Bundle of Holding - GURPS 4e Essentials Bundle

I always liked GURPS, even if the rest of my gaming group wasn't as enthralled. Before the internet, GURPS supplements were some of the best-researched gaming material (or otherwise) available.

The GURPS 4e Core Collection is $19.95 on Bundle of Holding, the 4e Essentials Bonus is a hair over $40 as I type this.

Adventurer! We've extended this revival of our June 2022 GURPS 4E Essentials Bundle featuring GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying System from Steve Jackson Games. With the GURPS tabletop roleplaying rules you can be anyone you want: an elf fighting for the forces of good, a spy on a deep-cover mission, a futuristic swashbuckler carving up foes with a force sword, or literally anything else. For more than three decades GURPS has been supported with hundreds of supplements and sourcebooks. This second revival gives you a new chance to get .PDF ebooks of all the important rules and supplements you need to get started with the Fourth Edition (2004) of one of the longest-lasting and best-supported universal systems in the hobby.

For just US$19.95 you get all six titles in this revived June 2022 offer's 4E Core Collection (retail value $95) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete two-volume GURPS 4E Basic Set – Characters and Campaigns – plus Template Toolkit 1 - Characters, Adaptations, How to Be a GURPS GM, and the GURPS GM's Screen.

And if you pay more than this revival's threshold price of $40.09, you'll also get this offer's entire 4E Essentials Bonus with five more supplements worth an additional $109, including High-Tech (plus its High-Tech Weapon Tables), Ultra-Tech (plus its Ultra-Tech Weapon Tables), Bio-Tech, Low-Tech, and Mass Combat.

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Bundle of Holding - GURPS 3e Core

GURPs 3e is the edition I cut my GURPs teeth on and is the one in which most of my source books are powered. If you are interested in GURPs as a system, 3e is possibly the longest-lived and has fantastic support. 13 bucks for the GURPs 3e Core rules and two Compendiums is a fine deal.

Adventurer! This GURPS 3E Core Collection presents the core tabletop roleplaying rulebook and two Compendium expansions for the Third Edition (published 1988-2004) of GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying System from Steve Jackson Games. This all-new mini-offer supports the Transhuman Space Classic Bundle in progress that presents SJG's visionary science fiction setting of humanity settling the Solar System at the dawn of the 22nd Century. Though it's a complete game in itself, that Transhuman Space offer includes many supplements that draw on the GURPS Third Edition core rulebook and Compendium expansions. Get the GURPS 3E rules right now for a bargain price!

For just US$12.95 you get all three titles in our 3E Core Collection (retail value $53) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete GURPS Basic Set 3E Revised 8th Printing core rulebook (2018), along with GURPS Classic Compendium I and Compendium II.

Venger was our guest in the above livestream - Tenkar 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

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Kickstarter - Warlock Knight (DFRPG)

Holy crap! I almost missed this! I always snag Gaming Ballistic releases on Kickstarter, as they are all fantastic regardless of system. 

Warlock Night is a "programmed adventure" (can be used as a solo). It's 20 in PDF, 30 in PDF plus Foundry files, 40 in print plus PDF, and 60 in print, PDF, card, and Foundry VTT files. Oh, and you can snag prior titles in the series, too. 

Warlock Knight is a programmed solitaire adventure for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG, Powered by GURPS. It is designed to serve as an introductory adventure, with characters starting at 150 points and growing through the adventure to approach the usual starting 250 points as presented in the Dungeon Fantasy RPG Box Set. Warlock Knight can be played with or without a GM, and is extendable into an ongoing campaign.

Warlock Knight is a conversion of David's excellent version for The Fantasy Trip to the Dungeon Fantasy RPG. It is designed to introduce the Isle of Sedra setting, in the same manner that Saethor's Bane serves to introduce the neighboring Isle of Elazar.

Designed to showcase and teach the capabilities and options of the Dungeon Fantasy RPG, three martial characters engage on a quest to regain their lost titles through adventuring.

