Quickstart

Credits

Links

Authors: Russell Bailey and Audrey Whitman

This wouldnt have been possible without Daniel

Bayns Wushu system. Find out more at http://danielbayn.
com/wushu/. Wushu is supported by a wiki at http://wiki.
saberpunk.net/Wushu/.

Wushu System: Daniel Bayn

Editor: Elizabeth Greenberg
Art Director: Richard Thomas

You can always find the latest on Cavaliers of Mars at

http://www.cavaliersofmars.com. And while youre at it, why
not read The Apprentices Tale, an in-character setting exploration at http://blog.fantasyheartbreaker.com/2012/03/04/
the-apprentices-tale/?

Art: Chris Huth

Graphic Design: Richard Thomas
Special Thanks: Benjamin Baugh, Daniel Bayn, Jeff Mikoni

2012 Onyx Path Publishing LLC All rights

reserved. Text and illustrations are the property of
Russell Bailey. Reproduction without the written
permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden,
except for the purposes of reviews, and one printed
copy which may be reproduced for personal use
only. The mention of or reference to any company
or product in these pages is not a challenge to the
trademark or copyright concerned. This book uses
the fantastic for settings, characters and themes. All
mystical and supernatural elements are fiction and
intended for entertainment purposes only. This book
contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.

Quickstart
Table

of

Contents

Introduction
Rules
Sample Characters
Adventure

4
6
9
11

Introduction
Introduction
Return now to dying Mars in its last age of glory. A planet
of flashing swords and choking sands, of winking courtesans
and lantern-lit canal cities. Mars, where fortune and death
are two sides of the same obsidian chit, where lost cities and
dry oceans stretch between the last bastions of civilization.
Where the First Martians, the monument-builders, are but a
haunted memory. Where the Red Martians become decadent
and reckless in their last days. Where the Green Martians
rule the wastes, remembering a history whose weight would
crush a lesser people.
Find yourself dashing across the towered crypts of Vance,
digging desperately for treasure in the lost tombs of Chiaro,
spitting defiance at the Roundhead priests of wild Ziggur.
Lock steel with the Princess Invincible, even as your hand
reaches towards your flintlaser for insurance.
Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and
strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance.
Welcome to the quick start for Cavaliers of Mars, a
roleplaying game of swashbuckling adventure on a dying
world. This book includes sample characters, the Wushu
rules which power the game, and an action-packed adventure
to introduce the setting.

Rules s
Rule
Cavaliers of Mars is based on the Wushu gaming system,
which rewards vivid descriptions by using them to make
characters actions more successful. By awarding more dice for
better descriptions, Wushu encourages quick back-and-forth
and high-flying stunts. This is perfect for the swashbuckling
world of Cavaliers of Mars, with its death-defying duels in
the bellies of atmosphere processors and dizzying chases
across crumbling rooftops.

a Detail is inappropriate, he can call for a Veto. The Detail

is put up to a quick vote; if it passes, the Detail goes into the
fiction as normal. If if fails, the narrating player replaces or
reworks the detail to be acceptable to everyone. Vetoes tend
not to be a big deal, and happen rarely if players stay on the
same page with regards to tone and style.
The Resolution rule is that the player who resolves a situation mechanically gets to narrate the end of that situation.
That means that you cant use a Detail to resolve something
thats still being arbitrated. For example, if your character is
facing down the Fourth Son of Phobos in a Conflict, you cant
simply narrate that your character chops off his head until
youve depleted his Vitality and hence ended the conflict.

Core Concepts
Description

Traits

The heart of Cavaliers of Mars is description. The more

detail a player describes her characters actions in, the more
likely those actions are to help her succeed.

Traits are short descriptions of a characters background

and abilities. Each has a number. When dice are rolled against
a Trait, any dice that come up lower than the Trait number
are successes. Successes can be used to harm enemies, defend
against attacks, or prepare for future dangerous situations.

Descriptions are measured in Details. A Detail can be

anything from a wicked sword thrust, to a lightning fast
dodge, to an atmospheric moment like a weapon plummeting downward into a canal. Details can even be negative;
a player can describe how her characters ear is nicked by
a barely-dodged slash with a knife. For each Detail a player
describes, she receives a die.

Vitality

Vitality measures a characters ability to stay involved

in a Conflict. Depending on the type of Conflict, it might
represent anything from physical wounds to a characters
reputation or credibility. When a character dips below 0
Vitality, they can no longer act in the scene... and are likely
wounded, captured, or in deadly danger. Vitality refreshes
between scenes.

Generally, there will be a maximum number of dice

that can be earned by Details in a given round. This cap
ranges from 3-5 for fast-paced, gritty scenes to 6-8 for more
epic confrontations. The cap is set by the GM.
Descriptions are empowered by the Principle of Narrative
Truth, which states that an action occurs when the player
describes it, exactly as the player describes it. Compared to
some other roleplaying games, theres a lot less I try and
a lot more I do.

