Skip to content

Why no GURPs adaptation to CRPG?

SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
in Off-Topic
  • - We have adaptations from D&D 1 and 2e on late 80s and 90s, all of the long Gold Box series, Dark Sun Shattered Sands, Wake of the Ravager, and even an dark sun mmo, had baldur's gate 1/2, icewind dale 1
  • - D&D 3(3.5e) received nwn1/2, iwd2 and other adaptations.
  • - We had some adaptations of vampire the masquarede : redemption and bloodlines, a recent visual novel, and will get vtmb 2 soon.
  • - D&D 5e got BG3 and Solasta(which is not a D&D product, only uses 5e rules)
  • - The Call of Cthulhu got a adaptation(not sure if faithful)


Gurps however, got no adaptation. FL1 used GURPs system but it was changed on late development. The main advantage over GURPs is that you can use it on anything. Is possible to make any type of adventure with GURPs, from no magic and low tech roman historical RPG to ultra high magic, ultra high tech techomancers creating an android army armed with railguns and terraforming planets while fight an race of extra dimensional aliens.

See George Marin talking about GURPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoIb62THIT0

Comments

  • IseweinIsewein Member Posts: 570
    If I recall correctly, Falllout was originally supposed to use GURPS, and is still heavily influenced by it (SPECIAL reflecting GURPS advantages / disadvantages).
  • DragonKingDragonKing Member Posts: 1,979
    Because no studio wanted to do it yet, the end.
  • ZaxaresZaxares Member Posts: 1,330
    I've heard of GURPS, but I've never actually played it. Anyone able to give a quick Cliff's Notes on how it works in terms of rules and mechanics?
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    I have heard that most GURPS spells are also hard to translate into a CRPG. GURPS is not a game where you learn how to cast fireball. You first learn how to ignite fire, then create fire, then shape fire and only after you can create and shape the fire, you can learn how to make a fireball. All things that you can make with shape fire alone are near impossible to translate into a CRPG.
  • DrHappyAngryDrHappyAngry Member Posts: 1,577
    SorcererV1ct0r wrote: »
    I have heard that most GURPS spells are also hard to translate into a CRPG. GURPS is not a game where you learn how to cast fireball. You first learn how to ignite fire, then create fire, then shape fire and only after you can create and shape the fire, you can learn how to make a fireball. All things that you can make with shape fire alone are near impossible to translate into a CRPG.

    Interesting, sounds like it probably influenced Mage: The Ascension.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    I've never heard anyone speak positively of GURPS before. Maybe its not well liked?
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    edited December 2020
    ThacoBell wrote: »
    I've never heard anyone speak positively of GURPS before. Maybe its not well liked?

    George R R Martin said a lot of positive things on the video that I've posted.
    DrHappyAngry wrote: »
    Interesting, sounds like it probably influenced Mage: The Ascension.

    Yep. Probably influenced. But there are no paradox or similar thing(unless the DM says that it exists)

    Anyway, looking into GURPS technomancer "Note: GURPS Technomancer is not connected in any way with the White Wolf MAGE: The Ascension roleplaying game and does not in any way challenge the copyrights and terms used therein." http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/technomancer/
  • m7600m7600 Member Posts: 318
    Slightly off topic, but not entirely (warning: strong language)

    https://youtu.be/XAAp_luluo0
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    OQ2RNKh.png

    GURPS is probably the highest lethality TT RPG system ever.
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    edited December 2020
    Just imagine how cool would be GURPS technomancer adapted into a video game

    9d261425278be4224703c3ee260e9b7f.jpg


    GURPS site wrote:
    "
    On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated at Trinity Site in New Mexico. The explosion ripped a hole in the fabric of space. (...)a tornado of seething magical energy.

    (...)
    Magic had come to the modern 20th century. But like the power of the atom on our own Earth, it would prove a Pandora's Box.
    source http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/technomancer/

    Tropes included
    • Alternate History : Special note goes to Argentina becoming a major technomagical superpower, due to the Antarctic manafall and the support of Nazi wizards. Mexico is also a fully first-world country due to being in Trinity's Shadow. And the United States is actually more powerful and dominant than it is in our world, due to being ground zero for the Trinity Event and the establishment of a technomagical society, an advantage that led to victory in Vietnam."
    • Antimagical Faction:
      God's Own Army and the Army of God are anti-magical terrorist groups. The former are Christian (specifically, a splinter group who were too extreme for the Knights of the Apocalypse), while the latter are an Islamic terrorist organization.
      The Right Path are an activist group and think-tank who believe that magic is inherently irrational and unscientific and push for more mundane R&D
    • Black Helicopter: The American government has mysterious, stealth black dragons.
    • Cat Girl: It's a David Pulver book, so they will exist somewhere. In Technomancer, cat halflings (half-human, half-chimera) are Little Bit Beastly, and their females fit the trope - though they're, technically, puma girls.
    • Fantastic Racism: Chimeras are the main target of discrimination in America. There's also a bit of friction between mages and mundanes, though it's more likely to be framed as a divide between haves and have-nots.
    • Fantastic Religious Weirdness: Religion has had to adapt to the manafall. In general, mainline Christianity has accepted the coming of magic with good grace, but a few new sects have popped up (such as the Knights of the Apocalypse, who are the Klan for chimeras, and the Rachelites, an ecstatic branch of Christianity that seeks magical visions). Also, Wicca and other polytheistic religions (including Voudoun and Native American shamanism) are far more popular than they are on our Earth.
    • Ghostapo: The Condor Group in Argentina are former SS wizards. Meanwhile, Wodinspear are a neo-Nazi group composed of extremist Asatru wizards.
    • Inhumanable Alien Rights: Humans, dragons and chimeras have rights (though chimeras face Fantastic Racism). The undead don't; they're legally considered ambulatory corpses. Monsters, demons and creations are likewise not considered human.
    • Magitek: Check the title. It turns out that atomic bombs are really useful for summoning Eldritch Abominations!It's ubiquitous and has profoundly shaped North American society (and the rest of the world to a significantly lesser extent). Architecture is neo-Gothic because it's cheaper to build skyscrapers out of elemental stone than glass and steel, medicine has been replaced with healing magic to the point that "old skills" like basic surgery are considered an elective, NASA uses teleportation in place of rockets,
    • Who Shot JFK?: It is briefly mentioned that Oswald's use of a CIA developed "Magic Bullet" spell was covered up. The how and why he got his hands on the spell is left unstated.
    Source of the tropes : https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/GURPSTechnomancer
  • DrHappyAngryDrHappyAngry Member Posts: 1,577
    Sounds a bit like Shadowrun.

