How to Be a GURPS GM: Managing Expectations

[Boge]

Originally Posted by pestigor

I think this has set back Gurps the most over the last 20 years. The most visible people talking about Gurps publicly seem to be the ones clinging to the idea that Gurps is a simulator and that has turned off a lot of people.

I think this product can do a lot to help Gurps' misunderstood reputation. I try to point out Gurps is a toolkit and just "use the options you want" on other forums. I also believe there has been a change in "climate" on these forums recently (the place I still believe people curious about Gurps get their first real look at it) has been in a very positive direction.

My group often argues over rulings. Our GM usually favors the side of realism despite what the rules might say. I often mention the fine line of realism vs gameplay balance. They rarely listen to me. I think Gurps is a game first and a simulator second. I believe a lot of the rules are the way they are for gameplay balance and fun. It doesn't change that they like to adjust things for realism. It bothers me.

[Willy]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Something like GURPS Lite plus Caravan to Ein Arris?

Yes and that for several scenarios, covering also the basic staples horror, SciFi, Western, Spec Ops, and Generic Fantasy ( aka with magic and dragons ), a nice addon would be espionage/conspiracy and WWII.

There is literally no free adventure for starters which you can play with newbies besides Caravan and All in a Nights work.

Of course it will cost a bit money, but a lack of new players, will kill GURPS on the long run. If you want to make business you have to invest.

[ericthered]

As far as the simulator goes, There is a nice benefit about gurps's.... "proximity" to a being reality simulator: I can take any effect I can think of, from fiction to reality to my wild home-created settings, and ask what it looks like in Gurps. And in many cases, get good resources. Gurp's incredible flexibility in many ways comes from abstracting a lot less than some other games, so it can represent specific situations.

I've also really enjoyed Gurps and Gurps fans interest in history and science. RPG's can be great tools for exploring history, and Gurps is ideal for that. Does that count as being a "reality simulator"? Maybe? but at some point, you need to have the GM say we're all here to have fun, and balance the education with some solid action. I don't want to play in a world that is 99% the GM cranking a wheel to churn out numbers. Though gurps is often a nice tool for providing an lightweight version of that wheel that doesn't take 99% of the game.

Originally Posted by Willy

There is literally no free adventure for starters which you can play with newbies besides Caravan and All in a Nights work.

At least not officially. A fan has been working hard on making a series of one shot adventures for gurps (though he usually includes one other system as well). Of course, its unofficial, with all that that entails.

[Willy]

Originally Posted by ericthered

At least not officially. A fan has been working hard on making a series of one shot adventures for gurps (though he usually includes one other system as well). Of course, its unofficial, with all that that entails.

I know and really love the 1shotadventures, great stuff and for free, especially the ideas behind the design of the plots help you in creating or adapting your own stuff. BUT it´s not the job of the fans to do SJGs job. There are also some minor quests and adventures you can find while browsing through the web.

There is a demand in professional written GURPS Adventures and literally nobody is catering to it. I´m really missing the old classic books filled with good written adventures for space, fantasy and much genres more. They can be easily fitted to 4th Ed., but you have to do it yourself. On the one side SJG writes they are short on money, on the other side they let money lying on the table.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Willy

There is a demand in professional written GURPS Adventures and literally nobody is catering to it.

The second part of that statement is wrong (1shotadventures publishes better-than-average adventures with good production values), and how do you know the first? SJG has sales figures, and they find that adventures sell poorly and always have.

Whether someone publishes an adventure with a publisher for sale or releases it for free is a business decision. Since adventures do not make good business sense for SJG, it makes sense for people to publish them informally.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

The second part of that statement is wrong (1shotadventures publishes better-than-average adventures with good production values), and how do you know the first? SJG has sales figures, and they find that adventures sell poorly and always have.

The difficulty is that the core books sell better than toolkit and gear books, which sell better than genre books, which sell better than setting books, which sell better than adventure books. It's possible to counteract this with if the adventures are in a fairly narrowly defined genre with wide appeal, and that applies, of course, to dungeon fantasy. But I'm not sure it applies to any other line from SJ Games.

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by whswhs

The difficulty is that the core books sell better than toolkit and gear books, which sell better than genre books, which sell better than setting books, which sell better than adventure books. It's possible to counteract this with if the adventures are in a fairly narrowly defined genre with wide appeal, and that applies, of course, to dungeon fantasy. But I'm not sure it applies to any other line from SJ Games.

It might be true that by nature those who prefer GURPS don't fit the model but Paizo is making bank selling adventure paths. It's not for me as I'm far more of a sandbox guy but I would think that a good campaign setting like the current default one might sell some adventures if there was a campaign arc with a series of modules that pretty much took the PCs from start to finish.

One off adventures seem to fall in between the two camps. Those who want more aren't that interested and the do it yourselfers aren't either.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

It might be true that by nature those who prefer GURPS don't fit the model but Paizo is making bank selling adventure paths.

I'm not familiar with Paizo at all. Do they do straight dungeon fantasy, or is their material multigenre?

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I'm not familiar with Paizo at all. Do they do straight dungeon fantasy, or is their material multigenre?

Paizo is the creator of Pathfinder. The vast majority of their stuff is within that system, but they also have a sci-fi version called Starfinder. Not sure the current breakdown of what they produce.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

It might be true that by nature those who prefer GURPS don't fit the model but Paizo is making bank selling adventure paths. It's not for me as I'm far more of a sandbox guy but I would think that a good campaign setting like the current default one might sell some adventures if there was a campaign arc with a series of modules that pretty much took the PCs from start to finish.

I think selling adventures can make more sense for Lovecraftian or Dungeon Fantasy games because those each make a promise about what the setting and adventures are like. Lovecraftian adventures are about cosmic horror in the industrial age, D&D is about dungeon crawls and fantasyland. GURPS can't do it because it promises that the world works like our world does until the weird cool stuff begins. Adventures for a campaign about 1930s adventures and punching Nazis will not sell to a group whose campaigns are all about space traders or intrigue at a fantasy court. Also, the market for Paizo or the latest WotC D&D is tens of times bigger than the market for GURPS!

There was a time when D&D was heavily marketed at a 14-to-22-year old beginning market. That may have changed, but I think GURPS fans tend to be older and more curious than the average gamer, so they have different expectations.

I find that good adventures are hard to find in general. I would be interested in a review site by someone with some education in history / linguistics / archaeology.