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Author Topic: GURPS: Fantasy  (Read 991 times)

Sojourner Judas

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GURPS: Fantasy
« on: March 11, 2006, 04:48:08 PM »
Now, I understand most people here don't play GURPS. Truth told, I don't play it as much as I'd like either. Still, as quite a few of you know the style of GURPS sourcebooks is such that you don't really need to use them for their intended game to make them worth the money.

In past editions, I'd avoided GURPS: Fantasy. I figured that, since it was one of the most generic books in the game line, I didn't really need to read it.

However I got some time to browse it in my local bookstore today, and I liked what I saw so I picked it up. I've been digesting it this afternoon, and I'm regretting not getting it sooner.

Not many of us actually think that critically about fantasy as a genre. It's so pervasive that most of us don't give it a second thought. That's probably why I dismissed this book for so long.

Still, GURPS books are about approaching a subject from as many angles as possible to give a GM a good toolkit for running any type of game he wants. This book is no exception. It's just as exhaustive as any other GURPS book, and they take you through the implications of just about every aspect of fantasy world design, and how it applies to the various subgenres of fantasy. They cram an admirable amount of information into 240 pages, and the whole thing is full-color on glossy paper.

Beyond this, the old setting that used to be bundled with GURPS has been spun off into its own hardbound, so the book presents a nicely detailed example setting that's brand new for this edition. Roma Arcana is excellently original, in that it's not medieval fantasy, but is nonetheless as representative of fantasy as a genre as anything. It does a great job of illustrating the concepts discussed in the prior chapters, and is playable right out of the box.

All told, I'd highly recommend this book. Even going just by what I've read so far I can see that this book is more useful for refining your thought process about running a fantasy game than any D&D book I've read. Regardless of whether you're interested in playing GURPS, this is a book that's wonderful for honing your craft as a GM and coming up with new and interesting ideas for your games.
 

Dr_Avalanche

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GURPS: Fantasy
« Reply #1 on: March 13, 2006, 10:07:55 AM »
I must admit that despite its glaring flaws, I really quite like GURPS. It does bring out the munchkin in me, but it is fun to make a GURPS character. Problem is that when I maximize my character but the others don't, I'm just going to dominate the game. It's sensitive to being on the same page, and being about as interested in the number-crunching.
 
I have high faith in GURPS supplements though. I would not mind in the least to play in a GURPS Fantasy game.

Mcrow

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GURPS: Fantasy
« Reply #2 on: March 13, 2006, 12:59:34 PM »
I totally agree.

GURPS books are great tools for GMs now matter what system you play. I have a fairly good collection of them jsut for this purpose, not that I'm against playing GURPS. I would likely play GURPS if I knew anyone else who would play.