Ok, I mentioned I have a friend who's into SR 3e and we were talking. He said he at times was interested in something like shadowrun but without the magic and critters, and maybe without the usual corporate dark future crap.

Well, that kinda sounded like transhuman space, so I loaned him a couple of my TS books.

Now if he gets interested in TS I'd have to come uyp with some ideas for adventures. Here's the problem: TS had a great rep for being a great game, but also for being hard to write adventures for.

There was one published adventure for it, called "Orbital decay", and man did it ever stink. I mean, when a sjg product has a bad smell to it, it's usually because it was edited by andwew hackard and has some of his arrogance oozing from his name in the credits, which is why I've blanked his name off every SJG product I own.

But this was the one SJG prodiuct that stunk to high heavan even after I covered over hackard's name, because the whole thing stunk. It was like a really cheap, bad, direct to video movie that only turns up on the sci fi channel. It was completely unoriginal, predictable and had absolutely no redeeming traits whatsoever.

In other words, avoid "orbital decay", it may be the worst product sjg has ever done.

So now I'm looking for adventures in the TS setting, and I was thinking of just ..ahem, borrowing some plots from "Ghost in the shell stand alone complex" since they're so similar.

Anyone else have any handles on TS adventures or plotlines?

I don't know the setting much (or at all actually) so can only go by your relating it to Shadowrun. There's a lot of SR adventures that don't pay too much attention to magic other than "these characters are magicians." And for the most part the plotlines are "work for guy X, get betrayed by guy X, save your butts." Usually the "betrayal" is more along the lines of not telling you something that endangers you because it's a secret they don't want getting out. I typically insert my own middle step, because betrayal by the Johnson (generic name for anyone hiring runners) is boring when done too often.

I just did a google for the game. Spacemaster might be closer to what you'd want for adventure ideas. Pretty much all of them could be shrunk down to the solar system or planetary level. The one where your group finds itself on one door with civilians while on the other side are the rampaging transhuman duplicates of the civvies' kids is great.

Wasn't Centauri Knights much like this? Didn't Pulver create both? Are there any Centauri Knights adventures?

There also is this adventure and this one. Have not read them so dunno if they are any good.

There is 'Orions Arm'... not very familiar with that though...

Steal stuff from Trinity/Aeon.

Oh hell most of the above is on the Transhuman links page.

ack, please excuse the sloppy posting style.

This is probably obvious and not that helpful to you, but I recommend not overthinking Transhuman Space.  A lot of folk will break down adventure elements like moves in a chess game, and conclude that the PCs can do nothing to stop the AI from beaming away or defeat the super nifty technology being used.

Another Transhuman Space thing is the sheer size of the setting - it's huge!  There's a lot going on in the future, and narrowing down a campaign theme is really helpful here.  I recommend picking a general geography (even if it's "Mostly this space station, some Earth, but not X.) and a game theme (bounty hunters, transhuman rights advocates, etc.) and go from there.  A lot of potential pitfalls and the like will melt away once a group has settled on a theme and created some characters.

Quote from: Dominus NoxAnyone else have any handles on TS adventures or plotlines?

Actually, that's a very frequent question. So frequent, in fact, Phil Masters wrote a couple thousand words on the topic. It's called Changing Times, and should be out later this week (or next week, if That Thing blows up again).

It's part player's guide, part campaign design manual, and part rules upgrade (THS was written for GURPS Third Edition, although it did use a slightly modified version, and many of those modifications made their way into Fourth Edition). It'll be available via e23 only as a PDF, for the moment. We'll see about POD options later.

Well, thanks for the replies. For the uniniated, TS is a very good game actually, well written, well thought out and quite original. It's an optimistic setting, perhaps too optimistic and that may be it's main flaw, but it is an optimistic change of pace from the usual dark future/dystopian futures we've been deluged with in game settings for quite some time.

It's not an over rosey future, nothing like the way too rosey futures writers like the great A.C. Clarke used to envision, but it's no dark future either. It supposes that society does not collapse, corporations do not 'take over' and that technology and civillization continue to advance as they have done.

The science is pretty hard, it's one of the hardest SF games ever done, with the possible exception of full, sentient AI finally being developed, like we were supposed to have by 2001. (Remmeber HAL, anyone?)

All the other science, mainly genetically engineering, power production, space travel, etc, are fairly realistic and based on current or forseeable technology.

There are dark future elements in TS, just as there are very bad parts of today's world, but there are also good things too, and the social/cultural evolution seems possible, if over optimistic.

I do recommend it to people who are tired of the whole dark future trip and want something different, along with people who would like some nice, solid science in their SF games.

One way I try to describe TS is this: Imagine the world in 1900, now imagine it in 2000. Think of all the social, cultural and technologiucal changes that occured in that century. Well, now try to imagine the world in 2000 and going to 2100, assuming the rate of technological and social change continues at a plausible rate. That's TS.

Dave Pulver should be very proud of it. It's a masterpiece even if it's kinda hard to write scenarios for. As I said, i was thinking of using it as a "Ghost in the shell" rpg, and in many ways it's ideally suited to run GitS if one should wish too, and it borrows heavily from GitS terminology. (Ghost referring to a mind, shell referring to a body, etc.)

Again, I just wish there were more scenarios or scenario sourcebooks for it, and as usual I wish sj would let third parties write scenarios for various gurps settings, like TS, RoS, etc.

But he apparently doesn't, and no one can change his mind.

Thanks again for the tips. I still think it might appal to shadowrun players who just want a break from the dark future setting and aren't into orks and wizards.

