Gurps world books

[Thag13]

Does any Hero fans check out the gurps books like I do.

I am not a Huge fan of the Gurps system, but the world books and setting are Fantasic.

Does anyone else here in Hero land use the books for game setting or at least Ideas??

My favorites are Cabal, Arabian nights, Celtic Myth, Technomancy, Ogre, and the really cool Robin Hood book.

[CourtFool]

Llama converted from G.U.R.P.S. to Hero. He still uses the library extensively for ideas and campaign material. In fact, Llama just picked up Alternate Earths for his Dimension Travel campaign.

[Darren Watts]

Cabal does rock. So do Atomic Horror, Black Ops, Horror (the Ken Hite edition, though the others are pretty good too), Fantasy II (Madlands, by Robin Laws- I can't recommend this setting enough to fans looking for alternative types of fantasy storytelling), Camelot, Robin Hood, Illuminati and several of the historicals (China and Russia come to mind.) dw

[keithcurtis]

I used to use GURPS Space a lot. With Star Hero, that's a thing of the past. I also subscribe to Pyramid, since that lets me read the playtests.

Keith "Make Mine Hero!" Curtis

[Derek Hiemforth]

Hey, GURPS books gave me something to buy in the years when Hero lay fallow. ;)

Some of my favorite RPG sourcebooks have been GURPS books. Favorites include Atomic Horror, Cabal, Cliffhangers, Fantasy II, Illuminati, The Prisoner, Religion, Space, Time Travel, and Warehouse 23.

GURPS Illuminati would probably be on my list of the top 5 RPG books ever. :)

[Chuk]

I love GURPS, and for a long time in the Dark Ages I played it probably on a par with Hero (I especially liked it for non-super powered things, and I used GURPS Wild Cards quite a bit).

With the resurgence of Hero 5th, I still follow GURPS, but I'm doing more of my gaming in Hero. GURPS has got way more support, but I think the Hero system suits me better, and it's catching up fast. Once I realized I didn't have to write up full balanced character sheets for every villager the PCs might possibly encounter, Hero worked a lot better for me.

Pyramid is absolutely great, though.

[Lord Liaden]

For those interested in a supers campaign, there's a lot of ideas to be mined from Gurps IST (International Super Teams). You may disagree with the geopolitical and timeline decisions that the writers made - and of course, some of the references are dated now - but IST pays a wealth of attention to how the presence of superbeings would affect the course of world events, the law, religion, etc. It also provides tons of examples and suggestions for superbeings from countries other than the USA, including foreign language names. In these areas it's superior even to Champions Universe.

It's been out of print for some years now, but I've seen quite a few used game retailers who still have copies

[JohnTaber]

I like GURPS Space, the Space Atlas Books, and GURPS CyberWorld. CyberWorld is REALLY well written IMHO. ;)

[Peregrine]

My GURPS favorites:

Black Ops (#1 with a bullet)
Cabal (dare I say it - a better treatment of the subject than the original Ultimate Supermage)
Special Ops
Lensman
Technomancer (most of it - as was mentioned in IST above, some of the underlying assumptions the author chose are a matter of taste)
Traveller (they diverged from the Shattered Imperium timeline - and for that I will be ever grateful)

[Thag13]

I just found a cheap used copy of Gurps Travaller and I think its excellent.

Warehouse 23 is a blast

And finally IOU is the funniest suppliment I have ever read.

Hero will always be my home system. But for a long time, I thought the Gurps products were the best on the market for writing, reshearch, and layout. I think Hero is coming up very fast and will surpass them, but the well done gurps books are a standard that every publisher should strive for.

[Peregrine]

Add to my list:

Scarlet Pimpernel (the original from whence Bruce Wayne/Batman decended)
Swashbucklers
Steampunk
Cliffhangers
Martial Arts (though either edition of UMA beats it easily)

[Toadmaster]

GURPS has great source books, until DoJ came on board I'd have to give GURPS the nod for quality. Now its not so clear cut, GURPS has some great books and many people buy them that don't even play GURPS, so far HERO has been very impressive and if they keep up the quality they have shown so far they will definately be competing for the same markets.

