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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 447663" data-attributes="member: 8158">Re: Re: Re: my pick...You've just related a lot of the things that I always enjoyed about playing GURPS. Combat is detailed, damage is damage (not abstracted as fatigue or the timely intervention of fate), and the ability to make decisions on a momemt-by-moment basis is critical because a character can only do one thing per round (as opposed to drawing a weapon from its sheath while moving sixty feet to an opponent and striking him down before he can react--all of this occurring, for all intents and purposes, instantly). All good and well. I'm glad GURPS has some folks out there staunchly defending it.However, it's still not unusual to find yourself overwhelmed in a situation where tactics don't even the odds. Moreover, a single roll not going your way can spell the end of you. Granted, this may be entirely acceptable--even desirable--to some players, because they want a combat system that's realistic and lethal. However, considering the amount of effort that can go into making a character, it's tough to look at them as being as disposable. Life's not fair, but games should be. Many players are put off by a game where there's no buffer that prevents a single mistake or unlucky drop of the dice from spelling their characters' demise. Heroes need an edge, even dumb ones. That's why I refer to my experiences with GURPS fantasy strictly in the past tense. I can't get my friends to play it.You may opt to fault those players instead of accepting any criticism of the game as having merit (in my experiences on this board that's been an all-too-common response), but realize that's not a terribly important point. Ultimately, they play a different game, and whenever that happens--and regardless of where blame lies--the players suffer less than the game does.IMHO, if the folks at SJG want GURPS to be a truly generic, universal RPG, suitable for campaigns with fictional as well as nonfictional settings, they should reconsider whether harsh realism should be the first and foremost objective when designing a core set of rules. GURPS tacks on cinematic rules to various settings (manifested mainly in the form of outrageously expensive Advantages and Perks) as some sort of aberrant bastardization of that core system. Seems like a bad way to run an omniverse <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I kinda have to be careful here, because I've recently gotten into heated debates about D&D and certain of its over-the-top elements that make player-characters superhuman. In those discussions, I took the position that D20 conventions such as level-scaled hit points made for a system that was too forgiving of sloppy tactics, to the point where players stop using their wits and just bulldoze their way through every challenge. Unfortunately, I have yet to encounter a system that provides a happy medium. Most games go for the gritty, realistic approach--perhaps as some sort of rebellion against the Big System.The detail and quality of GURPS sourcebooks are generally among the best you'll find in the industry. I have quite a few that I've purchased impulsively, read thoroughly, enjoyed immensely, and eventually placed somewhere in my pile of unused gaming material. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /> However, I'm talking about the magic system of GURPS Fantasy here, not other books published as separate supplements. It's pretty darn dull ("generic" need not be synonymous with "flavorless"). As for alternate magic systems, you're preaching to the choir. I tried to play up the strengths of GURPS' skill system,  creating "low magicks" that were relatively easy to learn (Mental/Average) and yielded small benefits and "high magicks" that required the utmost discipline (Mental/Very Hard) but produced awesome effects. For many GM's, however, the fact that they can replace GURPS Fantasy's college-based magic with their own homebrew system or go out spend $25 on another book to incorporate into their existing campaigns is of little consolation. And imagine the look on a player's face when he says "OK, I'll play a wizard!" and you hand him a 150-page book as required reading. Admittedly, I haven't played any recent incarnations of GURPS Fantasy (I'm traveling back farther in time than I like here). I know in the version I used to play, a decent magic skill (around 18-21) mitigated all of the various penalties associated with magic (fatigue, concentration, gestures, incantations, etc.) to a point where they could fire off their spells without much more than a single word or the flick of a finger. Perhaps things have changed? Lemme know.Ah, good old piercing damage. Hmm. Is Drill an Easy, Average, or Hard skill?See above.Interesting. I'll check it out. Does spell creation bear more than a passing resemblence to designing Powers in Hero System?</blockquote>

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