Princess of the Red Planet Adventure

[Finarvyn]

Jul 16, 2020 14:20:48 GMT -6 thomden said:

Dejah Thoris is next on the NPC list and she's hard to draw. Also, as a character I'd like to develop her a little more. I can see why the movie decided to make her a scientist.

Here's an odd thought … I don't know if you have seen the Amber Diceless RPG, but one interesting feature is that Erick Wujcik (the author of ADRP) chose to do three versions of the same NPC with the notion that a GM might select which one fits his or her campaign. So...

* Dejah Thoris, spoiled daughter of Helium
* Dejah Thoris, scientist of Helium
* Dejah Thoris, regal princess of Helium

Stats might be similar for the three versions, or they might not. The scientist version might be smarter and maybe have more adventuring abilities or levels. The regal princess might have a higher charisma. That kind of thing.

[cometaryorbit]

Jul 16, 2020 14:20:48 GMT -6 thomden said:

The other hold up is that Dejah Thoris is next on the NPC list and she's hard to draw. Also, as a character I'd like to develop her a little more. I can see why the movie decided to make her a scientist.

Well, when captured by the Tharks she was on a meteorological expedition ("to rechart the air currents, and to take atmospheric density tests" - Chapter 10). Apparently this has some connection to the atmosphere plant that maintains Barsoom's air.

So there is definitely some basis for this in the original as well.

I think this can be read either as Dejah being a scientist herself, or as being an aristocratic sponsor of the work. But given the time frame in which this was written, pre-WWI, I don't think one would generally expect a noblewoman sponsor to go on the expedition herself, so she probably is a scientist at least "part-time".

[thomden]

Dejah Thoris
Red Martian, 9th level Noble
Armor Class: 8 [12]
Hit Dice: 9/36hp
Move: 90'
Attacks: shortsword or pistol
Damage: 1d6 or 1d12
No. Appearing: 1
Save: C9
Morale: 12
XP Value: 100
Str: 10 (+0), Dex: 13 (+1), Con: 14 (+1), Wis: 16 (+2), Int: 15 (+1), Chr: 19 (+3)
Social Status: 19 (+3)
Equipment: Shortsword, Pistol, Tissue Regenerator, Tri-Chorder, Remote Starter, Metal War Bikini

Dejah Thoris is described as the incomparable Princess of Mars. She is the quintessence of feminine beauty and grace. She is skilled in courtly and royal etiquette, as well as all womanly pursuits and charms. She commands the loyalty of the soldiers of Helium - the preeminent city on Mars inhabited by the race of Red Men. She is a true daughter of Helium, willing to risk her life to defend her home city and people.

Dejah Thoris has bronze skin of flawless complexion, jet black hair, and an ideal figure that she makes no attempt to conceal as there is no shame in nudity on Barsoom. Even the toughest most grizzled warriors tremble at her mere presence. Such is her incredible beauty that few males can resist her persuasions.

On occasion she participates in scientific expeditions on the marvelous sky ships of Barsoom, it was on one of these occassions her ship was destroyed by green martians and she was captured at the same time Captain Carter was in their captivity. She eventually fell in love and married him.

Her loyal affections are to Captain Carter. The only thing likely to faze her calm demeanor is her husband being in peril.



This description was cobbled together from a few sources and my recollections from the book. It is a work in progress and likely to change quite a bit in the final adventure. I was considering making her either the helpless maiden-in-distress (like the book), or giving her a little bit of fighting ability, or to do what the movie did and make her a Scientist. Then I recalled the Alien Noble class by James Maliszewski described on the Grognardia blog which is nearly perfect and now I need to make a whole adaptation for Warriors of the Red Planet.

[thomden]

Jul 17, 2020 4:59:43 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

one interesting feature is that Erick Wujcik (the author of ADRP) chose to do three versions of the same NPC with the notion that a GM might select which one fits his or her campaign.

I considered that, but seems like thrice the work (and time), and this project is already growing more than I intended.

Maybe once everything else is done I can circle back and do this with some of the key characters.

[cometaryorbit]

Yeah, a Noble class is probably an even better fit. I like the idea of her as a scientist but you referenced that too... I like this description.

