mars - steve jackson gamesintroduction. . . . . . . . . . . .4 about the a u t h o r . . . . . . . ....

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GURPS System Design Steve Jackson GURPS Line Editor Sean Punch Managing Editor Andrew Hackard Project Administrator Monique Chapman Production Manager Heather Oliver Creative Director Philip Reed Production Artist Heather Oliver Production Assistance Alex Fernandez Page Designer Ja ck Elmy Print Buyer Monica Stephens Sales Manager Ross Jepson Errata Coordinator Andy Vetromile Lead Playtester: Steph Pennington Assistant Lead Playtester: Devin L. Ganger Playtesters: Frederick Bracken, Nelson Cunnington, Jeremiah Genest, Anthony Jackson, M.A. Lloyd, David Morgan-Mar, Kenneth Peters, Bill Stoddard, and Constantine Thomas Special Thanks to: Dr. Diane A. Kelly, Dr. Geoffrey A. Landis, Richard Wagner, and Dr. Keith Watt. And thanks to everyone who provided information or commentary. GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. GURPSMars is copyright © 2002 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Some art copyright www.arttoday.com. Some art courtesy of NASA/JPL/Caltech. Printed in the USA. ISBN 1-55634-534-8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STEVE JACKSON GAMES MARS The Red Planet Written by James L. Cambias Additional material by Kenneth Peters Edited by Scott Haring Cover art by Christopher Shy Illustrated by Paul Daly

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Page 1: MARS - Steve Jackson GamesIntroduction. . . . . . . . . . . .4 About the A u t h o r . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. Mars Observed. . . . .5 T H E R E D S T A R

G U R P S System Design ✦ S t eve Ja ck s o n

G U R P S Line Editor ✦ Sean Punch

M a n aging Editor ✦ A n d rew Hack a rd

P roject A d m i n i s t rator ✦ Monique Chap m a n

P roduction Manager ✦ H e ather Olive r

C re at ive Director ✦ Philip Reed

P roduction A rtist ✦ H e ather Olive r

P roduction Assistance ✦ A l ex Fe rn a n d e z

Page Designer ✦ Ja ck Elmy

P rint Buyer ✦ Monica Step h e n s

Sales Manager ✦ Ross Jep s o n

E rrata Coord i n ator ✦ A n dy Ve t ro m i l eLead Play t e s t e r : Steph Pennington

Assistant Lead Play t e s t e r : Devin L. Ganger

P l ay t e s t e rs : Frederick Bracken, Nelson Cunnington, Jeremiah Genest, Anthony Jackson, M.A. Lloyd, David Morgan-Mar,Kenneth Peters, Bill Stoddard, and Constantine Thomas

Special Thanks to: Dr. Diane A. Kelly, Dr. Geoffrey A. Landis, Richard Wagner, and Dr. Keith Watt. And thanks to everyonewho provided information or commentary.

GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. GURPSMars is copyright

© 2002 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Some art copyright www.arttoday.com. Some art courtesy of NASA/JPL/Caltech. Printed in the USA.

ISBN 1-55634-534-8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

STEVE JACKSON GAMES

MARSThe Red Planet

W ritten by James L. CambiasA dditional mat e rial by Kenneth Pe t e rs

Edited by Scott Hari n gC over art by Christopher Shy

I l l u s t rated by Paul Daly

Page 2: MARS - Steve Jackson GamesIntroduction. . . . . . . . . . . .4 About the A u t h o r . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. Mars Observed. . . . .5 T H E R E D S T A R

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . 4About the A u t h o r . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1. Mars Observed . . . . . 5TH E RE D STA R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Early Theories and Observations . . 6Percival Lowell: AMan,

A Planet, A C a n a l . . . . . . . . . . . 6Naming Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7G u l l ive r ’s Travels and

the Moons of Mars . . . . . . . . . . 8ME N A N D MA RT I A N S . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The War(s) of the Wo r l d s . . . . . . . 9Sword and Planet . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0Mars in Classic Science Fiction . . 1 0Space Age Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11M a rtians and Popular Fe a rs . . . . 11M a rs Pro b e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2

2. Mars in Reality . . . 13BA S I C PH Y S I C A L DATA . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4

The Planet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4M o t i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4

CO N D I T I O N S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5Time on Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5Wh at to We a r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5Calling Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5C l i m a t e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6A t m o s p h e r e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6The Mean Dat u m . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6S o i l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6Wa t e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6R e s o u r c e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7H a z a r d s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9Wh at Mars Doesn’t Have . . . . . . 1 9

FE AT U R E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1Uplands and Lowlands . . . . . . . . 2 1Tharsis and Elysium . . . . . . . . . . 2 1The Cave rns of Mars ? . . . . . . . . 2 1To p ographic Map of Mars in 2002 –

M e rc ator Pro j e c t i o n . . . . . . . . 2 2To p ographic Map of Mars in 2002 –

S t e re ographic Pro j e c t i o n s. . . . 2 3M a rtian Geograp hy . . . . . . . . . . 2 4Channels and Va l l e y s . . . . . . . . . 2 6Crater Basins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 7The Polar Caps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 7Missions to the Moons . . . . . . . . 2 8

TH E MO O N S O F MA R S . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8P h o b o s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8D e i m o s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 9

LI F E O N MA R S? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 9Conditions in the Past. . . . . . . . . 2 9Where Life Might Survive . . . . . 2 9

