Once I played GURPS I never wanted to play another system. I like the fact that I can go as complex or as simple as I'd like. What I hate about other game systems is "You can't do that" where as for GURPS there is always a way to do something.
Yes! IMO, GURPS is the ONLY system I want to play. I'll borrow ideas from books, TV, Movies, etc, as to plots and scenarios, but the SYSTEM is GURPS (3e with mods).
It's funny, in the D&D red box (BECMI), it stated that the intent was to have fun! If a player wanted to try something, let her! She wants to jump off a chandelier and onto a flying harpy, come up with an arbitrary roll and go for it. I walked away from D&D 3e because of all the limitations and almost videogame like "builds". Instead I found my home in GURPS 2ed. I still mess around with D&D Basic
@@azmendozafamily Have you checked out the OSR movement. I found a game called Grim Castle which is not a retro-clone. It's classless, cinematic, and very old-skool. I'm really impresed with it.
@@TannerBivensCritorMiss GURPS is literally all I accept so I don't have to learn new rules for some other genre. It's easier than having to remember 500 other systems...
GURPS is my plan A, The Fantasy Trip is my plan B, D&D in some flavor is a distant C but only if it's a low level campaign with reasonable chance of character death. Once D&D characters of any class hit level 4 or so I lose interest in the game.
I always would rather play GURPS, but I often find myself alone. People always want to play DnD or something else, and, as a GM, I always find myself frustrated with limiting rules in other systems, or having to combat people's preexisting expectations of setting.
@@Maximara if you require a computer system to make character, your system is too complicated. I say this coming from someone who's played rolemaster, which you need a goddamn excel for. It's still alot of rules learning, and dont even get started on looking through advantages and skills. Oh, and you'll still probably only have 12 hp. Mean while you can at least roll up the 9 hp 5e wizard in 10 min.
See, this "problem?" This is why SJ games came out with Dungeon Fantasy. Funny thing: in every other game system I've played in, there's a GM who wants to "do their own thing." homebrew rules that basically screw up the entire game because they don't know what they're doing... GURPS is a toolbox, and it's the only RP system I've seen that lets people create their own sort of game. That's why GURPS is so generic... you can add whatever flavour you like.
IMHO it is the "toolbox" aspect of GURPS that makes certain people want to avoid the system. It takes a reasonable understanding to tailor it to the setting you want to play in and there are so many options that players risk information overload.
Meh... For my two-cents' on the matter... GURPS is top notch. The mechanic is solid, pretty much no matter what you do to it. THE PROBLEM, is that it's not set up for a "noob". Simple as that. If you want to start RP, start with almost anything else... BUT that's a GM-issue, not a Player problem. Players can just as easily get into GURPS as they can anything... Start with a simple character concept, and let the GM "coach" you to fit the home-brew... Since really, that's all GURPS really is, a tool-box systemic for "homebrew-anything". What gets too easily seen as a "problem with the game" is more of a "comfort issue" within the GM. AND the big reason most GM's don't really want to full-on tackle the GURPS mechanic is two-stage. First, the GM has to get "settled into" the mechanics... ALL the math, and ALL the tables should be familiar... THEN and only then, does the GM get started at the "world building" concept... where it falls to the GM to determine "pre-constructs" versus "templates" versus some idiosyncratic "caste, race, and class" system (or adopts it from D&D), all the physics assumptions and universal rules, magic system(s) as necessary, and either buy supplements or start crunching up monsters, demons, deities, demigods, and all that crap... Worlds are big, man. It's a LOT of work... even before the very first die of the very first game is thrown. :o)
I disagree that ALL the math and tables should be familiar. Any sane GM should have a good idea on what they want to do and only read those rules relevant to that setting. Sure there is going to be a lot of overlap but much of this all applies to D&D (more so to the AD&D1 and 2 era then the current 5.x version but still)
Bruce, this might seem like a "hair-splitting semantic" point, but I suspect you actually don't really disagree. I used the term "familiar" for a purpose. By that I meant "familiar" with it, and expressly NOT "memorized". SO the GM should bother more for those rules and mechanics that are most useful, but BE FAMILIAR enough with the "everything else" to pop to that part of the book and know what he's looking at and for when he gets to it... Any sane GM should understand the whole of the book well enough to flip quickly through the general lay-out to get the section he needs relatively quickly... He doesn't need to memorize what page the combat section starts so much as "combat tables are after skills, but if you get to damage resistance, you've gone too far"... I apologize for being a bit wordy, but I think we're closer to agreement on the matter, when you fully get what I meant. :o)
I think you actually mean familiar enough to know what sections to apply. For example if you are using the Cinematic Combat Rules (B417) then you don't need to know too many details regarding the advanced combat system and can "safely" ignore huge section of Chapters 11-13, It also depends on how much of GURPS you plan to use. For example I used GURPS Fantasy (later GURPS Magic) as a replacement magic system for AD&D1 and 2. I updated it for D&D 3.5 and GURPS 4e (gurps.wikia.com/wiki/GURPS_magic_in_D%26D) and it worked reasonably well. I used this as a way to shift my D&D campaign over to GURPS and hammered out some class templates ( gurps.wikia.com/wiki/D%26D_to_GURPS ) so my players weren't totally lost. I agree with the information overload issue and that it is a bigger issue for the GM then the players but that to a large extent is true of nearly every system.
I think that the problem is less people don't want to play GURPS than coming up with all the crunch for the specific setting is hard and beyond the time commitment of most DMs.
Very true. The work that goes into taking GURPS and trimming out the things you don't want in your setting (and making a character build instruction set of what cannot be bought) and adding in options that are setting specific that aren't in it, can take a good 40 hours all by itself... and then you have to design races/species, edit the magic system (or tech set or psi set etc)
A list of names, objects, McGuffins, mooks that are one weapon skill and what's in their pockets. I find the players create everything else. This in itself makes GURPS campaigns the easiest campaign to make and run: simply make notes of what happens, DM / GM. Ponder and expand on this within the next sessions.
@@johnmorrison8577 I make my own settings too, but your basically homebrewing a whole mini system inside gurps to make it function. Which at that point why not use another system, at least from adm perspective.
Gurps has one problem. It doesn't licence its system off enough, like savage worlds is now doing. Much more people would be playing Gurps if someone would develop more property licence characters and worlds like a John Carter of mars, red Sonja, or indiana Jones rpg powered by the gurps system.
@@Cyberpuppy63 Yup, most of 3e was a fountain of Traveler, Deadlands, Conan, Vampire & Werewolf, and many more. Personally I feel if they would allow people to do licensed "Powered by GURPS" Adventure Modules that would help.
No other system has as many licensed material sourcebooks as GURPS. Even other RPG settings have found their ways into GURPS supplements. Tons of book series have been licensed as source material. You just gotta look a bit better. Hyperborea, the world of Conan ( and Red Sonja) is even one of those licensed backgrounds! Most of them will be in the 3rd edition version (and probably stay there due to license costs), but they are easy to use in 4th ed. Also, SJG does on occasion let others (then their staff writers) write supplements...
Enjoyed the review, and you clearly have a lotta love for GURPS! I definitely see *some* of the reactions you mention in gamer communities, but in my experience it's not a universal (hehe) hatred. I have literally GMed nothing but GURPS for like 25 years -- games that were short, long, gritty, cinematic, serious, funny, gonzo, supers, Old West, spies, samurais, bunnies and burrows, fantasy, lots of combat, no combat, on and on. Never once have I thought "Ugh, gotta play GURPS again?" It's my go-to system for a reason, and when I start a new campaign or prep a convention one-shot I can't wait to make it all GURPS-y! Just a counter-experience. Looking forward to watching part two.
Totally makes a lot of sense. Like, I have enjoyed playing GURPS and I have had some great GURPS games. The problem REALLY comes up with things that have preexisted mythos to them that don't have a good RPG book or RPG book at all. I was also never "sad" to play it. There was the feeling of "Okay, let's do GURPS... *Sigh*" And then a shit ton of fun ensues.
Like Mook I mainly run GURPS. In fact one of the main reasons I got into GURPS was so I wouldn't have to learn a new set of rules every time I wanted to play in a new setting! I even remember converting Cyber-generation (the Cyberpunk 2020 "sequel" RPG) to gurps in the mid 90's. Sometimes I joke how GURPS has ruined me for other RPGs. When I read rules, even for games that I really want to like, I end up finding that GURPS I could "do it better/faster/simpler" with GURPS.
Hey Mook, thanks to you and the Happy Jacks podcast I found GURPS and have never looked back. In my groups small amount of time to play we have so far done a Zombie apocalypse, murder mystery and are now beginning an Infinite Worlds campaign. In short, I cant imagine playing any other system now even with an official system to what we want to play. I still enjoyed this guys video though, its nice to understand the reservation that many have to this system.
I look at it the same way as Mook, more like 'Oh, they want to play Fantasy, I'll throw it into GURPS. Space? Time Travel? Which by the way a Time Travel / Dimension hopping game is by far the best use of GURPS. I recall some old D&D Module where you were thrown forward in time to modern days, and they had stats for a hand gun that only did 1d6 damage. In GURPS that's quite realistic since your average human has 10 hit points. In D&D though only maybe 1st to 2nd level characters have so few. I started playing GURPS due to 2nd Edition AD&D being pretty terrible in a lot of ways, and since I tended to write my own adventures at that point anyhow, I didn't need most of the pre-made stuff that was out there. As you state in the video, GURPS is a framework for all things, vs some of the pretty terribly made games that are geared toward one effect.
I'll throw in my two cents as I didn't see any comments with my take on why I play and love GURPS: the mechanics encourage good roleplay. No other system I have played gives me and my players the sense that we're credibly playing out a favorite book or movie because we're forced to consider things other RPGs simply leave out. Whether it's because characters take cover in a gun fight (because gun fights are deadly!), impress a king with their savior-faire, try to stop drinking so the Captain can fight off pirates instead of drunkenly being run through, or avoid going mad because a zombie rose from the dead, GURPS handles so many situations from our favorite stories so well mechanically that it boosts the roleplaying at the table. I've seen dull personalities in D&D games come alive in GURPS because GURPS gave my players tools they mechanically had to consider or implement in order to play the game and participate in the story. So, yeah, GURPS is my go-to game. Great video.
GURPS has always been my Go-To, with Fate Core being my recent favorite backup. That said, you're sadly correct...most players look at the rule books and character creation, and feel like it's too much effort.
GURPS is like the laidback version of the Borg's philosophy: Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated... or we'll adapt to you. Either is cool. Granted, that also means I don't agree with your problem. When I play another RPG system, I always want to adapt it to GURPS. It isn't an official, tailor-made RPG I seek, but an official GURPS supplement for it. ;) My tastes are just too diverse for me to settle for a niche system... especially as I am already quite used to and fond of GURPS. I realize this is somewhat rare, and in addition to what GURPS offers, a major component of this is probably how GURPS: Third Edition, Revised was my first tabletop RPG. ^^'
That is because people tend to avoid the hassle of creating a setting and its specific rules from scratch. Mainly that's why they gravitate to rpgs made for the setting they're after (as is the case with Firefly, for example). Because the work is already done for them there. Even if some universal rules system might be the better fit mechanics-wise.
I know I commented a few months ago but your video popped on auto play. I think the essence of your point is that there are folks that like Lego that come with the instructions and the kit. We buy the Pirate ship and all the Lego help is build said pirate ship. GURPS on the other hand is that big box of Lego we all have that allows us to build whatever we want. So, it isn't that GURPS is somebody's plan B, it's that it is the box of Lego that let's you build your plan A. It's daunting at first but once you learn how it works the marginal complexity reduces each time .
The problem is without a right way to do something their is no wrong way too. Without the instruction everyone builds something different and it can become a mess.
The only "problem" with GURPS, in my humble opinion, is that the latest books, though much, much better than previous editions are made for people who are still not afraid of reading and doing simple math. That being said, it takes me with 15+ years playing it, the guts of a day to build a character to my liking. Recently I have started a game with people who have never played RPGs and I used my go to system number one: GURPS. I explained to them how to read the character sheet and left the books on the table. I, then, focused on making my and theirs time worth the while. They were handed over cool characters and jumped on board and everyone is having fun.
@@ruster2230, the latest edition is the 4th edition, released in 2004. The main GURPS books you need are Basic Set Characters and Basic Set Campaigns. My 4th edition books are the 6th printing from 2016. If you want to try it out before committing to buying the books, there is the free GURPS Lite brochure - a simplified excerpt of the rules. For a more in-depth and tailored set of rules, you could have a look at Dungeon Fantasy RPG, which is "powered by GURPS". What does that mean? It is a unique game that uses most of the GURPS rules for a specific setting - dungeon crawling. Also, it will not have the rules for modern fire weapons and armour, or computers, or cars, motorcycles and planes. In my humble opinion, if you like the fantasy genre it is a very good option.
