Hey folks, Jack Norris again. With today’s developer diary I wanted to talk a bit about adapting the world of Barsoom and the works of Burroughs for a modern RPG setting.

The world of Barsoom was created over a hundred years ago by a pulp writer writing for a mostly white male audience. That is frankly not what the RPG market looks like today. There are more woman and people of color playing games every day. LGBT players and narrators abound as well.  From a certain point of view, Carter is a somewhat problematic “white savior” or “white knight” who comes in and fixes everything for other cultures while rescuing ladies who can’t care for themselves. This is in fact the Carter I have myself had thrown at me on occasion by those determined to place Burroughs in some pulp literary dustbin with other writers.

So that was a challenge. And a clear one.

So how does one introduce Barsoom and open it up for an RPG without ignoring or undermining the original stories? How do you welcome the modern diverse RPG market while not alienating long time fans?

Well, it honestly wasn’t that hard. And I thank Edgar Rice Burroughs for that. Specifically, I want to focus on three things from the Barsoom stories that informed how we presented his world.

Truly Unique and Alien Cultures
Burroughs was the guy who created strangely human but unique alien cultures. The red Martians are not Native Americans, Indians, or anyone else. The Okar are not Asians, the First Born are not Africans. And so on.  In a move that would make certain pulp writers like Lovecraft decidedly uncomfortable, the mixing of races and cultures led to the creation of the red Martians, the central culture of Barsoom that includes numerous heroic and admirable groups and individuals. This also means the Therns, the corrupt white guys who kinda ruin everything for the second and third book aren’t actually white people in the Earth sense. Also note this wasn’t true and these cultures and races are supposed to be Earth stand-ins? Burroughs would be such an anti-establishment radical that history frankly just doesn’t bear that out.

Strong Women and Men Working Together
Burrough’s women were not usually big fighters, but they were capable of it and some like Llana of Gathol are quite skilled. They were also leaders, stateswomen, scientists, and often portrayed as smart, capable, independent, and valued. Honorable Barsoomians don’t enslave, abuse, or kill women to show some “alpha” status. No, they treat them as peers, partners, and respected companions. Even in cultures that have strong gender divides like the green Martians, we find strong women and vital cultural roles. Remember, behind every green Martian male trying to blow your heroes’ head off with a rifle is literally a green Martian woman—they make the weapons.  Thus the idea that Barsoom was filled with exceptional people of all genders was…already there. We just added some art and examples to showcase it.

Naked Not Salacious
Barsoom’s general lack of clothing was another issue. While more than a few artists over the years used the undisputable fact that most people on Barsoom wander around with few clothes to create some spicy artwork, it’s not presented as inferior or immoral in the text. Carter doesn’t go around forcing Barsoomians to “put some clothes on!”. No, he expresses some understandable culture shock and then dons a harness and cloak and wandered around “naked” like everyone else.  So this didn’t have as strong an effect on the RPG as some might expect—mostly specific art direction and an understandable lack of armor rules.

Strong Heroic Values
Other elements surface in the work, often championed by Carter himself. Don’t be cruel to animals. Don’t use guns or other superior weapons to kill those not similarly armed. Don’t kill someone so you can take their spouse. Don’t judge people by appearances. Let people rule themselves whenever possible. Respect allies, friends, and lovers. And my personal favorite: beware blind obedience and adherence to belief systems that defy reason. These things diminish us and are harmful.
To quote another favorite story from my youth “This is the weapon of the enemy. We do not need it, we will not use it.” Of course, that guy was mostly inspired by Zorro, but he probably learned a thing or two from heroes like John Carter as well.
Mix in some ecological disaster narrowly averted by heroic action and ingenuity and that’s Barsoom. That’s Burroughs. That’s Carter. So maybe folks can begin to understand why I love it so.  And that’s the world we present. At least below the surface, and I’m not talking about the Omean Sea.

Now that is mostly subtext. It wouldn’t be Barsoom without the terrifying beasts, amazing technology, vile villains, and endless threats to the freedom and existence of the good people of the red planet. It’s a setting for heroes of all sorts, and that’s what we presented. That was always the bulk of the work, modeling and presenting a bold world of airships and sword fights and romance that crosses time and space. And by combining the themes and lessons of Burroughs with his amazing world? We brought John Carter of Mars to the gaming table.
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Narrator Afterword (Literally)
Since I know some folks ask or note this. We call our “GM” the Narrator not out of some desire to be different for its own sake or some other reason. Its pretty simple. All the Barsoom novels have a narrator. Many begin with a forward from a narrator, including a fictionalized version of Burroughs himself. So that’s the role we cast our game master/moderate/storyteller in.  Its one of many nods to Burroughs and his work in the book. And now you know, too.

John Carter Design Diary #1: The System
Hello, this is Jack Norris and I wanted about how the system for John Carter came to be.  We always intended to use Modiphius’ 2d20 system, but also that we were changing things from other 2d20 games such as Conan and Star Trek Adventures as needed to model genre, source material, and fit the play style the original works suggested. Looking at the Barsoom stories as a game designer, I talked to my rules co-developer and guru Benn Graybeaton about modeling Burroughs’ work. I can’t overstate how valuable Benn was and after discussing what I felt 2d20 had to do to feel “John Carter”, we came up with the system variant we did—something that is undeniably 2d20, but also specifically John Carter, Burroughs, and pulp planetary romance.

So what were the changes? There are many from minor to major, but to name a few:

Big broad strokes and Big Heroes. Characters start as heroes and face heroic threats right away. This meant there would be no “zero to hero” ramp up seen in some games. Not because that’s a bad idea, but because it would be a bad idea for Burroughs and Carter. This also led to attributes that had broad and open application, allowing characters to have a chance to handle any situation.

Many Common RPG Rules got a Revision. The above approach meant things like no strictly defined ranges, healing, etc... In the Carter novels it was all about “you’re too far to shoot or jump or move, don’t worry about exactly how far that is” or “yes you nearly died, but amazing Martian healing we don’t need to explain in detail brought you back, so get up”.  Damage was altered to represent how often characters were hindered or stopped by doubt and grief as well as normal injuries.

No Skills. It’s not exactly accurate to say John Carter of Mars has no skills, but they do have no skill ranks. Why do this? Because much like some other pulp adventure and science fantasy stories, heroes in the Barsoom tales and Burroughs are almost never stopped dead by a lack of quantified and explicit training. Carter learns to speak the Martian language, ride strange beasts, and even fly and airship with a quick explanation and short time jump. Ulysses Paxton, originally a World War I infantryman learns how to transplant a living brain. Characters who are exceptional at “skills” have high appropriate attributes and talents relating to specific actions. Races and archetypes provide base knowledge that clarifies what the heroes can normally attempt or accomplish.
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Social Advancement is Just as Important as Personal Experience. For all his combat acumen and mighty physical prowess, Carter’s secret super power might just be making friends. From his thoats to former enemies, he seems to find allies everywhere. Player heroes in John Carter needed to have the same chance to do this through their adventures, as well as earn titles and other accolades that allow them to change their city, nation, or even Barsoom.
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When craft these elements together, adding others that emulate or model some part of the Barsoom stories? Well, that’s how you get the John Carter of Mars role playing system. I hope this was helpful and insightful, we’ll talk again soon.