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

  

Bronze versus Iron

 
In the ancient world, both iron and bronze were available; however, it was the Assyrians who first developed an ECONOMICALLY feasible method to extract iron ore from earth.

Genesis 4:22 “Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron.

The historical transition of armies from iron to bronze weapons was economically driven , not because iron weapons of the day were superior, but far less expensive. It was better to outfit 5 soldiers with iron weapons and armor, then one soldier with bronze or masterwork weapons and armor.

“ quantity has a quality of its own.” Josef Stalin

Bronze weapons and armor are stronger, sharper and do not rust; however, bronze is brittle. Bronze chips it doesn’t bend; therefore, it must be ENTIRELY recast, it cannot be hammered back into its original shape if damaged.

1 Sam 14: A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.   He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of BRONZE weighing five thousand shekels (about 121 pounds); on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.  His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its IRON point weighed six hundred shekels (about 14.5 lbs).”

Iron is more malleable than bronze. Iron bends or deforms , while bronze SHATTERS or CHIPS, therefore iron is more readily repaired or remolded. Bronze weapons required material components that were geographically isolated (aka the ‘tin isles’)

In the Roman army, an officer had a bronze sword or gladius, while infantry soldiers carried iron blades.

One final distinction, friction on iron can generate a spark, while bronze does not spark.

BARSOOM RPG review by Hill Cantons

Red Planet RPG Review by Hill Cantons

http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2010/11/sword-and-planets-review-of-red-planet.html

“Sword and Planet” genre appears to be in a full-bloomed mini-revival these days. Paizo devoted an on-going series of re-released classics and one need only toss a virtual rock at many old school gaming blogs these days to hit some kind of exploration of these science fantasy themes (my own exploration of Tekumel is part and parcel of this trend).

For all that energy, I am frankly puzzled by the fact that we haven't seen a profusion of sword and planet-styled games (to date that is, there are some highly-inspired OD&D supplements and works in progress). Thus I was very pleasantly surprised to receive a few weeks back a package containing a handy set of Barsoom-flavored RPG rules from my fellow Texan and old school blogger Clovis Cithog.

Like many old schoolers, I'm a perversely difficult audience when it comes to new rule sets. I love innovation--especially when it tends to pare down complexity, help amplify a literary theme, or provide interesting game-play situations--but tend to be stubbornly conservative and, dare I say, lazy when it comes to new game mechanics. A stripped-down D&D platform with chrome and other tricked out bits bolted on top works for me far more often then not.

Red Planet is fortunately such a beast. Weighing in at less than 70 pages and with tried and true core features like archetypical classes, level advancement, similar attributes, familiar combat mechanics, etc. I liked the fact that I could read through it and feel like I could run a successful game with it in a few days time.

It's with the crunch that the game has it's best moments, however. First of all, Clovis makes no bones about situating the game in not just some Mars but THE Barsoom of Edgar Rice Burroughs fame. Given my own interest in respectfully exploring the public domain works of pulp fantasy I appreciated how he weaves in the right amount of flavor and setting information as a tribute to Burroughs' work without it feeling like a regurgitation.

Character generation is fun and simple with players selecting or rolling from the major sentient races of Mars: Red, Green, Thern, Black Pirate, Yellow, or Exotic. (Interestingly there are no John Carter-like outsiders here.) Each race has a preferred class (called “vocation” in the rules) and can only play a small handful of classes outside these.

The classes are a also fun and setting-appropriate range. Troopers are thoat-mounted fighters and Warriors more of the typical fighting man type. Criminals are more assassin than thief, a choice that seems to be pretty consistent with the material. Scientists are the technology users who can employ relics and have access to inventions. Extras seem to be the jack-of-all-trades class that reminds me a little of the prosaically-named Classic Traveller “Other” career.

The inclusion of a spell-casting Priest class (written by the talented Micheal Curtis) is an exception to the rule about staying close to the source material. Their introduction seems a bit awkward to me given the near-absence of religion and magic in ERB's work. Clovis acknowledges himself the dilemma and allows for a GM to ignore or restrict the class and spell-casting rules.

