Last night, the Friday gaming group met up for the once every two weeks gaming session. The Friday night gamers began play of their
John Carter of Mars Roleplaying Game campaign in the science fantasy world of sword & planet adventure created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. You can read about the session two weeks ago where the players
created their characters by following the link. This post is somewhat long, so I've put it behind a cut for those who don't want to read about my roleplaying game campaigns.
CHARACTERS:
Santi Sarkos (KathyB) - Bold Thief
Ollia Tarkun (Angela) - Cautious Explorer
Xosa Sassek (Ellie) - Driven Airship Pilot (First Born)
Atros Aasan (Mark) - Romantic Envoy
Kantos Shamm (Peter) - Compassionate Panthan
Date: TBA
[I started the session off with a quick review of the basic rules and mechanics for this incarnation of the d20 Momentum system. I then proceeded to talk to the players about life on Barsoom, customs, culture, and the like and then proceeded to talk to them about basic knowledge that they have about the area of Barsoom they are playing in - the Principality of Karakh, located 2,500 haads northeast of the Forest of Lost Men, and its rival, the Confederacy of Baltan. Once that was finished, we started in on actual game play.]
The campaign begins with… Aboard a small, one-man flier, First Born airship pilot Xosa Sassek, who has escaped her captors and stolen a small flier, weaves and bobs her way over the surface of Barsoom in the area of the once Throxeus Ocean, intent on escaping. All around her, radium cannon blasts echo, and finally one of them strikes the one-man flier, despite her piloting abilities and its maneuverability. As the explosion rocks the flier, debris falls away to the surface below, and the flier bursts into flames, smoke obscuring her vision and making her cough. She spies the First Born fighter airship take another shot at her, the detonation of the force causing her to lose temporary control of the airship as two of the 8th ray tanks are damaged. Cursing as the flier begins to dive for the ground, almost blinded by the smoke, Xosa abandons the controls and makes to gather up her belongings, such as they are. Barely able to hang on aboard the flier, she spots what appear to be a set of ruins below and returning to the controls, and tries to steer for the ruins or at least nearby [she manages to generate 2 Momentum, but also a Complication]. She realizes the flier will crash some small distance from the ruins. Looking to the skies once more, Xosa sees the First Born pursuit flier hastening away, and realizes they think they’ve successfully killed her. As the ground starts to loom way to close for her from below, Xosa bails out of the crippled, burning flier, thinking that perhaps they have...
Down below, on the surface of Barsoom, the red Martian explorer Ollia Tarkun and the other individuals with her near the ruins of Kovarr hear the roar of the airship above as it plunges to the surface, smoke and fire being all they can see. Ollia is just able to make out the form of a figure as it leaps clear of the flier, before the flier impacts the ground and explodes into flames and a plume of smoke. Santi Sarkos, the red Martian thief-cum-explorer, asks if they should go investigate, but Ollia tells her they should be cautious as one doesn’t know who or what may have dropped out of the sky, but red Martian panthan Kantos Shamm says that it is their duty to go and help out, if they can. Atros Aasan, the red Martian envoy, concede the point, and with Kantos and Ollia leading the way, the player characters veer away from their destination, the ruins of Kovarr, and quickly move in the direction of the plumes of smoke and flame. “Besides,” comments Santi, “there may be something valuable at the ruins of the wreckage, but it’s doubtful. We never find anything, do we?” “Perhaps we will, this time, o cynical one,” says Atros. “Issus make it so!” exclaims Santi.
Somewhat hurt and a bit winded [she took 2 points of Injury stress], Xosa Sassek picks herself up off the ground, and surveys the smoking wreckage of the one-man flier. She concludes that there won’t be any repairs possible on that flier, and besides what need does she have of it now? After checking to make sure that all the equipment she grabbed from the flier, including her precious radium rifle, are intact, she quickly decides to head for the ruins, as they’ll hopefully provide some shelter for her. She wraps her cloak around her, realizing it will offer no protection. Orienting herself, Xosa sets out for the unknown ruins that she saw from the air. As she travels along, she spots a group of what appear to be red Martians coming in her direction. With nowhere to run or hide for the moment, she wraps her cloak about herself more tightly and awaits their arrival.
As the other player characters move towards the smoke, it is Kantos Shamm who spots the figure moving cautiously away from the smoke plumes, heading for the ruins. Ecstatic about the fact, Atros Aasan tells the others they must hurry and catch up to the figure. Heedless of any potential dangers, Santi, Atros and Kantos rush in the figure’s direction, only Ollia moving more slowly and cautiously. As Atros cries out to the figure to stop as they mean them no harm, the figure of Xosa turns in their direction, and they get their first look at her. “Black Pirate!” shouts Kantos, and whipping out his sword, races towards her. The surprised Xosa sees him coming, and quickly draws her own sword, moving her cloak out of the way so as to engage him.
Despite the shouted warnings from the others, Kantos engages with Xosa in combat. She seems reluctant to do so, and even through her injuries, Xosa is well able to defend herself against the red Martian panthan. The fight seems evenly matched, each opponent striking the other and doing some minor damage [2 and 3 points of stress damage], the panthan’s injuries finally making their presence known. [Both player characters spent 4 Threat between them on the attacks and defence, bless ‘em!] Backing off from each other at one point, they finally hear Atros shouting at both of them - the panthan should listen to the Black Pirate’s story, since she seems strangely out of place here. Atros’s words register with Kantos, whose compassion comes to the fore on seeing the Black Pirate’s wounds and condition, and grudgingly he lowers his sword. Xosa gives him a nod, and lowers her own weapon as well. The two eye each other wearily.
