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[PTTG??]

So GURPS.

Besides having a truly wonderful name, what does B12 think of it?

[nenjin]

Never been a fan, personally. It was fun to play a game or two where you're like "I'm gonna make Tetsuo!" or something. But I prefer rules systems that are tailored to a goal that's more specific than "be everything to anything."

[Grakelin]

I thought I was going to like it, because I'd always wanted a generic RPG (this was back when I was 14 or so and still really getting into RPGs that weren't D&D). My biggest issue was that the books were too complicated, but then when you had the characters made and were doing things, it was almost too simple. It also didn't really hold my interest, since the system itself wasn't exactly exciting or innovative (which is understandable, since it is an older game - but it's been many generations now, and they could have improved on it).

For generic roleplaying, Savage Worlds won for me. SW might not be everybody's cup of tea, since it's geared towards action and combat, though I used it to play an espionage themed game (Agents of Oblivion was, sadly, not that great a help in that regard). When I'm doign modern settings, I'll either do WoD or SW, depending on what I want the tone to be.

What I do like about GURPS is all the setting books. I read the hell out of those alternate universe sourcebooks.

Conversely, I never understood why I would want to play GURPS Traveller.

[PTTG??]

Fair enough. I myself would describe it as the Linux of RPGs. It's really powerful and flexible, but sometimes it's only slightly easier to use than building something from scratch.

Whereas D&D is Windows. It's always been around, it was built by an original geek cult hero, it does what you expect it to do, and every other version is terrible.

Right now I'm running a D&D 3.5 game, and as much as I like it, there's a lot of elements from GURPS that I'd like to use. Disadvantages alone are fascinating, and I think skills for weapons (as opposed to feats) adds a needed granularity to combat.

[freeformschooler]

I really dislike having to look things up from the books a lot. Admittedly, the same can happen in D&D, but when the GM is the only one with a copy of the books and the players are always wanting to try a new spell or combat maneuver (this happened a lot when I was running games) it can get maddening. That's the main reason it seems so slow to me - in a system like MD20 or FATE, the rules are just simple enough to where you can "know" how to build and roll for each scenario or action by heart.

[Lord Dullard]

I've only seen it in use once, on a MUD I was briefly on a long while back. I wasn't particularly impressed, but that was probably more the result of the admin running the game being a complete asshat than because of GURPS.

[Grakelin]

I think if we're discussing the merits of GURPS vs. D&D, we're not actually looking with a critical eye. Almost every grognard on the planet can rattle off a list of games they think are superior to D&D. I wish I could say GURPS pioneered Disadvantages and weapon skills, as well, but that's untrue.

I would argue that GURPS isn't the Linux of RPGs, either. I don't think the OS analogy actually works in an industry with dozens of successful RPG systems, unless we were using server OSes. Even then, GURPS doesn't have the massive marketshare that UNIX has.

A game with a system somewhat similar to GURPS is the Song of Ice and Fire RPG (2008, I think). There's an example of taking that d6 concept and turning it into something cool and interesting to play.

[GlyphGryph]

Not a fan. It was a ... decent general purpose RPG, but I found a large number of non-general-purpose rpgs serve the role of general purpose rpg far more easily (BESM, Godlike and the above mentioned Savage World both work well enough!) and with far more enjoyable results.

That said, I find mechanics that are custom built to enhance and reinforce the theme are almost always superior to a general-purpose system. The mechanics can do a lot to make a world more real, more interesting.

the primary advantage of gurps is that it is significantly better than d20 Modern.

[talysman]

My personal RPG history is D&D to The Fantasy Trip to GURPS, with a couple sidetrips, then back to D&D (original version.) I ran a lot of GURPS and had about a hundred world books. Still probably have 50 to 75 in storage.

TFT and later GURPS appealed to me because of the lure of creating a wider variety of characters, and the simplicity of doing this in a skill/talent/advantage framework versus the proliferation of annoying classes in late 1st edition AD&D. It took a while for me to decide that the simpler way (and the way more appealing to me) was to go back to the D&D I started with and create character variety with ability substitution ("You want to be a beastmaster? You're a cleric, but with command beasts instead of turn undead, and all your spells must be altered to include the word 'animal'.") Ironically, there's an explicit example of this in a GURPS sidebar about monsters. It took intense knowledge of GURPS to teach me that I didn't need GURPS.

[penguinofhonor]

I played a DF themed version way back when the Bay 12 IRC was around. It was pretty fun. I do really like the 3d6 system, but we jury-rigged and simplified a good deal of stuff if I remember correctly, as well as hardly ever getting into combat. I also like the character creation system with a few minor bonus points for giving your character minor flaws and quirks.

Mulch Diggums was there, though I'm not sure if he frequents the forums anymore. I don't remember who else played besides him.

I played a megalomaniac kobold first, and almost killed the party. One of the dwarves immediately went into a fell mood and killed him, turning him into a kobold leather still. I then played the equivalent of a troll paladin and managed to feed the entire party human meat. I stopped playing after but I'm not sure why. It might have ended.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I don't play tabletop games, but I love GURPS's settings. Reign of Steel especially. (Transhuman Space and Infinite Worlds are good too.)

[freeformschooler]

I like the settings, too. In particular, I like the detail in GURPS Infinite Worlds (which is I guess its "default setting"). I haven't run a game in that setting yet, though.

[Eagleon]

I love GURPS, but ironically I've never played it. I just collected the 2nd ed books when I was younger from our used bookstore and practically absorbed them for writing/game making inspiration. I doubt I'll ever have the patience to play an actual game of it.

[Aqizzar]

I'm a big fan of GURPS, even if I haven't actually played with it much.  It's not so much the "be anything" part that I like as the straightforward rules set.  You definitely have to keep a handle on your desired setting and the type and usefulness of abilities that function in it.

You can definitely break the shit out of it.  Best character I ever made was a guy with an Ally Group of chowderhead farmboys.  They won fights because GURPS Don't Give A Fuck about character power when you swing most weapons, and they were just decent enough at it.  Made combat long though.

[GlyphGryph]

greatorder, there are regular games in signups down in forum games. A bit easier if you aren't looking for D&D in particular, but there's generally a good bit of D&D.