As far as offering additional material for HERO they are a great resource.

[allen]

I had heard/read that GURPS had sourcebooks for Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and Rober Adams' Horseclans. Does anyone have these, and if so, any thoughts/impressions?

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by Lord Liaden
For those interested in a supers campaign, there's a lot of ideas to be mined from Gurps IST (International Super Teams). ...

I forgot about GURPS IST. Great sourcebook, though I would place it second to Strike Force.

Keith "Allston fan" Curtis

[Mavnn]

Originally posted by allen
I had heard/read that GURPS had sourcebooks for Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and Rober Adams' Horseclans. Does anyone have these, and if so, any thoughts/impressions?

Don't have Horseclans (want it though - it's been out of print for a long time), but the New Sun book was well done and fairly comprehensive. Only problem is, while I like like GURPS for some types of games (realistic gritty games, mainly), I don't rate it as flexible enough to deal with the setting. A definate convert to HERO moment ;).

Michael

[Thag13]

I have the HorseClans book. I think its a great book and could very easily be converted to Hero.

I have not read the HorseClans books, but the informations seems complete and well presented. The artwork is a little stiff but not enough to ruin the book.

Check Ebay as the book comes up a lot and usually not too expensive.

I have not read the New Sun book, although its on my "to get" list.

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth
GURPS Illuminati would probably be on my list of the top 5 RPG books ever. :)

Let's not forget GURPS Cyberpunk... a book so good it was seized by the Government (you can't PAY for press like that)

[MisterVimes]

If you are running a 'Period' piece and you don't want to go buy so big text-books and wade through them, GURPS China, Japan, Aztecs, Greece, Rome, India and Russia all have great footnote resources and plot hooks for any campaign.

GURPS Bio-Tech and Ultra-Tech have some great ideas for devices that can easily be created in HERO.

[Celt]

I've usually found the GURPS sourcebooks worthwhile just on the basis of the amount of information they provide. The game system material can be inspirational for how to use other systems in a genre or milieu even if you're not playing GURPS itself.

[Koshka]

I don't own a copy of the core GURPS rulebook, but I've got several of their sourcebooks as idea-mines. I really liked Time Travel, the Alternate Earths books (2 is slightly better than 1, IMHO), Steampunk and Atomic Horror, but I don't think I've ever picked up one that was a total stinker.

[AlHazred]

My favorite GURPS books are Illuminati and Discworld. I've been looking for Fantasy II so that I can get the Madlands stuff, but that's a tough one to find.

[Aroooo]

GURPS Cliffhangers is a great pulp era sourcebook. They did a very credible job on their recent 2nd edition release.

Aroooo

[Space Cadet]

I too have used the GURPS books for ideas to use with HERO,
but I don't use the setting-specific books as much as I do with
the '-Tech'-type books (Bio-Tech, High-Tech, Ultra-Tech 1 & 2,
Psionics (originally referred to as Psi-Tech)). In fact, the only
setting-specific GURPS books that I'm currently focussing on
right now are the GURPS: Traveller sourcebooks.

I use the following books for reference purposes:

Atomic Horror
Bestiary
Black Ops
Blood Types
Cops
Horror
Mars
Monsters
Ogre
Space
Special Ops
Technomancer
Undead
Warehouse 23
Y2K

Space Cadet :cool:

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by Darren Watts
Fantasy II (Madlands, by Robin Laws- I can't recommend this setting enough to fans looking for alternative types of fantasy storytelling)
I've heard that's really good from a number of sources. Been looking for it for ages.

[Doug McCrae]

Originally posted by allen
I had heard/read that GURPS had sourcebooks for Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and Rober Adams' Horseclans. Does anyone have these, and if so, any thoughts/impressions?
I thought the GURPS Book of the New Sun sourcebook was pretty good. Not wonderful or anything, but a decent product.

[Doug McCrae]

GURPS books I rate include, in order:

Suppressed Transmission 1&2 (dunno if these count)
Illuminati
Time Travel
Reign of Steel
Warehouse 23
Middle Ages
Ultra-Tech 1

Bio-tech wasn't so good, kinda dull. Lots of stuff about catmen, birdmen, fishmen, etc. I can easily imagine catmen myself - I'm loking for something a bit more unusual. Alternate Earths disappointed me too. What if the Romans conquered the world? The Japanese? The Russians? Their just empires with different hats.

