[DF] AD&D Levels and GURPS Will

Zed · 11-23-2010, 05:47 PM

And then there's the "feel" of the games being played.

Some examples:
D&D: in one round you can to x, y z actions. full, complete actions.
GURPS: You can do whatever you like, but it will be cut up in 1-second segments.

Firing a bow in D&D is an action. Firing a bow in GURPS is several seconds worth of activity. Same for spells and many other things.

D&D: A monster bites yer arm. You take 30 points of damage out of 100 (or whatever). You have ~1/3 less points of "life" left. No other impact on character there a resources being decreased.
GURPS: A monster bites yer arm. That arm took more damage then it can handle and becomes crippled and useless. Also, you take penalties to any die rolls next round.

GURPS is way more gritty. You actually have to be pretty canny to de-grit it. Lots of realistic stuff like getting stabbed hurting and being inconvenient, etc.

The point being: the actual game play will have a different feel to it, not just the character sheet. You can walk into a hail of arrows in D&D and not care. In GURPS, unless you are majorly using optional rules, even getting hit once means bad news.

Mechanics impact the game style and feel.

Just to one up Rev's analogy...

You can eat your dinner with a fork and knife or you can eat it with chopsticks (or even with your hands - for the Ember fans out there). The food will be the same. But the meal will be a much different experience depending on what utensils you use.

But if you really like, you can eat your steak with chop sticks and your chow mein with a fork. :D its all good as long as you enjoy the meal.

~Z

11-23-2010, 05:47 PM	#37
Zed Join Date: Jan 2008	Re: [DF] AD&D Levels and GURPS Will And then there's the "feel" of the games being played. Some examples: D&D: in one round you can to x, y z actions. full, complete actions. GURPS: You can do whatever you like, but it will be cut up in 1-second segments. Firing a bow in D&D is an action. Firing a bow in GURPS is several seconds worth of activity. Same for spells and many other things. D&D: A monster bites yer arm. You take 30 points of damage out of 100 (or whatever). You have ~1/3 less points of "life" left. No other impact on character there a resources being decreased. GURPS: A monster bites yer arm. That arm took more damage then it can handle and becomes crippled and useless. Also, you take penalties to any die rolls next round. GURPS is way more gritty. You actually have to be pretty canny to de-grit it. Lots of realistic stuff like getting stabbed hurting and being inconvenient, etc. The point being: the actual game play will have a different feel to it, not just the character sheet. You can walk into a hail of arrows in D&D and not care. In GURPS, unless you are majorly using optional rules, even getting hit once means bad news. Mechanics impact the game style and feel. Just to one up Rev's analogy... You can eat your dinner with a fork and knife or you can eat it with chopsticks (or even with your hands - for the Ember fans out there). The food will be the same. But the meal will be a much different experience depending on what utensils you use. But if you really like, you can eat your steak with chop sticks and your chow mein with a fork. :D its all good as long as you enjoy the meal. ~Z