David L. Pulver
Encyclopedia
David L. Pulver is a Canadian freelance writer
and game designer, with a History
degree from Queen's University
. He is the author of more than fifty role-playing game
rulebooks and supplements, including the award winning Transhuman Space
.
Steve Jackson
and David Pulver coauthored a novella entitled Thera Awakening that was distributed with the Interplay
computer game Stonekeep
. This novella describes the back story and history of the Stonekeep world and characters and was completed before the game itself was finished.
David was the Guest of Honor at the 1992 U-Con
gaming convention (held annually at the University of Michigan
).
David is the designer of GURPS
Vehicles, a set of rules to design vehicles from a stone-age canoe to faster-than-light
starships. GURPS Traveller (especially GURPS Traveller: Starships and GURPS Traveller: Ground Forces) and GURPS World War 2 (including GURPS WW2: Motorpool) use somewhat simplified specialized versions of it. The design rules in GURPS Robots and GURPS Mecha are fully compatible with it. GURPS Reign of Steel uses the rules from GURPS Robots.
In 2007, he completed the first vehicle design rules for the 4th edition of GURPS, titled GURPS Spaceships.
Pulver has stated in an interview that although he has been doing work for Steve Jackson Games "ever since I became a freelance writer," he has also done work for Guardians Of Order
(particularly in creating the second edition of the anime
RPG Big Eyes Small Mouth aka "BESM"), White Wolf Publishing, Game Designer's Workshop, West End Games
, Iron Crown Enterprises
, and TSR
. He is a fan of anime and manga
.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and game designer, with a History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
degree from Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
. He is the author of more than fifty role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
rulebooks and supplements, including the award winning Transhuman Space
Transhuman Space
Transhuman Space is a role-playing game published by Steve Jackson Games as parts of the "Powered by GURPS" line. Set in the year 2100, humanity has begun to colonize the Solar System...
.
Steve Jackson
Steve Jackson (US)
Steve Jackson is an American game designer. After working for many years at Metagaming Concepts designing such games as Ogre and The Fantasy Trip, he left to found Steve Jackson Games in the early 1980s...
and David Pulver coauthored a novella entitled Thera Awakening that was distributed with the Interplay
Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...
computer game Stonekeep
Stonekeep
Stonekeep is a 1995 computer role-playing game for DOS by Interplay Entertainment. It is a first-person dungeon adventure with pre-rendered environments and live-action cinematic sequences. Five years in production, Stonekeep was ranked #6 in Gamespot's top ten vaporware hall of shame...
. This novella describes the back story and history of the Stonekeep world and characters and was completed before the game itself was finished.
David was the Guest of Honor at the 1992 U-Con
U-Con
U-Con is a gaming convention held annually in November in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the campus of the University of Michigan. It has been sponsored by several different University of Michigan student organizations since its inception, the current one being the UCon Gaming Club. UCon developed out of...
gaming convention (held annually at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
).
David is the designer of GURPS
GURPS
The Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
Vehicles, a set of rules to design vehicles from a stone-age canoe to faster-than-light
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
starships. GURPS Traveller (especially GURPS Traveller: Starships and GURPS Traveller: Ground Forces) and GURPS World War 2 (including GURPS WW2: Motorpool) use somewhat simplified specialized versions of it. The design rules in GURPS Robots and GURPS Mecha are fully compatible with it. GURPS Reign of Steel uses the rules from GURPS Robots.
In 2007, he completed the first vehicle design rules for the 4th edition of GURPS, titled GURPS Spaceships.
Pulver has stated in an interview that although he has been doing work for Steve Jackson Games "ever since I became a freelance writer," he has also done work for Guardians Of Order
Guardians of Order
Guardians of Order was a Canadian company founded in 1996 by Mark C. MacKinnon in Guelph, Ontario. The company's business output consisted of role-playing games . Their first game is the anime inspired Big Eyes, Small Mouth. In 2006 Guardians of Order ceased operations due to overwhelming...
(particularly in creating the second edition of the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
RPG Big Eyes Small Mouth aka "BESM"), White Wolf Publishing, Game Designer's Workshop, West End Games
West End Games
West End Games was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania...
, Iron Crown Enterprises
Iron Crown Enterprises
Iron Crown Enterprises was a publisher of role playing, board, miniature battle, and collectible card games.ICE was incorporated in 1980 shortly after the principal founders graduated from the University of Virginia...
, and TSR
TSR
The Three-letter abbreviation TSR has a variety of meanings, depending on context:-Science and technology:* Terminate and Stay Resident, utility programs used in MS-DOS* Thermo Sulfate Reduction, relevant to the Kraft process...
