Dungeon Fantasy: Good or Bad for GURPS?

[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.

[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".

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by b-dog

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

That's kind of you to say so. It is not beyond the realm of possibility; I ran a dungeon-based GURPS campaign for several years under the 3e rules.

[Phantasm]

I particularly don't care for the genre, preferring games with more depth than "go to this place, kill everything, and take their stuff". However, the topic does say "Good or Bad for GURPS" (emphasis mine). As a way to bring people into the system and get them to realize that it's not as complicated as they want to believe, I'd say that it is working.

Now if only I could find more people who want to play something other than sword-and-sorcery. . . .

[Captain-Captain]

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 specifically oriented towards over the top stereotypical Fantasy roleplaying of the sort found in the late 1970s. There is no particular need for reality, explanations of how monsters got into that room, what they live on etc.

To use the example cited above, while Abydos can be made into a DF setting fairly eay by making the people of the ilsnad balackheareted demon worshippin thugs, it can be considerably more sophisticated, where legitimate moral interpretations distinguish undeath from demonic, where the economics of a society that uses zombie labor come into play. Where political and trade intrigues between Abydos and the Empire are concieved and executed.

In DF AlL of that is irrelevant. Just be sure the elf chick in the platemail G-string shows off her legs when she poses over that dragon she whupped.

[Woodman]

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.

DF 1 and 2 and Action 1 and 2 correspond quite nicely, but the DF 3-5 content doesnt lend itself very well to an Action adaption. Maybe one could do small themed collections of supporting cast NPCs and an Action/Supers crossover could make a good Pyramid article.

And on topic i think DF is a good thing for showing how to tweak all the possible options in GURPS to get a specific kind of game.

[Johnny Angel]

Originally Posted by Captain-Captain

DF is specifically oriented towards over the top stereotypical Fantasy roleplaying of the sort found in the late 1970s. There is no particular need for reality, explanations of how monsters got into that room, what they live on etc.

To use the example cited above, while Abydos can be made into a DF setting fairly eay by making the people of the ilsnad balackheareted demon worshippin thugs, it can be considerably more sophisticated, where legitimate moral interpretations distinguish undeath from demonic, where the economics of a society that uses zombie labor come into play. Where political and trade intrigues between Abydos and the Empire are concieved and executed.

In DF AlL of that is irrelevant. Just be sure the elf chick in the platemail G-string shows off her legs when she poses over that dragon she whupped.

What I'm trying to do is create something which is a middle ground between that and what I guess would be considered a somewhat realistic Low-Tech Fantasy game. I like pretty much everything you described about DF, but I also want the world to have some internal consistancy and make sense. R. Howard's style with some of Tolkien's world building and a little bit of real world historical combat mixed in.

I'll probably take some elements from the book and use them.

[griffin]

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.

Good for GURPS overall but bad for retailers. They really need to work on a softcover book that can be sold at retail. I think DF really helps bring in the D&D crowd, but it doesn't help for say game demo purposes at the Favorite Local Games Store (FLGS) when the product you are demoing is only available by PDF online.

I'd really love to see a softcover DF book released in the not too distant future (say first half of 2010).

[Captain-Captain]

Originally Posted by griffin

Good for GURPS overall but bad for retailers. They really need to work on a softcover book that can be sold at retail. I think DF really helps bring in the D&D crowd, but it doesn't help for say game demo purposes at the Favorite Local Games Store (FLGS) when the product you are demoing is only available by PDF online.

I'd really love to see a softcover DF book released in the not too distant future (say first half of 2010).

Agreed. It's been years since I ran something along the lines of a demo game, but DF fits that bill quite good. As it stands now, such games will help push the Magic reprint.

[OldSam]

Generally I think, the DF-line is really good for GURPS!

Though one thing is really missing in my opinion:
A DF-supplement with typical and some innovative dungeon-creatures / monsters!!

Ideally it should include some hints how powerful the included monsters are in a combat against groups with the default 250cp-templates from DF (as a kind of "challenge-rating").

I don't know if this is already planned but I'm very sure that almost every new player is looking for such a reference and IMO it would be also really nice for the experienced players (I'd buy it :p).