Decipher LotR? RPG was first released to the public [?]?

1. Decipher's license covers The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings novels, most of the Appendices, and the three films by New Line.

The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and The Histories of Middle-earth series, along with all other supplemental books such as The Atlas of Middle-earth are not covered.

Therefore, anyone expecting a complete Middle-earth RPG will need to look elsewhere (and more specifically, either to MERP or to any number of unofficial homebrew systems. Until Tolkien's estate changes their minds on licensing, no official RPG will ever be a complete version.

1. Decipher's proprietary system, the CODA System (not an acronym) uses this core mechanic: 2d6+skill+attribute modifier+other modifiers vs a Target Number or TN.
2. The CODA System is similar in some respects to the d20 System, but different in others. The treatment of wound levels/wound points, skills, orders, order abilities, edges, flaws, magic, and character advancement are generally quite different.
3. The LOTR RPG focuses on heroic, epic roleplaying in Tolkien's Middle-earth. It is not a standard fantasy RPG with Tolkien trappings, though it could be run as such. Player characters are assumed to be heroes fighting the good fight against the forces of darkness. As such there are no rules or options for playing evil characters in the game.

Decipher's LotR? has struggled greatly because it was late getting released to take best advantage of the release of the [Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings Movies]?, and lack of real corporate support by Decipher itself.

A number of moves, and canning of development teams, and poor marketing to those interested in the product added to it's struggling in the market place.

This in addition to the over restrictive licensing terms, some supplements are pure "fluff" and not much actual "meat" for real use in a game, has made it a long haul for Decipher. There was a while there where it seemed that Decipher Lotr RPG was completely dead and abandoned by Decipher. Now it's not clear how much support there is, but some products are still slowly being released.

The hard copy books released so far include:

• [Decipher LotR Core Rulebook]?
• [Decipher LotR The Fellowship of the Ring]?
• [Decipher LotR The Two Towers]?
• [Decipher LotR Fell Beasts & Wondrous Magic]?
• [Decipher LotR Moria Boxed Set]?
• [Decipher LotR Helms Deep]?
• [Decipher LotR Paths of the Wise]?
• Decipher LotR Isengard
• [Decipher LotR Narrator Screen]?
• [Decipher LotR Maps of Middle-earth]?
• [Decipher LotR Maps of Middle-earth Cities & Strongholds]?
• [Decipher LotR Heroes Journal]?

A number of downloadable "soft copy" products have been made available as well:

• Decipher LotR High Resolution Character Sheet
• [Decipher LotR Low Resolution Character Sheet]?
• [Decipher LotR Character Log Sheet MeCS]?
• [Road to Henneth Annûn]?
• [Relics of the Dead]?
• [Lord of Daylight]?
• [Shadow Over Dale]?
• [Ruins of Annúminas]?
• [Decipher LotR FAQs]?
• [Decipher LotR Errata]?
• [Decipher LotR Collected Rulings]?

comments:

Additional Info --Kurgan, Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:24:47 +0000 reply
From what I've been able to gather, the "Isengard" and "Paths of the Wise" sourcebooks were ultimately cancelled shortly before they were to go to print, so never did get deadtree versions. They were, however, definitely released in PDF form.

Also, I spotted a couple of entries for additional books that were slated for publication, but also ended up being cancelled (with no PDF versions being released either, unfortunately). They were "Fields of Battle: The Guide to Barbarians & Warriors" and "Rohan: Among the Horse-Lords." I'd love to find out if the manuscripts for those two were finished. Some of the contributing authors (the former Last Unicorn Games staff that went to work for Decipher) have been known to release their work online for fans of the games they've worked on. Here's hoping. :)

pdf downloads --rogar, Thu, 14 May 2009 07:11:14 +0000 reply
Where can I find the available pdf downloads for the unpublished books Isengard and Paths of the wise?