So, on a whim this past weekend, I picked up the GURPS WWII book, which as I understand it has a copy of GURPS 3e Lite included in it to make it more or less a standalone product. I also grabbed a copy of GURPS 3e Revised for practically nothing.

I used to have a great time statting up characters in GURPS some 15 years or so ago, but since then, my experience with GURPS has been acquiring the 4e books, saying to myself "this looks a bit more complicated than I remember", and getting rid of them due to non-use.

So, I guess my question is, if I stick with GURPS 3e Lite and just throw in a few advantages or disadvantages as needed, am I really missing anything? I don't really want to do conversion work for WWII to GURPS 4e, so unless there's a compelling reason to switch, I don't think I'd bother.

I've read through GURPS 4e Lite, but I guess I'm more curious in terms of actual play, will I be missing anything by sticking with 3e?

I know we have some GURPS Masters on this forum, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

GURPS 4e fixes a lot of little things that caused problems in 3e though it also introduces a few of its own.

3e is certainly more approachable on the surface.  It's not so crammed in and there's not as much potentially game breaking craziness in the core.

I'd at least change to the 4e autofire rules.  3e's work and are realistic but they're also slow and involve a lot of operations just to find out what a one second spray of bullets did.

Quote from: David Johansen;644380I'd at least change to the 4e autofire rules.  3e's work and are realistic but they're also slow and involve a lot of operations just to find out what a one second spray of bullets did.

How hard is that to implement?

Thanks for the response, btw.

GURPS 4e seems more complicated because the 4e core set is basically 3e + compendium 1 & 2.

I like 4E because it fixes some stuff that was annoying.

No more half points!!!   YES

On a related note, languages are fixed. The 15 IQ characters being fluent in 16 languages at half a point each was a little crazy.

It seems more complex because of the compendium stuff folded into the core like Piestrio said.

The last time I looked at 3e was a decade ago, so some of this may be off the mark even though I run a 4e game currently.

Attribute Costs - IQ and DX now cost 20 point a level instead of everything being a flat 10.  This does help to rein in those IQ 15 characters being super awesome at everything for a few points.  The elimination of half point also helps out this to a degree.

Firearms Combat has been streamlined - No more snap shot penalty, rules for Buck Fever, the autofire rules now work quickly and smoothly.  Passive Defense was eliminated.  Combats now run smoother and quicker than I remember in 3e.

That being said, 4e has an obtuse and convoluted approach to presentation compared to the simplicity of 3e.  Some of this has to do with the Compendiums being folded into the core rules, but the 3e Basic set had an immediacy and straight forward approach that 4e lacks.

What sort of WWII campaign are you planning to run?  That will determine what level of conversion you need to do and whether you have to do it all at once or if you can get away with doing it piece by piece.

Quote from: Dave;644486What sort of WWII campaign are you planning to run?  That will determine what level of conversion you need to do and whether you have to do it all at once or if you can get away with doing it piece by piece.

Fairly gritty, I would think. Knives kill, one shot from a rifle can kill or maim, grenades can certainly kill.

I'm still deciding on the starting timeframe, but I'm thinking like a "Special Office" cloak and dagger/commando sort of thing for the Allies, so we can have (bending history as needed) British officers haunted by the failures of the BEF, freewheeling Canadians, smart-ass Aussies, vengeful Poles, bloodthirsty Free Frenchmen, daring Norwegian resistance fighters, and the whole rest in a massive mix-up.

EDIT: And yes, a younger Christopher Lee has to make an appearance.

Quote from: Zachary The First;644370I've read through GURPS 4e Lite, but I guess I'm more curious in terms of actual play, will I be missing anything by sticking with 3e?

I know we have some GURPS Masters on this forum, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

GURPS 4e is more polished and better but together but...

If you are planning to use one of their "lines" of products (GURPS Traveller, GURPS World War II) then you are not missing anything by sticking with 3e.

The main advantage of converting over 4e if you wanted to use more detailed rules of Martial Arts and Tactical Shooting. They are both excellent products and playable if you make cheats sheets for the options the players choose to use for their characters.

Quote from: Zachary The First;644553Fairly gritty, I would think. Knives kill, one shot from a rifle can kill or maim, grenades can certainly kill.

I'm still deciding on the starting timeframe, but I'm thinking like a "Special Office" cloak and dagger/commando sort of thing for the Allies, so we can have (bending history as needed) British officers haunted by the failures of the BEF, freewheeling Canadians, smart-ass Aussies, vengeful Poles, bloodthirsty Free Frenchmen, daring Norwegian resistance fighters, and the whole rest in a massive mix-up.

EDIT: And yes, a younger Christopher Lee has to make an appearance.

Sounds awesome, I'd play that in a heartbeat.  I doubt you'd have to do a wholesale conversion over from the 3e WWII books.  Grab High Tech, whip up a few templates for people unfamiliar with GURPS and go.  Nothing would prevent you from playing it in 3e either - this sort of game is right in GURPS' wheelhouse regardless of edition.

Quote from: Zachary The First;644553Fairly gritty, I would think. Knives kill, one shot from a rifle can kill or maim, grenades can certainly kill.

I'm still deciding on the starting timeframe, but I'm thinking like a "Special Office" cloak and dagger/commando sort of thing for the Allies, so we can have (bending history as needed) British officers haunted by the failures of the BEF, freewheeling Canadians, smart-ass Aussies, vengeful Poles, bloodthirsty Free Frenchmen, daring Norwegian resistance fighters, and the whole rest in a massive mix-up.

EDIT: And yes, a younger Christopher Lee has to make an appearance.

In the WWII series, that package deal is specifically listed in Return to Honor, which gives the history of France in World War II (such as it was) including the resistance movements and SOE.

JG

Excellent, guys, thanks!

GURPS 3e lite was the only version I ever really enjoyed.

As I know nothing about GURPs and it is a similar question, are the GURPs Dungeon Fantasy series standalone or do you need the Character Builder books too? THe blurb seems to say it is a cut down version of GURPs

You still need GURPS Characters.  Magic wouldn't hurt either.

Quote from: David Johansen;645094You still need GURPS Characters.  Magic wouldn't hurt either.

And thus they turn from awesome to dumb in a single sentence.