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GURPS Fourth Edition Basic Set
GURPS Basic Set 4th (fourth) edition Text Only
With GURPS, you can be anyone you want�an elf hero fighting for the forces of good, a shadowy femme fatale on a deep-cover mission, a futuristic swashbuckler carving up foes with a force sword in his hand and a beautiful woman by his side . . . or literally anything else! GURPS has been the premiere universal roleplaying game for almost two decades. The new Fourth Edition makes it even better! GURPS Basic Characters combines information from the Third Edition GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium I, plus hundreds of new and updated rules! This 336-page, full-color hardcover contains everything you need to create and play a GURPS Fourth Edition character.
Hardcover
First published September 1, 2004
8 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Steve Jackson
200 books70 followersAmerican game designer, often confused with the British game designer of the same name.
Author of games/systems such as GURPS, Illuminati, CarWars, and Munchkins.
See also:
Steve Jackson, co-creator of the Fighting Fantasy series (NB the US game designer also wrote 3 titles in this series)
Steve Jackson, author of works on crime
Steve Jackson, Scottish thriller writer
Author of games/systems such as GURPS, Illuminati, CarWars, and Munchkins.
See also:
Steve Jackson, co-creator of the Fighting Fantasy series (NB the US game designer also wrote 3 titles in this series)
Steve Jackson, author of works on crime
Steve Jackson, Scottish thriller writer
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 16, 2017
GURPS is probably my favorite tabletop RPG system. It has all the complexity you'd want for a detailed, simulationist game, but it's granular enough that you can essentially use the rules you want. Too many people are turned off by how complicated it seems, and it's true that character creation can often take hours where for other games it would take minutes. But it's a very front-loaded system, and it's very easy to play after character creation is done (provided that the GM knows what they're doing). It also has amazing supplements which, despite being unnecessary for running a game, are impressively detailed and helpful, and in the case of the historical ones, are interesting and informative in their own rights.
It isn't perfect. 1 second combat rounds are a perceptual problem for me, and even with the supplements, pre-made NPCs and monsters are relatively sparse--and making NPCs can be a bit of a pain, especially if they aren't human. But I've run games taking place in the Victorian Age, to alternate Earths in the modern day, to ancient Sumer, and it works great for all of them.
It isn't perfect. 1 second combat rounds are a perceptual problem for me, and even with the supplements, pre-made NPCs and monsters are relatively sparse--and making NPCs can be a bit of a pain, especially if they aren't human. But I've run games taking place in the Victorian Age, to alternate Earths in the modern day, to ancient Sumer, and it works great for all of them.
March 8, 2013
GURPS by Steve Jackson is by far the best role-play oriented table-top gaming system out there; I have been playing for twenty years, and have tried all the major ones (and quite a few minor ones) and none is as all-encompassing, inclusive, and oriented towards role-play than GURPS. The amount of role-play never has to do with the willingness of the GM or the other players to play that way, it is simply the way it is made, with focus on character personalities rather than abilities.
April 25, 2017
A definite must have for gaming groups!
I have ran tabletop roleplaying games for decades (since approximately 1984). Everything from Dungeons and Dragons Basic set (in the box), Battletech, Shadowrun, White Wolf, and a dozen other systems (that maybe I will do reviews on someday).
I have recently reread the book this year for a new campaign I am running and I am reminded why I use it. Because you can recreate any world you want with these rules. The fact that you can modify the setting, genre, realism level of the game, makes it the best choice.
Pros: A variety of settings are provided in supplements and sourcebooks with constant updating of different worlds and even additional advanced rules, equipment and ideas. You want gritty realism, or cinematic campaign you have it. Do you want a combination of Cthulhu and Shadowrun? What about Fantasy and Werewolf? You can do it all.
Cons: In all fairness this is not an easy system to learn. It is prohibitively complicated for new players or GMs, and even those with lots of experience will still struggle a bit. The rules can bog down the game so you will have to learn to cut the things you don't want to deal with. This is why I can't give it a 5 star and only a 4 star.
Overall it is my favorite systems and with patience you can convert any other game system into GURPS (my most recent one was converting Mechwarrior/Battletech into GURPS and it was better than the original system because of more RP character options).
I have ran tabletop roleplaying games for decades (since approximately 1984). Everything from Dungeons and Dragons Basic set (in the box), Battletech, Shadowrun, White Wolf, and a dozen other systems (that maybe I will do reviews on someday).
