My Pyramid Recommendations
If you’re new to GURPS, you might not even know
that aside from the main GURPS book line there was, and sort of still is, the line of Pyramid magazines, just like how
D&D had Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine. There are four volumes, but
volumes 1 and 2 were written for the older editions of GURPS. I haven’t
actually read them, I’ve only seen some sample articles that are available on
the SJGames website, but it seems that many of them can be easily adapted to
the fourth edition of GURPS. Volume 3 is made for the fourth edition and
contains 122 issues, plus two compilation releases. Volume 4 also is made for
the fourth edition. It was released as part of two kickstarter campaigns in
2021 and 2022 and at this point contains only 6 issues. There is still a lot of material there, and finding
something among more than a hundred of issues can be a daunting task even for
me. In this post, I will go over the issues and point out articles that have
been useful or interesting to me. But
you should always keep in mind that GURPS is a generic system and that everyone
plays differently, so something that I deemed useless might still be of great
use for you.
The standout article for me in this issue is Necromantic Tools by Sean Punch. What I like here the most is a collection of undead arm replacements built as powers and mechanics for their attachment. This is an alternative approach to grafting and limb replacement that is different from those described in GURPS Bio-Tech and GURPS Ultra-Tech.
Pyramid #3-4: Magic on
the Battlefield
The Society of Siege Sorcerers article has some new spells for the basic magic system. The Perfect Defense article is a very interesting one – it introduces the concept of defensive imbuements that are applied to armor and shields instead of weapons. Even though many of these skills are underwhelming and one of them doesn’t actually work, this is a good expansion for GURPS Power-Up 1: Imbuements. The Battle Strategies article has a Mass Combat counterpart for GURPS Combat Cards – that’s pretty cool. Aside from these articles, there is a lot of advice on how magic would alter a low-tech battlefield.
Pyramid #3-6: Space
Colony Alpha
The Surprises from Mother Nature has a new disadvantage – Compulsive Sexual Activity. This is different from Lecherousness, do not confuse the two. The same article has a new enhancement for the Flight advantage – Soaring. It was later reprinted in GURPS Powers: Nature and Totem Spirits.
Pyramid #3-7: Urban
Fantasy
An article called Of Sound and Signs has new limitations for Magery – Aural Magery that is based on the ambient noise and location-limited Boundary Magery.
Pyramid #3-9: Space Opera
This issue has Designer’s Notes: GURPS Psionic Powers. This article explains some under the hood mechanics for certain techniques, a new extra effort variant, a new ability – Control Limb, a new limitation – Limited by Margin, and a new perk – Dowsing (Utility). The Fight the Future article has some interesting futuristic martial arts, two new perks – Quick Extension and Rolling Stone, a new technique – (Environment Suit) (Skill) Training, and a new skill – Precognitive Block.
Pyramid #3-12: Tech
and Toys
Overall, this is a great issue. More Ultra! More Tech! has a lot of new gear, armor, cybernetics, and other futuristic fun tech stuff. Paper Cells presents an alternative approach to power cells. Psi-Powered Imbuements does a great job assigning imbuement skills to specific psionic powers. Finally, More Survival and Camping Gear has, well, more survival and camping gear.
Pyramid #3-13:
Thaumatology
The Mystic Knight article has two new imbuement skills – Reinforce Weapon and Returning Weapon, and a bunch of imbuement-related perks. Odds and Ends adds another new imbuement skill – Reinforce Shield.
Pyramid #3-14: Martial
Arts
The standout article here is Fight while in Flight that has martial styles for flying characters and expanded rules for aerial combat, including new techniques.
Pyramid #3-15:
Transhuman Space
Transhuman Action! has a new perk – Combat Leaping. I’m pretty sure it was reprinted somewhere else. It also has some variant rules in regards to gravity. Big Media Memetics expands the memetics rules.
Pyramid #3-16:
Historical Exploration
Minding Your Manners explains how to incorporate manners and other cultural codes of conduct into your game. Languages, Culture, and the Common Tongue is an excellent article that discusses language defaults, trade pidgins, and the incorporation of a common language. It also has a new perk – Linguist.
Pyramid #3-18: Space
Exploration
My favorite article in this issue is Cold Horizon. This fascinating article describes colonies built on cometary bodies in the Kuiper Belt.
Pyramid #3-19: Tools
of the Trade: Clerics
Auras of Power introduces the Aura meta-enhancement that was later reprinted in GURPS Power-Ups 4: Enhancements. Alongside the meta-enhancements, it has several examples.
Pyramid #3-20:
Infinite Worlds
Infinite Teleportation expands the Teleportation psionic power with new abilities – Blink Missiles, Personal Recall, Quantum-Jumping, and Reality Stabilization. Autoteleport gets new techniques – Multiport and Tunneling. There are also three new Teleportation perks – Clear Blockage, Tele-Throw, and Teleport Trigger. In addition, it has an interesting box that describes the effects of using the Control advantage to control psionic energy.
Pyramid #3-21:
Cyberpunk
Console Cowboys and Cyberspace Kung Fu is almost a must-have article for cyberpunk campaigns. It details the mechanics of netrunning and all adjacent concepts. Keeping it Real is another interesting article that can be useful in any game. This article discusses some advantages that GURPS Basic Set lists as realistic and explains why they are or are not. One of the best things in this article is the downgraded version of Perfect Balance called Excellent Balance [10].
Pyramid #3-23: Action
Adventures
Chase Cards can be useful when learning the Chase system from GURPS Action 2: Exploits.
Pyramid #3-24:
Bio-Tech
The Biomecha article introduces the concept of biomecha – very useful for futuristic games. Better Living Through Pharmaceuticals gives us many new drugs for high-TL games.
Pyramid #3-25: Epic
Magic
The Essential Magic article details many new spells for the standard magic system that are based around essential elements – hellfire, stygian ice, alkahest, etc. Be careful with hellfire spells, they seem to be a bit too strong, since they can only be quenched with Essential Water and ignite things that are very difficult to ignite otherwise.
Pyramid #3-26:
Underwater Adventures
The main article here is GURPS Fathom Five – it is necessary if you are running a game set underwater or if you are introducing aquatic environments in your game.
Pyramid #3-28:
Thaumatology II
It’s Pure Chemistry! has some new rules for the standard alchemy system and several new elixirs. It also has a new spell – Internalize Elixir. Yellow Goblin Magic has a new magical style and a few new spells – Alter Gender, Androgyny, Dye Yellow, Sense Goblin, Sense Man, Spark of Eros, True King, Trusted Fellow, and Sunburst. This is not the same Sunburst as the one from GURPS Magic: Artillery Spells. Ceremonial Magic Made Easy is a good expansion for the ceremonial magic mechanics.
Pyramid #3-29:
Psionics
Expanded Psychokinesis is a great article that gives the Psychokinesis psionic power new abilities – TK Burst, Belaying and TK Grab (Hyper), and introduces the Sonokinesis sub-power that might as well be a separate power in some games. Psionic sound manipulation abilities include Acoustic Manipulation, Echolocation, Muffle, and Wail. Of course, there are some new techniques for existing abilities, and several new sonokinesis perks. The Edge of Psience article describes catalyst creatures, something like familiars for psionic characters.
Pyramid #3-30:
Spaceships
One with the Ship has new advantages – Enhanced Dodge (Vehicular) and Soul of the Machine, plus the Vehicle Bond perk. It also provides some new cybernetics and rules for operating a vehicle through a neural interface. Mass Combat in Space expands the mass combat system of GURPS to support space combat.
Pyramid #3-31: Monster
Hunters
Pulp Hunters! has one thing that might be interesting – two new uses of the Autohypnosis skill.
