Converting material from other systems

[CousinX]

Originally Posted by Nymdok

Start a thread for it and, if time permits, Ill help you convert. I think I still have a copy some where :)

Im sure there are other people who play GURPS who'd like a nice translation of it.

There was some success in a converstion of White Plume Mountain (hold for the link). I think there are even fewer monsters in ToH, so it may even go quicker. :)

Nymdok

That's a really good idea ... I'm in. It seems like there are a lot of traps and puzzles in Tomb of Horrors, and that's a place where I need some ideas.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by ciaran_skye

I was thinking less "convert D&D to GURPS" and more "convert Tomb of Horrors to GURPS".

I'm considering raiding D&D adventure modules for a Dungeon Fantasy game, but it's more hassle than it's worth I'll just stick to doing it from scratch.

I have done all this, including Tomb of Horrors and White Plume Mountain as part of my World of D'y'r't game, converting on the fly and reading from the original maps as I went. There were seldom any significant problems.

The original material (minus combat details) was actually quite useful. It's putting the "middle" into adventures that I find dificult. Starting things is easy, big finishes are easy. It's where do you go next and what do you do when you get there between the start and finish that requires soms structure.

That's what the original modules were good for. Here's a map, here's a schedule of what happens when. How to implement those things in Gurps is really not that hard either.

Traps require rolls against Per to find and against Traps to disable. Orcs have 10 Hp, HT 10, Attack 12, Parry 9, Dodge 8 and do 1D Sw/Cut with crude, curved short swords. Big ones have better stats. Spells in the text turn into their nearest Gurps equivalent and so forth.

This is anything but rocket science. It only requires a decent but basic understanding of how Gurps works. Page upon page of conversion notes aren't needed at all.

[Michael Amos]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

I have done all this, including Tomb of Horrors and White Plume Mountain as part of my World of D'y'r't game, converting on the fly and reading from the original maps as I went. There were seldom any significant problems.

Hi Fred,

I was thinking of converting Tomb of Horrors and also The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. These seemed to be the best of the scenarios from the original D&D as released and bought by me back in, ahem, 1979. (Gawd, I feel the need to lie down with a sherry after admitting that).

My intention is to do it properly, converting the maps etc and sticking the resultant pdfs up on my website. You know, just because I don't get out much...

You say you did it completely on the fly - did you do any pre-conversion at all? More importantly, in an electronic form :-)

All the best,

Michael Amos

[sgtcallistan]

If I like it, I take the setting, adapt according to a benchmark or scale that I judge mentally, and adjust if it results in nonsense.

Basically, I look at the maximum that can happen, the minimum, and scale it against three dice.
-then wing the rest.

I rarely write anything down.

This, I find, is sufficient work. ;)

[Nymdok]

Originally Posted by ciaran_skye

In practice how easy is it really?

That depends on the level of rigor you apply to the conversion, as you mention in your original post.

We normally get a few post a year on how to convert another systems settings or Mechanics to GURPS.

For some concepts, like levels, there is simply no good analog.

The more you abstract a setting or other ideas from its rules system the more portable it becomes, but the more it relies on the GMs interpretaion of what those means in each system.

Its not unlike the problem of the infinite subtlety of orcs that shows up on these boards from time to time. There are differences in orcs in evey system, and gurps even has a racial template, and a monster template for them (In fantasy I think). Because they are different, that makes the translation difficult.

For example, if your translating a D&D orc to GURPS, do you simply say orc = orc and use the template, or do you say Orc as beginning level worthy = Orc as begining level owrthy and then convert on that basis fiddling with Attributes, Ads and Skill levels? Do you go futher still and import Gruumsh and other aspects of the orc society into the game as well? What then happens if you also want to incorporate Warhammer Orcs? World of War Craft Orcs? How do you differentiate them from Goblins?

Generally, as I convert I try to key in on a few signature features of an idea so that they will be recognizeable by the players and we can whiz on by the exposition. From there, I fill in what I think is suitable for my players, and the game, and what I get out of it is something that ends up being varrying parts of new and familiar.

Again, the problems arise when the GM says a world like ORC and people think of something the GM is not thinking of, also called assumption clash. For example, say they are playing Starting DF Charachters with skills in the high teens or 20's and they come upon a worthy Orc adversary who also has suitably high skills. If the players are thinking 1d-1 Hit Die monster, they may be suprised at the orcish skills.


Nymdok

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by ciaran_skye

I know one of the great benefits that people tout about GURPS is how easy it is to convert material from other systems into it. At least that's the theory. In practice how easy is it really?

Dead easy. Never had slightest problem with it. Of course I don`t calculate point values for NPCs who aren`t Allies and Dependants, so it would certainly be possible to make it hard.

[CousinX]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Dead easy. Never had slightest problem with it. Of course I don`t calculate point values for NPCs who aren`t Allies and Dependants, so it would certainly be possible to make it hard.

If you're using something like GCA or GCS that keeps a tally of point as you throw together a character, even that part isn't hard.

Originally Posted by Nymdok

I also recomend Gorgolands Gauntlet. It has three or four that are not only pretty easy, but require NO translation whatsoever.

Nymdok

p.s. Gorgolands Gauntlet used to be a free download, but Ive heard that D&D got all weird about PDFs so it may not still be available.

I'll look for it, maybe it's worth a conversion thread of its own. There are a few other modules that I wouldn't mind converting, so maybe someday I'll start up a thread and see who wants to pitch in. (Of course, several of my players haunt these forums, so I can't divulge any secrets here....)

[Humabout]

It's pretty easy if you just strip it down to fluff, and structure yoru GURPS campaign to capture the feel of the original with the fluff in tact. I've personally, don't try to port mechanics, even if I use them for inspiration on occassion.

[Alacrity Fitzhugh]

I've been doing an on-again, off-again conversion of Earthdawn to GURPS, and have struggled on many things.

The one general rule I try to stick to is to avoid importing as many "foreign" mechanics as I can when converting. For example, Earthdawn has Karma Points that can boost odds for success, GURPS doesn't. How do I handle that? GURPS does have an option for spending Character Points to affect a die roll result, but that's not quite the same. Do I import the Earthdawn mechanic? How?

Earthdawn has a lot of game mechanics that are tied to the setting, like Spell Matrices (Modular Ability-style spell-casting in GURPS), Circles (character levels), and Disciplines (character classes - templates?). Each of these is a head-scratcher. Sure, I could toss all that out and just run GURPS Fantasy in the Earthdawn setting, but I lose some of the "flavor" that way.

So, in short, it can be challenging, depending on what you want to convert, and how "generic" the setting is.

[Rocket Man]

I've found it pretty easy to borrow from Champions for a GURPS Supers game. (Yeah, I know, it's a little like marrying second cousins.) I mostly borrow supervillains, but there's a few published adventures I have handy that I may throw in when I get a chance.

If I'm borrowing an adventure, it's the plot I mostly want it for anyway. Any of the mechanic-related details (NPCs, traps, etc.), I'll read closely to make sure I understand how it's meant to work, and then write up a GURPS version that seems to make sense rather than do a point-by-point conversion.