The characters start at 150 points - substantially fewer than the 250-point characters that feature in the Dungeon Fantasy RPG. This capability level is fully supported by the Delvers to Grow modular character build system: These characters start roughly halfway between "Journeyman" at 125 points and "Master" at 187 points. By the time the adventure finishes, they should wind up right about at starting DFRPG levels.

The adventure is much longer than the prior solo release by Gaming Ballistic for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG: Saethor's Bane. Enough so that to keep it convenient so that the books lay flat on a table during play, the material is divided up into two volumes, broadly speaking "The Adventure" and "Supporting Cast." The digital file will consist of a single file, with the two volumes presented sequentially - that will keep hyperlinks straight!

There are no stretch goals, and all the art is already in hand. When the campaign ends, it should be ready for PDF distribution, with print, cards, and digital support material all ready with good speed.

 

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Bundle of Holding - Discworld (GURPS)

 

I'm a HUGE Discworld fan and own the first edition of the Discworld Roleplaying Game (powered by GURPS). It is a great resource for fans of the fiction and quite a nice introduction to the GURPS ruleset. 

Adventurer! This new Discworld Bundle presents the 2016 Discworld Roleplaying Game Second Edition standalone tabletop RPG Powered by GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying System from Steve Jackson Games, and based on the Discworld comedic fantasy novels of Sir Terry Pratchett. Visit the magic-infused flat world resting on the backs of four elephants, venture to the far end of the probability curve, and THRILL to the distinctive sights, sounds, and smells (especially smells) of Ankh-Morpork, most dubious city in the multiverse! SAIL the Circle Sea in pursuit of glory, pirate gold, or a suntan! INTERVENE in the cultural interactions of trolls and dwarves (watch out for flying axes)! AVOID the attentions of Death, Fate, the Lady, Granny Weatherwax, and the Patrician! WONDER why you bought a second meat pie from Mr Dibbler!

For just US$14.95 you get all three titles in our Disc Collection (retail value $59) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete 411-page Discworld Roleplaying Game (2016) along with two GURPS Fourth Edition supplements that enhance the setting: GURPS 4E Fantasy-Tech 1: The Edge of Reality and (from our June 2022 GURPS 4E Essentials offer) GURPS 4E Low-Tech.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Bundle of Holding - Dungeon Fantasy Bundle Powered by GURPS

Dungeon Fantasy is probably the one RPG I own, that I've never played, that I dearly want to at some point. I ran some GURPS back in the '80s and '90s and always had fun with it, but at times the system was so open it was overwhelming. Dungeon Fantasy seems to be the perfect balance and a nice change from D20-style gaming.

Dungeon Fantasy Bundle Powered by GURPS is currently available on Bundle of Holding.  The Dungeon Fantasy Starter Set is 17.95, and includes the Dungeon Fantasy Core Rules, Companion 1, the GM's Screen, and the Dungeon Planner.

And if you pay more than the (current) threshold price (suggect to change) of $38.06, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with five more supplements, including Dungeon Fantasy Companion 2 and Companion 3, Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items and Magic Items 2, and Monsters 2.

 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar    

Kickstarter - Artifacts of Legend (Dungeon Fantasy RPG)

Two volumes of epic magic items for your Dungeon Fantasy RPG campaigns.

I love me some Douglas Cole, regardless of the system he's writing for. OSE, The Fantasy Trip, Dungeon Fantasy RPG... Doug always seems to be setting new high water marks for quality.

I've known Doug for the better part of a decade. He was part of my infamous B-Team that delved into Castle of the Mad Archmage once a month. Doug has been a fairly frequent (and oft-requested) guest on the Tenkar's Tavern Livestream.

The Artifacts of Legend Kickstarter is 20 bucks for both PDFs or 40 bucks for both books in print plus PDF.

Artifacts of Legend contains 40 pages of weapons and utility items that were gifts from the gods to the heroes of Norðlond. 

• Wield one of the four mighty Stormhammers, gifts from the God of Thunder to his most worthy servants.
• Take up the undead-slaying spear named "Journey's End" (Ferðalok) by the Allfather. 
• Drink of the milk of the very first cow in the universe
• Partake in the sanguine delight of a very special batch of mead.

