GURPS Riverworld

Contents

GURPS Riverworld is a GURPS supplement and campaign setting that describes Riverworld, a planet where every person in human history is reincarnated along the banks of an incredibly long river, as drawn from the novels of Philip José Farmer. The book describes the technology of the River Valley, the famous characters who inhabit it, their aircraft and riverboats, and the alien Ethicals who created the place. The book includes rules for mass combat and guidelines for running a campaign, plus an introductory scenario, "Resurrection Day."

GURPS Riverworld describes, as a setting in which gamemasters and players can set their adventures, the fictional world described in the novels of the Riverworld series by Philip José Farmer. This setting is an artificial planet where everyone who lived before a set date in history seems to have been resurrected.

Publication history

GURPS Riverworld was written by J.M. Caparula with Steve Jackson and Creede Lambard, with a cover by Alan Gutierrez and illustrations by Larry MacDougall, and was published by Steve Jackson Games in 1990 as a 128-page book.

Reception

Ken Rolston reviewed GURPS Riverworld for Dragon magazine #156 (April 1990). Rolston comments: "For old-time fans of the Riverworld novels, this is a fun read just for the overview of the Riverworld setting, the motivations of its creators, and the mechanics of its maintenance. But much to my surprise, I found it an interesting and plausible setting for role-playing adventure, and the GURPS game is the perfect system to support it. The access to PC and NPC personalities and cultures from all the historical periods of Earth, the problem-solving challenges of adapting and improvising in the lower technological level of Riverworld society, the opportunities for empire-building in the style of Clemens and King John, and the epic upriver quest to the Tower of the Ethicals - there's some great stuff here for a role-playing campaign."