wheel of time rpg, has anyone played it before?
is it like any other game in mechanics? am kinda curious about the magic system; are each of the Adjah's different classes or specialies? do the azahman have them?
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is it like any other game in mechanics? am kinda curious about the magic system; are each of the Adjah's different classes or specialies? do the azahman have them?
It is based on the 3.0 d20 system.
The Aes Sedai and Asha'man are the same class, called Initiate, but there is also a Wilder class.
the magic system is very similar to the 3.0 d20 magic system they call them weaves instead of spells. Instead of schools they have the five powers, Air, Earth, Fire, Water and spirit, you pick an affinity to one.
Also the weaves are categorized by Talents, you can only pick weaves in your talents. You can get more talents and affinities with feats.
the magic system is very similar to the 3.0 d20 magic system they call them weaves instead of spells. Instead of schools they have the five powers, Air, Earth, Fire, Water and spirit, you pick an affinity to one.
"Similar" is overstating things, IMO.
In a very general sense, channelers are "similar" to a cross between 3.0 sorcerers and 3.5 warlocks, but the organization of "weave slots" to "known weaves" is very different from the fixed spells/invocations of 3.x. Weaves tend to be general techniques that can be "cast" at different power levels and there are mechanisms in place to "over-cast" (i.e., use more weaves per day or more powerful weaves than the "slot" you're expending).
It's not a bad adaptation of 3.0 d20 rules to the Wheel of Time setting. However, it does suffer a bit from the typical 3.0 difficulties in skills and feats.
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I played a brief campaign in the system. The magic system looks really fun on paper, but in practice channelers quickly overpower their companions. They continually learn weaves from others (even their foes), allowing them a huge variety of abilities within a few levels. Even at low level the weaves can be flexible and pretty potent. A good reflection of the books, no doubt, but challenging for a traditional "party."
I've seen it played. The "magic users" depend on each other to learn stuff and can learn on the fly however it isn't quite as easy as they put it above, and over channeling can lead to being "stilled" just like in the books. Reversing a weave is difficult but do-able and will hide it well.
In the game I watched there was one male wilder and a female initiate, and they didn't take it all over, while the level of power you can place in a weave can vary and be large the over all lack of abundance of powers, compared to the number of spells available in D&D and helps limit the amount of "brokeness" available.
It was an acceptable translation of the books to a D20-based system. It wasn't as fresh or thorough as the later translation of A Song of Ice and Fire to D20, but it was okay for what it was. The magic system really doesn't suit the One Power, though, which is odd as 2.5 edition had a 'channelling' rules set in the Skills and Powers book which fitted the One Power much better, and could have been adapted without too many problems.
The biggest problem is that in the books channellers outstrip ordinary people by a vast amount, and the game really can't get away from replicating that. As a result non-channellers, although not useless, can seem less useful past tenth level or so.
On the other hand, for roleplaying purposes it is quite amusing. Having a male channeller in the party is extremely headache-inducing (for those who haven't read the books, thanks to the source of magic being cursed, all male magic-users are doomed to go mad and die horribly within a few years of starting to use magic) for male players who don't like roleplaying as female characters, with possibly hilarious results.
In summary, I'm hoping the relatively imminent concluding of the series will reignite interest in the roleplaying licence. In terms of background, history, scope and depth the WoT world is one of the most detailed in all of fantasy and could support many types of campaigns. They just need to get the magic right next time around.
To be fair though it wouldn't feel like the WoT if the magic system was any less than what it is.
I'm still not sure about the magic being overpowering at higher levels, though. I guess I'll see more about it if I ever get into a game that moves.
Last I had read in the series the Taint had been cleansed... which of course never got supported in the 3.x game.