OGL refugee seeking new home - why GURPS?

[Fred Brackin]

I ran a long campaign known in these parts as the "World of D'y'r't" and it's source material was D&D modules from various sources that I adapted. PC casualties were 0.

Character pts started at 250 and you should start out with some of those pts going into a decent HT score. Times where you have to roll v. HT or die are possible and HT 12 has double the survival chance of HT10.

Make sure you've always got at least a little armor. DR 1 or 2 can mean the difference between life and death. Just don't trade away Dodge for DR. There are situations where _only_ Dodge can save you. So get the best Dodge score you can even if your Parry or Block is even higher.

Always use an Active Defense. Never decide "I want to waste this little creep next round so I'll just take whatever he can dish out this round.". That'll get you killed.

Don't take too many Disadvantages. Yes, you get pts for disads but many of them are really disadvantageous. Sure, take Greed. Most dungeoncrawlers will act greedy anyway but don't take Berserk.

Just a little bit of attention to each element of character design will aid you a lot. It's not rocket science but it cn be a lot simpler than some D&D class calcualtions you ahve to do.

[(E)]

Remembering that GURPS is more of a tool kit than other games, there is always the option of adding things to the world you play in.
"deluxe enhanced refined potion of healing slumber" (DERPhS for short)
This potion can be poured onto a person who is on the brink of death (Just failed a life and death HT check) and it puts them into a state of suspended animation.
For added excitement you could add "Must be applied within the target's HT rounds upon failing a death check"

A house rule I use that slightly reduces the chance of death is to have a critical success defense roll stop a critical strike. (usually with effects added to narrative)

[Pursuivant]

The huge difference between GURPS and AD&D play style, other than the limited number of polyhedral dice, is Hit Points.

GURPS characters have relatively few HP compared to a mid- or high-level AD&D character while GURPS weapons inflict is equal or greater damage compared to their AD&D counterparts.

LOTS of Hit Points gives a suitably heroic AD&D feel. They're cheap at 2 character points apiece. Possibly make them cheaper by slapping a Limitation (a problem which makes an advantageous trait less useful) on them. For example:

Spoiler:  

Limitation: Accessibility (Increments of negative HP required for Unconsciousness & Death rolls based on ST rather than HP), -20%.).

As others have mentioned, there are plenty of other ways you can get similar effects to AD&D HP but just having loads of HP (by GURPS standards) is easiest.

When combined with decent armor high HP allows GURPS fighters to (mostly) act like AD&D "meat shields" while still surviving to dish out damage.

GURPS Magic works very differently from AD&D, but that's another topic. The closet conversion would be designing "powers" for GURPS to model specific AD&D spells. Players might like the relative flexibility of the GURPS Magic system (or the optional "Ritual/Path Magic" system) vs. AD&D.

GURPS is also stingy when it comes to the power of healing magic. There's no GURPS magic equivalent of the AD&D 3.5+ trick of allowing Clerics to "burn" memorized spells to turn them into healing or attack spells. Again, a "power" would be the closest equivalent, but it's easy to make house rules to make healing spells much more useful.

In combat, GURPS characters start off being far more competent than 1st level AD&D PCs, but they don't automatically get ridiculously good with all their core skills as they gain experience. The other big differences are that GURPS has 1 second combat turns and that ability to penetrate armor is based on ST more than skill. High DX & weapon skill helps, however, since you hit more often and can try to target unarmored areas.

GURPS handles the equivalent of Saving Throws differently, basing them on attributes rather than being class & level-based. This means that high IQ characters will be inherently very good at making all sorts IQ-, Will- (sort of equal Wis) and Perception- (equivalent to Spot skill) based saves. Per & Will can be modified independent of IQ, however, allowing low-IQ, but highly-observant or strong-willed characters, or vice-versa.

HT (= Con) plays a much bigger role for GURPS characters, since it measures endurance, disease resistance, etc. A high ST, low HT character will quickly run out of steam in a long melee combat or cross-country trek. They'e also easily knocked out and are likely to die if badly wounded. Front-line fighters should have HT 12+, HT 11+ for second-line fighters. Anything less than HT 10 is asking for trouble unless healing magic is readily available.

Advantages like Magic Resistance or Resistance (Disease or Poison) help model high Saving Throws vs. those threats.

Finally, despite GURPS's reputation as being "math-heavy" most of math is "up front" for players, during character design. Unlike AD&D, you don't have to constantly keep track of 4+ digit XP totals during play (GURPS XP usually come in 1-3 point increments).

If a player is willing to design a character with just high attributes and skills, but few advantages or disadvantages, or use a Character Template (sort of like AD&D Races &/or Character or Prestige Classes) character design can go very fast. There's more math for the GM, but mostly during adventure planning rather than at the gaming table.

