest. As 
  players uncover various plots and in- 
  trigues against Great Britain, Gru- 
  ber's shadowy and sinister presence 
  behind the scene will increasingly be 
  felt. 
  Gruber is continually hatching 
  some new plot against the British, 
  and if the players get in his way, he 
  will attempt to deal with them effi- 
  ciently and ruthlessly. If they escape 
  after foiling his plans, however, he 
  will seldom hold a grudge. Although 
  he may some day be forced to liq- 
  uidate the player characters, he has 
  much more respect for a worthy ad- 
  versary than for a weak ally. 
  Gruber's native language is Ger- 
  man. 
  Att. 
  Skills 
  Str: 4 Fisticuffs 3, Throwing 2, 
  Agh 2 Stealth 1, Marksmanship 
  3 (pistol), 
  End: 1 
  Int: 
  5 Observation 5, 
  Chr: 3 Eloquence 4, Linguistics 
  3 (French, English, 
  Dioscurian), Bargaining 
  1, Theatrics 1, 
  Soc: 6 Riding 6 (horse) 
  Motives: Ruthless, Aggressive, 
  Hatred (the British). 
  / 
  Appearance: The baron is a stout, 
  heavy man, with a large frame. He 
  was obviously quite strong when 
  young and probably is still very for- 
  midable. He wears his black hair, 
  now graying in places, short, and he 
  sports a small military mustache with 
  the ends waxed and turned up. He 
  has a surprisingly soft voice for a 
  man of his size, although it has a 
  penetrating quality which seems to 
  demand attention. Aside from state 
  occasions when he will appear in 
  uniform, Gruber prefers to dress 
  casually in riding or hunting clothes. 
  His left arm hangs limp at his side, 
  and he always wears a black leather 
  glove on his left hand. If players 
  meet him in a social setting, they will 
  notice an understated but very ori- 
  ginal wit. In other environments, 
  however, Gruber will be (literally) 
  deadly serious. 
  Ravachol the Anarchist 
  (Experienced NPC) 
  "RAVACHOL" IS an alias. He 
  was born Francois K6nigstein in St. 
  Chamond, France in 1849 and from 
  the age of eight had supported his 
  family by various endeavors--some 
  legal, some not. At 18 he abandoned 
  religion for anarchism. He became 
  an extremely dangerous criminal, 
  "thief, counterfeiter, murderer," as 
  he himself said, and a grave robber 
  as well. Anarchism seemed to legi- 
  timize his crimes as blows against the 
  class enemy, yet he displayed a 
  streak of sincere conviction as well. 
  After being arrested by the French 
  authorities, he explained at his trial 
  that "My object was to terrorize so 
  as to force society to look attentive- 
  ly at those who suffer." One an- 
  archist paper compared him to Jesus, 
  while others questioned whether a 
  man who bludgeoned old ladies 
  could bring about a perfect society. 
  His conviction and subsequent death 
  sentence, however, made him a hero. 
  The French coined the verb ravacho- 
  liser, meaning "to wipe out an 
  enemy." He was clearly a threat to 
  the republic. So, when he escaped in- 
  explicably from his cell on July 7th, 
  
  NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS (( 41 
  it was a Most Serious Matter. The 
  authorities believe they will hear 
  again from Ravachol. On his cell 
  wall he left a motto: "If you want 
  to be happy, hang your masters and 
  cut the priests to pieces." 
  Ravachol's native language is 
  French. 
  Art. 
  Skills 
  Str: 2 Fisticuffs 1, Throwing 1, 
  Agh 6 Stealth 5, Crime 4 
  (forger), 
  End: 4 Wilderness Travel 3, 
  Int: 
  5 Observation 4, Engineer- 
  ing 2 (explosives), 
  Chr: 3 Eloquence 4, Theatrics 2, 
  Linguistics 2 (German, 
  English) 
  Soc: 1 
  Motives: Hatred (for authority, 
  government, and the upper class), 
  Cautious, Ruthless. 
  Appearance: Ravachol is a slight 
  man, standing five feet, four inches, 
  and of slender build. He is 40 years 
  old when the players meet him, but 
  his age is difficult to determine. He 
  has brown hair untouched by gray 
  which he wears long. He also sports 
  a full beard. His face is sallow and 
  thin and his eyes deep-set and steady. 
  He will generally be dressed in a 
  wrinkled, dark suit, although he 
  seldom wears a collar or necktie. He 
  has a round scar on his left hand be- 
  tween the thumb and index finger. 
  Major General Andre Foucard 
  (Trained NPC) 
  GENERAL FOUCARD is the 
  commander of the Belgian military 
  forces in the Coprates and, as it is 
  under martial law, the governor of 
  the region as well. True to the wishes 
  of his monarch, King Leopold of 
  Belgium, he has vigorously pursued 
  a military campaign for the past 
  several years to pacify the inhabitants 
  of the Coprates Rift Valley and turn 
  the valley into a prosperous Belgian 
  colony. Unmindful of the wishes of 
  the native inhabitants, the Belgian 
  Army has cut a swath of death and 
  destruction through' the valley and 
  met any show of resistance with mer- 
  ciless cruelty. Despite this, the war 
  is in danger of spilling out of the 
  boundaries of the Coprates proper. 
  The reason for this is fairly sim- 
  ple: Foucard is a dull-witted, me- 
  diocre military commander with 
  nothing to recommend him except a 
  talent for cruelty and absolutely no 
  conscience. His actions have been, 
  and will continue to be, crude and 
  heavy-handed. He is inclined to act 
  first and worry about the conse- 
  quences later (if at all). Eventually 
  he will overstep his authority too 
  much and will be disposed of, but he 
  lacks the imagination to foresee this. 
  The real danger to the players, 
  should they run afoul of Foucard, is 
  this very lack of imagination. He is 
  quite capable of taking violent action 
  in a fit of rage or lust which no 
  responsible official would dream of. 
  The resulting diplomatic incident 
  might or might not result in Fou- 
  card's removal, which may prove of 
  some small comfort to the player 
  character's next of kin. 
  Foucard's language is French. 
  An. 
  Skills 
  Str: 
  4 Fisticuffs 3, Throwing 2, 
  Agh 5 Stealth 4, Marksmanship 
  2 (pistol), 
  End: 6 Wilderness Travel 6, 
  Fieldcraft 1, 
  Int: 
  2 Observation 2, 
  Chr: 1 Leadership 2, 
  Soc: 4 Riding 3 (horse) 
  Motives: 
  Arrogant, 
  Sadistic, 
  Lustful. 
  Appearance: Foucard is short and 
  ugly. He will probably be wearing 
  his uniform, although in a slovenly 
  manner, without a shirt and with the 
  jacket completely unbuttoned to ex- 
  pose his hairy chest (which he imag- 
  ines women find exciting). He is al- 
  most always dirty and oily looking 
  and in need of a bath. He deliberately 
  cultivates the look of a man who has 
  just returned from the bush, although 
  he actually seldom leaves his head- 
  quarters compound. His eyes are 
  narrow and cruel, and his ferret-like 
  face is usually covered with a thin, 
  uneven stubble of beard. 
  GDW 
  
  42 )) NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS 
  Kaaraahn Kaashneek 
  (Experienced NPC) 
  KAASHNEEK IS a Canal Martian 
  from any city-state that is convenient 
  for the referee. He is an orphan and 
  grew up in the slums and criminal 
  quarters, making his own way by 
  petty theft and various cons. Now 
  that he is older he has turned to the 
  path of honesty, at least by his own 
  rather lax standards. He will attach 
  himself to the party of adventurers 
  as a guide and interpreter and will not 
  stop bothering them, in a very friend- 
  ly and helpful way, until they take 
  him on. 
  Kaashneek is a very useful NPC 
  for the referee, for he is extremely 
  streetwise and knows everything 
  about local politics, crime, and law 
  enforcement. He can contact the 
  underground in almost any city and 
  gain valuable information. He is, in 
  short, a good way for the referee to 
  fill the players in on important infor- 
  mation without just reciting it to 
  them. 
  Kaashneek's only drawback, from 
  the players' point of view, is his pro- 
  pensity for wild schemes. He will 
  repeatedly come up with plans for 
  dangerous and improbable expedi- 
  tions that promise great riches for the 
  players, which he honestly believes 
  will work. These plans should be 
  very grandiose, involving such things 
  as Kaashneek's having purchased a 
  map to the lost treasure vault of 
  Emperor Seldon. How true they are 
  is up to the referee, but bear two 
  things in mind. If they are what they 
  purport to be, the players will soon 
  become so rich they have no need to 
  continue adventuring. On the other 
  hand, if they have no reward at all 
  the players eventually will stop pay- 
  ing attention to him altogether. You 
  probably don't want that to happen 
  as his schemes are excellent starting 
  points for adventures of your own 
  devising. 
  Kaashneek should be~played as a 
  real "character.," a charming, lik- 
  able rogue with a weakness for crazy 
  get-rich-quick schemes. 
  Att. 
  Skills 
  Str: 
  2 Fisticuffs 1, Throwing 1, 
  Agl: 5 Stealth 5, Crime 4 (pick- 
  pocket), 
  End: 4 Wilderness Travel 3 
  (foraging), Swimming 1, 
  lnt: 
  3 Observation 2, 
  Chr: 6 Eloquence 6, Linguistics 
  5 (English, any four 
  Martian languages), The- 
  atrics 2, Bargaining 1, 
  Soc: 1 Pilot 1 (boat) 
  Motives: Adventuresome, Friend- 
  ly, Eccentric. 
  Appearance: Kaashneek is tall 
  and slender, even by Martian stan- 
  dards, and when first met will be 
  dressed in a wild conglomeration of 
  ill-fitting, cast-off clothing, probably 
  ragged and a little dingy. As his fi- 
  nances improve, his taste in clothing 
  will not, and he will sport garish, 
  ridiculous outfits. His features are 
  broad and friendly, and his smile 
  reveals several missing teeth (lost in 
  alley fights). He will usually be smil- 
  ing and cheerful. 
  King Hattabranx 
  (Veteran NPC) 
  KNOWN TO the Oenotrians as the 
  "Thug King" and known to most 
  others by a variety of less polite 
  names, Hattabranx is the High Mar- 
  tian king of the Baarovaangian Host. 
  His stronghold, the sinister Kraag 
  Barrovaar high in the Astusapes 
  Mountains, is the most famous and 
  formidable of the High Martian 
  fortress-mountains. From his bar- 
  baric throne room, littered with the 
  bones of former prisoners, he plots 
  revenge against the Red Men from 
  Earth for all the real and imagined 
  humiliations he has suffered at their 
  hands. Goaded on by the diabolical 
  Worm Priests, his mad, twisted mind 
  seethes with hatred and blood-lust. 
  Hattabranx is very bad news. 
  Att. 
  Skills 
  Str: 
  1 
  Agh 3 
  End: 5 
  Int: 
  2 
  Chr: 4 
  Soc: 6 
  Stealth 3, Marksmanship 
  3 (bow), 
  Wilderness Travel 4 
  (foraging), 
  Observation l, 
  Eloquence 4, Linguistics 
  3 (Syrtan, Umbran, 
  English), Bargaining 4, 
  Leadership 5, Pilot 4 
  (cloudship) 
  
  NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS 
  43 
  Motives: Hatred (of Earth hu- 
  mans), Sadistic, Mad. 
  Appearance: Hattabranx will 
  almost always be encountered in his 
  throne room, which is filthy and 
  stinks of rotten meat and waste. He 
  will be seated on or crouching in his 
  throne, his heavy, twisted, gold 
  King's Necklace (the High Martian 
  equivalent of a crown) draped around 
  his shoulders and the heavy, spiked, 
  mace-like royal scepter at his side. 
  His shaggy hair is matted, and much 
  of his black hair has become a griz- 
  zled white and gray. His skin is dry 
  and wrinkled, like leather. His eyes 
  are deep-set and suspicious, and his 
  attitude is decidedly unfriendly. 
  Frederick Gustavus Burnaby 
  (Elite NPC) 
  BURNABY JOINED the British 
  Army in 1858 at the age of 16 and 
  resigned in 1885 to emigrate to 
  Mars. When he resigned, he was a 
  colonel in the Horse Guards, one of 
  the most fashionable regiments in the 
  army, but had managed to see con- 
  siderable action during his career. He 
  has always been an aeronautics en- 
  thusiast as we!l, having made nu- 
  merous balloon ascents and having 
  built several aerial steam launches in 
  the the early 1880s. The high point 
  of his career was his rescue of Gen- 
  eral Gordon from Khartoum by aeri- 
  al flyer in '85. When the government 
  decided later in the year to place all 
  aerial vessels under the control of the 
  navy, Burnaby resigned. 
  Burnaby was suffering from a 
  heart ailment in any case, and he 
  decided to emigrate to Mars where 
  the slightly lower gravity might help 
  his condition. Upon arriving, he built 
  a powerful aerial steam vessel (the 
  Penelope) and soon was active along 
  with the other Red Captains as an ex- 
  plorer, privateer, and point man for 
  British expansion on Mars. He is 
  now the most famous and respected 
  of the Red Captains and has tremen- 
  dous influence with Her Majesty's 
  government on Mars as well as many 
  of the neutral Martian princes. 
  Art. 
  Skills 
  Str: 6 
  Agl: 2 
  End: 1 
  Int: 
  3 
  Chr: 4 
  Soc: 5 
  Fisticuffs 5, Throwing 3, 
  Stealth 1, Marksmanship 
  2 (pistol), 
  Wilderness Travel 1 
  (mapping), Swimming 1, 
  Observation 2, Science 1 
  (physics), 
  Eloquence 4, Linguistics 
  6 (French, German, 
  Spanish, Russian, 
  Turkish, Arabian, Italian, 
  High Syrtan, Low Syrtan, 
  Umbran, Oenotrian), 
  Riding 5 (horse), Leader- 
  ship 2, Piloting 3 (flyer) 
  Motives: Adventuresome, Loyal, 
  r 
  Appearance: Burnaby is a 
  remarkably big man, six feet, four 
  inches tall with a 46-inch chest. (His 
  height and massive chest contribute 
  to his popularity with the Martians, 
  who often make crude but good- 
  natured jokes about the possibility of 
  his having a Martian ancestor.). He 
  is now 47 years old, and his dark 
  brown hair is flecked with gray, but 
  he is obviously'still very strong. (He 
  was widely believed to be the 
  strongest man in Europe when he 
  was younger, and he sometimes 
  demonstrated his strength by carry- 
  ing a pony under one arm.) He has 
  deep-set eyes and a serious face. He 
  generally wears an old, threadbare, 
  black army patrol jacket and a sun 
  helmet and carries a heavy, four- 
  barrel pistol in a holster at his side. 
  On his neck is a nasty, ragged scar, 
  a souvenir of his fighting in the 
  Sudan in 1885. 
  GDW 
  
  44 )) EVENT RESOLUTION 
  EVENT RESOLUTION 
  THE RULES for resolving events 
  are presented to give you a fair and 
  impartial means for determining the 
  success or failure of a character's at- 
  tempt at a task. However, the most 
  important thing to remember is that 
  you, as referee, actually decide how 
  events are resolved. The event 
  resolution systems shown below are 
  meant to help you, not restrict you. 
  For example, a formal means is 
  given to determine whether a char- 
  acter notices something out of the or- 
  dinary. However, if it is important 
  to the adventure that a guard not 
  notice the hiding player characters, 
  it is perfectly all right to decide that 
  they remain undetected. To maintain 
  the suspense, however, you should 
  roll one or more dice before an- 
  nouncing that the guard passes by 
  unaware. 
  In fact, in general it is a good idea 
  to conduct as many of the event 
  resolution die rolls as possible your- 
  self and then announce the results. 
  This makes the game seem less 
  mechanical to the players and enables 
  you add a secret die roll modifier 
  here or there to make things come 
  out right without anyone being any 
  the wiser. 
  A second important thing to 
  remember is that this is a role-play- 
  ing game, not a dice-rolling game. 
  While many different die roll resolu- 
  tion methods are available to resolve 
  events, they should never-be con- 
  sidered a complete Substitute for role 
  playing. 
  For example, many characters 
  have Bargaining skill. If desired, all 
  Bargaining could be reduced to a 
  single die roll, but that method is 
  very dry and sterile, the exact op- 
  posite of what a role-playing adven- 
  ture should be. Instead, the player 
  character should actually bargain 
  with the NPC (as played by the 
  referee), and how well he does at 
  role playing should be as important 
  as his actual Bargaining skill. What 
  the referee may choose to do is give 
  players with higher Bargaining skill 
  more information, such as: "He 
  seems nervous, as if he's anxious to 
  sell this statue quickly. Maybe some- 
  thing's wrong with it." Players with 
  low Bargaining skill might be told an 
  NPC seems unwilling to make any 
  concessions, when in fact he is ready 
  to give in. In both cases the skill level 
  affects the ability of the player to 
  bargain effectively, but the actual 
  haggling is up to him. 
  Another example, and a very im- 
  portant and common one, is an at- 
  tempt to persuade an NPC. The skill 
  which influences this is Eloquence, 
  and the attribute that will influence 
  it is Charisma. The referee should 
  choose one of these, whichever 
  seems more appropriate to the situa- 
  tion, as the principal skill or attribute 
  and use the other as a die roll 
  modifier. However, the player 
  should actually attempt to persuade 
  the NPC (again played by the ref- 
  eree), and the quality of his argu- 
  ments should determine how easy or 
  difficult the task of persuading the 
  NPC is. In other words, his Elo- 
  quence and Charisma do not enable 
  him to come up with good argu- 
  ments, they merely help him phrase 
  them in more pleasant and effective 
  ways. 
  Finally, always remember that you 
  can make something up. It is far 
  more important that the events be 
  resolved quickly and smoothly than 
  that you follow each and every rule 
  in this section. If you don't re- 
  member which skill is used for a 
  specific task, use your own common 
  sense. After all, that's how we came 
  up with these rules in the first place. 
  EVENT RESOLUTION 
  METHODS 
  THE TWO methods for resolving 
  an event are the skill dice/attribute 
  dice method and the quick roll 
  method. The skill dice/attribute dice 
  method has more scope for variation 
  and fine-tuning, and should be used 
  for most important tasks. The quick 
  roll method is used for routine, less 
  important tasks. The quick roll is 
  good for resolving things that need 
  to be done quickly to maintain the 
  tempo of the game (especially in the 
  case of combat, which should be fast 
  and furious), and for those tasks 
  which are too simple to need or 
  benefit from the skill dice/attribute 
  dice method. 
  Skill Dice/Attribute Dice 
  THIS METHOD has the player 
  character (or the referee for NPCs) 
  roll a number of dice equal to his 
  skill level or attribute level, which- 
  ever is appropriate. The dice rolls are 
  added together, and the total is com- 
  pared to a fixed target level. 
  
  EVENT RESOLUTION It, 45 
  Normally the number of dice 
  rolled is equal to the relevant skill 
  level. If the specific task is covered 
  by a listed skill, that skill is used. 
  However, if there is no specific skill 
  covering the task, the referee decides 
  which of the six attributes best covers 
  the task and uses its score as the 
  number of dice rolled instead. If two 
  different skills seem to cover the task 
  equally well (or nearly so), use 
  whichever is higher. If two different 
  skills are both required to complete 
  a task successfully, use whichever is 
  lower. For example, figuring out 
  how to operate a mad scientist's 
  lightning cannon might be accom- 
  plished using knowledge of either 
  Electricity or Gunnery. Use which- 
  ever is higher. But to impersonate a 
  German officer requires both 
  Theatrics skill and a knowledge of 
  German, so use whichever skill level 
  is lower. 
  In general, the target level of the 
  dice roll is based on the difficulty of 
  the task attempted. Difficulty goes up 
  in increments of four from the easiest 
  to the most difficult, as noted in the 
  table below: 
  ~ 
  TASK 
  ~ 
  DIFFICULTY LEVELS 
  Difficulty 
  Target Level 
  Easy 
  Target 4 
  Moderate 
  Target 8 
  Difficult 
  Target 12 
  Formidable 
  Target 16 
  Impossible 
  Target 20 
  Several players may combine (add 
  their skill or attribute rolls together) 
  to perform certain tasks, such as lift- 
  ~,ing a heavy weight. The referee 
  ~ould limit the number of players 
  ~hO combine to attempt a task, how- 
  ever, if physical space is limited. On- 
  ly one or two players at a time could 
  attempt to force a door, for example. 
  The target levels of certain physi- 
  cal tasks are easier to define in con- 
  crete terms, and specific target levels 
  are set for them. These physical tasks 
  are: 
  Lift a Heavy Weight: Roll 
  Strength dice. The target level is 1 
  per 10 pounds of weight. Lifting a 
  100-pound weight has a target level 
  of 10, for example. 
  Leap a Distance: Roll Agility 
  dice. Jumping a one-yard gap is 
  Easy, a two-yard gap Moderate, a 
  three-yard gap Difficult, etc. Reduce 
  the difficulty by one level if the 
  character takes a running start. Raise 
  it by one level if carrying more than 
  20 percent of his own body weight, 
  by two levels if carrying more than 
  40 percent, etc. A 150-pound char- 
  acter, for example, would increase 
  the difficulty by one level if carry- 
  ing over 30 pounds, by two levels if 
  carrying over 60 pounds, by three if 
  carrying over 90 pounds, and so 
  forth. 
  Throw an Object For Distance: 
  Roll Throwing or Strength dice 
  (whichever is greater). The distance 
  the object is thrown is four times the 
  dice roll divided by the weight of the 
  object in pounds. For example, a 
  character with a Strength of 4 rolls 
  a 15 on his Strength dice. This result 
  would mean that he threw a one- 
  pound object up to 60 yards, a two- 
  pound object 30 yards, a 10-pound 
  object six yards, and a 100-pound 
  object onto his foot. The player does 
  not have to throw the object the full 
  distance rolled. He can state how far 
  he wants to throw it, and it will go 
  that distance (roughly), unless it falls 
  short due to a poor die roll. 
  Quick Roll 
  THE QUICK ROLL system is 
  done with one die; the referee in- 
  structs the player to "roll against" 
  a skill or attribute. Alternatively, the 
  referee may make the roll himself 
  and ask the players for their ap- 
  propriate skill or attribute numbers. 
  The task is successful if the skill or 
  attribute number or less is rolled. 
  This is a good way to resolve quick 
  events that occur. Do the players no- 
  tice that the carvings on the wall are 
  the same as in the temple at Kraag 
  Barrovaar? Roll against Observation. 
  Do they notice the vaguely stilted ac- 
  cent of the French customs official? 
  Roll against Linguistics (French). Do 
  they notice, when seated at the large 
  viewing window in Doctor Ladi- 
  slov's ether flyer, that they are not 
  heading toward Mars after all? Roll 
  against Astronomy. Most NPC tasks 
  should be resolved this way. 
  Die Roll Modifiers 
  SOME TASKS are performed us- 
  ing one skill or attribute but are 
  modified by another. For example, 
  some melee weapons have a required 
  Strength level If a player's Strength 
  is below the required level, the 
  deficit is a negative modifier on his 
  chance of hitting. The referee has the 
  player roll against his Close Combat 
  skill to hit, but would subtract the 
  deficit from the skill level. 
  This can be used to good effect 
  when knowledge from several dif- 
  ferent fields will help complete a 
  task. A player with a good know- 
  ledge in these fields would use his 
  best skill, but would also receive a 
  die roll modification (at the referee's 
  discretion) to further help him in his 
  attempt. 
  GDW 
  
  46 
  ADVENTURES 
  ADVENTURES 
  ANY ADVENTURE has three 
  basic elements: the situation, the 
  characters, and the plot. Each ele- 
  ment helps contribute to the overall 
  level of excitement and interest that 
  makes the adventure memorable. 
  The Characters: The players will 
  bring their own player characters into 
  the adventure, and they will be the 
  protagonists, the main characters 
  around which the action revolves. 
  Almost as important, however, are 
  the non-player characters that you 
  will make up for the adventure. 
  Refereeing a role-playing adventure 
  is very much like telling a story (with 
  the big difference being that the 
  players decide the actions of the main 
  characters). What makes a story in- 
  teresting is usually the interaction 
  between characters in it. If your non- 
  player characters are lifeless and 
  uninteresting, the excitement level 
  will suffer. So before running an 
  adventure with your characters, take 
  a few minutes and give some thought 
  to the NPCs they will encounter, and 
  to what you can do to make them 
  The Situation: The referee deter- 
  mines the situation that the characters 
  face. Someone has to establish the 
  scene and the initial events that will 
  plunge the group of characters deep 
  into the adventure, and by default, 
  the referee has this responsibility. 
  This situation will give the characters 
  an understanding of their location, 
  resources, potential problems, and, 
  most important of all, their goal. 
  There are five pure goals that can 
  drive an adventure. These goals are 
  the chase (and its opposite, the pur- 
  suit), the assault or rescue, the 
  voyage of exploration or discovery, 
  the search for enrichment, and the 
  mystery. For an adventure to be suc- 
  cessful, it has to have at least one of 
  these goals present. Most good ad- 
  ventures will have the potential for 
  more than one. In addition to pro- 
  viding a more complex plot, this also 
  can lead to interesting conflict be- 
  tween the player characters if they 
  have different opinions as to which 
  goal is more important. 
  The initial situation can also be 
  used to good effect to set the mood 
  of the adventure. For example, sup- 
  pose the players are asked to perfom 
  a mission for the British colonial 
  government on Mars. The briefing 
  can take place in the cool interior of 
  an official's office. 
  Imagine, 
  however, that the briefing takes place 
  at an outpost soon to be overrun by 
  an advancing Oenotrian column. The 
  compound is full of activity a~ 
  soldiers rush to pack what gear they 
  can, while clerks keep large bonfires 
  fueled with government files. Depen- 
  dents will move out as well, and 
  there are wives, crying children. 
  frightened servants, loudly protestin~ 
  pack animals, and a general air 0~ 
  near-panic. The official who asks for 
  help should be exhausted, harried 
  and perhaps even slightly wounded 
  But in the midst of all this beehive 
  like activity, he will take time to ex- 
  plain this mission and its importance 
  How much more of a sense of urgen- 
  cy will your players come away wi~ 
  in that situation? 
  
  ADVENTURES Lt 47 
  The Plot: The plot is determined 
  jointly by you and your players. Ob- 
  viously you cannot completely con- 
  trol their actions (or you might as 
  well have nothing but NPCs in your 
  game!), nor can your players com- 
  pletely control their surroundings or 
  the actions of the NPCs. Therefore, 
  the actual course of the adventure, 
  its plot, is determined jointly as 
  events unfold. The referee, however, 
  bears the major responsibility for the 
  plot since he determines which 
  events and encounters happen when. 
  It is up to him to keep the players on 
  track and moving toward a logical 
  conclusion to the adventure and to 
  keep the adventure from dragging. 
  An adventure drags when players 
  lapse into inactivity. This may hap- 
  pen on a long caravan trip, a sea 
  voyage, or when engaging in any 
  repetitive activity such as exploring, 
  travelling, etc. The referee should 
  liven these times up with a catalyst 
  to force action. Typical catalysts 
  include: 
  "3 
  Danger: to force action through a 
  threat of harm or disaster. 
  Opportunity: to force action 
  through promise of a reward. 
  Puzzles: to force action through 
  curiosity. 
  Although some discretion should 
  be used when dealing with extra 
  wrinkles thrown in like this, it is 
  much harder to overdo the action 
  than to underdo it. These players of 
  yours are, after all, adventurers. 
  They are in the situation they are in 
  because they are looking for adven- 
  ture. While recklessness is not 
  recommended as the best means of 
  ensuring survival, excessive timidi- 
  ty or caution should be discouraged. 
  Alternatively, situations which 
  cause an adventure to drag can be 
  summarized, and the scene of the 
  plot can be moved directly to the 
  locale of the next adventurous activi- 
  ty. If you don't want to put in an ex- 
  tra wrinkle because it would cause 
  too great a set of complications, sum- 
  marize useful information gained and 
  cut to the excitement. 
  GDW 
  
  48 )) REWARDS AND EXPERIENCE 
  REWARDS 
  THE SUCCESSFUL completion 
  of an adventure by your players 
  should be accompanied by suitable 
  rewards. Five types of rewards may 
  be acquired as a result of an adven- 
  ture: money, awards and renown, 
  experience, knowledge, and souve- 
  nirs. 
  Money: The easiest form of 
  monetary reward to acquire is that 
  found during the adventure. This of- 
  ten takes the form of loot which can 
  be brought back and divided up im- 
  mediately or auctioned off and the 
  money divided into whatever shares 
  are agreed upon. The prices in the 
  equipment section help in determin- 
  ing what the players receive at auc- 
  tion. The prices, however, are for 
  new merchandise, and that which the 
  players bring back will probably not 
  be new. After deducting an auc- 
  tioneer's expenses and commission, 
  the players will be lucky to clear half 
  the item's original purchase price. 
  A second type of money reward is, 
  literally, a cash reward. This reward 
  may have been agreed upon before 
  as a fee for completion of some 
  specific job, or it may come as a sur- 
  prise. It was not unheard of for 
  charitable or patriotic societies or the 
  government itself to provide a cash 
  reward for a service well rendered, 
  and it was certainly not considered 
  ungentlemanly to accept. (It was con- 
  sidered tacky to complain about the 
  smallness of the reward, but that did 
  not prevent even prominent figures 
  from doing so on occasion.) 
  Awards and Renown: Players 
  start out with no fame, but will 
  gradually accumulate it as the game 
  goes on. At the end of each adven- 
  ture in which the referee judges that 
  a character's actions wo~d have 
  gained him some (ame, the referee 
  should give him one renown point. 
  This will be based partly on the per- 
  formance of the character, partly on 
  the importance of the mission or ex- 
  pedition, and partly on how likely the 
  action is to gain public recognition. 
  Renown points are given separate- 
  ly in each of the following fields: 
  Heroic Acts, Scientific Achieve- 
  ment, Exploratory Discoveries, 
  Military Prowess, and Service to the 
  Crown. Heroic Acts are fairly ob- 
  vious, 
  and require the player 
  character to do something very brave 
  (or stupid), get away with it, and 
  have a fair number of people notice. 
  Scientific Achievement consists of 
  perfecting experimental devices that 
  have a background knowledge re- 
  quirement greater than 15. Ex- 
  ploratory Discoveries include new 
  species of animals (the bigger the 
  better--who cares about a new 
  species of rat?), new archaeological 
  ruins, undiscovered tribes, etc. 
  Military Prowess consists of leading 
  or playing a prominent role with a 
  body of men victorious in battle. 
  Fighting nomads and bandits hardly 
  counts, unless you were formally 
  dispatched to do so. In most cases 
  renown should be gained by fighting 
  regular troops or naval vessels, 
  preferably of a colonial power. Ser- 
  vice to the Crown covers a host of 
  possible achievements, mostly of a 
  diplomatic nature; 
  securing the 
  signature of a native prince on an im- 
  portant treaty, for example, or un- 
  covering and foiling a German plot. 
  As to the likelihood of gaining 
  recognition, the simple truth is that 
  someone with a Social Level of 6 is 
  more likely to be recognized than is 
  someone with a Social Level of 1, 
  but this should be played down a bit 
  in the game. Social Level should be 
  an advantage in garnering fame, but 
  not an overwhelming one. Another 
  consideration is prior career. A 
  military man is much more likely to 
  gain renown for a military achieve- 
  ment than is a civilian, and less likely 
  to gain renown for an exploratory 
  discovery. Thus it is possible for 
  three characters to participate on a 
  mission and all divide the respon- 
  sibilities equally, but have two of 
  them receive renown points in dif- 
  ferent fields and the third not receive 
  a point at all. 
  Medals and awards were quite 
  common during the Victorian era, 
  particularly for service of a military 
  nature, and it would be the rare 
  soldier who did not earn at least a 
  campaign or battle medal during his 
  career. Every major campaign would 
  usually have a medal struck for it and 
  awarded to the participants. If there 
  were one or more important battles, 
  each might have its own clasp that 
  participants would wear attached to 
  their campaign medal. 
  Heroism in the face of the enemy 
  was rewarded most often with a 
  "mention in dispatches," an honor 
  which could be given to both officers 
  and other ranks. Although no speci- 
  fic award accompanies a mention in 
  dispatches, the names of such in- 
  dividuals are printed in the London 
  Gazette, for which the character 
  receives a renown point. Greater 
  deeds of courage might be reward- 
  ed with a medal, the Distinguished 
  Service Order for officers or the 
  
  REWARDS AND EXPERIENCE I( 49 
  Distinguished Conduct Medal for 
  other ranks (two renown points). 
  Finally, the highest award for gallan- 
  try was the coveted Victoria Cross 
  (four renown points), available to 
  both officers and other ranks, and 
  awarded only for outstanding 
  heroism in the face of the enemy. 
  Recipients of the Distinguished Ser- 
  vice Order and the Victoria Cross 
  were entitled to include the initials 
  D.S.O. or V.C. (respectively) after 
  In addition to medals, officers 
  were often rewarded for bravery 
  under fire, particularly valuable ser- 
  vice, or an outstandingly successful 
  campaign with membership in one of 
  the chivalric orders. Usually, early 
  awards would be the lowest rank in 
  one of the lower orders, and subse- 
  quent awards would be for a higher 
  rank in that order (thus replacing the 
  lower rank, not adding to it). Once 
  a higher rank in an order had been 
  gained, the next award might be the 
  bottom rank in a higher order, and 
  so forth. Each such award is accom- 
  panied by an additional renown 
  point. Officially, there was no dif- 
  ference in rank between the different 
  orders, but everyone knew other- 
  wise. (The orders are listed in the 
  "Victorian Era" chapter, in the 
  sidebar of page 33.) 
  Experience: For each major event 
  or episode, award one experience 
  point. Players may accumulate ex- 
  perience points or spend them at 
  once. Experience points are used to 
  increase a skill level. To increase a 
  skill level by one, experience points 
  must be spent equal to the desired 
  skill level. If that increase would 
  raise the skill above its associated at- 
  tribute level, then a die roll must be 
  made to confirm the skill promotion. 
  The skill promotion is confirmed if 
  the die roll is equal to or greater than 
  the current skill level (not the sought- 
  after level). Seven is the highest skill 
  level possible. 
  Close Combat Points: If the player 
  took part in any close combat, he 
  receives a Close Combat experience 
  point. These points are awarded 
  separately from general skill points 
  and can only be used to buy Close 
  Combat skill. General experience 
  points may not be used for Close 
  Combat skill. 
  Knowledge: During the course of 
  the game, the referee should award 
  additional research dice to inventors 
  as a result of their experiences. The 
  referee may award these as skill- 
  based dice (such as Physics or 
  Machinist), or may make them spe- 
  cific to a certain research area (such 
  as the ether), or may award them 
  without restriction (the same as In- 
  tellect dice). Generally, he will 
  award skill-based dice if a player has 
  used that particular skill extensive- 
  ly. Area dice may result from learn- 
  ing some interesting new fact about 
  the phenomenon covered by that re- 
  search area. Unrestricted dice might 
  be awarded if the player was able to 
  spend a great deal of time in a labo- 
  ratory, such as during a long space 
  voyage. 
  A referee should seldom award 
  more than one research die at the end 
  of an adventure and may consider 
  several alternatives instead. If a 
  player has been able to extensively 
  examine or use an experimental de- 
  vice, the referee can give him a die 
  roll modifier on any experimental at- 
  tempt to perfect it. Alternatively, the 
  referee can award a general increase 
  in the inventor's knowledge of a spe- 
  cific research area. The invention 
  system is sufficiently flexible that the 
  referee has many different ways that 
  he can allow the characters to grad- 
  ually increase their knowledge of the 
  universe. 
  Souvenirs: These are various 
  weapons, devices, artifacts, and so 
  forth acquired during the adventure 
  which the characters do not wish to 
  sell. Often these can be very useful 
  later, especially in the case of one- 
  of-a-kind items. 
  GDW 
  
  50 ~)) EQUIPMENT 
  f 
  P 
  J 
  ~
  f
   
  8B 
  
  EQUIPMENT 
  51 
  EQUIPMENT 
  MOST ADVENTURES will re- 
  quire some sort of equipment for 
  their successful completion. This 
  chapter provides an extensive listing 
  of various items of equipment the 
  characters may want to acquire, 
  ranging from simple knives to large 
  aerial flyers. Each item includes a 
  brief description of the item, its 
  weight, and the typical purchase 
  price. Purchase price is based on its 
  market price at its point of manufac- 
  ture or most likely sale point. A 
  revolver, for example, costs the in- 
  dicated amount on Earth, or in an 
  established human enclave. Revolv- 
  ers are not generally for sale in 
  remote nomadic villages, and if they 
  would have one, the price might be 
  considerably higher. 
  In many cases equipment will be 
  obtained by barter rather than pur- 
  chase, and in this case the prices 
  should guide the referee in determin- 
  ing relative equivalent values. 
  A Note on British Money: For 
  those unfamiliar with the British 
  system of currency in use in 1889, 
  here is a short discussion. 
  The basic units are the pound, the 
  shilling, and the penny. Twelve pen- 
  nies make a shilling, 20 shillings (or 
  240 pennies) make a pound. Pennies 
  are sometimes divided into ha'pen- 
  nies (half-pennies) and farthings 
  (quarter-pennies). Prices are written 
  as "pounds shillings/pennies." For 
  example, three pounds, two shillings 
  and six pennies would be written as 
  s 2/6, read as "three pounds, two- 
  and-six." Shillings alone are written 
  without the s sign; for example, 
  three shillings is written 3/--. Pen- 
  nies alone are identified by the ab- 
  breviatio'n "d" following the num- 
  ber; for example, sixpence would be 
  written as 6d. 
  Currency Conversions: In 1889, 
  a pound sterling was worth $5 in 
  American currency. A shilling was 
  worth $.25 and a penny, just over 
  $.02. 
  GDW 
  
  G 
  SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT AND REFERENCE MATERIALS
  SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT AND 
  REFERENCE MATERIALS 
  ASSORTED PIECES of scientific 
  equipment and reference materials 
  available include: 
  Binoculars (Field Glasses): A 
  device which makes distant objects 
  appear closer, using two pairs of 
  lenses to retain stereoscopic vision. 
  Wt: 2 lbs Price: s 
  Conklin's Atlas of the Worlds 
  and Handy Manual of Useful In- 
  formation: A gazetteer and atlas of 
  Earth, Mars, Venus, and other worlds 
  in the Solar System, with vital sta- 
  tistics and other information, all in 
  a single handy reference book. Wt: 
  .5 lb Price: 1/--. 
  Dissecting Kit: A small box con- 
  taining forceps, a scalpel, and vari- 
  ous probes and other tools for the 
  dissection and study of zoological 
  and botanical specimens. Jars for 
  preservation of samples are not in- 
  cluded. Wt: 1 lb Price: 8/--. 
  Doctor's Bag and Supplies: A 
  leather bag containing surgical in- 
  struments and supplies, and also a 
  supply of medicines and other ma- 
  terials for the treatment of wounds 
  and sickness. Wt: 10 lbs Price: s 
  Edison's 
  Encyclopedia 
  of 
  General Information: A font of 
  useful information about the uni- 
  verse, written by the inventor of the 
  ether flyer. No inventor or scientist 
  can be without this compact volume. 
  Wt: 1 lb Price: !/--. 
  Laboratory Apparatus, Chemi- 
  cal: This kit contains flasks, test 
  tubes and other assorted glassware, 
  a portable alcohol burner, ther- 
  mometers, and sundry other items 
  and supplies to allow the owner to 
  perform chemical experiments in the 
  field. Wt: 15 lbs Price: s 
  P 
  Laboratory Apparatus, Electri- 
  cal: Various electrical tools, meters, 
  coils, and other apparatus for electri- 
  cal experimentation. Wt: 8 lbs Price: 
  s 
  Magnifying Glass: A glass which 
  makes small things appear larger. No 
  consulting detective can be without 
  one. Wt: Negligible Price: 12/--. 
  Microscope: An instrument used 
  in the study of bacteria and other ex- 
  tremely small things. Wt: 3 lbs Price: 
  s 
  Navigation Instruments: A sex- 
  tant, chronometer, compass, and 
  other instruments used in celestial i
  navigation. Wt: 8 lbs Price: s 
  i
  Robb 's Medical Companion and 
  Household Physician: A compact 
  source of medical information for use 
  by those not trained as physicians. 
  Wt: 1 lb Price: 2/--. 
  Telegraphic Instruments: This 
  kit contains a sending key and receiv- 
  er, plus the batteries required to 
  operate a single station of a tele- 
  graphic system. Wt: 1 lb Price: s 
  Telephonic Instrument: A single 
  telephone and the batteries for its 
  operation. A minimum of two are re- 
  quired for communication. Wt: 3 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Telescope (Spyglass): An instru- 
  ment used to magnify distant objects, 
  thereby making them appear closer. 
  Wt: 1 lb Price: s 
  
  TOOLS It 53 
  The Millwright's Companion 
  and Handy-Book: The tinkerer's bi- 
  ble, a book of plans and directions 
  for the fabrication of hundreds of 
  useful items of equipment. No inven- 
  tor can afford to be without this 
  useful volume. Wt: 1 lb Price: 8/--. 
  I 
  Surveying Instruments: A set of 
  instruments (compass, tripod, tran- 
  sit, clinometer, and so on) for map- 
  ping and measuring landforms. Wt: 
  1 lb Price: s 
  Wire, Insulated: Used in connect- 
  ing telegraphic or telephonic sys- 
  tems. Wt: 100 lbs per mile Price: s 
  per mile. 
  TOOLS 
  EVERY INTREPID explorer will 
  need tanl~ 
  Axe: A wood-cutting tool, usable 
  as a weapon. Wt: 3 lbs Price: 2/--. 
  Forge, 
  Portable: 
  Tools for 
  heating and forging metal (bellows, 
  firebox, anvil and so on). Wt: 500 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Hatchet: A small hand axe. Wt: 1 
  lb Price: 6d. 
  Machete: A long-bladed cutting 
  tool, usable as a melee weapon. Wt: 
  2 lbs Price: 8d. 
  Tools, Carpenter: Saws, chisels, 
  planes, and other woodworking 
  tools, contained in a wooden chest 
  for storage. Wt: 30 lbs Price: s 
  Knife, Two-bladed Jack-: A 
  small folding knife, not intended for 
  fighting. Wt: Negligible Price: 1/--. 
  ..~-~ 
  r 
  Lockpicks, Set: Tools for open- 
  Tools, Instrment-maker: This is 
  a set of Swiss files, rifflers, gravers, 
  drills, and other tools used in mak- 
  ing clocks, watches, scientific in- 
  struments such as barometers and 
  sextants, and for repair and manufac- 
  ture of the metal parts of firearms 
  and other delicate machinery. Wt: 10 
  ing locks without the proper key, in- lbs Price: s 
  cluding several picks, skeleton keys, 
  T ~ T d  
  ~~a 
  and so on. Wt: Negligible Price: 
  ~-. 
  ~ 
  6 
  18/ 
  Photographic Lab, Portable: 
  This setup contains everything need- 
  ed to develop photographs in the 
  field, including the chemicals, ap- 
  paratus, and a special lightproof tent. 
  Wt: 30 lbs Price: s 
  Tools, Metalworker: This setup 
  contains hammers, rivets, files, and 
  everything else needed to shape 
  metal except an anvil and forge, 
  which are needed for the shaping of 
  larger items. Wt: 60 lbs Price: s 
  Trap, Bear: A heavy-duty trap 
  used to capture large, dangerous ani- 
  mals. Wt: 3 lbs Price: 1/--. 
  Pick, Mattock, Shovel, etc.: 
  Tools used in excavating. Wt: 5 lbs 
  Price: 2/--. 
  Trap, Small Animal: A smaller 
  trap used to capture animals for food 
  or fur. Wt: 1 lb Price: 6d. 
  GDW 
  
  54 
  TRAVELLING GEAR 
  TRAVELLING GEAR 
  ITEMS USEFUL to the traveller 
  and explorer include: 
  Bag, Carpet: A carrier for other 
  items, maximum capacity 50 lbs. Wt: 
  3 lbs (empty) Price: 2/--. 
  Blanket: A heavy woolen blanket 
  used for protection from the ele- 
  ments. Wt: 1 lb Price: 8d. 
  Camera, Portable: Scientists and 
  explorers find the camera especially 
  valuable for speedily recording 
  scenes for later examination at lei- 
  sure. Wt: 1 lb Price: s 
  Camp Stove, Portable, Coal Oil: 
  Used for cooking and to provide 
  warmth in the wilderness. Wt: 2 lbs 
  Price: 10/--. 
  Camping Outfit: A gentleman 
  needs certain essentials for life, even 
  in the wilderness, and this kit pro- 
  vides them all in a convenient car- 
  rying case. It includes a stove, tent, 
  cot, folding stool, cooking pots, din- 
  ing utensils, toilet requisites, and 
  many other items. Wt: 80 lbs Price: 
  s 
  Food, Canned, One Day: Pre- 
  served food in tinned cans capable of 
  keeping reasonably fresh for several 
  years. Wt: 4 lbs Price: 8d. 
  Food, One Day: This is a meal in 
  a restaurant or boarding house. Wt: 
  3 lbs Price: 6d to s 
  Clothing, Foul Weather: A rub- 
  berized hat, overcoat and boots to 
  protect the wearer from wind and 
  rain. Wt: 3 lbs Price: 8/-- to 12/--. 
  u 2 5l '!22  
  Clothing, Rough-Living: A suit 
  of heavy-duty clothing, including 
  pants, shirt, jacket, boots, hat, and 
  so on, for use by explorers and those 
  who expect to be "roughing it." Wt: 
  3 lbs Price: s 
  Cot, Folding: Wt: 15 lbs Price: 
  15/--. 
  Fishing Tackle: Wt: 1 lb Price: 
  12/--. 
  Gramophone or Similar Talking 
  Machine: The latest invention of 
  Thomas Edison, a machine that can 
  preserve any sound and reproduce it 
  at any time. The tinkerer's delight. 
  Wt: 3 lbs Price: s 
  Hammock: 
  A portable bed 
  designed to be slung between two 
  supports. Wt: 1 lb Price: 4/--. 
  Lamp, Miner's Safety: A small 
  lamp designed to be worn on the 
  head, usually fueled by carbide and 
  water. A pound of carbide will pro- 
  vide 16 charges, each charge will last 
  two hours. Wt: .3 lbs Price: 8d 
  Lantern, Car- 
  ~
  ~
   
  bide: A larger ver- 
  sion of the miner's 
  safety lamp. A 
  pound of carbide 
  will provide eight ~[r'~ 
  charges, and each ~ i\~,. ~x 
  charge will pro- 
  ~ ,. ~ 
  vide light for four 
  ~_/g~2 2 ~'~ 
  hours. If spilled, 
  ~~"- 
  the carbide will not burn, unlike liq- 
  uid fuels. Wt: 1 lb Price: 1/--. 
  Lantern, Kerosene or Gasoline: 
  A pint of liquid fuel provides light 
  for up to 12 hours. Wt: 1 lb Price: 
  5/--. 
  
  FUELS AND EXPLOSIVES it 55 
  Rope, 100 ft: This has a tensile 
  strength of 300 pounds. Wt: 5 lbs 
  Price: 2/--. 
  Tarp: A 10' • 10' square of rub- 
  berized or oiled canvas used to cover 
  other items and protect them from 
  the elements. Wt: 2 lbs Price: 10d. 
  Tent, 10-man: Protection from 
  the elements for up to 10 people. Wt: 
  35 lbs Price: s 
  ' 
  -ZI -- t 
  Tent, Two-man: Protection for 
  two people. Wt: 12 lbs Price: s 
  Trunk, Steamer: A container for 
  other objects, maximum capacity 140 
  lbs. Wt: 6 lbs (empty) Price: 8/--. 
  Watch: Pocket watches vary in 
  quality from the gold-filled basic 
  pocket timepiece to highly engraved, 
  solid gold works of art, and their 
  prices reflect the variety. More ex- 
  pensive versions often have second 
  hands. Wt: Negligible Price: From 
  5/-- to s 
  Watch, Stop-: High-quality 
  chronographs are used by certain 
  scientists and inventors in pursuit of 
  their experiments, and by sporting 
  enthusiasts to time various sporting 
  events. Wt: Negligible Price: s 
  FUEL 
  POWER PLANTS and smaller en- 
  gines may run off of one of a varie- 
  ty of fuels. 
  Coal: The most common solid 
  fuel. Price: s 
  per ton. 
  Petroleum: Used to fuel some 
  boilers near oil fields. Price: s per 
  ton. 
  Liquid Fuels: These include 
  kerosene, coal oil, petroleum waste, 
  and other flammable liquids. The 
  flammable cleaning fluid called gas- 
  oline has recently been used as a fuel 
  in an internal combustion engine by 
  a German named Daimler. Price: s 
  per ton in bulk, or l d per pint. 
  Wood, Peat: More primitive solid 
  fuels, but often easier to come by in 
  primitive areas�9 Price: Usually free. 
  Carbide: Carbide is a powder 
  which reacts with water to produce 
  flammable acetylene gas. It is used 
  in certain lamps and lanterns, par- 
  ticularly miners' headlamps. Carbide 
  is nonflammable by itself, which 
  makes it safer if the lamp is dropped 
  or damaged�9 It comes in sealed tins. 
  Wt: 1 lb/tin Price: 5d. 
  EXPLOSIVES 
  THE FOLLOWING are essential 
  for heavy construction or major 
  demolition work. 
  " 
  " -..~-22 
  Gunpowder: Although outdated 
  by human standards as an explosive, 
  it is still widely used as an ammuni- 
  tion propellant. Gunpowder comes in 
  six-pound kegs, but may be divided 
  into smaller one-pound charges with 
  the use of cloth bags or small tins. 
  Gunpowder has an explosive power 
  of 1 per pound. Wt: 6-1b/keg Price: 
  10/--. 
  Dynamite: Invented in 1866 by 
  Nobel, dynamite has largely replaced 
  gunpowder as a common explosive. 
  Dynamite comes in cases, each with 
  100 half-pound sticks. Dynamite has 
  an explosive power of 4 per pound 
  (2 per stick). Wt: 50 lbs/case Price: 
  s 
  Nitroglycerin: 
  Nitroglycerin 
  ("nitro" for short) is powerful but 
  dangerously unstable. It comes in 
  two-ounce bottles, with 20 bottles to 
  a case. The case is internally divid- 
  ed with a separate compartment for 
  each bottle and usually also has a 
  compartment for ice as well. (The ice 
  helps keep the nitro stable.) Nitro has 
  an explosive power of 8 per pound 
  (1 per two-ounce bottle). Wt: 5 lbs/ 
  case Price: s 
  GDW 
  
  56 )) FIREARMS 
  FIREARMS 
  THE FOLLOWING firearms are 
  representative of those available in 
  1889. 
  Pistols 
  PISTOL USE is determined by the 
  Pistol cascade of the Marksmanship 
  skill. 
  Single-Barrel Pistol: This is a 
  one-barreled 
  breech-loading 
  car- 
  tridge pistol, of which the Remington 
  Rolling Block Pistol is typical. Wt: 
  1 lb Price: 8/--. 
  Light Revolver: This is a small- 
  caliber pistol with a single barrel and 
  a multiple-shot rotating cylinder, of 
  which the Hopkins and Allen .32- 
  caliber revolver is typical. Wt: 1.5 
  lbs Price: 10/--. 
  Heavy Revolver: This is a large- 
  caliber pistol typified by the Colt 
  Single Action Army revolver. Wt: 2 
  lbs Price: s 
  Light Multibarrel Pistol: A small 
  pistol with two (rarely more) barrels, 
  sometimes called a derringer, typi- 
  fied by the Remington .41-caliber 
  Double derringer. Wt: .7 lb Price: 
  s 
  Heavy Multibarrel Pistol: A 
  four-barreled pistol, typified by the 
  British Lancaster pistol. Wt: 2 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Rifles 
  RIFLE USE comes under the Ri- 
  fle cascade of the Marksmanship 
  skill. 
  Bolt Action Rifle: A modern ri- 
  fle with a five-round magazine, such 
  as the French Lebel, the Austrian 
  Mannlicher, or the German Mauser 
  rifles. Such weapons have a manual- 
  ly worked bolt which loads and ejects 
  each round. Wt: 9 lbs Price: s 
  Bolt Action Carbine: Similar to 
  the Bolt Action Rifle, but with a 
  slightly shorter barrel. Wt: 8 lbs 
  Price: s 
  6/--. 
  Lee Metford Bolt Action Rifle: 
  Recently adopted on a trial basis as 
  Single-Barrel 
  Pistol 
  �9 
  " 
  1 
  Multibarrel 
  Pistol 
  Revolver 
  ~ultibarrel 
  Pistol 
  Y 
  Heavy 
  ~
  ~
  _
  _
  _
   Revolvers 
  Bolt Action Rifle & Carbine 
  fie, the Lee Metford is similar to 
  other bolt action rifles with the ex- 
  ception that it has a larger, eight- 
  round magazine. Wt: 9 lbs Price: s 
  Bolt Action Carbine (LM): Sim- 
  ilar to the Lee Metford rifle but with 
  a shortened barrel. Wt: 8 lbs Price', 
  s 
  6/--. 
  Breech-loading Rifle: A single- 
  shot cartridge weapon, typified by 
  the Remington Rolling Block Rifle, 
  or the British Martini-Henry. Wt: 8 
  lbs Price: s 
  Breech-loading Carbine: A 
  shorter-barreled 
  version of the 
  breech-loading rifle. Wt: 7.5 lbs 
  Price: s 
  18/--. 
  Lever Action Rifle: A modern ri- 
  fle with a multiple-round magazine, 
  with a manually operated lever which 
  ejects a spent round, cocks the weap- 
  on, and loads another round. The 
  most famous example is manufac- 
  tured by the American arms firm 0[ 
  Winchester. Wt: 9 lbs Price: s 2/6 
  Lever Action Carbine: A weapon 
  similar to the lever action rifle, M 
  with a shorter barrel (and often ina 
  smaller caliber). Wt: 8 lbs Price: s 
  
  FIREARMS it 57 
  Muzzle-loading Rifle: A single- 
  shot weapon in which the ammuni- 
  tion is loaded into the muzzle or front 
  of the rifle instead of through a 
  closable breech. The British Enfield 
  and American Springfield Rifle- 
  Musket are typical examples. Wt: 7 
  lbs Price: 8/-- to 10/--. 
  Muzzle-loading Carbine: Similar 
  to the muzzle-loading rifle, but with 
  a shorter barrel. Wt: 6 lbs Price: 6/-- 
  to 8/--. 
  Smoothbore Musket: A primitive 
  muzzle-loader, lacking the grooves 
  in the barrel (rifling) which give a ri- 
  fle bullet stability during its flight. 
  Consequently, the smoothbore mus- 
  ket has a shorter range and is less ac- 
  curate than rifled weapons. Wt: 8 lbs 
  Price: 8/--. 
  Smoothbore Carbine: Similar to 
  the smoothbore musket, but with a 
  considerably shorter barrel. Wt: 7 lbs 
  Price: 6/--. 
  Long Hunting Rifle: A large-bore 
  breech-loading rifle, usually with a 
  longer barrel (and more accurate), of 
  which the Sharps .50 caliber Long 
  Range Express "Big Fifty" is typi- 
  cal. Such weapons are often called 
  "Buffalo Rifles" because of their use 
  by American hunters. Wt: 10 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Heavy Double Rifle: A very 
  large-bore, breech-loading rifle (be- 
  Nordenfelt Light Machinegun: A 
  weapon with a single Nordenfelt ac- 
  tion, capable of very rapid fire. Wt: 
  15 lbs Price: s 
  Shotguns 
  SHOTGUN USE is also covered 
  under the Rifle cascade of the Marks- 
  manship skill. 
  12-Gauge Double: In shotguns, 
  gauge is a measure of bore diameter, 
  expressed in the number of lead balls 
  of that barrel diameter which make 
  a pound. Double means the weapon 
  has two barrels. By 1889 most shot- 
  guns used modern-type cartridges 
  rather than loose powder and shot. 
  Wt: 9 lbs Price: s 
  to s 
  12-Gauge Lever Action: A shot- 
  gun with a tubular magazine capable 
  of holding five cartridges. The 
  weapon is cocked and cartridges 
  loaded and ejected by means of a 
  manually operated lever. The Win- 
  chester Repeating Shotgun is a 
  typical example of a lever action 
  shotgun. Wt: 9 lbs Price: s 
  20-Gauge Double: A smaller type 
  of shotgun with two barrels. Wt: 7 
  lbs Price: s 
  12-Gauge Scattergun: A standard 
  12-gauge double-barrel shotgun with 
  the barrels sawed off to give greater 
  effectiveness at close range. Favored 
  by American desperadoes. Wt: 6 lbs 
  Price: s 
  r---- 
  ~
  ~
   
  - ~. 
  . 
  Muzzle-loading Rifle 
  n 
  /~ 
  ~-- 
  ~
  l
   
  " 
  _ .  
  . 
  ' 
  ~
  w
  '
  ~
  ~
   
  12-Gauge Shotgun 
  Muzzle-loading Carbine 
  12-Gauge Lever Action 
  tween .50- and .60-caliber, often us- 
  m" 
  "-~lfoothbore Carbin~ ~--'~--~ 
  ing the new nitrocellulose gunpow- 
  ders), built with two barrels, also 
  commonly called an "elephant gun." 
  Such weapons are usually custom 
  built to suit an individual customer 
  and are thus quite expensive. The 
  firm of Holland and Holland, in Lon- 
  maker. 
  don, is the most famous 
  The 
  Nitro Ex- 
  Holland and Holland .600 ~
  /
  '
  /
   
  press is the finest example available. 
  Wt: 10.5 lbs Price: s 
  Nordenfelt 
  Light Machinegun 
  GDW 
  
  Q 
  MELEE WEAPONS AND ARMOR 
  MELEE WEAPONS 
  THESE WEAPONS are used in 
  armed melee attacks. 
  Pike: A primitive pole arm, 
  designed for thrusting. It is between 
  12 and 18 feet in length. Wt: 6 lbs 
  Price: 2/--. 
  Boarding Pike/Spear: A pole arm 
  designed for thrusting or throwing. 
  It is between four and seven feet in 
  length. The smaller versions can be 
  thrown as well. Wt: 2-5 lbs Price: 
  1/--. 
  Rifle/Bayonet: A knife attached to 
  the end of a rifle to make it usable 
  as a pole arm in a melee. The rifle 
  itself can be used as a club, with or 
  without the bayonet. Wt: 1 lb plus 
  weight of rifle Price: 8d, plus cost 
  of rifle. 
  Sword/Saber: An edged weapon 
  designed for cutting or thrusting. Wt: 
  2 lbs Price: s 
  Knife: A short, edged weapon 
  designed for combat, used mainly for 
  thrusting at close quarters. A typical 
  example is the American Bowie 
  knife. Wt: 1 Price: 1/--. 
  Club: A bashing weapon, usually 
  improvised from local materials, 
  such as a table leg or tree branch. Wt: 
  3-4 lbs Price: Free. 
  Axe: A bashing weapon, also 
  usable as a wood-cutting tool. Wt: 3 
  lbs Price: 2/--. 
  Hatchet: A small hand axe, also 
  usable in cutting wood. Wt: 1 lb 
  Price: 6d. 
  Machete: A long-bladed cutting 
  tool, usable as an edged weapon. Wt: 
  2 Price: 8d. 
  Great Sword: A large, edged 
  weapon designed for use with two 
  hands, such as the Scottish Claymore 
  or the Martian Coddling-Chopper. 
  Wt: 6 lbs Price: s 
  ARMOR 
  ARMOR PROTECTS the wearer 
  from melee weapons and is widely 
  used by primitive armies. 
  Doublet: Stiffened leather protec- 
  tion for the chest and abdomen. Wt: 
  2 lbs Price: 1/--. 
  Shoulder Scales: Metal epaulets 
  designed to protect the shoulders and 
  neck from downward chopping 
  blows. Wt: 2 lbs Price: 2/6. 
  Mail: Protection for the chest, 
  c~t~tl T . 
  arms, and upper thighs, made of in- 
  terlocked metal rings. Wt: 4 lbs 
  Price: 18/--. 
  Breast Plate: Solid plate metal 
  protection for the chest and ab- 
  domen. Wt: 6 pounds Price: s 
  Helmet: Protection for the head, 
  usually of metal. Wt: 2 lbs Price: s 
  2/--. 
  Shield: A blocking device, usual- 
  ly made of wood, and occasionally 
  covered in leather or metal. Wt: 4 lbs 
  Price: 12/--. 
  
  PRIMITIVE WEAPONS AND MARTIAN ARTILLERY Q 
  PRIMITIVE 
  MISSILE WEAPONS 
  SOCIETIES WHICH do not have 
  access to firearms use these weapons 
  instead. 
  Bow and Arrow: A simple missile 
  weapon which holds a sentimental at- 
  tachment for many Englishmen. Wt: 
  2 lbs Price: s 
  Thrown Spear/Javelin: A simple 
  missile weapon. Wt: 2 lbs Price: 
  10d. 
  Throwing Knife: Most knives can 
  also be used as missile weapons. Wt: 
  .5 lb Price: 1/--. 
  Stone: Perhaps the simplest of 
  missile weapons, gathered from the 
  ground. When thrown using a sling, 
  the range is tripled. Wt:. 1 lb Price: 
  Free. 
  MARTIAN ARTILLERY 
  MARTIAN ARTILLERY pieces 
  are muzzle-loading guns mounted on 
  wooden carriages. They fire round 
  shot or grapeshot. 
  Sweeper: Wt: 1 ton Price: s 
  Light Gun: Wt: 2 tons Price: 
  s 
  Heavy Gun: Wt: 4 tons Price: 
  s 
  Rod Gun: Wt: 3 tons Price: s 
  Rogue: Wt: 6 tons Price: s 
  Lob Gun: Wt: 20 tons Price: 
  s 
  GDW 
  
  60 )) HEAVY ORDNANCE 
  EUROPEAN ARTILLERY 
  EUROPEAN ARTILLERY con- 
  / // // / 
  sists of modern rifled breech-loading 
  \ 
  pieces which fire shell and shrapnel. 
  1-pounder Hotchkiss Rotating 
  Cannon: The Hotchkiss rotating 
  ~ 
  cannon is a rapid-fire weapon similar 
  ~ 
  ~==--'----- 
  in overall principle to the Gatling gun 
  J 
  j 
  Hotchkiss 1-Pounder 
  but of an improved and more rugged 
  J' 
  design. Wt: 300 lbs Price: s 
  3-pounder Hotchkiss Rotating 
  Cannon: Wt: 400 lbs Price: s 
  6-pounder Hotchkiss Rotating 
  Cannon: Wt: 800 lbs Price: s 
  6-pounder Rifled Breech-loader: 
  Wt: 600 lbs Price: s 
  9-pounder Rifled Breech-loader: 
  Wt: 800 lbs Price: s 
  12-pounder Rifled Breech- 
  loader: Wt: 1000 lbs Price: s 
  15-pounder Rifled Breech- 
  loader: Wt: 1200 lbs Price: s 
  20-pounder Rifled Breech- 
  loader: Wt: 1600 lbs Price: s 
  40-pounder Rifled Breech- 
  loader: Wt: 3500 lbs Price: s 
  5-inch Howitzer: Wt: 3000 lbs 
  Price: s 
  ried loads for transport through 
  15-Pounder 
  mountainous areas. Wt: 400 lbs 
  Rifled Breech-Loader 
  Price: s 
  Hale Rocket: An improvement 
  over the old Congreve rocket, with 
  ~___.J~? 
  much better accuracy and higher 
  _t--=~l~ 
  reliability. Wt: 20 lbs Price: s 
  ~,~ 
  ~7 
  ~b--" 
  I 
  7-pounder Mountain Howitzer: 
  A weapon designed to be readily 
  broken down into several easily car- 
  
  MACHINEGUNS 
  MACHINEGUNS 
  A MACHINEGUN'S rate of fire 
  makes it a deadly weapon to use 
  against closely grouped opponents. 
  Gatling .50: A hand-cranked ma- 
  chinegun with six to 10 rifled barrels 
  grouped to rotate around a central 
  shaft. As the crank is turned, the bar- 
  rels revolve, each barrel in turn 
  receiving a cartridge, firing it, and 
  moving out of the way for another. 
  Gatling guns have a very high rate 
  of fire, but tend to jam because of 
  their complexity. Wt: 200 lbs Price: 
  s 
  Gatling 1-inch: A larger version 
  of the .50-caliber Gatling gun. Wt: 
  250 lbs Price: s 
  Mitrailleuse: 
  A hand-cranked 
  machinegun with 25 stationary bar- 
  rels and a detachable breechblock 
  containing the cartridges for each. 
  The gunner places the block in posi- 
  tion and turns the crank, camming 
  the hammer .to each barrel and fir- 
  ing them in sequence. Wt: 300 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Gardner: A hand-cranked, two- 
  barreled machinegun. The operation 
  of the crank loads, fires, and ejects 
  a cartridge from each barrel alter- 
  nately. Gardne r guns have a slower 
  rate of fire than Gatlings, but the 
  water-cooled breech of each barrel 
  allows the fire to be kept up longer. 
  The simpler mechanism of the Gard- 
  ner gun is less prone to jamming than 
  that of the Gatling gun. Wt: 40 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Nordenfelt: A machinegun with 
  one, three, or five barrels, each with 
  a separate ammunition feed system. 
  Unlike other machineguns, the Nor- 
  denfelt uses a side-acting lever in- 
  stead of a crank. The gunner draws 
  back the lever, which ejects the spent 
  round and cocks the hammer for each 
  barrel, and then releases it, which 
  loads a fresh cartridge and releases 
  the hammer to fire it. Nordenfelt 
  guns are less prone to jamming, and 
  the action of working the lever 
  automatically clears the jam in the 
  normal course of firing the weapon 
  (and except in the single-barrel ver- 
  sion, the other barrels still fire, so 
  a jam is not as critical as on other 
  weapons). The barrels can be ad- 
  justed to be parallel or angled for a 
  fan-shaped spread of fire. 
  Nordenfelt 1-Barrel Wt: 15 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Nordenfelt 3-Barrel Wt: 
  200 lbs Price: s 
  Nordenfelt 
  5-Barrel Wt: 450 lbs Price: s 
  Maxim: The Maxim gun is a 
  single-barrel, water-cooled machine- 
  gun which uses the force of one car- 
  tridge's recoil to eject the spent 
  round, load a fresh one, and fire it. 
  This sequence continues until the 
  gunner removes pressure from the 
  trigger or the ammunition is ex- 
  hausted. Maxim guns are just enter- 
  ing experimental service with the 
  British Army (although the gun has 
  been on the market since 1883). Wt: 
  40 lbs Price: s 
  (;atling 
  .5~ 
  5-Barrel Nordenfel 
  Co 
  Gardner 
  1-Barrel Nordenfelt 
  GDW 
  
  62 
  7) INVENTIONS 
  INVENTED DEVICES 
  THE FOLLOWING devices may 
  be invented by players. They are 
  grouped by research area for ease in 
  locating the desired device. All 
  devices have prices and weights, and 
  many have power requirements. The 
  price is the cost of parts necessary 
  to fabricate the device. Parentheses 
  around the price indicate that the in- 
  itial prototype is free but all subse- 
  quent devices cost the indicated 
  amount. The power requirement 
  number is the power plant level re- 
  quired to operate the invention. Most 
  devices also have a special feature or 
  rule governing their use which will 
  be noted in the descriptive text. 
  THE ETHER 
  THE ETHER is a topic of great 
  scientific speculation and progress, 
  especially in its practical applica- 
  tions. 
  Ether Propeller: An electric 
  device for propelling vessels through 
  space. Ether propellers are defined 
  by their power level and efficiency. 
  There are three patents on ether pro- 
  pellers: Edison's, Armstrong's, and 
  Zeppelin's. The accompanying chart 
  lists the maximum power value, ef- 
  ficiency, and price per power level 
  of these. 
  A propeller invented by a player 
  is free, has a maximum power of the 
  device reliability, and has an effi- 
  ciency of 20 plus three times the 
  device reliability. All ether pro- 
  pellers weigh 1 ton per power value. 
  Ether Sail: An alternative device 
  for travelling between worlds, the 
  ether sail relies on the currents of the 
  ether to propel it. Qnly available to 
  inventors, the ether sail is treated like 
  an ether propeller except that it may 
  only be installed at a power level 
  equal to one tenth of the ship's ton- 
  nage (round fractions up) and has an 
  efficiency of 30. Wt: 1 ton per power 
  level Price: (s 
  per power level) 
  Power: Ship tonnage/10. 
  Etherometer: A device for 
  measuring the density of the ether in 
  deep space, the etherometer is useful 
  for avoiding ether turbulence. Avail- 
  able only if invented, it is free and 
  takes up no significant space or 
  weight in the control room of an 
  ether flyer. When encountering ether 
  turbulence, the reliability of the 
  etherometer is added to the pilot's 
  skill in avoiding damage. Wt: 20 lbs 
  Price: (s 
  Power: Nil. 
  Hertzian Wave Communicator: 
  Also known as a radio or wireless 
  telegraph, the Hertzian wave com- 
  municator transmits electric signals 
  through the ether without recourse to 
  a wire. These communicators may 
  only be invented. The device reli- 
  ability determines both the maximum 
  range of the device and its required 
  power level. Range is illustrated on 
  the accompanying chart. Wt: 10 lbs 
  Type 
  Edison 
  Armstrong 
  Zeppelin 
  ETHER PROPELLERS 
  Maximum 
  Power 
  Efficiency 
  Unlimited 
  25 
  Unlimited 
  20 
  4 
  15 
  Price per 
  Power Level 
  s 
  s 
  s 
  per energy level Price: s 
  per 
  energy level Power: Equals reliabil- 
  ity. 
  f" 
  HERTZIAN 
  " 
  COMMUNICATORS 
  ~' 
  Reliabili~ 
  Range (Mile# 
  1 
  10 
  2 
  100 
  3 
  1000 
  4 
  100,000 
  5 
  1,000,000 
  6 
  10,000,000 
  Lightning Cannon: Projects a bolt 
  of lightning toward a target and may 
  only be fired at large targets, such 
  as ships or dinosaurs. It has an ef- 
  fective range of 200 yards per relia- 
  bility number and both a penetration 
  and damage value equal to its relia- 
  bility. Wt: 10 tons Price: s 
  Power: 1. 
  Freeze Ray: Projects a heat- 
  dampening ray which freezes targets 
  in its path. It has an effective range 
  of 10 yards per reliability number 
  and a save number of 1. Characters 
  hit by the ray, and who fail their sav- 
  ing roll, are frozen solid. They will 
  thaw out (with no ill effects) one hour 
  later. Each turn roll against the 
  device reliability to prevent over- 
  heating. If the device overheats it will 
  not fire that turn. In one turn it will 
  cool enough to resume firing. Wt: 1 
  ton Price: s 
  Power: 1. 
  
