GURPS: Characters. Are they really that complex to create?

[@jonathanturner4318]

Sorry for your loss. I never made it to a convention but have still heard positive stories about Mook.

[@chrisnormand]

Thank you. Yes, Mook embodied the GURPS community. He built a great GURPS Discord (discord.com/invite/hWHbuvF) that usually has over 1000 people online every day. If you haven't joined, please do. You can get a lot of great community support for GURPS from there.

[@bullnugget]

So sorry to hear about Mooks passing. I was hoping he would have pulled through. Thank you for this series as well. It is a great review from my playing back in the day.

[@chrisnormand]

I hope you get back into it... with the advent of the Foundry VTT (and our GURPS Game Aid)... you can play with anyone, anywhere. Give it a look: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6TXfoGEgdx-eK8

[@rudesthazard5769]

Highly anticipating the magic video. Always interesting to see people's takes on the different systems.

[@chrisnormand]

I am not, unfortunately, because it means I will have to learn more about RPM, Ritual Path Magic... and I really don't want to ;-)

[@michaelc4060]

So am I. I'm really enjoying this series. Perhaps you should do mini-magic videos each detailing a specific type of magic. That would allow you to put off RPM as long as possible and follow the KISS principle you've been using so far.

[@chrisnormand]

@@michaelc4060 That is an interesting idea. I was joking of course, I do want to create a Video focused on magic, but it will be more of a “guide for beginners“ than a description of all the different magic types. I honestly don’t have enough experience to give a comprehensive guide to magic. I am basically relating my experiences as a GURPS newbie to help others that might be in the same boat.

[@hansbrackhaus8017]

@@chrisnormand Aww. Man, magic really is a GURPS sore point. Even the official source books seem to drag their feet showcasing monsters and characters with magic loadouts. Usually it's afflictions and other such things.

[@chrisnormand]

@@hansbrackhaus8017 agreed. And I am working on a magic video now.

[@SpiritualHypertrophy]

I’m starting a Dungeon Fantasy GURPS campaign soon. Thanks so much for bringing GCS to my attention.

[@chrisnormand]

Fantastic! Good Luck! If you have any questions, please, join the GURPS Discord... they would love to help you out (link in the desc.)

[@fathill]

Hi Chris. I just decided this weekend to try to learn GURPS, and your videos are SO INCREDIBLY HELPFUL. Your breakdowns make it so much easier to digest and you have a great delivery system. Please keep making these!

[@chrisnormand]

Wow, thank you so much! You made my day! It has been a trying 24hrs because my video editing software keeps crashing… while I work on the next video in the series, GCS (GURPS Character Sheet). It is the longest video yet. Stay tuned!

[@bulldogcraft]

I started with D&D in high school and after I graduated in '86 I found Gurps at the local game store and fell in love with the idea of making games in any genre. Unfortunately all I did was learn the system because everyone I knew was a D&D fanboy and wouldn't entertain the idea of something different. Fast forward 40+ years, I find your videos and am now preparing to GM a small adventure for my kids (16 and 21) and a couple friends who have never played role playing before. I'm going to use Foundry VTT so it will be more visual for them to ease them into it. Thanks for pulling me back into the world of role playing. I really missed it!

[@chrisnormand]

Wow, that is SO COOL! Good luck, and if you have any questions, jump on the GURPS DIscord in the #vtt-foundry channel and ask. A lot of users hang out there, and you can get help 24x7 discord.gg/6xJBcYWyED

[@dangalfthedruid]

Brand new GURPS player, first game is Supers, and I had to prep in 1 evening. Your videos were super helpful!

[@chrisnormand]

That is fantastic!!! I hope it went well.

[@RoninCatholic]

GURPS and The Fantasy Trip are my top two favorite tabletop role-playing games, with my next favorites being old Basic D&D (where characters max out at level 3 in the book), the free version of D&D 5th Edition (only four races, four classes, and one subclass per class), and D20 MicroLite (four races, four classes, four skills, entire ruleset on one page and each supplement being one page). I describe GURPS as 80% of the ideal game I want straight out of the box, attached to 920% of a dozen games I don't want or need. GURPS Dungeon Fantasy takes it a few steps in the right direction, but a lot of the things I like in GURPS a lot more than D&D (clerics baked in assumptions, plural gods, wizards barred from learning healing spells for no reason) simply get tossed by the wayside to make it more D&D-like. I also don't like how high the point totals are, a 250 point DF character is equal to a character FAR ABOVE the highest level I like in D&D itself. These are endgame heroes to my mind, not start of game heroes. When I make templates, I tend to make them small (20 or 50 points) and stackable (unique Advantage lists, all skills purchased in increments of 4 points or ignored). This way I can offer several things like "archer" and "swordmaster" and so on, and a beginning player can slap 2 or 3 templates together. Maybe you need the base Mage template before getting Pyromancer, Swordcerer, or Dr. Healmore as the former contains your Magery 0 or Magery 1 and the others give +1 Magery and a list of further spells, skills, or appropriate Advantages. As many Perks and small Advantages seem superfluous to me, and I already tend to put skills on characters in 4 rather than 1 point increments, my own personal homebrew system is mostly a lower-resolution fantasy GURPS. Roughly 1 point for me = 4 or 5 points in GURPS, so starting heroes at 20-30 rather than 100-150 points, and different strictures about your Disadvantages. I've been working on this mashup of old D&D with The Fantasy Trip, GURPS, and any cool ideas I see pop up in OSR or other games since 2005; only twice have I had anyone offer to play it with me, and in both cases they gave up before finishing creating a character (both wanted to play catgirls in leather armor aesthetically designed to look like bondage gear, one wanted whip as primary weapon and the other wanted dual daggers; both also wanted fire magic). Definitely hanging in the wrong crowds back in 2013 and 2014.

[@chrisnormand]

Wow, you really like to "homebrew"! That is so COOL!

[@flowersinathens102]

I would love a video dedicated to Magic! I'm finding it to be complicated :(

[@chrisnormand]

Yeah.... I know what you mean. You are not the only one ;-) I will see what I can do.

[@bigfootbighead]

It would be extremely handy if there were a few tutorial videos on how to use GCS and GCA, especially more advanced things like creating new Powers and Advantages.

[@chrisnormand]

You are in luck, I am working on my GCS video right now.

[@Shishnut]

Nice! This will be great as a refresher for my players!

[@chrisnormand]

Fantastic! And thank you for always supporting me!

[@chrisnormand]

You, my friend, are exactly who I made these videos for. Thank you for watching, and hopefully the other videos are useful. Also, if you have not already, please join the GURPS Discord. We have over 1000 people online daily, and every one of them would be happy to answer questions and offer help. discord.com/invite/hWHbuvF

[@Shishnut]

@@chrisnormand I am a part of the Discord group! I rarely manage to follow it, but I like to check it from time to time. It's a pleasure to see so many people who take the system so seriously and keep it alive like this.

[@andrewhart1282]

Hey Chris, just wanted to compliment the format and design of these videos. I am finding them very approachable and understandable. Thanks.

[@chrisnormand]

Thank you! I have been approaching them as if I were explaining to my friend sitting on the other side of the table. Of course, I edit out all the “umms” and “ahhs” and add graphics and text to make it a bit more interesting than just a talking head 🤓

[@danielarruda3453]

Wow! Im looking foward for the video about magic!

[@chrisnormand]

I hope I didn't get your hopes up... I am actually a bit frightened by the responses... it seems that a LOT of people would like guidance on GURPS Magic. I am working on the script right now. It will be "interesting" to say they least. ;-) Thanks for watching!

[@bendrix1932]

I laughed when you mentioned the boring accountant. I had a Supers character like him. His favorite color was beige and he hated adventure, but the daemon who haunted him made his life difficult, always getting him into trouble. So much fun!

[@chrisnormand]

Perfect... "Unusually Average Accountant man" will make an appearance in my next video on Powers ;-) I'm glad someone liked the joke!

[@timetunnelpro]

I just wanted to let you know that you've made GURPS so accessable to learn and get excited about. What felt like an unapproachable system now feels like something I can get started with! Keep up with these fantastic videos, you're really great at explaining things in a way that makes it not just easy to understand but also fun! Cheers, Nose!

[@chrisnormand]

Thank you, I really appreciate it. I’m sorry, real life has stolen my time from me so I haven’t been able to release much recently, but I have two or three more videos already in the pipeline (working on the scripts) so hopefully I can record them and upload them soon.

[@StinkerTheFirst]

By the time you mentioned "explosion", I experienced a realization, the world of Konosuba is powered by GURPS. No, seriously, Meguimin is a min-maxer for explosion. She chose a bunch of limitations such as "fatigue" and "only once per day", and maybe one called "chunnibyou" (if that one exists) in order to create the biggest and most powerful explosion possible. That's it. That's all she can do. That's her character concept- EXPLOSION!

[@chrisnormand]

I am sorry that I don't get the reference... but very happy that it makes sense to you. That is the beauty of GURPS... the ability to play any genre you can dream up!

[@borgy1337]

Thanks for doing this series. I bought GURPS books back in the 90s but never played. Wow. How did everyone do it before KZbin and GCS ??

[@chrisnormand]

Honestly, I have no idea. I certainly would not have been as interested, although I really do enjoy crunch. But with the advent of GCS, in 2001, it is so much easier to play GURPS.

[@dvosburg1966]

Thanks for the videos. They bring back fond memories. Your voice reminds me of Rudy Maxa.

[@chrisnormand]

You are very welcome! I hope you still play. If you don’t have anyone local, have you seen the Foundry VTT (and our support for the GURPS Game Aid bit.ly/2JaSlQd)?

[@MaskedSarcasm]

Actually, I'm very glad you went over the skill levels. That's been one thing that wasn't quite clicking for me, and your explanation (along with your graphics) helped me understand it. Thanks for the video!

[@chrisnormand]

Glad I could help! You are exactly the person I was recording it for! Good luck!

[@nottiredofwinning3736]

I love the GCS - and creating my own libraries from the Master Library

[@chrisnormand]

That is the way to do it! I wish I had the time.

[@fasgamboa]

Best system! And it is actually easier as the system is robust and the mechanics solid!

[@chrisnormand]

We are in agreement, my friend!

[@brandonjdenny]

I've just gotten back into tt gaming after a decade being away. I've always enjoyed Gurps but never got under the hood much and have been enjoying your videos. I'm very excited to see your Magic video as that has given me a lot of hair pulling to try and work out. Thanks!

[@chrisnormand]

You are the third person who has asked, so it will be the next video after GCS.

[@duxbellorum01]

Thanks again, Chris!!

[@geoffreyfagan1798]

Adding character points works the same as building a character in the first place. This is huge when starting a campaign with very competent characters. In other games, designing a first-level character is really easy, but if a GM wants to start at a higher level, working out a progression from first level can be very complicated indeed, but in GURPS, points is points.

[@chrisnormand]

Agreed. I am definitely coming to the conclusion that the biggest stumbling block for new GMs/Players is character creation (and all the flows from that). I am going to have to expand on that in a future video.

[@thekaxmax]

On the 'Aggressively Average Accountant': I saw writing prompt I decided to build on, and got: Mr Average. Has average stats (10 or 11), no skill higher than 12, no esoteric skills, no non-mundane advantages or disadvantages (and a minimum amount of what he does get--one level/minimum cost), average appearance and charisma. His one power is a cosmic Modular Ability power with one restriction: the controlling skill or check cannot be over 12 after all modifiers, and it uses all his available points. So, he can do /anything/ at an average level of skill. Fly, cure cancer in someone, design a reproducible cancer cure, make tunnels, travel to other worlds, /anything/. But anything he does might take a couple of tries to make it work.

[@chrisnormand]

Noice! Yet another reason why I love GURPS... the almost infinite possibilities for character creation!

[@thekaxmax]

@@chrisnormand yup. And try and do that in any other system (barring, possibly, Hero) without house-rules....

[@chrisnormand]

@@thekaxmax Agreed! It has become a thing for me that when I watch a TV show or movie, in the back of my head, I always think to myself "how would I build that in GURPS" ;-)

[@johnash7821]

great video but the ending stung a little, I'm just beginning my research into GURPS and I honestly don't know much about the parties envolved but seeing the dedication to your friend Mook at the end was a sad shocker. I'm sorry for your loss and thank you for this video series. 🙏

[@chrisnormand]

Thank you for those words. I know Mook would be happy that more people are learning GURPS.

[@johnash7821]

@@chrisnormand I'm sure he was proud of you. Thanks again for everything.

[@alexanderpolete3801]

I actually was first interested in GURPS because I'm a sucker for complexity - love it, can't get enough of it - but I was worried my friends (who I play Pathfinder with) wouldn't be as interested in it because they're not into complexity like I am. Finally got into it when I learned that GURPS can actually be super simple, so I can save the complexity for my own characters and keep things simpler when I'm the GM.

[@chrisnormand]

That is Perfect!

[@zombietotseater3894]

I think I understand magic and psionics but would love to see you do reviews and example of how they work. (I don’t know, maybe I’m over thinking and just making it more difficult than it is)

[@chrisnormand]

Honestly, I've never used Psionics myself... but they are just "powers", which are just "advantages with enhancements and limitations". But that sounds like a good video idea, thank you. I will definitely being doing one on Magic... but it won't be a summary of all types of magic... instead it will be an introduction into how you can use magic, and decisions you will need to make as the GM. I don't have this written yet... so it is still a bit vague in my mind.

[@DanateDMC]

I appreciate this series. I wanted to run a post apocalyptic game which would have deadly combat which can be tactical and while I never tried GURPS before and I am not fully sure how complex I will be able to run, but hopefully with pathfinder knowledge I'll manage to not make it way to complex.

[@chrisnormand]

That is the beauty of GURPS. You can start out running rules light... and then add in more rules as you get comfortable with them. Take a look at the Combat video... you can start out small, and keep adding maneuvers into the mix to make it as gritty as you like.

[@carlwaldron2]

Great series of videos, thank you for putting these together! Regarding magic, which I am looking forward to: you mention really liking "magic as powers" and I am wondering if you are referring to a specific supplement or system?

[@chrisnormand]

No. Following Enraged Eggplant‘s description of the various magic systems (in his “only the parts you need, a GURPS podcast“), I understand 4 basic categories of magic. “Magic as skills “, which is the basic set and DFRPG magic. where spells are skills, that you must learn and roll against. “Magic as powers”, which you can find in thaumatology sorcery, or powers divine favor, where spells are advantages (“powers“). Ritual path magic, which is its own thing. And basically everything else. I prefer building my spells as advantages (“powers“). It does require more work but gives me maximum flexibility.

[@orionar2461]

@@chrisnormand magic a skills vs magic a powers read to me very much as are you a wiz or sorc thematically.

[@overthegame1396]

Could you make some videos introducing other GURPS experiences, like the steampunk one, or supers, fantasy and etc? its really hard to find someone on the internet talking about them, mainly about those who are not well known, like GURPS steampunk.

[@chrisnormand]

Those sound like GREAT ideas! And when I get the video-making machinery back into production, they will be on the list!

[@ExistentialPineapple]

Love your content Chris! A while back I picked up the GURPS cyberpunk manual and was fascinated by all the world building inside of it but uncertain of how it translated to gameplay. Now after going through your video series I'm blown away by just how incredible the GURPS system is! I cannot wait to gather a few friends together and give this a go. I used to play dungeons and dragons but always felt it was a bit too simplified, but this really brings some great thinking matter into play. Thanks for your time and effort in creating these videos and bringing new people into the community, I can't wait to see what else there is! :)

[@chrisnormand]

Wow, thank you for such a kind reply! I am so glad you find them useful. I’ve always wanted to help the GURPS community, and this opportunity just sort of fell into my lap.

[@ChaoticVampire]

The ppl around me only ever wanna play 5e and I've always heard GURPS is super complicated, but these videos really make wanna start a GURPS campaign :V

[@chrisnormand]

I know what you mean, when I try to explain to people that I play a role-playing game, I usually have to say “dungeons and dragons“ because that’s what they know. When I say “GURPS“, most people snigger, and the few in the know say something to the effect “wow, I heard that was a complex system“. And I would love to change that :-)

[@SuStel]

GURPS is pretty easy. Here's a program that I absolutely need to manage it for me.

[@chrisnormand]

The humor is not lost on me ;-) But I think my point stands, GURPS has a bad reputation for being too complex... and yes, when it came out and there were no utilities to do the math for you, I completely agree. Tory shows as much in her video... following all of the rules for character creation takes a long time. Unfortunately, that reputation continues to this day, and people turn away from GURPS before they can learn how to play it. With the advent of GCS (21 years ago), and the proper "introduction", people can easily get into GURPS to find out how wonderful of a system it really is. I can only say this... a majority of people that I know that have moved to GURPS say that they will never learn another rule system. Why would they, when they can run GURPS just about any way they want. But again YMMV, and if GURPS doesn't work for you, I thank you for giving it a try.

[@SuStel]

@@chrisnormand GURPS is my system of choice. I don't think the math is hard at all; it's just presented in an intimidating package. The way to reassure people that it's playable is to show that the math isn't hard, not to say that you need a computer program to do the math for you. I'm merely pointing out the connection that the curious will surely make in this video. I've seen Tory's video. It's her haphazard presentation that makes GURPS seem complicated, not the fact that she's doing the math.

[@chrisnormand]

@@SuStel I have played with people who have a hard time adding 2+3 quickly... seriously. And we have a lot of players tell us that they never used the Wounding Multipliers in combat because the "math was too hard". Now you and I can agree that the math isn't that hard... but it is the perception that matters. In the heat of combat, when your are trying to juggle the whims of your players and manage your NPCs, some people just don't want to have to do math... any math. I am not trying to say that GURPS math is hard, I am trying to say that with these tools, they don't have to worry about it. You might build all of your characters using pen and paper (and no calculator), but I don't. And years ago, I found this great free program that has a lot of the rules and relationships built in. So this is why I recommend a character creation tool when playing GURPS, and IMHO, GCS is the best. I have found that I can get more people interested in GURPS by showing them a tool that will help them play, than trying to convince them that their preconceived notions are wrong. And that is why I started these videos... I can't count the number of times I heard that "GURPS sounded cool... but I've heard bad things about it", or "GURPS is mega-crunchy, so only the diehards would like it", and that is just not true. Yes, GURPS can be fantastically complex, and we can enjoy the massive complexity... but it doesn't have to start that way. My group didn't. We started out just as I have been outlining... and we learned GURPS as we went. And no disrespect to Tory, but that seems indicative of a group that doesn't have a lot of experience with GURPS. The GURPS documentation stinks. They throw everything at the player, and hope they figure it out. If you don't have an experienced GURPS player in your group, you are left to fend for yourself... and Tory's video seems to be an example of that. I thought she did pretty well, considering the source material.

[@CatMunroe71]

I love GURPS. It allows me to play my non-magical psionic elf. D&D won't allow that. I have fun playing GURPS. I wish I could have played that character in D&D but they were so scared I would be so powerful I would take away everyone's fun. I don’t know how. The character is a precognative ESPer. How do you take away others fun with vague visions of possible futures?

[@chrisnormand]

There is comfort in knowing... and fear of the unknown. Some players like D&D because they know exactly what everything does. Personally, I love GURPS, because you are limited only by your imagination. Be each to their own. I just hope that as people want to branch out from the restrictions of D&D, they will find GURPS, and a whole new world will open up for them.

[@connerblank5069]

I want to see a campaign with an "unusually average accountant man", not gonna lie.

[@chrisnormand]

Ha! That would be something. "He can do math on the fly... and leap semi-tall stacks of paper to get to the coffee machine..."

[@connerblank5069]

@@chrisnormand Superhero setting, of course. Gotta be like, super high power, so on the team is Superman-lite, basically-the-flash guy, an aluminum man, and then... The Unusually Average Acountant. His power is being unusually average... In everything.

[@Desmaenor]

Simple question: Are you using homebrewed rules for Alcoholism or have I missed something (isn't it -15 or -20, and has no Self-Control roll??) I really don't mean to be mean or anything, I just don't know where you took this... Also, thanks for several tips I took from your videos. I hope you don't see me as an Rule Lawyer or something like that, I just don't get where you took the version of alcoholism you describe). I would like to share my stuff with you. I've been working on my GURPS universe for over 25 years (yeah, I had to re-work everything from 3rd to 4th). Anyway, Thanks and keep up that amazing work!!!

[@chrisnormand]

Good catch! I mis-spoke. It wasn't a "control roll" per se... the disadvantage required that I roll vs the character's WILL (which was 12) to void partaking. It acted like a control roll (and I wrote it down as such), but officially, it wasn't designated with a control roll. Sorry for the confusion. I shall update the descriptions.

[@orionar2461]

It seems like it runs into similar issues a rolemaster. Fairly straightforward combat(albeit with alot of charts), but granular character creation requires someone to either be a veteran in the system or have used some form of premade stuff.

[@chrisnormand]

Very true. I only played Rolemaster once, a long long time ago, so my memory of it is vague. And yes, I think GURPS greatest strength is it greatest weakness. Character creation. It gives you so much power, and frightens away anyone new because it seems so daunting.

[@outsider8209]

Tbh, it seems GM complex more than complex. I only say complex cause if you don't have these videos than it can be a lot, I do like the form fitting nature of the "rules"

[@chrisnormand]

Yes, GURPS does require that the GM know a bit more than the players.... but that is basically true for any RPG. The nice thing with GURPS, is the GM doesn't have to know a "lot" more. And I too love the depth of character creation. I love making a complex character, with a unique story (not just a "level 1 half-elven ranger")

[@Luna-rc4tv]

I have the consept but I don't understand the shape shifting advantage that is vital for it.

[@chrisnormand]

For advantage specifics, I would either post a question on the Steve Jack Games forums (forums.sjgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13) or join the GURPS Discord (discord.GM/6xJBcYWyED) and ask there.

[@wildandwackywade]

Ok Can you use points for skills. Like adding points to the skills and making my character or npc since I like to game master, better or have a better training in something, or are points only for advantage or disadvantage. As well does this cross to edition to edition. I have both the fourth edition and the third edition.

[@chrisnormand]

Exactly, when the player gets more character points for completing an adventure or whatever, they can spend the points anyway the way they want. Which includes increasing their skills. As for the differences between the third and fourth editions, I have no idea. I’ve only ever use the fourth edition.

[@Wolf359inc]

Love this video series (only just discovered this). May I ask how your (unofficial) character generator differs from the (official) SJG character generator? Apart from yours being free, that is. Not trying to discredit your product here. I am genuinely curious as to what your product offers, that theirs does not. I have used several versions of SJG’s character generator, including the most recent. It works. It is not the most intuitive program, and it can be difficult to get all your ducks lined up in a row, but it works. Which is understandable, when you consider all the different genres the game encompasses, which give rise to some unique sets of skills, advantages, and disadvantages, subsets, etc. Changing tack, I have been playing GURPS since the release of Man-to-Man - in fact, I was one of the first people to play Man-to-Man in Australia, as I was one of a small group of people who signed up to play it at CanCon, on release, back in… 1985? 1986? I could check the publishing date in Orcslayer, but that would involve me getting out of my comfy chair as I write this so… I purchased (or was given? I think the cost for playing the sessions might have included the cost of the rulebook - I honestly don’t remember. Guess I forgot to pay the point for Eidetic Memory…) a copy of the book, and a copy of the first adventure, “Orcslayer”, which is what we played at the con. I was in my late teens then. But this was not my first RPG. A half-dozen years earlier, I discovered a pocket book game, called OGRE, which I thoroughly enjoyed. This led me to purchase other pocket book games, such as “Melee”, and “Wizard”. Then Death Test 1, 2, and 3, and a handful of other adventures. Then I discovered “Advanced Melee”, “Advanced Wizard”, “Into the Labyrinth”, and “Tollenkar’s Lair”, or, “The Fantasy Trip”, as the combined system was known. All of these were written by some bloke called Steve Jackson who, funnily enough, was not the same Steve Jackson who wrote the Fighting Fantasy books I enjoyed. I was living in Victoria at the time, as we relocated there for my father’s work. I had left my friends behind, and had trouble making new ones. So the preprogrammed adventures were a godsend for me. They kept me entertained, and I swear I memorised every page of every book. I even created errata for the system, where I could not reconcile several inconsistencies. I was devastated when I heard Microgames went under. I had all of these punched and stored in two ring binders. Sadly, they have been lost over time. Happily, I was able to purchase digital copies, in the recent TFT Kickstarter! So you can imagine how I felt when I discovered, half a decade later, when we had moved back to Canberra (to the same house, even, as my parents had rented it out, rather than sell it, but did not tell us kids) that Steve Jackson had reworked TFT, and was marketing it under a new name, calling it GURPS (because they never came up with a better name than this placeholder). Now, I had played Traveller, and D&D, and Star Frontiers, and a bunch of other games, but none of them were as good as TFT, to me. And MTM simply blew my teenaged mind. I still have my copy of “Orcslayer”, and was certain I still had my copy of “Man-to-Man”, but have not been able to find it - after so much time has passed, during which I have married, twice, and moved houses several times, I doubt it is still in my possession. I do have the digital copy, though. I also still have a large collection of books from every edition, both physical, and digital, from the early Conan solo adventures, through to GURPS: Spaceships digital files. I don’t really play GURPS anymore. I do have a regular group I play X-Wing with, but most of my other gaming is done solo, such as Gloomhaven and, more recently, Dungeon Universalis. Andy while it is possible to play GURPS solo, it is not the same as roleplaying with a group of friends. But I still go back to it, quite regularly, and create characters, and tinker with scenarios, etc, because it is such a good system. There was a lot of love put into this system by the designers, and a lot of research put into converting real world things into the game world. Like not only how much a sword would cost, but also how much it weighed, and how much damage it would do, converted into GURPS numbers. It is a detailed system, and it is realistic… if you want it to be. It can also be cinematic, or anime, or cartoonish, or… well, you get the point. It truly is a universal system, which can be as complex and intricate, or as basic, as the GM wants. I don’t know why I am writing all of this. The older I get the more I appreciate what has come before. And I appreciate the hell out of GURPS.

[@chrisnormand]

1st, great story. 2nd GCS isn’t my program… I just like it. It is easier to use than GCA (IMHO) and looks better. Personally I prefer the WYSIWYG aspect of the character sheet. As for handling GURPS, it can model a lot of GURPS, probably more than GCA4 could (since it is still being actively developed) and it is definitely more flexible (again IMHO). I haven’t used GCA5 yet, but since GCS does everything I need, and more, I have no incentive to try. But YMMV.

[@Leverquin]

where to find that douglas cole's video?

[@chrisnormand]

Douglas doesn’t have any videos. He runs Gaming Ballistic, and publishes articles and books.

[@DanMProductionsBois]

Anyone have a link to the character creator?

[@chrisnormand]

Do you mean GCS? gurpscharactersheet.com

[@DanMProductionsBois]

@@chrisnormand perfect ty

[@zuttoaragi8349]

I'm not sure why, I've tried all the stuff in the FAQ, but the GCS simply will not run for me.

[@chrisnormand]

You should ask on the GCS website or Discord. I know someone can help you.

[@zuttoaragi8349]

@@chrisnormand I got on the Discord after a couple days and got everything sorted out. The app works wonderful and how much I can customize the various pools and attributes is amazing.