Also included in Artifacts of Legend are tables to generate other magic items that grow in power based on the deeds of their users and the blessings of the gods. The book provides charts to randomly generate Legendary and Runecarved items, including pages of worked examples. 

Artifacts of Saga features 36 pages of unusual items, and many are weapons of a darker or less overtly beneficial nature.

• The Dawn Blade was a weapon forged to be used by the gods - it burns mortals who try and use it without proper protection
• Team Evil gets to play too, with the Ring of the Fell Dead and the Wight Hand, made for those who are more necromantically inclined.
• For those who like to try and use evil to do good ... seek out one of the Bloodfangs. Axes with bound demonic spirits in them, who whisper hints of great power if enough blood is spilled.

These items are tied to tragedy and mischance. No stone was left unturned in the search for power, and some of the items have been infused with the essences of powerful entities: demons, elementals, even the souls of the mighty. These spirit-bound items were wrought in the centuries after the leyferðs were destroyed in the Shattering ... proving that some stones should be left unturned!

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DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Bundle of Holding - GURPS 4e Horror Starter

I am far from a GURPS expert. It's likely been 30 years or more since I've run a GURPS campaign of any length. That being said, GURPS supplements are damn universal and systemless. At the very least, they are inspirational for use with other systems.

There are two GURPS themed Bundle of Holding available right now.

GURPS 4e Essentials includes the following for 19.95 in PDF:

• GURPS 4E Basic Set
• GURPS Template Toolkit 1
• Adaptations
• How to Be a GURPS GM
• GURPS 4E GM's Screen

GURPS 4e Horror includes the following for 14.95 in PDF:

• GURPS Horror 4E
• Creatures of the Night 1-5
• Infinite Worlds: Worlds of Horror 

Not a bad deal for Halloween ;)

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar    

Bundle of Holding - GURPS 4e Bundles - Essentials, Fantasy, & Space

I've always enjoyed GURPS for its sourcebooks. It's a solid system and well balanced. The sourcebooks are amazing, and often can carry over to other systems without too much work.

If you never experienced GURPS, go to the Bundle of Holding website and grab the GURPS 4e Essentials Bundle. It will give you what you need to enjoy the the bundles, GURPS Fantasy and GURPS Space.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 

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Kickstarter - Delvers to Grow (Dungeon Fantasy RPG, Powered by GURPS)

Fast, modular character generation. Would-be heroes from 62 points and higher as player characters, henchmen, or supporting cast.

I've been a fan of GURPS from the time I found the Man to Man rules, along with the Orcslayer supplement. The only problem was that designing characters was always a pain in the ass as a player. As a DM, it is literally a compounded player. Still, the GURPS sourcebooks have always been a thing of beauty.

The other complaint I used to have is that GURPS never seems to do traditional fantasy tropes as one would expect from a D&D-type background. Sure, you had the Fantasy and Magic sourcebooks, but they seemed to lack flavor, unlike many of the other GURPS sourcebooks.

That is until Dungeon Fantasy was released. It literally was the GURPS rules with the D&D tropes that I have come to expect from a fantasy RPG, and my God, it does the genre well. Character generation of NPCs still sucked though, and become one of the intimidating factors that kept me from truly giving the Dungeon Fantasy rules a proper shake.

All this leads me to Douglas Coles' new Kickstarter, Delvers to Grow. Doug takes the most intimidating factor of GURPS, creating characters, and makes it easy as pie for the GM. No stress GURPS. Never thought I'd see the day. Of course, Doug is selling Delvers to Grow as a Player aid, but in my eyes, it's an amazing tool for the Dungeon Fantasy GM ;)

Even the mightiest delver started somewhere. An apprentice, a squire or man-at-arms, a backup singer with The Backstreet Bards.

Delvers to Grow allows you to take the part of those starting characters, supporting starting play as low as 62 points.  Delvers to Grow provides pre-built modules and packages enabling a player to create a capable, playable character in minutes. 

