Credits Links

Authors: Rose Bailey and Audrey Whitman This wouldn’t have been possible without Daniel Bayn’s
Wushu System: Daniel Bayn Wushu system. Find out more at http://danielbayn.com/wushu/.
Editor: Elizabeth Greenberg You can always find the latest on Cavaliers of Mars
at http://www.cavaliersofmars.com. And while you’re at
Art Directors: Michael Chaney and Richard Thomas
it, why not read “The Apprentice’s Tale,” an in-character
Art: Chris Huth setting exploration at http://blog.fantasyheartbreaker.
Special Thanks: Benjamin Baugh, Daniel Bayn, Jeff com/2012/03/04/the-apprentices-tale/?
Mikoni

© 2015 Rose Bailey. All rights reserved. Text and illus-

trations are the property of Rose Bailey. Reproduction
without the written permission of the publisher is ex-
pressly 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.

2
Introduction 5 Geira 9

Rules 5 Adventure 10
Core Concepts 5 The City of Vance 10
Description 5
Festival in the Plaza 10
Traits 6
The Plaza 10
Vitality 6
The Action 11
Applause Dice 6
Searching the Dredge 12
Resolution 6
The Dredge 12
Chance Rolls 6
The Action 12
Conflicts 6
Cornering
Sample Characters 8 Ruvar the Blue 14
The Crypts 14
Kseniya Malaya 8 The Action 14
“Sunny” Lucio 8 Resolution 15
Sisera Ipato 8 Customizing the Adventure 15
Zillah 9

