Wrap-up

And so the SPace 1889 campaign caomes to a triumphant halt - for a while anyway.

As I explained to the players, though I am enbtranced still by the setting and by the Savage Worlds method of gaming inside it, I am now having trouble finding challenges for these uber-rich, legendary characters who really should have been retired long ago in order to concentrate on making massive changes in the world using their vast wealth and fame.

So the Space 1889 game is on indefinite hiatus as of the last session. We very well may come back to the setting, either as a Savage Worlds game or possibly using the wonderful Clockwork publications using the Ubiquity system.

To be honest I feel we never really "got into" what makes Space 1889 so special. No-one was really interested in inventing stuff (other than Wilhelm and his Weird Science devices that would have been possible in many other Savage Worlds settings) and the whole Fin-de-Siecle didn't really "take" with the players. Should we restart the game I will need to have figured out what I was doing wrong in the presentation of that aspect of the setting.

Anyway, it was fun while it lasted.

I recommend the milieu to one and all.

Interlude: The Caverns Under Luna

Interlude: Luna - A Brief History

Luna

The Earth’s nearest neighbor,circling resolutely a mere 300,000 miles away, has to date been far more elusive than the much more remote worlds of Venus and Mars.

Ethereal navigators have been put to the test merely setting their vessels down on a world with no atmosphere,and every indication is that Luna has no particular wealth or prospects to offer the ambitious Earthmen buzzing past in favor of richer worlds.

Telescopic observations from the Earth have been confirmed by firsthand examination of the facts: Luna is a barren world without atmosphere or water, trod upon for the first time by scientists wishing to unlock the doors of knowledge with Edison’s remarkable key.

Specifically, Luna is a ball of rock 2160 miles in diameter with a surface area of 14.5 million square miles, approximately equal to that of Asia. Its terrain, as can be seen from Earth, is mostly mountainous and cratered, and speculation that much of this is due to meteor impacts over time appears to be correct.

The gravity at the surface of this tiny world is only one-sixth that of the Earth, allowing for tremendous acrobatics for those willing to brave the deadly vacuum in specially adapted suits.

Navigational Difficulties

ETHER FLYERS used for commerce Venus generally take advantage of the atmospheres of those worlds to get from orbit to surface. Both liftwood and hydrogen help make the vessel “lighter than air,” letting it settle to the surface or rise to orbit using the atmosphere as a buoyancy medium. Luna, however, has no air to be lighter than, rendering liftwood and hydrogen useless. The only alternative for getting to its surface is to use the ether propeller, a device whose speeds are measured in millions of miles per day, to navigate the delicate distance between orbit an surface.

Obviously, the typical ether propeller is hardly sensitive enough for such precise maneuvers, and only the very best pilots will even attempt a landing on a vacuum world like Luna.

Earthmen on Luna

LUNA WAS first visited by Sir William Otterbein, in an ether flyer designed by himself and his Italian assistant, Luigi Piachetti, and financed by his estates and by industrialists in London wishing to find cheap sources of iron ore.

Otterbein managed to land his flyer in Mare Imbrium without significant damage. He and his assistant then set out to establish that Luna does suffer from “Moonquakes,” that the surface, at least in the so-called “seas,” is very dusty and difficult to traverse, that the surface gravity is quite low, and that there is no atmosphere.

After his return trip, analysis of samples found them almost barren of useful materials, and Otterbein’s industrial backers pulled their support out from under him. He never returned to Luna.

Others have, however, including Brian Masterly of Great Britain, the Davis brothers of Philadelphia, and Vladimir Tereshkova of Russia. The latter made a total of five trips to Luna for the Czar, the final one (from which he never returned) in 1887.

All the scientific data gathered have confirmed suspicions that Luna is of little value. No permanent facilities exist on Luna, and by 1889,visits there are extremely infrequent.

