BARSOOM

Floating fourth from a distant sun in the inky depths of a parallel universe was Barsoom, the  Red Planet.  Its five mighty oceans once stood tribute to the life giving rivers and springs that supported the lush flora of this world.  At that time, the continents were devoid of any form of intelligent animal life except for a single source deep within the Valley Dor.  All this was twenty million years ago, when the hope of Barsoom lay in the fruit of the Tree of Life.

            “For countless ages the fruit of the Tree of Life underwent the gradual changes of evolution, passing by degrees from true plant life to a combination of plant and animal.  In the first stages the fruit of the tree possessed only the power of independent muscular action, while the stem remained attached to the parent plant; later a brain developed in the fruit, so that hanging there by their long stems they thought and moved as individuals.  Then with the development of perceptions came a comparison of them; judgments were reached and compared, and thus reason and the power to reason were born upon Barsoom.

            “Ages passed.  Many forms of life came and went upon the Tree of Life, but still all were attached to the parent plant by stems of various lengths.  At length the fruit tree consisted in tiny plant men, such as we now see reproduced in such huge dimensions in the Valley Dor, but still hanging to the limbs and branches of the tree by the stems which grew out of the tops of their heads. 

            “The buds from which the plant men blossomed resembled large nuts about a foot in diameter, divided by double partition walls into four sections.  In one section grew the plant man, in another a sixteen legged worm, in the third the progenitor of the white ape and in the fourth, the primaeval black man of Barsoom.

            “When the bud burst the plant man remained dangling at the end of the stem, while the other three sections fell to the ground, where the efforts of their imprisoned occupants sent them hopping about in all directions.”    (GM, VII)

 

            From the descendants of these buds arose the Green Martian and the three principle races of Barsoom; the First Born, yellow Martians, and the white Martians.  The peak of the Martian civilization was reached over one hundred thousand years ago when the sailing ships of the fair-skinned Martians ruled the planet’s five mighty oceans.   A race of brave men and beautiful women, they prospered and their ancient empire stretched from pole to pole.  Under the leadership of the white Martians, architecture, literature and the esoteric arts reached a pinnacle that has not been reclaimed..

            A sophisticated race of builders, artists and merchants, the glory of the ancient Martians was lost forever.   Their planet was dying, the atmosphere was thinning and the Red Planet’s oceans were slowly evaporating.   The docks of their opulent cities were extended in a vain attempt to keep pace with the receding waters, but soon all the bays and most of the rivers were dry. 

            Although famine and disease took their toll, greater mortality arose from the conflict that arouse when the savage green hordes were no longer restrained by natural boundaries. Previous enemies now cooperated and they slowly developed the capacity to become oviparous as well as telepathic.   “The result was a partial amalgamation of the blacks, whites and yellows, the result of which is seen in the splendid race of red men.”  (GM, XII)

            The handsome and cunning black race migrated to the tropical South Pole and prospered upon the loot of piracy.  The yellow Martians established a secret kingdom in the planet’s frozen North Pole. The white race is nearly extinct, and their descendants, the evil therns, are a “race of mental giants and moral pygmies.”   (GM, IV)

            A soft, ochre moss now covers most of the surface of the Barsoom with the exception of the poles and the cultivated districts of the red men, which are inter-connected by a complex network of canals. The oxygen level of the Red Planet’s environment is maintained by the great atmosphere plant built by red Martian scientists many years ago.  With the advent of the aerial battleship, the green Martian hordes have been confined to the dead sea bottoms and the ruins of ancient seaports.

 

            Nights upon Barsoom are very cold as the thin atmosphere of the planet does little to retain heat.  The twin moons brilliantly illuminate the night sky when they both appear; otherwise, the nights can be very dark.  Dawn and dusk have a rapid onset and the days are hot.  In the orange skies of the Red Planet there are few clouds. The landscape is smooth; there are occasional rolling hills and few peaks exceed 4,000 feet in height.  

IMAGE is from Joe Jusko

TIME MEASUREMENT upon Barsoon

            “The Martian day is a trifle over 24 hours, 37 minutes duration (Earth time).  This the Martians divide into ten equal parts commencing the day about 6 AM Earth time.  The zodes are divided into fifty shorter periods, each of which in turn is comprised of 200 brief periods of time, about the equivalent of the earthly second.  The Barsoomian Table of Time as here given is but a part of the full table appearing in Captain Carter’s notes (GM, XVI):  

                                                                                                Table 1.1              

200 tals = 1 xat

50 xats = 1 zode

10 zodes =  1 revolution.”

