Aside from the Disadvantages which is the unsung hero of GURPS, the magic system mechanic of being able to tap your hitpoints when you run out of FP is my favorite mechanic in RPGdom. You can even go down to 0 hp to power a spell if you want which could create a really memorable moment. And that's how you win any RPG.
Before this video even starts I have to say that for me GURPS was a leap of faith. While leaning to play, I got discouraged a few times and set it down. Then after a few sessions I slowly begun to see the infinite amount of tactical decisions and combinations that come up in combat and just how suspenseful that second by second combat could be. Being able to create and play an elderly character with a bad back and being compensated for that disadvantage being built into the rules without having to work something out with a suspicious GM is a breather and bakes that aspect of role play right into the game. I'm not one of those guys who is going to tell you that learning GURPS is easy, because for me it wasn't ( I've played a dozen and GMed a handful ), but it was totally worth the effort. And the only thing I use it for ( at the moment ) is Rare Magic Fantasy. But I do want to try a GI Joe game using cybernetically enhanced Joes. Code Named: Team Bronze Heart.
The funny thing for me; I got the 3rd edition basic set in '87 or so... and read through it and loved it. As my friends and I were playing AD&D 2e at the time, I kept asking if they wanted to switch, but at least one of the players really didn't want to. We finally sort of wrapped up most of the 2e game, and played some GURPS, but it was about a year or so after I had read the book, so I had forgotten most of the rules, and kind of had to (re)learn them as I went along. But overall, I think that's a great way to play, since you get the basics down and then you slowly start to introduce the more fine grained stuff like damage modifiers.
I love GURPS. It allowed me to play my non-magical psionic elf that D&D denied me for forty years. I have people now telling me that's flavor in D&D. I point out that my character doesn't cast spells. They cannot. It is not flavor to say they are not magic while casting spells. That's hypocrisy. This character is published in two of my copyrighted books.
Nice to meet a fellow psionicist :) And yeah, conversation with folks who haven’t tried other game systems can be difficult. It can hard to imagine what else is out there is you have never actually looked.
Thanks Easy. Let’s hope they are cooking up a 5th addition. Will definitely be something I want to ask about at gencon. Also see you have a GURPS channel, looking forward to checking it out!
@@homebrewedtabletop I'm not someone who thinks they need a new edition. There really isn't a need for one. Unless they're going to change their method of 'Generic'. As I've pointed out elsewhere to people, you can either do what GURPS does, and make a generic basic set that is module, or you do a full set of rules for each genre with a somewhat similar base between them, like BRP or Modiphius' 2d20 system. Either way can work well, though for the player base, I think the secondary method is far more expensive. When you think that most players will buy just the 'player's handbook' and the GM buys the rest of the books, you'd end up with the Player base needing to get the Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Western, etc. From the publisher side, that's a great idea. From the Player base... less so...
I don’t think a new edition is needed. The current rule set is very good, having been fine tuned over the previous three editions. The only reason I can think of to release a fifth edition would be to promote the game, when SJG finally decides to make a serious attempt to become the #1 RPG on the market, and challenge D&D for the title. Tweak a few minor things, add a bit more fluff, and re-release the system. I love the layout of 4th edition. Hard backed books. Glossy pages. Coloured art. Quotes from film and other media relevant to the topic at hand. Indexes and glossaries, as appropriate. Fantastic. Cheers,
I've been playing GURPS for years (since high school). It is by far my favorite game. It is the last bastion of satisfyingly crunchy detail and playable simulationism (a dying style of game) while being flexible enough to be stripped down to a fairly rules lite game for newcomers. I think its reputation as being overly complex and the fact that it predominantly exists as PDFs now are its biggest enemies. Despite this, I think that GURPS should lean into the simulationism instead of the universality; Fate, Savage Worlds, and similar games are also universal without the crunch (and with faster character creation and less math), but the characters in those games generally have a superficial "sameness" to them. The crunch and simulationism of GURPS makes possible dramatic possibilities that are often ignored or forgotten by modern gaming culture. Generally when I introduce a new player to GURPS combat, the player is blown away and they never look at the combat in other games the same way.
Good to see GURPS getting some love. Some times the recommendations actually works and show me a channel I want to watch heh. As for GURPS, It's my favorite system and was so good it replaced my own homebrew RPG rules I was working on as my main... and really my only system now. I used to main Cyberpunk 2020 but now I've played it with GURPS, I can't play Cyberpunk with Fridaynight Firefight anymore. I also run a GURPS blog called GURB (Generic Universal Roleplay Blog): Ultra-Tech Reloaded that covers, as you probably can guess, new weapons and gear for TL 9+ settings (Mostly TL 9 and 10). Hope to see more GURPS stuff from you.
I recently got back into playing RPGs last year. Nice to see GURPS is still a thing. I'm not sure we ever actually played the game, but creating characters was always a blast. The old rule books were full of great ideas too. Thanks for the video!
My biggest problem with GURPS is that the system doesn’t do enough to support new GMs. If you want to learn GURPS by running a game you’re just not gonna have fun. You can overcome the system with experience but there really *NEEDS* to be more prefabricated content to get people into the system.
I agree. Although I think it’s all around tbh. More player support for character creation would be amazing. Although that is also something that affects GMs as well, so lends even more to your point.
GURPS is multi-genre so support is really hard to do. It also had a good deal of support in 3rd edition although 4th edition is current. For GURPS Dungeon Fantasy RPG, there is quite a bit of support including licensed support from Gaming Ballistic. For getting started with GURPS looking on RUclips search for the following: Chris Normand (aka Nose) Mook (unfortunately sadly passed away) GURPS Federal Agent EasyGURPS
For the past two years I have been running a Star Trek campaign using GURPS 4th edition. It is set in the year 2262, halfway between "SNW" and "TOS". - the Music Loving Klingon
That sounds really fun! I think Star track is a great setting GURPS, particularly because you have the realistic humanoid abilities combined with super tech.
GURPS is my favorite RPG. Right now I have two games running, a cyberpunk game with veterans of the system and a fantasy game with new players. The newbs have completely broken characters, the fighter is only slightly smarter than a dog and mostly blind, the Gish only has a 20% chance to swing his sword correctly and the mage faints after casting 4 spells but they're still having so much fun that even in the weeks between sessions they meet up in the discord to discuss strategy, rules and the story. It's one of those games where even a 'bad' character is fun to play.
Before watching this, I can quite definitely answer, “yes”. For me, GURPS is the best RPG, hands down. As simple, or complex, as you want. Easy to convert anything to GURPS stats. Real world numbers for real world things, and intelligent approximates for things that don’t exist. One rule set for infinite genres. The only thing it lacks in the current edition, is balanced rules for creating vehicles. Not space/ Star ships, just vehicles. Possibly as the content and variety is such, that the book would need to be massive, or many volumes. The only genre I would not recommend it for is high-powered superhero shenanigans. The rules work, but the points values for the PCs are astronomical. The points difference between a street level character, such as Batman (even over-the-top Batman), and a god-tier character, such as All-Star Superman, is a massive chasm. And try to design an adventure using both types of characters is nigh impossible (and Superman should be able to complete any mission in minutes, if not seconds, with no input from any other PCs. That not to say GURPS is flawed - rather, it does its job too well. I have been gaming for almost fifty years, and have played many an RPG. But I keep coming back to GURPS. That’s not to say that I haven’t played some great games with other systems over the years. It’s just that I could play every adventure I ever had, in the GURPS system, and not had to learn a new rule set each time to do it. One-eyed rant over. Cheers,
GURPS is a really good system with a weird dice roll system and a lot of unnecessary tables. D&D 2ed also was plagued by the tables and they got rid of most of them in 3ed. It's just a few updates of being the best system ever.
I love GURPS on paper and own all of it's 4th edition hardcover books, but I only GMed it a few session. I'm glad you provided an extensive list of its problems. All of them applied to my experience with it. The campaign ended with my players calling it the Generally Unplayable RPG System. The amount of work necessary to make a consistent and easily communicated game and setting using GURPS comes close to creating your own game completely from scratch. I would also list the disadvantages system among the drawbacks. It's much too easy to create absurd drawbacks that never come into play or disrupt the game for other players, just to gain a few additional character points.
