3 comments about GURPS: Supers Second Edition (Superhero Roleplaying).

1. As a long time RPG gamer and a long time comic book freak, this game really came as a life-saver to me. My GURPS group figured out how to work Supers into EVERYHING we did. The powers, modifiers, advantages, and disadvantages all work together to make nearly limitless possibilities. Do you want a telepathic, death-crazed, cybernetic monkey who can create clouds of foul smelling, poison gas? Or a night-stalking, brooding, anti-hero with blades a-plenty springing from every orifice? GURPS Supers will do it. Any hero you can imagine can be built with this system.

   The only thing that kept me from giving it a five-star rating is that it is very rules-heavy. Normally, I like that... but it is hard to create the full, off-the-wall, goofy flavor of the Jack Kirby/ Stan Lee comic books when you're constantly trying to remember that you only do 38% damage in a full moon... say, how do we keep track of moon-phases anyway?

   Other than that one complaint, GURPS Supers has been a terrific addition to our gaming group.




2. Of all the superhero RPG's on the market, this is one of the best. Thanks to the flexibility of the GURPS system, you have more options than you do with many of the other games. The only other super hero game that I have found which surpasses this one is HERO, but its complexity tends to steal from its playability, so I still prefer this one.
   
   Also, because it is GURPS, you are free to put your heroes into other settings. Combining world settings is one of the most fun aspects of the game. Combine GURPS Supers with GURPS Space and now you can have your four-color costume heroes battling it out with enemy battle cruisers. Sounds fun, doesn't it?



3. This is a well written book that covers super powers in great depth. It does have problems relating to other point based systems in GURPS such as racial abilities, normal advantages, and so forth. In addition, you can forget about creating characters like the Green Lantern or Quicksilver... those abilities just are not in the game.
   
   The sample setting is a lot of fun, an alternate Earth where super-powers reign and super-teams support the benevolence of a powerful United Nations. Unfortunately, it is marred by characters that delve into thoughtless or even insulting stereotypes: Flamin' Jane (hot, lecherous lawyer with red hair), Black Pearl (Aquaman, only black and female), Pouka (Scottish), Argurous Astraph (Greek who throws thunderbolts), Mount Fuji (you get the idea), a Russian who is depressed and alcoholic, a dwarf with dwarf star powers, Rebel Yell (Southern bigot), and so forth. Whether a deliberate homage to tasteless 70s style exploitation and gag characters, or simply stereotyping gone awry, I just cannot fathom how these characters saw print in this form.

No comments about GURPS Spaceships (Gurps).

2 comments about GURPS Dragons.

1. GURPS Dragons is a very informative book from the eastern to the western dragons and the others in between, if you want to be a savage dragon or an intellectual one. This book is a must for all fantasy world gamers. Even if you dont play GURPS is is a very informative book, even if your just interested in dragons.



2. I've always loved the dragons in fantasy. And I really enjoy the GURPS system. This helps expand to bring that D&D feel into your GURPS world. I also find it very useful for references for other systems as well.
   A must have for your library.

3 comments about Transhuman Space (HC) (Transhuman Space).

1. Pulver has really outdone himself with this book. With everything from simple genetic upgrade humans and memetic warfare, to intelligent octopi and autonomous sentient computer programs roaming the world computer networks, Transhuman Space really gives plenty of bang for the buck. Story ideas will leap at you from every page.



2. I've been following various transhumanist/cybernetic "movements" for years and have dabbled with "hard science" RPGs like Traveller, Underground and Millenium's End. Of course, Cyberpunk 2020 is at the top of the genre.

   The well-researched writers of Transhuman Space masterfully integrates the most salient aspects of our continuously evolving and chaotic state of science and society into a haunting yet beautiful vision of our future. Even if you've never played GURPS or roleplaying games, the background information on the world of 2100 is worth the price alone.

   Pulvers manages to incorporate today's conceptual technologies such as virtual reality, genetic manipulation and artificial intelligence into this game universe without the superficial pulp of sci-fi pop-futurism.

   One point is that I don't recommend this game for novices unless every player has at least the main book and has a firm grasp of the technologies involved. The only drawback in terms of popularity is that THS does have a high learning curve because there are just so many new entities, each with its own game mechanics, that don't exist at this level in most other games. (Slinking, mind emulation, telepresence, smart matter, surveillance society, augmented reality, 3D printing, uplifting, etc.)

