The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Steve Jackson games might try to convince you that all you need to play GURPS is the Basic Set, or possibly just GURPS Lite, but don't let them fool you. If you want any kind of decent campaign, this book is a must.

My one complaint with the Basic Set was that while it contained many disadvantages, it only really had 5 pages worth of advantages. Compendium I has 53 pages worth! Not to mention 24 pages worth of disadvantages.

These sections are basically a culmination of various ads/disads taken from the plethora of worldbooks you don't want to have to buy. It contains all of the super/racial/occult/paranormal advantages, plus heaps of mundane ones.

Another fantastic section is all the esoteric skills you can buy. Who needs GURPS Martial Arts and GURPS Supers anymore!

The book of course contains other sections, such as a more advanced look at attribute, a nice little list of enhancements and limitations for special powers and psionics, all new rules for area knowledge, languages, gadgeteering, learning and high powered skills, an introduction into maneuvers and an entire chapter on race generation. I just love run-on sentences, don't you?

But my second favourite part of the book is the end. The last few pages contain a list of every single skill to appear in every single since the Compendiums publishing. It had a page number and book reference, and best of all, the skills defaults. No more riffling through books when my mage wants to try garroting the guard, or when my barbarian hero wants to try a bit of diplomacy.

So there you have it, if you want your GURPS campaign to have any kind of flavour at all, you need to buy this book. The Basic Set will let you play the game, but the Compendium I will let you have fun. :)

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

GURPS Compendium I
Author: Sean Punch Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: GURPS Cost: $23.95 Page count: 192 ISBN: 1-55634-290-X SKU: SJGO2395 6519 Playtest Review by Adam vanLangenberg on 10/22/99. Genre tags: Generic	Steve Jackson games might try to convince you that all you need to play GURPS is the Basic Set, or possibly just GURPS Lite, but don't let them fool you. If you want any kind of decent campaign, this book is a must. My one complaint with the Basic Set was that while it contained many disadvantages, it only really had 5 pages worth of advantages. Compendium I has 53 pages worth! Not to mention 24 pages worth of disadvantages. These sections are basically a culmination of various ads/disads taken from the plethora of worldbooks you don't want to have to buy. It contains all of the super/racial/occult/paranormal advantages, plus heaps of mundane ones. Another fantastic section is all the esoteric skills you can buy. Who needs GURPS Martial Arts and GURPS Supers anymore! The book of course contains other sections, such as a more advanced look at attribute, a nice little list of enhancements and limitations for special powers and psionics, all new rules for area knowledge, languages, gadgeteering, learning and high powered skills, an introduction into maneuvers and an entire chapter on race generation. I just love run-on sentences, don't you? But my second favourite part of the book is the end. The last few pages contain a list of every single skill to appear in every single since the Compendiums publishing. It had a page number and book reference, and best of all, the skills defaults. No more riffling through books when my mage wants to try garroting the guard, or when my barbarian hero wants to try a bit of diplomacy. So there you have it, if you want your GURPS campaign to have any kind of flavour at all, you need to buy this book. The Basic Set will let you play the game, but the Compendium I will let you have fun. :) Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

GURPS Compendium I