[thomden]

The challenge with generating stats for Dejah Thoris is that she is really a different class than the basic ones in WotRP. So I borrowed from the Alien Noble. But even then found it needed some tweaking. So, here is my proposal for a Space Princess class as an add on to the core WotRP rules. It utilizes the Social Status ability I talked about in this thread here: odd74.proboards.com/thread/14144/social-status-lurking-ability-stat

She would keep the Level and XP progression as the Alien Noble, but with these modifications:

The Space Princess Class!
Prequisite: Chr 12, Social Status 18
Hit Dice: 1d4
Starting Hit points: 2-5 (1d4+1).
They may wear any type of armor or use any type of weapons.
They begin play with more starting funds than other classes: Social Status x 100 gold pieces.

Special Abilities

Diplomacy: the space princess has been raised from early childhood in proper etiquette and how to influence and persuade. A target of diplomacy must make a general saving throw to not have their opinions swayed by the princess. Social status bonus is used to make friendships as well as alliances between clans and kingdoms. It can be added to any roll that applies during the course of diplomacy.

Double retainers: They may employ double the maximum number of retainers normally allowed by their charisma score. As they rise in their role of rulership, princesses may command armies or rebellion forces. The Army statistic begins at level 4, and represents the chance of raising a small army of followers. For a specific task such as defending a throne or conquering new lands, it must be said, not just to follow anywhere the princess goes. The army does not come equipped, but a princess can add up to three times her level to the Army chances listed on the equipment charts.

Royal request: They may use their positions to make a royal request of those under their authority. Normally mundane requests will be followed such as bring us a drink, more difficult requests can range from “Release the prisoner” to the extraordinary "Bring the head of my enemy”, with the referee assessing bonuses or penalties based on the difficulty of the request. A princess may make requests as often as she wishes, but too many requests will likely generate negative feelings toward her and decrease the likelihood of success. Likewise, this ability functions only when among those who recognize her position. Among savages or enemies, the ability generally has no effect. Roll 1d20 and add Chr adjustment, compare to difficulty of request:
Request Difficulty
Mundane Request: 10 (bring refreshments)
Unusual Request: 15 (disobey my father and release the prisoner)
Extraordinary Request: 20 (bring the head of my enemy)

Trust fund: Once per level beginning at the 2nd she may draw from a trust fund or war chest equal to level x 200 gold.

Summon ally: those who are allied to the princess can be called on to aid in times of need. This aid arrives in 2-5 days in the form of monetary support or conscripts. Conversely the princess also needs to respond to calls for aid by her allies or risk losing their support.

Inspire allies: when imminently endangered those allied to her within line of sight will have a bonus of +1 to attacks and saves.

Charm Creature (by type): Each space princess may choose one creature type that they have the ability to charm once per day. By default this works on male humans.

---

What do you think? Too powerful?

[thomden]

Aug 6, 2020 5:34:02 GMT -6 @sean said:

That's a great write-up. Some players might try to play on 'inspire allies' in every fight but I'm sure the Ref could handle that. I feel Charm Creature seems too mechanical and automatic. Otherwise I like it, esp Royal Request.

Yeah, I figured she is overpowered at the moment, but wanted to get the ideas in there. It is easier to cut back.

Charm Creature is a direct allusion to Thuvia who could charm Banths. Which you could argue inspired Sheeana who could control worms in Heretics of Dune.

Maybe it will be a list of special abilities that the player can choose from, and make them more balanced.

[cometaryorbit]

While it's never really explained, I always figured Thuvia's thing with Banths was an outright psychic/psionic ability. Thoats are controlled telepathically so some degree of telepathic ability with animals seems standard.

[thomden]

Long time since the last update...

Progress moves along at a pretty good pace on the adaptation. There was a bit of change in direction as I brought on a partner to help with the research - something I desperately needed so I could focus on the graphics and layout. These means it is going to be more detailed and accurate than I could have done on my own. Also frees me up to make additional creative stuff like the sandbox aspect of city ruins, pits under the cities, maps, and adventure hooks.

New posts coming soon.

[thomden]

Jul 17, 2020 4:59:43 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Jul 16, 2020 14:20:48 GMT -6 thomden said:

Dejah Thoris is next on the NPC list and she's hard to draw. Also, as a character I'd like to develop her a little more. I can see why the movie decided to make her a scientist.

