Alternate Modernity Settings and Worldbuilding Advice

[Thökk]

A couple of questions:


1. Do you know of (any) GURPS Alternate Modern * settings?

2. Do you know any indepth Alternate Modern setting, worth checking out, that one would could convert into GURPS with care and dedication, but not too much pain?

3. What source books, GURPS or otherwise (RPG and otherwise [but something more specific, than "everything you'd find interesting about our history and world"]) you'd suggest?

4. Do you have any other advice, previous experience working on something like this or possibly worldbuilding notes, that you could share?

* Alternate Modern being a world, that looks a lot like ours, TL-wise and maybe similar culturally, but has moderate-to-significant deviations in history and potentially everything, ranging from geography to biology, barring anything overtly supernatural, but would still feel and be expected to behave a lot like our modern world would.


P.S. Cursory search didn't reveal a similar topic, but if you can point me towards one such, it would be much appreciated.

[whswhs]

Some of the settings in the two Alternate Earths volumes for GURPS 3/e fit this description. In particular, Shikaku-mon has a very "alternate" flavor.

[thrash]

History has passed by GDW's Merc: 2000, making it now an alternate history. It was originally an alternate to the Twilight: 2000 future history where WWIII did not occur. Focus is on military special operations and mercenary contracts in the Third World. You can find individual sourcebooks on DTRPG or buy the whole thing (plus T:2000 v2.0) on CDROM or thumb drive from Far Future Enterprises. The first option is cheaper if you just want one or two of the sourcebooks; the second is a better deal for the whole set.

You could make a similar case for any modern game or sourcebook with an established setting. Sadly, a lot of cyberpunk settings are also looking less fantastic than they once did, what with worldwide plagues and disfunctional US politics. If you focus on the background fluff and ignore PC-level technology (implants and decking, primarily) that hasn't appeared yet, you can probably find some good inspiration.

GURPS Illuminati might be helpful, depending on how strictly you interpret "overtly supernatural."

[Thökk]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Some of the settings in the two Alternate Earths volumes for GURPS 3/e fit this description. In particular, Shikaku-mon has a very "alternate" flavor.

Originally Posted by thrash

History has passed by GDW's Merc: 2000, making it now an alternate history. It was originally an alternate to the Twilight: 2000 future history where WWIII did not occur. Focus is on military special operations and mercenary contracts in the Third World. You can find individual sourcebooks on DTRPG or buy the whole thing (plus T:2000 v2.0) on CDROM or thumb drive from Far Future Enterprises. The first option is cheaper if you just want one or two of the sourcebooks; the second is a better deal for the whole set.

You could make a similar case for any modern game or sourcebook with an established setting. Sadly, a lot of cyberpunk settings are also looking less fantastic than they once did, what with worldwide plagues and disfunctional US politics. If you focus on the background fluff and ignore PC-level technology (implants and decking, primarily) that hasn't appeared yet, you can probably find some good inspiration.

GURPS Illuminati might be helpful, depending on how strictly you interpret "overtly supernatural."

Thanks, I'd look those up.

[whswhs]

I'll also suggest that, if there's a book or series you like, GURPS Adaptations has some fairly detailed advice on turning it into a GURPS campaign or setting.

[thrash]

For non-game sources, I suggest Harry Turtledove's Down in the Bottomlands, an AH with a divergence at least 5.3 mya (i.e., the Zanclean flood did not occur) but enough temporal convergence that the inhabitants (a mix of anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals) use radios and helicopters.

There are a lot of alternate histories where human space exploration didn't simply stop after Apollo. You could look at 2001 / 2010 that way, or explore David SF Portree's Beyond Apollo blog in Wired or his subsequent Spaceflight History blog.

[Thökk]

Thank you for both of these suggestions, as well.