GURPS General /GURPSGEN/

There wasn't one up so I made one.

What's the best advice you'd give someone who wants to get into playing GURPS?

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>What's the best advice you'd give someone who wants to get into playing GURPS?
Find a good GM to teach you. Failing that, GURPS Lite + How to Be a GURPS GM + a game you really want to run, and asking a lot of questions in the thread (or other GURPS forums). Then you can dive into Basic Set to find rules you'd like to use and add on to them.

For example, in the previous thread for an RE2 game, I suggested GURPS Lite and a select few rules from Basic Set that are appropriate to the game (Skull hit location, grappling, etc). I think that's the best way to get started in GURPS; use Lite and then pick out rules from Basic Set until you have what you need.

>What's the best advice you'd give someone who wants to get into playing GURPS?

Read the Basic Set thoroughly and make a couple characters and run a few scenarios by yourself or with a friend. I read 3e's basic set when I was 15 a few years back and I understood the rules. Movie to 4e was a breeze If a 15 year old kid can do it, then a grown adult can too.

If I were GMing a game, and I wanted to bring a character up to speed fast I would just teach the player personally and use GURPS Lite.

I've been wanting to do my own setting, largely based off of CATastrophe and have been struggling to find a good system for doing it in which has lead me to GURPS, but after reading about the system I've wanted to do something a lot simpler as an introduction to the system for both me and the rest of my group.

So for now I've been looking at possibly doing something like a Payday style career criminal thing.

Can you have Tech-10 wars without destroying the whole world?

Glad you picked up GURPS! If you're asking for advice, Action 1 & 2 are made for action movie/thriller/heist games. Payday would fit in very well. Action 1 has templates for most roles in a heist movie, and Action 2 is an incredible quality-of-life supplement that has a lot of streamlining and very good rules (chase rules, BAD, and the mission planning ones come to mind).

What about stuff like Gun-Fu and Tactical Shooting? Or the SWAT and Cops books from 3e, at least to give some more tools for building enemies with?
Also heard that High Tech has a lot of useful stuff.

Or should I really just try to use only Lite and Action at first and then add more stuff after getting more comfortable with the system?

>Gun-Fu and Tactical Shooting
Gun Fu can be useful, but it's more for John Woo and Equilibrium than Payday (which, to my knowledge, has no bannister sliding or bullet-bending). Tactical Shooting adds complexity to shooting that you don't need for a heist game, unless you want to differentiate between sighted/unsighted shooting and have situational awareness and such come into play. It does have useful cover DR tables, though, which you can pilfer.

>Or the SWAT and Cops books from 3e, at least to give some more tools for building enemies with?
Haven't read them, but if they give you what you need, go for it. I've never converted material from 3e to 4e, but I'm told it's a simple affair.

>High Tech has a lot of useful stuff.
It does. If your players are gear queers, they'll absolutely love High Tech. Keep an eye on those that want to use the ammunition options, though.

>Or should I really just try to use only Lite and Action at first and then add more stuff after getting more comfortable with the system?
It depends on the group, but in my experience, players don't like being thrown into the deep end of the pool. Yours may be different. I've had a number of players that dug right into Basic Set and went for the more complex combat options, like grappling and tactical combat. In general, though, I think they had more fun being gradually introduced through Lite. It helps that I know most of the rules off the top of my head so I can just tell them what penalty to roll at for actions that they haven't read the rules for yet.

tl;dr take as much as you think you and your players can handle, then lower those expectations a bit.

High-Tech has a lot of gun wank, rules for making sawed-off shotguns, adding gadgets, all kinds of ammunition, and a ton of guns.
Also just all kinds of other gear. Like drills.

If you want to simplify GURPS, pick up Power-Ups: Wildcards; that book, by itself, does absolute wonders for simplifying the game by ditching the encyclopedia of skills in favor of a shorter list of thematic mega-skills. Want to play a detective? Normally you need to make sure you take the dozen-odd skills that covers what a detective does (criminology, body language, search, observation, fast talk, intimidation, etc. etc.), and if you miss any, your supposedly-badass detective won't be able to function. . . Or you can just take the Detective! Wildcard skill and get on with the game. It's less stress on the player, makes the game "softer" in general, and ensures a more high-action cinematic breadth of competency.

Also, it's sibling book, Power-Ups: Impulse Buys is all about meta-currency, which in my opinion helps GURPS with lighter settings as it gives the PCs more insurance. CATastrophe doesn't seem like a particularly lethal or dark setting, so PCs should have something to help them avoid in-game catastrophes.

