Gurps? Where do I start?

[The Cardinal]

If I want to run something other than fantasy, I run GURPS. For fantasy, if the game is just whacking something, I just use D&D. Otherwise, I run GURPS for fantasy.

seconded - and with GURPS Powers GURPS4e does a really good job for superhero stuff!

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

seconded - and with GURPS Powers GURPS4e does a really good job for superhero stuff!

Actually, I think where GURPS Powers really shines is not superheroes, but fantasy worlds with multiple sources of supernatural powers.

I mean, in D&D spellcasters - and even psionics - operate on fairly similar principles, no matter what their power source. With GURPS, and especially GURPS Powers, you can have people capable of invoking supernatural forces with radically different effects, prerequisites, limitations, and so forth - and yet none of them will be imbalanced against the others.

 

[Clueless]

Oooohhhh... I hadn't thought of *that*. I tend to use GURPS Voodoo to drive my magic users, but next time I'll definately have to use Powers for it.

Just adding to the cacophony here, but what's been said about GURPS as a set of setting or source books - hands down some of the best I've ever seen out there. I'll routinely pull out my gurps books for setting reference. Any historical game I play - I go right for my favorite source book, the ones with stats for historical figures. Inevitably they're well researched and I find a new plot hook to grab my players with.

 

[The Lost Muse]

I used to run GURPS 3rd - does the 4th edition reduce GM prep time at all? Also, as far as combat goes, is it easier to challenge the party without either a) killing them off or b) having an underwhelming villian? Finally, since there is no 4e Fantasy Folk, are any extra books needed to make up the racial packages for dwarves, elves, et. al?

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I used to run GURPS 3rd - does the 4th edition reduce GM prep time at all?

Hmmm. Not much, though I found that creating NPCs for GURPS always took much less time than with D&D, since you don't have to worry about level-dependent bonuses and such, but can just assign any arbitrary values to attributes, skills, and so forth.

What were your main problems with 3E game preparation?

Also, as far as combat goes, is it easier to challenge the party without either a) killing them off or b) having an underwhelming villian?

Both superiority of numbers and high strengfth-opponents work fairly well, although run-of-the-mill opponents shouldn't have excessive weapon skills for reasons I have outlined earler.

If you are worried about PC survival, just encourage the players to give their characters above-average HT, or just a few levels of "Hard to Kill". That should do the trick.

Finally, since there is no 4e Fantasy Folk, are any extra books needed to make up the racial packages for dwarves, elves, et. al?

You can easily make up such packages with the Basic Set - all the required rules are in it, as long as you know what powers such races ought to have.

If you want ready-made templates, you can find them in GURPS Fantasy or GURPS Banestorm.

 

[Sir Brennen]

Oooohhhh... I hadn't thought of *that*. I tend to use GURPS Voodoo to drive my magic users, but next time I'll definately have to use Powers for it.

In that vein, this is one GURPS product I'm looking forward to:

"GURPS Thaumatology collects rules for alternative magic systems from the Third Edition versions of GURPS Spirits, GURPS Cabal, GURPS Voodoo, GURPS Celtic Myth, GURPS Religion, as well as numerous articles from Pyramid, and updates all the rules to Fourth Edition. Abracadabra! The mysteries of magic will be unveiled in 2008."

 

[RFisher]

Hmm...what can I add to what's been said. I haven't gotten into 4/e yet, but here goes:

Find & read the compilation of Dr. Kromm's answers to questions. While 4/e fixed a lot of stuff--so some of the answers may be less applicable to the new edition--I think it'll give you good insight into the design & intended use of 4/e. I assume the FAQs on SJG's site are still useful too.

Don't be afraid to be tough on disads if they seem to become a problem. The last GURPS campaign I ran, I dropped disads altogether & gave out extra points up-front. (Well, techincally, I just ruled that you didn't get any points from disads.) It works fine, of course, & was (IMHO) much better for that specific group.

Personally, I don't like the probability curve for criticals as written. YMMV.

 

[DungeonMaester]

Hey DM!

Don't give up...I convinced half of my 8-person 3.5 D&D group to switch over to Gurps, and almost 3 years later we have added a couple more, and are still going great guns.

In fact, I have another old 3rd Edition Gurps Book. If you are in the US, drop me a PM at my e-mail address and I will send it to your free of charge. You can go ahead and give your ragged copy to one of your gamers, and keep the better one for yourself. Hell, I have an extra Fantasy Bestiary I will donate to your cause as well.

C'mon Gurpsheads...anyone elsa wanna pony up to help this guy out?

TGryph

tgriffith@earthlink.net

Sent! Also, if you can send it via next day through Fed Ex or something I will find some way to give back. Who else wants to pony something up? No? Cheap bastards?

using 3rd ed I had a little bit of a problem creating races with the point buy ststem, but with a little effort I made the Historical recount of the Minataur, and he is rather bad ass too. That was using 100 points. It takes a little doing with the old ed.

On a side note, like everything else, I like wy Heros with a extra helping of PALLADIUM!

---Rusty

 

[TGryph]

I used to run GURPS 3rd - does the 4th edition reduce GM prep time at all? Also, as far as combat goes, is it easier to challenge the party without either a) killing them off or b) having an underwhelming villian? Finally, since there is no 4e Fantasy Folk, are any extra books needed to make up the racial packages for dwarves, elves, et. al?

There is actually a very nice fan conversion of Fantasy Folk for 4E at the following site, about 2/3 down the page...here

TGryph

 

[DungeonMaester]

Nothing on the site works...

---Rusty