Why GURPS

I'm a Dungeons and Dragons guy. Heck, I even have a tattoo of the 3.5 DMG. I have easily logged thousands of hours behind a GM's screen or sweating over my PC's situation as the dice rolled. In the last 35 years I have also dabbled in RPGs like Champions, Traveler, Toon, DC Heroes, and lots more. Most of the none D&D systems I experienced were short lived campaigns with a limited exposer. I flat out enjoyed almost everyone, RollMaster not so much. But that's a different BLOG post. Only two systems did I keep coming back to over and over, Dungeons and Dragons and GURPS.

Dungeons and Dragons died with the end of V3.5. 4th edition broke Dungeons and Dragons in my view. I have lots of reasons why I think like that, enough for a nice lone blog post all its own. But for here and now I just know that I have chosen to look forward to new things, well sort of.

GURPS: Generic Universal Role Playing System, that other old friend, the forgotten younger sibling of the RPG giant D&D. Over the years I played GURPS on and off, anytime I could lure any of my current game group into a few games of GURPS I would. Sadly most would play a few times and then we would go back to whatever else we had been playing. Folks would say it was to complicated, combat is to long, or a lot of.. "Wait, that's not how we do it in (other game).

But sometimes, it would all just click. Like the GURPS Supers game where my Force Field wielder got punched through a few buildings, or the game where our time-displaced PCs struggled for days trying to bypass a massive crack in the planet while fighting of waves of Morlocks, all before their ride home left. I also played in a GURPS Cathulu campaign, In the second session I failed so many fright rolls I was left drooling on the floor.

I had a LOT of fun in those games. I enjoyed the choices in combat. I enjoyed the complex weave of campaign worlds and limitless possibilities of PC creation.

So, You may see why GURPS was once again an old go to. 4th edition GURPS is new for me, that's a bit of splitting hairs, I know. From what I can tell, getting back in touch with GURPS, the 4th edition has done nothing but improve the game. I'm looking forward to one system many worlds again. I will no longer be stuck with only Dungeons to explore and Dragons to slay. I want to travel to another world in a starship, plead with an old one for my mind back, or maybe punch a few bad guys in their turkey necks.

I'm ready to argue over the advantage of DR vs cost and the impact of different skills. I will count my smallest turn in combat in my move points, I will happily watch an hour of real time pass for one combat round in a massive battle.

I will do all this and..I will like it.

Well, unless I find a D&D 3.5 group, always time for two games...right?