@@gtludwig i don't like dnd fantasy style, but thank you for your answer. Could you tell me something about magic? I have in my mind low fantasy/a bit gritty/"realistic" world, Witcher would be good example
@@ruster2230 No problems, buddy! Magic in GURPS is both awesome and can be very complex. I mean, there is a whole supplement for it called GURPS Magic, but there are variants like ritual magic. Basically, what you want to do can be done - you just have to abide by a few rules, but everything is really well detailed and there's big online support from fans. In short, magic can be influence by environment mana levels. Since you need to provide energy (from your own pool or from power stones) the lower the environment mana, the more expensive to cast anything and vice-versa. The GM can decide his world (or any particular area in it) has either zero, low, normal, high or super-high environment mana or that it varies. There is a very nice setting called Banestorm, where, in a nutshell, there was some cataclysmic event somewhere in the past where a whirlwind-like event transports people, places and creatures from their own original place (and time) into this world. So you have all classical elements of fantasy in one same world. And you can have any sort of mana levels in it. I don't think there are any official Witcher adaptations, but you could probably find fan-made material online. The trickier part would be there is no such thing as a Monster Manual. You (or the GM) would have to create the monsters and balance their power level and numbers in any encounter with the party. This is no small feat and I constantly struggle with it in my own games. So, if you are into Magic, you should really consider getting the GURPS Magic book as well. Cheers!
@@gtludwig i am not fan of balancing encounters and thinking about something like it :D could you tell me what are differences between kinds of magic or just explain your favourite ones? Recently i am big fan of unisystem (witchcraft/armageddon) magic which is very flexible system, with categories like fire/water/protection etc and amount of magic points decides how powerful is effect And sorry for my english I hope you understand at least some things I want to say :D
I would NEVER, EVER play an RPG within an already existing universe. The whole purpose of RPG for me is to tailor my own universe, my own lore, my own characters... So, GURPS is actually the ONLY RPG I'd play. :)
Me: homebrewed a setting with most genres in it but nothing is compatible. GURPS: I exists. Me: "Literally how the **** did I never find you until now! Your PERFECT!"
Gurps is my A,B and C plan. Have been Roleplaying since 1984. Since 1993 I have almost only played Gurps. Sure, some DnD 3.5, one Pathfinder session, some Cyberpunk but end of the day GURPS is my and my groups Plan A through C.
Wow, I was totally expecting to see another video bashing this system, but instead you hit the nail right on the head. A quick perusal online will reveal the number of excuses people come up with not to play this system, whether it's "too much math", "too crunchy/rule heavy", or too vague". Thanks for enlightening.
@@TannerBivensCritorMiss the "divide by exponential fraction" for powerstone material price modifier in Magic is pretty up there for anyone that isn't a math geek.
Calculators, and now smartphones, have all the mathematics oomph you'll ever need for GURPS. The only time I even had to think about using my limited mathematics knowledge when playing GURPS for thirty years was when, incredibly, the time an aircraft took to drop to stall speed and go out of control was significant. - so I said as GM: 'You all know how to pilot the plane: the plane's wings shudder and the nose drops, the last look at the altimeter showed 900 feet: time to get out'. Two did go out, one wanted to argue. Just made it back to the controls as they hit the ground, two under parachutes, one in a fireball. Compared to DnD, which had a table for 'quality of streetwalker', GURPS is rules-light. 'Too vague' is the one that really puzzles me. Gamers want a game that does what they want, they homebrew a DnD campaign to make it so, but when the game system can play any pre-existing world or game, it's 'too vague'?
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, but there is a fantastic podcast called The Film Reroll which uses GURPs to RPG popular movies, and due to the free will the GURPS system offers, hilarity ensues. That's the reason I'm watching this video. I started playing DND5e about two months ago and am seriously jealous of GURPS, but the GM at Film Reroll definitely knows the system well and is creative af, so my hopes of finding a similar GM aren't very high so sticking to DND for now.
I switched from AD&D to GURPS 3e in 1984 and have been running that system ever since, with a few "house rules." When 4e came out, I bought several of the books, and discovered that in attempting to cater to the SUPERS players, they had warped the system tremendously. I borrowed from 4e what made sense and have ignored the rest. I'm totally uninterested in switching to another system. What most folks don't get about GURPS is that the Basic Set is what you really need to create characters and run a game. EVERYTHING else are simply optional rules and setting suggestions. The GM is the designer of the scenario/campaign/game world, and adds or subtracts elements of plot & design (including rule elements) to provide the setting that the players respond to. In my campaign, for example I allow however many disads you feel you can PLAY, and ignore the "no more than double your age in skills" rule AS LONG AS the skills match the character concept (and I approve all characters in my scenarios!). At one point, our group had 16 members, but other Life considerations has brought the total down to 5 regulars and a 6th periodical.
For those who didn't want to take the plunge I wrote up the house rules for using GURPS Fantasy 1st edition in AD&D1 and updated them for Magic and D&D 3.5 : gurps.wikia.com/wiki/GURPS_magic_in_D%26D I also provided my napkin D&D 3.5 to GURPS 4th Edition Conversion ( gurps.wikia.com/wiki/D%26D_to_GURPS ) guidelines
Agree 100%. However, the real issue is the lack of a real setting. People buy RPGs because of the story and setting. The system is second. So a generic system with no setting isn’t going to spark anyone’s interest. The other issue is that Gurps fails because it tries to do everything but can’t. The Hero system makes the same claim but succeeds. That’s the problem. Just compare Gurps supers to Champions. Not even close, Hero blows the doors off of it. Compare Hero magic with Gurps magic. Again, Hero is 100x better. Then there’s the issue of no boundaries. Gurps let’s you do anything. But letting players do anything is not wise. So with very little structure it requires a lot of GM babysitting. For example, if we were playing Gurps set in the Star Wars universe and 5 of us wanted to make Jedi, not one of them would be anything alike. The lack of structure isn’t as big of a bonus as it is a headache for the GM. It’s just not GM friendly.
as a person who was drawn into ROGs when he was 12 as a way to express his love for worldbuilding and his creativity, I had to alter my full fledged settings for years to fit into systems such as DnD, Pathfinder, CoD, WoD, Atomic Robo, d20 victorian etc. While I don't hate those settings (in fact I love some of them from the bottom of my heart), I found my Holy Grail in GURPS. No more did I have to hack the setting in order to fit the rules, but I had to hack the rules to fit the setting.
Ridiculous. I *wanted to play* GURPS, from the moment I got 3rd edition in 1993 and traded off my RoleMaster/SpaceMaster/Cyperspace books, until FATE came out and I switched to that system (big jump I know). I never minded that there was no specific RPG for 'my game' because as I had all the GURPS books over the years, I literally spent my time reading stories or watching movies and recreating them. I did play a GURPS Firefly, I didn't look twice at the Firefly RPG because I know that if I had, it would have been *their* Firefly RPG, not *my* 'GURPS Firefly', which had exactly what *I* wanted in it. As was all my GURPS campaigns. Exactly the opposite of your conclusion in the vid. The only other RPGs I played in my GURPS era was Chaosium's CoC and WW Mage, although in latter years I also had CthulhuTech and GURPS Mage, so I put them together into my own CthulhuMage campaign. People don't love GURPS because they stare at it, people love it because they play it.
Personally, I'd rather learn one system and be able to customise games and worlds to fit my/my friends play styles. So GURPS seems like the game for me.
The thing is, we didn't have much money (we were kids, in a small brazillian town), So with a couple of books we could play anything we liked. That I think was why we used gurps. Sure, with time we were able to upgrade our collective library with supers, ultratech, martial arts, magic, etc.. But for a long time we only had The basic set, fantasy and cyberpunk. But we could play the most varied kinds of campaigns. The thing with gurps is that the books complemented each other. When you bought one, it wasn't used for just one type of game, but a bunch of them. We could use ultratech in a supers campaign to make a iron man kind of character and so on. But in general, we could do a lot of things with just those first three books (which were inherited from previous generations of gamers).
I started with the 2nd ed Boxed Set. Had everything needed to create a medieval setting with magic - no additional books required. Added the Beastry & Fantasy Beastry when they came out in 3rd ed and then migrated 100% to 3rd ed revised with Magic, Psionics, and Compendiums. Have been playing it ever since. 4th ed broke some things, improved others - consequently I'm still mostly using 3rd.
@@eriolduterion8855 I'm thinking of coming back to RPG, but now it would be with people that never played and don't have the time I had to dive into GURPS (I read the basic set cover to cover after playing my first session). So I'm looking into simpler skill based systems. It seems that there are a lot of former GURPS players trying to mainstream GURPS that way.
In the small town I grew up (in the early 2000's) there were two RPG communities (centered around two schools): one was Gurps and the other as DnD. The fun thing about GURPS group is that we had all kinds of campaigns, like he said: Modern day, cyberpunk, Eastern martial arts, super heroes, fantasy, etc.. While DnD, well, you know. The only different thing I played in DnD was a dark Lovecraftian campaign. I don't get why people complain about GURPS crunching. We were all nerds, like, math were our thing! One of our GM's dad was an engineer and we used his programmable calculator to do the most amazing things. We could followed the advanced rule set to a T with no effort if we wanted. Even the infamous trench digging rules. XD When I went to college I found a Vampire the Masquerade group and enjoyed Storytelling system a lot. I liked that it was skill system based, like gurps, but also quite more simple and loose. It was a massive group, with dozens of players and multiple GMs playing the same "campaign". It was like an Pen and Paper MMO. It was the best RPG experience I ever had.
The only problem with Gurps is the amount of work for the GM to master the system. Nothing else. Once we are beyond that there's no problem. Normally...once the players dip into the extreme liberty the system provides normally they will not go back.
I don't EVER say that I want to play GURPS. I say, " i want to play [Star Wars, DnD, Middle Earth, Planescape, Dune, Dark sun, Gamma Wolrd, PathFinder or anything) then I follow this up with "I'm using the GURPS system." I just read through the Star finder game and saw that GURPS is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better for this system than the published system. GURPS is not about playing a game, it is a system to explore a setting. My group never plays GURPS, we use GURPS to play [Insert setting Here]
Sorry for the thread resurrection but I have looked at Starfinder and enjoy the setting but the rules leave me cold. I am a novice at best when it comes to Gurps and was wondering if there had been a conversion that anyone had done.
It's a marketing problem. The Firefly game doesn't materialize out of nowhere. Somebody LICENSED it so they could make and publish it. Steve Jackson should have beaten them to the punch and licensed it exclusively as a GURPS source book. He could do that with every upcoming movie/book/TV show that becomes popular with nerds. Problem solved.
Gurps did do that for most of the 90's The licensed a ton of book series and even licensed the World of Darkness. None of them sold as well as their original content. People who play gurps already know they can build virtually any game world, publishing a book that says you can isn't a seller.
Licensing is not the magic solution you think it is as there have been some 28 license games for GURPS, counting the Powered by line ( gurps.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Licensed_worlds ) Well known and popular licenses are *expensive* . Why do you think barely a year after getting VtM they came up with Blood Types (which IMHO is the superior book)?
I'm an long-time D&D player, and I've loved it for so many years, but as my mind has opened to new ideas, sci-fi, K'thulian + more universes, I wasn't satisfied with the rules, as I don't think reflect reality, and force players into taking for granted their survival, as battles and dangers become mundane. Gemini pointed me to GURPS, and I've been reading for two days now, and I'm stoked. I've always wanted to build my own world/universe, that includes supernatural, technological, magical whatever in it, and this is clearly the way to do it. It's true that I wanted a simple rule system, because complex rules force people into focusing on math, instead of RPing, but even if GURPS allows for a very simple ruleset with LITE and ULTRA-LITE, I keep finding myself delving for those complex realistic additions. Can't wait to play this.
Not enough crunch? Use any other RPG, game manual, fan website you have access to. Not enough time? Wing it; you are a GM. The dark cloud over the game is dispelled by actually playing it.
Please elaborate. I'm curious about jumping into GURPS myself to run stuff like Kingdom Hearts but also wanting to keep things rules lite, and not get hung up on combat details. Oh you hit the Shadow with your keyblade, roll 2D6 with a -1 because you surprised it. I don't like to complicate shit and it makes people less anxious. My problem is picking skills or making them up to fit and NOT be broken.
@@Webshooters1 GURPS has numerous groups of skills, such as 'Soldier!' 'Science!' or other 'bang' skills, that include all those skills influenced by it. Categories of skills that are linked can be decided by the GM before play, and ---- most skills can be ones in the game given new names. The Character Book and the Character Maker / Builder program covers all this. If doing Kingdom Hearts, work out what all the characters have to have (are there rivers to cross, do the keyswords all act the same?, buildings need to be scaled? walls knocked down? do all characters have acrobatics / enhanced dodge to fit the 'game reality'?), then customise them slightly to make each different. Goofy may have a distinctive voice, but he is definitely charismatic, for example. He might also have reach 2 due to his height. How they look is a special effect, not really part of the mechanics. For a game-centred world, we only need to know the ability of the magic weapon, and it's reach, to know if you hit or not, or defeated the enemy or not. You can ignore almost all of the combat rules for this. Most computer games have one-hit victories that scale up with the size of enemy, and power of keysword. Each 'heart', buff or jewel / coin collected should be added directly to the weapon or it's ability, for example. I tend to make up and copy cards for collectable items, and in a spare moment, the character should be encouraged to spend them or trade them. Treat these as items that can be lost or 'drained away' by certain enemies, and have the players lay the cards down during play, remind them they are in danger of running out of these resources.
