Phaidor is a Goddess

"I can aid you," she said, "and you will need all the aid available when they awaken."
"Some of them will awake in Korus," I replied smiling.
She caught the meaning of my words, and the cruelty of her answering smile horrified me. One is not astonished by cruelty in a hideous face, but when it touches the features of a goddess whose fine-chiselled lineaments might more fittingly portray love and beauty, the contrast is appalling. Quickly I released her.
"Give me a revolver," she whispered. "I can use that upon those your sword does not silence in time."
I did as she bid. Then I turned toward the distasteful work that lay before me. This was no time for fine compunctions, nor for a chivalry that these cruel demons would neither appreciate nor reciprocate.
Stealthily I approached the nearest sleeper. When he awoke he was well on his journey to the bosom of Korus. His piercing shriek as consciousness returned to him came faintly up to us from the black depths beneath. The second awoke as I touched him, and, though I succeeded in hurling him from the cruiser's deck, his wild cry of alarm brought the remaining pirates to their feet. There were five of them.
As they arose the girl's revolver spoke in sharp staccato and one sank back to the deck again to rise no more. The others rushed madly upon me with drawn swords. The girl evidently dared not fire for fear of wounding me, but I saw her sneak stealthily and cat-like toward the flank of the attackers. Then they were on me."
(GM VII)


"I ceased my efforts to climb across the gunwale. Instead I took a firm grasp upon the rail with my left hand and drew my dagger. I should at least die as I had lived--fighting. . .
Thurid was beside her now--pushing past to reach me first, and then what happened happened so quickly that it was all over before I could realize the truth of it. Phaidor's slim hand shot out to close upon the black's dagger wrist. Her right hand went high with its gleaming blade.
"That for Matai Shang!" she cried, and she buried her blade deep in the dator's breast. "That for the wrong you would have done Dejah Thoris!" and again the sharp steel sank into the bloody flesh.
"And that, and that, and that!" she shrieked, "for John Carter, Prince of Helium," and with each word her sharp point pierced the vile heart of the great villain. Then, with a vindictive shove she cast the carcass of the First Born from the deck to fall in awful silence after the body of his victim.
I had been so paralyzed by surprise that I had made no move to reach the deck during the awe-inspiring scene which I had just witnessed, and now I was to be still further amazed by her next act, for Phaidor extended her hand to me and assisted me to the deck, where I stood gazing at her in unconcealed and stupefied wonderment. A wan smile touched her lips--it was not the cruel and haughty smile of the goddess with which I was familiar. (WM XV)

Navies of Barsoom

The aerial navies of Barsoom are the force that gives the Red Martians superiority in warfare against the other races. The battleship is the principal warship upon the Red Planet. Proudly displayed on the bow of all warships is the nation’s identifying device or insignia. While the hulls of scientific or merchant vessels are painted grey. “Upon each battleship there are five ten-man cruisers, and ten five-man scouts, and a hundred one-man scouts." (GM XIX)

Smaller and swifter warships such as cruiser or destroyers are used for patrol or convey duty. “If we are high enough our keel plates will protect us from rifle fire. . . . The swifter craft are seldom equipped with large buoyancy tanks, since the added bulk of them tends to reduce a vessel's speed. . . . Our speed must have approximated two hundred miles an hour, for Martian fliers are swift, so that at most we were in the shaft not over forty seconds.” (GM XIII)

Naval crew are referred to as sailors or thans. A lieutenant or padwar is the lowest rank of naval officer and sometimes will command a ten-man cruiser. A captain or dwar is the rank required to lead either a 100 man cruiser or a destroyer. A battleship is controlled by an odwar or commander, while a fleet (some as large as 100 battleships) is under the direction of a warlord or jedwar.

“My fellow prisoner was Kantos Kan, a padwar (lieutenant) in the navy of Helium. He had been a member of the ill-fated expedition which had fallen into the hands of the Tharks at the time of Dejah Thoris' capture, and he briefly related the events which followed the defeat of the (twenty) battleships. … Thirty days after the capture of Dejah Thoris, or about the time of our coming to Thark, his vessel had reached Helium with about ten survivors of the original crew of seven hundred officers and men. Immediately seven great fleets, each of one hundred mighty war ships, had been dispatched to search for Dejah Thoris, and from these vessels two thousand smaller craft had been kept out continuously in futile search for the missing princess." (PM XIX)