To the guy asking last thread about the steadycam-assisted gun, UT has literally that in the Firearm Accessories section.

Sure. Assume realistic nanotech and development of anti-missile directed energy weapons. WMD can't be delivered, hostile aircraft can't survive above the horizon of point defense lasers. War becomes a crawling battle along the ground where artillery, missiles and aircraft are barely relevant, only very heavily steathed reconnaissance satellites or very heavily armored ones can survive exposure to ground based directed energy weapons.

Are there any GURPS supplements focused on making the combat grid more interesting or making positioning more important?

(Setting is medieval fantasy, if that's important.)

The Tactical Combat chapter isn't enough for you? It makes positioning incredibly important. I can't think of anything else that expands on it. It's up to the GM to utilize it.

The Last Gasp in a pyramid issue gives stamina rules which can make taking tactical breathers and chasing down winded foes a bigger part of combat. It even makes the "Do nothing" action useful at times.
It's in Pyramid #3/44

Here is my attempt at stating out being a "Hiver," as described in Transhuman Space: High Frontier. Note that, despite the name, this is not a true hivemind (where you have one mind distributed across multiple bodies) but rather individual people who have given themselves 24/7 access to each others 'surface' thoughts, emotions, and sensations.


Advantages: Telecommunication (Cable Jack; Sensie, +80%; Secure, +20%; Temporary Disadvantage, Electrical, -20%) [9]; Telecommunication (Radio; Reduced Range, 1/10, -30%; Sensie, +80%; Secure, +20%; Temporary Disadvantage, Electrical, -20%) [21].

Perks: Accessory (Modified "consensual use only" puppet implant) [1]; Accessory (Slinky implants) [1]; Accessory (VII implant) [1]; Application (Hive Management Software) [1]; Application (Shared-private life logging software) [1].

Disadvantages: Chronic Depression (Accessibility: only occurs when you're disconnected from a hive, -20%) [-12]; Indecisive (Accessibility: only occurs when you're disconnected from a hive, -20%) [-8]; Odious Personal Habit (Bizarre Behavior) [-10];

Quirks: A collectivist cultural themed sense of self, but only in terms of your relationship with fellow hive members [-1]; Congenial [-1].

Total Character Points: 3

>tfw I desperately want to play GURPS but all my friends look to me to GM

Fuck me.

Remember that the only difference between an NPC and a DMPC is their plot importance and narrative strength. Give the party a handful of camp followers, mostly logistics stuff like cooks, washers, and loot carriers, but one or two nameless NPC soldiers to fight alongside them too.

What said. Also, consider having a full time DMPC mentor/guide--like Gandalf.

Man, that's crippling. But it looks just right to show the effect there.

You can go Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and put spiked racks, fragile railings and burning braziers all over the place to kick people into.

>spiked racks
Grab and Smash's Kiss the Wall does thr+1 imp instead of thr+1 cr (unless the spikes are blunted). Might change cr to imp if you shove them into it.

>fragile railings
Could roll 1d and on 1 or 1-2/3 they break, or just have them automatically break.

>burning braziers
Sets a hex on fire, making it difficult terrain and burning people who pass through it/ stay in it.

Seems like it'd be a lot of fun.

Anyone got the character assistant?

Come on man, Gurps Character Sheet is free and better supported.

Man, those are nice.

>Fragile clay lamps hanging from the ceiling

DR 1, HP 1. If broken drops burning oil to the square under it and burns for 1d seconds, dealing 1d-1 burning?

What the hell is a dueling halbred?

It's the same reach, damage and ST as a Great Axe, but for some reason its't not unready after use.

And the halbred weighs more

Long axes weigh 40% less, but are unready after use. WTF?

>to kick people into.
Too expensive [resources-effect and result-consequents] compared to generic stab/slash to kill.

Maybe not spiked racks, but fragile railing imply falling damage, which can not only deal significant damage but also leaves the opponent in a position they can't attack you from (anytime soon, at least), and braziers can be an easy source of burn damage.

I think the limitation values on things disadvantages should be higher, since it would be rare not to be connected. -50% at least, if not making them both quirks.

Use Gurps lite rules and add some stuff from action 2: exploits.

Did you check the advanced combat rules in the BS?

I asked the same things yesterday. Probably an oversight or due to the higher TL.

my biggest problem was just getting overwhelmed

I can't stress it enough - keep it as simple as possible, add in the detail only when it's really needed

GURPS is pretty GM heavy, like you'll need to prepare beforehand the sorts of advantages / skills etc that you want your players to choose from

you have rules for pretty much any situation possible, but you don't need to have them at the ready all the time. glance over them, sure, if you think they might come up, but just know where they are for reference in play rather than trying to learn it all at once

Do you reccomend like picking through the books and making lists of what skills and advantages and such you want available to players, rather than letting them choose freely from the books, and if they really want something not on your list they need your approval?

