The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game (LOTR rpg) from Decipher is a hardbound book with a lovely matt finish and a wonderful picture of the Ring on Sauron's hand from the film. The book is printed on high quality glossy paper in full colour and is richly illustrated with pictures from the recent film, The Fellowship of the Ring.

The book begins with a short introduction to roleplaying an a glossary of terms. It then starts a good but short overview of the lands of Middle Earth. This is accompanied by a nice map of Middle Earth which is split over 2 pages. I would expect Decipher to release this as a poster map, but the one in the book is quite useable and lavishly drawn.

The book then starts to detail the rules for the system, beginning with character generation, also beautifully illustrated with new artwork. The explanation of character generation is well described and would allow a new player to open the book, read the overview of the setting, create a character and play. For even faster play a player could simply photocopy one of the pre-created characters and play.

The system for LOTR rpg is then detailed in a workmanlike fashion that is familiar to any reader of an rpg like RuneQuest, D&D, Cthulthu, Hero System. I use those examples in that this is very much a simulationist system. It's rather like RuneQuest crossed with Traveller, with Advantages and Disadvantages from the Hero system and Feats from D&D 3e. This is not to decry the system, it is clean, functional and well described.

The system is called CODA and its core system mechanics are:

Attributes are generated on 2d6 and from these are derived secondary stats like reactions, health, defence;
To complete any task one rolls 2d6 , adds a modifier from Attributes and from Skills, so as to get a result greater than a difficulty number. (In this roll the Skills are the most significant factor);
Combat is a series of opposed rolls, parries and dodges are optional actions, weapons generate a number of points of damage and armour absorbs some or all of that;
Characters have a certain number of health points per wound level, as they lose points they fall through the levels and suffer minuses to rolls. A character's health is fairly static throughout advancement;
Character creation is a mix of 'picks' of skills from racial background and then from an 'order' which is a very loose character type such as warrior, wizard, rogue, etc;
The system uses Edges and Flaws (similar to Advantages/Disadvantages in other systems) to allow meta skill flavour to the character;
In addition to orders allowing skill picks they also have special abilities which convey meta skill abilities to characters;
Advancement is through collecting experience points from crucial die rolls or adventure rewards. This is then traded in for new picks from the original character creation chapters. Picks from your own race or your order are cheaper than picks from others. There is no concept of levels although advancement through the order is noted;
Social areas such as reknown, corruption, bearing and the like are well modelled in the game. Becoming well knowm, being borne with bearing or going over to Sauron are well integrated into the mechanics;
Magic is a list of spells that are powered by the wizard, making him weary as they drain his strength, no skill rolls are used;
Lots of usual gaming stuff like falling, fire, posion, damage is all described in CODA terms.

The system is shared with the new Star Trek roleplaying system from Decipher, but I haven't read that and can't comment on the differences. It is also very similar to the ICON system used in the Last Unicorn Games Star Trek roleplaying game, which I do own.

The book then fleshes out the concept of epic fantasy and then chapters (scenarios) and chronicles (campaigns). The advice to gamesmasters is excellent and includes an excellent discussion about the merits and flaws of running games just before the events in the films (books) or after the fall of Sauron or in the Second or First Age. Decipher have opted to publish material in the period between the Hobbit and LOTR and discuss well the pros and cons of running a canonical game or throwing out the JRR books and running your own divergent chronicle.

Last, and somewhat least, creatures and monsters are detailed. This is great if you want to know the stats of the Lord of the Nazghul (and who doesn't) but it doesn't really have enough creatures for lower level play. An experienced player will have no problems modelling some other creatures, but a newcomer may not.

Summary

This is a beautiful book. It is a simulationist game with a clean elegant and flexible system that models most traditional fantasy roleplaying well and integrates the social and cultural factors of the world into the system. It is interesting that Stephen S Long is now the powerhouse behind the reborn Hero System, since this book echoes those harcore simulationist rules. The background material is somewhat overfaced by the ruleset, but this is a lovely set of fantasy rules that I suspect Decipher will build a lovely set of supplements, sourcebooks and adventures on.

On a sidenote this is the game that D&D 3e could have been, and as such I would recommend anyone who wants to play epic fantasy, whether they like Tolkien or not, to check this out. It should make an excellent core rule set for all sorts of fantasy gaming.

This is not the same game as the Lord of the Rings Adventure Games from Decipher. It does not reference the Games Workshop table top skirmish game based on LOTR, but of course those miniatures would be a perfect accessory for this game.

