Gurps Ultra Tech Pdf Download
Latrina Cobbett
Transhuman Space is, to a significant extent, the setting which defined the ideas about future technology which are used in GURPS 4e, so for practical purposes, we can say that it is, very simply, a TL10 setting.
People in 2100 are looking forward to TL11, of course, and as my previous notes described, the world seems to have advanced to TL11 in some areas of biotechnology. However, that's still bleeding-edge stuff, and real TL11 skills are pretty much confined to the laboratory. Characters other than biotech researchers can be built solidly at TL10, and that's the TL to go on your campaign definitions.
There are also one or two non-biotech items appearing in TS equipment lists which are now defined to be TL11, but they're infrequent and specific enough that, rather than claiming that the setting has advanced a TL in those areas, it's much easier to redefine them as high TL10 and be done with it. In particular, diamondoid material is sometimes used, mostly in spacecraft hulls so far as I can see - though it's bloody expensive - and a few spacecraft have functioning antimatter drives. But that just means there are some big tough warships around. The other thing that crosses my mind right now is surveillance dust, but that's a standalone item.
On the other hand, the TS setting appears to be retarded in personal weapons technology; basically, it's still using slug-throwers rather than lasers. David Pulver has given a setting-specific explanation for this, which I'll come back to in a later post; it's largely socio-economic, but note for now that it also suggests that small fast-release energy cells aren't as widely available in TS as Ultra-Tech may assume (which cripples personal lasers a bit).
By the above logic, with TL11 stuff developing by 2100, Transhuman Space is an Accelerated Progression setting. However, I'm not sure that it hit TL9 by 2020 or TL10 by 2050; for most purposes, it's merely Fast Progression, advanced in (parts of) biotechnology.
(There's a long-standing argument that TS assumes that one or two other things go a little faster than is physically plausible for a hard SF setting, whatever the nominal tech level; the colonisation of the outer system and the rate of terraforming of Mars are problematic for some people. But re-setting it to, say, 2150, and declaring it merely Fast Progression lurching towards Accelerated, is left as an exercise.)
To repeat - TS is essentially a mainstream "hard" TL10 setting from the GURPS viewpoint. However, simply because it does use pretty well all the non-superscience TL10 stuff, it's slipping into Radical Hard SF - which should be the theme of many "Fifth Wave" and "Deep Beyond" games. Simply by the nature of things, it can have a Cyberpunk feel in places without much distortion; on the other hand, the design decision that "dry" nanotech isn't really available (yet) stops it being a Nanotech Revolution world. The advanced biotechnology makes it a High Biotech setting of sorts, but the rate of advance isn't different enough to make this flavour especially strong - there are still many, many things which are done better by metal than by flesh.
I'd also note that, because weapons tech is somewhat retarded in TS, TL8 weapons aren't likely to be any more legal, even though they're two TLs behind the environment. When an assault pod is a standard military sidearm, an old assault rifle still looks like a serious weapon, even if it's a bit dated.
Also, TS doesn't have F cells listed. I think that function is probably largely taken by big fuel cells and high-tech engines of various sorts, but if anyone wants to introduce them, they might cost, say, $2,000 if using the old pricing structure, and store 200 kWh. (Making them equal to ten E cells bolted together, with a discount for the bulk purchase.)
Lots of handy toys here. Prices may vary from TS equivalents (where they exist), of course, but the problem doesn't seem to be too bad. In this case, TS often seems to set prices lower, though it doesn't, say, automatically include magnification capability in its high-tech optics. Ultra-Tech may allow better personal radar gear, though.
I'll be commenting on plausible weapons technology in TS when I get onto chapter six, and some of those remarks will likely also be applicable here, in the general sense that if a weapons technology isn't available, it can't be used as part of a security system.
Ah, the meat of the book ... well, for some gamers. Also the place where changed technological assumptions between Transhuman Space and the new version of Ultra-Tech become most visible, if only because we get all those detailed weapons tables to compare.