Another thing in favor of TS is that it's an incredibly mature game that deals with a lot of issues in a very clinical,ature way. For some examples, it deals with the issue of males being married, and has the issue of a male being able to carry a child to term with an implanted womb. Also it dealt with a 'biomod' used in assassin bioroids that involved female bioroids having teeth and jaws implanted in the last place a guy would want to find teeth and jaws. It was called the venus flytrap and was described in such clinical terms it was not offensive but still conveyed the idea.

Also there was the concept of a bioroid that dispensed drugs when it's nipples were sucked.

It deals with a lot of the issues that genetic engineering can and will produce, even the "NC-17" ones but does it in mature ways. It's a really great game for more cerebral players.

ANother realistic point was it's space element: It provided a realistic, plausible way to get people to go into space big time: Necessity. TS proposes that practical, economic fusion power is finally perfected (YAY!) but that it relies on an element called "Helium 3" that is very rare o earth. (Wah!)

But He3 is easily found in other parts of the solar system, like the lunar surface and the atmospheres of gas giants, so with the lure of cheap, clean energy and dwindling fossile fuel resources to goad them, the nations of earth finally get off their big asses and head out into space. The technological spinoffs and trailblazing create a path that others follow for various reasons, many just wanting to set up their own societies on other worlds free of the past. Very plausible, just look at how fast gold lured people into the godforsaken wildernesses that used to be california and alaska. Well, He3 was a lot more valuable than gold once the new fusion reactors were going.

Quote from: Dominus NoxAgain, I just wish there were more scenarios or scenario sourcebooks for it, and as usual I wish sj would let third parties write scenarios for various gurps settings, like TS, RoS, etc.

You mean like this page, which calls for adventures and sourcebooks in various settings, including THS?

There's also Blue Planet, which Fantasy Flight is selling for five bucks right now (part of their Holiday Sale).

Quote from: PaulChapmanActually, that's a very frequent question. So frequent, in fact, Phil Masters wrote a couple thousand words on the topic. It's called Changing Times, and should be out later this week (or next week, if That Thing blows up again).

How much?  'Cause I want that.

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!How much?  'Cause I want that.

$9.95. Actually, my "couple thousand words" was off by a bit -- it's around 70 pages.

Quote from: PaulChapman$9.95. Actually, my "couple thousand words" was off by a bit -- it's around 70 pages.

Thaks, Paul.  I'll see if I can work it into the budget, i.e. ask my wife if I can have it.

Quote from: PaulChapman$9.95. Actually, my "couple thousand words" was off by a bit -- it's around 70 pages.

Once my finances stabilize to the point where I can spend ten bucks on games again (whimper), I'll have to try to grab this.  


But it seems to me that looking for a senario for TS isn't the way to go - it's so many different genres thrown together, based on where the game is - that first you need to decide what sort of a campaign you want to run, and then start thinking of a starting senario based on that.

Well, I hope that when e23 does changing times they make it printer friendly, ink costs, you know.

As to a plotline for TS, I've got a few that aren't exactly the most original in the universe but fit into it.


The order of the final revelation: God is a machine, a perfect, flawless, infinite machine. Human being were created, with all their horrible flaws and weaknesses, solely to bring forth the age of the machine. This is self evident in that humanity is the only machine making species on earth and became the dominate lifeform soley thru use of machines, counting spears and such as machines.

Mankind's sole function in the grand scheme of the universe was to be God's tool to create the perfect being: The sentient machine. Now that man has served it's purpose, it is time for it to be 'phased out' and replaced by the perfection of the machine.

If this meme started spreading thru AIs, all hell could break loose. There is a lot of room for variations here. Does the order of the final revelation believe that only totally artificial intelligences are to be part of god's plan, or can humans be accepted if they become ghosts? Are humans to be eliminated, forcibly uploaded or simply left behind or ignored as the machine culutre moves out away from the inner system? Could there be a schism in the new religion between exterminationists and those who believe humanity is simply to be left to god's will?

This could lead to a situation with elements of the new battlestar galactica series, which isn't bad as the new BSG is great.


Jyhad this! A prominent ghost is murdered by muslim hardliners who believe ghosts are abominations. A pro-ghost group plans to retaliate against them in a very public and forceful manner. This could lead to some real trouble with hardliners in the caliphate, but with more and more people, especially wealthy and powerful ones opting gor ghosting, the time has come to make it clear that murdering ghosts will not be tolerated.


The Duncanite Wars: After various governments have attacked "trojan mafia" bases for copyright infringement, as was mentioned in some TS products, the duncanites decide to stage a show of force to capture a SDV and use it for their own defense. The players might be mercs hired to blackjack one of the most advanced and powerful warships ever built. It may sound hard, but remember: it was built by the lowest bidder....

Here was an idea for a TS mission that I never got to use, but some people here might:

A prominent TSA leader has been sentenced to nanostasis "Effectively executed" by the chinese government, and the players are assigned to 'resuce' him, TS style.

All they need is his head, which they must somehow retrieve from a chine prison hospital, then take it to a facility where it can be brainpeeled and uploaded as a ghost, then either transmitted or carried on a disk to a TSA facility.

The idea of rescuing someone by decapitating them is so weird it ought to make most gamers smile a little.

Another idea I had for a campaign was sort of a 'foreign legion' style campaign, where the players are ghosts, AIs or other 'questionable" entities needing a refuge, and some enclave that recognizes such as full citizens offers them refuce and citizenship if they pull off some successful missions for them, serviving as 'deniable assets' in a covert op.