Welcome to the home page of the unofficial GURPS Discord Server, which you can jump into immediately by clicking here, or by clicking this icon anywhere on TheMook.Net:
GURPS is the excellent and long-lived tabletop RPG published by Steve Jackson Games.
Discord is a text and voice chat client easily usable on almost any desktop, tablet, or phone (here is a handy introduction).
The GURPS Discord Server is a place for tabletop RPG gamers to hang out in real-time and discuss campaigns and characters, ask questions about GURPS rules and products, arrange and play games, and generally just relax and enjoy a community of other GURPS-minded people.
To that end, we ask that you follow…
THREE SIMPLE RULES
Please, DO NOT…
- Abuse, belittle, impersonate, insult, or in any way harass other members or groups of people.
(A simple “Golden Rule” standard.) - Post links to or encourage the use of illegally pirated materials.
(Please. Just don’t.) - Use profanity or post links/in-line images of pornographic or otherwise NSFW materials.
(If we were MPAA-rated, think “PG-13,” not “R.”)
That’s pretty much it. We don’t want to be dogmatic or overbearing, just to ensure the community remains a low-drama, stress-free retreat.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or complaints about the server, don’t hesitate to either drop me a note or send a direct message through Discord.
For even more information on any server topic and more in-depth explanations, you can click the links above.
Thanks for reading — hope to see you in the server!
The “Slightly” Longer Version
In just the first few weeks, a wonderful community sprouted up around the real-time chat in this server and it continues to grow. I have personally seen scores of useful, helpful conversations going on at all times of day and night, things like…
- Gamers helping other gamers understand GURPS rules they’re not quite getting, or suggesting ways to model various abilities and creatures using the rules.
- People getting all kinds of feedback and advice on the games they’re running and the characters they’re playing.
- User support, feedback, and developer discussion for some of the most popular GURPS apps and programs.
…and that’s not even including the usual gamer chit-chat about anything and everything under the sun.
The few rules we hope everyone will adhere to are there to keep the community fun and inviting.
First, no one wants to hang out somewhere where they’re being insulted or treated like garbage. If you find yourself and another user getting heated in an argument, either agree to disagree and let it drop, or create your own Discord server and continue the conversation there. The Internet has more than enough places for people to argue, treat each other poorly, and rant against this or that group they personally dislike. We don’t intend to be one of them.
If you find yourself being harassed or having other problems with a user, please let any member with a role of Deus Ex Machina, Overseer, or Moderator know as soon as possible and they will try to address your concerns. I’m generally in the server most of the day (Pacific Time / GMT -08:00) during the week, but you can also contact me directly with any issues.
Second, regardless of your personal feelings about intellectual property, copyrights, and online piracy, the bottom line is it’s obnoxious to post links to pirated materials or sites in a community that you know paid authors and artists frequent. We are here to support Steve Jackson Games and their games, not undermine them.
Third, and in that spirit of “people who really want that kind of content already know where to find it,” we ask that you keep conversations and links to a “PG-13 / soft R” rating. This is admittedly very subjective, but basically if your conversation could reasonably make other users uncomfortable and/or be inappropriate for minors, you should take it to direct messages where you can chat about literally anything you like, any way you like, free from community eyes.
Again — and I can’t stress this enough — we’re adhering to these very simple rules solely to ensure the server continues to be a chill, laid-back place for a long, long time to come. Myself and the other moderators don’t spend our days sifting through conversations looking for “infractions” and candidates for the reeducation camps. We’re here only to nudge things back from the edge and help anyone who’s getting unwanted attention.
Very Broad Examples
“Damn you, you fool!” and “OMG, I hate you :)” are perfectly common and innocent sentiments in the context of a larger conversation between friends/acquaintances. “I would give any amount of money to travel back in time and murder your parents before they could conceive you” and “How does someone so stupid learn to type?” are not.
Posting links to fan-made rules summary sheets, game aids, character sheets, etc. is fine (even encouraged!) — it’s done all the time on the official forums, and at this point there’s a fairly good sense in the community of how much is “too much”… but if you have any doubt at all, please err on the side of caution. Links/directions to shady sites with pirated PDFs or “Hey, here’s the complete text of every tech skill from Characters that I made for my players” are absolutely not fine.
Non-pornographic pics (I know, it’s subjective) of beefcake/cheesecake, discussions of art in gaming, the best way for a group of PCs to infiltrate a villain’s skyscraper lair, comparisons of game stats vs. real-world firearms/explosives, all those things are fine. Pics of hardcore fetish porn, manifestos outlining how best to commit a mass shooting, links to how to build a homemade silencer or pressure cooker bomb are not.
