# Gurps



## Esioul (Apr 11, 2009)

Does anyone here play GURPS? I recently started playing it. I love the way you can shape it to pretty much anything- sci fi style, maybe some horror, maybe even traditional sword and sorcerery. There is even a book for 'bunnies and burrows' version! I plyaed a bit fo Cthulu-based GURPS but our DM lost interest t so we didn't complete it. 

But I've been doing Zombie GURPS for the past couple of months. So. Much. Fun! Ah, zombies + combine harvester = delight.


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## TomMazanec (Oct 28, 2020)

GURPS stands for Generic Universal Role Playing System, with emphasis on Universal.
You can easily role play any fictional background in this system. If you wanted to, you could make a game campaign for Abbot's _Flatland._ They have come out with a library of sourcebooks detailing historical and fictional backgrounds. I never played, but I bought a *lot *of sourcebooks.


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## Grognardsw (Jan 29, 2021)

As a new member perusing the boards, this oddly seemed the only thread about role playing games. I played GURPS a few times in the late 80s. It seemed too crunchy and we moved on to games like Marvel, (back to) D&D, and CoC.

While I never stopped reading SF&F, I hadn’t played RPGs  for 25 years and got back into it 5 years ago. I play-by-post on online forums, which is a fun way to combine collective story telling with a game. Classic SFF literature inspires and contributes to the game.

Are there other tabletop RPG players out there, or is video games the preference here?


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## CupofJoe (Jan 29, 2021)

I've just got in to the relatively new *ALIEN RPG*. Well it's new to me at least. This is as you can probably guess based in the world and style of the Alien films.
It's a good game [expect a lot of PCs to die along the way - not everyone is going to make it]. But it is a horror to read. The text is printed on something like a muddy grey-brown background. Wonderful to look at artistically, but for me it makes a lot of the text almost illegible unless under a reading light. 
So unless your DM is willing to DM by holding a torch, all the lights have to be on. For me it would have been far better to print a more conventional looking book and let the players have their mood lighting.
A little confusingly there is also a fairly new *Aliens* table top game which is based around the Colonial Marines, but I haven't played that.
And to make matters even more confusing the next update/addition to the Alien RPG is called Colonial Marines...


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## Toby Frost (Jan 29, 2021)

I bought the Alien RPG game, but I've yet to play it. I thought the text was fine to read, but it was quite hard to find an easy summary of the rules. It could do with a summary.

I've been playing D&D for a while, but to be honest I got a bit sick of it. I don't really warm to it as a game. It seems to be to RPGs what Warhammer is to tabletop games: by far the best-known, but not the best system and too easy to turn into a load of special rules and maths.

I could imagine a play-by-post system working really well. There was one for Dune many years ago - I've no idea if it's still going!


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## Grognardsw (Jan 30, 2021)

Hi Joe and Toby, nice to virtually meet you. I haven't heard of the Alien RPG, but it sounds intriguing. I've had some experience with the science fiction RPGs Gamma World, FASA's Star Trek and Star Frontiers. 

If either of you are interested in the play-by-post system, I am about to start a new science fiction game that you can check out at: viewtopic.php?p=528154#p528154
Play-by-post allows one to move at a pace that is comfortable with you, role play to a degree that sometimes isn't possible at a table, and collaborate on a story. There is an integrated dice roller. My games are heavy on visuals in addition to text, and draws heavily from classic science fiction and its contemporary descendants.


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## Luiglin (Jan 30, 2021)

I've been a RPGer since the early 80s.

Used to play GURPS 3e extensively many years back both as a player and a GM, with a touch of Call of Cthulhu, Warhammer 1e and Pendragon in between. GURPs was a great tool for homespun campaigns.

Before that it have been AD&D and MERP. We switched from GURPs because it had become a touch stale for us, we were finding that we'd started picking similar disadvantages/advantages all the time. We went onto Dark Heresy, Warhammer 2e, Runequest,  and Pathfinder.

After those, my gaming group fancied a more simplest and scenario non-specific ruleset like GURPs, so we switched to Savage Worlds. Very good and simple system with some interesting campaign worlds like Deadlands. This has remained our main ruleset, with the occasional dabbles in Warhammer 4e, DnD5e and Call of Cthulhu.

With COVID on, my regular group has been meeting up using Fantasy Grounds VTT, using Pathfinder, Savage Worlds and DnD5e. I've also got the Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000AD rules to run when we get back to physical meet ups.

As you can see I love collecting RPG rulesets


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## autodidact (Jan 30, 2021)

Toby Frost said:


> I've been playing D&D for a while, but to be honest I got a bit sick of it. I don't really warm to it as a game. It seems to be to RPGs what Warhammer is to tabletop games: by far the best-known, but not the best system and too easy to turn into a load of special rules and maths.