GURPS is definitely a system for those who have experience. For realism, go GURPS. Of course, those who are used to class-based systems may struggle. Those who are use to the "I attack" monotonous play style will struggle. Don't get hit in GURPS or you are pretty much out of the fray.
The only problem with GURPS is the stigma. People who never played it cringe at the name. I've been running games in GURPS for a while now and have turned many people from disliking it (because they either never heard, or had a bad experience), to not wanting to play mainstream fantasy RPGs, even like dungeons and dragos, and prefering to play GURPS because of the flexibility in making characters.
As long as I GM it always will be GURPS 3rd. If someone else wants to DM ...... I follow his rules, completly ignoring them ..... I always ask what or against what to roll with wich dice
I am a simple GM/player. I started the RPG hobby, nay, lifestyle back in '86. I have lived through the various editions of e.g. D&D, RQ, WW...until recently, I used to think the Chaosium system was the apex of more or less simulationist (the style which I prefer) gaming. I still think that for OSR campy fantasy, the d20 system works best (ahem, DCC RPG). But having recently rediscovered GURPS, I must humbly admit that it seems to me the best RPG system for non-high fantasy D&D-settings, ever. The inbuilt ROLEplaying/realism mechanics just beat its competitors, for a perfectly balanced overall system...open to slight and easy homebrewing.
That of GURPS being Plan B could be compared to the Nintendo Wii which is purchased along with another mainstream console to be played casually. The difference is that GURPS would be a powerful console without exclusives and the other RPGs would be weak consoles dedicated to a single consecrated gaming experience. The problem is that at an RPG table the real "console" is the GM and he is not always in the mood to accumulate the role of game designer in setting the stage for the adventure. Yet another problem is selling the idea of your own version or authoring scenario to closed-minded players, relying solely on the power and gameplay of the system.
The people who are up for or familiar with GURPS are usually the people I want to play with, not only because they’re willing but because they’re usually experienced enough with RPG’s in general to understand the value and importance of a system such as GURPS. It seems that new gamers get caught up in marketing or, “Doing it right” by going with familiar brands or licenses. The ones I’ve encountered just don’t seem to appreciate the freedom and fun which comes from having a general toolbox of game rules and the creativity to make your desired fantasies happen on your shared table. They seem to want branding and the shallow legitimacy it appears to bring. While I want GURPS to be successful, I enjoy the freedom of a game system not saddled with the baggage of being the standard or the, “Must have” system. Let D&D attract the casuals. I’ll just head over to where there’s space to move around, room to breathe, and the freedom of creation and choice.
Au contraire. Some of my groups set out to play and run GURPS for various campaigns: Fantasy, Supers, Space, so we could customise our characters and not stay close to canon, like we may tend to do with, say, a dedicated Firefly game. One game started as fantasy, then expanded to technological space travel. That would have been clumsy, at best, if we adapted a dedicated fantasy or space game to fit in elves, magic, psionics, spacecraft and computers ("books that eat lightning" in Elvish, BTW). We could say the same about other generics, such as the Hero System. Anyway, thank you for the food for thought.
As someone who's just now coming into the pen and paper RPG scene, I'm ecstatic that I've discovered GURPS because it's going to allow me to play any scenario I can think of. I have no need to see my favorite fandom on the cover. Coming into TTRPG, I thought DnD was the be-all end-all. But no. GURPS.
My gaming group really loves Fading Suns. If you've read anything about the game it's a tragically great story with a short-bus system, or actually 4 different short-bus systems. We also play a ton of GURPS so it was a no-brainer to build a Fading Suns GURPS ruleset. Do you know how we overcame the crushing ennui of having to play a game that didn't have "Fading Suns" on the cover.. we xeroxed the cover of the game and slipped it into the cover of the rules binder. Instantly GURPS was "custom made" for our game. This whole idea that you'd throw away a game with superior mechanical value because it wasn't packaged to your liking is such a non-problem when you weigh it against the ridiculous faults of games that are built for an existing license. That said GURPS isn't faultless. It is too-much game. I don't need to flip through pages of advantages and disadvantages for making aliens or mutants to play to build a character for a cop drama, I'm also not going to need the entire section of the core book dedicated to magic or psionics. Probably fully 1/3 of the massive skills section is unnecessary for any given theme you're going to run. If the only book I had access to was the Character book I'd be grateful that I had those rules to improvise other games, but it's too easy to organize the core book better and produce supplemental booklets to govern individual themes. Ad to this organizational mess that GURPS's index in the back of the books is a shitshow, virtually any complex rule in the game is either not listed or is listed under the least sensible header imaginable in the index. Honestly if you don't read the core books cover-to-cover and remember where everything is you're pretty much hosed. GURPS also really has no entry point, and that is killing that game. If you don't understand the game and have players that aren't familiar with GURPS, the game makes little effort to help. Examples of the rules are often very thick and outright missing for things that should be better explained. GURPS has almost no pre-published adventures and the ones available for sale aren't very well designed. Even many of the theme books can be unclear about critical concepts of how things are played on the table. Until very recently there was no feasibly way you could walk into a gaming store, get The GURPS, take it home and run it for your friends; it required indoctrination and initiative. Recently the Dungeon Fantasy box was published, which has very nice examples of running the game, pre-made adventures, useful tips on designing a campaign. I hope SJ Games continues this trend of boxing the game for new players.
They choose the "tailor made game" over what could be a tailor made PC. I certainly haven't sampled every game, but dozens, and all come across as limited compared to GURPS.
This is actually good news to me, because for some reason I can't stand playing something that already exists. I only want to play a role-playing game that I made specifically for me and I get to make up the rules.
GURPS brings a lot of rules to the table, but you can pick and choose exactly which ones to use, and then tweak the others as you see fit. It makes for a tool box that is tough to learn to use, but awesome once you start working with! :D
I just got into table top gaming after making a Australian based fallout board, I first looked at fallout pnp and thought it was quite bad and looked at several other rules, I even tried to manipulate LOTR miniature game into a modern setting RPG. Once I found GURPS I fell in love with the rules, even if there is a rule set tailored to fallout already. 10/10 would throw away falloutPnP again.
People choose the good over the better simply because a franchise name is on the cover of the good? Sounds like this video should be called "The Problem with People." I say that with tongue in cheek. Great video and some excellent points.
That's literally my experience with GURPS. I did learn a lot from GURPS Horror that I've applied to my writing, but I don't realistically see myself playing it. I bought GURPS just so I could have it XD
Same, I had a friend of mine give me every copy he had of GURPS about six years back. I have an entire folder completely dedicated to all the damn GURPS books. It certainly does assist in a lot of RP building if you can get past the dryness of the reading.
A fun little challenge I like to give myself is to create an intensely supernatural character with only 100 points. It's NOT easy, but it forces me to be creative with disadvantages XD
It's not dry, just...not very interesting. It's useful as a toolkit but not necessarily as a game in and of itself. Obviously your mileage will vary, but I can't see myself just sitting down and playing GURPS unless the GM was someone I knew to be unreasonably good at their job lol XD
Jonathan Henry I dont find that very convincing. We are of course each entitled to our opinions, but I've never heard Dracula Dossier described as uninteresting. Nor Night's Black Agents. So why then the authors GURPS Book? A detailed evocative explanation of Horror that goes through and discusses monsters as the fears they represent, with interesting scenario ideas and campaigns. Your taste is up to you, but I think its more than a little unhelpful a description.
I've been out of gaming for a long time now, but when I did play, Gurps was always our #1 go-to game -- for everything except Supers. Comic-book-style superheroes is my favorite genre, but to play it in Gurps, there are three choices: (1) make it a lot more lethal than it is in the comics, (2) put a cap on power levels, or (3) add on complicated extra rules to even out the players' power levels and reduce the fatalities. For superhero fun, we usually turned to Mayfair's DC Heroes RPG.
The first Fallout was initially going to use Gurps, but Steve Jacksson games backed of when they saw how violent and gory it was going to be. So Black Isle had to make up the SPECIAL system in like a weekend.
I played D&D and RIfts in High School (back in the late 80s). When I went to college, my new friends introduced me to GURPS, and I never looked back. For me, it fixed one of the single biggest problems I'd had with RPGs until then: Levels and Classes. Sure, AD&D2 let you multi-class, but levels were still a problem. I also despised D&D's magic system, where you had to memorize spells for the day and hope you didn't get the wrong ones for what you actually needed. GURPS fixed everything. True hybrid characters. Fighters with just a couple spells to give them that edge. The ability to switch up your character by getting new skills to cover weaknesses that became apparent later on. GURPS fixed the problem of character growth and advancement that I found so stifling in other systems, and I never looked back. I've played (and own) a variety of systems since then, but GURPS is always the gold-standard for me. It's the game that lets me play my way, which is almost never the way other rule books tell me to. It even goes so far as for me to buy other systems (like Firefly), not to play them, but to serve as a world book when I design my GURPS campaign.
I like to think that maybe since I've found GURPS through the Happy Jacks Podcast and have placed it as my go-to, preferred system, others will do the same, too. My online gaming buddies already assume that whenever I mention that I've got idea that I'm going to run it in GURPS. And so far, I think they've enjoyed our GURPS game, despite the few (few might be an under-statement) times that I messed up the rules and combat wound up taking too long. The combat system is way better than most anything I've seen, anyway. Also, I would bet that Traveller would be a better fit for Firefly. Or maybe, just play Traveller because everybody knows that Firefly was based off of Traveller.
First let me preface my comment with a love for GURPS. It is superior in almost every way from other game systems. What I am writing is a comment about perception and convenience. The “problem” with GURPS is that it is just a framework. Choosing to play GURPS at least early in campaign design creates a lot of work for both the GM and the players, but mostly for the GM. Games that have created the setting, and pared down the rules to just what’s needed is FAR easier. It’s quite metaphorically like comparing ordering food from a restaurant vs. cooking at home from scratch ingredients. Or buying a house vs designing and building one yourself. Sure we all love how comprehensive GURPS is, but how often do you want to design your own game? The problem is, it’s far more convenient to pick up a game that is good enough and mostly done for you than it is to design mostly from scratch.
How often do you want to design your own game? Always, in my experience; from homebrew DnD to the many varied GURPS games I've built, GM'd and played in. The real 'crunch' of even DnD was the stuff we come up with ourselves, the maps we drew, the places visited, etc.
@@stevetheduck1425 the crunch as you said is content, which is exactly what I am talking about. All you have to do with DnD is create content. With GURPS, you have a bare framework and you have to figure out on your own what is your world. For most people DnD has done most of that work for you. Just because you choose to do some of it, does not mean that you would wish to do all of it. Some people yes, perhaps you yes, but it's not a choice most people would make and stick with.
Started back in 85 or 86 with D&D... god... "the dark times"... BUT, there's always been a certain soft-spot for the old AD&D stuff. With the fall of TSR as 2e came to a close, almost expanding into 3, and WotC got a hold of it... I quit collecting books just to have books. It's expensive and stupid... I discovered GURPS in the 90's... AND along with a litany of other systems, I expanded to RP in a variety of settings... BUT then I had a crucial decision to deal with. I could continue destroying my patience and mind by some vain attempt of memorizing and managing all the systems (not worth it, since, well... see the earlier statement about collecting books to collect books)... OR I could work out one system REALLY well. I still play 2e, occasionally. I'm comfortable "monkeying with the mechanics" just as easily as I am with GURPS... BUT GURPS remains my long term FIRST choice to play. Having run the board of games, for the unique simplicity that grants fullest agency within the system, you just can't beat GURPS. AND finally, it's because with all those other systems out there, I have no trouble finding Players... BUT EVERYONE wants their own thing. Someone wants a D&D character. Someone else wants a Vampire. Another wants a cyborg assassin. AND there's always THAT guy who just has to play Mata Hari... SO GURPS... to the rescue. Everyone gets to play, and everyone gets to have a good time. Need a spaceship? No problem... It's only going to take... a couple hours to fully design and flesh it out in paper and arithmatic... BUT that's why we recycle our material, right? Same with any other mech' or tech' or magic... (lolz) Yep, I'm a lazy GM, too. :o)
I've played gurps a few times. I want to play it more but I can't find anyone who plays it. One time it was a custom adventure that was Wild West Cthulhu. The feeling of mad hopeless dread still lives in the back of my head like a microscopic strip of throbbing gristle. Gurps sessions can almost be like a workshop for method acting.
GURPS is my favorite tabletop RPG (so far). I don't have a big pool of potential players though. I was pointed to GURPS because I always liked _some_ things about D&D (general technology level, mix of humans elves and dwarves allied against monsters, dungeon delves, treasure) but didn't like the class system or character levels (preferring D&D at levels 1-3 or 1-5 depending on edition). Once I was able to make a hero in the vein of Loto or The Prince of Cannock from Dragon Quest (a guy with some armor, a sword, a shield, healing spells, and fiery direct damage spells) and noticed that armor functions correctly (reducing damage rather than reducing chances of being hit while still taking full damage) I never really wanted to turn back... The closest I ever come is to try to homebrew something, which winds up basically being GURPS zoomed out a bit and focusing entirely on dungeon delving fantasy (so 1 point in my system is worth about 5 in GURPS, most things worth less than 3/4 points in GURPS are handwaved as background fluff at best in mine). This is generally more work than it's worth. What I _really_ want are more people to play GURPS with, particularly the Dungeon Fantasy RPG spinoff.