Pyramid #3-33:
Low-Tech
Oh, boy, this is a good one. The Deadly Spring is a well-known article that people meme about often. If you are very into bows, physics, and mathematics, then you can use it to create pretty much any bow or crossbow you’d ever want from any material. If you’re content with the existing bow and crossbow lineup, then this article isn’t required. At Play in the Fields describes various farming techniques and mechanics. I’ve seen many people online obsessed with this article, I have never thought that games about farming are this popular. Medieval Prisons talks about how prisons worked in the days of yore. A Killing Breath is an excellent article that greatly expands the customization options for blowpipes, making them much more interesting and effective. Roman Technology talks about technology available in the Roman era, it’s a good read. So, I like all the articles here and I highly recommend this issue.
Pyramid #3-34:
Alternate GURPS
And here we have another good one. A New Take on Grappling presents you an alternative grappling system that looks very interesting. I have not yet tried it in action, but I have heard many positive things about it. When We Were Very Small is an article about tiny characters and how they work in a campaign. One of the interesting things in this article is allowing fractional ST to increase granularity for small characters. Extreme Damage presents two potential ways to fix the problem of large vehicles and creatures being too easy to kill. Ten Tweaks to Customize Combat is an all-around great article with ten optional rules to spice up combat. Some of them are closer to errata that patches up some holes in the rules than new optional rules, however. For example, I didn’t even know that All-Out Attack (Strong) does not work with thrown weapons by default before I read this article. Armor Revisited presents an alternative way to treat armor. I’ve heard that armor-as-dice works well in high-TL games.
Pyramid #3-35: Aliens
Alien Disadvantages is a very interesting article about racial disadvantages. It can be useful when creating unique alien species, but it can also be used in fantasy games. Making Something Alien is a similar article with general advice on creating alien species that feel unique. Alien Starting Conditions is yet another article on alien creation – this one describes how the native environment may affect the species.
Pyramid #3-36: Dungeon
Fantasy
The Demolisher introduces a TL3 gunpowder-based occupational template for Dungeon Fantasy. It is centered around gonnes and explosives, using alchemical shattersand instead of the actual gunpowder. This article is interesting not only because it provides a nice way to introduce gunpowder into a fantasy setting, but also because it fixes some missing rules from GURPS Low-Tech. Dungeon Saints introduces the system from GURPS Powers: Divine Favor to Dungeon Fantasy, also providing some saint-specific advantages and learned prayers. While I do not use Divine Favor, I know that it’s relatively popular. It also has a new modifier that allows you to make aspergillum maces. The Musketeer introduces another gunpowder-based template to Dungeon Fantasy, but this one uses TL4 weaponry. Aside from some useful guidelines and rules for gun control, it provides a nice list of generic firearms that can be used in any fantasy setting. Powering Up: Imbuements expands the imbuement system – it provides new enhancements for the Imbue advantage (for example, there is one that allows you to imbue weapons of others), lists skills appropriate for every supernatural template or power modifier, and a new imbuement skill – Underwater Strike.
Pyramid #3-37: Tech
and Toys II
Blaster and Laser Design is an excellent article that lets you make almost any energy weapon you want. These rules have been greatly expanded by certain bloggers online, making it even more comprehensive and flexible. Thinking Machines is another great article about ultra-tech computers. More Ultra-Tech Guns and Heavy Weapons is self-explanatory. Mr. Fixit expands the rules for equipment repair; it’s another good article. Future Hometech provides new pieces of ubiquitous ultra-tech items that can be found in any home. This is definitely another very good issue that I would highly recommend to read.
Pyramid #3-40: Mecha
Mecha Operations provides a framework for making mechas with the GURPS Spaceships framework. I’m not a big fan of it, but people often recommend this article.
Pyramid #3-41: Fantasy
World-Building
The Turning Points of History is an article I’ve used extensively – it generates historical events that shape your nation or a region in your setting. In the Jungle is a great article about jungles. I didn’t know about this one before writing this, but I did know about another article about jungles that will appear in a future issue.
Pyramid #3-42: Noir
The Gameable Bouncer has two new techniques – Bum’s Rush and Group Grappling.
Pyramid #3-43:
Thaumatology III
Adelphos Dionysos has a new magical style with two secret spells – Fount of Wine and Oenomancy. Magic as Technological Progress introduces an interesting concept of Sorcery Levels, something like Technological Level, but for magic.
Pyramid #3-44:
Alternate GURPS II
The Last Gasp significantly changes how combat works, introducing Action Points and making FP more important. I haven’t tried it, but I know that many people like this article. From Skill to Advantages is an interesting article that lets you turn some skills to advantages. Sorcery uses it for spells that impart effects of imbuement skills, and this article will let you do much more. Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously turns language into skills, like in the third edition of GURPS. This is an interesting concept, but I probably won’t ever try it. Tactical Mass Combat turns mass combat into something of an abstract wargame. Some people like this article, but I’m not a fan of it. Abstract Wealth turns Wealth into an attribute, like in d20 Modern. This is probably a very good idea for high-TL games. Survivable Guns presents you rules to make guns more survivable. Overall, this is a very good issue, just like all Alternate GURPS issues.
Pyramid #3-46: Weird
Science
The standout article here is Metatronic Generators – one of the ways to turn an advantage into an item with a monetary price. It’s a very good article that was expanded in some other articles and books. Even if you’re not building items with it, you can use some of the new advantage modifiers from it – Limited Use, Thrown; Muscle-Powered Range; or Regulatable Limitation.
Pyramid #3-47: The
Rogue’s Life
May the Shadows Guide You has some premade learned prayers for roguish characters. The article itself is useful when creating a priest of a deity of rogues. It also has a new disadvantage – Compulsive Scheming. Who’s Gonna Buy This? describes how fences work and introduces a new technique – Trading in Illegal Goods.
Pyramid #3-48: Secret
Magic
The Way of the Keepers describes a new magical style and a new secret spell – Confuse Memory. Bibliomancy is an article full of new spells that deal with books – I really like this one.
Pyramid #3-49:
World-Hopping
A Song of Many Worlds is a very interesting article about psionic communication with the planet itself, as it if were a sentient organism. Such concepts are sometimes present in fantasy and sci-fi fiction, and this is how you do it in GURPS. There is an entirely new psionic power – Plant Telepathy, along with new perks. This is, to my knowledge, the first time the Vital Creation and Vital Manipulation enhancements are printed for the Create and Control advantages, respectively. These enhancements could use some more detailed rules, however. Hyperjumping introduces some new modifiers for the Warp advantage to facilitate hyperspace travel instead of teleportation.
Pyramid #3-50: Dungeon
Fantasy II
Races as Professions introduces new templates, and a new skill specialty – Survival (Subterranean). Dark Summonings has variant spell lists for gray necromancers and infernal diabolists, and also a few premade abilities. The most interesting one is Banish – something new GMs may struggle to build with advantages. Soul Jar is a neat ability as well. There is also an excellent new perk – Deceptive or Secret Aura. Saintly Power-Ups has new power-ups for saints that you can use as inspiration for other abilities and new learned prayers. Power-Ups for Assassins is another article full of cool premade abilities and new perks. I highly recommend this issue even if you are not playing Dungeon Fantasy.
Pyramid #3-51: Tech
and Toys III
Another excellent issue. Ultra-Tech Too has many ultra-tech items – from food to warheads. This article also updates ultra-tech melee weapons for more compatibility with the later high-tech and low-tech books. Live Better with Cybernetics is almost mandatory if you want cybernetic enhancements to be a thing in your game – it greatly expands your array of options and allows you to customize your implants. It also finally talks about damage to cybernetics – something that was unclear previously. Modular Mecha presents another approach to making mechas. I like this one better than building mechas as spaceships. Near-Future Combat Uniforms has some interesting history, discussions, and new gear. The Psi-Sword is short but cool – energy blades whose effects depend on the psionic powers of the wielder.
