FRANK CHADWICK - The Eye | Front Page 1889... · 2018. 1. 14. · Screw Ram Gloire (17 prizes)...

FRANK CHADWICK

CLOUD CAPTAINS OF MARS

Design and DevelopmentFrank Chadwick

Art DirectionSteve Bryant

Graphic Design and ProductionKirk Wescom

Cover ArtJanet Aulisio

Interior ArtJanet Aulisio, Shea Ryan

Text ManagerMichelle Sturgeon

Text ProcessingJulia Martin, Julie Amdor

Copyright©1989 GDW, Inc.All rights reserved. Made in U. S. A. Printed in U. S. A. ISBN 1-55878-043-2.

Space: 1889 is GDW's trademark for its role-playing game of Victorian-era spacefaring.A catalog of Space: 1889 products is available from GDW. Just write and ask.

S I N C E 1 9 7 3

G A M E SP. O. Box 1646

Bloomington, IL 61702-1646

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 4

Cloud Captains 6Martian Cloud Captains 7

Careers Table 7The Red Captains 8

Legendary Five 8Burnaby 10

Penelope 11Freemerchant 12

Baron Lortmore 13Le Begue 14

Gloire 15Paget-Smith 16

Lismore 17Delia Mora 18

Gato 19Life as a Red Captain 20

Grant of Vessel 21Crew Salaries 21Prize Ships 22

Captains of the Shistomik 22Prize Shares 23

Quatlatlani 24Black Dagger 25

Aerial Travel on Mars 26Direction of Travel ... 26Average Prices 26

Shipboard Life 28Warm Winds 29

Karkarham 30City Statistics 31Arrival in Karkarham 32

Arrival by Caravan 32Arrival by Road 32Arrival by Canal 34Arrival by Flyer 34Arrival Overland 36

Task Summary 37Karkarham Map 38City Districts of Karkarham... 40The Catacombs 42The Inner City 44

Points of Entry 44Guards 44The Royal Catacombs 45

Rulers of Karkarham 46Prince Tumaani 46Prince Sabaat 47

Princess Iteebu 48Prince Samaam 49

Defenses 50The Army 50

Army Dispositions 51Encounters in Karkarham 52

Descriptions 52Daylight Encounters 52Night Encounters 52

Adventures in Karkarham 54Map of Villa 55

Sky GalleonsSupplement 56The Reel of Karkarham 56Return-Carriage Rogue 57

Heavenly Archer 57Rules Addenda 58

Smoke Screens 58Spike Droppers 58Scout Flyers 58

Rules Amendments 59Ship Combat 59Ship Design 59

Ship Forms 60

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Penelope (at left)165-ton Steam RamCaptain: Frederick Gustavus Burnaby

Black Dagger (at right)500-ton Screw GalleyCaptain: Utumaan Quatlatlani

Gloire (at right)500-ton Screw RamCaptain: Frederick Armand LeBegue

Baron Lortmore (at right)250-ton Steam Gunboat \Captain: Alonzo Quinton Freemerchant

Gato (above)333-ton Screw RamCaptain: Arturo Diego della Mora Lismore (above)

250-ton Gun KiteCaptain: Sir Michael Paget-Smith


IntroductionHIGH IN THE Shistomik Mountains,

east of the British crown colony ofSyrtis Lapis, the city of Karkarhamsits at the crossroads of a world. Thelofty peaks and strong winds of theShistomik range make cloudshiptravel impossible except at a fewstrategic passes, and Karkarhamdominates the most important ofthese.

Its canal locks still allow shipsfrom Hesperia and Trinacria to bringtrade goods north from the greatseabed city-states, while the trace ofthe old canal to Thoth in the Nepen-thes-Thoth Steppe forms a roughhighway for caravans coming southfrom the wild country above. With thewar between Britain and Oenotriahaving severed all canal links to theeast, merchant traffic has more thandoubled. Almost anything can befound in the bustling marketplace ofKarkarham.

But Karkarham is more than asimple commercial center; it is alsothe home port for that colorful andbloodthirsty company of pirates,brigands, and adventurers known asthe cloud captains of the Shistomik.Like the pirates of the Caribbean,who, centuries earlier, plundered theships of the Spanish Main and wereallowed to dock at Port Royal by acorrupt governor, the cloud captainsof the Shistomik Mountains plunder

the rich spice ships of the BoreosyrtisLeague, the fat oil luggers of Olonia,and eastern merchantmen carryingjewels from Amazonia or ancientrelics from the blasted ruins ofZephyria. All are fair game for thecloud captains, who find safe havenin Karkarham in return for a split ofthe profits.

In a strange sort of way, piracy and

commerce have learned to live to-gether in Karkarham. To ensure thatit remains a commercial center, theprice of the cloud captains' sanctu-ary is immunity from attack for mer-chant ships bound to or from Kar-karham—in practice, all those withina 500-mile radius.

Karkarham has thus become thesafest of ports for a merchant ship aswell as a ready source of cheap tradegoods plundered from ships seizedfurther afield.

Cloud Captains of Mars is asourcebook which details the piratesand privateers who gather at Kar-karham. It gives referees an extensivelisting of its captains, ships, habits,and haunts. Players who seek thecloud captains out will journey toKarkarham, so a large part of the bookdeals with that rich and deadly cityperched atop the mountains.

How to get to Karkarham, how it isdefended, what you will find there,how to contact the cloud captains oreven the legendary Red Captains—all this and more is covered.

But in addition, this book providesrules for hiring crews, hunting downand seizing merchant ships, and sell-ing prizes in Karkarham's markets forthose players who long to feel thewind in their face, a deck beneaththeir feet, and no flag overhead butthe Jolly Roger.

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Cloud CaptainsTHE BULK OF this module concen-

trates on two groups of cloud cap-tains: the Red Captains and the cloudcaptains of the Shitomik Mountains.Both have reputations as privateers orpirates, depending on point of view.The term cloud captain actually re-fers to any captain of a cloudship—most are honest, hard-working menof commerce. Likewise Red Captainrefers to any red man (Earthman) whois captain of his own ship. The termhas such a romantic and prestigiousmeaning near the British colony thatfew human captains would use it todescribe themselves unless they hadbeen informally accepted into theranks of those few already so called.To do otherwise would brand thefellow presumptuous at least, andprobably a braggart to boot.

Whatever name is used, a mystiquesurrounds any man who commandsa stately ship of the air. Somethingabout the majesty of flight and thefreedom of an independent commandbrings out the best or worst in a man,be he commander of the most pow-erful aerial cruiser or the lowliestdispatch boat. The silence of the opensky above him and the vast panoramaof an entire world below him eitherhumble a person or intoxicate him.

Some men find themselves in thesky. Some find God. Some forgetthere is a difference.

MARTIANCLOUD CAPTAINS

THE SPACE: 1889 RULES describegenerating Canal Martian charactersbut are not up to generating a dash-ing cloud captain. The following in-formation expands on the Canal Mar-tian character generation rules. Whengenerating a Canal Martian charac-ter of any type, use the standard char-acter generation rules with the follow-ing modifications.

Attributes: Determine attributes inany of the three accepted ways, but 4is the maximum Strength, and 2 is theminimum Endurance possible.

Social Level: Noble Canal Mar-tians (Social Level 6) are involved ingovernment and generally lead unad-venturous lives. Players may gener-ate Canal Martians at any other de-sired Social Level, however.

Skills: Default skills are acquirednormally. Canal Martians may pur-chase skills, but human skills will costtwice the normal points to representhuman reluctance to teach these skillsto Martians. Martian characters pur-chasing human languages pay doublenormal cost, except for merchants.

Careers: Canal Martians may se-lect one or two careers in the samemanner as in normal character gen-eration. See the Careers Table.

CAREERS TABLEGuide: Agl 4+, End 5+. Wilderness

Travel 2, Fieldcraft 1, Tracking 2, Marks-manship 1, Linguistics 1.

Canal Bargeman: Soc 3-, Str 2+. CloseCombat 1, Fisticuffs 1, Throwing 1, Swim-ming 1, Linguistics 1, Piloting 1 (sailingvessel), Observation 1.

Canal Pirate: Soc 3-, Str 2+. CloseCombat 1, Fisticuffs 2, Throwing 1, Swim-ming 1, Stealth 1, Crime 1.

Canal Ship Captain: Second careeronly (after having been a canal bargemanor canal pirate). Int 4+. Piloting 2 (sailingvessel), Leadership 1, Linguistics 2, Bar-gaining 1, Observation 1, Close Combat 1.

Thief: Soc 3-, Agl 5+. Close Combat 1,Stealth 1, Crime 2, Theatrics 1. WildernessTravel 1 (mountaineering), Eloquence 1.

Merchant: Soc 3-, Chr 4+. Bargaining2, Riding 1, Wilderness Travel 1 (foraging),Eloquence 2, Linguistics 1.

Wealthy Merchant: Soc 4+, Chr 4+.Bargaining 2, Eloquence 1, Linguistics 2,Leadership 2.

Tradesman: Soc 3-, Agl 4+. Mechan-

ics 2, Engineering 1, Observation 1, Bar-gaining 1, Linguistics 1, Eloquence 1.

Doctor: Soc 3 or 4, Int 4+. Science 2(biology), Medicine 3, Observation 1, Lin-guistics 1.

Soldier: Soc 3-. Close Combat 1, Wil-derness Travel 1 (foraging), Riding 1,Marksmanship 1 (rifle), Fieldcraft 1,Gunnery 1 (MLC), Observation 1.

Army Officer: Soc 4+. Close Combat1, Wilderness Travel 1 (mapping), Marks-manship 1, Fieldcraft 1, Observation 1,Leadership 1, Linguistics 1.

Mercenary: No prerequisites. Skillssame as for soldier, but substitute Linguis-tics 1 for Gunnery.

Cloud Sailor: No prerequisites. Trims-man 1 (cloudship), Piloting 1 (cloudship),Close Combat 1, Gunnery 1 (MLC), Ob-servation 1, Marksmanship 1, Linguistics 1.

Cloud Captain: Int 4+. Second careeronly (after having been a cloud sailor).Trimsman 1 (cloudship), Piloting 1(cloudship), Close Combat 1, Linguistics1, Leadership 2, Bargaining 1.

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THE RED CAPTAINS

THE RED CAPTAINSMARTIANS ARE QUITE pale of skin,

and Earth humans, in comparison,have very ruddy complexions. As aresult, the standard Martian slang foran Earthman is red man. Earth humancaptains of cloudships are, therefore,called Red Captains. The term actu-ally has a more specific meaning,however, as it first gained widespreadusage in 1883 during the campaignto suppress the Aerian pirates. At thattime a number of European captainswith their own vessels, mostly mer-chant ships, were operating in the areaof the British colony. As a cheapmeans of supplementing the smallaerial squadron then available, thecolonial governor at Syrtis Majorissued several letters of marque andreprisal, and made available a num-ber of surplus guns to arm the mer-chant ships.

A letter of marque and reprisal(letter of marque for short) is a docu-ment which has been in use on theEarth for centuries, and possession ofit marks the legal distinction betweena privateer and a pirate. A letter ofmarque grants the legal equivalent ofa commission in the naval forces of asovereign state for the purpose ofseeking out and attacking the ship-ping of a hostile power at war. TheMartian canal princes have long useda similar legal expedient known as awarrant for seizure, a documentroughly equivalent to an Englishcommon law search warrant, but withsomewhat broader powers. A captainwith a letter of marque (or seizurewarrant) is free to attack enemy ship-ping and can be reasonably certainthat, if captured, he will be treated asa prisoner of war rather than a capitalfelon.

LEGENDARYFIVE

Frederick Gustavus BurnabySteam Ram Penelope (27 prizes)

Alonzo Quinton FreemerchantSteam Gunboat Baron Lortmore

(21 prizes)Frederick Armand Le BegueScrew Ram Gloire (17 prizes)

Michael Francis Paget-SmithGun Kite Lismore (15 prizes)Arturo Diego della MoraScrew Ram Gato (17 prizes)

Of course, some enemies makevery little distinction between prison-ers of war and common criminals, andthat was certainly the case when fight-ing the Aerian pirates. What startedout as a jolly adventure turned out tobe a long and very bitter fight, but itended with the complete eradicationof the pirates and a vindication of theuse of nonnaval auxiliary vessels. Asfor the captains themselves, theylearned that while privateering mightbe more dangerous than haulingpassengers and cargo, it could also beenormously profitable. A few lettersof marque were granted from 1884 to1887 for operations against LiamO'Connor's Fenian Ram, but there isvery little profit involved in attempt-ing to hunt down a warship with aCrack crew in a converted merchant-man. In 1887 a number of letters weregranted for the campaign against theBarovaangian pirates in the As-tusapes, and a significant number ofRed Captains took part. However, ingeneral, the captains have had to lookelsewhere for employment.

Fortunately for the captains, thereis usually a war going on somewhere

on Mars, and few nations ever have afleet sufficient to their needs. Fewcity-states have a navy much in ex-cess of a dozen vessels, and judiciousissuance of seizure warrants canquickly double that. Ships added inthis way are usually not available forline of battle work, however, and areinstead dedicated to commerce raid-ing. This is necessarily so since suchauxiliary ships are usually not paid bythe government. Instead they maketheir money solely by seizing enemyshipping and goods, and selling them.Seizure warrants do enable a state toput a cloud of commerce raidersastride the enemy shipping lanes,though, and concentrate its own shipsfor direct offensive action. On occa-sion, a wealthy city-state will evenoffer an auxiliary commission to aship, and thus pay for its expenses andcrew salaries in return for its dutiesas a regular element of the fleet. Shipssuch as this are usually detailed toescort a city's merchant ships andfight the commerce raiders of its en-emy.

From 1883 to the present thenumber of Red Captains has steadilygrown. Though the term was origi-nally used by the Aerian pirates torefer to the European privateers thatfought against them, it has come tomean an Earthman who captains hisown ship and who is (or has been)engaged as a privateer. Instead ofmerchant vessels which supplementtheir income by occasional hitches asprivateers, most of the vessels nowflown are fighting vessels that mayoccasionally haul cargo to pay thebills between wars.

Of course, some captains have losttheir taste for mercantile pursuitsentirely and fill the time between the


wars with out-and-out piracy. As amatter of prudence, they usuallyrange quite far from their home portto make their raids and have a priceon their heads in several regions ofMars. Other captains would neverthink of violating the strict conditionsof a letter of marque or a seizurewarrant, and their behavior is as scru-pulously proper as that of membersof the Royal Navy.

Many nationalities of Red Captainsexist, although the nationalitieswhich have enclaves on Mars tend topredominate, as one would expect.British and American captains are themost numerous, with roughly equalnumbers. The British captains are theclear majority in the Syrtis Majorarea, but American vessels have vis-ited every corner of the world and canbe found almost everywhere. Frenchand Belgian captains are also fairlynumerous, but no other nationalityhas more than a dozen captains.

Red Captains can be found wher-ever commerce or war exist, whichis to say anywhere there is a Martiancity-state. The largest concentrationof them is in the Syrtis Major region,

however, for two reasons. First, theBritish actively encourage their ac-tivities (at least those of the Britishcaptains), so the two excellent ship-yards at Syrtis Major and Parhoon aregenerally available for maintenance,repairs, or minor modifications.Second, the city of Karkarham is anatural magnet for privateers andpirates of any color, and it offers theadvantages of a reasonable shipyard,a thriving market for prizes, and anuninquisitive government.

Although the Red Captains all havea great deal in common, it would begrossly incorrect to think of them asa close-knit fraternity. The Britishcaptains do indeed appear that wayat times, as they are almost withoutexception loyal subjects of the Crownand pattern their actions accordingly.Considerable friction continues be-tween individuals, however, and thenon-British captains have considera-bly more ambiguous loyalties. A goodexample of this is the open contemptthat Captain della Mora holds for allBritish subjects, including other RedCaptains.

Of all the captains operating in the

Syrtis Major area, five are nearlylegendary in their skill and success.These five are listed on page 8, andthe following pages cover them andtheir ships in greater detail. The list-ings provide all the information a ref-eree will need in order to run eachcaptain as a non-player character,including information on how play-ers might meet them. These men maybecome a regular feature in yourcampaign, but they should not be-come too familiar. It is almost incon-ceivable, for example, that one ofthem would decide to join the play-ers' group of adventurers. Not onlycan these descriptions be used as non-player characters, but they shouldalso serve as a guide to the referee increating other NPC Red Captains ofsomewhat lesser fame (but not nec-essarily lesser talent). Remember,however, that Red Captains do not fita rigid mold; they are almost by defi-nition exceptional individuals. Makeyour non-player character captainsexceptional as well. Spend some timethinking about the possible back-ground of a lady Red Captain or evena Japanese captain.

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BURNABY

Frederick Gustavus Burnaby (Elite NPC)YOUR FIRST IMPRESSION of Burn-

aby is of size. He is a remarkablybig man—6'4" tall with a massivechest. He looks to be in his lateforties—with gray flecks in hisdark brown hair and cavalry mous-tache—but is obviously still activeand extremely strong. He has aserious face with dark, deep-seteyes. He is wearing an old, thread-bare, blue-black army patrol jacketand a Sun helmet, and he carries aheavy, four-barreled Lancasterpistol. On his neck is a ragged scar.

Additional Descriptive Notes:Burnaby looks as if he would havea deep, booming voice, but it israther high pitched. His words areconfident and have the ring of com-mand to them. Although his facewill seem serious in most situationsthe players are likely to meet himin, he loves a joke and is fond ofpractical jokes. His face will showconsiderable signs of amusementand mischief in lighter moments.

MotivesADVENTURESOME, Loyal, Steady.

AttitudesThe Empire: Burnaby is fiercely

loyal to Britain. He has risked hislife in the service of his country

Attributes Skills

often and will again if called upon.The Royal Family: Burnaby finds

most of the royal family boring andstuffy. He is on poor terms with theprince of Wales, on whom he playedseveral practical jokes years beforewhile living in London. (The princeof Wales is a notorious practical jokerbut does not consider himself a suit-able target for them. ) This has alsomade him persona non grata with thequeen, who considers him a great af-front to the royal dignity.

Martians: Burnaby is fond of hiscrew and has a natural affinity formost natives of Mars. He respects the

Str:Agl:End:Int:Chr:

Soc:

62134

5

Fisticuffs 5, Throwing 3, Close Combat 5 (edged weapon)Stealth 1, Marksmanship 2 (pistol)Wilderness Travel 1 (mapping), Swimming 1Observation 2, Science 1 (physics)Eloquence 4, Linguistics 7 (French, German, Spanish, Rus-sian, Turkish, Arabian, Italian, Parhooni, Koline, Umbran,Oenotrian)Riding 7 (horse), Leadership 2, Piloting 3 (aerial flyer)

culture and engineering achieve-ments of the Canal Martians, andadmires the bravery and fierce inde-pendence of the Hill Martians. He haslittle use for the cruel, lazy, and slow-witted High Martians.

Karkarham: Burnaby enjoys Kar-karham immensely and sees in itmany similarities to the cities of AsiaMinor through which he journeyed bycamel and horse when younger. Hethrives in the near-anarchy of the cityand amidst its rascally inhabitants. Hehas little regard for Prince Tumaani,and considers him a weak, dissipatedfop of no consequence. (Burnaby is aman of action and does not fully ap-preciate the danger posed by a moresubtle man such as Sabaat. )

BackgroundPRIOR CAREERS include army offi-

cer and dilettante traveller.Frederick Gustavus Burnaby is 47

years old and is from the wealthy gen-try. At the age of 16 he became a coro-net (the cavalry equivalent of secondlieutenant) in the Royal HorseGuards. At 22 he made his first as-cent in a balloon and by 1870 was anofficer of the British AeronauticalSociety. News of Edison's trip to andfrom Mars changed his life, and hebecame a frequent writer in the Timeson aeronautical matters, particularlythe possible military uses of liftwoodflyers. He spent considerable timetravelling by horse and camel throughthe Near East, and wrote a best-sell-ing book on the subject.

In 1882 he became the first man tocross the English Channel in a steam-powered aerial vessel, the Vivian, andin 1884 he organized an aerial squad-


ron to assist Wolseley's army in itsattempt to relieve General Gordon atKhartoum in the Sudan. Burnaby'sown steam launch, along with a sec-ond built at government expense forthe campaign, carried dispatchesback and forth for months, harassedthe dervish columns, and scoutedahead of the Desert Column. As thedervishes became used to the aerialvessels, however, they began devis-ing means of bringing them underfire. Eventually the H. M. S. Penelope(the newly built vessel) was badlydamaged and crashed in the Nile.Burnaby landed in the Vivian, hisoriginal boat, and rescued the crew.In intense hand-to-hand fighting hereceived a serious wound in the neckwhich nearly killed him and left alarge, ugly scar. Although Burnabylater rescued Gordon in the Vivian,both Khartoum and the Desert Col-umn were destroyed, and the mainarmy retreated back to Egypt.

Later in 1885, the government an-nounced its intention to step up pro-duction of aerial gunboats, but at thesame time transfer all such vesselscurrently in service to the RoyalNavy. Disheartened by this develop-ment, Burnaby resigned his commis-sion and retired from the army. Actu-ally, Burnaby had been consideringretirement for reasons of health dueto continuing heart problems. Emi-grating to Mars in hope that the lowergravity there would aid his health, hewas drawn to the Red Captains andbefore long was commanding his ownship (the Penelope, named for thevessel lost at Khartoum). Idolized bythe younger British officers, Burnabywas soon accepted in Martian soci-ety as well. His facility with lan-guages enabled him to learn Oenot-

rian, Parhooni, Koline, and Umbran.Also, his unusual height and massive,46-inch chest suggest a physicalsimilarity to Martians that has be-come the source of numerous crude,but good-natured, jokes by the nativesas to the possibility of his havingMartian ancestry.

