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GURPS Space

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This is the main hub page for Category:Space
It serves as an umbrella for the sub categories Spaceships, Spaceship Components, and Spaceships (series)
GURPS Space cover

GURPS Space (2006) is the toolkit for building strange new worlds and alien civilizations as well as providing campaign-planning advice and space science.

Chapter 1 - Space[]

The scope and range of a space campaign.

Chapter 2 - Space Travel[]

Traveling through space involves a ship. Options on how it maneuvers and travels through space are detailed here.

Chapter 3 - Technology[]

There is more to traveling space then just one's ship. There is the Biotechnology; Computers and Communications, Nanotechnology, Transportation, as well as Weapons and Defenses to worry about.

Chapter 4 - Basic Worldbuilding[]

The steps on how to create an alien world for your travelers to encounter.

World Design Stuff[]

World Types[]

This is what the simple world types translate to in the advanced system.[1]

World Types Planet Types
Earthlike Standard (Garden), Standard (Ocean), Large (Garden), and Large (Ocean) worlds.
Gas Giants Gas Giant worlds.
Hostile Terrestrial Standard (Ammonia), Standard (Greenhouse), Large (Ammonia), and Large (Greenhouse) worlds.
Ice Dwarfs Tiny (Ice) worlds.
Ice Worlds Small (Hadean), Small (Ice), Standard (Hadean), Standard (Ice), and Large (Ice) worlds.
Rock Worlds Asteroid Belt, Tiny (Rock), Tiny (Sulfur), Small (Rock), Standard (Chthonian), and Large (Chthonian) worlds

Atmospheric Pressure[]

Relationship between Atmospheric Pressure and world type[2]

Atmospheric Pressure World Type
None Asteroid Belt, Tiny (Ice), Tiny (Rock), Tiny (Sulfur), Small (Hadean), and Standard (Hadean) Worlds
Trace Small (Rock), Standard (Chthonian), and Large (Chthonian) Worlds: All of
All others Pressure Factors Table

Chapter 5 - Advanced Worldbuilding[]

How to create solar systems for your travelers to encounter.

Generating Star Systems[]

This stellar classification table will help GMs on color of the star, how viable life evolved on its own for planets around such stars. Each Class has its own subcategories with Sol being a G2V or a "yellow dwarf". When compared to the actual universe the star system is reasonably accurate. Classes L, T, and Y are technically not stars as no nuclear fusion occurs within them and the same is true of Class D (White Dwarfs). Classes C and M are special case classes of other stars.

Class Effective temperature Chromaticity Stellar Mass Main Sequence in years Fate Remnants % of all Main Sequence Stars
W ≥ 30,000 K Blue ≥ 16 M☉ Supernova neutron star or black hole included in Class O
O ≥ 30,000 K Blue ≥ 16 M☉ ~10 million Supernova neutron star or black hole ~0.00003%
B 10,000–30,000 K blue white 2.1–16 M☉ ~100 million Supernova neutron star or black hole 0.13%
A 7,500–10,000 K White to Blue White 1.4–2.1 M☉ ~1 billion neutron star or black hole 0.6%
F 6,000–7,500 K Yellow White to white 1.04–1.4 M☉ ~5 billion White Dwarf 3%
G 5,200–6,000 K Yellow to Yellowish White 0.8–1.04 M☉ ~10 billion Red Giant then Starlar shedding White Dwarf then Black Dwarf 7.6%
K 3,700–5,200 K Light Orange to Pale Yellow Orange 0.45–0.8 M☉ ~50 billion 12.1%
M 2,400–3,700 K Orange Red
Light Orange Red 		0.08 to 0.6 ~100 billion 76.45%

Generating World Details[]

World Type[note 1] Definition Subtypes
Tiny Worlds cannot retain a significant atmosphere (Ice), (Rock), (Sulfur)
Small Worlds has atmosphere but cannot retain water vapor): (Hadean), (Ice), (Rock)
Standard Worlds large enough to retain water vapor in its atmosphere (Hadean), (Ammonia), (Ice), (Ocean), (Garden), (Greenhouse), (Chthonian)
Large Worlds large enough to retain helium gas (and possibly even some hydrogen) in its atmosphere (Ammonia), (Ice), (Ocean), (Garden), (Greenhouse), (Chthonian)
Special Does not fit into any above catagory Asteroid Belt, Gas Giant

