GURPS Space

242 Pages·2006·7.425 MB·English

by  Jon F Zeigler, James L Cambias, Wil Upchurch

Written by JON F. ZEIGLER and JAMES L. CAMBIAS
Edited by WIL UPCHURCH
Cover Art by ALAN GUTIERREZ, CHRIS QUILLIAMS, and BOB STEVLIC
Illustrated by JESSE DEGRAFF, ALAN GUTIERREZ, CHRIS QUILLIAMS,
and BOB STEVLIC
ISBN 1-55634-245-4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
C
ONTENTS
INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . 4 Life Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Step 14: Bases and Installations. . . . . 96
PUBLICATIONHISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 GWreaavpitoyn.s .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 4434 5. ADVANCED
About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 WORLDBUILDING. . . . . . 99
1. SPACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Sensors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 GENERATINGSTARSYSTEMS . . . . . .100
Communications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
SPACEANDSPACEFICTION . . . . . . . . . .6 Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Stellar Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Why Space Travel?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Laboratories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Step 15: Number of Stars. . . . . . . . . . 100
What’s Notin This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Step 16: Star Masses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Designing the Space Campaign. . . . . . . 7 Small Craft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Step 17: Star System Age. . . . . . . . . . 101
Hard and Soft Science Fiction . . . . . . . . 7 Step 18: Stellar Characteristics. . . . . 102
Scale and Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3. TECHNOLOGY. . . . . . . . . 49 Step 19: Companion Star Orbits. . . . 105
Ships and Outposts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Step 20: Locate Orbital Zones. . . . . . 106
CAMPAIGNTYPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 ATEDCDHINNGOLMOIGRYACALREESA .S . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..5501 SStteepp 2212:: PPllaaccien Pgl aFnirestta Pryla Onrebtsits. .. .. .. .. .. 110078
Realism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Biotechnology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Step 23: Place Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Strange New Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Suspended Animation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Step 24: Place Moons. . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The High Frontier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Alien Archaeology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Bioships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 GENERATINGWORLDDETAILS . . . . .113
Computers and Communications. . . . 55
Military Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Step 25: World Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Stop in the Name of the Law. . . . . . . . 16 The Transparent Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Step 26: Atmosphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Nanotechnology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Media and Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Step 27: Hydrographics. . . . . . . . . . . 114
Transportation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Working Stiffs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Step 28: Climate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Weapons and Defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Heroic Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Step 29: World Sizes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
The Swashbuckler Option. . . . . . . . . . . 61
The Absurdist Campaign. . . . . . . . . . . 20 Step 30: Dynamic Parameters. . . . . . 115
ALIWENhSo N. e. e. d. s. .S .t a. r.s .h .i p. s. ?. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2211 4U.S IBNGASWICORWLDOS R. .L . D. .B . U. .I L. .D . I. N. .G . . .. .. . 6.623 SStteeppH 33a12b::i tGRaeebsoiollioutygric.c e. sA. ac. tn.i .dv i. t.y . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 111291
SOCIETIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Dramatic Roles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Step 33: Settlement Type. . . . . . . . . . 121
INTERSTELLARORGANIZATIONS . . . . .24 Depth of Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Step 34: Technology Level. . . . . . . . . 122
PLANETSANDPLACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 MAPPINGTHEGALAXY . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Step 35: Population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Astronomical Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Step 36: Society Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
2. SPACE TRAVEL. . . . . . . . . 28 Distances and Scales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Step 37: Control Rating. . . . . . . . . . . 123
A TAXONOMYOFMIRACLES . . . . . . . .29 The Frequency of Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . 70 Step 38: Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
SPACEFLIGHTANDSTORY Choosing a Preferred Scale . . . . . . . . . . 72 Step 39: Bases and Installations. . . . 123
REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 WORLDDESIGNSEQUENCE . . . . . . . .73 SPECIALCASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Step 1: Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Gas Giant Moons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
MANEUVERDRIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Step 2: World Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Tide-Locked Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Reaction Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Why World Types?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Massive Stars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