Applause Dice

When a player describes something particularly entertaining, whether inside or outside of a situation in which dice
are normally rolled, another player at the table may invite
them to take a die. This Applause Die can be saved until
the receiving player decides to add it to a roll. An Applause

The exceptions to the Principle of Narrative Truth are

Vetoes and the Resolution rule. If any player at the table feels

Die can be added to any pool, regardless of whether the die

cap has already been reached with description. A player can
accumulate any number of Applause Dice, but may only
spend one at once and may only keep them until the end of
the game session.

Shizris player rolls 1 success; the GM rolls none. Her

player describes how Shizri successfully infiltrates the tower,
and finds herself in an opulent bedroom.

Conflicts

A young urchin finds herself surrounded by boys demanding her water. Dema Tuzak finally catches up to Skar,
who killed her father. Conflicts blossom when characters are
in danger. Mechanically, the characters risk Vitality, which
is an abstract measure of their health, reputation, or other
ability to stay in the Conflict.

R esolution

There are two types of resolution: Chance Rolls and

Conflicts.

Chance Rolls

Conflicts come in two types: Challenges, where the danger comes from many or impersonal sources, and Confrontations, where the danger comes from single foes. A mob or a
fire might be a Challenge; a showdown with an archenemy
is a Confrontation. Both Challenges and Confrontations
take place over a number of rounds.

Shizri the Silent sneaks into the palace of the prince.

Hardrada tries to intimidate a client into coming across
with his loan money. Chance Rolls are used when player
characters are attempting something and the outcome is in
doubt, but there isnt enough danger or opposition to call
for a full Conflict.

Challenges

A Challenge has two components: a Threat Rating and

a Danger Rating. The Threat Rating measures how many
Attack successes the player characters must accumulate to end
the challenge. This is usually (4 * number of player character
participants * average number of rounds the GM wants the
Challenge to last). The Danger Rating measures how many
Vitality the player characters will lose each round if they cant
defend themselves. Usually, this is 1; under particularly dire
circumstances it might be 2 or 3.

In a Chance Roll, any players whose characters are

involved take turns narrating, either before or after the
GM describes circumstances which might interfere. Each
participant, including the GM, counts Details. Then everybody rolls their dice. The players roll against relevant Traits;
the GM rolls against a Difficulty Number (from the chart
below). The participant with the highest number of successes
is the winner and narrates the outcome. If the GM wins,
the outcome is usually negative for the player characters; if
a player wins, it is usually positive.

In each round of a Challenge, players take turns describing and collecting dice for each Detail, just as they would
in a Chance Roll. The difference is that when theyre done
describing, they split their pool into Attack and Defense dice.
Attack dice go towards resolving the Challenge; Defense
dice are used to mitigate the effects of the Danger Rating.

Difficulty Numbers
Number

Difficulty

Trivially Easy

Relatively Easy

Challenging

Difficult

Extremely Hard

The GM describes the hazards involved in the Challenge, but does not build a dice pool from the description.
Once everyone has described their characters actions,
they roll their dice. Each Defense success blocks one point
of Danger Rating; any unblocked Danger is subtracted from
the characters Vitality.
Each Attack success is subtracted from the Challenges
Threat Rating. When the Threat Rating reaches 0, the GM
describes how the Challenge ends.

Example:
The dice cap is three. Shizri is using her Expert Climber
(3) Trait. The GM declares the situation Relatively Easy (2).

If the round ends and the Threat Rating remains above

0, the Conflict continues into another round, where the
process of description and rolling begins again.

Shizris player describes: Shizri bluffs her way past the

outer gate with a falsified pass. / Once inside, she pulls a
wicked-looking grapple from her pack, and throws it into a
tower window. / Swiftly, she climbs the attached rope. (3)

Example

The GM describes: Unfortunately, the guard at the

gate was a little suspicious. / He rings a bell to tell the other
guards to be alert as they patrol the yard. / His job done, he
yawns and sits back at his post. (3)

The Apprentice is surrounded by a gang demanding her

water, and potentially her life along with it. The dice cap is 4,
the Threat Rating is 3, and the Danger Rating is 1.
7

The Apprentices player describes: Our heroine picks

out the obvious leader of the gang, a kid too young for the
knife-scar that twists his predatory grin. / She taunts him,
combining the few words she knows of the local language
into whats sure to be an insult to his mother. / He growls
and rushes her. / She dodges to the side and brings down
her elbow on his back, sending him clattering to the rocky
pavement. (4)

Remember the Resolution rule: a player cannot narrate

the defeat of the Antagonist until the Antagonist has run
out of Vitality.
Example
Dema Tuzak is finally facing down Skar. Dema is relying on her long years of training as a Soldier (4), while Skar
is counting on his Roguish Bladework (5). The die cap is 3.