Although he has only been on Marsfor four years, Burnaby has gained therespect of most of the cloud captainsof the Shistomik and is recognized asthe unofficial leader of the British RedCaptains. He has no formal authorityover any other captain, but his advicecarries great weight.

THE STEAM RAMPENELOPE

BURNABY BEGAN building the Pen-elope in January of 1886, only fourmonths after his arrival on Mars, atthe shipyard at Syrtis Major. It wascompleted before the end of the year.It was originally armed with four five-barrel Nordenfelts and a 6-pounderHotchkiss revolver on the stern tower,and was powered by a 250-horse-power conventional steam engine. Inlate 1888, however, the Penelopeunderwent an extensive refit whichreplaced its conventional boiler witha modern forced-draught model of thesame power. The weight savingsrealized by this enabled replacementof the wing-mounted Nordenfelts by3-pounder revolvers. As the originaldesign was intended as a privateer, itsexpected opponents were poorlyarmed merchantmen, and Burnabyfelt that the best armament would bemachineguns to sweep the crew fromthe deck while minimizing structuraldamage (and a well placed rapid-fir-ing 6-pounder to discourage pursuitby warships). Since then he has dis-

covered that it is some-times necessary to fightother privateers to defend aprize and that the large merchantships can take a fair quantity ofsmall-caliber shell damage anywaywithout significantly reducingtheir resale value.

The Penelope does not normallycarry cargo (aside from normalship's stores), but has a small cargohold and connection points forrigging a cargo sling underneaththe keel. When carrying up to 35tons of additional cargo its maxi-mum altitude is reduced to High.When carrying from 36 to 85 tons,it is reduced to Medium. Whencarrying from 86 to 168 tons, it isreduced to Low. It cannot carrymore than 168 tons of cargo.

Technical SpecificationsArmor: 0Hull: 2 (steel)Speed: 6Engine: 250 horsepower (boiler

size 2)Coal: 60 tonsEndurance: 30 daysAltitude: Very HighTonnage: 165Price: £24, 920Crew: 3 officers, 3 petty officers,

20 ratings and marinesBridge: 2 officers, 2 petty offi-

cers, 1 ratingDeck: 1 petty officer, 2 ratingsManeuver: 2 ratingsGunners: 6 ratingsMarines: 1 officer, 9 marinesArmament:1 Nordenfelt forward2 3-pdr HRCs on wing mounts2 Nordenfelts broadside1 6-pdr HRC on stern tower

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FREEMERCHANT

Alonzo Freemerchant (Experienced NPC)ALZONO QUINTON Freemerchant is

a large, heavy set man who walks withthe rolling gait of a sailor. He wearsa naval officer's long blue coat withthe insignia removed and a RoyalMarine-issue peaked forage cap.

Freemerchant has dark hair, a darkmustache, and a serious, honest face.He listens attentively to everythingyou say to him and then thinks it overfor a moment before giving you areply. His speech is slow, and hiswords are always carefully chosen.

Additional Descriptive Notes:Freemerchant is not much of a shot,but he does carry a small revolverwith him in the pocket of his jacket.His slowness of speech (with anEloquence of 1) masks what is actu-ally an extremely quick and sharpmind.

MotivesMERCANTILE, Cautious, Steady.

AttitudesThe Empire: Freemerchant is a

loyal subject of the British Empire,and he feels a particularly strong loy-alty to Queen Victoria (whom he has,of course, never met).

He has a merchant's healthy skep-ticism about all government officials,however, and he is unlikely to let him-self be swept up into any wildschemes which are in the works justbecause someone happens to mentionEngland.

Other Europeans: Alonzo Free-merchant has a fairly low regard formost foreigners, and he has an espe-cially low regard for those who livein the European Quarter of Kar-karham.

Art. SkillsStr: 5 Fisticuffs 4, Throwing 2,

Close Combat 3 (edgedweapon), Trimsman 2 (ae-rial flyer)

Agl: 1 Marksmanship 1 (pistol),Mechanics 3 (machinist)

End: 4 Wilderness Travel 3 (map-ping)

Int: 6 Observation 5, Gunnery 2(breech-loading cannon),Science 1 (physics)

Chr: 2 Eloquence 1, Linguistics 2(Koline, Parhooni)

Soc: 3 Riding 2 (horse), Leader-ship 3, Pilot 3 (aerial flyer)

He will be very friendly to English-men of about his social station (So-cial Levels 2 through 4). However, heis suspicious of working class typesand has had unpleasant experienceswith what he refers to as "those pam-pered young gentlemen" of the aris-tocracy.

Martians: He prefers Canal Mar-tians as crew, both because of theirnative skills and experience and alsobecause they tend to follow orderswithout question and defer to theirEnglish betters.

He is distrustful of Hill Martians,as they tend to be proud and unpre-dictable, but, surprisingly, has occa-sionally included a High Martian ortwo in his crew. He considers the HighMartians to be both cowardly and un-trustworthy, but they are occasionallyvaluable and are generally not toomuch trouble once they know who'sboss.

Karkarham: Freemerchant iscomfortable in his large villa, whichis located in the High Bluff district of


town. However, he finds most of therest of the city to be both disorderlyand scandalous. He frequently triesto enlist the support of the other RedCaptains in a scheme to fund a mu-nicipal police force, but he has beensingularly unsuccessful in the at-tempt.

"What this city needs is half-a-hundred bobbies, by God!" is his fre-quent lament.

BackgroundPRIOR CAREERS include military of-

ficer and naval officer.Freemerchant is 41 years old and

is the third son of a London clerk. Hisparents, although they were poor, pro-vided their son with a passing educa-tion, and he showed considerable in-tellectual promise even as a youngboy.

Freemerchant was commissionedin the Royal Marine Artillery at theage of 16, and excelled both in activeduty service and in mastering the de-manding gunner's trade.

After being posted to Mars in 18 83,he transferred to the Aerial Serviceand fought in the campaign to sup-press the Aerian pirates, rising dur-ing that campaign to the command ofHMS Ladybug.

Toward the end of the campaign hisship captured an Aerian vessel at-tempting to escape with the personalloot of Umraamltabaah, a chief of thepirates. The resulting prize moneymade his fortune (as well as that ofmost of his crew), and in 1885 heretired from the service with the rankof major.

In 1886 he built the Lortmore withhis own money (and that of severalof his former crewmembers) and wassoon in business as a privateer. His

career has been exceptionally suc-cessful, and the Baron Lortmore isknown as being a lucky ship.

Meeting FreemerchantFREEMERCHANT has permanent

lodgings in Syrtis Major but alsomaintains a household in Karkarham,and much of his time (when he is notactually on patrol) is spent there. Hedoes not frequent public houses, buthe is a member of the Explorer's Clubat Syrtis Major.

While at Karkarham, Freemerchantwill divide his time between super-vising any work necessary on hisvessel at the shipyard, managing thesale of cargo and prizes at the bazaar,and enjoying quiet evenings at hisvilla (often with another Red Captainas a dinner guest).

His villa is generally guarded bytwo or three of his marines (VeteranNPCs), and it will be difficult for thecharacters to gain access to him with-out already having a letter of recom-mendation.

If they have with them a letter froma government official, however, thenFreemerchant will at least consent tospeak with the player characters andlisten to any proposal they may careto make.

THE STEAM GUNBOATBARON LORTMORE

A STEEL-HULLED boat built at theSyrtis Major shipyard in 1886, theBaron Lortmore is heavily armed fora privateer.

It was built with a 500-horsepowerforced-draught locomotive boiler,which was very advanced for its timeand is still better than many RoyalNavy vessels.

This gives the Baron Lortmore a

respectable top speed of35 knots. The 80-ton coalbunker gives the ship an endur-ance of 20 days. When originallybuilt, the Baron Lortmore had fourfive-barrel Nordenfelts in additionto its heavier armament. Thesewere recently removed and re-placed with four Maxim guns.

No cargo is usually carried, butthe Baron Lortmore has an ade-quate hold, and more cargo can becarried both on the deck and fromslung cargo nets. Its maximumaltitude is reduced to High when itcarries up to 50 tons, Medium whenit carries 51 to 125 tons, and Lowwhen it carries 126 to 250 tons. Itcannot carry more than 250 tons ofcargo.

Technical SpecificationsArmor: 0Hull: 3 (steel)Speed: 7Engine: 500 horsepower forced

draught (boiler=4)Coal: 80 tonsEndurance: 20 daysAltitude: Very HighTonnage: 250Price: £40, 440Crew: 3 officers, 4petty officers,


cers, 1 ratingDeck: 2 petty officers, 3 ratingsManeuver. 4 ratingsGunners: 9 ratingsMarines: 1 officer, 9 marinesArmament:1 4" long gun forward2 Maxim guns in wing mounts2 3-pdr HRCs broadside2 Maxim guns broadside1 3-pdr revolver in stern tower

GDW

LE BEGUE

Frederick Armand Le Begue (Veteran NPC)FREDERICK ARMAND LE BEGUE is a

small man; he has a lithe, wiry lookto him, and his movements are quickand sure. He has a broad, peasant'sface highlighted by very bushy eye-brows and a wide, expressive mouth.

His face is heavily lined, as he hasspent most of his life as a sailor, buthis movements and the energy in hisflashing eyes indicate a man in hisearly or middle thirties.

His curly brown hair is mostlycovered by a black knit sailor's cap,and he wears a red-and-white stripedjersey and white, bell-bottomedsailor's dungarees. He speaks brokenEnglish with a very thick French ac-cent.

Additional Descriptive Notes: LeBegue's conversation will usually behighly animated, and he will illustratehis points with grand gestures and endmany sentences with "N'est-cepas?"(Isn't that so?)

For all his difficulty with English,he is a natural communicator and willbe able to get his point across quicklyand clearly. When angered, Le Beguebecomes very quiet and is a deadlyadversary.

Frederick Le Begue generally car-ries a knife concealed in his rightboot.

Attributes Skills

MotivesAGGRESSIVE, Ruthless, Adventure-

some.

AttitudesThe Empire: Le Begue has no

loyalty to the British Empire at all, buthe finds it useful to proclaim his in-terest in it to his English friends.

He finds the protection which itoffers Europeans convenient on oc-casion but has no real respect orregard for it. If the inducement weregreat enough, he could even be per-suaded to join Quatlatlani's anti-British faction.

France: His feelings for the gov-ernment of his native France are evenless warm than those for Britain. Hedespises the squabbling between left-ist republicans, rightist republicans,Bourbon monarchists, Orleans mon-archists, and Bonapartists, and hefeels contempt for all manifestationsof French governmental authority. Ifhe were politically inclined at all, hewould probably be an anarchist, buthe is not.

He does, however, feel a genuineloyalty to his fellow countrymen onan individual basis.

Martians: Le Begue is virtuallyblind to the difference between

Str: 2 Fisticuffs 2, Throwing 1, Close Combat 4 (edged weapon),Trimsman 1 (aerial flyer)

Agl: 6 Stealth 5, Crime 2 (forger), Mechanics 1 (steam), Marksman-ship 1 (rifle)

End: 4 Wilderness Travel 3 (foraging), Swimming 2Int: 3 Observation 2, Gunnery 1 (breech-loading cannon)Chr: 5 Eloquence 4, Linguistics 3 (Arabic, English, Koline), Theatrics

2, Bargaining 2Soc: 1 Piloting 4 (steam vessel)


Martians and humans. As he begansmuggling to and from the Tunisiancoast at an early age, he alwaysworked on an equal basis with menof different races, and feels no differ-ently about Martians.

Karkarham: Le Begue loves Kar-karham. It is the only place that he hasever been accepted and treated withgenuine respect. In Karkarham and inthe company of the other privateercaptains, he is a man of power andsubstance.

Frederick Le Begue would neverconsider leaving either the city or thelife which he has made there.

BackgroundPRIOR CAREERS include smuggler

and naval rating.Le Begue is 36 years old and comes

from the south of France, from a smallfishing village near Marseilles. Hisfather was an indifferent fishermanbut an accomplished smuggler, andtrained his son in the family businessfrom an early age.

Soon Le Begue was captain of asmall smuggling vessel which madethe dangerous trip from Tunisia to thesouth coast of France by way of Sar-dinia and Corsica, making landfallsusually at night and in remote, rockycoves.

In 1876 he was captured by theFrench Coast Guard and sentenced tofive years at hard labor, but his sen-tence was commuted upon the con-dition that he enlist in the FrenchNavy. He did so, serving in the navyfor six years on a variety of naval ves-sels.

In 1882 he was selected as part ofa detachment of naval ratings sent toMars to man a screw galley used bythe French Navy in the Idaeus Fons

area. In 1883 he deserted and signedon to a Martian merchant ship (a re-markable event for its day), and by1884 he was in Karkarham and in thecrew of one of the less importantMartian cloud captains.

By 1886 he commanded his ownship, the screw galley Orient (a re-named Martian vessel built in theCrocea yards). Since then he hassteadily built up his fortune, and in1888 he sold the Orient and built theGloire, a large, fast, ram-equippedscrew galley.

Meeting Le BegueLE BEGUE lives in a luxurious and

flamboyantly decorated villa in Kar-karham. It is guarded in his absenceby his majordomo and two VeteranNPC armed guards, as well as hiseight household servants. When inport, however, Le Begue will oftenwander the streets of the EuropeanQuarter and the tougher parts of townnear the High Docks.

He will be accompanied by threeor four of his crew (Veteran NPCswith knives and light revolvers), andwill gamble and carouse until late atnight.

If Le Begue is approached abruptlyby the players, his thugs are likely tomove quickly in his defense, with di-sastrous consequences for the play-ers involved.

If there is a chance meeting be-tween Le Begue and the characters,however, Le Begue will respond wellto any character who is able to showwit, courage, or even a sense of hu-mor.

THE SCREW RAM GLOIRETHE GLOIRE is a wooden-hulled

screw galley built in the yards at

Karkarham, and has thedistinctive, broad-beam,teardrop hull form and flyingbridge forward shared by so manyof the ships built there.

When originally completed, theship mounted an ornate polishedbrass sweeper on the bridge, to beused as a signal gun and to sweepthe enemy decks immediately be-fore ramming.

Recently, however, Le Begue ac-quired a Hotchkiss 1-pounder re-volver, and that has now replacedthe sweeper.

The Gloire can carry cargo on itsdeck or in underslung nets. If it car-ries up to 125 tons of cargo, itsmaximum altitude is reduced toMedium; if it carries from 126 to333 tons of cargo, its altitude is re-duced to Low. It may not carrymore than 333 tons of cargo.

Technical SpecificationsArmor: 0Hull: 5 (wood)Speed: 5Altitude: HighTonnage: 500Price: £35, 870Crew: 4 officers, 6 petty officers,


cers, 1 ratingDeck: 4 petty officers, 5 ratingsManeuver: 30 ratingsGunners: 13 ratingsMarines: 8 marinesArmament:2 light guns in forward wing

mounts2 light guns broadside2 light guns in aft wing mounts1 1-pdrHRC forward5 smudgepots

GDW

PAGET-SMITH

Sir Michael Paget-Smith (Experienced NPC)SIR MICHAEL Francis Paget-

Smith is tall, slender, and very dis-tinguished looking. He has darkhair, graying at the temples, and apencil-thin mustache. His mostprominent facial feature is his nose,which is large, but narrow and aris-tocratic. He is dressed casually, butexpensively. He wears a white shirtand tan riding breeches tucked intohighly polished riding boots. (Incooler weather he will also wear awhite silk scarf, khaki bush jacket,and wide-brimmed hat with leopardskin band. ) Your main impressionof him is one of extreme calm, bor-dering on boredom. Nothing seemsto disturb him or even interest himvery much. He is certainly not veryinterested in you.

Additional Descriptive Notes:He does not usually carry a revolver.If the situation warrants a weapon,he will casually carry a double-bar-reled shotgun in the crook of his armor over his shoulder. If asked if hecan use it, he will reply, "Well, I'vebagged my share of grouse andpheasant. I shouldn't have too muchdifficulty with larger targets, shouldI?"

MotivesARROGANT, Ruthless, Steady.

AttitudesThe Empire: Paget-Smith's loy-

alty to the empire is above question.He would never contemplate trea-son and would probably activelyattempt to thwart any schemeagainst his native land. On the otherhand, he is unlikely to go out of hisway to do so, and if asked to he may

Art. Skills

reply, "But doesn't H. M. governmenthave people to do that sort of thing?I've always felt this sort of thing wasbest left to the government chaps tosort out. " Appeals to his loyalty areunlikely to influence his decisions; heis convinced that he is sufficientlyloyal, and does not care in the slight-est what you or anyone else mightthink.

Other Humans: Paget-Smith hasa very low opinion of the human racein general. He is willing to tolerate thecompany of "gentlemen, " fromwhich category he excludes all for-eigners, all Englishmen below hissocial station, and a good many of hissocial equals and superiors. He ex-cludes the prince of Wales from thiscategory, for example. ("He may be

Str: 2 Fisticuffs 1, Close Combat3 (edged weapon), Throw-ing 1

Agl: 2 Stealth 1, Marksmanship 3(rifle)

End: 6 Wilderness Travel 7(mountaineering), Swim-ming 2, Fieldcraft 1

Int: 3 Observation 2, Science 1(archaeology)

Chr: 4 Eloquence 3, Linguistics 5(French, Mandarin Chi-nese, Swahili, Koline,Parhooni)

Soc: 5 Riding 4 (horse), Pilot 3(cloudship), Leadership 3

royalty and all that, " Sir Michaeloften comments, "but one can hardlyconsider him a gentleman. ")

Martians: "Big ears and notenough fingers, but a wog's a wog,ain't he?"

Karkarham: Sir Michael has visitedsome of the most lawless, exotic, anddangerous cities on the Earth. Kar-karham rivals the worst of them, buthe is careful to let everyone know thathe hardly finds it exceptional in anyrespect. When any aspect of the cityis singled out for comment (eitherpositive or negative), he will noncha-lantly point out that crime is worse inAlgiers, or the beggars thicker inCalcutta, the mountain view betterfrom Katmandu, the merchants moredishonest in Aden, the streets dirtierin Lima, or whatever.

BackgroundPRIOR CAREERS include dilettante

traveller and explorer.Paget-Smith is 41 years old and

CLOUD CAPTAINS OF MARS (( 17

comes from a very old and verywealthy English family. With nofinancial need to follow a career, hespent much of his younger years trav-elling in Europe and the Far East.Upon the death of his father he re-turned to England and managed thefamily estates for a short time. Thelure of travel soon drew him away,however. As the years passed he be-came more serious in his pursuits anddeveloped a reputation as a dedicatedexplorer and a passable amateur ar-chaeologist. (Paget-Smith's 1884 ex-pedition to the Fezan unearthed an in-tact 2nd-century Roman villa southof Murzuch, along with statuary andcoinage. These finds earned Paget-Smith his knighthood and the RoyalGeographic Society's Founder'sMedal for the year. )

Sir Michael first visited Mars in1885 and led an overland expeditioninto the Aerian Hills. Despite thesuppression of the Aerian pirates in1883, the hill tribesmen themselvesremain unsubdued, and the Paget-Smith expedition was attacked andoverpowered. Paget-Smith himselfwas taken prisoner and held for overeight months. His subsequent escapeand remarkable six-week trekthrough the arid hills to Avenel be-came the basis for his extremelysuccessful book, Through the Hills ofAeria. In 18 86 he had the kite Lismorebuilt at the Parhoon shipyard, and inthe following year he had it armed andoutfitted as a privateer. He has sincebecome extremely successful, andhas ranged as far west as the MareAcidalium and as far east as OlympusMons in Southern Arcadia.

Meeting Paget-SmithPAGET-SMITH has a house in Par-

hoon and now considers that hishome. Parhoon is listed as the Lis-more's home port, and that is wherePaget-Smith spends much of his timebetween voyages. He has anotherresidence in Syrtis Major and a smallvilla in Karkarham, although he sel-dom uses the latter. His home in SyrtisMajor is used only when Paget-Smithis in the city on official business orattending a social function hosted bythe governor-general. He is a mem-ber of the Explorer's Club but seldomuses the facility in Syrtis Major.

Paget-Smith is not a recluse butdoes keep to himself a good deal. Hisprincipal motivation for this is thatthere are virtually no people in thecolony whom he considers to be hissocial equal. Paget-Smith is veryclass-conscious, and it will be nearlyimpossible for characters of lowersocial levels to approach or meet him.He will ignore or be openly rude andabusive to anyone of Social Level 3or less, and will be at best condescend-ing to characters of Social Level 4.He will consider meeting with some-one of his own level, and will be politeand receptive to anyone of SocialLevel 6. (He will not defer to charac-ters of higher social levels, however,and certainly does not consider him-self to be their inferior. He will merelyfollow accepted social conventionswith them. ) For a character to estab-lish any meaningful contact withPaget-Smith it will be necessary toobtain a letter of recommendation or(even better) a personal introductionfrom someone of Paget-Smith's so-cial level or higher.

GUN KITE LISMORETHE LISMORE was originally de-

signed as a long-range exploratory

vessel, but the traditionallarge load-lifting capabilityof a kite enabled it to accept alarge armament array with no sac-rifice in altitude.

Although the ship was built at aMartian yard, Paget-Smith hadfour 1" Gatling guns shipped outfrom Earth and personally super-vised their installation.

