Integrating Warriors of the Red Planet (WotRP) with the Adventurer Conqueror King System II (ACKS II) domain rules creates a sword-and-planet campaign where pulp heroics translate directly into planetary lordship. This blog post picks up from
Building The Red Planet Empire - Mixing Warriors of the Red Planet (WotRP) with the Domain-level Architecture of ACKS II Rpg - illegal black market for a warriors of the red planet & ACKS II combined game campaign
To model an Illegal Depot—a subterranean black-market hub, illicit canal-docking station, or hidden raider stronghold—we map the core ACKS II underworld economy onto WotRP’s science-fantasy ecosystem.
1. Domain Architectural Mapping
In ACKS II, standard urban domains rely on lawful markets, guilds, and tax revenue. An Illegal Depot functions as an Underworld Hideout / Black Market Hub built inside or underneath a Red Planet settlement (e.g., ruined canal city, ancient atmospheric plant, or canal basin).
Core Depot Metrics
Base Domain Type: Urban Sub-Domain / Criminal Enclave.
Catchment Area (Smuggling Radius): 1 Hex (6 miles) in dense city ruins; up to 3 Hexes along active canal routes via Skyship / Silt-Runner.
Dominant Class Requirements: Typically run by high-level Scoundrels, Scientists (illegal weaponmiths/rad-chemists), or Sorcerers of the Black Gate.
2. Income & Black Market Economics
Instead of standard land revenue or taxed peasant families, an Illegal Depot derives its monthly income from Contraband Fencing, Extortion, and illicit Trade Routing.
Monthly Revenue Formula
Fencing & Black Market Trade:
The Depot can process up to $50\text{ gp} \times \text{Depot Level}$ in stolen or illegal goods per month (Rayguns, Rad-Pellets, Ancient Artifacts, Slave/Servitoid Pods).
Margin: The Depot owner buys contraband at 40% value and sells it back into illegal markets at 70% to 80% value, netting a 30%–40% profit margin.
Depot Services:
Illicit Skyship Docking: 50 gp per skyship berth per month.
Black Science Laboratory / Tech-Scrap Refinishing: Generates 100 gp/month per resident low-level Scientist NPC.
3. Red Planet Contraband Demand Table
Adapt ACKS II trade demand modifiers to pulp science-fantasy commodities. When running shipments through the Illegal Depot, roll a $1\text{d3} - 1\text{d3}$ demand modifier (modified by local shortages and faction rivalries):
| Commodity | Base Value | Depot Demand Modifier | High-Risk Factor / Event |
| Radium Ammunition & Cells | 100 gp / crate | $+2$ in besieged canal zones | Explodes on natural 1 during transport |
| Ancient Tech-Artifacts | 500+ gp / unit | $+3$ to Scientists / Sorcerers | Attracts Ancient Automaton hunters |
| Atmospheric Water Tokens | 25 gp / token | $+4$ during Dry Seasons | Highly sought by City-State Regators |
| Exotic / Elevated Beast Hides | 150 gp / bale | $+1$ to Noble Houses | Poached from dangerous wilderness hexes |
| Mind-Silt Dust (Narcotic) | 200 gp / brick | $+2$ in major urban centers | Causes Mentalist backlash if exposed |
4. Mechanical Rules: "Heat" & Faction Security
An Illegal Depot cannot be governed like a normal fief. It utilizes a Heat Metric to track detection by Red Planet Overlords, Canal Patrols, or rival warlords.
Heat Track ($0$ to $20$)
Base Monthly Heat Gain: $+1d4$ per month of active operations.
Large Raids / High-Value Fencing: $+1$ Heat per 1,000 gp of contraband fenced.
