Wheel of Time RPG - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Wheel of Time RPG

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
rohetos1
Jul 11, 2008 11:35:44 Hey, justed wanted to know anybody's thoughts on this game. I love the series of books, and now that Wizards published this book a while back, but what are your thoughts? Is it a good game? Smooth play? Interesting?
#2
crazy_monkey
Jul 11, 2008 12:17:20 I bought it for my wife when it came out. We sold it a couple of years later without having played it.

It wasn't a bad game by any means. The rules were d20 and mostly compatible with D&D. The main issue was, like many games licensed from books, tv, or movies, it was very difficult to come up with adventure and campaign ideas. The setting is very tied to the story told in the novels and therefore has a feeling of "been there/done that."

Other folks may not have that problem but, for my wife and I at least, we just couldn't find room for our stories in a world so tied to its "main story."
#3
seuss
Jul 11, 2008 12:42:54 I bought it when it first came out as well. Good game, had the feel of the books -- though a lot of people seem to have a beef with the rules for channeling.

Like CM said though, it was hard to have any "meaningful" adventures or campaigns without tramping on the feel of the books. We always ran into the problem that once you reached the higher levels you were bound to be noticed by Rand and how would you address that? Still had a lot of fun times though ...and you can always have a campaign during the Trolloc Wars or the Age of Legends.

Seuss
#4
rohetos1
Jul 11, 2008 13:42:51 cool, thx. Ya, my fear was that there wouldnt be much room in the game to "stretch out", away from the feel of the books. If I can find a copy of it for cheap though, I might look into it. Thanks for the help.
#5
ChrisTheS
Jul 11, 2008 16:32:43 If you're serious about it, learn to disregard the book storyline and just focus on developing the world (it helps if you come to realize how bad the books can be, but that takes numerous rereads and comprehensive analyses, which I wouldn't recommend, especially for people who honestly do like it). It takes a little bit of getting used to, but it can be rewarding.

The major problem with the WoT d20 book is that the system does very little to model the mechanics of the setting. Especially the channeling system, which is a patchwork of class, feat, and skill abilities which would probably work well enough if characters had twice as many feats and skill points (much like Star Wars RCR in that regard). Basically it's a D&D sorcerer with several additional layers of complexity that are harder to keep track of, and which doesn't actually allow the sort of improvisational arcana that makes channeling in the books such an interesting procedure.

The system is also particularly punishing to 'old blood' abilities (such as those possessed by virtually every single one of the main characters from the series), basically requiring two feat slots to activate them. Each ability has a 'latent X' feat as a prerequisite, which doesn't actually do anything (this is particularly punishing for dreamwalkers, which also require several other feats to unlock all the abilities which your average Wise One considers to be basic - more than a little problematic, considering that it's the single most common supernatural ability in the setting apart from channeling).

It's a good resource for all that, but I wouldn't use it to play with - if you really want to play a WoT game, I'd suggest using True20 instead, or homebrewing something involving Monte Cook's World of Darkness (for the Mage subsystem) and d20 Modern or Star Wars SAGA (for everything else).
#6
tworiverswolfbrother
Jul 12, 2008 0:15:59 Check out these forums. There used to be message boards for Wheel of Time the RPG on the Wizards boards, but when that went away, another one was formed, where most of the frequent posters there went. Years later, they can now be found here.

http://www.pencil-pushers.net/forum/
#7
seuss
Jul 14, 2008 9:57:46
It's a good resource for all that, but I wouldn't use it to play with - if you really want to play a WoT game, I'd suggest using True20 instead, or homebrewing something involving Monte Cook's World of Darkness (for the Mage subsystem) and d20 Modern or Star Wars SAGA (for everything else).

Yeah, I've been considering for some time now converting WOT to the Star Wars SAGA rules. I've always felt that the One Power was more similar to "The Force" then I did magic. With the new Talent rules I think you could easily work in all of the other interesting abilities from the books. Just havn't found the time to put my thoughts to paper.

