I really like GURPS...BUT there are some challenges which I am sure publisher Steve Jackson Games is aware of. I have read about some of them and read about some solutions. As an exercise in logic, I offer here on this blog my own interpretation of the challenges the game presents and the solutions I find most helpful. I only use GURPS for fantasy role-play so that is the perspective I am bringing to this post. I am not going to discuss the merits of the bell curve verses d20 or percentiles, but rather focus on the challenges inherent in using the published system to run a game.
GURPS stands for Generic Universal Role-Play System. The generic and universal parts are both a strength and a challenge. I prefer to let Steve Jackson Games do their own marketing, so see their site for why this is a good thing. I wish to address here the downside. Being all things to everyone means GURPS lacks the specific appeal of a fantasy game or space game, etc. Games tied to a specific setting often have inspiring artwork connected to that setting and are simply more fun to read. Generic systems in contrast often seem dry and uninspiring. They frequently read like a technical manual and in the case of the GURPS comprehensive approach, contain rules that most referees focusing on one genre will never use.
The multitude of rules and many options can make the GURPS Basic Set overwhelming to new, or even experienced players. The genre books like GURPS Fantasy and Space are more general discussions and theoretics offering yet more options rather than cookbooks that tell the referee how-to. The specific setting books, of which there are hundreds if one counts the older editions, can finally get specific, but unless there is one that is a perfect fit, the referee will still need to customize...and that is the solution.
GURPS is a tool-kit, not a typical game rule-book. One does not pick-up the GURPS Basic Set, read through and run a game as one would do with many (most) other systems. GURPS requires (not an optional thing) the referee to use the tool-kit to make a personalized version of GURPS which they will then run. There is little point in the player (other than potential referees) reading the rule book as written in preparation for a game. The referee must take charge, assemble a set of rules picking and choosing from among the many choices GURPS offers, then inform the players of the chosen rules which will be used.
Introduction to the system is therefore a bit of a challenge. I am convinced that the best way to learn GURPS is to sit down at a table with a referee and some players who are in the middle of a campaign and learn how they play the game. You won't learn all of GURPS that way, but this is the point. Reading the rules, even the short GURPS Lite 4th Ed. which is marketed as just the essentials, is confusing because there are too many genres covered, too many options. In fact I have not found a really good in-print introduction to GURPS anywhere. A helpful product document for Steve Jackson Games might be a cut-and-paste friendly version of the rules that would allow the referee to assemble a printable custom rule-book with just the rule bits being used in the current game of GURPS.
Once the referee has decided to use GURPS reading the Basic Set with the setting idea in mind can make the reading more interesting. In this way it is more like research, hunting through the rules, making choices of what is useful and what isn't. This can be a rather time consuming effort and not for the casual referee who would like to spend more time playing at the table than prepping the game.
GURPS has earned a reputation for deadliness and for handling man-to-man combat better than monsters. I think the best monsters are unique one-off critters of the referee's own design which make infrequent appearances in a campaign. Yes that puts more work on the referee to design such monsters, but I think it is time enjoyably spent. Most of the roles filled by orcs and goblins are just as easily handled by humans, not that orc and goblin stats are that different from humans to start. The more infrequent a true monster appears the more "monstrous" it will seem.
GURPS is a point-buy system and players being what they are, tend towards min-maxing or power-gaming when left to their own devices in such a chargen environment. So don't leave them alone. Insist on chargen being a group activity and nudge them toward characters that you would like to see in your campaign. If you are a bit reluctant to be a take-charge referee, GURPS is going to be a real challenge as players will read the books and ask to use this rule or that as they think it benefits them and you as referee must be willing to say what goes and doesn't go in your campaign. GURPS is not for the timid.
The 73-page digital How To Be A GURPS GM offers some useful advice, but I believe falls short of the mark. It's 73-pages and covers everything from choosing genre to NPC design and adventure writing. In other words, it's yet more pages for the perspective referee (GM) to read. I think a short list of advice is actually what's needed. This is what I have come up with.
1) Treat the Basic Set as reference material rather than rule book - you will create your personal rule-book from this material.
2) Start with an idea for a setting - visioning and discussion with potential players to build consensus regarding the game to be played using GURPS.
3) Go through the rules looking to build the vision, pick the simplest rules that you think will work. You can always add more detailed rules later.
4) Be prepared to teach your game - assemble rule material as if you are teaching it to students.
5) Do chargen as a group and direct the players toward skills, advantages, and disadvantages that are likely to make good PCs based around the concepts players bring to the table. Provide cut-down versions of the game material that is specific to the game you want to run. To start, err on the side of under-powered PCs. They will improve with experience.
Above all - be organized! At each step, take notes, rewrite notes to make them more organized. Make copies, organize the material you share and stay organized at the table.
Yes, this sounds like a bit of work and if you wonder why bother? GURPS really is a great game. It's buried in several games, however, and the referee must do some work to customize the system. I view this as part of the creative process and enjoyment of the hobby. If it becomes odious labor, don't do it. Personally, I find it time enjoyably spent.
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