Ultima: World of Adventures 2 - Martian Dreams Retrospective
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The normal Ultima character creation system involved talking to a gypsy in a fairground, who asked questions like (A thief steals your wallet but explains when caught that he needed the money. Do you show Compassion by letting him go, or Honesty by telling him you don't care and turning his skin into a nice new leather purse?) That kind of thing. Martian Dreams is similar, only with Sigmund Freud instead of the gypsy.
At this point, the capsule lands on Mars, and it's adventuring time. At this point, the awesomeness is unfortunately deflated a bit by two of Martian Dreams' biggest problems the Ultima VI engine, which is clunky and horrible, and the fact that Mars isn't the most exciting location. Actually, there's a third. Ultima II was set in our world and solar system, so while there's a bit of a lore-question over whether the Avatar and the Stranger From Another World who appeared in those games is the same guy/gal, there's at least a good chance that everyone else is staring out in wonder at their impossible surroundings while he's sitting back with a magazine and going (Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Did I tell you about the time I became a Space Ace so a princess would help me time-travel? Like I said, Wednesday.)
Martian Dreams makes up for it though by going full-bore ahead with its premise. There are expies of the usual Ultima companions, Shamino, Dupre and Iolo, amongst the survivors, but most are historical names. Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Theodore Roosevelt, Andrew Carnegie, Wyatt Earp, Samuel Clemens. at least they probably haven't been short of stories during their years exiled on Mars. They've even got H.G. Wells, before she got frozen by Warehouse 12 and had it off with Dexter.
And the villain? Rasputin. The mad monk Rasputin. More or less, anyway. He's got his camp, the others have their own, and the two sides are quietly feuding over Mars' surprisingly convenient technology. Oxium for example, which is used as currency, but is essentially oxygen in bubblegum form. You chew it, you get to breathe properly. You blow a bubble with it, everyone shoots a Look. There is air on Mars, so running out isn't as bad as it sounds, but it does mean taking a heavy stat hit while gasping and thrashing around at the inevitable monsters. This is an RPG after all.
