Well, our press run of the second edition of the GURPS
Basic Set is this close to running
out, and the Third Edition is (almost) ready. Thanks to all those who have
commented, by mail, in person, or on the BBS, and suggested -- or helped
playtest -- the many rules additions, clarifications and changes.
I'm pleased with the way the Third Edition is shaping up. We don't want
to "force" anybody to buy it if they already have an earlier edition
. . . but if it's so good that they want to shell out $19.95 for
it, so much the better. That price isn't a typo. We're dropping the cost
by five bucks.
How? Simple. No box. A box drives up the cost of a game by a LOT. So this
edition will be a single thick book; right now,
it looks like 256 pages. A lot of material has been added. Some is "old"
-- that is, it has already appeared in other places. For instance, many
of the new advantages and disadvantages that first appeared in Roleplayer
will be here. So will the basic rules for magic (including,
probably, five colleges of spells) and psionics. But some material is brand-new.
There will be much more detailed coverage of modern weapons, for instance.
(A lot of that was originally written for High-Tech,
but goes into BS3 instead.)
The purpose of all the added material, of course, is to make the Basic Set
more truly generic and universal! There were comments -- quite justified,
I'm afraid -- that the original Basic Set seemed
to concentrate on medieval times, to the near-exclusion of others. Well,
that's taken care of now.
With this new edition of the Basic Set, and the
worldbooks that will be out by the end of the year, GURPS finally
fulfills its original promise . . . it's truly a system that will let you
do anything. By the end of 1989, we will have books out on all
the major roleplaying genres, and several of the secondary
ones. And our production system is now cranked up to produce, on the average,
better than two new GURPS releases a month.
It's working! Our thanks to all of you. We'll keep working to justify your
trust. Roleplaying is a worthwhile, creative pursuit, and we're proud to
be in the forefront with a system that allows this much variety and freedom.
It's work, yes -- but when we open the mail, it's worth it.
(Back to Roleplayer
#11 Table of Contents)