  INVENTIONS 
  63 
  Weather Control Ray: A ray pro- 
  jector which causes weather changes 
  in the atmosphere, bringing on 
  storms or dispersing them. The 
  device may make one weather con- 
  trol attempt per week, which is 
  resolved by rolling against the de- 
  vice's reliability. Wt: 20 tons Price: 
  s 
  Power: =Reliability. 
  Mind Control Ray: A device used 
  to hypnotize characters. If a char- 
  acter is exposed to the ray, roll 
  against its reliability to successfully 
  hypnotize him. If successful, the 
  character will become docile, will 
  answer any question asked, and will 
  perform any commands given, al- 
  though in a zombie-like state of 
  trance. The effects last from several 
  days to several weeks. Range of the 
  device in yards is four times its reli- 
  ability rating. Wt: 1 ton Price: (s 
  Power: Nil. 
  Gravity Focus Ray: A device 
  used to intensify the gravity of a 
  world. It has an effective range of 
  200 yards times its reliability versus 
  vessels and 10 yards times its reli- 
  ability versus characters. Any aerial 
  vessel which is hit by it will plum- 
  met one altitude level, just as if it had 
  suffered a loss of trim. Any nautical 
  vessel hit by the ray will sink. Any 
  character hit by the ray will collapse 
  from the additional weight and be 
  immobilized for as long as the ray re- 
  mains focused on him. Wt: 10 tons 
  Price: s 
  Power: =Reliability. 
  Gravity Control: A device which 
  can offset gravity, working on the 
  same principle as liftwood, with the 
  device reliability determining the 
  maximum altitude of the vessel, as 
  shown on the chart to the right. Wt: 
  Nil Price: s 
  per power level 
  Power: Vessel weight/100 (round 
  fractions up). 
  GEOLOGY 
  AND METALLURGY 
  GEOLOGICAL AND metallurgi- 
  cal inventions can be both useful to 
  one's ether flyer and lit~ally Earth- 
  shattering to one's opponents. 
  Superhard Steel: A very hard 
  steel alloy, specially forged for 
  greater hardness. Any ether flyer 
  built by the inventor has an armor 
  value of 1 if fired on, and all damage 
  from ether turbulence and meteor 
  showers is reduced one level. (Ma- 
  jor becomes minor, minor has no ef- 
  fect). Armor plate may be manufac- 
  tured as well, and armored vessels 
  rebuilt with superhard steel have 
  their armor values multiplied by 1.5, 
  rounding fractions down. Price: s 
  per ton. 
  Rustless Iron: A rust- and 
  corrosion-proof version of iron. 
  Rustless iron is extremely useful on 
  Venus, where Venusians will trade 
  rare plants worth s 
  for each one- 
  pound rustless iron utensil. Wt: 1 lb 
  per utensil Price: 1/--. 
  Woven Steel: This is a procedure 
  for making flexible, fabric-like ma- 
  terial from steel, from which effec- 
  tive body.armor can be constructed. 
  A woven steel vest will reduce the 
  wound value of any weapon that hits 
  it by 2. If this reduces it to zero, the 
  weapon has no effect. However, the 
  ~" GRAVITY CONTROL "~ 
  ~ 
  Reliability Altitude 
  ~t 
  1 
  Very Low 
  2 
  Low 
  3 
  Medium 
  4 
  High 
  5 
  Very High 
  6 
  Orbit 
  vest does not protect the entire body. 
  Roll a die, and on a roll of 1 or 2, 
  the attack hits a part of the body not 
  protected and does normal damage. 
  Wt: 5 lbs Price: (s 
  Mineral Detector: This device 
  allows detection of rare minerals, 
  such as gold and silver. The referee 
  rolls against the device reliability to 
  see if it actually detects the presence 
  of a mineral deposit. Wt: 100 lbs 
  Price: (s 
  Cast Stone Chemical: This cor- 
  rosive chemical will temporarily 
  soften rock and allow it to be re- 
  shaped into any form desired. Each 
  pound of the compound will soften 
  one ton of rock times the device reli- 
  ability rating. Wt: 1 lb Price: s 
  Transparent Aluminum: The 
  manufacture of transparent alumi- 
  num allows creation of large, secure 
  armored view ports in flyers and ar- 
  mored warships. The main effects 
  depend on the uses the players put 
  it to. Price: s 
  per ton. 
  Volcanic Control Device: This 
  device can cause eruptions in dor- 
  mant volcanoes. It is a ground-vi- 
  brating machine with directional ca- 
  pability and can affect volcanoes 
  within 200 miles of the device. The 
  referee rolls against the device reli- 
  ability to determine the success of the 
  attempt. One attempt may be made 
  per month. Wt: 50 tons Price: 
  s 
  Power: 20. 
  Earthquake Control Device: This 
  device is similar in concept and func- 
  tion to the volcanic control device ex- 
  cept that it triggers earthquakes. Wt: 
  100 tons Price: s 
  Power: 30. 
  GDW 
  
  64 
  )) INVENTIONS 
  COMBUSTION 
  NEW INVENTIONS in the field 
  of combustion have wide applica- 
  tions. 
  Fuel Refiner: This device allows 
  you to refine gasoline from petrole- 
  um in your vessel. For every five 
  tons of oil processed, you receive 
  one ton of gasoline and four tons of 
  usable oil. Conversion of five tons 
  of oil takes eight hours. Wt: 1 ton 
  (plus 5 tons of oil) Price: (s 
  Power: 1. 
  Smokeless 
  Powder: 
  With 
  smokeless powder it is extremely dif- 
  ficult to spot snipers, and massed 
  troops can deliver more accurate fire 
  as no smoke obscures their vision. 
  To spot a sniper, roll Observation 
  skill dice for an Easy task at close 
  range, and increase the difficulty by 
  one for each additional range band. 
  Massed troops firing smokeless 
  powder add 1 to their Marksmanship 
  skill. Price: s 
  per ton. 
  Liquid Fire: A compound which 
  burns fiercely when exposed to oxy- 
  gen. Water will not extinguish it but 
  dry sand will. Wt: 8 lbs/gallon Price: 
  s 
  per gallon. 
  Welding: Welding enables steel 
  parts to be fastened together without 
  the use of rivets, which makes for a 
  stronger structure, but the only 
  means of accomplishing it requires 
  a forge and heavy tools. If a player 
  invents a system of~portable welding 
  (either a torch or an arc welding 
  system), then any metal structure 
  built thereafter by him or with his 
  assistance may be welded. Any ar- 
  mored vessel multiplies its armor 
  value by 1.5 (rounding fractions up). 
  Any major damage to a welded ether 
  flyer due to turbulence or meteors 
  becomes minor damage and any mi- 
  nor damage becomes no damage. Wt: 
  5 lbs Price: s 
  ~~,.~ 
  ~!'. 
  Detonite: A more powerful ver- 
  sion of dynamite. Detonite comes in 
  half-pound sticks just like dynamite, 
  but each stick has an explosive power 
  equal to the reliability of the detonite. 
  Wt: 1/2 pound/stick Price: 4/--. 
  Rocket Engine: A rocket engine 
  allows an ether flyer to maneuver 
  safely in a vacuum, thus making 
  landings on Luna and on asteroids 
  hazard-free. Wt: 5 percent of the 
  mass of the ether flyer Price: s 
  per 
  ton. 
  Coal Gasificator: This device 
  allows conversion of coal to gaso- 
  line. For every five tons of coal pro- 
  cessed, the user receives one ton of 
  gasoline. Conversion of five tons of 
  coal takes eight hours. Wt: 1 ton 
  (plus 5 tons of coal)Price: (s 
  Power: 1. 
  Noiseless Powder: Noiseless 
  powder allows creation of truly silent 
  guns. To spot a sniper firing noise- 
  less powder, roll Observation skill 
  dice for a Moderate task and increase 
  the difficulty by one level for each 
  additional range band beyond Close. 
  Price: s 
  per ton. 
  Hellfire: This is a chemical which 
  burns with intense heat, sufficient to 
  melt through steel in seconds. It can- 
  not be extinguished as it contains its 
  own oxidizer and will burn both in 
  vacuum and underwater. It is used 
  as a breaching charge and will melt 
  through eight inches of barrier per 
  minute. This amount is modified by 
  the toughness of the barrier. Each 
  half-pound block of hellfire will burn 
  for a number of minutes equal to its 
  reliability. Wt: 1/2 pound Price: 
  s 
  
  INVENTIONS 
  65 
  ELECTRICITY 
  ELECTRICAL 
  INVENTIONS 
  range from batteries to lightning 
  guns. 
  Hand Lamp: This lamp is at- 
  tached by a cord to a small battery 
  and a handcranked generator at- 
  tached to the belt. It allows visibili- 
  ty of two yards in the dark per relia- 
  bility number. Wt: 1 Price: s 
  Batteries: Batteries are defined by 
  their power level (which is used the 
  same way as the power level of a 
  boiler) and their endurance, which is 
  the number of days that the batteries 
  will function at full power. Batteries 
  may not be purchased at power levels 
  greater than 4. Batteries may be pur- 
  chased at any endurance desired. The 
  weight of batteries in tons is equal 
  to their power value times their en- 
  durance in days. Purchased Bat- 
  teries: Wt: Power • 
  (in 
  days) tons Price: s215 
  durance Power: Max. of 4. 
  If the player has invented batteries 
  of his own, their maximum power 
  value is the device reliability num- 
  ber, and their weight in tons is their 
  power value times their endurance 
  divided by the device reliability. For 
  example, if a player has invented bat- 
  teries with a reliability number of 5, 
  he could install batteries with a 
  power level of 5 and any endurance 
  desired. Their weight would be five 
  times their endurance divided by 5. 
  Invented Batteries: Wt: Power x en- 
  durance (in days) + reliability Price: 
  s • 
  Power: 
  Maximum equals reliability. 
  The price in pounds of batteries 
  which are purchased is equal to 10 
  times their endurance times their 
  power value. For example, batteries 
  with a power value of 4 and an en- 
  durance of 8 days would cost (4 x 10 
  x 8 =) s 
  Batteries invented by 
  the players cost one-tenth of this 
  amount. 
  Electric Engine: This engine 
  allows the use of batteries to power 
  a propeller for maneuvering in an at- 
  mosphere. The maximum power lev- 
  el is the device reliability. Wt: 1 ton 
  per power level Price: (s 
  per 
  power level). 
  Long Wire Power: This allows 
  transfer of electricity by wire over 
  long distances without significant 
  loss of power. The device reliabili- 
  ty times 10 is the number of miles 
  the electricity can be transferred 
  before it loses half of its power to 
  resistance in the wire. It will lose half 
  its remaining power each additional 
  increment of distance it is trans- 
  ferred. Wt: 5 tons per mile of cable 
  Price: s 
  per mile of cable. 
  Electric Rail Gun: This gun uses 
  electromagnets to accelerate steel 
  shells down its barrel. For game pur- 
  poses it is equivalent to a 12-inch 
  naval gun. Wt: 100 tons Price: 
  s 
  Power: 3. 
  Energy Cells: A means of 
  converting sunlight directly to elec- 
  trical energy. Subtract 2 from its out- 
  put if used in an atmosphere; subtract 
  2 for every orbit further out than 
  Earth (counting the Asteroid Belt as 
  an orbit); and add 1 for every orbit 
  further in than Earth. Energy cells 
  may not be used on Venus. Wt: 1 ton 
  Price: s 
  Lightning Cannon: Projects a bolt 
  of lightning toward a target and may 
  only be fired at large targets, such 
  as ships or dinosaurs. It has an ef- 
  fective range of 200 yards per relia- 
  bility number and both a penetration 
  and damage value equal to its relia- 
  bility. Wt: 10 tons Price: s 
  Power: 1. 
  Superconductors: Much of the 
  power of an electric device is lost 
  through resistance in its internal wir- 
  ing. If a character develops super- 
  conductors, he may rebuild any elec- 
  trical device to work at twice its nor- 
  mal efficiency. This means that its 
  power requirement is halved. Re- 
  building the device doubles its cost. 
  Wireless Power Transmission: 
  This allows power to be beamed or 
  broadcast through the ether. The 
  maximum power level that may be 
  beamed is the device reliability. 
  Range of the device is 100 miles 
  times reliability. There must be a 
  transmitter to beam the power and a 
  receiver to receive it. Wt: Transmit- 
  ter, 10 tons per power level. Receiv- 
  er, 1 ton per power level. Price: 
  Transmitter s 
  Receiver 
  s 
  Power: 2 per power level.. 
  Electric Rifle: This rifle is 
  noiseless and smokeless, has the 
  same effective range as a bolt action 
  rifle, and has a rate of fire of 4. It 
  can fire 40 shots before its internal 
  batteries run down. Recharging takes 
  1 hour on any power plant. Wt: 15 
  Price: (s 
  GDW 
  
  66 
  )) INVENTIONS 
  Steam Turbine: The device con- 
  POWER PRODUCTION 
  verts steam power into mechanical 
  IMPROVEMENTS IN methods of 
  !~ 
  power by using high-pressure steam 
  power production are often needed 
  to turn rotary vanes (something like 
  to make other scientific advances fea- 
  a windmill). It enables a steam 
  s 
  ~ 
  engine to produce the same power 
  for the same cost at less weight. Wt: 
  1 ton/power point Price: s 
  point. 
  Gas Turbine: A turbine that uses 
  the hot, expanding gases from com- 
  bustion instead of steam. Wt: .5 tons/ 
  power point Price: s 
  Forced Draught Boiler: An ira- ~
  ~
   
  point. 
  proved version of a conventional ~
  '
  ~
  ~
  '
  ~
  "
  '
  ~
   
  Energy Cells: A means of con- 
  steam boiler, using a fan or blower 
  to improve the combustion of the fuel 
  and extract more energy�9 Wt: 3 
  tons/power point Price: s 
  point�9 
  # 
  Internal Combustion Engine: An 
  engine which burns the fuel inside 
  the cylinder instead of outside (hence 
  the name). These make use of liquid 
  fuels such as kerosene, petroleum 
  waste, or gasoline. Wt: 1 ton per 
  power point Price: s 
  per power 
  point. 
  Solar Boiler: A device to harness 
  the power of the Sun, by means of 
  one or more focusing mirrors�9 The 
  weight of the solar boiler in tons is 
  twice its power value�9 If a player has 
  invented a solar boiler of his own, 
  he may build one for free. The power 
  value is equal to the reliability value 
  of the device�9 If a boiler is purchased 
  instead, it costs s 
  times the power 
  value. Wt: Power x 2 tons Price: 
  (s 
  x power) Power: Maximum is 
  reliability (if invented)�9 No max- 
  imum if purchased�9 
  Petrol Boiler: A steam boiler con- 
  structed to make use of liquid fuels 
  (usually petroleum, petroleum waste, 
  kerosene, or gasoline). Weight, price, 
  and power are as for a conventional 
  boiler; only the fuel changes. Weight 
  of fuel is halved. 
  ~'~" 
  POWER PLANTS 
  ~'~ 
  Type 
  Weight 
  Cost Fuel 
  Consumption 
  Conventional Boiler 
  6 
  300 
  Coal 
  1 
  Forced Draught Boiler 
  3 
  600 
  Coal 
  1 
  Petrol Boiler 
  6 
  300 
  Oil 
  1/2 
  Internal Combustion 
  2 
  600 
  Oil 
  1/2 
  Steam Turbine 
  1 
  800 
  Oil 
  1/2 
  Gas Turbine 
  1/2 
  1000 
  Gas 
  1/4 
  verting sunlight directly to electrical 
  energy�9 Each energy cell has an out- 
  put equal to its reliability rating at the 
  orbit of Earth. Subtract 2 from its 
  output if used in an atmosphere; sub- 
  tract 2 for every orbit further out than 
  Earth (counting the Asteroid Belt as 
  an orbit); and add one for every or- 
  bit further in than Earth�9 Wt: 1 ton 
  Price: s 
  Heat Ray: This device focuses the 
  rays of the Sun through several large 
  lenses and produces a powerful beam 
  of light that melts objects in its path. 
  It has an effective range against 
  vessels in the atmosphere of 1000 
  yards times its device reliability, and 
  of 1000 miles times the device reli- 
  ability outside the atmosphere. It has 
  a rate of fire of 1 and a damage value 
  of 10, although this is reduced by 2 
  in an atmosphere, plus it is reduced 
  by 1 for every orbit out from the Sun 
  past Mercury (-1 at Venus, -2 at 
  Earth, -3 at Mars)�9 Wt: 1 ton Price: 
  s 
  Power: 6,. 
  The Atom: A power plant which 
  harnesses the power of the atom. 
  This power plant, once it is con- 
  structed, never again needs fuel. Wt: 
  10 tons Price: 
  s 
  Power: 
  10 x reliability�9 
  
  INVENTIONS it 67 
  BIOCHEMISTRY 
  INVENTIONS IN the field of 
  biochemistry can go very far to help 
  or harm humanity. 
  Preserved Food: A means of stor- 
  ing food that retains the taste, nutri- 
  tion, and palatability of food for 
  longer periods than conventional 
  methods such as canning or drying. 
  Wt: 3 lbs per meal Price: 20/-- per 
  meal if purchased, otherwise regular, 
  noncanned food price. 
  Aspirin: An analgesic medicine 
  derived from salicylic acid, useful in 
  relieving pain and the symptoms of 
  fever. Wt: 100 doses per ounce 
  Price: 10d per dose. 
  Sleep Gas: An extremely volatile 
  liquid which induces unconscious- 
  ness when breathed in gaseous form. 
  Within a few seconds of inhalation, 
  the victim rapidly loses conscious- 
  ness and will fall into a light sleep 
  which will last one hour after the gas 
  has dissipated. The victim will then 
  awaken without ill effects. This gas 
  can also be used as an improved 
  anesthetic during surgical operations. 
  One ounce of the liquid will vaporize 
  in 10 minutes (or instantly, if 
  sprayed) and fill an area 10 feet 
  square to an effective density. Wt: 1 
  ounce Price: s 
  per ounce. 
  Antibiotic: A substance with 
  bactericidal properties that can be in- 
  gested by mouth, applied topically, 
  or injected into the body using a 
  hypodermic syringe. Severe infec- 
  tions and fevers can be cured within 
  days using this compound. Wt: 10 
  doses per ounce Price: s per dose. 
  Strength Elixir: A liquid which 
  temporarily boosts Strength 2 points 
  higher. This effect lasts for a number 
  of hours equal to the device reliabili- 
  ty; then the user must rest for eight 
  hours. Wt: 1 dose per ounce Price: 
  s 
  per dose. 
  Mind Control Drug: A hypnotic 
  drug which destroys the victim's will 
  and makes him susceptible to com- 
  mands and suggestions. The drug can 
  be ingested by mouth or injected by 
  means of a hypodermic syringe. Its 
  effects last for a number of hours 
  equal to the device reliability. Wt: 10 
  doses per ounce Price: s 
  Water-Breather: A small device 
  which permits the wearer to extract 
  dissolved oxygen from water in a 
  manner similar to a fish's gills. It is 
  a masklike contraption which covers 
  the mouth and nose, and enables nor- 
  mal underwater breathing for an in- 
  definite period. The functional por- 
  tion of the device is differentially 
  permeable and constructed of an ar- 
  tificial cellulose-like material. Wt: 1 
  lb Price: s 
  Tangle Cord: A liquid which 
  solidifies upon exposure to air and 
  forms a very sticky substance. When 
  forced through a number of fine 
  holes under high pressure, the liquid 
  forms a web very much like a spi- 
  der's. To escape, a character rolls 
  Strength attribute dice for a Difficult 
  task. The substance will last for a 
  number" of hours equal to the device 
  reliability, after which time it will 
  dry and crumble to dust. Wt: 4 
  ounces per web Price: s per web. 
  Food Pill: The essential nutrients 
  and minerals of food, condensed in- 
  to an easily portable tablet form. One 
  ounce of tablets, taken with a pint of 
  water, provides the equivalent of a 
  full meal. Wt: 1 ounce Price: s 
  10/-- per ounce. 
  Synthetic Nutrient: An artificial 
  food which induces rapidly ac- 
  celerated growth when ingested. 
  Adult creatures are not affected, only 
  juveniles. When fed this food instead 
  of its normal fare, the animal will in- 
  crease in weight by 10 percent per 
  week. The animal will refuse all 
  other food after tasting this sub- 
  stance. A failed experimental die roll 
  should cause uncontrolled growth 
  and/0r dangerous behavioral changes 
  in experimental animals and perhaps 
  local plant life. Wt: 1 lb Price: s 
  per pound. 
  Infrared Sight Liquid: A liquid 
  which acts chemically upon the pho- 
  toreceptors in the eyes to enable the 
  user to see by means of the electro- 
  magnetic radiation in the otherwise 
  invisible infrared spectrum, yet re- 
  tain vision in normal light. The ef- 
  fect wears off in a number of hours 
  equal to the device reliability. Wt: 1 
  ounce per dose Price: s per dose. 
  Prolonged Hibernation Device: 
  An electronic device that permits 
  humans to enter a state of suspend- 
  ed animation, requiring less than 
  1/1000th the usual amount of air and 
  no food or water for a period of up 
  to a year. It possesses a timer which 
  can be preset to awaken the sleeper 
  or can be activated from the outside 
  at any time. Wt: 30 lbs Price: s 
  Synthetic Life: The generation of 
  animal life from synthetic chemicals 
  in vats. This animal life can take a 
  variety of useful forms for agricul- 
  ture or even simple labor. A failed 
  experimental die roll should instead 
  produce a bizarre, grotesque, and 
  probably dangerous animal. Price: 
  s 
  per experiment. 
  Synthetic Liftwood: A means of 
  recreating the power of liftwood in 
  the laboratory, manufacturing it at 
  will. Price: s 
  per ton of lifted 
  mass. (s 
  per hull size if using 
  the ship-building rules from Sky 
  Galleons of Mars). 
  GDW 
  
  68 
  7) INVENTIONS 
  PRECISION MACHINERY 
  INVENTORS WORKING on 
  pieces of precision machinery may 
  choose to invent: 
  Photophone: This is a telephone 
  which relies on light waves, instead 
  of electricity through a wire. As it 
  can be focused with fair precision, 
  it allows secure voice communication 
  between two vessels in space. It is 
  not effective in an atmosphere, and 
  there is too much sunlight inter- 
  ference for it to work inside the or- 
  bit of Mercury. Its range in miles is 
  the device reliability times one 
  million. Wt: 500 lbs Price: (s 
  Power: 1. 
  Torpedo: A torpedo may be fired 
  from either a submarine or a surface 
  vessel. The required hit number of 
  the torpedo is twice its reliability 
  number, but subtract one from the hit 
  number for every 200 yards of range. 
  A hit by a torpedo will sink all but 
  the largest of warships. Wt: 500 lbs 
  Price: (s 
  Improved Torpedo: This torpedo 
  is identical in function to the above 
  torpedo except that its hit number is 
  reduced by 1 for every 400 yards of 
  range instead of every 200 yards. Wt: 
  500 lbs Price: (s 
  Orrery: A mechanical model of 
  the Solar System with gears that 
  move all of the planets in their or- 
  bits and show the relative positions 
  of all of them at any specified time. 
  The orrery is a valuable navigational 
  tool, and its uses are covered in the 
  "Space Travel" chapter. Wt: 5 lbs 
  Price: (s 
  Quick-Firing Gun: A field or 
  naval gun mounted in a recoiling car- 
  riage which allows the gun to be 
  operated at a higher rate of fire than 
  normal guns. Any field or naval gun 
  can be so modified. The modified 
  gun's rate of fire increases by 1, and 
  its cost increases by 50 percent. 
  Gyroscope: 
  Although small 
  gyroscopes have been available as 
  curios and toys for some time, this 
  invention represents a large, useful 
  gyroscope. Installation of a gyro- 
  scope in any flyer gives it a favorable 
  die roll modifier equal to half the 
  gyroscope's reliability rating (with 
  fractions rounded down) in maintain- 
  ing or recovering trim, whether due 
  to storms or battle damage. Wt: 1 ton 
  Price: (s 
  Analytical Engine: A mechanical 
  computing and calculating machine 
  with punchcard memory and pro- 
  gramming, this device is a useful 
  navigational tool. Wt: 1 ton Price: 
  (s 
  Inertial Compass: As conven- 
  tional compasses do not work on 
  Venus, an inertial compass signifi- 
  cantly reduces the dangers of becom- 
  ing lost. An inertial compass also is 
  useful in navigating under the plan- 
  et's surface in a mole drill. Wt: 50 
  lbs Price: (s 
  Mechanical Man: This is a com- 
  plex, clockwork machine which re- 
  sembles a human being. It can be 
  programmed to carry out a number 
  of simple commands, and its tele- 
  phonic speaker and "ears" allow it 
  to respond to a limited number of 
  voice commands and answer simple 
  questions. It is particularly useful for 
  conducting operations too hazardous 
  for humans. It is too slow to be much 
  of a threat in melee, although it has 
  tremendous strength, and if it should 
  seize a character, it will prove near- 
  ly impossible to break free. It walks 
  only four yards per action and always 
  receives four actions per turn. Its 
  device reliability is the number of 
  hours it will function before it has to 
  be rewound. It is also susceptible to 
  rust and must be lubricated frequent- 
  ly. Wt: 1000 lbs Price: (s 
  Underwater Gun: A specially 
  vented breech-loading gun which 
  fires a streamlined, underwater pro- 
  jectile. The gun has the same effect 
  as the 4-inch short breech-loading 
  gun, but can be fired from a sub- 
  merged submarine at either surface 
  vessels or other submarines. Wt: 
  Replaces two torpedoes in the sub- 
  marine Price: (s 
  
  INVENTIONS I[ 69 
  TRANSPORTATION 
  INVENTIONS IN the field of 
  transportation may include: 
  Space Suit: Allows free move- 
  ment in a vacuum. The reliability of 
  the device is the number of hours the 
  suit will function without recharging 
  its oxygen system. Wt: 20 lbs Price: 
  s 
  Diving Suit: This allows a diver 
  to swim independently, free of an air 
  hose to the surface. The device 
  reliability times 10 is the number of 
  minutes the diver may remain 
  submerged. Wt: 5 lbs Price: s 
  Hydrofoil: A very fast boat that 
  rides up out of the water on its 
  hydrofoils. Its reliability rating times 
  10 is its speed in knots. It has a crew 
  of three and a machinegun. It may 
  replace the machinegun with room 
  for two passengers. Wt: 5 tons Price: 
  s 
  Power: 1 ton of coal per day. 
  Submarine: A submersible vessel 
  powered by electric batteries while 
  submerged and a conventional boiler 
  when on the surface. It has a speed 
  of five knots. If invented by the 
  player, the reliability number is the 
  number of hours it may stay sub- 
  merged before having to surface and 
  recharge its batteries. The submarine 
  carries a total of six crew and four 
  passengers, but may carry up to two 
  torpedoes by dispensing with the 
  passengers. Wt: 20 tons Price: s 
  Power: 1 ton of coal per day. 
  Deep-Diving Submarine: Most 
  submarines can go only a few yards 
  under the surface. A deep-diving 
  submarine h~s a strengthened hull 
  that enables it to dive much deeper. 
  The reliability number is the number 
  of depth levels it can dive, with each 
  depth level being 100 fathoms (200 
  yards). The reliability number times 
  10 is the number of hours the vessel 
  may remain submerged. It has a 
  speed of five knots, a crew of eight, 
  and provision for up to eight passen- 
  gers or four torpedoes. Wt: 70 tons 
  Price: s 
  Power: 2.,-tons of coal 
  per day. 
  Diving Suit 
  Space Suit 
  Heavy Tractor: This tractor is a 
  steam-powered land vehicle which 
  moves on endless steel treads and is 
  capable of crossing most terrain 
  types. It has a land speed in miles- 
  per-hour equal to its reliability num- 
  ber. Wt: 5 tons Price: s 
  Power: 
  1/2 ton of coal every eight hours. 
  Heavy Tractor 
  Land Juggernaut 
  Walking Tripod 
  Walking 
  Tripod: This is a tall 
  land vehicle which walks on three ar- 
  ticulated legs. It is capable of cross- 
  ing most terrain types and can wade 
  in up to 20 feet of water. Its speed 
  in miles-per-hour is its reliability 
  number times 2. It is armor-plated 
  and has an armor value of 1. It may 
  be equipped with a machinegun or 
  field gun. Wt: 2 tons Price: s 
  Power: 1/2 ton of coal every eight 
  hours. 
  Land Juggernaut: A very large, 
  armed, and armored version of the 
  heavy tractor. Its reliability rating is 
  its speed in miles-per-hour. It has a 
  crew of eight (commander, driver, 
  two engineers, and four gunners), 
  has an armor value of 3, and is armed 
  with two machineguns and a 
  12-pounder field gun. Wt: 30 tons 
  Price: s 
  Power: 3 tons of coal 
  every eight hours. 
  Mole Drill: An enclosed drilling 
  vehicle designed to bore deep into the 
  crust of a planet and explore subter- 
  ranean caverns. Its reliability times 
  10 is the number of miles per day it 
  can drill. It has provisions for a crew 
  of four and four passengers. It car- 
  ries a total of 20 tons of coal. Wt: 30 
  tons Price: s 
  Power: 1/2 ton 
  of coal per day. 
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  GDW 
  
  70 )) INVENTIONS 
  FLIGHT 
  INVENTORS HAVE the chance 
  to revolutionize flight almost as 
  much as liftwood did by inventing 
  one of the following devices: 
  Hydrogen Lift: A means of using 
  hydrogen gas to lift an ether flyer or 
  other device into the air. Hydrogen 
  lift is free for a vessel up to 20 tons 
  of lifted mass, then costs s 
  per ton 
  for lifted masses above that. Hydro- 
  gen is not practical for vessels of 
  greater than 200 tons of lifted mass, 
  given construction techniques avail- 
  able at this time. Price: s 
  capacity. 
  Monohydrogen: Monoparticle 
  hydrogen, which provides half again 
  the lift for the same quantity of gas, 
  allowing construction of 300-ton 
  vessels. Price: s 
  capacity. 
  Glider: A device making use of 
  Bernoulli's Law to provide limited 
  lift by the interaction of specially 
  shaped wings and the atmosphere 
  (the means terrestrial birds use for 
  flight), thus independent of liftwood. 
  The device has room only for the 
  pilot and has a speed of 60 miles per 
  hour. Constant forward motion is re- 
  quired; the device cannot hover. Wt: 
  400 lbs per ton capacity Price: s 
  per ton capacity Power: O. 
  Parachute: A large cloth canopy 
  (usually of silk for lightness and 
  strength) which slows a falling per- 
  son's descent through the air by in- 
  creasing air resistance. It is used as 
  a means of emergency evacuation 
  from damaged flyers and permits a 
  person to drop from great heights 
  without injury. Wt: 20 lbs Price: s 
  \ 
  Improved Liflwood: A chemical 
  means of enhancing the lifting power 
  of liftwood, doubling its effective- 
  ness. This compound has no effect 
  upon liftwood decay. One gallon will 
  treat the liftwood normally used to 
  lift 50 tons of mass to orbit (or 1 hull 
  size in Sky Galleons of Mars). Wt: 
  8 lbs/gal. Price: s 
  Autogyro: A flying machine 
  which depends upon unpowered ro- 
  tating lifting vanes instead of lift- 
  wood. It still requires power for for- 
  ward motion. Wt: 440 lbs per ton 
  capacity Price: s 
  per ton capacity 
  Power: 50 lbs of gasoline per hour. 
  Personal Conveyor: A small, 
  one- or two-passenger flying ma- 
  chine, using liftwood for flight, and 
  propellers, vanes, or flaps for pro- 
  pulsion and steering. It will lift 240 
  pounds. Wt: 26 lbs Price: s 
  Helicopter: A powered version of 
  the autogyro (using an internal com- 
  bustion engine) which is capable of 
  hovering like a liftwood flyer. Wt: 
  600 lbs per ton capacity Price: s 
  per ton capacity Power: 100 lbs of 
  gasoline per hour. 
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  INVENTIONS 
  OPTICS 
  THE FIELD of optics lies wide 
  open for new inventions. 
  Telescope: This device is a large 
  telescope useful for astronavigation, 
  as opposed to the simple spyglass. 
  Wt: 400 lbs Price: s 
  Range Finder: This stereoscopic 
  optic device allows precise calcula- 
  tion of range to a target and increases 
  the gunner's ef- 
  ~ r  
  fective skill by 
  I 
  at 
  targets 
  beyond close 
  range. Wt: 10 
  lbs Price: s 
  Armor Glass: This substance is 
  extremely hard glass which allows 
  fabrication of secure vision blocks on 
  vehicles 
  and 
  -- 
  flyers. Its ef- "-- 
  fects are similar 
  / 
  to those of trans- 
  / 
  parent alumi- 
  -- 
  num. 
  Price: 
  // 
  s 
  per ton. 
  "~ 
  ...... " 
  Infrared Telescope: This device 
  allows players to see through fog, 
  mists, and darkness. It is useful in 
  spotting the enemy in limited visibili- 
  ty. Its two most common uses would 
  be in night navigation and on Venus. 
  Wt: 100 lbs Price: s 
  Heat Ray: This device focuses the 
  rays of the Sun through several large 
  lenses and produces a powerful beam 
  of light that melts objects in its path. 
  It has an effective range against 
  vessels in the atmosphere of 1000 
  yards times its device reliability, and 
  of 1000 miles times the device reli- 
  ability outside the atmosphere. It has 
  a rate of fire of 1 and a damage value 
  of 10, although this is reduced by 2 
  in an atmosphere, plus it is reduced 
  by 1 for every orbit out from the Sun 
  past Mercury (-1 at Venus, -2 at 
  Earth, -3 at Mars). Wt: 1 ton Price: 
  s 
  Power: 6. 
  Transvisor: This device allows a 
  character to see through solid ob- 
  jects. The device must be adjusted to 
  see through specific types of materi- 
  al, and then it will not register those 
  materials at all, which limits the utili- 
  ty of the .device to a certain extent. 
  For example, a transvisor can see an 
  iron bar on the far side of a stone 
  wall, but it could not see it on the far 
  side of an iron plate. Wt: 2 tons 
  Price: s 
  Power: 8. 
  Invisibility Device: This invention 
  is a light-refracting device which 
  bends light rays around its field and 
  lets them continue on their way 
  without absorbing or reflecting them, 
  thus rendering the objects inside the 
  field theoretically invisible. Actual- 
  ly there is a good deal of visual 
  distortion, and the area of the field 
  looks very much like heat waves. 
  The device encloses an area in dia- 
  meter in yards equal to four times the 
  device's reliability rating. Wt: 500 
  lbs Price: s 
  Power: 1. 
  COMBINATION DEVICES 
  THE PRICE and weight of a com- 
  bination device is the total of its two 
  components plus 10 percent. To in- 
  vent a combination device the invent- 
  or must have invented both devices. 
  Ballistic Computer: A device to 
  calculate ranges and the firing angle 
  for a weapon to hit the target. A 
  ballistic computer functions in place 
  of a range finder increasing the ef- 
  fective skill of the gunner by 2. A 
  gunner must have a Gunnery skill of 
  at least 2 to use the computer, 
  however. 
  Astrogation Computer: An auto- 
  matic device for astronavigation, au- 
  tomatically adjusting the controls of 
  an ether flyer when set for a given 
  destination and calculating the most 
  economical course. 
  Aeroplane: A powered, heavier- 
  than-air machine for flight. The 
  speed of the aeroplane in miles-per- 
  hour is 60 plus 10 times the device 
  reliability. It will carry a pilot and 
  either one passenger, one machine- 
  gun, or 100 pounds of bombs. 
  Improved Telescope: An astro- 
  navigational device which can be 
  precisely adjusted and remain fo- 
  cused on one location. 
  GDW 
  
  72 )) LAND TRANSPORTATION 
  TRANSPORTATION, LAND 
  LAND TRANSPORTATION will 
  be heavily relied upon by adven- 
  turers. 
  Two-Passenger Chaise: A two- 
  wheeled, one-horse cart, designed 
  for two passengers and 100 pounds 
  of assorted baggage belonging to 
  them. Wt: 600 lbs Price: s 
  Four-Passenger Carriage: A 
  four-wheeled, two-horse cart, de- 
  signed for four passengers and 200 
  pounds of baggage. Wt: 900 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Wagon: A four-wheeled, two- 
  horse cargo carrier, designed for two 
  people and up to 3 tons of cargo. Wt: 
  1000 lbs Price: s 
  Mule: A mule can carry up to 160 
  pounds, including a saddle of the 
  same dimensions as that used for a 
  horse. Mules can be worked for 12 
  hours without exhausting them. 
  Price: s 
  (including saddle). 
  Bullock: A bullock is a neutered 
  bovine used as a pack animal in some 
  regions of the world. It can carry 150 
  pounds (not counting the pack sad- 
  dle) and can be worked for six hours 
  before exhaustion. Price: s 
  (in- 
  cluding saddle). 
  Elephant: An elephant used as a 
  beast of burden can carry up to 1300 
  pounds (not counting the howdah) 
  and can be worked for six hours 
  before exhaustion. Price: s 
  (not 
  counting howdah). 
  Howdah: A bowl-like structure 
  carried on the back of an elephant or 
  ruumet breehr in which passengers 
  or cargo are carried. Wt: 250 lbs 
  Price: s 
  to s 
  Camel: Camels can carry up to 
  400 pounds for six hours before be- 
  ing exhausted. Price: s 
  (including 
  saddle). 
  Human Porter: A human laborer 
  can carry 45 pounds, and can be 
  worked for 10 hours before exhaus- 
  tion sets in. They need no saddles, 
  but the object(s) to be carried must 
  be of such a nature as to be easily 
  grasped and handled. Wages: 5d per 
  hour. 
  Bicycle: A modern safety bicycle, 
  not the older penny-farthing, de- 
  signed to carry one person and up to 
  50 pounds of baggage. Wt: 26 lbs 
  Price: s 
  Horse: A horse can carry up to 
  240 pounds, including the saddle. 
  Horses used as pack animals require 
  a pack saddle and bridle, which cost 
  the same as the horse tack mentioned 
  below, but only weigh 10 pounds. 
  Horses can be worked about eight 
  hours without exhausting them. 
  Price: s 
  Horse Tack: Saddle, bridle, 
  blanket and other gear for riding a 
  horse. Similar equipment is available 
  on other worlds for other riding 
  animals. Wt: 26 lbs Price: s to s 
  
  LAND AND WATER TRANSPORTATION O 
  Pacy ~ 
  ~ :~a r ~- S~T~iUyCii 
  carry up 
  normally 
  several riders. They can be worked 
  �9 
  about eight hours without exhausting 
  them. Price: s 
  TRANSPORTATION, WATER 
  THESE ITEMS move adventurers 
  over the water. 
  Boat, Folding Canvas: A small, 
  readily portable craft capable of car- 
  rying up to 600 pounds of passengers 
  and cargo. Wt: 35 lbs Price: s 
  Large Boat: There is a bewilder- 
  ing plethora of nautical terms for 
  various sizes and types of small 
  watercraft (launch, gig, cutter, pin- 
  nace, whaleboat, etc.). We have 
  chosen to divide these craft into large 
  and small boats. Large boats have a 
  cargo capacity of 3-5 tons Price: s 
  Small Boat: Small boats have a 
  cargo capacity of 1.5 to 3 tons. 
  Price: s 
  Steam Launch: A large boat 
  powered by a small steam engine. 
  Price: s 
  River Steamer: The more modern 
  versions of these boats have pro- 
  pellers, but the older models still in 
  service often use paddle wheels (side 
  or stern mounted). The engines burn 
  coal or wood, and cargo capacity 
  varies from 50 to 200 tons. Price: 
  s 
  i 
  Martian Ruumet Breehr: The 
  Martian ruumet breehr can carry a 
  load of up to 3200 pounds (not in- 
  cluding howdah) for six hours before 
  exhaustion sets in. Price: s 
  (not 
  counting howdah). 
  Gashant: A gashant can carry up 
  to 300 pounds, including the saddle. 
  Gashants used as pack animals re- 
  quire a pack saddle and bridle which 
  cost the same as the horse tack men- 
  tioned above, but only weigh 10 
  pounds. Gashants can be worked 
  about eight hours without exhausting 
  them. Price: s 
  GDW 
  
  74 )) EUROPEAN AERIAL VESSELS 
  AERIAL VESSELS 
  VESSELS WHICH can carry ad- 
  venturers through the air of the dif- 
  fering worlds include: 
  British Steam Launch: This is a 
  small craft popular with exploratory 
  missions. It has accommodations for 
  eight (helmsman, trimsman, engi- 
  neer, gunner, and four passengers), 
  and space for 5 tons of cargo and 20 
  tons of coal (40 days endurance at 
  cruising speed). Its armament con- 
  sists of a single five-barrel Norden- 
  felt machinegun in the bow. Wt: 50 
  tons Price: s 
  British Aphid-Class Aerial Gun- 
  boat: This is the smallest armored 
  aerial gunboat in British service, and 
  is also the most common, there be- 
  ing a total of four in service and two 
  more in production at Syrtis Major. 
  Each of these vessels carries a crew 
  of 15 and has an endurance of 20 
  days steaming. It is armed with a 
  4-inch gun, two Hotchkiss 1-pounder 
  rotating cannons, and two five-barrel 
  Nordenfelts. Wt: 160 tons Price: 
  None are for sale, but their original 
  cost to the Royal Navy was s 
  Zeppelin: Developed by the Ger- 
  mans but widely sold to powers 
  which do not have reliable access to 
  a supply of liftwood, the Zeppelin is 
  a rigid airship held aloft by hydro- 
  gen. It obeys all rules of aerial com- 
  bat with two exceptions. First, all 
  hull hits cause only one hull hit, 
  regardless of the damage value of the 
  shot. (Exploding shells simply punch 
  a hole through the gas bag and do not 
  encounter sufficient resistance to 
  detonate.) Second, any fire or 
  fire/boiler critical hit result sets the 
  hydrogen gas on fire and the Zep- 
  pelin crashes in flames. Characters 
  on board will each suffer two dice of 
  wounds from burns and concussion. 
  The Zeppelin has 20 days of en- 
  durance but burns only gasoline in 
  its engines, and thus it can only 
  refuel at German airship bases. Wt: 
  200 tons Price: s 
  
  MARTIAN AERIAL VESSELS Lt 75 
  Martian Small Screw Galley: 
  Various small dispatch vessels and 
  gunboats are used by Martian prin- 
  cipalities; the Small Bird class is 
  typical. It has a crew of less than 20 
  but carries substantial armament for 
  its size. Unarmed small screw 
  galleys are generally faster than the 
  Small Bird. Wt: 200 tons Price: 
  Vessels of this type are valued by the 
  British government at between 
  s 
  and s 
  Martian Large Screw Galley: 
  Imperial Oenotrian Hullcutter-class 
  screw galleys are typical of this size 
  and type of vessel. They have a crew 
  of 60 and are equipped with a ram 
  bow and heavy ordnance. Wt: 700 
  tons Price: Valued by the British 
  government at over s 
  Martian Small War Kite: These 
  small aerial sailing vessels carry a 
  crew of 10. Wt: 100 tons Price: 
  s 
  Martian Large War Kite: These 
  powerful sailing vessels weigh up to 
  700 tons and have a crew of 40. They 
  are equipped with a ram and heavy 
  ordnance. Wt: 700 tons Price: About 
  s 
  Martian Merchant Kite: Mer- 
  chant kites are quite large, usually 
  upwards of 2000 tons. They require 
  a crew of about 50 to operate the 
  complicated rigging, and carry 1000 
  to 2000 tons of cargo. Wt: 2000 
  tons+ 
  Price: Valued at over 
  s 
  by the British government. 
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  GDW 
  
  76 
  )) SCIENCE 
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  SCIENCE 
  77. 
  SCIENCE 
  THE VICTORIAN WORLD re- 
  garded science with a mixture of ex- 
  citement and apprehension. On one 
  hand, the obvious delights of modern 
  medicine and engineering were mak- 
  ing life more comfortable and pros- 
  perous for the respectable citizen; he 
  was a strong believer in "progress" 
  and could see the advantages of mod- 
  ern science all around him, not only 
  in steamships and telegraphs, but in 
  the more domestic amenities of the 
  new electric lights and reliable in- 
  door plumbing. 
  On the other hand, developments 
  in scientific theory threatened much 
  that the Victorians held sacred. Dar- 
  win's Origin of Species (1859) had 
  thrown into sharp relief the conflict 
  between traditional Christian beliefs 
  and the implications of modern dis- 
  coveries. The turmoil this project of 
  Darwin caused rebounded throughout 
  the literature of the period. Many 
  Victorian literary figures underwent 
  a crisis of faith, symbolized as the 
  receding "sea of faith" in Matthew 
  Arnold's famous poem, "Dover 
  Beach." The biologist T. H. Hux- 
  ley (1825-95), crusading for science 
  in a series of debates with Bishop 
  Wilberforce, argued that science had 
  effectively made religion obsolete--a 
  frightening thought for good Angli- 
  cans and Methodists who had no wish 
  to set aside either their beliefs or the 
  benefits of technology. A secondary 
  threat to established society con- 
  cerned the future direction of educa- 
  tion, a struggle termed "Art versus 
  Utility." Huxley argued against Mat- 
  thew Arnold in a series of essays that 
  poetry, the humanities, the whole 
  classical regimen of Greek verbs and 
  Latin verse that comprised education 
  among the landed aristocracy, would 
  be swept aside. This revolution would 
  be accomplished by (in the aristoc- 
  racy's opinion) that most dangerous 
  weapon of the ignoble engineers and 
  manufacturers--modern technology. 
  Science was to society a two-edged 
  sword, a boon and a peril. 
  The result was a typically Vic- 
  torian compromise. Science became 
  accepted as a field for the "gifted 
  amateur," the gentleman who would 
  tinker with inventions or theorize on 
  safe subjects, all the time guarding 
  society from subversive discoveries 
  or heresies that might undermine the 
  status quo. Lord Salisbury was an en- 
  thusiast of this type. His experiments 
  in hydroelectric power, which lit 
  Hatsfield House and scared visitors, 
  scarcely impinged on the pre-steam 
  set of his mind. Player characters 
  may prove more broad-minded in 
  their inquiries and the uses to which 
  they put their discoveries. 
  GDW 
  
  78 )) RESEARCH AND INVENTIONS 
  RESEARCH AND INVENTIONS 
  THE OBVIOUS AIM of an inven- 
  tor is to invent things. Characters 
  who are inventors (had Inventor as 
  at least one prior career) may have 
  invented one or more devices prior 
  to the start of play, and as the game 
  progresses will probably continue 
  their research and strive to invent 
  new devices while perfecting those 
  that they already have. Invention is 
  a result of two processes: general 
  research and specific experiments. 
  The player carries out both these 
  tasks by rolling research dice. 
  Research Dice: A player has in- 
  itial research dice available equal to 
  his skill level in the various scien- 
  tific, mechanical, and engineering 
  skill areas, plus dice equal to his In- 
  tellect attribute. These research dice 
  may be allocated among different re- 
  search areas. All research areas list 
  which skills are appropriate to that 
  area. Only dice from those skills may 
  be used to research or experiment in 
  that area. Intellect dice may be used 
  in any area. 
  For example, Caruthers, whose 
  science-related statistics are shown 
  below, has been an inventor for both 
  of his previous careers in hopes of 
  making some truly impressive break- 
  throughs. He has an Intelle~ of 5 and 
  skill levels in other areas as shown 
  below. He has the same number of 
  research dice in each area as his skill 
  level, plus five research dice for his 
  Intellect. 
  Science 
  Physics 4 
  Chemistry 2 
  Biology 2 
  Geology 2 
  Archaeology 2 
  Engineering 
  Naval Architecture 4 
  Structural Engineering 2 
  Earthworks 2 
  Explosives 2 
  Mechanics 
  Electricity 4 
  Steam 2 
  Machinist 2 
  ,qr"  
  General Research: 
  General 
  research builds up the character's 
  knowledge in a field. A player rolls 
  one or more dice for general research 
  and adds the results together. The 
  result is his knowledge level in the 
  area. A player may roll his dice one 
  at a time if desired and stop rolling 
  additional dice once he has gotten to 
  a desired level. 
  For example, Caruthers wants to 
  research the ether. He notes that the 
  applicable skills are Physics and 
  Electricity. He has a skill level of 4 
  in Physics and 4 in Electricity, and 
  thus could roll up to eight dice for 
  research and experiments. He could 
  also add in his five Intellect dice, for 
  a total of 13. However, he could not 
  then later roll those dice to research 
  another area. Caruthers decides to 
  roll two Physics and two Electricity 
  dice for basic research. He rolls a 2, 
  3, 5, and 6 for a total of 16. He 
  wishes a level slightly higher than 
  this, and so he rolls one additional 
  Physics die, obtaining a 3. His 
  knowledge of the ether is now 19. He 
  still has 1 Physics die, 2 Electricity 
  dice, and up to five Intellect dice 
  available for experiments in the ether 
  or research in other fields. 
  
  RESEARCH AND INVENTIONS 
  79 
  Experimental Devices: 
  Each 
  research area has a number of ex- 
  perimental devices listed with it. 
  Each device has a minimum research 
  level and an experimental success 
  number. Once a player has a know- 
  ledge level equal to or greater than 
  the minimum level, he may attempt 
  to invent the device listed by con- 
  ducting an experiment. 
  Caruthers, for example, has a 
  level-19 understanding of the ether. 
  By consulting the list of experimen- 
  tal devices, we see that he can at- 
  tempt to invent an ether propeller (5), 
  ether sail (7), etherometer (10), or 
  Herzian wave communicator (14). 
  He does not yet have sufficient 
  knowledge of the ether to attempt a 
  lightning cannon (25), freeze ray 
  (31), weather control ray (33), gravi- 
  ty focus ray (38), mind control ray 
  (35), or a gravity control device (42). 
  An experiment is conducted by 
  rolling one research die. The die 
  rolled is subtracted from the inven- 
  tor's remaining pool of research 
  dice. For the experiment to be suc- 
  cessful, the die roll must be greater 
  than the listed experimental success 
  number. The amount by which the 
  experimental die roll exceeds the ex- 
  perimental success number is the 
  reliability value of the device. 
  By way of example, Caruthers 
  wishes to invent an ether propeller 
  and an etherometer. He decides to 
  allocate one die to each and uses his 
  remaining one Physics and one Elec- 
  tricity skill dice to do so.~He rolls a 
  3 for the ether propeller and notes 
  that its experimental number is - 1. 
  Since 3 is greater than - 1, he suc- 
  ceeds in his attempt, and since his 
  roll exceeds the number by 4, his 
  ether propeller has a reliability of 4. 
  He rolls a 2, which is four higher 
  than the etherometer's experimental 
  number of -2, giving Caruthers a 
  working etherometer with a reliabili- 
  ty of 4. 
  The reliability of a device is the 
  chance that it will work as intended. 
  This reliability may be increased by 
  subsequent experiments. If an inven- 
  tor is unhappy with the reliability 
  level of his device, he may roll one 
  research die to perfect it. If the die 
  roll is higher than the current reli- 
  ability number of the device, that 
  becomes the new reliability number; 
  otherwise the reliability number re- 
  mains unchanged. An inventor may 
  try as often as he wishes to increase 
  the reliability of his inventions, pro- 
  vided he has sufficient research dice 
  to do so. 
  Caruthers, for example, is unhap- 
  py with the reliability of his ethero- 
  meter and conducts additional ex- 
  periments to perfect it. He has used 
  all of his experimental dice for 
  Physics and Electricity, but still has 
  his five Intellect dice. He rolls one 
  die and rolls a 1. As this is not an 
  improvement over the device's cur- 
  rent reliability of 4, it remains un- 
  changed. He decides to try one more 
  time and rolls a 5. This now becomes 
  the new reliability level of his inven- 
  tion, and he still has three Intellect 
  dice to use on other inventions in this 
  field or research in other fields. 
  Once a device has been invented, 
  the inventor still has to actually build 
  it. The individual devices are de- 
  scribed in the "Equipment" chapter 
  of this book. Each separate descrip- 
  tion indicates how the device is used, 
  what effects it has, the requirements 
  and costs for its construction, and 
  any special rules applying to it. 
  GDW 
  
  80 t) RESEARCH AND INVENTIONS 
  Combination Devices: Some ex- 
  perimental devices are combination 
  devices. No specific knowledge level 
  is required, but the player must have 
  already invented both basic devices 
  listed to invent the combination de- 
  vice. If he has done so, he may at- 
  tempt to invent the combination de- 
  vice by rolling an experimental 
  research die normally. Only Intellect 
  dice may be used to invent combina- 
  tion devices. Note that combination 
  devices have only one number in 
  parentheses, their experimental num- 
  ber. 
  For example, Caruthers has, in the 
  course of his various researches, in- 
  vented both an analytical engine and 
  a range finder. He decides to com- 
  bine these two separate devices into 
  a ballistic computer. He still has 
  several Intellect dice left and allo- 
  cates one to this experiment. He rolls 
  a 6, which is four higher than the 
  ballistic computer's experimental 
  number of 2. He has thus invented 
  a ballistic computer with a reliabili- 
  ty of 4. 
  . 
  Continuing Research: During the 
  course of the game, the referee 
  should award additional research 
  dice to inventors as a result of their 
  experiences. The referee may award 
  these as skill-based dice (such as 
  Physics or Machinist), or may make 
  them specific to a certain research 
  area (such as the ether), or award 
  them without restriction (the same as 
  Intellect dice and usable in the same 
  manner for the purposes of inventing 
  combination devices). Generally he 
  will award skill-based dice if a player 
  has used a particular skill extensive- 
  ly. Area dice may result from learn- 
  ing some interesting new fact about 
  the phenomenon covered by that re- 
  search area. Unrestricted dice might 
  be awarded if the player was able to 
  spend a great deal of time in a 
  laboratory, such as during a long 
  space voyage. 
  A referee should seldom award 
  more than one research die at the end 
  of an adventure and may consider 
  several alternatives instead. If a 
  player has been able to extensively 
  examine or extensively and practical- 
  ly use an experimental device, the 
  referee can give the player a die roll 
  modifier on any experimental at- 
  tempt to perfect it. Alternatively, the 
  referee can award a general increase 
  in the inventor's knowledge of a spe- 
  cific research area. The invention 
  system is flexible enough to allow the 
  referee many different ways to grad- 
  ually increase the characters' know- 
  ledge of the universe. 
  t 
  Other Inventions: Referees are 
  free to make up their own inventions, 
  using those listed here as a guide. 
  However, it is critical that the referee 
  always strive to maintain the balance 
  of the game. Space: 1889 is a 19th- 
  century role-playing game, and while 
  the science-fiction aspects of it allow 
  for colorful and interesting devices 
  such as these, permitting the world 
  to become overrun with them will 
  .soon change the nature of the game 
  dramatically. To avoid this, always 
  remember that superscientific de- 
  vices should have some limitations. 
  Most of the powerful weapons listed 
  on this table are very bulky, expen- 
  sive, require considerable energy, 
  and always stop short of assured 
  destruction. No hip-pocket ray guns 
  or disintegrators exist, for example. 
  Finally, remember that this list of 
  inventions and those generated by the 
  referee provide a good shopping list 
  for outfitting mad scientists and evil 
  inventors. Most of these inventions, 
  particularly the high-level ones, are 
  unlikely to be perfected by players, 
  but can be easily introduced into the 
  game through non-player character 
  villains. In most cases, however, the 
  villain's masterworks are likely to 
  perish with him by the end of the 
  adventure. 
  
  THE RESEARCH AREAS 
  RESEARCH AREAS 
  The research areas include: 
  Transportation 
  (Naval Architecture, 
  Structural Engineering) 
  Space suit (4, -3) 
  Submarine (10, 3) 
  Heavy tractor (14, 2) 
  Diving suit (16, 2) 
  Deep-diving submarine (22, 4) 
  Walking tripod (24, 3) 
  Hydrofoil (26, 2) 
  Land juggernaut (28, 4) 
  Mole drill (35, 4) 
  Electricity 
  (Physics, Electricity) 
  Hand lamp (3, -3) 
  Batteries (5, -3) 
  Electric engine (10, -1) 
  Long wire power (15, 2) 
  Electric rail gun (22, 2) 
  Energy cells (25, 5) 
  Lightning cannon (28, 4) 
  Superconductors (35, 5) 
  Wireless power transmission (35, 5) 
  Electric rifle (40, 3) 
  Biochemistry 
  (Chemistry, Biology) 
  Preserved food (4, -2) 
  Aspirin (12, - 1) 
  Sleep gas (16, 1) 
  Antibiotic (22, 2) 
  Strength elixir (24, 4) 
  Mind control drug (26, 5) 
  Water-breather (28, 4) 
  Tangle cord (31, 4) 
  Food pill (32, 1) 
  Synthetic nutrient (33, 5) 
  Infrared sight liquid (34, 3) 
  Prolonged hibernation device 
  (35, 3) 
  Synthetic life (38, 5) 
  Synthetic liftwood (42, 5) 
  The Ether 
  (Physics, Electricity) 
  Ether propeller (5, -1) 
  Ether sail (7, 1) 
  Etherometer (10, - 3~ 
  Hertzian wave communicator 
  (15, 2) 
  Lightning cannon (25, 4) 
  Freeze ray (31, 5) 
  Weather control ray (33, 5) 
  Mind control ray (35, 5) 
  Gravity focus ray (38, 5) 
  Gravity control (42, 5) 
  Optics 
  (Physics, Machinist) 
  Telescope (5, -3) 
  Range finder (+ 1 Gunnery at long 
  range) (15, 1) 
  Armor glass (22, 4) 
  Infrared telescope (28, 2) 
  Heat ray (33, 4) 
  Transvisor (38, 3) 
  Invisibility device (42, 5) 
  Geology and Metallurgy 
  (Geology, Chemistry) 
  Superhard steel (15, -1) 
  Rustless iron (22, -3) 
  Woven steel (26, 1) 
  Mineral detector (32, -1) 
  Cast stone chemical (34, -2) 
  Transparent aluminum (36, 2) 
  Volcanic control device (38, 4) 
  Earthquake control device (40, 5) 
  Flight 
  (Physics, Naval Architecture) 
  Hydrogen lift (5, -1) 
  Personal conveyor (8, 1) 
  Glider (15, 5) 
  Parachute (15, 3) 
  Improved liftwood (23, -2) 
  Autogyro (26, 3) 
  Helicopter (29, 4) 
  Monohydrogen (33, 2) 
  Precision Machinery 
  (Structural Engineer, 
  Machinist) 
  Photophone (3, 1) 
  Torpedo (5, 3) 
  Orrery (7, 1) 
  Quick-firing gun (9, 3) 
  Gyroscope (15, 2) 
  Improved torpedo (22, 3) 
  Analytical engine (26, 3) 
  Inertial compass (28, 4) 
  Mechanical man (35, 5) 
  Underwater gun (38, 4) 
  Power Production 
  (Steam, Physics) 
  Forced draught boiler (4, -2) 
  Petrol boiler (6, -1) 
  Solar boiler (8, 1) 
  Internal combustion engine (10, 2) 
  Steam turbine (15, 3) 
  Gas turbine (25, 4) 
  Energy cells (34, 5) 
  Heat ray (32, 5) 
  The atom (40, 5) 
  Combustion 
  (Explosives, Chemistry) 
  Fuel refiner (5, -4) 
  Smokeless powder (7", -2) 
  Liquid fire (15, -4) 
  Welding (12, -2) 
  Detonite (20, 4) 
  Rocket engine (25, 3) 
  Coal gasificator (25, -3) 
  Noiseless powder (33, 1) 
  Hellfire (38, 4) 
  Combination Devices 
  Ballistic comlauter (range finder + 
  analytical machine, 2) 
  Astrogation computer (orrery+ 
  analytical engine, 1) 
  Aeroplane (glider+engine, 4) 
  Improved telescope (telescope+ 
  gyroscope, 1) 
  GDW 
  
  82 
  )) ETHER 
  FLYER 
  DESIGN 
  DESIGNING ETHER FLYERS 
  IN ADDITION to the inventions 
  covered in the research process 
  described previously, an inventor 
  may design and build a small inter- 
  planetary ether flyer in his work- 
  shop. The expense of this will be 
  minimal, as it is assumed to be built 
  mostly with scrounged parts and 
  discarded electrical components. 
  However, players with considerable 
  financial resources at their disposal 
  (Social Level 5 or 6) may purchase 
  sufficient components to build a very 
  large vessel. 
  Ether flyer design consists of two 
  general procedures: basic design and 
  ship rating. The basic design is a 
  simple, six-step procedure that pro- 
  vides all the raw information about 
  your ship. Ship rating enables you to 
  determine the performance of the 
  ship in game terms. 
  CONTROL ROOM 
  COMMON 
  AIR LOCK 
  AREA 
  STATEROOMS 
  /: % CA 
  A,N'S 
  d 
  1 
  I 
  "~ 
  CONSERVA- 
  : .1 
  Part I: Basic Design 
  THE SIX STEPS of the ship's bas- 
  ic design determine its characteristics 
  and performance. In each step there 
  are small components whictrmay be 
  installed for free and then a cost 
  listing for larger components which 
  may be purchased to enlarge the 
  ship. 
  1. Lift 
  FOR THE ether propeller to work, 
  the entire craft must be lifted to an 
  altitude of 24,000 feet. Thus, the first 
  thing you will decide is what form 
  of lift it will use. The lift value of 
  your craft will limit the final weight 
  and thus influence all other design 
  decisions made later. 
  Select a total ship weight in tons, 
  and then decide whether you will use 
  hydrogen or liftwood as a lifting 
  agent. Hydrogen lift is free for a 
  vessel up to 20 tons of lifted mass, 
  and then costs s 
  per ton for lifted 
  masses above that. Hydrogen is not 
  practical for vessels of greater than 
  200 tons of lifted mass, given con- 
  struction techniques available at this 
  time. Liftwood costs s 
  per ton of 
  lifted mass. 
  CONTROL 
  STATION 
  NAVIGATION 
  STATION 
  CONTROL ROOM 
  2. Controls 
  THE SHIP'S CONTROLS are 
  located in a control room, generally 
  placed toward the front of the cabin. 
  The control room weighs one ton and 
  costs nothing. 
  The Arm~rong Propeller. 
  cppe Ln Propeller 
  3. Ether Propeller 
  THERE 
  ARE 
  four 
  options 
  available for an ether propeller: the 
  Edison Patent, the Armstrong Patent, 
  the Zeppelin Patent, or one of the 
  player's own invention. Each pro- 
  peller is defined by its power value 
  (the amount of energy needed to 
  make it work) and its efficiency. 
  Power values are expressed as whole 
  numbers--l, 5, etc. 
  Edison propellers may be pur- 
  chased at any power value and cost 
  s 
  per power value. They have 
  an efficiency of 25. 
  Armstrong propellers may be pur- 
  chased at any power value and cost 
  s 
  per power value. They have an 
  efficiency of 20. 
  Zeppelin propellers may be pur- . 
  chased at power values up to and in- 
  cluding 4 and cost s 
  per power 
  value. They have an efficiency of 15. 
  All ether propellers weigh 1 ton 
  per power value. 
  If a player has invented an ether 
  propeller, he may build one at no 
  cost. The maximum power value of 
  the propeller is the propeller's reli- 
  ability. The propeller's efficiency is 
  20 + (3 • the reliability number). For 
  example, a player has invented a pro- 
  peller with a reliability of 3. The 
  largest power value he can construct 
  is 3, and any propeller he builds has 
  an efficiency of 29. 
  
  ETHER FLYER DESIGN tt 83 
  4. Power Plant 
  ONLY LIMITED amounts of oxy- 
  gen can be carried in the craft, and 
  these supplies need to be sup- 
  plemented with large numbers of 
  green plants just to meet the needs 
  of the passengers and crew. Any sort 
  of power plant which requires com- 
  bustion (which includes coal-fired 
  and oil-burning steam engines as well 
  as internal combustion engines) is out 
  of the question. As electric batteries 
  cannot store enough energy to power 
  a long interplanetary flight, a solar 
  boiler is the only practical source of 
  power. 
  The boiler's power value must be 
  the same as or greater than the ether 
  propeller's power value. A boiler 
  with the same value as the propeller 
  will power the ether propeller as well 
  as provide heat to the cabins and 
  power a Small dynamo to supply 
  electricity for lights and various in- 
  struments. A boiler value one greater 
  is required if the ship has a labora- 
  tory which will be used while in 
  flight. 
  The weight of the solar boiler in 
  tons is twice its power value. If a 
  player has invented a solar boiler of 
  his own, he may build one for free. 
  The power value is equal to the reli- 
  ability value of the device. If a boiler 
  is purchased instead, it costs s 
  • 
  the power value. 
  5. Crew 
  AN ETHER FLYER requires a 
  pilot to fly it. If it is a liftwood vessel, 
  it also requires a trimsman when in 
  atmospheric flight, although on craft 
  of less than 40 tons of mass the pilot 
  can perform this function as well. 
  The craft must have one engineer for 
  every two power levels of its largest 
  power plant, rounding fractions 
  down. (Thus ships with a power 
  value of 1 do not need an engineer.) 
  If the flyer has a coal-burning aux- 
  iliary power plant, it must have one 
  engineer per power level, provided 
  that number of engineers is greater 
  than the number normally required 
  to man the main power plant. Final- 
  ly, the flyer must have the required 
  number of gunners to man its gun (if 
  any). 
  AIR LOCK 
  WC 
  AR 
  TOq 
  RAq 
  LOCKER 
  6. Quarters 
  ONE TON of mass is required for 
  each crewmember and passenger the 
  craft will carry. This covers sleep- 
  ing areas, a proportional share of the 
  common areas, and green plants for 
  rejuvenation of the air. Accommoda- 
  tions for up to 10 passengers and 
  crew may be built for free. Accom- 
  modations for each additional pas- 
  senger or crewmember cost s 
  �9 
  COMMON AREA 
  GALLEY 
  DOUBLE 
  HEAD 
  Y 
  STATEROOM 
  GREENHOUSE 
  BAT 
  ~ER 
  JROPELLER 
  ENGINE ROOM 
  GDW 
  
  84 )) ETHER FLYER DESIGN 
  7. Optional Features 
  OPTIONAL FEATURES include: 
  Emergency Power: Emergency 
  power batteries can be installed to 
  provide power in the event of a boiler 
  malfunction. Batteries are defined by 
  their power level (which is used the 
  same way as the power level of a 
  solar boiler) and their endurance, 
  which is the number of days that the 
  batteries will function at full power. 
  Batteries may not be purchased at 
  power levels greater than 4. Batteries 
  may be purchased at any endurance 
  desired. The weight of batteries in 
  tons=their power value xtheir en- 
  durance (in days). 
  If the player has invented batteries 
  of his own, their maximum power 
  value is the device reliability 
  number, and their weight in tons is 
  their power value x their endurance 
  + the device reliability. For exam- 
  ple, if a player has invented batteries 
  with a reliability number of 5, he 
  could install batteries with a power 
  level of 5 and any endurance desired. 
  Their weight would be fivextheir 
  endurance + 5. 
  The price, in s of batteries which 
  are purchased is equal to 10xtheir 
  endurance xtheir power value. For 
  example, batteries with a power 
  value of 4 and an endurance of 8 days 
  would cost (4 x 10 x 8 =) s 
  Bat- 
  teries invented by the players cost 
  one-tenth this amount. 
  Atmospheric Propulsion: 
  An 
  ether propeller will not function in 
  an atmosphere at air densities greater 
  than that found at 24,000 feet above 
  sea level on Earth. If your ether flyer 
  is intended to maneuver in the at- 
  mosphere and land, it is a good idea 
  to mount an air screw (propeller) and 
  motor. A screw-and-motor combina- 
  tion weighs 2 x its power value and 
  costs s 
  per power value. How- 
  ever, players may construct a screw- 
  and-motor combination of power 
  value 1 at no cost. 
  The screw and motor require raw 
  power to function, however, and 
  solar boilers will not function deep 
  in the atmosphere. A power plant 
  must be available at least equal to the 
  power value of the screw and motor. 
  If the vessel has batteries of sufficient 
  power, these may be used; otherwise 
  a separate power plant must be in- 
  stalled. Since it will only be used in 
  atmospheres, it may be a combustion 
  power plant, such as a coal-fired 
  boiler, and may be a standard power 
  plant or an advanced model invented 
  by the player. All of these power 
  plants use fuel, either coal, oil, or 
  refined gas. (Fuel can be carried in 
  the cargo hold of the vessel. Special 
  fuel tanks or coal bunkers are not 
  required.) 
  The table below shows the types 
  of conventional power plants, their 
  weights (in tons per power value), 
  costs (in s per power value), types 
  of fuel used, and fuel consumption 
  rates (in tons of fuel burned per day 
  per power value). 
  F 
  POWER PLANTS 
  Type 
  Weight Cost Fuel Consumption 
  Conventional Boiler 
  6 
  300 Coal 
  1 
  Forced Draught Boiler 
  3 
  600 Coal 
  1 
  Petrol Boiler 
  6 
  300 Oil 
  1/2 
  Internal Combustion* 
  2 
  600 Oil 
  1/2 
  Steam Turbine* 
  1 
  800 Oil 
  1/2 
  Gas Turbine* 
  1/2 
  1000 Gas 
  1/4 
  Of the power plants listed in the 
  table above, only the first three are 
  available for purchase; the last three 
  (*) must be invented. Costs in all 
  cases are costs to build versions of 
  the power plant once it has been in- 
  vented by the player. Standard ver- 
  sions of the first three power plants 
  may be purchased at any power value 
  on the open market for twice the 
  price listed in the table. 
  In the case of a power plant in- 
  vented by the player, the act of in- 
  
  ETHER FLYER DESIGN 
  85 
  venting it produces a working pro- 
  totype at no cost which may be used 
  in an ether flyer if desired. The pro- 
  totype always has a power value of 
  1, however. Later versions of the 
  power plant may be built, at the costs 
  listed above, at any power value up 
  to the device reliability number. 
  LABORATORY 
  Laboratory: While not essential to 
  the design of the vessel, a properly 
  equipped laboratory is essential if an 
  inventor is to continue his research 
  while on long voyages between the 
  planets. For every ton of lab equip- 
  ment installed, the laboratory may be 
  used to research two of the 10 re- 
  search areas. These areas must be 
  specified at the time the laboratory 
  is built. A lab equipped with five tons 
  of equipment can be used to research 
  any or all of the 10 research areas. 
  The first ton of laboratory equipment 
  is free (taken from the inventor's 
  own lab), but every ton after that 
  costs s 
  Armament: It is nearly impossi- 
  ble for an inventor to obtain or mount 
  a wide variety of naval ordnance in 
  sophisticated turret mounts and the 
  like. However, each ether flyer may 
  mount a single, fixed, forward-firing 
  gun which can be used either in an 
  atmosphere or in space (if the gun is 
  of any value in space). Price and 
  weight are as listed in the "Equip- 
  n.,ent" chapter. 
  AQUARIUM 
  BOOKSHELF 
  SOFA 
  PIPE ORGAN 
  ~ 
  wJ~ ~,' 
  WINDOW 
  CONSERVATORY 
  Conservatory: If a conservatory 
  is built into the ether flyer, it weighs 
  two tons and costs s 
  DOUBLE 
  HEAD 
  BUNK 
  BRIG 
  Brig: A brig (ship's prison) may 
  be installed for the secure restraint 
  of prisoners. Often prisoners can be 
  locked in the cargo hold, but 
  sometimes that is not convenient. A 
  brig weighs 1 ton and costs s 
  CARGO HOLD 
  Cargo: All unused lifted mass in 
  the craft is available for cargo. Cargo 
  includes ammunition for the gun, 
  fuel for the auxiliary power plant, 
  and food for the crew, to name the 
  most important items. Other items 
  may be carried as desired. 
  Part lI: Rating 
  RATING INCLUDES evaluating 
  several factors: 
  1. Speed 
  TO DETERMINE interplanetary 
  speed, multiply propeller power 
  value (PPV) by the propeller effi- 
  ciency (PE) and divide the result by 
  the lifted mass (LM) (S =PPV x PE/ 
  LM). Round all fractions to the near- 
  est tenth. The result is the flyer's in- 
  terplanetary speed value. For exam- 
  ple, a 14-ton vessel with a propeller 
  with a power value of 2 and an effi- 
  ciency of 20 has an interplanetary 
  speed of 2.857, which rounds to 2.9. 
  To determine atmospheric speeds 
  multiply the screw-and-motor com- 
  bination's power value by 600 and 
  divide by the lifted mass, rounding 
  all fractions down. If the result is 
  greater than six, reduce the amount 
  over six by half (rounding fractions 
  down). Thus a speed of 7 would re- 
  duce to 6, a speed of 8 or 9 would 
  reduce to 7. 
  2. Hull Hits 
  DIVIDE THE lifted mass by 100, 
  rounding fractions down, to deter- 
  mine the number of hull hits of the 
  craft in combat. 
  3. Background Data 
  THIS DATA is not necessary for 
  the game but is sometimes handy to 
  know. To determine the interplane- 
  tary speed of the vessel in millions 
  of miles travelled per day, multiply 
  the speed value by one million. To 
  determine the airspeed of the vessel 
  in knots, multiply its speed number 
  by 5. To determine the horsepower 
  of the vessel's power plants, multiply 
  their power value by 125. 
  GDW 
  
  86 
  ETHER FLYER DESIGN 
  Part III: 
  Your Ether Flyer Described 
  THE BASIC SHAPE of your ether 
  flyer will be strongly influenced by 
  whether it uses hydrogen or liftwood 
  as a lifting agent. If hydrogen is 
  used, the flyer will be dominated by 
  the large gas chamber which will be 
  cylindrical in shape. Some flyers use 
  a separate gas chamber and suspend 
  the cabin below it, while others com- 
  bine the two and build the gas cham- 
  ber around the outside of the cabin 
  The other dominant feature of the 
  exterior of the ship is its solar boiler 
  mechanism. This consists of a water- 
  filled boiler and a large, reflecting 
  dish mirror mounted at opposite ends 
  of a long girder. The girder is at- 
  tached to the hull at its midpoint by 
  a mechanical pivot. Thus the entire 
  boiler assembly can be turned while 
  in space to point the mirror's face 
  toward the Sun. The mirror reflects 
  and concentrates the Sun's rays on 
  the boiler and brings the boiler's 
  water to a boil. 
  itself. The volume of this chamber 
  can be calculated precisely: It con- 
  tains 10,000 cubic feet of gas per ton 
  of lifted mass. If monohydrogen is 
  used, it contains 5000 cubic feet of 
  gas per ton of lifted mass. 
  ~-:~- 
  The cabin itself will have a number 
  '~ of small portholes to let in light and 
  provide a view for the passengers. 
  These portholes will be small and 
  L~ 
  round, and fitted with steel shutters 
  closed by handcranks for protection 
  '~ ~ 
  ~ 
  "~ against meteors. 
  If liftwood is used, the vessel will 
  look somewhat more boat-like in 
  shape and, in particular, will tend to 
  be fairly broad of beam for improved 
  stability. The bottom of the flyer will 
  be covered by the hundreds of thin 
  liftwood slats or foil rollers which 
  provide lift and trim. 
  Access to the 
  cabin is gained by 
  means of a large 
  door hinged on the 
  bottom which be- 
  comes a 
  short 
  stairway when it is 
  folded out and 
  down. This door 
  leads into an air 
  lock, which is one 
  tactical grid square 
  in size (two yards by two yards in 
  area). Both the inner and outer doors 
  have small, round windows, deeply 
  recessed, with very thick glass, mak- 
  ing meteor damage virtually impossi- 
  ble. The airlock will provide access 
  to the work space adjacent to the con- 
  trol room, and on all but the largest 
  flyers this space will be part of the 
  control room itself. 
  The control room is located at the 
  front of the cabin and has a large 
  glass vision port to enable the pilot 
  to steer the craft during atmospheric 
  flight. Handcrank-operated metal 
  shutters close over the port to pro- 
  tect it from meteors. All of the con- 
  trols that operate the craft's power 
  plant, ether propeller, and other 
  machinery are located near and 
  around the vision port, with the 
  ship's wheel located in the center. If 
  the craft is capable of atmospheric 
  flight, there will be two wheels--one 
  connected to the atmospheric rudder 
  and one which alters the flux orien- 
  tation of the ether propeller. The at- 
  mospheric wheel is the more impres- 
  sive of the two, as it is reasonably 
  large. The ether wheel is a small steel 
  wheel with a ratchet arrangement for 
  setting precise courses. 
  The control room averages about 
  four tactical grid squares (four yards 
  by four yards) although it may be one 
  or two grid squares larger or smaller, 
  depending on the whim of the build- 
  er. One grid square is given over to 
  a work space adjacent to the airlock. 
  There is a locker there which holds 
  the craft's space suits, and the work 
  area is kept clear to allow the crew 
  room to put their suits on and take 
  them off. 
  If a gun is mounted, it is manned 
  from a small compartment directly 
  under the bridge, and there will be 
  a floor hatch to allow access to this 
  space. This compartment is a full six 
  feet deep directly in the middle 
  where the gun crew mans the gun, 
  but is shallower to the sides, where 
  the ammunition (if any is required) 
  is stored. 
  
  ETHER FLYER DESIGN it 87 
  The area immediately behind the 
  control room is the crew common 
  area, given over to meals and recrea- 
  tion. The common area has one tac- 
  tical two-yard grid square (four 
  square yards of floor space) per 
  passenger and crewman. On small 
  ships this is usually not partitioned 
  off from the control room. On larger 
  vessels it is. If the vessel is made to 
  accommodate many passengers, this 
  area will be divided into a crew com- 
  mon area and a passengers' lounge. 
  There will be several smaller 
  astrogation domes set on various 
  parts of the cabin to allow the pilot 
  to take sightings on the stars and 
  planets for navigational purposes. 
  Large parts of the crew common 
  area are taken up with large planters 
  filled with green plants, and the 
  climbing vines and leafy shoots tend 
  to grow up the walls of the cabin and 
  wind around pipes. In addition, there 
  will be a large greenhouse room with 
  one grid square of planters for every 
  two passengers and crew. The roof 
  overhead in the greenhouse is divid- 
  ed into many pie-shaped window sec- 
  tions, each with its own steel shutter. 
  The space underneath the greenhouse 
  planters is taken up with part of the 
  water purification system, which re- 
  cycles moisture on the ship. 
  Quarters consist of one grid square 
  per passenger or crewman. This 
  allocation is usually broken up into 
  two-person staterooms of two grid 
  squares each. Much of this space is 
  taken up with a double bunk, closet, 
  writing desk and chair. On larger 
  vessels (of more than 100 tons mass) 
  there is sufficient extra space to give 
  the captain his own two-square or 
  three-square stateroom, and about 
  one-quarter of the crew can occupy 
  two-square private staterooms. 
  The conservatory, if installed, has 
  a large, glass viewport, comfortable, 
  stuffed chairs, shelves of books, and 
  perhaps the inventor's favorite in- 
  strument. (Pipe organs are quite 
  popular.) It consists of six or eight 
  grid squares. 
  i 
  : .... 
  ! 
  The engine room is always located 
  at the stern of the ship. It contains 
  the intemal electrical controls for the 
  ether propeller that allow the players 
  to adjust or repair parts of the ap- 
  paratus without leaving the ship. It 
  also contains the valves and pipes 
  regulating the flow of water and 
  steam to and from the solar boiler. 
  If there are emergency batteries or 
  auxiliary power plants, they are 
  located here as well. The engine 
  room has one grid square of floor 
  space occupied per ton of boilers, 
  ether propellers, batteries, etc. Each 
  device has its own block of con- 
  tiguous floor space devoted to it. Be- 
  tween them are corridors one tactical 
  grid square wide to allow main- 
  tenance and control access. 
  Due to the need to conserve both 
  oxygen and moisture, the safety 
  valve on the solar boiler vents into 
  the engine room, and so the room is 
  almost always hot and steamy, and 
  all surfaces are wet with condensa- 
  tion as well as covered with a thin 
  layer of grease, oil, and grime. 
  .i 
  benches covered with racks of 
  beakers and test tubes, smelting fur- 
  naces, centrifuges, and obscure elec- 
  trical devices. It takes up three grid 
  squares per ton of lab equipment. 
  The cargo hold is usually located 
  in a subdeck below the living quar- 
  ters, although it may be located on 
  the main deck instead. It takes up one 
  grid square per ton if located in a 
  subdeck (which is only three to four 
  feet deep) or one grid square per two 
  tons if located on the main deck. If 
  on the subdeck, there will invariably 
  be considerable moisture accumula- 
  tion in it due to the inefficiency of 
  the water recycling system. Given 
  that the system is not absolutely ef- 
  ficient, most builders opt for too 
  much moisture in the system rather 
  than not enough. By the end of a long 
  trip, however, the "bilges" of the 
  craft will accumulate several inches 
  of filthy, stinking, unrecyclable 
  waste water. 
  GDW 
  
  88 
  t) COMBAT 
  
  COMBAT 
  89 
  COMBAT 
  COMBAT 
  THE BRITISH EMPIRE was not 
  won, and is not maintained, by polite 
  words alone, and genuine adventure 
  is not found in the drawing room of 
  a comfortable London club. In pur- 
  suit of fame and fortune, players will 
  sometimes find themselves in dan- 
  gerous situations which can only be 
  resolved by resort to violence. 
  PERSONAL COMBAT 
  OVERVIEW 
  PERSONAL COMBAT includes 
  attacks against people and animals 
  using weapons such as guns, knives, 
  bare fists, explosives, even rocks. 
  But regardless of the type of weapon 
  or target, the results always boil 
  down to whether or not you hit the 
  target and, if so, what sort of damage 
  you did to it. 
  To resolve a combat attack, 
  players and the referee roll dice to 
  determine the answer to these two 
  questions. While the specific rules 
  may vary, and there are some special 
  rules to handle unusual circum- 
  stances and weapons, the resolution 
  of these two main questions always 
  forms the basis of any attack. 
  All distances in these rules are 
  given in yards, as are all movement 
  allowances. Many combats can be 
  resolved without reference to de- 
  tailed maps by simply keeping rough 
  track of distances in your head. Since 
  people seldom stop to measure dis- 
  tance with a tape measure anyway, 
  rough approximations of distance are 
  all that are actually necessary. So the 
  referee may say to you, "You see 
  someone lurking in the alley about 
  20 yards away." 
  Sometimes it is convenient to map 
  out the area in which the battle is 
  fought, particularly if it is fought in- 
  doors, where narrow corridors and 
  winding passageways restrict move- 
  ment and fields of fire. Some maps 
  such as this are provided in this 
  book. Whenever mapping an area, 
  use graph paper and make each 
  square of the paper represent two 
  yards. When moving or tracing 
  range on the map, each square counts 
  as two yards if moved through (or if 
  range is traced through) horizontal- 
  ly or vertically. If it is moved 
  through or traced through diagonal- 
  ly, it counts as three yards. 
  All characters must face in one 
  direction at a time. The square they 
  are facing and the two squares to 
  each side of them are their "front 
  squares" while the remaining three 
  adjacent squares are their "rear 
  squares." Players may only attack to 
  their front, and may only attempt to 
  block or dodge attacks delivered 
  from their front. 
  rFront 
  ~ Rear ~ 
  
  90 J) TURN SEQUENCE 
  TURN SEQUENCE 
  COMBAT IS fought in turns 
  which represent 30 seconds of real 
  time. In each turn a character may 
  perform one or more of the follow- 
  ing actions: 
  Remain stationary 
  Move 
  Charge 
  Attack 
  Prepare a weapon 
  Reload a weapon 
  Change weapons 
  Dodge 
  Block 
  Special action 
  Number of Allowed Actions: All 
  characters (player characters and 
  NPCs) may perform four actions per 
  turn unless they are involved in close 
  combat. If involved in close combat, 
  player characters may perform a 
  number of action S equal to either 
  their Close Combat skill or their 
  Agility attribute, 
  whichever is 
  greater. A character is involved in 
  close combat if he is within 10 yards 
  of a hostile character (or animal) at 
  any time during the turn. All NPCs 
  in close combat may perform actions 
  equal to their Close Combat skill, 
  which is determined by their ex- 
  perience level. NPCs are rated, for 
  combat purposes, as shown on the 
  accompanying table. 
  m 
  m 
  J 
  m 
  m 
  m 
  m 
  l 
  GREAT HALL GROUND FLOOR 
  MARTIAN 
  FORTRESS VILLA 
  Illlr 
  I. 
  GATE HOUSE 
  II. 
  GUN TOWER 
  III. 
  GREAT HALL 
  IV. 
  COURTYARD 
  A. 
  GUARD ROOM 
  B. 
  OFFICE STOREROOM 
  C. 
  CLOSET 
  D. 
  AUDIENCE CHAMBER 
  E. 
  BEDROOM 
  F. 
  MASTER BEDROOM 
  FIRST FLOOR 
  D 
  I= 
  Hill[ 
  SECOND FLOOR 
  F 
  E 
  NPC COMBAT 
  EXPERIENCE TABLE 
  Close Combat 
  Experience 
  Skill 
  Green 
  1 
  Trained 
  2 
  Experienced 
  3 
  Veteran 
  4 
  Elite 
  5 
  If a character has either a Close 
  Combat skill or an Agility attribute 
  greater than 4, then he will receive 
  more actions in close combat than in 
  other circumstances. If such a char- 
  acter starts the turn further than 10 
  yards from a hostile character (and 
  thus has four actions for the turn) but 
  uses his fourth action to move within 
  10 yards, he would then be able to 
  conduct the additional actions (in ex- 
  cess of four) allowed under close 
  combat. By the same token, if a 
  character has a Close Combat skill 
  of more than four but uses his fourth 
  action to move out of close combat 
  range, he reverts to four actions, and 
  thus his turn is finished. 
  Dodges: A dodge is a special ac- 
  tion which may be combined with 
  any other action. If combined with 
  an attack and if the dodge is suc- 
  cessful, it has no adverse effect on 
  the dodging player's attack. If it is 
  unsuccessful, the character may not 
  attack that action. If combined with 
  an action other than an attack, a 
  failed dodge has no adverse effect on 
  the action. 
  If a character conducts a dodge, he 
  must roll against his Agility to deter- 
  mine if the dodge was successful. If 
  so, the required hit numbers of all at- 
  tacks against him that action are re- 
  duced by one. If the dodge is unsuc- 
  cessful, it has no effect. 
  