Although the cargo hold has nowbeen mostly converted to maga-zines and marine quarters, the Lis-more can still carry some cargo inunderslung nets. If it carries up to50 tons of cargo its maximum alti-tude is reduced to High; if it car-ries from 51 to 125 tons it is re-duced to Medium; if it carries from126 to 250 tons it is reduced to Low.It may not carry more than 250 tonsof cargo.

Technical SpecificationsArmor: 0Hull: 3 (wood)Speed: KiteAltitude: Very HighTonnage: 250Price: £22, 840Crew: 4 officers, 4 petty officers,


cers, 1 ratingDeck: 2 petty officers, 3 ratingsManeuver: 3 ratingsGunners: 14 ratingsMarines: 1 officer, 11 marinesArmament:1 rod gun forward21" Catlings in wing mounts2 1" Catlings broadside2 light guns broadside2 heavy guns aft4 spike bays4 smudgepots

GDW

DELLA MORA

Arturo Diego della Mora (Veteran NPC)ARTURO DIEGO DELLA MORA is tall,

muscular, and darkly handsome in asinister way. He looks the part of apirate more than most other captainsyou have seen, complete with a goldearring, brightly colored clothes, anda revolver thrust into the front of hisbelt.

Della Mora's left cheek and fore-head are puckered by a long, whitescar that gives his left eye the appear-ance of a squint and seems to twisthis whole face into a cynical, lopsidedgrin.

Additional Descriptive Notes:Della Mora has a devil-may-care at-titude when in public and is lavishwith gifts of money to his hangers-on.

However, this congenial exteriorcan quickly change to a murderousrage, often for very little reason. Histemper is legendary. If the playersshould happen to do something to of-fend della Mora, their first hint thatthey may have made a mistake willbe when everyone nearby suddenlyshuts up and begins trying to get outof the way.

MotivesAGGRESSIVE, Spendthrift, Rage.

AttitudesThe Empire: Della Mora hates the

Attributes Skills

British and their empire, and makesvery little secret of it. He is often seenin Quatlatlani's company and isdeeply involved in his anti-Britishplans.

However, dell a Mora loves himselfmore than he hates the British, and forall his anti-British talk he is reluctantto take any overt action that has manyobvious risks and very few apparentadvantages. Until an open breachwith the British can be shown to beprofitable and safe, he is unlikely toact.

Martians: Della Mora considersMartians to be no better than animals,but he keeps this attitude carefullyconcealed from those he comes incontact with.

While he will hesitate to murder ahuman (even an Englishman), heshows no scruples at all about dispos-ing of any Martians. Even Quatlat-lani, with whom he often cooperates,means nothing to him. He does nothate Martians, by any means. Hesimply does not have any respect orregard for them.

Karkarham: He sees the city as anest of Martian vipers and has nosentimental attachment to it at all. Itis his current home, and he enjoys thefreedom and opportunities the cityoffers.

Nevertheless, if circumstances ever

Sir: 6 Fisticuffs 6, Throwing 4, Close Combat 4 (edged weapon)Agl: 4 Stealth 3, Marksmanship 3 (pistol), Crime 1 (lockpick)End: 2 Wilderness Travel 1 (mapping), Swimming 2, Fieldcraft 2,

Tracking 2Int: 3 Observation 3Chr: 5 Eloquence 4, Linguistics 4 (English, French, Koline, Parhooni)Soc: 1 Piloting 1 (cloudship)


forced him to leave and never return,he would be able to do so without somuch as a single regret or backwardglance.

BackgroundPRIOR CAREERS include poacher and

seaman.Arturo Diego della Mora was born

in the Balearic Islands off the Medi-terranean coast of Spain in 1857.Orphaned at a young age, he made hisway to the mainland and there madea modest living as a poacher in theroyal hunting preserves. He narrowlyescaped capture on several occasions,and eventually a price was placed onhis head.

In 1879 della Mora left Spain as acommon seaman on board a Britishmerchant vessel and then spent thenext two years sailing the seas ofEarth.

In 1881 della Mora signed on withthe crew of a commercial ether flyerof the White Star Line. He thenjumped ship upon arrival on Mars.Making his way as a deckhand onseveral Belgian merchant vessels, heoccasionally saw some fighting in theCoprates, mostly against a few ban-dits who attempted to harass smallmerchant ships. The bandits wouldusually stow away or pretend to bepassengers, and then try to overpowerthe merchant ships' crews.

Arturo della Mora loves to tell sto-ries of the bloody battles he foughtagainst rebel boarding parties, butthese are mostly fabrications or, attheir best, gross exaggerations of thefacts.

By 1885 he had found his way toKarkarham and soon shipped out onthe Mists of Glory, a small screwgalley privateer. After several suc-

cessful voyages, della Mora hadgained the crew's respect by alwaysbeing the first man of a boarding partyover the rail and on the enemy deck.He was placed in charge of the ma-rine detachment and after two yearswas made first officer, despite hisignorance of the mechanics ofcloudships. When Captain Wooha-neet was killed in 1887, della Morawas elected captain by the crew andhas led the ship, now called the Gato,ever since.

Meeting della MoraWHEN HE is not on a voyage, della

Mora spends most of his time inKarkarham, and can be found in thetaverns and brothels of the tougherparts of town.

He is free spender when he hasmoney in his pocket and is a popularfeature of Karkarham's street life.Any number of street denizens, ifproperly bribed with a shilling or two,can direct the players to his currenthaunts.

When not engaged in carousing,della Mora may be found conspiringwith Quatlatlani. If the players at-tempt to sneak into Quatlatlani's villa,they may discover della Mora and theMartian together plotting sometreachery against the English RedCaptains.

THE SCREW RAM GATODELLA MORA'S SCREW GALLEY was

built in the Crocea shipyards in theOenotrian Empire and originally be-longed to a Martian captain fromAstrapsk. Della Mora moved up tocaptain after the original master waskilled in a boarding action against anUmbran spice ship.

Della Mora has since changed the

ship's name to Gato(cat), but he is not techni-cally the owner. The ship isowned by the crew (or at least the23 surviving members of the origi-nal crew), all of whom own vary-ing numbers of shares.

Della Mora is responsible to amasters' committee, but he hasbeen able to completely dominatethe committee with the force of hispersonality. (This in itself is nosmall feat considering the fact thatover half of the owners are Mar-tian. )

The Gato does not normallycarry cargo, but it can do so eitherin its hold or in slung cargo nets.If it carries up to 67 tons, itsmaximum altitude is reduced toHigh; if it carries from 68 to 167tons, its maximum altitude is re-duced to Medium; if it carries from168 to 333 tons, its maximumaltitude is reduced to Low. It maynot carry more than 333 tons ofcargo.

Technical SpecificationsArmor: 0Hull: 4 (wood) with ramSpeed: 4Altitude: Very HighTonnage: 333Price: £28, 700Crew: 2 officers, 4 petty offi-

cers, 32 ratings and marinesBridge: 2 officers, 2 petty offi-

cers, 1 ratingDeck: 2 petty officers, 4 ratingsManeuver: 16 ratingsGunners: 6 ratingsMarines: 5 marinesArmament:1 heavy gun forward2 heavy guns in wing mounts

GDW

LIFE AS A RED CAPTAIN

Life As a Red CaptainGREAT BRITAIN'S meager colonial

forces are locked in a war with thearmies and fleets of the OenotrianEmpire, and while Britain's aerialsquadrons are otherwise occupied, arenewed outbreak of piracy threatensthe Umbran spice trade. As a result,the British government has onceagain turned to the Red Captains forprotection of aerial commerce.

A Rare Opportunity: The colo-nial administration is now offeringauxiliary commissions for vesselsoutfitted to hunt down and destroypirates, as well as letters of marqueand reprisal for privateers willing tostrike a blow against the Oenotrianmerchant fleet. Furthermore, theadministration has a limited numberof vessels seized as prizes from theOenotrians which it is willing to makeavailable for use by experienced andtrustworthy groups who do not havetheir own ships. This is a goldenopportunity for adventurers to join thefabled ranks of the Red Captains.

Obtaining A Ship: Several small

Oenotrian warships have recentlybeen seized as prizes, and the govern-ment is unable to raise sufficientcrews to man them. Rather than sellthem off, they are to be assigned todeserving captains or groups of indi-viduals who are capable of bringingthem into service against the enemy.The six vessels available are aFleetfoot screw galley, a Bloodrun-ner kite, a Small Bird screw galley, aClearsight screw galley, a Swiftwoodkite, and an Endtime screw galley.(All of these ships are described inboth Sky Galleons of Mars andCloudships and Gunboats. ) Toobtain a vessel, the group must applyto the governor by rolling one die andconsulting the Grant of Vessel Tableshown on page 21. Most of the ves-sels are granted on rolls of the diewhich are greater than 6, and so mayonly be obtained if the group seekingthe ship has a favorable modifier tothe die. The following skills and at-tributes modify the die roll:

Piloting: Add 1 to the die for eachplayer in the group who has a Pilot-

ing (cloudship) skill greater than 1.Trimsman: Add 1 to the die for each

player in the group who has a Trims-man skill greater than 1.

Social Level: Subtract 3 from thehighest Social Level in the group. Theresult (plus or minus) is the modifi-cation made to the die roll.

Serving Officer: Add 1 to the dieroll for each current or former serv-ing officer of the British Army orNavy.

Renown: Add 1 to the die roll foreach player in the group who has fiveor more renown points for either He-roic Acts, Military Prowess, or Ser-vice to the Crown.

Outfitting The Ship: The vesselgranted to the players will be repairedand armed as originally found. Theplayers may use then* own funds topurchase additional or alternativearmament of either Martian or Brit-ish manufacture. No guns on thevessel may be sold, but they may beturned back over to the colonialgovernment to make room for newweapons. All new weapons will cost


twice the amount that they wouldhave cost as listed on the design tables(found in either Sky Galleons ofMars or Cloudships and Gun-boats). This increase represents theadditional expense of modifying thestructure of the vessel, and the highcurrent demand for weapons andlabor at the shipyards.

Hiring A Crew: Hiring a crew iseasy; hiring a good crew is somewhatmore difficult. All players will startwith Green crews. Each time the shipreturns from a voyage and auctionsoff a prize, roll a die. On a roll of 3 orless, the crew quality goes up one. Ifthe players have had a particularlyeventful voyage or their renown asRed Captains is high, the referee maysubtract one or two from the roll.

Expenses: If the players' vessel iscommissioned as a fleet auxiliary, theCrown will underwrite all expenses.Otherwise the players will have tofund the normal operation of the ship.

Salaries: Crewmen must be paidsalaries. If the vessel is a fleet auxil-iary, the players receive a salary in-stead, based on the crew position onthe vessel which they fill. Crew sala-ries, in shillings per day, are listed inthe sidebar.

Provisions: The ship must take onprovisions for long voyages. Provi-sions cost three pence per day percrewman (one shilling per day perfour crewmen). Most ships can carrymonths' worth of provisions, but as apractical matter only 30 to 60 days offood are carried. This allows frequentrestocking of perishable items.

Maintenance: Once per month theship will require maintenance. Thisrepresents minor breakdowns and theneed to periodically replace exhaust-ed liftwood panels. Divide the origi-

nal cost of the ship by 1000 and dropall fractions. This is the base mainte-nance cost. Each month the mainte-nance required will cost one die rolltimes this amount. A ship which cost£6, 200 would have a base mainte-nance cost of £6.

Encounters: To locate potentialprize ships, use the normal aerialencounter tables as modified by thesection in this book entitled AerialTravel on Mars. All encounters rolledwhile on a privateer are consideredto be in areas of unrest, and thus oneis always added to the die roll for thetype of encounter. When a ship is overOenotrian territory any result of"pirate" rolled by a 5 (increased to 6)instead becomes "privateer, " whileany result rolled by a 6 (increased to7) becomes "convoy. "

In the case of a privateer result, theplayers meet the vessel of another oneof the Red Captains, and the two ex-change information. This is a goodopportunity for the referee to reinsertsome role-playing in what mightbecome a pure search and combatsituation. The other captain willprobably have valuable informationabout the course of the war at homeor enemy ship movements. He mayneed some item of supply that theplayers can provide (or may be ableto provide something they need). Hemay have wounded on board from aprevious action and need the servicesof a doctor, or he may even need anexpert mechanic to help repair battledamage. It may also be that the othercaptain will suggest that the twovessels work together as a team forawhile.

If a convoy is sighted, the playersfind an Oenotrian warship escortingan unarmed merchant ship. On a roll

of 1-3, this is a small warship; on aroll of 4-6, it is a large one. Theconvoy will consist of one die roll'sworth of merchant kites, half of which(round fractions down) will be largeones of the Warm Winds variety.

Once battle is joined, the normalcombat rules are used. An unarmedmerchant ship will surrender if itsuffers sufficient damage or crewcasualties to cause a speed reductionof two, if it suffers a trim critical hitat any time, or if a bridge hit kills thecaptain. This is so even if the mer-chant ship is escorted by a warship.(If the escort is still fighting, however,the players can hardly afford to ignoreit. ) An armed merchant ship willsurrender as soon as it has had itsspeed reduced by four due to eithermast or crew hits, or when all of itsofficers are dead.

GRANTOF VESSEL

Die Result1-3 Request Denied4-5 Fleetfoot

6 Bloodrunner1 Small Bird

8-9 Clearsight10-11 Swiftwood

12+ Endtime

CREW SALARIES(Shillings Per Day)

Amt. Crew1 Marine, Deckhand, Turn-

crank2 Gunner, Topman, Engi-

neer3 Petty Officer6 Officer

12 Captain

GDW

PRIZE SHIPS

Prize ShipsA PRIZE SHIP is an enemy vessel cap-

tured in combat. One of the great at-tractions of the life of a privateer isthe prospect of prize money—theproceeds from the sale of prize ships,their cargo, and the ransoming ofimportant prisoners.

Shares: Once a ship is captured, itmust be taken back to a friendly port,where it and its cargo are sold atauction and the proceeds divided into10 equal shares. Two shares (20 per-cent of the total) are the ship's por-tion, and they go to the owner of thevessel. If the vessel is a grant fromthe Crown, the ship's share goes tothe Crown in payment. One sharegoes to the captain of the ship. Twoshares are divided equally among allof the officers of the ship, includingthe captain. Thus, if a ship had fourofficers, the captain would receive atotal of 1V2 shares (one share as cap-tain and one-quarter of the two offi-cers' shares). One share is dividedamong the "seniors, " which is to say,the petty officers. (On a Martian shipthis share is instead added to theofficer's share, and the helmsman and

trimsman each receive half of anofficer's allotment. ) The rest of thecrew evenly divides the remainingfour shares, although it is common forinexperienced crewmember to re-ceive only half of a full crewman's al-lotment. The apportionment of sharesis repeated in the sidebar on page 23.

Auction: Ships may be auctionedat most major cities, although only afew cities are used to handling theseauctions on a regular basis. Playerswill receive their best price at SyrtisMajor, Parhoon, or Karkarham. Todetermine the auction price of theship, take its original value and divideby 10. Now multiply the result by theroll of one die. Add half the Bargain-ing skill (round fractions down) ofany one player in the group to the dieroll. The result is the sale price of theship. If the ship is badly damaged,subtract one from the die roll (butnever reduce the roll to less than 1).The cargo on the ship will also be auc-tioned. The auction price of the cargowill be its weight in tons, times five,times the roll of a die (modified asabove). Since only the most preciouscargoes are protected, double the

cargo value for all escorted merchantships and for all armed merchantships. All sale prices are in pounds.

CLOUD CAPTAINSOF THE SHISTOMIK

MOUNTAINSWHILE THE MAJORITY of the Red

Captains are privateers, a largenumber of the native cloud captainsare out-and-out pirates who will at-tack any ship flying any flag as longas there is profit in it. Because manyof these men have a price on theirheads, they recognize the benefit of asafe harbor and so will generallyobserve the freedom from attack ofships sailing near Karkarham. How-ever, a captain desperate for moneymay attack a merchantman in the safezone and put its crew to the sword toeliminate the witnesses.

Numbers: There are about twodozen active corsairs which fly out ofKarkarham and raid aerial commerce.Most of their ships are small kitesbuilt at the Karkarham yards, usuallyunder 500 tons in weight. A typicalpirate vessel is shown on this page,and its ship record form is included


in the back of the book. Crews aver-age about 50 persons per ship, whichplaces the total number of men activeout of the Shistomik Mountains at lessthan 1000. However, living in Kar-karham are large numbers of formercorsairs whose sentiments are withthe active sailors and who mightquickly rejoin their ranks if there werea good prospect of rich prizes.

Range: The cloud captains of theShistomik routinely range as far as3000 miles out from Karkarham invirtually all directions. While thecloud captains tend to avoid Britishairspace, they are not above attack-ing ships on the run between SyrtisMajor and the Boreosyrtis League.They also tend to avoid Oenotrianterritory, as the efficient and power-ful Oenotrian fleet has always been apotent deterrent to piracy. Now thatboth Britain and Oenotria have theirfleets tied up with combat duty, thecloud captains are becoming bolder.Aside from the area around the twolarge empires, the cloud captainsbased at Karkarham infest the ship-ping lanes of Hellas, Trinacria,Hesperia, and the Mare Cimmerium

in the south; Aetheria and Amenthesin the north; and Zephyria and theMare Sirenum to the east. They sel-dom venture further east than that, ascommerce is rare in the barren hillsof Memnonia, and the Belgians are athreat beyond there.

Attitudes: The cloud captains andtheir crews actively dislike Earthmen,particularly the British. There ishardly one of them who has not losta shipmate to either British gunfire orthe noose. Furthermore, growingBritish power threatens their entireway of life. Only their own greed,selfishness, and quarrelsome jealousykeep them from uniting against theBritish. This particularly manifestsitself in Karkarham. Many of theMartian cloud captains are flyingagainst Britain in the current war,either as open pirates or with Oenot-rian seizure warrants. At the sametime, a number of the British RedCaptains are flying in protection ofthe merchant ships. When the crewsmix in the taverns of Karkarham, theresults are often explosive.

Politics: The cloud captains are notterribly astute politically, but they do

recognize a good thing when they seeit. Karkarham is the key to their con-tinued success, even their survival.Karkarham has become a haven forthem because of the policies of PrinceSabaat, the chancellor to PrinceTumaani, the ruler. Therefore, theyare inclined to support the chancel-lor when he needs assistance of onekind or another. The closest thing toa genuine leader the cloud captainshave is a tough, ambitious captainfrom the east called Quatlatlani. Hehas mediated disputes and helped theother captains put together occasionalcooperative raids. Under his guidancethey are gradually learning to worktogether. Progress is extremely slow,however.

PRIZESHARES

Entity SharesShipCaptainOfficersSeniorsCrew

21214

GDW

QUATLATLANI

Quatlatlani (VeteranQUATLATLANI is SHORT for a Mar-

tian, little more than six feet tall, andslender as well. He is handsome,however, and has piercing blue eyesthat seem to explore the inner re-cesses of each of your minds in turn.You have the feeling that he willknow if you are lying or telling thetruth when you speak to him. Hisface is intelligent and patient, andhe shows no sign of violence or ex-treme emotion. Almost as an after-thought, you notice several deepscars on his face accented by blood-red body paint. His whole beingprojects such calm and control thatthe scars and garish pirate decora-tions go almost unnoticed.

Additional Descriptive Notes:As the players observe Quatlatlani,they will notice that he never raiseshis voice to his crew, house staff, orother subordinates. When one of hisfollowers reports to him, Quatlat-lani will listen intently to what hehas to say, then will give his instruc-tions in a quiet voice, often restinghis hand on the person's shoulderwhile he does so. It will also beobvious that his subordinates areextremely loyal to him and followhis orders without question.

Quatlatlani carries a small knifein his belt, but if forced to fightprefers to use a common boardingpike.

Att. Skills

MotivesNATURAL LEADER, Ambitious,

Wise.

AttitudesThe Empire: Quatlatlani hates

the British Empire and sees it as the

NPC)greatest threat to Martian civilizationsince the seas dried up. The singlelong-term ambition that he has is tosomehow break British power onMars.

Europeans: Quatlatlani has noparticular prejudice against Europe-ans, although he tends to dislike mostof them by virtue of their associationwith the colonial power structure. Heis willing to work with those whohave a common interest with him,however, and he spends considerabletime trying to enlist della Mora'sassistance in his intrigues against theBritish.

Martians: He feels that the Mar-tians are almost their own worstenemies, with their constant bicker-ing and fighting amongst themselves.He spends most of his time, when noton a raid, talking with different inter-est groups and trying to get them towork together. He will not ignore thepossibility of help from any quarterand has even carried on extensivetalks with Worm Priests from theupper slopes of the Shistomik Moun-tains.

Karkarham: Karkarham is, forQuatlatlani, the perfect base of opera-tions for his schemes. While he wouldprefer that the prince were more anti-human in outlook, at least the rulertakes no active role in policy and socan probably be controlled when thetime comes. Quatlatlani has becomevery close to several of the youngernobles of the city and is building aquiet but efficient movement amongthem which he may eventually helpto seize control of the city. Quatlat-lani has no ambitions of his own alongthose lines and would be happy with

Str:

Agl:

End:

Int:

Chr:

Soc:

2

4

4

6

5

1

Fisticuffs 1, Trimsman 2(cloudship), Close Combat4 (polearm)Stealth 3, Marksmanship 2(bow)Wilderness Travel 3 (forag-ing)Observation 6, Gunnery 4(muzzle-loading cannon)Eloquence 4, Linguistics 2(Koline, Parhooni), Bar-gaining 1, Theatrics 2Piloting 2 (cloudship),Leadership 2


an anti-British government when thetime is right.

