April 2, 2009: Call For Playtesters: GURPS Urban Magics

Fantasy stories are filled with great cities: Baum's Emerald City, Leiber's Lankhmar, Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork, and many others. A city can be an adventuring party's base of operations, the destination of their quest, the place they have to defend in a war – or a ruin that someone else failed to defend. Or an entire campaign can take place in an urban setting.

But fantasy's about magic, and fantasy cities will have their own kinds of magic. William H. Stoddard's GURPS Urban Magics explores the interaction of magic and cities. New optional rules provide many distinctively urban magical practices and supernatural beings. Other sections discuss how to run campaigns in magical cities and provide templates for magically gifted city folk, from the urban shaman to the thaumatological scholar.

We need playtesters for this new supplement. Playtesters should have access to the GURPS Basic Set, and to one or more of GURPS Fantasy, GURPS Magic, and GURPS Thaumatology. Close examination of the new magical rules will be a major part of the playtest. Comments on plausibility and dramatic effectiveness will also be welcome. Playtesters aren't required to have previous experience; how well this material comes across to new readers is important information that will help make this a better book! We encourage first-time playtesters to apply for a reserved portion of slots available, as well as those with professional or other real-life experience with the subject matter. Prospective playtesters will also need to be registered e23 customers who have spent more than $50 at e23 in the past 12 months.

Prospective playtesters should e-mail jwilson@io.com with [UM] (for "Urban Magics") in the subject, and include your preferred e-mail address for the closed playtest mailing list, correct spelling of your name as it may appear in print, your e23 login name, and a few words about your qualifications, experience, and current gaming group(s). Information about preferred submission formatting is in the forum post for this playtest call.

-- Steven Marsh