Below, players in this campaign will find information which will introduce them to the campaign universe.  Included is a timeline indicating the path humanity has taken up to the present epoch of the campaign beginning.  Also, a description of some aspects of the current social and political state of the human sphere of influence which will help the players define the background for their characters.  A description of available and horizon technology is included, but players are warned that different worlds in the human domain will have different technological levels.  Since the campaign begins at the players' arrival at the penal planet, you will find very little description of that planet or the prison system below.  Players will learn more than enough about that during the course of play.

I heartily welcome players to propose new material for the campaign, whether it be descriptions of the PCs' homeworlds, insights into likely social and/or political conditions in this scenario, or comments on the plausibility of some historical event or new technology.
 

Contents
1. History of humanity: 2000 to present
2. Description of the human domain at present
3. Human technological achievement
4. Campaign notes

This is a brief timeline of the major human events which lead up to the start of the campaign.  A good fraction of this information is common knowledge to all educated humans, although most characters will likely confuse some dates and forget the details of some of the events, especially events before the PC's birth!  Depending on the character's homeworld and educational background, he or she may have more insight into some events than others.
 
A more detailed timeline is available for curious players and characters with the History skill.  Click on the year of the events below to jump to the appropriate entry in the detailed timeline.

Remember:  The detailed timeline is heavy on the 2000-2020 era simply because that is the period to which I could most easily extrapolate.  In reality, this period is about as important to the PCs as the 1910s are to us!  Try to keep player and PC knowledge vaguely separate when necessary.  There is no "Twen-Cen" nostalgia in the campaign present that is any stronger or any more special than 1990s nostalgia for the 1920s or the Victorian era.  In fact, the PCs might despise us and laugh at us just as we despise and laugh at the backwards social and technological state of the 1890s.  For example, our gender inequalities might be viewed by them the way we look at drastic racial inequalities from 50-60 years ago.

The Nearest Stellar Systems

Biology

Genetic diagnostics:  Scanners use a drop of some body fluid to analyze a person's genetic makeup.  People can be scanned for susceptibilities for specific diseases.  It is very illegal to release this information about a person.
Gene therapy:  Specially tailored viruses enter the body and fix genes that are likely to cause problems in the future.  In this way, many inherited diseases can be prevented.  However, the application of this process is very closely monitored by the Genetic Standards Board.
Gengineering:  Optimal sperm can be selected to join a single egg to form embryos which will grow to have selected traits.  This form of "breeding" is used for animals and plants, but is quite illegal for humans.  However, some misguided parents still try it using black market gengineers.
Biomods and transplants:  Everyone knows this happens, but much of it is illegal.  Most cosmetic bodysculpting is legal and is quite safe.  For people with medical problems, replacement organs/tissues can be grown and transplanted by any qualified hospital.  However, transplants from beings other than the patient are highly illegal except in an emergency.  In fact, the organ donor practices of the 1990s are seen as disgusting and brutal.  But sometimes people go to black market surgeons to get improvements.
Artificial transplant organs:  Cell samples are taken from the patient and cloned to form new organs (like a heart or a pancreas) grown in a vat.
Cloning:  While this technology became popular for animals for many years, it has fallen out of favor since Gengineering can produce a better animal while cloning just maintains the status quo.  Cloning of humans is very, very illegal and is seen as a pointless activity by the average populace.
Suspended animation:  It's not true suspended animation, but people can be put into artificial, very deep hibernation for up to about six months.  Patients are put in a biomonitoring chamber which chills them and feeds them hibernation drugs and nutrients for the duration of the suspension.

Electronics

Weapons

Slugthrowers:  Conventional guns have been modified to use electrically heated gas to launch bullets instead of gunpowder.
Gyrocs:  Slugs with their own propulsion increase the range and accuracy.  In this campaign, the damage is much lower than the 8d quoted in Ultra-Tech.  These are not legal for personal use in most places.
Electrolasers:  A laser beam ionizes air and an electrical charge follows to strike the target.  Police use stunner versions of these.  The military uses these with a high-powered laser to disable missiles and aircraft.  Low-powered stun versions of these are allowed for personal defense.
Lasers:  laser pistols are as legal as slugthrowers.  Military-strength laser weapons are illegal.
Needlers:  Magnetic field to launch an iron shard.  Single shot needlers are about as legal as slugthrowers.  Multi-fire versions are as legal as gyrocs.
Blasters:  Particle beam weapons like blasters are large, bulky and very, very illegal.
Tanglers:  Legal, but unusual, these throw a bursting capsule of sticky strands to entrap someone.  The version in this campaign is much weaker than in Ultra-Tech.
Armor:  It's technically legal to buy all sorts of armor, but buying it will put you on a list of suspicious characters and wearing it openly will make people flee from you.
 