Combat mechanics are a simplified d20-like system with ascending AC and an interesting 2nd-edition AD&D-ish division of effects between four categories of weapons: blunt, piercing, slashing, and energy. Rules exist for the wide range of relic and strange tech items one could employ in combat.

Rules for fliers are among my favorites in the game and remind me some of the great Space 1889 subsystems of yore. What Barsoom would be complete without PCs blasting, grappling, or ramming one in each and every adventure?

Level advancement has some interesting quirks. PCs start at 2nd level and there are no experience points as such. Instead at the end of an adventure a player rolls a d6 in which an attribute, skill, or level is increased. Personally I am still too wed to the quantifible bean counting that comes with exp. Systems, but I like the nice randomized pay-off system that reminds me of the fun of leveling up in first edition Gamma World

.
Author is currently posting the game for FREE
upon my blog under the section heading  'RP"

Xavarian

A battleship of Barsoom commanded by Kantos Kan that was instrumental in the rescue of John Carter and Carthoris after they escaped from the black pirates. Like all capitol ships, the Xavarian carries on board a plethora of smaller craft which includes one 10-man cruiser, five 5-man armed, scout craft and a swarm of one hundred, unarmed 1-man scout fliers.

“The Warhoons were perhaps a hundred yards from us when a loud explosion sounded from above and behind us, and almost at the same instant a shell burst in their advancing ranks. At once all was confusion. A hundred warriors toppled to the ground. Riderless thoats plunged hither and thither among the dead and dying. Dismounted warriors were trampled underfoot in the stampede which followed. All semblance of order had left the ranks of the green men, and as they looked far above our heads to trace the origin of this unexpected attack, disorder turned to retreat and retreat to a wild panic. In another moment they were racing as madly away from us as they had before been charging down upon us.

"We turned to look in the direction from whence the first report had come, and there we saw, just clearing the tops of the nearer hills, a great battleship swinging majestically through the air. Her bow gun spoke again even as we looked, and another shell burst among the fleeing Warhoons.” (GM XV)

Red Planet RPG Review by Paladin in Citadel

"There are several things that I feel very strongly about.
"One is that "hobbyist" game designers are producing games and game accessories that are just as ground-breaking and note-worthy as those produced by the so-called "professional" game designers.

"Another is that people deserve to be recognized and compensated for their work.

"Which brings me to Red Planet RPG. That game was written in 1990, and updated in 2005 (presumably to add the OGL, accompanying the current version of the game), by Clovis Cithog of Jasoomian Dreams. The cover illustration is by Elton Robb of The Atlantis Blog, with interior illustrations by Kris Todd and Patric Moore.

"While not the first role-playing game to be based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' Martian Chronicles (arguably, that honor goes to TSR's Warriors Of Mars), this early implementation of rules for a Barsoomian role-playing game is equally true to the source material, and will cost you significantly less to purchase.

"For those of you familiar with the John Carter of Mars series, all of the recognizable Barsoomian elements are included: the races (red, green and yellow martians, therns, and black pirates); measurements (tals, xats, zodes, sofads, ads, etc.); weapons (radium weapons, rapiers); fliers; and, monsters (apts, banths, and white apes).

"Red Planet RPG appears to be a very faithful adaptation of the Martian Chronicles, going into great detail regarding the setting, the peoples, culture and history of Barsoom.

"Clovis has elected to utilize both class and skill systems for character generation and differentiation. I have no fatal objections to that approach; after all, that approach is basically how Traveller works, and Traveller is beloved by many old-schoolers. The classes and skills in Red Planet RPG are well-suited for the setting: classes include scientist, trooper, criminal, warrior and priest. The skills are likewise well-suited to a science-fantasy setting, with both fantasy and high technological skills included in the list.

"Red Planet uses six abilities as the basis for character generation. Those abilities (Strength, Agility, Tenacity, Reason, Intuition and Persuasion) are roughly analogous to the six abilities in D&D. Hit points are also employed, along with saving throws and levels. Therefore, those familiar with the basic workings of D&D will have no difficulty grasping and employing this game almost immediately after digesting the flavour and setting of this game.

"The combat system is more elaborate than what you will find in early iterations of Dungeons and Dragons. The combat system includes, for example, four separate critical hits tables, for blunt, energy, piercing and slashing weapons respectively. Though the combat system is a bit more detailed than the one I typically employ,this certainly adds some interesting cinematic (for lack of a better word) elements.

