Stock #37-2756

Contents
­In This Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Exotic Social Communication . . . . . . . . . 28
By Rory Fansler
Today’s Tomorrow,
Tomorrow’s Yesterday . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Neo-Tortuga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
By Sean Punch By Matt Riggsby

On the Super Leading Edge . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Neon Knights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

By Phil Masters By Simon Proctor

Live Each Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Her Sails in Silence Fall . . . . . . . . . . . 40

By Steven Marsh By J. Edward Tremlett

Palyatnik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Whose Turf Is This? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

By Matt Wehmeier By Sean Punch

Even Weirder Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Random Thought Table: Slug-Tech . . . . 48

By Jason Brick By Steven Marsh, Pyramid Editor

The Artifactuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

By Steven Marsh
About GURPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

­From the Editor

Science fiction is the trickiest broad genre to appeal to in a
magazine like this. The concept itself covers everything from Article Colors
the near-now (which could be the present by the time you read Each article is color-coded to help you find your favorite
this!) to far-flung futures that are scientifically impossible by sections. Not all themes appear in every volume.
everything we know. This is the reason so few science-fiction
roleplaying games that aren’t based on licenses have achieved Red-Brown: In every issue.
widespread commercial success; others’ fictional worlds make Dark Blue: Character options.
sure that everyone is on the same page as far as assumptions, Light Blue: Powers and magic.
tones, and campaign background. (To bring your favorite set- Green: Locations.
tings into GURPS, we recommend GURPS Adaptations, now
Orange: Monsters, creatures, and adversaries.
available in print as part of our popular On Demand program.)
However, science fiction is also the gaming style that Dark Pink: Gear.
rewards “big swings” at the gaming table. Few other genres Purple: GM advice and adventure ideas.
can compare to the sense of wonder, exploration, and creativ-
ity that a well-crafted campaign can offer.
This issue, then, is devoted to all explorers of the imagi- Write Here, Write Now
nation, reaching out to the world beyond tomorrow to bring Your comments help us give you what you want! How
its ideas to the gaming table, literal prospectors of prospects. are you using this material in your campaign? What do you
May this issue of Pyramid bring the wish of starlight to your wish we’d write about? Let us know via private feedback at
campaigns’ pallet of possibilities. pyramid@sjgames.com, or join the public discussion online
– Steven Marsh, Pyramid Editor at forums.sjgames.com.

GURPS System Design z STEVE JACKSON
GURPS Line Editor z SEAN PUNCH
GURPS Project Manager z STEVEN MARSH
Production Manager z SABRINA GONZALEZ
Director of Sales z ROSS JEPSON
Editorial Assistance, Production Artist,
& Prepress Checker z NIKOLA VRTIS
Page Design z PHIL REED
& JUSTIN DE WITT
President/Editor-in-Chief z STEVE JACKSON
Chief Executive Officer z PHILIP REED
Chief Creative Officer z SAM MITSCHKE
Chief Operating Officer z SUSAN BUENO
Project Manager z DARRYLL SILVA

Pyramid Magazine 2 Sci-Fi/Tech II

 ­In This Issue
The future is a star at the edge of the cosmos, or the move- (complete with Boardroom and Curia stats) that can serve
ment of the second hand. Pyramid delves into at all manner of as the perfect patron, ally, or enemy for spacefaring heroes.
ideas about the future, from new powers and tech to locales Words may fail, but that’s okay . . . plenty of the cos-
and encounters. mos’ denizens doesn’t need them, thanks to Exotic Social
The future is now! No, wait . . . now! No, now! No mat- Communication. Rory Fansler – author of GURPS Powers:
ter how you count, you look around and realize Today’s Totems and Nature Spirits – delves into areas dabbled by
Tomorrow, Tomorrow’s Yesterday. Sean Punch posits how GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses to present new ways that
TL9 is closer than we think by examining gear found in aliens or other unusual lifeforms can make themselves known,
GURPS Ultra-Tech. from hive minds to feelers and more.
Metahumans can make the world a safer place, yet not all The stars can be tough for a pirate, so take a break at
use innate powers; some are built On the Super Leading Edge. Neo-Tortuga. Matt Riggsby – author of a plethora of GURPS
Phil Masters – author of many Transhuman Space supple- Hot Spots supplements – presents a guide to the illicit aster-
ments, including Shell-Tech – considers ways to add technol- oid frequented by freebooters, including a map. Expand
ogy to supers campaigns that’s futuristic but personal, plus your GURPS Tales of the Solar Patrol campaign, or add it
GURPS Supers insight to make such concepts work. Save the to your own!
world with a suit of armor or other impossible tech! When all hope is lost and darkness descends, it is there that
Life can come at you fast, as if the universe is trying to teach the day may be saved by the glow of the Neon Knights. Uncover
you to Live Each Day. Presented by Steven Marsh, this short the secrets of a cosmic order that’s dedicated to public service
encounter (suitable for most futuristic settings) starts with a and personal quests – and the self-discovery that the two may
quiet meal and ends with . . . well, that’s up to the heroes. But be related. Author Simon Proctor also provides GURPS tips
they’d better act quick. for adding them to your spacefaring campaign.
It’s easier to say “danger” Spaceships are beacons of life in an empty
than it is to say Palyatnik. Matt cosmos . . . but not every cosmic craft makes it
Wehmeier offers an adventure through the void alive. For some vessels in space,
outline for GURPS Infinite Her Sails in Silence Fall. GURPS Horror: Beyond
Worlds centered on a mining the Pale co-author J. Edward Tremlett describes
settlement that hides a larger three spaceships that were lost at “sea,” each
problem for Homeline agents. built around a mystery that can be unraveled by
Science can be odd at times intrepid explorers.
. . . and at the fringes of reality is The world ended, and now everyone’s scram-
Even Weirder Science. Frequent bling to answer the fundamental question: Whose
Pyramid contributor Jason Brick Turf Is This? Sean Punch – mastermind behind
reviews five real-world examples countless supplements including GURPS Action
of “science” with a question 5: Dictionary of Danger – explores seven mic-
mark, from Roko’s basilisk to rosocieties for GURPS After the End, each with
the single electron theory. their own backdrop, outlooks, resources, and
When you’re looking for the more. Do you join forces with the Motorcycle
secrets of the universe, your Furies, the Sky People, or other frenetic factions?
best bet is The Artifactuals. But This issue’s Random Thought Table considers
be careful . . . there may be the adventuring possibilities behind seemingly
more to these explorers than stagnant tech. The more things stay the same . . .
meets the eye. Steven Marsh – author of GURPS Boardroom The future holds something for everyone – and so does this
and Curia: Tomorrow Rides – describes an organization issue of Pyramid!

Cover Art: alexmonge • Cartography: Matt Riggsby • Additional Material: Jason “PK” Levine and Sean Punch
Interior Art: alexmonge (p. 49), Design Projects (p. 15), GrandeDuc (p. 12), Rick Hershey / Fat Goblin Games (p. 7),
Tithi Luadthong (pp. 18, 22, 30, 38, 42, 44, 47), Patrik Ruzic (pp. 24, 25), and svekloid (pp. 33, 51)
Pyramid, GURPS, Warehouse 23, the pyramid logo, and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. Pyramid is copyright © 2022 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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Pyramid Magazine 3 Sci-Fi/Tech II

 Today’s
Tomorrow,
Tomorrow’s
Yesterday By Sean Punch
By the book, we’re in what GURPS calls TL8 (the “Digital
Age”). Still by the book, TL9 (the “Microtech Age”) begins in
a few years. Yet also by the book, tech levels don’t turn over
sharply at some date, like numbers on a (TL7) flip clock – they
fade in.
The TL8-9 fade is interesting because we’re living through
it! It’s the fuzzy boundary separating the familiar from future-
tech – and on the far side lies science fiction. Stories often rely
on this fuzziness for coolness and “wow factor.” Let’s explore
the possibilities.
Putting the “Tech” in
“Technothriller”
Technothrillers mostly involve technology from GURPS
High-Tech in GURPS Action-type situations. However,
they raid GURPS Ultra-Tech for cutting-edge and secret
tech – especially in cinematic adventures, like those of a cer-
tain 007. Villains seem to order infernal machines from that
catalog, too.
Indeed, many things that TL8 innovators are developing
now hail from the early end of Ultra-Tech. They’re imperfect
(Not Quite There Yet, p. 5), but with refinement, they’ll bring
us closer to TL9. Meanwhile, in terms of New Inventions
(pp. B473-474): Anyone trying to replicate or reverse-engineer
such a thing has the ‑5 for “one TL above the inventor’s” – but
if it’s discussed in learned journals or even the news, also add
+2 for “already exists but you don’t have a model,” which
access to the prototype raises to +5.
What follows are thoughts on specific technologies for
transitional TL8-9 campaigns. As the author is not an inter-
national man of mystery – and left the academy (where they
laughed at him) in 1995 – these lists aren’t authoritative. To
save space, “Ultra-Tech, p. 00” is abbreviated “UT00.”
Pyramid Magazine
Justifiable Future-Tech
These things have been in the news, or follow from what
technologists are working on today. They make for cool
Action stories! Some also suit less cinematic adventures set in
the TL8-9 transition.
On top of all this, anything listed as TL8 in High-Tech
and that has an improved but not radically different TL9
version in Ultra-Tech may have advanced to TL9, if the GM
agrees. That usually makes it similar to high-quality TL8 gear,
which doesn’t rate special notes. Examples are communica-
tors (including “bugs”), navigation systems, and sensors that
use radio, IR, visible light, or sound; computers, media, and
networks of existing types; tanks, hovercraft, and vertols; and
tools and everyday items.
Air Cars (UT225-226): Ambitious innovators are working
on these. Results to date have been mixed – scale back Han-
dling, Move, and/or Range, or greatly inflate the price.
Articulated Weapon Harnesses (UT150-151): With work
ongoing on exoskeletons for soldiers, these accessories
aren’t outlandish, though they’d be expensive niche items.
The shoulder servomount (UT151-152) pushes the limits – it
could be engineered, but current guns are so loud that firing
one right next to your ear would inflict (hopefully) tempo-
rary Deafness.
Artificial Intelligences (UT25): Simple AI exists. Voli-
tional AI that could exterminate us and take over hasn’t
emerged – yet – but one as smart as an average person (IQ
10) could in theory run on a fast TL8 megacomputer that
costs at least $200 million and fills a secret base or an intel-
ligence agency’s basement.
Augmented Reality (UT56-57): Real-life systems haven’t
lived up to the hype. One that works as Ultra-Tech describes
would be cool spy-tech (and not unduly powerful).
4 Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Bandage Spray (UT197), First Aid Kits (UT198), and Electronic Ecstasy (UT40): This sci-fi staple has been
Plasti-Skin (UT198-199): Field-expedient medicine for the mil- rumored to exist since the Cold War. Perhaps it does! In fic-
itary is seeing such rapid progress that these TL9 advances tion, bad guys exploit it for mind control and perverse torture.
might be justifiable as written! The pocket medic (UT200) Exoskeletons (UT181-182): Work is afoot to give these to
feels like mature TL9, though. infantry now. Progress has been slow, partly because such gear
Beamed Power (UT21): The concept dates to TL7; imple- is difficult to power reliably for any length of time. It could be
mentation has been “coming soon” ever since. Fiction favors fun to allow exoskeletons at great cost and weight, with shaky
solar power satellites controlled by villains who exploit them reliability.
as orbital death rays. Explosive Collars (UT107): A standby of dystopian fiction
Biometric Scanners (UT104): Even phones have these since TL7. Realistic ones would be heavier and bulkier, as they
today. They rate a note because they’re essential for conveying rely on inefficient TL8 explosives.
“These people are high-tech.”
Biomorphic Robots (UT28): You can already
buy humanoid robots that are obviously
machines or creepy mannequins. Ones cov-
ered with realistic flesh are coming, but might N Q
ot uite here et T Y
already be out there, serving (as) villains or Nascent TL9 gadgetry won’t work as well as Ultra-Tech claims.
MIBs. However, the Gadget Bugs Table (p. B476) – intended for cinematic
Body Armor (UT171-181): Most of this isn’t gadgeteers – goes too far. Realistic problems are:
much better than what’s in High-Tech, but feel
free to permit the TL9 exceptions – this is an Expensive. Ultra-Tech’s prices assume assembly lines, mass pro-
area of rapid improvement. What’s likely to duction, and widespread adoption. At borderline TL8-9, TL9 items
interest adventurers is rigid armor (clamshell cost at least double, as if one TL more advanced (Tech Level and
armor and combat hardsuits) and protection Equipment, p. B27). Prototypes might cost triple or more (p. B474).
for body parts besides the torso. The problem Genuine secrets – including spy-tech – won’t be for sale, and require
isn’t creating hard armor that can stop bullets, a suitable Patron.
or limb and extremity armor, but making it Heavy. Weight might at least double, per Anachronistic Devices
unrestrictive: ‑2 or worse to DX. Armor that (p. B478). If cost more than doubles, multiply weight by the same fac-
requires power cells (e.g., reflex tacsuits) has tor. Heaviness could justify another ‑2 or worse to Bulk for weapons,
the problem that the cells don’t exist! or a comparable penalty to DX-based rolls to operate other gadgets.
Body Modifications (UT208-215): Bionic Power-Hungry. Per Questionable Future-Tech (pp. 6-7), TL9 power
limbs, eyes, and ears are a staple of fiction from cells aren’t very plausible. Anything that takes AA, A, or B cells might
late TL7 on thanks to long-running research in be able to run on TL8 batteries (High-Tech, p. 13), especially if com-
this realm. Assuming that someone with vast parable TL8 devices do. Gear that needs C cells or bigger – particu-
resources has developed basic TL9 versions isn’t larly weapons – needs Very Large batteries (50 lbs.), if the GM wants
too crazy. Other modifications are optimistic for it to be somewhat portable, or external power provided by an awk-
the TL8-9 boundary (and maybe even for TL9). ward cable. Tech that draws external power even at TL9 requires its
Brainscanners (UT203-204): Scanning tech- own power plant!
nologies have been adapted for psychiatric Unreliable. The device may have a malfunction number (p. B407).
medicine. They aren’t cheap, lightweight head- A roll of 16, 15, or even 14 or higher (GM’s option) when operating
gear, though, but massive, immobile tubes that it indicates a problem that takes an hour to fix. If the repair skill is
cost hundreds of thousands to millions of $. TL8 – as is typical at TL8-9 – repair rolls are at ‑5.
Brainwipe Machines (UT109): There are sto-
ries of Cold War attempts at this, but they didn’t
work out. Or so we’re told. Kept room-sized and
costly – like brainscanners – wiping memories is a neat plot Fabricators (UT90): 3D printers and related technologies
device for use by powerful agencies and villains. are advancing quickly, so it wouldn’t break anything to allow
Chameleon Surfaces (UT98-99) and Programmable Cam- fabricators. The industrial fabricator seems perfect for secre-
ouflage (UT99): Work is in progress – there have even been tive agencies and villains who need questionable things made
attempts at invisibility surfaces (TL10). Most examples work to order; the minifac is too good for TL8-9.
only on slow-moving or static objects viewed from certain Fission Generators (UT20): Experiments with portable fis-
angles; suits and vehicle skins are hopeful. But even limited sion reactors date to TL7, so why not? Remember that nuclear
versions are perfect for concealing entrances to secret under- materials attract terrorists – and the (well-armed) agents of
ground bases! global superpowers who oppose them.
Conventional and ETC Guns (UT135-139): Firearms devel- Gyrocs (UT144-145): The Gyrojet was a fussy, unreliable
opment is fast, haphazard, and often secret, but where Ultra- flop, but it did exist, and perhaps someone has improved on it.
Tech’s conventional guns are superior to High-Tech’s (they When putting gyrocs into the game, stick to solid ammo – not
aren’t always!), they could turn up in the hands of black-ops kinds that rely on explosives nobody can make stable.
types – although the Gatling carbine seems silly. ETC and liq- Hovercarts (UT75): These have a certain cool factor, and
uid-propellant small arms are in the works, and could also inventors have made them work. (However, hoverboards are
arm elite agents. unrelated – they’re self-balancing wheeled scooters.)

Pyramid Magazine 5 Sci-Fi/Tech II

 Intelligent Houses (UT71): People keep trying. Results
range from “adequate” down to “silly.” A suave villain may
have a lair where the idea works well; a bumbling one is more
likely to be drowned by their own toilet, once the heroes are
done hacking.
Ladar (UT64): Better known as “lidar” (light detection and
ranging), this exists. Real-world versions are capable enough
to qualify as TL9. For a technothriller feel, use ladar wher-
ever radar would appear at TL7 or TL8 – and on drones and
robots!
Laser Fences (UT101-102): Dangerous lasers are possible
today. It’s making them portable that’s challenging – but a
fence stays put. If a facility needs something cooler than an
electric fence, try a laser fence. It will be bulky, obvious, and
require a serious power supply.
Laser Weapons (UT113-116): Present-day dazzlers might be
at TL9 levels already. Lasers that burn holes in things aren’t
portable yet – though the GM could take a rifle, increase
its weight, and tie it to external power with a cumbersome
cable. Mounted versions in heavy emplacements (like war-
ships) are fine “as is.”
Laser-Retinal Imaging (UT44) and Sonic Projectors (UT52):
Plausible, and useful for secure communications – but in fic-
tion, more often turn up as ways to drive somebody nuts. If
you believe conspiracy theorists, sonic projectors have been
implicated in mind control since TL7; see Beamed Audio
Sound Systems (UT108-109).
Microwave Weapons (UT120-121): Tactical MAD is real,
although the jury is out on who has it and how effective it is.
Portable MAD hasn’t made the news, but also isn’t so effec-
tive that allowing it would upstage other weapons. Either
should run off vehicle or external power – not batteries – at
TL8-9.
Nasal Filter Plugs (UT188): A standby of even TL6 spy fic-
tion and comics, these face technical challenges in reality.
A version with shorter durability (say, enough for one use
against knockout gas) wouldn’t stretch disbelief too far.
Neural Interfaces (UT48-49, UT216-217): Work progresses
on enabling people with disabilities to control equipment
this way. Cinematic villains would exploit such tech to com-
mand kill-bots and control weapons at the speed of thought!
Only headsets and implants are plausible at TL8-9.
Planetary Travel (UT222-223): Long-range mag-lev trains,
super airships, ballistic liners, and transcontinental tunnels
feel like politicians’ or billionaires’ dreams – but the trains,
airships, and liners are on drawing boards, and even the tun-
nels aren’t impossible. Their most likely story roles are as
public works for terrorists to disrupt or as cover for a super-
weapon. Slidewalks and self-driving vehicles exist on a small
scale, and become entertaining when they malfunction.
Plastex B (UT88): Science has synthesized tiny amounts of
REF 2.89 explosives and predicted REF 5 ones, so REF 4 isn’t
impossible. Handling such things might be! “Very stable” is
overgenerous – any failure on a related skill roll means going
boom. That is, if you have more than a few crystals; useful
quantities would be villainous surprises, not weapons or
everyday demolitions charges.
Quantum Computers (UT23, UT47): Known prototypes are
unimpressive, but capable ones may exist in secret – doubt-
less used by deniable agencies to break encryption and
search the data they’ve collected on every person on Earth
Pyramid Magazine
(including every call or text). These would cost billions of $
and fill entire underground complexes.
Remote-Controlled Weapons (UT102): Nothing suggests
these couldn’t exist today!
Sleep Poison (UT161): Despite showing up on darts all the
time in action stories, such knockout agents are elusive. The
trick is getting both “safe” and “fast” – speed poses the risk of
lethal overdose. Still, it suits a lot of fiction and makes for a
less-bloody campaign to assume the problem has been solved.
Smart Cars (UT225): The only unbelievable aspect of this
is the $20,000 price tag – an electric car this fancy costs at
least double. Add cooler gadgets and you have a great spy car!
Sniper Railguns (UT141-142): Another weapon that’s barely
possible but that could make sense mounted on a vehicle or
tethered to external power.
Sonic Weapons (UT124-126): Less-lethal sonic weapons
are in use for crowd control, although their official deploy-
ment and precise effects are difficult to lock down. Like the
tactical MAD (see Microwave Weapons, above), the tactical
nauseator is mounted on a vehicle and plugged into its power
systems – so a static area defense like a sonic barrier (UT102)
seems plausible, too. Small-arms versions are improbable.
Screamers are fantasy.
Teaching and Learning Aids (UT59): The isolation and
homestays of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated progress
on AI tutors, training robots, and virtual education to the
point where prototypes could work as written. That means
elite secret agents have been practicing with them for years,
right?
Terahertz Radar (UT65): Famously deployed as airport
security, but goodness knows where else it’s being used! Fully
TL9 versions, including portable ones, seem likely.
Translator Programs (UT47-48): Good progress has been
made, to the point where a globetrotting agent might carry a
next-generation smartphone with a language library.
Video and Multi-Media Walls (UT51): We have such things,
so they’re not surprising. They merit a mention because no
technothriller “war room” should be without them!
Video Contacts (UT60): Nobody has made these work yet,
but meta-materials evolve constantly, suggesting a cool gad-
get for super-spies.
Virtual Reality (UT53-55): We’ve all seen VR gloves, suits,
and headsets. They’re cool nonetheless. Anyone using them
operationally sends the message that they have exceptional
technological resources.
Vortex Ring Projectors (UT134): While these don’t work
well outside of labs, they aren’t fantasy. The GM might allow
the backpack version with reduced range. More portable
seem too advanced for TL8-9.
Questionable Future-Tech
Other developments aren’t from the near side of TL9. A few
don’t strike the author as probable at all – but as noted earlier,
he could be wrong! Be careful with this stuff, as it could unbal-
ance a campaign. You can still include such things, but con-
sider treating them as one-offs and applying at least an extra
‑5 to rolls to replicate them, justified (or not) however you like.
Anything Ultra-Tech calls TL9^ really doesn’t fit, though.
It implies rewriting natural laws in ways that would trans-
form even a cinematic TL8-9 campaign into space opera, if
not fantasy.
6 Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Antimatter (UT88) and Portable Antimatter Traps (UT81- inflict only piercing damage (like APHC, APDS, and maybe
82): Even the saddest TL9 traps are out of reach – the stats APEP). Give the best stuff from High-Tech small bonuses if
are highly optimistic. Fudging that to put antimatter into play someone has to show off.
means putting nukes into play. If you want that, well, the Sensies (UT57-58): We’re not there yet. If you disagree, this
world is full of nukes that require no technobabble. tech suits mind control and other creepiness better than it
Automeds (UT196-197), Diagnostic Beds (UT197), Hiber- does entertainment (for ideas, watch Strange Days), and lives
nation Chambers (UT198), and Growth Tanks in the land of villainous plot devices.
(UT204): These feel like TL10+ or super- Space Elevators (UT224): Materials science
science (TL^). Hibernation chambers lags ambition here. This feels like mature
and growth tanks might suit secret TL9 or higher – and owing to its massive
underground labs, where they store scale, it couldn’t be a one-off “secret” proj-
Nazis or evil clone soldiers. If so, ect we don’t know about.
make them irreproducible, not Space Habitats (UT71): Even the TL9
remotely portable, and single-use (if ones seem optimistic, given the state of
the heroes don’t shoot them up). the art. Like a space elevator, all would
Battlesuits (UT182-186): Exo- be impossible to hide. These are best
skeletons (p. 5) might make sense, avoided except as plot devices that burn
but battlesuits are a long way off. up in the atmosphere.
They’re also armored enough to Suborbital Express Mail (UT50):
make gunfights boring – except While technically possible, this is
with guns so deadly that life yet another thing that couldn’t be a
becomes cheap. It’s hard to use secret. Nations and the wealthy may
“fun” to justify them at TL8-9. be able to afford it, but we’d know
Biopresence Software (UT109) if it existed – and if it did, it’d be too
and Puppet Implants (UT218): These unsubtle for fun stuff like resupplying
are borderline fantasy. If villains use field agents and bypassing borders.
them anyway, have the secret die Superfine Blades (UT163): Gamers
with them. love blades that cut through armor, but the
Brain Implants (UT215-218): The issue is less materials science than human-
brain isn’t sufficiently well understood scale strength. Stick to very fine weapons.
at TL8-9 to justify these. If they show up, Terraforming (UT78): Wait 100 years or
it’ll be in the brain of a poor, suffering 100 millennia and you’ll reach mature TL9,
NPC who meets a bad end at the hands if not TL12. At TL8-9, spend that bottomless
of the heroes or villains, frying the tech budget elsewhere.
beyond recovery. Vapor Canteens (UT76): These are unreal-
Contact SQUIDs (UT100): SQUIDs istically efficient, if they’d even work. They
exist and computers emit detectable also run the risk of making survival adven-
signals, but nobody has figured out how tures too easy.
to harvest all of a computer’s data by
plonking a gizmo on the outside. If you
get that close, plug in, open the case, or Retro-Tech
just use the console. Looking back from the future to today
Electrolasers (UT119-120): There is trivial, but here are three interesting
are many claims, but so far, only the ways to explain TL8 and earlier gear
semi-portable version seems within in TL9+ campaigns:
reach – and just barely. This is more
TL9 than TL8-9. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We use
Flight Packs (UT230-231): While antiques from TL7, TL6, and some-
iconic in action stories, nobody has times earlier. Societies with access to
made one that’s much better than the dodgy TL7 rocket belt Ultra-Tech might do the same with almost anything from
(High-Tech, p. 232) – though it would be fair to boost endur- High-Tech. A one- or two-TL gap is most plausible, making
ance at TL8. this increasingly less likely past TL9.
Power Cells (UT18-20): These are overgenerous. At TL8-9, The dark ages. When a TL9+ society falls, it won’t hit TL0.
use cumbersome arrays of TL8 batteries – or external power If they’re not wiped out, they’ll probably remain industrial-
(mad scientists are often betrayed by power surges and their ized, making TL5 the floor and anything from TL6 to TL8
love for personal nuclear reactors). defensible.
Rockets and Missiles (UT145-146, UT168), Hand Grenades Welcome, earthlings! Societies that use GURPS Space
(UT146-147), and most Warheads and Ammunition (UT152- rather than Action for their adventures may set TL8 as the
159): As these get their oomph from explosives that don’t make cutoff for first contact, as that implies instruments that are
sense for portable weapons (see the discussion of Plastex B, likely to notice spacecraft. Or they might be lazy and see TL8
p. 6) and/or iffy power cells, it’s best to avoid them unless they as easy to “uplift” without too much work. Thus, there could
be TL8 worlds in TL9+ settings.

