by ilgiocointavolo

GURPS at 40: Steve Jackson Reflects on Building Gaming’s Most Ambitious System

When I told Steve Jackson that three of my gaming buddies started arguing about GURPS combat mechanics just from hearing I’d be interviewing him, he laughed. “That sounds about right,” he said from his home in Atlanta. After four decades in game design, Jackson has heard it all when it comes to GURPS: the love, the hate, and everything in between.

It was 1986 when Steve Jackson Games launched GURPS (Generic Universal RolePlaying System), making a promise that seemed impossible: one system for every game. Now, with hundreds of supplements and a devoted global fanbase, GURPS has arguably delivered on that promise. But how do you actually build something universal? And what would Jackson change if he started over today?

“I Thought Polyhedra Were Unnecessarily Complex”

The heart of GURPS is its 3d6 roll-under system, which was pretty radical back in the mid-80s. While other designers were embracing weird dice and complex mechanics, Jackson went the opposite direction.

“I thought that polyhedra were unnecessarily complex,” he tells me, and then adds: “I still think that.”

It’s a surprisingly firm stance from someone whose system has grown to accommodate everything from space opera to medieval fantasy. But Jackson’s logic is sound; “There are some very good systems that use polyhedra, but they use them in simple ways.”

The 3d6 choice wasn’t just about simplicity—it was about accessibility. Jackson wanted something that felt natural to players without requiring a math degree. “The core rules are very straightforward,” he insists. “If we just wanted to sit down and go through a dungeon in GURPS? Oh, I could have you running in 30 minutes.”

Thirty minutes. For a system that’s notorious for being crunchy. Jackson seems to enjoy this contradiction.

The Complexity Guy Who Built Something Simple

Here’s where Jackson gets interesting. “I’m a complexity guy,” he admits without hesitation. “I like wheels within wheels. And when I write a game, the first draft is always longer than the final draft.”

So how does someone who loves complexity create something that can teach new players in half an hour? Jackson’s secret is layers.

“GURPS is a crunchy system,” he says, completely matter-of-fact about it. “Completely fair. It’s not as crunchy as some people want to make out, because the core rules are very straightforward. But there are specialist rules for many, many subjects. And those can get really crunchy.”

The genius is in the modularity. You don’t need to know the vehicle design rules to fight goblins. You don’t need the time travel mechanics to run a detective story. But if you want to design a custom starship or solve temporal paradoxes, the rules are there.

Jackson calls it a “Catch-22 effect”. “Now that there are that many supplements, people think it has to be crunchy”, he states. The system’s success created its own reputation problem.

“Eventually They Shut Up”

When GURPS launched, Jackson faced the obvious question: how can one supplement cover “every game”? His response captures his dry sense of humor perfectly:

“It was very funny when the game first came out, people said: ‘Well there’s only one supplement, how can it be for every game?’ And then a couple of years later: ‘Well there are only six supplements, how can it be for every game?’ And then a couple of years later: ‘Well there are only twenty supplements, how can it be for every world?’ But eventually they shut up.”

The proof was in the execution. GURPS didn’t just promise universality—it delivered, supplement by supplement. Each new book stress-tested the core system against different genres and scenarios.

Jackson lights up when talking about GURPS Time Travel, which he co-wrote with John M. Ford. “He was a wonderful man to work with. And it came out very, very well. Much of it is an homage to the work of H. Beam Piper, one of my favorite science fiction authors.”

It’s these personal touches that make GURPS more than just a mechanical exercise. Each supplement reflects genuine passion for its subject matter.

Learning from SPI (and Translating to English)

GURPS didn’t emerge from nowhere—it built on the tradition of detailed simulation games, particularly those from Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI). But Jackson learned from SPI’s biggest weakness.

“The Ogre rules are very heavily influenced by SPI,” he explains. “But they are translated to English, which makes a difference.” That last bit gets a laugh out of both of us. Anyone who’s wrestled with SPI rulebooks knows exactly what he means. “SPI’s rules were famously difficult to interpret,” Jackson continues. “I have no idea how many hours I spent on their games when I was in college.”

Those frustrating hours became Jackson’s design school. He took SPI’s mechanical sophistication but wrapped it in clear, unambiguous language. It’s a lesson more game designers should learn.

What He’d Change Today

After nearly forty years, Jackson has clear thoughts on where GURPS could improve. When I ask what he’d simplify in a ground-up redesign, his answer comes immediately: “Character creation. Social skill interaction. I think those are the big ones.”

Character creation in GURPS is incredibly flexible, but it can overwhelm newcomers with options. Social mechanics, despite multiple supplement treatments, never quite achieved the elegance of combat resolution.

But Jackson isn’t rushing into a fifth edition. “I don’t like to do a revision until it’s time,” he says. “There are games that are revised every few years. And sometimes that’s because the first job was sloppy and sometimes it’s because there’s a grab for money. I would rather people not say either of those things about me.”

Italian Fans and Global Appeal

Jackson has fond memories of visiting Lucca Comics & Games years ago, where he met dedicated Italian GURPS fans. “The Lucca show is just overwhelming,” he recalls. These days, Lucca has grown even more massive, but Jackson’s experience there highlighted something important about GURPS: its international appeal.

Italian GURPS fans are “extremely dedicated,” as I can personally attest. There’s something about the system’s comprehensive approach that resonates with European gaming culture, where detailed simulation games have always found appreciative audiences. Jackson’s relationship with global gaming communities shows how GURPS succeeded not by being generically universal, but by providing tools flexible enough for any group’s specific needs.

The Long Game

When I ask about GURPS’ future, Jackson stays characteristically measured: “I’m never going to say no to a Fifth Edition. But I certainly can’t say yes right now. As long as people are playing GURPS, there’s new ideas coming up.”

It’s this patience that has kept GURPS stable while other systems chase trends through frequent revisions. Jackson built something that could grow organically rather than requiring constant overhauls.

Looking back on our conversation, what strikes me most is Jackson’s consistency. The same design philosophy that drove the original 3d6 decision still guides GURPS today: build something simple enough to learn but powerful enough to handle whatever players throw at it. “I try to look at my own work and figure out what I did,” Jackson reflects when discussing GURPS’ enduring success. After forty years, he’s still figuring it out, and that curiosity might be the real secret behind GURPS’ longevity.

This article includes exclusive materials from the Museum of Games Ireland and Steve Jackson Games archives. All images and documents used with permission and proper attribution included.

www.mogi.ie

This interview was conducted for Il Gioco in Tavolo podcast. Full video available at Youtube Video