Illuminati University was one of my least favourite things ever. I spit upon it.

[Old Man]

GURPS Conan is excellent. Not sure if it's still in print though. I got mine used.

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by Old Man
GURPS Conan is excellent. Not sure if it's still in print though. I got mine used.

For those that love low fantasy and Conan in specific, that IS a great resource... I see them on E-bay occassionally.

[Fitz]

Originally posted by allen
I had heard/read that GURPS had sourcebooks for Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and Rober Adams' Horseclans. Does anyone have these, and if so, any thoughts/impressions?

I have a copy of GURPS New Sun that I was given it by a friend who was on the playtesting panel.

I have read the books a long time ago, but I'm not familiar enough with the series to be able to tell how accurate it is. It looks pretty good from the little I remember.

The main chapter headings are:
(1) The Posthistory of Urth
* the Age of Myth
* the Age of the Monarch
* the Age of the Autarch

(2) The New Sun
* Precis of the books

(3) Urth in the Age of the Autarch
* The Commonwealth
* Commonwealth Geography
* Ascia

(4) Nessus, the Eternal City

(5) Urth religion
* The Church of the Conciliator
* Yesod, the Higher Universe

(6) Space and Time
* The Universe
* The Starship Tzadkiel
* Local Stars
* Time Dilation
* Time

(7) Commonwealth Characters
* Tech levels etc.
* Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills
* Character and Racial templates

(8) The Arsenal of the Autarch
* Weapons and Equipment

(9) Thaumaturgy

(10) Urth Bestiary

(11) Campaigns
* Balancing the Epic Setting
* Exploring Urth
* Campaigning in Different Eras
* Mass Combat

(12) Appendices
* The Urth Cycle
* The Incas
* Onomastics: the Study of Names
* Commonwealth Glossary
* English/Commonwealth Glossary

(13) Index

The layout and graphics are adequate to the task, though not particularly inspiring (features which seems to be common to most GURPS sourcebooks). In places graphics appear to be used for no purpose except to fill up space, and some graphics are repeated elesewhere through the book. Maps, where they are used, appear to be Campaign Cartographer generated.

If I were interested in running a game in the New Sun setting, I'd say the book would be very useful. There's enough information given about the milieu that it's not strictly necessary to have read the original books to be able run an effective campaign, though of course it would be a good idea to do so if only to get some of the ambience which tends to be lacking from sourcebooks like this.

[MPT]

I find that the Historical GURPS books are extremely useful. GURPS Japan and Arabian Knights are the two that I have used most but I have also used Rome, Russia etc.

What I like most about these is that they present a lot of detail in a form that naturally leads to adventure ideas. The sidebars are especially useful in this respect.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Heck yeah!

I've found the GURPS Space Atlas books to be of invaluable help in creating my Space Opera campaign setting....over 140 planets spread over 4 books....thats 140+ planets that I don't have to write up myself!

[Just A Guy Name]

Originally posted by keithcurtis
I forgot about GURPS IST. Great sourcebook, though I would place it second to Strike Force.

Keith "Allston fan" Curtis
Ooh, does anyone have the characters from Strike Force converted to 5E? BTW, if you like GURPS:IST, you might like IST:Kingston also. It was not from SJG, but I cannot remember the publisher of the top of my head.

[Just Joe]

In another thread, I asked about resources that would be useful in a 1930's Europe game (somewhere in the netherrealms between realistic, pulp, and horror). This seems like a good place to ask about any GURPS books that might help me. High-Tech has been slightly useful to me. In it, there is a reference to a 1900-1930 price list in GURPS Horror. Has anyone seen this? How extensive is the list? Does it (or anything else in GURPS Horror) give much information about the kinds of everyday technology available in this era. I'm curious about nitty-gritty things like "when were lighters first commonly available?". Are there other GURPS books I should check out?