Here's an odd thought … I don't know if you have seen the Amber Diceless RPG, but one interesting feature is that Erick Wujcik (the author of ADRP) chose to do three versions of the same NPC with the notion that a GM might select which one fits his or her campaign. So...

* Dejah Thoris, spoiled daughter of Helium
* Dejah Thoris, scientist of Helium
* Dejah Thoris, regal princess of Helium

Stats might be similar for the three versions, or they might not. The scientist version might be smarter and maybe have more adventuring abilities or levels. The regal princess might have a higher charisma. That kind of thing.

The more I reflect on this the more I like it. Particularly useful for certain key characters like Dejah, maybe even Carter himself. I want this adventure to be a toolbox for the GM, not a straightjacket.

[Punkrabbitt]

Regarding the Charm Creature ability: a part of our modern mythology of a princess is a frequent special friendship or bond with animals; Disney has shown the way for this again and again, and other modern princess stories have adopted this in stride.

[thegreyelf]

Sorry I'm late to the party on this (could probably have saved you some work) but we did a Barsoom OD&D supplement a number of years ago. It's up on my website at www.grey-elf.com/ and you may find some of the rules, stats, and the like useful.

[Finarvyn]

Could be thegreyelf but also remember that Thomden did his own Mars RPG rules set. I think his plan was to make this compatible with Warriors of the Red Planet. (The OD&D Barsoom supplement is pretty nice, too.)

[thomden]

Oct 9, 2020 5:14:51 GMT -6 thegreyelf said:

Sorry I'm late to the party on this (could probably have saved you some work) but we did a Barsoom OD&D supplement a number of years ago. It's up on my website at www.grey-elf.com/ and you may find some of the rules, stats, and the like useful.

This adventure would work fine with it. Also works with Warriors of the Red Planet which provides character options and lots of creatures.

[thomden]

New update! It's been a while.

So I realized I needed help in the research and development department and hired a researcher to pour through the novels and extract important information in excruciating detail. That phase is complete and now I have a document of raw data organized regionally -- sandbox style -- to be able to complete this adventure. The rest of the work is writing the information in a format useful for a GM as well as drawing maps and art. I also need to stat up the remaining NPC's.

One of the first things to reach completion is the new character class: the Space Noble. A necessary addition to the WotRP rules set for this adventure to work. The class is available for download on DriveThru for a meager donation. You don't need WotRP, it will work with any rule set compatible with the original fantasy rpg.



www.drivethrurpg.com/product/338829/OSR-Space-Noble

[Finarvyn]

Looks good, and it's in my cart. (I will probably wait until I get more stuff in my cart; I hate to check out for only $1.)

[thomden]

A new design diary! Now that all the research is done my time is focused on editing, art, and layout. Looks like I might actually get this adventure finished in 2021.

Meet Gozava, Sola's mommy. You can see an improved NPC layout that provides even more useful game information for the GM.



Gozava
Green Martian, 1st level Fighting Man
Armor Class: 10 [10]
Hit Dice: 1/6hp
Move: 120'
Attacks: 2x weapon attack or tusks (2d4)
Damage: 1d6 or 1d12
Save: F1
Morale: 5
Alignment: Neutral Good
XP Value: 100
Str: 10 (+0), Dex: 10 (+0), Con: 10 (+0), Wis: 13 (+1), Int: 10 (+0), Chr: 12 (+1)
Equipment: 2x shortsword, irradium pistol, ammo belt, dagger, domestic tool kit, female leather harness, sleeping furs, food pouch.
Special Abilities: Beast ESP, Minor Telepathy ; SD: Mind Blank

A green martian female in the retinue of the cruel Tal Hajus. Too small to breed by tribal standards (only 10ft tall), she was forbidden to mate as dictated by Thark custom. Slowly this fostered an aversion to the awful cruelties and loveless existence of her people and helped her nurture a shy sympathy towards others. She cares little for the barbaric ways of the greenmen.