As someone who is currently trying to get into GURPS mostly out of curiosity, my current issue with it s that there's a serious lack of content out there that helps guide beginners through the game in a succinct, yet informative way. I grew bored of D&D and high fantasy settings in general, and while Traveller and SWN are great, they just don't scratch that same pulpy military sci fi itch that say... Halo does. I've always heard that GURPS is the ultimate rpg toolkit, so I was like "Hell yeah." But I also was worried because a I was told the thing was incredibly confusing and tedious to learn. And while, when broken down to its core mechanic, I think it certainly isn't the most complex thing in the world, it's everything surrounding the system that has my mind pulled into tight knots. How do you teach someone who's never used tools before how to use a toolbox without also giving them the entire toolbox to work with? I wanna use this system really bad, but I'm also a busy man who's trying to make his own games, and it almost sounds like making your own gane in GURPS is something you may as well put real production value in and sell as a splatbook to the GURPS system.
You teach them how to use the individual tools, and then the box. GURPS really only has a few tools. Attributes (primary & secondary), Dis/Advantages, quirks, perks, metatraits, skills, techniques, templates, and the modifiers for these things. The only time it becomes a hassle is when you're looking for specific Dis/Advantages, metatraits/templates or using modifiers.
Get GURPS Lite, then fill in the blanks as needed. Magic, Psionics, Beastry & Fantasy Beastry, & Fantasy will do for most medieval settings; Horror, gives you the ghosts, vampires & weres; Ultratech, Space, Vorkosigan, & Traveller for space scenarios. China, Japan, Conan, Vikings, etc for specific settings.
"because I can have whatever I want with GURPS". Except 4 or 5 really loyal players willing to deal with NPC's with a Fast-talk rating of 14 or 15? Oooops!
And for those GURPS players looking for an example: how likely is fast talk going to work in an adventure like 'The Slave Lords' or 'Against the Giants'. Some gurps skills would never be used.
One beauty about GURPS is that you can build a PC for any setting and it will be able to drop into any other setting. So your Fantasy PC can fully function in Star Trek or Old West or Supers, no rules fixing or updating.
Not me. I love gurps so much every time I play something tailor made like ravenloft for exemplo, i think this would be so much better on gurps... Same for wolrd of darkness
I just picked up GURPS because I actively want to play GURPS, and I think it might be for me "the one" or the game I will run most because it's my favorite
I love the GUPRS. It allows me to play the non-magical psionic elf I have tried to play in D&D for over 30 years without success. I have played in many systems but I love GURPS. Nothing else comes close to the versatility or allows unique concepts as GURPS.
I've wanted to start a GURPS games for a while now. I homebrewed my own Transformers RPG a while back based on D&D 3.5 because that's what my friends were playing and I figured using rules everyone was used to would make it easier to play. The translation wasn't perfect, but it was playable. That was before I heard about GURPS though, and ever since I've been giving serious consideration to making a new TF game using the GURPS system.
I wish GURPS had always been my Plan A. Instead of always trying to homebrew D&D into the game that I wanted it to be, but it always refused to be, I should have been playing GURPS.
Any system that has levels and standard Hit Point that go up with level is a plan Z for me. A 180 lb veteran (10+ YEARS) Navy Seal shot with a shot gun and a 180 lb accountant shot with the same shot gun are going to be affected equally. In level systems the Navy Seal would have 80 hp at the shot gun would be a scratch, the accountant would be paste on the wall. neither is realistic at all.
To be fair the hit points in D&D were actual an abstraction of things like dodge, parry, and the like. The problem was this was explained in a blink and you miss it part of the DMG1 and I have no idea where it is in later editions of D&D.
@@Maximara To be fair, Bruce, that justification never did it for me when things like falling damage and healing come into play. If HP in D&D includes dodging and parrying, then why does falling do so little damage to a level 10 fighter? Why does healing give your ally back dodge and parry? It doesn't really make sense.
D&D's health system never made a hell of a lot of sense. Though I have big issues with GURPS combat system as well, mainly the weird way defenses work where dodge and attack rolls are totally separate, in a vacuum. Essentially it's played as if a master swordsman stabs at a random stationary point in space and the defender just has to get out of that point to survive. But that's not really how combat works. Good fighters or shooters anticipate and predict, they lead their targets and perform follow up attacks.
@@taragnor That's because GURPS is an abstract system of rules used for storytelling, much like D&D and every other RPG system out there. The difference is that I can swallow GURPS's abstractions much easier than I can D&D's. For what it's worth, I have never considered an attack to be targeting a point in space, and I don't see that anywhere in the rules either. Anticipating and predicting where your target will be is part of high skill (a crit negates their chance to defend), aim and evaluate maneuvers, and combat options that take advantage of high skill like Deceptive Attack.
That's because most of those systems are fantasy/scifi where superhuman durability is expected. That's actually the issue with gurps. You usually get something like 13-17 hp. That's not much higher than a 1zt level char. All that customization and tims, but you still die in 2 hits. Hell that's an issue in 5e, it's why most start at 3rd level now.
I would like to play GURPs, I exclusively make my own settings and a non-setting specific system is one of the biggest boons a game could have for my likelihood of playing it
Great video. I was always confused as to why GURPS was never much more popular and I have to agree with the argument of people preferring games tailored to them. Maybe people are afraid of letting their fantasy be elevated to totally different and higher levels. Anyway, great video. Thanks for it. Cheers from the Czech republic.
Running Gamma World using GURPS 4th edition and my players are having a blast. I am putting them against the original Legion of Gold. I have of course made many changes. Mutants are coincided normal and mutations are random and free (although training those mutations costs skill points) with both good and bad mutations. Pure strain humans get an additional 20 character points as well as the advantages they have always had in Gamma World. If anyone else has done this I would love to hear how you did it.
The problem with GURPS is character generation. With the programs, it is rough for a new player. Without, it is a nightmare. GURPS is by far my favorite game, but watching new players struggle, it is obvious that what for me is excellent, is a real hurdle for people who just want to play a new game.
I think folks generally gravitate towards RPGs with finished worlds, even if the mechanics are subpar. Such systems require less prep for GMs and and offer pre-defined role-playing archetypes for players. Even the sorcebooks for GURPS are crunch-heavy and light on worldbuilding. Thus, GMs and players have a substantial (but rewarding) amount of work ahead to really flesh out an immersive campaign.
Only game that caused a significant pblm in "porting" to GURPS was Legend of the Five Rings with its honor and void concepts of those I've dealt with. The other is the "shields" concept which auto detects and destroys meteors, but fails to detect and destroy space suited humans attempting boarding the spacecraft.
I never experienced GURPS ever being a plan B. The only reason I have found that another game system is played instead of GURPS is because my gaming group finds its potential complexity intimidating. With dedicated gamers though its always GURPS all the way.
GURPS is superior. This is why they converted those other games to GURPS: Vampire the Masq, Werewofl the Apoc, Mage the Ascension, Traveller, Star Trek, Mars Attacks, Conan, Discworld, etc. etc. Because those properties knew that some people would love something with that property name on it but is also usable for GURPS. However, backing out to the statement that people don't choose GURPS, they get left with it, I disagree. My first RPG was GURPS because I wanted to make Ultima (this was in the 1980's, using Ultima IV and V). As for playing GURPS, generally speaking, it used to be that if someone was playing sci-fi, it was GURPS (again, in the 1980's). I played it in college, and as time has passed, the 4th edition continues to be a go to for reference on genres in general to screenwriters.
I've played FASA Star Trek, Last Unicorn Star Trek, and Mophidius' Star Trek Adventures. The only system that does Star Trek the way I want it is GURPS! So that's what I use for my Star Trek game. [I don't mean GURPS Prime Directive, though I've poached some stuff from their books, I mean GURPS proper]. I've already decided when I do finally run the Babylon 5 game of my dreams it will be a GURPS game. That said, I'd never use GURPS for Star Wars, and my plans for GURPS Dr Who went out the window when I saw how Cubical 7 had done a better job of capturing the essence of the franchise then GURPS ever would. So you aren't completely wrong.
GURPS is great, minus one thing: it is ridiculously complicated. Now, this isn’t actually a problem. The first thing that it tells you is that you can not use any of its rules. I, personally, remade GURPS till it was unrecognizable so that it was easier. But, while sacrificing no actual gameplay, I was able to introduce it to my family. They were playing and having fun in the FIRST SESSION, without any confusion. I have run a Doctor Who themed horror session, I have run several standard medieval fantasy campaigns, (which I took DIRECTLY FROM D&D, without having to adjust them beforehand, only adjusting on the fly.), and, after my party finishes their current campaign, we’re going to play an espionage campaign set in the Cold War!
If you want a RPG to represent a book or film it only works with a license so you can use charakters from the sourcematerial and trnasfer them into the rules.
GURPS used to be my go-to but it always suffered from the problem of needing too much prep. I have folders and folders of characters I created in case I'd need an NPC for something or other. Maps with hexes traced over the grids so that they were compatible. So to cut down on prep I'd buy another sourcebook and mine that for things I could use. I've run great GURPS games from there. I've played in great GURPS games. But when the 4th Edition came out I couldn't justify the cost to start again from scratch. So yeah, I went back to D&D, Traveller and the like. EABA replaced GURPS as my go-to generic system. But less sourcebooks so more work and BTRC always go for the weird and wonderful settings. So less useful all around.
Yeah that is definitely true to. The prep can be a pain in the ass, especially if you aren't well adverse in gaming in general. And Traveller is REALLY underrated for the shit that is in that game!
So do what I did- borrow from 4e what makes sense, and continue running 3e - I have a Sword & Sorcery campaign I've been running since 1984 that started with the story and map in the back of the 3e Basic Set -Caravan to Ein Aris- which I modified slightly to add magic and added the continent as a southern continent to Yurth. I've also run 2 Space campaigns, and our group has run 2 X-files scenarios -1 modern day, 1 Victorian, a Dragon Age scenario, a Rokugon scenario, 2 CSI type scenarios and a Robots/Space scenario.
@@TannerBivensCritorMiss You *do* know that GURPS Traveler (www.sjgames.com/gurps/traveller/) has existed since 2002, right? More over it has one of the largest amounts of supplements of a GURPS book ( www.sjgames.com/gurps/traveller/products.html ) The second largest is GURPS Conan ( www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/conan/ ). Please note that both these have the name of the franchise in the name so that shoots down that argument.
I love GURPS since my first game in 1999, for me it's the best choice to play RPG. But It's true, nobody wants to play GURPS even an experienced player or GM 'cause the vast majority wants to play the "official version" of any game. I prefer sci fi scenarios, but when I discovered GURPS played with some friends a ganster story located in our town, it was very easy and enjoyful had a generic system in order to play whatever we want; but it was "our game". GURPS for me it's the Linux (or any similar open source OS) of RPG and of course, most people uses windows...
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Once I played GURPS I never wanted to play another system. I like the fact that I can go as complex or as simple as I'd like. What I hate about other game systems is "You can't do that" where as for GURPS there is always a way to do something.
Yes! IMO, GURPS is the ONLY system I want to play. I'll borrow ideas from books, TV, Movies, etc, as to plots and scenarios, but the SYSTEM is GURPS (3e with mods).
$e is really superior. I started in 3e and played it for about 10 years. 4e is fantastic.
It's funny, in the D&D red box (BECMI), it stated that the intent was to have fun! If a player wanted to try something, let her! She wants to jump off a chandelier and onto a flying harpy, come up with an arbitrary roll and go for it.
I walked away from D&D 3e because of all the limitations and almost videogame like "builds". Instead I found my home in GURPS 2ed. I still mess around with D&D Basic
@@azmendozafamily Have you checked out the OSR movement. I found a game called Grim Castle which is not a retro-clone. It's classless, cinematic, and very old-skool. I'm really impresed with it.
The new d100 lite from DWD seems to have the flexibility of Gurps, combined with the elegance and speed of D6. It's definitely worth checking out.
Pathfinder is my plan B, D&D my C. To me, GURPS is always plan A. :)
Fair enough. I can definitely feel the disenchantment with D&D.
Warhammer is my plan b DND c gurps A!!
@@TannerBivensCritorMiss GURPS is literally all I accept so I don't have to learn new rules for some other genre. It's easier than having to remember 500 other systems...
GURPS is my plan A, The Fantasy Trip is my plan B, D&D in some flavor is a distant C but only if it's a low level campaign with reasonable chance of character death. Once D&D characters of any class hit level 4 or so I lose interest in the game.
learning 5,657 game systems is tedious, better to just learn GURPS and stick with it
I always would rather play GURPS, but I often find myself alone. People always want to play DnD or something else, and, as a GM, I always find myself frustrated with limiting rules in other systems, or having to combat people's preexisting expectations of setting.
Players don't like the crunch in GURPS at the design the character stage and then find out they often still end up squishy humans.
honestly even though it is painstaking gurps is my favorite system to make characters for...and my second favorite system overall
i did once GM for my D&D friends and they said its too complicated. they had fun. but its complicated. like Guys we played once.
@@josephteller9715 Between GURPS Ultra-lite and GCS that reason simply doesn't fly.
