Mars 1917

[vitruvian]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

How about:
There is no FTL ... teleportation on the other hand or stargate style technology does work.

There's no need for FTL to visit planets in the same solar system.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Brett

Can I run a campaign in which the PCs are the allies and champions of an NPC wizard who is striving to regain her throne? Or won't players cope with playing the second fiddle? Can I make ally/champion a first-string position without making the wizard unattractively weak?

Should be fine, though you may consider having an NPC, or one of the PCs being a POW who came through earlier as part of the guinea pigs when the initial experiment was run, who has picked up some of the language and can serve as an intermediary translator.

A new language can be picked up in a few weeks of immersion by those truly motivated, but being in a group of people who speak your own language both significantly reduces that motivation and the immersion.

Originally Posted by Brett

What relict bio-tech ought to be available?

Medical leeches, these buggers not only mend flesh back together, but they'll go in and do more substantial repairs like cementing bones, splicing ligaments and veins, eating tumors, etc.

Originally Posted by Brett

What ultra-tech?

Radios, ultra-lights, floating solar powered balloon observation posts, sand tricycles, can all be designed for longevity.

And possibly hand held computer tablets, with translation software to help with the language issue...

[SonofJohn]

In my oppinion there is no greater blessing for ANZAC outfit than a (very) british commander....

Comunication with the germans shouldnt be a big problem, many germans speak a little english or french, maybe one of the australians has german accenstors.
Otherwise I recall a from the "The Malay Archipelago" that a german and english resortet to malay as a comon tounge.

An alternative way of learning the languages would be let them be catched and sold as slaves. The Princess could be a prisoner/hostage, too. One day the PCs hear from her the words "If you want to be free comewith me!".

[downer]

If you want the players to hook up with the "Wizard" you could hint that the Martians used to know a way to travel to other planets, and have the Wizard offer to take them back as payment for their services. Maybe the fellow turns out to be a bad egg himself in the end, who wants to develop a similar weapon to the one that brought the characters to Mars. Thus creating the interesting dilemma of whether the characters let him continue, so they can return home, abandoning the Martians to his tyranny, or stop him, losing their way home in the process.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by downer

If you want the players to hook up with the "Wizard" you could hint that the Martians used to know a way to travel to other planets, and have the Wizard offer to take them back as payment for their services.

My thought was that the Martians once had a teleport network that is now just one of the many relics. Unknown to even its inventors, the "weapon" is actually a teleporter, but it didn't have the range to reach any other teleporters during the tests and just blew stuff up instead. By the time of the first combat trial, Mars and Earth had moved just close enough to make a connection (I believe Mars was at opposition early in 1916 and 1918). Unless they want to stay a couple of years, they only have until the Earth and Mars move away from each other again to:

a) get access to one of the teleporters that has the power to reach Earth
b) figure out how to connect to the Earth teleporter
c) come up with an explanation for the sudden appearance of Australians at a German secret weapon site

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sn0wball

By the way, Wizard ? Is this another term for the old engineer caste or where does magic come in ?

Sorry, that is just me being meta. Structurally and thematically, Mars is a fantasy setting, re-skinned with sci-fi rationalisations. The engineer caste are practically speaking magicians.

Originally Posted by isf

Have you decided upon the political structure(s) on Mars?

Balkansised into city-states, with a few modest empires, barbarian lands, and large areas of absolute desert.

Why do the immortal engineers no longer have access to an industrial base?

It was destroyed long ago, in warfare over dwindling resources.

What is stopping them from gradually rebuilding an industrial base, even if a small one?

Minimum scale. You can't do very high tech except on a very large scale, because sophisticated manufactures have a very large number of distinct components that require specialised manufacturing.

Continual warfare.

Corruption. The governments are nearly all self-serving, and there is no reliable rule of law.

Lack of co-ordination. The balkansisation of the polity means that there are no efficient courts to enforce contracts or other mechanism to co-ordinate far-flung plants into collaborative manufacturing.

Lack of transport infrastructure.

Inadequate educated workforce.

Resource exhaustion.

