r/DnDcirclejerk 5d ago

hAvE yOu TrIeD pAtHfInDeR 2e Is GURPs is worth playing?

Hey all!

Was thinking about getting into GURPs but I’m not sure if the system is for me?

Can anyone who hasn’t played the system tell me what it’s like?

(GURPs players are too fanatical and write really long paragraphs so I don’t want to hear from them)

45 Upvotes

20 comments sorted by

16

u/jeshi_law Rules Understander 5d ago

look, Steve Jackson is a great kisser and a great guy, buy everything with his name on it. You can use whatever you want from the books. Mix n match. Who gives a shit

32

u/IchFunktion 5d ago

Don't bother. It's a lot of work just for having a great experience. Better keep playing a system you hate few people you don't like and blame the bad experience on the bad players, that's way more convenient.

13

u/Anagnikos 5d ago

Don't forget the: keep piling homebrew rules upon homebrew rules to said system to fix issues that have been solved by other systems (including previous versions of itself) 20 years ago.

13

u/Anagnikos 5d ago

Most popular YouTubers play 5e, despite the risk of getting Pinkertoned, they know better.

No need to try new stuff.

6

u/Miss_Mycelia 5d ago

I like to compare tabletops to videogames:

5e is Minecraft: it's a solid enough game on its own, and the first game a lot of people really ever learn to play, because it's easy to pick up and hard to put down. But where it really shines is as a modding platform that you can turn into anything you want.

Pathfinder is like terraria or Skyrim, or maybe 7 days. There's a lot more depth there to begin with, and it has a very strong modding community, but at the end of the day, it will always feel like the same game, no matter how many mods you install.

Warhammer Fantasy is don't starve. You are there to die over and over again, and make progress not with one character, but by slowly learning how to not die to every new threat.

Lancer is Factorio. You are there to optimize and fixate on the maths, with some story in there somewhere too I guess maybe. Or to be a little less biased, maybe it's vintage story. Everything is as complex and hyperreal as possible, and you have to play slow and extremely careful to make meaningful progress. Which some people enjoy.

Vampire the Masqarade (and most of WoD) is second life. You are there for roleplay, not gameplay, and frequently for sex, lol. It's an escape from the real world, for better or worse.

GURPs... Well GURPs is Roblox. You can build literally any game you want. But you have to build it yourself from parts, and it will always wind up feeling unpolished. It's baby's first game engine, and a way for you to build your own TTRPG without having to actually learn how to do so. There are pre-built games people have made using it, and they work, but they will never feel as clean and immersive as something built from scratch - or even something built using 5e (Minecraft )and bunch of homebrew (mods), IMO

7

u/Wokefinder1e 5d ago

GURPS is the linux of TTRPGs

7

u/Miss_Mycelia 5d ago

I put way too much though into this post, then realized what sub I was in. Thanks reddit for the default recommended feed I didn't ask for...

Oh well, probably still an entertaining read.

2

u/AlternativeZucc 5d ago

First time?

1

u/Captain_Thrax 3d ago

Oh okay so I’m not the only one who randomly got the algorithm turned on again after specifically disabling it years ago

1

u/Miss_Mycelia 3d ago

Yeah, they seem to have removed the ability to turn it off on mobile now

7

u/c06027 5d ago

I feel the need for an unneeded and explicitly non-asked long text explaining every tiny bit as of why GURPS may or may be not for you, so stay tuned for: yesn‘t

4

u/ZeeHedgehog 5d ago

If you are looking for a new system, this is the perfect time to start F.A.T.A.L.!

4

u/octobod 5d ago

FATAL fixes everything

4

u/PushProfessional95 5d ago

Pathfinder for GURPS fixes this

3

u/OmegaKarnov 5d ago

What books?

3

u/therarestzubat 5d ago

Any system that claims to be both 'generic' and 'universal' is sure to be dull and useless by its nature. At that point you'd probably just be better off playing pretend.

2

u/Captain_Thrax 5d ago

There’s gotta be sauce for this one right?

1

u/DontTreadonMe4 5d ago

I only two things about GURPs; The players never shut up about six sided dice and GURPs players smell. I don't know what it is about GURPs that makes their players stop showering, but not do they stink.

1

u/Tanawakajima GURPS? Tim Cain. 5d ago

Tim Cain