Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen
The one-schtick-per-character thing in Feng Shui was a gigantic turnoff for me, and can easily come to look like AD&D, where most character classes are defined by merely two things: How well they fight, and the one other thing they can do that's not about fighty stuff but has to do with occasionally encountered dungeon hurdles.
GURPS is the exact opposite of AD&D. And by GURPS I mean all GURPS, including Dungeon Fantasy.
Real people are about combinations of schticks. Ignoring those action movies where the hero always coincidentally can do whatever it is the plot requires, that's how larger-than-life heroes work, and why they fascinate and impress. Because they've got several items of coolness on their character sheets.
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For a longer format I might agree with you, but my experience of running three-hour games for pick-up groups (which I have done at cons) is that you have to keep the adventure very streamlined and the characters simple. Players have to be able to appreciate their characters quickly and confidently, which militates against complexity and subtlety, and they have to be able to work out what to do in an unexpected situation without any temptation to dither.
This is indeed not
GURPS' strong suit.
GURPS can easily be "too much game" for a three-hour pick-up session.