adapted this system for general use and not just as a ME rpg?
If so what changes have you made or would you make?
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adapted this system for general use and not just as a ME rpg?
If so what changes have you made or would you make?
I am currently in the middle of rewriting a combination of both LOTR (mostly) and Star Trek for use in a Harry Potter RPG. I've removed the use of orders, modified the experience/pick system, the skills list, and added my critical hit system; other than those things, it's pretty much the same.
Can you post your equivalent of a "core rulebook?"
I'd love a really good Harry Potter RPG.
Ya I'll do that when I'm done. It's about half finished at the moment and I'm re-reading the books to come up with the standard supplements (individual sourcebooks, creature compendium, etc.) as well as a spell list and how the magic system will work <-- one of the most important things to pull off in this RPG, just like LOTR.
I've toyed with the idea of using CODA-LOTR as the basis for an RPG based on the Belgariad & Mallorean by David & Leigh Eddings. It'll give me an excuse to re-read all the books again, too... :)Quote:
Originally posted by AslanC
adapted this system for general use and not just as a ME rpg?
If so what changes have you made or would you make?
I've toyed with the notion of trying CODA Deryni (based on Katherine Kurtz's novels), and a Star Wars CODA. Haven't gotten too far with either due to time constraints.
I bet both the psionic powers of the Deryni and the Force would translate nicely, but it's just a matter of sitting down and working on it.
Gandalf, sounds like a great idea, but just a thought for you--depending on how much detail your 'core book' goes into, you might want to check with Decipher before putting it on the web. If it has most of the mechanics from the LOTR core book, Decipher might have a problem with you publishing them for free. :) Just a thought.
I think it would make the basis of a good S&S game, a la Conan, Fahfrd & the Grey Mouser, etc. Or a King Arthur game, or pretty much any setting that emphasizes action, story and heroism (like a Pirates game ;-).
The 'special' parts of the respective settings would be the toughest thing to work out, the key to promoting the feel of the setting.
GURPS sourcebooks are ripe for inspiration on Abilities/Edges/Orders, etc. The trick would be to determine what the main 'shticks' are for a given setting, and then working them into the mechanics somehow.
A little harder to pull off (and a lot more work, but still doable) would be a 20's/30's era Pulp game.
Oh there's no doubt I'd check first to make sure everything is ok.
I'm actually curious if anyone at Decipher has considered releasing a redone version of the CODA system as a generic fantasy RPG?
With some revision, the system could work for standard fantasy, or provide a nice rules set for other fantasy genres. With some work for unarmed combat, it would work fine for Asian-style fantasy, and the LotR version would work perfectly for a Robin Hood style of campaign.
I would love to see the CODA system done for a generic setting, as they got both a sci-fiction and fantasy system from it, I don't see it being hard to create a generic system, for us all to use. I know for myself I would buy it, Already own GURPS system book and a number of others like D20. I like the general systems because half the fun is coming up with worlds and history myself.
But CODA is not very much different from D20, really. IT has a couple of interesting points - but in the end it is almost just rolling 2d6 instead of d20. And some of the points that CODA has that d20 does not, GURPS has - another generic role playing game. I don't think that there is enough truely unique material or ideas that would make CODA "stand out from the crowd" when you take from it two big name franchises - Star Trek and Middle Earth.
Gavynn
I dunno... I'd call the advancement system pretty different, and the use of health levels and penalties to be quite different than d20. Last I checked, there was no Fate/Hero Point system in d20.Quote:
Originally posted by GavynnAlexander
But CODA is not very much different from D20, really. IT has a couple of interesting points - but in the end it is almost just rolling 2d6 instead of d20. And some of the points that CODA has that d20 does not, GURPS has - another generic role playing game. I don't think that there is enough truely unique material or ideas that would make CODA "stand out from the crowd" when you take from it two big name franchises - Star Trek and Middle Earth.
Each of those three sub-systems (and those are just off the top of my head) are not in GURPS either.
Yep, I like CODA for the True Hero Type games, GURPS and D20 are good for hero's who been put into a situation without meaning to. CODA is good for heroes that wanted to be there.