Looking for Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0Invaders from Earth . . . . . . . . . . 3 0The Martian Meteorite . . . . . . . . 3 0

GE T T I N G TO MA R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1Mars Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1The NASADesign

Reference Mission . . . . . . . . . 3 1Tra j e c t o ri e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2N ew Rocket Engi n e s . . . . . . . . . . 3 3M a rs One-Way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3Regular Service:

The Mars Cycler. . . . . . . . . . . 3 4The Cycler Spacecra f t . . . . . . . . 3 4The Mars Lander . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 5Getting Around on Mars. . . . . . . 3 6M a rs 1956 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7

3. Mars in Fiction and Myth . . . . . . . . . . 38

DI A L M F O R MA RT I A N . . . . . . . . . . . 3 9Hard Science vs.

Planetary Romance. . . . . . . . . 3 9Primitive vs. A d v a n c e d. . . . . . . . 3 9S i l ly Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0Th ree Little Men From

M a rs A re We . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0Dying World vs. New Frontier . . 4 1

MY S T I C MA R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1Mars in A s t r o n o m y. . . . . . . . . . . 4 2Mars and the Cabal. . . . . . . . . . . 4 3The Mars Eff e c t . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3Space Gods From Mars ? . . . . . . 4 3Mars in A l c h e m y . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4Wo rlds in Collision . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4Mars in Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4Sailing Th rough the

C rystal Sphere s . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5WE I R D MA R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5

Pyramids of Mars? . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5A rt i ficial Moons? . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6

Fortean Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 6Velikovskian Mars . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7C ap ri c o rn One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7Spiritualist Mars. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 8Illuminated Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 8

4. Domed Mars . . . . . 50CO L O N I E S O N MA R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1

The First Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1C h ryse Colony 2050 . . . . . . . . . . 5 2Chryse Planitia 2050. . . . . . . . . . 5 2Other Colonies in 2050. . . . . . . . 5 3Domed Colonies in 2050 – We s t e rn

H e m i s p h e re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4Domed Colonies in 2050 –

E a s t e rn Hemisphere . . . . . . . . 5 4Deimos Base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6Life Under Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6S o m eb o dy Else Is On Mars. . . . . 5 7S e c ret Colonies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8

TE C H N O L O G Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8Ground Ve h i c l e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8Mars Rover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8Ve h i cle Stat i s t i c s . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 9Pressurized Rover. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 9Power Unit Tr a i l e r . . . . . . . . . . . 6 0A i r c r a f t. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1Mars Blimp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1R o b o t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1The Mars Launch e r . . . . . . . . . . 6 1

MA R S PI O N E E R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2A d m i n i s t r a t o r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2A s t r o n a u t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2M a rs Suits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2C o l o n i s t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2Mission Specialist. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3P r o s p e c t o r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3R e b e l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3Kids on Mars ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3S c i e n t i s t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4We ap o n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4Te c h n i c i a n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4Vehicle Operator. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4

AD VA N TA G E S, DI S A D VA N TA G E S, A N D SK I L L S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5

A d v a n t a g e s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5Master Minds of Mars . . . . . . . . 6 5D i s a d v a n t a g e s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6S k i l l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7

CA M PA I G N S A N D AD V E N T U R E S . . . . . 6 7D i s a s t e r ! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7Martian Gold Rush. . . . . . . . . . . 6 8Return of the Martians . . . . . . . . 6 8I n d e p e n d e n c e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 9

CONTENTS2

CONTENTS

Page 3: MARS - Steve Jackson GamesIntroduction. . . . . . . . . . . .4 About the A u t h o r . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. Mars Observed. . . . .5 T H E R E D S T A R

Other G U R P S S e t t i n g s . . . . . . . . 6 9S q u a t t e r s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 0Martian Marshal. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 0

5. Terraformed Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

P re s e rving the Old Wo rl d . . . . . . 7 2Wh at if it Goes W ro n g ? . . . . . . . 7 2

TE R R A F O R M I N G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2Why Te r r a f o r m ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2What Mars Needs. . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3Big Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3B i o l o g y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5M a rs Needs . . . Um . . . . . . . . . . 7 5

TH E NE W WO R L D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5Phase One. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5Phase Tw o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6Phase T h r e e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6The New Landscape. . . . . . . . . . 7 6H y d rographic Map of

Te rra fo rmed Mars . . . . . . . . . 7 7Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 8Martian Org a n i s m s . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9

MA R S CO L O N I S T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9Planet of Roofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 0M oving Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 0Society on Terraformed Mars . . . 8 0Humans into Mart i a n s . . . . . . . . 8 1The Sky h o o k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2E l evator Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2Genetic Engineering Packages . . 8 3C h a r a c t e r s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4Red Planet, Blue Sky . . . . . . . . . 8 5Pedal Ultralight (TL9) . . . . . . . . 8 5M a rtian Pri ck ly Pe a r . . . . . . . . . 8 6

AD VA N TA G E S, DI S A D VA N TA G E S, A N D

SK I L L S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6A d v a n t a g e s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6D i s a d v a n t a g e s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7S k i l l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7

CA M PA I G N S A N D AD V E N T U R E S . . . . . 8 7GR E E N S V S. RE D S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7

Other G U R P S B o o k s . . . . . . . . . 8 8Mars vs. Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 0Ski Olympus Mons! . . . . . . . . . . 9 0

