Dungeon Fantasy Boxed Set announced!
Steve Jackson Games has made a major announcement about the Dungeon Fantasy product line.
They will be launching a Kickstarter (tomorrow! September 1) to fund the development of a five-volume boxed set with extra pieces and revised content. Lots of support in the box to help new players get into the game, too.
One of the most intriguing things to me about the cover art? Powered by GURPS.
I always thought PbG was a great idea. I still do. That they’ve brought it back (PbG was a thing for the 3e WW2 sub-line, and a few other projects) gives me some hope for other ideas I have as well.
There’s more to this post than a repeat of other news, though. I will be conducting a written interview with Phil Reed on this topic, and welcoming Sean back to the Firing Squad (my video interview section) next Wednesday to discuss the content of the game in detail.
So watch this space! Exciting things are afoot for GURPS. Two hardbacks and a boxed set in one year. Oh, and I’ll say it anyway, because it needs to be said
If you have observed, stated, complained, or otherwise noted that you do wish support for GURPS would increase, you need too back this Kickstarter. This is almost certainly the weather balloon that SJG is sending up to see which way the winds are blowing. And with all the extras in the box, with the five-volume treatment, and Sean spending a LOT of time doing far more than simply compiling already-issued content, the production values will be there.
So back it, review it, play it, share it with your friends. Don’t let it languish or flop. Success breeds future product. Want a GURPS Action boxed set? Steampunk? Monster Hunters? Space Marines/Bug Hunt? Great. Fantasy games are about 20x the market of all other genres combined, in dollar terms. So if you want those others, support this one.
never played gurps. dont know anyone that plays it now. how is gurps different/better/worse than d20, fate, or any of the other mainstream rpg rule sets?
Let me answer that in two ways: first, the detailed way. I wrote a long comparative series about combat in GURPS, D&D, Fate, Night's Black Agents, and Savage Worlds. http://gamingballistic.blogspot.com/search/label/Violent%20Resolution
The short version: GURPS is a point-based classless system that uses a generic ruleset to support nearly any style of play. It features a common resolution mechanic (3d6 roll under for most tasks, damage rolls, reaction rolls) and can be approached with as detail-oriented or broad-brush perspective as the GM and player would like.
It tends to be very, very strong at games that are based on plausible or more-realistic assumptions (such as fantasy games where getting stuck through the gut with a sword is rather bad for you, or modern games where getting shot a time or two is also rather bad for you).
It is also very strong at play styles favoring tactical resolution at a fine scale.
This doesn't mean it can't do other things. GURPS Action (http://gamingballistic.blogspot.com/2016/04/gurps-action-series-review-index.html) in particular is spectacular for pushing GURPS to "roll and shout and cinematic feats of awesome" style play.
One of the issues with GURPS can be that a lot of the work is front-loaded. You can spend a bunch of time on character generation, where in D&D5e or WEG Star Wars you can just pick race, class, roll stats and go (or for Star Wars, pick the template and allocate dice and go). It can go wrong if you try and use every rule and every sourcebook, and every awesome Pyramid Magazine article dealing with your favoite subject, especially if you do that without honest discussion between you and your GM.
After that though, it plays fast. I've played games at 100 points and 1,500 points (competent in one or two areas to superheroes) and had equal fun, and there's no time spent learning a new system.
This is a project I'll be backing, and I already own all of the component parts.
That is some neat stuff! I'm not the least bit "in the know" about these things, but I'll admit this is kind of what I suspected was on the way…