The Rocket Equation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Step 3: Atmosphere. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Red Dwarf Stars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Sample Delta-V Requirements . . . . . . . 32 Toxicity Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Brown Dwarf Stars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Sails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Step 4: Hydrographic Coverage. . . . . . 81 Rogue Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Catapults and Tethers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Step 5: Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Terraformed Worlds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Reactionless Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Step 6: World Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 OTHEROBJECTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
Relativity Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Step 7: Resources and Habitability. . . 87 Asteroids and Comets. . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Generation Ships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Habitability for Aliens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Artificial Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
STARDRIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 SOCIALPARAMETERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 Who Needs Planets, Anyway?. . . . . . . 132
Hyperdrive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Step 8: Settlement Type. . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Megastructures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Jump Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Step 9: Technology Level. . . . . . . . . . . 90
Warp Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Step 10: Population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 6. ALIEN LIFE AND
Designing a Stardrive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Altering the Colony Population Table. . . 93 ALIEN MINDS. . . . . . . 134
Navigation Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
SHIPBOARDSYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 SStteepp 1121:: CSoocnitertoyl TRyaptein.g . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9943 ALIENSINTHECAMPAIGN . . . . . . . . .135
Some Common Aliens. . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Control Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Step 13: Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
GURPSSystem Design❚ STEVE JACKSON ProductionArtist ❚ ALEX FERNANDEZ Sales Manager❚ ROSSJEPSON
GURPSLine Editor❚ SEAN PUNCH Page Design ❚ PHILIP REED Errata Coordinator❚ ANDY VETROMILE
Managing Editor❚ CHRIS AYLOTT Print Buyer ❚ MONIQUECHAPMAN GURPSFAQ Maintainer ❚ ❍❍❍❍❍
Production Manager ❚MONICA STEPHENS Marketing Director ❚ PAUL CHAPMAN STÉPHANE THÉRIAULT
Lead Playtester: Jeff Wilson
Playtesters: Doug Berry, Frederick Brackin, Daniel Boese, Darcy Casselman, Paul Chapman, James Cloos, Douglas Cole, Peter Dell’Orto,
Paul Drye, Shawn Fisher, Chris Goodin, Martin Heidemann, Leonardo M. Holschuh, Anthony Jackson, Stefan Jones, Robert Kim, Susan Koziel,
Michael Lloyd, Paraj Mandrekar, Phil Masters, David Morgan-Mar, Fabio Milito Pagliara, Robert Prior, Sean Punch, Luis M. Rebollar,
Emily Smirle, Michael Smith, William H. Stoddard, Paul Tevis, George Valaitis, Bryan Weaver, and Roger Burton West
GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramidand the names of all products
published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license.
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2 C
ONTENTS
LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136 Metabolism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Corruptibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Life as We Know It. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Alien Creation VI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 SOCIETYANDBIOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . .175
Clashing Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Reproduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 SOCIETYANDTECHNOLOGY . . . . . . .177
ONtohne-rC Chhememiciastl rLieisfe.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 113480 LAilfieesnp Canrea. t.i o. n. .V . I.I . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 115691 ECONOMICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180
Alien Creation I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Senses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Unobtainium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Artificial Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Money. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
ECOLOGIESANDNICHES . . . . . . . . . .141 ASplieenci aClr eAabtiilointi eVsI.I .I .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 116654 LAWThAeN LDeisJuUrSe TSIoCcEie t.y . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 118824
Energy Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Alien Creation II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 ALIENMINDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166 MILITARYFORCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Autotrophs and Decomposers. . . . . . 143 Brains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Alternate Armies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Herbivores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Nature: The Influence of Biology. . . 167 How Much Military Rank?. . . . . . . . . 189
Carnivores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Nurture: The Influence of Society. . . 167 INTERSTELLARGOVERNMENTS . . . .190
Parasites and Symbionts. . . . . . . . . . . 146 Alien Creation IX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Anarchy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
ALIENANATOMY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146 Alien Creation X. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Alliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Mobility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Federation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 7. FUTURE AND ALIEN Corporate State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Alien Creation III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 CIVILIZATIONS. . . . . . . 171 Empire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Body Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 STORYCONCERNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172 Why People Support
Alien Creation IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Control and Intrusiveness. . . . . . . . . 173 Rotten Empires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Alien Creation V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Avenues to Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Alternate Empires. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Skin, Hide, and Alternatives . . . . . . . 155 Alien Governments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Planetary Governments. . . . . . . . . . . 201
