THE CRASHtt

"We have found the glow. Since we came here, at least in part, to investigate it, it makes no sense to leave without doing so. The controls are working even better than I expected, and we can easily descend down into the gorge." the approaching gorge wall, but then nearly hits the opposite wall, pulling away just in time. It begins bobbing up and down as well. Grant hurriedly exclaims, "Something's interfering with the propeller's operation, lowering its efficiency. Listen! Hear that whistling on the hull? Good God, there's an atmosphere out there! We 71 have to inflate the hydrogen gas bag." Grant lurches for the gas generator controls, but too late. The flyer snags on the gorge wall, nearly tips over, and begins plummeting into the gorge. Grant exclaims hastily, "Gas bag's ripped. Hang on. I'1l try to hit a ledge to break our fall. Otherwise we "re goners!" The flyer finally smashes into a ledge, and all of the characters are thrown to one end of the cabin in a heap, along with all of the loose furniture and equipment. The flyer totters for a moment, then rolls off the ledge and falls again, but this time for only a short distance. It hits the next ledge with a solid, bone-jarring finality. Have the players make quick rolls against Agility to avoid having suffered a wound in the fall.

137

A SLIGHT MISCALCULATION
THE GORGE is a very jagged and dangerous passage leading straight into the Moon itself. Grant will be able to pilot the ether flyer carefully through the gorge, sinking ever further into the body of Luna. The speed of descent will be a cautious 10 miles per hour. The first several hours' descent into the Moon will bring the glow ever closer, but its source seems still miles deeper. The player with the highest Observation skill will be the first to notice that the rate of descent is gradually increasing, and the flyer is drifting dangerously close to one of the walls of the gorge. Grant notices at the same time and begins adjusting the controls. "Suddenly this thing isn't handling right," Grant says, as he begins struggling with the controls. The flyer lurches drunkenly away from

ASSESSING THE DAMAGE AS THE players sort themselves out, they will feel a slight breeze. Several plates have popped their rivets and fallen off of the hull, and the atmosphere of the gorge is blowing in. It is cool and damp, but breathable. The characters will also notice that the gravity is considerably higher than on the surface of the Moon. There it is only one-sixth that of Earth; here it seems to be nearly half of Earth's. The flyer's hull is severely damaged, but reparable. However, though undamaged, the ether propeller will not budge the ship from down here, as the atmosphere is too dense. The hydrogen bag is torn, but temporary repairs would probably be sufficient for a quick ascent up the gorge to where the atmosphere is thin enough for the ether propeller to take hold. But then comes the final blow; Grant's Ether Propeller Governor is disabled, the large diamond used as an ether lens having shattered when the flyer hit the ledge. (If questioned, Grant will explain that the diamond was badly flawed, nearly worthless for jewelry, which is why he could afford it for his governor.) All the while the greenish-yellow glow from within Luna bathes the ship in a curious light, mysteriously compelling and repulsive at the same time.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

CONTROL R O O M COMMON ARE/~ GALLEY STATEROOMS GREENHOUSE AIR L O C K W O R K AREA ENGINE R O O M

D O C T O R GRANT'S ETHER F L Y E R

8.

GDW

THE CANALS OF MARSI( 159

configuration depends on that specific function. Boats have some form of propulsion. Merchant ships have sails because they are cheap and easy to use; military ships may have oars and rowers, or they may use some contrivance to transfer oarsmen's efforts to paddle wheels or underwater screws. Private ships often depend on a combination of sail and muscle power for propulsion. Steam power is relatively rare; the expense of coal or wood is too great to justify steam's installation in watercraft.

