Here's A Weird Little Thing I Did

David Johansen · 04-27-2021, 08:40 AM

http://www.uncouthsavage.com/uploads.../gurpscard.pdf

A while back a friend of mine got really obsessed with business card rpgs like Roll For Shoes. I did one up for D&D and my own science fiction rules. But the other night I was in a discussion about how complex GURPS is or isn't and how much it can be pared down.

Now, I'll admit there's a couple of concepts I didn't explain well enough, and 7 point text is practically cheating but there's a minimum number of skills you need to include.

But I was thinking it could probably be done in 9 point text on a playing card and SJG does playing cards. Anyhow, I was thinking of doing a magic and fantasy card but wondered what people thought before I went ahead with it. Also, fair warning, I'm not sure it would print out right on a sheet of business cards.

Blind Mapmaker · 04-27-2021, 09:36 AM

While I admire the fact that you were able to fit so much on the size of a business card, it still feels a bit too constrained for me.

You might want to take a look at GURPS Ultra-Lite (http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-ultra-lite), which - while not exactly GURPS manages to be quite comprehensive.

What I'd like to see are more products like GURPS Combat Cards that you can distribute to new players to helpt them get into the game. For example a set of advantage and disadvantage cards would be really helpful. I think skills are probably not that problematic, but spell cards would also be great. You could even play a little mage duel with them. I wonder why nobody ever had that game idea before ^^;

David Johansen · 04-27-2021, 12:40 PM

The idea was to show that the functional core of GURPS would fit on a business card. When I did my D&D one it wound up with 11 supplemental cards, which rather defeats the purpose.

Maybe GURPS in one page. Ultra Light isn't what I'm trying to do. I'm just isolation the core to demonstrate that it's not that complex.

The problems with the card are that the advantages and disadvantages are never explained and Active Defenses are never actually linked to parry and dodge. I left out block, it's too much like parry and there were space considerations.

JulianLW · 04-27-2021, 12:51 PM

David,

I think this is an excellent idea, but rather than a business card, I think a one-page, front and back format would be ideal.

Page 1 could have info from Characters, and page 2, the other side, could have info from Campaigns. But instead of trying to cover all the Ads and Disads, assume that the person with access to the page also has access to the books - instead of attempting to cover the whole game, this would just be a supplement that a GM could give to first-time players that explained the GURPS rules: here are all the essentials right here.

As a final note, this would get even more useful if you could leave a blank space at the bottom of the Characters side of the sheet for the player to list "My PC's Special Features," i.e. important notes for Ads and Disads. On the other side, leave a blank space for "My PC's Attacks and Defenses."

David Johansen · 04-27-2021, 05:12 PM

Thanks, with a whole page I can fit a quarter page character sheet. Maybe I'll do up a 4.25 x 5.5 booklet like an old school SJG minigame that'd be fun.

Blind Mapmaker · 04-27-2021, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JulianLW

David,
Page 1 could have info from Characters, and page 2, the other side, could have info from Campaigns. But instead of trying to cover all the Ads and Disads, assume that the person with access to the page also has access to the books - instead of attempting to cover the whole game, this would just be a supplement that a GM could give to first-time players that explained the GURPS rules: here are all the essentials right here.

I agree with this sentiment, except that you should take care not to violate copyright when including stuff from the Basic Set. Might be better to stick to info from GURPS Lite. As for the advantages / disadvantages / skills, even if people don't have their books with them GURPS Update has a near-complete listing of them and that's free and rather easy to print out.

Hide · 04-28-2021, 12:23 AM

David, your idea is great!

For the booklet I would recommend the size of a GAME-BOY's game manual:
4 1/2 x 3 3/8 inches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

I agree with this sentiment, except that you should take care not to violate copyright when including stuff from the Basic Set. Might be better to stick to info from GURPS Lite. As for the advantages / disadvantages / skills, even if people don't have their books with them GURPS Update has a near-complete listing of them and that's free and rather easy to print out.

The Blind Mapmaker has spoken.
I second this.

Extrarius · 04-28-2021, 07:10 AM

Every time somebody talks about GURPS Lite, I think how it'd be nice to have a short document that explains the rules without including a giant catalog of anything. Something like a rules primer that explained the rules and only had a couple of example skills (and advantages etc) to demonstrate how it works would be great for introducing a new player to the ideas used in GURPS.

