GURPS Fantasy / Dungeon Fantasy

[dbm]

So, this was asked in another thread:

Wow - I imagine GURPS Dungeon Fantasy is a niche within a niche within a niche. I know this is a tangen, but what is awesome about that game? I have the Dungeon Fantasy Box and I'm curious but also sure it's to archaic for me.

… and I thought we could have a new thread in that as it is an interesting topic to me.

I have been a GURPS player for over 30 years. I actually picked up the 1e box set when it first came out, but it was so thread-bare at the time it didn’t gel with me. When 3e was released I picked it up again and this time it clicked. I played GURPS as my primary system for a good decade, including modern, horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. I don’t play as much GURPS these days, but it is still in my top 3 systems.

When it comes to fantasy, there has been genre books for fantasy in both 3e (several world books and bestiaries) and 4e (focussed solidly on general fantasy concepts, initially). A common challenge presented against GURPS is that it is too difficult to set up common / popular types of games. To address that, SJG started putting out PDF series with pre-mixed ‘recipes’ for different types of campaign, starting with Action! but quickly moving on to Dungeon Fantasy. This is a range of supplements intended for classic dungeon crawling since that is a highly common focus for RPG play. It now has over 40 supplements for it, and covers pretty much every common trope in fantasy action RPGs.

So, what makes GURPS stand out for fantasy? A couple of things in my mind.

First, GURPS in general is so focussed on verisimilitude that it makes open world games really easy to run. The rules framework allows you (me) to easily work out what some new thing should function like and how the PCs can interact with it in meaningful ways. Yes, there is a learning curve to internalise the system. But once you have done that it becomes easy to use in play. NPCs can be created on the fly once you have it down.

Second, GURPS fantasy / Dungeon Fantasy is an excellent answer to the liner fighter / quadratic wizard problem that you can have in D&D and close relatives. In DF, combat focussed characters are far more combat capable than wizards are. Yes, there is combat magic, but a skilled warrior with a sword is far more dangerous in a fight. And the GURPS combat system has so many meaningful options that warriors have more choices each combat round than a typical combat mage. It’s a big head shift from classic D&D.

There’s more, if people want to talk about it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I can’t say GURPS was ever a favorite of mine- I greatly preferred HERO & D&D. But for several years, I was part of a group in which it, HERO & D&D were the 3 main systems used. As a result, I played enough GURPS at the time to invest in a core rulebook, the martial arts supplement, and maybe 1-2 others.

The most memorable campaigns were the V:tM port playtest and one that was decidedly “swords & sorcery”.

In the latter, one of my buddies & I played identical twin sisters who were both “barbarians” and “sorcerers”. They were more competent in melee than magic, but that wasn’t a big issue. Since magic was generally weak in the setting, ANY magic at your disposal was significant.

 

[thullgrim]

There are also multiple magic systems fleshed out for use in Dungeon Fantasy so you’ve got out of the box options ready to go.

It really easy to integrate anything else you might need from the GURPS options. I’ve used the Basic Action Difficulty rules from Action! With fantasy. Works just fine. I’ve used the simplified ranged combat from Monster Hunters with DF. Again works just fine.

That’s really the sweet thing about GURPS. It’s a toolbox box with a huge number of tools in it. Once you have a little system mastery selecting the right tools for given type of game isn’t difficult.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

I never could wrap my heap around the 1-second turns, especially for traditional fantasy.

 

[Ahndrostalgan]

GURPS and HERO, I have played both and have huge collections, are basically two flavors of the same food, with each being slightly better than the other for certain things. HERO is definitely better for Supers especially higher powered ones, but is a little dry at very low power levels. But knowing the math/mechanics well for either one is probably more important than the differences between the two. GURPS has far, far more supplements of all types (excepting Supers, where the number of HERO/Champions supplements is almost insane in its volume and dwarfs by orders of magnitude what is available for GURPS), whereas HERO is going to require you to do a little more work.

The big appeal, IMHO, to GURPS Dungeon Fantasy is that it includes the necessary rules and options for a fantasy game (particularly an older school dungeon crawling fantasy, but not at all limited to such) across a swathe of supplements, and presents it in a tighter, more coherent package. If you like GURPS as a system, and you want to play fantasy, then this is the product you can use at your table and all those other books become merely reading options.

 

[Argyle King]

The Dungeon Fantasy boxed set is everything you need for a self-contained game.

However, I highly recommend that someone also pick up Delvers to Grow from Gaming Ballistic:

All Products – Gaming Ballistic All Products

"Even the mightiest delver started somewhere. An apprentice, a squire or man-at-arms, or a backup singer touring seedy taverns with The Backstreet Bards.

Delvers to Grow allows you to take the part of those starting characters, supporting starting play as low as 62 points.

Further, it provides pre-built modules and packages enabling a player to create a capable, playable character in minutes.

Get gaming. Fast.

Fully compatible with the professional template system in Dungeon Fantasy Adventurers, Delvers to Grow lets you start much earlier in the hero’s journey, letting both players and GMs ease into the full breadth of capability that the professional delvers of the Dungeon Fantasy RPG bring to the table.

Explore different challenges or use the modules to assemble henchmen … or create a starting character to replace the dearly departed.

Roll and Shout with Delvers to Grow."

 

[dbm]

I never could wrap my heap around the 1-second turns, especially for traditional fantasy.

It certainly requires an adjustment of perspective, and is probably one of the most different aspects of GURPS. It works best at lower skill levels, where you probably want to spend some rounds on All-Out Defence, or on Evaluate or Feint to improve your chances of hitting. It’s also quite tricky with low-tech missile combat where you need a couple of rounds to pull ammo and reload before shooting again (and you may possibly want to aim, as well).

The best trick, in my experience, is making your players keep snappy with their action declarations so the pace is kept up.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I never could wrap my heap around the 1-second turns, especially for traditional fantasy.

Its the biggest flaw of the system to my POV, but I actually found it less of an issue in pre-gunpowder games than post in practice.

 

[John Dallman]

I never could wrap my heap around the 1-second turns, especially for traditional fantasy.

It's different, certainly. I found it fairly easy to adapt to it, coming from a background in OD&D and AD&D1e where there are no attacks of opportunity, bonus actions and other things that can be fitted into a multi-second combat round. You need to pay attention continuously during fights, and have tentative plans for a round or two ahead.

 

[darjr]

I had the 1e boxed set and 3rd books and even a lot of the 4e books. Eventually I grew out of it baeed in 4e. It was just too complex for me anymore. Especially after playing Savage Worlds and a multi genre FATE games.

Actually my drift away from GURPS started with an introduction to FUDGE.