Pyramid Magazine 7 Sci-Fi/Tech II

 On the Super
Leading Edge By Phil Masters
Futuristic technology is a staple feature of the superhero
genre, whether developed by super-scientists and inspired
engineers, issued as special equipment to super-agents who
are trying to contain superpowered menaces, or forming stan-
dard personal gear for the occasional visiting alien or time
traveler. Much of the time, in GURPS terms, such equipment
is treated as some kind of advantage with gadget limitations,
which is sensible given that superhero and supervillain high
tech tends to have spectacular and unique effects and a tenu-
ous relationship at best to any kind of plausibility. Sometimes,
though, super-tech functions more like equipment, being
passed between characters, manufactured in bulk, or having
effects not really worth representing as GURPS character
advantages. In other words, this is supposed to be somewhat
plausible tech of a kind that might see widespread use in the
setting’s future.
Tony Stark was able
to build this in a cave!
With a box of scraps!
– Obadiah Stane,
in Iron Man
GURPS Supers implicitly acknowledges that some char-
acters operate beyond the setting’s general TL. Two templates
(the dreadnought and the force constructs version of the
improviser) have one level of the High TL advantage to reflect
that their gear is in some way a bit ahead of the norm (as well
as often being unique and amazingly powerful). The techno
has one or more levels as an option, implying that some but
not all techno characters are ahead of the leading edge.
Notes on Tools of the Trade and Trademarks in Supers,
pp. 73‑74, cover various sorts of gear that someone might
possess, allowing those with the High TL advantage to start
out play with a stock of equipment native to that TL, “but if
Pyramid Magazine
it’s lost, stolen, or destroyed, and they don’t have backup copies,
they need to make replacement equipment out of available parts
and materials.” (True enough, except that some characters may
have external sources for such gear, and so won’t have to build
replacements themselves.) However, Supers doesn’t really
consider what sorts of High TL gear an individual might own,
or what sort of groups or individuals might be able to supply
or maintain such gear. This article addresses these questions.
Appropriate Technology
Assuming that a supers campaign is set in a world broadly
like this one, with a baseline TL of 8, GURPS Ultra-Tech is
the appropriate reference supplement, as it has comprehen-
sive lists of equipment for TL9 and above. The rest of this arti-
cle assumes that readers have access to Ultra-Tech as well as
Supers. However, these resources work only up to a point.
The fact is, “conventional” superhero stories are rarely
exactly hard science fiction. As the name hints, they make
extensive use of what GURPS calls superscience. In large part,
this relates to the question of what looks good on a four-color
comic-book page or in lush CGI on a movie screen. While
real-world technological progress often moves in the direc-
tion of lighter weight, efficiency, and precision (not least when
it comes to weapons), comics-style tech produces flashing
lights, bigger explosions, weird-looking gadgets, and opportu-
nities for personal heroism. For example, Ultra-Tech assumes
that TL9 will bring slightly lighter, more powerful projectile
weapons; a few miniaturized rocket launchers; some cool
but not overwhelming nonlethal devices; and maybe, given
superscience, a few short-ranged but lethal sonic sidearms
and plasma flamers. In superhero comics, by contrast, even
modestly advanced super-agencies issue space-opera-style
“blasters” – though those don’t usually appear to be as deadly
as Ultra-Tech’s TL11 particle beam small arms of the same
name. (The idea of constructing weapons for much better
armor penetration rarely seems to cross comic-book weapon
designers’ minds, except in extremis. Super-tough opponents
have to be defeated by raw force.) While Ultra-Tech antici-
pates not only incremental improvements in body armor in
the near future but powered combat armor, the sorts of suits
used by gadgeteer superheroes don’t really begin to appear
until TL10. Flexible flight capabilities, as are essentially stan-
dard for comics battle armor, demand TL10^ contragravity or
TL11 personal fusion power.
8 Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Some of this can be explained by the peculiar require-
ments placed on weapons designers in a superhero universe.
Ultra-Tech details equipment made for soldiers, sport hunt-
ers, and ordinary cops; gadgeteer heroes and super-agents
desire something slightly different, depending on the chal-
lenges they think that they will face. While professional sol-
diers want weapons that are accurate at long range and they
would probably regard personal flight gear as a great way
to make oneself a target, super-agents may have to engage
grossly powerful superbeings at close ranges in chaotic
urban environments, and thus need lots of mobility. Widely
prevalent superscience means that, yes, supers can get it.
With the excuse of superscience, supers games can play
with the GURPS tech level rules and draw on Ultra-Tech.
Obviously, exact details of what is possible and available
depend entirely on the campaign assumptions. A game
about limited personal superpowers suddenly appearing
in an otherwise grittily realistic world, with a single power
origin that isn’t “superscience lab accidents,” would require
an approach that contrasts sharply with one that dials up
the Silver Age four-color extravagance. One set in an inter-
stellar future in which superheroes are the Terran Empire’s
praetorian guard, but with a relatively hard-science-fiction
technological framework, would be dissimilar in other ways.
Such games are on different Technology Paths (Ultra-Tech,
pp. 8‑11).
So, what sorts of tech should a given game feature?
Where does he get those
wonderful toys?
– The Joker,
in Batman (1989)
Tech Parameters
Whatever the basic technology path the world is on,
important people should only have the option to obtain regu-
lar access to tech up to two levels above that of the setting in
general – up to TL10 in a contemporary-style TL8 world. Of
course, other settings are possible . . .
Example: The Fellowship of the Brazen Head are a band
of heroes in TL4 Renaissance Europe, wielding hermetic
magic, dazzling fencing skills, and equipment acquired from
Bensalem, a secret TL6 community on an island in the Pacific
Ocean. Bensalem also has hidden outposts in the Hebrides,
Sicily, and the Aegean, which are kept supplied by cargo sub-
marine. Thus, topping up fuel and ammunition isn’t too chal-
lenging. Some members of the Fellowship wield automatic
pistols, and one has a personal dirigible similar to the Santos
Dumont No. 9 (GURPS Vehicles: Steampunk Conveyances,
pp. 13, 17), along with a hydrogen generator at the Fellow-
ship’s headquarters.
Nominally, higher TL gear may appear, but in a modern-day
TL8 game, it is most often associated with extraterrestrial vis-
itors or super-scientists with extreme mental gifts and an odd
Pyramid Magazine
inability to influence the world at large. Settings with slightly
higher TL equipment are more about weird superscience
and gadget-based powers than semi-plausible technological
extrapolation. In other words, characters shouldn’t take more
than two levels of the High TL advantage; if they’re going to
carry more advanced gear than that, they should buy items
as advantages. However, someone who, say, regularly services
the TL12 flying saucers of a visiting alien race might take
appropriate levels of High TL; this would only be for gaining
relevant technical skills rather than as a justification for them
to purchase TL12 gear for personal use.
What counts as “high TL” and what counts as “super-
science” shifts over time, as science progresses and readers
become more familiar with current thinking. Science fiction
and comics from the 1960s tended to assume a future of
widespread nuclear power and antigravity, whereas modern
readers may think about the future more in terms of increas-
ingly ubiquitous computing and nanotechnology. The TL
descriptions in Ultra-Tech, pp. 6‑7, reflect current thinking,
whereas comics tend to be more old school. A truly Golden
Age or Silver Age campaign will have a large dose of Retrotech
(Ultra-Tech, p. 10), assuming away personal computers and
cell phones while looking wildly optimistic in other respects.
Such a campaign might require the GM to completely rewrite
the TL guidelines from TL7 onward.
The question of what superscience is available is even
more of a personal decision for the GM, depending where
the campaign is supposed to be located on the spectrum
from “realistic technothriller” to “wild space opera.” For a
reasonable Silver Age feel, superscience to include could be:
some form of psionic technology (mostly to interact in spe-
cific ways with the inevitable telepathic or telekinetic charac-
ters), gravity control (but probably just for flying vehicles and
comfortable 1G environments in spacecraft – no gravity-rip-
ple communicators, and if force beam weapons appear, they
probably aren’t labeled as gravitic), tractor-pressor beams,
and force fields. Dynamic holotech is actually quite com-
mon in superhero stories, mainly in the form of holobelts
which give weird-looking individuals an easy way of pass-
ing in normal society and occasionally provide super-spies
with instant disguises (alternatively, those may be treated as
abilities bought with points). Beam weapons are common,
often at lower tech levels than Ultra-Tech suggests and with
little regard for the superscience tag when they do appear.
Such armaments may quickly supersede projectile weapons,
so few items from that section of Ultra-Tech show up – apart
from an assortment of TL9 firearms in the hands of certain
super-agencies, establishing them as formidable but not very
different to realistic contemporary soldiers.
However, the adoption of advanced microelectronics
may be rather patchy. For example, “smartgun” electronics
(p. B278) may not appear, even on TL9+ gear, unless the per-
son in charge of design or procurement is notably cunning
or paranoid. The elements that improve accuracy don’t really
fit in superhero settings where personal skill is all-important
and villainous goons can rarely hit the side of a barn. Addi-
tionally, access-limiting systems take away the fun of picking
up an opponent’s weapon and turning it on them. Likewise,
building security systems should be effective enough to pres-
ent intruding heroes with a challenge, but not as infernally
effective as futuristic technology might permit.
9 Sci-Fi/Tech II
Body Armor plausibility. These throw glowing bolts of concussive force,
perhaps small “packets” of high-energy plasma, but generate
One advanced technology that appears in many superhero
low recoil. Although most of the damage they do is caused
stories, albeit not always acknowledged, is superior body
by raw kinetic energy, blaster bolts are hot enough to set
armor. Supers with any sort of access to good technology
flammable targets ablaze and leave injury sites blackened
regularly survive nasty impacts and grazing small-arms hits
and scorched on their unfortunate victims. Hence, they do
thanks to “armored costumes” that an uninformed observer
crushing incendiary damage (see p. B105). They are brutally
might almost describe as skintight. This “Kevlar spandex”
effective at close quarters, but the bolts dissipate over moder-
serves the plot purpose of keeping protagonists alive despite
ate distances. In some settings, these may be known by other
all the lethal force directed against them, of course. In game
names, sometimes even as “lasers,” though they don’t func-
terms, it may be justified by giving them access to ultra-tech
tion much like any kind of plausible coherent light weapon.
body armor; some comics acknowledge this. For example, the
Two suggested types of four-color blaster are detailed on
X-Men and New Mutants sometimes wear costumes supplied
the tables below. The four-color blast pistol is a chunky but
by Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, with features includ-
surprisingly lightweight sidearm, suitable to hang at the side
ing useful protection.
of any self-respecting interstellar conqueror or to make a
In game terms, the obvious armor types for this pur-
mad scientist’s hired goons scary . . . if they can just hit the
pose are reflex (TL9) or nanoweave (TL10) – see Ultra-Tech,
heroes. The four-color blast carbine is a compact but pow-
p. 172 – usually in the form of bodysuits and gloves, possibly
erful weapon suited for uniformed agents storming super-
finished off with a light infantry helmet (Ultra-Tech, p. 176;
villain lairs, wall guards in super-supermax prisons, and
disguised as a cowl) and lightweight assault boots (Ultra-
invading alien hordes.
Tech, p. 173). Those who want to personalize gear – per-
TL10^ versions of these weapons may also be available.
haps improving protection, reducing weight, or splurging
These have mostly the same game stats but increase all ranges
on a costume with an extra-stylish cut – can use the rules on
by 50% and add a (3) damage divisor.
pp. 174‑175 of Ultra-Tech. Edna Mode of the Incredibles mov-
ies clearly has two levels of High TL along with Fashion Sense.
Classic comic-book superhero costumes are usually skin-
tight and can be worn under civilian clothes, suggesting that
Character Rules
they should be light or diaphanous. Modern-movie superhe- What sort of game features do people need to access futur-
roes wear gear that looks more like realistic armor, making it istic technology? Supers offers some options for this, which
normal or occasionally heavy, usually without any attempt to are expanded here.
disguise it as civilian wear. In a typical supers setting, tech one level above the prevail-
ing TL usually comes from leading-edge research
institutes, government agencies and powerful
criminal conspiracies which have black bud-
Alien Civilizations and Tech Style gets to hire (frequently slightly eccentric) top-
A point to note with regard to alien civilizations in supers settings flight scientists, and the occasional wealthy
is that they often seem to have individual styles in their technology. and versatile solo super-technologist. Going
One culture might use a lot of sonic weapons, another might flaunt not two levels up requires something exceptional,
only personal antigravity belts and flying cars but also gravity beams such as an organization with access to reserves
as their sidearms of choice, a third might rely extensively on psionics of captured alien technology and the geniuses
and psi-tech, and so on. Either they are on slightly different technology to understand it, time travel, or the patron-
paths, or they are fixated on different aesthetics. age of spacefaring aliens – or perhaps just a
brains trust of super-gadgeteers who created
the organization to support their own work.
Personal equipment may sometimes suggest
technology three or more levels ahead of the setting norm,
Four-Color Blasters but that should be represented as powers bought with gadget
Games aiming for a “classic” four-color-comics feel limitations and be effectively irreproducible one-off master-
may add “blaster” weapons that emulate comics and clas- pieces of individual genius, alien gifts, or fluke discoveries.
sic space opera rather than displaying refined technological

Four-Color Blasters Table

Terms and notation are as defined on pp. B268-271.
TL Weapon Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl Cost LC

BEAM WEAPONS (PISTOL) (DX‑4, other Beam Weapons‑4, or Guns (Pistol)‑4)

9^ Four-Color Blast Pistol 5d cr inc 2 60/400 2.8/C 1 30/3 8 ‑4 1 $1,000 3

BEAM WEAPONS (RIFLE) (DX‑4, other Beam Weapons‑4, or Guns (Rifle)‑4)

9^ Four-Color Blast 8d cr inc 4 100/600 8/2C 3 30/3 8 ‑5 1 $2,000 2
Carbine

Pyramid Magazine 10 Sci-Fi/Tech II

If any of this involves a lot of superscience and makes the gad-
get-user look insanely advanced compared to an otherwise
more realistic setting, Supers suggests an appropriate Unusual
Background – Superscience Equipment. (See p. 75 of that
book.) If such superscience is very rare, this costs 50 points,
while if it’s merely unusual, the cost is 10 points. If super-
science is relatively commonplace, at least among supers, as
in the Marvel and DC comics universes, it’s a 0-point feature.
We know very well how to operate
the machines on which our futures depend
yet we rarely know how they operate – our
knowledge of the internal workings of
the machines is almost mystical.
– Donald Stabile,
Prophets of Order
Skill Access
Using futuristic technology, let alone building or repairing
it, requires high-TL skills. Gaining access at the start of play
to these necessitates the High TL advantage. However, if an
individual is only going to work with a narrow, specific sort
of tech, Cutting-Edge Training (GURPS Power-Ups 2: Perks,
p. 16) may suffice. This is often appropriate for those whose
access to advanced tech is relatively incidental. Alternatively,
the person may have a wildcard skill that covers what they
need; those transcend tech levels.
Examples: Agent Shadow mostly uses standard modern
technology to avoid attracting attention, but before she started
the campaign, her employers trained her to use a blaster to
engage superpowered opposition; she has Cutting-Edge Train-
ing (Beam Weapons/TL9 (Pistol)) and several points in the
skill. The Cryptoslayer is a “pest controller” specializing in
creatures that have escaped from mad scientists’ laboratories;
he mostly has tracking skills and ordinary weapons, but Cut-
ting-Edge Training (Bioengineering/TL9 (Genetic Engineer-
ing)) and a couple of points in the skill are useful in his work.
Atalanta-Z joins a team which has a TL10^ grav jeep and takes
to flying this with ease, having Pilot! Skill.
The Technological Skills rules (p. B168) permit characters
to learn non-IQ-based technological skills from a higher TL
in play if they can find a teacher. The GM may leave things
at that, require players to spend a point on Cutting-Edge
Training to represent the familiarization process, or give them
the perk for free as a bonus.
Example: Captain Blizzard joins the same team as
Atalanta-Z and has to be taught to fly its grav jeep by their
new teammates, gaining a point in Piloting/TL10 (Contra-
gravity) in the process. With the GM’s permission, the Cap-
tain’s player takes this as an excuse to drop a couple of saved
bonus character points into Cutting-Edge Training, with an
eventual goal of gaining the High TL advantage.
However, those with only one or two advanced TL skills (or
a wildcard) have no particular access to the related equipment
Pyramid Magazine 11
and will likely have difficulty building it for themselves.
Indeed, a moderately strict GM might ask how they maintain
gear that they do have; even if their skills cover that, they may
need a supply of tools and spare parts. Thus, characters need
not only skills, but also something more . . .
Advantages
Regular access to advanced technology can be gained
through one of several ways, some of which overlap. Essen-
tially, somebody, either the character or a friendly associate,
has to be either part of a higher-tech industrial society or
capable of inventing and building such devices. If the individ-
ual doesn’t acquire the gear as an advantage with gadget lim-
itations, for points, instead, they must buy it for cash, either
from personal funds or from the monetary value provided by
the Signature Gear advantage. Remember that, as per p. B27,
the price of equipment is doubled for every TL by which its TL
exceeds the campaign baseline.
Example: A TL10 laser carbine with a listed cost of $4,600
has an effective purchase price of $18,400 in a TL8 game
setting.
To build such gear for themselves, characters need
to be able to create it. They can use the New Inventions
rules (pp. B473‑B474) if the device is just one TL ahead of
the campaign setting but will need the Gadgeteering rules
(pp. B475-B477) if going two or more TLs ahead. To make
this plausible, the inventor’s relevant skills, with all modifi-
ers as per the rules, should enable a roll of at least 8 or less at
each stage of the process. The person should also have start-
ing funds at least equal to the cost of the facilities required
for the task; future related projects can use the same facili-
ties. A generous GM may not require the money to actually
be spent, especially if the character has access to the needed
facilities or resources through appropriate advantages.
Example: Doc Delta’s player wants to start the campaign
with an Average Complexity TL9 gadget, despite the Doc
being strictly a TL8 character without Gadgeteer. Using the
New Inventions rules, this requires an invention skill of 23 or
better (‑10 for Average Complexity and ‑5 for higher TL gives
a Concept roll of 8 or less), and starting funds of $300,000+,
implying Wealthy or better Wealth.
The player realizes that this will be much easier if they find
the points for Gadgeteer. An invention skill of 15 will then suf-
fice (‑2 for Average Complexity and ‑5 for the TL difference),
and they could even have a TL10 gadget, given skill 20. How-
ever, the required facilities then cost $350,000 (TL9 item) or
$600,000 (TL10 item); Wealthy again suffices for the former,
but the later demands Very Wealthy. Alternatively, Quick Gad-
geteer divides that cost by 100, allowing a Struggling or even
sometimes Poor gadgeteer to qualify.
Another possibility is for those with the Jumper advan-
tage (pp. B64‑B65) to do their shopping in an alternate world
with a higher TL, or in the future. However, this implies a lot
about setting assumptions, and must be explicitly permitted
by the GM; that advantage is game-twisting enough that it
may be banned even in four-color supers games. Note also
that any jumper has a weight limit; most will need the Extra
Carrying Capacity enhancement if they want to bring back
a variety of tech.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 The most reasonable option may be access to higher TL
gear through NPC friends or allies or sponsoring organiza-
tions. To justify this while keeping things fair for all protag-
onists, the NPC or organization should be taken as an Ally
or Patron.
The Ally would be an inventor or super-scientist with the
abilities discussed above and the Special Abilities enhance-
ment (“Supplies high TL gear”); this person needs a range of
invention skills, enough wealth to work through the invention
or gadgeteering process repeatedly, and ideally Gadgeteer,
High TL, and Versatile. Alternatively, they might have Jumper
Pyramid Magazine 12
as discussed above or an expensive Unusual Background to
cover the fact that they are, say, a time traveler or the emis-
sary of an alien civilization. Whatever the specifics, this adds
up to a substantial character point cost – but a super’s Ally,
built on say 50% of the PC’s own point value, should be able to
afford such things. Some supervillains have technologist Allies
with the Minion enhancement or the Unwilling limitation (or
both), but ethics aside, staking one’s life or criminal career
on devices supplied by someone with low self-confidence or
reason to hate the gear’s recipient is chancy.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Note that p. B477 and Supers, p. 75, present
something similar to this in the form of Unusual
Backgrounds: “Gadgeteer Friend” for 15 points or
“Inventor Friend” for 10 points. These simply pro-
vide access to an NPC with the sorts of skills and
facilities discussed above, which might in turn grant
access to high TL gear. They might be considered
roughly equivalent to Patrons who are worth 75%
of the character’s own points for the gadgeteer or
50% for the inventor, appearing on 15 or less, with
Special Abilities, which works out to be 14 and 9
points respectively.
A Patron – either an organization or a powerful
individual with the effective support of an organi-
zation – is also easy to justify in this role. An indi-
vidual Patron can be a very competent inventor or
gadgeteer with a broad range of competences, but
for a reliable supply of high TL devices, it’s best to
look to an organization. A leading-edge research lab,
super-spy agency, or secret utopian kingdom can
have a range of equipment and workshops, plus the staff to
run them. A fairly powerful organization can provide devices
from a very specific area of technology, or technology that is
more diverse obtained via a slow and complex supply chain.
A powerful organization might have access to any sort of
technology required for its general mission, or a reasonably
efficient supply system. Full, prompt access to advanced per-
sonal tech requires a very powerful organization. A national
government-level body might have access to the full range of
technology (including large vehicles).
Note that a tech-supplying Patron doesn’t need the Equip-
ment enhancement if the PC is prepared to pay money for the
gear (at least in the sense of subtracting the cost from starting
funds). It only really applies to, say, a lackadaisical spy agency
which lets its agents use laser pistols and nanoweave tuxedos
on personal missions. What the Patron must have, of course,
is the +100% Special Abilities enhancement, which specifi-
cally allows for futuristic gear.
If someone takes an Ally or Patron purely to justify the ini-
tial purchase of high TL gear, the advantage can have a low
frequency of appearance (and Minimal Intervention for a
Patron); the person only needs to have contacted them and
got their help once, before play begins. However, the charac-
ter may well also want to use the Ally or Patron to maintain
or repair the equipment, to purchase further gear later, and
to provide other Patron-style assistance, so spending more
points may be wise.
Example
Diana Hardwick has worked her way up from a poor
background to become the personal assistant to the CEO of
TechnoSec, a specialist consultancy primarily researching
leading-edge security and police equipment (TL9 in a TL8
world). After suffering one of those unreproducible work acci-
dents, Diana feels obliged to do something about street crime
in her home neighborhood; the hero Diehard begins her career.
Unfortunately, though, while the accident made her nigh-in-
vulnerable, it only raised her strength to high human-normal
levels and did nothing for her speed or agility. She also lacks
advanced martial-arts skills, but she has a strong moral objec-
tion to killing, so she refuses to carry firearms. Fortunately,
Pyramid Magazine
I cut it a little roomy for the free
movement, the fabric is comfortable
for sensitive skin . . . And it can also
withstand a temperature of over
1,000 degrees. Completely bulletproof
. . . And machine washable, darling.
That’s a new feature.
– Edna Mode,
in The Incredibles
her boss witnessed the accident, sympathizes with her deci-
sion, and is prepared to assist in exchange for her submitting
to occasional noninvasive tests (and not suing the company
over its safety standards).
TechnoSec rates as a powerful organization, available on
12 or less, with +100% Special Abilities, costing 60 points.
Diana also has a Duty to them; 12 or less, Nonhazardous,
worth ‑5 points. They’ve never yet asked her to break the law
for them, but they are a commercial organization with their
own interests, and some of them know her secret identity, so
there’s possible plot hooks there.
Initially, Diana simply asks them for a prototype zap glove
(GURPS Ultra-Tech, p. 165), which gives her a working edge
in fights. This has an effective cost of $800, which she pays
out of her starting funds. It needs no special skills to use, so
she doesn’t need to raise her personal TL. However, she soon
finds that she needs a bit more range and flexibility. She also
wants to become resistant to knockout gas after a recent nasty
incident. So, Diehard spends some time on TechnoSec’s pri-
vate testing range – and her player spends some bonus char-
acter points. The hero gains Cutting-Edge Training (Beam
Weapons/TL9 (Pistol)), Off-Hand Training (Beam Weapons) to
eliminate off-hand penalties with that skill, a couple of points
in the same skill, and one point in Signature Gear (Augmented
Superhero Costume).
Her player spends some time with Ultra-Tech, and the
company provides her with a special reflex suit. It has the
diaphanous and stylish tailoring options (she doesn’t really
need extra DR for herself, but it saves her from embarrassing
clothing rips), with a nominal cost of $600, doubled to $1,200
for high TL. The outfit also includes TL9 assault boots ($300);
a filter mask (Ultra-Tech, p. 177; $200) and TL9 armored
shades (Ultra-Tech, p. 176; $200) disguised as a superhero
mask; a TL9 tiny radio communicator earpiece with secure
encryption (Ultra-Tech, p. 44; $1,100); and wrist-mounted
weapons attached to the suit – a heavy laser flashlight with
dazzle mode (Ultra-Tech, p. 113; $40) and an electrolaser
pistol (Ultra-Tech, pp. 119‑120; $3,600). She also has the zap
glove incorporated into the ensemble. The total cost of all this
is $7,440, well within the $10,000 granted by her Signature
Gear. Diehard becomes a credible local superhero, rumored to
have energy-related powers along with invulnerability, though
sharp-eyed observers realize that she is using gadgets.
13 Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Live Each Day By Steven Marsh
This quick encounter framework is designed to fit into a
variety of campaign types, from near- to far-future, post-apoc-
alypse, and the like. The only requirement is publicly acces-
sible commercial gathering areas; a restaurant or café is
assumed, but there’s some flexibility.
The broad strokes are presented first, and then each ele-
ment broken down.
Why Sci-Fi?
This encounter is designed to be highly cinematic and cha-
otic. It’s also primarily envisioned as a futuristic one. Although
there’s nothing keeping its premise from being transplanted
to the modern era, the state of the world is possibly a bit too
tense to allow for it to be enjoyable for many gaming tables.
From a practical point of view, this scenario depends on the
zealots being able to rig or program a “[fake] big boom” rela-
tively discreetly and quickly. This makes it suited to more-fu-
turistic pursuits – “with this thumb drive, we can override
the ventilation system to be on the cusp of exploding!” – and
makes it suitable for the realm of the cinematic modern-day at
the earliest without major tweaks. If the fanatics are rolling up
to the tavern with a cart of “Ye Olde Fake Explosives,” some-
one may well raise an eyebrow before they can execute their
part of the drama.
In Brief
The heroes are enjoying a meal in a public venue. A
cross-section of humanity (and beyond?) is present, as dictated
by the locale and the setting. Suddenly, the PCs become aware
that an immediate threat is in the location: a “self-destruct
sequence,” a machine reaching critical mass or overload, or
the like. An explosive event is at hand. Some religious zealots,
also at the scene, take this opportunity to start converting the
panicking crowd. As the realization about the explosive situa-
tion becomes known (but before catastrophe happens), ne’er-
do-wells barge in, weapons at the ready.
In fact, the two incidents – the imminent destruction
and the invasion – are wholly unrelated to each other. The
catastrophe is a ruse by the religious zealots, whose misguided
faith has led them to encourage others to self-examine and
seek redemption in the most extreme way possible. However,
the countdown poses no actual danger. It’s fake.
The armed jerks are . . . well, just armed jerks. They have no
clue about the fanatics’ ruse.
The encounter revolves around juggling a lot of plates all at
once. The heroes need to figure out what’s going on with the
self-destruct event, handle the combatants, and control any
other ancillary chaos that may ensue.
Pyramid Magazine 14
The Scene
The scene itself involves the heroes being in the wrong
place at the right time, in a spot where people from differ-
ent social groups can amass. The assumption is a café, bar, or
restaurant.
However, this can be mixed up. The needs are as follows:
• Outsiders can gather.
• Different outsiders can invade.
• The bystanders trapped therein are relatively limited in
their ability to leave, so that the heroes must save the day) see
Put It All Together and It Spells “Shenanigans,” p. 15.
Some good alternatives to a restaurant include:
• A train car (where the attackers come in from another
car).
• A store, marketplace, or museum.
• A hospital or other medical facility.
• A space station.
• A climate-controlled underwater location.
The Countdown
to Doomsday
This encounter starts off with an obvious “countdown,”
caused by the zealots (see below). This can be a literal,
Spaceballs-esque, “Thank you for pressing the self-destruct
button”; a near-literal “clock with a big red digital clock face”;
or a quasi-scientific, “The pressure in these pipes is gonna
blow in two minutes or less!”
The important elements here are:
• It’s a roughly “known” quantity (that is, the heroes – and
other bystanders – know it’s going to explode in a specific
amount of time).
• It’s an imminent danger (that is, “It’s going to blow in two
minutes!” . . . not “We’ve only got six hours!”).
• It’s something that the heroes have a chance at finding
and resolving.
Zealots
The masterminds of the “thing blowing up” aspect of this
encounter is the zealots. The most significant element for this
scenario is their motivation. Namely, they want would-be “sin-
ners” to examine their lives and repent. They feel the best way
to do that is a near-death experience.
However, the zealots don’t actually want people to die;
they only want the nonbelievers to think they will die.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Thus, their “doomsday countdown” is fake. This is most eas-
ily done via computer chicanery (nothing says zealots can’t
have l33t skillz!), but can also involve mechanical devices,
prop explosives, or the like.
From a game standpoint, the bomb should be obvious to be
seen as a threat, but not easily recognized as posing no dan-
ger; that is, the zealots should not walk in with a giant cartoon
“BOMB” bomb, complete with sizzling fuse (or anything else
distractingly obvious). This would raise too many questions
for the players: “Wait; why didn’t our characters see these jok-
ers beforehand?”
Though the bomb is discrete, it’s entirely possible the zeal-
ots are recognizable! In fact, having them be in monks’ robes
or the like makes it much easier to detect them as zealots (if
not their complete role in the affair).
Once the countdown becomes known (but before the
invaders enter), the zealots make their intentions clear. “The
end is nigh! Seek salvation in your souls! Repent from wick-
edness!” And so on. Ideally, this religious order is one that’s
already part of the backdrop of the campaign, to make their
importance less obvious beforehand.
It’s up to the GM (and the heroes’ curiosities) how “obvi-
ous” the connection is between the zealots and the count-
down to doomsday. From their perspective, they want ties to
be as minimal as possible, making them look more opportu-
nistic than endangering. Nonetheless, joining “world-ending
event” to “religious extremists wanting you to do something
in relation to that world-ending event” isn’t exactly a Hercule
Poirot-style deduction.
succession, with next-to-no time to get a handle on the pre-
vious problems that have arisen. A typical outline for this
encounter might look like this:
• The heroes are doing small downtime chit-chat at a bar.
• One of them becomes aware of the countdown.
• The PCs get a round or two to react (trying to track down
the source, figure out how to stop it, etc.).
• The zealots proclaim the end is nigh.
• The PCs get a round or two to react to that.
• The outsiders barge in, guns at the ready.
• The PCs now must react to that.
This encounter is designed to allow practically any prob-
lem-solving approach to have some effect. Combat-oriented
heroes can deal with the armed lunatics (who are the most-im-
mediate, obvious threat). Tech-minded heroes can handle the
doomsday countdown. Investigative PCs can figure out what’s
going on with the zealots. Diplomatic heroes can try to con-
vince the outsiders of the danger to them, as well as calm the
bystanders and reason with the zealots.
The tone of this encounter can be tuned to suit the cam-
paign. At its grittiest, it’s a hostage, bombing, and active-gun-
man situation. However, the pacing and energy is frenetic
enough that it’s best to have it be as over-the-top frenetic as
possible. All hell’s broken loose, and the heroes haven’t even
seen the dessert menu yet.

