GURPS Social Engineering

[Kromm]

Make you buy the book?
Oh no, I could not do that!
That is the book's job.

— Some hack

Wow, GURPS Social Engineering has only been available from e23 for a few hours and already my announcement has been scooped a couple of times. Such is the the power of word of mouth, memes, propaganda, and plain old advertising. Which are, of course, but a few of the topics that Bill Stoddard explores in his latest work.

Ever felt that the rules should give "face time" the same loving detail as face-punching, or preferred deception and manipulation to picking locks and planting bombs, or simply wanted more out of your PC's points in social skills? If so, this one's for you! From little white lies to getting elected (wait . . .), from sugary-sweet romance to starting fights, Social Engineering organizes and rationalizes everything ever written for social interactions in GURPS, adds tons of new options, and demonstrates how to use it all in play. Topics include social advantages (like Rank and Status), disadvantages (such as Odious Personal Habits), and skills; their applications, both expected and extraordinary; and how to square it all with GM intent and player approach. In true GURPS tradition, the advice crosses genre boundaries, and even pushes past the human factor to account for the superhuman and the nonhuman. If people actually talk in your games, you need this book.

That isn't hyperbole, either. This is an 88-page monster. Everything is here. If you don't believe me, then take a look at the preview. Why yes, that index does have entries for economic monopolies, truth drugs, and taunting . . .

[Wildcat]

I might have to put this second from the top of my wish list, behind only the aforementioned face-punching book.

[PK]

The most important thing I can say about Social Engineering is that it's more than a supplement -- it's essentially an upgrade for GURPS. Much like Powers upgraded GURPS' exotic and supernatural advantages, and Martial Arts upgraded the combat system, Social Engineering takes the existing GURPS social rules and expands them with amazing detail and guidance.

A GURPS game that uses Social Engineering will have an easier time offering rich, deep, and exciting social interactions than one that doesn't. It's not just an add-on -- it's one of the rare supplements that mixes with the Basic Set to bring GURPS to a new level.

[Figleaf23]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

The most important thing I can say about Social Engineering is that it's more than a supplement -- it's essentially an upgrade for GURPS. Much like Powers upgraded GURPS' exotic and supernatural advantages, and Martial Arts upgraded the combat system, Social Engineering takes the existing GURPS social rules and expands them with amazing detail and guidance.

A GURPS game that uses Social Engineering will have an easier time offering rich, deep, and exciting social interactions than one that doesn't. It's not just an add-on -- it's one of the rare supplements that mixes with the Basic Set to bring GURPS to a new level.

It could be a hardcover by the sounds of it.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Figleaf23

It could be a hardcover by the sounds of it.

Kromm already pretty much said no which is what I expected based on previous postings.
It is about half the size they want for a hardback, but if sales do really well then it could get a softcover which would be awesome.
Probably have to sell about 600 PDF based on what he said, maybe as low as 500 but needs to do at least as well as Tactical shooting which is at 597 sales on E23.

[Pragmatic]

143 in the first day.

[SCAR]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Kromm already pretty much said no which is what I expected based on previous postings.
It is about half the size they want for a hardback, but if sales do really well then it could get a softcover which would be awesome.
Probably have to sell about 600 PDF based on what he said, maybe as low as 500 but needs to do at least as well as Tactical shooting which is at 597 sales on E23.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

143 in the first day.

Tactical Shooting sold 92 on release Day, and 167 by the following day. 287 after 8 days, 385 after 31 days, and at 600 now, it's only 14 behind Gun-Fu which has sold 614 in a little over 2 years, where as TS has been out a little under 9 months! (GF sold 467 in it's first year)

Gun Fu has not had the SC treatment (yet has more sales than TS), so it isn't just about the numbers! GF is smaller, but is bigger than each of DF1-4 whic got the SC treatment -but there were probably other factors in the decision to SC those.

It's tricky to tell for us really, but first day sales of 143 is an excellent start, lets see if it can make over 200 today, and over 300 by next Friday!

[Ts_]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

143 in the first day.

Low-Tech sold 267 on the first day.
Tactical Shooting sold 92 on the first day.

I guess opening day numbers measure "anticipation" more than future sales. We'll see.

Ts

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

Social Engineering is that it's more than a supplement -- it's essentially an upgrade for GURPS. Much like Powers upgraded GURPS' exotic and supernatural advantages, and Martial Arts upgraded the combat system, Social Engineering takes the existing GURPS social rules and expands them with amazing detail and guidance.

A GURPS game that uses Social Engineering will have an easier time offering rich, deep, and exciting social interactions than one that doesn't. It's not just an add-on -- it's one of the rare supplements that mixes with the Basic Set to bring GURPS to a new level.

Well said. That is why I've been speaking of SE as a core GURPS book.

[Figleaf23]

Originally Posted by demonsbane

Well said. That is why I've been speaking of SE as a core GURPS book.

And that's why I would buy it in hardcover -- to round out my core GURPS library (I have also recently bought duplicates of the four core books in pdf for convenience). That said, if they were to start thinking about it, I would suggest considering some additional material to fill it out a bit.