What should I know about GURPS before I play it?
of gurps? nothing really
of math? everything up to and including differential equations for multiple variables
>>47253475
Start off with just reading the basic set. You can skip the (dis)advantage/skill lists for now.
Use not everything without restriction, for along that path lies madness.
Use not only the barebones essentials, for that shit's pretty boring.
Figure out what you want to play using GURPS, and get the associated books. They usually have premade advantages and character options. Also, most of the stuff in the main expansions (Magic, Space, and the like) can be useful in any system, so you should get those anyways. GURPS general has most of the books.
>>47253494
Not OP, but that's good for me. I just finished that class.
>>47253475
Just read GURPS Lite.
It's like 30 or 40 pages, tops.
>>47253494
Is there something I missed in the Basic Set? I haven't played it, just checked it out. The worst it seems to get are the optional wound modifiers but that's still basic arithmetic (multiplication). The vast majority of extra crunch, if you can call it that, is basic subtraction that shows up more often but that's not harder than the basic addition you already do in every game. I don't know why Gurps has this meme but not RQ or Rifts. Not that crunch is bad, in RQ at least. Someone is always getting their shit fucked up in gruesome detail so you don't have a ton of empty turns that take up a lot of the session like I often experienced with 3.5 and PF (with and without the grid).
>>47254660
GURPS Spaceships has differnetial equations for Delta-V related to space travel.
That said; GURPS can either be the least crunchy system or most crunchy, depending on how many options you want.
If George R.R. Martin plays it, its good enough for us plebs.
I love GURPS, personally.
>>47253475
Like all point buy systems, it's easy to build characters that are lopsided or make no sense, so you just can't approach it with a min-maxing mindset. Instead just work with your GM to establish what makes sense for your character, and what subsystems you're going to be using.
I'm not a big fan of GURPS. To me it's the epitome of systems that go for painstakingly detailed verisimilitude and end up having to be balanced by gut instinct.
>>47254660
The idea is quantity over quality. It's not HARD to do all this math, but it is TEDIOUS because there's so much of it. Would you rather do one problem or 10? Would you prefer to make one calculation when you attack, or 2-3 depending on the system?
This is where some games catch flak. GURPS is mostly hated because a lot of people are introduced to it by a GM that insists on using 1 gorrilion modules in the same campaign, either because they're too new to know better or too grognard to care. So when someone comes into GURPs, they often end up seeing labyrinthine bullshit that's all but impossible to sift through.
on the other hand, GURPs with no modules in it is boring shit that forces a GM to make up literally everything on the fly. This either drives them away, or makes them fall into the above category. The solution is a happy medium that is obvious, but tends not to be remembered due to people being complete idiots.
... Or so I'm told. Never played GURPs, this is just a summary of the more credible stuff I've heard.
>>47253475
The most important thing to know about GURPS is the modifiers. Get a cheat sheet for all the different modifiers (range, stance, etc) that your condition can have on your TN.
The other most important thing to know is that there are programs that make making your character a lot easier.
>>47255000
this is a pretty good summary
it's not the 'muh jack of all trades master of none' meme or 'muh maths', the main downside to GURPS is that you have to put in more legwork than most other systems to set up and run a decent game
where some systems will have a few optional rules, GURPS is constructed of optional rules.
