[New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

I've got a big secret!

No, you'll never get it out of me. I'm too clever for that.

Really? Well, that's kind of you to notice... maybe I've lost a few pounds over the past few weeks. Does it show?

Okay... you seem cool, so I'll tell you. We just released GURPS Social Engineering -- the ultimate GURPS sourcebook for all things interpersonal.

But you'll keep this to yourself, right? You won't use these new rules and options to do naughty things like weasel secret info out of anyone, right?

... HEY!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Gah! Stupid budget. Can I afford to not eat for the rest of the day? Or should I just wait for Friday?

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Using this handy book, you should be able to convince people to give you food!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

This corporate drone will have to wait till evening to spend the 1 free time on a shopping trip. This will involve Social Engineering, Burn in Hell, quinoa and millet grain, a bra, and a magnum can of beer.

Stop staring at me like that! It's Hallowe'en!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

I'd tell you to forget the food and buy the book now, but this is one which rewards a thoughtful reading, and you can't do that with low blood sugar. Load up on carbs and schedule the time to read it straight through over the weekend.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

It's mine! Now, if only it has advice on how to convince people to give me a job! That food-or-GURPS question has been getting annoying lately...

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Wooot! It's out!

Bill Stoddard

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Are you all right? ;)

Gah, half a week till pay-day.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

My dear sir, the phrase "all right" is hardly sufficient to encompass the mental state of an author whose new book has just arrived on their doorstop or in their inbox, but it surely points in the right direction.

Bill Stoddard

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Bought!

Been waiting for this since I heard about it. Cheers Bill :)

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Make up your mind
should we buy it or...
it is a bit late to put this on page 73

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

This one definitely needs a good read-through. Even bypassing the obligatory Campaigns chapter, there is a tremendous amount of crunch, though mostly not new systems added to GURPS. It looks very nice indeed.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

I'm going to buy this the moment I get home. So happy it got released - the preview makes it look very interesting, as has everything else I've ever heard of it.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Bought....

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

What? It would hardly be appropriate for you to throw it away if you hadn't bought it!

Bill Stoddard

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

For rules related to buying the book and throw it away, consult "Visible Status and Cost of Living" on p. 18.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Great. I wasn't expecting this release today.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

It has now been purchased. Great work, Bill.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Awesome... GURPS: Social Engineering aka The Secrets to Life Revealed

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Fantastic - I've been waiting for this book for months!

Bought!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

No-one expects the Spanish Inqui... er, No-one expects Social Engineering!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

I guess that quoting Monty Python here seems like a sign of joy for this release :)

And it's not hard to understand: Social Engineering is a great book and a very useful contribution to the GURPS line.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Purchase-nated! Memes for everyone!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

the one thing I was surprised was not included was the ability to read minds and how it would effect your social roles...

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Wohoo, finally!

I can't wait to read it!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

As the beginning of Chapter 2 states, things like mental influence, mind reading, etc., are beyond the scope of the book -- as those don't represent social interaction so much as they represent an alternative to social interaction.

That said, there are many rules that give you a bonus for awareness of your target's emotional state, and Mind Reading would obviously give you that bonus every time. It's just not called out explicitly, as Empathy, Body Language, etc., are.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Where do I find those rules? I am having trouble finding them.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

The relevant mentions of Empathy are on pp. 25, 26, 32, 36, 37, 53, 56, and 71. Body Language is mostly nearby. You can find these by typing an appropriate keyword into the search box of your reader.

Bill Stoddard

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

As an aside on that I have a question or two.
Adding Powers to the book would have probably added at least a chapter so I understand why it was not included. However how much do you think adding powers, magic, psi, or even wild builds would add to the content of the book?
And would there likely be sufficient interest in a followup companion style book for them? And by interest I don't mean just the buyers as its probably too early to judge but author and editorial interest as well.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Kromm or Steven would have a better sense for that than I can. I've played a little with the idea of a powers book about social powers, but of course actually submitting it before SE came out would have been premature; much better to do so once we actually have sales data.

Bill Stoddard

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Whoa. 364 sales thus far ... that's in a bit under a week. That seems fast - only just out of the top 100 (4 more and it's in).

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

That's impressive - for comparison, Low Tech sold 364 in 7 days (and it and the LTCs all sold very well - LT & LTC2 made the Top 20 within 1 Year!), Social Engineering has managed the same in 6 days!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Very nice job, Bill. As always.

Signed,

A most fervent admirer of your GURPS Supplements!

-P.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

That answered the main part of my question anyhow. I figure the data set isn't in yet. Runs off and looks .....Cool 374 and made the all time top 100 already!
And looks like I got some money coming in next week so I will be adding to that list soon.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

I just noticed the new Expanded Influence Rolls with a rebalanced table of results, and an explanation that the Mysteries one was biased towards difficult hardboiled stories. Makes me happy.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

I bought the book, and read it. While it is interesting I can't see that I'd use it in a game.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Perhaps someone already spotted this, but anyway here is it:

Under "Reaction Rolls and Modifiers", the book says:

but Motives is in page 25, not 28.

Another two instances of a wrong page number for Motives are under "General Reactions":

and under "Haggling":

I've reported this as errata.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Looking over bibliography, I'm puzzled:
It lists Dexter, but not Lie to Me? Given just how focused Lie to Me is on social stuff, this is rather surprising. Just a matter of contrast.
No Ekman in the books either, though I guess that one is more obscure than the TV series.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

I don't watch much television. I asked for suggestions for shows to watch, and rented DVDs for the ones recommended, most of which ended up in the bibliography. Looking at the Wikipedia entry for Lie to Me, I don't see anything in it that looks familiar, so my guess is no one recommended it; I would have watched it had anyone done so, I'm pretty sure.

Bill Stoddard

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Essentially it's about a company specializing in Body Language, Psychology, Detect Lies, voice stress analysis (BTW, what skill covers that?) etc., doing odd social jobs for whoever's paying (jealous husband, investigating police, CIA trying to figure the less-obvious stuff from a terrorist's video message etc.). About the same level of hypercompetence of lead characters as in Dexter and House - no less realistic than usual for the genre.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

I would guess it's some form of Electronics Operation.

Bill Stoddard

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Nice to see the "Social Traits as Rewards" box on p. 17, since it echoes my earlier Pyramid article "The Fine Art of Social Climbing" (which was published way back in 2008).

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Out of curiosity, is this because your games don't generally include social interaction?

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

It's just way more detail that we've used so far. We've mostly just improvised and it's worked fine. The thing I see as most likely to make it into a game of ours is the extended reaction tables.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

If any of you are still on the fence about picking this one up...

We've got the bibliography up now.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

It warms my heart that such a large portion of that bibliography sits on my shelves.

And if you're looking to run an espionage game, the Aubrey Maturin series (Master and Commander being the first book) is nearly a must-read. Steven Maturin is an awesome spy.

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

Social Engineering has passed the 500 sales mark in 26 days; it stands a decent chance of making the Top50 by the end of November!

Re: [New Release] GURPS Social Engineering
 

A slim chance, as sales have slowed a bit. I think end of the year is a better bet.