GURPS is becoming the only game I'll run

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Yeah, if I suggest that to my players they will lynch me. :)

I would have told you that mine would, too.

But they actually like it a lot for some reason. Maybe "play moves along smoothly and quickly" is more fun than "play moves along slowly, but the rules are exactly enforced as written."

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by Toadkiller_Dog

I would have told you that mine would, too.

But they actually like it a lot for some reason. Maybe "play moves along smoothly and quickly" is more fun than "play moves along slowly, but the rules are exactly enforced as written."

I fully do agree with Toadkiller.

I played a lot of role playing games for about 30 years and, as a lot of people in this thread, GURPS is the only one I run - as player, I let the GM decide; it is his game and I prefer him to feel comfortable with his rules, even if I don't really like them.

But what is amazing with GURPS is this: it is one of the most universal, generic, and consistent role playing system. If not the most.

It is not only universal (which allows to play in every setting you can imagine). It is also generic, which means that you can give the feeling you want to your games: realistic or heroic; funny or desperate...

But, above all, it is consistent. You don't remember a specific rule? No matter! Don't look through the books during play. Just use one of the basic game mechanics and the table of task difficulty modifiers to take your decision.

My favorite example: A PC is aiming at a NPC with a .45 pistol in a foggy forest, for 3 turns, and fires. The NPC is running 12 yards away, partially covered by the trees and bushes. You can look for every modifier in the books (Acc, bracing, aiming bonus, range, speed, cover and visibility...). But you can also decide that it is just an impossible task: -10.

And what is amazing with GURPS is the fact that it will give you about the same result.

Acc, +2; bracing, +1; range+speed, -6; partial cover, -4 (for instance); visibility, -4 (for instance); this gives a total modifier of -11.

Of course, a player can say that -11 is very different from -10... Of course. But who decides that the visibility penalty is -4 rather than -5 or -3? The GM. So why not -10 rather than -11?

That is why I fully do agree with Toadkiller. Learn the rules as much as possible between games. But, during play, you can handle everything with the GM screen only. And since the game is really consistent, you will always fall on your feet.

[combatmedic]

I like GURPS, but sometimes I don't need the level of detail and the variety of fiddly bits it provides, or another system is better suited to what I'd like to run.


other games I like to run:

Basic/Expert D&D

Boot Hill

Call of Cthulhu

Classic Traveller


I also run D&D3.5 online, and have done so for a few years now. It isn't my favorite system, but it works well for my purposes.

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by combatmedic

I like GURPS, but sometimes I don't need the level of detail and the variety of fiddly bits it provides...

One thing which is also great with GURPS is the fact that you can have as much detail as you like... Or not! This is often forgotten because, when you are in front of two so thick books named "Basic Set", it's hard to imagine that all these rules are just optional.

Actually, you can keep the game as light as you want, by using only the basic rules (which are explained in GURPS lite or in the Quick Start Section of the Basic Set) and the Task Difficulty Modifiers.

But I perfectly understand what you (and others) mean by...

Originally Posted by combatmedic

or another system is better suited to what I'd like to run.

All what I wanted to add is that I've played a lot of Cthulhu campaigns with the Basic Role Playing System. I really like this game which is very well designed. Now, I have also tried it with GURPS and it works even better.

GURPS wounding system really adds something to the game, with its realism. And GURPS fright check system (where you get more and more mental disadvantage) is as frightening for players as losing sanity points. Perhaps even more. Furthermore, it's more simple for them to understand exactly how their character become crazy rather than a very generic sanity point loss.

Add to that the fact that GURPS rules can be as simple as Call of Cthulhu ones, and you will immediately understand why I play my Cthulhu campaigns exclusively with GURPS rules now. Just try it once. It's amazing.

[combatmedic]

I don't buy into 'one size fits all.'

Take character generation; GURPS doesn't give me the quick and easy classes of D&D, the fun lifepath system of Cyberpunk 2020, the career system of WFRP, etc. It works really well for making highly detailed PCs who are designed without any randomness. Some people like randomness. Not everyone wants a high level of detail.


GURPS is fun and well-designed, but I don't like to use it for all games I run, and I doubt I ever will.

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by combatmedic

I don't buy into 'one size fits all.'

Take character generation; GURPS doesn't give me the quick and easy classes of D&D, the fun lifepath system of Cyberpunk 2020, the career system of WFRP, etc. It works really well for making highly detailed PCs who are designed without any randomness. Some people like randomness. Not everyone wants a high level of detail.


GURPS is fun and well-designed, but I don't like to use it for all games I run, and I doubt I ever will.

Yes, you're right! That's exactly why I wrote "I perfectly understand what you (and others) mean by: or another system is better suited to what I'd like to run."

GURPS can't do everything. But it can cover every universe, every genre, and even every atmosphere.

As long as the game master is experimented enough to choose the good rules to use and the ones to forget.

And that is why I personally chose to play GURPS and only GURPS.

To my mind, being a very good game master means a great deal of effort. It means that I have to know the rules very well: not only memorizing them, but also understanding them (being able to know why they are designed like that rather than differently, and how they work together).

It's a long job, and I have not a lot of time to spend on role playing games. So I can't afford learning several role playing games to this level.

That is why I prefer running only GURPS, and mastering it very well rather than running several games I don't really understand. It is just a personal choice and I perfectly understand that others, who have more time or who are brighter than me make another choice.

All what I want to say is that GURPS is so universal and generic that once can play everything with its rules without being frustrated.

To go on with the main comparison of this thread, GURPS is not just a pizza. It is something with which you can do all the pizza's you can imagine.

No matter what is the most important for you: the story telling, playing the role of your character, detailed rules and character optimization... GURPS allows fun for every kind of role players.

I even ran it with beginners who found it very simple and easy to play.

Edit:
Oh, I forget to tell... Nobody is enforced to detail his character. 4 basic attributes, 10 to 12 skills and you're ready to play. Advantages and disadvantages are optional too!

[combatmedic]

It's definitely one of the best systems out there, at least IMHO.

[DanHoward]

Originally Posted by Gollum

That is why I prefer running only GURPS, and mastering it very well rather than running several games I don't really understand.

This. I don't have much time for gaming. I'm not going to waste any of it learning yet another system. I've tried that in the past and when any house rules were added it ended up just making it more like GURPS.

[Maz]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

This. I don't have much time for gaming. I'm not going to waste any of it learning yet another system. I've tried that in the past and when any house rules were added it ended up just making it more like GURPS.

Hah! That's exactly what I end up doing too. I just did it in a Dark Heresy game where the wound-critical system was just too hard to accept for us GM and players alike. "I shoot him 3 times in the leg and his still going strong, then I hit his arm for average damage and he explodes in blood and gore... what?"

Sometimes though I wish that GURPS had a more action-packed lighter easier sub-system you could use. More like BESM.


I know people say "you can just turn down the reality options and rules available" and so on. But it doesn't' fly. Its still 1 sec combat turns where position, distance and facing matters and theres a difference between having shortsword and knife skill. And I like some of the details that are "advanced", such as hit locations and damage types. But there's a lot I don't like when I want to run action-focused games. I have made a lot of radical houseruels that work ok. But would be nice with something official.

[Kuroshima]

I've always been system-curious. I've tried many many systems. After many years of being a GURPS only GM, though, I'm giving FATE a chance, for those games governed by narrative causality instead of hard physics. Now, I need to convince my players to give it a try...