August Tidings
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August Tidings
The title is a chestnut, but it does name the month I'm reporting on. I was on vacation for half of it . . . I needed a break, as the birthday mentioned last month was distressingly close to my 60th, with all that implies for my energy level. Maybe I should write GURPS Get Off My Lawn, with templates for Those Darn Kids and rules for canes as improvised weapons. My absence and grayness had nothing to do with why there was no new GURPS release this month, however – that was because the Eye of Production had its fiery gaze turned toward Fighting Fantasy (so keep an, um, eye out for that!).
Recent Releases
July's offering came too late to make July's roundup, so I'll remind you of that!
GURPS Hot Spots: Istanbul, 1453-1703 A.D. (July 31, 2025; PDF)
This sequel of sorts to GURPS Hot Spots: Constantinople, 527-1204 A.D. looks at the city's conquest by Padishah Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire and events up to the Edirne Incident of 1703. Now known as Istanbul, the great metropolis was more important than ever in this era, a crossroad of crossroads by both land and sea. Matt Riggsby delves into history, geography, art, architecture, technology, religion, trade, politics, and much more. Whether you want to set your campaign here, have the heroes pass through, or sack it for ideas for alt-history or fantasy games, you're sure to find something valuable!
Upcoming Plans
Now let's jump to what's going to show up in rest of 2025 and beyond. As a reminder, everything below is subject to the vagaries of human resources, economics, creator health, and even politics . . . so, unless I've provided a date, this is at best "most likely publication order." If you find any of my jargon opaque, this post should help clarify matters.
- You can still expect Bill Stoddard's GURPS Infinite Worlds: Gotterdammerung in October and David Pulver's GURPS Guns in November. Those are at the "we just have to push the button" stage.
- Any one of Nathan M.M. Meluvor's GURPS Martial Arts: The Bolognese School, my GURPS Power-Ups 11: Roll Your Own Skills, and my nameless Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game adventure would be a decent possibility for 2025, but we haven't chosen yet.
- I have four manuscripts in "further out, probably 2026" land: GURPS Action 10, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 24, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 6, and GURPS Template Toolkit 5. I'm waiting for go to give you at least a small, quick clue about these, but for now I have to stick to meta-commentary.
- My main obligations to my Sekrit Projekts should be winding down next week, allowing me to edit Phil Masters's GURPS Magical Styles: Modern Magic, Thomas Pugh's GURPS Banestorm: Whispers of Tohrent, and John Shimmin's GURPS Locations: Institute of Metaphysics Library, all of which exist as final drafts.
- Speaking of final drafts, Anders Starmark is working on creating one for GURPS Fantasy Folk: Fishfolk, while Matt Wehmeier is revising GURPS Infinite Worlds: Psionics.
- GURPS Ring of Fire, compiled by Bill Stoddard, remains in playtesting.
- Alden Loveshade's GURPS Hot Spots: Victorian London ought to go into playtesting toward the end of September.
There are also five Sekrit Projekts that involve me but should ease up a bit in September, allowing me to edit, write, and generally make a nuisance of myself. Visit the GURPS thread in my DreamWidth on Fridays to see if I've relented on my secret-keeping (or just for the status of not-so-secret things).
Join Us! Join Us!
I recently checked the Warehouse 23 Digital Wish List (updated May 5, 2025) and Warehouse 23 Wish List for GURPS (updated May 5, 2025), and saw nothing that needed to change. Which means that titles on those lists remain interesting to SJ Games, and that our desire is still for short (12- or 21-page), rules-light supplements. Since we have so much queued up, please don't rush into sending queries . . . re-read the Freelancer FAQ, Submission Guidelines, GURPS formatting guide, and GURPS WYSIWYG template first. Thanks in advance!