The decision to keep profanity off the server was not a quick one, and there was much spirited debate from both sides. Ultimately, we decided it best to err on the side of being more inclusive than less, and I believe this to be the best way for as innocuous an activity as chatting about GURPS and gaming. GURPS is, after all, a “family friendly” game, and we absolutely have at least a few minors who lurk and chat here. So, please, keep your language in “polite company” mode. Simply put, we are a SFW (“Safe for Work”) server.
There is a profanity filter in place, but the limitations of such a filter are obvious and easy to work around — so please don’t. Circumventing the blacklist filter will be treated the same as using the blacklisted words. If using profanity is important enough to keep you from enjoying yourself, there are definitely alternatives out there.
Note that this applies to all public channels, including the game channels. If you’re running the actual game elsewhere (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, etc.), obviously you can use whatever language you want to there. But whatever you use the game channels for — scheduling, logistics, character backgrounds, even running the actual game — it is publicly available, and thus should adhere to the same standards as the rest of the server.
With all that being said, we are much more concerned with the content and tone of conversations on the server than the specific words being used. It is intended as a welcoming refuge where you can put up your virtual feet and hang out with other GURPS fans, not an arena for debating your favorite hot-button issue, so choose your conversations accordingly. I’m not saying you flat-out can’t discuss things like politics or religion (as examples), I’m just saying do so respectfully and without condescension (and keep in mind you may be asked to take it elsewhere if things become heated).
That’s it, folks, that’s all you need to know! Check out the channels list below if you’re curious about who talks about what, where. Otherwise, hop on in the server.
Hope to see you there!
Roles
In addition to the roles already mentioned above, there are also posting ranks, determined by how frequently you post on the server (with a one minute “cooldown” to discourage pointless spamming). Note that these confer no special server “powers” or permissions at all, and are only for amusement. The titles are loosely based on the Power Levels explained on p. 487 of GURPS Basic. You can see the ranks at any time by typing “!ranks” in the server:
- Fodder NPC
- Minor NPC
- Major NPC
- Player Character
- Average
- Competent
- Talented
- Exceptional
- Heroic
- Larger-than-Life
- Legendary
- Minor Superhuman
- Major Superhuman
- Demigod
- Minor God
- Major God
- Cosmic
App Developer is the final role, reserved for those wonderful coders who create and maintain the apps and programs we use to help our GURPS games run smoothly. Current users with that role are:
- Armin (GCA, GURPS Character Assistant)
- Aion (gCalc, GURPS Calculator)
- Rich (GCS, GURPS Character Sheet)
- Myrion (GSSG, GURPS Star System Generator)
- Legendsmith (TCDG, Technicolor Dream/GURPS Last Gasp Assistant)
- Pseudonym (Pseudobot)
Many of the frequent forum posters hang out on the server as well, driving a lot of conversation. Myself and Christopher Rice (Ghostdancer/Ravenpenny) are the only GURPS authors that I know for sure frequent the server, but I assume there are others I’ve missed or who only swing by now and again. Which leads nicely to…
Channel List
Using multiple channels to keep topics somewhat grouped together is meant to make it easier for us all to follow conversations we find interesting. No one wants to try and keep up on their chat about how best to represent Captain Carrot as a GURPS character in between the discussions of why Jar-Jar Binks is actually the hero of the prequel trilogy and how many marbles an eight-year old can fit in his nose (Seven. The answer is seven.)
On the other hand, there is a lot of drift and overlap. Generally, moderators will only ask you to move a conversation to a different channel if A) it is off-topic and interfering with on-topic conversation, or B) it just goes on forever with no sign of waning. Chatting about the most recent episode of “Gilmore Girls” for a few minutes in an otherwise-quiet gaming channel shouldn’t raise an eyebrow. Having that same chat for hours, or while other people are trying to discuss GURPS house rules for playing as PC amoebas, will eventually get a request to take it elsewhere.
With that in mind, here are the topics our channels were created for.
Text Channels
#gurps (was #general)
As this is the default channel a user enters when joining the server, it is usually the most active. The name of the server itself is “GURPS,” so the understanding here is that this is for “General chat about GURPS,” specifically, and about the RPG hobby as a whole.
#non-gurps
“SFW non-GURPS Gaming/Geek Chat.” Computer games, TV and movies, books, games besides GURPS, that sort of thing.
