d4
First Post
if you liked the Iron Lords of Jupiter minigame from Polyhedron a couple of months back, you might want to take a look at the recently-published GURPS Planet of Adventure.
it is a sourcebook for Jack Vance's "Planet of Adventure" series of books, which are great examples of the "planetary romance" genre ILOJ emulates. Not to mention Vance is one of the greatest sci fi / fantasy authors ever.
like most GURPS books, it boils down its topic into an easily digestible format and provides a wealth of information pertinent to running a campaign on the planet Tschai. GURPS stats are fairly easy to understand and convert even if you have little familiarity with the system.
i have two... well, not really complaints, but issues with the book.
firstly, the third, amphibious alien race is called consistently throughout the book as the Wanek. in my copy of the "Planet of Adventure" series (the Tor Omnibus edition, published 1993) they are called the Wankh. i'm not sure why the GURPS book consistently got the name of one of the major species in the books wrong, but it's a bit disturbing and irritating.
secondly, i was hoping for at least a brief mention of the status of women on Tschai. one of the major things that bothered me while reading the original books was the chauvinism / sexism that pervades the series. basically, all the female characters in the books are either monstrous villains (like the Cult of the Female Mystery) or beautiful, passive victims waiting to be rescued (the Flower of Cath, Zap 210). there are no strong, good female characters in the books. i'll give Vance the benefit of the doubt and attribute it to the times the books were written in (mid- to late-60s), but a mention of it in the sourcebook and how to work around it would have been nice.
it is a sourcebook for Jack Vance's "Planet of Adventure" series of books, which are great examples of the "planetary romance" genre ILOJ emulates. Not to mention Vance is one of the greatest sci fi / fantasy authors ever.
like most GURPS books, it boils down its topic into an easily digestible format and provides a wealth of information pertinent to running a campaign on the planet Tschai. GURPS stats are fairly easy to understand and convert even if you have little familiarity with the system.
i have two... well, not really complaints, but issues with the book.
firstly, the third, amphibious alien race is called consistently throughout the book as the Wanek. in my copy of the "Planet of Adventure" series (the Tor Omnibus edition, published 1993) they are called the Wankh. i'm not sure why the GURPS book consistently got the name of one of the major species in the books wrong, but it's a bit disturbing and irritating.
secondly, i was hoping for at least a brief mention of the status of women on Tschai. one of the major things that bothered me while reading the original books was the chauvinism / sexism that pervades the series. basically, all the female characters in the books are either monstrous villains (like the Cult of the Female Mystery) or beautiful, passive victims waiting to be rescued (the Flower of Cath, Zap 210). there are no strong, good female characters in the books. i'll give Vance the benefit of the doubt and attribute it to the times the books were written in (mid- to late-60s), but a mention of it in the sourcebook and how to work around it would have been nice.
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