After a moment, Atros Aasan introduces himself to the woman, and gesturing at his companions introduces them as well. The Black Pirate tells them her name is Xosa Sassek, and when asked, tells them that she is not a Black Pirate, that she is one of the First Born. They mull that over, while Ollia and Atros treat the wounds of the two injured [they each suffered from an Affliction, Xosa to Injury and Kantos to Confusion]. Santi asks Xosa what she’s doing out here, and what happened to the flier; the First Born can tell her interest seems more than merely “making conversation.” Xosa tells them that she was fleeing her fellow First Born, that she was being sent into slavery and exile for a crime she committed (though she won’t tell them what it was). She escaped her captors, stole a one-man flier, and was pursued over the Throxeus. And that leads them to now. Santi counters that she and her friends are heading to the ruins of Kovarr (pointing towards them) on an exploration mission. The two sides are reluctant to confide in each other, let alone ask for help, but Xosa grudgingly admits that she would like to join them for the moment as there is “power in numbers” in the wastes of Barsoom. “But she’s a Black Pirate!, a First Born!” states Kantos Shamm. “We can’t trust her.” “You’re a panthan,” says Atros philosophically, “and we can only trust you when it comes to doing something for coin.” Kantos concurs with her, but says that it’s perhaps a moot point now.
He gestures into the distance, at a right angle from the ruins of Kovarr. There’s a large dust storm approaching the area. The ruins of Kovarr may be their only protection. Santi says that they need to get to Xosa’s airship first, but the First Born tells her there’s nothing left to salvage from the wreckage of her flier. Helping Xosa to her feet, Atros urges them to move with speed. The player characters move as quickly as possible and reach the ruins as the edge of the sandstorm is almost upon them.
Looking around, the player characters see that the ruins are typical of those in this part of Barsoom, massive ancient buildings worn by age and erosion from the exposure to the sands of Mars, patches of the yellowish vegetation typical to Barsoom present in places. Quiet and deserted now, save for the roaring sound of the sand as the storm moves in. And then they see the movement. Ollia reacts to Kantos’s cry of “Over there!” and spots the dark, red and brown mottled shapes of the several Gashdii… and then the creatures are on them!
The attack of the gashdii is ferocious, with two of the creatures attacking each character, all the time the roaring of the sandstorm getting closer. Santi Sarkos may be a thief of the city, but she is no stranger to animal attacks and she uses her knives to their best advantage, attacking the two gashdii that attack her [she spends several Momentum, a few Threat, and uses a Luck point during the fight], taking them down while only suffering a couple of points of damage herself [due to her high Cunning and Daring]. Ollia Tarkun is no stranger to the wilds of Barsoom at all, and while cautious for the most part, knows when creatures cannot be reasoned with. She attacks using her radium pistol and then her sword when in close [Immediate] range, using her Talents for defense [and spending 5 Momentum and 3 Threat on the fight]. She takes the two gashdii that take her on smoothly and cleanly, taking a couple of slash wounds [4 Injury and 2 Confusion stress]. Xosa Sassek has never faced creatures such as this in the lands of the First Born, but she is a skilled fighter and capable of inflicting terrible damage. Even in her weakened state, Xosa is more than a match for the two gashdii, and cuts them down almost instantly. [She actually spent a Momentum and a Threat, and also took down another couple of the creatures being fought by the others, notably the two on Atros Aasan.] Atros Aasan is not a true fighter, being a diplomat, and puts his heart into physical combat. As a result, he was attacked by the two gashdii in the early part of his fight against them, and while able to defend decently, took several injuries [2 Injury and 5 Fear stress plus a Fear Affliction]. That is until Xosa Sassek took out both of the creatures attacking him in a flurry of blows. Kantos Shamm relished the ability to engage his combat skills against these relatively dangerous animals, though he knew they were not a threat to the group. Within mere moments he had rendered the animals quite dead, his sword killing them quickly and compassionately, and then turned to see how his comrades fared.
With the gashdii taken care of, the player characters had no time and quickly sought the shelter of one of the ruined buildings. Ollia told them that there had been white apes in the structure, but not recently, judging based on what she found and smelled in the ruin. She told the others that she thought it might have been a small entry room or some such at one time. Now it provided them with shelter against the storm, the sand battering at the relatively intact walls and the partial roof. The player characters took shelter as best they could, and started to tend their wounds. And so they rested until dawn, the sandstorm plaguing their dreams for the remainder of the night.
Friday night's session of the
John Carter of Mars Roleplaying Game was simply bloody brilliant! I started the session off as I had planned, with Ellie's Xosa's airship crashing but certainly didn't expect what followed between Xosa and Peter's panthan, Kantos. And the fact that they kept using Threat during the fight was quite neat and a pleasant surprise. The rest of the game session saw some wonderful roleplaying, another good fight between the characters and the gashdii (a sort of Barsoom analog for the hyena) that went much more rapidly than I had expected. (I guess it helps when the players are spending Threat and Momentum, with a Luck thrown in here and there, and getting lots of successes on the dice.) We ended the session with a bit of a lull, and the players told me they're quite eager to play Barsoom again in two weeks.
Overall, a terrific session of the
John Carter of Mars Roleplaying Game to open up the Friday night campaign. I'm totally looking forward to running the next session in a couple of weeks.