"Red Planet includes spells for Priests, despite the fact that the author acknowledges that most priests in the Martian Chronicles are either frauds or charlatans. But what would a fantasy role-playing game be without spell-casters!

"At 72 pages, Red Planet RPG is a lot of game, packed in a small package. As a hobbyist game-designer and publisher, Clovis Cithog is humble about his creation, and offers it at the bargain price of $10 to US residents. As I said at the start of this review, I feel strongly about trumpeting the remarkable achievements of the hobbyist game designers in our midst, and seeing them fairly compensated for their efforts. This game is a steal at $10. "

http://apaladinincitadel.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-red-planet-rpg.html

Zodanga

The capital city of this red Martian empire is located in Barsoom’s southwest hemisphere; however, at one time, its mines, canals, farmlands and territories stretched from pole to pole. The capital city’s gates had “no regular guard, but are covered by sentries, who patrol the avenue that encircles the city just within the walls as our metropolitan police patrol their beats. . . The walls of Zodanga are seventy-five feet in height and fifty feet thick. They are built of enormous blocks of carborundum, and the task of entering the city seemed, to my escort of green warriors, an impossibility.” (PM XIV)

At the height of its power, Zodanga could field an infantry of one million warriors and a navy of several thousand battleships.
"The bravery of the Zodangans was awe-inspiring." (PM XIV) The hereditary enemy of Helium, this red Martian empire also “had for years waged a ruthless campaign of extermination against the green men, directing special attention toward despoiling their incubators.” (PM XIV)

Zodanga has never fully recovered after its capitol was sacked by a mighty alliance of 150,000 Green Martian troopers lead by John Carter and Tars Tarkas of Thark.
“Behind us we left the stricken city in the fierce and brutal clutches of some forty thousand green warriors of the lesser hordes. They were looting, murdering, and fighting amongst themselves. In a hundred places they had applied the torch, and columns of dense smoke were rising above the city as though to blot out from the eye of heaven the horrid sights beneath." (PM XVI)

After Zodanga was conquered, Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium appointed Zat Arras as the new Jed of Zodanga. Zat Arras was a man of thin, cruel lips who turned out to be a disappointing successor of Than Kosis (the former Jeddak of Zodanga who was killed by John Carter). Zat Arras was an ambitious coward, who rather than face the Prince of Helium in combat upon the decks of a battleship, turned, ran and “sprung to the rail and hurled himself headforemost into the awful depths below.” (GM XIX)

APT

INTV….... +0
ATTK….. +5/ one bite OR +3/ two tucks
DMGE…….3d6 OR 2d6 each
AC…….…. 5 [15]
HD……… 8d8
Fort..…... +4
Will……. +3
Move…..…. 7”

“The apt was our most consistent and dangerous foe. It is a huge, white furred creature with six limbs, four of which, short and heavy, carry it swiftly over the snow and ice; while the other two, growing forward from the shoulders on either side of its long, powerful neck, terminate in white, hairless hands, with which it seizes and holds its prey. Its head and mouth are more similar in appearance to those of a hippopotamus than any other earthly animal, except that from the sides of the lower jawbone two mighty horns curve slightly downward toward the front. Its two huge eyes inspired my greatest curiosity.
“They extend into vast, oval patches from the center of the top of the cranium, down either side of the head to below the roots of their horns, so that these weapons really grow out from the lower part of the eyes, which are composed of several thousand ocelli each. . . each ocellus is furnished with its own lid, and the animal can at will open as many of the facets of its huge eyes as it chooses, because much of its life is spent in subterranean recesses.” (WM, VIII, p.79-80)


Without fear and unhindered by grievous injury, apts hunt alone or in pairs, they “rove the dismal north attacking every living thing that comes within the scope of their far-seeing eyes. Even when their bellies are full, and they can eat no more, they kill purely for the pleasure which they derive from taking life.” (WM, VIII, p.80)

B&Wimage is from Kris Todd
Color is Micheal Whelan's artwork
image FROM: http://www.erbzine.com/mag14/apt1h3.jpg