GURPSGEN GURPS GENRE GUIDE Most genres have several sub-genres. Assume that all recommendations from the main genre also apply to its sub-genres. These recommendations assume you are using the 4th Edition Rules and only suggest 3rd Edition books for background material, genre advice, and inspiration. ACTION Fast-paced excitement, with plenty of chases and probably some explosions. Inspirational fiction: Dirty Harry, James Bond, and Jason Bourne films. Required books: Basic Set. Recommended books: Action 1-2, High-Tech. Suggested books: Action 3-6, Martial Arts, Power-Ups 5. Suggested Pyramid articles: Alternate Guns Specialties and Techniques (3/65), Chase Cards (3/23), Hot Rides! (3/40), Monster Hunter Firepower at the Movies (3/31), Survivable Guns (3/44), The Football (3/112). Recommended optional rules: Chases (Action 2), Falls (Action 2), Simplified Range (Action 2). Beefcake Blockbuster 1980s action movie style, featuring heavily muscled cops and ex-military men. Inspirational fiction: Commando, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Rambo. Recommended books: Gun-Fu. Suggested books: Action 7, Power-Ups 7. Recommended optional rules: Cannon Fodder (Basic Set), Cinematic Explosions (Basic Set), Cinematic Knockback (Basic Set), Cross-Trained (Gun-Fu), Dumb Mooks (Action 2), Flesh Wounds (Basic Set), Flimsy Cover (Gun-Fu), Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy (Martial Arts), Infinite Ammunition (Basic Set). Choppy-Socky Focused on unarmed combat, either tournaments or street-fighting criminals. Inspirational fiction: Enter the Dragon, Kung-Fu Hustle, The Karate Kid. Recommended books: Action 3, Martial Arts. Suggested books: Martial Arts: Technical Grappling. Suggested Pyramid articles: A New Take on Grappling (3/34). Recommended optional rules: Cannon Fodder (Basic Set), Melee Etiquette (Basic Set), TV Action Violence (Basic Set), Unarmed Etiquette (Martial Arts). Cl ffha!gers Two-fisted action in the early 20th century. Inspirational fiction: Doc Savage, Indiana Jones. Recommended books: Cliffhangers (3rd Edition), High-Tech: Pulp Guns 1-2. Recommended optional rules: Cannon Fodder (Basic Set), Flesh Wounds (Basic Set), Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy (Martial Arts), TV Action Violence (Basic Set). D saster# A natural or man-made hazard provides the main threat. Suggested books: Disasters: Hurricane, Disasters: Meltdown and Fallout, Underground Adventures. Recommended Pyramid articles: GURPS Fathom Five (3/26). $ero c Bloo%she% Modern gangsters and hit-men settle things with stylized gunplay. Inspirational fiction: Hard Boiled, John Wick, Leon: the Professional, Shoot ʼEm Up. Recommended books: Gun-Fu. Recommended optional rules: Bullet Time (Martial Arts), Cannon Fodder (Basic Set), Cinematic Knockback (Basic Set), Cross-Trained (Gun-Fu), Dumb Mooks (Action 2), Flimsy Cover (Gun- Fu), Infinite Ammunition (Basic Set), Pants-Positive Safety (Gun-Fu), The Contest of Wills (Martial Arts). Tact cal Operat o!s Elite soldiers, law enforcement, and intelligence agents battle gangsters, guerrillas, and terrorists. Recommended books: Tactical Shooting. Suggested books: Cops (3rd Edition), Covert Ops (3rd Edition), SEALs in Vietnam, Special Ops (3rd Edition), SWAT (3rd Edition). DETECTI&E DRA'A Investigation of crimes, by professional or amateur sleuths, often in historical settings. Inspirational fiction: Phillip Marlowe, Poirot, Miss. Marple, and Sherlock Holmes stories. Required books: Basic Set or Lite. Recommended books: High-Tech, Mysteries. Suggested books: Cliffhangers (3rd Edition), Cops (3rd Edition), Social Engineering, Social Engineering: Keeping in Contact. Suggested Pyramid articles: Human, Flawed (3/42). (ANTAS) Magical adventures in other worlds. Inspirational fiction: Lord of the Rings, Lyonesse. Required books: Basic Set. Recommended books: Fantasy, Low-Tech, Magic, Thaumatology. Suggested books: Dragons, Low-Tech Companion 2, Powers, Religion (3rd Edition), Spirits (3rd Edition), Vehicles: Transports of Fantasy. Suggested Pyramid articles: A Killing Breath (3/33), It’s Pure Chemistry! (3/28), Languages, Culture, and the Common Tongue (3/16), Ten Tweaks to Customize Combat (3/34). Dark Fa!tasy Gloomy stories which combine fantasy and horror elements. Inspirational fiction: The Black Company, Zothique. Recommended books: Horror. Suggested books: Banestorm: Abydos, Locations: Hellsgate, Magic: Death Spells, Myth (3rd Edition), Undead (3rd Edition), Zombies, Zombies: Day One. Suggested Pyramid articles: Cruel and Unusual (3/9), Necromantic Tools (3/1), The Sin Eaters (3/19). Recommended optional rules: Power Corrupts (Horror). DUNGEON (ANTAS) Required books: Basic Set, Dungeon Fantasy 1-2, Magic. Recommended books: Dungeon Fantasy 3, 5, 7, 8, & 15-18, Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1-4, Low-Tech. Suggested books: Dungeon