Reviewer gives GURPS Space substance 3 out of 5

[KDLadage]

Originally Posted by KDLadage

Like what? The book covers everything that a Game Master wanting to design a Space campaign would need and would need to consider during the design process. This, in my opinion, makes it a nearly perfect Genre Book. The fact that the Genre Book is not also a Catalog and a Rulebook is not a flaw.

Originally Posted by copeab

But the arbitary distinction that means some books don't include material that they should is a flaw.

The fact that you feel that the book should contains things that it does not include, was not intended to include, and not designed to include does not mean that it should have been included. Nor does it make such distinctions arbitrary.

Brandon, I have (historically) agreed with you on far more items than I have disagreed with you on. I value your opinion and thoughtfulness on most topics. But please, do not fault the orange for not being an apple.

Originally Posted by KDLadage

Because any trimmed down version of the Starship design system and the Combat System would require that the book know what choices you made of the hundreds that are presented to define the campaign itself. In other words -- it would be fine for one set of those assumptions and completely useless for any other possible set of assumptions the campaign could make. This is why you split these things up.

Originally Posted by copeab

Err, the starship design system in Space 3e covered several different sets of assumptions. OTOH, I think the starship combat system in Space 2e was more generically useful than the one in 3e.

Then play with the rules from 2e. No, that was not sarcasm. The rules presented in GURPS 3e for starship design and combat were, in my games, useless. They did not jive with the rules in nearly every other book that handled similar material and caused a lot of long, sometimes heated, discussion with friends and players. One man's trash, another man's treasure, I suppose.