I’m developing a comprehensive Mongoose Traveller module focused on the “Lobopods of Mars,” featuring detailed lore, gameplay mechanics, and character creation guidelines, enriched with intellectual insights and narrative creativity.
Integrating mysteries
Including enigmatic elements like “the mother demon” into the module, planning a structured format with introduction, background, and scenario hooks, while incorporating fan-based supplements and new content for Mongoose Traveller.
Highlighting Mars’ characteristics
I’m noting Mars’ unique biology, highlighting new species and evolving technologies. This leads to outlining adventure seeds, essential game stats, and key NPCs, setting the stage for varied scenarios.
Below is a fan-created, unofficial Mongoose Traveller (2nd Edition–style) campaign module inspired by Lobopods of Mars, by Henry Edward Hardy. This module adapts Hardy’s retro-futurist alternate history, political drama, and subterranean mysteries into a Traveller framework. It is written for Game Masters (Referees) who want to run a plot-rich science-fiction campaign on a perilous Mars, replete with hidden colonies, fanatic cults, and possible discoveries of alien life.
Statting out Cultists, Environmental Threats, & Potential Martian Organisms
Running the Campaign
Tone & Atmosphere
Politics & Diplomacy
Exploration vs. Confrontation
Appendices
Appendix A: Timeline Highlights
Appendix B: Technology & Gear Quick Tables
Appendix C: Sample Maps & Location Ideas
1. Introduction & Themes
The Story So Far
In Lobopods of Mars, two stranded explorers—Marta and Jim—realize their water supply has been sabotaged, their base possibly infiltrated by a clandestine sect, and that new signs of subterranean life may lurk deep under Pavonis Mons, one of the enormous shield volcanoes on Mars. The entire setting blends mid-20th-century “rocketpunk” with advanced fusion drives, an alternate Cold War timeline, and a strong focus on survival and intrigue.
Themes to Highlight
Isolation & Survival. Mars is dangerous: limited resources, geological instability, dust storms that last for months, and sabotage around every corner.
Conspiracy & Betrayal. Hidden sects or “brothers” roam the lava tubes; clandestine sabotage at bases suggests deep espionage and infiltration.
Discovery & Awe. Hidden life forms that might upend all assumptions about Mars—the Lobopods or other subterranean “demon” biology.
Moral Questions. Do the Travellers try to rescue survivors and preserve fragile life, or exploit the new life forms for profit or glory?
In Mongoose Traveller terms, this module focuses on exploration, investigation, and politics in a mostly low-tech environment compared to the usual interstellar Imperium. You can easily drop this Mars “pocket dimension” into an existing campaign: perhaps it’s a lost colony world stuck at Tech Level 8–10, or a secret experimental settlement established by powerful patrons.
2. Setting Overview
Alternate Timeline & History
In Hardy’s timeline, the space race took a dramatically different turn:
1950s–1970s: Early breakthroughs in fusion propulsion and the first Russian and U.S. landings on Mars, both lost under mysterious circumstances.
1980s–2000s: The International Space Agency (ISA) formed. Massive colonization campaigns eventually led to three major Martian settlements—Bradbury Landing, Schiaparelli, and Mutch City—and scores of scattered corporate outposts.
2020s–2030s: Political realignment leaves Mars semi-autonomous under a Mars Secretariat and Mars Assembly with minimal direct oversight from Earth’s powers. Earth and Mars maintain uneasy ties through the ISA.
In Traveller terms, treat Earth as the “metropole,” with Mars as a newly developing colony. Strangely, nobody returns from Mars: the cost and danger are too high. The entire campaign is set on (or near) Mars: well-suited for an extended planetary campaign or a “weird outlier” in a larger star-spanning setting.
Mars Governance & Law
Mars Secretariat: 9 members with power to protect essential resources.
Mars Assembly: Large talk-shop forum with minimal direct power.
No Single Currency: Water and air are not sold directly but through controlling the hardware or supply. Some usage of Earth credits or corporate scrip.