[Thag13]

Check out Gurps Cliffhangers for someof this info.

Also check out Call of Chtulu source books. Keeper companion comes to mind, but there are others.

Justice Inc is a great Hero game thats long out of print but shows up on Ebay every now and then.

Also check your local libaray for time year books and Sears Catalog reprints.

[CourtFool]

Originally posted by Just Joe
In another thread, I asked about resources that would be useful in a 1930's Europe game (somewhere in the netherrealms between realistic, pulp, and horror). This seems like a good place to ask about any GURPS books that might help me. High-Tech has been slightly useful to me. In it, there is a reference to a 1900-1930 price list in GURPS Horror. Has anyone seen this? How extensive is the list?

G.U.R.P.S. Horror second addition has about 11 pages devoted to 'The Roaring Twenties'. It covers America in the 1920s, Politics and Government, Social Class and Daily Life and Horror in the Roaring 20's. The equipment list is about half a page not including weapons listed elsewhere with only a Tech Level giving indication when the particular weapon will be available.

Llama does not think G.U.R.P.S. Horror will be particularly useful as a reference for the time period you are looking for. Llama agrees that G.U.R.P.S. Cliffhanger is probably a better resource, although llama does not have it and can not make a better judgement.

Llama HTH.

[Shadowpup]

Originally posted by allen
I had heard/read that GURPS had sourcebooks for Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and Rober Adams' Horseclans. Does anyone have these, and if so, any thoughts/impressions?

I used to have the Horseclans book. I want to believe I still have it hidden someplace, but I fear I may have lost it between houses. That would be a real shame. It was neat, you could play a Horse or a Cat.

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by CourtFool
Llama does not think G.U.R.P.S. Horror will be particularly useful as a reference for the time period you are looking for. Llama agrees that G.U.R.P.S. Cliffhanger is probably a better resource, although llama does not have it and can not make a better judgement.

Mr. Vimes agrees with Llama, Mr. Vimes thinks... er... ahem... *I* think that Cliffhanger is the perfect resources for this sort of thing. If you can lay your hands on the old Call of Cthulhu boxed set, there is a really nice timeline/price list/sourcebook for the 20's and 30's...

Llamas... they get me every time!:D

[Shadowpup]

Originally posted by Fitz

If I were interested in running a game in the New Sun setting, I'd say the book would be very useful. There's enough information given about the milieu that it's not strictly necessary to have read the original books to be able run an effective campaign, though of course it would be a good idea to do so if only to get some of the ambience which tends to be lacking from sourcebooks like this.

Which books would these be? I've never heard of them and I call my world Urth (coincidence).

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by NuSoardGraphite
Heck yeah!

I've found the GURPS Space Atlas books to be of invaluable help in creating my Space Opera campaign setting....over 140 planets spread over 4 books....thats 140+ planets that I don't have to write up myself!

Another good CHEAP resource is old FGU Space Opera(tm) atlases...

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by Shadowpup
Which books would these be? I've never heard of them and I call my world Urth (coincidence).

The Books of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.
Shadow of the Torturer/Claw of the Conciliator (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312890176/qid=1047343534/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3706098-6350333?v=glance&s=books)
and
The Sword of the Lictor/Citadel of the Autarch (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312890184/ref=pd_ser_asin_3/104-3706098-6350333)

They are very detailed an rich story of a world so far in the future that it no longer resembles Earth. This review says it all:

This is the first-person narrative of Severian, a lowly apprentice torturer blessed and cursed with a photographic memory, whose travels lead him through the marvels of far-future Urth, and who--as revealed near the beginning--eventually becomes his land's sole ruler or Autarch. On the surface it's a colorful story with all the classic ingredients: growing up, adventure, sex, betrayal, murder, exile, battle, monsters, and mysteries to be solved. (Only well into book 2 do we realize what saved Severian's life in chapter 1.) For lovers of literary allusions, they are plenty here: a Dickensian cemetery scene, a torture-engine from Kafka, a wonderful library out of Borges, and familiar fables changed by eons of retelling. Wolfe evokes a chilly sense of time's vastness, with an age-old, much-restored painting of a golden-visored "knight," really an astronaut standing on the moon, and an ancient citadel of metal towers, actually grounded spacecraft. Even the sun is senile and dying, and so Urth needs a new sun.