The player splits her 4 dice evenly between Attack and

Defense. Shes rolling against the Apprentices Survivor Trait
of 4. She scores 1 Defense success, avoiding any Vitality
loss. She also scores 1 Attack success, reducing the Threat
Rating to 2.

Skar taunts Dema: Ill cut you down like I did your
mongrel father. (1)
Dema pretends to be drawn in by the taunt, swinging
wildly for Skars head / distracting from the more deliberate
thrust she makes with her dagger. (2)

Confrontations

Skar pulls out of the way barely in time / but the sparkle
never leaves his eyes. (3)

Confrontations occur between player characters and

major Antagonists, usually one on one. These Antagonists
are built similarly to player characters; they typically have
three Traits (one at 5, one at 4, and one at 3) and between
1 and 5 Vitality.

Dema just grins and closes in again. (3)

Demas player goes all out on her Attack, rolling 3 dice.
She gains 2 Attack successes. The GM playing Skar is a tad
more conservative. He puts 2 dice into Defense and only one
into Attack. He rolls 1 Attack success and 1 Defense success,
losing 1 Vitality point to Dema and costing her 1 in return.

In a Confrontation, the GM and players take turns

describing the action, each building a dice pool from their
Details. Usually, it works well to do this blow-by-blow, with
a player describing one or two Details and the GM then
countering with another couple. This back and forth is the
stuff of which great action scenes are made.

Ganging Up
The default assumption is that one player character
will face off against one Antagonist. Other characters may
watch from the sidelines, fight their own Antagonists, or
face Challenges like hordes of henchmen. If more than one
player wishes to join in the assault, then those players should
take turns narrating, up to the established die cap. So, for
example, if Ja Li and Dema are both fighting Skar and the die
cap is 5, then their total Details should add up to no more
than 5 before rolling. They may divide these dice between
Attack and Defense as normal.

Players split their dice into Attack and Defense, just

as with Challenges. In this case, the GM also splits her
Antagonists dice into Attack and Defense. Successes on the
GMs Attack dice are treated just like the Danger Rating in
a Challenge, each being countered by one player Defense
success. Similarly, each of the players Attack successes are
countered by the GMs Defense successes, with any left over
being subtracted from the Antagonists Vitality.
Rounds continue until the Antagonist has run out of
Vitality, at which point the player narrates his ultimate defeat.

If an Antagonist is facing multiple opponents, then the

GM should divide Attack successes among those opponents
after the dice have been rolled.

S
ample
Character s
Sample
Characters

Kseniya Malaya
Killer

of

Vitality 3

Thief 3: But not even a lords soldiers can make him

pay his due.
Entertainer 3: His city will love your picture of glory,
though; and stories are safer than battles.

Thoughts

Sharp Eyes 3: Spot the arrow with your number, or pick

Trappings: Subtle poisons, books of forbidden lore, a mark; but you best keep an eye out.
letters to be lost forever.
Grudge Against Vancian Nobility 4: I turned to the
Weapons: Many small blades, hook and line.
street because one of them thought he was too good to pay me.
Vance, Slum Rat 3: I was a dock daughter, fishing for
rich mens trash; too ambitious to stay.

Sisera Ipato

Assassin 4: My sharp eyes won me a patron, who taught

me her ways.

Desert Cavalier

Scholar 3: My skill won me another, who taught me

his reasons.

Vitality 3

Trappings: An abandoned estate and tomb, a broad

Patient 3: A good plan requires care and diligence to
black
hat, a faded childs drawing.
see it through. Im more careful than most.
Weapons: Short sword and knife, nicked and stained
Member of a Secret Society 4: Now and then I take a
with
blood.
contract to kill knowledge, and not just its bearer. Zillah and
I frequently work together for a mutual client.

Vance, Noble House of Ipato 3: I was born into a house

of merchant lords, fat with water.

Sunny Lucio

Noble 3: And so I might have remained; a lawyer with

a proper wife and a legion of children.
Cavalier 4: Until I heard the call of the desert, and
never stopped walking.

Bitter Young Soldier

Vitality 3

Perfect Direction 3: All cavaliers can navigate the shiftTrappings: Soldiers greatcloak, lock-picks, a charming ing sands; I have never lost my way.
smile.
Broken Home 4: The sand has ground away my feelWeapons: Stolen bastard sword of Deimos steel, forged ings for a life abandoned, but I cannot say the same for the
with a foreign familys crest.
family I left behind.
Chiaro, Tailors Son 3: I grew up in the terrible shadow
Note: Siseras Cavalier Trait enables him to navigate flawof the great Cydonian tombs.
lessly and ride any beast. It also lets him ride other unlikely
Soldier 3: I fancied that so much majesty would make things, like falling chunks of masonry or kites and airships.
me brave and strong.
9

Zillah

Geira

The Rising Fifth

Rightful property of the late

Magister Marcellus Tertias
Tegallianus

Vitality 3

Trappings: Charts of the heavens, maps of the Princes

court, a list of names.

