How is GURPS Alpha Centauri.

[Barenziah58]

Can somebody tell about GURPS Alpha Centauti as than role playing game I love the computer game.

[nik1979]

Have you checked the website GURPS Alpha Centauri? Check out the AC novel links on it. I've played the CG, but I haven't tried the RPG, it seems that there are so many competing near-similar sci-fi setting products out there.

[Mailanka]

I love the book. It's a gold mine for neat sci-fi ideas, wrapped in a beautiful package, with a really good exploration of the game from a RPG perspective.

As a game itself, I'm not sure about it's quality. I would hesitate to run it, as the jump from a highly replayable game about the sweeping history of an entire world, it's hard to make hard statements about what the world should be like, so the RPG itself refrains from doing so. Thus, you sorta have to build it all yourself anyway, and you can just as easily do that with any GURPS book. Further, it's 3e rather than 4e, and I greatly prefer 4e.

Still, I like the book and I would recommend it, but you must understand that it sits by my bedside for reading, rather than at my game table for playing.

[Tzeentch]

As a game resource it's great. Basically, distills down the huge volume of in-game flavor text into GURPS terms. The only problem being that the game covers a rather crazy span of time and tech levels, so it's not really focused on any one stage of the colonization process and inter-group conflict.

If you already have an idea for a campaign set at some period of the AC conflict it's awesome. If you're looking for a toolbox of interesting technologies and flavor it's awesome. If you're hoping it presents a ready-to-run campaign setting you'll be poorly served.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Barenziah58

Can somebody tell about GURPS Alpha Centauti as than role playing game I love the computer game.

Someone who loves the computer game would be in the prime audience category for the book and would probalby like it a lot.

For someone who was not familiar with the computer game and was looking for general use it might be a little spotty.

[Barenziah58]

Originally Posted by Tzeentch

As a game resource it's great. Basically, distills down the huge volume of in-game flavor text into GURPS terms. The only problem being that the game covers a rather crazy span of time and tech levels, so it's not really focused on any one stage of the colonization process and inter-group conflict.

If you already have an idea for a campaign set at some period of the AC conflict it's awesome. If you're looking for a toolbox of interesting technologies and flavor it's awesome. If you're hoping it presents a ready-to-run campaign setting you'll be poorly served.

Tech level is than role playing idear it doesnot realy exsit. One ancient man said to another one we are now leave tech level 0 to enter tech level 1. I donot mean to insult anyone but technology isnot broken into tech level. Take the first car was make in France in 1779 or 1797 useing than stream engine it went than distance of 1/4 of than miles before it have the first car accient when it than stone wall. Does this mean that france in 1779 was at tech level 5. Watt didnot invert the first stream engine and he never said he did, the ancient rome who make than stream power toy in 110 ACE(after common era) make than real stream engine to open and close some really big and heavy temple doors in egypt. When the muslim took over egypt they found the plan and scroll on how to built stream engine, they where very inefficent engine with 1% effeiciently and very expensive to built they where mostly use to pump water and bad air out of mines and to pump in good air. They also spead to Europe in the 12th century to do the same type of work they all handmake nonstandard engines.Than own of one want Watts to improve the efficiently of it which Watts did increaseing it to 10%. By watts time there where 10,000's of stream engines in operation worldwide.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Barenziah58

Tech level is than role playing idear it doesnot realy exsit. O

That people can't just go straight from the stone age to the 21st century is a real thing. The rate of technological advance in a game of Alpha Centauri is pretty radical.

[pawsplay]

I love the game and it always looked like a cool book to me. Unfortunately, it basically gives you a timelines, some NPCs, and stats on the mindworms and fungi. For the meat, you probably want to look at Ultra-Tech and Bio-Tech and steal liberally from Transhuman Space.

[hackbarth]

If you like the computer game Alpha Centauri and like RPGs, you will like GURPS Alpha Centauri. Simply as that.

Even if you don't particularly play RPGs often, the book is worth it just for the character sheets of the leades of the factions.

Is a little difficult to imagine a group of characters of various factions acting in a single party, but not so different than a typical party in one of the White Wolf RPGs.

[pawsplay]

I like the idea of, say, some of the Believers teaming up with the Hive to stop an incursion by a third faction, or in a survival situation versus worms.