BackgroundQUATLATLANI'S TRUE background

will probably never be known, al-though it is widely believed that he isthe son of a wealthy merchant ornoble. Over 30 years ago, when hewas still an infant, he was capturedin a pirate raid in which most of thepassengers of the captured vesselwere slain. Quatlatlani, however, wassold into slavery instead and passedhis early years as a laborer on a mel-tanoi plantation near Afirenz. Whenin his mid-teens, he escaped from theplantation and managed to talk hisway onto the crew of a cloudship. Hegrew to maturity as a cloud sailor andeventually became involved first inprivateer work, and then in piracy,during the years of the Sirenian Wars.Out of that time of violence andchaos, Quatlatlani emerged as acunning leader.

Four years ago Quatlatlani movedhis base of operations west to Kar-karham and has since then becomethe foremost of the cloud captains ofthe Shistomik. He is extremelywealthy and has no real need to con-tinue the dangerous life of an aerialpirate, but he does so to maintain hisleadership among the captains ofKarkarham. Quatlatlani has come tosee the immense power of the menfrom Earth and believes that the onlyway of resisting them is to provide aunited front. He has become, in hisown way, a Martian patriot, and isworking patiently behind the scenesto forge an anti-British coalition tocrush them once and for all. He seesthe cloud captains as a potentiallydecisive, if extremely volatile, com-

ponent in this force, if only he canpersuade them to work togetheragainst a common foe. He feels theOenotrian War has come too soon, buthe is nevertheless considering somesort of action to help the Oenotrians.

Had Quatlatlani not been capturedas an infant, he might have beenraised in a wealthy home, and his na-tural genius would almost certainlyhave led him to scholarly pursuits.Instead, his life has dictated that hebecome a man of violence, but hiskeen mind still searches for uniqueand superior ways to deal with prob-lems. He is constantly coming up withsmall inventions, such as a steam-powered rotisserie used in the kitchenof his home. Both his study at his villaand his cabin aboard the Black Dag-ger are littered with books on a vari-ety of scientific subjects and withdozens of small unusual inventions.While these are mostly labor-savingcurios rather than important scientificadvances, they bespeak the workingsof an active, inventive mind.

Although he seldom has time to doso, Quatlatlani enjoys hunting withfriends—climbing through the rocksnear Karkarham armed with bowsand chasing the small, nimble, hornedanimals that live in the mountains. Heseldom bags one, however, as he isnot a very good shot and never hassufficient time to practice.

Quatlatlani's native language isHespesian.

THE BLACK DAGGERQUATLATLANI'S Black Dagger is a

well known sight near Karkarham. Ithas a sinister, rakish look common toships built farther east, and this lookis emphasized by the ship's black-painted hull. The ship was built for

Quatlatlani five yearsago in the shipyard at Sireniain eastern Memnonia (at theeastern end of the Mare Sirenum),and is still armed and equippedmostly as it originally was. The ma-jor departure from its originalequipment is the custom return car-riage for the forward rogue gun,which Quatlatlani has recentlyadded. (For a description of thecarriage, see page 57. )

The Black Dagger has a substan-tial cargo hold and can also carrycargo in underslung nets. When theship carries up to 100 tons of cargoits maximum altitude is reduced toHigh; when it carries from 101 to250 tons, it is reduced to Medium;and when it carries from 251 to500, it is reduced to Low. The shipmay not carry more than 500 tonsof cargo.

Technical SpecificationsArmor: 0Hull: 6 (wood)Speed: 4Altitude: Very HighTonnage: 500Price: £38, 600Crew: 4 officers, 2 petty officers,

47 ratingsBridge: 4 officers, 2 petty offi-

cers, 1 ratingDeck: 6 ratingsManeuver: 24 ratingsGunners: 16 ratingsArmament:1 return-carriage rogue forward1 power grapnel at bow2 sweepers, forward-facing2 heavy guns in forward wing

mounts2 light guns broadside2 light guns in aft wing mounts

GDW

AERIAL TRAVEL ON MARS

AERIAL TRAVEL ON MARSMANY CITIES on Mars are not eas-

ily reached by canal, and in any eventthe great distances involved maketravel by cloudship the centerpiece ofMartian commerce. This section ofrules is intended as an elaboration onthe basic rules for aerial travel givenin Space: 1889.

Availability of Vessels: Charactersseeking passage to another city willneed to check the landing ground todetermine when the next ship is leav-ing. All commercial cloudships arekites and are primarily cargo haulerswith varying numbers of stateroomsavailable for first-class passengers.(A number of additional steerage pas-sengers can usually be carried in thecargo holds in lieu of cargo. ) Cloud-ships are too expensive to use forshort trips between cities linked byworking grand canals and are insteadreserved for very long voyages, of-ten over vast tracts of wasteland.

As a practical guide to referees, the

DIRECTIONOF TRAVEL

Die DirectionI23456

NorthWestWestEastEastSouth

AVERAGE PRICESPER DAY

Class PriceSteerage 6/—First Class £1 10/—Cargo 8d per ton

number of grand canals that flow intoa city is the number of merchantcloudships that arrive at and departfrom the city each week. Cities withno active grand canals have onemerchant ship arrive and depart eachweek. The referee should determinethe port of origin or destination ofeach such ship. This can be done ona semi-random basis, but all suchorigin/destination ports should bedrawn from cities within a 3000-mileradius and no closer than 1000 miles.Roll a die and consult the Directionof Travel Table provided in the side-bar.

If players intend to travel to a cityin a densely populated area, they mayhave a a very long wait for a ship tothat specific destination. They willprobably find it quicker to take thefirst ship available to that general areaand then finish their trip by canal boat.

Accommodations: First-class cab-ins are let on the basis of doubleoccupancy. Unless the players aretravelling in parrs, they will be as-signed a travelling companion on arandom basis. Most captains willmake every effort to match the sex ofcabinmates and, if possible, planet oforigin. This is not always possible,however. Players who require a cabinall to themselves must purchase twotickets. First-class passengers aregiven free run of the ship, but they areadvised to avoid the cargo hold andcontact with steerage-class passen-gers, who can be dangerous.

The food is generally good, if notvery imaginative. Meals are taken inthe wardroom with the ship's officersor, on larger ships, in the captain'sdining room. Even on a Warm Windsmerchantman the captain's diningroom is not big enough to accommo-

date the captain and all 12 first-classpassengers, assuming the ship has afull passenger manifest. In this casecertain passengers are invited to dinewith the captain, and others dine withthe officers in the wardroom. Cap-tains with a good sense of hospitalitywill rotate these invitations through-out the passenger list and not showfavoritism, while more boorish oneswill select their favorites and alwaysdine with them.

Steerage accommodations are con-siderably less comfortable. Passen-gers ride in the cargo hold and are feda rough version of the same foodgiven the crew. They are providedwith a hammock, but their other fur-niture will consist of cargo crates andbales. Steerage is very crowded—thepassengers are allowed on deck forexercise at only selected times dur-ing the day (and are then restricted toa certain area of the ship, usually theforecastle). Passengers who appear tohave money or valuables are likely tofind themselves attacked at night androbbed. (Appeals to the captain willprobably have little effect. He is not,after all, a policeman or detective, andif the character really had money, thecaptain will ask, then why didn't hepurchase a first-class ticket?)

Fares: The amount listed in thebasic game (6s per day) is the pricefor a steerage ticket, with a berth in afirst-class cabin costing five timesthis amount (£1 10/—). However,these fares can increase in times of un-certainty or war. If large numbers ofpeople wish to leave a city, the farescan easily double or even quadruple.

Travel Times: If moving from westto east with the prevailing winds attheir backs (called running), kites willtravel about 400 miles per day. When


moving from east to west and forcedto tack back and forth against thewind (called beating), kites travelabout 200 miles per day. Whenmoving in a northerly or southerlydirection with the prevailing winds ontheir beams (called reaching), kitestravel about 300 miles per day.

Cargo: Merchant vessels carrypassengers for extra money, but theirmain business is cargo. The averagefee for hauling cargo by cloudship is8d per ton per day of travel. This iscalculated and paid in advance basedon expected travel times; unexpecteddelays are the responsibility of thecaptain and are not charged againstthe owner of the goods. This pricemay be slightly lower for large-capac-ity vessels on established and securetrade routes, and can be as much astwice this amount on smaller vesselsor less well travelled routes, orthrough dangerous territory. Particu-larly valuable cargoes are often ex-pensive to ship as well, due to thegreater risk to the carrying vessel.

Encounters: The standard aerialencounter table and rules given in theSpace: 1889 book should be used, butwith some variations. To start with,add one to the encounter numbers forboth mountain and nonmountainterrain, making the encounter num-bers 3 and 2, respectively. If a ship isflying through an area of particularunrest when an encounter is rolled,add one to the die roll for the type ofencounter (with a modified roll of 7treated as a 6). If an armed merchantkite is encountered, you may eitheruse the armed kite suggested in thebasic rules or the more heavily armedone presented on page 62. If an un-armed kite is rolled, roll again. On aroll of 1 or 2, it is an unarmed Warm

Winds kite; on a roll of 3-6, it is asmaller Sky Gift merchant kite. (TheSky Gift is a small merchant kite. Aship record form for it is included inthe back of this book. )

Referees may also wish to modifysome of the encounter results. Amerchant kite may turn out to be aprize ship captured by pirates andbeing sailed back to Karkarham orsome other city for sale. A small piratecrew will be forcing the crew to manthe rigging at gunpoint while theofficers and passengers are held pris-oner belowdeck. The players may beable to discover this and recapture theship, thus rescuing the prisoners andperhaps coming into a large reward.

A pirate encounter might turn outto be a Red Captain, perhaps one ofthe legendary five, and he may notattack the merchant vessel since it isnot a legitimate prize. (If the playersare flying on a vessel of the crowncolony of Syrtis Lapis, the Britishcaptains will certainly not attack, noris Le Begue likely to, although dellaMora might. )

Finally, referees should rememberthat player characters are not the onlyones who suffer from encounters. Ifthe players are being carried as pris-oners in an enemy vessel, that vesselitself may fall afoul of pirates or someother hostile ships as the result of anaerial encounter.

GDW

SHIPBOARD LIFE

SHIPBOARD LIFEALL TOO OFTEN when a group of

characters board a ship bound for an-other city, the referee will roll the dicetwo or three times and then announce,"Okay, you reach Koomkoom-kabuhlala City. Now what?" This isnot very satisfying from a role-play-ing point of view. While not everycloudship voyage can or should be anadventure, each one should have adistinctive character of its own. Youcan accomplish this as the refereewith a minimum of work if you orga-nize your thoughts before the voyageand fill in a few blanks.

Captain: Assuming the playercharacters are travelling first class,they will have more contact with thecaptain that anyone else on board, andsimply by giving him a distinctivepersonality you can make the voyageunique. Here are several quick pos-sibilities: He is a drunken incompe-tent, and he remains captain onlybecause he is the brother of the ownerof the ship. He is a cruel and brutalcaptain who has the crewmemberswhipped for seemingly unimportantmistakes. He is an exceptionallycompetent seaman with a genuinelove of cloudships and a willingnessto explain the workings of his ship atgreat length to anyone interested. Heis fascinated by Earth humans andwill spend much of the voyage ask-ing them questions about their home,society, government, etc. He has amild dislike of Earth humans, but thiswill manifest itself only as rudebehavior. He is a recluse and seldomtakes meals with the passengers at all,instead having his meals served in hispersonal cabin.

Officers: There will be severalofficers on board, and first-class pas-

sengers will have some contact withthem as well. You may wish to pro-vide brief character sketches anddescriptions of them. You may wantto concentrate particular attention onone officer. Perhaps the first officeris much more competent than thecaptain. This could result in him beingjealous of the captain and trying tomake him look bad. On the otherhand, he may be extremely loyal tothe captain, who once saved his life,and so goes out of his way to coverup the captain's incompetence.

Crew: You obviously do not havetime to provide character descriptionsfor each crewmember, but you shouldgive some thought to the general lookand feel of the crew. They may beclean and disciplined, and handletheir duties quickly and competently.They may be dirty and sullen, andtreat their officers with contempt. Arethey friendly to human passengers, orcurious, hostile, or indifferent? Dothey spend a lot of time laughing andhorsing around, or do they tend tobreak up into small conspiratorialknots and mutter while casting fur-tive glances over their shoulders?

Passengers: Your PCs are proba-bly not the only passengers on boardthe ship. Give some thought to whothe other passengers are. Perhaps amerchant and his family travellingwith a valuable cargo or a mysterioushuman with an eastern European ac-cent. If the PCs travel in steerage, theother passengers will probably be theonly contacts the players have, andthere will be considerable opportuni-ties for contact and even conflict.

The Ship: The facing page has acomplete description of a WarmWinds merchant ship. Although avariety of merchant vessels are in use,

this one is fairly common. Eventuallyyou may want to design severalsmaller merchant ships to use as well,but for the first several voyages thisone will do. Let your players walkaround the ship after they are under-way and get familiar with it. If thereare steerage passengers, the PCs maycatch sight of them being exercisedon the forward deck in groups of sixor eight. If the players walk near theopen cargo hatch, they will catch aglimpse of crowded humanity below,and perhaps smell and hear them aswell. In stark contrast will be theirown quarters, which are cramped butattractive and clean. Eventually thecaptain may invite them to visit thestern gallery of the ship (normallyreserved for the captain's use), and thePCs will discover that even aboard anaerial merchant vessel the CanalMartians remain as dedicated garden-ers as are the English. Much of thebroad, well-lit stern gallery will befull of planter boxes with vines,decorative green plants, and flowersof every description.

Adventures: If you are in themiddle of a campaign and want tospice it up, consider throwing a mini-adventure in while on the ship. Hereare some possibilities:

• The passengers in steerage areactually brigands intent on hijackingthe ship. If they succeed, they mayseize the passengers and sell them asslaves or just put them down along acanal somewhere.

• The crew, driven almost mad bytheir brutal treatment and whippedinto a frenzy of anger by severaltroublemakers, mutinies and tries to •take over the ship. The passengersmay be put down with the officers.

• One of the other passengers is


murdered, and the players must at-tempt to solve the crime before theyreach port, lest they be accused of the

dastardly deed by the authorities.• The vessel encounters a severe

windstorm. It may be blown off

course, damaged, or even wrecked• One of the other passengers is ac-

tually a German spy.

KEY1. Cargo Hold2. Brig3. Galley4. Armory5. Passenger Cabin (double)6. Wardroom7. Dining Room8. Captain's Quarters9. Officer's Quarters

10. Shower and Head11. Crew's Quarters12. Master Seamen's Quarters13. Cargo Loading Platform14. Stern Gallery15. Heavy Gun16. Rod Gun

MERCHANT KITES are found in a va-riety of configurations and sizes. TheWarm Winds is typical of the largemerchant ships in service. In a timeof increasing tension, disorder, andwar, these large vessels are now oftenseen as too vulnerable to pirates andprivateers, and many merchants areplacing greater reliance on smallerships. Most of the large ships still inservice have reduced their cargo haul-ing capacity in favor of mounting de-fensive armament. This example hasa number of guns mounted on thequarterdeck and forward on the maindeck, giving it an impressive weightof broadside. The crews that man theguns, however, are invariably Green.A privateer usually has the advantageof a well trained crew and can main-tain a higher altitude over a fully ladenmerchantman.

The armed version of the WarmWinds is still an impressive cargocarrier, and its capacious holds allowthe vessel to carry all but the bulkiest

Warm Winds

GDW

loads without resorting to externallyslung nets. Even when carrying up to1000 tons of cargo it can reach Very Highaltitude; when carrying up to 1300 tonsit can reach High altitude; when carry-ing up to 1800 tons it can reach Mediumaltitude; and when carrying up to 2600tons it can reach Low altitude.

Technical SpecificationsArmor: 0Hull: 20 (wood)Speed: K

Altitude: Very HighTonnage: 660 (exclusive of cargo)Price: £123, 040Crew: 4 officers, 2 petty officers,

63 ratingsBridge: 3 officers, 2 petty officers,

1 ratingDeck: 20 ratingsManeuver: 22 ratingsGunners: 11 ratingsArmament:10 heavy guns broadside1 rod gun aft


KarkarhamONCE KNOWN AS the gateway to

Amenthes, Karkarham is perched inthe only major pass through the Shis-tomik Mountains. The grand canalsfrom Gorklimsk and Syrtis Minormeet in Karkarham after climbingthrough a pair of locks. North of thecity, the locks have fallen into disre-pair, and the old canal from Kar-karham to Thoth is just a green beltthrough the arid scrub of Amenthes.

Karkarham is picturesque, built onseveral levels in the mountain's bro-ken cliffs. The lower city grew up onthe flat shelf of soil along the canalbanks and contains the roughest partsof town. Known as the Wet Docks,this overcrowded warehouse and resi-dential district, a major crime center,caters to barge crewmen and the poor.To the northwest is the stone leveewhich keeps the canals from empty-ing into the broken canal bed andshattered locks to the north. In the leeof the levee is a small boat city, themost dangerous of Karkarham's nestsof poverty and crime. The east sideof the canal is uninhabited and over-grown with scrub, vines, and trees.

Looming over the lower city isKarmaheet Hill, on which is built theupper city. The main access is the100-yard-wide Brumahaan Steps,although there is also a steep road forwagons and large animals, and a largecargo hoist for bulk goods. The sum-mit of the Brumahaan Steps opens

onto the bazaar of Karkarham, a largeopen-air marketplace with side streetsleading to avenues of shops and arti-sans. Southwest are small businessesand residences. Closest to the bazaar,the inhabitants are minor merchantsand artisans. Further toward the ship-yards and High Docks, the buildingsare crowded apartment blocks for la-borers and cloud sailors, mingled withrough entertainment establishments.Closest to the High Docks are themost lavish taverns and richest bor-dellos within 1000 miles, as well asthe High Fort, a major fortificationplaced to cover the broad landinggrounds and defend the shipyards.Northeast of the bazaar is a moreprosperous residential area culminat-ing in the beautiful villas of FortressPoint, the homes of the elite of Kar-karham: wealthy merchants, minornobility, and the more successful ofthe cloud captains. On the westernend of Fortress Point is the RavineFort, placed to cover the northernapproaches to the city as well as thecauseway to the Inner City.

To the west of Karmaheet Hill is theFist of Balakhaat, a small mesa whichformed part of the hill but was sepa-rated by a major tremor centuries ago.The Fist of Balakhaat was the tallestpart of the hill and looms over it; it isvisible from any part of the upper city.The mesa is occupied by the InnerCity, the political heart of the state.

The Inner City is walled and containsthe residences and offices of the gov-ernment officials who manage the af-fairs of state. It contains small, rich-ly appointed villas for minor nobilityand visiting dignitaries. The main fea-tures of the Inner City are the palace,royal garden, and citadel. The palaceis a complex of buildings, smallcourtyards, and gardens that takes upmost of the northern part of the InnerCity. The gardens are 100 yards by250 yards—a formal garden and parkthat stretches along the Royal Way.The citadel is a last refuge in the eventof siege and serves as a barracks forthe Inner City garrison.

The only access to the Inner City,aside from aerial vessel, is by way ofthe Balakhaat Causeway whichbridges the Balakhaat Ravine, thesheer and jagged scar that separatesthe two hill features. The causewayis covered by the defenders of the In-ner City and, on its flank, by the gunsof the Ravine Fort on Fortress Point,which makes a deliberate assault onthe Inner City almost impossible. TheRavine Fort is dominated by thehigher walls and gun positions of theInner City, so an assault on it wouldalso be a difficult enterprise.

CITY STATISTICSPopulation: 90, 000Government: Decadent PrinceCorruption: Very CorruptEconomy: MercantileVitality: WealthyArmy: PoorMercenaries: TrainedArmy Size: 7Fleet Quality: GreenFleet Size: £280, 000Attitude Toward Humans: Indif-

ferent

GDW

ARRIVAL IN KARKARHAM

ARRIVAL IN KARKARHAMTHIS SECTION is designed to enable

the referee to describe the arrival inKarkarham by players in any one ofa number of ways, both open and co-vert. Each section will have a descrip-tive passage which can be read to theplayers, as well as a summary of themost likely events that will take placeimmediately after the players arrive.

Arrival by CaravanPLAYERS ARRIVING in Karkarham

will do so by way of the dead canalfrom Thoth, a journey of about sevenweeks.

The Ruined Locks: The last weekof the caravan trip from Thoth will bespent in the foothills of the ShistomikMountains, and three days beforereaching the city the old spillway ofthe broken locks will have to beclimbed. This is an ascent of morethan 300 feet and is accomplished byway of a winding path that criss-crosses back and forth across thejagged face of the old spillway. Theascent will take all day, and playerswill have numerous opportunities toexamine the rusty remnants of themassive pumps, valves, and gears thatoperated the canal locks centuriesbefore.

Mountain Men: A day or two af-ter climbing the spillway the caravanwill encounter a patrol of 10 merce-nary soldiers of Karkarham. They aretough, wiry Hill Martians who arenative to the slopes of the Shistomiks,and the caravan will be almost on topof them before they show themselves.Only the officer and two or three menwill show themselves at first, but halfa dozen bowmen will be covering thecaravan from the nearby rocks andbrush. The actual encounter will

proceed almost identically to that de-scribed under The Mounted Patrol be-low.

