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Old 06-28-2014, 10:40 PM   #11
DangerousThing
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Default Re: PDF Recommendations

My recommendations, which are as biased as anybody else's, are:
  1. Martial Arts: this is really Combat 2
  2. Powers: this expands on the modifiers for advantages
  3. Thaumaturgy: this goes beyond the system presented in Magic and Basic; multiple magic systems are presented.

In addition there are the Power-Up series, Spaceships, Low Tech, and High Tech.

I also liked both Dragons and Zombis.

Have fun!
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Old 06-29-2014, 07:58 AM   #12
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Default Re: PDF Recommendations

Stuff I use a lot in fantasy:

Magic (duh!)
Low-Tech and related (Companions, Instant Armor)
Dungeon Fantasy series, especially 1, 2, 3, 8, 13, 16 and Mirror of the Fire Demon
A few rules from Martial Arts
Some monsters from Banestorm and Horror, and some monsters and a few other things from Fantasy. The lack of a key book or books of things you can whack (as opposed to a realistic Bestiary, about which folks often talk) is a problem with GURPS, though it leads me to roll my own monsters. I also grab some from Horror and Zombies.
Social Engineering
Action 2 (for the chase rules)
I have Ritual Path Magic, but honestly it hasn't inspired me to use it, which likely counts as blasphemy around here. But aside from the monster book problem, SJG has given this genre a lot of love as of late. I used loads of things, including almost all of the DF line (other than 6 and 16, and the latter only because it wasn't out), Fantasy, Banestorm, Horror, Zombies, you name it when designing the world.

Of course, I have more than a few non-SJG recommendations. :)

Stuff I used a lot in my space marine A-team game from a few years ago:

Ultra-Tech
Ultra-Tech
Ultra-Tech

And I started the game without it as well.

Space was boring. I liked the monst-er, alien generation system, but the rest lacked the spark of its 3e version, which is what drew me into GURPS in the first place. Gun-Fu and Tactical Shooting didn't come until after it was done, but I would have used one I'm sure had it been out (likely Gun-Fu, which I don't own; Tactical Shooting is kinda dry). I'm sure I would have used Social Engineering as well. I didn't get much use out of Spaceships, since they were mostly plot devices to jump from one Space Atlas 1 (I used 1 a lot, and 2 and 4 some) system to the next. This genre could use an Action-like Space Opera line, but you could run a decent game with just the two core books here.

So, regardless:

The tech books, other than Bio-Tech, which sits collecting dust unless I need to get a disease from it.
Social Engineering
Action 2
Magic (in spite of the real flaws that you'll read here)
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Old 07-02-2014, 12:39 PM   #13
Sangtraït
 
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Default Re: PDF Recommendations

Quote:
Originally Posted by Refplace View Post
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.
This is good to know :) I have GURPS Planet of Adventure and I like it very much. What about Blood Types? Is it playable?

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Originally Posted by Refplace View Post
Do you want to build your own? Then Fantasy and Space are good for the genres you are interested in.
I own GURPS Fantasy 4th Edition and it really sparks my imagination. Is GURPS Space as good?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Refplace View Post
For Fantasy what type of magic do you want? Let us know that and a specific system can be more accurately recommended.

I have no idea about it. I like the magis system of the Basic Set. This is enough for me.
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Old 07-02-2014, 06:03 PM   #14
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: PDF Recommendations

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Originally Posted by Sangtraït View Post
I own GURPS Fantasy 4th Edition and it really sparks my imagination. Is GURPS Space as good?

I have no idea about it. I like the magis system of the Basic Set. This is enough for me.
Gurps Space is hard to say. There is much useful stuff about campaign design but this is repeated from earlier editions. The major new contributions are elaborate systems for randomly creating alien creatures and star systems/planets. I never use these myself.

There are also some Templates for character types but probably fewer than Fantasy.

There is nothing at all in the area of equipment or spaceships. If I was listing priorities for running a Space game I'd get Ultra-Tech, quite possibly Bio-tech and Spaceships in that order and then Space last.

Gurps Magic uses the system in Basic and greatly expands its' spell lists. Gurps Thaumatology shows ways to modify that systems and includes other systems as well.
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Old 07-02-2014, 09:53 PM   #15
Refplace
 
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Default Re: PDF Recommendations

I dont remember wht I thought about Blood Types and my copy was lost in a flood. Since I never replaced it and cant recall much about it probably it did not ring my bell.
Space is decent but if you already have a good idea on what you want it is less useful. Gear books like Ultra Tech or Bio Tech probably more useful.
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Old 07-03-2014, 07:21 AM   #16
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Default Re: PDF Recommendations

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Originally Posted by Sangtraït View Post
I have no idea about it. I like the magis system of the Basic Set. This is enough for me.
Then get GURPS Magic. Spell charts for all ts spells are available free.
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Old 07-03-2014, 06:58 PM   #17
Not another shrubbery
 
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Default Re: PDF Recommendations

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Then get GURPS Magic. Spell charts for all ts spells are available free.
One thing the op might consider as an alternative is GURPS Classic: Magic. Even though it is for 3E, the mechanics are the same, the spell descriptions that are in the newer edition are essentially the same, and the slight increase in alternative magic systems in that newer book may not be of much interest to him. You will lose a lot of new spells, but many of those are the problematic ones that lead to frequent interpretation questions. The older book is a pretty good value if you don't mind losing some content.
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Old 07-04-2014, 12:13 PM   #18
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Default Re: PDF Recommendations

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Originally Posted by Rasputin View Post
Space was boring. I liked the monst-er, alien generation system, but the rest lacked the spark of its 3e version, which is what drew me into GURPS in the first place.
Just out of curiosity, what provided the spark in the previous editions that is lacking in the latest edition?
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Old 07-04-2014, 05:58 PM   #19
Fred Brackin
 
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Just out of curiosity, what provided the spark in the previous editions that is lacking in the latest edition?
Probably al the tech (including medical tech) and the shipbuilding and space combat systems the new book lacks. Space used to be one stop shopping to at least a certain 4level. Now it really does have to have supplements..
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Old 07-04-2014, 07:49 PM   #20
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Default Re: PDF Recommendations

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Probably al the tech (including medical tech) and the shipbuilding and space combat systems the new book lacks. Space used to be one stop shopping to at least a certain 4level. Now it really does have to have supplements..
Yes, this is more or less it. I can see the reasoning, but it makes the book much less essential. I ran a space marines game without looking at the book at all.
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