The red sands of Mars are stained dark with the blood of conqueror and conquered, of explorer and savage beast, of alien and native alike. Mars, the Red Planet, named for some long-dead Earthling god of war has lived up to its namesake. Armies march, archaeologists battle the traps of Ancient Mars, and the warbands of the native Chanari raid the towns of the ‘civilized’ castes with impunity. Life on Mars is one of conflict, of gun and blade, of bow and fang, and of ideas. ‘Freedom’ cry out the Julandri slaves, ‘faith’ call back the Kastari priestly sects, ‘mine’ scream the princes and freebooters!
What is Blood Red Mars (5e)?
Blood Red Mars (5e) brings the Red Planet in all its blood soaked glory to Rocket Age (5e). Inside you will find:
–A complete gazetteer of Mars from the Polar Ice Caps, across the Great Silt Sea, and on to the canal valleys and sun blasted deserts.
–Dozens of story and character hooks for GM and player alike.
–A look at the organizations, both Martian and Alien, active on Mars that can serve as friends, foils, and foes.
–An in depth look at the Chanari, the only native culture of Mars that still prospers.
–New character options for Chanari, Silthuri, and Roboman species. New class options for the Agent, Explorer, Scientist, Scoundrel, and Soldier. Mars focused backgrounds such as Free Legionnaire or Dethroned Prince.
–New gear from the Chanari fire lance to the silt raider.
–Expanded artifacts of Ancients Mars such as the psychic energy dampaner and the deadly RAY sword.
–Deadly flora and fauna of Mars, including the great silt dragon and desert well tree.
–The Stolen Artifact a complete adventure for Tier 1 characters that should serve as an introduction to Mars.
Can our heroes prosper on Mars or will their blood too soak into the sands of the Red Planet!
Add-On Perks
The following can be added to your perks to expand you Rocket Age (5e) collection. All are available in PDF or POD+ PDF.
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Rocket Age 5e Corebook ($15 PDF only, $50 PDF + POD)
The 1938 that never was and the Solar System that should have been, in 5e! Rocket Age is a radium punk sci-fi game of exploring the Solar System, fighting Nazis, Stalinists, aliens, and the bizarre environments of nine planets (yes nine, it is 1938 and Pluto is a full-fledged planet). It is a game of ancient ruins on Mars, the steaming jungles of Venus, strange life in the clouds of Jupiter, RAY guns, chromed rocket ships, radium fuel, hot exhaust, and fins. Rocket Age (5e) is broadly compatible with the full range of 5e games. Inside you will find:
–17 playable species for the Solar System. Earthlings, Metisians, Jovians, and all the castes of Mars.
–Five classes, Agent, Explorer, Scientist, Scoundrel, and Soldier complete with subclasses and options
–Character backgrounds such as the Rocket Ranger or Europan Emissary
–All the gear you will need from RAY guns to hamaxes
–Feats for those using that optional 5e rule. Go ahead, Dace it Out
–A unique psychic power system that allows any character to wield the power of the mind!
–An easy to learn but in depth vehicle system with vehicles from planetary surface to outer space
–A tour of the Solar System of 1938, a complete setting, no, make that nine planets to set your games on
–Ancient artifacts of lost civilizations, how to find them, how to (mis)use them
–Hordes of villainous foes and alien beasts to battle against or alongside
Rocket Ranger’s Handbook 5e ($6 PDF only, $16 PDF + POD)
Leaked to the public, the handbook issued to all Rocket Rangers and their allies. The Rocket Ranger’s Handbook 5e offers details of the best of the best, the US Rocket Rangers, their organization, uniforms, equipment, and operations. Character options for Ranger characters and others. Mission profiles and campaign seeds. All with commentary by the top rangers in the field: Captain Henry Cotter and Lt. Esperanza Garcia, as well as disgraced Ranger turned PI on Mars, Ed Knight.
Rocket Ranger Pin ($5)
A metal pin bearing the winged Ranger emblem!
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Who is Why Not Games
Why Not Games is headed by Ken Spencer (you might know him from Rocket Age, Northlands Saga, or Adventures in Middle-Earth). Krystal Spencer handles the graphic design as well as business management. There two form the core ownership team, but their regular gaming buddies contribute as guinea pigs, er, playtesters.
We couldn’t do it without our freelance artists, such as Terresa Guido, ReOnna Smith, Miquel Santos, Eric Utterback, Josh Lambert, and others.
Main Site: https://www.whynotgames.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/whynotgamescom/
Discord Server: https://discord.gg/n2hTqhr
Twitter: @whynotgamescom
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2d3ldMEzTH3up...
Drive-Thru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/11709/W...
About the Author
Ken Spencer is an award winning RPG author, game designer, and all around good guy. He has worked for many companies, including Chaosium, Cubicle 7, Frog God Games, Necromancer Games, and Steve Jackson Games, When not fulfilling his duties as an author for Frog God and Necromancer Games, he runs his own company, Why Not Games, most known for their Retro Sci-fi RPG Rocket Age.
ReOnna Smith, Cover Artist
ReOnna Smith is a Freelance Artist and 2020 pandemic graduate. Her artistic focus is primarily on character/creature illustration and design on a variety of genres, topics, and even different time periods. Creatures of myths, legends, superheroes, or seemingly abnormal humans/animals have always been the main subjects of her work. It is just more fun that way and keeps things exciting!
Portfolio link: https://bunnyteaa.carrd.co/
Terese Guido, Interior Artist
Teresa has been passionate about art and games since childhood, She has always tried to put her imagination on paper. Teresa graduated from art school in Italy and now works as a professional freelance visual artist.
Links: https://www.artstation.com/teresaguido
Eric Utterback, Interior Artist
Eric Utterback is a Contemporary Fantasy Artist and Illustrator from the Midwest. He spends most of his time somewhere between oil paint and digital media. Focusing on the intermix of fantasy, sci fi, and fine art and how they infer on one another. He has studied painting at IUPUI and been working freelance since 2017.
Link: https://www.ericutterback.com/
Miguel Santos, Interior Artist
Miguel lives in Lisboa, Portugal. He is an indie comic book author and freelance artist for RPGs, tabletop/card games, and magazines.
Links: https://miguel_santos.artstation.com/
https://www.instagram.com/pictish_scout/
Giordano Manes, Layout Artist
Born in Naples, he was only 13 years of age when he started working in the world of book publishing. During the years he has edited over 500 books.
Emanuele Granatello, Quality Control, Project Management, Kaizoku Press
Boardgame and RPG enthusiast for more time than he cares to remember and linguist by trade, Emanuele Granatello has been living in Japan for over 16 years. He’s also founder of Kaizoku Press, a RPG publishing company, that he uses as a cover for his pathological compulsion to translate games (please, don’t use the word Localize when he’s around). During last 6 years of activity Kaizoku Press has ported into Italian many RPGs and RPGs supplements such as: Mutants & Masterminds, Rappan Athuk, Kobolds Ate My Baby, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and Comrades; and into Japanese, Lex Arcana (which is also the first Italian RPG ever to be translated into an Asian language).
https://kaizokupress.it/english/
Project Delivery
POD Perks
POD perks will be packed and mailed by our fulfillment partner Studio 2 Publishing.
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PDF Fulfillment
Digital perks will be delivered via Drive-Thru RPG.
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