GURPS: How Much Of A Commitment?

**Mulsiphix** · 01-19-2008, 12:25 PM

Lately I've seemed to really ruffle the feathers of a lot of the veterans. I've received numerous PM's offering me everything from personal opinions to game invitations to links for research and a good amount of general non-biased advice. I feel the community has really gone out of their way to try and help me make the decision that is right for me and for that I am truly grateful.

Over the last couple of days my wife has made it very clear how very much she wants to play Ptolus. Other than Ptolus she has no other fantasy settings she wants to play. The biggest reason she has fallen in love with Ptolus is because I bought the book, it came with all that awesome stuff in the envelope, we bought one of those massive Vinyl maps, several SkeletonKey Games tile sets, and other goodies. I accepted that D&D was the system I was going to play for about 24 hours.

It was a very tough 24 hours mentally. My mind just cannot let go of GURPS or Ptolus. It can let go of all of the other Monte Cook settings but not Ptolus. I finally came to the conclusion that D&D wasn't for me because it really is a fantasy powered system. There are all sorts of cool D20 products, including D20 Modern, but it just isn't for me. I am compelled to create my own settings. I am obsessed with playing multiple settings. I can see myself playing two or three different campaigns at one time, two to three sessions per week. Each one of those campaigns would be a different genre. D&D could accommodate this but not as well as GURPS.

Not to mention I am absolutely dying to create my own campaign setting from utter scratch. I know it will take a long time but I look forward to the process. I went out today and purchased the GURPS 4E Basic Set Characters & Campaigns books on eBay. They're paid for and going to be shipped next week. Whether I like it or not GURPS is going to be my first system. No matter how hard I tried to consider both systems I always came running back to GURPS for one reason or another. This time the decision is quite final. Thank you for bearing with me through my flip-flopping and constant, often-unfounded, flaming of each system. Thank you all

**MortonStromgal** · 01-19-2008, 01:55 PM

I think you made a good call based on what you want to do.

**Mulsiphix** · 01-19-2008, 02:00 PM

Thank you

**Drohem** · 01-19-2008, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by MortonStromgal

I think you made a good call based on what you want to do.

Ditto

**tesral** · 01-20-2008, 12:17 PM

I am going to back Farcaster 100% here. Theory is not practice. It doesn't matter how much you watch or read. Until you are actually in the system, you don't know how it works.

Frankly, find a game and play it. Don't jump into GMing anything cold. Speaking from experience here. A total lack of DMs meant I had to start that way, but it is not the way to do it. We made every mistake in the book my early group and I. I doubtless could write a book on how not to DM. Find a game, play a game, ANY game, GURPS, D&D, Bunnies & Burrows, whatever game. The best way to learn a system is not to read it, but to use it. I would actually class reading the system then trying to play as the worst way to do it.

I don't care which system the book is not the game. There is a certain ineffable "tribal knowledge" that has never been and never will be placed between the covers of any book. You need to play the game, with someone that knows it.

A virgin can study the mechanics of sex, read a thousand sex manuals, and watch a million porn films, but until they get in bed and do it, they don't really know anything. RPG is the same way. Trust your Uncle Tesral.

**Mulsiphix** · 01-20-2008, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by tesral

A virgin can study the mechanics of sex, read a thousand sex manuals, and watch a million porn films, but until they get in bed and do it, they don't really know anything. RPG is the same way. Trust your Uncle Tesral.

First off that last sentence is just creepy

. And I completely disagree. I won't go into why but personally speaking I disagree very strongly.

**jayphailey** · 01-20-2008, 05:16 PM

Analysis Paralysis. Grab some friends and go play.

Jay ~Meow!~

**tesral** · 01-20-2008, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by Mulsiphix

First off that last sentence is just creepy

. And I completely disagree. I won't go into why but personally speaking I disagree very strongly.

I'm a creepy kind of guy.

Don't worry, you'll find out. Trust the been, there done that Grongnards. We've been there and done that. The book is not the game. Jay is right Analysis Paralysis. Stop talking and thinking and go play.

**Mulsiphix** · 01-20-2008, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by tesral

Don't worry, you'll find out. Trust the been, there done that Grongnards. We've been there and done that. The book is not the game. Jay is right Analysis Paralysis. Stop talking and thinking and go play.

And the creeplyness continues

**nijineko** · 01-21-2008, 11:44 AM

hey, mul... every try reading the roleplaying gamer's bible? very comprehensive. ^^

besides it's not about the system. it's who you play with. no system is inherently broken. it's the people. any group can compensate for rules, if they want to.

**Mulsiphix** · 01-22-2008, 12:14 AM

No but it just got added to my list. I didn't even know about it. Thank you very much for the link

**michael** · 08-28-2009, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by Mulsiphix

How much time does it take to get up and running with GURPS? Other than Drohem, what do you guys think about my fear of overly complex combat in D&D 3.X? I'm equally interested in Fantasy as I am in Future/Sci-Fi so the setting itself really isn't a factor in making this decision. This decision will be based on:

How much time is required to get a game up and running?
As an introduction to RP is one system stronger than the other/a better candidate?
Would it be foolish to not to learn to play a game due to its overly complicated game play mechanics?
Is D&D or GURPS have more potential than the other for RP'ing?

I have no group of players here locally. I plan to host my games online at first to get the hang of DM'ing before I even start seeking out anybody local. ANY feedback is good feedback and would be greatly appreciated. More info is needed

I find that D&D has a more complex combat system and that GURPS does promote more RP. Also, I would play in someone else's campaign before running a game of any sort.

**tesral** · 08-28-2009, 12:36 PM

Playing any game before you try to run it is a good idea. Get a little experience under someone that knows the system. Doing is a better way to learn that reading the book.

**Harwel** · 08-29-2009, 03:15 PM

Pshaw. What happened to the good old days when people just jumped right in and did it? Do a dry run combat with a few non-combat tasks thrown in, and then just do it.