Reddit mentions: The best gurps books

Just gonna throw my hat in the ring here with some suggestions:

IF YOU WANT AN ASSORTMENT OF BOOKS

GURPS 4th Edition Basic (~60 USD): A simply fantastic game which, for everything that it can do, along with the absolute wealth of materials, both official and fan made, combined with it's pretty stellar price point (You can pick up everything you need to play anything you want for about 60 USD), it's hard to argue with. As I mentioned in one of my other comments, GURPS modularity is probably its key selling point, but on top of that, it sports a system that, when you break it all down, is actually incredibly easy to learn, and very simple. I've taught the "base" game in just a few sentences.

Savage Worlds Deluxe (~10 USD): I'm listing the lower price here simply so I can cram more into this list under the 100$ budget, but Savage Worlds is exactly what it says on the box: A fast, fun, and furious system, on top of that, I don't think I've seen a cheaper game that does as much as Savage Worlds. It shares similarity to GURPS in its modularity, you can run a lot of different settings and and hack in your own rules with relative ease. SWDX also has some unique rules from time to time (Using playing cards for initiative, the way that bennies work, etc.) and for speed, you generally can't beat Savage Worlds. Chargenning is speedy, and combats are among some of the fastest I've seen, allowing you to really get into the roleplaying aspects of a game more than just the crunch.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten (~15 USD): I personally got my copy of this game for 19.99 at my local book store, but it seems like it's been out of print for awhile. You can still get a digital PDF of it for 15 dollars at RPGdrivethru, however. I've run All Flesh Must Be Eaten numerous times, and with its ruleset, you can run a variety of different zombie games. Its fairly simple, with chargenning taking a fairly short period of time, combats running by fairly smoothly, and not a lot of "bloat" in the rules. It does what it does well, but might need some tweaking if you want specific types of games (I had a game where the PCs were zombie killing gods near the start of the game, for example, didn't play too well for my gritty game.)

FATE Core System (~15 USD): I listed 15 USD as the price here, but you can pay what you want for it on DrivethruRPG I've not actually run this game myself, but I do own it and have read the rulebook cover to cover. This is a very freeform system from what I can gather that takes narrative roleplaying to a pretty different level. It focuses on essentially creating "conditions" on characters, items, environments, and so on, and using those conditions to spawn the action and contribute to dice rolls. It's truly a unique system, and is designed to run any setting you particularly want. For 5 bucks, you can't go wrong adding another generalist RPG to your repetoire.


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IF YOU WANT JUST ONE SYSTEM AND SETTING IN PARTICULAR:

Shadowrun, 4th Edition, 20th Anniversary Edition (~50 USD): There is not a single game on this Earth that makes my imagination go gallivanting quite like Shadowrun. The setting, in my mind is one of the most finely crafted, and most fun settings I've ever played. The gist is that it's a fantasy-cyberpunk game, you got dwarves, elves, trolls, orks, humans, etc. in a cyberpunk world with nasty corporations waging wars in the shadows, and there's magic and technology and it's just wonderful. The 20th Anniversary edition is the one I recommend purely because it I'm familiar with it, but it ALSO is a basically a "done" edition, and it comes with the 4th edition errata already written into it. It's also full colour, with beautiful artwork and it even has Shadowrun fiction between each chapter. And the best part is that you can get this book for 50 USD on Amazon. I got mine for 60 almost brand new, and the hardcover book is worth the investment.

Shadowrun 4th, Augmentation (~12 USD): This book contains lots of new cyberware augmentations for characters, and I consider it one of the "Core" splatbooks to be used. You can get it for about 12 USD on Drivethru RPG.

Shadowrun 4th, Arsenal (~12 USD): Another one of the "core" splat books in my opinion, this one basically contains craploads of guns and new ways to kill people. Fun! You can pick up the PDF at DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

Shadowrun 4th, Runner's Companion (~12 USD): Contains a metric crapton of character creation options, but for the love of god, screen the characters your players create. RC is fantastic, but it lets in some broken options. You can pick it up at DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

Shadowrun 4th, Unwired OR Street Magic (~12 USD for either): I put these two in a lump category because you couldn't buy both on the $100 budget, so it's up to you what you pick. I consider both to be the final parts of the "Core" splatbooks. Unwired is an entire rulebook that elaborates all on the technical side of Shadowrun, about hacking and the matrix and devices and all of that. Street Magic gives new spells, adept powers, traditions, etc. You can find Unwired on DrivethruRPG here for 12 USD, and Street Magic here on DrivethruRPG for 12 USD.

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That was long winded! But hopefully this helps out, if you have any questions, please feel free to let me know!

Buy some dice.

Buy some books.