[Peregrine]

Originally posted by MisterVimes
Another good CHEAP resource is old FGU Space Opera(tm) atlases...

I'll second that one. FGU's Space Opera was chock-full of ideas, but lacked consistency - lots of depth in some areas, very little in others. And nigh-unplayable game mechanics.

[AGLAR]

Originally posted by Peregrine
I'll second that one. FGU's Space Opera was chock-full of ideas, but lacked consistency - lots of depth in some areas, very little in others. And nigh-unplayable game mechanics.

The MEMORIES!!!


Tried to run Space Opera - ONCE!

:eek:

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by Peregrine
I'll second that one. FGU's Space Opera was chock-full of ideas, but lacked consistency - lots of depth in some areas, very little in others. And nigh-unplayable game mechanics.

That's what FGU stood for: F^@king Games Unplayable

[keithcurtis]

Originally posted by AGLAR
The MEMORIES!!!


Tried to run Space Opera - ONCE!

:eek:

I wrote a BASIC program to generate characters. Sheesh, in order to buy the ability to pilot a starship, you needed 60+ points worth of pre-req.s. And they weren't listed! You had to look up each individual pre-req to find <i>its</i> pre-req and so forth. I repeat: Sheesh!

Keith "Not to mention the entire page of rules devoted to throwing an object from one character to another" Curtis

[MisterVimes]

Originally posted by keithcurtis
Keith "Not to mention the entire page of rules devoted to throwing an object from one character to another" Curtis

In Space... no one can hear you play catch...

[MoonHunter]

There are dozens of older games (and heck modern ones) that have difficult game mechanics or are just nearly obsolete. We played a number of them using hero 4th edition, a few of them will adapt nicely to 5th edition.

Star Trek (Fasa)
Blue Planet (Modern, but the 2nd edition mechanics suck)
Lace and Steel (so we did not have to use the cards)
Cidri (Fantasy Trip's, GURPs precursor, game world)
and the list goes on....

[Celt]

Originally posted by MisterVimes
That's what FGU stood for: F^@king Games Unplayable

Ah, FGU. Makers of the best RPGs nobody can play.

[Peregrine]

Originally posted by MoonHunter
There are dozens of older games (and heck modern ones) that have difficult game mechanics or are just nearly obsolete. We played a number of them using hero 4th edition, a few of them will adapt nicely to 5th edition.

Star Trek (Fasa)
Blue Planet (Modern, but the 2nd edition mechanics suck)
Lace and Steel (so we did not have to use the cards)
Cidri (Fantasy Trip's, GURPs precursor, game world)
and the list goes on....

Ah... FASA Trek. Remains to this day my favorite incarnation of the Star Trek universe. FASA gave FGU a run for its money in the 'great setting/crappy mechanics' league. (Shadowrun, anyone?)

[Space Cadet]

Looking back on my list of GURPS books I use as reference material,
I noticed that I'd left out one particular book: GURPS Mecha.

Ooops!

Space Cadet :o

[Derek Hiemforth]

Speaking of GURPS books, I happen to have a copy of the uber-rare GURPS The Prisoner up on Ebay at the moment if anyone's interested. :)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2547&item=3122361138&rd=1

[TheQuestionMan]

Hello Herophiles , I am a Fan of GURPS and their Sourcebooks . Their Fan base produces more Conversions than even HERO .

The comeback of HERO System and the quality of their work has changed that . I am a born again HEROphile and I'm look forward to all future releases .

