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Old 08-17-2015, 07:29 AM   #1
ArchonShiva
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
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Default One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

It's pretty easy to find entire volumes of advice, but that's often too much to digest for someone uncommitted to the system. How about some one-liners? You're allowed a short paragraph for explanation.

Don't try to do something cool and awesome with your first campaign.

One PC per player, 150 points, no exotic abilities. Possibly medieval with no magic (Caravan to Ein Arris), or modern with no powers (Cops?). You know that GURPS can do all that stuff, but you should start with something manageable. You can do cool and awesome next time.
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Old 08-17-2015, 07:38 AM   #2
Mathulhu
 
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

I have two.

Everyone should have fun.

Don't get caught up with the rules and the setting, make the time you spend together worthwhile.

The rules are guidelines.

The rules are there to help make your life easier not to dictate how things work and what happens.
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Old 08-17-2015, 07:39 AM   #3
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

If you've never played GURPS before, design your first campaign around GURPS Lite.

GURPS, as a massive toolkit system, is a long-term investment in fun. Unlike with many games, you can't just read the Basic Set and start playing. There are a lot of choices to be made so you can assemble the right set of rules and options for your campaign. And that's just the Basic Set! If you look beyond that, to the thousands of pages published for the system over the last decade, you'll be quickly overwhelmed. So take it slow. I know, GURPS Lite has no magic system, no spaceships, etc. But any number of campaigns can be designed around what is there, and much fun can be had using nothing but the rules in GURPS Lite. Learn that first, have a lot of fun, and then you'll have a much easier time diving into the Basic Set.
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Old 08-17-2015, 07:51 AM   #4
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

As a GM, read the whole list of skills, advantages and disadvantages and use the scissors heavily until you get a manageable number of them. Don't be scared to remove, replace, invent, merge or rename as many as you need.

GURPS, as a general game, defines a huge number of skills. Most of them won't be needed, and will not have sense, in your campaign. The same could be said regarding ads and disads.

Moreover, "renaming" advantages is your friend! Give cool names to old advantages such as "Ablative DR" or "Magic Resistance" and explain them in terms of your game!
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Old 08-17-2015, 07:53 AM   #5
Kalzazz
 
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

Kitchen sink monsters are your friend.

Any system ever in the annals of history handles 'mundane humans with mundane swords' swimmingly, and your players will rightly ask 'why are we doing this system? I already know and own the books for System X and it works great!'. So kick loose and allow the sentient blueberry muffins and so forth.

Perfection isn't necessary.

Your first campaign won't be perfect. It will probably be a chaotic, unbalanced mess where you look up rules and misinterpret them every five minutes. This is not a problem, there is a learning curve involved in everything. After 10+ years of doing GURPS I can still misinterpret things with the best of them.
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Old 08-17-2015, 08:00 AM   #6
ericthered
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

Don't allow what doesn't fit in the setting.

Gurps is notable for the variety of feels you can get with a setting. Pick the feeling you want, and axe any thing that doesn't fit.
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Old 08-17-2015, 08:03 AM   #7
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

Buy "How to be a GURPS GM" and actually read it.
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Old 08-17-2015, 09:16 AM   #8
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

Have a plot (begining middle and end) before you start. Avoid an all out sandbox.


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Old 08-17-2015, 09:43 AM   #9
whswhs
 
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nymdok View Post
Have a plot (begining middle and end) before you start. Avoid an all out sandbox.
Conversely,

If you have a story to tell, write a book.

Respect player character agency. Your players are co-creators of the story that emerges from playing; let their characters shape that story, even if it's not the one you expected.
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Old 08-17-2015, 09:45 AM   #10
RyanW
 
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Default Re: One-Line Advice for new GURPS GMs

Quote:
Originally Posted by GM Joe View Post
If you've never played GURPS before, design your first campaign around GURPS Lite.
I'd go a slightly different route with:

Until you really know what you're doing, start with GURPS Lite, and add only what you absolutely need.

Another:

Just because a character fits the rules doesn't mean it fits the game.
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