Transhuman Space

Core Book

A hard science RPG set in the year 2100, Transhuman Space (THS) bills itself as "a realistic speculation on the future". There are no aliens or warp drives, and most of the action takes place within our solar system. It serves as a showcase for Transhumanist ideas, and covers a period when the human race is diverging into a "clade", or cluster of related species through genetic engineering, AI, and nanotechnology.

System

Uses the GURPS system. All major setting books are for the third edition, however extensive update documents have since been released that cover the vast majority of material.

Character Generation

The series contains templates for a variety of character types.

• Genetic Upgrades - Humans born with engineered advantages.
• Bioroids - Vat-grown lifeforms tailored for a variety of tasks.
• Mind Emulations - Ghosts, Shadows, Fragments and Eidolons.
• AIs - The humanlike SAIs, servant LAIs, and simple NAIs.
• Uplifted Animals - Dogs, apes, octopi and so on.

Spacecraft

The main book contains full rules for spacecraft design, including formulas for calculating delta-v and mass to fuel ratios. If you can design a spacecraft in THS, you can probably design one in real life.

Setting

Humanity has begun to colonize the solar system and take charge of its own evolutionary destiny. The core conflict of the setting is between the forces of Preservationism, which seek to keep the environment and human life much as they always have been, and Transhumanism, which seeks to transform both into something new. This is of course an oversimplification, and the economic conflict between the Third and Fifth Wave nations, the political conflict between the TSA and the nations whose economies rely on intellectual property, as well as religious and libertarian disagreements provides the setting with considerable depth and scope.

Genetic Engineering

People in Fifth Wave nations (the THS equivalent of the developed world) have access to genetic upgrades for their children, making them smarter, healthier, and stronger. Genetically engineered vat-grown slaves known as bioroids have been invented, but emancipated in most earthly jurisdictions. More bizarre genetic modifications are available - one of the fluff examples describes a living building, the genetically engineered son of a pair of Christian Hyperevolutionists.

Uploading

While the workings of the human mind are not still fully understood, computers are now powerful enough to simulate every molecule of a living brain in real time, allowing people to be recreated in software. These are known as Ghost Infomorphs, and can only be created by destroying the brain in question. A less impressive way to recreate a person is to copy a crude facsimile of their memories onto an AI; this is known as a Shadow. Finally, an Eidolon is similar to a Shadow but is created with only biographical data such as can be recovered from books - for example, if someone wanted to talk to Jesus or Elvis Presley they could recreate them as an Eidolon. Infomorphs have different rights in different jurisdictions; in some they are citizens, in others abominations, and in others slaves. Different types of infomorphs may also have different rights - some jurisdictions consider SAIs to be wonderful but Ghosts an abomination, while others distrust machine intelligence but are okay with Ghosts.

Robotics

Robots in THS are referred to as "cybershells", enforcing the distinction between software and hardware: The AI or Ghost is the person, the robot is just an interchangeable tool. There are a wide variety of cybershells. Soldiers use a shell that resembles a roach and is about the size of a dog; it has powerful armaments, a low profile, and can burrow. Small, cheap spider and helicopter robots (buzzbots) see frequent civilian use, and humanoid models are available. Some shells are vehicles. There are also "bioshells", living bodies with computers instead of brains. Usually these are genetically engineered clones grown without brains, but in some cases bioshells are obtained via murder, or reanimation of corpses.

Virtual Reality

Infomorphs such as ghosts can of course spend a great deal of time in virtual environments, which are entirely realistic by the 22nd century. Furthermore the majority of people spend their whole lives plugged int AR, or Augmented Reality. AR consists of spectacles, goggles or implants which project images onto your vision, allowing you to check your mail, browse the web, or talk with friends without needing a terminal. They also overlay useful information onto your field of vision, known as V-tags. V-tags might consist of signs pointing to shops and restaurants that interest you, names floating above people's heads, or flags warning you when someone you really fucking hate has been spotted in the crowd. They can be used for GPS-style navigation and a host of other uses.