[WOT] Story Concerns & Bookishness

[ZSutherland]

Of our group members, 4 of 8 have read the WOT series in its entirety (some of us several more times than is probably healthy) and the other 4 haven't read page 1 but are at least experienced gamers and familiar with D20. Lack of familiarity aside by some of my players, I'd like to run this game. On the whole, I prefer the system to 3e & the three of my players that are familiar with the series refer to it as their "crack" (i.e. I hope Jordan finishes the next book soon so I can get my next 1000 pg does of crack.) I know they'd get a big kick out of it. The non-familiar players will, I think prefer the overall style of the game better than standard DnD & so won't mind getting familiar with it. However, I need help.

I played and administrated for a while on an entirely RP oriented WOT mud for about 18 months & probably the #1 issue we had was balance & enjoyment vs preserving "bookishness" (keeping the game as close to the world Jordan presents as possible). I can already see that some of those same problems could easily crop up in the table-top game as well.

For example, what happens when the female Wilder meets all the requirements and wants to join the AS prestige class? I don't want to force the other players to leave their characters in a 3-5 year IC limbo while she studies at the WT, but I wouldn't want to deny the player a PrC (bookishly, all the channeling PrC's require an apprenticeship of some sort). What about setting? How do I involve the characters in a section of the books where there's actually something to go do and doesn't rule out classes (setting the game before the series would rule out Algai'd'siswai and all other Aiel characters, Asha PrC, etc etc as well as Seanchan) w/o having IC time overrun the series (while pagewise the books get longer and longer they encompass less & less time each.)

Finally, there's the issue of balance. In a one-night playtest of the game with the players that were familiar w/ the series we all made 11th lvl characters (10 core class levels & 1 PrC level). My fiancee ran the game, & we had a Wanderer10/Thief-Taker1, Armsmen10/Warder1, & Adept10/Aes Sedai1. I was the Aes Sedai & I pretty much ran the game both in mechanical power and IC prestige & authority. While this was pretty consistent witht he books, I felt bad about man-handling the game so badly that the other characters were a bit irrelavent.

Please respond if you've played the game (as it's presented) and have faced similar issues or have suggestions for how to avoid them. Anything else I may not have thought of would be most beneficial as well. Thank in advance.

Z

 

[Starman]

I ran a few sessions of a WoT game before some things came up and I had to quit. Like you, I wanted to be able to use all of the cool things in the book, but I also did not want to have my hands tied by being bound to the story of the books. I asked myself, what if my PC's were ta'veren and were the ones destined to save the world. I intended to use things such as the prophecies and such from the book as broad outlines but of course, the PC's would be free to do as they wish. Basically, it was going to be like the books with different characters.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Channalers own the game - If you want to solve some of that give every weave a save and consider bumping the saving throws to D&D standards.

I ran a game in the book timeline - it bombed bad. For alot of the reason you mention, plus others. Now I am designing a Trolloc wars setting and plan on running my game there. I really do not believe that running paralell to the books is such a bright idea - but I have talked to people who made it work well.

 

[Magius del Cotto]

Well, what you could do is run it some time after the books (such as what I did), which will keep those players who don't know much from the books in line with those who have read the entire series. This has the added advantage of letting you throw in some other stuff that you'd like to try out, but that's beside the point...
Just make sure that you come up with a reasonable "future past" that uses what's in the books already and what will likely happen in them (if predicting such a thing is possible). I did this, and the players seemed to really enjoy it (of course, I threw some oddball stuff at them, but still...).

 

[dbm]

Hi,

I've not played the WOT game, though I have read the whole series. Have you ever heard of a game called Ars Magica?

Ars Magica makes wizards as powerful as you see them in fiction, but they are balanced by several factors. The main limitation is that you can't normally increase you magical powers by adventuring - you need to study. This combines with the fact that each player actually runs three PCs - a mage, a companion (skilled non-mage character) and a grog (low-skill and -prestige character). What happens is that PCs rarely want to send their mage on an adventure, and would rather send one of their other characters instead.

Overtime, players naturally tend to take turns taking their mage on adventures, so that whilst the mage characters out shine all the rest, each player takes a turn in the spotlight.

