[FAQ] Section 0. Before you start using GURPS . . .

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

Slight disagreement here, it's not that the actual characters aren't portable but rather that their concepts don't fit.

This is an important point.

It's not like the old Vampire:tM/Werewolf:tA crossover problem, where Vampire disciplines would automatically work on creatures of your Generation or younger, but Werewolves don't even have a generation attribute (or a Humanity score, or various morality traits).

Characters are totally portable - you don't have problems like the above.

The IMPACT on the destination campaign setting, however, can be wildly out of proportion. Your example, of a high point value character in a low point value game, is as much a problem for the disparity in point value as for the genre clash, and I think noting both issues separately is important.

Folks coming from more genre-restricted systems are perfectly comfortable with the idea of "your character is too high level for my campaign" - I think a better comparison of the "your point value is not really your level" nature of GURPS would be a 250 Dungeon Fantasy character going into a modern era 250 point Action game about superspys, or a 150 point "heros of rock and roll" socially oriented game.

In the superspy game he could be anywhere from hopelessly out of his depth due to being TL3(^ for magic) to ridiculously overpowered if he has any divination or scrying or mind-control magic and nobody in the superspy game world has magical protections, depending on the situation. Even Communication and Empathy college could make him dangerous. His possible lack of social skills and probably lack of any appropriate languages and CFs are another potential handicap. Potentially being non-human of course just makes everything worse.

In the 150 point Rock and Roll game, the species, social, CF, and language problems are nigh fatal unless the character is a Bard. And even then, he's gonna have problems. It gets 10x worse if the game takes place in a highschool and the character is a grizzled, 180 year old dwarf.