Thursday, September 13, 2012

Lead by Example

Maybe it's just me, but the one thing that I want to see in a set of game rules, to make them really come alive for me, and really make sense, is long-form examples. It's not enough to just give me a sentence or two of example - I want to see the whole scenario play out.

Runequest has used the sort of example system throughout it's existence, at least from 2nd edition, back when I was a youngster, through to the current sixth edition, and it really makes the game work for new players. You're not just given abstract ideas to work with, but real situations, battles to be fought, enemies to be evaded, traps to be sprung and the like, with examples of the math behind the rolls, the results of those rolls, and the way that the game plays out because of it.

GURPS occasionally has these sort of long form examples, but not nearly often enough for my taste. Yes, you can find some details of a few fights in the combat rule section of the Campaigns book, but not with enough detail to really help to internalize the whys and wherefores of the decision-making process for the players.

You can find examples online, if you look, but they are limited to merely mechanics as well. The Mook is my go-to site for new players who want to understand what the combat rules can look like in play, for example, but even there it's very generic, very simplistic, and not terribly useful to a new GM looking for how the game can not just work out mechanically, but can really model fast and furious combat that feels realistic and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

So, I've decided to start putting together examples of combat as they play out, with scenarios that make sense in a larger context. Some I'll steal from other games and play out using GURPS rules (hello, Runequest - can I borrow those ideas?) and others will come from my own fevered imagination.

Anyway, look for those in the next few days, here, post by post.

1 comment:

  1. GURPS Fanatic,

    I have been play RPGs since 1981 myself (cut my teeth on AD&D and Star Frontiers), and am a newcomer to GURPS. I look forward to seeing some combat examples and may attempt to submit a few of my own.

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