Crude but Harsh Justice: Outlawry is the worst punishment. Railgun Veto from orbital stations can wipe out suspicious large gatherings.
Your Travellers might already be on Mars or arrive unexpectedly (if you incorporate jump drives). A “lost colony” angle works equally well: the party is stuck unless they unravel local mysteries.
Factions & Power Blocs
Three Settlements (Bradbury, Schiaparelli, Mutch): Each with a distinct political style and local militia.
Corporate Outposts: Tech-mining or life-support manufacturing, each with its own security or mercenaries.
Religious/Ideological Groups: Sects like the Adamantovy Brothers or various schismatic enclaves.
ISA: Officially neutral, controlling the sky and orbital platforms with advanced gear.
3. Life on Mars
Environment & Survival Mechanics
Use Mongoose Traveller’s existing rules for Low/Trace Atmosphere, Extreme Cold, and Vacuum Survival, with these special modifications:
Atmosphere: Pressure is so low that characters need vacc suits almost everywhere outside. Even “terraform bubble” domes only slightly raise ambient pressure.
Dust Storms: A planet-wide storm might reduce visibility to zero and hamper electronics. Treat as Poor Visibility or Total Darkness for Recon, heavy penalties on Sensors and communications. Extended storms hamper overland travel for weeks or months.
Water Rationing: Water is lifeblood. PCs should track daily water usage with added tension if rationed or sabotaged.
Gravity: Mars has about 1/3 Earth normal. Characters effectively have +1 DM on Athletics (Endurance or Strength) checks for short bursts of lifting or jumping. Long exposure leads to bone density issues if not carefully managed.
Technology & Equipment
Mars is roughly Tech Level 8–10, with a few cutting-edge pockets at TL 11 or 12 in ISA bases. There is advanced knowledge of:
Fusion Reactors (small scale, continuous power)
Hall-Effect Thrusters (for spacecraft and some heavy ground vehicles)
3D Printing / Micro-Assembler Tech (common but limited by material feedstock)
Travel & Communication
Surface Crawlers: Widespread, come in everything from personal ATVs to big rigs for cargo pods.
Zeppelins / Solar Montgolfières: Helium-filled craft, possible but rare. Storms are disastrous.
Radio & Laser Comms: Often short-range; relays exist but can be jammed or dust-blocked.
Economics & Barter
Currency is Ad Hoc: Barter for oxygen tanks, suit parts, specialized gear.
ISA Credits: The nominal official currency, but not always accepted outside major bases.
Sponsorship: Large Earth corporations or states sponsor certain groups or individuals for off-world missions, but friction arises with local powers over “ownership.”
4. Character Creation
Recommended Careers & Backgrounds
Scouts (Mars Division): Skilled in reconnaissance, survival, and can navigate dusty, bleak terrain.
Drifters (Outbackers): Desert survival, sand-prospecting, knowledge of local gangs or hidden caves.
Marines (ISA Security or Corporate Mercenaries): Possibly brought in to guard crucial resources or to quell local cult uprisings.
Scientists & Scholars: Volcanologists, geologists, or xenobiologists lured by rumors of Lobopods.
Rogues (Smugglers/Salvagers): Recycled equipment, black-market water deals, or infiltration into cults.
Skills in the Lobopods Setting
Survival: Vital. The difference between living or suffocating in a dust-filled ravine.
Vacc Suit: Everyone must have at least a level-0 in Vacc Suit (or equivalent skill representing Mars suits).
Recon: Dust storms plus sabotage calls for heavy usage.
Gun Combat / Melee: Firearms are prone to dust clogs; carbon-lattice sabers are popular in close quarters.
Engineer (Power, Life Support): Essential for base maintenance and crawler repairs.
Diplomat / Persuade: Dealing with the Secretariat, local militias, and “heretic” cults.
