I feel that I should preface this review with a short disclaimer: I like
The Wheel of Time novels and hate the d20 system. If you hate the novels or love the d20 system (or both), be advised that you may want to take my opinions and conclusions with more than just the usual grain of salt. Just making sure that we’re all on the same page here.
I started reading Robert Jordan’s first brick-sized novels after the first few were out, and I really enjoyed them, despite the sometimes glacial pacing and Jordan’s almost refusal to let common sense break through the “battle of the sexes” at least sometimes. I always enjoyed the characters and the setting was an especially vibrant image in my mind. Together with C. S. Friedman’s Coldfire Trilogy of novels, the Wheel of Time was one of the most central and enduring influences on my general feeling of how magic was “supposed to work.” A lot of my satisfaction or distaste for magic in any number of settings and stories has stemmed from my early reading of the novels and the lush setting always seemed to cry out for gaming through it. I was understandably excited about the news that someone had the license, even if that company was Wizards of the Coast and that system was d20. Whatever system it used, the setting and lure of future supplements is enough to get my dollar.
Even if that price was surprisingly high, I still bought the book with some excitement. Am I really satisfied, however? Certainly not. Reading The Wheel of Time role playing game has accomplished two things instead. First, it rekindled my interest in the novels, which had been lagging as a result of their slow and staggered publication. I still need to get around to reading the last one, actually. Secondly, reading the tome re-educated me about the d20 system and reminded me why I never liked it, or Dungeons and Dragons in the first place.
Packaging
Visually, the game is pretty stunning. Much to my dismay, I found that Wizards of the Coast had gone with an illustrative cover (not unlike the novels) instead of the simple Dragon’s symbol on a white field they had apparently used as a placeholder on their web site. I really do prefer the simple cover, at least for core books. Thankfully, it did remain hardcover at least, but that was not perfect either. Whatever material they used for the cover has an annoying tendency to bow outward slightly, leaving the pages to get all wavy as full-color glossy is want to get. Yeah, sure it’s nit-picky, but I find that to be a constant annoyance. If I pay $40 for a book, I want it to be perfect. I’m anal that way.
On the interior, the game is full-color and gloss, as I said. Most of the art is evocative and superb. At worst it’s just good. In particular I found the color, texture and perspective of Puddnhead to be the highlight of the book and the simplicity of Adi Granov very fitting and refreshingly clear. The maps of The Wheel of Time did not meet with such approval however, at least not the continent map. The city maps were excellent, although a few more labels would have made them even better. The continent map, however, was not placed in the logical and perfect spread of the inside covers, but in the background chapter, where the binding of the book made a meal of a strop of it. It could also have used a number of additional labels as well, pointing out locations referenced in the text but only made clear by familiarity with the novels.
Placing things too close to the binding is actually a problem throughout the entire book. The inner margin is too thin while the outer too large, so I found myself forced to flatten sections of the book to comfortably read a lot of columns. Trying to find an artist’s credit, which Wizards of the Coast was nice enough to provide with each illustration – but close to that spine, was really annoying.. The glossy paper didn’t help that at all. What’s worse is that the character sheet suffers from just the same problem, with something like a centimeter shaved off a side. That’s just enough to trim down lines, borders and word endings, just enough to make me grind my teeth. Again, I like my books as perfect as possible. There’s no excuse for that. How come no company ever prints the sheet on the back inside cover or something? That’s designed to fold nice and flat, after all.
Organization was the book’s first flaw that I think was clearly beyond relatively personal gripes. It starts off with an introduction that managed to completely avoid actually telling the reader exactly when the game is set in the timeline of the novels. Then it segues directly into character creation before any real explanation of the rules is presented (“roll above your TN on a d20” isn’t enough either) and takes a merry trip through attributes, national backgrounds and cultures, classes, skills, feats and the various sundry character traits necessary for the game. While this doesn’t make the book unintelligible by any means, it certainly doesn’t make it any easier to figure things out, especially if you are a first-time gamer, as I’m sure Wizards of the Coast is hoping many of Jordan’s avid fans will become.
It’s the latter half of the book that contains all the interesting stuff, at least to me. That’s where the chapter on the One Power (magic, for those unfamiliar with the novels) is, as well as the bulk of the setting information. The short Otherworlds section is likely to be of most interest to those familiar with the setting already, as it certainly served to remind me of a lot of the details for the realms visited throughout the novels. A short adventure is also included, and serves as an excellent introduction to the game, including a cameo by everyone’s favorite gutter-bound bad guy, Padan Fain. It’s only real problem lies in that it doesn’t really provide any way to get the reasoning behind much of the driving motivation behind the adventure across to the PCs. Most will be left scratching their head and expecting the GM to wrap up the loose end in a following adventure. Some GMs will like that option, some won’t.