Pyramid #3-52:
Low-Tech II
Yet another issue that I would highly recommend. Lord of the Manor is another article about agriculture and managing your small domain that is popular online. I haven’t used it, but I appreciate its existence. Low-Tech Armor Design is an excellent article that lets you design your own low-tech armor – one of the best articles ever. Delayed Gratification introduces a new maneuver – Setup Attack. It’s an interesting article, but I think it would fit better in an Alternate GURPS issue.
Pyramid #3-53: Action
Dogfight Action! adapts the chase system from GURPS Action 2: Exploits to airplane dogfights. I haven’t really looked into this one in much detail, but this is an interesting concept. Fortunately, I Saw This Coming has a new advantage – Foresight. It allows you to perform an action retroactively. Typically, this is intended for cinematic action villains or heroes, but I adapted it as a time-manipulating ability in one of other articles.
Pyramid #3-54: Social
Engineering
The Civil Arts in GURPS has new social techniques – Agenda, Big Store, Close Dancing, Dangerous Request, Elevated Speech, Elicitation, Mission Assignment, Pig in a Poke, Piggybacking, Short Change, Truce, Beguilement, Crowd Song, Fascination, Personal Guarantee, Power Gaze, and Resonance. Who knew that it’s possible to make this many social techniques? There are even some social styles built akin to martial styles. Speaking in Tongues is another article about languages, language groups, and language defaults. It also has a new advantage – Omnilingual. I really like this article. City Management is somewhat similar to Lord of the Manor two issues down, but on a larger scale.
Pyramid #3-55:
Military Sci-Fi
Another good one. Tactical Shooting: Tomorrow is an amazing article about near-future combat. It’s one of the best articles I’ve ever read. Also, it has rules for using guns in space and in different gravities. New styles, rules, gear options, and even new techniques – Corner-Shot and Zero-G Shooting. Future Soldier is another interesting article that complements the previous one.
Pyramid #3-57: Gunplay
Dodge This is a very popular article that describes how one can limit dodging firearms. Magic Bullets lets you make some really weird bullets, such as bullets with a wooden shell filled with garlic oil.
Pyramid #3-58: Urban
Fantasy II
This issue doesn’t really interest me much, but the City Botches mini-article has a nice variant critical spell failure table.
Pyramid #3-60: Dungeon
Fantasy III
Wizardry Refined is a must-have article for Dungeon Fantasy players and GMs alike. It tells you what spells are available to wizards, what spells are not available, and what alternative prerequisites are in effect much more clearly than the vague guidelines in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers. I use most of these guidelines to determine the scope of arcane magic in my games that do not even use the basic magic system. It’s a Trap! is another very good article that lets you create or generate randomly almost any fantasy trap imaginable. Mystic Power-Ups is an article full of imbuement-based power-ups and perks. It also has new imbuement skills – Acid Weapon, Fulminating Strike, Multistrike, and Stabilized Shot. This is also the only place where effective Recoil for muscle-powered ranged weapons is described.
Pyramid #3-61: Way of
the Warrior
More Power to Dungeon Warriors! is an excellent article with a plethora of combat power-ups and perks. Seriously, it has some very good stuff and is a great showcase of what the technique creation system from GURPS Martial Arts is capable of. Takedown Sequences described how to take somebody down with grappling moves from different positions. This is a good article for those who want to understand what techniques and moves should be used in what situations. Coming to Grips with Realism explains some unclear things about Technical Grappling and also provides some outtakes from the book. Some of the rules here, such as Grappling Critical Hit Table and Grappling Critical Miss Table can be applied to Fantastic Dungeon Grappling as well.
Pyramid #3-62:
Transhuman Space II
Eloi Games has two new techniques – Private Messaging and Synching.
Pyramid #3-63: Infinite
Worlds II
The Power of Sorcery is where the origin of the Sorcery system lies. If you compare it with the rules from GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery, you will find some differences. This article is more-or-less obsolete now, but you can take a look at it for some Fire spells. Several of them are… a bit off, however. Lord of Your Own Domain introduces a new Jumper variant – Jumper (Pocket Dimension) – and reprints the Vital Creation/Manipulation enhancements. There’s also a new psionic ability based on this advantage – Psi-Realm. This is an excellent article, I love it.
Pyramid #3-64: Pirates
and Swashbucklers
Scurvy-Dog Sorcery describes a magical style and three new spells – Identify Loot, Safe Boarding, and Seek Navy. Sailing the Open Skies has a new enhancement for Signature Gear – Deep Pockets.
Pyramid #3-65:
Alternate GURPS III
Well, this is one of the best issues – all Alternate GURPS issues are. Buckets of Points describes a way to separate character points into different categories on character creation. Team Up! is an excellent article that describes new advantages – Coordinated Action and Natural Leader, a bunch of new perks, and the new Guidance skill that lets you support your allies from the position of leadership. Alternate Guns Specialties and Techniques make Guns specialties make sense and introduces two new techniques – Burst-Fire and Payload Warhead. Natural Weapons is such a great article that I devoted an entire post to it already. Read it, use it, you won’t regret it. Everyman Tasks shows you what simple tasks take that sweet +4 or +5 bonus. By Default is a fascinating article that always attracted my attention. It reworks the skill default system to make default use from high attribute levels more difficult. I want to try this out someday. A Full Complement expands the complementary skill rules.
Pyramid #3-66: The
Laws of Magic
I do not like Ritual Path Magic, but this is a must-have issue for those who do. Aside from that, The Material Difference is an article about using various valuable resources found during adventures for enchantments. While it is written for the basic magic system in mind, it can be adapted to other systems.
Pyramid #3-67: Tools
of the Trade: Villains
You and What Army? has a new troop feature for mass combat – Sluggish.
Pyramid #3-68: Natural
Magic
The Magic Desert is a great article about various supernatural desert flora, fauna, weathers, and hazards. Magic of the Shaded Woodlands has a new magical style and new secret spells – Plant Zombie, Poison Thorns, and Rain of Thorns. Ars Metallica introduces a new Alchemy specialty – Alchemy (Metallic) – and provides a plethora of new elixirs for it. Green Power has many plant-based abilities built as powers. Designer’s Notes: Wilderness Adventures has new druid variants and the Nature’s Strength Revisited sidebar that reworks the Nature power modifier. If you are playing a druid, I highly recommend checking this one out.
Pyramid #3-69:
Psionics II
A Little Bit Psychic has some new psionic perks and minor abilities. Mind and Body has some psionic martial arts and new psionic techniques – Battle Precog, Independent, and Instant Read - some new perks, and new abilities – Psi-Shield and Psi-Sword. I do not like this Psi-Sword build, because I prefer Natural Weapons, but the Transparent Blade technique answers one question that I often see – what if my weapon is invisible but I am visible? Expanded Psi for Sandmen has some new psionic abilities for the Madness Dossier setting.
Pyramid #3-70: Fourth
Edition Festival
Ten for Ten lists ten rules that Sean Punch believes to be worthy of being included in the Basic Set. It’s an interesting read.
Pyramid #3-71:
Spaceships II
Vehicle Imbuements introduces, well, vehicle imbuements, some new perks, a new advantage – Enhanced Block (Vehicular), and a new enhancement for Energy Reserve – Operator Siphon. The Captain’s Boat describes a way to treat your spaceship as a Patron.
Pyramid #3-72:
Alternate Dungeons
Dungeon Fantasy Video Gaming has a new enhancement for Shapeshifting – Occupational-Shifting.
Pyramid #3-75: Hero’s
Jackpot
A Familiar Path is one of my favorite articles. It describes how familiars can work in GURPS and lists several premade abilities with some unique modifiers that you won’t find anywhere else. There are new modifiers for Ally to make it work like an extension of the caster’s body, the Mind Bleed limitation, new limitations for Energy Reserve, and new enhancements for Magic Resistance – Spell Absorption and Potent Resistance. Most importantly, this article also makes the Granted by Familiar limitation more granular, depending on the familiar’s properties. I’d say that this is a must-have article if you have familiars in your game.
