January 6, 2015: What Does 2015 Hold For GURPS?

From where I sit, 2015 looks like it could be a great year for GURPS! We streamlined our internal approval processes for new products and for art, and we're finally out from beneath the treads of Ogre. I might even be able to open the doors to proposals from writers outside our inner circle before long. Yet promises are never wise in the publishing business – with authors, editors, production artists, illustrators, proofreaders, and several levels of marketing and technical support involved, each facing deadlines, all it takes is a round of the flu to set something back by months. With that in mind, here are some educated guesses.

First off, gamers waiting for the second edition of the Discworld Roleplaying Game should see their patience pay off. The book has received most of its art and had its proofing pass. I see nothing standing in the way of a release before too terribly late in 2015. If I were a betting man, I'd say "sometime in the middle two quarters of the year."

Then there's ongoing support of existing series. We have a GURPS Powers item by Bill Stoddard in production. Bill is also working on a new GURPS Social Engineering volume as I write this. We can expect three GURPS Dungeon Fantasy supplements, too: one by Peter Dell'Orto, another by Matt Riggsby, and a third by Christopher Rice and Antoni Ten Monrós.

And then there are the projects that have to remain nameless. That isn't because we're cruel, but because we prefer to curb rumors about new series names and titles that would need so much explaining that we'd have to make promises we can't keep. Goodies in this category include Elizabeth McCoy's latest effort (which is kind of GURPS Space-related), an item that Matt Riggsby just finished work on (which will mesh nicely with GURPS Social Engineering: Pulling Rank), and two Transhuman Space volumes from Phil Masters.

Off in the land of even wilder speculation, David Pulver continues to plug away at GURPS Vehicle Design, so that isn't out of the running. There's at least one big surprise item coming from Jason "PK" Levine, and it probably isn't what you think (that's what "surprise" means). And hopefully between reviewing and approving all this stuff (that's what "streamlined" means), I might get to write something . . . GURPS Zombies support would be awesome, and I still have lots of good GURPS Dungeon Fantasy ideas. I guess we'll see.

But all of this could change in an instant! So keep your eyes on the GURPS News (updated quarterly, more or less) and my blog (updated weekly).

-- Sean Punch