A question on GURPS

Imperator · July 27, 2011, 08:10:04 AM

My birthday is approaching, I have some disposable income to blow on RPGs, but I don't want to get into new games, I have a fucking lot pending to be played.

But I want to buy some gaming stuff and then, via the last post in Flames Rising, discussing a new cthulhoid product by Kenneth Hite, I thought:

"Oh my, I could buy some GURPS guides! They have an excellent reputation as resources regardless you ply GURPS or not. Also, I can get almost any of them in PDF, which suits me best."

But of course, there are just to fucking many of them. So here's my question: which are, in your opinion, the best GURPS product you can use as reference even if you do not play GURPS?

joewolz · July 27, 2011, 08:14:15 AM

The historical books are awesome. Imperial Rome, Russia, Aztecs...they really can't be beat for the daily life of a culture.

For fourth edition, Infinite Worlds is pretty cool...and I have a soft spot for Banestorm, I think it's a really cool fantasy setting.

Cole · July 27, 2011, 08:55:56 AM

If you get one, get Goblins.

Yevla · July 27, 2011, 09:13:16 AM

what kind of things are you looking for, specifically? Do you want older GURPS books to use as sourceguides for other games, or do you want to use GURPS as a toolkit for making campaigns? What kind of settings, stories, and media are you interested in?

Imperator · July 27, 2011, 11:08:27 AM

Quote from: Yevla;470377what kind of things are you looking for, specifically? Do you want older GURPS books to use as sourceguides for other games, or do you want to use GURPS as a toolkit for making campaigns? What kind of settings, stories, and media are you interested in?

Well, I owned and run for some time several games of GURPS 3rd ed and, though it's a good game, it did not much for me. I'm not heavily into universal systems, with the exception of BRP. But I remember that the 3rd ed guides and sourcebooks were really good. I was impressed by Cthulhutech, some of the historical books and some others, and I've been told many times that GURPS sourcebooks are great as a reference.

So I would be looking for sourceguides for other games - not interested in the system - with no specific settings in mind. I'd just like everyone to give me their favourite books of the GURPS line, that can be adapted to other games.

Yevla · July 27, 2011, 11:13:42 AM

Quote from: Imperator;470398Well, I owned and run for some time several games of GURPS 3rd ed and, though it's a good game, it did not much for me. I'm not heavily into universal systems, with the exception of BRP. But I remember that the 3rd ed guides and sourcebooks were really good. I was impressed by Cthulhutech, some of the historical books and some others, and I've been told many times that GURPS sourcebooks are great as a reference.

So I would be looking for sourceguides for other games - not interested in the system - with no specific settings in mind. I'd just like everyone to give me their favourite books of the GURPS line, that can be adapted to other games.

Well, in that case, I'll echo the Goblins suggestion from above. I'll also recommend Callahans Crosstime Saloon and Black Ops. All are excellent books that make great mining material for other games.

skofflox · July 27, 2011, 03:12:27 PM

I have "Imperial Rome" and "New Sun" on my shelf and peruse them often.
"Goblins" is great as well....

Insufficient Metal · July 27, 2011, 07:40:44 PM

Horror is my favorite non-specific GURPS book.

For historical books, I like Vikings, Middle Ages, Imperial Rome.

I also quite like Cabal for modern magic type stuff, but that's a little iffy on whether or not it fulfills your criteria.

danbuter · July 27, 2011, 09:08:36 PM

I recommend:
any Historical (my faves are Vikings, Middle Ages I, and Russia)
Horror
Suppressed Transmissions
Discworld
World War II
Weird War II
Cthulhupunk
Faerie
Hellboy
Voodoo
Shapeshifters

RPGPundit · July 28, 2011, 03:04:45 AM

Imperial Rome is utterly awesome.

RPGPundit

Imperator · July 28, 2011, 03:12:22 AM

These are the exact suggestions I was looking for. Could you give me a bit more detail on why do you like those books, why they ar so useful or what parts are specially interesting?

I have the impression that there's a real wealth of usefulness there.

3rik · July 29, 2011, 08:12:28 AM

Arabian Nights
Aztecs
Old West

All of these for the fact that the wealth of historical/cultural information they give you is also actually useful in a RPG. Also, Aztecs is practically the only decent RPG source material available on the subject.

I hear Russia is good as well, but haven't found a print version of it yet.

RPGPundit · July 30, 2011, 01:11:13 AM

GURPS Imperial Rome is simply the best single rpg sourcebook on Rome ever written. Its a great resource for any campaign set in Rome, or in a roman-like setting.

RPGPundit

Imperator · July 30, 2011, 10:35:58 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;470815GURPS Imperial Rome is simply the best single rpg sourcebook on Rome ever written. Its a great resource for any campaign set in Rome, or in a roman-like setting.

RPGPundit

Duly noted! Many thanks!

Insufficient Metal · July 30, 2011, 07:25:37 PM

Quote from: Imperator;470532These are the exact suggestions I was looking for. Could you give me a bit more detail on why do you like those books, why they ar so useful or what parts are specially interesting?

I have the impression that there's a real wealth of usefulness there.

I like Horror because it's not just a list of monsters and rules. It's a thorough deconstruction of the various kinds of horror storytelling, how they work, and why they work -- and in detail that goes above and beyond the average "hey put this in your campaign" routine.