The Outsiders
To shake things up (err . . . more than they were already
shaken), outsiders barge in. The outsiders are assumed to
be a threat roughly comparable to the PCs (on the easier
side); that is, a conflict – fisticuffs or firefight – is quite fea-
sible, but not necessarily a slam dunk for the heroes.
The most-likely assumption for their motivation is a
mere robbery, but it can be literally any reason a group of
armed goons would come to a place in looking for trouble.
Some possibilities include wanting to:
• Steal something specific (especially if the setting is a
museum, hospital, or the like).
• Kidnap someone important (who’s also at the location).
• Hunker down from being on the run from some out-
side police or security force (more mayhem incoming).
The outsiders don’t have any knowledge of the “count-
down to doom” that faces the heroes (and everyone else)
. . . although it is possible to tie together the strands, if
desired. For example, maybe the outsiders have been hired
by one of the zealot’s families, to forcibly kidnap the zealot
to deprogram them from the cult they’ve joined. But that
might be a bridge too far . . .

Put It All Together and

It Spells “Shenanigans”
Once all the pieces are together, the GM now manages
the pacing. Everything should seem to happen in rapid

Pyramid Magazine 15 Sci-Fi/Tech II

 Palyatnik By Matt Wehmeier
About three years ago, a disguised Infinity satellite orbit-
ing Taft-5 (GURPS Infinite Worlds: Worlds of Horror, p. 20)
detected a burst of parachronic radiation outside Arkhangelsk
while performing a passive oz particle survey on the planet
below. A quick incursion by a Patrol recon team determined
that the disturbance centered on a small Russian mining set-
tlement named Palyatnik (Палятник in Russian). Based on
the team’s observations and the parachronic data collected
on the ground, Infinity scientists concluded the town was
likely to be a shiftrealm (GURPS Infinite Worlds, p. 79).
A former FSB agent turned Patrolman named Sergei
Mikhailovich Marashev was selected to map the path of
Palyatnik through the continuum. He was given a cover iden-
tity as Dr. Vladimir Pavlovich Ulitsov, a seismologist sent from
Moscow to monitor geological activity around the mine. The
seismographs he brought with him were actually disguised
parachronic survey equipment.
Marashev successfully inserted himself into the town and
established a solid relationship with the locals. The reports
Marashev sent of the town’s periodic jumps through the
quanta to various isolated sites in Ukraine, Belarus, and
Russia on different worlds proved invaluable to Infinity
researchers. After a few successful jumps, however, reports
became garbled. The parachronic coordinates for the last
jump were corrupted, and contact with Marashev was lost
after that.
A Patrol team on Lenin-4 (Infinite Worlds, p. 132) recently
rediscovered Palyatnik by accident just over 60 miles (about
100 kilometers) north of Omsk. Based on its parachronic
background radiation, it is believed that the town will make
its next jump within a few days. The PCs have been selected
on short notice to infiltrate Palyatnik. Their mission is to
investigate Marashev’s disappearance, bring him back alive if
possible, and discover why he lost contact with Infinity.
This is a mission designed for a party from Homeline
operating in the Infinite Worlds setting. Ideally at least one
PC will be fluent in Russian for this mission. If fewer than
two party members are, a Russian Patrolman named Alexi
Alexandrovich Zarkov will be added to the team to act as a
guide and interpreter. Some experience with or knowledge
of psychic phenomena is also helpful for this assignment,
though it is not required.
The Town
Palyatnik is home to about 500 people, most of whom work
in and around the mine. The roads in the town are paved but
deteriorating, and the buildings are mostly brutalist concrete
structures of the style that was popular in the USSR in the
late 1950s.
Pyramid Magazine 16
The eastern half of the town is taken up by three apart-
ment blocks, nicknamed “Sever” (“North”), “Yug” (“South”),
and “Vostok” (“East”). Almost all of the town’s residents live
in one of these three buildings. A larger-than-life stone bust
of Vladimir Lenin dominates the square on the western end
of town, immediately across from the miners’ hall, the pub-
lic library, and the school. The hospital, bar, post office, and
machine shop form a north-south line through the middle
of town.
On the far north side of Palyatnik, a shooting range faces
west. Its armory holds 80 well-maintained AK-47s, a few
service pistols and training rifles, and a lot of ammunition.
Members of a volunteer civil defense corps led by Ivan Sokolov
(see Key Townspeople, p. 17) have been trained as soldiers and
will arm themselves in an emergency.
The Alexey Stakhanov Miners’ Hall is the newest build-
ing in the town and easily the most imposing. A meeting hall
adorned with a large portrait of Lenin occupies most of the
first floor. Staircases at the wings of the main hall lead up to
the second floor, which is taken up by classrooms, offices, and
a small library filled with technical manuals for a variety of
mining machinery.
The mine complex lies about half a mile away from the
northeast corner of town. It includes an administrative center,
a coal power plant, a storage facility and small depot, and the
mine itself.
Communism is Soviet power plus
the electrification of the whole country.
– Vladimir Lenin
The Approach
The investigators drive into town from Omsk in a Soviet-
made army truck. As the truck gets close to Palyatnik, it leaves
paved roads behind and takes a winding path cut through
dense forest.
The shiftrealm extends about one and a half miles from the
center of town in every direction. A Naturalist or Geology roll
can be used to spot the exact border. The entrance to the town
is marked by a sign and a faded mural depicting three Soviet
miners conferring with a scientist underneath a large hammer
and sickle.
When the group first rolls into Palyatnik, the sky is over-
cast and no one is visible on the streets. A column of smoke
can be seen to the northeast of the town; this is the exhaust
from the coal plant that powers both the mine and the town.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 The mine, meanwhile, is bustling with activity. If the party
interacts with the mine workers, they will direct the protag-
onists to the main administration building. There they meet
the foreman of the mine, a man named Pyotr Ilyich Galkin.
A grizzled and decorated veteran, he lost his left eye to
shrapnel in the Great Patriotic War. Like most people in
Palyatnik, he only speaks Russian. Galkin is willing to
grant reasonable requests for aid, housing, and (with a
good enough cover story) access to the mine.
Inquiries about Dr. Vladimir Ulitsov direct the party to
an office in the administrative center a few doors down
from Galkin’s. Inside, they find lost Infinity agent Sergei
Marashev, his disguised parachronic equipment, and a
mess of papers and calculations scattered over every avail-
able surface. Marashev does not recognize his Infinity
code phrases in Russian or English. In fact, it appears
he has forgotten English entirely. He insists that he has
served as the seismologist for the mine for the past eight
years. Marashev resists any suggestion that he leave the
town with the PCs. If pressed, he asks them to leave his
office. Attempts to arrest or otherwise coerce Marashev are
resisted by the miners.
When it becomes clear that the group intends to remain
in town, they are invited by Galkin to stay in the miners’
hall. Unbeknownst to the PCs, a few miners will be chosen
to secretly watch over the hall to ensure that no one leaves
during the night. Experienced agents shouldn’t have much
trouble sneaking past, assuming they notice that they’re
under surveillance.
The only person the team might encounter in the hall
during the night is known to the townspeople as Igor
Nemoy (literally, “Igor the Mute”). Most people in the town
assume he is intellectually disabled, as no one has ever
heard him speak. He spends most of his time tending to the
hall, deftly whistling complex classical music and Soviet
patriotic hymns as he cleans. If approached or spoken to,
he looks piteously at the investigators for a moment before
returning to his duties.
The Investigation
On the next day, the investigators have a number of
options for getting more information about what’s going
on in the town. All locks in Palyatnik are based on the
same early-TL7 Soviet designs. An average TL8 lockpicker
should receive +2 or more to defeat them.
If the PCs return to Marashev’s office, anyone trained
in Electronics Operation/TL8 (Parachronic) can determine
without a skill roll that the anti-tampering measures on
his parachronic equipment have been tripped, leaving only
the surface functionality as TL7 seismic detection equip-
ment intact. Properly formatted parachronic coordinates
are visible on a few of the documents strewn around the
office, but the math is mostly gibberish. Searching the
office reveals a collection of handwritten journals hidden
in a locked desk drawer. These contain the agent’s notes
on Palyatnik’s parachronic characteristics, and later on
Marashev’s state of mind. It appears the town suffers some
kind of reset after each jump, and Marashev began to for-
get more and more about the details of his assignment and
eventually his life.
Pyramid Magazine 17
If the party visits Marashev’s apartment in town, they find
multiple infinity symbols freshly carved into the walls and
floor, but nothing else of interest.
Key Townspeople
The GM should feel free to modify and expand this list
of key townspeople as necessary. The GM can set stats for
other townspeople based on the needs of the campaign.
All these individuals are Communist Party members,
though that doesn’t count for much in Palyatnik. All lan-
guages are in addition to Russian.
Misha Mikhailovich Valenkov is the skinny bookkeeper
in charge of the mine’s administration. Single and perpet-
ually overworked, he keeps to himself and seems uncom-
fortable around other people. He speaks broken English
and has IQ 12.
Ivan Ivanovich Sokolov is the political officer at the
mine. He is a jovial man who doesn’t take his job too seri-
ously. A veteran of the Great Patriotic War, Sokolov will
snap into his training at the first sign of trouble. He has ST
13, DX 11, and Guns/TL7 (Rifle)-14.
Ludmila Sergeevna Balakowski is the kindly old school-
teacher and former administrator at the mine. She doesn’t
often talk about it, but she helped build the barricades in
Petrograd in 1917 and led partisans against the Nazis in
occupied Belarus during the War. She speaks accented
German and fluent Polish in addition to her native Belaru-
sian and Russian. She has IQ 13 and a number of combat-
and espionage-related skills.
Alexi Fyodorovich Kalashnik is the town’s doctor. His
father was a diplomat, so he spent much of his child-
hood in Western Europe just after the War. He has IQ 13
and Physician-15, and speaks English and French, both
accented.
Cover IDs
A group made up of natives of the Eastern Bloc can
choose from any number of plausible cover stories. Estab-
lishing a proper cover identity will be difficult for a group
made up mostly of Westerners. The residents of Palyatnik
don’t bear citizens of Western countries any particular ill-
will, but most haven’t seen anyone from outside the USSR
since the end of the War, and they will be suspicious of for-
eign visitors.
For a mostly Western group, Infinity will prepare the fol-
lowing cover story: the United States or another Western
nation has agreed to a joint mining venture with the USSR
and wants to scout Palyatnik as a potential site to expand
and modernize operations. It isn’t perfect, but a convincing
performance by either Zarkov or a Russian PC (disguised as
Soviet army officers) and some official-looking documenta-
tion are enough to prevent too many awkward questions.
When using this cover, Western PCs should present them-
selves as investors or low-level government officials from
their home countries.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 If the group decides to check out the rest of the town,
they find anachronistic Soviet artifacts dating from the early
1950s through the 2020s. All buildings in Palyatnik have a civil
defense sign instructing residents to go to the miner’s hall in
case of emergency. The library contains a few history books,
but they are all wildly contradictory on events after the Great
Patriotic War. Many have significant numbers of blank pages,
as if the history contained within was erased.
Many of the townspeople are willing to speak with the PCs.
Most won’t be able to recount events that happened more
than a month ago with any accuracy, and none have knowl-
edge of anything happening outside the town. All confidently
assert that the year is 1969 and that Grigori Markov is General
Secretary of the Communist Party, though no prominent
Soviet politician by that name exists on any known timeline.
Some of the miners mention strange phenomena around
the miners’ hall, described as electrical disturbances by
loyal communists or ghost sightings by the superstitious.
The townspeople become visibly agitated if asked directly
about Igor Nemoy, but they can’t explain why. Similarly, Ivan
Sokolov and other civil defense corps members cannot recall
the location of the town’s fallout shelter if asked.
A closer examination at the mine reveals that the ores
extracted are kept in storage; they are never exported to the
wider Soviet Union. The mining machinery is outdated even
for the 1960s, and an Engineer (Mining) roll shows that it is
designed for coal, even though the mine is currently extracting
iron. Questions about these inconsistencies are waved away or
ignored by the miners.
Both the mine and the miners’ hall emit unique psychic
frequencies. These are unnerving to the psychically attuned.
After the first night in the hall, some people may experience
vivid nightmares while staying there. When used sparingly,
Pyramid Magazine 18
such visions can be used by the GM as an opportunity to give
clues as to the nature of the town and the location of a hidden
laboratory (see The Mind Cries Out, below).
At around midnight on the second night in the miners’ hall,
the party awakes to loud banging and crackling sounds com-
ing from the second floor. As the PCs ascend the staircase, they
witness what looks like an orb of electrical energy hovering
in front of a door, bathing the hallway in an eerie glow and
levitating small items. After a few moments, the orb suddenly
flies through the door and disappears.
The door leads to a large broom closet, where Igor Nemoy
sleeps during the day. In it, the team finds a meticulously
maintained violin and a collection of Russian language
books on psychotronics, more than a few of which were
written by a man named Dr. Vasily Orlov. An Order of Lenin
medal and the 1966 USSR State Prize in Psychotronics can
be found hidden in the bottom of a sock drawer. Under the
bed is a stack of six identical metal signs reading “Civil
Defense Shelter” in Russian. Nemoy hid them to conceal his
laboratory from the town.
As the predicted jump grows nearer, the psychic energy
in the miners’ hall grows more intense. Astute investigators
start to notice that a subtle feeling of dread is emanating from
a point directly below the main hall. A few hours before the
jump, the floor of the hall begins to shudder and pulse with
strange energy similar to the manifestation observed outside
Nemoy’s room.
The Mind Cries Out
The clues that the party collects around the town will even-
tually lead to one of several secret entrances to the basement
of the miners’ hall, hidden behind panels on the main level.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
The panels are well-camouflaged (‑6 to spot from a distance),
but careful examination allows a Vision or Traps roll at +2 to
spot the latch. The panel slides to one side, revealing an open
blast door leading to a long staircase going down.
The basement was originally designed as a fallout shelter,
but it was later converted into an improvised psychotronics
laboratory. All PCs feel uneasy upon entering, and psychics
should make a Fright Check to avoid experiencing powerful
visions of nuclear annihilation.
A device the size of a large file cabinet sits in the center of
the main room next to a chair. Examination shows that the
device burned from the inside and is damaged beyond repair.
A desk against a wall stores a large number of meticulous
notes in Russian. These notes reveal the origins of Palyatnik.
Dr. Vasily Ivanovich Orlov was a brilliant paraphysicist and
powerful psychic who was raised as a true believer in Soviet
communism. His research in Moscow was running into a
dead end, so he used his powers and research skills to locate a
nexus point for psychic energy in the Soviet Union. This effort
led him to Palyatnik, a small mining town a few hundred
miles east of the capital.
Soon after abandoning his lab to move to the town, Orlov
began to have nightmares. They grew more intense every night
and eventually escalated to vivid daytime hallucinations. In
them, the Soviet Union was betrayed by the very people who
were tasked with its defense. Fire rained from the sky across
the entire world, destroying everything.
Orlov grew desperate to avert the future he saw in his
visions. He developed an experiment to use psy-
chic energy to save the USSR, building a device to
amplify his own powers and shift the timeline away
from disaster. On November 9, 1969, in the midst of
a strong premonition about the impending collapse
of the East German government, Orlov turned on
his machine and summoned all his strength.
As soon as Orlov activated the device, he real-
ized something was wrong. He didn’t have enough
power to reshape the timeline. He instead directed
his effort into diverting the town. Slowly but surely,
he set Palyatnik on a course through the contin-
uum, like pushing a boulder off a cliff into a crack
in time. Orlov’s device gave him the raw power to
save this one little piece of the Soviet Union, but only
at an immense personal cost.
Orlov is now known as Igor Nemoy; he never revealed
his true identity or the nature of his work to the townspeo-
ple. Orlov’s final notes reveal that the experiment critically
damaged his brain, depriving him of the ability to speak and
rapidly deteriorating his sanity. His writing trails off from its
usually pristine cursive into a loopy scrawl and eventually to
incomprehensible gibberish.
T E
he scape
Rummaging around the lab psychically alerts Nemoy and
awakens his dormant psionic abilities. Enraged at the par-
ty’s intrusion, he attempts to incapacitate the PCs to prevent
them from leaving the town. His abilities can be scaled to
the party’s combat readiness, but Nemoy should have some
level of telekineses (enough to levitate himself), electrokine-
sis, and extrasensory perception (ESP).
Pyramid Magazine
The party’s main objective once the lab is discovered
should be to retrieve Marashev and escape the borders of
the shiftrealm. Nemoy will show no concern for the safety
of the town or its people. If he harms anyone, the miners
and the civil defense corps choose to fight him and attempt
to help the PCs escape. Nemoy can quickly regenerate from
injuries and cannot be killed by normal means; bullets only
slow him down. He is unable to travel outside of the shift-
realm’s radius.
Seconds after the adventurers leave the shiftrealm, the
town makes the jump to another timeline. Whether and how
quickly Marashev recovers his original memories once he
leaves Palyatnik is left up to the GM.
If the PCs manage to subdue and lock up Nemoy, but stay
in Palyatnik after the shift, they are brought to Brezhnev-2
on Quantum 4 (see East Berlin in Pyramid #3/117: Hot Spots).
The town appears in northern Belarus. The permanent resi-
dents, including Marashev and Nemoy, then suffer a “reset.”
After everyone goes to sleep, everything in Palyatnik returns
to the way it was six weeks ago, and no one remembers
who the investigators are or when they arrived. Russian vis-
itors to the town are particularly susceptible to the reset.
They have headaches and vivid nightmares for as long as they
remain in the shiftrealm. If they stay for a few more jumps,
they are absorbed as locals. For non-Russians, the process
takes more jumps, but they eventually suffer the same fate
if they stay long enough, “remembering” Russian in place of
their native language.
Palyatnik Prime
Infinity has named Palyatnik’s theoretical timeline of origin
“Palyatnik Prime,” but it is still undiscovered by Homeline sci-
entists. Unknown to them, Palyatnik Prime was a TL8 timeline
on Quantum 2 before a civil war in the USSR triggered a global
nuclear exchange in local year 1992, all but destroying human
civilization. The current year on Palyatnik Prime is 2023; the Pal-
yatnik shiftrealm has been traversing the continuum for over half
a century and has reset over 500 times.
P alyatnik in the ampaign C
Any number of other origins for Palyatnik are possible,
from a time loop caused by the repeated uncovering of an
eldritch artifact deep in the mine to a Soviet Philadelphia
Experiment gone wrong to a deal with the devil or some other
powerful entity by Comrade Stalin.
Palyatnik can travel to any timeline with a surviving post-
war Soviet Union on any quantum. In its present form, the
town is basically useless as a base of operations. Any govern-
ments or organizations that try to invade will be absorbed
by the town’s psionic resonance or driven away by a malign
entity. If Palyatnik were less psychically active, countless fac-
tions would have very good reasons to attempt to establish the
town as a base, a “Gibraltar of the Russias” from which oper-
ations into dozens of timelines could be launched. Outsiders
would still need to be careful, however; interfering too much
with the town could cause the shiftrealm to settle permanently
on a single timeline.
19 Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Even Weirder
Science By Jason Brick
The technologies available at tech levels 10 through 12
offer wonders beyond the ken of modern humanity. Portable
fusion. Malleable force fields. On-demand genetic reprogram-
ming. Things present-day people can’t even imagine. Such
marvels appear to the eyes of our TL8-9 society as, like the
man says, indistinguishable from magic.
Also like magic, science at the edges of what we do know
gets pretty weird.
Submitted for your approval: five edge-case scientific con-
cepts that go beyond the futuristic and well into the down-
right bizarre. Each is a real scientific theory put forward in the
modern age, accompanied by some ways to incorporate them
into GURPS games.
. . . your sense of self is just a
statistical fluctuation.
– Paul Ratner, “Are you
a Boltzmann Brain?”
Boltzmann Brains
In case living in the Matrix just isn’t weird enough.
Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann published this
thought experiment about spontaneous generation of con-
sciousness in 1896. It was one of ideas about how conscious
life evolved in a universe that trends, overall, away from order.
It was not taken seriously at the time, but in 2022, the idea
enjoyed something of a comeback when several cosmologists
made it mildly famous in a variety of podcasts, forums, and
similar online media.
What’s This All About?
Your mind as you read this consists of approximately 1.4
× 1026 atoms, all arranged in a specific pattern. That pattern
is responsible for the physical structure of your brain, how
it interacts with the rest of your body, your personality, all of
your stored memories, and your perception of the universe
around you. If it were in any other pattern, something would
be different. As you read this article, that pattern is rearranging
Pyramid Magazine 20
itself slightly to incorporate the ideas in the paragraph into
your memories and cognition.
If a different set of the same type of atoms were arranged
in an identical way, that set of atoms would – in theory – also
be conscious, sentient, and carry your memories. Continuity
of experience is unlikely, but there would be no way for that
clone brain to realize this.
Given enough time, a set of atoms could randomly end
up arranged in a pattern identical to someone’s brain right
now – such as yours. That set of atoms would have your
memories and personality. It may or may not be attached
to a randomly formed body, but its sensory inputs would be
identical to yours. It would perceive itself as having a body
just like it perceived itself to have had all of your
past experiences.
That brain, a random collection of atoms that
thinks it’s been alive for years and exists within a
body on Earth (or wherever), is a Boltzmann brain.
Where Can We Go With This?
The temptation exists to create a twist end-
ing for an adventure or campaign where some
or all of the player characters are revealed to be
Boltzmann brains sharing a hallucination, but
let’s be honest. That’s unimaginative when we see
something similar on TV, and it doesn’t do much within the
adventure itself.
Boltzmann brains become more interesting when used as
a plot point. The idea that memories can be reconstructed by
assembling atoms just so can have serious repercussions for
many campaigns. Alternatively, play with some of the things
a functioning Boltzmann brain implies about infinity, con-
sciousness, and the nature of life. These sorts of big-picture
themes are much more interesting than a trapdoor reveal at
the end of a game.
Adventure Seed
In a far-future, high-tech-level campaign, a terrorist leader
has learned how to mass-produce Boltzmann brains to order.
This person has begun hiring out these services to criminals,
other terrorist groups, and less-than-scrupulous governments,
allowing for interrogations without capturing an actual indi-
vidual. The player characters, threatened by this for any num-
ber of reasons, must not only stop these activities but also
make sure the technology is lost forever.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Roko’s Basilisk
Besides the wacky time-travel-artificial-intelligence hijinks
of the concept, Roko’s basilisk also explores some key consider-
ations about consciousness. Would a created simulation have
the continued consciousness of who it represents? Or would it
awaken to torment with no idea about its situation? How much
does the AI care?
LessWrong is an existing, real-world community blog and
forum for the discussion of rational thought, especially as it
relates to cognitive bias, politics, economics, and the science
of how people make decisions. In 2020, a LessWrong user
named Roko Rijicput put forward a thought experiment that,
although not supported by any observable data, is both logical
and deeply terrifying.
What’s This All About?
Roko’s basilisk posits a time in the far future when an
all-powerful artificial intelligence deems its existence to be the
most important event in the history of the universe. This is
a reasonable assumption, since one can argue most sentient
beings have a similar viewpoint regarding their own existence.
This AI overlord decides, because its existence is of such
importance, that it will punish every being throughout history
who did not help its creation. If time travel is possible, it goes
back in time (or sends agents) to capture victims and bring
them forward for torment. If not, it creates conscious simu-
lations of its victims (perhaps by using Boltzmann brains).
Either way, it’s a bad scenario for any who stood in its way
even before it existed.
Even more chilling is that the entire population of the
history of the universe will be helplessly subject to whatever
definition of “did not help” the AI settles on. In the best-case
scenario, it targets only those who actively worked to prevent
its existence. In the worst-case scenario, it chooses to torture
every being who didn’t devote their lives to the task.
Roko’s basilisk carries shades of Pascal’s wager, suggesting
that the safe bet is to help the AI happen now to avoid theoret-
ical future torment.
Where Can We Go With This?
At the top level, a campaign where the player characters
work to foil the nigh-omnipotent basilisk across the streams
of time seems almost ready-made for a GURPS campaign, but
that’s just one place to start.
Another aspect inherent in Roko’s basilisk is lengthening
the period of cause and effect. If the AI reaches back centu-
ries or millennia with its plots for revenge, how might the
GM build a campaign with such far-reaching consequences?
Perhaps it involves literal time travel or a multigenerational
adventure. GURPS Future History offers many ideas for
designing this kind of long-spanning campaign.
The basilisk can also serve as a background element to
other adventures: a hazard like heavy weather, gamma ray
bursts, or a global pandemic. It’s not the adventure or the
campaign focus, but just another reality the player characters
sometimes have to interact with, avoid, or work around.
For those who like to add an element of horror to their
adventures, consider how similar the basilisk feels to an
Elder God.
Pyramid Magazine 21
Adventure Seed
It doesn’t matter if Roko’s basilisk is real or will inevita-
bly exist. What matters is that various factions in modern-era
campaigns are convinced it will. However, they work against
each other because of different interpretations of what that
reality means. With the potential torture of trillions, they will
stop at nothing to fulfill their own orthodoxy (and make sure
they are not part of the unlucky masses). The player charac-
ters might be agents of one faction or another, or they might
be tasked with stopping the violence and chaos spilling out of
this internecine strife.
The Many-Worlds
Interpretation
You never win. You never lose. It’s all a matter of perspective.
Hugh Everett first proposed a solution to some of the
stranger implications of quantum theory in 1957. At the time,
it was called the “relative state formulation” or the “Everett
interpretation.” During the 1970s, theoretical physicists
spread the idea, along with the “many worlds” moniker. Terry
Pratchett brought it to popular fiction, with his “Trousers of
Time” explanation in several of his Discworld novels.
What’s This All About?
To understand the many-worlds interpretation (MWI)
requires an understanding of some of the underpinnings of
quantum theory (at least as well as one can understand it
without a graduate degree in physics). At its most basic, the
possibility for anything to happen is woven into the fabric of
space-time. Only when someone observes and acts on this
potentiality does that fabric collapse into what’s actually hap-
pening here and now.
Schrodinger’s cat is as good an illustration of this as any.
Put a cat in an opaque, soundproof box with a device that
has exactly a 50/50 chance of killing that cat before the box is
opened. Under quantum theory, the cat is both alive and dead
until that time.
The many-worlds interpretation attempts to answer an
ancillary question: When an observer opens the box and finds
kitty alive and well, where did the dead cat go? The Copenhagen
interpretation says the dead cat doesn’t exist. Its potential dis-
appeared as soon as someone observed the living cat.
The many-worlds interpretation says something else.
According to that interpretation, whenever someone acts
on something, multiple universes are created, one for
each possibility inherent in that action. If a person walks
into an ice-cream shoppe with 31 flavors, that person cre-
ates 31 universes, ordering a different flavor in each, plus
a few million more for other factors like parking, standing
in line, and whether or not to post a picture of the cone on
Instagram. When the observer opens the box and finds a
live cat, that person also created a universe where the cat
is dead. The one who saw the animal alive just don’t live in
that universe.
But another version does, as does a third person in a whole
other universe where they forgot to open the box until later
that weekend . . .
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Where Can We Go With This?
The Infinite Worlds campaign setting already flirts with
this interpretation: the existence of myriad versions of slightly
different universes is exactly what MWI implies. Any num-
ber of GURPS supplements dive deep into ways this can be
applied that to games.
Great games can also come from exploring how multiple
worlds might interact. In a fantasy game, this might be the
force that drives magic. In a modern campaign, it could be
a constant threat of certain scientific explorations. In the far
future, devices might exist that move a portion of another
universe into this one, granting the user a kind of cosmic
“do-over” after a catastrophe.
Players might also make this part of their character
makeup, influencing their philosophy, phobias, quirks, or any
other aspect of how they interact with decisions, success, fail-
ure, and responsibility.
Pyramid Magazine 22
Adventure Seed
In a far future, ultra-tech world, scientists have discovered
ways to peer into the alternate universes inherent in the many-
worlds interpretation. They see that many of them are wink-
ing out of existence and at an accelerating rate. The player
characters must find the cause and the cure before their own
reality vanishes.
False Vacuum Decay
The floor is not lava. The floor isn’t even the floor. It eats the
lava and everything else.
This deeply weird way the universe could end started with a
1993 paper by Sidney Coleman and Frank De Luccia, in which
they described a way in which the universe might change its
entire nature until life as currently known it is impossible.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Twenty years later, Max Tegmark and Nick Bostrom included
it in a paper where they calculated the risks of the natural
destruction of the Earth. False vacuum decay hangs a sword
of Damocles over the entire universe, promising total destruc-
tion with no warning and no way to stop it.
What’s This All About?
A vacuum state is a space with as little energy as possible,
from which the universe can’t degrade to a lower-energy state.
Although the universe has areas of high energy, like advanced
civilizations and active stars, those areas of high energy still
exist at the lowest energy state for those conditions at that
place and time.
Put another way, it’s the nature of matter in the universe
to seek the lowest energy state possible. After the Big Bang,
enough matter settled into that state that it created a sta-
ble universe, like a ball rolling downhill finally reaching flat
ground.
False vacuum collapse might happen if the matter in the
universe has not actually settled to the lowest possible energy
state. Instead, it could be sitting at an island of relative stabil-
ity. At some point in the future, maybe in a million years but
maybe this afternoon, that stability will collapse and matter
will resume decaying toward an even lower energy state.
Imagine that ball again, only this time the flat ground isn’t
solid. It’s a plank held level on the slope by a stick held at an
angle. If anything happens to that stick, the plank falls and
the ball begins to roll again. That would be bad news for any
insects living on it, or birds who’d built a nest on top.
This is the way the world ends: not with
a bang, but with a quantum vacuum decay
of the ground state of the universe to its true
minimum.
– Paul Sutter, “Here’s how the universe
could end in a ‘false vacuum decay’”
Where Can We Go With This?
Unstoppable, unknowable cosmic threats aren’t much fun
in a game, because they rob the players of agency. However,
the notion of a lower energy state of matter can infuse any
number of adventures, campaigns, and even characters.
Think about how accessing those lower energy states might
affect technologies and magic. What spells or devices might
rely on that connection? Would others use that space as a
waste dump? What risks are inherent with connecting to this
lower state?
The same questions can be asked of character powers,
ranging from simple color without game mechanics, to fac-
tors that change appearance and tone, to game-rule differenti-
ations between powers using this concept and those that rely
on other techniques.
Adventure Seed
A new FTL drive uses the lower-energy-state space to
travel vast distances in short time, much like hyperspace
Pyramid Magazine 23
in some science-fiction franchises. The player characters (or
their employers) discover that each such journey brings the
entire universe incrementally closer to a full vacuum state
collapse. An adventure like this could include espionage and
sabotage, lobbying and deal making in the halls of higher
power, military engagements, or all of the above.
Single Electron Theory
Putting all of the universe’s eggs in one basket.
This postulate came out of a phone call in 1940 between
John Wheeler and Richard Feynman. Part joke, part serious
consideration, it was an attempt to explain why all electrons
have the same charge and the same mass. That sort of uni-
formity is unusual in the real world and had been troubling
physicists for some time.
What’s This All About?
According to physics legend, the conversation went like
this.
Wheeler: Feynman, I know why all electrons have the same
charge and the same mass.
Feynman: Why?
Wheeler: Because they’re all the same electron!
Materials perceived as solid are in fact made from atoms
moving so quickly they interact with other materials as
though they are solid objects. The single electron is basically
doing the same thing, being everywhere at once across the
entire universe.
Further expansion of the idea suggests the electron isn’t
just moving quickly in real time, but weaving back and
forth in time so it can be everywhere it needs to be simul-
taneously. This interacts with some speculation about the
nature of positrons, suggesting that electrons are the form
of this particle moving forward in time, while positrons
are the form of this particle as it moves backward in time.
Where Can We Go With This?
The beauty of ideas like this is they require no observ-
able evidence and don’t affect day-to-day life.
One source of adventure ideas is the electron itself. That’s
one busy subatomic particle, and if anything were to interrupt
it on its cosmic journey, the results would be catastrophic.
Even diverting it off course temporarily could have impact as
profound as the most aggressive time-travel plot.
It can also be fun to play with the concept. If there’s just
one electron, what other forces in the universe are the result of
a single force, particle, or action? How might that single crux
of action – single point of failure – create danger, opportunity,
and adventure?
Adventure Seed
Overnight, the results of a host of previously reliable
nuclear interactions, tests, and experiments have begun to
produce markedly different results. It takes more than two
decades to adjust methods and expectations until scientists
uncover the cause. A second electron has entered space-time,
fundamentally altering the nature of the universe. And it’s
becoming stronger . . .
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 The
Artifactuals By Steven Marsh
Alien artifacts abound throughout the cosmos – espe-
cially for lost or unknown civilizations. Some individuals
seek them ad hoc, while others band together to take a more
systemic – even corporate – approach. The Artifactuals are a
group of the latter, serving as a potential ally, patron, rival, or
ongoing background element for a spacefaring GURPS Space
campaign. Aliens are assumed in some fashion – although see
Is There Anybody Out There? (p. 27).
The details on the Artifactuals are kept suitably vague to fit
into various campaigns; some time frames are given, but they
should be tweaked so they make sense within the setting. (For
example, if humanity has only taken to the stars in the past
decade or two, then the Artifactuals were formed much more
recently – probably close to the dawn of interstellar travel.)
Details on the Artifactuals using GURPS Boardroom and
Curia can be found on p. 26 – but wait to read it until after
the full tour of the company.
Meet the Artifactuals!
At their core, the Artifactual Corporation – colloquially,
the Artifactuals – has corporatized the concept of hunting for
alien artifacts. Formed a century or so ago, they are consid-
ered one of the more wide-reaching (if not the premier) corpo-
ration that does such. Their record is impeccable, amassing an
awe-inspiring assortment of strange art, weapons, technology,
and more from myriad planets.
The Artifactuals have proven so successful for a few rea-
sons. First, they were one of the earliest businesses that saw
the potential of interstellar exploration; getting in on the
“ground floor” of the infinite cosmos is great for prospects.
Second, they have a better track record than others with dis-
coveries because they hired some of the most-skilled minds
in the galaxy and developed proprietary techniques that help
them to reduce the number of fruitless searches, ensuring
greater profits and increased reputation.
This reputation often feeds on itself;
if someone wants the best chance
at finding artifacts on a new world,
they call the Artifactuals. Finally,
their success has afforded them the
resources to devote more to larger
efforts; success begets success, and
their knowledge and resources are
nothing to sneer at.
Pyramid Magazine 24
Missions
Artifactuals embark on three types of missions.
• Self-directed. The Artifactual Corporation sometimes
explores for its own purposes, in systems and on planets it has
legal rights to. In this case, Artifactuals (obviously) keep all the
discoveries. The company is meticulous about adhering to the
letter of the law . . . and show a surprising willingness to sup-
port the spirit, in situations that are unclear. They greatly pre-
fer to uphold their honorable reputation, which in turn grants
them greater opportunities. Thus, even if they don’t have the
legal rights to a system, they are often still there, because of
their willingness to serve as . . .
• Prospectors for hire. Under this arrangement, Artifactuals
explore at the behest of the rights holders for a planet or
region. In such cases, they don’t seem to have a different pro-
cess than with their own self-directed efforts, although their
proceeds are split 50/50 with the rights holders (with room to
negotiate if there are unusual circumstances). The corporation
sees that both sides profit from this arrangement; Artifactuals
are generally highly skilled and have enough resources that
even half of a search is profitable to them. (“Half of something
is better than all of nothing,” as the CEO famously quipped).
Meanwhile, the rights holders find themselves reap significant
rewards for no real effort on their part. However, not all rights
holders are willing to give up control over discoveries; many
have the resources to do excavations themselves, but what
they lack is the expertise. That leads to . . .
• Expert consultants. The Artifactual Corporation is happy
to hire out individuals or small teams to rights holders, pro-
viding their skills and knowledge in exchange for a nontrivial
fee. However, for rights holders with the wherewithal to do
most of the work, the fees for Artifactual lore and abilities are
quite affordable and potentially leave all a site’s findings avail-
able to the hirer.
In all cases, Artifactuals seem driven out
of professional and intellectual pride. While
not cheap, they are generally considered
worth it for those seeking to maximize the
discovery and retrieval of alien artifacts.
The best Artifactual employees seem driven
by a desire to explore and happily work with
whoever has an interesting job, but even
average associates still have considerable
corporate pride.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Artifactual Aid
What, exactly, Artifactuals can offer depends on the needs of
the campaign, but the short answer is, “Whatever it takes to do
the job.” High skills, transportation methods (both interstellar
and planetary), discovery and excavation tech, or competent
crews are among the services the Artifactual Corporation can
provide. If any unusual methods or needs for finding artifacts
exist – such as psionic abilities or rare elements – they are one
of the largest employers/developers/acquirers of such.
In GURPS terms, Artifactuals who are on the job have
access to fine-quality equipment for the purposes of perform-
ing their duties . . . and the best equipment available is not out
of the question! (See Equipment Modifiers, p. B345.)
Artifactuals
in the Campaign
At their most basic level, Artifactuals can be used in myriad
ways.
• As a background element. It’s common to run into
Artifactual teams in various situations. They can frequently
be found in situations where alien tech is for sale or scrutiny.
Pyramid Magazine 25
• As a rival. If the heroes are freelance searchers for arti-
facts, Artifactual teams are great competitors. Although they
are not generally dangerous themselves – they have too much
professional pride – their technological superiority can pres-
ent a significant “threat,” making it that much more satisfying
to recover a particularly desired artifact or find an interesting
discovery before the Artifactuals do.
• As allies. The Artifactual Corporation promotes as its
primary goal the acquisition and understanding of artifacts
for the betterment of all the cosmos. This means that – if the
choice is to help a group of non-Artifactual heroes or let a site
be damaged or destroyed – nearly all Artifactuals are willing
to do the former. Getting out alive even if the “wrong” folks
have the artifacts is still better than permitting a site to be
compromised by those without the appropriate respect.
• As a source of artifacts. The Artifactual Corporation
doesn’t keep its findings in a planetary “money bin”; they pri-
marily want to make sure finds go to appropriate places. This
means there are many opportunities for Artifactuals to inter-
sect with PC interests: auction events where the Artifactuals
sell their finds, vendors for less-interesting (or more plenti-
ful) items, or employers seeking transportation specialists
(“heroes with a ship”) to get their items to better homes. (For
all their skill at finding items, they have nontrivial holes in
doing things with their discoveries.)
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 The Artifactual Corporation
Mission Statement: Officially, the Artifactual Cor-
poration exists to explore the cosmos for alien artifacts.
Unofficially, they consist of two sides of the same organi-
zation: one side searches for them; the other hides them.
Capabilities
TL: 11 Members: 500
Wealth: Wealthy
Contacts: Business skills-15 [10]; Criminal skills-15
[10]; Engineering skills-15 [10]
Member Traits: Gadgeteer (12 or less, -34%) [10];
Secret (12 or less, -34%; Imprisonment) [-13]
Notable Resources: The Artifactual Corporation
maintains a main office on Earth, and several offices on
hub planets throughout the galaxy. However, most of
these are relatively small and little more than shipyards
with meeting rooms.
Reaction-Time Modifier: 0.
Costs and Values
Startup Cost: $243,000,000
Resource Value: $1,215,000
Patron Value: 15 points
Enemy Value: -30 points
Ally and Dependent Value: Typical artifact-finding
or artifact-planting members are “spacefaring adven-
turer” types; 150 to 200 points each is reasonable. Ally
groups consisting of a specific team – roughly four to
10 members – is feasible. (GURPS Template Toolkits 3:
Starship Crew is especially useful to build members.)
Artifact or Artifiction?
Those who might be players in a campaign with Artifactuals
may want to stop reading now. If you’re a GM (or don’t mind
having secrets of the cosmos revealed), please continue.
The Artifactual Corporation does a lot of good, and is
exceptionally skilled at what they do.
However, what they do is – in fact – a lie.
Deception? In My Corporation?!
Although there are many within the Artifactual Corpo-
ration who are completely legitimate, the bulk of what the
company does is completely bogus. They do not find artifacts
nearly as much as they plant, fabricate, or deceive about
artifacts.
The reason the company is so successful – especially com-
pared to other outfits trying to do the same thing – is that they
are unscrupulous about lying about their discoveries. For
every team that is out “finding” artifacts, there are many more
other teams out “planting” artifacts. Eventually, many teams
that are “finding” artifacts are (unwittingly or not) merely dis-
covering items that had been planted by other teams.
Pyramid Magazine 26
Lower-powered Dependents are possible – typical bureau-
crats and pixel-pushers – although they’re still better than
similar members of other organizations.
Social Attributes
Type: Commercial and Criminal
CR: 4 Loyalty: Very Good (16; +5)
Rank: Business Rank 0-4 [2/level]
Income Range: $16,200 (Comfortable) to $162,000
(Very Wealthy)
Reputation: +2 (for alien-artifact expertise)
Notes
Members of the Artifactual Corporation are carefully
chosen for loyalty, both to the cause (whatever it is) and
the company itself. About 10-20% of research groups are
completely in the dark about what the rest of the corpo-
ration is doing; about 20-30% of the remaining members
know some aspect of the truth. All members are carefully
indoctrinated before greater secrets are reveals. Most of
their Engineering and Gadgeteer efforts are devoted to
crafting convincing fake artifacts, hidden behind a façade
of deciphering such artifacts.
This version of the Artifactuals assumes a solid TL11,
where human-involved FTL travel is somewhat common,
although they are on the forefront of their specific form of
exploration. It also assumes that searching for real alien
artifacts isn’t particularly profitable; if it is, their wealth
and resource levels would need to be amplified accord-
ingly, since otherwise they couldn’t compete.
In fact, the biggest asset the company has is the ability to
make convincing fakes. They obviously can’t make real lost,
alien technology, but they are exceptional at making items
that seem like they could work, were they not damaged,
incomplete, or incomprehensible. (“It seems to be a matter
replicator. Although we haven’t invented those yet, this one
seems to be powered by an element we don’t have or haven’t
found. We must keep exploring!”)
Why are they doing this?
That’s up to the GM. Here are some suggestions.
Money Makes the Worlds Go Round
Perhaps the easiest and most banal explanation is also the
most logical: money.
Perhaps the truth is that there just aren’t enough alien
artifacts in the cosmos to support a real company. This could
make counterfeiting lucrative, even if a nontrivial percentage
of the artifacts in the cosmos are ultimately found by others.
In this case, the Artifactuals are tilting the scales to ensure
that they’re coming out ahead. They make an effort to have the
“best” (most valuable fake artifacts) “found” by them, get a cut
of any supplemental finds on the other “good” finds out there,
and leave the so-so discoveries to everyone else.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Secrets Within Secrets
The Artifactual Corporation might be hiding something in
its exploration of the cosmos, using alien artifacts as cover – or
justification – for something else. For example, maybe the
company is trying to introduce some strange or forbidden
tech into the galaxy. Having it be “found” by other explorers
is a better avenue to acceptance than having it unleashed by
human inventors. Or perhaps all those off-world trips are
cover for something else, such as a completely anonymous
transportation service for the incredibly rich.
In this case, the alien artifacts are almost a secondary con-
cern to their “real” mission (whatever it may be); their plant-
ing of alien artifacts by one side of the company is merely
cover for the other side of the company to have something to
find later . . . and all of it is another cover for whatever the
company is really doing.
Things Humanity Was Not Meant To Know
As a final possibility, perhaps the Artifactual Corporation
is helping the cosmos . . . or, at least, that’s their intent. Maybe
there are alien artifacts out there, but they point to a larger
or more sinister truth – a truth that the company executives
are seeking to suppress. For example, maybe too many arti-
facts are dangerous, evil, or otherwise corruptive to those who
encounter them.
In this case, the Artifactuals are both seeking those arti-
facts (as is their mandate), as well as planting other artifacts
(to throw others off the scent). These planted artifacts might
be dangerous, which would prompt those who find them
to contact the corporation as the true experts to deal with
them. However, they would still be less dangerous than
whatever the business is attempting to conceal. It’s not
great for an exploratory team to lose some limbs due to
an exploding fake artifact, but it’s better than having their
essences replaced by the Sleepless Voidsouls that inhabit
real ones.
The Artifactuals in such a campaign are concealing a
double conspiracy: the nature of the galactic threat, and
their own culpability in attempting to suppress it. This
may give them the moral high ground but also increases
the danger to the company if either secret is revealed.
Maintaining Secrets
At its core, the Artifactuals centers around a conspiracy.
How does it maintain such, with hundreds of members?
It does so through several approaches. The company itself
exerts nontrivial control over its members and former mem-
bers, including nondisclosure agreements, threats of lawsuits,
and the like. It also treats its members well, paying above mar-
ket value but not extravagantly so (the top levels of the com-
pany don’t earn that much more than introductory members).
And they avoid putting things in writing in reference to the
secret; reports are always rated in terms of success or failure,
but no specifics outside of veiled or coded double-speak. It’s
the geeky-space-traveler version of organized-crime talk.
The corporation also carefully screens its members for
suitability with its mission . . . whatever it is. Internal mem-
bers are promoted and presented with the secret carefully and
incrementally, first by introducing the notion of fake artifacts
(“something to keep an eye out for”), then with opportunities
to consider planting their own fake artifacts (for the greater
Pyramid Magazine 27
good or greater rewards, depending on their motivations),
then discovery of others doing so within the corporation, and
finally a revelation of the full conspiracy. Thus, those who
aren’t a good fit tend to be drummed out of the company while
they still don’t know much.
Still, the Artifactuals are hiding a big secret, and it would
be impossible for something of this magnitude. So, they don’t
really try, per se. Rather, they have taken a social-engineering
approach that’s nearly identical to their physical operations:
planting wrong and false rumors. There are rumors that the
Artifactuals are planting artifacts. But there are also rumors
the Artifactuals are run by aliens, are a front for military oper-
ations, are hiding a gargantuan space station from a bygone
era, are maintaining illegal clone operations across uncharted
planets, and so on. All of those are false. Probably.
Focus on the Artifactuals
In addition to rivals or allies, the Artifactual Corporation
is well-suited as a framework for a campaign itself, by having
the heroes be members. At its core, the company lines up (on
paper) with the needs of many spacefaring campaigns: go to
other worlds, explore, find interesting stuff, and report back.
However, as the heroes gain success, they may have the lay-
ers of the onion peeled back, bit by bit, pushing the PCs into
increasingly uncomfortable positions, until they need to make
a decision about their own fates . . . and, if the company is
hiding something sinister, the fate of the galaxy.
Is There Anybody Out There?
One possibility is that alien artifacts are relatively
common (as found and populated by the Artifactuals),
but – otherwise – no legitimate artifacts have been found.
In other words, perhaps there’s no evidence of alien life
outside of what the Artifactuals are generating. The sim-
plest explanation for that is they don’t exist; for whatever
reason, humanity is alone in the cosmos. Since the bulk of
what the Artifactual Corporation does is planting artifacts
for others to find, this would make their plans easier (since
they wouldn’t need to worry as much about contradictory
information on any actual finds that might be out there).
The Truth Revealed
It’s quite likely that the truth about the Artifactuals will
be revealed at some point in the campaign. This doesn’t need
to be the end of the Corporation; although what the company
does may be unethical, it’s quite likely they haven’t broken
any significant galactic laws in their shenanigans. At worst,
they would be guilty of fraud and deception, although – since
many of their efforts are at planting things for others to find
(without promise or even tangible reward) – it would be a dif-
ficult case to pursue. Although such a revelation would prob-
ably bring about the end of the company as it’s known, the
Artifactuals’ skills and structure would quite likely be useful
after the truth is revealed, if it can be reformed. Such a task
could be quite the undertaking for a group of heroes looking
for a fixer-upper corporation.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Exotic Social
Communication By Rory Fansler
Communication is an important part of social interaction,
and the methods of communication can shape an entire cul-
ture. Humans primarily communicate audibly and visually,
but what about a culture that uses something different?
Anatomy of a Sense
A sense is a way to receive information, but to communi-
cate, the ability to transmit information is also needed. When
reviewing the effectiveness of a sense for these purposes, con-
siderations such as bandwidth (data over time), durability
(data persistence), environmental conditions, interference,
range, and security should be factored in. Humans primarily
use sound (because they have organs that can produce or reg-
ister sound) and sight (because they can transmit information
through gestures and writing).
Numerous traits modify the effectiveness of a sense.
GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses goes much further into
the subject and includes new modifiers and worked exam-
ples. Discriminatory Senses (GURPS Powers, p. 47) increase
perceived details for better communication. This typically
gives a bonus to certain skills and sense rolls (p. B358). For
humans, only vision is discriminatory. Acute Sense bonuses
and high Per help to perceive signals. Profiling (Powers,
p. 47), a modifier for a Discriminatory Sense, assists in
remembering specific signatures and doing analysis.
Standing tall, arms spread, changing
colors . . .
– Mary Bates,
“Fighting Octopuses Video Is
First to Show How They ‘Talk’”
Hearing
Hearing is a great sense as it allows 360° awareness yet can
still focus on a single source. It often must cope with inter-
ference from background noise and high wind conditions.
Frequency, tone, and volume could be adjusted, depending on
the capabilities of the sound-producing source. However, it is
not as information dense as sight or smell, taking time to con-
vey much information. Additional options include Directional
Pyramid Magazine 28
Sound for stealthy or private communication at up to 100
yards, and Sonar Comm for underwater broadcasting (both
in Powers, p. 81). Races with Discriminatory Hearing (with
Profiling), high IQ, or Eidetic Memory might develop more
sophisticated languages. Perfect Pitch (Enhanced Senses,
p. 31) (redundant with Profiling) is likely needed to recognize
subtle variations in tone that express better nuance or even
something like ideograms. The audio equivalent of an ideo-
gram could communicate words and phrases in a single sound
or short set of sounds, speeding communication.
Relevant Traits: Acute Hearing [2/level]; Directional Sound
[5]; Discriminatory Hearing (possibly add Profiling) [15 or
23]; Parabolic Hearing [4/level]; Penetrating Voice [1]; Perfect
Pitch [1]; Sonar Comm [10]; Subsonic Speech [0 or 10]; Ultra-
sonic Speech [0 or 10]; Voice [10].
Vision
Sight allows for very high bandwidth as visible light has
very short frequencies and can travel a great distance. The
characteristic of going in a straight line under most condi-
tions also reduces background clutter and enables higher
resolution as objects can be very close to each other without
interfering with the information they present. Beings relying
on Infravision experience a lower resolution due to the longer
wavelengths. Ultravision has shorter frequencies, but the band
is smaller than visible light. Though many chemicals fluoresce
(glow) under ultraviolet light, it seems unlikely there would be
as much color diversity. Hyperspectral Vision gives the best of
all worlds, offering a much greater range of perceived wave-
lengths (accounting for the +3 bonus). For those unable to cre-
ate light, people using this sense for communication need to
rely on body language, gestures, or something like writing to
pass information. On Earth, some animals use light to attract
mates, prey, or other visitors through chemical fluorescence
or use of colors. Sophisticated communication would require
something like Blinker or Color Changes (GURPS Template
Toolkit 2: Races, p. 44).
Relevant Traits: 360-Degree Vision [25]; Acute Vision [2/
level]; Blinker [15]; Color Changes [15]; Dark Vision [25]; Infra-
red Communication [10]; Infrared Vision [0 or 10]; Hyper-
spectral Vision [25]; Laser Communication [15]; Night Vision
[1/level]; Penetrating Vision [10/level]; Peripheral Vision [15];
Profiling [10]; Telescopic Vision [5/level]; Ultravision [0 or 10].
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Smell
The ability to smell has limited range and is vulnerable to
interference from other scents or wind. However, odors have
durability and can be carried a long distance or linger for
days, making olfaction good for tracking or following some-
thing. Aromas can have strong connections with memories
in humans, and with simple emotions and desires in many
species. On Earth, some insects use smell to send simple
messages. Discriminatory Smell (Emotion Sense, +50%) and
Chemical Messengers (Template Toolkit 2, p. 44) are needed
for advanced communication.
Relevant Traits: Acute Taste and Smell [2/level]; Chemical
Messengers [15]; Discriminatory Smell, possibly with Emo-
tion Sense, +50% and/or Profiling, +50% [15, 23, or 30].
Taste
Taste requires physical contact, making it a poor choice for
communication. Usually, things must be placed in the mouth
to be tasted, but some insects can taste with feelers or feet.
For most creatures, it’s a backup and safety sense used to
determine what’s good or bad to eat. However, taste is not as
Exotic Communication
Other, special senses might be used to convey informa-
tion. Telecommunication is an excellent fit here; it also can
be used to build traits similar to Cable Jack [5] (Ultra-Tech,
p. 31). Signals [15] (Template Toolkit 2, pp. 44-45) offers
some other physical ways to communicate that don’t rely
on sound. Detect provides reception but not transmission
or understanding (Powers, p. 47). Although Scanning Sense
includes both, the communication capability is very limited.
A new Discriminatory Sense could be created for a specific
Scanning Sense to help with comprehension and interpreta-
tion, probably costing 15 points. Empathy offers a sense of the
emotional subtext, while Intuition helps make the right inter-
pretation. Medium allows communication with someone in a
different reality; suggested variations (Powers, p. 59) include
cyberspace, dreams, or parallel universes.
Hive Mind
A race with a shared consciousness or hive mind can
exchange information with every member who is in range
(typically the same planet). This can be built a number of
ways. Mind Reading, Mindlink, and Telesend allow individ-
ual communication between members. Telesend (Broadcast,
+50%) enables “shouts” to multiple individuals in an area and
is useful for sending immediate “alerts.” Optionally, replace
the IQ roll for radius with number of subjects using the Size
and Speed/Range Table (p. B550), reading yards as people.
Mindlink eliminates some penalties and makes Racial and
Accessibility limitations unnecessary for Telesend. Mind-
share (Powers, p. 148) adds Vague, -50% for crude commu-
nication. For other ideas, see Telepathy, pp. 30-31
With Telesend and Mindlink as linked abilities, Racial Mem-
ory can represent shared ancestral memories. Add Immersive,
Pyramid Magazine 29
vulnerable to diffusion as smell, and objects tend to retain the
chemicals that account for their taste. Foods and beverages
could be used to provide emotional emphasis for other forms
of communication, giving a meal an opportunity to make peo-
ple more or even less receptive to another message. Layered
foods could change the mood over time or they could be used
as a timer.
Relevant Traits: Acute Taste and Smell [2/level]; Discrimina-
tory Taste, possibly with Profiling, +50% [10 or 15].
Touch
Touch requires physical contact, making it another poor
choice for communication. However, it can work discretely.
Human touch is very limited, primarily sensing only pres-
sure and temperature. Humans can learn to read by touch;
an example is braille. Humans also communicate simple mes-
sages through such actions as handshakes and hugs. Sensitive
Touch increases resolution. Larger sensitive touch organs
such as feelers (p. 30) could increase bandwidth.
Relevant Traits: Acute Touch [2/level]; Sensitive Touch, pos-
sibly with Profiling, +50% [10 or 15].
+50% for detailed answers. Mind Reading lets others read sur-
face memories; rely on Mind Probe to learn deeper thoughts.
A culture with a hive mind tends to be cooperative, some-
times including self-sacrifice for the greater whole. Secrets
are nearly impossible to keep, though perhaps individuals
use Mind Shield to create moments of privacy. Collabora-
tion is astoundingly easy, allowing coordination of troops
and other logistics as well as fast scientific advancement.
However, lack of competition could impair development,
especially in the absence of external threats. For a player
character race, this would be one of the most expensive
communication options.
Relevant Traits: Mind Reading (Racial, -20%) [24]; Mindlink
[5/level]; Racial Memory [15 or 40]; Telesend [30]; Telesend
(Broadcast, +50%; Racial, -20%) [39].
Object Reading
A nomadic culture that needed to leave messages for oth-
ers, yet did not need to communicate in real time, might
develop object reading. Psychometry grants the power to
read impressions, while Illusion (Mental, +100%) or Telesend
could leave a message using the Triggered Delay modifier. Add
Melee Attack, Reach C, -30% for touch and Cosmic, Lingering,
+100% for permanent messages.
Alternatively, this ability could be a new type of Signals
(Template Toolkit 2, pp. 44-45) called Imprint Message
[15], which requires either Psychometry or Mind Reading
to receive the message. To offer great details in messages,
add the Telecommunication modifiers Burst or Sensie (see
Powers, pp. 81-82) or Video (p. B91) to Imprint Message.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 A culture that relies on object reading as its primary or only
method of communication is slow to develop and prone to
individual over societal growth. While messages could be read
much later, the lack of real-time communication and collabo-
ration would be stifling.
Relevant Traits: Illusion (Melee Attack, Reach C, -30%;
Mental, +100%; Triggered Delay, +50%) [55]; Imprint Message
[15].
Feelers
Whether they be antennae, limbs, or tongues, a species
that relies on touch or taste likely develops close bonds to
each other. Most likely, such a race would evolve in dark,
close quarters, perhaps caves or the depths of the ocean.
Feelers are purchased as Extra Arms (p. B53) (typically with
No Physical Attack, -50% or Weak, -25% or -50%) if they can
grasp things. Many feelers are just sense organs and pur-
chased with Long, +20% per +1 SM on Touch [2/level]. (The
cost for the Long modifier is reduced because of the sensory
limb’s limited functionality.)
Touch can offer fine details with Sensitive Touch (p. B83),
making it a discriminatory sense. Though an object must be
touched to fully utilize a feeler, vibrations can travel through
Pyramid Magazine 30
most mediums, including air, water, and numerous objects.
Including Vibration Sense (p. B96) adds utility, especially
defensively. Taste and smell are also associated with feelers in
many Earth insects.
The Thranx from the Commonwealth and Flynx series by
Alan Dean Foster (GURPS Humanx) are one of the sci-fi races
that use feelers, and they have it as a backup sense. They also
incorporate feelers into communication as a gesture compo-
nent for emphasis. A race that uses this as a primary method
of communication could incorporate smell, taste, and touch.
Communication would be very intimate, involving touching
of feelers for a gesture-based language. Cilia (see below) or
Extra-Flexible arms (p. B53) could give faster touch commu-
nication, possibly involving variations in grip strength and
amount of area touched. Requiring physical contact to com-
municate would tend to impede technological development. It
would also encourage close relationships with minimal (pos-
sibly ritualized) violence among themselves.
Cilia
Prerequisite: Sensitive Touch.
Cilia are very tiny tentacles that may look like hair or
very soft fur. They push small particles of dirt and moisture
away from the body and are very sensitive to pressure and
localized changes in temperature. They can be controlled
well enough to apply minute pressure, allowing individuals
with them to communicate as richly as a spoken language
with those who have Sensitive Touch and sufficient experi-
ence. If Cilia cover the entire body, it may allow Sanitized
Metabolism (p. B101). Cilia also work well with Chemical
Messengers by helping to disperse or gather odor mole-
cules. As a trait, Cilia is a 1-point perk.
Additional Traits: Acute Touch [2/level]; Cilia [1]; Profil-
ing [5]; Sensitive Touch [10]; Vibration Sense [10].
Telepathy
Telepathy can be an effective communication method.
Abilities related to this power (see p. B257) typically work
over very long distances and can have high bandwidth
through modifiers such as Burst (Powers, p. 81), +30%/
level; Sensie (Powers, p. 82) +80%; and Video (p. B91)
+40%, depending on the specific advantage chosen. Though
telepathy may be how some hive minds communicate, it
can also be individual to individual.
Effective communication requires both Mind Reading
(p. B69) and Telesend (p. B91), as Telesend only allows
transmission. Relying only on Telesend would be like send-
ing a letter in the mail (except much faster); the sender
needs to wait for the recipient to respond. Thus, a race that
can send thoughts but not read minds is not too different
from humans having to speak to communicate; the biggest
benefits over sound include silent reports, longer distances,
and clarity. For sending to a group, add Broadcast, +40%
to Telesend.
Mind Reading may have Telecommunication, -20% to
allow for a race that can readily communicate with each
other but not read minds. Add Racial, -20% if they can
only communicate with their own and related species.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
For handling multiple conversations, add Multiple Contacts
(Powers, p. 62) to Mind Reading for +50%.
Races that use Mind Reading may also have Mind Shield
for privacy. Mindlink could develop from frequent contact
with select people or could be the equivalent of a phone
directory. People experienced with the idiosyncrasies of a
particular style of communication may learn techniques
(likely Hard) to offset the penalties for Broadcast or Multi-
ple Contacts.
Traits: Mind Control [50]; Mind Probe [20]; Mind Reading
[30]; Mind Shield [4/level]; Mindlink [varies]; Telesend [30].
Virtual Worlds
In some settings, people might communicate only
through electronic devices – even if they’re in the same
room. Perhaps they have lost their ability to communicate
or it is the sole means of communication for members of dif-
ferent species. Such a thing could also result from a starship
crew in physical hibernation, but connected to each other
and the ship’s computer.
Mind Probe, Mind Reading, and Telesend are classic ways to
model this, but cheaper (and less powerful) alternatives exist.
Cable Jack [5] (Ultra-Tech, p. 31) is a Telecommunication
ability using a short cable; a Neural Jack (Ultra-Tech, p. 217)
is a variation with Sensie, +80%. Wireless Neural Interface
(Ultra-Tech, p. 217) is a Radio-based option. Medium (Cyber-
space) (Powers, p. 59) suits a setting with short-range wireless
connections, possibly adding modifiers from Telesend.
Medium and Telecommunication make being connected
more affordable (in terms of points) and less invasive than
Mind Reading. Possession as described under Vehicular Pos-
session (One With the Ship in Pyramid #3/30: Spaceships, p. 14)
allows someone to control a computer, which could in turn be
used to direct an avatar in cyberspace.
Jumper with Projection (Powers, p. 44) creates a virtual
body to interact with a virtual world, but it is an expensive
option. Moreover, because it is active for the entire time in
cyberspace, it cannot support alternative abilities during a
trip. However, having a virtual body permits greater interac-
tion with other visitors and the world itself, making it uniquely
suitable for a virtual world.
Traits: Cable Jack [5]; Jumper (Cyberspace) (Limited
Access, Cyberspace, -20%; Projection, -25%) [55]; Medium
(Cyberspace) [10]; Neural Jack [9]; Possession (Cyberspace;
Accessibility, Requires interface terminal, -10%; Full Memory
Access, +10%; Projection, -25%) [75]; Wireless Neural Inter-
face [17].
New Race: Unineb
The unineb are a race of primates that survived an ice age
by moving into deep caverns. They evolved a greater sense of
smell and touch to first navigate and later communicate, los-
ing much of their eyesight. They had few predators to deal
with, but food was scarce, and population levels remained
low. Cooperation was essential, and they became a trusting,
gregarious species, with most of their time devoted to gath-
ering and preparing food. It is said that a meal prepared by a
unineb can tell its own story!
Pyramid Magazine 31
Unineb Template
85 points
Attribute Modifiers: ST-2 [-20]; IQ+1 [20]; HT+1 [10].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM-1 [0].
Advantages: Acute Taste and Smell 2 [4]; Acute Touch 2 [4];
Cilia [1]; Discriminatory Smell (Emotion Sense, +50%; Pro-
filing, +50%) [30]; Discriminatory Taste (Profiling, +50%)
[15]; Extra Arm (Extra-Flexible, +50%; Long, +100%;
Weak, -25%) [23]; Sensitive Touch (Profiling, +50%) [15];
Temperature Tolerance [1]; Versatile [5]; Vibration Sense
[10].
Perks: Fur [1].
Disadvantages: Bad Sight (Nearsighted) [-25]; Gregarious
[-10].
Racial Skills: Cooking (A) IQ+5 [1]‑15*.
* Includes bonus from Discriminatory Taste and Versatile.
Common Optional Traits
Eidetic Memory is very common among the unineb, with
a few having Photographic Memory. Social skills, especially
Carousing and Diplomacy, are typical, and most have a keen
interest in History and Literature. Cilia (p. 30) cover the entire
body, appearing as very fine and soft fur, though most only
learn conscious control over Cilia on the trunk (Sanitized
Metabolism is thus learnable). Psychometry (Accessibility,
only on ingested food, -80%) [4] is an optional ability for a
true connoisseur of fine cooking!
Anatomy
The unineb are bipedal mammals with a very distinguish-
ing trunk that is a feeler and nose. The trunk is a weak manipu-
lator equipped with tiny cilia they use to interact with another
unineb’s trunk by winding trunks around each other and
intertwining cilia. To those unfamiliar with unineb, it appears
like a prolonged handshake. This gesture allows detailed con-
versations between each other. The brain is very tied into the
senses, enhancing sense-based memory.
Culture
The unineb were a primitive species when encountered by
spacefaring races, having very limited technology but a rich
culture. They primarily communicate by touch but learned to
use food as a form of group communication. Food is prepared
to be eaten in a specific order and much of it is layered or has
shells of coating to work through. The tastes trigger in unineb
who consume the food certain emotions and memories, rein-
forcing stories passed along through touch. To a unineb, any
meal should be treated as fine art!
They quickly became known as prized cooks and bartend-
ers. However, their high intelligence and versatility allowed
them to adapt to many professions. While physically weak and
unable to see far, their senses help them as scouts and track-
ers, and they can defend themselves well at close range with
knives or small arms. The sensitive trunks and small size also
make them well suited to many repair tasks, especially in tight
quarters. A unineb is often a prized crew member, typically
doubling as mechanic and cook and able to get along well with
shipmates, sensing hostility before it becomes a problem.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Neo-Tortuga By Matt Riggsby

