Learning to Play: GURPS Ultra Lite

Here is the secret to learning GURPS: ignore the entire game and start with the simplest part of the system. Grab a printer and a free copy of the GURPS Ultra Lite rules (link in sidebar), and do a few sample combats. If you don't have a printer, copy the bottom part and paste it into a text file, then the top, and then space out and format this to your liking for a simple text document.

This is the same type of game you would be playing with a B/X system, a d20, and a few level-one characters - so have fun! B/X systems don't typically have character design either, and you will be picking levels in abilities and skills to give you an edge.

This ultra-light system has skills and combat capabilities, and it can even run simple dungeons with task and skill rolls. You can run adventures in this one-page system quickly, and it also has a reaction system that NPCs can use to judge treasure quality.

GURPS Ultra-Lite can also be used with the full GURPS game for NPCs and quick monsters since the to-hit and damage systems are close enough to GURPS to make this the ideal "quick NPC and monster" generator for the complete game. This is probably one of the most valuable and underused tools in a GURPS game master's toolbox to speed up play and create unique and exciting challenges for fully designed GURPS characters.

Again, do not abandon this when you graduate to the full game! GURPS Ultra-Lite is the tool I use most when playing the entire game. You are missing out on one of the best-kept secrets in GURPS gamemastering by ignoring this gem of a quick system.

This system can be used for everything from fantasy to sci-fi, so flavor it however you want. Play a sci-fi laser shootout from a movie. Do a simple dungeon. Do a cops-and-robbers game or a stealthy heist. Play Sherlock Holmes or Cthulhu. Ultra-Lite does it all.

The Ultra-Lite system is not the entire game but teaches you the basics of the 3d6 roll-low system. It teaches you damage and defense. It gets you used to how skill and task rolls work. It can do ability score checks. It has a character design system. All the basics are here, and when you are ready to step up, you can move to another free version of the game and learn a little more.

Your head will begin to "wrap around" the system, which is easier and more flexible than a d20-based game.