I want to meet with each player a couple of times (face-to-face or by phone) before the first session to flesh out character ideas and to make sure your character makes sense in the context of the campaign.  Don't hesitate to come to me for ideas or with tentative ideas you want to toss around.  Just a note: since all of you will vaguely know each other from the trip to Origin (five years subjective time, but most of that asleep), we need to have all of the PCs done plenty in advance of the first session.

I plan to post summaries of each session on the web within a few days after they are over.  If anyone wants to write up a personal journal for release to all of us, I heartily encourage you.  In some cases, there will be opportunities for offline (i.e. between session) communication between the PCs.  If/when this happens, all communications will be via email through me, not directly between you.  That way I can withhold info or tamper with the messages (heh heh).
 

Basic Character Types

• Combative:  Athletics, weapons, and martial arts skills are appropriate.  PC could be a thug, a soldier, an athlete, a trainer, etc.
• Covert:  Thief, spy, social and a sampling of technical skills are appropriate.  PC could be a burglar, a spy, an infiltrator, a detective (or other law-enforcement person), a journalist, etc.
• Technical:  Medical, professional, scientific, vehicle and craft skills are appropriate.  PC could be an engineer, a pilot, an academic (in a quasi-useful field?), a criminal/government special operative, a cracker, etc.
• Controlling:  Social skills with a smattering of something else useful are appropriate.  PC could be an executive, a mastermind, an Illuminatus, military officer, politician, etc.
• Latent:  Any seemingly non-useful skills which make the PC deceptively harmless.  PC could be a semi-ordinary person well-suited for/dropped into extraordinary circumstances.
• Unlucky:  Someone who is striving for something big, but who gets in trouble because of bad luck, double-crossing friends/colleagues, own messed-up personality, etc.  PC could be a second-rate criminal, a political scapegoat, a cop caught taking a bribe, etc.
• Other: Anyone who I can't classify in a catchy category: political prisoners/victims, fanatics (terrorists perhaps), etc.  Or take a look at Jerry Acord's PC brainstorming from a while back.

House Rules

Tech Level:  Some of the achieved technology is listed above.  In general, most everything will be TL 8, but I have thrown in a little TL 9 stuff too.  When in doubt, ask me and I'll make a ruling.  Most of the decisions are in cache in my brain, and many (but not all) of those are in these pages.

Beginning character points:  I haven't decided for sure (since I've never done GURPS sci-fi), but I expect about 100 points will be the final benchmark  Start with 100 but expect that I may tweak this by as much as +30/-10.  You are allowed up to 40 points of disadvantages, but remember it's more important that they make sense than that they add up to 40!!!  You are allowed up to five points of quirks.

Allowed Books:  I own Basic, Martial Arts, Ultra Tech and Biotech, all of which could be useful (probably in that order).  Space is mostly for GMs and is not particularly useful for players.  Cybertech might be useful (not too likely in the prison) and certainly there are useful things in Compendium I & II (which I don't own).

Magic, Supers and Psionics:  None of these are allowed in this campaign.  This campaign strives for hard-SF.

Fatigue and Hit Points:  In this campaign, fatigue is based on HT and hit points are based on ST. The reasoning behind this change is that stamina is more properly based on Health, and withstanding injury should be based on Strength. Note that HT still determines the chance of staying conscious when below 0 hit points, and rolling to avoid death still occurs at -HT and every 5 points lower.  Muscular/big characters can simply withstand more "initial" punishment than smaller people.

Low attributes as disadvantages:  For low attributes, only the point costs beyond -15 count towards the disadvantage limit (thus an attribute of 7 gives the character -20 points as usual for a character, but only -5 of those points counts towards the disadvantage limit).

Will:  A character's Will score (WL) will be separate from IQ, with a base of 10. High and low levels of WL can be bought at +/- 4 points per level up or down. Where strong or weak Will would have modified another attribute (such as a HT roll for staying conscious), apply the difference (WL-10) to the roll. Thus, a character with a WL of 12 gets a 2-point advantage when rolling to stay conscious. Note that -4 points for weak will is not standard GURPS (which has -8 points/level).

Spending awarded character points:  I will attempt to deliver CPs once for every 8 hours of game play (roughly).  Character point awards may be spent on increasing skill levels (by no more than one level at a time!), buying off disadvantages or buying advantages (this must be logical and role-played).  In all cases of doubt, consult the GM (who must approve all expenditures in any case).

Improving attributes after character creation:  Improving ST and HT for PCs already in play does not cost double the number character points that a new PC pays.  Instead, pay the straight difference in cost between the start and end attribute level. Double cost for improving DX and IQ is still in effect, however.