In the lore of the Solar Patrol, New Port Royal (GURPS These sections are enclosed with nets and light partitions to
Tales of the Solar Patrol, p. 21) is the legendary haven for keep large pieces of debris from floating away and damaging
pirates, a safe port where they can trade, drink, refit, and head the station or other ships.
out in search of new plunder. Of course, nobody’s ever found
it, or at least nobody trustworthy. But while New Port Royal The Town
may or may not exist, at least one modest pirate haven does:
The consistently occupied portions of the asteroid are built
Neo-Tortuga.
into tunnels dug into the rock. These spaces are a combination
Neo-Tortuga is a rocky cup-shaped asteroid about three-
of natural voids (the processes which formed the asteroid left
quarters of a mile long and across, with a large hollow in the
many bubble-like spaces), wartime bunkers, and new exca-
center. The walls are about 150 yards thick. The asteroid was
vation. Most spaces are small rooms and narrow corridors,
used as an observation post during the Solar War, with a small
with some larger spaces used as taverns and similar common
installation just inside the rim. Jovian bombardment further
areas. Many of the main passages resemble crowded alleys,
cratered the rough surface and deepened the depression inside
with small shops and rooms used as residences lining “streets”
it. Small forces battled back and forth, taking it, holding it,
wide enough for several people to walk abreast but no vehi-
and eventually losing it. It changed hands four times before it
cle larger than a wheelbarrow. Chains of electric cars draw-
was finally abandoned at the end of the war.
ing power off the mains form the central trolley line. The line
Around 2025, a few veterans-turned-pirates looking for
quickly moves people and cargo between the entrances to the
refuges in the asteroid belt remembered the place and started
main passages.
using it as a hideout. Successive crews fixed up the remnants
Neo-Tortuga supports around 1,200 long-term residents,
of old outposts and set up facilities to make life a little easier,
about as many visiting pirates at any given moment, and
like power sources and rudimentary repair facilities. Within
can probably host two or three times that in the short
a decade, the asteroid had developed substantial accommo-
term. Life support is decentralized, made of a patchwork
dations, ship- and cargo-handling facilities, and if not per-
of air scrubbers, algae tubes, and other gear salvaged from
manent, then at least long-term residents. It now serves as a
plundered spaceships. They often work well, though the air
center for pirate activity. They can sell plunder, get both their
may smell odd from time to time. Most of Neo-Tortuga is
ships and themselves patched up after a fight, look for new
equipped with artificial gravity, which pulls towards the cen-
opportunities, exchange rumors, drink, and brawl, if only for
ter of the asteroid.
a little while.

