Dungeon Fantasy, Action!, Monster Hunters... what other like that would you like?

[Tyneras]

I think the hard part would be making it distinct in a deep and obvious way from GURPS Monster Hunters. You could easily replace Champions/Mission/Enemy/Sidekicks with Marines/Mission/Bugs/Spaceship and have it come off like a carbon copy money grab, even if it worked great. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see some more scifi stuff from GURPS, but I don't wanna feel like I'm buying the same thing with a new coat of paint either.

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

A slightly more focused GURPS Bughunt or GURPS Space Opera rather than a kitchen sink throwing everything with sci-fi tropes might be a better place to start. Basically, combine Star Trek, Stargate, and a stack of FPS video games: exploration + firepower, wrapped up in shiny tech. If it works, then start adding on, much like DF keeps getting add-ons. I keep toying with an outline, but other things keep taking priority.

This is exactly what I want, and I'd call it GURPS Bughunt.

Originally Posted by Kromm

I definitely would love to see a "badasses in space" series that draws heavily on Aliens and a whole bunch of far campier films (Doom, Pitch Black, Soldier, Starship Troopers, etc.) . . . with suitable nods to video games, particularly Alien Swarm. What these influences have in common is that the spaceships just get you there, and then go away or crash, staying off-screen. You then fight aliens or mutants or whatever with high-tech gear, typically as part of a team of specialists. They also share the underlying assumption of a big space empire across which you could travel to take on many such hunts. I think this subgenre meets all the requirements: focus on characters over gear, well-defined roles, a distinctive "feel," and a clear sense of what to do.

I mostly agree, though I think you could include Spaceships support as a kind of 'you can also do this!' type thing, probably as an extra supplement. The Spaceships supplement would include support for a number of Space Opera Spaceships tropes, like cinematic engineering (we have to stop the warp core breach!/the holodeck people came to life and flung us into the future!/easily half of Star Trek plots), and it should include advice on how to handle PCs who are primarily ground-pounders in a Spaceships battle. The core of the series shouldn't focus on the spaceships, but it'd be a shame if you didn't link it and the GURPS Spaceships line at all, though that supplement shouldn't completely require the Spaceships line to work.

Tyneras:

While a Bughunt is superficially similar to Monster Hunters, it's got completely different tropes and setting/genre assumptions. Death is not something easily ignored in a proper Bughunt - when it happens, it should be serious, and it should happen often! The character templates would be completely different. There is typically no magic in a Bughunt, though Psionics do have their place. Sidekicks don't usually exist, and the Monsters are completely different. Some of the bits from the Mission could be useful, but not all of it - for one thing, a Bughunt usually has little focus on Investigation/Research and high focus on being surprised by the enemy.

The only thing that's really similar is that they're both about killing inhuman monsters, but that's about the only thing that's similar.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Kromm

And then we played Aliens-inspired campaign after Aliens-inspired campaign using Space Opera, Traveller, and any other system that had spaceships.

Been there, blew that up from orbit as the only way to be sure; our path was Space Opera to GURPS. Aliens had a huge influence on the people I gamed with; the jump to GURPS included home-brewing to make sure that we had weapons and armor to match what Hudson, Hicks, and Vasquez were waving around. Even when we dealt with more political material (one of our regular GMs was a big Traveller guy and had a hard time letting go of that particular aspect of the background), it all looked like the Nostromo, the drop-ship, and everything else, and we were all still about firepower and shooting up xenomorphs.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I'm not really sure that sort of game is all that popular anymore. I do think that whatever the meta-genre of Halo, Unreal, Killzone and so on is.

I wouldn't put Halo and Unreal into the same genre so lightly? For a skiffy shooter with weird weapons, the Unreal series is pretty serious, gritty towards the main character, and to humanity in general, and has interesting transhumanistic insertions. Halo is more Spess Mehrines (except it's not WH40K). IMHO Unreal feels more like far-future version of Alien 2, while Halo seems like Black Ops Characters In Space, sort of.

No idea what Killzone is.

P.S. sir_pudding, no insult to real Marines intended; the two types seem to have little to none in common.

[Kromm]

The window-dressing is largely the difference in these series. You can only go so far when limiting yourself to the basic theme of "10-12 unique character types who band together to undertake usually violent missions against unpleasant opponents" . . . which is really what best suits the format. Whether your character types are called "cleric" and "wizard", "medic" and "wire rat", or "crusader" and "witch"; whether the missions are "dungeons," "jobs," or "hunts"; whether the opponents are "monsters," "villains," or "The Enemy" . . . it's all fairly similar. It's just that Dungeon Fantasy adds low-tech trappings, lots of supernatural powers, and the unique touch of treasure; Action adds modern-day guns and focuses on beat-the-clock activities (chases, disarming bombs, etc.); and Monster Hunters adds a dark secret, a special magic system, and the save-the-world theme. What a space-marines series would add is ultra-tech gear, serious amounts of travel, and constantly changing worlds.

[Tyneras]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

No idea what Killzone is.

World War II.. IN SPAAAAAACE! Complete with Space Nazis and Space Swastikas.

If there is a GURPS Bughunt, it will definitely need some really well done Power Armor, both examples and customization tools.

Edit: @Kromm: I think how you fight in each series is very important too. DF is very melee oriented or very very short ranged, Action and MH are a more even mix, but melee still figures in big. For Bughunt, I would see guns being used by basically everyone even while your faceplate is being slobbered on by a xenomorph.

[Nymdok]

Gurps: Kung Fu/Wuxia/Shaw Brothers - The Kid with the Golden Arm, Five Deadly Venoms, 26th chamber of Shaolin, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Kung Fu (TV Series). Honor, Hand to hand combat, amazing abilities and butt kicking Pajamas.

The only problem is that it would require basic set, powers, martial arts and Low tech.

If it were written in such a way as to get the book count down, it might be viable.

Gurps: Cowboy Up! - Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, John Wayne, Tombstone, Deadwood, Magnificent Seven, True Grit. Grim resolve, duels in the tumbleweed swept streets and the potential of an untamed expanse.

Basic Set, High Tech and this should be all you need for the more Hollywood and romanticised version of the wild west that only exists in fantasy.

In addition, I dont know that the genre appeal is enough to merit their own series. My opinion, however, is that if the genre has enough interest to support a Munkin! Distro (Munchkin Fu, Pirate Munchkin, etc) then it at least deserves consideration for a series.

Nymdok

[pyratejohn]

Yep, I'd lay down some serious cash on a series of GURPS Bughunt books. Mmm hmm.

GURPS Post Apoc Survival might also be a good candidate.

[Danukian]

GURPS Adventure! Pulp campaigns full of Treasure Huntin', Spy Smashin', Nazi Punchin' fun. The basics should cover Two-Fisted heroes, with supplements ranging from Air Pirates to Ancient Elder Gods.

[Steven Marsh]

Originally Posted by Danukian

GURPS Adventure! Pulp campaigns full of Treasure Huntin', Spy Smashin', Nazi Punchin' fun. The basics should cover Two-Fisted heroes, with supplements ranging from Air Pirates to Ancient Elder Gods.

I note that, between the tips for translating GURPS Action to cliffhangers from Pyramid #3/8: Cliffhangers and Monster Hunters to pulp from Pyramid #3/31: Monster Hunters, you're most of the way there regardless of which angle you approach. Just pick up a copy of GURPS Cliffhangers for GURPS Third Edition and you're almost set . . .