The Glow

RUMORS ABOUT hidden treasures, great wealth in diamonds, and indeed the existence of so-called Selenites, or Moonmen, have passed between space mariners for years. To date, none of them have been borne out despite several visits to Luna over the last two decades. Still, such rumors die hard, and many people persist in their belief that there is more to Earth’s Moon than meets the eye.

“The glow” is a particular event which many explorers and ether pilots claim to have witnessed on the far side of Luna. They claim that, if one is in the right position, a faint glow can be seen on a particular part of the far side. The glow is barely a pinprick as seen with the unaided eye, but telescopic observers claim the glow area may actually be anything up to a mile across. Its greenish-white light has never been scientifically examined.

Rumor has it that the Russians have more information about the glow, but, frankly, they aren’t talking.

It is also rumored that Vladimir Tereshkova was investigating the glow on his fateful trip of 1887.

The text of this post is taken from the original Space 1889 rulebook, Copyright by Frank Chadwick, now published by Heliograph.

No challenge to asserted rights is intended by reproducing this extract.

Interlude: A rules Reminder to All Cast Members

A reminder to all cast members: There are many discrepancies between the Red Sands setting, SWADE, and various other period appropriate setting books such as Deadlands Reloaded, especially in the matter of weapon statistics and costs.

To re-iterate for the cast and for any prospective cast: in the event of a discrepancy, unless the GM says otherwise, Red Sands rulings are in effect and all contradictory rules are not.

Notable exceptions are to base mechanics, where SWADE will be made to work, and specifically the Winchester lever action rifle statistics, in which the Deadlands Reloaded statistics are in force. If there are incompatabilities between a Red Sands Edge/Skill/Hindrance and the SWADE version, the GM will work with the player to arrive at a mutually agreeable compromise.

The 1 on the Skill Die thing:

• A 1 on a skill roll is always a failure, and may precipitate extra complications.
• If shooting, an unbennied 1 is
  1. A jam (automatics only)
  2. A dud round (Black Powder, Revolvers and Automatics)
  3. Out of Ammo (friendly extras only).
  4. WC, snake eyes only - Serious, weapon-disabling problem (broken hammer, broken spring, cracked barrel etc)

Wildcards only run out of ammo when their actual ammo count hits 0.

New House Rule

When using rapid fire weapons in combat, such as machine guns, Gatling guns, Nordenfelt guns etc., if anything less than the maximum rate of fire listed for the weapon is attempted, the firer must succeed with a Spirit roll to overcome the natural tendency to 'pour it on' in battle. No extra benefit is gained from a raise.

Gunners with the Knowledge(Gunnery) aka Gunnery skill may ignore this house rule.

Note that using only part of the available ROF may mean that rules-of-thumb must be used for remaining ammo, possibly "shorting" the firer, as ROF 1,2 & 3 refer to 1,5 and 10 rounds expended. If there are not the number of rounds available to equate to the ROF expected, the ROF will drop one class with no change in the amount of ammunition expended. If you have 8 rounds left in your Gatling and crank like crazy, you will shoot all the remaining rounds and achieve only ROF 2. This is not intended to introduce player book-keeping or ammo-gaming, but to reduce GM book-keeping. The wise player character with ammunition to spare will take advantage of his or her weapon's terrifying stopping power and crank like crazy.

Considerations

There are circumstantial benefits to high ROF weaponry.

• Depending on the situation the use of such a weapon will have an automatic surpessing fire effect, requiring enemies to take spirit checks to avoid ducking back behind cover, "hitting the deck" or scattering
• If the leader of an attack wave survives, only the leader rolls for the remaining troops.

EXAMPLE:
Private Joe Smith has D6 Spirit and is manning the company Gatling gun when savage Hill Martian tribesmen attack! He sees the leader riding his gashant ahead of the pack and wants to take a single shot to conserve ammunition, but rolls a 3 on his Spirit test and cranks for all he is worth, killing the mad Martian in a hail of lead but expending half his ammunition to do so. The Hill Martians test to see if they stand firm, fail a group roll and scatter to find cover without returning fire.

