''GURPS Illuminati'' is a supplement for the

GURPS The ''Generic Universal Role Playing System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system published by Steve Jackson Games. The system is designed to run any genre using the same core mechanics. The core rules were first written by St ...

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

about

secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

, and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

. Written by Nigel Findley, it was published in 1992, the year before

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...

sued the Secret Service, and it won the

Origins award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, t ...

for best role-playing game supplement in 1993, as the Origins Awards were not awarded in 1992.

GURPS

Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 ...

is a book about all aspects of running and playing in role playing games involving conspiracies. As is obvious from the chapter headings, the writing is slightly whimsical, and the style of the book is reinforced by quotes from the supposed illuminati. ;Introduction : A basic introduction to ''GURPS'', conspiracy theories, and ''Gurps Illuminati'' ;Characters : A chapter on character creation and development in a campaign using ''GURPS Illuminati''. This is the only chapter containing any rules for GURPS, although some of the other chapters have sample

NPCs A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

;The Illuminated Campaign :

Gamemaster A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, storyteller, or master of ceremonies) is a person who acts as a facilitator, organizer, officiant regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer r ...

guidance on running a campaign using ''GURPS Illuminati''. It goes into detail about suggested organisation, how to run illuminated groups, and how to create settings involving them, and contains half a dozen suggested adventure seeds. ;Illuminated Groups : Suggested groups to use in a game that assumes that many or all conspiracy theories are real. Groups given a write-up include The Illuminati, the

Merovingian dynasty The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

, the

Cathars Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi- dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a he ...

, the Prieuré de Sion, The Alphans, the " Time Meddlers",

the Network The Network is an American six-piece new wave band. they released their debut album '' Money Money 2020'' on Adeline Records on September 30, 2003. After a 15-year hiatus, the band became active again in 2020, releasing a follow-up album tit ...

, the Discordian Society, the Society of Assassins, the

Templars The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...

, the

Bavarian Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 ...

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

s and the Gnomes of Zurich, Environmental protesters and

Ecoterrorists Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence of ...

, the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, the Society of Light,

Intelligence agencies An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of inf ...

the Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other organized crime groups from Italy. The central ...

(including a section about

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

), major

corporations A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

Organised crime Organized crime is a category of transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some ...

Organised religion Organized religion, also known as institutional religion, is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established, typically by an official doctrine (or dogma), a hierarchical or bureaucratic leader ...

Telephone companies A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many t ...

, and Unions. ;Why does Mr. Beamish have tinfoil in his hat? : A chapter about being on the outer edge of conspiracies, and how they can appear to have more influence and leverage than they actually do. ;Just the facts, Ma'am : A chapter about knowing about conspiracy theories, responses, and how the conspiracies cover up when evidence about them is unearthed. ;The

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are government agents dressed in dark suits, who question, interrogate, harass, and threaten unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses to keep them silent about what they have ...

: A chapter about actively joining overarching conspiracies, or otherwise being on the inside of them. ;

Fnord "Fnord" () is a word coined in 1965 by Kerry Thornley and Greg Hill in the Discordian religious text ''Principia Discordia''. It entered into popular culture after appearing in '' The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' (1975) of novels written by Robert Sh ...

! : A chapter about

non-fictional Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively b ...

secret societies, and about adding secret societies and conspiracies to settings that didn't previously have them. ;Press the button marked "Help" : A chapter of GM advice on actual play. In addition there are a few pages of bibliography and further reading.

Publication history

GURPS Illuminati built on the ''

'' card game, in its turn inspired by

Robert Shea Robert Joseph Shea (February 14, 1933 – March 10, 1994) was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy '' Illuminatus!'' It became a cult success and was later turn ...

and

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

's ''

The Illuminatus! Trilogy ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' is a series of three novels by American writers Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, first published in 1975.''Illuminatus!'' was written between 1969 and 1971, but not published until 1975 according to Robert Anto ...

''. Review

Reception

''GURPS Illuminati'' won the 1992 Origins Award for best roleplaying supplement. Craig Sheeley reviewed ''GURPS Illuminati'' for '' Challenge'' #66. Sheeley comments in his conclusion: "''GURPS Illuminati'' is one of this season's bestsellers for Steve Jackson Games, outselling even their masterpiece, ''Hacker''. This is not to say that there are a lot of people out there who buy the conspiracy theory, or that there are a lot of gamers wanting to actually play the game of paranoia ..More likely, there are a lot of people who appreciate a good product and a funny read." Jim Swallow reviewed ''GURPS Illuminati'' for ''

Arcane Arcane may refer to: Comics and literature * Anton Arcane, a DC Comics character * Arcane Jill Watson, a fictional character in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' franchise * Arcane literature, fictional literature in the Cthulhu Mythos ...

'' magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall, and stated that "The irreverent tone is ''GURPS'' writing at its best, full of ideas skewed just enough that you're unsure if you should laugh or start sweeping the room for bugs."

Reviews

*''

Alarums & Excursions ''Alarums and Excursions'' (''A&E'') was an amateur press association (APA) started in June 1975 by Lee Gold; the final issue, #593, was published in April 2025. It was one of the first publications to focus solely on role-playing games. Histor ...

'' (Issue 260 – Apr 1997) *''The Unspeakable Oath'' #14/15 * ''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...

'' #70 (July 1992)

References

{{Reflist

Origins Award winners Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1992 Role-playing games about conspiracy theories Works about the Illuminati

Contents

Publication history

Reception

Reviews

See also

References