GURPS™
GURPS is IMHO the best RPG (Role Playing Game) out there and I have been playing it since it came out. This site is here to explain GURPS to a potential newcomer and to list some House rules and what not. It is a fan site and nothing here is official. SJG has a wonderful and generous online policy of allowing product support with minimal rules. In fact the owner and Steve Jackson Games (herinafter SJG) have an astounding and well deserved reputation for high quality products and customer service and support that it is a big reason to buy thier products In fact quality is so good and well researched that the US Secret Service actually raided them in fear that the GURPS Cyberpunk book would teach people how to hack computers for real. read about our tax dollars at work here.
GURPS does not build itself around a single setting or genre, instead it is a toolkit that allows you to run just about anything, anytime, anywhere.
Check out the GURPS Resource page, including a list of handy free items (lower right as of this writing)
If your considering GURPS but do not have any books yet GURPS Lite is a free PDF that will let you get started and get a feel for the game. And this handy getting started page I made lists some of the good resources to get off to a fast and simple start, many of which are free.
- Basic RPG Concepts
- A Word from Kromm
- Getting Started as a GM
RPG stands for Roleplaying game and the idea is that your playing a charecter in a story. There are several kinds of RPGs.
Most RPGs are based on a specific setting. This has the advantage of more playability right out of the box as the world is already made up for you. However it means you also have most of your material easily accessable to the players and limits GM creativity. Think of it like an author ghost writing or writign a story in another authors setting. You have to stay within the lines and the author may come along and publish something later that messes with what you have done. That said the ease of use and speed of playing a preworkled system can save the GM/Dungeon Master/etc. a lot of time and work and many people prefer this type of game.
Other RPGs do not describe a setting but give you the rules and tools to build your own. This means a LOT more work for the GM but you get a world that is built to taste and can offer many hidden secrets for the players to discover. You also have no situation where the Publisher comes along and says your wholeworld jsut changed and here is how such as occured with White Wolf and thier Vampire related games.
GURPS is the latter type and describes a system for making up your own game and style to suit any genre or game feel you like. Because it gives you so may options and choices it is a very large ssytem with many rule books and supplements. However it is very modular which means you can pick and choose only the parts that you want and it all fits together pretty well.
Summary
The core concept of a RPG is to play a role or charecter, usually doen as a group experaince with one GM who handles the NPC (non player charectr) and world stuff. The GM makes the world work and hopefully compelling whether it is a prebuilt one or one made up by the GM. A good GM provides challenges for the players to work through but is not competitive or adversarial with the players. Everyone is supposed to have fun!
One final and really important reason I like GURPS and Steve Jackson Games so much is continuing produt support and extremely high quality across thier entire line. This even goes after publication and into the customer service realm where you can go to the forums (on a company site not a wiki or 3rd party contractor) and not only share your questions and such with other fans but get feedback from many of the authors as well. Here is a quote about that...
- Construct a perfect system that contains no errors. This is functionally impossible. Between human error, machine error, and the inability of authors to see the future – not to mention finite writing, testing, and editing time in which to unearth novel corner-cases – this would amount to "being God," which is well beyond our pretentions, however satanic some might see us as being.
- Construct an imperfect system . . .
- . . . but not own up to our errors. Easy-peasy, and also sleazy. We refuse to do this.
- . . . and own up to our errors . . .
- . . . in private letters, messages, calls, etc. We could, but this would benefit the smallest number of people and almost guarantee n slightly different answers to n askings of the same question.
- . . . in future editions. This would benefit more people, but at the cost of making them pay for something a second time. We think that's sleazy, too.
- . . . in errata sheets. This would benefit even more people, but note that fewer individual site visitors visit our errata pages than read the GURPS forum.
- . . . on the forums, and eventually in errata sheets. Given our site stats, this self-evidently reaches the most people. It's broadcast, free, and linked from our front page.
- . . . in private letters, messages, calls, etc. We could, but this would benefit the smallest number of people and almost guarantee n slightly different answers to n askings of the same question.
- . . . but not own up to our errors. Easy-peasy, and also sleazy. We refuse to do this.
It also privileges digital media over printed books, sheets, etc. Welcome to 2012.
Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com>
GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games
Doctor of Hypermediocrity
GURPS offers the option to run just about any kind of thing you want but all that power can be overwhelming at first. the best advice is probably to start small then build as you get more familiar and comfortable with the rules your using. Some suggestions....
- GURPS Rules are pretty much all optional. You do not need to use all of te books nor all the rules in any given book, even the Basic set. In fact many rules are exclusive of each other and are designed for different feels and play styles. Never let a player tell you that you have to use a rule because its in the book. Just pick and choose what works for your game.
- GURPS has lots of material since it covers just about everything. However you only need to buy the Basic set to do most things, the rest just add more options and details and are modular and organized so you can pick and choose what you like. I break most of the books into sections on the pages here and each book has its own advertising and description page on the SJG website.
- Use the Steve Jackson Games Forums! Lot of freindly people there who are happy to answer questions and offer advice. Including many of the authors and people of all tastes and styles.
- My advice is to first pick a genre or even specific setting. Genres are thigns like Animae, Hack and Slash Fantasy, Hard Sci Fi, Space Opera, Old West, Mysteries, Supers, and many more. Settings are more specific and would be like a specific story or series. Star Wars is a setting that is in the Space Opera genre, Tolkein is a Fantasy genre setting of a specific world, Star Trek is another setting, most would call Space Opera but not all. Settigns can be either from a movie, book, other game world, or your own imagination. They can be very detailed or just light background that gives you a place to play. Many settings are liscened by GURPS and many more have fan based convesions and I have some of those links here.
Example World Building....
- Midieveal fantasy. Probably one of the most popular genres. Start with GURPS Basic and you have enough to run and play this genre. However if you want to add more magic then consider GURPS Magic, GURPS Thaumatology or other books that give you various versions of magic and ideas for making your own system as well. If you want to add more detail to combat then consider GURPS Martial Arts which includes knightly styles among many others. Gear books are always a good add on and GURPS has many for this genre. What if you want to play a political fantasy with lots of social intrgue? Then add GURPS Social Engineeering to your shopping list. Want to make it more scary? Add GURPS Horror for some excellent ideas not only on new monsters but how to run them and make the game feel more scary.
- Modern Day. Wow, so many options here its scary, from Horror to Special Ops, Black Ops, Conspiracy games, hard boiled detectives, criminal empires, political intrigue, or just a hospital drama...
- Supers. GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Powers are pretty much must haves and GURPS Supers adds a lot so should be the next purchase, especially if your going for a Four Color style. But then GURPS Martial Arts can help you add more detail to combat and make those super martial arts charecters shine.