LotR Narrator's Screen Review

[Don Mappin]

The Lord of the Rings Narrator's Screen Review
Note: I have worked as a contractor for Decipher in the past, although not on the product in question.

Format: 4-pane cardboard stock, full-color screen (one side), matte finish; 16-page mono booklet; 6 full-color glossy character sheets (double-sided)
MSRP: $18.95 (previously incorrectly stated $14.95)

Much like my review for the Star Trek Narrator's Screen, I will endeavor to cover the Lord of the Rings Narrator's Screen with as much detail as one can do so when discussing a screen. The screen is comprised of a 4-panel cardstock design, color on the outside with a flat matte finish. Thankfully the screen seems resistant to finger oil, as no fingerprint marks are left after handling. The external picture of Minas Tirith and Mordor (?) is disappointing; the graphic is unexciting, does not inspire nor motivate, isn't particularly breathtaking, and is downright boring. Worse of all, the picture is blurry--clearly a low resolution picture that was blown up much larger than it should have. The external facing also has no text or graphic elements--just the blurry picture. When held up next to the eye catching layout of the Core Book the Narrator's Screen seems as an uninspired stepchild. Were I a player I would not want to look at this screen every session. It's that boring.

Internally--thankfully--things are slightly better. Nineteen tables grace the inside in a drab sepia tone against a stark white background. Nothing special to look at. The font is identical to that found in the Core Book and reading it did not prove difficult. From left to right, the screen contains:

Sample Movement Actions (214)
Full-Round Actions (216)
Sample Free Actions (215)
Degree of Success (220)
Social Test Modifiers (220)
Academic Test Modifiers (220)
Close Combat Tests (230)
Encumbrance and Movement (215)
Stun Effects (232)
Physical Test Modifiers (218)
Standard Target Numbers (TNs) (217)
Ranged Combat Tests (230)
Effects of Injury (244)
Armour & Shield (208) non-errata'd version
Natural Healing (247)
Healing Tests (247)
Weapons (205) non-errata'd version
Weariness Levels (249) non-errata'd version
Weariness Rates (249)

You might have noticed that three of the tables included on the screen were modified by errata or new rulings for the game. The tables on the screen do not reflect these changes. This same problem occurs on the Star Trek Narrator's Screen, something that I was willing to allow only because the presumption was that, in the six months since that product should have come out, Decipher was surely directing their efforts towards something. Clearly it was not towards the Lord of the Rings Narrator's Screen and making a small effort to make their flagship product as tight (error-free) as possible. In particular, I find the failure to update the Weapons table--something far more frequently referenced in a fantasy game--significant. In what can only be described as a bit of ironic humor, the six included character sheets are corrected to denote the Swiftness modifier when calculating Initiative.

Speaking of which, the six full-color character sheets--again, like the Star Trek ones--are directly from the Core Book and printed on glossy paper, making their usefulness suspect at best. To add insult to injury, the back of the Lord of the Rings Narrator's Screen denotes that it included "two full-color Grimoire sheets"--sheets that are, in fact, not included. No word yet on how Decipher plans to reconcile this snafu.

The included 16-page booklet contains an adventure by original Lord of the Rings developer Steven S. Long entitled "The House of Margil." It is fairly straightforward and deals with the PCs on a quest to find the ranger Margil. In another blindingly obvious error the two-page credit/table of contents spread is pulled from the Core Book, showing the "Introduction," and chapters one, two, and three beginning on pages 10, 44, and 58 respectively of our 16-page booklet! If you haven't realized it yet, the Lord of the Rings Narrator's Screen suffers from a number of easily-fixed, yet unforgivably simple to detect errors.

Bottom Line: I can't recommend this product. The screen is slightly useful, the character sheets less so, errors abound and the two missing Grimoire sheets only further to underscore a product that could have used a bit more reviewing. The included adventure is an added bonus (no one purchases a screen for the adventure) but doesn't make up for the failings of what should have been an easy product to get right.

[Don Mappin]

Comments welcome. Spread the news for those looking for a review...

[Phantom]

Hey Don,

To be blunt, I don't know why people spend the money on screens. I have two (L5R and Ars Magica) I know the systems so well I don't need 'em, don't know why I bought 'em. I guess the old saying is right "a fool and his money..."

[C5]

Don't want to hijack the thread (since I don't own LOTR nor plan to play it in the future, although one of my friends was very interested), but I'd like to say I (mildly) disagree with Phantom.
For one thing, not every GM knows the system by heart, and having all of the charts available at one glance can be very useful. Plus you always need something to prevent these pesky players to see your notes and your fudging of dice , and finally, I like when a screen's art can keep players in the mood of the game (something the LUG NS failed IMHO).
Granted, you can also paste photocopied charts on a cardboard panel, but hey... you can also design you own system on that account

[Calcoran]

Is there any place on the net where we can see the NS's image? Last I checked it wasn't on Decipher's site (unlike the ST NS ... maybe this shows they're not very proud of it themselves?).

[CorpBoy]

Originally posted by Calcoran
Is there any place on the net where we can see the NS's image? Last I checked it wasn't on Decipher's site (unlike the ST NS ... maybe this shows they're not very proud of it themselves?).

