Games on the Coffee Table

FATE is on the coffee table. The GURPS books sit on the shelf beside it, and it's not a small shelf. On a weeknight, I play what I have in front of me.

I want something that starts when we sit down. FATE does that. You write a few things about the character, you write a few things about the scene, and you are already in the middle of a sentence. I have been looking at first-edition Cypher for the same spot on the coffee table. One number for the challenge, one pool to spend, and you can name the problem after you have already put dice on it. FATE still wants a skill written somewhere. Cypher pulls a difficulty number out of thin air, and it works.

GURPS will do a rules-light night. I have done it. Fifty points, a short list, and run with GURPS Lite. It is not the same night as opening FATE. Even when I swear I am keeping it small, I will open GCS and get lost in the weeds. I love doing this, so it is part of the play, but I get dragged into the detail-loop of balancing a load and armor profile, dropping the backpack for an extra point of Move, and suddenly I am designing down to the last point and pound.

That is usually when I put GURPS back and pick up the other book.

Some nights I don't want the detail, and just want the story and moment. Cypher does that well, while FATE has a quirky dice system that is the star of the show.

FATE is the four dice with plus and minus, and the new aspect you throw on a person, a room, or the whole evening. That loop is why I keep coming back: a fun night filled with laughs and silly stories. What it will not give me is grit or weight to make a compelling campaign.

Cypher is the one that will tell anything. Some of the best Road Warrior games I have run were first edition, and I never filled out a GURPS vehicle write-up or unfolded a quarter-inch Car Wars map. This motorcycle is a level 2 threat with a light weapon. That one is level 2 with a medium weapon that will starve. The van is level 4 and has guns.

The tension rises as pools run dry and the rests are eaten up. Then you notice the level 2 bike is the same number as a level 2 goblin, and the number does not care which one you meant. I start wanting a weight, a range, a real magazine. Cypher will carry a long arc better than almost anything I own. Starting it, or coming back after months away, can feel empty. Sometimes I love that single number; other times I stare blankly and wonder what I am doing.

Getting into the Cypher mindset, or getting back into the game, is not always easy. Wanting the grit and detail of a full simulation will also fight you.

GURPS can be a middle ground, but how I play is more on the simulation side. This is why I love the game. Playing a GURPS Fantasy game where every last arrow in that quiver matters, where you need to drop that backpack in a fight, and where your armor coverage matters. Am I wearing a helmet? Do I need to buy one? How can I survive this fight? Everything in GURPS gets personal, like a fight against a gnoll, and it stays out of the macro and aggregation and rolls in the dirt of the simulation. GURPS gives me the real experience: I want the little things to matter, and it stays out of a fantasy land of abstraction.

But to be honest, some days I just want the abstract, and wading through the details feels like too much after a long day. I pick games that don't fight GURPS, but instead give me quick moments of inspiration or fast, 30-minute thrill rides. They sort of belong together, and they don't. In my living room, they all get along well.