@@Maximara if you require a computer system to make character, your system is too complicated. I say this coming from someone who's played rolemaster, which you need a goddamn excel for. It's still alot of rules learning, and dont even get started on looking through advantages and skills. Oh, and you'll still probably only have 12 hp. Mean while you can at least roll up the 9 hp 5e wizard in 10 min.
See, this "problem?" This is why SJ games came out with Dungeon Fantasy. Funny thing: in every other game system I've played in, there's a GM who wants to "do their own thing." homebrew rules that basically screw up the entire game because they don't know what they're doing... GURPS is a toolbox, and it's the only RP system I've seen that lets people create their own sort of game. That's why GURPS is so generic... you can add whatever flavour you like.
IMHO it is the "toolbox" aspect of GURPS that makes certain people want to avoid the system. It takes a reasonable understanding to tailor it to the setting you want to play in and there are so many options that players risk information overload.
Meh... For my two-cents' on the matter...
GURPS is top notch. The mechanic is solid, pretty much no matter what you do to it.
THE PROBLEM, is that it's not set up for a "noob". Simple as that. If you want to start RP, start with almost anything else... BUT that's a GM-issue, not a Player problem. Players can just as easily get into GURPS as they can anything... Start with a simple character concept, and let the GM "coach" you to fit the home-brew... Since really, that's all GURPS really is, a tool-box systemic for "homebrew-anything".
What gets too easily seen as a "problem with the game" is more of a "comfort issue" within the GM. AND the big reason most GM's don't really want to full-on tackle the GURPS mechanic is two-stage. First, the GM has to get "settled into" the mechanics... ALL the math, and ALL the tables should be familiar... THEN and only then, does the GM get started at the "world building" concept... where it falls to the GM to determine "pre-constructs" versus "templates" versus some idiosyncratic "caste, race, and class" system (or adopts it from D&D), all the physics assumptions and universal rules, magic system(s) as necessary, and either buy supplements or start crunching up monsters, demons, deities, demigods, and all that crap... Worlds are big, man. It's a LOT of work... even before the very first die of the very first game is thrown. :o)
I disagree that ALL the math and tables should be familiar. Any sane GM should have a good idea on what they want to do and only read those rules relevant to that setting. Sure there is going to be a lot of overlap but much of this all applies to D&D (more so to the AD&D1 and 2 era then the current 5.x version but still)
Bruce, this might seem like a "hair-splitting semantic" point, but I suspect you actually don't really disagree. I used the term "familiar" for a purpose. By that I meant "familiar" with it, and expressly NOT "memorized".
SO the GM should bother more for those rules and mechanics that are most useful, but BE FAMILIAR enough with the "everything else" to pop to that part of the book and know what he's looking at and for when he gets to it... Any sane GM should understand the whole of the book well enough to flip quickly through the general lay-out to get the section he needs relatively quickly... He doesn't need to memorize what page the combat section starts so much as "combat tables are after skills, but if you get to damage resistance, you've gone too far"...
I apologize for being a bit wordy, but I think we're closer to agreement on the matter, when you fully get what I meant. :o)
I think you actually mean familiar enough to know what sections to apply. For example if you are using the Cinematic Combat Rules (B417) then you don't need to know too many details regarding the advanced combat system and can "safely" ignore huge section of Chapters 11-13,
It also depends on how much of GURPS you plan to use. For example I used GURPS Fantasy (later GURPS Magic) as a replacement magic system for AD&D1 and 2. I updated it for D&D 3.5 and GURPS 4e (gurps.wikia.com/wiki/GURPS_magic_in_D%26D) and it worked reasonably well. I used this as a way to shift my D&D campaign over to GURPS and hammered out some class templates ( gurps.wikia.com/wiki/D%26D_to_GURPS ) so my players weren't totally lost.
I agree with the information overload issue and that it is a bigger issue for the GM then the players but that to a large extent is true of nearly every system.
I think that the problem is less people don't want to play GURPS than coming up with all the crunch for the specific setting is hard and beyond the time commitment of most DMs.
Very true. The work that goes into taking GURPS and trimming out the things you don't want in your setting (and making a character build instruction set of what cannot be bought) and adding in options that are setting specific that aren't in it, can take a good 40 hours all by itself... and then you have to design races/species, edit the magic system (or tech set or psi set etc)
It has never been anything but a toolkit. I would rather make my own setting as I dont care for most settings.
A list of names, objects, McGuffins, mooks that are one weapon skill and what's in their pockets.
I find the players create everything else.
This in itself makes GURPS campaigns the easiest campaign to make and run: simply make notes of what happens, DM / GM.
Ponder and expand on this within the next sessions.
@@johnmorrison8577 I make my own settings too, but your basically homebrewing a whole mini system inside gurps to make it function. Which at that point why not use another system, at least from adm perspective.
Gurps is great if you have an imaginative GM
GURPS is always my first choice. It's just too good. Every other RPG I collect is basically just setting info for my GURPS campaigns.
This
Gurps has one problem.
It doesn't licence its system off enough, like savage worlds is now doing.
Much more people would be playing Gurps if someone would develop more property licence characters and worlds like a John Carter of mars, red Sonja, or indiana Jones rpg powered by the gurps system.
They tried THAT (off, and on) already. It "did not work".
@@Cyberpuppy63 Yup, most of 3e was a fountain of Traveler, Deadlands, Conan, Vampire & Werewolf, and many more. Personally I feel if they would allow people to do licensed "Powered by GURPS" Adventure Modules that would help.
No other system has as many licensed material sourcebooks as GURPS. Even other RPG settings have found their ways into GURPS supplements. Tons of book series have been licensed as source material. You just gotta look a bit better. Hyperborea, the world of Conan ( and Red Sonja) is even one of those licensed backgrounds!
Most of them will be in the 3rd edition version (and probably stay there due to license costs), but they are easy to use in 4th ed.
Also, SJG does on occasion let others (then their staff writers) write supplements...
Isn’t the beauty of GURPS that you can make anything without licensing?
@@zoulogist9171 That doesn't help new players who don't know how to put together a balanced character.
Enjoyed the review, and you clearly have a lotta love for GURPS! I definitely see *some* of the reactions you mention in gamer communities, but in my experience it's not a universal (hehe) hatred.
I have literally GMed nothing but GURPS for like 25 years -- games that were short, long, gritty, cinematic, serious, funny, gonzo, supers, Old West, spies, samurais, bunnies and burrows, fantasy, lots of combat, no combat, on and on. Never once have I thought "Ugh, gotta play GURPS again?" It's my go-to system for a reason, and when I start a new campaign or prep a convention one-shot I can't wait to make it all GURPS-y!
Just a counter-experience. Looking forward to watching part two.
Totally makes a lot of sense. Like, I have enjoyed playing GURPS and I have had some great GURPS games. The problem REALLY comes up with things that have preexisted mythos to them that don't have a good RPG book or RPG book at all. I was also never "sad" to play it. There was the feeling of "Okay, let's do GURPS... *Sigh*" And then a shit ton of fun ensues.
Sad fun, hahaha. It's like gamers are sprouting new emotions unseen by humans before.
Like Mook I mainly run GURPS. In fact one of the main reasons I got into GURPS was so I wouldn't have to learn a new set of rules every time I wanted to play in a new setting! I even remember converting Cyber-generation (the Cyberpunk 2020 "sequel" RPG) to gurps in the mid 90's.
Sometimes I joke how GURPS has ruined me for other RPGs. When I read rules, even for games that I really want to like, I end up finding that GURPS I could "do it better/faster/simpler" with GURPS.
Hey Mook, thanks to you and the Happy Jacks podcast I found GURPS and have never looked back. In my groups small amount of time to play we have so far done a Zombie apocalypse, murder mystery and are now beginning an Infinite Worlds campaign. In short, I cant imagine playing any other system now even with an official system to what we want to play.
I still enjoyed this guys video though, its nice to understand the reservation that many have to this system.
I look at it the same way as Mook, more like 'Oh, they want to play Fantasy, I'll throw it into GURPS. Space? Time Travel? Which by the way a Time Travel / Dimension hopping game is by far the best use of GURPS. I recall some old D&D Module where you were thrown forward in time to modern days, and they had stats for a hand gun that only did 1d6 damage. In GURPS that's quite realistic since your average human has 10 hit points. In D&D though only maybe 1st to 2nd level characters have so few. I started playing GURPS due to 2nd Edition AD&D being pretty terrible in a lot of ways, and since I tended to write my own adventures at that point anyhow, I didn't need most of the pre-made stuff that was out there. As you state in the video, GURPS is a framework for all things, vs some of the pretty terribly made games that are geared toward one effect.
I'll throw in my two cents as I didn't see any comments with my take on why I play and love GURPS: the mechanics encourage good roleplay. No other system I have played gives me and my players the sense that we're credibly playing out a favorite book or movie because we're forced to consider things other RPGs simply leave out. Whether it's because characters take cover in a gun fight (because gun fights are deadly!), impress a king with their savior-faire, try to stop drinking so the Captain can fight off pirates instead of drunkenly being run through, or avoid going mad because a zombie rose from the dead, GURPS handles so many situations from our favorite stories so well mechanically that it boosts the roleplaying at the table. I've seen dull personalities in D&D games come alive in GURPS because GURPS gave my players tools they mechanically had to consider or implement in order to play the game and participate in the story.
So, yeah, GURPS is my go-to game. Great video.
After playing 5+ rule systems I have made it plan A GURPS. Once your comfortable with GURPS life is just better.
I too play gurps pretty exclusively.
GURPS has always been my Go-To, with Fate Core being my recent favorite backup. That said, you're sadly correct...most players look at the rule books and character creation, and feel like it's too much effort.
GURPS is like the laidback version of the Borg's philosophy:
Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated... or we'll adapt to you. Either is cool.
Granted, that also means I don't agree with your problem. When I play another RPG system, I always want to adapt it to GURPS. It isn't an official, tailor-made RPG I seek, but an official GURPS supplement for it. ;) My tastes are just too diverse for me to settle for a niche system... especially as I am already quite used to and fond of GURPS. I realize this is somewhat rare, and in addition to what GURPS offers, a major component of this is probably how GURPS: Third Edition, Revised was my first tabletop RPG. ^^'
That is because people tend to avoid the hassle of creating a setting and its specific rules from scratch. Mainly that's why they gravitate to rpgs made for the setting they're after (as is the case with Firefly, for example). Because the work is already done for them there. Even if some universal rules system might be the better fit mechanics-wise.
I know I commented a few months ago but your video popped on auto play. I think the essence of your point is that there are folks that like Lego that come with the instructions and the kit. We buy the Pirate ship and all the Lego help is build said pirate ship. GURPS on the other hand is that big box of Lego we all have that allows us to build whatever we want. So, it isn't that GURPS is somebody's plan B, it's that it is the box of Lego that let's you build your plan A. It's daunting at first but once you learn how it works the marginal complexity reduces each time .
Excellent comparison.
The problem is without a right way to do something their is no wrong way too. Without the instruction everyone builds something different and it can become a mess.
The only "problem" with GURPS, in my humble opinion, is that the latest books, though much, much better than previous editions are made for people who are still not afraid of reading and doing simple math.
That being said, it takes me with 15+ years playing it, the guts of a day to build a character to my liking. Recently I have started a game with people who have never played RPGs and I used my go to system number one: GURPS. I explained to them how to read the character sheet and left the books on the table. I, then, focused on making my and theirs time worth the while. They were handed over cool characters and jumped on board and everyone is having fun.
What is the lastest edition? Recently I am thinking about trying GURPS
@@ruster2230, the latest edition is the 4th edition, released in 2004. The main GURPS books you need are Basic Set Characters and Basic Set Campaigns. My 4th edition books are the 6th printing from 2016.
If you want to try it out before committing to buying the books, there is the free GURPS Lite brochure - a simplified excerpt of the rules.
For a more in-depth and tailored set of rules, you could have a look at Dungeon Fantasy RPG, which is "powered by GURPS". What does that mean? It is a unique game that uses most of the GURPS rules for a specific setting - dungeon crawling. Also, it will not have the rules for modern fire weapons and armour, or computers, or cars, motorcycles and planes. In my humble opinion, if you like the fantasy genre it is a very good option.
@@gtludwig i don't like dnd fantasy style, but thank you for your answer. Could you tell me something about magic? I have in my mind low fantasy/a bit gritty/"realistic" world, Witcher would be good example
@@ruster2230 No problems, buddy!
Magic in GURPS is both awesome and can be very complex. I mean, there is a whole supplement for it called GURPS Magic, but there are variants like ritual magic. Basically, what you want to do can be done - you just have to abide by a few rules, but everything is really well detailed and there's big online support from fans. In short, magic can be influence by environment mana levels. Since you need to provide energy (from your own pool or from power stones) the lower the environment mana, the more expensive to cast anything and vice-versa.
The GM can decide his world (or any particular area in it) has either zero, low, normal, high or super-high environment mana or that it varies.
There is a very nice setting called Banestorm, where, in a nutshell, there was some cataclysmic event somewhere in the past where a whirlwind-like event transports people, places and creatures from their own original place (and time) into this world. So you have all classical elements of fantasy in one same world. And you can have any sort of mana levels in it.
I don't think there are any official Witcher adaptations, but you could probably find fan-made material online.