3
4
 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 Pale 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, spit-
ting 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 role-
playing 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 intro-
duce the setting.
Rules
Cavaliers of Mars is based on the Wushu gaming system,
which rewards vivid descriptions by using them to make char-
acters’ actions more successful. By awarding more dice for bet-
ter 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.
Core Concepts
Cavaliers of Mars is built on a few fundamentals.
5
Description
The heart of the game is description. The more detail
a player describes her character’s actions in, the more likely
those actions are to help her succeed.
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 plummet-
ing downward into a canal. Details can even be negative; a
player can describe how her character’s ear is nicked by a
barely-dodged slash with a knife. For each Detail a player de-
scribes, she receives a die.
Generally, there will be a maximum number of dice that
can be earned by each player’s 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 de-
scribes it, exactly as the player describes it. Compared to some oth-
er roleplaying games, there’s a lot less “I try” and a lot more “I do.”
The exceptions to the Principle of Narrative Truth are
Vetoes and the Resolution rule. If any player at the table feels
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 sit-
uation mechanically gets to narrate the end of that situation.
That means that you can’t use a Detail to resolve the stakes of
a Conflict. For example, if your character is facing down the
Fourth Son of Phobos, you can’t simply narrate that your char-
acter chops off his head until you’ve depleted his Vitality and
hence ended the Conflict.
Traits
Traits are short descriptions of a character’s 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 situ-
ations.
Vitality
Vitality measures a character’s ability to stay involved in
a Conflict. Depending on the type of Conflict, it might rep-
resent anything from physical wounds to a character’s repu-
tation or credibility. When a character dips below 0 Vitality,
they can no longer act in the scene... and are likely wound-
ed, captured, or in deadly danger. Vitality refreshes between
scenes.
Applause Dice
When a player describes something particularly entertain-
ing, 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 re-
ceiving player decides to add it to a roll. An Applause Die can
be added to any pool, regardless of whether the die cap has
already been reached with description. A player can accumu-
late any number of Applause Dice, but may only spend one
each round and may only keep them until the end of the game
session.
Resolution
There are two types of resolution: Chance Rolls and
Conflicts.
Chance Rolls
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 isn’t enough danger or opposition to call
for a full Conflict.
In a Chance Roll, any players whose characters are in-
volved take turns narrating, either before or after the GM
describes circumstances which might interfere. Each partic-
ipant, including the GM, counts Details, up to the die cap.
Next, 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’s usually positive.
6
DIFFICULTY NUMBERS
Number Difficulty
1 Trivially Easy
2 Relatively Easy
3 Challenging
4 Difficult
5 Extremely Hard
Example:
The dice cap is three. Shizri is using her Expert Climber
(3) Trait. The GM declares the situation Relatively Easy (2).
Shizri’s player describes: Shizri bluffs her way past the
outer gate with a falsified pass. / Once inside, she pulls a wick-
ed-looking grapple from her pack, and throws it into a tower
window. / Swiftly, she climbs the attached rope. (3 Details)
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 Details)
Shizri’s 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 de-
manding 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.
Conflicts come in two types: Challenges, where the danger
comes from many or impersonal sources, and Confrontations,
where the danger comes from a single foe. A mob or a fire might
be a Challenge; a showdown with an archenemy is a Confron-
tation. Both Challenges and Confrontations take place over a
number of rounds, in which each player gets a turn.
Challenges
A Challenge has two components: a Threat Rating and
a Danger Rating. The Threat Rating measures how many At-
tack 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 can’t
defend themselves. Usually, this is 1; under particularly dire
circumstances it might be 2 or 3.
In each round of a Challenge, players take turns describ-
ing and collecting dice for each Detail, just as they would
in a Chance Roll. The difference is that when they’re 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.
The GM describes the hazards involved in the Chal-
lenge, but does not build a dice pool from the description.
Once everyone has described their character’s actions,
they roll their dice. Each Defense success blocks one point of
Danger Rating; any unblocked Danger is subtracted from the
character’s Vitality.
Each Attack success is subtracted from the Challenge’s
Threat Rating. When the Threat Rating reaches 0, the GM
describes how the Challenge ends.
If the round ends and the Threat Rating remains above
0, the Conflict continues into another round, where the pro-
cess of description and rolling begins again.
Example:
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.
The Apprentice’s 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 what’s 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 Details)
The player splits her 4 dice evenly between Attack and
Defense. She’s rolling against the Apprentice’s 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.
Confrontations
Confrontations occur between player characters and ma-
jor 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.
In a Confrontation, the GM and players take turns de-
scribing the action, each building a dice pool from their De-
tails. Usually, it works well to do this blow-by-blow, with a play-
er 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.
7
Players split their dice into Attack and Defense, just as with
Challenges. In this case, the GM also splits her Antagonist’s dice
into Attack and Defense. Successes on the GM’s Attack dice are
treated just like the Danger Rating in a Challenge, each being
countered by one player Defense success. Similarly, each of the
player’s Attack successes are countered by the GM’s Defense suc-
cesses, with any left over being subtracted from the Antagonist’s
Vitality.
Rounds continue until the Antagonist has run out of Vi-
tality, at which point the player narrates his ultimate defeat.
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 Flashy Bladework (5). The die cap is 3.
Skar taunts Dema: “I’ll cut you down like I did your
mongrel father.” (1 Detail)
Dema pretends to be drawn in by the taunt, swinging
wildly for Skar’s head / distracting from the more deliberate
thrust she makes with her dagger. (2 Details)
Skar pulls out of the way barely in time / but the sparkle
never leaves his eyes. (3 Details)
Dema just grins and closes in again. (3 Details)
Dema’s 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 1
into Attack. He rolls 1 Attack success and 1 Defense success,
losing 1 Vitality point to Dema and costing her 1 in return.
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 Chal-
lenges 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 exam-
ple, 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.
If an Antagonist is facing multiple opponents, then the
GM should divide Attack successes among those opponents
after the dice have been rolled.
 Sample
Characters
Kseniya Malaya pay his due.
Entertainer 3: His city will love your picture of glory,

Killer Thoughts
though; and stories are safer than battles.
of
Sharp Eyes 3: Spot the arrow with your number, or pick
Vitality: 3
a mark; but you best keep an eye out.
Trappings: Subtle poisons, books of forbidden lore, let-
Grudge Against Vancian Nobility 4: I turned to the
ters to be lost forever.
street because one of them thought he was too good to pay
Weapons: Many small blades, hook and line. me.