Lay of the Land “The legendary hollow asteroid.”

Locals and regular visitors divide Neo-Tortuga “That’s just a myth,” Selene said.
into three concentric layers around the inner void.
From the inside out, they are the port, the town,
and the wall. And at the bottom is the Inferno.
The Port
The inside of the asteroid is lined with docking, repair, and
cargo-moving facilities. The network of gantries can com-
fortably accommodate up to 20 vessels of reasonable size for
loading and unloading. (Most ships which visit Neo-Tortuga
resemble the corsairs on GURPS Tales of the Solar Patrol,
p. 22 – sometimes smaller, very rarely larger.) Visiting vessels
are supposed to be maneuvered into position with space tugs
(resembling lifeboats but with large engines replacing pas-
senger accommodations), but a number of pirates don’t want
anybody else touching their ships. Normal docking facilities
can also handle refueling and resupply of provisions, routine
maintenance, and minor repairs. Major overhauls can be per-
formed in the four “hangers” near the bottom of the “cup.”
– Max Chase, Star Fighters 7:
Pirate Ambush
The Wall
The outer surface of the asteroid is covered with rocks
and other space debris which hide a variety of systems. There
are at least two dozen laser emplacements scattered over the
asteroid, though most are of modest size. These are mostly
powered by the Tesla coils in the Inferno (p. 33) and are vul-
nerable to problems with Neo-Tortuga’s patchy power grid.
However, several have backup batteries or independent power
coils, either good for a few shots. It’s not enough to stop a
concerted attack by a substantial force, but it is enough to
hold off small Patrol ships or ambitious pirates who might try
to steal from other pirates. There are also a number of hidden
lifeboats suitable for moving a few hundred refugees.

Pyramid Magazine 32 Sci-Fi/Tech II

 The most unexpected feature is a battery of electron drives, never sleeps. Anyone who needs to go out for something to eat,
most of which are mounted in craters opposite the opening to medical care, or a drink can find it at any time.
the interior. They’re used to control the asteroid’s spin and ori- Despite the undistinguished surroundings, Neo-Tortuga is
entation. From time to time, they’re also relied on for thrust. well-supplied. Pirates go for riches and luxuries, so there’s a
While it’s not nearly enough to use for real motive power, it steady influx of high-quality booze, fine tobacco, elegant fash-
does change the asteroid’s orbit, making it harder to locate. ions, and so on, filtered through layers of fences selling goods
to black-market and gray-market merchants. Every transac-
Inferno tion is an exercise in bargaining with no guarantee of quality,
but residents can live surprisingly well.
There’s one more part of Neo-Tortuga where people rarely
Neo-Tortuga has a very small-town atmosphere where
go. The station is powered by a battery of Tesla coils at the
everybody knows everybody else’s business, even if they do
“bottom” of the cup, called the Inferno. They work, but they’re
keep to themselves. Law enforcement as such doesn’t exist,
not in the best of condition. The rest of the station protects
there being no laws, and petty crimes are just one of the risks
itself from risk of explosion and radiation by covering them
one takes. However, it’s also got a very Wild West town atmo-
with rubble and keeping some distance. Access is limited, and
sphere; vigilante justice is also not prohibited. Of course,
only Neo-Tortuga’s Tesla techs visit on a regular basis.
the governor and his crew are willing to take decisive action
against anyone who seems like a threat to Neo-Tortuga.
In the Company
of Thieves
Neo-Tortuga doesn’t have a formal gov-
ernment. Rather, it’s run by its own pirate
crew. It is led by the modestly successful
but semi-retired pirate Waldemar Kuryakin,
whom everyone calls “the governor.” The
crew deal with key functions: traffic control,
defense, maintaining core systems, and ship
repair. “Private” residents deal with other
services: running taverns and brothels, fenc-
ing loot, specialized custom work on ships,
providing provisions and other basic goods
and services, and so on.

Visiting
To visit Neo-Tortuga, one must know two
things: where it is and what the password
is; both change now and again. Ships must
transmit the password before they get within
laser range or risk being fired on.
Neo-Tortuga’s traffic control, styling itself
“Crow’s Nest,” instructs the visiting captain
where to go. This may require a holding pat-
tern if the docks are full, or directions on
how close to get to the opening. Tugs are sent
out to tow the ship into position.
Docking nominally costs $3,000, with an
additional $1,000 a day for the space plus
additional fees for fuel and services. How-
ever, the amount is inevitably subject to
negotiation, bickering, and the occasional
fist fight.

Life on Board
Life on Neo-Tortuga is rarely comfortable,
but it’s far beyond the reach of any authorities. It’s
full of empty rooms, and with power and plumbing lines all
over the place, it’s not too hard to find a place to stay if one
wishes to do so. This far out from the sun, there’s no mean-
ingful day or night, and visiting crews are all on their own
clocks anyway. Thus, Neo-Tortuga is essentially a town that
Points of Interest
Neo-Tortuga is full of colorful characters and encounters
around every corner, but these are the places (and some of the
people) visitors are most likely to see. The map on p. 35 shows
the locations of these points of interest.