Pyramid #3-76: Dungeon
Fantasy IV
Psychic Swords Against Elder Evil has yet another Psychic Sword build. I prefer to use Natural Weapons. Hidden Knowledge has new secret spells – Archmagi’s Recuperation, Balor’s Eye Fire, Dwarvish Reinforcement, Elvish Grace, Impart Skill, Mass Coolness, Mass Shade, Self-Repairing, and Transfigure Object. It also has new manual modifiers.
Pyramid #3-77: Combat
The standout article that is so good that it makes the entire issue worth the price is Combat Writ Large. This article is very complex as it covers everything related to big size differences. It answers many questions that neither GURPS Basic Set nor GURPS Martial Arts do. This is definitely a good one. On Target is probably another article that should be in an Alternate GURPS issue. This one turns Aim into a skill roll. I’ve heard many good things about this article, but I have not tried it in action yet.
Pyramid #3-78: Unleash
Your Soul
Blessed Be is an interesting article that deconstructs the Blessed advantage and lets you create your own. Cursed Thou Art does the same with Divine Curse. This article also has a new enhancement for Affliction – Malfunction.
Pyramid #3-82: Magical
Creations
Dungeon Brewmasters has some new alchemy rules, new equipment, and new power-ups. The Sorcerer has a good rule for cantrips as learned spells for sorcerers, a couple of new spells, and updates to the spells from Pyramid #3-63.
Pyramid #3-83:
Alternate GURPS IV
Another Alternate GURPS issue, yes! Knowing Your Own Strength is an alternative ST system. Playing With Health reworks the HT attribute, but this article is now more-or-less obsolete due to GURPS Power-Ups 9: Alternate Attributes. Possessions Under Control is an interesting article about treating mental struggle for control in a manner similar to how Technical Grappling does grappling. However, this requires a very specific game to be relevant. There are some new modifiers, such as Transformative for Possession.
Pyramid #3-84:
Perspectives
Heroes on the Mass Scale lets you transform your character into a mass combat element. For the mass combat system, there is a new mobility class (Teleportation), a new special class (Phasing), and new troop features (Swift, (Specific) Affinity, and Self-Sufficient). There is also a new advantage – Indefatigable.
Pyramid #3-85: Cutting
Edge
Training for the Tech has some new combat styles and perks. Remixing the Rocker has new Musical Instrument specialties – Infrasound and Ultrasound, a new Singing specialty – Subliminal, and a new Esoteric Medicine specialty – Music. Cutting Edge Armor Design expands the armor design system. Free Falling is a very interesting article about combat in zero-G.
Pyramid #3-87: Low-Tech
III
The Broken Blade introduces a whole new system of weapon breakage. It’s an intriguing system, but I have no used it, at least yet. Purveyors of the Priceless is an interesting article about trading. There is a new advantage – Bartering Capacity, and a bunch of new perks for merchants. Medieval Sea Trade is another article about merchants, with new rules for negotiating for a better price, finding buyers, etc.
Pyramid #3-89:
Alternate Dungeons II
Eastern Adventures has a new advantage – Heroic Thrower – and a lot of various interesting power-ups. Check them out!
Pyramid #3-91:
Thaumatology IV
Technomysticism has a new advantage – Machine Empathy. Dark Alchemy has several new alchemical elixirs. The Thaumaturgy of Metallurgy has an entire new college of magic – College of Metal, and also has guidelines on removing metal effects from the existing Earth spells. Codex Duello has the only published example of an Affliction with Self Only. It also has some new skill specialties, such as Fast-Draw (Wand).
Pyramid #3-92: Zombies
Unlife Support has a new spell – Partial Resurrection – and a new elixir of the same name. Not Your Average Grave Robbing has a new variant Fright Check table for Despair.
Pyramid #3-93: Cops
and Lawyers
Mass Combat in the City has a new troop feature for mass combat – Law Enforcement Officer.
Pyramid #3-95:
Overland Adventures
The Emerald Hell is a very interesting article about jungle environments. Low-Tech Transportation is another very interesting article about, well, low-tech transportation, most importantly about the costs.
Pyramid #3-96: Tech
and Toys IV
High-Tech Building details some high-tech and ultra-tech building materials and technologies. This might come in handy when you have to take cover! The Arrow of Progress brings bows to ultra-tech. Ultra-Tech Armor Design expands the armor design system to cover ultra-tech armor – this is an excellent article that helps fixing some of armor problems. Titan Fightin’ has some nice cinematic rules for combat walkers and strong characters duking it out.
Pyramid #3-97: Strange
Powers
The High Psi article has a lot of advice and suggestions for psionic campaigns, a new skill – Psychic Recovery, and new techniques for many abilities from GURPS Psionic Powers.
Pyramid #3-99: Death
and Beyond
Necro-Psi introduces a new psionic power – Necrokinesis. It’s a pretty good one! This article also has some new enhancements and limitations for the Obscure advantage that greatly expand what it can do.
Pyramid #3-100
Impulse Control is a very good article, and I say this as a person who does not like meta-currencies. Realistic Injury, Expanded expands the realistic injury rules from GURPS Martial Arts. There are some interesting things in this article, especially if you like details.
Pyramid #3-102: Epic
Crafting Imbuements introduces a new category of imbuement skills that are used during the item’s creation process.
Pyramid #3-103: Setbacks
Mad as Bones introduces a system of mental stability. I haven’t used this article, but people seem to like it a lot.
Pyramid #3-105:
Cinematic Magic
Super-Sorcery! has new optional rules for sorcerers. Most importantly, it has the Adjustable enhancement for the Ally adavantage. Chi Sorcery reworks all existing esoteric skills as abilities made with advantages, while also introducing some new enhancements and limitations, and making the chi imbalance rules more detailed. Theo-Necromancy has a new spell – Summon Divine Ghost. Gourmet Alchemy describes a very interesting powers-based approach to alchemy.
Pyramid #3-109:
Thaumatology V
The Teramancers describes a new magical style and new secret spells – Call Monster, Imprint Monster, Monster Within, Primordial Dissolution, and Teragenesis.
Pyramid #3-110: Deep
Space
An Alien Way of Thinking has some premade abilities for alternate ways of experiencing the world. These can be used in fantasy games as well.
Pyramid #3-111: Combat
II
The Witched Gun has a new spell – Essential Gunpowder – and a new sorcery spell – Firearm Hex. Animal Combat Styles is a very interesting article about animal combat that has some new techniques that could be used not only by animals.
Pyramid #3-112: Action
II
The Thrill of the Chase is a nice expansion for the chase system from GURPS Action 2: Exploits.
Pyramid #3-113:
Dungeon Fantasies
Simple Spell Components describes probably the most elegant way of handling material components for spells; I highly recommend this article. Designer’s Notes: Dungeon Fantasy Traps has a new spell – Mystical Runes.
Pyramid #3-114: Mind
over Magic
Names Have Powers is a great article about using true names in different magic systems. Glass Magic and the Specularii describes a sub-college of Earth magic – Glass magic.
Pyramid #3-115:
Technomancer
El Paso Vice has new spells – Jam Radio, Interference, and Redline. Merlin Declassified has even more new spells – Ball of Annihilation, Blackbolt, Body of Illusion, Body of Light, Laser Eyes, Light Speech, Microwave Jet, Sense Light, Soulspace, and Starbolt. It also has a new alchemical elixir. Revised Templates, Come Fourth! has a new enhancement for the Binding advantage – Retractable.
Pyramid #3-118: The
Fantasy Trip
The Shield-Bearer introduces a new shield-based template for DFRPG, but also some new shield-related rules and power-ups. All of them were reprinted in Shields Up!
