The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Every game needs rules for Vehicles. The lack of rules for vehicles was frustrating in Traveller, because it had rules for everything else but every group seemed to have an air-raft, without any rules on how to use the blasted thing! Dream Pod 9 has some nice rules for creating vehicles, though they are math intensive at times. An independent game called Journeyman also had some nice rules for creating starships, but the best starship rules I've ever read were in the Traveller supplement High Guard. The problem seems to be that character creation in most games strives to be elegant, while vehicle creation rules try to be "realistic," and the kludges start from there.

As I said, Traveller had some nice rules for creating starships, and they eventually came out with some rules for creating vehicles, like cars and grav tanks. But these rules were needlessly complicated, and didn't have the spark of the starship or character creation rules. Gurps has some of the finest character creation rules on the planet. You can spot out what you want your character to be able to do, and boom you're done! It may take some time but you can get from here to there with some degree of speed. Gurps Vehicles may contain some of the most accurate vehicle creation rules on the planet, though there are a number of Murphy's which showcase the limitations of this rules set. You might have some idea of what you want your vehicle to do, but good luck getting from here to there, especially with any degree of speed.

Now it must be said that these rules have been simplified for various books in Steve Jackson's Gurps line. This was less successful in Gurps Mecha, but seemed to work rather well in Gurps Traveller. In fact, if there are any problems in the rules for starship creation in Gurps Traveller they come from a speedy playtest, and are not the fault of the Vehicle's rules themselves. Gurps Traveller shows off the strengths of these rules. I can remember talking to someone at a convention and predicting that it couldn't be done…I was wrong. In addition, unlike the original Traveller rules, Gurps Traveller will tell you how to work that air raft.

This is an encyclopedic rules set, that strains to fit inside of 208 pages. It is neither quick, nor do I feel that it is elegant, but it is complete. You will find rules in here for creating weapons like pistols, fire breathing steam-powered tanks, advanced starships, and naval destroyers. You can do anything with these rules if you have the time and the willpower. Personally, I can't stand them. I liked the elegant simplicity that I can find in some other games (perhaps even ALternity)…yet these rules are very powerful and effective. David Pulver and the folks at Steve Jackson Games have proved me wrong time and again with what they have been able to do with these rules.

If you would like expansions to the basic vehicle creation rules in Gurps Mecha or Traveller, then this book will give you a lot to sink your teeth into. If you would like some rules that are grounded in a more realistic physics model than that which might be found in other games…this is the book for you. I want something easier, and they do have that in other products in the Gurps line. This system is very powerful, but complicated. I give it a "C." I wish that it was dumbed down more for idiots like myself, but I cannot argue with what people are able to drag out of it in these other Gurps books. This is a good resource for Gurps GMs and players, but it does come with a few caveats. As usual it does have some excellent Dan Smith art, but there ain't much dressing up that can be done on a book that is as packed as this one.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

GURPS Vehicles 2nd Edition
Author: David Pulver Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Cost: 24.95 Page count: 208 ISBN: 1-55634-325-6 Capsule Review by Scott Shafer on 02/24/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Historical Far_Future Space Anime Generic	Every game needs rules for Vehicles. The lack of rules for vehicles was frustrating in Traveller, because it had rules for everything else but every group seemed to have an air-raft, without any rules on how to use the blasted thing! Dream Pod 9 has some nice rules for creating vehicles, though they are math intensive at times. An independent game called Journeyman also had some nice rules for creating starships, but the best starship rules I've ever read were in the Traveller supplement High Guard. The problem seems to be that character creation in most games strives to be elegant, while vehicle creation rules try to be "realistic," and the kludges start from there. As I said, Traveller had some nice rules for creating starships, and they eventually came out with some rules for creating vehicles, like cars and grav tanks. But these rules were needlessly complicated, and didn't have the spark of the starship or character creation rules. Gurps has some of the finest character creation rules on the planet. You can spot out what you want your character to be able to do, and boom you're done! It may take some time but you can get from here to there with some degree of speed. Gurps Vehicles may contain some of the most accurate vehicle creation rules on the planet, though there are a number of Murphy's which showcase the limitations of this rules set. You might have some idea of what you want your vehicle to do, but good luck getting from here to there, especially with any degree of speed. Now it must be said that these rules have been simplified for various books in Steve Jackson's Gurps line. This was less successful in Gurps Mecha, but seemed to work rather well in Gurps Traveller. In fact, if there are any problems in the rules for starship creation in Gurps Traveller they come from a speedy playtest, and are not the fault of the Vehicle's rules themselves. Gurps Traveller shows off the strengths of these rules. I can remember talking to someone at a convention and predicting that it couldn't be done…I was wrong. In addition, unlike the original Traveller rules, Gurps Traveller will tell you how to work that air raft. This is an encyclopedic rules set, that strains to fit inside of 208 pages. It is neither quick, nor do I feel that it is elegant, but it is complete. You will find rules in here for creating weapons like pistols, fire breathing steam-powered tanks, advanced starships, and naval destroyers. You can do anything with these rules if you have the time and the willpower. Personally, I can't stand them. I liked the elegant simplicity that I can find in some other games (perhaps even ALternity)…yet these rules are very powerful and effective. David Pulver and the folks at Steve Jackson Games have proved me wrong time and again with what they have been able to do with these rules. If you would like expansions to the basic vehicle creation rules in Gurps Mecha or Traveller, then this book will give you a lot to sink your teeth into. If you would like some rules that are grounded in a more realistic physics model than that which might be found in other games…this is the book for you. I want something easier, and they do have that in other products in the Gurps line. This system is very powerful, but complicated. I give it a "C." I wish that it was dumbed down more for idiots like myself, but I cannot argue with what people are able to drag out of it in these other Gurps books. This is a good resource for Gurps GMs and players, but it does come with a few caveats. As usual it does have some excellent Dan Smith art, but there ain't much dressing up that can be done on a book that is as packed as this one. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)

GURPS Vehicles 2nd Edition