Fully compatible with the professional template system in the Dungeon Fantasy RPG Adventurers book, Delvers to Grow lets you start much earlier in the hero’s journey, letting both players and GMs ease into the full breadth of capability that the professional delvers of the Dungeon Fantasy RPG bring to the table.

Explore different challenges or use the modules to effortlessly assemble henchmen...or create a starting character to replace the dearly departed.

Doug has an amazing track record of fulfilling his Kickstarters on time and is one of the few third-party publishers licensed by Steve Jackson Games. In truth, he MAY be the only third-party publisher licensed by SJG, as I can think of no others offhand, but I could be wrong. 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar

Kickstarter -Steve Jackson Games' GURPS 2020 PDF Challenge (11 PDFs 3 Bucks)

Can we unlock all twelve PDFs before the clock runs out?

I've been a fan of GURPS since the Man to Man and Orcslayer releases. I actually love the supplements, as they convert to other RPG systems nearly painlessly. This means 11 - potentially 12 PDFs for 3 bucks is something I can't pass up on, and neither should you.

Just 5k away from 12 PDFs :)

The GURPS team, under the direction of GURPS Line Editor Sean Punch, has prepared a dozen different PDFs . . . and this is your chance to possibly grab all twelve of the new PDFs for only $3! 

Starting with the latest expansion to the GURPS Action series (see Warehouse 23), your pledge of $3 secures you a PDF copy of GURPS Action 6 - Tricked Out Rides. This 10-page PDF, written by Sean Punch, is a quick-and-dirty toolkit for adventures where sports cars pack more gadgetry than fighter jets, and miniguns fit behind headlights! 

One new PDF is great, but the project gets more exciting for all of the backers as stretch goals are unlocked. With each unlocked stretch goal (see below), we'll add another one of the twelve new PDFs to your rewards . . . that $3 pledge becomes an even better deal as more backers join the campaign.

Kickstarter - Powered by GURPS: Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2 & Game Reprint

I like GURPS. Well, I love the sourcebooks and used to run some GURPS back in my college days. It just seemed a bit heavy for my gaming tastes.

Now, I really like the GURPS: Dungeon Fantasy boxed set. The rules focus on what I focus on - fantasy gaming - and without the need to cover every genre the rules seem more approachable. I could see myself running this. I certainly could see myself playing it.

The Powered by GURPS: Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2 & Game Reprint Kickstarter puts the relatively small print run associated with the original Dungeon Fantasy Kickstarter back in print. More copies - more circulation - more players - more support material. Isn't that how it works?

With your support, we're going to bring back the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game with a second printing and, more importantly, expand the line with a new book: Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2! This companion to Dungeon Fantasy Monsters introduces even more foes to the dungeon, giving the GM new tools to use when designing adventures and the players more beasties to slay and loot.   

If you already have the Dungeon Fantasy boxed set, the Monsters 2 book is 20 bucks in print plus PDF.

If you need the Dungeon Fantasy boxed set (along with Monsters 2), print plus PDF is 95 bucks.

Dungeon Fantasy is a really sweet ruleset :)

Neither The Tavern nor myself receive compensation for Kickstarter coverage or Kickstarter posts. Some Kickstarters are brought to the attention of The Tavern by their creators. Such communication does not guarantee coverage here at The Tavern. I do not back every Kickstarter I highlight as my wallet's contents are not limitless but I do find all highlighted Kickstarters interesting for one or more reasons - Erik Tenkar

Kickstarter - The Citadel at Norðvorn (Norse-flavored setting for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG)

I really like the GURPS powered Dungeon Fantasy RPG. Back in my earlier days of gaming, GURPS was one of the many systems I owned and ran. Dungeon Fantasy is the GURPS treatment I've been waiting over 30 years for.

Sadly, there wasn't much support for it on release. Step aside for Gaming Ballistic / Douglas Cole. Douglas loves the GURPS system and it shows in his work. This time he gives us The Citadel at Norðvorn Kickstarter, a Norse-flavored setting for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG. Saweet!

