Western Realm Atlas, Worldbuilding

I like converting campaign worlds to GURPS, but I often feel the original systems were just "made" for them. My current campaign is set in the Aquilae world, which is an extraordinary setting over on DriveThruRPG, which is a system-neutral setting where you can do anything you want. It's just maps, roads, towns, cities, kingdoms, ruins, and terrain, and you fill in the rest. For creative people who want to fill in "what goes where," this setting is a fantastic canvas. Those who want a fully developed setting will find this lacking. I love worldbuilding given a set of parameters, and having a setting where I can just "fill in what I am given" is endless enjoyment for me.

Aquilae is sort of like a "paint by numbers" campaign setting, where you are given a premade picture, paints, what color goes where, and you fill in all the rest. True artists will hate these, but they can be fun projects that are relaxing and low-key chill. It doesn't matter if it looks different than the picture, as skill varies and people may make other choices. Do you want to put in a fluffy cloud layer in the middle ground? That is your choice, go watch a few videos on how this is done, practice, and add that to your masterpiece. Want to blend colors and create a pretty shade of green (for color 45) with a hint of blue and purple? Go for it! The guidelines are here, but you can be infinitely creative within them. In the end, you will have something you made by hand, with your own personal touches.

Everyone can feel like a world builder, just like everyone can feel like an artist.

Yes, GURPS: Forgotten Realms is fun, and it plays very nicely, but a part of me will always see that as the AD&D world, before all the novels, that it was in our campaigns. The same with Dark Sun or Greyhawk, those will always be tied to one version of AD&D or another. GURPS versions of these are fun, but I feel at home in them with a decent first-edition game, such as Adventures Dark & Deep, or even Castles & Crusades.

Also, other settings that were designed to fit a theme are fun, such as the Conan-inspired Savage Thule, but if I am playing GURPS, I am playing GURPS Conan. Some of the "flavored" 5E settings are very well detailed and make fine GURPS settings, but given a choice, I will play GURPS: Vikings over a Viking-themed 5E setting. While these are fun, they are more "best of" and "tribute" settings when GURPS can give you the real thing.

And Harnworld is also a fantastic GURPS setting, one of the best. This is my dream GURPS setting for a serious, meaty, political game. It is not so much a "dungeon" setting as it is a "Game of Thrones" one. I could put dungeons on the map, but the world is far more interesting to explore and meet the people of. Everything you can ever want in a classic Middle Ages setting is here.

Something keeps me coming back to the very strange and almost quirky Aquilae setting, a system-neutral setting by design, that lets you fill in all the blanks. It is nothing more than a giant hex map of cities, roads, and optional GM's information on ruins and other secret places. You do with it what you want. Harnworld assumes "you read the books," where this setting "has nothing." 

That is a freedom I like, since there is no required reading (while fun), and if I want this city to be one thing, and that another, I can just have it. This kingdom in the middle can be the evil one, and the two on each side are good, but weaker. There are plots and motivations in my head. If I need NPCs or taverns, I have plenty of random charts. Maybe the evil king has a black dragon he rides and sends on missions. There are ruins and dungeons out there, and I get to make them myself.

It is much more of a sandbox canvas for my ideas than it is anything else. It gives me a map and names, and I do whatever I want with them. Another thing I like is that the world does not rely on a set of monsters being the villains; I can use whatever I like, the monsters from Dungeon Fantasy, some of the excellent GURPS bestiary conversions on the Internet, my B/X converted monsters, or any other monster I want. Also, there are no assumptions on fantasy races here; if I wanted this to be all human, I could have that. I can put the standard four here, or go all out with the modern mix.

Anything I want, I can have.

Just like GURPS.

Dungeon Fantasy

Dungeon Fantasy is such a complete and self-contained game. When you get into GURPS Character Assistant and have it set up correctly, you do not need to ignore any option, and no high-tech skills or gear are hanging out.

You are purely in the realm of fantasy with no distractions.

This is incredible in a game like GURPS, where you can have a billion things distracting you from dinosaurs to spaceships. You pull up a weapons list, and there are no laser pistols. You look through a skill list, and skills for repairing electronics won't distract you.

It is just fantasy and only fantasy.

I can port in advantages and other things I need from outside the game, like if I want a character to have enemies or a set of wings. Everything is mostly the same; this is a focused subset of the main GURPS rules. The downside is those advantages I like to use are not in the game, so the types of fantasy I can simulate with this set default to the dungeon-crawling genre. I appreciate the game's focus, but sometimes I want to break free and do anything I can imagine.

The game also designs ready-to-go characters excellently. The guidelines and the guided character choices you are given in Gurps Character Assistant are excellent. I tried creating the same character in GURPS + GURPS Fantasy, and the templates in Dungeon Fantasy are far better. You are guaranteed the skills and abilities necessary to play your "class" and role in the party. With basic GURPS, I found myself referring back to the Dungeon Fantasy character to ensure I had everything I needed.

The 250-point characters are a lot for new characters to handle; you have quite a few abilities and spells at your disposal. I like the "Delvers to Grow" books from Gaming Ballistic that let you start as 63 or 125-point characters, but I see why 250-points were chosen for Dungeon Fantasy.

The combat in GURPS is deadly, and if you throw characters into nonstop dungeon combat encounters, you want that first experience to be kicking down doors and taking names. Yes, these characters are powerful, and designing challenges for them is more complicated, but knowing how brutal GURPS can be, I feel the higher power level is justifiable.

Also, 250 points is an excellent place to start for solo or duo play. 125-point characters feel easier to balance for a party of four. But this is GURPS; you could start at 50 to 500 points and begin the game with the experience you want. Learning the game feels easier at lower point levels since there is less to consider and juggle, but once you are experienced with the system, knock yourself out, start with 500-point epic characters, and fight dragons on the first night.

Why play this over Pathfinder 2E or an OSR game? For me, the realistic and brutal combat is spot-on and allows plenty of tactical choices and maneuver options based on weapon type and fighting style. Shields matter, and weapon selection matters. Fighting stance, readied weapons, strength, and movement speed matter. Most of all, decisions matter, and having skill and luck can make all the difference in the world.

You do not need a room full of a dozen goblins to have challenging combat; just three or four skilled goblin fighters will make for an epic and tense battle where serious consequences may come from a few unlucky rolls or clever tactical decisions.

Also, while Pathfinder 2E allows incredible character customization, nothing comes close to GURPS and the complete freedom you have in building the character of your dreams - especially if you start pulling in the options from the main GURPS rulebooks and make incredibly unique and fun characters with a wide variety of powers and abilities.

Plus, characters from other worlds and settings can play alongside. Want a retro-future robot and an ally or enemy? It works; no robot rules are needed outside the main GURPS game (and possibly a setting book that adds options and flavor).

Dungeon Fantasy is a great set to pick up, a perfect stand-alone and 100% focused version of GURPS that delivers the classic dungeon-crawling experience through the lens of GURPS.