I think that the idea of the "advancements" is pretty GURPSish. In GURPS you are awarded character points to improve certain aspects of your character (rather than every aspect like in a levels system). CODA just mixed the experience point thing with a "character point" concept.Quote:
I dunno... I'd call the advancement system pretty different, and the use of health levels and penalties to be quite different than d20. Last I checked, there was no Fate/Hero Point system in d20.
I have said before that the Heath system is something I have not encountered before and is a much needed improvement over the hit point totals of D&D. But that hardly makes a game system in itself and it would also be very easy to replicate the Heath system in d20.
As far as "hero points system" are you talking about courage? Rules for Hero/cinematic campaigns in GURPS can do about the same thing, if I recall. I have never played in one, but can't the GM allow players to save some of their starting character points? Then these points can be expended in the game to help the player do "heroic" thing (add a bonus to a roll or heal damage). I think it does about the same thing.
But still - I could run down a list of ideas that are in CODA that they just came up with a new name for a concept and applied it:
Order = Class
Elite Order = Prestigue Class
Difficulty Check (DC) = Target Number (TN)
Edges = GURPS Advantages (can be d20 Feets)
Flaws = GURPS Flaws
Skills = Skills (I guess no one has a new word for "skills")
Attributes = Basic Stats
Reactions = Saves
CODA even uses the ideas that he raw values of your attributes means almost nothing on their own because they apply a modifier to all the rolls.
Really - rolling 2d6, adding a modifier to try to hit a number is not very unique or interesting. That kind of thing has been done all over the place. And with character generation VERY similar - there is not much left.
If you take away all the Tolkien stuff on races to much just generic "dwarf" or "elf" stats that you would have to have to make a "generic" game you loose even more allure. Right now there is a reason for everything not to be balanced - but can you pull of the unbalanced thing in a "generic" game? Maybe - it is just a hurdle. But if all the racial stats were brought into "balance" then you get even closer to D&D.
I don't get it. I have played plenty of GURPS and d20 games were the heroes wanted to be there. Sounds like a game master/player/storyline issue to me, not a game mechanic thing. But even if it was - are you sure that CODA makes it that way or the Middle Earth game setting?Quote:
Yep, I like CODA for the True Hero Type games, GURPS and D20 are good for hero's who been put into a situation without meaning to. CODA is good for heroes that wanted to be there.
Gavynn
That should have been d20 "feats" as in heroic deeds, not "feets" as in those things we walk on - temporary brain burp.
Gavynn
You know, that's why I like CODA so much, it's a perfect balance betwin the simplicity of D20 and the detail of GURPS. And it also has some unique things, as the health sistem, courage points, magic and the combat system(specially the concept of natural and active defense).
I'd really like to have a general CODA.
GavynnAlexander -
I agree with you on many things, especially the similarity of d20 and the CODA system. However, most of the things you describe as being GURPS things were also HERO things, and before that, DragonQuest things.
In fact, examine d20/D&D 3.5 next to a copy of Runequest (2nd edition) or Pendragon and count all of the similarities.
Simply put, there is very little that is new in any RPG.
I think that CODA would make a fine basic system - frankly, not because it is particularly innovative, but because it has enough features that I like to save me the time of adapting them to my own system.
Personally, I've never liked GURPS as anything other than a sourcebook factory - an attitude that SJG realizes is common in the industry - as noted by their de-emphasis of the GURPS aspect with recent releases.
To each their own.
There are few new ideas in the RPG industry - I agree. And the d20 system has helped to squash new ideas. A gaming company can either expend money and time developing its own game system or use the d20 system they know worked reasonably well. Many don't want to expend the resources when they could pick up a game system for free.
Decipher chose not to go d20. I applaud that. I am not dedicated to any one system AT ALL. But they expended a lot of resources to develop a system that is a lot like d20 with 2d6. As we have mentioned, there are a few new points like Wound Levels and courage. But they could have imported d20 and spent all the time developing CODA into developing LotR gaming supplements of exceptional quality. Of course I realize that might not have been perfect because of the restrictions on character generation the d20 license holds.
