Will I Ever Get Into GURPS? - Page 4

Zarathustra · 11-30-2011, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldSam

Get game-helps like the skill categories and the (fan-made) advantage categories...

(Emphasis mine.)
Do you have a link? I already have skill categories.

zilkoski · 12-01-2011, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zarathustra

(Emphasis mine.)
Do you have a link? I already have skill categories.

Don't know if this was what the other poster had in mind, but I Googled for "gurps advantage categories" and found the following:

http://www.gurpsnation.com/arquivos/...categories.pdf

OldSam · 12-01-2011, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zilkoski

Don't know if this was what the other poster had in mind, but I Googled for "gurps advantage categories" and found the following:

http://www.gurpsnation.com/arquivos/...categories.pdf

Yes, that's what I was talking about... ;)

Zarathustra · 12-01-2011, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zilkoski

Don't know if this was what the other poster had in mind, but I Googled for "gurps advantage categories" and found the following:

http://www.gurpsnation.com/arquivos/...categories.pdf

Thanks. Looks tremendously helpful. :-)

zilkoski · 12-05-2011, 02:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zarathustra

Thanks. Looks tremendously helpful. :-)

Hey, it's always a pleasure to help a fellow gamer in need! ;o)

vicky_molokh · 12-05-2011, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zilkoski

Don't know if this was what the other poster had in mind, but I Googled for "gurps advantage categories" and found the following:

http://www.gurpsnation.com/arquivos/...categories.pdf

Just misread that as categirlies.

quarkstomper · 12-07-2011, 07:50 PM

Cat-girlies are fun too.

TheSkywise · 12-08-2011, 06:17 PM

I haven't read through all the thread responses, so I may cover something someone else said. But in response, here is how I do it.

First off, I decide on the campaign idea. For example, I love running Bureau 13 in the 1920s (players work for secret fed govt and seek out the supernatural during the prohibition era...).

Using the above example, I obviously know the setting will be in our world. Next, I decide that I will allow the players to create "agents" of Bureau 13. If an agent wants to have "supernatural powers, I make sure that it is not all powerful. My personal rule of thumb is one or two special powers, and I make sure the players know this during character creation. Sometimes you'll get a player that wants to make a "super" character with awesome advantages, and I explain that it is not compatible with the genre. GM (me) has final say.

For character creation, once the player has explained his character's concept to me, and I agree that it fits within the game's concept, its time to create the character. I highly recommend using the GCA for this. Here is how I suggest they make their characters (keeping their concept in mind):

1) adjust their four attributes by no more than one point, at least at first. If your character is a professor, then maybe bump up IQ by one, and drop ST by one. They can later adjust if needed, but only change by one at the beginning.

2) go through advantages for the character. Since you already have a character concept, this should be fairly easy. GM will be needed for advice on how to craft some advantages, and should still be within the confines of the genre.

3) do the same for disadvantages.

(by the way, be sure to tell them which traits are required! For example, in the Bureau 13 game they have to take Bureau 13 as a patron and Duty to Bureau 13 as a disadvantage)

4) Skills. I tell my players to go through the skill list and put one point (and only one point) in any skill that their character may have.

5) Equipment. Personally, I am fairly liberal in what equpiment they get. Using the Bureau 13 example, they can have any 1920s era stuff they want, and I dont normally require them to track money since they are supported by the government. The only time I intervene is for special stuff (i.e. magical or advanced equipment).

6) finally, I tell the players to make final adjustments on their character. This is the point where they can adjust their basic scores and skills by more than one, since they have the basic framework and can now adjust within the points allowed.

Now that everyone has a character, the campaign can start.

I usually run a simple "adventure" at first, to allow certain newbies to learn the system. I also keep the combat very simple at first.

You'll find that as the game progresses, the players may want to further expand their options. This is a great way to slowly introduce more advanced options at a steady pace. Martial Arts, magic, things like that can be introduced after everyone starts becoming more familiar with the system (including the GM!). Remember, their is no need to worry about things that won't come up. Who cares about grappling if the players always use guns. However, when a player starts to use optional rules in play (and you allow it), try to do it faithfully within the Gurps system if possible, or wing it if you don't want to spend 10 precious game time minutes reading the rules. If players start to regularly use a particular tactic (grappling), then read the rules between game sessions and explain to the players the proper way the campaign will start using that particular subject.

Remember, winging it is fine! Keep the game going, and adapt to the campaign.

In my Bureau 13 game, everything was simple at first. Later, we start playing with the magic system, then melee combat, and more options were thrown out there, etc...

Just keep it simple and don't worry about being absolutely exact to the rules. That will come with time and experience, and its your campaign.

Anyways, I hope this helps. Personally, I wouldn't run anything but Gurps, but then again, I am a gurps fanatic.

TheSkywise

Lord Carnifex · 12-09-2011, 12:16 AM

To add my advice (and to quote a man wiser than myself):

Don't take your steps too seriously. Start out by creating a character or two: just start at the front of Characters and work your way in: attributes, advantages, disadvantages, skills... Flip back and forth. If anything looks to complicated to deal with, skip it. If the rules reference things you don't get into, ignore them until later. For the most part (with a couple of exceptions that aren't worth worrying about for a neophyte) what you see in GURPS is what you get. Traits are more or less named like what they do.

