It Is Hard to Escape GURPS

And I mean this in a good way.

Among the new games I've tried, Kobold Press' Tales of the Valiant stands out as a solid replacement for 5E. It meets the 5E standards and brings in positive changes, streamlining the rules and offering a fresh take worth exploring. It's a game that will make you feel optimistic about the future of tabletop gaming.

Calling 5E a "game engine" is the proper terminology since it powers many games today and removes any company's assumption of ownership. ToV is a good game, built solid, runs like 5E should, and eliminates exploits and fixes broken rules. It is backward compatible. It is a "premium edition" of the game, far more affordable than the "AAAA game" 2024 version from Wizards. Going forward, it will be my 5E of choice for use with my third-party books.

But here's the rub.

I create characters in ToV, and my next thought is how much better they would be in GURPS. Stop it! You do not get to do this to me, GURPS! But the game does. I can tell far more compelling stories in GURPS or Dungeon Fantasy than in any other game. The combat is better, the skill choices are more meaningful, the character designs are top-notch, and every choice matters.

Advantages and disadvantages put "story hooks" into my character designs. 5E characters feel too detached and sterile when they start out. Again, the rules-light thing is coming into play here; I have to make things up and assume too much to do character backstory in 5E. In GURPS, I can spend or get points for my backstory choices.

I can start the game with enemies in GURPS.

That has to be part of "my backstory" in 5E, and there is no real reason to put your character at a disadvantage like that. Just be a generic "adventurer" and avoid trouble.

Yes, I make choices in ToV, and they offer plenty of different ways to customize characters. However, the choices feel like a few binary choices and have a very shallow depth of customization. I could create two fighters with different decisions, which would still feel the same. In GURPS, once I know how to build a pole-arm fighter, that will look much different than a sword and shield fighter, an archer, or a dual-weapon fighter.

Granted, ToV is a lighter-weight d20 game, and you have to "put more into it" to "get more out of it." All rules-light games are the same; they promise "fast fun for fewer rules" but become "more work for less fun." The number of assumptions and extra "creative input" I have to assume in a rules-light or d20 game just to have detailed characters is that "bridge too far" for many gamers. Going rules-light is too much work, especially when you abstract everything to the point where your brain gives up and ends up in a mush of vague concepts and assumptions.

Also, this is 5E—you are expected to pay money to get more character options. Some third-party creators do some great work, but the game's constant selling of things is a "feature" of 5E.

A game like GURPS?

The two core books provide 95% of the options you need. Every other book is mostly inspiration and suggestions.

Buy once, create for a lifetime.

I don't have any way to make a decent cartographer character in a 5E game. Sure, I can make "a custom skill," but that is it. Give them a "tool proficiency" in a "cartography kit." I can't specialize. I only have a single "history" skill against which to roll. GURPS can tell a far more in-depth story about a Middle Ages cartographer and their band of adventurers than any 5E game.

In 5E, my cartographer has to be a "wizard" or a "rogue" and be distracted by class powers and choices. Or I can "shop around" and find someone who made an "NPC class" for a cartographer, which is guaranteed to play sub-optimally around level five.

To an experienced player and game designer, the difference between 5E and GURPS is like the difference between crayons and notebook paper versus expensive artist paints, canvases, and brushes. The latter do take practice and dedication to use, but they are the only way to create a masterpiece.

ToV is still a good game; it is free from baggage and well-supported. I plan on playing it and reading the books. It just has the same issues 5E does when expressing the stories in my head.

In GURPS, I can have my pure "job class" character, where they specialize in one area, have a dozen supporting skills, and then pay some attention to combat and magic, if needed. If I can imagine a job, I can have a character. Where do I take them? Into a fighter? A wizard? A rogue? Or do I stick with the job and get better at that? Or do a few in a couple areas?

I can create more types of characters in GURPS than I can in 5E. The game does it with a smaller page count and total cost. I would need three shelves full of 3rd party 5E books to cover the flexibility that GURPS gives me in two books. And the price of 5E books keeps going up and up.

And the stories I can tell with my GURPS characters are better.

GURPS is a hard game to walk away from, especially once you gain fluency.