Lord of the Rings Roleplaying

[Desdichado]

I've been eagerly awaiting the release of the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying game, and although the website says a February release, my game store says sometime mid- to late April is when they're expecting it.

I don't really have an interest in picking up the boxed "adventure game" -- just like I didn't pick up the 3E boxed adventure game or any other boxed adventure game, but I've looked at the fast play rules on the website, and I think I have a fairly good idea of what to expect from basic gameplay. But what else does anyone know about it? Is it coming in a single book a la The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game or with a player's book and a GM's book and all that? What kinds of supplements can we expect to see? Is anyone else out there likely to pick it up from this crowd?

 

[Wolfspider]

You can find a bit more information about the game at the message boards at www.decipher.com . Information is a bit sketchy, howver, since Steve Long recently left the company (and the project).

It's supposed to be one hardback book, as far as I can tell, although recently someone from Decipher posted a poll of sorts asking what fans would like to see: one rulebooks, two rulebooks--a players guide and a GM's guide, etc. So, it doesn't look like they've made up their minds yet.

Consequently, a release date of April is probably not going to happen. The last I heard, the game was scheduled to ship "in the fall" sometime. We might see it by the time "The Two Towers" comes out.

As far as satisfying your need to game in Tolkien's world, check out the link in my sig for some D20 Middle Earth goodness.

 

[Davelozzi]

Sorry, I can't help you regarding what the full game will be like. However, I just wanted to comment that I would have considered buying the boxed adventure game just to check it out if it had cost $10 like the D&D adventure game, but it turns out that it costs three times as much. $30 for an introductory version of the rules? No thanks.

Incidentally, if I'm wrong about what the boxed set really is, someone please correct me. If anyone has it I'd be interested to hear what's inside.

 

[Wolfspider]

In the reviews I've seen of the adventure game, people have praised it for its high production values but slammed it for A LOT of editing mistakes and missing rules. So far no errata have been released for the game by Decipher, and it's not known when such errata will be available.

 

[Desdichado]

There are reviews of the boxed game on rpg.net. It does seem to be (relatively) meaty from a boxed game perspective, but I'm just interested in boxed games, so that didn't do it for me.

I'm surprised to hear that the release date may be pushed back: my retailer certainly didn't know anything about that. That's bad news! I do know about the Middle-earth d20 project. I'll have to look and see how much progress y'all have made over there...

 

[TalonComics]

Here's a bad sign: When your distributor tells you "You probably don't want to buy a whole lot of these" in reference to the box set. Needless to say I didn't.

Sigh... Decipher, as far as I am concerned, has totally screwed the pooch on releasing a Lord of the Rings RPG. It seems their number one concern is the CCG which, as a gamer, I couldn't care a less about.

This would have rocked as a D20 product and more than likely been released when Wizards of the Coast scheduled it.

It's really, REALLY BAD when a company can't even give a product list or a release date for a game that would have sold really well back when the movie was released. All Decipher has done at this point is confirmed they can't handle doing RPGs. Stick to CCGs, guys.

~Derek, An Annoyed Retailer and Gamer

 

[Wolfspider]

Yeah. I just can't hide my frustration and disappointment about this game. It could have "rawked."

 

[Razuur]

I agree with you Derek.

Not only that, the $29.99 price tag is a little steep for and introductory game. Seems like they would want to maybe even LOSE money on the intro to hook people into buying the PG and GMG.

Not the best marketing strike.

Deciphers RPG marketing dept is woefully inadequate.

Their Star Trek RPG was supposed to be out last year, and they STILL don't have it out. Whats worse, no advertising, no preview nothing.

The designers are great but still, sheesh.

Razuur

 

[mmadsen]

I don't really have an interest in picking up the boxed "adventure game" -- just like I didn't pick up the 3E boxed adventure game or any other boxed adventure game...

I can understand that you're not exactly the target demographic for an "adventure game" (i.e. basic set), but I have to say that the D&D Adventure Game was one of my best D&D purchases. First, it was cheap, and second, it was full of great props: counters, a colorful dungeon map, full-color pre-gen character sheets, etc. It makes for a great way to introduce new players.

I just wish they hadn't hamstrung the rules quite so much. Reducing options works fine (just four classes, just four races, just low-level spells, just a couple pages of monsters, etc.), but obfuscating the math and giving no character-creation rules really crippled the set.

 

[mattcolville]

The RPG is being developed even as we speak.

I must say, I laugh every time I see someone say "Decipher just can't do RPGs." Well, they won an origins award for the Star Trek: TNG game, were nominated for the Dune RPG and pretty much every product they've ever released. Mind you, we were Last Unicorn then, but it's the same team.

Steve Long wrote the book and Matt Forbeck is developing it. Some people may cry "Dear god! A bunch of amateurs!" I have a different opinion. Your milage may vary. The book should be done this month. 5 weeks to print. There's layout and art in there, don't know how long that will take but I think some of it's being done now.

The Adventure Game kicks ass and takes names. $30 doesn't seem to be too expensive, since we're selling the hell out of it. But I seriously doubt anyone here is the target audience. . .unless you're 13 and have never heard of RPGs before.