Transhuman Traveller

[HorusZA]

The Transhuman Sci-Fi genre has been getting some love with the recent release of "Eclipse Phase". There are a bunch of similar themed games in the works (Diaspora and Mindjammers).
I'm wondering what the appeal of a Transhuman Traveller game would be: nanotech, cortical stacks, mind-emulation, bioroids & infomorphs, relativity-constrained torchships, Rogue AI's, etc.
I think the core Traveller mechanics would cope quite well, but the Careers and associated events would need a makeover, as would many of the base assumptions about technology and starships. Could be an interesting exercise...

 

[Bygoneyrs]

This kinda of thing would become a Alternate resource book in my view but I feel it should be done.

Penn

 

[djd]

I guess this would fit with a universe in the vein of Neil Asher or Iain Banks?

 

[Jame Rowe]

Traveller Transhumanity should really take off at about TTL 11 or 12, because that's when that level of modification should become cheap.

 

[Travellingdave]

I would LOVE to see a Transhuman sourcebook for MGT. I think the game mechanics could handle it w/o a problem and it would give a great opportunity to create an alternative career system that is far less rigid than the current one.

I will say that MGT has already dipped its toe into the Transhuman stream ... just a bit. The write ups of Neumann and Strend in the Trojan Reach both display cultures with Transhumanist tendencies (primarily as examples of why the Imperium does not pursue such a path). And the personal augments make it relatively easy to incorporate some aspects of the genre into the game even now. I am in MTU.

 

[EDG]

Traveller Transhumanity should really take off at about TTL 11 or 12, because that's when that level of modification should become cheap.

More to the point, any TL above that should be ridiculously transhuman. A TL 15 society should be pretty close to Singularity from our perspective... except for the fact that the Charted Space setting has deliberately stunted the effect of technology on society because the intent is for humans to "remain human" no matter what the level of technology is.

IIRC T5 mentions something about this, but at the same time wildly misses the point of what a technological singularity is.

 

[zanwot]

This is one of my major disapointments with MGT. The whole thing would need a makover, including basic rules, I believe.
The setting however, on the contrary to what one could think, would not be that hard to adapt as the limitation of jumptravel would make the overall structure of the 3rd imperium still valid. But still alot to do. One would need new UWP codes to take account of new possibilities.

I will say that MGT has already dipped its toe into the Transhuman stream ... just a bit. The write ups of Neumann and Strend in the Trojan Reach both display cultures with Transhumanist tendencies

Arr, now I really DO have to buy the Aslan/Trojan reaches book.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

The modular nature of Traveller means you don't need to makeover the entire rulebook, just put out a transhuman sourcebook. The core book is pretty much meant to be "the future of the 70s", much like Cyberpunk was "the future of the 80s"

And I've been reading the Eclipse Phase rulebook - it's pretty damned good so far!

 

[omegar]

The modular nature of Traveller means you don't need to makeover the entire rulebook, just put out a transhuman sourcebook. The core book is pretty much meant to be "the future of the 70s", much like Cyberpunk was "the future of the 80s"

And I've been reading the Eclipse Phase rulebook - it's pretty damned good so far!

Transhumanism was "the future of the 90's"......

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

So what is "The Future of the Aughties"? - Apocolyptica?

 

[alex_greene]

De-evolution.

 

[EDG]

So what is "The Future of the Aughties"? - Apocolyptica?

I don't see why Transhumanism is just the "future of the 90s" - it's still going strong today.

 

[Infojunky]

Traveller has always had Post-Human elements.

There has been quite a bit discussion about crossing over Traveller and Transhuman Space on both the Gurps forums and the Transhuman list. In a lot of ways it is a very workable fusion.

MgT has given a good working baseline for some of the elements. Others one could lift from other sources without much sweat.

The biggest issue I am running into is the computer rules, it's not that they are broke, it's more that they are clunky, maybe there needs to be less "rules" and more guidelines.

One of the nice things in MgT is the lack of hard and fast construction rules, so one is freer to create what feels right without that certain orthodoxy....

 

[EDG]

Traveller has always had Post-Human elements.

Where? I'm not aware of any (sure, there's been Ancient genetic engineering but it's pretty basic. I think the only mention of any transhumanism was in TNE, with the AI Virus and the Solomani Ubermenchen)

 

[alex_greene]

I heartily recommend that anyone interested in the concept first give Olaf Stapledon's books a look through. In particular "Odd John" and "Sirius." You might also wish to read "Last and first Men" and "Star Maker," too, for the joy of it.

