Over the past few weeks, GMShadow has been chatting with me about the need for a simple introduction to GURPS. Since then, we’ve been collaborating – along with other interested folk from the RPR Discord – to create Simple Dungeon GURPS.

We have a working draft of Simple Dungeon GURPS and the playtesting is underway. I want to share the progress made and the basic shape of that set of methodological guidelines which leverage the GURPS Third Edition rules system. 

Here, then, for your enjoyment and feedback, are our draft rules for adapting GURPS to play an old-school, low-powered D&D-style megadungeon game: Simple Dungeon GURPS v0.6 (updated 26th March 2023)

Why Third Edition?

At the time of writing, GURPS has been in its Fourth Edition since 2004 and is a stable, solid framework for roleplaying in any genre. There is a free to download GURPS Lite which distills the Basic Set rules down to an accessible starting point. The problem with GURPS Lite Fourth Edition is that it does not contain magic.

These notes are based on GURPS Lite Third Edition, last updated in 2003, simply because it contains rules for magic and beasts which have been removed from the latest edition. This is free to download here: GURPS Lite (Third Edition) | Warehouse 23 by Steve Jackson Games

There are significant differences between Third and Fourth Edition GURPS, but we are going to be stripping the rules down to the bare minimum, mixing in some variant rules along the way, and the basics of the game don’t change: it’s rolling 3D6 low in both editions. Making the shift to the current edition can be made at any time.

Updated: Version 0.6 includes changes to fix errors and clarify things.

Game on!

The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.