First Sight of the City: For the lastseveral miles of your journey, the cityof Karkarham has been visible as asplash of white and red buildingsperched on a rock outcropping in thegrayish-brown mountains. A broadstone and rubble ramp leads up outof the canal bed and onto the roadalong the west bank. The road here isin good repair. As you arrive at theoutskirts of the city, you see a smallguard house and several soldierslounging near the road. They wave atyou and motion for you to stop. Toyour right is a long expanse of slumthat stops at the base of a steep cliff.Several hundred feet up the city resu-mes, but the buildings there have amore orderly, prosperous look tothem. As you watch the edge of thecliff you see a man appear and emptya bucket of garbage off the cliff; therefuse falls from view somewhere inthe slums. The tough-looking officerin charge of the guards walks slowlyover to you.

The Guard Station: This encoun-ter will be the same as that describedon page 33 under The Guard Post, ex-cept that these guards are toughmountaineers, not the soft CanalMartian mercenaries from Gor-klimsk. They will not demand anymore in the way of bribes than theothers, but they will do so in a lesspolite and more threatening manner.

The Wet Docks: As the playersmove south along the Thoth Road,they will pass the gigantic rubblelevee that dams the canal. They willnotice that a well worn path leads outonto the levee and winds between thelarger boulders. They will also notice

the smell, a combination of rottingfish and human waste, that emanatesfrom the whole dockyard area. Pastthe levee, the left side of the road ismostly occupied by large ware-houses, while the streets that branchoff to the right seem to twist and windinto dark, dirty slums of small ram-shackle buildings crowded untidilytogether. All along the street idleMartians and a few surly Earthmensilently watch the party's passagefrom doorways and windows.

Arrival by RoadARRIVAL BY ROAD covers any open

approach from the south by land.There are two roads from the southto Karkarham: the Gorklimsk Roadand the Syrian Road. Both run alongthe western bank of the canals toGorklimsk and Syrtis Minor respec-tively. There are also roads on theeastern banks, but they are less fre-quently travelled, and are abandonedand broken up in places. The easternroad along the canal to Syrtis Minoris completely overgrown and brokenup once the canal locks are passed.

The Mounted Patrol: There is achance (roll 2 or less on the die) thatthe players will encounter a mountedpatrol when they are about five to 10miles out from the city. This will be afour-man patrol consisting of rough-looking Hill Martians mounted ongashants. They are carrying a pennantin the blue-and-gold colors of Kar-karham but do not wear any other sortof uniform. They are mercenarycavalry in the pay of Prince Tumaani,and the leader of the patrol speaks aheavily accented and crude form ofKoline (in addition to his nativeAethani). They will inquire as to theplayers' business and satisfy them-


selves that this is not a hostile mili-tary force. If this is a small party(which they might be able to over-whelm) or a large one (with too manywitnesses to risk an attack on a roadpatrol), they will attempt to extort asmall bribe. The leader will hold outhis hand and demand, "Road tax. " Ifthe players object or ask how much,he will just repeat "Road tax!" moreforcefully. He will settle for about afive shilling bribe and then direct theplayers up the road to the city.

For the last several miles of yourjourney, the city of Karkarham hasbeen visible, a splash of white and redbuildings perched on a rock outcrop-ping in the grayish-brown mountains.As you arrive at the outskirts of thecity, you see a small guard house andseveral soldiers lounging near theroad. They wave at you and motionfor you to stop. The sheer-sided mesaon which the city is built looms aboveyou to the left. The fat officer incharge of the guards walks slowlyover to you wearing a greasy smile.

The Guard Post: The guards aremore mercenary troops, but these areCanal Martians from the lowlandareas near Gorklimsk and SyrtisMinor. The officer speaks bothKoline and Parhooni, but with thesing-song accent of one whose nativelanguage is from the Bootnai family.(His native tongue is Hespesian. ) Hismen will take a perfunctory look atany pack animals, and inside anywagons or carts, and ask if the play-ers are merchants with goods. If so,they will direct them to the customshouse. If not, the officer will insist thatthey have a number of obviouslyvaluable possessions which theycould sell in the bazaar for a consid-erable profit. The officer is respon-

sible for ensuring that such things donot take place, he will explain. Hecould be reprimanded, even fined.How can a destitute officer like him-self take the risk of suffering a fine?This will be the players' second en-counter with the rampant corruptionthat characterizes the city. The offi-cer will accept a small bribe of fromone to five shillings (depending onhow wealthy the group memberslook) and allow them to pass. If thisis a mercantile party, astute playersmay realize that they can avoid thecustoms house by a well placed bribehere. Anywhere from £5 to £10 willbe sufficient to have the officer makeout the correct papers. (See page 34for more about the customs house. )

The Gorklimsk Bridge: Eitherbefore or after they reach the customshouse, the PCs will have to cross theGorklimsk Canal Bridge. They willnotice that the canal here is about 400yards wide and appears to be quitedeep. There are ramshackle piersunderneath each end of the bridge towhich are tied several small fishingboats. Each end of the bridge has aguardhouse with four soldiers. Thesoldiers are more Canal Martianmercenaries, and they pay no atten-

tion to the bridge traffic. They areinstead gambling with dice or en-gaged in conversation in the liltingand highly tonal Hespesian language.If asked for assistance or directionsby the players, they will pay no at-tention to them and pretend not tounderstand whatever language theyare speaking in. (If addressed inHespesian, they will have no choicebut to respond, but will do so in a surlyand uncooperative manner).

The Pumping Station: Immedi-ately across the Gorklimsk Road fromthe head of the Gorklimsk CanalBridge is the pumping station. Thisis a very large horizontal wheel turnedby about 30 slaves which powers alarge bucket conveyor that lifts wa-ter from a reservoir to a water tank atthe top of the cliff. This is how theupper city gets drinking water. Theslaves are in rags and are chained tothe poles that turn the wheel. Fourguards stand nearby with whips, andthey often lash the slaves and bellow,"Turn faster!" or "Put your backs intoit!" Several of the slaves are Europe-ans—captured sailors or mer-chants—while most others are CanalMartians. There are a few Hill Mar-tians, but no High Martians at all.

GDW

ARRIVAL BY CANAL

Arrival by CanalTHERE ARE TWO canals to Kar-

karham: one from Gorklimsk and onefrom Syrtis Minor.

The Customs Boat: About 300yards past the bridge on theGorklimsk Canal (about 100 yardsshort of the junction with the twocanals if travelling on the SyrtisMinor Canal), a boat is anchored inmidchannel. A colorful striped awn-ing has been erected over it to givethe crew shade, and four men rest inchairs and drink from wineskinsunder it. As you approach, one manstands up and waves to you, gestur-ing for you to come alongside. He isa native Karkarham official, andspeaks fluent Parhooni and Koline.He is slightly drunk, but is supposedto inspect all vessels for trade goods,which are subject to tax. Consult thesection entitled The Guard Post onpage 33 for a description of his con-versation and attempts to secure abribe.

The Customs House: The customshouse is across the river from the city,on the point of land at the intersec-tion of the Gorklimsk and SyrtisMinor Canals. Several docks arenearby at which a few merchantbarges are tied, either awaiting in-spection or having been seized for taxevasion. A pleasant park and ashabby, run-down residential districtare also nearby. The players will belevied a tax of one-half of one per-cent of the value of their trade goods.That is the official rate and will be ad-hered to dutifully. However, the taxassessor will value the goods atroughly four times their true value.When (and if) the players object, theassessor will respond by praising theexcellent quality of their goods and

will remark that they seldom see mer-chandise this good in the city. He iscertain that the PCs will be surprisedat what they will bring in the market.Again, a bribe is in order. The offi-cial will eventually agree to assess thevalue of the goods at one-half theiractual value and collect the tax ac-cordingly, provided the players payhim an equal amount. This means thatthe PCs pay the full normal tax, buthalf of it goes to the tax assessor.

The Wet Docks: The Wet Docksstretch along the western bank of theGorklimsk Canal and are a jumble ofrotting piers, floating dead fish, anda very diversified collection of bargesand fishing vessels. The docks termi-nate against a large, jumbled rock andstone rubble levee that blocks thecanal. Along the levee is a close-packed mass of boats of all sizes andshapes, for the most part badly in needof paint and repair. They appear to bepermanently moored or anchored,and they are connected by numerousdocks and gangplanks so that theyform an entire residential district.Some of the connecting gangways arewide, and some are even roofed over.Much activity is evident, and smallrowboats and skiffs dart around theedges of the docks, either carryingpassengers or dragging fishing netsin the water. The wind carries over astrong smell of rotting fish and humanwaste from the boat city.

As the players pull up next to avacant pier, they will see several idleMartians loitering on the docks and anumber of small boys. The olderMartians will make no move to helptie up, but the boys will run along thepier and cry for the crew to throwthem the ship's lines. They will helptie up and make sure that there are

bumpers between the boat and thepier to protect its hull. They will thenexpect to be paid, and a few penceeach will send them running away injoy. The referee should also consultthe description of the Wet Docksgiven in Arrival by Caravan.

Arrival by FlyerPLAYERS ARRIVING by flyer will pre-

sumably do so openly and during thedaytime. As they approach they arelikely to see other vessels, particularlymerchant ships, as Karkarham is amajor commercial center.

Patrol Vessel: When the playersare within a half day of the city, thereis a chance (roll 2 or less on the die)that they will encounter a patrollingvessel of the Karkarham Navy. If so,it will be one of the smaller vessels,either a Fleetfoot- or a Clearsight-class screw galley. The ship willsignal to heave to and will comealongside. As the vessel approaches,players may observe that it is in needof a new coat of paint, and that thedecks are grimy and littered withrefuse, unstowed lines, and assortedboxes and crates. The crew has a lazy,surly look about it, and the ship an-swers clumsily to its helm. It alsotends to tilt its deck in a turn or whencoming to a stop, a sure sign of an in-experienced trimsman.

The captain of the vessel will in-quire as to the destination of the shipand its cargo. He will not botherharassing a small ship (not worth histime) or a very large one (too muchchance of its owner being someoneimportant), but a medium-sized ves-sel, say hull size 4 to 10, will receivea closer look. The captain will insiston boarding and conducting an in-spection. He will find something


which he considers an irregularity(most likely a safety violation, butpossibly contraband cargo instead)and will insist on levying a fine orimpounding the ship. All of this, eventhe inspection itself, can be avoidedby payment of a bribe. A payment offrom £20 to £50 will avoid an inspec-tion or deal with a minor made-upviolation. A payment of five or even10 times this amount will be neces-sary to hush up any genuine contra-band discovered. The referee shouldmodify this up or down based on thevalue of the cargo, the seriousness ofthe crime, or the bargaining ability ofthe players.

The City In Sight: As the daywears on, the mountain peaks aroundyou grow taller. After a few hours yourship is making its way between snow-topped mountains along a naturalpass. Below you is the canal, thegreen foliage along its banks con-trasting starkly with the gray rock ofthe mountain slopes. As you float pasta mountainside, the valley takes aslight turn, and suddenly the city isvisible several miles ahead. It's builton two steep hills, plateaus actually,on the west bank of the canal, andlooks like a faerie castle of shiningwhite spires rising from streets andparks and marketplaces.

As you draw closer the individualbuildings become clear, and the cityappears less romantic. Many of thetall towers are broken off, and the topsare jagged, untended openings. Theold, majestic original buildings of thecity were built with ample spacebetween them, but those intervals arenow packed with a jumble of low,shabby, stone and brick hovels.

The smaller of the two hills iscompletely covered with a large for-

tification guarding what appear to bevillas, parks, and a very large palace.The larger of the plateaus looks likea fish, with the tail to the north andthe head to the southwest. On thesouthwestern tip is a large, flat land-ing ground where many aerial vesselsare moored amidst the familiar bustleof a busy port. Just southeast of thefield is a looming gray fort. Its cov-ered gun turrets move as you ap-proach, allowing its large-caliberweapons to cover your ship until itlands.

The High Docks: As the shipapproaches, a number of laborers willdirect the ship to hover over an opentie-down berth and will take the ship'slines to secure it. As the players dis-embark, the burly foreman of thelaborers will tell them that there is aberthing fee. The fee will be £5 perhull size number of the ship, andcovers one full week (whether thePCs want to stay a week or not).Longer berthing times have to becleared with the harbormaster, how-

ever, and a visit to the harbormasteris required in any event.

Before the players leave, the fore-man asks if they would like him tokeep a special eye on their ship forthem to make sure nothing happensto it. This is a fairly friendly requestfor a bribe, and the foreman will besatisfied with about £1 per hull sizenumber. If the request is politelyturned down, he will take no furtheraction. If he is insulted or offended,however, he may return with his gangat night and carry out some mischief.

The Harbormaster's Office: Thisoffice is in the shipyard area. Theharbormaster will collect any addi-tional berthing fees and assign theplayers a long-term berth if desired.Long-term berthing fees are £10 perhull size per month or £50 per hullsize per year. He will also assess acommerce tax on any cargo. This willprobably result in the payment of anadditional bribe. For details of thetransaction, see the section on thecustoms house on the previous page.

GDW

ARRIVAL OVERLAND

Arrival OverlandCHARACTERS WHO approach Kar-

karham overland will probably do sofor reasons of stealth, and this sectionassumes that the players are trying tomake a clandestine entry into the city.

The Climb to Karkarham: Kar-karham is surrounded by mountains,and most overland approaches to itwill require considerable mountain

climbing. Use the mountaineeringrules from the Space: 1889 game toresolve this part of the journey.

A Patrol: When the players arethree hexes from Karkarham, theywill begin to encounter mountaineerpatrols. Roll a die once per day, andon a roll of 1 or 2, they will encoun-ter a patrol consisting of four HillMartian mercenaries (Experienced,bow-armed, Marksmanship 4,Fieldcraft 5). Have the character inthe party with the highest Observa-tion skill make a Difficult task skillroll (target 12) to see the patrol be-fore it sees the characters. If he issuccessful, every character mustmake an Moderate task roll (target8) using his Stealth skill dice andadding his Fieldcraft skill number asa bonus to the die roll to avoid detec-tion. If any character fails the roll, thepatrol will see the party members anddemand that they show themselves.

At this point the party membersmay either give themselves up orfight. If they give themselves up, theywill be disarmed and taken to the city.(Wandering around in the mountainsis considered to be suspicious enoughbehavior to warrant special attention. )If they fight, adjudicate the combatusing the normal combat rules. Rolltwo dice, add the result, and multiplyby 10 to determine the range at whichthe combat starts. As the combat takesplace on a mountainside, numerousrock outcroppings are available forcover, both sides are considered to beconcealed and will benefit from theirFieldcraft skill. (The Hill Martianshave a Fieldcraft of 5 and so have a+3 modifier to their saving throw forconcealment. ) Once two Hill Mar-tians have been killed or wounded,the remaining members of the patrol

will attempt to escape. The playerswill have one more turn's worth offiring to attempt to stop them beforethey disappear into a ravine and es-cape.

If the Hill Martians escape, morepatrols will be sent out to look for theplayers. These patrols will be encoun-tered in the hexes adjacent to Kar-karham and in the Karkarham hexitself. Each of these patrols willconsist of nine mercenaries as de-scribed above. The party will auto-matically encounter one patrol perday and will encounter a second on aroll of 2 or less on one die. Resolvethe encounter the same as for theoriginal patrol.

Aerial patrols will also be sent outif a member of the encountered pa-trol escapes, and a small screw gal-ley will pass over the players once perday. Each member of the party mustmake a Moderate (target 8) task skillroll using Stealth dice with a Field-craft bonus to avoid detection. If thePCs are detected, the screw galleywill demand their surrender. In thiscase the players have very littlechoice unless a cave or large over-hanging rock is nearby. The playerwith the highest Observation skillmust make a Formidable (target 16)skill task roll with Mountaineeringskill as a bonus to locate such a ref-uge. The party members can seekshelter there and, although the screwgalley will fire its guns at them, theywill remain safe until nightfall. Thelocal winds are too tricky for the gal-ley to actually land on the mountain-side, and so it will be forced to leaveonce the Sun sets. The players canthen make their way slowly away bynight. This will not count as anyadditional distance travelled or rock


faces climbed; it will merely distancethem from the cave site.

First Sight of the City (Ap-proached From the West): As youreach the crest of the rock face youare climbing, you are faced with a ra-vine which is about a mile wide. Onthe far side of the ravine is a steep-sided plateau, and on the top is thecity of Karkarham. There are actuallytwo plateaus, the smaller of which iscloser to you. Its crest is completelysurrounded by fortified walls, and youcan see towers and buildings risingfrom behind them. You can't see muchof the northern end of the main pen-insula from where you are standing,but the southern end to your left hasa large, flat landing ground. Over adozen cloudships are tethered there,and you can see that a considerablenumber of men and cargo wagons aremoving near the vessels.

First Sight of the City (Ap-proached From the East): As youreach the crest of the rock face youare climbing, you are faced with avalley which is almost two miles wide.The city of Karkarham is on the farside of it. Below you are two grandcanals approaching from the south-west and southeast. They come to-gether directly below you, and thenterminate in a massive dam made ofboulders and rubble. To the north(your right) the canal is empty andbadly broken up. Considerable scrubfoliage grows up through the cracksin its bottom.

The city itself begins on the banksof the canal as a long expanse of slumthat stops at the base of a steep cliff.Several hundred feet up the city re-sumes, but the buildings there have amore orderly, prosperous look tothem. As you watch the edge of the

cliff you see a man appear and emptya bucket of garbage off the cliff. Therefuse falls from view somewhere inthe slums.

The Levee Path: If approachingfrom the east, the players shouldmake their way down to the valleyfloor, and find ample concealment inthe undergrowth and scrub trees onthe west bank of the canal. From therethey can make their way to the leveepath and cross over it under the coverof darkness. As they cross, they willsee the dim lights of the boat city totheir left, hear the sounds of bawdyrevelry drifting over from the pleas-ure barges, and experience the smellof the boat city: a combination of rot-ting fish, garbage, and human waste.They will also hear furtive scram-blings in the rocks near the path andmay catch sight of a man-sizedshadow or two. None of the thugs thatlay in wait for drunks will attack aparty this size, however.

Once across the levee, the playerswill be in the Wet Docks district. Theonly important obstacle to cross willbe the broad Thoth Road, which isfairly well lit by gas lamps. Onceacross Thoth Road, the players willbe able to disappear into the darklabyrinth of streets and allies thatmake up the Wet Docks slums.

Scaling The Cliff: If the partymembers approach from the west,they will probably need to scale thecliff to reach the summit of Kar-maheet Hill or the Fist of Balakhaat.These would normally be consideredas one rock face each, but since theywill be scaled at night (for purposesof secrecy), they will be considera-bly more difficult. Use the normalmountain climbing rules with the fol-lowing exceptions. A player's Moun-

taineering skill is the number of smallrock faces which may be climbed inone night. The players select a pointon the cliff and scout the slope dur-ing the daylight, the same as if theywere scouting a mountain face. Thenumber effaces rolled is the numberof small rock faces at that point. If theplayers wish to scout an easier path,they may do so, but it must be at least200 yards away from the originalpoint. Each member of the group witha Mountaineering skill of 4 or moremay scout a separate path in a day. (Ifno one in the party has a skill of 4 ormore, the party may still collectivelyscout one path per day. ) Scouting isdone during daylight and consists oflying in concealment and making adetailed map of the cliff side showingthe easiest route to the top.

Once a route is selected, the leadclimber will climb it at night, mak-ing the normal roll for a climbingmishap. The lead climber must havesufficient skill to complete the climbduring the night. At the end of theclimb the lead climber will secure agreased block and tackle, and throwdown a line to the main party waitingbelow. The party can then hoist eachmember up the cliff safely andquickly.

TASKSUMMARY

Detect Patrol: Difficult (tar-get 12), Observation.

Avoid Detection By Patrol orCloudship: Moderate (target 8),Stealth+Fieldcraft.

Detect Cave: Formidable (tar-get 16), Observation+Mountain-eering.

GDW

THE CITY OF KARKARHAM

KEYStreet

Building

Fortification

Cliff

Boat

Park

Forest & Undergrowth

MAJOR FEATURES1. Fist of Balakhaat2. Royal Landing Grounds3. Palace4. Balakhaat Ravine5. Balakhaat Causeway6. Main Landing Grounds7. Shipyards8. Karmaheet Hill9. Brumahaan Steps

10. Cargo Hoist11. Pumping Station12. Gorklimsk Bridge13. Customs House14. Customs Boats15. Levee16. Dry Canal Bed

SQUARES21. Roogie Place22. Gorklimsk Square23. Great Bazaar24. Pasaan Square25. Balakhaat Square26. Drayage Square27. Jumaheet Place28. Cleansing Mercy Square29. Square of the Captains

PARKS31. Royal Gardens32. Balakhaat Park33. Istobaan Park34. Customs Park

The City of Karkarham

0 100 200 300 400 500


GDW

CITY DISTRICTS OF KARKARHAM

CITY DISTRICTSOF KARKARHAM

WHILE IT is NOT possible to describeevery part of the city in detail, eachof the major districts has its own spe-cial feel, and capturing that feel is im-portant. This section is intended toprovide the referee with the most im-portant impressions of each of theparts of the city.

The Bazaar: The bazaar is a bus-tling, colorful beehive of activity, thevery symbol of Karkarham's impor-tance as a trading center. The air isfilled with the smells of spices, fineperfumes, sweet confections cookingin the wagon cart of a vendor, draftanimals too long under saddle, rottenmeat, and human sweat. The noise isalmost deafening as customers andmerchants haggle over price andquality in half-a-dozen different lan-guages. The harsh, guttural conso-nants of Parhooni and the lilting sing-song tones of Hespesian are both inevidence, but Koline is the dominantlanguage spoken.