I'd also recommend that you look at John Wyndham's "Chocky," "The Midwich Cuckoos" and "The Chrysalids" for stories where people who are ever so slightly different are treated in an all too human world.

A note of caution. Once you've read "Odd John," I doubt you'll think much about transhumanism again. Either that, or you'll be determined to advocate its cause but with a far more ... ethical ... manifestation.

 

[EDG]

A note of caution. Once you've read "Odd John," I doubt you'll think much about transhumanism again. Either that, or you'll be determined to advocate its cause but with a far more ... ethical ... manifestation.

People can interpret transhumanism in unethical ways (creating "superior beings" while wiping out others who are viewed as "imperfect", to coin one historical example), but there's nothing inherently unethical about transhumanism itself. Ideally transhumanism is about giving the same benefits to everyone, and allowing every human to go beyond their limits.

 

[Jame Rowe]

A note of caution. Once you've read "Odd John," I doubt you'll think much about transhumanism again. Either that, or you'll be determined to advocate its cause but with a far more ... ethical ... manifestation.

People can interpret transhumanism in unethical ways (creating "superior beings" while wiping out others who are viewed as "imperfect", to coin one historical example), but there's nothing inherently unethical about transhumanism itself. Ideally transhumanism is about giving the same benefits to everyone, and allowing every human to go beyond their limits.

There will always be those who don't wish to take part of it, or wish to take only parts of it (I myself would use biotech, not cybertech, to make myself smarter, healthier and more physically fit, but do not condone uploading human intelligence into machines - not that I'd try to stop it). So in my view there'd be those at TL 15 that a modern, TL 8 Terran could walk up to, recognize as human and try to talk to.

 

[Gee4orce]

I picked up the Eclipse Phase PDF. If you've got even the slightest interest in Transhumanist games then you should grab it too, it's going cheap. It's more readable than GURPS Transhuman Space, and has lovely artwork. Nice background setting too (AI's that rapidly reach singularity, create space portals, and vanish taking most of 'uploaded' humanity with them).

That said, I think some of the basic Transhuman premises are silly*, and the game system is clunky **

I'd love to see a good Transhuman sourcebook for Traveller. Or rather, a book that covered the high tech societies ('Fifth Wave' in THS terms). I think anybody from a high tech world is going to have neural implants as a matter of course, and high tech societies will be heavily dependent VR and AR tech.

The good news is that I don't think anything in MGT would be broken - I think the system can happily handle this kind of tech.


* I think consciousness is a product of quantum phenomena, so I don't think it'd ever be easy to do a brain 'backup'. I also don't think that 95% percent of humans would readily accept the idea of separating their Ego from their Morph.

** Why use a percentile system when almost everything is in 10% or 5% increments. Might as well divide by 10 and use a d10 or a d20 system. The Ego and Morph aren't as separated as I would have hoped. The choice of stats feels clunky. I prefer Traveller !!

 

[Brutorz Bill]

I picked up the Eclipse Phase PDF.

That said, I think some of the basic Transhuman premises are silly*, and the game system is clunky **

** Why use a percentile system when almost everything is in 10% or 5% increments. Might as well divide by 10 and use a d10 or a d20 system. The Ego and Morph aren't as separated as I would have hoped. The choice of stats feels clunky. I prefer Traveller !!

Thanks Gee4orce,
I was wondering about the mechanics of the Eclipse Phase setting. Sounds like I'll stick with Traveller, and to continue the thread I'd love to see a Transhuman sourcebook for Traveller!

 

[Gee4orce]

I picked up the Eclipse Phase PDF.

That said, I think some of the basic Transhuman premises are silly*, and the game system is clunky **

** Why use a percentile system when almost everything is in 10% or 5% increments. Might as well divide by 10 and use a d10 or a d20 system. The Ego and Morph aren't as separated as I would have hoped. The choice of stats feels clunky. I prefer Traveller !!

Thanks Gee4orce,
I was wondering about the mechanics of the Eclipse Phase setting. Sounds like I'll stick with Traveller, and to continue the thread I'd love to see a Transhuman sourcebook for Traveller!

Hey - don't get me wrong, I still strongly recommend you pick up the PDF (it's very cheap at the moment). My opinion of the game system is just that - my opinion. You might really like it, and to be honest I'm never satisfied with ANY RPG game engine !