GUUURRRPSS

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Ok, So I was perusing the internet doing the normal tomfoolery along with the general switching between Skyrim and who know what, when I noticed something about roleplaying. Naturally, I clicked on it and it through a series of threads about roleplaying and RPG systems, I found something about a GURPS system of roleplaying.

Which struck me as odd, considering that I normally lurk in the dark recesses of things regarding Roleplaying. This leads me to my question.

Has anyone here on Iwaku ever heard of the GURPS system?

If so, do you think anyone would ever or has ever used it?

It seems pretty extensive, almost to the point where it's intimidating...
 
Sounds like some kind of weird STD you'd get from a mermaid.....


Never heard of it. o.o
 
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Nydanna said:
Sounds like some kind of weird STD you'd get from a mermaid.....


Never heard of it. o.o
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That actually crossed my mind at first. It's essentially a series of books of shits and giggles similar to DnD. Though according to the site, it's more flexible in accordance to what kinda "rules" it has
 
Ah, well that's why I never heard of it. DnD was never my thing. I was more of a cosplayer when I was younger.
 
Probably has been done in those multiverse Rp's that are all the rage. -=-

I wouldn't use it, Players would probably get confused about what time period it is, and it takes some very careful planning.
 
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Point taken, though it would've been pretty neat if we actually managed to pull it off.

But we're humans, since when do things ever go right? They can only go less wrong.

Though, it'd also be cool if someone actually had the patience to run through a whole RP then actually turn it into a book.
 
gurps is a tabletop rpg system

like dungeons and dragons

its selling point was its modularity and versatility

it was adapted to fit most genres from fantasy to sci fi to modern day

it has a ton of supplements to facilitate that versatility
 
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My first table top experience was a one shot GURPs campaign. I enjoyed it. Years later an ex-roommate tried running a superhero campaign using the system. They were new to GMing though then got a fulltime job. Needless to say the game ended up with SIDS.
 
I have a ton of old Dragon Magazine laying around (for those who aren't total tabletop RPing nerds, Dragon was an RPG magazine published by Wizards of the Coast/TSR for a while, focusing mostly on D&D but also covering games like Alternity and GURPs) so I've heard about it. I don't know that much, though.
 
I've looked at GURPS before, I still have about 20 GURPS pdfs sitting around on my computer.

It was a system me and an old D&D group of mine looked at when we were considering switching to a more sci-fi based thing.

To explain GURPS in a nutshell.
It is an entirely D6 system, so you only ever used six sided dice.
It prizes itself on being very modular too, so there's a book for everything. Sci-fi, western, WW2, medieval times, horror, super heroes etc.

You build your character from scratch, there are no classes or anything, you are simply given points and those points are spent anywhere.
Even stuff such as say wealth is dependent on it... Which breaks the game rather quickly, can you simply have a party member start off as a multi-billionaire.
And also really hurts adventures, because now whenever you gain a cash reward it's technically extra exp. So now players are forced to go "Do I want a new skill? Or Gold?".

It also goes so far as to assign point values to character traits... Such as being honorable. So no longer can you simply write a backstory or personality, your personality is now dependent on your build.
And on top of that, these traits rely on will saves so most of the time you're not even in real control of your character unless if you dump all your points into having a really high will save.

In the end? It's an interesting system, but it definitely went overkill in trying to let you customize. To the point where they made some things customizable that quite honestly shouldn't have been.
 
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Others have already explained what GURPS is pretty well, but I feel it's worth noting that it and other tabletop game systems are intended to be played with other people face to face around a table (thus the term "tabletop game"), not for forum roleplaying. It would be an annoying pain in the ass to try to run any tabletop game system in a purely play-by-post fashion, be it GURPS or D&D or some other tabletop system, though it can be done fairly well via chat room. There are in fact a variety of sites and some standalone programs that integrate a chat room with a dice roller function to facilitate these online tabletop games.

Speaking of which, I'm going to be playing my first ever GURPS game with some other folks from Iwaku some time soon. If this thread isn't already dead by then, I'll post my thoughts on it after I've played my first session with the system.

