Can I get an opinion of GURPS?

[Angcuru]

My first GURPS character was also my first attempt at playing a female PC. I think I overstereotyped it.

Victoria or just "Vikky", the Foxgirl exotic dancer/assassin.

The most hilarious thing in that campaign was that there was only one really good store, and it was accessable by a portal located next to the Auntie Anne's pretzel stand in our local mall. You would jump through and wind up in a place identicle to the 'construct' in the Matrix, at which point you are greeted by 'Bert' from Tremors. A cult gun nut selling guns and ammo in a fantasy setting. Amazing.

On a more silly note, one of the characters happened to find a certain ring in this store...the Ring of Date Rape...which happened to to...when placed on the finger of any female(or tail, if it's a furry)... cause all her clothes to disappear and cause her to bend over on all fours. Needless to say, that was the end of my character, and that campaign. Some GMs are just SICK.

 

[BryonD]

i don't agree with disads giving too many points.

[/B]

I agree with you here. The reason you state are valid. But also, I think the value of disadvantages is built into the system.

The complaint is that you can take 40 points of social disadvantages and then spend them on 40 points of tactical perks.

But in a standard 100 point game, it is very simple to produce enjoyable and balanced encounters that take into account that some of the characters will effectively be 140 point combat characters with 40 points on combat irrelevant disadvantages. At the same time, I have found that choosing to spend some of the 140 points on non-combat stuff does not in any way short the character, unless the player specifically wants to design a challenging character.

Yes, some disadvantages may be poorly "priced". But some D20 feats are poorly designed as well. It just goes with the territory.

 

[bwgwl]

At the same time, I have found that choosing to spend some of the 140 points on non-combat stuff does not in any way short the character, unless the player specifically wants to design a challenging character.

i'll totally agree with you here. one of the last GURPS characters i played had no combat skills whatsoever above default -- i plowed everything into social skills. you would not believe how effective Bard-20, Fast-Talk-20, Acting-20, Diplomacy-20, and Savoir-Faire-20 can be! the first time i wasn't able to talk my way out of a potential combat situation i was absolutely stunned! (both my character and me as a player. note to myself: do not attempt diplomacy with psychotic madmen... )

 

[UniversalMonster]

I pretty much dislike all Gurps. I have two editions of the basic set and one copy of Gurps Lite that someone gave me. I once tried to use if to design a fantasy campaign set on Dominaria, the world of Magic: The Gathering. It was going to have 5 different colors of magic, mana, etc.

Bottom line: I thought it was too concerned with things like square tonnage and being overly realistic to the detriment of fun and ease of use for the GM. It's also kinda dull and flavorless. I wanted to make an 'animated series' style of game and it was giving me technical readouts about tonnage and pounds/square inch and so on. So I'm not a Gurps fan in any case. I tried to run it a few times and thought it was really a lot of effort for minimal rewards, and it took itself too seriously.

Then I ran into some hardcore Gurps-people on the internet and they were really condescending about unsophisticated D&D types not knowing all about the wonders of a "skill-based system" so I've always made it a point to be comically anti-Gurps thereafter.

I dunno. Some people obviously like it.

 

[Chauzu]

GURPS WII sounds interesting, yet I've never played GURPS before. Would this book be all I need to run the game, or do I need another product or two?

 

[bwgwl]

GURPS WII sounds interesting, yet I've never played GURPS before. Would this book be all I need to run the game, or do I need another product or two?

to just get your feet wet with the system, yes, GURPS WWII is all you need to get started. the book contains a condensed version of the rules (GURPS Lite).

 

[Conaill]

I love GURPS. I'd rather be playing GURPS than D&D any day. It's got a better character generation system, better skill system, better system of feats (advantages and disadvantages), none of that silly "10 XpP for every orc you kill" etc. GURPS is what D&D wants to be when it grows up.

That's all IMHO, of course.

 

[Mortaneus]

I've been GMing both D&D and GURPS for years. A few points to consider:

-D&D is MUCH better at epic level play (I don't mean lvl 20+, I mean epic style stories..of parties taking on armies, slaying dragons, that sort of thing). You try this stuff in GURPS, and you'll wind up being buried in a very small box.

-GURPS combat tends (when properly used) to avoid the hit-point contest nature of D&D. It greatly rewards taking chances, but being smart about it. Cover is REALLY important. So are good tactics. If you try wading in and going toe-to-toe with your enemy, expect to die.

-GURPS has practically NO unstoppable attacks. Defenders almost always get a roll, unless caught off guard. It's quite difficult to put together instant-unstoppable-death combos like it is in D&D.

-GURPS is extremely modular. It does result in more work from the GM, but at the same time, it's quite easy for a GM to tailor things to the level of complexity they prefer.

-If you use hit locations, GURPS combat becomes very visual. You can picture each blow, parry, and block, because each has distinct game effects, and were rolled seperately. Nothing abstract about it at all.

-One second combat rounds might seem short, but when you get a group that understands the system well, combat is greased lightning fast. Frankly, you can't really DO much in a single round of combat, meaning planning and tactics becomes quite important. Setting yourself up in a vital location to take advantage of an opening later in the fight can be devistating to the opposition. Proper use of combat options (such as when to feint, withdraw, press forward, all-out attack, etc) and raw skill on the part of the combatants decides a fight much more than one side having better stuff, or being able to toss bigger booms.

-Yes, IQ and DX are the god-stats. Expect to see characters with these two stats being higher than their HT and ST. The sole exception is the Fighter/tank. Armor them up, load them down with ST and HT, and they are nearly unkillable unless overwhelmed.

-TECH IS DANGEROUS. The moment you put gunpowder into the mix (TL5+), people start dying really fast. When you go to ultra-tech (TL8+), expect to see a lot of instant deaths. It is, however, 'realistic' in that if someone gets shot through the chest with a high-powered particle beam cannon, they tend to die pretty messily.


GURPS does Middle-earth, for instance, much better than D&D does. D&D, however, crushes GURPS when used for epic gaming in the spirit of the Roman/Greek/Norse/Arthurian stories. It's just a matter of choosing the right tool for the job.



BTW, GURPS Illuminati University (IOU) is the single best setting I've ever seen, for any system, bar-none. It's simply brilliant. Buy the book. Read it. Even if you don't play it, it's worth every penny.

 

[Celtavian]

Re

I have to admit, I wish D&D would switch to a GURPS advancement system. GURPS has the best advancement system I have ever. You can even incorporate training into your advancement with an actual game effect over time. Damn good system of character advancement/development in GURPS.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

I've never played Gurps, and never want to, in all honesty.

But when I was looking for info on martial arts styles for my Shadowrun character, a friend of mine pointed me towards Gurps: Martial Arts, one of the best books I've ever bought for the hobby.

So, to reiterate what's already been said: even those of us who don't play Gurps can be hooked by those sourcebooks. I only wish WoTC's supplements were as well-done.