In fact, the thing that jumps out here is that the nominally TL10 Transhuman Space setting is, by Ultra-Tech standards, rather retarded in weaponry, being seemingly TL9 in most parts. However, a lot of this is down to the general inferiority of lasers and high-density power storage in the TS world, so one can link this "inferiority" to one or two not-unreasonable assumptions about the future technology. On the aesthetic side, the fact is that widespread use of lasers and other beam weapons can't help but give a game more of a space opera feel, whereas TS projectile sidearms, with their sophisticated warheads and intelligent accessories, perhaps have just the right balance of gloss and grit for the setting.
Another assumption which you can ignore or not as you please: while THS battery tech is equivalent to Ultra-Tech at TL10, its pulsed power technology (capacitors in the weapons, etc.) was set at about the TL9 technologies for UT. As such, you might want to limit those beam or gun weapons that use power cells to TL9, with TL10 beam or gun weapons either unavailable or limited to elite military units and special agents. Note that this only applies to power-cell using TL10 weapons themselves - all other gear such as warheads, accessories, etc. should probably be available at TL10.
In particular, spacer-adventurers will love lasers. (Low recoil, no ammunition issues.) The things that Changing Times derived from Deep Beyond are quite wilfully wimpish, though not quite useless; the TL10 gear in Ultra-Tech is seriously formidable by comparison, and I'd expect at least some "line" military units to be packing it if it was available. Though treating all the Changing Times gear as ultraviolet lasers might bring the damage levels more into line, albeit with improved ranges.
Obviously, ordinary sprays are perfectly feasible - as in, really just extant TL6 technology. What they spray is doubtless what's interesting. Vortex ring projectors aren't canon for TS, but they're limited enough in application that one can slot them in without too many credibility issues, and in my opinion, far too much fun to ignore. Finding a specific use for them is an exercise for GMs and PCs, but the ability to fire pulses of emetic gas could be handy.
The 100% canon cannons... The general weapons technology that TS treats as standard. Of course, as I said, details differ, and TS incorporates stuff like gun-pods and armguns which Ultra-Tech evidently doesn't buy, but one can probably explain a lot in terms of different development paths, tactical doctrines, and local preferences, and merge the two equipment lists with just a little work. I get the impression that Ultra-Tech doesn't believe in 4mm rounds, which are quite common in TS; keep them or not as you choose.
In general, I think that the broad assumptions about these technologies are quite compatible between TS and this book; however, detail assumptions about cost and weight per point of DR, various other factors, and exactly what's incorporated into various suits and such as standard, and what represents an optional extra, likely generate a lot of detail clashes and potential for confusion. One could use this stuff in place of the gear in the TS main book without breaking the setting at all, but I'd strongly recommend using either TS-books armour or UT armour, not trying to mix and match. (You'll need to convert Legality Class ratings to the 4e standard, of course.)
Basically, although TS has powered battlesuits, they really aren't as good as the TL10 models in this chapter. (See also Changing Times for 4e versions of the old book's designs.) This can be explained in terms of the previously-discussed conservative treatment of battery technology, combined with less interest from the arms manufacturers; frontline combat in TS is often handled by cybershells, not goons in suits - the suits are mostly for occasional specialists (including various kinds of special forces) and nervous officers.
And now we move onto "patching the PCs up after they've been playing with all the other toys". Given that the TS setting is wandering into TL11 in some areas of biotech (see the previous discussion of GURPS Bio-Tech), some of the more advanced stuff here may be appropriate - though as ever, I'd advise caution with that idea.
A good set of generalised rules for various things that exist in the TS world, although some of them have been superseded by less obtrusive and inconvenient "pure" biotech in most places. Visible cybernetics might constitute an Unnatural Feature in TS games. How much is practically available to PCs who want to get a bit cyberpunk is up to the GM.
Feasible technology for the TS setting, but maybe unlikely to be common. Earth and Mars orbit are busy enough that anyone evacuating a station or ship can probably look for rescue without having to hit the atmosphere in a lifepod, while military applications are limited by the lack of real stealth options.
GURPS Ultra-Tech is the sourcebook for science-fiction technology, from the near future to the farthest reaches of the imagination. It's a valuable companion to GURPS Space, GURPS Bio-Tech, and GURPS Infinite Worlds, and an exceptional resource for any character or campaign that needs technology from tomorrow . . . and beyond. GURPS Ultra-Tech is full of personal equipment for heroes and superheroes from TL9 to TL12, including:
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