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Old 05-14-2012, 06:56 AM   #11
Onkl
 
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Default Re: Novice GM running GURP fantasy odyssey

To get started with GURPS there's only one piece of advice that I can give you: Don't overdo it! :)

When I first started with GURPS I was blinded by all the shiny knobs and levers you could turn and pull and wanted to have everything in my game right from the start.
Although you can use every rule in existence from the get go, I advise against that. In my case it bogged down play, made for confused players and simply didn't add to the atmosphere. You will have enough trouble to remember all the rules for all the advantages and disadvantages, skills, combat and then you will struggle with the Magic Book if used RAW...

If I were begining to play GURPS all over again, I would be glad if someone told me to make a nice test campagin... something simple with a few rules: A 50 CP PC campaign in todays world in your hometown after a zombie apocalypse. Everybody can relate to that.

Like that you only have a few monsters to create, you will probably know the charactersheets of the players by heart and will not be overwhelmed.

If you are a really experienced GM, have very interested players who all read all the books, know all the rules by heart, I would start with a Dungeon Fantasy campaign. Only then would I create my own game.

Just my 2 cents!

Onkl

Last edited by Onkl; 05-14-2012 at 12:46 PM. Reason: Grammar
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Old 05-14-2012, 08:09 AM   #12
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Default Re: Novice GM running GURP fantasy odyssey

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Originally Posted by Onkl View Post
To get started with GURPS there's only one piece of advice that I can give you: Don't overdo it! :)
Onkl
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and fit the power of the PCs to the Campaign and setting, a 150 Point PC don´t fit a Conan Campaign for example
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Old 05-14-2012, 09:58 AM   #13
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Default Re: Novice GM running GURP fantasy odyssey

Just a quick note to say that it sounds like a great campaign!

Also, I second (or rather, third) the advice about starting off simple, rather than trying to deploy a whole range of optional rules right off the bat. Roll and shout, baby!

My experience is that it's better just to try to get a good story running, with everyone's input being affirmed and welcomed into the game world by a really positive GM, than to get bogged down trying to be rigorous about rules you're just learning. Particularly with first-time GURPS players coming from D&D. Go easy on the rules, and hard on the imagination! That's my perspective, anyway.

Again, campaign sounds like great fun.
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Old 05-14-2012, 12:32 PM   #14
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Default Re: What I’m looking for...

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Originally Posted by DwarvenHeart View Post
... is advice to make this happen. I don’t have a module so it’s all me.
  • ...
  • Any other books I need to read?
Low-Tech, the Low Tech companions, and Social Engineering.
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Old 05-14-2012, 12:47 PM   #15
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Default Re: Novice GM running GURP fantasy odyssey

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Originally Posted by Jovus View Post
I also strongy, strongly, strongly recommend GURPS Orcslayer, Harkwood, and Fantasy Adventures (all out of print, but I'm pretty sure all of them have PDFs on e23). They are all previous-edition books, and the first two are set in Yrth, but they all contain some really good adventures that, at the very least, you can pick apart for ideas.
I'd second this. I used my own spin on Harkwood for the first adventure in a game world that I had only briefly outlined. That was 10 years ago. I've renamed some of the stuff (and it wasn't Yrth, so...) to avoid confusion. But the adventure worked well -- it's got what you're talking about: social aspects, combat, etc. There's a tournament involved in it which is GREAT for teaching new players (and yourself!) how combat works. It can even be a place to try out some optional rules and see how they work without putting characters' lives at risk.

As for anything else -- there are a dazzling array of cool supplements that might help your campaign. I'd try playing a bit and decide where you want to go. Start small, as they've said elsewhere. I'd amend: start small, build outward from there. That goes for optional rules as much as for campaign details, especially if you're looking for a long-term campaign.

Eventually you'll want to play with the options that appeal to you, be they social intrigue (Social Engineering), big battles (Mass Combat and/or Martial Arts, depending), or magical variations (Thaumatology, Urban Magics, and Magical Styles). Fantasy is helpful for game world design, but more so at the outset than for an existing campaign (though it still helps). I'm a big fan of the DF line, which I plunder from shamelessly for my campaign (but with caution, since it's explicitly "non-serious"). All that can wait and be retconned into a game world.
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Old 05-14-2012, 01:01 PM   #16
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Default Re: Novice GM running GURP fantasy odyssey

I hope I didn't sound too harsh in my post above, I love to see a new GM come to the game that I love so much. My experience was that I nearly gave up on it after the first few games because it seemed so overwhelming. This might not be the case with you or your group.

