Editing GURPS (section)

== Precursors ==
Prior to ''GURPS'', most [[role-playing game|roleplaying game]]s (RPGs) of the 1970s and early 1980s were developed especially for certain gaming environments, and they were largely incompatible with one another. For example, [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] published its ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' game specifically for a [[fantasy]] environment. Another game from the same company, ''[[Star Frontiers]]'', was developed for [[science fiction]]–based role-playing. TSR produced other games for other environments, such as ''[[Gamma World]]'' ([[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|post-apocalyptic]] adventures), ''[[Top Secret (game)|Top Secret]]'' ([[Espionage|spies]] and secret agents), ''[[Gangbusters (role-playing game)|Gangbusters]]'' ([[Roaring Twenties]] adventures), and ''[[Boot Hill (role-playing game)|Boot Hill]]'' ([[American Old West]]). Each of these games was set with its own self-contained [[Role-playing game system|rules system]], and the rules for playing each game differed greatly from one game to the next. Attempts were made in ''Advanced Dungeons and Dragons'' to allow cross-genre games using ''Gamma World'' and ''Boot Hill'' rules; however, characters could only be used in a new genre by converting their statistics. Although GURPS was preceded by ''[[Basic Role-Playing]]'' ([[Chaosium]], 1980) and the [[Hero System]] ([[Hero Games]], a system that expanded to multiple genres starting in 1982),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Appelcline |first=Shannon |date=September 4, 2006 |title=A Brief History of Game #3: Chaosium: 1975–Present |url=http://www.rpg.net/columns/briefhistory/briefhistory3.phtml |access-date=July 4, 2012 |quote=They published a cut-down version of the ''RQ'' rules called ''Basic Role-Playing''. By extracting their core game engine they created the first generic roleplaying system, two years before the Hero System expanded beyond ''Champions'' and six years before ''The Fantasy Trip'' became ''GURPS''.}}</ref> ''GURPS'' was the most commercially successful{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} [[generic role-playing game system]] to allow players to role-play in any environment they please while still using the same set of core rules. This flexibility of environment is greatly aided by the use of technology levels (or "tech-levels") that allow a campaign to be set from the Stone Age (TL-0) to the Digital Age (TL-8) or beyond.