Looking through the books and having not actually played the game I think that would be the best thing to do honestly.

Would that make tanks irrelevant?

1. If the party has a sniper, what's the best way to use enemy sniper to ensure a sniper duel?
2. How an enemy sniper can take advantage of divination powers, aside from Danger Sense?

>1. If the party has a sniper, what's the best way to use enemy sniper to ensure a sniper duel?
Snipe couple of other non-sniper PC
>How an enemy sniper can take advantage of divination power
Precision Aiming on target ways?

>Snipe couple of other non-sniper PC
Oooh, finally some use for the cannon fodder I am providing the players with.

I also just though of Clairvoyance as a replacement for a scope - I assume that a successful use would completely remove range penalties. Divination would be more useful to lead the squad, but I'm not sure how to play the whole "one step ahead of you" thing, or if it's even possible. Just detecting an enemy combatants with ESP and pointing it out to the squadmates would be easier. Danger Sense, on other hand, will be a good way to get my players out of their comfort zone.

To the guy asking for a "steadycam supported weapon" or an Aliens-style M56 Smartgun.

Yes, it exists in GURPS, literally, it's description isn't even subtle, and it's described as having specifically 3 hydraulic joints.

Articulated Weapon Harness, in Ultra Tech p.150.

Looks good to me (besides square - that should be hex)

Consider the following: Some players use inefficient means to kill enemies because they can. Incapacitating someone with a less efficient means is cooler because there's challenge to it. Just throwing out a slew of rapid strikes gets boring after a while.

Also, it would be easy to make it "viable" in combat for lower-skill people if you had the spikes be barbed, so puling off did half-again injury and might require some sort of roll to get off.

Brazier provides area denial that isn't easily achieved without magic or pre-planning on the PC's part, and they might be facing something where fire is a good mode of attack to use, such as a troll, or a monstrous leper with a phobia of fire because it illuminates their hideous face.

So a few threads ago I bitched about how the layout of Basic Set is garbage. The solution is some kind of "players handbook" that organises roughly the same info as basic set but in a way that YOU ACTUALLY FUCKING USE. So there'd be chapters like this, that contain most if not all of the rules, skills, some advantages, and such relevant to the topic, example Chapter List:
>Stats
>Jobs and daily living
>Magic
>Travel
>Survival
>Making Things: Science & invention
>Breaking things (Explosions, fire, SMASH)
>Weaponry
>Combat
>>Melee Combat
>>Ranged Combat
>>Injury
>Healing & Recovery
>Mysteries & Unknown things

No more hopping around to 3 different locations spread out over 2 books just to figure out what happens after someone's stabbed in the gut.

Definitely Last gasp, I've used it for TL4 campaign. REALLY makes your players think, I love it. Also remember that parrying has like -2 to the opposite side the weapon's held in, (unless defensive grip is used IIRC), that makes flanking matter.

I made a tool to make the tracking of it a bit easier, haven't updated it in a while due to not having a last-gasp using campaign, but it's functional enough, at least for me.legendsmith.github.io/technicolor-dream-GURPS/tcdgapp

Ignore that random post link, must have accidentally clicked.

It's not garbage. It fills a different need, that is an easy catalog to reference. While a player's handbook would be nice for introducing new players, I would hate it as a GM and a player because everything is scattered all over the book, meaning even more pageflipping than I already do. I feel that skill lists already make it easy to see which skills are needed for a concept, and wildcard skills make that even easier.

Having an alternate layout book would be nice for those that want it, though. I doubt it would ever happen.

> It fills a different need, that is an easy catalog to reference.
See I used to say the same thing until I realised that even the rules you need to reference are spread out too much.Look at healing and medical aid. You have the skills required for healing, first aid, etc spread out all over the Skills section with it's alphabetical order, while the rest of the rules for healing, first aid, and infection are in Campaigns. Insanity!

True, but when I'm looking at skills I'll usually be looking at multiple different ones for that character concept. Having all of the skill descriptions in one place, even if they don't cover how to use them (medical, grappling, inventing, etc.) is easier in character creation, and referring to any and all injury rules is easy in play because they're in one place without skill descriptions clogging the section up.

Different strokes I guess.

But some of the things you need such as modifiers and such are in the skill description.