Fantasy 4, 6, 9-14, & 19-21, Dungeon Fantasy Adventures 1-3, Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Barbarians, Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Swashbucklers, Dungeon Fantasy Encounters 1-3, Dungeon Fantasy Treasures 1-4, Magical Styles: Dungeon Magic, Thaumatology, Thaumatology: Magical Styles. Suggested Pyramid articles: Auras of Power (3/19), Dungeon Saints (3/35), The Demolisher (3/35), The Musketeer (3/36). DUNGEON (ANTAS) RO*EP*AYING GA'E Required books: Adventurers, Exploits, Monsters, Spells. Recommended books: Magic Items, Monsters 2, Traps. Suggested books: Companion 2, Magic Items 2, Dungeon: Against the Rat-Men. Ep c Fa!tasy The heroes of epic fantasy are truly powerful, both personally and politically. Suggested books: Low-Tech Companion 1, Magic: Artillery Spells, Mass Combat, Powers: Divine Favor. Recommended Pyramid articles: All the Epic Ways (3/25). (a rytale Inspired by traditional stories featuring capricious magical entities. Inspirational fiction: Tales of 1,001 Nights, The Brothers Grimm. Recommended books: Thaumatology: Alchemical Baroque. Suggested books: Arabian Nights (3rd Edition), Fayrie (3rd Edition), Horror. Recommended Pyramid articles: The Magic of Stories. (urry Fa!tasy Instead of dwarves, elves, and goblins, furry fantasy has sentient animals. Inspirational fiction: The Chronicles of Narnia, Redwall. Recommended books: Furries. Suggested books: Powers: Enhanced Senses. Recommended Pyramid articles: When We Were Very Small (3/34). Gr tty Fa!tasy Bleak stories where filth and squalor are common. Inspirational fiction: First Law, Game of Thrones. Suggested books: Low-Tech Companion 1 & 3. Suggested Pyramid articles: Driving Us Mad (3/32), Medieval Prisons (3/33). $ stor cal Fa!tasy Rather than being set in another world, historical fantasy introduces fantastic elements to history. Inspirational fiction: Averoigne, Solomon Kane. Suggested books: Crusades, Hot Spots: Constantinople, Hot Spots: Renaissance Florence, Hot Spots: Renaissance Venice, Locations: St. George’s Cathedral, Middle Ages I (3rd Edition), Vikings (3rd Edition). Suggested Pyramid articles: City of the Caesars (3/16), Holy Dirty Money (3/10), Medieval Prisons (3/33), Roman Technology (3/33), Sanctuary and Right of Clergy (3/19), Templars: the Fighting Priests (3/19), The Fountain of Youth (3/16), The Tricks of the Shaman (3/19), The Vikings in the Atlantic (3/16). Ma" c School Students studying to become witches and wizards. Inspirational fiction: Harry Potter, the Black Magician trilogy, The Magicians, The Worst Witch. Recommended books: Social Engineering: Back to School. Suggested books: Locations: Worminghall. Myth c Fa!tasy Inspired by traditional mythology, with larger-than-life heroes. Suggested books: Celtic Myth (3rd Edition). S+or% a!% Sorcery Competent but grounded heroes battle cults, dinosaurs, sorcerers and ape-men in exotic lands. Inspirational fiction: Conan, Elric, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Suggested books: Conan (3rd Edition), Lands Out of Time. Recommended optional rules: Bulletproof Nudity (Basic Set). ,e r% Fa!tasy Even more surreal, exotic, and populated with freakish creatures than other fantasy. Suggested books: Creatures of the Night 1-5, Powers: the Weird. $ORROR Gruesome monsters and terrifying revelations. Inspirational fiction: Dracula, It, Frankenstein, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist. Required books: Basic Set or Lite. Recommended books: Horror. Suggested books: Zombies. Suggested Pyramid articles: Mummy Amulets (3/17), Penanggalan (3/32). Cosmic Horror Investigators struggle to maintain their sanity in an uncaring universe of alien monstrosities. Inspirational fiction: H. P. Lovecraft. Suggested books: Cthulhupunk (3rd Edition), Horror: The Madness Dossier, Powers: the Weird. Suggested Pyramid articles: The Black Chamber (3/5). Ghost Stor es Dealing with spirits of the dead, often requiring a murder to be solved. Recommended books: Mysteries. Suggested books: Spirits (3rd Edition). 'o!ster Hu!ters High-powered heroes fight against deadly creatures in a hidden struggle. Recommended books: Monster Hunters 1-2. Suggested books: Black Ops (3rd Edition), Conspiracy X (3rd Edition), Creatures of the Night 1-5, How to be a GURPS GM: Ritual Path Magic, In Nomine (3rd Edition), Monster Hunters 3-6, Monster Hunters Power-Ups 1, Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic, Voodoo: the Shadow War (3rd Edition). Suggested Pyramid articles: Monster Hunter Firepower at the Movies (3/31), Pulp Hunters! (3/31), The Network (3/31). Super!atural Co!sp racy Magicians, mentalists, and monsters use their powers to manipulate human society. Suggested books: Atlantis (3rd Edition), Cabal (3rd Edition), Illuminati (3rd Edition), Mage: the Ascension (3rd Edition), Vampire: the Masquerade (3rd Edition), Werewolf: the