6. Superscience Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

G e o g r a p h y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2TH E MA RT I A N S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2

Other Kinds of Mart i a n s. . . . . . . 9 2B i o l o g y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2H i s t o r y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3M a rtian Psionics . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3Martian Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3Domed Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5M a rtian Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5

MA RT I A N TE C H N O L O G Y . . . . . . . . . . 9 6Flying Saucers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 6

Attack Saucer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 6Transport Saucer. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 7The Tripod Expeditionary Force. . 9 7M a rtian Tri p o d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 7

CH A R A C T E R S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 8Martian Character Ty p e s. . . . . . . 9 8M a rtian Mutants. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 0A d v a n t a g e s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 0D i s a d v a n t a g e s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 1S k i l l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 1

CA M PA I G N S A N D AD V E N T U R E S . . . . 1 0 2Invaders From Mars . . . . . . . . . 1 0 2Invaders From Earth. . . . . . . . . 1 0 3Other GURPS Settings . . . . . . . 1 0 4Rival Planets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 5The Solar Fe d e rat i o n . . . . . . . . 1 0 5The Martian Campaign. . . . . . . 1 0 5

7. Dying Mars . . . . . . . 106The Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 7H ow a Planet Dies . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 7The Past – or the Future ? . . . . . 1 0 7Canals and Te rri t o ries of

Dying Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 8I n h a b i t a n t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 9

CI T I E SA N D KI N G D O M S . . . . . . . . . . 111The Marineris Cities . . . . . . . . . 111M ap of Mari n e ris Cities . . . . . . 111The Underground Empire . . . . . 11 2Ruins and Lost Cities . . . . . . . . 11 2The Acidalian T h e o c r a c y . . . . . 11 3The Hellan Empire . . . . . . . . . . 11 3P i rates of Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3Nomads of the Desert . . . . . . . . 11 4

SW O R D S A N D SU P E R S C I E N C E . . . . . . 11 4Ancient Wo n d e r s . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4H i g h - Te ch Tra n s p o rt at i o n . . . . . 11 5Pe roxide Pistol . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6Or Is It Magi c ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6Ceramic Guns and

Glass Daggers. . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6MA RT I A N BE A S T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 7

S a n d - S h a r k s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 7R i d i n g - L i z a r d s . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 8Night Horrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 8

CH A R A C T E R S A N D AB I L I T I E S . . . . . . 11 8Character Te m p l a t e s . . . . . . . . . 11 8A d v a n t a g e s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 0D i s a d v a n t a g e s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 1S k i l l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2

CA M PA I G N S A N D AD V E N T U R E S . . . . 1 2 2Men From Earth. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2Other GURPS Settings . . . . . . . 1 2 3Sand Raiders of Mars . . . . . . . . 1 2 4Merchants of Mars . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 4The Last Engineers. . . . . . . . . . 1 2 4

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . 125

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

3CONTENTS

About GURPSSteve Jackson Games is committed to

full support of the G U R P S system. Ouraddress is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, T X78760. Please include a self-addressed,stamped envelope (SASE) any time youwrite us! Resources include:

P y ra m i d (w w w. s j ga m e s . c o m / py ra m i d /) .Our online magazine includes new G U R P Srules and articles. It also covers D u n ge o n sand Drago n s , Trave l l e r, Wo rld of Dark n e s s ,Call of Cthulhu, and many more top games– and other Steve Jackson Games releaseslike In Nomine, I l l u m i n at i , Car Wa rs , To o n ,O gre Miniat u re s, and more. P y ra m i d s u b-scribers also have access to playtest fileso n l i n e !

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E rrat a . Everyone makes mistakes,including us – but we do our best to fix ourerrors. Up-to-date errata sheets for allG U R P S releases, including this book, areavailable from SJ Games; be sure to includean SASE. Or download them from the We b– see below.

Gamer input. We value your comments,for new products as well as updated printingsof existing titles!

I n t e rn e t . Visit us on the World Wide We bat w w w. s j ga m e s . c o m for an online catalog,errata, updates, Q&A, and much more.G U R P S has its own Usenet group, too:r e c . g a m e s . f r p . g u r p s .

G U R P S n e t . This e-mail list hosts muchof the online discussion of G U R P S. To join,e-mail [email protected] with “subscribeG U R P S n e t - L ” in the body, or point yourweb browser to g u rp s n e t . s j ga m e s . c o m.

The GURPS Mars web page is atw w w. s j ga m e s . c o m / g u rp s / b o o k s / m a rs / .

Page ReferencesRules and statistics in this book are

specifically for the GURPS Basic Set, Th i rdE d i t i o n . Any page reference that begins witha B refers to the GURPS Basic Set – e.g., p.B102 means p. 102 of the GURPS Basic Set,Th i rd Edition. Page references that beginwith CI indicate GURPS Compendium I.Other references are BIO for G U R P SB i o t e ch , C Y for GURPS Cyberp u n k , U forU n d e a d, and W Wi for GURPS Wh o ’s Wh o1 . Afull list of abbreviations can be found onp. CI181, or see the updated web list atw w w. s j ga m e s . c o m / g u rp s / abb rev s . h t m l .

