What makes it your favorite? Do you want to play it? If so, what’s keeping you from doing it?
For me, it’s Burning Wheel.
I bought it purely based on aesthetics back in 2008ish, then got the supplements, then Gold, then Gold Revised, with the Codex, and the anthology…
I blame it for my weakness for chunky, digest-sized, hardcover RPGs. :P I also like the graphic design, I like the prose (even if it’s divisive), and it has both interesting lessons you can plug into other games (like “let it ride,” letting success or failure stand instead of making lots of little rolls) and arcane systems that pique my interest (like the Artha cycle, which makes roleplay, metacurrency, skill rolls, and advancement all intersect). I genuinely like reading it for its own sake.
I haven’t played it because… well, since it’s not D&D, that immediately makes it harder to get people interested, sadly. It’s also a bit daunting, given its reputation as a crunchy system. But I have a group of players interested in trying new things, and fewer other games calling for my attention, so hopefully I’ll get a chance soon. :)
Totally understandable. When I first started playing, the GM made us all premade characters to learn the rules on. Then he made templates for us when we played for real so we just had to pick a “class” and spend a few character points for customization.
GURPS is great for any setting and really shines in settings that involve many tech levels, like time traveling (that’s the default setting, in fact). It can be quite simple and elegant, but there are rules for just about any situation you can think of, and the calculations aren’t always simple because of it. Luckily, all rule blocks are optional. Playing GURPS “Lite” is supported/recommended in the base rulebook and it’s a fully functional system on its own.
Anyway, I just love GURPS. After playing for a while, I started loving the character creation but I agree, it can be quite the barrier to entry. Also, running games and planning sessions is a lot of work for the GM. More than most systems I’ve played. If you’re playing rules-light or don’t mind handwaving a few specifics when building enemies, it’s not as bad. But if you’re going all in and trying to make reusable stat blocks, the joys of character creation will come back to bite you lol
Ah, on the topic of templates, they’re also in Dungeon Fantasy, which helps a lot. Though I do wish the “default” settings on DF were a bit lighter.
I know that GURPS Lite is secretly the real core rulebook. :P It’s easier to build off of that than go through the Basic Set and sift through everything. How to Be a GURPS GM, IIRC, also helps with things like skill lists.
I think if I ever get a chance to play it, I’d probably start super simple, maybe even with Wildcard skills and some GURPS Action rules to smooth things out, then dial up the complexity until it’s at a point I’d like. I appreciate modular systems that let me do that.