En garde
En Garde! Barsoom Rules
These rules are intended to take the player to the wastes of Barsoom as written about by the great
late Edgar Rice Burroughs. In these stories, Mars is a dry and dying planet populated with exotic and
warlike human and alien races, ancient civilizations and bizarre wildlife. In recent decades these
stories have spawned a lively VSF background which unfortunately is not very compatible with the
original JC stories for various reasons. Therefore there will be some suggestions to stick to one of two specific canons.
Victorian Science Fiction Canon:
This is the most versatile of the Martian universes. Here, like in the Space 1889 backgrounds, Mars is
essentially an unexplored territory where European peoples boldly go where no one has gone before.
They fly to Mars in Aetherships and explore the surface of the Red Planet in caravans and liftwood
skyships, encountering the native civilizations much as European explorers did in the 16th to 19th
century in Asia, Africa and Meso- and South America.
Humans in this universe have no special powers on Mars, beside the fact that they might be
technologically more advanced than most of the Martian natives. These natives are mostly humanoid
beings, some bipedal, some winged, living in city states or tribal structures. Their level of civilization
and technology is comparable to Late Medieval/Early Renaissance Earth. Wargaming on VSF Mars is
essentially a fantasy kind of colonial gaming on another planet.
John Carter or Barsoom Canon
True to the ERB stories, here Mars, called Barsoom by its inhabitants, is much like in the VSF canon.
The Martian races are mostly humanoid, divided into red, white, black and yellow humanoids. Next
to these live the giant six-limbed Green martians, originally constructs of the ancient White Martians,
the current Therns. There are however some essential differences compared to the VSF canon.
First, Mars cannot be reached by space, but only by very rare and inaccessible portals which
transport oneâs energy form to Barsoom and transform this into a human body. Few humans manage
to make this crossing, the most famous of whom is American Civil War hero John Carter. Earthlings
on Mars are therefore rare. If not unique.
Second, due to Marsâ light gravity Earth-born humansâ muscles gain greatly enhanced strength that
essentially turn an Earthling into a minor superhero, capable of making huge jumps and other feats
of strength. This effectively prohibits playing with lots of Earthlings, since what fun would playing an army of superheroes be?
Thirdly, the human civilizations of Barsoom are technologically more advanced than contemporary
Earth civilizations. They are centuries old, aided by the much longer lifespans of Martians who can
easily reach over 500 Earth years of age. They employ enormous flying ships, energy sources of
unparalleled power and even have found a way to provide the dying planet with an artificial
atmosphere on which all life on Mars is dependent.
All Martian races are very warlike and adhere to warriorâs codes of honour that proscribe chivalrous
behavior in combat.
Red Martians
The technologically advanced red-skinned inhabitants of the moderate regions of Barsoom populate
a number of city states, among which Helium and Zodanga are the most powerful (and rivalrous).
Red Martians have mastered flight and energy-powered firearms.
Red firearms are semi-automatics and count as rifles and pistols in En Garde! They need never be
reloaded, as they employ tiny, highly energized radium bullets that explode on impact and do a
disproportionate amount of damage to their size.
Red Martians basically folow human stats as used in En Garde!. Red Martians may never choose armor. May be mounted on a Thoat (+10). May use skyships.
Green Martians
The 10 feet tall green-skinned and four-armed barbarians of the Barsoomian wastes and deserts are
feared all over the planet. Massively strong and tough and ferocious in combat they are literally bred
for war, as the ancient white Martians constructed them as artificial warriors and laborers. They
roam the deserts as nomadic tribes on their big Thoats and inhabit the ruins of old abandoned cities
that litter the surface of the dying planet. They war with everyone, including each other, with
barbaric customs like torturing and eating their defeated opponents. They should be viewed as
fearsome adversaries in combat.
Having an inbred knack for military technology and combat medicine, they employ surprisingly
advanced weapons for their barbaric demeanor.
Green firearms are more primitive than their Red counterparts. Rifles are powerful singe-shot breech
loaders that need to be reoaded. Due to their size, they are even able to damage flying ships with a -2 modifier. Pistols are simple revolver designs that do not need to reload and are comparable to a red pistol.
Green Martians use human En Garde stats with the following changes:
Combat Pool +1
Movement Fast
Initiative +1
Shoot +1
Traits: Powerful, Extremely Tough.
Green Martians may never choose armor. May be mounted on a Thoat (+10). All Green Martians are Extremely Tough. Green Martians never board or use skyships.
Extremely Tough:
· Green Martians gain a -1 on the roll to discard Stun counters.
· They ignore the effects of Light Wounds. Two Light Wounds still make a Grievous Wound.
· Grievous Wounds only cause an effect normally seen with Light Wounds. Any Wound on top
of a Grievous Wound still causes a Critical Wound.
· Critical Wounds have the normal affect.