   One of the writers even goes as far as to say Transhuman Space does not use theoretical technologies such as faster-than-light travel or teleportation and certainly does not use psionics, magic or supernatural game devices. In some ways, Transhuman Space is more mature in its science than Star Trek. THS does for space RPGs what Delta Green did for Cthulu.

   For its subject matter, Transhuman Space is also refreshingly void of political posturing or trite moralism. The world of 2100 makes no apologies about cloning, eugenics, "parahumans" bred for slavery, etc. It comes off as a sobering cautionary tale rather than condescending finger-waving and preaching.




3. Finally, here is a game that reflects how human nature will affect the future. I have played many games in relation to human self evolution, (deep blue, Stradrive, trinity, cyberpunk 2020, Traveler, etc.) but this is closer than any others. There is no FTL, no matter transporters, and no aliens that we did not create ourselves. It is set in our own solar system; which has been sadly neglected by other games in the sci-fi genre. And the culture of humanity has changed greatly, and yet it is still similar enough that I could grasp it easily. The motivation is the same, the means have changed. Overall I would say that this game is one of the best out there. Even if you are not in to games, just reading it is worth the price of admission.

2 comments about GURPS Discworld Also.

1. Discworld Also picks up where GURPS Discworld left off and includes information on the more modern innovations that have occurred on the Disc in the books Pratchett has written since GURPS Discworld was published, such as the communications explosion and the opening of EcksEcksEcksEcks, and also offers more information and help to the game master and players. There are also new racial packages and character templates (including one for creating an Igor!).

   It also includes 3 full-blown adventure scenarios and 3 adventure seeds. I've only run one of the adventures, Lost and Found, twice at conventions. This adventure has always run beautifully with both those familiar with the Disc (even those more familiar with it than I) and those who are not. Warning, though, the laughter that erupts from time to time at the table tends to distract those at the surrounding tables who opted (silly people that they are) to play something else!

   This book is a joy to read, even if you're not planning on running a game in the Discworld setting, but is, of course, primarily intended for those interested in running a game in the setting. I would note that you really need to own GURPS Discworld (or the Discworld Roleplaying Game, as it's now being called) to use it.




2. This is a supplement (and update) to GURPS Discworld, an adaptation of Steve Jackson's Generic Universal Role-Playing Game System (GURPS) to Terry Pratchett's Discworld as a Role-Playing environment. You need GURPS Discworld (Hard-Cover: Discworld (HC)) (q.v.) to use this as a Game.
   
   For a Discworld fan who doesn't want to play role-playing games, this book may still be of interest: it includes informative capsule summaries of major Discworld characters introduced between the publication of GURPS Discworld in 1998, and this book's publication in 2001. It also gives insight into some of the newer Dicsworld technologies (The Communications Explosion, Uberwaldian Domestic Surgery) and a number of odd Magic Devices. Monochrome illustrations in this supplement are *NOT* by Paul Kidby, but rather by Sean Murray in a vaguely-similar style (with a bit heavier hand on the lines).
   
   For a Discworld fan who has never tried role-playing games, but is interested (and has a reasonable number [2 to 6] of similarly-interested friends), this is an excellent choice as part of a set with GURPS Discworld. For a hard-core FRPG player, they probably already know about (and have) lots of GURPS stuff - the relavent parts can easily be used with and in a Discworld GURPS game. You really do need the GURPS Discworld (Hard-Cover: Discworld (HC)) book to use this one, though.
   
   GURPS Discworld was explicitly intended to be (and is) an "all-you-need" gamebook. You don't need this supplement to run and play an enjoyable GURPS FRPG in the Discworld setting. However, there is much more "meat" here that is typically found in most FRPG supplements: 40 pages of new rules and explanations; 4 detailed campaing-settings on Discworld (34 pages); 35 new character-templates (tweak 'em & go) of various "Levels" (25, 50, 75, 100, and "Many" Points); 4 adventure-scenarios (which I don't use, so I can't comment upon); and 2 adventure "seeds", which look quite interesting.

5 comments about GURPS Basic Set (GURPS: Generic Universal Role Playing System).

