GURPS 3E at Warehouse 23

[Blue Ghost]

I see GURPS Third Edition (revised) is on sale at Warehouse 23. Is 3E compatible with the current edition?

p.s. I really like the cover art for 3E, and think it's one of the great all time pieces of cover art for any publication, notably an RPG.

[Kelly Pedersen]

The current edition of GURPS is 4th, with 3rd being the previous one. 3e sourcebooks are definitely still useable - most contain lots of information that's basically system-neutral, like descriptions of settings and NPCs and such, all of which can easily be used. Even the ones with more rules can be converted. There's a free pdf available on Warehouse 23, GURPS Update that covers most of what you'd need to convert 3e to 4e.

[Blue Ghost]

This is very helpful. Thank you.

[hal]

One thing that might be worth considering...

Sometimes, you may find that you don't like the way something is done in GURPS 4e, but that you like better in the 3e version of the rules better. Maybe you don't like GURPS MAGIC for 4e as written, but when you look at the GURPS MAGIC for 3e (essentially GURPS CLASSIC MAGIC as it is now called) - it contains ideas that you want to implement instead of what is in the GURPS MAGIC for 4e version.

Sometimes, having access to the earlier versions of a book can help explain why things were done - and the 4e version is better than the 3e version. The net effect then, is that you can implement those things from the two different editions and pick those things that make you happier with the game vehicle as it were. Just as there are cars that are manufactured by Ford and GM and such - a car is that vehicle with 4 wheels (usually!) enclosed with glass and other materials, that can attain a given speed, etc. One can drive a souped up Mustang or a stock Mustang. So too - can role playing rules be used in a stock format unchanged in any way, to running a souped up version that does precisely what you want, the way you want.

Me? I've largely enjoyed GURPS since 1986, and seen how it evolved over time. No, I don't like 4e in all of its implementations. Yes, I do like some of its implementations over those of 3e. So, always one to tinker with the rules since 1986, I tinker with GURPS today.

;)

Sadly? There has been no replacement for the GURPS VEHICLES 2nd edition from the 3e line of GURPS - such that GURPS 4e suffers (in my eyes) from its lack. Consequently, I tend to merge things from 3e into 4e and adapt for 4e, the Vehicles rules.

I hope you enjoy the book if you do buy it, and I hope too, that your enjoyment of GURPS overall, is one that stands the test of time. Me and my players? We've stuck with GURPS since 1986 - and will continue to stick with it until we enter retirement homes or take the great dirt nap (as one player likes to say about death in general).

Good luck!

[Blue Ghost]

This is extremely helpful. I haven't played GURPS in forever, so it's why I asked. I'm an old Grognard like yourself, and have always enjoyed the extremely well researched supplements.

I also ask because it just seems like there's more stuff in 3e and all the supps with all the sidebars than in in the 4th edition. I'm sure I'm wrong on that, but it was a fear I had.

[hal]

Originally Posted by Blue Ghost

This is extremely helpful. I haven't played GURPS in forever, so it's why I asked. I'm an old Grognard like yourself, and have always enjoyed the extremely well researched supplements.

I also ask because it just seems like there's more stuff in 3e and all the supps with all the sidebars than in in the 4th edition. I'm sure I'm wrong on that, but it was a fear I had.

Ok, I'm going to be mean to you... *teasing grin*

Tell me what you're interested in - either as a player, or as a GM. I in turn, would tell you what I'd buy, and how I'd go about trying to create the game universe using any published GURPS source, any published RPG source not necessarily GURPS, but potentially useful, and take it from there.

For example? If I were to run a near future cyberpunkesque campaign, the books I'd want to utilize would be GURPS BASIC: CHARACTERS, GURPS BASIC: CAMPAIGNS, GURPS CLASSIC CYBERPUNK, GURPS MARTIAL ARTS, GURPS CHARACTER ASSISTANT (always helpful in building a nice looking character sheet), GURPS TERRADYNE, GURPS MARS, GURPS VEHICLES 2nd edition, GURPS ROBOTS (with my own set of rules updating it for use with 4e), ULTRATECH and CLASSIC ULTRATECH, CLASSIC ULTRATECH 2 - and GURPS SOCIAL ENGINEERING.

Then, for supporting material, I'd use NIGHT CITY (Cyberpunk 2020 from R Talsorian Games) and of course, I'd take a hard look at the ship building rules from GURPS TRANSHUMAN SPACE (Classic as it were).

With all of that, there should be no reason I can't come up with something to address any given issue within the game universe I'd want to build. And for the record? I created a spreadsheet that lists the various timelines from GURPS TERRADYNE, GURPS CAR WARS, CYBERSPACE and TRANSHUMAN SPACE. I sort of cheated by listing the years events occur - then listing the year the book was originally copyrighted. Then, I put in today's year. YEar of event - Copyright, says "Years from Present" the event occurs. Then I add this "Years from Present" value to today's year - and I get a NEW year that the event occurs. This way, those things that already happened can get their proper historical year - and events that haven't happened, can get a new year to happen.

So, yes - as a GM, you can play around with anything. IF you want to be able to arrive at some stat for a gun not listed in any of the GURPS books, we have a spreadsheet that can be used to derive the Half Damage range, the muzzle velocity for the round, the round mass (weight) and a few other odds and ends. In theory? I could take the Blackhands Street weapons catalog and convert it for use in GURPS.

So - yes, the resources are out there, and if you're inventive enough, you can adopt or adapt anything from anywhere for use in your games. Right now, I am SERIOUSLY considering using TRANSHUMAN SPACE ship building rules for use with an EXPANSE clone, where all activity is within a single star system.

Soooooo.

Name your poison and see what us old grognards can come up with to help. ;)

[Blue Ghost]

Oh wow, hey, lots of useful stuff. In all honesty I just have the old 3E hardback rulebook which I've read a couple of times, but never found a close by gaming group to partake in.

I was just wondering how much updating I would need if I went about searching for an older gaming group that used GURPS >:)

[copeab]

A quick way to gauge the differences is to look at the two Lite versions (3e and 4e) side by side.

I didn't make switch for two reasons:

1) I had been making little tweaks to the system since 1990 and I didn't want to start the process over again.

2) I have a very large selection of GURPS books. 4e rendered a lot of that material invalid and would take a lot of time to update (in particular, the WWII line). I also had no interest in buying new editions of books I already had.

So, for me, moving to 4e wasn't worth the effort or cost. Given your limited investment, it may be.

(Although I strongly suggest using the 3e rules for psionics, unless you really like superpowers)

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by copeab

(Although I strongly suggest using the 3e rules for psionics, unless you really like superpowers)

On that note, the 3e rules for Psionics can be found entirely in GURPS Psionics, which makes it an easy addition to GURPS 4e. OTOH, GURPS Psionic Powers for GURPS 4e is available as a standalone product as well, using basically the same system that is found in (very) short form in the Basic Set: Characters. So it's up to you if you want to use the Powers-based system from 4e or the leveled advantage+skill based system from 3e.

[copeab]

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

On that note, the 3e rules for Psionics can be found entirely in GURPS Psionics, which makes it an easy addition to GURPS 4e. OTOH, GURPS Psionic Powers for GURPS 4e is available as a standalone product as well, using basically the same system that is found in (very) short form in the Basic Set: Characters. So it's up to you if you want to use the Powers-based system from 4e or the leveled advantage+skill based system from 3e.

Yep, GURPS Psionics includes the rules from 3e Basic for completeness, expands on them, and adds new stuff (psitech, sample campaign, etc).

Since I don't run supers, the 3e version works fine for me. If you run supers, the 4e version may fit your needs better.