Pyramid #3-120:
Alternate GURPS V
Opus Longa, Pugna Brevis turns non-combat tasks into something of a mini-game to make things more exciting in action-oriented games. Describing Vehicles is a great article for porting a real world vehicle to GURPS. The Fifth Attribute introduces Quintessence, a new attribute that governs supernatural abilities. This article is more-or-less obsolete now with the release of GURPS Power-Ups 9: Alternate Attributes. Conditional Injury describes an alternate injury system. Many people like it a lot!
Pyramid #3-122: All
Good Things
Chevaliers and Commanders expands the usage of the Guidance skill introduced in Pyramid #3-65. Native American Crusaders describes a new enhancement for Addliction – Task Modifier.
Then we have two special issues:
Pyramid: Dungeon Fantasy Collected
This is just a compilation of Dungeon Fantasy articles from all the issues. I don’t think it has anything new.
Pyramid: Dungeon
Collection
Now this is more interesting – this special issue compiles and updates some articles from the first two volumes of Pyramid. So, for people who started with Volume 3, all of this is new! Honestly, the only one that caught my eye here is Chaos and Ritual that has some interesting chaos magic mechanics and a chaotic side effect table.
That’s it for volume 3, but there is volume 4!
Pyramid #4-1:
Fantasy/Magic I
Toxic Grimoire introduces an entire new college of magic – the college of Poison. Healing and Purification Ritual Path Magic has a nice box about limiting supernatural healing that can be used even outside RPM. Tactical Looting is a great article about running dungeons with a time limit. Supernatural Energy is another interesting magic article that gives some new options to different magic systems. There are some nice applications of the Control Mana advantage, new perks, new abilities made to drain energy, and even a new skill – Power Tapping. I think this article has a lot of potential.
Pyramid #4-2:
Modern/Action I
Secret Masters introduces a new advantage – Illuminated Master, and some new techniques.
Pyramid #4-3:
Sci-Fi/Tech I
Putting Science in Your Fiction discusses the application of the invention rules to theoretical problems. More Options for Metatronic Generators expands the Metatronic Generator ruleset from Pyramid #3-46 with some new options – that’s great! Mind Over Time describes a new psionic power – Chronokinesis. Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes discusses gamifying the Sports skill.
Pyramid #4-4:
Fantasy/Magic II
Dungeon Diving describes the application of the underwater rules from Pyramid #3-26 in Dungeon Fantasy. It also has some new stuff, such as rules for iron equipment rusting underwater.
Pyramid #4-5:
Modern/Action II
Technopathy has a new advantage – Speak with Inanimate.
Pyramid #4-6:
Sci-Fi/Tech II
Today’s Tomorrow, Tomorrow’s Yesterday discusses some technologies that are TL9 or almost TL9, but that exist in the modern times.
And that’s it for now!
The standout article for me in this issue is Necromantic Tools by Sean Punch. What I like here the most is a collection of undead arm replacements built as powers and mechanics for their attachment. This is an alternative approach to grafting and limb replacement that is different from those described in GURPS Bio-Tech and GURPS Ultra-Tech.
The Society of Siege Sorcerers article has some new spells for the basic magic system. The Perfect Defense article is a very interesting one – it introduces the concept of defensive imbuements that are applied to armor and shields instead of weapons. Even though many of these skills are underwhelming and one of them doesn’t actually work, this is a good expansion for GURPS Power-Up 1: Imbuements. The Battle Strategies article has a Mass Combat counterpart for GURPS Combat Cards – that’s pretty cool. Aside from these articles, there is a lot of advice on how magic would alter a low-tech battlefield.
The Surprises from Mother Nature has a new disadvantage – Compulsive Sexual Activity. This is different from Lecherousness, do not confuse the two. The same article has a new enhancement for the Flight advantage – Soaring. It was later reprinted in GURPS Powers: Nature and Totem Spirits.
An article called Of Sound and Signs has new limitations for Magery – Aural Magery that is based on the ambient noise and location-limited Boundary Magery.
This issue has Designer’s Notes: GURPS Psionic Powers. This article explains some under the hood mechanics for certain techniques, a new extra effort variant, a new ability – Control Limb, a new limitation – Limited by Margin, and a new perk – Dowsing (Utility). The Fight the Future article has some interesting futuristic martial arts, two new perks – Quick Extension and Rolling Stone, a new technique – (Environment Suit) (Skill) Training, and a new skill – Precognitive Block.
Overall, this is a great issue. More Ultra! More Tech! has a lot of new gear, armor, cybernetics, and other futuristic fun tech stuff. Paper Cells presents an alternative approach to power cells. Psi-Powered Imbuements does a great job assigning imbuement skills to specific psionic powers. Finally, More Survival and Camping Gear has, well, more survival and camping gear.
The Mystic Knight article has two new imbuement skills – Reinforce Weapon and Returning Weapon, and a bunch of imbuement-related perks. Odds and Ends adds another new imbuement skill – Reinforce Shield.
The standout article here is Fight while in Flight that has martial styles for flying characters and expanded rules for aerial combat, including new techniques.
Transhuman Action! has a new perk – Combat Leaping. I’m pretty sure it was reprinted somewhere else. It also has some variant rules in regards to gravity. Big Media Memetics expands the memetics rules.
Minding Your Manners explains how to incorporate manners and other cultural codes of conduct into your game. Languages, Culture, and the Common Tongue is an excellent article that discusses language defaults, trade pidgins, and the incorporation of a common language. It also has a new perk – Linguist.
My favorite article in this issue is Cold Horizon. This fascinating article describes colonies built on cometary bodies in the Kuiper Belt.
Auras of Power introduces the Aura meta-enhancement that was later reprinted in GURPS Power-Ups 4: Enhancements. Alongside the meta-enhancements, it has several examples.
Infinite Teleportation expands the Teleportation psionic power with new abilities – Blink Missiles, Personal Recall, Quantum-Jumping, and Reality Stabilization. Autoteleport gets new techniques – Multiport and Tunneling. There are also three new Teleportation perks – Clear Blockage, Tele-Throw, and Teleport Trigger. In addition, it has an interesting box that describes the effects of using the Control advantage to control psionic energy.
Console Cowboys and Cyberspace Kung Fu is almost a must-have article for cyberpunk campaigns. It details the mechanics of netrunning and all adjacent concepts. Keeping it Real is another interesting article that can be useful in any game. This article discusses some advantages that GURPS Basic Set lists as realistic and explains why they are or are not. One of the best things in this article is the downgraded version of Perfect Balance called Excellent Balance [10].
Chase Cards can be useful when learning the Chase system from GURPS Action 2: Exploits.
The Biomecha article introduces the concept of biomecha – very useful for futuristic games. Better Living Through Pharmaceuticals gives us many new drugs for high-TL games.
The Essential Magic article details many new spells for the standard magic system that are based around essential elements – hellfire, stygian ice, alkahest, etc. Be careful with hellfire spells, they seem to be a bit too strong, since they can only be quenched with Essential Water and ignite things that are very difficult to ignite otherwise.
The main article here is GURPS Fathom Five – it is necessary if you are running a game set underwater or if you are introducing aquatic environments in your game.
It’s Pure Chemistry! has some new rules for the standard alchemy system and several new elixirs. It also has a new spell – Internalize Elixir. Yellow Goblin Magic has a new magical style and a few new spells – Alter Gender, Androgyny, Dye Yellow, Sense Goblin, Sense Man, Spark of Eros, True King, Trusted Fellow, and Sunburst. This is not the same Sunburst as the one from GURPS Magic: Artillery Spells. Ceremonial Magic Made Easy is a good expansion for the ceremonial magic mechanics.
Expanded Psychokinesis is a great article that gives the Psychokinesis psionic power new abilities – TK Burst, Belaying and TK Grab (Hyper), and introduces the Sonokinesis sub-power that might as well be a separate power in some games. Psionic sound manipulation abilities include Acoustic Manipulation, Echolocation, Muffle, and Wail. Of course, there are some new techniques for existing abilities, and several new sonokinesis perks. The Edge of Psience article describes catalyst creatures, something like familiars for psionic characters.