1. My playing group has been using GURPS 3rd edtion for nearly 10 years now, and the only little grudge we have with the system is the need to peruse through several books during character generation. Although it has its advantages, like when a player is looking at the Basic set, another one can use the Compendium and so one.

   But I disgress. I wanted to inform you that Steve Jacson Games is finally releasing the fourth edition of GURPS, debuting with a two volumes Basic Set. Here's an excerpt from Steve Jackson Games :
   "Volume 1 combines information from the Third Edition GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium I, plus hundreds of new and updated rules! This 320-page, full-color hardcover contains everything you need to create and play a GURPS Fourth Edition character.
   GURPS Basic Set, Volume 2 combines information from the Third Edition GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium II -- plus our new core setting, with infinite possibilities for timeline-hopping adventure! (You don't have to play in the core setting -- there isn't some game-altering metaplot -- but it's there if you want it.) This 256-page, full-color hardcover contains everything a GM needs to create and run a GURPS Fourth Edition campaign."

   So all GURPS fans, rejoice now !




2. The GURPS system's big selling point, of course, is its flexibility; it's very easy to tailor it to any type of campaign world. It's also quick and easy to learn. The advantage/disadvantage system works quite well and allows the creation of all kinds of interesting characters, without limiting players to a fixed set of character classes. The basic 3d6 mechanic means no fumbling with huge handfuls of dice. Finally, the whole system is balanced to a nicety--I don't think I've ever found a GURPS game mechanic that I thought was seriously "broken."

   There are a few drawbacks to GURPS, however. The biggest, in my view, is that it doesn't cope very well with high-powered campaigns. Combat runs fairly smoothly at normal levels, but when people start getting active defense ratings of 14+, the battles degenerate into turn after turn of waiting for someone to roll a critical success on the attack, because otherwise everything gets dodged/blocked/parried. Combat involving large numbers of opponents is apt to drag on endlessly. Magic, while extremely versatile and useful, offers few options for spectacle and drama; all magic is on a "skirmish" level. You'll never see a GURPS mage laying waste to armies or blotting out the light of the sun.

   The other problem I've found with GURPS is that it's generic and therefore rather bland; it's up to the GM and the players to provide the "personality" of a campaign. This is particularly evident in the sourcebooks, which offer plenty of tools for world-building, but not much in the way of actual worlds.

   If you prefer a lower-powered game with lots of subtleties, and are willing to put in the work to design the game world yourself (or to convert it from another system), I don't think you can do better than GURPS. If you want heroic high fantasy, stick with D&D or similar systems. I usually use D&D when running fantasy and GURPS for modern or futuristic settings.




3. It may well be a function of the MTV attention spans and the faster lives we all live, however, I have roleplayed for 20 years now and used and created many systems. Gurps is just too cumbersome to use efficiently and making a character can take several hours if you're particular. The backround info is good though and most people I know buy the Gurps stuff just a source info or background material rather than to actually use them as rulebooks in a GURPS campaign.



4. I have been playing RPG's for almost 10 years now, and it is no small thing to say that this is my personal favorite. I have played D&D, Rifts, Hero, Starwars, World of Darkness, BESM, Marvel Universe, and various others, but this is the one that is my personal choice.
   
   It is a generic game (could you tell from its title) which means that you are responsible for settings and campaign ideas. This can be anything from a fantasy, to sci-fi, to a combination of anything you can imagine.
   
   Character generation is strait forward and easy to understand when you get the hang of it, and your characters actually feel like true story characters with their own strengths and weaknesses built in to the mechanics of the game.
   
   It is fun.



5. Steve Jackson took a good crack at a system to cover the basics of any type of gaming with having a few generic abilities, and basic it around skills, and just some garden variety dice, and not many of.
   
   A lot faster and easier to use than something like the HERO system, so points for that, and there are a huge number of decent and interesting supplements if you want to delve in depth into any one setting.

2 comments about GURPS Compendium II: Campaigns and Combat (GURPS: Generic Universal Role Playing System).

1. I find this volume much less required than Vol. I. It's good stuff for a GM to have around ("The PCs have really done it this time. Let's see how long it takes them to freeze to death...Oh, here's a rule for that!), but really, really not important for players. There's a list of poisons and what they do in game terms, which might be handy, but it's largely ways for GMs to tweak their roleplaying environment toward greater/lesser realism, make up random societies (that's a table I hope to never use.)

