GURPS 1st/2nd edition

[Ashtagon]

What were these like? What were the big changes between these and between them and 3rd edition? Except for the publication dates and cover art, I can find basically no information about either of these.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Ashtagon

What were these like? What were the big changes between these and between them and 3rd edition? Except for the publication dates and cover art, I can find basically no information about either of these.

1st ed. was of course smaller and when some Advantages were added the costs were very different. Longevity came in at 40pts in the beginning. :)

No Psionics and no Magic either. Psi came in in Horror 1e and Magic in fantasy 1e.

The other major difference may have been ranged combat and weapons for it. Before High Tech 1e gun damage was done in a somewhat odd way and Great Axes could do more damage than machine guns.

No Speed/Range Table either.

Can't tell you about 2e. It came and went quite quickly and I never saw it.

[cvannrederode]

The main difference between 3rd and 1st/2nd is that the 3rd came in one book (not counting the compendiums), and magic was separate (part of Fantasy).

3rd put the Characters book and Adventuring book, plus basic Magic rules all in one book. Magic got a bigger book, and Fantasy was strictly Banestorm.

[Mark Skarr]

Ranged combat, in 2e was different. I still remember increment and miss it.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Can't tell you about 2e. It came and went quite quickly and I never saw it.

The major difference seems to have been card covers on the two booklets in 2e. At some point I will be bored enough to do a page-by-page comparison of 1e and 2e, but it hasn't happened yet.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Ashtagon

What were these like? What were the big changes between these and between them and 3rd edition? Except for the publication dates and cover art, I can find basically no information about either of these.

The GURPSwiki gives some basic information in GURPS Classic. The size of the GURPS Update 2e to 3e gives an impression of just how many rule changes there were. 80 pages for an update...just wow.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

1st ed. was of course smaller and when some Advantages were added the costs were very different. Longevity came in at 40pts in the beginning. :)

No Psionics and no Magic either. Psi came in in Horror 1e and Magic in fantasy 1e.

The other major difference may have been ranged combat and weapons for it. Before High Tech 1e gun damage was done in a somewhat odd way and Great Axes could do more damage than machine guns.

No Speed/Range Table either.

Can't tell you about 2e. It came and went quite quickly and I never saw it.

2nd edition didn't really deserve to be called an edition. It was really the 2nd printing.

[corwyn]

gurps Autoduel 1e gives a good look at early ranged combat for only $5.

[Anaraxes]

1e and 2e are so close that there's not really much to say -- just small changes and updates. I had the 2e GURPS Update and never felt a need to buy the actual 2e book.

Roleplayer had an article introducing the new 3rd edition, briefly mentioning some changes. In addition to the significant ranged combat changes, SJ mentions the addition of the Will roll as a new mechanic. Basic also picked up new chapters on mounted and vehicle combat. As has been mentioned, the rules for magic, psionics, and Fright Checks also made it into Basic, rather than the various settings books where they first appeared.

There was a 3e GURPS Update, but I didn't see it on W23. I don't know if it ever came out in PDF form. The physical version is out of print, of course.

[maximara]

Interestingly, until the revival of GURPS Horseclans all the clearly 1st/2nd edition outside of Man to Man and Orcslayer was out of print.

Unless Horseclans got an update (which based on the preview it hasn't) or has next to no material that has changed it has got to have some weird compatibility quirks with even the 3rd edition available.