"GURPS The Prisoner" is a roleplaying worldbook for Steve Jackson Games' "Generic Universal RolePlaying System" (GURPS). This densely packed 98-page book provides a detailed overview of The Village setting, its inhabitants, and the tools and techniques of control used by the warders. Here is all the information you need to run a GURPS campaign "inside" this bizarre 60's TV show. There is also a large amount of material on the series itself, with hundreds of dialog excerpts running along the margins of each page. Also included is a bibliography of Prisoner materials, synopses of all seventeen episodes, and an introductory game adventure called: (what else?) "The Arrival."
"GURPS The Prisoner" would be an invaluable source of information for any hardcore fan of the series.
Notes:
* You need the GURPS Basic Set to play "GURPS Prisoner."
* If you're interested in this gamebook, you better get it now. Steve Jackson told me in an interview that they had only printed a few thousand copies and when they were sold, they probably wouldn't Êreprint.
* Fans of paranoia (you know who we think you are) may also want to Êcheck out SJG's "Illuminatus!" game. It's a back-stabbing conspiratorial card game based on the cult classic by Shea and Wilson.
(G. Branwyn)
Links:
ACCESS:
GURPS Prisoner
Steve Jackson Games
Box 18957
Austin, TX 78760
Here is the TEXT POPUP for GURPS Prisoner:
[dialogue from TV show, quoted in GURPS Prisoner]
No. 6: Where Am I?
No. 2: In The Village.
No. 6: What do you want?
No. 2: Information.
No. 6: Whose side are you on?
No. 2: That would be telling. We want... ÊÊÊÊÊinformation... information... information.
No. 6: You won't get it.
No. 2: By hook or by crook, we will.
No. 6: Who are you?
No. 2: The new Number 2.
No. 6: Who is Number 1?
No. 2: You are Number 6.
No. 6: I am not a number! I am a free man!
The Prisoner and The Village offer a game world very different from the fantasy realms with which most roleplayers are familiar. It is a world of conflict, but the emphasis is less on physical conflict than on mental and psychological hostilities. This isn't to say that adventures here are dry, cerebral affairs. There will be daring escape attempts, harrowing struggles, bold feats poised on the razor's edge between success and failure.
Jammers
Jammers are mentioned only in "It's Your Funeral," but they are an interesting element in a campaign. Jammers are prisoners who provide concealing "chaff" for escape attempts and other schemes. They pretend to be constantly exchanging secret messages, devising elaborate plans, and in general keeping warders chasing non-existent plots. If the warders stay abreast of their scheming, they won't be able to devote as much time to tracking down real plots. And if the warders ignore them, the jammers might just pull off a plot of their own.