There's something I have to add though:

Quote:
Originally Posted by DwarvenHeart View Post
Example
  1. The critical hit will caused the loss of and eye or a hand.
Please disregard if totally inappropriate since I do not know Pathfinder or the world it runs in but I need to add a note here:

This seems awfully harsh if the characters don't have easy and cheap access to means to mend these wounds. Critical hits will occur and a PC must be quite powerful (With access to corresponding equipment) to regrow an eye or a hand with the standart Magic ruleset.

Of course, you can always fudge the crits you roll... so it also depends heavily on your groups gaming style.

Cheers

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Old 05-14-2012, 03:14 PM   #17
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Default Re: Novice GM running GURP fantasy odyssey

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This seems awfully harsh if the characters don't have easy and cheap access to means to mend these wounds. Critical hits will occur and a PC must be quite powerful (With access to corresponding equipment) to regrow an eye or a hand with the standard Magic rule set.
I can see your point. I believe I'll give the players the choice when something traumatic happens to them whether they would like to spice up their character with a disadvantage and get some points back.

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Originally Posted by ULFGARD View Post
start small, build outward from there.
Don't worry everyone. That's my plan of attack entirely. Story is my focus, hence the system choice. I hope to guide (but not railroad) my party from lowly fisherman and the like to heroes and adventurers.

You all can stop reminding me to use only what I can handle of the rules. Only one of the 3 combat chapters in the core book will be used in its entirety. The other two will be lucky if I use 3 rules from it.

What I'm curious about is pit falls all of you found when trying out fantasy, or starting GURPS in general? I'll tell you one of mine... (next post)
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Old 05-14-2012, 03:29 PM   #18
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Default My game gone wrong

To show off the GURPS amazing "anything goes" ability, I asked players what they would like to play. The game ended up being a modern day setting, one of my own make. It was Men-in-Black meet World of Darkness meet Law and Order. Government knows about these creatures and regulate them with their own layer of laws, very similar to our own. These special agents deal with everything from Lycanthrope domestic disputes to Vampire terrorisms. Field agents have powers and sleepers were placed in positions where the secret might leak out (Hospitals, news stations, police department, etc.).

Only 2/7 players made characters that matched my setting. They had skills and appropriate disadvantages required to be a detective/special agent. Three of the other 7 I had were...
  • A womanizing were-panther who had the maximum disadvantages his character could have (and I think I set everyone at 250). Totally dysfunctional.
  • A midget genetic experiment that looked more like night crawler than human and could give off bio-electrical discharges. Not exactly Men-in-Black inconspicuous.
  • And a teenage anarchist who carried around a light saber toy to throw off people's perceptions. He would go into melee only to use a telekinetic push at the same moment. So if he was ever disarmed, he could get the last laugh as it wasn't the toy that did it. TEENAGE ANARCIST as a government agent

Aside from the players the setting was well received and I realized that it couldn't be played with more than 3 players (modern day mysteries as it was). So I tried to stop only to have the player with the anarchist pick up the setting and run it as a private firm. He really hates big brother. Anyway, it was terrible.

I won't let my players or my need for options take me for a ride. I know that limits are necessary. :)
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Old 05-14-2012, 04:18 PM   #19
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Default Re: Novice GM running GURP fantasy odyssey

DwarvenHeart (Love the name) in the RAW, when a character gains a Disadvantage in play they do not get points back. You, as GM, may modify this but I think it is best to avoid the complication if you can. Especially for newcomers to the game system I think it best to keep the acquired Disadvantages to a minimum. Fewer hurt feelings that way and hurt feelings get in the way of enjoying the game until the experience level (of the players) is considerably higher.
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Old 05-14-2012, 04:31 PM   #20
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Default Re: My game gone wrong

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Originally Posted by DwarvenHeart View Post
It was Men-in-Black meet World of Darkness meet Law and Order.
I just want you to know that this campaign premise sounds truly awesome. I may have to steal it to use sometime in the future.
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