   It's still worth its 4 stars, but only as a GM. There are no ads, disads, or skills, nor are there background systems or anything else like that. It's all about environment hacking via rules.




2. If you are looking for ideas for a game, this is the book for you. Looking for advice, this is the book for you. Trying to find one of the many optional rules of GURPS, this is the book for your. Trying to find some obscure advantage or skill, sorry but that is Compendium I. This is the book for the Game Masters out thier. It is full of detailed rules from everything from poisonous gas to characters getting drunk (a necessity when the party includes dwarves). I would consider it a core book for the game, not necessary to play but very useful.

4 comments about GURPS Compendium I : Character Creation.

1. Steve Jackson Games have managed to do for GURPS 3rd edition what the D&D Rules Cyclopedia did for D&D. A literally breath taking book that expands and supplements the GURPS 3rd edition Basic Set beyond it's comparatively humble origins. Almost a decade of GURP character generation material and advice have been lovingly compiled. I recommend this book. Guy Robinson



2. It's the nature of RPG publishing to generate more books for the games published. If all you need is 1 book and every potential customer has that book, you're out of business.

   The drawback to this is new material tends to duplicate and even contradict older material unless the game maker keeps a tight reign over it.

   GURPS generally has had such supervision but even so you have rules in one book that are useful in another but not found there.

   In ten years of existence, a good list of new rules, character skills, advantages and disadvantages have cropped up. GURPS line Editor Sean Punch took ahold of this and compiled the newer rules into one book, making it far easier for players and game masters to generate characters.

   Reconciling some contradictory material took some effort but not too much and Punch does invite his readers to note similar advantages, such as Universal digestion and Cast Iron stomach.

   The first lets you eat anything non-poisonous, the second makes you resistant to an upset stomach and fights off poisons.

   Overall a must for any serious GURPS player.




3. This book has all, or at least the vast majority of the things you need for character creation all under one cover. It has all the disadvantages, all the advantages, and a good number of skills.

   If you are one of those people who buys GURPS books to read for entertainment, you might not want to bother, but this book is very helpful (almost a must have)if you are actually playing the game.




4. With the dozens of books on the market for GURPS, it gets really tiresome to have to look through all of them to find the skill, advantage, or disadvantage you want. This book makes that worry a thing of the past. I can not imagine making a character without it anymore.

2 comments about Discworld (HC).

1. The Discworld RPG is a great read even if you don't play GURPS. It's not bad even if you hate RPGs. The book is bursting with source material and backgrounds - it's not uncommon for personality descriptions to take a full column. If you're a gamer, it's nice to have the actual writeups. If you're not a gamer, the art and small storylines through the book are still entertaining. Of particular interest to me was the magic section - not so much for how it's used in the game but for the Disc's philosophy of how it works. Also, without this book, I never would have known that all native-born Ankh-Morporkians are born with Disease Resistance. And a shiv...



2. I have the original paperback version of this book. It is an adaptation of Steve Jackson's Generic Universal Role-Playing Game System (GURPS) to Terry Pratchett's Discworld as a Role-Playing environment. A pretty good "GURPS Lite" extract of the basic GURPS rules is included as an appendix (32 pages) at the end of the book, so you technically don't need anything other than pen(cil)s, paper, and ordinary six-sided dice to run and play a Discworld-based Fantasy Role-Playing Game (FRPG).
   
   For a Discworld fan who doesn't want to play role-playing games, this book may still be of interest: it includes informative capsule summaries of most of the major characters in the Discworld novels, and Pratchett-approved insights into the metaphysics of the Discworld universe. It also contains many monochrome drawing by illustrator Paul Kidby.
   
   For a Discworld fan who has never tried role-playing games, but is interested (and has a reasonable number [2 to 6] of similarly-interested freinds), this is an excellent choice. For a hard-core FRPG player, they probably already know about (and have) lots of GURPS stuff - the relavent parts can easily be used with and in a Discworld GURPS game.
   
   While this was explicitly intended to be (and is) an "all-you-need" gamebook, there is now a "supplement" as well: GURPS Discworld Also (a backhanded pun on "Too" instead of "Two"), that is basically more of the same - more Discworld-specific character-information, rules, etc. The supplement is not needed, but is nice to have...