Page 4: MARS - Steve Jackson GamesIntroduction. . . . . . . . . . . .4 About the A u t h o r . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. Mars Observed. . . . .5 T H E R E D S T A R

Dying World vs. New Frontier

Over the years writers have imbued Mars with all kindsof symbolism. Is it a new home for humanity, an unspoiledEden, or a dead world?

At one end of the dial is the idea of Mars as the NewF r o n t i e r, the American West lofted into space. This Mars isjust waiting for human settlement. Realistic treatments of theNew Frontier vision are often terraforming stories, as inG reen Mars or M a rtian Rainbow. The examples in Chapters4 and 5 implicitly follow this view. Romantic versions of theMartian frontier include Heinlein’s Red Planet and Moore’s“Shambleau.” If there are Martians, they fill the role ofApaches or possibly East Indians under the British Raj –either primitive savages or decadent ones.

One notch over is the notion of Mars as an Eden whichs h o u l d n ’t be sullied by human beings. C.S. Lewis was explic-it on this point in Out of the Silent Planet, in which the inhab-itants of Mars live in direct contact with God and onlyEarthmen are sinful. Amore secular and hard-SF approach isthe attitude presented in Brian A l d i s s ’ White Mars or that ofthe Preservationists in GURPS Transhuman Space – the life-less natural beauty of Olympus Mons or the Valles Marineriss h o u l d n ’t be turned into a poor imitation of Earth.

Ever since Percival Lowell, Mars has been depicted as adying world. Beyond the concept of Mars as unsullied Edenis the idea of Mars as a once-great world now in its last days.Often this includes a warning to humans about the potentialfate of the Earth some day (as Wells noted in passing in Th eWar of the Wo rl d s and elsewhere). Dying, decadent Mars maybe home to civilizations wiser than humanity, or may havenothing but the ruins they left behind. A ghost of this idealives on in the continuing fascination with the Face on Marsbeloved of pseudoscientists.

Twisting the dial all the way over, a dying world may bedangerous if the Martians aren’t ready to go extinct just yet.The Martians may decide to look for a new home some-where else, in which case it’s E a rt h that is the New Frontier– and humans are the oppressed natives. Or perhaps them i c r o o rganisms which manage to survive in the tough Mar-tian environment become a killer pandemic on Earth. Morer e a l i s t i c a l l y, Mars could turn out to be a lethal dead end forhuman explorers, simply by virtue of being more hostilethan they expect. The greenhouse plants die from toxic traceelements in the melted ice, dust causes respiratory illnessesand fouls up the vehicles – and no help can arrive for sixmonths.

MYSTIC MARSMars has powerful mystical connotations. After all, it’s

named for a god, and a pretty high-powered one at that. Marswas one of the chief gods of the Romans, a protector of cropsand patron of the army. In some versions of the legend of thefounding of Rome, Mars was the father of Romulus.

Throughout ancient Italy he was known variously as Mars,Mavors, Maurs, Mamers, Marmar, Marmor, Mamurius, andM a r s p i t e r. The month named for Mars, Martius (our March)was originally the start of the Roman calendar, before reformsmoved the new year to January. The Ides of March (March15) was the chief festival of Mars, marked by horse races onthe Campus Martianus and processions by the Salian Collegeof priests. (The fact that military leader Julius Caesar wasassassinated on the Ides of March puts an interesting mysticalspin on his career: was Julius somehow a sacrifice to ensurethat the Empire’s legions would be victorious for the nextthree centuries?)

The Salians carried a sacred shield called the A n c h i l e ,which fell from heaven at the feet of the early Roman kingNuma. (A midget flying saucer?) To keep anyone fromstealing the shield of Mars, Numa had eleven duplicatesmade, which the Salians kept. The genuine Shield of Marswould be a swell MacGuffin for some Indiana Jones-stylearchaeology in Fascist Italy, with Mussolini’s Blackshirts asvillains instead of the Nazis. Otherwise, it could be yetanother item for Warehouse 23. The powers of the Shield ofMars weren’t clearly specified, but it would certainly beappropriate for the God of War to give victory to the sidebearing his shield.

The horse was sacred to Mars, and his bird was thew o o d p e c k e r. Trees sacred to Mars included the oak (event o d a y, majors in the Army wear an oak-leaf insignia), fig,dogwood, and laurel. Besides being a tutelary god of Rome,Mars was also the patron of Florence. Mars’consort was Bel-lona, a terrifying goddess of war and death, worshipped byex-gladiator priests who wounded themselves in her honor.She was depicted as a wild-haired woman in armor holdinga bloody lash.

The Greek god Ares closely paralleled Mars, but lackedhis identity as a patron of agriculture. Ares was a pure war-god, and as such was much less attractive. In early Sparta,prisoners of war were sacrificed to him. The cock, the dog,and the vulture were his animals. He was the brother or hus-band of Eris, and like all Greek gods had liaisons with sev-eral other women and goddesses. By the princess A s t y o c h ehe had twin sons, Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, who fought atTr o y. With Aphrodite, Ares had several children, includingthe minor gods Phobos, Deimos, Anteros, Harmonia, andEros. Through his liaison with the maiden Chryse, Ares wasthe grandfather of the hero Pirithous, and the ancestor of theCentaurs. In the later Roman Empire, Mars and Ares wereessentially combined, and Mars increasingly took on hisGreek avatar’s boastful and semi-comic personality.

