The Beauty of GURPS

whswhs · 10-01-2020, 09:41 AM

I evaluate game systems more as a game master than as a player, as I usually spend more time running campaigns than playing in them (though that's not true currently). I use GURPS more than any two other systems.

An important part of this is that I have a strong appreciation for "the way things work" as an element in fiction (I find it, for example, in Kipling, in Tolkien, and in Heinlein—Tolkien may seem an odd example, but consider his working out the timelines for four different sets of travelers on four different journeys), and GURPS is solidly founded in that.

I also like the multigenre capability of GURPS. I enjoy several different genres, and I like to run some very experimental campaigns.

Finally, one of my other hobbies is doing research, and GURPS books are often good sources for information on a subject. And writing them is a great excuse to DO research; for example, in writing GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses, I read several different books on animal sensory physiology, learning about things like the double foveae in the eyes of birds of prey (one aimed forward at prey, one sideways at potential obstacles) or the biophysics of electroception.

I'm pleased that you like the use of quotations. I come up with long lists of possible quotations for my books; I have a list of nearly fifty possibles for GURPS Furries . . . I was particularly pleased at coming up with multiple quotations from Chinese classics for GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers.

Turhan's Bey Company · 10-01-2020, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whswhs

Finally, one of my other hobbies is doing research, and GURPS books are often good sources for information on a subject. And writing them is a great excuse to DO research

Oh, my, yes. It's maybe not so important for GMs and players, but for authors? I often say that writing for GURPS is a way of turning my expensive liberal arts education into a multi-hundred dollar second career.

More broadly, GURPS is appealing for authors precisely because it's a universal game. Just about anything can be a GURPS book. Meteorology? Equestrianism? Anthropology? Architecture? Infectious disease? Forestry? Material science? Law? There's potentially a GURPS book in anything if you can just find the right angle on the topic.

Anders · 10-01-2020, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

I often say that writing for GURPS is a way of turning my expensive liberal arts education into a multi-hundred dollar second career.

That's why I want to write for GURPS. I want to dip into that river of pure gold.

Gollum · 10-01-2020, 02:04 PM

What I love the most with GURPS is that it is the game which gives the closest to reality results.

Other roleplaying games are as flexible as GURPS: they also allow to play in any world, any time and any background - and even to cross genres if you wish. Fate, Savage Worlds, the Basic Role Playing System ...

But they don't give this outstanding feeling of realism.

Is this realism due to the bell curve given by the 3d6? A lot of real phenomena follow a statistical bell curve ...

Is it due to the amazing amount of research of GURPS authors? They extensively know what they are talking about; it is clear for everyone who read them ...

Is it due to the fact that, despite of giving predictable results (the strongest most often wins, the feeble doesn't stand as much injury, and so on), some strange events sometimes do occur, exactly as in real life (critical success in hopeless situations, critical failure while things were supposed to be easy, someone who miraculously survive terrible injuries ...)? News are full of "incredible but true" events like that ...

Actually, it is probably due to those three reasons (and some others). But no matter, it is what makes me love GURPS so much.

ericthered · 10-01-2020, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gollum

What I love the most with GURPS is that it is the game which gives the closest to reality results.

This is what sold me as well. Its not that gurps can do anything: its that gurps can produce a feeling of immersion I don't get in a lot of other RPG's. You can work hard to tune this up, or you can just let it simmer in the background.

I also love that gurps gives me the feel I want my setting to have. If I can imagine it, I can probably build it. And in a way that actually convinces me that its based on my description.

SimonAce · 10-01-2020, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericthered

This is what sold me as well. Its not that gurps can do anything: its that gurps can produce a feeling of immersion I don't get in a lot of other RPG's. You can work hard to tune this up, or you can just let it simmer in the background.

I also love that gurps gives me the feel I want my setting to have. If I can imagine it, I can probably build it. And in a way that actually convinces me that its based on my description.

I feel the same way.

. GURPS 4E is also pretty good at Supers which brought in farther into universal.

Anyway I don't know any game with a 2 page ultra lite version, a 32 page lite version and a modular big as you want version. It also has regular support , a giant back catalog

I personally think its the best RPG system I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of them. Its not by favorite mind you, that's C.J. "GURPS Voodoo" Carella's Unisystem but if I could only have one, it would be GURPS.