Raygun / Skyship Skirmishes in Domain: $+2$ Heat per encounter.
| Heat Rating | Domain Effect |
| 0 – 5 (Quiescent) | Operations run smoothly. $+10\%$ bonus to Fencing Margins. |
| 6 – 10 (Watched) | City Watch / Skyship Patrols increase surveillance. Garrison costs $+25\%$. |
| 11 – 15 (Targeted) | Infiltration attempts by rival Scoundrels or Assassin Cults. Fencing reduced by 30%. |
| 16 – 19 (Raid Imminent) | Canal Overlords deploy Skyship Dreadnoughts / Rad-Cannon Siege units to purge the site. |
| 20+ (Compromised) | Full-scale siege. The Depot must be abandoned, or face total destruction/capture. |
Reducing Heat
Bribes & Political Graft: Spend $200\text{ gp} \times \text{Current Heat Level}$ to reduce Heat by $1\text{d4}$ via corrupt Red Planet officials.
Scapegoating / Assassination: Eliminate a rival syndicate boss or pin crimes on a rogue faction (Scoundrel skill check or targeted heist mission) to reduce Heat by $1\text{d6}$.
5. Garrison & Defense Construction
Building an Illegal Depot requires stealth technology and underground fortification:
Construction Cost: 5,000 gp (Small Hidden Outpost) to 25,000 gp (Full Subterranean Canal Dock).
Garrison:
Fighting Men (Guards): 3 gp/month per guard.
Heavy Turrets / Ancient Rad-Cannons: 1,500 gp per emplacement.
Skyship Camouflage Nets / Cloaking Shields: Requires a 5th+ level Scientist or Mentalist to construct and maintain.
6. Integration Loop
[ WotRP Adventures & Heists ] ──> Acquire Exotic/Ancient Loot
│
▼
[ ACKS II Domain Management ] ──> Process Loot through Illegal Depot
│
├─►
Pay Garrison & Scientist Maintenance
├─► Manage "Heat" via Bribes/Scoundrels
└─► Profit reinvested into Skyships/Domain
This hybrid framework keeps the high-octane pulp adventure of Warriors of the Red Planet front-and-center during sessions, while giving players the strategic, domain-building mechanics of ACKS II between expeditions.
Here is a comprehensive d100 Random Encounter Table for Green Martian Raiding Parties, designed for Warriors of the Red Planet (WotRP) or similar sword-and-planet RPG systems (such as ACKS II domain encounters on the dead sea beds of Mars).
Green Martian Raiding Party Composition & Intent
Green Martians (Tharks, Warhoons, Torquas, etc.) are giant, four-armed, warlike nomadic warriors riding six-legged thoats. Their encounters range from small hunting scouts to massive horde vanguards.
d100 Green Martian Encounters
01–20: Scouts, Hunters & Small Outriders (1d6 + 2 Warriors)
01–03: Thoat-Trackers: $1\text{d4}+2$ Green Martians examining fresh tracks in the silt bed. They carry long-range radium rifles and binoculars.
04–06: Apex Beast Hunters: A pair of veterans tracking a wild calot or multi-legged banth (great cat). They will ignore PCs unless provoked or if PCs carry fresh meat/trophies.
07–09: Radium Snipers: 3 warriors concealed in ancient stone ruins above a canal choke point, waiting to ambush isolated travelers.
10–12: Silt-Runner Outriders: $1\text{d6}$ scouts on swift, light-framed six-legged mounts scouting the perimeter of a nearby City-State domain.
13–15: Wounded War-Party: 3 battered Green Martians on foot (their mounts killed). They are desperate, low on radium ammo, and aggressive.
16–18: Deserters / Outcasts: 2 exiled, branded Green Martians seeking to sell their four-armed martial prowess as mercenaries or sell secrets about their Jeddak's warband.
19–20: Trophy Hunters: $1\text{d6}+1$ young warriors seeking the head of an exotic beast or a noble Red Martian officer to gain status within their horde.
21–50: Standard Foraging & Raiding Squads (2d6 + 4 Warriors + 1 Chieftain)
21–25: Caravan Hunters: A raiding squad preparing an ambush in a dry canal bed for an incoming merchant skyship or water barge.
26–30: Slaving Expedition: The raiding party is dragging $2\text{d4}$ chained Red Martian captives (or off-worlders) toward a remote, ruined fortress.