In the pre-Olympian cosmology of the Greeks, the Ti t a n sDione and Crius presided over the planet Mars. Crius is some-thing of a cipher, but Dione was a goddess of moisture and theoceans, whose name may be a cognate of Diana. This can betaken as an indication of the “Venus-dominated” tone ofmyths in the Age of Taurus (see the section on A s t r o l o g ybelow). In a particularly mystic campaign, characters mightbe part of a “theological terraforming” project to exorcise thelife-destroying influence of Mars and restore the planet to itsw a t e r y, hospitable identity under Dione.

41MARS IN FICTION AND MYTH

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1956, 37.Acidalian T h e o c r a c y, 11 3 .Acute Hearing advantage, 120.Advantages, Domed Mars , 6 5 ;

Te rra fo rmed Mars , 86; S u p e rscience Mars , 100; Dying Mars ,

1 2 0 .Adventures, Domed Mars , 6 7 ;

Te rra fo rmed Mars , 87; S u p e rscience Mars , 102; Dying

M a rs , 1 2 2 .A f t e r b u r n e r, liquid-oxygen, 33.Agronomy skill, 67.A i r, 19, 73.A i r-Boats, 11 5 .Airplanes, 37, 61, 85, 90.Airships, 37.A l c h e m y, 44.Alcohol, 56.Aldiss, Brian, 41.Aldrin, Buzz, 34.ALH84001, 29, 30.Ancient astronauts, 43.Ancient Wonders, 11 4 .Animals, 79.Antares, 42.Appearance advantage, 100, 120.Ares, 41.A rgyre, 14.A rgyre Planitia, 27.Aries, 42.A r m o r, Martian, 11 7 .Assassin, t e m p l at e, 11 8 .A s t r o l o g y, 42.Atmosphere, 16, 17.Atmospheric pressure, 74.Attack Saucer, 96.Axial tilt, 15.Aztec mythology, 42.Babylon, 6.Bahram colony, 55.Balloons, 37.B a r c l a y, A n d r e w, 46.Basic Physical Data, 14.Battle Saucers, 96.Beasts, Martian, 11 7 .B e e r, Wilhelm, 6.Biblical mystical tradition, 44.B i o l o g y, Te rra fo rmed Mars , 7 5 ;

S u p e rscience Mars , 9 2 .Bisson, Te r r y, 12, 40.Blind Fighting skill, 122.Boats, 37.Bombs, 75.Bonestell, Chesley, 37.Boreal Seas, 78, 90B r a d b u r y, Ray, 10, 11 .Brahe, Tycho, 6.Burroughs, Edgar Rice, 10, 39.Cabal, The, 43.C a ffeine, 56.C a l e n d a r, 15.Campaign parameters, 39.Campaigns, Domed Mars , 6 7 ;

Te rra fo rmed Mars , 87; S u p e rscience Mars , 102, 104; D y i n g

M a rs , 1 2 2 .Canals, 6, 8, 92, 93, 109.C a n d o r, 111 .C ap ri c o rn One, 4 7 .Carapace advantage, 100.Carbon dioxide, 17, 19.

C a r t e r, John, 10.Cassini, Giandomenico, 6.Castes, S u p e rscience Mars , 9 3 .Cave Martians, 110, 11 2 .Caverns, 21.Celtic mythology, 42.Ceramic guns, 11 6 .Channels, 26.Chaotic terrain, 24.Character types, Domed Mars , 6 2 - 6 4 ;

Te rra fo rmed M a rs , 84-86; S u p e rscience Mars , 9 8 ;

Dying Mars , 11 8 .Chocolate, 56.Chryse colony, 80.Chryse Planitia 2050, 52.Chryse Planitia, 51.“ C i t y, The,” 24.Claim to Hospitality advantage,

65, 86, 120.Clarke, Arthur C., 11 .Climate, 16, Dying Mars , 1 0 7 .Cloth, 57.Code of Honor disadvantage, 101, 121.Cold war, 104.Colonies, 51, 67, 79; o t h e r, 53; s e c re t ,

48, 55, 58.Comets, 74.Communication delay, 15.Communications, 51.Conditions, 15; p a s t , 2 9 .Cooperative Planetary Law

Commission, 80.Coprates, 11 2 .Core, 14.Courtesan skill, 101.Courtesan, t e m p l at e, 11 8 .Crater basins, 27.Crius, 41.Cryosphere, 17, 29.Cryptodendoliths, 29.Crystal spheres, 45.Cultural Adaptability advantage, 100.Currency and Customs

C o m m u n i t y, 80, 81.C y b e r-Rejection disadvantage, 87.Cycler Spacecraft, 34.Cydonia Face, 24, 45, 11 3 .“D&M Pyramid, The,” 24.Daggers, glass, 11 6 .Darwin, Charles, 9.Data, Basic Physical, 14.de Camp, L. Sprague, 39.Deimos, 6, 8, 28, 29; b a s e, 5 6 .D e n s i t y, 14.Design Reference Mission, NASA,

31, 32.Detect Lies skill, 101.DiGregorio, Barry, 49.D i n n e r, 56.Dione, 41.Diplomat, t e m p l at e, 9 8 .Diplomatic Immunity advantage, 100.Dirt, 18.Disadvantages, Domed Mars , 6 6 ;

Te rra fo rmed Mars , 87; S u p e rs c i e n c eM a rs , 101; Dying Mars , 1 2 1 .

