Back to the main page

Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Jason Spadaro)
Subject: Why Shadowrun and GURPS?
Date: Wed Aug 1 18:00:01 2001
I don't know, maybe I came in a litlle late on this. Why would you
want to convert Shadowrun to GURPS? I'm sure you've got your reasons,
but I looked at GURPS lite and wasn't to impressed. I've played a LOT
of RPG's (5 to be exact) and am tied between Shadowrun and Call of
Cthulhu for the coolest. I don't know, GURPS is what it is, generic,
and I like a little more flavor to my games. Regardless, I'd like to
see some of the conversion info anyhow :).

BTW, thanx Gurth for checking me. I knew that he still needed to heal
moderate wounds, etc., but I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing
before I ,made him fork over his nuyen. As it is my brother's street
shaman's still going to have to get a loan from some one :).

-Cthulhupunk
Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Robert Manning)
Subject: Why Shadowrun and GURPS?
Date: Wed Aug 1 19:40:00 2001
At 06:12 PM 8/1/01, you wrote:
> I don't know, maybe I came in a litlle late on this. Why would you
>want to convert Shadowrun to GURPS? I'm sure you've got your reasons,
>but I looked at GURPS lite and wasn't to impressed. I've played a LOT
>of RPG's (5 to be exact) and am tied between Shadowrun and Call of
>Cthulhu for the coolest. I don't know, GURPS is what it is, generic,
>and I like a little more flavor to my games. Regardless, I'd like to
>see some of the conversion info anyhow :).
>
>BTW, thanx Gurth for checking me. I knew that he still needed to heal
>moderate wounds, etc., but I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing
>before I ,made him fork over his nuyen. As it is my brother's street
>shaman's still going to have to get a loan from some one :).
>
>-Cthulhupunk


Well, I guess it won't hurt to pitch in my two cents. I'm just
learning GURPS now, as around my 13th RPG or so. Shadowrun has long been
my favorite, for many reasons, but I can see the appeal of GURPS from a
rules standpoint. As far as setting and flavor, that's all up to the
players and GM. Admittedly, my GURPS experience is limited. I've read
most of the main book, and don't yet have the compendiums. They're in the
mail. :) From what I've seen so far though, it seems like a very well put
together system for both creating characters and resolving
actions. Personally, I wouldn't bother converting SR to GURPS because I'm
completely satisfied with the SR system, but I can see the reasons a GURPS
fan would want to incorporate SR into their favorite system. OK, I'm done now.

archangel@*********.com

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12 (Decipher at http://www.geekcode.com/ )
GU d- s+: a22? C++ UL P L+ E(----) W+ N++ o? K? w(---) O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+
PGP? t-- 5 X+ R+ tv b++(+++) DI++++ D++ G e h(--) !r y-
-----END GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (C J Tipton)
Subject: Why Shadowrun and GURPS?
Date: Thu Aug 2 03:25:05 2001
On Wed, 01 Aug 2001 18:12:09 -0400 Jason Spadaro
<cthulhupunk@********.att.net> writes:
> I don't know, maybe I came in a little late on this. Why would
> you
> want to convert Shadowrun to GURPS?

Actually, there were dozens of reasons:
1. I've played the SR system since its first edition, not because I like
the rules, but because it makes a great setting and the rules are simple
enough for almost any player to understand.
2.I'm running a GURPS fantasy campaign, and a few of my players wanted to
play something modern or sci-fi on alternate weekends. Some of my players
have trouble keeping a second set of rules straight, so keeping
GURPS as the primary system seemed logical. I was daunted by the task of
converting to Shadowrun specifically, but the conversion is a breeze with
the appropriate books and a level of familiarity with both systems.
3.GURPS tends to have a very unforgiving combat system. I prefer that to
a system which will allow a character to escape a direct hit from a
grenade launcher with nothing more than a moderate wound.
(okay, so he was an orc.The grenade destroyed the car next to him, for
Pete sake!)
4.By creating GURPS characters to play a Shadowrun game, and having them
buy equipment from the Shadowrun supplements(well, some of the stuff,
anyway), and not revealing the exact details used in most of the
conversion, I can keep the players in the dark about the exact
specifications of any creature or item they encounter. Want to know how
well that new pistol from Colt stacks up against your Room sweeper? All
you gotta do is buy one and take it to the range. Want to know if you can
take a wendigo in a fist fight? Go get him you big tough phys ad, you(I'm
not going to clean that up!).
4.Finally, I've played dozens of role playing games over almost sixteen
years of near constant gaming.
System wise, GURPS pretty much has my buck. It's comprehensive, well
researched, and well supported.
'Course,IMHO, it's comprehensive and well researched BECAUSE it is well
supported, which is not something I can say for a certain former red
headed stepchild of the FASA corporation.