System
As I’d already said, The Wheel of Time uses the d20 system, which most people are probably very familiar with. For those who are not, it’s easily summed up. Roll a d20 and add/subtract any skill rating, attribute modifier or situation modifier the GM dictates. Roll high because you want to beat whatever target number the GM has also dictate. A simple enough system, although not entirely to my tastes because of its use of a single die and the fact that there is no real measurement for degree of success built into the rules as described. The sidebar explaining what amounts to a toss-away solution of “Good, Gooder, Goodest” only served to highlight that for me. A good “degree of success” mechanic is an essential part of a system for me. It’s childishly easy to create one with the system as it stands, so there’s really no excuse not to have one.
The system is a class-based one, so everyone has to pick one. My complete distaste for character classes aside, most of the ones here work quite well. The initiate (mage) and noble classes in particular I found to be pretty well-done. The wanderer (read: thief/rogue) and algai’d’siswai (desert nomad warriors) were much more problematic, however. Combined with national background, classes determine what feats and skills the character has access to. Skills where wholely un-extraordinary, but I did find feats to be somewhat interesting.
What exactly defined a Feat seemed a bit nebulous, but there was some interesting uses of the mechanic. Using them to simulate things like combat experience was nice, and the handling of weapon proficiencies was surprisingly elegant, even if there are still a number of changes I would make. Feats were also the mechanic used to control a number of the strange and sometimes unique powers evidenced by characters within the novels. Everything from Dreamwalking to being able to “smell” violence was there, which makes it impossible for me to understand why something like being a wolf brother was made into a prestige class (included in the GM chapter alongside perfectly understandable choices like Aes Sedai or Warder).
The biggest change, however, was in the magic system, as the One Power is an entirely different animal from standard Dungeons and Dragons magic. In summary, a user of the One Power has a number of slots at varying levels that can be used at any time for virtually any weave (spell) they know, assuming it’s the right level, of course. This is an acceptable warping of the standard magic system to encompass the much more free-flowing nature of the One Power, but is really much more complicated than it needs to be. Furthermore, there are about six or so different ways that characters can gain extra weaves per day, which can greatly increase book-keeping during character advancement, not to mention that with the right combination of Feats overchanneling (exceeding the daily number of castings) quickly loses its danger.
This is a recurring theme for me with the entire d20 system. Yeah, it works well enough, but it’s also much more complicated than it needs to be. Character classes and levels have never really been anything more than limiting devices and an added level of complication and rules that I found completely superfluous and hindering. Here, in The Wheel of Time, I think that the limitations of the d20 system are only made more evident. The game works, but not prettily by any means.
Setting
This is really what I came for. I always loved reading about Robert Jordan’s varied cultures across the westlands that he showed us. From the desert warriors of the Aiel to the scheming politicos of Cairhein to the Asian-inspired Seanchan, the mixture of evocative customs and rich history always provided me with an interesting tapestry to mull over. Unfortunately that barely has a chance to shine through in the game. Largely due to the fact that more than 75% of the book had to be devoted to the rules, I can’t help but wish for more. I almost always want more setting though, and objectively I’m forced to admit that there is just enough here. Just enough to run a game, but not enough to really show its true potential or be called “brilliant” or anything.
For those completely unfamiliar with the books, virtually everything takes place in the “westlands”, a recognizably Western collection of nations with a bit of exotic spicing here and there in the form of unique customs or attitudes. To the east, in a vast desert, are the Aiel, just as proud, violent and honorable as you’d expect them to be. To the north is the Blight, effectively Hell on Earth. The south and west are oceans, across which are undiscovered countries, although the violent Seanchan have recently come and discovered the westlands for themselves. Across all of this is Jordan’s recurring theme of the relationship between the sexes, from gender equality in one realm to striking disparities in another.
A full detailing of the setting would take up much too much space, those interested are urged to check out the novels, so long as you have the patience to keep with them. Alternatively there are a few non-RPG resources printed that examine the setting in detail (not unlike those for Tolkein or McCaffrey’s works), if you just want everything distilled into a more manageable and referenced format.
And speaking of references, I have to say that’s something I would have liked to see in The Wheel of Time game, book and page references when discussing specific events and items from the novels. I’ve never seen it before in a licensed product, so I’m not slighting the game for it, but it would have been a nice surprise. I certainly found myself wishing for that kind of resource frequently while reading the game.
It’s just enough
Ultimately, The Wheel of Time is just enough. There is just enough setting and the setting works well enough, but the game as a whole doesn’t really do justice to the source material it was drawn from, I think. Fans of the novels who are also fans of the d20 system should be happy as all get-out, but others are likely to be much less satisfied. Long-time lovers of the books are likely to feel that the system is rather constricting and the game doesn’t do justice to the source while avid fans of the system may not get their money’s worth. If they’re looking for some new system tools, The Wheel of Time has them, but I don’t think the setting alone is worth $40, even if I do love it.
My advice for anyone wanting to role playing in the world of Robert Jordan’s novels is simply read them and/or buy a copy of The World of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, a 304 page hardcover that’s all setting for the same price. Then either make up your own system and use that or just co-opt your favorite or most familiar one, it should end up working about as well as Wizard of the Coast’s version.
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