GDW's House Rules

Victorian space opera adventures in a future that never was

Updated 2003-03-14

The year is 2089.  More than 200 years ago, Thomas Edison made a harrowing journey to Mars in an æther flyer of his own invention.  In the intervening decades humanity has expanded into the Solar System and beyond, colonizing the deserts of Mars, the swamps of Venus and the world-spanning river valley of Mercury.  Expeditions to Jupiter discovered the decadent descendents of the ancient Vulcanian civilization.  Other expeditions have ranged to the nearest stars.

Space travel is common.  Thousands of ships of all sizes ply the trade lanes between worlds.  Pirates, operating out of secret lairs in the asteroid belt occasionally raid these trade routes, while ships of the Interplanetary Patrol in turn hunt the pirates.  Ætheric science has advanced by leaps and bounds.  Breakthroughs in æther propeller design allows for constant acceleration throughout a voyage; trips which used to take months now only take days or hours.  Those same breakthroughs also allow æther propellers to operate deep within an atmosphere meaning spacecraft can dispense with separate atmospheric propulsion altogether.

The contra-gravity effects of liftwood can now be replicated electro-mechanically, meaning flying vessels are common.  However, such craft are not suitable for all purposes.  Wheeled, tracked and legged vehicles dominate the land, while surface ships and submarines ply the seas.

Heat rays, lightning cannon and electric rifles are the preferred weapons of the military.  Dangerous criminals are stored in hibernation cells.  Mars is blooming.  Cities soar into the sky and drive deep into the ground.

Tech Notes

The Edison Ether Propeller (and the Armstrong and Zeppelin ether propellers, which were essentially copies of the Edison patent) had a number of flaws.  First, it could not operate within an atmosphere at altitudes of less than 24,000 feet as denser air interfered with its operation.  Secondly, it was ungovernable.  It was either operating at full power or it was off.  Finally, the propeller had a tendency to "cavitate" in the ether after reaching a certain speed, preventing further acceleration.

The ether governor was introduced early on, and allowed the engine to be throttled up or down.  However, it took the genius of Nikola Tesla to design an ether propeller that could be used deep within an atmosphere and which would not cavitate, allowing unlimited acceleration.  Suddenly, voyages taking months were reduced to days, or in some cases, hours.  The universe was open to exploration by man.

Following hard on the heels of the new propeller design, Tesla, using his new-found knowledge of the ether, was able to replicate the effects of liftwood electro-mechanically.  Flying vessels became cheap and common.  Additionally, as the contra-grav effect was not chemically-based nor dependent upon an atmosphere, the new flyers could function on Venus and in a vacuum.  Additional research into the ether led to the development of artificial gravity and inertial compensators.

In 1914, the Great Powers went to war armed with these new flyers, as well as their arsenals of juggernauts and tripods.  Sparring in the skies, on the ground, and beneath the earth continued for several weeks before the British Grand Fleet forced its way through Imperial German defenses and laid siege to Berlin.  The Kaiser sued for peace, and the world returned to the status quo ante.

By the end of the second decade of the 20th century, Earth vessels were exploring past the asteroid belt.  The degenerate remnants of an ancient Vulcanian civilization were found among the moons of Jupiter.  Researchers, reverse-engineering the technological wonders of the ancient Vulcanian and Martian civilizations introduced new power sources, materials and weapons.  The preferred direct fire weapons for warships became heat rays (lasers) and lightning cannons (CPAWs).  Artillery was gradually supplanted in the indirect fire role by ether propeller-driven missiles, though it remained on the battlefield in the form of the infantry mortar.

For most of the next two centuries, wars remained relatively small affairs.  Each of the Great Powers, and several of the second-tier powers busied themselves with maintaining their far-flung empires.  Expeditions utilizing new hibernation technologies were launched to the nearest stars; some returned with stories of strange beings and alien civilizations.  Some never returned at all.

[1] Science marches on.  Through reverse engineering Martian and Vulcanian technology, the world has a sustainable TL of 12.

[2] Nikola Tesla discovered the effects of liftwood can be mechanically simulated.  Use the rules for contra-grav lifters.

[3] Engineering has overcome the problem of atmospheric drag on æther propellers.

[4] Use the design sequence for Thruster Plates for æther propellers.

Equipment