Author Topic: GURPS: Good for Gaming?  (Read 3751 times)

The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers

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GURPS: Good for Gaming?
« on: April 23, 2003, 02:14:07 PM »
ElJeffe and I have had this conversation already (as recent as last night) and you've already read our reviews on the subject, but I thought I'd weigh in on some specific issues that Jeffe brings up.

Firstly, all the criticism are about book layout and design. I don't argue with those. I've said it before and I'll say it again, with the exception of Car Wars (the original and the Compendium), SJG is crap for design and wording.

However, I disagree with the necessity of Compendiums. Frankly, you don't need them. Many supplements come with GURPS Lite rules that make it standalone: you don't even need the "basic set" (A set that consists of nothing but 1 Book. I don't know why it's called a set aside from the aforementions crap for design and wording habits at SJG) Sure, you might not be able to play some of the pre-gen characters, but who uses those anyway?

The real strength of GURPS are the sourcebooks. Things like Atlantis and Spirits, which are almost completely rule independent, and not only don't require you to have anything like Compendiums, but not even to play GURPS to use the material.

I think that Jeff's real complaint is that SJG sells their stuff in a way to try and get you to buy more of their stuff. But it's not like they're terribly dishonest about it. The first book is a "basic" set which means it's not meant to be very complex. Most supplements rely on the expanded rules using the compendium, because there are many more options.

Compare this to collectible games, for example. You can play a full GURPS horror campaign when your only purchase is The GuRPS Horror GM Screen and 3 six-sided dice. As far as I can tell, it's hard to play for more than a couple hours of meaningful games of Magic, or Clix having spent only $20 between the lot the players.

Just my 2 bits. Note that I still hold that a lot of wording in GURPS is obtuse and obscure. And their standard printing format is insanely stupid. And yes, they're trying to hook you like crack so you'll keep buying more. Just ask anyone who owns GURPS books. You can't buy just one, even if you hate the game. (HOW many GURPS products have you purchased recently, Jeff?)

Mad Dr Jeffe

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Re: GURPS: Good for Gaming?
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2003, 09:13:18 AM »
I didnt touch on this much in the review since I was just going for the core book but the one area that GURPS shines is its sourcebooks. As a reference tool that is. Tons of gamers buy gurps book because they want some background on a subject or genre without having to wade through 300 reference books. For example I just bought GURPS Rome to help me with my FVLMINATA game. I also bought a guidebook (with pictures and reconstructions) of Pompeii. O Crap look at the time... Ill write more later.
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Mad Dr Jeffe

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Re: GURPS: Good for Gaming?
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2003, 04:15:00 PM »
Who owns gurps books but not Gurps? Just curious?
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Rycharde

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Re: GURPS: Good for Gaming?
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2003, 02:53:31 AM »
I have almost every book ever released by SJGames in the GURPS field  ??? Yeap, I'm certifiable! But as far as is the core book and the companions a waste of space, I'd say not. I have thumbed though them several times when developing new adventures, worlds, universes, etc. And of course, the worldbooks get a good workout at the same time.

Well see ya on the flip side.

8)
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Seaoftrouble

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Re: GURPS: Good for Gaming?
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2010, 06:56:13 AM »
GURPS takes the handcuffs off the GM giving them a chance to create new and original worlds without players crying "but DM the rules say you need to run the world like this" GURPS is filled with options not limitations. 

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