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65-500: The system is considered innovative, but more in common with GURPS and Unisystem , rather than other diceless games such as Amber and Nobilis The game has options for freeform and live action role-playing , as well as for converting the game to other systems. Ample conversion rules allow the adaptation of the engine to a number of commercial systems. Active Exploit has converted other published RPGs into diceless versions. The game won an Indie RPG award in 2003 for free game of

130-648: A GURPS sourcebook is 10,452 for the Harvester (p. 88) in GURPS Monsters . In principle, a Game Master can balance the power of foes to the abilities of the player characters by comparing their relative point values. Characters in GURPS have four basic attributes : Each attribute has a number rating assigned to it. Normally they begin at 10, representing typical human ability, but can go as low as 1 for nearly useless, to 20 (or higher) for superhuman power. Anything in

195-439: A GURPS Basic Set , which contains the core rules required to run most games. In addition, more than a hundred supplemental books provide optional rules and details about different settings and genres ( GURPS Martial Arts , for example). By adapting the various optional rules and systems, GURPS can be run with as much or as little detail as required, and can accommodate virtually any genre, character or style of play. GURPS won

260-513: A PDF and later as a hardbound book. Preexisting RPG and fiction settings converted to the system by Chaosium using the BRP ruleset include Ringworld , Hawkmoon , and an adaptation of the French RPG Nephilim . BRP is similar to other generic systems such as GURPS , Hero System , or Savage Worlds in that it uses a simple resolution method which can be broadly applied. It uses

325-508: A computer or flying a fighter jet would not normally be available. Skills are rated by level, and the more levels purchased with character points, the better the characters are at that particular skill relative to their base attribute. Skills are categorized by difficulty: Easy, Average, Hard, and Very Hard. Easy skills cost few points to purchase levels in, and the cost per skill level increases with each level of difficulty. Game mechanics allow that eventually it may be less expensive to raise

390-452: A fantasy environment. Another game from the same company, Star Frontiers , was developed for science fiction –based role-playing. TSR produced other games for other environments, such as Gamma World ( post-apocalyptic adventures), Top Secret ( spies and secret agents), Gangbusters ( Roaring Twenties adventures), and Boot Hill ( American Old West ). Each of these games was set with its own self-contained rules system , and

455-497: A GURPS question-and-answer seminar at Origins 1984 in Dallas. The combat system for GURPS was published in 1985 as Man to Man: Fantasy Combat from GURPS to meet the deadline for Origins 1985 and was followed up later that year by the adventure supplement Orcslayer . The Basic GURPS set was published in 1986 and 1987 and included two booklets, one for developing characters and one for Adventuring. In 1990 GURPS intersected part of

520-407: A beginning character in an average power game, the 4th edition suggests 100–150 points to modify attribute stats, select advantages and disadvantages, and purchase levels in skills. Normal NPCs are built on 25–50 points. Full-fledged heroes usually have 150–250 points, while superheroes are commonly built with 400–800 points. The highest point value recorded for a canon character in

585-509: A character is physically, the less damage he or she is capable of inflicting with such a weapon. Purely mechanical weapons (guns, beam sabers, bombs, etc.) have a set damage value. When damage is inflicted upon characters, it is deducted from their Hit Points , which are calculated with the Strength stat (prior to GURPS 4th Edition, Hit Points were derived from the Health stat). Like most other RPGs,

650-847: A character with a Dexterity of 12, is using the Climbing skill untrained. Climbing has a default of DX-5 or ST-5, which means that using the skill untrained gives him a Climbing skill level of 7 (12–5) if he tied it to the Dexterity stat. If the character had a higher Strength stat, he could have a better chance of success if he tied the Climbing skill there instead. Some skills also have a Tech Level (TL) rating attached to them, to differentiate between Skills that concern similar concepts, but whose tasks are accomplished in different ways when used with differing levels of technology. This helps during time traveling scenarios, or when characters are forced to deal with particularly outdated or advanced equipment. For instance,

