That Didn't Go As Planned
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That Didn't Go As Planned
On January 2, 2024, I rounded up December 2023 a couple of days late, bid 2023 good riddance, and wished everyone a happy 2024. Now here I am on January 2, 2025, rounding up December 2024 a couple of days late. Given how 2024 went – I think we can agree that it didn't bring the turn for the better that we've all been hoping for since 2019 ended in pandemic – I'm almost reluctant to wish everyone a happy 2025. I'm not superstitious, though, so here goes: "Happy New Year!"
Recent Releases
December saw two GURPS-related items fall off a flying sled, one newly available, the other actually new:
How to Be a GURPS GM: Combat Encounters (December 12, 2024; PDF)
GURPS strives to cover all genres and settings, the majority of which include at least some fighting. But its bold promise of "Anything You Want. Any World You Can Imagine." means that battles can involve a wide range of wildly different warriors. Even when they don't, the combat system endeavors to suit every play style, encompassing countless tactics and situations, and approaches ranging from "theatre of the mind" to tracking every second, yard, and round of ammo. Such depth and breadth can overwhelm new GMs and slow down experienced ones. This supplement – originally a brief bonus offer – provides advice on setting up violent encounters, knowing when and how to use which rules, and giving clashes context in adventures and campaigns.
GURPS Loadouts: Starship Crew (December 19, 2024; PDF)
Speaking of endless possibilities, GURPS also aims to work across every conceivable set of technological assumptions. This grows trickier as technology progresses, because old gear hangs around and improves in several possible ways, while new stuff appears all the time. There comes a point where there's so much equipment to choose from – much of it cheap, light, and thus too tempting to pass up – that shopping can fill entire game sessions and confuse even veteran players. This outfitting guide tackles the problem for space-going heroes, supplying them with basic kits for TL9-12, add-on lenses for their roles as defined by GURPS Template Toolkit 3: Starship Crew, and options for fine-tuning to suit whims, budgets, and campaigns.
Everything Old Is New Again Department
As we labor to make past GURPS accessible in the present, finding and converting the remaining titles is sometimes an adventure. A good example is GURPS Time Travel Adventures, the latest "GURPS Classic" rerelease. You can buy that here.
Upcoming Plans
December was a month of significant behind-the-scenes progress. Here are all the tidbits I can share at the moment. Much of them are closer to insider guesswork than anything else, but I can see no obstacles impeding anything on the list below, whose order is at least vaguely related to the most probable publication order.
- Two How to Be a GURPS GM volumes by me, followed by Phil Masters's GURPS Magical Styles: Traditional Styles, are done and tentatively slated for January, February, and April 2025.
- A few more of my little hack 'n' slash projects – a Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game adventure, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 24, and GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 6 – are wraps, too, but don't yet have firm dates.
- One final bit of writing from me, GURPS Power-Ups 11, is in production.
- Final drafts of GURPS Hot Spots: Istanbul (by Matt Riggsby) and GURPS Infinite Worlds: Gotterdammerung (by William H. Stoddard) arrived toward the end of the year and await editing.
- The playtest of GURPS Guns, by David Pulver, is in its final stages.
- The playtest queue is full: GURPS Martial Arts: The Bolognese School, by Nathan M.M. Meluvor, in January or February; GURPS Banestorm: Whispers of Tohrent, by Thomas Pugh, in February or March; GURPS Locations: Faculty Library, by John Shimmin, in March or April; GURPS Fantasy Folk: Fishmen, by Anders Starmark, in April or May; and GURPS Infinite Worlds: Psionics, by Matt Wehmeier, in May or June. Stay tuned for calls for playtesters throughout the first half of 2025!
But wait, there's more! There are 10 Sekrit Projekts which are so new or so tangled up that I'd prefer not to name them right now. Moreover, several proposals await contracts. I occasionally relent and leak hints about such things on Fridays in the GURPS thread in my blog,.
Bundles Of Holding
You have until January 6, 2025 to snag the Bundle of Holding for Transhuman Space for Third Edition – and, if you need it, the one for the GURPS 3E Core to go with it. These are amazing deals, so act while there's still time!
Join Us! Join Us!
We are rapidly running out of schedule slots for rules-light, 12- or 21-pagers in 2025 and 2026. If you want to gamble on getting in under the wire, please ensure that your queries and proposals meet needs identified in the Warehouse 23 Digital Wish List (updated November 18, 2024) and Warehouse 23 Wish List for GURPS (updated November 18, 2024), and are 100% in line with our Freelancer FAQ, Submission Guidelines, GURPS formatting guide, and GURPS WYSIWYG template. We can afford to be picky at this stage, so we're unlikely to make exceptions for anybody who hasn't written for us for years and years. Thanks in advance for understanding!