Red Planet Venusian Frogs
The Red Planet source book describes the native Venusians as:
"The Venusians are short, squat, frog-like creatures whose culture breaks down roughly into the same four classes as feudal Europe: peasants, artisans, warriors, and rulers. "
This post provides additional details about Venusian Frog society as developed by the 'RPG review cooperative' FATE Red Planet games session held 2017-2018. Shared in the hope you can include them in your game. If you too please comment to tell me how it went.
Firstly it makes the Venusian Warriors a bit more challenging bad guys for a technological society with zap guns, wrist communicators and space ships. Our baddies have early black powder weaponry and massed pike formations rather than sword and shield if it comes to fisticuffs. And in the battle for hearts and minds, the Venusians can counter Martian Union rhetoric with pamphlets denouncing the outsiders. Our heroes are going to need to recruit more locals before picking a fight with the big bad.
Secondly, the transition from late feudal to early modern creates a mess of factions we can use when telling a story about a revolution. Since 'this show is educational' our view of history will be a fairly orthodox Marxist historical materialism - meaning that in general our frog society comprises:
Without a clear and legitimate inheritance rules feudalism breaks down. Questioning the parentage of a feudal lord is questioning their right to rule. This can be seen in the feudal era insult "bastard". If our Red Planet heroes can point out weaknesses of the Venusian Frog inheritance rules, the Venusian peasants are likely to question the whole feudal system.
Frogs spawn. They have a water based external reproduction. Group spawning happens. Frogs have many offspring with the expectation that most won't survive to adulthood. How does the reality of frog reproduction (my players invoked 'This show is educational' to make it an important story detail) fit with feudalism?
The barons, guild masters and anyone with inheritable property have a much more regulated sex life.
The church offers (for a small percentage of the inheritable goods) a sure way to identify the first born tadpole and verify its parentage. Within the 'holy of holies' of each frog temple there are a series of private spawning ponds. Each pond is watched over by a priest who have taken a vow of celibacy. They record the hatchings in order to identify the legitimate succession sequence. Parents are encouraged to swim with tadpoles to establish a parental bond. Primogeniture is preserved by trying it directly to Church ritual. If the peasants are spiritually 'of the land', then the elites are 'of the church'. Church rituals inform the earliest memories of each of the frog nobility.
The church is facing a challenge from a reform movement. The tithe for access to the spawning pools is traditionally a donation of land to the church. This was justified theologically as a way making the spawning 'of the land'. The reformed church offers access to their spawning pools for a cash tithe (making them popular with city based frogs). Needless to say, elites raised in the traditional church consider children of the reformed church 'bastards', and vice versa.
The traditional church provides blessings to the peasant spawning ritual even though it does not strictly accord with church teachings. The reformed church takes a hard line and considers folk spawning a sin. They offer a version of the spawning pond to the common folk as an alternative. This makes reformed church campaigners for land reform. They've found yeoman farmers to be far more willing converts than serfs.
Amphibians can regrow severed limbs. The Soviets are active on Venus and are harvesting plant saps from the jungle, They have imposed a quota system on the Venusian frog people in their sector. If frogs do not meet their quotas they cut off limbs.
Some frogs produce hallucinogenic poisons. The decadent elites of America will do anything for kicks, and if there's a buck in it you can be sure there will be a criminal syndicate looking to fill that need. If a few frog peasants go missing who's going to notice?
"The Venusians are short, squat, frog-like creatures whose culture breaks down roughly into the same four classes as feudal Europe: peasants, artisans, warriors, and rulers. "
This post provides additional details about Venusian Frog society as developed by the 'RPG review cooperative' FATE Red Planet games session held 2017-2018. Shared in the hope you can include them in your game. If you too please comment to tell me how it went.
Late feudal - early modern frogs
Our Venusian Frogs are have an 'early modern' society analogous to C15th Europe. They are still feudal. Most people live as land lords and peasants, but specifying a late medieval / early modern setting rather than a 'fantasy feudal' we achieves two things:Firstly it makes the Venusian Warriors a bit more challenging bad guys for a technological society with zap guns, wrist communicators and space ships. Our baddies have early black powder weaponry and massed pike formations rather than sword and shield if it comes to fisticuffs. And in the battle for hearts and minds, the Venusians can counter Martian Union rhetoric with pamphlets denouncing the outsiders. Our heroes are going to need to recruit more locals before picking a fight with the big bad.