Disguise skill, 101.Domed Cities, 95.Domed colonies in 2050 maps, 54.Domed Mars, 50.D r a p e r, Henry, 46.

Driving skill, 67, 101.Dust devils, 20.Dust storms, 20.Dust, 19.Dying Mars, 106.Dying Race disadvantage, 121.Dying world vs. new frontier, 41.Egyptian mythology, 42.El Dorado colony, 55.Electrolasers, 96.Electronics, 58.Elevator Car, 82.Elysium, 14, 21, 26.Enemy disadvantage, 66.E n e rg y, 18.Eos colony, 55, 80.Eos, 11 2 .Erotic Art skill, 101.Escape velocity, 14.Ethics, 72.Face of God, 11 3 .“Face, The,” 24, 43, 45.Fantasy roleplaying, 45.Farm units, 52.Fat disadvantage, 66.Features, 21.Fencing skill, 122.First Aid skill, 101.First Base, 51.First Race, 109.Flammarion, Camille, 6.Flash Gord o n, 47.F l o u r n o y, Theodore, 48.Flying saucers, 96.Fontana, Francisco, 6.Fort, Charles, 46.Fortean Mars, 46.“Fortress, The,” 24.“Free-return” trajectory, 32.Galileo, 6.Genetic engineering, 75, 79, 81, 83.G e o g r a p h y, 24; S u p e rscience Mars , 9 2 .Geology skill, 67.Geothermal power, 19.Getting around, 36.G-Experience advantage, 65, 86, 100.Gilbert & Sullivan, 40.Glass daggers, 11 6 .Goddard, Robert, 48.G r a v i t y, 14, 20Greed disadvantage, 66.Greek mythology, 41.Greenhouse Road, 52.Greenhouses, 56.Greg, Percy, 9.Greys, 49.G r i ffith, George, 9.Ground vehicles, 37, 58.G u l l ive r ’s Trave l s , 8 .Guns, ceramic, 11 6 .GURPS A l t e rn ate Eart h s , 37, 105.GURPS A rabian Nights, 1 2 3 .GURPS Atomic Horro r, 37, 105.GURPS Au t o d u e l , 1 0 5 .GURPS Bio-Te ch , 8 8 .GURPS Black Ops, 6 9 .GURPS Cab a l , 11 6 .GURPS Cliff h a n ge rs , 1 2 3 .GURPS Cyberp u n k , 6 9 .GURPS In Nomine, 4 4 .GURPS Magi c, 11 6 .

GURPS Ogre, 1 0 5 .GURPS Places of Mystery, 4 4 .GURPS Planet Kri s h n a , 1 2 3 .GURPS Reign of Steel, 6 9 .G U R P S settings, Domed Mars , 6 9 ;

Te rra fo rmed Mars , 88; S u p e rs c i e n c eM a rs , 105; Dying Mars , 1 2 3 .

GURPS Spiri t s , 11 6 .GURPS Steampunk, 1 2 3 .GURPS Supers , 69, 105.GURPS Swa s h bu ck l e rs , 1 2 3 .GURPS Te ch n o m a n c e r, 8 8 .GURPS Ultra - Te ch , 8 8 .GURPS Uplift, 8 8 .GURPS Ve h i cl e s , 3 7 .GURPS Vo o d o o , 44, 11 6 .GURPS Y 2 K , 1 0 5 .Habitat module, 35, 51, 53.Hall, Asaph, 6, 28.Hard science vs. planetary romance, 39.Haskins, Byron, 10.Hazards, 19.Hearing, 19.Heat beams, 96.Heinlein, Robert, 10.Helium colony, 53.Hellan Empire, 11 3 .Hellas colony, 80.Hellas Planitia, 27.Hellas Seas, 90.Hellas, 14.Herschel, William, 6.Hidden Martians, 57.Hidebound disadvantage, 101.High Technology advantage, 120.Highlands, 21.Hindu mythology, 42.H i s t o r y, S u p e rscience Mars , 9 3 .Hite, Kenneth, 40.Hoax, Lifeless Mars, 49.Hohmann orbit, 32.Honesty disadvantage, 66.Horus colony, 55.Hospital, 53.Humanoid Martians, 92.Huygens, Christiaan, 6.Hybrids, 111 .Hydrographic map of Te r r a f o r m e d

Mars, 77.Hyperion, 74.Illiteracy disadvantage, 87, 121.Illuminated Mars, 48.Illuminati, 49.Immortality advantage, 121.India, 6.Infrared lasers, 96.Intelligent life, 57.International Astronomical Union, 7.Invaders from Earth, 30.Iron, 18, 44.Ius, 111 .Jets, 37.Jung, Carl, 48.Kabbalism, 44.Kasei Vallis, 27.K e p l e r, Johannes, 6, 8.Kids, 63.K i r c h e r, Athanasius, 9.Koch, Howard, 9.Labyrinth of Night, The, 27.Lander stage, 35.