Sisera Ipato
Vance, Slum Rat 3: I was a dock daughter, fishing for
rich men’s trash; too ambitious to stay.
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 Vitality: 3
reasons.
Trappings: An abandoned estate and tomb, a broad
Patient 3: A good plan requires care and diligence to see black hat, a faded child’s drawing.
it through. I’m 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
Vance, Noble House of Ipato 3: I was born into a house
I frequently work together for a mutual client.
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.

Bitter Young Soldier

Vitality: 3
Trappings: Soldier’s greatcloak, lock-picks, a charming
smile.
Weapons: Stolen bastard sword of Deimos steel, forged
with a foreign family’s crest.
Chiaro, Tailor’s Son 3: I grew up in the terrible shadow
of the great Cydonian tombs.
Soldier 3: I fancied that so much majesty would make
me brave and strong.
Thief 3: But not even a lord’s soldiers can make him
Cavalier 4: Until I heard the call of the desert, and never
stopped walking.
Perfect Direction 3: All cavaliers can navigate the shift-
ing sands; I have never lost my way.
Broken Home 4: The sand has ground away my feelings
for a life abandoned, but I cannot say the same for the family
I left behind.
Note: Sisera’s Cavalier Trait enables him to navigate
flawlessly and ride any beast. It also lets him “ride” other
unlikely things, like falling chunks of masonry or kites and
airships.

8
Zillah
The Rising Fifth
Vitality: 3
Trappings: Charts of the heavens, maps of the Prince’s
court, a list of names.
Weapons: A cold and uncanny look, hard-edged as any
knife.
Vance, Merchant Class 3: I am the fifth daughter of a
fecund but unremarkable accountant.
Adept 4: And I’ve had the gift as long as I can remem-
ber.
Astrologer 3: It wasn’t long before I began using it to
track the heavens.
Numerology 4: I know 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.
Unreliable 3: So much time spent looking inward has
left me less attentive than others. Without a guiding hand,
I’m apt to get distracted.
Note: Zillah’s Adept Trait allows her to read the surface
thoughts from other people’s minds, determine people’s gen-
eral 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.
9
Geira
Rightful property of former
Magister Marcellus Tertias
Tegallianus
Vitality: 3
Trappings: Greases and tinctures, a lifetime’s worth of
beatings, forged papers
Weapons: A heavy wrench and powder of sleep.
Vance, Indentured Servant 3: I grew up in the Magis-
ter’s house, for all the good it did me.
Servant 3: There, I learned that I would be free when I
paid for the clothes on my back.
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.
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 couldn’t save her, but I
made sure it couldn’t happen to another young wife.
On the Run 3: Vance is a big city, and I left the clothes.
But I can’t hide forever.
Note: Geira’s Fixer Trait allows her to repair and gain
information from machines and structures. It’s a general pur-
pose engineering ability that verges on the uncanny.
 Adventure
The adventure begins at a Vancian festival. Assassins
strike at a visiting dignitary, prompting the heroes to action,
each for their own reasons. The defeated assassins reveal that
they were hired in the Dredge, a lower-class district in the
depths of Vance. Investigating the Dredge uncovers that they
were in the employ of lllium and its goddess-queen, the Prin-
cess Invincible. The heroes follow that trail up into Vance’s
towers, and face off against the leader of the assassins, Ruvar
the Blue, as he tries to make his escape.
himself. In matters of war, his power becomes supreme. How-
ever, since companies of Hounds are sponsored by the mer-
chant houses, their loyalty quickly returns to the commercial
establishment when peace returns.
Many con-men, mercenaries, and outright thieves peo-
ple 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 Pale
tribe chief.

The City Vance

of
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 sto-
ries towards the sky. The locals enjoy shade, sweet water, and
the produce of the farms along the canals. Trade also brings
The crypts in the city are in its highest towers. Soldiers
refer to watching from the towers as “crypt-watch,” and civil-
ians sometimes use the term to refer to any tedious nocturnal
task.
Poor or criminal dead are placed in the outgoing canals
to be swept away forever.
Festival in the Plaza
During a festival, assassins make an attempt on the life
of a visiting dignitary. The heroes are spurred to action.

