New to GURPS my head hurts

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

That would TOTALLY WORK! Though I wouldn't jump straight to some BoS guys. I'd have it be a merchant caravan going from town to town having to fight off some legion and negotiate with tribals.

Yeah, that fits the scale of the original adventure a lot better.

[benz72]

Since it is a free resource, is there anybody interested in reworking Caravan as a Post apocolypse setting? or as a space trader setting? I think those alt.caravan kinds of adventures would be a really neat showcase of GURPS flexability, not to mention allow 1st time gamers to start in their genera of choice.

[Gollum]

The hint I wanted to give you have already been given, but I would like to emphasize it: begin with GURPS Lite and add other rules as you really become comfortable with GURPS Lite rules.

GURPS Lite is not really an "Introduction to roleplaying", because, for a true newcomer, it is hard to learn what a role playing game is just with it. But it is an outstanding introduction to GURPS! All the important rules in only 32 pages... And these are not simplified rules. These are the true rules. Once you will begin to use the Basic Set, you won't have to change anyhting: your players' characters and your habits will remain exactly the same.

Fallout is a very good setting to start. No magic and no psionic are required. So, almost everything you need is in GURPS Lite.

Thus, don't use anything else... Except the lists of equipment which are in Basic Set, Characters (at the end of the book), to have enough weapons and armors to offer to your players. And, maybe, the rules about Rapid Fire (Basic Set, Campaigns, page 373) if you want to give your players weapons that can fire in bursts. Add to that the rules about Explosion (Basic Set, Campaigns, pages 414-415). And you will have everything you need. Really.

The rest is just detail to add fun to the game (hit locations, bleeding, etc.). But you don't need it to start. And your players don't need it too. Too much detail could confuse them!

Originally Posted by nanoboy

First, take a deep breath. Relax. The first rule for people new to GURPS is that you don't have to use everything. Start with the simple stuff. Remember that GURPS is a very big tool box, and right now, you just need to learn how to use a hammer and a wrench. Socket sets and rotary tools can wait.

Exactly! GURPS is a toolkit. It is so true that even the most experienced game masters don't use all the rules. This is even impossible! Some optional rules are incompatible with others: some are designed for harshly realistic games (bleeding, for example) why some are made for heroic or super-heroic campaigns. So, don't be afraid by the thickness of the books. Rules are not at all designed to be used all at the same time. They are made to be used only when you want it. Almost everything is optional!

Oh... I also had to tell you... If you are used to an other role playing game (D&D, Call of Cthulhu...) the combat turn is very different in GURPS - which is not always easy to understand.

1) It is much shorter: only 1 second.
2) There is no generic turn. Each turn is the turn of one character. So, the turns of the different characters do overlap.

With a classic role playing game, it gives this...

Turn 1
-- Character 1
-- Character 2
-- Character 3
-- ...
Turn 2
-- Character 1
-- Character 2
-- Character 3
-- ...
Turn 3
-- Character 1
-- Character 2
-- Character 3
-- ...

With GURPS, it gives this...


Character 1, turn 1
-- Character 2, turn 1
----- Character 3, turn 1
-------- ...
----------- Character 1, turn 2
-------------- Character 2, turn 2
----------------- Character 3, turn 2
-------------------- ...
----------------------- Character 1, turn 3
-------------------------- Character 2, turn 3
----------------------------- Character 3, turn 3
-------------------------------- ...

Which means, for example, that Character 3 turn 1 is not over when character 1 turn 2 begins. Character 3 turn 1 will be over only when Character 3 turn 2 will begin.

[OldSam]

It's important to avoid reading too much (unnecessary) stuff in the beginning...
As others already said the essential stuff (ruleswise) is GURPS Lite, which can easily be expanded with more skills etc. from Basic, even without introducing new rules (you can do that little by little).