                                                                                 

     Game action is resolved in rounds (rd); each representing 20 tals (17.7seconds) of simulated time. 10 rounds = 1 xat.   In the course of a round, most characters are presented an opportunity to attack, defend and/or move.  Other game actions such as parleying, searching and complex tasks (traveling or skill usage) require greater amounts of simulated time and are measured in

 

 xats (a little less than 3 minutes),

zodes (a little less than 2 ½ hours),

days ( 24 hours, 37 minutes),

weeks ( 7 days = 1 week),

months ( 8 weeks = 1 month), or

years (12 months,  96 weeks or 672 days).

 

            It is important for the game master (GM) to keep close track of the passage of game time (simulated not actual) during an adventure or action sequence.  This prevents confusion between the interrelation of the activities of the player characters (PCs) with the f actions of important NPCs as well as time and history upon the Red Planet.

 

Date          Historical Event

 

-50000 Nation of Helium established

 -7500  First great canal completed

     0      Atmosphere Plant completed  

  1066   First Aerial Battleship constructed

  1864   Tardos Mors becomes Jeddak

  1987   John Carter Arrives upon Barsoom     

  2000   The death of Issus 

  2002   Heliumite fleet sacks Kadabra 

  2005   Improved navigation compass invented
 

LINEAR MEASUREMENT upon Barsoom

            The basic unit of linear measurement is known as the ad which is equal to 117 inches or equivalent to 9.75 feet or 3 meters.  

 

Players are encouraged to use pewter miniatures or plastic figurines to simulate action upon a game board or table.  This allows greater visualization of game action and facilitates determination of a PC’s position relative to NPCs or monsters. Usually 28mm scale miniatures are used; therefore, the game board is divided into one inch (real not simulated) spaces with each space (square, grid or hex) representing ½ ad or 5 feet of simulated distance.  In combat, characters are assumed to be moving around a lot; hence, the location of the miniature or figurine represents the most frequent (not the precise) location of the character or beast.

Only one conscious character is allowed per space and character facing should not be arbitrary. Characters placed in adjacent spaces are within range for melee combat if there are no intervening obstacles (walls, doors, etc).    

 

                                                              Table 1.2  

   1  sofad        =   Barsoomian foot

  10 sofads       =   1 ad             (9.75 feet)

    200 ads        = 1 haad          (1949 feet)

 100 haads       = 1 karad        (37 miles)

360 karads      = circumference planet at equator.

 

            Distance and Weapon Ranges are measured according to the miniature scale where 2” of real or table top distance simulates one ad.  Weapon ranges and movement are expressed in inches assuming action is occurring indoors with suboptimal lighting conditions and/or moving targets.  The GM or referee may double weapon ranges if sunlight and stationary targets.    


IMAGE is from Frank Frazetta

SIZE

Size (Sz) does matter!  Based on the virtue of their bulk, bigger characters will be more resistance to injury.  Size for a character or being is determined by race or species and measured on a scale from zero to nine.  Bigger characters also inflict more damage with natural weaponry.

                                    ^{Table 1.3}

 SIZE      Mass (#)               Examples

 

    0              < 1                      insect                              

    1           1  -   9                     sorak                

    2          10 -   49                ulsio              

    3          50 -  99                red Martian female    

    4        100 - 149              red Martian male

    5        150 - 249              black pirate, calot

    6        250 - 499             banth, green Martian female 

    7        500 - 999            green warrior, plant man

    8       1000- 2999         white ape, domestic thoat

    9       3000- 9999        apt, wild bull thoat

“While green Martians are immense, their bones are very large and they are muscled only in proportion to the gravitation they must overcome.  The result is they are less agile and less powerful, in proportion to their weight, than an Earth man, and I doubt that were one of them suddenly too be transported to Earth, he could lift his own weight from the ground.”    (PM, III)   

MASS is a measure of the weight as well as the bulk of an object.  An object might actually be relatively light (low weight) but because of its low density and shape might actually have a relatively large mass rating.  Since no Barsoomian measure of mass is described in the chronicles, in this game simulation, mass is measured in mass units (abbreviated #) being equivalent to a little more than 1 earthly pound (about o.5 kg).  

Image from Frank Cho

MONEY upon Barsoom

 

Money is used to purchase supplies, equipment, weapons and lodging.    The Red Planet’s monetary system is based upon oval coins whose value is determined by the weight of their metal.  Each silver coin is about the size of an American or Canadian quarter and weighs about five grams.  

  100 coins weighs one mass unit (1#);

 1 bronze coin = price of meal or loaf of bread

10 bronze coins = 1 silver coin or daily wage

10 silver coins (10sc) = 1 gold coin (1gc)

                “Paper money is issued by individuals as they require it and redeemed twice yearly.  If a man issues more than he can redeem, the government pays his creditors in full and the debtor works out the amount upon the farms or in the mines which are owned by the government.  This suits everybody fine except for the debtor as it has been a difficult thing to obtain sufficient voluntary labor to work the great isolated farm lands of Mars, stretching as they do like narrow ribbons from pole to pole, through wild stretches peopled by wild animals and wilder men.”         (PM, XX)

Individual nations and city-states often mint their own coins.  Foreign coins can be converted to acceptable tender for a modest fee (1-6%).  Adventurers beware; large amounts of foreign coin will often attract unwanted attention of law enforcement and/or the criminal element.