History and Government. . . . . . . . . . . 201
ORGANIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202
About GURPS 8. ADVENTURES . . . . . . . . 207
THEHOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208
Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of GURPS The Default Adventure. . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
players. Our address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Please Metaplot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) any time you write GOALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210
us! We can also be reached by e-mail: [email protected]. Resources OBSTACLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210
include: Puzzles and Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Alien Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Pyramid (www.sjgames.com/pyramid/). Our online magazine Adversaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Adventure Seeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
includes new GURPSrules and articles. It also covers the d20system,
Ars Magica, BESM, Call of Cthulhu,and many more top games – and 9. CHARACTERS . . . . . . . . 214
other Steve Jackson Games releases like Illuminati, Car Wars, GROUPSTRUCTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Transhuman Space,and more. Pyramidsubscribers also get opportu- CHARACTERCONCEPTS . . . . . . . . . . . .215
nities to playtest new GURPSbooks! Astronauts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to grow, and Space Knights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Niche Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
we’ll be happy to let you know what’s new. For a current catalog, send
Tramp Freighters and
us a legal-sized SASE, or just visit www.warehouse23.com. Merchant Princes. . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
e23.Our e-publishing division offers GURPSadventures, play aids, Modified Humans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
and support not available anywhere else! Just head over to Uplifted Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Psionic Mutants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
www.sjgames.com/e23/.
Robots and AIs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Errata.Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but we do our best Aliens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all GURPS releases, ADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGES,
including this book, are available on our website – see below. ANDSKILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219
Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.sjgames.com CHARACTERTEMPLATES . . . . . . . . . . .226
for errata, updates, Q&A, free webforums, and much more. To Astronaut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
discuss GURPS with SJ Games staff and fellow gamers, come to our Bounty Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Colonist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
forums at forums.sjgames.com. The GURPS Space web page is
Con Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/space/. Detective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Bibliographies.Many of our books have extensive bibliographies, and Doctor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
we’re putting them online – with links to let you buy the books that Explorer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Scientist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
interest you! Go to the book’s web page and look for the “Bibliography”
Secret Agent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
link. Security Officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
GURPSnet. This e-mail list hosts much of the online discussion of Soldier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
GURPS. To join, point your web browser to www.sjgames.com/ Space Knight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Space Worker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l/.
Technician. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Thief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the GURPS
Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that begin with B refer to BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . 236
that book, not this one.
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
C 3
ONTENTS
I
NTRODUCTION
Why do we dream of voyages to
space? Why do we make up tales of
distant worlds and other stars? Isn’t
Earth enough?
Well, no. Earth is a big planet with
plenty of weird stuff on it, but it’s get-
ting too well-known. Human civiliza-
tion is increasingly close-knit, so even
in the most exotic lands one sees
familiar brand names and hears famil-
iar pop music.
We want wonders. We want to
climb 26 miles to the top of Mons
Olympus on Mars, see the rings of
Saturn filling half the sky, watch the
double sunset on Alpha Centauri IV,
see stars being born in the Orion
Nebula, and watch them spiral in to
die in the central black hole of the
adventures are achievable. Anyone revised their text for the third edition.
galaxy. Space exploration brings a
can join in, no royal birth or ancient The current edition includes a great
whole universe of wonders within
prophecy required. Those odd soci- deal of text from these earlier versions.
reach.
eties? They’re real, too – or can be. If This book also incorporates mate-
We want to play with ideas. What
this book has a message, it’s: we can do rial from several other GURPSbooks.
would life be like on a planet of a flare
this. Humans are capable of great The concepts of tone, scale, and scope
star? What are some other ways to run
things. Sure, Earth is a great place, used in Chapter 1 were pioneered by
a society, or distribute wealth? How
but if we limit ourselves to a single Ken Hite in the third edition of
does hyperspace travel affect interstel-
planet, it’s an admission of defeat. GURPS Horror. The world design
lar military strategy? Space travel and
sequences in Chapters 4 and 5 are
colonization lets us create new soci-
eties and examine different ways of PUBLICATION descended from the one designed by
Jon F. Zeigler for GURPS Traveller:
doing things.