I feel you. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to explain to players that taking bad temper, no sense of humor, berserk, and a few other social disadvantages on their strength based barbarian was not okay. “First bar you go into you are going to end up in a rage because someone said a joke you didn’t understand, you got made, and slaughtered half the bar.” Player asked what’s the problem, and I have to explain how that ends in their characters untimely death by the local garrison. Also all that other stuff. The packaging is a great way to put it, and something seriously lacking. Fingers crossed they are thinking about it for a new addition.
GURPS has one real rule: Just because you can do anything does not mean you should do everything. Take the two core books. Add one setting book, one tech book, and one "flavor" book. Say build a game with space and horror. I started a year ago with GURPS Lite. Now I am using a lot of the 3E Traveller books in my own gritty far-future space campaign. We were all pretty new to the game, and having character templates really helped. The biggest problem I have had as a GM with players coming from D&D-like games is getting them to play their characters' advantages and disadvantages. In fact if it's Friday it must be game night. Looking forward to more GURPS content.
That seems like solid advice.L, as it can get quite overwhelming. I’ve had some of that same issue, but I also found that some of my players would RP some other disadvantage that they didn’t take. So I will often be like “hey, you seem to be rping this a lot, why don’t we swap it out with this other thing?” Doesn’t always work, but often enough it does.
@@homebrewedtabletop My group is playing via discord, and I am only playing via my laptop (one monitor). I have to trust my players to use their character sheets and use their stats appropriately because I simply do not have the capacity to run the whole of the game world and point out their potential bonuses and penalties based on disadvantages, advantages, and skills. They really need to do it themselves. It makes for a more fast and loose interpretation of the rules, and I guess they could be cheating on some rolls. But cheating on an RPG is like masturbation. You're only screwing yourself.
This guy hit the nail on the head when he said it's best to ask for a character description from new players, and then build it for them. We need to get more players into the game, amd this is the way. Share ideas. Simple ones. Build the community. Too much of gurps community talks about the details of everything. The game is detailed enough, stop making it more detailed. That being said... Here's the best/easiest/most efficient GURPS rule breakdown I can give (again, this is just my ability to breakdown GURPS rules) You need very few things to build a character for a new player, of which are: The 4 main attributes ST, HT, DX, and IQ The 4 senses used in GURPS (in case the player actually describes a character with some flaws or strengths, and Perception is just so bland. I love to make players roll multiple senses at the same time because in many situations, there are many different ways to sense the presence of... anything!): Hearing, Sight, Smell, and Touch P.S. These are equal to IQ unless the character is special in some way, very simple. Lastly, HP and Damage. HP is equal to ST (I've been told 2xST is nice) And Damage is a single table that can be found online. That's it.. other than having fun using your imagination! I hope this helps at least 1 person understand how simple GURPS can be ❤
I’m a GURPS fan too, but there are disadvantages. The problem with a system that has detailed crunchy rules for everything, and I do mean everything, is that the process of elimination becomes challenging. Both in the sense that it’s just always tempting to use the extended version, when it’s just lying there screaming at you to pick it up and use it. Also in the sense that the process of elimination requires a lot of work and careful thought. Let’s say you want to run a Conan style campaign. You’ll want larger than life heroes, fast but still interesting combat and rules lite everything else, magic is super powerful but mostly slow and NPC only. Okay, GURPS will let you do that, but the customisation process will require you to make a hundred decisions about which rules to use, which are off-limits and what you need to tweak and how. As opposed to picking up a game written and designed to run Conan campaigns from the ground up. GURPS can be a bit Jack of all trades master of none. Or it can be like running UNIX operating system, giving you a vast and powerful tool box and control, but also requiring more knowledge and work and allowing you enormous scope for breaking your game. But at the very least every GM would do well to try it out. Expand your mind. Another thing. GURPS has the best expansion modules of any rpg. Their books on fantasy or space are priceless.
I couldn’t agree more, and if they decide to make a 5e it’s one of the primary things I would like to see. Packaging related rules/abilities/etc… into easy to get, easy to use packages would be a game changer.
I own it and I totally respect the game, but I have never run it, because I have always preferred Chaosiums Basic Roleplaying system [BRP], it has all the crunch I need. But there is no denying, GURPS does have more options. Also, the GURPS settings books are some of the best out there. [I use them even with BRP]
I need to try it, I have not as of yet. I’m a little behind the 8-ball since moving into the creators space for ttrpg’s. I used to think I knew and had tried many game systems, then I realized how big the space it.
I know this might sounds immature or superficial, but to me the greatest drawback of GURPS lies in its books. They are dry, uninspiring, the layout looks right out of the 80s and the rules are scattered and not clearly explained. I find it extremely frustrating. I kind of love the gaming system per se, but every time I pick up a book, I swear, I *really swear* I'd rather be reading topological algebra or advanced python or almost eveerything else. I hope they'll make a 5th edition (the chances are slim, though) that doesn't look and feel like it belongs to the twentieth century. (I'm 50, btw, so it's not just a "young guy syndrome". It's just that reading up something for a game should be enjoyable, not feel like a chore.)
I think you raise a good point about the curb appeal, and certainly the books are dated at this point. I imagine even if they simply remade the same system without much mechanical changes there could be many improvements. Fingers crossed they decide to move forward with a 5th edition.
I’ll agree with the former part compared to almost any other rpg it has basically zero lore. It on an extreme of the spectrum, the other side being like a world of darkness book where there’s like a whole ass novella with mechanics scattered throughout out. But I’d disagree with the statement that the layout is confusing or the mechanics are poorly explained, infact I’d say you’re making two contradictory points. It’s literally all mechanics now it’s not always in the best order but there all lawyed out with almost zero excess, its what the mechanic is consptually, mechanical and than useally and example. In a highly encyclopedic format
Dude - I love that you're doing this. I've followed GURPS since 2nd Edition, in the 80s, but only played a couple of games. My best friend and I talk game design (including GURPS) all the time. We agree that GURPS is mostly a toolbox for designing a game. It's VERY hard to play a game straight out of the box. I think the Basic set should be re-named the Core Mechanics, and it should NOT be the first book you buy. Like you said, there should be self-contained settings books that contain ONLY the rules needed to get going in that setting. I also thing GURPS should add the concept of 3 levels of granularity. The 3 levels would correspond, in skills, to Bang! skills, normal skills, and maneuvers. Different campaigns would have different rules and characters at different levels of granularity. E.g. One game might have Social and Exploration skills at Granularity 1, so those are just bang skills and we handwave all complex interactions with a GM ruling and a roll. But that same game might have combat at complexity 3, allowing maneuvers, or even just UNARMED combat at complexity 3, because it's a martial arts game. Point is, having a regularized system for choosing and defining the complexity of the rules subsystems would really help shape GURPS games into something focused and manageable. Subscribed and bell'd. Looking forward to more!
I would like to know why you don't like the feeling of superheros in GURPS. Is it that they never miss? That it takes a catastrophic failure for anything to go wrong? Or do the numbers become ridiculous? I've never played superheros, but I'm curious, regardless.
So I havnt played a ton in that exact genre, but I have played a lot at those power levels. There are a lot of issues for me tbh but to distill it to one thing, It’s the need to renormalize the dice rolls for the ability scores/skills. Apposed roles for example often feel pretty bad. It just seems like the game was not designed on that scale, and we are just off the charts. I know hard core supers fans will probably tell me different, I just personally don’t feel satisfied by how it’s done.
I started playing GURPS 5 years ago (2 years after I was introduced to 5e), and I've never looked back. You are absolutely right! GURPS needs a better & more cohesive jumping-on point without sacrificing its greater depth, and some kind of tool to create a basic writeup of all the rules you are using. I love GURPS though, aside from maybe homebrewed to hell FATE, its the only system that can handle my game!
