Sunday, June 14, 2026

GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition Revised

Hop onto the GURPS Ring of Fire Backerkit project if you want to get your hands on the new GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition Revised book. This is a nearly 600-page-long monster book that will be something to behold.

  • 592-page, full-color hardcover (PDF available)
  • New cover and a two-column layout 
  • Contains everything from Characters and Campaigns, lightly edited for internal consistency, errata fixes, sensitivity, and to bring a few bits of information up to date.
  • BONUS: Includes 25 pages of rule highlights from GURPS books and Pyramid articles published between 2004 and 2025.

The GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition Revised is not a new edition. It is fully compatible with all Fourth Edition material in print, and all text appears on the same pages, preserving page references.

I am slightly concerned about the usability of a 600-page behemoth at the table, as I love my travel bag with two copies of Characters and one of Campaigns for remote play. I can always hand out my table copy of Characters while keeping my GM copy on my side of the table.

I get it, "handing out books" is so 2015 when everyone has the PDF on their phones. Still, I love the freedom, and GURPS should never give up on by-hand generation and doing it the old way. After a nuclear war, this will be the only way to play, and we will have a lot of 5E players looking for a game when D&D Beyond goes down for good, when the Car Wars timeline catches up to us.

I remember the Pathfinder 1e core book being this huge. Can we get a new fantasy bestiary this size, too? With all the classic fantasy monsters pulled from the different monster books, plus Dungeon Fantasy? Better yet, make it a revised Fantasy Companion with spells and magic items, too. If you want to go after D&D, you deliver what the players need to play. Go big or go home, and this book does go big.

I am in on this and getting it, since I want to see the revisions. I am still playing with my classic 4th Edition books, though, my beat-up copies will still see decades more of use at my table. This book will be good for reference, errata, and for display, while my older books will still be my play copies.

What I am really waiting for is the compilation of errata and notes for the revised edition, comparing this version with the current one. That will be a handy document to print out and have.

If you play GURPS, jump on this and spread the word! The new GURPS book is almost here.

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