The Sol System[]

Summery of the box on page 124 of GURPS Space

Orbit Name Orbital radius diameter Density Mass Blackbody
temperature 		world type Major moons
1 Mercury 0.39 AU 3,900 miles 0.98 0.055 445 K Tiny (Rock) None
2 Venus 0.72 AU 7,500 miles 0.95 0.82 328 K Standard (Greenhouse) None
3 Earth 1.0 AU 7,900 miles 1.00 1.00 278 K Standard (Garden) Luna – Tiny (Rock)
4 Mars 1.5 AU 4,200 miles 0.71 0.11 225 K Small (Rock) None; 2 moonlets
5 Asteroid Belt 2.7 AU NA NA NA NA Asteroid Belt NA
6 Jupiter 5.2 AU 89,000 miles 0.24 320 122 K Medium Gas Giant Io – Tiny (Sulfur)
Europa – Tiny (Ice)
Ganymede – Tiny (Ice)
Callisto – Tiny (Ice)
7 Saturn 9.5 AU 75,000 miles 0.13 95 90 K Small Gas Giant Titan – Small (Ice)
8 Uranus 19 AU 32,000 miles 0.24 14 64 K Small Gas Giant None
9 Neptune 30 AU 31,000 miles 0.32 17 51 K Small Gas Giant Triton – Tiny (Ice)

Chapter 6 - Alien Life and Alien Minds[]

Outlines creating alien life and cultures as well on how to design the aliens, their environment, and ecology so it makes some degree of sense.

Has a subsection called "Other Chemistries" where life based on something other then carbon are presented:

  • Hydrogen replaces carbon
  • Ammonia replaces Water; -108° Fahrenheit (-78° C) and -27° F (-33° C)
  • Hydrocarbon life
  • Silicon and Silicones
    • Oxygen respiration is barely possible for silicate or silicone life and so it will tend to form in areas where other materials can replace oxygen: 300° F for sulfuric acid/silicon creatures, 500° F for silicon/liquid sulfur organisms, and 2500° F or higher for silicon/liquid rock beings.
  • Sulfur-Based Life
  • Non-Chemical Life
    • Life that doesn't require chemical reactions. The examples given are plasma and magnetic life.[note 2].

Chapter 7 - Future and Alien Civilizations[]

The culture and governments of the setting.

Chapter 8 - Adventures[]

  • The Hook, Goals, Obstacles

Chapter 9 - Characters[]

  • Character Concepts: Astronauts, Space Knights, Tramp Freighters and Merchant Princes, Modified Human.
  • Advantages, Disadvantages, and Skills.
  • Character Templates: Astronaut, Bounty Hunter, Colonist, Con Man, Detective, Doctor, Explorer, Scientist, Secret Agent, Security Officer, Soldier, Space Knight, Space Worker, Technician, and Thief

Notes[]

  • Sadly because it is based on energy used/population there is no relationship between the real world Kardashev Scale and GURPS TL. In fact, there are problems with the Kardashev Scale in that a civilization that runs itself off the energy of a real world AA battery could make a K3 civilization look like the work of a caveman.[3]
  1. ↑ GURPS Space came out in 2006, the same year the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified minor planets and comets as dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies (SSSBs)
  2. ↑ Interestingly the concept of crystalline life (aka Andromeda Strain) is not touched on nor is the exotic form of life seen in Dragon's Egg

Additional Material[]

Classic[]

Pyramid Articles[]

GURPS 4e[]

Programs[]

Videos[]

Isaac Arthur channel[]

Miscellaneous[]

Webpages[]

References[]

  1. ↑ Space p. 75
  2. ↑ Space p. 86-87
  3. ↑ The Kardashev Scale (Music Included)
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