Opinions sought on WoT RPG

[CanadienneBacon]

The Wheel of Time RPG rules book is at my base PX, and I am curious to know if the game is fun to play or whether it is irreparably broken. I love the books. I haven't heard very much on the game. Just wondering what all of you here think of it.

 

[Gospog]

Well, we're still waiting for our WoT GM to get off his butt and run a game, but I can tell you what I know.

The GM seems impressed with the book, and I don't think it deviates too much from "standard" D20, with the possible exception of magic. (again, just my impression)

One thing I'd be leery of is running for players who have not read the books, or at least the first book. I think this might be a game that is more fun with more player "investment".

Welcome to the boards, by the way! What branch of the military are you in?
I was in the AF for four years and played in a ton of really fun games!

Best of luck to you.

 

[Razuur]

I think it is still my favorite WOTC product, and it has never left my Top ten list.

And Gospog is right, it is probably more enjoyable if you have read the books.

It does not deviate to much from standard D20, with the exception of Chanelling rules.

I'd check it out! Just a peruse through the book ought to let you know if you like it or not....

Razuur

 

[Gospog]

Something else just occurred to me as well:

I remember the popularity that "plain" D&D has in the military (a good thing, to be sure!).

If you're itching to run WoT, but have players asking for D&D, nothing says you can't gradually incorporate WoT elements into your game.

The obvious place to start would be monsters. Replace some encounters with Orcs with an encounter with Trollocs.
Higher level games could be spices up with Mydraal (sp?) or other more powerful WoT foes.

Even more subtle, but possibly more effective, would be to set up political groups in your D&D campaign world along WoT lines.
Factions like the Whitecloaks might be espescially easy to incorporate.

Then, after yor players are "totally into" your world, slip one of them Eye of the World. And then stand back!

 

[CanadienneBacon]

Thanks for the welcome and the replies. I am prior service US Army, a korean linguist/interrogator. My husband is active duty, US Navy. And, yes, there is a large D&D following amongst servicemembers!

That's a neat idea about incorporating Trollocs; I will suggest that to my husband, who is currently also my DM. Is there somewhere I can find the specs for a Trolloc? I'm not asking for an illegal copy of the material, or at least I'm not intending to. Perhaps you could give me a quick down and dirty run down on the abilities of the Trolloc and then I could just make up the rest on my own, based on the books.

Thanks again for the replies and opinions. I'm still torn on whether to buy the book. I don't really collect D&D material, so if I'm not going to be using the book then I probably will forego buying it. All depends on whether I can find players!

 

[Dagger75]

I am not a big fan of the books, could not finish them, that being said I loved the game. I couldn't wait for it to be released. We played a few games and were fun.

I will agree its not just make a fighter and join any group, to get the "feel" for the world takes more involment for the players. I think if you have just read the first book you would be fine.

 

[Ron]

I started playing it last week. So far, it has been a great experience. Although I am the only player who read the books, all others became interested and asked me to borrow the books to read. As far as I can see, the system works well, although I disagree in some design choices, especially related to the One Power, which, by the rules, is derived from your abilities bonuses. Our GM ruled the creation of a seventh ability, Power, which is used to evaulate the Strenght in One Power of the channellers and to give bonus to resist the One Power. I liked this house rule, although we didn't have much time to actually test it.

 

[DragonLancer]

I've played it several times but not as part of a campaign, just as one off scenarios.

Its not a bad game, very much 3rd edition except with slightly different classes and a completely different magic system. None of us have tried the magic system so I can't comment on how good or bad it is.

Overall, its pretty good, although I think it misses something that D&D has, although I couldn't tell you what.

I've never read the novels, but the game is worth a try.

 

[Protean]

The only real trouble you would probably run into with this one s the lack of any real support beyond the core book. The setting information is also a little lax, no problem for harcore fans of the books, but for casual fans this can lead to genuine issues for campaign cohesion. I would reccomend The Wheel of Time setting book put out by robert Jordan. It has no game stats, having come out about a year prior to the rpg. Lots of ideas there.

 

[Ron]

The only real trouble you would probably run into with this one s the lack of any real support beyond the core book. The setting information is also a little lax, no problem for harcore fans of the books, but for casual fans this can lead to genuine issues for campaign cohesion. I would reccomend The Wheel of Time setting book put out by robert Jordan. It has no game stats, having come out about a year prior to the rpg. Lots of ideas there.

Despite being poorly illustrated, Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time is a great book for setting information and I highly recommend it. In relation to the lack of official support (there are a couple of excellent sites supporting the game), I think this is actually a nice feature of the game. I like to focus in the game play and sometimes it's easy to be overhelmed by the large number of rule supplements available to D&D. As this, WoT can be a good alternative to people willing to play a less crunchy d20 Fantasy game.