The Inside Scoop on Gaming

At first I didn't know what to make of GURPS Bio-Tech.

GURPS Bio-Tech, subtitled "The Next Step in Human Evolution," is the latest demonstration of David Pulver's unquestionable hegemony in the GURPS Realm of the Gadget. David's previous GURPS works include GURPS Psionics, GURPS Vehicles, GURPS Robots (and the companion worldbook GURPS Reign of Steel), GURPS Mecha and both Ultra-Tech books. In each he extends, details and supplements the foundation material established in prior sourcebooks. David often provides a unifying vision of the advance of technology as interpreted for this particular roleplaying game system.

GURPS Bio-Tech continues in this tradition, though David takes several different directions in this book than in, say, Ultra-Tech. The first chapter in particular is a departure, providing a concise but thorough grounding in the elements of biology needed to understand the rest of the book. This chapter is, frankly, a godsend to those of us who may not be up on current science or on the current trends in fiction which use these sciences.

Chapter 2, comprising one-fourth of the book, discusses the various modifications one might make to the human being. These are neatly broken down by organ system ("Brain Modifications," "Cardiovascular," and so on). Many examples of modification packages are provided, from the Alpha-series upgrade (a generalized improvement) to the Void-Dancer parahuman (able to work unprotected in space). One nice twist here is the reinterpretation of the variant human races (Light Worlders & Heavy Worlders) from GURPS Space.

In fact, throughout the book you'll find old concepts from the GURPS stock reinterpreted in this new context. My favorite is the "Mitigator" limitation, which is used to justify the point costs for the Bad Sight disadvantage in the GURPS Basic Set!

Where Chapter 2 dealt with changes to the human as caused by tinkering with the genes, Chapter 3 deals with changes caused by surgery, drugs, viruses or nanotechnology. Many "biomods" were approached from the technological standpoint in GURPS Cyberpunk and GURPS Ultra-Tech 2, so this chapter is relatively compact.

Chapter 4 deals with all the fun you can have tinkering with the genes of pets, livestock, and all other manner of fauna. We'll come back to this chapter in a paragraph or six.

Immortality is the topic of Chapter 5, whether through cryonics (being frozen mostly alive) or the ol' SJ Games standard, "Braintaping" (which dates to Cars Wars, boys and girls). Here David takes a realistic view of these science fiction staples and offers several significant revisions to rules assumptions made in older GURPS books (like GURPS Autoduel) which don't quite mesh anymore with the understandings of modern science.

At long last, Chapter 6 describes how to put all these wonderful modifications to work in your player characters, and what sort of character types and businesses might be found in a world where biotechnology is common and accessible. This chapter is amply supported by example "quotations" from "commentators" throughout the book. These commentators range from shady surgeons to biosoldiers, and their observations bring real life to these complex issues. The integrity and characterizations of these people make me want to go buy David's novel.

What's to like and dislike? One thing that I both like and dislike is the virtual absence of new Advantages or Disadvantages. Everything is cast in terms of content found in GURPS Basic Set or GURPS Compendium I; in fact, the back cover notes both these are "required" to use the supplement in a campaign. While it's nice to have the stability of the core rules in GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium, I worry that the system will stagnate without a regular infusion of new and useful features.

Another debatable topic is the interior art, provided again by the inescapable Dan Smith. Smith has made a virtual career of illustrating GURPS books; even GURPS Mecha, an anime sourcebook, gets a "Smif" treatment (though I'll admit his anime-inspired stylings are a nice departure). You can like Smith, or hate him, or not care. I really don't care; I didn't buy the book for the art.

So, let's get to the nitty-gritty: What good is GURPS Bio-Tech? This is where I got confused. Could you run a science fiction game in which biotechnology plays a vigorous part? Certainly; David provides ample seeds and suggestions in this direction. Would you want to? Some of this stuff gives me nightmares, so I probably wouldn't. But nightmares are in style these days, and if that's what you like, I say go for it.

But where GURPS Bio-Tech really shines is as a sourcebook for other genre. I was astonished that there were no notes making suggestions for cross-overs to other GURPS books. But consider: the biomodification guidelines are perfect to use as justification for the creation of your favorite superhero! This also makes me twitch to see what David would do with an entirely hypothetical GURPS Supers, Third Edition. Or suppose you work with animals, as I am trying to do in a homegrown GURPS supplement based on Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger novels. Chapter 4 provides templates for some significant animals (from the K-10, one step better than the ca-nine, to the neogorilla) . . . and also notes specifically which changes were made to go from the original animal to the improved version. Well, hey! A little reverse engineering, and we've got a passle of proper animal templates suitable for many, many u! ses (and which we should have been given in GURPS Bestiary).

Bottom Line: Is GURPS Bio-Tech worth your 21 bux? Yes. As an educational resource it's handy, as a science fiction setting it's useful . . . and as a resource for your other gaming needs, you may just find more and more applications for the guidelines within. The Future may not be Alive . . . but it sure won't be dull.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

GURPS Bio-Tech
Author: David Pulver Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Incorporated Cost: US$ 21.95 Page count: 144 ISBN: 1-55634-336-1 Playtest Review by Bob Portnell on 04/22/98. Genre tags: none	At first I didn't know what to make of *GURPS* *Bio-Tech. GURPS* *Bio-Tech, subtitled "The Next Step in Human Evolution," is the latest demonstration of David Pulver's unquestionable hegemony in the GURPS* Realm of the Gadget. David's previous *GURPS* works include *GURPS* *Psionics, GURPS* *Vehicles, GURPS* *Robots* (and the companion worldbook *GURPS* *Reign of Steel), GURPS* *Mecha* and both *Ultra-Tech* books. In each he extends, details and supplements the foundation material established in prior sourcebooks. David often provides a unifying vision of the advance of technology as interpreted for this particular roleplaying game system. *GURPS* *Bio-Tech* continues in this tradition, though David takes several different directions in this book than in, say, *Ultra-Tech. The first chapter in particular is a departure, providing a concise but thorough grounding in the elements of biology needed to understand the rest of the book. This chapter is, frankly, a godsend to those of us who may not be up on current science or on the current trends in fiction which use these sciences. Chapter 2, comprising one-fourth of the book, discusses the various modifications one might make to the human being. These are neatly broken down by organ system ("Brain Modifications," "Cardiovascular," and so on). Many examples of modification packages are provided, from the Alpha-series upgrade (a generalized improvement) to the Void-Dancer parahuman (able to work unprotected in space). One nice twist here is the reinterpretation of the variant human races (Light Worlders & Heavy Worlders) from GURPS* Space. In fact, throughout the book you'll find old concepts from the *GURPS* stock reinterpreted in this new context. My favorite is the "Mitigator" limitation, which is used to justify the point costs for the Bad Sight disadvantage in the *GURPS* *Basic Set! Where Chapter 2 dealt with changes to the human as caused by tinkering with the genes, Chapter 3 deals with changes caused by surgery, drugs, viruses or nanotechnology. Many "biomods" were approached from the technological standpoint in GURPS* *Cyberpunk* and *GURPS* *Ultra-Tech 2, so this chapter is relatively compact. Chapter 4 deals with all the fun you can have tinkering with the genes of pets, livestock, and all other manner of fauna. We'll come back to this chapter in a paragraph or six. Immortality is the topic of Chapter 5, whether through cryonics (being frozen mostly alive) or the ol' SJ Games standard, "Braintaping" (which dates to Cars Wars, boys and girls). Here David takes a realistic view of these science fiction staples and offers several significant revisions to rules assumptions made in older GURPS* books (like *GURPS* *Autoduel) which don't quite mesh anymore with the understandings of modern science. At long last, Chapter 6 describes how to put all these wonderful modifications to work in your player characters, and what sort of character types and businesses might be found in a world where biotechnology is common and accessible. This chapter is amply supported by example "quotations" from "commentators" throughout the book. These commentators range from shady surgeons to biosoldiers, and their observations bring real life to these complex issues. The integrity and characterizations of these people make me want to go buy David's novel. What's to like and dislike? One thing that I both like and dislike is the virtual absence of new Advantages or Disadvantages. Everything is cast in terms of content found in GURPS* *Basic Set* or *GURPS* *Compendium I; in fact, the back cover notes both these are "required" to use the supplement in a campaign. While it's nice to have the stability of the core rules in GURPS* *Basic Set* and *GURPS Compendium, I worry that the system will stagnate without a regular infusion of new and useful features. Another debatable topic is the interior art, provided again by the inescapable Dan Smith. Smith has made a virtual career of illustrating GURPS* books; even *GURPS* *Mecha, an anime sourcebook, gets a "Smif" treatment (though I'll admit his anime-inspired stylings are a nice departure). You can like Smith, or hate him, or not care. I really don't care; I didn't buy the book for the art. So, let's get to the nitty-gritty: What good is GURPS* *Bio-Tech? This is where I got confused. Could you run a science fiction game in which biotechnology plays a vigorous part? Certainly; David provides ample seeds and suggestions in this direction. Would you want to? Some of this stuff gives me nightmares, so I probably wouldn't. But nightmares are in style these days, and if that's what you like, I say go for it. But where GURPS* *Bio-Tech* really shines is as a sourcebook for other genre. I was astonished that there were no notes making suggestions for cross-overs to other *GURPS* books. But consider: the biomodification guidelines are perfect to use as justification for the creation of your favorite superhero! This also makes me twitch to see what David would do with an entirely hypothetical *GURPS Supers, Third Edition.* Or suppose you work with animals, as I am trying to do in a homegrown *GURPS* supplement based on Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger novels. Chapter 4 provides templates for some significant animals (from the K-10, one step better than the ca-nine, to the neogorilla) . . . and also notes specifically which changes were made to go from the original animal to the improved version. Well, hey! A little reverse engineering, and we've got a passle of proper animal templates suitable for many, many u! ses (and which we should have been given in *GURPS* *Bestiary). Bottom Line: Is GURPS* *Bio-Tech* worth your 21 bux? Yes. As an educational resource it's handy, as a science fiction setting it's useful . . . and as a resource for your other gaming needs, you may just find more and more applications for the guidelines within. The Future may not be Alive . . . but it sure won't be dull. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

GURPS Bio-Tech