H
ISTORY First In; a simpler version of the cur-
We also want someone to talk to.
rent system also appears in GURPS
An alien perspective would tell us This is the fourth edition of GURPS
Traveller: Interstellar Wars. The
many things about the universe, and Space. Steve Jackson and William
alien design sequence in Chapter 6
about ourselves. Alien music and alien Barton collaborated on the first and
was inspired by the one Stefan Jones
art might revitalize our jaded tastes second editions, and David Pulver
created for GURPS Uplift.
and inbred styles. Civilizations older
than our own might know the answers
to some of our questions – and ask
About the Authors
some questions we haven’t even
thought of.
James L. Cambias is a game designer and science fiction writer, cur-
Finally, as gamers we want adven-
rently resident in western Massachusetts. He is putting the finishing
tures. We want to chase our foes
touches on his plan to gain a complete monopoly on science fiction role-
across the icy plains of Pluto, or hide
playing sourcebooks. Earlier stages in the project include GURPS
from them in the clouds of Neptune.
Planet Krishna, GURPS Mars, GURPS Planet of Adventure; Star
We want to make a killing doing busi-
Heroand Terran Empirefrom Hero Games; and several science fiction
ness with intelligent fungi from Altair,
short stories. With the appearance of this book, total science fiction
or lead troops into battle against robot
domination is within his grasp!
hordes. Space is fun.
Jon F. Zeigler has been a science fiction fan since the cradle
What makes space different is that
(literally). He and his wife and two children live in Maryland, where
it’s real. The wonders are really out
he works for the federal government as a network security analyst.
there, along with others we haven’t
He has written several books for GURPS, especially for the GURPS
seen. There are real alien civilizations
TravellerandTranshuman Spaceproduct lines.
out there somewhere, probably more
strange than we’ve imagined. Space
4 I
NTRODUCTION
C O
HAPTER NE
S
PACE
I dodged the thing’s deadly beam-blasts and leaped over one of the
tumbled stone slabs to find cover. Captain Panatic was hunkered
down behind the same slab, his proton gun ready.
“I’m wondering why I’m here, Dr. Wallace. I could have
stayed back in the Patrol and fought pirates.” The slab
cracked as a beam-blast struck it. Panatic popped up
and fired off a couple of bursts at the giant glittering
menace slowly approaching us.
“Or I could have taken my brother’s offer and gone into “But I didn’t do those things. I heard you were looking for a
business as a merchant. I think I’d make a pretty good pilot, so I took the job. Do you know why, Dr. Wallace?”
merchant, don’t you?” Panatic took out a couple of spare power cells and began
I ducked as a blast shattered the wall above me, showering prying at the casings. He got them open, used a strip of foil to
us both with fragments of blackened stone. connect them somehow, counted under his breath, and tossed
Captain Panatic took my rucksack and began rummaging them over the slab at the machine. A second later, there was a
through it. “I might even have bought some land on a colony tremendous explosion.
world, maybe raise dairy cattle and make cheese. Do you like When the dust had cleared and we could stop coughing,
cheese, Dr. Wallace?” Panatic and I peeked over the slab. The ancient alien machine
I risked a look. The huge golden machine that I’d mistaken was toppled over and still.
for an alien idol was now only five meters away, shoving aside “I signed on with you because I figured an archaeology
slabs bigger than the one we were hiding behind. voyage would be nice and safe. What could possibly happen?”
I decided not to tell him about the psi-worms yet.
