Redpill me on GURPS. Is it worth learning? Is it a standalone system or is it a tool to create systems?

It was Secret Service, CIA doesn't operate domestically. Sorry for sperging, but I really had to.

Bamppu

Thanks, my bad.

GURPS is a very bad RPG system. Don't play it. Even FATAL is better than GURPS.

Sry unrelated question, but what's the source to pic related? Noticed several strong cyberpunk pieces by this artist by now.

Google reverse image search seems to hit a Spanish guy pretty consistently

Thx, spanish cyberpunk artist helped. Josan Gonzales. Great work

>If you want rules so heavy you'll break your freaking back trying to shoulder them without proper form
then GURPS is sadly not the game for you, as it is only rules heavy in this user's imagination.

simple general rules/mechanics
lengthly but very detailed character creation, the most detailed out of all TTRPGs IMO
Very GM dependant as it'd be a difficult game if the players had to learn everything the GM knows at once, but they will learn too in time
can be used to run basically anything, I prefer GURPS for running wh40k RPGs to it's native systems
gets a bad rep from shit GMs throwing the entire basic book at their players when you need to pick out the skills and advantages for your specific game because most settings wouldn't allow every advantage/skill
Can be very, very rules heavy if the GM/players want it to be, but it allows a lot of depth

Imo it shouldn't be your first system unless the person running it is experienced since it can put people off tabletop when an inexperienced GM throws everything at the players.

>Is it a standalone system or is it a tool to create systems?
Very much the latter. GURPS is very, VERY toolboxy. This is both a blessing and a curse. People who say that rules is Baator in system form are probably not playing GURPS the way it was intended. GURPS takes modularity to the extreme, to the point that pretty much no rule or mechanic is absolutely required.

GURPS treats rules like computer programs. You don't buy a computer expecting to use every single pre-installed program on it, and certainly not right away. The onus is on you as a GM to pick which rules you want to learn and use.

GURPS has many rules that most people will never use. Why are they in the book, then? Because they're there for you just in case you do want them. Some groups can put the advanced rules for anatomical injuries and bleeding out to good use. Many will just be happy with simple HP.

Before you try to into GURPS, the most important question you need to ask yourself is, "Do I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew?" If the answer is "yes", then you probably aren't ready for GURPS (yet). If the answer is "no", then you have nothing to lose in giving the basic books a good read. Even if you never use GURPS, there's a lot of good material in there you can use in other games.

"Redpill me" is the new troll catchphrase. It usually doesn't work very well.

If this isn't already a copypasta I'm making it one.

Is there a reason for a GM to learn GURPS over just learning all the other different systems?

Ooh, I love Wittgenstein. You sold me on it.

>less famous for on of their bio books being used as a college text book
Hold the fucking phone, I need a source on that. I've always admired GURPS for its thorough research, but I've never thought it was rigorous to that degree

>The UNIX Philosophy
>not Emacs: the RPG

how many dicerolls and calculations are to resolve before an attack, for example a swordstrike hitting a combatant in a gambeson, is completed?

>Its far too front heavy for a lot of people
By which you mean you, because you're an idiot.
>and by design it places a lot of work on the shoulders of the DM for set up
By which you mean a lot of work in your opinion, because you're a moron.

Just one to hit and one for damage. People who say GURPS is complicated either haven't played it or are low IQ.

but i also asked about the calculations, including armor values and arriving damage

GURPS doesn't - can't - do anything as well as a good, dedicated system. However, it does anything better than a bad dedicated system, and it can do things there isn't dedicated systems for.

One roll to hit, one roll for damage, apply armor.

Don't be purposefully dense.

GURPS is a dedicated system that you build yourself out of the tools provided for you in the material. This guy has clearly never read a GURPS manual.

>apply armor
give me formulas the, please. they are relevent to the time needed to resolve an attack

>"apply armor"
>HRRRRRRRRRRR WHAT DOES THAT MEAN I NEED THE FORMULA

You are a fucking moron. What could "apply armor" possibly mean you fucking retarded kike?