715-415: A core set of seven characteristics : Size, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Power, and Appearance or Charisma. From these, a character derives scores in various skills , expressed as percentages. These skill scores are the basis of play. When attempting an action, the player rolls percentile dice to attempt to get a result equal to or lower than the character's skill score. Each incarnation of

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780-533: A full skill system to characters regardless of their profession. This was developed in RuneQuest but was also later adopted by the more skill-oriented Call of Cthulhu RPG. BRP was conceived of as a generic system. Specific rule systems for support differing genres could be added to the core rules in a modular fashion. In order to underscore this, in 1982 Chaosium released the Worlds of Wonder box set, which contained

845-442: A fully rounded game of any type, apart from gladiatorial combat and medieval adventures." The Games Machine reviewed GURPS and stated that "If the idea of a generic system appeals, or you want a straightforward set of rules with which to run adventures in a setting of your own making, GURPS is worth a look." Basic Role-Playing Basic Role-Playing ( BRP ) is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in

910-466: A gunslinger from the Old West is facing a foe: If the gunslinger lacked these advantages, skills, and techniques, then readying, aiming, firing, aiming again, and firing again would take at least 5 seconds. If the gunslinger lacked these traits and tried to shoot two pistols at once: Damage from muscle-powered weapons, (clubs, swords, bows, etc.) is calculated based on the character's ST rating. The weaker

975-494: A loss of hit points indicates physical harm being inflicted upon a character, which can potentially lead to death. GURPS calculates shock penalties when someone is hit, representing the impact it causes and the rush of pain that interferes with concentration. Different weapons can cause different 'types' of damage, ranging from crushing (a club or mace), impaling (a spear or arrow), cutting (most swords and axes), piercing (bullets), and so on. One peculiarity about loss of Hit Points

1040-405: A modern boat builder's skills will be of less use if he is stuck on a desert island and forced to work with primitive tools and techniques. Thus, the skills he uses are different when in his shop (Shipbuilding/TL8) and when he is on the island (Shipbuilding/TL0). GURPS uses six-sided dice for all game mechanics using standard dice notation . An "average roll" of three six sided dice generates

1105-635: A new character generation system for the microgames Melee and Wizard that used a point-buy system: players are given a fixed number of points with which to buy abilities. (The Hero System first used by the Champions role-playing game published two years later also used a point-buy system.) GURPS' s emphasis on its generic aspect has proven to be a successful marketing tactic, as many game series have source engines which can be retrofitted to many styles. Its approach to versatility includes using real world measurements wherever possible ("reality-checking"

1170-501: A new edition. published in 2008. This comprehensive book, Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System nicknamed the "Big Gold Book". It allowed game masters to build their own game out of the included subsystems. A quickstart booklet for new players accompanied it. In 2011, it was updated to a second edition. In 2020, Chaosium released Basic Roleplaying as a System Reference Document (SRD). A new edition, entitled Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine , appeared in 2023, initially as

1235-431: A party have a set initiative that is entirely based upon their Basic Speed characteristic. There are two kinds of attacks: Melee (possibly with hand-to-hand weapons, or unarmed combat) and Ranged (bows, guns, thrown weapons, some Innate Attacks, etc.). Attacks made by a character are checked against their skill with the particular weapon they carry. For instance, if a character is using a pistol, as with any other skill, it

1300-455: A player makes a pick pocketing test for her character. The character has a Pickpocket skill with a level of 11. Under normal circumstances - i.e., under an average stressful situation , according to the manual - the player must roll an 11 or less for the character to succeed. If the player rolls above 11, then the character has failed the attempt at pick pocketing. There are some exceptions for very high or low rolls, deemed criticals . No matter

1365-553: A revised main booklet and several booklets providing the additional rules for playing in specific genres. The superhero -themed Superworld originated as part of this set. A third edition of the core booklet, now entitled Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium System , was released in 2002. In 2004, Chaosium began publishing the Basic Roleplaying monographs, a series of paperback booklets. The first four monographs ( Players Book , Magic Book , Creatures Book , and Gamemaster Book )