  TURN SEQUENCE AND ATTACKS It. 91 
  Order of Actions: Actions are 
  resolved one at a time. All characters 
  involved in combat decide on and re- 
  solve their first action, and all results 
  are implemented as if the actions 
  were conducted simultaneously. 
  Then all characters decide on and 
  resolve their second action, then their 
  third, and so on. In general, the 
  referee will announce what actions 
  the non-player characters (NPCs) are 
  taking, and then players will decide 
  what to do in response. 
  For example, Jamison is walking 
  down a tunnel and, rounding a cor- 
  ner, stumbles into a party of three 
  Venusian grave robbers. They are 
  immediately in close combat range. 
  Jamison has an Agility of 3 and a 
  Close Combat skill of 4, which 
  allows him four actions per tum. The 
  Venusian grave robbers are Ex- 
  perienced NPCs, which gives them 
  three actions per turn in close com- 
  bat. 
  Referee: "The grave robbers have 
  their knives out and are slashing at 
  you with them. What are you do- 
  ing?" (First action, attack.) 
  Jamison: "I'm dodging the knives 
  and drawing my revolver." (First ac- 
  tion, combination dodge and prepare 
  a weapon.) 
  Referee: (Rolls several dice) 
  "Your dodge was successful, and 
  they miss you,.but they're trying 
  again." (Second action, attack.) 
  Jamison: "I'm dodging the knives 
  and firing three shots from my 
  revolver, one at each of them." (Sec- 
  ond action, combination dodge and 
  attack.) 
  Referee: (Rolls the dice several 
  times.) "They miss you again. You 
  hit one of them, and he drops wound- 
  ed. The other two are still attacking 
  with their knives." '(Third action, 
  attack.) 
  Jamison: "I'm still dodging, and 
  I'll fire two more rounds from the 
  revolver." (Third action, combina- 
  tion dodge and fire.) 
  Referee: (Rolls the dice again.) 
  "You hit one of them, and he drops. 
  The other one slashes you with his 
  knife, and you take a wound, but 
  you're still on your feet. They've 
  finished their attacks for the moment, 
  and your wound makes you hesitate 
  as well." 
  Although Jamison has one action 
  left, he cannot use it because of his 
  wound. As the second turn starts, 
  one of the Venusians is still on his 
  feet and able to attack. Jamison is 
  wounded and able to attack also, but 
  has only one round left in his re- 
  volver. 
  Player Characters Versus Player 
  Characters: There are only a very 
  few cases in which a player character 
  will fight another player character. 
  In these cases, the player with the 
  fewest number of allowed actions de- 
  clares each action first, and the other 
  player then declares his. 
  ATTACKS 
  THERE ARE two general types of 
  attacks: missile attacks and melee at- 
  tacks. Missile attacks are conducted 
  with weapons that throw a projectile 
  of some type. Attacks with pistols, 
  rifles, bows, and thrown rocks, for 
  example, are missile attacks. Melee 
  attacks are attempts to physically 
  strike your opponent, either with 
  your fist or feet (unarmed attacks) or 
  with some melee weapon, such as a 
  knife or club (armed attacks). Each 
  attack is directed against a single 
  enemy character. 
  In all types of attacks, one or more 
  dice will be rolled to determine 
  whether a hit was scored. This roll 
  is called the hit roll. A hit will result 
  if one or more of the dice rolls are 
  equal to or less than a target number, 
  which may be modified up or down 
  by various circumstances. Regard- 
  less of the modifications made, how- 
  ever, be sure to remember that a roll 
  of i always hits, and a roll of 6 al- 
  ways misses. 
  If a hit is scored, the target of the 
  attack will roll a die to see if serious 
  injury is avoided, either by armored 
  protection, cover, or just chance. 
  This roll is called a saving roll. This 
  roll "saves" the target from injury 
  if it is equal to or less than a target 
  number, which may be modified up 
  or down by circumstances. As with 
  the hit roll, the saving roll's target 
  number may not be modified to the 
  point that a save is either assured or 
  impossible. 
  GDW 
  
  92 )) MELEE ATTACKS 
  MELEE ATTACKS 
  MELEE ATTACKS have several 
  components, including hit dice, hit 
  number, blocking, and saving roll, 
  among others. The Melee Weapons 
  Table is found on page 206. 
  Hit Dice 
  ALL MELEE weapons have an 
  associated number of hit dice. This 
  is the number of dice rolled to score 
  a hit each time that an attack action 
  is made with the weapon. Hit dice 
  are a measure of how handy the 
  weapon is, and a weapon usually has 
  more hit dice the lighter it is. For ex- 
  ample, a crude club has only two hit 
  dice, while the finely balanced saber 
  has five. 
  All unarmed melee attacks roll hit 
  dice equal to the Agility of the at- 
  tacker. 
  The number of hit dice rolled may 
  be reduced due to the Strength of the 
  attacker. Each weapon has a required 
  Strength level. If the attacker's 
  Strength is less than the required 
  Strength of the weapon, reduce the 
  number of hit dice by the difference. 
  For example, an axe has 2 hit dice 
  and a required Strength of 4. Char- 
  acters with a Strength of 4 or greater 
  attack with 2 hit dice, characters with 
  a Strength of 3 attack with 1 hit die, 
  and characters with a Strength of 2 
  or 1 may not attack at all with an axe. 
  If any one of the hit dice rolled is 
  equal to or less than the hit number, 
  a hit is scored. Only one hit is scored 
  regardless of how many dice are 
  equal to or less than the hit number. 
  Cumulative Modifiers: 
  All 
  modifiers to the chances to hit are 
  cumulative. However, a 6 always 
  misses and a 1 always hits, regard- 
  less of the modifiers in effect. 
  Hit Number 
  TO DETERMINE whether an at- 
  tack hits its intended target, roll the 
  weapon's hit dice and compare them 
  to the required hit number. If any of 
  the die rolls are equal to or less than 
  the required hit number, the attack 
  hits; otherwise it misses. 
  All unarmed melee attacks use the 
  attacker's Fisticuffs skill as the re- 
  quired hit number. All armed melee 
  attacks use the attacker's skill with 
  the weapon as the required hit num- 
  ber. The required hit number may be 
  modified by reach or Strength. 
  Reach: All melee weapons have a 
  listed reach of 1, 2, or 3. All un- 
  armed melee attacks are assumed to 
  have a reach of 0. Melee reach in- 
  dicates the length of the weapon and 
  is only important if a weapon is used 
  against another weapon with a longer 
  melee reach. If so, subtract the dif- 
  ference in reach from the chance of 
  hitting with the shorter weapon. 
  For example, a knife has a melee 
  reach of 1 while a pike has a reach 
  of 3. A character with a knife attack- 
  ing an enemy with a pike would suf- 
  fer a -2 penalty from his hit num- 
  ber. 
  N 
  Strength: Weak characters often 
  have difficulty using heavier weap- 
  ons. Every weapon has a required 
  Strength number. Any character with 
  a Strength lower than that number 
  suffers a negative modifier to hit 
  equal to the difference. 
  For example, a great sword has a 
  required Strength of 3. A character 
  with an Edged Weapon skill of 4 
  would normally roll for 4s when at- 
  tacking with a great sword. How- 
  ever, if his Strength were only 2 (one 
  less than the weapon's required 
  Strength), the hit number would be 
  reduced to 3. 
  
  MELEE ATTACKS 
  93 
  Blocking 
  IF A CHARACTER is blocking a 
  melee attack, he rolls the weapon's 
  hit dice for the normal required hit 
  number. The hit number, however, 
  is modified by the weapon's block- 
  ing modifier, if any. An axe, for ex- 
  ample, has a blocking modifier of 
  -2, 
  and so a character with a 
  Bashing Weapon skill of 4 would 
  have a required hit number of 2 when 
  blocking. 
  Each successful blocking die can- 
  cels one successful hit die. If the 
  blocking player cancels all successful 
  hit dice, then the attack does not hit. 
  If he cancels more hit dice than ac- 
  tually hit him, he may roll the extra 
  dice as a "riposte" (counterattack) 
  with his normal hit number used for 
  Success. 
  Example: Gaaraan, armed with a 
  pike, is attacking Bledsoe, armed 
  with a machete. Gaaraan has a Pole 
  Arm skill of 3 while Bledsoe has an 
  Edged Weapon skill of 4. Both char- 
  acters have sufficient Strength to use 
  their weapons to full effect. 
  Gaaraan attacks with the pike, and 
  Bledsoe attempts to block the attack. 
  Gaaraan rolls two hit dice (normal 
  for a pike) with a required hit number 
  of 3 (his skill level). He rolls a 2 and 
  a 5 for one successful hit die. 
  Bledsoe's blocking attempt, rolled 
  at the same time for simplicity, con- 
  sists of three hit dice (for the mache- 
  te) with a required hit number of 2 
  (his skill of 4 minus 1 for the differ- 
  ence in reach, and minus 1 for the 
  weapon's blocking modifier). He 
  rolls 1, 2, and 2, for three successes. 
  Since Bledsoe has three successful 
  blocking dice to Gaaraan's one suc- 
  cessful hit die, Bledsoe can riposte 
  (counterattack) with two hit dice (the 
  excess). He rolls the two hit dice for 
  a required hit number of 3 (his skill 
  of 4 minus 1 for the difference in 
  reach). He rolls a 1 and a 3, for two 
  successes. Gaaraan receives one hit, 
  since each attack can cause only one 
  hit, regardles s of how many hit dice 
  are successful. 
  Saving Roll 
  IF AN ATTACK hits, the target 
  of the attack makes a saving roll. If 
  the roll is equal to or less than the 
  save number, the target suffers no 
  wounds; if it is greater than the save 
  number, the target suffers the num- 
  ber of wounds indicated by the 
  wound value of the weapon. The 
  save number can differ, depending 
  on the type of attack, and is modified 
  by a number of additional factors. 
  The save number for a player char- 
  acter may never be less than 1, how- 
  ever. (That is, a player always saves 
  by rolling a 1.) 
  Unarmed Melee Attack: The 
  save number is the sum of the Strength 
  and Endurance of the defending 
  character minus the Strength of the 
  attacking character. If a character is 
  mounted, add 1 to his save number. 
  For example, a character with a 
  Strength of 3 and an Endurance of 
  3 is hit by a character with a Strength 
  of 4. The defending character has a 
  save number of (3 + 3 -4 =) 2. If he 
  roils a 1 or 2, the hit has no effect. 
  If he is mounted, the hit has no ef- 
  fect on a roll of 1, 2, or 3. 
  Shields: A shield allows a player 
  to block with two dice in addition to 
  the blocking dice of any weapon 
  used, or six dice if used by itself. If 
  used by itself, the character uses his 
  primary combat skill as a block 
  number but may not riposte with any 
  extra successful blocking dice. 
  Armed Melee Attack: The tar- 
  get's save number is 1 plus his ar- 
  mor value (if any). All mounted 
  characters add one to their save 
  number. Only one type of torso pro- 
  tection (doublet, shoulder scales, 
  mail, or breastplate) may be used. 
  All other armor effects are cumu- 
  lative. The Armor Values Table is 
  found on page 206 in the chart sec- 
  tion. 
  For example, a defending char- 
  acter is wearing chain mail. His save 
  number is 2, so he avoids injury from 
  the attack if he rolls a 1 or 2. If 
  mounted, he would avoid injury on 
  Oenotrian Imperial Marine. 
  GDW 
  
  94 )) MISSILE ATTACKS 
  MISSILE ATTACKS 
  MISSILE ATTACKS are easier to 
  resolve than melee attacks, since 
  each shot has only one hit die, and 
  blocking actions have no effect. The 
  Small Arms Firing Table and Small 
  Arms Saving Throw Modifier Table 
  are found on page 205. 
  Allowed Number of Shots 
  THE COLUMN on the weapons 
  chart labeled "shots" 
  lists the 
  number of shots allowed per attack 
  action. In most cases this is one, but 
  some missile weapons may fire more 
  than once per attack action. For ex- 
  ample, a revolver can take three 
  shots per attack action. Each one of 
  these shots may be aimed at a dif- 
  ferent target, or all may be aimed at 
  the same one. 
  Weapons capable of multiple shots 
  may not fire more shots than remain 
  in their magazine. A revolver, for 
  example, has a magazine capacity of 
  six shots. A player could fire three 
  shots his first action and three his 
  second, but could not then fire in his 
  third action as the revolver would be 
  empty. 
  By way of illustration, Jamison is 
  confronted by three Venusian grave 
  robbers. Jamison already has his re- 
  volver drawn, and all six shots are 
  still in it. He decides to conduct two 
  attack actions. He declares that he 
  will fire one shot at each of the three 
  grave robbers in the first attack. 
  After the three shots are resolved (as 
  explained below), there are still two 
  grave robbers standing. Jamison fires 
  one shot at each in the second attack 
  action. He could have fired a total of 
  three shots in the second action, but 
  keeps on~ bullet in his revolver in 
  case he misses one of his targets. 
  A character who takes more than 
  one shot in an action suffers an ac- 
  curacy penalty of - 1 to his hit num- 
  ber, regardless of the number of 
  shots taken. 
  Hit Number 
  ALL MISSILE ATTACKS con- 
  ducted at a range of 10 yards or less 
  use the attacker's Close Combat skill 
  as the required hit number. All other 
  missile attacks use the attacker's 
  Marksmanship skill. This number 
  can be modified by Strength or 
  range. 
  Required Strength: All missile 
  weapons have a required Strength, 
  which affects accuracy in the same 
  way as for melee weapons. For ex- 
  ample, a lever action rifle has a re- 
  quired Strength number of 2. A char- 
  acter with a Strength of 1 firing a 
  lever action rifle would subtract 1 
  from his required hit number. A 
  character with a Strength of 2 or 
  more would not have any modifiers. 
  Range: All missile weapons have 
  an effective range, listed in yards. A 
  character's Marksmanship rating is 
  used when firing at a target within 
  effective range. His Marksmanship 
  is reduced by 1 when firing at targets 
  which are up to twice effective 
  range, reduced by 2 at up to three 
  times effective range, and so on. 
  For example, a character has a 
  Marksmanship skill of 4 and is fir- 
  ing a bolt action rifle with an effec- 
  tive range of 120 yards. His required 
  hit number is 4 at any range up to 
  120 yards, 3 up to 240 yards, 2 up 
  to 360 yards, and 1 up to 480 yards. 
  He may not fire at a target further 
  away than 480 yards. 
  Save Number 
  EACH MISSILE WEAPON has 
  its own save number which is shown 
  on the firing chart. The nature or ac- 
  tivity of the target affects the save 
  number as shown on the accompany- 
  ing table. 
  MISSILE 
  SAVING THROW TABLE 
  Target 
  Modifier 
  Mass Formation: 
  -1 
  Close Range: 
  - 1 
  Charging: 
  - 1 
  Airborne: 
  + 1 
  Mounted: 
  + 1 
  Light Cover: 
  + 1 
  Medium Cover: 
  +2 
  Hard Cover: 
  +3 
  Concealed: 
  + Fieldcraft/2 
  (round up) 
  Mass formation means that the 
  target character or characters are part 
  of a large group in close proximity. 
  Close range means that the target is 
  within close combat range (10 
  yards). Charging applies only if the 
  target is charging the firing char- 
  acter. Airborne applies to any flying 
  target, whether a flying animal, its 
  rider, or a crewman on a flying ma- 
  chine. Mounted applies to any char- 
  acter mounted on an animal. (A char- 
  acter mounted on a flying animal 
  receives only one or the other of 
  these two modifiers, however.) 
  Cover refers to some sort of block- 
  ing object capable, of stopping or 
  deflecting a shot. Light cover consists 
  of partial concealment behind a fairly 
  flimsy barrier. A character kneeling 
  behind a rail fence, for example, or 
  the heavy railing of a balcony, would 
  be under light cover. Medium cover 
  
  MISSILE ATTACKS 
  95 
  consists of more complete conceal- 
  ment behind a light barrier or par- 
  tial concealment behind a more sub- 
  stantial one. A character firing from 
  the window of a wooden building or 
  from behind a substantial breastwork 
  would be under medium cover. Hard 
  cover consists of near-complete con- 
  cealment behind a substantial barrier, 
  as, for example, a soldier firing from 
  a prepared firing position in a for- 
  tress. In all cases the referee's deci- 
  sion is final. 
  Concealment refers to a barrier 
  which obscures sight of the target but 
  is not a significant barrier to the mis- 
  sile. Concealment is most common- 
  ly produced by bushes or other foli- 
  age. A concealed character adds half 
  his Fieldcraft skill to the save number 
  (rounding fractions up). 
  For example, a character is firing 
  a belt action rifle at an enemy 
  character in bushes (concealed). The 
  save number for a bolt action rifle is 
  1. The defending character has a 
  Fieldcraft skill of 3, however, ena- 
  bling him to make fairly good use of 
  the cover of the bushes (+2). The 
  final saving roll number is 3. 
  All modifications to the save num- 
  ber are cumulative. The save number 
  may never be increased to 6, how- 
  ever. A roll of 6 always means the 
  shot hit and caused full damage. 
  Firing While In Melee 
  ANY CHARACTER who con- 
  ducts a melee attack may also fire a 
  loaded weapon at the same time. This 
  type of attack is limited to rifles, 
  muskets, shotguns, and pistols. On- 
  ly one shot may be fired, regardless 
  of the normal number of allowed shots 
  per attack action. If a weapon is fired 
  in addition to a melee attack, the 
  player's required hit number for all 
  attacks is reduced by 1 for that action. 
  For example, Caruthers and Car- 
  stairs have been attacked by a large 
  group of Martian brigands. Caru- 
  thers has a saber in one hand and a 
  light revolver in the other while 
  Carstairs has a breech-loading rifle 
  with a bayonet mounted. Both have 
  a Close Combat skill of 4. (Caruthers 
  specializes in edged weapons, Car- 
  stairs in pole arms.) Both decide to 
  make attack actions. Caruthers' at- 
  tack action consists of a melee attack 
  with his sword and a missile attack 
  from his pistol. The saber attack is 
  conducted using his Edged Weapon 
  skill while the pistol shot is con- 
  ducted using his Close Combat skill 
  (since the enemy is within close com- 
  bat range). But both required hit 
  numbers are reduced to 3 because of 
  the combination of firing and melee 
  attack in one action. Carstairs also 
  conducts two attacks in his one at- 
  tack action, lunging with the bayonet 
  (melee) and firing a round from the 
  rifle (missile). Again, both would be 
  resolved with a required hit number 
  of 3. In the next turn Carstairs could 
  only conduct one attack per action 
  since his rifle is now empty. Caru- 
  thers still has five shots in his 
  revolver, however, and can continue 
  to fire single shots while slashing 
  with his saber. 
  Reloading 
  MOST 
  MISSILE 
  WEAPONS 
  hold only one projectile, and once 
  they are fired, they must be reload- 
  ed before they can fire again. Some 
  weapons, however, have magazines. 
  The Small Arms Firing Table lists 
  the number of shots in each weapon's 
  magazine. A heavy revolver, for ex- 
  ample, has six shots in its magazine. 
  A weapon with a magazine may con- 
  tinue to fire until it has exhausted the 
  shots in its magazine. It must then be 
  reloaded. 
  For example, the British bolt ac- 
  tion rifle has an eight-shot magazine 
  and can fire once each attack action. 
  A character armed with this rifle and 
  with a full magazine could conduct 
  four attack actions a turn for two 
  turns, firing one shot each action 
  (four shots per turn, or a total of 
  eight shots in two turns), before hav- 
  ing to use an action to reload. He 
  reloads in two actions, loading four 
  shots per action. 
  Most weapons take one action to 
  reload. Some weapons have a paren- 
  thetical number listed under reload- 
  ing. This is the number of shots that 
  can be reloaded per reload action. A 
  light revolver, for example, has a 
  reload number of (3), meaning three 
  shots can be reloaded each reload ac- 
  tion. To completely reload a revolver 
  a character would have to spend two 
  actions doing so. 
  Some weapons have a dash instead 
  of a number in the reload column. 
  These weapons,are thrown weapons 
  (spears, knives, rocks) and cannot be 
  reloaded as such. If another such 
  weapon is available, however, the at- 
  tacking player may pick it up or 
  ready it by taking a prepare-a-weap- 
  on action. 
  GDW 
  
  96 
  }) MOVEMENT AND WOUNDS 
  MOVEMENT 
  ALL MOVEMENT is expressed 
  in yards. Each movement action may 
  be taken as a crawl, walk, or run. 
  Characters crawl two yards or walk 
  eight yards each movement action. 
  Running characters move 20 yards 
  plus their Agility attribute dice each 
  movement action. 
  For example, Carstairs has an 
  Agility of 4 and is running away 
  from a large, ill-tempered carnivore. 
  He rolls four dice (because of his 
  Agility of 4) and obtains a total score 
  of 17. Adding this to 20, the referee 
  sees that Carstairs has run 37 yards 
  that action. As he is spending four 
  actions running, Carstairs rolls a sec- 
  ond time, and this time rolls a 12, 
  which means he has run a further 32 
  yards. His third roll nets him another 
  35 yards, and his fourth, 41 yards. 
  He has run 145 yards that turn. 
  Movement is slowed in water. In 
  shallow water (ankle- to knee-deep), 
  walking and running are done at half 
  of normal speed. Crawling is unaf- 
  fected. In deep wading water (waist- 
  to chin-deep) characters may only 
  walk, and they do so at half of nor- 
  mal speed. In deep water (over head- 
  deep), characters may only swim. 
  Swimming characters roll their 
  Swimming skill dice to determine 
  how many yards they move in an ac- 
  tion. Subtract 1 from the Swimming 
  skill for every 10 pounds of weight 
  carried. Subtract 1 from the Swim- 
  ming skill for choppy waters, ex- 
  treme col'd, or any other adverse 
  condition. 
  Movement and Other Actions 
  CHARACTERS MAY combine a 
  movement action, other than crawl- 
  ing, with any other action. Char- 
  acters who do so at a walk move on- 
  ly four yards instead of eight. Char- 
  acters who do so while running move 
  only 10 yards plus their Agility at- 
  tribute dice instead of 20 yards plus 
  Agility dice. Characters may not 
  combine crawling with other actions. 
  Characters who combine a move- 
  ment action with an attack do so at 
  reduced effectiveness. 
  Characters 
  who walk and attack reduce their re- 
  quired hit number by 1. Characters 
  who run and attack reduce their re- 
  quired hit number by 2. 
  Charging 
  IF A CHARACTER is not in- 
  volved in close combat (is not within 
  10 yards of any enemy character), he 
  may only move into close combat by 
  means of a charge. Charging counts 
  as a running action, regardless of the 
  number of yards actually moved (but 
  it does not allow characters to move 
  further than their normal running 
  speed would allow). Charging affects 
  morale and the character's saving 
  roll versus missile fire. It may be 
  combined with a melee attack (with 
  the required hit number reduced by 
  2), but not with a missile attack. 
  Blocking Passage 
  A CHARACTER, by his physical 
  presence, blocks passage through a 
  two-yard-wide path (one tactical grid 
  square). If he is armed with a melee 
  weapon, he blocks squares equal to 
  the melee reach of the weapon. That 
  is, a player with a pike blocks three 
  squares. The blocked squares always 
  include the square occupied by the 
  player and one or both of the squares 
  to either side. No enemy character 
  may move through a blocked square 
  or pass from a blocked square to a 
  square in the character's rear. 
  Mounted Combat 
  MOUNTED CHARACTERS may 
  attack normally. However, a char- 
  acter's Riding skill for the mount he 
  is on serves as a limit on all other 
  skills or attributes used in combat. 
  That is, a mounted character with a 
  Close Combat skill of 6, an Agility 
  of 6, and a Marksmanship skill of 6, 
  but a Riding skill of 1 could take only 
  one action per turn in close combat 
  and would have a required hit num- 
  ber of 1, at best. All mounted char- 
  acters add 1 to their save numbers. 
  WOUNDS 
  ANY CHARACTER who suffers 
  a wound during a turn may not con- 
  duct any actions for the remainder of 
  the turn except for dodges and blocks 
  (no ripostes are allowed either). A 
  wounded character's allowed num- 
  ber of actions in a turn is reduced by 
  the number of wounds he has suf- 
  fered, but it is never reduced to zero 
  so long as he remains conscious. 
  Each player character can remain 
  conscious until he takes wounds 
  equal to the average of his Strength 
  and Endurance (rounding fractions 
  up). For example, a player with a 
  Strength of 2 and an Endurance of 
  5 remains conscious until he has 
  taken a total of four wounds. 
  Most non-player characters lose 
  consciousness 
  after 
  only 
  two 
  wounds. Some special characters 
  may take more wounds than this, and 
  large animals often can take a great 
  many wounds before collapsing. 
  Player characters die if they take 
  wounds greater than the sum of their 
  Strength and Endurance. NPCs die 
  if they take more than two wounds. 
  Animals die if they take sufficient 
  wounds to lose consciousness. 
  
  [G 
  97 
  Weapon Wound Value: A weap- 
  on's wound value is the number of 
  wounds the weapon causes. Some 
  weapons have a wound value of "1 
  +S." This value means that the 
  number of wounds the weapon in- 
  flicts is 1 plus the amount the char- 
  acter's Strength exceeds the weap- 
  on's required Strength number. For 
  example, an axe has a required 
  Strength of 3 and a wound value of 
  1 + S. A character with a Strength of 
  2 would subtract 1 from his hit num- 
  ber with the axe and would inflict one 
  wound if he hit. A character with a 
  Strength of 6 would roll normally to 
  hit and inflict four wounds if success- 
  ful. Successful unarmed combat at- 
  tacks inflict one wound. 
  Some missile weapons have a 
  wound value listing of" 1-2." These 
  weapons always inflict one wound 
  except when firing at a range of 10 
  yards or less (close combat range), 
  when they inflict two wounds instead. 
  Healing Wounds: Wounds will 
  heal normally at the rate of one 
  wound healed every two days spent 
  resting and under medical care. If 
  travelling or suffering from fever, 
  wounds heal at the rate of one per 
  week. 
  GRAPPLING 
  IF A CHARACTER has at least 
  one hand free, he may attempt to 
  grapple an enemy character. Grap- 
  pling counts as an unarmed melee at- 
  tack, and consists of grabbing the 
  enemy character and trying to re- 
  strain him. Hit rolls and save rolls 
  are made as for an unarmed melee 
  attack. If successful, the attacker can 
  grab either one of his opponent's 
  wrists, his torso, or his throat. If the 
  attacker has two hands free, he can 
  grab two wrists, a wrist and the 
  throat, a wrist and the torso, or the 
  throat and the torso, or may grab the 
  throat, torso, or any one wrist in both 
  hands. 
  Disarming: If a character has hold 
  of an opponent's wrist at~he start of 
  an attack actio~ the opponent may 
  not attack with any weapon held in 
  that hand. The character may also at- 
  tempt to disarm his opponent each 
  time that he (the grappling character) 
  conducts a melee attack. To attempt 
  to disarm, both characters roll 
  Strength dice. If the attacker is us- 
  ing both hands, he rolls additional 
  dice equal to half his Strength, 
  rounded up. If the attacker's roll is 
  twice that of the defender's, the 
  defender drops his weapon. If the 
  defender's roll is twice that of the at- 
  tacker's, the defender breaks free 
  and may attack with the weapon held 
  in his hand. 
  Throws: If a character has hold of 
  an opponent's torso at the start of an 
  attack action, he may attempt to 
  throw the opponent down or against 
  a wall. To do so he rolls Strength 
  dice against the weight number of the 
  opponent. The average weight num- 
  ber of a human opponent is 14. If on- 
  ly one hand is being used, roll half 
  his Strength dice, rounding fractions 
  up. If the opponent is thrown, the op- 
  ponent must roll against his Endur- 
  ance to avoid being stunned. If he 
  avoids being stunned, he must use his 
  next action to regain his balance and 
  can then function normally. If he is 
  stunned, he rolls two dice, the result 
  being the number of turns spent 
  stunned. A character is helpless and 
  may not take any actions while 
  stunned. 
  Chokes: If a character has hold of 
  an opponent's throat at the start of 
  an attack action, he may choke him. 
  In each action spent choking his op- 
  ponent, one die is rolled for each 
  character. The attacker adds his 
  Strength attribute to the roll, and the 
  defender adds his Endurance attri- 
  bute. If the attacker is using both 
  hands, add one and a half times his 
  Strength attribute (rounding fractions 
  up) to the die. If the defender's 
  modified roll is higher than the at- 
  tacker's modified roll, there is no ef- 
  fect. If the attacker's modified roll 
  is higher than the defender's, the 
  defender's Endurance is reduced by 
  the difference. This reduction in En- 
  durance remains in effect for as long 
  as the defender is being choked. 
  When the defender's Endurance is 
  reduced to 0 or less, he loses con- 
  sciousness. When his Endurance is 
  reduced to -6 or less, he dies. 
  If a character is using a choking 
  weapon, two dice are rolled for the 
  attacker (plus Strength) to oppose the 
  defender's one die (plus Endurance). 
  A choking weapon is a knotted rope, 
  a garrote, or any similar thing. 
  Escaping a Grapple: Each action 
  during which a character is being 
  held, he may attempt to escape. He 
  does this instead of a melee attack. 
  If a character escapes during an ac- 
  tion (his escape attempt is assumed 
  to happen before the attacker at- 
  tempts to throw, choke, etc.), he 
  takes no damage from an opponent's 
  grappling attacks upon him during 
  that action. To attempt to escape, the 
  character rolls Strength dice and the 
  opponent rolls Strength dice. If the 
  opponent is using only one hand, the 
  opponent rolls half Strength dice 
  rounded up. If the escaping char- 
  acter's roll is twice that of the oppo- 
  nent holding him, the character 
  breaks free. All of his opponent's 
  holds are broken. 
  GDW 
  
  98 
  HEAVY WEAPONS 
  HEAVY WEAPONS 
  HEAVY WEAPONS are those too 
  heavy for an individual to carry 
  which are instead usually mounted on 
  a field carriage, tripod, or on a vessel 
  of some sort. There are two main 
  types of heavy weapons: machine- 
  guns and heavy ordnance. 
  Machinegnns 
  MACHINEGUNS AT this time 
  were fairly large and bulky, and 
  some of the older versions were 
  prone to jamming. Despite this, they 
  were murderously effective. Ma- 
  chineguns are fired following the 
  same procedure as other missile 
  weapons with the exceptions noted 
  below. The Machinegun Firing 
  Table is found on page 205. 
  r 
  - 
  - 
  Allowed Number of Shots: 
  Several machineguns have two 
  numbers in the shots column. The 
  first of these is the number of rounds 
  which may be fired per action with 
  no danger of jamming. The second 
  number is the maximum number of 
  shots which may be fired. For each 
  Multiple Targets: Machineguns 
  almost always are fired at multiple 
  targets. Each shot that scores a hit 
  is considered to be a hit on a separate 
  target. If more hits are scored than 
  there are targets, the excess hits are 
  ignored. If desired, the gunner may 
  concentrate all of his fire on a single 
  target, in which case all hits rolled 
  result in separate hits on the target. 
  If firing at massed targets, roll two 
  dice for every shot fired from a ma- 
  chinegun. A massed target is one 
  which has a density greater than one 
  man per yard of frontage. On a tac- 
  tical grid this means that a massed 
  formation would have to be two or 
  more ranks deep to qualify (since 
  each square is two yards wide). 
  extra shot fired roll one die. If any 
  of the die roll results are a 6, the gun 
  jams and may not fire again until the 
  ~-~ 
  jam has been cleared. 
  ~ I 
  Clearing a jam takes the same 
  amount of time as the reload time for 
  the weapon. Thus, it would take four 
  ~ 
  actions to clear a jammed 1-inch Gat- 
  ~ 
  | \\ 
  ling, but only two actions to clear a ~ 
  '~ 
  '~ 
  :
  jammed Gardner. 
  ~ 
  - 
  Most missile weapons receive one 
  Required Hit Number: The re- 
  shot for each bullet fired. Machine- quired hit number for machinegun at- 
  guns, however, receive one shot for tacks is the gunner's Machinegun 
  each 10 bullets fired. This higher skill unless the range is 10 yards or 
  volume of fire enables them to en- less, in which case the required hit 
  gage targets accurately at long range number is the gunner s Close Com- 
  (by "walking 
  the fire in on the bat skill. Machineguns do not suffer 
  target) and also accounts for their a penalty for engaging multiple tar- 
  low saving roll numbers and high gets. 
  wound numbers (since individuals 
  Reloading: The normal crew of a 
  tend to be hit by multiple bullets if machinegun is two men: a gunner 
  they are hit at all.) However, ma- and a loader. If the loader is not pres- 
  chineguns also enjoy an advantage if ent, it takes twice as long as noted 
  firing at densely packed targets, 
  to reload the gun. 
  
  HEAVY WEAPONS it, 99 
  Artillery 
  ARTILLERY CONSISTS mostly 
  of big field guns, such as European 
  breech-loading rifled cannon and 
  Martian black powder muzzle- 
  loaders. Modern European guns fire 
  shrapnel and shell, while Martian 
  guns fire solid shot and grapeshot. 
  The British Field Gun Firing Table 
  and the Martian Cannon Firing Table 
  are found on page 205. 
  Types of Ammunition: Shrapnel 
  is an artillery projectile filled with 
  steel balls and a bursting charge. It 
  is set to explode at a certain distance 
  from the gun and is very effective 
  against troops in the open. It has 
  much less effect on troops under 
  cover, however, and no effect on for- 
  tifications or ships. 
  Shell is an artillery projectile con- 
  taining an explosive charge and set 
  to explode either after a set delay, on 
  impact, or shortly after impact (to 
  penetrate armor). It is less effective 
  against troops in the open, but is very 
  useful against buildings, fortifica- 
  tions, and ships. 
  Solid shot is a stone or metal can- 
  nonball thrown from a gun at a target 
  which does damage by impact. It has 
  limited effect against troops in the 
  open, but is useful against buildings, 
  fortifications, and ships. It can also 
  produce troop casualties in these 
  types of targets as its impact against 
  the structure usually produces stone, 
  wood, or metallic fragments. 
  Grapeshot 
  consists of large 
  numbers of musket balls loaded into 
  and fired from a cannon. It is very 
  effective against troops in the open 
  at short ranges but has no effect on 
  harder targets. 
  Hit Rolls: Each time that a gun 
  fires, the gunner rolls his Gunnery 
  skill dice to determine whether the 
  shot hit its intended target. The dif- 
  ficulty of the shot is determined by 
  its range. Shots at close range are 
  Easy, at medium range are Moder- 
  ate, at long range are Difficult, at 
  very long range Formidable, and at 
  extreme range Impossible. 
  The ranges listed on the Field Gun 
  Firing Table are the weapon's close 
  range. Medium range is twice this 
  distance, long range is three times 
  this distance, very long range is four 
  times this distance, and extreme 
  range is five times this distance. 
  No die roll to hit is ever made for 
  guns when they fire grapeshot, as it 
  always covers a set cone of ground 
  directly in front of the gun. This cone 
  is described to the right under "Burst 
  Area." 
  Deviation: If a shot misses its in- 
  tended target, it will either fall long 
  or fall short. Roll a die: If the roll 
  is 1-3, it falls short; 4-6, it falls long. 
  Next roll dice to determine how long 
  or short it falls. Roll one die if the 
  intended target was at close range, 
  2D if at medium range, 3D if at long 
  range, 4D if at very long range, and 
  5D if at extreme range. Double the 
  die roll; the result is the number of 
  yards the shot falls long or short. 
  (The die roll itself is the number of 
  two-yard grid squares that it falls 
  long or short.) 
  Burst Area: Whenever a shot 
  lands, it has a burst area centered on 
  its impact point. All characters with- 
  in that burst area are attacked by the 
  shot. 
  Shells have a burst area with a 
  width and depth in yards as listed on 
  the chart. Halve this to find the width 
  and depth of the burst in two-yard 
  grid squares. 
  Shrapnel burst areas are the same 
  width as listed but twice as deep. 
  Grapeshot sweeps a triangular area 
  which extends to a distance from the 
  gun equal to twice the burst width, 
  and with a width at its base equal to 
  the burst area. It has no effect beyond 
  this range. 
  Solid shot's burst area (actually the 
  lethal area through which the shot 
  passes) is always two yards (one grid 
  square) wide and twice the gun's 
  burst width long. 
  Roll one hit die for each character 
  in burst area. The number of hits 
  scored is the number of casualties. 
  Each casualty from shells and solid 
  shot suffers one die roll of wounds. 
  Each casualty from other types of 
  rounds suffers two die rolls of 
  wounds. The required hit number de- 
  pends on the type of ammunition fired. 
  Saving Throws: Each character 
  hit by artillery fire makes a saving 
  throw to avoid serious injury. The 
  save number depends on the type of 
  ammunition fired. The die roll is 
  modified by the same modifiers as 
  for small arms fire (see the Small 
  ~" 
  ")~ 
  Arms Saving Throw Modifiers Table 
  ~RTILLERY AMMUNITION '~ on page 205). 
  EFFECTIVENESS 
  AmmunitionHitSave 
  Grapeshot 
  Shell 
  Shot 
  Shrapnel 
  4 2 3 3 
  2 0 2 1 
  ~
  i
   
  7 
  GDW 
  
  100 ))MORALE AND EXPLOSIVES 
  MORALE 
  PLAYER CHARACTERS will 
  decide for themselves whether to run 
  or fight. Non-player characters 
  (NPCs) will have that decision made 
  for them based on their morale. 
  Morale Level: All groups of 
  NPCs have a morale level based on 
  their experience. The more ex- 
  perienced a group, the higher their 
  morale. The referee may decide to 
  vary this based on the situation or the 
  particular group of NPCs encoun- 
  tered. People will fight harder to de- 
  fend their homes, for example, than 
  to protect the reputation of a distant 
  monarch, particularly a despotic or 
  unpopular one. The base NPC mo- 
  rale levels are shown in the accom- 
  panying chart. 
  NPC MORALE 
  Experience 
  Morale Level 
  Green 
  8 
  Trained 
  9 
  Experienced 
  10 
  Veteran 
  11 
  Elite 
  12 
  When To Check Morale: NPCs 
  check morale at the end of any turn 
  in which they were attacked (which 
  includes being fired at from any 
  range) or in which a friendly group 
  in their field of vision failed a morale 
  check. NPC groups also must check 
  morale in any action in which they 
  charge or are charged. 
  How To Check Morale: The 
  referee checks morale by rolling two 
  dice against the morale level of the 
  group. The morale level is modified 
  by the presence of leaders, casual- 
  ties, and other condition~ noted 
  below. NPCs check morale as a 
  group, not individually. Thus, a band 
  of 20 warriors would all check by 
  making a single morale roll. Some- 
  times, at the referee's discretion, the 
  enemy will consist of two or more 
  groups, each operating independent- 
  ly. In this case each group checks 
  separately. 
  An officer bravely rallies his men 
  Morale Level Modifiers: A 
  group's morale level is reduced by 
  the number of characters in the unit 
  who have suffered wounds in the 
  current turn. If, for example, three 
  members of a group were wounded 
  in a turn, the group's morale level 
  would be reduced by three for the 
  duration of the combat�9 If charging 
  or charged by a group with superior 
  morale, the group's morale level is 
  reduced by the difference. If out- 
  numbered by 2 to 1 or more, or badly 
  outclassed in terms of weaponry (in 
  the referee's judgment), the morale 
  level is reduced by 2. A group's 
  morale is increased by the leadership 
  skill level of its leader. 
  EXPLOSIVES 
  EXPLOSIVES ARE used to blast 
  holes in things, usually walls or other 
  barriers. They can also be used to at- 
  tack other characters or animals. All 
  explosives are defined in terms of 
  their explosive value and their safety. 
  Breaching Barriers. Breaching a 
  barrier is another term for blowing 
  a hole through it. Whether or not you 
  succeed in breaching the barrier de- 
  pends on three things: how thick the 
  barrier is, how tough the barrier's 
  material is, and how much explosive 
  you're using. 
  The power of the explosive used 
  is determined by multiplying its 
  weight in pounds by its explosive .
  power. Gunpowder has an explosive 
  power of 1, dynamite 4, and nitro- 
  glycerin 8. 
  The toughness of a barrier affects 
  the ability of the explosive charge to 
  breach it. Multiply the power of the 
  explosive charge by the toughness of 
  the material to determine the breach- 
  ing value of the explosive. The 
  breaching value of a charge is the 
  number of inches of a barrier it will 
  blow through. To determine the size 
  across of the hole blown in a barrier, 
  in inches, subtract the barrier's 
  thickness from the breaching value 
  of the charge. 
  
  EXPLOSIVES I,( 101 
  BARRIER TOUGHNESS 
  Material 
  Multiplier 
  Wood 
  x 5 
  Dirt 
  x 3 
  Earthworks 
  • 2 
  Brick, Stone 
  x 1 
  Iron 
  • 1/3 
  Steel 
  x 1/4 
  Superhard Steel 
  x 1/8 
  For example, Redvers wants to 
  blow a hole through the wall of a 
  cavern but doesn't know how thick 
  the wall is. The referee decides that 
  it is 18 inches thick, but does not tell 
  Redvers that, as he has no way of 
  knowing. Redvers decides to place 
  six pounds of dynamite on the wall, 
  take cover, and set it off. As 
  dynamite has a power of 4 per 
  pound, this is a total power of 24. 
  Since 
  stone 
  has 
  a toughness 
  multiplier of xl, 24 is also the 
  charge's breaching value. It will 
  blow through the cavern wall and 
  open a 6-inch hole on the far end 
  (24-18=6). Note that if the wall 
  had been made of wood, Redvers' 
  charge would have had a breaching 
  value of 120 and would have blown 
  a hole over eight feet wide (102 
  Attacks on Characters: Any 
  character or animal in direct contact 
  ~ 
  with an explosion will, in all likeli- 
  hood, perish. The charact 
  mal will, at the very 
  knocked over and lose c 
  ness, and will suffer wou 
  to one die roll for each leve 
  of the explosion. 
  Explosions also produce 
  which will attack charact 
  immediate area just as if 
  ments were an exploding 
  a gun. The same hit numbe 
  number as for a shell is us~ 
  burst size is determined by 
  of the charge. The width 
  of the burst area, in yards 
  on the Explosive Burst S 
  below. 
  • EXPLOSIVE BURSq 
  Power 
  Burst 
  1 
  2 
  2 
  4 
  3-4 
  6 
  5-8 
  8 
  9-12 
  10 
  13-18 
  12 
  19-24 
  14 
  25-32 
  16 
  Hazards: 
  Dynamite and gun- 
  powder are fairly stable and can be 
  used fairly easily, while exercising 
  reasonable caution. Nitroglycerin, 
  however, is extremely unstable and 
  very dangerous to transport. It be- 
  comes particularly volatile in heat 
  and is never used on Venus for that 
  reason. It is safer on Mars, but must 
  be transported with care and in spe- 
  cially designed crates that effective- 
  ly double its weight. Even in its 
  crates it must be handled gingerly, 
  as sudden shocks (like dropping it) 
  will almost certainly set it off. 
  GDW 
  
  102 ))AERIAL COMBAT 
  SHIP-TO-SHIP COMBAT 
  THE STRENGTH OF a Martian 
  potentate is measured by the number 
  of sky galleons in his fleet, and com- 
  bat between aerial vessels is fairly 
  common. (A detailed system for 
  ship-to-ship combat is provided in 
  the board game Sky Galleons of 
  Mars. The following system is for 
  players who do not own that game.) 
  When resolving aerial combat, a hex- 
  agonal grid is used for positioning the 
  ships, with each hex equal to 200 
  yards. The ships will move on the 
  map, with the players determining 
  the movement of their own ship and 
  the referee controlling that of the 
  enemy. 
  SHIPS 
  SEVERAL AERIAL vessels, both 
  human and Martian, are listed in the 
  equipment section of the book. Each 
  of these vessels has a ship data form 
  included in the chart section. This 
  data form contains all of the infor- 
  mation needed for aerial combat and 
  I 
  TURNS 
  EACH TURN represents 30 
  seconds, as with normal combat, but 
  the actions in the turn are stream- 
  lined. Players will not worry about 
  individual actions unless and until 
  there is a boarding action. In each 
  turn the referee will decide what the 
  enemy is doing, the players will 
  move their own ship, the referee will 
  move the enemy ship or ships, and 
  then all ships will fire. All movement 
  and fire is considered to take place 
  at the same time. 
  MOVEMENT 
  G 
  EACH SHIP has a 
  speed which is the num- 
  ber of hexes it may move 
  per turn. Each ship rec- 
  ord form lists the speed in a circle 
  to the right of the ship's deck plan. 
  Each ship is always oriented in such 
  a manner that its bow is facing one 
  of the six hexsides in its hex. When- 
  ever a ship moves, its first hex en- 
  tered must be the one directly in front 
  ~.c ;, 
  A ship may change its facing by 
  one hexside each time it enters a hex. 
  At the cost of one hex of movement, 
  steam vessels may change their fac- 
  ing in a hex without moving. This 
  maneuver is called a power turn. 
  Whenever two ships enter the 
  same hex there is a chance of a col- 
  lision. Roll a die; there is a collision 
  on a roll of 1 or 2. Add 1 to the die 
  roll if the ships are end-on (bow-to- 
  bow or bow-to-stern). Subtract 2 
  from the die roll if either of the ships 
  attempts to turn while in the same 
  hex as the other. If there is a colli- 
  sion, both ships immediately stop 
  moving. 
  Each ship's hull size is 
  shown in a box to the 
  right of the deck plan on 
  the ship record form. 
  Each ship involved in a collision rolls 
  a die and suffers a hull hit if the result 
  is equal to or less than the hull size 
  of the other ship. If the other ship has 
  a hull size greater than 6, then One 
  hit is automatically taken, and a sec- 
  ond is suffered if the die roll is less 
  than or equal to the amount by which 
  the hull size exceeds six. In other 
  words, the bigger the ship you col- 
  lide with, the more likely your own 
  ship is to take damage. 
  Finally, the smaller ship in the col- 
  lision has a chance of suffering a loss 
  of trim. Roll a die. If the die roll is 
  less than or equal to half of the dif- 
  ference in hull size (round fractions 
  down), the smaller ship suffers a loss 
  of trim. (See the section on ship 
  damage for a description of the ef- 
  fects of loss of trim.) 
  The 4" gun mount of an Aphid-class gunboat brings an Oenotrian Hullcutter-class screw galley under 
  fire. 
  
  AERIAL COMBATt[ 103 
  ALTITUDE 
  THERE ARE SIX altitudes in the 
  game: Very High (VH), High (H), 
  Medium (M), Low (L), Very Low 
  (VL), and Ground (G). In general, 
  the surface of the planet is at ground 
  level, but some mountains rise to 
  higher altitudes. 
  The maximum 
  altitude of a vessel is noted on its ship 
  status sheet. There is a block of 
  boxes labeled "Hull Hits" which is 
  divided into several rows of boxes. 
  The boxes to the left of the rows in- 
  clude abbreviations for the various 
  altitude levels. The highest level 
  shown is the maximum altitude of the 
  ship. 
  All ships may go 
  down one altitude 
  V H 
  level per turn at no 
  cost. Each altitude the 
  ship goes up costs 
  two hexes of movement. Each level 
  the ship goes down after the first one 
  costs one hex of movement. Thus a 
  ship with a speed of 5 could move 
  five hexes or move three hexes and 
  climb one level, or move one hex and 
  climb two levels. A vessel whose 
  speed is reduced to 1 hex may still 
  climb one level instead of moving. 
  Each level of altitude change allows 
  a one-hexside change in facing. This 
  does not apply to the one free altitude 
  drop per turn. 
  If a vessel is in the same hex as 
  another vessel but is at a different 
  altitude, there is no possibility of a 
  collision. If the vessel changes 
  altitude and thus both ships are at the 
  same altitude, there is the normal 
  chance of a collision. 
  If a vessel involuntarily drops to 
  the same altitude as the surface of the 
  planet, it crashes and is destroyed. 
  If it voluntarily drops to the surface, 
  it has landed. However, a vessel may 
  only drop one altitude level and may 
  only move one hex the turn it lands. 
  If it moves more than one hex or 
  drops more than one level, it crash- 
  lands. The crew is safe, but the 
  vessel is crippled and is removed 
  from play. If a vessel enters a hex 
  which contains land at an equal or 
  higher altitude than the vessel (such 
  as a mountaintop or cliff wall), and 
  the vessel is moving at a speed of 1, 
  the vessel lands. If the vessel is mov- 
  ing faster than 1, it crashes. 
  KITES 
  KITES (wind-powered vessels) do 
  not have a fixed movement allow- 
  ance and follow special movement 
  rules. Kites may either move down- 
  wind ("run") or upwind ("beat"). 
  If facing toward one of the three 
  downwind hexsides, the movement 
  allowance of the kite is 1 plus a die 
  roll. The die roll is made at the start 
  of its movement phase. If a 4 were 
  rolled, for example, the kite would 
  have a movement allowance of 5 for 
  that movement phase. If facing 
  toward one of the two upwind hex- 
  sides adjacent to the exact direction 
  of the wind, the kite has a movement 
  allowance of one die roll halved, 
  rounding fractions up. Kites may 
  never move directly into the wind. 
  At the start of each encounter, 
  determine the direction of the wind. 
  Roll the die and consult the follow- 
  ing wind diagram. 
  1 
  4 
  As with other ships, kites may 
  change their facing by one hexside 
  each hex they move. Kites also have 
  the ability to execute a tack, which 
  consists of changing the ship facing 
  by two hexsides to avoid heading 
  directly into the wind. There is no 
  speed cost to tack, but a kite may not 
  make any other turns the movement 
  phase it does so. 
  Kites may change altitude by one 
  level per turn at no movement-point 
  cost, but may never voluntarily 
  change altitude by more than one 
  level. 
  GDW 
  
  104 )) AERIAL COMBAT 
  COMBAT 
  FIRING TAKES place at the end 
  of each turn. 
  / ~ 
  Each weapon has a 
  limited arc of fire, as 
  shown on the ship's deck 
  plan. Each gun mount is 
  indicated by a box on the deck plan. 
  The type of gun is noted in the box, 
  and its allowed field of fire is shown 
  by the lines coming out of the box. 
  A gun with lines that point to the 
  bow, stern, and side, for example, 
  can fire into the bow, stern and 
  broadside (on that side of the ship) 
  firing aspects. The small circles next 
  to the gun box represent the gun 
  crew. 
  There are four firing aspects of a 
  ship, as illustrated below. 
  Separate firing tables are presented 
  for shipboard ordnance which list its 
  rate of fire in terms of shots per turn 
  (the Martian Cannon and Royal 
  Navy Guns Weapon Characteristics 
  Charts, which are found on page 
  201), but because of the difficulty 
  associated with hitting and damaging 
  a large vessel, these usually repre- 
  sent more than just one round per 
  shot. Weapons with a rate of fire 
  greater than 1 may take more than 
  one shot in a turn, but all must be 
  directed at a single enemy vessel. 
  Weapons with a rate of fire ex- 
  pressed as a parenthetical number 
  take that many turns between shots 
  to reload. Thus a gun with a rate of 
  fire of (2) could fire on the first turn 
  of a battle and then could not fire 
  �9 
  again until turn 4, having spent turns 
  2 and 3 reloading. 
  The chance of a shot hitting is 
  determined by the range at which the 
  gun is fired. The weapons charts list 
  the close range and long range of a 
  gun in hexes. The first (smaller) 
  number listed under range for the 
  gun is its close range. Weapons with 
  a close range of 0 conduct close- 
  range fire only when firing at targets 
  in the same hex. Each shot from a 
  gun hits on a roll of 3 through 6 at 
  close range and on a roll of 5 or 6 
  at long range. 
  Altitude differences also affect the 
  chance of hitting the target. No ship 
  may fire at an enemy ship if the dif- 
  ference in altitude (in levels) is 
  greater than the range (in hexes). For 
  example, a ship cannot fire at an 
  enemy ship two hexes away but three 
  levels below. 
  If fire at a higher target is possi- 
  ble, add 1 to the range for every level 
  higher the target is compared to the 
  firing vessel. Thus, a target two 
  hexes away and two levels higher 
  would be fired at as if it were at a 
  range of 4. Firing at targets at lower 
  elevations does not add to the range. 
  Finally, all fire at targets of dif- 
  ferent altitudes is conducted with a 
  die roll modification of - 1 on the hit 
  die roll. Thus, at close range shots 
  would only hit on rolls of 4 through 
  6, and at long range they would hit 
  only on rolls of 6. 
  DAMAGE 
  WHEN A GUNSHOT hits an 
  enemy vessel, roll a die and consult 
  the Hit Location Table (page 201) to 
  determine what type of damage has 
  been inflicted. Each gun has a dam- 
  age value, which is the amount of 
  damage it causes when it strikes an 
  enemy vessel. The damage value of 
  the round is the the number of hits 
  inflicted in that location. For exam- 
  ple, if a gun with a damage value of 
  3 rolled a hull hit location, 3 hull hits 
  would be recorded. 
  If firing at a vessel at a higher 
  altitude, all crew hits become hull 
  hits instead. 
  The following types of damage are 
  possible: 
  Gun: A gun hit destroys one gun. 
  If the firing gun has a damage value 
  greater than 1, all additional hits are 
  crew hits, with the crew of the 
  destroyed gun suffering casualties 
  first. The destroyed gun must be 
  mounted in such a way that it faces 
  the firing aspect from which it 
  received the fire. If several such guns 
  are present, roll a die to randomly 
  determine which is hit. If no guns are 
  present in that firing aspect, reroll the 
  hit location and continue to reroll un- 
  til a nongun hit is achieved. 
  Hull: A hull hit causes hits to the 
  hull boxes equal to the damage value 
  of the gun. Each ship has a series of 
  hull boxes arranged in rows. Each 
  row has hull boxes equal to the ship's 
  hull size and each row corresponds 
  to one of the altitudes the ship can 
  fly at. For example, a ship with a hull 
  size of 3 and a maximum altitude of 
  High would have four rows of boxes 
  (one each for Very Low, Low, Me- 
  dium, and High altitude), each row 
  with three boxes. Always check hull 
  hits off from the row of the highest 
  remaining altitude. When that row of 
  boxes is filled in, the ship's max- 
  imum altitude is reduced to the next 
  lowest level. If the ship is at its max- 
  imum altitude when this happens, it 
  automatically drops one altitude in its 
  next movement phase. This drop in 
  altitude does not cost movement 
  points. When all of the hull boxes are 
  checked off, the ship crashes. 
  
  Crew: Each crew hit causes crew 
  casualties equal to half of the damage 
  value of the firing gun, rounding all 
  fractions up. Losses are selected by 
  the player who suffered the casualties 
  and may be from any part or parts 
  of the ship desired. However, the fir- 
  ing player also rolls an additional die, 
  and if the result is a 6, then one of 
  the casualties must be an officer or 
  petty officer (owning player's 
  choice). This die roll is made only 
  once in the phase when the ship suf- 
  fers one or more crew casualties; it 
  is not made separately for each 
  casualty. 
  Gun crews are shown on the ship 
  status sheet as small circles next to 
  their gun. All other crew are shown 
  below the deck diagram as boxes in 
  one of four categories: Bridge, Deck, 
  Maneuver, and Marines. 
  Critieah If a critical hit is rolled, 
  roll two dice and consult the Critical 
  Hit Table (page 201) to determine the 
  results. Critical hits are explained on 
  the Critical Hits Chart (page 202). 
  ARMOR AND PENETRATION 
  EACH GUN also has 
  a penetration 
  value, 
  which is important only 
  against heavily protected 
  targets, such as armored gunboats 
  and stone fortresses. The listed value 
  is the gun's penetration. 
  Each ship status form lists the ar- 
  mor value of the ship in a hexagon 
  to the left of the deck plan. If the ar- 
  mor value of a target exceeds the 
  penetration of the gun, halve the 
  gun's damage value. If this results in 
  fractional hits, roll a die to determine 
  if the hit takes effect, with a roll of 
  1-3 having no effect and a roll of 4-6 
  causing a hit. For example, a gun 
  with a normal damage value of 3, but 
  AERIAL COMBATI{ 105 
  which hit armor thicker than its 
  penetration, would have a damage 
  value of 1 1/2. If it caused a damage 
  result that called for one hit per 
  damage value, it would cause one hit 
  automatically and a second hit on a 
  roll of 4-6. 
  If the armor value of a target is 
  more than twice the penetration of 
  the firing gun, the gun has no effect. 
  For example, a gun with a damage 
  value of 3 would have a damage 
  value of 1 1/2 against armor of 6, but 
  would have no effect against armor 
  of 7. Guns with a penetration of 0 do 
  full damage against unprotected 
  targets, half damage against targets 
  with an armor value of 1, and have 
  no effect on targets with an armor 
  value of 2 or more. 
  Not all parts of a ship are protected 
  by armor. Armor protects the hull, 
  magazines, bridge, trim controls, 
  and boiler. In addition, some ships 
  have some or all of their guns 
  mounted under armor. These ar- 
  mored guns are noted on the ship 
  status sheet by a large box drawn 
  around the smaller gun box and the 
  circles of the gun crew. Guns under 
  armor receive the benefit of the ar- 
  mor. If there is a hexagon connected 
  to the gun mount, the number in the 
  hexagon is the armor value of the 
  mount. Otherwise the gun mount has 
  the same armor value as the rest of 
  the ship. 
  SMALL ARMS FIRE 
  SINCE SHIPS are not continuous- 
  ly in range and players will have to 
  move about on the deck to get a good 
  shot, characters may conduct only 
  one attack action per turn when fir- 
  ing from ship to ship. This rule is on- 
  ly in effect for independently mov- 
  ing ships; once two ships are grap- 
  pled, the normal combat rules apply. 
  MARTIAN LOB GUNS 
  MOST LARGER Martian ships 
  have lob guns. A lob gun is a high- 
  trajectory, 
  large-bore 
  weapon, 
  similar to bombards of the Middle 
  Ages. The lob gun is mounted on a 
  turntable in the center of balance of 
  a ship. (Due to its considerable 
  downward recoil it would destabilize 
  the ship if mounted anywhere else. 
  This is also the reason each ship has 
  only one.) The turntable allows all- 
  around fire. The lob gun fires very 
  large, heavy boulders, usually band- 
  ed with iron. Two exceptions to the 
  normal rules cover these unique 
  weapons. First, lob guns hit only on 
  a die roll of 6 at all ranges. Second, 
  any hit from a lob gun causes an 
  automatic loss-of-trim critical hit in 
  addition to any other damage it does. 
  Note that this loss of trim is due to 
  the impact of the shot, not to damag- 
  ing of the trim controls. As a result, 
  the target ship suffers the loss of trim 
  even if its armor is more than twice 
  he lob gun s penetration. 
  GDW 
  
  106 )) AERIAL COMBAT 
  RAMMING 
  SHIPS MAY deliberately attempt 
  to ram enemy ships. If so, they are 
  moved directly toward the enemy 
  vessel and into (or through) the hex 
  it occupies. The target may attempt 
  to avoid the ram by expending half 
  of its speed (round fractions up). The 
  ship making the attempt then rolls a 
  die. On a roll of 4 or less the ram 
  is successful. If the enemy vessel was 
  avoiding the attempt, subtract the 
  speed spent avoiding the attempt 
  from the number needed to ram. If 
  the target of the ramming attempt is 
  immobilized due to battle damage, 
  the ramming attempt is automatical- 
  ly successful. 
  For example, a ship moves into a 
  hex containing an enemy vessel. The 
  enemy vessel has a speed of 5 and 
  maneuvers to avoid the ramming at- 
  tempt. Avoiding the attempt uses half 
  of the vessel's movement allowance 
  rounded up, or 3 movement points. 
  Normally the ramming vessel would 
  need to roll a 4 to ram, but this 
  number is reduced to a 1 because of 
  the target's avoidance maneuver. 
  If a ram is successful and the ram- 
  ming ship was equipped with a ram, 
  the effects are as follows: First, the 
  rammed ship immediately suffers 
  hull damage equal to half the hull size 
  of the ramming ship (roll for frac- 
  tional hits, with a 1-3 having no ef- 
  fect and 4-6 causing a hit). The ram- 
  ming ship suffers no damage itself. 
  Second, there is a chance that the 
  rammed ship will suffer a loss of 
  trim. Roll the die. If the result is less 
  than the number of hull damage 
  points sustained, the rammed ship 
  suffers a loss of trim. (See the 
  Critical Hits Chart on page 202 for 
  a description of the effects of loss of 
  trim.) If the rammed ship does not 
  suffer a loss of trim, then the two 
  ships are grappled (see below), and 
  the rammer may send a boarding par- 
  ty across. 
  If the ram was successfu~ but the 
  ramming vessel was not equipped 
  with a ram, the ram is resolved in the 
  same way as a collision, with two ex- 
  ceptions. First, if the ramming ship 
  is smaller than the rammed ship, 
  there is no chance of the rammed 
  ship losing trim. Second, if the 
  rammed ship does not suffer a loss 
  of trim, then the two ships are 
  grappled (see below), and the ram- 
  mer may send a boarding party 
  across. 
  GRAPPLING 
  TO ATTEMPT to grapple an 
  enemy vessel, a ship must move in- 
  to or through the same hex as an 
  enemy vessel and be at the same 
  altitude. Half the deckhands (round 
  fractions up) may make grappling at- 
  tempts. Roll a die for each attempt; 
  it succeeds on a roll of 5 or 6. If 
  grappled, a ship may be boarded im- 
  mediately. The number of successful 
  attempts is the number of grappling 
  hooks in place. The referee should 
  note which squares of the enemy ship 
  have a grappling hook in place. 
  The ships remain grappled so long 
  as the hooks remain in place. The 
  original grappler may cut the hooks 
  loose at any time; the grappled ship 
  may do so only if someone is in the 
  square with the hook and spends two 
  full actions doing nothing but free- 
  ing the hook. 
  No vessel may move or change 
  altitude while grappled to another. 
  Grappled ships ignore any loss-of- 
  trim critical hits, and if they take bat- 
  tle damage which would normally 
  force them to drop a level, they in- 
  stead stay at the same height. They 
  will drop an altitude level if the 
  enemy ship also suffers damage re- 
  quiring it to drop an altitude level or 
  at such time as the grapple is cut. If 
  a grappled ship suffers damage that 
  would reduce its maximum altitude 
  to two less than its current altitude, 
  the grapple breaks, the vessel drops 
  two levels, and it suffers a loss-of- 
  trim critical hit. 
  Boarding actions are conducted on 
  the ship deck plans using the normal 
  combat rules. 
  TOWING 
  PLAYERS MAY want to tow cap- 
  tured enemy vessels or friendly 
  vessels which have been immobilized 
  by battle damage. To do so, the two 
  vessels must be grappled. A captured 
  vessel will probably already be grap- 
  pled. However, if a friendly vessel 
  wishes to grapple another friendly 
  vessel, it does so automatically by 
  ending its movement in the same 
  hex. (There is the normal risk of a 
  collision.) Once two vessels are 
  grappled, it takes one complete turn 
  for the crews to rig a tow cable. In 
  the next turn, the nondisabled ship 
  may begin towing. 
  Divide the towed vessel's hull size 
  by the hull size of the towing vessel, 
  round all fractions down, and sub- 
  tract the result from the towing 
  vessel's speed. For example, a tow- 
  ing vessel with a size 2 hull towing 
  a ship with a size 5 hull would have 
  its movement factor reduced by 2 
  (5/2=2.5, rounded down to 2). 
  A vessel being towed must have its 
  trim station manned by an officer or 
  petty officer while being towed. 
  Martians can man the trim of a cap- 
  tured British vessel, and vice versa. 
  
  AERIAL COMBATItt 107 
  SHIP'S CREW 
  THE SHIP IS manned by officers, 
  petty officers, and ratings (enlisted 
  men), who carry out many functions. 
  A. Officers 
  EACH SHIP has a limited number 
  of senior officers who perform key 
  leadership functions. If all officers on 
  a vessel are killed, it will attempt to 
  withdraw from the battle and escape. 
  If it is immobilized or boarded, it will 
  surrender. Officers may take the 
  place of a key petty officer (helms- 
  man or master trimsman) if no key 
  petty officers remain alive to do so. 
  An officer functioning as a helmsman 
  or master trimsman still counts as an 
  officer on board. 
  The captain of the ship is repre- 
  sented by the box labeled "C" in the 
  bridge section. Any additional of- 
  ricers are labeled "O" in the bridge 
  crew. 
  B. Petty Officers 
  EACH VESSEL will normally 
  have at least two petty officers: the 
  helmsman and the trimsman. (In 
  British service the helmsman is re- 
  ferred to as the quartermaster and the 
  trimsman is referred to as the bo'sun.) 
  In addition, on British ships there 
  may be several extra petty officers 
  among the deckhands. Casualties 
  among key personnel (as a result of 
  a bridge hit, for example) may only 
  be replaced by extra petty officers or 
  by the ship's officers. 
  The helmsman is represented by 
  the box labeled "H" in the bridge 
  crew. The trimsman is represented 
  by the box labeled "T" in the bridge 
  crew. All extra petty officers are 
  represented by the boxes labeled 
  "P" in the deck crew. 
  If, for any reason, there is no one 
  at the helm of a vessel, it may not 
  change course or speed (except as a 
  result of additional combat damage 
  or a collision). If for any reason there 
  is no one at the trim station of a 
  vessel, it may not voluntarily change 
  altitude. In addition, roll a die at the 
  end of each turn. On a roll of 6 the 
  vessel takes a loss-of-trim critical hit 
  result (and probably crashes). On any 
  other result it remains in trim. 
  C. Gunners 
  EACH GUN MOUNT has an 
  assigned gun crew. The ship status 
  sheet has one or more crew circles 
  by each gun mount. As gun crew are 
  killed, mark off crew boxes. Each 
  casualty on a gun crew reduces its 
  rate of fire by 1. For weapons with 
  a rate of fire of 1 or less, each crew 
  casualty adds one turn to the time re- 
  quired to load the gun. 
  D. Maneuvering Crew 
  THE MANEUVERING crew are 
  those men assigned to man the 
  boilers, masts, or crankshaft of a 
  vessel. On a steam vessel these 
  engineers are referred to as the 
  "black gang," so called because they 
  are usually covered with coal dust 
  from stoking the boilers. On a kite 
  these are "topmen" who control the 
  ship's rigging, masts and sails. On 
  a screw galley these are called turn- 
  cranks. Each ship status sheet has a 
  set of boxes representing the maneu- 
  vering crew of the ship. As crew 
  casualties are taken, boxes are 
  marked off. When a row of boxes is 
  completely marked off the speed of 
  the ship is reduced by 1. When the 
  entire maneuvering crew is elimi- 
  nated the vessel's speed is reduced 
  to 0. 
  E. Signalman 
  EACH SHIP has one signalman, 
  represented by the box labeled "S" 
  in the bridge section. He has no ef- 
  fect except to give the ship one ex- 
  tra crewman to use as the player 
  wishes. 
  Optional Rule: The signalman's 
  actual function is to transmit 
  messages from ship to ship so that 
  vessels on the same side can coor- 
  dinate efforts. Therefore, optional- 
  ly, if he is removed as a casualty, 
  such cooperation is not possible. 
  F. Deckhands 
  DECKHANDS ARE all crewmen 
  other than those noted above. In 
  combat the deckhands are responsi- 
  ble for damage control, are usually 
  drawn on to form boarding parties, 
  and replace losses among crewmen 
  in other positions. Since most crew 
  casualties can be taken against any 
  crewman desired, the owning player 
  will usually want to mark off a 
  deckhand. This may represent a 
  crewman in some other part of the 
  ship being killed and one of the 
  deckhands taking his place. 
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  GDW 
  
  108 )) ANIMAL COMBAT 
  ANIMALS 
  ANIMALS ARE encountered of- 
  ten in the wilderness, and they are 
  usually dangerous. While some ani- 
  mals will leave a party alone unless 
  they or their young are threatened, 
  others will attack with or without 
  provocation, either for food or in 
  defense of their territory. When this 
  happens, the characters will have to 
  fight for survival. 
  Encountering Animals 
  THE ENCOUNTER TABLE for 
  a specific terrain type on a planet will 
  often indicate an animal encounter 
  and will also specify the type of ani- 
  mal encountered. In most cases the 
  animal will attack the party. If the 
  animal is a plant eater, however, a 
  chance exists (1-3 on a die) that the 
  animal will either ignore the char- 
  acters (unless attacked), wander off, 
  or flee. Small plant eaters (less than 
  a ton in weight) will always flee un- 
  less cornered. 
  If the animal attacks, the Animal 
  Chart then provides all information 
  necessary to conduct the subsequent 
  combat with the animal. 
  VENUSIAN WILDERNESS 
  ENCOUNTERS 
  Terrain 
  Bog 
  Encounter # 
  3 
  Die Roll 
  Encounter Type 
  1 
  (Roll 2D.) 
  2 
  Giant Carnivorous Plant 
  3 
  Brontosaurus 
  4 
  Carnosaurus 
  5 
  Stegosaurus 
  6 
  Ceratopsian 
  7 
  Hadrosaurus 
  8 
  Pterodactyl 
  9 
  Native Hunting Party 
  10 
  Native Trading Party 
  11 
  Native Raiding Party 
  12 
  Tyrannosaurus 
  The Animal Chart 
  A SEPARATE Animal Chart is 
  provided for each world. (The Ani- 
  mal Charts are found on pages 210- 
  212.) The animals on it are grouped 
  into predators, scavengers, and plant 
  eaters, which are general categories 
  that indicate the probable danger 
  presented by the animal. Predators 
  are usually the most dangerous while 
  plant eaters are the least dangerous. 
  In many cases, though, characters 
  will not know what type of animal 
  they are facing. 
  The Animal Chart lists the follow- 
  ing information about the animal 
  encountered: 
  Number Appearing: This may 
  consist of a fixed number or a multi- 
  ple of a die roll (expressed, for ex- 
  ample, as 1D x 10). Both fixed num- 
  bers and die roll multiples are meant 
  to be general suggestions, not hard 
  and fast rules. The steppe tiger, for 
  instance, usually is a solitary hunter, 
  but the referee could have a pair or 
  more hunting together if he desires. 
  Size: This is the number of two- 
  yard grid squares the animal occupies 
  in combat. The animal seldom com- 
  pletely fills these, but this is the area 
  that is effectively blocked by its 
  presence. It also provides the referee 
  and players with a good general 
  guide to the real size of the animal. 
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  Move: The number of yards the 
  animal moves in one action at top 
  speed. Unless fleeing or charging, 
  the animal will usually move half this 
  speed or less. The number of yards 
  is preceded by a letter which in- 
  dicates the type of movement the 
  animal practices: land (L), water 
  (W), or flight (F). 
  Wounds: This is the number of 
  wounds it takes to kill the animal. 
  Save: This is the animal's save 
  number against melee attacks, and it. 
  is added to (or subtracted from) the 
  save number of any missile weapon 
  which hits it. 
  Weight: The weight of an average 
  full-grown example of the animal. It 
  is expressed in pounds unless other- 
  wise noted. About 10 percent of this 
  is edible meat if the animal is killed 
  for food. 
  Weapons: This, lists each of the 
  weapons with which the animal may 
  attack and gives their combat values 
  in parentheses. These combat values 
  are, in order: number of hit dice 
  rolled, required hit number, reach, 
  and wound value of the weapon. 
  
  ANIMAL COMBAT'|( 109 
  E" 
  . 
  Attacked by Roogies. 
  Attacks Against Animals 
  ATTACKS AGAINST animals are 
  conducted in the same manner as 
  those against humans, except: 
  First, animals have their own sav- 
  ing roll modifiers, as explained in the 
  section on the Animal Charts on page 
  108. 
  Second, animals will not stop at- 
  tacking in a turn in which they are 
  wounded unless they have taken a to- 
  tal of half or more of their allowed 
  wounds. In that case they will stop 
  until the next turn begins. 
  Third, animals with horns may 
  block attacks in the same manner as 
  a person who is armed with a melee 
  weapon. The referee rolls the ani- 
  mal's hit dice, with hits read as 
  blocked hits from the characters. If 
  more blocks are successful than hits 
  by the characters, the animal may 
  strike back (riposte) with its horns. 
  Finally, whenever a character 
  wounds an animal, there is a chance 
  that the shot will instantly kill it, 
  regardless of the number of wounds 
  that it normally takes to drop the 
  beast. This type of kill can occur only 
  if the animal does not make its sav- 
  ing roll. If it does not, the character 
  who hit the animal rolls one die 
  against the wound value of the weap- 
  on used minus one. A weapon with 
  a wound value of 2, for example, 
  drops an animal if a 1 is rolled, while 
  a weapon with a wound value of 4 
  drops an animal if a 1 through 3 is 
  rolled. Note that weapons with a 
  wound value of 1 may not cause in- 
  stant kill wounds. Weapons which 
  cause 2 wounds only at close-combat 
  range (certain pistols and lever-action 
  rifles and carbines) have a chance of 
  causing an instant kill only at that 
  range. 
  Animal Morale 
  WHENEVER HALF or more of 
  an attacking group of animals have 
  been killed, they will break off the 
  attack and flee. Whenever a solitary 
  animal has suffered half its total 
  allowed number of wounds, there is 
  a chance it will break off its attack 
  and flee. Roll the die once in each 
  subsequent action in which the ani- 
  mal is wounded; if the die roll is 
  equal to or less than the number of 
  wounds inflicted on the animal that 
  action, it breaks off the attack and 
  flees. Otherwise it will continue the 
  attack. 
  Whenever characters are attacked 
  by a swarm of animals, roll the die 
  once at the start of each action; on 
  a roll of 1 the swarm breaks off the 
  attack and flees.' Otherwise it con- 
  tinues the attack. Characters may 
  also defeat swarm attacks by such ex- 
  pedients as diving under water (if an 
  aerial swarm), getting out of the 
  water (if an aquatic swarm), or some 
  other clever ruse. 
  GDW 
  
  110 ))ANIMAL COMBAT 
  Attacks By Animals 
  ANIMALS HAVE one or more 
  natural weapons with which they 
  may attack. An animal may attack 
  with all of its weapons each action, 
  but each character may only be at- 
  tacked by one weapon. If an animal 
  attacks with two or more weapons, 
  its required hit numbers on all attacks 
  are reduced by one. Animals always 
  receive four actions per combat turn. 
  For example, a Martian steppe ti- 
  ger has both claws and teeth. If fac- 
  ing one adversary, the tiger would at- 
  tack with either its claws or its teeth, 
  at the referee's discretion. If the tiger 
  were adjacent to two characters, 
  however, it could attack one with its 
  claws and one with its teeth. 
  The one exception to the one- 
  weapon-per-target rule is that an ani- 
  mal can attack a character with one 
  weapon while holding the character 
  with another. (Fangs, talons, coils, 
  and tentacles are capable of holding 
  a character, allowing another weapon 
  to attack.) 
  If the referee has to choose which 
  of an animal's weapons it will attack 
  with, a good rule of thumb is that if 
  the animal is aggressively attacking 
  the character, it will use its most 
  powerful weapon, while if it is at- 
  tempting to defend itself, it will use 
  the weapon with the greatest reach. 
  ::~i i ~ 
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  t 
  Animal Weapons 
  THERE ARE 12 different types of 
  natural weapons used by animals. 
  Many animals have more than one of 
  these and may attack with 9ne or 
  several, depending ~n the situation. 
  Most animal weapons attack as an 
  armed melee attack action, rolling a 
  set number of hit dice for a set re- 
  quired hit number. Many of these 
  weapons have a unique characteristic 
  as listed below. 
  Teeth: An animal's teeth do 
  damage either by crushing a limb (if 
  the animal is very large or strong) or 
  by tearing. Typically, teeth have a 
  range of 0. 
  Fangs: A few reptile-like animals 
  have long, sharp fangs, which are 
  used to pierce and hold an antagonist. 
  Once an animal has struck a character 
  with its fangs, it will not let go until 
  it is killed. The character is locked 
  in melee with the animal, but it will 
  not attack again with its fangs. If, at 
  the referee's discretion, the fangs 
  fasten on a char- 
  acter's arm, that 
  arm is pinned in 
  place and may not 
  be used until the 
  animal has been 
  killed. 
  Swarm: This is not a weapon per 
  se but the manner in which certain 
  animals attack. Individually these 
  animals are incapable of causing 
  serious injury, but a large swarm can 
  be quite dangerous. Some animals 
  who use swarm attacks are army 
  ants, bees, bats, and piranha. 
  Coils: An animal which attacks by 
  constriction does so by coiling its 
  slender but muscular body around its 
  prey and squeezing. If an animal with 
  coils succeeds in an attack, it in- 
  dicates that the coils are in place 
  around the character, not that the 
  character is wounded. Each attack 
  action conducted by the animal after 
  that is resolved by rolling dice equal 
  to the wound value of the coils. The 
  enwrapped character rolls his own 
  Strength attribute dice. If the ani- 
  mal's total exceeds the character's 
  total, the character suffers one 
  wound. If the character's total is 
  twice that of the animal, the character 
  breaks free. All other results have no 
  effect. 
  Other characters may assist the en- 
  wrapped character by pulling on the 
  coils. This counts as an attack action. 
  Each character pulling on the coils 
  adds half his Strength attribute dice 
  (round fractions up) to the en- 
  wrapped character's dice. 
  Horns: Horns are effective defen- 
  sive weapons due to their reach but 
  are not very effective when an animal 
  is chasing prey. They are mostly 
  found on plant eaters. Animals with 
  horus may block melee attacks in the 
  same manner as with melee weapons, 
  by rolling hit dice to block hits. If ex- 
  tra hits are blocked, the animal can 
  strike back (riposte) with its horns. 
  