Damage - Armor = damage taken.

something as simple as armor class up to using a combination of flat reduction, percentual reduction and even a root-based formula as I made one once.

but since it's GURPS, we use the formulas that apply to an actual strike hitting a real-life piece of armor. Then I'd be a retarded kike for not knowing that beforehand

Easy to play, nightmare to DM unless you really memorize shit. Lots of good material, but difficulty of running it without an experienced DM who knows the rules front and back makes getting into it difficult.

nothing but flat reduction then?

No shit, idiot.

It can be many things you mongoloid. Anima has a damage reduction based on percentages of total damage, some games change damage types to weaker types, some just have a flat DR, some garbage systems even just make armor be something that makes you harder to hit.

So it could mean many things you retarded fucking nigger newfag

>a good, dedicated system
And look how the opinions diverge on which is good and which isn't.
Fact is, GURPS is good for plenty things, fine at others and "uhhh, I guess it works...? but why are we doing this" at a few others.

>assblasted autistic spastic can't pick up information from context
>blames everyone else for his retardation
Go write a whiny suicide note you stupid fuck

Honestly, I always found GURPS to be almost fluid and intuitive, especially during character building. Yes, the math of the dice system can be a little heavy, but the game itself is so easy to build almost any concept, especially in simple fantasy campaigns.

As a GURPS GM, I have seen people build the following moderately outlandish characters with huge success, both mechanically without being a munchkin and in terms of role playing:
Blind seer joan of arc type
confused, soulless flesh golem
100% cyborg roller derby-gladiator
boba fett
sentient laser beam (this one was, mechanically, impressive but retarded in concept)
grizzled soldier caring for a war orphan
rich guy with unfathomable riches but no practical skills
proper warlock who remotely drew all his magic power from a demon

>I've never read or played gurps, the post

I played a lot of GURPS and it was very fun and worked just fine, tyvm.

bullshit. just takes effort.

Here's an intense formula

"I'm wearing a leather jacket. It gives me 1 DR."

done, you fucking trog.

eh, gurps is pretty good for relatively "realistic" settings, and desu i'd rather just go with something simpler like brp

Not exactly. It's a flat reduction before the multipliers kick in.

Huge Piercing does 2x damage. So, (Damage-Armor)*2, not Damge*2-Armor

In that case, what type of games does gurps do well?

Everything from realism to action movies, in any time period.

>for every other system.
For which systems besides D&D?

Optional rule, also those terms sound like 3e or something, a sword in 4e would typically be cutting or impaling.

m8, piercing is for guns.

gurps in play is a lot of fun, but it does require a lot of up front investment from both the gm and the players.

"casual" players will probably need quite a lot of help with character creation...

Which makes introductory one shots with premade PC's a must

I started up a Stargate 1888 game like that

>It is a "supersystem" from which you select subsystems and make the system you want to game with.
>Chargen is simple point buy.

It's very front loaded for the GM if you're not using a preset game line like monster hunters, both in familiarizing yourself with the mountain of options you can choose, and in Cherry picking what you are going to include.

From the player perspective, how hard it will be will be based on how easy you make it for them.

I'd advise copy pasting what you're including rather than telling them to examine sources and giving them big lists of what is being used.

It's good for when you want a system for a game that you don't have a system you like for it.

>I'm a low IQ numale, the post
GURPS is a game written for children, idiot. If the "people" you game with can't read and follow the instructions for a children's game without being handheld they are as fucking retarded as your hook nosed kike mother is fat

oh yeah, starting out with pregens is probably a good idea.

also, templates templates templates!

