Compilation of source material for new players

[Belisar]

Update: I'll be on vacation for 3 weeks, in case you wonder that this post won't change for a while. Nonetheless, keep the feedback coming, I'll work it up when I'm back.

This thread serves as an introduction to the bare bones of GURPS and is especially aimed at new players. Thus, it will contain compiled basics material from the interwebs. Whenever possible it will make use of the most simplified options available from official GURPS supplements, so no homebrew rules will be included.

The journey starts here - Introduction

• What is GURPS?
  • GURPS isn't complex, and I will show you why - by Chris "Nose" Normand
• Is GURPS for you?
• Three Dice to rule them all: The 3D6 mechanics
  • Learning GURPS, Game Mechanics (Success roll) - by Chris "Nose" Normand
  • Getting things done: Success Roll
    • Contests
    • Modifiers
      • From BAD to Worse: The easy way of Basic Abstract Difficulty
        (Action: Exploits pp. 4/5)
      • Task Difficulty Ranges
        (Basic Set pp. 345/346)
  • Ouch time: Damage Roll

The Pretending Game - Character Creation

• Attributes
  • Main Attributes
  • Some minor math: Secondary Attributes
• Skills
  • Choose your flavour: GURPS Skill Primer - by Refplace
  • E Pluribus Unum: Wildcards!
    (Basic Set p.175; Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills)
• Character Traits
  • The Good: Advantages
  • The Bad: Disadvantages
  • The Ugly: Quirks
• Character Creation done quick and clean: Gurps Character Sheet
  • Where to get: GCS
  • How to use: Learning GURPS: GCS - by Chris "Nose" Normand

Let's go shopping - Equipment

• Armor
• Weapons
• Stuff

Live to learn - Character Advancement

• Attributes
• Skills
• Traits

Learn to live - Combat Basics

• Time to hurt
  • Eye to eye: Melee Combat
  • Death from afar: Ranged Combat
• Time to heal

Then teach others - Game Mastering 101

• I am on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan: Social interactions
  • By roleplaying
  • By Reaction Rolls

• Shake, Rattle and Roll: Build your own genre
  • A tale of TLs: The role of the Tech Level in your campaign
  • How much cinematic would you like? Pulp up your game with cinematic rules options
    (Basic Set pp. 417,488/489; Action 2 p.38; Monster Hunters 2 pp. 17, 19-22; How to be a GURPS GM p. 10, may Mook rest in peace.)
  • Absolute Power! The High-Powered Campaign
    (How to be a GURPS GM: High-Powered Origins)
• The beauty of violence, next adversary please! GURPS Monsters, NPCs and things that make life interesting! - by Refplace

[Belisar]

As a quasi follow up to the widely beloved and now closed GURPS News updated thread, I'm still looking for direction as a new player to make GURPS accessible to me. As there won't be a revised Basic Set or some entry level core rulebook/starter set (anyway soon or if at all) I only see a solution for me (I don't speak for other new players, but it may help them out as well) to compile and structure the existing material (if it's supplements, blog entries, podcasts, fan made adventures or whatever) in this thread in a structured order. There is much good stuff out there, but without proper guidance and direction much will be missed and/or read in a counter intuitive order.
So to sum it up, this thread is about compiling beginner-friendly material (solution) and no discussion thread of how SJG should do their job to create suitable entry level products (advice).

GURPS Lite will be probably mentioned very early on, but it offers just a basic presentation of the Mechanics (up to p. 3) and Attributes (up to p. 6), which suffices to give a basic summary of both. But then it starts to derail and throws in Advantages/Disadvantages from p. 6 on (Image and Looks) whose mechanics haven't been explained yet (actual explanation starting from mid p. 8 on). Regarding skills from p. 12 on, trying to explain the concept of Defaulting is placed too soon, as crunch it should better mentioned later (if at all in a Lite document). I'm aware the skill list is compressed and far from exhaustive. But if it's a stripped down list, why not stripping it further down where it makes sense? Is it really necessary to list Climbing, Jumping, Swimming as single skills, when Athletics would nicely fit as a container for those closely related skills? At least in a beginner friendly introductory document? There is still too much crunch cramped in a document that tries to explain the very bare bones of the system to beginners. For instance, is it really necessary to list overly detailed modifier for climbing (p. 22) like rope-up, rope-down, with or without equipment? Such crunch bits are a real off turner in a supposed Lite document (other examples for too much detail, the Throwing Distance table, Postures, Speed and Range, Falling Velocity). And a main drawback is, it lacks examples, there are no examples to certain mechanics like combat, skill usage, a filled out Char Sheet with commentary. It might sound nitpicky but I just wanted to demonstrate that the Lite document is not really a suitable "Read this First" document, when introducing GURPS, it rather adds to confusing new players. It is obvious, that the document is written with the mindset of a GURPS aficionado for players already comfortable with GURPS.