Vitality 3

Weapons: A cold and uncanny look, hard-edged as

any knife.

Trappings: Greases and tinctures, a lifetimes worth of

beatings, forged papers

Vance, Merchant Class 3: I am the fifth daughter of a

fecund but unremarkable accountant.

Weapons: A heavy wrench and powder of sleep.

Adept 4: And Ive had the gift as long as I can remember.

Vance, Indentured Servant 3: I grew up in the Magisters

house, for all the good it did me.

Astrologer 3: It wasnt long before I began using it to

track the heavens.

Servant 3: There, I learned that I would be free when

I paid for the clothes on my back.

Numerology 4: I know the best days, now. For starting

a journey, for meeting a lover, for ending a life. Each day is
full of little threads, and I know just where to cut each one.

Fixer 3: I learned how to dodge, and how to put a house

back together after a night of drinking.
Physician 3: And how to put people back together too.

Unreliable 3: So much time spent looking inward has

left me less attentive than others. Without a guiding hand,
Im apt to get distracted.

Secret Murder 4: But I was just a kid, who was I to stop

it? Ipazia had been good to me, though, and saw no harm
teaching a little girl to mix herbs. I couldnt save her, but I
made sure it couldnt happen to another young wife.

Note: Zillahs Adept Trait allows her to read the surface

thoughts from other peoples minds, determine peoples
general attitude and honesty, and telekinetically move up to
her own body weight. Her Astrology and Numerology Traits
can be rolled as part of Chance Rolls, with the added bonus
that if she wins, any successes on the roll can be applied as
bonus dice to attempts to use the information she gained.

On the Run 3: Vance is a big city, and I left the clothes.

But I cant hide forever.
Note: Geiras Fixer Trait allows her to repair and gain
information from machines and structures. Its a general
purpose engineering ability that verges on the uncanny.

10

AdAdventure
venture
The City

of

Vance

In the central portion of the Red Kingdoms, Vance lies

at the intersection of several canals. It is thus rich in Mars
most valuable commodity: water. The city is actually built
on top of the canals. At the surface, this creates a network
of sub-canals. These carry freight and people like roads.
The city is monumental in scope, carved from huge
blocks of red and white rock. It reaches nearly a dozen
stories towards the sky. The locals enjoy shade, sweet water,
and the produce of the farms along the canals. Trade also
brings exotic goods and great wealth by canal and caravan.
At night, the city is lit with many-colored lanterns, according to a superstition deeply held but long since forgotten.
Windows are made from glass salvaged from the Prismatic
Wastes, fit together into intricate patterns.
Vance does not possess a sky-navy as such, though its
greatest scholars are working long and hard at the problem
and have perfected other means of short term flight. The
city does have several towers with sky docks for visiting dignitaries from Zodiac and Illium. A few merchant houses own
sky-yachts, but so far none have replicated the technology.
The Prince of Vance is chosen from among the merchant
houses. The city employs a regular and professional fighting
force, the Princes Hounds. The master of this force is the Dog
of Vance, who is nearly as powerful as the Prince himself. In
matters of war, his power becomes supreme. However, since
companies of Hounds are sponsored by the merchant houses,
their loyalty quickly returns to the commercial establishment
when peace begins again.
Many con-men, mercenaries, and outright thieves people
the lower quarters of Vance; such people flock to wealth. It
is not unusual to see an urchin loosening the pockets of a
group of Red cavaliers who are drinking alongside a Green
tribe chief.

The crypts in the city are in its highest towers. Soldiers refer to watching from the towers as crypt-watch, and civilians
sometimes use the term to refer to a tedious nocturnal task.
Poor or criminal dead are placed in the outgoing canals
to be swept away forever.

Festival
Plaza

in the

The Plaza

The Plaza Arez is never quiet at night. The famous songs

of the gondoliers echo throughout the forest of bronze statues,
muffled slightly against the small, expensively maintained
trees -- some of the last on Mars.
Never quiet, but always dark. The Plaza, built to commemorate a long-forgotten achievement, is famously dangerous at night. It is ill-lit, as the buildings that surrounded it
tower ever upwards, and forgotten. It is a dark pit at the
heart of the city where only thieves and the unwary walk...
on any night but tonight.
Tonight, lanterns of every color fill the Plaza to celebrate
the Small Moon festival, when the moon Deimos passes
closest to the surface. On the outskirts of the city, youths
hang by kites to try and reach the moon. They are lured by
the thought of easy riches waiting for the brave and strong
in Deimoss mines. Not even the best sky-ships of Illium and
Zodiac can breach the atmosphere, but children everywhere
have heard of the Dawn Runners -- the foolhardy pilots who
fling rattletrap ships toward Deimos tonight, bringing back
precious metals and the men mad enough to mine them.
Tonight, the Plaza is filled with people of every description. Throngs of Red Martians of every social class, a drunken
party of ape-like Zaius on route back from Chiaro... and a

11

lone plant-woman from the Wyeth rainforest who simply got

caught up in the crowd.

