GURPS 4e Entry Point

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Paul

I'm thinking GURPS Lite's format (free pdf and ~30pg printout) is the way to go.

1. Start with an adventure. Since this is an on-the-cheap effort, pick a few adventures from the Pyramid archive, since you've already got the electronic distribution rights for those. Possibly bribe the authors with half a candy bar each to smooth the way for physical distribution as well.

2. Build a few basic characters and such NPCs as necessary, keeping the skill lists fairly short.

3. Take GURPS Lite and remove skills, advantages, and disads not used in any of the characters provided. A few things may, of course, need to be added (frex, spells for a fantasy adventure, pre-built afflictions and other abilities for a supers or sci-fi adventure).

4. Shorten charts as much as feasible. Say, reduce the ST to damage chart to the 8-16 range, or whatever minimum range is necessary to encompass the range of STs used by characters provided. Remove weapons not used in the adventure.

5. Tack on an "appendix" pointing to the rest of the GURPS line and make available for free download.

6. Profit!

[JAW]

Hmm.

1. There´s gurps lite for 4e - right?
It is free to download, right? The paper version is (or will be) either free or cheap and not too big right? (I hawent seen it)

2. There´s worldbooks coming in, right? My personal experience on 3E gurps worldbooks is that they are so good that you sometimes want to buy them just for reading ewen if you´re not sure you´ll ewer play the setting..

3. with gurps lite and one worldbook you hawe a completely playable RPG. Right or wrong?? I think you do. If not maybe just adding a little on the LITE and/or putting a chapter on worldbooks where you possibly repeat something from the "core book" would make it so.

So why not make sure that the game is playable with one worldbook and LITE and tell it to the people. Like put on ewery new worldbook a text with essentially the following content: "Expansion to GURPS but ALSO playable with FREE LITE WERSION of the rules." And if some of the already ready 4e books are not crrently playable with lite make small free addition (at least downloadable if not distributed on stores...) that repats the necessary stuff from the core books to make it playable (but I gues that this might not ewen be necessary for most worldbooks..).

That way anyone who sees a gurps worldbook in gaming store that catches his/her fancy by looking cool or being exactly the setting they want to RP or whatewer wont be put down by the touch that he/she has to by the two core books too but will instead pick up the lite wersion and read it through and see that it´s really good and simple rules system and byu the worldbook :)
Or that´s what we hope will happen.

Anyway the point is - Make the world books the entry point. I don´t think that hardcore gurps afans would mind a little bit of content repeated from the core books as they´d might also work as a reference to what corebook skills etc are most apprpriate for the setting and they certainly wouldnt mind if the cower and art style in general is fancy and has unique style as long as it doesnt completely blow up the price.

(And yes - I dont hawe the 4E core books and I´m interested with some of the worldbooks... So also old 3e geezers like me would benefit and appreciate it. BTW I found the 3e worldbooks so interesting to read that I don´t really mind almost newer finding the time and players to actually run a campaing with them but I´d like to be at least hopeful of being able to actually run a campaing if/when buying new 4e worldbooks rather than to buy them just for reading.)

[yam]

I could see these ideas working well in one of two way that have been mentioned.

The first is to make scenarios which require only GURPS Lite.
These scenarios would undoubtedly need to mention a few more rules, pieces of equipment, etc, in addition to straight scenario material.

The second would be, in addition to the scenario, to have a pdf which takes GURPS lite and takes out the stuff that's not needed and adds the stuff that is.

I think both of these are really good ideas, and you could even combine them, sort of.

Take GURPS Lite, and make genre expansions. maybe 10 - 20 pages per genre with extra rules, equipment, etc, and common templates for that genre. Call it Fantasy Lite, Space Lite, etc.

Then have scenarios which can be all adventure, but suggest certain templates, point costs, advantages, skills, or whatever. Maybe even toss out an extra rule, skill, or advantage.