Decipher still seems to have a problem with getting information about the RPG's out in a reasonable length of time. Truth be told, I've given up even looking at the site for updates. The only reason I visit is to check on the message boards, and then only because Doug is there to answer questions.

If I need Trek help, I just come here.

[qerlin]

Ditty to corpboy. Pretty bad when they're own store doesn't have the product for sale before other vendors. No information that isn't card game related. Way over projected time... The RPG division of this company is getting shafted.

[Sarge]

Thanks for the review, Don.

Much as I want to support DEC LotR, I think I'll pass on this product. Hopefully, they'll get around to a revised and improved screen eventually. I'd be happy to buy a good screen, but I won't support mediocre work from a company that has proved it can do better.

[qerlin]

Actually had to cancel an order through the Star Trek Fan CLub today. Waiting 4 months on a pre-order is far too long; especially when the item is the big front page advert on the webstore.

Between that, the six month wait for a product that you have to hunt for to find being sold anywhere, and the shoddy quality of the LOTR screen, as Don has reviewed, any faith in Decipher to get product out on time, or move it once it's done, is gone. I'll probably buy the Starships book, but at this point, I can see supporting either RPG line 'til Decipher fires its distribution and marketing folks.

The company just looks bad.

rant over.

[Calcoran]

Originally posted by qerlin
... I'll probably buy the Starships book, but at this point, I can see supporting either RPG line 'til Decipher fires its distribution and marketing folks...

Funny that ... that's exactly what I thought should happen to <I>my</I> company's distribution and marketing department ... instead of that the CEOs decided to close a production line, fired some 2000 people working there ... and kept the marketing. After that I figured the normal course of action in any company was to consider the marketing guys as inefficient. It's probably efficient marketing departments that are the exceptions.

I wonder how people who happen to work in marketing departments feel ...

[Greg Smith]

Yep, Salesman is a four-letter word where I work.

Thanks for the review Don. I've decided that I won't be buying the LotR screen based on what you've said.

[Jason Durall]

I got the Narrator's Screen.

Don's covered it pretty well in his review, but I would just like to ask some questions about what happened with this product.

First off, the lack of a MSRP had my game store overcharging for it - at $18.95. I look here and the review says it's supposed to be $14.95. Is Decipher going to be offering a refund for people like me who got ripped off by stores who had to guess at a price?

Secondly, the grimiore sheets being missing - what's up with that? How are we supposed to get copies of those now?

Thirdly, the color character sheets. Has anyone at Decipher tried to use these? How were these supposed to be a good idea? If they'd thrown in a blank sheet and five pregen characters (even the ones from the book), it would have been smarter.

Fourthly, why weren't the errata and collected rulings made available in this, or incorporated into the charts? A simple printed page would have added immensely to this. Or even a page showing the character creation process, which is confusing as well.

Fifthly, what's up with that Table of Contents? I see Steve Long, Christian Moore, Matt Forbeck, and George Vasilakos as being involved in the writing, development, and layout process. These are all good people, and each of them has produced work I respect. How did all of these guys miss the contents page thing, or question where the grimiore sheets were?

Is there going to be some company statement on this, refunds, or mailing of the missing stuff?

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by Jason Durall
First off, the lack of a MSRP had my game store overcharging for it - at $18.95. I look here and the review says it's supposed to be $14.95. Is Decipher going to be offering a refund for people like me who got ripped off by stores who had to guess at a price?

That fault is mine--the MSRP for the LotR screen is $18.95.

I find this absurd, as the Trek screen is $14.95, is full-color on both sides, and includes eight glossy sheets plus a 16 page booklet. The LotR screen is full-color on only one side of the screen and because of the grimiore screw-up, only comes with six sheets!

Yet, strangely, the Trek screen is cheaper!?! Sounds like milking a cow to me...

I've fixed the above to reflect the correct MSRP.

[Greg Smith]

Originally posted by Jason Durall
I got the Narrator's Screen.

First off, the lack of a MSRP had my game store overcharging for it - at $18.95. I look here and the review says it's supposed to be $14.95. Is Decipher going to be offering a refund for people like me who got ripped off by stores who had to guess at a price?

Secondly, the grimiore sheets being missing - what's up with that? How are we supposed to get copies of those now?

Is there going to be some company statement on this, refunds, or mailing of the missing stuff?

Take it back to your games store and ask for a refund seeing as you didn't get the Grimoire sheets. If everyone did this, maybe Decipher would get around to doing someting about PDQ.

Seriously, if you bought a car and the radio didn't work you'd take it back to the showroom. If you bought a boardgame and some pieces were missing, you'd want a replacement or refund.

There's not a lot you can do about typos in a book, or unerratta'd tables on a screen, but you can definitely do something about missing parts.

[calguard66]

Funny thing is, we'll all not buy or take back the shoddy products... and then Decipher will cancel the line due to "lack of consumer interest". Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy.

Anyway, I almost bought this last nite, when I finally picked up the core book... but decided to put it off. Glad I did.