You could probably do something similar in your WOT campaign. Have each player make two characters, one who needs training time and one who doesn't. Give the players to swap over which character they use between adventures and see what happens. The only thing you might need to add into the mix is a reasone to not go adventuring, and I guess training time is the obvious choice.

Hope this gives you some ideas,
Dan

 

[ZSutherland]

Keep it going.

Ok, so everyone pretty much agrees that going along the book time-line's doomed for failure for the most part.

We've got one person running way past (Trolloc Wars) which could be really fun. Set the game in Manatheren maybe, though you will lose out on all the wicked Seanchan and all your Aiel. All in all, though that sounds really fun.

Someone's running a game past the series. While I think this could be very rewarding and would absolutely come with the benefit of keeping all the players on the same knowledge base (for the most part), I would personally want to sit down and discuss with the familiar players what we think a reasonable guess at the ending is and come up with something we can agree on. Unfortunately, the only time most of us can get together is at actual gaming sessions and this would bore the life out of the unfamiliar players.

Anyone tried running a game during the Aiel Wars? For those of you who are running the game pre-series, what steps have you taken to curb channeling? We know from the series that the kind of channeling (power and weaves) that Rand & Co. throw around haven't been seen since the AoL. Moiraine & Cadsuane are the two most powerful AS alive before the series starts & they are still well below Rand & the "Pattern Kids(TM)" potential. What mechanical steps could I take to simulate this in various past times?

Anyone else have a positive experience with the game, or a working solution to the problems we're discussing?

Again, thanks a bunch guys.

Z

 

[Eosin the Red]

Keep an eye on my website - it is going to discuss some of those very issues when I get off of my .... Uhhh when I get the chance to update.

We just started a new section called "The Shadow Made Flesh" that will cover the 350 years of darkness during the Trolloc wars. Here is the little blurb.

Countless evils have brought death and destruction to the Westlands of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Each Age brings its own wars and its own challenges but few put the men and women of the Westlands under that Shadow for so long as the Trolloc wars. The Trolloc Wars ravaged the continent for nearly 350 years. Strong nations broke, cities disappeared, and a people who dreamed of a return to the Age of Legends watched that dream die.

The Trolloc Wars saw titanic armies overmatched by endless hordes of shadowspawn. Aes Sedai Queens ruled nations, never dreaming of the Three Oaths. Treachery shattered the 'Sword that would not break.' The wars also brought other, unintended effects, such as when Balwen Ironhands choose to fight evil with its own tactics and thus doomed Aridhol. The White Tower was fertile ground for a new Ajah, one that is never mentioned. Men terrified of the Madness submitted to the Great Lord of the Dark, saving their minds and dooming their souls.

The Trolloc Wars are a Players dream. Nothing is left unchanged; nothing is guaranteed to survive, nothing is fated to happen. Only the Players and their allies stand between the Westlands and the Shadow.

The Trolloc Wars are a Game Masters dream. The era is limited only by your imagination. Rand is not standing on the center stage. Epic events occur during the wars that become legends in the Third Age but they are left for you to write. Finally, Ba'azalmon stalks the dreams of men searching for the keys to freedom, only you know if he will find them.

Take part in an epic story set in the Wheel of Time series, but this time you are the stars.

 

[ZSutherland]

Nice site, Eosin. Good blurb, too. I look forward to seeing the rest. I'm in a bit of a bind though. When I started this thread, I thought I had at least a month to get ready for this. Another friend of mine is DMing this time around and his campaign just got started. He called last night though and said he's gonna have to get a second job and won't be able to even come much, let alone plan to DM. As such, I have to have something ready to go for Saturday. I've decided to set the game sometime between the fall of Malkier & the Aiel War, probably in Caemlyn to start since it's the most readily accessible place for people who haven't read the books and the time period allows all the classes (still Aiel coming from the Waste to trade with Cairhien & such.)

Anybody have a good, simple plot hook off the top of their head or that worked out well for them? Characters will be between 1st & 3rd level and I'm just not sure I have time to come up with something great in 2 days.

Z

 

[Eosin the Red]

There is an advanture on my site (conspiracy in the shadows) written by Phil Norfleet. It may work to give you a jump start.

If not consider some of the mini advantures in the Prophesies of the Dragon. They can't be used in the main advanture so get some use out of them.

Without a good idea on classes & personalities it is hard to say what is the best way to jump in for you.