Suggested resources for a fantasy campaign?

[kdarc]

Hail, fellow gamers ! Newcomer to the forums here. I got the GURPS Basic set for Christmas, having played D&D before. After getting a generally good understanding of the basic rules (though I have yet to read more about combat and there are a few bits about wealth I don't get yet), I've been looking for some resources for a kind of middle-magic (if you might call it that) fantasy campaign I plan to start with my group.

I found Bruno's adjusted armor tables and really feel in love. However, can anyone recommend other resources on the forum or the net? Can the Fantasy sourcebook be recommended (I do plan om buying the Magic sourcebook)? Any other advice for a newcomer?

Thanks in advance!

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by kdarc

However, can anyone recommend other resources on the forum or the net? Can the Fantasy sourcebook be recommended (I do plan om buying the Magic sourcebook)? Any other advice for a newcomer?

Welcome!

I dont know that a GURPS book exists that I WOULDNT recomend :)

Fantasy and Dungeon Fantasy Series are excellent Choices!

If you only buy one book though, Im going to recomend MAGIC. Its got more spells in it than you can shake a wand at!

My other advice, and I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH is work these fora.

Work them like a rented mule.

There is SOOO much good stuff here. A quick tip is type what your searching for in the Google Box and add site:forums.sjgames.com.

To make your transition from D&D easier,

there is a Thread on a White PLume Mountain conversion in these very fora.

Collective Restraint and KMunoz have links to their pages where they have converted a BOATLOAD of D&D critters

Other than that, start small, get practice and dont forget that GURPS, as complicated as it may seem its really just 3d6 rolled for success, Contest, and reaction. Everything else is just variations on that theme. :)

Have FUN!
Nymdok

p.s. Get to know those Basic Set books! They (ideally) will be the same ones you use for fantasy, Sci-Fi, Steampunk, Espionage, Horror, Special Ops.......<endless genre list>, so spend quality time with them!

[kdarc]

Thanks for the advice - even with just token skimming this forum does seem to be teeming with great ideas. Read is what I shall do!

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by kdarc

Can the Fantasy sourcebook be recommended (I do plan om buying the Magic sourcebook)?

Get Fantasy if you want a guidebook to help you construct your own fantasy setting. Get Magic if you want to expand the generic magic system in the Basic Set. Get Thaumatology if you want to construct your own magic system. Get Banestorm if you want a fantasy setting all worked out for you. Get the Dungeon Fantasy series if you want to emulate D&D-style dungeoneering in GURPS.

There are also many fantasy-oriented PDFs for GURPS on e23.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by kdarc

Hail, fellow gamers ! Newcomer to the forums here.

Hey.

Originally Posted by kdarc

I got the GURPS Basic set for Christmas, having played D&D before.

Congratulations!

Originally Posted by kdarc

I found Bruno's adjusted armor tables and really feel in love.

You'll have to arm-wrestle the rest of us for her. ;)

WRT the books: What Stormcrow said - They're all good, but you probably don't need them all depending on what exactly you want to do.

[kdarc]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

You'll have to arm-wrestle the rest of us for her. ;)

I had a feeling it was popular here (;

Having looked at the various products, it seems pretty clear that I'm going to buy Magic. The Fantasy one does seem extremely useful - I do, however, feel quite comfortable in the entire world-building, creating a fantasy setting kind of thing. Are there any other goodies in the Fantasy sourcebook?

Also, I'm not really planning a dungeon crawl campaign - in fact I plan to deviate a lot from how my D&D games were run. Will the Dungeon Fantasy book stille be useful however? What does it change and to the system?

Thanks for all the replies and advice!

[Riggler]

Originally Posted by kdarc

I had a feeling it was popular here (;

Having looked at the various products, it seems pretty clear that I'm going to buy Magic. The Fantasy one does seem extremely useful - I do, however, feel quite comfortable in the entire world-building, creating a fantasy setting kind of thing. Are there any other goodies in the Fantasy sourcebook?

Also, I'm not really planning a dungeon crawl campaign - in fact I plan to deviate a lot from how my D&D games were run. Will the Dungeon Fantasy book stille be useful however? What does it change and to the system?

Thanks for all the replies and advice!

Magic and Thaumatology are more important in my mind than Fantasy. I'm a veteran D&D player who switched to GURPS late this summer. I got Fantasy (I'm running Urban Fantasy). In my opinion it covers some stuff included in the aforementioned books and a lot of repetition of advice you probably have read in your times as a D&D gamer if you've GM'd as much as I have. You also said you were comfortable with fantasy world-building.

