GURPS Does It The Hard Way!

[The_Nightwatch]

The other thing (this just occurred to me), is that it's hard to make scenarios for a generic, universal game that are going to be generic & universal. Here's an example, from the scenario in GURPS Cliffhangers (for 3rd edition), p. 86:

"Try as they will, the investigators won't be able to find any clues besides the matchbook from the Blue Room."

Railroading, anyone?

Now, look, I realize Cliffhangers was based on old pulp fiction (lower case), and wasn't meant to be Agatha Christie. But the reason I and my buddies play GURPS is precisely because we're tired of single-genre games. So someone with Psychometry can't find any clues? A mage with divination spells? A Star Trek Vulcan can't? How about Obi-Wan??

Scenarios work best for very limited campaigns/games, at least ones limited to a single genre, unless you're going to write them up for every conceivable character type. I suspect the biggest market for them is for single-genre game systems, not so much for generic, universal ones.

[Nymdok]

Your right, it IS tough to make scenarios that will work for GURPS. THe main reason is that everyone spends their points differently. There is almost no way to gague them.

The point is If i gave you 150 points and said make a soldier would you...

Spend 150 points on social and administrative skills/ads to be an officer?

150 on A rock n rollin, M60 totin, Born To Kill maniac?

150 on a stealthy tunnel rat?

150 on driving skills for a tank operator?

and thats if you AGREE that we all play soldiers from the outset!



I made an attempt in another thread. Ill see if I cant get combat more or less scalable and then maybe we can move on to the other stuff.

We'll seee how it goes.

Nymdok

[Ragitsu]

Very sly "pimp my thread", Nymdok ;-).

[The_Nightwatch]

@Nymdok: Exactly. On the other hand, I hope my post didn't come across as totally negative. Coming up with scenarios that will work for darned near anything would be pretty cool!!

[PrinceYyrkoon]

Cant say Ive run a scenario out of the box either, at least not since the first 'Slavers' module, and that didnt go too well from what I remember. I just mine them for ideas too.

No, I was just whinging, I guess, at having to do some work. Maybe a nice friendly face on the cover would do wonders for customer confidence.

Now, to say that there is a complete setting in the Campaign book is stretching it a little, dont you think? Its basically just an outline.

I know the strengths of the system, or at least Im learning to love it, but it seems to me, Gurps has never done itself any favours. I think people are loyal to it despite the strategy, not because of it. And you know, a generic system [I]can[I] have lots of scenario support. I dont think it necessarily leads to bankruptcy. Im not saying that Gurps doesnt have some though.

I can imagine a fantasy setting with its own rules variants, pretty maps, bestiary and multi-scenario campaign would go down really well. Id buy it, and I dont think Id be the only one to do so either. Maybe it would even increase sales of the rulebooks. Stranger things have happened.

[The_Nightwatch]

Originally Posted by PrinceYyrkoon

No, I was just whinging, I guess, at having to do some work. Maybe a nice friendly face on the cover would do wonders for customer confidence.

Well, I can't claim in all these years not to have gone blank and not been able to come up with something! So I hear what you're saying. Heck, keep posting; if enough people are agreeing they want these things, maybe an author or SJG will decide there's enough of a market and crank some out.

[Woodman]

I cant see where GURPS is lacking Settings, even only for 4E there are "Casey & Andy","Infinite Worlds","Britanica 6","Collegio Januari","Lost Worlds","Banestorm","Traveler ISW" and "Vorkosigan Saga" and given how easy it is to use the old 3E books i would say GURPS has an abundance of settings from historical accurate real world to four color super hero.

[sjard]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

Very sly "pimp my thread", Nymdok ;-).

Posts like this do not add anything to a thread. Please refrain from making them.

[PrinceYyrkoon]

Originally Posted by Woodman

I cant see where GURPS is lacking Settings, even only for 4E there are "Casey & Andy","Infinite Worlds","Britanica 6","Collegio Januari","Lost Worlds","Banestorm","Traveler ISW" and "Vorkosigan Saga" and given how easy it is to use the old 3E books i would say GURPS has an abundance of settings from historical accurate real world to four color super hero.

Settings with integral campaigns attached. NPCs, region maps, floorplans, bestiary, specific setting rules, scenarios, that kind of thing. So the option is there for lazy GMs, or uninspired ones maybe. Its like looking at a blank piece of paper in a way.

Im not saying that Gurps doesnt have these products, but theyre pretty well hidden I think for a novice to chance upon. The back catalogue is almost impossible to navigate for a late-comer. The supplements approach the matter in the same way as the core books do often, by being further toolboxes. Pick up Space, for instance, and theres generic rules covering most aspects of a scifi rpg. Ancient Rome, the same. Fantasy, the same. Is there an equivalent of something like Griffin Mountain, or the Giants series? I suppose 3rd ed Conan had scenarios so maybe Im wrong. Its possibly just the impression Ive got of Gurps.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by The_Nightwatch

Well, I can't claim in all these years not to have gone blank and not been able to come up with something! So I hear what you're saying. Heck, keep posting; if enough people are agreeing they want these things, maybe an author or SJG will decide there's enough of a market and crank some out.

SJ Games doesn't crank out GURPS products. Even vital components of the product line in the like of High Tech and Low-Tech are written by free-lancers, not staffers, and they languish on the wish list until a suitable author puts his hand up to write them. Maybe they have staff designers who work on Munchkin products, but basically its a pretty small company that doesn't have a lot of staff. And it is primarily a publishing company. It doesn't have writing staff to speak of.

I think the people who want scenarios have already got through to SJ Games. If you look at the wish list you will see that 'adventures' is right at the top. The company is already persuaded, and they are just waiting for a qualified writer to volunteer to write.

So what you have to do is persuade the qualified writers to put their spare time into writing for SJ Games, and into writing adventures rather than anything else. And the big problem that you face here is that SJ Games pays writers a commission on sales. The sad fact is that adventures sell less than the settings they are set in. And settings sell less than genres. And genre books sell less than rules.

Suppose I wrote a dozen terrific adventures set in Tales of the Solar Patrol: GURPS's fantasy and modern/historical fans wouldn't buy them; Transhuman Space and Interstellar Wars fans wouldn't buy them. Not all even of TotSP fans would buy them. So I wouldn't get paid very much. In fact, I'd end up getting paid less than I would be paid writing for Pyramid or JTAS. Lots of people want adventures, but insufficiently many want any particular adventure.

Now, it is possible that the availability of those dozen terrific adventures would attract interest in Tales of the Solar Patrol and cause more sales of the TotSP setting PDF, plus Spaceships, Ultra-Tech, and even of the basic set. And these extra sales might be enough to justify SJ Games bearing the cost of playtesting, editing, and production of a series of PDFs that don't sell very well. But that isn't enough to attract a writer to the low-rent end of the market. Because the writers don't get paid for making it rain in other buckets.