GURPS stands for the Generic Universal RolePlaying System, a product of Steve Jackson Games, Inc. The system is the most user friendly system out there for it allows you to create characters from almost an infinate amount of settings. From midievil fantasy to modern day to far into the future, GURPS contains all of the information necessary to create and roleplay these worlds. One of the many advantages to GURPS is the usage of only 6 sided dice making it less confusing to know which die to roll in games like AD&D. Another advantage, which could also be a disadvantage, is the usage of points indtead of rolling dice to create a character. Points may be used to "buy" Advantages and Skills and are "given back" each time you take a Disadvantage or Quirk. Like AD&D, GURPS can also be played on the IRC but character creation should probably take place well before you play. This is not like AD&D where a quick roll-up of a player can happen. Many players will take some time making their Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills.

Advantages: These are abilities for a character that are postive for the most part. Things like Absolute Direction, allowing you to know which way is north at all times, and High Pain Threshold, allowing you to disreguard pain penalties, are advantages which cost you points. Point totals of your characters is determined by the GM or Game Master.

Attributes: This includes 4 Attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Intellegence and Health. To raise an attribute it costs points, lots of them. 10 points is required to raise any one of these 1 point (they start at 10) until 13 then it costs 15 points to go to 14 and up. It is a good idea to spend at least 1/2 of your character points on attributes. Each one of these has their own advantage to raising it. There are no disadvantages to raising an attribute other than the point cost.

Disadvantages: These are unflattering or things about the character that could get him in trouble. Disadvantages include minor things like a Phobia or shyness, to more major things like Blindness or Lame. Most GMs will allow only -40 points in disadvantages to keep the game balanced.

Skills: This includes anything from shooting a blaster, swinging a sword, to nuclear physics and alchemy. Skills also include magic spells if you are playing a mage. Skills come in two types: Physical and Mental. Physical skills come in 4 difficulties: easy, average, hard, and very hard, the more difficult the skill the more points you must spend to learn it and raise it. Examples of Physical skills and difficulties: Easy: Shooting a beam weapon, Average: Swinging a broadsword, Hard: Firing a bow, Very Hard: Zen Archery (Shooting a bow blindfolded). Examples of Mental skills and difficuties: Easy: Computer Operation, Average: Research, Hard: Chemistry, Very Hard: Genetics.

Links to GURPS sites

The Official GURPS Webpage
The Official GURPS FTP Site