Page 2: Technology and Equipment

Technology

Communications

Little in the way of sophisticated communications is ever shown in the novels, with some exceptions. These include the Gridley Wave radio, telescopes capable of seeing a blade of grass upon the Earth, and a device which John Carter encountered among the Yellow Martians which could photograph, measure, and weigh an individual all at once, and then transmit the likeness to other cities.

Detection

There is virtually no sophisticated detection equipment used on Barsoom, and even the largest cities and wealthiest families use armed guards.

Heavy Weapons

Nothing heavier than radium guns and gravity bombs are typically used in the novels, and these are generally only used by battleships on each other. Evidently the Barsoomian code of honor is such that these weapons are not used against infantry, for in A Princess of Mars, the Heliumitic Navy, having just defeated the Zodangans, landed their transports to dismount the Tharks, and then appeared to leave the battle to their infantry. In A Fighting Man of Mars, a missile is created which has a disintegration ray capable of disintegrating any metal to which it has been attuned, but this weapon is destroyed by the end of the novel, so that is not considered here in any detail.

Medicine

The Barsoomian medical prowess is indeed impressive, and is effectively TL 8 for game purposes. As is often said in the novels, "Give a Martian woman a chance, and Death must take a back seat". In addition, it should be noted that the Barsoomians have a variety of psychological study which can glean impressions from the minds of those recently killed.

Equipment

Personal Equipment

As a rule, people on Barsoom carry very little in the way of personal equipment or goods. Even clothing is quite limited, except for the harness of warriors and the metal ornaments worn by both men and women to identify their nationality. Most men carry their personal weapons (see below), while many women carry a small concealed dagger, often worked into their metal ornamentation.

Personal Weapons

Warrior's Harness and Gear

The following items are carried and utilized by the majority of races upon the face of Barsoom. Please note that all weapons are generally considered to be of fine quality, and that the +1 damage has already been added in the charts which follow.

• Leather Harness - Heavy, boiled leather harness with straps, hooks and rings for hanging equipment, as well as metal insignia and loincloth. PD 2; DR 2. $50; 6 lbs. Covers areas 11, 17- 18.
• Long Sword - A slashing rapier with a basket hilt. $625; 3.75 lbs.- See Below
• Shortsword - As per Basic Rules
• *Dagger or Knife - As per Basic Rules
• *Hatchet - As per Basic Rules
• *Radium Pistol - $350; 3.25 lbs.- See Below

The following items are generally used by one or more races, but are not commonly seen among them all. The race in parentheses after the item's name indicates the race which commonly uses these items.

• 40' Lance (Green Martians)- See Below
• Radium Rifle (Green Martians)- See Below
• Radium Rifle (Red Martians)- See Below
• Concave Buckler (Yellow Martians)- See Below
• Hooked Sword (Yellow Martians)- See Below
• Thrusting Broad Sword (Yellow Martians)- As per the basic rules
• Long Bow (Lotharians)- As per the basic rules
• Shield (Lotharians)- As per the basic rules
• Battle Axe (Lotharians)- As per the basic rules

