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.

Just a preface, im an experienced DM (mostly Savage Worlds, DnD, Shadow of the Demon Lord and OSR systems, with a little of Warhammer 2e) that is wanting to start a GURPS campaign to learn the system and present it to my regular group.

The thing is, GURPS seems like so front loaded for the DM that i dont know how to start to select the rules/books available for my setting. And even less so how to present char gen to my group.

My ideal game setting would be something like this: a dark fantasy world where monsters are a real threat to people (at all "levels") and need to be hunted. Magic is very diverse origin-wise, but frowned upon by regular people. Tech level being mostly medieval, but with early gunpownder. Many races inhabit the setting, but humanity is still the majority.

Basically, a cross of "the Witcher" and "Old World Warhammer". With possibility of large scale battles and domain play if the players feel like it.

So, i ask the hivemind for help: how could i set up my rules/books within these parameters?

And lastly, how do i present this rules to my players?

I am a very silly goose who's bought five different GURPS books over the years (including thaumatology) but didn't think to grab GURPS Magic.

Of course, even the PDFs for GURPS cost a decent chunk of change and I'm not really in the position to grab another one at the moment.

Is the Magic supplement necessary for a decent range of spells? Would it be that hard to come up with my own, without it?

(Edit: fixed some typos)

So I was running a 300 point game in mailanka’s psi wars setting to give some of my friends who are mostly 5e players a taste of gurps one of my friends there is also a dm for another game of his and now he wants to run his own side campaign in his own homebrew setting. He asked me for help in how the skills and rolls and combat and power creation aorks so I will co dm the campaign to solve disputes and teach the game while playing too.

A friend there wants to have a situation where he has some otherwordly blood that he can use to give his characters hair certain properties imagine medusa from marvel or millia from guilty gear inspired. He is quite creative with his power usages in the games he plays so I suggested a modular ability framework the problem is I am kinda stuck with how to build it. So yeah how would you build it

The game is going to be 417 points and 55 disads kinda supers kinda anything goes style urban fantasy I imagine it will be quite cinematic

If this is the wrong place to ask questions about this sort of thing, I am cool with making this post elsewhere.

Basically, I’m a player who is new to gurps, but I think I have a pretty decent understanding of how the abilities and character building works (I have worked with multiple different kinds of character creating stuff in the past). And I was curious if I could apply a certain limitation to the morph ability.

My idea is that I am playing a character who loves their journal, like a nerd who loves writing fantasy and such.

I was wondering if it is possible to apply an accessibility limitation to morph that would require the memorized forms and shapes to be written in the journal in order to be used. However, I still want the character to be able to turn into things that they see or touch without the need of the book. it just requires that in order to use memorized forms, they have to have the notes or journal on hand in order for that part to work.

Is this idea even possible? Since my friend is also kind of new to gurps, we don’t know if it’s possible without making a new disadvantage or limitation. And we are not sure if we are competent enough to create that kind of rule yet.

I’m also OK with alternatives, if there are other limitations that would work better for this. At the moment I only have the basic guide, but I can research some of the other supplement books if there’s a way to do this. I can also answer clarifying questions if needed.

Thank you and I hope that this post is OK.

A friend sent me this video, and I'm really curious - how could you replicate this in GURPS?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DfTg0Z4gbJ_/?dlrf=MTV6MDJ3a3JnbHNkdQ==

Edit: Realised the link wouldn't open as it was - fixed it though.

Edit 2: I appreciate the reply from the first two, but do think some clarification is needed - I'm talking what would it look like play by play. Similar to what the guy who a few years back posted a GURPS combat breakdown of a Mob Psycho 100 scene.

So you’re telling me I can unironically be a foul smelling dwarf who suffers from chronic depression and is terminally ill who just so happens to have a John Deere 4020?

And the only thing stopping me is the gm?

Am I getting that right?

I've noticed that the discussion around GURPS online is often far more about the system than the gaming! So I thought it could be nice to chat about what we're actually doing a little.

I'm currently running self-contained episodic adventures for my friends in between a regular D&D game featuring a group of 4 time cops. We've done two so far: one in ancient rome, and one in the old west, and our adventuring party features a victorian illusionist, a victorian doctor and detective, a samurai, and a scribe from new-kingdom egypt.

We use the basic set with a minor addition from Martial Arts (targeted attacks as learnable techniques). I've chucked out TL and familiarity as incredibly boring. I made a handy dandy explainer of what techniques are and how to design them, which my players all ignored as too complicated.

They've taken a little while to warm up to the system but are now enjoying it. The gcs character sheets still overwhelm them a bit, but I coach them through it OK. I've struggled a bit with power level: I started them off with 150pt characters that I made based on their descriptions of what they wanted to be able to do, and they're maybe a little underpowered for the kind of antics I have planned for them. I've basically started treating all skills as almost-wildcard skills / am being very generous with defaults.

I hooked the victorian illusionist (who basically described his character concept as 'hugh jackman in the prestige') up with Gadgeteer but its been a bit of a dud: he's felt unwilling to seek out the resources and facilities he'd need to make cool gadgets. I'm rejigging his sheet to free up 25 points for Quick Gadgeteer for the next game.

I’m looking at a fantasy campaign that starts at 250 pts and the characters ascend to become gods. I would love to use an atlatl or woomera with bolas and nets on the side. Has anybody used these before? I feel the call of swing impaling damage… Diffuse and homogenous enemies would take very little damage.

Spears weighing 4 lbs each puts an end to the woomera, I think. Maybe if I get the ability to summon spears to me.

Shapeshifting in GURPS Magic offers the template for the spell, but doesn't offer any examples. They suggest a simple cost for most animal forms, but also suggest using the Character Point cost of an animal to price the spell.

Is there an index of animal templates with point costs? I know there's the NPC templates in Basic, but they don't have a full point cost connected to the stats (plus they seem extremely bare bones.)

Partial Shapeshifting requires the Animal Form in question as a prerequisite. For instance, Tiger Paws would require Shapeshift Other (Tiger).

I'm a little peeved that there aren't example Shapeshifts in the book. Even in the index would be fine.