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I've never been a big fan of GURPS in general. The system seemed much to detailed and anal to me, and even GURPS lite never really excited me like it did some people. There are, however, some really, really nice GURPS books, like GURPS Cthulupunk. I buy those for the setting information and inspirational ideas. I loot and pillage. That's what I bought GURPS Blood Types for, but it left me hungry afterward. I admit it, I bought the book solely to be used for inspiration for my Vampire: the Masquerade games. In that role, Blood Types could have done much better.

Unlike most GURPS books, Blood Types had very few sidebars. Confined solely to the first two chapters, there ranged from okay to very interesting and amusing. Surrounding the Introduction and History chapter, they gave anecdotes and notes, something that usually makes GURPS books an interesting read.

The Introduction looks at the whys of vampires, in the sense of why humanity has created such monsters, what do they symbolize to us. It is interesting if not terribly interesting in that respect. The book then delves into the history of vampiric myth in the next chapter. Resoundingly (and disappointingly) Euro-centric, the history is none the less very interesting. It examines the development of the myth over time, looking at Sumerian myths, peasant myths from across Europe, as well as everyone favorite blood drinker's home, Transylvania. The history was interesting, but its lack of non-Western myths (such as African and Asian) was a big disappointment. It was just enough information to interest me, but not enough detail to satisfy. Following the history is a mention of some of the most common and ubiquitous vampire traits, from powers and habits to frailties and weaknesses. Various myths are explored in that context, and the frank look was welcome, even if nothing really new was mentioned.

The next 40 pages and three chapters would have been useful to me if I like GURPS. They revolve around the vampiric character. From creation to powers. Unfortunately, like all other GURPS supplements, I found this dry, boring, and ultimately useless, except for the art. That is not to say it is so, however, but just to my personal use, the middle of the book was worthless.

Much of the rest of the book is taken up by the "Bestiary," a catalogue of some vampire myths from around the world. This is why I bought the book, and I found some good ideas in here, but on the whole, I was disappointed. There are some interesting "species" given here, such as the Indian Baital, who love riddles, and the Loogaroo, a vampire-hag from the Caribbean. It was rather interesting that the book also looked at alien and high-tech vampires, as well as simple humans who act like vampires. Ultimately, however, while I was given a few ideas, the chapter was very lean, as little of it was unexpected or completely new. I was hoping for something that would show me vampiric myths I had never heard of as well as showing me myths from other non-traditionally vampire locations. That was not, sadly, what I got, or at least I did not get enough of it.

The rest of the book was focused on how to run vampire campaigns, and what should be taken into consideration. Not entirely new or groundbreaking (just like the rest of the book), its main strength was that, like the previous chapter, it does not assume one "default" campaign, giving equal weight and consideration to medieval horror or superheroes, cinematic modern-day or dark future.

Ultimately, I can only recommend this book if it was in the used book pile, and then only if there isn't anything else you really want. For people like me, looking for ideas for Vampire: the Masquerade, borrow a friend's copy or read the bestiary in-store and take notes. Then go buy something more useful. GURPS Blood Types, like the history section, had enough to be interesting but not enough to satisfy.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)

GURPS Blood Types
Author: Lane Grate Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: GURPS Cost: $17.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-113-X SKU: SJGO1795 Capsule Review by Derek Guder on 08/02/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Modern_day Historical Horror Vampire Gothic Asian/Far_East Generic	I've never been a big fan of GURPS in general. The system seemed much to detailed and anal to me, and even GURPS lite never really excited me like it did some people. There are, however, some really, really nice GURPS books, like GURPS Cthulupunk. I buy those for the setting information and inspirational ideas. I loot and pillage. That's what I bought GURPS Blood Types for, but it left me hungry afterward. I admit it, I bought the book solely to be used for inspiration for my Vampire: the Masquerade games. In that role, Blood Types could have done much better. Unlike most GURPS books, Blood Types had very few sidebars. Confined solely to the first two chapters, there ranged from okay to very interesting and amusing. Surrounding the Introduction and History chapter, they gave anecdotes and notes, something that usually makes GURPS books an interesting read. The Introduction looks at the whys of vampires, in the sense of why humanity has created such monsters, what do they symbolize to us. It is interesting if not terribly interesting in that respect. The book then delves into the history of vampiric myth in the next chapter. Resoundingly (and disappointingly) Euro-centric, the history is none the less very interesting. It examines the development of the myth over time, looking at Sumerian myths, peasant myths from across Europe, as well as everyone favorite blood drinker's home, Transylvania. The history was interesting, but its lack of non-Western myths (such as African and Asian) was a big disappointment. It was just enough information to interest me, but not enough detail to satisfy. Following the history is a mention of some of the most common and ubiquitous vampire traits, from powers and habits to frailties and weaknesses. Various myths are explored in that context, and the frank look was welcome, even if nothing really new was mentioned. The next 40 pages and three chapters would have been useful to me if I like GURPS. They revolve around the vampiric character. From creation to powers. Unfortunately, like all other GURPS supplements, I found this dry, boring, and ultimately useless, except for the art. That is not to say it is so, however, but just to my personal use, the middle of the book was worthless. Much of the rest of the book is taken up by the "Bestiary," a catalogue of some vampire myths from around the world. This is why I bought the book, and I found some good ideas in here, but on the whole, I was disappointed. There are some interesting "species" given here, such as the Indian Baital, who love riddles, and the Loogaroo, a vampire-hag from the Caribbean. It was rather interesting that the book also looked at alien and high-tech vampires, as well as simple humans who act like vampires. Ultimately, however, while I was given a few ideas, the chapter was very lean, as little of it was unexpected or completely new. I was hoping for something that would show me vampiric myths I had never heard of as well as showing me myths from other non-traditionally vampire locations. That was not, sadly, what I got, or at least I did not get enough of it. The rest of the book was focused on how to run vampire campaigns, and what should be taken into consideration. Not entirely new or groundbreaking (just like the rest of the book), its main strength was that, like the previous chapter, it does not assume one "default" campaign, giving equal weight and consideration to medieval horror or superheroes, cinematic modern-day or dark future. Ultimately, I can only recommend this book if it was in the used book pile, and then only if there isn't anything else you really want. For people like me, looking for ideas for Vampire: the Masquerade, borrow a friend's copy or read the bestiary in-store and take notes. Then go buy something more useful. GURPS Blood Types, like the history section, had enough to be interesting but not enough to satisfy. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 2 (Sparse)