127INDEX

INDEX

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Landis, Geoff r e y, 39.Landscape, Dying Mars , 1 0 7 .Languages skill, 122.Lasswitz, Kurd, 9.L e a r, John, 49.L e a t h e r, 57.Lecherousness disadvantage, 67.Legal Enforcement Powers advantage,

65, 86, 100.Levin, Dr. Gerald, 49.Lewis, C.S., 41.Ley lines, 44.L e y, Wi l l y, 37.Life support, 51.Life, 29; i n t e l l i ge n t , 57; looking fo r, 3 0 .“Lifeboat” planet, 72.Lifeless Mars Hoax, The, 49.Liquid-oxygen afterburner, 33.Literacy advantage, 121.Longevity advantage, 121.Looking for life, 30.Lost Cities, 11 2 .Lowell, Percival, 6, 39, 41, 48.Lowland Martians, 109.Lowlands, 21.Magic, 44, 11 6 .Magnetic field, 14.Map, , domed colonies in 2050, 5 4 ;

hy d rograp h i c, of Te rra fo rmed Mars ,77; M a ri n e ris cities, 111; t e rri t o ri a l ,Dying Mars , 108; t o p ograp h i c,e q u at o rial regi o n s , 23; t o p ograp h i c,M e rc ator pro j e c t i o n , 2 2 .

Marconi, Guglielmo, 45.Mariner 4, 11 .Mariner 9, 11 .Marineris cities map, 111 .Marineris cities, 111 .Mars Ascent Vehicle, 51.Mars Blimp, 61; s t at i s t i c s , 5 9 .Mars Cycler, 34.Mars Defense Force, 80, 81.Mars Direct, 31.Mars Effect, The, 43.Mars Lander, 35.Mars Launcher, 61.Mars Rover, 58; s t at i s t i c s , 5 9 .Mars Society, The, 4.M a rtian Chro n i cl e s , Th e, 11 .Martian Parahuman (“Thoris” Series),

t e m p l at e, 8 3 .Martian Tripod, 97.Martian Unity Party, The, 83.Martin Marietta, 31.Masonry skill, 67.Mass drivers, 75.Matthews, A r t h u r, 45.Mean datum, 16.Meat, 56.Medical skills, 122.Melas, 11 2 .Merchant, template, 11 8 .Mercury Theatre on the A i r, 9.Mesopotamian mythology, 42.Metal, 18, 57.Meteorite, Martian, 29, 30.Military forces, 81.Military Rank advantage, 65, 87.Minotaur Station colony, 55.Mirrors in space, 73.Modified Human (“Carter” Series),

t e m p l at e, 8 3 .Monsters, 79.Moons, 8, 28, 46.Motion, retrograde, 14.Moving Mars, 80.Mutants, 100.Mystic Mars, 41.

M y t h o l o g y, A z t e c, 42; C e l t i c, 4 2 ;E gy p t i a n , 42; G re e k , 41; H i n d u , 4 2 ;M e s o p o t a m i a n , 42;

N o rs e, 42; Roman, 41; Te u t o n i c , 4 2 .Names, p l a c e, 24; S u p e rscience

M a rs , 9 5 .Naming Names, 7.N A S A Design Reference Mission, 31, 32.Naturalist skill, 87.Navigation skill, 67.New Jersey, 9.New Olduvai colony, 55.New technologies, 33.Night Horrors, 11 8 .Night Vision advantage, 121.Noble, t e m p l at e, 11 9 .Nomads, 11 4 .Norse mythology, 42.Northern hemisphere, 21.Northern plains, 14.Nuclear rockets, 33.O ff-road movement, 36.Olympia colony, 53.Olympus Mons, 26.O n e - w a y, 33.O p h i r, 11 2 .Orbit, 15; H o h m a n n , 3 2 .Orbital velocity, 14, 37.O rganisms, 79.Other G U R P S Settings, Domed Mars ,

69; Te rra fo rmed Mars , 8 8 ;S u p e rscience Mars , 105; D y i n gM a rs , 1 2 3 .

Outcast, t e m p l at e, 9 8 .Overweight disadvantage, 66.Pal, George, 10.Panimmunity advantage, 87, 100.P a p e r, 57.Past conditions, 29.P a t h f i n d e r, 12.Patron advantage, 65.Pavonis colony, 81.Pavonis Mons, 26.Pedal Ultralight, 85.Peroxide pistol, 11 6 .Persia, 6.Phase One terraforming, 75.Phase Three terraforming, 76.Phase Two terraforming, 76.Phobos, 6, 8, 28, 73, 82.Phoebe, 74.Physical Data, Basic, 14.Physician skill, 101.Pickering, William, 6.Pioneers, 62.Pirates, 11 3 .Place names, 24.Planet of Roofs, 80.Plants, 79.Polar caps, 14, 27.Pope, Gustavus, 9.Popular fears, 11 .Power Unit Tr a i l e r, 60; s t at i s t i c s , 5 9 .P o w e r, ge o t h e rm a l , 19; s o l a r, 18;

w i n d, 1 9 .Preservationism, 72.Pressure, 19; s u r fa c e, 1 6 .Pressurized Rover, 59.Prickly pear, 86.Primitive disadvantage, 87, 121.Primitive vs. advanced, 39.P rincess of Mars , A, 10.Probes, 11, 12.P r o c t o r, Richard, 6.Profit, 72.Propulsion, solar-electric ion, 33.Prospecting skill, 67.Psionic Powers advantage, 121.

