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Old 11-30-2008, 12:41 AM   #19
benz72
 
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Chagrin Falls
Default Re: New to GURPs; not sure where to start

lots of good stuff upthread... my $0.02

The D&D -> GURPS transition was 15 years ago for me but the things I remember about it were...
1) no class restrictions! I can have spells AND swords if I want to spend the points
2) really detailed and deadly combat..it was almost like our GM was suggesting we try other methods of resolution besides killing things
3) everyone was a 'person' you couldn't look at someone and tell they were evil because they had green skin and lived underground
4) the group needs to have someone with skill in .... well a lot of things really, but languages, diplomacy, research and a bunch of other things that I figured would never be used were essential to getting through the adventure

some thoughts on spending cp...
one old GM I had wouldn't let you spend more points on something than you had successful skill/attribute rolls against in that session. (It represeted learning something in practice)
Another guy gave out cp already assigned (with perhaps one or two player choices... 'did you find the answer because you got better at astronomy or at research?' ... occasionally there was an unassigned point and it was percieved as more valuable for the freedom in spending it... sort of like a wild card.
In the game I am currently playing I don't have many GM imposed restrictions (can't learn new spells without a teacher / scroll/... maybe a few others) but my PC has well defined (and published, and GM approved) goals that he is working towards so it's pretty much a no-brainer where his next couple of points are headed.

as for getting experience as a GM, I'd reccomend you find someone GMing GURPS online and lurk one of their sessions (with permission hopefully) so you can actually see someone else doing it.... perhaps you can even play an NPC or something. It won't be ideal, but you should get a feel for the flow of the game, at least from one GMs perspective.

Good Luck

EDIT: another thought about genera....
I don't think trying to make GURPS D&D is a good idea because of the expectations you will be bringing across. There are some threads on this board about how to model such and such a D&D concept in GURPS and they always set my teeth a little on edge... the game is about the story... all the mechanics are there to help make the story interesting/fair/reasonable etc.
If you go into it with the hope of emulating one set of rules with another set of rules you will be in for a lot of work with little additonal reward (D&D already works...sort of). But if you can avoid bringing that preconception with you it is possible you will end up happier. There are plenty of ancient/medieval-esque settings you can use if that is the story backdrop that interests you (Rome, Vikings, Arabian Nights, English Civil War etc..) and there are a lot of high grade sources to pillage for ideas (though most are written for 3E, but few changes will matter and they can be used 99% as is).

Go ebay and look for an interesting old 3E sourcebook and play out a few adventures in that setting, THEN jump into dungeon crawling when you have transitioned all your expectations and won't be disappointed by not knowing how to model a D&D concept in a new rule set.

/$0.02
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Benundefined
Life has a funny way of making sure you decide to leave the party just a few minutes too late to avoid trouble.

Last edited by benz72; 11-30-2008 at 10:02 AM.
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