Overview of professions for the players...
 

Hi,
I'm planning a new game, but none of my players owns the DFRPG, just me.

What I'm searching for is a short overview of all the available professions so that it is easier for new players to think about the basic options (the 'rough picture') before we are getting into the details of each character and the campaign.

For instance it would be great just to have all these small introductory texts at the beginning of each professional section at one place. (e.g. Barbarian: "You're a beefy tribal raider..."). My perfect solution would have a picture of each profession, too, but that is definitely not a must have ;)

Anyone knows if there is something like that available?
If not: Please release it! ;) ...certainly it would be good advertising material for the game also...

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

D&D equivalents are the go-to. Barbarian, bard, cleric druid and wizard are the same. Holy warrior, knight, martial artist and thief are Paladin, Fighter, Monk, and Rogue. The scout is a Ranger without spellcasting. Swashbuckler corresponds directly to that class in games that have it (2e Fighter's Handbook, PFRPG ACG) otherwise is a Fighter built on fitness, but this one should be easy since the profession also fits the common meaning of "swashbuckler" (and a literal meaning too, if you use a buckler).

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

Thanks for your reply!

Well, yes, but IMHO that way would be unfavorable, because of two aspects:

1) If I would use D&D for getting people to play DFRPG indeed the question arises: Why aren't we playing D&D if this new game is not even able to introduce itself in a nice way and if it is just the same kind of thing in another color...?
2) Using already existing D&D images "from the head" may fit to a lot of gamers, but it is not a way to introduce persons new to roleplaying, so it is not a complete solution anyway...

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

Because one second turns, hit locations, spells as skills, and so on are a better fit for the kind of game we want to play. DFRPG is an old school FRPG with GURPS derived mechanics, presenting it as something else is probably not very accurate.
Such players will need to be introduced to the the tropes of FRPGs anyway, so you might as well start with the professions. OTOH I don't encounter any players who are wholly unfamiliar, most have at least played video games with FRPG origins.

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

Adventurers p13 lists all the professions with a pretty good one line summary of each.

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

Yes, that one is not bad, it is a solid short solution... Probably I use it if there is nothing more detailed.
Actually I hoped for something like that with a bit more "inspiration" added to it, just like the introductionary descriptions from each profession and (to have dreams) with a nice image, too... ;)

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

Yes, for myself the crunchy bits are very important, too, but at the level of introduction I was talking about the idea of just giving a rough picture of the characters and the game to inspire the players... Not the tech-talk about superior combat mechanics... ;)

Moreover personally I would not exclude the newbie type of player not so much interested in crunchy parts with setting focus to that in the beginning. I want to give light food to these persons as a warm up. Though they are not the main target audience, with a light start and a helpful GM, the "rules light people" still can get used to the game easily and like it - the basic mechanics are easy to learn. It worked for me in the past already...
Presentation is key! ;)

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

The reason those players aren't playing D&D is because you aren't running D&D...

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

Good points. It is very interesting, GURPS has so much content that there is abundant room to release so much more introductory support, summaries, and guides.

I would guess that the dedicated personnel assigned to its development are much more personally interested in advancing the meat and depth of the game. With that in place, they suppose that GM's, blogs or others can perform the "trivial" introductions and guidance.

Maybe with a larger GURPS budget, SJ Games can "pawn" this support off on other staff. Although I don't see this as insignificant or uninteresting work.

There's always the possibility of the Catch-22 of the introductory support stimulating more interest leading to the budget to allow its own funding.

For anyone doubting the marketability of lighter support items, let me submit to you . . . the Munchkin Kill-O-Meter (sequential counting dials) for a game that doesn't need near the content support of GURPS.

Re: Overview of professions for the players...
 

Going into Superior combat mechanics may get glazed eyes.
Keep it simple such as you get t make tactical choices that matter such as taking a harder to hit shot at the neck or vitals for better damage rather than just rely on luck and wearing everyone out.