Basically, I'd love something short that a GM with all the things could hand to a newbie to explain how the point buy works and the resolution mechanics used in play. Just enough that they'll be able to work with the GM a bit easier.

04-27-2021, 08:40 AM	#1
David Johansen Join Date: Dec 2005	Here's A Weird Little Thing I Did http://www.uncouthsavage.com/uploads.../gurpscard.pdf A while back a friend of mine got really obsessed with business card rpgs like Roll For Shoes. I did one up for D&D and my own science fiction rules. But the other night I was in a discussion about how complex GURPS is or isn't and how much it can be pared down. Now, I'll admit there's a couple of concepts I didn't explain well enough, and 7 point text is practically cheating but there's a minimum number of skills you need to include. But I was thinking it could probably be done in 9 point text on a playing card and SJG does playing cards. Anyhow, I was thinking of doing a magic and fantasy card but wondered what people thought before I went ahead with it. Also, fair warning, I'm not sure it would print out right on a sheet of business cards. __________________ http://www.neutralgroundgames.com

04-27-2021, 09:36 AM	#2
Blind Mapmaker Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Mannheim, Baden	Re: Here's A Weird Little Thing I Did While I admire the fact that you were able to fit so much on the size of a business card, it still feels a bit too constrained for me. You might want to take a look at GURPS Ultra-Lite (http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-ultra-lite), which - while not exactly GURPS manages to be quite comprehensive. What I'd like to see are more products like GURPS Combat Cards that you can distribute to new players to helpt them get into the game. For example a set of advantage and disadvantage cards would be really helpful. I think skills are probably not that problematic, but spell cards would also be great. You could even play a little mage duel with them. I wonder why nobody ever had that game idea before ^^; __________________ My GURPS and mapmaking blog: The Blind Mapmaker

04-27-2021, 12:40 PM	#3
David Johansen Join Date: Dec 2005	Re: Here's A Weird Little Thing I Did The idea was to show that the functional core of GURPS would fit on a business card. When I did my D&D one it wound up with 11 supplemental cards, which rather defeats the purpose. Maybe GURPS in one page. Ultra Light isn't what I'm trying to do. I'm just isolation the core to demonstrate that it's not that complex. The problems with the card are that the advantages and disadvantages are never explained and Active Defenses are never actually linked to parry and dodge. I left out block, it's too much like parry and there were space considerations. __________________ http://www.neutralgroundgames.com

04-27-2021, 12:51 PM	#4
JulianLW Join Date: Apr 2019	Re: Here's A Weird Little Thing I Did David, I think this is an excellent idea, but rather than a business card, I think a one-page, front and back format would be ideal. Page 1 could have info from Characters, and page 2, the other side, could have info from Campaigns. But instead of trying to cover all the Ads and Disads, assume that the person with access to the page also has access to the books - instead of attempting to cover the whole game, this would just be a supplement that a GM could give to first-time players that explained the GURPS rules: here are all the essentials right here. As a final note, this would get even more useful if you could leave a blank space at the bottom of the Characters side of the sheet for the player to list "My PC's Special Features," i.e. important notes for Ads and Disads. On the other side, leave a blank space for "My PC's Attacks and Defenses."

04-27-2021, 05:12 PM	#5
David Johansen Join Date: Dec 2005	Re: Here's A Weird Little Thing I Did Thanks, with a whole page I can fit a quarter page character sheet. Maybe I'll do up a 4.25 x 5.5 booklet like an old school SJG minigame that'd be fun. __________________ http://www.neutralgroundgames.com

04-28-2021, 07:10 AM	#8
Extrarius Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Psionic Ward	Re: Here's A Weird Little Thing I Did Every time somebody talks about GURPS Lite, I think how it'd be nice to have a short document that explains the rules without including a giant catalog of anything. Something like a rules primer that explained the rules and only had a couple of example skills (and advantages etc) to demonstrate how it works would be great for introducing a new player to the ideas used in GURPS. Basically, I'd love something short that a GM with all the things could hand to a newbie to explain how the point buy works and the resolution mechanics used in play. Just enough that they'll be able to work with the GM a bit easier.