Not all role-playing games are made equal. I took a quick look at GURPS 4th edition last weekend. You know, the Generic, Universal, Role-Playing System? The game is amazing, and has a table or entry for pretty much EVERYTHING. How much money does your character have? GURPS can tell you. Is he attractive? GURPS can tell you. Does she know how to operate a star drive? GURPS can tell you.

Strangely, the bulk of the books didn’t look like much more than the two main D&D books. What really struck me was the contrast – my portable copy of Modos 2 was lying just inches away on a small tablet, 6 × 3.5 inches and flat. Not that a hardcopy of the book would be much bigger. The difference lies in just one word: Universal. GURPS presents rules for everything, because it’s universal. Modos 2 provides rules for about five things, one per module, or maybe nine things, one per chapter.

GURPS has an advantage over Modos 2. It provides more exercise!