[Anthony]

I recommend against boosting hit points without significant other changes (such as reduction in active defenses), as it's likely to produce extremely slow combats.

[mehrkat]

Since you are interested in a dungeon fantasy type game I would strongly consider the dungeon fantasy boxed set to dip your toe. it has all the rules you need to pull out a dnd module and convert it (don't try to directly convert just convert the feel of the monsters. Then pick up gaming ballistic's "Delvers to Grow" series

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/...leplaying-game


https://gaming-ballistic.myshopify.c...42649433047295

This is a great point of entry that you get to appreciate the elegance of the system. Then when you want to play with the modular aspect you will have a firm grounding and will have a better idea how to make the game you want.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I recommend against boosting hit points without significant other changes (such as reduction in active defenses), as it's likely to produce extremely slow combats.

I agree in not liking massive hit points.

When I played D&D, which was many editions ago, high level characters had lots of hit points---but when they were cut down to zero hit points, they died. Then you were talking about Resurrection spells, wishes, Reincarnate spells, and such like extraordinary measures.

In GURPS, however, being cut down from 10 hit points (or more, if you have bought up Strength) to 0 doesn't mean death at all. You don't even have to roll vs. HT to see if you live or die. A failed HT roll means unconsciousness, no more; your friends can go on fighting, and if they win they can heal you. You only have to start making HT rolls for survival at fully negative hit points (reduced from 10 to -10, or from 16 to -16, or whatever.) And even then you may survive. Death only becomes inevitable if you're reduced to -5 x HP (for example, from 10 HP to -50 HP), at which point you've been beaten to a pulp, not figuratively but literally.

The way to survive those intermediate levels is, as Fred says, to buy up your HT. At HT 10, you have a 50% chance of surviving a HT roll; on the average, you'll die on the second roll, or at -2 x HP. At HT 12, which only costs 20 points, you have a 74% chance (not twice, as Fred said, but still much better); on the average, it will take 3.86 rolls for you to die, which even with 10 HP means you have to go not to -20 HP but to -40 HP, that is, take a total of 50 points, rather than 30. At HT 13 or better, the odds are you won't die till you're all the way to -5 x HP. That's comparatively cheap protection.

Bill Stoddard

[Lovewyrm]

Why GURPS? Compared to the OGL? (aka D&D)
In GURPS, the character is the star.
In D&D, at least in 3.5e which is the last I played and despite everything, still have fond regards for: The items are the star, unless you're playing a caster.

In GURPS, the statblock has the flavor, and the fluff is often anemic.
(I consider bestiaries, from a 'mind soaring imagination sparking effect' in GURPS a bit weak)
In D&D, the fluff has the flavor, and the statblock is anemic.

That seems like a D&D perk, but...when the gamified flavor of a creature is right there in its 'there's a rule for that' pen and paper DNA (statblock)...then that creature just feels more real/believable to me.

GURPS is also really good at winging it, but I think the psychological effect of getting a big tome like the basic set messes with that.
But to me it's like knowing of miscible potions in D&D but not using that rule.

100% the same thing.

Also, combat in GURPS is just...it's just so good, man.
You don't have to pretend that you're doing a dance of death and battle in those 6 second turns.
You can actually get a whirlwind technique to really do it.
You can snap joints, lock arms, do a kick that's so high that your foot goes over the shoulder and hits someone in close combat behind you.
It's all *really there*

Also, Hitpoints are really hitpoints.
And armor class is actually damage reduction.
And active defenses are dodge, parry and block.
I appreciated these things very quickly.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by DarthDude

I played some GURPS lite in the past and it was much fun and I'm willing to delve deeper into the full rules. Now I wonder if GURPS could be a new home for my RPG itch, not only fantasy.

GURPS could certainly offer you a new home for your RPG time, the system is flexible enough to cover any genre you can think of. The biggest issue IMO is that with just the two core books (Characters and Campaigns), the GM may need to put in a lot of work to get the feel of some genres like action movies, D&D style high fantasy, super heroes and so on.

You can find books for a lot of different genres and I haven't seen a truly badly written GURPS book. If you want to start in familiar territory, you could go with either Dungeon Fantasy RPG (which is self-contained) or the GURPS Dungeon Fantasy line (which rely on having both Characters and Campaigns).

[DarthDude]

Thank you for the wealth of responses so far, quite some valuable advice to dig through!

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by DarthDude

Thank you for the wealth of responses so far, quite some valuable advice to dig through!

There is also a pretty big Discord server for GURPS if you're interested in that.