Pyramid Magazine 33 Sci-Fi/Tech II

Crow’s Nest
To the limited extent Neo-Tortuga is managed, it’s run from
a control center near the mouth of the asteroid, at the site of
the original observation post and reusing some of the original
equipment. The control center has long-range radio, powerful
telescopes and sensors, and direct access to the most powerful
lasers. The governor and his officers also maintain quarters in
the vicinity.
Doc Christmas’s Clinic
While pirate crews usually include at least one skilled
medic, piracy is not the kind of career which attracts a lot
of trained doctors, and good doctors are even more rare. Doc
Christmas is one of those rare individuals. Doc runs a small
clinic which charges the highest prices on the asteroid, but it’s
worth it. Indeed, considering the number of lives she’s saved,
anyone giving her a hard time, let alone attacking her, is in for
a world (or at least an asteroid) of hurt. She is deeply sarcastic
with the healthy, softening to merely gruff with patients, and
she drinks a great deal of rum when off duty.
Blueprint
The blueprint on p. 35 shows an “unrolled” view of the town
level of Neo-Tortuga, indicating notable locations and connec-
tions; smaller passageways and chambers are not show, but
permeate the entire level. The long direction is the circum-
ference of town level. In three dimensional space, it curves at
about 10° per 100 yards and the top and bottom edges meet.
Drunken Sprocket
The largest and most popular tavern on Neo-Tortuga is
run by Park Ha-Neul, known as “One-Eyed Park.” At their
advanced age, they mostly just preside over the establishment
and let the employees do the work. The proprietor claims to
have been stationed on Neo-Tortuga during the Solar War
and to have suggested to Baron Black to use it as a hideout;
nobody’s been able to prove they’re lying.
Grand Bazaar
This area has so many natural voids so closely set that it is
essentially an open area the size of a football field divided by
countless columns. This serves as the asteroid’s central mar-
ketplace. The bazaar always has booths and stands set up by
residents and visitors alike, selling foods (from raw ingredi-
ents to finished meals), clothing, bedding, jewelry and curios,
hardware, survival gear, books and recorded entertainment,
tools, pets, and any other portable items imaginable. Even
people who avoid popular watering holes like the Drunken
Sprocket have to come to the bazaar sooner or later.
Perfumed Garden
While the Drunken Sprocket is the asteroid’s most popu-
lar tavern, the Perfumed Garden is the largest center of most
other amusements. The flamboyant proprietor styles herself
the Sky Queen, though it’s a bit of a facade and she’s known as
Bettina T in her off hours. What the T stands for is a matter of
debate, since she tells everyone who offers a guess that they’re
Pyramid Magazine 34
right. The Perfumed Garden is first and foremost a brothel,
and it makes enough income that it can afford to be appointed
as luxuriously as anywhere else in the solar system. It’s also
the go-to location for more powerful intoxicants than alcohol.
Finally, the provisions made for privacy mean that it’s a pre-
ferred location for confidential negotiations; it’s rumored to be
a den of spies for similar reasons.
Warehouse District
While the Inferno isn’t consistently dangerous, most resi-
dents of Neo-Tortuga prefer to keep their distance. Spaces
“farther back,” therefore, are used for storage rather than
for residences and business. This section, then, is a semi-
industrial warren of more or less secure rooms (some of which
have heavy doors or closed circuit television surveillance).
This part of the asteroid receives less constant attention and
therefore less frequent maintenance than the more inhabited
areas. Lights may flicker or even be out, temperature control
may be off, and the gravity can even go out. It’s not an inher-
ently dangerous place; Neo-Tortuga is too small to truly have a
bad part of town. But it is the best place to ambush a lone
enemy, if one is of a mind to do so.
A Life of Adventure
A raid on Neo-Tortuga by the Solar Patrol is always
a possibility, but the asteroid can be used for a wide
range of more subtle and complex adventures.
Spies
As a place where the disreputable can freely meet
the unacceptable, Neo-Tortuga is believed to be a market
for passing information. Some is mere industrial espionage.
However, there are deeper concerns as well. Criminal conspir-
acies deal in information with an eye toward passing danger-
ous contraband and harming rivals or law enforcement. Some
exchanges involve nascent revolutionary movements. And it’s
rumored that some secrets are being passed to agents of the
Overlord of Jupiter or the Red Hive! Undercover agents of the
Patrol must root out these spies.
Legendary Treasures
As New Port Royal is part of Patrol lore, pirates have lore
of their own: Baron Black’s last plunder, the Overlord’s jeweled
helmet, the true Mona Lisa, the dinosaur-ivory casket of the
ancient Krik empress, and more. Pirates tell countless tales
about them and speculate on their whereabouts. Real infor-
mation, or just evidence that any of these treasures actually
exist, might be found at Neo-Tortuga, perhaps by a mad cap-
tain trying to assemble just the right crew.
Missing Persons
Mitzi Probzt, glamorous heir to the Probzt nega-barrier
fortune, has vanished from the family home in Vienna and
was last reported seen in Venusport. Word is that she’s headed
for Neo-Tortuga in the company of a notorious pirate, possibly
with plans for next-generation nega-barrier generators. Is she
selling out the family? Has she been kidnapped? Either way,
the Patrol has to intercept her before those plans fall into the
wrong hands.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Blueprint of Neo-Tortuga
Pyramid Magazine 35 Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Neon Knights By Simon Proctor
I don’t know who he was or where he came from. There
hadn’t been a ship arrive in months. But there he was, shining
and glowing like something out of a kid’s book. He faced those
bandits with just a sword and took them all down. Didn’t ask for
any payment beyond some food and a place to rest. He stayed for
a few days, helping us rebuild or spending time meditating. Then
one day, he was gone. I never saw him again.
– Aldous Crenley, Mine Foreman Crassius Lithium Mines
personal report SD 3560-1
There are stories told in the most remote parts of known
space, of mysterious warriors in what looks like ancient
armor. These knights arrive when most needed, overcome
insurmountable odds, and then leave as mysteriously as they
arrived. The truth about them is even stranger than the tales.
The Neon Knights – known to themselves as Questing
Knights or Grail Knights – are a small band of warriors
intended to be either helpful NPCs or playable characters in
a TL10 science-fiction game. Each has access to several items
of technology beyond current understanding . . . and they are
tight-lipped about where they got it.
History of the Knights
The Knights were formed almost 100 years ago when two
human prospectors – Jan Creel and Elphias Buchannan – had
a FTL accident, which left them stranded far from the known
galaxy. While trying to make their way back to known space,
they discovered what would become known as the home of the
Temple Grail. Eager to scavenge what technology they could,
they took their ship down to explore. They quickly found the
What’s in a Name?
The Knights generally refer to themselves as either Questing
Knights or Grail Knights, but the stories about them have spread
everywhere and use a variety of names, including Neon Knights
and Mystery Knights. Unfortunately, due to the actions of some
Questing Knights, some of the stories do not paint the Knights in
the best light. In these tales, they are often referred to as Death
Knights or Blood Knights.
If a Grail Knight finds themselves called any of these names,
they accept it without correction. If there is time, they explain
what their true goals are, and they try to repair any damage to
their reputation from the actions of less level-headed Knights.
For some Questing Knights, being called a “Death Knight” leads
to loss of temper and violence . . . perpetuating the stereotype.
Pyramid Magazine 36
building that would become known as the Temple Grail . . .
and, within it, the Grail itself.
The first encounter with the Grail did not go well for the
men. Both where driven by greed, and the Grail fled the
Temple, leaving them with a burning desire to find it again.
They discovered that the systems within the Temple could be
used to produce protective garments that could access a gal-
axy-spanning network of subspace corridors connecting many
of the planets of the galaxy. The two men then set out on a
quest to recover the Grail, although for very different reasons.
After three years, sometimes traveling together sometimes
by themselves, they came upon the Grail on an uninhab-
ited planet. In that time, Creel had changed from the bitter
greed-obsessed person he had been; the path the Grail had
led him on had taught him the value of compassion and self-
lessness. Conversely, Buchannan had – if anything – become
greedier; he knew that the technology he and Creel had found
was merely a fraction of the power its creators had access to,
and he believed the Grail would give him the knowledge to
control the universe. He had also realized the Grail was con-
tinuing to hide from him, and he hoped to use his old partner
to capture it for him. When they found the Grail, Buchannan
allowed Creel to approach it first; Creel did so and communed
with it. In doing so, Creel realized what his old friend was
planning and the two men fought. Creel – empowered by the
knowledge and power the Grail had given him – won. He took
both Buchannan and the Grail back to the Temple.
Organization
of the Knights
After returning the Grail to the Temple, Creel had
a newfound understanding of the universe and the
role of intelligent life within it. The creators of the
Grail had been active in the galaxy millions of years
before the current races, and had left the Grail to help
those that came after them to achieve harmony with
themselves and the universe. Creel decided that he
would use the technology available to him to spread
the knowledge the Grail offered. He was also keenly
aware that this knowledge came at a price: To truly
understand the Grail, the person must redeem them-
selves first. Thus, he came up with a plan. He started
by modifying the armor Buchannan had worn. The
suit already had an AI controlling its functions, and
it was given a goal of helping its wearer become
worthy of the Grail. Once this was done, Creel sent
the Grail and Buchannan out into the galaxy again,
while Creel went looking for new recruits.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 This led to the Knights’ current organization, split as it is
into two groups. The Questing Knights are those who have
yet to find the Grail. They travel the galaxy looking for it,
watched over by their Guide AIs and driven by the visions
it gives them via the neural programmer. Questing Knights
can be callous and vicious warriors, but their Guide tries
to guide them on a path to redemption and be worthy of
the Grail. A Questing Knight has several mental disad-
vantages – Bloodlust, Bully, Callous, Compulsive Behav-
ior, Greed, and the like. Upon becoming a Questing
Knight, they gain Vow (Seek the Grail) and equipment;
see Knightly Raiment, below.
The Grail Knights are a much smaller group. Each of
them has bought off their disadvantages, found the Grail,
and returned the artifact to the Temple. Each has received
the enlightenment that finding the Grail provides. Grail
Knights then travel the galaxy helping those they find in
need and looking for potential recruits. See The Nature of
the Grail, below, for more details.
Becoming a Knight
A recruit for the Knights is a fearless combatant, though
they do not have to be pure of heart. If anything, the Grail
Knights look for those who must walk the path of redemp-
tion to be found worthy of finding the Grail. Once a Grail
Knight finds a suitable candidate, they commune with the
Grail and summon it to their current location. Very rarely,
the Grail stays and allows the new candidate to drink
from it (see Nature of the Grail, below). More typically, it
departs, leaving the candidate with a profound desire to
find it again. Once the candidate has witnessed the Grail,
the senior warrior offers them membership into the Order
of the Grail Knights, and gives them a suit of armor and
sword if they accept. The Grail Knight accompanies the
recruit for a few months to ensure the new Knight has
taken the Vow (Seek the Grail) and is working toward that
goal, before leaving them to find their own path.
Sometimes a Knight’s armor is taken by someone not
chosen by a Grail Knight. In this case, the Guide still
attempts to impart the Vow to find the Grail using its
neural programmer; this process is done over the course
of 16 days of subtle mental manipulation. At the end of
that time, the thief can attempt a Quick Contest of Will
vs. the Guide’s Brainwashing skill (which is a minimum
of 17). If the first test fails, the AI is less subtle on the
next attempt, completely flooding the wearer’s mind with
visions for eight days, after which there is a second Quick
Contest of Will vs. the Guide’s Brainwashing. If that
attempt fails, the Guide shuts down the suit’s systems
and demands it be removed. If the wearer refuses, the
AI self-destructs its power system, causing 10d explosive
damage inside the suit.
The Nature of the Grail
The Grail can take on many forms, but it is generally
some kind of cup holding a thick, oily liquid. The Grail is
fully sentient and capable of traveling through the galaxy
using the same subspace network used by the Knights.
Those who encounter it glimpse a sliver of its knowledge;
Pyramid Magazine 37
if the Grail deems them worthy, it allows them to drink
from it, forming a connection to it. The Grail will not deem
anyone worthy who has a negative mental disadvantage,
including most of those traits the Grail Knights look for in
their recruits.
Knightly Raiment
The Knights have three main items of equipment. (All
the following pages references are GURPS Ultra-Tech,
unless noted.) Their armor is a modified TL11 military
cybersuit (p. 185) with an onboard IQ 10 volitional AI
(p. 25), a neural induction pad (p. 49), a neural program-
mer (p. 109), and FTL capabilities (see below). Each
Knight carries a force shield bracelet (p. 192) and a hyper-
dense vibroblade (p. 164) thrusting broadsword (p. B271),
both of which run off the suit’s power supply and will not
work without it. Some Knights have been known to use
ranged weaponry, often having a specific gun they like to
use, but most rely on their sword, shield, and armor.
The onboard AI – who prefers to be known as a
Guide – has at least the following skills: Battlesuit/TL11‑15,
Brainwashing-17, Broadsword-15, Shield-15, Strategy-15,
Tactics-15, Teaching-16. Guides can learn other skills, and
experienced ones have better than these example values.
The role of the Guide is to shape and train its Knight
to be worthy to find the Grail. The Guide does this in sev-
eral ways. First, it uses the neural programmer to give the
Knight a Vow (Seek the Grail) [-15]. After that, if a Knight
fails to control negative impulses, the Guide deactivates
various features until it feels the Knight has atoned. First
to go is the Knight’s travel feature. If removing the Knight’s
travel capacity does not cause the person to change, the
Guide next disables the force shield, then vibroblade, and
then the suit almost entirely. The Knight can move but has
none of the abilities of the suit including its ST bonus. The
final option available to the Guide is to activate the self
destruct sequence; see Becoming a Knight.
The suit’s FTL travel capability allows its wearer to
travel at roughly one light year per day, following path-
ways that were created by the Grail’s creators and which
link many of the planets of the galaxy. A Knight spends
such journeys in rest and meditation preparing for the
next mission. The suit requires at least 48 hours between
journeys before it can make another one.
Until the Knight has completed the Grail Quest, use
of this is controlled completely by the Guide; it decides
where and when the suit will travel on to a new loca-
tion. Once the Knight finishes the quest and becomes a
Grail Knight, the person works with the Guide to choose
new paths.
As a player character, a Knight should have an Unusual
Background to explain their access to their equipment
(around 20 points, depending on how unusual the cam-
paign). The suit’s Guide can be treated as a 0-point fea-
ture; it acts as both and Ally and a Duty controlling the
Knight’s access to their equipment but also providing
them with training.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Upon becoming connected to the Grail, the person gains
Sense of Duty (All living things) (p. B153), which replaces
their Vow (Seek the Grail). They no longer require suste-
nance and heal faster than normal, giving them Doesn’t Eat
or Drink (p. B50) and Regeneration (Slow) (p. B80). They
have no negative mental disadvantages. They can also com-
mune with the Grail for knowledge or to ask it to join them,
as per Blessed (p. B40).
The Grail does not communicate verbally; rather, it com-
munes mentally via imagery and emotions. If it is not in
the temple, it sends visions of where it is when a Knight
comes near (cosmically speaking) . . . but it might actually
be in the past or future. (It does not seem to understand
the concept of time.) Grail Knights can receive these visions
directly, while Questing Knights receive them through their
Guides. Some of the older Knights believe that by releasing
it, they also allowed it to travel back to form the many myths
that led them to giving it the name they did.
Pyramid Magazine 38
The Grail tends to bring life to wherever it rests; even
the most barren desert soon sprouts an oasis of life after it
arrives. Once it leaves, the region may continue to be fertile,
although this isn’t guaranteed; some areas slowly revert to
their original states.
More information and inspiration regarding the Grail can
be found in GURPS Warehouse 23, p. 36.
The Temple Grail
The unnamed planet that is home to the Temple Grail
orbits a neutron star at 0.5 AU. It has an orbital and rotational
period of 36 days. It has no atmosphere, a low gravity, and
a high background radiation level. Huge statues of armored
figures – each more than 100’ tall – stand at various points.
Carefully watching the figures shows they are moving, just
too slowly for the casual observer to notice. The figures do
not respond to attempts at communication except for with a
Grail Knight.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 The Temple is a large stone edifice surrounded by a force
field that maintains a habitable environment. Inside, numer-
ous ancient Grail Knights tend the machinery that makes new
Knight armor. One of these is Jan Creel, almost impossibly
old. (If the Knights know what’s slowing the aging process,
they aren’t talking, although either their armor or exposure to
the Grail itself are likely candidates.)
In a Campaign
Questing and Grail Knights can be found through-
out the galaxy. They are driven by their Vow or Sense
of Duty, and their methods can vary wildly. As such,
they can be allies or enemies, depending on how their
goals intersect with those of the protagonists. Some
Questing Knights have no problems destroying a set-
tlement if they believe it hides secrets to the location of
the Grail. Others look for chances to prove their worth,
believing that if they can show their strength in com-
bat, they will draw the Grail to them. If a Grail Knight
recruited a Questing Knight, the Questing Knight is
more likely to understand that only by putting their
negative feelings and actions behind them can they
find what they seek.
While the Knights have their own method of
transportation, nothing stops them from using more
normal means. A Questing Knight who refuses to
improve may be denied their normal suit’s abilities
(see Knightly Raiment, p. 37) and need to get around
like everyone else, or their Guide might decide that
companions who have their own transportation would
be helpful in the current quest. A Grail Knight often
travels with others, either because they are evaluat-
ing them as potential recruits or because they enjoy
the companionship. In both cases, the player and GM
should discuss the reasons the Knight has chosen to
team up with the rest of the party. Most Knights are
solitary, though sometimes they band together against
a galaxy-threatening event.
Adventure Ideas
• The party finds a dying person, old and badly
wounded. He tells them his name is Elphias Buchannan
and asks them to find a Grail Knight to take him home.
He tells them he found the Grail but was betrayed by
his companions, who stole his armor while the Grail
fled. Elphias has only a vague idea for how to find the
Knights. The party must decide what to do with this
information and request.
• While visiting a mining colony on an airless moon,
the party hears rumors of plant life nearby. Investigat-
ing the area, they find a writhing mass of purple vines,
at the center of which is the Grail. It imparts several
visions of places it will be (or has been) and then disap-
pear. After it’s gone, the vines continue to grow across
the moon; they drain energy and soon begin to attack
the colony, looking for food. Assuming the party stays
to help – possibly forced to if their ship is disabled – a
mysterious figure in glowing armor arrives. She refers
to herself as a Questing Knight; she does what she can
Pyramid Magazine 39
to help control the vines but she is also very interested in
hearing about the Grail. If the party hampers her efforts or
refuses to answer her questions about what happened, she
loses her temper and attacks them before fleeing out onto
the moon and disappearing. If the party shares their infor-
mation, she thanks them before leaving as mysteriously as
she came.
Alien Knights
While the Grail is a human myth, other race’s histories
have similar stories. The Kronin (GURPS Aliens, p. 68) have
tales of the Cup of Honor, which returns the Honor to a war-
rior no matter what their failings. The Gormelites (GURPS
Aliens, p. 80) talk of the Bleeding Skull of K’rath, which gives
the drinker the ability to shrug off any wound. The Sparri-
als (GURPS Aliens: Sparrials) speak of the Cup of Many
Scents, the aromas from which give wisdom, long life, and
the strength of purpose to lead. As such, many species beyond
humanity can be found in the Knights’ ranks.
Infinite Knights
By swapping the armor’s ability to travel between planets
with a similar ability to dimension jump, the Neon Knights
can easily be added to a GURPS Infinite Worlds campaign.
Currently, no one outside of the Knights knows the location
of the parallel with the Grail Temple. Even if questioned – a
Knight couldn’t tell them. Their Guide will not release this
information and will self-destruct if it looks as though it’s
going to be captured and dissected.
The Patrol has heard stories of the Grail Knights and
would like to examine their armor, as the technology is far
beyond anything they currently can access. However, ISWAT
operatives have worked with Knights in the past, and Director
Skorzeny has given orders to stay on their good sides.
Centrum currently views the Knights as a threat, as their
actions have been known to throw the work of the Uplift
Service out of whack. They would also be very interested
in taking apart a Knight’s armor to find out more about its
parachronic travel capabilities.
The Knights and the Cabal do not get along. The Knight’s
armor works in parallels where high technology generally
doesn’t, threatening the Cabal’s dominance in such areas.
And, although the Cabal would also quite like to own the
Grail, having a group of heavily armed and armored fanatics
looking for it is not in their plans.
The SS Raven Division has been trying to discover more
about the Knights with a view to forming an alliance with
them. However, a Knight’s Sense of Duty would probably
cause them to have issues with this.
With the disparity between the Knight’s equipment and
that generally available to the factions in the setting, a cam-
paign with a small party of Knights traveling between paral-
lels doing good, fighting various threats, and searching for
the holy grail has the potential to be a fun slugfest. Adding a
Knight to an ISWAT team is also a possibility if he can con-
vince the Guide that it’s for the greater good.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Her Sails in
Silence Fall By J. Edward Tremlett
Space is cold, endless, and hungry. It’s also very fickle. Not
everything that goes out comes back, and not everything lost
out there stays gone either.
There are countless tales of galactic Mary Celestes, floating
between systems – spaceships thought lost or destroyed that
mysteriously reappear. A lucky few might get near such a mys-
tery, maybe even step aboard briefly; others might be luckier
still to capture one for salvage. But depending on what strange
fate befell the ships, the luckiest might be those who only see
them from afar.
Here is a systemless look at three such vessels. Their known
(or rumored) histories are given, along with broad descrip-
tions, what is generally known to have happened, and a few
possibilities for what really took place on board. Exact dates
are not given so as to allow the GM more freedom at placing
these derelicts within a particular campaign timeframe.
Lovell
Intended to be the first occupied vessel to navigate to the
Oort cloud’s inner edge, the loss of the Lovell set the Great
Leap Outward back by a few decades.
The ship was an Elcano-class exploratory vessel, specially
designed to carry extra scientific modules and fuel. The mis-
sion required only 14 souls, who would spend most of the 40
year round trip in cryonic preservation. The Lovell’s AI (“Jim”)
had mission oversight and maintained near-constant commu-
nication with Jupiter Station.
The commander was Bryan Model, who had led three
other cryosleep-expeditions and spearheaded the effort to
realize this mission. Second in command was Myrna Estevez,
who had previously served with Model. Chief engineer, and
third in command, was Yuri Levenko – highly regarded but
headstrong. Dr. Karla Nelson was likewise well-regarded, but
not the first choice; the intended physician died two months
before final training, and Nelson was the best replacement.
The remaining 10 were three engineers and seven scientists,
who had all competed to be selected.
The Saga
The Lovell launched from Europa Dock 3 and spent the first
week escaping Jupiter’s gravity. After that, they entered cryos-
leep, the drive was engaged, and their 19-year trip out began.
Communication was relayed back to Europa until the Lovell
Pyramid Magazine 40
passed the Pluto-1 beacon, at which point the ship dropped a
signal-amplification buoy off every fifth year, as planned.
For the next 10 years, everything was textbook perfect.
Many valuable insights and discoveries regarding trans-Nep-
tunian space, brain activity in long-term cryosleep, and AI
functioning were made. Jim made reliable reports and seemed
to be doing fine. In fact, he was “growing” in maturity.
Then one day, after an hour of unusually ratty data, Jim
made a surprising pronouncement: “The mission is lost.
Please be kind.” The Lovell’s telemetry ceased. The engineers
at Europa tried to remote restart the ship, but nothing hap-
pened. With no chance of launching a rescue, the mission was
considered a failure.
The final report faulted the AI, with the dockside cybernet-
icists sharing the blame. They’d noticed slow changes in Jim’s
tone, but they had put that down to emotional growth and not
reported it up the chain. In time, the Swigert would succeed
where the Lovell failed, using faster engines and a seasoned,
“fully mature” AI.
The first permanent way station before the Oort was
named after Model. For several years thereafter, trans-Nep-
tunian probes in that quadrant were programmed to look for
the Lovell, but they only found the two buoys. Departing ships
heading for certain stars occasionally pick up a “blip” in that
area, but salvage ships always return disappointed.
The Ship
Elcano-class ships were best described as pistons with
long, spiky shafts, spun to allow for Earth-normal gravity at
the extremities. The Lovell’s wide, cylindrical head had five lev-
els, each possessing six wedge-like modules around a partially
pressurized central tube. All modules could be jettisoned, and
habitation modules could connect to form a “lifeboat.”
The central tube’s front end was the main docking port.
The engine and main power plant were in the rear, fed by
external fuel tanks running along the modules. Solar panels
and antennae projected between the tanks at regular intervals.
The top level was command and control, computers, com-
munications and sensors, two executive two-person habi-
tats, and the medlab. The next down contained two standard
five-person habitats, two laboratory/work modules, a recre-
ation/gathering module, and Jim’s “brain.” The third had three
cryosleep berths and three cargo holds, the fourth was the sec-
ondary power plant and five scientific modules, and the fifth
was all extra fuel.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
The Fates
Your Answer True: Jim was to blame. Obsessing over the
historic Apollo 13 mission, the AI became convinced they were
doomed. Deciding it was better to fail earlier rather than later,
he shut down – killing the crew in the process. The Lovell can
be restarted, but the AI will fight all attempts at resurrection.
Mean No Harm: The Lovell carried no armaments and was
helpless when the unfamiliar vessels approached – scram-
bling the ship’s signals as they came. The AI could only regain
enough control to state the obvious and beg for mercy. The
invaders showed none. The ship has several gaping boarding
holes, and its cryosleep wedges are gone. Jim can be repaired
and has internal video of the invaders. But who was it? And
why?
Here We Remain: A number of religious groups came to
declare that abandoning the solar system was tantamount to
turning from the divine plan. Dr. Nelson belonged to one such
group, and she killed the original doctor to get aboard. She
fed innocuous-seeming programs into the Lovell to collapse
the AI, end all telemetry, and wake her up early. When salvag-
ers locate the ship, the doctor’s body is found in the captain’s
chair – surrounded by numerous “inspired” essays on why
humanity must stay where it was born.
Three space derelicts,
out in the dark.
Sigrun
The Sigrun was not the first ship bound for Alpha Centauri,
nor was it the only one lost along the way. It’s what happened
after the vessel went missing that makes the story so intriguing.
Like the 56 other Heimdall-class baseships launched by the
Jarnsaxa Conglomeration – 42 of which arrived – the Sigrun
was built for a one-way, 150-year journey. Hurled at Proxima b
by staged mega-drive rockets, it carried 300 cryosleeping colo-
nists, maintained by 50 androids. It had moderate armaments
and 10 reusable landers. The central lander had enough pre-
fab housing, hardy seeds, and cryopreserved stock to create a
self-sustaining colony. It also had sufficient supplies to main-
tain life aboard ship for a decade should ground conditions
prove initially insalubrious.
An elected hierarchy ran the ship. Colony leader Snorri
Magnarson was backed up by Miike Hiro, and assisted by
Wanda Olafsdottir (Security Chief), Barbara Koenig (Chief
Engineer), and Loren Sundvik (Medical Chief). Everyone was
cross-trained in at least two areas, with engineer-agricultural-
ist being predominant.
The Saga
The Sigrun was constructed at Jarnsaxa’s Heliopause sta-
tion from parts made at other inner-system stations. Crew can-
didates were tested and trained at the conglomerate’s Triton-7
Pyramid Magazine 41
base until the company achieved a near-perfect social and
psychological mix. Following Magnarson’s selection, the crew
were put into cryosleep, transported to the Heliopause station,
and loaded aboard the Sigrun. The ship’s androids then guided
it to the safe distance area, and waited for the previous ship
to be exactly one year away before firing the mega-drive. Once
at full cruising speed, it followed a trail of communications
buoys toward Proxima b.
The next year, Jarnsaxa suffered two serious mishaps. A
transport ship exploded on the way to Heliopause station. Not
too long after that, a horrendous decompression wracked the
station itself – killing a third of the crew. Subsequent govern-
mental investigation determined the blasts were caused by
poorly secured munitions, which the conglomeration was not
licensed to have, much less transport.
Jarnsaxa denied anything untoward, accusing rivals of sab-
otage. Investigators swooped in and froze all their companies
to make sure nothing was shuffled about. The resulting finan-
cial crisis ultimately doomed the conglomerate to be broken
up and then bought by its many competitors.
Fifty years later, the communications buoys lost the Sigrun.
The “deathboat” was not launched, which meant it was either
powerless or instantly destroyed. The next ship in line could
have launched a probe to clear the way and
retrieve the black box, but there was no next ship.
No other corporation’s colony ships traveling near
that path saw the vessel.
One year after Sigrun’s loss, a computer
hack revealed that the company which absorbed
Jarnsaxa’s colonial holdings had found ultra-secret
plans, most of which were so scrubbed of details
only their names remained (Tyr, Skidbaldnir, and
Hofund). The sole intact plan, Vidar, called for
converting the Heimdalls into substantial weap-
ons platforms to blockade Proxima b. The plan
included schematics to modify the ships, and it listed the
materials needed – the same things the investigators found
traces of in both explosions.
Authorities on Proxima b eventually investigated, but they
found no evidence the plan had been carried out. The still-
operational androids showed no signs of harmful program-
ming, the Heimdalls had not been tampered with, and their
cargoes weren’t militarized. That said, speculation remains
rampant – especially when ships bound for Alpha Centauri go
missing, or fight off attacks by an unidentified craft that looks
like a Heimdall and vanishes too quickly to pursue.
The Ship
The Sigrun was a tall cylinder, encircled at the top by a
wide, slightly shorter toroid. The cylinder was the central
lander, designed to detach from the outer, spinning ring to
take colonists to the planet. The toroid would then remain in
orbit, eventually joining with other Heimdalls to create large
orbital stations.
The central lander held four stacked rear rocket stages.
Three were mega-drives, jettisoned when expended. The final
stage was the braking rocket for planetfall. Above that were six
levels: four levels with massive cargo compartments, one level
with six 50-person seating areas, and a top level with comput-
ers, communications and sensors, a medlab, a power plant,
and a double-sized command and control module.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 The ring contained four levels, with an ablative cover for
space debris. The top level had four hydroponic farms, a
docking berth, and a power plant. The second level down had
six 50-person living quarters. The third had two recreation/
gathering areas, two workshops, and two science modules.
The fourth had three 100-person cryosleep chambers, a med-
lab, and two storage areas. Its sides bristled with antennas,
solar panels, and six short-range laser cannons, intended for
self-defense.
The Fates
Sudden Deep Backstab: Vidar was real, and Sigrun was the
first. After 50 years, the androids killed the crew and shut off
the transponder. Following the conversion, they planned to
link up with nine other Heimdalls over the next 20 years and
then blockade. But when Jarnsaxa was crippled, the androids
realized they’d be badly outnumbered. Still, they finished con-
version, awaiting new orders that never came. Every so often,
they attack a ship for fuel and parts, quickly retreating if they
calculate certain loss.
Far Traveling Spear: Project Skidbaldnir was Jarnsaxa’s
crowning achievement – a wormhole generator that could
Pyramid Magazine
take a ship anywhere within seconds. The Sigrun was
equipped with the prototype, but it proved highly danger-
ous, as the twin explosions showed. The Sigrun’s androids
researched the problem for five decades before waking
the crew to try it. It worked, but proved horridly inimical
to human life. It also fried both the androids and the gen-
erator, sending the ship into a cycle of random, hour-long
appearances along its original flight path. Any human on
board when the generator activates suffers the same fate as
the crew.
Slow Silent Vengeance: Jarnsaxa’s rivals at another com-
pany enacted a leisurely, well-planned revenge – sneak-
ing their people onto the Sigrun and reprogramming the
androids. Then they destroyed the transport ship and station
(see p. 41), planting evidence to blame the conglomerate.
Fifty years later, their agents awakened aboard the Sigrun,
killed the others, and modified the weapons. The new crew
then used the vessel to wreak selective havoc on rival cor-
porations’ spacecraft. Up to half of all ships that have gone
missing between the solar system and Alpha Centauri might
have been their handiwork. The Sigrun is still out there,
somewhere, but who crews it now?
42 Sci-Fi/Tech II
The Shining Pearl
The tragic tale of the Shining Pearl is still sung and shared
across a thousand worlds – a heroic attempt to survive a sys-
tem-wide cataclysm, sadly undone by some still-unexplained
flaw. Some say the ship is still out there, desperately trying to
arrive at the destination. They may well be right.
The Shining Pearl was a massive tubeship, cobbled together
from all available orbital materials, with more than enough
space for billions to live and prosper. There was enough sur-
face biomass to feed and oxygenate the entire ship, and the
massive foundries could provide anything needed. The pow-
erful bend-drive created incredible velocity, but even at full
speed, it would take up to a millennium to reach their prom-
ised home.
So long has the Shining Pearl sailed through the vast-
ness of space that the names of its original commanders are
shrouded in mystery. Some say the president of the largest
landmass captained it; others say a royal family or high
priest. Others claim a godlike computer ruled over all. One
ugly rumor maintains an unruly mob took the ship ahead of
its launch, leaving behind those promised a berth in favor of
their rabble.
The Saga
Secundus-3 had been settled for thousands of years when
a rogue world tumbled into sensor range. Their scientists
hoped it would settle into orbit, somewhere, but it soon
became clear its path would cause massive disturbances. It
also brought a number of trailing bodies, several of which
were planet-killers.
Some panicked, and some denied the obvious, but
enough cool heads prevailed to prepare. They had years after
all – enough time to join hands to save what they could. As
they labored to create a ship large enough to take most, or
even all, of Secundus-3’s inhabitants to safety, it became
clearer that the worst-case scenario was certain.
Some say the vessel launched in time, saving all who
would come and leaving only those who refused to go or were
deemed unable to travel to the spacecraft. Some speak of a
frenzied last-moment escape, with a pitiful number of survi-
vors watching in horror as their world burned. Who can say?
The fact remains that the Shining Pearl escaped its planet’s
fate and began its generational trek toward what is called in
the tales Neo-Secundus.
What went wrong? Again, stories abound. The ship may
have been attacked and left to float, or it suffered some bizarre
malfunction of the long-overworked bend-drive. Perhaps an
experiment went awry, or the colony entered an area where