    When I said influenced Mage: The Acension, I meant more the sphere levels for magick. The Technomancy stuff seems a different beast, altogether. The Spheres worked like the first level being able to perceive the effects of that sphere and progressing levels were how much you could manipulate them.

    Back in the day I remember one of the big draws to the system being that it only required six sided dice, whereas a game like D&D you needed a ton of different dice to play it. D&D has lessened it's need on all the different types of dice, but the requirements still there with a lot of weapon damage rolls. It's definitely an influence on the storyteller system, being much more skill based than level based.

    Also, I believe Oswald worked with clones.
  • IseweinIsewein Member Posts: 570
    SorcererV1ct0r wrote: »
    GURPS is probably the highest lethality TT RPG system ever.
    Not in my practical experience. Fights are exceedingly rare and you learn to try and avoid them.
  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    Isewein wrote: »
    If I recall correctly, Falllout was originally supposed to use GURPS, and is still heavily influenced by it (SPECIAL reflecting GURPS advantages / disadvantages).

    Here's an article on it

    https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/340192/How_Fallout_almost_didnt_ship_with_its_key_SPECIAL_system.php
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    Isewein wrote: »
    SorcererV1ct0r wrote: »
    GURPS is probably the highest lethality TT RPG system ever.
    Not in my practical experience. Fights are exceedingly rare and you learn to try and avoid them.

    Exactly cuz GURPS is high lethality and anything can kill you pretty fast(high lethality).

    Lethality has no relation to how much combat you encounter.

    An game which you encounter one combat in 10 session but you get one OHKilled or OHKill the enemy is a example of high lethality rare combat game.

    DrHappyAngry wrote: »
    (...)D&D has lessened it's need on all the different types of dice, but the requirements still there with a lot of weapon damage rolls. It's definitely an influence on the storyteller system, being much more skill based than level based.

    Also, I believe Oswald worked with clones.

    Today, we have "virtual dices" but honestly, only needing 3d6 to play GURPS is a huge advantage IMO.
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,042
    Zaxares wrote: »
    I've heard of GURPS, but I've never actually played it. Anyone able to give a quick Cliff's Notes on how it works in terms of rules and mechanics?

    The basic rules are fairly simple: give your character some attribute stats, choose some advantages (which cost character points) and disadvantages (which "give" character points), ideally pick some quirks (these help define your character) and then your skills. After that, roleplay the character you created with their backstory.

    GURPS best point is its universality--any character can be played in any world because all the rules work the same. Of course, realistically some world decisions make others irrelevant--if the game world has magic then it has healing magic, so no one would ever need the Physician or Surgery skills.

    GURPS worst point is how complicated it can be--if you try to take into account all the advanced combat rules, including cover/partial cover, lighting, distance, and so on then that 1-second round of combat will actually take you a minute or two to process.

    I concur with the assessment that GURPS can be lethal. An average character swinging a club, hitting you in the head, can score a critical hit and this might allow the damage to bypass your metal helmet (DR 3) and go directly to your brain, tripling the damage and either knocking you out instantly or killing you. Alternatively, at ultra-tech levels you might not be able to inflict any damage--even a TL 14 graser (gamma ray laser) rifle has difficulty gettting through a TL 14 military cybersuit (with the thermal superconducting layer, cutting energy damage by half) covered by a personal force screen.
  • BelleSorciereBelleSorciere Member Posts: 2,108
    GURPS combat has variable lethality. The default is very lethal, but there are plenty of rules in the core book and various supplements that can make it much less lethal and more cinematic.
  • SorcererV1ct0rSorcererV1ct0r Member Posts: 2,176
    BelleSorciere wrote: »
    GURPS combat has variable lethality. The default is very lethal, but there are plenty of rules in the core book and various supplements that can make it much less lethal and more cinematic.

    Because GURPS tries to be more "simulator" than even 2e.

    Pick a geyser spell for eg, how someone can survive being inside a geyser?

    A .338 LM sniper rifle has enough damage to kill the normal person multiple times assuming average rolls.

    The default GURPS is probably the highest lethality TT RPG while 4e is probably the lowest lethality.

    Anyway, after reading a little, GURPS has so many cool spells, would be amazing to see then adapted into a video game, Mostly water magic https://gurps.fandom.com/wiki/Water_College
Sign In or Register to comment.

2024 Overhaul Games, a division of Beamdog. © 2024 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate, Wizards of the Coast and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. and are used with permission. © 1998 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Infinity Engine and the BioWare logo are trademarks of Bioware Corp. Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.