Thus it was that over 5 years ago, she entered into a fateful tryst with the chieftain Tars Tarkas and each unwittingly fell in love with the other. Together they quietly bore a forbidden egg completely outside tribal law, the penalty for which is death. While he was away on a years-long military campaign, Gozava secretly hatched their hidden egg alone, begetting a daughter upon whom she lavished affection - an occurrence so rare among the greenmen as to be unheard of in living memory.

Knowing she could not keep the child hidden for long, Goziva conspired to mix her in with the other tribal younglings from that year’s incubator expedition. Though initially successful, the ruse was later uncovered by the ever-vigilant Sarkoja, though the child’s identity remained unknown.

Betrayed, now Gozava is to be brought before cruel Tal Hajus to answer for her crimes. Without hope for mercy, she will likely be subjected to unspeakable tortures to force a confession.

Secret - Her forbidden lover is Tars Tarkas, himself a powerful chieftain, and their illicit daughter is Sola. Should this ever become known, all three of them will likely pay dearly.
Goal - To be reunited with her daughter and lover Tars Tarkas, and if not take her secret to her grave. If forced under duress - to preserve the lives of those dearest to her - she will lie and say she killed her own infant daughter rather than leave her to the mercy of Tal Hajus.
Motivation - She abhors the cruelty of the green men and only wishes to live in peace.
Conflict - Her softer sentiments are considered decadent - a reason to demand she prove her worthiness to the tribe. Her being in the retinue of Tal Hajus means the punishment for her ‘misdeeds’ will likely be that much more severe.
Quirk - Enjoys walking alone into flowering hills to daydream of a better life.
Flaw - Her love for her daughter can be used against her.

[Finarvyn]

Love the NPC layout! This whole project is fantastic and I love the updates!

[thomden]

APoM Adventure Design Diary #22 - Alien Cities

A new design diary is up on my blog. This time exploring how to design the Alien Cities and Buildings of Barsoom. Drawing inspiration from Al Williamson, Frazetta, and household objects.

[Finarvyn]

Love the side cutaway view. Add that to some floorplans and we're ready for a heist adventure. (I know that thievery is unknown to Barsoom. Earthlings bring it with us.)

[cometaryorbit]

Yeah, that cutaway is really cool!

That's not what I ever imagined Barsoomian buildings to look like, but I think it's cooler.

[Finarvyn]

Yeah, I imagine mile-high cylindrical towers and giant domes. Also, houses on a single pillar where they can lower and raise the way in. (I seem to recall houses on stilts or something like that, but maybe only one stilt in the middle.)

[thomden]

I imagine a wide variety of buildings. So some will be mile-high skyscrapers, others can be squat, wide, thin, small, megalithic, etc.

The thing is, for the sake of adventuring I don't find a skyscraper terribly enticing for an adventure. Most cities on Barsoom will be ancient ruins, without functioning elevators. Like fireman climbing the stairs of a skyscraper in an emergency.

The important things to me are #1 fun and #2 interesting designs visually, and of course consistent with the descriptions in the books. Though there isn't a lot of that. If anyone can pull specific quotes that would be helpful.

[cometaryorbit]

Feb 4, 2021 14:54:50 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Yeah, I imagine mile-high cylindrical towers and giant domes. Also, houses on a single pillar where they can lower and raise the way in. (I seem to recall houses on stilts or something like that, but maybe only one stilt in the middle.)

Yep, from Chapter 20 of A Princess of Mars:

 "like all red-Martian homes, had been raised at night some forty or fifty feet from the ground on a large round metal shaft which slid up or down within a sleeve sunk in the ground, and was operated by a tiny radium engine in the entrance hall of the building."

and again in Zodanga (chapter 21): "The residences, raised high upon their metal
columns, resembled huge rookeries".

It says (same chapter) "The shops as a rule were not raised
from the ground".

The house in chapter 20 is at a canal farm, and the barns associated with it are described as "low rambling buildings of concrete barred with heavy impassable doors". These don't seem to be raised from the ground.

There are lots of huge buildings, the Zodangan barracks are 1000 feet tall, and the aerial battleship docks there are 1500 feet. Greater and Lesser Helium have mile-high towers. The atmosphere plant covers "about four square miles", with walls 150 feet thick.