But back to the point - Decipher went new game system and what they came up with was not especially revolutionary. But they did not have to. They know people we going to buy the system not primarily because of game mechanics or game system but because of the association with possibly the most successful fantasy and science fiction settings
ever.
Smaller companies, without the draw of big name licenses, have nothing but their game system to draw gamers. They are more inclined to be innovative and revolutionary with their systems. The Riddle of Steel is a great example of that.
But you may be right. There might be just enough stuff in CODA to draw people to it because it saves people the time of adapting the features - as you said. If it does, I am for it 100% - d20 could afford a little bit of serious competition.
I might even buy it if they tried it - but in order to be successful I think they would need some serious marketing strategies to get it in most gamers hands.
But I could be wrong - and in some ways I hope I am.
Gavynn
One reason I love CODA so much is because it does things I wanted to do with d20, but couldn't. Weariness, wound levels, free-form advancement, etc.
Trek could not have been d20, IMO, so it makes sense to me that Decipher decided to go with a new system rather than jump on the d20 bandwagon.
And since much of the design staff came from the old LUG days, it makes sense to me that they would have updated and expanded their ICON system. :)
I dig CODA. I've messed with CODA Star Wars rules and on a Deryni CODA, but nothing real formal. Maybe someday...
This is the only RPG I've ever played, so I won't attempt to add anything to that debate about d20 and everything. ;)
However, I know that one thing that sealed my decision to buy the LotR RPG was that it used your regular, every-day dice, the d6. So I just pulled out Axies And Allies, Risk, and Yahtzee, and I had about 30 dice in front of me.
Needless to say, I wouldn't be lacking dice. :)
So that definitely drew me, a newbie to RPGs, a lover of LotR. I would imagine that there is a number of people who love LotR and will buy the RPG because they know it only uses regular dice and not 20-sided, 10-sided, 12-sided, and so on.
That's actually one reason why I didn't buy the Star Wars RPG... I love SW about as much as LoTR, but I'd need a lot of new dice to play, so it'd be complicated to have to find all those special dice (yeah yeah, probably a few bucks at any gaming store would get me them, but it's the psychology of it).
So, maybe for newbies, it's a good thing that LotR is d6 and not d20, yes? Though I've also heard a lot about the legendary love of a nice variety of dice that RPGers have, so people who want to use a lot of different dice will have to improvise if they are using LotR. :D
By the way... does anyone highly suggest the SW RPG? It's like $30 on Amazon, so that plus the dice doesn't sound too high, though of course not too cheap either. :cool:
The d20 revised Star Wars RPG is worth the money. Don't waste your time with the first edition of it. They fixed a lot of stuff in the revised edition, and it works really well. Some of my best GMing came out of d20 revised SW.Quote:
Originally posted by ben hur
By the way... does anyone highly suggest the SW RPG? It's like $30 on Amazon, so that plus the dice doesn't sound too high, though of course not too cheap either. :cool:
I wouldn't waste your time with many of the supplements either. The core book has pretty much everything you can think of. :)
And the dice aren't all that expensive. Shop around and you should be able to find a good deal. :)
Well, maybe I am way off base and my opinion is the minority. Like I said - if Decipher tried I'd support a generc CODA, but only time would tell if it had staying power in the market. It might be a very interesting experiment. This was just speculation though, right? Decipher has no plans to do so now, correct? I would hate for it to take valuable resources away from the LotR RPG.
My friends played in a LONG LONG Star Wars campaign after I moved away to college. They had a blast and so did I when I was there as a guest game master/villian. Ineti is right - make sure you get the lastest version of the rules. I am not so quick to dismiss the supliments though. Sure the core book has everything you need, but I think it is worth flipping through some of them and making some purchases down the road should you get into it. If you love Star Wars as much as LotR, you WILL enjoy the role playing game.
Yeah, don't get hung up over the dice. I tube of dice for 5 dollars or maybe less is all you really need .
Don't want to loose you in the LotR game though. Your too valuable. Maybe I should have told you the SW game stinks.
