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Message: <blockquote data-quote="uzirath" data-source="post: 7617477" data-attributes="member: 8495">Yeah, if the GM gives a player a stack of GURPS books with a zillion options, creating a character from scratch is daunting. The template system, however, makes this much easier. A template provides a list of options for a given archetype. A first-timer, as with most RPGs, will need to look up (or ask about) the details of features (advantages, disadvantages, skills, and spells) in order to understand the mechanics, but they don't have to try and digest the entire system at once, and they don't have to worry about all the options for other genres. Once they've played a few sessions, they'll be able to create new characters from a template in a few minutes.<a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/supers/" target="_blank">GURPS Supers</a> includes templates in the 500-1000+ point range. <a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/monsterhunters/" target="_blank">GURPS Monster Hunters</a> runs at 400 points. <a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/action/" target="_blank">GURPS Action</a> and <a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/dungeonfantasy/" target="_blank">GURPS Dungeon Fantasy</a> (or the boxed all-in-on <a href="http://www.sjgames.com/dungeonfantasy/" target="_blank">Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game</a>) templates are worth 250 points. <a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/banestorm/" target="_blank">GURPS Banestorm</a> and <a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/aftertheend/" target="_blank">After the End</a> are at 150. There are others, of course, spanning the possible point values. There's even a short guide, <a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/templatetoolkit1/" target="_blank">GURPS Template Toolkit</a>, to help GMs who want to build their templates from scratch.Templates won't convert someone into a GURPS fan if the system is otherwise anathema to their preferred game design, but I've found that they largely eliminate any barriers to entry during the character creation process. (I have middle-schoolers routinely whipping up characters from templates after a short introduction to the process.) If I were running a custom game where I was hoping to attract new-to-GURPS players, I would definitely invest some time into creating a set of evocative templates.</blockquote>

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