Discussion on GURPS 4E Revised or Database

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Tomsdad

The problem GURPS has with this is there is no GURPS IP that can cross media.

GURPS as an IP is a games system that supports a wide range of genres and is pretty heavily weighted towards detail.

This gets at what I said in my previous post; namely, that we're selling the tools. SJ created a generic, universal system because he was tired of single-genre, single-setting games tied to particular sets of assumptions; which is to say, SJ created a tool kit, and that's what SJ Games wants to sell. In the past, we've adapted IPs in order to showcase how flexible GURPS is, but those adaptations have never enjoyed the success of the core system. And with good reason: The adaptations are "close enough," not optimal; showcasing the rules has a fidelity cost for the setting, and setting fans won't stay with a game that doesn't get their favorite IP right to within almost absurdly tight tolerances.

Originally Posted by Tomsdad

As a tangent, for me Discworld and GURPS are about as incongruous a pairing as I can imagine in the Hobby.

As far as game engines go, I don't see another generic engine being better or worse than GURPS for Pratchett's work. In many ways, GURPS is a good match, as it's capable of the mad, kitchen-sink, gonzo stuff that shows up on the Disc. It doesn't force you to choose a genre first, which many other generic engines do; this is crucial, as Discworld isn't pure fantasy, but a weird mix of genres up to and including steampunk of late. The two also have a similar sense of humor (indeed, this helps to explain why SJ and Pterry get along!).

Can GURPS ideally showcase Discworld without the tools showing? That is a challenge! It's why we're publishing the Discworld Roleplaying Game and not GURPS Discworld, and why the upcoming edition is truly integrated and self-contained, not just a worldbook with a copy of GURPS Lite in the back. That approach was a lot of work for us, though, and it remains to be seen whether the expense and trouble, plus the licensing costs, will pay off. If the new edition is a success and brings new players to GURPS, we'll have a direction in which to move.