GURPS is becoming the only game I'll run

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Kuroshima

I've always been system-curious. I've tried many many systems. After many years of being a GURPS only GM, though, I'm giving FATE a chance, for those games governed by narrative causality instead of hard physics. Now, I need to convince my players to give it a try...

I also appreciate different system aesthetics and certainly believe that there are reasons to play (for example) D&D 4e over GURPS DF that have nothing to do with the quality of the system or the genre, but rather with systems aesthetics and genre in the game-sense.

But once you know GURPS, it becomes a sort of baseline quality, and that's a high bar to match. Some of my friends don't like that I'm critical of BESM, for example, but to my eye it just looks like a (slightly) simplified, 2d6 GURPS, so why would I bother. Many games out there might be interesting, but they're not "good enough," and so most new systems get discarded.

I have found a few that can differentiate themselves enough from GURPS, offer sufficiently interesting mechanical concepts, and are mechanically-aesthetically pleasing enough that I'm willing to play/run them as well as GURPS, but it's a surprisingly small set.

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

I have found a few that can differentiate themselves enough from GURPS, offer sufficiently interesting mechanical concepts, and are mechanically-aesthetically pleasing enough that I'm willing to play/run them as well as GURPS, but it's a surprisingly small set.

I'll play in them but I won't run them. Even when I'm playing them I'm constantly thinking "GURPS does this better". It detracts from the experience.

[Phoenix_Dragon]

I only play GURPS, mostly because it does what I want well, and partly because getting players into a new system might be troublesome. I do read up on other systems, however. Mainly, I mine them for ideas, as they can be a great source of settings or mechanics that I might not have thought up myself.

[TJA]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

I have found a few that can differentiate themselves enough from GURPS, offer sufficiently interesting mechanical concepts, and are mechanically-aesthetically pleasing enough that I'm willing to play/run them as well as GURPS, but it's a surprisingly small set.

Could you kindly list this few games?
Thank you :)

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by TJA

Could you kindly list this few games?
Thank you :)

For me?

(new) World of Darkness teeters on an edge. It offers simplicity and transparency in the sense that the math behind its mechanics is very simple to work out, and the system largely works, and it works sufficiently differently from GURPS that it's worth my time for certain kinds of horror games (GURPS does horror very well, just a different kind of horror). WoD offers lots of options, but working with GURPS is like working with LEGO, working with WoD is like working with wood: It can do lots of stuff, but you have to cut it down and sand its edges yourself. A big advantage is its wide-scale appeal. I have an easier time convincing people to play WoD than GURPS, but GURPS is gaining in that department around here.

D&D 4e offers a very, very different gaming experience from GURPS, and it's very tightly designed when it comes to combat. I've quite enjoyed my experience with it. However, IMO, it only does combat well, whereas GURPS DF strays into other territory nicely.

Weapons of the Gods is an excellent and underrated game. It does some very unique things that makes for exciting, highly narrative, yet mechanically compelling gaming. It only really does Wuxia well, but wow does it do Wuxia.

Nobilis is also a good game, particularly 3e, which approaches resource based gaming in a surprisingly refreshing and nuanced fashion, encouraging players to carefully define the laws of their enormous, cosmic power. Plus it's a great read, if you like Jenna Moran's style (which isn't for everyone).

I also delve into the Indy scene a lot, but I find most of them don't really hold up for very long. Lady Blackbird is excellent, though, for its price tag and for what it does. The original game is very small and focused, but the concepts are obvious enough that you can easily expand it. It's rapidly gaining ground as a go-to system for gamers who like simplicity (though I've been investigating GURPS ultra-light for further expansion, as it seems surprisingly flexible, easy and direct).

If I had to ditch any system above, I'd ditch D&D 4e, but that's because they don't support PDFs and that's a deal breaker for me. Really, WoD is the most easily replaced by GURPS, followed by D&D 4e, though both have elements that work best in their own venue (WoD: Virtue, Vice, Willpower and the interplay of those things with Morality; D&D: Daily powers, encounter powers, at-will powers). You can imitate them in GURPS, but GURPS really works fundamentally differently. But WotG, Nobilis and Lady Blackbird stray far enough away from "mainstream" gaming and also stand up on their own well enough to be worth my time, IMO. These really do things that you can't easily imitate in GURPS (You can do the genre of WotG and Lady Blackbird well enough in GURPS, but Nobilis really strains GURPS even in that department)

[TJA]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

For me?
[...]

I am impressed!
You not only listed the games, but also gave a brief summary of rules and reasons - thank you!

I also learned about D&D encounter, day and will spells - this sounds *quite* interesting and may be part of a solution for my question here: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=84697

I will think about such a solution for my GURPS games!

:)