2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great book, January 11, 2007
This review is from: GURPS Shapeshifters (Paperback)
This is one of my favorite books for 3rd edition GURPS (which is the only edition I play). It presents the rules for shapeshifting in a simple to understand fashion and finally brings together all of the different ways of doing it from previous books.
If nothing elst, the werewolf flip-book pictures in GURPS shapeshifters is entertaining.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent ... but with an unfortunate flaw, August 18, 2005
This review is from: GURPS Shapeshifters (Paperback)
GURPS Shapeshifters is, as one would perhaps expect, an overview of creatures and characters (same thing, at least as far as the Generic Universal Role-Playing System is concerned) with the ability or curse of multiple forms. Robert M. Schroeck was the ideal author for this product, having written the original chapter on "weres" for the second edition of GURPS Bestiary, lo these many years ago.
As with other books in what could be dubbed "the GURPS Critters" line (GURPS Undead, GURPS Spirits, GURPS Faerie, etc.) the work describes the history and legend of shapeshifting creatures. Where it departs from the format is in its examples. Following in the footsteps of GURPS Bloodtypes, most "GURPS Critters" books have focused on short, capsule descriptions of a large number of creature archetypes, with appended short notes on variations on the themes. Instead, in a format that hearkens back to GURPS Fantasy Folk or GURPS Aliens, the author discusses a smaller number of examples, but examines each of them in greater depth, covering each in several pages, as opposed to one or two for each creature. Cultures are being described here, not just potential adversaries or allies. This gives the text as a whole a greater degree of weight, and of utility.
So what's the flaw? Unfortunately, this was one of the last major sourcebooks for the Third Edition of GURPS, published a year or so before the Fourth Edition came out. There have been substantial changes to the rules -- though not, I must note, as many changes as there were in the change from the 2nd Edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons to the 3rd Edition of what is now just called Dungeons and Dragons -- and these changes will add to the difficulty of using the material in this book with Fourth Edition games. But GURPS gamers who use shapeshifting creatures or characters in their games would still be well-advised to consult this book for inspiration, regardless of their genre of play.
(Bias note: The author is a correspondent of mine, and, I believe, a friend. This affected my decision to review, but not the content.)
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