GURPS Space (4th edition) cover |
|
| Designer(s) | Steve Jackson, William A. Barton, David Pulver |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Steve Jackson Games |
| Publication date | Sept. 13, 1999 (3rd edition) |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| System(s) | GURPS 4th edition |
GURPS Space (fourth edition) is a genre toolkit for creating Science Fiction campaigns using the GURPS role-playing game. It performs a similar purpose as GURPS Fantasy does for Fantasy games. Rules and guidelines are provided for running games from science fantasy and space opera to hard science, creating worlds and planets and notes about aliens races. GURPS Space won the 1988 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Supplement.[1]
Contents |
GURPS Space was released March 2006. It covers the creation of star systems, worlds and alien races, either completely randomly or with any amount of GM intervention during the process. Advice is also provided on planning campaigns and other related material, as is common in other books for fourth edition GURPS.
Coverage of spacecraft is aimed at setting level issues such as choosing the technology used by spacecraft in the game. This section does not worry about game mechanics issues, but rather helps players and gamemasters determine the broad capabilities of the vessel in question.
In a controversial [2] move, the book breaks with the format of earlier editions and does not contain rules for spaceship design or high tech guns. Those topics will be covered by the forthcoming books GURPS Vehicles (4e) and GURPS Ultra-Tech (4e) respectively. The rationale for this decision was explained in a series of official statements made on the sjgames forums by Managing Editor Chris Aylott and Line Editor Sean Punch. GURPS Spaceships, a 4e supplement of rules for spaceship design, is now available through Steve Jackson Games as a digital purchase.
The Third Edition of GURPS Space had several differences from the Fourth Edition book. The biggest difference was the inclusion of a small subset of the GURPS Vehicles rules and some high-tech weaponry. Unlike the above-mentioned GURPS Fantasy's Third Edition analog, it was also a genre toolkit.