The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game
The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Capsule Review by Tom Zunder on 07/09/02 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Hardcore fantasy system with a tasty inlay of beautiful art and integrated social and cultural layers. Gorgeous! Product: The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game Author: Long, Moore, Rateliff, Forbeck Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Decipher Line: LOTR Cost: GBP24.99 Page count: 304 Year published: 2002 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Tom Zunder on 07/09/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Lord of the Rings The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game (LOTR rpg) from Decipher is a hardbound book with a lovely matt finish and a wonderful picture of the Ring on Sauron's hand from the film. The book is printed on high quality glossy paper in full colour and is richly illustrated with pictures from the recent film, The Fellowship of the Ring. The book begins with a short introduction to roleplaying an a glossary of terms. It then starts a good but short overview of the lands of Middle Earth. This is accompanied by a nice map of Middle Earth which is split over 2 pages. I would expect Decipher to release this as a poster map, but the one in the book is quite useable and lavishly drawn. The book then starts to detail the rules for the system, beginning with character generation, also beautifully illustrated with new artwork. The explanation of character generation is well described and would allow a new player to open the book, read the overview of the setting, create a character and play. For even faster play a player could simply photocopy one of the pre-created characters and play. The system for LOTR rpg is then detailed in a workmanlike fashion that is familiar to any reader of an rpg like RuneQuest, D&D, Cthulthu, Hero System. I use those examples in that this is very much a simulationist system. It's rather like RuneQuest crossed with Traveller, with Advantages and Disadvantages from the Hero system and Feats from D&D 3e. This is not to decry the system, it is clean, functional and well described. The system is called CODA and its core system mechanics are: Attributes are generated on 2d6 and from these are derived secondary stats like reactions, health, defence; To complete any task one rolls 2d6 , adds a modifier from Attributes and from Skills, so as to get a result greater than a difficulty number. (In this roll the Skills are the most significant factor); Combat is a series of opposed rolls, parries and dodges are optional actions, weapons generate a number of points of damage and armour absorbs some or all of that; Characters have a certain number of health points per wound level, as they lose points they fall through the levels and suffer minuses to rolls. A character's health is fairly static throughout advancement; Character creation is a mix of 'picks' of skills from racial background and then from an 'order' which is a very loose character type such as warrior, wizard, rogue, etc; The system uses Edges and Flaws (similar to Advantages/Disadvantages in other systems) to allow meta skill flavour to the character; In addition to orders allowing skill picks they also have special abilities which convey meta skill abilities to characters; Advancement is through collecting experience points from crucial die rolls or adventure rewards. This is then traded in for new picks from the original character creation chapters. Picks from your own race or your order are cheaper than picks from others. There is no concept of levels although advancement through the order is noted; Social areas such as reknown, corruption, bearing and the like are well modelled in the game. Becoming well knowm, being borne with bearing or going over to Sauron are well integrated into the mechanics; Magic is a list of spells that are powered by the wizard, making him weary as they drain his strength, no skill rolls are used; Lots of usual gaming stuff like falling, fire, posion, damage is all described in CODA terms. The system is shared with the new Star Trek roleplaying system from Decipher, but I haven't read that and can't comment on the differences. It is also very similar to the ICON system used in the Last Unicorn Games Star Trek roleplaying game, which I do own. The book then fleshes out the concept of epic fantasy and then chapters (scenarios) and chronicles (campaigns). The advice to gamesmasters is excellent and includes an excellent discussion about the merits and flaws of running games just before the events in the films (books) or after the fall of Sauron or in the Second or First Age. Decipher have opted to publish material in the period between the Hobbit and LOTR and discuss well the pros and cons of running a canonical game or throwing out the JRR books and running your own divergent chronicle. Last, and somewhat least, creatures and monsters are detailed. This is great if you want to know the stats of the Lord of the Nazghul (and who doesn't) but it doesn't really have enough creatures for lower level play. An experienced player will have no problems modelling some other creatures, but a newcomer may not. Summary This is a beautiful book. It is a simulationist game with a clean elegant and flexible system that models most traditional fantasy roleplaying well and integrates the social and cultural factors of the world into the system. It is interesting that Stephen S Long is now the powerhouse behind the reborn Hero System, since this book echoes those harcore simulationist rules. The background material is somewhat overfaced by the ruleset, but this is a lovely set of fantasy rules that I suspect Decipher will build a lovely set of supplements, sourcebooks and adventures on. On a sidenote this is the game that D&D 3e could have been, and as such I would recommend anyone who wants to play epic fantasy, whether they like Tolkien or not, to check this out. It should make an excellent core rule set for all sorts of fantasy gaming. This is not the same game as the Lord of the Rings Adventure Games from Decipher. It does not reference the Games Workshop table top skirmish game based on LOTR, but of course those miniatures would be a perfect accessory for this game.