EXAMPLE:
Colour Sergeant Flagg is manning the second company Gatling gun when the ambush is attempted. He has the Gunnery skill, and so carefully picks off one of the savages with a single shot without needing to overcome his battle lust.

EXAMPLE:
Reginald Molehusband, adventurer, is lolling around the bow of his steam launch when a party of High martians swoops in intent on murder and mayhem! Gripping his pipe frimly in his mouth he swings the ever-ready Nordenfelt to bear on the leader and, with a weather eye on the number of savages to be seen off, decides to use a single shot. He rolls his spirit (D8 + WD) and gets a 1 and a 6, sending the blighter to his death with a single shot. However, the '1' means that one of the other rounds waiting to be loosed is a dud or a jam. If Reginald shoots singly, this will be his next shot and will fail. If he decides to fire the remaining shells he fires with an effective ROF of 1. The dud round will clear itself on the next pull of the loading lever of his trusty, self-clearing Nordenfelt.

Interlude: Casualty Figures for Fort McMurray Garrison as of Episode 51

Casualty Lists

Undercroft Exploration Sortie #1

Ephraim Burgess, 55810784, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Loyal (Missing in Action)
Squire Stuart, 55843707, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Richard Shaw, 55883645, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Lost Patrol

Lieutenant Keylokukrokloes (Deceased)

Klaekluela, 55828770, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Kraanlollua, 55551042, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Pedaishruyeok, 55888552, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Waipik, 55073260, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Wuoyoutais, 55431478, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Shastapsh Incursion Incident Circa Dec 27th 1891

Lieutenant Baker (Deceased)

Solomon Martin, 55007581, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Lieutenant Ph’sback (Deceased)

Naubi, 55434338, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Praemrujelik, 55634255, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Wekoishasa, 55640450, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Sortie in force to recover Miss Carter-Lloyd (circa Dec 28th 1891)

Search party 1, Forsyth commanding:

Hill Tribe ambush

Arthur Harris, 55524767, L.Cpl, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Samson Arkwright, 55880332, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison (Wounded, returned to duty)

Woshoakeloo, 55870673, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Search party 2, Phipps commanding:

Hill Tribe ambush

Griffith Boleyn, 55850450, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Alfred Harris, 55542675, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Fort McMurray Garrison Sabotage Bombing of January 12th 1891:

55264651, Alexander Armstrong, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55566556, Allan Royce, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55148430, Alexander Harrison, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55106468, Lionel Morgan, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55153244, Job Edwards, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55572482, Cuthbert Roberts, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55486871, Ambrose Forsyth, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55446520, Oscar Davies, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55747600, Dennis Roberts, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55131002, Moses Thomas, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55454817, Richard Cooper, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55532617, Squire Lowry, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

55115761 Rriodriahik, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55167035 Poekatlaa, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55256334 Wishukeloo, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55287660 Koovrou, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55570768 Paaploi, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55711512 Woatafoe, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted

Search of the Armoury and Stores January 13th:

55075436, Eli Arkwright, Pvt
55108863, Bartholomew Clarke, Pvt
55203743, Hezekiah Currier, L.Cp

Other actions:

Klikriihres, 55534838, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Kokouhiak, 55350214, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Wisheutorio, 55303836, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Interlude: Bennies, Conviction and Power Points

Some new SWADE rules need clarifying with respect to Space 1889, since we are using the SW Deluxe view of Weird science devices¹.

Spending Bennies to alter the way Weird Science Devices (WSD) work is a new SWADE conceit, so it does not autoatcally port well into the SWD world. It is hoped that this Interlude article will help clarify matters.

Spending Extra Power Points
Powers encapsulated within WSD may be modified by spending power points as described in SWADE, unless the GM says otherwise.

Spending Bennies
Spending Bennies for soaking, re-rolling, un-shaking work as in SWADE.

Spending Bennies to put a feature or situation into the scene is at GM discretion.