True. I'd like those to be double-entried in the relevant sections, but the actual skill descriptions shouldn't. I don't want to have to skip over a page or two of skill descriptions for the rules themselves.

Another issue relevant: electronics operation would be horribly fractured across multiple chapters in your order, and other skills like it. Then there's the issue of where to put skills like biology and chemistry. Where do they fit? Jobs?

The skill descriptions don't need to be totally repeated of course. This is why I said a handbook is needed. It doesn't replace the Basic Set, it just makes it usable for players (and GMs) during play, for most tasks.
Also my suggested list is just a suggestion that I came up with in 10 seconds and could obviously use improvement, but Biology and chemistry would go in the Science section.

A handbook would be nice. It might even make people realize GURPS is full of examples of TDMs beyond the +/-10 one for driving. I guess I can see it as an accompaniment to basic set and not a replacement. It would be even nicer if it was an online compendium where you can select which books to use rules from, so healing dynamically expands to include books like ultratech.

That would be glorious, yes. Hell I'd try to make it, except that I'd literally be sued so hard into the ground I'd come out on the other side of the planet.

Kinda the reverse. A tank could be built large enough to incorporate enough armor to stop most weapons and a laser system able to stop anti-tank guided missiles, bombs, attack aircraft and suicide bombers. Mines, IED and vehicles large enough to mount high velocity guns that can launch rounds very difficult to intercept with DEW.

So pretty much tanks trying to snipe each-other with railguns, tank destroyers trying to sneak around and waiting to ambush them then run away before they get killed and infantry trying to bury mines built to avoid ground penetrating radar in the likely path of hostile tanks.

Are they really that big of sticklers about it?

You have no idea

Seriously? Source? Because form what I've seen, they're pretty relaxed about that sort of stuff.

Ask the official discord ; 99% sure you'll receive a pm from pseudo or ravenpenny about it

There's an official discord?

It's not official-official. It's run by Mook, and plenty of GURPS authors are on there (Ghostdancer and Douglas Cole come to mind), and PK even pops in from time to time.

>It's not official-official. It's just full of the active internet GURPS community and staffed by their writers and contributors.

Yup, It's not official-official, as in not affiliated with SJGames and isn't moderated by them. Or do you think authors hanging out in a community automatically makes it officially part of a company?

In terms of the using the world building tools in Basic Set 2, what would a society where everyone has their brains linked together look & function like?

Note that they'll retain individuality while none-the-less having access to each other's thoughts, emotions, and a cybernetic version of the racial memory advantage.

Not a smart move for a company hemorrhaging money whose biggest complaint is their lack of accessibility.

>GURPS Discord
Literal cancer

Eh, I find it helpful sometimes. At least for speculative campaign ideas among likeminded non-4channers

That players handbook thing that guy was talking about would make this game so so so much easily accessible to new players.

David Pulver...

I will say that better organization would help a lot, though I don't love that setup.

Maybe Chapter 1: Generating Stats and Derived Stats. Wealth isn't here anymore
Chapter 2: Non-supernatural/exotic advantages
Chapter 3: Exotic and supernatural advantages
Chapter 4: Non-supernatural disadvantages
Chapter 5: Supernatural and exotic disadvantages
Chapter 6: Basic skills
Chapter 7: Exotic and unusual skills, optional specializations of skills in chapter 6
Chapter 8: Wealth, Money, Employment, Gear. Explain confusing shit like Wealth determining your Employment choices and how much you will be paid, but Status setting your cost of living.

Honest question: Do people read the gamemastering chapter of GURPS? B496 alone is a wealth of information that covers all of the basic advice for GMing GURPS:
>GURPS is realistic
>Fighting in real life is bad, so people try to avoid it
>People don't throw away their lives. If the fight isn't going their way, they run
>Points don't equal combat effectiveness
>Reduce lethality with a combination of Extra Effort, Buying Success, and Luck

Seriously. It has so much good advice it's insane.

A good number of GMs do, I believe, as well as some players. Memers, though, don't get past page 1.

There's a lot of good stuff in the Campaigns besides the fluff. It's a great resource.

Yeah I really want to make it, I have the skills but if I put it online, I hurt SJ games. If I don't, then what's the point? It really would make the game more accessible, and GURPS desperately needs that. They should have just made this instead of that dungeon fantasy thing.

Yeah it would huh?

That's still a bit too list-like for me, unless you're talking about an alternate layout for basic set, in which case that is better for sure.

Thinking about running a scenario for a bank heist. Is it possible to use GURPS-lite for this?

