Review: GURPS by Steve Jackson Games | TTRPG System
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ค. 2024
- You can find the GURPS Basic Set at the (non-sponsored, not affiliated) link below.
www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/b...
SJGames can also be found here on TH-cam / @stevejacksongames
0:00 Intro to GURPS
2:59 Design/Crunch/Overall Ratings
4:54 Genres of Play
5:35 Character Creation Overview
8:45 Social Status, Wealth, etc...
10:36 Advantages
11:07 Disadvantages
13:15 Magic System
14:21 Equipment
16:09 Combat
17:51 Drawbacks of GURPS
23:28 Outro - เกม
Before this video even starts I have to say that for me GURPS was a leap of faith. While leaning to play, I got discouraged a few times and set it down. Then after a few sessions I slowly begun to see the infinite amount of tactical decisions and combinations that come up in combat and just how suspenseful that second by second combat could be. Being able to create and play an elderly character with a bad back and being compensated for that disadvantage being built into the rules without having to work something out with a suspicious GM is a breather and bakes that aspect of role play right into the game. I'm not one of those guys who is going to tell you that learning GURPS is easy, because for me it wasn't ( I've played a dozen and GMed a handful ), but it was totally worth the effort. And the only thing I use it for ( at the moment ) is Rare Magic Fantasy. But I do want to try a GI Joe game using cybernetically enhanced Joes. Code Named: Team Bronze Heart.
The funny thing for me; I got the 3rd edition basic set in '87 or so... and read through it and loved it. As my friends and I were playing AD&D 2e at the time, I kept asking if they wanted to switch, but at least one of the players really didn't want to. We finally sort of wrapped up most of the 2e game, and played some GURPS, but it was about a year or so after I had read the book, so I had forgotten most of the rules, and kind of had to (re)learn them as I went along. But overall, I think that's a great way to play, since you get the basics down and then you slowly start to introduce the more fine grained stuff like damage modifiers.
Aside from the Disadvantages which is the unsung hero of GURPS, the magic system mechanic of being able to tap your hitpoints when you run out of FP is my favorite mechanic in RPGdom. You can even go down to 0 hp to power a spell if you want which could create a really memorable moment. And that's how you win any RPG.
Haha agree. Those moments you talk about for years are what it’s all about.
Funny comment you made about GURPS videos not doing well, it is true and it's a shame. Great overview and great to see more GURPS love being spread!
Thanks Easy. Let’s hope they are cooking up a 5th addition. Will definitely be something I want to ask about at gencon.
Also see you have a GURPS channel, looking forward to checking it out!
@@homebrewedtabletop I'm not someone who thinks they need a new edition. There really isn't a need for one. Unless they're going to change their method of 'Generic'. As I've pointed out elsewhere to people, you can either do what GURPS does, and make a generic basic set that is module, or you do a full set of rules for each genre with a somewhat similar base between them, like BRP or Modiphius' 2d20 system. Either way can work well, though for the player base, I think the secondary method is far more expensive. When you think that most players will buy just the 'player's handbook' and the GM buys the rest of the books, you'd end up with the Player base needing to get the Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Western, etc. From the publisher side, that's a great idea. From the Player base... less so...
I've been playing GURPS for years (since high school). It is by far my favorite game. It is the last bastion of satisfyingly crunchy detail and playable simulationism (a dying style of game) while being flexible enough to be stripped down to a fairly rules lite game for newcomers. I think its reputation as being overly complex and the fact that it predominantly exists as PDFs now are its biggest enemies. Despite this, I think that GURPS should lean into the simulationism instead of the universality; Fate, Savage Worlds, and similar games are also universal without the crunch (and with faster character creation and less math), but the characters in those games generally have a superficial "sameness" to them. The crunch and simulationism of GURPS makes possible dramatic possibilities that are often ignored or forgotten by modern gaming culture. Generally when I introduce a new player to GURPS combat, the player is blown away and they never look at the combat in other games the same way.
I love GURPS. It allowed me to play my non-magical psionic elf that D&D denied me for forty years. I have people now telling me that's flavor in D&D. I point out that my character doesn't cast spells. They cannot. It is not flavor to say they are not magic while casting spells. That's hypocrisy.
This character is published in two of my copyrighted books.
Nice to meet a fellow psionicist :)
And yeah, conversation with folks who haven’t tried other game systems can be difficult. It can hard to imagine what else is out there is you have never actually looked.
GURPS has one real rule: Just because you can do anything does not mean you should do everything.
Take the two core books. Add one setting book, one tech book, and one "flavor" book. Say build a game with space and horror.
I started a year ago with GURPS Lite. Now I am using a lot of the 3E Traveller books in my own gritty far-future space campaign.
We were all pretty new to the game, and having character templates really helped. The biggest problem I have had as a GM with players coming from D&D-like games is getting them to play their characters' advantages and disadvantages.
In fact if it's Friday it must be game night.
Looking forward to more GURPS content.