Great video! GURPS has been MY system for over 30 years, I love its ability to handle pretty much any genre, but I do recognize that it can be overwhelming if taken as a whole. The various "genre" books do help a lot to keep the GM/players focused on what rules should be included, and the "How to be a GURPS GM" series of supplements do a lot to help potential GM's decide on what bits of the toolkit are necessary as well. It's hard to squeeze a system that's designed to handle any reality down into one book!
Thanks! Good review/intro. The only issue I have is the Crunch scale didn't have much variety showing difference from other systems, especially other multi genre systems.
I love seein GURPS content, even if I've never played in a fulfilling campaign yet, I hope you do more builds and stuff for Gurps. I do find it interesting how you talk about 1 way of doing Magic, because GURPS has like 3 different variations of magic, even before customizing them further.
Ah bummer. I hope you find one soon! My main group has been going for years, and it’s so much fun! And yeah, I agree I could have talked more about the various ways of implementing magic. I was mostly referencing the core set & the Magic book that largely puts forth a singular method. I am fairly partial to just using powers though, as a way of dealing with some of the balance issues. The Powers book is pretty helpful for that.
My only beef with GURPS: only four base stats. I know I can add whatever I like for attributes, but the base four seem a bit weak, if you know what I mean. Liked and subbed!
Later supplements (such as Power Ups 9: Alternate Attributes) offer ways to change up the base attributes, such as splitting off willpower and perception from IQ. You can pretty much choose what you want the base attributes to be. I hope that's helpful!
There are four base attributes, as you say, but there are at least two “minor” attributes attached to each of the base attributes, which are just as valuable. Such as Willpower and Perception. They are based off your IQ, but can be higher or lower than this attribute, depending on what you want for your character. So it is possible to have someone of average intelligence, who has fantastic attention to the world around him, but is easily led by others. All from one attribute. Not sure how you build this into a Wizard with 18 Intelligence in a game like D&D… Cheers,
GURPS is intimidating. As a GM, if you're not using a pre-made setting (of which there are few), the work required to make one can be daunting. It essentially requires the GM to pare the rules that aren't relevant and flip the many optional switches on or off. That includes building character templates to help keep players from getting lost in all the choices. It's a lot of work, but not impossible by any means. I think most people who turn away from the system take a look at the sheer volume of rules and run away screaming, not understanding that a given game won't use everything by a long shot.
Which is a shame, as the mechanics of the game are very simple. Perhaps the biggest downfall of GURPS is the lack of pre-made adventures for the system. But you can take any adventure from any other system, and run it in GURPS, once you do some conversion work. Also, there are a number of third party publishers out there, who make great settings, and adventures, specifically for GURPS. There is nothing so satisfying, though, than to create your own world, craft your own adventures, and running your mates through them. Or being one of those people running through the adventure, your friend crafted for you. You can either take your time, craft your world, setting the rules as to how and why things work, or jump right in with your first adventure, and flesh things out as things progress. Both methods are valid. You just need to settle on what works for you, and your players. Cheers,
@Wolf359inc Absolutely. And I'll point out that the GURPS genre books -- GURPS Space, GURPS Fantasy, et al -- are fantastic. Though not actual settings themselves, they're very comprehensive guides to building settings that I've even used for inspiration with other games.
GURPS gets a bit of a reputation for being complicated, but honestly, it can be pretty simple if you stick to the basics. The core system is just rolling 3d6 and trying to get under your skill or stat, which is super easy to wrap your head around. The complexity really comes from all the optional stuff you can add in, but you don’t have to use it. If you just want a straightforward game, you can keep it light and ignore most of the extras. It’s really as simple or detailed as you want it to be, which is kind of the cool part. You can mod the game to be exactly what you want.
I agree, I just think most people come to GURPS because they have heard you can make whatever character or world you want. Then it’s an issue of complexity to make that happen. But again, I basically agree with you here.
@@homebrewedtabletop While I can see why people want a new streamlined starter set or lite version, I'm not exactly sure we need a new edition. Maybe reorganized books?
Played the original GURPS back in the day and loved how customizable it was, and as a now D and D player can confirm that GURPS characters options are vastly greater.
Haha nice. Yeah, I like to pull rules in depending on the flavor of adventure I’m going for. So adding grit if the party visits a low magic desert world, or horror if they are diving into a forgotten crypt.
GURPS is great and I've played it for years. I have personally played medieval sword & sorcery, far future space opera, modern day superheroes and modern day hidden magic with this system. My fav was in the far future one where I played an electrokinetic gagdeteering ninja.
Oh man, I love the active defenses, but also agree it can be an issue. I play finesse fighters a lot and feint is a staple for me. But the attack, dodge, attack, dodge, … can get boring and old. I just love the agency as a player to be able to actively defend.
@@homebrewedtabletop I fell out of love when my rifleman fired at a bear that was in melee with one of my party. I aced the roll and the bear dodged. That was the DM's ruling.
@@homebrewedtabletop I love the agency there, too, but have also dealt with a great hit being foiled by a dodge rolled right after. The simple solution at my table is rolling both at the same time. I tell my player to hit me with their best shot while I roll whatever I need to dodge for the bad guys. It makes the moment feel more like it's supposed to, a challenge of opposed skills, a clash between two figures. My players really responded well to that change. It isn't a perfect solution, but I prefer it to not having active defenses.
@majorpain8569 Yeah, that sounds frustrating and not something that sounds even plausible. Just on it's face, a bear does not have the IQ to understand it needs to dodge a bullet... DM mistake there it would seem, somewhat highlighting one of the major issues with GURPS, it's so hard to DM because it is so complicated.
We tried GURPS for a campaign, and it just didnt hit right for us. The giant tool box and crunch was too much. It does have my absolute favorite rpg element though, which was the flaw 'Major Delusion' and the example "Ice cream makes computer run better, spoon it right in"
That’s totally understandable and something I hope they fix if they make a new version. Also love the delusions! I went with the “squirrels are secretly messengers from the gods” for my Ranger in 3rd addition. lol
GURPS Lite rules only for an initial campaign or just skim the Basic Set rules to fit our needs? I have several source books and am excited to GM a multi-shot campaign of some “genre” and don’t want to weigh down myself and other PCs who are also new to GURPS. I want the game to run cinematically if that’s possible.
I would go with GURPS Lite for that. As players/You want to add things in to customized their setting/characters/etc… then add those things in. Otherwise it’s a very long process to get your head around everything.
Ive got one of the world of Constantine that Im editing for the 5th time, but it should be out soon! Ive had a lot of issues with companies not wanting any of their material used on youtube, fair use or not. Pretty understandable really but it's been complicating things a bit.
For sure, and I have reached out to them for a review copy. I would love to talk more about these various systems. As a player I have talked with folks who have played most of these type of systems, but would love to dig into them myself now that I cover them here.
Great review that highlights some of the pros and cons of GURPS! I played and GM'd for about 6 years before switching to FFG Star Wars and now the equivalent setting-agnostic Genesys. How would you compare the "fiction-first" Genesys with the "hardware-store" approach of GURPS?
I have a confession to make… I mostly know Fantasy Flight for Twilight Imperium and some of their other board games. I have not actually played Genesys or the FFG system (although I’m familiar with some of the more well known mechanics). Sounds like I should put it on my list to try though, if you recommend it?
@@homebrewedtabletop Genesys is a lot of fun. Where GURPS is sometimes a toolsets for simulating *physics*, Genesys is a toolset for simulating *fiction*. It's core mechanic has more room for narrative play as well, which suits my style. I highly recommend giving it a try if you can!
@@homebrewedtabletop I think so, though Genesys may lean even further toward narrative. Since you mentioned Twilight Imperium, they did release a setting book just for that. I haven't tried it, but I've heard good things if you're in the mood for a space opera with lots of opportunity for intrigue.
One thing that modern GURPS struggles with is vehicle creation. If you want to make a custom vehicle in 4th edition you basically have to build it as a character and it’s going to cost you 1000 points. Still not as bad as 3rd edition vehicles though.