One with the Ship has new advantages – Enhanced Dodge (Vehicular) and Soul of the Machine, plus the Vehicle Bond perk. It also provides some new cybernetics and rules for operating a vehicle through a neural interface. Mass Combat in Space expands the mass combat system of GURPS to support space combat.
Pulp Hunters! has one thing that might be interesting – two new uses of the Autohypnosis skill.
Oh, boy, this is a good one. The Deadly Spring is a well-known article that people meme about often. If you are very into bows, physics, and mathematics, then you can use it to create pretty much any bow or crossbow you’d ever want from any material. If you’re content with the existing bow and crossbow lineup, then this article isn’t required. At Play in the Fields describes various farming techniques and mechanics. I’ve seen many people online obsessed with this article, I have never thought that games about farming are this popular. Medieval Prisons talks about how prisons worked in the days of yore. A Killing Breath is an excellent article that greatly expands the customization options for blowpipes, making them much more interesting and effective. Roman Technology talks about technology available in the Roman era, it’s a good read. So, I like all the articles here and I highly recommend this issue.
And here we have another good one. A New Take on Grappling presents you an alternative grappling system that looks very interesting. I have not yet tried it in action, but I have heard many positive things about it. When We Were Very Small is an article about tiny characters and how they work in a campaign. One of the interesting things in this article is allowing fractional ST to increase granularity for small characters. Extreme Damage presents two potential ways to fix the problem of large vehicles and creatures being too easy to kill. Ten Tweaks to Customize Combat is an all-around great article with ten optional rules to spice up combat. Some of them are closer to errata that patches up some holes in the rules than new optional rules, however. For example, I didn’t even know that All-Out Attack (Strong) does not work with thrown weapons by default before I read this article. Armor Revisited presents an alternative way to treat armor. I’ve heard that armor-as-dice works well in high-TL games.
Alien Disadvantages is a very interesting article about racial disadvantages. It can be useful when creating unique alien species, but it can also be used in fantasy games. Making Something Alien is a similar article with general advice on creating alien species that feel unique. Alien Starting Conditions is yet another article on alien creation – this one describes how the native environment may affect the species.
The Demolisher introduces a TL3 gunpowder-based occupational template for Dungeon Fantasy. It is centered around gonnes and explosives, using alchemical shattersand instead of the actual gunpowder. This article is interesting not only because it provides a nice way to introduce gunpowder into a fantasy setting, but also because it fixes some missing rules from GURPS Low-Tech. Dungeon Saints introduces the system from GURPS Powers: Divine Favor to Dungeon Fantasy, also providing some saint-specific advantages and learned prayers. While I do not use Divine Favor, I know that it’s relatively popular. It also has a new modifier that allows you to make aspergillum maces. The Musketeer introduces another gunpowder-based template to Dungeon Fantasy, but this one uses TL4 weaponry. Aside from some useful guidelines and rules for gun control, it provides a nice list of generic firearms that can be used in any fantasy setting. Powering Up: Imbuements expands the imbuement system – it provides new enhancements for the Imbue advantage (for example, there is one that allows you to imbue weapons of others), lists skills appropriate for every supernatural template or power modifier, and a new imbuement skill – Underwater Strike.
Blaster and Laser Design is an excellent article that lets you make almost any energy weapon you want. These rules have been greatly expanded by certain bloggers online, making it even more comprehensive and flexible. Thinking Machines is another great article about ultra-tech computers. More Ultra-Tech Guns and Heavy Weapons is self-explanatory. Mr. Fixit expands the rules for equipment repair; it’s another good article. Future Hometech provides new pieces of ubiquitous ultra-tech items that can be found in any home. This is definitely another very good issue that I would highly recommend to read.
Mecha Operations provides a framework for making mechas with the GURPS Spaceships framework. I’m not a big fan of it, but people often recommend this article.
The Turning Points of History is an article I’ve used extensively – it generates historical events that shape your nation or a region in your setting. In the Jungle is a great article about jungles. I didn’t know about this one before writing this, but I did know about another article about jungles that will appear in a future issue.
The Gameable Bouncer has two new techniques – Bum’s Rush and Group Grappling.
Adelphos Dionysos has a new magical style with two secret spells – Fount of Wine and Oenomancy. Magic as Technological Progress introduces an interesting concept of Sorcery Levels, something like Technological Level, but for magic.
The Last Gasp significantly changes how combat works, introducing Action Points and making FP more important. I haven’t tried it, but I know that many people like this article. From Skill to Advantages is an interesting article that lets you turn some skills to advantages. Sorcery uses it for spells that impart effects of imbuement skills, and this article will let you do much more. Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously turns language into skills, like in the third edition of GURPS. This is an interesting concept, but I probably won’t ever try it. Tactical Mass Combat turns mass combat into something of an abstract wargame. Some people like this article, but I’m not a fan of it. Abstract Wealth turns Wealth into an attribute, like in d20 Modern. This is probably a very good idea for high-TL games. Survivable Guns presents you rules to make guns more survivable. Overall, this is a very good issue, just like all Alternate GURPS issues.
The standout article here is Metatronic Generators – one of the ways to turn an advantage into an item with a monetary price. It’s a very good article that was expanded in some other articles and books. Even if you’re not building items with it, you can use some of the new advantage modifiers from it – Limited Use, Thrown; Muscle-Powered Range; or Regulatable Limitation.
May the Shadows Guide You has some premade learned prayers for roguish characters. The article itself is useful when creating a priest of a deity of rogues. It also has a new disadvantage – Compulsive Scheming. Who’s Gonna Buy This? describes how fences work and introduces a new technique – Trading in Illegal Goods.
The Way of the Keepers describes a new magical style and a new secret spell – Confuse Memory. Bibliomancy is an article full of new spells that deal with books – I really like this one.
A Song of Many Worlds is a very interesting article about psionic communication with the planet itself, as it if were a sentient organism. Such concepts are sometimes present in fantasy and sci-fi fiction, and this is how you do it in GURPS. There is an entirely new psionic power – Plant Telepathy, along with new perks. This is, to my knowledge, the first time the Vital Creation and Vital Manipulation enhancements are printed for the Create and Control advantages, respectively. These enhancements could use some more detailed rules, however. Hyperjumping introduces some new modifiers for the Warp advantage to facilitate hyperspace travel instead of teleportation.
Races as Professions introduces new templates, and a new skill specialty – Survival (Subterranean). Dark Summonings has variant spell lists for gray necromancers and infernal diabolists, and also a few premade abilities. The most interesting one is Banish – something new GMs may struggle to build with advantages. Soul Jar is a neat ability as well. There is also an excellent new perk – Deceptive or Secret Aura. Saintly Power-Ups has new power-ups for saints that you can use as inspiration for other abilities and new learned prayers. Power-Ups for Assassins is another article full of cool premade abilities and new perks. I highly recommend this issue even if you are not playing Dungeon Fantasy.
Another excellent issue. Ultra-Tech Too has many ultra-tech items – from food to warheads. This article also updates ultra-tech melee weapons for more compatibility with the later high-tech and low-tech books. Live Better with Cybernetics is almost mandatory if you want cybernetic enhancements to be a thing in your game – it greatly expands your array of options and allows you to customize your implants. It also finally talks about damage to cybernetics – something that was unclear previously. Modular Mecha presents another approach to making mechas. I like this one better than building mechas as spaceships. Near-Future Combat Uniforms has some interesting history, discussions, and new gear. The Psi-Sword is short but cool – energy blades whose effects depend on the psionic powers of the wielder.
Yet another issue that I would highly recommend. Lord of the Manor is another article about agriculture and managing your small domain that is popular online. I haven’t used it, but I appreciate its existence. Low-Tech Armor Design is an excellent article that lets you design your own low-tech armor – one of the best articles ever. Delayed Gratification introduces a new maneuver – Setup Attack. It’s an interesting article, but I think it would fit better in an Alternate GURPS issue.