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1430-406: A total of 10.5; this makes an "average" skill check (a skill of 10, based on an unmodified attribute) equally likely to succeed or fail. Making statistic and skill checks in GURPS is the reverse of the mechanics of most other RPGs, where the higher the total of the die roll, the better. GURPS players hope to roll as low as possible under the tested statistic's rating or skill's level. If the roll

1495-469: A variety of nonhuman species. Chaosium was an early adopter of licensing out its BRP system to other companies, something that was unique at the time they began but commonplace now thanks to the d20 licenses. This places BRP in the notable position of being one of the first products to allow other game companies to develop games or game aids for their work. For example, Other Suns , published by Fantasy Games Unlimited , used them under license. BRP

1560-459: A very young, but literate, child, Basic Role-Playing is excellent. Otherwise, for all its charm, it's not much use.". In the August 1981 edition of Dragon (Issue 52), John Sapienza noted that Basic Roleplaying was "not a fantasy role-playing game as such, but a handbook on how to role-play and a simple combat system to help the beginner get into the act." Despite this, Sapienza called it "one of

1625-456: A wide variety of skills intended to enable it to support any conceivable genre (such as Acrobatics and Vehicle Piloting). Each skill is tied to at least one attribute, and the characters' abilities in that skill is a function of their base attributes + or - a certain amount. The availability of skills depends on the particular genre in which the GURPS game is played. For instance, in a generic medieval fantasy setting, skills for operating

1690-544: Is Sean Punch . Sessions are run by a game master (GM), who controls the world and adjudicates the rules, with any number of players controlling the actions of a character. Most actions are resolved by rolling three six-sided dice (3d6), trying to roll below a certain number, usually a skill. GURPS uses a point-based character creation system; characters are represented by four basic stats (Strength, Dexterity, IQ and Health), and players can buy any number of advantages, disadvantages, perks, quirks and skills. GURPS consists of

1755-477: Is an important part of any GURPS book). GURPS also benefits from the many dozens of worldbooks describing settings or additional rules in all genres including science fiction, fantasy, and historical. Many game designers began their professional careers as GURPS writers, including C. J. Carella , Robin Laws , S. John Ross , and Steffan O'Sullivan . A character in GURPS is built with character points . For

1820-457: Is beneficial to have a high level in the Guns skill. Like any other skill check, a player must roll equal to or less than the level of the skill to succeed. Failure means a miss, success scores a hit. Similarly, critical hits mean that the blow might inflict significantly more damage to its target; critical misses may lead to a rather unpleasant and unexpected event (such as dropping the weapon or hitting

1885-576: Is less than or equal to that number, the check succeeds. There is no "target number" or "difficulty rating" set by the Game Master, as would be the case in many other RPG systems. Instead the GM will apply various modifiers to add or subtract to the skill level. In this way, positive modifiers increase the chance for success by adding to the stat or skill level the player must roll under while negative modifiers deduct from it, making things more difficult. For example:

1950-463: Is that characters can achieve a relatively high Active Defense value, drawing out fights considerably. The only mechanic within the system to address this is the Feint action, which if successful will place the adversary in an unfavorable position, reducing their active defense against that character only, on the subsequent turn. Skills, advantages, and equipment, can be combined to great effect. For example,

2015-561: Is that in GURPS, death is not certain. While a very high amount of total HP loss will cause certain death, there are also several points at which a player must successfully roll HT, with different grades of failure indicating character death or a mortal injury. Depending on the nature of the attack, there will sometimes be additional effects. Character advancement follows the same system as character creation. Characters are awarded character points to improve themselves at regular intervals (usually at

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2080-521: The RuneQuest fantasy role-playing game . Chaosium released the BRP standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of RuneQuest . Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis are credited as the authors. Chaosium used the percentile skill-based system as the basis for most of their games, including Call of Cthulhu , Stormbringer , and Elfquest . The core rules were written by Steve Perrin as part of his game RuneQuest . It