[cometaryorbit]

Feb 5, 2021 18:25:03 GMT -6 thomden said:

I imagine a wide variety of buildings. So some will be mile-high skyscrapers, others can be squat, wide, thin, small, megalithic, etc.

The thing is, for the sake of adventuring I don't find a skyscraper terribly enticing for an adventure. Most cities on Barsoom will be ancient ruins, without functioning elevators. Like fireman climbing the stairs of a skyscraper in an emergency.

The important things to me are #1 fun and #2 interesting designs visually, and of course consistent with the descriptions in the books. Though there isn't a lot of that. If anyone can pull specific quotes that would be helpful.

Based mostly on the cover of the omnibus of the first three books "Under the Moons of Mars" where I first read them, I always imagined the ruined cities, like the ones the Tharks etc. live in, to be very Greco-Roman looking, without the skyscrapers and elevator-houses and other more technological aspects.

Some of these buildings are huge - it's pointed out the Tharks pick the largest buildings, even if they're not the best suited for habitation - but I think they're relatively few stories. The one where Carter first meets Lorquas Ptomel is specifically described as "low". These are probably pre-elevator.

[thomden]

I mentioned before how much I love Al Williamson's portrayal of cities on alien worlds. For me this is what the John Carter movie should have looked like.



I recently picked up a retrospective of Al Williamson's work from Flesk Publishing. I posted a bit about it on my blog. It is serving as great inspiration for the art I'm making for the Princess of Mars adventure.

[thomden]

One of the biggest hurdles is the intro to the whole adventure, which called for its own western RPG. At one point I was going to make a Boothill Retroclone to fill this role, but there have already been a lot of fairly nice ones made available out there. While none of them had exactly the ingredients I wanted, they did help to clarify an important point. What value does yet another Wild West themed RPG bring? And the answer was right there in the beginning chapter of Princess of Mars: weird science!

One of the brilliant things about the novel is how grounded it is in the western genre before things get...weird. If you think of the Cave as a sort of piece of alien technology where the PC's can teleport to Barsoom from, then that opens the door to a whole plethora of weird science technology, which is explored in the Warriors of the Red Planet RPG.

I think a GM may want to recreate that feeling for the players, they think they are playing a good old Wild West RPG with gunfighters and outlaws when they stumble across strange technology and the nefarious plans of invaders from other worlds set on infiltrating Jasoom. Now, I don't want to depart too far from the novel. The goal here is a faithful adaptation. But I do want to create as many adventure hooks for the GM to work with to craft their own campaign as I can. And this is a good one.

To summarize. The Gunfighter RPG is now becoming a Wild West + Weird Science RPG. A prelude to the PoM adventure.

[thomden]

Time for another update.

First a question. Would calling this adventure A Princess of the Red Planet be a turn off?
Not that I'm particularly worried about it since the book is in public domain, but some caution might be a good idea. Also this ties it more closely to the RPG.

As this project has gotten far more ambitious than originally intended a lot more options open up. Like a deluxe edition of the RPG in a package deal. I'll get to those later, just wanted to throw that out there in case you had ideas of things you'd like to see. (you know, GM Screen, supplemental material, whatever).

Now to the update. Having diced up this book a dozen different ways and pouring over every chapter in detail, as well as reading various reviews and fan material, it is pretty clear that a lot is left open for interpretation. The book was intended as a one off series of magazine articles to make a quick buck. ERB could never imagined how beloved this novel and characters would become. If so a lot more care would be taken in the consistency of the world building. As it is though, it's pretty good! All things considered. What that means though for this adventure is that it won't please everyone. Someone will argue Zodanga should be over there, Helium is actually shaped like this, the buildings should actually look like that. And so on. My guiding light will be making a fun adventure and stay as true as I can.

An example of the level of attention to detail in some areas is this diagram of Zodanga.



This isn't even the map. This is a guide to making the map to help keep it accurate to the book! Also a little flow of events you can see off to the side.

Yeah, I'm a little crazy. And the researcher I'm working with is even more insane into detail. I hope I make it through this project.

[jeffb]

Perhaps drop the "A"

[Punkrabbitt]

Titles can't be copyrighted, only text can be. Thus, there are MANY books titled "Love and War" including a Dragonlance novel. So, if you want to call it "A Princess Of Mars," you're good.