Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-20-2017, 07:03 AM   #1
Frost
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Shropshire, uk
Default Shared space setting

I found myself inspired by a post on roleplaying in general and I thought it might make for a good collaborative setting.

The goal of the exercise is to build a space setting combining selected (potentially) transhuman technologies including biological and or cybernetic modification and some level of genetic engineering while avoiding or heavily deemphasizing strong AI and related tropes. Preferably while keeping the setting relatively hard (say a three on a scale of six) and compatible with some sort of tentative future history.

What I would like to do is run this in two parts first a simple vote up exercise to build up a set of shared assumptions that we can use as part of a question game.

To set the ball rolling:

1) How much space should the setting cover?
one vote

a) the sol system
b) another single system
c) 3-5 systems
d) 10+ systems
e) 50+ systems

2) Aproximately when is it set?
one vote

a) 2100's
b) 2200's
c) 2300's
d) 2400's
e) 2500's
f) other please specify

[Edit]Please note, voting on these questions has now ended.[/Edit]

Last edited by Frost; 02-21-2017 at 07:06 AM.
Frost is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 07:04 AM   #2
Frost
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Shropshire, uk
Default Re: Shared space setting

Summary of results so far.

What we already know:

1) The setting includes 3-5 inhabited systems.
2) It is set sometime after 2200.
3) The basic TL is 10.
4) Relatively fast FTL travel exists.
5) Colonies are not confined to habitable planets or in fact confined to planets.
6) Occupied systems are somewhat dispersed with uncolonised systems between them.
7) There are no known alien sapients.
8) Exploration is continuing but winding down.
9) Colonisation is continuing at least for now.
10) Parahumans and other radical augmentations are fairly common.
11) Biotech is at the same level as general tech.
12) There is no dry nanotech.
13) FTL is available by both single destination gates and ship mounted engines.
14) Gates are artificial.
15) Gates mostly connect colonised systems.
16) The gate network has a web topology.
17) Any ship can use the gates.
18) Gates allow FTL communication between connected systems.
19) Colonies occupy regions of large bodies, or small groups of habitats or minor bodies.
20) Most colonies are autonomous but not fully independent.
21) The gates are controlled by a loose consortium of stakeholders.
22) Colonised systems include Tau Ceti and Delta Pavonis.
23) FTL exploration started somewhere between 2075 and 2100.
24) Nation states are still major political players.
25) The UN (or a successor) exists.
26) The UN has real but limited power over the colonies.

Last edited by Frost; 03-05-2017 at 12:35 PM.
Frost is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 07:04 AM   #3
Frost
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Shropshire, uk
Default Re: Shared space setting

Votes in progress

Last edited by Frost; 03-05-2017 at 12:28 PM.
Frost is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 07:53 AM   #4
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: Shared space setting

votes:

size of setting:
c) three to five systems.

I want a multi-system setting, but I also think its good to know what every system in the setting is like. I think this number of settings isn't played around with enough.

time of setting:
b) 2200's

That gives us plenty of time to mature.
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic

Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog

Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!
ericthered is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 08:06 AM   #5
vicky_molokh
GURPS FAQ Keeper
 
vicky_molokh's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
Default Re: Shared space setting

My votes:
Space covered: c), for a cluster of 3-5 systems. Since this is a Class-III SF on the Mohs scale, FTL isn't a problem.

Time period: a). Going past 2100 runs the risk of having some highly-disruptive development make the setting too out there on the strong AI scale. Delaying it seems like a stretch more and more the more time passes.
__________________
Vicky 'Molokh', GURPS FAQ and uFAQ Keeper
vicky_molokh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 10:58 AM   #6
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: Shared space setting

1) c) 3-5 systems
I also reckon this is a scale not normally seen, so it should be interesting to work with, while keeping a handle on size.
I don't think these should just be the 5 closest systems either, by the way, but that's something to look at when we get to FTL.


2) b) 2200s
~200 years of future history should be manageable. 100 years would still be near-future cyberpunk, I'd say, and we wouldn't have enough time to sensibly colonise those 5 systems.
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 11:22 AM   #7
Frost
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Shropshire, uk
Default Re: Shared space setting

My votes.

Quote:
1) How much space should the setting cover?
c) 3-5 systems.

Five systems seems big enough to start with, lots of territory to play with but small enough to be fairly detailed.

Quote:
2) Aproximately when is it set?
c) 2300's

Building Colonies and divergent cultures will take time, three hundred years gives us a lot of time for things to get mixed up.

Last edited by Frost; 02-20-2017 at 11:34 AM.
Frost is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 11:32 AM   #8
David Johnston2
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Default Re: Shared space setting

Quote:
Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
My votes:
Space covered: c), for a cluster of 3-5 systems. Since this is a Class-III SF on the Mohs scale, FTL isn't a problem.

Time period: a). Going past 2100 runs the risk of having some highly-disruptive development make the setting too out there on the strong AI scale. Delaying it seems like a stretch more and more the more time passes.
The idea that we'll have colonized anywhere off Earth by 2100 is more of a stretch. Heck we can avoid developing strong AI just by deciding not to.
David Johnston2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 11:33 AM   #9
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: Shared space setting

Might be an idea to put a deadline up for each round of votes, so people know when to get them in by, and so you can decisively move on to the next point.
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2017, 11:39 AM   #10
TGLS
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Default Re: Shared space setting

1D) So GMs can add systems without breaking cohesion.
2A) So current politics is still relevant.
TGLS is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:33 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.