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Old 06-21-2021, 02:42 PM   #97
Tuk the Weekah
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Default Re: How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations

Quote:
Originally Posted by JMason View Post
Well put! This is something that I have struggled to convey to others over the years. Saying GURPS is realistic makes people think that the game is a complex simulation. I switched to saying GURPS is believable or GURPS "makes sense", but those still don't quite get the point across.
Rant alert:

GURPS fans are amazing at completely mis-marketing the game. I don't know what it is, but we actually sell the game to its weaknesses and completely ignore its core selling point:

GURPS is the easiest RPG to learn on the flipping planet.

Learning GURPS is kinda like learning the guitar in that it can take years to master but anyone can learn the basics quite easily. Heck, it's easier to learn how to play than Yahtzee. Want to do something? Roll 3 dice, see what happens.
  • Want to hit someone? Roll 3 dice; see what happens
  • Want to cast a spell? Roll 3 dice, see what happens
  • Want to disarm a bomb? Roll 3 dice, see what happens
  • Want to pilot your way through an asteroid belt? Roll 3 dice, see what happens
  • Want to seduce a super-spy? Roll 3 dice, see what happens

GURPS isn't complicated. It's dead simple--everything runs off the exact same mechanic. You can literally teach someone how to play the game in five minutes. In fact, that could be the core concept of a YouTube channel--watch us teach Player X how to play GURPS in five minutes. It could be people who don't play RPGs at all, people who run D20-based games, people who only play computer games, celebs and pseudo-celebs, whatever; the only condition is that only the channel host has played GURPS before. You have a pre-set overview of the basics, give each player a premade character based on a different genre, and then show the game in play as the players learn the game in real time on the fly.

People don't go to a restaurant (when we could go to a restaurant, back in the pre-plague days) to listen to someone cooking a steak. They go there to eat.

Stop selling the sizzle, start selling the steak.

GURPS is easy.
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