The year is 3205 on Mars, the 4th planet within the Sol system. Things are looking up for Mars. Having survived an alien attack, and an invasion by Earth, the Martian civilians look forward to new era of prosperity. Under the watchful eye of a newly installed President, Mars may well prosper... but all the while, unseen events occur in the shadows... The Mars Military Armed Forces (MMAF) stand ready to defend the planet from any would-be invaders. Enter a world of red rocks and choking dust storms, mighty volcanoes and high technology. This is Mars in the 33rd century, life on the edge of human space...
The TL9 Military campaign is the first campaign I ever ran for GURPS. The premise was simple, the PC's are military operatives on Mars, fighting a bunch of Rebels.
The campaign was originally set at TL8, but having re-read Ultra-Tech (my first GURPS book) I decided for TL9, as there was more equipment on offer.
Here's what happened during the main adventure (the one with the 4 PC's).
The PC's were Private Tron Mandraxx, Private Dan Gerruss, Private Jack Lords and Private Luc Slater. They first 3 went to the rebel base , which was located within a crater, via hovercar, and attempted to infiltrate the place. This involved one PC getting up, wandering over to the guards and saying "What's happening?" They were taken down.
They awoke in the cells, where they met the scouts, Carol Dannon and Jeff Anderson. Upon escaping they encountered a guard, who was an undercover military operative (Slater). This lead to some confusion, and said PC being shot with a rocket launcher. He survived. To cut a long story short, the PC's found the motor pool, and locked Mandraxx in the boot of a car and threw him over the ridge. He survived.
However, this unhinged Mandraxx, and he tried to kill Dannon with a gun. Fortunately, it was unloaded.
Mandraxx was shipped to Quenisset's mental asylum, where he promptly escaped. He hunted down Dannon, and found her with Lords, in the mess hall, with the other two PC's. He shot Lords through the head with a laser pistol, killing him, and was subsequently killed by the base personnel.
The campaign has two major PC's, as all the rest have abandoned the campaign. The longest running other character has been mentioned for completeness - and also his fate...
Jake Dredd trained in Olympus Village before being reassigned to Quenisset. He is an avid Cyber-hockey player, and has saved Mars on one occasion by defusing a plutonium nuclear bomb that would have destroyed the planet. He also completed the 'Maze of Death' (a violent gameshow, subsequently banned) with Slater and Gerruss.
Recently, Jake has been getting more and more frustrated with UEGMAF, who have effectively 'overthrown' Mars, and who won't let him buy any more weapons or ammunition. He also has an intense hatred of 'Alpha Squad', a team of UEGMAF troopers who do better than him at most missions. Of late, his mission effectiveness has dropped considerably.
After the UEGMAF invasion of Mars was over, Dredd has returned to his usual duties and has bought a stake in his local pub - the "Twin Blasters". However, he has been dumped by his girlfriend due to alleged alcoholism... can Mars' greatest hero have a weakness?
No prizes for guessing where this characters name came from (some Brandon Lee film, I think), Johnny has been a military officer for most of his life, but has not done anything outstanding. He does own a hell of a lot of guns, and is cross trained in the use of just about ever firearm in the campaign.
Last mission, Johnny managed to lose both his legs in a terrible rockslide on a base assault. This has caused him to have his legs replaced with heavy, noisy, cybernetic legs, because a new cloning module has not been shipped up from Earth yet. This annoys him, but not as much as the UEGMAF 'invasion' of Mars. Especially since they severely restrict his buying of weapons and ammunition... Johnny is relieved to not have been placed in control of Delta Squad, the PC's own team, and much prefers to be in the field, mercilessly killing his enemies.
After the UEGMAF invasion of Mars, Maretta received psychological assistance to get over the death of his ex-girlfriend. He has also bought a nice house in Quenisset's Northern Sector, and has moved in with his current girlfriend.
James Dallack has done little, primarily because his player rarely shows up! I believe he is a military sniper / scout. He once single handedly blew up a residential block, and thanks to this (and the efforts of another group of PC's), Mars has very few buildings that are over 5 stories high...
James has recently made a comeback to the campaign, after 6 months (game time) of absence. His character was presumed KIA after the asteroid bombings, but has only just shown up in the same base as the Jake and Johnny, suffering from amnesia and carrying a lot of malfunctioning equipment...
After this incident, Dallack disappeared, never to be seen again. UEGMAF have declared him MIA.
Here's some information that might be useful to other GM's, but I doubt it.
| Genre | Points | Disadvantages | Quirks | Tech Level | Starting Cash |
| Military - action oriented | 100 | -40 | -5 | 9 | £15,000 |
