GURPS 4th Edition Revised Announced

GURPS is getting a revised 4th edition. Steve Jackson Games has quietly announced a revised version of GURPS current edition, with a focus on cleaning up wording and layout. Announced at Gamehole Con and further detailed in this thread on the Steve Jackson Games server, the revised edition will be fully compatible with all existing 4th edition GURPS material, right down to preserving page references in existing books. There will be rule changes in the form of additions that will be added via addenda, with players able to bring in those rules as they see fit to their existing 4th edition games.

GURPS stands for Generic Universal Role Playing System and is intended to be a rules system that can be used for any kind of story or genre. Steve Jackson has long-hinted that a new edition of GURPS was on the way, although it appears that they opted to keep the current edition rather than rebuild the game or make significant changes to its mechanics.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I bought the translated "Chulthupunk", mixture of Cyberpunk with the Lovecraftian myths. That was more 25 years ago. I remember the visual style and then it seemed very modern but now it is "retro" or vintage for the current standars.

Did I like it? I didn't buy it for the crunch but the fluff, and here it was enoughly interesting. I didn't buy any other thing about Lovecraftian myths until the Sandy Peterson book for D&D 5e.

 

[Ghost2020]

The writing tone in 3rd ed revised Basic Set was much more approachable than 4th ed.
4th Ed Basic Set was a slog to read and just terribly sterile. It somehow seems harder to get into with 4th ed (my experience).

Happy there's new visibility for GURPS, but it needs some serious adjustments to make it accessible to newbies. Third edition Basic Set was almost perfect for a one book solution.

New art too please, 4th ed art was the only thing duller than the text.

Also, will they finally do a 4th ed Bestiary? (sorry, just had to)

I passed on 4th ed years ago and this won't be the change that brings me in, I'm happily hanging on to 3rd.

 

[Morrus]

I have great sentimental attachment to GURPS, but let's be frank: The system is outdated. The Zeitgeist has moved past its level of crunch. If SJG is going to do anything with it, it's time for a fifth edition. Do for GURPS what D&D 5E did for v3.5. Streamline it. Edit out the problematic bits. Make it easier to start playing GURPS than it is to play, say, the Cypher System. There will always be a market for a universal RPG system, but the market for this universal RPG system moved on to other things 10 years ago. Minor revisions won't cut it.

Both Steve Jackson and I were at Gamehole Con this weekend. I wish I'd had the opportunity to say this to him directly.

There’s always a niche for crunchy games. The goal isn’t to do what everybody else is doing and struggle to stand out from the masses—it’s to do your own niche really well. Turning GURPS into Cypher/Savage Worlds/insert generic game of your choice would be a mistake. That market is saturated.

 

[rknop]

I have great sentimental attachment to GURPS, but let's be frank: The system is outdated. The Zeitgeist has moved past its level of crunch. If SJG is going to do anything with it, it's time for a fifth edition. Do for GURPS what D&D 5E did for v3.5. Streamline it. Edit out the problematic bits. Make it easier to start playing GURPS than it is to play, say, the Cypher System. There will always be a market for a universal RPG system, but the market for this universal RPG system moved on to other things 10 years ago. Minor revisions won't cut it.

Both Steve Jackson and I were at Gamehole Con this weekend. I wish I'd had the opportunity to say this to him directly.

Who cares about the zeitgeist?

If SJ Games tries to make GURPS into a system that's more like whatever the zeitgiest is, they will just have yet one more system amongst a sea of systems that doesn't really stand apart.

People who like the level of available crunch in GURPS go for it. They will not like something that makes it more like lots of other systems.

SJ Games will almost certainly not successfully compete trying to make the game like other systems. GURPS as it exists does have an audience, and they stand to lose that audience while not likely gaining much if they do as you suggest. The world is too bloated with lots of systems that follow "modern" sensibilities for another one to have any hope of surviving. To actually catch on, it would have to do something really new and innovative (and it would be a longshot at that), but then why call it GURPS?

 

[rknop]

There’s always a niche for crunchy games. The goal isn’t to do what everybody else is doing and struggle to stand out from the masses—it’s to do your own niche really well. Turning GURPS into Cypher/Savage Worlds/insert generic game of your choice would be a mistake. That market is saturated.

...you said more or less the same thing I said, only more succinctly. Looks like we posted at about the same time.

 

[dbm]

GURPS can be as granular as the group wants, it’s just that understanding this and how to modulate it is tricky. Hopefully some of the extra 25 pages will address things like this to make it easier for people to start with the system.

The How to be a GURPS GM series are also excellent if someone is interested in learning how to use the system.

 

[Nikosandros]

Also, will they finally do a 4th ed Bestiary? (sorry, just had to)

Just after GURPS Vehicles...

 

[dbm]

There are at least nine GURPS bestiaries currently available…

 

[darjr]

The uniqueness of GURPS existed even in its simpler early box set form. It can retain that GURPSness and become a streamlined simpler game and not be this behemoth it has become in 4e.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And a promise not to break any page references seems to be a Herculean undertaking.

White Wolf: "Wait, you use actual page number references?"