Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

Wow. Best example of "brightest flame, shortest lived" I've yet to have seen on here. Heck, anywhere as a matter of fact. XD

Don't get discouraged, but set realistic goals. With very little table-top RPG experience, you're wanting to teach yourself GURPS Fourth Edition and Dungeon Fantasy in great haste? That's not a very realistic goal.

GURPS may not be the right system for you. Then again, you may love it for the reasons you stated. Quit before you even try and you'll never know, but at least you'll have more money in your pocket! XD

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

Don't think too much about the warnings, mostly they are generic (not specific for GURPS) and also your 1:1 situation is much easier than the typical case for a new GM with a group of experienced and demanding players. The most important thing is to have fun! As long as you have fun in your game, it can't be wrong.

It's good to read the warnings but just take what actually helps you at the moment, don't think you need everything. No one can digest all at once, everyone started at zero in the past... ;)
GURPS Lite version is really simple, you'll have no problems with that and the great thing about the system is that it grows with your experience. Using the Basic Set you can add much more details later on if you want! ;)

btw, with reference to Dungeon Fantasy:
A very good choice, but first my advise would be to play a few lite sessions in advance!
Really, it will be much simpler for you that way and most likely also much more fun, because you and your wife don't have to learn all the rules at the same time!
First have fun with the lite stuff, then building on that experience, expand to the big things with DF! ;)

Good luck and enjoy your games!

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

Your original post didn't make that clear; it sounded as if you had not run any rpg before, or at least as if you had not gamed with your wife before. So you were getting some advice aimed at a neophyte.

GURPS is actually a very accessible game at the level of basic principles. There are really only three dice rolls, after all: reaction roll, skill/attribute roll, and damage roll.

Bill Stoddard

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

While GURPS is somwhat complex to start, a little bit of effort will take you a long way.

Just starting with some of the basics will get you going & as you get used to the rules it's easy to add on the layers. The, biggest danger I have found is getting overwhelmed with the rules.

All that being said, once you get the hang of it it's easy. It the learning curve is not hard. Just take small bites to start.
I thing GURPS is great & is a very rewarding system.

enjoy & good luck

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

I've gone over the entire thread today taking notes. I think I was a little hasty earlier when I said I felt like my enthusiasm was dimming from all the warning I was receiving. I just can't stop thinking about GURPS and all that I want to do with it. This is our current plan of action:

1. We both read through GURPS Lite (done!)
2. Build two PC's at the same time together
3. Run a simple gladiator style test fight (map)
4. Run a super simple test adventure (as described by Stripe)
5. Play through Caravan to Ein Arris
6. Move onto preparing for Dungeon Fantasy #1&2 if all goes well

I just want to thank everybody who contributed to this thread. Especially to those who expressed caution but also backed it up with great advice and enthusiasm. Looking at my combined notes I am very excited and feel I have a very solid plan for moving forward. My wife is extremely excited to be playing tonight and continues to assure me that she has no expectations other than to play. She is very gung-ho about making this work and wants so badly to move onto Dungeon Fantasy (old-school style). Thank you all very much! I will be sure to post an update as soon as progress has been made =)

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

I can't wait to hear about your updates. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a SO that not only accepts that you game, but joins you (my SO accepts that I game, but while she tried, she never got the hang of it)

EDIT: Oh, and IMHO, you could jump in and play Caravan directly. It will be easier than you building your first, simple adventure.

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

Just a random suggestion for #4:

The Tomb of Sigyfel would be drop dead simple to convert to GURPS and it would be hard to NOT embellish it a little.

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

Sounds great, I'm quite sure you're on a very good way now. Enjoy your first game session! ;)

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

This actually looks fantastic. How do I go about converting it though? As long as I stick with concepts vs direct conversion, I should be okay right? There doesn't appear to be anything troublesome. The monster encounter table for adventurers traveling to the tomb could just be replaced with entries from an online bestiary yeah? Thank you!

Re: [GURPS Lite] First Time, Need Suggestions
 

All right folks we had our very first GURPS session tonight. It wasn't too exciting as we both felt the need for doing a combat simulation first. It was just to get the flow of combat and to become familiar with common stats and rolls. It was a 4 on 4 battle using only simplified NPC Record Cards, no skills/advantages/disadvantages and even no armor (just shields). I made the horrible mistake of starting out with three of my four guys going with all-out attacks and my wife beat the living crap out of me that first round. It all went downhill from there for me. So our next step is playing a little adventure and I think Jeffr0's suggestion of The Tomb of Sigyfel.

The process of play was much harder than I had first imagined and I was very glad to be training with the system before jumping into telling a story. My wife had a lot of fun and even offered to help convert the adventure, though I think I'll keep the limited story a secret if I can =). My next step is to convert this from LL to GURPS tonight and actually roll up a couple of real characters tomorrow and play through it. I think the hardest part for me with the conversion is going to be converting the LL map to a similar sized GURPS dungeon. I'll have to look into how much space a box is in a LL labyrinth. Just wanted to give you guys an update. Thank you again for all of your help!