Violetsaber
Mongoose
Have I played the CODA system?
I ran a Star Trek RPG using the Decipher CODA system for somewhere around five years - it was the first serious RPG system I ever used. Afterward we decided to switch to the Lord of the Rings RPG for a chance of pace, but that kinda puttered out. I would say the problem had nothing to do with LotR per se, but the fact that a bunch of married guys decided to bring thier wives in on the game, and in this particular instance it just didn't gell. Thus, we now play our very tesosterone-centric Conan adventures with just us guys, and everything is going swimmingly.
In my experience, the CODA system focuses less on the combat rules (which are far simpler than DnD d20), and more on the storyline aspects. Oddly enough, there were still some hilarious discrepincies in skills compared to reactions.
For example, because our Star Trek storyline was so character/story oriented, players figured out pretty quick that they needed to pump up thier social skills. Therefore, we soon had a menagerie of characters walking around with 20+ ranks in Influence (Seduce), who could literally sweep any woman they wanted clean off her feet. Why? Because the opposing roll for a Influence (Seduce) was a characters Savvy or Willpower rolls - which were "high" at 5 or 6. Players literally had to roll the worst game of thier lives NOT to critically succeed.
It was like hosing down the decks of DS9 with a charisma firehose. Eventually it became a battle to see who could inflict thier will on the other fastest by getting in the first Influence (Intimidate) on fellow characters. Benjamin Sisko had to arbitrarily be given +30 Willpower or he would have become the puppet of the redshirts on the station.
All in all, it was hilarious and alot of fun. I have so many stories to tell I couldn't even start here. As a general review, though, I would say it works well for people who want "rules-light" combat and don't mind using thier GM'ing Hand of God to balance here and there.
Any specific questions?
I ran a Star Trek RPG using the Decipher CODA system for somewhere around five years - it was the first serious RPG system I ever used. Afterward we decided to switch to the Lord of the Rings RPG for a chance of pace, but that kinda puttered out. I would say the problem had nothing to do with LotR per se, but the fact that a bunch of married guys decided to bring thier wives in on the game, and in this particular instance it just didn't gell. Thus, we now play our very tesosterone-centric Conan adventures with just us guys, and everything is going swimmingly.
In my experience, the CODA system focuses less on the combat rules (which are far simpler than DnD d20), and more on the storyline aspects. Oddly enough, there were still some hilarious discrepincies in skills compared to reactions.
For example, because our Star Trek storyline was so character/story oriented, players figured out pretty quick that they needed to pump up thier social skills. Therefore, we soon had a menagerie of characters walking around with 20+ ranks in Influence (Seduce), who could literally sweep any woman they wanted clean off her feet. Why? Because the opposing roll for a Influence (Seduce) was a characters Savvy or Willpower rolls - which were "high" at 5 or 6. Players literally had to roll the worst game of thier lives NOT to critically succeed.
It was like hosing down the decks of DS9 with a charisma firehose. Eventually it became a battle to see who could inflict thier will on the other fastest by getting in the first Influence (Intimidate) on fellow characters. Benjamin Sisko had to arbitrarily be given +30 Willpower or he would have become the puppet of the redshirts on the station.
All in all, it was hilarious and alot of fun. I have so many stories to tell I couldn't even start here. As a general review, though, I would say it works well for people who want "rules-light" combat and don't mind using thier GM'ing Hand of God to balance here and there.
Any specific questions?