100%. I think a lot of people don’t understand that if something passes a level of complexity or time investment required, that it might as well not exist to most people. I’m sure many people would respond to this with all the ways you can make a vehicle and how easy it is for them after spending hours and hours making them, but that’s not going to be Joe Gamers experience.
I LOVED GURPS Vehicles, but each one was basically an engineering project. For those of us who like complexity, that was cool. But it's not gaming, and is a total turn off and barrier to normal people who just want to fight on chariots or have two galleons have a naval battle.
@@hawkname1234 Exactly. Idk if you have played, but I just tried out Car Wars, and it's pretty awesome. But it's not a game I would ever break out when the in-laws come over, or even my brother for that matter, but thats also kind of why I like it, for the complexity. (and Im sure its a 7/10 on what it could be)
I really enjoy the realism it brings, while offering variety to shape the game and play experience just about anyway you want it to be. Class based systems now feel overly rigid and restrictive, and even punitive in ways. With a system like GURPS or BRP, your character can grow and evolve in ways that are natural and can advance in skill and ability progressively rather than unrealistic stairsteps which unlock new features a character may not have been growing toward or playing into. Further, if my character is fortunate to survive the rigors or an adventuring life they have the potential to become extremely powerful and influential in a much more diverse way than class based systems. It's comical to see how Drizzt is reenvisioned with each edition and the wars over what class and multi-class he is without it making any sense because it has to be shoehorned into rigid classes. He makes much more sense to explain and recreate in GURPS or BRP. Thanks for making this video!
GURPS require a new edition, they should take basic set and turn these two books into a single book with most used rules/traits/spells etc with maximum of 200 pages. Then make another book that will have all other leftover info. Even with all these summary tables, GURPS is very hard to get into. Although I like it a lot and use GURPS Lite from time to time, I only use basic set to get ideas for my own rules.
I agree, a new addition would be great. I think there are several ways they could simplify it, and make it easier to use. I would honestly be happy with several of the options but I guess we will have to wait and see.
Just use GURPS 3rd edition. I decided that 4th wasn't worth the change for as often as we play. Third edition has a ton of supplements, and the core book is incredibly complete.
This is what GURPS 3e plus the Compendiums were. I switched to 3e (with 4e standardized skill progression) and I've had way more fun ever since. Edit: I feel the need to give an example of why I prefer 3e. If you are new to the game and want to throw a grenade in 4e, you may need to refer to some of the following: p.226 to refer to your skill default if you didn't take Throwing as a skill, p.269 to understand how to read the damage from explosion vs fragmentation on your weapon stats, p.414 explains extra rules for fragmentation damage including how the only way to avoid it is to take the Dodge and Drop maneuver, p.277 has the weapon statistics for the grenade if you don't have it written down yet, p.355 explains how far you can throw things, p.410-414 have more special rules for grenades, and p.550 has your Speed/Range Table for calculating distance penalties. This is not an exhaustive list as I left some other pages with grenade variables out. Needless to say, this is too much! Now of course you don't have to use any of these rules, but the fact that something as simple as throwing a grenade could have you scouring two books for a dozen pages that are placed far from one another is ridiculous. Now in 3e: all the info you need on throwing things, including examples, is on p.90. Scatter (overshooting a grenade lob) is in the Advanced Combat rules on p.119. You can handwave this with the basic throwing rules and get mostly the same results. Explosives rules are on p.121-122 if you want to think through fragmentation and concussive force. If you need weapon stats, they are on p.209 with the others. CONGRATULATIONS! You found out how to throw a grenade in two to three page flips in one book! All you had to do to find out what to do in a combat situation was look in the combat part of the book and not in 5 or 6 completely different sections! Each bit of info in the 3e pages takes less than a minute to read, too.
A problem I see is when you using the same basic rules for lets say horror SiFi and nonfantasy medival knights then this 3 settings dont feel very different. If you use a d100 system for horror a d6 system for sifi and a d20 system for the knights then all 3 settings have their own style and flavor.
Typically you add or take away the modular systems to help with that. I personally have always found it more than enough, but could certainly see the customer made systems being more to someone’s style & flavor.
@@hawkname1234 I think you might find there are games that lean into this. Something like 10 candles for example, and there are many others. Typically more lighter weight systems.
Oh, I’m not aware of other systems that are point buy, though I imagine there are some. Are we meaning the same thing I wonder? GURPS is entirely point buy, so no classes or anything. You buy abilities, skills, attributes, etc… all with the same point pool. I may have also misspoke.
@@homebrewedtabletop If by "point buy" you mean completely buying everything out of the same pool of points, there's a lot less choice, yeah. What comes to mind is The Dark Eye, a German fantasy rpg _very_ popular over here. No classes, no levels. You might like it. If you look it up make sure it's 5th edition. It follows a more realistic and less comic like approach than D&D for example, and is more down to earth (you want to reload your heavy crossbow? Now, that'll take you some 15 turns... Because It's a freakin heavy crossbow! Things like that...)
@@valorin5762 Man... TDE/DSA described as "point buy, no classes, no levels" shows me how old I am. 😄 Change from 3rd to 4th edition really was a paradigm shift, wasn't it? "All stats rolled in order, and if the results don't meet the requirement for class X, then pick a different class, sorry mate" was how DSA worked back in my days. (1st - early 3rd ed.) Pretty much exactly like old-school (A)D&D. And you rolled for raising your skills every level, in 2nd & 3rd ed. If RNG hated you... that meant no skill increases for you until your next level up.
@@Oh_Its_That_Weirdo yeah... That's all history. 😀 DSA4 was also awful in my opinion, but that's when they switched to point buy. DSA5 is very enjoyable in my opinion, even if character creation takes a long time. It's all point buy and you're using the same experience points you use for improving stats. No classes, no "improvement rolls" and all that. The game completely changed. I started playing ttrpgs when I was 12, with DSA2. I'm soon 50 and starting playing DSA5 just a few years ago. I took a big break because I really didnt like where the game was going with 4th edition.
100% I would love to be able to recommend a gambit of generic systems for various play styles. Right now I have a grip of review materials that I’m trying to work through, including a few generics like Fate and others. My process typically includes a play test of a full adventure before any review, in addition to everything else (full read through, checking in with that games community, etc…). So it can be a slow train coming. But I’ll keep at it, as I absolutely live getting to do it.
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Aside from the Disadvantages which is the unsung hero of GURPS, the magic system mechanic of being able to tap your hitpoints when you run out of FP is my favorite mechanic in RPGdom. You can even go down to 0 hp to power a spell if you want which could create a really memorable moment. And that's how you win any RPG.
Haha agree. Those moments you talk about for years are what it’s all about.
Before this video even starts I have to say that for me GURPS was a leap of faith. While leaning to play, I got discouraged a few times and set it down. Then after a few sessions I slowly begun to see the infinite amount of tactical decisions and combinations that come up in combat and just how suspenseful that second by second combat could be. Being able to create and play an elderly character with a bad back and being compensated for that disadvantage being built into the rules without having to work something out with a suspicious GM is a breather and bakes that aspect of role play right into the game. I'm not one of those guys who is going to tell you that learning GURPS is easy, because for me it wasn't ( I've played a dozen and GMed a handful ), but it was totally worth the effort. And the only thing I use it for ( at the moment ) is Rare Magic Fantasy. But I do want to try a GI Joe game using cybernetically enhanced Joes. Code Named: Team Bronze Heart.
The funny thing for me; I got the 3rd edition basic set in '87 or so... and read through it and loved it. As my friends and I were playing AD&D 2e at the time, I kept asking if they wanted to switch, but at least one of the players really didn't want to. We finally sort of wrapped up most of the 2e game, and played some GURPS, but it was about a year or so after I had read the book, so I had forgotten most of the rules, and kind of had to (re)learn them as I went along. But overall, I think that's a great way to play, since you get the basics down and then you slowly start to introduce the more fine grained stuff like damage modifiers.
