The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with GURPS and Transhuman Space from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by SJ Games. The articles and art here are used in accordance with the SJ Games online fan policy. All rights reserved.

GURPS  and Transhuman Space are  registered trademarks of, and all GURPS and Transhuman Space material is copyright, Steve Jackson Games.

Transhuman Space is a "hard" sci-fi RPG setting created by David Pulver for use with GURPS. While designed for use with GURPS, it is written in such a way as to be easily used with other game systems. Aspects of the setting such as timelines, current events, and core technologies are system independent. THS presents an optimistic future of the Earth of 2100. While many of the common science fiction technologies, such as anti-gravity and faster-than-light travel, don't exist, THS presents a solar system that is interesting and complex without them. Instead THS deals with a human race that has colonized its own system and is on the threshold of becoming more than human. The field of nano scale technologies has just come to pass, and the nations of the world are trying to keep on top of the wave. Failure will result in falling behind of the other nations of Earth; success could mean social trauma. These Fifth Wave nations lead humanity in its attempt to become post-human.

In fact it is this process of transcendence that plays a key role in the flavor of the setting. Few humans in advanced nations suffer the genetic diseases of the past. Eugenically improved humans are becoming more common as parents adjust their offspring to live to a higher potential, or confining them to live a certain niche in society. Baseline humans can buy biomods to make them more capable, and hopefully able to compete with those who were born better than human. Parahumans include genetic codes from animals, making them some of the most capable and limited beings at the same time. Immortality can be achieved by stripping one's mind into a computer. These "ghosts" retain their memories and rights, but are no longer beings of the flesh. Whether or not they are even beings, or simply complex emulations, is a matter of debate. As each of the many new forms of human comes to pass, mankind is less startled at the different, and sometimes disturbing, look of these new transhumans.

Another key element of the year 2100 are beings that are sapient, but have fully been created by the efforts of mankind. Sapient Artificial Intelligences (SAIs) are computer programs that have become self aware. Bioroids are organic bodies created, usually, for a sole purpose and to be sold to someone else. To some this constitutes slavery and others simply think of them as talking tools or toys. Both suffer from being created with a disposition to "enjoy" their servitude, which some pan-sapient rights activists claim is the worst travesty of all. Their legal status varies, depending on the nation, from full citizens to property.

Not everything that glitters is gold, as they say. As always, there are rich nations and poor nations. These poorer nations, discussed in  Broken Dreams , often do not have the luxury to worry over such lofty matters as pan-sapient rights and the future of a sufficiently advanced mankind. Though the technologies of the world have filtered in various degrees to nearly every nation on Earth, these nations struggle against poverty, attempts to use them as political and corporate pawns, and issues that deal simply with survival. And all nations, rich or poor, are dealing with an Earth that has suffered environmental damage.

With a solar system containing colonized planets, countless space stations, interplanetary travel, beings that no longer consider themselves humans, humans that agree with the later, and a complex political scheme of the still balkanized Earth, Transhuman Space presents a single solar with as much flavor and adventure as any interstellar setting (and more in some cases).

The creators of this rich and fascinating setting have gone to extreme efforts to provide plausible future historical, technical, and political backgrounds for Transhuman Space. Research into population estimations, resolutions of modern day conflicts, the impact of these technologies on the lives of ordinary people and the global economy, as well as many other aspects of what it might be like in 2100. Enough detail is given to describe each region and its important issues, while allowing GMs to flesh out more details. Not only is this how I prefer my settings, but a fully detailed, combined atlas, almanac, and history book (which would be great, but enormous in scope, size, and price) is a little unreasonable. THS is now tied as my all-time favorite RPG setting, and I look forward to collecting the whole line.

If you'd like to learn more about the Transhuman Space setting, visit  the Transhuman Space Yahoo mailing list. The authors of the THS line are on there, and are very helpful in answering questions and discussing why they chose what they did in regards to THS history. Check out the THS links  provided on their site; some good stuff, Maynard.

Aaron Kavli