Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - GURPS Basic Set: Characters and Campaigns PDF Update

johndallman · 02-28-2020, 03:53 PM

There are two ways, which really ought to give the same answer, and do for the current and previous Basic Set PDFs.

First, find the back cover page, which says it explicitly, with a message just above the barcodes. The new Characters and Campaigns PDFs both say:

4TH EDITION , 7TH PRINTING
PUBLISHED JANUARY 2020

My previous Campaigns PDF has:

4TH EDITION , 5TH PRINTING
PUBLISHED APRILL 2011

And my previous Characters PDF has:

4TH EDITION , 3RD PRINTING
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2008

The other way is on the title page, where near the bottom right, you'll see a string of numbers, like:

"3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10", or "5 6 7 8 9 10", or "7 8 9 10".

The first number in that string is the printing number. This is a conventional publishing format, dating from a time where numbers could be clipped off a metallic printing plate with tinsnips to mark a new printing.

SJ Games don't produce a new PDF for Warehouse 23 each time they reprint a book. As Steven Marsh has said, the PDFs they sell there are not the same as the ones they send to printers, which are much larger. I deduce that they produce a new W23 PDF when there are meaningful changes to the text or layout, but I don't know for sure.

02-28-2020, 03:53 PM	#15
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	How to tell what printing a PDF is from There are two ways, which really ought to give the same answer, and do for the current and previous Basic Set PDFs. First, find the back cover page, which says it explicitly, with a message just above the barcodes. The new *Characters* and *Campaigns* PDFs both say: 4TH EDITION , 7TH PRINTING PUBLISHED JANUARY 2020 My previous *Campaigns* PDF has: 4TH EDITION , 5TH PRINTING PUBLISHED APRILL 2011 And my previous *Characters* PDF has: 4TH EDITION , 3RD PRINTING PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2008 The other way is on the title page, where near the bottom right, you'll see a string of numbers, like: "3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10", or "5 6 7 8 9 10", or "7 8 9 10". The first number in that string is the printing number. This is a conventional publishing format, dating from a time where numbers could be clipped off a metallic printing plate with tinsnips to mark a new printing. SJ Games don't produce a new PDF for Warehouse 23 each time they reprint a book. As Steven Marsh has said, the PDFs they sell there are not the same as the ones they send to printers, which are much larger. I deduce that they produce a new W23 PDF when there are meaningful changes to the text or layout, but I don't know for sure. __________________ The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques.