GURPS Furries (2021) Review

[@Painocus]

The furry, as more serious, usually sci-fi oriented, vs funny animals, as basically Looney Tunes or Roger Rabbit, is a very real distinction, just one that is also very dated. The former community grew out of desire in the latter's fan community to tell more serious and realistic stories, like Omaha or indeed Albedo itself. Then the former gradually consumed the latter. Really it only adds to the feeling that most of this was written decades ago, and then left unfinnished, until it was cobbled togheter with some other templates that may also have been on the same shelf.

[@iconmaster5326]

It really seems to be a time capsule into what "furry" was in the late 1980s, which is definitely strange for a book coming out in 2021. I'd get it if it was trying for a nostalgia thing, but it seems to be completely unironic? Of course, one could argue that GURPS is one big nostalgia thing for the late 1980s...

[@Painocus]

Feels to me like it might have been an unfinnished draft for a full book that had just been gathering dust for some decades, which they pulled out and cobbled togheter with some other originally unrelated templates after they started doing the shorter PDFs.

[@rommdan2716]

​@@Painocus Isn't GURPS writen by one guy?

[@Painocus]

@@rommdan2716 No? Even the basic set at this point has like 18 contributing authors. Edit: That was 3rd edition. 4th has even more, with 3 different listed main authors. If we include all the names in the credits, not just the actual authors, the list of names surpass one hundred.

[@goodboi6329]

Wait 2021?

[@TheJoukai]

Having not read it myself, a couple of things: I think having a wide variety of templates for really specific creatures like the Frog Prince or Cat Centaur is that they can be used as references and be extrapolated from to make your own templates or rules. Since GURPS is more of a tool kit than a predetermined set of rules, those examples, although weird, are useful. Like, the frog prince kiss advantage/disadvantage (dunno what it's classified as) is intersting because such a feature can be extrapolated into other features of a similar nature... at the very least it would put a character point cost to such a strange feature. and.. I think those creature names are fine. Most of them you can tell what they are, and seem to be named after mythology or taxonomy. Not everyone is going to be familiar with taxonomic names for animals, so a table is reasonable. Doesn't mean the names are bad... ...as an aside, fireball is an awful name for the fireball spell, because it's not actually a ball of fire... it's a little bead of light that detonates into an explosion at a destination. Fire Bolt and Flaming Sphere are closer to what one thinks of when they think "fireball", actually...

[@adamselene1374]

I mean, if you're looking for a spell with a name that really evokes what it is, you can't go wrong with "Melf's Acid Arrow". It's an arrow, made of acid, invented by Melf. No ambiguities here!

[@AH-uz3fx]

I feel wrong to have discovered your channel thru this video

[@gabriellavedier9650]

Not t be too pedantic, but you seem to have missed an assignment, a little. The distinction between Anthropomorphics and Funny Animals was a very real and very serious distinction... in the... late 80s fandom, on through the 90s. It's a passable term for what the then-current sci-fi called Uplift or Morph or Moreau fiction, where furries were the children of men and made in labs, as seen in something like the game "Inherit the Earth." Funny Animal was the distinctly more cartoonish and frivolous kind of Disney/Warnerish nonspecific anthro character. You did get serious, if short lived, distinctions between them, and people could do both. The artist Kjartan Arnorsson did both a funny, episodic sex romp comedy gang as funny animals, and the dark and gritty sexual superheroine The Mink as an anthropomorphic comic. Kjartan's character Savage Squirrel once had a comic short about what a funny animal was, basically a toon who should do squash and stretch and didn't need to adhere to basic physics, which would seem to be the distinction, and why the Anthropomorphics category mentioned sci-fi (that and because of Albedo; serious anthro works can also be in any genre, really, from Fantasy, both high and low from Ironclaw to Redwall, to Noir with Blacksad, to slice of life with Shanda the Panda, to action like Havoc, Inc)

[@timothymclean]

I believe the antro/funny animal distinction was also mentioned on TV Tropes. Like Wikipedia, TB Tropes is a good place to start your research, but definitely not the only source you should use if you're writing something more serious than a Tumblr post.

[@kuriboh635]

On the tiger centaur, the idea of a lion centaur is what the wemic is based on in dnd. Also the Sagittarius was originally a lion centaur too. It's not un heard of but it is not the norm that we think of so it fit into gurps perfectly. I personally have thought about making a zebra centaur based on the Zulu in our time as a tribe of nomadic warriors on a separate continent in my fantasy world set 100s of thousands of years in the future of our world

[@explosu]

You're thinking about this in a way that's oddly counter to what you're expecting when it totally fits if you do roll with that - the templates provided are ideas to show how the pieces provided can fit together. You don't need a whole lot of separate traits to make a fox furry or a rabbit furry, you make one a carnivore, maybe give it a bite attack, give the other enhanced hearing, done. Both live in the same climate, both are probably around the same height/weight in a typical furry setting. Probably could not be more different culturally but you don't _want_ a ton of dice rolls to build that out, you want your DM or your players to roleplay. But a DM that isn't sure they want to run a furry campaign and who bought this for a laugh might be inspired by one that shows it goes together fine in their imagined ultratech setting, dark fantasy, horror, or whatever else. There's just not much to add to the core rule set here - decades ago I made furries without this supplement telling me how in gurps 2e, hell, you made one in your original review of the core book. As an introduction to furry lit I think the example templates you quote are fine for expanding the horizons of non-furries to themes they might be interested in.

