Barsoom Via the Codex of Infinite Planes

[xerxez]

I have designed a dungeon amid the Pits of Barsoom, having been inspired by the Burroughs book Llana of Gathol which is a real page turner.

I have a copy of Doc's Mars for OD&D booklet and I am so wanting to play some games on Barsoom but I am torn about how to do it.

Should I just share the culture and have them pick classes from Doc's book, or should I have them begin in a state similar to that of John Carter, strangers come to Barsoom via soul travel?

Since my group knows little or nothing about Barsoom, I wanted to let them discover it piece by piece, but then they can't pick their class from the booklet.

One option I considered was letting their D&D characters enter Barsoom by way of something like the Codex of Infinite Planes--but then of course you have to deal with dwarves and elves running around Barsoom! A way I thought of around this was to have them "soul travel" from the fantasy world and be in Martian bodies--magic users and clerics would find they no longer have their powers but they can be psionicists since their minds are geared towards the metaphysical.

Another option I have considered is to let them pick their class but make them be from some outpost or settlement that has been separated from the main of Barsoom for so long that the characters have no knowledge of anything.

Has anyone ever done this in any fashion? Or should I follow my gut and just run Barsoom as a separate game or short series of games and just give the players the needed information at the onset?

[Finarvyn]

Here's the thing: they only can be "unknowing" once.

What I mean is, you only have one shot at having them discover Barsoom the way that John Carter did. If you ever want to do it that way, now is the time.

If they enjoy adventures on Barsoom, there is pleanty of time later on for them to customize characters or pick classes like any other RPG setting.

[Ynas Midgard]

I would let them create characters by the rules which we regularly play (and rule no demi-humans, if I don't want them on Barsoom) and then let them travel to Barsoom via some strange means (they accidentally start the engines of the space shuttle they are discovering or go through a portal of some sort).

[owlorbs]

I would vote for letting them come to Barsoom and discover its wonderful mysteries piece by piece. This seems like the most fun.

You can always have them roll up an all human party (under the guise of coming from a Lankhmar-esque world).

A mysterious cave that they thought was a dungeon entrance would serve as a simple yet surprising portal (like Ningauble's caves).

If the wizard's new-found mighty strength doesn't impress him, you could always throw in some Carcosa style psionic powers.

[xerxez]

Thanks everyone--that was what my gut was saying and I am going to enjoy the unfolding revelations.

I assumed that they should not have John Carter's unique powers, however...although that could be fun. Just throw three times as much at them!

Llana of Gathol was great and I loved the Cannibalistic Alchemist type dude, he will make an interesting monster!

I just designed a new D&D 1st level dungeon I will be uploading next week called "Castle Kaza'mir". I think I will make this the path....we are beginning a new campaign called Albion and I can't think of a better way to get some freshness into the old game.

I will be using my Hidden Kingdom hex maps of Fantasy Britain, Basic and Expert or OD&D, and Barsoom. Should prove interesting as in the three years we've all been gaming, we've not yet done the extra dimensional. My gaming group has never done the cross genre and we have yet to battle a Dragon. Sheesh!

[xerxez]

We played the 2nd session of our Barsoom adventure tonight, 7 hours of play, six last time.

Due to heavy bias among my friends, we chose 1st Edition AD&D. They didn't know we'd be playing Barsoom--took them a bit the first session but as soon as the Green men came in, they caught on.

I had four people join us in the second session.

The first group was in the British Isles, hailing from Londinium. They learned of an Arabian wizard near Shewsbury who sought hirelings for a task which turned out to be the exploration of a strange cave in the hills.

The party discovered the cave which had a circle of strange hieroglyphics on a wall which was inset with a large blue gem. When the thief touched the gem, there was a sudden light show, disorientation, and they woke up naked lying on the floor of a desert of Barsoom.