EDIT: I have been informed by a knowledgeable GURPS expert (Hellis) that the game I speak of is not, in fact, a GURPS game. It just has minor influences from the system and I remembered something wrong. Whoops.
 
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In addition to what's been said, GURPS adds a sort of 'realism' to the campaign that some might not find all that enjoyable. Characters are pretty fragile, combat can take a while simply because one turn = one second, and there are a lot of mundane skills and stats you need to work out because it doesn't streamline the class archetypes like a d20 system might. Where it thrives is more of 'narrative first, RPG elements second' because characters can and will progress throughout the campaign. Spare points can be spent into removing disadvantages or increasing skills you actually use in the course of your adventures. Wounds can turn into further disadvantages. All of this goes into the formation of a character's narrative throughout a campaign, and if you don't like the aforementioned realism you can just up the points and go a bit more heroic.

That being said as well, it is pretty GM reliant. The GM decides progression (if any) of characters, their starting points, the templates used for villains, etc. Even the rules say that rolls should - for the most part - be done by the GM; I'm torn on this one, because the only rolls I do as the GM tend to be perception and stuff they wouldn't know if they succeeded at first because saying 'roll a perception check' gets the party paranoid and ruins the point of a perception check. This doesn't tend to be a huge issue, but just be aware of it because more often than not the game doesn't have many checks and balances for characters and GMs.

With that in mind, it is intimidating at first, and if you don't buy the Yellow and Blue book you will be at a loss as to the actual rules as opposed to character creation (something I didn't find out until about three months after owning the book). So long as you're fine basically using the first session to clarify rules, make characters, and lay down the foundation you should be good to go.
 
Adding onto that, my group when they tried GURPS found the combat painfully slow, so they simply ignored it and used a half-assed homebrew combat system to speed it up. They said there was a rule in the book that said GURPS was designed to allow players to ignore and/or replace any mechanic and still function fine, so I personally couldn't point to that rule cause I never saw it myself.

@Osys: If you need any books/pdf's for it I can send my pdf copies over to you.
Just PM me an email or something to send them to.
 
10 years of gurps expeirence weighing in here. GURPS is my go to system when I want gritty, fuck your shit up Tabletopping done
 
Hellis said:
10 years of gurps expeirence weighing in here. GURPS is my go to system when I want gritty, fuck your shit up Tabletopping done
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WoD

FUZION

Pathfinder

TRIFECTA OF WIN
 
WoD; Played it for aslong as GURPS. VTR and VTM were both my jams. VTR for politics, VTM for crazy vamp action

Fuzion; Lol no

Pathfinder; DnD 3.6, classbased, superlimited, unflexible, boring combat (super streamlined, no tactics, just roll dice and hit/spell), good "gateway drug", intuitive, noob friendly, solid balance around the power creep.
 
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Gwazi Magnum said:
Adding onto that, my group when they tried GURPS found the combat painfully slow, so they simply ignored it and used a half-assed homebrew combat system to speed it up. They said there was a rule in the book that said GURPS was designed to allow players to ignore and/or replace any mechanic and still function fine, so I personally couldn't point to that rule cause I never saw it myself.

@Osys: If you need any books/pdf's for it I can send my pdf copies over to you.
Just PM me an email or something to send them to.
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Wat, Slow? Gurps combat is super easy and deadly and fast if you know what the fuck your doing. XD

Also, PLEASE BUY THE PDF'S LATER IF YOU LIKE THE SYSTEM
 
Hellis said:
WoD; Played it for aslong as GURPS. VTR and VTM were both my jams. VTR for politics, VTM for crazy vamp action

Fuzion; Lol no

Pathfinder; DnD 3.6, classbased, superlimited, unflexible, boring combat, good "gateway drug", intuitive, noob friendly
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WoD -- MAGES > VAMPIRES ;)

Fuzion -- Lol yes! Stir it in a pot with DBZ, Bubblgum Crisis (the 80s one, not the 90s one), and Mekton and you had everything for anime short of Big Eyes Small Mouth

Pathfinder -- Dude. Adventure Paths. Rise of the Runelords epic final battle? Yes please.
 
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