Approaching the Prince of Coronal just as he drains his

glass, they shout Vance for Vance! and draw their knives
to attack him. As the Lady Aldonza fumbles for her sword
(entangled in the elaborate sash she wore over her gown),
they stab him several times and then move to escape.

All are gathered to witness the brightest night of the

year, and all are masked. Some wear simple yummock-leather
domino masks, others ornate woven facades covering all
but the merest hint of the owners form. At the end of the
Small Moon festival, the years slate is wiped clean, and no
one need know who you were last year. Tomorrow fresh star
charts will be drawn, and new treaties will be signed; but
tonight Vance says goodbye to last years secrets.

There are cries of murder and general chaos erupts.

Within seconds, the Plaza is on the verge of a riot.
The Detail cap is 5.
Character Hooks
Kseniya Malaya

Among the richer attendees are the Lady Aldonza

Arez, whose old-blooded family sponsored construction of
the statues and the Plaza itself, and her consort, the Prince
of Coronal. Coronal is a smaller city-state to the north of
Vance which controls a number of radium mines. The affair
between Lady Aldonza and the Prince has potentially farreaching consequences for the balance of power among the
Red Kingdoms. But like so many others in the plaza, Lady
and Prince play the part of young lovers tonight, intoxicated
by the freedom afforded them in the last hours of an old year.

I didnt know about this. An assassination that Im not

part of could mean Im getting edged out of the business, or
that other players are entering the field. Either way, I have
to know who they are.
Sunny Lucio
Theres no doubt that most royal-types deserve as much,
but they didnt look like any soldiers I know. And if the lady
isnt grateful? I know men who could use a cloak like that.
Maybe a rich man can do a poor man a service tonight after all.

The Action

Sisera Ipato

Depending on your groups playstyle, the characters can

either spend some time socializing and generally attending the
party or you can skip straight to the assassination attempt.

Enjoying

the

Theyre killing civilians; I cant stand for that. Its terrible when a man dies for no reason; worse when one dies
simply for being in the way.
Zillah

Party

The stars spell disaster if a Prince dies tonight. And they

werent thinking about Vance at all. Who would benefit from
altering the map of Vances heavens?

Socially, the characters might do any of the following:

Join the drunken philosophical argument among the

Zaius.

Geira

Acquaint themselves with the Wyeth Woman and

discover what brings her to Vance.

I cant let someone else die just because Im afraid. The

lady cant have seen me more than once in the Magisters
house. She wont recognize me. If I can just see the blade,
maybe I can save him.

Hob-nob with the upper class. On this occasion, even

the highest aristocrats are likely to talk to their lessers, particularly if they are well-complimented.
Engage in one of the contests of skill being waged around
the square, such as tightrope-walking between the statues.

R evolutionary Assassins/R iot

Threat Rating: 8 * Number of Players

Find a glass of cool wine and a perch from which to

people-watch and listen for gossip.

Danger Rating: 1
The revelers in the Plaza are on the verge of a riot, and
the black-and-gold assassins are trying to make their escape,
killing anyone in their way.

After everyones settled into their character, abruptly

move on to the assassination attempt.

Dangers:

The Assassination Attempt

The Prince is unconscious and dying. His shallow wounds

might be treatable with a supply of healing gum from the
Wyeth rainforest, but someone would have to find it and get
it to him. Worse, the knives were poisoned. Unless someone
finds out what was on those blades, he could die at any time
in the next few minutes or hours.

Among all this color and festivity, there is a small contingent of men in black cloaks embroidered with fanciful
golden designs. They sport black-and-gold masks to match,
and have casually integrated themselves into the mob around
the Lady and the Prince.
12

The crowd is fighting and stampeding. People are being

crushed underfoot. Characters trying to make their way across
the scene might be better served to run across the forest of
statues, or even atop the heads and shoulders of the crowd.
The assassins themselves are sparing no violence in
making their escape. Theyre headed for the widest nearby
canal, which is filled with boat traffic. Once there, theyll
leap across and crash through gondolas, merchant boats, and
pleasure barges on their way towards the Dredge.
The characters can attempt to subdue the assassins or
kill them outright. If theyre captured, the Lady Aldonza
will have her personal guard come to collect and interrogate
them, and will be furious and indiscreet enough to do it in
public. Rattled by the events, she wont be visibly grateful
to the characters, but will distractedly commend them for
their loyalty to the city.
If some of the assassins survive, they can be persuaded
to reveal the poison used. Whether captured or killed, one
of them will, with his last words, reveal that they were hired
in the Dredge.
The Lady never directly requests assistance, but she
implies that someone who happened to uncover a traitor
would be well-rewarded.