Secondly, the transition from late feudal to early modern creates a mess of factions we can use when telling a story about a revolution. Since 'this show is educational' our view of history will be a fairly orthodox Marxist historical materialism - meaning that in general our frog society comprises:
- The unfree masses who create value in society and
- The ruling elite who both structure society for their benefit and tell the mythic stories that keep everyone in their place.
- 'Rural traditions, serfdom, and feudalism' vs 'city innovations, burgers and the power of wealth from trade'
- 'The traditional religion, the chain of being, and divine right of kings' vs 'the reformed religion, the equality of the individual before God, and the earthly authority of princes.
Feudalism and Frogs - a biological limitation
In feudalism land is economic and political power - the 'means of production'. Land (and the unfree people bonded to that land) is allocated by the king to the nobles. When they die, the noble transfers the land to their oldest legitimate son using the laws of primogeniture. Primogeniture inheritance is a 'social superstructure' that keeps the elites in power and ensures that land remains in parcels large enough to produce an socially useful surplus.Without a clear and legitimate inheritance rules feudalism breaks down. Questioning the parentage of a feudal lord is questioning their right to rule. This can be seen in the feudal era insult "bastard". If our Red Planet heroes can point out weaknesses of the Venusian Frog inheritance rules, the Venusian peasants are likely to question the whole feudal system.
Frogs spawn. They have a water based external reproduction. Group spawning happens. Frogs have many offspring with the expectation that most won't survive to adulthood. How does the reality of frog reproduction (my players invoked 'This show is educational' to make it an important story detail) fit with feudalism?
Sex and religion in the Venusian frog society
The sex lives of the peasantry (where inheritance isn't an issue) is very different from the ruling elite. Peasants are 'of the land'. Local ponds and streams are their mother and father. As adults they live lives of toil, but the annual spawning festival is a time of orgiastic release.The barons, guild masters and anyone with inheritable property have a much more regulated sex life.
The church offers (for a small percentage of the inheritable goods) a sure way to identify the first born tadpole and verify its parentage. Within the 'holy of holies' of each frog temple there are a series of private spawning ponds. Each pond is watched over by a priest who have taken a vow of celibacy. They record the hatchings in order to identify the legitimate succession sequence. Parents are encouraged to swim with tadpoles to establish a parental bond. Primogeniture is preserved by trying it directly to Church ritual. If the peasants are spiritually 'of the land', then the elites are 'of the church'. Church rituals inform the earliest memories of each of the frog nobility.
The church is facing a challenge from a reform movement. The tithe for access to the spawning pools is traditionally a donation of land to the church. This was justified theologically as a way making the spawning 'of the land'. The reformed church offers access to their spawning pools for a cash tithe (making them popular with city based frogs). Needless to say, elites raised in the traditional church consider children of the reformed church 'bastards', and vice versa.
The traditional church provides blessings to the peasant spawning ritual even though it does not strictly accord with church teachings. The reformed church takes a hard line and considers folk spawning a sin. They offer a version of the spawning pond to the common folk as an alternative. This makes reformed church campaigners for land reform. They've found yeoman farmers to be far more willing converts than serfs.
Fun frog facts for story detail
Frogs must keep their skin moist. This limits their range to places near water. The Venusian society have developed 'wet suits' to for exploration purposes, but much of the mountainous parts of Venus are inaccessible to frogs due to their dry, desiccating winds. This provides lots of spaces for the uplifted Venusian Gorillas to hide out from frog patrols and potentially desiccants (like salt) count be used as a weapon.Amphibians can regrow severed limbs. The Soviets are active on Venus and are harvesting plant saps from the jungle, They have imposed a quota system on the Venusian frog people in their sector. If frogs do not meet their quotas they cut off limbs.
Comments
Post a Comment