As the characters walk through thebazaar, they will be struck by thestaggering diversity of goods avail-able for sale here. As they stroll pasta line of open-air stalls, they may seethe following:

In the first stall there are perhaps10 different varieties of fresh fruit inseveral different colors and shapes.The vendor smiles as you pass by; heis sprinkling water on them con-stantly both to keep them cool, andso their skin will shine and look moresucculent.

Next to the fruit vendor is a stallwith fine statuary, as beautiful anddelicate as any jadework you haveseen. Some of it is broken, and otherpieces have scratched or worn sur-

faces. These are obviously very oldrelics of a previous civilization.

The next stall has several crates ofblack, leatherbound books which thevendor insists are scientific works ofgreat value and provide the formulaefor various chemical compounds,including a particularly effective lovepotion. They are immediately recog-nizable as Bibles. They are printed inDutch.

The next stall has an impressivecollection of firearms, includingseveral mint-condition Winchesterlever-action rifles and a worn but wellmaintained Holland and Holland. 600 Nitro Express.

If the players show serious interestin the vendor's guns and appear tohave funds, he will take them to theback of his stall where several largecrates are covered with a torn canvassheet.

The main crate under the sheetcontains the breech and barrel (butno carriage) for a 12-pounderbreech-loading field gun, while thesmaller crates contain 50 roundseach of shrapnel and shell ammuni-tion for it. All the writing on the cratesis in Japanese.

At the next stall the vendor has anextensive assortment of clothing fromthe east, all of it in subdued pastels,and looking cool and comfortable.

In the next stall the vendor has acomplete working analytical engine.

Next the players may notice theprices of things. Common luxuryitems (such as fine clothing, exoticrugs, and spices) and normally rareitems (such as relics, artifacts, paint-ings, and exotic weapons) are unusu-ally inexpensive, perhaps 10 to 30percent cheaper than in other cities.Everyday necessities, however, such

as food and clothing, are about twicewhat they would normally be. ThusKarkarham is an excellent place tolive if you have money, but a badplace in which to be poor.

One more thing that will stand outfor the players will be the slave pens,large enclosures with ragged, demor-alized prisoners chained up to postsinside. There are auction platforms infront of the pens where the slaves aredisplayed and sold to the highestbidder. (Average price for a slave hereis £25, but special prisoners go forsomewhat more. ) Slavery is not prac-ticed in the British colony or in theOenotrian Empire, but the cities fur-ther east still keep slaves, thus pro-viding a natural demand for the pris-oners taken by the Shistomik cloudcaptains in their raids. The playerswill perhaps be alarmed to see one ormore European prisoners among theslaves awaiting auction.

The High Docks: As the playerswalk or ride westward from the ba-zaar, the small shops and marketsbegin giving way to apartment build-ings, taverns, and small residentialbuildings. This part of town is knownas the High Docks, after the aeriallanding ground and shipyards on thewestern end of the hill. The roughdividing line between the residentialHigh Docks district and the commer-cial Bazaar district lies about halfwaybetween the Great Bazaar and Gor-klimsk Square.

The eastern half of the High Docksis occupied by respectable middle-class residential and commercialblocks. These are the workshops ofthe many tradesmen in the city as wellas their homes and apartment build-ings. Further west the district be-comes less respectable and is taken


over by inns and taverns catering todock workers and cloud sailors. Mostof the cloudship crews live here andspend their night ashore in drunkenrevelry. A particularly notorioushaunt for both human and Martiancloudship crews (and the site of manyfights) is the Inn of the Red Roogie,which fronts on Roogie Place (loca-tion 21 on the map on pages 38-39. )

Further west the shipyards anddocking areas are alive with activityduring the day. There are almostalways a dozen or more ships tieddown to the docking platforms withdozens of men engaged in loadingand unloading them. While two largesteam-powered cranes are used toload the bulkiest cargo, most of thework is still done by sheer musclepower. At night the activity subsides,but the area is well lit by five largefirepits that are kept burning all nightto discourage thieves and saboteurs.

The shipyards are almost alwaysworking on a new ship and conduct-ing repairs on several older ones.Players will find that the yards atKarkarham can undertake any sort ofrepair or conversion desired, but thatthe prices are about three times whatit would cost to install the componentas part of the original constructionplan.

Fortress Point: This wealthy resi-dential area occupies the northern partof Karmaheet Hill, from about Balak-haat Square north.

Here the players find numerousmiddle-class apartment buildings,homes, and small exclusive shopswhich give way to the palatial walledvillas on the extreme northern sum-mit of the hill. The elite of Karkarhamlive here; the streets are well patrolledby the army, and the villas are pro-

tected by private armed guards.The Wet Docks: The lower city is

notable for its squalor and poverty. Itsnarrow streets, alleys, and courtyardsare sanctuary for the large criminalelement of Karkarham, and the civicguard refuses to pursue felons intomany of these natural fortresses.

The Wet Docks have several pointsof interest. At the southwestern fringeof the city is the waterwheel, turnedby slaves, which supplies the uppercity with its drinking water. Theslaves are routinely beaten to keepthem working, and some of the slavesare Earthmen. The warehouse districtruns along Thoth Road, particularlyon the canal side of that thoroughfare.This is the site of considerable activ-ity during the day and usually severalbreak-ins each night.

There is a small European Quarterin the Wet Docks region composedmostly of unskilled men who camelooking for riches and adventure, andfound brutal, grinding poverty. These

men have turned to crime and live infilthy run-down buildings clusteredaround Jumaheet Place (location 27on the map). Experienced travellersand permanent residents of the citywill generally warn the characters tostay away from this quarter, but thisis an excellent place to make firstcontact with the criminal underworld.Martian criminals will be less likelyto deal with humans than will humancriminals, who in turn have numer-ous links to the Martian underworld.

The Wet Docks also includes theboat city that has collected along therubble levee like flotsam against a leeshore. Although it is the most danger-ous place in the city, it also offersmany unique opportunities. Certaintypes of illegal or extremely scarcemerchandise will only be availablehere, but players will first have tomake contact with the underworld.For humans to venture uninvited intothe boat city is almost to ask for anattack.

GDW

THE CATACOMBS

THE CATACOMBSTHE CATACOMBS are a series of

tunnels, tombs, and sewers thathoneycomb Karmaheet Hill and theFist of Balakhaat. The builders of thecanals provided their cities with self-maintaining sewers with active bac-teria, and small scavengers that breakdown the city's waste products andturn them into flammable gas whichin turn is used for heat and light.

The bacteria in the ancient (or"living") sewers are deadly to Mar-tians, but the catacombs under the twohills of Karkarham are of more recentconstruction. The living sewers beginseveral hundred feet under the sum-mit of the hills, while the catacombsewers are drainage passages flushedby water that removes waste to thelower levels.

Since the drainage sewers are notdangerous for Martians, they havebeen used for generations as hidingplaces for criminals. The under-ground tombs and occasional tunnelshave gradually been linked into acomplex system of passages, accessto which can be gained from manycellars.

The authorities make periodic at-tempts to explore the catacombs andwall up unnecessary passages, butthese are never completely success-ful. Many tunnels are covered bydisguised doors known only to a fewdenizens of the underworld, and theauthorities cannot close tunnels thatthey are not aware of. Fortunately forthe royal household, the BalakhaatRavine makes it impossible to con-nect the catacombs of the Inner Citywith those of Karmaheet Hill.

Mapping the Catacombs: Nomap of the catacombs is included,since a complete map would take up

several pages, and an incomplete mapis not very useful. If required, thereferee should make a map of thecatacombs, an easier job than it maysound like at first.

For one thing, a referee will knowroughly where the players want to go,and he can limit himself to that sec-tion of the catacombs. More impor-tantly, the map a referee generatesdoes not have to be a complete mapeven for that section since no oneperson knows all of the secret doorsand passages of the catacombs, and ahired guide would be unlikely to telleverything that he knows. As a result,you can draw your map in as muchdetail as you care to, rememberingthat you can always go back and addmore chambers, tunnels, and so forthlater, provided access to them is byway of a secret entrance.

To make your map, start with asheet of graph paper. Each square onthe graph paper will be a two-yardtactical grid square. Now examine themap of the city and locate the scalebar. The scale bar is marked in incre-ments of 100 yards. Each 100-yardsegment will be 50 grid squaresacross. That should give you a goodidea of the size of the catacombs andwill enable you to plan how much inthe way of tunnels you will need tomap for an adventure.

General Layout: As you makeyour map, you should keep in mindthe general layout of the tunnels. Theprimary avenues of the catacombs arethe large drainage sewers whichroughly parallel the major avenuesand are flushed by excess water fromthe fountains and wells in each of thesquares or "places" in the upper city.There are also a number of wastechutes that feed the sewers from the

apartment buildings and businessesabove, but these are only the size ofa medium-sized pipe—say six inchesin diameter—and do not provide ac-cess to buildings.

Numerous small feeder tunnelsbranch off of the main sewers andconnect them, and a large number ofmaintenance tunnels lead to toolstorage rooms and ladders or stair-ways to the streets.

Most of the buildings in the uppercity have at last one basement, andsome have a subbasement and a sub-subbasement. These should be con-sidered the top three levels of thecatacombs.

The drainage sewers actually beginbelow the subsubbasements, and thusare considered to be the fourth levelof the catacombs.

Tombs are usually at the second orthird level. Many subbasements andsubsubbasements are accessible onlyby secret doors or passages, and manyof these subbasements also have es-cape tunnels which lead to the sew-ers or independent tunnel systems onthe second or third level. Grave rob-bers often have made clandestinetunnels to the tombs of the verywealthy, and other thieves sometimesuse these or other secret tunnels as ameans to gain access to the villasabove.

Finally, generations of criminalgangs have carved tunnels and madelarge underground chambers, andthese have been linked to the generalnetwork.

Features: There are a variety offeatures in the catacombs. The listingwhich follows is meant to cover allof the major features, but you shouldfeel free to add your own. The side-bar on page 43 suggests a number of


standard mapping symbols for thesefeatures.

Main Sewerway: This is a fairlylarge tunnel, usually two grid squareswide and the same height. Usually athree-foot-wide catwalk is located onone side of the sewerway which isabout five feet above the floor, andthe main channel usually has three tofive feet of water in it. When thesewerway reaches a branching pas-sage, it will often be necessary tocross the channel to get to anothercatwalk, which may present a hazard,either from swift-flowing water orfrom aquatic predators.

Maintenance Tunnel: These tun-nels branch off the catwalks of themain sewerways and usually haveheavy, locked doors. Sometimes thelocks are easily picked; sometimesthe door is rusted solid to its frame;and sometimes the door is missing.A short, low tunnel usually leads to atool storage area (which may or maynot have tools in it) and a stone spiralstairway which leads up to the streetlevel. The door at the top is usuallylocked to prevent casual access.

Feeder Sewer: This is a smallbranch tunnel, one grid square wideand the same height, which eitherfeeds into a main sewerway from aremote part of the city or connects twosewerways. It is usually waist-deepin water.

Drainage Sump: A drainage sumpis a large hole in the base of a sewer-way which feeds further down intothe main sewers of the city. The watercurrent will be very swift near it, anda large whirlpool will lie directly overit. The slippery floor of the sewerwaymakes these very hazardous.

Martians swept down a drainagesump will perish. Earthmen probably

will as well, but they have somechance of making their way out. Forcoverage of the "living" sewersproper, see "The Ausonian Stalker"in Tales From The Ether.

Tomb: This is the burial vault of awealthy or noble family. It may rangefrom as small as three by three gridsquares in size to a much larger cham-ber. Its walls are covered with smalldoors which hold the remains of thefamily's ancestors, and several sar-cophagi on platforms hold the mostrecent departed.

Wealthy Martians are usually bur-ied in expensive jewelry. If a tunnelgives the players access to the tomb,the jewelry has probably already beenstolen. Sometimes traps are laid intombs, such as deadfall stones orcovered trapdoors, and players shouldexercise caution.

Underwater Passage: This is asmall passageway in the side of asewerway which is below the normallevel of the water, making it verydifficult to locate.

It will be 1D6 grid squares long andwill connect with a large chamber orsmall tunnel; players will have to holdtheir breath while moving through thepassage.

Secret Tunnel: This is usually asmall (one grid square or even half agrid square wide), dry passageway. Itcan be found on any level. Playerswill have to crawl slowly throughareas where the passageway is nar-row, as this usually indicates a lowceiling as well.

Basement: This is the basement ofa house and may be on sewer levelone through level three. It may be asimple storage area, a wine cellar, ora hideout in the event of a raid.

Secret Door: These are usually very

well camouflaged and designed toblend in with the stone block patternof the wall. Generally, a hiddenhandle somewhere nearby trips aweight that moves the door ajar. Thedoor opens easily, but requires someeffort to close, as this is what resetsthe hidden weight or spring.

Large Chamber: This room is avery large cavernous chamber. Whileit may be deserted, there is also a goodchance that it is a bandit's lair.

Fallen Roof: Part of the roof hascollapsed and left a pile of broken,jagged rubble. Rubble is difficult anddangerous to clear away; an alterna-tive path would be better if possible.

Ladder: A vertical passage leads upor down. Steel ladder rungs anchoredin the stone wall are made of a veryhard nonrusting steel, but some mayhave worked loose from the wall.

KEYLadder

Main Sewerway

Maintenance Tunnel

Drainage Sump

Feeder Sewer

[Underwater Passage

Secret Tunnel

Secret Door

Fallen Roof

GDW

THE INNER CITY

THE INNER CITYTHE INNER CITY occupies the sum-

mit of the Fist of Balakhaat and com-prises all the government buildings ofKarkarham, as well as the palace ofPrince Tumaani and his family. Mostbanking concerns have their busi-nesses in the Inner City as their vaultsare much less vulnerable to thievesthere than anywhere else. Finally, allembassies and foreign legations to thecity-state are located along either sideof the broad Royal Way.

Points of EntryPLAYERS CAN ENTER the Inner City

in only four ways: the causeway, thelanding ground, a clandestine flight,or the cliff.

The Causeway: The BalakhaatCauseway carries the Royal Wayacross the Balakhaat Ravine and tothe east gate of the Inner City. A pairof stone guard towers stand at eitherend, and all travellers are inspectedfor weapons upon crossing.

The Landing Ground: Aerialtravellers of high status are generallygiven permission to land at the royallanding ground on the northwestcorner of the plateau. From there theyusually enter through the gate southof the field, although very esteemednoble guests and ambassadors areoften given the honor of entering bythe Royal Gate directly to the east.Both gates are guarded, but high-ranking guests are not searched.

Clandestine Flight: It is possiblefor a High Martian to glide silentlyin over the walls, as could a charac-ter in a parachute. As the towers andwalls are almost always guarded,something as noisy or bulky as a shipwould almost certainly be spotted. AThrockmorton Conveyor would also

be very risky, but might succeed if itwere well greased beforehand and ifall the shiny brass fitting were cov-ered with lampblack.

Roll a die to determine if a clandes-tine flight is discovered. A lone flyeror parachutist is discovered on a rollof 6, a silenced and blackenedThrockmorton Conveyor on a roll of5 or 6, a normal Throckmorton Con-veyor on a roll of 4 through 6, a smallkite on a roll of 3 through 6, and anyother nonsteamship on a roll of 2through 6. Add one to the die roll forevery additional character or vesselmaking the attempt. If the flight isdiscovered, a sentry will raise thealarm, and a patrol of guardsmen willrush out to arrest the intruder.

Scaling the Cliffs: Characters whoapproach from outside the city mayattempt to scale the steep slopes of theFist of Balakhaat. This is done in thesame way as scaling the slopes ofKarmaheet Hill, as described on page37. Once at the top, however, playersmust also scale the city walls with-out being detected. To do so they willhave to throw a grapnel up over thewall and climb up a rope. To throwthe grapnel up over the wall is aModerate task using a character'sThrowing skill. The sound of thegrapnel hitting stone will alert a guardon a roll of 6. Once on the walls,characters will have to stay in theshadows to avoid the guards, makingoccasional skill rolls against Stealthto sneak past guard posts (or sneak upto guards to overpower them). See thesection below for information on thelocation of guards.

GuardsAT ALL TIMES there are two com-

panies of the noble guard, two com-

panies of Veteran mercenaries, andtwo companies of Experienced mer-cenaries inside the walls of the InnerCity, although not all of these are onduty.

The two companies of Experiencedtroops are always on duty. (That is,there are always two such companieson duty, and the duty is rotated every12 hours. ) These men provide guardsfor the gates, walls, and towers of thecompound. One man is always ineach tower. During the day two menare at each gate; at night the gates areclosed, and these men pace the wallsas roving sentries. All of these troopsare provided by one company. Theother company provides a small re-serve garrison for the citadel. Usuallyhalf of this company provides rovingpatrols for the streets of the Inner Citywhile the other half is resting at thecitadel, but ready to respond to anemergency.

Of the two companies of the nobleguard, one will usually be loitering inthe citadel or wandering the streets.The other will actually be in atten-dance with Prince Tumaani and Prin-cess Iteebu (half a company each) astheir ceremonial guard. At nightusually only a company is on duty,and these guards are almost all at thecitadel (and are often drunk).

The Veteran mercenaries are Tu-maani's actual bodyguard. During thedaytime a half-company alwaysguards him, while the rest train or ex-ercise in the citadel. At night hischambers are guarded by four alertsentries while the remainder of a half-company is scattered as guardsthroughout the palace. The otherVeteran mercenaries are asleep or off-duty, but their quarters are in the cita-del, and they could respond fairly


quickly to an emergency.There are 12 artillery pieces in the

Inner City, one in each of the towerson the city walls. All of these guns arein covered mounts, and their carriagesmake them capable of either high-angle or flat-trajectory fire. Abouthalf of the guns are manned duringthe daytime; at night only the rod gunsare continuously manned.

The Royal CatacombsAERIAL ATTACK is always a possi-

bility, as are raids by High Martians,and so the Inner City has an exten-sive set of underground galleries andtunnels. The main underground tun-nel runs from the palace to the cita-del, and allows the prince and hisfamily to safely make their way to thefortress in the event of a sudden ae-rial attack. There are also numerousunderground storage chambers nearthe palace and the citadel, severallevels of basements for many of thebuildings, the royal tombs, an exten-sive dungeon, and the customarydrainage sewers. Generations of royalfamilies have also found it convenientto have various secret tunnels con-structed, sometimes for the purposeof clandestine visits during the nightto the villas that surround the royalgardens. Many of these are secretlylinked into the main tunnel and sewersystem as well. The drainage sewersare linked to the main sewer systemseveral hundred feet below by meansof drainage sumps and spiral watertunnels. While Martians cannot sur-vive in the main sewers (due to thepresence of a particularly virulentbacteria which breaks down wastebyproducts), humans from Earth can,and several years ago a party ofadventurers actually managed to

enter the main sewers at canal leveland make their way up the spiralwater tunnels into the lower drainagesewers of the Inner City. They subse-quently entered the royal treasury andmade off with a small fortune injewels. Apparently only half of thegroup made it back out alive, as thelower sewers are quite dangerouseven for Earthmen, but the prospect

of a recurrence has led the prince tohave steel gratings installed over allof the drainage sumps. It is alwayspossible that somewhere in the for-gotten corners of the catacombs,however, there remains an open sumplinking them with the main sewersbelow. For a more complete explana-tion of the drainage sewers, and ofcatacombs in general, see page 42.

GDW

THE RULERS OF KARKARHAM

Prince Tumaani (Green NPC)THE PRINCE is pudgy, with sausage-like fingers and pale, soft skin. He

has large, dark eyes, but they seem towander as if he has difficulty payingattention to what is going on. He seemsfriendly, but lacks energy.

Additional Descriptive Notes: Theprince will be friendly initially but willsoon lose interest in whatever the play-ers are talking about. He will not berude, but will stifle a yawn and be easilydistracted. Eventually he will make hisexcuses and send the players away.Tumaani has little real interest in seri-ous pursuits. If he is called upon to exerthimself physically, the players will be

surprised at his quick and nimble actions, but he will tire quickly as heis in poor physical condition.

Attributes Skills

MotivesSPENDTHRIFT, Greedy, Lustful.

AttitudesTUMAANI HAS few attitudes of significance beyond a quest for pleas-

ure. He loves money and loves to spend it. He spends most of his timewith his harem, and is restless and absent-minded. He has nothing ap-proaching a strategic plan or set of goals for the city.

BackgroundTUMAANI WAS spoiled and ignored in equal measures by a ruthless father

and simple-minded mother. The result is a decadent, dissipated ruler.He was a pleasant boy and would be an inoffensive man if he were notsquandering the wealth of a potentially prosperous city-state.

THE RULERSOF KARKARHAM

KARKARHAM is a hereditary princi-pality ruled by Prince Tumaani, the23rd member of his family to rule thecity.

Karkarham rose to its current emi-nence as a mercantile center andhaven for the cloud captains under therule of his father, Amruutu. Amruutu,however, ruled with an iron hand andestablished a firm set of standards forthe captains of Karkarham. Privateerswere welcome, but pirates were not.The city government was fairly effi-cient and honest, at least by Martianstandards.

The 12 years of Prince Tumaani'srule, however, have seen Karkarhamslide into increasingly rampant cor-ruption and decadence, led by theprince himself.

Tumaani relaxed the standards onthe captains, even tacitly encourag-ing them to raid innocent merchantships in return for a larger cut in theprofits.

He has lavished the resulting reve-nues on the pursuit of pleasure; thepalace is lavishly decorated withprecious tapestries, porcelain, andstatuary, and Tumaani is reputed tohave over 50 wives.

