So I am getting into GURPS 4e and it seems like a neat system. Now I am more used to campaigns with lots of combat and some pretty free form roleplaying in-between combats (Out current systems are Savage Worlds and D&D 4e). Investigations, puzzles, exploration, and social interaction tend to run pretty light because I find it hard to fill a whole 4 hour session with that kind of stuff. GURPS seems to have more non-combat mechanics for people to be engaged with.

Since my group already likes an action focused generic system, I'm wondering what if any role GURPS would fill. Is this better for really detailed campaigns where smaller differences are important or is this system better for insane campaign concepts that even Savage Worlds would struggle to handle? I might not end up actually playing GURPs. But if I lock down what it is good at, I can probably transfer that back to Savage Worlds to flesh out some areas. My Rules Cyclopedia let me flesh out dungeon crawling to a greater extent so I am optimistic that I'll get something out of the effort.

I have to confess that I don't play GURPS. I use the sourcebooks for sourcebooks. Older GURPS products like Horseclans are awesome and some of those settings aren't being done in any other RPG system.

The sourcebooks are incredible. The fluff in the GURPS Traveller line is some of the best that I have ever seen (and currently available from FFE as a CD-ROM).

As an example, here is one entry from GURPS: Traveller - Behind the Claw and if you can't get an adventure idea from this, you need to hang up your GM hat.

Quote from: AstroburgersAstroburgers
Astroburgers, despite its unbelievably archaic title, is the biggest fast-food
franchise in the Marches. The stylized silver "A" against an Imperial starburst
symbol is known throughout Imperial space. The secret of Astroburgers' runaway
success is their aggressive expansion policy of opening a franchise in
every port and on every world, no matter what the dangers. MA pulled off a
tremendous media coup during the 1118 Zyra police action when their new-market
team hit the planet surface 11 minutes after the first assault drop and were
serving Big Sentient burgers before the perimeter was secured. Vids of Imperial
Marines "advancing to the Astroburgers position" – and burger-joint staff
exchanging fire with local rebels during the counterattack – trebled sales
overnight and launched the AssaultBurger line. Similar dangerous media stunts
have led to a series of indictments against Astroburger executives.

Quote from: Rhedyn;1055573Since my group already likes an action focused generic system, I'm wondering what if any role GURPS would fill. Is this better for really detailed campaigns where smaller differences are important or is this system better for insane campaign concepts that even Savage Worlds would struggle to handle? I might not end up actually playing GURPs. But if I lock down what it is good at, I can probably transfer that back to Savage Worlds to flesh out some areas. My Rules Cyclopedia let me flesh out dungeon crawling to a greater extent so I am optimistic that I'll get something out of the effort.

It a toolkit. Serious the answer that it is a toolkit with tons of options to build a consistent system to adjudicate a campaign with. It can go lite where combat is merely a contest of skills, or ultra detailed. The trick is to comb the various lists (skills, advantages, disadvantages, etc) and pick the ones that suit the setting of the campaign.

For myself I used GURPS to run my Majestic Wilderlands for 20+ years. I generally run it using the core book combat system with some of the options from GURPS Martial Arts. Over the years I create notes on the various major cultures and profession that I hand to the players if they are interested. For example see this for the Myrmidon of Set.

There no real downside except because it is a toolkit you will have to implement most of it yourself. There are product lines like Dungeon Fantasy and Monster Hunters that does some of this. Combat will take longer to resolve on average than D&D. Mainly because everybody got options for defenses. In general GURPS mechanics have a one to one correspondence to real life or the genre. So in-game planning and preparedness is king and there is little one can do to "game" out of a situation if one is caught with their figurative pants down.

And of source the sourcebooks (both 3rd edition and 4th) are excellent summaries of a genre or time period.

Everything but supers.  Sadly SJG has absolutely refused to produce a functional set of supers rules.  Yes, my opinion of GURPS Supers is that low.  Sorry, apply a percentile modifier to the cost of strength to find the value you look up on a chart to find the value you look up on another chart is just plain bullshit.  It also doesn't get any benefit until you get to around 100 ST and then it slowly overtakes the 10:1 Strength verses Innate Attack damage differential.  Never mind there's a couple ways to destroy the world on less than 100 points.  Nevermind that movement powers double their effects, range modifiers double their effect, but no, strength is just a mess.  There's a lot of ways they could have done it but I expect design by committee is at fault.


oh well, screed over.  GURPS is lovely and I run it a lot we've done Harry Potter, Attack on Titan, cyberpunk, zombie apocalypse, biblical apocalypse,  Dungeon Fantasy, wacky fantasy, Mars Attacks, it goes on and on.  But no supers, I wish.

I've never used it for anything, but as sourcebook material. For that, they're quite good in turning things into a game-able format. I particuarly liked the netbook Philos Basilikos, which was useful as a player primer for the Hellenistic era.

Note: I've never used 4e. I just didn't like some design decisions and the split book nature of stuff (and I hate when a generic-ish game feels the need to write a multiversal 'setting', just let us write our settings please.)

