Pyramid #3/62: Transhuman Space II

Kromm · 12-19-2013, 12:16 PM

Upgraded software
A shell of my former self
Ready to serve you
— Some hacker

We gamers spend so much time imagining a future with psionic powers, FTL travel, and space aliens that we often overlook just how rapidly the present is unfolding. The near future may well see us blur the line between man and machine, enabling the mind to achieve amazing things at the speed of thought – and blur the definition of "human," yielding as much alienness as anyone could want – right here in our solar system. This is the future of Transhuman Space, and the subject of the latest e23 release, Pyramid #3/62: Transhuman Space II.

With Mars' frontier spirit, mesh of cultures, and tense political situation, it's no surprise that many Transhuman Space campaigns are set there. Phil Masters' Three Offices, Port Lowell explores a "corporate town" on the Red Planet by focusing on three distinct services there – the U.S. Marshal's Office, the E.U. Embassy, and the (corporate) Granadine Partnership Office – and showing how each can jump-start Martian adventures. Four detailed NPCs (including a classic marshal and a K-10A postcanine figurehead) help to ensure that the PCs have interesting friends, foils, and more.
Transhuman Space features so many wonderful, even unique elements that it can overwhelm new players. Just as GURPS Lite makes GURPS more accessible by paring it down to key rules, PK's We Are the 9.9% aims to reduce Transhuman Space to the key concepts needed to run a disenfranchised/"fringer" campaign set in transitional Los Angeles. With five templates, setting advice, and an entire campaign arc of adventure seeds, your group will be bucking the system in no time.
Not everything about Transhuman Space is optimistic. In particular, world peace remains a pipe dream. In this month's Eidetic Memory, David Pulver details the Weapons and Units of the Honduran Civil War. Discover the Third- and Fourth-Wave compromises that this poor Central American nation uses, like the Perico drone, Parang UCAV, Pickett battleshell, Vengador truck, and Montero "mule." Gear isn't the whole story, though! Learn about the political machinations behind the war (who's backed by the CIA and who's supported by the TSA), and use the adventure seeds to involve your PCs in current events.
Do you really need your body for your entire life? Hand it over to Indentures Inc. for just a few years and you can sleep peacefully while earning a ton of cash! Admittedly, sometimes the Puppeteering implant acts up, or you're sent into a warzone instead of a construction site – but doesn't the payoff justify the risk? Use Indentures Inc. to kickstart a new campaign ("You all wake up somewhere unexpected . . ."), or retask the copious adventure seeds to serve as part of the setting's background, providing everything from thrilling self-mind-heists to space horror.
Ah, to be the idle rich . . . which is actually rather common in 2100! In Eloi Games, William Stoddard looks at the lives of these quasi-aristocrats, from their Wealth and Status to their constant jockeying for social position (and in doing so, he effectively sneaks in a mini-expansion for GURPS Social Engineering). Learn how things change when hobbies become deadly serious, knowing the right person is everything, and you can ping your reputation network to know exactly how popular you are at the moment.
And the future wouldn't be so bright if we didn't include our usual features, like a Random Thought Table that boldly embraces poor predictions, and an Odds and Ends that explores the darker side of bioroids on the street.

— PK & Kromm

12-19-2013, 12:16 PM	#1
Kromm *GURPS* Line Editor Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Montréal, Québec	Pyramid #3/62: Transhuman Space II Upgraded software A shell of my former self Ready to serve you — Some hacker We gamers spend so much time imagining a future with psionic powers, FTL travel, and space aliens that we often overlook just how rapidly the present is unfolding. The near future may well see us blur the line between man and machine, enabling the mind to achieve amazing things at the speed of thought – and blur the definition of "human," yielding as much alienness as anyone could want – right here in our solar system. This is the future of *Transhuman Space, and the subject of the latest e23 release, Pyramid #3/62: Transhuman Space II. With Mars' frontier spirit, mesh of cultures, and tense political situation, it's no surprise that many Transhuman Space* campaigns are set there. Phil Masters' Three Offices, Port Lowell explores a "corporate town" on the Red Planet by focusing on three distinct services there – the U.S. Marshal's Office, the E.U. Embassy, and the (corporate) Granadine Partnership Office – and showing how each can jump-start Martian adventures. Four detailed NPCs (including a classic marshal and a K-10A postcanine figurehead) help to ensure that the PCs have interesting friends, foils, and more. *Transhuman Space* features so many wonderful, even unique elements that it can overwhelm new players. Just as *GURPS Lite* makes *GURPS* more accessible by paring it down to key rules, PK's We Are the 9.9% aims to reduce *Transhuman Space* to the key concepts needed to run a disenfranchised/"fringer" campaign set in transitional Los Angeles. With five templates, setting advice, and an entire campaign arc of adventure seeds, your group will be bucking the system in no time. Not everything about *Transhuman Space* is optimistic. In particular, world peace remains a pipe dream. In this month's Eidetic Memory, David Pulver details the Weapons and Units of the Honduran Civil War. Discover the Third- and Fourth-Wave compromises that this poor Central American nation uses, like the Perico drone, Parang UCAV, Pickett battleshell, Vengador truck, and Montero "mule." Gear isn't the whole story, though! Learn about the political machinations behind the war (who's backed by the CIA and who's supported by the TSA), and use the adventure seeds to involve your PCs in current events. Do you really need your body for your entire life? Hand it over to Indentures Inc. for just a few years and you can sleep peacefully while earning a ton of cash! Admittedly, sometimes the Puppeteering implant acts up, or you're sent into a warzone instead of a construction site – but doesn't the payoff justify the risk? Use Indentures Inc. to kickstart a new campaign ("You all wake up somewhere unexpected . . ."), or retask the copious adventure seeds to serve as part of the setting's background, providing everything from thrilling self-mind-heists to space horror. Ah, to be the idle rich . . . which is actually rather common in 2100! In Eloi Games, William Stoddard looks at the lives of these quasi-aristocrats, from their Wealth and Status to their constant jockeying for social position (and in doing so, he effectively sneaks in a mini-expansion for *GURPS Social Engineering). Learn how things change when hobbies become deadly serious, knowing the right person is everything, and you can ping your reputation network to know exactly* how popular you are at the moment. And the future wouldn't be so bright if we didn't include our usual features, like a Random Thought Table that boldly embraces poor predictions, and an Odds and Ends that explores the darker side of bioroids on the street. — PK & Kromm __________________ Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> *GURPS* Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just *GURPS* News]