  ANIMAL COMBATtt[ 111 
  Tentacles: Tentacles work in much 
  the same way as coils, with the ex- 
  ception that most animals that have 
  them have multiple tentacles. The 
  number of tentacle hit dice which the 
  animal has is actually the number of 
  tentacles it has. Each tentacle attacks 
  separately with one hit die, and each 
  successful attack enwraps the prey 
  with one more tentacle. The tentacle 
  wound value is actually the number 
  of dice rolled per tentacle which en- 
  wraps a character. 
  For example, a creature has four 
  tentacles and a wound value of 2. In 
  the first attack action it rolls four hit 
  dice. Suppose that two hits are 
  achieved. In the next attack action it 
  will roll four dice (two per tentacle) 
  and compare the total to the Strength 
  attribute dice of the enwrapped char- 
  acter, and it will also conduct an at- 
  tack with the remaining two tentacles 
  by rolling two hit dice. 
  Tail: Animals with heavy, mus- 
  cular tails can use them as bashing 
  weapons against their enemies. A tail 
  can only be used to attack an enemy 
  to the rear or side of an animal, not 
  to the front. 
  Talons: Talons tend to be long and 
  sharp and are used to rip at and grasp 
  an enemy. Once an animal has 
  wounded a character with its talons, 
  it will continue to hold on until it is 
  wounded. As soon as it is wounded, 
  it will let go. So long as the animal 
  holds onto its victim, the effects are 
  the same as for fangs, with one ex- 
  ception. Animals ,with talons will 
  hold onto a character with only one 
  set of talons and will continue to at- 
  tack with the other. Only half the 
  animal's talon hit dice are rolled 
  when it attacks with one set of talons. 
  If the second set wounds a character, 
  the animal will not grasp that char- 
  acter, but will keep one set of talons 
  free to attack. 
  Crush: Very large animals attack 
  by attempting to crush their enemies, 
  either by butting them or stepping on 
  them. This attack form is used main- 
  ly as a defensive measure, as most 
  prey can escape from a large animal 
  attempting to step on it. It is general- 
  ly used only against characters and 
  animals that are attempting to attack 
  and which do not flee. 
  Claws: An animal with powerful 
  limbs often has claws, which are 
  used to rake an enemy. Claws typi- 
  cally do less damage than teeth, but 
  have a longer reach. 
  t 
  Stinger: Animals with stingers in- 
  ject poison which will incapacitate 
  their prey. No animal on any planet 
  other than Earth produces poison 
  deadly to Earth humans, so a suc- 
  cessful attack by a stinger will only 
  render a human character uncon- 
  scious. The animal will no longer at- 
  tack that character but may drag him 
  off to its lair. 
  Drop: This is a special sort of at- 
  tack conducted by some flying ani- 
  mals. Flying animals will attempt to 
  lift their enemies into the air and drop 
  them. Flying animals on Mars can 
  lift half their weight into the air for 
  short distances. Once a successful at- 
  tack is made, the animal climbs for 
  1 die roll of turns before dropping 
  the character. The number of turns 
  the animal climbs is the number of 
  wounds the character suffers upon 
  hitting the ground. 
  Once airborne, characters can at- 
  tempt to hold on to the animal and 
  attack it. If the animal is wounded, 
  it will land and release the character; 
  if it is killed, it will fall. The animal 
  will, at the same time, attempt to at- 
  tack the character if it has any weap- 
  ons other than drop. If it wounds the 
  character, the character will lose his 
  grip and fall. 
  The Martian great kommota has a 
  special variant of the drop attack; it 
  drops rocks on characters, especial- 
  ly if they are themselves flying. The 
  rocks cause wounds equal to the roll 
  of one die. If an aerial vessel is hit, 
  it causes a loss-of-trim critical hit. 
  GDW 
  
  112 ~)TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION 
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  TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION[ 
  , 113 
  TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION 
  TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION 
  PLAYER 
  CHARACTERS 
  in 
  Space: 1889 will travel the road to 
  adventure, literally as well as figura- 
  tively. Many of the encounters and 
  adventures in the game occur as a 
  result of travel, and so the rules 
  covering it are fairly detailed. 
  While combat is fought in 30- 
  second turns, travel takes place over 
  hours, days, even weeks. Combat 
  movement is measured in yards, 
  while travel movement is measured 
  in miles, at the very least, and more 
  commonly in tens of miles or hun- 
  dreds of miles. (Travel between the 
  planets, of course, covers millions of 
  miles, but is covered in a separate 
  chapter.) 
  There are several different general 
  categories of travel (land, water, and 
  air); each of them has a wide varie- 
  ty of means, and travel in each me- 
  dium is treated differently in settled 
  regions than in wilderness regions. 
  All travel considerations pertinent to 
  this game, however, can be defined 
  by considering four questions: What 
  is the means of travel? How long will 
  the journey take? What will the jour- 
  ney cost? What are the hazards of the 
  journey? These are the questions ad- 
  dressed by this chapter. 
  MAPS 
  IN ORDER to regulate travel, you 
  will need a map. In adjudicating 
  travel, you will use three different 
  scales of maps: large-scale maps, 
  mid-scale maps, and small-scale 
  maps. 
  Large-scale maps do not have a 
  hexagonal grid. They are just maps 
  of a planet, a hemisphere, a conti- 
  nent, or a region. Strategic maps of 
  Mars, and Venus are included in this 
  book. A scale is included with the 
  map so that you can measure dis- 
  tances. Large-scale maps can be used 
  to quickly determine the time neces- 
  sary for a safe voyage (i.e., one 
  through settled territory by ordinary 
  transportation means) from one point 
  to another. They are also used to help 
  you create mid-scale and small-scale 
  maps of different regions on the 
  planets. 
  Mid-scale maps have a hexagonal 
  grid superimposed on them with a 
  scale of 100 miles per hex. This is 
  a convenient scale for travel by 
  "speedy" transportation, particular- 
  ly aerial vessels. Mid-scale maps can 
  also be used to chart the progress of 
  any large military campaigns going 
  on. Mid-scale maps lack fine detail, 
  however. Everything looks pretty 
  much the same from the air, and un- 
  til you actually get down on the 
  ground and walk around, you never 
  know for sure what you'll find. 
  Small-scale maps are for walking 
  around. They are used for land travel 
  and may be used for some water 
  travel as well, notably travel by river 
  or canal in unexplored territory. 
  They also have a hex grid, and their 
  scale is 10 miles per hex. There is 
  a blank small-scale map provided in 
  the chart section, and you should 
  (and have permission to) photocopy 
  this for your use. Notice that there 
  are larger hexes overprinted on the 
  sheet, each of which is 10 smaller 
  hexes across. Each one of these 
  larger hexes corresponds to a hex on 
  the mid-scale map of the region. 
  GDW 
  
  114 ))LAND TRAVEL 
  LAND TRAVEL 
  UNLESS PLAYERS are fortunate 
  enough to have their own aerial flyer, 
  they will do most of their travelling 
  on land. In fact, it is a good idea to 
  encourage land travel anyway, as this 
  is really the only way to get a good 
  feel for a planet and its many eccen- 
  tricities. There are three means of 
  land travel: by train, by animal, and 
  by foot. 
  Trains: 
  Train travel is only 
  available on Earth, and then mostly 
  in Europe and North America. Train 
  travel is safe, fast, and comfortable. 
  A traveller can travel up to several 
  hundred miles in a single day, 
  assuming there are connecting lines. 
  The greatest delay encountered when 
  travelling by rail at this time was the 
  frequent number of transfers that had 
  to be made, although this was a small 
  difficulty when travelling from one 
  major city to another in the same 
  country. Train fare is 10s per 100 
  miles travelled. 
  Animals: Animal travel includes 
  both riding a beast of burden and 
  riding in a wagon or coach drawn by 
  animals. The following table lists the 
  travel distances per day for each of 
  the forms of animal transportation. 
  ANIMAL 
  "r 
  l~ 
  TRANSPORTATION 
  ~ 
  Miles/ Price/ 
  Type 
  Day 
  Day 
  Riding Animal 
  20 
  3s 
  Howdah 
  10 
  2s 
  Wagon 
  10 
  2s 
  Coach 
  30 
  3s 
  The price shown for the riding 
  animal is an approximate daily ren- 
  tal fee, although prices vary con- 
  siderably. The prices for the others 
  indicate the price for passage by 
  coach or in a caravan. The caravan 
  will be made up of drawn wagons or 
  howdahs carried on the backs of 
  large animals (such as elephants, 
  gashants, or pacyosaurs). 
  Animals are somewhat limited in 
  the sorts of terrain they can traverse. 
  Coaches may only travel by road. 
  Wagons and howdahs can travel by 
  road or in deserts, hills, and prairies 
  (steppe or grassland). Riding animals 
  can travel in any terrain except 
  mountains, but in any terrain other 
  than deserts, hills and prairies they 
  are reduced to 10 miles per day. All 
  animals add 10 miles per day to their 
  speed if travelling on a road. (This 
  does not apply to coaches, which can 
  only tra' 
  Foot: Most exploration will be 
  done by foot, as an expedition on 
  foot can go many places that animals 
  cannot. 
  Characters may walk either 10 or 
  20 miles per day, at their option. 
  (Players may not march 20 miles 
  through mountain or swamp.) 
  At the end of each day's march 
  each character rolls Endurance at- 
  tribute dice for an Easy task to avoid 
  fatigue. The difficulty of the task 
  goes up one or more level(s) (cumu- 
  lative) for each of the following: 
  Marched additional 10 miles: + 1 
  level 
  Encumbered: + 1 level for every 
  20 percent of body weight carried 
  Human on Mars: + 1 level 
  Human on Venus: +2 levels 
  Mountains: + 1 level 
  If characters fail the fatigue roll 
  they have one level of fatigue. Later 
  fatigue results are added to the total. 
  Each level of fatigue reduces the 
  character's Strength, Agility, and 
  Endurance by 1. If any of these at- 
  tributes are reduced to 0, the char- 
  acter collapses and cannot go on un- 
  til he has rested for at least a day. 
  All characters recover one fatigue 
  level for every day spent resting. 
  
  LAND TRAVEL[( 115 
  Hazards: Most significant hazards 
  encountered while travelling on land 
  come under the heading of encoun- 
  ters and are covered there. The main 
  differences are whether the party is 
  travelling in settled countryside or 
  unexplored territory. In settled areas 
  the hazards tend to be things like 
  enemy soldiers and brigands, while 
  in the wilderness they tend toward 
  ferocious animals and undiscovered 
  native tribes. 
  Fever: One exception to this ms 
  fever. Once per week in the bush 
  each character should roll to avoid 
  fever. Roll Endurance attribute dice 
  for an Easy task. However, the dice 
  rolled are determined by the lowest 
  level of a character's Endurance dur- 
  ing the week (but the character is 
  always allowed to roll one die). 
  A character with fever rolls against 
  his Endurance each day to avoid 
  fatigue. Rest does not allow recovery 
  of fever-induced fatigue, however. 
  Instead, the character must fight the 
  infection himself. Each day after the 
  fever is contracted, roll two dice and 
  subtract 2. If the result is equal to or 
  less than the character's original En- 
  durance, the fever breaks and the 
  character begins to recover. From 
  then on each day of rest lowers the 
  player's fatigue level by one. 
  Note that it is possible for a 
  player's Strength, Agility, and En- 
  durance attributes to all be reduced 
  to negative numbers due to the fever. 
  This has no permanent effect on the 
  character, but it does temporarily 
  render him delirious and incapable 
  of action. (Many explorers died from 
  fever; player characters in this game 
  do not.) 
  Mountains: You do not march 
  through mountains; you climb and 
  march over them. Each mountain 
  hex has a number of rock faces that 
  must be climbed. The referee deter- 
  mines this by rolling the die, the 
  result being the number of rock faces 
  in a hex. If players wish, they can 
  spend an additional day scouting the 
  mountain for an easier way up. If 
  they do so, the referee will roll again, 
  and if a lower number is rolled the 
  players can use that path instead. 
  Players can scout a hex for as long 
  as they like, with the referee reroll- 
  ing each day. If the referee wishes 
  to make a mountain or mountain 
  range particularly large, roll two or 
  even three dice for number of faces 
  in the hex. 
  One day's climb is measured in 
  how many rock faces can be scaled. 
  A party can scale rock faces equal to 
  the highest Mountaineering skill in 
  the party. If no one has Mountaineer- 
  ing skill the party can scale only one 
  face per day. 
  Each day there is a chance of a 
  climbing accident. Each player rolls 
  Agility attribute dice or Moun- 
  taineering skill dice, whichever is 
  greater, for a Moderate task to avoid 
  an accident. An accident indicates a 
  potentially injuring fall. The severi- 
  ty of the fall is left to the referee, or 
  the following table can be used. 
  �9 
  ~ 
  CLIMBING ACCIDENT ~, 
  t~Roll 
  Result 
  ~ 
  1 Climb delayed. Subtract 1 
  from faces climbed in day. 
  2 Climb delayed. Subtract 2 
  from faces climbed in day. 
  3 Climb delayed. Subtract 3 
  from faces climbed in day. 
  4 
  Climb delayed. No faces 
  climbed in day. 
  5 Injury. Treat as level 1 
  fatigue. Lasts for one week. 
  No rock faces climbed in 
  day. 
  6 Injury. Broken leg. Climber 
  cannot walk or climb and 
  must be ,carried up moun- 
  tain. Cut number of faces 
  per day in half (round frac- 
  tions up) and add one to dif- 
  ficulty to avoid accident. 
  Leg mends in one month. 
  GDW 
  
  116 ))WATER TRAVEL 
  WATER TRAVEL 
  WATER TRAVEL includes travel 
  on the open seas as well as on rivers 
  and canals and in swamps. The one 
  thing that all of these have in com- 
  mon is, of course, that they require 
  a boat. 
  Types of Vessels: There are two 
  general types of vessels, inland and 
  seagoing. Inland vessels are general- 
  ly confined to rivers and canals. 
  They tend to be shallow draft with 
  low freeboards, which makes them 
  very hazardous to take into the open 
  sea, where a good wave or two might 
  sink them. Also, they are not usual- 
  ly as fast as seagoing ships. Speed 
  is not at as much of a premium on 
  the inland waterways, as the more 
  frequent navigational hazards impose 
  a certain caution at all times. 
  Within 
  these 
  two 
  general 
  categories there are three specific 
  types of ships, divided on the basis 
  of their means of propulsion: me- 
  chanically-powered, wind-powered, 
  and man-powered ships. Mechani- 
  cally-powered ships are usually 
  steamships, and for simplicity will be 
  called that for the rest of this rule. 
  However, they may include vessels 
  with more exotic propulsion systems 
  such as electric engines. Wind- 
  powered vessels are sailing ships. 
  Man-powered vessels are all those 
  propelled by paddle or oar, from a 
  canoe to a large galley. There are no 
  oceangoing man-powered ships at 
  this time. 
  The table below gives the distance 
  travelled per day and the price per 
  day for passage. In the case of ocean 
  voyages, the prices are useful only 
  for Earth, as Mars has no oceans and 
  Venus, while it does po~ess an 
  ocean, has no shipping for hire. The 
  travel times are universally useful, 
  however. 
  For long voyages, the characters 
  will have to have proper quarters, 
  especially if they have considerable 
  amounts of luggage along. The 
  prices listed are for "steerage" 
  tickets. In steerage, the passengers 
  are crowded together in large rooms 
  and are allowed only limited bag- 
  gage. The food is terrible and 
  sanitary arrangements quite un- 
  satisfactory. Certainly no gentleman 
  would travel steerage unless in 
  desperate straits. First-class accom- 
  modations cost five times the listed 
  price. Remember, however, that for 
  short voyages of a day or so there is 
  usually only the one fare option. 
  ~',v~ 
  WATER 
  ~ 
  TRANSPORTATION TABLE 
  Inland Waterway 
  Miles/Price/ 
  Vessel 
  Day 
  Day 
  Man-Powered 
  20-30 
  2d 
  Wind-Powered 1D• 
  3d 
  Steamer 
  50 
  5d 
  Open Sea 
  Vessel 
  Miles/Price/ 
  Day 
  Day 
  Wind-Powered 
  100 
  3s 
  Steamship 
  200 
  5s 
  Additional Rules on Travel Time: 
  Man-powered vessels are listed as 
  capable of travelling 20-30 miles per 
  day. They may be paddled at a rate 
  of 20 miles per day indefinitely. The 
  crew may exert itself particularly 
  hard and manage 30 miles in a day, 
  but its members must then roll for 
  fatigue. On a roll of 1 or 2, the crew 
  is fatigued and may only travel 10 
  miles per day until one full day is 
  spent resting. Although there are no 
  man-powered oceangoing vessels, 
  oared craft may be taken out into 
  coastal waters and the shallow seas 
  of Venus. There is some peril in- 
  volved in doing so, however, as ex- 
  plained in the "Hazards" section to 
  the right. 
  Wind-powered river vessels have 
  a speed listing of" 1D • 10" mean- 
  ing that each day a die is rolled and 
  the result multiplied by 10. The re- 
  sult is the number of miles moved. 
  (Alternatively, the die roll itself is the 
  number of small-scale hexes moved.) 
  River steamboats have a listed 
  speed of 50 miles per day, which is 
  their normal speed assuming they 
  steam during the daylight and tie up 
  at night. If a group is in a particular 
  hurry, they can get better speed than 
  this by cruising at a higher speed and 
  for longer hours. This increases the 
  chance of a mishap, however. (See 
  "Hazards" at right.) 
  Wind-powered ocean vessels have 
  a nominal speed of 100 miles (one 
  mid-scale map hex) per day, but each 
  day roll a die to see if they manage 
  an extra hex. They do so on a roll 
  of 1 or 2. Fast ships should be given 
  a favorable modification of 1 while 
  slow ships should be given an un- 
  favorable modification of 1. If a 
  player character is captaining the 
  vessel, roll against his Sailing Vessel 
  Piloting skill for an extra hex, but 
  keep the speed modifiers for the ship 
  in effect. Regardless of the captain's 
  skill, the ship never gets an extra hex 
  if a 6 is rolled. 
  
  WATER TRAVEL it 117 
  Hazards: Many hazards plague 
  water travel. 
  Storms at Sea: On Earth there is 
  a one-in-six chance of there being a 
  storm or squall at sea on any given 
  day. On Venus storms are almost 
  continuous, while on Mars they are 
  nearly nonexistent. Weather changes 
  on Venus and Mars are treated in the 
  "Encounters" section of this chap- 
  ter. Storms are an inconvenience for ' 
  oceangoing ships, but can be disas- 
  trous for man-powered ships. If there 
  is a storm on Earth, roll again to 
  determine its severity. On a 1-4, it 
  is a mild storm; on a 5-6, it is a 
  severe storm. On Venus all torren- 
  tial rain counts as a severe storm, 
  while all rain and drizzle count as a 
  mild storm. 
  Oceangoing ships are unaffected 
  by mild storms. Ocean-going steam- 
  ships have their speed reduced by 
  100 miles per day in a severe storm. 
  Sailing ships are blown one hex in 
  a random direction (roll a die) by a 
  severe storm. If this places them in 
  a land hex, the captain rolls his Sail- 
  ing Vessel Piloting skill dice for a 
  Difficult task to avoid grounding. If 
  the ship grounds in a severe storm, 
  it is sunk, and the passengers and 
  crew are shipwrecked. 
  Man-powered vessels may be sunk 
  by a storm. Roll the captain's Sail- 
  ing Vessel Piloting skill dice for a 
  Moderate task to avoid sinking in a 
  mild storm and for a Formidable task 
  to avoid sinking in a severe storm. 
  ff the ship the players are on sinks, 
  they will more than likely lose all of 
  their belongings that were onboard, 
  but will cling to wreckage and avoid 
  drowning. They will be washed 
  ashore somewhere at the referee's 
  discretion and then will probably be 
  in considerable difficulty. 
  Navigational Hazards: 
  Every 
  vessel on an inland waterway must 
  roll to avoid a navigational hazard 
  once per day. This is an Easy task 
  and is rolled for using the captain's 
  Steam Vessel or Sailing Vessel Pi- 
  loting skill dice. If the vessel is a 
  steamboat attempting to make better 
  time, the difficulty goes up by one 
  level for each hex (10 miles) added 
  to the speed. 
  If the ship suffers a navigational 
  hazard, it has run aground or had its 
  hull, screws, or rudder damaged by 
  an underwater obstacle. The referee 
  can make up an appropriate result for 
  the area the characters are in or use 
  the following table: 
  NAVIGATION HAZARDS *~, 
  ~Roll 
  Result 
  1 Boat aground. 
  10 miles 
  travel lost pulling it off. 
  2 
  Boat aground. One full day 
  lost pulling it off. 
  3 
  Screw or rudder damaged. 
  Speed halved until boat 
  reaches port. 
  4 
  Hull damaged. Two full 
  days lost making repairs. 
  5 
  Hull damaged. One die roll 
  of days lost making repairs. 
  6 
  Hull crushed. Vessel is 
  grounded to avoid sinking. 
  Cannot be refloated unless 
  a large work crew and a 
  large vessel are brought to 
  the site. 
  Hostile Encounters: Pirates, hos- 
  tile navies, and large hungry animals 
  are all possible hostile encounters on 
  the water. These are covered in the 
  "Encounters" section of this chap- 
  ter. 
  GDW 
  
  118 
  ))AERIAL 
  TRAVEL 
  AERIAL TRAVEL 
  THE MOST visible difference be- 
  tween the universe of Space: 1889 
  and the historical Victorian Era is the 
  widespread use of flight, and aerial 
  travel is an important part of this 
  adventurous world. 
  Types of Craft: Aerial craft are 
  held aloft by one of three possible 
  means: liftwood, lifting gas, or 
  dynamic lift. Liftwood is the wood 
  from a tree that grows in certain of 
  the Martian highlands and which has 
  remarkable antigravity properties 
  (reducing the weight of a vessel to 
  less than that of air and thus allow- 
  ing it to float). Craft constructed with 
  liftwood are often called flyers. Lift- 
  ing gas consists of either hot air or 
  some gas lighter than oxygen, such 
  as helium or hydrogen. Most bal- 
  loons are merely novelties and not 
  serious means of transportation. The 
  Germans, however, have built num- 
  bers of rigid hydrogen airships 
  powered by efficient, but expensive, 
  engines. These are universally called 
  Zeppelins, after their inventor Count 
  Zeppelin. Dynamic lift is generated 
  by an airfoil (the wing of a glider or 
  aeroplane) moving rapidly through 
  the air. There are no known dynamic 
  lift vessels in existence in 1889, but 
  the player characters or some NPC 
  scientist may invent them during the 
  course of the game. 
  In addition to their means of lift, 
  craft are differentiated by their means 
  of propulsion, types of which include 
  mechanically-powered, wind-pow- 
  ered, and man-powered propulsion. 
  Mechanically-powered craft are usu- 
  ally steam flyers, and for simplicity 
  will be called that for the rest of this 
  section. However, they may include 
  craft with more exotic propulsion 
  systems, such as electric engines. 
  Wind-powered craft generally use 
  sails. The only examples of these in 
  existence are the stately Martian 
  "kites." Man-powered craft are 
  driven by a large air screw (pro- 
  peller) turned by manual labor. The 
  most common versions of man-pow- 
  ered aerial craft are the Martian 
  screw galleys, although small lever- 
  and-ratchet longboats are now car- 
  ried on a number of British aerial 
  vessels, and the Throckmorton Con- 
  veyor, a one-person flyer with a 
  pedal-powered air screw, is in in- 
  creasing use. 
  The table below gives the distance 
  travelled per day and the price per 
  day for passage by aerial transpor- 
  tation. No price is given for dynamic 
  lift craft, as none are commercially 
  for hire. If players invent or other- 
  wise acquire one, however, use the 
  travel times listed. 
  For long voyages, the characters 
  will have to have proper quarters, 
  just as with long sea voyages. First- 
  class quarters again cost five times 
  the listed rate. 
  e" 
  A RIA,  
  TRANSPORTATION TABLE 
  Miles/ Price/ 
  Vessel 
  Day 
  Day 
  Zeppelin 
  300 
  10s 
  Steam Flyer 
  300 
  10s 
  Kite 
  200-400 
  6s 
  Screw Galley 200-300 
  4s 
  Long Boat 
  100-200 
  -- 
  Conveyor 
  100-200 
  -- 
  Glider 
  400 
  -- 
  Aeroplane 
  100/hr 
  -- 
  Additional 
  Rules 
  on 
  Travel 
  Time: Man-powered vessels (screw 
  galleys, long boats, and conveyors) 
  //- 
  \.~ 
  D 
  '(' 
  I 
  ' 
  E 
  'G 
  .... 
  ] 
  A. 
  CAPTAIN'S CABINS 
  '- 
  r 
  B. 
  BRIDGE 
  L 
  (~ 
  C. 
  FLYING BRIDGE 
  ~ 
  D. 
  CHART ROOM 
  , �9 - 
  E. 
  WARD ROOM 
  lul 
  I ''] 
  F. 
  OFFICER QUARTERS
  �9 
  G. 
  FIRST CLASS CABIN
  i,[ 
  ~. -I 
  I', 
  H. 
  PASSENGER LOUNG
  i' 
  I 
  I 
  I~, 
  I. 
  SECOND CLASS CAB[
  ',, I 
  I,' 
  J 
  GALLE  
  ','Z; 
  " 
  K 
  CREW'SMESS 
  J: 
  l 
  [ 
  ' 
  CREW'S QUARTER
  M 
  EUEL 
  -- 
  k -- 
  N. 
  ENGINE ROOM 
  I 
  COMMERCIAL 
  ZEPPELIN 
  have two speeds listed. They may 
  travel at the lower speed indefinite- 
  ly. The crew may exert itself par- 
  ticularly hard and travel at the higher 
  speed for one day, but its members 
  must then roll for fatigue. On a roll 
  of 1 or 2, the crew is fatigued. In the 
  case of a conveyor or longboat, roll 
  against the Endurance of the crew- 
  men. Fatigued crews may only travel 
  at half their lower speed until one full 
  day is spent resting. 
  Kites have two speed listings as 
  well. The lower speed applies to sail- 
  ing against the prevailing trade 
  winds, while the second applies to 
  sailing with the prevailing trade 
  winds. Prevailing winds blow from 
  west to east on virtually all parts of 
  Mars. 
  
  AERIAL TRAVEL( 
   119 
  Hazards: Aerial travellers also 
  face many hazards. 
  ",~ 
  //I\///~M~g-A 
  ~'//i' 
  , 
  ,~, / ', 
  II,', 
  )))Y/AYS, J.~4Y ,I)%/~J / ",, "' 
  , 
  " 
  Storms: On Earth there is a one- 
  in-six chance of a storm. On Venus 
  storms are almost continuous, while 
  on Mars they are nearly nonexistent. 
  Weather changes on Venus and Mars 
  are treated in the "Encounters" sec- 
  tions of this chapter. If there is a 
  storm on Earth, roll again to deter- 
  mine its severity. On a 1-4, it is a 
  mild storm; on a 5-6, it is a severe 
  storm. On Mars cloudy weather is 
  treated as a mild storm, and all wind- 
  storms are severe storms. On Venus 
  all torrential rain counts as a severe 
  storm, while all rain and drizzle 
  count as a mild storm. 
  Liftwood flyers seldom venture 
  out in a storm, as the turbulence of 
  the air tends to tip the craft and cause 
  it to lose trim. To fly and retain trim 
  in a mild storm, roll the trimsman's 
  Yrimsman skill dice for a Moderate 
  task; in a severe storm roll for a For- 
  midable task. Failure of the roll 
  means the craft has lost trim and 
  plummeted to the ground. The trims- 
  man rolls to recover trim at one dif- 
  ficulty level higher than before. If he 
  fails, the craft crash-lands and is 
  damaged beyond repair. If he suc- 
  ceeds, he manages to land safely but 
  will decide the storm is too difficult 
  to continue in and will wait out its 
  passing (or at least not make another 
  attempt that day). 
  Zeppelins are also vulnerable to 
  storms. A Zeppelin, however, can- 
  not easily land and wait out the 
  storm, since it is nearly as vulnerable 
  on the ground as in the air. To escape 
  damage while flying, roltthe pilot's 
  Zeppelin Piloting skill dice for a 
  Moderate task in a mild storm and 
  a Difficult task in a severe storm. If 
  secured at a normal landing site, no 
  damage will take place. If landed in 
  the open, make the skill roll anyway 
  but reduce the difficulty of the task 
  by one. If the task roll is failed, the 
  Zeppelin crash-lands and is damaged 
  beyond repair. 
  Gliders and aeroplanes avoid dam- 
  age by rolling the pilot's Aerial Flyer 
  Piloting skill dice for an Easy task 
  in a mild storm and a Moderate task 
  in a severe storm. If the task roll is 
  failed, the craft crash-lands and is 
  damaged beyond repair. Gliders and 
  aeroplanes on the ground are, for- 
  tunately, not damaged by storms to 
  any extent. 
  Hostile Encounters: Pirates, hos- 
  tile sky navies, and large flying ani- 
  mals are all possible hostile encoun- 
  ters in the air. These are covered in 
  the "Encounters" section of this 
  chapter. 
  ~. ~ ~ , ~,~ "l~ I ' ' 
  ~ ~
  ~
  ~
   
  j 
  GDW 
  
  120 )) ENCOUNTERS 
  ENCOUNTERS 
  MUCH OF the thrill characters 
  experience when they venture into 
  the unknown is due to the fact that 
  they do not know what they will en- 
  counter. The encounters in an adven- 
  ture have to be carefully balanced. 
  If there is nothing but random en- 
  counters generated from tables, the 
  landscape will eventually take on a 
  rather mathematical feel. "Let's go 
  over here, we only have two chances 
  in six of a..." On the other hand, re- 
  quiring the referee to make up every 
  encounter will soon overtax his imag- 
  ination, and encounters either will be 
  infrequent or will begin having a cer- 
  tain predictability about them. 
  What we try to do in Space: 1889 
  is chart a middle course. We provide 
  a number of encounter tables that 
  cover a wide variety of encounter 
  types and terrain types on several 
  worlds. These tables are intended to 
  be complete as presented, and thus 
  require no input on the referee's part 
  to make them work. However, the 
  referee is strongly encouraged to use 
  these tables as a starting point, not 
  a finished product. 
  / 
  L_: ' / 
  ,~ \ /~~ 
  i 
  REFEREE INPUT 
  HOW DOES the referee expand 
  upon these tables? There are three 
  main ways: altered encounters, man- 
  dated encounters, and invented 
  encounters. 
  Altered Encounters 
  ALTERED ENCOUNTERS are 
  modifications of those shown on the 
  table. Perhaps the players shot their 
  mouths off so much that twice the 
  normal numbers of bandits show up. 
  Perhaps the elector of Astrapsk is 
  personally leading a force of troops 
  in an area; you might roll for en- 
  counters normally, but have the elec- 
  tor be present with the first group of 
  soldiers you roll. 
  Altered encounters have several 
  very genuine advantages. First, they 
  are extremely easy to come up with, 
  and that's a virtue that cannot be 
  overemphasized. Let's face it. If you 
  are like 99 percent of all RPG 
  referees you have a limited amount 
  of time and energy that you can 
  spend getting ready, but you will 
  spend all of it every time, no matter 
  how easy or how hard the prepara- 
  tion, and no matter how much or 
  how little is done for you in advance. 
  That being the case, every easy en- 
  counter you come up with is that 
  much more time you'll spend on 
  something else, and that much more 
  detail there will be in your game. 
  A second advantage of altered en- 
  counters is that they can take the 
  routine out of routine encounters. 
  Here's a troop of Oenotrian cavalry 
  out patrolling the road, just like 
  every other troop of Oenotrian 
  cavalry you run into out patrolling 
  the road--or is it? Last bunch of 
  cavalry we ran into had Winchesters. 
  Hmmm. 
  Mandated Encounters 
  MANDATED 
  ENCOUNTERS 
  are also taken right off the encounter 
  tables, although sometimes you may 
  want to alter them a bit as well. 
  However, instead of rolling (or, bet- 
  ter yet, after rolling but regardless 
  of what you roll) you announce the 
  encounter. This type of encounter 
  can occur as a deliberate plot device 
  by you or, more commonly, in re- 
  sponse to the actions of your 
  characters. 
  Plot devices should be used spar- 
  ingly, but should definitely be used. 
  Remember that your characters want 
  danger and adventure, so giving 
  them some is certainly acceptable. 
  Just remember that they also want to 
  chart their own course. If you want 
  them to check out the beautiful city 
  ruins you've spent all week prepar- 
  ing, provide them with a rumor, or 
  a stolen map, or the whispered, dy- 
  ing words of desert~mountain~swamp 
  explorer, which tell of this exciting 
  and unknown find. That's your job. 
  But if they decide to go pirate 
  bashing instead, do not have them 
  jumped in an alley, tied up, thrown 
  in the hold of a ship, and then 
  dumped in the city, so there! 
  The actions of your characters 
  should often cause you to mandate 
  encounters. Did the players shoot 
  their mouths off in Umbra about how 
  much spice they were carrying? 
  Well, time for the bandits to put in 
  an appearance. If the players set out 
  to meet bandits, or pirates, or 
  something, don't stall the adventure 
  for half an hour just because you 
  never roll a 6 or whatever on the 
  right encounter table. This is the very 
  heart of role playing. It teaches the 
  players that wisdom is rewarded with 
  success and foolishness with setback. 
  But most importantly, it teaches them 
  that their actions in the game world 
  produce appropriate reactions, and 
  that above all else will make the 
  world real for them. 
  
  ENCOUNTERS 
  AND WEATHER,It 
  121 
  Invented Encounters 
  INVENTED ENCOUNTERS are 
  those completely made up by the 
  referee. These are absolutely nec- 
  essary in two cases: unusual en- 
  counters and natural finds. 
  Unusual encounters will happen 
  every adventure session, in all like- 
  lihood, and you won't have to spend 
  much time figuring them out. Are 
  they looking for the lost Prince? 
  That's odd; no "wandering lost 
  prince" on the encounter table. 
  Searching for the wreck of a Boreo- 
  syrtan kite carrying secret dispatches 
  to the German agents in Thoth? 
  Hmmm. No wrecked kite with secret 
  papers, either. These are usually ob- 
  vious sorts of things, and all you will 
  have to do is determine whether you 
  will mandate the encounter or make 
  it semirandom. Looking for the 
  prince, for example, would probably 
  be treated as a Tracking skill task, 
  while the kite might be specifically 
  placed by you in a map hex, and the 
  players would have to enter the hex, 
  and perhaps search if it was con- 
  cealed, to find it. 
  Natural finds are those placed by 
  you on the map so the players will 
  discover them as they explore. These 
  are things like spectacular vistas, an- 
  cient ruined cities, underground grot- 
  toes, liftwood groves (in the moun- 
  tains only, of course), and so forth. 
  No random table can do a very con- 
  vincing job of creating these, so this 
  part, at least, is completely up to 
  you. 
  ,..~,i.,~- 
  ~ 
  0 
  _ 
  ~.;5 .,~. "' ........ 
  RANDOM ENCOUNTERS 
  RANDOM ENCOUNTERS are 
  particularly 
  appropriate to the 
  unsettled wilderness regions of a 
  world. Once per day the referee 
  should roll a die to see if there is an 
  encounter. Separate encounter tables 
  are provided for the various types of 
  terrain found on Mars, Venus, and 
  Luna. Each table has the type of ter- 
  rain listed first, followed by an en- 
  counter number. If the referee rolls 
  the encounter number or less, there 
  is an encounter. Immediately under 
  this is a short table showing the 
  results of a second die roll and a cor- 
  responding encounter type. 
  The explanation paragraphs cover 
  each of the sentient encounters listed 
  on the tables and give the informa- 
  tion necessary to run the encounter. 
  This will include the number in the 
  party, how they are armed (if ap- 
  propriate), their NPC experience 
  level, and how they are likely to react 
  to the players. For animals, the 
  animal charts tell the number of 
  animals in the group, their speed, 
  their chance of attacking, their 
  wound capacity, their saving throw 
  modifier (when saving against a hit 
  inflicted on them), and the hit 
  number and wound value of their 
  weapon(s). If multiple weapons are 
  available, they may use all of them 
  at once unless otherwise noted. 
  Weather 
  WHENEVER A 6 is rolled for the 
  daily encounter, there is a change of 
  weather. On Mars, this means that 
  some sort of weather (other than 
  "clear and dry") takes place. On 
  Venus, it means that the current 
  weather condition changes. 
  Mars: Roll a die and consult the 
  Mars Weather Table (page 207). The 
  result is either "clouds" or "wind- 
  storm." The effect of clouds is that 
  of a storm for aerial travel. On the 
  ground the effects are purely visual, 
  except in the mountains or on the 
  polar icecap. In the mountains the 
  result is drizzle, while on the icecap 
  it is snow. A windstorm is a severe 
  storm for aerial travel. No land travel 
  is possible in a windstorm. 
  Venus: Roll a die. On a roll of 1-3, 
  the current weather level goes down 
  one level; on a 4-6 it goes up one 
  level. If it is already at the top or bot- 
  tom of the scale, then any weather 
  change result automatically moves it 
  one level in the opposite direction. 
  The six weather levels on Venus are 
  clear, overcast, mist, drizzle, rain, 
  and torrential rain. 
  Weather Effects: All weather 
  conditions have an effect on visibili- 
  ty, land travel, and a storm rating, 
  as shown on the Weather Effects Ta- 
  ble (page 207). Visibility will indi- 
  cate the maximum visibility possible 
  in the condition. Travel will either 
  indicate no effect, land travel speed 
  halved, or land travel not allowed. 
  Storm effects will either be storm or 
  S~WOr~ ~.tnrm 
  I.iLr W 
  
  122 )) EXPLORATION 
  EXPLORATION 
  EXPLORATION CONSISTS of 
  ~ 
  ~ .ii:~ 
  travelling through previously un- 
  ~ 
  . ~ ~ :  
  travelled wilderness, making notes as 
  r 
  -~ ~ 
  :~,~t '~i 
  to what you find there, and living to ~ 
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  tell about it. 
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  " : 
  eographic Society 
  The Royal Society (see sidebar) is at 
  Financing an Expedition 
  AN EXPEDITION for exploration 
  costs money--a whole lot of money. 
  Whether it is to cut its way through 
  the Congo rain forests or risk the 
  myriad perils of a walk in the red 
  deserts of the Martian hinterlands, it 
  needs cash. Gordon Laing's budget 
  for a crossing of the Sahara includ- 
  ed hefty sums for bribery and thefts 
  of his goods as well as more obvious 
  needs; as it was, he was killed by the 
  Tuareg anyway. Backing can come 
  from several sources: 
  H. M. Government: The govern- 
  ment might disburse funds for an 
  explorer who could make a case that 
  information of a strategically and po- 
  litically useful nature would be forth- 
  coming. The government is not like- 
  the height of its influence, and an- 
  nually selects a number of expedi- 
  tions to support with its money and 
  good wishes. For a fairly small par- 
  ty this is ideal, as the R.G.S. carries 
  a lot of "clout"--native princes 
  assuming it to be a branch of the 
  government--without any of the re- 
  strictions of working for H.M.G. In- 
  deed, on returning from a venture, 
  the acclamation of the Society can set 
  a man up for life, and certainly 
  guarantees success for his books and 
  lectures. Those who travel for the 
  Queen, in contrast, are generally for- 
  bidden to discuss their exploits at 
  all--hardly likely to please a voyager 
  just back from outer Pan-Aeria with 
  a tale to tell. 
  ly to trust random civilians to do its 
  work; a serving officer, however, 
  ~ 
  ~'~ 
  might persuade his superiors of the 
  .,~ ~ 
  benefits ofhis journeying and, ideal- 
  l. Q <~" ~ ~'~/(~j~ 
  ly, make them think they had devised 
  ~ ~ 
  ~ 1 ~  
  the plan themselves. An official 
  J.f, ~ 
  ~'..~ 
  blessing might bring not only a hand- 
  /~ J ~ 
  ~ . ~  
  some cash advance, equipment, sol- ~ff"-i ~'~ ~? 
  diers, and the support of Imperial ad-] i"~; ..... 
  ~ 
  q~--~l 
  ministrators, but the active assistance k~]l I/{-"~L~ 
  J 
  of local potentates anxious to curry '~ 1) 
  /~l~k 
  "k, 
  favor in the eyes of a power with big 
  \Y 
  J)# 
  \~ 
  guns and a long memory. 
  Private Sponsorship: Sponsorship 
  by a newspaper or trading company 
  offers not only ample resources at the 
  outset, but reward and possibly fame 
  at the end; the New York Herald 
  paid for Stanley to go in search of 
  Livingstone as part of a roving com- 
  mission which began with a journey 
  "to Jerusalem, Constantinople, the 
  Crimea, the Caspian Sea, through 
  Persia as far as India," and did the 
  same in 1883 when he led the party 
  to rescue the Welsh missionaries 
  from their High Martian captors in 
  the Astusapes. The disadvantage is 
  that official help is generally 
  withheld from such a private venture. 
  Public Subscription: This is a 
  slow, difficult process of lecturing 
  and fund raising available only to 
  those with a firm reputation (high 
  renown) and a goal that would seize 
  the public imagination. The advan- 
  tage to it is that the explorer has a 
  free hand and an audience to cheer 
  him on, or demand help for him if 
  he falls victim to mischief. 
  
  EXPLORATION[[ 123 
  THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHIC 
  SOCIETY 
  IN 1859 two organizations, the Geographical Society of London and 
  the Raleigh Travellers' Club, combined to form the Royal Geographic 
  Society; shortly afterward the African Association, founded in 1788, 
  also joined to make the R.G.S. the most important sponsoring body 
  in the sphere of exploration. Its object was "to advance geographical 
  knowledge through lectures and publications, through its library and 
  public map room, and through instruction in surveying and support of 
  exploration and research." 
  The society is governed by an annually elected council served by a 
  permanent staff; it is part of the British Association for the Advance- 
  ment of Science (founded 1834), "Section E" to be exact, and since 
  the 1860s its public meetings have been "standing-room-only" affairs. 
  There is fierce competition for R.G.S. sponsorship of expeditions. Many 
  of the most famous British explorers of the 19th century--Franklin in 
  the Arctic, Schomburg in South America, Livingstone, Burton, and 
  Speke in Africa--had Society backing, while the works of the eccen- 
  tric German D. Leitner on the language and culture of the Dards of 
  Dardistan in the Hindu Kush were faithfully printed under the R.G.S. 
  banner, secure in the knowledge that their scientific importance far out- 
  weighed their astounding obscurity. 
  The Society gives two gold medals each year, the "Founder's" and 
  the "Patron's," of equal merit and value. These are, in many ways, 
  the greatest accolades of the world of exploration; even men more con- 
  cerned with paying off debts from a completed journey and raising funds 
  for the next recognize the value of an R.G.S. award, for it brings public 
  acclaim, excellent book sales, and the prospect of substantial private 
  donations; a knighthood, too, might follow. In 1888 the medals were 
  presented to Clements Robert Markham for his Polar work, and to a 
  German, Leutnant von Wissmann, for exploration in Central Africa. 
  In 1889 it was clear that Arthur Carey was due recognition for his travels 
  in Sinkiang, but the second recipient was a toss-up between Dr. Radde, 
  also an "Inner Asia" man, and Dr. Peel for his pioneering survey of 
  the Shistomik Mountains. 
  BECOMING LOST 
  EACH DAY that a 5 is rolled for 
  an encounter, the party may become 
  lost. The referee secretly rolls against 
  the Wilderness Travel (mapping) 
  skill of the party's guide or leader for 
  them to avoid becoming lost. If the 
  party is lost, they either do not move 
  at all or move one hex in a random 
  direction, at the referee's discretion. 
  They are not told that they are lost. 
  In subsequent days they move 
  normally. 
  Normal compasses do not work on 
  Venus, the nearly continuous mist 
  and rainfall make landmarks almost 
  always invisible, and neither the Sun 
  nor stars are available for navigation. 
  It is, therefore, extremely easy to get 
  very, very lost. There is a chance of 
  getting lost every time a 4 or 5 is 
  roiled for an encounter. Each time 
  that the party actually gets lost the 
  referee changes their direction of 
  march randomly but does not tell 
  them. This remains their new march 
  direction from then on. If the party 
  has an inertial compass, there is still 
  a chance of getting lost each time a 
  4 or 5 is rolled, but the effects of be- 
  ing lost are the normal ones, not the 
  special Venus effects. 
  GDW 
  
  124 ))SPACE TRAVEL 
  L- 
  t" 
  
  SPACE TRAVELI( 125 
  SPACE TRAVEL 
  The Ether 
  THE ETHER is the substance that 
  fills all space, even the volume also 
  filled by ordinary matter. Ether is the 
  medium through which a variety of 
  forces are transmitted through space, 
  just as air is the medium through 
  which sound travels to our ears. 
  A vacuum insulates against heat or 
  cold because there is no way for them 
  to jump across the intervening space. 
  Light and gravity can be felt despite 
  the presence of the vacuum of outer 
  space precisely because the ether is 
  present (and can transmit those 
  energies) even in a vacuum. 
  Without the ether, gravity would 
  be unable to maintain the mutual at- 
  traction of bodies at a distance and 
  the entire Solar System would fly 
  apart. Without the ether, light could 
  not travel through space, and we 
  would not be able to see the stars. 
  Travel Through The Ether 
  ONCE THOMAS EDISON per- 
  fected the ether flyer prototype in 
  1868, humanity was ready to embark 
  on this new type of voyage and sail 
  in the totally alien ocean of the ether. 
  And although the ether has an ana- 
  logue in the oceans of Earth, there 
  are also profound differences. 
  The first explorations of space 
  brought the full force of Victorian 
  science to bear on unique problems 
  heretofore never encountered in the 
  / 
  history of Earth. They included: 
  �9 Computing planetary orbital 
  positions, 
  �9 Sealing ether flyer hulls against 
  vacuum, 
  �9 Protecting windows against 
  meteor strikes, 
  �9 Providing a power source 
  which could work without air, and 
  �9 Developing methods of enter- 
  ing and leaving atmospheres. 
  The challenges that faced the an- 
  cient mariners were nothing to those 
  that faced the Victorian astronauts. 
  But the heroism and sacrifice of the 
  early pioneers cleared the way for an 
  entire fleet of modern spacecraft, and 
  ether flyers today range the entire 
  Solar System. 
  GDW 
  
  126 }) THE ETHER 
  THE HISTORY OF 
  THE ETHER THEORY 
  UNTIL ABOUT 1600, scientists' 
  understanding of the world was 
  rudimentary and clouded. They 
  thought of light as small particles of 
  energy spewed forth from a flame or 
  a star; they had no conception of 
  gravity at all. A few ancient philo- 
  sophers had written of an intangible 
  substance that propelled the planets 
  in their orbits and created the domes 
  of the heavens, and had even used the 
  term "ether" to describe that sub- 
  stance: But science had not yet 
  reached the point where scientists 
  could understand and experiment for 
  accurate results. 
  First Insights into the Ether: In 
  1638, Rene Descartes proposed the 
  idea of one all-pervasive ether. He 
  reasoned that light was not a parti- 
  cle, but a pressure or a wave that 
  passed outward from a source. The 
  Sun shines on the Earth, and for that 
  warmth and light to pass from the 
  Sun to the Earth, it must have a 
  medium (the ether) through which it 
  is transmitted instantaneously. We 
  see the Sun in its brilliance because 
  the energy of the Sun presses so ter- 
  ribly heavily on the eye of the view- 
  er. 
  Robert Hooke wrote in 1667 that 
  if light was a vibrating motion of the 
  ether rather than a direct pressure, 
  it was possible to explain color as dif- 
  ferent rates of vibration. In 1675, 
  observations of the eclipses of Ju- 
  piter's moons demonstrated that light 
  was not instantaneous. Although both 
  of these comments refmed Descartes' 
  theory, it remained fundamentally 
  sound. 
  Sir Isaac Newton (1672) addressed 
  the entire Ether Theory and con- 
  sidered several alternate explanations 
  but was not convinced by any of 
  them. Among other things, he the- 
  orized that light consisted of particles 
  which travelled through the ether. 
  His famous Inverse SquareLaw was 
  phrased to explain:some effects of the 
  ether, and his investigations into 
  gravity produced the invention of the 
  calculus. While Newton himself 
  never published a definitive study of 
  gravity and the ether, many of 
  Newton's followers were convinced 
  that gravity, like light, was transmit- 
  ted by the ether. 
  The 18th Century: Intensive phi- 
  losophical investigations into the 
  nature of light and the ether produced 
  several detours on the road to truth. 
  Thomas Melville hypothesized that 
  colors were determined by the velo- 
  city of light particles. When obser- 
  vations showed that the satellites of 
  Jupiter did not change color as they 
  wheeled in their orbits, the hypothe- 
  sis was dropped. Other experiments 
  showed that the velocity of light ap- 
  peared to be independent of its 
  source. While this was understand- 
  able for wave phenomena, it is less 
  comprehensible if light is composed 
  of particles. By the end of the 1700s, 
  Newton's particle interpretation of 
  light was disproven, and the under- 
  standing of light moving through the 
  ether as waves gained new ground. 
  The 19th Century: In 1800, 
  Thomas Young explained light ac- 
  tivity within thin soap bubble films 
  in terms of the wave theory of light. 
  Colors on the thin films were related 
  to wavelengths of the light involved; 
  the relationship proved that light had 
  a wavelength and thus had to be a 
  wave phenomenon. By 1815, Augus- 
  tin Fresnel successfully described the 
  mechanisms of light diffraction and 
  interference using the wave theory of 
  light. By 1816, Young and Fresnel 
  had together produced an explanation 
  of light as a transverse wave in the 
  ether; it was the inevitable triumph 
  of the wave theory of light over the 
  ancient particle theory. 
  Originally, scientists thought of the 
  ether as a tenuous fluid, far less 
  palpable than air. Young, however, 
  knew that transverse waves required 
  a rigidity that a fluid cannot exhibit; 
  he instead proposed that the ether 
  was a solid--a rigid solid which 
  could transmit the transverse waves 
  that were light, gravity, electricity, 
  and magnetism. It soon became clear 
  that the ether was a remarkable sub- 
  stance unlike ordinary matter. It was 
  rigid, yet intangible; strong, yet ten- 
  uous. 
  Theorists often concentrated on a 
  single type of energy: light, mag- 
  netism, electricity, or gravity. Their 
  writings did not make clear whether 
  they were hypothesizing an ether for 
  each energy type, or one grand ether 
  through which all energy flowed. In 
  1820, Hans Oersted discovered that 
  an electric current could produce a 
  magnetic field. In 1832, Faraday and 
  Henry produced electricity from a 
  changing magnetic force. The fact 
  that electricity could produce light 
  was rudimentary. The first steps 
  were being taken to establish the 
  facts about a single grand ether 
  which pervaded the universe. 
  In 1856, James Maxwell demon- 
  strated that all electromagnetic and 
  optical phenomena were explainable 
  in terms of stresses in the one ether. 
  Moreau's Etheric Investigations: 
  In 1860, Etienne Moreau hypothe- 
  sized that the ether, like the matter 
  and energy of the universe, was not 
  evenly distributed. If it was instead 
  
  THE ETHER[( 127 
  affected by its interaction with mat- 
  ter, it might be distributed in vor- 
  tices, thin patches, and even com- 
  pacted clumps. 
  Moreau also theorized that the in- 
  teraction of matter, energy, and ether 
  indicated that it was possible for each 
  to be used to manipulate the other. 
  Just as matter could be burned to re- 
  lease energy, and energy expended 
  to move matter, so could matter be 
  used to grip or grasp the ether, and 
  energy used to manipulate it. 
  EXPLOITING THE ETHER 
  IT FELL to the practical imagina- 
  tion of Thomas Edison to properly 
  explain and exploit the ether. En- 
  thralled by Moreau's theories, he 
  entered into a collaboration with the 
  man and undertook the construction 
  of a prototype device which could 
  manipulate the ether. 
  When his first prototype did not 
  work, he communicated his dilem- 
  ma to Moreau, who suggested that 
  perhaps the atmosphere was interfer- 
  ing with the device. Tests with small 
  models showed that the device would 
  operate properly at an altitude of 
  24,000 feet or higher. 
  THE ETHERIC OCEAN 
  THE THEORY and the reality of 
  the ether are as different as labora- 
  tory-distilled water and oceans. The- 
  orists worked to define what the ether 
  was and how~ it interacted with 
  energy and matter; practical explor- 
  ers discovered how to use it, mani- 
  pulate it, and travel through it. A 
  simple analogy helps understand the 
  etheric ocean by comparing it to an 
  Earthly ocean. There are waves and 
  turbulence in the ether just as there 
  are waves and turbulence in the 
  ocean. 
  The Sun: The greatest disruption 
  in the ether is caused by the Sun. As 
  the largest concentration of matter in 
  the Solar System, it has the greatest 
  effect on the ether. This solar disrup- 
  tion would remain in the immediate 
  neighborhood of the Sun were it not 
  for the solar rotation: As the Sun 
  spins on its axis, it forces its etheric 
  disruption outward in an ever- 
  widening spiral. Solar turbulence is 
  relatively uncomplicated; it is only 
  when this turbulence is further dis- 
  turbed that it becomes a danger. 
  The Planets: As the planets move 
  in their orbits around the Sun, they 
  cut across the lines of solar tur- 
  bulence in the ether. Theresult is ed- 
  dies and vortices invisible to the eye 
  but dangerous to any etheric mecha- 
  nism. In addition, the rotation of 
  each planet itself creates additional 
  disruptions in the ether. 
  The planetary eddies and vortices 
  follow in the wake of each planet and 
  are carried outward along with the 
  solar turbulence. 
  Mercury has an influence on the 
  ether far greater than its matter 
  would imply. The planet closely or- 
  bits the Sun at high speed; its plane- 
  tary disruptions are implanted in the 
  ether early and ride outward along 
  with the solar turbulence. Moreover, 
  because Mercury orbits the Sun once 
  every three months, Mercuric tur- 
  bulence spreads outward throughout 
  the entire Solar System on a constant, 
  repeating basis. 
  The other planets contribute their 
  own turbulence to the ether. Each 
  disturbance is carried outward along 
  with the solar disruptions. Local 
  storms are created as various plane- 
  tary disturbances meet and build, and 
  turbulence in the ether becomes ex- 
  tremely complex. 
  Navigating Through The Ether: 
  Etheric navigators must have both a 
  general and a specific understanding 
  of the ether and its disturbances. 
  A general knowledge of the ether 
  tells the navigator what kind of 
  disturbances to expect in what parts 
  of the Solar System. The navigator's 
  tools are the orrery (a mechanical 
  analogue of the Solar System which 
  shows specific planetary positions 
  and relationships) and the astrolabe 
  (which precisely measures star and 
  planet positions). A properly trained 
  navigator knows to avoid the lee of 
  planets (and the turbulence in their 
  wake), can predict the convergence 
  of planetary turbulences based on a 
  knowledge of their orbits, and under- 
  stands the conditions that create vor- 
  tices and eddies. 
  But experienced pilots also have a 
  practical understanding of the ether 
  gained from long experience. They 
  know that a certain kind of hull vi- 
  bration signals the approach of a 
  planet; that another type of vibration 
  warns of a nearby vortex or eddy; 
  that a particular feel to the etheric 
  mechanism indicates a region of 
  tenuous ether. 
  GDW 
  
  128  )THE SOLAR SYSTEM 
  THE SOLAR SYSTEM 
  THE SOLAR SYSTEM consists 
  of the Sun and all its orbiting planets 
  and satellites. These bodies are 
  generally divided into the Inner (or 
  Cisasteroidal) Solar System and the 
  Outer (or Transasteroidal) Solar 
  System. However, the four trans- 
  astroidal worlds (Jupiter, Saturn, 
  Neptune, and Uranus) are too cold 
  and distant to have life and are 
  beyond the current radius of action 
  of solar boiler-powered ships, and 
  thus are of little concern. It is the in- 
  ner, cisastroidal worlds of Mercury, 
  Mars, Venus, and Earth that are of 
  genuine interest. 
  When the Solar System formed, 
  the planets cooled out of the primor- 
  dial stellar matter individually at in- 
  tervals about 150 million years apart. 
  Consequently, the planets' geological 
  time periods are also about 150 mil- 
  lion years apart. The first of the in- 
  ner planets to coalesce and solidify 
  was Vulcan (now the Asteroid Belt). 
  Following in succession were Mars, 
  Earth, Venus, and finally Mercury. 
  For the Earth scientist, this rela- 
  tionship provides valuable informa- 
  tion about the history and the future 
  of the Earth. Mars shows what the 
  Earth will probably be like in 150 
  million years, while the shattered 
  Vulcan foretells the ultimate fate of 
  all of the inner planets. Venus shows 
  what the Earth was like 150 million 
  years ago, during the age of the 
  dinosaurs, and Mercury gives hints 
  of what the distant prehistoric past 
  resembled. 
  �9 
   'ar 5 
  ASTERO1DAL 
  SOLAR 
  r 
  SYSTEM 
  ~,~< 
  �9 
  .......~-.. 
  THE INNER PLANETS 
  THE INNER PLANETS include 
  Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and 
  the Asteroid Belt. The accompany- 
  ing chart lists pertinent physical data 
  concerning them. 
  Earth 
  �9 
  Mercury 
  THE INNERMOST planet is Mer- 
  cury. One face of the planet is con- 
  stantly locked toward the Sun and, 
  as a result, is a broiling desert; the 
  other hemisphere of Mercury eter- 
  nally faces the depths of space and 
  is locked in perpetual winter. Be- 
  tween these two extremes is the twi- 
  light zone of Mercury--a band of 
  temperate climate which circles the 
  entire planet. 
  The twilight zone of Mercury is 
  trapped between two extremes. To 
  one side, perpetual dusk, night, and 
  cold; to the other, perpetual dawn, 
  day, and heat. The Sun sets eternal- 
  ly in the twilight zone, yet never 
  moves completely below the horizon. 
  The Mercurian twilight zone is a 
  band about 100 miles wide encom- 
  passing a many-channeled river 
  which makes its way entirely around 
  the planet. Deep river valleys lined 
  with rocky cliffs sport exotic plant 
  life and occasional prehistoric shelled 
  creatures just beginning to emerge 
  from the water onto land. Small seas 
  are scattered throughout the zone. To 
  one side lies a vast desert, growing 
  hotter and hotter as the Sun climbs 
  higher in the sky. To the other side 
  is a vast icecap in a domain never 
  touched by sunlight. 
  Venus 
  Mercury ,~y 
  �9 
  �9 
  Sun 
  Venus 
  THE SECOND planet of the Solar 
  System is Venus. Beneath its con- 
  stant shroud of clouds, Venus is a 
  swamp world drenched with nearly 
  continuous rainfall and withering 
  heat. 
  Venus is almost everywhere 
  covered with water, but the average 
  depth is less than 10 feet. The world- 
  swamp is appropriate for this planet, 
  for it is now in the Mesozoic Age of 
  dinosaurs, and vast areas are the do- 
  main of lumbering reptiles. 
  Earth 
  THE EARTH, as the original 
  cradle of humanity, is the standard 
  against which all other worlds are 
  judged. It has the greatest variety of 
  life and possesses the richest of re- 
  sources. 
  Mars 
  THE PLANET next outward from 
  the Earth is Mars. Mars is an arid 
  planet which long ago lost the water 
  of its seas to the iron oxides of its 
  desert sands and the ice of its polar 
  glaciers. 
  Ancient civilizations dug vast net- 
  works of canals to carry what water 
  there was to the drying, dying fields 
  and cities. But today, even after her- 
  culean efforts, Mars is a dying plan- 
  et. 
  One mystery which continues to 
  confound scientists is why the sur- 
  face gravity of Mars is so close to 
  that of the Earth and Venus, both of 
  which are considerably larger. While 
  the orbital period of Mars indicates 
  that it is indeed denser than its two 
  sunward companions, it is not suffi- 
  ciently so to account for this dis- 
  crepancy. 
  
  THE SOLAR SYSTEMI( 129 
  Luna 
  OF ALL the inner planets, only 
  Earth has a companion of any signifi- 
  cant size: the Moon, known more 
  properly by its astronomical name, 
  Luna. 
  Luna is 2160 miles in diameter 
  (3392 miles in circumference). Sur- 
  face gravity is only 16 percent that 
  of Earth. Luna has no surface at- 
  mosphere and no surface water, two 
  aspects which make it extremely in- 
  hospitable to visitors and difficult to 
  explore without specialized equip- 
  ment. Occasional expeditions on the 
  Lunar surface have, however, dis- 
  covered numerous entrances to sub- 
  terranean (or, more properly, sub- 
  Lunar) grottoes and caverns, and 
  some evidence of habitation. Initial 
  forays into the grottoes discovered 
  that within a mile below the surface 
  of the world the gravity had risen 
  sharply, to an estimated 30-percent 
  of that of Earth, and that traces of at- 
  mosphere are present. Deeper still, 
  the honeycombing caverns of the 
  Moon are inhabited by a few vari- 
  eties of animals and some fungus-like 
  plants. 
  The Asteroids 
  WHAT WAS once a large planet, 
  named Vulcan by astronomer-his- 
  torians, orbited the Sun at a distance 
  of 257 million miles. More than 300 
  million years ago, the world explod- 
  ed as a natural consequence of its 
  age, to create a band of rocky aster- 
  oids that today circle the Sun in an 
  otherwise vacant orbit. 
  The individual asteroids are gath- 
  ered in a swarm of chunks revealing 
  a cross-section of the shattered 
  world. Most of the chunks are simply 
  rock or iron or sandstone. Some, 
  however, are surface pieces with 
  evidence of long-lost, long-extinct 
  Vulcanian races, structures, and arti- 
  facts. 
  F 
  ?, 
  Name 
  Orbit 
  THE INNER WORLDS 
  (CISASTEROIDAL) 
  Day 
  Year Diameter 
  Mercury 
  36 
  -- 
  88 
  3030 
  Venus 
  67 
  23 
  248 
  7526 
  Earth 
  93 
  24 
  365 
  7927 
  Luna 
  0.3* 28** 
  365 
  2160 
  Mars 
  141 
  24 
  687 
  4200 
  Circum. 
  4760 
  11,821 
  12,457 
  3392 
  6597 
  Gravity 
  40% 
  100% 
  100% 
  16% 
  90% 
  THE OUTER WORLDS 
  (TRANSASTEROIDAL) 
  Name 
  Orbit 
  Jupiter 
  480 
  Saturn 
  900 
  Uranus 
  1800 
  Neptune 
  2800 
  Notes: Orbit is in millions of miles from the Sun, except that Luna's 
  orbit (*) is measured from the Earth. Lengths of days are given in hours 
  except that Luna's day (**) is 28 Earth days long. Mercury, since it 
  is gravitationally locked facing the Sun, has no days. Years are given 
  in Earth days. Diameter and circumference are given in miles. Gravity 
  is the gravity at the surface of the planet as a percentage of that found 
  on the Earth. 
  GDW 
  
  130 ))INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL 
  INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL 
  TRAVEL BETWEEN the planets, 
  while not yet commonplace, has 
  taken place since Edison and Arm- 
  strong first journeyed to Mars in 
  1870. Man now stands poised on the 
  brink of his third decade of in- 
  terplanetary travel. 
  ETHER FLYERS 
  ALL TRAVEL between worlds 
  takes place in interplanetary ether 
  flyers. While some small, specialized 
  craft plying the (comparatively) short 
  distance between the Earth and Luna 
  use battery power, all genuine in- 
  terplanetary craft are powered by 
  solar boilers. These devices, also the 
  product of Edison's fertile mind, 
  utilize a large concave mirror to 
  focus the Sun's rays on a water 
  chamber, thus bringing the water to 
  a boil and providing steam power for 
  the ship. 
  As you venture further from the 
  Sun, the powers of its rays decrease, 
  and eventually are insufficient to 
  bring the boiler water to a boil. The 
  boilers with which most ships are 
  equipped are ineffective beyond 300 
  million miles from the Sun, although 
  this range is more than adequate to 
  reach the Asteroid Belt. The dif- 
  ficulties associated with large con- 
  tinuous pours of molten glass, and 
  uneven cooling of large lenses, im- 
  pose limitations on the ability to im- 
  prove on this performance signifi- 
  cantly. Nevertheless the struggle 
  continues, and recently the H.M.S. 
  Theseus, fitted out with a Swiss 
  Guildemarque lens in a new ex- 
  perimental gimbal mounting, man- 
  aged to reach a distance from the Sun 
  slightly in excess of 400 million 
  miles before boiler shutdown forced 
  the craft to switch to battery power 
  and retire. This is, of course, still 
  well short of the range needed to in- 
  vestigate even Jupiter, by far the 
  closest of the transastroidal worlds. 
  DISTANCES 
  BETWEEN PLANETS 
  AS SHIPS are solar-powered, the 
  principal limitation on their range, 
  aside from an absolute limit on how 
  far they can venture from the Sun, 
  is how much food they carry. The 
  principal issue in interplanetary trav- 
  el, then, is how long the trip will 
  take, which is a function of distance 
  between the worlds and the speed of 
  the spacecraft. 
  The description of the Solar Sys- 
  tem lists the distance from the Sun 
  of the various planets, but since the 
  planets travel independently in dif- 
  ferent orbits around the Sun, their 
  relationships with each other are con- 
  stantly changing. On those rare oc- 
  casions in which two planets are on 
  opposite sides of the Sun they are at 
  their furthest distance, which can be 
  calculated by adding together the 
  distances from the Sun of the two 
  planets. When they are both on the 
  same side of the Sun and at closest 
  approach, the distance is calculated 
  by subtracting the smaller of the two 
  distances from the Sun from the 
  larger. 
  At most times, however, the 
  planets will be at irregular points 
  along their orbits. The average dis- 
  tance between two worlds is calcu- 
  lated by averaging the closest ap- 
  proach and the furthest approach. 
  This calculation is not strictly 
  necessary, because it also happens 
  that the average distance between any 
  two planets is equal to the distance 
  from the Sun of the farthest of the 
  two planets. For example, the aver- 
  age distances between Mercury and 
  Mars, Venus and Mars, and Earth 
  and Mars are all 141 million miles. 
  Although the average distance be- 
  tween Mercury, Venus, and Earth on 
  one hand and Mars on the other is 
  always the distance from Mars to the 
  Sun, the closer the orbits of the 
  worlds are, the greater the possible 
  variation in difference. The dif- 
  ference between Mercury's closest 
  and farthest approach to Mars is 72 
  million miles, while the Earth, Mars' 
  closest neighbor in the Solar System, 
  has an approach difference between 
  closest and farthest of 186 million 
  miles. The approach difference can 
  be calculated b,y subtracting the 
  closest approach from the farthest ap- 
  proach, but this calculation is also 
  unnecessary as the difference be- 
  tween closest and farthest approach 
  is always twice the distance from the 
  Sun of the closer of the two planets. 
  
  INTERPLANETARY TRAVEL{t 131 
  CHARTING A COURSE 
  THE PILOT of a ship, or some 
  other qualified individual, must chart 
  a course to the destination planet for 
  an ether flyer. A character's skill in 
  Astronomy determines how efficient- 
  ly he will be able to chart a short in- 
  tercept course to a world. 
  To chart a course, the person 
  charting the course rolls four dice. 
  He then subtracts his Astronomy skill 
  from the die roll and makes any al- 
  lowed subtractions due to navigation- 
  al aids. These are listed on the Navi- 
  gation Aids Chart. He multiplies the 
  result by five percent of the separa- 
  tion difference between his current 
  location and his destination and then 
  adds this amount to (or, if it is a 
  negative number, subtracts it from) 
  the average separation of the two 
  worlds. Note that 5 percent of the 
  separation distance is always 10 per- 
  cent of the orbit distance of the 
  closest planet. 
  For example, Smedhurst wishes to 
  chart a course from Venus to Mars. 
  He consults the listing of the inner 
  planets of the Solar System and notes 
  that these two worlds have an aver- 
  age separation of 141 million miles 
  (the orbit of Mars) and a 5-percent 
  separation difference of 6.7 million 
  miles (10 percent of Venus' orbit). 
  Smedhurst has an Astronomy skill of 
  3 and has equipped his ether flyer 
  with a telescope (- 1) and an orrery 
  (-1). He rolls a 2, 3, 4, and 5 on 
  his four dice for a total of 14 and sub- 
  tracts 5 from that for his skill and 
  navigational aids. The result is 9. He 
  multiplies this by the 5-percent sep- 
  aration distance (9 • 
  =60.3) and 
  adds it to the average distance (141) 
  for a total course length of 201.3 
  million miles. 
  LENGTH OF THE VOYAGE 
  ONCE THE course has been 
  charted, it is easy to determine the 
  length of time spent on the voyage. 
  All interplanetary ether flyers have 
  their speed expressed in millions of 
  miles per day, while all courses are 
  expressed in millions of miles. Di- 
  vide the course length by the speed 
  of the ether flyer to determine the 
  length of the voyage in days. 
  Smedhurst, for example, has ob- 
  tained an ether flyer with a speed of 
  3.2 for his trip from Venus to Mars. 
  He divides the course length (201.3) 
  by the speed and obtains a result of 
  62.9, so his trip from Venus to Mars 
  will take approximately 63 days. 
  BATTERIES 
  EMERGENCY POWER batteries 
  can be installed to provide power in 
  the event of a boiler malfunction. 
  Batteries are defined by their power 
  level (which is used the same way as 
  the power level of a solar boiler) and 
  their endurance, which is the number 
  of days that the batteries will func- 
  tion at full power. At the end of that 
  time they continue to function, but 
  at one power level lower, and do so 
  for a number of days equal to the en- 
  durance again. At the end of that time 
  they are reduced one more level. 
  This continues until the power level 
  is reduced to zero. 
  Multiply the battery power value 
  times the battery endurance and 
  divide by the power value of the 
  recharging power plant to determine 
  the recharge time in days. If a bat- 
  tery is only partially drained, use the 
  drained portion of power value to 
  determine recharge needs. However, 
  any charge off of a power level re- 
  quires the recharging of that full 
  ~" 
  NAVIGATION 
  Die 
  AIDS ~ 
  Device 
  Mod 
  Orrery 
  - 1 
  Analytical Engine 
  - 1 
  Astrogation Computer* 
  -4 
  Telescope 
  - 1 
  Improved Telescope ** 
  - 2 
  Notes: The astrogation com- 
  puter (*) is used instead of the or- 
  rery and the analytical engine, 
  not in addition to them. The im- 
  proved telescope (**) is used in 
  place of the regular telescope. All 
  other devices may be used togeth- 
  er and their modifiers added. 
  level. For example, a battery with a 
  power value of 3 which had been 
  reduced to level 2 and had one or 
  more days of additional drain on it 
  would have to recharge two full 
  levels of power, not just one. 
  f 
  PROVISIONS ~ 
  "" FOOD FOR the passengers 
  and crew is required on any trip. 
  Each passenger and crewman 
  eats two pounds (weight) of food 
  per day. Preserved food costs I s 
  per pound (weight). If a player 
  has invented his own process for 
  preserving food, he still must ob- 
  tain the foodstuffs and supervise 
  its preparation. While it still costs 
  ls per pound (weight), passen- 
  gers and crew ,will only require 
  one pound (weight) per day. If a 
  player has invented concentrated 
  food pills, they are of negligible 
  weight but cost 3s per day per 
  passenger and crewman. 
  GDW 
  
  132 ?) HAZARDS OF SPACE TRAVEL 
  HAZARDS OF SPACE TRAVEL 
  THE TWO HAZARDS to space 
  travel are ether turbulence and 
  meteor showers. Either of these may 
  cause serious damage to an ether 
  flyer. 
  R 
  ~V'TURB ULEN C E/METEO 
  ~ 
  �9 ' 
  DAMAGE 
  " 
  71: 
  Die 
  Damage 
  1-2 
  Injury 
  3-5 
  Minor 
  6-7 
  Major 
  Ether Turbulence: Each time that 
  an ether flyer crosses an orbit trace, 
  it passes through an area of ether tur- 
  bulence. To determine the number of 
  orbit traces crossed, first determine 
  the length of the voyage. If it is equal 
  to or less than the average separation 
  of the two worlds, count the number 
  of orbits from one world to the other, 
  including both the starting world's 
  orbit and the destination world's or- 
  bit. A voyage from Venus to Mars, 
  for example, would cross three or- 
  bit traces (those of Venus, Earth, and 
  Mars). If the voyage is greater than 
  the average separation, then count 
  orbits from the origin planet inward 
  to the Sun and then back out to the 
  destination planet, again counting the 
  orbits of both the origin and destina- 
  tion worlds. The voyage from Venus 
  to Mars in this case would cross six 
  orbit traces (those of Venus, Mer- 
  cury, Mercury again, Venus again, 
  Earth, and Mars). 
  The orbit traces should be divid- 
  ed roughly evenly throughout the 
  voyage. If the craft suffers major 
  damage, it will be important to know 
  how much time in the voyage re- 
  mains. 
  When a vessel crosses an orbit 
  trace, the crew rolls skill dice for a 
  Difficult task to avoid turbulence 
  damage. The number of dice rolled 
  is equal to the sum of the pilot's Pilot 
  skill and the navigator's Astronomy 
  skill. If the flyer has an etherometer, 
  its reliability rating is used as an ad- 
  dition to the skill die roll. 
  Turbulence Damage: If the vessel 
  suffers turbulence damage, roll a die 
  on the Turbulence/Meteor Damage 
  Table to determine the exact nature 
  of the damage. Three types of dam- 
  age are possible: injury, minor dam- 
  age, and major damage. 
  Injury indicates that a member of 
  the crew has been injured. This may 
  be due to him losing his balance or, 
  more likely, to some internal com- 
  ponent of the flyer falling on him. In 
  either case, the character suffers one 
  die roll worth of wounds and will be 
  unconscious for that number of days. 
  After regaining consciousness he will 
  recover from the effects of the 
  wounds normally. 
  Minor Damage indicates that the 
  ship is damaged but that the crew can 
  repair it. The number that the above 
  task roll was missed by is the number 
  of days it will take the crew to repair 
  the damage before resuming the 
  journey. 
  
