GURPS Fourth Edition
10/12/24 • 41 min
On April 2nd 2004, Pyramid Magazine published an article entitled, “Designer's Notes: GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition” by Sean Punch. Twenty years from that article in 2004, GURPS - the Generic Universal Role-Playing System - is still with us. Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not a dead game. GURPS Fourth Edition might be out of fashion but it’s truly a standard in the RPG community.
Last episode, I spoke of my rediscovery of the spirit of the Third Edition through the pages of Roleplayer. A month on, I have arrived back with the Fourth Edition of GURPS. Having enjoyed a journey into the early 1990s GURPS community, I was also aware that GURPS received an overhaul in 2004. This episode is a reflection on the power of that RPG system: it’s time to unleash this power and flexibility into my experience of play.
Big thanks to Matt C and Jason W for the call-ins this episode!
Thanks also to Steve Jackson Games for creating GURPS and keeping the game alive for nearly 40 years.
Game on!
GURPS Basic Set on Warehouse23:
GURPS Basic Set: Characters and Campaigns | Warehouse 23
OR
warehouse23.com/collections/gurps/products/gurps-basic-set-characters-and-campaigns
GURPS Lite on Warehouse23:
GURPS Lite (Fourth Edition) | Warehouse 23
OR
warehouse23.com/products/gurps-lite-fourth-edition
GURPS Lite on DriveThruRPG:
OR
drivethrurpg.com/en/product/236828/gurps-lite-fourth-edition
Roleplay Rescue Details:
Voice Message:
Patreon:
Email:
Blog
Bluesky Social:
https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social
MeWe:
https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue
Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:
https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/
Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:
https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On April 2nd 2004, Pyramid Magazine published an article entitled, “Designer's Notes: GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition” by Sean Punch. Twenty years from that article in 2004, GURPS - the Generic Universal Role-Playing System - is still with us. Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not a dead game. GURPS Fourth Edition might be out of fashion but it’s truly a standard in the RPG community.
Last episode, I spoke of my rediscovery of the spirit of the Third Edition through the pages of Roleplayer. A month on, I have arrived back with the Fourth Edition of GURPS. Having enjoyed a journey into the early 1990s GURPS community, I was also aware that GURPS received an overhaul in 2004. This episode is a reflection on the power of that RPG system: it’s time to unleash this power and flexibility into my experience of play.
Big thanks to Matt C and Jason W for the call-ins this episode!
Thanks also to Steve Jackson Games for creating GURPS and keeping the game alive for nearly 40 years.
Game on!
GURPS Basic Set on Warehouse23:
GURPS Basic Set: Characters and Campaigns | Warehouse 23
OR
warehouse23.com/collections/gurps/products/gurps-basic-set-characters-and-campaigns
GURPS Lite on Warehouse23:
GURPS Lite (Fourth Edition) | Warehouse 23
OR
warehouse23.com/products/gurps-lite-fourth-edition
GURPS Lite on DriveThruRPG:
OR
drivethrurpg.com/en/product/236828/gurps-lite-fourth-edition
Roleplay Rescue Details:
Voice Message:
Patreon:
Email:
Blog
Bluesky Social:
https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social
MeWe:
https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue
Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:
https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/
Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:
https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
Roleplayer: Game Likes It's 1986!
In February 1986, a free newsletter began to be posted out to customers from Steve Jackson Games: Roleplayer. Now available again from Warehouse 23, in the summer of 2024 I got curious to discover what insights this old newsletter might hold about the development of GURPS. What I found was a portal back to 1986 which began to inspire me towards play in directions both old and, strangely, new.
Thanks to Jason Connerley who, by sending me GURPS Second Edition, unlocked this whole episode’s content.
Thanks to all the callers - Frank T, Jason C, Jon M, Jon C, and Wiebe - for adding the community’s voice to this episode.
Game on!
Roleplayer on Warehouse23:
GURPS Roleplayer Bundle | Warehouse 23
OR
https://warehouse23.com/products/gurps-roleplayer-bundle
Roleplay Rescue Details:
Voice Message:
Patreon:
Email:
Blog
Bluesky Social:
https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social
MeWe:
https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue
Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:
https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/
Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:
https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
Escaping Tynebris with Chris Casciano
Chris Casciano is a medieval fantasy illustrator and author from Syracuse, New York. He has illustrated for novels, tv shows, and numerous games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and Game of Thrones. His personal art series, “The Iron Cast,” is a world of medieval knights and environments painted with a combination of realism, abstract shapes and textures. Chris has also written and illustrated his own Solo RPG novel, Escaping Tynebris: The Dungeons. Beyond being a professional creator, he also teaches Concept Art, Illustration and Digital Design at the high school level. Talking to him, I realised just how special this book is going to be, coming as it is from a well-spring of passion and love for all things medieval and fantastic. I hope you’ll listen in and check it out.
Escaping Tynebris Trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=Q5M34woIYCA
Kickstarter Prelaunch Page:
kickstarter.com/projects/escapingtynebris/escaping-tynebris-the-dungeons
Escaping Tynebris Website:
theironcast.com/escapingtynebris
The Iron Cast Website:
Roleplay Rescue Details:
Voice Message:
Patreon:
Email:
Blog
Bluesky Social:
https://bsky.app/profile/ubiquitousrat.bsky.social
MeWe:
https://mewe.com/p/roleplayrescue
Roleplay Rescue Theme by Jon Cohen from Tale of the Manticore:
https://taleofthemanticore.podbean.com/
Logo and artwork by MJ Hiblen:
https://www.patreon.com/MJHiblenART/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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