GURPS Future History

Kromm · 08-30-2021, 08:05 AM

Time is relative:
Such as when the past's future
Is the future's past
— Dr. Odd Selfson, Professor of Future History

A good campaign setting provides gamers with an idea of not only current events but also what went before, along with a bridge between the two and a sense of things to come. This is true whether the setting is historical and the GM mostly just has to pick a date and make a couple of tweaks, or totally made up and thus in need of vast amounts of worldbuilding. It gets extra-tricky when projecting today forward to create a science-fiction setting . . . because, really, who can say what the future holds?

GURPS Future History is a toolkit for building futuristic campaigns. It poses the right questions to help the GM decide what events gave rise to the status quo, where things are headed, at what speed, and why. For each answer, it provides practical advice on what's needed – whether that means broad themes, specific setting details, suitable adventures and story arcs, or key character types and abilities.

(To reproduce a specific sci-fi setting, why not pick up GURPS Adaptations by the same author?)

—

Store Link: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-0376

Pomphis · 08-30-2021, 11:23 AM

Got it. Very good. A nice present for myself for our 10th anniversary

Donny Brook · 08-31-2021, 01:46 PM

I wonder if the writer/SJ games would consider publishing a work sheet as a companion item.

Emerikol · 08-31-2021, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kromm

Time is relative:
Such as when the past's future
Is the future's past
— Dr. Odd Selfson, Professor of Future History

A good campaign setting provides gamers with an idea of not only current events but also what went before, along with a bridge between the two and a sense of things to come. This is true whether the setting is historical and the GM mostly just has to pick a date and make a couple of tweaks, or totally made up and thus in need of vast amounts of worldbuilding. It gets extra-tricky when projecting today forward to create a science-fiction setting . . . because, really, who can say what the future holds?

GURPS Future History is a toolkit for building futuristic campaigns. It poses the right questions to help the GM decide what events gave rise to the status quo, where things are headed, at what speed, and why. For each answer, it provides practical advice on what's needed – whether that means broad themes, specific setting details, suitable adventures and story arcs, or key character types and abilities.

(To reproduce a specific sci-fi setting, why not pick up GURPS Adaptations by the same author?)

—

Store Link: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-0376

I didn't even know about GURPS adaptions.

GURPS future history is the type of book I really want. Even though I'm not running sci-fi at the moment I'll likely pick it up soon. I love world building books. I know I'm in the minority but I can't get enough of them.

Farmer · 08-31-2021, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emerikol

I didn't even know about GURPS adaptions.

And this is why it's excellent when people post up about other publications. I also didn't know about it. Having just got Future History, it was a no-brainer to then grab Adaptations after Kromm mentioned it.

maximara · 09-01-2021, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farmer

And this is why it's excellent when people post up about other publications. I also didn't know about it. Having just got Future History, it was a no-brainer to then grab Adaptations after Kromm mentioned it.

The GURPSwiki tries to address this with its To Be Published and In Development categories and books being organized by year.

Farmer · 09-02-2021, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maximara

The GURPSwiki tries to address this with its To Be Published and In Development categories and books being organized by year.

Nice! Something else to bookmark. Thanks :-).

dbm · 09-02-2021, 05:27 AM

There is a list of all GURPS books too.

maximara · 09-03-2021, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbm

There is a list of all GURPS books too.

Not quite all as at least the two new books, Girl Genius and Future History, are missing from the list.

Eschwenke · 09-28-2021, 04:27 PM

How useful is this product for developing timelines that don’t use the present as a starting point? I’m wanting to take the setting of an existing epic fantasy IP and expand the timeline out by about a thousand years. Is there a lot of guidance on how to do this in general, or is it mostly focused on extrapolating on Earth as we know it?

08-30-2021, 08:05 AM	#1
Kromm *GURPS* Line Editor Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Montréal, Québec	GURPS Future History Time is relative: Such as when the past's future Is the future's past — Dr. Odd Selfson, Professor of Future History A good campaign setting provides gamers with an idea of not only current events but also what went before, along with a bridge between the two and a sense of things to come. This is true whether the setting is historical and the GM mostly just has to pick a date and make a couple of tweaks, or totally made up and thus in need of vast amounts of worldbuilding. It gets extra-tricky when projecting today forward to create a science-fiction setting . . . because, really, who can say what the future holds? *GURPS Future History* is a toolkit for building futuristic campaigns. It poses the right questions to help the GM decide what events gave rise to the status quo, where things are headed, at what speed, and why. For each answer, it provides practical advice on what's needed – whether that means broad themes, specific setting details, suitable adventures and story arcs, or key character types and abilities. (To reproduce a specific sci-fi setting, why not pick up *GURPS Adaptations* by the same author?) — Store Link: http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-0376 __________________ Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> *GURPS* Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just *GURPS* News]

08-30-2021, 11:23 AM	#2
Pomphis Join Date: Oct 2004	Re: GURPS Future History Got it. Very good. A nice present for myself for our 10th anniversary

08-31-2021, 01:46 PM	#3
Donny Brook Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Snoopy's basement	Re: GURPS Future History I wonder if the writer/SJ games would consider publishing a work sheet as a companion item.

09-02-2021, 05:27 AM	#8
dbm Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Lancashire, UK	Re: GURPS Future History There is a list of all GURPS books too.

09-28-2021, 04:27 PM	#10
Eschwenke Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: GURPS Future History How useful is this product for developing timelines that don’t use the present as a starting point? I’m wanting to take the setting of an existing epic fantasy IP and expand the timeline out by about a thousand years. Is there a lot of guidance on how to do this in general, or is it mostly focused on extrapolating on Earth as we know it?