The trickier part would be there is no such thing as a Monster Manual. You (or the GM) would have to create the monsters and balance their power level and numbers in any encounter with the party. This is no small feat and I constantly struggle with it in my own games.
So, if you are into Magic, you should really consider getting the GURPS Magic book as well.
Cheers!
@@gtludwig i am not fan of balancing encounters and thinking about something like it :D could you tell me what are differences between kinds of magic or just explain your favourite ones? Recently i am big fan of unisystem (witchcraft/armageddon) magic which is very flexible system, with categories like fire/water/protection etc and amount of magic points decides how powerful is effect
And sorry for my english I hope you understand at least some things I want to say :D
I would NEVER, EVER play an RPG within an already existing universe. The whole purpose of RPG for me is to tailor my own universe, my own lore, my own characters... So, GURPS is actually the ONLY RPG I'd play. :)
(Ignoring Fate, Savage World, Genesys, Mythras & other RPGs that aren’t setting specific)
Hell, DeD is not bound to a universe. Most systems aren't.
Me: homebrewed a setting with most genres in it but nothing is compatible.
GURPS: I exists.
Me: "Literally how the **** did I never find you until now! Your PERFECT!"
Gurps is my A,B and C plan. Have been Roleplaying since 1984. Since 1993 I have almost only played Gurps. Sure, some DnD 3.5, one Pathfinder session, some Cyberpunk but end of the day GURPS is my and my groups Plan A through C.
Wow, I was totally expecting to see another video bashing this system, but instead you hit the nail right on the head. A quick perusal online will reveal the number of excuses people come up with not to play this system, whether it's "too much math", "too crunchy/rule heavy", or too vague". Thanks for enlightening.
Yeah, I didn't tackle it in the video, but the math doesn't do any favors for me either.
@@TannerBivensCritorMiss the "divide by exponential fraction" for powerstone material price modifier in Magic is pretty up there for anyone that isn't a math geek.
Calculators, and now smartphones, have all the mathematics oomph you'll ever need for GURPS.
The only time I even had to think about using my limited mathematics knowledge when playing GURPS for thirty years was when, incredibly, the time an aircraft took to drop to stall speed and go out of control was significant.
- so I said as GM: 'You all know how to pilot the plane: the plane's wings shudder and the nose drops, the last look at the altimeter showed 900 feet: time to get out'.
Two did go out, one wanted to argue. Just made it back to the controls as they hit the ground, two under parachutes, one in a fireball.
Compared to DnD, which had a table for 'quality of streetwalker', GURPS is rules-light.
'Too vague' is the one that really puzzles me. Gamers want a game that does what they want, they homebrew a DnD campaign to make it so, but when the game system can play any pre-existing world or game, it's 'too vague'?
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, but there is a fantastic podcast called The Film Reroll which uses GURPs to RPG popular movies, and due to the free will the GURPS system offers, hilarity ensues.
That's the reason I'm watching this video.
I started playing DND5e about two months ago and am seriously jealous of GURPS, but the GM at Film Reroll definitely knows the system well and is creative af, so my hopes of finding a similar GM aren't very high so sticking to DND for now.
GURPS 3rd edition for life. Its hard to find people to play with but it's damn awesome.
I actively want to play GURPS... always.
I switched from AD&D to GURPS 3e in 1984 and have been running that system ever since, with a few "house rules." When 4e came out, I bought several of the books, and discovered that in attempting to cater to the SUPERS players, they had warped the system tremendously. I borrowed from 4e what made sense and have ignored the rest. I'm totally uninterested in switching to another system. What most folks don't get about GURPS is that the Basic Set is what you really need to create characters and run a game. EVERYTHING else are simply optional rules and setting suggestions. The GM is the designer of the scenario/campaign/game world, and adds or subtracts elements of plot & design (including rule elements) to provide the setting that the players respond to. In my campaign, for example I allow however many disads you feel you can PLAY, and ignore the "no more than double your age in skills" rule AS LONG AS the skills match the character concept (and I approve all characters in my scenarios!). At one point, our group had 16 members, but other Life considerations has brought the total down to 5 regulars and a 6th periodical.
For those who didn't want to take the plunge I wrote up the house rules for using GURPS Fantasy 1st edition in AD&D1 and updated them for Magic and D&D 3.5 : gurps.wikia.com/wiki/GURPS_magic_in_D%26D
I also provided my napkin D&D 3.5 to GURPS 4th Edition Conversion ( gurps.wikia.com/wiki/D%26D_to_GURPS ) guidelines
Agree 100%. However, the real issue is the lack of a real setting. People buy RPGs because of the story and setting. The system is second. So a generic system with no setting isn’t going to spark anyone’s interest.
The other issue is that Gurps fails because it tries to do everything but can’t. The Hero system makes the same claim but succeeds. That’s the problem. Just compare Gurps supers to Champions. Not even close, Hero blows the doors off of it. Compare Hero magic with Gurps magic. Again, Hero is 100x better.
Then there’s the issue of no boundaries. Gurps let’s you do anything. But letting players do anything is not wise. So with very little structure it requires a lot of GM babysitting. For example, if we were playing Gurps set in the Star Wars universe and 5 of us wanted to make Jedi, not one of them would be anything alike. The lack of structure isn’t as big of a bonus as it is a headache for the GM. It’s just not GM friendly.
as a person who was drawn into ROGs when he was 12 as a way to express his love for worldbuilding and his creativity, I had to alter my full fledged settings for years to fit into systems such as DnD, Pathfinder, CoD, WoD, Atomic Robo, d20 victorian etc. While I don't hate those settings (in fact I love some of them from the bottom of my heart), I found my Holy Grail in GURPS. No more did I have to hack the setting in order to fit the rules, but I had to hack the rules to fit the setting.
Ridiculous. I *wanted to play* GURPS, from the moment I got 3rd edition in 1993 and traded off my RoleMaster/SpaceMaster/Cyperspace books, until FATE came out and I switched to that system (big jump I know). I never minded that there was no specific RPG for 'my game' because as I had all the GURPS books over the years, I literally spent my time reading stories or watching movies and recreating them. I did play a GURPS Firefly, I didn't look twice at the Firefly RPG because I know that if I had, it would have been *their* Firefly RPG, not *my* 'GURPS Firefly', which had exactly what *I* wanted in it. As was all my GURPS campaigns. Exactly the opposite of your conclusion in the vid. The only other RPGs I played in my GURPS era was Chaosium's CoC and WW Mage, although in latter years I also had CthulhuTech and GURPS Mage, so I put them together into my own CthulhuMage campaign.
People don't love GURPS because they stare at it, people love it because they play it.
Personally, I'd rather learn one system and be able to customise games and worlds to fit my/my friends play styles. So GURPS seems like the game for me.
GURPS is my Plan A.
The thing is, we didn't have much money (we were kids, in a small brazillian town), So with a couple of books we could play anything we liked. That I think was why we used gurps. Sure, with time we were able to upgrade our collective library with supers, ultratech, martial arts, magic, etc.. But for a long time we only had The basic set, fantasy and cyberpunk. But we could play the most varied kinds of campaigns. The thing with gurps is that the books complemented each other. When you bought one, it wasn't used for just one type of game, but a bunch of them. We could use ultratech in a supers campaign to make a iron man kind of character and so on. But in general, we could do a lot of things with just those first three books (which were inherited from previous generations of gamers).
I started with the 2nd ed Boxed Set. Had everything needed to create a medieval setting with magic - no additional books required. Added the Beastry & Fantasy Beastry when they came out in 3rd ed and then migrated 100% to 3rd ed revised with Magic, Psionics, and Compendiums. Have been playing it ever since. 4th ed broke some things, improved others - consequently I'm still mostly using 3rd.
@@eriolduterion8855 I'm thinking of coming back to RPG, but now it would be with people that never played and don't have the time I had to dive into GURPS (I read the basic set cover to cover after playing my first session). So I'm looking into simpler skill based systems.
It seems that there are a lot of former GURPS players trying to mainstream GURPS that way.
In the small town I grew up (in the early 2000's) there were two RPG communities (centered around two schools): one was Gurps and the other as DnD. The fun thing about GURPS group is that we had all kinds of campaigns, like he said: Modern day, cyberpunk, Eastern martial arts, super heroes, fantasy, etc.. While DnD, well, you know. The only different thing I played in DnD was a dark Lovecraftian campaign.
I don't get why people complain about GURPS crunching. We were all nerds, like, math were our thing! One of our GM's dad was an engineer and we used his programmable calculator to do the most amazing things. We could followed the advanced rule set to a T with no effort if we wanted. Even the infamous trench digging rules. XD
When I went to college I found a Vampire the Masquerade group and enjoyed Storytelling system a lot. I liked that it was skill system based, like gurps, but also quite more simple and loose. It was a massive group, with dozens of players and multiple GMs playing the same "campaign". It was like an Pen and Paper MMO. It was the best RPG experience I ever had.
The only problem with Gurps is the amount of work for the GM to master the system.
Nothing else.
Once we are beyond that there's no problem.
Normally...once the players dip into the extreme liberty the system provides normally they will not go back.
I don't EVER say that I want to play GURPS. I say, " i want to play [Star Wars, DnD, Middle Earth, Planescape, Dune, Dark sun, Gamma Wolrd, PathFinder or anything) then I follow this up with "I'm using the GURPS system."
I just read through the Star finder game and saw that GURPS is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better for this system than the published system.
GURPS is not about playing a game, it is a system to explore a setting. My group never plays GURPS, we use GURPS to play [Insert setting Here]
Sorry for the thread resurrection but I have looked at Starfinder and enjoy the setting but the rules leave me cold. I am a novice at best when it comes to Gurps and was wondering if there had been a conversion that anyone had done.
Is it though? Some would say no.
It's a marketing problem. The Firefly game doesn't materialize out of nowhere. Somebody LICENSED it so they could make and publish it. Steve Jackson should have beaten them to the punch and licensed it exclusively as a GURPS source book. He could do that with every upcoming movie/book/TV show that becomes popular with nerds. Problem solved.
With their magic licensing powers
Gurps did do that for most of the 90's The licensed a ton of book series and even licensed the World of Darkness. None of them sold as well as their original content. People who play gurps already know they can build virtually any game world, publishing a book that says you can isn't a seller.
Licensing is not the magic solution you think it is as there have been some 28 license games for GURPS, counting the Powered by line ( gurps.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Licensed_worlds ) Well known and popular licenses are *expensive* . Why do you think barely a year after getting VtM they came up with Blood Types (which IMHO is the superior book)?
I love GURPS; using it 20 years. Great review, and very true!
Thanks! And also thanks for taking the criticism in stride as well!
This is a great video! I’ve just discovered your channel and this was an amazing start.
I'm an long-time D&D player, and I've loved it for so many years, but as my mind has opened to new ideas, sci-fi, K'thulian + more universes, I wasn't satisfied with the rules, as I don't think reflect reality, and force players into taking for granted their survival, as battles and dangers become mundane. Gemini pointed me to GURPS, and I've been reading for two days now, and I'm stoked. I've always wanted to build my own world/universe, that includes supernatural, technological, magical whatever in it, and this is clearly the way to do it. It's true that I wanted a simple rule system, because complex rules force people into focusing on math, instead of RPing, but even if GURPS allows for a very simple ruleset with LITE and ULTRA-LITE, I keep finding myself delving for those complex realistic additions. Can't wait to play this.
Not enough crunch? Use any other RPG, game manual, fan website you have access to.
Not enough time? Wing it; you are a GM.
The dark cloud over the game is dispelled by actually playing it.
Please elaborate. I'm curious about jumping into GURPS myself to run stuff like Kingdom Hearts but also wanting to keep things rules lite, and not get hung up on combat details. Oh you hit the Shadow with your keyblade, roll 2D6 with a -1 because you surprised it.
I don't like to complicate shit and it makes people less anxious. My problem is picking skills or making them up to fit and NOT be broken.
@@Webshooters1 GURPS has numerous groups of skills, such as 'Soldier!' 'Science!' or other 'bang' skills, that include all those skills influenced by it.
Categories of skills that are linked can be decided by the GM before play, and ---- most skills can be ones in the game given new names.
The Character Book and the Character Maker / Builder program covers all this.
If doing Kingdom Hearts, work out what all the characters have to have (are there rivers to cross, do the keyswords all act the same?, buildings need to be scaled? walls knocked down? do all characters have acrobatics / enhanced dodge to fit the 'game reality'?), then customise them slightly to make each different.
Goofy may have a distinctive voice, but he is definitely charismatic, for example. He might also have reach 2 due to his height.
How they look is a special effect, not really part of the mechanics.
For a game-centred world, we only need to know the ability of the magic weapon, and it's reach, to know if you hit or not, or defeated the enemy or not.
You can ignore almost all of the combat rules for this.
Most computer games have one-hit victories that scale up with the size of enemy, and power of keysword.
Each 'heart', buff or jewel / coin collected should be added directly to the weapon or it's ability, for example. I tend to make up and copy cards for collectable items, and in a spare moment, the character should be encouraged to spend them or trade them.
Treat these as items that can be lost or 'drained away' by certain enemies, and have the players lay the cards down during play, remind them they are in danger of running out of these resources.