In the Basic:Characters I'd recommend concentrating on the Introduction and Chapter 1, only the first pages of Chapter 2,3,4 (just basics about Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills) and the complete Combat Lite (starts at p.324).
Reading all the details about Advantages, Disadvantages, Magic, PSI etc. is information overload for a Newbie, you really don't need this for a simple start. Using "only" the attributes and skills at first, already allows a lot of things in a GURPS-Game, e.g. kicking doors, perceiving traps and jumping over them, resisting injuries or poison, sneaking around and stealing stuff, solving scientific or technical tasks, fighting unarmed and with normal weapons etc.
If you go through the details of Advantages, Disadvantages, Skill-Descriptions etc. think of it as a shopping catalogue, look at the headlines and only read what is interesting and/or what is needed at the moment.

[benz72]

IF you are considering computer assisted character generation, I found out that GCA can be fairly easily edited to remove all the inappropriate equipment by TL and such. I've heard there is also an easy way to take out all the supers/mystic/cinematic stuff, but I haven't looked for it, so don't know where it is.

[swampthing]

Originally Posted by Gollum

2) There is no generic turn. Each turn is the turn of one character.

... which is basically what "turn" means to regular people, who understand playing games by taking turns.

D&D has a lot to answer for, having ever perversely used the word "turn" to indicate more than one person doing something.

But I digress.

[Opellulo]

Good luck with that! While Fallout is a setting i love the problem in a GURPS game is that you don't got any support matherial (Stats for Gear, NPC, Maps and the rest of "handy" stuff) and Fallout is a pretty "heavy" setting.

For the first sessions better to start with something more "vanilla" until you and your players can handle better the ruleset.

The first way to hate GURPS is to launch with it in the cliff of a tricky setting without an adequate support material parachute.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by Opellulo

Good luck with that! While Fallout is a setting i love the problem in a GURPS game is that you don't got any support matherial (Stats for Gear, NPC, Maps and the rest of "handy" stuff) and Fallout is a pretty "heavy" setting.

For the first sessions better to start with something more "vanilla" until you and your players can handle better the ruleset.

The first way to hate GURPS is to launch with it in the cliff of a tricky setting without an adequate support material parachute.

Meh, I think it works fine. That Fallout conversion floating around on the web is pretty well done, though I'd drop the psychics and the direct conversion of video game stats to GURPS traits.

You have four "races" (human, ghoul, super-mutant, and robot), Tech Level from 0 (tribals) to 9 (BoS/Enclave/Vault), etc. There's a setting wiki that you can use to figure out what you need to convert. There's a lot of resources and nothing TOO crazy as far as powers.

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by swampthing

... which is basically what "turn" means to regular people, who understand playing games by taking turns.
D&D has a lot to answer for, having ever perversely used the word "turn" to indicate more than one person doing something.
But I digress.

No, it is not a digression... At least, to my mind.

Indeed, it is something very important to understand GURPS combats.

In ordinary games, like card games for instance, there is no general turn, as you wrote it. But turns are still different from GURPS turns: your turn begins when you start playing and ends when the next player starts playing. In GURPS, to the contrary, the turn lasts until your next turn (not just until the turn of the following character). It can be crucial!

Suppose, for instance that character 2 (in my examples above) chose the all-out attack maneuver during his first turn. He doesn't have any defense until his next turn, which means that character 3, 4, 5, etc., and even character 1, will have the possibility to attack him with no chance for him to parry, block or dodge their blows. Then, choosing an all-out attack become an dramatic choice. It grants a bonus, sure, but it has an important drawback.

It is well explained in the rules. But, in my humble opinion, emphasizing it for beginners is important. A lot of misunderstandings about GURPS combats come from a misunderstanding about GURPS turn.

[jacobmuller]

Originally Posted by harliquin76

have been reading the character basic book all day. My head hurts.

Funnily enough, GURPS didn't do that to me. Just bought the new RQII rules (they were going cheap and I wanted to compare them to the old ones) and was fine until I got to combat... I'm sticking to GURPS, it's simpler. Although there was an amusing maneuver.