Re: Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

Personally, I think this has something to do with how much an individual matters in the world. A pre-industrial superheroine with form-fitting armor and a body by Ron Spencer is usually a lot more fun to play than Nameless Conscript #3,455,671, whose 15 minutes of fame will be as an autopsied skeleton in an equally nameless History Channel documentary.

Re: [PURE THEORY] Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

I'm primarily a fantasy gamer, yet I would be much more interested in a book of low-tech rather than fantasy-tech. I prefer to add my own fantasy, and gear based on standard GURPS magic would be of very little use to me.

Re: Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

Oh really ... take a look at ICE's ".. and a 10 foot pole", nothing but price lists for each period in history.

Re: [PURE THEORY] Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

Well, I'd thought I'd add a couple things:

I picked out two archaeological texts from my bookshelf. Ancient North America (Brian Fagan) is over 500 pages long and describes just the societies and technologies in North America during the 12,000 (or so) years between initial settlement and European contact. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America (Ivor Noel Hume) covers, what in GURPS terms, is TL 4 and part of TL 5, and weighs in at 319 pages. I probably read over 1000 pages of articles on just Classic period Maya ceramics for my thesis. So the information to fill a 240 page book (with illustrations) is out there, but parsing out what's useful in a historical or fantasy game and putting it in a form that is useful and digestible to gamers is the challenge. I can't imagine how Classic Maya ceramics technology and Colonial wig curlers would really be all that useful to gamers. But weapons, traveling kits, traps and ships could be covered in more detail. I, personally, am fairly indifferent to being able to customize a broadsword, but a more through discussion of transportation technology and the sort of boots and backpacks adventurers are likely to have would be very useful to me, were I inclined to run a Historical or Fantasy game.

I like the idea of starting with the old Low-Tech's equipment descriptions and lists and expanding them out too 150 pages, then adding 100 pages of fantasy equipment and explanations of how various degrees of fantasy would affect everyday life.

Re: [PURE THEORY] Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

<donning the Mere Fan hat>

I suspect that if Fantasy Tech got a subtitle, there could be a nod to "from realistic to fantastic" or some such?

<taking off the Mere Fan hat>

Re: Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

Quoted for Truth.

Re: [PURE THEORY] Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

Kromm,

the old Low-Tech isn't a gear catalog (weapons, armors, tools, equipment, vehicles). It has a lot of useful information about environment, technologies, society, learning, warfare and transportation. I want the new book to expand upon these things.

As other posters pointed out, there is a lot of material to to fill the gaps. The following is a list of things that need to be added or greatly expanded, off the top of my head:

• Arms and Armors Customization rules.
• Specialized Arms and Armors Breakage rules.
• Arms and Armors Size and Scaling rules.
• Detailed Arms and Armors descriptions.
• Arms and Armors illustrations.
• Expanded bow/crossbow/arrows rules.
• Archaic Mass Combat Rules.

You said High-Tech is so packed that you have to publish the Firearms Design System as a separate product. Well, if you have space to fill, you have the opportunity to include a fully fledged Archaic Weapon Design System.

I don't want Fantasy in a tech book. I can make Fantasy myself, it's far, far easier to come up with fancy stuff, than research historically accurate information. I don't want 100 pages of random, arbitrary ideas.

Expand upon the old Low-Tech, add Pyramid material, gear illustrations and descriptions, the items discussed above, and you are almost done. If you still need to fill space, maybe add a chapter about common fantasy gear (sigh), but please keep the book focused on low tech and historical accuracy.

Re: Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

GURPS Fantastic Cities is on the "future releases" page. I'm guessing it's what you're looking for, as well as containing some information on societies.

Re: [PURE THEORY] Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

I don't like the "Fantasy-Tech" title at all.
I wouldn't know what to expect from that- what is fantasy tech?

Is is technology of an alternate history?
Gadgets involving materials like mithril or adamantite?
Something along the lines of Steamtech for fantasy?
Historically incorrect but cinematically popular things (like the infamous chainmail-bikini)?

As I understand it, Magic items will be handled separately- so what would a Fantasy Tech item be?

So- I can't imagine a title like that would indeed attract fantasy gamers; just adding the "fantasy" tag to a product probably won't be enough or the right thing to do.

Re: Low-Tech vs Fantasy-Tech
 

And either would be a case of reading someone too literally. The battleaxe could be made of cheese and still illustrate my point. ;)