I have recently reread the book this year for a new campaign I am running and I am reminded why I use it. Because you can recreate any world you want with these rules. The fact that you can modify the setting, genre, realism level of the game, makes it the best choice.
Pros: A variety of settings are provided in supplements and sourcebooks with constant updating of different worlds and even additional advanced rules, equipment and ideas. You want gritty realism, or cinematic campaign you have it. Do you want a combination of Cthulhu and Shadowrun? What about Fantasy and Werewolf? You can do it all.
Cons: In all fairness this is not an easy system to learn. It is prohibitively complicated for new players or GMs, and even those with lots of experience will still struggle a bit. The rules can bog down the game so you will have to learn to cut the things you don't want to deal with. This is why I can't give it a 5 star and only a 4 star.
Overall it is my favorite systems and with patience you can convert any other game system into GURPS (my most recent one was converting Mechwarrior/Battletech into GURPS and it was better than the original system because of more RP character options).
April 1, 2013
I have had so much fun with this book just creating–and thinking about creating–characters, never mind actually "playing the game." When I first got a hold of this, I didn't have GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns. Now I have both. Excellent cross-referencing throughout and almost every rule or game concept that needs an example has one. I am glad the Basic Set books were split in two, rather than published as one volume.
July 17, 2014
Note: I just looked over things with the book so I could get an idea of the system. It seems fun, but this is not the kind of book you read cover-to-cover; it's more a reference during the game or before hand, yet the core understanding was picked up.
Seems like a perfectly fine Universal Role-playing system. I want to try it out before I commit to anything, but it seems perfectly good.
Seems like a perfectly fine Universal Role-playing system. I want to try it out before I commit to anything, but it seems perfectly good.
March 5, 2019
Can't wait to start a fun gaming session with my family!! Thank you, Steve, for giving me a way to communicate with my special needs sons!
August 26, 2012
GURPS is my favorite role playing manual. I've read (or, tried to read) a few and only the GURPS system combines a vast array of options to encourage some seriously intimate and complex character creation with easy rules and readability. It's fun to make characters using this system, when other times it can feel like a chore, and that prompts the user to have a real connection to their characters.
August 16, 2011
Update to one of my favorite RPGs. SJ Games tried to fix some of the flaws with 3rd edition here by they introduced a major one IMO, they split the Basic book in to 2 volumes. This now increases the initial investment t o get new players into the system and playing. If you can look beyond that, it is a good update.
November 11, 2012
A very good set of rules, even if a bit dry to read. that expands the 3rd edition. Whereas the latter was an almost universal system (complemented by worldbooks and sourcebooks), the 4th edition is a complete universal system. You really don't need anything else to run whatever you want. Mostly focused on low-power, gritty settings.
February 12, 2016
If not for the pompous bragging in the front matter, the craptacular layout would only be painful to read. The game system is highly flexible, but if you don't find math problems fun and exciting, this is not the system for you. Also, don't try following all the cross referencing on the first read through. It's painful and highly frustrating.
March 24, 2012
A large departure from previous editions, but more internally consistent on the point-costs of powers and other advantages. It distilled the wisdom of experience of years of play and design of 1st through 3rd edition.
September 2, 2010
Great, modern RPG system.
September 30, 2013
This is the perfect thing for making your own character for literally any setting, I don't know why this roleplay system isn't more common.
January 13, 2014
Best pen and paper RPG system on the market, but still only "almost perfect".
July 7, 2015
Fantastic system... if you have the most patient group of players ever, lol. I can't ever see myself running this with my current players, but I can't help but admire the grand scope of this game.
December 31, 2025
I’ll be honest; I’m a little disappointed. It seems—slightly amateurish. It looks extremely professional from the outside, but when you get into it, you start to notice little things—like the fact that it was clearly not professionally laid out or typeset. And the art is—mediocre. Compared to the professional set and polish of even Second Edition D&D (from 1989), this 15-years-newer book feels lackluster in presentation.
Still, you don’t buy a gamebook to look at it. What about the content?
Well—it’s confusing. GURPS by necessity is a complex game, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that this book seems largely written for people who had played previous editions. There are quite a few places where terms and abbreviations (such as “TLs,” “DR,” and “Quick Contest”) are used before they’re defined. Indeed, Quick Contests aren’t defined at all in this book, through they’re referenced many times—for that, you’ve got to read Book 2! There’s not even a Glossary, besides an extremely basic and incomplete one on p. 7 (which does not, for instance, include “TLs,” a term used many times!).