Searching
Dredge

the

The Dredge

Through some quirk of the architecture of the Vancian

canals, the waters in the Dredge move slowly and murkily.
Boats float sluggishly through the muddy waters, and the
gondoliers here sing lower, more ominous songs. The area
rarely sees the sky, having been covered over by other construction in the centuries since the canals were built. In many
ways, it resembles a great, dark tunnel-- one with hundreds
of people packed inside.
The Dredge covers slightly more than a square mile.
Living in the area is considered less than desirable, so
the population tends to be mostly laborers, servants, and
unestablished immigrants. The district is near some of the
citys major barracks, meaning that off-duty soldiers come
here to drink... and often end up hired as improvised security officers. The result is something between a depressed
residential area and a raucous red-light district, choked by
the stinging miasma of the filthy and slow-moving waters.

The Action

The characters have their work cut out for them,

looking for someone who might have seen the assassins be

hired. The Dredge is always rowdy; but at festival time, its

downright chaotic.
This segment of the story is designed for investigation.
Its a good opportunity for both Chance Rolls and plain old
question-and-answer storytelling. There are also a number
of locations within the Dredge that stick out as places to go
for information.

Investigation Hooks

If your players are stuck for investigation tactics, suggest

some of the following.
Zillah and Kseniya are used to working as a unit. They
take up an inconspicuous location, arguing over dice, while
Kseniya picks out targets for Zillah to read. Kseniya keeps
Zillah on task by challenging her to find the best moment
to read a given target. Zillah relies on Ksenyias familiarity
with the Dredge and superior grasp of their surroundings
to keep her out of harms way.
Sunny has friends in this neighborhood and a few cloaks
to sell. (Sunny can be moved by other former soldiers, and
will give up cloaks to men and women who look like they
could use something to keep off the chill of night.) Sunny
is not, by nature, subtle; he will showboat as much as other
characters let him, and is prone to concocting stories that
exaggerate his skill or accomplishments. But his chummy
bonhomie will hold the attention of a shop-owner long
enough for him to get a solid look around and pick out any
details of interest.
Sisera has been away from Vance for a long time; but a
cavalier is easy to spot from a distance, and most people will
assume he is looking for work. If he indulges this assumption,
he can find out which noble houses have been hiring killers
lately and how well thats turned out for them. He may also
be called upon to calm down a dyspeptic beast and learn
more about its former owner.
Geira is paranoid about being recognized, but a servant
knows another servant. She asks after the Masters of other
servants and their doings of late, injecting enough gossipy
humor and exaggerated secrecy to pass as currently in the
service of no one at all important. Most important to her is
what houses may have employed whom recently, and who
makes their balms to hold body and soul together. She may
offer by way of explanation that her Master has been complaining about the taste of her medicine, and she is hoping
for advice from an expert.

The Truth

Ultimately, the characters will find out that a man called

Ruvar the Blue recruited the assassins from the area. Hes
planning on going to a particular tower crypt tonight in
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order to somehow make his escape. They can find this out
using their own methods, such as those suggested above, or
they might find information at the following establishments.

need of untroubled sleep or unending wakefulness. He allows

his customers to stay on the premises out of an odd streak of
mercy: he knows that many of them have nowhere else to go.

Establishments

At any given time, the cloisters are temporarily occupied

by a dozen addicts. Some of these are destitute and simply
need a place to spend the night; others ply different illicit
trades in a place where few would care to follow.

The Winking L apis

Khaamat Istra knows what the body wants and the soul
fears. Her large two-story house caters to both. The front
door is flanked by two blue torches: in Khaamats native
Chiaro, these are said to keep ghosts and the dreaded tomb
stalkers at bay. Blue lights and paints appear throughout the
house. They play to the common fear of of Earth, the blue
star of ill-omen, and of the blue dust halo the sun shows at
dawn and dusk.

With the festival at its height tonight, nearly three dozen

people are packed into the Cavern, including six soldiers.
The air is thick with sweat. At least two people are rutting
somewhere in the cloisters.
Trouble: The addicts and revelers in the Cavern just
want to be left to enjoy their highs (or lows, as the case may
be). Theyll quickly turn rowdy if they suspect the characters
of being dangerous; Azanza will incite them if he thinks hes
being investigated by authorities or suspects the characters
are there to muscle in on his business. (Threat Rating: 3 *
Number of Characters; Danger Rating: 1)

The Winking Lapis is a fortune tellers shop, where all

the fears of ancestors and looming mortality can be conjured and put to rest. Most of the first floor is devoted to
Khaamats reading chambers, where she slashes palms, leaves
ash marks, and performs the rituals of divination. Many a
soldier dreading his next campaign will stop the night before
to see Madame Khaamat.