2145-499: The BRP rules changed or added to the core ideas and mechanics, so that games are not identical. For example, in Call of Cthulhu , skills may never be over 100%, while in Stormbringer skills in excess of 100% are within reach for all characters. Scores can increase through experience checks, the mechanics of which vary in an individual game. The system treats armor and defense as separate:

2210-489: The FBI . Operation: Sundevil was in action at the same time, but it was completely separate. See Steve Jackson Games, Inc. v. United States Secret Service . The 1995 supplement GURPS Illuminati University introduced Agatha Heterodyne , the character who would go on to star in the popular comic series Girl Genius in 2001. A free PDF version of the GURPS rules was released in 1998 as GURPS Lite . This limited ruleset

2275-549: The Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1988 , and in 2000 it was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame . Many of its expansions have also won awards. Prior to GURPS , most roleplaying games (RPGs) of the 1970s and early 1980s were developed especially for certain gaming environments, and they were largely incompatible with one another. For example, TSR published its Dungeons & Dragons game specifically for

2340-560: The hacker subculture when the company's Austin , Texas, offices were raided by the Secret Service . The target was the author of GURPS Cyberpunk in relation to E911 Emergency Response system documents stolen from Bell South . The incident was a direct contributor to the founding of the Electronic Frontier Foundation . A common misconception holds that this raid was part of Operation Sundevil and carried out by

2405-420: The 8 to 12 range is considered to be in the normal or average area for humans. Basic attribute scores of 6 or less are considered crippling —they are so far below the human norm that they are only used for severely handicapped characters. Scores of 15 or more are described as amazing —they are immediately apparent and draw constant comment. Players assign these ratings spending character points . The higher

2470-523: The Labyrinth , to form The Fantasy Trip ( TFT ), an early role-playing game. Several of the core concepts of GURPS first appeared in TFT , including the inclusion of Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence as the core abilities scores of each character. By April 1984, the core rules for GURPS (at that point referred to as the "Great Unnamed Universal Role-Playing System") was being playtested in preparation for

2535-409: The act of parrying is a defensive skill that reduces an opponent's chance to successfully land an attack, and the purpose of armor is to absorb damage. In most BRP games there is no difference between the player character race systems and that of monsters or other opponents. By varying ability scores, the same system is used for a human hero as a troll villain. This approach allows for players to play

2600-580: The area being studied. Self-study and on the job experience take more time per character point while high tech teaching aids can reduce the time required. Some intensive situations let a character advance quickly, as most waking hours are considered study. For instance, characters travelling through the Amazon may count every waking moment as study of jungle survival, while living in a foreign country could count as eight hours per day of language study or more. The computer game publisher Interplay licensed GURPS as

2665-568: The attack with a limb or weapon), or Block (effort to interpose a shield or similar object between the attack and the defender's body). Unlike many RPG systems, an Active Defense is an unopposed check, meaning that in most cases, the success of an attack has no effect on the difficulty of the defense. Dodge is based on the Basic Speed characteristic, while Parry and Block are each based on individual combat skills, such as Fencing, Karate, or Staff for Parry, and Shield or Cloak for Block. A common criticism

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2730-490: The average of 10. Attribute scores also determine several secondary characteristics . The four major ones are each directly based on a single attribute: The other secondary characteristics (Damage, Basic Lift, Basic Speed, Dodge, Move) are calculated from one or more attribute values using individual tables or formulae . GURPS has a profusion of advantages and disadvantages which enable players or Game Masters to customize their characters. The myriad options available and

2795-401: The basis for a post– nuclear war role-playing video game ( Fallout ) in 1995. Late in development, Interplay replaced the GURPS character-building system with their own SPECIAL System . Brian Fargo , one of the executive producers of Fallout , stated during an interview that Interplay dropped out of the licensing deal, following fundamental disagreements on the game's content. "[Jackson]

2860-416: The best introductions to the practical social interactions in gaming that I have read, and will give beginning gamers the kind of guidance they typically do not get in the full-scale games they will graduate to, since game writers usually spend their time on mechanics instead of on the proper relationships between player and player, player and referee, or player and character." He concluded, " Basic Role-Playing