[@fostena]

That is a... supplement I don't own! Therefore I must buy it

[@CommissarMitch]

What I find really funny is that in the GURPS character creator, a Jackalope was made that would 100% be something this supplement could cover. Fantasy animals are a key component to furries. I would know; I am one.

[@Bionicneobeak]

I'd love to see more GURPS stuff

[@scorpeon555]

No one's gonna talk about the alien call girl painting in the top right corner?

[@Martin_Dimirag]

Some furry and similar review ideas: Ironclaw or Urban Jungle Usagi Yojimbo Furry Pirates

[@thatgeek8064]

Finally. An rpg for me Edit: after watching the review, nevermind.

[@devourlordasmodeus]

GURPS is kind of the opposite of a rules lite rpg it more elects to have a rule for absolutely everything you could possibly want to do.

[@visionaeon]

There's a free module called GURPS 4th Ed. Lite. It's an extremely simplified version of the Toolbox of rules and customisation GURPS offers. Check it out!

[@igorporfiirio4915]

9:26 this is like saying dnd should change the name Aarakocra to bird person, and Tabaxi to cat person

[@timothymclean]

I see where you're coming from, but D&D doesn't have a sidebar explaining the etymology of "aarakocra". Either you need to give your things names whose meaning is apparent, or you need confidence that the names will be fine if you don't explain them.

[@SuStel]

You're confusing "furry" cosplayers with what this book differently defines as "furry." This book covers characters that could come from Thundercats, Uplift, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Narnia, My Little Pony, and so on. It's not just one genre. You're only supposed to use the bits that you need for your particular campaign.

[@goblin-night]

Exactly right. The author specifically mentioned that the term "furry" is referring to the characters as opposed to the players and the cosplayers. I do still think that it would have been better to go with another term, though.

[@stardestroyer19]

The funniest thing is that gurps Furries is nowhere near a deranged of a rulebook as Gurps Biotech.

[@fatboy158]

How deranged does that book get? As a book intended to support anything imaginable it's probably pretty out there

[@TechnicalTactician]

​​@@fatboy158if upcasted high enough, the spell accelerate pregnancy can accelerate the growth of a developing baby by doubling it each level, so for 50 points birth only takes 2 weeks of time, there is also a spell that if used just right can allow a mage to steal an unborn child and have them develop within themselves. So using that statement you can have a roving band of wizards who get pregnant by taking pregnancy away from others(upcast to ignore gender requirements) it's pretty nuts. However it's hilarious.

[@igorporfiirio4915]

5:00 thats pretty normal for gurps books, I get why you think it's weird, but I never really thought sbout it, I just think its pretty normal since its generic and dont have a theme from a setting

[@Rindis8]

Bill Stoddard is actually a long-time furry, from more or less the first wave in the '80s and '90s. The definitions he gives are well within the normal mode of that time. And then he has to write for people who have presumably never heard the term, or only have the cringe 12-year-old definition. Between those two, he comes up with a good broad-based set of definitions that show just how wide the subject really is. Personally, I found the supplement fairly good, and concentrates on showing how to do something just enough to get you going, and then moves on. Part of the trouble is that I'm sure he's aware there's not going to be sequels to get into the more outre subjects he gets to, so if he doesn't present them here, they will never get a place to be presented.

[@xeltanni8999]

I don't know what I thought I would see down in the comments section of a video about furries, but I have been on the internet long enough that I should have known better. That's on me.

[@Parker8752]

So, I have to wonder if this was originally released as an april fools product and then just kept available for anyone who wanted it.

[@debbyclowner]

Thank god the KZbin algorithm recommended this to me immediately after it was uploaded

[@OSRaccon]

Furry + GURPs, interessing

[@shredderswipe]

If you're willing to do non-published systems I'd recommend checking out Super Mario RPG from 1d4chan

[@WulfCorbett]

Have you ever reviewed any of the editions of the Albedo RPG?

[@Martin_Dimirag]

He has, both 1st and 2nd editions

[@drewmarteny1495]

this is they way many gurps supplements feel to me

[@Kain59242]

OMG, I recognize where the writer probably got the cat "taurs" from.

[@gabriellavedier9650]

Bernard Doove. Met him at Comic-Con once. He actually gave me a Freddo frog.

[@hansbrackhaus8017]

It's how I would write it, myself, and I know what furries are. What, you want an explanation like "They dress up in mascot suits and shit into hotel ballpits" or something? Be content with your funny animals, catgirls, frogs and centaurs. It's not like a 'real furry' needed such a supplement in the first place. It's for the norms.

[@jasongretencord3326]

I can't believe that GURPS is still releasing books.

[@thekaxmax]

why? It's not dead.

[@ancapftw9113]

Great, now i can play Planet of the Apes.

