GURPS Cyberpunk
Encyclopedia
GURPS Cyberpunk is a genre toolkit for cyberpunk
-themed role-playing game
s set in
a near-future dystopia
, such as that envisioned by William Gibson
in his influential novel Neuromancer
. The main sourcebook
for the line (ISBN 1-55634-168-7) was written by Loyd Blankenship
and published
by Steve Jackson Games
in 1990, as a part of the extensive (3rd-edition) GURPS
generic role-playing game system
.
In 1993, GURPS Cyberpunk Adventures — a collection of three RPG scenarios in the GURPS Cyberpunk line — won the Origins Award
for Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1992.
of common 'cyberpunk terms', an index, and a 2-page bibliography
listing relevant books, short stories
, comic book
s, graphic novel
s, magazine
s, electronic newsletters, movies
and television
titles.
Characters : This chapter describes some of the most common character
types (netrunner, corp(orate), cop
, celebrity
, to name a few) and their typical skills, advantages, and disadvantages. It also provides a guideline about how much money a given job might bring or cost.
Cyberwear : Rules for and descriptions of bionic enhancements such as cyberlimbs, weapon implant
s, biomonitors, gill
s, various sense
organ
s, mental implants, or neural-interface implants.
Technology & Equipment : Lists many sorts of (slightly) futuristic gadgets such as power cells, weapons, armor, communicators, vehicles, tools, security systems, medical science, drugs, and others.
Netrunning : The longest in the book, it details rules for realistic computer network
s as well as fantastic cyberspace
s accessible only through a neural interface. It describes what types of system can be found in the Net and how the characters can act (and fight) there.
World Design : Gives guidelines for designing your own cyberpunk world.
Campaigning : Helps the Gamemaster
in running a longer series of adventures.
headquarters of Steve Jackson Games was raided by the U.S. Secret Service
in 1990. The authorities seized the manuscript for the sourcebook, which was under development at the time, asserting that it was a "handbook for computer crime". This raid is often attributed to Operation Sundevil
, a nation-wide crackdown on ‘illegal computer hacking activities’, although SJ Games and the EFF
claim otherwise.
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
-themed role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s set in
Setting (fiction)
In fiction, setting includes the time, location, and everything in which a story takes place, and initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. Setting has been referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may...
a near-future dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
, such as that envisioned by William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
in his influential novel Neuromancer
Neuromancer
Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, a seminal work in the cyberpunk genre and the first winner of the science-fiction "triple crown" — the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It was Gibson's debut novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy...
. The main sourcebook
Sourcebook
The term sourcebook is used to describe many different kinds of books such as collections of core articles , bibliographies, biographies, printed archival sources, directories and so on...
for the line (ISBN 1-55634-168-7) was written by Loyd Blankenship
Loyd Blankenship
Loyd Blankenship has been a well-known American computer hacker and writer since the 1970s, when he was a member of the hacker groups Extasyy Elite and Legion of Doom....
and published
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
by Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games
Steve Jackson Games is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.-History:...
in 1990, as a part of the extensive (3rd-edition) GURPS
GURPS
The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
generic role-playing game system
Generic role-playing game system
A generic role-playing game system or universal role-playing game system is a role-playing game system designed to be independent of setting and genre...
.
In 1993, GURPS Cyberpunk Adventures — a collection of three RPG scenarios in the GURPS Cyberpunk line — won the Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1992.
The sourcebook
Besides the main chapters detailed below, GURPS Cyberpunk contains a 1-page glossaryGlossary
A glossary, also known as an idioticon, vocabulary, or clavis, is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms...
of common 'cyberpunk terms', an index, and a 2-page bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
listing relevant books, short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s, magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s, electronic newsletters, movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
titles.
Characters : This chapter describes some of the most common character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
types (netrunner, corp(orate), cop
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
, celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
, to name a few) and their typical skills, advantages, and disadvantages. It also provides a guideline about how much money a given job might bring or cost.
Cyberwear : Rules for and descriptions of bionic enhancements such as cyberlimbs, weapon implant
Implant
Implant can refer to:*Implant , or specifically:**Brain implant**Breast implant**Buttock implant**Cochlear implant**Contraceptive implant**Dental implant**Mini dental implant**Extraocular implant**Fetal tissue implant...
s, biomonitors, gill
Gill
A gill is a respiratory organ found in many aquatic organisms that extracts dissolved oxygen from water, afterward excreting carbon dioxide. The gills of some species such as hermit crabs have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are kept moist...
s, various sense
Sense
Senses are physiological capacities of organisms that provide inputs for perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception...
organ
Organ (anatomy)
In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in structural unit to serve a common function. Usually there is a main tissue and sporadic tissues . The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic are...
s, mental implants, or neural-interface implants.
Technology & Equipment : Lists many sorts of (slightly) futuristic gadgets such as power cells, weapons, armor, communicators, vehicles, tools, security systems, medical science, drugs, and others.
Netrunning : The longest in the book, it details rules for realistic computer network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
s as well as fantastic cyberspace
Cyberspace
Cyberspace is the electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place.The term "cyberspace" was first used by the cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, though the concept was described somewhat earlier, for example in the Vernor Vinge short story "True...
s accessible only through a neural interface. It describes what types of system can be found in the Net and how the characters can act (and fight) there.
World Design : Gives guidelines for designing your own cyberpunk world.
Campaigning : Helps the Gamemaster
Gamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
in running a longer series of adventures.
“The book that was seized by the U.S. Secret Service”
GURPS Cyberpunk received notoriety when the AustinAustin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
headquarters of Steve Jackson Games was raided by the U.S. Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
in 1990. The authorities seized the manuscript for the sourcebook, which was under development at the time, asserting that it was a "handbook for computer crime". This raid is often attributed to Operation Sundevil
Operation Sundevil
Operation Sundevil was a 1990 nation-wide United States Secret Service crackdown on "illegal computer hacking activities." It involved raids in approximately fifteen different cities and resulted in three arrests and the confiscation of computers, the contents of electronic bulletin board systems ,...
, a nation-wide crackdown on ‘illegal computer hacking activities’, although SJ Games and the EFF
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
claim otherwise.
External links
- Official GURPS Cyberpunk page on the SJ Games website
- SJ Games vs. the Secret Service from Steve Jackson Games website
- EFF: Steve Jackson Games v. Secret Service Case Archive
- Steve Jackson Games case decision
- On-line and Out-of-Bounds
- Bruce Sterling GURPS
' labour lost