2925-522: The character a bit, but they mostly add role-playing flavor. Enhancements and limitations can tailor an advantage or disadvantage to suit creative players. These modify the effects and point cost of advantages and disadvantages. For example, to create a "dragon's breath" attack, a player would select the Innate Attack ability (the ability that allows a player to perform an attack most humans could not), and select burning attack 4D (normally 20 points). Then,

2990-496: The character and cost points to purchase. Selecting Disadvantages returns character points and allows players to limit their characters in one way in exchange for being more powerful or gifted in other areas. Disadvantages include such positive attributes as honesty and truthfulness which limit the way a character is played. There are also many Perks and Quirks to choose from which give a character some personality. Perks (minor Advantages) and Quirks (minor Disadvantages) benefit or hinder

3055-559: The differences between abilities from experience and from inborn talent, more detailed language rules, and revised technology levels. Designed by Sean Punch , the Fourth Edition is sold as two full-color hardcover books as well as in the PDF format. Role-playing games of the 1970s and 1980s, such as Dungeons & Dragons , generally used random numbers generated by dice rolls to assign statistics to player characters. In 1978, Jackson designed

3120-532: The end of a game session or story). GMs are free to distribute experience as they see fit. This contrasts with some traditional RPGs where players receive a predictable amount of experience for defeating foes. The book recommends providing 1-3 points for completing objectives and 1-3 points for good role-playing per game session. Advancement can also come through study, work, or other activities, either during game play or between sessions. In general, 200 hours of study equals one character point which can be applied for

3185-450: The level of the base attribute the skills depend on as opposed to purchasing higher levels of skills. Players can generally purchase a skill for their characters at any level they can afford. The lower a player chooses, the fewer points it costs to buy the skill, while higher levels cost more points. Some skills have default levels, which indicate the level rating a character has when using that skill untrained (i.e. not purchased). For example,

3250-424: The level of the skill, a die roll of 18 is always a critical failure , and a roll of 3 or 4 is always a critical success (a roll of 17 is a critical failure as well, unless the character relevant skill level is 16 or more). The Game Master may decide in such cases that, in first case (a roll of 18, or 10+ over the modified skill level), the character has failed miserably and caused something disastrous to happen or, in

3315-469: The occult, and martial arts. GURPS The Generic Universal Role Playing System , or GURPS , is a tabletop role-playing game system published by Steve Jackson Games . The system is designed to run any genre using the same core mechanics. The core rules were first written by Steve Jackson and published in 1986, at a time when most such systems were story- or genre-specific. Since then, four editions have been published. The current line editor

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3380-422: The other case, that he or she succeeds incredibly well and gains some benefit as a result. Combat in GURPS is organized in personal turns: i.e., every character gets a turn each second , and during a character's turn he or she may take an action, such as attack or move. After all characters have taken their action, one second has elapsed. Free actions are simple actions that can be done at any time. Characters in

3445-479: The player would modify it as follows: cone, 5 yards (+100%); limited use, 3/day (-20%); reduced range, x1/5 (-20%). The final percentage modifier would be +60%, making the final cost 32 points. This addition to the system greatly increases its flexibility while decreasing the number of specific advantages and disadvantages that must be listed. Finally, mitigators can themselves tailor advantages and disadvantages (see GURPS Bio-Tech for such an example). GURPS has

3510-466: The rating the more points it will cost the player, however, assigning a score below the average 10 gives the player points back to assign elsewhere. Since almost all skills are based on Dexterity or Intelligence, those attributes are twice as expensive (or yield twice the points, if purchased below 10). In earlier editions (pre–4th Edition) all attributes followed the same cost-progression, where higher attributes cost more per increase than attributes close to

3575-537: The rewards the system provides players for carefully creating their characters are attractive to gamers who enjoy a high degree of flexibility in character design. A player can select numerous Advantages and Disadvantages to differentiate the character; the system supports both mundane traits (such as above-average or below-average Wealth, Status and Reputation) as well as more exotic special abilities and weaknesses. These are categorized as physical, mental or social, and as exotic, supernatural, or mundane. Advantages benefit