Heck we even have a celebrity player. Thomas Middleditch

The only thing its lacking is a bigger play base but breaking through D&D's first mover advantage is a challenge only tiny handful of the hundreds of RPG's has ever come close to managing.

khorboth · 10-01-2020, 06:43 PM

For me:

I like the internal consistency. GURPS doesn't invent a new kind of mechanic for everything. Bows use the same KIND of stats as guns. Magic spells work like skills. Contests are contests for everything from Chess to wrestling to spells. We don't switch dice, success mechanics, etc. Everything hangs together well because it all works in the same kinds of ways.

I also play with some people who LOVE the fluff but LOTHE the crunch. For them, learning GURPS has been very freeing. Now, we can play in mythic Greece or gritty sci-fi space or steampunk or high fantasy or historical 1668 or sword-and-sandals or 4-color supers or... anything. And they don't have to learn a new system from scratch. This, in turn, has really opened up our gaming table and allowed some new GMs to take their turn at the helm.

10-01-2020, 09:41 AM	#1
whswhs Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lawrence, KS	Re: The Beauty of GURPS I evaluate game systems more as a game master than as a player, as I usually spend more time running campaigns than playing in them (though that's not true currently). I use GURPS more than any two other systems. An important part of this is that I have a strong appreciation for "the way things work" as an element in fiction (I find it, for example, in Kipling, in Tolkien, and in Heinlein—Tolkien may seem an odd example, but consider his working out the timelines for four different sets of travelers on four different journeys), and GURPS is solidly founded in that. I also like the multigenre capability of GURPS. I enjoy several different genres, and I like to run some very experimental campaigns. Finally, one of my other hobbies is doing research, and GURPS books are often good sources for information on a subject. And writing them is a great excuse to DO research; for example, in writing GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses, I read several different books on animal sensory physiology, learning about things like the double foveae in the eyes of birds of prey (one aimed forward at prey, one sideways at potential obstacles) or the biophysics of electroception. I'm pleased that you like the use of quotations. I come up with long lists of possible quotations for my books; I have a list of nearly fifty possibles for GURPS Furries . . . I was particularly pleased at coming up with multiple quotations from Chinese classics for GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers. __________________ Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more.

10-01-2020, 02:04 PM	#4
Gollum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: France	Re: The Beauty of GURPS What I love the most with GURPS is that it is the game which gives the closest to reality results. Other roleplaying games are as flexible as GURPS: they also allow to play in any world, any time and any background - and even to cross genres if you wish. Fate, Savage Worlds, the Basic Role Playing System ... But they don't give this outstanding feeling of realism. Is this realism due to the bell curve given by the 3d6? A lot of real phenomena follow a statistical bell curve ... Is it due to the amazing amount of research of GURPS authors? They extensively know what they are talking about; it is clear for everyone who read them ... Is it due to the fact that, despite of giving predictable results (the strongest most often wins, the feeble doesn't stand as much injury, and so on), some strange events sometimes do occur, exactly as in real life (critical success in hopeless situations, critical failure while things were supposed to be easy, someone who miraculously survive terrible injuries ...)? News are full of "incredible but true" events like that ... Actually, it is probably due to those three reasons (and some others). But no matter, it is what makes me love GURPS so much. Last edited by Gollum; 10-01-2020 at 02:07 PM.

10-01-2020, 06:43 PM	#7
khorboth Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Denver, CO	Re: The Beauty of GURPS For me: I like the internal consistency. GURPS doesn't invent a new kind of mechanic for everything. Bows use the same KIND of stats as guns. Magic spells work like skills. Contests are contests for everything from Chess to wrestling to spells. We don't switch dice, success mechanics, etc. Everything hangs together well because it all works in the same kinds of ways. I also play with some people who LOVE the fluff but LOTHE the crunch. For them, learning GURPS has been very freeing. Now, we can play in mythic Greece or gritty sci-fi space or steampunk or high fantasy or historical 1668 or sword-and-sandals or 4-color supers or... anything. And they don't have to learn a new system from scratch. This, in turn, has really opened up our gaming table and allowed some new GMs to take their turn at the helm.