GURPS, the Generic Universal Role Playing System, Turns 40

The upcoming GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition Revised. GURPS is a registered trademark of, and the art used in this article is copyrighted by, Steve Jackson Games.

The brainchild of Steve Jackson Games, GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) has stood the test of time. The gaming system turns 40 this year.

In the early days of role-playing games, an RPG was designed for one thing. That could be medieval fantasy, or science fiction, or American old west. Or, maybe, some other one thing. And a player couldn’t design their own character, but had to stick to random rolls. Going into the mid 1980s, some crossovers with more options were being created. But modifying a character or campaign from one genre to another, even in the same game, could be a whole lot of work.

Enter GURPS, completed by June 1986, appearing publicly at Origins Game Fair on July 3, 1986. The Steve Jackson Games system was created so game master’s (GMs) and players could adventure almost anywhere. Or anywhen. GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1988. In 2000, Origins stated, “No game system has come close to tackling as many different genres as GURPS, truly making it the most universal system in print.” GURPS was then inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame.

From the Beginning

The American game maker Steve Jackson had previously designed or co-designed Car Wars, Illuminati, Ogre, G.E.V., Wizard, The Fantasy Trip, and more. (Steve Jackson is not to be confused with the British game designer with the same name). To learn about tactics, Jackson got involved in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) and was elevated to baron.

But Steve Jackson envisioned making something beyond a single-setting, single-genre role-playing game. And something where a player could design their own character.

So GURPS was playtested in 1984—although it was reportedly then thought of as the “Great Unnamed Role-Playing System”. To meet an Origins’ deadline, its combat system was released in 1985 as Man to Man: Fantasy Combat from GURPS. Then GURPS (first edition), with one book focused on characters and the other on adventuring/campaigns, was released in 1986.

After that came second edition, third edition, and then fourth edition which was released in 2004. While Jackson created the game, Sean Punch has been the GURPS line editor since 1995. GURPS has hundreds of supplements for different types of characters and campaigns. That allows GMs and players to choose what they want. That could be Space/Science Fiction, Psionics, Magic, Supers, Mysteries, Horror, Dungeon Fantasy, Historical (Old West, World War II, etc.), Martial Arts, Low-Tech, High-Tech, Ultra-Tech, Fantasy-Tech, Infinite Worlds–and beyond. For fans of a specific series, there’s Prime Directive (Star Trek), Casey & Andy, Traveller, Vorkosigan Saga, Discworld, the upcoming Ring of Fire (1632), and more.

GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition Revised, by Steve Jackson, David L. Pulver, and Sean Punch, is planned for release at the end of July 2026. According to Steve Jackson Games, “It is fully compatible with all Fourth Edition material in print, and all text appears on the same pages, preserving page references.”

But back in 1990, the future of both GURPS and Steve Jackson Games was seriously in doubt.

The Surprising Connection between Steve Jackson Games, Inc., the United States Secret Service, and the Electronic Freedom Foundation

Sometimes fiction merges with reality. In 1990, author Lloyd Blankenship moderated Steve Jackson Games, Inc.’s bulletin board “Illuminati.” While writing GURPS Cyberpunk, the author researched and posted information related to the “hacker” culture. That got combined with the unauthorized release of Bell South’s “911 program.” Together, that led to the United States Secret Service raid on Steve Jackson Games.

The fictional GURPS Cyberpunk was suspected of being “a handbook for computer crime.” The raid included the seizure of at least three computers, various equipment, and over 300 computer disks. Works-in-progress and private communications were taken. This caused major problems not only for Blankenship, but for Steve Jackson Games overall. The company was on the edge of going out of business.

Later, the seized matter was returned. Then, three years after the raid, Steve Jackson Games (with some of its personnel) filed a lawsuit over the raid. The winner: Steve Jackson Games.

The successful lawsuit with the raid became a major inspiration for the formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. According to the EFF, “It was the first step toward establishing that online speech IS speech and entitled to Constitutional protection.”

Personal Connection

Back in the 20th century, I conceived a galaxy for science fiction stories. I wanted to test my galaxy by using it in a role-playing game. I checked science fiction RPG after RPG after RPG. All of them would take a whole, whole lot of work to adapt to what I wanted. I was ready to give up.

But then a friend told me about this game called “GURPS.” I wasn’t interested. But my friend stubbornly insisted, and handed me the GURPS Basic Set. I read the first two or three pages, then thought, “This can work!” I’ve been a GURPSian ever since.

I’ve used the game system for space espionage/space opera/steampunk, medieval fantasy, horror, historical recreation, police procedural, comedy, supers, and more. And the first GURPS player character I designed later gained the abilities to change form and to jump from world to world. Starting back in the 20th century, that character has appeared under different identities in stories, books, and film, so yes, I’m a role-playing-old-timer.

I’ve since written GURPS Fantasy Folk: Elves, “The Alchemists’ Guild” for Pyramid magazine, and the planned-for-2027 GURPS Hot Spots: Victorian London.

Worlds of Possibility

The attraction of GURPS is its limitless nature. If you only want to play one kind of game, get something else. But if you like variety, check out GURPS. And if you aren’t sure, there’s GURPS Lite for free!