Following the example of theirprince, the officials of Karkarhamhave become lazy and corrupt. Thenavy and army are poorly trained anddemoralized by low pay and rustyequipment.

As luxury goods and stolen cur-rency pour into the city, costs haverisen, and the increasing numbers ofpoor are driven to crime out of des-peration.

The merchants and captains con-tinue to make giant profits, however,


Soc:

15234

6

Stealth 4, Marksmanship 4 (bow)Wilderness Travel 1 (mountaineering), Swimming 1Observation 2, Science 1 (geology)Eloquence 3, Linguistics 4 (Oenotrian, English, Hespesian,Hellan), Theatrics 2Riding 5 (gashant), Piloting 2 (cloudship)


and discourage the prince frommaking any changes.

There are numerous nobles inKarkarham, but the four most impor-

tant members of the power structureare Prince Tumaani, the ruler ofKarkarham; Prince Sabaat, his chan-cellor; Princess Iteebu, his younger

sister; and Prince Samaam, his uncle.The native language of all of these

important Karkarham nobles is Par-hooni.

Prince Sabaat (Experienced NPC)THE PRINCE'S CHANCELLOR is ex-

tremely tall and slender, and he hasa long, gaunt, serious face. His eyesare cold, and he has an obvious airof superiority. He is dressed in thegaudy, heavily bejeweled, andbrightly colorful style popular atcourt, but it somehow looks moresomber on him. You have a defi-nite impression of concealed hos-tility.

Additional Descriptive Notes:Sabaat always carries a stout, six-foot-long staff with his medallionof office attached to the end. Thestaff is highly polished and lac-quered, and has several jewels setin the wood near the top. If at-tacked, he will use this as a quar-terstaff, and he is quite proficientwith it.

MotivesAMBITION, Ruthlessness, Arro-

gance.

AttitudesThe Empire: Sabaat sees the

British Empire as the rising powerin the world. He resents it but hasno intention of provoking it. Heintends to plot a course for Kar-karham that will steer it clear ofbeing either too great an annoyanceor too valuable a prize for the Brit-ish to consider taking it. As toEarthmen in general, he considers

them to be a clearly inferior speciesfrom an inferior culture. He will tol-erate a good deal less from them thanhe will from the governments ofEarth.

Karkarham: Sabaat intends even-tually to rule Karkarham, although heis laying his groundwork slowly andcarefully. His plan is to eventuallymarry Princess Iteebu, force Tumaanito step down (or murder him), andrule through Iteebu, the legitimateheir to the throne. The fact that Iteebuhas no interest in marrying him (andTumaani has no interest in dying) isa matter of very little concern to Sa-baat.

BackgroundSABAAT WAS NOT born a noble, but

rather is the son of a wealthy mer-chant and came to be a successfulmerchant in his own right at an earlyage. His money provided him with ameans of befriending the young heirto the throne of Karkarham, and hecame to be Tumaani's closest advi-sor long before Tumaani became ruler

Attributes Skills

of the city. Upon the death ofTumaani's father, the new rulerraised Sabaat to the rank of princeand made him chancellor, or chiefadvisor, a position he has filled eversince.

GDW


Soc:

32164

5

Fisticuffs 2, Throwing 1, Close Combat 3 (polearm)Stealth 2

Observation 5, Science 3 (archaeology)Eloquence 3, Theatrics 2, Bargaining 3, Linguistics 4 (Hes-pesian, Oenotrian, German)Riding 4 (gashant), Leadership 2

THE RULERS OF KARKARHAM

Princess Iteebu (Green NPC)PRINCESS ITEEBU is a very petite

woman for a Canal Martian. She isless than six feet tall and very slen-der, and she looks delicate, like aflower. She appears to be in herearly twenties. Her face is warmand friendly, and her finely chis-eled features are framed by thick,shining black hair that cascadesbelow her waist. She is dressedmore simply than most in the court,and her jewelry, while obviouslyworth a great deal, is tasteful ratherthan ostentatious.

Additional Descriptive Notes:Iteebu's subjects adore her and callher "The Little Princess. " Iteebu re-turns this affection and loyalty, andoften goes unescorted to the bazaarto look for a bargain. When shedoes so she dresses as a commoner(although an obviously prosperousone). Most of her subjects recog-nize her but do not acknowledgeher identity out of respect for herwishes.

MotivesPROUD, Just, Generous.

AttitudesPRINCESS ITEEBU LOVES her sub-

jects and is very concerned aboutthe growing corruption, crime, andviolence in the city. She is unsureas to the cause or a possible courseof action, however. She is certainthat her brother's preoccupationwith his own pleasures is a largepart of the problem, but she lovesher brother as well and would not

consider plotting against him. Insteadshe makes repeated efforts to con-vince him to pay more attention to theaffairs of state; when he does so, theresults are usually worse than whenhe ignores them.

The princess also thinks that theEuropean invasion of the area hasbrought on some of the decay andcorruption, although she is uncertainexactly how. Certainly she has wit-nessed the entire tenure of humans onMars, and has seen a steady decline

Attributes Skills

in morals and values in her city atthe same time. She does not dislikeEarth humans, however, and isinterested in learning more aboutthem.

BackgroundPRINCESS ITEEBU is only 22 years

old—quite a bit younger than herbrother Tumaani. She was raised inthe palace and has little practicaleducation, but she has a quick, logi-cal mind and an honest set of val-ues. She is also legally entitled tosucceed Tumaani should he die orabdicate. The throne does not nor-mally pass to siblings, but ratherpasses to the oldest male child ofthe ruler. However, only the chil-dren of a ruler's first wife are con-sidered legitimate heirs to thethrone. While Tumaani has over 20children, none are by his first wife.

Iteebu is particularly fond ofnature, and spends a good deal oftime hiking in the mountains andhills near the city. She can identifyany of the local flora and fauna,knows which plants are edible, andknows which can be used to makemedicines.

Str:Agl:End:

Int:Chr:

Soc:

132

45

6

Stealth 2Wilderness Travel 2 (foraging), Fieldcraft 2, Tracking 1, Swim-ming 1Observation 3, Science 1 (biology)Eloquence 4, Theatrics 2, Bargaining 2, Linguistics 4 (Oeno-trian, Hespesian, English, Nepenthes)Riding 5 (gashant), Medicine 1


Prince Samaam (Experienced NPC)You NOTICE THAT in the crowd of

nobles is a plainly dressed, middle-aged tradesman, although he doesnot act deferential to the youngnobles around him. This man is in-troduced to you as Prince Samaam,the uncle of Prince Tumaani andbrother of the former ruler of thecity. He appears to be in his lateforties. His face is darker than mostof those at court, tanned by the Sun.His hands are rough and calloused,and his face is weathered anddeeply lined.

Additional Descriptive Notes:Samaam has a reputation as a"character. " He spent his youngeryears as a vagabond canal sailorand appears to have profited fromit. He remains eccentric and insistson dressing as a tradesman excepton those days when he reviews hislegion of the army. Then he wearsthe proper uniform of a swordmas-ter (company commander). He isentitled to the uniform of a masterof the march (legion commander)and is also a general in the army byvirtue of his royal birth. However,he refuses to wear a rank badgegreater than the senior companycommander in his legion whohandles the daily affairs of the unit.

Attributes Skills

Samaam's officer's uniform is cleanbut worn and faded, and he wears noadditional ornamentation.

MotivesECCENTRIC, Wise, Loyal.

AttitudesThe Empire: Samaam admires the

British, and most Earthmen, and findsthem likable as individuals as well.He considers the empire an admirableinstitution, but one which has growntoo large to pay proper attention to thediversity of its possessions. The re-sult, in his opinion, is a poorly thoughtout policy toward Mars. He can dis-cuss British colonial policy with thecharacters in surprising detail, andwill engage in a spirited debate of thepros and cons of colonialism with noanimosity toward his opponents.

Karkarham: Samaam feels tre-mendous loyalty to his city andPrince Tumaani. He is finding thosetwo loyalties increasingly incompat-ible, however, as he sees the city slipsteadily into decay and corruption.

BackgroundSAMAAM is the younger brother of

Tumaani's father, Amruutu. SinceTumaani was Amruutu's son by his

Str:Agl:End:Int:Chr:Soc:

621416

Fisticuffs 6, Close Combat 3 (bashing weapon), Throwing 4Stealth 1, Marksmanship 1 (bow)Wilderness Travel 1 (mapping), Swimming 1, Fieldcraft 1Observation 5Linguistics 2 (Koline, English)Riding 5 (gashant), Pilot 3 (sailing vessel), Leadership 3

wife of state (his first, and as withmost Martians in this part of theworld, his only, wife), the thronepassed to him instead of to Sa-maam. This pleased Samaam, whohad no interest in politics and spenthis younger years wandering Marsas a deckhand on a canal boat.

He has returned to Karkarhamand devotes much of his time to thelegion, of which he is the honorarycommander. Given the poor statefinancing of the legions and theconsiderable personal fortune ofhis family, Samaam has spentmuch of his money on his legion,seeing to the repair of its quartersand equipment. He has personallysupplemented its pay. He super-vises its training as well, teachingtechniques he learned travellingthrough Oenotria. The result is thatPrince Samaam's Legion is the bestunit in the army in terms of profi-ciency and morale. Its membersare extremely loyal to Samaam, al-though he has never exploited thisagainst his nephew.

GDW

DEFENSES

THE ARMYTHE ARMY is made up of regular

troops (raised in Karkarham) andmercenary bands (mostly Hill Mar-tian mountaineers from the northslopes of the Shistomiks). The armyis almost exclusively infantry, as thereis virtually no use for cavalry in therocky badlands that surround the city.The few cavalrymen in service areused to break up mobs in the bazaars,or to patrol the roads to the south orthe dry canalbed caravan trail to thenorth. The regular army consists ofthree parts: the noble guard, the civicguard, and the "ordinaries. "

The noble guard is made up of thesons of young nobles and wealthycitizens. It consists of four companiesof infantry, all Green with a Fieldcraftof 0, and its duties are purely cere-monial. The sentries and guards in thepalace are all made up of the nobleguard (except at night—see page 44),and despite their splendid uniformsand ornate weapons, their total lackof discipline, training, and profes-sionalism are obvious. The palaceguards are a lazy, slovenly, insolent,and often drunken group who con-sider themselves the equal of theprince and everyone else's superior.

The civic guard is as close to apolice force as there is in the city,although its main responsibilities arewatching out for fires and breakingup mobs. While it will break up largefights, it will seldom interfere insmall, or "personal," ones; while itwill often chase a petty thief, no onehas ever seen a guardsman catch oneunless the victim first offered a re-ward. The customary reward is aneighth of the stolen money, and acommon cry for help in the tougherparts of town is "Eighth-part! Eighth-

part!" For those more interested injustice than their money, quarter-partsor even half-parts are sometimesoffered, and these bring even sureraction. However, since this sharesystem of fees for the police producesa good deal more revenue in the richerparts of town than the poorer ones, thecivic guard is notably absent from theareas where it is most needed: theslums. The civic guard consists offour companies of foot guardsmenand one company of mounted guards-men, all Trained and with a Fieldcraftof 0. The guard is divided into two 12-hour watches, and two foot compa-nies and one mounted half-companyare on duty at any time. Civic guards-men are routinely deployed in four-man detachments roaming the streetsor at major squares and gates.

The ordinaries are the actual fight-ing army, and consist of four infantrylegions (each of three companies) andthe artillery park. The four legions arenamed for their noble commanders,although the named commander'sonly real function is to occasionallyinspect the troops. The actual com-mand of the troops is exercised by thelegion's senior company commander.All legionary infantry has a Fieldcraftrating of 2 (1 for Soldier's Com-panion purposes). The four legionsare:

• Prince Tumaani's Own Legion(Trained).

• The Prince of Gorklimsk's Le-gion (Experienced).

• Prince Samaam's Legion (Vet-eran).

• Princess Iteebu's Legion(Trained).

The artillery park is divided intofive batteries of varying size. Oneguards the palace citadel, one the

High Fort, one the Ravine Fort, andone the customs house, and one is agashant-drawn flying battery de-signed to take the field with the army.The citadel, Ravine Fort, and HighFort batteries have their gunsmounted in covered revolving turretson the fortress towers, and the gunsare mounted for high-angle fire aswell as conventional fire. The alloca-tion of guns within the battery is asfollows.

Palace Battery: Two rod guns, tworogues, three lob guns, five heavyguns.

High Fort Battery: One rod gun,one rogue gun, one lob gun, twoheavy guns.

Ravine Fort Battery: One rodgun, one rogue gun, one lob gun, twoheavy guns.

Customs House Battery: Twoheavy guns.

Flying Battery: Four light guns.The mercenaries hired by the prince

of Karkarham are mostly mountain-eer Hill Martians with very little lovefor the Canal Martian city folk. Thismakes them excellent reinforcementsfor the civic guard when dealing withdisturbances in the city, and they arelargely immune to palace intrigue.Their loyalty is to their employer—in this case, the prince.

There are a total of 12 bands ofmercenary infantry: two Veteran,seven Experienced, three Trained.Two Trained bands of mercenarycavalry have also been recruited,mostly from the lowlands nearGorklimsk and Syrtis Minor (as werethe three bands of Trained mercenaryinfantry). A few of the cavalry arefrom the steppe nomad tribes northof the mountains. The mountaineershave a Fieldcraft of 5 (3 in Soldier's


Companion rules). The cavalry hasa Fieldcraft of 3 (2 for Soldier'sCompanion). The lowland merce-nary infantry has a Fieldcraft of 2 (1for Soldier's Companion).

Army DispositionsTHE NOBLE GUARD is garrisoned in

the Citadel. Of the four companies ofthe noble guard, about one companyis usually on duty, and another is loi-tering somewhere in the Citadel com-pound. About half the noble guard onduty at any one time will be in the im-mediate vicinity of Prince Tumaani,while the rest will be near PrincessIteebu.

The civic guard will have eight footpatrols and two horse patrols on dutyat any given time. The horse patrolsare usually billeted at the two fortsand are available to respond to anysudden outbreak of trouble. They domake occasional patrols down themain thoroughfares, about once ev-ery two hours. The eight foot patrolsare normally deployed as follows:one at the customs house, one at eachend of the Gorklimsk Canal Bridge,one at the base of the Brumahaan

Steps, one at the cargo hoist, onepatrolling the Wet Docks district, onepatrolling the Fortress Point district,and one patrolling the shipyard dis-trict.

The four legions are quartered inthe two forts overlooking the ap-proaches to the city. The Prince ofGorklimsk's and Prince Samaam'slegion are in the High Fort, whilePrince Tumaani's Own and PrincessIteebu's legion are in the Ravine Fort.Each legion usually has one companyon duty during the day and twocompanies drilling or carrying outroutine duties. At night each legionhas half a company on duty. The dutytroops man the walls and towers ofthe forts and provide a ready force toreinforce the civic guard in the eventof a major civil disturbance.

The mercenaries are billeted withcitizens, for the most part in the Wet

Docks district, although many of theofficers live in inns near the shipyardor bazaar. The two Veteran companiesact as Prince Tumaani's personalbodyguard; a half-company accom-panies him at all times, while the resttrain or exercise. Four men guard hissleeping chamber at night. There arealso always two companies of Expe-rienced mercenaries on duty in theInner City, and these men providegate guards and wall sentries. Thisduty is rotated through the variousmercenary companies. The mountedcompanies patrol the roads north andsouth of the city. An Experiencedinfantry company usually patrols themountain trails nearby, and the threecompanies of Trained lowland mer-cenaries man outposts along the roadsleading into the city from the south.A half-company usually patrols eachof the three roads still in use.

GDW

ENCOUNTERS IN KARKARHAM

ENCOUNTERSIN KARKARHAM

THE FOLLOWING encounter tablesare provided as a means for the ref-eree to generate random encountersin Karkarham. The referee should rollfor an encounter at irregular intervals,but as a general rule not more thanonce every 15 minutes and not lessthan once every hour.

Random encounter rolls should bemade only while the players aremoving about in Karkarham, notwhile they are engaged in routineactivities (such as sleeping, havingdinner, and so forth).

These tables are laid out and shouldbe read in exactly the same way as theencounters in the basic rules book.

Although they have been generatedfor Karkarham, they can be used withlittle or no modification for anyMartian city.

Encounter DescriptionsENCOUNTERS in Karkarham are de-

scribed below.Thief: A thief attempts to rob the

players. A pickpocket will randomlyselect a member of the party and at-tempt to lift his purse. Roll against theObservation skill of the victim, butadd onel to the die roll unless thevictim has a Crime skill of 1 or more.Alternatively, this could be a streeturchin who dashes by and attemptsto grab a possession from the player'shand, or an armed thief who appears

suddenly from an alley and, holdinga knife to the throat of one of the char-acters, demands their money. (A char-acter wishing to escape or avoid thethief's hold should make a quickAgility roll to do so. )

Patrol: A four-man patrol of sol-diers appears. They are Trained troopsand are armed with pikes. If encoun-tered at night, the patrol will attemptto question the players as to theiractivities. In the daytime they willprobably not pay much attention tothe players unless they are acting in asuspicious manner.

Thug: One or more Martian thugs(roll 1D6 for the number) attack theplayers. If the players are in a largegroup, the attack will come from a

Die Roll Encounter Type123456

ThiefAssassinCrimeThugFightRiot

ThiefMerchantAssassinPatrolFightAccident

ThiefMerchantMerchantPatrolFightAccident

PatrolPatrolPatrolPrinceAccidentMerchant

MerchantPatrolPatrolAccidentCrimeRed Captain

ThiefThugFightRiotAccidentCrime

ThiefPrisonerThugPatrolPredatorPredator

DistrictEncounter #

Dock3

Dock2

Bazaar3

City4

Point2

City4

Catacombs2

DAYLIGHT ENCOUNTERSWet High Inner Fort Boat

DistrictEncounter #Die Roll123456

WetDock2

ThiefAssassinThugCrimeFightPatrol

HighDock2

ThiefCrimeAssassinPatrolFightRed Captain

Bazaar2

ThiefThugCrimePatrolFightAccident

InnerCity2

Encounter TypeThiefPatrolPatrolPatrolPatrolPatrol

FortPoint1

ThiefAssassinPatrolPatrolCrimeRed Captain

BoatCity3

ThiefThugFightFightCrimeCrime

Catacombs2

ThiefPrisonerThugPatrolPredatorPredator

NIGHT ENCOUNTERS


distance (a thrown rock or knife, oreven a bow shot); if there are only fouror fewer players, then the thugs willmake a direct attack. The thugs maymake the attack to rob the players,because they were paid to attackthem, or because they just don't likeEarthmen, at the referee's discretion.

Fight: Either the players comeupon a fight in progress or a group ofMartians picks a fight with them. Thismight be a fight between two rivalcloudship crews; between Shistomikcloudship crews and the crew of a RedCaptain's ship, or between rival crim-inal gangs. If the PCs are in the Euro-pean Quarter, the antagonists may bedisgruntled Europeans who pick thefight.

Riot: The players come upon a riotin progress and are either threatenedby it (if it is an antihuman riot) orswept up in it (if it is antigovernment).After 5D6 turns, a mounted patrol of10 to 20 mercenary horsemen willshow up and charge the mob, scatter-ing it after a brief but bloody fight. Ifthe players were fighting off the mob,they are saved. If they were part of it,they may be injured or arrested.

Predator: Subterranean predatorsattack the party while it is movingthrough the catacombs. This kind ofanimal is similar to a very large ratand is a good swimmer in water-filledtunnels. Animal combat characteris-tics are identical to those for a roogie.Roll a die to determine the number ofattacking animals.

Accident: The players come uponthe scene of an accident. This may bea tipped-over cart, collapsed buildingfront, or any similar mishap. Theplayers have the opportunity to helpany injury victims, assist the locals inrecovering their property, or help

themselves to temporarily unguardedgoods.

Crime: The players witness thecommission of a crime. This could bea night break-in, the work of a pick-pocket, or even a deliberate murder.The referee will determine the exactsituation; it is up to the players todecide on an appropriate course ofaction.

Red Captain: The players meet aRed Captain on the street—either oneof the legendary five or a lesser cap-tain. The referee should generate asituation by which the players willactually meet the captain. Theymight, for example, see a local thiefpick his pocket, apprehend the scoun-drel, and return the wallet.

Assassin: A lone assassin will at-tempt to kill one of the players, eitherby means of a direct attack with sword

or spear, or by means of some sort ofranged weapon. This may be a simpleact of terrorism inspired by GroundCleansers or the Cult of the Worm, orit may be the work of a hired assassinsent after the players by an adversary(assuming they have been in townlong enough to make that big of anenemy).

Prisoner: The players come upona prisoner tied or chained in one ofthe small chambers in the catacombs.The prisoner could be the son ordaughter of an important noble heldto force a political move of some sort,a wealthy merchant held for ransom,a criminal from a rival gang, a promi-nent Red Captain, or any of a num-ber of other possibilities. It is alsopossible that the prisoner will lie tothe players as to his real reason forbeing held captive.

GDW

ADVENTURES IN KARKARHAM

ADVENTURESIN KARKARHAM

THE ADVENTURE possibilities inKarkarham or with the cloud captainsare almost limitless. The followingplots may be fleshed out into full ad-ventures or may suggest other ideas.