The Plaza
exotic goods and great wealth by canal and caravan.
At night, the city is lit with many-colored lanterns, ac-
The Plaza Arez is never quiet at night. The famous songs
cording to a superstition deeply held but long since forgot-
of the gondoliers echo throughout the forest of bronze stat-
ten. Windows are made of glass salvaged from the Prismatic
ues, muffled slightly by the small, expensively maintained
Wastes, fit together into intricate patterns.
trees -- some of the last on Mars.
Vance does not possess a sky-navy as such, though its
Never quiet, but always dark. The Plaza, built to com-
greatest scholars are working long and hard at the problem,
memorate a long-forgotten achievement, is famously danger-
and have perfected other means of short-term flight. The city
ous at night. It is ill-lit, as the buildings that surround it tower
does have several towers with sky docks for visiting dignitar-
ever upwards. It is a dark pit at the heart of the city where
ies from Zodiac and Illium. A few merchant houses own sky-
only thieves and the unwary walk... on any night but tonight.
yachts, but so far none have replicated the technology.
Tonight, lanterns of every color fill the Plaza to celebrate
The Prince of Vance is chosen from among the mer-
the Small Moon festival, when the moon Deimos passes clos-
chant houses. The city employs a regular and professional
est to the surface. On the outskirts of the city, youths hang
fighting force, the Prince’s Hounds. The master of this force
by kites to try and reach the moon. They are lured by the
is the Dog of Vance, who is nearly as powerful as the Prince