  \ 
  [~ 
  "~,-~~ 
  COMMERICAL PASSAGE(( 133 
  Major Damage indicates some ma- 
  jor malfunction to the craft which 
  cannot be repaired until the craft 
  lands. The remaining length of time 
  of the voyage is increased by half. 
  If this will exhaust the ship's food 
  supplies, the referee should provide 
  some alternative destination where 
  repairs can be made and additional 
  food brought on board. 
  I 
  Meteor Shower: Meteor showers 
  are randomly occurring events. The 
  referee will roll a die once during 
  each voyage at any time he wishes. 
  On a 5 or 6 the vessel encounters a 
  meteor shower. The pilot of the 
  vessel must roll Pilot skill dice for 
  a Moderate task to avoid damage. If 
  the craft suffers damage, roll on the 
  Turbulence/Meteor Damage Table 
  but add 1 to the die roll. 
  BOOKING PASSAGE 
  IT IS always possible that the 
  players will not have an ether flyer 
  of their own, and thus will have to 
  obtain passage on a commercial 
  vessel. Commercial vessels do make 
  regular runs to and from Mars and 
  Venus. There are no regular runs to 
  Luna, Mercury, or the asteroids. 
  Both passenger and cargo vessels 
  make the Mars run, while the Venus 
  run consists entirely of cargo vessels 
  with a few staterooms available for 
  passengers. The difference is one of 
  speed and price. The length of the 
  voyage is calculated normally, as- 
  i ~.~"~ COMMERCIAL "~'~ 
  '" 
  SPACE TRAVEL 
  Vessel 
  Speed Price 
  Liner 
  2.5 
  s 
  Cargo 
  2.0 
  s 
  suming a navigator with an Astron- 
  omy skill of 6 (including navigational 
  aids modifiers). The time taken is 
  then determined by the speed of the 
  ship, as shown on the Commercial 
  Space Travel Table. The price of a 
  trip is constant and based on the type 
  of interplanetary vessel, not the 
  length of the trip. 
  ~RPLANETARY PASSENGER LINER 
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  134 ~) LUNA 
  FC 
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  LUNA 
  135 
  LUNA 
  ALL INFORMATION on this 
  page is general background informa- 
  tion available to the players. The rest 
  of this chapter constitutes an in- 
  troductory adventure, and informa- 
  tion in it should be made available 
  to the players only as needed. 
  The Earth's nearest neighbor, 
  circling resolutely a mere 300,000 
  miles away, has to date been far 
  more elusive than the much more 
  remote worlds of Venus and Mars. 
  Ethereal navigators have been put to 
  the test merely setting their vessels 
  down on a world with no atmos- 
  phere, and every indication is that 
  Luna has no particular wealth or 
  prospects to offer the ambitious 
  Earthmen buzzing past in favor of 
  richer worlds. Telescopic observa- 
  tions from the Earth have been con- 
  firmed by firsthand examination of 
  the facts: Luna is a barren world 
  without atmosphere or water, trod 
  upon for the first time by scientists 
  wishing to unlock the doors of know- 
  ledge with Edison's remarkable key. 
  Specifically, Luna is a ball of rock 
  2160 miles in diameter with a sur- 
  face area of 14.5 million square 
  miles, approximately equal to that of 
  Asia. Its terrain, as can be seen from 
  Earth, is mostly mountainous and 
  cratered, and speculation that much 
  of this is due to meteor impacts over 
  time appears to be correct. The grav- 
  ity at the surface of this tiny world 
  is only one-sixth that of the Earth, 
  allowing for tremendous acrobatics 
  for those willing to brave the deadly 
  vacuum in specially adapted suits. 
  NAVIGATIONAL 
  DIFFICULTIES 
  ETHER FLYERS used for com- 
  merce between Earth, Mars, and 
  Venus generally take advantage of 
  the atmospheres of those worlds to 
  get from orbit to surface. Both lift- 
  wood and hydrogen help make the 
  vessel "lighter than air," letting it 
  settle to the surface or rise to orbit 
  using the atmosphere as a buoyancy 
  medium. Luna, however, has no air 
  to be lighter than, rendering lifiwood 
  and hydrogen useless. The only alter- 
  native for getting to its surface is to 
  use the ether propeller, a device 
  whose speeds are measured in mil- 
  lions of miles per day, to navigate the 
  delicate distance between orbit and 
  surface. Obviously, the typical ether 
  propeller is hardly sensitive enough 
  for such precise maneuvers, and only 
  the very best pilots will even attempt 
  a landing on a vacuum world like 
  Luna. 
  EARTHMEN ON LUNA 
  LUNA WAS first visited by Sir 
  William Otterbein, in an ether flyer 
  designed by himself and his Italian 
  assistant, Luigi Piachetti, and fi- 
  nanced by his estates and by indus- 
  trialists in London wishing to find 
  cheap sources of iron ore. Otterbein 
  managed to land his flyer in Mare 
  Imbrium without significant damage. 
  He and his assistant then set out to 
  establish that Luna does suffer from 
  "Moonquakes," that the surface, at 
  least in the so-called "seas," is very 
  dusty and difficult to traverse, that 
  the surface gravity is quite low, and 
  that there is no atmosphere. After his 
  return trip, analysis of samples found 
  them almost barren of useful materi- 
  als, and Otterbein's industrial back- 
  ers pulled their support out from un- 
  der him. He never returned to Luna. 
  Others have, however, including 
  Brian Masterly of Great Britain, the 
  Davis brothers of Philadelphia, and 
  Vladimir Tereshkova of Russia. The 
  latter made a total of five trips to 
  Luna for the Czar, the final one 
  (from which he never returned) in 
  1887. All the scientific data gathered 
  have confirmed suspicions that Luna 
  is of little value. No permanent 
  facilities exist on Luna, and by 1889, 
  visits there are extremely infrequent. 
  THE GLOW 
  RUMORS ABOUT hidden trea- 
  sures, great wealth in diamonds, and 
  indeed the existence of so-called 
  Selenites, or Moonmen, have passed 
  between space mariners for years. 
  To date, none of them have been 
  borne out despite several visits to 
  Luna over the last two decades. Still, 
  such rumors die hard, and many peo- 
  ple persist in their belief that there 
  is more to Earth's Moon than meets 
  the eye. 
  "The glow" is a particular event 
  which many explorers and ether pi- 
  lots claim to have witnessed on the 
  far side of Luna. They claim that, if 
  one is in the right position, a faint 
  glow can be seen on a particular part 
  of the far side. The glow is barely 
  a pinprick as seen with the unaided 
  eye, but telescopic observers claim 
  the glow area may actually be any- 
  thing up to a mile across. Its green- 
  ish-white light has never been scien- 
  tifically examined. Rumor has it that 
  the Russians have more information 
  about the glow, but, frankly, they 
  aren't talking. It is also rumored that 
  Vladimir Tereshkova was investigat- 
  ing the glow on his fateful trip of 
  1887. 
  GDW 
  
  136 t)THE TRIP TO LUNA 
  ON GOSSAMER WINGS 
  IN THIS adventure the players will 
  come in contact with an American in- 
  ventor named Cyrus Grant who is 
  planning an expedition to Luna. This 
  contact can be established in one of 
  several different ways. If there is an 
  inventor in the party, he will have 
  heard of Mr. Grant and already have 
  started a correspondence with him as 
  to possible means of finely tuning the 
  thrust of an ether propeller. If there 
  is a reporter, then a newspaper will 
  offer Grant financial backing if he 
  will take the reporter (and several 
  other qualified observers, such as the 
  other players) along on the Lunar ex- 
  pedition. Or, some other similar ex- 
  cuse for an association can be in- 
  vented. The point is that Grant and 
  the player characters meet, and Mr. 
  ~'C 
  ~ 
  Cyrus Grant (Trained NPC) 
  ~'~'~~' 
  YRUS GRANT is an inventor of some repute in the Arizona 
  ~J/~f'/~.-"~/~~ 
  Territory. His contraptions have gained him 
  quite a reputation among the ranchers he's 
  helped out, the small towns he's worked for, 
  and the awestruck onlookers who've followed 
  his career. But no one was quite prepared to 
  believe that he'd actually constructed a device 
  Attributes 
  Skills 
  which would allow acrobatic maneuvers close 
  to the Lunar surface. This time he'd gone too 
  far, and the public turned their collective backs 
  on him. So when he took his group of fellow 
  adventurers on a trip he claimed would explore 
  the far side of the Moon, there was no one 
  around to watch them take off. 
  Str: 4 
  Agh 6 
  End: 1 
  Int: 5 
  Chr: 2 
  Soc: 3 
  Fisticuffs 1, Throwing 2, 
  Stealth 5, Mechanic 4 (machinist), 
  Observation 4, Science 4 (physics), Engineering 4 
  (naval architecture), 
  Eloquence 2, 
  Riding 3 (horse) 
  Motives: Adventuresome, Curious, Friendly. 
  Appearance: Cyrus Grant is a very heavy man, over 300 pounds, 
  and his distant, unsympathetic expression makes him unattractive at first. 
  He wears spectacles and is balding, and his usual attire is a rumpled 
  black suit. His distance, however, is actually shyness, and although he 
  is not blessed with good "people skills," he is actually a very friendly 
  man and will prove a talkative companion once the initial barrier of 
  awkwardness is overcome. 
  Grant carries a revolver when necessary. 
  Grant invites them to accompany him 
  on an expedition to Luna. 
  There are italicized sections scat- 
  tered throughout the text. These are 
  descriptions of the scene or conver- 
  sation from one of the non-player 
  characters and should be read aloud 
  to the players. 
  The characters will board Grant's 
  ether flyer and take off for the Moon, 
  a journey of no more than six hours. 
  You should show them the deck plan 
  of Grant's flyer and perhaps have 
  them get to know Grant better. He 
  will be happy to discuss his new 
  Ether Propeller Governor, which 
  uses several diamonds to focus the 
  ether flow with greater precision, 
  allowing him to maneuver with great 
  precision using only the propeller 
  itself. 
  APPROACH FROM 
  THE FAR SIDE 
  GRANT ANNOUNCES, 
  "I've 
  been gathering eyewitness accounts 
  of this mysterious glow for five years 
  now. According to my calculations 
  we shouM be approaching its exact 
  position. " You are cruising at an 
  altitude of about a mile. The Lunar 
  surface stretches out below you, 
  jagged, gray, and dead. In the dis- 
  tance you can see a soft smudge of 
  light in the blackness. It seems to 
  have a faint greenish tint. 
  As the flyer approaches the source 
  of the light, Grant descends to an al- 
  titude of 200 feet and sweeps the 
  ground ahead with the flyer's search- 
  light. He brings the ship over the 
  source of the glow. It is escaping 
  from a deep gorge, perhaps 100 feet 
  wide, which cuts down into the heart 
  of the planet as far as the eye can see. 
  After any discussion as to the next 
  course of action, Grant says: 
  
  THE CRASHtt  137 
  "We have found the glow. Since 
  we came here, at least in part, to in- 
  vestigate it, it makes no sense to 
  leave without doing so. The controls 
  are working even better than I ex- 
  pected, and we can easily descend 
  down into the gorge." 
  A SLIGHT MISCALCULATION 
  THE GORGE is a very jagged and 
  dangerous passage leading straight 
  into the Moon itself. Grant will be 
  able to pilot the ether flyer carefully 
  through the gorge, sinking ever fur- 
  ther into the body of Luna. The speed 
  of descent will be a cautious 10 miles 
  per hour. The first several hours' 
  descent into the Moon will bring the 
  glow ever closer, but its source 
  seems still miles deeper. The player 
  with the highest Observation skill 
  will be the first to notice that the rate 
  of descent is gradually increasing, 
  and the flyer is drifting dangerously 
  close to one of the walls of the gorge. 
  Grant notices at the same time and 
  begins adjusting the controls. 
  "Suddenly this thing isn't handling 
  right," Grant says, as he begins 
  struggling with the controls. The 
  flyer lurches drunkenly away from 
  the approaching gorge wall, but then 
  nearly hits the opposite wall, pulling 
  away just in time. It begins bobbing 
  up and down as well. Grant hurriedly 
  exclaims, "Something's interfering 
  with the propeller's operation, low- 
  ering its efficiency. Listen! Hear that 
  whistling on the hull? Good God, 
  there's an atmosphere out there! 
  We 71 have to inflate the hydrogen 
  gas bag." 
  Grant lurches for the gas genera- 
  tor controls, but too late. The flyer 
  snags on the gorge wall, nearly tips 
  over, and begins plummeting into the 
  gorge. Grant exclaims hastily, "Gas 
  bag's ripped. Hang on. I'1l try to hit 
  a ledge to break our fall. Otherwise 
  we "re goners!" 
  The flyer finally smashes into a 
  ledge, and all of the characters are 
  thrown to one end of the cabin in a 
  heap, along with all of the loose fur- 
  niture and equipment. The flyer tot- 
  ters for a moment, then rolls off the 
  ledge and falls again, but this time 
  for only a short distance. It hits the 
  next ledge with a solid, bone-jarring 
  finality. Have the players make quick 
  rolls against Agility to avoid having 
  suffered a wound in the fall. 
  ASSESSING THE DAMAGE 
  AS THE players sort themselves 
  out, they will feel a slight breeze. 
  Several plates have popped their 
  rivets and fallen off of the hull, and 
  the atmosphere of the gorge is blow- 
  ing in. It is cool and damp, but 
  breathable. The characters will also 
  notice that the gravity is considerably 
  higher than on the surface of the 
  Moon. There it is only one-sixth that 
  of Earth; here it seems to be nearly 
  half of Earth's. 
  The flyer's hull is severely dam- 
  aged, but reparable. However, 
  though undamaged, the ether propel- 
  ler will not budge the ship from down 
  here, as the atmosphere is too dense. 
  The hydrogen bag is torn, but tem- 
  porary repairs would probably be 
  sufficient for a quick ascent up the 
  gorge to where the atmosphere is thin 
  enough for the ether propeller to take 
  hold. But then comes the final blow; 
  Grant's Ether Propeller Governor is 
  disabled, the large diamond used as 
  an ether lens having shattered when 
  the flyer hit the ledge. (If questioned, 
  Grant will explain that the diamond 
  was badly flawed, nearly worthless 
  for jewelry, which is why he could 
  afford it for his governor.) 
  All the while the greenish-yellow 
  glow from within Luna bathes the 
  ship in a curious light, mysteriously 
  compelling and repulsive at the same 
  time. 
  DOCTOR GRANT'S ETHER FLYER 
  1. 
  CONTROL ROOM 
  2. 
  COMMON ARE/~ 
  3. 
  GALLEY 
  4. 
  STATEROOMS 
  5. 
  GREENHOUSE 
  6. 
  AIR LOCK 
  7. 
  WORK AREA 
  8. 
  ENGINE ROOM 
  GDW 
  
  138 ))DESCENT INTO THE MOON 
  THE EXPEDITION 
  CONTINUES 
  SALVAGE FROM the ship will 
  provide sufficient food for two 
  weeks, plenty of ropes and climbing 
  equipment (Grant was very careful 
  to get survival gear ready in ad- 
  vance), and whatever special equip- 
  ment the characters brought along. 
  The logical course of action is to con- 
  tinue the descent, since there is 
  nothing above the characters except 
  vacuum, and remaining with the ship 
  merely means slow starvation. As 
  Grant points out, however, a fresh, 
  breathable atmosphere implies an ac- 
  tive life cycle of some sort, and at 
  the very least that might mean food. 
  DESCENT INTO THE MOON 
  THE EXPEDITION will be able 
  to make progress toward the center 
  of the Moon using ropes and rappel- 
  ling skills. Progress will be measured 
  in miles climbed downward. Consult 
  the mountain-climbing rule in the 
  "Travel" chapter (page 115). Each 
  mile of descent is treated as if it were 
  a mountain, and the referee makes 
  a roll to see how many rock faces 
  must be descended. However, since 
  gravity is only half that of the Earth, 
  rappelling is much easier and safer, 
  even for inexperienced climbers, and 
  players will descend twice the 
  number of faces per day as normal. 
  The actual descent is examined 
  below, one day at a time. New things 
  will be learned about the subsurface 
  Lunar environment each day. In 
  some cases these discoveries will 
  take the form of a mandated en- 
  counter. Animal statistics for the en- 
  counters are found on the Lunar 
  Animal Chart on page 212. 
  Day One: The light from the glow 
  will be sufficient to allow the 
  characters to dispense with any hand 
  lamps or lanterns. This makes the 
  climb easier, but the very slippery 
  nature of the rocks makes it more dif- 
  ficult. The gorge walls are damp and 
  coated with a fine coating of mud, 
  almost slime. Many small stalactites 
  are attached to rock outcroppings. 
  Grant reasons that moisture evap- 
  orates deep within the Moon, and the 
  vapors rise until they condense on the 
  gorge walls. The slime is a combina- 
  tion of water vapor, rock dust, and 
  what appears to be organic matter. 
  Late in the day a variety of small 
  fungi are discovered living in the 
  cracks and crevices of the gorge. 
  This accounts for the organic matter 
  in the gorge muck. These fungi tend 
  to be gray or brown in color and are 
  spongy to the touch, much like fresh 
  mushrooms. They have a faintly 
  musty smell. Grant volunteers to be- 
  gin sampling them a little at a time. 
  "With my bulk, they aren't liable 
  to do me much harm even if they are 
  poisonous. We 71 know in a day or 
  two if we've licked the food prob- 
  lem. " 
  Day Two: With the light drawing 
  ever closer from below, its eventual 
  source is revealed today. A new va- 
  riety of yellow-green fungus is 
  discovered, and it has a phosphores- 
  cent glow. Though faint, in large 
  amounts it could very well be the 
  ultimate source of the glow. A 
  hazard is also discovered, though. 
  When broken open, the glowing fun- 
  gus leaks a mild acid. It will eat 
  through cloth and other fibers but is 
  only a mild irritant to skin. 
  One of the party suffers a climb- 
  ing accident when his rope rubs 
  through a patch of the glowing fungi 
  and the acid cuts the rope. Roll a die 
  to determine which character is in- 
  volved. All he will know is that the 
  rope suddenly breaks, and he is fall- 
  ing. Have him make a quick roll 
  against his Agility attribute to grab 
  a rock outcropping to break his fall. 
  If successful, he is dangling by a pre- 
  carious handhold and the rest of the 
  party must hasten to reach him with 
  a fresh rope. If he fails, he lands on 
  a ledge and may suffer an injury. 
  Roll on the Climbing Accident Table 
  to determine the extent of the injury. 
  Examination of the rope will deter- 
  mine the cause of the trouble. From 
  now on, all glow-fungus will have to 
  be cleared away from the area 
  around the ropes. 
  Day Three: The party is attacked 
  by a swarm of shrieking flying crea- 
  tures. Each animal weighs about two 
  pounds in the current gravity, but 
  would have a mass of five pounds on 
  Earth. They have sharp little teeth 
  and talons with which they will tear 
  at the characters. No one of them has 
  the strength to do any serious dam- 
  age, but in a mass they are danger- 
  ous. This is resolved as an animal 
  swarm attack. After one or two turns 
  of combat, with the players frantical- 
  ly attempting to drive them off, the 
  shrieking will change pitch, and the 
  animals will immediately leave. As 
  the group pulls itself together and 
  tends to its wounds, it discovers why 
  the flying animals, which Grant dubs 
  "Lunar bats," left. 
  There are a fair number of dead 
  flyers on the ledge, and Grant is very 
  interested in them. "'Look at this 
  here," he says, and points to a group 
  of three of the dead animals. Even 
  as you watch them, their flesh is dis- 
  solving and sliding from their plate- 
  like bones. "It's that glow-fungus," 
  
  DESCENT INTO THE MOONI[ 139 
  Grant says. "My revolver was emp- 
  ty so I grabbed a handful of the stuff 
  and threw it at them. These three just 
  dropped like rocks. That's when the 
  shrieking changed pitch, and they 
  left." 
  Day Four: Descending until about 
  midday, the expedition makes a star- 
  tling discovery--on a ledge below 
  them is another wrecked ether flyer! 
  As you look over the lip of the 
  ledge, you see a wrecked ether flyer, 
  its back broken and hull split open, 
  on a large ledge 50feet below you. 
  It is slightly larger than Grant's flyer, 
  but in much worse shape. As it prob- 
  ably fell farther, its crash was more 
  violent. Grant nods after a moment's 
  thought and says, "This must be 
  Vladimir Tereshkova's ship. He dis- 
  appeared in '87 and no one's ever 
  found the wreck." 
  Closer examination of the wreck 
  uncovers no bodies, but there are 
  some Other factors which are slight- 
  ly curious. First, many portions of 
  the flyer have been hauled away, 
  such as the furnishings and almost all 
  of the electrical and mechanical 
  equipment. The guts of most non- 
  removable mechanical systems have 
  been ripped out. Second, around the 
  vessel are several empty crates 
  stamped with the name "Reming- 
  ton' '--each of the six crates once 
  held five rifles. Grant is puzzled. 
  "Why would Tereshkova want 30 
  rifles ? He can't have had even half 
  a dozen men in his crew." 
  Where Tereshkova is now remains 
  a mystery, but a broad descending 
  section of the rock face below the 
  ledge has been cleared of glow- 
  fungus. It's logical that Tereshkova 
  and his men went that way. At least 
  the descent will be easier now since 
  the glow-fungus is cleared out. Add 
  one to the number of rock faces the 
  players may descend each day. 
  Day Five: Grant prepares a hearty 
  breakfast for the players: brown and 
  gray fungus, which he declares to be 
  free from poison. The gray fungus 
  is firm to the teeth and has a pleas- 
  ant, almost crunchy, texture. It 
  smells and tastes like soured milk. 
  The brown fungus has a moist, rather 
  slimy, texture. It is extremely sweet, 
  with a very metallic aftertaste. The 
  players spend most of breakfast try- 
  ing to find the best combinations of 
  the two to mask the worst of both 
  their flavors. 
  In the early afternoon one of the 
  party startles several small creatures, 
  apparently feeding o,n the gray and 
  brown wall fungus. They are about 
  six inches long and have a vaguely 
  insectile appearance, probably due to 
  what appears at first glance to be an 
  exoskeleton. Upon closer examina- 
  tion, this will prove to be a lightly 
  armored carapace, similar to that of 
  an armadillo. The animals have large, 
  black, protruding eyes and small 
  mouths. Grant dubs them "Lunar 
  rats." They, too, may become a 
  source of food, as the expedition's 
  supply is almost half exhausted. 
  Day Six: The party is attacked by 
  a large burrowing animal, which 
  they will later call a giant caterpillar. 
  It is grayish-brown and nearly three 
  feet in diameter. Its body is com- 
  posed of multiple segments, ending 
  in a large, dangerous head. The face 
  has two bulbous, black eyes and a 
  wide, gaping maw with a powerful 
  pair of sharp, pinching mandibles. 
  These mandibles are the animal's on- 
  ly weapon. It will attack using the 
  mandibles as fangs until a character 
  is wounded by them. That character 
  is then caught in the mandibles, and 
  the animal will continue to attack us- 
  ing the mandibles as coils. Once a 
  character loses consciousness, the 
  caterpillar will drop him and attack 
  another character. 
  Once the caterpillar is dead, the 
  players will find that it is inedible. 
  If they cut it open, it will appear to 
  be full of a horrible-smelling, viscous 
  liquid. The players will probably not 
  want to sample what solid organs are 
  floating in this reeking mess. Grant 
  certainly won't. 
  Subsequent Days: As the players 
  continue their descent, they will have 
  additional animal encounters. Roll 
  once on the Animal Encounter Table 
  below to determine the type of ani- 
  mal encountered each day. 
  ~" 
  ANIMAL 
  ~ 
  t~ 
  ENCOUNTER CHART 
  Die 
  Type 
  1-3 
  Lunar Rat 
  4-5 
  Lunar Bat 
  6 
  Caterpillar 
  Bats will be easy to deal with, as 
  all that players have to do is throw 
  a handful of glow-fungus into the air, 
  and they will flee. Rats will prove 
  elusive but harmless. Given enough 
  time, the players will find them to be 
  edible; they have a flavor similar to 
  pork but with an oily, fishy after- 
  taste. Caterpillars are a more serious 
  problem, but can be dealt with us- 
  ing firearms. 
  After the players have descended 
  a total of 10 miles,from their original 
  crash site, they will come to a broad 
  ledge that fronts on a large cavern 
  opening. It appears that Tereshkova 
  and his men went into the cavern, as 
  the glow-fungi are not cleared away 
  below the ledge. 
  GDW 
  
  140 )),THE CAVERNS OF LUNA 
  EXPLORING LUNA 
  ONCE THE CHARACTERS en- 
  ter the large cavern, they will have 
  truly entered the sub-Lunar world. 
  There will be no clear trail to follow, 
  and so the characters will be reduced 
  to wandering and exploring, gradual- 
  ly making their way further and fur- 
  ther down. 
  Luna experienced a planetary 
  evolution unique among the worlds 
  of the Solar System. It coalesced 
  from an ancient mass of rock and 
  debris with a high proportion of gas- 
  es. These gases permeated the mol- 
  ten young planet, and, as the rock 
  cooled and hardened, the gas bubbles 
  remained intact, honeycombing the 
  world. Eventually these gases 
  leeched out of their separate caverns 
  and combined to become Luna's sub- 
  terranean atmosphere. 
  THE SPHERICAL CAVERNS 
  THESE CAVERNS, and their 
  connecting tunnels and passageways, 
  formed around gas bubbles when the 
  Moon cooled and hardened. They are 
  now the habitat of all life on the 
  world. 
  Dry Cavern: Each dry cavern is 
  from 50 to 1000 yards in diameter. 
  Although spherical in general shape, 
  their interior walls are very uneven 
  due to large pieces having broken off 
  and fallen to the floor during cool- 
  ing. Over the ages the water vapor 
  in the atmosphere has condensed on 
  the roofs of the caverns, triggering 
  the formation of stalagmites and sta- 
  lactites. 
  Quite often the bubbles that 
  formed the caverns touched, and the 
  points of contact now form openings 
  between the spheres. There are nu- 
  merous cracks which formed during 
  the planetary cooling as well, and 
  water flow from one cavern to 
  another has gradually enlarged these. 
  Given the number of caverns and 
  connecting passageways it is almost 
  certainly possible to circle the Moon 
  travelling through these tunnels and 
  caverns. 
  Water Cavern: This cavern is 
  identical to a normal cavern except 
  that it is partially full of water. Water 
  will enter the cavern from either a 
  tunnel or small cracks in the ceiling. 
  However, there is no exit for the 
  water at the bottom of the cavern, 
  and so it fills up until the water level 
  reaches a suitable exit. This exit may 
  be an opening to another cavern, or 
  it may be a water tunnel. 
  Water Tunnel: Water tunnels are 
  rock fissures which have been wid- 
  ened by water-flow erosion. They 
  angle downward, usually at about 25 
  degrees, but may be shallower or 
  steeper. Unlike the broken cavern 
  walls, tunnels tend to be smooth and 
  slippery, with at least a trickle of 
  water through them (sometimes con- 
  siderably more). Water tunnels will 
  empty into either a water cavern or 
  a dry cavern. If they empty into a dry 
  cavern, there will be a large mass of 
  muddy sediment at the point where 
  the tunnel empties, and around it will 
  grow a great deal of fungus. 
  Crevice: A crack in the Lunar 
  rock caused either by cooling or by 
  a Moonquake. It is usually very nar- 
  row, dirty, and jagged, as there is lit- 
  tle or no water flow through it. Char- 
  acters will have to remove most 
  heavy equipment to wriggle through 
  and then pull the equipment behind 
  them by rope. 
  TRAVEL WITHIN 
  THE CAVERNS AND TUNNELS 
  TO CONTROL the wanderings of 
  the characters through the maze of 
  caverns and tunnels, it will be 
  necessary to make a map. It is not 
  necessary to do so in advance; just 
  make one up as you go. Since the 
  players will probably be making one 
  up, you may want to just make sure 
  they are doing an adequate job and 
  then use it. 
  Each time that the players enter a 
  new cavern, you will have to deter- 
  mine the type of cavern entered, the 
  number of exit points, and the types 
  of exit points. Roll a die and consult 
  the Lunar Terrain Table to make 
  each of these determinations. A sep- 
  arate die roll is made for type of 
  cavern, number of exits, and for each 
  of the characteristics of each exit. 
  Caverns may be wet or dry. Each ex- 
  it from a cavern may be low, level, 
  or high, may lead ahead, right, or 
  LUNAR TERRAIN TABLE 
  Die Cavern 
  Exit 
  Exit 
  Exit 
  Exit 
  Roll Type 
  Number Type 
  Angle Direction 
  1 
  Dry 
  1 
  Open 
  Low 
  Right 
  2 
  Dry 
  1 
  Open 
  Low 
  Right 
  3 
  Dry 
  2 
  Open 
  Level Ahead 
  4 
  Dry 
  2 
  Tunnel 
  Level Ahead 
  5 
  Dry 
  3 
  Tunnel 
  High 
  Left 
  6 
  Wet 
  4 
  Crevice High 
  Left 
  
  THE CAVERNS OF LUNAI,[ 141 
  left, and may be an opening (a rough- 
  ly circular hole in the wall between 
  two caverns), a water tunnel, or a 
  crevice. 
  The apparent difficulty of moving 
  about in the maze of caverns and 
  passageways is partially offset by the 
  low gravity. Remember that the 
  gravity at this level is about half that 
  of the Earth, so falls are easier to 
  avoid and not as serious when they 
  do occur. Characters will spend 
  about a half-hour in each cavern they 
  enter. Each level or high water tun- 
  nel traversed will take another half- 
  hour for the entire party, while each 
  crevice traversed will take an hour. 
  Spelunking is very exhausting work 
  and so the party should not attempt 
  more than eight hours of travel a day. 
  Animal encounters will continue as 
  in the "Subsequent Days" section. 
  When moving between caverns by 
  way of openings, some care is re- 
  quired. If the opening is level (the 
  two caverns are at the same depth), 
  then passage is easy. If the opening 
  is a low exit, then it will enter above 
  the equator of the next sphere, and 
  characters will have to climb down 
  the stalactites or the broken rock 
  faces of the cavern to enter it. 
  Lowering characters by rope is safer, 
  if ropes are available. If the opening 
  is a high exit, then the process is 
  reversed: The players need to find a 
  way to climb up out of the cavern. 
  Water tunnels are extremely easy 
  to move through if they lead down 
  from a cavern; they are just a nice 
  long mudslide. They are also easy to 
  move through if they are a level ex- 
  it, although they are generally small 
  enough that players will have to pro- 
  ceed on hands and knees. If they lead 
  up out of a cavern, they are nearly 
  impossible to climb due to the slip- 
  pery walls and lack of handholds. A 
  player may do so by rolling suc- 
  cessfully against Agility five times in 
  a row. (Each time he misses he slides 
  back down and has to start over 
  again.) If a water tunnel exits a water 
  cavern levelly, ~e tunnel will be par- 
  tially or completely full of water (at 
  the referee's discretion) and will 
  always lead to another water cavern. 
  The map on page 143 displays a 
  section of the Lunar subsurface, an 
  area which will be encountered later 
  in the adventure. However, it is fair- 
  ly typical and should be examined as 
  an example of Lunar mapping. There 
  are two views given, one from the 
  side and one from the top, to make 
  the spatial relationship of the caverns 
  more apparent. 
  ENCOUNTER IN 
  THE OUTER CAVES 
  AFTER SEVERAL days (the ex- 
  act number being up to the referee) 
  of wandering, the players come upon 
  a cavern which has a well travelled 
  path through it, and from which large 
  boulders and stalagmites have been 
  removed. The rising edge of the 
  spherical cavern has grooves and 
  steps carved in it to assist climbing, 
  but the steps are very narrow and set 
  close together, making them difficult 
  for humans to use. What the player 
  characters do not know is that they 
  have come upon the outer caves of 
  a large "nest" of Selenites, or 
  Moonmen. The Selenites do not 
  patrol these caves, since no other 
  Selenites ever come this way. How- 
  ever, the player characters will stum- 
  ble upon some Selenites in the caves 
  and will probably be captured by 
  them. 
  Set up the situation with the ex- 
  hausted player characters resting in 
  the well travelled cavern. They will 
  hear scraping sounds coming from 
  one of the exits of the cavern. When 
  they investigate, they will find steps 
  leading up to a high opening. 
  As you begin to climb up the nar- 
  row, notched steps, Grant looks up 
  and freezes in stunned amazement. 
  You all look up and see, crouching 
  at the lip of the opening and behind 
  the natural breastwork that it forms, 
  four hideous, six-legged alien crea- 
  tures. Each one is roughly five feet 
  long and stands three feet tall from 
  feet to head. They appear to weigh 
  about 60 pounds each (which would 
  be 30 pounds in this gravity). Their 
  bodies are covered by a translucent, 
  milky-white exoskeleton, and their 
  faces have two saucer-sized, multi- 
  faceted eyes and large, vertical 
  mouths. Each of them holds a Rem- 
  ington breech-loading carbine in its 
  front set of limbs. They make a series 
  of whines and clicking noises, and 
  gesture to the party to throw down 
  their weapons and surrender. Grant 
  throws down his revolver and com- 
  ments, "Well, they've got their rifles 
  trained on us, they're behind cover, 
  and they have the height advantage. 
  I'm for going along peaceably. How 
  about you ?" 
  1 
  GDW 
  
  142  )THE SELENITES 
  CAPTIVES WITHIN LUNA 
  UPON CAPTURE, the expedition 
  will be taken directly to Teresh- 
  kova's cavern for questioning. On 
  the way, they will pass through the 
  Selenite main settlement, centered on 
  the pictured series of connected 
  spherical caverns. 
  Evolved in the depths of Luna, the 
  Selenites can best be likened to 
  Earthly insects. Indeed, they most 
  closely resemble a cross between a 
  human being and a beetle, and their 
  social habits are as bizarre as those 
  of any insect community. 
  The Selenites live all through the 
  area of caverns on Luna. The com- 
  munity encountered in this adven- 
  ture, the one nearest the great gorge, 
  is typical of an individual communi- 
  ty, usually isolated by many miles 
  from the next independent commu- 
  nity. 
  \'~ 
  SELENITE SOCIETY 
  THE SELENITES, though physi- 
  cally indistinguishable to human 
  eyes, all perform distinct tasks within 
  their group which are predestined 
  from the time they emerge from the 
  hive. There are three broad classifi- 
  cations of Selenite: drone, custodian, 
  and specialist. They are described 
  briefly below, and their relevant at- 
  tributes are given in the Selenite NPC 
  Table. Selenites have no Charisma 
  or Social Level attributes, these be- 
  ing meaningless to Selenite society. 
  Drones: The drone is the basic 
  working unit. Drones are in eharge 
  of growth and collection of food. 
  Custodians: Custodians are in 
  charge of the young, from their time 
  in the hive through their emergence 
  and on into their first few weeks of 
  life. The custodians are generally 
  slightly more intelligent and agile 
  than their drone counterparts, hav- 
  ing an Intellect of 2 and an Agility 
  of 3. Custodians also have the abili- 
  ty to secrete nutritious by-products 
  of their own fungus intake which are 
  particularly helpful when feeding the 
  young in the hive. 
  Specialists: These Selenites are 
  rare, so much so, in fact, that some- 
  times only one or even none of a par- 
  ticular specialist type exist in a given 
  community. They include such things 
  as hive builders and retainers of 
  knowledge. Apparently the commu- 
  nity knows when it needs a specialist, 
  and one is immediately produced in 
  the hive. Specialists have an overall 
  Intellect of 4 and an Endurance of 3, 
  but are otherwise the same as custo- 
  dians. 
  Communities have no specific 
  leader. All functions are performed 
  seemingly without direction, though 
  there must be some sort of low-level 
  communication between all members 
  of the community. 
  Type 
  Drone 
  Custodians 
  Specialists 
  SELENITE NPC TABLE 
  Str 
  Agl 
  End 
  Int 
  Cbt 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  1 
  1 
  3 
  2 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  4 
  Marksman 
  0 
  3 
  3 
  SELENITE PHYSIOLOGY 
  THE SELENITES are sentient be- 
  ings who have evolved in a very dif- 
  ferent environment. Their bug-like 
  appearance makes them quite repul- 
  sive to the human eye. The lesser 
  gravity of Luna has made them rather 
  weak by human standards. As their 
  intelligence is quite low, their com- 
  munity organization does not require 
  tremendous personal initiative. 
  Selenites are roughly five feet long 
  from head to bottommost feet, and 
  stand about two feet high when on 
  all their limbs. They only weigh 
  about 30 pounds on the Moon, or 60 
  pounds on Earth, since much of their 
  outer skeletal structure is hollow. 
  The Selenite face has two saucer- 
  sized, multifaceted eyes and a large 
  vertical mouth. The teeth are not for 
  tearing or cutting, but for grinding, 
  since their chief sources of food are 
  the brown and the gray fungi. Their 
  six limbs are identical, each with 
  three "elbow" joints and a bony 
  hand with three fingers. 
  Selenites are hermaphroditic; that 
  is, they have both female and male 
  sexual organs in each individual. In- 
  dividuals give birth in a cell of the 
  hive when the community needs ad- 
  ditional drones, custodians, or spe- 
  cialists. The incubation process takes 
  three weeks until a new young Sele- 
  nite is ready to emerge from the hive. 
  Once it emerges, the young Selenite 
  must be nursed for three more weeks 
  until it is ready to function on its 
  own. 
  A Selenite is likely to live for no 
  more than 10 Earth years before its 
  body eventually gives out, and it 
  dies. It will spend all of that time per- 
  forming its function for the commu- 
  nity-Selenites have no sleep cycle. 
  
  THE SELENITES 
  143 
  SELENITE CIVILIZATION 
  THE SELENITES have evolved 
  virtually no technology of their own. 
  They had no concept of it until Te- 
  reshkova arrived with rifles. As it is, 
  the armed Selenites do not have the 
  required Strength to fire the carbines 
  effectively�9 
  The only history of the Selenites 
  is a remembered history passed down 
  by the retainers of knowledge. If a 
  retainer dies without being replaced 
  in advance, all that knowledge is lost, 
  since other Selenites do not have the 
  memory capacity necessary to carry 
  on these historical traditions�9 All 
  history is lost, and the community 
  must start virtually from barbarism. 
  (K'chuk, whom the players will en- 
  counter while in captivity, is a re- 
  tainer of knowledge, and his death 
  would constitute a catastrophe for the 
  Selenite village, although characters 
  might not determine this right away.) 
  i•T• 
  THE SELENITE VILLAGE 
  f c~o~n'_~ 
  E SELENITE VILLAGE is scattered throughout a series o 
  necting spherical caverns, as shown on the accompanying map. 
  Outer Caves: A large number of Selenites are being directed to mine 
  the cave walls. They have no sophisticated machinery and are simply 
  using their clawed hands to scrape away at the rock. Other Selenites, 
  with carbines, are apparently in charge, forcing the others to work. 
  The Hives: There are two large spherical caverns devoted to the hives. 
  On first examination, they appear much like giant beehives, except that 
  the hive cells are square rather than hexagonal and are made of some 
  ceramic material, not wax. The humans may witness several of the cells 
  lit from the inside with glowing fungus, and perhaps see the gyrations 
  of a young Selenite about to be born. They might also see newly emerged 
  Selenites cleaning themselves with the help of the custodians of the hive. 
  The Nursery: ,Also unlike bees, Selenites apparently are not fully 
  capable of functioning in their society upon emerging from the hive, 
  as evidenced by this nursery. Dozens of young Selenites, though of full 
  size, are being tended to here. They are being given food and are being 
  trained to care for themselves by more custodians. 
  The Fungus Farm: The fungus farm (for lack of a better term) con- 
  tains a few dozen Selenites, again under the direction of other armed 
  Selenites, tending to and harvesting the food fungus. Selenites work- 
  ing here move the fungus on their backs to the hives and nursery and 
  out to the outer caves where the mining is taking place. 
  Tereshkova: This cavern is the office and living space of the only 
  human resident of Luna, Vladimir Tereshkova. 
  511)F_ vl~w 
  ~
  .
   
  . 
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  , -.., ,.-~z~r 
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  PRISON 
  I 
  �9 DP..DNE. 
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  ~ .... ,.~.,, 
  ... ,..., .,.-.,.~.~ 
  ,,...~,, .... 
  .:.:t~ 
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  GDW 
  
  144 ))RUSSIAN TIRADE 
  RUSSIAN TIRADE 
  YOU ARE securely bound and, ac- 
  companied by four armed Selenites, 
  taken to a chamber fitted out as a 
  study and office for Tereshkova. It 
  has a desk, bookshelves and books, 
  a torn, but comfortable, leather 
  chair, an orrery, and considerable 
  quantities of scientific apparatus. 
  Tereshkova is seated at the desk. His 
  hair and fingernails have grown quite 
  long, and his complexion is pallid 
  from lack of sunlight. He looks thin 
  and sickly, but his eyes burn with the 
  feverish energy of madness. 
  He rises as he greets you. "You 
  don't know how happy I am to see 
  you, Mr. Grant. As you no doubt 
  stumbled across my ether flyer, it 
  must be obvious that I have been 
  stranded here for some time. I'm not 
  exactly sure how long; the days are 
  so hard to measure down here," he 
  says sarcastically, gesturing to his 
  walls of eternal light. 
  F 
  Vla imir Illyich Tereshkova,Veteran NPC, 
  AN INVENTOR of some renown in Russia, Tereshkova was in th 
  ~----~j--~--- 
  forefront of the research on precision modula- 
  and nutrients important for humans. 
  Attributes 
  Skills 
  tion of the ether flow and made several trips 
  to Luna testing his governing devices. After 
  discovering the Selenites and the diamonds 
  embedded in the rock walls of the caverns near 
  them, he returned to Earth and obtained a sup- 
  ply of breech-loading carbines. In 1887 he 
  returned to Luna but crashed on arrival and has 
  been stranded here ever since. He has gone 
  quite mad and murdered his own crew gradually 
  over the course of the last two years. He has 
  also grown physically weak, as the fungus diet 
  he has subsisted on is lacking several vitamins 
  Str: 
  3 
  Agh 5 
  End: 2 
  Int: 
  5 
  Chr: 3 
  Soc: 5 
  Fisticuffs 4, Throwing 1, 
  Stealth 4, Mechanics 4 (machinist), Marksmanship 4, 
  Wilderness Travel 3 (mountaineering), 
  Observation 4, Science 4 (physics), Engineering 4 
  (naval architecture), 
  Eloquence 3, Linguistics 3, (English, German, French) 
  Riding 4 (horse) 
  Motives: Greed, Madness. 
  "When I stumbled upon these 
  caverns the first time, I was struck 
  with the great riches here. Dia- 
  monds. Diamondst. '' He reaches in- 
  to his desk drawer and pulls out a 
  black leather bag, dumping the con- 
  tents onto the desk. He has about 50 
  diamonds, some huge. Grant flashes 
  you a look as if to say, "That big one 
  will suit our purposes." 
  "'Of course, I had to return to 
  Earth to get further supplies. I also 
  found that these Selenites were un- 
  willing to work for me until I had 
  some 'muscle,' if you will, to back 
  me up. The rest of my crew wouldn't 
  cooperate, intending to "serve the 
  Czar. ' I had to kill them, of course." 
  He shrugs and gestures to the armed 
  Selenite guards around him. "Fas- 
  cinating creatures, but their dis- 
  covery alone would not make me 
  rich, now would it?" 
  He reaches into a canister on his 
  desk and grabs a handful of gray fun- 
  gus, shoving it hungrily into his 
  mouth. "Oh, you'll learn to adapt. 
  It's not that bad, really, and it's all 
  there is to eat. "Giggling to himself, 
  he continues, "'You'll have plenty of 
  time to adapt, too. You see, you've 
  given me a ticket back to Earth. I 
  knew someday someone would come 
  this way again, and I would be able 
  to escape. My guards are out search- 
  ing for your ether flyer now. Once 
  they find it, I'll repair it and be on 
  my way. They think that I'll return 
  with more technological treasures for 
  them; they are quite gullible. I shall 
  leave you to puzzle o~ut a way to make 
  my excuses for me, eh ?" He scoops 
  his diamonds back into his bag and 
  shoves it back into his desk. "Au 
  revoir, gentlemen. "Tereshkova then 
  issues some clicking commands, and 
  the guards lead you away. 
  
  IMPRISONED i[[ 145 
  IMPRISONED 
  IN THE DEPTHS OF LUNA 
  TERESHKOVA HAS the char- 
  acters taken to the small chamber 
  between the two hive chambers (see 
  map). Four Selenite guards will re- 
  main with them. All equipment in ex- 
  cess of their individual clothing will 
  be taken from them, to remain in 
  Tereshkova's cavern. 
  Grant speaks up, "Those dia- 
  monds he has will do the trick for 
  repairing the Ether Propeller Gov- 
  ernor. Tereshkova must be pretty far 
  gone or he'd see that those diamonds 
  are badly flawed. Not worth s 
  for the lot, but the big one will get 
  us back to Earth. "" Grant adds, 
  "'And if we can get some of these crit- 
  ters to lead us back out of this maze 
  to the gorge, we're in business. 
  We're home free if we can get rid of 
  Tereshkova.t " 
  "Kyou klar not kuman like k 'Doc- 
  tor?" The voice is a horrible abom- 
  ination of English, speaking with the 
  inset sideways jaws of one of the 
  guards. 
  K'CHUK'S STORY 
  THE SELENITE GUARD who 
  can speak English ~.~ 
  .~/.~, 
  (the only one of~ ~ 
  ;" 
  his kind that can ~ ,  
  ,~ 
  do so) will tell the 
  humans that his 
  ~'fl',,~ 
  name is K'chuk. 
  His command of 
  the language is //'//~ 
  fair, but his in- /J~ 
  , 
  ability to form certain words will 
  restrict him, and he will be difficult 
  to understand at times. 
  K'chuk is a "retainer of know- 
  ledge," a specific subgroup of 
  Selenite devoted to the pursuit of 
  knowledge through memorization. 
  He was therefore able to pick up 
  much of the English language from 
  TereShkova, who speaks it occa- 
  sionally, and from the English books 
  the Russian has in his cavern. Ob- 
  viously Tereshkova, despite his con- 
  tact with the Selenites over this long 
  period of time, is too consumed with 
  his madness and greed to have no- 
  ticed these subtle differences between 
  the creatures, and has no idea that 
  K'chuk understood his rambling so- 
  liloquy to the players. 
  K'chuk will explain that he has no 
  quarrel with the characters and is 
  simply following orders. The Doc- 
  tor (Tereshkova), he explains, has 
  been a benefactor to K'chuk's com- 
  munity. He gave them improved 
  techniques for growing fungus, 
  which freed drones to work in the 
  mines. This has proven to be hard 
  and dangerous work, and after sev- 
  eral drones died as a result, the rest 
  refused to continue the work. Te- 
  reshkova left and then returned with 
  rifles, armed a group of Selenites, 
  and seized power. The Selenites he 
  armed are all former custodians, and 
  he appealed to their sense of duty to 
  the community as a whole. The mine 
  would produce stones which Teresh- 
  kova would trade to the first Earth- 
  men who came to visit to receive 
  technological devices which would 
  further improve the Selenites' lot. 
  Now, however, K'chuk suspects 
  that Tereshkova has lied to him all 
  along and that he intends to abandon 
  the Selenites and never return. Too 
  many of K'chuk's nestlings have died 
  in the mines in the name of progress 
  for him to allow Tereshkova to make 
  good his escape without at least try- 
  ing to defeat him. K'chuk is a rea- 
  sonable Selenite who will no doubt 
  see the wisdom of making common 
  cause with the characters, provided 
  they can convince him that they are 
  not as treacherous as his erstwhile 
  master. If so, he will be willing to 
  aid the players in gaining the support 
  of the rest of the community and in 
  bringing Tereshkova to "justice." 
  Because of their brief tour of the 
  Selenite community and their con- 
  versations with K'chuk, the expedi- 
  tion will gain quite a bit of know- 
  ledge about the Selenites. The referee 
  should make available the informa- 
  tion presented so far on the layout of 
  the caverns and the structure of Se- 
  lenite society. A vital piece of infor- 
  mation concerns the forces available 
  to both parties, and K'chuk will pro- 
  vide complete information on the 
  Selenite community and its probable 
  loyalties. 
  The total population of the com- 
  munity is about 150, of which over 
  100 are drones. Of the 40 custodians, 
  29 are armed and loyal to Teresh- 
  kova, and can be expected to fight. 
  The remaining 10 custodians are less 
  satisfied with the direction of Teresh- 
  kova's "progress" and would cer- 
  tainly join in the revolt if K'chuk 
  were part of it. As a retainer of 
  knowledge, K'chuk's judgement is 
  highly respected, and his support for 
  Tereshkova has had much more to do 
  with. Tereshkova's success than he 
  imagines. The drones are almost uni- 
  versally disaffected and can be ex- 
  pected to join any fight which K'chuk 
  leads. Finally, K'chuk tells the 
  players that Tereshkova and five 
  armed custodians have left the set- 
  tlement to find Grant's ether flyer, 
  leaving the remaining guards leader- 
  less. Their numbers and weapons are 
  still formidable, but the revolt begins 
  to look like it has a chance. 
  GDW 
  
  146  )ESCAPE 
  ESCAPE FROM 
  THE HEART OF LUNA 
  THE ESCAPE from the clutches 
  of Doctor Tereshkova will be a two- 
  part process. First, with the help of 
  K'chuk, the players will have to 
  overpower the three other guards in 
  the prison chamber. This move will 
  give them four Remington breech- 
  loading carbines as armament, with 
  20 rounds of ammunition each. Next, 
  they will have to recruit assistance 
  from the drones to overpower Te- 
  reshkova's armed Selenites. 
  TOTAL FORCES 
  BESIDES K'CHUK, who has al- 
  ready changed sides, Tereshkova has 
  29 former custodians armed and loy- 
  al to him. These Selenites may not 
  be recruited, but must be fought. 
  Three will have been overpowered 
  in the prison chamber and five more 
  are outside the settlement with 
  Tereshkova, leaving 21 present to be 
  dealt with. These custodians will be 
  referred to as armed Selenites, and 
  their location at the time of the 
  escape is marked on the map. 
  There are another 10 custodians in 
  the hives and nursery who can be 
  convinced to fight if merely con- 
  tacted. K'chuk, obviously, will have 
  to do the talking. Their positions are 
  also given on the map provided. 
  Over 100 drones work ha the set- 
  tlement. They can be recruited, but 
  it is difficult to get their attention and 
  elicit a quick response. When K'chuk 
  enters a chamber with the humans, 
  he may begin shouting to the drones 
  to join the rebellion. They will begin 
  moving and fighting on the second 
  combat turn after that, and only one 
  die's worth will join the fray per 
  turn. For example, K'chuk and the 
  humans enter the nursery on turn 1. 
  That same turn the custodians in the 
  room may move and attack with the 
  humans. On turn 3, one die of drones 
  will also join in, and an additional 
  die's worth will join in each turn 
  after that until all 17 have joined in. 
  Tereshkova and five armed Sele- 
  nites are out of the settlement search- 
  ing for Grant's ether flyer in the 
  gorge when the expedition makes its 
  escape attempt. Whatever the out- 
  come of the attempt, they will not 
  return to the settlement until after all 
  combat is completed. 
  Administering the Escape At- 
  tempt: Allow the humans to move 
  from connected chamber to connect- 
  ed chamber. Administer the encoun- 
  ters in each chamber according to the 
  example provided above. Selenites 
  are not terribly intelligent creatures 
  and have very little experience in 
  combat situations. Even though the 
  ruckus caused in one chamber would 
  normally alert others nearby, Sele- 
  nites find it hard to deal with prob- 
  lems so remote--encounters will be 
  handled one chamber at a time. 
  Conclusion of the Escape At- 
  tempt: Once all of the armed Sele- 
  nites have been eliminated, the grate- 
  ful drones and custodians will begin 
  repairing the damage to the village 
  and caring for the injured. The hu- 
  mans have their freedom and most 
  likely all of their original equipment 
  back. They need only wait for the in- 
  evitable return of Tereshkova and the 
  final struggle against his evil plans. 
  The diamonds are found in the mad 
  doctor's desk when the players go 
  and search it. 
  THE RETURN 
  OF TERESHKOVA 
  EVENTUALLY THE doctor will 
  arrive back at the outer caves with 
  his five remaining armed Selenites. 
  He will be confused and outraged to 
  find there are no workers digging or 
  guards guarding. He will encounter 
  the humans, the surviving Selenite 
  drones will attack him, and a running 
  fight will begin. The five armed Se- 
  lenites may be of l~ttle actual help in 
  the fight, but Tereshkova has nu- 
  merous tricks up his sleeve. 
  As a defense against a possible 
  rebellion, Doctor Tereshkova has 
  rigged many of the stalactites in each 
  chamber to fall on his command. 
  
  FURTHER ADVENTURES {( 147 
  They are triggered by a small explo- 
  sion which he in turn triggers from 
  a pocket device. All of the rigged 
  stalactites in a chamber (or an outer 
  cave) must be triggered at once, and 
  they will strike any characters (in- 
  cluding the armed Selenites, who 
  don't know where to get out of the 
  way) who cannot make a roll against 
  their Agility. Characters hit take one 
  die roll's worth of wounds. In the 
  confusion following his first use of 
  the stalactites, Tereshkova will be 
  able to escape into the settlement to 
  set up other ambushes. He must be 
  in the chamber which he wishes to 
  "set off." 
  The doctor's final defense, when 
  cornered near his study, lies in his 
  latest invention, a freeze ray. Con- 
  sult the equipment list elsewhere in 
  this book for details of its operation. 
  He will make his last stand at the 
  freeze ray and may incapacitate one 
  or more players temporarily, but the 
  sheer number of Selenites now part 
  of the rebellion will swarm the gun. 
  Tereshkova will detonate one last set 
  of booby traps and make his escape. 
  The characters will pursue him 
  through the maze of passageways 
  and discover that there is a very short 
  route to the gorge they first crashed 
  in (although it comes out consider- 
  ably below, where the players first 
  entered the caverns.) Tereshkova 
  begins climbing down into the gorge 
  through the glow-fungus, which is 
  much brighter and has a more yellow 
  cast to its light at this depth. After 
  several hundred yards the players 
  will notice that the acid from the 
  glow-fungus is much more painful 
  and is beginning to raise welts where 
  it has eaten through their clothes. At 
  this point they stop descending, but 
  Tereshkova continues, cackling in- 
  sanely as the flesh on his feet and 
  hands bubbles and peels. Eventual- 
  ly, his hands lose their strength, and 
  he falls into a large patch of the 
  bright yellow glow-fungus on an out- 
  cropping. He screams and rants as 
  the acid literally:dissolves him before 
  the characters' eyes. A fitting end for 
  a villain of such magnitude. 
  REPAIRING 
  THE ETHER FLYER 
  GRANT WILL be able to use the 
  diamonds mined to fix the ether pro: 
  peller controls while the rest of the 
  expedition repairs the hull and gas 
  bag. These repairs will take only a 
  couple of days. Grant then proposes 
  that the proceeds of the sale of the 
  remaining diamonds be put in trust 
  for K'chuk's people to finance im- 
  portation of some technological 
  equipment more appropriate to their 
  needs than Remington .50-caliber 
  breech-loaders. Assuming the char- 
  acters agree, K'chuk's gift (see 
  below) will be presented to all of 
  them. If the players do not agree, 
  then Grant will pledge his share at 
  least, and K'chuk will present the 
  medallion to him. 
  FURTHER ADVENTURES 
  ON LUNA 
  LUNA REPRESENTS a vast po- 
  tential for further exploration. Maps 
  similar to those shown here can go 
  on virtually forever, taking adven- 
  turous characters deeper and deeper 
  into the Lunar surface, to come face 
  to face with the heart of the Selenite 
  world. Their riches can be dis- 
  covered, their knowledge learned, 
  and their whole world mapped out 
  for the glory of the crown. 
  Setting up individual provinces 
  within the Moon will be tricky, but 
  possible. It might be possible to make 
  the gray or brown fungus or Lunar 
  rat meat a delicacy in countries like 
  France, and tremendous profits could 
  be made. The diamonds on Luna 
  seem to be universally flawed, but 
  they will be in demand for industrial 
  use. A few additional adventures on 
  Luna might finance bigger and bet- 
  ter adventures to come. 
  Finally, as the players take their 
  leave of the Selenites, K'chuk takes 
  a moment to thank them for all that 
  they have done, and as a token of his 
  gratitude, he presents them with a 
  medallion of a highly polished, sil- 
  very metal which distinctly casts a 
  yellow-red glow. The medallion is 
  clearly not the work of K'chuk's peo- 
  ple, and, aside from the designs and 
  runes carved into it, it would appear 
  to be machined. K'chuk does not 
  know its origin,,only that his people 
  have had it since before the memory 
  of the retainers of knowledge. Per- 
  haps the answer lies deeper in the in- 
  terior of the Moon, if someday a par- 
  ty can brave the dangers of the dead- 
  ly, yellow glow-fungus. 
  GDW 
  
  148 ))MARS 
  QQ~ 
  F~ 
  BB 
  
  MARS t[ 149 
  MARS 
  FOR CENTURIES the dark red 
  mystery of Mars has excited the im- 
  agination of humanity, and so it was 
  little wonder that Edison chose the 
  red planet as the destination of the 
  first interplanetary ether flyer ex- 
  pedition. Accompanied by Jack 
  Armstrong, an intrepid Scottish ex- 
  plorer and soldier-of-fortune, Edison 
  set out on January 6, 1870 and ar- 
  rived on Mars on March 9. The land- 
  ing was a rough one and tore open 
  the hydrogen balloon used to lift the 
  ether flyer into the atmosphere. The 
  two explorers would have been 
  stranded on Mars forever were it not 
  for the fact that the planet was 
  inhabited. 
  Edison and Armstrong landed just 
  outside the city now known as Syr- 
  tis Major, and they were taken 
  prisoner by the Amraamtaba IX, the 
  local potentate. Armstrong soon 
  learned the Syrtan language, how- 
  ever, and Edison impressed the Mar- 
  tian ruler with his tremendous tech- 
  nical knowledge. The pair were soon 
  freed, and Edison was provided with 
  the materials necessary to repair his 
  balloon and generate the hydrogen 
  needed to fill it. Within months the 
  repaired flyer was ready to carry 
  Edison, Armstrong, and a curious 
  Martian back to Earth. The return 
  trip was without incident, and the ex- 
  pedition landed outside of Cincinnati, 
  Ohio, on August 7, 1870. 
  The Earth was electrified. Edison 
  and Armstrong received fame and 
  fortune. Within a year dozens of 
  companies were manufacturing Edi- 
  son Flyers, and vessels of several na- 
  tionalities were soon making regular 
  trips to Mars, with rapid and dra- 
  matic changes for both worlds. Mar- 
  tian liftwood met the Industrial 
  Revolution, and neither planet would 
  ever be quite the same again. 
  I'~ o'r 
  ~ LEVEL 
  HIGH MARTIAN TEMPLE 
  T 
  ","..~.~ 
  ~K5 
  ~ 
  R#~P Down 
  :~ 
  ~'~ 
  :~ 
  GDW 
  
  G 
  PHYSICAL CHARACTER AND PREHISTORY 
  PHYSICAL CHARACTER 
  AND PREHISTORY 
  MARS HAS a diversity of terrain 
  fully equivalent to that of the Earth. 
  In broad terms, the world is divided 
  into the ancient seabeds, the vast 
  deserts, the craggy mountain ranges, 
  and the polar icecaps. The most 
  salient feature of the red planet, 
  however, the one which has shaped 
  what the world is today, is the lack 
  of rainfall. 
  It never rains on Mars. The free 
  water of its ancient seas vanished 
  long ago and is now frozen in the 
  glacial wastes of the polar icecaps or 
  chemically locked in the rust-red 
  deserts. Without free water, there is 
  no evaporation cycle to feed clouds, 
  a] 
  Flora, Fauna, and Flight 
  THE DRYING of Mars millions 
  of years ago spelled the end for most 
  mammalian life forms, and with their 
  extinction came the next step in Mar- 
  tian evolution: the flyers. Flyers 
  could range far and wide in search 
  of water and in search of the prey 
  that water could support. ~Natural 
  selection and little-understood com- 
  ponents of the soiI'led some plants 
  to develop lifting effects that negated 
  the effects of gravity. Absorption of 
  these elements in the diets of some 
  animals led to the emergence of a lift- 
  ing gland in these beasts. These ani- 
  mals can float in the air by shifting 
  the orientation and strength of their 
  lifting gland's power, using wing- 
  like flaps of skin for propulsion, 
  steering, and fine maneuvers. 
  Physical Data 
  MARS HAS a diameter of 4200 
  miles and a surface area of 55.4 
  million square miles. Mars has only 
  25 percent of the surface area of the 
  Earth, but its dry land area is roughly 
  equivalent to that of Earth. Although 
  Mars is much smaller than the Earth, 
  its surface gravity is only about 10 
  percent less. A 200-pound man would 
  weigh about 180 pounds on Mars. 
  The Martian atmosphere is a breatha- 
  ble one and is very similar to Earth's. 
  Its most distinguishing feature is its 
  lack of humidity, which reflects the 
  overall dryness of the entire red 
  planet. 
  The Martian day is 24 hours and 
  37 minutes long. This length is 
  within three percent of the length of 
  the Earth day, and most Earthmen 
  find that the slightly longer day pre- 
  sents no problem in acclimatization. 
  Although special pocket watches 
  which keep Martian time are manu- 
  factured, most visitors simply use 
  their own watches and clocks, ad- 
  justed to run three percent slower. 
  The Climatic Spasm 
  SOME FORTY PERCENT of 
  Mars was once covered by seas. 
  More than 50 million years ago, 
  those seas dried up. The dry land, 
  once filled with lush vegetation 
  which rivaled that of Earth in varie- 
  ty and number, became a trackless 
  desert, a barren wasteland. 
  About 35,000 years ago, a mo- 
  mentary spasm in the Martian 
  climate melted the polar icecaps, 
  driving the proto-Martians from their 
  habitats on the seabeds. These gre- 
  garious beings found the spark of in- 
  telligence, and over several thousand 
  years established first agricultural 
  settlements and then mercantile cities 
  all along the shores of the sea. As the 
  Martians settled into the routine of 
  agriculture, made possible by the 
  abundance of water, they lost their 
  ability to fly because they no longer 
  needed it. 
  The Brifanoon--the Age of Wa- 
  ter-lasted about 10,000 years. Ca- 
  nals were dug to carry water to the 
  deserts and to expand agricultural 
  civilization beyond the coastal zone. 
  Ultimately, however, the climatic 
  spasm that produced the Brifanoon 
  (as well as the rise of intelligence on 
  Mars) closed, and with it ended the 
  Age of Water. Over a period of 
  10,000 years, the seas dried up once 
  again. Every year, the shoreline 
  moved farther out; every year, more 
  canals were dug to carry water from 
  the dwindling seas to the existing 
  croplands. Eventually, it became 
  clear that a coordinated effort was 
  necessary, and a massive project was 
  launched to channel water from the 
  polar icecaps to the seabeds. 
  When the naBrifanoon--the Age 
  of Drying--ended, the Martian civili- 
  
  PHYSICAL CHARACTER AND PREHISTORYQ 
  zations had moved from their shore 
  territories to the bottoms of the dry 
  seabeds. Immense Grand Canals 
  stretched from pole to pole, connect- 
  ing individual city-states that arose 
  at the junctures of the canals. 
  In the Martian deserts, the Grand 
  Canals provided water for land up to 
  five miles on either side. In the 
  seabeds, the quality of the ancient 
  seabottom soil made agriculture 
  possible within 50 miles of the ca- 
  nals. 
  As with all things, however, Mar- 
  tian civilization reached maturity, 
  then old age. Agriculture in the sea- 
  beds became increasingly difficult, 
  and agriculture in the deserts became 
  almost impossible. Populations grad- 
  ually withdrew from the dying de- 
  serts, and as they did, the Grand 
  Canals of the deserts fell into disre- 
  pair. Scattered city-states squabbled 
  over water rights, and eventually 
  even some of the seabed canals silted 
  up and were abandoned. 
  Seasons 
  MARS ORBITS the Sun at a dis- 
  tance of 141 million miles and has 
  a year of 687 days. The Martian year 
  is divided into seasons determined by 
  the level of canal water. 
  Flood is the short season in which 
  polar meltwater rushes down the ca- 
  nal, and it marks the beginning of the 
  growing season. It begins with the 
  first swell of meltwater and lasts until 
  the water level has again receded 
  below the level of the canal prome- 
  nades. Especially in regions closer to 
  the poles, this rush of water over- 
  burdens the capacity of the canal, 
  often reaching to the tops of the 
  levees and overflowing to the crop- 
  lands and fields beyond. Navigation 
  is often difficult during this time. 
  During the season called flow, wa- 
  ter fills the Grand Canals to within 
  a few feet of each bank, but there is 
  no surge, and navigation is easy and 
  unimpeded. Flow continues through 
  most of the year and is equivalent to 
  summer and fall on Earth. 
  Low flow is the dry season on 
  Mars. The icecap providing melt- 
  water has almost completely melted 
  and can provide no more water for 
  the canals; water in the Grand Canals 
  is reduced to a mere trickle. To 
  enable traffic to continue during the 
  dry season, low flow channels were 
  cut into the bottoms of the Grand 
  Canals to contain what little water re- 
  mained. These low flow channels 
  measure 50 to 100 yards wide and 30 
  feet deep, sufficient for almost any 
  canal boat or barge. The channels re- 
  main full during low flow, but the 
  rest of the canal bottom is almost 
  completely dry. The low flow chan- 
  nel snakes its way along the bottom 
  of the Grand Canal, first touching 
  one bank, then angling over to touch 
  the opposite bank some two or three 
  miles downstream. This meandering 
  of the channel is not random, but in- 
  tentional, and serves a useful pur- 
  pose, reducing the distance mer- 
  chants must move their goods across 
  the dry canal bottom before they can 
  reach a bank. 
  Surge is a short season which oc- 
  curs sometime during low flow. As 
  the low flow season progresses in 
  one Martian hemisphere, the flood 
  and flow seasons are taking place in 
  the opposite hemisphere. Some of the 
  water flow from the opposite hemi- 
  sphere makes its way, eventually, to 
  canals on the other side of the world. 
  The surge of water that does manage 
  to make its way to the other hemi- 
  sphere produces a temporary replen- 
  �9 
  ~? 
  ADVENTURES 
  "~ 
  �9 WHILE TRAVELLING by ~'~ 
  boat along one of the canals dur- 
  ing the dry season, the group is 
  caught in an unexpected surge, 
  severely damaging its boat, 
  which sinks and forces them to 
  proceed on foot. 
  �9 The party becomes part of 
  a scientific expedition into the 
  hinterlands of the old seabed to 
  locate and excavate one of the 
  early city-states or a settlement 
  along a long-abandoned and for- 
  gotten Grand Canal. 
  ishment of water in the canal beds. 
  Martian seasons have predictable 
  lengths, and history has provided 
  each city-state along the canals with 
  an accurate record which helps the 
  citizens to foresee precisely when the 
  seasons will change. But because the 
  seasons are based on the flow in the 
  canals, they change at different times 
  for each city-state. Travellers not ac- 
  quainted with local conditions risk 
  being caught in the deadly flow of a 
  surge. 
  GDW 
  
  152  )RECENT HISTORY 
  RECENT HISTORY 
  FOR MILLENNIA, the various 
  city-states of Mars existed, some- 
  times warring, sometimes cooperat- 
  ing, until a great leader arose to bring 
  Mars into a golden age. 
  Seldon's Empire 
  ABOUT 5000 years ago, Mars 
  produced a great military leader, the 
  equivalent of Alexander the Great on 
  Earth. Seldon II rose to power in the 
  small mountain kingdom of Gaaryan 
  (before the seas receded, it was the 
  island kingdom of Gaaryan). Sel- 
  don's father had been a great ruler 
  in his own right, and just as Alex- 
  ander built upon what his father, 
  Phillip of Macedon, had accom- 
  plished, Seldon could not have done 
  what he did without the solid foun- 
  dation built by his father. 
  �9 
  t 
  Seldon, fired by an oracle's pre- 
  diction that he was destined to con- 
  quer the world, raised and equipped 
  an army, built a fleet of canal ships, 
  and sailed forth to the greater glory 
  of Gaaryan. He confronted each city- 
  state along his route of conquest with 
  his powerful forces, and demanded 
  obedience and allegiance. When he 
  got them, he incorporated the com- 
  munity into his growing empire, 
  granting the local potentates com- 
  plete autonomy as his representa- 
  tives. When a city resisted, he lev- 
  eled it. A few such object lessons and 
  resistance became:~ scarce. The city 
  leaders who cooperated became the 
  canal princes of Mars; virtually all 
  Martian rulers today trace their 
  power to those original oaths of 5000 
  years ago. 
  Seldon brought more than an ar- 
  my, however. Accompanying his 
  forces were massive engineer barges 
  that dredged the silt from the canals. 
  To supply his forces, Seldon need- 
  ed the canals in working condition. 
  His engineers repaired broken locks, 
  patched leaking levees, and cleared 
  tangled settling pools. Where they 
  could, they rebuilt pumping stations; 
  where they couldn't, they built anew, 
  although sometimes more crudely. 
  By whatever means, Seldon rebuilt 
  and reopened a third of the seabed's 
  canals, bringing a rapidly burgeon- 
  ing trade and renewed prosperity. 
  His empire controlled more than 
  any in history, but Seldon was never 
  satisfied, never willing to rest. 
  Driven by the belief that he must 
  conquer all of the world and that he 
  was invulnerable until that time, 
  Seldon took risks in battle which 
  frightened his subordinates, but he 
  was never touched and seemed in- 
  deed to have a charmed life. 
  Seldon's lifestyle eventually 
  caught up with him, however. Refus- 
  ing to listen to the advice of his 
  physicians, Seldon drove himself 
  ever harder in pursuit of his goal of 
  world conquest. He was struck down 
  at the height of his power by a com- 
  bination of exhaustion and illness. 
  On his deathbed, in his temporary 
  capital in Syrtis Major, his last words 
  were an angry tirade against the cir- 
  cumstances that had prevented him 
  from fulfilling his destiny. His son, 
  Seldon III, succeeded him. The 
  dynasty lasted nearly 3000 years, un- 
  til Seldon LXIX, the last of his line. 
  Seldon III was less driven than his 
  father and chose to consolidate and 
  improve rather than expand the em- 
  pire. Within a generation, long- 
  forgotten mercantile skills were 
  relearned, and merchant barges be- 
  gan regular runs along the newly 
  opened canals. Local princes ac- 
  quired fabulous fortunes from taxes 
  and vied among themselves in the 
  construction of ever larger and more 
  expensive public buildings. Tribute 
  flowed into the empire's coffers, and 
  Seldon III built the first of many im- 
  perial palaces at Syrtis Major. 
  His successors proved to be a mix 
  of competent rulers, geniuses, and 
  buffoons, and the power and influ- 
  ence of Seldon's empire waxed and 
  waned in accordance with who was 
  on the throne. Since government was 
  held together by personal allegiance, 
  each canal prince had to renew his 
  oaths when there was a new emper- 
  or. Strong rulers kept the canal 
  princes in line, tribute flowed in, and 
  the empire was strong. Weak rulers 
  could not control the princes, and the 
  empire grew weaker. The cycle con- 
  tinued, but there was always a cen- 
  tral ruler to tie things together. 
  Seldon LXVIII died without leav- 
  ing a clearly designated heir. The 
  emperor's nephew ,was crowned Sel- 
  don LXIX, but his rule was not rec- 
  ognized by all of the canal princes, 
  and the dynastic struggle between op- 
  posing candidates for the throne soon 
  swept the empire into a century-long 
  civil war which was its death spasm. 
  
  RECENT HISTORYIt 153 
  As imperial power withdrew from or 
  was forced out of an area, the canals 
  became the responsibility of the in- 
  dividual city-states along them. The 
  canals of the poorer city-states soon 
  fell into disrepair and became marsh- 
  es or dry channels as the money and 
  resources normally used for their 
  maintenance went to buy and equip 
  military forces. The war destroyed 
  some city-states and impoverished 
  others. By the time the war finally 
  ended, civilization on Mars was a 
  shadow of its former self, and the 
  magnificent empire of the Seldon 
  Dynasty was nothing more than a 
  few dozen petty principalities, col- 
  lections of city-states under some 
  particularly capable canal prince. 
  These principalities occasionally 
  labeled themselves "empire," but 
  these "empires" at their largest were 
  but pale shadows of Seldon's mighty 
  conquests. 
  The world remained this way for 
  nearly 2000 years, until one morn- 
  ing when a tiny spacecraft from a 
  previously unnoteworthy blue-green 
  planet plunged down from where the 
  moons dance. 
  The Present Political Landscape 
  BEFORE THE coming of hu- 
  mans, the major Martian city-states 
  were in rough equilibrium, although 
  a few of them stood out above the 
  rest: 
  Oenotria: The Oenotrian Empire 
  was a rising star in the region south 
  of Syrtis Major, rapidly dominating 
  the older principalities of Deltoton, 
  Astrapsk, Iapygia, and Avenel in 
  diplomatic and (occasionally) mili- 
  tary campaigns of conquest. With the 
  coming of the humans, and particu- 
  larly with the establishment of a Brit- 
  ish Crown Colony in Syrtis Major, 
  the Oenotrians have been thwarted in 
  their northern expansionist plans. 
  The present war between the British 
  and the Oenotrians was almost an in- 
  evitable result of the political and 
  diplomatic climate in the Syrtis pla- 
  teau resulting from the human settle- 
  ment there. 
  The Boreosyrtis League: The 
  Boreosyrtis League is not a civil en- 
  tity, but a loose mercantile confed- 
  eration with many similarities to the 
  Hanseatic League of the later medi- 
  eval period on Earth. The cities of 
  the Boreosyrtis League have a com- 
  plete monopoly on the production of 
  bhutan spice, the prime British ex- 
  port from Mars (after lifiwood). The 
  league's headquarters is presently in 
  the city of Umbra, where the major 
  mercantile houses and princes of the 
  cities of the league send their repre- 
  sentatives to the League's Grand 
  Council. 
  Astusapes: The Astusapes moun- 
  tains are inhabited by High Martians, 
  ruled by a number of greater or less- 
  er kings from their "kraags," or 
  mountain fortress-cities. The kraags 
  are nearly invulnerable fastnesses, 
  carved from the heart of one of the 
  rugged mesas or cliffs that permeate 
  the region. The highlands are also the 
  source of liftwood, and liftwood and 
  the kraags are the twin pillars of 
  High Martian power. Raiding the 
  trade routes to the north was a minor 
  sideline that brought them into con- 
  flict with the Boreosyrtis League and 
  the British. 
  The predominant high king of the 
  Astusapes region was the master of 
  Kraag Barrovaar, King Hattabranx, 
  until a British raid weakened his 
  power in February of 1888. Since 
  that time, the area has been in a state 
  of flux. 
  i~)~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~ 
  �9 THE CHARACTERS un- 
  cover a plot to penetrate the 
  closely guarded bhutan spice 
  fields of one of the cities of the 
  Boreosyrtis League, in an attempt 
  to obtain cuttings of the spice 
  plant and break the League's mo- 
  nopoly on spice production. 
  �9 The characters try to obtain 
  a load of liflwood for themselves 
  and brave the dangers of the high- 
  lands. 
  Technology 
  IN GENERAL, the Canal Mar- 
  tians are the most civilized and the 
  most highly advanced technological- 
  ly. It is they who manufacture gun- 
  powder, cast guns (when they can get 
  the metal), and build the largest and 
  most advanced cloudships. Despite 
  this, however, the Canal Martians 
  possess a stagnant culture and have 
  not made a single major scientific 
  discovery in centuries. 
  Hill Martians are more primitive 
  than Canal Martians, both in ap- 
  pearance and in technological ad- 
  vancement. They are still capable of 
  relatively sophisticated creations in 
  many different kinds of wood, al- 
  though they lack the practical and ar- 
  tistic metal-working skills of the 
  Canal Martians. 
  High Martians are a brutish lot, 
  both physically and technologically. 
  Although they can work metal, they 
  prefer to obtain manufactured goods 
  by trade or brigandage, or as tribute. 
  As masters of the high places where 
  liftwood grows, they have a monopo- 
  ly on the most important item of 
  trade on the planet. 
  GDW 
  
  154  )THE CANALS OF MARS 
  THE CANALS OF MARS 
  WHEN MARTIAN civilization 
  arose some 35,000 years ago, a tem- 
  porary climatic spasm had melted 
  large parts of the icecaps and flood- 
  ed ancient, long-dry seabeds. On the 
  shores of those newly refilled seas 
  the great civilizations rose and 
  flourished. Ten thousand years later, 
  as the climate again shifted and the 
  seas started to recede, the Martian 
  civilizations struggled to reverse the 
  flow of water. When that failed, they 
  dedicated their energies to building 
  the canals that would carry the 
  melted icecap waters to all parts of 
  their globe. It is those canals that to- 
  day mark the surface of Mars. 
  Scale in Yards 
  0 
  50 
  100 
  to the limits of the Grand Canal 
  Types of Canals 
  aquifer. They serve two purposes: ir- 
  THREE TYPES of canals are en- rigation and transportation. 
  countered on Mars: the Grand Ca- 
  Petty Canals carry water to the 
  nals, the Petty Canals, and the Dead edges of the Grand Canal aquifer and 
  Canals. Each has its own role in the help drain excess ground water back 
  master scheme of canals and irriga- into the Grand Canal. Their primary 
  tion on Mars. 
  purpose, however, is transportation: 
  Grand Canals: The major Mar- Canal barges venture off the Grand 
  tian canals are the Grand Canals. The Canals to small farming communities 
  typical Grand Canal is about a mile to provide passenger, cargo, and 
  wide and about 100 feet deep. In mail service. 
  cities, the banks themselves are 
  Dead Canals: Once upon a time 
  paved promenades serving as plazas, all of the canals were vital, essential 
  markets, and bazaars; in the court- parts of the globe-encircling Martian 
  tryside, massive earthen levees help canal network. Over time, however, 
  contain flooding when the first rush some of the canals have fallen into 
  of floodwaters comes in summer, 
  disuse or disrepair; eventually they 
  Water seeping through the bottom have died. These Dead Canals have 
  and sides of the Grand Canal creates filled in with blowing desert sand and 
  an underground water table (an aqui- become unnavigable. 
  fer) which supports agriculture, for- 
  Dead Canals, even though they are 
  ests, and animal life for miles on no longer passable for ships and 
  each side of the Grand Canal. In the barges, remain channels for water 
  ancient (and now dry) Martian sea- flow. Beneath the surface, water still 
  beds, this aquifer may reach as far runs in deep gravel-filled channels 
  as 50 miles on each side of the canal; (albeit slowly) and creates an aquifer 
  in what were once the dry land con- which supports plants and some ani- 
  tinents, the aquifer reaches less than mal life, although the fertile area is 
  five miles out on each side. The not as extensive as that created by a 
  flourishing strips of land on each side functional canal. 
  of the canal (whether in ancient dry 
  The Dead Canals are the highways 
  seabed or ancient continent) are of the Martian deserts. No longer 
  called the banks; they contain the carrying open water, their under- 
  croplands, the orchards, and the ground channels still support surface 
  pastures of Mars; all Martian agri- vegetation and occasionally provide 
  culture is dependent on these banks, a well or spring with cool, fresh 
  Petty Canals: Branching off the water. The Dead Canals are the on- 
  Grand Canals are the Petty (or small) ly means of traversing the vast, 
  Canals. These small watercourses otherwise barren deserts on the 
  lead off the Grand Canals and extend ground. 
  
