Fantasy Setting for GURPS

[Wraithe]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

The answer is simple. Someone has to create an online magazine dedicated to fully fleshed-out adventures for GURPS. This someone must coordinate volunteers to write the adventures and a website to host the adventures.

So, who's going to volunteer? No, you may not volunteer only to host a website—that's easy. The someone who runs it will have to stick to it, and persuade, cajole, and nag adventure-writers constantly. He must answer complaints that the site does not have the adventure someone wants. He must make sure the adventures are edited and vetted before publishing.

Who is ready to take on this time-consuming, thankless job? Hm?

Exactly This was kind of the lurking side-point I was trying to make with my post about there being plenty of outlets. The trick is, that this isn't something that would be an "easy-out".

What *I* think would be cool, would be a "template" for both Modules and Settings. If it was something that aided you in making Modules or Settings (Campaigns), it could also provide a nice format to provide a way of sharing them.

You Know:

Tomb of the Forbidden Terror of Mystery
A "GURPS FANTASY" Module For Characters of Skill Level 13* (200 points*)
Orientation rating (1-10):
Story - 2, Combat - 7, Horror - 9, Puzzles - 10, Continuity - 1 Skill Level - 5

Plot Hook
Option 1: "A Dwarf, a cleric and a Minotaur walk into a bar...."
Option 2: "One of the players relatives send them an urgent missive..."

Skill Level: 5
Skill Level 5 suggests * point characters or characters with main skills in the * range

etc, etc. etc..

What would be cool would be suggestions for adjusting the Skill ratings up or down (If your party is above/under the suggested skill level, use these alternative NPC's or extra encounters)

Anyways, just a crazy thought...

*arbitrary numbers.

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by Wraithe

What *I* think would be cool, would be a "template" for both Modules and Settings. If it was something that aided you in making Modules or Settings (Campaigns), it could also provide a nice format to provide a way of sharing them.

There is already a template for making GURPS adventures, you can find it on the e23 "Writing for us" page. Though, the template puts me off and it is the reason why I haven't submitted any adventures to e23. Though, once I get some more free time, I'll probably start submitting to Pyramid again, precisely because they don't have the template requirement.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by TheQuestionMan

Personally I would like to see more supplements like GURPS Abydos.

GURPS Tredroy: City of Three Kingdoms

Here you go.

Can't help you with the others; sorry.

[DreadDomain]

For the record, Banestorm doesn't do it for me. It is a good attempt at classic fantasy but for the love of me I just cannot stand the "historical-people-displaced-with-their-real-world-religion" stuff. That being said, the old Harkwood and Tredroy supplement were really well done so...

Originally Posted by TheQuestionMan

Personally I would like to see more supplements like GURPS Abydos.

GURPS Tredroy: City of Three Kingdoms
GURPS Megalos: Capital of the Empire
GURPS Castle Defiant: City Under Siege
GURPS Geb Al-Din: The Holy City
GURPS Sauvons: Swashbucklers & Buccaneers
GURPS Grinnel: Lost City of the Dwarves
GURPS Bilit Isle: Aztec Empire of Yrth
GURPS Kinkaku: City of Heaven
GURPS Heolford: Last Outpost of the Empire
GURPS Lorian: Barony of the Elves


Cheers


QM

... I would buy these...

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Just to help the arguments, I decided to throw in a (shudder) fact.

List of Fantasy Worlds (defined as "any reality where supernatural or fantastic forces completely dominate the setting") of GURPS (My own personal stash, you may have a more complete stash than mine) ...

"Seas of Dread" from GURPS Horror
"Judgment Day" from GURPS Y2K
"Yrth" from GURPS Banestorm (4e)
"Roma Arcana" from GURPS Fantasy (4e)
"World of Darkness" covered in GURPS Werewolf, Vampire, and Mage
"The Orichalcum Age" from GURPS Atlantis
"Mythic Camelot" and "Cinematic Camelot" from GURPS Camelot
"The Hyborian Age" from GURPS Conan
"Madlands" from GURPS Fantasy II
"Age of the Autarch" from GURPS New Sun
"Voodoo World" from GURPS Voodoo
"Reality Wyvern" from GURPS Dragons
GURPS Cabal
GURPS Technomancer
Castle Falkenstein
Deadlands
Discworld
Riverworld
Witchworld

And there are a few others which might be considered fantasy, such as Conspiracy X and Hellboy and the world of Cthulhupunk.