I'm not sure which version of D&D you're playing, but it sounds like either 4th or 5th. I've read the books for those and they read like wargames, not rpgs.

I used to play first ed AD&D, which I consider the gold standard for quasi-medieval games.

First edition is a totally different game to what it is today. It's very free-form and as such is very playable. It's had a lot of bad press over the years, where people have criticised it for either being too complicated or not complicated enough, or too formulaic, repetitive, inflexible, etc. In fact, that game is exactly what you make of it. If you want to go dungeon bashing, as it used to be called, then fine. But if you don't, then you can play other types of campaign, such as those that involve political intrigue. It all depends on the players. The DM has the toughest job, and if you have an inexperienced one then everyone will suffer. The same can be said of the players. Even one bad player can wreck everyone's day at the table, or the computer screen as it seems to be these days, unfortunately.

A lot also depends on the specifics of the campaign. I once ran an Ancient Greece sandbox, and RQ 2nd edition was the pefect vehicle for that kind of game. You really can do Jason and the Argonauts type stuff with that ruleset. AD&D is not capable of producing that kind of feel.

If you decide to go down the old school route, I would recommend you try the Holme's edition of D&D. That's the one with the blue cover. if you get on with that then you'll transition to AD&D first edition almost seamlessly. The basics of the combat system and the game feel are almost exactly the same, but AD&D offers more scope, the various aspects of which the DM and players can choose to suit their tastes.


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## Grognardsw (Jan 31, 2021)

Covid has certainly increased online gaming across all platforms. I play in a weekly Skype game (rotating through various older RPGs like OD&D, Top Secret, Basic D&D, Troika, Star Frontiers) as well as DM one (AD&D 1e), also on Skype. We like the simpler theater of imagination approach, with the screen shared for maps and pictures.


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## Grognardsw (Feb 1, 2021)

Autodidact, as an old-school gamer I whole heartedly agree about 1e!  I've played with DM's who can bring life and excitement regardless of system, stressing story over crunchy rules. When combined with responsive players, the rules can feel very secondary. But it also works the other way.


Toby Frost said:


> I could imagine a play-by-post system working really well. There was one for Dune many years ago - I've no idea if it's still going!


Yes, I've become more involved in play-by-post myself given what COVID has wrought. PbP enables greater narrative role-playing, flexibility of playing when one wants, ample time for thought and strategy, and has an integrated dice roller. I've recently started a PbP science fiction campaign. If of interest to you (or anyone here!), players are welcome to give it a try! Here is some more info:


Spoiler









X Minus One, an anthology science fiction (SF) campaign that could be many things - an exploration of inner and outer space, a pulp fiction satire, a space opera, a retro-future science fiction tale.  The game is inspired by classic SF literature, themes and art, and their modern book and media descendants.

The game is play-by-post on Unseen Servant forums. Please see X Minus One (science fiction/GW) - The Unseen Servant forums  or I'm happy to provide more detail by PM.

Players will start singly or in pairs in their initial story-line and setting, intertwining to eventually come together as a party. The game is character-driven, role playing is encouraged, and plots will emerge. It is not a dungeon or hex crawl in a different environment. Players can let me know if they have a preferred SF setting in which to start (e.g. dystopian, utopian, past-current-near-or-far future earth, alien world, asteroid, ringworld, spaceship, AI, whatever...) and I can weave it into the overall campaign.






Character races are wide open, from human to mutant to alien to robot, as are professions. Characters can be heroic or an everyman; regardless of who, something will happen and they’ll be on their way to adventure. Races or profession may drive the world choice or plot.

The rule set (I'm into story more than rules) is Gamma World 2e, because it's rules-light and close enough to AD&D 1e that anyone can get it. The game is not post-apocalyptic (though there could be such a setting among the others.)  Knowledge of rules isn't necessary per se; I can share relevant charts or pages if one would like.






The game is open ended by design, driven by player preference, not limited by a mechanic or predetermined setting, and will by story evolve organically into a "party" from the solo and duo beginnings.






_Where is Your Story?_

A Ringworld





A Floating City





A Dying Planet





Starship





Dystopian City Planet





Robot World





A Generation Ship





Our Earth of today?





_Or a setting from your favorite science fiction stories - Arrakis, Majipoor, Trantor, Pern, Caprica, Coruscant, Mongo, Gallifrey, Barsoom, Thanagar, Cybertron, Annares, or others?_


I'd be happy to converse more on it here or by PM.


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