> Scott Ellsworth [email removed] [email removed]
>Archive-Message-Number: 742
> Has anyone looked at Gurps Space? I like the traveller universe and the
>"feel" of it, but I dislike the ways skills are handled, as well as the
>horrendously inefficient fusion/AM plants.
I bought GURPS Space, because I'm using GURPS for a fantasy campaign,
and I thought to loan it to my Traveller GM. If I ever run a space
game, I'd either use very variant traveller (see Redden & Gazis
postings) or GURPS Space, possibly a mutant mix. Or N. Shapiro's Other Suns,
formerly pub'ed by FGU, soon to reappear as share-ware or something. (See
USENET rec.games.frp discussion; if someone's interested, I might be able
to post a digest from my unix account -- send to [email removed])
What follows is my review of GURPS Space, followed by a copy of the self
promotional back cover blurb therefrom.
GURPS Space is a generalization of GURPS Humanx: it gives several taxonomies
(Chinese menus) for building an SF campaign: pick your technological future.
They list multiple different ways around the FTL problem, and give hints
as to how each affects a campaign. Also menued: How is your galaxy/cluster/
known space ruled? (campaign type, with references!) What sort of
people go adventuring? How do you navigate in space? Power? Commo?
Weaponry? Design your own race.
Default energy density of power-cells looks less whacky than most systems.
Weapons span many traditions, GM should pick sublist based on above
choices, and weapon-legality in culture (like TRAV LAW level). But much
better variety: eg, electromag mortar, tanglers, vibroblades; power
holster. Likewise, Armor pans more sub-genre.
Starships are computed in cubic YARDS. (*yech* I guess metrics haven't
reached texas, or SJ was afraid of putting off the innumerate brats who
buy games at the corner store.) Sidebar says 200Tonner is slang for 200
cubic-yard hull, not to be confused with component mass, ship mass, etc
which are weights at 1G. They figure loaded mass = light mass + rated
cargo mass. Ship design looks simpler & saner than MegaTrav, and more
flexible than 3-book trav. (I don't know the supplements, since my GMs
use the Gazoid system.) Subsection: required crew, getting a ship
without buying it, reaction mass for trips of different lengths, STL
colony ships, GravTech, Auxiliary Craft (pretty skimpy).
Ship to ship combat looks reasonable for an RPG; it is *not* a war-game sub
game (although one might claim the melee rules are). They are very
similar to the GURPS Horseclans mass-battle rules, in terms of supply
ways for significant characters' skills to affect the larger battle and
the larger battle and character skills to affect the character's
survival etc.
Phases: 1. tactics. 2. Assign firepower & target selection, based
in part on tactics result. 3. Point defense gunnery (if using missiles).
4. Attack Gunnery (affected by 1,2,3) 5. Compute ship damage (direct
results of 4); PC's in areas taking damage must make survival rolls. 6.
Damage Control.
If still in range, Go To Phase 1:, but ignore Plans unless
regrouping occurs; in which case consider it a new battle.
When out of range, "each PC and important NPC must make a
survival roll". Heroism and Caution options allow PCs to tradeoff succes
and survival on damage control and some other tasks. Failure of a
survival roll doesn't kill automatically (as it would in TRAV roll-up,
but results in some number of dice of damage.
- ------
The back cover of GURPS Space: (quoted without permission for purposes
of review)
"The Future is Yours!
"At last .. the star-spanning sourcebook for the /Generic Universal
RolePlaying System/. In the 128 pages of /GURPS Space/, you'll find:
"* Detailed, scientifically correct rules for creating star systems and
planets ... [sic] either randomly, or to fit a specific campaign.
"* Descriptions of 21 character types ... [sic] and new advantages,
disadvantages, and skills for a far-future campaign.
"* Three variant human races -- heavy-worlders, light-worlders, and
Spacers -- and guidelines for creating new and different sorts of
genetically-enhanced humans
"* Four alien races. Meet the ...
"* Science-fiction gadgets, weapons, and medical technology.
"* Starship construction rules from TL8 (just around the corner) to
TL15+ (science fantasy).
"* Quick but detailed /abstract/ ship combat rules -- no ship ocunters,
just roleplaying ... [sic] for a quick determination of fleet damage,
individual ship damage, and injury [and contribution of !] characters.
"/GURPS Space/ does not tie your game to a single background. Rather,
it is designed for the creative GM who wants to develop his /own/
universe! This book presents a wide variety of choinces and background
information, to let you recreate your favorite science fiction
background -- or build your own, from the homeworld out.
"* Choose the scale of your compaign -- one star system, or a million.
"* Choose the type of campaign you want to run -- space pirates or Star
Patrol, hard-working merchangs or hard-bitten mercenaries, clever
smugglers or starry-eyed explorers, humans or aliens.
"* Choose the political background -- from scattered independet worlds,
through a loos Alliance or Federation, to a star-spanning Empire. Or
perhaps you'd prefer a Corporate State, run by big business. It's all here.
"* Choose the technological background -- from a wide variety of
startdrives, power plants, and weaponry -- to give the campaign the
scope and flavor you choose.
"Years in the making [ie years behind schedule], /GURPS Space/ is
essentially a survey of the whole space-adventure genre as it relates to
roleplaying. If you're ready to create your own future ...[sic] it's yours.
[fine print] "This book is designed for use with the /GURPS Basic Set/,
but can be used as a sourcebook for any roleplaying game in outer space.
[credits]"
- ------
bill ricker
[email removed] [email removed]
Fine Print disclaimers
@FONT(Helvetica-Narrow,6pt :-)
GURPS, GURPS HUMANX, GURPS SPACE etc are all trademarks of Steve Jackson
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reverting / has reverted to Niall Shapero.
I no longer have any relatives at Steve Jackson Games; even though he
laid-off my sister-in-law, we still think nicely of SJ.
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