Wheel of Time RPG

[zarakstan]

I am getting the Wheel of Time RPG on Thursday. It uses the basic rules from DnD 3.0 while adding in magic, classes, etc. to better fit the setting.

Post any experiences you've had or anything you want to comment on.

[Optimystik]

Not belittling your purchase but... everything I've heard about it is that it's horrible. Channeling just doesn't go well with a d20-type system. They did their best to please both the gamers and the purists, resulting in a mediocre experience for both.

In addition, I don't know how much you paid for it, but a lot of the rulebook is simply copypasted from the PHB. For example, "Armsman" and "Fighter" are pretty interchangeable, both in fluff and crunch. So basically what you're paying for is the new magic system, which struck me as subpar.

[The_Snark]

It is... functional. As Optimystik points out, channeling is not really suited to a d20 spells-per-day system (although they did a fairly good job of working it in), and none of the other classes are all that new. More importantly (in my book), none of the other classes are all that interesting. The Wanderer is like a rogue with fewer class abilities, the Woodsman is vaguely like a 3.0 ranger, the Armsman is a fighter with one new ability to compensate for the new AC rules, the Noble is sort of bard-esque, and the Algai'd'siswai... doesn't really have a close equivalent, but it's not all that exciting either. The feats are limited to what you'd find in the 3.0 Player's Handbook, with a few new ones (not counting the magic-related feats). There simply aren't all that many options.

I should note that channelers are not really balanced with non-channelers. Arguably, this is as it should be—in the books, nobody tries to argue that a guy with a sword is the equal, in a fight, of someone who can call down lightning or solidify the air. I wouldn't call this a problem at all, except that the book seems to think one channeler in a group of four people is just be another character, which is not the case. Non-channelers aren't useless—they're better at reacting to a surprise attack, for one thing—but don't expect to go head-to-head with a channeler and win.

In short: if what you really want to do is play in the Wheel of Time setting, and you don't really care about mechanics but don't want to have to invent your own rules from scratch, it's worth getting. Otherwise, there's not much reason to get it.

[El Dorado]

I can't speak to how well the rules play (never tried them) but the book has a lot of information on geography and history of the setting. It was also cool to see the writeups for Rand and company.

[Parra]

I quite liked the Wheel of Time RPG, sure its not a perfect setting and the channelers ar far superiour to the other classes but thats not all that different from 3.0 dnd either (casters out-classing other classes).
I found that to get the most out of it you had to adapt some of the feats from dnd to allow the other classes to catch up with the channelers a little.

[Ianuagonde]

I've played it a few times and I agree with The_Snark: channeling > melee. However, I found that a block helps balancing it out, especially if the DM makes an issue of it. For example, I played a male channeler who could only channel when he was thinking happy thoughts. Male channelers have the reputation of going slowly insane, killing everything around them. So, yeah...fighting was suddenly a lot more difficult, especially since fighting is about your friends getting hurt or dying. Female channelers don't have the going insane problem, but they have the White Tower, who insists on every female channeler on the planet joining them and start scrubbing floors. Infighting amongst the Ajahs also makes life more difficult for the female channelers. Non-channelers will be really pleased to see this kind of thing.

It helps if you play with a group who has read the books. The big guys from the books can be used as plot givers. "Perrin, defend our home. Matt, build me an army. Taim, train the channelers. You, go do X". The players can do little things like escort duty, or searching for a specific terangreal, while the big guys do big things.

[Tackyhillbillu]

I should note that channelers are not really balanced with non-channelers. Arguably, this is as it should be—in the books, nobody tries to argue that a guy with a sword is the equal, in a fight, of someone who can call down lightning or solidify the air. I wouldn't call this a problem at all, except that the book seems to think one channeler in a group of four people is just be another character, which is not the case. Non-channelers aren't useless—they're better at reacting to a surprise attack, for one thing—but don't expect to go head-to-head with a channeler and win.

Actually, the funniest thing about the system is that by the numbers, Mat is by far the strongest character in the games. Perrin is the only one who can beat him straight up.

Of course, that's just because Mat has the most broken Ter'Angreal ever, but it made me laugh.

[Jayngfet]

Actually, the funniest thing about the system is that by the numbers, Mat is by far the strongest character in the games. Perrin is the only one who can beat him straight up.

Of course, that's just because Mat has the most broken Ter'Angreal ever, but it made me laugh.

He's Matrim Freaking Cauthon. Even without the Ter'Angrael he has the skill of ten thousand dead swordsmen, and doesn't even need that since he will invent artillery just to kill you. A bag of party favors was rolled into an explosion so powerful it blasted though power wrought stone walls. Most Aes Sedai in universe need to go against the best crossbowmen and weapons in the world just to reach him.

[sombrastewart]

I'm a huge WoT fan, and have run several games with the RPG book. Is channeling best represented this way? Not really. I hadn't fooled with it because it was serviceable enough, but I had considered changing it so that they worked off spell points. The only base class I really don't like is the Aiel, and frankly, I just don't have Aiel in my games, since most of them have taken place just a few years after the Aiel War.

The base classes may not be anything to write home about, but I really like the prestige classes. Blademaster's Parting the Silk allows you to deal maximum non-critical damage with an attack, the Warder bond allows a Warder and an Aes Sedai to work off each other's saves, that sort of thing.

Part of the reason that I'm not so bent out of shape over the base classes and such is that if you take a low level character and put him up against a Trolloc, it's a tough fight. As you get higher level, they get easier and easier to deal with, and I'm okay with that. Really, what I think makes it work is having a GM who knows the setting and can run a good game, but that's the kind of thing that could be said for any system.

Ideas I've had, that you're free to use if you want to run a game:
-Sent to recover a pair of Accepted that fled and went to help a bandit family member in the Planes of Maredo
-Attempts to negotiate some of the items from the Tear cache being sabotaged by a Black sister
-Being sent by a lord to pick up a cuedillar item he had purchased, only for it to be one of the seals (wanderer decided to hang onto it by using shoemaker glue to put it on the small of his back)
-Outpost along the Blight having mishaps take place because of their commander, a male channeler trying to keep his ability and madness at bay

[Zom B]

I played a few sessions and loved it. My favorite character was my male Wilder (Dum dum DUM!), who discovered he could channel when working as a burglar, he realized the homeowner was coming and was trapped. Panicking, he just flattened against a wall and the homeowner walked right past him. He could only channel when fealing fear, and had an affinity for Air and Fire, so he could go Invisible at first level. And throw Fireballs. Mustn't forget the Fireballs.

We were doing the introductory adventure of saving The Two Rivers from wolves and went to fight the bear. I was sufficiently afraid of the bear, especially after it took down one of my party members, to be able to channel and blasted it with a fireball. Good times.

We had planned that if that adventure kept going, I was going to be one of Rand's Ashaman when that timeframe came. If I wasn't insane by that point.