• Long Sword- The Barsoomian long sword is a long, slender-bladed weapon, typically equipped with a basket hilt. It is well suited to fencing (and uses that skill), although it can be used to slash as well, thus allowing a great deal of versatility. When used to slash, however, a turn must be used to ready this weapon, since it is a little point heavy.
• Radium Pistol- This is a large, long revolver with nine shots. Like all radium weapons, it is of a fairly small caliber, and relies on the explosion of the projectile for most of its damage potential. Also, like all radium weapons, a large powder charge provides greater range than that at which any target can reasonably be hit.
• 40' Lance (Green Martians)- The 40' lance is used by the Green Martians from the backs of their massive thoats, and is usually held in the two hands that they have on the same side. It is steel-shod (DR 3, 20 Hit Points, Not Impaling), and requires one turn to ready it after use.
• Radium Rifle (Green Martians)- The radium rifle of the Green Martians is one of their most feared weapons, and they are particularly adept in its use. They have been known to bring down full-sized battleships from the ground, and have developed tactical doctrine that supports the use of the rifle as their long-range weapon of choice.
• Radium Rifle (Red Martians)- The rifle that the Red Martians use is notably smaller than that of the Green Martians, and is more of a carbine. It is much more rare, as well, since Red Martian tactical doctrine uses heavier cannon for their large-scale battles.
• Concave Buckler (Yellow Martians)- This buckler is similar in most respects (including weight, PD, DR, Hit Points, etc.) to conventional bucklers, except that it has been designed to mesh with the fighting style of the Yellow Martians, who also use the hooked sword (see below). The concave shape of the shield allows the user to more easily deflect a hook (+2 to the defender's roll in a quick contest), so that the shield arm cannot be so easily immobilized by hooking the shield.
• Hooked Sword (Yellow Martians)- The unusual hooked sword of the Yellow Martians is designed to allow the wielder to disarm an opponent or to grab an outstretched limb or shield- edge. It is shaped like a shepherd's crook, with the outer edge being sharp and the hooked end tapering to a sharp point as well. It can be used to either slash with the bladed end or pull in with the hooked end, as well as for disarming an opponent. The relevant skill is Jitte/Sai, which is P/A and defaults to either Shortsword-3 or DX-5. To disarm (or grab), a quick contest of skills is rolled between the attacker's Jitte/Sai skill and the defender's weapon skill (or DX, in the case of a grab), with the attacker getting a +2 to the skill roll.

  If the attacker wins, the defender drops his or her weapon, while if the defender wins, there is usually no effect. If the attacker loses by five or more, however, then he or she drops the hooked sword. On any weapon parry involving the hooked sword, either as attacker or defender, the wielder may try to disarm with a quick contest, as outlined above. In any case, the hooked sword is useless against a flexible weapon, and has trouble against two-handed weapons. In the latter case, the wielder of the two-handed weapon gains a +2 in his or her Quick Contest roll.

Melee Weapons:

Weapon	Type	Amount	Reach	Cost	Weight	Min ST	Notes
40' Lance	Imp.	Thr.+4	7	200	21 lbs.	15	2 Hands, 1 turn to ready
Long Sword	Imp.	Thr+2 or Swing +2	1,2	1,250	3 lbs.	7	1 turn to ready after cut
Hook Sword	Imp. or Cut.	Thrust or Swing + 2	1	650	3 lbs.	10	Can be used to disarm using the Jitte/Sai skill or strike with the Broadsword skill (see above)

Ranged Radium Weapons:

Weapon	Type	DMG	SS	Acc	1/2D	Max	Wt	RoF	Shots	ST	Rcl
Pistol	Cr.	2d-1*	10	3	500	5K	3.25	3~	6	10	-2
Rifle (Red)	Cr.	3d*	13	7	3K	300K	7	3~	40	11	-2
Rifle (Green)	Cr.	3d+2*	14	15	10K	500K	18	3~	50	13	-5

* The listed damage is for solid slug ammunition, which is generally used only at night. Barsoomians typically use radium ammunition during the day, which contains a small portion of radium in a brittle, opaque casing. When the bullet hits a target the casing cracks or breaks, and the radium is exposed to light. This causes the bullet to explode, which then damages the target further. In game terms, the damage is reduced by 1 point per die, and the DR of the target is doubled. In addition, there is 1d of explosive damage added to the listed amount. If the armor stops the damage, then the target takes regular blunt trauma damage (1 pint of damage per 5 or 6 rolled on a damage die) through the armor. If the damage penetrates, then the explosion multiplies the penetrating damage by five.

As an aside, when radium ammunition is used at night, the damage is still reduced but the ammunition will not explode. When the sun rises, however, unexploded ammunition which is exposed to the sunlight will explode at the discretion of the GM.

Transport

The Barsoomian transportation system is a curious mix of the modern and the ancient, including massive aircraft, travel tubes, and domesticated animals. Most men and women know how to ride a thoat, and this appears to be the major form of transportation in rural areas. On the other hand, city travelers in Helium can ride from one of the twin cities to the other in seconds through a travel tube. In addition, nearly every modern nation of red men maintain an aerial navy, ranging from fast, one-man scout fliers to massive battleships which hold thousands of men. Interestingly enough, the Okarians of the north use "ground fliers," which are essentially cars pushed by large propellers.