            “The public houses of Barsoom, I found vary little.  There is no privacy except for married couples.

            “Men without their wives are escorted to a large chamber, the floor of which is usually of white marble or heavy glass kept scrupulously clean.   Here are many small platforms for the guest’s sleeping silks and furs, and if he have none of his own, clean, fresh ones are provided at a nominal charge. 

            “Once a man’s belongings have been deposited upon one of these platforms he is a guest of the house, and that platform his own until he leaves.  No one will disturb or molest his belongings, as there are no thieves upon Mars. 

            “No meals are served in these houses, but generally a public eating place adjoins them.  Baths are connected with the sleeping chambers, and each guest is required to bathe daily or depart from the hotel.”

            (WM, X)

TECHNOLOGY

technology is the application of science and manufacturing to produce durable goods and consumer products.  Technology allows a civilization to harness the forces of nature for energy.  A society that obtains superior technology will increase the wages and quality of life for its citizens. 

In game terms, technology is measured on a ordinal scale from one to ten (Roman Numerals) referred to as the tech level (TL).  The TL of the Red Planet does not run in a smooth or linear fashion as found in our Earth’s history.

 

                     Table 1.4

 Tech        

Level    AGE        Examples

 

    I       Stone                  prehistoric               

   II      Bronze               Greeks  & Romans

   III     Iron                  Vikings & Medieval

   IV     Golden              16– 18^th century

   V      Sorrow                green tribes

  VI      Steam                19^th   century         

  VII    Silver                 20^th century          

 VIII    Modern             Heliumite Empire

   IX     Sci-Fiction        INVENTIONS       

   X       Sci-Fantasy          RELICS

 

 

 TL I = People live in caves or grass huts.  Fire is used for heat and cooking. Travel is on foot or by dugout canoes.   Tools and weapons are made from wood, stone and hide. This is the typical TL for castaways, tribesmen and inhabitants of the Barsoomian salt marshes. 

TL II =  People live in clay or stone buildings.  Wind is harnessed for simple sailing ships such as galleys and triremes.  Agriculture and writing is discovered.  Polytheistic religions are common.  Domestication of large animals allows cavalry as essential military units.  TL II was available during our Earth’s Peloponnesian Wars and the Old Testament.  

TL III = People live in wood homes, while public buildings are made from marble or granite.             Oil lamps are used for illumination.  The main ocean going vessel is the longboat or cog.  Stirrups, nails, locks, and simple machines are available.   Churches and wealthy estates have glass windows.    

TL IV = Development of reliable cannons has rendered conventional stone fortresses obsolete.     The printing press allows rapid exchange of news, information, and knowledge.   Windmills are used to grind grain.  Common people can afford glassware and china.  The telescope, sextant and cartography allow dependable navigation of the oceans and seas. Medicine becomes a true science and esoteric arts obtain an outstanding level of development.   Although muzzle-loading firearms are available, they are not reliable when damp; therefore, sailors still carry bows as crossbows as personal weaponry.

TL V = Peaceful society has collapsed; literature, architecture and science are neglected; however, medical skill is retained.  Manufacturing is limited and when present is limited to producing armaments; however, most weaponry is scavenged from the spoils of the battlefield.   Society is tribal and nomadic, requiring communities to travel to locations of the most favorable weather or game.    
 

TL VI = People live in brick or wooden homes, many with built-in gas furnaces and lamps.  Coal is burned to power steam engines giving rise to the locomotive and the steamship.  Iron is smelted to steel in an affordable and abundant manner.  The migration of people from the farms to urban areas is increased.   Use of interchangeable parts allows for the inexpensive production of weaponry; carbines and cap & ball revolvers are invented.

TL VII = People live in insulated homes, many with refrigerators, electric lights and central heating.     This era marks the production of simple, but serviceable fliers; however, regional trade is limited. The 8^th and 9^th rays are harnessed and the great atmosphere plant is completed. The radium revolver is invented. On earth, this era is known for mass production of crew-served weapons of war such as tanks, airplanes and battleships. 

TL VIII = The common worker can afford a vehicle and send his children to college.  Denizens of our Earth have cell phones, microwave ovens, fast food, robots, gene therapy, mobile computers, cloning and super-sonic air travel.

TL IX = Interplanetary travel becomes readily accessible and inter-stellar travel is available to powerful empires;  think blasters, lasers, cybernetics, tractor beams, warp drives, and androids.

TL X = “Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”    

 

 Arthur C. Clarke