Narrativism in GURPS

[Crakkerjakk]

I honestly think the best way to implement more FATE-like mechanics is to use already established GURPS mechanics whenever possible. I mean, Qoltar's right, you can create a more narratively focused game by giving PCs Luck, Serendipity, Destiny, or using CP for flesh wounds, rerolls, etc.

The problem (in my mind) is that these mechanics aren't tied into roleplaying your character well. I mean, sure, my Spiderman character has Serendipity, but he gets to use that regardless of whether I'm playing him as the smart-talking webhead we all know and love or as a grim Punisher clone that doesn't represent the disads on my sheet. Sure, I'll get docked CP at the end of the session if I have Spidey go around shooting people in the head during the session, but wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to reward players mid-game for roleplaying well?

As previously mentioned, I find awarding CP tends to rapid inflation in characters, and plus I want the players to be hungry for more rewards, so I want them to use whatever I'm rewarding them with instead of hoarding them. Perhaps players could even use the eeps to power Ultra-Power style abilities from Supers or something.

I really think having some sort of "X Point" (Fate, Luck, Hero, whatever) that is awarded mid-game for sticking to the traits on your sheet works well. However, I don't think they should stand double-duty as both character improvement eeps and narrative control eeps, as it encourages players to give up one to pursue the other.

I think you could scale what precisely the Luck Points allow you to do depending on genre. In Supers games they allow you to use Ultra-Power, in Pulp games Seredipity, while in more realistic games they just let you use Luck.