Information: A mysterious new customer showed up just

last week. He was most recently seen yesterday, mentioning
something about a meeting in the sky crypts during the festival.

Yet fortune telling is not the only service on offer. The

Winking Lapis is also a brothel. That same soldier might
stop to enjoy one last embrace with one of Khaamats Chiaran prostitutes. The Winking Lapis is a place of sex and
death, a place where any kind of catharsis can be had for a
few obsidian chits.

Barillas
When people are down on their luck, they come to
Barilla. And they bring the things they prize most. His pawn
shop is among the few buildings in the Dredge that are wellkept. In fact, its immaculate. Even most wealthy shopkeepers
cant boast a shop as clean as Barillas. The walls are lined
with objects that once meant everything to someone. Jewels,
swords, stone cameos of loved ones... its all here.

Trouble: Madame Khaamat is gracious to visitors, but

not at the expense of her strange trade. If the characters
come looking for information too unsubtly, or address her
as a charlatan or whore, they will find she is also a potent
adept. Her calm demeanor conceals a deadly temper. (Threat
Rating: 2 * Number of Characters; Danger Rating: 2)

Barilla hires off-duty soldiers as security, and he keeps at

least three of them around at any given time. Hes well aware
that his valuable merchandise is in a dangerous place. Still,
the soldiers dont see too much action. At least two usually
play cards out front on any given night. Tonight, however,
they play inside, and with the door barred.

Information: One of Khaamats employees believed that

one of the assassins would marry him. He was being taken
advantage of, but he did learn that the apparent revolutionaries were in the pay of the city-state of Illium.

Trouble: Barilla isnt seeing customers -- or anyone else

-- tonight. Unfriendly attempts to enter will be met with force
by his soldiers. (Threat Rating: 3 * Number of Characters;
Danger Rating: 1)

The Cavern
The Cavern is, literally, a hole in the wall. Cracked masonry between two abandoned buildings allows entrance into
a small network of cloisters. These tiny chambers, once open
to the sky, are all that are left of a star cult that flourished
in the area a hundred Princes ago.

Information: Barilla recently accepted an object even

he had some reservations about: a bas relief clearly chiseled
off of a tower crypt. Enough of the inscription was even left
to make out that the crypt belonged to Magister Marcellus
Tertias Tegallianus. Barillas had a lot of second thoughts
about keeping the item. Everyone knows that wealthy men
leave the most dangerous curses.

Now the chapel and cloisters host devotees of a different sort. The Cavern is a drug den, where a tall, pudgy man
named Azanza plays host to those who find themselves in

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15

Cornering Ruvar
the B lue

Ruvar and his agents battle the characters simultaneously.

Treat characters fighting the agents as involved in a Challenge, and those engaged with Ruvar as in a Confrontation.
When Ruvars Vitality has been depleted by three, his
sky-ship arrives. While it appears to be one of the yachts
sometimes sold to rich Vancian merchants, it is actually a
military craft, appropriately armed and armored. Unable to
board via the usual gangway, Ruvar will attempt to leap atop
the craft. One of the characters might follow him and continue
the duel on a sky-ship thousands of feet above the ground.

The Crypts

In the highest towers of city rest the bodies of Vances

wealthiest citizens. To be interred close to the sky is a sign
of status.
The ornate tombs haunt the citys skyline. Their architecture is intricate, by turns baroque and gothic, chiseled
with great and precarious care out of the white rock from
which so much of the city is built.

If Ruvar is killed or captured, most of his men scatter

and run. Drop the threat rating by 15.
The Detail cap is 8.

The crypts have also been put to practical use. Most

nights, soldiers keep watch from the towers over the surrounding canals and desert, alert for any danger. Particularly
fleet-footed messengers have also been known to leap across
the crypts as shortcuts to other high points in the city.

Ruvar the B lue

A handsome man, almost young, with unsettlingly
blue eyes.

As a result of these activities, as well as ongoing construction, the grand tombs are connected by ropes, narrow
bridges, and scaffolding. Traversing the tombs is quite possible, if vertigo-inducing.

Vitality 5
Trappings: A single-shot flintlaser, a rapier of the finest
Deimos steel
Master Swordsman 5: Once a man has seen my blade,
he has seen his last day.

The Action

Sure-footed 4: Even at the greatest heights, I can leap

and fight.

