Federation Commander Forum Index Federation Commander
A NEW fast paced board game of starship combat!
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

PD: GURPS, D20-Which is the best?

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Federation Commander Forum Index -> Prime Directive
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Andorian4ver678
Ensign


Joined: 14 Mar 2007
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:36 pm    Post subject: PD: GURPS, D20-Which is the best? Reply with quote

Question

I know the D20 corebook cuts out the ISC races.

I don't care about the rules.

I'm curious about the artwork. (corebook, Klingons, Romulans)

1- Which version is closest to the 1st edition (Task Force Games)

2- Which version is a great update to what has gone before?

Thanks :thumbs up:
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mjwest
Commodore


Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 4069
Location: Dallas, Texas

PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually, this touches on a question I am curious about.

What are the substatiative differences between versions of PD? Ignoring the underlying rules sets as much as possible, what are included in one set, but dropped from the other?

I wasn't aware there were any differences, until seeing two mentions that PD20 didn't have the ISC. Now I wonder what other differences there are. (Not enough, however, to actually buy PD20.)
_________________

Federation Commander Answer Guy
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Nerroth
Fleet Captain


Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 1744
Location: Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not only does GURPS PD let you play using the basic rules included in the book (D20 PD requires a separate book) there are no ISC races, no Seltorians, no Paravians, no Carnivons, no Jindarians, and no references to Andro robots.

(There might not be any Vudar either, but they will be in D20 Klingons anyway...)

I can't quite remember, but I'm not sure there are any Lyrans, Ranel, or Phelen either - or any Skoleans.


From a purely background perspective, I'd recommend GPD - for the same price, you get more.


Gary
_________________
FC Omega Discussion (v3)
FC LMC Discussion
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jpat
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 203
Location: Iowa City, IA

PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That does sort of raise the musical question of why ...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail AIM Address MSN Messenger
rkbrown1800
Ensign


Joined: 19 Mar 2007
Posts: 7
Location: S.L.C Ut, USA

PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Probably left stuff out for the same reason some of the profesional templates got left out of GPD when they updated to the fourth editon rules. Space and money. Increasing the page count means greater printing cost, so they have to leave stuff out or raise the books price.
Mind you I hope the stuff left out in GPD ends up in the upcoming Gurps Federation. For D20 it looks like they'll need a few more empire sourcebooks.

Edit:
Another reason to prefer GPD is that you can get the Gurps Character Assistant program and the GPD data files found at http://melange.no-ip.org/Submissions.html and character desing is a snap.


Last edited by rkbrown1800 on Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jpat
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 203
Location: Iowa City, IA

PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reasonable enough guess. I was just wondering what it was about the d20 version that required more space for other things. But being unfamiliar with GPD, such information probably wouldn't help me much. Sad

Part of the alleged advantage of d20 as a system is the ability to leave some of the rules infrastructure to other books like the Player's Handbook, so it'd be ironic that PD20 still required more room for the basics than the GPD version.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail AIM Address MSN Messenger
BlackFalcon
Ensign


Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2007 4:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Having played both systems, I'd say that "best" is a misnomer - depends on what you want. For me, d20 is great for highly cinematic (and less believable) styles of play whilst GURPS is for those who like either a more believable approach or more flexibility.

The main differences are fundemental to the systems: d20 is level-up, computer games style; GURPS is skill-based and more flexible.

If you play d20, then you can easily enjoy PD20 with minimal fuss. If you don't already play d20, however, I'd recommend GURPS.
_________________
Cheers
BF
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Niall1
Ensign


Joined: 16 Feb 2009
Posts: 4

PostPosted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's a really good explanation.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail AIM Address Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Federation Commander Forum Index -> Prime Directive All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group