GURPS 4th Edition

**Valdar** · 07-12-2008, 02:48 PM

Discussions here had me curious about where GURPS is these days, so I went out and picked up the 4th ed. player's book and Space. No telling if I'm ever going to play it (running one game a week is plenty), but I did find it to be an interesting read.

After an initial glance through, here are a few things I noticed:

--Carrying capacity is now geometric, so you don't need a ridiculously high STR to pick up a car if you're playing Supers.

--Psionics look a lot better balanced, with point costs for Supers-like things costing Supers-like points. The following, which happened in a Space game I was in, shouldn't be happening any more:

"The villains get in their car and speed away!"
"I use my telekinesis to crush the car's engine."

--Character creation looks even more open-ended than before- this could be a good or bad thing. This will possibly cause more work for the GM if a specific game is wanted, otherwise the party will look like a menagerie (I could see a fantasy party including a vampire and a flying unicorn with ease, or a Space party including characters so alien they won't be able to understand mission objectives, much less have the desire to complete them...)

--The Space book was an even better read than the basic book. I found the pages on creating star systems and aliens to be inspired, and made me want to start creating such things just for the fun of it.

**Arch Lich Thoth-Amon** · 07-14-2008, 01:16 PM

Hello Valdar

Hope you dont mind me adding to your post. I would also love to hear of any play experiences with GURPS 4th edition from anyone on the boards. Thanks.

Thoth-Amon

**fmitchell** · 07-14-2008, 01:42 PM

I haven't had a chance to play GURPS 4e, but I like the rule changes ... mostly minor, but making advantages/disadvantages/powers/skills consistent across worlds is a big win.

Unfortunately, as a result reading the books is like drinking from a firehose, which could scare off new players. _GURPS Lite_ is a useful tool, but I wish they'd put "normal" and "super" advantages/disadvantages in separate sections instead of marking them with an icon ... it would make creating a "normal" person easier.

**silentjudas** · 08-06-2008, 11:41 PM

i've never actually gotten to read/play GURPS. is it fun at all, being so "generic" and open ended on most things?

**Valdar** · 08-07-2008, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by silentjudas

i've never actually gotten to read/play GURPS. is it fun at all, being so "generic" and open ended on most things?

You definitely have to trim it down, and don't let the players browbeat you into allowing characters that don't fit your genre (I had a player show up with a vampire for a space game, for instance.)

Apart from that, it's very fun- you have to use a setting, but there are plenty available, or you can homebrew your own.

**silentjudas** · 08-07-2008, 05:31 AM

Originally Posted by Valdar

You definitely have to trim it down, and don't let the players browbeat you into allowing characters that don't fit your genre (I had a player show up with a vampire for a space game, for instance.)

Apart from that, it's very fun- you have to use a setting, but there are plenty available, or you can homebrew your own.

hmm ill have to check it out

**MortonStromgal** · 08-12-2008, 07:40 PM

I would pick up Powers after someone recommended it to me I bought it and now I can honestly say if I want superpowers, psionics, magic, or some other superhuman feats in my game its a must have.

**Bearfoot_Adam** · 08-14-2008, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by MortonStromgal

I would pick up Powers after someone recommended it to me I bought it and now I can honestly say if I want superpowers, psionics, magic, or some other superhuman feats in my game its a must have.

Has it repalced Magic? I was looking for it and was surprised to see that it was no longer in print.

**fmitchell** · 08-14-2008, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by Bearfoot_Adam

Has it repalced Magic? I was looking for it and was surprised to see that it was no longer in print.

No, Powers is about crafting superpowers from the more exotic Advantages and Disadvantages. It doesn't replace the Magic system at all, as far as I can tell.

I'm a little puzzled that Magic is out of print, especially with Thaumatology coming in October (in theory). Either they're going to reprint it (with errata?) at the same time, or it doesn't sell very well so they'll only offer it on PDF.

EDIT: To explain a little further: Thaumatology is about variant magic systems. However, looking at the preview Table of Contents, about half of them are tweaks to the existing Magic system.

**MortonStromgal** · 08-15-2008, 12:49 PM

They will be reprinting magic. Powers is flexible enough to let you create your own magic system. I hear Thaumatologyis amazing but I have not had the chance to look at it yet and I'm not sure that you couldn't do everything in it with Powers.

**fmitchell** · 08-15-2008, 12:57 PM

Thaumatology has a chapter on defining magic with Powers, but in addition to the tweaks to Magic they'll also have rules for Alchemy, "syntactic magic" (think Ars Magica or Mage), the Spirit Magic system from GURPS Voodoo and GURPS Spirits (among others), doing magic from books, and I think one or two others.

**Omegaman** · 09-09-2008, 07:48 AM

talk about drinking from a firehose. Wow, if you get into Thaumatology and Powers, that will cause you some brain strain. They are best suited for people who really want to spend time recreating rules for how things work in order to get a specific feel or effect in their campaign. If you like playing GURPS as is, then those books are a lot of reading for very little payoff.

I read Thaumatology and I loved a lot of info. The only stuff that I am using I already found in GURPS Magic, which is Syntactic magic, but it was very interesting to go over.

I have only skimmed GURPS Powers as I am interested in 100pt fantasy characters and have no desire to revamp the magic system. It looked very thorough and quite complex.

Basic GURPS 4th is pretty simple I think. Just don't get caught up in all the rules. It is not made for GMs who do not like to think on their feet. If you refer to the book for every rule, it will take a lot of time.

**nijineko** · 09-10-2008, 08:43 PM

i've always enjoyed gurps. especially since they incorporate some many different types of systems into one, it's fun to play with.

**Dragon_wolf** · 10-28-2008, 07:21 AM

I've played GURPS 3rd for everything from fantasy to modern, future and Cthulhu, and find it is extremely adaptable and user friendly, as long as you define the rules before you begin.

I've only picked up the 4th edition rules to peruse because I now live in a small town in Northern Canada where apparently, no one has heard of pen and paper RPGs. Haven't had a good game of anything in a couple years (grr!) If anyone knows of a good online GURPS game that is looking for players, let me know.

BTW, from what I can see GURPS hasn't changed in it's basics (unlike OTHER game systems) since it seems to periodically go through a streamlining process. I do like what I have perused for the 4th edition rules, but until I play it, I won't really know.