Infinite Worlds

[GreenAdder]

Is IW worth getting to someone who isn't planning on running an IW campaign? Is there any information on world-building or anything else that might be carried from the book into non-IW games?

There's a copy at my local hobby shop and it seems to be calling my name for some odd reason. I'd just like to know what I'm getting into before I spend the cash.

[Ack]

I believe there is a section on randomly determining alternate worlds, which could be vaguely useful to anyone who just wants a new game world to play in.

[DrTemp]

Originally Posted by GreenAdder

I'd just like to know what I'm getting into before I spend the cash.

Inspiration. Lots of it.

[CrownedSun]

It's a damnnnned good book, and I love it muchly...

...but no, not really. If you're not running some kind of alternate worlds setting where characters can go to different times or alternate worlds, then there's not a huge amount of information in there for you. There's a few bits and pieces here and there, but nothing really warranting the price.

[Stephane_Theriault]

You can certainly use the different worlds inside as inspiration, without using the whole Infinity-dimension jumping setting.

[PK]

IW devotes a lot of wordcount to the creation of believable alternate histories. You get the random table, sure, but you also get a whole chapter of advice on making a believable "alternate history Earth", and that can be invaluable for any game set in "the past, but different". If you want an "extreme Cold War" world in which the USA has annexed Canada and the Soviet Union has annexed half of eastern Europe, IW will give you advice on determining the "change point" and laying out a revised history for the world that won't make your players' suspension of disbelief snap in two.

[CrownedSun]

Originally Posted by Ellie the Technomancer

You can certainly use the different worlds inside as inspiration, without using the whole Infinity-dimension jumping setting.

Yep, it's useful for any game where there's multiple kinds of alternate histories or different various kinds of worlds/timelines. It's damned good for time travel type games as well, of various sorts. Particularly if those alternate histories will have a more modern bias -- there's not really a lot of outlines for "what if England had repelled the Norman invaders", and such, and even the Roman world displayed in detail is in its 19th century.

In terms of stuff you can steal, there's a lot of niftiness. Templates that can be used for various kinds of "Time Scouts", a lengthy section on building believable and interesting alternate histories, lots of organizational information for "the Infinity Patrol" that could be easily lifted to use in other games in and of itself.

All that stuff is great; if it sounds cool and worth the price of admission, the by all means pick it up!

In general, however, I stand by my "it's not hugely great if your not interested in the genre" statement. I mean, the multiple different worlds are great and I love them, but they're maybe a few pages each. If you want to spend a fair chunk of change on the hopes that maybe one of them will inspire you, you probably wouldn't be asking on a forum rather or not this specific book is for you. By that standard, every book is worth getting because the odds are something in it will inspire you.

That said; great book, GREAT book. I heartily recommend it. If your interested in the /genre/ (not the setting) at all, it's worth a try.

[Wonder Lemming]

IW also covers Time Travel campaigns, if that's of any interest.

[Gannd]

Could I create an Victorian Steam Punk (think Arcanum) world within Infinite Worlds or does the system not allows for it?

I'm thinking about starting an Infinite World campaign but I'm also working on creating Arcanum for my players.

[Ogbendog]

Almost by definition, IW covers every GURPS campaign, ever.

The GURPS: Campaigns book has a sample character from a steam-punk setting, the fencer guy