GURPS Books That Weren't - GURPS Difference Engine

I re-read The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. I first picked it up when it was new, because of the authors. I'm reminded of its connection to GURPS.



At one point, it was going to be a GURPS book. I can't lay hands on any of the notices for it, but Roleplayer magazine had at least one. "Coming soon!"

It never came.

The story is, the author died before the book could be completed. I think Matt Riggsby knows more of the story than I do, and I'm sure Sean Punch does (but why bother him, this isn't an investigative piece on GURPS history.)

It wasn't passed on to another author to complete. That makes me think the m.s. wasn't recovered or wasn't far along enough, but I'll admit right now I don't know.

Years later we got the excellent GURPS Steampunk by Bill Stoddard, who is such an O.G. of gaming that he's mentioned in Playing at the World.

It's a very cool book, though, and it makes a great introduction to the idea of Steampunk and potentially a good, gameable world. It has a lot of color and flavor to it, too, especially the gear. It makes me want to play some kind of 19th century strange-tech campaign, even if not "steampunk" as it is now. Still, it's the kind of fiction you can use in a gameable way, and it's sad that it didn't come along as a predecessor to GURPS Steampunk and has such a sad event tied to its name.