Later,
Gavynn
As far as I know, just idle "wouldn't it be cool if?" speculation, based on the initial subject of the thread.Quote:
Originally posted by GavynnAlexander
Well, maybe I am way off base and my opinion is the minority. Like I said - if Decipher tried I'd support a generc CODA, but only time would tell if it had staying power in the market. It might be a very interesting experiment. This was just speculation though, right? Decipher has no plans to do so now, correct? I would hate for it to take valuable resources away from the LotR RPG.
For example, I was drawing up plans for a Hyborian Age CODA adaptation until I found out Mongoose Publishing had gotten the license for Conan.
The main reason I'd urge Decipher to do a generic CODA game is that there are plenty of people who just don't like d20 and would be happy for an alternative, even if it was similar, and there are fewer and fewer generic fantasy systems left - which is ironic, because the market research shows that the core rulebooks are what outsell everything else.
There are getting fewer and fewer major systems (another byproduct of the d20 system I guess), which is indeed sad.
Variety is the spice of life - and it is certainly the spice of gaming.
Gavynn
I'd rather see your adaptation of a CODA Hyboria than a d20 version ....
Also kinda off topic now:
LotR Movie Nitpick #17:
When Haldir brings to Fellowship to Caras Galadhon, he pronounces it wrong ... the 'dh' is supposed to be pronounced like the 'th' in 'the', and the 'on' is NOT pronounced like the English word 'on' (as in 'on the top of the shelf') but more the word 'own'.
Your right - that would ceratinly be a nit pick.
Still I am always impressed with the detailed knowledge of Elven Languages on these boards have. I am sure it enriches you games greatly.
Gavynn
Thanks for your reviews, Ineti and Gavynn! I really think I'll seriously look into buying it in the future. :)
Yeah Ineti, I probably won't buy the supplements, just because I don't spend much money on RPGs; I mean, I haven't even bought any of the LotR RPG supplements, so I doubt I'll do so for the Star Wars RPG... plus, the official site has a lot of extra material for the game, especially mini-adventures. :cool:
Thanks so much for that comment Gavynn, you made my day. :D
(By the way, the dice aren't really a problem anyway; I've got a d12 and a d10 from other games, so I can basically make any die roll out of those. For example, to roll a d20 I can roll a d10 and a d6: if the d6 is 4 to 6 I add 10 to the d10's roll, otherwise I don't. Of course, buying a real d20 would be easier and neater, hehe :cool:).
Whoa!
A dedicated gamer that does not spend a lot of many on RPGs?? I did not think those existed! If only I could say that about myself. I recently had to get a sturdier shelf because the weight of my gaming books ripped my old one from the wall in the middle of the night about a month ago! It about sent me through the roof too when I heard the crash.
But seriously - more power to you.
You are very welcome King Of Rohan.
Gavynn
Now that sounds familiar. happened to me about a year back, and my shelves are above my bed. Lucky I wasn't in it at the time. Would have hurt a lot. I spent a fortune on books for one system or another. End of the day I like the feel of the CODA system, don't know why exactly other than it reasonally straight forward. I would love to see a generic verision of it published but that would have to be something Decipher decided on.
I'd love to play a CODA Pirates of the Caribbean game. For ship combat, Avalon Hill's Wooden Ships & Iron Men would be a good starting point.
Right on, Sarge! I'm going to try that I think. :)
ICON Trek had interesting rules for a pirate universe in the Holodeck supplement. I wonder how that could be ported into CODA (since after all ICON can convert rather well to CODA).
You know, I've thought the exact same thing when I saw that movie! It could turn into a great adventure involving Gondor and the Corsairs of Umbar
I can't even being to say how long it has been since I have even thought about that game. Don't remember much about it, but I think it was a pretty through game.Quote:
For ship combat, Avalon Hill's Wooden Ships & Iron Men would be a good starting point
Gavynn
Wooden Ships & Iron Men is just about perfect for simulating huge fleet actions like the Battle of Trafalgar. Whether or not it's detailed enough for one vs one ship duels is a matter of taste. If you're more into the roleplaying than the tactics of naval combat, it ought to be fine. Personally, I like to have a more detailed method of determining the result of each broadside, but any experienced GM with some knowledge of period ships can create house rules to fill in the gaps.
