|
Post by hoseirrob on Feb 28, 2012 9:26:21 GMT -8
I think this may be something that you guys can do in another con related ramp up podcast if it has any interest to you.
The Sunday of Orccon, CADave and I jumped into an Old West GURPS game. DMSam, Gina and Mook were already in the game and the GM was nice enough to give us spots.
The game was bad and almost the antithesis of what a Happy Jacks game represents. For me, one of the reasons that it started off poorly was ambiguity and confusion with the character sheet.
There were basic errors on the sheet like the use of vac suits and laser guns for an Old West game and a multitude of skills listed twice with different values. We all make mistakes, so not a big deal, but to a new GURPS player it took a few moments to sort things out. Additionally, my character had a Lawman Reputation +4, the Code of the Rangers and the disad of Shoots first ask questions later. It would be tough to marry the key aspects of those in one playstyle, but i was willing to take the challenge. For a con game where you don't know what kind of player you are going to get, i think that a major conflict in personality like this can be a bad move. There was also no explanation of what "Code of the Rangers" was. DMSam and i figured out some basic rules we would follow, but there was no direction from the guy running the game.
Considering this guy was a con rep for Steve Jackson Games, i was sorely disappointed. Overall the story was good, but the experience was lacking.
For a con game character sheet, there should be over explanation for Perks, Skills, Bonuses and Disadvantages. The trick is to do this in a way that doesn't stifle the players. Things that have a distinct Code or Moral Compass should be given a sentence of explanation. Anything to do with Reputations or outward facing bonuses should be explained how best to use it. Just an example and let the players run with it from there.
I don't think this would hamper experienced players and it would help people new to the system get into a comfort zone faster.
Just my thoughts.
|
|
|
Post by mook on Feb 28, 2012 9:53:22 GMT -8
Though I have to agree with almost all that, enthusiasm covers a multitude of sins for me, so I don't think I had quite as poor a time as you did (as there was enthusiasm aplenty). I do prefer order to chaos, though, so things like sci-fi skills on a Cowboy's character sheet make me die a little inside. (Unless, of course, it's a sci-fi Cowboy). I still had some fun, though, in both games with that GM. I agree with everything about how helpful explanations can be for players, and how much a clear character sheet can add ( I used this for my con games). Sorry you had such a drag!
|
|
|
Post by Stu Venable on Feb 28, 2012 10:16:25 GMT -8
It's funny you mention this, because I'm working on GURPS characters for future convention games, and I was thinking of ways to make the game more beginner-friendly.
GURPS character sheets contain information you don't need if you're not MAKING characters or ADVANCING characters -- namely character points and the associated calculations.
I think the sheet would be a lot cleaner with just your stats, skills, ads and disads.
Each player will be handed a packet: the first page will be the simplified character sheet. The next will be brief descriptions of the ads, disads and skills. And the last page(s) will be the full-blown character sheet for those who need it.
Since I hate doing things twice, I'm planning on turning these packets into PDFs and collecting them for future games.
At some point I'll contact Steve Jackson games about making the character sheet packets available on line to anyone running con games (I'd have to check w/ them as the packets would technically include rules for skills etc.)
You aren't the first person who mentioned having a bad GURPS experience at the last Con, and that hurts my dark, withered soul.
GURPS is NOT a difficult game to play. Chargen can be daunting, but for players at the con game, the game can be no more difficult than any other system.
|
|
|
Post by jazzisblues on Feb 28, 2012 11:30:53 GMT -8
It's funny you mention this, because I'm working on GURPS characters for future convention games, and I was thinking of ways to make the game more beginner-friendly. GURPS character sheets contain information you don't need if you're not MAKING characters or ADVANCING characters -- namely character points and the associated calculations. I think the sheet would be a lot cleaner with just your stats, skills, ads and disads. Each player will be handed a packet: the first page will be the simplified character sheet. The next will be brief descriptions of the ads, disads and skills. And the last page(s) will be the full-blown character sheet for those who need it. Since I hate doing things twice, I'm planning on turning these packets into PDFs and collecting them for future games. At some point I'll contact Steve Jackson games about making the character sheet packets available on line to anyone running con games (I'd have to check w/ them as the packets would technically include rules for skills etc.) You aren't the first person who mentioned having a bad GURPS experience at the last Con, and that hurts my dark, withered soul. GURPS is NOT a difficult game to play. Chargen can be daunting, but for players at the con game, the game can be no more difficult than any other system. That's an exceptional idea Stu and one I intend to steal (er use) I've since OrcCon become fairly disenchanted with the character sheets put out by the various character builders that I use (Hero Lab, Hero Designer and the GURPS character builder) and one of the things I'm going to be doing between now and GameX is devising much clearer and more informative ways of presenting character information to players. Cheers, JiB
|
|
clanhanna
Journeyman Douchebag
The Muffin
Posts: 221
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller, O.R.E, Mongoose Traveller
Currently Playing: Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, D&D 5e
Currently Running: Vampire: The Dark Ages
Favorite Species of Monkey: Peanut-buttery Rhesus
|
Post by clanhanna on Feb 28, 2012 11:39:46 GMT -8
I've been tooling around with customizing character sheets for both D&D (4e) and WOD for a while... I haven't come up with any one design yet that really works for me, but I'm getting closer. I have to say that the character sheets for HERO that Hero Lab spits out are terribly confusing, what with the stat values, roll-under numbers, and the point costs listed for each stat. I have had similar issues with the GURPS comp-generated sheets.
|
|
|
Post by mook on Feb 28, 2012 13:27:26 GMT -8
It's funny you mention this, because I'm working on GURPS characters for future convention games, and I was thinking of ways to make the game more beginner-friendly. GURPS character sheets contain information you don't need if you're not MAKING characters or ADVANCING characters -- namely character points and the associated calculations. I think the sheet would be a lot cleaner with just your stats, skills, ads and disads. Each player will be handed a packet: the first page will be the simplified character sheet. The next will be brief descriptions of the ads, disads and skills. And the last page(s) will be the full-blown character sheet for those who need it. The Jem game used a pretty similar format, and it worked great - though I noticed the majority of players seemed to prefer the full uber-Phoenix sheet to the simplified sheet whether they knew what they were looking at or not! I also put this sheet on the outside of my GM screen for player reference. You aren't the first person who mentioned having a bad GURPS experience at the last Con, and that hurts my dark, withered soul. GURPS is NOT a difficult game to play. Chargen can be daunting, but for players at the con game, the game can be no more difficult than any other system. /word
|
|
|
Post by hoseirrob on Feb 28, 2012 13:28:57 GMT -8
, so I don't think I had quite as poor a time as you did It was still a good time and fun game, but this guy committed a lot of GM sins with telling the players no and putting up ridiculous obstacles. I enjoyed playing with you, Gina, Hannah, Dave and Sam, but the weird scottish sniper dude and the guy that was a cross a dressing whore (?) kind of freaked me out. It isn't easy to freak me out.
|
|
tyler
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 226
|
Post by tyler on Mar 3, 2012 18:42:45 GMT -8
The only "Code of the Rangers" I know of comes from Deadlands: "Shoot it or recruit it."
|
|