Honestly, it depends what kind of game you want to play. I think here you're going to get a lot of weird niche games suggested but for starters you're better off sticking with the a more 'traditional' experience. D&D is an excellent starting point if you want to play a fantasy game, you can even pick up one of their adventures if you don't want to write your own material.

If you're unsure about spending that much just to get started you can pick up this starter set that will include the basic rules, a set of dice, some pregenerated characters, and a short adventure. From there, if you like the game, you can pick up the full rulebooks and some more dice and whatever else you like. Alternatively you can try out the free basic rules by downloading them from the Wizards of the Coast website. All you'll need is a set of dice to get started.

If you don't like or don't want to play D&D you can check out a bunch of other systems that will let you play other games or settings. [Edge of the Empire] (https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Edge-Empire-Rulebook/dp/1616616571/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=edge+of+the+empire&qid=1563883870&s=gateway&sr=8-1) is a really cool Star Wars game, but it requires custom dice. My personal favourite sci-fi rpg is Traveller though, and it has the advantage of only requiring six sided dice.

A lot of people really like Savage Worlds, it's fun, it's cheap, and it's generic enough that you can run almost any setting you like with it. Unfortunately there's a new edition due out really soon so take that in to consideration. If you want a more in depth generic system then I can recommend GURPS, although you'll also need the Campaigns book. This system is absolutely not beginner friendly, it slaps you in the face with tables and rules for all sorts of scenarios, but I adore it and it's not really all that hard to figure out.

If you want an alternative to D&D Green Ronin has the "Age" series of games, starting with Fantasy Age, continuing with Modern Age, and the recently released The Expanse RPG covers Sci-Fi. I will admit that I've not actually had a chance to play any of these games, but I've read the rules and like the system.

Honestly you can find a game to cover practically any genre you want, whether it's Grimdark Fantasy, Martial Arts, Space Exploration, Lovecraftian Horror, Anime Cyberpunk Space Opera, or almost any other thing you can think of.

Don't fall in to the trap of playing a game because someone suggests it's 'easy', play something that really grabs your interest and inspires your imagination.

The best thing to do is have a good time preparing the material, but don't drive your players crazy sticking to the script. For a first adventure, an open setting like a city adventure can be very rewarding. Let your players develop a character according to whatever restrictions you like, but make sure you outline them clearly.

I am always nervous when DMing; my biggest fear is keeping all the PCs involved and doing something special. My main concern is keeping each player happy by keeping them involved. Obstacles and challenges for each character can be tough to integrate, so make sure you know know their skill sets inside and out. Once again, especially for low-level characters, a city adventure is a great way to get this going.

I have read a few excellent DM / Storyteller books over the years. GURPS Campaigns and the Mage: The Ascension Storyteller's Handbook are both good intros to running a game in general; lost of solid advice.

I will always be a little on edge DMing; for me, it's actually comfortable. You'll find your own comfort zone after a while. Good luck!

You want to run mysteries but don't have a lot of experience with the genre? Oh man, I've got some suggestions for you!

• GURPS Mysteries - Don't panic at seeing the word "GURPS" here. Truth be told, this book has very little to do with GURPS and is almost entirely full of system agnostic information on creating, running and presenting mysteries in tabletop games. Best book on the subject I've ever seen and should absolutely be on your shelf.
  
• The GURPS Mysteries book will help with all of the technical details, but there is no substitute or shortcut for the creative side of coming up with a mystery in the first place. Time to start reading some mystery thrillers, and there's no better place to start than with Noir. Start with Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe series (Starts with the big sleep). Of course at some point Dashiell Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" has to be read, along with anything else he's written. If you want more modern fantasy, I'm a big fan of the Dresden Files.
  
• Plenty of noir films out there. I apologize in advance, but I've just ruined your weekends for the next several months.
  
• Like video games? I almost think this is a must play if you want to run mystery tabletop games, but look into "LA Noir". Another that I felt was absolutely amazing was Telltale's "The Wolf Among Us".

For up-to-medieval era combat, you have (in my opinion) four top contenders for great combat systems:

Blade of the Iron Throne:

• Single pool per turn to allocate between attack and defence
  
• Turns only switch when something "dramatic" happens — feels like movie fights
  
• Good amount of manoeuvres to choose
  
• Hit locations
  
  Rolemaster Classic, you will need Character Law, Arms Law, Spell Law and for non-human opponents Creatures & Monsters
  
  
• Every weapon affects different types of armour differently — rapiers destroy chainmail
  
• Very granular damage
  
• Critical hits can create many different effects
  
  Mythras, with Classic Fantasy if you want classes back
  
  
• Fatigue tracked separately from hit points
  
• Hit locations, with actual hit points spread across them
  
• You can choose "special effects" when you succeed well enough — e.g. choosing location, disarming etc
  
  GURPS, with Basic Set having Characters, plus Campaigns. You can also use the older third edition, which is a single book.
  