I love GURPS. It allowed me to play my non-magical psionic elf that D&D denied me for forty years. I have people now telling me that's flavor in D&D. I point out that my character doesn't cast spells. They cannot. It is not flavor to say they are not magic while casting spells. That's hypocrisy.
This character is published in two of my copyrighted books.
Nice to meet a fellow psionicist :)
And yeah, conversation with folks who haven’t tried other game systems can be difficult. It can hard to imagine what else is out there is you have never actually looked.
Funny comment you made about GURPS videos not doing well, it is true and it's a shame. Great overview and great to see more GURPS love being spread!
Thanks Easy. Let’s hope they are cooking up a 5th addition. Will definitely be something I want to ask about at gencon.
Also see you have a GURPS channel, looking forward to checking it out!
@@homebrewedtabletop I'm not someone who thinks they need a new edition. There really isn't a need for one. Unless they're going to change their method of 'Generic'. As I've pointed out elsewhere to people, you can either do what GURPS does, and make a generic basic set that is module, or you do a full set of rules for each genre with a somewhat similar base between them, like BRP or Modiphius' 2d20 system. Either way can work well, though for the player base, I think the secondary method is far more expensive. When you think that most players will buy just the 'player's handbook' and the GM buys the rest of the books, you'd end up with the Player base needing to get the Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Western, etc. From the publisher side, that's a great idea. From the Player base... less so...
I don’t think a new edition is needed. The current rule set is very good, having been fine tuned over the previous three editions.
The only reason I can think of to release a fifth edition would be to promote the game, when SJG finally decides to make a serious attempt to become the #1 RPG on the market, and challenge D&D for the title. Tweak a few minor things, add a bit more fluff, and re-release the system.
I love the layout of 4th edition. Hard backed books. Glossy pages. Coloured art. Quotes from film and other media relevant to the topic at hand. Indexes and glossaries, as appropriate. Fantastic.
Cheers,
I've been playing GURPS for years (since high school). It is by far my favorite game. It is the last bastion of satisfyingly crunchy detail and playable simulationism (a dying style of game) while being flexible enough to be stripped down to a fairly rules lite game for newcomers. I think its reputation as being overly complex and the fact that it predominantly exists as PDFs now are its biggest enemies. Despite this, I think that GURPS should lean into the simulationism instead of the universality; Fate, Savage Worlds, and similar games are also universal without the crunch (and with faster character creation and less math), but the characters in those games generally have a superficial "sameness" to them. The crunch and simulationism of GURPS makes possible dramatic possibilities that are often ignored or forgotten by modern gaming culture. Generally when I introduce a new player to GURPS combat, the player is blown away and they never look at the combat in other games the same way.
I have recently purchased several GURPS manuals from Amazon's print-on-demand and was very pleased with the binding and print quality.
Good to see GURPS getting some love. Some times the recommendations actually works and show me a channel I want to watch heh.
As for GURPS, It's my favorite system and was so good it replaced my own homebrew RPG rules I was working on as my main... and really my only system now. I used to main Cyberpunk 2020 but now I've played it with GURPS, I can't play Cyberpunk with Fridaynight Firefight anymore. I also run a GURPS blog called GURB (Generic Universal Roleplay Blog): Ultra-Tech Reloaded that covers, as you probably can guess, new weapons and gear for TL 9+ settings (Mostly TL 9 and 10).
Hope to see more GURPS stuff from you.
Working on some now actually. Hope it lives up to everyone’s expectations!
I recently got back into playing RPGs last year. Nice to see GURPS is still a thing. I'm not sure we ever actually played the game, but creating characters was always a blast. The old rule books were full of great ideas too. Thanks for the video!
Yep, still around and maybe getting a new addition, but we will have to see. :)
Thanks for dropping by!
My biggest problem with GURPS is that the system doesn’t do enough to support new GMs. If you want to learn GURPS by running a game you’re just not gonna have fun. You can overcome the system with experience but there really *NEEDS* to be more prefabricated content to get people into the system.
I agree. Although I think it’s all around tbh. More player support for character creation would be amazing. Although that is also something that affects GMs as well, so lends even more to your point.
GURPS is multi-genre so support is really hard to do. It also had a good deal of support in 3rd edition although 4th edition is current. For GURPS Dungeon Fantasy RPG, there is quite a bit of support including licensed support from Gaming Ballistic.
For getting started with GURPS looking on RUclips search for the following:
Chris Normand (aka Nose)
Mook (unfortunately sadly passed away)
GURPS Federal Agent
EasyGURPS
For the past two years I have been running a Star Trek campaign using GURPS 4th edition. It is set in the year 2262, halfway between "SNW" and "TOS". - the Music Loving Klingon
That sounds really fun! I think Star track is a great setting GURPS, particularly because you have the realistic humanoid abilities combined with super tech.
GURPS is my favorite RPG. Right now I have two games running, a cyberpunk game with veterans of the system and a fantasy game with new players. The newbs have completely broken characters, the fighter is only slightly smarter than a dog and mostly blind, the Gish only has a 20% chance to swing his sword correctly and the mage faints after casting 4 spells but they're still having so much fun that even in the weeks between sessions they meet up in the discord to discuss strategy, rules and the story. It's one of those games where even a 'bad' character is fun to play.
Haha that’s awesome. GURPS really does show that many times it’s the disadvantages and what you are not good at that makes your character.
Before watching this, I can quite definitely answer, “yes”. For me, GURPS is the best RPG, hands down. As simple, or complex, as you want. Easy to convert anything to GURPS stats. Real world numbers for real world things, and intelligent approximates for things that don’t exist. One rule set for infinite genres.
The only thing it lacks in the current edition, is balanced rules for creating vehicles. Not space/ Star ships, just vehicles. Possibly as the content and variety is such, that the book would need to be massive, or many volumes.
The only genre I would not recommend it for is high-powered superhero shenanigans. The rules work, but the points values for the PCs are astronomical. The points difference between a street level character, such as Batman (even over-the-top Batman), and a god-tier character, such as All-Star Superman, is a massive chasm. And try to design an adventure using both types of characters is nigh impossible (and Superman should be able to complete any mission in minutes, if not seconds, with no input from any other PCs. That not to say GURPS is flawed - rather, it does its job too well.
I have been gaming for almost fifty years, and have played many an RPG. But I keep coming back to GURPS. That’s not to say that I haven’t played some great games with other systems over the years. It’s just that I could play every adventure I ever had, in the GURPS system, and not had to learn a new rule set each time to do it.
One-eyed rant over.
Cheers,
GURPS is a really good system with a weird dice roll system and a lot of unnecessary tables. D&D 2ed also was plagued by the tables and they got rid of most of them in 3ed. It's just a few updates of being the best system ever.
GURPS is one of the many parents of my own homebrew system. It is simply fantastic!
It’s awesome to hear how everyone homebrews it! So many great things to take and make your own.
I love GURPS on paper and own all of it's 4th edition hardcover books, but I only GMed it a few session. I'm glad you provided an extensive list of its problems. All of them applied to my experience with it. The campaign ended with my players calling it the Generally Unplayable RPG System. The amount of work necessary to make a consistent and easily communicated game and setting using GURPS comes close to creating your own game completely from scratch. I would also list the disadvantages system among the drawbacks. It's much too easy to create absurd drawbacks that never come into play or disrupt the game for other players, just to gain a few additional character points.
I feel you. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to explain to players that taking bad temper, no sense of humor, berserk, and a few other social disadvantages on their strength based barbarian was not okay.
“First bar you go into you are going to end up in a rage because someone said a joke you didn’t understand, you got made, and slaughtered half the bar.” Player asked what’s the problem, and I have to explain how that ends in their characters untimely death by the local garrison.
Also all that other stuff. The packaging is a great way to put it, and something seriously lacking. Fingers crossed they are thinking about it for a new addition.
GURPS has one real rule: Just because you can do anything does not mean you should do everything.
Take the two core books. Add one setting book, one tech book, and one "flavor" book. Say build a game with space and horror.
I started a year ago with GURPS Lite. Now I am using a lot of the 3E Traveller books in my own gritty far-future space campaign.
