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Old 08-06-2018, 10:09 PM   #41
CON_Troll
 
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Default Re: Sell Me on The Fantasy Trip

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Originally Posted by Tom H. View Post
In high school, one night, I didn't get home until 6 AM because of Convoy, another awesome programmed adventure by Mr. Jackson but for Car Wars instead.
OMG, I remember the original scenario in Autoduel Quarterly 1/1. The stand-alone adventure in your link was much more fleshed out, but the original was still fun to play. You could play the scenario solo if you wanted to. "Maniac" from ADQ 1/4 was a great solo Car Wars scenario while "Nightstrike" from 1/2 was a huge RPG/tactical adventure for you to GM for a group. Ahhh, good memories there.
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Old 08-06-2018, 10:57 PM   #42
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Default Re: Sell Me on The Fantasy Trip

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Originally Posted by Tom H. View Post
The detail in GURPS can immerse you in cool scenes and effects, but I also have to wonder:

Can an accurate system where you inevitably forget some rules produce similar results to an abstract system where you can apply all the rules?

In a sense, truly realistic RPGs have to find the sweet spot between depth and human fallibility.
I don't think any RPG can hit both high detail and easily played. And that's before the issue of realism. All RPG's are inherently an abstraction.

No pile of detailed rules can generate realism without a GM's careful hand in using them appropriately.

Abstraction actually is better for realism in many ways than details, provided the GM doesn't supply unreasonable details...

... Melee's combat was (and is) more realistic than GURPS within the melee space; the one-second one-attack mode of GURPS isn't really realistic. Actual melee has several seconds of watching, waiting, then 3-5 attacks in 2-3 seconds, sometimes more than that (when fighting florentine, sword & dagger, or case of rapier). The steady pace is itself the lie. (And this was called out in either G:MA or G:SO...)

TFT's longer, more abstract rounds, by not being so detailed, more accurately reflect the realities of melee than GURPS more detailed blow-and-parry. Unless, of course, the GM treats a TFT attack as the same as a GURPS attack...

Still, it's the application of them appropriately that generates the realism. The coupling of suitable narration to the rules mechanics being applied in the right manner.
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Old 08-06-2018, 11:25 PM   #43
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Default Re: Sell Me on The Fantasy Trip

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Originally Posted by Tom H. View Post
The detail in GURPS can immerse you in cool scenes and effects, but I also have to wonder:

Can an accurate system where you inevitably forget some rules produce similar results to an abstract system where you can apply all the rules?

In a sense, truly realistic RPGs have to find the sweet spot between depth and human fallibility.
GURPS plays rather differently from TFT. It was exactly what we wanted after having played TFT heavily for about 5-6 years.

GURPS tends to be a bit much to absorb at first, especially if you start with an edition such as 4e that is full of stuff pulled from a hundred world books that lets you design campaigns and characters of practically any type or genre.

The core system, including the advanced/tactical combat rules, really aren't all that complex, nor have they grown much since 1986. It is entirely possible to learn and memorize. A good GM who has done so can run the game quickly and accurately and also translate to natural language for new players, so they don't have to learn the rules and can enjoy playing a pre-made character right away.

But it's much easier to learn TFT, and it had 5-6 years' great play value even for salty wargamer crunch-addicts like me and my friends. And it has a ready setting that's fun and easy to run, which AFAIK is still something GURPS could use. (I remember suggesting GURPS Cidri to Steve back about 1990... well, anyone who's figured out the GURPS Basic Set can probably use the new ITL as a world book.)
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Old 08-07-2018, 10:44 PM   #44
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Default Re: Sell Me on The Fantasy Trip

I really enjoy GURPS. I played it a lot at game conventions. Mostly Horror, Fantasy, some Sci Fi. GURPS allowed me to play a variety of genres in a day.

But for me, GURPS needs a support group. I need at least one other person who knows the game. Hell, someone to run the game for me. (And I GMed GURPS back in the 90s.)

But I can just about run TFT in my sleep. Run it with confidence.

Give me In The Labryinth and I can whip up an RPG game in an hour with players.

But I can run Melee even without a book. The stats are so easy and the weapons/armor simple that I could teach novices in short order.

- - - - - - - -

If you like to war-game, use your 28mm Fantasy figures on a hex mat. I play without a hex mat. Use a ruler.

And TFT is so simple, you can run two characters in the game simultaneously. I got proficient enough, that I was routinely running Squads of 8 figures using the full RPG rules. At game conventions, I would run 4x5 foot table scenarios of TFT in a 4 hour time-slot. I create the characters to fit the minis, retype it for the game, and issue them to the 5 or 6 players that sign up.

As has been mentioned, you can build a character and play a narration game without ever putting a figure to table.

Oh, and someone mentioned that bell curve that rolling three 6sided dice gives you. When you're rolling against the figure's Strength or Dexterity or IQ, its not a 1 number risk on a D20. You have a point spread in which the common average is 10. and the chance of gets more difficult at the extremes. That means, the gradations for doing things can be fluid in making your roll. It allows for a lot of mechanical possibilities.

Well, good luck on your gaming.
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