10
thought of easy riches waiting for the brave and strong in
Deimos’s 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.
As the night deepens, the Plaza fills with people of every
description. Throngs of Red Martians of every social class, a
drunken party of ape-like Zaius en route back from Chiaro...
and a lone plant-woman from the Wyeth rainforest who sim-
ply got caught up in the crowd.
All are gathered to witness the brightest night of the
year, and all are masked. Some wear simple yummock-leath-
er domino masks, others ornate woven facades covering all
but the merest hint of the owner’s form. At the end of the
Small Moon festival, the year’s 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 to-
night Vance says goodbye to last year’s secrets.
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 be-
tween Lady Aldonza and the Prince has potentially far-reach-
ing 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.
The Action
Depending on your group’s 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 Party
Socially, the characters might do any of the following:
Join the drunken philosophical argument among the
Zaius.
Acquaint themselves with the Wyeth Woman and dis-
cover what brings her to Vance.
Hob-nob with the upper class. On this occasion, even
the highest aristocrats are likely to talk to their lessers, partic-
ularly 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.
Find a glass of cool wine and a perch from which to
people-watch and listen for gossip.
After everyone’s settled into their character, abruptly
move on to the assassination attempt.
11
The Assassination Attempt
Among all this color and festivity, there is a small contin-
gent of men in black cloaks embroidered with fanciful gold-
en designs. They sport black-and-gold masks to match, and
have casually integrated themselves into the mob around the
Lady and the Prince.
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 (en-
tangled in the elaborate sash she wore over her gown), they
stab him several times and then move to escape.
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
I didn’t know about this. An assassination that I’m not
part of could mean I’m 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
There’s no doubt that most royal-types deserve as much,
but they didn’t look like any soldiers I know. And if the lady
isn’t 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.
Sisera Ipato
They’re killing civilians; I can’t stand for that. It’s ter-
rible when a man dies for no reason; worse when one dies
simply for being in the way.
Zillah
The stars spell disaster if a Prince dies tonight. And they
weren’t thinking about Vance at all. Who would benefit from
altering the map of Vance’s heavens?
Geira
I can’t let someone else die just because I’m afraid. The
lady can’t have seen me more than once in the Magister’s
house. She won’t recognize me. If I can just see the blade,
maybe I can save him.
Revolutionary Assassins/Riot
Threat Rating: 5 * Number of Players
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.
Dangers
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 some-
one finds out what was on those blades, he could die at any
time in the next few minutes or hours.
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. They’re headed for the widest nearby
canal, which is filled with boat traffic. Once there, they’ll
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 they’re 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 won’t 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 im-
plies that someone who happened to uncover a traitor would
be well-rewarded.
Searching the
Dredge
Led by the words of one of the assassins, the heroes are
led to one of Vance’s more dangerous districts in search of
clues.
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 con-
struction 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 un-
established immigrants. The district is near some of the city’s
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major barracks, meaning that off-duty soldiers come here to
drink... and often end up moonlighting as security officers.
The result is something between a depressed residential area
and a raucous red-light district, choked by the stinging mias-
ma 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, it’s downright chaotic.
This segment of the story is designed for investigation.
It’s 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 Ksenyia’s familiarity with
the Dredge and superior grasp of their surroundings to keep
her out of harm’s 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’s broad, black hat 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 that’s 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 com-
plaining 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. He’s
planning on going to a particular tower crypt tonight in
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.
The Winking Lapis
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 Khaamat’s 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 Earth, the blue star
of ill-omen, and of the blue dust halo the sun shows at dawn
and dusk.
The Winking Lapis is a fortune teller’s shop, where all
the fears of ancestors and looming mortality can be con-
jured and put to rest. Most of the first floor is devoted to
Khaamat’s 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.
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 Khaamat’s 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 ob-
sidian chits.
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 Rat-
ing: 2)
Information: An employee of Khaamat believed that
one of the assassins would marry him. He was being taken
advantage of, but he did learn that the apparent revolution-
aries were in the pay of the city-state of Illium.
The Cavern
The Cavern is, literally, a hole in the wall. Cracked ma-
sonry 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.
Now the chapel and cloisters host devotees of a differ-
ent sort. The Cavern is a drug den, where a tall, pudgy man
named Azanza plays host to those who find themselves in
need of untroubled sleep or unending wakefulness. He al-
13
lows 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.
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.
With the festival at its height tonight, nearly three doz-
en 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). They’ll quickly turn rowdy if they suspect the characters
of being dangerous; Azanza will incite them if he thinks he’s
being investigated by authorities or suspects the characters
are there to muscle in on his business.
(Threat Rating: 3 * Number of Characters; Danger Rat-
ing: 1)
Information: A mysterious new customer showed up
just last week. He was most recently seen yesterday, mention-