Then again, I'm also fond of the d6 system, aka what rules?...(no, I
don't mean d20...bloody Vikings!:-))

Cowboy(needs a drink)
CJ
Arkades@****.com
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Gurth)
Subject: Why Shadowrun and GURPS?
Date: Thu Aug 2 05:00:05 2001
According to Jason Spadaro, on Thu, 02 Aug 2001 the word on the street
was...

> I don't know, maybe I came in a litlle late on this. Why would you
> want to convert Shadowrun to GURPS? I'm sure you've got your reasons,
> but I looked at GURPS lite and wasn't to impressed. I've played a LOT
> of RPG's (5 to be exact)

That's not a LOT :) I wouldn't consider myself to have an extensive
collection of RPGs, but *counts* own the basic rules, and often a bunch of
sourcebooks, of about 30...

> I don't know, GURPS is what it is, generic,

That would be because the G in GURPS stands for "Generic" :)

> BTW, thanx Gurth for checking me. I knew that he still needed to heal
> moderate wounds, etc.

Some people, on reading the healing rules, don't realize that, so I thought
I'd mention it.

> but I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing
> before I ,made him fork over his nuyen. As it is my brother's street
> shaman's still going to have to get a loan from some one :).

Does he have a SIN? If not, you can let him get into all sorts of trouble
with loan sharks :)

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Tot straks en poppelepee maar weer.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d-(dpu) s:- !a>? C+@ UL P L++ E W-(++) N o? K w+(--) O V?
PS+ PE(-)(+) Y PGP- t@ 5++ X(+) R+++(-)>$ tv+ b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 5
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Lars Wagner Hansen)
Subject: Why Shadowrun and GURPS?
Date: Thu Aug 2 17:55:14 2001
From: "Jason Spadaro" <cthulhupunk@********.att.net>
> I don't know, maybe I came in a litlle late on this. Why would you
> want to convert Shadowrun to GURPS?

Because the players already knows GURPS.

In my friends case it was because the GM couldn't get used to the SR rules, and
he was already running another GRUPS campaign.

> I'm sure you've got your reasons,
> but I looked at GURPS lite and wasn't to impressed.

Neithe was I. I even bought the rulebook (and Voodoo and Martial Arts), but
couldn't get used to the rules. I found that they tried to take everything into
account, but still failed. They tried to be 100% realistic, but still didn't
quite make it. I was just as happy with AD&D's 1 minute round (where one attack
roll dosn't mean one stab with your dagger, but rather several stabs, feints,
and parries), or SR's damage system or For Faerie, Queen and Country's magic
system, as I was with many of the rules in GURPS. So I gave up on GRUPS, sold
Voodoo and Martial Arts, but later bought GURPS Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk
Adventures, just for inspiration, and knowing the system help, but wasn't
required.

> I've played a LOT of RPG's (5 to be exact)

5 != a LOT. I've played some, read more, and stopped counting (and buying) a
long time ago.

> and am tied between Shadowrun and Call of
> Cthulhu for the coolest.

CoC is the coolest, and the one that you can explain to everybody in no time.
It's the one I alwasy use to introduce non-role-players to RPG's. SR I save
until they are hooked.

> I don't know, GURPS is what it is, generic,
> and I like a little more flavor to my games.

In GURPS you either need to buy some of the world books, or you need to do
everything yourself. You only have the bare bones of the rules.

> -Cthulhupunk

Which you unfortunately can't buy at the moment, but SJ has a new edition in
production (maybe one reason for playing GURPS, nah... just bring the horrors
back to SR).

Lars
--
Lars Wagner Hansen, Jagtvej 11, 4180 Sorø
l-hansen@*****.tele.dk http://home4.inet.tele.dk/l-hansen

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Why Shadowrun and GURPS?, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.