Gonna go through 2 turn as if with a newbie player, no hit locations

>I'm attacking that fucktard with my sword.
Okay, any techniques or anything?
>Nah
>Rolls a 10, skill is 14
Okay your swing is good but he brings up his shield
Rolls a 6 on skill 12
He catches your sword on his shield
>Aw fuck
He feints, 10 on a skill of 12
>Oh damn, so If I don't roll better than 3 below my skill he gets 3 to hit me next turn
Naw, you are -3 to defend next turn
>oh, okay, my bad. Uh, my Cloak is pretty good, I'll use that, since it's my best defence at 13.
You can use your sword skill
>Huh, really? I don't have to use parry? My Parry's only 10 and so I don't use it much
Yeah, Parry is half your skill plus three, but in this case you'll be using your sword skill to realize he's feinting you
>Ohhh
>rolls10 on 14
>Sweet!
You see right though his ploy
>I smirk at him.
He's kinda angry. What do you do now?
>Ah man, I wanna wrap this up. All out attack.
Kay, you want a strong one or a double or determined?
>Double
Okay, your defense will be fucked next turn, but go for it! What Kind of attack? Swing or thrust?
>Imma stab him. Both times.
>rolls a 7 on 14 and a 12 on 14
Okay, he rolls his shield, 13 on 12, you hit! And the second attack, he can't use his shield any more, so he chooses to dodge, and rolls a 10 on a 9. Roll damage!
>Okay my th--no wait it's already written down on my character sheet. My Calvary saber does 1d damage each attack.
>rolls a 5 and 3
Okay, he has Leather armor on with a DR of 2, so 3 damage and 1 damage penetrates. Since you chose thrusting attack it does impaling damage, a multiplier of two. You do a total of 8 damage. That's more than half his HP and he needs to roll on HT...he fails, and falls over in shock.
>COUP DE GRAI
it's coup de grâce actually, and you take his head right off!

this has to be bait!

Are there any software suites that would help with all this?

GURPS Character Sheet is a free program that helps with bookkeeping during character creation; it tracks the points for you and does the math when factoring in modifiers. IIRC is also automatically handles buying skills up from default, though I'm not 100% sure if it's infallible.

Roll20 loves macros and has built in gurps sheets

>Are there any software suites that would help with all this?

I'm going to second It's not completely infallible, a few house rules are coded in, I think in the lifting and striking ST. But it's labeled as an option/modifier.

It's also linked up to another website:

gurpscalculator.com

Which has GM board, character repository, dice roller, and tools for some of the more ugh of GURPS record keeping and rules, like fall damage calculator, and improvement through study.

I mean seriously, I think a few more paternons and it might end up virtual table top for GURPS

>sentient laser beam
what
how
elaborate

NTA

Basic Set p 60
Injury Tolerance (Diffuse)

>Your body is fluid or par-
>ticulate, composed of a swarm of
>smaller entities, or perhaps made of
>pure energy.

No manipulators, no legs (aeriel), Flight, super move?

lol, this would have been so much better

What about the defender's dodge, block?

for what fucking systems
if you're including stuff like DMGs and monster manuals, then yeah
but even in that case, GURPS has two - basic characters and campaigns
but if you're not, then no
i have literally never seen a system that actually required more than one book in the players' hands.

idiot

by default, a full step-by-step of an attack:
>attacker makes skill roll
>defender makes skill roll using dodge, parry, or block score unless the attacker rolled a crit (3 or 4 on 3d6)
>if the attacker failed or the defender succeeded, stop here
>if the attacker succeeded and the defender failed, attacker rolls damage
>subtract the target's DR from damage
>if the damage got through DR, apply wounding multipliers (if using them - 1x for crushing and pi, 1.5x for cutting and pi+, 2x for impaling and pi++ iirc) and subtract from the target's HP
optional rules include hit locations and shock, and ranged weapons have a few extra rules like rate of fire, but those all aren't hard to learn and don't slow it down that much more

for resolving actual injury
>if your HP is below 0, roll against HT when you're first put below 0 to remain conscious and after that, on every turn you act
>for every multiple of your max HP you go below 0, you roll against HT to survive
>at -5xHP you immediately die
>at -10xHP your body is destroyed
>if you take more than 1/3 HP of injury in a single attack, you suffer a major wound, which requires a HT roll vs stunning and has some other effects that i don't recall offhand

i've found that overall combat flows pretty fast in practice, despite the number of steps you may have to go through
it's worth noting you don't get like a billion attacks in a turn like in some games - you're usually limited to one action per turn, and it's often more advantageous to use some turns on aiming or evaluate maneuvers to increase your chances of hitting your target, for isntance.

It's pretty swell, but required more in the way of GM prep. What you can do is use one of the series (Dungeon Fantasy, After the End) which takes away said hassle. The system overall is very good, much better than D&D or Shadowrun mechanically.

There's no such thing as pic unrelated in GURPS.