That seems like solid advice.L, as it can get quite overwhelming.
I’ve had some of that same issue, but I also found that some of my players would RP some other disadvantage that they didn’t take. So I will often be like “hey, you seem to be rping this a lot, why don’t we swap it out with this other thing?”
Doesn’t always work, but often enough it does.
@@homebrewedtabletop My group is playing via discord, and I am only playing via my laptop (one monitor). I have to trust my players to use their character sheets and use their stats appropriately because I simply do not have the capacity to run the whole of the game world and point out their potemtial bonuses and penalties based on disadvantages, advantages, and skills. They really need to do it themselves.
It makes for a more fast and loose interpretation of the rules, and I guess they could be cheating on some rolls.
But cheating on an RPG is like masturbation. You're only screwing yourself.
I love seein GURPS content, even if I've never played in a fulfilling campaign yet, I hope you do more builds and stuff for Gurps. I do find it interesting how you talk about 1 way of doing Magic, because GURPS has like 3 different variations of magic, even before customizing them further.
Ah bummer. I hope you find one soon! My main group has been going for years, and it’s so much fun!
And yeah, I agree I could have talked more about the various ways of implementing magic. I was mostly referencing the core set & the Magic book that largely puts forth a singular method.
I am fairly partial to just using powers though, as a way of dealing with some of the balance issues. The Powers book is pretty helpful for that.
I want 50 books on GURPS Technomancer :D
MORE CRUNCH MORE REALISM MORE TABLE
I own it and I totally respect the game, but I have never run it, because I have always preferred Chaosiums Basic Roleplaying system [BRP], it has all the crunch I need. But there is no denying, GURPS does have more options. Also, the GURPS settings books are some of the best out there. [I use them even with BRP]
I need to try it, I have not as of yet. I’m a little behind the 8-ball since moving into the creators space for ttrpg’s. I used to think I knew and had tried many game systems, then I realized how big the space it.
Hero champions fan here. I’d love to see more videos on gyros or other generic systems.
100% I would love to be able to recommend a gambit of generic systems for various play styles.
Right now I have a grip of review materials that I’m trying to work through, including a few generics like Fate and others.
My process typically includes a play test of a full adventure before any review, in addition to everything else (full read through, checking in with that games community, etc…). So it can be a slow train coming. But I’ll keep at it, as I absolutely live getting to do it.
I've always had a lot of love for GURPS... but it's been hard finding a group for it.
1,000% agree. It’s why I resorted to making GURPS converts. Easier to find people willing to try a new system than a group already playing it.
Excellent video! Love the game.
GURPS is great and I've played it for years. I have personally played medieval sword & sorcery, far future space opera, modern day superheroes and modern day hidden magic with this system. My fav was in the far future one where I played an electrokinetic gagdeteering ninja.
Haha you’ve run the gamut! What power level did you go for on the modern day super heroes?
@@homebrewedtabletop They were 500 point characters.
Good video for a game with so much content.
Glad you enjoyed it! Fingers crossed for a 5th edition soon.
@@homebrewedtabletop While I can see why people want a new streamlined starter set or lite version, I'm not exactly sure we need a new edition. Maybe reorganized books?
GURPS require a new edition, they should take basic set and turn these two books into a single book with most used rules/traits/spells etc with maximum of 200 pages. Then make another book that will have all other leftover info. Even with all these summary tables, GURPS is very hard to get into. Although I like it a lot and use GURPS Lite from time to time, I only use basic set to get ideas for my own rules.
I agree, a new addition would be great. I think there are several ways they could simplify it, and make it easier to use. I would honestly be happy with several of the options but I guess we will have to wait and see.
Thanks! Very helpful. I've been trying to wrap my head around GURPS for awhile but keep getting distracted by other projects lol
Glad I could help! Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions.
My biggest problem with GURPS is that the system doesn’t do enough to support new GMs. If you want to learn GURPS by running a game you’re just not gonna have fun. You can overcome the system with experience but there really *NEEDS* to be more prefabricated content to get people into the system.
I agree. Although I think it’s all around tbh. More player support for character creation would be amazing. Although that is also something that affects GMs as well, so lends even more to your point.
I know this might sounds immature or superficial, but to me the greatest drawback of GURPS lies in its books. They are dry, uninspiring, the layout looks right out of the 80s and the rules are scattered and not clearly explained. I find it extremely frustrating. I kind of love the gaming system per se, but every time I pick up a book, I swear, I *really swear* I'd rather be reading topological algebra or advanced python or almost eveerything else. I hope they'll make a 5th edition (the chances are slim, though) that doesn't look and feel like it belongs to the twentieth century. (I'm 50, btw, so it's not just a "young guy syndrome". It's just that reading up something for a game should be enjoyable, not feel like a chore.)
I think you raise a good point about the curb appeal, and certainly the books are dated at this point. I imagine even if they simply remade the same system without much mechanical changes there could be many improvements.
Fingers crossed they decide to move forward with a 5th edition.