S 5
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S S F
PACE AND PACE ICTION
A L “superscience” methods of negating things up, SF writers began a long
ITTLE
gravity to allow their heroes to visit tradition of coming up with ways to
LITERARY other worlds. cheat Einstein. E.E. “Doc” Smith’s
At the start of the 20th century, pio- “Lensman” series used the “inertia-
H
ISTORY neering scientists like Konstantin less” drive to let spaceships crack the
Tsiolkovsky and Robert Goddard lightspeed barrier; others postulated
Space travel has always been the
began to investigate the possibilities of short cuts through hyperspace,
most important trope in science fic-
rockets as a practical means of space instantaneous “jump” drives, space-
tion. To many people, it’s “all that
exploration, and space travel moved bending warp drives, and a long list
outer space stuff.” And certainly SF
solidly into the realm of hard SF, of methods ranging from barely
writers have been interested in the
where it has remained ever since. possible to ridiculous.
subject for a very long time. Johannes
Science-fiction writers (and fans) In modern science fiction, space
Kepler wrote about a voyage to the
were soon bandying about technical voyages and interstellar faster-than-
Moon in 1634, and although his hero
concepts like specific impulse, delta-V, light travel are part of the “furniture”
gets there by means of magic,
ullage, and gyrostabilization. Some of of the genre. Authors no longer have
Kepler’s description of conditions on
them, like Arthur C. Clarke, mixed SF to explain how the spaceships work or
the Moon was pure “hard” science
writing with research and theoretical waste much time describing the thun-
fiction.
work on space exploration. der of the mighty rocket engines,
Early accounts of space voyages
Unfortunately for science-fiction because those are all so familiar to the
were often fantasies, either explicitly
writers, astronomers during the same readers from movies and televised
like Kepler’s, or with a wink at the
era were discovering some uncomfort- space missions.
reader, as when Francis Godwin used
able facts about the solar system. As
migratory geese to carry his hero to
early as the 1890s, it was known that WHY SPACE
the Moon in The Man in the Mooneor
Mars was too cold and dry to support
Edgar Allan Poe used a balloon to T ?
any advanced life, and in the 1960s RAVEL
carry Hans Pfaal there in “The
scientists learned that Venus was
Unparalleled Adventure of one Hans Given that science fiction covers all
equally inhospitable. A few writers
Pfaal.” But by the middle of the 19th possible futures, alternate pasts, other
tried handwaving about asteroids with
century, authors began speculating realities, and transformations of the
Earthlike conditions or speculation
about ways by which people might human body and mind, it may seem
about the moons of the outer giant
really be able to leave the Earth. odd that so much energy in the field is
planets, but the majority of SF writers
Edward Everett Hale proposed a giant devoted to stories about voyages in
began looking to the stars.
catapult powered by spinning fly- outer space. Some see this as a contin-
Tales of space exploration
wheels to launch an artificial satellite uation of the American idea of the fron-
remained limited to the Solar system
in “The Brick Moon,” and Jules Verne tier, with space fiction as nothing more
until about World War II, when writ-
envisioned a titanic cannon in From than Westerns with ray guns. Others
ers began working on a larger scale.
the Earth to the Moon. Later authors speculate archly about the sexual
Because of Albert Einstein’s theory of
like H.G. Wells and George Griffiths imagery of rockets. Certainly there isa
relativity, the readers were also aware
realized the problems with those lot of powerful symbolism involved in
that journeys to other stars were like-
methods and concocted imaginary the idea of rising up away from Earth
ly to take a very long time. To speed
and mundane concerns to soar among
the stars. In just about all mythologies
the sky is where the gods live.
But there is more to space travel
What’s Not in This Book
than just the symbols. The simple fact
Though GURPS Spaceis intended as the chief sourcebook for sci- is that space travel (and interstellar
ence fiction roleplaying using the GURPSsystem, the main focus of travel) are the most plausible ways to
this book is adventures in space and on other worlds. There are whole have stories about humans in settings
subgenres of SF that aren’t covered here, because they’re important that are not Earthly locales and inter-
enough to get their own sourcebooks. Descriptions of specific game acting with beings who are not other
universes are covered in GURPS worldbooks. GURPS Infinite people like themselves. This is not
Worlds covers time travel, interdimensional travel, and alternate very different from descriptions of
histories – and presents a campaign framework that links all the fantasy settings – Narnia and Middle-
GURPS worldbooks. GURPS Powers describes psionics and other Earth are not Earthly locales and
super-powers. Forthcoming “tech books” will provide shopping lists have nonhuman inhabitants – but
of futuristic gadgets. there is an important difference. Alien
worlds in outer space are fairylands
6 S
PACE
that could be real, and that don’t extraordinary voyages to Africa or the D
ESIGNING THE
require special magic to visit. Even ocean deeps let his readers visit those
the other worlds of the Solar system exotic places, space fiction lets SPACE CAMPAIGN
turn out to be strange and interesting Earthbound readers “play tourist”
Much of the excitement of a star-
in ways unlike anything on Earth. among the wonders of the Universe.