Spending Bennies to refresh power points will refresh them on a per device basis. That is to say, one Benny will refresh one device's power points by 5 power points up to that device's current maximum allowable. Unless the "Power Points" edge has been taken, that will be 15 points.

The Power Point Edge
When the Power Points edge is taken it affects all SWD. This avoids tedious paperwork and makes for more engagement by Weird Scientists. I want Weird Scientist players to be able to amaze and terrify the enemy. They can't do that if they are starved for power points.².

Conviction
Conviction will be granted if a Joker is drawn by a player. A player may hold only one conviction token and it is surrendered at the game session's end, though it can be transferred should the player's current PC die or be otherwise replaced by another. Conviction can be spent to grant a D6 bonus to all trait rolls made by a player for a full combat turn. By spending a Benny, the effect can be carried over into the following combat round, and again for as long as the player wishes to continue spending Bennies. The D6 bonus can be "Bennied" as it is a trait roll.

1. That they have the player's allocation of power points in each device rather than sharing the allocation between them↑
2. Besides, the Bad Eggs have Weird Science too↑

Interlude: The Lay of The Land

Interlude: Casualty Figures for Fort McMurray Garrison as of Episode 50

Casualty Lists

Undercroft Exploration Sortie #1

Ephraim Burgess, 55810784, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Loyal (Missing in Action)
Squire Stuart, 55843707, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Richard Shaw, 55883645, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Lost Patrol

Lieutenant Keylokukrokloes (Deceased)

Klaekluela, 55828770, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Kraanlollua, 55551042, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Pedaishruyeok, 55888552, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Waipik, 55073260, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Wuoyoutais, 55431478, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Shastapsh Incursion Incident Circa Dec 27th 1891

Lieutenant Baker (Deceased)

Solomon Martin, 55007581, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Lieutenant Ph’sback (Deceased)

Naubi, 55434338, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Praemrujelik, 55634255, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Wekoishasa, 55640450, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Sortie in force to recover Miss Carter-Lloyd (circa Dec 28th 1891)

Search party 1, Forsyth commanding:

Hill Tribe ambush

Arthur Harris, 55524767, L.Cpl, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Samson Arkwright, 55880332, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison (Wounded, returned to duty)

Woshoakeloo, 55870673, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Search party 2, Phipps commanding:

Hill Tribe ambush

Griffith Boleyn, 55850450, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Alfred Harris, 55542675, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Fort McMurray Garrison Sabotage Bombing of January 12th 1891:

55264651, Alexander Armstrong, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55566556, Allan Royce, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55148430, Alexander Harrison, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55106468, Lionel Morgan, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55153244, Job Edwards, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55572482, Cuthbert Roberts, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55486871, Ambrose Forsyth, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55446520, Oscar Davies, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55747600, Dennis Roberts, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55131002, Moses Thomas, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55454817, Richard Cooper, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
55532617, Squire Lowry, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

55115761 Rriodriahik, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55167035 Poekatlaa, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55256334 Wishukeloo, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55287660 Koovrou, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55570768 Paaploi, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted
55711512 Woatafoe, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Missing Presumed Deserted

Other actions:

Klikriihres, 55534838, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Kokouhiak, 55350214, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Wisheutorio, 55303836, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Interlude: Fort McMurray Casualty Lists

Casualty Lists

Undercroft Exploration Sortie #1

Ephraim Burgess, 55810784, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Loyal (Missing in Action)
Squire Stuart, 55843707, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Richard Shaw, 55883645, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Lost Patrol

Lieutenant Keylokukrokloes (Deceased)

Klaekluela, 55828770, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Kraanlollua, 55551042, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Pedaishruyeok, 55888552, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Waipik, 55073260, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Wuoyoutais, 55431478, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Shastapsh Incursion Incident Circa Dec 27th 1891

Lieutenant Baker (Deceased)

Solomon Martin, 55007581, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Lieutenant Ph’sback (Deceased)