We were all pretty new to the game, and having character templates really helped. The biggest problem I have had as a GM with players coming from D&D-like games is getting them to play their characters' advantages and disadvantages.
In fact if it's Friday it must be game night.
Looking forward to more GURPS content.
That seems like solid advice.L, as it can get quite overwhelming.
I’ve had some of that same issue, but I also found that some of my players would RP some other disadvantage that they didn’t take. So I will often be like “hey, you seem to be rping this a lot, why don’t we swap it out with this other thing?”
Doesn’t always work, but often enough it does.
@@homebrewedtabletop My group is playing via discord, and I am only playing via my laptop (one monitor). I have to trust my players to use their character sheets and use their stats appropriately because I simply do not have the capacity to run the whole of the game world and point out their potential bonuses and penalties based on disadvantages, advantages, and skills. They really need to do it themselves.
It makes for a more fast and loose interpretation of the rules, and I guess they could be cheating on some rolls.
But cheating on an RPG is like masturbation. You're only screwing yourself.
This guy hit the nail on the head when he said it's best to ask for a character description from new players, and then build it for them. We need to get more players into the game, amd this is the way. Share ideas. Simple ones. Build the community. Too much of gurps community talks about the details of everything. The game is detailed enough, stop making it more detailed.
That being said...
Here's the best/easiest/most efficient GURPS rule breakdown I can give (again, this is just my ability to breakdown GURPS rules)
You need very few things to build a character for a new player, of which are:
The 4 main attributes
ST, HT, DX, and IQ
The 4 senses used in GURPS (in case the player actually describes a character with some flaws or strengths, and Perception is just so bland. I love to make players roll multiple senses at the same time because in many situations, there are many different ways to sense the presence of... anything!):
Hearing, Sight, Smell, and Touch
P.S. These are equal to IQ unless the character is special in some way, very simple.
Lastly, HP and Damage.
HP is equal to ST (I've been told 2xST is nice)
And Damage is a single table that can be found online.
That's it.. other than having fun using your imagination!
I hope this helps at least 1 person understand how simple GURPS can be ❤
I've always had a lot of love for GURPS... but it's been hard finding a group for it.
1,000% agree. It’s why I resorted to making GURPS converts. Easier to find people willing to try a new system than a group already playing it.
I’m a GURPS fan too, but there are disadvantages.
The problem with a system that has detailed crunchy rules for everything, and I do mean everything, is that the process of elimination becomes challenging. Both in the sense that it’s just always tempting to use the extended version, when it’s just lying there screaming at you to pick it up and use it. Also in the sense that the process of elimination requires a lot of work and careful thought.
Let’s say you want to run a Conan style campaign. You’ll want larger than life heroes, fast but still interesting combat and rules lite everything else, magic is super powerful but mostly slow and NPC only. Okay, GURPS will let you do that, but the customisation process will require you to make a hundred decisions about which rules to use, which are off-limits and what you need to tweak and how.
As opposed to picking up a game written and designed to run Conan campaigns from the ground up. GURPS can be a bit Jack of all trades master of none. Or it can be like running UNIX operating system, giving you a vast and powerful tool box and control, but also requiring more knowledge and work and allowing you enormous scope for breaking your game.
But at the very least every GM would do well to try it out. Expand your mind.
Another thing. GURPS has the best expansion modules of any rpg. Their books on fantasy or space are priceless.
I couldn’t agree more, and if they decide to make a 5e it’s one of the primary things I would like to see. Packaging related rules/abilities/etc… into easy to get, easy to use packages would be a game changer.
Subbed to see more GURPS content. 👍
Cheers!
I own it and I totally respect the game, but I have never run it, because I have always preferred Chaosiums Basic Roleplaying system [BRP], it has all the crunch I need. But there is no denying, GURPS does have more options. Also, the GURPS settings books are some of the best out there. [I use them even with BRP]
I need to try it, I have not as of yet. I’m a little behind the 8-ball since moving into the creators space for ttrpg’s. I used to think I knew and had tried many game systems, then I realized how big the space it.
I know this might sounds immature or superficial, but to me the greatest drawback of GURPS lies in its books. They are dry, uninspiring, the layout looks right out of the 80s and the rules are scattered and not clearly explained. I find it extremely frustrating. I kind of love the gaming system per se, but every time I pick up a book, I swear, I *really swear* I'd rather be reading topological algebra or advanced python or almost eveerything else. I hope they'll make a 5th edition (the chances are slim, though) that doesn't look and feel like it belongs to the twentieth century. (I'm 50, btw, so it's not just a "young guy syndrome". It's just that reading up something for a game should be enjoyable, not feel like a chore.)
I think you raise a good point about the curb appeal, and certainly the books are dated at this point. I imagine even if they simply remade the same system without much mechanical changes there could be many improvements.
Fingers crossed they decide to move forward with a 5th edition.
Definitely agree aboutthe book layouts. And please, can someone come up with a stat block format that's not a headache-inducing wall of text?
I’ll agree with the former part compared to almost any other rpg it has basically zero lore. It on an extreme of the spectrum, the other side being like a world of darkness book where there’s like a whole ass novella with mechanics scattered throughout out. But I’d disagree with the statement that the layout is confusing or the mechanics are poorly explained, infact I’d say you’re making two contradictory points. It’s literally all mechanics now it’s not always in the best order but there all lawyed out with almost zero excess, its what the mechanic is consptually, mechanical and than useally and example. In a highly encyclopedic format
I want 50 books on GURPS Technomancer :D
Dude - I love that you're doing this. I've followed GURPS since 2nd Edition, in the 80s, but only played a couple of games. My best friend and I talk game design (including GURPS) all the time. We agree that GURPS is mostly a toolbox for designing a game. It's VERY hard to play a game straight out of the box. I think the Basic set should be re-named the Core Mechanics, and it should NOT be the first book you buy. Like you said, there should be self-contained settings books that contain ONLY the rules needed to get going in that setting.
I also thing GURPS should add the concept of 3 levels of granularity. The 3 levels would correspond, in skills, to Bang! skills, normal skills, and maneuvers. Different campaigns would have different rules and characters at different levels of granularity. E.g. One game might have Social and Exploration skills at Granularity 1, so those are just bang skills and we handwave all complex interactions with a GM ruling and a roll. But that same game might have combat at complexity 3, allowing maneuvers, or even just UNARMED combat at complexity 3, because it's a martial arts game. Point is, having a regularized system for choosing and defining the complexity of the rules subsystems would really help shape GURPS games into something focused and manageable.
Subscribed and bell'd. Looking forward to more!
Exactly, glad I’m not the only one who feels this way. Lol
I would like to know why you don't like the feeling of superheros in GURPS.
Is it that they never miss? That it takes a catastrophic failure for anything to go wrong? Or do the numbers become ridiculous?
I've never played superheros, but I'm curious, regardless.
So I havnt played a ton in that exact genre, but I have played a lot at those power levels.
There are a lot of issues for me tbh but to distill it to one thing, It’s the need to renormalize the dice rolls for the ability scores/skills. Apposed roles for example often feel pretty bad. It just seems like the game was not designed on that scale, and we are just off the charts.
I know hard core supers fans will probably tell me different, I just personally don’t feel satisfied by how it’s done.
GURPS MENTIONED RAAAAAAAAAA ❗🗣❗🗣❗🗣❗🗣
Haha!
It is a disorganized tool box that has been shaken violently
Haha, I’m not sure in exactly what context you mean, but this one had me laughing. 😆
I started playing GURPS 5 years ago (2 years after I was introduced to 5e), and I've never looked back. You are absolutely right! GURPS needs a better & more cohesive jumping-on point without sacrificing its greater depth, and some kind of tool to create a basic writeup of all the rules you are using. I love GURPS though, aside from maybe homebrewed to hell FATE, its the only system that can handle my game!
