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Old 01-11-2018, 09:47 AM   #1
daermark
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Default Help for a Noob

So, my son and son-in-laws have played D&D 5e and like it, and somehow I got DFRPG as a Christmas gift. Now, I have never played GURPS and have not DM'd since...well... the old Blue Book D&D.

I am willing to DM for them, using DFRPG. I like that it is self contained (as in NOT the toolbox of GURPS) as I work two jobs and I dont have the time to either create the game, or the setting. I like and understand the fact that I can use what I want; even within the self contained box and - if we grow - we can expand.

Two things, and I am not getting a sense of the answers so much from the forums as yes - I AM a complete newb to this. I can understand the combat and all - I am a long time ancient/medieval miniatures gamer.

One - how do I just get started? Should I get the "How to be a GURPS GM" book? Do I just plop them into the starter adventure after we roll up the characters (roll up as a generic term).

Two - part of my personality - from the beginning, to feel right and that this is worthwhile - I need to place this in a setting. I am NOT going to build a city/campaign with two jobs and at the stage in my life. That time will be spent painting my miniature armies. So, I was looking at packaged adventures. How difficult would it be - after experiencing the DFRPG adventure - to convert one of the S&W modules from Frog God games to DFRPG? My thought would be Lost City of Barakus, as it intrigues me and would last us forever, and is perfect type of setting I would like. I also have tons of D&D modules from the 70s and 80s - i used to collect and read them and always fooled myself into 'someday'...

Hopefully these are not stupid questions. I understand the system mentally, but am having a hard time taking the real first steps, if that makes sense.
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Old 01-11-2018, 10:33 AM   #2
Brandy
 
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Default Re: Help for a Noob

My answer to question two would be "not too hard" to convert.

If you read the forums you will find lots of postings from people (including me!) who love GURPS for its crunchy-ness and ability to build pretty much "anything" and we can talk round and round at length about how we would do it.

It is fair to say, I think, that the proper term for a group of internet citizens is an argument. But I digress. :)

Once you accept that you don't need to do that -- fully build anything in GURPS terms -- for anything that isn't a player character, these kinds of conversions are to me much, much easier. If I'm converting a monster from D&D, I don't have to build it in GURPS so much as assign the relevant stats, give it attack skill levels and damage amounts and some defense rolls and I'm pretty much ready to roll it out there for my PCs to fight it.
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Old 01-11-2018, 11:05 AM   #3
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Default Re: Help for a Noob

I'll try to address some of your questions Brandy didnt above.
How To Be A GURPS GM should be helpful but it was written with the full system in mind. So there will be material you cant use and page references will not be valid. However its not only still full of useful material it can give you a better idea on what books to get if you do expand.

As for getting started my advice is read or at least skim all the books. You do not need to remember very much but if you know where to quickly look something up you will have a smoother flowing game.
The charts and tables on the back are really handy and should make combat pretty easy.
I would run the adventure as its designed for first timers and will save you the time of writing your own.
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Old 01-11-2018, 12:34 PM   #4
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Default Re: Help for a Noob

If you have a microphone headset I can teach you the basics in about four hours. PM me if you'd like.
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Old 01-11-2018, 01:34 PM   #5
sir_pudding
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Default Re: Help for a Noob

"Setting" for Dungeon Fantasy doesn't need to be an elaborate thousands-of-years timeline, a global map, dozens of distinctive cultures and so on. You just need a town, and dungeons, and can make it up as you go. Part of the point of this is a minimulist return to the basics of the FRPG.
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Old 01-11-2018, 01:51 PM   #6
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Default Re: Help for a Noob

Build the setting as you go; don't try to create it all in one go. Give the town a name, give the mountain range a name, give the town on the other side a name. Instant setting!

As your players ask questions about the setting, just make up some answers and keep notes.

"What kind of town is this? What's the major industry?"
"It's a market town (scribble, scribble)."

"Is there a candlemaker's guild?"
"Yes (scribble)."

"Is it near the ocean?"
"No (scribble)."

Pretty soon you'll find your setting has almost written itself. Frankly, I find this easier than trying to digest an entire setting written by someone else.
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Old 01-11-2018, 03:04 PM   #7
Dalin
 
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Default Re: Help for a Noob

Quote:
Originally Posted by daermark View Post
One - how do I just get started? Should I get the "How to be a GURPS GM" book? Do I just plop them into the starter adventure after we roll up the characters (roll up as a generic term).
I would go with your second idea: just dive into the adventure. I find a lot of the "getting started" stuff is actually more helpful once I've run a few games and have a sense of it all. Don't be afraid to ignore rules and get everything wrong. Aim for fast and fun and you can look stuff up afterward to figure out what the "right" way is.

Quote:
Originally Posted by daermark View Post
Two - ... How difficult would it be - after experiencing the DFRPG adventure - to convert one of the S&W modules from Frog God games to DFRPG? My thought would be Lost City of Barakus, as it intrigues me and would last us forever, and is perfect type of setting I would like. I also have tons of D&D modules from the 70s and 80s...
Not hard. I have run many classic D&D and AD&D modules under GURPS with no problem and DFRPG is even more straight-forward. (I don't know the Barakus adventure, but I imagine it is similar.) Jot some quick notes in the margin for each encounter. As others have pointed out, you don't need to do a full conversion for most opponents. Similarly, with traps, puzzles, and social situations, you'll just want to know which character skills might come into play and what the relative skill targets might be.

You'll find that DFRPG will be more lethal in some situations and less lethal in others. It takes experience to predict the balance, so aim for light encounters at first. You can always dial up the enemies at the rear or have reinforcement come barreling in. It's harder to believably soften things mid-battle if you inadvertently start slaughtering the PCs, so it's helpful to have a few ideas in your back pocket (rival monsters, unexpected earthquake, fortuitous critical miss by the boss, etc.). DFRPG combat allows for more tactical creativity, so you can often use the published maps in more interesting ways than in the original.

Balancing magical treasure can also be tricky, so you might want to dial permanent items back a bit until you get a sense of how they affect things. Limited use items (potions, wands with charges, etc.) and money are less of an issue.
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