Bret Indrelee wrote:
Now that 4th edition has been out a while, I'm curious what people's
experiences are with it. My main GURPS group has broken up, so I haven't
had a chance to play in a 4th edition game myself.
So far I haven't had the chance to play a 4th edition game. All of my
own games have been based on 3rd edition, borrowing some good stuff
from 4th edition (like some new advantages and modifiers). For this
purpose, I did buy 4th edition Basic Set.
Did the changes to Strength and Health change the way that people
started building characters? Especially in science-fiction and modern
settings, it used to be extremely rare to see a high strength character
in 3rd edition. Even in fantasy settings, many of the fighters would
have a higher Dexterity than Strength.
Well, since my group was already using a houserule which made ST cost
+5 pts/lev and HT to cost +10 pts/lev well before the 4th edition
came out, this issue would not change much at all with 4th edition
for us.
While most of the 'normal human' scifi characters I've seen have had
average to moderate ST (9-13 or so), some character concepts like
combat cyborgs or androids, aliens like 'the predator' etc. do come
with a higher ST value. The highest ST attribute in one of our scifi
games was about 80 (characters had started out at 200 points, but
were closer to 500 points when that campaign closed).
Of course, high ST player characters tend to be more commonplace
in a high point game, where you have some extra points left over after
buying up some IQ and DX for the concepts basic skill base and such..
(Making a 'high-ST but low everything else' character is not
a particularly smart choice in most scifi games.)
I remember the discussions about how Essential Earth was an economy
destroyer in 4th edition. What other spells have people found to be
problematic?
Since most of the spells are copy-pasted from 3rd edition,
I would expect that much of the same 'problems' will apply. GM
has to be quite well prepared, determined and willing to ban some
spells entirely in order to create a fantasy setting he wants.
(Then again, I haven't been GMing any GURPS fantasy games in years,
it has been mostly modern, scifi and cyberpunk with no magic.)
Do you feel any need to rewrite large sections of material that were
based on 3rd edition? Other than point costs, I wouldn't expect there to
be much of a problem here.
Overall, what have you found to be the best improvements and the worst
problems in 4th edition as compared to 3rd edition?
I dislike the changed points-balance between 4th edition attributes,
advantages and skills. I very much prefer the way 3rd edition did
things in this regard. If I GM a 4th edition game in the future, I
will houserule the DX and IQ attribute point costs to 3rd edition
equivalents with ST costing +5 and HT +10 points per level.
PD is gone in 4th edition, this is very good. (Even in my 3rd edition
games, I've been using the 'FEND' houserule mechanic which eliminates
PD among other things.)
Also, I did not like the new 4e language rules, I am of the opinion that
3e Compendium 1 had a better solution for language skills.
However, the worst problem with 4th edition so far is that some of the
key supplements for a 'gearhead' detailed modern or scifi game (which
I like to run) have yet to come out - Vehicle Design is most
sorely missed, without this book I cannot even begin to convert my
huge collection of detailed GURPS Vehicles 3e/Space 3eR starship
designs or weaponry stats into 4e versions.. No, I am not going
to design my vehicles with character points.. ;)
If I were to switch to 4e in the near future, my game would by necessity
have many old rules, equipment stats and houserules carried over from
the 3rd edition. So far I am not convinced that an all-out conversion
into 4e would be worth the effort for me, instead I have been slowly
integrating some of the best/most liked 4e rules into my 3rd edition
games..
My advice here is that you don't have to restrict yourself into
just one version of GURPS when you want to put together the best
roleplaying game setting you can - With some skill and luck, you can
have the best of both worlds at once, so to speak.
-Pauli
--
"Our ship is made out of darkness, she mocks the laws of nature.
With cables, ropes, tackle and sails, she moves on the waves
of the void. On her decks a red crew, dark as if painted with
blood. From among the hooded cloaks of crimson, eyes of
silver gleam darkly.. Oldest of all is Hiram of Malta, the Red
Commander. He knows the secrets of Schwarzchild Radii, of Neutron
Stars and Cepheids. His hidden paths we follow, like ghosts from
space we strike deep, only to disappear again soon, sometimes even
the fear itself is afraid of us.."
-CMX, Punainen Komentaja
(Translated from the Finnish song 'Red Commander' by CMX)
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