Soldiers salute by placing both palms forward above their head. Advancement in rank for officers and crew is thru merit and courage. \Warfare, is too omnipresent upon the Red Planet for politics and wealth to have a major roll in career progression. Naval crews of the Red Martian are disciplined, virtuous and merciless. “Upon Barsoom, quarter is neither asked nor given, and each dead man means so much more of the waning resources of this dying planet to be divided amongst those who survive.” (GM VII)

A naval battle upon Barsoom is a most spectacular sight to behold; however there is “an extremely pathetic side to the surrender of these mighty fliers, the result of an age-old custom which demanded that surrender should be signalized by the voluntary plunging to earth of the commander of the vanquished vessel. One after another the brave fellows, holding their colors high above their heads, leaped from the towering bows of their mighty craft to an awful death.” (PM XXVI)

“On the morning of the second day we raised the great fleet of transports and their consorts at the first flood of dawn, and soon were near enough to exchange signals (by flags). I may mention here that radio-aerograms are seldom if ever used in war time, or for the transmission of secret dispatches at any time, for as often as one nation discovers a new cipher, or invents a new instrument for wireless purposes its neighbours bend every effort until they are able to intercept and translate the messages. For so long a time has this gone on that practically every possibility of wireless communication has been exhausted and no nation dares transmit dispatches of importance in this way.” (PM XIX)

At its zenith, the fleet of Helium is about 7000 battleships and capital ships and at least 1000 transports. Each transport can carry 250 Green Troopers or 750 Red Troopers or 2000 Red Infantry.

The navy of Ptarth has 4,000 battleships.
The navy of Dusar has 5,000 battleships.
The navy of Zodanga has 3,000 battleships.
The navy of Gathol has 500 battleships.
Protected by a forest of towering trees, the nation of Kaol requires no navy.

The Fleet of the therns is 2000 battleships. while the elite black pirate armada is 1000 capital ships.

Joe Jusko is following MY blog ; - )

What an honor . . .
Check out his great artwork in Dynamite comics

Warlord of Mars #5 came out THIS week
enclosed is the story of Zad

Thuvia is hotter than an Elf chic

“She advanced all defenseless and unarmed upon the snarling banths.
When quite close to them she spoke a single Martian word in low but peremptory tones. Like lightning the great beasts wheeled upon her, and I looked to see her torn to pieces before I could reach her side, but instead the creatures slunk to her feet like puppies that expected a merited whipping.
Again she spoke to them, but in tones so low I could not catch the words, and then started toward the opposite chamber with six mighty monsters trailing at heel. One by one she sent them through the secret panel into the room beyond, and when the last had passed from the chamber where we stood in wide-eyed amazement, she turned and smiled.” (GM, IV)

Again he caught her roughly to him, dragging her towards his couch. "If you will not be my queen," he said, "you shall be my slave."
"Neither!" cried the girl.
As she spoke the single word there was a quick move of her right hand; Tario, releasing her, staggered back, both hands pressed to his side. At the same instant the room filled with bowmen, and then the jeddak of Lothar sank senseless to the marble floor.
At the instant that he lost consciousness the bowmen were about to release their arrows into Thuvia's heart. Involuntarily she gave a single cry for help, though she knew that not even Carthoris of Helium could save her now.
Then she closed her eyes and waited for the end. No slender shafts pierced her tender side. She raised her lids to see what stayed the hand of her executioners. The room was empty save for herself and the still form of the jeddak of Lothar lying at her feet, a little pool of crimson staining the white marble of the floor beside him. Tario was unconscious. (TMM VIII)

Dejah Thoris is hotter than an elf chick ! !

and her Dynamite comic came out THIS week

Green Martian Organization

A green Martian community will field 400 to 500 troopers. All green Martian warriors are cavalry whom typically Troopers ride five abreast. In addition, to its warriors a community, also supports 200- 300 youth as well as 200- 230 adult females. Each adult female commands a spacious, three-wheeled chariot followed by a calot and pulled by a zitadar upon whom sits a GM youth. (PM VII, XV)

“The training of myself and the young Martians was conducted solely by the women, who not only attend to the education of the young in the arts of individual defense and offense, but are also the artisans who produce every manufactured article wrought by the green Marians. They make the powder, the cartridges, the firearms; in fact everything of value is produced by the females. In time of actual warfare they form a part of the reserves, and when the necessity arises fight with even greater intelligence and ferocity than the men.