[@michaelradzichovsky9366]

The sexual fetish group of furries tainted the word for those who just like the concept of anthropomorphic animals. There was great book called 'The Architect of Sleep' by Steven R. Boyett. It had an interesting concept and twist, but the main point was that he created a world and society based upon intelligent humanoid raccoons that evolved from lower raccoons; similar to the concept of ape to man evolution on our world. It was clearly meant to have a sequel, or perhaps a series, to follow it based upon the ending of the book. However, the author never published the sequel because he became so disgusted by the requests of furries for explicit sexual content from his stories and characters. I consider it a tragedy because the book was that good and set up nicely a framework for a great world and society to explore if he was unmolested by the fetish furries.

[@explosu]

Die mad about it? Literally nothing stopping you from publishing furry fiction fitting your puritanical bent other than being incapable of interacting with the real world where sex exists and people like content with it.

[@azmendozafamily]

This is actually one of the biggest complaints about GURPS, they try to get too much into one book(let). Furries would be great, and I personally enjoy using templates as general ideas to them customize the characters. Good review, thanks

[@igorporfiirio4915]

8:21 you are readsing a very specific module. If you just want furry races, there are those in dungeon fantasy or gurps fantasy, and probably in a dozen other books, you can make than wirh the base book, its not even hard, you did it pretty easily. This is not a generic book, this is gurps equivalent of a masters degree in furries.

[@igorporfiirio4915]

6:53 well, gurps says it's universal and works for it, its weird, but its om yhe assignment

[@deniltofreirejunior832]

Wait, that means you could make a Beastars campaing

[@zigmenthotep]

You could, but GURPS probably wouldn't be the best system for it, even with the furries book.

[@deniltofreirejunior832]

@@zigmenthotep FATE maybe ?

[@zeevdrifter2707]

Basically he's annoyed Gurps used literary furries instead of tge gross internet kind.

[@StrangeGamer859]

Honestly, this whole supplement just felt super weird and unnecessary. Compared to all the cool ideas in other GURPS books, its a real let down, and I have no idea why SJG felt was it was a good idea.

[@etexpatriate]

Of *course* there's a precise mechanical process for simulating the frog prince curse; how can anything exist unless its defined by numbers on the character sheet? Seriously, as I commented in response to your previous video, GURPS has a seemingly institutional inability to acknowledge tone, theme, or metaphor as meaningful elements of play. For years I read GURPS books on subjects like Conan, Swashbucklers, and Space, and rarely did they broach anything from a narrative perspective, it was all equipment lists and char-gen parameters (I'm particularly chuffed at the Conan book, which had no discussion of Sword & Sorcery as a genre but did have meaningless lists of imports and exports for each nation). I've argued that if there ever is a "GURPS Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (obscure reference, I know) it'll all be summary of Mexican politics in the 1920's, rules for mule-driving and prospecting, and stats for the lead characters with "Greed" and "Mistrust" as numerically rated disadvantages. GURPS is a game designed by people who think stories are just inventories of related events.

[@fostena]

I always approach a GURPS campaign story-first, and then use a small number of manuals as toolboxes. This works very well for me, and is very freeing. The beauty of the overall system, in my opinion, is that is mostly setting-agnostic. I can play whatever adventure I want, and I don't have to learn a different rule system every time I want to switch to a different story. Also, in my opinion, of all the "traditional RPG" I tried, GURPS is the most consistent, universal and solid. And the character creation is fun as hell, if you are into it. Personally I played medieval fantasy, western (both historical and horror/fantasy), Conan, sci-fi, horror, iron age, victorian (historical and fantasy), superhero, and I have never felt that the rules have failed me. Every character and every story were very much neatly supported by the rules, and we were never "held back" or limited by them. I agree that the mechanics of the game are not "narrative driven". The mechanics themselves do not "push" the players to roleplay, beside using the points in the character sheet. You can certainly approach GURPS as a videogame, and create an adventure that is only a series of fights, and it can get very tedious. This comes with the fact that it is, at the very core, a traditional RPG. Warhammer, D&D, World of Darkness, Rolemaster have all the same defect. It is not a GURPS specific problem. There are several narrative RPG that I very much enjoyed (FIASCO comes to mind), and GURPS is definitively not one of them. However, of all the traditional RPG I played, GURPS is the only one were the character creation is so well done that it actively supports the roleplay imho, but is a small contribution if you compare it to FIASCO or Primetime Adventures. The aesthetic of the manuals ranges from "mediocre" to "awful", so the GM and the players have to make an effort to find or conjure visuals in their mind. In my experience this is not impossible to achieve nowadays, but it is a disadvantage.

[@stardestroyer19]

Those rules are tools for you to make your own story. Gurps is insanely setting agnostic and can be a brilliant vehicle for a lot of types of narratives. It doesn't spell it out for you, but that's fine. Gurps hating usually comes down to "lots of rules bad" but a lot of them are optional. The sheer amount of tables and rules can be liberating once you have good knowledge of the system as it can allow you to very quickly resolve some specific issues without the GM having to think about a specific ruling that could end up biting them in the ass later on.

[@Kain59242]

Nice. lol