Off To A Strong Start
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Off To A Strong Start
So far, it seems that all that's cool about 2025 is that it's a perfect square: 452. No comment on other permutations of "45" and "2," though 47 holds a strange fascination for some reason . . . Anyway, we're here now, and GURPS hasn't gone anywhere.
Recent Releases
The first new GURPS release of the new year is . . .
How to Be a GURPS GM: Improvising (January 30, 2025; PDF)
Every GM has been there: You have a game session, a whole adventure, or even much of a campaign planned . . . and then the players blow it up, usually figuratively but sometimes literally. When that happens, you have to be quick on your feet. If it happens often enough, you might decide to give up on planning and be as unpredictable as your players – and you may enjoy it enough to make it your GMing style. Improvising takes practice, though, which brings us to the latest volume in the How to Be a GURPS GM series, which summarizes my 45 (hmm) years of trial and error so that, hopefully, you don't need that long to master the skill. Whether you're making up NPCs, locations, items, or action scenes on the fly, as a one-off or as a way of life, you're sure to find tricks here that you hadn't thought of before (that's the whole point!).
Upcoming Plans
The title of this installment isn't just for snark. In addition to getting How to Be a GURPS GM: Improvising out the door, we made good progress on upcoming projects. Here's what I can share for the moment, subject to the usual caveats that it's all informed guesswork, not everything has a date, and anything that does might move if the world does something crazy (what are the odds?).
- My How to Be a GURPS GM: Counting Heads is still slated for February, and Phil Masters's GURPS Magical Styles: Traditional Styles remains on target for April.
- A Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game adventure, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 24: [REDACTED], and GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 6: [TOP SECRET] – all by your faithful line editor – are ready to go but not yet scheduled.
- Bill Stoddard's GURPS Infinite Worlds: Gotterdammerung and my own GURPS Power-Ups 11: Roll Your Own Skills are both in production.
- The final draft of Matt Riggsby's GURPS Hot Spots: Istanbul is with Nikki for editing.
- GURPS Guns has left playtesting and is with David Pulver to prepare the final draft.
- GURPS Martial Arts: The Bolognese School, by Nathan M.M. Meluvor, entered playtesting on January 20.
- The playtesting queue now consists of: 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. The next call for playtesters is likely to be sometime in the first two weeks of February.
- I started writing a GURPS Action supplement, though it's "as time permits" and barely started.
Wondering what various statuses mean in concrete terms? I recently clarified them here. Another thing I explained one time was Sekrit Projekts, of which we currently have 7. For changes in status and surprise reveals before the end of February, check out the GURPS thread in my DreamWidth, which I update on Fridays.
Join Us! Join Us!
SJ Games held a big summit over the workweek of January 20-24. It looks like 2025 is booked solid for GURPS, and 2026 is down to its last couple of free slots. Still, if you have a rules-light, 12- or 21-pager to pitch, your odds aren't 0. They would improve measurably, though, if your queries and proposals were for items on the Warehouse 23 Digital Wish List (updated November 18, 2024) and Warehouse 23 Wish List for GURPS (updated November 18, 2024), and respected our Freelancer FAQ, Submission Guidelines, GURPS formatting guide, and GURPS WYSIWYG template. Exceptions are highly unlikely at this stage, unless your name has been on a double-digit number of products over a double-digit number of years. Thanks in advance!