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--- games:fantastic_journey_to_mars [2013/08/31 18:47] – created brent
+++ games:fantastic_journey_to_mars [2015/07/09 07:19] (current) – Fixed YouTube embed brent
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 ====== A Fantastic Journey to Mars ======
-//A Fantastic Journey to Mars// will be a **role-playing scenario** with a **built-in rules system** based on Risus. You can play this game in an evening, or stretch it into several sessions. It can also be played with or without a GM.
+//A Fantastic Journey to Mars// is a **role-playing scenario** with a **built-in rules system** based on Risus. You can play this game in an evening, or stretch it into several sessions. It can also be played with or without a GM.
 The players control a group of Victorian-era adventurers in a **Jules Verne-style** story of planetary romance. They begin in the marvelous Steel Sphere, en route to Mars. What happens next is up to them.
-The game will be played with **six-sided dice**. Each character sheet will include an explanation of the rules, so you can just hand each player one sheet of paper and they have everything they need to play.
+The game is played with **six-sided dice**. Each character sheet includes an explanation of the rules, so you can just hand each player one sheet of paper and they have everything they need to play.
 This makes //A Fantastic Journey to Mars// an ideal convention game.
+===== How to Get It =====
+//A Fantastic Journey to Mars// was released to Brent's [[https://www.patreon.com/BrentNewhall|Patreon supporters]] on 4 December 2013. It should become available as a pay-what-you-want PDF on DriveThruRPG in February 2014 (later than expected; other games got a lot more attention). This page will update as soon as it's available.
 ===== Demos =====
-{{http://www.youtube.com/v/fjzXZpex4g8?.swf?400x333}}
+{{youtube>large:fjzXZpex4g8}}
+===== Play Sample =====
+<html>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Okay, so I'm playing Professor Julius Stratum, inventor of the Steel Sphere.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> And I'm playing Sir Barnabas Steelhart, the fearless explorer.</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> I'm playing Miss Ophelia Stargazer, the reporter.</p>
+<p><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">Jean:</span> And I'm playing Joan Worthington-Smythe III, the millionaire industrialist.</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Okay! So I know I organized this game, but it doesn't require a Game Master, so we can just play. The game's laid out in a series of scenes. Octavia, you want to read out the first one?</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Okay. "Scene 1: Introductions All Around." Um, it says to choose your characters; we've done all that. We're gathering at the construction site for the Steel Sphere. It says "Feel free to describe the setting as your characters see it."</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> It took a lot of work, so there are a bunch of buildings, plus a metal dais that the Steel Sphere is on.</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Does it need a launch platform?</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> No, because it uses the Amazing Power of Gravity!</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Ha! Okay. I'm scribbling down lots of details about the buildings and the Sphere. There've got to be lots of workers around.</p>
+<p><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">Jean:</span> As the industrialist who financed this, I've already sent most of them packing, because the Sphere's complete. Don't want too many wagging tongues.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> I'm just ready to explore.</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Okay, so next the game says, "a large meal is provided before the Sphere launches. Describe your characters' conversations. This is a great opportunity to reveal a bit about your character and decide on a few things about him or her."</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> That's good, because these characters are pretty basic.</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Yeah, apparently you're supposed to flesh them out as you play them.</p>
+<p>(The players have a spirited conversation about the Steel Sphere.)</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Okay, what's next?</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> "At the end of this scene, the characters enter the Steel Sphere. With a touch of a panel, Professor Stratum lanches the Steel Sphere upwards.</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> To Mars, and the history books!</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Nice. All right. "Scene 2: The Trip Through the Void. The group has now spent a few hours in the Steel Sphere. They're closing in on Mars. They're all nervous. Suddenly, the Sphere enters a meteor storm! How do the characters react?"</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> I suddenly look nervous. My hands fly to the controls. My brows furrow.</p>
+<p><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">Jean:</span> (as Worthington-Smythe) What's the matter, Professor?</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> (as Stratum) The vibro-sensors indicate an obstruction of some sort ahead of us.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> (as Steelhart) Excellent! Time for a little adventure, eh?</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> (as Stargazer) What sort of obstruction, Professor?</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> (as Stratum) It appears to be a shower of meteors! If I do not navigate around them, they may damage the Sphere.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> (as Steelhart) Then do it, man!</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Okay, how do I do that?</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Oh! So look at your character sheet. At the bottom, it says....</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Ah-ha! I choose a catchphrase, and roll as many dice as the number next to the catchphrase.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> And we're using six-sided dice, right?</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Right. So I have two catchphrases, "For SCIENCE!" and "I really don't understand other people." That first one makes sense, and I have 3 dice in that. So let me roll three six-siders....</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> First roll of the night! Woohoo!</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> So that's a 2, a 4, and a 5. Totaling 11. That's 7 or more, so I get to narrate what happens. Good!</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> So just to be clear: if you rolled a total of 6 or less, we'd all describe how that went badly for you instead, right?</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Right, plus you lose one die in that catchphrase. On the other hand, if you roll a 6 on all your dice, you get wild success.</p>
+<p><span style="color:red;font-weight:bold">Jean:</span> What if you only have 1 die?</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Then you basically can't get a normal success, but if you roll a 6, you get a wild success.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> Cool. So what happens?</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Oh, so I narrate what happens. I twist knobs with authority, and we spin away from the meteor shower.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> As the Sphere spins around, I catch the reporter in my arms.</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> I'll run with that. (as Stargazer) Why...thank you, sir. You have such...strong arms.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> (as Steelhart) I once boxed a yeti! (as himself) Hey, wait, that's actually a catchphrase. Can I use that to try to romance the reporter?</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Fine by me!</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> Okay, I only have two dice in that. I roll...and I get a 2 and a 3. That's only 5, which is less than the magic number of 7. Blast it.</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> (as Stargazer) You may have boxed a yeti, sir, but you also have the grace of one!</p>
+<p><span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold">Jim:</span> Oooooh, burn! So you lose one die in that.</p>
+<p><span style="color:green;font-weight:bold">Bob:</span> Okay, so I'm down to one die in "I once boxed a yeti." What next?</p>
+<p><span style="color:purple;font-weight:bold">Octavia:</span> Now we move on to scene 3. We're about to arrive on Mars, everyone!</p>
+<p><strong>All:</strong> Hooray!</p>
+</html>
+===== Credits =====
+Thanks to Constance Chamberlain and Sophie Lagace for their design advice.
+Thanks to my Patreon patrons Matthew Bannock, Ryven Cedrylle, Tony Dowler, Seth Drebitko, Joe England, Pete Figtree, Andrew Hauge, and Dave LeCompte for their financial support of this product.
+Dungeon Delvers is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license (CC BY-SA 3.0).