spanning campaign comes from hav-
Just as Jules Verne’s stories of
ing a detailed, believable background,
and this section provides an overview
of how to create one. These rules are
Hard and not tied to any single vision of the
future. This book is not intended to
Soft Science Fiction impose a background on the game;
rather, it gives creative GMs the tools
In discussions of science fiction, “hard SF” refers to stories in which to develop any type of outer-space
the science is as accurate as possible, and usually the focus of the story campaign.
as well. “Soft SF” has shifted slightly in meaning over the years. Designing a complete space cam-
Originally it referred to stories focusing on the “soft sciences” – psychol- paign involves several decisions.
ogy, sociology, history, etc. Those are the sciences concerned with
human behavior, and in time soft SF began to refer to stories that de-
Type
emphasized the science in favor of closer attention to the characters and
their emotions. This is the big one: what kind of
What started simply as a matter of classification turned into a mine- campaign will it be? What will the PCs
field when some fans and authors tried to insist that only hard SF was do? Are they military officers, explor-
“real” science fiction, and that any stories that subordinated the science ers, or traders? Would they rather
to the characters were somehow inferior or pretentiously imitating engage in combat or diplomacy?
mainstream fiction. In an interesting boomerang effect, many critics Game Masters may wish to poll their
outside the field have taken much the same line, insisting that all SF is potential players to see what type of
campaign most of them like best.
“just about gadgets,” and any stories that portray human emotions and
relationships aren’t science fiction because they’re too goodfor the field.
In this book we’re going to avoid any judgments about what sort of Scope and
fiction is best. Hard SF refers to stories with a strong emphasis on sci-
Interstellar Travel
entific accuracy, while soft SF here means stories or campaigns that do
not. Which is best depends on what the players and GM do. How much space does the cam-
paign universe cover? Will it be set
Science Fantasy within a single star system, around a
few dozen nearby stars, or in a whole
One might expect the least realistic form of SF to be what’s often
spiral arm of the galaxy? This deci-
called “science fantasy,” in which scientific and magical elements are
sion is tied to the choice of faster-
blended. Examples include Heinlein’s story “Waldo” and Christopher
than-light drives available: the faster
Stasheff’s Warlockseries.
the drive, the more territory that can
But in point of fact science fantasy can have its own varying degrees
be covered. Are habitable worlds
of realism. If the magic is tightly defined and the interactions between
rare, common, or innumerable? And
magic and science are carefully thought out, then it can be just as real-
how close are they in terms of travel
istic as any moderately hard SF with one or two bits of imaginary sci-
time? The more quickly the PCs can
ence. The magic just fills the niche of “rubber science.” A great example
travel between worlds, the likelier
of highly realistic science fantasy is the GURPS Technomancersetting,
they are to interact on a large scale –
which blends “technothriller” technology with rigorously explored
sharing governments, trading, extra-
magic, and addresses all the social and political implications of indus-
diting criminals, or fighting wars.
trial-scale magic in a scientific and rational society.
By contrast, most superhero settings include both magic and super-
science, and treat neither one with much realism at all. Wizards, sen- Interstellar Societies
tient machines, aliens, avatars of powerful gods, and mutants with and Organizations
strange powers all coexist, yet the society in which they operate shows
Do the characters live in a mas-
no effect at all. Nothing is realistic, but it’s all a lot of fun and allows cool
sive empire or a loose-knit alliance?
adventures in capes and spandex.