31–35: Water-Hoard Raid: A force surrounding a vital, hidden desert oasis or atmospheric plant pump, threatening to slaughter the local engineers.
36–40: Grave Robbers / Ancient Vault Pillagers: Warriors loading looted ancient tech, power cells, and alien statuary onto heavily laden pack-thoats.
41–45: Thoat Herd Escort: $2\text{d6}$ warriors guarding a herd of $3\text{d10}$ wild or domesticated heavy-thoats. They fight fiercely to protect their mounts.
46–50: Scavenger Unit: Searching a crashed Skyship wreck. Half the squad is inside harvesting radium cores; the rest keep watch outside.
51–75: Heavy Raiding Bands & Vanguard Units (4d6 + 10 Warriors + 1 Leader + 1 Scientist/Shaman)
51–55: Boundary Patrol: A heavily armed vanguard patrolling the contested border between their horde's territory and a rival City-State. Demand toll or fight immediately.
56–60: Honor Challenge: The Chieftain orders his warband to hold fire while he single-handedly challenges the party's strongest warrior to mortal combat with broadswords.
61–65: Rival Horde Skirmishers: The party stumbles into an active, bloody battle between two warring Green Martian tribes ($20+$ warriors on each side).
66–70: Cannibalistic Warhoon Blood-Raid: A fanatical clan of Green Martians looking for live captives for arena sacrifices and ritual feasting. $+2$ to morale; no retreat.
71–75: Siege Engineers: A raiding party armed with portable Radium Cannons mounted on heavy war-thoats, moving toward a nearby settlement outpost.
76–90: High-Value Targets & Special Encounters
76–78: The Jeddak's Champion: A legendary four-armed swordsman flanked by 6 elite veterans and a pair of vicious war-calots.
79–81: Mutant / Rad-Afflicted Clan: $1\text{d12}$ crazed, glow-eyed Green Martians mutated by deep-desert radiation. They wield unstable arc-weapons and attack on sight.
82–84: Subterranean Depot Attackers: A raiding band attempting to breach an entrance to an Illegal Black Market Depot.
85–87: Captive Nobles: The raiding party has captured a high-ranking Red Martian Princess, Jed, or Earthling visitor and is negotiating or transporting them for ransom.
88–90: Rogue Radium Artillerists: A splinter group carrying an unexploded, ancient Radium-Bomb weapon, attempting to figure out how to detonate or sell it.
91–100: War-Horde Manifestations & Catastrophies (100+ Warriors)
91–93: Full Horde March: A massive migration/war-march of $2\text{d10} \times 10$ warriors, women, children, and siege-beasts moving across the dead sea beds. Stealth or immediate flight is required to survive.
94–96: Great Arena Round-Up: A large warband surrounding an entire canyon sector to drive beasts and travelers into a giant net for their city's fighting pits.
97–98: Skyship Hunters: Equipped with long-range anti-aircraft radium ballistae, actively shooting down low-flying skyships or silt-runners.
99: The Blood-Jeddak's Royal Guard: An elite army vanguard led directly by a tribal Jeddak (Ruler), seeking to conquer a nearby canal-node.
100: Planetary Convergence: A triple-threat collision! The Green Martian Horde is currently fighting a swarm of Ancient Martian Automatons AND a city-state skyship patrol in the middle of a Rad-Dust Storm.
Quick Encounter Modifiers (Optional $1\text{d6}$ Roll)
Environmental Factor: A howling Martian Dust Storm reduces visibility and firearm range by 75%.
Mounts: The raiding party is riding armored War-Thoats (+2 AC, charging damage bonus).
Tactics: Ambusher setup (Party is surprised on a 1–3 on $1\text{d6}$).
Morale: Desperate / Starving (Will fight to the death for supplies/water).
Special Gear: Equipped with night-vision goggles or ancient shield-belts.
Intellect: The leader speaks trade-tongue fluently and prefers bribery/negotiation over immediate bloodshed.