  THE CANALS OF MARSLt 155 
  Nomenclature 
  IN ORDER to better understand 
  the function and construction of the 
  canals, it is important to know the 
  terms used in describing them. A 
  canal consists of a channel which lies 
  between two banks. Along the bot- 
  tom of the channel is a deeper sec- 
  tion called the low flow channel, 
  which carries boats even when the 
  canal is nearly dry. Beyond each 
  bank and paralleling it is a long 
  mound of gravel and soil called the 
  levee. The stretch of land between 
  the canal bank and the levee is the 
  promenade, which functions as a 
  road and a shore. Beyond the levee, 
  the aquified swath stretches from five 
  to 50 miles to each side of the canal. 
  The typical canal components are 
  shown in the accompanying diagram. 
  Canal Channels: The ancient 
  Martians were masters of tech- 
  nology. They harnessed forces that 
  defy the imagination to blast or burn 
  the mile-wide Grand Canals through 
  the deserts and the dry seabeds of 
  Mars. t 
  Each Grand Canal has three possi- 
  ble water levels: flood, flow, and low 
  flow; the names correspond to the 
  Martian seasons of the same names 
  (translated into English). 
  Banks: The banks of the canals 
  slope steeply up from the bottom, 
  usually at an angle of 70 degrees or 
  more. Cut into these steep banks, 
  however, is a constant series of ac- 
  cesses. Staircases allow easy descent 
  to the current water level, or to the 
  dry canal bottom when only the low 
  flow channel is full. Docks (usually 
  paired with the staircases) let boats 
  �9 
  I 
  �9 
  AQUIFIED REGION EXTENDS 5-50 MI. 
  j.-" 
  / : 
  Promenade 
  ,,,, 
  :,'/ 
  / 
  Bank~ 
  ':l 
  \ 
  \ 
  Low 
  MARTIAN CANAL NOMENCLATURE 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~'~ 
  �9 WHILE THE characters are ~'~ 
  traversing a desert along the route 
  of a Dead Canal, they discover 
  that the oasis shown on the map 
  has dried up or is surrounded by 
  hostile Hill Martians, and they 
  must seek out an alternate source 
  of water or suffer the ravages of 
  dehydration. 
  �9 A city-state has closed one 
  of the Grand Canals to traffic. 
  The players must be resourceful 
  and find a way past the guard 
  boats 
  to continue on their 
  journey. 
  �9 While visiting a bazaar on 
  the bank of a Grand Canal, the 
  characters are attracted to the 
  canal's edge by a commotion go- 
  ing on near an unfamiliar barge 
  which is attempting to beach itself 
  there. 
  pull in out of the current. Broad 
  shallow-sloped ramps cut through the 
  banks to allow the launching and 
  beaching of barges. 
  tSir Basil Throckmorton of the Royal 
  Society has calculated that a single 
  double-turreted ironclad ship, suspended 
  by liftwood floaters, could blast one mile 
  of channel (one square mile of hole 30 
  feet deep) only by firing 250,000 one- 
  ton projectiles at the rate of one per 
  minute over the course of half a year. 
  Since such an effort would take a fleet 
  of 1000 such ships 1000 years to blast 
  the 60,000 miles of Martian Grand Ca- 
  nals, and the industry required to pro- 
  duce the projectiles would outshine all 
  of Earth's industrial might, the project 
  was clearly impossible. 
  Professor John Smyth of Oxford has 
  pointed out that "impossible" is clear- 
  ly not the word since the canals do in- 
  deed exist. 
  GDW 
  
  156 ))THE CANALS OF MARS 
  Promenades: The flat edges of the 
  canals are called promenades; in ru- 
  ral areas, the promenade is nothing 
  more than a fiat, sandy edge to the 
  canal. In cities and settled areas, 
  some promenades serve as markets 
  (holding permanent shops and store- 
  fronts) or bazaars (for temporary 
  merchant sites). Other promenades 
  are broad plazas or parks adding to 
  the beauty of the Grand Canals as 
  they pass through the city-state. 
  Levees: Rising above the banks of 
  the Grand Canals are broad levees in- 
  tended to contain the floodwaters of 
  the Martian spring. In the coun- 
  tryside, these levees are little more 
  than mounds of gravel and clay. In 
  Martian city-states, they are more 
  solidly and carefully built. On and 
  behind the levees, the city's buildings 
  rise in splendor. 
  Crossings: Innumerable bridges 
  cross the canals of Mars. A few basic 
  bridging principles are used to pro- 
  duce a great many different bridges 
  that cross the broad Grand Canals. 
  Almost all consist of a long causeway 
  from each bank, meeting in a span 
  that crosses the canal at the low flow 
  channel. In order to accommodate 
  barge superstructures and masts, the 
  bridge either arches high enough to 
  produce a 40-foot clearance above 
  the normal flow waterline, or is con- 
  structed on a drawbridge or turnstile 
  system. 
  Straits: Although the typical canal 
  is about a mile across, there are 
  places where this width must be re- 
  duced to 500, 300, or even 100 
  yards. The canal builders, in order 
  to maintain the same water flow, 
  were forced to dig the channels 
  deeper at these points. These straits 
  are often encountered as a canal 
  passes through a rock escarpment, 
  through a city, or when two canals 
  draw close together. 
  �9 
  Locks: Locks help to contain the 
  water at proper levels in the canals 
  in spite of steep grades and slopes. 
  Locks are placed at strategic loca- 
  tions along the Grand Canals and at 
  the points where Petty Canals touch 
  the Grand Canals. 
  Cataracts: Water flow down over 
  relatively great heights is, in many 
  parts of the Martian canal network, 
  left to gravity. The broad flow 
  reaches an edge and simply drops the 
  necessary distance before resuming 
  the course of the canal. 
  Originally, deliberate cataracts 
  were constructed with large pools 
  above and below the falls and a rein- 
  forced lip for the cataract edge itself. 
  Time and the force of tons of water 
  have generally eroded the lip, forc- 
  ing back the cataract edge in an 
  uneven pattern. Debris below the 
  falls makes the lower pool danger- 
  ously shallow and filled with treach- 
  erous rock fragments; erosion above 
  the falls fills the upper pool with 
  swift, shifting currents. 
  Keeping transportation in mind, 
  the canal builders constructed by- 
  passes around the cataracts. Small 
  canals and stepped locks in series 
  were common methods of providing 
  boat channels, but other methods in- 
  cluded crane points and slipways. 
  Aqueducts: In some locations, one 
  canal moves down the center of a 
  valley while another canal must cross 
  the valley at a right angle. In such 
  situations, the canal builders pro- 
  duced massive aqueducts which 
  bridged the valley and carried the 
  canal across the gap while allowing 
  the other canal to pass below. 
  Cascade Pools: When water flows 
  downhill, it accelerates. The farther 
  it flows, the faster its speed becomes. 
  There are sections of Martian canal 
  where a long stretch of downhill 
  slope would make the water flow un- 
  reasonably fast. In order to correct 
  this, the slope is broken with a series 
  of cascade pools: broad, flat pools 
  that allow the water flow to be 
  slowed to nothing before it enters the 
  next section of sloped canal. 
  Crane Points: At certain points 
  along the course of the canals, the 
  designers found that boats and barges 
  had to be transferred from one canal 
  to another quickly and efficiently;. 
  they also found that for any number 
  of reasons the normal system using 
  locks would not work. In those situa- 
  tions, a crane was rigged to physical- 
  ly lift the boat or barge out of one 
  canal and into another. 
  The simplest crane system moves 
  the boat in one swing. Cranes are 
  often employed at cataracts to lift or 
  lower the boats the ~everal hundred 
  feet required. 
  More complete crane systems 
  employ several (as many as 10) 
  cranes installed in series; each in its 
  turn lifts the boat and swings it some 
  lateral distance and some vertical 
  
  THE CANALS OF MARS,|t 157 
  distance closer to its destination. One 
  such system in the Belgian Coprates 
  shifts boats through eight pools cut 
  into the sheer cliffs at the edge of the 
  Ophir range. Each crane swings 
  across a diameter of 220 yards and 
  lifts a boat more than 500 feet. A 
  boat travelling through this crane 
  point travels more than a mile hori- 
  zontally and about 4000 feet verti- 
  cally. oBRIDGING BRIDGE ,,/~S ~ 
  CONNECTING 
  ~/~ 
  CANAL ~/~'~ 
  ~f ~ 
  LOCK 
  ?~ 
  FALLS 
  Crossovers: When the flows of 
  two canals meet, their waters may 
  mingle or may be kept apart, depend- 
  ing on which system best handles the 
  local needs for water. Crossovers 
  allow most of the water in each canal 
  to remain in that canal, while some 
  surface water is exchanged in order 
  to allow boats and barges to transfer 
  from one canal to the other. 
  Slipways: Although water can 
  drop vertically at a cataract, boats 
  and barges need to move more gent- 
  ly. When the distance is not too 
  great, gently sloped slipways are 
  constructed to carry the vessels up or 
  down. 
  Slipways may be either wet or dry. 
  A dry slipway mounts the vessel on 
  a roller chassis and drags it along a 
  smooth stone-paved road from one 
  point to another. A wet slipway 
  allows a boat to float down a gently- 
  sloped channel or to be pulled (by 
  winches or beasts of burden) up the 
  same channel. 
  Pumping Stations: Although the 
  water of the canals generally flows 
  under the force of gravity, there are 
  many places where it must flow up 
  and over mountain ranges or down 
  into valleys and back out again. The 
  canal builders constructed strate- 
  gically placed pumping stations to 
  force water up against the force of 
  gravity. Many different methods 
  were used, and some can still be seen 
  along the banks of the Grand Canals. 
  One type of pumping station is 
  powered by volcanic heat which 
  creates steam to drive water up a 
  sheer rock shaft more than 2000 feet 
  in height. Another uses massive 
  carved stone waterwheels at a branch 
  in a canal; the majority of the canal 
  water proceeds downhill, but its 
  force is used to divert a fraction up 
  and over a rock escarpment and out 
  into a desert canal. 
  Other pumping stations are more 
  difficult to fathom. 
  One simply draws water up a mas- 
  sive underground channel and spews 
  it out in a fountain more than 10 
  miles away. Explorers have noted 
  extreme magnetic disruptions in 
  compasses in the region; animals in 
  watertight barrels have safely tra- 
  versed the length of the channel with 
  no apparent ill effects. But no ex- 
  planation is forthcoming for the 
  mechanism that still moves massive 
  amounts of water after 25,000 years 
  of operation. 
  The Memnonia pumping station, 
  now in disrepair, once forced masses 
  of water up the Gorgonum Sinus and 
  into the desert beyond. Under the 
  collapsed roofs and beams of the sta- 
  tion can still be seen the immense 
  cylinders, pools, and rusting conduits 
  that once carried water up the valley. 
  Local legends say that the ruins are 
  haunted by the ghosts of workers 
  who died trying to keep the station 
  operating even as parts continually 
  broke and could not be replaced or 
  ~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  r 
  | 
  �9 FOR SOME reason (an im -~'~ 
  properly marked chart, a bribed 
  pilot, inattention) the characters' 
  canal boat is directed towards a 
  cataract instead of to the slipway 
  or to the canal's locks. Heroic 
  measures will be necessary to es- 
  cape, and the boat might be dam- 
  aged or destroyed in the process. 
  �9 The lockkeepers have been 
  bribed by person or persons un- 
  known, and the characters' boat 
  is delayed or severely damaged 
  during the transit of a lock or 
  spillway. 
  repaired. When the station finally 
  and permanently failed, it doomed 
  the Grand Canal to Arsia Silva and 
  Nodus Gordii to death and burial 
  under the shifting sands of the desert. 
  The Aeolis pumping station, once 
  filling canals that served Zephyria 
  and Trivium Charontis, employed 
  massive turbine pumps to force water 
  up the mountain slopes. Their 
  mysterious power source (which 
  emits a deadly gas inside an immense 
  chamber) has weakened over the 
  millennia to the point that the tur- 
  bines now turn only slowly and 
  without the force needed to move 
  water up the long conduits leading 
  over the mountains. 
  Other stations present equally 
  mysterious mechanisms which no 
  longer work: crumbled towers that 
  once stood three, miles high; sealed 
  tombs filled with corrosive liquids; 
  pumps using long slender threads on 
  mounts and pulleys; equipment that 
  obviously used electric current, but 
  in ways that cannot yet be under- 
  stood. 
  GDW 
  
  158 ))THE CANALS OF MARS 
  Settling Pools: At regular intervals 
  along every Grand Canal, the banks 
  of the main channel widen and the 
  bottom deepens, creating a large set- 
  tling pool. The bottom configuration 
  is deliberately constructed to produce 
  currents and eddies that will deposit 
  debris, sand, and silt in the deeper 
  areas where it will not obstruct the 
  main channel. 
  Because the low flow season pro- 
  duces dry canal beds, the bottoms of 
  the settling pools are exposed at least 
  once every year. At these times, 
  scavengers clear the dirt and debris 
  from the pool floors as they search 
  for salvage, precious metals that col- 
  lect in the silt, and even food plants 
  that gi'ow in the lingering moisture 
  of the soil. 
  Conscientious city-states send out 
  work crews to clear the settling pools 
  during low flow, aware that after 
  WATER VAPOR 
  FROM AQUIFIED 
  ~,L.~ ~i~tf~, ~ 
  SWATH 
  WATER VAPOR 
  FROM CANALS 
  S~ 
  HIGHLANDS 
  ]l 
  ~ 
  A 
  / 
  \ 
  AQUIFIED 
  AQUIFIED 
  POLAR ICE 
  SWATH 
  ZONE 
  CAP 
  THE MARTIAN WATER CYCLE 
  several seasons of no maintenance, 
  the settling pools will start to clog the 
  main channel and eventually ruin the 
  canal itself. 
  ~" 
  JULES VERNE 
  THE FRENCH science-fiction writer Jules Verne visited several of ~ 
  the Martian canals in the spring of 1886 and has proposed his own ver- 
  sion of how the canals were constructed. 
  The grand canal blasters of the Martians best resemble a broad- 
  beamed cargo ship suspended from a truss constructed of the Mar- 
  tian liftwood material. Strong cantilever girders above the hull 
  suspend a large solar reflector which channels the rays of the sun 
  into an orifice. That orifice, in turn, directs the solar light into 
  an internal network of lenses and out the bottom of the hull, where 
  it is directed toward the channel to be dug. 
  The modified and intensified solar rays heat the Martian soil 
  into a kind of lava, part of which then boils away, while the re- 
  mainder forms a strong, foamed volcanic glass lining for the water- 
  course. As this lining cools, #fractures into a sponge-like material 
  that allows some of the water to drain into the local water table. 
  An examination of the Grand Canal through French Boreosyr- 
  tis and of a section of the dry canal bed exposed by a winter sand- 
  storm confirmed that the canal lining is a foamed volcanic glass. 
  Decorative carvings in the lintels of the ruined temple at Cydonia 
  picture just such an aerial vessel as I describe here as well. 
  Destruction and Decay 
  CENTURIES OF use, misuse, 
  disuse, and abuse have taken their 
  toll on the canals of Mars. When 
  pumping stations broke down and 
  could not be repaired, vast stretches 
  of canal were doomed to a sandy 
  death. In some areas, levee repairs 
  were neglected; eventually, the 
  canals spilled over their banks to 
  create vast impassable swamps or 
  broad marshes. When conflicts be- 
  tween city-states halted transporta- 
  tion and commerce down specific 
  canals, maintenance and upkeep 
  were also halted; channels silted up 
  and banks crumbled down. 
  After thousands of years, many 
  sections of the canal network no 
  longer have the finish and quality 
  they had when they were new. 
  Crumbled walls have been replaced 
  with inferior-quality brickwork. 
  Levees have been washed away and 
  never replaced. New bridges have 
  been built whose supports obstruct 
  water flow in unpredictable ways. 
  And sometimes the technology has 
  simply not existed to replace or 
  repair the thousand-year-old canals. 
  
  THE CANALS OF MARSI( 159 
  Standard Boats and Barges 
  VIRTUALLY ALL of the facili- 
  ties of the Martian canals are built 
  to handle boats and barges of certain 
  standard sizes. Vessels which exceed 
  the standard dimensions cannot pass 
  through the lock, cannot be picked 
  up by the cranes at most crane points, 
  and cannot pass beneath many 
  bridges. 
  The maximum width for a canal 
  boat is 55 feet; the maximum length 
  is 220 feet. Maximum draft is the- 
  oretically 25 feet during flow; in 
  practice, most vessels are built with 
  a flat-bottomed draft of 15 feet or 
  less. When a vessel mounts masts 
  (for sails), they must be collapsible 
  since about one bridge in 10 is fixed 
  and has a clearance of about 40 feet. 
  Martian canal vessels come in a 
  variety of shapes and sizes. Typical- 
  ly, vessels are divided into boats 
  (passenger carriers, 
  utility, and 
  p2tre~ cfraif~t and rba/s~eS (flat-b~ 
  Boats: Boats serve a variety of 
  functions on the Martian canals. Their 
  configuration depends on that specif- 
  ic function. Boats have some form of 
  propulsion. Merchant ships have 
  sails because they are cheap and easy 
  to use; military ships may have oars 
  and rowers, or they may use some 
  contrivance to transfer oarsmen's ef- 
  forts to paddle wheels or underwater 
  screws. Private ships often depend 
  on a combination of sail and muscle 
  power for propulsion. 
  Steam power is relatively rare; the 
  expense of coal or wood is too great 
  to justify steam's installation in 
  watercraft. 
  "1%, 
  I 
  Barges: A barge is a flat-bottomed 
  freight boat. Built without a propul- 
  sion system other than a sail rig, 
  barges carry cargoes up and down 
  the canals. Where possible, barges 
  are simply let drift with the current; 
  where necessary, the sail rig is raised 
  to move against a gentle current or 
  to shift position within the main 
  channel. On the Petty Canals and on 
  some stretches of the Grand Canals, 
  barges are towed by beasts of bur- 
  den. 
  ~ 
  ADVENTURES to~eed~l 
  )'~ �9 AS THE PARTY is 
  through a lock, the cable to the 
  beast of burden breaks, and the 
  party's vessel breaks loose, de- 
  laying the journey and potential- 
  ly damaging the vessel. 
  �9 The 
  characters' 
  vessel 
  strikes a sandbar or other ob- 
  struction along an improperly 
  maintained canal and is damaged 
  or sunk, forcing them to continue 
  their voyage on foot. 
  �9 The characters journey to a 
  deserted city in search of a legen- 
  dary canal-digging machine, in 
  hopes of selling the technology or 
  modifying it to their own pur- 
  poses. 
  The Handiwork of the 
  Canal Builders 
  THE CANALS of Mars are the 
  greatest civil engineering project 
  ever undertaken. No construction on 
  Earth can even rival the canals' 
  grandeur; no Earth construction proj- 
  ect is visible from space the way the 
  Martian canal network is. It is a 
  testimony to the survival instinct of 
  the Martians that they could under- 
  take and complete their canal net- 
  work; without it, Mars would today 
  be a dead planet. 
  �9 MEETING 
  DIVERTER 
  STRUCTURE 
  GDW 
  
  160 
  CITY-STATES 
  CITIES AND CITY-STATES 
  CITIES ON Mars tend to occur at 
  the junctures of the canals. The junc- 
  tures produce trade and serve as 
  dependable sources of water for the 
  inhabitants. The great cities of Mars 
  were originally established by traders 
  and merchants at the junctions of the 
  Grand Canals. Wherever the Grand 
  Canals met, some trade could be ex- 
  pected, and a city was the natural 
  consequence. Over time, these cities 
  have grown and prospered, benefit- 
  ing from trade and from the culti- 
  vated land which surrounds them. A 
  city-state consists of a central city 
  and the arable land around it (in- 
  cluding a number of lesser com- 
  munities). The area controlled by a 
  city-state also includes the arable 
  land along its canals extending out as 
  far as the military might and political 
  acumen of that city-state allow. 
  Background 
  MARTIAN CITY-STATES are 
  easily classified in size, power, and 
  wealth by a simple indicator: the 
  number of canals extending from the 
  city. If a city is at the terminus of a 
  canal, it has only one canal; such 
  cities are typically small and weak. 
  A city sited along a canal can count 
  two canals extending from it, one in 
  each direction; it can benefit only 
  from trade passing through it. Cities 
  situated at the crossroads of many 
  canals--three, four, five--are pro- 
  gressively stronger and wealthier. 
  They benefit from canal trade travel- 
  ling in many directions. The strong- 
  est city-states claim seven, eight, or 
  more canals extending outward from 
  their territory, and are major centers 
  of mercantile activity. 
  Mercantile trade brought wealth to 
  a city-state, wealth that meant power- 
  ful armies to maintain or increase its 
  territory, artisans and craftsmen to 
  build ever larger and more spectac- 
  ular buildings, and more power and 
  prestige for the canal prince who 
  ruled the city-state. Remember, how- 
  ever, that the canals came first--the 
  cities followed. 
  The original Martian city-states 
  were built during the Brifanoon (the 
  Age of Water). They were wonders 
  of Martian science, reflecting the 
  bright optimism of an expanding, 
  vital civilization. Clustered around 
  the canal intersections were tall 
  spires and massive towers that 
  reflected the strength of Martian 
  culture and technology. Planned 
  cities made provision for residences, 
  industry, transportation, and com- 
  merce, mingling them all with beauty 
  and efficiency. Today, the planning 
  and quality of the Martian city-states 
  can be seen even by the most casual 
  observer. 
  Decline 
  THE TECHNOLOGY that built 
  the vast cities is long vanished on 
  Mars. When the final drying of Mars 
  began, advanced technology became 
  a luxury the Martians could ill af- 
  ford. Labor, always in short supply, 
  had to be committed to agriculture, 
  and there were no longer large ur- 
  ban populations from which artisans, 
  technicians, and engineers could be 
  trained. As conditions got worse, 
  populations deserted the least hos- 
  pitable of the cities, and a general 
  decay of civilization began. Once the 
  canal system began to fail, this decay 
  could not help but accelerate. 
  Remnants 
  THE SPECTACULAR Martian 
  cities still stretch for miles beyond 
  the canal banks. Their towers reach 
  upward for hundreds of stories. 
  Fabulous rooms filled with unfa- 
  thomable devices remain even today. 
  But the Martians make use of only 
  a fraction of the assets their cities 
  provide. Rather than climb unending 
  stairs, they restrict themselves to the 
  lower three or four stories of their 
  massive buildings. Rather than travel 
  long roads to the life-giving water of 
  the canals, they restrict themselves 
  to buildings closest to the waterways. 
  Whole sections of Martian cities to- 
  day lie empty, deserted, and un- 
  claimed except by the local vermin. 
  
  CITY-STATES 
  161 
  Agriculture 
  AGRICULTURE IS the founda- 
  tion of the city-state economy and is 
  the font from which all else springs. 
  The bulk of the population of all but 
  the largest city-states is inevitably in- 
  volved in farming or in some form 
  of farm service. In most city-states, 
  the land is actually owned by a small 
  number of wealthy landowners and 
  rented to individual farmers. Rents 
  and taxes are paid in the form of a 
  percentage of total produce, and a 
  fairly laissez-faire policy over the 
  operation of individual farms is prac- 
  ticed. The canal prince is usually 
  (although not always) the largest 
  landowner. 
  In some areas, mercantile clans 
  have taken over vast tracts for the 
  cultivation of some specific crop, 
  usually on huge estates worked by 
  slave labor (as is the case on the 
  bhutan spice plantations of the cities 
  of the Boreosyrtis League). 
  The Ecology of the City 
  THE ORIGINAL Martian city 
  builders devoted their whole lives to 
  constructing fabulous communities. 
  They bent every effort to making 
  their handiwork beautiful, efficient, 
  and useful. With Martian technology 
  at their service, their accomplish- 
  ments exceeded even their own de- 
  sires. 
  A vast city capable of containing 
  and supporting millions of people 
  must meet a variety of requirements. 
  It must provide transportation, com- 
  munications, sanitation, and power; 
  people must have places to work, 
  live, and entertain themselves. All of 
  these requirements were met in the 
  ancient Martian cities, but today 
  much of the ancient technology is no 
  longer operational or understood. 
  Probably because of this eventuali- 
  ty, the ancient builders made their 
  cities as automatic as possible. 
  The essential details of each city 
  are the same, although the architec- 
  ture, layout, and style is as varied as 
  on Earth. 
  Each Martian city is a self-sustain- 
  ing system designed to handle all of 
  the basic requirements of its popula- 
  tion. Buildings have integral plumb- 
  ing which conveys waste material 
  deep into subterranean chambers be- 
  neath the city; gratings on the city 
  streets do the same for animal waste. 
  In these dark, underground cham- 
  bers, bacteria reduce the waste to 
  simple, fertile by-products which are 
  then piped out into the agricultural 
  land around the city. At the same 
  time, combustible gases produced by 
  the waste reduction are channeled in- 
  to the city buildings where they fuel 
  heaters and lanterns. Whatever ex- 
  cess there is is vented at the tops of 
  the tallest towers, producing flames 
  that serve as beacons for sky gal- 
  leons. 
  The center of every city is domi- 
  nated by the canals that flow through 
  it. Along the canal banks, merchants 
  set up their bazaars and markets; they 
  are ready buyers for new goods ar- 
  riving on incoming ships, and they 
  are ready sellers to ships leaving for 
  the next city-state down the canal. 
  A~ 
  "~ �9 THE CHARACTERS be- 
  come trapped in the upper stories 
  of a deteriorating spire by the col- 
  lapse of a key staircase, necessi- 
  tating heroic measures to escape. 
  �9 An intrepid inventor or ar- 
  chaeologist organizes a group to 
  explore some abandoned Martian 
  buildings in hope of rediscover- 
  ing lost Martian technology or 
  learning more about the Martian 
  past. 
  �9 One of the group's enemies 
  is holed up in, or has kidnapped 
  someone and is hiding them in, 
  one of the ancient spires. 
  Politics 
  EACH MARTIAN city-state rules 
  as much of the territory which sur- 
  rounds it as it possibly can. In prac- 
  tice, however, that rule extends to the 
  edge of the arable belt neighboring 
  the canal. Extending political rule 
  beyond the cultivated area is an im- 
  practical proposition, and most city- 
  states ignore it. City-states general- 
  ly rule along the lines of the canals 
  about halfway to the next city-state 
  in each direction. Conflicts between 
  city-states over the precise location 
  of the boundary are almost a way of 
  life in some areas. 
  CITY 
  -
  -
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  /SEWERS 
  ~- 
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  MAIN AQUIFIER 
  .... :.i~.~ v . ,.~ ~:,~, 
  I 
  CANAL 
  GDW 
  
  162 )) SYRTIS MAJOR 
  SYRTIS MAJOR 
  THE CITY of Syrtis Major is sit- 
  uated at a major junction of several 
  grand canals and was a major city- 
  state and mercantile center for cen- 
  turies before it became the capital of 
  Seldon's empire. The remains of the 
  Imperial palaces are still imposing, 
  although most of them were aban- 
  doned long ago. One of the smaller 
  palaces is now inhabited by Am- 
  raamtaba X, Prince of Syrtis Major, 
  deposed by the British in 1880. 
  The City 
  THE MAJOR points of interest in 
  Syrtis Major are shown on the op- 
  posite page and detailed below. 
  The Old Barracks: Originally one 
  of the government buildings of Sel- 
  don's empire, it has been heavily 
  rebuilt inside and out. The 5th Mar- 
  tian Foot is quartered here. 
  The New Barracks: This building 
  was constructed by the British in 
  1887 and incorporates part of the old 
  Martian Imperial Mint. The South 
  Wales Borderers are quartered here, 
  and this is the location of the main 
  British arsenal on Mars. 
  contain the offices and quarters of the 
  governor-general of the colony. The 
  residency is the administrative center 
  of the colonial government. The 
  buildings are of human construction, 
  and plants from Earth were imported 
  to make the place as comfortable as 
  possible for the farfiilies of Her Ma- 
  jesty's officials. 
  The Emerald Palace: Constructed 
  completely of the pale green Meroe 
  limestone (hence its name), the 
  Emerald Palace is now the residence 
  of Amraamtaba X, Prince of Syrtis 
  Major. The Prince holds no power 
  and is the last of his lineage. When 
  he dies, his lands become crown pro- 
  perty, and his children will be for- 
  bidden to call themselves "Prince" 
  by the Treaty of Parhoon, which end- 
  ed the Second War of Parhoon Suc- 
  cession and legalized the annexation 
  of Syrtis Major (among other city- 
  states) into the British colony. 
  Amraamtaba's lands are already un- 
  der the direct administration of the 
  British governor, and his only in- 
  come is a British subsidy. Amraam- 
  taba quietly hates the British and 
  plots against them endlessly and in- 
  competently. 
  Ground Floor 
  Upper Floor 
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  B. 
  OFFICE 
  C. 
  BEDROOM 
  D. 
  DINING ROOM 
  E. 
  KITCHEN 
  F, 
  GUARD HOUSE 
  G. 
  STABLES 
  H. 
  BLOCKHOUSE 
  I. 
  MAIN GATE 
  GERMAN LEGATION 
  The Residency: These buildings 
  The Legation Compound: This 
  area is a mixture of new human-built 
  buildings and older buildings of Mar- 
  tian construction. The compound is 
  surrounded by a low wall and con- 
  tains the diplomatic representatives 
  of several nations. The following na- 
  tions maintain embassies: the Empire 
  of Germany, the Republic of France, 
  the United States of America, and the 
  Empire of Russia. The following 
  maintain consulates, or ministries of 
  less than full embassy status: the 
  Kingdom of Italy, the Empire of 
  Austria-Hungary, the Kingdom of 
  Spain, the Kingdom of Portugal, the 
  Kingdom of Holland, the Holy See, 
  and the King of Siam. 
  The Shipyards: This facility is the 
  only fully equipped European ship- 
  yard on Mars, and is the only place 
  where modern aerial gunboats can be 
  built on the planet. Vessels of other 
  nations must either be purchased 
  from the British or imported in pieces 
  and assembled. 
  The Harbor District: Located at 
  the junction of the canals, the Great 
  Harbor once serviced the fleets of 
  canal boats that came to Syrtis Ma- 
  jor. Now it has become a criminal 
  quarter, home for every sort of low 
  character and wretched ne'er-do-well 
  imaginable. 
  The Bazaar: This is the market for 
  all the wealth and treasures of the 
  world. Here, for a price, one can buy 
  anything from a paper of dress- 
  maker's pins to 100 Winchester 
  Model 1886 repeaters. 
  The Explorer's Club: This rebuilt 
  Martian building once housed the 
  Martian canal excise offices under 
  the Seldons. It now serves as a home 
  away from home for members of the 
  Explorer's Club. Membership is 
  restricted to British subjects, and the 
  dues are s 
  per annum. 
  
  SYRTIS MAJOR{{, 163 
  Local Conditions 
  SEVERAL ELEMENTS of life 
  combine to form the current local 
  conditions. 
  Politics: Conditions are somewhat 
  disrupted by the present war, and a 
  spy scare is currently in effect. The 
  majority of the population is still 
  Martian, and it is feared that many 
  of them harbor secret anti-British and 
  antihuman sympathies. Some quar- 
  ters of the city are not safe for 
  humans in parties of less then four, 
  and they must be heavily armed even 
  in such numbers. 
  Crime: Crime is about the same 
  as in London back on Earth: ram- 
  pant. It is mostly crime against 
  possessions, however. In most cases 
  the criminals are more interested in 
  knocking their victims unconscious 
  and making off with their goods than 
  in killing them. Cases of out-and-out 
  murder of humans are still fairly 
  rare, but people do disappear, es- 
  lh,',, 1 
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  pecially from the harbor district. 
  Encounters in the Harbor District: 
  While in the harbor district, roll for 
  an encounter once per hour (1 die for 
  5 +). If an encounter occurs, roll on 
  the table below. 
  Thugs can be. Martian or human, 
  and will not attack if they are out- 
  numbered or outmatched (they will 
  almost never have firearms). Thieves 
  will attempt to distract the party with 
  some ruse while picking a pocket or 
  stealing some small, easily concealed 
  item. A victim will either be found 
  f ARBOR N OUNT R;] 
  Die 
  Roll 
  Encounter 
  1 
  One thug attacks 
  2 
  1D thugs attack 
  3 
  One thug caught in the act 
  4 
  1D thugs caught in the act 
  5 
  Thief caught in the act 
  6 
  Victim 
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  ADVENTURES 
  ~'~l 
  i'S �9 THE CHARACTERS save ~ 
  an old Martian being beaten by 
  a gang of human thugs. In grati- 
  tude, the Martian presents them 
  with a map to a hidden tomb 
  filled with treasure. 
  �9 The characters rescue the 
  daughter of an American finan- 
  cier, who rewards the group with 
  a sizable gift of cash (or an aerial 
  flyer, at the referee's option). 
  under attack, in which case the play- 
  ers are honor-bound to intervene (the 
  victim will be grateful for being 
  saved), or lying wounded in the 
  street (perhaps with a cryptic last 
  message). 
  At the referee's option, the attack 
  may be motivated by political con- 
  siderations (anti-British activity by 
  the Irish or Germans, or an anti- 
  human attack by Ground Cleansers). 
  $ 
  I mile 
  SYRTIS MAJOR 
  . 
  2. 
  3. 
  4. 
  5. 
  6. 
  7. 
  8. 
  9. 
  10. 
  11. 
  12. 
  The Old Barracks 
  The New Barracks 
  Syrtis Cathedral 
  The, Residency 
  The Explorers' Club 
  The British Quarter 
  The Legation Compound 
  The Shipyard 
  Harbor District 
  The Bazaar 
  Ruins Of The Palace 
  Emerald Palace 
  GDW 
  
  164 ))THE BRITISH ON MARS 
  THE BRITISH ON MARS 
  ONE OF the first men on Mars 
  was British, and the British were to 
  play a major role in the settlement 
  and exploitation of Mars. 
  Beginnings 
  THE BRITISH first landed on 
  Mars in 1872 on the Parhoon Pla- 
  teau, about 500 miles northwest of 
  the great canal junction of Syrtis Ma- 
  jor. British relations with the An- 
  waak of Parhoon were cordial, and 
  a thriving commercial colony was 
  soon established within the city. In- 
  trigue within the court, however, led 
  to the assassination of the Anwaak 
  and his son in 1878. Although the 
  British stepped in and crushed the 
  coup in less than a day, the next sur- 
  viving heir was a three-month-old in- 
  fant. Establishing the infant on the 
  throne, Queen Victoria assumed the 
  regency of Parhoon, to be adminis- 
  tered by a British commissioner. 
  The first Regent-Commissioner to 
  Parhoon was Sir Phillip Adelaide, 
  and his first job was to reassure the 
  population that Britain had no de- 
  signs on their homeland. Fortunate- 
  ly, continuing bad blood between 
  Parhoon and the powerful city-state 
  of Gorovaan led to an invasion by the 
  Gorovaangian Army and fleet, which 
  gave Adelaide an external enemy to 
  fight and gave the British and 
  Parhoonese a common foe to fight 
  together. The Gorovaangian War 
  was a complete success, witnessed 
  the combat baptism of the Parhoon 
  Rifles t, and resulted in the annexa- 
  tion of Gorovaan to Parhoon. 
  In 1880 war again broke out, and 
  tNow the First Battalion, Queen Vic- 
  toria's Own Martian Rifles (The 
  Parhoons). 
  BRITISH MARS 
  this time saw British regulars in the 
  field in significant numbers. As 
  Great Britain was a formal belliger- 
  ent at this time, the conclusion of the 
  fighting saw Syrtis Major, Haatt, and 
  Avenel incorporated as the Crown 
  Colony of Syrtis Lapis. Parhoon and 
  Gorovaan continued to be ruled by 
  the Commissioner-Regent (a post 
  now held by Lord Dundas), who was 
  also the Governor of the colony. By 
  1882, both Moerus Lacus and Meep- 
  soor were treaty dependencies of the 
  colony with their rulers supported by 
  British subsidies and the British con- 
  trolling their foreign policy as well. 
  The "punishment" of Shastapsh in 
  1884, followed by an overland cam- 
  paign in 1887, brought that city-state 
  reluctantly under British rule. In an 
  incredibly short time the British had 
  carved out a colonial empire of con- 
  siderable dimensions. The British 
  holdings remained roughly the same 
  until the outbreak of the Oenotrian 
  War in 1889. 
  British Colonial Aims 
  THE BRITISH have three main 
  policies on Mars: first, to obtain con- 
  trol of a major source of liftwood; 
  second, to ensure the security and 
  continued existence of the Crown 
  Colony of Syrtis Lapis, and increase 
  its territory if possible; third, to en- 
  sure the continued stability of the 
  Boreosyrtis League, maintain its 
  monopoly over production of bhutan 
  spice, and continue to be the sole 
  purchaser of the League's spice pro- 
  duction. 
  The prime threats to British aims 
  are Germany and the Oenotrian Em- 
  pire. Bismarck's colonial aims are 
  diametrically opposed to those of the 
  British, and the persistent attempts to 
  destabilize the Boreosyrtis League 
  and to weaken British control and in- 
  fluence there are a constant source 
  of vexation for the British governor. 
  The recent defection of a high Ger- 
  man official, who brought with him 
  details of German actions in the 
  north, has been a tremendous victory 
  for British interests, and temporari- 
  ly defused the German threat. This 
  is fortunate, as the simmering con- 
  flict with the Oenotrian Empire has 
  recently boiled over into a full-blown 
  war. 
  
  THE BRITISH ON MARSI  165 
  The Oenotrian War 
  THE RULING nobles of the Oe- 
  notrian Empire had long been ir- 
  ritated by the presence of the British 
  in what they viewed as their rightful 
  and private domain. Blocked in their 
  plans of conquest by the British, the 
  Oenotrian oligarchs were able to tol- 
  erate conditions until the raid on 
  Kraag Barrovaar by British gun- 
  boats. 
  Kraag Barrovaar is the home of 
  Hattabranx, principal chief of the 
  High Martians inhabiting the As- 
  tusapes Highlands. The highlands 
  had for centuries been the main 
  source of liftwood for the whole Syr- 
  tis Major Region, including the city- 
  states of the Oenotrian Empire. Hat- 
  tabranx controlled the highlands and 
  was willing to sell to all comers, until 
  the coming of the Red Men changed 
  things. Hattabranx, a follower of the 
  Cult of the Worm, hated the red 
  devils (as Martians call Earthmen) 
  but loved the trade goods they could 
  give him, goods that no Martian 
  could offer. The situation would have 
  remained relatively stable had not 
  Hattabranx captured an American dip- 
  lomat and his daughter bound for 
  Oenotria. Hattabranx declared his in- 
  tentions to kill his captives unless the 
  0 
  0 
  COLONY 
  OENOTI 
  British (all red devils look alike, after 
  all) met his demands, which includ- 
  ed evacuating the planet, among 
  other things. 
  With the full support of the Ameri- 
  can government, the British sent a 
  raiding party to rescue the hostages, 
  nearly killing Hattabranx in the 
  process. 
  When the news of the raid reached 
  Oenotria, the oligarchs were out- 
  raged. Although the Oenotrians have 
  no great love for Hattabranx, the 
  thought of Kraag Barrovaar--the 
  greatest and most impregnable of the 
  mountain fastnesses called kraags-- 
  being within the reach of British 
  power meant that the High Martian 
  stranglehold on the liftwood groves 
  of the Astusapes might be loosening. 
  The raid was obviously a thinly dis- 
  guised assassination attempt, part of 
  a greater British plan to annex the 
  highlands and then take over the 
  Astusapes. 
  It was humiliating enough that 
  civilized people had to deal with 
  High Martian thugs like Hattabranx 
  in order to obtain liftwood. To be 
  forced to deal with the red off- 
  worlders was unthinkable. The red 
  devils had to be stopped. The surface 
  of the world must be cleansed of 
  every vestige of their presence, in- 
  GO8 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~ 
  �9 THE CHARACTERS be -ta 
  come caught up in the war, pos- 
  sibly as part of a military mission 
  to try to break the stalemate. 
  �9 The characters are hired to 
  guard a vital caravan of supplies 
  to a besieged outpost. 
  �9 Taking advantage of the 
  chaotic situation in the Astusapes 
  Highlands, the characters try to 
  obtain a large supply of liftwood 
  without going through the High 
  Martian middlemen. 
  cluding their very footprints in the 
  sands. 
  So far, the superior British gun- 
  boats have managed to keep the fleets 
  of Oenotria away from their hold- 
  ings, and the thin red line of British 
  and local garrisons has managed to 
  hang onto the vital canal routes into 
  the Crown Colony. Despite several 
  resounding victories, however, the 
  British have been unable to mount an 
  offensive, and the Oenotrians are un- 
  willing to risk any more of their 
  scarce sky galleons in combat. A 
  stalemate of sorts has been reached, 
  but neither side can quit. Meanwhile, 
  the rest of Mars looks on, waiting. 
  ADA 
  CITIES 
  GDW 
  
  166 ))THE BRITISH ON MARS 
  THE RED CAPTAINS 
  BY THE late 1870s a small sup- 
  ply of human ex-officers on Mars 
  were completely captivated with its 
  exotic culture and environment, so 
  much so that they began making their 
  way as private citizens. Most of these 
  men combined their military and 
  aeronautical skills with a natural bent 
  toward adventure and soon became 
  a small brotherhood of human cap- 
  tains of Martian ships. The Martians 
  called them the "Red Captains" 
  because to a golden-skinned Martian, 
  a European's complexion is ruddy to 
  the point of being red. They are ac- 
  cepted by the piratical Cloud Cap- 
  tains of the Shistomik Mountains as 
  equals, albeit grudgingly, and are 
  hated and feared by the High Mar- 
  tians of the Astusapes and further 
  west. The British captains are the 
  most numerous, and their outward 
  independence does little to mask their 
  basic loyalty to the crown. In many 
  respects they occupy a place similar 
  to that held by the Elizabethan Sea 
  Hawks, and in a fairly short time 
  they have largely displaced gun- 
  fighters as the most popular subject 
  for American dime novels. The most 
  famous of the Red Captains, and the 
  one who has come to symbolize their 
  essential panache, 
  is Frederick 
  Gustavus Burnaby. 
  ~I'HE 
  LEGENDARY FIVE~ 
  THE FIVE highest-scoring Red Cap -~t 
  tains as of January 1, 1889: 
  Frederick Gustavus Burnaby: 
  Steam Ram Penelope 
  27 prizes, 43,200 tons 
  Alonzo Quinton Freemerchant: 
  Steam Gunboat Baron Lortmore 
  21 prizes, 34,900 tons 
  Frederick Armand LeBeg: Screw 
  Ram Gloire 
  17 prizes, 21,400 tons 
  Michael Paget-Smith: Gun Kite 
  Lismore 
  15 prizes, 16,000 tons 
  Arturo Diego della Mora: Screw 
  Ram Gato 
  17 prizes, 12,200 tons 
  BURNABY 
  2~ 
  FREDERICK GUSTAVUS Burnaby was born to well-to-do par 
  in England and became interested in aerial matters at the age of 22, 
  when he made an ascent in a balloon. The first trip to Mars in 1870 
  electrified him and, already an officer of the British Aeronautical Society, 
  he became a frequent writer in the pages of The Times on aeronautical 
  matters. In 1882 he became the first man to cross the English Channel 
  in the steam-powered liftwood flyer Vivian, which he had designed and 
  built at his own expense. 
  After serving heroically in the campaigns against the Mahdi in the 
  Sudan, Burnaby fell out with the government and retired from the ar- 
  my. Actually, Burnaby was facing a forced retirement anyway due to 
  continuing heart problems. Emigrating to Mars in the hopes that the 
  slightly lower gravity there would aid his health, he was immediately 
  drawn to the Red Captains and before long was commanding his own 
  ship (the Penelope, named for the vessel lost at Khartoum). Idolized 
  by most of the younger British officers, Burnaby was also soon accepted 
  in Martian society as well. His facility with languages soon enabled 
  him to add Oenotrian, Low and High Syrtan, and Umbran to his ex- 
  isting linguistic catalog of French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, 
  Turkish, and Arabic. His unusual height (six feet, folar inches) and 
  massive 46-inch chest suggested a physical similarity to Martians that 
  became the source of numerous crude, but good-natured, jokes. 
  Although he has only been on Mars for four years, Burnaby has come 
  to symbolize everything good about the British Red Captains, and has 
  become something of an elder statesman for them. 
  
  THE BRITISH ON MARS( , 167 
  Anti-Piracy 
  WITH THE outbreak of the 
  Oenotrian War, Britain's meager 
  colonial forces on the red planet are 
  locked in a war with the armies and 
  fleets of the Oenotrian Empire. Al- 
  though the British have won early 
  victories in the air and have main- 
  tained the initiative, keeping aerial 
  superiority requires skillful and con- 
  tinuous use of nearly all of their 
  aerial gunboats. And aerial superiori- 
  ty is essential, as it is the only thing 
  that keeps the Oenotrian host from 
  crushing the handful of colonial 
  troops and British battalions that hold 
  the vital canal routes to Syrtis Major. 
  But while Britain's aerial squad- 
  rons are otherwise occupied, a re- 
  newed outbreak of piracy threatens 
  the Umbran spice trade, forcing 
  much of it to take the longer route 
  through Alclyon. However, an upris- 
  ing in Shastapsh, encouraged by the 
  Oenotrians and possibly funded by 
  the Germans, has destroyed the gar- 
  rison there and closed the canal to 
  traffic. This blockade has forced 
  much of the spice trade to risk either 
  pirates along the Nilosyrtis Valley or 
  desert raiders along the old caravan 
  trails across the Nepenthes-Thoth 
  Steppes to Moerus Lacus, now the 
  easternmost outpost of British power. 
  While hastily raised new squadrons 
  of the Meepsoor Lancers are hurried 
  east to guard the caravans, for pro- 
  tection of the skies the British have 
  turned to the Red Captains. 
  The Red Captains have been of vi- 
  tal importance in the pursuit of war. 
  Using letters of marque and reprisal, 
  the Red Captains have captured more 
  than a dozen pirate vessels and 
  driven the scum from the skies over 
  several outlying city-states. 
  OTHER BRITISH SUBJECTS 
  IN ADDITION to those British 
  subjects in Her Majesty's service on 
  Mars (soldiers and diplomats), there 
  are many others. 
  Merchants 
  THERE ARE many wonderful 
  products on Mars, including lift- 
  wood, 
  bhutan spice, precious 
  gemstones such as the Moabite fire 
  jewels, skins and leather from 
  strange and wonderful creatures, and 
  works of art and native craftsman- 
  ship. Millions on Earth are clamor- 
  ing for these and other treasures. 
  Likewise, the products of Earth are 
  in equal demand. 'Metal is scarce on 
  Mars, and the greatest demand is for 
  good steel from the furnaces of Bir- 
  mingham or Sheffield, in the form of 
  blades, tools, and firearms (although 
  it is the policy of Her Majesty's 
  Government not to sell the most ad- 
  vanced weapons to Martians). 
  Explorers 
  ANY WILDERNESS cries out to 
  be explored. There are those in every 
  culture who simply must see what is 
  on the other side of the horizon, and 
  Mars has attracted such people by the 
  thousands. Besides the lure of the 
  unknown, fame and fortune also call. 
  Much of Mars is unexplored, and 
  who knows what treasure may lie 
  over the next hill? At the very least, 
  the prospective explorer gets to name 
  his discoveries, a chance to become 
  immortal that few can pass up. 
  Engineers 
  THE CONSTRUCTION of vari- 
  ous human installations and major 
  civil engineering projects (such as the 
  repair of various canal facilities) has 
  ~'~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~ 
  �9 THE CHARACTERS be fr 
  come Red Captains and come to 
  the aid of the Empire in its hour 
  of need (making a tidy fortune in 
  the bargain). 
  �9 The characters are hired as 
  caravan guards or guides for a 
  merchant party. 
  �9 The characters are sought 
  out to provide special skills or 
  local expertise for an engineering 
  survey party from the Universi- 
  ty of Edinburgh. 
  �9 A missionary society hires 
  the characters as bodyguards or 
  guides for an expedition to some 
  unconverted city-state. 
  generated a demand for human en- 
  gineers. In addition, other organiza- 
  tions on Earth (most notably the 
  University of Edinburgh) have sent 
  members of their staff to study the 
  various works of old Martian tech- 
  nology, especially the pumping sta- 
  tions, in the hopes that some of their 
  secrets can be brought to light. 
  Missionaries 
  THE MARTIAN MISSIONARY 
  Society (Church of England), the 
  Wesley Society (Methodist), and the 
  Sisters of Saint Barbara (Catholic) 
  have all sent representatives to Mars 
  in an attempt to convert the inhabi- 
  tants. Their reception has been var- 
  ied, but their efforts have for the 
  most part been ,unsuccessful. These 
  organizations have achieved their 
  greatest success among the inhabi- 
  tants of the less powerful city-states, 
  but cultural and societal barriers have 
  proven extremely difficult to sur- 
  mount. They persist, nevertheless. 
  GDW 
  
  168 ))EUROPEANS ON MARS 
  EUROPEAN COLONIALISM 
  SEVERAL EUROPEAN powers 
  besides the British have small out- 
  posts and numerous diplomatic mis- 
  sions scattered across the face of the 
  planet. Also, commercial interests 
  from the Earth are becoming well 
  established, and a small but growing 
  military presence is manifesting itself 
  in some of the principalities allied to, 
  or bribed by, the colonial powers on 
  Earth. Aside from the British colony 
  of Syrtis Major, there is only one 
  other sizable colonial possession, the 
  Belgian Coprates. 
  -:xl )2 2:', S ::::~ ~3 
  Belgium 
  KING LEOPOLD of Belgium was 
  a one-man imperial enterprise. His 
  was a small country, squeezed be- 
  tween France and Germany, and not 
  much concerned with colonial ven- 
  tures. The king, however, was; he 
  wanted to be rich and famous, "rich" 
  being the crucial part of the phrase, 
  and colonies (particularly extrater- 
  restrial ones) seemed the best way to 
  accomplish this aim. Leopold was a 
  skilled publicist and managed to per- 
  suade the major powers to give him 
  a free hand in the Congo in 1876. 
  The Belgian presence on Mars was 
  handled with slightly less skill. 
  The Belgians first sent an expedi- 
  tion to Mars in 1876 and followed it 
  with several more in short order. The 
  early expeditions were ostensibly 
  scientific and exploratory in nature 
  but were heavily protected by Bel- 
  gian soldiers. The purpose of the 
  various expeditions was to study and 
  explore the Great Coprates Rift Val- 
  ley, and if the inhabitants of the 
  valley were suspicious of the true in- 
  tentions of the Belgians, subsequent 
  events did little to contradict their 
  suspicions. By 1884 there were fre- 
  quent skirmishes between the Bel- 
  gians and "Copraties"? up and 
  down the length of the valley. 
  The Belgians protested vigorous- 
  ly the practice of American arms 
  merchants selling the most modern 
  rifles to the Coprates, a complaint 
  that had little impact on American 
  public opinion and none whatsoever 
  on the arms trade. In any event, the 
  American arms merchants could 
  point with some moral justification 
  to the fact that, insofar as modern 
  arms might drive the Belgians from 
  the valley, many would consider that 
  a good thing. Although news reports 
  ~The collective term Copraties has 
  been applied by the Belgians to the in- 
  habitants of the valley, although there 
  are virtually no ethnic, linguistic, or 
  cultural similarities between the in- 
  habitants of the Upper and Lower 
  Coprates Valley, the approximate 
  dividing line being the shattered 
  lowlands of Melas Lacus. 
  were scarce from the Coprates, those 
  which made their way out indicated 
  that Belgian colonial rule there was 
  even more brutal and bloody than in 
  the Congo on Earth, if that was 
  possible. 
  By 1889 the Belgians had com- 
  pleted the conquest (for it was no- 
  thing less) of the Great Coprates Rift 
  Valley, and an uneasy peace has set- 
  tled there. The flood of refugees in- 
  to Tithonius, Ophir, and Aurorae Si- 
  nus, and their frequent forays back 
  into the valley to raid Belgian gum- 
  ma plantations, threatens to spread 
  ~the violence. All of this fans anti- 
  human feelings throughout Mars and 
  is used as further evidence by the 
  Worm Priests, Ground Cleansers, 
  and other fanatical groups of the need 
  to drive the red devils off Mars for- 
  ever. 
  Germany 
  AFTER THEIR humiliation of the 
  French in 1870, Germany's political 
  star was on the ascendant, but it was 
  having domestic difficulties. Bis- 
  marck sought extraterrestrial col- 
  
  EUROPEANS ON MARSI'{ 169 
  onies for the national pride and 
  prestige they would bring, as well as 
  the boost that Venus provided to the 
  German chemical industry, already 
  one of the largest in Europe. They 
  would also deflect internal dissent 
  and provide a focus for the resurgent 
  German nationalism that philoso- 
  phers were beginning to expound. 
  The income from Venus was gigan- 
  tic, and its effect on the German 
  economy was to relieve some of the 
  burdens on the small taxpayer, but 
  the German "man in the street" 
  cared little for Venus--it was Mars 
  that caught the imagination, and a 
  major Martian colony was what the 
  German people demanded. 
  Militarily, there was another, 
  more important reason for a colony 
  on Mars: liftwood. Without the aerial 
  gunboats that liftwood made possi- 
  ble, Bismarck told the Kaiser, Ger- 
  many would be as helpless against 
  other powers as the primitive natives 
  of Africa were against machineguns 
  and magazine rifles. 
  Until recently, the Germans were 
  unable to obtain any significant co- 
  lonial possessions (their most exten- 
  sive settlements to date are the trade 
  stations in Western Dioscuria, and 
  the military posts necessary to pro- 
  tect them). The Germans have two 
  main aims on Mars: to acquire a 
  stable and secure source of liftwood 
  and to break the British monopoly on 
  the bhutan spice trade, securing all 
  or a portion of it for themselves in 
  the process. To accomplish these 
  aims, Germany has been financing 
  British opposition movements inside 
  the Syrtis Major Colony, attempting 
  to destabilize the Boreosyrtis League 
  (growers of the spice), and encourag- 
  ing Martian anti-British secret soci- 
  eties. 
  France 
  THE FRENCH sought colonies on 
  Mars to restore the national prestige 
  lost by their catastrophic defeat in 
  1870, and the appalling corruption 
  and chaos that marked the affairs of 
  the Third Republic. The colonial par- 
  ty was, however, in a minority 
  against the strident voices for re- 
  vanche, the forcible return to France 
  of the provinces lost in the Franco- 
  Prussian War. To the Revanchists, 
  any attempt to focus attention away 
  from the eastern border was foolish, 
  and thus any advancement of colonial 
  adventures was likely to be met with 
  a great deal of criticism. 
  Ambitious French officers fol- 
  lowed a policy offait accompli, act- 
  ing on their own, without instructions 
  from Paris. National pride would 
  prevent the government from giving 
  anything back, and promotion and 
  fame would be showered on the suc- 
  cessful. The fact that colonies were 
  administered by the Colonial Depart- 
  ment, while soldiers took their orders 
  from the rival Ministry of the Ma- 
  rine, only served to complicate mat- 
  ters. 
  French presence on Mars is limited 
  to the Idaeus Fons region, but 
  France's influence is widespread. It 
  is only the lack of political support 
  on Earth that keeps the French from 
  claiming a larger area on the red 
  planet. 
  ~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  '~'~. 
  i'~ �9 THE CHARACTERS acfl 
  company a mercantile or scien- 
  tific expedition as bodyguards, 
  guides, or part of the expedition 
  itself. 
  �9 The characters uncover 
  some nefarious anti-British polit- 
  ical scheme and foil it. 
  Japan 
  THE JAPANESE are on Mars for 
  the simple reason that, still smarting 
  under the humiliating Treaties of 
  Commerce and Navigation of 1858 
  (which gave foreign nations a varie- 
  ty of privileges), they want to prove 
  themselves a "modern" state and a 
  power to be reckoned with. Clear- 
  ly, the only other alternative is to go 
  the way of the fast-fading Manchu 
  Empire, now being slowly consumed 
  by the major powers. In a period of 
  20 years, under the slogan "A rich 
  nation, a strong army," Japan has 
  developed into a vigorous and in- 
  creasingly aggressive nation, taking 
  advice from established powers and 
  adding a samurai will of their own. 
  Japan is clearly about to join the 
  small circle of "dominating influ- 
  ences. ' ' 
  Japanese presence on Mars is still 
  small and mostly limited to the ex- 
  perimental scientific research stations 
  and trading posts at Euxinius Lacus. 
  GDW 
  
  170 ))EUROPEANS ON MARS 
  America 
  AMERICAN INTERESTS 
  on 
  Mars were twofold. First of all, and 
  most importantly, there was a great 
  deal of money to be made on Mars, 
  and Americans have always managed 
  to show up whenever there was a 
  penny to be squeezed out of some- 
  thing. Second of all, and only slightly 
  less important, there was the ques- 
  tion of national prestige. Edison was 
  an American, after all, and had led 
  the way. A country like the United 
  States could not afford to be left 
  behind scientifically or militarily. 
  Americans concentrated in no one 
  place on Mars. Indeed, as one British 
  administrator put it, "The bloody 
  Yanks are like mice...they are every- 
  where, and you can't get rid of 
  them!" American merchants can be 
  found almost anywhere there are 
  human settlements, and American 
  diplomatic legations are maintained 
  at every major human colonial en- 
  clave. The main military presence is 
  the contingent of U.S. Marines with 
  the legation at Syrtis Major. 
  American merchants will sell Mar- 
  tians anything, up to and including 
  modern repeating rifles and ammuni- 
  tion, a fact that is a sore point with 
  most nations, but one which the Bel- 
  gians are particularly disturbed 
  about. 
  Russia 
  THE RUSSIANS are on Mars, it 
  seems to most observers, because the 
  British are. Russian presence on the 
  red planet is evidently a continuation 
  of the Great Game, and many assume 
  that the Czar's ministers, in their ob- 
  tuse way, intend to use Russian pres- 
  ence as a bargaining chip for the 
  lands they really want in Asia--per- 
  haps as guarantees of a free hand in 
  Persia. or Sinkiang. 
  Others, however, impugn darker 
  motives to the Russian presence: The 
  Ochrana (the secret police) has 
  already transported a hundred or so 
  political exiles to Hecates Lacus, and 
  it would seem that more will soon 
  follow. Russia does not seem to be 
  in a position to exploit the resources 
  of Mars, and it has a vast, ill- 
  explored region of its own on Earth 
  to occupy it for years to come. What 
  Russia does have, however, is a very 
  large army, an autocratic ruler, and 
  a reputation for dealing roughly with 
  primitive peoples. It is not for no- 
  thing that Kipling calls the Russian 
  Empire "The Bear that Walks Like 
  a Man." 
  INTERNATIONAL 
  RELATIONS: 
  A BRIEF SUMMARY 
  THE 1880s were a period of 
  relative stability. There had been no 
  war between European powers since 
  the Franco-Prussian conflict of 
  1870-71, and the economic and 
  political power of the British Empire 
  dominated the international land- 
  scape. Here is a short summary of 
  general conditions, by nation: 
  Great Britain 
  THE BRITISH EMPIRE was 
  powerful enough to do without for- 
  mal allies during this period. France 
  was a historic rival, while the Rus- 
  sian Empire was regarded as a 
  natural enemy, the war scare over the 
  Russian-Afghan border incident of 
  1885 having barely died away by 
  1889. The Germans were generally 
  admired until German actions on 
  Mars brought about a cooling of the 
  relationship between the two coun- 
  tries. The Japanese were seen as very 
  capable (for Orientals). Britain was 
  the traditional guarantor of Belgian 
  neutrality, but this did not apply to 
  the Belgians' demented king's pri- 
  vate adventures in Africa or on 
  Mars. The Americans were well re- 
  garded, being fellow Anglo-Saxons. 
  The feeling is widespread that they 
  will do quite well for themselves 
  once they lose some of their brash- 
  ness. Kitchener is said to have 
  remarked to Edison, "You Yankees 
  beat all creation," and this fairly well 
  sums up the British attitude. 
  France 
  FRANCE HAD no real allies 
  entering the 1880s, largely due to the 
  incompetence of Emperor Napoleon 
  III and the machinations of Bis- 
  marck. France's defeat by Germany 
  had brought down the Second Em- 
  pire, but the Third Republic which 
  succeeded it seemed no better. Ger- 
  many, expecting a renewed conflict 
  over the provinces seized in 1871 
  (Alsace and Lorraine), had a com- 
  plex web of alliances, and it was 
  clear that France must also acquire 
  allies if disaster was to be avoided. 
  From 1880 on, French bankers had 
  been investing in Russia, and, while 
  the two nations had little in common, 
  both were looking for support. An 
  informal friendship was beginning, 
  which, by 1889, looked set to blos- 
  som. 
  Germany 
  GERMANY SAT at the center of 
  Bismarck's web of schemes. The 
  Chancellor of Germany, Otto yon 
  Bismarck, was an old hand in the 
  chess game of international relations: 
  His cynical system of alliances, 
  threats, and bargains had overseen 
  
  EUROPEANS ON MARSqL( 171 
  the unification and preservation of 
  the Prussian-dominated German Em- 
  pire. The "Iron Chancellor" had 
  given Germany allies, ensured that 
  France had none, kept a lid on the 
  Balkans--a region of volcanic in- 
  stability--and made sure that the 
  British had no reason to be concerned 
  with the continent. 
  The League of the Three Em- 
  perors, designed to isolate France, 
  was followed by the stronger Dual 
  Alliance of Germany and Austria- 
  Hungary in 1879. The ancient enmity 
  between Prussia and Austria was 
  broken by focusing Austrian atten- 
  tion eastwards to the crumbling Ot- 
  toman Empire in the Balkans. The 
  Italians joined the Alliance in 1883, 
  but it was too good to last; Austrian 
  hopes clashed with those of Russia 
  and Italy, and Berlin had to play 
  mediator. By 1889 the alliance was 
  crumbling, and only Bismarck could 
  hold it together. 
  In 1888, a new factor entered the 
  equation: Kaiser Wilhelm II. For a 
  time before his accession, it seemed 
  that he and Bismarck were constantly 
  at loggerheads, but more recently it 
  seems that the main bone of conten- 
  tion-national prestige and the need 
  for colonies--has been done away 
  with, and the new Kaiser and the old 
  Chancellor have made their peace. 
  Russia 
  AT THE beginning of this period, 
  the Empire of the Czar had a set of 
  treaties which, in the light of later 
  developments, seemed to bear no 
  relation to its needs. Bismarck had 
  played on the fear of revolution to 
  bring together Germany, Austria- 
  Hungary, and Russia in the League 
  of the Three Emperors in 1873 
  (renewed in 1881 and 1884). The 
  alliance had not helped when the 
  Russian victory over Turkey (in 
  1877) was challenged by Britain and 
  Austria, and it was clear that 
  Austrian and Russian ambitions in 
  the area were on a collision course. 
  Certainly Vienna's stand alongside 
  the British promised no good. Bri- 
  tain was clearly the Russians' 
  primary enemy, especially consider- 
  ing Britain's selfish attitude towards 
  central Asia; German friendship 
  began to seem less sincere, and the 
  Japanese were a growing threat in the 
  Far East, where Russian territory 
  was highly vulnerable. In the light of 
  these factors, France, republican or 
  not, appeared a potential ally. 
  America 
  AMERICA HAD no interest in the 
  complications of European alliances. 
  There was some sympathy for 
  France as a fellow republic, ally in 
  the Revolution, and donor of the 
  newly erected statue of Liberty 
  Enlightening the World. Germany 
  attracted admiration because of its 
  drive and vigor. The British were 
  regarded with a mixture of profound 
  admiration and tremendous annoy- 
  ance, as befitted an estranged fami- 
  ly relationship (mother country, and 
  all). Mainly, however, Americans 
  considered the old European states as 
  moldering relics of a bygone era, on 
  the way to collapsing under their own 
  weight. 
  Americans had no colonial in- 
  terests to speak of (although they 
  tended to regard Central and South 
  America as somehow "theirs"). 
  American merchants were every- 
  where, and American diplomatic 
  policy was for what they called an 
  "open door" policy of free trade and 
  cutthroat competition. 
  ~r 
  ADVENTURES 
  "~ 
  J~ �9 HER MAJESTY'S Govern -~i 
  ment hires the characters to un- 
  cover a spy or to deal with one 
  already discovered. 
  �9 The characters accidentally 
  come across a letter of extreme 
  diplomatic importance and be- 
  come the target of assassins be- 
  cause of it. 
  Japan 
  JAPAN WAS interested in prov- 
  ing itself in the eyes of the world, and 
  most of the great powers other than 
  Russia approved of the moderniza- 
  tion of the island power. The British 
  Navy was used as a role model after 
  an incident in the 1850s when the 
  British fleet bombarded Kagashima 
  after the murder of an English mer- 
  chant, to "teach the Japanese a 
  lesson," which, indeed, it did. 
  The Japanese had a special affini- 
  ty for Germany (whose authoritari- 
  anism evidently appealed to similar 
  factors in the Japanese mind), and the 
  latter's political structure heavily in- 
  fluenced Ito Hirobumu in writing the 
  constitution of 1889. 
  Belgium 
  BELGIUM WAS "an independent 
  and totally neutral state," according 
  to the Treaty of London of 1839, her 
  neutrality guaranteed by the five 
  signatories to that treaty. King 
  Leopold was concerned with keep- 
  ing on good terms with everyone, as 
  befitted a man whose kingdom was 
  the traditional "cock pit of Europe" 
  and whose business methods could 
  not survive close scrutiny by any 
  jury. 
  GDW 
  
  172 ))MARS' TREASURES 
  MARS' TREASURES 
  MARS IS a world of a great many 
  resources, and it is not possible to 
  outline all of its products here. We 
  can, however, discuss the more in- 
  teresting and valuable treasures of 
  the red planet. 
  Liftwood 
  THE GREATEST single resource 
  that Mars produces is liftwood--the 
  fabulous sapwood that carries within 
  it the ability to defy gravity. 
  The Martians have always used 
  liftwood. The earliest civilized Mar- 
  tians built simple rafts of liftwood to 
  carry heavy loads or to travel into the 
  trackless wastes. Their famous sky 
  galleons are utterly dependent on lift- 
  wood for their flying abilities. But 
  liftwood is scarce and expensive. The 
  small liftwood trees take years to 
  reach maturity, and they only grow 
  on remote mountain plateaus. Lift- 
  wood trees grown in cultivated val- 
  leys or along the Grand Canals are 
  outwardly identical, but they lack the 
  vital spark, the essential combination 
  of nutrients and minerals available in 
  the highlands. ~ " 
  I 
  ~IIL. 
  : 
  , I A liftwoo,d poaching expedition. --~-~---~-"~---~ 
  Gathering liftwood is a dangerous 
  proposition. First, a suitable grove 
  must be located. Second, an expedi- 
  tion must be mounted to reach the 
  grove and cut the mature trees. Im- 
  mature trees quickly lose their lift 
  and are a waste of time. Third, the 
  expedition must safely escape back 
  to civilization, avoiding or fighting 
  the High Martians who invariably 
  consider the trees to be part of their 
  territory, for harvest and sale by 
  themselves only. 
  Liftwood is a natural product, 
  saddled with the imperfections and 
  variations that natural resources 
  always have. Using liftwood is not 
  a simple process. A liftwood log is 
  a knotty, gnarled piece of wood in- 
  fused with a sap that imparts its lift- 
  ing properties. But those properties 
  are not uniform or easily understood. 
  In a specific piece of wood, the sap 
  may exert lift in one direction, but 
  not in another; when properly ori- 
  ented, the wood produces a great 
  deal of lift, but when twisted even a 
  few degrees, the lift is reduced, 
  sometimes dramatically. 
  Using liftwood requires careful 
  construction. Liftwood panels are 
  mounted on pivots or in gimbals 
  which allow them to be adjusted for 
  proper lift. Cables connect each lift- 
  wood panel with the trimsman's le- 
  vers. The trimsman is responsible for 
  maintaimng the proper balance of 
  liftwood throughout the vessel. By 
  twisting individual panels, ship lift 
  can be increased or decreased, and 
  the ship rises or falls. 
  Liftwood deteriorates as its sap 
  loses its vital power. A good, sea- 
  soned piece can last up to 10 years, 
  but over time every single piece must 
  be replaced. The magnetic field of 
  Venus, it was discovered, causes lift- 
  wood to decay completely within a 
  few days, and the first expeditions 
  there were stranded because of this. 
  Savage High Martians jealously guard their groves. 
  Liftwood grows only in small 
  groves on remote plateaus in certain 
  high mountain ranges, called lift- 
  wood highlands. These are the same 
  highlands inhabited by the savage 
  and bestial High Martians. The result 
  has been a constant conflict between 
  the savages of the highlands and the 
  shipbuilders of the canals. There is 
  never enough liftwood to meet all of 
  Mars' needs. Expeditions to buy logs 
  from the liftwood highlands must be 
  large and well-armed. They are vul- 
  nerable to attack at any time and 
  from any quarter by those who wish 
  either the valuable trade goods that 
  the High Martians demand (attack- 
  ing the caravans on the way in) or 
  the liftwood itself (attacking on the 
  way out). 
  Ships of ordinary wood sail the 
  seas of Mars, while cloudships of 
  liftwood fly the skies. Some ex- 
  plorers have thought that all trans- 
  portation should be by cloudship, but 
  the practical matter is that cloudships 
  are expensive and liftwood is rare. 
  Canal ships are a cheap, simple alter- 
  native to cloudships. 
  Bhutan Spice 
  BHUTAN IS a flavorful and mild- 
  ly narcotic product of the bhutan 
  plants, which are presently grown 
  only by the cities of the Boreosyrtis 
  League. The plant itself is little 
  studied, because of the difficulty of 
  obtaining samples. The bhutan plan- 
  tations are fenced in, heavily guard- 
  ed, and worked by slaves. Access to 
  
  MARS' TREASURES I{ 173 
  a plantation has only been granted to 
  a few humans, and then only for a 
  few hours under heavy guard. 
  The spice is in very high demand, 
  both on Mars and on Earth, and is 
  high-priced. The British have man- 
  aged to conclude treaties of protec- 
  tion with the Boreosyrtis League, and 
  now are the sole dealers in the spice, 
  a fact that angers Martian and non- 
  British human alike. Several nations, 
  Germany in particular, have made 
  several attempts to break the British 
  monopoly on the spice trade, but they 
  have not been successful. 
  Gl//lr///lP 
  GUMME IS a substance similar to 
  rubber, but which retains its pliability 
  and elasticity at lower temperatures, 
  down well below freezing. It is also 
  much less likely to break down 
  chemically under high heat, which 
  makes it usable under a wider varie- 
  ty of circumstances than rubber. Like 
  rubber, gumme is a plant sap, but 
  unlike rubber, gumme is not easy to 
  cultivate. Its leaves are razor-sharp, 
  and the bark is incredibly tough. The 
  sap itself is a skin irritant before pro- 
  cessing (to Martians, anyway...hu- 
  mans do not seem to be affected as 
  severely). Gumme occurs only in the 
  area called the Coprates and was not 
  a popular crop in the time before the 
  coming of humans. The Belgians, 
  whose seizure of the Coprates area 
  was perpetrated largely in order to 
  establish large gumme plantations us- 
  ing forced labor, control virtually the 
  entire harvest, as other nationalities 
  are unwilling to use the Belgian 
  methods of agriculture. 
  Products of Belgium's gumme plantations. 
  Moabite Fire Jewels 
  THE PLAINS of Moab are the 
  source of one of the most prized 
  precious stones on Mars after the dia- 
  mond: the Moabite fire jewel. These 
  stones are found in alluvial deposits 
  throughout the Moabite plains, washed 
  there by titanic floods at some time 
  in the distant past. Until heat-treated 
  they are colorful, but not spectacular, 
  and can easily be passed over by the 
  inexperienced traveller. 
  When heated in a fire, and sudden- 
  ly cooled, however, the stones frac- 
  ture into millions of internal crystals. 
  Most stones shatter into useless 
  shards. About one in 10 keep their 
  crystals interlocked but become trans- 
  lucent and refract light in patterns of 
  breathtaking beauty. Easily worked 
  with files and gravers before fire 
  treatment, they can be shaped into 
  almost any pattern desired, and Mar- 
  tian craftsmen are capable of as- 
  toundingly beautiful works of art. 
  Jewels from the mines of Meroe. 
  Minerals and Metals 
  METALS ARE scarce on Mars, 
  with copper, tin, zinc, gold, and 
  silver occurring with about equal 
  rarity. For this reason, any metal ob- 
  ject on Mars is prized (although gold, 
  because of its color, is valued the 
  most), and chieftains and kings of the 
  High Martians can often be found 
  with copper as well as gold and silver 
  ornaments. 
  Petroleum is extremely rare and 
  has never been found in economical- 
  ly recoverable quantities. Coal is 
  present in some areas, and is the fuel 
  of choice for powering steam engines 
  such as those on aerial flyers. 
  ~r,~, 
  ADVENTURES 
  "7~ 
  i'~ �9 GROUP MEMBERS are ~'~ 
  offered a map to the location of 
  a hidden tomb, possibly by their 
  guide (or by Kaaraahn Kaash- 
  Meek--see page 42), who obtained 
  it from a very reliable cousin. 
  �9 The group journeys to the 
  Plains of Moab in search of fire 
  jewels or to the highlands to ob- 
  tain a cargo of liftwood, running 
  into numerous dangers along the 
  way. 
  �9 The group is with a trade 
  caravan and is ambushed. 
  Rumors and Reality 
  AS ALWAYS, there are stories of 
  great ruined temples inlaid with gold 
  and precious stones, and rich trea- 
  sures hidden in the tombs of ancient 
  kings. The Noachis Highlands are 
  supposed to contain a volcano that 
  spews diamonds from the depths of 
  the planet, and the Tharsis Plain of 
  Lunae Lacus is said to be the site of 
  a source of emeralds and sapphires 
  of unbelievable size. 
  These and hundreds of other 
  rumors may be as insubstantial as the 
  Martian winds, but unbelievable 
  finds (such as the tomb of Jemba- 
  thranx III found in the southern 
  mountains of Moab, which yielded 
  over s 
  in treasures) oc- 
  cur often enough to fuel the dreams 
  of a continent full of fortune seekers. 
  GDW 
  
  174  )SKRILL RIDERS OF MARS 
  THE SKRILL RIDERS 
  IN THE ruddy wastelands far to 
  the west of Syrtis Major live a peo- 
  ple not restricted to the gashant 
  beasts for their mounts. These peo- 
  ple have perfected the handling and 
  husbandry of a beast more ferocious, 
  more deadly, and far more terrify- 
  ing--the razor-taloned skrill of the 
  caves and crags of the Martian high- 
  lands--to rule what would be the 
  broadest domain on the blood-red face 
  of Mars, if they had a single ruler. 
  The Queln--People of the Sky 
  THE DATE of the first mastery 
  over wild skrill is a matter un- 
  documented in the prehistory of the 
  Queln (as they call themselves), a 
  people whose song-tradition harkens 
  back to the time before Seldon's em- 
  pire. According to Queln tradition, 
  one night the Bright Moon got drunk 
  and was captured by a Queln warrior 
  when she flew too low. In return for 
  her release, the warrior forced her 
  to teach him the secret words of con- 
  trol over the skrill, a secret which his 
  descendants retain to this day. 
  As a society of warriors mounted 
  upon fast, sleek beasts of the air, it 
  is only natural that the Queln riders 
  would become raiders and plunder- 
  ers, preying upon the canals, cara- 
  vans, and city-states of their civilized 
  brethren. Attacks by war-parties of 
  skrill riders upon an unsuspecting 
  canal city have been the Queln 
  child's dream and the canal child's 
  nightmare for many centuries. 
  Queln bands base themselves in 
  practically every one of the remote 
  mountain regions of Mars where 
  their mounts can breed and feed on 
  the shrubs vital to maintenance of a 
  functioning lift gland. Their range, 
  however, is vast, and raiding parties 
  RIDING SKRILL 
  fe~ 
  A HUMAN may find himself in a position where, he either wishes ~ 
  to or is forced to ride a skrill. Skrill mastery is a lifelong achievement 
  for a Queln rider, but the basics can be mastered by humans. A character 
  can learn skrill riding in one of two ways: through study or "stone cold." 
  Study: Only the cage masters or a warrior can teach a human the 
  art of skrill riding, and they will only do so if he has proven himself 
  worthy. Flying Skrill Riding is a cascade skill under Riding and begins 
  with level 0. To attain the next level of skill, roll a Difficult task with 
  Riding skill dice, modified by Strength. Roll once per month spent in 
  intensive training; no other activities may be undertaken or the oppor- 
  tunity to roll is lost. Humans may attain a maximum skill of 4. 
  "Stone Cold": A human who finds himself in a position where he 
  must ride a skrill without training does have a remote chance of suc- 
  cess. Only a skrill which has been trained may be ridden--a wild skrill 
  will attack. To approach and mount the skrill, the human must roll an 
  Impossible task with Riding dice, modified by Agility. He must then 
  roll a Difficult task with Riding skill dice, modified by Strength, every 
  combat turn to get the skrill to fly. Direction of flight will be random. 
  In a combat turn in which the task is failed, the skrill will simply land. 
  can be found almost anywhere from 
  the rugged peaks of the Noachis 
  Mountains to the vastness of the 
  Plains of Aeria. Especially troubling 
  are the groups that have settled into 
  the Astusapes Highlands in the last 
  year; their raids have begun to take 
  a significant toll on the spice trade. 
  Some suspect the hand of Bismarck 
  is involved in this. 
  Society 
  EACH CLAN (consisting of sev- 
  eral dozen family groups) is gov- 
  erned by a skylord (rithall) and his 
  council of elders. The skylord gains 
  his position through continued cham- 
  pionship at the games of succession, 
  held once every year. Should he die 
  in office, his successor is appointed 
  by the seven elders, who hold their 
  positions only by virtue of age. As 
  with most Martian societies, females 
  are not allowed access to positions 
  of power. 
  All young males are trained in the 
  use of the khivatt (a short spear or 
  javelin) and the riding of the skrill 
  after they have lived through their 
  eighth flow. This training is brutal 
  and enforced without pity. Only. 
  three out of 10 males live through the 
  two-year training period. Once they 
  are finished with their training, 
  young males are encouraged to prac- 
  tice their skills on the hunts, which 
  can take the males far and wide 
  across the desert face of Mars in 
  search of herds of ruumet breehr or 
  the more elusive and prestigious 
  prey, the eegaar. Organized hunts led 
  by the skylord take place once per 
  season and involve virtually the en- 
  tire clan's warrior population. Out- 
  side of hunting and warfare, the male 
  Queln have very little function in the 
  clan. 
  
