Rating: 
Summary: One of the best "Role Playing Systems" ever.
Review: GURPS, one of the most succesful role playing systems, allow players to venture into any kind of story or world. It has two basic rule sets: basic and advanced. The first one, fast and fun, using only three 6 sided dice and the second one realistic, but a bit boring sometimes.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy GURPS, but don't live by it.
Review: GURPS, surprisingly, does what it sets out to do. It provides a way to make a thousand characters for a thousand worlds. The sourcebooks and supplements that SJGames makes for GURPS is without peer. My only complaint is that character generation is unbalanced. Increasing your skills and attributes above 14 is statistically stupid; with an above average trait like that, you're almost as likely to succeed as someone with a 17, the gap of diminishing rewards is a double whammy against characters. Also, DX and IN (dexterity and intelligence) are two attributes that are emphasized much more than ST and HT (strength and health). High DX and IN are invaluable to any character, whereas HT and ST levels are pretty much the charisma of other games. How does having a high IN give you a varied knowledge of history, make you better able to resist torture, and make you less fearful of zombies? Don't think I'm down on the system, though. I really do like it, and you will, too. If you're looking for a system you can use to pilot an X-Wing one night, hack orcs another, and fight off a Vampire horde the third, GURPS will happily bend to your whims.
Rating:
Summary: Buy GURPS, but don't live by it.
Review: GURPS, surprisingly, does what it sets out to do. It provides a way to make a thousand characters for a thousand worlds. The sourcebooks and supplements that SJGames makes for GURPS is without peer. My only complaint is that character generation is unbalanced. Increasing your skills and attributes above 14 is statistically stupid; with an above average trait like that, you're almost as likely to succeed as someone with a 17, the gap of diminishing rewards is a double whammy against characters. Also, DX and IN (dexterity and intelligence) are two attributes that are emphasized much more than ST and HT (strength and health). High DX and IN are invaluable to any character, whereas HT and ST levels are pretty much the charisma of other games. How does having a high IN give you a varied knowledge of history, make you better able to resist torture, and make you less fearful of zombies? Don't think I'm down on the system, though. I really do like it, and you will, too. If you're looking for a system you can use to pilot an X-Wing one night, hack orcs another, and fight off a Vampire horde the third, GURPS will happily bend to your whims.
Rating:
Summary: Great Game system
Review: Highly detailed realistic type system. It is highly generic (gamemaster and sourcebooks define campaign setting type, core rules are the same regardless. If you compare it to other detailed realstic systems (particulary rolemaster), achieves detail/realism with a lot lower cost of gameplay convienience and speed (it doesn't take 5 minutes to play 1 or 2 rounds like in rolemaster).
Rating:
Summary: GURPS: What's Not To Like?
Review: I agree with other reviewers that GURPS is probably the best system on the market. It lacks both the restrictiveness of D&D et al. and the clunkiness of Storyteller. The character creation rules are extremely flexible. True, it can take a while to get the hang of creating GURPS characters, but I found it to be worth it. The most common complaint about the system is that combat is too complicated, but most of the rules are really optional. When I started playing, I used a sort of "pidgin GURPS" until I figured out the more advanced stuff. You can play GURPS with the Basic Set only, but the other books can be very useful depending on what kind of a game you're running. Compendia I and II are always useful, but the others can vary:Fantasy: GURPS Magic is _vital_ for any fantasy campaign. Grimoire is OK, but not as useful. Compendium I is necessary for designing nonhuman races. The currently released "GURPS Fantasy" is for a specific world that I never found too interesting, but watch for the upcoming GURPS Fantasy Campaigns. Science Fiction: Ultra-Tech is good, as is Compendium I for the reasons described above. Space is very useful, but not as necessary as you might think. I've heard that Aliens is great, but haven't been able to find a copy. Other/General: High-Tech is a useful reference. Religion is one of my favorites; it's useful for any world-builiding efforts. As for GURPS Illuminati, I really can't say anything about it except that I liked it. They could be watching me...
Rating:
Summary: Expand your roleplaying...
Review: I have been playing in the GURPS system for about 10 years now, and I really enjoy it for the flexibity the system offers. Granted, the combat system can be a bit more cumbersome in comparison to easier RPG systems like D20. BUT, the way you can personalize your characters more than makes up for this. When you get tired of total hack'n slash and want to work more on roleplaying and character development, then you are ready for GURPS. The adventures you can have are totally up to your imagination. I have played/GM'd space adventures, swashbuckling, fantasy, WWII, and even post apocalypic style adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Expand your roleplaying...
Review: I have been playing in the GURPS system for about 10 years now, and I really enjoy it for the flexibity the system offers. Granted, the combat system can be a bit more cumbersome in comparison to easier RPG systems like D20. BUT, the way you can personalize your characters more than makes up for this. When you get tired of total hack'n slash and want to work more on roleplaying and character development, then you are ready for GURPS. The adventures you can have are totally up to your imagination. I have played/GM'd space adventures, swashbuckling, fantasy, WWII, and even post apocalypic style adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Best role-playing system. Period.