The majority of the book is lists of traits—advantages, disadvantages, skills, etc. Which, by itself, is fine—the book is called “Characters,” after all; the point is to provide everything needed for character creation, which for GURPS, designed to be able to handle any character from any setting, necessarily involves a lot of content. But the book is organized poorly for new players. It should not follow the D&D format of “create a character as you read the book.” That sounds great, but just doesn’t work here. Instead, explain all the concepts involved, then at the end, put all the lists of things. That leaves all the stuff new players need at the front of the book, and all the stuff experienced players need together at the back. That would make it easier to read, for new players, and easier to reference, for existing players.
A last note on traits—I could have used a bit more “color” in them. Many traits are somewhat confusing in that it’s hard to envision what kind of character might use them. That’s the curse of a generic system, perhaps—ability descriptions end up generic as well. But that’s not necessary. Several entries say things like ‘this ability is intended for X kind of character.’ I would have liked to see more of that. As it is, the trait descriptions—especially advantages and disadvantages—read like the intent is that you generate a character concept, then go looking for traits, rather than you read through the trait lists looking for inspiration for your character concept. That’s disappointing, and kind of sad.
Alright, enough about layout, presentation, and organization. What about the system itself? It’s a rulebook; how are the rules?
They seem—pretty great! Note that I haven’t played this yet, so this is not at all a thorough review of GURPS as a system, just a reader’s review of this book. But I kept thinking, while reading—this is what I’ve been wanting all along! I’ve often imagined what my ideal system might look like, and this is pretty darn close! It really does seem, at first glance, to live up to its promise of being a truly universal system, allowing you to play far more “realistic” games than other systems—most notably D&D, games where you don’t have to constantly suspend your disbelief about how the mechanics work, games where it’s possible to injure a limb, and where you don’t heal all damage overnight. It’s not exactly a “life simulator”—for instance, critical failures, although they happen less than half as often as in d20 systems, still seem too frequent for true realism—but it’s pretty close! And do you really want a truly realistic system, or should the lives of player characters be more interesting than that?
I haven’t read the second book yet, so I can’t give a full accounting, but so far, most actual mechanics seem pretty well thought through. And I do love the notion—core to GURPS—that any character can interact with any other without rule conflicts, meaning that questions like, “what if you put a modern infantry platoon against a Roman legion” (or a powerful wizard, for that matter), can be answered. You can just do that, and see what happens!
I’m excited to read the second book, and excited to play. And isn’t that the final measure of a gamebook?
Still, you don’t buy a gamebook to look at it. What about the content?
Well—it’s confusing. GURPS by necessity is a complex game, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that this book seems largely written for people who had played previous editions. There are quite a few places where terms and abbreviations (such as “TLs,” “DR,” and “Quick Contest”) are used before they’re defined. Indeed, Quick Contests aren’t defined at all in this book, through they’re referenced many times—for that, you’ve got to read Book 2! There’s not even a Glossary, besides an extremely basic and incomplete one on p. 7 (which does not, for instance, include “TLs,” a term used many times!).
The majority of the book is lists of traits—advantages, disadvantages, skills, etc. Which, by itself, is fine—the book is called “Characters,” after all; the point is to provide everything needed for character creation, which for GURPS, designed to be able to handle any character from any setting, necessarily involves a lot of content. But the book is organized poorly for new players. It should not follow the D&D format of “create a character as you read the book.” That sounds great, but just doesn’t work here. Instead, explain all the concepts involved, then at the end, put all the lists of things. That leaves all the stuff new players need at the front of the book, and all the stuff experienced players need together at the back. That would make it easier to read, for new players, and easier to reference, for existing players.
A last note on traits—I could have used a bit more “color” in them. Many traits are somewhat confusing in that it’s hard to envision what kind of character might use them. That’s the curse of a generic system, perhaps—ability descriptions end up generic as well. But that’s not necessary. Several entries say things like ‘this ability is intended for X kind of character.’ I would have liked to see more of that. As it is, the trait descriptions—especially advantages and disadvantages—read like the intent is that you generate a character concept, then go looking for traits, rather than you read through the trait lists looking for inspiration for your character concept. That’s disappointing, and kind of sad.
Alright, enough about layout, presentation, and organization. What about the system itself? It’s a rulebook; how are the rules?
