Transhuman Space

[Fade]

Rules on what actually is involved in casting a spell.

 

[Geoffrey]

Particularly for GURPS, I would recommend picking up the main rulebook and Compendium I regardless of what you're playing. I would be very surprised if Transhuman Space includes anywhere near as much in the way of rules as the core rulebook, and the extra goodies in Compendium I are quite useful. Are you opposed to buying other GURPS products if you find out up front that they're required or recommended in TS?

I like a rules-lite approach, also I don't want to spend a lot of money, and I like to be able to carry just one book of rules. I'm just not interested in TS if I have to buy other products as well.

 

[HellHound]

Darkness:

Thaumatology skill is said to be required for Discworld wizards in the GURPS discworld book. Of course... this skill is not included in the book, nor in GURPS lite, nor in GURPS basic... but in GURPS Compendium I.

 

[Xeriar]

Originally posted by Geoffrey

I like a rules-lite approach, also I don't want to spend a lot of money, and I like to be able to carry just one book of rules. I'm just not interested in TS if I have to buy other products as well.

In the case of Transhuman Space, anyway, it recomends the following books:

GURPS Basic, GURPS Compendium I, and GURPS Bio-tech. I think this has more do do with the additional advantages that would let you design more human varients.

It also recomends Compendium II (useful for running campaigns), Vehicles and Ultra-Tech 2.

You don't need these books for Transhuman Space, but a lot of rules in TS are blended in with the setting info, ie rules for CO2 poisoning and low pressure on Mars.

 

[Voneth]

I like a rules-lite approach, also I don't want to spend a lot of money, and I like to be able to carry just one book of rules. I'm just not interested in TS if I have to buy other products as well.

You have set some very difficult hurdles for yourself, a tight budget and low encumberance rules.

I can make some suggestions on the rule-lite side. Grab TS and then get either Mutants and Masterminds (d20) or Big Eyes Small Mouth (they are also supposed to have a d20 version soon). Those books are both under $35 bucks and are very flexible rules. The day you tire of TS, the rules will let you run a lot of other worlds.

I do understand where you are coming from, I just went from a 16th level Druid to 1st rogue. I noticed my lighter steps when I needed only my PHB again.

 

[Geoffrey]

I just spent 45 minutes looking through a hardback copy of Transhuman Space. This is what it looks like to me:

1. There are some advantages and disadvantages referenced in the book that are not described in the special GURPS Lite section in the back of the book. The TS book specifically addresses that by noting that these undescribed advantages and disadvantages can either be adjudicated by the use of common sense or by simply replacing them with other advantages and disadvantages.

2. In the chapter describing worlds, each world is given some sort of government rating. (I can't remember the precise term.) It ranges from 0 to 6, with 0 meaning no government with 6 meaning lots of it. The TS book notes that these numbers are fully explained in the GURPS Basic book. I looked up the reference in a GURPS Basic and it was intuitively obvious. No need to buy a GURPS Basic for the single page that explains the obvious.

As far as I can tell, that's about it. The book is beautifully done and is the most fascinating science fiction RPG setting I've ever seen. I'll probably buy it next month.

 

[haiiro]

As far as I can tell, that's about it. The book is beautifully done and is the most fascinating science fiction RPG setting I've ever seen. I'll probably buy it next month.

I haven't had a chance to look at it yet -- can you relate a few of the high points?

 

[Geoffrey]

First of all, every single one of the book's 240 pages is in full color and on very nice, glossy paper. I can't imagine why anyone would buy the paperback, which is in black and white and on average paper. The difference in price is only $7. Plus, the hardback contains the tweaked-for-TS GURPS Lite rules. The paperback doesn't.

The setting doesn't have any apocalyptic backgrounds or overtones. It's simply what the world might be like 97 years from now, extrapolating from technological trends. No alien contact, no Armageddon-type war, no nonsensical "scientific" breakthroughs that change the laws of physics. None of that. Just look at computing, robotics, nanotechnology, and genetic engineering, then imagine how they'll advance over the course of a century.

The setting isn't just another "let's buzz around the galaxy in spaceships shooting lasers at things". Instead, the author has taken very seriously a number of scientific books that are quite plausible in their predictions. For example:

Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler
Mining the Sky by John S. Lewis
Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendental Mind by Hans Moravec
The High Frontier by Gerard K. O'Neill
The Millennial Project by Marshall Savage
The Case for Mars by Robert Zubrin

Space travel is more in the background in this setting than in most other sci-fi settings. The big thing is how computers, nanotech, and genetic engineering have changed humanity and the very definition of humanity. Hence the title Transhuman Space. There is artificial intelligence, human minds uploaded into computers, physically-perfect genetically engineered humans, etc. There are a lot of philosophies detailing the different views of such things in the year 2100. And, best of all, the author doesn't make the asinine assumption that today's world religions will all simply vanish. Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and all the rest are still around, and they aren't just little small fry, either.

In short, I can imagine that the world of 2100 will look something like the setting in Transhuman Space. I can't say that for any other sci-fi setting I've come across.

 

[haiiro]

That sounds well worth a look. Thank you for taking the time to write up a summary.

 

[Fade]

My biggest gripe with THS is that the template rules for creating characters are truly bletcherous. They simply don't fit the setting. But that's GURPS' fault not Pulver's, and if you won't be using the default rules it won't be a problem.