Tonight, the mausoleum-towers are almost empty of

watchmen. The Small Moon festival is a compelling distraction, and the dutiful few who remain are easily persuaded by
Ruvars cruel reputation and his naked efforts at bribery. A
few truly honest soldiers have crawled into the tombs of the
wealthy, preferring to share a dead mans bed rather than
face the blade of one of the traitors.

Turncoat Soldier 3: Before I was tempted by Illiums

radium coins, I served the Dog of Vance.
Ruvars Agents
Threat Rating: 10 * Number of Players

Ruvar is secretly in the employ of Illium, and a personal

agent of that citys Princess Invincible. He plans to escape
before the Hounds of Vance can be mobilized to track
him down. Knowing that Vances few sky docks are more
thoroughly guarded than the crypts, his plan is to meet an
Illium sky-ship atop the crypt of the recently dead Magister
Marcellus Tertias Tegallianus (coincidentally, the man Geira
murdered). From there, he will make his escape.

Danger Rating: 2
Dressed as a group of common ruffians, but actually
highly trained soldiers and assassins. They fight primarily
with military-issue rapiers, with a few carrying flintlasers.
One is a Zaiu, and his ape-like physique allows him to carry
a massive, repeating projectile weapon.
Dangers:

Ruvar is accompanied by a small group of trusted agents.

Their motivations range from Illiums coin to personal loyalty
to Ruvar. These men and women have accompanied Ruvar
as security only; once he has made his escape alone, they
will fade back into the Vancian population, waiting to be
activated again later.

The agents fight as a group. While one might engage a

single foe, his fellows will be ready to trip or backstab that
enemy.
The fight takes place high above the city. Characters must
utilize all their agility to stay atop the crypts and bridges,
though they may also use the great heights and precarious
positioning to their advantage.

Ruvar and his agents are surprised by the characters,

but they wouldnt have been traveling in force if they werent
ready for trouble. After any initial surprise attacks, they rally
and take on the characters.

More agents might spring from within the crypts or

drag their enemies inside to fight among the brown bones
and funerary jewels.

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Each one has spent time climbing the crypts, and each
is ready to fence on narrow bridges or kick enemies down
from towers.
Even carrying his massive weapon, the Zaiu is capable
of leaping from tower to tower without using the intervening
bridges and ropes. The bullets he fires can shatter the very
stone on which the characters (or his fellow agents) stand.

R esolution

The sun rises with its eerie blue halo, and the city begins
to put itself back together. Hangovers are nursed. Masons
and other craftsmen go to work repairing the results of the
nights excesses.
The characters have thwarted a plot aimed at the very
heart of Vancian power, and they have rescued (or avenged)
the Prince of a smaller state. While the merchant houses
arent going to be throwing any parades in their honor,
the characters are likely to receive quiet offers of lucrative
employment, and not a few admiring glances.
With the traitor identified, the Lady Aldonza seems more
confident and openly grateful. She offers honorary commissions with the Hounds sponsored by her house. While these
are little more than titles now, they carry potential pensions
and property rights in the future. Shes also likely to consider
the characters trusted agents in future endeavours... including
in possible covert retaliation against Illium.

Customizing
Adventure

the

We expect youll tailor this adventure to your group:

none of us ever runs a published adventure just as written.
This particular story focuses mainly on swashbuckling adventure, with a dash of investigation. The web of intrigues
that occupy the Red Kingdoms are only hinted at, but could
be expanded. Particularly, consider what the Lady Aldonzas
family might think of her dalliance with a foreign prince,
and whether some factions might ally themselves with actual
revolutionaries, such as the Mongrels or the Twelve Dead Men.
Its also a relatively linear story: this works well for a crash
course in the setting, but you might want to try something
a little broader. In this case, we recommend expanding the
portion of the adventure that begins in the Dredge. Give
the players freedom in their investigation, and give them the
chance to catch Ruvar the Blue and his henchmen in ways
other than the set piece finale we provide. With the full
game, you might take the action to the Hangmans Garden
or chase them across Mars and into the Labyrinth of Night.
You could also consider different ways of tying the characters into the adventure. Perhaps the Prince of Coronal has
important diplomatic business under the cover of the party,
and being left indisposed has jeopardized it. Now, one of
the characters must don his mask and take on his persona.
Or maybe youd like to play it from the other side. The
characters could very well be the assassins themselves, facing off against the guards and soldiers of House Arez and
Coronal. Are they true revolutionaries, or are they, too, in
the pay of Illium?
However you choose to run it, we hope you have an
evenings fun getting to know our Mars. Wed love to hear
what you think; you can e-mail russell@saberpunk.net with
your thoughts. Well see you again atop Chiaros pyramids,
or perhaps Illiums perch on the Radium Plateau. In the
meantime, hold your sword close, your flask closer, and keep
an eye out for the full game!

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