Get a couple of others together and have them create characters. Don't take it too seriously. Run a short game. If it turns out you've fouled something up because you didn't understand the system, chuckle, go back, and re-do it. Or ignore the rules and go with it. Have fun. This isn't homework, and no one will check your answers to make sure you got it right (unless you post things here, we're a bunch of nitpickers. But we're easy to ignore).

And always, always, always follow TKD's "Rule of Awesome".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Dell'Orto

First, ask yourself the all-important question - does letting him do this make the incident awesome?

If so, then the answer is yes. If the game is meant to simulate gritty reality, penalizing him a lot is awesome. If it's more cinematic, letting him use it at nearly full skill is awesome. If you spend 20 minutes arguing about it, it's not awesome. The rule of awesome is a handy guide for on-the-fly rulings. You can usually tell if it's awesome or not just by looking at it.

sgtcallistan · 12-09-2011, 08:06 AM

Basically, you do not need to know, or even read the books.

I wonder if anyone ever read all of the dnd 3rd splatbooks, but rather cherry-picked the gamebreaker pages. ;)

Start with Lite, add as needed to run the game you want to run. Easy.

12-07-2011, 07:50 PM	#37
quarkstomper Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: The Enchanted Land-O-Cheese	Re: Will I Ever Get Into GURPS? Cat-girlies are fun too.

12-08-2011, 06:17 PM	#38
TheSkywise Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Texas	Re: Will I Ever Get Into GURPS? I haven't read through all the thread responses, so I may cover something someone else said. But in response, here is how I do it. First off, I decide on the campaign idea. For example, I love running Bureau 13 in the 1920s (players work for secret fed govt and seek out the supernatural during the prohibition era...). Using the above example, I obviously know the setting will be in our world. Next, I decide that I will allow the players to create "agents" of Bureau 13. If an agent wants to have "supernatural powers, I make sure that it is not all powerful. My personal rule of thumb is one or two special powers, and I make sure the players know this during character creation. Sometimes you'll get a player that wants to make a "super" character with awesome advantages, and I explain that it is not compatible with the genre. GM (me) has final say. For character creation, once the player has explained his character's concept to me, and I agree that it fits within the game's concept, its time to create the character. I highly recommend using the GCA for this. Here is how I suggest they make their characters (keeping their concept in mind): 1) adjust their four attributes by no more than one point, at least at first. If your character is a professor, then maybe bump up IQ by one, and drop ST by one. They can later adjust if needed, but only change by one at the beginning. 2) go through advantages for the character. Since you already have a character concept, this should be fairly easy. GM will be needed for advice on how to craft some advantages, and should still be within the confines of the genre. 3) do the same for disadvantages. (by the way, be sure to tell them which traits are required! For example, in the Bureau 13 game they have to take Bureau 13 as a patron and Duty to Bureau 13 as a disadvantage) 4) Skills. I tell my players to go through the skill list and put one point (and only one point) in any skill that their character may have. 5) Equipment. Personally, I am fairly liberal in what equpiment they get. Using the Bureau 13 example, they can have any 1920s era stuff they want, and I dont normally require them to track money since they are supported by the government. The only time I intervene is for special stuff (i.e. magical or advanced equipment). 6) finally, I tell the players to make final adjustments on their character. This is the point where they can adjust their basic scores and skills by more than one, since they have the basic framework and can now adjust within the points allowed. Now that everyone has a character, the campaign can start. I usually run a simple "adventure" at first, to allow certain newbies to learn the system. I also keep the combat very simple at first. You'll find that as the game progresses, the players may want to further expand their options. This is a great way to slowly introduce more advanced options at a steady pace. Martial Arts, magic, things like that can be introduced after everyone starts becoming more familiar with the system (including the GM!). Remember, their is no need to worry about things that won't come up. Who cares about grappling if the players always use guns. However, when a player starts to use optional rules in play (and you allow it), try to do it faithfully within the Gurps system if possible, or wing it if you don't want to spend 10 precious game time minutes reading the rules. If players start to regularly use a particular tactic (grappling), then read the rules between game sessions and explain to the players the proper way the campaign will start using that particular subject. Remember, winging it is fine! Keep the game going, and adapt to the campaign. In my Bureau 13 game, everything was simple at first. Later, we start playing with the magic system, then melee combat, and more options were thrown out there, etc... Just keep it simple and don't worry about being absolutely exact to the rules. That will come with time and experience, and its your campaign. Anyways, I hope this helps. Personally, I wouldn't run anything but Gurps, but then again, I am a gurps fanatic. TheSkywise

12-09-2011, 08:06 AM	#40
sgtcallistan Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Chatham, Kent, England	Re: Will I Ever Get Into GURPS? Basically, you do not need to know, or even read the books. I wonder if anyone ever read all of the dnd 3rd splatbooks, but rather cherry-picked the gamebreaker pages. ;) Start with Lite, add as needed to run the game you want to run. Easy.