Great video! GURPS has been MY system for over 30 years, I love its ability to handle pretty much any genre, but I do recognize that it can be overwhelming if taken as a whole. The various "genre" books do help a lot to keep the GM/players focused on what rules should be included, and the "How to be a GURPS GM" series of supplements do a lot to help potential GM's decide on what bits of the toolkit are necessary as well. It's hard to squeeze a system that's designed to handle any reality down into one book!
Thanks, and thank you for sharing! I saw those came out at some, but don’t think I picked them up. I’ll have to check them out.
Thanks! Good review/intro. The only issue I have is the Crunch scale didn't have much variety showing difference from other systems, especially other multi genre systems.
@jrduncan13 Thanks for the feedback, Ill keep working on it!
I love seein GURPS content, even if I've never played in a fulfilling campaign yet, I hope you do more builds and stuff for Gurps. I do find it interesting how you talk about 1 way of doing Magic, because GURPS has like 3 different variations of magic, even before customizing them further.
Ah bummer. I hope you find one soon! My main group has been going for years, and it’s so much fun!
And yeah, I agree I could have talked more about the various ways of implementing magic. I was mostly referencing the core set & the Magic book that largely puts forth a singular method.
I am fairly partial to just using powers though, as a way of dealing with some of the balance issues. The Powers book is pretty helpful for that.
My only beef with GURPS: only four base stats. I know I can add whatever I like for attributes, but the base four seem a bit weak, if you know what I mean. Liked and subbed!
Later supplements (such as Power Ups 9: Alternate Attributes) offer ways to change up the base attributes, such as splitting off willpower and perception from IQ. You can pretty much choose what you want the base attributes to be. I hope that's helpful!
There are four base attributes, as you say, but there are at least two “minor” attributes attached to each of the base attributes, which are just as valuable.
Such as Willpower and Perception. They are based off your IQ, but can be higher or lower than this attribute, depending on what you want for your character. So it is possible to have someone of average intelligence, who has fantastic attention to the world around him, but is easily led by others. All from one attribute. Not sure how you build this into a Wizard with 18 Intelligence in a game like D&D…
Cheers,
I have a ton of old school GURPS books but I haven't played GURPS since the 90s so I have no idea what edition they are on.
Haha we are up to 4th, so you are only an addition behind I believe.
@@homebrewedtabletop Glad to know, thanks.
GURPS is intimidating. As a GM, if you're not using a pre-made setting (of which there are few), the work required to make one can be daunting. It essentially requires the GM to pare the rules that aren't relevant and flip the many optional switches on or off. That includes building character templates to help keep players from getting lost in all the choices.
It's a lot of work, but not impossible by any means. I think most people who turn away from the system take a look at the sheer volume of rules and run away screaming, not understanding that a given game won't use everything by a long shot.
For sure, I largely agree. Although I think it’s the time required that ends up getting most people.
Which is a shame, as the mechanics of the game are very simple.
Perhaps the biggest downfall of GURPS is the lack of pre-made adventures for the system.
But you can take any adventure from any other system, and run it in GURPS, once you do some conversion work.
Also, there are a number of third party publishers out there, who make great settings, and adventures, specifically for GURPS.
There is nothing so satisfying, though, than to create your own world, craft your own adventures, and running your mates through them. Or being one of those people running through the adventure, your friend crafted for you.
You can either take your time, craft your world, setting the rules as to how and why things work, or jump right in with your first adventure, and flesh things out as things progress. Both methods are valid. You just need to settle on what works for you, and your players.
Cheers,
@Wolf359inc Absolutely. And I'll point out that the GURPS genre books -- GURPS Space, GURPS Fantasy, et al -- are fantastic. Though not actual settings themselves, they're very comprehensive guides to building settings that I've even used for inspiration with other games.
GURPS gets a bit of a reputation for being complicated, but honestly, it can be pretty simple if you stick to the basics. The core system is just rolling 3d6 and trying to get under your skill or stat, which is super easy to wrap your head around.
The complexity really comes from all the optional stuff you can add in, but you don’t have to use it. If you just want a straightforward game, you can keep it light and ignore most of the extras. It’s really as simple or detailed as you want it to be, which is kind of the cool part. You can mod the game to be exactly what you want.
I agree, I just think most people come to GURPS because they have heard you can make whatever character or world you want. Then it’s an issue of complexity to make that happen. But again, I basically agree with you here.
Good video for a game with so much content.
Glad you enjoyed it! Fingers crossed for a 5th edition soon.
@@homebrewedtabletop While I can see why people want a new streamlined starter set or lite version, I'm not exactly sure we need a new edition. Maybe reorganized books?
Played the original GURPS back in the day and loved how customizable it was, and as a now D and D player can confirm that GURPS characters options are vastly greater.
With GURPS,, you can mix genres. Once I started a cyberpunk game that evolved to a fantasy game. Something like Evil Dead 3 with Akira.
Haha nice. Yeah, I like to pull rules in depending on the flavor of adventure I’m going for. So adding grit if the party visits a low magic desert world, or horror if they are diving into a forgotten crypt.
GURPS is great and I've played it for years. I have personally played medieval sword & sorcery, far future space opera, modern day superheroes and modern day hidden magic with this system. My fav was in the far future one where I played an electrokinetic gagdeteering ninja.
Haha you’ve run the gamut! What power level did you go for on the modern day super heroes?
@@homebrewedtabletop They were 500 point characters.
The one thing that bothers me about GURPS is the dodge function. Everyone has it. The best hit roll can be defeated by a passive dodge check.
Oh man, I love the active defenses, but also agree it can be an issue. I play finesse fighters a lot and feint is a staple for me. But the attack, dodge, attack, dodge, … can get boring and old.
I just love the agency as a player to be able to actively defend.
@@homebrewedtabletop I fell out of love when my rifleman fired at a bear that was in melee with one of my party. I aced the roll and the bear dodged. That was the DM's ruling.
@@homebrewedtabletop I love the agency there, too, but have also dealt with a great hit being foiled by a dodge rolled right after. The simple solution at my table is rolling both at the same time. I tell my player to hit me with their best shot while I roll whatever I need to dodge for the bad guys. It makes the moment feel more like it's supposed to, a challenge of opposed skills, a clash between two figures. My players really responded well to that change. It isn't a perfect solution, but I prefer it to not having active defenses.
@majorpain8569 Yeah, that sounds frustrating and not something that sounds even plausible. Just on it's face, a bear does not have the IQ to understand it needs to dodge a bullet... DM mistake there it would seem, somewhat highlighting one of the major issues with GURPS, it's so hard to DM because it is so complicated.
Thanks! Very helpful. I've been trying to wrap my head around GURPS for awhile but keep getting distracted by other projects lol
Glad I could help! Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions.
We tried GURPS for a campaign, and it just didnt hit right for us. The giant tool box and crunch was too much. It does have my absolute favorite rpg element though, which was the flaw 'Major Delusion' and the example "Ice cream makes computer run better, spoon it right in"
That’s totally understandable and something I hope they fix if they make a new version.
Also love the delusions! I went with the “squirrels are secretly messengers from the gods” for my Ranger in 3rd addition. lol
GURPS Lite rules only for an initial campaign or just skim the Basic Set rules to fit our needs? I have several source books and am excited to GM a multi-shot campaign of some “genre” and don’t want to weigh down myself and other PCs who are also new to GURPS. I want the game to run cinematically if that’s possible.
I would go with GURPS Lite for that. As players/You want to add things in to customized their setting/characters/etc… then add those things in. Otherwise it’s a very long process to get your head around everything.
Looking forward to the character creation videos
Ive got one of the world of Constantine that Im editing for the 5th time, but it should be out soon!
Ive had a lot of issues with companies not wanting any of their material used on youtube, fair use or not. Pretty understandable really but it's been complicating things a bit.
Savage Worlds is also a very customizable system but a little bit lighter on the rules.
For sure, and I have reached out to them for a review copy. I would love to talk more about these various systems. As a player I have talked with folks who have played most of these type of systems, but would love to dig into them myself now that I cover them here.