Dogfight Action! adapts the chase system from GURPS Action 2: Exploits to airplane dogfights. I haven’t really looked into this one in much detail, but this is an interesting concept. Fortunately, I Saw This Coming has a new advantage – Foresight. It allows you to perform an action retroactively. Typically, this is intended for cinematic action villains or heroes, but I adapted it as a time-manipulating ability in one of other articles.
The Civil Arts in GURPS has new social techniques – Agenda, Big Store, Close Dancing, Dangerous Request, Elevated Speech, Elicitation, Mission Assignment, Pig in a Poke, Piggybacking, Short Change, Truce, Beguilement, Crowd Song, Fascination, Personal Guarantee, Power Gaze, and Resonance. Who knew that it’s possible to make this many social techniques? There are even some social styles built akin to martial styles. Speaking in Tongues is another article about languages, language groups, and language defaults. It also has a new advantage – Omnilingual. I really like this article. City Management is somewhat similar to Lord of the Manor two issues down, but on a larger scale.
Another good one. Tactical Shooting: Tomorrow is an amazing article about near-future combat. It’s one of the best articles I’ve ever read. Also, it has rules for using guns in space and in different gravities. New styles, rules, gear options, and even new techniques – Corner-Shot and Zero-G Shooting. Future Soldier is another interesting article that complements the previous one.
Dodge This is a very popular article that describes how one can limit dodging firearms. Magic Bullets lets you make some really weird bullets, such as bullets with a wooden shell filled with garlic oil.
This issue doesn’t really interest me much, but the City Botches mini-article has a nice variant critical spell failure table.
Wizardry Refined is a must-have article for Dungeon Fantasy players and GMs alike. It tells you what spells are available to wizards, what spells are not available, and what alternative prerequisites are in effect much more clearly than the vague guidelines in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 1: Adventurers. I use most of these guidelines to determine the scope of arcane magic in my games that do not even use the basic magic system. It’s a Trap! is another very good article that lets you create or generate randomly almost any fantasy trap imaginable. Mystic Power-Ups is an article full of imbuement-based power-ups and perks. It also has new imbuement skills – Acid Weapon, Fulminating Strike, Multistrike, and Stabilized Shot. This is also the only place where effective Recoil for muscle-powered ranged weapons is described.
More Power to Dungeon Warriors! is an excellent article with a plethora of combat power-ups and perks. Seriously, it has some very good stuff and is a great showcase of what the technique creation system from GURPS Martial Arts is capable of. Takedown Sequences described how to take somebody down with grappling moves from different positions. This is a good article for those who want to understand what techniques and moves should be used in what situations. Coming to Grips with Realism explains some unclear things about Technical Grappling and also provides some outtakes from the book. Some of the rules here, such as Grappling Critical Hit Table and Grappling Critical Miss Table can be applied to Fantastic Dungeon Grappling as well.
Eloi Games has two new techniques – Private Messaging and Synching.
The Power of Sorcery is where the origin of the Sorcery system lies. If you compare it with the rules from GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery, you will find some differences. This article is more-or-less obsolete now, but you can take a look at it for some Fire spells. Several of them are… a bit off, however. Lord of Your Own Domain introduces a new Jumper variant – Jumper (Pocket Dimension) – and reprints the Vital Creation/Manipulation enhancements. There’s also a new psionic ability based on this advantage – Psi-Realm. This is an excellent article, I love it.
Scurvy-Dog Sorcery describes a magical style and three new spells – Identify Loot, Safe Boarding, and Seek Navy. Sailing the Open Skies has a new enhancement for Signature Gear – Deep Pockets.
Well, this is one of the best issues – all Alternate GURPS issues are. Buckets of Points describes a way to separate character points into different categories on character creation. Team Up! is an excellent article that describes new advantages – Coordinated Action and Natural Leader, a bunch of new perks, and the new Guidance skill that lets you support your allies from the position of leadership. Alternate Guns Specialties and Techniques make Guns specialties make sense and introduces two new techniques – Burst-Fire and Payload Warhead. Natural Weapons is such a great article that I devoted an entire post to it already. Read it, use it, you won’t regret it. Everyman Tasks shows you what simple tasks take that sweet +4 or +5 bonus. By Default is a fascinating article that always attracted my attention. It reworks the skill default system to make default use from high attribute levels more difficult. I want to try this out someday. A Full Complement expands the complementary skill rules.
I do not like Ritual Path Magic, but this is a must-have issue for those who do. Aside from that, The Material Difference is an article about using various valuable resources found during adventures for enchantments. While it is written for the basic magic system in mind, it can be adapted to other systems.
You and What Army? has a new troop feature for mass combat – Sluggish.
The Magic Desert is a great article about various supernatural desert flora, fauna, weathers, and hazards. Magic of the Shaded Woodlands has a new magical style and new secret spells – Plant Zombie, Poison Thorns, and Rain of Thorns. Ars Metallica introduces a new Alchemy specialty – Alchemy (Metallic) – and provides a plethora of new elixirs for it. Green Power has many plant-based abilities built as powers. Designer’s Notes: Wilderness Adventures has new druid variants and the Nature’s Strength Revisited sidebar that reworks the Nature power modifier. If you are playing a druid, I highly recommend checking this one out.
A Little Bit Psychic has some new psionic perks and minor abilities. Mind and Body has some psionic martial arts and new psionic techniques – Battle Precog, Independent, and Instant Read - some new perks, and new abilities – Psi-Shield and Psi-Sword. I do not like this Psi-Sword build, because I prefer Natural Weapons, but the Transparent Blade technique answers one question that I often see – what if my weapon is invisible but I am visible? Expanded Psi for Sandmen has some new psionic abilities for the Madness Dossier setting.
Ten for Ten lists ten rules that Sean Punch believes to be worthy of being included in the Basic Set. It’s an interesting read.
Vehicle Imbuements introduces, well, vehicle imbuements, some new perks, a new advantage – Enhanced Block (Vehicular), and a new enhancement for Energy Reserve – Operator Siphon. The Captain’s Boat describes a way to treat your spaceship as a Patron.
Dungeon Fantasy Video Gaming has a new enhancement for Shapeshifting – Occupational-Shifting.
A Familiar Path is one of my favorite articles. It describes how familiars can work in GURPS and lists several premade abilities with some unique modifiers that you won’t find anywhere else. There are new modifiers for Ally to make it work like an extension of the caster’s body, the Mind Bleed limitation, new limitations for Energy Reserve, and new enhancements for Magic Resistance – Spell Absorption and Potent Resistance. Most importantly, this article also makes the Granted by Familiar limitation more granular, depending on the familiar’s properties. I’d say that this is a must-have article if you have familiars in your game.
Psychic Swords Against Elder Evil has yet another Psychic Sword build. I prefer to use Natural Weapons. Hidden Knowledge has new secret spells – Archmagi’s Recuperation, Balor’s Eye Fire, Dwarvish Reinforcement, Elvish Grace, Impart Skill, Mass Coolness, Mass Shade, Self-Repairing, and Transfigure Object. It also has new manual modifiers.
The standout article that is so good that it makes the entire issue worth the price is Combat Writ Large. This article is very complex as it covers everything related to big size differences. It answers many questions that neither GURPS Basic Set nor GURPS Martial Arts do. This is definitely a good one. On Target is probably another article that should be in an Alternate GURPS issue. This one turns Aim into a skill roll. I’ve heard many good things about this article, but I have not tried it in action yet.
Blessed Be is an interesting article that deconstructs the Blessed advantage and lets you create your own. Cursed Thou Art does the same with Divine Curse. This article also has a new enhancement for Affliction – Malfunction.
Dungeon Brewmasters has some new alchemy rules, new equipment, and new power-ups. The Sorcerer has a good rule for cantrips as learned spells for sorcerers, a couple of new spells, and updates to the spells from Pyramid #3-63.