  
• Only uses 3d6, easy to calculate modifiers
  
• Weapon types affect not only effect on armour but actions available — e.g. axes unbalance after a swing, needing a turn to be brought back in position
  
• Turns are 1 second long, and feel fast. You can shiv someone multiple times before they can rearm a crossbow or switch weapons if disarmed
  
  Out of all of them, I would suggest the following guidelines:
  
  

• Blade of the Iron Throne if you want hits to count and be meaningful, with whiffs being more tense than boring
  
• Rolemaster if you want to choose who attacks which enemy and how to approach them based on strengths of team, and granular damage — print the weapon tables for each character and give it to them. It should be considered part of their character sheet
  
• Mythras if you want a middle-ground experience, with enough detail and a focus on where you get hit and how to protect those parts
  
• GURPS if you think the flow of actions should correspond to expectations — you can’t fire an arrow every time someone swings a sword
  
  I tried to not play on stereotypes for each system but more on actual gameplay feeling. People will say GURPS is too crunchy, but it will only be if you choose every optional rule (it's super modular). Start with basic combat and choose components from advanced as you find them useful. They will say Rolemaster has too many tables, which is why you print the subset you use and give to players, but because of them it plays super fast. Mythras has a strong following, so there will be praise and hype. Plays really great, but the text is awfully tiny on print and gives me a headache after reading too long. Blade of the Iron Throne is a successor to the out-of-print Riddle of Steel, which was also legendary, and improves it in many ways. Its only disadvantage in my opinion is that it uses pools of d12s. You should find cheap bulk packs. You want 2 colours, so you can count attack and defence easily.

I just checked my Amazon wish list, GURPS Martial Arts starts at $60. GURPS Ultra Tech starts just shy of $100 right now.

However, while I've bought these books while their Amazon prices were high, I didn't buy them at Amazon. Noble Knight has done well for me so far in offering a chance to collect the books at more modest prices. And now I need to clean up my wish list since I have some of these already.

Calling /u/Mookus!

Sir Mook has some of the best new player/GM info out there and he literally wrote the book on How to be a GURPS GM.

Amazon Print-On-Demand link - How To Be A GURPS GM

Mook also runs a GURPS Discord channel that is my favorite source for GURPS assistance above and beyond that of the SJGames forums and Reddit.

Good luck!

Wands that have a handle and trigger configuration (pew pew)

Also seconding book of the new sun as inspiration. There is a GURPS module for it that you could use for inspiration: https://www.amazon.com/GURPS-New-Sun-Generic-Universal/dp/1556344163

Have you read the excellent GURPS Traveller supplement "Nobles"? I'm not a fan of the GURPS system but I really enjoy Loren Wisemen's work throughout the history of the game, and this supplement is a serious amount of info along these lines.

https://www.amazon.de/Gurps-Discworld-Phil-Masters/dp/1556342616

Sure, its a different system, but it gives a lot of nice background ideas outside of the main books, and its not that hard to transform things to DnD

Print books:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1556348541/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/155634855X/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1556348568/

PDFs:

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG30-6083

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG30-6075

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG30-6048

These books are great just for background information. If you plan on actually using GURPS, then you will also need the Basic Set. These books are all for 3rd edition, so you can get that, or you can get the 4th edition and do a bit of converting.

Yeah. I think I will be getting this. When I was going through a cyberpunk phase I read a few of the 2020 books and the Biotech one.

Both good fuel for daydreaming.

According to SJGames complete list of GURPs books, there was a 3rd Edition GM Screen. There are some available on Amazon and Abebooks if you want the official product.

Get How to be a GURPS GM

Then check out the mook's website

These?

Or, on Amazon.. this and this?

Só consigo pensar em GURPS Grécia: https://www.amazon.com/dp/155634855X/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1556342616?pc_redir=1405525435&robot_redir=1

Honestly, I thought they had stopped making hardcovers years ago. If they are still making hardcovers, why not reprint some of the older ones still in demand? GURPS Martial Arts goes for $130 or higher on Amazon. GURPS Infinite Worlds (their core setting) is going for $118. Granted, PDF versions of those books exist, so maybe that would hurt the sales too much.

GURPS is a generic system that uses a simple skill system plus an Advantage/Disadvantage mechanic to define characters. There is a basic rulebook for 4th Edition GURPS (Characters) but there's also a GM book (Campaigns).

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Unisystem is similar, except that there's no generic rulebook, rather it's broken down by genre (or IP). There's also two flavors of Unisystem: Classic (Rules Heavy) and Cinematic (Rules Light).

If you're looking at Unisystem for Fantasy, I would suggest All Flesh Must Be Eaten + Dungeons & Zombies, or Ghosts of Albion.