New or Variant Equipment
Equipment
Tech
Cost
Notes
Carbon-Fiber Staff
10
Cr. 150
Light, extremely durable. +1 DM to Athletics (Pole Vault) checks in low-G; does 2D damage (Melee-Blunt).
Plasma Cutlass
11
Cr. 5,000
Counts as an advanced “Energy Blade.” Does 3D+3 damage, ignores up to 4 points of armor. Limited battery.
Self-Heated Meal
–
Cr. 5–10
Vital for daily survival. Water needed to rehydrate if not pre-filled.
Micro-Hall Thruster
10
Cr. 12,000
For small vehicles or used as a jump pack in low gravity (requires Pilot (Thruster) skill checks).
“Hillbilly Armor”
8
Varies
Improvised plating for vehicles, provides +2 Hull/Structure. Bulky and prone to breakdown.
5. Dangers & Mysteries
The Brothers Cult (Adamantovy)
The Adamant (Old Believers) are a secretive extremist group descended from the earliest Russian colonists. They believe they dwell in a literal Hell (Mars) and must “purify” or “conquer demons.” They are well-organized and cunning, far from mindless zealots.
Motives: Destroy or control any evidence of new life that contradicts their dogma, sabotage rival bases, and forcibly convert outsiders.
Assets: Hidden tunnels, improvised but lethal weaponry, possible infiltration of official outposts, blackmail of local administrators.
Weaknesses: They’re short on advanced supplies. Their dogma can create internal schisms.
Underground Hazards & Encounters
Lava Tubes of Pavonis Mons: Labyrinthine passages, occasional pockets of near-breathable air (algae or unknown flora?).
Subterranean Geysers & Cracks: Sudden scalding steam or collapses.
Feral Machine “Scrapfields”: Old mining robots or half-sentient drone clusters left behind.
Possible Martian Life: The “Lobopods”
While Lobopods are only hinted at in Hardy’s text, we can treat them as a thrownback to the bizarre creatures of the Burgess Shale Pre-Cambrian environment on Earth, only 2 billion years more evolved.
Biology: Like the centipede-like Earth creatures from the Burgess Shale, only much more advanced. Some are Human-Lobopod chimerae, with human torsos and Lobopod abdomens.
Distress Call: The PCs receive a cryptic message from Base Zebra, indicating sabotage and infiltration.
ISA Mission: The party is officially deployed to investigate water theft in Pavonis Mons, rumored cult involvement.
Rescue & Recovery: A wealthy sponsor hires the group to confirm rumors of newly discovered Martian life, and quietly bring samples back.
Corporate Rivalry: Rival outposts suspect the Brothers are capturing or “weaponizing” an unknown organism. The PCs must intervene.
Adventure Seeds
Sabotage at Camp Zebra
The PCs arrive to find the base nearly deserted. Evidence points to infiltration of the water recycling system.
Various logs have been tampered with, the base’s auto-sentries are turned off.
Clues lead underground, where the “Brothers” have stashed stolen water.
Into the Lava Tubes
Long subterranean treks through phosphorescent crystals, pockets of active algae, rotted-out hush zones.
Occasional ambushes from cult scouts or weird life forms.
Danger of partial flooding (super-saline or acidic water) from below.
The Hidden Colony
The PCs discover a centuries-old settlement of “Old Believers.”
Commander Tuolong might be imprisoned or forced to sabotage the group.
Strange alignments with other cults (the “Peacock Angel” Yazidi group?), culminating in a doomsday confrontation.
Encounter with Lobopods
The PCs witness a colony of caterpillar-like creatures, some with humanoid torsos with the remains of several dead Adamantovsky monks.
Potential moral conflict: preserve them or destroy them?
Clash of Sects
Rival cults or religious enclaves might also vie for the “sacred secrets” under Pavonis Mons.
The PCs can mediate, exploit, or try to route them away from Mutch City’s water supply.
Suggested Scenes & Encounters
Base Ruins: The PCs pick through damaged water-tanks, battered labs, footprints leading below.
