SHADOWS OF ARES

HOW TO PLAY

Shadows Of Ares is a game where the players tell a collective story. 

You are the crew of a ship cobbled together from spare parts. It’s cramped and difficult to run, but it’s yours.

In play the Game Master describes the situation and then Character Players describe what their Characters want do in response. The Game Master then describes the results of those actions and the new situation.

If the things the Characters want to do are difficult or being opposed by other forces in the world the GM will tell the players to make an Equipment Use, Construction, Deconstruction, Violence or Medicine roll. They might impose a penalty of minus one, minus two or minus three if the task is particularly difficult. The results of the roll will tell the players how successful the characters are at their task.

Mars is a harsh place and the GM should be make a point of filling the character’s lives with complications, shady contacts, hazardous environments and macgyvered retro gear that is only ever inches away from breaking down.

Rolling

When attempting a non-trivial task roll 2d6 minus any penalties from the GM plus any relevant training levels you have plus the Equipment level of the main Equipment you’re using, if any.

When using Equipment, also roll 1d20. If the d20 roll is less than the Equipment's failure rate the piece of Equipment breaks and destroys one of its components.

Equipment use:
Many actions such as piloting a ship, hacking a computer or cooking a meal are simply defined as using a relevant piece of Equipment.

15+	You are wildly successful putting yourself at an advantage for future tasks.	
10+	You skillfully complete your task with no troubles.	
8+	You are only partially successful.	
7-	You make a mistake in your execution and fail to achieve your intention leading to further complications.	

Deconstruction:
Pull apart Equipment to get its components.
If you need a component from a piece of equipment that isn’t listed as one of its main components in the description you can, with the GM’s permission, impose a -1 penalty on yourself to change the type of a component as you extract it. Components which are changed in this way always become level one on extraction.

15+	Get all components undamaged	
10+	Destroy 1 component of your choice	
8+	Roll 1d6 for each component, destroy any which roll 1	
7-	Destroy all but 1 component chosen by GM (If only one component, it is destroyed)	

Construction:
Combine multiple pieces of Equipment and/or components to make new Equipment.
New Equipment has all components of all things used to make it.
Equipment can have components that have a higher or lower level than the standard and components that aren’t even in the standard build. The Equipment’s failure rate is one plus the number of components in the equipment that are either not in the standard build or have a level below what is specified in the standard build.
If you try to construct Equipment that in the equipment list you must give it a name and describe how its components make it work if this makes sense to the GM they will add it to the equipment list and you may attempt the Construction roll to make it.

15+	Craft the thing, it's failure rate is one	
10+	Craft the thing	
8+	Craft the thing but increase its failure rate by two	
7-	Craft something that is useless/doesn’t work	

Violence:
Hurt someone

15+	Critically Wound them.	
10+	Wound them.	
8+	Wound them and take a wound.	
7-	Don’t wound anyone.	

Medicine:
Heal someone

15+ 	Remove a critical wound.	
10+ 	Remove a wound.	
8+ 	Prevent a normal wound from progressing to critical.	
7- 	Advance the wound towards critical by 1 hour	
Wounds
When you take a wound roll 2d6 to see where a Wound is. Wounds can be physical or mental. Using a wounded part of your body or mind grants a -2 penalty to roll or -5 if the wound is critical. A regular wound progresses to critical in 6 hours without medicine. A critical wound that is rolled directly becomes permanent if not healed within 10 minutes. Wound rolls of 10-12 becoming permanent kill the character or make them insane.

Roll	Physical	Mental	
12	Head	Reality	
10-11	Chest/Gut	Self Control	
3-9	Body/Limb	Focus	
2	Eyes/Ears/Mouth	Identity	

CHARACTERS:
When you first create your character you have training level one for three pieces of Equipment, training level two for another three and training level three for another three.

Similarly you have one training level in one roll type (Construction, Deconstruction, Violence or Medicine), training level two in another and training level three in a third.

Your character also starts out owning eight pieces of Equipment but only four may be higher than level one and only one may be higher than level two. Additionally at least one of those pieces of Equipment must be a component of the group’s ship. As the characters own their ship collectively they should work together to decide on a name for it.

Whenever you fail a check by rolling a double one, increase your training level in the Equipment you are using.