3640-576: The rules for playing each game differed greatly from one game to the next. Attempts were made in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons to allow cross-genre games using Gamma World and Boot Hill rules; however, characters could only be used in a new genre by converting their statistics. Although GURPS was preceded by Basic Role-Playing ( Chaosium , 1980) and the Hero System ( Hero Games , a system that expanded to multiple genres starting in 1982), GURPS

3705-442: The wrong target). Attack modifiers are set by the GM when factoring in things like distance, speed and cover that make a successful strike more difficult. After a successful attack, except in the case of a critical hit, the defender usually gets a chance to avoid the blow. This is called an Active Defense, and takes the form of a Dodge (deliberate movement out of the perceived path of the attack), Parry (attempt to deflect or intercept

3770-662: The year and best support. This is an introductory version of the rules, intended for those who are new to the system or prefer something less involved. This presents both advanced and optional rules which players can selectively use. Some examples of advanced elements are: These are guidelines from the Basic and Advanced Exploits sections which are optimized for live action role-playing . A framework for converting characters from other game systems for use with Active Exploits, and adapting other ability/skill-based systems for diceless play. Setting Specifics, which add new rules for magic and

3835-399: Was Greg Stafford 's idea to simplify the rules (eliminating such mechanics as Strike Ranks and Hit Locations) and issue them in a 16-page booklet called Basic Role-Playing . Since the first BRP release, designers including Sandy Petersen , Lynn Willis , and Steve Henderson , have contributed to the system. The system was notable for being the first role-playing game system to introduce

3900-401: Was also included with various books such as GURPS Discworld and Transhuman Space . Steve Jackson Games released GURPS Fourth Edition at the first day of Gen Con on August 19, 2004. It promised to simplify and streamline most areas of play and character creation. The changes include modification of the attribute point adjustments, an edited and rationalized skill list, clarification of

3965-496: Was also used as the base for the Swedish game Drakar och Demoner from Target Games . In the July 1981 edition of The Space Gamer (Issue No. 41), Ronald Pehr commented that " Basic Role-Playing is too little too late. RuneQuest is long established, does an adequate job of teaching role-playing, and there are now even more games to choose from. If you want to teach role-playing to

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4030-416: Was offended by the nature of the content and where it was going. ... He saw [the opening cinematic], and he just wouldn't approve it." Jackson said "I made a lot of concessions because I want to save the project" and that he felt "all the original problems could be resolved". GURPS for Dummies ( ISBN   0-471-78329-3 ), a guidebook by Stuart J. Stuple, Bjoern-Erik Hartsfvang, and Adam Griffith,

4095-411: Was published in 2006. Marcus L. Rowland reviewed GURPS in 1986 for White Dwarf #83, and stated that "While I can applaud the idea behind the system, I can't really recommend GURPS at its present stage of development. In the long run, GURPS and all its supplements may cover more ground than other systems, possibly at less expense, but in the short term there isn't enough support material to run

4160-698: Was the most commercially successful generic role-playing game system to allow players to role-play in any environment they please while still using the same set of core rules. This flexibility of environment is greatly aided by the use of technology levels (or "tech-levels") that allow a campaign to be set from the Stone Age (TL-0) to the Digital Age (TL-8) or beyond. The immediate mechanical antecedents of GURPS were Steve Jackson's microgames Melee and Wizard , both published by Metagaming Concepts , which eventually combined them along with another Jackson game, In

4225-489: Was the same as RuneQuest 3rd Edition, but with trademarked elements removed, as Chaosium had lost the rights to the name but retained copyright to the rules text. Additional monographs allowing for new mechanics, thereby extending the system to other genres, were released in the following years. Many of these monographs reproduced rules from other Chaosium-published BRP games that had gone out of print. Jason Durall and Sam Johnson gathered up previous works and updated them to

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