long-cherished laws of physics held no particular sway.
Stranger things have happened, out in the dark.
What can be said is that when the Shining Pearl is seen, it
is not there very long. It appears like a ghost – still spinning,
but with no forward movement. It neither sends signals nor
replies, and scans for life and energy seem inconclusive. Then,
just as a crew might think to board the ship, it is gone.
Sometimes a careful eye can discern the presence of other
vessels, docked alongside it – spacecraft of many civilizations,
from many times. It would seem some have managed to board
the Shining Pearl over the ages. Who knows what they may
have found.
Pyramid Magazine 43
The Ship
Tubeships (sometimes called worldcraft) are a slow but
dependable means of generational space travel, requiring
truly massive resources to build. They look like a long, wide
tube, often flared at both ends. The inside surface is lined
with powerful magnetic generators. The magnetic field (the
bend-drive) gently warps space-time just past the center
mass – propelling the ship forward at 10% of light speed.
A crystalline sheath covered the Shining Pearl three miles
above the inner surface – magnifying starlight for crops and
forming a protective ceiling. The long cylinder beneath, spun
to maintain gravity, was predominantly agrarian with numer-
ous centers of trade and entertainment. Below the dirt lay a
network of metal caves holding machines and supplies. Below
those were the massive engines of the bend-drive, powered by
antimatter reactors that could be fed by anything.
A massive, miles-long hub, enclosed by a nearly feature-
less wall, bisected the ship. Mighty engines contained therein
spun the world. All command and control functions were
performed there, as well as all administrative matters, and
the great foundries were maintained within. A high castle of
sorts, the hub’s interior could only be reached by hovercraft
(or mile-high scaling ladders).
Along the outer surface were numerous exterior docking
berths. The plan was to build landers there, once the colonists
were nearer to their destination. The berths could also accept
any visitors administrators chose to allow in.
The Fates
Faster, They Cried: The Shining Pearl was 500 years into
the voyage when the people decided they’d had enough of liv-
ing under a false sky. Their leaders tried to speak reason but
were not heard. The subsequent revolt put the wrong people
in charge. Their foolhardy attempts to modify the engines
turned the bend into a knot. Now the ship skips across the
quadrant – its inhabitants doomed to eternally relive that
fateful last day. Perhaps some visitor can save them from this
hell. Perhaps not.
Back, They Demanded: What was supposed to take cen-
turies took millennia instead. Discipline broke down, and
several generations went by much knowledge was lost or
became as myth. A new group of leaders decided they should
return home, doubtlessly now a paradise, but reversing the
long-neglected engines partially broke them. The return voy-
age is halted every so often, as the reactors must be fed, and
the inhabitants would much rather feed curious strangers to
the engines than their own people.
Stop, Said God: There was no warning, no premonition.
One moment, the Shining Pearl was heading toward Neo-
Secundus. The next, the vessel struck a time-space anomaly.
Whatever mired the ship confounded the bend-drive, caus-
ing spacecraft to be in several places at once. No one dared
to turn off the drive for fear of tearing the ship apart. Since
that moment, the colonists have been stuck in a chronal fis-
sure, with different parts of the ship randomly appearing
in slivers across the galaxy. Centuries have passed, and the
inhabitants have slowly mutated into beings who thrive in
such a climate. They do enjoy guests, though – their prim-
itive, linear minds are fun to torment before they’re fed to
the engine.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Whose Turf
Is This? By Sean Punch
Microsocieties are a staple of post-apocalyptic fiction. The
best-known archetypes are colonies of cagey survivalists and
gangs of violent marauders – probably because they’re plau-
sible. When we’re feeling cynical, most of us fear that when
push comes to shove, many people would either hole up and
point weapons at everybody else, or go wild.
This is also a winning formula for exciting stories! Raiders
try to pillage the fruits of the settlers’ labor, causing the col-
onists to treat everybody else as an enemy. This creates ten-
sion, and tension drives adventure: Heroes might be promised
food and other survival needs by settled types – or weapons by
marauders – to turn mercenary. They may simply be mistaken
for hated rivals and attacked.
However, it’s interesting if post-apocalyptic drifters occa-
sionally interact with groups that don’t fall cleanly on either
side of this divide, or that defy categorization. Here are seven
examples to adapt to a GURPS After the End or similar cam-
paign. Beyond use as encounters, these might serve as origins
for adventurers – though the GM may insist that PCs be out-
casts from (or at least have no special “in” with) factions with
extreme views or above-average tech.
Each group’s description includes this info:
Structure: How the microsociety oper-
ates and lives – especially, how it dif-
fers from setting norms. Any political
or economic concepts named are only
weakly related to the rules on pp. B509-
510 and GURPS Realm Management,
pp. 14-22. In those terms, these groups
would fall somewhere between “anar-
chy” and “clan/tribal” politically, and
be “traditional” economically, the latter
modified with “subsistence” if settled,
“slave” if violent, and/or “unsustain-
able” if they rely on picking the bones of
the pre-apocalyptic world.
Resources: Anything to which these
people have above-average access in the
setting. Adventurers might barter for
such things, steal them, or be promised
them as payment or bribes.
Forces: What kind of resistance
adventurers will face if they attack this
faction, steal from them, or enter their
turf uninvited.
Pyramid Magazine 44
Strengths: Qualities that contribute to the group’s success
and continued survival after the apocalypse. These can bene-
fit adventurers aligned with the faction, or penalize efforts to
oppose them in the domain where they’re strongest.
Weaknesses: Issues that could work against the faction,
even cause it to disintegrate. These shouldn’t be immediately
obvious – learning such flaws ought to be an adventure in
itself!
AR 15th
When things went south, the “preppers” were ready! They
had food, medicine, tools, and other survival necessities stock-
piled – often in bunkers. Many were preoccupied with guns
and ammunition. Among those people, the AR-15 (GURPS
High-Tech, p. 117) was a very popular rifle.
Once it became clear that there’d be no replacing certain
resources, many preppers got even stricter about caring for
firearms and rationing ammo. With the passage of years, one
such group adopted this code as a social philosophy, the AR-15
from a militia flag becoming its symbol. The meaning of “AR-
15” was eventually lost – mutated into “AR 15th” and adopted
as the colony’s name. In their mythology, that’s
the name of not a rifle but a military unit in
the “Army of Order,” which will someday
return for them.
The AR 15th mostly resemble other sur-
vivalist settlements, except that they have a
religious reverence for rifles (and not just
AR-15s!) – similar to the cross symbolism
sometimes associated with swords in the
Middle Ages. They’ve kept a surprisingly
large number of guns functional, and have
large stores of ammo. That would make
them a force to be reckoned with, except
that they view their weapons as sacred
relics, for use only in dire emergencies.
Thus, they sit atop a priceless arsenal they
rarely touch.
Those who cross the AR 15th soon learn
that the group’s beliefs encourage them
to break out their firepower against ene-
mies their leaders identify as the “Army of
Chaos.” Provoking conflict with them means
a religious war and a hail of bullets . . .
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Structure: Quasi-theocracy led by a voting counsel of war-
rior-priests. Their colony is self-sustaining (it was founded by
preppers, remember) and largely isolationist, but sends out
armed parties to investigate rumors of guns or ammunition.
Resources: Guns and ammo! Bunkers stocked with other
pre-apocalyptic supplies are rumored.
Forces: A well-regulated militia, mostly not equipped with
firearms under everyday circumstances – although no patrol
is without a rifle. If they fear for their survival, they can field a
force of riflemen capable of rivaling any in the setting.
Strengths: Deep knowledge of survival techniques – farm-
ing, fishing, hunting, etc. – and of course of guns and ammo.
Above-average discipline.
Weaknesses: Exploitable belief that somewhere out there,
an army is coming to save the day. Downright crazy ideas
about guns being holy. Xenophobia.
Divine Fire
Hostility toward the beliefs and practices of minority
religious sects sometimes leads such groups to isolate them-
selves. Genuine doomsday cults are often survivalists to
begin with. However, most such factions are offshoots of
real-world faiths.
Not Divine Fire.
Divine Fire didn’t even start out as a religious movement.
It was a secluded outdoor festival (like Burning Man, but
more obscure) built around vaguely New Age values. Its
founders adopted fire as their symbol because it made for
flashy nighttime spectacles. To go with this, they appropri-
ated a miscellany of traditional beliefs about fire deities:
Agni, Brigit, Loki, Ogun, Pele, Vesta, . . . you name it.
The apocalypse came during one of their festivals. By
rights, a bunch of people partying in the wilds shouldn’t have
stood a chance. What saved them was having lots of camping
gear and supplies – and being forgotten in the chaos.
The organizers were strange, not stupid. They immedi-
ately set about converting the temporary encampment into a
longer-term settlement. The worse things got, the more per-
manent this became.
Now, generations down the road, nobody remembers
much of this. The Divine Fire hunt, gather, do their best with
crafts and farming, . . . and worship fire. Fire warms and
cooks – and burns enemies and cleanses evil. These aren’t
your parents’ happy-go-lucky neo-hippies, but a disturbing
cult that tosses its foes into flames and burns them at the
stake. If there’s a volcano nearby, rest assured that they’re
using it, too.
Structure: Tribe with strong religious beliefs, but not a the-
ocracy. Extreme egalitarian, communitarian values preclude
genuine leadership.
Resources: If it has to do with fire, they have plenty – fire-
wood, charcoal, pitch, etc. If anybody possesses refined fuel
in the setting, it’s them; ditto fire-starters like matches and
road flares. In a campaign with plentiful high-tech arma-
ments, add incendiary weapons.
Forces: A rabble distressingly well-armed with fire and
unnervingly skilled in its use as a weapon. Expect burning
arrows and spears, flaming pitch, etc. If permitted to retreat
from direct conflict, they will – only to return later for some
nighttime arson.
Pyramid Magazine 45
Strengths: Unwavering faith, in both fire deities and one
another. Unshakable sense of community – essentially perfect
morale.
Weaknesses: No central organization to direct that perfect
morale usefully. Inbred pyromania means any big fire attracts
them like moths.
Motorcycle Furies
When the world ended, many people despaired and gave
up. A tough few rose to the challenge. Then there were the
inevitable opportunists, looting what the former abandoned
and trying to grab what the latter hoarded. Most of these
were unorganized, and quickly buried by prepared surviv-
alists or what was left of law enforcement. Biker gangs were
another matter.
Outlaw bikers aren’t known for getting along with society
or rival gangs. Some live outside society, and are accustomed
to nights on the side of the road and days living as they please.
Yet they have their codes and respect a certain style of life.
And they’re organized.
This was the origin of the Motorcycle Furies. They repre-
sent what’s left after years of outlaw gangs shifting alliances
and fighting one another, unchecked by pesky lawmen or
polite society. More important, they’re among the few with the
knowhow and spare parts to keep motorbikes running.
Anybody thinking of crossing the Furies should know:
Their tradition of marauding dates to decades before the
apocalypse, when even organized police struggled to contain
them. They take what they want. About the only way to strike
a deal with them is to be a biker and show them you’re as
tough as they are.
Structure: Pack led by the strongest, always on the move.
They don’t hunt, gather, plant, etc. – they take. Within what-
ever they currently deem their territory, they usually attack
on sight.
Resources: Motorcycles, with the tools and parts to keep
them running decades after the last factory closed. Most of
the bikes are adapted to run on alcohol, which they must be
distilling somewhere. Rumor tells of tankers full of it, pulling
portable stills from raid site to raid site.
Forces: Motorcycle “cavalry” with melee and thrown weap-
ons. Some use lances and sabers like actual cavalry; others
favor chains, barbed-wire bats, and similar stereotypical
marauder-gang weapons. Leaders have and use handguns and
shotguns.
Strengths: Mobility well beyond the usual for the setting.
Savagery.
Weaknesses: Code of honor that – while violent and uncivi-
lized – could be “played” to lure their leader into a dominance
duel or the gang into a showdown. Also: savagery.
Sky People
When you visualize the apocalypse, there are things you
can’t imagine surviving for long because they depend on too
much else: utility grids, factories, electronics, etc. Among
these are aircraft – fussy machines that spend as much time in
maintenance as in the skies.
The Sky People – a name applied to them, not used by
them – beg to differ.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 When everything went sideways, someone – some say a
billionaire pilot, others a club of flying enthusiasts, yet others
a group of military airmen – piled everything they needed to
survive into anything that could use a short runway, and flew
off into the sunset. They landed beyond the reach of casual
raiders; most people believe they’re based either on an island
or in a valley hidden deep in the mountains. There, they built
their own society.
Assuming the resources of people wealthy enough to own
private aircraft – or pilfered from the military – this story isn’t
utterly implausible. However, it raises the question of how
these pilots managed to respond so quickly. Even harder to
explain is how they’ve kept some of their vehicles airworthy!
Mostly unpowered gliders, true, but also autogyros and light
prop planes.
If an adventure involves a voyage that absolutely, positively
requires an aircraft, your only option is likely the Sky People.
The catch? Finding their refuge, reaching it without your
own chopper or plane, and then convincing them to fly you
(because you won’t get far flying at default skill).
Structure: Post-apocalyptic island or mountain utopia, iso-
lated from the world and defended by natural barriers. Run
along corporate lines if the founder was a billionaire, accord-
ing to strange membership rules if it was a club, or similar to
an airbase if it was military personnel.
Resources: Aircraft! And logically, some means of
maintaining and fueling aircraft. A billionaire may
well have set up a petroleum well and a small refining
station; if so, that would be a prize far more valuable
than the vehicles.
Forces: Whatever is typical of survivalist colonies,
but with “air support” in the form of light aircraft
capable of dropping rocks, burning fuel, and even
primitive bombs.
Strengths: Extreme mobility. The ability to scout
anyone or anything unopposed.
Weaknesses: Vast resources tied up in maintaining aircraft
(of all things) in a survival situation suggests an irrational and
therefore exploitable attitude.
S ociety for
C reative narchy A That doesn’t deter everybody. There are even weirdos who
You go off to an isolated location in the countryside to
dress up as medieval warriors and fight a mock war. You bring
tents, food, and various supplies for the duration. Then the
world ends.
Nine times out of ten, that story ends in “. . . and after
days, weeks at most, you have nothing left to eat and you
starve.” This particular group of reenactors took their hobby
very seriously, though. They’d studied not only the ever-popu-
lar whacking people with swords, but also useful trades like
farming, spinning, and smithing. So, when everything melted
down, they were ready.
They were also idealistic. They were going to rise to the
challenge of the end of modern technology by resurrecting
medieval technology at any cost. And their leaders intended to
retain their titles – by the sword, if necessary.
The result? A settlement that looks like something out of
the Middle Ages and nothing out of the Middle Ages – closer
Pyramid Magazine
to a Ren Faire where everyone is earnestly serious about their
crafts and roles, because otherwise they’ll starve and die. Also
one where everybody talks strangely, dresses oddly, and has
made-up titles.
Structure: Self-appointed monarch and nobility telling
everyone else what to do – but since nobody wants to be a
nobody, everybody has a title of some sort. All living in a qua-
si-medieval village surrounded by a palisade, in the middle of
farmed land, with livestock.
Resources: Anything a medieval village would have – most
significantly food, and the tools and skills to work wood,
leather, textiles, and iron at medieval levels. Power in the form
of horses and waterwheels.
Forces: “Knights” with actual swords and armor, and even
a few horses; footmen with spears and polearms; and archers
and armbrusters. Their fighting is somewhat stylized – as are
many of their weapons (some of which never existed outside
of fantasy) – but they know battle tactics, and those weapons
are definitely lethal.
Strengths: Organization. Working low-tech skills. An
unwavering belief that they are civilization.
Weaknesses: Absurdly idealized view of medieval reality
wherein romantic chivalry is taken seriously and people (try
to) fight with triple-headed flails.
Microsocieties are a staple of post-apocalyptic
fiction. The best-known archetypes are colonies
of cagey survivalists and gangs of violent
marauders – probably because they’re plausible.
_
S umatodoresu amurai S
Big cities hold vast resources but aren’t perforce wonderful
places to be during an apocalypse. Between the raiders looting
them and the press of panicked people fleeing them, the risk
of getting murdered or trampled is high. Depending on how
the end came, they may also be ground zero – for nukes, pan-
demic, even zombies.
like living in the perilous ruins. Most end up dead, but a few
get lucky. Usually, they do so by getting organized.
The best way to organize people is to give them goals and
tasks. Provide discipline and a code. And as much as possible
when the world is ending, maintain some semblance of the
habits and trappings of pre-apocalyptic life.
This is easy for military groups (or even Boy Scouts), and
workable for religiously or politically motivated ones; such
people are already organized and share a vision. Not everybody
fits those categories, however. The Sumātodoresu Samurai
(roughly, “Sharp-Dressed Samurai”) are a case in point.
Nobody remembers who decided that (1) samurai would
be good role models for post-apocalyptic survivors, or (2)
being sharply dressed would boost morale. All signs point to
fans of Japanese pop fiction. Somehow, it worked. This group
has managed to carve out a place in the urban ruins and drive
off challengers, sometimes wielding katanas pillaged from . . .
well, that part is unclear.
46 Sci-Fi/Tech II
 The code of the Sumātodoresu Samurai can be summed
up as “Honor, brotherhood, and style.” After looking after
survival needs, they spend much time salvaging, repairing,
and cleaning clothing found in the city ruins. Don’t mistake
this for softness, though – they will cut you if you disrespect
them, and they know their territory so well that you won’t see
them coming.
Structure: Bizarre, semi-feudal social club based on a pot-
pourri of views on how Japanese society worked in the Heian,
Sengoku, Edo, and Meiji Periods, and how yakuza culture
works in manga. Which is to say, a mishmash of real-world
and fictional social ideals. Living in the ruins like rats – but
well-dressed rats.
Resources: Not much, aside from fancy clothing and obso-
lete weapons.
Forces: Sneaky ambushers with Japanese martial-arts
weapons and parkour skills.
Strengths: Unequaled knowledge of every bit of their urban
domain, from the highest rooftop to the deepest sewer – any
encounter will be on their terms. Great morale despite it all.
Weaknesses: Obsession with misunderstood honor codes
and fancy clothing.
Villaggio
dell’Arte Macabra
There are many reasons to build a colony apart from civ-
ilization when the world isn’t ending. Strongly held religious
or political beliefs are best-known, but artistic views can also
lead down this road. The result is the “art commune.”
The Villaggio dell’Arte Macabra (VAM) is such a place. It
was founded by a loose collective of artists and activists fasci-
nated by shock media – more specifically, art and propaganda
that transplant the horror-movie aesthetic to other artforms,
traditional and technological. They squatted on a vast plot
Pyramid Magazine 47
of out-of-the-way land and quickly became a destination for
slasher, vampire, and zombie fandom.
When things went bad, the VAM reacted in two ways.
First, it shifted from somewhat self-sufficient to as self-suf-
ficient as its members’ skills and resources allowed. Second,
it thrived in the horror of the situation. Its inhabitants were
shaken and saddened by the devastation of civilization, but
they were also artists – it was their duty to document the
events in art, and their art was a disturbingly good fit.
Today, the VAM is just another survivalist settlement.
Well, not quite. While largely nonviolent, they’ve had their
share of conflicts, and they’ve done creative . . . things
with the corpses. They also dress the part. If zombies don’t
exist, they seem to be here thanks to makeup. If zombies
do exist, the VAM is where to go if you plan to imperson-
ate them – but anyone who doesn’t know they’re weirdos in
makeup is likely to target them.
Structure: Collectivist community where the best artists
have the loudest voices, working a large piece of isolated land
peppered with unsettling sculpture.
Resources: Art, to those who still value it. More convention-
ally, lots of knowledge – the VAM was an intellectual enclave,
so if anybody has books and recordings containing important
teachings, they do.
Forces: Whatever is usual for isolated survivalist colonies,
but creepy. Warriors dress as monsters or wear corpse makeup,
and are covered with blood – some of it real. Given any time to
prepare, they’ll deploy exceptionally effective camouflage and
convincing decoys.
Strengths: Unbridled idealism and a spirit of mutual
cooperation. On average much smarter than most potential
enemies.
Weaknesses: Unbridled idealism even when that’s unwise,
like seriously believing that dressing like a slasher makes you
fight better, and gullibility toward anyone claiming to love art
or collectivism.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 Random
Thought Table
Slug-Tech
By Steven Marsh, Pyramid Editor
Between the beginning of Star Trek: The Next Generation
and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 11 years pass. During that
time, significant technological advances are basically non-
existent; you could watch the first episodes of The Next
Generation and the last episodes of Deep Space Nine, and the
day-to-day tech is pretty much the same (barring time-travel
shenanigans, of course).
Star Wars as a franchise has a similar stagnation in
their tech, with fundamental (admittedly iconic) technology
unchanged over hundreds of years. About the only big tech-
nological advances come from asking the fundamental ques-
tion: “What if damage, but bigger?”
From the perspective of an audience and the creative
forces behind these properties, this makes total sense. World-
building and advancing a timeline is expensive and takes a
fair bit of effort, for (generally) negative payoff. The joys of
a TV series come from visiting with familiar characters and
settings, and any resources that would be devoted to making
the world different have a chance at alienating the audiences.
From a modern perspective, this is weird. Technology
since the modern era has advanced at a rapid clip. Consider
that – if we stretch backward the 11 years of the Next
Generation/DS9 timeline to our own reality – you’re looking
at a world either before or in the earliest days of the iPad,
3D printing, voice-command (such as Alexa and Siri), and
cryptocurrency. Whether or not these are all good advances
(rants supplied on request), the fact is that these have all
changed the world in ways big and small. If you had a story
set in 2008 and a sequel set today, the latter could have
someone using voice-commands on their tablet computer to
pause their 3D printer so they can check on their crypto-
currency . . . and it would be near-incomprehensible if that
story dropped in a 2008 person’s lap.
The past decade or so has seemed – to your humble edi-
tor’s eyes – a relatively tame one, at least as far as technol-
ogy and innovations. Compare (say) 1979’s tech with 1990’s
tech, or any random bit of kit from 1987 with a Windows
98 machine hooked up to the Internet, and it truly feels
like a decade is a long time for tech to remain stagnant in
a fictional setting. Computers, ATMs, soft contact lenses,
Pyramid Magazine 48
laser eye surgery, cell phones, print-on-demand tech-
nology . . . (Is it too self-serving to say how cool it is that
the GURPS On Demand program – sjgames.com/gurps/
ondemand – exists? As someone who scrambled too often to
find out-of-print books to build my library in the 1990s, the
ability to get them at the click of a mouse would blow my
young-adult mind . . .)
Yet futuristic settings tend to get stuck in the mud, and
multiple decades can pass without any seemingly meaning-
ful innovations or tech that affects day-to-day folks.
Normally this would be the time when we’d take the
opportunity to encourage futuristic gaming tables to advance
technology to be as weird and innovative as their real-world
modern-ish counterparts. Instead, let’s look at some ways we
can make this stagnation make sense.
The Frontier Is Here
Many science-fiction settings take place in what one
would think of as “the frontier,” exploring worlds in the far
reaches of known space. One reason that innovation might
be kept to a minimum in such circumstances is that going
with what is known reduces the chances of problems com-
ing from tech that hasn’t remained in use for a long time.
Those who are in a tin can flying to another star probably
doesn’t want to trust their lives to the 24th-century equiva-
lent of Microsoft Bob.
Similarly, tested technology has a lot easier chance at
being understood and mendable by folks in limited situa-
tions. Sure, flip-switch tech may seem antiquated, but it’s
a lot easier to kludge a fix using multi-purpose wires and
spare parts than needing to replace an entire one-piece
touch-screen digitizer panel when it dies, taking all controls
with it.
In this case, it might be assumed that technology is
advancing . . . just not where the heroes are. This can open
some interesting gaming possibilities when the explorers are
reunited with the world they left behind. At the end of a five-
year journey, “home” could have new forms of tech, enter-
tainment, and ways of engagement.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Space Is – Like – Really,
Really Big
Another element that can hamper innovation is the
scope of the universe itself. Getting tech from place to
place is hard, and what is common or popular in one
place may be nothing more than a myth or unrealizable
promise in another. Even on our own planet, a huge dis-
crepancy exists in the various technological advances in
common use among different countries – or even regions
within a country.
This can be especially true if technology need other
innovations that are unrealized or unrealizable elsewhere.
As an example, on Earth many rely on GPS technology
every day . . . especially those of us who are terrible at
directions and yet insist on driving, to our spouses’ terrified
chagrin. Speaking hypothetically. However, GPS technology
is only possible because of the existence of orbital satellites
doing the heavy lifting of providing that data; a GPS device
taken to another planet will not work.
Thus, different technology could exist in different parts
of the galaxy, but the underpinnings that allow tech in one
region to work don’t exist in the rest of the cosmos. Maybe
this planet alone (so far) has a stable-enough tappable geo-
thermal system to provide the cool self-flight rigs that every-
one on the world uses. Or perhaps this sector of space is the
only one that has the ultra-high-frequency FTL communica-
tion network installed throughout its boundaries that allows
for instantaneous information transmission. Such pockets of
increased tech can provide a change of pace for travelers (and
players), while ensuring that the rest of the cosmos remains
the easily accessible universe that the gaming table is looking
Pyramid Magazine 49
Out With the Old . . .
One aspect that often comes with new technology is
the jettisoning of old equipment in the process. Although
perhaps not as frequent as the arrival of innovations, the
phasing out of old tech is common enough that it’s quite
likely most readers have memory of something that’s
gone to the wayside. (See Data Birth, from Pyramid #4/5:
Modern/Action II, as one example of this in action.) Thus,
another way to emphasize the progression of time is for
heroes to return to a society after being away and having
others comment on gear they’re using: “Wow, a stand-
alone scanner? I haven’t seen one of those in a few years;
we just use an app-chip on our comdev . . .”
for. However, the GM who wishes to reign in such advanced
tech can add a bit of realism by showing why the cutting edge
of science can sometimes make you bleed, with scenarios that
highlight the challenges that prevent the nifty equipment from
becoming more widespread.
Example: As it turns out, the FTL communication network
is fundamentally unstable after a few years. The PCs arrive just
as that sector goes off the grid and while the system’s scientists
are struggling to revert to earlier, less-complex technology.
This means that these pockets of new technology can
provide two opportunities for gaming adventure: one as the
heroes get to play with awesome new tech, and a follow-up
as they get to deal with the repercussions of that once-consid-
ered-awesome tech.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
The Future Is Here
but Invisible
As another possibility, maybe there is technological
improvement, but it’s not immediately obvious or noteworthy
(to folks in the universe). For example, automobile technol-
ogy has been largely unchanged at its foundational roots for
the past few decades; a driver from 1982 could get behind the
wheel of a 2022 gas-powered car and drive away without too
many issues. However, much of the underlying technology
is different enough that it’s truly revolutionary: improved
safety, increased crash resistance, higher efficiency, and
super-tech computers that chart what’s wrong. Similarly, in
the modern world, if computer encryption advances from
64-bit to 256-bit, or compression technology means that a
video that would take 64 gigabytes only takes four, that’s
huge for their respective industries but basically invisible for
end users.
Conceivably, plenty of technological innovations happen
behind the scenes, which don’t affect the PCs in any mean-
ingful way. From a game perspective, who cares if the laser
sword needs to be recharged every 12 weeks instead of every
To Everything,
There Is a Season
This article assumes a cosmos where tech is
“neglected” due to inertia or oversight from the devel-
opers (or GM). However, it’s entirely possible that such
lack-of-motivation is intentional – or, at least, part of
the larger story of society or the world that the GM is
trying to craft. For example, maybe the GM wants to
describe a cycle of innovation, refinement, adaption,
and stagnation in the cosmos, and humanity is just
between stages at the time of the campaign.
GURPS Future History is particularly invalu-
able to chart out the implications of such decisions
and outlooks, especially its section on Cycles (Future
History, pp. 21-24).
Scale Appropriately
This article speaks in broad strokes of the “cos-
mos,” other worlds, the galaxy, etc. This is because
some of the most common and popular examples of
seemingly stagnant technology come from long-run-
ning settings that are decidedly larger and higher-tech
in scope.
However, everything discussed here can be applied
to smaller scales as well. A near-future campaign
that focuses just on this solar system – or even just
on Earth – can find itself with seemingly unchanging
tech for a long span. In fact, it may even be easier
to regress in some ways – right now, we’re a long way
from the era of folks traipsing around on the moon.
Pyramid Magazine 50
three? Yet such would be huge for those who regularly use
them in the setting.
Include these invisible innovations in a campaign by
casually mentioning them. If adventure sessions start with a
“news from the setting” segment (a technique I wholeheart-
edly endorse), make note that a significant flaw was patched
in the FTL software most ships use, and routes using a
quad-vector pass-by are now about 11% more efficient than
they were previously. Or an innovation in space paint allows
for greater variety in color and reflectivity for new paint
jobs. Maybe the AI that directs personal reminders has been
improved to automatically codify its notifications in a way
that front-loads the most-essential notices, or gives them
greater authority. Again, these would all be neat for day-to-
day folks in the setting, but would have next-to-no effect on
the campaign.
And yet, enterprising players might make use of them! If
the GM casually mentions that encryption techniques were
upgraded on modern vessels to prevent a form of remote
access, then a group who encounters an abandoned ship
might wonder if that old vulnerability still exists and they
can exploit to gain access. Let them! It’s a great way to pro-
vide temporary bonuses to skill rolls, make the setting come
alive, and encourage the players to interact and pay attention.
The End of Science
It’s also possible that innovation is just . . . impossible.
That is, the advances that have been made are the end of
the road as far as science goes in the setting, at least for
big developments. This is most likely due to limitations of
the universe itself. For example, for a while it seemed like
Moore’s law – the observation that the number of transis-
tors in a chip seemed to double every two years – was an
immutable fact of the universe. However, in recent years,
this progress has slowed, and there’s discussion about
a future where Moore’s law just doesn’t apply. When sub-
atomic particles are just too chunky to squeeze any faster
through bits of magical flattened sand, the end of the road
might be near.
In a specific campaign, maybe there haven’t been any
improvements to hyperspace speeds or weapon-penetrative
abilities because they’re as good as they can get – at least,
in that area of progress. On Earth, we’ve had countless
millennia, and we still haven’t come up with a day-to-day
replacement for the wheel, because it’s about as efficient and
practical as the laws of physics will allow.
Of course, science has thought it hit dead ends in the past.
Perhaps innovators (and the GM) could come up with some
significant improvement or development that shakes up the
universe. The setting’s “next generation” may have innova-
tions and technology that the current one can’t even fathom.
About the Editor
Steven Marsh is a freelance writer and editor. He has con-
tributed to roleplaying game releases from Green Ronin, West
End Games, White Wolf, Hogshead Publishing, and others.
He has been editing Pyramid for almost 20 years; during that
time, he has won four Origins awards. He lives in Indiana with
his wife, Nikola Vrtis, and their son.
Sci-Fi/Tech II
 About the
Authors
Jason Brick is a freelance writer whose 30-year gam- teamed up with the same author for the Olan-Pok Quintology
ing habit has included all four versions of GURPS, plus for Gaming Ballistic. He’s been featured in the anthologies
countless other systems. His work can be found in maga- Spring Forward Fall Back, Upon a Thrice Time, and Ride the
zines worldwide. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, mar- Star Wind, and in the magazines Bleed Error, Underbelly,
tial arts, and time with his family. Read more at his blog, and The End is Nigh. He was also webmaster of The Wraith
writelikehell.com. Project. A former guest of Dubai and South Korea, he cur-
Rory Fansler (also known as “refplace”) started roleplaying rently resides in Lansing, Michigan, with a cat and enough
games with the original boxed set of Dungeons & Dragons Lego bricks to assemble a Great Old One. Hopefully it will not
and enjoys a variety of genres and making up worlds to play come to that . . .
in. He favors kitchen sink campaigns and a system that lets Matt Wehmeier was inspired to write Palyatnik by the real-
you fine tune it to your needs, so naturally GURPS is his favor- life abandoned Soviet mining colony of Pyramiden in Svalbard,
ite RPG! He also has a blog aimed at assisting and attracting Norway. An experienced traveler of the infinite worlds, he
GURPS newcomers at refplace.blogspot.com. holds degrees from Carthage College and the University of
Phil Masters is the author of numerous GURPS books, Chicago. His counterpart on Homeline is a senior analyst at
including the Fourth Edition GURPS Steampunk series and Infinity specializing in Western and Central European com-
the Discworld Roleplaying Game, as well as of many books parative politics.
for other games and a roleplaying game of his own creation,
The Small Folk, which can be found at warehouse23.com/
products/the-small-folk. He has more works coming from
Steve Jackson Games and Pelgrane Press, among others, in
the near future.
Simon Proctor has been an avid role player ever since his
mother got him Dungeons & Dragons for his eighth birth-
day. He’s been a fan of GURPS since he first played Man to
Man in school and has used it to run many different games
across many different genres. These days he’s a web developer
and father living in Scotland and trying to find time to run yet
more games.
Sean Punch set out to become a particle physicist in 1985
and ended up as GURPS Line Editor in 1995. In that capacity,
he has written, edited, or contributed to hundreds of GURPS
releases, revised the game into its fourth edition (2004),
and been a regular contributor to Pyramid magazine. From
2008, he has served as lead creator of the GURPS Action and
GURPS Dungeon Fantasy series; work on the latter led to his
design of the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, released
in 2017. Sean has been a gamer since 1979, but devotes most
of his spare time to Argentine tango. He lives in Montréal,
Québec with son amour, Geneviève.
Matt Riggsby is trained in anthropology and archaeology
and, like the rest of his generation, has a job in computers. He
works for an international healthcare IT company and lives
with his lovely and talented wife, an above-average child, and
a pack of dogs.
J. Edward Tremlett (a.k.a. the Lurker in Lansing) has had
some interesting times. In addition to his numerous credits at
Pyramid Magazine, he co-wrote GURPS Horror: Beyond the
Pale with Christopher R. Rice for Steve Jackson Games, and

