opinions for a new player to build a system!

[missystrange]

hello! i'm looking to get into GURPS to help create a new system. none of the systems i'm familiar with are really good for what i'm trying to do, so i'm excited to get into GURPS, buuuuut there's just SO MANY dang source books, i don't know where to start.

i'm going to be creating a Borderlands game for my friends, which for those unfamiliar, is a universe with a LOT of Guns, but also high levels of technology, near magical aliens, vehicles, melee combat, monsters, special skills for each PC, spaceships, and inhospitable environments.

is there a sourcebook with rules for all of these? or more likely, which sourcebooks should i start looking into to cobble together a system? many thanks to anyone who can give me some pointers!

[Mark Skarr]

First of all:
Do you have this?
If not, why not? It's not GURPS but I would suggest you start there.

After that, start with the Basic Set (Characters and Campaigns), I would then say High Tech, UltraTech and Powers (in that order). Then Spaceships. I would avoid Martial Arts as it would add a lot of complexity that wouldn't add to a Boderlands feel.

Dungeon Fantasy RPG would be another good place to look for some simplification.

You're not going to find an easy way to just do Borderlands in GURPS with a sourcebook. You're going to want to look at stuff and do a lot of eyeballing.

We played fast-and-loose with a lot of it for our own Borderlands-inspired game.

[ETA]
Action and Monster Hunters would also probably be some great source material.
[/ETA]

[missystrange]

that pic looks so cool!! yeah, i found that Bunkers And Badasses one, it looked neat. but i wanted to be able to let my players make their own Vault Hunters, so i wanted something i could comfortably play around with.

these are some killer suggestions, thank you! eyeballing and playing it loosely seems like my best bet for sure, and i have some good starting points now.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by missystrange

i'm going to be creating a Borderlands game for my friends, which for those unfamiliar, is a universe with a LOT of Guns, but also high levels of technology, near magical aliens, vehicles, melee combat, monsters, special skills for each PC, spaceships, and inhospitable environments.

is there a sourcebook with rules for all of these? or more likely, which sourcebooks should i start looking into to cobble together a system? many thanks to anyone who can give me some pointers!

My website lists and reviews a number of GURPS products, also links to the GURPS Wiki and some tutorials that should be helpful.
The Humble Bundle available til tomorrow? is a great deal right now and you'll want High-Tech and it seems UltraTech so grab the tech bundle.

Not familiar with Borderlands so my advice is constrained by that. Is it cinematic or gritty and realistic? (sounds not but I want to be sure)
All the skills you need should be covered in GURPS Basic, maybe you want to expand with Wildcards (basically cinematic skill bundles).
High-Tech and Ultra-Tech probably have most of the gear you need, vehicles are pretty easy to build if you are basing them off real world stuff.

GURPS Basic really has most of what you need except for gear but other books really help by going into more detail or doing a lot of the building for you.

[Mark Skarr]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Not familiar with Borderlands so my advice is constrained by that. Is it cinematic or gritty and realistic? (sounds not but I want to be sure)

It's everything turned up to 12, and then the knob is continued to be turned. Rule of Cool is only superseded in Borderlands by the Rule of Funny.

Michael Bay looks at Mr. Torgue and says "that may be too many explosions."

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

It's everything turned up to 12, and then the knob is continued to be turned. Rule of Cool is only superseded in Borderlands by the Rule of Funny.

Michael Bay looks at Mr. Torgue and says "that may be too many explosions."

OK, Gun Fu added to my list of recommendations!
The Action series might be useful too, but Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys seems like a good idea also.

Also to the Op: Be sure to check out the free previews for any book your considering, it will give you a decent idea what is in it and of course you can ask us.

[shawnhcorey]

Start with GURPS Lite. It's free. You can download it from Warehouse23. Play a one-shot adventure with it to get a feel for GURPS.