What RPG Settings would work for GURPS Infinite Worlds?

[Jürgen Hubert]

I recently had a thought: There have been many, many RPG settings published over the years, and many of these would be suitable for inclusion of GURPS Infinite Worlds - but not all.

My own criteria for which settings would fit are as following:

- It should be either recognizably some form of Earth (not more exotic than the world of Warhammer Fantasy) or be a shiftrealm with access to interdimensional travel that isn't incompatible with GURPS Infinite Worlds (Planescape would probably be inappropriate, for instance)
- The "local year" should not be later than 2027 - the "default year" of Homeline.

EDIT: We should probably focus on original RPG settings - thus, no RPG settings derived from fiction (such as Middle Earth, the Dresdenverse, and so forth.)

What published RPG settings - by any publisher - would fit these criteria? And how would you describe it in Infinite Worlds terms? (TL, mana level, Quantum level, Homeline designation, Outworld penetration etc.?)

I have started on a online sheet for listing the settings - feel free to add your own.

The first two settings that sprang to my mind there those of Cyberpunk 2020 and Castle Falkenstein (which, while there was a GURPS conversion, was never "officially" part of Infinite Worlds, though it has interworld travel.) But there are sure to be more...

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

- The "local year" should not be later than 2027 - the "default year" of Homeline.

And if the world is sufficiently different that the calendar could have arguably been based off a different start date, you don't need to worry about that. For my Infinite Cabal campaign, I had to define the date as the astronomical date, as shown by the positions of planets, proper motions of stars, and so on.

This is as seen from Homeline and the other worlds that are at the "latest possible date", of which I have three: Centrum, Shikaku-Mon, and a world that diverged when psionics were discovered and developed in ancient Egypt, and is now a world-wide group-mind.

[Agemegos]

Would you consider White Wolf's "World of Darkness" to be an example of what you're asking for?

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Would you consider White Wolf's "World of Darkness" to be an example of what you're asking for?

Certainly - both of them.

[warellis]

Would either WoD just be some sort of Cabal worldline?

[Agemegos]

What about the setting of the James Bond 007 RPG? In a way it's supposed to be the real world, but considered in detail it has some features that the real world hasn't (the British secret service is called "MI6" and is part if the Ministry of Information, there is an international criminal organisation called "T.A.R.O.T.") and there have been historical events corresponding to the Bond films that were made before 1982.

I think the setting of Spirit of the Century qualifies.

[Anders]

Camelot. Ars Magica. Dark Sun?

[johndallman]

Feng Shui, if you saw a few things off the sides.

One of the nice things about the strange and unexplained nature of the IW setting is that it's possible to have worlds with very different dramatic styles and subject the same PCs to them.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by Anders

Camelot. Ars Magica. Dark Sun?

Yes, yes, and no. Dark Sun is just not recognizable as a variant of Earth.

In fact, the only official D&D world that seems appropriate is the Red Masque variant of Ravenloft, although you could also make the case for using the original Ravenloft as a shiftrealm. In fact, it even has a few immigrants from Earth...

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

What about the setting of the James Bond 007 RPG? In a way it's supposed to be the real world, but considered in detail it has some features that the real world hasn't (the British secret service is called "MI6" and is part if the Ministry of Information, there is an international criminal organisation called "T.A.R.O.T.") and there have been historical events corresponding to the Bond films that were made before 1982.

It's probably best to treat this as one of the literature I based parallels, I think.