There was a city in sight, and they journeyed there on foot, only to discover it was a vast ruin built on the edge of a giant crater. A human warrior was holding his own against four Warhoon but starting to lose when they arrived. They rushed to help him, snatching up stones for weapon, and it was then that they discovered they were faster, stronger and able to leap. (I had elected not to repeat the whole John carter leaping and falling thing when the first woke up cause I was still stringing them along...)

A battle ensued wherein they learned how fierce the Green Men are and also saw thoats. After saving the human, they were accosted by his people who led them to a walled citadel inside the city, Horz.--here they were happy to be treated as honored guests until the jeddak of Horz appeared to regretfully inform them they must be killed because Horz' location could never be divulged. (After they had been given potions which changed their brains to be able to speak in the tongue of Barsoom).

Some interesting role playing ensued. In the end, the warrior they had saved, Pan Dan Chee, secured for them exile into the Pits of Horz, on the condition that he join them. Since no one had ever escaped the pits, the jeddak believed it was as good as execution--in fact he dreaded their fate as more tortuous than a quick execution.

Sealed within the Pits, they had two oil lamps but no weapons. However, they did find boxes of strange metal that contained battle harnesses, swords and daggers. They also discovered metal coffins containing two corpses so miraculously preserved as to appear neither dead nor alive--being unaccustomed to Barsoom and thinking them undead, they beheaded the unfortunates.

Shortly thereafter they were attacked by Ulsio, terrible six legged rats. One PC gained an infection from this encounter. They won but were soon troubled by strange, maniacal laughter somewhere in the caves.

End session one.

Session two, I introduced the four new players by having them secreted in coffins in an adjoining chamber, though they had come from the British Isles as well and had not been there in stasis for more than 6 mos. They had been a band working for the Thieves Guild and hired to steala great blue gem in the Orient at a Temple of the Swordmasters of the Harmonious Way. I narrated that episode to them briefly and told them it had gone of splendidly until they had actually grabbed the jewel and went bye bye.

They had been captured by the jeddak of Horz as well and also banished to the pits--after groping through the darkness, they had also heard the laughter and then felt a deep sleep upon them, not awakening until the other players opened their coffins and brought them to.

Joining forces and finding sword and dagger for all, they set out to find the source of the laughter. Soon they came upon a furnished cave with alchemist instruments, books, and the like, and in the midst was a stunted, physically digressed humanoid who cackled and babbled to them. His name was Lar Tum O, and he beseeches them to drink at his cistern. A woman lay in deep sleep on a table, whom Lar Tum O claimed to be healing.

Lar Tum offered to give them a key to a door that led out of the pits but instead he pulled out a crystal sphere filled with a liquid that turned to gas upon touching the air. Hurling the glass, Lar Tum O gassed the only character who failed to save--but using telepathy he seized control of three PC's who did not make their second saving throw--these he turned on their companions while he attacked with his dagger.

A vicious melee ensued which in the end saw the telepath slain and the party set free. The woman also awakened, and so did all of the unfortunates he had put in suspended animation with drugs and alchemy to preserve their bodies for his food. This was learned when they looked behind a curtain and saw grisly cannibalistic delights.

There was a door in that room and behind it they could hear people beating on the door, shouting about Green Men. They opened the door and met a party of nobles, who like the woman on the the table, knew Lar Tum O and believed they had only been drugged for a few hours when in fact they were millions of years old. They all scoffed when they were told the city was in ruins and there was no water above.

But they did say they had seen five Green men crawling from metal coffins, and had fled. One of the sleepers was the ancient lord of Horz and he knew the Pits--leading the party they came to a hall where the Green Men lunged at them. battle ensued, but the Pc's began to notice that the sleepers were aging rapidly.

To be continued.

[Finarvyn]

Sounds like a great game, and a fun write-up to read. Keep us up to date on how this game progresses.

[owlorbs]

Nice write up. It's always fun to hear of more Barsoom adventures.

[Falconer]

Jul 12, 2012 16:35:45 GMT -6 owlorbs said:

You can always have them roll up an all human party

How about all humans except for one half-elf?

[Baron]

Wow, what an incredible scenario! I'm inspired!