The Inside Scoop on Gaming

We'll cut to the chase straight-away: GURPS Wizards is a book you should have.

Why? Geez, some people, always wanting reasons for things. Okay, here's why:

GURPS Wizards started out as just another stock NPC book, a la GURPS Supporting Cast and GURPS Mixed Doubles, doomed to a life collecting dust on the shelf and then getting stuffed into the Bargain Box.

Suddenly, mayhem ensued. What kind? Can't say. But the result was to go from a book of characters to a book of templates, and that makes all the difference in the world.

A template, for those who haven't looked at the state of the industry in the last decade, is a partially-completed character. The template gives you all the right stats, skills, and in this case spells, for a certain type of character. Templates have been used with great success in the very popular Star Wars Role Playing Game from West End and now appear in one form or another in almost every new game produced.

(What really is amazing is that it took Steve Jackson Games this long to come around to templates. But that is a whole 'nother kettle of snakes.)

So, GURPS Wizards not only includes templates for assorted wizardly types . . . from the traditional Apprentice or Enchanter to the more outre' Martial Artist or Spy . . . but also includes four, count 'em, four different characters built from each template. What's more, each character is from a different genre-book. While the world of Yrth from GURPS Fantasy is heavily represented, naturally, there are sample mages representing almost every era GURPS rules have been written for and a few that haven't quite yet.

This diversity of characters alone makes the book a treat, although some characters fall alarmingly close to home. The Healer Deanna resembles a friend of mine in Portland. And then there's Doctor Kromm, "formerly a captain in the 1st Royal Artillery Regiment, but presently a living, breathing hazard." If you don't know someone like Doctor Kromm, you should.

Each Template comes with discussion of that template's (read: job's) role in a game world and in a campaign. There's a design note section that feels an awful lot like the "Character Types" rules immortalized in dozens of GURPS books. Additionally there are customization notes to help personalize the character beyond the stats & skills.

I have always had real troubles with magicians. I have a few favorite spells . . . which dictate prerequisites . . . which means my characters have always been pretty much alike. Playing with a few of these templates broke me of that habit real quick.

Better still for nuts-and-bolts people, the first dozen pages provide guidelines on how to create templates. This should be required reading for all GURPS game masters and would-be worldbook designers.

If you do magickal campaigns, you really need GURPS Wizards for its templates and characters. If you do any GURPS gaming, you'll want GURPS Wizards for the template rules. Go buy it. Is that plain enough?

Oh, one more thing. Sean Punch, author of GURPS Wizards, GURPS Line Editor and Alter-Ego of Doctor Kromm, reports that if GURPS Wizards does well, we might see other similarly constructed books. If you want to see GURPS Warriors or GURPS Rogues as much as I do, please. Buy GURPS Wizards.

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

*GURPS Wizards*
Author: Sean Punch (with add'l material by Alex Koponen) Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Incorporated Cost: 19.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-270-5 Playtest Review by Bob Portnell on 07/30/98. Genre tags: none	We'll cut to the chase straight-away: *GURPS Wizards* is a book you should have. Why? Geez, some people, always wanting reasons for things. Okay, here's why: *GURPS Wizards* started out as just another stock NPC book, a la *GURPS Supporting Cast* and *GURPS Mixed Doubles,* doomed to a life collecting dust on the shelf and then getting stuffed into the Bargain Box. Suddenly, mayhem ensued. What kind? Can't say. But the result was to go from a book of characters to a book of templates, and that makes all the difference in the world. A template, for those who haven't looked at the state of the industry in the last decade, is a partially-completed character. The template gives you all the right stats, skills, and in this case spells, for a certain type of character. Templates have been used with great success in the very popular *Star Wars Role Playing Game* from West End and now appear in one form or another in almost every new game produced. (What really is amazing is that it took Steve Jackson Games this long to come around to templates. But that is a whole 'nother kettle of snakes.) So, *GURPS Wizards* not only includes templates for assorted wizardly types . . . from the traditional Apprentice or Enchanter to the more outre' Martial Artist or Spy . . . but also includes four, count 'em, four different characters built from each template. What's more, each character is from a different genre-book. While the world of Yrth from *GURPS Fantasy* is heavily represented, naturally, there are sample mages representing almost every era *GURPS* rules have been written for and a few that haven't quite yet. This diversity of characters alone makes the book a treat, although some characters fall alarmingly close to home. The Healer Deanna resembles a friend of mine in Portland. And then there's Doctor Kromm, "formerly a captain in the 1st Royal Artillery Regiment, but presently a living, breathing hazard." If you don't know someone like Doctor Kromm, you should. Each Template comes with discussion of that template's (read: job's) role in a game world and in a campaign. There's a design note section that feels an awful lot like the "Character Types" rules immortalized in dozens of *GURPS* books. Additionally there are customization notes to help personalize the character beyond the stats & skills. I have always had real troubles with magicians. I have a few favorite spells . . . which dictate prerequisites . . . which means my characters have always been pretty much alike. Playing with a few of these templates broke me of that habit real quick. Better still for nuts-and-bolts people, the first dozen pages provide guidelines on how to create templates. This should be required reading for all *GURPS* game masters and would-be worldbook designers. If you do magickal campaigns, you really need *GURPS Wizards* for its templates and characters. If you do any *GURPS* gaming, you'll want *GURPS Wizards* for the template rules. Go buy it. Is that plain enough? Oh, one more thing. Sean Punch, author of *GURPS Wizards, GURPS* Line Editor and Alter-Ego of Doctor Kromm, reports that if *GURPS Wizards* does well, we might see other similarly constructed books. If you want to see *GURPS Warriors* or *GURPS Rogues* as much as I do, please. Buy *GURPS Wizards*. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)