I've used it for fantasy, although it was nothing like D&D fantasy. I've played in a Greek-esque fantasy campaign, though sadly did not last long.
I've used it for "suddenly you have powers, now what," style campaigns to see where players take things.
I've used it for both Science Fiction and Horror campaigns (the latter went over really well despite a TPK, well mostly TPK...the werewolf might have survived the avalanche.)

In general for me the idea was to pick something I wanted to run, get the sourcebooks for it and go with it. Since it was a game I was familiar with and relatively easy to use, 4E changed some things that made it less useful for me, but by that time I was pulling back to simpler systems and game systems built specifically for their genres.  

The nice thing was that I ran enough of it that, the players I had could easily make characters and know most of the rules, without having to explain them again.

The one thing I never got to do what I wanted was to have our world discover a doorway to a fantasy style universe, but be unable to send anything but living organisms through. So the players are recruited from some highly trained martial artists who've other talents--biology, psychology, chemistry. Essentially send over a team of kick ass scientists/and the like to explore, and bring back information. (Of course the catch was the door was one way, though other doors back might exist.)

I use it for all sorts of things, Supers included (currently running just such a campaign). If you're already fine with your current generic system though, I'm not sure what exactly you'd be able to take from GURPS to bring back aside from idea fuel from the aforementioned setting/genre supplements.


You could maybe take a look at GURPS Mysteries, GURPS Horror and GURPS Social Engineering for some ideas on what to do when your group isn't in combat. The GURPS Action line has good advice on structuring a campaign to fit more of an action movie beat formula, with investigation and clue hunting leading to the actual mission deployment and downtime, etc.

Pretty much anything where I really want to get into strong tactical gameplay.

Quote from: Rhedyn;1055573Since my group already likes an action focused generic system, I'm wondering what if any role GURPS would fill.

Since 2005, I've only been using the source books from GURPS for sandbox game ideas. GURPS is really meant to run on a computer. I don't want to role-play a game server for my players. Some GMs don't mind acting as web servers also using Roll20, ad nauseam, on top of GURPS.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1055611Since 2005, I've only been using the source books from GURPS for sandbox game ideas. GURPS is really meant to run on a computer. I don't want to role-play a game server for my players. Some GMs don't mind acting as web servers also using Roll20, ad nauseam, on top of GURPS.

Beep boop.

Main thing I've used it for over the years is using GURPS Vehicles to make sure my pre-modern vehicle designs have something resembling realistic speed, range and crew/cargo capacities. At one point I even devised a dollars to 'pounds silver' conversion ratio for one setting that was privateer focused so that the multitude of ship designs that might be taken as prizes by were properly priced for when the PCs wanted to sell off the prizes.

I've never used any of the GURPS rules directly though.

Quote from: Chris24601;1055614Main thing I've used it for over the years is using GURPS Vehicles to make sure my pre-modern vehicle designs have something resembling realistic speed, range and crew/cargo capacities. At one point I even devised a dollars to 'pounds silver' conversion ratio for one setting that was privateer focused so that the multitude of ship designs that might be taken as prizes by were properly priced for when the PCs wanted to sell off the prizes.

I've never used any of the GURPS rules directly though.

This is hilarious to me, willingly using 3e Vehicles' design system but not the game system itself... to be clear I have absolutely nothing negative to say about that, I just don't think I've ever heard this before, anywhere.

Quote from: Antiquation!;1055619This is hilarious to me, willingly using 3e Vehicles' design system but not the game system itself... to be clear I have absolutely nothing negative to say about that, I just don't think I've ever heard this before, anywhere.

Pulling ideas from setting books and doing this kind of thing seem to be my main uses right now.

Like Savage Worlds covers a lot of the same stuff but can skim on details. McGyver edge is basically Quick Gadgeteer but the later has rules I can extrapolate from while the edge tells me to basically "wing it".

I've used GURPS since it came out. I've seen it used well in several different types and styles of game in various settings. And I've seen it used poorly (IMO).

Estar is right that it's a toolkit which gives a consistent and basically realistic/logical approach that lets you make all sorts of games in all sorts of settings... though as was also pointed out, Supers games tend to suffer from the logic, as Supers aren't particularly compatible with logic and realism. i.e. GURPS is full of logic that spoils the illogical conceits of many/most comic books & supers stories since most things are designed to make sense and be consistent.

What I mostly choose to GURPS for is what I personally think it does best, which is pre-effective-gunpowder-weapon tactical combat, played out on hex maps. Gritty deadly specific low-tech tactical combat where you map out exactly what happens and take really detailed actions and there will be good appropriate rules for it. Want to try to chop through your opponent's polearm with your greataxe? There are detailed rules for that, including the chances for what the remaining pieces your enemy holds may be usable for. On and on.

But I've also used it and seen it used for higher-level mostly-roleplaying games and other situations such as modern spy/intrigue, horror, sci fi, modern combat, and various other settings, styles, and types of gameplay.

It can be a bit tricky to GM well as someone new to GURPS, I think.