I HAVE IT!! AT LAST, IT IS MINE!!! MINE, I TELL YOU!! MIIIIIINE!!! (LotR)

Apok · Sep 5, 2002

Yes, even as I type this I hold the LotR corebook in my hands! I haven't had a chance to take a good look at it yet but for those who are curious I am more than willing to answer questions. From a purely superficial look, the book is indeed gorgeous. Movie stills are interspersed with text and the book just oozes atmosphere. Good lord, I love it! I'll try and put a review up on RPG.net sometime soon but go ahead and post any questions you may have since it could be a while with school keeping me busy.

Dagger75 · Sep 5, 2002

Can't wait for a review. I am a sucker LotR stuff. If you ever player the MERP game bye ICE how does it compare?

ColonelHardisson · Sep 5, 2002

Where'd you get it?

JeffB · Sep 5, 2002

Got mine yesterday. I've read quite a bit of it.

First of all it IS gorgeous. I still think SAS is the best looking RPG I've ever bought, but LotR certainly is a close second place. There are definitely some spoiler pics in it too...well not exactly spoiler's buit pics of either stuff in The Two Towers, or stuff that was cut from FotR. There's a lot of battle scene stills where you can really see the detail of weapons and armor....it's amazing when you can see a still shot like that, and see it up close. also the book is filled with quotes from the books (not the movie) at appropriate places which admittedly leave a bit less room for game stuff, but ultimately enhance the book so it doesn't seem like a technical manual. Very cool.

Mechanics wise, CODA is VERY similar to D20. In fact at least on paper, I prefer it to D20. It's the "D20 Lite" some of us have been wanting. Combat is slightly different in that you can parry or dodge, but overall it is a simpler system. It's not D20 or Gurps and on the other spectrum it''s not as free form as BESM or HeroWars. I'd say it's just a bit more complex than CoC (BRP version).

I'm sure many fo you want details on the Magic system..and that's the part I just skimmed..sorry...The system does seem like the best system out there for Tolkien. Very subtle..but powerful if need be. Sorcery (evil magic ala Saruman/Sauron) is discussed,as is corruption from improper use of magic, and the spells have some cool names that make them seem less like game mechanics (like Exalted).

There's a very cool writeup on the geography of middle earth...not quite enoug material IMO if you are a new GM who is not terribly familiar with Middle Earth, but it's a decent start. also there are some great writeups on keeping the Tolkien Feel in the game, both as a player and as a GM. And I was surprised to see that there is alot of references and a "push" to run a 4th age campaign. Honestly I never thought I'd like running a 4th age game, but now I'm very interested.

The character sheet is very poor (the boxes are way to small to write in), and honestly the book doesn't seem like it's 300+ pages..It seems small. I was also dissapointed that there was no introductory adventure in the book, which IMO is a neccessity for any core rulebook that is meant to "stand alone". However, there are several hooks and adventure seeds so all is not lost, but I would have loved to see something along the lines of ICE's Inn at the Last bridge (in TA1640 what the Prancing Pony was named) and Trollshaws adventure. There are also a few suggestions for running a campaign in the timeline that ICE decided to focus on.

I also think for the "D20 Only" folks out there..they should find things fairly portable and easy to convert...

Overall an A- in my book.

JeffB · Sep 5, 2002

I just wanted to clarify a few things.

I didn't mean tht Decipher talked specifically about the ICE stuff, but simply gave some suggestions on running a campaign in the same time period ICE used.

There's also a lot of M-E history scattered throughout the book. Though the visuals are from the movies, the game is solely rooted in the books.

Magic Items are discussed..mainly low key stuff like potions, but also a some info on Glamdring, Sting, Orcrist, etc....

There's also some cool mechanics for reputation...

Also there was a thread here the other day that was talking about the lack of cool D20 feats not related to combat and magic..I think you'll find some good ideas in LotR's "edges" mechanic.

Rashak Mani · Sep 5, 2002

JeffB said:
Got mine yesterday. I've read quite a bit of it.

First of all it IS gorgeous. I still think SAS is the best looking RPG I've ever bought, but LotR certainly is a close second place. Overall an A- in my book.

What is SAS ? Who is publishing LOTR book ? Site ?

Furn_Darkside · Sep 5, 2002

Rashak Mani said:
What is SAS ? Who is publishing LOTR book ? Site ?

Decipher publishers LOTR:

http://www.decipher.com/lordoftherings/rpg/index.html

SAS is silver age superheroes by Guardians of Order

http://www.guardiansorder.com/

FD

Edit: If you want to read a long discussion on SAS d20, then here you go:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20747

BoGGiT · Sep 5, 2002

JeffB said:
I was also dissapointed that there was no introductory adventure in the book, which IMO is a neccessity for any core rulebook that is meant to "stand alone".

IMHO, introductory adventures has got nothing to do in hardback rulebooks, since the extra pages would raise the price even more. And since adventures are one-time use products, they could as well be released on their webpage in digital form.

Wolfspider · Sep 5, 2002

I don't have the book yet, but I discussed some aspects of it with my friend Gothmog last night. He agrees that it looks great and seems to be quite similar to D20 in many ways.

We did notice some strange things regarding the races of Middle Earth, though. For example, men take a penalty to their Wits score (which is like Intelligence in D20). I couldn't quite figure out why. And only Sindar receive a bonus to their Vitality (aka Constitution) scores. Not all elves have night vision, as well.

Some of this weirdness may come from the fact that they are only using the Hobbit and LotR books, and not Tolkien's other works. Thus, only Sindar have bonuses to Vitality because we never see any other elves but Legolas running around tirelessly. Likewise, not all elves have nightvision in the RPG because only Legolas is depicted making amazing "shots in the dark." Of course, in the Silmarillion, we find that Elves were born into a world of eternal night, lit only by the stars, and that the Noldor made a grueling journey over a dangerous savage land of ice. Thus all elves should have high vitality and night vision. But, Decipher's license is limited.

In any case, I still plan on getting the book. But I'm certainly going to be making some house rules if I don't decide just to use D20 instead.

JeffB · Sep 5, 2002

As far as the introductory adventure goes: I didn’t mean I wanted a 32 pager, but something similar to the adventure in the first D20 Star Wars book..7 or 8 pages. Nothing fancy, but something to break the GM and players in on the game system. In LotR’s case there is nothing on the website..so a GM not only has to worry about learning, helping to teach and running the game, but also making up an adventure from scratch..too much work at one time. I’ve already spent $40, what’s another $5?

I do also know that over on the Decipher boards there have been some clarifications and eratta presented by their staff. I do believe one of wolfspider’s points was mentioned specifically, If I’m not mistaken.

Unfortunately Decipher’s website and boards are horrid. I hate going to the confounded place. I avoid it whenever possible.