New monster books for gurps

[Michael Thayne]

A feature of GURPS that it took me a really long time to fully appreciate is how easy it is to make your own monsters. You can just sit down with Characters (and maybe one or two other crunch-heavy books like Powers) and every time you see a trait that's a good fit for your conception of the monster, add that to its stat block. That's something you can't really do with D&D, because so many of the statistics a monster has in D&D—like how many hit dice it has—are entirely abstract, they don't really mean anything "in universe". It took me a long time to accept that if I wanted a Unicorn, I could just take the stats for a pony in Campaigns, change IQ to 10, give them Magery 0 and Striker (Impaling), and call it a day.

[Brian]

I really just like reading the old fantasy beistry and the space beastry I would like to see more books in that vein I also like to see it put back on the digital wish list

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Brian

I really just like reading the old fantasy beistry and the space beastry I would like to see more books in that vein I also like to see it put back on the digital wish list

Do you have all the books that Refplace listed? The only way more books like this get published is if people actually buy the ones that already exist.

I like writing bestiaries, but if nobody buys them, they aren't getting published.

[Farmer]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Here is a list of most if not all of the current ones.
https://refplace.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_47.html

Great list!

I don't suppose anyone actually has a copy of Time Travel Adventures they want to part with for a price? It doesn't seem to be available in digital and appears long out of print, but I'd really like a copy.

[Brian]

Yes I do have them all

[apoc527]

Originally Posted by Brian

Yes I do have them all

Jumping in late, but better that than never.

To clarify, do you also have all the Gaming Ballistic Nordlond Bestiary books? Because they are, without a doubt, some of the BEST "beast book" material I've ever seen. It goes well beyond just the monster entries, and that's something I suspect a lot of folks don't know: you've got sections on toxins, venoms, poisons, and disease; you've got monster building notes; you've got the whole "horse trading" section which is AMAZING; you've got discussions of how size matters...it goes on and on.

Put simply if you run ANY fantasy game and don't want to create literally every single monster on your own, you should do yourself a favor and buy all of these books.

(This message most certainly NOT sponsored by Doug...it is a direct result of really spending time last weekend with these books while preparing for a game!)

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by apoc527

(This message most certainly NOT sponsored by Doug...it is a direct result of really spending time last weekend with these books while preparing for a game!)

I support that, I have been happy with every GB product I have purchased.

[sjmdw45]

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

A feature of GURPS that it took me a really long time to fully appreciate is how easy it is to make your own monsters. You can just sit down with Characters (and maybe one or two other crunch-heavy books like Powers) and every time you see a trait that's a good fit for your conception of the monster, add that to its stat block. That's something you can't really do with D&D, because so many of the statistics a monster has in D&D—like how many hit dice it has—are entirely abstract, they don't really mean anything "in universe". It took me a long time to accept that if I wanted a Unicorn, I could just take the stats for a pony in Campaigns, change IQ to 10, give them Magery 0 and Striker (Impaling), and call it a day.

I don't disagree, but at the same time, the most interesting part of a good monster isn't the obvious stuff that you'd create via this process. DFRPG Ramexes are really interesting because of their origins and motivation as well as their Step Across ability; D&D Baatezu are really interesting due in large part to their lifecycle and ecology (promotion from one form to the next) and what it implies about their psychology; Athasian thri-kreen are interesting for their predatory mindset as much as for their stats, and I'm strongly tempted to ban DFRPG coleopterans from my game for being overpowered, but replace them with thri-kreen who are mechanically identical except for being SM +1 (a serious downside when it comes to buff magic), and keep all the Athasian psychology. D&D cave fishers have buying stats but The Ecology of the Cave Fisher from Dragon Magazine makes them quite interesting.

Being able to easily stat up dinosaurs and giant apes and housecats that magically turn into panthers is definitely an advantage, I agree. But it doesn't prevent me from being willing to buy (creative!) monster books.

Originally Posted by Brian

I really just like reading the old fantasy beistry and the space beastry I would like to see more books in that vein I also like to see it put back on the digital wish list

You should check out The Book of Imaginary Beings.

Originally Posted by Farmer

Great list!

I don't suppose anyone actually has a copy of Time Travel Adventures they want to part with for a price? It doesn't seem to be available in digital and appears long out of print, but I'd really like a copy.

It's $24 here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/285081730590