GURPS is becoming the only game I'll run

[Poppyseed45]

Seriously. The last campaign I ran started out in Spirit of the Century, but after great table annoyance with the rules (especially Aspects) I decided to switch it to GURPS and all was well.

Fast forward a few months. I have left said group for various issues, and starting a game with a new group. I originally pitched a particular fantasy idea for Reign, which the group agreed sounded good. So, I start giving out setting details, and they start sending character ideas. Reign, I discovered, simply wasn't flexible enough to handle some of what they wanted.

(And there was also the issue of shoehorning in the Company rules for no real reason, but that's more my issue than anything else).

So, naturally, I said, hey, GURPS, and nobody disagreed, and at least one player was happy with the idea (she'd played it with me before in a cyberpunk game).

Thing is, when I think of GURPS, I feel like it's easy, familiar, and the like. I also feel like it's just so damned logical and easy to adjudicate as a GM, that I'm finding it's harder and harder for me to use other systems now. The logic thing even holds for the illogical bits like magic and so on.

This is the second time in a row I've given some other system a pass in favor of GURPS.

Is it the same for you? Or almost? If so, why?

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by Mencelus

Thing is, when I think of GURPS, I feel like it's easy, familiar, and the like. I also feel like it's just so damned logical and easy to adjudicate as a GM, that I'm finding it's harder and harder for me to use other systems now. The logic thing even holds for the illogical bits like magic and so on.

Well said. I understand what you're saying very well. And I'm sure I'm very far of being the only one (besides you) thinking in that way around here!

[Leijeu]

Same here.

It took me a while to convince my gaming group. But now we are all very happy playing GURPS. Last week one of the other players said he could not imagine playing any other game.

While I love checking out other systems, in the end I always come to the conclusion that GURPS best suits my gaming tasts.

[Lupo]

Originally Posted by Mencelus

Seriously. The last campaign I ran started out in Spirit of the Century, but after great table annoyance with the rules (especially Aspects) I decided to switch it to GURPS and all was well.

This surprises me - we really loved Aspects, and I hardly see how I could convert a SotC campaign to GURPS, while preserving its 'feel'.
Obviously it's a matter of taste.

This is the second time in a row I've given some other system a pass in favor of GURPS.

Is it the same for you? Or almost? If so, why?

It has been the same for us. For the past few years, we've been playing exclusively GURPS.
We really like the system "logic", the very free character creation, and the ability to play in different settings/campaigns withouth learning new rules.
If I am going to play with a "traditional" RPG system, it will be GURPS.
All traditional RPG rulesets are very similar to each other, but GURPS is just better at what it does than the other rules system I know.

Lately, though, we've been very impressed by some narrativist/indie RPGs, such as Dogs in the Vineyard and Spirit of the Century/FATE. Those systems are really different from traditional RPGs (more different than I imagined they could be) and they create a different feel, almost a different kind of game.

Those games, by virtue of their abstractness and story-orientedness, also lack some (perceived) flaws of GURPS that have been bothering me lately (excessive details and care for minutiae, intrinsic unbalance in the power and magic systems, somewhat clumsy/unnecessary mechanics to achieve relatively simple game effects).

So from now on I think I will stick to two systems rather than one:
- GURPS for realistic, detailed low-powered campaigns where tactical combat, gear, encumbrance and the precise definition of skills are meant to play an important role;
- FATE / Spirit of the Century for (possibly cinematic and/or high-powered) campaigns that focus on story, acting and psychological development more than strict realism and details. And for single-session, quick adventures with little time for prep work.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Mencelus

Is it the same for you? Or almost? If so, why?

Not remotely. I run more GURPS than anything else, but it's only one of three generic systems I use (the other two are BESM and FUDGE). And I've tried a lot of dedicated systems and liked some: Amber Diceless, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mage: The Ascension, and Toon all gave me good campaigns.

Bill Stoddard

[Qoltar]

I'm pretty much in the same camp as the OP.

GURPS 4/e has become my preferred game system for pretty much everything.

I tried to like D20/OGL, I really did - and it never really took well with me. Heck, I even tried being a player in a D&D 4th edition game. The whole time in that campaign I kept thinking : "This would work out easier with GURPS, and make more sense too."

The only system I'm contemplating running besides GURPS is SAVAGE WORLDS. There is enough of a similiarity in some parts that I can see running it with minimal problems.


- Ed Charlton

[SolemnGolem]

Same here. I quit d20 after their wrenching transition to 4th ed, and started looking around for various new game systems to use. The original intent was to find something suitable for a Ravenloft Gothic horror fantasy game, but it quickly branched out into looking at universal systems and figuring out which one was the best for me.

GURPS still isn't quite the most "universal" system out there. (I'd argue that TriStat dX was actually moreso than GURPS is, if only because GURPS is reality-checked against a human-centric zero point.) But it is the best blend of versatility and sophistication.

Plus I'm looking to scale back the amount of money I spend on RPGs. With GURPS I'm fairly certain it's going to be the last system I ever need to buy.

I get the impression I'm not alone either. A lot of former DnD fans came to GURPS with the advent of DnD 4th ed, and a lot of those appear to be staying put with GURPS.

(This means we have Steve Jackson to thank for sucking in and retaining all the gamers so they don't buy other stuff, thus killing off the industry, etc. ;) )

[mook]

I hear ya Mencelus. Long, long gone are my days of having any desire at all to learn a new system every time I want to switch settings/genres. The only serious contender to GURPS I've ever flirted with was Fudge - until after tinkering with it for a few months I realized I was basically just re-creating GURPS!

I've come to discover I usually enjoy a lot of "G" in my "RPG", and imo GURPS is the best one. So while I still read other systems, for inspiration and enjoyment, I never run anything else.

While I understand the theory of those who prefer to use multiple systems to retain a particular "feel", and happily wish them all the best and many joyful nights of gaming goodness, for myself that has never been an issue, across a wide and varied bunch of games. GURPS can be stripped down to little more than Bang! skills, or "here's your target number, roll 3d6"; or ramped all the way up to "okay, your Guns(Rifle) skill is 16, -5 for range, -2 for visibility, -4 for hit location, +1 for bracing, +3 for aiming, you need to roll against a 9".

Basically it's a big enough umbrella to cover everything I've ever wanted to do, so yeah - it's the only game for me.

[Nater Potater]

There are so many games out there, why choose just one?
I mean, I like pizza, but I don't want to eat it every night.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Not remotely. I run more GURPS than anything else, but it's only one of three generic systems I use (the other two are BESM and FUDGE). And I've tried a lot of dedicated systems and liked some: Amber Diceless, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mage: The Ascension, and Toon all gave me good campaigns.

I'm sometimes almost decided to get FUDGE 10º Anniversary Edition, but it's expensive and I don't think I'm going to use it very much. This system gave me mixed results.

If I should choose *just one* role playing game between the different RPG games and systems, currently GURPS would be my choice.