Hack n' slash?

[Sniperkitty]

Hi. I'm Sniperkitty. you may remember me from such recent threads as Loot in GURPS?? and ... well, that's it, but i'm here to ask more questions of seasoned GURPS players.

as you probably know, i'm coming from d20 OGL, and am considering jumping into GURPS. d20 is all about the hack n' slash. Well, it can be made to be so. jump in with a pre-fab character, start rolling your d20 and damage and you're killing monsters.

GURPS is much more geared toward story telling, correct? Is it true that the combat is weaker in GURPS? if so, what can be done to enhance the hack n' slash fun? or have i gathered and heard wrongly?

[Crakkerjakk]

Eh... I wouldn't say "weaker" no. More geared towards realism. People generally survive by not being hit or being in very heavy armor.

If you want to have a "grab and go" guide for D&D style dungeon delving, the Dungeon Fantasy series is explicitly for you. It doesn't contain anything that isn't in Characters, Campaigns, or Magic, but it basically gives you a worked example of "how to do something kind of sorta like D&D style dungeon crawling in GURPS."

Particularly, DF 1 gives you "profession templates" (kind of like classes, but without actually being locked into certain improvement paths) and equipment, DF 2 gives you "specifically the rules you need to run a game focusing on heading into dungeons and killing things for their loot" including a couple monsters, and DF 3 has a bunch of power ups for the templates in DF 1 as well as a bunch of nonhuman races and "multi-class" templates.

As for what GURPS combat is like, instead of actual combat being abstracted in D&D where losing some HP doesn't really mean you actually got hit, GURPS is more like movie choreography. Unless you're the giant dude who can take an arrow in the neck and laugh while he continues beheading orcs, arrows are likely to severely cramp your style. But that doesn't mean you can't be the badass ducking out of the way of one arrow, blocking a couple more with your shield, and then shoving three feet of steel through that pesky bowman's tender bits.

Oh, and you actually explicitly do things in GURPS combat. You don't get a feat that lets you toss people back when you hit them. But if they're goblins and you're a big barbarian with a giant hammer.... well, goblins will probably be flying, because that's what happens when someone small gets hit by someone big with a blunt object.

And plus of course, unlike real life you can turn stuff up to 11, so you CAN make characters that pull off Legolas ****.

[Refplace]

GURPS is about whatever you want it to be.
Combat can be fairly simple (though more complicated then D&D) or it can get real complicated real fast if you use all the optional rules and information available.
For a D&D like feel the Dungeon Fantasy line is a set of books geared towards that genre. In fact the build character templates and leave off or go real light on most social and non combat related stuff.
Action and MH are also geared more towards fast and quick action then they are epic storytelling.

[Sniperkitty]

sounds like i REALLY need the Dungeon Fantasy stuff.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by Sniperkitty

sounds like i REALLY need the Dungeon Fantasy stuff.

I think you would find it incredibly easy to replicate most any action you had in your D&D game with Dungeon Fantasy 1-3, 8, and Monsters. Oh, and Magic if your players are planning on being anyone who can cast spells, and of course Characters and Campaigns.

One note of caution though. Sometimes things can backfire if you're trying to convert your group over to GURPS and you use the same genre. Some people don't have a problem, particularly if your group is already dissatisfied with D&D, but if you have some holdouts who don't want to change they tend to throw temper tantrums when it turns out GURPS handles things in a different new way that they have to put energy into learning.

Just a head's up.

[zorg]

Originally Posted by Sniperkitty

Is it true that the combat is weaker in GURPS?

What is weaker combat?

[Trachmyr]

Originally Posted by Sniperkitty

Hi. I'm Sniperkitty. you may remember me from such recent threads as Loot in GURPS?? and ... well, that's it, but i'm here to ask more questions of seasoned GURPS players.

as you probably know, i'm coming from d20 OGL, and am considering jumping into GURPS. d20 is all about the hack n' slash. Well, it can be made to be so. jump in with a pre-fab character, start rolling your d20 and damage and you're killing monsters.

GURPS is much more geared toward story telling, correct? Is it true that the combat is weaker in GURPS? if so, what can be done to enhance the hack n' slash fun? or have i gathered and heard wrongly?

Deffinately heard wrong... if fact it's GURPS highly detailed Combat System that successfuly allows me to convert D&D players to Gurps.

Even GURPS light (it's free, check it out on e23 if you haven't already) offers more combat depth than D&D... and by the time you graduate to using Martial Arts, you'll be pulling off stunts like Reversed Grip Dagger Slashes to the back of the knee targeting weaknesses in armor, All-Out two-handed deceptive spear thrusts to the vitals, Mighty Blows with axes to cleanly sever limbs, knocking folks out with well-placed blood chokes, and Ripostes, Lunges, Stop-Hits, and just about anything else you can think of... Seriously, D&D is the little leagues when it comes to combat... GURPS is the All-Stars!

The fact that GURPS also does social interactions, investigations, and other non-combat situations well, does not mean it skimps when it copmes to combat... GURPS can handle it all!

[ULFGARD]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

I think you would find it incredibly easy to replicate most any action you had in your D&D game with Dungeon Fantasy 1-3, 8, and Monsters. Oh, and Magic if your players are planning on being anyone who can cast spells, and of course Characters and Campaigns.

One note of caution though. Sometimes things can backfire if you're trying to convert your group over to GURPS and you use the same genre. Some people don't have a problem, particularly if your group is already dissatisfied with D&D, but if you have some holdouts who don't want to change they tend to throw temper tantrums when it turns out GURPS handles things in a different new way that they have to put energy into learning.

Just a head's up.

I had a player who always played mages. He was always complaining about the spell prerequisites for the "good" spells. We later went from gurps 3d edition to DnD 3.5. Then one day he wanted to do something and realized that he couldn't, because all he had was the "good"spells. He went on to complain endlessly that dnd didn't have enough "little" spells. Guess there's no pleasing some people.

[Sniperkitty]

Originally Posted by zorg

What is weaker combat?

slower paced, more complicated.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Sniperkitty

slower paced, more complicated.

Ah well in that case you heard correctly.
Most people would not call that weaker in combat though.
Weaker implies it does not do it as well or very good.

GURPS can be done at a pretty quick pace if you stick to the basic rules and maneuvers. Use the free combat cards to help people pick maneuvers and they help explain the rules and page number where to look the maneuver up.
Get the combat cheat sheet from the link i saw provided or the official GURPS on off E23
I have pasted the free stuff links before and just wish it would be made a sticky. If its not already.

However as you and your players get used to it you will find that some of those extra options add a lot of fun and flavor to combat.