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.

 

[BigZebra]

So it seems there will be a revised edition of GURPS 4th edition

https://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=205432

 

[dbm]

The changes seem to be very, very minor in terms of the rules. And a promise not to break any page references seems to be a Herculean undertaking.

But some charges to wording, quotes, layout and art. Plus 25 pages of aggregated content from the wider library of material to bring it into the core?

New trade dress, art, and a more engaging tone could do a lot to help new players onboard to the system. The art in the 4e core books was weak even when it originally launched in many people’s opinions.

And apparently the work is mostly done so it could be quite soon…

 

[BigZebra]

Agreed. Seems very minor. But it really do need some new layout and art. Hope it ends out great. I don't really play GURPS currently and haven't for 20 years. But I might pick it up if only for nostalgic reasons.

 

[dbm]

The writing in GURPS Discworld in particular was a much more conversational tone. If the new core set goes that way while keeping all the content I could see it making adoption easier for new players.

 

[MGibster]

A revised edition so soon? 4th edition only came out 21 years ago!

 

[Sossij]

Nice. I have so many gurps sourcebooks I have read but I should probably sit down and read the actual rules and see how to play.

 

[sevenbastard]

Honestly might be the oldest game system continuously supported since lanuch with the least eddtions.

 

[Anthro78]

Seriously, I love the GURPS sourcebooks. I haven't played in years, but I keep a few books just because they're so well written and in one case, one of the best summaries of the history of WW2 that I've come across.

 

[Keith Ammann]

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.