Is the government restrictive? Are
Game Masters can certainly combine fantasy and SF in a GURPS
the police and military effective? Are
Spacecampaign; treat the magic as just another area of “rubber sci-
there many societies, or just one
ence” and set the realism level as needed for the desired style of cam-
large super-civilization? Note that
paign. Obviously, a full discussion of fantasy is beyond the scope of
the number and size of societies in
this book, but GURPS Fantasyand other sourcebooks can supply the
the campaign are tied to the scope.
missing ingredients.
What interstellar organizations are
important? And what is the historyof
interstellar civilization?
S 7
PACE
General Technology
What are the campaign’s average
and maximum tech levels? What sort Ships and Outposts
of FTL communication, weaponry,
A common and very useful situation in science fiction is to chronicle
medicine, and personal gear will be
the adventures of a daring spaceship crew as they voyage through the
available? The technology in a cam-
galaxy. Undoubtedly Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise is the most famous
paign affects what type of adventures
example, but there are scores of others. All of them can trace their
are possible, so Game Masters must
ancestry back to sea stories, from the Horatio Hornblower novels clear
be sure that the available tech fits the
back to the Odysseyor the story of Jason and the Argonauts.
desired campaign type.
A tremendous strength of the ship-based dramatic framework is its
flexibility. The characters are in a familiar setting, but that setting is
Drawing the Map
mobile, letting them interact with new antagonists and encounter new
Where are things in the campaign situations. This applies to roleplaying campaigns as well as fiction. The
relative to each other? What are ship itself becomes a natural “home base” for the characters. Players
important places and why? may get quite attached to their in-game starship, drawing up deck
Traditionally science-fiction universes plans, poring through the ship-design rules for upgrades to drool over,
feature a “core” of advanced, heavily or designing insignia. But since the ship moves around, the GM can eas-
populated worlds and a frontier zone ily introduce the characters to new adventures. The relative cost of a
or “rim” where colonies are young and spacecraft is very important: if only governments can afford them, the
the government’s power is weak. If setting will have a very different feel than if a group of startup entrepre-
rival empires are cheek-by-jowl the neurs can get a used ship and start trading.
political situation will be very different Probably the most important bit of preparation for any ship-based
than if they are separated by wide campaign is to create the starship itself. If one or more of the players
expanses of unclaimed space. have a “gearhead” bent and are interested in delving into technical
minutiae, it may be a good idea to let them do the design work, within
the limits of budgetary and technological restrictions imposed by the
Aliens and Other
Game Master (and possibly the campaign setting). The ship they create
Nonhumans can be a great guide for the GM in creating adventures. Players who
In the campaign are the “good stuff their ships with weapons obviously want to be able to point those
guys” all human? What exactly consti- weapons at something. Let them chase space pirates or fight off an alien
tutes “human” anyway if cyborgs, invasion. If they pack the sensor suite with planetary-survey instru-
mutants, and uplifted animals are part ments and give the ship enough onboard fuel purifiers and repair shops
of the setting? Are there allied species? to keep it running for years away from civilization, they’re probably
Are there “bad guy” civilizations? going to want to explore the great beyond.
What about vanished races? What is
The Outpost
the role of artificial intelligences?
A variant campaign idea is that of the outpost or space station. Like
a ship, an outpost framework provides a cozy “home base” for the char-
Local Societies
acters. Unlike ships, outposts are stationary; adventure has to come to
What are the specific worlds and them. Important outposts in SF include the titular space stations of the
places the characters will spend time Babylon 5and Deep Space 9television series, and the giant space hospi-
in like? How do they interact with tal of James White’s “Sector General” stories.
interstellar society? What are the local Outpost campaigns have many of the same concerns as those built
laws and customs, what starship around a starship. Typically a station is larger and more self-sufficient
repair facilities are available, and than a ship, but this just means its enemies get to be more powerful.
what’s the best place to get a plate of Visitors to the outpost are the obvious adventure hooks, but occasional-
Rigelian chili? ly the crew does get to go off on missions within the station’s area of
responsibility. Because of the more static nature of an outpost cam-
S
CALE paign, adventures are likely to be less action-oriented and involve more
roleplaying and politicking.
