GURPS Character Assistant 5 is available now as a beta preview. This means that the software is unfinished and almost certainly has bugs that may crash the program. Features included now may be removed or significantly altered before release.

You DO NOT have to upgrade to GCA5 at this time. The beta version is available to those that wish to try it out and provide feedback or bug reports. I would love for you to give it a try, as I think it’s a significant improvement, but I understand beta software is not for everyone. I believe that the GCA5 beta is complete enough and stable enough to replace GCA4 in your daily use, but you can make that decision for yourself if you try it out.

The beta preview is available now. You can find the installer available for download here:

https://www.sjgames.com/gurps/characterassistant/gca5beta/gca5betapreview.zip

If you want to validate the ZIP after download, there is a PAR2 file here:

https://www.sjgames.com/gurps/characterassistant/gca5beta/gca5betapreview.zip.par2

The GCA5 installer is within the ZIP file.

You do not have to uninstall or reinstall GCA4, and you can run both versions on your computer at the same time (but please do not install them into the same folder on your computer).

I will be running the beta through a Google Group <https://groups.google.com/g/gca5-beta-preview>. Google Groups are basically mailing lists that have a forum-like web-access mode. This is a public group, so it should be open to everyone who wants to join, but you *do* have to join the group in order to view or post messages. You can set in your preferences that you do not wish to receive emails if you only want to use the forum mode.

Please direct all bug reports, loves, hates, and any other appropriate commentary to the Google Group. I want to hear what you think of new features, missing features, broken features, and all things GCA5, but please remember that we are all human, and please be polite and kind to all the other participants.