  SKRILL RIDERS OF MARSLt 175 
  Females are in charge of prepar- 
  ing the hunted animals for nightly 
  feasts and gathering wild roots, ber- 
  ries, and other plants to round out the 
  Queln diet. In the seemingly endless 
  desert, such gathering would be all 
  but impossible without the assistance 
  of the skrill. Older beasts, no longer 
  fit for war or the hunt, are turned 
  over to the females. 
  Taming and Use of Skrill 
  ONCE IN captivity, the skrill will 
  not voluntarily reproduce, so every 
  animal required by the cage masters 
  must be captured after birth, taken 
  away from its ferocious mother, and 
  brought back to the cages. Missions 
  to gather young skrill are among the 
  most dangerous that a young rider 
  can face. 
  Once captured, the young skrill are 
  penned and blinded by hoods over 
  their heads. They are fed gathered 
  leaves and shoots and allowed to ex- 
  ercise in the larger pens or tethered 
  to the ground. After several months 
  the skrill attain their full size, and 
  their blindness brings them out of 
  their wildest state--however, about 
  one in three skrill are never tamed 
  sufficiently for use. These animals 
  are ritualistically sacrificed. 
  Skrill are commonly mounted with 
  a saddle and stirrups. The saddle has 
  complicated strands of hide which 
  are permanently drilled into the 
  animal's jaw; these are used to steer 
  when in flight. The saddle also 
  harnesses the rider to the beast to 
  keep him on the skrill through com- 
  plicated maneuvers. Skrill are often 
  brutally modified for greater efficien- 
  cy as well. Some have their skull skin 
  flap hacked off; others have their 
  talons painfully fitted with metal or 
  stone shards. 
  During combat, the skrill and rider 
  fight as a team. The riders learn a 
  complicated "language" of clicks 
  and screeches which convey a sim- 
  ple series of commands to the ani- 
  mal. For instance, one such screech 
  tells the skrill to rear back and attack 
  with the talons, most often allowing 
  the rider to disengage and throw his 
  khivatt. 
  The Games 
  MUCH OF male society is built 
  around two games. The first is the 
  annual succession game fought be- 
  tween the skylord and any one wor- 
  thy adversary. This is a personal 
  combat fought on skrill over a field 
  of stakes in the desert floor. The 
  Martians themselves are unarmed, 
  and victory is most often attained by 
  forcing the other rider onto the 
  stakes. This combat is a test of riding 
  skill rather than weapons proficien- 
  cy-riding skill is held to be the most 
  prestigious of all skills. 
  Sport games are held between 
  teams wearing different colors, 
  within a giant dome made of a 
  wooden frame. Each color is sup- 
  ported by a different elder, who uses 
  his influence and what wealth he has 
  to further his team in the games. The 
  cage masters also use the games to 
  test their birds and new riding tech- 
  niques. 
  In a sport game, each team has two 
  riders and two Martians on foot. 
  They are armed as each team mem- 
  ber desires, and though weapons are 
  blunted, casualties are common- 
  place. The object of the game is to 
  secure a token (usually a skull taken 
  on a recent raid) placed in the center 
  of the field at the start of the game 
  and hold it among the team members 
  until a sand timer runs out. The sport 
  i~ -~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~ 
  �9 THE CHARACTERS arJ 
  part of a trade caravan through 
  Queln-infested territory, and are 
  attacked. 
  �9 The characters are taken 
  captive by the Queln and forced 
  to participate in the games. 
  �9 The group is sent to rescue 
  a captive of the Queln. 
  �9 The characters are hired by 
  one of the rare merchants allowed 
  to trade with the Queln (usually 
  by doing well in the games). 
  games are held often and give males 
  one more outlet for their skills and 
  violent tendencies. 
  Encountering 
  The Queln Riders 
  TRESPASSERS TO a Queln vil- 
  lage are rare because of the re- 
  moteness of these settlements. How- 
  ever, all travellers on the face of 
  Mars are subject to Queln raids, es- 
  pecially if they are in small groups 
  and carrying valuable objects, such 
  as firearms. Prisoners are universally 
  dealt with in the same manner-- 
  brought before the skylord for judg- 
  ment and execution. However, re- 
  member that a skylord is subject to 
  the same motivations as other Mar- 
  tians, and if captives can convince 
  him that they would be useful in his 
  service, or that they have some 
  knowledge or item that would be 
  useful to him, ,they might be spared. 
  Also, particularly good fighters 
  among the captives are sometimes 
  organized into slave teams for the 
  sport games. Slaves who do well in 
  the games are sometimes set free and 
  sometimes are adopted into the clan. 
  GDW 
  
  176 )) HIGH MARTIANS 
  THE SAVAGE High Martians are 
  the rootstock from which the other 
  two varieties of Martian descended 
  and are the terror of Canal Martians, 
  Hill Martians, and humans alike. 
  PHYSICAL APPEARANCE 
  IN THEIR physical appearance as 
  in their behavior, High Martians are 
  quite repulsive. They are short, com- 
  pared to the other Martians, and have 
  a stooped, apelike posture. Their col- 
  oring is much darker than that of the 
  Hill Martians, and their hair is 
  almost uniformly black, growing 
  thickly over their backs and shoul- 
  ders. They have wing membranes, 
  which they use for propulsion and 
  steering (as their lifting gland pro- 
  vides the basic flight capability). 
  Like other Martians, their hands 
  have only three fingers, but they are 
  otherwise similar in form to the hu- 
  man hand. Their three-toed feet are 
  grasping appendages very much like 
  their hands. 
  On the basis of comparisons with 
  the other Martians, it was presumed 
  that High Martians and humans could 
  subsist off the same types of food. 
  This theory was confirmed by the ex- 
  periences of rescued prisoners, who 
  report that most High Martians cook 
  their food (when they bother to do 
  so) by placing the entire animal in the 
  fire until its hide has been burnt off, 
  and then ripping it apart into in- 
  dividual servings. Miss Elizabeth 
  Boynton, recently rescued from cap- 
  tivity with Hattabranx, the High 
  Martian Lord of Kraag Barrovaar, 
  reports that the High Martian war- 
  riors fought over her small supply of 
  lemon drops and found her digestive 
  biscuits enjoyable but could not be 
  persuaded to eat her chocolate bon- 
  bons after a single bite. 
  GOVERNMENT 
  SEVERAL HIGH MARTIAN fam- 
  ily groups form a clan, under a single 
  sky leader. A number of clans will 
  band together under a king. The 
  monarchy is usually hereditary in the 
  more "advanced" tribes, but the 
  ~
  ~
   
  ~ 
  most primitive High Martians 
  . 
  ~ j~%/ 
  are ruled by whoever can best all 
  ~
  ~
  t
  ~
  ~
   
  ~`'" -)/comers in single combat. The ad- 
  ~
  "
  -
  ~
  ~
  ~
  -
   
  ...... J 
  vanced tribes of High Martians (such 
  ~
  ~
  '
  ~
  ,
  .
   
  ,~r 
  / 
  as those in the Astusapes Highlands) 
  X~ j
  ~
  ~
   
  ,./}r~X"- ~ 
  use lowland slaves to tend their lift- 
  ~ 
  ~]~ 
  ~N, ~ 
  wood groves (which, with brigand- 
  \ ~ , ~  
  ~,,,'~ 
  \ 
  age, are their main source of in- 
  \~~~ /~,r 
  come). 
  "~ "~' 
  ~-'~ 
  LANGUAGES 
  " ~ 
  THE LANGUAGES of the High 
  -~.~ 
  Martians have not been an easy sub- 
  "-~ject for study. High Martians deal 
  with the Canal Martians on a regular 
  basis and are able to learn a smatter- 
  ing of their languages, most com- 
  monly Koline, the trade language. 
  CULTURE 
  OF THE three types of Martian, 
  High Martians are least affected by 
  civilization; they live in remote 
  kraags (mountain fastnesses) and 
  mountaintops, venturing out from 
  time to time to capture slaves or to 
  loot passing caravans. High Martians 
  are like intelligent apes when com- 
  pared to the Canal Martians, but with 
  a difference: They can fly. High 
  Martians (so called for their "alti- 
  tude" rather than their accomplish- 
  ments) never lost their lifting gland 
  or its ability to carry them through 
  the skies of Mars. Their behavior is 
  bestial and barbaric in the extreme. 
  Although they can work in wood 
  when they need to, the High Mar- 
  tians prefer to buy their ships from 
  the Canal Martians, paying in lift- 
  wood. Their ships are exclusively 
  screw galleys, and their turncranks 
  are exclusively slaves, captured from 
  caravans or from nomadic Hill Mar- 
  tian clans. Humans are often put to 
  the cranks when they cannot be ran- 
  somed. 
  DRESS 
  HIGH MARTIAN dress consists 
  of a loincloth. Warriors wear a 
  leather harness to carry their equip- 
  ment and often wear items taken for- 
  cibly from their enemies as records 
  of the combats. Bracelets, anklets, 
  rings, and necklaces of crudely beat- 
  en gold set with gemstones, silk rib- 
  bons, animal bones, teeth and hair, 
  spent brass cartridge cases, scissors 
  and other booty have all been seen 
  as decoration. Miss Boynton reports 
  that King Hattabranx was particular- 
  ly taken with her father's nightcap 
  and wore it constantly after it was 
  brought to him. 
  
  THE KRAAGS 
  KRAAG IS the Koline word for the 
  mountain fortresses of the High Mar- 
  tian kings. A king, his family, and 
  one or more clans closely related to 
  him are usually the occupants, al- 
  though the older ones (such as Kraag 
  Barrovaar) are often large enough to 
  contain every subject of a High Mar- 
  tian king. 
  Kraags are laboriously carved out 
  of the solid rock (by slaves, of 
  course.., no High Martian would soil 
  his hands with tools). The entrances 
  are high up the sides of a mountain 
  and accessible only from the air. In- 
  side, there are one or more large 
  shafts running up and down in which 
  the masters fly from level to level. 
  Slaves use the narrow stairs that 
  spiral up and down along the outer 
  edges. The largest room in each 
  kraag is the throne room of the king, 
  which is usually hung with priceless 
  tapestries and booty from the king's 
  raids and littered with gnawed bones 
  and refuse. 
  f 
  .IGHMARTIANS 
  " 
  HIGH MARTIANS are the f~ 
  rootstock from which the other 
  two varieties of Martians descend- 
  ed. Comparative anatomical stud- 
  ies prove this beyond a shadow 
  of a doubt, as each type of Mar- 
  tian shares certain basic char- 
  acteristics with the other two. 
  Hill Martians have remained in 
  the highlands where liftwood 
  grows, and have retained their 
  lifting gland because of associa- 
  tion with the same nutrients and 
  trace elements that give liftwood 
  its power to defy gravity. 
  HIGH MARTIANS[ 
   177 
  High Martian king. 
  The greatest kraags contain living 
  quarters for all of a king's subjects 
  and their slaves, along with arsenals, 
  treasure rooms filled with booty, 
  storerooms, well shafts, dining halls, 
  slave pens, and dozens of rooms 
  which cannot be described. 
  Each kraag is also honeycombed 
  with secret passageways known on- 
  ly to the slaves, and most of them 
  have secret entrances for use by the 
  slaves. At one time, all of these 
  passages were known to the masters 
  of the kraag, but over generations 
  they have been forgotten. Hatta- 
  branx, for example, believed that on- 
  ly fliers could enter Kraag Barro- 
  vaar--he was totally unaware of the 
  slave entrances through which the 
  slaves brought bulky objects that the 
  High Martians often could not be 
  bothered to fly in. 
  In most kraags, the slaves are on- 
  ly loosely watched, since they can- 
  not leave (it is believed), and they 
  would have nowhere to run anyway 
  (most kraags are so remote that there 
  is no way to escape from their vicini- 
  ty on foot). Captives in the kraags 
  report that there is often a hidden net- 
  work of slaves that can smuggle mes- 
  sages in and out, create diversions to 
  allow an escape, and (rarely) serve 
  as a basis for a revolution. 
  ~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~l 
  ~3 �9 THE GROUP attempts to['~l 
  steal a loadof liftwood from one 
  of the High Martian liftwood 
  groves. 
  �9 The group is taken captive 
  by the High Martians, as a result 
  of a raid on a caravan or cloud- 
  ship, and made prisoners in a 
  kraag or "put to the crank" as 
  galley slaves. 
  �9 The group is part of a 
  trading party travelling into the 
  highlands for mercantile pur- 
  poses. 
  Cross-section of a typical kraag. 
  N~ 
  1 
  .A 
  [Jls~l 
  GDW 
  
  178 )) HILL MARTIANS 
  OF THE THREE types of Mar- 
  tian, the less genteel Hill Martians 
  are the frontiersmen of Mars, living 
  on civilization's edge. 
  PHYSICAL APPEARANCE 
  IN EXTERNAL appearance, the 
  Hill Martians are slightly smaller 
  than Canal Martians, which leaves 
  them taller than all but the largest of 
  humans. In overall appearance, they 
  are stockier and somewhat closer to 
  human proportions, but they still 
  more closely resemble Canal Mar- 
  tians than humans. Their most nota- 
  ble feature (aside from their colora- 
  tion) is the fatty mass or hump be- 
  tween their shoulder blades, which 
  is a water storage organ and an adap- 
  tation to their arid habitat. This hump 
  does not stick out to any great de- 
  gree, but it does serve to give them 
  a more massive appearance about 
  their shoulders. Their ear flaps are 
  larger than those of Canal Martians, 
  and possess a definite ribbing pat- 
  tern, in common with the High Mar- 
  tians. 
  In color, they are darker than the 
  Canal Martians, tending towards 
  brown or red hair (occasionally 
  black). Their skin is a deeper ocher 
  tone than the Canal Martians, more 
  of a golden brown than a pale yel- 
  low. Their foot has a more pro- 
  nounced thumblike appendage, but it 
  is not opposable like that of the High 
  Martians. 
  Hill Martians have hair over a 
  larger portion of their bodies than the 
  almost hairless Canal Martians, par- 
  ticularly over their shoulders. 
  Like Canal Martians, Hill Mar- 
  tians' hands have only three fingers, 
  but they are otherwise similar in 
  form to the human hand. The foot of 
  a Canal Martian has on it a vestigial 
  "thumb" located proximal to the 
  metatarsal bones, on what would be 
  called the heel on a human foot. Hill 
  Martians retain a much less atrophied 
  version of this "thumb," one proof 
  of the fact that Canal Martians are 
  descended from the barbaric Hill 
  Martians. 
  Their digestive and respiratory 
  systems are nearly identical to 
  humans', and both can eat the same 
  sort of fare (although Martian cuisine 
  is too spicy for most palates, and 
  Martians find most human dishes un- 
  palatably bland). 
  CULTURE 
  HILL MARTIANS live on the 
  edges of civilization; they are the 
  frontiersmen of Mars, living in 
  regions beyond the reach of the canal 
  princes' power. They have no single 
  culture, because each group has 
  adapted itself to a different locale, 
  and each group must modify its 
  customs and behaviors as it travels. 
  The Queln have adopted an aerial 
  lifestyle which makes their culture 
  more like that of the High Martians. 
  Other groups of Hill Martians have 
  settled more or less permanently in 
  one spot and taken up agriculture. 
  The Wagon Masters of Meroe: 
  This is a hill and plains society which 
  follows the migrations of the ruumet 
  breehr herds for their livelihood. 
  They use the beasts for everything 
  and move about in huge single or 
  multifamily wagons pulled by the 
  gigantic beasts. Each evening, they 
  form the wagons in a giant circle. 
  The Riders of the Nepenthes- 
  Thoth: The lifestyle of these Mar- 
  tians is very similar to that of the 
  classic horse-tribes of Earth, approx- 
  imating a cross between the Sioux of 
  North America and the Tartars of 
  Asia. Naturally, they ride gashants 
  instead of horses and roam the vast 
  Nepenthes-Thoth and Neith Steppes. 
  They hunt, trap, and raid caravans 
  and their more settled cousins. 
  F 
  GENERATING A CHARACTER 
  TO GENERATE a Hill Martian or weapons skill other thai 
  character, use the standard charac- Marksmanship. 
  ter generation rules with the fol- 
  Careers: Two careers are open 
  lowing modifications: 
  to Hill Martians: Nomad/Warrior 
  Attributes: Determine physical (the typical, unmarried Hill Mar- 
  attributes normally, but 4 is the tian), and Free-Lance (a wanderer 
  maximum Strength, and 2 is the who will return to his clan after 
  minimum Endurance. Social Level earning a large enough reputation). 
  is measured in respect among other 
  Nomad~Warrior: Str 4--. End 
  Hill Martians (meaningless to the 2 +. 
  British and to Canal Martians). 
  Riding (gashant) 2, Riding 
  Skills: Default skills are acquired (ruumet breehr) 1, ,Marksmanship 
  normally. Career skills are dis- (bow) 1, Foraging 2. 
  cussed below under each possible 
  Free-Lance: Str 4-. End 2 +. 
  career. Hill Martians may use skill 
  Riding (gashant) 2, Marks- 
  points to purchase skills, but may manship (bow) 2, Marksmanship 
  not purchase any human technical (rifle) 1, Foraging 1, Fieldcraft t. 
  
  HILL MARTIANS i( 179 
  GOVERNMENT 
  CALLING THE primitive tribal 
  and clan organizations of the Hill 
  Martians a government is perhaps a 
  misuse of that word. Many clans are 
  bound together under some form of 
  higher association, and the leaders of 
  these loose associations are called 
  kings but hold little real power. 
  The attitude of the individual Hill 
  Martian varies greatly. Most have 
  had no association with humans but 
  harbor a mild dislike based on ru- 
  mors of the Belgians. Some will ex- 
  hibit a mild curiosity about the "red 
  ones." A great deal will depend on 
  the first impression: Hill Martians 
  respect courage, determination, and 
  skill with weapons. Demonstration of 
  these qualities will go a long way 
  toward impressing them. 
  ~" 
  ANCESTRY 
  "r 
  CANAL MARTIANS are de -f 
  scended from the primitive Hill 
  Martians, and both are descend- 
  ed from the positively bestial 
  High Martians. Comparative ana- 
  tomical studies prove this beyond 
  a shadow of a doubt, as each type 
  of Martian shares certain basic 
  characteristics with the other two. 
  Hill Martians have lost all trace 
  of their primeval lifting gland. In 
  some Hill Martians, a small web- 
  bing extends a few inches down 
  the armpit, a vestigial remnant of 
  the winged skin flaps with which 
  their forebears once flew. This 
  feature is considered a bad omen 
  unless it is also accompanied by 
  black hair, in which case it fore- 
  tells great success in battle for 
  that individual. 
  DRESS 
  HILL MARTIANS who live near 
  civilization and who are in contact 
  with the city-state merchants 
  sometimes wear clothing~similar in 
  cut to Canal Martians' but usually 
  much less expensive and poorly 
  cared for. Most of them wear some 
  form of primitive homespun made 
  from plant fibers of the steppes, or 
  clothing fashioned from the skins of 
  animals. Those inhabiting the 
  warmer steppes near the equator 
  often wear no garment but a loin- 
  cloth. 
  Because of the altitudes at which 
  they fly their skrill, the Queln (see 
  pages 174-175) wear skins and a 
  heavy cloak which they can discard 
  when they descend to warmer altl- 
  tudes. 
  ~' 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~ 
  13 �9 THE CHARACTERS ac -~! 
  cidentally kill a Hill Martian and 
  provoke a blood feud which can 
  only be satisfied by a duel with 
  the Martian's closest male rela- 
  tive or payment of a large death 
  price. 
  �9 The characters present a 
  local chief with a gift of some 
  small trinket, provoking a quaint 
  local custom of accelerating gift 
  exchanges until one party or the 
  other admits defeat by reclaim- 
  ing the original gift. 
  �9 The characters violate some 
  curious local taboo (such as leav- 
  ing before the complete cycle of 
  a oift ovc, hnnoo ~n h~ ,-nrnnloted ) 
  Fhoth. 
  GDW 
  
  180 ))CANAL MARTIANS 
  THE CANAL MARTIANS are 
  the most advanced of the three Mar- 
  tian races, but their culture, though 
  responsible for Mars' highest cul- 
  tural and scientific achievements, has 
  begun to decay. 
  PHYSICAL APPEARANCE 
  IN EXTERNAL appearance, the 
  Canal Martians present a most pleas- 
  ing (albeit still quite alien) picture. 
  Their general form is similar to that 
  of humans: They are upright bipeds, 
  with two arms freed for use as mani- 
  pulative appendages. They are quite 
  tall and slender, with a massive chest 
  cavity (necessitated by the atmos- 
  phere of Mars). In coloring, they are 
  most fair, having fine hair and pale 
  ocher skin. Some humans feel their 
  large, pointed ears give them a faint 
  resemblance to the elves of human 
  myth. 
  Citizens of Oenotria. 
  tian character, use the standard one of three careers: 1~ 
  character generation rules with the Soldier, Cloud Sailor, 
  following modifications: 
  chant. Canal Martians cannot have 
  Attributes: Determine physical two careers. Players receive initial 
  attributes normally, but 4 is the funds as if they were middle-class 
  maximum Strength, and 2 is the humans. Martians purchasing hu- 
  minimum Endurance possible, 
  man languages pay double the nor- 
  Skills: Default skills are acquired mal price, except for Merchants: 
  normally. Career skills are dis- 
  Mercenary Soldier: Str 3+. 
  cussed below. Canal Martians may 
  Marksmanship (bow) 2, Marks~ 
  purchase skills, but human skills manship (rifle) 1, Close Combat l~ 
  (riding a horse, for example) will Foraging l, Fieldcraft 2. 
  cost three times the number of skill 
  Cloud Sailor: Str 3 +. 
  points, to represent the obvious 
  reluctance of humans to teach these 
  skills to Martians. 
  Careers: Noble Canal Martians 
  are involved in government and 
  lead quite boring lives. Lower- 
  class Canal Martians are all in- 
  volved in hard physical labor not 
  suitable for adventurers. All Canal 
  Martian player characters are from 
  Trimsman (cloudship) 2, Close 
  Combat 2, Gunnery (muzzle~ 
  loading cannon) 1, Marksmanship 
  (bow) 1. 
  Merchant: Int 4 +. 
  Bargain 2, Riding (ruumet 
  breehr) 1, Fisticuffs 1, Marksman- 
  ship (bow) 1, Wilderness Travel 
  (foraging) 1, Marksmanship 
  (pistol) 1. 
  Their hands have only three fin- 
  gers, but they are otherwise similar 
  in form to the human hand. Their 
  three-toed feet are roughly similar to 
  human feet with one major differ- 
  ence: They were originally grasping 
  appendages very much like their 
  hands. The foot of a Canal Martian 
  has a vestigial "thumb" located 
  proximal to the metatarsal bones, on 
  what would be called the heel on a 
  human foot. Comparisons with the 
  anatomy of Hill and High Martians 
  demonstrate conclusively that this 
  was once a grasping as well as an 
  ambulatory appendage. 
  Their digestive and respiratory 
  systems are nearly identical to hu- 
  mans', and both can eat the same sort 
  of fare (although Martian cuisine is 
  too spicy for most human palates, 
  and Martians find most human dishes 
  unpalatably bland). 
  Canal Martian dress is too varied 
  to be easily described, but it strikes 
  many observers as reminiscent of the 
  garb of the ancient Egyptians. 
  CULTURE 
  CANAL MARTIANS represent 
  35,000 years of civilization. While 
  consummate farmers, accomplished 
  builders, and skilled artisans, they 
  are nevertheless obviously a society 
  in decline, to which their inability to 
  maintain the more complicated ma- 
  chinery found in many canal pump- 
  ing stations is ample testimony. The 
  culture of the Canal Martians is stag- 
  nant and unchanging, their arts have 
  become incomprehensibly baroque 
  and degenerate, and their science is 
  without the innovative spark which 
  characterizes human intellectual ac- 
  tivity. The Martian inventive genius, 
  which built the magnificent Grand 
  Canals, is a little-used faculty of late. 
  
  CANAL MARTIANSI 
  GOVERNMENT 
  THE PRECISE details of local 
  government vary from city to city, 
  but there are many general simi- 
  larities. Almost all of the city-states 
  of the Canal Martians are ruled by 
  hereditary monarchs called canal 
  princes. In many cities, there is a 
  governing council of nobles (also 
  hereditary) in addition to the prince. 
  Mercantile families are a palpable 
  power in the larger city-states, and 
  they are often at loggerheads with the 
  princes and the noble families. 
  Governmental power is based on 
  a network of oaths of allegiance, 
  some dating back to the time of 
  Seldon II. A complex bureaucracy 
  has grown up in the larger city-states, 
  in some places appointed by the 
  prince, in others f'dled by competitive 
  examinations similar to those of the 
  ancient Chinese. In all cases, the 
  higher levels of government are 
  unalterably corrupt, and it is nearly 
  impossible to do anything without 
  multiple payments to a series of local 
  officials, inspectors, and bureaucrats 
  (travellers with experience in the Ot- 
  toman Empire should encounter few 
  difficulties). 
  ,~" 
  ANCESTRY 
  '~'~~ 
  O7 
  CANAL MARTIANS are de -rE 
  scended from the primitive Hill 
  Martians, and both are descend- 
  ed from the positively bestial 
  High Martians. Comparative ana- 
  tomical studies prove this beyond 
  a shadow of a doubt. Canal Mar- 
  tians have lost all trace of their 
  primeval lifting gland and the 
  winged skin flaps with which 
  their forebears once flew. 
  LANGUAGES 
  NEARLY 200 Canal Martian 
  languages and dialects have been 
  cataloged by Professor Forbes- 
  Hamilton of the British Museum, 
  although only about a dozen are in 
  common use and, of these, only three 
  are likely to be encountered in the 
  British colony. These are: 
  High Oenotrian: High Oenotrian 
  is believed to be descended from the 
  original language of Syrtis Major 
  (prior to its occupation by the armies 
  of Emperor Seldon II thousands of 
  years ago). It is now spoken by the 
  cities of the Oenotrian Empire and 
  is understood in most of the neutral 
  city-states of Syrtis Major. 
  Parhooni: With English, this is the 
  official language of the British 
  Crown Colony of Syrtis Major. It 
  was originally the language of the 
  northern half of Syrtis Major, and is 
  a much-changed descendant of the 
  language of Seldon's empire (Son- 
  Gaaryani, or old Gaaryani). Par- 
  hooni is understood by most of the 
  neutral city-states of Syrtis Major. 
  Parhooni is the label attached by 
  English lexicographers; its native 
  speakers call the tongue Gaaryani. 
  Koline: Koline (trade-speech) is a 
  pastiche of Son-Gaaryani (the archaic 
  dialect of Seldon's empire) and 
  several other tongues. It is the trade 
  language of Mars, spoken by almost 
  all canal boatmen, merchants, and 
  ~'~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~ 
  ~ 
  �9 THE GROUP becomes inf~ 
  volved (accidentally or other- 
  wise) in political intrigue in a 
  city-state. 
  �9 The group manages to of- 
  fend or otherwise fall afoul of 
  some local noble, bureaucrat, or 
  potentate, and makes an enemy 
  who will hound them for years to 
  come. 
  �9 The group fails to properly 
  bribe a Martian official and en- 
  counters administrative diffi- 
  culties accruing therefrom. 
  cloudship crewmen throughout the 
  planet. It is a primitive language, but 
  it is easily grasped and serves its pur- 
  pose well. 
  Umbran: Umbran is the name ap- 
  plied to a number of similar dialects 
  spoken by the inhabitants of the con- 
  stituent city-states of the Boreosyr- 
  tis League. Its roots are uncertain, 
  but it bears no resemblance to Par- 
  hooni/Gaaryani. 
  Other widespread Canal Martian 
  dialects are Hellan (spoken by the 
  southern kingdoms in the great basin 
  of Hellas), Noachan (spoken by the 
  city-states north of the Noachis 
  Highlands), and Khallan (a dialect 
  spoken by engineers and craftsmen, 
  and now, unfortunately, largely ex- 
  tinct). 
  Martian 
  fortress-villa. 
  GDW 
  
  "182" ) MARTIAN ANIMALS 
  THE ANIMAL LIFE of Mars is 
  Green Koko: Large, predatory 
  diverse and too large to be properly 
  water snakes, green kokos as much 
  detailed in the space available. We as 20 feet long have been sighted. 
  present, therefore, a brief catalog of They are not venomous, although they 
  the more interesting or dangerous 
  have impressive fangs with which 
  creatures, and a short discussion of they grab and hold their prey. Their 
  legendary and extinct life. 
  main means of attack is by constric- 
  tion, and their coils; once placed, are 
  PREDATORS 
  extremely difficult to remove. 
  MARTIAN PREDATORS vary. 
  Steppe Tiger: Among the most 
  impressive of Martian animals is the 
  fierce steppe tiger. It is a cunning 
  hunter and will attempt to get very 
  close to its intended prey before mak- 
  ing a quick charge and a kill. It can 
  run very quickly for perhaps 10 or 
  15 seconds, but its speed drops off 
  rapidly after that, and it relies on sur- 
  prise and its one quick sprint to make 
  the kill. Its primary means of defense 
  are its claws, which can slash even 
  the hide of a ruumet breehr badly. 
  For the kill, however, it relies on its 
  massive jaws to snap the victim's 
  neck or spine. It will not generally 
  seek out trouble unless hungry, but 
  it is quite territorial and will tend to 
  attack any interlopers, particularly 
  humans. 
  Cissawaan: A lithe, fast water 
  lizard which feeds on fish but which 
  will attack almost anything in sight, 
  including ruumet breehrs. Cissa- 
  waans are usually found in groups of 
  up to 50, and they have been known 
  to tip over canoes. The best defense 
  seems to be to climb a tree, as they 
  are clumsy out of water, cannot 
  climb at all, and will soon lose in- 
  terest and wander off. 
  Eelowaan: This long, snake-like, 
  flying predator is a particularly 
  vicious animal, which will apparent- 
  ly attack for the sheer pleasure of it. 
  It mainly feeds off of small her- 
  bivorous animals, but it will attack 
  very large prey as well. Its means of 
  attack (nonpoisonous fangs, constric- 
  tion), size (up to 20 feet in length), 
  and general look suggest that it at 
  least shares a common ancestor with 
  the green koko. But its capacity for 
  flight, by manipulation of lifting 
  membranes biochemically similar to 
  liftwood trees, is clearly the product 
  of radically divergent evolution. 
  
  MARTIAN 
  ANIMALSIt 
  183 
  SCAVENGERS 
  SCAVENGERS, tend to live off 
  others' kills for the most part 
  (although not always). 
  Great Kommota: Long thought to 
  be extinct, this gigantic flying 
  scavenger has been sighted numerous 
  times recently, and it has shown a 
  disturbing tendency to attack small 
  ships by dropping boulders on them, 
  which has caused the crash of at least 
  one vessel and may account for other 
  disappearances over the years. 
  Roogie: Smallish beasts, roogies 
  are actually as niuch predator as 
  scavenger, but prefer to have some 
  other animal or Mother Nature pro- 
  vide them with a meal. If hungry, 
  however, they will attack. They gen- 
  erally travel in packs of up to 20, 
  although they will often split up into 
  smaller foraging parties if kills are 
  scarce. When they find a kill or po- 
  tential kill, they will give out with 
  their peculiarly screeching bark to 
  summon the rest of the pack. 
  Knoe Shoshu: Rumors of this ter~ 
  rifying animal had been told and re- 
  told by Martian canal pilots for years 
  but were largely discounted as native 
  superstition. Recently a French ex- 
  pedition actually killed one and re- 
  turned with its carcass. It is apparent- 
  ly a scavenger, although, like the 
  roogie, it will attack if hungry. It 
  consists of a central body chamber, 
  roughly like a slightly flattened and 
  elongated sphere, covered with fat 
  and a rubbery, gray-brown hide. It 
  moves by means of four large, heavy 
  flipper feet and grasps its prey with 
  four long tentacles. It appears to eat 
  small creatures alive and whole when 
  forced to hunt, but it will inject a 
  poison through its mouth stinger in- 
  to larger prey and take the carcass 
  back to its lair for consumption at its 
  leisure. Fortunately, this poison is 
  2,, 
  ~'~" 
  ADVENTURES 
  '-~U 
  �9 DURING A trip across one 
  of the dry grasslands on the edge 
  of the fertile regions, the group 
  is attacked by a steppe tiger. 
  �9 During a flight across the 
  desert, the characters' flyer is at- 
  tacked by a great kommota and 
  damaged or destroyed. 
  now known not to be fatal to Earth 
  humans, although it does cause un- 
  consciousness followed by a period 
  of disorientation and weakness. (One 
  member of the French expedition 
  was stung and carried off to the crea- 
  ture's lair; he later revived, escaped, 
  and was finally found wandering, 
  tired, battered, and partially inco- 
  herent, in the swamp.) 
  GDW 
  
  184 9 MARTIAN ANIMALS 
  PLANT EATERS 
  ~", 
  PLANT EATERS are usually not 
  violent, but exceptions are found. 
  Gashant: Gashants are upright 
  quadrupeds generally found in herds 
  of from 20 to 70 animals. They de- 
  fend themselves, when cornered, 
  with their thick, hard forelegs (which 
  have atrophied into blunt stumps), 
  their heavy tails, and their teeth, 
  although none of these are particular- 
  ly effective weapons. A gashant's 
  main defense lies in flight, and 
  although its speed is less than that of 
  an eegaar, it has powerful legs and 
  impressive endurance. 
  While still found in the wild in 
  large numbers, the domesticated ga- 
  shant is also ubiquitous, being the 
  principal draft animal and exclusive 
  cavalry mount in use by Martian 
  troops. The tough, wiry gashants of 
  the Nilosyrtis Hills are particularly 
  prized by troops who have to operate 
  in difficult or arid country, and are 
  the only gashants used by the Meep- 
  Flying Skrilh This flying plant 
  eater, which appears to subsist off of 
  the leaves of liftwood trees and bush- 
  es, grows to be quite large and has 
  sufficient lifting ability to carry a 
  man. Domestication of the skrill has 
  proven elusive, however, and only 
  the highland folk known as the Queln 
  have thus far proven successful. 
  Ruumet Breehr: Although these 
  giant vegetarians are native to the 
  wetlands of Mars, they have proven 
  surprisingly hardy when used in the 
  dry canal caravans, and now wild 
  ruumet breehr herds are fairly com- 
  mon in the desert as well. The do- 
  mesticated version is used in many 
  caravans to the near-total exclusion 
  of gashants, and ruumet breehrs can 
  be seen from a great distance tow- 
  ing giant carts or majestically carry- 
  ing the weight of a large howdah on 
  their backs. Unaggressive for the 
  most part, ruumet breehrs will attack 
  if they perceive a threat to their 
  young and will usually charge rather 
  than flee if they are attacked. 
  
  MARTIAN ANIMALS,i( 185 
  Eegaar: Named for their frequent 
  danger cry, the eegaar are the swift- 
  est of Mars' land animals. They re- 
  ly on the vigilance of their long- 
  necked sentries for protection of the 
  herd and can usually escape the first 
  - rush of a predator with a remarkable 
  burst of speed. They soon tire, how- 
  ever, and distance runners such as 
  the roogies pose a more serious 
  threat to the eegaars than the im- 
  pressive sprinter, the steppe tiger. 
  When run down by roogies, the herd 
  will disperse and reunite later, usual- 
  ly minus several members. 
  ~ 
  YLEGENDARY FAUNA 
  LEGENDARY animals include: 
  Sandwing: The High Martians tell 
  stories of an incredibly large flyer, 
  resembling the dragon of Earthly 
  mythology in size and overall ap- 
  pearance. It is said to be a large and 
  ferocious predator, capable of carry- 
  ing off a ruumet breehr to feed its 
  young as a kestrel would carry off 
  a mouse. The people of the Astusa- 
  pes Highlands claim to have hunted 
  the beast to extinction after the in- 
  vention of cannon and the sky gal- 
  leon put Martians on more equal 
  terms with the beasts, but other High 
  Martians still speak of them as if they 
  were still alive. No trace of one has 
  ever been uncovered. 
  Ohnam Reekh: Among the Hill 
  Martians south and west of Syrtis 
  Major there are legends of a giant 
  subsurface burrower whose col- 
  lapsed tunnels are now used as ca- 
  nals. The beast, as described by most 
  storytellers, resembles a giant, hair- 
  less mole, but ~ithout hind legs and 
  with a number of thick, bony plates 
  over the forward third of its body. 
  Legends of this creature are used to 
  frighten Martian children into obe- 
  dience, and it is obvious that the 
  creature is either totally mythical or 
  an exaggeration and distortion of 
  some naturally occurring (but small- 
  er) creature. The tale could have 
  originated as an explanation of the 
  canals by a primitive and ignorant 
  people, much as savages on Earth 
  will attribute the formation of lakes 
  to the footsteps of some mythical 
  giant. 
  .~ 
  A- _-., 
  ~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~'~, 
  ~ 
  �9 THE CHARACTERS are ~ 
  hired to act as guides or body- 
  guards for a zoological expedi- 
  tion, seeking either to capture 
  known animals for study or to 
  locate traces of legendary or ex- 
  tinct creatures. 
  PREHISTORIC FAUNA 
  THE PREHISTORIC fauna of 
  Mars was once as extensive and var- 
  ied as that on Earth, before the 
  planet's water disappeared eons ago. 
  Remains are fragmentary, but cor- 
  relating Martian legends with the few 
  actual fossil discoveries paints a tan- 
  talizing and hauntingly familiar pic- 
  ture. The animal life of prehistoric 
  Mars had many overall resemblances 
  to that of Earth in its present epoch; 
  many scientists consider the course 
  of evolution on Mars to foretell what 
  is to come for the evolution of Earth. 
  GDW 
  
  186  
  )ADVENTURES ON MARS 
  SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS 
  THE MAIN PROBLEM faced by 
  the visitor to Mars will be the ex- 
  treme dryness of the climate, and the 
  almost total lack of water in most 
  areas. Expeditions must carry their 
  own water (a heavy and bulky com- 
  modity) or stay near the canals or old 
  canal beds. 
  Language will present difficulties. 
  Canal Martians have over 200 sepa- 
  rate dialects, the Hill Martians 
  almost as many (little information is 
  available on the High Martian lan- 
  guages). Although some languages 
  are more common than others, trav- 
  ellers will still find communication 
  a problem unless they stay inside cer- 
  tain restricted areas of the British col- 
  ony. Learning one or more of the 
  local languages is the best solution 
  to this problem, although many peo- 
  ple will not have the ability to do this 
  (some are more capable in this field 
  than others). Hiring a reliable guide 
  is the second best solution. Finding 
  a reliable guide is a major problem 
  of its own. 
  There is a growing hatred of hu- 
  mans among many Martian commu- 
  nities, and this feeling has erupted in- 
  to active violence on several occa- 
  sions. While most Canal Martians 
  dislike humans, only a few are will- 
  ing to risk the wrath of Her Majes- 
  ty's gunboats (among these are the 
  more radical antihuman organiza- 
  tions, such as the Ground Cleansers). 
  Notwithstanding, incautious travel- 
  lers may find themselves attacked by 
  a mob for violating some incompre- 
  hensible local taboo or for acciden- 
  tally defiling a temple or holy place. 
  A special area of concern is the 
  region near the Belgian Coprates, 
  where the locals have been so mis- 
  treated that they have been driven to 
  desperate actions, and many bands of 
  rebels wander the frontiers. The 
  situation has been worsened by the 
  sale of modern firearms to the 
  renegades, an action for wJaich cer- 
  tain unscrupulous American mer- 
  chants must take responsibility. 
  Of course, among the barbaric Hill 
  Martians and the bestial High Mar- 
  tians, humans must be constantly on 
  their guard, as these groups have not 
  the wit to be frightened by threats of 
  retaliation. 
  THE CULT OF THE WORM 
  THIS BIZARRE, violent little cult 
  draws most of its followers from 
  among the bestial High Martians. An 
  equally good translation of the name 
  might be "Followers of Decay" or 
  "Worshipers of Rot and Corrup- 
  tion." The Cult of the Worm is, as 
  one might expect, a rather nihilistic 
  religion, much given to living sacri- 
  fices, murder, terrorism, and de- 
  bauchery. The Worm Priests tell 
  their followers that the only reason 
  to remain alive is that it is not yet 
  time to die. 
  The deities who receive the sacri- 
  fices and adulation of the Followers 
  of the Worm are the "Living Old 
  Ones," immortal beings whose great 
  age and experiences have shown 
  them the futility and wickedness of 
  life. Although the gods of this cult 
  prefer Martian flesh, human captives 
  are rumored to have been killed on 
  the bloodstained altars of the Worm 
  Priests. 
  THE GROUND CLEANSERS 
  THE SOCIETY of the Purifiers of 
  the Soil (more commonly called the 
  Ground Cleansers) is a fanatical, an- 
  tihuman movement, popular mostly 
  with the Canal Martians. Its mem- 
  bers are a basically reactionary force 
  that wants to purge Martian society 
  of the corruption the humans have in- 
  troduced. More extreme elements 
  want to purge Mars of the humans 
  themselves. 
  The more radical elements of the 
  Oenotrian ruling oligarchy are 
  believed to be members of the 
  Ground Cleansers, and the cult has 
  its strongest centers in the city-states 
  of the Oenotrian Empire. 
  ANARCHISTS 
  THE ANARCHISTS were a group 
  of European intellectuals who be- 
  lieved that government and society 
  were unalterably corrupt, and that 
  the only way one could achieve real 
  freedom was to do away with it all. 
  To achieve this end, violence was the 
  only answer. Government officials 
  must be killed--but more than that, 
  the organs of government, the build- 
  ings, the records, the clerks, the 
  bureaucrats must be destroyed. To 
  awaken a sleeping humanity, and in- 
  fuse in it sufficient anger to make it 
  rise up and destroy government and 
  society, random terror and destruc~ 
  tion were needed. It was regrettable 
  that some would have to die, but 
  humanity would be the better for it. 
  The more militant anarchists, such as 
  Mikail Bakunin, were opposed to any 
  organization whatsoever, even anar- 
  chist organizations (Bakunin once 
  bombed an anarchist meeting for this 
  reason). 
  Anarchist activity on Mars consists 
  mostly of leaflets, random bombings 
  of public places and government of- 
  rices, and assassinations of govern- 
  mental officials (the higher the bet- 
  ter) and the wealthy and titled (again, 
  the higher the better). 
  
  ADVENTURES ON MARS{ , 187 
  THE FENIANS 
  WHEREVER THERE are En- 
  glish, there are Irish also. Ireland 
  was subject to varying English con- 
  trol from the 12th century onwards 
  and was formally bound to London 
  by the Act of Union of 1800. Ireland 
  remained separate in religion, cul- 
  ture, and attitude, however--an an- 
  gry, ill-used land of Protestant im- 
  migrants who owned the land and 
  Catholic natives who worked. The 
  injustices that brought about the 
  rebellions of 1798 and 1803 had not 
  been lifted, and the terrible famine 
  of 1845-48 was grossly and callous- 
  ly mishandled by the government. 
  The survivors of the catastrophe, 
  especially those who emigrated to 
  America in search of better condi- 
  tions, were often filled with a viru- 
  lent hatred for all things British. 
  In 1858, a revolutionary move- 
  ment known as the Irish Revolu- 
  tionary Brotherhood was founded 
  simultaneously in Dublin and New 
  York. The members of the group 
  were known as Fenians, after the 
  legendary hero Finn MacCumhaill, 
  and swore "a secret, conspiratorial 
  oath" to uphold the independence 
  and integrity of an as-yet-fictional 
  Irish Republic. Although most mem- 
  bers were intellectuals, a number 
  wanted immediate, violent actions to 
  bring about independence. In 1866, 
  an attempt to invade Canada by a 
  scratch "army" of 600 Irish veterans 
  of the American Civil War ended 
  with a hasty and undignified retreat 
  to the United States, and other at- 
  tempts in 1870-71 were no more suc- 
  cessful. Fenian actions closer to 
  home were much more threatening. 
  In 1867, a ship full of arms, manned 
  by American Fenians, sailed from 
  Boston in an effort to raise insurrec- 
  tion in Ireland. At the same time, 
  there was an attempt to seize the 
  arsenal at Chester Castle; the plot- 
  ters were arrested, and a rescue bid 
  was made while the men were being 
  taken through Manchester in a prison 
  van. Sympathizers blew open the 
  doors of the van, and a policeman 
  was killed, apparently by accident. 
  The public was shocked, and three 
  Fenians were hanged, on doubtful 
  evidence, for the murder of the 
  constable. 
  Notwithstanding, the vast majori- 
  ty of Irish are loyal subjects of the 
  Queen (albeit probably supporters of 
  reform) and opposed to the radical 
  ambitions of the revolutionaries. This 
  population of loyalists, however, 
  makes it possible for the Fenians and 
  their friends to place themselves at 
  suitable points to carry out their acts 
  of mayhem. The first appearance of 
  a Fenian presence on Mars came in 
  1879 with disturbances in the British 
  quarter of Parhoon following public 
  meetings on the Irish auestion at the 
  Imperial Institute t 
  group of agitators 
  British agents. At fi 
  ty was restricted tr 
  phlets and vandali: 
  perty, but with th~ 
  O'Connor in 188C 
  took a more militar 
  organized a serie, 
  finance Fenian ope: 
  a man of imagina 
  persuasive tongue. 
  had arranged for tt 
  the Fenian Ram, 
  galley. Funding of 
  behind building co: 
  was undeterred--h 
  in 1884 and took 
  piracy and anti-Er 
  ,~"~ 
  ADVENTURES 
  ~]l 
  -~r 
  �9 ON A JOURNEY througff'l 
  the British colony, one or more 
  members of the group is kid- 
  napped by a secret cell of the 
  Ground Cleansers and requires 
  rescue. 
  �9 The characters are attacked 
  by Fenians or anarchists wanting 
  their weapons or their vessel for 
  some nefarious purpose. 
  the Meroe Highlands. O'Connor's 
  panache exceeded his real success in 
  taking on the might of the Empire, 
  but it gained him many admirers, es- 
  pecially in the United States, where 
  he became the subject of one of Ned 
  Buntline's lesser literary gems. With 
  the destruction of the Fenian Ram in 
  1887, O'Connor was wounded but 
  managed to escape, and his where- 
  abouts are presently unknown. He is 
  doubtless somewhere in the colony, 
  raising money and plotting some new 
  outrage. 
  GDW 
  
  188 ~)VENUS 
  A= 
  ~ 
  J 
  J 
  
  VENUS{( 189 
  VENUS 
  FOR YEARS, Venus presented a 
  mystery to human astronomers. 
  When the earliest telescopes were 
  trained on the world, they showed a 
  blank, featureless surface. Several 
  reasons were advanced for this, but 
  when the ether flyer made possible 
  expeditions to the world, it was 
  discovered that the blank surface was 
  due to the incredibly dense cloud 
  cover. Venus, it turned out, was a 
  hothouse world of shallow seas, 
  steaming tropical jungles, bogs, 
  swamps, marshes, perpetual over- 
  cast, and heavy rainfall. 
  The dense jungles of the Venusian 
  lowlands produce numerous plants 
  for which there is great demand on 
  Earth by chemists, dyemakers, phar- 
  maceutical companies, and florists 
  (the Cytherian Orchid is especially 
  valued for its beauty and its haunting- 
  ly subtle fragrance). The lowlands 
  are also home to hundreds of varie- 
  ties of giant reptilian creatures, called 
  dinosaurs, and to the savage Lizard- 
  men. Humans find the lowlands al- 
  most unbearable and tend to stick to 
  the few highland plateaus, where life 
  is more tolerable and the sun can oc- 
  casionally be glimpsed through the 
  overcast. In recent times, large plan- 
  tations have been created using 
  Lizard-men to cultivate and harvest 
  several of the most valuable plants. 
  For the most part, however, tribes 
  of friendly Lizard-men roam the 
  jungles harvesting the various plants 
  and bringing them to the various 
  lowland trading outposts and the set- 
  tlements that have sprung up around 
  them. Dinosaurs and hostile Lizard- 
  men pose a constant threat to these 
  human enclaves, and they are one 
  reason that a permanent military 
  presence is maintained by each ma- 
  jor colonial power. 
  Although expeditions were sent to 
  Venus as early as 1873 (using Brit- 
  ish-made Armstrong Flyers), the first 
  one to return was the German-backed 
  Heidelberg expedition of 1879-80. It 
  was discovered that the peculiar 
  nature of the Venusian magnetic field 
  interacts with the ether in an un- 
  known fashion which causes radical- 
  ly accelerated liftwood decay on that 
  world. Within days of landing, the 
  first three expeditions (of 1873, 
  1875, arrd 1877) soon found their 
  flyers would not leave the ground, 
  and they were unable to activate their 
  ether engines because of atmospheric 
  drag. Germany, unable to obtain 
  large quantities of liftwood because 
  of its lack of a viable Martian col- 
  ony (at least initially), was forced to 
  make use of dirigibles as the lifting 
  means for their ether flyers. When 
  a German ether dirigible carrying the 
  Heidelberg expedition landed at what 
  came to be called the Kaiser Wilhelm 
  Plateau, they found the last few sur- 
  vivors of the earlier expeditions, se- 
  verely reduced in number due to the 
  attacks of multiple dinosaurs and 
  groups of hostile Lizard-men. 
  Germany has dominated the ex- 
  ploration and exploitation of Venus 
  since that time, although Russian, 
  Italian, British, and American set- 
  tlements or trade enclaves are also 
  present. Although not as heavily col- 
  onized as Mars, Venus presents 
  almost equal economic potential. 
  • 
  A NOTE 
  ~,~ar~ 
  ON PLACE NAMES 
  GERMAN COLONISTS have 
  retained many of the British place 
  names (although usually translat- 
  ing them into German), as a 
  means of honoring those first 
  gallant explorers of Venus. (For 
  instance, Mount Maxwell is 
  called Maxwellberg by the Ger- 
  mans.) Since the opening of the 
  world, several nations besides 
  Germany have sent exploratory 
  expeditions to Venus (most no- 
  tably the Russian and Italian ex- 
  peditions of 1881 and 1883, re- 
  spectively) leading to more 
  diverse place names than on 
  Mars, including German, Eng- 
  lish, Russian, Latin, and Greek 
  (these last two because the com- 
  mander of the Italian expedition 
  was of a classical inclination). 
  GDW 
  
  190 )) GEOGRAPHY 
  VENUSIAN GEOGRAPHY 
  STRICTLY SPEAKING, the suf- 
  fix "geo-" properly refers to Earth 
  and Earth alone. Nevertheless, the 
  phrase "Venusian geography" is 
  much more convenient (and more 
  easily pronounced) than such words 
  as Cytherography, Aphroditography, 
  or Venography, and the latter terms 
  are used only by the most primly 
  fastidious of orthographers. 
  Major Landforms 
  VENUS IS a younger world than 
  the Earth and is still in an early, 
  chaotic stage of its development. Its 
  landforms, like its life forms, are 
  therefore not as varied as those of 
  Earth and can be broken down into 
  the following broad categories: 
  Mountains: The mountains of 
  Venus are believed to be of relative- 
  ly recent origin geologically. This 
  surmise is necessary in order to ac- 
  count for the fact that the mountains 
  have not yet eroded away under the 
  almost perpetual rainfall. 
  Some of the mountains on Venus 
  are volcanic in origin, including the 
  Kaiser Wilhelm range. Mount Max- 
  well is thought to have been active 
  as recently as 5000 years ago, but 
  there do not seem to have been any 
  eruptions since then. The Aphrodite 
  Mountains, on the other hand, seem 
  to have resulted from some form of 
  geological uplift similar to that which 
  produced most mountains on the 
  Earth. 
  In the mountains, it is not uncom- 
  mon to find outcroppings of the 
  native bedrock, especially in areas 
  where the slope is extreme and the 
  native plants can find no purchase. 
  Humans often exploit these outcrop- 
  pings for building material. 
  The Highlands: The upper alti- 
  tudes of Venus receive more light 
  from the sun, and the plant life of the 
  highland jungles tends to resemble 
  that of Earth in similar locations. 
  Tree-like plants are encountered 
  more frequently than in the lower 
  altitudes (although most of the ferns 
  and cycads of the lower forests can 
  be found higher up as well), and the 
  layer of "soil" is thinner (less than 
  seven feet over most of the Victoria 
  Plateau, for instance). 
  The Lowlands: The lower alti- 
  tudes of Venus receive less light and 
  tend to produce plants with less 
  energetic requirements than those of 
  the higher altitudes. There are very 
  few flowering plants; cycads and 
  ferns tend to be the most common. 
  The "soil" of the bogs consists of 
  a thick paste of organic material 
  through which the plants of the bog 
  send shoots and tendrils seeking 
  nutrients. The bogs of Venus are 
  very much like the peat bogs found 
  in northern Europe, consisting of a 
  thick sponge of organic matter (most- 
  ly decaying bogweed) and water. In 
  some cases the upper layer of plant 
  material is solid enough to walk on; 
  in others a person will sink out of 
  sight in seconds (bogs 60 feet or 
  more in depth are not uncommon in 
  the lowlands). Humans on Venus 
  took a leaf from the Lizard-men's 
  book and devised a type of footgear 
  called the bogshoe. Bogshoes are 
  broad, flat, circular contraptions 
  (similar to snowshoes), usually made 
  of an open mesh to permit water to 
  drain off. They spread the wearer's 
  weight over a wider area and make 
  it possible to walk atop the bogs with 
  little danger of sinking. Bogshoes re- 
  quire a little practice before the 
  wearer can do things like run, but are 
  not difficult to master within a day 
  or two. 
  So-called quaking bogs are com- 
  monly encountered, and they present 
  a considerable hazard to the unwary 
  traveller. Quaking bogs are areas 
  where a dense layer of bogweed lies 
  atop a pool of less dense muck. 
  When walked upon, the ground be- 
  gins to resonate wit h each step, like 
  a trampoline. If the person walking 
  on the surface tries to go too fast, the 
  resonations are amplified until the 
  surface of the bogweed splits open, 
  swallows the unfortunate victim, and 
  closes over again, leaving an almost 
  
  GEOGRAPHYiU 191 
  imperceptible seam. Quick action is 
  necessary lest the unfortunate victim 
  perish. Within hours, the rupture will 
  repair itself and will be as strong as 
  before. Experienced travellers on 
  Venus soon learn to recognize these 
  quaking bogs. Boots with pointed 
  toes or thin heels are not recom- 
  mended. 
  The bogs of Venus hold water like 
  a sponge and release it gradually to 
  trickle downhill to the oceans. For 
  this reason, there are no small 
  streams and few rivers on Venus, 
  and those that do exist tend to shift 
  position at irregular intervals, ap- 
  pearing and vanishing within a few 
  weeks. 
  The Marshes and Shallow Seas: 
  The plant material of the hogs thins 
  gradually, until the bog turns into a 
  marsh. The main difference between 
  a Venusian marsh and a Venusian 
  bog is that the bog contains a majori- 
  ty of solid matter, whereas a marsh 
  contains mostly water. 
  The marshes of Venus resemble 
  the Everglades of the American state 
  of Florida, consisting of large ex- 
  panses of slow-moving shallow water 
  interspersed with temporary islands 
  where eddies and currents deposit 
  mounds of muck. Some of these 
  islands grow their own colonies of 
  ferns and cycads and become perma- 
  nent fixtures of the marsh; others are 
  washed away again within a few 
  months of their creation. 
  . ,........-,,.,.=., 
  ..., 
  ..:,~- 
  , --,- 
  -...., 
  ~ 
  , - 
  .. 
  ..~3,~,t.,~, ~ 
  ~ 
  . 
  , 
  The marshes of Venus fade 
  gradually into shallow seas less than 
  a few hundred yards in depth but still 
  permeated with growths of plant 
  material resembling terrestrial sea- 
  weed, which extends from the bot- 
  tom to the surface in some areas. The 
  growth of this weed is rumored to be 
  thick enough to interfere with the 
  passage of seagoing craft in some 
  places (although no such patch of 
  weed has ever been discovered). 
  These areas are sometimes nick- 
  named "Sargassos," after the Sar- 
  gasso Sea on Earth. 
  The Oceans: At the centers of the 
  larger Venusian maritime regions, 
  called the Nordmeer (North Sea) and 
  the Siidmeer (South Sea), are deep 
  oceans. Except for the cloud cover, 
  these are quite like the oceans of 
  Earth and would seem familiar to 
  almost any mariner. Surface travel 
  is quite rare, however, because of the 
  difficulties of navigation and the 
  hazards presented by the monstrous 
  creatures which inhabit these depths. 
  The Weather 
  THE CLIMATE and weather on 
  Venus can be summed up very easi- 
  ly: hot and wet. On Venus, it is 
  always either raining or about to 
  rain, regardless of location (and a 
  good thing it is, because it helps to 
  keep the temperature down). Light- 
  ning often accompanies the heavier 
  storms, but high winds are rare. 
  Temperatures are lowest in the high 
  mountain plateaus (where they range 
  from the middle to upper 90s) and 
  highest in the lowland areas and the 
  surface of the seas (where the tem- 
  perature averages over 110 degrees). 
  Humidity is always between 95 to 
  100 percent, regardless of altitude. 
  I ~t~pll,P,r,,i: 
  ',rti', 
  In the lowlands and on the seas, 
  visibility ranges from less than 10 
  feet up to a few hundred yards, de- 
  pending on local weather conditions. 
  Higher up the fog is often thinner, 
  but intervening terrain features usual- 
  ly limit visil~ility to about the same 
  distance. On the upper slopes of 
  Mount Maxwell, however, visibili- 
  ty is often in excess of a mile (that 
  is, airships can be spotted at this dis- 
  tance-there are no other mountains 
  near Mount Maxwell to be seen). 
  GDW 
  
  192 ))THE EXPLORATION OF VENUS 
  THE EXPLORATION 
  OF VENUS 
  MOUNT MAXWELL figures 
  prominently in the early explorations 
  of Venus because it is the most prom- 
  inent surface feature of the world that 
  can be glimpsed through the cloud 
  cover (on days when that cloud cover 
  is particularly thin). On rare days 
  other high peaks can be dimly seen, 
  but Mount Maxwell is visible about 
  half the time. About three times a 
  year, Mount Maxwell actually pro- 
  trudes from the clouds. 
  Armstrong Expedition of 1873 
  LED BY Captain Robert Arm- 
  strong (no relation to the founder of 
  the Armstrong Ether Flyer Com- 
  pany), the expedition departed Earth 
  on January 14th, 1873 and never 
  returned. The fate of the expedition 
  was not known until 1884 when 
  James MacKenzie, the last survivor 
  of that party, was discovered living 
  among a tribe of Lizard-men about 
  800 miles southeast of the Victoria 
  Plateau. The poor soul had "gone 
  native" and was initially unwilling 
  to leave, but once in human company 
  again, he soon recovered much of his 
  sanity. After a brief period of con- 
  valescence, he dictated a brief ac- 
  count of the ill-fated first expedition 
  to Venus and embarked upon a series 
  of lecture tours. MacKenzie died in 
  1888 of what doctors believe was a 
  lung infection acquired during his 
  years in the Venusian jungle. 
  MacKenzie reported that the ex- 
  pedition circled the world twice and 
  made first landfall on Mount Max- 
  well (which Armstrong named in 
  honor of Thomas Maxwell, the look- 
  out who spotted it). After planting a 
  flag and an inscribed brass plate 
  (which have never been found), 
  Armstrong dispatched the three 
  smaller liftwood conveyors he had 
  brought, one west (of which more 
  below), one east, and one south. 
  Armstrong was to take the ether flyer 
  to the north. The cpnveyors were to 
  return to Mount Maxwell in four 
  days. Mackenzie and a companion 
  were assigned to the southern route, 
  and soon discovered two things: A 
  vast ocean lay to the south, and their 
  liftwood was rapidly losing its lifting 
  ability. Fortunately, MacKenzie's 
  conveyor was capable of floating 
  (converted as it was from a ship's 
  whaleboat), and they made a safe 
  landing on the surface of the ocean. 
  Within days they had made landfall 
  and begun to trek northward in an at- 
  tempt to locate the main expedition. 
  They rapidly became lost (normal 
  compasses do not work on Venus, it 
  was later discovered), and dinosaurs, 
  hostile Lizard-men, and the climate 
  soon took their toll. After a year, 
  MacKenzie was the only one left 
  alive. He found a tribe of friendly 
  Lizard-men and was eventually 
  adopted by them. 
  The westbound conveyor was 
  found by the Collingswood expedi- 
  tion. No trace has ever been found 
  of Armstrong's ether flyer or the 
  other conveyor. 
  Collingswood Expedition of 1874 
  THE SECOND exploratory ex- 
  pedition to Venus was financed by 
  subscription from the members of the 
  Royal Society, and Sir Edward Bar- 
  ton Collingswood was placed in 
  command. The expedition departed 
  Earth on July 3, 1874. CoUingswood 
  also made his landfall at Mount Max- 
  well, where he established a base 
  camp and sent out exploratory par- 
  ties on foot. Two days after landing, 
  one of these parties found the re- 
  mains of one of the conveyors of the 
  Armstrong expedition, crushed as if 
  trampled by some gigantic beast. 
  Near the wreck of the conveyor, 
  at the top of a nearby hill, the party 
  discovered a small redoubt of stones 
  and boulders, piled in a circle. Inside 
  they found the remains of three 
  members of the conveyor's crew, 
  buried in shallow graves under piles 
  of stones. They also found the sod- 
  den remnants of a journal; so com- 
  pletely ruined by the damp as to be 
  unreadable, and a message scratched 
  onto a flat stone: "Tarry not! This 
  world decays liftwood, & you will 
  be stranded. Beware the Monster 
  lizards and the savages--B. F. Holly- 
  day." The fate of Benjamin Holly- 
  day, third officer of the Armstrong 
  expedition, can only be guessed at, 
  but as his remains were never found, 
  it can be assumed that the Lizard- 
  men overran the stone fortlet and car- 
  ried him off. 
  The exploratory party carried the 
  stone bearing Holl,yday's message 
  back to Collingswood, who immedi- 
  ately attempted to lift into orbit, but 
  the vessel was unable to attain suffi- 
  cient height to enable the ether en- 
  gines to be activated. Collingswood 
  elected to use the flyer to lift the 
  
  THE EXPLORATION OF VENUS{[ 193 
  expedition high up the slopes of 
  Mount Maxwell and to search out a 
  position which could be readily 
  defended. After several miles of 
  steep slope, they finally came to the 
  large plateau which Collingswood 
  named Victoria Plateau. Upon locat- 
  ing a suitable position, Collingswood 
  ordered the ether flyer dismantled 
  and used its materials to construct 
  shelters and to fortify the position. 
  The position was such that the 
  monstrous lizards (later called 
  dinosaurs, after similar creatures 
  from Earth's past) could not easily 
  get to it. Within weeks, the expedi- 
  tion managed to make contact with 
  several groups of Lizard-men, some 
  friendly, but most hostile. 
  Times Rescue Expedition of 1876 
  IN JUNE of 1876, the London 
  Times financed an expedition to 
  Venus for the purpose of locating the 
  two previous expeditions. Expecting 
  some form of hostile native life was 
  the reason for the disappearance of 
  the first two expeditions, the expedi- 
  tion took along two Gatling guns of 
  the most recent design, a screw gun 
  of the type used by the British Ar- 
  my in the mountains of India, two 
  dozen Martini-Henry breech-loading 
  rifles, and ample supplies of am- 
  munition. Colonel Aloysius Dither- 
  by-Stoat, late of the 2nd Bengal 
  Lancers, was chosen to lead the ex- 
  pedition. It departed Earth on June 
  20, 1876. 
  Unlike the previous expeditions, 
  the Times expedition arrived at one 
  of those times when Mount Maxwell 
  was not readily visible. The expedi- 
  tion landed in several spots, dis- 
  covering no trace of humanity in any 
  of them. Finally, after three days of 
  these fruitless explorations, they took 
  to the air again and spotted Mount 
  Maxwell (atmospheric conditions 
  had cleared). The expedition decid- 
  ed that this might be where Col- 
  lingswood would have chosen to put 
  down (correct, as it turned out) and 
  immediately set a course for the 
  mountain. About eight hours before 
  their arrival, the expedition's chief 
  trimsman noticed that the ship was 
  unable to gain altitude and was, in 
  fact, slowly losing it. 
  By the time the flyer had made 
  landfall at the mountain, it was too 
  late. It too was unable to take off 
  again. The expedition soon ran afoul 
  of the dinosaurs, and, although the 
  Gatlings made quick work of them, 
  Colonel Ditherby-Stoat decided that 
  they would have to find a more de- 
  fensible position. The Gatlings soon 
  bogged down in the soft, spongy soil, 
  and the expedition had to abandon 
  first one, then the other. The screw 
  gun was designed to be broken down 
  into loads suitable for portage by one 
  man, however, and the expedition 
  managed to get it completely up the 
  mountain. After trekking several 
  days up the increasingly steep slope 
  of Mount Maxwell, the expedition 
  finally came to the Victoria Plateau 
  and was amazed to find a Lizard-man 
  that greeted them in English. 
  This, it transpired, was Samock 
  (his real name was unpronounce- 
  able), a friendly Lizard-man who 
  helped the Collingswood party sur- 
  vive. Samock led Ditherby-Stoat to 
  Collingswood, where the two parties 
  joined forces. The screw gun was 
  especially welcomed, for despite the 
  presence of Samock and others of his 
  ilk, the humans were still subject to 
  periodic attacks by bands of hostile 
  Lizard-men. A few weeks after their 
  arrival, the humans sent out a party 
  to recover the Gatlings, but they suc- 
  ceeded in bringing only one back, by 
  dismantling it and carrying the in- 
  dividual pieces on their backs. 
  Heidelberg Expedition of 1878 
  BY CONTRAST to the earlier ex- 
  peditions, the Heidelberg party was 
  almost anticlimactic. Unable to se- 
  cure liftwood because of their lack 
  of a viable Martian colony (later par- 
  tially remedied by a trading enclave 
  in Western Dioscuria), the Germans 
  were forced to make use of lighter- 
  than-air gases for their ether flyers, 
  much as Edison's original flyer used 
  a hydrogen balloon for lift. In the 
  case of the German machines, an ar- 
  my officer named Frederick von Zep- 
  pelin, inspired by Edison's achieve- 
  ment, invented a cigar-shaped rigid 
  airship which was originally called 
  the Aerobot by British writers but 
  soon came to be known as the Zep- 
  pelin airship, or Zeppelin for short. 
  The Heidelberg expedition left 
  Earth on March 17, 1878, led by 
  Colonel Doctor Ruprecht Heidelberg 
  of the Imperial German Army. The 
  expedition arrived on Venus and, 
  like the Times expedition two years 
  earlier, did not at first spot Mount 
  Maxwell. When at last they landed 
  on the Victoria Plateau, they soon 
  located the bedraggled survivors of 
  the previous expeditions. 
  Much to the chagrin of the British, 
  Doctor Heidelberg insisted on re- 
  maining on Venus for several 
  months, where he carried out a 
  thorough survey of the mountain 
  range he was to name after Kaiser 
  Wilhelm. He did take the British 
  aboard his airship immediately, but 
  Collingswood is said to have har- 
  bored a mild dislike for his rescuer 
  since that time. 
  GDW 
  
  194 ))COLONIES 
  A DESCRIPTION 
  OF THE COLONIES OF VENUS 
  THE COLONIZATION of Venus 
  has lagged behind that of Mars 
  because of the delay in its explora- 
  tion. There are, however, several 
  thriving colonial establishments on 
  the world. 
  The Russian Enclave 
  CZAR ALEXANDER III has 
  never been overly enamored of co- 
  lonial ventures, but the expedition 
  sponsored by his father in 1880 laid 
  claim to territories on Venus and 
  discovered a number of plants of 
  economic significance (including the 
  cotton tree and the aephodilia). The 
  Russian settlements are primarily 
  small, heavily fortified trading posts 
  in the Aphrodite Mountain region. 
  ~
  U
   
  w -' _ 
  /, , 
  The British Enclave 
  BECAUSE OF their early explora- 
  tion efforts, the British have a claim 
  to a portion of Venus and maintain 
  a small settlement on the Victoria 
  Plateau, incorporating several small 
  plantations and a number of small 
  trading stations. The British set- 
  tlements are each self-governing, but 
  the magistrate of Fort Collingswood 
  is considered to be in overall charge. 
  A military bureaucracy is also pres- 
  ent, separate from and nominally in- 
  dependent of the civilian one. But in 
  practice, the magistrate and the rank- 
  ing British officer cooperate in all 
  important matters. The slopes lead- 
  THE VENUSIAN TELEGRAPH 
  ~i 
  THE CITIES, trading posts, and the larger outlying plantations o 
  the Kaiser Wilhelm Mountains (including the British settlements on 
  Mount Maxwell) have recently been interconnected by telegraph. The 
  system was constructed by a civilian company and financed initially 
  by contributions from the plantation owners. The British and German 
  colonial governments have also agreed to partially subsidize the opera- 
  tion of the system as a matter of military necessity. 
  In the higher areas, the wires could be strung from poles in a con- 
  ventional manner, but in the lowlands, ground solid enough to anchor 
  the poles permanently was scarce. The solution lay in the use of a heavily 
  insulated cable, similar to that used in submarine telegraphic systems 
  on Earth. The cable could simply be laid upon the ground, where it 
  soon sank out of sight in most places. 
  The telegraphic system has already saved several lives, as it has per- 
  mitted at least two outlying communities to call for help when attacked 
  by savages rather then send runners (the previous practice). The savages 
  do not seem to comprehend the significance of the telegraphic cables, 
  for they make no effort to sever them (except by accident) even if they 
  manage to stumble across them. They evidently believe them to be some 
  peculiar sort of human vine and usually pay no attention to them after 
  determining that they are not edible. 
  ing up to the Victoria Plateau are 
  steep enough to keep out the largest 
  and most dangerous dinosaurs, but 
  British soldiers are nevertheless sta- 
  tioned on Venus for the protection of 
  the more remote British trading 
  stations. 
  The American Presence 
  ON VENUS, the Americans have 
  concentrated their efforts on develop- 
  ing mercantile posts rather than ter- 
  ritorial claims, campaigning for what 
  they call an "open door" policy of 
  trade. American merchants have a 
  near-monopoly on the import of one 
  luxury item: ice. Shipped in insulated 
  holds and stored in sealed ware- 
  houses under several feet of in- 
  sulating sawdust, ice commands a 
  high price on Venus for obvious 
  reasons (American merchants say it 
  is easier to transport ice to Venus 
  than to Calcutta). In addition, in- 
  terplanetary ether flyers of American 
  registry carry the larger part of 
  civilian cargo to and from Venus, 
  especially for the Italian and Russian 
  settlements. 
  The Americans maintain no troops 
  on Venus, but their mercantile par- 
  ties customarily travel about heavi- 
  ly armed. 
  The Italian Enclave 
  THE ITALIAN expedition of 
  1880-81 made no important botanical 
  or zoological discoveries, but it did 
  manage to map an unexplored por- 
  tion of the equatorial region of 
  Venus. The Kingdom of Italy main- 
  tains no major military presence on 
  Venus but has laid claim to several 
  territories on the Sappho Plateau, 
  where it maintains a few trading 
  posts and plantations and keeps a few 
  hundred troops for their defense. 
  
  COLONIES(( 195 
  The 
  German Colony 
  THE GERMAN colony on Venus 
  occupies the western slopes of the 
  Kaiser Wilhelm Mountains and has 
  a population of about 8000 humans 
  and an estimated 200,000 Lizard- 
  men. The area claimed by the col- 
  ony amounts to just under 140,000 
  square miles, but only a minute 
  percentage of this area has been set- 
  tled by humans. Most of the popula- 
  tion is contained in the four major 
  cities, and in a dozen or so srfiall 
  trading posts and the villages that 
  have grown up about them. 
  The capital and seat of government 
  of the German Venus Kolonie is the 
  city of Venusstadt. The governor and 
  his staff are civil servants and are 
  part of the normal German colonial 
  administration. A military contingent 
  is present, consisting of two regi- 
  ments of Schutztruppen. There are a 
  few units of Lizard-men, command- 
  ed by human officers and NCOs, but 
  the governor does not completely 
  trust them and insists that none of 
  them be allowed inside the capital. 
  Venusstadt and the other cities are 
  protected from marauding dinosaurs 
  by natural terrain features (steep 
  slopes and cliffs). Most of the plan- 
  tations and outlying trading posts 
  must rely on man-made fortifications 
  and weapons for defense against the 
  monstrous dinosaurs. Outlying set- 
  tlements must also defend themselves 
  against the occasional bands of ma- 
  rauding Lizard-men who manage to 
  evade the overworked Schutztruppen 
  patrols. 
  ~ON 
  THE ICE PALACE 
  E SMALL wing of the Governor's Palace in Venusstadt is called 
  Der Eispalast (the Ice Palace) because of a most interesting mechan- 
  ical air-cooling system. The wing (which contains the quarters for the 
  governor and his family, a library, a sitting room, a parlor, and a small 
  private dining room) is completely sealed off from the outside. Air is 
  forced into the wing by means of huge blowers (similar to those used 
  in forced draught boilers, but much larger) but is first chilled by being 
  passed over the coils of a gigantic Linde ammonia refrigeration ap- 
  paratus. The reduction in temperature causes moisture to condense on 
  the coils, from which it is collected and pumped away. Because of this 
  apparatus, despite the nearly unbearable temperature and humidity of 
  the outside atmosphere, the governor and his family are kept cool and 
  dry (and are the only ones on Venus of whom this can be said). 
  The machinery was installed last year, by Josephus Martin, an 
  American inventor and engineer who had previously made use of such 
  machinery for the construction of a number of artificial ice factories 
  in America. Mr. Martin is said to have been inspired by a similar ar- 
  rangement used to ease the suffering of the American President Gar- 
  field after an assassin's bullet struck him down some years ago. He 
  is currently constructing an artificial ice factory in Venusstadt, from 
  which he and his investors expect to turn a tremendous profit by pro- 
  viding locally-produced ice at a cost significantly lower than that cur- 
  rently charged by importers. 
  The Ice Palace is kept in constant communication with all parts of 
  the German capital by means of the recently installed telephone system, 
  which relieves the governor of the necessity to leave the comfort of 
  his quarters except for important occasions. 
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  196 J) LIZARD-MEN 
  LIZARD-MEN 
  THE NAME "Lizard-men" (Ger- 
  man: Eidechsemenschen) was ap- 
  plied to the aboriginal inhabitants of 
  Venus by the first humans to arrive 
  on that world because of the crea- 
  tures' reptilian appearance. Although 
  the first groups encountered were 
  uniformly hostile, it was soon dis- 
  covered that there were many tribes 
  of Lizard-men who could be friend- 
  ly to humans. Indeed, in 1887 James 
  MacKenzie, the lone survivor of the 
  1873 expedition, was discovered liv- 
  ing with a friendly remote tribe, hav- 
  ing gone completely native (it was he 
  who revealed the translation of the 
  Lizard-men's name for humans, Bo- 
  lu Popimayama: "pale as a dead 
  fish"). 
  Physical Description 
  THE LIZARD-MEN of Venus are 
  upright bipeds, although when speed 
  is desired, they will often slither 
  along on their bellies in a manner 
  similar to a terrestrial otter sliding 
  down a riverbank. Their feet are 
  broad, flat, three-toed appendages, 
  with a thick webbing between the 
  toes which serves as a secondary 
  means of propulsion in the water and 
  prevents them from sinking into the 
  muck when they walk on the land. 
  Their tail is their primary propulsive 
  organ when swimming and also 
  serves as a portable support when 
  they stand upright (much like the 
  Australian kangaroo). Their broad 
  bellies and narrow chests accentuate 
  the resemblance to a kangaroo, es- 
  pecially when they stand upright. 
  Their arms are thin and spindly, 
  but surprisingly strong, and end in 
  hands which are quite human-like but 
  for missing a digit (what a human 
  would call the little finger). When 
  sliding or swimming, these arms are 
  held flat against the sides and are 
  used in steering or braking. 
  The head of a Lizard-man is his 
  most reptilian characteristic, some- 
  what resembling that of a terrestrial 
  ~LLI 
  SKIN 
  ZARD-MEN SHED their skin as they grow, with the interval in ?'~ 
  creasing as they age. (Evidently Lizard-men never really stop grow- 
  ing, but their rate of growth slows as they get older.) The skin of a 
  Lizard-man is thick and warty on the creature's back and the upper sur- 
  faces, and thickens with age. Their belly skin is softer and thinner, 
  although still very tough and leathery. Their back skin is usually a dark 
  green or gray-brown in color, often so dark as to be almost black, 
  although lighter shades are not Unknown. The belly is usually a paler 
  version of the back color and almost always oddly patterned in a light 
  yellow or yellow-green. These patterns are unique to each individual 
  and are considered to contain auguries of an individual's future life in 
  their intricate patterns. In the more developed tribes of Lizard-men there 
  are shamans who "read" each individual's future at the time of hatch- 
  ing. Warriors mount their most recently shed skin on their shield as 
  a semi-heraldric escutcheon, especially if they wear body armor (which 
  covers the belly skin, obscuring the pattern). 
  monitor lizard, but with large, ba- 
  trachian eyes (presumably because of 
  the world's dim light). Male Lizard- 
  men have a small horn-like projec- 
  tion on the nose, which they do not 
  seem to use as a weapon except in 
  their ritual mate selection duels. The 
  eyes seem to protrude slightly from 
  the face, but this is an illusion created 
  by the thick brow ridges. There are 
  two sets of eyelids, a transparent in- 
  ner lid (which is closed to protect the 
  eyes when swimming in relatively 
  clear water), and a thicker outer lid, 
  which is closed when burrowing 
  through the mires and bogs of the 
  Venusian lowlands. The nostrils are 
  relatively large but can be closed by 
  means of a sphincter muscle when 
  burrowing through the muck. They 
  use their nostrils underwater to 
  "smell" prey and to locate others of 
  their species. 
  Lizard-men were at first thought 
  to possess gills, but dissections have 
  proven this erroneous. Lizard-men 
  breathe using lungs, as terrestrial 
  reptiles do, but recent investigations 
  have revealed a hitherto unsuspected 
  ability: Lizard-men can supplement 
  their lungs underwater by absorbing 
  oxygen and respiring carbon dioxide 
  through their belly skin (their back 
  skin is too thick for this process). 
  This process is not, enough to keep 
  them alive, but it can extend their 
  time underwater by a sizable margin 
  and makes possible immersions of up 
  to an hour. Subsurface navigation is 
  accomplished by smell and by means 
  of echo location. 
  
