Scenarios book?

[KillerWhale]

Hi (hope this is in the right forum...)

So far, I really like the Coda system; we changed from Icon and the players and I all like it very much. It fills many of the flaws of Icon (still Icon was very fun to play, mind you ).

I can't wait to see the next books (and the screen especially) but as I've seen in the release schedule, it seems that there is no scenario or campaign scheduled in the visible future... If it's possible, I'd like to ask the game designers if there are some adventures books planned to be released in the near future...

I think it's really great to have all the scenery greatly detailed, but I also think that what a RPG needs most to live, is scenarios. I can make adventures up, of course, or convert some from other RPGs, but nothing can come close to the "true material" (aaaah, the heaven that was LUG's Planetary Adventures...!)

I can't wait for "Coda-official" campaigns and aventures!!

Thank you for any info you can provide!

[Don Mappin]

Unlikely, as adventure books don’t typically sell too well. They make good schedule-fillers, though. This isn’t a definitive answer, mind you, just an FYI.

[KillerWhale]

Hi Don,

Thank you very much for your answer! I guess I'll have to continue inventing stories

I'm amazed that adventures don't sell well, though! I would have sworn it was the other way round. I just would have loved to see lots of campaigns and adventures, like the zillion boxed ones Star Wars has. Too bad...

Anyway, Coda rules! (as said on the border of chapter 8 of the NG ) You did all an amazing job, and I can't wait to see what's next!

[prophetsteve]

Don is right; from what I have heard from the gaming grapevine, scenario books don't sell well. Its why you generally see only sourcebooks released by companies these days.

I can attest to a heavy dislike of them myself unless I really don't have a good handle on the setting (such pulp or some radical new game). Otherwise I think they are just a waste of a release slot that could have been used for a sourcebook.

The only redeeming value that may have in my eyes is sometimes they contain sourcebook information. For instance the Corporate Sector Authority stuff in Tempest Feud (for Star Wars d20). Otherwise I think they just stand in the way of soucebooks and other useful stuff.

I hope decipher stays away from scenario books - after all we need to cover the various settings better before we even think of "stuff" like scenario books, etc.

[Champions Guru]

I've never been any good at creating my own adventures, but give me a module and I can run the heck out of it. I think that adventure modules or scenario books add an heir of familiarity to the game system. Modules can also be good tutorials on how the rules of a particular game works and how a gamemaster and can use the rules in certain situations.

Decipher please help us plot-challenged players and put out some adventures.

Da Guru

[Trotsky]

I'm amazed that adventures don't sell well, though! I would have sworn it was the other way round.

Unfortunately not. Part of the problem is that generally only GMs buy scenario books, whereas rulebooks and supplements are often bought by more than one person in a particular gaming group (this is especially true of 'Players Guide' type rulebooks). It may also be that a lot of GMs don't buy all the scenarios, because some of them don't fit their campaign, while source material is more easily adaptable, and therefore bought by almost everyone.

Whatever the reason, scenario books lose companies money (they cost more to produce than they make back in sales, unless you're as large as WotC) and nobody likes losing money. Now, they might be able to work round this by including scenarios with background information (like those in the LUG Romulan and Academy books), but I suspect that may be a low priority for Decipher

[BonzaiGopher]

Hi all,

I can certainly understand the problems with selling adventure modules - the scope is too focused for any given story (character requirements, etc) to sell in sufficient numbers to warrant the print costs.

What if Decipher were to sell e-modules? They could sell modules in PDF format that people would purchase from their website. Granted, I don't know if this would justify the amount of work the authors do, but it's just an idea. This way, Decipher isn't stuck with a warehouse full of printed books that aren't selling.

I would think that pre-written adventures are almost a necessity for a new game product; at least to give players and Narrators a quick intro to the new system. I have to admit, I missed the "obligatory sample adventure" that I am used to seeing in new games. Don't get me wrong - the books are really nice and the system is a logical improvment over LUG, but I would prefer to be able to just pick up an adventure, read it through and then run it. I can't always find the time to sit down and write an entire story (with all the appropriate rules considered for game balance).

The other thing I've noticed with the d20 system is there are a couple of 3rd party companies producing modules for D&D - one makes small "one-night fillers", some of which are pretty good. Those modules aren't big on art or flashy production, it's just enough to take most of the work off your plate. Producing modules in this fashion is another route that Decipher could consider to minimize their risk in this area.

Any comments?

Cheers,

Bonzai Gopher