January 22, 2026: GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition Is Getting Revised . . . But How?

Since October 2025, we've talked up the GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition Revised in the GURPS News, my weekly roundups, and the forums. In anticipation of the upcoming release, here's all the information in one place.

• Merges Characters and Campaigns into a single 592-page volume. That's 16 pages longer!
• Eliminates redundancy (title pages, credits pages, tables of contents, introductions, indexes, etc.), and removes Combat Lite (because it includes the full combat rules!) and an ad, freeing another 15 pages.
• Adds a 4-page preface explaining everything discussed here in detail, and including an updated GURPS bibliography (formerly the Ludography).
• Adds 27 pages of rules that writers and gamers deem "core," in four sections. Having this means not needing to buy several supplements for a few key pages. Of course, everything added to newer printings (like Complementary Skills) is also here.
• Lightly edits the text to fix grammar and errata, clarify terminology, and correct insensitive language.
• Has a distinctive new cover – for the printed version, a hard cover.
• Replaces lots of art with nicer color pieces selected from the vast GURPS library.
• Replaces many filler quotes with rules clarifications and pointers to useful supplements.
• Has a more spacious two-column layout, for easier reading.

Despite the changes, the revision is 100% back-compatible! Sensitivity dictated rewriting the slavery rules and renaming Slave Mentality (leaving a pointer), but the rules are otherwise unchanged. Layout tricks – including inserting addenda in place of redundant content – left all headings on their original pages, preserving references. Gamers using this version and the original will be on the same page, figuratively and literally.

For full details, see the GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition Revised FAQ, which we will update as our plans unfold.

-- Sean Punch