This out of the way, let the compiling begin! Any suggestion which material/article should be the very first read when it comes to the first contact with a new player?

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Belisar

or some entry level core rulebook/starter set

I'd call the the DFRPG this.

This out of the way, let the compiling begin! Any suggestion which material/article should be the very first read when it comes to the first contact with a new player?

p. B8 "How to Learn GURPS"
pp. B8-B9 "Quick Start"

[Refplace]

I tried ot organize a lot of the GURPS material on my blog in multiple ways, still an ongoing project.

[sparcipx]

How to be a GURPS GM and its follow-up material were invaluable to me when I first started playing in 2019. Maybe not so much as a player than as a GM, though.

[whswhs]

I find that table seriously lacking in that the only game mechanics it provides for playing is combat. What about, for example, social interaction? Search rolls, reaction rolls, influence rolls, and the like are a vital part of many campaigns; some of my campaigns make much more use of social interaction than of combat.

[Belisar]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I find that table seriously lacking in that the only game mechanics it provides for playing is combat. What about, for example, social interaction? Search rolls, reaction rolls, influence rolls, and the like are a vital part of many campaigns; some of my campaigns make much more use of social interaction than of combat.

This table is a living work in progress and surely far from being complete. I just started it and begun to collect feedback and add it as it keeps flowing. I still figure out where to place the various articles I find or am provided with like those of Refplace and Mook. If you have articles about Powers, Gear and TLs suitable for novice players out there, I'd love to add them, as the table will grow and Powers are an essential aspect of every generic toolkit.

[Refplace]

Keepign an eye on this thread and at a certain point likely to add a link to it from my blog, which is after all aimed primarily at newcomers.

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by Belisar

This thread serves as an introduction to the bare bones of GURPS and is especially aimed at new players. Thus, it will contain compiled basics material from the interwebs. Whenever possible it will make use of the most simplified options available from official GURPS supplements, so no homebrew rules will be included.

The journey starts here - Introduction

• What is GURPS?
  • GURPS isn't complex, and I will show you why - by Chris "Nose" Normand
• Is GURPS for you?
• Three Dice to rule them all - The 3D6 mechanics
  • Learning GURPS, Game Mechanics (Success roll) - by Chris "Nose" Normand
  • Getting things done: Success Roll
    • Contests
    • Modifiers
      • From BAD to Worse: The easy way of Basic Abstract Difficulty
        (Action: Exploits pp. 4/5)
      • Task Difficulty Ranges
        (Basic Set pp. 345/346)
  • Ouch time: Damage Roll

The Pretending Game - Character Creation

• Attributes
  • Main Attributes
  • Some minor math: Secondary Attributes
• Skills
  • E Pluribus Unum: Wildcards!
    (Basic Set p.175; Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills)
• Character Traits
  • The Good: Advantages
  • The Bad: Disadvantages
  • The Ugly: Quirks
• Character Creation done quick and clean: Gurps Character Sheet
  • Where to get: GCS
  • How to use: Learning GURPS: GCS - by Chris "Nose" Normand

Let's go shopping - Equipment

• Armor
• Weapons
• Stuff

Live to learn - Character Advancement

• Attributes
• Skills
• Traits

Learn to live - Combat Basics

• Time to hurt
  • Eye to eye: Melee Combat
  • Death from afar: Ranged Combat
• Time to heal

Then teach others - Game Mastering 101

• Shake, Rattle and Roll: Build your own genre
  • A tale of TLs: The role of the Tech Level in your campaign
  • How much cinematic would you like? Pulp up your game with cinematic options
    (Basic Set pp. 417,488/489; Action 2 p.38; Monster Hunters 2 pp. 17, 19-22)

I'm already exhausted and I'm not exactly new to GURPS.
Can't I just get the Basic Set and play?

[Belisar]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

I'm already exhausted and I'm not exactly new to GURPS.
Can't I just get the Basic Set and play?

Of course, you are an adult and free to chose your own destiny. No need to ask me for approval. =)

You maybe missed the very first sentence in my first post. I'm happy to refresh your memory:

This thread serves as an introduction to the bare bones of GURPS and is especially aimed at new players.

If you chose to partake in helping new players out, nonetheless, your feedback is always welcome.