Naubi, 55434338, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Praemrujelik, 55634255, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Wekoishasa, 55640450, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Sortie in force to recover Miss Carter-Lloyd (circa Dec 28th 1891)

Search party 1, Forsyth commanding:

Hill Tribe ambush

Arthur Harris, 55524767, L.Cpl, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Samson Arkwright, 55880332, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison (Wounded, returned to duty)

Woshoakeloo, 55870673, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Search party 2, Phipps commanding:

Hill Tribe ambush

Griffith Boleyn, 55850450, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased
Alfred Harris, 55542675, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, Deceased

Other actions:

Klikriihres, 55534838, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Kokouhiak, 55350214, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)
Wisheutorio, 55303836, Pvt, Fort McMurray Garrison, (Deceased)

Interlude: What The Newspapers Say About Episode 41

We Are Going Back To Mars ... And The Rules Change Yet Again

We shall be returning to Mars and our heroes in early May, when our brave lads will have to face a menace so insidious and deadly that ... but I've said too much.

We shall also be undergoing a rules revision (again).

I'm not finding the SWADE rules very exciting for Space 1889, and there is a lot of work to edit the setting book into line with SWADE that I am unwilling to undertake, so we will start using a version of the rules similar to those in the Flash Gordon RPG - half arsed SWADE if you will.

Characters will build using the procedure in SWD but will combine CLIMB, SWIM and THROW into Athletics, and default GUTS to Spirit. Yes, this means that those oh-so valuable build points will stretch further. CLIMB, SWIM and THROW will still be in the game for specific Edge/Hindrance + circumstance modifiers but the rolls will be "Athletics".

No, it's easy dammit!

Power point allocations for weird science types are back to the lovely way they were before the daft SWADE homogenization took place. i.e. Weird Scientists will get number-of-devices * power points available, rather than number-of-devices / power points available. A starting weird scientist will have around four times the clout than they would under SWADE.

I'm changing how conviction counters are awarded - they don't exist in SWD, but I like the "blue fate chip"¹ mechanism. When a player draws a joker all players get conviction if they don't have any. Players can hold only one conviction counter per session. A player may spend their conviction token like a bennie to grant d6 to all their trait tests in that round of activity.

And I'm adding a mechanic from Savage Worlds Pathfinder: By spendng a benny a player may extend that conviction effect into a further round.

And all unused conviction is surrendered at the session end.

1. Previous edition Deadlands Reloaded thing↑

Interlude: A Short Break

The GM, who has had a wild and very enjoyable time watching the team fight and defeat the Brotherhood of Luxor, needs a break, a change of pace as it were, and so this group will be pausing their Victorian avdvenuring while they spend a few sessions at the other end of time, in the 31st century.

We will be playing Planet Mercenary RPG ¹, a game set in the blackly comedic SF world of the Hugo-nominated Schlock Mercenary webcomic²

I probably will not be publishing that game's log. The idea is that the PM game is a break for me too.

Rest assured that after this hiatus, we fully intend to return to the Victorian Era, Mars and Syrtis Major.

1. Planet Mercenary RPG↑
2. Schlock Mercenary Archives↑

Interlude: Rules Change

The Space 1889:Red Sands setting book was published right at the point that the Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition of the rules replaced the original Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition. The changes weren't sweeping, so more an incremental change, some rewording. The biggest change in my opinion was to the chase rules.

The result was that while the Deluxe Edition rules work very well with the setting book, the aerial combat rules for fights between flying ships on Mars require knowledge of the original rules to understand what they are trying to explain. No big deal.

Recently ¹ the Deluxe Edition was superceded by the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (aka SWADE), which made many changes to the Deluxe Edition rules. The character generation has changed, the original slimline skill set has been expanded and rationalized in places, and the chase rules have been changed again.

Some of the changes have been for the better in my opinion. Some leave me cold. There is an overall taste of "leveling" the game, spreading the awesome in the character build and removing the sacrifice to get it. A character build system that makes everyone awesome can end up making no-one awesome.