The Top Ten GURPS Books ( 150 Sourcebooks ) are out of ;
1. Japan - Most read and useful for running the setting
2. Russia - Much read and used for resource material
3. Faerie - Check it out yourself with great artwork
4. Spirits - Interesting read and classifications
5. Cliffhangers - Excellent resource and useful GM tips
6. Bestiary - Finally rules for training beasts and playing them
7. Deadlands - Great setting and well thought out conversion
8. Steampunk - Excellent for running Victorian setting
9. Traveller - Awsome setting and Conversion
10. Martial Arts - Most used and abused by players and GMs

The Worst Ten GURPS Books ( 150 Sourcebooks ) are out of ;
1. Supers - The GURPS sytem just doesn't do it well
2. Biotech - Read once now gathering dust
3. Magic Items 1,2 & 3 - Read once now gathering dust
4. Vehicle - Math BA required and too few examples
5. Myth - It's just wrong in so many ways
6. Cops - It's just wrong in so many ways
7. Covert Ops - Bad layout and art
8. Napoleon - Bad layout and art
9. SWAT - Bad layout and art
10. Authentic Thaumaturgy - Not sure this one applies

[lemming]

Originally posted by TheQuestionMan
3. Magic Items 1,2 & 3 - Read once now gathering dust
These were great for the style of FH game I was running. The semi-goofy items were mixed in with the actually useful items.

[Derek Hiemforth]

I won't bother with a "worst" list, but here are my top ten GURPS books in alphabetical order...

Atomic Horror
Black Ops
Cabal
Fantasy II
Horror
Illuminati
Religion
Space
Time Travel
Warehouse 23

[UltraRob]

Actually, I generally don't recommend GURPS:China too much...it's way too dry and doesn't cover the material from a gaming aspect very well...Just kinda gives a very limited overview of Chinese history and a little culture....you'd be better off reading real books about the subject and using GURPS:China as extra reference at best....but the books everyone should own are:

GURPS:

Japan
Imperial Rome
Aztecs
Celtic Myth
(basically any real-world book but China)
Supporting Cast
Martial Arts
Space
and
Ultra-Tech (which I get a huge amount of use out of)

Rob

[Darren Watts]

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth
I won't bother with a "worst" list, but here are my top ten GURPS books in alphabetical order...

Atomic Horror
Black Ops
Cabal
Fantasy II
Horror
Illuminati
Religion
Space
Time Travel
Warehouse 23

Derek and I are apparently on the same GURPS wavelength here, which isn't really much of a surprise. I'd replace Religion, which is good, with Cliffhangers, which is better. Anybody interested in the art and science of GM-ing should own these ten books. Each will do a part in making you better. dw

[FenrisUlf]

Originally posted by Peregrine
My GURPS favorites:

Black Ops (#1 with a bullet)
Cabal (dare I say it - a better treatment of the subject than the original Ultimate Supermage)

Technomancer (most of it - as was mentioned in IST above, some of the underlying assumptions the author chose are a matter of taste)


I'm a big GURPS fan, myself. Personally, I think *anything* by Ken Hite is pure gold (Suppressed TRansmissions 1&2 are great, but they're waaaay overdue for a number 3), and I love the Weird War 2 book (if you want to do Golden Age, you have GOT to get this book).

BTW, Peregrine, may I ask what you had troubles with in Technomancer? I only ask because I love it, and I've got my own share of troubles with it (like the author's idea that the modern-day US has never socially progressed beyond the 50's).

[Derek Hiemforth]

Originally posted by Darren Watts
Derek and I are apparently on the same GURPS wavelength here, which isn't really much of a surprise. I'd replace Religion, which is good, with Cliffhangers, which is better. I really waffled over Cliffhangers.. it's an excellent book too. I should've done a top eleven. ;)

I was also tempted to include GURPS The Prisoner, but realized that ultimately the "specialness" resides in The Prisoner itself, rather than GURPS The Prisoner specifically. :) (Though I don't mean to knock it... GURPS The Prisoner is a very cool book too.)

[Derek Hiemforth]

Originally posted by FenrisUlf
Personally, I think *anything* by Ken Hite is pure gold (Suppressed TRansmissions 1&2 are great, but they're waaaay overdue for a number 3)Hear, hear! Ken's one of the best in the biz. Ya' can't go wrong with his stuff. I fine the Star Trek Next Generation Narrator's Guide to be one of my most useful GM resources, even though I do not now nor have I ever run a Star Trek game in any system. The advice is just that useful and adaptable to other games & genres. And of course, the Suppressed Transmission books are the ultimate adventure idea-spawning tools. :D