“The men are trained in the higher branches of the art of war; in strategy and the maneuvering of large bodies of troops. They make the laws as they are needed; a new law for each emergency. They are unfettered by precedent in the administration of justice. Customs have been handed down by ages of repetition, but the punishment for ignoring a custom is a matter for individual treatment by a jury of the culprit's peers, and I may say that justice seldom misses fire, but seems rather to rule in inverse ratio to the ascendency of law.” (PM IX)

The regular military units are organized into squads of twenty which are lead by a lieutenant or padwar. Five squads equals a company which is commanded by a chieftain. A community has 10 to 15 chieftains that are overseen by a jed. There exists upon Barsoom about a dozen large tribes of green Martians that are 10 – 60 communities in size. These massive tribes (Thark, Thurd, Torquas, Warhoon) are lead by a jeddak and derive their name from the deserted city that serves as their capitol.

“This, then, must be the notorious Hortan Gur, Jeddak of Torquas, the fierce old ogre of the south-western hemisphere, as only for a jeddak are platforms raised in temporary camps or upon the march by the green hordes of Barsoom. As the Heliumite watched he saw another green warrior push his way forward toward the rostrum. Beside him he dragged a captive, and as the surrounding warriors parted to let the two pass, Carthoris caught a fleeting glimpse of the prisoner.” (TMM V)

Due to their determination, strength, lethality and training, it is estimated it takes 10 unentrenched red Martian infantry warriors to oppose a single green Martian trooper. The greatest detriment of the green trooper in battle is his own bellicose nature. Tribalism runs deep and alliances do not last long.

“Why, oh, why will you not learn to live in amity with your fellows, must you ever go on down the ages to your final extinction but little above the plane of the dumb brutes that serve you! A people without written language, without art, without homes, without love; the victim of eons of the horrible community idea. Owning everything in common, even to your women and children, has resulted in your owning nothing in common. You hate each other as you hate all else except yourselves.” (PM X)

Although green Martians have no aircraft, no artillery and no permanent fortifications, their skill with their rifles makes them a threat to the mighty armadas of the red Martian navies.

“The fire from the vessels was most ineffectual, owing, as I afterward learned, to the unexpected suddenness of the first volley, which caught the ship's crews entirely unprepared and the sighting apparatus of the guns unprotected from the deadly aim of our warriors.
“It seems that each green warrior has certain objective points for his fire under relatively identical circumstances of warfare. For example, a proportion of them, always the best marksmen, direct their fire entirely upon the wireless finding and sighting apparatus of the big guns of an attacking naval force; another detail attends to the smaller guns in the same way; others pick off the gunners; still others the officers; while certain other quotas concentrate their attention upon the other members of the crew, upon the upper works, and upon the steering gear and propellers.
“Twenty minutes after the first volley the great fleet swung trailing off in the direction from which it had first appeared. Several of the craft were limping perceptibly, and seemed but barely under the control of their depleted crews. Their fire had ceased entirely and all their energies seemed focused upon escape. Our warriors then rushed up to the roofs of the buildings which we occupied and followed the retreating armada with a continuous fusillade of deadly fire.” (PM VIII)

Image is from DC Comics 196?

Ranged Combat

“I fell almost directly in the center of the fierce combat, among warriors who had not seen my approach so busily were they engaged in life and death struggles. The men were fighting on foot with long-swords, while an occasional shot from a sharpshooter on the outskirts of the conflict would bring down a warrior who might for an instant separate himself from the entangled mass.” (PM XXV)

……………….….Defending…Unit . . . . . . . . . . . .
..........…..RW…RT…GT….TW....BP...YM.....RANGE
WEAPON
Javelin.….5.…..6…...6…....5…....5…...5.........7"
Bow......….4.…..5…...5…....5…....4…...4........12"
Pistol....….4.…..4…...5…....5…....4…...3........12"
Rvlvr.…....3.…..4…...4…....4…....3…...2........10"
Rifle....…...3.…..4…...4…....4…....3…...2........36"
GMR....…..2.…..3…...4…....3…....2…...2........99"
.

Melee combat is the preferred method of conflict upon Barsoom as
“Few red men are good shots, for the sword is their chosen weapon.” (TMM, IV)
To a lesser extent, large scale or army size combat is also governed by the code of arms; however, the unit with the lesser weapon has to attack first, before being attacked in ranged combat by the unit with the more advantageous weapons.

