Set on the red planet not as it exists, but as people at the turn of the 20th century thought it might be, Shadows of a Dying World is drawn from the Mars series of Edgar Rice Burroughs and presents creatures from his world in game terms. Its contents are compatible with any games that use the d20/OGL system and can be inserted into them in whole or in part.
On this Mars, elegant city-states rise along the banks of world-spanning canals, luxurious airships ply the thin atmosphere, feisty princesses and feckless nobles are menaced by killers of the drear dried-up sea-beds, and skilled swordsmen defend dynasties that have ruled for aeons. Despite both wondrous technology and mysterious mental abilities developed beyond the comprehension of Earthlings, however, the most farsighted of the Martians know that the history of their world is drawing toward its end, and that its life-giving atmosphere and waterways are already sustained only by vast efforts of engineering.
Shadows of a Dying World presents the unique wonders and dangers posed by the weirdly sentient denizens of Burroughs’ Mars. Creatures covered in Shadows of a Dying World include the Apt, Banth, Calot, Corphal, Great White Ape, Green Martian, Kaldane, Rykor, Plant Man, Silian, Sith, Thoat, Ulsio, and Zitidar.
Other features of this book include guidelines for using Burroughs’ creatures in both Mars and non-Mars campaign settings, Martian random encounter tables, new Feats, the Class Defense Bonus combat option, and original illustrations by artists Brendan Cass, Dragan Ciric, Sharon Daugherty, William Hazzard II, and Geoff Weber. This book also comes with Combined Creature Creation, a 52-page bonus document compiled and used during the creation of this book and provided as a useful tool for game masters.
For more information about Shadows of a Dying World or the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars campaign setting, contact Skirmisher Publishing LLC at d20@skirmisher.com.
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I am a huge Barsoom fan. I bought it and have looked it over briefly. I will have to do a more detailed reading and do not know where it is going to fit into my current gaming ideas (I have always considered a Barsoomian demi-plane or something). A lot of ideas are going around in my head. I have always wanted to run a game in Barsoom and never taken the time to do all the work. You have done a lot of the work for me. Thanks.
Though the rule base is generic, I've aimed to describe the setting as a distinct and unique world first and then to provide sturdy support for cross-setting use. I can easily see these creatures and concepts working as a demi-plane - probably separating out a number of elements related to each other, rather than using the full complexity of the setting.
Gygax included Barsoom in his game. There is a Red Planet in Golarion's system that will no doubt cover some of the same influences. It's nice to see this fantasy subgenre get more exposure.
Two questions, out of curiosity: To what extend did the Mars(es) of Otis Adelbert Kline, Leigh Brackett, Lin Carter, and others play in the creation of this?
Also, is this an officially licensed product with the Edgar Rice Burroughs Estate?
I think it's been a constant influence on many gamers and has seen several published references over the past few years.
This isn't a licenced product though we've been in contact with the Burroughs estate about it. All of our sources are in the public domain.
I'm a fan of Leigh Brackett and also Clark Ashton Smith's Mars stories. I know of O. A. Kline's work and Lin Carter's Mars novels but haven't read them extensively (I see that The Swordsman of Mars is or will be available through Planet Stories, good stuff). This is solely an ERB-based product though, and only, if anything, influenced in tone by any of the other works.
edit: Oh, also, Michael Moorcock, at least the second and third books of his trilogy.
Any thoughts on the included freebie "Combined Creature Creation"? I just put it together for myself to help with monster-building and stat blocks and to list all feats in one place. It's almost pure crunch, mostly tables, from the 3.5, 3.0 and Modern SRD and a couple of third-party sources - whatever I needed to fill in missing or shaky parts of the process - plus a brief step-by-step checklist.