Updating GURPS IST

[Captain-Captain]

Originally Posted by oldgringo2001

Um, did all of you miss the part about the big Reality Quake of January 1, 2000? That means that pretty much everything in the Schroeck timeline is subject to revision in any way the GM wants. Constant reality quakes fit right into the genre because superheroes keep getting relaunched, and because despite their awesome powers and their super-science, their world doesn't change too much.

I think one good type of change, which is also very much in the genre, would be to make a most of the characters younger. Voltmaster and Doctor Radiation still work as old guys, but Flamin' Jane would be over 50 now, kind of long-in-the-tooth to be flying around in a minimalist body-stocking.

[EDIT: Removed NSFW link and slight political threadcrap --PK]

Anyway, unless there was a super actually on one of the planes, the September 11 attacks would have probably gone the same way, with Supers as well as F-16s being deployed too late to stop the attacks. IST New York and other supers could have saved more people, particularly if Drop Zone was on the scene.

Part of the problem there was the person who wrote up those sample characters added specific dates of birth, something of a no-no when dealing with largely unaging Super hero types. She was in her mid 30s by the time of the 2nd edition of Supers. She turned 52 on Feb 12th. Given that Reed Richards was a WWII vet, this is not that big a problem for the Genre.

My main objections to the 'update' is that it completely wipes out the world descibed in IST with 'Reality Quakes' and definitely is incompatible with the material J. Hunter Johnson had in Pyramid about IST and Infinity.

Edit: See "Banestorming Infinity Unlimited" June 19th, 1998. Krypton 1, the "Evil IST" is negotiating with Centrum, not really doable from Q3, where the new IST puts that universe.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

The Reality Quake of 2000 could be used to "reset" the birthdates of popular heroes and villains in the IST worlds. Or it could make a new reality full of younger versions of the same superbeings. Call them IST-1 and IST-2, with the major difference being the ages of the super-beings ... wait, this sound familiar ...

If one insists on the War on Terror, the COBRA-style super-terrorist organization idea sounds better than a real-life band of cave-dweller car-bombers. That would mean that some equivalent to SHIELD or G.I. Joe would be needed.

And airplanes wouldn't be needed for a 9/11 scenario - in the IST world, terrorist groups had already gone nuclear multiple times. A multiple nuclear bombing strike, perhaps, or even a biological strike (perhaps a Wild Card virus like infection, creating a new flurry of monstrously-mutated victims).

By the way, are the IST worlds the same as the Krypton worlds in the old Pyramid article? Or are they completely separate realities with no connection? (Perhaps the IST worlds are comic books on the Krypton worlds and vice versa?)

[LoneWolf23k]

I'm pretty sure IST is the new term for the worlds that used to be called Krypton in those Pyramid Article.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf23k

I'm pretty sure IST is the new term for the worlds that used to be called Krypton in those Pyramid Article.

IST is the name of the Would that use to be in GURPS Supers.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by Captain-Captain

Part of the problem there was the person who wrote up those sample characters

That should be "people", not "person".

Originally Posted by Captain-Captain

added specific dates of birth, something of a no-no when dealing with largely unaging Super hero types. She was in her mid 30s by the time of the 2nd edition of Supers. She turned 52 on Feb 12th. Given that Reed Richards was a WWII vet, this is not that big a problem for the Genre.

Since it appears you don't like Bob's "standard life-extension package in the metagene" doubletalk... Quoting from some of Bob's supplementary material on his website:

"This material was originally written for GURPS I.S.T. in 1989, and revised a couple years later for a Roleplayer/Pyramid article that never quite made it. As a result, some of its dates (particularly the 1990s' "ten year plan") -- are woefully out of sync with the real world. It doesn't take a genius to figure that the GM needs to shift things by fifteen or more years when it comes to the active dates in order to put the Circle's plans right where a well-run campaign would make best use of them. "

There you go - the person who wrote the book has given you permission to change specific dates. (Not that a GM really needs permission to change anything in her own game, but for some reason unknown to me a few people want to have that permission anyway.)

Originally Posted by Captain-Captain

My main objections to the 'update' is that it completely wipes out the world descibed in IST with 'Reality Quakes' and definitely is incompatible with the material J. Hunter Johnson had in Pyramid about IST and Infinity.

J. Hunter Johnson isn't Robert M. Schroeck... but it's your game and you get to pick and choose what you want in it.

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

The Reality Quake of 2000 could be used to "reset" the birthdates of popular heroes and villains in the IST worlds. Or it could make a new reality full of younger versions of the same superbeings. Call them IST-1 and IST-2, with the major difference being the ages of the super-beings ... wait, this sound familiar ...

"Ummm. Speaking for myself, I'd prefer to avoid blatant thefts from either DC or Marvel ... " -Chris Davies, July 30, 2005, in a discussion about updating GURPS I.S.T. to the Infinite Worlds setting.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

IST is the name of the Would that use to be in GURPS Supers.

Which in the old Pyramid articles was called "Krypton".

[Phantasm]

Random Idea:

IST-2K - The name given by Infinity for the world of IST after the Y2K "reality quake". The "reality quake" event was revealed to be the total elimination of superhumans from the world when one of the priemier heroes in the IST first secured political power through subtle telepathic mind control, and then actual world-shattering raw power from an outside source - still unrevealed at this time. This hero ultimately conquered the world - keeping the existing infrastructure intact - and ruled for a brief time before suffering a fatal heart attack. Upon his death, power reverted to the various governments, who then had to figure out what to do now that superhumans were no longer a force to dealt with. As such, many laws which created the ISTs were repealed.

It is now ten years after that event (ca. 2010, or the present day). The first new superhumans have just appeared on the scene, mainly in India, China, Russia, Canada, and the United States. The UN, remembering that it was an IST member who conquered the world, has not reinstituted the ISTs.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Random Idea:

IST-2K - The name given by Infinity for the world of IST after the Y2K "reality quake". The "reality quake" event was revealed to be the total elimination of superhumans from the world when one of the priemier heroes in the IST first secured political power through subtle telepathic mind control, and then actual world-shattering raw power from an outside source - still unrevealed at this time. This hero ultimately conquered the world - keeping the existing infrastructure intact - and ruled for a brief time before suffering a fatal heart attack. Upon his death, power reverted to the various governments, who then had to figure out what to do now that superhumans were no longer a force to dealt with. As such, many laws which created the ISTs were repealed.

It is now ten years after that event (ca. 2010, or the present day). The first new superhumans have just appeared on the scene, mainly in India, China, Russia, Canada, and the United States. The UN, remembering that it was an IST member who conquered the world, has not reinstituted the ISTs.

I like that. Would you mind if I copied it to Bob's forums, giving you attribution?

[roguebfl]

Why? I mean you just undone the key point to the setting? if you do that, you might as well start from stack in yet another super setting... All i see it does is annoy fans.

I mean you Don't Disband the CIA just because one Operative goes Rogue... what you do is simply make it harder for it to be repeated

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

Why? I mean you just undone the key point to the setting? if you do that, you might as well start from stack in yet another super setting... All i see it does is annoy fans.

Some people like that sort of game, though.

What this does is give a rich, detailed background with a good amount of history, but gives the players freedom to create characters that wouldn't work in a high-profile team. It also gives the GM an in-game reason for random NPCs to distrust any metahuman.

It isn't the sort of game that I'd run, but I do like the concept...