  LIZARD-MEN {{ 197 
  Cultures and Societies 
  MOST LIZARD-MEN live in an 
  appallingly primitive state, wander- 
  ing the lowlands (or swimming in the 
  shallow seas) in nomadic, small fam- 
  ily and clan groups, carrying their 
  meager possessions in net bags wov- 
  en of vines and creepers. Some Liz- 
  ard-men, however, have begun to as- 
  cend the path to civilization, although 
  they are still savage primitives in 
  most respects. 
  Even before the coming of human- 
  ity, there were a few tribes of Lizard- 
  men which had developed a primitive 
  agriculture (or aquaculture, since 
  they are equally at home on land and 
  in water), and were beginning to lead 
  a more sedentary lifestyle than their 
  nomadic neighbors. Family and clan 
  groups coalesced under~ a chief or 
  council of elder.s into a village, and 
  soon villages began to combine into 
  tribes. Agricultural surpluses ac- 
  cumulated and permitted specialized 
  occupations such as warrior, sha- 
  man, priest, and so on. 
  With the arrival of humans, some 
  of these tribes were absorbed into the 
  colonies. Here, they work on the 
  giant plantations of the jungle- 
  covered plateaus, tending plants and 
  protecting them from the local ani- 
  mal life in return for food and pro- 
  tection (from the elements, from di- 
  nosaurs, and from the deprivations 
  of their marauding brethren). Other 
  tribes near the settled plateaus have 
  prospered greatly from trade. The 
  Lizard-men, who are acclimatized to 
  the hot, wet lowlands, gather the 
  plants and other materials which 
  humans find valuable. These they 
  trade for various human goods at 
  hundreds of small human trade sta- 
  tions 
  located 
  throughout 
  the 
  lowlands. 
  TOOLS, TRADE GOODS, AND WEAPONS 
  ]] THE LIZARD-MEN, not having the use of fire, remain in a stone age, making their tools from rock, { 
  bone, and plant materials. Iron and steel soon become worthless piles of rust in the hands of the Lizard-men, 
  but corrosion-resistant tools are much in demand among them. The most common trade goods are knives, 
  axe heads, spearheads, and other items of brass (which corrodes more slowly then most other metals). Pots, 
  jars, and other containers of ceramic or glass are highly prized. Other items which are traded are rubberized 
  canvas bags and strips of rubberized cloth (for belts and the like), cut-glass prisms and pendants of all colors, 
  gold-covered medallions (which do not rust or corrode, even on Venus). Generally, anything which shines 
  or sparkles and does not corrode can be traded for several pounds of valuable material. 
  The weapons of the Lizard-men are constructed from the Oma Jolima (Mother of Weapons), a reed-like 
  plant of the Venusian lowlands. Although relatively supple when alive, the stem hardens after harvesting, 
  becoming an extremely tough but slightly springy substance, approximating ebony in hardness, but without 
  the excessive weight of that hardwood, and with the flexibility of horn. By shaping the plant immediately 
  after harvesting and allowing it to harden, the Lizard-men make most of their weapons. Young shoots are 
  used for arrows; slightly older shoots are used for javelins, harpoons, and spears. War clubs, axes, and maces 
  can be made by braiding together lengths of the supple shoots and allowing them to harden. Sharp bits of 
  bone or chipped stone (or, more recently, broken glass obtained from human merchants) are often woven 
  into the ends of these weapons, making them quite deadly. Helmets, shields, breastplates, and other armor 
  can also be constructed from the plant by weaving the thin shoots into the shape desired, like wicker. Since 
  the plant hardens within an hour of harvest, great speed and dexterity are needed in order to complete the 
  more complicated items. The action of the Venusian elements and putrefactive bacteria will eventually cause 
  the material to deteriorate, but it can last for years under normal use. Before the arrival of humans, these 
  missiles were quite light and had little penetrative power, and were therefore usually tipped with deadly poison 
  from one of the numerous toxins available to the Lizard-men. (Fortunately, these poisons have proven somewhat 
  less lethal to humans than to Lizard-men, and generally cause severe fever but seldom death.) Metal points 
  obtained from human traders give their missiles more weight and sufficient penetration to be deadly without 
  this barbaric and cruel accessory. The warriors of the tribes close to human settlement have given up the 
  practice, but the more remote savages retain it. 
  GDW 
  
  -~ 
  THE BIOLOGY OF 
  LIFE ON VENUS 
  IN GENERAL, life on Venus is 
  simpler, more primitive, and less 
  well-developed than on Earth. There 
  are no higher forms such as mam- 
  mals or birds, and there are few 
  flowering plants. 
  Land Life 
  THE DOMINANT fauna on Ve- 
  nus are collectively referred to as 
  dinosaurs, because of their close 
  resemblance to the extinct terrestrial 
  life form of the same name. Since the 
  dinosaurs of Earth are extinct, it is 
  impossible to determine the exact 
  relationship (if any) between the 
  dinosaurs of Venus and those of 
  Earth. Many of the larger dinosaurs 
  are very difficult to kill with weapons 
  smaller than light artillery, and these 
  present a danger to all travellers. 
  Hundreds of varieties have been 
  cataloged, and we herewith present 
  a summary of a few of the more 
  common types. 
  •'• 
  RUMORS 
  fez 
  A NUMBER of giant creatures are rumored to exist, but there are { 
  no reliable accounts of them, and no specimen (living or dead) has ever 
  been recovered. Some of these beasts have allegedly been encountered 
  by humans; others are based on legends and stories of the various tribes 
  of Lizard-men. Here is a summary of the various alleged monsters: 
  �9 James MacKenzie, the only survivor of the 1873 expedition, told 
  of seeing a giant carnivorous sea turtle and a sea serpent over five rods 
  in length. He also reported a giant tentacled creature similar to a squid 
  or octopus, but with arms several rods in length, which he claimed 
  snatched two members of his party from their drifting conveyor. Since 
  MacKenzie was lost at the time of these sightings, he was unable to 
  provide any details about the location of these encounters. No trace of 
  them has been recovered by any other survey party. 
  �9 A giant crocodilian beast is rumored to dwell along the equatorial 
  shores of the Siidmeer (the Southern Sea). It is said to be too large to 
  walk on land, but can swallow swimming Lizard-men whole. 
  �9 Lizard-men report the existence of giant carnivorous plants capable 
  of trapping a human being. Meat-eating plants of smaller size are known 
  to exist, and there is no theoretical reason that a species of similar flora 
  could not exist somewhere on the planet. Until a specimen can be ac- 
  quired for study, however, these and other legends must remain the 
  subject of speculation. 
  Brontosaurus: The many varieties 
  of large, quadrupedal plant-eating 
  dinosaur are popularly known as 
  brontosaurs. These large, semiaqua- 
  tic creatures inhabit the marshes and 
  bogs near the shores of the Venusian 
  seas, although some inhabit the 
  highland jungles as well. They are 
  characterized by thick bodies, long 
  tails, and long necks. Although nor- 
  mally herbivorous, these creatures 
  will attack when they believe their 
  young are threatened. They travel in 
  family groups, and some are believed 
  to be migratory. 
  Tyrannosaurus: The large, car- 
  nivorous, bipedal dinosaurs of Earth 
  are properly called carnosaurs, but 
  those of Venus are commonly known 
  by the name of the most famous ge- 
  nus of their terrestrial analogues, 
  Tyrannosaurus Rex. Often weighing 
  more than 40 tons and possessing 
  razor-sharp teeth up to six inches 
  long, these creatures are the most 
  dangerous of the many hazards to be 
  found on Venus. Smaller carnivores 
  of this type are usually collectively 
  called carnosaurs. 
  Ceratopsians: These dinosaurs 
  are a group of horned, quadrupedal 
  herbivores, smaller than the bron- 
  
  ....... 
  BIOLOGYI 
  tosaurs mentioned earlier. These 
  horned dinosaurs frequent the 
  highland jungles and often find 
  themselves in conflict with various 
  plantation owners and small set- 
  tlements in these regions. The horned 
  dinosaurs all possess an armored 
  "collar" at the back of the skull and 
  one or more horns, the number and 
  location of which vary with the 
  numerous varieties. The triceratops 
  is most commonly encountered and 
  possesses three horns (a small one on 
  the nose and two larger ones, one 
  over each eye). Ceratopsians range 
  in size from eight to 24 tons and 
  usually travel in herds. They will at- 
  tack in response to the slightest 
  perceived threat by lowering their 
  massive heads and charging like 
  enraged bulls. 
  , 
  ~'!, 
  , 
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  'i 
  Lz 
  Stegosaurus: A smaller (10-ton), 
  herbivorous dinosaur distinguished 
  by the row of upright plates or spikes 
  down its spine and the cluster of 
  spikes on the tip of its tail. There are 
  several minor varieties, which differ 
  both from each other and from Earth 
  stegosaurs in small details. Stego- 
  saurs are solitary creatures and re- 
  spond to threats by facing away from 
  their enemy and thrashing with their 
  deadly tail. 
  Hadrosaurs: This is a general 
  name applied to a large number of 
  bipedal herbivores which are very 
  popular with trophy hunters because 
  of their unusual heads. Each species 
  has a unique combination of wattles, 
  crests, horns, and jawbones, and 
  many have several color variations 
  as well. Their small size (six to 10 
  tons) makes them easier to kill than 
  most other dinosaurs, and the num- 
  ber of hunting expeditions seeking 
  these creatures is increasing every 
  year. 
  Small Lizards: The highland 
  jungles are home to numerous small 
  (less than one ton) lizards of every 
  sort. There are too many of these to 
  be described here, and they represent 
  a nuisance rather than an active 
  danger to travellers on Venus. One 
  variety, the pacyosaurus, has been 
  domesticated by several of the more 
  advanced tribes of Lizard-men as a 
  draft animal and mount. 
  Sea Life 
  KNOWN VENUSIAN sea life in- 
  animals are believed m exist. 
  Ichthyosaurs: 
  Large marine 
  creatures which inhabit the deep 
  oceans of Venus, ichthyosaurs can 
  sometimes be found in the shallower 
  seas. They are icthyoid in form, 
  somewhat resembling the dolphin of 
  Earth, although much larger, up to 
  36 feet in length (for the largest 
  specimen yet acquired). 
  Primitive Fish: A variety of fish 
  inhabit the seas and oceans of Venus, 
  but most are primitive, resembling 
  those of Earth's bygone epochs. 
  These range in size from an inch or 
  two to three or more feet. 
  Aerial Life 
  SMALL FLYING creatures such 
  as insects are common on Venus, as 
  they are on Earth. Birds and bats are 
  cludes: 
  completely absent (avian and mam- 
  / 
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  /ds ~ _ _...t.,~t 
  .S~U~ 
  Y ~ J  r162 
  malian life have not yet arisen). The 
  /
  ~
  ~
  ~
   
  ~f~.~ 
  largest insect is the giant dragonfly 
  /
  /
  ~
  ~
  ~
  _
  ,
  ,
  ~
   
  ,~ 
  (wingspan 18 inches), which is al- 
  ~f~>~ 
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  most comp ete y ar 
  ess e - 
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  menacingappearance. 
  ~
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  ~v~'-_2E~ : 
  Aside from the insect-like crea- 
  /
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  tures mentioned above, flight on 
  Plesiosaurs: These are large 
  marine creatures found throughout 
  the oceans and seas of Venus. They 
  have a thick, slightly flattened body, 
  four flippers, a long neck, and no 
  tail. The largest encountered was 
  over 42 feet in length, but larger 
  Venus is the sole province of a few 
  reptilian creatures similar to the 
  pterodactyls of Earth's bygone ages. 
  The largest of these has a wingspan 
  of three yards and weighs just under 
  35 pounds. The smallest is the size 
  of an Earth pigeon. 
  GDW 
  
  200  )PLAYERS' SUMMARY: VENUS 
  GENERAL DATA 
  VENUS IS the second world out- 
  ward from the Sun and occupies a 
  nearly circular orbit at a mean 
  distance of 67 million miles. Its year 
  is 225 Earth days in length, and its 
  day is just under 22 Earth hours. The 
  world is completely covered by 
  dense white clouds, and this, com- 
  bined with its proximity, makes it the 
  third brightest object (after the Sun 
  and the Moon) in the terrestrial 
  heavens. 
  Venus represents the opposite ex- 
  treme from Mars, and its nature em- 
  phasizes the sequence of develop- 
  ment observed elsewhere. Venus is 
  primitive, Earth advanced, Mars 
  decadent. On Venus it is always rain- 
  ing, on Mars it never rains, and on 
  Earth is the perfect mean. 
  A little-understood peculiarity of 
  the Venusian magnetic field radically 
  accelerates liftwood decay on that 
  world, a fact that stranded the first 
  three expeditions there. It wasn't un- 
  til a German expedition (equipped 
  with an ether dirigible) landed on the 
  world that humanity learned the 
  truth. Venus, it turned out, was a 
  dank, hothouse world of dense clouds 
  and heavy rainfall. Only from the 
  highest mountains and plateaus can 
  the Sun be occasionally glimpsed 
  through the dense clouds. However, 
  to the growing chemical industries of 
  Germany, hungry for the raw mater- 
  ials needed to produce drugs, dyes, 
  and other chemical products, Venus 
  is not only a hothouse, but also a 
  treasure trove of botanical products. 
  The main areas of settlement are 
  the German and British settlements 
  in the Kaiser Wilhelm Mountains. 
  The Russians and the Italians also 
  have small enclaves. 
  GEOGRAPHY 
  VENUS PRESENTS 
  certain 
  unique problems to explorers. It can- 
  not be mapped from orbit because of 
  the perpetual cloud cover. The only 
  way to take a navigational fix is to 
  lift high enough above the clouds to 
  be able to see the Sun or the stars 
  (depending on the time of day). 
  Therefore, only a fraction of the 
  planet has been properly mapped, 
  and the accuracy of this mapping 
  leaves much to be desired (especial- 
  ly for the less well visited areas). A 
  few locations in the highlands are 
  known with accuracy (such as Mount 
  Maxwell) because the Sun can be 
  seen well enough to shoot a fix 
  directly from the ground. 
  About a quarter of the planet is 
  believed to be covered by oceans or 
  shallow seas. There are two main 
  oceans, the Nordmeer, or North Sea, 
  and the Siidmeer, or South Sea. 
  Both are relatively shallow for the 
  most part, especially by comparison 
  with the oceans of Earth. The higher 
  altitudes of Venus are covered with 
  dense jungles; the lower altitudes are 
  mostly marsh or bog. There are a 
  few mountain ranges and upland pla- 
  teaus where most of the human set- 
  tlement has occurred. 
  FLORA AND FAUNA 
  THE PLANT LIFE of Venus has 
  its counterparts on Earth, and 
  humans will find most of it tantaliz- 
  ingly familiar, albeit somewhat prim- 
  itive. There are few flowering plants, 
  and a greater variety of the more 
  primitive plants such as ferns and 
  cycads than are present on Earth. 
  The animal life of Venus is equal- 
  ly primitive. Huge lizards called 
  dinosaurs roam the lowlands, the 
  fishes of the ocean are simple and 
  undeveloped, and the most intelligent 
  creature on the world is the bar- 
  barous Lizard-man. 
  LIFE ON VENUS 
  VISITORS TO Venus will find a 
  number of interesting and amusing 
  aspects to the world. 
  Their clothing (leather goods in 
  particular) will grow a thin coating 
  of green slime unless sprayed with 
  carbolic acid every day or so. 
  Though rubberized clothing is resis- 
  tant to the climate, it is also quite 
  heavy and hot, while most conven- 
  tional clothing soon becomes rotten 
  and reduced to rags. Iron and steel 
  which are not properly cared for will 
  soon turn to useless lumps of rust. 
  Wood must be treated with creosote, 
  carbolic acid, or some other chemical 
  preservative or it will rot away 
  within weeks. The humidity will turn 
  the stiffest of starched collars to a 
  sodden rag within minutes (the new 
  celluloid collars are a must for any 
  gentleman on Venus). 
  Anyone who ventures outside must 
  decide whether it is worse to be 
  drenched in the open air or remain 
  drier but hotter inside a rubberized 
  canvas sou'wester. Travel is mostly 
  by airship, and long-distance jour- 
  neys are usually made above the 
  cloud layer to lessen navigational dif- 
  ficulties. Travellers on foot will need 
  special footgear in the bogs. 
  Weapons are essential. Travellers 
  in the lowlands must be prepared to 
  defend themselves from the attacks 
  of giant dinosaurs, and travellers out- 
  side settlements must be prepared for 
  the attacks of hostile Lizard-men. 
  
  ~'r 
  CHARACTERISTICS: 
  Martian Cannon 
  TO HIT 
  Die 
  Weapon 
  Pen DV ROF Rn 8. 
  .Range Roll 
  Die 
  Sweeper 
  -- 
  P 
  2 
  0/1 
  Close: 
  3-6 
  Roll Location 
  Light 
  0 
  1 
  1 
  1/2 
  Long: 
  5-6 
  1 
  Hull 
  Rod Gun 
  3 
  1 
  (1) 
  2/4 
  2 
  Hull 
  Heavy 
  1 
  2 
  1 
  1/3 
  TO HIT MODIFIERS 
  3 
  Crew 
  Rogue 
  2 
  3 
  (1) 
  2/4 
  Condition 
  Modifier 
  4 
  Crew 
  Lob Gun 
  2 
  4 
  (1) 
  --/3 
  Different Altitude: 
  -1 
  5 
  Gun 
  Green Crew: 
  - 1 
  6 
  Critical* 
  Burning: 
  - 1 
  Crack Crew: 
  + 1 
  Shrapnel or Grape: 
  + 1 
  WEAPON CHARACTERISTICS: 
  Royal Navy Guns 
  Weapon 
  Pen D V ROF Rn#. 
  Maxim 
  -- 
  P 
  6 
  1/ 2 
  Gardner 
  -- 
  P 
  2/3 
  1/ 2 
  Nordenfelt 
  -- 
  P 
  5 
  1/ 2 
  1-pdr 
  0 
  1 
  3 
  2l 4 
  3-pdr 
  1 
  1 
  3 
  2/ 4 
  6-pdr 
  1 
  1 
  3 
  3/ 6 
  4" short 
  2 
  2 
  l 
  3/ 6 
  4" long 
  3 
  2 
  1 
  4/ 8 
  5" 
  4 
  4 
  1 
  4/ 8 
  6" 
  5 
  6 
  I 
  5/10 
  8" 
  9 
  8 
  (1) 
  6/12 
  10" 
  10 
  10 
  (1) 
  7/14 
  12" 
  12 
  12 
  (1) 
  8/16 
  14" 
  14 
  14 
  (1) 
  9/18 
  16" 
  16 
  16 
  (1) 
  10/20 
  Conditions 
  Roll 
  "IT 
  LOCATION 
  *Roll on table below and 
  see the Critical Hits Chart. 
  CRITICAL HIT 
  TABLE 
  Die 
  Roll Result 
  Weapon Characteristics Notes 
  (Both Charts) 
  Pen: Iftarget's armor value exceeds 
  2 
  Magazine 
  penetration, halve gun's damage value 
  (DV). If armor value is more than 
  3 
  Bridge 
  twice penetration, gun has no effect. 
  4 
  Fire/Boiler 
  DV: A damage value of"P" means 
  5 
  Trim Damage 
  that only personnel are affected by the 
  6 
  Rudder Jammed 
  weapon; all hits become crew hits, and 
  the weapon's fire is treated as small 
  7 
  Fire 
  arms fire. 
  8 
  Lifters Jammed 
  ROF: Rates of fire in parentheses in- 
  9 
  Screw/Mast 
  dicate that the weapon fires once and 
  10 
  Magazine 
  then takes the number of rounds in 
  parentheses to reload. 
  11 
  Bridge 
  Rng. : Short range/long range. 
  12 
  Fire/Boiler 
  COLLISIONS 
  Effects 
  Enter from Bow or Stern: -1 
  5, 6 
  Turn In Hex: +2 
  Conditions 
  Roll 
  Avoid: - 1/2 movement 
  3-6 
  (round up) 
  Hull hit if roll less than other ship's hull size. 
  Smaller ship suffers loss of trim if rolls less than half the difference 
  in hull sizes (round down). 
  RAMMING 
  Effects 
  Ram Mounted: Rammed ship suffers hull hits equal to half the hull 
  size of the ramming ship (round fractions up). 
  Rammed ship suffers loss of trim if rolls less than half the hull size 
  of the ramming ship (round fractions up). 
  Rammed ship is grappled unless it plummets due to a loss of trim. 
  No Ram Mounted: Same as for a collision, but if the ramming ship 
  is smaller there is no chance of a loss of trim. Rammed ship is grap- 
  pled unless it plummets due to a loss of trim. 
  GDW 
  
  try9 CRITICAL HITS CHART 
  detailed to fight the fire. For each die 
  CRITICAL HITS 
  THE FOLLOWING are possible crit- 
  ical hits in aerial combat. 
  Magazine: Each large gun is assumed 
  to have its own magazine or shell locker, 
  so detonation of a magazine will not 
  necessarily destroy a ship. It will do con- 
  siderable damage, however. The ship 
  automatically loses one gun (determined 
  randomly) with a damage value of 1 or 
  greater. The gun is destroyed, and its 
  crew is dead. The ship also takes hull 
  hits equal to the damage value of the gun 
  that was destroyed (not the gun that 
  fired) and rolls for one additional critical 
  hit. The additional critical hit is resolved 
  as if caused by a gun with a damage 
  value equal to that of the destroyed gun. 
  If no gun with a damage value greater 
  than 1 is mounted on the ship, treat this 
  critical hit as a fire result. 
  Bridge: Bridge crewmen are killed 
  equal to half the damage value of the 
  round that hit (round fractions up). In 
  addition, the ship may not voluntarily 
  change altitude or course in the next 
  turn. 
  Fire: A fire is started on board the 
  ship. The initial fire level is equal to the 
  damage value of the firing gun. Once a 
  fire has started it will eventually spread 
  and consume the ship unless put out by 
  the crew. At the beginning of each turn 
  all fires presently burning are increased 
  by one level except on kites. Fires burn- 
  ing on kites are increased by two levels. 
  Any ship on fire receives an adverse die 
  roll modification of -1 on all rolls to 
  hit from firing (including small arms 
  fire) due to smoke interfering with the 
  aim of the gunners. At the start of the 
  movement phase in which the level of 
  the fire is greater than the vessel's hull 
  size, the vessel takes one magazine crit- 
  ical hit. If the vessel has no magazines, 
  left it instead loses 1 die roll worth of 
  hull hits. 
  Fires may be fought at the end of the 
  player's movement phase. Roll 1 die for 
  each deckhand and each extra petty of- 
  ricer and 1 die for every two marines 
  roll result of 6, the fire is reduced one 
  level. On steel ships, the fire is reduced 
  one level for every 5 or 6 rolled. Treat 
  all British ships as being steel and all 
  Martian ships as being wood. 
  Fire/Boiler: Ships which are not 
  powered by steam treat this as a fire 
  result. Steamships treat this as a boiler 
  hit. Roll a die. If the result is less than 
  the damage value of the firing gun, the 
  boiler blows up. If the boiler blows, the 
  entire engine crew is killed, the ship's 
  speed is permanently reduced to 0, and 
  the ship suffers additional critical hits 
  equal to the size of the boiler. All addi- 
  tional critical hits are resolved with a 
  damage value of 1. 
  If the boiler does not blow, the ship's 
  speed is reduced by the damage value 
  of the firing gun. However, this speed 
  reduction is not permanent, and the 
  amount of the reduction is reduced by 
  one each subsequent turn (as the engine 
  gang patches the boiler, wraps rags 
  around split steam lines, etc.) 
  Screw/Mast: The air screw (pro- 
  peller) or its driving chains are hit on 
  a screw galley or steamship, or the masts 
  and rigging are damaged on a kite. A 
  steamship or screw galley has its speed 
  permanently reduced by 1. A kite per- 
  manently subtracts 1 from its movement 
  die roll. If a vessel has its movement 
  allowance reduced to zero due to screw 
  or mast hits, it may jury-rig a mast or 
  temporary propeller. To jury-rig a mast 
  or propeller, roll a 6 at the end of the 
  movement phase. A jury rig allows the 
  vessel to move with a movement factor 
  of 1. A vessel may not have more than 
  one jury rig at a time. 
  Loss of Trim: The ship's trim con- 
  trois are damaged and the ship suffers 
  a sudden loss of trim. The owning player 
  immediately attempts to recover trim by 
  rolling greater than the damage value of 
  the firing gun on a die. (If the loss of 
  trim was caused by a collision, the 
  player recovers by rolling greater than 
  half the difference in hull sizes, round- 
  ing fractions down.) If the trimsman is 
  dead, the captain makes the attempt, but 
  with a die roll modifier of - 1. If the 
  captain is dead, any surviving officer or 
  petty officer may make the attempt but 
  with a die roll modifier of -2. If all of- 
  ficers and petty officers are dead, any 
  crewman may make the attempt but with 
  a die roll modifier of -3. Ships with hull 
  sizes of 5 or larger have a + 1 modifica- 
  tion to the die roll. Ships with hull sizes 
  of 10 or larger have a +2 modification, 
  etc. 
  A roll of 6 will always recover trim, 
  regardless of the damage value of the fir- 
  ing gun or the die roll modifier in use. 
  If the ship recovers trim, it remains 
  at its current altitude but may not volun- 
  tarily change altitude during its next 
  movement phase. If the ship does not 
  recover trim, it immediately drops one 
  altitude level, and the attempt to recover 
  is repeated. This procedure is repeated 
  until either the ship recovers trim or it 
  crashes. If the ship drops one or more 
  altitude levels, then the ship may not 
  move, fire, fight fires, or change any 
  crew assignments until the end of the 
  next movement phase. (The crew is still 
  stunned.) If boarded, the crew may de- 
  fend itself. 
  Rudder Jammed: The ship may not 
  change course until the rudder is freed. 
  To free the rudder, roll a die for a num- 
  ber greater than the damage value of the 
  firing gun. 
  If a ship with a rudder already jammed 
  suffers another jammed rudder result, 
  add the damage value of the new result 
  to that already suffered to determine the 
  number needed to free the jam. For ex- 
  ample, if a ship already has a rudder 
  jammed by a damage value of 2 and suf- 
  fers one with a damage value of 1, the 
  player must now roll greater than a 3 to 
  free the rudder. However, a roll of 6 will 
  always free the rudder, regardless of the 
  damage value of the round. Attempts to 
  free the rudder are made at the end of 
  the movement phase, at the same time 
  as all other repair attempts. 
  Lifters Jammed: The ship's large lift- 
  ing panels are temporarily jammed in 
  place, and the ship may not change alti- 
  tude until they are freed. Freeing 
  jammed lifters is done the same way as 
  freeing a jammed rudder. 
  
  mmm 
  mm 
  mm 
  Kite 
  HULLCUTTER 
  r 
  (~ 
  . 
  s 59,340 
  m(~6 
  F'Y E--Y- _J IIII 
  E] 
  -~ - 
  695 TONS Q 
  Masts 
  Bridge [CJHITjSIOm 
  Deck 
  Maneuver mmm 
  Hull 
  Hits 
  Passengers 
  ummm 
  mmmmm 
  @ 
  :1 
  -3 
  -4 
  -5 
  -6 
  m 
  ammmmmm 
  mmmmmm 
  nmmmmmm 
  mmmmmm 
  r- 
  @ 
  BL OODRUNNER 
  Screw Galley 
  s 46,800 
  O, 
  O0 
  oo 
  o1111 
  o- 
  ~,o olol'J 
  oo 
  o. 
  695 TONS 
  Bridge IClHITISIOIOIOI 
  Deck 
  Maneuver mmmmmmm 
  mmmmmmm 
  mmmmmmm 
  mmmmmmm 
  Hull 
  Hits 
  Passengers 
  mmmmmm 
  ammmmmm 
  nmmmmmm 
  )mmmnun 
  | 
  J 
  Screw 
  ~mmmn 
  nnnnn i 
  s 7,600 
  El 
  100 TONS 
  ~ 
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  Maneuver 
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  Hits 
  Passengers 
  Kite 
  J 
  Masts 
  q 
  -5 
  -4 
  -E 
  m 
  WHISPERDEA TH 
  Hull 
  Hits 
  SMALL BIRD 
  Screw Galley 
  @ 
  s 13,000 
  Bridge 
  mm 
  mm 
  mm 
  iN 
  RN 
  IN 
  IN 
  Screw 
  i 
  Passengers 
  mm 
  
  @ 
  E~ 
  Aerial Steam Launch 
  s 4,840 
  I I I i&~f 
  50 TONS 
  Bridge 
  Deck 
  Maneuver 
  >eckl 1] 
  Hull 
  Hits 
  Passengers 
  [] 
  [] 
  [] 
  H 
  ,~m 
  am 
  am 
  am 
  ~m 
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  APHID-Class 
  Q 
  ,,J 
  Screw 
  1 
  m 
  1 
  n 
  Aerial Gunboat 
  1 
  | 
  Screw 
  r 
  @ 
  (~ 
  s 23,220 
  160 TONS 
  Hull 
  Hits 
  mm 
  IN 
  mE 
  RE 
  lie 
  an 
  Maneuver 
  Zeppelin 
  s 20,000 
  Bridge 
  Maneuver 
  Hull 
  Hits 
  200 TONS Q 
  WARM WINDS 
  f 
  @ 
  1 
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  "kl 
  ~JI 
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  f 
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  Merchant Kite 
  s 112,600 
  / 
  / 
  / 
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  Passengers 
  II 
  Masts 
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  -6 
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  Deck 
  Maneuver 
  Hull 
  Hits (Each box counts as two) 
  / 
  
  PERSONAL COMBAT TABLES  
  r 
  Weapon 
  Single-Barrel Pistol 
  Light Revolver 
  Heavy Revolver 
  Light Multibarrel 
  Heavy Multibarrel 
  SMALL ARMS FIRING TABLE 
  Required 
  Shots Mag Reload Wnd Strength Save Range 
  Pistols 
  1 
  - 
  I 
  2 
  1 
  15 
  3 
  6 
  (3) 
  l-2t 
  1 
  2 
  10 
  3 
  6 
  (3) 
  l-2t 
  2 
  2 
  15 
  2 
  2 
  (2) 
  l-2t 
  1 
  2 
  5 
  2 
  4 
  (2) 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  15 
  Rifles 
  Bolt Action Rifle (LM) 
  1 
  8 
  (4) 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  120 
  Bolt Action Carbine (LM) 
  1 
  8 
  (4) 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  90 
  Bolt Action Rifle 
  1 
  5 
  (5) 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  120 
  Bolt Action Carbine 
  1 
  5 
  (5) 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  90 
  Lever Action Rifle 
  2 
  12 
  (3) 
  l-2t 
  2 
  1 
  75 
  Lever Action Carbine 
  2 
  6 
  (3) 
  l-2t 
  1 
  1 
  45 
  Breech-loading Rifle 
  1 
  -- 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  90 
  Breech-loading Carbine 
  I 
  -- 
  I 
  2 
  2 
  I 
  60 
  Muzzle-loading Rifle 
  1 
  -- 
  3 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  75 
  Muzzle-loading Carbine 
  1 
  -- 
  2 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  45 
  Smoothbore Musket 
  1 
  -- 
  2 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  45 
  Smoothbore Carbine 
  1 
  -- 
  2 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  30 
  Long Hunting Rifle 
  1 
  -- 
  1 
  3 
  3 
  I 
  200 
  Heavy Double Rifle 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  4 
  4 
  1 
  150 
  Shotguns 
  20-gauge Double 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  ID/2 
  2 
  0 
  30* 
  12-gauge Double 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  ID 
  3 
  0 
  30* 
  12-gauge Scattergun 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  ID 
  3 
  0 
  15"* 
  12-gauge Lever Action 
  2 
  5 
  (2) 
  ID 
  3 
  0 
  30* 
  Nonflrearms 
  Bow 
  l 
  -- 
  i 
  1 
  2 
  2 
  30 
  Spear 
  1 
  -- 
  -- 
  2 
  3 
  2 
  10 
  Throwing Knife 
  1 
  -- 
  -- 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  5 
  Stone 
  1 
  -- 
  -- 
  1 
  1 
  4 
  5tt 
  Notes-" fLM): Lee-Metford. *Shotguns halve their chances of hitting (round fractions up) at double 
  range and may not fire beyond double range. **Scatterguns follow the same rule on range as shotguns, 
  as noted above. In addition, however, they add two to their hit number at close range. "tThese weapons 
  inflid one wound unless within 10 yards of the target, in which case they infict two wounds, tlTriple 
  range when used with sling. (#): Number of rounds which can be reloaded per combat action. 
  MACHINEGUN FIRING TABLES 
  Weapon 
  Shots Mag Reload Wnd Save Range 
  Gatling 0.50 
  2/6 
  36 
  3 
  3 
  1 
  300 
  Gaffing l-inch 
  2/6 
  18 
  4 
  4 
  I 
  300 
  Mitrailleus 
  8 
  8 
  3 
  3 
  1 
  300 
  Gardner 
  2/4 
  20 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  300 
  Nordenfelt 1-B 
  3 
  15 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  150 
  Nordenfelt 3-B 
  5 
  48 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  300 
  Nordenfelt 5-B 
  8 
  48 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  300 
  Maxim 
  10 
  50 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  300 
  SMALL ARMS 
  SAVING THROW MODIFIERS 
  Target 
  Modifier 
  Mass Formation: 
  - 1 
  Charging: 
  - 1 
  Close Range: 
  - I 
  Airborne: 
  + 1 
  Mounted: 
  + 1 
  Light Cover: 
  + 1 
  Medium Cover: 
  +2 
  Hard Cover: 
  +3 
  Concealed: 
  + Fieldcraft/2 
  (round up) 
  BRITISH FIELD GUN 
  FIRING TABLE 
  Weapon 
  ROF Range Burst 
  l-pr HRC 
  2 
  400 
  2 
  6-pr RBL 
  (I) 
  600 
  4 
  7-pr MH 
  (I) 
  600 
  4 
  9-pr RBL 
  (3) 
  600 
  6 
  12-pr RBL 
  (3) 
  600 
  8 
  15-pr RBL 
  (3) 
  600 
  10 
  20-pr RBL 
  (3) 
  600 
  12 
  40-pr RBL 
  (3) 
  800 
  14 
  5" Hwtzr. 
  (3) 
  800 
  14 
  Hale Rocket 
  1 
  600 
  16 
  HRC: Hotchkiss Rotating Cannon 
  RBL: Rifled Breech Loader 
  MH: Mountain Howitzer 
  ROF: Weapons which list a number in 
  parentheses have a rate of fire of 1. It then 
  takes the number in parentheses in combat ac- 
  tions to reload the weapon. 
  MARTIAN CANNON 
  FIRING TABLE 
  Weapon 
  ROF Range Burst 
  Sweeper 
  (1) 
  100 
  2 
  Light Gun 
  (3) 
  200 
  4 
  Heavy Gun 
  (4) 
  300 
  6 
  Rod Gun 
  (5) 
  400 
  4 
  Rogue 
  (6) 
  400 
  8 
  ROF: Weapons which list a number in 
  parentheses have a rate of fire of I. It then 
  takes the number in parentheses in combat ac- 
  lions to reload the weapon. 
  ARTILLERY 
  AMMUNITION EFFECTIVENESS 
  Ammunition 
  Hit 
  Save 
  Shot , 
  3 
  0 
  Shell 
  2 
  I 
  Grapeshot 
  3 
  2 
  Shrapnel 
  4 
  2 
  GDW 
  
  P 
  SONAL COMBAT TABLEs 
  F 
  MELEE WEAPONS 
  ARMOR VALUES TABLE 
  Hit 
  Required 
  Armor 
  Value 
  Weapon 
  Reach Dice Strength 
  Wnd 
  Block 
  Doublet 
  1" 
  Pole Arms 
  Shoulder Scales 
  1" 
  Pike 
  3 
  2 
  3 
  2 
  -2 
  Mail 
  2* 
  Spear 
  2 
  3 
  3 
  2 
  -1 ~ 
  Breastplate 
  3" 
  Rifle/bayonet 
  2 
  3 
  3 
  2 
  -- 
  Helmet 
  1 
  Shield 
  1"* 
  Edged Weapons 
  Great Sword 
  2 
  4 
  3 
  1 +S 
  -- 
  Cutlass 
  2 
  4 
  3 
  1 
  -- 
  Saber 
  2 
  5 
  2 
  1 
  -- 
  Knife 
  1 
  5 
  1 
  1 
  - 1 
  Machete 
  2 
  4 
  3 
  1 
  - 1 
  *Only one type of torso protection (doublet, 
  shoulder scales, mail or breastplate) may be used. 
  All other armor effects are cumulative. 
  **A shield allows a player to block with two dice 
  in addition to the blocking dice of any weapon used, 
  or six dice if used by itself. If used by itself, the 
  character uses his primary combat skill as a block 
  number but may not riposte with any extra successful 
  blocking dice. 
  Bashing Weapons 
  Club 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  -2 
  Axe 
  2 
  2 
  4 
  1 + S 
  - 1 
  Hatchet 
  1 
  3 
  2 
  2 
  -2 
  NPC MORALE 
  AND CLOSE COMBAT 
  Morale 
  Close 
  Experience 
  Level 
  Combat 
  Green 
  8 
  1 
  Trained 
  9 
  2 
  Experienced 
  10 
  3 
  Veteran 
  11 
  4 
  Elite 
  12 
  5 
  BARRIER TOUGHNESS 
  Material 
  Multiplier 
  Wood 
  • 5 
  Dirt 
  • 3 
  Earthworks 
  • 2 
  Brick, Stone 
  • 1 
  Iron 
  • 1/3 
  Steel 
  • 1/4 
  Superhard Steel 
  • 1/8 
  MORALE LEVEL MODIFIERS 
  Condition 
  Modifier ' 
  Casualties: 
  - 1 level each 
  Outnumbered 2-1: 
  - 2 levels 
  Superior Enemy Morale: 
  -difference 
  EXPLOSIVE BURST SIZE 
  Power 
  Burst 
  1 
  2 
  2 
  4 
  3-4 
  6 
  5-8 
  8 
  9-12 
  10 
  13-18 
  12 
  19-24 
  14 
  25-32 
  16 
  33-40 
  18 
  41-50 
  20 
  TASK DIFFICULTY LEVELS 
  Difficulty 
  Target Level 
  Easy 
  Target 4 
  Moderate 
  Target 8 
  Difficult 
  Target 12 
  Formidable 
  Target 16 
  Impossible 
  Target 20 
  ALLOWED ACTIONS 
  Remain Stationary 
  Move 
  Charge 
  Attack 
  Prepare a Weapon 
  Reload a Weapon 
  Change Weapons 
  Dodge 
  Block 
  Special Action 
  1 turn = 30 seconds: Four actions allowed per turn unless 
  within 10 yds. Within 10 yds., actions allowed equal to Close 
  Combat skill or Agility attribute, whichever is greater. 
  Factor 
  MOVEMENT 
  Crawl Walk 
  Runt 
  Dry Land 
  2 yds 
  8 yds 20 yds+Agil. Dice 
  Shallow Water 
  2 yds 
  4 yds 
  10 yds + Agil. Dice 
  Combined w/Attack* NA 
  4 yds 
  10 yds+Agil.'Dice 
  Swimming** 
  Swimming Skill Dice in yds 
  *Movement combined with'attacks reduces the hit number by 1 when walking and by 
  2 when running. **Swimming speed is reduced by 1 per 10 Ibs. carried and by I for adverse 
  water or weathei" conditions, tCharging is a running action. See page 96 for its uses/effects. 
  
  ANIMAL TRANSPORTATION 
  Miles/ Price/ 
  Type 
  Day 
  Day 
  Riding Animal 
  20 
  3s 
  Howdah 
  10 
  2s 
  Wagon 
  10 
  2s 
  Coach 
  30 
  3s 
  WATER TRANSPORTATION 
  TABLE 
  Inland Waterway 
  Miles/ 
  Price/ 
  Vessel 
  Day 
  Day 
  Man-Powered 
  20-30 
  2d 
  Wind-Powered 1D x 10 
  3d 
  Steamer 
  50 
  5d 
  Open Sea 
  Miles/ 
  Price/ 
  Vessel 
  Day 
  Day 
  Wind-Powered 100 
  3s 
  Steamship 
  200 
  5s 
  Note: First-class passage costs five 
  times the listed rate. 
  FOOT TRAVEL 
  ~'a"-~ I 
  Characters may walk either 10 or 20 miles per day, at their option (i 
  20 is chosen, below modifier applies.) Players may not march 20 miles 
  through mountain or swamp. 
  Fatigue: Roll Endurance attribute dice for an Easy task to avoid fatigue 
  when marehing by foot. Difficulty level is modified as follows: 
  Marched additional 10 miles: + 1 level 
  Encumbered: + 1 level for every 20 percent of body weight carried 
  Human on Mars: + I level 
  Human on Venus: +2 levels 
  Mountains: + 1 level 
  CLIMBING ACCIDENT 
  Roll 
  Result 
  1 
  Climb delayed. Subtract 1 from faces climbed in day. 
  2 
  Climb delayed. Subtract 2 from faces climbed in day. 
  3 
  Climb delayed. Subtract 3 from faces climbed in day. 
  4 
  Climb delayed. No faces climbed in day. 
  5 
  Injury. Treat as level 1 fatigue. Lasts for one week. No rock faces 
  climbed in day. 
  6 
  Injury. Broken leg. Climber cannot walk or climb and must be car- 
  ried up mountain. Cut number of faces per day in half (round frac- 
  tions up) and add one to difficulty to avoid accident. Leg mends 
  in one month. 
  NAVIGATION HAZARDS 
  Roll 
  Result 
  1 
  Boat aground. 10 miles travel lost pulling it off. 
  2 
  Boat aground. One full day lost pulling it off. 
  3 
  Screw or rudder damaged. Speed halved until boat reaches port. 
  4 
  Hull damaged. Two full days lost making repairs. 
  5 
  Hull damaged. One die roll of days lost making repairs. 
  6 
  Hull crushed. Vessel grounded to avoid sinking. Cannot be refloated 
  unless a large work crew and a large vessel are brought to the site. 
  WEATHER EFFECTS TABLE 
  Weather 
  Visibility 
  Travel 
  Storm 
  Clear 
  Overcast 
  Mist 
  Drizzle 
  Rain 
  Torrent 
  Windstorm 
  Unlimited 
  No Effect 
  None 
  1 mile 
  No Effect 
  None 
  800 yards 
  No Effect 
  None 
  400 yards 
  No Effect 
  Storm 
  200 yards 
  Halved 
  Storm 
  50 yards 
  Prohibited 
  Severe 
  50 yards 
  Prohibited 
  Severe 
  MARS WEATHER TABLE 
  Die 
  Roll Result 
  1-4 Clouds 
  5-6 
  Windstorm 
  AERIAL TRANSPORTATION 
  TABLE 
  Miles/ 
  Price/ 
  Vessel 
  Day 
  Day 
  Zeppelin 
  300 
  10s 
  Steam Flyer 
  300 
  10s 
  Kite 
  200-400 
  6s 
  Screw Galley, 200-300 
  4s 
  Long Boat 
  100-200 
  -- 
  Conveyor 
  100-200 
  -- 
  Glider 
  400 
  -- 
  Aeroplane 
  lO0/hr 
  -- 
  GDW 
  
   -A-CE TRAVEL CHARTS 
  THE INNER WORLDS 
  (CISASTEROIDAL) 
  Name 
  Orbit 
  Day 
  Year 
  Mercury 
  36 
  -- 
  88 
  Venus 
  67 
  23 
  248 
  Earth 
  93 
  24 
  365 
  Luna 
  0.3* 28** 
  365 
  Mars 
  141 
  24 
  687 
  Diameter Circum. Gravity 
  3030 
  4760 
  40% 
  7526 
  11,821 
  100% 
  7927 
  12,457- 100% 
  2160 
  3392 
  16% 
  4200 
  6597 
  90% 
  THE OUTER WORLDS 
  (TRANSASTEROIDAL) 
  Name 
  Orbit 
  Jupiter 
  480 
  Saturn 
  900 
  Uranus 
  1800 
  Neptune 
  2800 
  Notes: Orbit is in millions of miles from the Sun, except that Luna's orbit (*) is 
  measured from the Earth. Lengths of days are given in hours except that Luna's day 
  (**) is 28 Earth days long. Mercury, since it is gravitationally locked facing the Sun, 
  has no days. Years are given in Earth days. Diameter and circumference are given in 
  miles. Gravity is the gravity at the surface as a percentage of that found on the Earth. 
  TURBULENCE/METEOR 
  COMMERCIAL 
  DAMAGE 
  SPACE TRAVEL 
  Die 
  Damage 
  Vessel 
  Speed Price 
  1-2 
  Injury 
  Liner 
  2.5 
  s 
  3-5 
  Minor 
  Cargo 
  2.0 
  s 
  6-7 
  Major 
  P 
  ~ 
  " 
  I 
  It 
  I: 
  [wt 
   
  ~" 
  j 
  J 
  . 
  [ i t 
  i" I 
  iH 
  I 
  l i 1-I 
  I Ill I I 
  ;L 
  N--~]" 
  nl 
  .~L ~ 
  J 
  [ 
  i 
  : K , 
  ~ 
  NAVIGATION AIDS 
  "'" 
  Die 
  Device 
  Mod 
  Orrery 
  -- 1 
  Analytical Engine 
  - 1 
  Astrogation Computer* 
  -4 
  Telescope 
  - 1 
  Improved Telescope** 
  -2 
  Notes: The astrogation computer (*) is 
  used instead of the orrery and the 
  analytical engine, not in addition to them. 
  The improved telescope (**) is used in 
  place of the regular telescope. All other 
  devices may be used together and their 
  modifiers added. 
  HERTZIAN 
  COMMUNICATORS 
  Reliability 
  Range (Miles) 
  1 
  10 
  2 
  100 
  3 
  1000 
  4 
  100,000 
  5 
  1,000,000 
  6 
  10,000,000 
  i 
  A TYPICAL 
  COMMERCIAL ETHER FLYER 
  A. Gallery 
  B. Dinning Room 
  C. Bar 
  D. Library 
  E. Kitchen 
  F. Private Dining Room 
  G. Head 
  H. Billards Room 
  I. Stateroom 
  J. Promenade 
  K. Crew's Mess 
  L. Crew's Quarters 
  M. Bridge 
  N. Engine Room 
  O. Steerage 
  P. Greenhouse 
  Q. Officer's Stateroom 
  R. Captain's Quarters 
  S. Captain's Day Cabin 
  T. Chart Room 
  U. Ward Room 
  V. Air Lock 
  W. Petty Officer's 
  Quarters 
  
  V~/n 
  MARS WILDERNESS ENCOUNTERS 
  ~r 
  Dry Canal Bed 
  Steppe 
  Hills 
  Swamp 
  Mountain 
  Desert 
  Encounter # 4 
  3 
  2 
  2 
  1 
  1 
  Die Roll 
  Encounter Type 
  1 
  Caravan 
  Nomad Village 
  Nomad Hunters Swamp Pirates 
  High Martian Hunters 
  Oasis 
  2 
  Caravan 
  Nomad Hunters 
  Nomad Hunters Swamp Pirate Camp 
  High Martian Hunters 
  Lone Traveller 
  3 
  Bandits 
  Nomad Hunters 
  Bandits 
  Ruumet Breehr Herd 
  Flying Skrill 
  Lone Nomad 
  4 
  Ruumet Breehr Herd 
  Gashant Herd 
  Gashant Herd 
  Cissawaan 
  Eelowaan 
  Roogie Pack 
  5 
  Gashant Herd 
  Eegaar Herd 
  Eegaar Herd 
  Green Koko 
  Great Kommota 
  Lone Eegaar 
  6 
  Nomad Hunters 
  Steppe Tiger 
  Roogie Pack 
  Knoe Shoshu 
  High Martian Galley 
  Lone Gashant 
  MARTIAN AERIAL ENCOUNTERS 
  MARTIAN STOCK NPCS 
  Terrain 
  Mountain 
  Nonmountain 
  NPC Type 
  Experience 
  Marksman Att. 
  Arms 
  Encounter # 2 
  1 
  Bandit 
  TrntExp 
  2 
  Phys 
  Die Roll 
  Encounter Type 
  Pirate 
  Exp/Vet 
  3 
  Phys 
  ! 
  High Martian Galley 
  Merchant Kite 
  2 
  High Martian Galley 
  Merchant Kite 
  3 
  Flying Skrill 
  Armed Merchant Kite 
  4 
  Eelowaan 
  Small Warship 
  5 
  Great Kommota 
  Large Warship 
  6 
  High Martian Hunters 
  Pirate 
  Swamp Pirate 
  Trn/Exp 
  2 
  Phys 
  Merchant 
  Grn 
  1 
  Ment 
  Thief 
  Grn/Trn 
  1 
  Phys 
  Hill Warrior 
  Exp/Vet 
  4 
  Phys 
  Hill Brave 
  Grn/Trn 
  2 
  Phys 
  High Martian 
  Exp/Vet 
  3 
  Phys 
  Caravan Guard 
  Trn/Exp 
  4 
  Phys 
  Soldier 
  Trn/Exp 
  3 
  Phys 
  Marine 
  Exp/Vet 
  4 
  Phys 
  Traveller 
  Grn/Trn 
  1 
  Ment 
  Musket 
  Musket 
  Musket 
  Knife 
  Knife 
  Musket, Great Sword 
  Bow, Sabre 
  Bow or Pike 
  Rifle, Sabre 
  Rifle, Bayonet 
  Rifle, Sabre 
  Variable 
  ENCOUNTER DESCRIPTIONS 
  FOR STATISTICS of animals see the Ani- 
  mal Charts on the back; for animal descrip- 
  tions, see the section on animals for the rele- 
  vant world. If an encounter is listed under more 
  than one terrain type, look for its description 
  with its first terrain type. 
  MARTIAN 
  WILDER~ 
  ENCOUNTERS 
  Bandits: A band of 30 bandits preparing an 
  ambush for a caravan. They will immediately 
  attack the characters and attempt to kill or cap- 
  ture them to prevent them from warning any 
  nearby caravans. 
  Caravan: A large caravan of perhaps 20 
  mumet brechrs carrying howdahs and protect- 
  ed by 20 guards mounted on gashants. Its 
  members will be suspicious of the characters 
  at first but will treat them with hospitality if 
  the characters do not offend or threaten them. 
  High Martian Hunters: A party of 20 High 
  Martians on a hunt. They will attack the char- 
  acters and attempt to kill or capture them. 
  High Martian Galley: On a roll of 1-3 it 
  is a small galley, on a roll of 4-6 it is a large 
  one. It is either returning from or preparing 
  to leave for trading or raiding. It will attack 
  the characters and attempt to capture them. 
  Lone Nomad: A nomad brave on his man- 
  hood quest, this lone nomad may attempt to steal 
  from the party at night, but he will not be other- 
  wise hostile. He may consent to travel with the 
  characters for awhile and will help avoid them 
  a fight if they encounter other nomads. 
  Lone Traveller: The lone survivor of a ban- 
  dit attack, this wealthy merchant is suffering from 
  exposure and starvation and will reward the char- 
  acters for helping him get home. Alternatively, 
  the traveller is an enemy dispatch rider~ anec- _ 
  centric European hunter, a lost explorer, a fugi- 
  tive from justice, a holy man on a cleansing so- 
  journ, or any number of other possibilities. 
  Nomad Village: A village of perhaps a dozen 
  families, either camped or on the move with their 
  possessions carried on gashants. There will be 
  12 warriors and as many braves with the village. 
  They will react with suspicion toward the char- 
  acters but will probably not attack unless the 
  characters provoke them or have something of 
  obvious value the nomads want. 
  Nomad Hunters: A partyof six nomad braves 
  led by two warriors. They will react to the char- 
  acters with more curiosity and less restraint, as 
  there is no village present which would be en- 
  dangered by a fight. If the characters are helpless, 
  they may offer assistance; if they are well off, 
  they may ask for gifts or attack the characters. 
  Oasis: At this oasis, the characters can find 
  life-giving water. The oasis may be relatively 
  large or may be only a small pool, well, or 
  spring. A caravan, nomads, or even bandits 
  could be camped around it (or lurking nearby). 
  Swmnp Pirates: Four small boats, each with 
  six pirates. They will attack and attempt to cap- 
  ture the characters. 
  MARTIAN AERIAL ENCOUNTERS 
  Armed Merchant Kite: One large merchant 
  kite as above, but armed with two heavy guns 
  and a dozen marines. It will exercise caution 
  but will defend itself vigorously if attacked. 
  High Martian Galley: On a roll of 1-3 it 
  is a small galley, on a roll of 4-6 it is a large 
  one. It will attack the characters and attempt 
  to capture their vessel. 
  Large Warship: One warship of the nearest 
  state. On a roll of 1-3 it is a galley, on a 4-6 
  it is a kite. It will attempt to board and inspect 
  the characters' vessel and will attack if resis- 
  tance is shown. 
  Merchant Kite: One unarmed large mer- 
  chant kite which will try to flee if shown any 
  sign of hostility and will be cautious anyway. 
  Pirate: On a roll of 1-4 it is a small ship, 
  on a 5-6 it is a large one. On a second roll of 
  1-4 it is a galley', on a 5-6 a kite. It will attack 
  and attempt to capture the characters' vessel. 
  Small Warship: One warship of the nearest 
  state. On a roll of 1-3 it is a galley, on a 4-6, 
  a kite. It attempts to board and inspect the char- 
  acters' vessel and attacks if resistance is shown. 
  GDW 
  
  MARS AND EARTH ANIMAL CHARTS,: HUMAN NPCS 
  ~n~Type 
  #App 
  Steppe Tiger 
  1 
  Cissawaan 
  1D • 10 
  Green Koko 
  1 
  Eelowaan 
  1 
  ANIMAL 
  CHART: Mars 
  ~ ,  
  Size 
  Move 
  Wnds Save Weight (lbs.) Weapons 
  Predators 
  lx2 
  L50 t 
  10 
  1 
  1500 
  1 x 1 
  W202 
  1 
  -- 
  i00 
  1 x3 
  W20 
  3 
  f 
  200 
  I x3 
  F40 
  3 
  -- 
  200 
  Scavengers 
  Great Kommota 1 
  3 x3 
  F4O 
  1O 
  1 
  1 ton 
  Roogies 
  1D x 3 
  1 x 1 
  IA0 
  1 
  - 1 
  100 
  Knoe Shoshu 
  1 
  2• 
  W10 
  6 
  -- 
  600 
  Plant Eaters 
  Flying Skrill 
  1D 
  2 x2 
  F503 
  4 . 
  -- 
  500 
  Gashant 
  1D x 10 
  1 x2 
  L504 
  6 
  -- 
  1000 
  Teeth (2, 4, 0, 2), 
  Claws (3, 3, 1, 1) 
  Teeth (3, 2, 0, 1) 
  Fangs (2, 3, 0, 1), 
  Coils (2, 3, 0, 4) 
  Fangs (1, 3, 0, 1), 
  Coils (2, 3, 0, 4) 
  Talons (2, 3, 3, 1), 
  Drop (1, 1, --, 1D) 
  Teeth (2, 2, 0, 1) 
  Tentacles (4, 4, 3, 3), 
  Sting (1, 2, 0, 1) 
  Horns (1, 2, 2, 2), 
  Talons (2, 2, 1, 1), 
  Drop (1, 1, --, 1D) 
  Teeth (1, 2, 0, 1), 
  Tail (1, 2, 2, 1) 
  Ruumet Breehr 
  1Dx2 
  2x3 
  L20 
  20 
  1 
  5 tons 
  Crush (1, 1, 3, 5) 
  Eegaar 
  1Dx10 
  1 xl 
  L605 
  2 
  -1 
  200 
  Horns (1, 2, 2, 1) 
  Notes: 1: The steppe tiger will only maintain this pace for two actions, after which he will become cautious and either retreat or circle for 
  a better chance at an attack. He will always attempt to attack from less than 50 yards so as to immediately close the distance to his prey. 2: 
  The cissawaan will only move half as fast on land. 3: Subtract 1 from the skrill's speed for every 10 pounds of weight carried. 4: Subtract 1 
  from the gashant's speed for every 20 pounds of weight carried. 5: The eegaar will tire after one complete game turn of running, and will slow 
  to half its normal speed. Weapons: Characteristics are listed in the following order: number of hit dice, required hit number, reach, wound value. 
  NPC Type 
  Experience 
  Soldier 
  Trn/Exp 
  4 
  Officer 
  Exp/Vet 
  3 
  Merchant 
  Grn 
  1 
  Explorer 
  Trn/Exp 
  3 
  Hunter 
  Grn/Trn 
  5 
  Scientist 
  Grn 
  2 
  Administrator Grn/Trn 
  2 
  Anarchist 
  Grn/Trn 
  ~ 3 
  Fenian 
  Trn/Exp 
  4 
  Sailor 
  Grn/Trn 
  2 
  Adventuress 
  Exp 
  3 
  HUMAN STOCK NPCS 
  Marksman Att. Arms 
  Phys 
  Phys 
  Ment 
  Ment 
  Ment 
  �9 
  Ment 
  Ment 
  Ment 
  Phys 
  Phys 
  Ment 
  Bolt Action Rifle 
  Revolver, Sabre 
  Revolver 
  Revolver 
  Hunting Rifle 
  Light Revolver 
  Light Revolver 
  Light Revolver, Bomb 
  Shotgun 
  Cutlass 
  Light Multibarrel Pistol 
  Type 
  Horse 
  Mule 
  Camel 
  Ox 
  Elephant 
  ANIMAL CHART: Earth 
  Size Move 
  Wnd 
  1 X2 
  L60 
  6 
  1 x2 
  L40 
  4 
  1 x2 
  IA0 
  5 
  1 • 
  L20 
  8 
  2 x 3 
  L20 
  20 
  Save 
  Weight (lbs.) 
  -
  -
   
  1000 
  -- 
  800 
  -- 
  1200 
  -- 
  1500 
  1 
  3 tons 
  *Attack as a claw attack. 
  Weapons 
  Hooves* (2, 2, 1, 1) 
  Hooves* (2, 2, 1,. 1) 
  Horns (1, 2, 2, 1) 
  Horns (1, 2, 2, 1), 
  Crush (1, 1, 3, 5) 
  
  • 
  VENUSIAN WILDERNESS ENCOUNTERS 
  Terrain 
  Marsh 
  Bog 
  Highlands 
  Mountain 
  Encounter # 1 
  3 
  2 
  1 
  Die Roll 
  Encounter Type 
  1 
  2 
  3 
  4 
  5 
  6 
  7 
  8 
  9 
  10 
  11 
  12 
  Native Fishing Boats 
  Native Trading Barge 
  Native Pirate Canoes 
  Brontosaurus 
  Tyrannosaurus 
  Pterodactyl 
  (Roll 2D.) 
  .. 
  Giant Carnivorous Plant 
  Brontosaurus 
  Carnosaurus 
  Stegosaurus 
  Ceratopsian 
  Hadrosaurus 
  Pterodactyl 
  Native Hunting Party 
  Native Trading Patty 
  Native Raiding Party 
  Tyrannosaurus 
  Native Hunting Party 
  Native Raiding Party 
  Native Trading Party 
  Native Trading Party 
  Pacyosaurus 
  Pterodactyl 
  Lost European 
  Native Trading Party 
  Native Trading Party 
  Native Raiding Party 
  Native Raiding Party 
  Pterodactyl 
  VENUSIAN STOCK NPCS 
  VENUSIAN WATER ENCOUNTERS 
  NPC Type 
  Expernce 
  Marksman 
  Att. 
  Terrain 
  Ocean 
  Shallow Sea 
  Hunter 
  Grn 
  5 
  Phys 
  Encounter # 1 
  2 
  Porter 
  Grn 
  2 
  Phys 
  Die Roll 
  Encounter Type 
  Headman 
  Trn 
  2 
  Merit 
  1 
  Plesiosaurus 
  Plesiosaurus 
  Merchant 
  Trn 
  2 
  Ment 
  2 
  Icthyosaurus 
  Ichthyosaurus 
  Guard 
  Trn 
  4 
  Phys 
  3 
  Giant Turtle 
  Native Fishing Boats Raider 
  Trn/Exp 
  4 
  Phys 
  4 
  Giant Octopus 
  Native Fishing Boats Fisherman 
  Grn 
  2 
  Phys 
  5 
  Giant Crocodile 
  Native Trading Barge Pirate 
  Trn/Exp 
  4 
  Phys 
  6 
  "Sea Serpent" 
  Native Pirate Canoes Barge Crewman Grn 
  2 
  Phys 
  Arms 
  Bow, Club 
  Club 
  Hatchet 
  Knife 
  Bow, Spear 
  Bow, Club 
  Knife 
  Bow, Club 
  Knife 
  also be a survivor of a Zeppelin ether flyer 
  ENCOUNTER DESCRIPTIONS 
  FOR ANIMAL statistics see the Ani- 
  mal Charts on the back; for animal descrip- 
  tions, see the section on animals for the 
  relevant world. If an encounter is listed 
  under more than one terrain type, look for 
  its description with its first terrain type. 
  VENUSIAN 
  WILDERNESS ENCOUNTERS 
  Lost European: Haggard and worn, 
  this lost European has barely survived 
  after his expedition became lost weeks 
  ago. He will be grateful for help and may 
  reward the characters for taking him to a 
  civilized outpost. Alternatively, his out- 
  post could have just been overrun by hos- 
  tile Lizard-men, and it may be imperative 
  that he reach a telegraph or main outpost 
  quickly to warn the military and other 
  European inhabitants nearby. He could 
  crash or a shipwrecked trader. 
  Native Hunting Party: A dozen Lizard- 
  men out hunting from small game to feed 
  their village. They will react with suspicion 
  but will not attack unless they are provoked 
  or clearly have the upper hand. If ap- 
  proached with gifts, they may provide in- 
  formation in return. 
  Native Raiding Party: Twenty armed 
  Lizard-man warriors are intent upon raiding 
  a human settlement. They will immediately 
  attack the characters and attempt to kill or 
  capture them. 
  Native Trading Party: One or two 
  village headmen, about 20 porters, and a 
  dozen guards comprise this party of Lizard- 
  men. They are bound for the human en- 
  claves to barter rare plants for trade goods. 
  They will not attack, and they offer to take 
  the party to the enclave in return for an in- 
  troduction and recommendation. 
  r ........... 
  ENCOUNTERS d] 
  yy p,k I It',l%. 
  Native Fishing Boats: These native 
  boats are two to 12 (roll two dice) small 
  fishing boats, each with two or three 
  Lizard-men fishing from them. The Liz- 
  ard-men will not attack and will scatter 
  and flee in the face of hostile action. They 
  will be reluctant to help cha[acters in dis- 
  tress but will react with friendship to of- 
  fers t)f gifts. 
  Native Pirate Canoes: One to six (roll 
  one die) pirate canoes approach, each con- 
  taining four Lizard-men. They will im- 
  mediately attack and attempt to kill or cap- 
  ture the characters. 
  Native Trading Barge: This barge is 
  a large Coy Venusian standards) merchant 
  barge with 12 crewmen, a merchant, and 
  six guards. They will react with caution 
  but are willing to listen to any reasonable 
  proposition. 
  GDW 
  
  VENUS AND LUNA ANIMAL CHARTS, LUNAR NPCS 
  "~ 
  ANIMAL CHART: Venus 
  ~a ~ 
  t 
  Type 
  #App 
  Size 
  Move Wnds Save Weight (lbs.) Weapons 
  Marine Life 
  1D • 1 
  2 • 6 
  W20 
  30 
  1 
  Plesiosaurus 
  Ichthyosaurus 
  1 
  1 • 6 
  W30 
  25 
  -- 
  Giant Turtle 
  1 
  3• 
  Wl0 
  30 
  2 
  Sea Serpent 
  1 
  1 • 10 W20 
  25 
  1 
  Giant Octopus 
  1 
  3 • 3 
  W10 
  15 
  -- 
  Giant Crocodile 
  1 
  2x6 
  Wl0 
  25 
  1 
  Predators 
  Pterodactyl 
  1D • 1 
  2 • 
  F30 
  1 
  -- 
  Tyrannosaurus 
  1 
  2 x 4 
  L 16 
  40 
  1 
  Carnosaurus 
  1D x 1 
  1 • 3 
  L24 
  20 
  -- 
  Plant Eaters 
  Brontosaurus 
  1D • 1 
  2 • 6 
  L10 
  40 
  1 
  Ceratopsian 
  1D• 
  2• 
  L10 
  30 
  2 
  Stegosaurus 
  1 
  2 • 3 
  L 10 
  25 
  1 
  Hadrosaurus 
  1D• 
  1 • 
  L16 
  15 
  -- 
  Pacyosaurus 
  1D• 1 
  1 • 
  L30 
  10 
  -- 
  Carnivorous Plants 
  Giant Carnivore 
  1 
  3 x3 
  --= 
  10 
  -- 
  20 tons 
  Teeth (1, 2, 1, 3), 
  Tail (1, 1, 3, 3) 
  10 tons 
  Teeth (2, 2, 0, 3) 
  40 tons 
  Teeth (1, 2, 1, 6) 
  20 tons 
  Teeth (1, 2, 1, 4) 
  5 tons 
  Tentacles (8, 2, 3, 6), 
  Stinger (1, 2, 0, 1) 
  10 tons 
  Teeth (1, 2, 1, 3), 
  Tail (1, 1, 3, 2) 
  35 
  Talons (2, 3, 1, 1) 
  40 tons 
  Teeth (2, 2, 2, 6), 
  Tail (1, 2, 3, 3), 
  Crush (1, 1, 3, 6) 
  5 tons 
  Teeth (3, 2, 0, 3), 
  Tail (1, 2, 3, 1), 
  Crush (1, 1, 1, 4) 
  40 tons 
  Teeth (1, 2, 2, 3), 
  Tail (1, 2, 3, 3), 
  Crush (1, 1, 1, 6) 
  20 tons 
  Horns (1, 2, 3, 3), 
  Crush (1, 1, 1, 6) 
  10 tons 
  Tail (2, 2, 3, 3), 
  Crash (1, 1, l, 6) 
  8 tons 
  Horns (1, 2, 2, 2) 
  1500 
  Horns (1, 2, 2, 1) 
  1000 
  Tentacles (10, 2, 3, 1), 
  Stinger (1, 1, 0, 1) 
  LUNAR STOCK NPcs 
  NPC Type Experience Marksman Arms Str 
  Drone 
  Grn 
  0 
  -- 
  1 
  Custodian Exp 
  3 
  Spear 1 
  Specialist 
  Vet 
  3 
  Spear 1 
  Type 
  Lunar Rat 
  Lunar Bat 
  Caterpillar 
  #App 
  1DX1 
  Swarms 
  1 
  A~l End Int 
  2 
  3 
  1 
  3 
  2 
  2 
  3 
  3 
  4 
  ANIMAL CHART: Luna 
  Size 
  Move 
  Wnd Save Weight (lbs.) 
  Tiny 
  L10 
  1 
  -- 
  2 
  1 xl 
  F40 
  1 
  -- 
  2 
  1 x3 
  L10 
  10 
  1 
  1000 
  Weapons 
  Teeth (1, 1, 0, 1) 
  Swarm (8, 1, 0, 1) 
  Fangs (2, 2, 0, 1), 
  Coils( 
  , 
  , 
  ,4) 
  
  l.iiJW 
  
  'SMALL-SCALE MAP 
  
  ~
  /
  ~
  ~
   
  CHARACTER 
  ~'t8~8J 
  - 
  Ptli.~e ~ - 
  ~ fWltnality~ " 
  1st Career. 
  2nd Career 
  ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS 
  Strength 
  Intellect 
  Fisticuffs, 
  Observation 
  Throwing 
  Engineering* 
  Close Combat* 
  Science* 
  Trims man * 
  Gunnery* 
  Agility 
  Charisma 
  Stealth 
  Eloquence 
  Crime* 
  Theatrics. 
  Marksmanship* 
  Mechanics* 
  Endurance 
  Wilderness Travel* 
  Fieldcraft 
  Tracking 
  Swimming 
  Bargaining 
  Linguisticst 
  (tList languages below.) 
  Social Level 
  Riding* 
  Piloting* 
  Leadership 
  Medicine 
  WOUNDS 
  Unconsciousness 
  Str + End/2 
  Potential Wounds 
  Str + End 
  Current Wounds 
  POSSESSIONS 
  WEAPONS 
  Native. 
  Others 
  ~'LANGUAGES 
  Primary 
  INVENTIONS 
  RESEARCH AREAS 
  The Ether 
  Combustion 
  Electricity 
  Precision Machin. 
  Biochemistry 
  Power Production__ 
  Transportation 
  Optics 
  RENOWN 
  Heroism 
  Science 
  Exploration 
  Military. 
  Patriotic Service.__ 
  MEDALS AND 
  KNIGHTLY ORDERS 
  *CASCADE SKILLS 
  Trimsman 
  Crime 
  Aerial flyer 
  Lockpick 
  Cloudship 
  Pickpocket 
  Marksmanship 
  Forger 
  Pistol 
  Engineering 
  Rifle (includes carbines 
  Structural Engineering 
  and shotguns) 
  Naval Architecture 
  Bow 
  Explosives 
  Mechanics 
  Earthworks 
  Steam 
  Science 
  Electricity 
  Physics 
  Machinist 
  Chemistry 
  Wilderness Travel 
  Biology 
  Mountaineering 
  Geology 
  Foraging 
  Archaeology 
  Mapping 
  Gunnery 
  Close Combat 
  , 
  Muzzle-Loading Cannon 
  Edged Weapon 
  Breech-Loading 
  Cannon 
  Pole Arm 
  Machinegun/Rotary 
  Cannon 
  Bashing Weapon 
  Exotic Weaponry 
  Riding 
  Piloting 
  Horse 
  Aerial Flyer 
  Camel 
  Cloudship 
  Elephant 
  Zeppelin 
  Gashant 
  Interplanetary Ether Flyer 
  Ruumet Brechr 
  Sailing Vessel 
  Flying Skrill 
  Steam Vessel 
  Pacyosaurus 
  Submarine 
  
  CHARACTER FACES 
  k~ 
  
  ADDITIONAL 
  DEFAULT SKILL 
  SWIMMING IS an additional 
  default skill for the Endurance at- 
  tribute in much the same way that 
  Throwing is for Strength. Each 
  player starts with a Swimming skill 
  equal to half his Endurance attribute 
  (rounding fractions down). 
  HEALING WOUNDS 
  TWO SPECIAL aspects of recov- 
  ering from wounds are encountered 
  in an adventurer's career: recover- 
  ing consciousness and recovering 
  from unarmed, hand-to-hand combat 
  damage. The standard healing rule is 
  also reprinted here, for your conve- 
  nience. 
  Recovering Consciousness 
  AFTER A character takes wounds 
  equal to the average of his Strength 
  and Endurance (rounding up), he 
  loses consciousness. If the character 
  has taken just enough wounds to 
  make him lose consciousness, then 
  he will recover consciousness in 20 
  turns divided by his Endurance, 
  rounded to the nearest whole num- 
  ber: 
  RECOVERING 
  CONSCIOUSNESS 
  Endurance Turns Minutes 
  1 
  20 
  10 
  2 
  10 
  5 
  3 
  7 
  3.5 
  4 
  5 
  2.5 
  5 
  4 
  2 
  6 
  3 
  1.5 
  For every wound a character has 
  taken beyond the average of his 
  Strength and Endurance, add 10 
  turns (five minutes) to the time which 
  he spends unconscious above the 
  base time given in the table. 
  For example, Carstairs has an En- 
  durance of 5 and a Strength of 3. He 
  will lose consciousness if he takes 
  four wounds. Unfortunately, Car- 
  stairs has. a nasty encounter with a 
  tyrannosaUrus and in one attack is 
  bitten for six wounds. If he had taken 
  four wounds, he would recover con- 
  sciousness in four turns (two min- 
  utes). Because he has taken six 
  wounds, it will take him 20 extra 
  turns to recover consciousness, for 
  a total of 24 turns (12 minutes) 
  before he is conscious again. 
  After a character recovers con- 
  sciousness, he maintains the same 
  wound level at which he lost con- 
  sciousness (subject to normal heal- 
  ing). If he engages in combat or any 
  other activity which wounds him 
  again, he immediately loses con- 
  sciousness Once more, and the new 
  wound total is used to calculate when 
  he will once again regain conscious- 
  ness. 
  Normal Healing 
  WOUNDS WILL heal normally at 
  the rate of one wound every two days 
  spent resting and under medical care. 
  If a character is travelling or suffer- 
  ing from fever, wounds heal at the 
  rate of one per week. 
  Temporary Damage 
  ALL SUCCESSFUL unarmed 
  melee attacks from kicks, punches, 
  or even head butts inflict one wound. 
  However, this damage is actually, 
  for the most part, temporary damage 
  due to stunning, bruising, and pain. 
  Half of all wounds caused by un- 
  armed melee attacks (round fractions 
  up) are actuaUy temporary damage. 
  Temporary damage "heals" at a rate 
  of one wound every two hours (lon- 
  ger, at the referee's discretion, if 
  constant strenuous activity is being 
  undertaken, but never longer than 
  one wound every five hours). 
  If a character receives enough 
  wounds so that he would die while 
  he is still recovering from temporary 
  damage, he does not die. Instead, he 
  is unconscious until enough of the 
  temporary damage has healed to 
  bring his wound total down under the 
  point at which he would die. 
  For example, Eileen, whose 
  Strength is 3 and whose Endurance 
  is 4, was roughed up by some das- 
  tardly Fenians an hour ago and took 
  three unarmed combat wounds, two 
  of which are temporary damage. 
  Now she is bitten by a giant turtle 
  and takes six wounds. Nine wounds 
  would normally kill Eileen, but since 
  she is still recovering from tem- 
  porary damage, she is instead un- 
  conscious for three hours. When she 
  awakens, she will have seven 
  wounds and will undoubtedly seek 
  immediate medical attention. 
  TASK ATTEMPTS AT 
  ZERO SKILL LEVEL 
  IF A CHARACTER wishes to do 
  something which is resolved by the 
  use of a skill in which the character 
  has no skill (zero skill level), con- 
  sider the overall situation. If the 
  character can present a good reason 
  for making the attempt, such as just 
  having seen someone else perform 
  the task, and if the situation is an 
  emergency, the referee may institute 
  this procedure: The player makes a 
  quick roll against the attribute under 
  which the skill falls. If the roll is suc- 
  cessful, the referee awards the char- 
  acter with a skill level of 1 in that 
  skill and allows the character to at- 
  
  tempt the requisite task with this skill 
  level. When the current adventure or 
  episode is finished, the experience 
  point which this skill would have cost 
  to purchase is deducted from the 
  number of experience points which 
  the character receives. 
  THROWING 
  EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS 
  EXPLOSIVES WHICH can be 
  thrown include dynamite, the in- 
  famous anarchist's "black bomb," 
  and (for the daring or foolish) nitro- 
  glycerin. Grenade-like thrown weap- 
  ons include bottles of alcohol or oil 
  rigged to ignite on impact (fire- 
  bombs), and bottles of strong acid. 
  To attack with an explosive or 
  grenade-like weapon: 
  (1) Determine the range, in yards, 
  to the object. The referee's decision 
  is final. 
  (2) Roll the task to throw an ob- 
  ject for accuracy. 
  (3) Determine the explosive power 
  of the object by consulting the 
  Thrown Explosive Weapons Table, 
  or the "Combat" and "Equipment" 
  chapters of Space: 1889. 
  (4) Determine the burst size by 
  consulting the Explosive Burst Size 
  Table. 
  (5) If the task roll is successful, the 
  weapon hits exactly where desired. 
  All people in the burst area are 
  knocked down. Roll a die for each 
  character or NPC in the burst area. 
  A result of 2 or under is a hit. If a 
  character is hit, he takes a number 
  of wounds equal to one die roll for 
  each level of power of the explosion 
  and is knocked out by the blast. 
  Characters may make a save to avoid 
  being hit. The save number is 1, 
  modified by any cover modifiers 
  which may apply (see the Small 
  Arms Saving Throw Modifiers Ta- 
  ble). If the die roll indicates a hit by 
  an explosive weapon, but a save is 
  made, the character must make a sec- 
  ond, identical save. If this save is 
  failed, the character takes 1D6 
  wounds from the fragments kicked 
  out by the explosion, tf the save is 
  made, no wounds are taken. Certain 
  grenade-like weapons have special 
  attack and damage effects. 
  (6) If the task roll is unsuccessful, 
  the weapon deviates by a die roll in 
  yards. Roll a die, reroUing a 5 or 6. 
  If the result is a 1, the weapon went 
  long. On a 2, it landed to the right 
  of the target. On a 3, it was short, 
  and on a 4, it landed to the left. 
  Throw An Object For Accuracy: 
  The range of the target, in yards, is 
  the target number. Roll Throwing 
  dice. If a character has a Throwing 
  skill of 0, he has a skill level of 1/2 
  for the purposes of rolling this task 
  (he rolls a die and divides the result 
  by two). The distance the object is 
  thrown is three times the dice roll 
  divided by the weight of the object 
  in pounds. (This formula has been 
  condensed on the Thrown Explosive 
  Weapons Table.) If the target num- 
  ber or greater is rolled, the task 
  succeeds. 
  Dynamite: If multiple sticks are 
  thrown together, they must be fas- 
  tened together and fused to ignite 
  simultaneously. Roll a die when dy, 
  namite is thrown by characters with 
  no Explosives skill: On a 2-5, noth- 
  ing unusual occurs. On a I, the fuse 
  is short, and the dynamite goes off 
  midway to the target. On a 6, the 
  fuse is long, and characters in the 
  burst area may take two allowed ac- 
  tions before the dynamite goes off. 
  (They may run or even try to throw 
  the dynamite back.) 
  Black Bomb: Black bombs are 
  composed of a one-pound casing and 
  three pounds of gunpowder. If some- 
  one with no Explosives skill fuses 
  one, follow the procedure under 
  "dynamite." 
  Nitroglycerine: To move nitroglyc- 
  erin hastily is extremely dangerous. 
  If it is thrown, roll a die: On a 1-2, 
  it reaches the target before explod- 
  ing. On • 3-5, it explodes midway 
  to the target. On a 6, it blows up in 
  the throwing character's hand. 
  Firebomb: Firebombs are glass or 
  ceramic bottles filled with flammable 
  liquids which have been prepared 
  with a lighted wick to ignite on im- 
  pact. When a firebomb breaks, it ig- 
  nites flammable substances like pa- 
  per, cloth, or wood, which may burn 
  on after the firebomb has burnt out. 
  Characters in the burst radius of a 
  firebomb are not knocked down. 
  Characters hit by a firebomb take one 
  wound the first turn they are alight, 
  two wounds the second turn, and one 
  wound the third turn. The firebomb 
  then burns out. Characters may move 
  out of the fire, roll on the ground, 
  or take other actions to extinguish 
  themselves before the full course of 
  the damage has been run. However, 
  if a character misses his save, at least 
  one wound will be taken. 
  Strong Acid: Strong acid will 
  dissolve substances it reacts with, but 
  it takes awhile to work. Characters in 
  the burst radius of strong acid are not 
  knocked down. A character hit by 
  strong acid takes no damage the first 
  turn, one wound the second, and two 
  wounds the third. The fourth turn he 
  is totally incapacitated by pain for 
  2D6 turns (he can take no actions). 
  This sequence may be broken by 
  prompt medical attention, flushing out 
  the wound, or neutralizing the acid. 
  __ 
  GDW 
  
  \ 
  / 
  / 
  / 
  / /% 
  GANIS k~'~ 
  MOUNTAINS 
  ~<~ 
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  ~ 
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  Three Faces 
  VENUS 
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Space 1889/Space 1889.-.Core Rulebook.pdf