This is a monthly r/GURPS thread for anything and everything related to your own campaigns. Tell us how you and your friends are making out. Update us on the progress of your game. Tell us about any issues you've run into and maybe we can help. Make suggestions for other players and GMs.

This is a monthly r/GURPS thread for anything and everything related to your own campaigns. Tell us how you and your friends are making out. Update us on the progress of your game. Tell us about any issues you've run into and maybe we can help. Make suggestions for other players and GMs.

Hello! I've been working on this concept for a magic system for a long time, and I'm still unsure how to implement it. To start, I really appreciate the Gurps magic as a power system, and use the Enraged Eggplants Wizardry System for most wizards in my system. The flexibility of custom abilities is just unparalleled.

So, when I tell you I prefer magic as powers as the basis of my system, it won't come as a shock.

My system is called the Gate Signs, revolving around 12 runic symbols, which tap into the very essence of the universe. In my setting, the material plane is surrounded by the planes of raw primordial energy that fuel every action and effect of the world. These planes correlate with the 12 signs, the 4 elemental signs, the 4 alignment signs, and the 4 cosmic truths (Gravity, Light, Time, and Aether.)

Learning these signs can take a lifetime of study and practice for a human, and requires extensive resources, but when placed on a person or object of importance, the sign will act as a key to that gate of primordial energy. Channeling that energy through themself, acting like a portal.

Those who are marked, we will call them Gate Masters, have the ability to draw on an endless supply of energy to fuel spells. A gate master branded with the symbol of fire could simply light a cigarette, or he could engulf miles of woodland in a great conflagration without a thought. They open a doorway that halts the flow of the cosmic sea, wielding the flow to create effects. However, the farther you open that door, the harder it is the close. And if you can't close that door, it swallows you.

A gate master can tug as hard as they'd like at the fabric of the universe, but sometimes the universe tugs back and sends their screaming souls into the planes of primordial oblivion. Leaving an elemental of the gate behind, a bleeding wound in the foundation of the universe.

So when I came up with the concept and found threshold-limited magic, I knew that system of energy and calamity would be the basis of it all. But it relies on the use of skill-based magic, which I just don't feel is flexible enough. That's the core issue I'm running into, I want to use the threshold system, but with powers as magic.

Where you can strengthen the effect of a fireball greatly at the cost of slowly drawing upon the universe too much. Does anyone have any ideas in regard to making this functional? Or is this a case of wanting my cake and eating it too?

I designed a multiversal adventure made of 5 encounters, each set in a different RPG IP, but entirely playable with GURPS 3E. Designed for 4 players with 300-point characters, and it culminates in a final battle against Vecna (AD&D Ravenloft version). Vampire: The Masquerade — The Wolfsbane Sabbat Pack The characters find themselves on an abandoned American highway at night, where they encounter the Wolfsbane pack: a Sabbat biker war pack that once even killed a Garou. The fight takes place between an abandoned gas station and a deserted 90s diner. Real weapons, Harley-Davidsons, no theatrics — gritty, gothic, and brutal. Shadowrun — Typhon Zero, Artificial Drake From asphalt to rain-slick neon. On top of the Keiji-Macrotech Arcology in Seattle, the PCs confront Typhon Zero: an artificial drake, technomancer, and master of drones, surveillance systems, and urban networks. He hacks movement, vision, and perception, turning the environment itself into a weapon. Warhammer Fantasy — Count Sigismund, Champion of Slaanesh The portal opens in an Imperial noble estate. No spikes, no chaos symbols — just a dignified country manor. But in the ballroom, the Count dons his Slaanesh regalia, revealing an unnervingly beautiful and deadly warrior. His weapon overwhelms the senses, turning combat into a seductive and horrifying ordeal. Lex Arcana — Decio Varrone, Augur of Hecate In southern Magna Graecia, atop a coastal hill, stands a weathered Roman-Greek shrine to Hecate. Decio Varrone does not fight with steel but with fate, insight, and denial. Three elite gladiators defend the sacred ground, and when it is profaned, the Canis Nigris—an ominous ritual manifestation—intervenes. This is not just physical combat, but a test of will, intuition, and destiny. AD&D / Ravenloft — Vecna, the Demi-Lich of Secrets Final portal: Cavitius. A petrified fortress shaped like a cracked skull, floating in a desert of ash. Whispering corridors of bone, stagnant air, warped time. Vecna waits — not as a boss, but as a consequence. The last battle is not merely survival; it is what remains of you afterward.

I’ve prepared the antagonist stat blocks and the descriptions of the locations where the encounters take place. I don’t own any Shadowrun material, but I was able to find enough information online to run that scene properly. More than a traditional adventure, this is structured as a sequence of encounters — I ran something similar many years ago.

I’m running it for two different groups, and I plan to reuse it at least a couple more times. I’m open to any suggestions on how to manage or improve this “encounter-based adventure.” I’m also considering hiding an item or resource in each scenario — something the players can discover and claim. If they manage to collect them, these rewards will grant an advantage in the final confrontation with Vecna.

