John Carter of Mars

oD&D stats

“Giants in the Earth: Classic heroes from fiction & literature” by Lawrence Schick and Tom Moldvay (July 1979) Dragon #27, pp.28–

30th level fighter

Armor Class

5

Move

12”/36” (jumping)

Hit Points

158

No. of Attacks

2

Damage/Attack

Weapon (+10)

Special Attacks

Radium pistol

Special Defenses

Nil

Magic Resistance

Standard

Alignment

Lawful-good

Strength

20

Intelligence

14

Wisdom

11

Dexterity

18(00%)

Constitution

19

Charisma

18 (33%)

Hit Bonus

+6

Psionic Ability

See below

The purpose of this article is to add an element of novelty and unknown danger to the DM’s high-level encounter table, and to give players a chance to actually meet up with heroes from their favorite fantasy books. The referee is advised to use these characters with discretion. They are a lot of fun to run, and the players should have an interesting time dealing with them.

These heroes are all in some fashion exceptional, and thus they deviate a bit in their qualities and capabilities from standard D&D. Also, most originated in other universes or worlds, and so were not bound by the same set of restrictions that apply to the average D&D character. Some are multi-classed, for example. This system has been used to describe the skills and abilities of the characters as they appear in the literature, even though some of these combinations and conditions are not normally possible. In addition, some minor changes have been made in order to bring them in line with the game and to enhance playability.

Note: For the game purposes of these heroes: Dexterity 18(00) gives +4 on Reaction/Attacking, −5 Defensive adjustment and three attacks per round for high level fighters. Constitution 18(00) gives fighters +4.5 per hit die bonus.

Addenda: Kane’s hit points (from the previous issue of TD) should be 175, not 165. Also, note that exceptional percentages for 18s for other abilities than strength are given here for comparison purposes, and are not standard D&D or AD&D.

John Carter was originally an average earthman, but has become a sort of immortal, archetypal warrior; he can recall no childhood, just an endless series of wars and martial endeavors. He always seems to be physically about the age of 30.

After serving on the Confederate side of the American Civil War, he went west as a prospector. Trapped in a cave by Indians and mortally wounded, Carter, on the verge of death, somehow psychically transported himself to Mars (or Barsoom, as it is known to its inhabitants). Mars’ gravity is only one-fourth that of Earth, so Carter instantly became the strongest humanoid on Barsoom, with a relative D&D strength of 20 (for game purposes, always treat John Carter as if he were on Barsoom, as this is his heroic environment in the novels). Carter freed Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, from the Green Men of Barsoom, eventually married her and became Warlord of Helium (and a good deal of the rest of the planet).

Carter’s Mars is a world of paradoxes. Barsoom is a dry, dying planet, studded with abandoned cities and ancient races, falling gradually into barbarism. There is a universal code of honor for hand-to-hand fighting, which states that if one man draws a certain weapon for a duel, his opponent will counter with the same or a lesser weapon. Barsoomian fighters (including John Carter) are usually armed with a dagger (1–4 damage +10), short sword (1–6 damage +10), and long sword (1–8 damage +10). In addition, they carry a pistol, but this is rarely used save by cowards or in wars. Carter abides by the code of honor, and will respond with the same type of weapon he is attacked with (regardless of the number of opponents), unless he is attacked magically (which he may interpret as some sort of psychic attack). Then there is a 50% chance each attack that he will feel justified in using his pistol against the magic-user. This pistol contains five rounds, each doing 1–10 damage if they hit. All five rounds may be fired in one melee round.

John Carter is about six feet tall with short black hair and gray eyes. Like all Barsoomians, he wears no armor; only a leather harness for carrying his weapons. His great strength enables him to move in giant leaps. He can jump up to 20 feet high, and leap right over the heads of his opponents. He will generally try to help anyone he thinks is in trouble, but if he is double-crossed or finds out he has been deceived, he may go into a fighting rage, attacking everyone he can reach until all the miscreants have been punished.

Honor in battle is exceedingly important to him. John Carter has long fought the Guild of Assassins on Barsoom, considering them honorless fighters. If he recognizes that a party member is an assassin, he will disarm him and force him to leave the party (for the party’s own good). He will give the assassin his own dagger so he has a fighting chance of reaching safety.

Psionically, Carter has a permanent Tower of Iron Will; no one has ever broken it. Over the years he has honed his ability to teleport between worlds, and he is likely to show up anytime, looking for adventure.

Barsoom

“The highest type of man and one other animal, the only mammal existing on Mars, alone have well-formed nails, and there are absolutely no hoofed animals in existence there.” —A Princess of Mars (§III, ¶18)

“…there is only one mammal on Mars and that one very rare indeed,” —A Princess of Mars (§V, ¶4)

“…whose dagger it seemed had struck the edge of one of Sola’s metal breast ornaments and, thus deflected,” —A Princess of Mars (§XV, ¶4)

“She was the perfect type of that remarkably beautiful race whose outward appearance is identical with the more god-like races of Earth men, except that this higher race of Martians is of a light reddish copper colour.” —Gods of Mars (§IV, ¶4)

References

• Leiber, Fritz (1959) “John Carter: Sword of Theosophy”. Art by James Cawthorn. Amra fanzine (September 1959). Reprinted in The Conan Swordbook (1969), The Spell of Conan (1980, 0-441-11669-8), and Fafhrd and Me (1990).

1. A Princess of Mars
2. The Gods of Mars
3. The Warlord of Mars
4. Thuvia, Maid of Mars
5. The Chessman of Mars
6. The Master Mind of Mars
7. A Fighting Man of Mars
8. Swords of Mars
9. Synthetic Men of Mars
10. Llana of Gathol
11. John Carter of Mars