GURPS Character Sheet

I started with GURPS Character Assistant (GCA, the software you can buy on W23), but I am slowly migrating to GURPS Character Sheet (GCS, free, but please support the creator on Patreon).

GCA is only a Windows app. I like the "creating libraries of books" and focusing on the experience, though how they do this at times means they remove options from the main books I may want: wings in the Dungeon Fantasy setup, for one. If I want a character race with wings, I must add that as a custom advantage. But when this works, it does very well, like the scripts that remove all the high-tech gear from the equipment lists, so you only have what you want when picking equipment.

GCA is a bit slow on my machine, and the entire "creating and loading book libraries" feels more complicated than it should be and can throw errors if you add incompatible books. Each character can use a different library, so loading can sometimes be a little slow and confusing. The guided templates used in character design are excellent here, though, and the program avoids the duplicates you can sometimes get in GCS that you have to combine or clean up.

I feel GCA is a better "beginner's app" than GCS. Hacking GCA and creating books requires scripting experience to create a book or script and then apply it to a library.

GCS feels like a power-user app. Hacking this and creating custom options is extremely simple; you create files in folders. GCS lacks the "macro scripts" of GCA's library functions because they aren't needed, but you have to be selective about gear or create a custom list for yourself.

GCS sometimes creates duplicate entries in a character sheet, like one option adding a point of STR and another doing the same. The STR score is updated, but I like to combine those into one modification of the sheet to clean it up. I have had a few times where a duplicate advantage or skill was added, so it is good to review each section and look for duplicates, combine them if needed, and delete the second entry. I haven't had GCA do this, so again, it's better for new users and players.

GCS supports Windows, Linux, and Mac and has excellent Foundry VTT export support. The upside and downside of this app are you get everything; there is no creating "lists of books." You have all of GURPS to pick from when building a character. That said, you have to "know your GURPS" to get the best use out of this software. There is a Dungeon Fantasy RPG area I mostly stay in, but if I want a few Basic Set traits, I can open that folder up and grab what I want. It is nice when I am trying to design a monster and can just hop over to something "shop there."

I love taking GCS user files and replicating my custom templates and character lists on another machine and OS with a file copy. I have a characters folder in my user library, and I store my characters in there, with a folder for each game. I click on them, and they open. All my custom templates live in there, too, so I can create a custom "magic corruption" template, give it levels and effects, and save it so I can apply it to a character with a click.

I still like GCA and keep it installed and updated. If I want a campaign focused on a limited set of tech levels, the macro scripts do an excellent job cleaning up the game's massive lists of stuff. The macros sometimes go too far and clean out options power users want. For players new to GURPS, giving them an app with a preset library that limits selections and lets them focus on design is handy. You don't have to worry about a player in Dungeon Fantasy picking a .357 magnum, though this is GURPS, and that sounds like a fun game.

With Mac (Intel and Apple Silicon) and Linux support, GCS is a power user's dream. I tested Mac support, and it works amazingly. I wanted a laptop character creation tool for GURPS, which changed my laptop buying plan to a Mac with some screen room. It works excellent on an M1 MacBook Air 13", but a 15" Air would be very nice to work on and give me more screen room. I was looking at a Windows Surface device (since GCA would run on that, too), but paying 3 grand for less than a day's battery life.

Chrome is the big offender, and that program will drain your battery faster than a Tesla trying to tow a loaded U-Haul trailer. There is very little reason for Chrome these days other than as a password manager, and if you want battery life, switch to either Edge or Safari while on a laptop. The browsers made by the OS companies are good enough, plus they can optimize for battery life far better than energy-wasting Chrome could ever dream of.

The Macs are amazing regarding price, performance, and battery life. My 13" M1 Air will be good for another 4-6 years, and it is really all I need for GCS and my PDFs. However, as I get older, my eyes want a bigger screen. As it is, opening a PDF in GCS to read an option, I need to zoom and pan around, which is not great but workable.