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.

I’ve been running a few solo campaigns lately. Two using Mark of the Odd systems (Cairn, Electric Bastionland, etc), and two using GURPS. And I’ve noticed something weird.

GURPS is less mentally taxing.

It’s easier and faster to start a session, and the flow just… works. I get more immersion, less friction. So I was thinking why is that?

Here’s what I realized:

1. GURPS doesn’t ask me to invent logic, it provides it.

Cairn is “simple,” yeah. But not easy, especially solo. Every scene becomes a judgment call. You’re constantly asking yourself: How do I rule this? Does the character notice something? Do I roll? Or should I just narrate?

I end up going to the Oracle and Random Table much much more to answer those questions. It’s loose. You gotta fill in the blanks.

GURPS? It's dense, but once the logic clicks, it just works. Everything’s powered by the same engine: 3d6 under. All the system’s moving parts. Skills, traits, reaction rolls, fright checks, combat work together and fill in the blanks for me. I don’t interpret action. I observe it. I don’t invent rulings, I just play. I end up using Oracle and other Solo Tools way less, and interact with the game system much more. I am actually playing the game, not doing word interpretation exercise.

1. “Rules-light” means less support, not more freedom (for me).

Cairn feels like it gives you less to “worry about,” but actually you end up doing more cognitive work. There’s no mechanical support beyond dungeon/hex procedures. No skill system. No character depth beside narrative one you invent yourself. So I end up doing constant heavy lifting. Every situation becomes: how do I handle this? That’s tiring.

GURPS gives structure. The world reacts. I get clear, grounded feedback. A failed Climbing roll means something tangible. Modifiers shaping the roll and Margin of Failure gives me more info on how and why that climbing attempt failed exactly. Personality traits matter. Skills matter. Gear matters. Reputation, Status, Appearance, Social Positioning, all have weight and shape the world and situations characters end up at. I don’t need to guess what’s fair. I just follow the logic.

1. GURPS gives me the same vibe as old adventure/action films.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Matrix, Terminator. For me these movies were never really about plot, but movement.. Tension. Problem-solving. Physical and external danger. Characters vs environment. Characters vs their own flaws.

People say Indy’s irrelevant to the plot because Nazis open the Ark anyway. Who cares? We’re not there for the plot. We’re there for this kinetic energy, stakes, interesting locations, memorable characters and how they interact with the world.

That’s what GURPS nails for me. Real stakes. Environment with actual physical consequences. Specific choices. Social tension. Equipment and skills that change the way you approach situations. It’s all fuel for playing the scene.

1. GURPS is OSR.

I love OSR philosophy: Player skill over stats. Problem-solving. Emergent situations. You create conflicts, not plots. No Fudging, world reacts to player's actions accordingly. You do stupid shit and you die, you play smart and you can come out on top.

GURPS does all of that for me. But with an actual engine behind it.

You want to survive? Think. Ambush. Negotiate. Crawl through filth. Fight dirty. As in life, so in GURPS.

⸻

I’ve also been layering it with solo tools like One Page Solo Engine and some random tables. It’s killer. Concrete scenes, specific outcomes, no abstraction fatigue.

Also found this article that nails the same point: https://roleplayrescue.com/2025/10/19/rules-get-out-of-the-way/

I’m obviously biased. Been playing GURPS for years, so it flows naturally for me. But curious if anyone else feel this way?

I still love Cairn and other Into the Odd game. They’re my go-to when GMing a group.

But for solo? GURPS is king. (For me.)

am i just dumb or are imbuments kinda not great outside of thematics? if you want to be some kind of paladin of flame and you are trying to have a flaming sword power/effect, woudlnt you be infinitly better of grabbing innate attack burning follow up universal, then you ever would be grabbing incindiary weapon imbue.

if you were trying to imbue consistently without penalty 1d fire while spending fatigue with imbue i think its imbue 40 + another 30 somthing points to remove the penalty i think, where as the follow up universal 1d cost no fatigue and is like 10 points, so what is the point outside of niche things like ghost weapon? im trying to understand the balance behind the system cause it seems cool but if its just objectively bad then there wouldnt really be a point

What enhancement would you give to Blessed (Heroic Feats) [10], to let you use it more than once per game session (or per week, if you've got Game Time +0% on it)?

In other words, what's the enhancement that corresponds to Limited Use -10%/level, like how Reduced Time +20%/level corresponds to Takes Extra Time +10%/level, or how Increased Range +10%/level corresponds to Reduced Range -10%/level?

If there isn't a canonical answer (and if there is, I've never run into it), what would make sense for a new enhancement value?

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?