Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is LIVE! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
d20 vs. GURPS?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Herobizkit" data-source="post: 2981239" data-attributes="member: 36150"><p>This is a very involved question, but I'll try and sum up.</p><p></p><p>* Magic works on a mana system. Mana points don't get that high; most common spells use 1-3 points of mana, while uber-spells would need things called Mana Stones (essentially mana batteries, some rechargeable, some not) plus other people contributing their own mana via Group Magic and so on.</p><p> </p><p>* You learn individual spells much like you would learn skills and feats; 1 skill per spell, but some spells have prerequisites of other spells (example: Fireball would require Create Fire first, or you couldn't learn it). </p><p></p><p>* You must make a caster check to "activate" a spell. Once activated, you might have to make a combat check to lob, shoot, or maintain it. You can have any number of spells "on" at any time, but each additional spell makes casting other spells harder.</p><p></p><p>* Combat rounds in GURPS are ine 1-second increments. Casting damaging spells becomes a huge pain in this system; casting a Fireball (for example) nets you 1d6 the first second but you must "charge" the spell each second to get more damage potential. The trade-off is that a 3d6 Fireball will probably kill anyone in one hit... but most of your melee pals will have chopped your foes into bts by then. It's wonky like that.</p><p></p><p>* In the "default" Fantasy setting, no one may learn magic without the "Magery" advantage (like a feat). This advantage increases your effective skill levels for ALL your spells, though. Because of its character point (CP) expense, combined with the expense of learning spells in the first place, you will find very few 'dabblers' in the arcane arts.</p><p></p><p>* There are two GURPS gaming books chock full of magic spells (the Basic GURPS book having a few, well, basic spells), ALL of which are extremely nifty. GURPS Magic and GURPS Grimoire are a MUST (!!!) have for the wizards.</p><p></p><p>It's been a while since I've played GURPS. My first character ever was a jack-of-all-trades type who was very AD&D 2e Bard-like in capability. He was a Song Wizard; he had to be able to sing to cast spells, couldn't cast spells UNLESS he was singing, and enjoyed a cheaper spell cost to learn new magic as a trade-off.</p><p></p><p>Making GURPS characters in general is extremely (!) daunting at first. Limit yourself to the Basic rules until you become more familiar with the system. Then, start introducing spells from the other Magic books.</p><p></p><p>I've also found that the more GURPS books you buy, the more precarious it is to make characters as the wealth of options becomes overwhelming and you're never quite sure what's b0rken until you actually see it in play, which is usually much too late. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Herobizkit, post: 2981239, member: 36150"] This is a very involved question, but I'll try and sum up. * Magic works on a mana system. Mana points don't get that high; most common spells use 1-3 points of mana, while uber-spells would need things called Mana Stones (essentially mana batteries, some rechargeable, some not) plus other people contributing their own mana via Group Magic and so on. * You learn individual spells much like you would learn skills and feats; 1 skill per spell, but some spells have prerequisites of other spells (example: Fireball would require Create Fire first, or you couldn't learn it). * You must make a caster check to "activate" a spell. Once activated, you might have to make a combat check to lob, shoot, or maintain it. You can have any number of spells "on" at any time, but each additional spell makes casting other spells harder. * Combat rounds in GURPS are ine 1-second increments. Casting damaging spells becomes a huge pain in this system; casting a Fireball (for example) nets you 1d6 the first second but you must "charge" the spell each second to get more damage potential. The trade-off is that a 3d6 Fireball will probably kill anyone in one hit... but most of your melee pals will have chopped your foes into bts by then. It's wonky like that. * In the "default" Fantasy setting, no one may learn magic without the "Magery" advantage (like a feat). This advantage increases your effective skill levels for ALL your spells, though. Because of its character point (CP) expense, combined with the expense of learning spells in the first place, you will find very few 'dabblers' in the arcane arts. * There are two GURPS gaming books chock full of magic spells (the Basic GURPS book having a few, well, basic spells), ALL of which are extremely nifty. GURPS Magic and GURPS Grimoire are a MUST (!!!) have for the wizards. It's been a while since I've played GURPS. My first character ever was a jack-of-all-trades type who was very AD&D 2e Bard-like in capability. He was a Song Wizard; he had to be able to sing to cast spells, couldn't cast spells UNLESS he was singing, and enjoyed a cheaper spell cost to learn new magic as a trade-off. Making GURPS characters in general is extremely (!) daunting at first. Limit yourself to the Basic rules until you become more familiar with the system. Then, start introducing spells from the other Magic books. I've also found that the more GURPS books you buy, the more precarious it is to make characters as the wealth of options becomes overwhelming and you're never quite sure what's b0rken until you actually see it in play, which is usually much too late. ;) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
d20 vs. GURPS?
Top