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The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game
Apr. 30th, 2012 12:58 pm[This is part of a series analyzing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time novels. Previous installments can be found under the tag. Comments on old posts are welcome.]
To fill the time between now and the final spate of WOT analysis (which is currently scheduled to begin in September, but that's assuming the January pub date for A Memory of Light stays put), I bring you: the Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game!
(Core book only. I did not pick up Prophecies of the Dragon, the sole expansion published before they dropped the line, though I have read a summary of it. The material in it is considered non-canonical anyway.)
Ground info first: this is a d20 game, published in 2001 (between Winter's Heart and Crossroads of Twilight) meaning it dates back to the brief heyday of third edition D&D -- third edition, not 3.5. Since WOTRPG has its own world-specific set of classes, the revisions made to the class system between editions don't much matter, but the skill system is the old mess, lacking not only the simplifications introduced by Pathfinder, but even the improvements of 3.5. ("Intuit Direction" is a skill!)
Before I dig into the grotty details of the system, though, I should talk about the presentation of the book itself. As is usually the case with merchandising of this sort, it doesn't appear to be entirely certain whether it's trying to market itself to fans of the books -- who already know the world, and are itching to imagine themselves as the Dragon Reborn or whatever -- or to lure in outsiders who might then become enamored of the world and go pick up the series. Frankly, I'm always dubious of the latter approach: did anybody really say "oh look, another generic-looking d20 epic fantasy supplement!" and rush to play it? Everybody I know who bought or played it (which isn't very many people) was already a fan -- the sort of people for whom the "fast-track character creation" makes sense, because they already know what an "Aes Sedai Accepted" or "Runaway from the Stedding" is, or for whom it's interesting to see Rand et al. get statted. And yet, there are little one-page potted descriptions of the Aiel and so on, and a worldbuilding section that explains all the countries of Randland, rehashing information fans already know.
Those are the same people for whom the art is going to be infuriating. Instead of the familiar map, we get a less sophisticated redraw -- I guess they weren't able to license the rights to the old one? -- featuring place names like "Tamen Head." Um, yeah. And the character images . . . well, let me just show you the Wise One apprentice:
Don't you love her dark skirt, white blouse, and dark shawl? Or how about the Cairhienin noblewoman, with her striped skirt?
I know this is probably stock art purchased on a budget, but sheesh.
Actually, the art is a good lead-in to my main point, which is that d20 is an abysmal system for running a WOT game. It is, in fact, the stock art of the gaming world: cheap and easy to get, but bearing at best a vague resemblance to what it's supposed to describe.
( First: general mechanics neepery. )
( Channeling neepery! )
( Story neepery! )
Ultimately, the only thing of value I really see in the WOTRPG is the weave stats, and that solely because I could use them as a guideline for designing my own house rules (which Elements are involved, how hard is this supposed to be, etc). I don't think it's a great introduction to the world for a player who isn't already familiar with it, though I might toss the setting info their way if for some reason we couldn't get hold of a copy of The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (the companion book). It's a complete failure as a foundation for a campaign. And I think it's a terrible system for the story: you would be better off grabbing your favorite generic fantasy mechanics and winging the specifics. d20 has its uses -- as I've said before, I would probably use it for Dragon Age -- but this, my friends, is not one of them.
The pity is, a better effort could have been pretty cool. This is a big world, with lots of room in it for cool adventures; sadly, the game is too rigid to let you go explore.
To fill the time between now and the final spate of WOT analysis (which is currently scheduled to begin in September, but that's assuming the January pub date for A Memory of Light stays put), I bring you: the Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game!
(Core book only. I did not pick up Prophecies of the Dragon, the sole expansion published before they dropped the line, though I have read a summary of it. The material in it is considered non-canonical anyway.)
Ground info first: this is a d20 game, published in 2001 (between Winter's Heart and Crossroads of Twilight) meaning it dates back to the brief heyday of third edition D&D -- third edition, not 3.5. Since WOTRPG has its own world-specific set of classes, the revisions made to the class system between editions don't much matter, but the skill system is the old mess, lacking not only the simplifications introduced by Pathfinder, but even the improvements of 3.5. ("Intuit Direction" is a skill!)
Before I dig into the grotty details of the system, though, I should talk about the presentation of the book itself. As is usually the case with merchandising of this sort, it doesn't appear to be entirely certain whether it's trying to market itself to fans of the books -- who already know the world, and are itching to imagine themselves as the Dragon Reborn or whatever -- or to lure in outsiders who might then become enamored of the world and go pick up the series. Frankly, I'm always dubious of the latter approach: did anybody really say "oh look, another generic-looking d20 epic fantasy supplement!" and rush to play it? Everybody I know who bought or played it (which isn't very many people) was already a fan -- the sort of people for whom the "fast-track character creation" makes sense, because they already know what an "Aes Sedai Accepted" or "Runaway from the Stedding" is, or for whom it's interesting to see Rand et al. get statted. And yet, there are little one-page potted descriptions of the Aiel and so on, and a worldbuilding section that explains all the countries of Randland, rehashing information fans already know.
Those are the same people for whom the art is going to be infuriating. Instead of the familiar map, we get a less sophisticated redraw -- I guess they weren't able to license the rights to the old one? -- featuring place names like "Tamen Head." Um, yeah. And the character images . . . well, let me just show you the Wise One apprentice:
Don't you love her dark skirt, white blouse, and dark shawl? Or how about the Cairhienin noblewoman, with her striped skirt?
I know this is probably stock art purchased on a budget, but sheesh.
Actually, the art is a good lead-in to my main point, which is that d20 is an abysmal system for running a WOT game. It is, in fact, the stock art of the gaming world: cheap and easy to get, but bearing at best a vague resemblance to what it's supposed to describe.
( First: general mechanics neepery. )
( Channeling neepery! )
( Story neepery! )
Ultimately, the only thing of value I really see in the WOTRPG is the weave stats, and that solely because I could use them as a guideline for designing my own house rules (which Elements are involved, how hard is this supposed to be, etc). I don't think it's a great introduction to the world for a player who isn't already familiar with it, though I might toss the setting info their way if for some reason we couldn't get hold of a copy of The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (the companion book). It's a complete failure as a foundation for a campaign. And I think it's a terrible system for the story: you would be better off grabbing your favorite generic fantasy mechanics and winging the specifics. d20 has its uses -- as I've said before, I would probably use it for Dragon Age -- but this, my friends, is not one of them.
The pity is, a better effort could have been pretty cool. This is a big world, with lots of room in it for cool adventures; sadly, the game is too rigid to let you go explore.