ing something about a meeting in the sky crypts during the
festival.
Barilla’s
When people are down on their luck, they come to Bari-
lla, and they bring the things they prize most. His pawn shop
is among the few buildings in the Dredge that are well-kept.
In fact, it’s immaculate. Even most wealthy shopkeepers can’t
boast a shop as clean as Barilla’s. The walls are lined with ob-
jects that once meant everything to someone. Jewels, swords,
stone cameos of loved ones... they’re all here.
Barilla hires off-duty soldiers as security, and he keeps at
least three of them around at any given time. He’s well aware
that his valuable merchandise is in a dangerous place. Still,
the soldiers don’t 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.
Trouble: Barilla isn’t 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 Rat-
ing: 1)
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 Ter-
tias Tegallianus. Barilla’s had a lot of second thoughts about
keeping the item. Everyone knows that wealthy men leave
the most dangerous curses.
Cornering
Ruvar the Blue
The heroes ascend to the sky crypts to confront the mas-
ter of the assassins.
The Crypts
In the highest towers of the city rest the bodies of
Vance’s wealthiest citizens. To be interred close to the sky is
a sign of status.
The ornate tombs haunt the city’s skyline. Their archi-
tecture 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.
The crypts have also been put to practical use. Most
nights, soldiers keep watch from the towers over the sur-
rounding 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.
As a result of these activities, as well as ongoing construc-
tion, the grand tombs are connected by ropes, narrow bridg-
es, and scaffolding. Traversing the tombs is quite possible, if
vertigo-inducing.
The Action
Tonight, the mausoleum-towers are almost empty of
watchmen. The Small Moon festival is a compelling distrac-
tion, and the dutiful few who remain are easily persuaded by
Ruvar’s 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 man’s bed rather than face
the blade of one of the traitors.
Ruvar is secretly in the employ of Illium, and a personal
agent of that city’s Princess Invincible. He plans to escape
before the Hounds of Vance can be mobilized to track him
down. Knowing that Vance’s few sky docks are more thor-
oughly guarded than the crypts, his plan is to meet an Il-
lium 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.
Ruvar is accompanied by a small group of trusted agents.
Their motivations range from Illium’s coin to personal loyal-
ty 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 activat-
ed again at some later date.
Ruvar and his agents are surprised by the heroes, but
they wouldn’t have been traveling in force if they weren’t
ready for trouble. After any initial surprise attacks, they rally
and take on the heroes.
14
Ruvar and his agents battle the characters simultane-
ously. Treat characters fighting the agents as involved in a
Challenge, and those engaged with Ruvar as involved in a
Confrontation.
When Ruvar’s Vitality has been depleted by 3, his sky-
ship arrives. While it appears to be one of the yachts some-
times 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.
If Ruvar is killed or captured, most of his men scatter
and run. Drop the threat rating by 15.
The Detail cap is 8.
Ruvar the Blue
A handsome man, almost young, with unsettlingly blue eyes.
Vitality: 5
Weapons: 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.
Sure-footed 4: Even at the greatest heights, I can leap and
fight.
Turncoat Soldier 3: Before I was tempted by Illium’s radi-
um coins, I served the Dog of Vance.
Ruvar’s Agents
Threat Rating: 8 * Number of Players
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
The agents fight as a group. While one might engage a
single foe, her 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 bridg-
es, though they may also use the great heights and precarious
positioning to their advantage.
More agents might spring from within the crypts or drag
their enemies inside to fight among the brown bones and
funerary jewels.
 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.
Resolution
The sun rises with its eerie blue halo, and the city begins to
put itself back together. Hangovers are nursed. Masons and oth-
er crafters go to work repairing the results of the night’s 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 ar-
en’t going to be throwing any parades in their honor, the
characters are likely to receive quiet offers of lucrative em-
ployment, 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 poten-
tial pensions and property rights in the future. She’s also like-
ly to consider the characters trusted agents in future endeav-
ours... including in possible covert retaliation against Illium.
Customizing
the Adventure
We expect you’ll tailor this adventure to your group;
none of us ever runs a published adventure just as written.
This particular story focuses mainly on swashbuckling ac-
15
tion, 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 Aldonza’s
family might think of her dalliance with a foreign prince, and
whether some factions might ally themselves with actual rev-
olutionaries, such as the Mongrels or the Twelve Dead Men.
It’s also a relatively linear story: this works well for a
crash course in the setting, but you might want to try some-
thing 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 Hangman’s Garden
or chase them across Mars and into the Labyrinth of Night.
You could also consider different ways of tying the char-
acters 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 you’d 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 Coro-
nal. Are they true revolutionaries, or are they, too, in the pay
of Illium?
However you choose to run it, we hope you have an
evening’s fun getting to know our Mars. We’d love to hear
what you think; you can e-mail rose@fantasyheartbreaker.
com with your thoughts. We’ll see you again atop Chiaro’s
pyramids, or perhaps Illium’s perch on the Radium Plateau.
In the meantime, hold your sword close, your flask closer,
and keep an eye out for the full game!
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 Pale Martians rule the wastes, remembering a history whose weight
would crush a lesser people.

In this adventure, you’ll find yourself in Vance at festival time. When rev-
olutionaries strike a visiting prince, you’ll need to explore the city’s dark
underbelly, before racing across its towered tombs!

Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a
world of savagery and romance.

Includes:

• A complete adventure set in one of dying Mars’ greatest remaining cities.

• The innovative Wushu rules, for high-flying, swashbuckling adventure.

• Five pre-generated player characters, ready to get into the heart of the
action.