SHIPS AND VEHICLES
A ship requires fuel storage, a propellant drive a navigation system. Most also have at least one pressurized cabin.

To pilot a ship, or any other vehicle, make an Equipment Use roll using the vehicle’s Equipment level and your training levels with its navigation system.

A vehicle’s Equipment level is calculated as the sum of the Equipment levels of the vehicle’s propulsion and navigation Equipment minus the number of major Equipment that make up the ship.

COMPONENTS
Equipment is made up of components, a component has a type from the Component Types list and a level from one to three.

Component Types
Organic, Textile, Conductive, Reflective, Structural, Articulated, Fuel, Shielded, Sharp, Weighted, Data, Computing, Output, Input, Motorized, Propellant, Transfer, Storage, Transmitting, Receiving, Heating, Cooling

EQUIPMENT
The Equipment Level of a piece of Equipment is equal to the component level of the lowest component in the Equipment.

Equipment Listing Format:
Equipment Name (components of standard build): Properties including usual uses and usual outcomes of usage failures if any.

Vac Suit (Textile3, Shielding1, Storage2): Use: Move around in the awkward suit. Failure: Trip, fumble or fall.
Strobe Goggles (Output3, Computing2, Textile1): Use: Create a psych-link between people. Failure: Induce traumatic psychosis. Cue screaming.
Cassette Player (Input2, Output1, Fuel1): Use: Play sound from a cassette. Failure: Make horrible noises or damage the cassette.
Flashlight (Output1, Fuel1): Use: Light up the area in front of you.
Data Copier (Fuel1, Input2, Output2): Use: Copy data from one tape to another.
Rebreather (Transfer3, Storage1): Use: Breath. Failure: Trip, fumble or fall.
Arcade Cabinet (Data2, Computing2, Input1, Output2): Use: Get a place on the leaderboard. Failure: Game Over.
Tin Of Peaches (Organic2, Storage1): Use: Eat me some peaches. Failure: Trip, fumble or fall.
Microwave Nutrition Enhancer (Fuel1, Heating1, Motorized1, Reflective1, Transfer2): Use: Make something edible MORE edible. Increase organic components by one level. Failure: Food Asplode or battery goes flat.
Micronuclear Battery (Fuel1, Conductive1): Use: Power a device. Failure: Goes flat, lose fuel.
Solar Recharger (Reflective3, Cooling3, Conductive3, Storage2): Use: Turns 8 hours of sunlight and a dead battery into a fully charged battery.
Handgun (Transfer1, Articulated2, Storage1): Use: Fire a bullet at someone or thing to damage or wound. Failure: Misfire, shoot something else nearby. Maybe yourself?
Neural Beamer (Input2, Transmitting2)Use: Assault someones brain with radio waves to wound their mind. Failure: Brainfreeze. Maybe wound your own mind?
Sword (Sharp2, Structural1): Use: Swing the sword at someone or thing to damage or wound. Failure: Hit something else nearby. Maybe yourself?
Propellant Drive (Propellant3, Transfer1, Cooling1)
Fuel Storage (Storage2, Fuel2, Cooling1)
Navigation System (Input2, Display1, Computing1, Motorized2)
Pressurized Cabin (Structural3, Storage2, Heating2)
Radio Transceiver (Transmitting1, Receiving1, Output1, Input1): Use: Send and receive messages over radio waves.
Landing Gear (Articulating1, Propellant2, Structural2)

Setting
History

July 20, 1969: The Apollo 11 Lunar Module guidance system suffers a fatal mishap, and the Eagle impacts on the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin are dead, and Collins returns to Earth in the Command Module.  

October 3, 1969: Alexey Leonev sets the Lunnly Korabi down on Mare Crisium and plants the Soviet flag on the Moon. Footage of the mission is carried live on TV, and the Western world is shocked. 

October 8, 1969: President Robert Kennedy orders NASA to abandon the Moon shot and put all efforts into landing astronauts on Mars. 

April 11, 1972: Viking 3 lander detects strong concentrations of the highly-valuable Rhenium on Mars. Word leaks out, and a full-scale “Gold Rush” on Mars ensues. 