I have been using Coda LOTR for a fantasy setting of my own design for over a month now and, with minor tweaks, it works very well.
Most aspects fit right in, although I did reduce the bonus DR of Mithril to plus 5 so that on the off chance anyone ever gets they're hands on any they won't quite be invincible.
Funny you should bring up Wooden Ships & Iron Men Sarge, the whole reason I came to the forum today was to ask if anyone had created ship rules for LOTR. I have been considering adapting, very loosely adapting, the ship construction rules from Coda Trek. However that would be a fair amount of work and I thought I would see if anyone had already done it (I can be lazy sometimes).
Unfortunately it doesn't seem like anyone has.
Oh well. Fortunately we will not need ship rules for some time, giving me time to cobble them together.
If anyone does feel inspired please feel free to post your ideas here. I, and my lazy side, would very much appreciate it.
I have no rules for ship combat (and I the LotR RPG is the only RPG that I have, so I have no existing sources to play off of), but I think it would be neat if somebody made some (why is everyone looking at me like that? ;)).
Anyway, I was wondering... if someone makes them, how complex of ship rules do you think they should be? Should they be rather simple (like the Basic Mass Combat Rules), a bit more complicated than that (like possibly the Unit Combat Rules, though, um, better designed ;)), or as realistic as possible (like you'd actually be able to make your ships do real-life maneuvers and such)?
I'm rather leaning towards both a set of Basic Mass Ship-combat Rules and Complicated Ship-to-ship-combat Rules being available (and also, connected with the Basic Mass Ship-combat Rules, would be something like the Hero Combat mechanic but for ships).
In fact... you could basically use the Basic Mass Combat Rules, and just use them for mass ship-combat battles, and modify the Hero Combat table slightly, while also making rules for ship combat that would be a lot like the normal combat rules. Maybe I can try it... I really know almost nothing about ships in a technical sense... but I do really enjoy books like Midshipman Quinn and movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, so I might it a try. I'm sure I can find some books that will at least give me a crash-course on ships, or at least a smattering of facts.
Don't look for it though; if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn't, it doesn't; I'm too busy with schoolwork to try and commit to more projects, especially after just finishing the grueling work on Barahir's Ring. :D
If you can find a copy of GURPS Swashbucklers, that also has rules for ship combat. It's along the same lines as the GURPS space combat rules, if you've seen that. And everybody knows that GURPS can be adapted to anything.
I'm still hoping GURPS will do a book devoted to sea adventures in the age of Nelson. With all the books about Hornblower, Aubrey & Maturin (soon to be a movie), Ramage, Bolitho, et al, there's no lack of inspiration for adventures in the genre. And of course, the history of the era is (IMO) some of the most interesting non-fiction I've ever read.
Heh, I didn't know it, so thanks! Of course, I'm possibly the one person on this board who has had the least experience with RPGs, so, that's not too surprising. :)Quote:
Originally posted by Sarge
If you can find a copy of GURPS Swashbucklers, that also has rules for ship combat. It's along the same lines as the GURPS space combat rules, if you've seen that. And everybody knows that GURPS can be adapted to anything.
Very, very interesting time frame. The book I mentioned, Midshipman Quinn, is about a midshipman (duh) in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars, and it's one of my favorite books.:cool:Quote:
Originally posted by Sarge
I'm still hoping GURPS will do a book devoted to sea adventures in the age of Nelson. With all the books about Hornblower, Aubrey & Maturin (soon to be a movie), Ramage, Bolitho, et al, there's no lack of inspiration for adventures in the genre. And of course, the history of the era is (IMO) some of the most interesting non-fiction I've ever read.
GURPS Compendium II also has rules for ship to ship combat. Both a general system and detailed rules for the status of the PC's ship. The Compendiums are collections of rules so it might be the same as the Swashbucklers. I don't know.
Gavynn