Review: I have played nearly every major role-playing game there is, from D&D to Rolemaster. One of the things that I find so frustrating about other games is their ridgidity. You must adhere to defined character classes. You must use these occupations and skill groups. Not so with GURPS. You can create any character, with any set of abilities and skills, from any setting or time period. If you want to make a concert pianist from Germany in the 18th century, or if a techno-soldier from the future is more to your liking, this is the system for you. The game also excels in its simplicity. Gone are the cryptic dice-rolls like 2d4 and 5d8, or the strange systems found in Shadowrun and Star Wars. All your rolls are done with 3d6. Combat is simple and realistic, but can easily be altered to a much more involved format if that is your taste. Skills are realistic, easy to use, and interesting. You can play with just the basic set, or you can purchase any one of the many! excellent supplements for more detailed play. If that wasn't good enough, you can also get a computer program for character creation that makes it even easier. Stop reading this review and BUY THE BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Best role-playing system. Period.
Review: I have played nearly every major role-playing game there is, from D&D to Rolemaster. One of the things that I find so frustrating about other games is their ridgidity. You must adhere to defined character classes. You must use these occupations and skill groups. Not so with GURPS. You can create any character, with any set of abilities and skills, from any setting or time period. If you want to make a concert pianist from Germany in the 18th century, or if a techno-soldier from the future is more to your liking, this is the system for you. The game also excels in its simplicity. Gone are the cryptic dice-rolls like 2d4 and 5d8, or the strange systems found in Shadowrun and Star Wars. All your rolls are done with 3d6. Combat is simple and realistic, but can easily be altered to a much more involved format if that is your taste. Skills are realistic, easy to use, and interesting. You can play with just the basic set, or you can purchase any one of the many! excellent supplements for more detailed play. If that wasn't good enough, you can also get a computer program for character creation that makes it even easier. Stop reading this review and BUY THE BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Very Impressive RPG System
Review: I must confess that I am fairly new to GURPS, but I am an enthusiastic convert. I have played, or experimented with, numerous RPG systems over the years, such as Dungeons and Dragons, Rolemaster, Spacemaster, Chivalry and Sorcery, and others. While all these systems have their strengths, and certainly their weaknesses, I must say that I think GURPS is the best overall RPG (Role Playing Game) system that I have ever seen. What makes it so great is the brilliant way in which it manages to combine simplicity with great depth, realism and flexibility. Once a character is created almost everything you will need to play that character is on the character sheet. There is not much need for constant reference to dozens of different tables and charts, as in some other systems. GURPS also allows you to simulate any gaming environment you can imagine, from traditional medieval fantasy to futuristic sci-fi or space opera. The book is well organized, and the material is presented in a clear readable format. I find that I can quickly and easily find most of the information I am looking for. The artwork is consistently decent; apparently almost all of it comes from the same artist. Also, unlike many RPG books, the typos are refreshingly kept at a minimum. As are all of the GURPS books I have seen, this is a professionally put together product. The basic game mechanics are not complex, and once understood allow you fairly easily simulate almost every conceivable situation. For example, there are straightforward rules on determining whether or not an archer's bowstring has snapped when an arrow is loosed, or for determining if a sword breaks on a parry, or how much damage a shield can take before it is no longer any good. Indeed, the combat system can be as simple or as complex as you want it. In the advanced combat system the body is divided up into at least six areas where one must designate what kind of armor is being worn. A character may have on a helmet and a breastplate, but if he has not armored his arms and hands or legs and feet, those areas, while relatively harder to hit, will be more vulnerable to taking serious or critical damage, if they are struck. This combat system can be used to create a more sophisticated tactical environment than any of the other systems I have played, which more often than naught reduce combat to a series of dice rolls where opponents merely stand toe-to-toe with each other swinging back and forth until one is no longer standing. In GURPS different weapons have different advantages and disadvantages depending upon an adversary's armor. Thus in combat you must consider how an opponent is armored and what weapon they are using vs. your armor and weapons, and act accordingly. Also, in each turn you must also decide how best to move. For example, should you try a feint maneuver to fake your opponent out, stand back in an all out defense, or do you make an all out berserker charge heedless of your own defense? The rules also let you decide whether you want to try and merely wound or disarm your opponent, rather than kill them. While my examples above focus on primitive or hand-to-hand combat, the rules for advanced weapons, such as automatic rifles, futuristic beam weapons, and explosive devises are equally detailed, realistic, and playable. So far, in my admittedly limited experience with GURPS, one of the only areas I can offer any genuine criticism is with the limited number of attributes. To achieve simplicity GURPS uses only four attributes, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Health. In my mind, the Intelligence attribute is entirely too generic, and tries to cover too many different character traits. In addition to representing raw IQ, the Intelligence attribute also represents such divergent character qualities as willpower, discipline, wisdom, and education. On this one point I think GURPS sacrifices realism for simplicity. Certainly a character's raw IQ is not identical to his or her willpower or mental discipline. Also, intelligence is not identical to wisdom or even education. All is not lost, however, for supplemental rules in "Compendium I" do allow for the addition of a Willpower attribute. Also an individual game master can easily insert additional attributes, as they deem appropriate. This criticism being noted, I should state that it will not stop me from using the system, and tweaking it as I see fit. This is one of the strengths of GURPS in that the rules and basic mechanics are given in such a way that they can be fairly easily adapted to any style or system of play; thus the "G" for "Generic" in GURPS. Everything you need to play GURPS, with the exception of dice, is contained in this one basic book. The supplements are excellent and add additional rules and details for various types of campaign environments such as futuristic space, fantasy, supers, Feudal Japan, horror, Ancient Rome, or you name it. Whatever your gaming preference, GURPS can accommodate you. I highly recommend this system for anyone interested in RPG adventuring. Steve Jackson Games definitely has their act together!
|
