Space 1889 to GURPS Conversion ------------------------------ Copyright (c) 1995 by Ken Walton CHARACTERS TECH LEVEL It is assumed that the Tech Level is TL 5, even though some of the technology is beyond present day assumptions; the technology is based on Victorian science, and is therefore assumed to be Victorian technology. New inventions (created by those with the Gadgeteer advantage) may be of a higher TL, at GMs discretion. STARTING WEALTH "Average" starting wealth for a Space 1889 campaign is 150. SOCIAL STATUS TABLE STATUS LEVEL MONTHLY COST OF STATUS 0 Working bloke 7 1 Shopowner, clergyman 25 2 Successful businessman 30 3 Industrialist 60 4 Minor titled noble 100 5 Titled noble, bishop 200 6 Distant royal family 400 7 Immediate royal family 1000 See also Victorian Job Table on p.91 of GURPS Horror, and Equipment and Services on p.92, for anything not in the Space 1889 price list. NEW ADVANTAGES (Note: GURPS Space references refer to 1st edn.) Gadgeteer 25 points See GURPS Supers p.14 and Chapter 3, pp.66-68 G-Experience 10 points See GURPS Space p.33 Improved G-Tolerence 5/10/15/20/25 points See GURPS Space p.33 3D Spacial Sense 10 points See GURPS Space p.33 NEW DISADVANTAGES G-Intolerance -10/-20 points See GURPS Space p.34 Space Sickness -10 points See GURPS Space p.34 SKILLS Engineer/TL (Mental/Hard) No default Prerequisite: Mathematics New specialities for Engineering include: Structural Engineering Explosives Naval Architecture Earthworks Mechanic/TL (Mental/Average) Defaults to IQ-5 or Engineer-4 Specialities useful in Space 1889 include: Clockwork and small gadgets Steam engine Fuel cell/electric motor Small Electric Motor Ether screw Ocean-going vessel Cloudship/Aerial flyer Piloting (aircraft type) (Physical/Average) Defaults to IQ-6 New specialities include: Aerial Flyer Cloudship Zeppelin Interplanetary Ether Flyer Riding (any type) (Physical/Average) Defaults to Animal Handling-3 or DX-5 New animals which can be specialised in include Gashant, Ruumet Breehr, Flying Skrill and Pacyosaurus. NEW SKILLS Trimsman (vessel type) (Physical/Average) Defaults to other vessel type at -2 or DX-5 Trimsman skill is the ability to maintain a liftwood vessel in proper, level trim. Liftwood vessels are held up by many individual liftwood panels, arranged much like Venetian blinds, which provide varying amounts of lift depending on their angle toward the surface of the planet. Trim is maintained by an almost constant adjustment of the individual panels and is an exacting task. As Martian and European trim controls differ considerably, Trimsmen must specialise in either cloudships or aerial flyers. WEAPONS Use tables in GURPS High Tech for weapons, rather than those in Space 1889. Weapons available include the following: Revolvers Price Collier .50 8 Colt Texas .36 2 Colt Dragoon .44 6 Colt Navy .36 3 Adams .442 4 S&W No.1 .22 2 S&W Russian .44 4 Colt SAA .45C 3 S&W Safety Hammerless .38 2 9/- Webley No.1 .455W 8 Non-Repeating Pistols Deringer .44 5 Remington Double-der. .41 2 Lancaster Howdah Pistol .500 16 Shotguns Winchester M1887 8 Muskets & Rifles Enfield 1853 .577Br 3 Martini-Henry 1871 .45Br 4 Remington Creedmoor .44-90 19 Springfield Trapdoor .45-70 4 Winchester '73 44-40Win 8 Lebel '86 8mmL 25 Sharps Big 50 .50-90 30 Machine Guns Gatling .58 40 Hotchkiss 37mm 100 Nordenfelt .45 40 Maxim .303 60 DIFFICULTY LEVELS This table translates Space 1889 difficulty levels (p.45) into GURPS skill level rolls, for the purposes of running GDW scenarios: Difficulty Skill Level Modifier Easy +2 Moderate 0 Difficult -2 Formidable -4 Impossible -8 RESEARCH AND INVENTIONS Use the Gadgeteer rules on p.66-68 of GURPS Supers. The table of Research Areas on p.81 of Space 1889 should be used for determining skills needed; ignore the first of the two figures in brackets, and convert the second figure as follows: Space 1889 research roll GURPS gadget complexity <=1 Simple Gadget 2-3 Average Gadget 4 Complex Gadget 5 Amazing Gadget