Re: (TFT) Why not GURPS?

[Peter von Kleinsmid <pvk@oz.net>]

At 10:57 PM 9/11/03 -0400, ErolB1@aol.com wrote:
> ...
> >> Worse, the GURPS "prerequisite" system is
> >> horribly inflexible, making it hard to modify the standard magic system.
> >
> > It is a huge spell base to work with, and can be pretty overwhelming. When
> > I've used it in campaign games, I usually say most of the spells are
> > unknown and only include a few per region or group. I
>
> So what happens when an "unknown" spell is an official prerequisite for one
> of the known spells? What happens to spells that have a prerequisite of "10
> spells in the Foo college" if only 5 spells in that college are known? What
> happens if you want to unwind the "spell college" system altogether? IME the
> prerequisite system makes the spell list *hard to prune* in the manner you 
> describe.
> ...

I look at the prereqs of the spells I want some game-world group to have, and
then adjust them if necessary, so that that group can learn them, with the
level of difficulty I want them to have. Since my purpose is to have a group
that knows a limited set of spells, it's not a whole lot of work. I find that
the element which takes the most thought is considering if the abilities need
to be spelled out clearer or limited somehow to avoid creative abuse. Many of
the GURPS Magic spells tend to have a lot of potential for inventive uses which
the GM ought to make some effort to think of before the players do... ;-)


Thanks for the other explanations. I think I see where you're coming from.
I tend to be a grit/realism/detail-oriented player myself, and look at GURPS
as a kind of "Advanced TFT", but I agree there are some weak or grey areas
such as you mentioned. I certainly have my own set of house rules, but they
tend to add even more detail. One problem with being a grit/realism/detail-
oriented player is that I tend to eventually become dissatisfied with game
systems. <g>


PvK
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