GURPS is definitely a system for those who have experience. For realism, go GURPS. Of course, those who are used to class-based systems may struggle. Those who are use to the "I attack" monotonous play style will struggle. Don't get hit in GURPS or you are pretty much out of the fray.
The only problem with GURPS is the stigma. People who never played it cringe at the name. I've been running games in GURPS for a while now and have turned many people from disliking it (because they either never heard, or had a bad experience), to not wanting to play mainstream fantasy RPGs, even like dungeons and dragos, and prefering to play GURPS because of the flexibility in making characters.
As long as I GM it always will be GURPS 3rd.
If someone else wants to DM ...... I follow his rules, completly ignoring them ..... I always ask what or against what to roll with wich dice
I am a simple GM/player. I started the RPG hobby, nay, lifestyle back in '86. I have lived through the various editions of e.g. D&D, RQ, WW...until recently, I used to think the Chaosium system was the apex of more or less simulationist (the style which I prefer) gaming. I still think that for OSR campy fantasy, the d20 system works best (ahem, DCC RPG). But having recently rediscovered GURPS, I must humbly admit that it seems to me the best RPG system for non-high fantasy D&D-settings, ever. The inbuilt ROLEplaying/realism mechanics just beat its competitors, for a perfectly balanced overall system...open to slight and easy homebrewing.
Nice video. Perhaps you could do a video and go over the best spells for various IQ wizards.
Thanks! Rick.
That of GURPS being Plan B could be compared to the Nintendo Wii which is purchased along with another mainstream console to be played casually. The difference is that GURPS would be a powerful console without exclusives and the other RPGs would be weak consoles dedicated to a single consecrated gaming experience. The problem is that at an RPG table the real "console" is the GM and he is not always in the mood to accumulate the role of game designer in setting the stage for the adventure. Yet another problem is selling the idea of your own version or authoring scenario to closed-minded players, relying solely on the power and gameplay of the system.
The people who are up for or familiar with GURPS are usually the people I want to play with, not only because they’re willing but because they’re usually experienced enough with RPG’s in general to understand the value and importance of a system such as GURPS.
It seems that new gamers get caught up in marketing or, “Doing it right” by going with familiar brands or licenses. The ones I’ve encountered just don’t seem to appreciate the freedom and fun which comes from having a general toolbox of game rules and the creativity to make your desired fantasies happen on your shared table. They seem to want branding and the shallow legitimacy it appears to bring.
While I want GURPS to be successful, I enjoy the freedom of a game system not saddled with the baggage of being the standard or the, “Must have” system. Let D&D attract the casuals. I’ll just head over to where there’s space to move around, room to breathe, and the freedom of creation and choice.
Au contraire. Some of my groups set out to play and run GURPS for various campaigns: Fantasy, Supers, Space, so we could customise our characters and not stay close to canon, like we may tend to do with, say, a dedicated Firefly game.
One game started as fantasy, then expanded to technological space travel. That would have been clumsy, at best, if we adapted a dedicated fantasy or space game to fit in elves, magic, psionics, spacecraft and computers ("books that eat lightning" in Elvish, BTW).
We could say the same about other generics, such as the Hero System.
Anyway, thank you for the food for thought.
As someone who's just now coming into the pen and paper RPG scene, I'm ecstatic that I've discovered GURPS because it's going to allow me to play any scenario I can think of. I have no need to see my favorite fandom on the cover. Coming into TTRPG, I thought DnD was the be-all end-all. But no. GURPS.
My gaming group really loves Fading Suns. If you've read anything about the game it's a tragically great story with a short-bus system, or actually 4 different short-bus systems. We also play a ton of GURPS so it was a no-brainer to build a Fading Suns GURPS ruleset. Do you know how we overcame the crushing ennui of having to play a game that didn't have "Fading Suns" on the cover.. we xeroxed the cover of the game and slipped it into the cover of the rules binder. Instantly GURPS was "custom made" for our game. This whole idea that you'd throw away a game with superior mechanical value because it wasn't packaged to your liking is such a non-problem when you weigh it against the ridiculous faults of games that are built for an existing license.
That said GURPS isn't faultless. It is too-much game. I don't need to flip through pages of advantages and disadvantages for making aliens or mutants to play to build a character for a cop drama, I'm also not going to need the entire section of the core book dedicated to magic or psionics. Probably fully 1/3 of the massive skills section is unnecessary for any given theme you're going to run. If the only book I had access to was the Character book I'd be grateful that I had those rules to improvise other games, but it's too easy to organize the core book better and produce supplemental booklets to govern individual themes. Ad to this organizational mess that GURPS's index in the back of the books is a shitshow, virtually any complex rule in the game is either not listed or is listed under the least sensible header imaginable in the index. Honestly if you don't read the core books cover-to-cover and remember where everything is you're pretty much hosed.
GURPS also really has no entry point, and that is killing that game. If you don't understand the game and have players that aren't familiar with GURPS, the game makes little effort to help. Examples of the rules are often very thick and outright missing for things that should be better explained. GURPS has almost no pre-published adventures and the ones available for sale aren't very well designed. Even many of the theme books can be unclear about critical concepts of how things are played on the table. Until very recently there was no feasibly way you could walk into a gaming store, get The GURPS, take it home and run it for your friends; it required indoctrination and initiative. Recently the Dungeon Fantasy box was published, which has very nice examples of running the game, pre-made adventures, useful tips on designing a campaign. I hope SJ Games continues this trend of boxing the game for new players.
GURPS Lite and Ultra-Lite for entry point. Also, free.
They choose the "tailor made game" over what could be a tailor made PC. I certainly haven't sampled every game, but dozens, and all come across as limited compared to GURPS.
So I clicked on this find out why people never really want to play GURPS and I don't feel you really explained that
This is actually good news to me, because for some reason I can't stand playing something that already exists. I only want to play a role-playing game that I made specifically for me and I get to make up the rules.
GURPS brings a lot of rules to the table, but you can pick and choose exactly which ones to use, and then tweak the others as you see fit. It makes for a tool box that is tough to learn to use, but awesome once you start working with! :D
I just got into table top gaming after making a Australian based fallout board, I first looked at fallout pnp and thought it was quite bad and looked at several other rules, I even tried to manipulate LOTR miniature game into a modern setting RPG. Once I found GURPS I fell in love with the rules, even if there is a rule set tailored to fallout already. 10/10 would throw away falloutPnP again.
People choose the good over the better simply because a franchise name is on the cover of the good? Sounds like this video should be called "The Problem with People."
I say that with tongue in cheek. Great video and some excellent points.
That's literally my experience with GURPS.
I did learn a lot from GURPS Horror that I've applied to my writing, but I don't realistically see myself playing it.
I bought GURPS just so I could have it XD
Same, I had a friend of mine give me every copy he had of GURPS about six years back. I have an entire folder completely dedicated to all the damn GURPS books. It certainly does assist in a lot of RP building if you can get past the dryness of the reading.
A fun little challenge I like to give myself is to create an intensely supernatural character with only 100 points. It's NOT easy, but it forces me to be creative with disadvantages XD
GURPS Horror is written by Ken Hite, co-author of Dracula Dossier. I don't believe his writing would ever be described as dry.
It's not dry, just...not very interesting. It's useful as a toolkit but not necessarily as a game in and of itself. Obviously your mileage will vary, but I can't see myself just sitting down and playing GURPS unless the GM was someone I knew to be unreasonably good at their job lol XD
Jonathan Henry I dont find that very convincing. We are of course each entitled to our opinions, but I've never heard Dracula Dossier described as uninteresting. Nor Night's Black Agents. So why then the authors GURPS Book? A detailed evocative explanation of Horror that goes through and discusses monsters as the fears they represent, with interesting scenario ideas and campaigns.
Your taste is up to you, but I think its more than a little unhelpful a description.
I've been out of gaming for a long time now, but when I did play, Gurps was always our #1 go-to game -- for everything except Supers. Comic-book-style superheroes is my favorite genre, but to play it in Gurps, there are three choices: (1) make it a lot more lethal than it is in the comics, (2) put a cap on power levels, or (3) add on complicated extra rules to even out the players' power levels and reduce the fatalities. For superhero fun, we usually turned to Mayfair's DC Heroes RPG.
The first Fallout was initially going to use Gurps, but Steve Jacksson games backed of when they saw how violent and gory it was going to be. So Black Isle had to make up the SPECIAL system in like a weekend.
I played D&D and RIfts in High School (back in the late 80s). When I went to college, my new friends introduced me to GURPS, and I never looked back. For me, it fixed one of the single biggest problems I'd had with RPGs until then: Levels and Classes. Sure, AD&D2 let you multi-class, but levels were still a problem. I also despised D&D's magic system, where you had to memorize spells for the day and hope you didn't get the wrong ones for what you actually needed. GURPS fixed everything. True hybrid characters. Fighters with just a couple spells to give them that edge. The ability to switch up your character by getting new skills to cover weaknesses that became apparent later on. GURPS fixed the problem of character growth and advancement that I found so stifling in other systems, and I never looked back. I've played (and own) a variety of systems since then, but GURPS is always the gold-standard for me. It's the game that lets me play my way, which is almost never the way other rule books tell me to. It even goes so far as for me to buy other systems (like Firefly), not to play them, but to serve as a world book when I design my GURPS campaign.
Started with 1st edition D&D. Started a campaign with some friends already playing GURPS and was hooked. I love it.
I see a lot of comments that disagree. I have a question; how many of you actually have a functioning GURPS game?
GURPS will always be my plan A, to me it's the adamantium skeleton of Roleplaying systems.
I like to think that maybe since I've found GURPS through the Happy Jacks Podcast and have placed it as my go-to, preferred system, others will do the same, too. My online gaming buddies already assume that whenever I mention that I've got idea that I'm going to run it in GURPS. And so far, I think they've enjoyed our GURPS game, despite the few (few might be an under-statement) times that I messed up the rules and combat wound up taking too long. The combat system is way better than most anything I've seen, anyway.
Also, I would bet that Traveller would be a better fit for Firefly. Or maybe, just play Traveller because everybody knows that Firefly was based off of Traveller.
First let me preface my comment with a love for GURPS. It is superior in almost every way from other game systems. What I am writing is a comment about perception and convenience. The “problem” with GURPS is that it is just a framework. Choosing to play GURPS at least early in campaign design creates a lot of work for both the GM and the players, but mostly for the GM. Games that have created the setting, and pared down the rules to just what’s needed is FAR easier. It’s quite metaphorically like comparing ordering food from a restaurant vs. cooking at home from scratch ingredients. Or buying a house vs designing and building one yourself. Sure we all love how comprehensive GURPS is, but how often do you want to design your own game? The problem is, it’s far more convenient to pick up a game that is good enough and mostly done for you than it is to design mostly from scratch.
How often do you want to design your own game? Always, in my experience; from homebrew DnD to the many varied GURPS games I've built, GM'd and played in.
The real 'crunch' of even DnD was the stuff we come up with ourselves, the maps we drew, the places visited, etc.
@@stevetheduck1425 the crunch as you said is content, which is exactly what I am talking about. All you have to do with DnD is create content. With GURPS, you have a bare framework and you have to figure out on your own what is your world. For most people DnD has done most of that work for you. Just because you choose to do some of it, does not mean that you would wish to do all of it. Some people yes, perhaps you yes, but it's not a choice most people would make and stick with.
Started back in 85 or 86 with D&D... god... "the dark times"...
BUT, there's always been a certain soft-spot for the old AD&D stuff. With the fall of TSR as 2e came to a close, almost expanding into 3, and WotC got a hold of it... I quit collecting books just to have books. It's expensive and stupid...
I discovered GURPS in the 90's... AND along with a litany of other systems, I expanded to RP in a variety of settings... BUT then I had a crucial decision to deal with. I could continue destroying my patience and mind by some vain attempt of memorizing and managing all the systems (not worth it, since, well... see the earlier statement about collecting books to collect books)... OR I could work out one system REALLY well.
I still play 2e, occasionally. I'm comfortable "monkeying with the mechanics" just as easily as I am with GURPS... BUT GURPS remains my long term FIRST choice to play. Having run the board of games, for the unique simplicity that grants fullest agency within the system, you just can't beat GURPS.
AND finally, it's because with all those other systems out there, I have no trouble finding Players... BUT EVERYONE wants their own thing. Someone wants a D&D character. Someone else wants a Vampire. Another wants a cyborg assassin. AND there's always THAT guy who just has to play Mata Hari... SO GURPS... to the rescue. Everyone gets to play, and everyone gets to have a good time.
Need a spaceship? No problem... It's only going to take... a couple hours to fully design and flesh it out in paper and arithmatic... BUT that's why we recycle our material, right? Same with any other mech' or tech' or magic... (lolz) Yep, I'm a lazy GM, too. :o)
I've played gurps a few times. I want to play it more but I can't find anyone who plays it. One time it was a custom adventure that was Wild West Cthulhu. The feeling of mad hopeless dread still lives in the back of my head like a microscopic strip of throbbing gristle. Gurps sessions can almost be like a workshop for method acting.
Thanks for the Gurps vid, I want more gurps content.
GURPS is my favorite tabletop RPG (so far). I don't have a big pool of potential players though.
I was pointed to GURPS because I always liked _some_ things about D&D (general technology level, mix of humans elves and dwarves allied against monsters, dungeon delves, treasure) but didn't like the class system or character levels (preferring D&D at levels 1-3 or 1-5 depending on edition).