Then make the whole thing downloadable from one link, charge a $5 or whatever for all three together and there you go. Someone would be able to try gurps out with one scenario, and continue for a few adventures if they like it and want to try more, but eventually they'll need to buy the core books if they want to get serious.

[yam]

Oh, and I think making taylored versions of Lite to go with 3e worldbooks could work well too, but it might be difficult with the conversion and all.

[Qoltar]

Its NOT a free download you have to register and it fried my system last week.

I liked it better when I didn't have to jump through hoops to print a copy .

Again, pdf is NOT the way to go. I want to keep FLGS in business - that means physical non-computer thingies you can hand to a customer ..when they hand you currency.

- E.W. Charlton

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Qoltar

Its NOT a free download you have to register and it fried my system last week.

I liked it better when I didn't have to jump through hoops to print a copy .

???

Assuming you're talking about GURPS Lite, the only "hoops" you need to jump through are a couple extra clicks. Now, I'm generally against extra clicks, but with e23, it certainly helps us track how often a product is downloaded.

Registering is purely optional for *all* freebies from e23.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

If someone were to write this, would you be able to pay them?

If they wrote it to an approved outline, met the quality standards, etc etc etc, of course.

[JAW]

Hmmh. There alreaydy was a taylored LITE at some point. Transhuman space was it??

But I don´t think thats the way to go.
Maybe a bit beefier 5$ lite that would make the worldbooks playable by themselwes would do the trick. Then you could hawe for (N+5)$ (where N is the price of the worldbook) playable game on decent quality paper and all. Much more reasonable than (N+70+)$ for the full set and nicer than paying N$(+printing) and hawing to play with the core rules just on crappy printouts..

Yes the 70$ might not be much if you play regularly but it can be steep if you are thinking about buying a GURPS worldbook you like and you need to pay the 70$ in addition to the cost of the worldbook to start playing...

I repeat: the worldbooks should be the entry point. To RPG you need a game world. And the worldbooks are attractive and interesting in themselwes (at least to the fans of any of the settings involwed) while the rulebooks might be not (at least on first clance.).

But 5$ would on the other hand would seem cheap for ewen simple RPG rules on quality paper and cowers etc - ewen if theyre available free on pdf (and especially if they come with full permission to copy and distribute to players for free..)

Yes SJG migvht lose some sales of the core rulebooks by making the world books playable with lite but i think thay would more than make up that on increased sales of the worldbooks - and eventually maybe ewen sell more of the core books (some of people starting a campaing (or two) with lite might decide to get the core books too)..


EDIT:
I´m not saying that cheap and simple introductionary adventures wich do not requirte a worldbook wouldnt be a good idea too! They´d be wery good for novice RPGrs, but to someone already familiar with RPGs (like d20 players) the worldbooks in themselwes would be more attractive and the costly and (apparently) rules heawy core rulebooks possibly an obstacle..

[Archangel Beth]

Originally Posted by Paul

you may be able to condense Lite to *just what was needed* for the scenario, and make the whole thing fill 29 pages of a 30 page download. (The 30th page would be a list of the books you'd need to expand the scenario into a campaign.)

Like The Sorcerer's Impediments does for IN, once Chris got through with it?

[JAW]

But what´s the need to include "condensed rules" as the Glite is already out and free? The lite is not too costly or intimidating to pick up - or is it?

Just support the lite by making the adventures runnable with it and make the worldbooks so that you can at least build appropriate characters and run one shot adventures in the gameworld in question.

Then if the playgroup decides that they want more options for character building or more detail to combat or some advise on running a campaing... -Core rulebooks sold!

So.. Support the lite! (sounds catchy - despite the apparent senselesnes of supporting a free product...)

BTW..IMHO..
Introductionary adventures would be fine but I´d place the priority on the worldbooks - but then that´s just me - I just like them. But yes some more smaller, cheaper worldbooks could be attarctive both for new players (as long as they are playable with lite and that it is made clear rthat it´s so) and to old time gurps fans alike. While the adventures might not interest those that already hawe a campaing running etc..