AUGUST 2004 EDITION

LITE
Rev. 07/12/04

An Introduction to Roleplaying
From STEVE JACKSON GAMES

GURPS Rules by STEVE JACKSON • GURPS Lite Abridged Rules by SCOTT HARING and SEAN PUNCH
Edited by ANDREW HACKARD and STEVE JACKSON
Illustrated by CHRIS DIEN, TORSTEIN NORDSTRAND, BOB STEVLIC, and ERIC WILKERSON • Graphic Design by JUSTIN DE WITT

Contents CHARACTER SHEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

SECONDARY CHARACTERISTICS . . . . . . . . . 6
EQUIPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
ARMOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
WHAT IS GURPS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 IMAGE AND LOOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 SHIELDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 SOCIAL BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 WEAPONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
THE BASICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 WEALTH AND INFLUENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 PLAYING THE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
ADVANTAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
SUCCESS ROLLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 PHYSICAL FEATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
DISADVANTAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
REACTION ROLLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 MENTAL FEATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
QUIRKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
DAMAGE ROLLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 COMBAT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
SKILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
CHARACTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 INJURY, ILLNESS, AND FATIGUE . . . . . . . . 29
SKILL LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CHARACTER POINTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 GAME WORLDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CHARACTER IMPROVEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . 17
BASIC ATTRIBUTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

WHAT IS GURPS?
GURPS stands for “Generic Universal make true roleplaying possible – and to
RolePlaying System,” the RPG that these encourage it. In GURPS, you pretend, for a ABOUT GURPS
rules are condensed from. Why is it called
that? Well . . .
little while, to be someone else.
“System.” Over 200 different books have
Lite
been published for GURPS, in eight differ- This is the boiled-down “essence” of
“Generic.” GURPS starts with simple GURPS: all the fundamental rules, but not
ent languages (so far). It is one of the rec-
rules, and builds up to as much optional the options and embellishments that often
ognized standards for roleplaying, world-
detail as you like. This abridged version confuse new players. Once you’re comfort-
wide.
presents the “core rules” that most GMs able with these rules, you can pick up the
start with. GURPS Basic Set and jump right into the
“Universal.” The basic rule system is
designed to emphasize realism. It can fit
MATERIALS NEEDED action. Experienced Game Masters will, we
hope, find this a valuable tool for
any situation – fantasy or historical; past, FOR PLAY introducing new players to the game.
present, or future. To play, you will need these rules, three
“RolePlaying.” This is not just a “hack- six-sided dice, pencils, and scratch paper.
and-slash” game. The rules are written to

GLOSSARY
GURPS is a roleplaying game (RPG). character: Any being – person, animal, adventure: The basic “unit” of play in a
Like any hobby, gaming has its own unique robot, etc. – that is played by the GM or roleplaying game, representing a single
language. To help you understand the con- a player. mission or plot. It might require several
cepts and terms used in this game (and nonplayer character (NPC): Any charac- sessions of play, or just one play session.
other RPGs), we’ll start with a few defini- ter played by the GM. encounter: One “scene” of an adventure,
tions: player character (PC): A character created usually a meeting between the PCs and
and played by one of the players. one or more NPCs.
roleplaying game (RPG): A game in which
statistics: The numerical values that campaign: A continuing series of adven-
players take on the personalities of
describe a character, piece of equipment, tures. A campaign will usually have a
imaginary individuals, or characters, in a
etc., taken collectively. Often called continuing cast of player characters, and
fictional or historical setting, and try to
“stats.” the same GM (or team of GMs). It may
act as those characters would.
party: A group of PCs taking part in the move from one game world to another,
Game Master (GM): The referee, who
same adventure. with a logical reason.
chooses the adventure, talks the players
game world: A background for play; a set- race: The species to which you belong.
through it, judges the results, and gives
ting. “World” might mean “planet,” but it Nonhuman characters (elves, dwarves,
out bonus points.
could also refer to a region and historical halflings, and Martians, for example) are
period . . . or an entire universe. common in RPGs.
GURPS Lite is copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. It is intended for free distribution. You are encouraged to copy and share these 32
pages freely. You may not charge for it, except to cover the actual cost of copying. You may not remove any part of it. You may not change or modify it, except that retailers, distributors or
conventions may add “Courtesy of (name)” at the top of this page. You absolutely may not incorporate this game, or parts of it, into another product for distribution in any way.
GURPS Lite is available in PDF format from www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/. You may distribute this PDF file freely under the above restrictions, and post copies of it online.
You may not sell it or include it as part of any product for sale without the written permission of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
Please visit our web site at www.sjgames.com. You may also write to us at PO Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760.

SJG01-0004 GURPS LITE 1