Once I was able to make a hero in the vein of Loto or The Prince of Cannock from Dragon Quest (a guy with some armor, a sword, a shield, healing spells, and fiery direct damage spells) and noticed that armor functions correctly (reducing damage rather than reducing chances of being hit while still taking full damage) I never really wanted to turn back...
The closest I ever come is to try to homebrew something, which winds up basically being GURPS zoomed out a bit and focusing entirely on dungeon delving fantasy (so 1 point in my system is worth about 5 in GURPS, most things worth less than 3/4 points in GURPS are handwaved as background fluff at best in mine). This is generally more work than it's worth.
What I _really_ want are more people to play GURPS with, particularly the Dungeon Fantasy RPG spinoff.
As someone who is currently trying to get into GURPS mostly out of curiosity, my current issue with it s that there's a serious lack of content out there that helps guide beginners through the game in a succinct, yet informative way. I grew bored of D&D and high fantasy settings in general, and while Traveller and SWN are great, they just don't scratch that same pulpy military sci fi itch that say... Halo does. I've always heard that GURPS is the ultimate rpg toolkit, so I was like "Hell yeah." But I also was worried because a
I was told the thing was incredibly confusing and tedious to learn.
And while, when broken down to its core mechanic, I think it certainly isn't the most complex thing in the world, it's everything surrounding the system that has my mind pulled into tight knots. How do you teach someone who's never used tools before how to use a toolbox without also giving them the entire toolbox to work with? I wanna use this system really bad, but I'm also a busy man who's trying to make his own games, and it almost sounds like making your own gane in GURPS is something you may as well put real production value in and sell as a splatbook to the GURPS system.
You teach them how to use the individual tools, and then the box.
GURPS really only has a few tools.
Attributes (primary & secondary), Dis/Advantages, quirks, perks, metatraits, skills, techniques, templates, and the modifiers for these things.
The only time it becomes a hassle is when you're looking for specific Dis/Advantages, metatraits/templates or using modifiers.
Get GURPS Lite, then fill in the blanks as needed. Magic, Psionics, Beastry & Fantasy Beastry, & Fantasy will do for most medieval settings; Horror, gives you the ghosts, vampires & weres; Ultratech, Space, Vorkosigan, & Traveller for space scenarios. China, Japan, Conan, Vikings, etc for specific settings.
I have to say, once I had GURPS, I never wanted to play other system, because I can have whatever I want with GURPS.
"because I can have whatever I want with GURPS". Except 4 or 5 really loyal players willing to deal with NPC's with a Fast-talk rating of 14 or 15? Oooops!
And for those GURPS players looking for an example: how likely is fast talk going to work in an adventure like 'The Slave Lords' or 'Against the Giants'. Some gurps skills would never be used.
One beauty about GURPS is that you can build a PC for any setting and it will be able to drop into any other setting. So your Fantasy PC can fully function in Star Trek or Old West or Supers, no rules fixing or updating.
3:30 I... I think you said cyberfunk... I need to write a new campaign >.>
Even though I think you’re right, I personally am making the switch GURPS and never turning back
Not me. I love gurps so much every time I play something tailor made like ravenloft for exemplo, i think this would be so much better on gurps... Same for wolrd of darkness
Figured that the problem with GURPS is that making a custom character is an Intelligence/Hard skill in real life...
Jokes aside it is a fun game with a crazy catalog of options to make a game in any setting.
Thank you. You have convinced me to go with GURPS, for all the reasons you just said.
I just picked up GURPS because I actively want to play GURPS, and I think it might be for me "the one" or the game I will run most because it's my favorite
Hope you are having fun running GURPS as much as I have had over the last 35 years!
I’ve always said: “Incredible system, terrible name.” It just doesn’t roll off the tongue.
“Hey fellas wanna meet up and play some GURPS this weekend?”
haha I've always thought it sounds like some kind of lower intestinal disorder. I mean, I love the system tho.
I love the GUPRS. It allows me to play the non-magical psionic elf I have tried to play in D&D for over 30 years without success. I have played in many systems but I love GURPS. Nothing else comes close to the versatility or allows unique concepts as GURPS.
I've wanted to start a GURPS games for a while now. I homebrewed my own Transformers RPG a while back based on D&D 3.5 because that's what my friends were playing and I figured using rules everyone was used to would make it easier to play. The translation wasn't perfect, but it was playable. That was before I heard about GURPS though, and ever since I've been giving serious consideration to making a new TF game using the GURPS system.
I wish GURPS had always been my Plan A.
Instead of always trying to homebrew D&D into the game that I wanted it to be, but it always refused to be, I should have been playing GURPS.
Any system that has levels and standard Hit Point that go up with level is a plan Z for me. A 180 lb veteran (10+ YEARS) Navy Seal shot with a shot gun and a 180 lb accountant shot with the same shot gun are going to be affected equally. In level systems the Navy Seal would have 80 hp at the shot gun would be a scratch, the accountant would be paste on the wall. neither is realistic at all.
To be fair the hit points in D&D were actual an abstraction of things like dodge, parry, and the like. The problem was this was explained in a blink and you miss it part of the DMG1 and I have no idea where it is in later editions of D&D.
@@Maximara To be fair, Bruce, that justification never did it for me when things like falling damage and healing come into play. If HP in D&D includes dodging and parrying, then why does falling do so little damage to a level 10 fighter? Why does healing give your ally back dodge and parry? It doesn't really make sense.
D&D's health system never made a hell of a lot of sense. Though I have big issues with GURPS combat system as well, mainly the weird way defenses work where dodge and attack rolls are totally separate, in a vacuum. Essentially it's played as if a master swordsman stabs at a random stationary point in space and the defender just has to get out of that point to survive. But that's not really how combat works. Good fighters or shooters anticipate and predict, they lead their targets and perform follow up attacks.
@@taragnor That's because GURPS is an abstract system of rules used for storytelling, much like D&D and every other RPG system out there. The difference is that I can swallow GURPS's abstractions much easier than I can D&D's. For what it's worth, I have never considered an attack to be targeting a point in space, and I don't see that anywhere in the rules either. Anticipating and predicting where your target will be is part of high skill (a crit negates their chance to defend), aim and evaluate maneuvers, and combat options that take advantage of high skill like Deceptive Attack.
That's because most of those systems are fantasy/scifi where superhuman durability is expected. That's actually the issue with gurps. You usually get something like 13-17 hp. That's not much higher than a 1zt level char. All that customization and tims, but you still die in 2 hits. Hell that's an issue in 5e, it's why most start at 3rd level now.
I would like to play GURPs, I exclusively make my own settings and a non-setting specific system is one of the biggest boons a game could have for my likelihood of playing it
Great video. I was always confused as to why GURPS was never much more popular and I have to agree with the argument of people preferring games tailored to them. Maybe people are afraid of letting their fantasy be elevated to totally different and higher levels.
Anyway, great video. Thanks for it. Cheers from the Czech republic.
Running Gamma World using GURPS 4th edition and my players are having a blast. I am putting them against the original Legion of Gold. I have of course made many changes. Mutants are coincided normal and mutations are random and free (although training those mutations costs skill points) with both good and bad mutations. Pure strain humans get an additional 20 character points as well as the advantages they have always had in Gamma World. If anyone else has done this I would love to hear how you did it.
Excellent review! spot on.
The problem with GURPS is character generation. With the programs, it is rough for a new player. Without, it is a nightmare. GURPS is by far my favorite game, but watching new players struggle, it is obvious that what for me is excellent, is a real hurdle for people who just want to play a new game.
The problem with GURPS is the 4th Edition. 3rd edition is spectacular, period.
You can't understand how much I loved this comment. Thank you.
I disagree. 3rd edition was a totally botch up in terms of the Universal aspect of GURPS and 4e fixed a lot of issues 3e (especially 3.5) had.
I think folks generally gravitate towards RPGs with finished worlds, even if the mechanics are subpar. Such systems require less prep for GMs and and offer pre-defined role-playing archetypes for players. Even the sorcebooks for GURPS are crunch-heavy and light on worldbuilding. Thus, GMs and players have a substantial (but rewarding) amount of work ahead to really flesh out an immersive campaign.
Only game that caused a significant pblm in "porting" to GURPS was Legend of the Five Rings with its honor and void concepts of those I've dealt with. The other is the "shields" concept which auto detects and destroys meteors, but fails to detect and destroy space suited humans attempting boarding the spacecraft.
I love GURPS and I've never used it to recreate some licenced world. It's always been completely original settings and characters.
I learned how to customize the game to how me and my friends wanted to play. I was a good experience that I used now in my business career.
I like GURPS. I prefer The Fantasy Trip. But everyone knows by now that if you want to play Firefly you go with Lady Blackbird, yeah?
Gurps is the GM's game. It's the system you want to play but your players want DnD or Shadowrun.
I never experienced GURPS ever being a plan B. The only reason I have found that another game system is played instead of GURPS is because my gaming group finds its potential complexity intimidating. With dedicated gamers though its always GURPS all the way.
They have Discworld Gurps, is that the only branded Gurps out there?
GURPS is superior. This is why they converted those other games to GURPS: Vampire the Masq, Werewofl the Apoc, Mage the Ascension, Traveller, Star Trek, Mars Attacks, Conan, Discworld, etc. etc. Because those properties knew that some people would love something with that property name on it but is also usable for GURPS. However, backing out to the statement that people don't choose GURPS, they get left with it, I disagree. My first RPG was GURPS because I wanted to make Ultima (this was in the 1980's, using Ultima IV and V). As for playing GURPS, generally speaking, it used to be that if someone was playing sci-fi, it was GURPS (again, in the 1980's). I played it in college, and as time has passed, the 4th edition continues to be a go to for reference on genres in general to screenwriters.
I've played FASA Star Trek, Last Unicorn Star Trek, and Mophidius' Star Trek Adventures. The only system that does Star Trek the way I want it is GURPS! So that's what I use for my Star Trek game. [I don't mean GURPS Prime Directive, though I've poached some stuff from their books, I mean GURPS proper]. I've already decided when I do finally run the Babylon 5 game of my dreams it will be a GURPS game.
That said, I'd never use GURPS for Star Wars, and my plans for GURPS Dr Who went out the window when I saw how Cubical 7 had done a better job of capturing the essence of the franchise then GURPS ever would. So you aren't completely wrong.
GURPS is great, minus one thing: it is ridiculously complicated. Now, this isn’t actually a problem. The first thing that it tells you is that you can not use any of its rules. I, personally, remade GURPS till it was unrecognizable so that it was easier. But, while sacrificing no actual gameplay, I was able to introduce it to my family. They were playing and having fun in the FIRST SESSION, without any confusion. I have run a Doctor Who themed horror session, I have run several standard medieval fantasy campaigns, (which I took DIRECTLY FROM D&D, without having to adjust them beforehand, only adjusting on the fly.), and, after my party finishes their current campaign, we’re going to play an espionage campaign set in the Cold War!
If you want a RPG to represent a book or film it only works with a license so you can use charakters from the sourcematerial and trnasfer them into the rules.
GURPS used to be my go-to but it always suffered from the problem of needing too much prep. I have folders and folders of characters I created in case I'd need an NPC for something or other. Maps with hexes traced over the grids so that they were compatible.
So to cut down on prep I'd buy another sourcebook and mine that for things I could use. I've run great GURPS games from there. I've played in great GURPS games. But when the 4th Edition came out I couldn't justify the cost to start again from scratch. So yeah, I went back to D&D, Traveller and the like. EABA replaced GURPS as my go-to generic system. But less sourcebooks so more work and BTRC always go for the weird and wonderful settings. So less useful all around.
Yeah that is definitely true to. The prep can be a pain in the ass, especially if you aren't well adverse in gaming in general. And Traveller is REALLY underrated for the shit that is in that game!
So do what I did- borrow from 4e what makes sense, and continue running 3e - I have a Sword & Sorcery campaign I've been running since 1984 that started with the story and map in the back of the 3e Basic Set -Caravan to Ein Aris- which I modified slightly to add magic and added the continent as a southern continent to Yurth. I've also run 2 Space campaigns, and our group has run 2 X-files scenarios -1 modern day, 1 Victorian, a Dragon Age scenario, a Rokugon scenario, 2 CSI type scenarios and a Robots/Space scenario.
@@TannerBivensCritorMiss You *do* know that GURPS Traveler (www.sjgames.com/gurps/traveller/) has existed since 2002, right? More over it has one of the largest amounts of supplements of a GURPS book ( www.sjgames.com/gurps/traveller/products.html ) The second largest is GURPS Conan ( www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/conan/ ). Please note that both these have the name of the franchise in the name so that shoots down that argument.
I love GURPS since my first game in 1999, for me it's the best choice to play RPG. But It's true, nobody wants to play GURPS even an experienced player or GM 'cause the vast majority wants to play the "official version" of any game. I prefer sci fi scenarios, but when I discovered GURPS played with some friends a ganster story located in our town, it was very easy and enjoyful had a generic system in order to play whatever we want; but it was "our game". GURPS for me it's the Linux (or any similar open source OS) of RPG and of course, most people uses windows...
The game I started with and haven’t played in twenty years…