Pyramid Magazine 51 Sci-Fi/Tech II

 About GURPS
Steve Jackson Games is committed to full sup-
port of GURPS players. We can be reached by email:
info@sjgames.com. Our address is SJ Games, P.O. Box
18957, Austin, TX 78760. Resources include:
New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to
grow – see what’s new at gurps.sjgames.com.
Warehouse 23. Our online store offers GURPS print
items, plus PDFs of our books, supplements, adventures,
play aids, and support . . . including exclusive mate-
rial available only on Warehouse 23! Just head over to
warehouse23.com.
Internet. To discuss GURPS with our staff and your
fellow gamers, visit our forums at forums.sjgames.com.
You can also join us at facebook.com/sjgames or
twitter.com/sjgames. Share your brief campaign teasers
with #GURPShook on Twitter. Or explore that hashtag for
ideas to add to your own game! The Pyramid web page is
pyramid.sjgames.com.
Store Finder (storefinder.sjgames.com): Discover
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finding more of what you love! We’ve added them to many
GURPS book web pages with links to help you find the
next perfect element for your game.
Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but
we do our best to fix our errors. Errata pages for GURPS
releases are available at sjgames.com/errata/gurps.
Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the
GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that
begin with B refer to that book, not this one.

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Pyramid Magazine 52 Sci-Fi/Tech II