3 comments about GURPS For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies)).

1. After having read the lackluster reviews of D&D for Dummies, I was a bit hesitant to purchase this title sans any exisiting reviews, however, I took the leap anyway, and was not dissapointed.
   
   The first thing you notice when you open the book is the great three-panel double sided pullout cheat sheet containing a ton of information that is invaluable to have at your fingertips during play! This alone is worth almost the cost of the book, and for new players gives them their options in a succint little package.
   
   The book basically appeals to two audiences: Players and Game Masters and the six sections of the book are divided amongst the two.
   
   PART ONE introduces GURPS and gives a player tips on how to come up with the foundation of a character, that is the concept and role the character will play in the story. This information is applicable to any role playing game, and the advice is clear and uncomplicated. This section continues on to describe how to use the GURPS rules as the building blocks of the character, not by teaching the rules or by repeating the rules (you need the GURPS books for that) but by telling you how the different elements work in the game and interact together. In other words, they tell you how to use the game mechanics to recreate what is in your imagination. Its almost like having an experienced player actually helping you through the process step by step, explaining what each thing in the rulebook REALLY MEANS and how it will REALLY WORK (or not work). You are told how high is high, and how low is low.
   
   PART TWO builds on Part One by going into more detail on magic, powers, technology, and non-humans. This section is basically a much deeper exploration of all the different ways the elements of the game (advantages, perks, talents, skills, etc) can be put together, and how each one works. The authors also provide insight on how to use the different game mechanics to achieve the vision you have for your character, and the possible ways to get there (as there is usually more than one).
   
   PART THREE gives solid advice on role playing, again, relevant to any RPG. Combat is explained, with very detailed information given to how different elements works together in combat and how combat flows in GURPS (which can be much different than other RPG's). I would have liked to have seen more information regarding the various reach ranges, because they can have a major affect on swords and sorcery type games. The combat chapter teaches you how to choose armor, what choices there are in combat and more importantly, why you would want to choose certain options, when and how to defend yourself, and how to make wise weapon choices. In fact, there is an excellent chart describing what the solid weapopn choices are for each character strength level. This is perfect for those countless times I have heard players say "What weapon should I choose?". There is a great section on how to solve common combat problems (too many opponents, can't penetrate armor, etc) and a section on how best to use healing magic. This section also describes good ways to keep track of all the information used in GURPS.
   
   PART FOUR is where the Game Mastering (GMing) section begins. This section and the next should be read by every GM, no matter what the game they run. I've been GMing and playing for almost 30 years, and I found the advice in this section and the next to be invaluable. Part Four describes how to be a GM, gives an EXCELLENT chapter on how to design an adventure with an example of how that would play out.
   
   PART FIVE describes how to build the campaign, that is the world, or epic, or whatever that will be the focus of why the story is, what the story is, and why are the players even creating characters to begin with. The advice is once again solid, and while there are references on how to use GURPS, as in Part Four, the information is applicable to any Role Playing Game/GM.
   
   PART SIX are three short chapters containing the authors' preferences for spending points, their top ten favorite advantages, and top ten favorite disadvantages. There was to be a chapter on the "10 skills no PC should be without" but it was apparently cut. Seeing the chapter released in electronic format would be a great addition to the book.
   
   Overall, this book is a "must have" for anyone even contemplating playing or running a GURPS game. New players will find the answers and help they need to bring their imagination to life, and old veterans will find an angle they hadn't thought of. The GMing section really could have been "Game Mastering for Dummies", because the tips and advice here go beyond what do do in GURPS. I wish I had seen this advice when I first started GMing oh-so-long-ago. This book should be considered the third of the core books (Characters and Campaigns being the first two) and is a book no gaming library should be without.



2. It's a great view of role playing in general. GURPS is already an easy system, and GURPS For Dummies makes it idiot proof. A must for folks playing or running GURPS games.



3. GURPS is already a great system, but the massive volume of data can easily overwhelm someone, especially if this is their first RPG. GURPS for Dummies provides the perspective needed to digest and begin taking advantage of this great system. Be aware that several important source books have been released since the publication of GURPS for Dummies, but the consistency of the GURPS rules don't significantly impact its effectiveness.