''Unnight'' is a supplement published by

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the c ...

(SJG) in 1988 for the science fiction role-playing game ''

GURPS Space ''GURPS Space'' is a sourcebook published by Steve Jackson Games (SJG) for use with ''GURPS'' (''Generic Universal Role-Playing System''), published in four editions from 1988 to 2006. Description ''GURPS Space'' is a toolkit that enables game ...

''.

''Unnight'' is a planetary setting for ''GURPS Space'' in which

gamemasters A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are m ...

can set science fiction genre adventures. In the pre-story to ''Unnight'', humans from Earth travelled on faster than light ships to settle another star system. However, their ships missed the targeted system and ended up at a planet deep within a nebula. In the years that followed, without further contact from Earth, the settlers' technology gradually expired, and the planetary society broke down into feudal states. ''Unnight'' describes the social system and the geography of the planet. An adventure is included in the book.

Publication history

''GURPS'' (''Generic Universal Role-Playing System''), a generic system of role-playing rules for any setting, was published by SJG in 1986. Several genre-specific "flavors" for ''GURPS'' quickly followed, including ''

GURPS Fantasy ''GURPS Fantasy'' is a ''Genre Toolkit'' source book which was first designed by Steve Jackson and published by Steve Jackson Games in 1986 for the ''GURPS'' role-playing game. It presented a magic system for the game as well as background info ...

'', ''

GURPS Horror ''GURPS Horror'' is a sourcebook for ''GURPS''. The first edition was published in 1987. Contents ''GURPS Horror'' is a ''GURPS'' supplement featuring rules for including horror in games, including guidelines for character creation and background ...

'', and ''

''. Stefan Jones created ''Unnight'' as a planetary setting for ''GURPS Space'', and it was published as a 48-page softcover book in 1988 with cover art by

Bob Eggleton Bob Eggleton (born September 13, 1960) is an American science fiction, fantasy and horror artist. Eggleton is a nine-time Hugo Award–winner for Best Pro Artist in science fiction and fantasy, first winning in 1994. He won the Hugo Award for Be ...

and illustrations by Terry Tidwell.

Reception

In Issue 2 of the UK magazine ''

Games International ''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...

'', James Wallis was unimpressed by ''Unnight'', pointing out that a feudal society without technology is just a magic-poor fantasy setting, commenting, "We might as well be in ''GURPS Fantasy''." Wallis also found the entire book seemed to be a rush job, saying, "This is not a lovingly constructed fantasy culture: it is a project cobbled together by a writer facing deadline doom. The standard of editing and layout reflects this: most page references are incorrect and the sidebars suddenly start appearing in the centre instead of the outside edge halfway through the book." Wallis concluded by giving this book a below-average rating of only 2 stars out of 5, saying, "As a place for characters from the ''GURPS Space'' background to visit, ''Unnight'' just about stands up, although it is too gimmicky for my tastes and the adventure that comes with it is uninspired. As a background for native adventures, it is unimaginative and lacking in potential. As a project, it could have done with an extra 36 pages, a thorough reworking and another six months' work."

Awards

At the 1989

Origins Awards The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 aw ...

, ''Unnight'' was a finalist in the category "Best Adventure of 1988".

References

{{reflist GURPS books Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1988