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Old 07-10-2019, 03:22 AM   #1
The Wrathchild
 
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Default Getting back in.

Hello all.

About five years ago, the group I'd been GURPSing with had grown so casual that the high-detail GURPSing that we'd been doing had become the GURPSing that I was doing (telling them what they could do and repeating options over and over and ...). The latest edition of D&D was coming out, and I actually liked what I saw there. It seemed a nice fit for where the group was at. We tried it, liked it, and it has become great for that group. Sadly, that meant a GURPS hiatus, though.

Around the same time, I started a campaign for the sons and daughters of the same people (3 of each gender). A couple of these young teens already had the bug, they all knew each other from a early age and got along, and they were keen to try. This group has been meeting essentially bimonthly for the last 5 years. Also a D&D 5e game.

Then it happened. Their first TPK. They took it well, actually ;)

We took it as an opportunity. They were older, much more mature, high schoolers (the eldest had already graduated), and the game we'd been running featured characters that had been created when they were their younger selves. Time to try something new. "What?", I asked. "How about something with Musketeers?", one of the young ladies said.

Exam time hit, and we/I mulled it over. And after about a month it slowly hit me! They should try something REALLY different. I pitched it and got favourable responses all around.

So now we're essentially doing a GURPS Swashbucklers campaign (in a loose sense) set in the semi-real world - the torn Europe of the 17th century (1600's). The backdrop will be the 30-years war, witch trials, and perhaps a dash of the occult slowly sneaking into the camapign as it develops.

And I get to GURPS again! Yay!

And now for an actual question in regards to all that:

I've been keeping up with releases fro GURPS, but IYO is there some developments from the past 5 years or so that I should be especially aware of, given the basic campaign idea above?
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Old 07-10-2019, 05:43 AM   #2
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Were you running 3rd edition, and have you paid attention to 4th edition changes?
For example 3rd edition had PD, which 4th did away with and substituted an automatic +3 to Defense rolls to compensate for the loss. Also note that the point cost for attributes was modified.

If you were familiar with 3rd ed. then be aware that 4th ed (in my opinion) is designed to create/integrate the Comic Superhero level characters to a large degree, rather than deal with "normal" people some with a few moderate level "super" abilities. Other than the revision of the Language rules, most of 4th ed I've ignored as I considered it a major bother to try to "convert" my gamers into a fairly significant series of changes.

Your mileage may vary!
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Old 07-10-2019, 06:33 AM   #3
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Default Re: Getting back in.

I ran a swashbuckling campaign some years ago, as a test of the new version of Martial Arts. It was a lot of fun. I have some of the campaign material I put together for it; if you'd like to see it, PM me with an address.
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Old 07-10-2019, 08:25 AM   #4
Dustin
 
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Default Re: Getting back in.

With "only" 5 years gone, I think you're in good shape. For a Swashbucklers-type campaign, Martial Arts and (perhaps) Social Engineering are both more than 5 years old, and they seem the most relevant to me. The Renaissance Italy city books (Florence & Venice) may be of interest.

Mechanically, the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game introduced a better system for Slam damage. I can't think of any other developments that seem relevant.

Congratulations on getting back in! Sounds like you have a great table, and that era is a great setting for GURPS to shine in.
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Old 07-10-2019, 08:30 AM   #5
Anaraxes
 
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I didn't see a whole lot in the "previously shipped" lists that's new from the past five years that jumped out at me as a "must have" for this campaign. You might have everything you need. There are some more borderline or optional things you might take a look at.

The top things to consider (IMO):
  • GURPS Swashbucklers reprint: even if it's 3e, it still has useful information, if you don't already have it
  • Social Engineering: Back to School: only if you're thinking about setting the game in some sort of university
  • GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery: A worked example of a magic-as-powers system, where magic is basically a Modular Ability for small, improvised spells mixed with individually-built "learned spells" for the more powerful ones, one spell at a time. Fair number of spells built in the main book plus a "Protection and Warning Spells" supplement. Might fit your vision of the occult that sneaks it -- though I'd think Ritual Path Magic is a better place to start for a Musketeers-type game with hidden occult, if not Path/Book magic.
  • GURPS Boardroom and Curia: Rules for rating organizations, which you might want for Patrons like the Musketeers or Cardinal's Guards. Some people really like it; personally I'm kind of indifferent to it. (Patrons, yes; having to detail the organization in some standardized way, not a strong need for me. But you could look at it and make up your own mind.)
There also might be some good Pyramid articles that would help this game, but I never followed Pyramid closely, so others will have to make suggestions there.
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Old 07-10-2019, 09:22 AM   #6
whswhs
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
[*]Social Engineering: Back to School: only if you're thinking about setting the game in some sort of university
You could also use it for a salle d'armes. I based my swashbuckling campaign in one, and it worked pretty well.
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Old 07-10-2019, 11:10 AM   #7
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Default Re: Getting back in.

For the Elizabethan England occult swashbuckling campaign I ran a few years back I used Martial Arts and Power Ups 5: Impulse Buys. (I think giving the player a resource to do a couple of wildly improbable things per session loosens things up and give a proper swashbuckling feel.) Action 2: Exploits also helped, since swashbucklers are essentially action stories.

I used Path/Book magic from Thaumatology in that campaign, with decanic modifiers. It felt right for mages in the tradition of John Dee.

I can't think of any particular books that have come out in the past 5 years that would be a particular use. But you might want to look at Thaumatology: Alchemical Baroque, which is a setting that fits the time period, but is much more fantastic than historic.
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Old 07-10-2019, 11:30 AM   #8
ericthered
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Default Re: Getting back in.

There are a few products that showed up around when you left that may be worth noting:

Technical grappling is a thing. Not everyone uses it, and its pretty fiddly, but if combat is your focus, its been shown to be pretty nice. It may be too fiddly for your group. This is 6 years ago, so you may or may not be aware of it.

DF: Wilderness adventures has shown itself to be remarkably versatile, and is the go to "outdoors" book. The second After the End book also has some of that material, but I think for the 17th century DF is better.
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Old 07-10-2019, 11:47 AM   #9
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Default Re: Getting back in.

The Action series is fir modern day but has a lot of ideas for fast paced gaming.
Also the Steampunk series might be useful, especially the last one which has a lot on organizations and NPCs.
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Old 07-10-2019, 10:14 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_Sandman View Post
But you might want to look at Thaumatology: Alchemical Baroque, which is a setting that fits the time period, but is much more fantastic than historic.
Alchemical Baroque is a really neat setting. It's not exactly what you're looking for -- namely, the esoteric/magical elements are not hidden at all -- but it's an excellent worked example of TL4 fantasy that would go very nicely with že olde musketeerings and swashbucklings.
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