Gurp's Horror: The Complete Guide to Horrific Roleplaying

Rating:
Summary: A short Review of GURPS Horror
Review: More than anything, I thought I'd give an opinion since I am between the two extremes of the two existing reviews. This edition of GURPS Horror (there is a new edition I have not yet looked at) is a good reference on the genre, but does lack something. I agree that having three example campaign backgrounds is more than enough, if only because there simply isn't enough detail given in each to make them really informative of how to set up and run campaigns in each - you simply must find other material if you're going to seriously run a "Horror" campaign.

I found it most useful as an extra reference for my campaign. I was running a "realistic" campaign and wanted to throw in horror aspects, and for this it was helpful. It gave me ideas on how to add just enough to keep my player's guessing, and allowed me to keep the campaign from drifting into high fantasy as I've seen/heard other campaigns do when adding in occult overtones. As such, I would have been much happier if it skipped on monster descriptions and focused more on setting tone and atmosphere - I mean, how many different books do I need describing the stats of a vampire or werewolf?

Ultimately, it's biggest problem is the shotgun approach SJG is taking to the genre - there seems to be a plethora of books aimed at the occult and paranormal, such as this book, the recently published Spirits, Voodoo, Authentic Thaumaturgy, and others, with no attempt to unify them.

I can recomend it, as a extra but not primary reference.

Rating:
Summary: A short Review of GURPS Horror
Review: More than anything, I thought I'd give an opinion since I am between the two extremes of the two existing reviews. This edition of GURPS Horror (there is a new edition I have not yet looked at) is a good reference on the genre, but does lack something. I agree that having three example campaign backgrounds is more than enough, if only because there simply isn't enough detail given in each to make them really informative of how to set up and run campaigns in each - you simply must find other material if you're going to seriously run a "Horror" campaign.

I found it most useful as an extra reference for my campaign. I was running a "realistic" campaign and wanted to throw in horror aspects, and for this it was helpful. It gave me ideas on how to add just enough to keep my player's guessing, and allowed me to keep the campaign from drifting into high fantasy as I've seen/heard other campaigns do when adding in occult overtones. As such, I would have been much happier if it skipped on monster descriptions and focused more on setting tone and atmosphere - I mean, how many different books do I need describing the stats of a vampire or werewolf?

Ultimately, it's biggest problem is the shotgun approach SJG is taking to the genre - there seems to be a plethora of books aimed at the occult and paranormal, such as this book, the recently published Spirits, Voodoo, Authentic Thaumaturgy, and others, with no attempt to unify them.

I can recomend it, as a extra but not primary reference.

Rating:
Summary: The last resort for the Horror gamemaster
Review: The very first sentence in the introduction to GURPS Horror sums up the problem with the book. "Horror roleplaying, or, more accurately, supernatural roleplaying..." The book spends little of its time on horror, and fails to live up to its name. Substituting for useful advice on generating an atmosphere of horror in a role-playing game, we find the "Random Monster Characteristics Table," and the equally-random "Things Man Was Not Meant to Know Description Table." Of the 128-page book, 36 pages are devoted to monsters, but unfortunately the descriptions generally do not evoke horror or excite the imagination. The low point is the inclusion of the Australian folk animal, the bunyip, described as a "very shy" creature, with apparently a bit of an environmentalist bent. Spooky! Try to ignore the reference to Orcs here.

Fully a third of the book is devoted to campaign settings, with chapters on Victorian England, the "Roaring 20's," and the modern day, plus capsule descriptions of other times and places. The book would have been better with a single sample setting, with more space actually devoted to horror and not backdrop.

On the whole, the gamemaster wishing to run a horror campaign in GURPS is far better served by GURPS Creatures of the Night, Blood Types, Cthulhupunk, Illuminati, or even Atomic Horror or Warehouse 23, than this lightweight treatment of the topic. Its one redeeming quality is an excellent annotated bibliography and filmography in the appendix, but that's hardly enough to save the book. GURPS deserves a first-rate general sourcebook for horror roleplaying, but this is sadly not it.

Rating:
Summary: The last resort for the Horror gamemaster
Review: The very first sentence in the introduction to GURPS Horror sums up the problem with the book. "Horror roleplaying, or, more accurately, supernatural roleplaying..." The book spends little of its time on horror, and fails to live up to its name. Substituting for useful advice on generating an atmosphere of horror in a role-playing game, we find the "Random Monster Characteristics Table," and the equally-random "Things Man Was Not Meant to Know Description Table." Of the 128-page book, 36 pages are devoted to monsters, but unfortunately the descriptions generally do not evoke horror or excite the imagination. The low point is the inclusion of the Australian folk animal, the bunyip, described as a "very shy" creature, with apparently a bit of an environmentalist bent. Spooky! Try to ignore the reference to Orcs here.

Fully a third of the book is devoted to campaign settings, with chapters on Victorian England, the "Roaring 20's," and the modern day, plus capsule descriptions of other times and places. The book would have been better with a single sample setting, with more space actually devoted to horror and not backdrop.

On the whole, the gamemaster wishing to run a horror campaign in GURPS is far better served by GURPS Creatures of the Night, Blood Types, Cthulhupunk, Illuminati, or even Atomic Horror or Warehouse 23, than this lightweight treatment of the topic. Its one redeeming quality is an excellent annotated bibliography and filmography in the appendix, but that's hardly enough to save the book. GURPS deserves a first-rate general sourcebook for horror roleplaying, but this is sadly not it.

Rating:
Summary: The best GURPS source book
Review: This is the GURPS source book no GM should be without. This well researched companion is an unending source of inspiriration for any kind of campaign.

Rating:
Summary: The best GURPS source book
Review: This is the GURPS source book no GM should be without. This well researched companion is an unending source of inspiriration for any kind of campaign.