1979: Hundreds of people live and work on the surface of Mars and in orbit. Industrial mining is happening at a dozen sites, Spacecraft make the 11-month trip bringing Rhenium and other minerals back to Earth, and people and supplies to Mars. Landers explore the moons of Mars, and probes investigate the Asteroid Belt. Things are generally peaceful, with mining companies laying down the law more than countries are able. But occasionally flareups happen, and discontent is always brewing under the surface. 

1980: Miscalculations by aggressive US and Soviet generals lead to a limited nuclear exchange before the US President and Soviet Premier can put a stop to them. Tens of millions are dead, and a billion people face starvation after a devastating "nuclear winter”. Supply ships from Earth to Mars dry up almost immediately. 

1985: Those on and near Mars have switched from mining to a subsistence economy, finding their own water and oxygen and growing their own food. Data has become a valuable fourth resource for the colonists. Barter has mostly replaced money, and salvaging and repurposing existing equipment is the order of the day. 

1986: The Mars radiation belt has caused a certain percentage of people to develop various paranormal powers. Most keep it a secret; some use it to their advantage. 

Areas on Mars surface: 

Isidis Planatia: Partial underground facility with too many people living there for the resources they have. 

Syrtis Major: They were studying cellular Martian lifeforms when a virus ran through the camp and killed them all. No one goes near. 

Special Robot Traverse Zone: Designed as a human “no-go” zone so semiautonomous heavy industrial robots could do their work unimpeded. Some have developed system bugs, which makes the area dangerous.  

Chryse Planitia: Lots of aqua farmed food has led to corruption here. Trust is low, with retaliatory stabbings and beatings common. 

Oxia Palus: Bit of a survivalists camp, but they will take about anything for scrap and salvage. 

Huo Hsing Vallis quadrangle: They have survived through the efforts of a wily leader who has created a cult following. 

Selected locations in Mars orbit:  

Skylab-M: Official US presence in orbit, a dozen living modules, light industrial resources, home of the Mars Consul General. One of the only video links to Earth is here. 

Kosmos 997: The official Soviet/Eastern bloc presence in orbit, with living quarters and multiple docking bays. A way station (and spying location) between the surface and orbit. The best data center in orbit, they keep the Kilobits flying, albeit slowly. 

Freeport Phoenix: Closest thing to a “shopping mall” in orbit, with a score of lashed together living modules and empty fuel tanks doubling as storefronts for the various and sundry. A common stop for ships in between orbit and the surface. Freeport runs as a loose collective, but everyone is always looking to make a barter behind their neighbor’s back. A massive solar array powers the thing, but makes for a dicey time getting in and out with your ship. 

Climax-LTV: A mining-defense company still runs this station, and they keep things running pretty close to the old days. Except there are vegetables growing in every extra space in the station now. Here they can not only fix your ship, but even build you a new one. Sort of. 

Croatan (originally Shuguang-1): Abandoned Chinese space station taken over and expanded by anarchist dropouts and criminals from Mars, calling themselves The Believers. They get high on hydroponic weed and homemade psychedelics, but they can come up with about any medicine or weird electronic device you might need. 

Almaz 5 Space Station: Sometime during the nuclear war on Earth, this unmanned station was put into "defence mode", activating its radar-aimed 23mm autocannon. There's bound to be some valuable scrap and data inside, but no one wants to get close enough to find out.  

Eagle 2 (destroyed): Remnants of a U.S. orbital weapons platform that fell victim to a suicide hunter-killer satellite. A very dangerous area to fly around, but the possibility of salvaging that 1-megawatt carbon-dioxide laser... 

Fortescue Collector: Originally an unmanned way station for ore awaiting transport to Earth, it was "adopted" by unemployed miners who rigged up a power unit and some CO2 scrubbers. It's now home to them, and they like it that way. Hard-working and suspicious by nature, they keep tabs on what's happening on the surface.  

Some Valuable Trinkets Floating Around Space: 
Battered Orlan EVA suit, the left forearm covered with notes written in Cyrillic 
Strobe light goggles for brainwave synchronization 
Old US Air Force flight jacket with an Apollo patch 
Portable Sony cassette player and a box of punk tapes 
Dazzler flashlight running on hard-to-find batteries 
EPROM writer for copying memory chips 
Chinese rebreather bag that “burns” incense for inhaling 
Space Invaders hacked to play on a CRT monitor with a light pen 
Cache of canned peaches in syrup