So what is my recommendation? I'd buy the two books above first. And I'd even buy Powers before Fantasy. Don't get me wrong, Fantasy has useful bits.

[demonsbane]

Fantasy is a very good book, but some people wants more crunch. I'm fine with it and I recommend it, but I don't want to overwhelm you with a lot of books. Fantasy expands and discusses some aspects of magic that aren't included in the fourth edition of GURPS Magic nor in GURPS Thaumatology (some of them were, however, in the earlier edition of Magic).

The Dungeon Fantasy line is useful for fantasy gaming even if you're going to use it in your own way.

Also, there's GURPS Dragons.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Riggler

Magic and Thaumatology are more important in my mind than Fantasy. I'm a veteran D&D player who switched to GURPS late this summer. I got Fantasy (I'm running Urban Fantasy). In my opinion it covers some stuff included in the aforementioned books and a lot of repetition of advice you probably have read in your times as a D&D gamer if you've GM'd as much as I have. You also said you were comfortable with fantasy world-building.

The specific part about "read in your times as a D&D gamer" is probably not quite accurate; Fantasy discusses worldbuilding for a lot of other types of fantasy that D&D really doesn't cover very well. But it's true that its big focus is on worldbuilding, with specific bits of mechanics tucked in here and there.

Bill Stoddard

[Crakkerjakk]

My .02 USD on the various products available:

Fantasy
It is a great resource if you basically just want to "run a fantasy game" and don't really have any firm ideas about whether that game is gonna be epic fantasy in an age of myths or a gritty low fantasy game is an empire in it's death throes. Even if you already have a fairly good idea of the world you want to create, it provides some valuable insight into the consequences of your choices that you may not have fully considered. It covers common fantasy tropes and how to model them mechanically, as well as some detailed info on common fantasy templates, races, and magical systems.

Magic
Magic is a catalog of spells with some balance issues and absolutely hideous artwork. It also covers a few alternate magical systems such as alchemy, rune magic, clerical magic, but it's all essentially the spell based magic from basic. If you're happy with the spells as skills system presented in the basic set but want more options for your PCs to choose from, this is for you. There are some balance issues here and there, so keep a watchful eye and make it clear to your players that all spells are subject to GM review, even more so than with everything else in the game.

Thaumatology
Thaumatology covers some options on designing your own magic system, or tweaking the spell based system to a greater extent than magic covers. It covers options that allow more subtle magic more suitable to native american shamans in a western or voodoo priests, to comic-book style magicians, and a wide variety in between. If you have a definite idea of how magic works in your world and it doesn't mesh with what's in the basic set, this is the book for you.

Dungeon Fantasy
Like the types of stories you tell in D&D but dislike the system? Want to explore ruins, encounter things that need slaying, and take their stuff? This is for you. Even if this isn't what you're interested in, there's a lot that can be stolen and adapted for other more serious genres. It's basically a worked example of how to take the Basic Set and Magic and run GURPS style dungeon crawls, and even if your PCs only rarely encounter dungeons, if you're running games with high point fantasy PCs, a combat focus, lots of lost treasure, ruins to explore, or any other of the things that commonly occur in the genre there's a lot of useful gems to be mined.

Martial Arts
Want more detail in your combat? Unhappy with no way to tell your dwarf sword and board guy from your viking raider? Want suggestions as to how to run some epic "crouching tiger hidden dragon" action, or on the other end of the spectrum, how likely your greek hoplites are to bleed to death due to that stab wound in their knee? Martial Arts is your resource. Anything to do with combat, although focusing mostly on melee, and what rangedd it covers is mostly concerned with thrown or muscle powered weapons as opposed to firearms, Martial Arts is all about giving you more options on how to put the pointy end into the other fellow.

Banestorm
Feeling lazy? Don't have a really great idea of the world you want to play in? Want most of the work done for you? Banestorm. It's a world where pretty much any common fantasy trope can be explored, from the exotic asian mish-mash with ninjas and arcane codes of honor, to age of sail swashbuckling and jungle isles where dark gods are worshipped by primitive savages, to a frozen north replete with vikings, huns, or cossacks. Not to mention a crusades-style conflict, an area where arabian nights style adventures are common, and another where arthurian chivalry, drama, and betrayal are rife. Oh, and elves both gracefully in decline and xenophobic a-holes, dwarven technophiles, ravening hordes of orcs, insectile hive critters, and a variety of other critters that tend to crop up in fantasy, yet are frequently represented with an interesting twist. It's an awesome setting with an amazing number of games that can be run in it, and it takes a lot of the load off of the GM's shoulders for designing what the players will find over the next hill.