Doug is spot on what it comes to his Kickstarter projects. High quality and on time.

In The Citadel at Nordvorn, you will find many adventures, plus more trouble the players will doubtless create on their own. The area is so teeming with strife and peril that their characters will have the opportunity to stand at the center of many crises. 

The Citadel at Norðvorn is a setting for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG. It consists of three major settlements, many small villages, at least one ruin, and two primary sources of conflict: The Hunted Lands to the northwest of The Palisade, and the Endalaus Forest, to the north and east of Audreyn's Wall. 

Return to Norðlond, a Viking-flavored world with its own history, culture, and expectations. Visit as an outsider, or fresh from a victory rediscovering the Hall of Judgment. 

It is intended for starting Dungeon Fantasy RPG characters of 250 points. They will be major players, and the fulcrum around which the future of Norðlond turns. While it is set in the same world as Hall of Judgment, it is not sequel. It is a setting, filled with adventuring possibilities, and easily tuned up or down in power level as the GM desired to suit any fantasy campaign! 

Good luck, and may the Fates have a bold destiny in store for you!

PDF is 14 bucks.  35 bucks (plus shipping) for the Print plus PDF.

Kickstarter - Hall of Judgment - a Dungeon Fantasy RPG Supplement (GURPS)

I've liked GURPS ever since I found the Man to Man rules and the Orcslayer supplement back in my early days of gaming. The support material is top notch and I've used it with other RPGs. That says a lot about the system.

Dungeon Fantasy is the Boxed Set RPG about dungeon crawling powered by GURPS. I really need to find a group that plays it at some point as I'd love to get my dungeon crawl on with the GURPS engine.

Which brings up to the Hall of Judgment - a Dungeon Fantasy RPG Supplement Kickstarter. Its a conversion of an adventure originally published for 5e and now available in a GURPS Dungeon Fantasy version.

• Hall of Judgment is a micro-setting and scenario for the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (Powered by GURPS)
• It features non-linear adventuring for 4-6 250-point characters
• Explore a Viking-flavored world trekking through cold, harsh mountains, facing dangerous fae, and searching for a lost holy place, and the priceless relics within
• Easily portable and usable with any GURPS Fantasy campaign

I'm pretty stoked.

It's also a licensed third party publisher release for GURPS, licensed by Steve Jackson Games. That's a big deal, as usually, its SJG snagging a license (Discworld anyone?) This could be big going forward.

Hall of Judgment is published by Gaming Ballistic. The man behind GB is Douglas Cole. I've known Doug for a number of years and he used to play in my B-Team Roll20 sessions. Doug is an excellent project manager and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result of his current project. This is not Doug's first Kickstarter (but even his first went extremely smooth) Chat Doug up in a Wednesday Night chat session on The Tavern's Discord Server and use him as a resource if you are thinking of Kickstarting a project. Don't worry - Doug won't mind ;)

PDF only is 10 bucks, Print plus PDF is 30 bucks (shipping will be added later). I'm in for 30 myself.

GURPS PDFs for Sale at RPGNow

In recent years, much of the GURPS support catalogue has only been available in PDF and only via Steve Jackson Games' e23 online storefront. The times, they are a changing.

GURPS PDFs are now available via RPGNow (and DTRPG). It appears they are watermark free.

Now I'm wondering if POD is far off...

In any case, always good to see GURPS reach more potential customers. Its a heavier rules system than I generally like these days but I did run it in high school and college. I've been following the system since the Man to Man rules first came out with its companion Orcslayer ;)

That's an affiliate link above. Affiliate links keep the taps flowing here at The Tavern ;)

What Do We Find in the Chest? (The Dungeon Fantasy RPG - Article Submitted by Steve Jackson Games)

Disclosure - Earlier in the week, Hunter Shelburne, Community Manager over at Steve Jackson Games, inquired if SJG could submit an article to The Tavern regarding The Dungeon Fantasy RPG (powered by GURPS). I said "send it over and if deemed appropriate we'd run it." We'll I think it's an informative article regarded The Dungeon Fantasy RPG Kickstarter, a project I have already backed for $50 and we are "running it." No recompense of any sort was offered with the submitted article, no recompense of any sort was requested nor would any have been accepted. - erik tenkar

What Do We Find in the Chest?

