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When SJG announced that they were doing a GURPS book on Russia, I was thrilled. I've studied Russian politics and speak a bit of Russian, so I thought I'd love a sourcebook on Russia. Turns out I was right.

S. John Ross has done his homework on Russian history and folklore and presented a unique gaming environment. Several different time periods are presented for gaming, as well as varying levels of realism. Not only does GURPS Russia allow to to play in Russia anytime from when the Vikings first imposed their rule on the Slavs to the reign of Peter I, you can also choose to play a strictly historical campaign, add in a bit of Russian folklore for a dark fantasy/horror feel, or go wild with a campaign for bogatyri, Russian characters whose best parallel might be the American tales of characters like Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill.

While the historical information and everything else in the book seems impeccably researched (and frankly, I'm not going to go through heaps of literature to find flaws as long as it all works and conveys the right feel), I do have a couple of complaints, one of which is very minor.

My very minor complaint, to get this one out of the way first, is the use of Roman and Cyrillic characters mixed together to form chapter and section headings. Admittedly, it does look neat, but for people who read Russian, it's a bit disconcerting. Cyrillic characters don't always sounds the same as the Roman characters they resemble. Like I said, a minor gripe.

The more major complaint is that there should be a separate chapter on Russian character. While there are tidbits here and there, a whole section is needed to even do the subject justice. Anyone really interested in running a campaign set in Russia should do research outside this sourcebook on that topic. If your Russians all seem like American (or English or whatever) characters transplanted to a different country, you're not doing the culture justice any more than if you played a game where Celtic warriors or aliens all acted like modern Americans. But in only 128 pages, not everything could be in the book, and the history, folklore, and such are just as important.

This is a great book. If you have any interest in Russia either in a gaming sense or in a more general sense, or want to include a bit of ethnicity in your fantasy or horror campaigns, hope over to the SJG website and order a copy. It'll cost a bit more than the usual GURPS worldbook, since they predicted a low demand and so ordered a limited print run only available through direct mail.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

GURPS Russia
Author: S. John Ross Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Cost: $19.95 US S&H Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-258-6 Capsule Review by Kevin Mowery on 02/28/98. Genre tags: none	When SJG announced that they were doing a GURPS book on Russia, I was thrilled. I've studied Russian politics and speak a bit of Russian, so I thought I'd love a sourcebook on Russia. Turns out I was right. S. John Ross has done his homework on Russian history and folklore and presented a unique gaming environment. Several different time periods are presented for gaming, as well as varying levels of realism. Not only does GURPS Russia allow to to play in Russia anytime from when the Vikings first imposed their rule on the Slavs to the reign of Peter I, you can also choose to play a strictly historical campaign, add in a bit of Russian folklore for a dark fantasy/horror feel, or go wild with a campaign for bogatyri, Russian characters whose best parallel might be the American tales of characters like Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill. While the historical information and everything else in the book seems impeccably researched (and frankly, I'm not going to go through heaps of literature to find flaws as long as it all works and conveys the right feel), I do have a couple of complaints, one of which is very minor. My very minor complaint, to get this one out of the way first, is the use of Roman and Cyrillic characters mixed together to form chapter and section headings. Admittedly, it does look neat, but for people who read Russian, it's a bit disconcerting. Cyrillic characters don't always sounds the same as the Roman characters they resemble. Like I said, a minor gripe. The more major complaint is that there should be a separate chapter on Russian character. While there are tidbits here and there, a whole section is needed to even do the subject justice. Anyone really interested in running a campaign set in Russia should do research outside this sourcebook on that topic. If your Russians all seem like American (or English or whatever) characters transplanted to a different country, you're not doing the culture justice any more than if you played a game where Celtic warriors or aliens all acted like modern Americans. But in only 128 pages, not everything could be in the book, and the history, folklore, and such are just as important. This is a great book. If you have any interest in Russia either in a gaming sense or in a more general sense, or want to include a bit of ethnicity in your fantasy or horror campaigns, hope over to the SJG website and order a copy. It'll cost a bit more than the usual GURPS worldbook, since they predicted a low demand and so ordered a limited print run only available through direct mail. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)