lategaming

“No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched from the timeless worlds of space. No one could have dreamed that we were being scrutinized as someone with a microscope studies creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. Few men even considered the possibility of life on other planets. And yet, across the gulf of space, minds immeasurably superior to ours regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely, they drew their plans against us.” - Narration by Bichard Burton at the beginning of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.

You may be a fan of the book by H.G. Wells or have seen the recent film with Tom Cruise. You might remember the 1953 The War of the Worlds or have even listened to the Orson Welles radio broadcast which caused mass hysteria in 1938. All of them end the same with a bit of a damp squib. I’m sure it was entirely deliberate of Wells to depict science and the military as being utterly ineffective against the Martian war machines. In this way he reminds me of Lovecraft’s Mythos stories where the actions of humankind are ultimately ineffective.

From a RPG plot point of view, it’s not very interesting. The players can’t really get into the mix at the start as, frankly, they’d get pasted. They would have to dodge the evil Black Smoke, the insidious Red Weed, the deadly Heat Rays and the throngs of panicked humans. And after all of this, the blinking aliens are defeated by some innoculous bacterium? How deus ex machina can you get! If this were a scenario, it would indeed be one of the world’s worst.

So, we can’t play in that sort of game world. We have to think of something else. The logical thing to do is extrapolate. Here’s the things we have to consider.

The Living Martians - not all of them will be dead.

The Dead Martians - what happens to a dying Martian. Does it decompose?

The Humans - society is still in a shambles.

The Red Weed - although affected by Earth’s bacteria as well, it obviously was able to survive better than the Martians themselves.

The Black Smoke - a binary nerve agent? Very topical in todays terrorist-fearing news.

The War Machines - there’s all this alien technology just lying about….

More Martians - they wouldn’t have committed this much without ensuring a second wave for resupply. By now they would have realised the attack was a failure….

George Pál, who produced the 1953 film, conceived of a War of the Worlds TV series which was finally shot and which ran from 1988 to 1990. Their premise was the aliens had not died but had slipped into a state of “suspended animation”. There’s some vague explanations as to why the aliens now look human (ahem, budget!) but the entire series seems a little tired (and frankly too hard to obtain to give a good review).

So, we’ll begin this by writing a little prose….and covering the areas we have mentioned above…

I was reading a posting on RPG.NET about how War of the Worlds was a typical game-master railroad, total player kill and then GM fiat to save the day. I disagree.

I reckon it was just background flavour.

The game starts now. Invasion over….ish. Some Martian war machines will alive on iron rations as they hadn’t been drinking blood. They’re getting desperate as their rations run out and waiting for the resupply from Mars. New machines, new rations…they’re forewarned and forearmed.

Meanwhile on Earth, our scientists are making Earth-Mars technology hybrids - human war machines - ….they just need 2 fighter pilots, 2 field scientists and some support team members…

Powder Rod
The Powder Rod is the long range weapon of choice for the Arbiter. They are commonly made to order, personalised for the Arbiter and are usually the same height as the owner. The rod is hollow, usually black with a matte sheen, and cool to the touch. The top of the rod has a hole, the diameter of a finger and a groove along the outside for accepting a bayonet attachment. The bottom of the rod has a screw-click device which lends weight to the rod as well as being the firing mechanism.
Powder Rods are kept unloaded but a skilled operator with a loading partner can fire a round every other second. Alone, an Arbiter will be able to fire off a round every 5 seconds. The round is a discrete unit containing munition, wadding, propellant and igniter. The munition load is commonly a single slug or a handful of flechettes though for training and “normal usage” it may aso be loaded with sand - this produces a distracting, blinding, stinging, nonfatal cloud.
Powder Rods are usually armed when they are to be used. The slugs used must be prepacked and are barrel-loaded. The slug is ignited by striking the base of the rod sharply.

Bayonet
With or without bayonet, the rod is an effective hand-to-hand combat weapon. The rod material is tensile without being fragile. This increases the versatility of the weapon considerably. The bayonet is usually worn by the Arbiter on a belt and only attached during very serious circumstances. It is a sharp stabbing or cutting weapon, balanced for throwing, made out of the same black material as the Powder Rod.

Some of the Reeve are administrators, involved in the movement and recording of infomation. Others sit in cloisters and debate the merits of the appeals presented to them.

The majority of the Reeve are involved directly in the enforcement of our laws and the judgements required. The application of Reeve law in the Citadel is challenging and it is the duty of the Arbiter to seek out and rein in lawbreakers. There are no tomes to consult when a judgement is difficult and there are times when it is you alone with the transgressors of the law. An Arbiter must be strong in mind and body, perceptive and quick witted, skilled with powder rod and bayonet and able to command a presence.

Zian will soon be accepted into the ranks of the Arbiters unless she chooses an administrative post. She will then begin training.

There are some who do not suit the untroubled life of the Artisan, the austere contemplation of the Reeve or the enduring clemency of the Consors. There are outsider castes but they are neither respectful nor respectable. They have their role in our society but we do not consider them. When they are needed, they are needed but it is a matter kept between the closest and most discreet of friends.

In some areas of the Citadel, the rule of Reeve does not apply. There are Artisans in exile who will copy any treasure. The Reeve do their best to cleanse the Citadel but there is only so much time and the tunnels are almost endless.

The old ones talk
The sun once set
When the world turned dark
When the wind brought wet

Once was sand that held
Once was trees that grew
Now like beetles shelled
Now do not grow new

Just an old ones dream
Just an old ones song
And wet turns to steam
And the dark is gone

(source KRNVR: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=282814 )