#think-tank (was #crunch and #char-builds)
For sharing GURPS characters, campaigns, houserules — whatever content you would like to get feedback on from others.
#introductions
A place for users to introduce themselves to the rest of the community. Feel free to post pics, tell us your gaming history, where you’re from, your job, whatever you’d like to share. Be aware that non-introduction posts are routinely deleted from here.
#blogging
There are quite a few active bloggers on the server. You can use this channel to pick their brains for tips and help, or anything else related to blogging. See this page for links to many of the blogs currently posting GURPS content.
#apps
This is the channel for questions/suggestions about any of the popular GURPS apps (GCA, GCS, gCalc, GSSG, TCDG, etc.). The developers are frequently online and chatting here.
#announcements
Announcements about the server and things everyone should be aware of. Most users cannot post in this channel, it’s read-only.
#moderators
This is where we, the moderators, pull the strings that run the world, plot the eventual conquest of all mankind, and have tickle fights. Most users cannot enter this channel at all, so don’t take it personally.
#rolling
Dice rolling and bot testing can be done here so as not to clutter up the conversation channels. See below for our bot’s commands.
#looking-for-group
If you’re looking to GM or run a game, this is the place to talk about it and organize times/details.
#open-game-0x
These numbered channels are provided for anyone who wants to run/play a game, whether scheduled or pick-up. If there’s a game already in progress, please don’t be a distraction. If a channel is unoccupied, feel free to use it. More can be added at any time, if we find we’re running out of “room.” Games that meet consistently may have named channels here as well.
Voice Channels
These get a lot less use than the text channels — apparently, we are a shy bunch — but are free and open to use by anyone. The same server rules apply.
General
As the #general text channel.
Non-GURPS
As the #non-gurps text channel.
Open Game 0x
As the #open-game-0x text channels.
Pseudobot Commands
User Pseudonym has written our very own server bot, Pseudobot, to streamline GURPSification. If you would like to invite the bot to your channel (as-is, with no support), you can use this link.
Currently available commands are:
.roll (or .r)
Rolls the number of dice specified, providing both a sum total and the results of each die.
- .r 3d6, @Mook Rolled 3d6. Result: [5,3,1] = 9
- .r 10d12, @Mook Rolled 10d12. Result: [12,3,9,4,12,1,10,2,3,2] = 58
- .r 2d-2, @Mook Rolled 2d-2. Result: [5,4,-2] = 7
.rollagainst (or .ra, .skill, or .s)
Rolls 3d6 against the supplied target number, providing a sum total, the results of each die, and the Margins of Success/Failure (including crits).
- .ra 12, @Mook Rolled against 12. Result: [1,1,4] = 6. Margin of Success: 6
- .ra Driving-14, @Mook Rolled against Driving-14. Result: [6,4,5] = 15. Margin of Failure: 1.
- .ra Totally Fake Skill I Just Made Up-15, @Mook Rolled against Totally Fake Skill I Just Made Up-15. Result: [1,1,3] = 5. Margin of Success: 10. Critical Success.
.contest (or .c, .quickcontest, or .qc)
Rolls a Quick Contest between the two skill levels supplied, providing the Margins of Success/Failure for each and indicating who won.
- .c 12 15, @Mook – Running contest: 12 15
Contestant #1 Rolls: [6,2,3] = 11. Margin of Success: 1
Contestant #2 Rolls: [1,6,5] = 12. Margin of Success: 3
Overall Contestant #1 has Margin of Failure: 2 and Contestant #2 has Margin of Success: 2. - .c 18 12, @Mook – Running contest: 18 12
Contestant #1 Rolls: [5,3,6] = 14. Margin of Success: 4
Contestant #2 Rolls: [2,6,6] = 14. Margin of Failure: 2
Overall Contestant #1 has Margin of Success: 6 and Contestant #2 has Margin of Failure: 6. - .c Bubba’s Fast-Talk-13 Judy’s Merchant-12, @Mook – Running contest: s Fast-Talk-13 Judy s Merchant-12
Contestant #1 Rolls: [3,3,2] = 8. Margin of Success: 5
Contestant #2 Rolls: [5,5,1] = 11. Margin of Success: 1
Overall Contestant #1 has Margin of Success: 4 and Contestant #2 has Margin of Failure: 4.
.rollabunch (or .rab)
Rolls 3d6 as many times as told to, providing sum totals and the individual results of each roll.
- .rab 3, @Mook is rolling 3 times.
Result 1: [3,6,4] = 13.
Result 2: [4,6,3] = 13.
