About Space:1889

Space: 1889 is a role-playing game by Frank Chadwick, published by (now defunct) Game Designers' Workshop in 1989. It is based on Victorian era science fiction - the writings of Verne, Wells, Doyle, and Burroughs. The chief difference between that world and our own is the existence of the Edison Ether-Propeller. With this amazing device, steam powered "Ether-Flyers" can reach the worlds of the inner Solar System. Mars is the focus of Space: 1889. The dry planet is crisscrossed by canals, brining the scarce water of the polar caps to the dry sea beds. Over the centuries, Martian civilization has declined from the great days of the Canal Builders and now exists at a level roughly equivalent to Earth in the 17th Century.

Beginning in the 1870s, the colonial powers of Earth have used Ether-Flyers to extend their dominions to other planets. The most ambitious imperialist on Mars have been the British and the Belgians. Britain controls Syrtis Major, the richest city on Mars and is engaged with an ongoing war with the militaristic Oenotrian Empire. The Belgian Coprates Company conquered the great Coprates Rift Valley with an army of mercenaries and now ruthlessly exploits the region.

The most valuable resource on Mars is the incredible Liftwood tree. This plant grows only in the remote mountains, guarded by the savage, flying High Martians. When properly cut and cured, liftwood can be used to build ships that float in the air. Earth's Great Powers are scrambling to obtain supplies of liftwood, to keep up in the new aerial naval race that has begun.

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