Psionic, t e m p l at e, 9 8 .Psionics, 65; s k i l l s , 101; S u p e rs c i e n c e

M a rs , 9 3 .Pyramids, 43, 45.“Pyramids, The,” 24.Radiation, 20.Ray guns, 96.Really Weird Martians, 92.Red Harmony” colony, 55.Red star, 6.Reputation advantage, 65.Resources, 17.Retrograde motion, 14.Riding skill, 122.Riding-Lizards, 11 8 .Robinson, Kim Stanley, 12, 39.Robots, 61.Rocket engines, 33.Rockets, 37; nu cl e a r, 3 3 .Roman mythology, 41.Ruins, 11 2 .Sagan, Carl, 9.Sammael, 44.Sanctity advantage, 121.Sand Martians, 11 0 .Sand, 20.Sand-Boats, 11 5 .Sands of Mars , Th e, 11 .S a n d - S a i l o r, t e m p l at e, 11 9 .Sand-Sharks, 11 7 .Saucer Pilot, t e m p l at e, 9 9 .S a u c e r, at t a ck , 96; b at t l e, 96;

t ra n s p o rt , 9 7 .Schiaparelli, Giovanni, 6.School, 53.Science fiction, 10.Science Lord, t e m p l at e, 9 9 .Science Lords of Mars, 95.Science Priest, t e m p l at e, 11 9 .Science Priests, 109.Science! skill, 67, 101.Scorpio, 42.“Sea level,” 16.Seas, 76.Secret colonies, 48, 58.Secret masters, 49.Semi-Literacy advantage, 121.Semi-Literacy disadvantage, 87, 121.Sex Appeal skill, 101, 122.Silly Mars, 40.Skills, Domed Mars , 67; Te rra fo rm e d

M a rs , 87; S u p e rscience Mars , 101; Dying

M a rs , 1 2 2 .Skyhook, 82.Skyhook Company, The, 83.“Slingshot” maneuver, 32.Social Stigma disadvantage, 121.S o c i e t y, S u p e rscience Mars , 9 3 ;

Te rra fo rmed Mars , 8 0 .Soil, 16, 18.Solar day, 15.Solar Federation, The, 104.Solar power, 18.S o l a r-electric ion propulsion, 33.S o l d i e r, t e m p l at e, 9 9 .Soldiers, S u p e rscience Mars , 9 4 .Sound, speed of, 19.Southern highlands, 14.Space Gods from Mars, 43.Spacesuits, 15.Speed of sound, 19.Spell colleges, 43.Spiritualist Mars, 48.Status advantage, 65, 121.Status table, Martian, Dying Mars , 1 2 0 .Submarines, 37.Superscience Mars, 91.

Surface area, 14.Surface, 14.Survival skill, 67, 87, 122.S w e d e n b o rg, Emanuel, 9.Te c h n o l o g y, 58; n ew, 33; S u p e rs c i e n c e

M a rs , 9 6 .Teeth advantage, 100.Temperature, 20, 73; s u r fa c e, 1 6 .Templates, Dying Mars , 11 8 ;

S u p e rscience Mars , 98, 99.Temple of the Divine Visage, 11 3 .Tentacled Martians, 92.Terraformed Mars, 71; e c o n o my, 8 1 ;

m ap , 77; s o c i e t y, 8 0 .Terraforming Consortium, The, 80,

81, 83.Terraforming, 30, 72; Phase One, 7 5 ;

Phase Th re e, 76; Phase Two , 7 6 ;time scale, 7 8 .

Terrain, chaotic, 24.Territorial map, Dying Mars , 1 0 8 .Tesla, Nikola, 45.Teutonic mythology, 42.Tharsis Tholus, 26.Tharsis, 14, 21, 26.Th ree Little Men From Mars A re We, 4 0 .Time, 15.Titans, 41.Tithonium, 111 .Topographic map, e q u at o rial regi o n s ,

23; M e rc ator pro j e c t i o n , 2 2 .Trajectories, 32; “free-return,” 32.Transhuman Space, 8 8 .Transport Saucer, 96, 97.Trilateral Martians, 92.Tripod Expeditionary Force, 97.U.S. Naval Observatory, 6, 28.Unaging advantage, 121.U n d e rground Empire, 11 2 .Upland Martians, 109, 11 4 .Uplands, 21.Vacc Suit skill, 67, 87.Valles Marineris, 27.Valleys, 26.VASIMR, 33.Vehicle statistics, 59.Vehicles, ground, 37.Velikovskian Mars, 47.Ve l i k o v s k y, Immanuel, 8, 47.Ve l o c i t y, orbital, 37.Versatile advantage, 101.Viking, 12.Volcanoes, 26.Voltaire, 8.Von Braun, We r n h e r, 37, 48.Von Madler, Johann, 6.Vow disadvantage, 87.Wallace, Alfred Russell, 9.War of the Wo rl d s , Th e, 9.Warmth, 73.Wa r r i o r, t e m p l at e, 11 9 .Wa t e r, 16, 17, 73, 76.Weak Immune System

disadvantage, 101.Weakness disadvantage, 101.Wealth advantage, 65.Weapons, 63; M a rt i a n , 11 6 .We a t h e r, 76.Weird Mars, 45.Welles, Orson, 9.Wells, H.G., 9, 39.Wind, 16, 20, 78; p owe r, 1 9 .Windmills, 19.Xenophilia disadvantage, 122.Xenophobia disadvantage, 122.Ye a r, 15.Zeroed advantage, 66.Zigel, F., 46.

INDEX128