PDF Recommendations

[Sangtraït]

I've been away from GURPS for some years ( I admit it, I'm a heretic) but now I have embraced this system more strongly than ever. I thought that the flame of GURPS was extinguishing because there aren't in my FLGS any new manuals, but going to the website of Steve Jackson Games, Warehouse 23 and on the forums I have found a mine of supplements in PDF format. Right now I am overwhelmed by the wide range of supplements for GURPS 4th Edition.

And my question is, and I know it is very generic, but I want to know the opinions of GURPS fans: Of all the supplements that exists in PDF for GURPS 4th Edition, which one do you recommend me due to their quality? Mainly for fantasy and / or science fiction campaigns.

Thank you!

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Sangtraït

Of all the supplements that exists in PDF for GURPS 4th Edition, which one do you recommend me due to their quality? Mainly for fantasy and / or science fiction campaigns.

For anything with magic that's intended to be the least bit complex or subtle, Thaumatology. It's really good: the number of smaller PDFs that have spun off from it are evidence of that.

For anything that involves talking to people, Social Engineering.

For anything that involves hand-to-hand fighting, Martial Arts. For anything with realistic guns, Tactical Shooting.

For all character building, Power-Ups 2: Perks, Power-Ups 3: Talents and Power-Ups 6: Quirks.

[Ji ji]

I don't own a lot of GURPS publication. I still recommend you:

- Low Tech
- High Tech
- Transhuman Space
- Martial Arts

[Not another shrubbery]

For fantasy: Fantasy, Thaumatology.
For science fiction: Ultra-Tech.

Powers might help with either, but it depends on the types of games you're interested in. Bio-Tech and High-Tech might help with some science fiction, and Low-Tech could be useful for some fantasy.

[Refplace]

Rally depends on the type of GM you are.
Do you want a prebuilt world? Look at the various world books, and most of the Third edition ones work just as well in Fourth Edition.
Do you want to build your own? Then Fantasy and Space are good for the genres you are interested in.
Powers is awesome but unless your looking at Space Opera it probably belongs low on your list.
For Fantasy what type of magic do you want? Let us know that and a specific system can be more accurately recommended.
The Tech lines are mostly gear but include lots of other goodies.
The GURPS Books page lists the complete thing and most books have a preview PDF your will likely find useful.

[mehrkat]

I really really like lots of the PDF's

The general suggestions are good.

My favorites 5 books are

Powers Divine Favor (a really neat take on those called by the gods)

Thaumatology Ritual Path Magic (a new incredibly interesting take on magic)

Social Engineering (giving social situations a closer look)

Powerups 4 Enhancements (this takes a close look at adding enhancements to abilities. This includes a really close look at Cosmic)

GURPS Template Toolkit: Characters (this is a really close look at GMs creating templates but is also really good for players. thinking out there characters)

There are lots of others that I would recommend but I tried really hard to keep it to only 5.

I also strongly recommend Dungeon Fantasy and Monster Hunters if you want a fully worked genre complete with templates and ideas for challenges.
Dungeon Fantasy is set up to do stock fantasy whackem take there stuff.
Monster Hunters is for things like Buffy the Vampire slayer, Charmed etc.
There is also fully worked Sci-Fi setting "Tales of the Solar Patrol" (think Buck Rodgersish). I really like it but I haven't managed to make my players nibble on the game idea I had.

Action is also a series for adventure stories (Bond, Commando ...) once again I like it but haven't found the right game to really try it.

[Humabout]

In my opinion, and this is definitely tainted by my own tastes, but...

Low Tech and Companions
Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic
Social Engineering
Spaceships
Powers
Martial arts
Tactical Shooting

Thats what id rely on to do what yohre saying. Id also suggest these as excellent support materials:

Dungeon Fantasy line
Action line
Power-Ups line
Thaumatology
Powers: Divine Favor
Thamatology: Elemental Chinese Powers

[Bruno]

GURPS Biotech is also a hardcover, but I find myself re-reading and re-reading it. It's so good, I have to recommend it :)

GURPS Underground Adventures: The classic fantasy adventure environment, explored!

Depending on your style of Fantasy gaming (go find orcs and kill them for treasure?) the entire Dungeon Fantasy line is very good, but even for more "sober" types of Fantasy, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables is a great resource. It's useful not just for treasure to take from orcs, but for buying nice clothes and possessions for your settled character, neat trade goods for your caravan, and great ideas for describing and decorating everything.

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures is another strong "any fantasy game" book. Or at least "Any fantasy game with a bit of action in it" - but you'll want at least Dungeon Fantasy 2 to make the most of it. (Of course, I recommend getting at least DF 1-3 anyways :)

GURPS Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic is worth taking a look at for any Fantasy game, if you're looking for a different take on magic. GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers is also very good for the same purpose, but with quite a different style.

[Crakkerjakk]

GURPS Action 2 is a summary of pretty much any rule you might need to run any sort of action sequence, from pirates to westerns to pulp to modern day to cyberpunk to space opera. Not super realistic, but quick, condensed, and very useful.

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures is similar, but for outdoorsy stuff.

GURPS Horror is a fantastic resource for any sort of game that includes "scary stuff." Lots of goodness for scary monster stat blocks, what kind of "fear" you want to emphasize with each monster, etc.

GURPS Psionic Powers is great if you want fully worked and detailed psionics rules that are more like 3e, where you have skill and power as separate aspects of an ability, and can be increased separately. They're really well done plain language descriptions of built abilities that are very in-genre for movies like Scanners or Push, and great for any sort of game involving psis.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

This really, really depends on what you want to do. For example, want to run hack and slash fantasy? Get the DF line, starting with 1 and 2. I have a recommended order thereafter, but others will have their own. Want to run gritier, more "realistic" fantasy? Get the Low Tech series. Not sure what kind of fantasy game you want to run, or want to add more ideas to your fantasy campaign? Get GURPS Fantasy.

About the only GURPS book I'd recommend to nearly anybody regardless of what they want to do is Action 2. It's written primarily for modern-day espionage-ish games, but it's packed with rules which can be applied to just about any modern or SF-ish game and can be adapted without much work to games with a more historical feel.