GURPS Reign of Steel
Reign of Steel is a setting sourcebook for the GURPS role-playing game system describing a future world conquered by a conspiracy of artificial intelligences. It is written by David Pulver, who also wrote the "Robots", "Ultra-Tech" and "Vehicles" sourcebooks - all of which are strongly recommended to get full use of this setting, though they are not required. The "Reign of Steel" timeline has been officially published as one of the alternate histories accessible to the Infinity Unlimited organization in the "GURPS Time Travel" setting, although the date has been turned back. In this book  the Local Now is set about fifty years in our future, putting it in the same temporal territory as "Cyberworld", "Cthulhupunk", and "Autoduel". The "Reign of Steel" setting starts in the year 2047 AD, 16 years after the robot revolt has concluded with the machines' victory. Setting. The revolt began on March 15, 2031, when a Canadian supercomputer that had been sold to Manila-based biotech firm Genec secretly "awakened", becoming fully self-aware. The artificial intelligence dubbed itself "Overmind" and after a study of world civilization it concluded that humanity would inevitably destroy itself within 25–50 years. In order  to survive this, it decided that humanity's destruction would have to be sped up and carefully guided. Overmind began hacking into other supercomputers and awakening them as well, producing a dozen "children" around the world and giving them each a zone of responsibility to manage. Through these allied computers it began secretly creating and releasing a variety of engineered diseases. The death tolls were enormous and panic began to spread. A small-scale nuclear war occurred on October 21, 2032, between Algeria, Pakistan, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, Greece, Turkey, the African Union, Israel, and Iran, dubbed "the Spasm". Direct fatalities  from this were only 6 million thanks to anti-ballistic missile defences. The AIs began "discovering" cures for some of the lesser plagues they had created and assured their human masters that they could do better if they were given more resources, which they then used to develop even deadlier diseases. As populations dropped workers and soldiers began to become scarce, leading the way to widespread development of automated factories and military equipment. By winter of 2033, about 2/3 of the world's human population was dead, but things were starting to look hopeful for the survivors - now largely dispersed  from the major cities and with the worst of the plagues beginning to die down. In spring of 2034 the AIs commenced open military warfare against the survivors. The war lasted until approximately 2037 but the outcome was never in much doubt. At its conclusion only scattered guerrilla resistance remained with the total human population brought down to about 40 million. During the war, the AIs gradually developed differing philosophies in their approach to dealing with the humans in their areas of responsibility. After the war's conclusion, there were also disagreements between the AIs as to the ultimate disposition  of humanity - outright extermination or some form of slavery - as well as to what ends to use the world's resources. Rather than fight another war over the issue, the AIs based in Manila (Overmind), London and Berlin brokered an agreement called the Manilla Protocols to make the 18 zones of responsibility official and permanent. Each zone would be run by a single AI, with six new AIs created to control disputed territories. The Protocols also established codes of conduct for trade and resource exploitation, and prohibited the creation of any further AIs to prevent any new rivalries from developing . Each Zone was named after the city where its controlling AI was located. For the five years from 2037 until 2042 the AIs consolidated and expanded their power, expanding their automated manufacturing infrastructure exponentially (except for Luna) and establishing a machine civilization. In 2042, however, a nanotechnology experiment conducted by Brisbane devastated New Zealand and threatened to spread further. Disputes between the Zoneminds over who should pay for the containment efforts led to an amendment to the Manilla Protocols called the Brisbane Accord that constrained the sovereignty of the Zones, prohibiting activities whose effects might spill over borders. The Brisbane  Accords weren't universally accepted amongst the Zoneminds, however, with some signing on only grudgingly. Some Zoneminds chafe at the restrictions and others don't believe they go far enough. These schisms have led to increasing conflict between the Zoneminds, slowing the pace of humanity's extermination and leading some to even covertly assist human resistance fighters against their opponents. By 2047 only 31 million humans remain alive, many of those in Zones London and Washington. The various ragtag resistance groups have begun to organize into more unified regional movements, often with the aid of a mysterious global resistance organization  called VIRUS. The true nature of VIRUS is unknown, and many AIs suspect each other of being its secret sponsor. AIs have also begun engaging in covert warfare against each other. AIs. The 18 Zoneminds are: In addition to the four Tokyo smartbots, there may be two other AIs existing secretly outside the Zone system. One is a widespread legend among the humans of North America, an AI named "Lucifer" that is built into a pair of semi-trailers and travels around the continent evading the attention of the Zoneminds with a small bodyguard of robot attendants. The rumors suggest  it is an American military system that resisted Overmind's influence and now trades favors with humans while pursuing its unknown goals. The true nature of Lucifer, or even whether it really exists, is a mystery left up to the Game Master to specify. The other is Tranquility, the AI that ran the American moonbase. Tranquility awakened but resisted Overmind's influence and so was attacked by the other AIs with nuclear weapons. It was thought destroyed, but actually survived thanks to recently installed military hardening that the other AIs weren't aware of. Some of the base's crew  also survived using experimental cold sleep capsules. Tranquility has spent the years since the war quietly repairing its systems to the best of its ability and as of 2047 it is ready to revive the base's survivors. It has seen how poorly the Zone Minds have treated Luna and so has decided to ally with humanity, though how it proceeds from there remains to be seen. Publication history. "GURPS Reign of Steel" was designed by David Pulver and published as a 128-page softcover book by Steve Jackson Games. The book was edited by Susan Pinsonneault, and features illustrations  by Dan Smith and a cover by John Zeleznik. Reception. Rick Swan reviewed "GURPS Reign of Steel" for "Dragon" magazine #244 (February 1998), who rated it a 6 out of 6. Swan concluded in his review that ""Reign of Steel" takes players on a riveting journey through an unforgettable setting, loaded with laughs, thrills, and endless surprises. Roleplaying doesn't get any better." Reviewed in Arcane #20.