[Wheel of Time] So, I have a few questions...

[Tolen Mar]

I have never read WOT before, though I am thinking of picking it up soon (I am almost finished with LoTR, so it will have to wait until then).

I have also been looking at the rulebook for it. It looks interesting, but I need to know:

1.) Do you need to have read the books to use the game?

2.) What do you all think of a: the books, and b: the game?

I have a chance to pick them up cheaply, and was wondering if I should make the effort.

What are some of the biggest differences between DnD and WoT (I know WoT is a D20 game, but I wanna know about any differences there might be)?

 

[Eosin the Red]

First, I am biased. Check the link in my sig if you want proof.


1. No, but it helps. You might not undrstand why somethings seem to be missing or why somethings seem to be overpowered. A good example is that there really isn't any necromancy in the WoT.

2. Love them both. The game rules have some bumps in them, but nothing monsterous. Many folks complain about the length, and seemingly endless nature of the books. Valid complaint - personally, I hope he keeps on cranking out good books until I die.

3. Cheaply? Of course. Full price? Only if you had some money to blow or were seriously considering running the game.

4. MAGIC. WoT completely diverges from standard fire and foget magic. Only the Magic-user class has access to magic. No clerics, no bards, no druids, no bladedancers, nothing, zero, zilch, zip. Nothing. But, WoT is not a low-magic setting. Powerful magic but only in the hands of a few.

Any other questions?

 

[jollyninja]

if anyone you play with has read the books you should at least read the first 2 or 3 books so that you won't be lost in the mountain of terminology that even reading the wheel of time rpg book subjects you to. if you are a dm, there is a book that reads like an atlas of the wheel of time world, but i can't remember what it's called.

if nothing else grabs your attention, my level 20 wanderer (rouge with less sneak attack emphasis) has an ac of 28 naked with no magic items. also the wheel of time is not pleasant if you like getting magic items like they were candy, nobody can really make them and they won't make them for you if they can. and posessing some magical items is grounds for arrest or execution.

if nobody in your group really knows wheel of time and you are looking for something with a new flavor and you are the dm type wheel of time is a good buy, a great buy if the players do not like playing magic users, which is nearly impossible in any sort of realistic campaign and not really fun unless you enjoy having many people who have the right to tell you what to do without explaining why or you like being hunted to the death by two international groups dedicated to your extermination. also you will have to spend 5 minutes learning the new xp system, it's not complicated at all.

read the books, in my opinion there is not much purpose in putting in the work unless you like me are a fan of jordans world and the characters within. i own the books (rpg and all novels) and would reccomend them to those who like fantasy stories that are driven by characters.

 

[trancejeremy]

1) At least the first one. The setting is described in the WoT book, but not all that well.


2) a) I like the books, but I get tired of waiting for them to come out b) it's pretty good (I just wrote a review of it on this site...)


If you can get them cheaply, I would. I did, anyway, and I'm happy with them.

The biggest difference is the magic system, and the character classes. Apparently because no one in the books ever seems to wear armor, all classes in WoT get a defensive bonus, pretty much just how a monk's armor class goes up.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Another difference is races - there are human and Ogier, that is all (apart from the monstrous shadowspawn, of course).

I'm wading my way through the series at the moment, and I would recommend reading several of the books. The WoT d20 is set at the end of book 6, and would have some spoilers for you if you haven't read that far and intend to.

I found book 1 slow to start (and read as though it was a one-off book!). Book 2 was somewhat better, Book 3 took an interesting turn and Book 4 has some wonderful "defend the village" stories. Book 5 I found very disappointing and I'm halfway through book 6 at present. I probably won't read any more until I hear that Jordan has finished the series, and then I'll read that one

Each of the books introduces you and details more fully one or more of the nations in the WoT world, and it is great for getting additional background in that way. It will also give you a good handle on playing NPC Aes Sedai (women channelers/MU's) well.

My next campaign will probably be a WoT one, albeit with a few house rules from my own website, and a few drawn from Eosins excellent website.

Cheers

 

[Kriegspiel]

...if you are a dm, there is a book that reads like an atlas of the wheel of time world, but i can't remember what it's called...

It's titled (apropriately, if lacking in originality) "The World of Robert Jordan's, The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan & Teresa Patterson.

AKA The Big Bad Book of Art for it's less than museum quality illustrations.

 

[Roland Delacroix]

Great RPG, its well designed and has beautiful art. The magic system is very cool except for a few obviously broken things. Sure you can have a magic user in a party if you have the slightest bit of imagination, 2 or more even. The books are good up untill 4-5, you only need to read the first 3 to get a good feel but you could probably get by reading just the first.

The classes are a bit different. They get more skill points since the game requires more RP. They also get a defense bonus like Star Wars RPG since armor hasn't kept up with the weaponry, only soldiers (Armsman class) wear armor regularly. The list of monsters is very short but as an RP focused game most of the groups enemies will be humans anyway.

Oh yeah, the Reputation score is a really cool idea too. Like Defense different classes get a higher Reputation score as they gain levels. They also get a Reputation point for doing certain heroic/vile things. If people recognize you by making a check against your Reputation score you get bonus' to skills like Diplomacy, Gather Info, Intimidate depending on if you are Famous or Infamous. You also gain followers based on your Reputation score once you hit 10th level.

Overall I was impressed with the RPG. I had despaired that noone could make an RP heavy game for the hack-friendly d20 system but somehow they did it. Love the game.

 

[Corwyn]

Hi there I haven't seen the WoT sourcebook, but I have read the series as far as is written.

And as far as reading the books I would recommend the first 3 but after that they become very slow and ponderous, personally I don't really like where they are going. On the other hand there is a lot of background info in those books as well. Good to get a thorough grasp of the setting.

 

[drothgery]

First, I am biased. Check the link in my sig if you want proof.

[...]

4. MAGIC. WoT completely diverges from standard fire and foget magic. Only the Magic-user class has access to magic. No clerics, no bards, no druids, no bladedancers, nothing, zero, zilch, zip. Nothing. But, WoT is not a low-magic setting. Powerful magic but only in the hands of a few.

Adding a few more things...

5. Magic Items. You probably will see two or three in your life (excepting Warder's cloaks), if you're an adventurer. Your equipment is far less important in WoT, because powerful magic items are virtually impossible to obtain; almost all are in the hands of powerful organizations that won't let you have them.

6. Especailly for magic-users, gender matters. Male magic-users are more inherently powerful, but slowly go insane and have trouble finding teachers.

No, I'm not an obsessesed WoT fan. Really.

 

[Dagger75]

It's titled (apropriately, if lacking in originality) "The World of Robert Jordan's, The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan & Teresa Patterson.

AKA The Big Bad Book of Art for it's less than museum quality illustrations.

The Big Book of Bad Art is also out in paper back now. So you can get is cheaper than the hardcover book which you don't want to get anyway.

I really like the game system.

If you want to start reading the books, the first one has come out in 2 seperate paperbacks. From The Two Rivers and can't remeber the 2nd title of the other book. Or you can pick up the Eye Of The World.