Dungeon Fantasy: Good or Bad for GURPS?

[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]

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.

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by 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?

Pretty much, except DF has very little in the way of setting material. The setting is limited to a default set of availabilities: there are Elves, there is a certain style of magic, there are monasteries that teach Kung-Fu, etc. Beyond that (and even including that if they so choose), it is up to the individual groups.

Also, it isn't intended to be stand-alone. You probably need at least Characters, Campaigns is almost required, and Magic is very, very helpful. Also, as many copies of Lite as you can get your hands on (every time I order from WH23, I have them drop in a copy of Lite).

Originally Posted by Johnny Angel

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.

There is also the similar Action series, which does the same thing for modern action movies that DF does for dungeon crawling. It hasn't had the output as DF, I assume because DF has proven more popular.

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by RyanW

There is also the similar Action series, which does the same thing for modern action movies that DF does for dungeon crawling. It hasn't had the output as DF, I assume because DF has proven more popular.

It isn't that so much as "Kromm hasn't had the free time to write more Action stuff." The arrival of the GURPS Low-Tech and GURPS Horror first drafts has all but put the kibosh on my writing for 2009, because I have to be an editor instead. Sorry!

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by Kromm

It isn't that so much as "Kromm hasn't had the free time to write more Action stuff." The arrival of the GURPS Low-Tech and GURPS Horror first drafts has all but put the kibosh on my writing for 2009, because I have to be an editor instead. Sorry!

While we love your writing, we love it more when nothing slips by because you're too busy to edit.

[Exeter]

Originally Posted by Kromm

It isn't that so much as "Kromm hasn't had the free time to write more Action stuff." The arrival of the GURPS Low-Tech and GURPS Horror first drafts has all but put the kibosh on my writing for 2009, because I have to be an editor instead. Sorry!

Quick, someone award Kromm 35 CP so he can buy a level of Duplication!

[Xplo]

Originally Posted by 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?

Pretty much. It's not really a setting, though.. more like a play style. You won't find any maps of the countryside, or descriptions of the city where the PCs live, or plot hooks about court intrigue. Dungeon Fantasy is about going into dismal dungeons, mysterious caverns, and cursed tombs, disarming deadly traps and solving diabolical puzzles and riddles, slaying monsters, demons, and evil sorcerers beyond count, and claiming their treasure for your own. It's about replicating old-school D&D, back when having a Longsword +2, +4 vs Giants meant something, and adventures were short on character development and long on names like "Black Temple of the Serpent Lords".