Looking over this list, I can't imagine anyone being starved for a fantasy rpg milieu in GURPS. I think something could be found for everyone.

[Wraithe]

Originally Posted by trooper6

There is already a template for making GURPS adventures, you can find it on the e23 "Writing for us" page. Though, the template puts me off and it is the reason why I haven't submitted any adventures to e23. Though, once I get some more free time, I'll probably start submitting to Pyramid again, precisely because they don't have the template requirement.

*look at template*

Wow, I think any urge I had to submit an adventure to e23 just got sucked out of me by that template. That sucker must have cost 25cp right there.

That thing is like the opposite of what I want. I mean, I see why they need it, it' so they can easily turn it into a PDF/Print thang, with the SJ Games graphics inserted here and there, etc. But still, yeah, major buzzkill.

Maybe I'll tinker with that half-assed template I posted and come up with some options and put it up on one of the GURPS wiki or something - I think I'd like to have the template for myself anyways, as a GM aid.

[balzacq]

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

List of Fantasy Worlds....

[snip 21+ fantasy/supernatural settings]

Looking over this list, I can't imagine anyone being starved for a fantasy rpg milieu in GURPS. I think something could be found for everyone.

I agree wholeheartedly. On the other hand, there's guys like this:

Originally Posted by b-dog

You are very, very correct. I want adventures I can run easily not just here is idea x and here is idea y. Of course at the end of the adventure it is ok to have other ideas for further adventures. The biggest problem for me is time. Also, a completed adventure is actually more inspiring for other adventures than just a basic list of ideas for adventures for me.

According to this camp, apparently, all those settings are useless, and (forgive me for inferring and extrapolating a bit) hardly even qualify as "settings" because they don't consist of fully statted out adventures in a fully statted out world.

Whether due to time or imagination constraints, all those settings, frames and adventure seeds mean nothing to this camp, because they are essentially "consumers and resellers of world product" (as I put it in another thread).

The "create your own from scratch" and "expand an outline" groups are just talking past the "complete off-the-shelf" group.

[TheQuestionMan]

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

Hmmm ...

Abydos filled in a blank spot on the map. But these would fill in a lot of detail. Perhaps too much detail.

One of my complaints with oWoD was that there was so much detail that there was no room for GM originality. What you propose with these supplements sounds like a step in that direction. If I want that level of detail I can design it myself - which would have the added benefits of making it a mystery to the players (since they can't buy the supplements) and allowing them to be surprised all over again if a future GM decides to set a game in the same regions.

Besides which, if we overwork the guys at SJG producing these sorts of supplements, they won't be able to do other stuff (like more Spaceships and DF supplements, new original game worlds, etc.)

I'm all for filling in the blank spots, but Banestorm has sufficient detail. If I want more, I can work it out myself.

Yes, but lazy GM's do not want to work hard all the time to populate a city. Create unique locations and adventure plots and sub plots.

I never run an adventure or location exactly as written either.

QM

[pst]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

Given the historically poor sales of adventures, some authors are dubious about the return on their effort. (I want to say Phil Masters said that, but I'm not sure)

If that is a reason, then maybe something has to be changed in how returns are computed? (I have no suggestions, though.) Of course material that GMs buy tend to sell less than material that players tend to buy, but could help boost sale of related items. Like a series of ready-to-use DF adventures could increase the number of players increasing sales of all the other DF material as well, etc., right?

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by pst

If that is a reason, then maybe something has to be changed in how returns are computed?

It's not a matter of accounting or other business tricks. It's a matter of raw sales. I spend the same amount of time writing and get the same percentage of royalties from GURPS Women's Clothing of the Late Victorian Era and GURPS Adventures: Milliner! However, history shows that a lot more people are going to buy WCotLVE because it's got the Bonnet Design System in it, which people can adapt to their own hat-making adventures, than the single adventure. Ergo, if I've made the unwise choice to make game-writing the thing that puts food on my table and a roof over my head, I'm going to go with the first one. If more people could be convinced to buy adventures, thereby convincing writers that it's financially safe to write them, that'd help, but you do have a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario (can't prove adventures sell until people write them; people won't write adventures until it's proven they'll sell).