By Matt Riggsby

GURPS has long had a reputation as the Lego-brand bricks of gaming: you can do anything with it, but you have to put the pieces together yourself. It’s actually easy to play once you get to the table (the whole of GURPS boils down to “roll this number or less on 3d6”), but it can be a lot of work to get you there. The Dungeon Fantasy RPG, Powered by GURPS gets you to the table, with complete dungeon-crawling rules in a single box.

The Dungeon Fantasy RPG contains five slim volumes, covering character generation, adventuring, spellcasting, monsters, and an adventure, and requires no other books. The emphasis is on playing this particular game, not on being all things to all gamers. Part of it is the stripped-down rules set, distilled from the mature, battle-tested GURPS Fourth Edition rules. That doesn’t mean incomplete. Considering the starting point, “stripped down” is still comprehensive, but it’s just rules for fantasy, including what’s useful (monsters, spells) and excluding what isn’t (lasers, automobiles).

Just as important, it provides guidance on how to use those rules for both players and GMs. For example, professions – guided menus for building character types (wizards, warriors, etc.) – don’t abandon you to a list of traits. They provide advice on how to shape the character you want: pick these skills from a short list to make your thief a burglar or those for a stealthy killer. The volume on monsters kicks off with detailed advice on ways PCs can deal with them, only one of which is doing a Leroy Jenkins, and then detailed advice on ways GMs can use monsters against heroes. You don’t have to be a veteran for this.

And there are more subtle aspects which make it an easy-to-use product. Breaking the set into five books rather than one or two means there’s more to pass around at the table. If you’re in a group where most players don’t own the rules, it makes a real difference. There’s no math more complicated than a little multiplication. And professions, which GURPS players will recognize as templates, are reformatted for easier reading.

Finally, it performs a remarkable balancing act, retaining the flexibility of GURPS while remaining true to the specific nature of the game. If you want to build a unique character from scratch, the rules are all there, and still compatible with the rest of the GURPS rules universe. But you don’t have to go there.

If you tried GURPS but left because of the pre-game overhead, this is what to come back to. If you’ve heard of GURPS but were overwhelmed by the size of it, this is where to get on. If you just want a fantasy game that has robust, flexible rules that let you do – or at least try – anything you think you should be able to, and maybe even has some reality checking lurking in the background, this is the one to try. Everything you need is in that box.

Kickstarter - Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game, Powered by GURPS

I played a significant amount of GURPS in my early college years. I owned Man to Man and Orc, which highlighted the combat system that was to become GURPS. First edition boxed set. Most of the 1st and 2nd edition supplements. Conan solo adventures. Lots of GURPS. The problem as we saw it wasn't that GURPS wasn't a good and balanced system. It wasn't the lack of sourcebooks. It was the lack of adventures and, from the viewpoint of D&D players, the lack of dungeon crawling.

Dungeon Fantasy corrects that omission.

$50 for a self contained boxed set?

I'm in :)

This standalone boxed set contains everything you need to play: cardboard figures, combat maps, dice, and five full-color rulebooks that feature original art.

Adventurers (128 pages). GURPS is famous for letting you play any character you can imagine. Dungeon Fantasy keeps this flexibility while trimming away unnecessary details, concentrating on just what matters to monster-slaying, treasure-hunting action: Pick from 11 classic professions and nine playable races, customize your alter-ego using quick-start templates and a powerful point-build system, and gear up with an equipment list that offers dozens of weapons and lets you assemble exactly the suit of armor that fits your image. 

Exploits (112 pages). Learn how the heroes actually use their abilities and gear. That means combat, of course – and dozens of other activities, whether your thing is sneaking around, swinging from the scenery, exorcizing evil, or getting rich through cunning deals in town. This book also describes countless bad things that can befall adventurers (poison, traps, dismemberment, lava pits . . .), as well as good things, namely loot. And it’s full of practical advice to the Game Master who leads this three-ring circus: challenging the players, keeping the action moving, settling arguments, and much more. 

