GURPS: xxxxx Kits

[Hugin]

Originally Posted by robertsconley

...And it strictly an issue of presentation, GURPS can cover the bases from lite play to complex simulation but most gamers are not willing to wade through the choices to distill the game they want. So they turn to alternatives....

I agree. Though I think that if we ever get a GURPS 5e, that the rules should be presented from simple and build to complex(including new rules to bridge the ultra-lite to lite gap). It would help new players get into GURPS and change one of largest flaws about GURPS. That even if you want a simple game you have to wade through a lot of rules and options to whittle it down.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Hugin

I agree. Though I think that if we ever get a GURPS 5e, that the rules should be presented from simple and build to complex(including new rules to bridge the ultra-lite to lite gap). It would help new players get into GURPS and change one of largest flaws about GURPS. That even if you want a simple game you have to wade through a lot of rules and options to whittle it down.

Insofar as the game doesn't already do that, I'd be concerned that such an organization would make it much harder to work with the 'full rules' due to their being structured as add-ons to an inadequate, oversimplified core.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by robertsconley

I strongly advocated in the past for a powered by GURPS Fantasy RPG that is complete and standalone.

Discworld RPG Second Edition is on the way. The rules are standalone.

[Kage2020]

Originally Posted by D351

Yeah, I've tried it with limited success. It's been like pulling teeth to get them to settle on a concept. It's ironic. If I'd picked a system with limited options, they'd settle for anything within those options, but because GURPS has such openness, they want to have all of those options on the table, which means digging through the book for hours, then complaining about how long it takes to make a character.

As others have recommended, as soon as you have a setting that tends to pretty much go away. I've also got another approach that I tend to harp on all the time about, so if you're interested then PM me so that I don't have to spam the board with the same information... again, and again, and again. :D

[wellspring]

My approach to running games is to start with a story to tell. Once you have that, the players can decide if they want to build characters to be in that setting.

I'm not saying dictate what characters they will play, but if you're running a story just because your gf or someone else wants you to, you'll never have the same passion. Besides, there are lots of players and only one of you. And GMs do more work than players. Players have fun with their characters, GM's job is to have fun, too, building the setting and story.

Once you know what kind of story to tell, deciding what campaign options and character rules you'll have in place is much easier. GURPS lets you have the kitchen sink, but you need to throw out everything that you're not going to actually be able to use or you'll be buried. Especially as a newbie GM.

[Hugin]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Insofar as the game doesn't already do that, I'd be concerned that such an organization would make it much harder to work with the 'full rules' due to their being structured as add-ons to an inadequate, oversimplified core.

The core of GURPS remains the same. The whole "OMG! GURPS is sooo complex!" cliche, is IMO based mostly on how the game is presented. The rules are there for the most part already, I just think that if they were presented in a different manner that it would be less intimidating for new players or players that just want a rules lite game. Most people who want a rules lite game don't want to wade through complex rules to get to those lite rules. Another benefit is that new players will be able to "crawl", "walk", then "run". Right now IMO it's more like here are the rules to "walk" but if you want to "run" do this and if you want to "crawl" to that.

New rules that I would like to see would be ways to simplify and speed GURPS up. Not replacement rules but optional rules. Like armor as dice in the core book, or ways to speed combat up by streamlining or combining rolls, etc..

Basically I would like to have GURPS 5e address 75% of the so call "flaws" that people see in it the system(true or not).

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by Hugin

The core of GURPS remains the same. The whole "OMG! GURPS is sooo complex!" cliche, is IMO based mostly on how the game is presented. The rules are there for the most part already, I just think that if they were presented in a different manner that it would be less intimidating for new players or players that just want a rules lite game. Most people who want a rules lite game don't want to wade through complex rules to get to those lite rules. Another benefit is that new players will be able to "crawl", "walk", then "run". Right now IMO it's more like here are the rules to "walk" but if you want to "run" do this and if you want to "crawl" to that.

New rules that I would like to see would be ways to simplify and speed GURPS up. Not replacement rules but optional rules. Like armor as dice in the core book, or ways to speed combat up by streamlining or combining rolls, etc..

Basically I would like to have GURPS 5e address 75% of the so call "flaws" that people see in it the system(true or not).

But...doesn't GURPS Lite do just this?

[Moebius]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Discworld RPG Second Edition is on the way. The rules are standalone.

Same with Vorkosigan, which is pretty much GURPS Lite.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Moebius

Same with Vorkosigan, which is pretty much GURPS Lite.

Kind of. I was responsible in both cases, and in both cases I started with the text file for GURPS Lite, and then ripped out significant but locally irrelevant chunks, spot-welded assorted stuff from the Basic Set back in, spent some time working out how the setting interacted with the rules and tweaking the text (not least the equipment lists) accordingly, and then ran the whole thing through fairly serious peer review and changed large parts of it yet again.

For good and sufficient reasons, the rules in Discworld are less recognisably "tweaked Lite"b than those in Vorkosigan; they have lots of Disc-specific examples (many mimes died to bring you this combat system), some simplified and abstracted bits (some original, some borrowed from other books), and a whole new magic system. But they're still definitely GURPS.

[Kuroshima]

From someone who has written for Pyramid, loves Discworld, has some deep knowledge of the mechanics of GURPS, and was in the playtest of The Discworld Roleplaying game, second edition, I must say that it is probably the BEST introduction to GURPS, ever, on top of being faithful to the source material.

I really hope it succeeds, after the Editing of Doom (it's a THICK book). I'm quite sure that SJG has invested substantial resources in it, and the word is, licenses rarely pay off. I'm buying it, and paying the S&H to Spain (and it's a THICK book) if I do not get a comp. It will at least grace my shelves next to the 1st ed hardcover, and the 1st ed hardcover, Spanish edition.