Afoul of the Secret Brotherhood:The players are in Karkarham anddiscover the existence of a secretbrotherhood which is active not onlyhere, but in many other places onMars and perhaps even on Earth. Thebrotherhood attempts to silence thecharacters while they try either to fleeor to destroy the organization here inKarkarham. Possibilities for an or-ganization include the Fenian Broth-erhood, Anarchists, Ground Cleans-ers, Cult of the Worm, the BavarianIlluminati, and the International Ar-maments Cartel.

A Promise of Revenge: Whiletravelling over or through the foot-hills of the Shistomik, a particularlyobservant member of the party no-tices a lone figure crawling along thebroken ground. The party rescues thecastaway, who is badly injured and onthe verge of death from exposure andstarvation. He tells the story of amerchant vessel attacked by piratesfrom Karkarham. This is well withinthe free commerce zone guaranteedby the city government, however, sothe pirate crew killed all of the pas-sengers and crew to prevent themfrom telling the prince in Karkarhamof their breach of the law. This manpretended to be dead after suffering aserious wound and has been strug-gling through the badlands ever since.Before he dies, he describes the pi-rate ship as a small kite painted redand yellow, with the ram painted toresemble a bird's beak. He asks the

players to avenge him and his friends.Breaking the Shackles: As the

players enter the city by way of theGorklimsk Road (or as they cross theGorklimsk Bridge), they pass by thewaterwheel. Their conversation isoverheard by several of the slaves,who are English seamen and recog-nize the accents of one or more of theplayers. The seamen call out to theplayers and give "three cheers for theQueen, " for which they are rewardedwith renewed beatings by the guards.The players should be moved to findout about the slaves and make aneffort to break the English seamen outat night.

A Friend In Need: While walkingthrough the bazaar, a familiar voicewill call out to the players. They willturn and see a character they have metin a previous adventure chained in aslave pen. Approaching him, theydiscover that this person was capturedin a pirate raid on a merchant vesseland is to be auctioned into slavery to-day. The auction master will not at-tempt to stop the conversation andwill instead encourage the players tobuy their friend's freedom. If they at-tempt to do so, a wealthy Martian inthe crowd will also take an interest inthe prisoner and force the bidding upto £100. If the PCs persist, he will letthem buy their friend's freedom atthat price but will have them followedand later attempt to kidnap the pris-oner and dispose of the players. If thePCs are unable to bid as high as theMartian, then they will have to makeplans for a clandestine rescue attempt.

The Key to the Past: The charac-ters are contacted by a renownedBritish archaeologist, who tells themof a stone tablet recently unearthedfrom a ruined city in Zephyria. The

tablet contained what the professorbelieves will prove to be the key todeciphering the language used by thepre-Seldon inhabitants of the region.However, the ship carrying the tab-let, as well as hundreds of other arti-facts from the archaeological site,was captured by pirates, and the itemswere auctioned off in Karkarham.The professor is not concerned withmost of the items, but the tablet isextremely important to his work. TheUniversity of Edinburgh is willing topay £500 toward its return, to whichthe professor will add £75 of his ownmoney. Upon arriving in the city, theplayers discover that the tablet waspurchased by a local criminal leaderwho refuses to even talk with thecharacters (or any other Earthmen, forthat matter) and is unwilling to sellthe tablet at any reasonable price. Hehas the tablet in his lodgings, whichoccupy the stern cabin of a large boatmoored in the middle of the boat city.

Diplomatic Mission: The charac-ters find out that one of the secretbrotherhoods is plotting the assassi-nation of the ambassador from theBoreosyrtis League. As the ambassa-dor is a strong friend of the British,the characters will wish to stop this.Prince Sabaat, however, may some-how be involved in the plot, since hehas given strict orders that no one isto cross into the Inner City for the nexttwo days, ostensibly due to securitysurrounding an upcoming state cere-mony. The players must devise ameans of gaining covert access to theInner City, make their way to theambassador's residence, convincehim of the danger, and devise a meansof ensuring his safety.

Second Story Job: The charactersare contacted by a local merchant who


is willing to pay them several hundredpounds if they will unobtrusivelybreak into Arturo della Mora's villato locate and remove several foldersfull of documents which stronglyimplicate the merchant in illegaltransactions.

Sabotage: A ship is scheduled toleave in the morning for WesternDioscura carrying a German diplomatand a number of sensitive dispatches.The characters are contacted by anagent of the British Foreign Officeand asked to undertake a secret mis-

sion. They are to gain access to theHigh Docks this coming night andsabotage the ship, thus delaying thedeparture of the German and allow-ing other plans which the ForeignOffice already has in motion to cometo their successful conclusion.

KEYDoor

Exterior Window

Secret Door

Fireplace

Interior Window

ABBREVIATIONSB: BathBR: Billiards RoomC: CellCH: Carriage HouseCons: ConservatoryGH: Guard HouseGR: Guest RoomGS: Guest SuiteK: KitchenL: LarderLib: LibraryLTC: Lab/Torture ChamberMS: Master SuiteP: PantryS: Servants' QuartersStR: Storage RoomWC: Wine Cellar

Delia Mora's Villa upper Floor

Basement

Ground Floor

SubbasementSewer

Sewer

All stairways are assumed to lead down unless otherwise noted.

GDW

Fountain

Drain Tunnel

SKY GALLEONS SUPPLEMENT

Sky Galleons Supplement

HeavenlyArcher

THE FLEETOF KARKARHAM

KARKARHAM'S FLEET is small, butits ships are generally good and itconsists of is a useful mix of vessels.Some of the ships were designed andbuilt in Karkarham, but a numberwere built elsewhere, notably at theOenotrian yards at Crocea. Theseships were mostly taken as prizes byvarious cloud captains, and then pur-chased and refitted by the KarkarhamNavy. The biggest difficulty the fleetfaces is the low level of crew quality.The best cloud sailors sign on with the

cloud captains, leaving the navy withthe dregs. Crew quality in the fleet isGreen.

Ship ratings are provided in theback of the book for the ships of theKarkarham fleet, but several thingsabout the fleet deserve noting. Thereare a total of 10 ships in the fleet, in-cluding the royal yacht (which isarmed). The ships built at the ship-yards of Karkarham are notable fortheir broad-beamed look and spa-cious decks.

Many of the vessels in Karkarham'ssmall navy are of this type, as are most

of the vessels of the Shistomik cloudcaptains. The largest of these is theflagship and pride of the Karkarhamfleet, the Heavenly Archer. It is lightlyarmored, using a rock-filled doublehull to protect against small arms andlight ordnance, and all 10 of its gunsare placed in broadside mounts to firethrough gunports. It has the smoothlines common to ships built in Kar-karham.

The other locally built ships arethree identical screw galleys: Ardu-ous Passage, Martial Pride, and Tra-dition. These are identical to LeBegue's ship (the Gloire), except thatthey have not been rearmed withEuropean weapons, and they do notcarry smudgepots.

The most powerful of the capturedvessels in service are the DeterminedVenture and the Divine Fist of StarkRemoval. These are identical vesselsand began their service life as Swift-wood-class kites. When these twoships underwent refitting in Karkar-kam, their light guns, sweepers, andpower grapnels were removed andreplaced with a pair of heavy guns inthe wing mounts. The weight wasidentical, so performance was notaffected. Firepower is considerablybetter against heavy ships, however.

For small craft and dispatch boatsthere are two Clear sight-class screwgalleys (one captured and one sold ata reduced price by the OenotrianNavy) and one Fleetfoot screw gal-ley.

The royal yacht, the Sunbeam Skiff,is a Bloodrunner-class kite which hasbeen rearmed with two light guns in-stead of the original two heavy guns,thus increasing the royal yacht's ceil-ing to Very High altitude. It is neverused for military missions, but it


could be pressed into service in anemergency.

Most of the fleet is moored at theHigh Docks, although one or two ofthe small vessels are almost alwaysairborne on patrol near the city, andone or two of the larger vessels areusually away patrolling the tradelanes. The royal yacht is usuallyanchored at the palace.

RETURN-CARRIAGEROGUE GUN

QUATLATLANI is a talented and crea-tive inventor, despite his lack of for-mal education, and he calls his latestinvention the return-carriage gun. Hisinspiration for the device came afterhearing of the new Royal Navy 4. 7"quick-firing gun, which uses a hy-draulic recoil system to absorb recoiland return the gun immediately tofiring position.

Quatlatlani immediately saw theutility of such a device. He was espe-cially interested in it because one ofthe lengthiest parts of reloading aheavy muzzle-loading ship gun, suchas the Martian rogue, is actually therunback, where ropes and pulleys areused to drag the gun back into itsfiring position.

Without access to the sophisticatedmetal-working technology necessaryto construct a reliable hydraulic re-coil cylinder, Quatlatlani insteadturned to a more traditional torsiondevice.

He built two tension springs out ofrope and gum fibers, to which he at-tached two long levers. The springswere then mounted to either side of arogue gun, while a rope was attachedto each of the lever arms and the guncarriage.

When the gun discharges, it recoils

back on its wheels along a woodenslide, with the spring levers absorb-ing the force. At the end of the gun'srecoil, the spring uncoils, and theropes draw the gun carriage backforward into firing position.

This carriage cannot be effectivelyused on guns which fire directly outof a ship's gunport or turret becausethe gun is run out before it can be re-loaded. For guns on pivot platformswith plenty of working space, how-ever, it eliminates one step of theloading process, and both increasesthe rate of fire and reduces the crewrequirement.

Quatlatlani's experiments demon-strated that insufficient time is savedwith smaller pieces to warrant thecarriage, but that important efficien-cies are gained when the return car-riage is used for a rogue gun.

This innovation is a prototype, andQuatlatlani has no immediate inten-tion of sharing it with anyone else.Thus players are unlikely to encoun-ter anything like it except on the BlackDagger.

Game Effects: The return-carriagerogue which is on Quatlatlani's ship

requires a gun crew of only two, notthree. In addition, it has an ROF of 1,not(l).

HEAVENLYARCHER

Technical SpecificationsArmor: 1Hull: 12 (wood) with ramSpeed: 3Altitude: High; Medium with

300 tons of cargo; Low with 800tons of cargo

Tonnage: 1200Price: £98, 000Crew: 5 officers, 2 petty offi-

cers, 69 ratingsBridge: 5 officers, 2 petty offi-

cers, 1 ratingDeck: 12 ratingsManeuver: 36 ratingsGunners: 20 ratingsArmament:10 heavy guns firing to broad-

side (under armor)4 liquid fire racks2 tether mines

GDW

RULES ADDENDA/AMENDMENTS

RULES ADDENDATHESE RULES are recommended

when playing Sky Galleons of Marsor the aerial combat rules from therole-playing game. They cover itemsof unusual equipment used by someof the vessels covered in this book.

Smoke ScreensSOME STEAM-POWERED ships are

equipped to make smoke, while a fewMartian cloudships are equipped withsmudgepots to create a smoke screen.Smoke screens are used to obscurevisibility, usually to cover an escape.

Laying Smoke: Steamshipsequipped to make smoke may do soin any turn they wish. Their move-ment allowance is reduced by one inany turn in which they make smoke,as smoke generation reduces the ef-ficiency of the engine. Any shipequipped with smudgepots may makesmoke in any turn desired, but eachturn of smoke consumes one smudge-pot. When a ship makes smoke, placea smoke marker in each hex it movesthrough during its movement phase.A burning ship also produces smokein each hex through which it moves.If a burning ship or a ship layingsmoke remains stationary for the turn,it produces a number of smokescreens equal to one roll of the die,and these are placed in line startingwith the hex occupied by the ship andstretching directly downwind.

Smoke is only present at the alti-tude at which it was made.

Movement of Smoke: At the startof each movement phase, roll a die,and move all smoke screens thatmany hexes directly downwind.

Duration of Smoke: Smoke laidby a ship persists for two full turns.Remove the smoke markers in the

correct movement phase two turnsafter the smoke was laid.

Effects on Fire: Any shot whoseline of sight passes through a hexcontaining smoke is resolved with a-1 modifier to hit. Successive smokeclouds can reduce the chance to hit toa maximum of -3 to hit.

Ship Design Notes: Any steam-driven ship can be equipped to makesmoke for £20 per engine size num-ber. Any ship can be equipped withsmudgepots. These are chemicalsmoke generators which cost £30each and have no significant weight.They do take up deck space, however.One deck space position is used forsmudgepots, regardless of how manyare purchased. (Only one is on deckand in use at a time. ) Smudgepotsburn and generate smoke for one turn,at the end of which time they arediscarded. Smudgepots may also befitted into tether mines or droguetorpedoes, replacing the normalexplosives. Mines produce smoke fortwo turns, torpedoes for three turns.Cost for the mines and torpedoes isthe same as for the explosive varie-ties.

Spike DroppersINVENTED BY MARTIANS and soon

copied by colonists, the spike drop-per is a hopper full of short metalspikes or darts.

Dropping Spikes: Spikes aredropped by a ship at any point duringits movement phase. The procedurefor determining hits is the same as forliquid fire, with the exception that themodified die roll result is the numberof crew casualties taken, not the levelof fire started. Spikes may not bereloaded during the course of play.

Ship Design Notes: A spike drop-

per weighs five tons and costs £450in any yard. Reloads cost £50 each.Spike droppers take up deck space,similar to tether mines and some otherexotic devices. If spike droppers arefitted, count them as guns for pur-poses of hit location. They do nothave explosive magazines.

Scout FlyersA NEW TYPE of aerial vessel, the

scout flyer, is added with these rules.These very small flyers are designedfor speed and distance at the expenseof cargo and weaponry. They have acrew of only two—a pilot (whoserves as both helmsman and trims-man) and an observer/gunner. Thesecond crewman is optional, ofcourse. Characters may only pilot ascout flyer if they have both pilot andtrimsman skill.

In order to conserve fuel weight andto eliminate the need for a stoker, thescout flyer uses a petrol boiler, andthe fuel lines which feed it are regu-lated by valves operated by the pilot.This means that fuel for the flyer issomewhat limited since oil is scarceon Mars and is only easily found nearthe cities of Gorklimsk, Olonia,Niront, and Gigantia. At those placesit is available for £3 per ton, as listedin the basic rules. At other places itwill be scarce, and prices will varyfrom two to five times as much,depending on the remoteness of thelocale. The scout flyer has a fuel tankwhich will hold up to 15 tons of oil.The flyer burns a quarter ton of oil perday (and thus can travel for up to 60days without refueling).

Note that due to their small hull sizescout flyers drop from Very High toLow altitude after suffering a singlehull hit, and will crash after a second.


SKY GALLEONS OF MARSRULES AMENDMENTS

THE FOLLOWING RULES are not ad-ditions to the basic Sky Galleonsrules, but are clarifications andamendments to them which haveemerged from constructive sugges-tions by players.

Ship CombatTHESE RULES cover a number of

different issues involving ship-to-ship combat.

Boarding Parties: No vessels mayfire at a ship which has a friendlyboarding party on board.

Collisions: A vessel may maneu-ver to avoid a collision in the sameway as to avoid a ram. If the ship hasalready moved for that turn, themovement spent avoiding the colli-sion is charged against its next turn'smovement.

Armor and Small Arms Fire:Add the armor value of the ship's hullto the saving throw number for smallarms hits. For example, troops on avessel with an armor value of 2 saveon a roll of 4 or less, not 2 or less.Regardless of the armor value of theship, a roll of 6 never saves againstsmall arms. If a vessel has a boardingparty on deck, this modification is notmade, and all small arms hits are

taken from the boarding party first.Trim Critical Damage (Clari-

fication): Vessels normally recovertrim if they roll higher than thedamage of the round or if they roll a6 (if the damage value of the round is6 or greater). The favorable modifierfor hull size is applied to the die roll,not to the damage value of the roundcausing the damage.

For example, a drogue torpedo hasa damage value of 10, while a shipwith a hull size of 5 receives a favor-able modifier of+1 to the die roll. Theship can only recover trim on a dieroll of 6 normally. However, with thefavorable die roll modifier of+1 it canrecover on a roll of 5 or 6, even thoughthe damage value of the mine isconsiderably larger than 6.

Tether Mines: If several mines arealoft, only one roll is made to deter-mine whether they strike an enemyvessel. If they do, all of the minesdetonate in a chain reaction and addtheir damage values together, as iftheir individual detonations were onelarge explosion.

If a player releases tether mines, herolls separately for each mine to seeif it strikes an enemy ship. Only mineswhich strike enemy ships detonate.

Drogue Torpedoes: If several tor-pedoes are being towed, only one roll

is made to determine whether theystrike an enemy vessel. If they do, allof the torpedoes detonate in a chainreaction and add their damage valuestogether, as if their individual deto-nations were one large explosion.

Throckmorton Conveyors: Dueto very limited deck space, only oneThrockmorton conveyor may take offfrom a ship per hull size per turn.

Ship DesignTHESE RULES provide some addi-

tional limitations on overall ship de-sign.

Armament: All armament must bebalanced (by weight) on each side. Aship may have a heavier weight ofweapons forward or aft, but it mustbe balanced on its sides.

Marines: A maximum of five ma-rines may be carried per hull size. Ac-commodations may be provided foradditional troops, but these may onlybe carried as passengers due to limitson deck space and access to below-deck firing ports. If extra marines arecarried belowdeck, they may be trans-ferred topside at the start of any turnto replace casualties or marines sentaway as boarding parties. Marinesmay not form boarding parties theturn in which they move topside, butthey may fire.

SCOUT FLYERWeight: 20 tonsSpeed: 45 knotsPower Plant: 64 horsepowerCrew: 2Armament: Maxim gunPrice: £2000

GDW

Gato Screw Galley

£28, 700

Black Dagger Screw Galley

£38, 600Rogue guns.See note onpage 57.

500 Tons333 Tons

Typical Pirate Kite

£29, 880£46, 200

Small Merchant KiteSky Gift

165 Tons 331 Tons

Clearsight Screw Galley

£12, 800

200 Tons

Heavenly Archer Screw Galley

Scout Flyer Armed Warm Winds Kite

£2, 000

20 Tons

£123, 040

£98, 800

1200 Tons

660 Tons

Arduous Passage Screw Galley

£35, 720

Determined Venture Kite

£20, 740

250 Tons500 Tons

Sunbeam Skiff Fleetfoot Screw GalleyRoyal Yacht

£6, 400 £6, 000

80 Tons60 Tons

Lortmore Steam Gunboat Penelope Steam Ram

£24, 920£40, 440

250 Tons 165 Tons

Lismore Kite

£22, 840£35, 870

Screw GalleyGloire

500 Tons 250 Tons

Shifting Maze Game

Now Here's the Plan:FLY SWIFTLY through the mountains and locate the kraag of the brutish High Martian potentate, King

Gnaashriik. Then you (and a hand-picked team) stealthily enter, search, and make your rescue. If you arequiet enough and quick enough, you will be out before the High Martians discover you. There is no wayyou could have known that others would be here too, each looking for his own treasure. And the invasionof their domain has stirred the beastmen into a blood frenzy. Now you wonder if you'll ever leave theTemple of the Beastmen alive.

In Temple of the Beastmen, each player controls one of 10 adventurers, each with their own goals andspecial abilities, intent on rescuing slaves and treasures from the clutches of the wicked Martian king,Random map tile layout and card sequence make the temple, its treasures, and its dangers different with

every game. Stealthand strategy are es-sential to winning.

Temple of theBeastmen can belearned in under halfan hour and can beplayed in under twohours. A well devel-oped set of optionalrules allows moreelaborate strategiesand lets you choosethe level of com-plexity. Solitaireplay is possible, andcomplete rules for

G A M E SP. O. Box 1646

Bloomington, IL 61702-1646

Write for our free catalog.

HIGH AMIDST THE LOFTY PEAKS of the Shistomik Moun-tains sits the rich and deadly city of Karkarham, perchedat the crossroads of a world. Almost anything can be foundin its bustling marketplace, but Karkarham is more than asimple commercial center. It is also the home port for that color-ful and bloodthirsty company of pirates, brigands, and adventur-ers known as the cloud captains of the Shistomik.

Like the pirates of the Caribbean, who, centuries earlier, plunderedthe ship s of the Spanish Main and were allowed to dock at Port Royalby a corrupt governor, the cloud captains of the Shistomik Moun-tains plunder the rich spice ships of the Boreosyrtis League, the fatoil luggers of Olonia, and eastern merchantmen carryingjewels fromAmazonia or ancient relics from the blasted ruins of Zephyria. All arefair game for the cloud captains, who find safe haven in Karkarham inreturn for a split of the profits.

Cloud Captains of Mars details the pirates and privateers who gatherat Karkarham. It gives an extensive listing of its captains, ships, habits,and haunts. The city of Karkarham is covered at length, including howto get to Karkarham, how it is defended, what you will findthere, and how to contact the cloud captains or eventhe legendary Red Captains. In addition, thisbook provides rules for hiring crews,hunting down and seizing merchantships, and selling prizes in Kar-karham's markets for thoseintrepid players who longto feel the wind in theirface, a deck beneaththeir feet, and noflag flying over-head but theJolly Roger.

Flying ships,Dashing Red Captains,

Karkarham,the Casablanca of Mars—

Dare the pirates' lair!

Copyright© 1989 GDW Inc.Space: 1889 is GDW's trademark for its role-playing game of Victorian Era space-faring.

Made in U.S.A.Printed in U.S.A.

GDW 1905

S I N C E 1 9 7 3

G A M E SP.O. Box 1646

Bloomington.il 61702-1646ISBN 1-55878-043-2

FRANK CHADWICK - The Eye | Front Page 1889... · 2018. 1. 14. · Screw Ram Gloire (17 prizes)...

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Transcript of FRANK CHADWICK - The Eye | Front Page 1889... · 2018. 1. 14. · Screw Ram Gloire (17 prizes)...