S
AND COPE
The scope of the campaign is the
size of the environment in which the
The crew of a small merchant starship level of complexity and size before
characters operate, and the scale is the
that voyages among distant galaxies introducing the next. As the charac-
level at which they can affect that envi-
has a colossal scope but a limited ters improve in personal abilities and
ronment. Characters who are the
scale. gain wealth and power from their
commanders of a space station in a
The two are linked. A gradually actions in the game, their scale
game confined to that station have
increasing physical scope gives the naturally tends to increase as well.
limited scope but relatively high scale.
players a chance to get used to each An increase in scope can provide
8 S
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increasingly powerful characters with instance, even a trip to Mars takes a travel times. A game spanning the
appropriate challenges by bringing year, and voyages to the outer planets whole galaxy would feel compact if a
them into contact with new and can take decades. In that case, the personal spaceship can get from the
mightier opponents. So what if they scope feels large because of the long rim to the core in an afternoon.
are masters of a whole star system
when there is a whole vast galaxy out
there?
Ship-based campaigns necessarily
have a large physical scope. Colony
campaigns and post-apocalyptic set-
tings may be relatively limited, but
since a theme in both subgenres is
“pushing back the frontier,” the scope
will likely expand.
Physical scope is linked closely to
technology, especially transportation.
A large scope means little if rapid
transport makes everyplace effectively
“next door.” For a campaign to feel big,
there must be some effect of distance.
Some places must be “far away” and
take a long time to reach. In a hard-SF
game set in the real Solar system, for
Tone
The tone is the “feel” of a campaign – the mood the suitable in exploration (focusing on alien or cosmic
GM wants to invoke in the setting. There is a vast range menaces), law enforcement (concentrating on sadistic
of possible tones. To some extent, every author and every killers and social horrors), or military (exploring
story or film has a slightly different one. In classic sci- psychological horror).
ence fiction, however, several tones predominate.
Romance
Action-Adventure
For a long time science fiction avoided “mushy stuff”
Common in all types of SF, especially film and mili- like relationships between characters. That began to
tary SF, action-adventure science fiction emphasizes change in the 1960s, and recent decades have seen the
danger, motion, and physical conflict. Problems are rise of a whole romantic subgenre of science fiction,
solved with fisticuffs or blaster fire, usually while hang- written by authors like Catherine Asaro and Lois
ing off the edge of an orbital elevator capsule or speed- McMaster Bujold. In romantic SF the focus is on inter-
ing hovercraft. There is usually a sense that the heroes actions and relationships among the characters, though
will triumph despite all the danger and opposition. there is still plenty of room for exploding spaceships and
Campaigns especially suitable for action-adventure are alien menaces.
military, law-enforcement, criminal, and planetary
romance. However, just about any roleplaying campaign Space Opera
is likely to have at least some action-adventure moments. Sometimes considered a subgenre of its own, space
opera is SF with the dials all cranked to 11. The scale is
Horror
titanic; seldom are characters concerned with the fate of
Horror and SF are Siamese twin genres, born at anything less than a whole planet. The range is usually
about the same time from Gothic fiction and maturing vast. Psychological realism takes a back seat to battles of
together in the pulp magazines. Horror is all about fear: Ultimate Good against blackest Evil. Scientific realism is
what the characters fear, what the playersfear, and what back there, too, cowering helplessly as physical laws
everyone fears. Fear works best when the opposition are broken with contemptuous ease. Spaceships are
seems unbeatable and implacably hostile. Science fic- huge and baroque, doing battle with brightly colored
tion can provide a scientific rationale for “conventional” beam weapons. Aliens are many and exotic. Settings
horror about monsters or psycho killers, but it also emphasize wonder (see below) and plots emphasize
lends itself well to “cosmic” horror, in which the true action (see above).
fear comes from realizing just how tiny and unimpor-
tant humans are in the face of a vast universe. Horror Continued on next page . . .
can creep into most SF campaigns, but is especially
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