GURPS Fantasy 4th edition (2004) cover
|
|
Designer(s) | William H. Stoddard |
---|---|
Publisher(s) | Steve Jackson Games |
Publication date |
1986 (1st edition; for 3rd edition GURPS) |
Genre(s) | Fantasy |
System(s) | GURPS |
1986 (1st edition; for 3rd edition GURPS)
1990 (2nd edition; for 3rd edition GURPS)
GURPS Fantasy is a Genre Toolkit source book for the GURPS Role-playing game. The fourth edition of GURPS separates the fantasy parts into fantasy and a setting book called GURPS Banestorm
The first edition of GURPS Fantasy (1986) delivers the GURPS magic system and the background to the campaign world; with over 300 spells and 20 colleges of magic, the magic system is wide, varied, and detailed. Snatched from Earth the Crusaders still wage war on their ancient enemy, the Saracens, simultaneously contending with a wide range of ravaging monsters. Extensive commentary on the countries of Yrth and plenty of staging tips are included.
The first edition is a GURPS supplement of fantasy rules, with a campaign setting. The rules cover magic (spell-point system) and spells (over 300), character creation, nonhuman races, magical creatures, and monsters. The campaign setting describes the world of Yrth (focusing on the country of Caithness), several other lands of humans and dwarves, plus data on culture and customs. It includes a color map. The original was supplanted by GURPS Fantasy 2nd edition and GURPS Magic.
GURPS Fantasy used the fantasy world of Yrth, which was introduced in Orcslayer (1985), the single supplement for Man to Man. The magic rules for GURPS were not included in the original GURPS Basic Set, but were released in GURPS Fantasy (1986), which was also the first setting book for GURPS and added more detail on the world of Yrth.
The second edition - GURPS Fantasy: The Magical World of Yrth, 1990, second edition 1995 - is actually a completely new product based on the campaign-setting material in the first edition. The world of Yrth is described in much greater detail; the descriptions of the various kingdoms take 70 pages. The chief religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism receive much more attention, and there are a lot of guidelines on how to set up an Yrth campaign, such as what elements to include in a game, and what to emphasize and what to play down. A two-color map is included. The magic rules were expanded and re-issued in their own book, GURPS Magic (first edition 1989, second edition 1994).