This is especially noticeable in the new Deadlands:Reloaded setting.

In my opinion.

However, there are other changes I feel worth looking at and I got into Savage Worlds after 30 years spent mostly running Call of Cthulhu (BRP) as a way of challenging my assumptions, and that turned out to be an exceptionally good call.

So from Episode 30 forward we will be using the SWADE as our basic rule set, bending it where necessary to accommodate the Space 1889:Red Sands setting and "feel".

We have a small problem with the vehicle rules. The speeds are *way* too slow, which only is a problem when infantry interacts with them. Unfortunately, on Mars, this can happen a lot, when High Martians attempt ambush of flying steam vessels.

The SWADE chase rules, developed from the Deluxe Edition chase rules, do not dovetail with my players desire to use tactical ship combat with minis (VTT tokens) on a map. But fortunately I have a copy of the old GDW board games depicting this. It is my plan to raid these rules to see what can be fitted into the Savage Worlds RPG framework.

Part of this has involved re-figuring the speed and acceleration figures quoted in Space 1889:Red Sands according to "real world" speeds quoted in the original GDW Space 1889 materials. I've come up with multiplying the quoted values by four. It seems to work in a GURPS-like way.

I don't like having to kludge something mid-game, but I don't see an alternative. We can use the SWADE cinematic chase rules for those situations where tactical fighting is not required.

But my players do like to see those maps and "minis".

1. i.e. about a year and a half ago↑

Interlude: What The Papers Say About Episode 27:

Page One.

Page Two

Interlude: Let's See The Evidence From The Safe

The letters from the safe were my own addition to the campaign clues. I did not like the way some of the information was supposed to flow to the characters and thought I could do better.

• The campaign calls for the adventurers to contact the authorities with evidence and, well, I did not think the evidence as presented in the book was compelling.
• The campaign games convene once a month and the continuity suffers as a result of the players having a real world/game word ratio of 716 hours/4 hours nibbling at their brains.
• I've been a Call of Cthulhu GM since the game was published in the UK, and have a fondness for "hands on" clues the players can pass around and use as discussion points.

And so I got busy with OfficeLibre.

There was a wrinkle in that our virtual desktop of choice, Roll20, only takes such documents into the player journals as jpgs, and the scale reduction is fierce, so to maintain readability I had to use 36 pt type and size my paper so the letters would fit on a single page, export the documents to PDF, then import the PDFs, which converts them to jpgs and minisizes them.

Worth the effort, I reckon. In real life the paper would have been distressed with coffee-cup rings, scribbled warehouse nonsense, accidental tears and so forth. This takes too much time to represent digitally for me.

Interlude: What the Papers Say About Episode 26:

Interlude: Venus

So, Venus. Some facts.

• Venus is hot. Equatorial Earth hot.
• Venus is constantly overcast.
• Venus is misty and often foggy. Vision out beyond a mile is non-existant.
• Venus is humid. Very humid. It rains every day.
• Venus has no soil. What passes for soil is matted vegetation.
• Venus has no rivers. No soil means no river banks.
• Venus' lowlands are boggy and swampy. And Hot. And Humid. And misty.
• Venus has dinosaurs. Not exactly terrestrial dinosaurs, but there are analogs of all the known ones.
• Venus' native life is sentient, tribal and dinosauroid.
• Venus' dominant Earth political presence is German.
• The German capital is Venusstadt.

Interlude: More Martian Politics

So here we see the interplanetary scope of the maxim "The enemy of my enemy is my friend", with Irish separatists known as Fenians joining with Martian Ground Cleansers in a plot to destroy the almost-built pride of the British Martian Fleet.

The Fenians were founded in America in 1858, and trace their origins back to the uprsising of 1790. At this time Ireland is still unified under British rule, the Republic will not be founded for another two decades or so, but more tellingly, the Great Famine that ran in Ireland from 1845 until 1849 is still fresh in many memories of those who escaped the disaster and a source of lingering resentment and outright hatred for all things English. In game terms, the Fenians are a small but well-organized thorn in the side of British ambitions on Mars.