That's the first thing you need to understand.

The second thing is that you need a LOT of free time to understand GURPS. A standard group will never be able to play it without cutting out like 95% of the rules.

So what you're saying is that its so confusing the gm will have to constantly correct everything you do?

Well of course. GURPS isn't like D&D where every single splat is allowed by default. You have to tell people to use what is appropriate for the campaign.

>as if with a newbie player
well yeah

A story circulates that GURPS Camelot ended up on the recommended reading list for an Arthurian Literature course at Indiana U in 1997.

Most of the time the proper course is "I don't allow GURPS, let's play something fun".

>What you can do is use one of the series (Dungeon Fantasy, After the End) which takes away said hassle.
Dungeon Fantasy's actually being spun off into its own semi-standalone RPG, which is going to take away even more hassle.

Three I think. To-Hit, Active Dodge(can be skipped), Damage resolution

Mostly simulationist, though you can do action movie-ish stuff with some of their optional rules like cinematic skills such as Guns! or Science!

Yeah, I might have been confused, because of this. Though I think it was actually a Biotech book--maybe a college prof said it was as good as the books he used in class?

>So what you're saying is that its so confusing the gm will have to constantly correct everything you do?

>Two corrections
>Correcting every fucking thing you do

lol.jpeg

There isn't anything un-fun about GURPS though. If you actually had an argument then maybe I could understand what you are saying.

...

Fairly plausible, actually-- I hold a biology degree (well, two now), and I remember buying GURPS Biotech out of pure admiration. I didn't know the system, I didn't know anyone who wanted to know the system, and in fact I'm pretty sure I didn't have anyone to roleplay with at the time, but the book was put together so well that I bought it as a work of art.

GURPS is best.

There's one in every thread... well, anons, you know what to do, right? Pester this user and hope he's the autistic sort that replies to every argument, then watch him self-destruct.

See this game, this game does fun.
Is a rela game.
With real rules.
Play it and you will see what kind of relic GURPS it.
Nothing but a corpse sustained by GM fiat and nothing more.
Compared to this game GURPS look like a 1908 Model T trying to outrun a Ferrari.

But GURPS does have real rules, for many things in fact. Very little relies on fiat, especially as you never need to homebrew. Try again ESL-kun.

What if I don't want to play a game about a TV show?

No GURPS has useless rules.
See the game I posted? It does what GURPS does with a looooot less rules and no needwithout a GM. Who need a GM anyway? is 2017 GM are useless.
And you know why? Because a real game designer did it hile GURPs is nothing than a patchwork of demency made by people who don't know how to write 'Game design'.

I spent about 6 months in a GURP's campaign centered around a Wuxia setting, and the impression I got was that the internal balance between weapons, magic and skills/advantages was really poor.

There's alot of excellent world building material, and the base combat mechanics are intuitive, but actually using magic/weapons/martial arts felt really unsatisfying.

Do you happen to remember how your GM set things up? I see a lot of newbie GMs combine powerful high-fantasy magic with gritty realistic combat and just... nigga why.

There's not really any balance in GURPS unless you force it. Some things *are* better than others. Usually, it's compounded by them being harder to get, but not always.

Only GURPS game I have played was like that and it was fun. What's wrong with high fantasy that has deadly combat?

It's really all about how you set up the campaign, just throwing everything in willy-nilly is a common pitfall, because by default for example weapons ARE vastly superior to punching and kicking, just like in real life. You wouldn't bring a fist to a swordfight, and unless you're enforcing special rules to make them somewhat comparable, you shouldn't try it in GURPS.

That doesn't lend itself well to Wuxia, in which Qi can be used to enhance fists to the point of outperforming weapons, because muh weeaboo fightan magics

If GURPS can't emulate that, that's damning for a supposedly generic universal RP system

Re-read what he said. He said "by default". You can absolutely have some hero punch a baddie a dozen times in a second and do more damage with each strike than a bullet would, but you do have to forget the default rules for that and use wuxia-oriented rules.

Whole point of GURPS is that there's no default rules, but rather you use what you need for the setting.

Pyramid 3.61 is full of Chi stuff you can use to make your Hand to Hand fighter letal.