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Looking for some input ( new roleplayer :D )

So, as the title says, I'm new to the world of roleplaying ( at least when it comes to pen and paper/dice roleplaying ). As such, a question to pose to everyone, which everyone has heard a million times.

What game should you choose to play?

The prospective games that we'd have avaliable are as follows:

All Flesh Must Be Eaten
D&D ( 3.5 and 4 )
GURPS 4th
In Nomine
Savage Worlds
Star Wars Saga Edition
nWoD ( all of its lines )

Now the catch. The game will be played by myself, fiancee, and maybe if we branch out, another 2 people MAX ), but for the most part, we'd like it to be more of a 1 on 1 roleplaying game, myself being DM and PC, her being solely PC. I've read a lot about people who've done it and how to make it work well, and we've done roleplaying ( play by post, with no dice, etc ) for many years, so we can easily handle it. The one thing that always wrecks my brain however, is what game to dive into?

So, thoughts? What'd be the easiest for us to learn? Most fun? Any other ideas? :D

Tags: 1 on 1, d&d, gurps, learning, nWoD, newbie, rules, star wars

10 Comments

Comment by Drohem 1 day ago: Well, you have quite a diverse list there. What type of genre are you looking to play? Are you looking for a universal system which can function well in several different genres? On your list, there are two systems which are considered universal, GURPS and Savage Worlds. Of those two, I would say that Savage Worlds is the quickest to pick up and play out of the gate. Although, the core system of GURPS is very easy as well, but with GURPS you can add on rules to tune of the detail to your tastes. Obviously, if you're going for more bang for your buck, then I would go with one of the universal systems.

Comment by Brian Doucet 1 day ago: Well as far as genre go, let me answer with another question: As GURPS and Savage Worlds are universal, how easy of a time would you say each would have with configuring them ( for lack of a better word that I cant think of at the moment -_- ) for the above settings? For a point of reference, say I wanted to play a Changeling The Lost game with either GURPS or Savage Worlds. Would it translate well? Have any issues in doing so?

Comment by Drohem 1 day ago: I have only read Savage Worlds and not played it yet. However, that being said there is a site called Savage Heroes that has a wealth of conversions to the Savage Worlds system. This demonstrates to me the flexibility of the system and its ability to emulate a variety of genres and game system well. I do have experience with GURPS and I can honestly say that it can do any of the systems/genres on your list well. GURPS is very well supported with supplements, and there is a wealth of fan made GURPS materials on the net that are quiet good, especially fan conversions of Star Wars.

Comment by Brian Doucet 1 day ago: Thanks for the info :) I guess I have only one final question left to narrow it down:

If you had to choose between GURPS and Savage Worlds, what would you go with?

From what I've heard/seed, GURPS has enough supplements between 3rd and 4th to keep you going even if you want to roleplay a garbage man on Pluto, but is also fairly stat/prep heavy. Savage Worlds seems to have less in the way of supplements ( as far as I know, maybe I'm wrong ), but I've heard it's also a lot less stat/prep heavy. If you had to go with one or the other, which way would ya go?

Comment by Chuck 1 day ago: Just jumping in here. Savage Worlds is a lot easier to play and run than Gurps as far as book keeping and GM prep goes. Don't get me wrong I really like both but for different styles of campaigns. Both games are supported well by the publishers and th fans. Both SJ Games and PEG have lite or test driver versions of they systems of their respective websites. So you can check the basic rules for free. Plus both have pretty active forums. Additionallly, Savage Worlds has had an explosive growth rate when it comes to licensed third party supplements.
Right now Savage Worlds is my preferred system. It's easy to tweak. Play is fast and easy to pick up for new players.

Comment by Drohem 1 day ago: "If you had to choose between GURPS and Savage Worlds, what would you go with?"

That is a seriously tough question. As Chuck pointed out, both are well supported by the companies online, both have a wealth of supplemental material to pick over, both have a healthy and active fan base, and forum presence. Honestly, if forced into answer right now, I would have to say GURPS because I am more familiar with it. I played and ran that system for close to ten years in the 90s. I have an extensive collection of 3e supplements plus the core books for the 4th edition.

The thing the about GURPS is that the dial is very sensitive, and you can really fine tune your games to your desired taste of either fast-n-furious play or heavily detailed play. At its core, GURPS is a roll under 3d6 system which can be played fast and on the fly. At the same time, you can really add sub-systems that dial up the complexity of play (just look at the 3e Vehicles book).

Another thing that I like and appreciate about GURPS is that all the supplements have come through Steve Jackson Games, or are cleared through the company. This allows the line to retain a sense of continuity that can sometimes be lost when a large amount of third party materials are produced for a particular game system. The glaring example would be the D20 System. However, I am definitely not saying that this has happened with the Savage Worlds system; although it can become a possibility.

But enough of me and my preferences, here are some links to help make an informed decision for yourself and your group:

Steven Jackson Games/GURPS
GURPS forum
3e GURPS Lite
4e GURPS Lite
GURPS reviews on RPG.net

Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Savage Worlds Test Drive v6
Savage Worlds forum
Savage Worlds reviews on RPG.net

Comment by Brian Doucet 1 day ago: Thanks a lot for the input, both of you :)

I'll definitely give them both a go, but I'll probably make GURPS my primary choice between the 2, if only based on the fact that I love most everything else SJGames does.

If anyone else has any opinions or followups, feel free to chime in as well :D

Comment by Tommy Brownell 1 day ago: Savage Worlds has spoiled me for all other games, sadly. I have ran it in a variety of genres, as well. For ME, at least, there is no sweeter gaming spot.

Comment by F. Douglas Wall 1 day ago: The challenge with picking a universal system, like GURPS or SW is that you have to provide your own setting. While settings have been published for both systems and other settings are fairly easily adapted, it's just one more choice you have to make. Star Wars, nWoD, and D&D all come with some level of implicit setting, making it easier to simply "pick up and play" one of them.

Between the two generic systems, I would say GURPS. Not only have I played it more, but my experience running Savage Worlds has been rather lackluster.

Comment by Chuck 22 hours ago: Both are great systems and both do what they do well. But there is one thing that SJ Games does better than anybody else. That's reference their stuff. They make fantastic indexes and it's easy to find what you need in the books.

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