They seem—pretty great! Note that I haven’t played this yet, so this is not at all a thorough review of GURPS as a system, just a reader’s review of this book. But I kept thinking, while reading—this is what I’ve been wanting all along! I’ve often imagined what my ideal system might look like, and this is pretty darn close! It really does seem, at first glance, to live up to its promise of being a truly universal system, allowing you to play far more “realistic” games than other systems—most notably D&D, games where you don’t have to constantly suspend your disbelief about how the mechanics work, games where it’s possible to injure a limb, and where you don’t heal all damage overnight. It’s not exactly a “life simulator”—for instance, critical failures, although they happen less than half as often as in d20 systems, still seem too frequent for true realism—but it’s pretty close! And do you really want a truly realistic system, or should the lives of player characters be more interesting than that?
I haven’t read the second book yet, so I can’t give a full accounting, but so far, most actual mechanics seem pretty well thought through. And I do love the notion—core to GURPS—that any character can interact with any other without rule conflicts, meaning that questions like, “what if you put a modern infantry platoon against a Roman legion” (or a powerful wizard, for that matter), can be answered. You can just do that, and see what happens!
I’m excited to read the second book, and excited to play. And isn’t that the final measure of a gamebook?
November 30, 2021
Good evening and welcome fellow Children of Chaos.
This game, well it's pretty bad. It has 3 major issues.
1) TOO MANY SKILLS. I get you want to be through and give us as many options as you can but in what world in what game are you playing that Finances, Stock Market, Accounting, and Mathematics need to be 4 separate skills bought with points. Yes they are different in the real world, but come on. This is just too much. There is a whole skill based on accuracy of dropping things on people from above (This is different than the bombarder skill bomber pilots would use).
2) The Generic Universal part of the game. There are about 15 pages dedicated to magic, with specific spells, and the way it would work. I mean in 90% of genres this would be useless. Also very specific for a "generic" game. Many Heroes games handles it better (Both M&M and Herosystem just have special effects). Like mechanically what is the difference between a scorching ray, Heat vision, heat ray, and a flamethrower. Nothing. They are all a ranged attack that deal fire damage. I mean you can mimic spellcasting by adding a restriction of limited uses, but maybe you are a wizard that wants to use magic all the time. Just balance magic with physical powers. What if I don't want my magic to use FP? Not very generic of you. This is basically 4 RPGs stapled together to create a bloated mess.
Also the table of weapons is just, it's bad. It's really really bad.
3) The flaws systems. A universal thing I don't like. So there are those asshole players that are the "Bard", Rouge", and "Barbarian". I wanna fuck everything, I wanna steal everything, I wanna break everything. Everyone hates those guys. They are assholes. Here there is not only a mechanic to ALLOW those creeps. That ENCOURAGE those creeps (I have lecherous on my character sheet). You are going to REWARD those creeps with bonus points. Giving points for flaws has never encouraged role playing. It encourages assholes and munchkins and forces another role on the DM to enforce those flaws, lest they just be free points.
This game, well it's pretty bad. It has 3 major issues.
1) TOO MANY SKILLS. I get you want to be through and give us as many options as you can but in what world in what game are you playing that Finances, Stock Market, Accounting, and Mathematics need to be 4 separate skills bought with points. Yes they are different in the real world, but come on. This is just too much. There is a whole skill based on accuracy of dropping things on people from above (This is different than the bombarder skill bomber pilots would use).
2) The Generic Universal part of the game. There are about 15 pages dedicated to magic, with specific spells, and the way it would work. I mean in 90% of genres this would be useless. Also very specific for a "generic" game. Many Heroes games handles it better (Both M&M and Herosystem just have special effects). Like mechanically what is the difference between a scorching ray, Heat vision, heat ray, and a flamethrower. Nothing. They are all a ranged attack that deal fire damage. I mean you can mimic spellcasting by adding a restriction of limited uses, but maybe you are a wizard that wants to use magic all the time. Just balance magic with physical powers. What if I don't want my magic to use FP? Not very generic of you. This is basically 4 RPGs stapled together to create a bloated mess.
Also the table of weapons is just, it's bad. It's really really bad.
3) The flaws systems. A universal thing I don't like. So there are those asshole players that are the "Bard", Rouge", and "Barbarian". I wanna fuck everything, I wanna steal everything, I wanna break everything. Everyone hates those guys. They are assholes. Here there is not only a mechanic to ALLOW those creeps. That ENCOURAGE those creeps (I have lecherous on my character sheet). You are going to REWARD those creeps with bonus points. Giving points for flaws has never encouraged role playing. It encourages assholes and munchkins and forces another role on the DM to enforce those flaws, lest they just be free points.