Another Alternate GURPS issue, yes! Knowing Your Own Strength is an alternative ST system. Playing With Health reworks the HT attribute, but this article is now more-or-less obsolete due to GURPS Power-Ups 9: Alternate Attributes. Possessions Under Control is an interesting article about treating mental struggle for control in a manner similar to how Technical Grappling does grappling. However, this requires a very specific game to be relevant. There are some new modifiers, such as Transformative for Possession.
Heroes on the Mass Scale lets you transform your character into a mass combat element. For the mass combat system, there is a new mobility class (Teleportation), a new special class (Phasing), and new troop features (Swift, (Specific) Affinity, and Self-Sufficient). There is also a new advantage – Indefatigable.
Training for the Tech has some new combat styles and perks. Remixing the Rocker has new Musical Instrument specialties – Infrasound and Ultrasound, a new Singing specialty – Subliminal, and a new Esoteric Medicine specialty – Music. Cutting Edge Armor Design expands the armor design system. Free Falling is a very interesting article about combat in zero-G.
The Broken Blade introduces a whole new system of weapon breakage. It’s an intriguing system, but I have no used it, at least yet. Purveyors of the Priceless is an interesting article about trading. There is a new advantage – Bartering Capacity, and a bunch of new perks for merchants. Medieval Sea Trade is another article about merchants, with new rules for negotiating for a better price, finding buyers, etc.
Eastern Adventures has a new advantage – Heroic Thrower – and a lot of various interesting power-ups. Check them out!
Technomysticism has a new advantage – Machine Empathy. Dark Alchemy has several new alchemical elixirs. The Thaumaturgy of Metallurgy has an entire new college of magic – College of Metal, and also has guidelines on removing metal effects from the existing Earth spells. Codex Duello has the only published example of an Affliction with Self Only. It also has some new skill specialties, such as Fast-Draw (Wand).
Unlife Support has a new spell – Partial Resurrection – and a new elixir of the same name. Not Your Average Grave Robbing has a new variant Fright Check table for Despair.
Mass Combat in the City has a new troop feature for mass combat – Law Enforcement Officer.
The Emerald Hell is a very interesting article about jungle environments. Low-Tech Transportation is another very interesting article about, well, low-tech transportation, most importantly about the costs.
High-Tech Building details some high-tech and ultra-tech building materials and technologies. This might come in handy when you have to take cover! The Arrow of Progress brings bows to ultra-tech. Ultra-Tech Armor Design expands the armor design system to cover ultra-tech armor – this is an excellent article that helps fixing some of armor problems. Titan Fightin’ has some nice cinematic rules for combat walkers and strong characters duking it out.
The High Psi article has a lot of advice and suggestions for psionic campaigns, a new skill – Psychic Recovery, and new techniques for many abilities from GURPS Psionic Powers.
Necro-Psi introduces a new psionic power – Necrokinesis. It’s a pretty good one! This article also has some new enhancements and limitations for the Obscure advantage that greatly expand what it can do.
Impulse Control is a very good article, and I say this as a person who does not like meta-currencies. Realistic Injury, Expanded expands the realistic injury rules from GURPS Martial Arts. There are some interesting things in this article, especially if you like details.
Crafting Imbuements introduces a new category of imbuement skills that are used during the item’s creation process.
Mad as Bones introduces a system of mental stability. I haven’t used this article, but people seem to like it a lot.
Super-Sorcery! has new optional rules for sorcerers. Most importantly, it has the Adjustable enhancement for the Ally adavantage. Chi Sorcery reworks all existing esoteric skills as abilities made with advantages, while also introducing some new enhancements and limitations, and making the chi imbalance rules more detailed. Theo-Necromancy has a new spell – Summon Divine Ghost. Gourmet Alchemy describes a very interesting powers-based approach to alchemy.
The Teramancers describes a new magical style and new secret spells – Call Monster, Imprint Monster, Monster Within, Primordial Dissolution, and Teragenesis.
An Alien Way of Thinking has some premade abilities for alternate ways of experiencing the world. These can be used in fantasy games as well.
The Witched Gun has a new spell – Essential Gunpowder – and a new sorcery spell – Firearm Hex. Animal Combat Styles is a very interesting article about animal combat that has some new techniques that could be used not only by animals.
The Thrill of the Chase is a nice expansion for the chase system from GURPS Action 2: Exploits.
Simple Spell Components describes probably the most elegant way of handling material components for spells; I highly recommend this article. Designer’s Notes: Dungeon Fantasy Traps has a new spell – Mystical Runes.
Names Have Powers is a great article about using true names in different magic systems. Glass Magic and the Specularii describes a sub-college of Earth magic – Glass magic.
El Paso Vice has new spells – Jam Radio, Interference, and Redline. Merlin Declassified has even more new spells – Ball of Annihilation, Blackbolt, Body of Illusion, Body of Light, Laser Eyes, Light Speech, Microwave Jet, Sense Light, Soulspace, and Starbolt. It also has a new alchemical elixir. Revised Templates, Come Fourth! has a new enhancement for the Binding advantage – Retractable.
The Shield-Bearer introduces a new shield-based template for DFRPG, but also some new shield-related rules and power-ups. All of them were reprinted in Shields Up!
Opus Longa, Pugna Brevis turns non-combat tasks into something of a mini-game to make things more exciting in action-oriented games. Describing Vehicles is a great article for porting a real world vehicle to GURPS. The Fifth Attribute introduces Quintessence, a new attribute that governs supernatural abilities. This article is more-or-less obsolete now with the release of GURPS Power-Ups 9: Alternate Attributes. Conditional Injury describes an alternate injury system. Many people like it a lot!
Chevaliers and Commanders expands the usage of the Guidance skill introduced in Pyramid #3-65. Native American Crusaders describes a new enhancement for Addliction – Task Modifier.
Pyramid: Dungeon Fantasy Collected
This is just a compilation of Dungeon Fantasy articles from all the issues. I don’t think it has anything new.
Now this is more interesting – this special issue compiles and updates some articles from the first two volumes of Pyramid. So, for people who started with Volume 3, all of this is new! Honestly, the only one that caught my eye here is Chaos and Ritual that has some interesting chaos magic mechanics and a chaotic side effect table.
Toxic Grimoire introduces an entire new college of magic – the college of Poison. Healing and Purification Ritual Path Magic has a nice box about limiting supernatural healing that can be used even outside RPM. Tactical Looting is a great article about running dungeons with a time limit. Supernatural Energy is another interesting magic article that gives some new options to different magic systems. There are some nice applications of the Control Mana advantage, new perks, new abilities made to drain energy, and even a new skill – Power Tapping. I think this article has a lot of potential.
Secret Masters introduces a new advantage – Illuminated Master, and some new techniques.
Putting Science in Your Fiction discusses the application of the invention rules to theoretical problems. More Options for Metatronic Generators expands the Metatronic Generator ruleset from Pyramid #3-46 with some new options – that’s great! Mind Over Time describes a new psionic power – Chronokinesis. Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes discusses gamifying the Sports skill.
Dungeon Diving describes the application of the underwater rules from Pyramid #3-26 in Dungeon Fantasy. It also has some new stuff, such as rules for iron equipment rusting underwater.
Technopathy has a new advantage – Speak with Inanimate.
Today’s Tomorrow, Tomorrow’s Yesterday discusses some technologies that are TL9 or almost TL9, but that exist in the modern times.
In regard to 3/33, "The Deadly Spring" also includes some expanded rules on using bows, not just that complex construction system. As for farming, I suspect that most of us who like "At Play in the Fields" do so because it helps with putting together a domain management system with more logistical depth than Realm Management. It might be worthwhile to bump it (and "Lord of the Manor" from 3/52) up to TL5, 6, maybe even as high as 7 for some campaigns.
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