Thoughts on GURPS

So, I've been revisiting my GURPS collection. I have about every GURPS 4e book/supplement and the system has always intrigued me, at least from a GM perspective. I recently picked up the "How to Be a GURPS GM" book and it has really shed some wisdom and light on using the acclaimed and often criticized generic system.

For the past year or two, I have been dabbling with and using Savage Worlds as my "go-to," which seems to run nicely for PbP and IRL. Especially with their own setting books, etc. However, something about it leaves me wanting when it comes to homebrewing and/or doing a really thorough conversion of a setting or settings.

I was wondering if any of you had some insight on the system via playing or GM'ing it. Pros and Cons? I'm also eager to hear from anyone that has abandoned other generic systems in favor of GURPS or vice versa.

Thanks!

The problem with GURPS from what someone once told me was it was broken and very exploitable (and he described how) and that not using the exploits would be like kind of shooting yourself in the foot but I imagine that has to do with whether someone is not so focused on the mechanics as they are on role-playing but most players I have met tend to like to get the most bang for the buck out of their characters regardless of the system which means use the broken aspect to you advantage since its there tends to end up being the theme.

I prefer systems a bit less broken and more simplistic than GURPS as almost every system has its weaknesses but some are a lot simpler to use than GURPS also I think the last time I ran it I had to actually develop most of my own critters and gauging difficulty of encounters was a bit more complicated as well.

But hey I did not read that "How to Be a GURPS GM" book either so maybe it covers all the downfalls to running GURPS in a way that makes it viable. Regardless if GURPS is your cup of tea more power to you and to each their own. As for me I will stick to the less complicated systems they function just fine and I focus on the story telling anyway and work with players to help them build what they want to play adjusting guidelines as I go when necessary

My experience is with GURPS 3ed edition/3rd edition revised, so things might change a bit between my experiences and those of people who played 4th edition.

The system is pretty solid, and relatively simple, so long as you keep things relatively low-tech and do not start trying your hand at building vehicles, robots, starships, etc. At which point you need a degree in quantum physics to understand what the hell you're doing... Or do just what most of the people I've known did, just wing it when it comes to super high-tech stuff...

While it's easy for characters to fall unconscious, it's a bit more difficult to actually kill them, especially in low-tech settings. Character creation can be a bit daunting, especially for newbie, given the quantities of character points you usually begin with, but thankfully, near the end of the 3rd edition revised, they started doing templates which help greatly and accelerates character creation (I've also heard they're a staple of 4th edition now). But yeah, before templates were a thing, you were left pretty much on your own for character creation and it required a certain degree of familiarity with the various skills, advantages, and disadvantages.

I love GURPS. It's very good at what it does, which is to simulate reality. That said, I don't actually play GURPS anymore. In my gaming, I prefer to simulate narrative fiction (especially movies) rather than real-world physics. To that end, I've switched allegiances to another generic system, Genesys (the system that Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars runs on). It's much better as an action-movie simulator.

That said, if I were to want to run a realistic time-travel game, say, GURPS would be a good choice. It's also very good for modern-era and sci-fi stuff, but like Kalajel said, you'll want to at least start by using pre-made stuff (including character templates) rather than try to create everything form scratch.

I should also note that I haven't played 4th ed. I played 3rd, and towards the end of that version's life, they were starting to introduce more rules to either streamline the game or to make it even nuts-and-boltier than it already was. One example is the "Maneuvers" system that turns generic attack skills into an endless list of special moves you can pull off for a half-character point here, a character point there.

If I were to run the game today, I'd probably start with GURPS Lite (the boiled-down rules) and maybe one of the PDF world books (like Dungeon Fantasy). Get your feet wet that way, then decide if you want to delve deeper.

You'll find that the system really is divisive. Folks will either praise it or hate on it severely. I think it's worth a look, though, especially if your tastes run toward realism, at least in combat.

I agree. GURPS does realism VERY well. If a firefight starts in GURPS, you've done something wrong and people are going to be hurt! For that reason, I reserve GURPS for games that I want to have a decidedly real feel. I tell my GURPS players upfront that the system, particularly gun combat, is lethal! Of course, most who play GURPS are already aware of this.

True. I bet a Cthulhu game...or even that game I was thinking about with a "Hellraiser" detective type theme would do well with GURPS.