I’d love suggestions on what kind of items or resources I could place in each setting — something thematic, useful, and tied to the encounter, but especially helpful against Vecna at the end.
Player characters can be freely created, but they must be “good-aligned” protagonists.

I dont really understand repeated attempts. Lets say that im foraging or searching or picking a lock, am I allowed as many attempts as I want? That seems like Id always succeed given enough time. I know the campaign book says I have to wait to try again and the next try has a penalty, but how long do I have to wait?

Em um jogo de gurps supers, é possivel psquismo, pode-se utilizar quem tenha o poder de teleporte, utilizar o nh na pericia no lugar da esquiva ao se defender de um ataque?

So, running a SW fantasy campaign now (in the world of Terrinoth; not a super fan of Genesys, so that's why the conversion, but I like the world). Finished the third session recently. Premise is that the PC's land was overrun by giants; they are leading the efforts to retake the land. For lack of a better term, characters are rather social-leaning (though they have other skills). One is a noble with thieving skills, one is an old man merchant magnate with high influence, and one is a druid (which is a major organized religion in the setting).

My issue is, in the current game, SW really only has, at best, three social skills (Persuasion, Intimidation and Taunt). This is okay for what SW is tuned for - action adventure games. However, this game has become strongly more social/politics/war game, and while I thought SW could handle it (I think the mass combat rules are pretty good), it does not, at least, not satisfyingly for me, as the GM. I also find the dice a bit swingier than I'd like: fun for players when they roll and it explodes, but hard on GM planning. So missing that sweet bell curve.

I'm thinking of migrating the game to GURPS 4e, and have a few questions; especially helpful if people know both systems!

1. How to model the Druid? One of his "schticks" is that he often shapshifts (though 99% into birds to do recon). I can model this with the Shapeshift advantage at 15 points, but that only covers one animal, right? He shapeshifted with a spell in SW that let him, up to a certain point, shift into many different things. Is there a spell in Magic that would do it? Or bite the bullet and give them enough points so he'll have the 100 he needs for the Morph version of Shapeshifting? Also, regular spell casting (my current idea, using Power Investiture) or Advantages as Magic (though that means less overall flexibility I'd imagine)? Could also use the Powers: Divine Favor splat (I have it in PDF but have obviously never used it).

2. How many points? Characters started at Seasoned, and are halfway to Veteran status in SW terms. 300 points? Keep in mind, another reason I want to do this in GURPS is for detail - for example, they'll need to buy some combination of noble rank, administrative rank, merchant rank, and religious rank to cover who they are.

3. The merchant player has invested in the Connections edge in SW: he's in contact with a group of Dwarven weaponsmiths as part of his business. I assume Group Contacts or Group Allies?

4. We played out the whole group has contact with a city theives guild; the guild has given them some toughs to escort them around. They also made contact with a mercenary army that's given them around 150 soldiers as their "own" troops (tied officially to the noble in the party). I'd obviously give these as a "free" advantage to the group as part of their points. How? Again Ally or Contact Groups?

Everything else I can handle without much thought, but these are vexing me a little. I've run GURPS 4e in the past, but the last time was maybe 5 years ago, so I have to blow the dust off my knowledge and relearn some things.

For books, I plan to use the Basic Set, Mass Combat and Social Engineering. I have PDFs of Magic and Divine Favor, as mentioned above. Folks? Ideas and suggestions?

Looking around to see if anyone knows of any resources that could save me some time in making a Zombies at my Neighbors setting/game.

Basically Kids with kid like skills, baseball bats, soda, and water guns esthetic fighting off novelty monsters.

Current plan is to just reskin some skill/advantages/weapons but if there is something close out there would save me a lot of time.

Ok, I’ve never played a ttrpg like Gurps or d&d ever in my life. However, in the last couple of weeks, I found Gurps and did a little bit of research. From the amazing amount of feedback I’ve received here on Reddit, I decided to purchase these 3 books: Basic Characters and Basic Campaigns 4th Edition. And I also decided to purchase How to be a GM 4th Edition.

So, as I said, I’ve never played a ttrpg before. Without having said experience, can I still perform as a GM? Is it possible for someone totally new to ttrpg, with these 3 books, to be an interesting GM?

Or, should I get my feet wet and try to find my first game as a player?

Sidenote: I don’t know anyone irl. I had planned on doing all my venturing online.

And with that being said, I have been invited to a private Gurps discord, but I don’t think it’s the actual Gurps discord. If anyone could help me with a link to official Gurps discord, I would appreciate it very kindly.

I appreciate any and all feedback. Thanks.

Lets say a party stumbles upon a hut in the savanna, folks inside are asleep. The party wants to attempt to block the door somehow and light the hut on fire.
As a GM how do you handle that? Do you ask how they do it?
What checks do you roll? What rules do you consult?

Thanks