Spells (80 pages). What would fantasy be without magic? Adventurers features four spellcasting professions (bard, cleric, druid, and wizard), and this volume describes over 400 spells to help you customize them. It also includes complete rules for how spells work – whether their power comes from the gods, Nature, or creepy tomes of forbidden wizardly knowledge. 

Monsters (64 pages). Once the adventurers are ready, and armed with weapons and magic, it’s time to test their mettle! This catalog starts you out with more than 80 things that want to bite, claw, grab, sting, and curse the heroes – not just the predictable orcs and zombies, but also several Dungeon Fantasy originals. Each offers notes on tactics and variants, and the whole collection comes with advice and rules for adventurers dealing with monsters . . . and monsters dealing with adventurers. 

Dungeon (24 pages). I Smell a Rat is a simple (but not simplistic!) quest designed to show new gamers the ropes. Like any classic hack ‘n’ slash adventure, it starts at the inn. From there, the heroes will find themselves facing traps, enemies, and unexpected twists – and finding treasure, although not necessarily gold and silver. Advice and “adventure hooks” let the Game Master challenge advanced players or spin the tale into a series of adventures.

I'm GURPing Again - It must be gas ;)

I'm trying to reacquaint myself with GURPs to enable myself to properly review a product for said system.

Back in the olden days, when we played just about everything, GURPs was the universal system we always tried to shoehorn right back to a fantasy setting - which to my eyes 20 years later makes it seem like we were doing the system a disservice. GURPS can do fantasy, but I think it does other genres better, especially without the baggage of D&D making for comparisons and expectations that are neither needed nor helpful, but I digress.

I never realized how many editions of GURPs the game has evolved through until now. I came into GURPs with Man to Man and then an early boxed set. Over the years I have accumulated various editions and supplements - next to D&D and it's various clones GURPS and Tunnels & Trolls are neck and neck for 2nd place in the amount of closet and storage space they take up.

The thing is, there are 4 editions of GURPs, and I couldn't tell you the difference between any of them. I suspect it involves point cost changes, but it could be something bigger. No idea.

Shit, I want to play GURPs Discworld now...

Talking About Free, Stripped Down But Functional RPGs - GURPS Lite

GURPS, the infinite frontier. Where amazing sourcebooks boldly go.

Sure, D&D 5e is all the rage right now, but GURPS has been giving away its stripped down but functional ruleset for the last 10 years.

Don't believe me?

Yep, free at the SJG's site / Warehouse 23

Tim Shorts (Gothridge Manor) Interviewed at the Gaming Ballistic Blog (Video, MP3 and Transcript)

+Douglas Cole (Gaming Ballistic Blog) interviewed +Tim Shorts (Gothridge Manor Blog) about all things gaming. GURPS, the OSR, Zines and even me amongst other things.

It's a very entertaining interview, and I'm not just saying that because of Tim's "almost Canadian" accent. Doug is certainly hitting his stride with the latest interview, which reminds me that I've missed a few and need to catch up.

So, listen to one of my current players (Doug) interview one of my future players (Tim). Be amazed that Tim was able to not drop four letter words ;)

Seriously, this is some damn good stuff and pretty much a must listen if you are into the OSR at all (but watch if you can - it ups the entertainment value ;)

If you are feeling truly adventurous and missed Doug interviewing me earlier this year, you can catch me making a fool of myself here.

Games From the Basement - Steve Jackson's MAN to MAN (Fantasy Combat from GURPS)

I remember using this for small unit skirmishes when we only had two or three players show up for a gaming session.

There was more than enough here to get me warmed up for the full GURPS release shortly after I found this. Even though I ran some GURPS Fantasy back in the day, I don't think any of us in the group fully understood the magic system (a problem we also had with sorcery in RQ3)

MAN to MAN even came with free "Cardboard Heroes" Miniature - I still have them in the ziplock in the back of this book.