Dungeon Fantasy--TL8!?!

[Kalzazz]

Our normal explanation is that 'character A is chosen by someone to do something, and then character A picks the other PCs off the 'free agent list''

[Azinctus]

Originally Posted by NorphTehDwarf

How well would the DF/Action templates work with each other?

I think you'd have to make up your templates. The DF and Action templates would make an excellent source that would speed your work.

Dungeon Fantasy stresses resource management and tactical combat. Action stresses planning and high speed chases. Which direction do you want to go in?

Would you do modern dungeons like Die Hard or the Resident Evil movie? Or over the top silliness like True Lies or Ocean's Eleven?

[Greg 1]

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

Why infantry? Why not cops on patrol? Or just some hunters? Or a group of people picked off the street?

These could also be a lot of fun. The infantry squad was just an example.

The challenges of normal people in a fantasy world appeal to me more than dakka vs sword.

We are talking DF here, though. The PCs had better be pretty tough if they want to survive. Normal Dortothy from Kansas made a fine protagonist for "The Wizard of Oz" but she never had to get into a serious fight. Drop her down the old dungeon on the other hand and suddenly a loving heart and a hopeful spirit don't cut it anymore.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Azinctus

I think you'd have to make up your templates. The DF and Action templates would make an excellent source that would speed your work.

I'm with TBC, here. Wait for "Project M" and chances are you won't have to make your own.

[PK]

Originally Posted by NorphTehDwarf

I'm imagining some kind of crossover DF/Action game in which players are some kind of paranormal swat team. They'd work for a government bureau/secret conspiracy/secret Inquistorial sect/the Cabal, and their organization would interested in keeping things that go bump in the night contained, but would not necessarily be out to destroy the non-mundane because of its freakiness. How well would the DF/Action templates work with each other?

The big question to ask is, "Can the PCs just call in help from someone bigger and badder if they get in over their heads?" IMO, if the answer is "yes," you may find that they do that a lot. (Something about "self preservation.") So I'd recommend taking an approach similar to the old GURPS Black Ops -- make the characters even more larger-than-life than their DF or Action counterparts. By making them the select few who can handle this sort of thing, it means that the responsibility for it weighs directly on their shoulders. They can't call in the cavalry because they are the cavalry!

Part of this is making the monsters pretty damn scary. Make them powerful enough that calling in the local SWAT team, or even the local National Guard reserve, is just as likely to get the poor cops/soldiers killed. Now you've got a situation where the heroes have a reason to keep the Big Secret and have justification for why they're the ones who keep getting sent to clear out vampire nests, etc.

As for the templates themselves, there are so many kinds of monster hunters in fiction. Since "cool stuff that you can do" tends to cost the most points in GURPS, it arguably makes the most sense to split 'em up based on that -- you can have The Gunslinger, The Reformed Vampire, The Psi, etc. So you can do these as dedicated templates, or (to save time), you could start with the GURPS Action templates, then come up with some 100- or 150-point lenses that beef 'em up severely. Maybe one lens just adds a ton of ST, DX, HT, some DR (Tough Skin), and modest Regeneration, as a "Slayer Power-Up". Another might add a Reformed Vampire racial template. Another could add magic. And so on. (Personally, I think it'll capture the feel better to start from scratch and design 'em from the ground up to fit the genre -- after all, GURPS Action is completely *not* about the supernatural -- but that does take more work.)

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

RPK has been teasing a series he's working on which sounds a lot like what you're describing.

Hmm . . . yeah, it does kinda sounds like that, doesn't it? Odd. Well, at this moment, I can neither confirm nor deny that anything I said above is descriptive of GURPS Mon-- er, "Project M."

Originally Posted by hari

"Mix 2 c. Dungeon Fantasy, 2 c. Action, 2 c. Black Ops, 1 c. Voodoo, 1 c. Powers, and 2 tsp. Psionics into 1 qt. Horror:"

Well darn -- I honestly just noticed that I left off "2-1/2 c. Thaumatology," an important part of the recipe! Considering that a whole chapter is devoted to the new <FNORD> system, that's a heck of an oversight . . . my bad!

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

Normal Dortothy from Kansas made a fine protagonist for "The Wizard of Oz" but she never had to get into a serious fight. Drop her down the old dungeon on the other hand and suddenly a loving heart and a hopeful spirit don't cut it anymore.

Unless she finds the Clow cards ;)

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Mysterious Dark Lord v3.2

Why infantry? Why not cops on patrol? Or just some hunters? Or a group of people picked off the street?
The challenges of normal people in a fantasy world appeal to me more than dakka vs sword.

In any fiction where the protagonists are 'normal' people, they are usually either (or both) extremely naturally talented or they have several hundred points worth of plot protection, which in a game would be Extraordinary Luck, levels of Serendipity, etc.

When 'normal' people are caught in a life-threathening situation, most react inappropriately and either die or have to get rescued. The few inspiring stories of survivors you hear are the result of selection bias. You are ignoring the thousands of stories where the victims were victims.

Have the players play normal people caught in extraordinary danger and you either have to ignore the results of die rolls (in which case, why not just ignore stats as well?) or play through the campaign hundreds of times until the statistically likely, but uplifting result occurs.

This is compounded when there is not only one dangerous event, but many.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Have the players play normal people caught in extraordinary danger and you either have to ignore the results of die rolls (in which case, why not just ignore stats as well?) or play through the campaign hundreds of times until the statistically likely, but uplifting result occurs.

Why not just give them luck and serendipity?

[DouglasCole]

I'd LOVE to play in GURPS:Dark Conspiracy. I hated the system, back in the day, and did a campaign of this using GURPS (converted mid-campaign, actually). Worked great, love to do more. 4e would just make it tastier.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Why not just give them luck and serendipity?

Because that makes them high point characters, doesn't it? Which, for a lot of the people arguing that playing incompetents is somehow better, defeats the point.