Javelins are used by Yellow Martians
Bows are used by ancient white Martians or isolated red Martian nations such as Manator.
Pistols are equivalent to revolvers and used by red warriors.
Revolvers are used by therns and black pirates and red Troopers.
Rifles are used by therns, Red troopers, and red kadars/ guards.
Green Martian rifles (GMR) are used by the 15' green troopers.
“Thar Ban reached the side of his mount he snatched his long radium rifle from its boot, and, wheeling, poured three shots into the oncoming red men. Such is the uncanny marksmanship of these green Martian savages that three red warriors dropped in their tracks as three projectiles exploded in their vitals.” (TMM IV)

The attacker rerolls all 1s if he is on higher terrain such as a hill, battlement, flier, etc. .

Saving throws are allowed if the defender/ target has cover. Chance of avoiding injury (d6) is based upon target’s cover - - >
a ‘6’ if light cover; smoke, brush, etc.,
a ‘5’ or ‘6’ if medium cover; trenches, walls, ruins, small flier, etc.,
a ‘4’, ‘5’ or ‘6’ if heavy cover; battlements, forests, battleship, etc..

This bonus is increased
An additional one in six if night combat, and/or
An additional one in six if elite or crack unit, and/or
An additional one in six if rapidly moving target, and/or
An additional one in six if target is at long range (twice that listed).

Regardless of defender’s cover and circumstantial modifiers, the defending unit or target always fails its saving throw on a natural one on the d6 throw.


art work by Thomas YEATES

Large Scale Melee

Upon the Red Planet, sword fights are the preferred method of settling individual and unit combat; melee combat is resolved according to the ancient or traditional code of arms:
“Scarcely had his hideous laugh rang out but once, when I was upon him. The brute was twelve feet in height and armed to the teeth, but I believe that I could have accounted for the whole roomful in the terrific intensity of my rage. Springing upward, I struck him full in the face as he turned at my warning cry and then as he drew his short-sword I drew mine and sprang up again upon his breast, hooking one leg over the butt of his pistol and grasping one of his huge tusks with my left hand while I delivered blow after blow upon his enormous chest.

“He could not use his short-sword to advantage because I was too close to him, nor could he draw his pistol, which he attempted to do in direct opposition to Martian custom which says that you may not fight a fellow warrior in private combat with any other than the weapon with which you are attacked. In fact he could do nothing but make a wild and futile attempt to dislodge me. With all his immense bulk he was little if any stronger than I, and it was but the matter of a moment or two before he sank, bleeding and lifeless, to the floor.” (PM X)

R = red, G = green, T = thern, B = black, Y = yellow, and
W = warrior, T = trooper or cavalry and P = pirate.

……………….….Defending…Unit
ATTR…..RW….RT….GT….TW….BP….YM....MOVE

RW…....….4.…..5…...6…....4…....6…...5.........6"
RT….....….3.…..4…...5…....3…....5…...4........12"
GT….....….2.…..3…...4…....2…....4…...3........15"

TW…....….3.…..4…...5…....3…....5…...4.........5"
BP….....….3.…..4…...5…....3…....5…...4.........6"
YW…....….4.…..5…...6…....4…....6…...5.........6"

Players may assign modifiers to the die roll based upon the circumstances; i.e.,
Charging, surprise, terrain advantage, troop quality, etc. . .

Retreat does not appear to be a common option for the determined warriors of Barsoom; therefore, unlike terrestrial based war games, morale rules are not a necessity. Each unit within base contact rolls d6 in melee and if the attacker’s die roll is equal or greater than number assigned to defending, a casualty (remove miniature or model from play). This continues until either player is eliminated or chooses to withdraw his forces from battle.

“These Kaolians are most noble fighters, nor are the green men of the equator one bit less warlike than their cold, cruel cousins of the temperate zone. There were many times when either side might have withdrawn without dishonor and thus ended hostilities, but from the mad abandon with which each invariably renewed hostilities I soon came to believe that what need not have been more than a trifling skirmish would end only with the complete extermination of one force or the other.”
(WM VI)


art work by Thomas YEATES

Open Gaming License

WELCOME,
This is a blog about classic role playing games and
Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian Chronicles - - 
If you are here by accident, have a look around.

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards").   All Rights Reserved.

 

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above image from: http://
media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/17/91/af/stone-age-times.jpg

Character Names

here is the quick and easy way to get a Fantasy/ Barsoomian sounding character name

go to the white pages of your phone book, place finger on any page (randomly)

take first five or six letters of last name (space)
followed by first three letters of first name

examples . . .

Charle Mic
Hilli Lar
Tompk Deb
Watso Ali

OR if you dont like these, try rearranging . . .

Mic Charle
Lar Hilli
Deb Tompk
Ali Watso