I just love this game. It gets unfairly dumped on, but I do not care. It is easier than mid and high-level Pathfinder 1e since the complexity of the rules at the low level is the same at the highest. The complexity curve is flat. The options are the same. You don't have all these special case "exceptions" being thrown by actions in combat, where if X happens, then Y happens, and then Z!
Attack options are about the extent of complexity here.
And if all you are doing is rolling 3d6 against a skill level, rolling damage, subtracting DR, and lowering hits to zero - you are playing GURPS.
The core mechanic is it all of the rules are optional.
The game improves as you learn and play, but "playing the full game" is that simple core 3d6 mechanic. You pick and choose the rules you want to play with. No other games do that as well as GURPS since the entire game is a "game design toolkit."
Compared to Pathfinder 2E? GURPS is easier since the mechanics are unified, and you are not worried about special case conditions and tags. I love Pathfinder 2E, but the tags - while spelling things out clearly - can get cumbersome and require reference on what they do and how they interact.
Compared to 5E? It is just as easy to play, roll dice, and compare the total to a number. Character design is complex but infinitely more rewarding than anything 5E, or its 3rd party expansions can dream up. GURPS character design alone is a game in itself, just as fun and way more expressive, and provides options you can only dream of as a 5E player.
And if you can build multiclass-optimized killing machines in 5E, you will be right at home here - and find more to love. No classes mean you are not waiting for Wizards to drop the next power-creep book; you get all the expansions and options in the base game. Nobody is telling you what you can and cannot have and what you can and can't do.
Want a rogue with magic? Build it with character points. Want your Dragonborn to start with wings, a breath weapon, and tough scales that act as armor? Buy them! Want to play a monster? Design it, buy a few of your monster powers, and buy more as you gain experience.
Worried about having to convert things in? Don't! The game has plenty of everything, and you do not need to design NPCs and enemies with the system used to design characters. Pick stats, skills, attacks, defenses, and hits that work and seem right. You could get away with using B/X hit points as your hits range and be fine.
Red dragon? About 45 hit points (10 HD x average of a d8, 4.5), and give it excellent plate mail armor (DR 8), a flame breath (like a flamethrower), claws that do greatsword damage, and figure strength from its weight. Let's say our dragon weighs 2 tons (4000 pounds) and can lift its own weight, like pulling itself up a cliff. Lift is ST^2, so take 2 tons (4000 pounds) square root to find ST, or 63. Every other ability score is on a human range, so that is easy. If you want to avoid doing the math, find a similar-sized animal in the Basic Set Campaigns book and use those ability scores (elephant is 45 ST, a grizzly bear is ST 20). Immune to fire damage if you want to get fancy.
Using the above guidelines, you can have any B/X monster converted in seconds. The closer to a human it is (like an orc), the easier it is, and just use B/X hp = HT and guess the rest (half the hp for 5E monsters). Skills? Pick them, and higher levels are better. You could even do a skill level of 10+B/X hit dice for primary abilities and be done with it. That 10 HD red dragon? 20- for his melee and breath attack skills, adjust up or down depending on how much battle this dragon has seen. If he is a lazy dragon, lower that skill to a 14- and be done with it.
Whatever feels right is right, and no two monsters are the same.
The game is not difficult.
Even the conversions, if you choose to do them, are fun and require you to use critical thinking and game design skills.
There is a complexity here that is endlessly rewarding once you master the system, and you will find it hard to go back to anything else once it all clicks in your head.
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