Showdown in the Junkyard: Confront rogue mechanical drones or auto-rifles in a cavern of rusted hulls.
Cult Ritual Chamber: Fire-lit ceremony using rocket fuel as “incense,” a chance to see the cult’s fanaticism up close.
Final Conflict by the Geyser: With both cultists and possible alien organisms swirling around, the PCs must decide how to handle the overshadowing threat.
8. Bestiary & Encounters
Below are approximate “creature” or “NPC” stats for Mongoose Traveller 2e. Adjust for your table’s style.
Attacks (Close Combat only): 2D+2 as “acidic bite” or “claw.” On a successful hit, it deals 1D damage ignoring normal armor (vac suits degrade by 1 point each round of contact).
Special: Drones will defend the Queen to the death.
Traits: Basic Laser turret (2D damage), or tools that can crush (1D) with a successful Melee attack.
Armor: 4 (heavy plating). If it loses half health, it malfunctions.
9. Running the Campaign
Tone & Atmosphere
Play Up the Isolation: Emphasize darkness, muffled sounds in thin air, the scrape of dust-laden suits.
Gradual Unfolding of Conspiracy: Drip-feed cryptic logs and half-mad survivors’ stories.
Hard Choices: Rare water, uncertain alliances, tension over whether any new life must be reported or suppressed.
Politics & Diplomacy
Mars is governed by a bureaucratic tangle. Characters who know how to bribe, cajole, or blackmail local officials stand a better chance of moving “off-limits” cargo or obtaining hush-hush gear.
Exploration vs. Confrontation
Referees can balance underground “dungeon crawling” with infiltration or negotiation:
Stealth Missions: Sneak into cult enclaves.
Diplomacy Missions: Rally corporate or city-based security to help.
Survival Missions: Sustain and re-engineer a failing outpost.
10. Appendices
Appendix A: Timeline Highlights (Condensed)
1970s: Russian & US Mars colonies vanish in storms.
1980s–2000s: Intensive colonization under the ISA.
2020s: Three big city-settlements, plus smaller outposts. Political crises lead to semi-independence.
2030s: Current day. Dust storms, sabotage, hidden life forms.
Appendix B: Technology & Gear Quick Tables
Gear Category
Example
Typical TL
Notes
Light Weapons
Underwater Pistol (Vac)
8–9
Self-contained ammo, short range.
Melee Weapons
Plasma Cutlass
11
High damage, limited battery.
Environment
Mars Suit (Standard)
8–10
Hard shell or tough fabric.
Vehicles (Surface)
6-Wheeled Crawler
9
Extended range, partial AI or remote control.
Surveillance
HUD with IR/UV Modules
9–10
Great in dust or darkness if not jammed.
Appendix C: Sample Maps & Location Ideas
Base Zebra Layout: Multi-dome arrangement, central airlock, labs, comm center.
Subterranean Maze: Long tubes with occasional branching corridors.
Hidden Cult Enclave: Reinforced meeting hall, living quarters, improvised chapel.
Geyser Cavern: A wide natural chamber with a scalding-water vent, possible secret entrance to deeper levels.
Closing Notes
Lobopods of Mars offers a grittier, near-future flavor than the typical far-flung interstellar scope of Traveller, but it retains that essential spirit of survival, exploration, and big moral decisions. Referees can drop Easter eggs about Earth’s alternate history—nuclear crises, “lost expeditions,” etc.—or keep it purely as a “lost world” scenario that your PCs stumble onto via a jump misjump.
If you want to lean into the cosmic-horror element: amplify the strangeness of the subterranean organisms. Are they part of an ancient ecosystem with a psychic link? Or simply hungry, spongy “extremophiles” waiting for new protein?
Above all, use the bleak red deserts, swirling storms, and claustrophobic tunnels to create an atmosphere both wonderous and terrifying. Welcome to Mars. Your every breath is precious. Good luck—and watch your water supply… and your back.
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