New To GURPS? Here's Some Help To Get Things Going!
by SAB on Mar.28, 2009, under RPG
GURPS Stands for Generic Universal Roleplaying System. I personally believe that GURPS is the best roleplaying system available today – it’s flexible, fun, and as detailed or simple as you choose. Some people are turned off by how detailed things can get in GURPS, but flexibility is the key: it’s only as complicated as you want it to be.
On the Steve Jackson Forums first time players are often asking for hints or tips for starting a GURPS game. Often the post is by a Game Master (GM) to-be that isn’t sure where to go. I thought I’d do my part and give back to the GURPS community by compiling a list of useful links to help get your game going.
Getting Started
To start, you should have one copy of the GURPS Basic Set, which consists of GURPS Basic Characters and GURPS Basic Campaigns. You can usually find them in Game Shops, occasionally book stores, online through Amazon and from Steve Jackson Games who offer print versions as well as download-able PDFs.
You only really need to have Characters, but if you start playing GURPS seriously, you’ll want both. I would also suggest getting a copy of GURPS Lite, a free download-able PDF that distils the most basic GURPS rules (good for handing out to your players.)
Resources
The Big List of RPG Plots
S. John Ross has compiled a list of the most frequently used RPG plot elements with summaries and suggestions for merging elements or twisting them. If you’re not sure where to go in your campaign, have a look at The Big List of RPG Plots and see if you can’t find a good place to take your game!
Robin’s Laws of Good GameMastering
A Steve Jackson book, Robin’s Laws is full of helpful tips and guidelines for the would be Game Master. Written by Robin Laws (seriously) this short book is an essential read for a GM, detailing what makes good games good, the psychology of running a campaign, and more. Robin’s Laws is currently out of print, however you can still buy it from Amazon and from Steve Jackson Games as a download-able PDF.
GURPS Campaign Planning Form
Steve Jackson Games is pretty good about providing free resources for gamers. The Campaign planning form is a nice one, that lets a GM peice out exactly what they want their game to be like. Very useful when starting a new game, and for giving to players to let them know exactly what to expect (is there magic? Are there Super Powers? Etc.) You can download it directly here.
GURPS Game Master Control Sheet
Another excellent free resource from Steve Jackson’s Resources page. You can use a Control Sheet to help keep track of which player can do what – useful when your plot hinges on something like wall stopping the players, and you forgot that one of your players can walk through walls! You can download it directly here.
GURPS Character Sheet
SAB previously posted a detailed article on GURPS Character Sheet. GCS is the best free GURPS Character Sheet program available. The program includes a detailed, indexed library of advantages, disadvantages, skills, spells, equipment, and just about everything else you would ever need. Even better, it works on any computer platform, not just windows like some other Character Sheet programs.
For more screenshots you can click here. You can get it from Richard A. Wilkes’s site, Trollworks.
GURPS Lite
While I’ve already mentioned GURPS Lite once, the fact that it’s both free and extremely useful means it deserves to be mentioned twice! A great primer to the GURPS gaming system, I’ve used GURPS Lite to lure unsuspecting gamers over to GURPS. You can download GURPS Lite for free from Steve Jackson Games.
Steve Jackson Forums
The Steve Jackson forums are excellent. You can use the site to research any question you might have about GURPS, or ask the friendly community there anything that might be on your mind. There is a section specificially for GURPS (where I often lurk as my persona of Dantar) as well as other sections available. Why don’t you visit it today?
D6 Probability Chart
GURPS uses 3 six sided dice for just about every roll. This makes the mechanics of the game simple, and easy to catch on to. SAB previously made a helpful post detailing D6 Probabilities. I keep one next to my desk when I’m making character sheets to easily see what my chances are.
GURPS Combat Cards
There are a lot of options in combat in GURPS and sometimes it can be confusing GURPS Combat Cards from Steve Jacskon is a free downloadable PDF that you can print off, cut out, and hand out to your players in game. We’ve found they make combat a breeze (especially for new players.)
That’s it for now. I hope some of these resources help you and your players out in your games!
