GURPS Mars Attacks Supplements

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by maximara

On a side note the one thing I remember from reading GVtM was it didn't "feel" right. I think it was due with the way the book was structured.

It was a classic example of trying to convert the mechanics rather than go for the feel I believe from discussions at the time and just reading it that there was too much meddling by WoTC. Also Third Edition had advantage and skill bloat, wheras Fourth tries for more consistency and using common building blocks over arbitrary calls.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by Refplace

It was a classic example of trying to convert the mechanics rather than go for the feel I believe from discussions at the time and just reading it that there was too much meddling by WoTC.

White Wolf, not WoTC. And IMO the problem wasn't that they converted the mechanics, it's that they /didn't/ convert the mechanics, but rather tried to shoe-horn the original mechanics into something resembling the GURPS system. The worst example of this was the Blood Magic system, which they basically declared just used a shortened list of spells from GURPS Magic instead of trying to create a Blood Magic system that was anything like the one from the source game. Most of the Vampiric Disciplines ("Powers") were woefully underpriced in the GURPS conversion compared to the original.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Refplace

It was a classic example of trying to convert the mechanics rather than go for the feel I believe from discussions at the time and just reading it that there was too much meddling by WoTC. Also Third Edition had advantage and skill bloat, wheras Fourth tries for more consistency and using common building blocks over arbitrary calls.

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

White Wolf, not WoTC. And IMO the problem wasn't that they converted the mechanics, it's that they /didn't/ convert the mechanics, but rather tried to shoe-horn the original mechanics into something resembling the GURPS system. The worst example of this was the Blood Magic system, which they basically declared just used a shortened list of spells from GURPS Magic instead of trying to create a Blood Magic system that was anything like the one from the source game. Most of the Vampiric Disciplines ("Powers") were woefully underpriced in the GURPS conversion compared to the original.

I think they were trying to avoid the problems seen in GURPS Supers (1989) and missed the forest for the trees. Supers was when the whole Universal idea in GURPS 3e went totally pearshaped and things just went downhill from there.

I remember discussions on usenet in the early to mid 1990s regarding the relationship of Magic Power, Magery, Mana, Blessed, Magic Resistance and the two flavors of Ritual Magic. Then in 1994 GURPS Religion came out adding Power Investiture and Sanctuary to the already messy mix.

Super versions of abilities were far over priced compared to the combo insanely high magery and fatigue. Except for Strength which was under priced. So there being point problems in GVtM doesn't surprise me.

[Phil Masters]

Blood Types, along with Spirits, Shapeshifters, and Dragons, is something that is almost unique to GURPS (and maybe the odder fringes of D&D); a “creature category” book, examining one type of nonhuman creature from every possible angle for all sorts of game.

[Blind Mapmaker]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

Blood Types, along with Spirits, Shapeshifters, and Dragons, is something that is almost unique to GURPS (and maybe the odder fringes of D&D); a “creature category” book, examining one type of nonhuman creature from every possible angle for all sorts of game.

And despite all the GURPS rules, they are still some of the best books out there, when you want to start your real-world inspired occult background. True, you'll be wanting more in-depth sources as a second step, but the pointers and ideas you get in those books are really useful for beginners.

Back on topic, I think the only thing Mars Attacks is missing is a ready-to-play adventure that's generic enough to put into various campaigns, but still complicated enough to make the players think. Most of the vagueness in the book is due to the fact that the GM can change vast parts of the setting to fit their own vision and in-depth WWII-style write-ups for every group and technology would ruin the fun and changeability of the material.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

And despite all the GURPS rules, they are still some of the best books out there, when you want to start your real-world inspired occult background. True, you'll be wanting more in-depth sources as a second step, but the pointers and ideas you get in those books are really useful for beginners.

Back on topic, I think the only thing Mars Attacks is missing is a ready-to-play adventure that's generic enough to put into various campaigns, but still complicated enough to make the players think. Most of the vagueness in the book is due to the fact that the GM can change vast parts of the setting to fit their own vision and in-depth WWII-style write-ups for every group and technology would ruin the fun and changeability of the material.

The one thing I don't really understand is the movie Mars Attacks came out in 1996 which is between the 1st printing of Atomic Horror (1993) and the Mars book (2002). But the GURPS book became available 'in stores' in 2016. Why not just update-rework the older 3e books?

Sure it is a funny popcorn movie that really doesn't make much sense but IMHO not one deserving of 96 pages.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by maximara

Sure it is a funny popcorn movie that really doesn't make much sense but IMHO not one deserving of 96 pages.

Its not based on the movie though.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by maximara

Sure it is a funny popcorn movie that really doesn't make much sense but IMHO not one deserving of 96 pages.

It's not based on the movie, it's based on a trading card series which has been around since 1962. The trading cards have had comic book adaptations as well as the movie adaptation. The GURPS book doesn't use anything from the movie, though I'm guessing it got to use a lot of artwork from the trading cards.

Originally Posted by maximara

The one thing I don't really understand is the movie Mars Attacks came out in 1996 which is between the 1st printing of Atomic Horror (1993) and the Mars book (2002). But the GURPS book became available 'in stores' in 2016. Why not just update-rework the older 3e books?

Why retread old ground in some of the less popular genre books?

[maximara]

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

Why retread old ground in some of the less popular genre books?

How do we know they were "less popular" genre books?

[PL Madeira]

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

Back on topic, I think the only thing Mars Attacks is missing is a ready-to-play adventure that's generic enough to put into various campaigns, but still complicated enough to make the players think. Most of the vagueness in the book is due to the fact that the GM can change vast parts of the setting to fit their own vision and in-depth WWII-style write-ups for every group and technology would ruin the fun and changeability of the material.

I finished reading the book, and I kinda agree with you. The book is surprisingly complete, despite being short. I still have to give it a playtest, and I'm planning to do it soon.

Originally Posted by maximara

The one thing I don't really understand is the movie Mars Attacks came out in 1996 which is between the 1st printing of Atomic Horror (1993) and the Mars book (2002). But the GURPS book became available 'in stores' in 2016. Why not just update-rework the older 3e books?

Sure it is a funny popcorn movie that really doesn't make much sense but IMHO not one deserving of 96 pages.

I think that one thing that made Mars Attacks sell less than expected was people just assuming that it is based on a 20 year old movie. But, with the exception of a text box with an optional Martian disadvantage of being weak to country music (lol), the setting doesn't have anything based on the movie.