The Ground Cleansers are a different matter. Ground Cleanser sympathies can be found wherever Earthmen try and put down roots on Mars. The British of course are somewhat inured to the low-level resentment offered by many after decades of running a terrestrial empire where such feelings are always present in the native populations who have yet to properly assimilate into the far superior British Culture.

That said, the term Ground Cleansers is not just a viewpoint, but also a secret organization, a conspiracy if you will, to which many Martians belong. Rural villages have already proven to be hotbeds of Ground Cleanser activity (See: Episode 5: A Series of Unfortunate Events) so the players must game with a heightened awareness of eavesdropping and overwatch by unfriendly NPC forces.

And let's not forget rivalries between city states. Inter-city rivalry for trade, influence and resources is a powerful political backdrop for anyone traveling widely in the geography (areography?) of Mars. How safe is it for it to be known where one has traveled from when arriving in a new city?

We haven't touched on religion yet, either. The player characters have not been on Mars long enough to encounter a Martian religion in any way but as a piece of the local scenery as they walk about town, but it would be a mistake to believe that there are no rivalries between factions/schisms of whatever the Martians believe in. Of course, the British adventurer has always had a condescending approach to the religious beliefs of "the natives".

And then there is just plain prejudice to factor in. Are Martians less jingoistic or racist than Earthmen, not prone to knee-jerk reactions based on ludicrous factors like skin tone and toe/finger count? Are Martians racially incapable of xenophobia, or will that be a factor in future dealings with the locals for our team?

Isn't all this fun?

Interlude: High Martians and The Anti-Earthman Resistance

So we have met the High Martians.

These rather bellicose chaps are smaller in stature than either the Steppe or Hill Martians, but have a membrane connecting arm to body that can be used as a wing. This, in conjunction with a "lift gland" that produces a similar chemical to Liftwood sap, conveys the power of flight to the High Martian. This, along with their remarkable prehensile feet, makes them a power to be feared in the mountainous areas of Mars as they swoop through the air, spears gripped in their feet.

High Martians live in immense, multi-tiered "Kraag"s excavated into cliffs. They are fierce, terriorial, clannish. They capture and keep slaves from any and all races. They perhaps of all the races on mars deserve the epithet "savage".

We have also brushed up against the Ground Cleanser movement.

This is a socio-political movement, sometimes represented by high organisation, sometimes only by sympathy of views, which can be summed up as "Earthman Go Home", inside the boundaries of the Boreosyrtis League more specifically as "Englishman Go Home". Regarded as a terrorist organisation by the Colonial Office and by the British Armed Expeditionary Forces, most martians will likely show degrees of sympathy with the message, if not the methods, of the more zealous members.

Extremist Ground Cleansers have made common cause with Dynamiters and Fenians, clearly reveling in the paradox of having hated earthmen become actively involved in driving other earthmen off Mars. Ground Cleansers are known to act as agents of other Terran nations on Mars.

Ground Cleansers have committed kidnapping and murder against Her Majesty's subjects and sabotage against Her Majesty's military and bureaucracy infrastructure on Mars. Proof of Ground Cleanser activity is enough to get any Martian hauled off to some secret location for interrogation and imprisonment.

Interest and participation in the Ground Cleanser conspiracy increases during times of outrage, and stories of outrage spread like wildfire on a regular basis, whether or not they are rooted in fact. As our team have already discovered, Ground Cleanser fanatics can marshal surprising levels of cooperation from the local populace, which they do by fanning such stories of Terran perfidy. A wise earthman or earthwoman will always have at the back of their mind that no matter how well they get on with a specific martian individual, that individual will have Ground Cleanser members in their family or circle of acquaintances even if they harbour no such sympathies themselves.

Life has not become more complicated for the team; the team has became more attuned to the complicated life of which they've become a part.