Standard Boats and Barges V I R T U A L L Y ALL of the facilities of the Martian canals are built to handle boats and barges of certain standard sizes. Vessels which exceed the standard dimensions cannot pass through the lock, cannot be picked up by the cranes at most crane points, and cannot pass beneath many bridges. The maximum width for a canal boat is 55 feet; the maximum length is 220 feet. Maximum draft is theoretically 25 feet during flow; in practice, most vessels are built with a flat-bottomed draft of 15 feet or less. When a vessel mounts masts (for sails), they must be collapsible since about one bridge in 10 is fixed and has a clearance of about 40 feet. Martian canal vessels come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Typically, vessels are divided into boats (passenger carriers, utility, and

~ A D V E N T U R E S to~eed~l )'~ 9 AS THE PARTY is through a lock, the cable to the beast of burden breaks, and the party's vessel breaks loose, delaying the journey and potentially damaging the vessel. 9 The characters' vessel strikes a sandbar or other obstruction along an improperly maintained canal and is damaged or sunk, forcing them to continue their voyage on foot. 9 The characters journey to a deserted city in search of a legendary canal-digging machine, in hopes of selling the technology or modifying it to their own purposes.

The Handiwork of the Canal Builders THE CANALS of Mars are the p2tre~ cfraif~t and rba/s~eS (flat-b~ greatest civil engineering project ever undertaken. No construction on Earth can even rival the canals' grandeur; no Earth construction projI ect is visible from space the way the Martian canal network is. It is a testimony to the survival instinct of the Martians that they could underBarges: A barge is a flat-bottomed take and complete their canal netfreight boat. Built without a propul- work; without it, Mars would today sion system other than a sail rig, be a dead planet. barges carry cargoes up and down 9 MEETING the canals. Where possible, barges DIVERTER are simply let drift with the current; STRUCTURE where necessary, the sail rig is raised to move against a gentle current or to shift position within the main channel. On the Petty Canals and on some stretches of the Grand Canals, Boats: Boats serve a variety of barges are towed by beasts of burfunctions on the Martian canals. Their den. GDW

"1%,

Aerial Steam Launch

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s 4,840

s 20,000

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50 TONS

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200 TONS Q
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Hull Hits

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-A-CE TRAVEL CHARTS

THE INNER WORLDS (CISASTEROIDAL)

N A V I G A T I O N AIDS

"'"

Name
Mercury Venus Earth Luna Mars

Orbit
36 67 93 0.3* 141

Day
-23 24 28** 24

Year Diameter Circum. Gravity

88 248 365 365 687 3030 7526 7927 2160 4200 4760 40% 11,821 100% 12,457- 100% 3392 16% 6597 90%

Device

Die Mod

THE OUTER WORLDS (TRANSASTEROIDAL)

Name
Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Orbit
480 900 1800 2800

Orrery -- 1 Analytical Engine - 1 Astrogation Computer* -4 Telescope - 1 Improved Telescope** -2 Notes: The astrogation computer (*) is used instead of the orrery and the analytical engine, not in additionto them. The improved telescope (**) is used in place of the regular telescope. All other devices may be used together and their modifiers added. HERTZIAN COMMUNICATORS

Notes: Orbit is in millions of miles from the Sun, except that Luna's orbit (*) is measured from the Earth. Lengths of days are given in hours except that Luna's day (**) is 28 Earth days long. Mercury, since it is gravitationally locked facing the Sun, has no days. Years are given in Earth days. Diameter and circumference are given in miles. Gravity is the gravity at the surface as a percentage of that found on the Earth.

Reliability
1 2 3 4 5 6

Range (Miles)
10 100 1000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000

TURBULENCE/METEOR DAMAGE

COMMERCIAL SPACE TRAVEL

Die
1-2 3-5 6-7

Damage
Injury Minor Major

Vessel
Liner Cargo

Speed Price
2.5 2.0 s s

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A TYPICAL C O M M E R C I A L E T H E R FLYER A. Gallery M. Bridge B. Dinning Room N. Engine Room C. Bar O. Steerage D. Library P. Greenhouse E. Kitchen Q. Officer's Stateroom F. Private Dining Room R. Captain's Quarters G. Head S. Captain's Day Cabin H. Billards Room T. Chart Room I. Stateroom U. Ward Room J. Promenade V. Air Lock K. Crew's Mess W. Petty Officer's L. Crew's Quarters Quarters