. He is a fan of anime and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
.
Writing credits: GURPS Books, Fourth Edition
- GURPS Mass Combat (2009)
- GURPS Banestorm: Abydos (2008)
- GURPS Basic Set 4th edition
- GURPS Bio-TechGURPS Bio-Tech"The Future is Alive"GURPS Bio-Tech is a GURPS, the Generic Universal Role Playing Game, sourcebook that covers the implementation of biotechnology in the game. The first edition of the book was written for GURPS Third Edition while the second edition of GURPS Bio-Tech was written for GURPS...
2nd edition - GURPS Spaceships (2007)
- GURPS Ultra-Tech 4th edition
Writing credits: GURPS Books, Third Edition
- All-Star Jam 2004
- Bio-TechGURPS Bio-Tech"The Future is Alive"GURPS Bio-Tech is a GURPS, the Generic Universal Role Playing Game, sourcebook that covers the implementation of biotechnology in the game. The first edition of the book was written for GURPS Third Edition while the second edition of GURPS Bio-Tech was written for GURPS...
- CyberpunkGURPS CyberpunkGURPS Cyberpunk is a genre toolkit for cyberpunk-themed role-playing games set in a near-future dystopia, such as that envisioned by William Gibson in his influential novel Neuromancer...
Adventures (Winner of the 1992 Origins AwardOrigins AwardThe Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Roleplaying Adventure) - Fantasy Adventures
- GURPSGURPSThe Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
Lite for Transhuman Space - Mecha
- Psionics
- Reign of Steel
- Robots
- Space Atlas IV
- Special Ops, 2nd edition
- Technomancer
- Time Travel Adventures
- Transhuman SpaceTranshuman SpaceTranshuman Space is a role-playing game published by Steve Jackson Games as parts of the "Powered by GURPS" line. Set in the year 2100, humanity has begun to colonize the Solar System...
- Main rulebook (Winner of the 2003 Grog d'Or Award for Best Role-playing Game, Game Line or RPG Setting.)
- Deep Beyond
- The High Frontier
- Traveller Alien Races 1, 2, 3 and 4
- Traveller: Ground Forces
- Traveller Planetary Survey 6: Darkmoon
- Traveller: Star Mercs
- Traveller: Starships
- Ultra-Tech I and II
- Vehicles 1st and 2nd Editions
- Vehicles Expansion I
- Vehicles Expansion II
- Vehicles Lite
- Y2K
Writing credits: Other Game Systems
- Aliens and Artifacts
- The Authority Role-playing Game
- Big Eyes, Small MouthBig Eyes, Small MouthBig Eyes, Small Mouth is a roleplaying game that was designed to simulate the action of anime and manga. It is frequently referred to by the acronym BESM. The title alludes to the common anime drawing style of characters with huge, expressive eyes and comparatively small mouths.BESM uses a...
- BESM Dungeon
- Big Eyes, Small Mouth (main rulebook) 2nd edition and 3rd editions
- Big Robots, Cool Starships
- Centauri Knights
- Hot Rods and Gun Bunnies
- Bubblegum Crisis: Before and After
- The Complete Druid
- Cybor Gladiators
- d20 SystemD20 SystemThe d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast originally developed for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons...
- BESM d20 Role-playing Game
- Centauri Knights d20
- d20 Mecha
- d20 Military Vehicles
- Demon City Shinjuku Role-playing Game and Resource Book
- Dominion Tank Police Role-playing Game and Resource Book
- Dreaming Cities
- Escape from Monster Island
- Ex MachinaEx Machina (role-playing game)Ex Machina is a cyberpunk role-playing game published by Guardians of Order covering a range from classic cyberpunk to postcyberpunk. It exists under both the cinematic Tri-Stat dX and d20 RPG systems.-Setting:...
- Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe 1992 Character Updates
- Ghost Dog Role-Playing Game and Resource Book
- Glory of Rome
- Indiana Jones and the Rising SunIndiana Jones (role-playing game)There have been two publications of role-playing games based on the Indiana Jones franchise. The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game was designed and published by TSR, Inc. under license in 1984. Ten years later, West End Games acquired the rights to publish their own version, The World...
- Tenchi Muyo Role-playing Game and Resource Book
- Tri-Stat dXTri-Stat dXTri-Stat dX is a generic role-playing game system developed and published by Guardians of Order in 2003. Like other generic role-playing game systems, Tri-stat dX has adaptable rules that can be applied to many genres and settings....
Core Role-playing System