Also like TwoRivers said, the pencil pushers site is a really good resource as well.

Seuss

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 rohetos1 Jul 11, 2008 11:35:44	Hey, justed wanted to know anybody's thoughts on this game. I love the series of books, and now that Wizards published this book a while back, but what are your thoughts? Is it a good game? Smooth play? Interesting?
#2 crazy_monkey Jul 11, 2008 12:17:20	I bought it for my wife when it came out. We sold it a couple of years later without having played it. It wasn't a bad game by any means. The rules were d20 and mostly compatible with D&D. The main issue was, like many games licensed from books, tv, or movies, it was very difficult to come up with adventure and campaign ideas. The setting is very tied to the story told in the novels and therefore has a feeling of "been there/done that." Other folks may not have that problem but, for my wife and I at least, we just couldn't find room for our stories in a world so tied to its "main story."
#3 seuss Jul 11, 2008 12:42:54	I bought it when it first came out as well. Good game, had the feel of the books -- though a lot of people seem to have a beef with the rules for channeling. Like CM said though, it was hard to have any "meaningful" adventures or campaigns without tramping on the feel of the books. We always ran into the problem that once you reached the higher levels you were bound to be noticed by Rand and how would you address that? Still had a lot of fun times though ...and you can always have a campaign during the Trolloc Wars or the Age of Legends. Seuss
#4 rohetos1 Jul 11, 2008 13:42:51	cool, thx. Ya, my fear was that there wouldnt be much room in the game to "stretch out", away from the feel of the books. If I can find a copy of it for cheap though, I might look into it. Thanks for the help.
#5 ChrisTheS Jul 11, 2008 16:32:43	If you're serious about it, learn to disregard the book storyline and just focus on developing the world (it helps if you come to realize how bad the books can be, but that takes numerous rereads and comprehensive analyses, which I wouldn't recommend, especially for people who honestly do like it). It takes a little bit of getting used to, but it can be rewarding. The major problem with the WoT d20 book is that the system does very little to model the mechanics of the setting. Especially the channeling system, which is a patchwork of class, feat, and skill abilities which would probably work well enough if characters had twice as many feats and skill points (much like Star Wars RCR in that regard). Basically it's a D&D sorcerer with several additional layers of complexity that are harder to keep track of, and which doesn't actually allow the sort of improvisational arcana that makes channeling in the books such an interesting procedure. The system is also particularly punishing to 'old blood' abilities (such as those possessed by virtually every single one of the main characters from the series), basically requiring two feat slots to activate them. Each ability has a 'latent X' feat as a prerequisite, which doesn't actually do anything (this is particularly punishing for dreamwalkers, which also require several other feats to unlock all the abilities which your average Wise One considers to be basic - more than a little problematic, considering that it's the single most common supernatural ability in the setting apart from channeling). It's a good resource for all that, but I wouldn't use it to play with - if you really want to play a WoT game, I'd suggest using True20 instead, or homebrewing something involving Monte Cook's World of Darkness (for the Mage subsystem) and d20 Modern or Star Wars SAGA (for everything else).
#6 tworiverswolfbrother Jul 12, 2008 0:15:59	Check out these forums. There used to be message boards for Wheel of Time the RPG on the Wizards boards, but when that went away, another one was formed, where most of the frequent posters there went. Years later, they can now be found here. http://www.pencil-pushers.net/forum/
#7 seuss Jul 14, 2008 9:57:46	It's a good resource for all that, but I wouldn't use it to play with - if you really want to play a WoT game, I'd suggest using True20 instead, or homebrewing something involving Monte Cook's World of Darkness (for the Mage subsystem) and d20 Modern or Star Wars SAGA (for everything else). Yeah, I've been considering for some time now converting WOT to the Star Wars SAGA rules. I've always felt that the One Power was more similar to "The Force" then I did magic. With the new Talent rules I think you could easily work in all of the other interesting abilities from the books. Just havn't found the time to put my thoughts to paper. Also like TwoRivers said, the pencil pushers site is a really good resource as well. Seuss