Sure. You don't have many options for guns, but if you want to keep things to lite you can certainly handle a bank robbery with the rules in there.

For the players, yes; GMs might want to read Action 2 as well.

>I hurt SJ games
I don't know about that.
I still want to buy the books even though I have the entire library availible for free because I like the system and having physical books is more convenient than pdfs

Cheers, i'll have a look and give it a try

>GURPS Lite isn't called BURPS

They missed out on that one

BURPS is already an actual RPG though.

If creature does not have FP (such as Vampires from MH), does it means it is completely immune to fatigue damage from freezing attacks?

Yes

So they can't be frozen? There are rules for freezing the objects, can you use them?

Really it's GM's decision, it's probably just counts as tox HP damage.

Very intense cold does burning damage, with a effect that it won't light things on fire

Yeah, nah, cryokinesis in Psionic Powers is statted as two separate innate attacks, freezing that does fatigue damage, and frostburn that does burning damage.

I'd honestly just crib the rules from Extra Effort and machines (Powers p. 160): instead of reducing your (non-existent) FP, reduce your HT instead. Obviously, I wouldn't use this for FP-draining IAs, but extremely cold weather can cause cars and other machines to throw rods or mess up in other ways. The rules for cold under Hazards combined with this addition would work (just remember to add a bunch of levels to Temperature Tolerance for most machines/undead creatures!).

Alternatively, just use the rules for Slime, Sand, and Equipment Failure (p. B485) any make judgment calls on how often to roll.

Nice reading comprehensio, but I need it for creatures, not objects.

For the purpose of handling the FP issue, an undead creature IS an object fucktard. You've got things with FP and you've got things without FP.

I love Sorcery!

I am looking for a few players/playtesters for a Megadungeon campaign im building. I'm planning for it to be 250/-50 High Fantasy. for more info join my discord channel at discord.gg/SC7NhuD for more details on the setting and general questions.

I'd love to get into GURPS but like, do we have a MEGA or something where I can actually get these books?

>he didn't read the OP

Look at the OP's image.

I am new to GURPS. Why the "Bear" from DF Allies doesn't have No Fine Manipulators? What would Bad Grip 1/Ham-Fisted 2 allow a real bear to do which justifies not giving him Quadruped?

And if that's an.. unusual bear, he totally can wield swords with that shit, right?

Because they wanted it to be better than ordinary bear. They even putted emphasis on this fact in description.
And yes, such bear can wield sword, although it is not necessary a good choice, considering he will get -2 penalty from Bad Grip and doesn't have any weapon skills in the first place.

Also, even ordinary bear isn't Quadruped, since they are Semi-Upright instead of Horizontal because they can walk on two legs more or less normally.

> They even putted emphasis on this fact in description.
I skipped the descriptions, so that's my bad, thanks.

Yeah, I think I need to just go and watch some wildlife on tv. I am also planning on looking through the 3E Bestiary, from a quick glance it has a lot of info on how and why animals are statted the way they are (although I am not sure if that's still relevant in 4e).

>Because they wanted it to be better than ordinary bear.

He's smarter then the average bear.

He can bear the heaviest loads and beat the Pooh out of the grizzliest competition.

How do spells that you put energy into each turn work with the reduced cost for high skill levels?

Does the reduction work on the final cost of the spell or the cost each turn?

Final cost.

How do I stat the ability to disregard range penalties at certain range? Fluffwise it's a limited precognition that allows to predict the bullet path.

Telescopic Vision does exactly that. No Targeting, -60% if you don't want accuracy bonus.
For limited range, I don't think there is straight solution, but here are my thoughts:
Increased Range, LOS is equivalent of 2000+ yards range.
Thus, assume that unmodified ability would work only on that range as feature, since it is not meaningful limitation in most cases.
Then apply Reduced Range to bring it to 1000, 400 or 200 yards. I guess you can extrapolate range divisors further if you need to.

>Telescopic Vision
Fucking wow. 18 points, and you get no range penalties at two kilometers. Quite unrealistic, I think - zooming in is not the only thing that matters in targeting, you also need to account for ballistics, wind etc. My original plan was to use Clairsentience to get a vision of the target up close, but I abandoned it for exactly that reason, hence why I want it to be a full-on precognition. Or am I overthinking this?

GURPS doesn't take bullet drop into account as far as I know. Or at least doesn't separate it from general range penalties.
>18 points
36 points. Telescopic Vision 18 is 90 points, -60% for No Targeting makes it 36.
It's cheap but auto-hitting innate attack isn't necessary more expensive.