Dungeon Fantasy: Good or Bad for GURPS?

[b-dog]

I'm curious what the average GURPS player thinks about the Dungeon Fantasy series. For me of course I really love it but I am wondering what other people think. Thanks.

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by b-dog

I'm curious what the average GURPS player thinks about the Dungeon Fantasy series. For me of course I really love it but I am wondering what other people think. Thanks.

I think it makes Kromm happy, and when Kromm is happy, GURPS is happy.

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by David L Pulver

I think it makes Kromm happy, and when Kromm is happy, GURPS is happy.

OK, I understand. After buying Abydos I think you need to make a Dungeon Fantasy suppliment because Abydos was really, really good.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

I got into gaming because of D&D like almost - what, 90% of us? Dungeon-crawls are the "gateway drug" to lure youngsters in. They play their WoW and Diablo, maybe some D&D, then a trenchcoated figure comes up and says "Psst! Kid! Since you like that, howsabout a bit of Dungeon Fantasy?" A bit of a nibble, and from the simplified DF rules they're gradually introduced to the whole range of what GURPS has to offer. By the time they hit college, they're total GURPS-heads.

Besides which, DF is fun in and of itself. Don't want to go into deep detail this session? Just drag out your old Keep on the Borderlands module and improv a pleasantly nostalgic game with new flavors and options for a light gaming session.

Summary: Definitely "good".

[Johnny Angel]

Forgive me for being the new guy and asking, but what's the difference between Dungeon Fantasy and Fantasy? I'm not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I'm all for having more fantasy options, but I'm not quite sure what relationship DF has to Fantasy.

[trooper6]

Dungeon Fantasy? I'm not really into the genre but so what? I have all the DF books, and if I ever run a Fantasy campaign...which I probably will at some point, I'll certainly mine the books for details. I tend to go a bit less cinematic but I'm sure there'll be things for me to use.

In the end, anything that sells copies I think is good for GURPS. GURPS doesn't have to publish exclusively to my tastes. I trust enough that GURPS will continue to publish things I'll be interested in to make me happy. If there are people who love high cinematic dungeon delving...I'm happy there are GURPS books to make them happy too.

The more happy GURPSers, the better.

How could that be bad for GURPS?

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angel

Forgive me for being the new guy and asking, but what's the difference between Dungeon Fantasy and Fantasy? I'm not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I'm all for having more fantasy options, but I'm not quite sure what relationship DF has to Fantasy.

Dungeon Fantasy tends to a group of PCs with strictly defined roles going into a Dungeon, killing things, taking their loot and then getting more powerful. It is very cinematic, high-powered, and not about social systems or talking about your feelings. It is about resource management and kicking butt. It is the model of old-school D&D.

Fantasy can be any number of things. It could be the political machinations in the court of King Arthur. It could be about young nobles trying to find advantageous marriages. It could be about being traders in a fantastic city. It could be about mysteries or romance or piracy on the high seas. It could be about a wizards school divided into four houses. It could be about killing monsters and taking their loot. Lots of different things are Fantasy. Dungeon Fantasy is a specific sort of sub-genre of fantasy. So while Dungeon Fantasy is fantasy, there are a lot of other things that are also fantasy that have nothing to do with dungeon fantasy at all.

[Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angel

Forgive me for being the new guy and asking, but what's the difference between Dungeon Fantasy and Fantasy? I'm not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I'm all for having more fantasy options, but I'm not quite sure what relationship DF has to Fantasy.

Dungeon Fantasy is highly pared-down GURPS, optimized for D&D-style dungeon crawls. Just enough rules and bare-bones setting to feel like a Gary Gygax production. Connection with Fantasy? Minimal, but possible.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angel

Forgive me for being the new guy and asking, but what's the difference between Dungeon Fantasy and Fantasy? I'm not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, and I'm all for having more fantasy options, but I'm not quite sure what relationship DF has to Fantasy.

DF is a guide to playing and running a classic dungeon crawl style game.

Fantasy is a guide to creating a fantasy setting, with lots of material on many styles of fantasy.

[Johnny Angel]

Ok, so DF is GURPS put into (for a lack of better words) a somewhat prepackaged setting with the skills, abilities, equipment, templates, and etc which would be most suitable for such a campaign and without things such as computer programming and guns which have no place in such a campaign. Is that about right?

That sounds like a pretty good thing to me. I'm sure I'd take a lot of ideas of the book because I'm already working on doing something similar using the GURPS products that I have. I'm putting together a fantasy style campaign.

I think a GURPS product which is semi-prepackaged is a great idea. Especially since not all of the D&D crowd (of which I am a member) is exactly thrilled with how D&D's new edition is turning out. I also think that such a product might be less intimidating and a little more accessable to people who are new to the system.