Has anyone...

[The Hobbit]

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.

[Jason Durall]

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.

[GavynnAlexander]

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. <I>The Riddle of Steel </I> 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

[Ineti]

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...

[ben hur]

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.

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.

[Ineti]

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.

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.

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.

[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.

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

[Jason Durall]

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.

As far as I know, just idle "wouldn't it be cool if?" speculation, based on the initial subject of the thread.

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.

[GavynnAlexander]

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

[Manveru]

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'.

[GavynnAlexander]

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

[ben hur]

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.

Thanks so much for that comment Gavynn, you made my day.

(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 ).

[GavynnAlexander]

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

[Grimbeorn]

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.

[Sarge]

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.