Let the adventure begin with this straightforward guide to GURPS! This is it—the key that unlocks the riches of GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) and gives you a wealth of information on how to create your character and fine-tune your play. Produced in partnership with Steve Jackson Games, the game's creator, GURPS For Dummies is the ideal companion to GURPS Basic Set, 4th Edition that explains the rules. It gives you insight into the choices you’ll make in everything from creating a fun, dynamic character using the allotted number of points, to playing in an adventure, to becoming a GM. Whether you want to be an Amazon princess or a stalwart warrior, an old-fashioned swashbuckler or a modern investigator, a tough cop or a cat burglar, a sorcerer casting spells or a cosmic ranger, fighting lawlessness in the asteroids, this guide will help you: Determine your character’s basic attributes: IQ, DX (dexterity), ST (strength) and HT (health) Figure out your character’s secondary characteristics Choose advantages (including powers and perks) and disadvantages (including quirks and disadvantages with a self-control roll modifier) Optimize your points by using talents Select your skills based on functional area or the campaign setting Enhance your character with spells, magic items, magic staves, and powerstones Strategically purchase equipment for different characters, tech levels, and campaign types Create and manage a character sheet, write a character background, keep a character log, and more—all with samples Choose good combat techniques and play with your character If you want to become a GM, this guide gets you going with advice on creating the adventure, managing the character creation process, managing combat, and interpreting the rules. There’s even a handy Cheat Sheet tear-out GM screen in the front of the book. There are tips throughout, plus advice on how to: Create your very own GURPS universe for your campaign, whether it’s dungeon-crawl, high-adventure, combat-focused, puzzle-focused, or masquerade-type Provide a basic write-up of the world for your players, including technology level, supernatural and supernormal abilities and powers, races, setting, character templates, cultural and social information, and limitations Create an electronic combat grid, a battle log, a tactical map, and more—with samples Do mapping, planning, and plotting Create memorable NPC (nonplayer characters), both good guys and bad guys GURPS For Dummies helps you create more detailed, exciting, and interesting characters and take your game to the next level. That’s important whether you’re saving a princess or saving the planet…searching for hidden treasure or for secrets to eliminate disease… fighting crime or combating armies of evil robots…casting spells in medieval castles or destroying terrorist cells in modern day milieus. With GURPS, the only limitation is your imagination.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 Part I: Getting Started with GURPS 7 Chapter 1: Introducing GURPS — The Generic Universal RolePlaying System 9 Chapter 2: Determining Your Role 15 Chapter 3: Laying the Attribute Foundation 27 Chapter 4: Taking Advantages 35 Chapter 5: Finding Your Hero’s Flaws 51 Chapter 6: Finalizing Your Character with Skills 77 Part II: Enhancing Your Character 97 Chapter 7: So You Want to Be a Wizard — Magic 99 Chapter 8: Powering Your Character 113 Chapter 9: Tackling Tech Level 133 Chapter 10: Playing Races Outside the Norm 145 Part III: Playing with Your Character 163 Chapter 11: Doing Unto Others: Combat 165 Chapter 12: Tracking the Details 189 Chapter 13: Playing the Role 199 Part IV: Running Your Own Adventure 207 Chapter 14: Playing the GM 209 Chapter 15: Building a Simple Adventure 233 Chapter 16: Motivating Players 245 Part V: Building Your Own World 251 Chapter 17: Creating a Complete Campaign 253 Chapter 18: Setting the Stage for Your World 275 Chapter 19: Mapping, Planning, and Plotting 295 Chapter 20: Creating Memorable NPCs 321 Chapter 21: Flavoring Your Campaign 347 Part VI: The Part of Tens 371 Chapter 22: Ten Rules for Spending Points 373 Chapter 23: Ten Advantages We Like 377 Chapter 24: Ten Disadvantages That Aren’t Too Painful 381 Glossary 385 Index 391