SPRING 2004 TRADE NEWS FROM STEVE JACKSON GAMES ® GURPS Third Edition was published 15 years ago. It was a simpler time . Iraq was a prob- lem, the Rolling Stones were on tour, and Bush was president. Things seem so different now . This August, we’re releasing GURPS Fourth Edition, starting with the two-volume Basic Set. Fans have been asking about a new edition for years, and we’ve always said it wouldn’t happen until we could justify the change in terms of both rules and presenta- tion. Well, we’re there. NEW RULES NEW PRESENTATION Sean Punch and David Pulver took two The physical quality of the line will take years to break GURPS down and rebuild a big jump with the Fourth Edition. All it, guided by a decade and a half of gamer books now on the schedule . and we’re feedback. We don’t want to get into specif- scheduling almost three years ahead . ic rule changes (yet) . but the new rules will be hardcover, with full-color interi- are designed to build up the key features ors. And we won’t accept any art that’s of GURPS: compatibility with all genres not gorgeous. The two Basic Set books, and flexibility for the GM. Fans will still for instance, will have covers by John recognize it, but a lot of little things – and Zeleznik, who has done a lot of our a few big ones! – are different. best covers over the years. The inte- And, for the first time, we’re offering a rior art is being created by our “core setting” for GURPS – one that sup- new staff artist, Bob Stevlic . ports the cross-genre gaming that GURPS you can see samples of his work fans tell us they love. The world-hopping on these pages. multiverse first presented in GURPS Time The new-style GURPS books Travel has been expanded and updated by will also be bigger . most of Kenneth Hite in GURPS Infinite Worlds. them over 200 pages . because There is no “official metaplot,” and no one fans continue to ask for more has to use this setting, but it’s there if they depth, and tell us “Get it all into want it! Most of our supplements will have one book.” So after the Basic optional sections for use in an IW cam- Set and GM Screen are out, we’ll paign, and all our character examples release one BIG book per month, from the Basic Set ... including our old every month, like clockwork. friend Dai Blackthorn . are members of an elite world-hopping special ops squad. NEW TECHNOLOGIES We’ll have active software support of this edition, starting with wholly new ver- sions of GURPS Character Builder and GURPS Vehicle Builder. Short adventures and other support material will be available for download . some free, others for sale on our e23 site located at www.sjgames.com/e23/. One of the very first PDFs to appear – free, of course – will be the completely updated GURPS Lite. Best of all, in cooperation with Worlds Apart Productions, we’re moving forward with an online game that will intro- duce GURPS to everyone who plays on the net. 2 HAT BOUT LL HESE WEET AN T • January: GURPS W A A T S ! I C ’ Vorkosigan, by BOOKS ON MY SHELVES? WAIT TO SEE Genevieve Cogman, based Our faithful fans have hundreds of dol- WHAT’S COMING! on the award-winning books lars invested in their GURPS libraries. by Lois McMaster Bujold. Neither can we! We’ve planned our They may want to see a new edition, but We pulled this from release schedule through late 2006 . so they don’t want their old books to become the early 2004 schedule to far . and we’ve got lots of good ideas for worthless. And they won’t. give it the treatment it new books and returning favorites, so GURPS Fourth Edition is different, but deserves – when it finally there won’t be a shortage of new GURPS the changes are manageable – and we’ll appears, it will be bigger, material any time soon! Our top authors release a conversion guide this summer to better, and updated for are already working . Kenneth Hite, Phil help gamers get their heroes ready for the Fourth Edition rules. Masters, David Pulver, William Stoddard, new rules. The existing GURPS books fall • February: GURPS Sean Punch, Gene Seabolt, and your into three categories, and we’ll be upfront Traveller: Interstellar Wars, other GURPS favorites will dominate with our users about which is which. by Jon Zeigler, Loren the new schedule. Here are the first Most of our books are heavy on setting Wiseman, and Paul Drye. few releases: and factual information (in fact, lots of Explore the history of the people buy them and use them with other • August: GURPS Basic Set (two vol- Traveller universe! With rules to game systems entirely). Those books will umes) and GURPS Basic Set, Deluxe bring Traveller into Fourth Edition. Edition (also two volumes, but in deluxe keep their utility . in fact, we’re about to We’ve got plenty of other books coming, covers with a slipcase). reprint a couple of historical books from too. Explore all kinds of superhuman abil- • September: GURPS GM’s Screen, Third Edition, GURPS Greece and ities in GURPS Powers, by Sean Punch with all the necessary tables to run a GURPS Egypt, and we sure wouldn’t do and Stephen Kenson. Learn what you Fourth Edition game, plus the new that if we thought they would be obsolete. weren’t meant to know in Kenneth Hite’s GURPS Lite. Some books have a lot of rules material, GURPS Conspiracies. Venture between •October: GURPS Fantasy, by William but it’s fairly self-contained . such as the the stars with the completely updated edi- Stoddard. Creating and running fantasy interstellar commerce rules from GURPS tion of GURPS Space, by James Cambias campaigns. (Note: Unlike the previous edi- Traveller: Far Trader. Which is another and GURPS Traveller Line Editor Jon tions of GURPS Fantasy, this book will one we’re reprinting. No problem there; Zeigler. David Pulver, Kenneth Peters, and not cover the world of Yrth. Our new look these rules port over cleanly. Andy Vetromile show you how to build at Yrth, called GURPS Banestorm, will be And, of course, there are a few books anything from a rickshaw to a galactic out in the summer of 2005.) that are very, very “crunchy” . that is, cruise liner with the new GURPS Vehicles •November: GURPS Magic, by Michael they are more or less solid rules, rather – or you can just use the examples we’ve Suileabhain-Wilson. This book compiles than background. The Third Edition Basic included! Kick butt and take names, as and updates GURPS Magic and GURPS Set and the two Compendiums fall into Sean Punch and Peter Dell’Orto bring you Grimoire, and adds spells from other that category, as does GURPS Vehicles. GURPS Martial Arts. Plus all-new looks at sources and some brand-new material. These are the books that will be literally fan favorites GURPS Bestiary, GURPS • December: GURPS Infinite Worlds, replaced in the Fourth Edition. Ultra-Tech and GURPS High-Tech – and by Kenneth Hite. The core setting for (It’s also worth mentioning that the some surprises on the horizon, too! GURPS Fourth Edition. Includes lots of upcoming GURPS Dragons, though writ- And that’s just in 2005! We aren’t ready rules on parallel worlds, time travel, and ten to current rules, has a Fourth Edition even to talk about what we’ve got planned running a “crosstime” campaign. Also has appendix. And we’re planning a GURPS in 2006 . but we will be, soon enough! a whole chapter of alternate Earths to visit! WWII volume which will include plenty of We’ll let you know well in advance what’s Fourth Edition information for that line.) coming out for the new GURPS. Steve Jackson Games has created an all-new Store Finder . choked by hundreds of outdated entries and dead stores, because an online retailer locator open to all stores that stock our products. we’ll send a confirmation message every six months . if you Previously, we were using a mailing list provided by GAMA, but have new info, you’ll get a chance to update your store’s listing, users (and stores) complained that it was never updated, so we and if any confirmation “ping” gets no reply, that entry will be decided to start from scratch. deleted. Register your store at www.sjgames.com/storefinder/ and (Gamers: There’s a section there for you, too! Register with the you’ll be findable by anyone who visits our website . and get Gamer Finder at www.sjgames.com/gamerfinder/ and you can tens of thousands of hits every day. And your listing won’t get locate other gamers in your area . and they can find you!) 3.