When comparing Star Wars RPG by Fantasy Flight Games vs GURPS 4th Edition, the Slant community recommends GURPS 4th Edition for most people. In the question“What are the best tabletop RPGs?” GURPS 4th Edition is ranked 10th while Star Wars RPG by Fantasy Flight Games is ranked 18th. The most important reason people chose GURPS 4th Edition is:
GURPS can be as crunchy as you like, with rules available to cover any situation, but at its core, there are only about three rules you need.
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Pros
Pro Story focused instead of combat focused
Rather than focus on combat encounters and character stats, Fantasy Flight Games system allows the group to focus on telling a great Star Wars story. The players and the GM alike are major contributors due to FFG's unique system and dice mechanics.
Pro Drives improvisation through its die roll mechanics
The die roll mechanic leads to more than just a simple success and failure. The result often requires positive and negative side effects; sometimes dramatic ones! Very rewarding with a GM who's good at making stuff up on the spot.
Pro Super-customizable character creation system
The Star Wars RPG's point-buy system allows characters to easily gain skills outside their career while still making each build feel unique. Focused builds are rewarded, but, in the narrative system, min/maxed characters are no more overpowered than their (equally rewarded) all-around counterparts. Players can easily create a bounty hunter, ambassador, or mystic, or even all of them in one character. Rigid classes ("I am a cleric") are a thing of the past. Your character is no longer defined by such constraining borders—he is what you want him to be. The level-less system places literal millions of possibilities at your fingertips.
Pro Set in the Star Wars Universe
The Star Wars Universe is arguably one of the largest and most beloved in the world, and this RPG captures it's depth and diversity very well. Players can choose from hundred of class and specialization combinations for creating unique characters and stories set in classic Star Wars settings, or create entirely new worlds and stories.
Pro Now available in setting free format with Genesys
Pro Easier to play online
Because the Star Wars RPG focuses more on story and role play and less on combat, maps and hard stats, it is easier to play online using Voice Software like Skype, Google Hangouts or Discord. There are also online platforms such as Roll20 that allow for digital dice rolls and resources.
Pro Modular rules
GURPS can be as crunchy as you like, with rules available to cover any situation, but at its core, there are only about three rules you need.
Pro Great sourcebooks
GURPS sourcebooks are famous for being comprehensive guides to the settings/genres they describe, to the degree that even people who don't play GURPS find them useful.
Pro Option for Cinematic Rules
There is an option to make combat far less deadly.
Pro Long character creation creates a bond with your character
Spending a lot of time creating your character also helps with creating a bond with them. This way you will be more encouraged to keep them alive than going around doing dangerous things which would most likely end up killing them. Moreover, In depth character creation flushes out the back stories that enrich the role playing experience. Vampire also has a lengthy character building process for this reason.
Pro Character mortality
In GURPS, characters can be killed by a single blow to the head with a wood plank. For gamers seeking a more "realistic" level of mortality, GURPS is your game.
Cons
Con You need custom dice, and they take some getting used to
This game doesn't use the regular dice so common in most RPGs, but requires the use of a special set of dice that only Fantasy Flight sells. It's kinda pricey, and it takes some getting used to the weird symbols on the dice. There is a die roller app. Of course, some people come to love the custom dice (no more automatic 1-or-20 successes or fails).
Con All the worst money-grabbing faults in RPG design incorporated here
Multiple, nearly redundant corebooks. Supplements are high on price and low on content. It even has custom dice. Fans should be able to apply for a second mortgage at the fantasy flight website.
Con Very little digitally distributed content
While Fantasy Flight has added a few digitally distributed(PDF) resources that are all free; such as character sheets, pre-generated characters and campaigns; there are no official digital versions available for any of their print materials.
Con Three flavoured "separated" subvariants for smuggler theme, rebel stories and Jedi path
A lot of redundant text in the there "corebooks". The rest of the subgames lines are similar structured with in depth class type rule books. Patterns of the lines are very similar: Core book, beginner box, class types expansions and adventures books. You can mix the variants. Rules are compatible.
Con The old WEG edition is so much better
This is clunky and doesn't create a heroic STAR WARS feel.
Con Extremely Simulationist
Con Requires too much GM babysitting
Too many options with no setting structure and the freedom to do whatever is a liability, not a perk.
Con Boring rule system
Con Boring rule system
Con Core rules need two books
Con Long character creation
The lion's share of the work in GURPS is front-loaded: characters are built on points, pieced together with attributes, advantages, disadvantages, quirks, skills, powers, spells, cybernetics, and whatever else your game requires. Expect to spend easily an hour or more creating your character.
Con Option paralysis
Sometimes having so many dials to turn is not a good thing. It can be hard to create a game with so many options available.