DragonQuest-to-GURPS Conversion Guide
by Matthew Schiernbeck

DragonQuest™ (DQ) “Experience Points” are analogous to GURPS® “Character Points” – they are the “currency” with which you “buy” additional characteristic points (“Stats” in GURPS) and Rank (levels) with skills, spells, etc. However, as noted below, they convert at a rate of about 1000 to 1 [when I award points for an adventure, I usually award a standard of 5 GURPS Character Points, plus a bonus point or 2 for outstanding role-playing.] In GURPS, Character Points are kept as a running tally, not just “spent” and marked off the total as in DQ. Also, in GURPS, you can actually “earn” Character Points by taking “Disadvantages” or “Quirks” in the same way that you “spend” Character Points for “Advantages,” “Perks,” skill levels, etc.

GURPS Stat	DQ stat
Strength (ST) Dexterity (DX) Will (WL)	Physical Strength -5 Agility -5 Willpower -5
{WL is a special case when it comes to calculating point cost. In the standard GURPS rules, WL is based on IQ and is valued at 5 character points per point. That varies from IQ. In the DQ conversion rules we devised, WL is a separate Statistic that starts at a baseline of 10 like all the other stats and is improved separately from there with the standard GURPS point cost of 5 character points per +/- 1 point.}
IQ HT HP	Magic Aptitude -5 Endurance -5 Endurance -5 (+ any additional HP points purchased. Extra HP may be purchased up to 130% of HT)
{HP & Damage are handled more like DQ than D&D. You can lose all of your HP and not be in immediate danger of death. At 1/3 of your total HP remaining, your move is cut by 1⁄2 as well as your dodge and other active defenses. At 0 HP you begin making rolls to remain conscious but you are alive and even if you fall unconscious you can be revived or wake naturally. At the –1xHP stage you roll to stay conscious and to stay alive. If you keep making your HT rolls (quite possible with a high HT score) you can stay alive and conscious until you reach –5xHP, which is automatic death. This still leaves enough to resurrect or otherwise reanimate. At the –10xHP level you are disintegrated (or hacked to bits) and cannot be resurrected short of a wish.}
FP	FT is equal to Health + any additional FT points purchased. Extra FT can be bought up to equal 130% of HT.

                   
Handedness is unaffected unless you are ambidextrous, which is an Advantage in GURPS worth 5 points.

GURPS does not make allowances for Aspect. If you feel that you are entitled to the bonuses, you should take it up with your GM.

Physical Beauty is the equivalent of GURPS Appearance. It is bought as an Advantage or Disadvantage. Use your good judgment. If your PB is high, buy Attractive or Very Attractive Appearance. If your PB is low, buy unattractive. If it’s average, ignore this attribute.

Manual Dexterity is an Advantage in GURPS and can be taken or not depending on what you feel is appropriate for your character. For instance, even though a character have many skills as a thief that require MD, the player needn’t take any additional levels if his basic DX is high enough without a bonus for MD. Also, in GURPS, weapon skills and other physical coordination skills are based on DX. Manual Dexterity only comes into play in instances of fine hand-eye coordination such as lock picking or watch making.

GURPS skill and spell levels are converted from DQ rank. GURPS skill level is equal to DQ rank + the controlling stat. For instance, if your DQ rank with scimitar is 6, your GURPS skill would be:

Broadsword (Scimitar) [DX+6]

All GURPS skills are based on a controlling attribute. Usually DX for physical skills and IQ for mental ones. A couple of skills are based on Perception, such as Detect Lies & Search, And some are based on HT, for instance Running & Carousing.

Another important change to be aware of is that the GURPS system has all skills bought and improved individually. So, for instance, Thief skill from DQ is broken up into separate skills for lock picking, safe-cracking, traps, climbing, etc. When converting to GURPS, just treat your DQ rank as the level above the controlling stat for the applicable GURPS skill. Also, some abilities listed under DQ skills (such as “Find True North” in the DQ Ranger skill) are Advantages in GURPS (Absolute Direction). This is also true for some Magical Talents. For example,“Danger Sense” in DQ is the “Sense Danger” Advantage in GURPS. It merely changes the root of the ability from Psionic ESP to Magical.

In GURPS, Magery is a separate advantage that governs whether or not you can use spells. GURPS treats spells the same as skills for character improvement purposes and they are calculated from a base of IQ + the appropriate level of magery. So, if your DQ rank with a spell is 20, your GURPS Spell Level would be IQ + Magery + 20. These numbers can get quite high because they will be modified for various things.

DQ experience points convert to GURPS at a 1000:1 ratio.

I hope this has been helpful.