[@chrisnormand]

@@zuttoaragi8349 fantastic!!!

[@zuttoaragi8349]

@@chrisnormand One of the things I'm finding I like most about GURPS is how malleable it is. I can add or remove almost any rule (to a point) and it still works.

[@Leverquin]

four magic systems? i know only for TWO :O

[@chrisnormand]

I was quoting Enraged Eggplant. In fact, there are an infinite number of magic systems, but I broadly categorized them as “Magic as Skills”, “Magic as Powers”, and “Others”. I plan to talk about them in a future video.

[@Leverquin]

@@chrisnormand nice. um who is Enraged Eggplant :D

[@chrisnormand]

@@Leverquin enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/

[@Buzzu78]

Excuse me, this is referred to the 4th edition right?

[@chrisnormand]

Yes. I’ve only been playing GURPS since the 4th edition, so that is all I know.

[@ryanbaillie11]

Hi, you mentioned a Discord?

[@chrisnormand]

Yes! Please join! discord.gg/ma6aRabuXg

[@TheRyujinLP]

That moment when you realize that *_you're_* the sadomasochistic weirdo for liking math; the pointier and crunchier the better heh >.> Guess that's what makes me a Crunchmeister.

[@chrisnormand]

Oh, I know. 🤓. You can ask my current GM. I twiddle for days trying to squeeze an extra point out of a spell that I am building. Which is one of the reasons I love GURPS (and GCS 😋)

[@abstractbybrian]

Am I the only one that’s getting a “60 Minute” vibe?

[@chrisnormand]

Lol.

[@Leverquin]

gurps is not hard gurps is sophisticated

[@chrisnormand]

Lol, so true.

[@Leverquin]

@@chrisnormand man good job on video. I really like this looking I'm camera type of video it's like you are here explain stuff

[@TheVexinator]

Yet.

[@chrisnormand]

Ha, you caught that, did you? GURPS Combat has a way of creeping up on you. When we first started, we only used a few of the rules... and like I explained, we slowly added more rules as we learned out them.

[@TheVexinator]

@@chrisnormand Agreed. I had a player who wanted to keep the rules simple while we were learning the system... very first combat he wants to do a called shot to the groin. There are sensible rules for most anything players want to do. It is certainly my favorite system. Thanks again for all your work, love it!

[@dane3038]

5cps

[@Insomnolant1335]

This crap is so stupid.

[@chrisnormand]

I am not certain I understand... what crap are you talking about? I will admit, I can be as full of crap as the next person. I don't claim to be crap-less ;-)

[@Insomnolant1335]

@@chrisnormand No, not you. Your explanation was fantastic, very clear and concise. You did a great job with the video. I was referring to GURPS itself. The mechanics being so needlessly clunky as to require an external character creation tool is a sign of incredibly bad design.

[@chrisnormand]

@@Insomnolant1335 I can agree that character creation is hard... and probably needlessly so. But if you look at it from another angle... they had a hard concept to engineer. How do you map the whole universe into a single game system? As clunky as it is, I think they did a pretty good job... IF you remember their target audience. They seemed to focus on hard core gamers. Number crunchers. They didn't put in a lot of narrative elements.. they left that up to the GM. And as such, their character creation is crunchy. Could it be better? Probably... but that is well beyond my skill set ;-)

[@Insomnolant1335]

@@chrisnormand I do not agree that GURPS is remotely realistic, and it is not trying to cover everything in the universe. Every single roleplaying game involves abstraction, by definition. The only question is how good a job each game does at that abstraction, both in terms of realistic results and ease of use. GURPS fails horribly at both. Trying to pretend that GURPS is realistic simply because its core resolution system has a bell curve and there are a lot of clunky, non-ergonomic mechanics is beyond goofy.

[@chrisnormand]

@@Insomnolant1335 ​​⁠ah. Ok. I appreciate your opinion. I would argue that GURPS does a better job of simulating reality than some other RPGs, but of course, YMMV. My main goal has always been to introduce GURPS to people who don’t know about it. If it isn’t a good fit for you or your group, then it isn’t.