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Old 10-01-2017, 09:50 PM   #1
kmunoz
 
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: Seattle, Washington
Default My only gripe

One word: bagpipes. (DF Next Level, p. 19).

That is - I want more. And I want it right now.

I've loved GURPS since my introduction to it sometime around 1992. That's 25 years. And it's been my exclusive system since...well, since around 1992. But over the years I've looked longingly at all of the highly integrated genre-specific RPGs, because they have a clarity and cleanliness that is of necessity lacking in GURPS. In particular, I've always wanted a much more formalized and straightforward character creation method - something beyond templates, that made the usual GURPS character creation process less of a slog.

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy did a pretty good job of solving much of that problem for me. It's highly focused and clean in design. But it was still limited by the fact that it is tied inextricably to the way GURPS presents itself - as being exceptionally open-ended no matter how focused the genre. DF character creation was still all about templates.

And sure, DFRPG is essentially the same with the serial numbers filed off. But there is something significant about the shift of terminology from "template" to "profession." It makes everything so much cleaner. I've been playing GURPS for 25 years and I can't describe how liberating it is not to have to think about the math. (And I mean "math" metaphorically, not simply arithmetic. I'm talking about the skeleton under the skin of the game.) Sure, I know the math is there, and I even know what the math is (because it's basically GURPS DF math, which is out in the open). But when I read the text it's not punching me in the face every single second. And that's so refreshing and wonderful.

DFRPG is the GURPS I've longed for. And I want so much more of it. I want to see Artificers and Scholars. I want multi-profession lenses (but please don't call them lenses!). I want expanded Clerics. I want Summoners. I want all of GURPS DF re-tooled so that the math is hidden and the game is clean. I want to see Sorcery incorporated with a full spell list. I want ritual path magic worked out in depth. (Oh, RPM, my nemesis. I want to love you, but you're so prickly.) I want to see Martial Arts done DFRPG style. I'm salivating just thinking about it all.

I still love GURPS for what it is. I still love that I can pick up my books (I will never become a PDF evangelist, I don't care how convenient they are) and tool around in there like in days of yore. But that takes work. In my younger days, I could equate work with fun, because I had the time and energy to devote to such pursuits. I just don't have it anymore. I guess I just got old. My teeth need apple sauce, not jawbreakers.

Or perhaps a better angle: I told myself a long time ago that I longed for the day that I would no longer know how to "program a VCR" - that is, I would finally be able to just use technology and not feel the urge to know it. And eventually that happened. Try to get me to explain how Snapchat works and you'll just get a blank stare. I'm so happy.

And I feel the same way about DFRPG. Finally, I can play a game again.

So that's my only gripe. I want more bagpipes. I want all the bagpipes.

Except maybe the Coleopterans. You can leave those out. Ugh.
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Natural Encyclopedia: 660 GURPS bestiary entries
It Came from the Forums: A Community Bestiary with 160 entries
(last updated 2009...someday I will revisit.)

Last edited by kmunoz; 10-01-2017 at 10:03 PM.
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