Originally Posted by whswhs

Have you encountered S. M. Stirling's In the Courts of the Crimson Kings? It seems quite apropos to your premise; its Mars has an ancient civilization with extremely advanced biotech that largely makes sense by current scientific standards, and with complex political intrigues in a decadent and corrupt planetary empire. I think you would find things in it worth borrowing.

isf mentioned it too. I'll find and read it.

Originally Posted by SonofJohn

In my oppinion there is no greater blessing for ANZAC outfit than a (very) british commander....

Fortunately we had our own officers all the way up to division level by December 1917. {In May 1918 Birdwood got promoted, the Australian Corps got an Australian corps commander (Monash), its casualty rate plummetted and its effectiveness jumped.}

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

An interesting item of realism is that experienced WWI trench warriors are likely to already have melee weapons and experience with them.

The militaries of the day did significantly more bayonet training than more modern forces though according to All Quiet on the Western Front when the Germans went over the top they used grenades and sharpened shovels (probably Two-handed Axe/Mace) instead.

There were a lot of "trench knives" both factory made and field expedient and a number of other things (spiked clubs and such) that look like they were made in a prison workshop.

If the Martians engage in stand up sword fights one of rhe long WWI rifles with bayonet isn't that bad a spear (though very heavy comapred to a real one).

Indeed. The Australian bayonet of the time was famous (a 17" sword-bayonet), and the Australians notably fond of using it. There was even a cavalry charge against machineguns by a brigade of Australian mounted infantry armed with bayonets. Successful, too. Moreover, the Australian War Memorial has an absolutely gruesome collection of expedient trench knives and raiding clubs, which are everything you say. WWI trench-fighting veterans will certainly be able to hold their own in hand-to-hand, especially against smaller, weaker Martians.

[Nosforontu]

One thing to watch out for is for the players/characters not adjusting well to the genre change. World War 1 trench veterans are very likely to have a very different idea of warfare than decadent romantic warriors. They may take and retain a very pragmatic orientation throughout the campaign and work very hard to be able to retain their weapon advantages. Possibly training up locals "the proper way".

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Nosforontu

One thing to watch out for is for the players/characters not adjusting well to the genre change. World War 1 trench veterans are very likely to have a very different idea of warfare than decadent romantic warriors. They may take and retain a very pragmatic orientation throughout the campaign and work very hard to be able to retain their weapon advantages. Possibly training up locals "the proper way".

For sure. I will definitely need the players to be on board with the "exhausted and horrified by modern war" premise.

[isf]

I'd also recommend deciding what superscience is possible, either earthly or Martian; particularly if any of the PC's have and tech/science skills.

Are you allowing any gadgeteers?

Are the Martians familiar with the idea of factories or large scale production? If so, are there any goods that are mass produced or is it all artisan work?

I am thinking about having the Martians in my game be the remnants of a fallen transhuman society. I'm still trying to decide what their memetic environment is like; particularly in contrast to the typical earthly ideas.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by isf

I'd also recommend deciding what superscience is possible, either earthly or Martian; particularly if any of the PC's have and tech/science skills.

Definitely. One of the main purposes of starting this thread was to get others' advice on that.

Are you allowing any gadgeteers?

I think not, not as PCs, anyway.

Realistically speaking, characters from Earth will be four tech levels behind the pace, and have to learn whole new sciences before they can modify TL10 relict stuff. And I don't want to get into discussions about what can and what can't be done with it.

Are the Martians familiar with the idea of factories or large scale production? If so, are there any goods that are mass produced or is it all artisan work?

Long ago they must have been. But not any more. It is all agriculture with fabulous crops and artisan work. A Renaissance economy, I think. But with epoxy bushes, kevlar flax, battery trees, etc. etc.

I am thinking about having the Martians in my game be the remnants of a fallen transhuman society. I'm still trying to decide what their memetic environment is like; particularly in contrast to the typical earthly ideas.

Memeplexes are presumably adapted to a particular social and technological environment. In a markedly divergent environment they will become unstable, and might undergo bizarre developments.