I had the good fortune to be in my local used-book store at the right time. A copy of the Wheel of Time RPG was on sale for $13 so naturally I purchased it. I doubt I would have paid the full cover price. Which doesn't mean it is not worth it - only that I am broke! :-) And just to prove I have "the Dark One's Own Luck" the minute after I payed for the book someone came in after me looking for Wheel of Time books.
It begins with an obligatory foreward from the WoTmeister himself R. Jordan. No real information, except for a link promoting his short story, but nice to know he approves (I hope for "artistic" reasons and not the big wads o' cash).
The introduction is solid with a good explanation of roleplaying and explanations of terms. Next is a slew of character templates. A good way to simply jump into the action for new players.
Abilities are then covered. The usual D-20 six attribute, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Some guidelines are provided on roleplaying the various stats and comparisons of various WoT characters.
Next comes Backgrounds, a feature I definitely like. Aiel, Ath'an Miere, Borderlander, Carhienin, Domani, Ebou Dari, Illianer, Midlander, Tairen, Tal Voner, Taraboner and Ogier are all available to place your character and give them a history. Available Feats and Skills are infuenced by backgrounds, as well as personality and influences.
This is followed by classes. I am no great fan of classes - it is why I do not play Dungeons & Dragons, but here it seems to work. With flexible multiclassing and skills, the classes mimic very closely the available character types in the novel. Instead of the usual D&D classes, we are given Alga'd'siswai (Gesundheit!), an Aiel spear fighter, Armsman, basically a fighter, Initiate, trained in the One Power, Noble, a snooty person in nice clothing, Wanderer, a catch-all class, Woodsman, similar to the Ranger without many of the sillier bonuses and restrictions, and Wilder, a self-taught channeller.
Multiclassing rules are provided, to allow creation of more flexible characters. Next comes skills and feats, the cool stuff characters can do. This follows the standard skill points, with checks against Difficulty Class. The list of skills seems extensive enough to cover most situations. Feats fall into three categories, General and Special Feats, which can enhance any character, Channeling Feats, useful only for Wilders and Initiates in the One Power, and Lost Ability Feats, special powers that to not require the ability to channel. The latter are particularily interesting, allowing for Dreamwalkers, Wolfbrothers and Foretelling. Reputation rules are especially useful. They allow the characters to guage their relative level of fame, or infamy.
Equipment is fairly standard, though a little sparse when compared to D&D. Magic Items are extraordinarily rare, and not likely to be purchasable. Characters recieve a level-based bonus to defense, owing to the relative lack of magical armour. For some reason Initiates and Wilders recieve less starting money than other PCs which makes little sense to me.
Next is combat. This is pretty familiar territory - divided into rounds, with standard attack rolls, defense, movement and attacks-of-opportunity rules. No great fan of hit-points myself - but you can't fault the system for ease of use. No real differences as I can tell from the standard D-20 rules.
Then centerpiece of the system, and where I feel it is at its weakest, the One Power. As I remember from the books, each channeller had an innate level of potential power that could not be increased, and a level of skill that could. But it seems to me the level system does not deal with this very well. Also I think the potential number of effects may seem small compared to the hundreds of spells in some systems.
That being said, I think it mirrors it fairly well within the D-20 format - but I suspect that its weakness in handling the One Power, using slots and levels, rather than the more intuitive and power potential levels that are in the books - suggests that a whole new system probably should have been worked out. It seems to me to be fairly well balanced. Which might be part of the problem - as the characters in the Wheel of Time *aren't* balanced - channellers are in many ways more powerful than their non-channelling counterparts.
Still, I can't wait to try "Strike of Death" on some Trollocs!
The section on Game-Mastering is solid and informative. Probably all old-hat stuff to veterans, but as a newbie I found it useful. The Prestige Classes ran the usual gamut of "great" to "only useful as NPCs". I was surprised to see Wolfbrother as prestige class. Seems more like a series of feats than an entire class to me. The NPC Classes rounded out the available options for characters for the GM.
The section on Encounters helps create some worthy adversaries for the GM. Unlike D&D Monsteramafest there aren't that many monsters available. The GM will have to work to keep encounters fresh, instead of relying on "lets just insert funky new monster here". Not a bad thing IMHO. Also the major NPC heros are included.
A history of the Westlands and a selection of wondrous items help to round out the book.
The last chapter is an adventure - which introduces them to the WoT and the city of Caemlyn. They are introduced to everyone's favourite merchant, Padan Fain.
The Look:
The artwork is wonderful. Ranging from the adequate to excellent, it keeps with the spirit of the books and makes a few interesting divergences. In particular, I appreciated the work of Brom and Puddnhead. (Is that on their birth certificates?)
The Maps are also excellent. I would have like a large map insert, but then again I would also like a free grilled cheese sandwich a day for the rest of my life.
The layout is fairly clear. I think the character sheet should have been made for tearing out. The borders are nicely done. The cover is well done too, and fits in with the novels.
The Substance:
My overall impression is one of an excellent book within the framework that was required of it. I was glad to see some of the unnessecary aspects of d-20 not included, namely the alignment system. A system I hope to see made *optional* in the next edition of D&D. the simplified experience point rules make sense as well. There are probably a few aspects of this game I would use if I ever did run a D&D based adventure - namely the use of Woodsman instead of Ranger, Gleeman instead of Bard, no alignments, not an overwhelming number of monster types, and the simplified experience points rules.
The greatest weakness as I see it is the One Power. It lacked much of the "feel" of it. As well a few minor quibbles, at one point in the book they used the word "magical" describing channeling, which is something the books avoid, and mentioning potions that the character might carry. Unless I am mistaken, there *are* no potions in WoT.
If I had not purchased this book on the cheap, I am not certain I would have purchased it at all. For die-hard WoT fans, there is little new info. Some major characters, such as the Forsaken, and some minor ones, such as Brigitte, are not included. Nor are rules on same-gender Bonding.
I am also a little reluctant to have anyone play in a world where, no matter who they are, they will not be Big Players. That the Dragon Reborn is the World Saviour is a given, and the PCs will only ever be tangential to that major plot. Especially when that plot is not yet resolved.
Overall, if you are a fan of Robert Jordan's ouvre, if you are looking for a relatively simple system that emphasizes role-playing, or are simply looking for a change of pace from the usual "magic item in every corner" campaign, give it a try.
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