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Old 01-25-2021, 07:00 AM   #23
khorboth
 
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Denver, CO
Default Re: Skills - maybe this game isn't what I'm looking for

Quote:
Originally Posted by adaman14 View Post
I really want to like GURPS but I feel that I would gut about 80% of the rules as ultimately pointless.
Honestly, this is the GURPS spirit. It's something the GM should do before the game starts, though. If you're running a wild-west game, throw out the rules for lasers, gravity, etc. and ditch the whole magic chapter. If it's an action-based game, there are lots of nitty-gritty rules to ignore too. Take a light touch on the sleep rules, but maybe activate the tinkering rules.

In a fantasy game, throw out guns, activate magic and weapon quality. Tinkering is probably out, but alchemy is in.

So, then, if there's that much monkeying with the rules, why GURPS at all? Why not just use a single-purpose system? Why not play D&D and then Deadlands and then Marvel and then...? 2 big reasons for me.

1) Learning curve. When everything uses the same base system, it is much faster to get into the game you want. You don't have to teach new players the intricacies of the new system every new game and then discard it again for each new genre. I have several players in my group who learn new rules slower. It's fine, they're great to play with, just less crunchy.

2) It works. I can make each genre from realistic to cheezy from ancient to post-modern work in GURPS. So many systems have giant gaping holes in them which they try to patch with new editions which have new holes. Sure, GURPS isn't flawless, but it hangs together quite nicely across the whole spectrum.
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