Result 3: [2,1,1] = 4. - .rab 8, @Mook is rolling 8 times.
Result 1: [2,6,2] = 10.
Result 2: [6,3,5] = 14.
Result 3: [1,3,2] = 6.
Result 4: [2,5,3] = 10.
Result 5: [2,6,2] = 10.
Result 6: [3,3,2] = 8.
Result 7: [1,5,4] = 10.
Result 8: [6,1,6] = 13.
.lookup (or .lu)
Provides quick info for various GURPS info, in the format of “.lu <LookupType> <LookupValue>.” The current <LookupType> options are: Advantage, Disadvantage, Quirk, Perk, Item, Skill, Spell, and Technique. The bot automatically limits itself to showing 10 results by default unless you end your search with the number of results you want (for example, “.lu Skill Guns 25” for 25 results instead of just “.lu Skill Guns.” Note also that you can Direct Message the bot and conduct your searches there to avoid cluttering the public channels.
- .lu Advantage Extra, @Mook: Found 27 results, showing 10
Advantage: Extra Attack[25]. (B53)
Advantage: Luck, Extraordinary[30]. (B66)
Advantage: Extra Arm[10]. (B53)
[snip] - .lu Disadvantage Phobia, @Mook: Found 34 results, showing 10
Disadvantage: Acrophobia (Heights)[-10]. (B150)
Disadvantage: Agoraphobia (Open Spaces)[-10]. (B150)
Disadvantage: Aichmophobia/TL5- (Sharp Things)[-15]. (B150)
[snip] - .lu Item Sword, @Mook: Found 25 results, showing 10
Butterfly Sword, 2 lb, $200.00. Melee Stats: 1, sw cut, Shortsword. 1, thr-2 imp, Shortsword. (ACT3:21)
Sword Cane, 2.5 lb, $600.00. Melee Stats: 1, thr+1 imp, Smallsword. (ACT3:21)
Bastard Sword, 5 lb, $650.00. Melee Stats: 1,2, sw+1 cut, Broadsword. 2, thr+1 cr, Broadsword. (B271)
[snip] - .lu Skill Draw, @Mook: Found 12 results, showing 10
Fast-Draw (Arrow) DX/E. (B194)
Fast-Draw (Force Sword) DX/E. (B194)
Fast-Draw (Knife) DX/E. (B194)
[snip] - .lu Spell Fire, @Mook: Found 18 results, showing 10
Resist Fire – Regular (IQ/H). Duration: 1 min. Cost: 2#. Time to Cast 1 sec. (M74)
Extinguish Fire – Regular (IQ/H). Duration: Permanent. Cost: 3. Time to Cast 1 sec. (M72)
Summon Fire Elemental – Special (IQ/H). Duration: 1 hr #. Cost: 4#. Time to Cast 30 sec. (M27)
[snip] - .lu Technique Parry, @Mook: Found 5 results, showing 5
Aggressive Parry(Boxing)-Hard. Default: Boxing-1. (MA65)
Aggressive Parry(Brawling)-Hard. Default: Brawling-1. (MA65)
Aggressive Parry(Karate)-Hard. Default: Karate-1. (MA65)
Bullet Parry(Parry Missile-Weapons)-Hard. Default: Parry Missile-Weapons-5. (SU38)
Energy Parry(Parry Missile-Weapons)-Hard. Default: Parry Missile-Weapons-5. (SU38)
.statistics (or .stats)
Shows the bot stats regarding dice rolls and deviation.
- .stats, @Mook Current Stats:
Current Roll Count: 1165
Current Average: 10.49
Current Standard Deviation: 3.01
Current Chi Squared: 1201.40
.dontsueme (or .dsm)
Prints out the standard Steve Jackson Games’ disclaimer for fan-made game aids.
- “GURPS is a trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and its rules and art are copyrighted by Steve Jackson Games . All rights are reserved by Steve Jackson Games. This game aid is the original creation of Patricia Gauronskas and is released for free distribution, and not for resale, under the permissions granted in the Steve Jackson Games Online Policy. Oh, and I borrow some stuff from GURPS Character Sheet.
Final Note
If you’ve read all this way, just one final note to leave you with.
I use a lot of emojis.
I know, I know, I’m not “supposed to,” and it makes you feel like you’re chatting with a 12-year old girl. But if I’m smiling when I type something, I usually put a smiley face. If I’m talking about robots, I might put a robot emoji. Cowboys, animals, fruit, cars — I use ’em all, and will not live in shame.
You’ve been warned. 😀
