Pyramid v3 (2008-18) [+]
Apr 10 2023
Pyramid v3 was the third incarnation of a table-top rpg magazine by Steve Jackson Games and it ran 122 issues. Volume 1 was 30 print issue in a regular magazine format that covered the whole hobby with articles for different rpgs. Volume 2 was a web-only portal with an article or two published each week -- I think the content got more and more SJG house games.
Volume 3 went back to a more magazine format but only PDFs published monthly. Each PDF is high 30's to mid-40 pages long. Although I think there were some articles for third party rpgs earlier on it soon became about half generic articles (though covering GURPS topics) and half GURPS articles.
As a GURPS resource this is excellent. Articles go from 8 to 20 pages, usually around 8-12 pages. They retain SJG's excellent attention to good editing, good page references, and accurate GURPS stats. For $6 to $9 an issue (less with yearly subscriptions and the occasional Warehouse 23 discount) it's a fairly decent good value.
The negative is the magazine format. Over the years it's a lot of scattered articles so hard to find that one article you remember reading a while ago or all Supers articles for example. Also this is the place for some fairly niche articles: you have a hardback for the main topic, then a PDF supplement for a subtopic related to the hardback, then a Pyramid article that drills down one of the PDF topics.
To me the most useful articles are adventures, campaign ideas (with various level of detail writeups), and worked out examples of topics not really developed well in a hardback (e.g. concrete write ups for some of the alternate magic systems since each only had like one example in GURPS Thaumatology or more martial arts styles).
Overall for a GURPS fan I'd concentrate more on the PDF supplements but Pyramid v3 (and v4) would be the next priority.
Volume 3 went back to a more magazine format but only PDFs published monthly. Each PDF is high 30's to mid-40 pages long. Although I think there were some articles for third party rpgs earlier on it soon became about half generic articles (though covering GURPS topics) and half GURPS articles.
As a GURPS resource this is excellent. Articles go from 8 to 20 pages, usually around 8-12 pages. They retain SJG's excellent attention to good editing, good page references, and accurate GURPS stats. For $6 to $9 an issue (less with yearly subscriptions and the occasional Warehouse 23 discount) it's a fairly decent good value.
The negative is the magazine format. Over the years it's a lot of scattered articles so hard to find that one article you remember reading a while ago or all Supers articles for example. Also this is the place for some fairly niche articles: you have a hardback for the main topic, then a PDF supplement for a subtopic related to the hardback, then a Pyramid article that drills down one of the PDF topics.
To me the most useful articles are adventures, campaign ideas (with various level of detail writeups), and worked out examples of topics not really developed well in a hardback (e.g. concrete write ups for some of the alternate magic systems since each only had like one example in GURPS Thaumatology or more martial arts styles).
Overall for a GURPS fan I'd concentrate more on the PDF supplements but Pyramid v3 (and v4) would be the next priority.