June 24, 2022
I was always hesitant to read GURPS. For some reason I thought that it would be super complex and/or very dense. Well, I finally read it and, at its foundation, its not complex at all (it is a bit dense, though. There is a lot going on in these rules and some of the rules aren't explained in a way that I could figure out right away). It's simply "roll 3d6 against a skill or attribute" and, after adding or subtracting modifiers, you just want to get below your skill or attribute. Super easy.
The thing that makes this complicated, though, are all of the fiddly bits and edge cases. Lets say you attack with a weapon. OK, easy enough. But is the weapon a piercing weapon? If so, is it Piercing+ or Piercing++ perhaps? And what about your opponents armor? The answers to these questions will drastically change the amount of damage that you do. And that is just one example. There seem to be edge cases (which require flipping through the book and breaking out your calculator) for almost everything that you might want to do. If this all sounds complicated and like it requires a high level of system mastery, it's because it is and it does. The flip side of this, however, is that you can make a game in almost any concievable setting. From cavemen throwing stones at each other to giant robots knocking each other around in the middle of a metropolis, there are rules, plugins, and edge cases that will let you do it.
At this point, if I had to choose a generic system I would go with Mythras. It also lets you do just about anything but with a much softer learning curve. What GURPS has over Mythras, however, is the sheer number of books that you can use with GURPS to help you design the game world of your dreams. Between all four edition of GURPS there are hundreds of sourcebooks that you can draw rules and inspiration from. If I wanted to do a Discworld game, for example, GURPS has that covered while in Mystras I would have to just make up all the rules myself.
The thing that makes this complicated, though, are all of the fiddly bits and edge cases. Lets say you attack with a weapon. OK, easy enough. But is the weapon a piercing weapon? If so, is it Piercing+ or Piercing++ perhaps? And what about your opponents armor? The answers to these questions will drastically change the amount of damage that you do. And that is just one example. There seem to be edge cases (which require flipping through the book and breaking out your calculator) for almost everything that you might want to do. If this all sounds complicated and like it requires a high level of system mastery, it's because it is and it does. The flip side of this, however, is that you can make a game in almost any concievable setting. From cavemen throwing stones at each other to giant robots knocking each other around in the middle of a metropolis, there are rules, plugins, and edge cases that will let you do it.
At this point, if I had to choose a generic system I would go with Mythras. It also lets you do just about anything but with a much softer learning curve. What GURPS has over Mythras, however, is the sheer number of books that you can use with GURPS to help you design the game world of your dreams. Between all four edition of GURPS there are hundreds of sourcebooks that you can draw rules and inspiration from. If I wanted to do a Discworld game, for example, GURPS has that covered while in Mystras I would have to just make up all the rules myself.
June 4, 2024
I've been studying this for the campaign that I'm setting up. I didn't go through it in a linear order, but at this point I've touched every page of it, so I'm sure I can score it as a book that I read this year.
I don't think GURPS is a very good system, but I think it's a very interesting system that tempts me to use it to create characters recreationally. I can organize my thoughts about what a character would be capable of by statting them in GURPS. This takes long enough that it's more of a distraction than a real aid to my writing, but it's a lot of fun, and it helped me in my current project by letting me mathematically define what a certain heroic underdog character would actually be capable of pulling off. I ran a small simulation to determine one of the events in a story that I'm writing.
I recommend GURPS books as inspiration and simulation fodder for writing... if you're the kind of author who likes the thought of simulating encounters to determine what happens in a story. It fits with my own tendency to use random events while writing.
I don't think GURPS is a very good system, but I think it's a very interesting system that tempts me to use it to create characters recreationally. I can organize my thoughts about what a character would be capable of by statting them in GURPS. This takes long enough that it's more of a distraction than a real aid to my writing, but it's a lot of fun, and it helped me in my current project by letting me mathematically define what a certain heroic underdog character would actually be capable of pulling off. I ran a small simulation to determine one of the events in a story that I'm writing.
I recommend GURPS books as inspiration and simulation fodder for writing... if you're the kind of author who likes the thought of simulating encounters to determine what happens in a story. It fits with my own tendency to use random events while writing.
May 18, 2019
I sometimes like to toy around with the character creation system of GURPS, as its utterly insane number of options and variables makes this a fun exercise. I've only ever actually played a little bit, however, and on the whole I think the system's complex enough that I'd need to play it for many years before I'd start to see the worth of it. I don't think I'd have the patience for such.
March 17, 2018
The best TTRPG, deserves a larger following.
April 17, 2024
A really complex but simple book. This game can truly be as lite or complex as you want it to be. The book's layout is amazingly organized and very clear.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews