GURPS Space is a science fiction RPG sourcebook from Steve Jackson Games that provides much of the information a game master needs to build and control a believable and consistent science fiction universe. Although it uses the GURPS name, GURPS Space is both reasonably system agnostic and completely setting independent – GURPS Space can be used with a wide range of rule systems and milieus. I’m reviewing the third edition of this long running (and popular) supplement, however as I’m not familiar with the first two editions I can’t give any commentary on what changes or improvements have been made. Also, just as fair warning, I’m not a huge fan of the GURPS system and don’t use it.
This is my first review, so I’ll preface by saying what I’m trying to do. One complaint I’ve had with some reviews is that they don’t actually tell you much about what’s in the product they’re reviewing – instead they dwell on personal likes and dislikes without conveying objective information that may still be useful. So I’m purposefully describing the contents and length of each chapter so that, if nothing else, having read this review you’ll at least know what’s in the supplement and hopefully whether it meets your needs.
Format
GURPS Space is a softbound, 8.5” x 11” supplement with a liberal amount of black and white illustrations. I found the illustrations to be fairly average – nothing particularly struck me as inspiring or dramatic – and much of it was downright mediocre. One nice touch is the large black border containing page number and chapter title at the bottom of every page, which makes navigation quick and easy.
One odd aspect of the design is the inconsistent use of sidebars. Sidebars exist on every page of all chapters except chapters three through six, which have none. In addition, the sidebars tend to be a parallel thread of discussion to the main text as opposed to parenthetical observations or amplifications. For example, starship weapons are described on page 125, but a sidebar on missile warheads is on page 117 and feels very out of place when you stumble across it the first time. Another example is in Chapter 2, where teleportation is mysteriously placed in a sidebar when it could have just has easily (and logically) been placed in the main text. The discontinuity and inconsistencies between the sidebar and main text can be confusing at times when you’re trying to cross reference information or just read up on a single topic. While annoying, it’s not a show stopper.
Theme
In addition to being system agnostic, GURPS Space is thematically neutral. The supplement is not oriented towards any specific breed of science fiction. Instead, it provides the tools to create a universe in military sci-fi, hard sci-fi, space opera, space fantasy or whatever other type of space based setting is desired. Those looking for a pure setting will have to look elsewhere, such as the GURPS Traveller books or HDI’s Fading Suns.
Composition
GURPS Space is composed of eleven chapters, covering a wide variety of topics such as equipment, spaceships, star system generation and cultures.
Chapter 1: Creating a Universe, 19 pages
While it has a rather ambitious chapter title, the first chapter is really an overview of what goes into creating the social aspects of a campaign. There are brief summaries of the common topics encountered when devising an interstellar campaign, such as societies, races, history, government types, and campaign styles. The bulk of the chapter covers the different types of governments that characters may encounter (alliances, federations, autocracies, etc.). Overall, a fairly uncomplicated and common sense guide to what goes into making a space based campaign.
Chapter 2: Choosing Technology, 17 pages
Like the first chapter, Chapter Two covers building a universe, but this time from the technological side. There’s a brief discussion on realistic vs. unrealistic (“superscience”) technology, and then it goes into detail about the different technology choices that a GM will have to make in areas such as power, space travel (maneuver and interstellar), sensors, communications, astrogation, computing, weapons and defenses, gravity manipulation and other technologies. Each section has a lucid discussion of both the realistic ability to achieve the technology, and the “superscience” alternatives that ignore the known rules of the universe.
This is a very concise, well-written chapter that packs a lot of information for a GM, who would otherwise have to either wing it or do a considerable amount of difficult research on a broad range of technological topics.
Chapter 3: Characters, 15 pages
Chapter Three was probably my least favorite chapter, since it was fairly close to being fluff. It concentrates mostly on introducing and describing various character archetypes that anyone with an interest in science-fiction will already know. I don’t need a supplement to tell me about the Pirate/Smuggler, Rogue, Scout or Prospector/Belter character types.
There are also several pages on advantages, disadvantages and skills, but most of them are, once again, rather obvious. The sections on economics, jobs, wealth, and races are well done, but also fairly obvious and I doubt as useful as the rest of the supplement. A table with sample prices for hotels, food and transportation seems rather silly. Even so, it’s a good chapter to get the brain juices flowing when you need an idea for NPC in a hurry.
Chapter 4: Gadgets, 12 pages
GURPS Space separates equipment into the three categories of gadgets, weapons and spaceships. Chapter Four covers the former, consisting of areas such as environment control (air masks, vacc suits), computers, sensors, communication gear, etc. A nice tough is that the authors regularly mark certain superscience technologies as such, making the GM’s job easier when trying to maintain a consistent universe.
This is pretty much what you would expect from a chapter on gear – there are some examples of common gear in science fiction universes, along with some discussion of the relevant technology. It tends to bog down describing a few key pieces of gear (each paragraph describes a piece of gear along with its price and expected technology level), instead of broader classes of devices and technology, but overall it’s still a good overview. I would recommend something like GURPS Ultra-tech (or one of the other GURPS supplements that concentrate on equipment) as a better overall resource for this subject.
Chapter 5: Weapons, 14 pages
Ahhhh, weapons -- the meat of any good sci-fi campaign. Much like Chapter Four, this really is an overview more than a detailed catalog of weapons. As before, another supplement like GURPS Ultra-tech would probably be a better resource for those GMs looking for a Big List of Laser Guns.
The chapter starts off with a couple paragraphs discussing weapon legality and quality, but then quickly morphs into a large table of weapons with system specific stats. Even though it lists GURPS style stats, the table is easy enough to translate to any other system.
The chapter then goes on to a good, general overview of weapon technology, along with the expected sample weapons. I like this approach because it affords you the ability to understand what makes sci-fi weapons different from each other and modern day weapons, while at the same time gives some examples that provide a context for the various weapon types. Projectile weapons, electromagnetic weapons, energy weapons, melee weapons, force fields, accessories and armor are all discussed at some length.
Chapter 6: Medicine, 9 pages
Chapter Six discusses the types of medicine and medical procedures that may exist in the future. Not to sound like a broken record, but again the reader is encouraged to look at GURPS Bio-tech (and GURPS Cyberpunk) for a more thorough discussion on future medicine and bionics. As with the equipment chapters, this one is pretty much a laundry list of technologies and tools that deal with medicine, along with very brief overviews of the relevant fields. I particularly enjoyed the discussion on social effects of some medicines, such as cloning and brain taping.
The technologies covered range from the mundane territories of aging, first aid and fighting disease, to the more esoteric and exotic domains of cloning, brain taping, brain transplants, bionics, suspended animation and wonder drugs. Once again, we see a lot of breadth but not as much depth.
Chapter 7: Environments, 9 pages
Environments are a pivotal part of any science-fiction universe, and Chapter Seven covers a wide variety that players may encounter. The effects of gravity are explained first, and the authors go over in some depth the issues involved with changes in gravity. For example, they demonstrate the effects of gravity on encumbrance, gun fire, simple movement and even a character’s health. There are a fair amount of GURPS-system specific details here, but they can be freely converted or ignored as necessary. Atmospheres – composition and pressure – are examined next, then radiation. The radiation rules are thorough enough (they cover exposure, protection and treatment in fairly fine detail) that simulating a strong radioactive environment should be a cinch.
Chapter 8: Starships, 25 pages
Chapter Eight, at 25 pages, is the longest chapter of the book, which is reasonable given its focus on starships, their design and their uses. Space combat, however, is deferred until the next chapter. The structure of this section is “Ten Steps to Building a Starship”, which was somewhat disorienting due to the large gaps between a couple of the steps – Step 7 (Systems) is 17 pages alone! The ten steps covered: hull design; designate turrets; select armor; consider sensor masking features; determine internal spaces; estimate mass; fill internal spaces with component systems; calculate basic statistics; calculate performance; and finalize design. Pretty straightforward stuff.
Practically speaking, this section doesn’t contain anything you probably haven’t seen before in another sci-fi RPG with a ship building section. Given the nature of this sourcebook this isn’t the kind topic you can just eschew, but the implementation didn’t feel particularly original or insightful. However, keeping in mind the spirit of this supplement, I really did like the organization of the chapter and how all the information you need is present in one handy area. Sure, you might be better off with the more complicated system in GURPS Vehicles, but if you don’t have that then GURPS Space should suffice competently.
Chapter 9: Space Combat, 11 pages
Actual combat in space is handled in Chapter Nine. Departing from the rest of the book, this section presents its own gaming system for space combat instead of discussing the topic in a more general fashion. If you already have a space combat system in your RPG, then this chapter may be superfluous. However, if you’re using an RPG that primarily stresses personal combat, then this chapter should be a welcome addition.
The system they present is a fairly typical initiative (with surprise) and alternating turn mechanic with multiple actions in each turn, where actions are resolved with a skill roll (presumably a la GURPS) – nothing fancy or particularly innovative, but serviceable nonetheless. There is a sidebar that mentions alternative space combat systems such as the GURPS Abstract Space Combat System and GURPS Space Opera Combat System (founding Compendium II); GURPS Vehicles; and GURPS Traveller.
Chapter 10: Stars and Worlds, 19 pages
Chapter Ten, which deals with the generation of believable and consistent star systems and their related worlds, is my favorite chapter of GURPS Space. As a sci-fi GM it’s often difficult to find all the scientific (and quasi-scientific) references necessary to generate star systems that feel real, especially in a hard sci-fi setting. Most of us aren’t astronomers and thus don’t off-handedly know the differences between a white dwarf, red dwarf, and a Class V G main sequence star. There is also some good introductory material on interstellar distances and astographic features.
The sequence for generating a star system is pretty simple, operating in a nearly flow chart like manner, but I found it a bit frustrating at times as I jumped back and forth between the main text and the sidebars in order to complete a particular task.
Creating a star system can be done randomly (using d6), or the GM can make any specific decision by fiat. The general steps involved are:
- determine the number of stars (unary, binary, etc.)
- determine the class of the stars (e.g. white dwarf, red dwarf)
- compute the number of “orbital rings”, according to Bode’s Law
- compute the “biozone” where there might be life around a star
- determine which orbital rings have planets, then roll up the planet’s specifications
The number of options and parameters are large enough that you can make a lot of unique feeling star systems and planetary bodies. There are also tables for anomalous, “sci-fantasy” type objects like ringworlds, Dyson spheres, collapsing blackholes, sentient worlds, wormholes, etc.
Planets can also be randomly generated, and include parameters such as type (hot rockball, gas giant, etc.), surface liquid, mineral resources, terrain types, moons, climate, length of day, atmosphere and the biosphere. Information on how to generate the details of any existing civilizations is presented in the following chapter.
To date I don’t think I’ve seen a stellar or planetary generator as comprehensive and succinct as GURPS Space. For some people (like me), this chapter alone makes the supplement worthwhile.
Chapter 11: Civilizations, 8 pages
The final chapter of GURPS Space covers the creation and description of civilizations. The expected gamut of topics is touched upon: populations, tech levels, society types, starports and installations. At only eight pages it tends to lightly touch on most of the topics instead of going into any serious depth, however it’s still a useful chapter when you’re trying to flesh out a new world.
Conclusion
GURPS Space, Third Edition is an incredibly well done RPG supplement, as evidenced by its popularity and longevity. It provides a broad range of research that makes the construction of believable space based campaigns simple and straightforward. My only major complaint is that it attempts to cover such a vast array of topics that depth is sacrificed for breadth – many sections direct the reader to other GURPS supplements for in depth discussion. Even so, it’s probably one of the best values in the space RPG market and an invaluable primary reference for space and science fiction campaigns.
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