Great review that highlights some of the pros and cons of GURPS! I played and GM'd for about 6 years before switching to FFG Star Wars and now the equivalent setting-agnostic Genesys. How would you compare the "fiction-first" Genesys with the "hardware-store" approach of GURPS?
I have a confession to make… I mostly know Fantasy Flight for Twilight Imperium and some of their other board games. I have not actually played Genesys or the FFG system (although I’m familiar with some of the more well known mechanics).
Sounds like I should put it on my list to try though, if you recommend it?
@@homebrewedtabletop Genesys is a lot of fun. Where GURPS is sometimes a toolsets for simulating *physics*, Genesys is a toolset for simulating *fiction*. It's core mechanic has more room for narrative play as well, which suits my style. I highly recommend giving it a try if you can!
Will do! Sounds a bit similar in intention to Fate then?
@@homebrewedtabletop I think so, though Genesys may lean even further toward narrative. Since you mentioned Twilight Imperium, they did release a setting book just for that. I haven't tried it, but I've heard good things if you're in the mood for a space opera with lots of opportunity for intrigue.
Excellent video! Love the game.
One thing that modern GURPS struggles with is vehicle creation. If you want to make a custom vehicle in 4th edition you basically have to build it as a character and it’s going to cost you 1000 points. Still not as bad as 3rd edition vehicles though.
100%. I think a lot of people don’t understand that if something passes a level of complexity or time investment required, that it might as well not exist to most people.
I’m sure many people would respond to this with all the ways you can make a vehicle and how easy it is for them after spending hours and hours making them, but that’s not going to be Joe Gamers experience.
I LOVED GURPS Vehicles, but each one was basically an engineering project. For those of us who like complexity, that was cool. But it's not gaming, and is a total turn off and barrier to normal people who just want to fight on chariots or have two galleons have a naval battle.
@@hawkname1234 Exactly. Idk if you have played, but I just tried out Car Wars, and it's pretty awesome. But it's not a game I would ever break out when the in-laws come over, or even my brother for that matter, but thats also kind of why I like it, for the complexity. (and Im sure its a 7/10 on what it could be)
I really enjoy the realism it brings, while offering variety to shape the game and play experience just about anyway you want it to be. Class based systems now feel overly rigid and restrictive, and even punitive in ways. With a system like GURPS or BRP, your character can grow and evolve in ways that are natural and can advance in skill and ability progressively rather than unrealistic stairsteps which unlock new features a character may not have been growing toward or playing into. Further, if my character is fortunate to survive the rigors or an adventuring life they have the potential to become extremely powerful and influential in a much more diverse way than class based systems. It's comical to see how Drizzt is reenvisioned with each edition and the wars over what class and multi-class he is without it making any sense because it has to be shoehorned into rigid classes. He makes much more sense to explain and recreate in GURPS or BRP. Thanks for making this video!
GURPS require a new edition, they should take basic set and turn these two books into a single book with most used rules/traits/spells etc with maximum of 200 pages. Then make another book that will have all other leftover info. Even with all these summary tables, GURPS is very hard to get into. Although I like it a lot and use GURPS Lite from time to time, I only use basic set to get ideas for my own rules.
I agree, a new addition would be great. I think there are several ways they could simplify it, and make it easier to use. I would honestly be happy with several of the options but I guess we will have to wait and see.
Just use GURPS 3rd edition. I decided that 4th wasn't worth the change for as often as we play. Third edition has a ton of supplements, and the core book is incredibly complete.
@@johnsnyder4653 Sounds like a plan! Let me check 3rd edition! Thanks a ton!
This is what GURPS 3e plus the Compendiums were. I switched to 3e (with 4e standardized skill progression) and I've had way more fun ever since.
Edit: I feel the need to give an example of why I prefer 3e.
If you are new to the game and want to throw a grenade in 4e, you may need to refer to some of the following: p.226 to refer to your skill default if you didn't take Throwing as a skill, p.269 to understand how to read the damage from explosion vs fragmentation on your weapon stats, p.414 explains extra rules for fragmentation damage including how the only way to avoid it is to take the Dodge and Drop maneuver, p.277 has the weapon statistics for the grenade if you don't have it written down yet, p.355 explains how far you can throw things, p.410-414 have more special rules for grenades, and p.550 has your Speed/Range Table for calculating distance penalties. This is not an exhaustive list as I left some other pages with grenade variables out.
Needless to say, this is too much! Now of course you don't have to use any of these rules, but the fact that something as simple as throwing a grenade could have you scouring two books for a dozen pages that are placed far from one another is ridiculous.
Now in 3e: all the info you need on throwing things, including examples, is on p.90. Scatter (overshooting a grenade lob) is in the Advanced Combat rules on p.119. You can handwave this with the basic throwing rules and get mostly the same results. Explosives rules are on p.121-122 if you want to think through fragmentation and concussive force. If you need weapon stats, they are on p.209 with the others.
CONGRATULATIONS! You found out how to throw a grenade in two to three page flips in one book! All you had to do to find out what to do in a combat situation was look in the combat part of the book and not in 5 or 6 completely different sections! Each bit of info in the 3e pages takes less than a minute to read, too.
A problem I see is when you using the same basic rules for lets say horror SiFi and nonfantasy medival knights then this 3 settings dont feel very different. If you use a d100 system for horror a d6 system for sifi and a d20 system for the knights then all 3 settings have their own style and flavor.
Typically you add or take away the modular systems to help with that. I personally have always found it more than enough, but could certainly see the customer made systems being more to someone’s style & flavor.
There is no reason your core resolution mechanic should interact at all with the genre. Those things are completely orthogonal.
@@hawkname1234 I think you might find there are games that lean into this. Something like 10 candles for example, and there are many others. Typically more lighter weight systems.
MORE CRUNCH MORE REALISM MORE TABLE
Uhm. Most RPGs I play use point-buy systems... Only systems which still make you roll are mostly the classical fantasy games.
Oh, I’m not aware of other systems that are point buy, though I imagine there are some. Are we meaning the same thing I wonder?
GURPS is entirely point buy, so no classes or anything. You buy abilities, skills, attributes, etc… all with the same point pool.
I may have also misspoke.
@@homebrewedtabletop If by "point buy" you mean completely buying everything out of the same pool of points, there's a lot less choice, yeah. What comes to mind is The Dark Eye, a German fantasy rpg _very_ popular over here. No classes, no levels. You might like it. If you look it up make sure it's 5th edition.
It follows a more realistic and less comic like approach than D&D for example, and is more down to earth (you want to reload your heavy crossbow? Now, that'll take you some 15 turns... Because It's a freakin heavy crossbow! Things like that...)
@@valorin5762 Man... TDE/DSA described as "point buy, no classes, no levels" shows me how old I am. 😄 Change from 3rd to 4th edition really was a paradigm shift, wasn't it?
"All stats rolled in order, and if the results don't meet the requirement for class X, then pick a different class, sorry mate" was how DSA worked back in my days. (1st - early 3rd ed.) Pretty much exactly like old-school (A)D&D.
And you rolled for raising your skills every level, in 2nd & 3rd ed. If RNG hated you... that meant no skill increases for you until your next level up.
@@Oh_Its_That_Weirdo yeah... That's all history. 😀
DSA4 was also awful in my opinion, but that's when they switched to point buy.
DSA5 is very enjoyable in my opinion, even if character creation takes a long time. It's all point buy and you're using the same experience points you use for improving stats. No classes, no "improvement rolls" and all that.
The game completely changed. I started playing ttrpgs when I was 12, with DSA2. I'm soon 50 and starting playing DSA5 just a few years ago. I took a big break because I really didnt like where the game was going with 4th edition.
Hero champions fan here. I’d love to see more videos on gyros or other generic systems.
100% I would love to be able to recommend a gambit of generic systems for various play styles.
Right now I have a grip of review materials that I’m trying to work through, including a few generics like Fate and others.
My process typically includes a play test of a full adventure before any review, in addition to everything else (full read through, checking in with that games community, etc…). So it can be a slow train coming. But I’ll keep at it, as I absolutely live getting to do it.